∆ ∆ ∆

Moody as ever:
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!

“Having emerged from hiatus at the end of 2010, GYBE picked up right where they left off, immediately re-capturing the sound and material that had fallen dormant in 2003 and driving it forward with every show of their extensive touring over the last 18 months. The new album presents the fruits of that labour: evolved and definitive versions of two huge compositions previously known to fans as “Albanian” and “Gamelan”, now properly titled as “MLADIC” and “WE DRIFT LIKE WORRIED FIRE” respectively. Accompanied by the new drones (stitched into the album sequence on CD; cut separately on their own 7″ for the LP version), GYBE have offered up a fifth album that we feel is as absolutely vital, virulent, honest and heavy as anything in their discography.
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- Constellation Records

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México City Part I – The shows

We departed from Tijuana to México City (D.F.) on December 12, 2012 on a redeye flight via Volaris. We arrived about midnight (D.F. time) and waited about 10 minutes outside the airport before being picked up by our host, Juan Pablo Villegas (JP) and his good friend/collaborator Alfredo Martinez. These guys are rad, both are awesome New Media artists/designers and super sweet people.

While driving to the studio we passed a part of town called El Bennion de los Baños or “Little Columbia” holy fuck! I have never seen anything like this, we turned a corner and all of a sudden- massive bass sounds coming out of a few small streets, cumbia music blasting, stacked speakers and about 30 people dancing in the streets! A few blocks later we arrived at Lalo’s studio, to pick up a few things for an exhibition that Alfredo was having that that week. Lalo’s studio serves as a shared artists’ work space which is part of a collective called Artlab MX. This place is fully equipped with various wood cutting tools, drills, paints, and laser cutters. We were shown a few examples of how the laser cutters work- the designs are uploaded via a computer program of some kind which uses a vector system then it’s sent over to the machine which makes flawless cuts into the desired material.

Next we reached the house of JP, which is very close to Parque Hundido. Our friend Alex (also known by his stage name, TRON) had arrived a few days earlier from Mexicali and was in the kitchen preparing a very delicous pasta for us. We had a few drinks, got to know everyone a bit and started talking about art and life etc. JP is currently programming specific software and adapting electronics in a sound jacket, designed by MACHINA, which is a wearable technology company that advocates free software, DIY ethics and (h)ac(k)tivism. The sound jacket peaked my personal intrest since I am currently working on an interactive sound-suit in collaboration with Randy Chiurazzi and Bobby Bray. For those of you who might be unfamiliar with the idea of such a garment, it’s a loose idea of intertwining technology (for example: LilyPad Arduinos) and textiles in perfect harmony for a particular desired effect. Some photos of JP modeling his ideas…

Day One:
The first show happened at Museo Británico Americano en México or the British American Museum in México, which is a totally insane venue! It’s actually a late nineteenth century, english-gothic church which is currently in the process of being restored. We got there a bit early, since all of the musicians had to do sound checks etc. While waiting for things to get started I took some time to walk around the grounds of this incredible space. Shorty after I met Danette who is part of a musical project called Sonido Lasser Drakar. She helped out to organize the event and was there early.

With a cooler of Mezcal and beer time went quickly and not before long the place filled up. This night was hosted by VOLTA (a collective of artists who organize experimental music, art and sound events), in collaboration with Vale Vergas Discos (a record label based out of D.F.), Patronato de Arte Contemporaneo, Ediciones Conquista and Monogatari

Performances for this night include: MONOGATARI, DS RE, TRON, BOBBY BRAY, ROGELIO SOSA and ORMO + Brontis

Photo set courtesey Melisa San Vicente and Antonio Barrientos / VOLTA

Day Two:
This show was located closer to downtown at a little bar that sells Mezcal and beer, located en frente al Teatro Blanquita. It was hosted by Vale Vergas Discos and Monogatari / Flier made by GURO.

