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Tuesday, January 30, 2007

The longer the name, the better the band?

Hello there, you hopefully soon-to-be-faithful readers.

As any fan of the genre knows, hardcore music has been flailing about terribly for the past 5 or so years. It's been gaining awkward followings and been putting out even more awkward music. When the local Abercrombie and Fitch poster child starts wearing an overpriced From Autumn to Ashes t-shirt under her even more overpriced hoodie, you know something started going wrong with the genre. Not to say I don't want music to be widespread, oh no. Far from it. I just wish that GOOD music would be widespread.

Which brings me to this review of a little ol' EP from an oft unheard of band. Please Inform the Captain this is a Hijack(who shall now be referred to as PITCTIAH) was a band I, admittedly, started listening to on the basis of the name alone. Something so quirky just HAD to be good, right? Well, in this instance, yes!

The self-titled EP is only six songs long, but each is good enough that you'll want to listen to at least 4 or five of them on repeat. The band is an underground powerhouse consisting of people from bands like Former Members of Alfonsin, Dirty Dirt and the Dirts, Torches to Rome and Fuel. The music harkens back to the golden days of old school(hate that term...) hardcore, with one guitar pounding out gain-filled chords and the lead guitarist following along with impressive licks. Still, the drums and bass on some songs provide an almost dance worthy rhythm that, while a stark contrast with the guitars, somehow blends and fits perfectly along.

The biggest note of the band, though, is the sampling. Every song begins with several spliced together samples, providing an interesting border to the music itself. Everyone from Richard Nixon to the Great Goblin from the Hobbit movie is used in the merging and mixing of sampled quotes and music.

The first track on the EP, "Your good thing is about to come to an end", starts off with an intro to the band itself. Spliced together bits and pieces of what sound like old instructional videos(and a 70's funk band?) repeat "Please inform the captain this is a hijack!" twice before slowly melting into the sliding guitar and whiny feedback of the song. While this is my least favourite song on the EP, it's still a solid track and showcases the talents of two of the singers. A more muted first singer who sticks to lows, and an insanely high-pitched second singer who more resembles a child going through another stage of puberty. But hey, it works, and it works extremely well.

The rest of the album follows this formula. The two singers duel back and forth over the energetic and frantic music, leading up to a slow breakdown and an ending that usually has all the crash cymbals on the drum set ringing and all the band members singing at the same time, giving it the feel that it would have been one hell of a live show.

One track of note, and my personal favourite, is "Postcards from the Future". The song has one singer who hadn't taken the forefront for the rest of the album covering the entire track with his raspy, powerful vocals. The music itself is different from the rest of the album too, taking a less complicated approach to hardcore and sticking with octaves for the entirety of the verse. The song, lamenting the garbage that is fed to people as entertainment is the best one in terms of music and energy, especially when the ending hits and it almost reaches anthem status. "Broken children, it's not too late, the future is unwritten..."

All in all, it's a great album and worth searching for. It can't really be bought anymore, as there were very limited pressings, but the songs can be found on almost any p2p network, and hell, I'll even send them as a zip file if you'd like.

And away I go.

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Monday, January 29, 2007

Have You Heard of Buffalo Exchange ???????

What a girl to do with an addiction to shopping but with funds so low Target seems like a luxury consignment shop.Buffalo Exchange is one of the most wonderful consignment shops in the USA. Buffalo Exchange started out with simple beginnings in the State of Arizona in 1974 and know has several locations in 12 states. Buffalo Exchange presents a type of atmosphere that has you walking in and out feeling the same way Happy. Buffalo Exchange have steals and deals galore. I went there and purchased pair of Armani heels for only $12.99. My best friend got a gown for a pageant for around $25.00 and a pair of heels for $9.99 can't beat those prices. So know your probably sulking, say to yourself there no Buffalo Exchange in my city!! No fret there a Buffalo Exchange on EBay allowing you to get a taste of their sweet deals.

Until Later... K.Monroe

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First Post :D

Seeing as this is my first post, I guess it would be good to start off with an introduction:

My name is Raven. I`m a graphic artist currently residing in SW Virginia, and I run Avocado Tree Distro and Panda Girl, a little DIY business. I`ll be blogging about everything artsy- interviewing new and upcoming artist, doing book and zine reviews, posting tutorials, and giving advice on running your own distro or DIY craft business. If you have any questions, you can find my e-mail address in my profile :]

& also for my first post, i`ve decided to review one of my favorite craft zines, Scrappy!


