Imagine my surprise, my delight, my utter THRILL to receive this piece for Gothtober and present it to you. Matt Katz is one of my favorite musicians, I’ve only sung with him once, but I’d do it again in two shakes of a lamb’s tail! When he said he’d do a song for us, I was over the moon.
Here you can have a wonderful musical experience whilst gazing at his fine form playing a beautiful song by Goldfrapp. But this is no routine tickling of the ivories all regular style. He’s playing it topless AND blindfolded AND wearing what looks like a knit executioner-style hood from Robin Hood days!?!
In his own words, Matt says
“This song represents a story of mystery, of a person falling in love with danger for brief moment, and seemingly pays the ultimate price for curiosity. I chose to put my self in danger and play blindfolded. Happy Gothtober yall!”
I love how it sounds perfectly autumn-like, you can feel the temperature getting cooler, maybe some wet sidewalks and skittering leaves… and there’s a pensive, gloomy longing in the tune enticing you just around the bend for every note.
You could put this in your headphones and stand in front of a bog or a marsh, looking into the distance, wistfully, pulling your cloak a little closer to keep from shivering.
Piñatas of bully billionaire politicians are quite popular right now…
Visit www.gothtober.com and click on DAY 9 and well… it might be the scariest thing on the entire calendar this year.
Los Gatitos and their basket of adorable deplorables have collaborated this year to make a short and sweet punk song asking you to please not vote for the Cheeto. I’m not gonna say his name because I’m tired of hearing it, and you know who I’m talking about.
Turn this one on, turn it up and sing along, we need it!
Today’s beautiful short film DAY 21 on Gothtober haunts and hypnotizes your senses and reels you in to have a moment with the elusive gravity of existence. Kimberly Kim is a Los Angeles-based ornamental sound etcher who searches for sounds to sketch on trees. You may be more familiar knowing her as the silent smiling bar maiden pouring delicious devil horn poisons and mixing tasty double vision snake oil elixirs at Akbar.
This is her Gothtober debut. Shifting footage, colors, animation, movement comes together to form a visual incantation accompanied by a temporal, resonant melody.
Do you hear a ballad? Do you see water? Whose face is that anyway? My eyeballs are fascinated!
Peer into this piece, investigate, watch, and investigate further. Decipher what you will, the limitless availability of it gives you all you need and then some. There are a million and one ways to make a film, here is another, we are thrilled to present it.
Who or what is an Elephant’s Gerald?!? Find Out! Visit DAY 5 on the Gothtober Countdown Calendar!
Coming to you from the heart of Brooklyn, NY are The Pop Ups and Friends! Click on Pumpkin #5 on the Gothtober Countdown Calendarto experience a catchy trick-or-treat tune!
We’re sure you might pick up on this phonetic tribute to The First Lady of Song, but there are also some other jazztastic tributes that don’t mention whats-her-name directly but um… instead through the medium of song, puppets, babies, graveyards, cardboard saxophones and yep… elephants.
The Pop Ups are Jason Rabinowitz and Jacob Stein, and they are the composers and performers of some of the most rockin’ kids music in the world! Seriously, if you can’t make it out to NY to see one of their high-energy hilarious and danceriffic shows, do yourself a huge favor and get their albums which are available on iTunes, Amazon and at other fine locations, you can hear song samples and purchase their music here:
These tunes will make ANY road trip become instantly fun, it’ll make you want to bounce and sway and sing along, I can’t recommend it enough to kids, families or anyone who wants to have a seriously good time. Find out all about The Pop Ups from upcoming shows and albums to full biographies, photos and more here at their site: The Pop Ups.
Jacob and Jason “The Pop Ups” holding one of their awesome outdoor concerts in NYC
The excellent spooky tone of this Fall Pop Ups piece comes not just from wondering just what this “Elephant’s Gerald” might be all about (no spoilers here, not a one) but take a good look at the scenery of this little music video. It was shot on location right outside of National History Landmark: Green-Wood Cemetery!!!
Leonard Bernstein was buried at Green-Wood, as well as Jean-Michel Basquiat, William S. Hart and Alice Roosevelt. The highest point in Brooklyn, which is 200 feet above sea level, is on cemetery grounds, it’s called “Battle Hill” and right at that spot is a statue of Minerva. It was commissioned by Irish immigrant Charles M. Higgins and sculpted by Frederick Ruckstull and unveiled in August of 1920. Minerva, as you know, sprung from the head of Zeus and was the goddess of poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, weaving, crafts, and magic. She is considered the guardian of civilization.
But the coolest part of this statue is that she always faces The Statue of Liberty, she was built specifically for that purpose: to watch over and pay homage to Lady Liberty. In fact, a real estate developer wanting to build a structure in Brooklyn that would obscure the view between Minerva and The Statue of Liberty has been denied, which is all the more meaningful since the view between “liberty” and “medicine, wisdom and commerce” should always be shared indefinitely (guardian of civilization indeed!)
The building was going to be called “The Minerva” and if that’s not ironic, I don’t know what is! This warrior goddess statue’s official title is “Alter to Liberty: Minerva” and may Minerva never be out of a job due to commercial interests, but always be eternally seeking and searching the bigger lady that takes care of our “huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Hooray for Historic Preservationists!
Goddess Minerva looking out at The Statue of Liberty in NY Harbor
There are 38 steps up to Gothtober Headquarters, and lugging Jason Pipkin’s drum kit up all of them made us appreciate each and every step even more than usual. We are quite fortunate to have the Electones on board to make beautiful tunes to cruise to as you peruse this year’s Gothtober 2009 calendar.
The Electones are, respectively: Jason Myers on Guitar, Mike Bolger on Keyboard, and the aforementioned Jason Pipkin on drums. The boys filled up the living room with all manner of musical gadgets, not the least of which was a fantastic Leslie-style rotating speaker that Jason built and Mike’s lovely electric keyboard made in 1971.
Check out what happens when you give the Electones coffee and popcorn and ask them to play some intermission music for the Gothtober Drive-In! This music will be sweetened and used as the calendar’s main theme… look for it Gothtober FIRST!!! Woooooooo!
