Imagine you’re marooned in some lazy beach town and are desperate for an icy beverage. You wander around nondescript storefronts, faded cars parked on vacant streets, and a feeling of zombie despair suddenly overwhelms you. In the distance you hear what sounds like be-bop but with driving guitars and a refrain—”why you lookin’ at me?”—and instead of running from it you’re drawn closer. There, through the squeaky doors of a blacked out bar, three guys and a beanie-topped girl are churning out pop-fueled, surf psych rock that forces you to tap your toes and nod your head into a frenzy. This is what it’s like to be sonically invaded by Hooded Fang.
Battle Ground: The CIPEA No. 4 House by AZL Architects

Photos © Yao Li
A couple days ago Alex posted this great piece on the USJ campus de l’innovation et du sport, which to me looked like some kind of ancient apartment building that had been recently uncovered. The building had been getting a lot of flack for the way it looked, and in fact, our own readers took to our Facebook to point out that it looked like it had “been bombarded”. which kinda cracked me up.
I thought I’d continue with the theme of “bombardment” and present the CIPEA No. 4 House by AZL Architects, which is located in Nanjing, China, and looks like it’s been through quite a bit.
‘Berlin Lovers’, My Favorite New Song by Still Corners

It feels like spring/summer is creeping super quickly here in Los Angeles, so finding the right albums as the appropriate summer soundtrack is totally key. One I would highly suggest is the new release from Still Corners called Strange Pleasures. Still Corners is the musical collaboration between Greg Hughes and Tessa Murray, who together make some fuzzed out electronic joy.
On the Fringe of Genre – A Film Review of ‘Upstream Color’

Thoughtful filmmakers intent on making engaging experimental films in today’s cinematic climate are fearless. Only a handful of filmmakers, able to uncover the balance between formal abstraction and narrative fluff, succeed in making films that are a cut above the rest. Harmony Korine of course rules this utopia, as does David Lynch, Michel Gondry and to a certain extent Terrance Malick, with his rapturous depiction of regeneration. Hopefully, Shane Carruth, the writer, director and star, of his second film Upstream Color, will become the newest, most promising member of this crew.
“Less is Less, But Enough.” Architecture Uncomfortable Workshop

Last week, Ray Harryhausen passed away. For decades, Ray created special effects for Hollywood, using stop motion animation and old fashioned camera trickery to bring artifical villans to the big screen. When asked how computers have revolutionized special effects, Ray replied “you know, in a thirty-second commercial you see the most amazing images, the amazing image is no longer spectacular. It’s become mundane because it’s over used. The computer seems to be able to do anything. So people take it for granted.”
And even though he was talking about mythological characters and fake dinosaurs, he might as well have been talking about architecture.