CAPTURED :: Some Love for Tall Tree.

Froglegs Spoonfingers & Elfkowitz outside the Grassroots Dome

View of the Tall Tree campgrounds, from outside the Grassroots Dome

View of the Tall Tree campgrounds, from outside the Grassroots Dome

Graham trying to patch up the Grassroots Dome before it rains

Graham posted up in his hammock inside the GRC Dome

K (aka K-Nobs) & Rob

K & Graham

K

K & Ian (aka Elfkowitz) w/ Ben Samples & Greg Fisk (aka Fresh2Death)

Tawny's homie bears an uncanny resemblance to someone I know...

CMaz sighting!

Steezin hard in a fabulous technicolor fit :)

K & Renee

K & Samples

K & Ian

Crispy, Wilson, Mama & Snufalufagus in the Peace, Love & Glass booth

K, Ian, Rob & Froglegs getting wierd in the dome

Mama & K

Reerr

K & Samples

Mama & Samples

Harrison & K

Harrison, Rob, Ian, K & Jared

Rob, K & Ian

GRIZ (from the back) inside the GRC Dome

Ian, K, Rob & Graham...GROUP HUG!

Harrison, Rob & K servin' that Sun Droppp

Graham, Ian & K

Dennis & K

Dennis & K

Tall Tree sunset

ROBAIRE DON'T CARE

Rob

Rob & Mama

Seth, Mama, Nicole & Paul

Seth, Mama Ana, Nicole & Paul

Nicole in some truly AMAZING festie steez

Mama, Nicole, Paul & the blowup dino

Just before shit got really really weird... 8)

Tawny finds a hoop

Tawny hoopin' by the water after sunset

Group shot outside the barn

Cool pantalones

Group shot outside the barn...again

Mama & K

K & her festie kiddo.

Abid, festie kid w/ his fam & Fisk throwin' up the ears

THE BEST lot kid EVER! BOOM.

No, really...THE BEST! Grassroots shorty steez. TOO CUTE.

Abid, Mama, Jake & Luth at the Minds Matter booth

Abid, Mama & Jake at the Minds Matter booth

Grant, Tawny & Abid gettin down. Love the intergalactic fit on my girl!

K, Abid & Tyler (aka Teleport)

K & Abid

Blackout K

Ian, Joe Mousepad & K

This guy named Salt & my favorite Tall Tree spunion

Project Aspect, Mama Ana & Unlimited Gravity

Sean, Project Aspect, Mama Ana & Unlimited Gravity

Abid, from Minds Matter, doin what he does best

Abid & Grant doin' The Abid

Musta been preeeeetty funny...

Rob & Tawny

Abid & Tawny the Dino

Mama, Joe Mousepad & Ill-esha

Mama Ana & Tawny sip sip sip sippin on that Manischewitz

* I hate that some of these images are so blurry, but I had to use multiple cameras and one of them (sadly) did not produce good quality pics.

Oh! ...and BIG UPs to Abid Man and K-Nobbs for donating their cams (and a few pics) to the "Mama Ana" cause :)

LISTEN UP :: Intergalactic Moonbass.

I've been wobblin' around my apartment with Moonbass 14 on blast for the last two days. Rook did an AMAZING job putting together this set! More than an hour long, but never boring...I would describe it as a Dubstepy and GlitchHoppy amalgamation of beats, bass, synth, song, and spoken word samples. 

Below is a Soundcloud player, which you can use to stream or download Moonbass 14. But, if I were you, I'd just go ahead and download it. Once you start listening, you'll understand exactly what I mean. Enjoy!

WORD :: Encoutering Life's Endings.

Plato said, "If you wish to live well, practice dying."

Tune in to understand why ...

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"All that lives is transitory, and will depart this life."

