When I was a teenager, the idea that kids my age would one day all own a cell phone, let alone a cell phone that had a screen bigger than a square inch, didn’t even occur to us. We communicated with one another face-to-face, we met up by arranging a time via landline and by being there on or around the time we had arranged. We managed to create close and lasting friendships with one another, with very little miscommunication. At the risk of sounding old and jaded, I think that there is far, far more miscommunication between people now that we have each other at our fingertips constantly. I also think that when I find myself surrounded by younger people, say late teens to mid-20s, I feel like each person has an invisible shield around them created by their phone, which is pretty much constantly in one or both of their hands, drawing in their attention with its life-sucking force. Life for many a young person is mediated by their device; it is how they live their life for the people that aren’t around them at that very second. Not sure why those distant people have become more important than the people standing right next to them, but that’s how it is. I think in some communities its more prevalent than others to live through your phone; for example, you don’t often go to a metal or punk show and see a bunch of kids filming it instead of actually experiencing the music, mostly because their phone would probably be knocked out of their hands, but also because I think it’s less socially acceptable. However, if you make the mistake of wandering in to a neo-indie show, you will find yourself surrounded with glowing screens – people either watching the show through their phones or texting their friends about it. I have even been told that kids will hold up their phones set on the “lighter” app to simulate holding an actual lighter. That’s unimaginably fucking lame. Thankfully I avoid such events. I do enjoy Instagram, I will admit it, but the people we follow through CVLT Nation post interesting and creative photos which I have come to realize are far from the norm. Case in point, CVLT Nation’s Most Annoying Tumblr of this Moment, Pictures of Hipsters Taking Pictures of Food. I had heard of said food photos, but maybe being older or just not in that particular loop, I had almost never seen photos of food on Instagram (except for the occasional delicious-looking vegan feast via Serge). So when we saw POHTPOF, we were horrified to see how many people think that the world wants to see what they are currently turning into shit. It will make you laugh, and it will make you cry – it might even make you hesitate over taking that photo of that brunch you are enjoying – so after the jump, check out Pictures of Hipsters Taking Pictures of Food, and a video that made me laugh…

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CVLT Nation’s creative comrade Natvres Mortes Illvstration is re-stocking his Cloven Hoov webstore with new tees, sweats, patches and pins featuring his artwork. All of his pieces are very limited so make sure to get yours quick. I’m sure the Cloven Hoov crews and tees will not last long! Even better, all of his garments are printed in the USA! Check out some photos of the gear before and after the jump…

We have covered artist/tattooist Scott Move in the past, and we are big supporters of his artistic vision. So we are stoked to hear about the show he has curated, Absence of Light, which opens this Thursday the 11th at The Circle in Soho, London, at 7pm. He has put together an amazing group of UK artists and no doubt it will be a dark and despicably excellent event! Check out the flyer below and represent at 21 Noel Street!

Text & Photos by Matthew Grant Anson

Sundays are weird days for shows – they bring out a strange hodgepodge of people who either don’t have work or school the next day or do but don’t care. Combine that with King Dude’s already peculiar fanbase, and you had the perfect recipe of strangeness at Los Angeles’ The Echo Sunday, March 31st. King Dude, accompanied by Of The Wand & The Moon and A Story of Rats brought the tunes to match, together providing a unique and off-the-wall combination of neo-folk, drone, and everything in between.

A Story of Rats began the proceedings with ten lit candles, distorted vocals, driving drums, and bwwoooonnnggggg-ing bass feedback. This amounted to their entire set…they either played one long song or multiple songs with no breaks in between; it was hard to tell. The audience for the most part didn’t know what to make of the act, so far removed from King Dude’s sound they were. A Story of Rats had at least five build ups where it seemed as if the music was about to crescendo and transform into something, only to peter out into nothingness like a 4th of July bottle rocket that’s reached the apex of its flight. Drone music isn’t for the faint of heart, and it takes a particularly warped mind to appreciate the intricacies that are (probably, hopefully) hidden beneath the repetition and the feedback. Needless to say, that type of audience just wasn’t at The Echo that night.

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I had friend who owned a hearse. It was how he got around town, in slow, loud and methodical style. One time, he had to drive me to work – I had 20 minutes to get there, it was a 5-minute drive, a no brainer. But he didn’t tell me that his hearse went 15 to 20/km tops. I was late, but I did arrive in a hearse, so my boss forgave me. There is something about these vehicles of death that fascinate us; the last earthly travel of a corpse, before it rests forever in earth. Back in the day, hearses were ornate and richly decorated, demonstrating a certain nobility in death. Especially in South America, where they were often made of carved wood attached to the standard Cadillac or Lincoln body – a huge, plumed and shiny black death carriage – or in Japan where mini-pagodas adorn the backs of hearses in gold splendor. I am a big fan of the 50s models, with their wings and tails and white-walled tires, or the 20s and 30s models with their false curtained windows, ones that the dead never need look out of. In California, you might even see a pimped-out, fully tinted hearse sitting on dubs if you’re lucky. After the jump, Check out a gallery of beautiful and strange funeral coaches!