This is the show that I would also be playing some vinyl at. We arrived in time and the musicians began sound checks. After all my levels were set for the turntables I began to feel more relaxed and comfortable. I started my set with one of my favorite records, 1968 Delay by CAN. Alfredo and I now began to play back to back which was super rad. In line with the likes of my style his set included: Psychic TV , Neu, ‎Braindead Sound Machine, Borguesia and This Heat to name a few. I played mostly between the bands after this, my set included: Tarantula Hawk, Nation of Ulysses
Throbbing Gristle, Submission Hold…

Line up: ORMO + Brontis, BOBBY BRAY, TRON and MONOGATARI with two other Dj’s following the bands when they were finished, who were Diego y Pichis and both played more techey-house sets.

Later that night, after the show had finished we headed over to a little place called Bahia Bar. Super fun crowd, I totally liked the vibe there. Right by the entrance to the bar there was a table stacked full of zines!

It was here I met Don Charles and discovered Corona Boreal, a new contemporary art and fashion magazine of which Don Charles is an editor. He is also the creator of a fanzine called Otherness. Both are super cool and we ended up buying the holiday pack which came with limited edition prints/posters and some awesome stickers!

What a fucking crazy 48 hours! Only two days in Mexico City thus far and so much had already happened! An insane amount of awesome people and so much love!

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Apocalypse??!

Thursday December 20th !!! Makeout Weird
∆ Lee Reynolds ∆ Raul Garcia ∆ Micha Cárdenas ∆ Zach Blas

“This month, on the eve of the end of the Mayan calendar, we are honored to have Micha Cárdenas and Zach Blas be part of the night!! Micha is a world renowned theorist/author/lecturer/performance artist who all but deconstructs the fabric of time-space. Author of The Transreal: Political Aesthetics of Crossing Realities, Micha more then pushes the boundaries of reality, technology, and gender identity. Zach Blas is an artist-theorist working at the intersections of networked media, queerness, and social practice. Among other places, Zach has taught at UC Berkley and Duke University. Zach’s work bends preconceived notions of what discourse/action can be.

Later in the night Lee Reynolds, Raul Garcia, and Mnstrpsy will provide the soundtrack to human body vibrations and gyrations! Since Moonshake no longer occurs at Kadan (RIP) we are glad to have Moonshake-master Lee Reynolds at the Whistle Stop for a night!!

Come to dance, come to drink, come to have an experimental evening with new friends, come witness/experience experimental ingredients unfold at the Whistle Stop.” -Bobby Bray




Original Paper Image…

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Another installment of Makeout Weird has arrived!

“Come on down for a fun free night of music, drinking, chilling and/or dancing at the Whistlestop! There will even be a pre-thanksgiving potluck earlier in the night.

ANA is the sister sound to Kata, and we are excited to hear these dark sound-transmissions in the Whistle Stop! There is definitely an essence and feel accompanying this morph-able explorative group led by Demetrius Antuña. This performance will include Rebecca Antuna (KATA) and Ross Zafar (California Bleeding, Alioth).

Nothingful is Sasha Syeed, who always brings the weird wherever he goes. It’s hard to describe what he does, but suffice it to say that the refined subtle awkwardness in his music and general demeanor metaphorically matches the strange nature of reality in this dimension – what are we doing on this random rock anyways?!

Dj Billa has been around, including a 2-year residency in Prague, CZ. He also spearheaded regular parties during his time in New Mexico. Now living in San Diego he has become a favorite among the Moonshake crew and we are pleased to have him spin at the Whistle Stop.

Artwork by Maisy Marrs will be unveiled for a stay at The Whistle Stop. We are very happy to provide an outlet for her first solo show!”-Bobby Bray SD Reader

Thursday November 15th at Whistle Stop Bar ///
21+ / NO COVER!

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Super excited for this festival!!! Happening in downtown Tijuana on November 17th. Pre-sale tickets available here. For more information and line-up check out their website here: http://amfmf.com/.

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Merrill Nisker, better known by her stage name Peaches, is a Canadian musician and performance artist. She recently played a Dj set at Black Box in Tijuana and it was fucking amazing! She takes performance to the next level: flamboyant performance art, eccentric costuming, pyrotechnics, burlesque, there were even a couple Lucha Libre dudes who came on stage about half way through her set – totally surreal and gender bending. I really appreciate her effort to question gender roles and the ideas of feminine vs. masculine. Thank you for being brash and keeping it fucking real!