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Louis Silverstein is a transcendental/holistic philosopher and practitioner, and multi-cultural and interdisciplinary educator. Currently a Distinguished Professor of Liberal Education at Columbia College Chicago, he teaches courses in Peace Studies, Dying & Death, Education, Culture & Society, and Social Problems In American Society. Louis has presented on a variety of topics at meetings of professional associations, including: the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education, the American Council on Education, the Association for Humanistic Sociology, the American Association of Higher education, the American Educational Research Association, the National Adult Education Association, the Third World Studies Association, the Alliance-Association for External Degree Programs for Adults, the National Social science Association, the International Society for Exploring Teaching Alternatives, the Creative Management in Higher Education Association, the Popular Culture Association, the Coalition To Increase Minority Degrees, the Midwest Philosophy of Education Society, the American Society On Aging, the Humanities Education & Research Association and the World Forum On Education. Topics presented by Louis include: "Teaching A Culture of Peace & Justice," "Breaking The Silence: Drugs, Culture & Truth," "Sex As Curse & Blessing," "Aging Stories," "Emotional Intelligence," "Death & Dying," and "Embodied/Experiential Spirituality." In addition, he is the author Of "An Oral History of Columbia College, Vols. I-V," "Deep Spirit & Great Heart: Living In Marijuana Consciousness" and "Encountering Life's Endings." Louis is also co-founder and co-director of the Life Arts Society, dedicated to the healing and uplifting of mind, body and spirit. His studies, theoretical and experiential, of transformative consciousness and alternative realities have been of long duration, encompassing four decades-1960's to the present, and have taken him to settings throughout the U.S., and to Jamaica, Costa Rica, Canada and numerous European countries. 

LISTEN UP :: Dubstep Is Like A Girl I Used To...

"Dubstep is like a girl i used to fuck... most nights i can't stand to be in the same room with her ...but you remind me of why i used to fuck that bitch."   - Homie Kurt <Facebook>

NastyNasty is, hands down, one of my all-time favorite Electronic music creators. He was the first DJ to turn me on to the more Crunk, Glitchy, Future Bass sound that has recently gained a HUGE amount of attention from fans, listeners, DJs and producers in the Electronic music community. The man's talent and creativity are undeniable.  

Some of you may have seen the short post I did a few months ago, which featured NastyNasty. If you never got the chance to, you can find it here. Annnd now, for your listening pleasure...below you will find a few of my favorite NastyNasty tracks, two of which are available to download for free, as well as some free downloads made available by NastyNasty via his Facebook fanpage. I guarantee, that before the first track is finished playing, you'll be gettin' dowwwn on the floor Mama Ana stylee ;)

:: STREAM & DOWNLOAD NASTYNASTY ::

NastyNasty :: OUT HERE (ORIGINAL MIX)

NastyNasty ::  STACKING

NastyNasty :: TRAPS

NastyNasty :: NO NAMES VIP

:: BONUS : MO' FREE NASTYNASTY ::

CHOKER / BLEEDING / JUNKIE / LAST UNICORN

ELECTRONIC EXPLORATIONS MIX / LAZER SOUL (FOR SF WEEKLY) / GRIME SCIENCE

NastyNasty is gracing audiences across the country with his presence during the months of March, April and May of this year. Posted on the flyer above, are the dates of each NastyNasty show and the cities he will visit.

FRITE NITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : MYSPACE : YOUTUBE

LISTEN UP :: Old Old New New Rye Rye.

Rye Rye is best known for the Crookers remix of her track, "Wassup Wassup," which was produced by Diplo in 2008. Check out Rye Rye spittin' on the mic and gettin down real nassst on the flo' below...

Rye Rye also gained notoriety for another 2008 track, "Hardcore Girls" which was produced by The Count & Sinden. Fast forward 3 years to 2011...Rye Rye makes a vid clip to accompany "Hardcore Girls," which was released last week. Enjoy!

:: FREE DOWNLOADS ::

RYE RYE :: WASSUP WASSUP

RYE RYE :: HARDCORE GIRLS

LISTEN UP :: Dubstep Sounds From Jack Sparrow.

J.SPARROW'S LATEST TRACKS

LISTEN UP :: Haydn Hoffman Remixes "Kick Snare".