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One of my favorite fanzines/magazines ANP QUARTERLY has a new issue out with an article entitled “L.A. Punk Gangs of the 80′s”. Honestly this is the first time I have ever seen a publication tackle this part of the L.A. hardcore movement. It’s a very interesting and insightful read, and I’m glad ANP did this feature, it brought back a lot of memories. I wanted to shed some light on the Suicidal Boys part of the article because this is the scene that I was a part of when I first found punk rock. Usually people always talk about how violent we were, but they leave out the huge amount of kinship we had with one another. We had a central meeting place, which was Mar Vista park, where we would meet up before shows and down beers. Also this park served as the place were the Suicidal softball & football leagues would play ball. Somedays we could also be seen at Penmar playing golf with the Suicidal golf club or at the bowling alley with the Suicidal bowling team. For me it was more of a band of brothers than it was a gang. That being said, many of us did have older brothers that were a part of the local gangs, plus being from Venice we were taught to represent our hood! Many of the kids that were in our scene had known each other since the first grade, so of course as we got older we had each others’ backs. More than the shows in Hollywood, it was the house parties where the real fun would take place. I’m talking about kegger parties that would feature live performances from Suicidal Tendencies, No Mercy, Beowulf, Neighborhood Watch and Chaotic Noise; these were priceless events. When we did go to shows, we did not fuck with people unless they fucked with us. If someone called us out of name they would have to pay the price. The down side to growing up in this environment is that some kids actually did join gangs and went down a path that led them to prison. On a personal level, I realized punk was bigger than just the people around me, and I started listening to Crass and bands that opened my mind. I’m glad that I did not just close myself off to the broader punk scene, because I would have missed out on a lot! I’m way happy that ANP QUARTERLY did this article, because this was an era that has been forgotten about by many. Go to pages 57 through 67 to read “L.A. Punk Gangs of the 80′s”…much respect to everyone who took photos back then!..All of the madness is after the jump.

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To celebrate the launch of The SK8room, the first online platform to promote fine art skateboards, the brand teamed up with Belgian artist ROA, who created three unique visuals for the SK8room’s first production. Each of the 3 decks (Decay 1, 2 & 3) are printed on 7 ply Canadian maple and measure 80 x 20cm. Each of the 3 versions are a limited edition of 125 signed in the deck boards and 25 hand signed decks. You can purchase the decks here.

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All photos & text by Jan Zeleny

Reportedly, this has been the darkest winter since the beginning of weather statistics in Germany – and as if that wasn’t enough, while the Japanese are already posting fucking pictures of cherry blossoms, over here we’re still in the grip of winter’s third coming. Which, thanks to a slashing east wind, has been even more brutal than before. Good for Germans that the end of March saw the third Doom over Leipzig festival take place, which offered the opportunity to huddle together in the cozy bowels of the beautiful UT Connewitz with a few hundred fellow misanthropes once again and simply embrace the gloom & frostbite while getting bludgeoned by an excellent line-up of some of the most crushing artists around!

Before the doom would truly be upon us, Thursday started off with a film screening (the UT Connewitz is not only a concert venue, but also one of Germany’s oldest cinemas still in existence): a tourist’s look at the black metal scene and its pivotal formative/destructive events, “Until The Light Takes Us”. I had already forgotten how godawful the film really is, and was glad to find out that the subsequent lecture by Sascha Poehlmann of Metal Matters was also meant to shed a bit of light upon the film’s various problems (most notably the filmmakers’ apparent infatuation with Vikernes). However, it quickly became much more than that, as Poehlmann went on to explore black metal’s aesthetic & anthropologic roots in Romanticism with lots of competence and humor – most intriguing food for thought. Afterwards, there was an open mic giving the audience the opportunity for further discussion, but I figure I wasn’t the only one in attendance that was simply overwhelmed by all the input since no one took it (although a bit of talk developed among the audience with Poehlmann later).

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I have always been into things that are perceived as being on the outside of society. As a young kid, I remember when I first saw a Salvador Dali painting; I could not look away. Ever since then, he has been one of my all time favorite artists. From the outside looking in, Dali always represented what it meant to just be yourself and create what you want from your heart. This is why Fuck Yeah Dali is our favorite tumblr this moment. After the jump, melt your brain cells and step into Salvador Dali’s mad mad universe of creation!

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Thank god I am an Instagramhoor, because if I hadn’t checked it in the spare minute I had I wouldn’t have seen what fucking awesome shit was going down in my hometown of Vancouver today and tomorrow! Nothing is Heavy and Scratch Records are putting on a couple of art and music showcases at Interurban Gallery in the downtown eastside, and not only will you be able to admire the work of infamous artists like Alison Lilly (who put me on to these events), Bonnie Dobbin, Sab Kay, Gam Strudwick and Dena Lazerenko, but you will also be enjoying to extremely dope lineups! Friday features Black Wizard with War Baby, Astrakhan and Wilt, and Saturday features the legendary YOB with Alda and Harrow. Anyone who has toured through Vancouver knows that your audience is 150% with you and would literally bring the house down if their weed smoking wasn’t keeping them in check, so these shows are going to be off the hook. If you are in the vicinity this weekend make sure to head over to Interurban and say hi from CVLT Nation!