I was asked the day before the show if I’d be available to drive Peaches from Tijuana to the San Diego airport and of course I said yes! I haven’t ever been so excited to wait in the line to cross the border. After the show I picked Peaches up in my 94′ Toyota Corolla and we headed towards la linea. My boyfriend and I had a nice chat with her and got her to the airport in time for her early morning flight. Peaches is super humble, down to earth, and is an amazing human = total inspiration. Photos below courtesy of Cari Veach.

Peaches’ new single ‘BURST!’ is out now via Boysnoize Records! Produced by Boysnoize and Alex Epton aka XXXchange, the EP is available now digitally and will be released in North America November 6th. Video directed by Vice Cooler.


She also just released her first feature film Peaches Does Herself. The film had its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival back in September.

“The film largely takes place on intricately connected sets. It begins with a philosophical lecture that is rudely interrupted by Peaches, who is spurred on by the advice of a sixty-five-year-old stripper to transform into a musician with magical sexual powers. As the story takes the shape of an operetta, Peaches’ popularity grows and she seeks to gratify her fans’ desires by becoming transsexual. She falls in love with a beautiful she-male, but when her heart is broken she must dig deep to find out what she desires and who she truly is. All of this is set to an electro-rock score performed by an ever-growing band, and accompanied by a host of fantastical dancers. The ‘fourth wall’ is only broken at the finale, as Peaches tricycles away, up the street, with a new-found freedom.” -TIFF

Recently while in Berlin she co-wrote a song and shot a guerrilla style video with Simmone Jones, artists and activists called “Free Pussy Riot“. The song is in support of the jailed members of the Russian, feminist, punk-rock band Pussy Riot.

“Russia’s Pussy Riot is an all-female collective, sometimes numbering as many as 10, who wear brightly coloured dresses, tights and balaclavas. On February 21st, some members of the collective performed a song at the altar of Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour of the Russian Orthodox Church asking ‘Theotokos’ (the Virgin Mary) to ‘chase Putin away,’ to protest his third presidency bid in March.”

“After less than a minute, guards escorted them outside. The short-lived protest was shot and posted on YouTube. It appears to show five participants.”

“On March 3rd, Maria Alyokhina, 24, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, both mothers of young children, were arrested and charged with premeditated hooliganism motivated by religious hatred or hostility. On March 16th, Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, was also arrested and charged. They have been incarcerated ever since.” -Rolling Stone

On October 10th Yekaterina Samutsevich was freed on appeal but a Moscow court upheld prison sentences for Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova. Read more.

||| SIGN THE PETITION |||
||| WATCH THE VIDEO “FREE PUSSY RIOT!”|||

Peaches will be playing San Diego Tuesday October 23 at The Belly-Up Tavern in Solano Beach!!!

Here’s the entire photo set from Tijuana’s performance! All photos courtesy of Cari Veach.

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and just to bring it back a bit xoi…

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“Having just released their brand new E.P., Batwings will be infiltrating Whistle Stop!! This band is very intense (especially for the Whistle Stop), so hopefully some of the unsuspecting neighborhood regulars can handle it, haha! This event will function as their San Diego release show of sorts, with copies of La Maldición available. Read more here…

In addition to Batwings cutting loose, there will be plenty of time to get your body moving to the DJ booth stylings of Ego War, Jon Doss, and Mnstrpsy. These pros have provided the soundtrack to many debaucherous nights!”- Bobby Bray SD Reader

Makeout Weird is happening this Thursday October 18th /// For more information, check out ourFB Event Page

Concept to completion: original paper collage, digital edit and final poster. View more of my paper collage collection here.