CRISSY CRISS :: KICK SNARE (HAYDN HOFFMAN DUBSTEP RMX)

WORD :: What The Stars Had To Say About My Day.

If you know me, then you know I'm in to studying the Occult and all forms of Divination. While I don't rely on  horoscopes, numerology, etc. to be 100% accurate or tell me exactly what the future holds, I do, however, use these practices to help me gain insight and direction; and, in addition, I use them as tools to guide self-reflection. 

I checked my horoscope the minute I got home on March 8th, because it had been one of the most eye-opening and mind-blowing days I'd experienced in a long long time. Here's what the stars had to say about my day...

Enthusiasm for spiritual and metaphysical studies could have you feeling optimistic about the future. Your physical energy is high, Gemini, and this suggests that you want to try yoga, tai chi, or another discipline that combines physical exercise with developing psychic and spiritual faculties. Friends could want to join you in this activity. Let the insights flow, and write them down.

LISTEN UP :: Pandemonium Fest Review / THE UNTZ.

“We’re in Chicago, so you know we’re going to play some house music!” It’s Friday evening at the Congress Theater, located deep within Chicago’s North Side, and New Deal drummer Darren Shearer is shouting this into his overhead microphone. Everyone in attendance seems to find this highly agreeable, so the electronic trio dive right into some of the most melodic house music this side of the 1990s. This is Pandemonium Fest, after all. Isn’t that what’s supposed to happen?

One of the strangest things about the evening was how expectations were defied. Certainly there was music. There were bass wobbles and big drops and hula hoops and flat brims. But if the night was about expectations, then certainly the other headliners were most concerned with defying them. Youthful opener LoBounce surprised everybody, mainly because not everyone knows who he is. His” drippy bass” sound, served over-easy on top of glitch-hop style beats, sounded excellent even in the echoing Congress Theater. While smaller acts played downstairs at the second stage, it was hard not to smile at the sight of a young guy doing well for himself.

Nero surprised everyone by coming out not as a duo, but as a single DJ, spinning hard UK style dubstep and drum n’ bass. At times he sounded like a graffiti artist, spraying blurts of bass liked spray paint. Other times he worked the crowd like a festival DJ, with huge alarm sounds over heavy, heavy drum breaks. And then sometimes he decided to just press play, like he did while segueing the Beastie Boys classic “Sabotage” into Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in Name.” It was a smart decision by the seasoned vet, and it threw the still filling crowd into a feeding frenzy.

If Nero and LoBounce surprised people with their set placements, Conspirator mixed things up by playing like a rock band. Usual suspects Aron Magner and Marc Brownstein were backed up by Lotus drummer Mike Greenfield and RAQ guitarist Chris Michetti, and instead of coming out with the usual tech/IDM sound that fans have become accustomed to, they opted for a big-guitar sound. Michetti sounded eager to please, but at time it still feels like he’s searching for his role. The quartet hit its stride mid-set with a smoking Lunar Pursuit>Orch Theme, and it was here that Michetti seemed to find his best voice: playing blissed out lead lines, drenched in reverb and sustain. It will be very interesting to watch this spin-off group develop as a live act as time goes on.

But, as usual, the New Deal delivered what Shearer promised early in the set: pounding live house music. But house music isn’t really as fitting of a term for the Toronto-based trio. The New Deal injects waves of color and tone into the typical four-on-the-floor formula, layers that most groups simply don’t have. It doesn’t hurt that they have Jamie Shields, aka the Human Riff Machine. One of the most startling things about Shields is his refusal to utilize sequencers or arpeggiators in his playing. He’s been quoted as saying he uses only his two hands, and, “sometimes even [his] nose.” It’s tough to fathom how he’s able to invent such ingenious melodies on the fly, but it also can’t hurt to have a beast on the bass like Dan Kurtz. I spent a long time watching Kurtz, and at times it was difficult to distinguish if he was playing a bass, a guitar or a keyboard. That’s because his wall of effects, coupled with his unique attack in playing is so his own, the sound seems unrestricted by definition. And while Shields provides the color and Kurtz the backbone, it’s drummer Darren Shearer that pumps the blood of the band. An absolute monster behind the kit, Shearer is somehow able to replicate the incredible accuracy of a drum machine without losing any feeling. He truly has a master’s ear. And as the New Deal kicked into “VL Tone” near the end of the set, he raised a single fist into the air. Nearly every fist in the house joined him, too. And that, as it was, turned out to be something everyone expected. Expected and embraced.

