On January 22nd, Alexandra Petri (who, according to her Twitter is a “Daily topical humor blogger”) claimed that “There are about six people who buy new poetry,” in her Washington Post piece, “Is Poetry Dead?” a day Richard Blanco read his poem, “One Today,” at the presidential inauguration. While Petri was supposedly trying to be funny, the 408 comments, and 5.7 thousand Facebook “Likes,” however, showed us people still have a good deal to say about poetry, and that calling the form dead was unfunny and unfounded.
Dead Moon Wisdom: It’s OK
The last real mixtape I ever received was titled “It’s O.K.” I say real, because people don’t make actual mixtapes anymore; they make Spotify playlists or send their friends bundles of MP3s, and might name the folder ‘Mixtape’ for sentimental or ironic reasons. The cassette, for the most part, is a dead format, but the mix lives on in a less personal way than it did when we were faced with listening to the songs we wanted on the tape […]
Cinematic Notes on Baltimore Punks Double Dagger: A Review of “If We Shout Loud Enough”
I never saw Double Dagger. If I didn’t regret that before, I certainly do now. I’ve just seen Gabriel Deloach and Zach Keifer’s documentary If We Shout Loud Enough, which focuses on the final tour of this Baltimore punk trio. If We Shout Loud Enough, which is being packaged with the group‘s final record 333 for Record Store Day, uses the group’s final string of shows to deliver an intimate portrait of the Baltimore punk scene — and to document the evolution of […]
Band Booking: Colleen Green on Pop Harmonies, Stephen King, and the Hardcore Aesthetic
Colleen Green makes buzzsaw pop: fuzzed-out guitars atop minimal rhythms, with her melodic vocals atop it all. Her new album keeps a certain blissed-out pop-punk sensibility, but also delves into more complex structures, recalling — among others — Velocity Girl. On the eve of her departure on tour, we talked about said new album (titled Sock It To Me), unorthodox beverages as sonic inspiration, and more.
Michael Azzerad is the Editor-in-Chief: Talking About The Talkhouse
Earlier this year, a website called The Talkhouse made its debut. Its pedigree is impressive: the editor-in-chief is Michael Azzerad, who’s about as unfuckwithable as one can get in terms of music writers covering punk and its aftermath. And the concept, at least on the surface, is simple: it’s a collection of musicians writing about other musicians’ albums. It’s been around for over a month now; with that in mind, it seemed time to get a sense of where The Talkhouse is […]
Kim Gordon Reminding You That She’s The Greatest
Kim Gordon, Courtney Love, Marilyn Manson, and Ariel Pink (Ariel Pink?) all star in Hedi Slimane’s great new Saint Laurent rock fashion ads. We only posted the Gordon one because our server could only take so much awesome, but in the event that you’d like to see the rest (and you should…), you should just go here. Follow Vol. 1 Brooklyn on Twitter, Facebook, Google +, our Tumblr, and sign up for our mailing list.
New Age Now
I’m sitting on a cushion on the floor of the Body Actualized Center, a yoga studio and event space in Bushwick, with my eyes closed and my hands on my knees, surrounded by a bunch of other kids around my age. On a chair in front of us is an older woman, draped in beads and a gauzy blue outfit, leading us in song: “I am opening up, I am ooo-ooo-opening up, to the luminous love-light of the One.” Her […]
Band Booking: Talking I Ching with Montreal’s Valleys
Marc St. Louis and Tillie Perks are the duo behind electronic Montreal-based band Valleys, whose newest album Are You Going to Stand There And Talk Weird All Night? will be released April 30th on Kanine Records. Marc and Tillie have been making music since the mid-’00’s, trading places on guitars, synthesizers, drums and sequencers. On previous River Phoenix and Stoner EPs, and their Sometimes Water Kills People LP, they have skirted the line between dream pop and post rock, with an increasing if subtle introduction of electronic elements and rhythms. Their […]