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Thursday August 16th at Whistle Stop Bar

“What happens when veteran experimental noise musicians evolve into the next stage of soundz? Disco Noise Music that’s what! Tar Halos involves Frank Melendez and Jay Margart of Riververb, and lately Brandon Relf of Sleeping People. Every song is different, there’s no telling what’s going to happen but one thing is for sure not many have traveled this far down the rabbit hole – come witness the discoveries these madmen have made! What happens when Tar Halos plays a show with rap ravers Ricar Dough and Orooso Gahbda? A sexual milky way path to the secrets of the universe opens up, inviting you to a Thursday filled with wonders, risks, and a cosmic shower in the juices of life.

Resident DJs Mnstrpsy, Ego War, and Freaksauce will add to the concoction.

The walls of the Whistle will display works by Timbre Polymita. And documentation of what The Periscope Project did with the Predator Drone case they bought on Craigslist will stay up for another round at the Whistle Stop.”
-Bobby Bray SD Reader

no cover // 21+ // FB Event Page

Original paper collage image for the flier…

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“The Bitwise Operators are the Beatles of computer music. Consisting of top Ph.D. candidates of the leading institution in the field (USCD), this cooperative of innovators are defining the future fundamentals which musicians and artists will end up using. Individually these people thrive, together they throb. Grappling with performance aspects of digital mediums, they often come up with inventive solutions. Writing their own software, building their own hardware, creating reverb out old-school slinkies, and performing on rooftops in clean-room suits and gas masks are just some of things this band has done thus far. They are what Revenge of the Nerds wishes it referenced. They are also educators and very approachable, so if you get any of them talking, consider taking notes.

The night will also see Ese’& Zain in the DJ booth: Mike Delgato (formally Shark Attack) and Nathan Joyner (All Leather, Hot Nerds, Leg Lifters). This production duo is capable of keeping large dance clubs bumpin’ in LA, TJ, and of course SD, mixing Electro, Hardcore, and whatever else they deem as clever. Also, resident DJ Mnstrpsy will be throwing down some jams.

The Periscope Project is a group of artists that have purchased a Predator Drone case locally on Craigslist. They have re-appropriated this drone-home and have strategically presented it at important military locations in San Diego County. The walls of the Whistle Stop will display some of the documentation of their actions. Also, excerpts of the 2nd edition of See Sick will be up, by Amber Treadway (31G). In addition, Jess Lambard (Hunt & Gather) will be offering her unique line of jewelry, Found Pieces, some of which involves small mammal bones.

If you get to the Whistle Stop early you can also check out SHOT x SHOT – BATMAN PARTY at 730pm, focused on the original 1966 Batman, + previews for Chris Nolan’s Dark Knight Rises opening July 20th, swag, posters & more.” -Bobby Bray SD Reader

FB Event Page

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“You may not be aware that one of the biggest names in the “Chillwave” genre is hometown hero, Corona Lite – the brainchild of Skylar Hustead. His chill philosophy has blown the minds of many during Corona Lite’s relatively short existence, with only a few performances. In a documentary he claims to have made a conscious decision to be on permanent vacation, saying “I’m not going back work.”

Chillwave is often characterized by simple retro-beats and samples, usually consisting of only one band member and a ridiculous amount of delay on the vocals. Some say Corona Lite is a mockery of the genre. A Chillwave purest, Skylar seemingly pays homage to one of the genre’s predecessors, Pierre Schaeffer. Whereas Schaeffer ushered in Music Concrete by making the first field recordings used in composition (the sounds of a train, circa 1948 Paris), Skylar of Corona Lite is inspired by the sound of airplanes. His performance at the Whistle Stop will bring the genres full circle!

Eric Hamdan is a technology-wizard who works at UCSD, often in the spacialization lab. He plans to set up an 8 speaker audio system at the Whistle Stop for a performance using custom touchscreen software he manipulated himself. The surround sound antics are a major component of the conceptual compositions and ideas he has been working on. Its a treat to hear this innovative stuff as audio research, but to experience some of the newest innovative ideas (in audio) at the Whistle Stop is the real experiment!” -Bobby Bray

Art by Dylan Clausen // Projections by Kenny King

21+ /// Free
For more information on this event check out our facebook event page here