Sorry this site is so stale!
Posted on November 11, 2008
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We apologize for the stinky non-fresh smell that Huge is producing lately. We are having numerous problems with our ISP (Fatcow if you must know) that we are really hoping to have resolved soon. Until that time … Cheers.
TV on the Balcony
Posted on October 8, 2008
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Here’s one of our fave bands, TV on The Radio playing on the side of the Ed Sullivan building for David Letterman. Their new album Dear Science has been in heavy rotation here at Huge Central.
Garbage Palin Kids
Posted on October 2, 2008
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This takes me back to Wacky Packs and Garbage Pale Kids (a satire of The Cabbage Patch Kids) art directed by RAW magazine founder Art Spiegelman. This is the perfect homage and political satire rolled into one!
McCain’s Speech. Watch it!
Posted on September 26, 2008
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Huge Magazine Smells Like Pop
Posted on July 20, 2008
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Tired of doing two things half as well as we could, we’re merging our music blog, Smells Like Pop into Huge Magazine. You’ll now find many of the posts from SLP in the Huge archives, and now that our schedule is more manageable, hopefully more new content in all departments here at Huge! Smells Like Pop is/was an on-line only Music Magazine in the form of a blog with music news, reviews, rumors and snarky commentary by two guys from Portland, Oregon. The two guys being writer and high school english teacher, Gene Brunak and designer and Huge Magazine founder, David Bailey. We are both addicted to all forms of music, new and old and will share our favorites as we find them.
Mutu by Blu
Posted on May 21, 2008
Filed Under Animation, Art, Grafitti | 1 Comment
MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.
Apparently this took months to create, and it shows. Visit the artist’s site for (not much) more information…
Smells Like Pop: Sun Kil Moon
Posted on April 17, 2008
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Kozelek strikes back
Graceful tunes support wordsmith’s
Nuanced poetry
– haiku review of April by Sun Kil Moon
OK, so let’s get the obvious out of the way…Mark Kozelek is a jerk. I think he’s always prided himself on that. In the dozen or so times I’ve seen him perform, mostly with his former band the Red House Painters (NYC, mostly Bay Area), he couldn’t get through a show without insulting the audience, or an audience member.
When I saw him at the Doug Fir a couple of years ago, as he performed his Modest Mouse covers-album Tiny Cities, there was no sense of irony in his voice when he commented that Portland was a “nice little blue-collar townâ€, almost certainly not realizing (or caring) that Isaac Brock, whose music he was honoring, lives only a few blocks from the ‘Fir”. He also asked if there were any people of color around – in all the shows that I saw him in other cities, I don’t think I remember a single African American or Latino. His continued ignorance of Portland’s musical significance was enhanced after M. Ward, who stood next to me at the show, went backstage – but was never invited out.
So, unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend his show at the Aladdin April 17th, where he’ll be performing songs from his latest release, the quite excellent and especially sublime April. I am curious as to whether the new album’s dynamics, including more subtle wordplay enhancing his relatively unsentimental observations of life, have softened Kozelek’s edginess on stage.
I hope not. Part of his appeal is the fact that he can dance around whispered melodies, quiet and sparse arrangements, and still sound menacing. It’s these abilities, I believe, that have helped keep him in great company with similar artists (including Bonnie Prince Billy, who guest vocals on April).
That evening, I’ll be seeing the Yin – comic Margaret Cho (who is Korean-American) to Kozelek’s Yang (Sun Kil Moon is a play off a Korean phrase). While I prepare myself to laugh and possibly be shocked, I suspect that some of the most clever lines that night will be delivered on the stage of the Aladdin.
Smells Like Pop: Bon Iver
Posted on March 28, 2008
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What’s the difference between folk music and the sounds that Bon Iver produced at Holocene recently? I pondered that as I reveled in the beautiful soundtrack to an introspective life that the band (whose name Francophiles and others know translates to “good winterâ€) reproduced.
I am not a big fan of the watered-down stuff that passes as folk (the stuff you hear in Starbucks, generally); Justin Vernon’s music captures the human experience as only recording in isolated places – like his father’s Wisconsin hunting cabin – can. But it is music also informed by modern anxieties. Vernon himself refers to his music as “neo-soulâ€.
Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon captivates a sold-out Holocene.
So, it was no surprise to learn mid-set that Vernon has a punk-pop band called Michael Jordan, as well. Hearing the edge of Bon Iver’s music emphasized in their live set reminded me of when I saw Iron & Wine in town, and witnessed Sam Beam and Co. growl, and not ironically cover New Order. It’s the stuff of early Dylan, where traditional sounds were often the shell of a more disturbing sonic narrative.