Scrappy Zine No. 1: Stitches by Niku
$3 / 33 pages / half size

I`ve noticed that most craft zines are usually in color, and have tons of handmade touches to them, and Scrappy is no different. When I opened the neatly decorated envelope from Niku a couple of months ago, I knew I was in for something good. The cover alone grasps your attention, & once you open to the table of contents, you know this is going to be a great zine. Hand-drawn and mostly handwritten, Niku has made her first craft zine unbelieveable. This issue features sewing projects, from cardgian reconstruction to zine cozies, to funky Christmas stockings to fun with felt! She has included basics for sewing, which i found extremely helpful, especially for first time sewers. Purple cover with title of zine in color glued on, and bound with cute fuzzy yarn. Definately a best seller in the distro.

♥Raven

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Interview with Christina of Rx Apparel Soon

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As soon as I arrived in NYC during my visit last year, I knew I had to visit The Market. It's this huge room packed with indepedent designers (mostly in the form of students, or graduates) trying to find a safe and loving home for their wares. I tried very hard to hide my enthusiasm- obviously not hard enough! I'm originally from Trinidad and Tobago, where the glory of independent/diy culture and crafting hasn't really caught on yet. Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
I'd never been presented with so much choice in my life- the kind of things I'd seen in stores on the Internet, but never in person. As I swooped repeatedly round each vendor, I couldn't help but engage in conversation with Christina, the owner of Rx Apparel. For the zine, I arranged an interview with her- hopefully to be posted next week.
Visit The Market! Or, even better, hone your crafty skills and get yourself a spot there!

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From Rx Apparel by Christina Ewald

-Amanda C.Q.

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DeviantArt Tutorials

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So you've scoured craftster.org, tried every possible search engine, and thoroughly investigated every diy livejournal community. Thankfully, there's a new resource overflowing with tutorials, patterns and instructions for any crafty endeavour you may be interested in- be it the study of human anatomy to improve your artistic skills, a beginner's guide to photoshop and sculpting, or a instructions for drinking beer underwater (seriously). Some are incredibly cute, most are very well-illustrated- works of art in themselves.

Just remember to put all of these tutorials to good use. As a fellow pattern-hoarder, I know what it's like to have most of the space on your computer taken up with saved files from the internet, all including instructions for making cool clothes (and yet, an empty closet). Why not join DeviantArt while you're there and display all the stuff you've created from their helpful tutorials?

Right: How to Crochet Tutorial by ~VolensVivarium



Link
-Amanda C.Q.

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Sunday, January 28, 2007

Movin' on up

We have got a team of writers on board, and are ready to go.

Monday, January 22, 2007

What to expect from the zine in the near future:

Interviews with Indie (and other!) musicians
Interviews with various independent and grassroot businesses
Diy projects and tutorials
All-round advice from people who've done cool stuff
Reviews of albums, concerts, books, etc
The inspiring
The unexpected


Ambitious much?

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Sunday, January 21, 2007

News

1. We've got a new a new writer. Her name's Max California, and she specializes in sewing, pattern-making, and all-round diy goodness. Expect some neat tutorials in the near future.

2. We decided to start an art ring. Any artist who wishes to have a painting or photo or anything at all featured on the front page of the blog can do so for a month. We'll host the pictures. After the month is up, they'll choose a new artist who we'll contact to have work featured on the blog. In the event that a new artist can't be found, we'll chose a new artist. That's it... so submit your work!

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Be not afraid needs writers

We need a team of writers for our blog!
We're looking for dedicated bloggers from any country, beach or cave on the planet to write about any interesting events or people in fashion, the diy/craft movement, music, film, or literature- or anyone who has done something unbelievably great for the world in which they live. Interviews or reviews would be good; any dissertations or essays would be good as well. Write about anybody or anything that inspires you.
We also need writers to provide tutorials for diy projects.

contact happiness_is_a_pretzel@yahoo.com if you're interested.

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The First Post.

This is an indie culture zine of sorts.
But then, it isn't.
This is a blog dedicated to everything that makes you feel something.
Everything that gives you goosebumps.
Everything that makes you realize that the artist and the spectator are one and the same.
It probably won't change your life,
but you probably will.