CONTENT :: Natty Morrison / THE UNTZ

LISTEN UP :: The Candyman Can.

Big ups to my new homie Fisk for introducing me to the musical stylings of some smaller-name electronic DJs this weekend! One such DJ is The Candyman (a.k.a. Julian Garland), who hails from Boulder, Colorado and along with Frequent-C, make up the Slim Thugz duo. The Candyman's music is a product of the melding together of electronic, glitch, and hip-hop sounds, with a dash of intergalactic flavor. If you enjoy the tracks posted below, visit Soundcloud to hear and download more from The Candyman.

STRAWBERRY LETTER #23 (CANDYMAN'S SUPER SUPER PHONK RMX)

SLIM THUGZ (THE CANDYMAN & FREQUENT-C :: WOOD GRAIN SYMPHONY

KIDS THESE DAYS FT. FREQUENT-C

FIG NEWTON FT. CHRON PAU

 

CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK

WORD :: If They Did It In Wrigley.

    THEM :: You know what they should do?

    
    ME :: What?

    
    THEM :: Let's do a post Cubs game Dubstep show in Wrigleyville!

    
    ME :: Nawwwwww.

    
    THEM :: Hell yessssss! It'll be dope!

    

    ME :: Ohhhhh shitttttttt...CUBSTEP!

CAPTURED :: Love. Organic.

CAPTURED :: Animal Coded.

GRINDS :: Mama Ana's Herbal Choco Chippers.

 

 INGREDIENTS

1     cup    bud butter
1     cup    white sugar
1     cup    brown sugar
2     eggs
1     tsp     vanilla
2     cup    flour
2½  cup    rolled oats
½    tsp     salt
1     tsp     baking powder
1     tsp     baking soda
1     bag    semi-sweet choco chips

 PREP

 Preheat oven to 375° F
 Make "bud butter"

 DIRECTIONS

 1. Combine the following ingredients in a large bowl:

• Flour
• Rolled oats
• Salt 
• Baking powder
• Baking soda

 2. Mix together herbal butter, white and brown sugar, eggs and vanilla. 

 3. Blend moist and dry ingredients together. 

 4. Stir chocolate chips into dough mixture.

 5. Drop rounded teaspoons of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. 

 6. Bake at 375° F for 7 - 8 minutes. 

 7. Carefully transfer cookies from pan and allow to cool. 

 Makes about 60 cookies.

LISTEN UP :: Not In Love.

Crystal Castles, has released their "Not In Love" video. You can view the video, as well as download the track for free, below.

FREE DOWNLOAD :: NOT IN LOVE (FT. ROBERT SMITH)

IN MOTION :: "Beyond Wonderland" 2011 Trailer.

STEEZ :: Rag & Bone Put Their Models In Charge.

Instead of hiring a professional photographer to shoot their ad campaign, Marcus Wainwright and David Neville handed Abbey Lee Kershaw, Edita Vilkeviciute, Sasha Pivovarova, and Lily Aldridge a digital camera and asked them to take pictures of themselves in Rag & Bone clothes — with full creative freedom. [Fashionologie]

“We have always been very inspired by the girls who do the show,” said Wainwright. “Rather than do what every other brand does and have a high-end photographer take very polished shots, we thought, ‘Let’s flip it on its head to get the girls to take over.’ We wanted it to be very real.” [Fashionologie]

CAPTURED :: Our New Years Trip In Acrylic.

Fees like me, don't grow on trees.

CAPTURED :: She So Smokey.