But it’s the heartache in Vernon’s voice which is the difference (which, especially live, reminded of a cross between Jeff Buckley’s falsetto and the aforementioned Beam’s raspy world-weariness). Bon Iver found new dynamics in its already subtle fledgling debut For Emma, Forever Ago. When Vernon asked the Holocene crowd to sing along to the refrain from “The Wolves (Act I and II)“, nervous looks abounded. The song ended up becoming a magic moment that somehow produced harmony from a group often more concerned with appearing to be coolly indifferent.
Though For Emma is not an entirely perfect album, it is an early front runner for my record of the year. In these troubled times, and a really long winter (even as I stare at the snowflakes days from April), this album reflects my hope that a talented guy from the Midwest might foreshadow a positive change.
Smells Like Pop: Vampire Weekday
Posted on March 26, 2008
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So, Vampire Weekend made it’s return trip to Stumptown (the first time they played Portland, it was at Holocene, a show vocalist/guitarist Ezra Koenig would continually reference), and a sold-out Doug Fir crowd witnessed a polished performance from a band clearly in its infancy. Like many NYC bands, their challenge will be to survive the infinite hype provided them (Clap Your Hands, etc.) – and it was clear to Smells Like Pop that they have their work cut out.
The immediate appeal of their sound (accurately self-described as Upper West Side Soweto) could also be their undoing. As much as I enjoyed the solid musicianship, as well as the hook-filled tunes and upbeat rhythms, I couldn’t help but feel that next time out, rather than await the next VW album, I should probably go listen to some King Sunny Ade or something.
The band cleverly worked to establish respect for the Pacific Northwest, with Koenig referencing Twin Peaks (an audience member was quick to point out that that was in Washington), the thriving music scene in Portland – and keyboardist/vocalist Rostam Batmanglij acknowledged that his father was a Reed College grad. The band performed most, if not all, of the songs from their debut – as well as a new song they’ve been working on.
Vampire Weekend demonstrated that they are masters of their domain (they will be on the road for a while, playing mostly sold-out shows in the US, Canada and the UK) – and the future will decide whether they can continue to travel the road of success.
In somewhat related news, earlier in the day I had an opportunity to watch director Catherine Hardwicke and company begin filming the vampire flick Twilight (at least the portion that takes place in my classroom - now fully converted to look like a grade-A biology room). My kids wanted to know if I get to keep the cool skeletons and stuffed animals (unfortunately, they’ll go back to PSU, from where they’ve been borrowed). After visiting the set, we hung out with one of the cast – actor Justin Chon (who’ll play Eric). He saw my son Max, and realized they both shared a Korean background. Chon proclaimed his respect for Portland “you guys have Burnside†[skatepark]), as well as his love of Gus Van Sant’s Paranoid Park (which he was impressed to find out was shot in the same hallways as Twilight). I’m hoping that Twilight uses music from the Pacific Northwest, but I’m not holding my breath (Paranoid Park’s local soundtrack connection includes Van Sant regular Elliott Smith and Menomena).
Smells Like Pop: School of Language
Posted on March 22, 2008
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XTC gets nod
but big drums and distortion
help Language X-scape
– haiku review of Sea from Shore
So, David Brewis dismantles Field Music…and comes back rejuvenated with his solo album Sea from Shore. School of Language, Brewis’ newest incarnation, takes other pop bands to school, with clear references to the works of XTC (more so, it seems, than even Field Music). Brewis’ vocals seem as fresh as ever, and invigorated. Though Brewis’ studio prowess is responsible for the recording, he did go out and recruit a steller rhythm section (Doug McCombs of Tortoise & Eleventh Dream Day on bass, Ryan Rapsys of Euphone on drums) in order to bring his genius to live audiences. Smells Like Pop was fortunate to be among the intimate but passionate folks who caught SoL’s tight set at Towne Lounge on March 20th.
Brewis and Co. powered through most of the material on Sea, taking a momentary break to do their stellar cover of Roxy Music’s “If There is Something†(no, they didn’t do any Field Music stuff). Brewis seemed genuinely relieved to have regained his voice, after a nightmarish Chicago-to-Seattle airport experience. Ever the perfectionist, he downplayed a superb performance by wanting to talk more about his brother’s solo project, which he compared to “Hounds of Loveâ€, with string arrangements that nearly moved him to tears.
Sea from Shore, though as beautiful, adventurous and euphoric an album as 2008 will probably provide us, seems destined to be buried by the hype of other bands (Vampire Weekend, etc.) who won’t approximate. Here’s hoping that is not the case, and that folks will listen to the noise pop beauty of the album’s “Rockist†tracks (1,2 and 3), as well as the surprising beauty of “Keep Your Waterâ€. Here’s hoping this school doesn’t scare the kids off…
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