Digital Ink Los Angeles

New Orleans is a great city, and they have an up and coming film festival to boot.

One of Digital Ink Los Angeles‘s favorite single-screen theaters in the country — The Prytania Theatre — is hosting a few screenings this year. Well worth a visit.

In particular, the Make Out With Violence screening on Monday, Oct 12th, at 9:45PM at the Prytania Theatre should be good.

Make a date with a New Orleans cultural gem, the NOFF, from Thursday, October 8th through Thursday, October 15th.

In the words of Louis Armstrong, “What we play is life.” And films are life. Get out and enjoy.

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September 19th is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Aaaarrgggh, matey. Have a swill of the mush and gimme yer booty! Make a swearin’ to the holy Capt’n, then off with yer head!

Digital Ink Los Angeles endorses the famous New Orleanian Jean Laffite into the Pirate Hall of Fame.

A New Orleans landmark still stands on the corner of Bourbon Street and St. Philip — in the Vieux Carre’ section of the French Quarter neighborhood — as remembrance of pirate lore from yester-years. Jean Laffite’s Blacksmith Shop was a place where gris-gris, voodoo, black-market commerce, and pirate legends were commonplace and encouraged.

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Another British band making a splash on this side of the pond is Band of Skulls, with their recent Shangri-La Records release, “Baby Darling Doll Face Honey.”

These guys (and a gal) are a cross between The Pretenders, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and The White Stripes, with a little aggro-emo-soul.

After a touring summer ending with Lollapalooza, their tunes will be featured in the upcoming release of “New Moon” (Twilight 2).

Here’s a YouTube clip of their single, “Blood.” Blood and Skulls, yea. Rock on.

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Arctic Monkeys are a foursome out of Sheffield, England, who play a new-fangled spin on the Brit-pop emo-rock introduced by bands like Oasis, Radiohead, Catherine Wheel, and The Cure in the 90s.

Their 2009 release, Humbug, is now available and includes the first single: Crying Lightning

They’ve got the Super Good stuff. Check out the YouTube video here:

They came in droves, by the carload, on foot, on bikes, toting babies and blankets, some without anything but the shorts and shorts they were wearing — some with less.

In the end, nearly 400,000 people showed up to enjoy acts like The Who, Jefferson Airplane, and Jimi Hendrix.

August 15, 16, and 17, 1969 — forty years ago last week.

The New York Times has an interesting article on the recent 40th Anniversary celebration in Bethel Woods, NY.

Music channel VH1 recently showed a “rock-doc” for the 40th Anniversary.

The BBC has an interesting audio slide-show documenting some of the sights and sounds.

The Digital Ink Los Angeles pick for Woodstock nostalgia would be this YouTube copy of Joe Cocker‘s now-famous version of “With a Little Help from My Friends”. Par Excellence.

“Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Trends come and trends go. Many elements of societal “fashion” these days are a perplexing amalgam of eras-gone-by, pop-culture phenomena, and weird statements of individuality.

Some of these are just silly enough to merit a closer look…

Lady Gaga? Goo-Goo about GaGa? Man or woman?

iPhone and Twitter Madness? People talking to each other through technology, but not in-person.

Funky Fresh Neo-Techno Shades? Seriously, this seems so silly, it must be a fad. What’s the joke?

Autotuners for singers? Kanye’? Britney? Drake? Lil Kim? Who sings with their own voice anymore?

Las Vegas? It’s in a desert, and anyone who’s been there knows that can’t last forever. Not to mention, ever look closely at the people who move to Las Vegas — what’s my motivation?

Lastly, bi-partisan politics? What’s the difference if neither side cares what the other thinks and makes up lies to support their views and policies? Then again, this trend hasn’t changed in 220 years, why would it change now?

There’s a little group out of Gothenberg, Sweden (same place as Jose’ Gonzalez) who’re capable of big sounds, and their electro-pop, soul-infused, funk ballads are primed for dancefloors, headphones, and big-booming car systems around this world.

Teamed with the beautiful looks and sublime seduction of Yukimi Nagano‘s voice, high-school friends Erik Bodin (drums), Fredrik Wallin (bass), and Håkan Wirenstrand (keyboards) came together as the band Little Dragon, stepping into the spotlight with the release of their late-2007 single on Peacefrog Records, called “Twice“.

Their self-titled album, Little Dragon, went on to achieve popular success with those in-the-know in 2008, and their major-label debut, Machine Dreams, is slated for a September 3, 2009 domestic release.

These Swedes have a gifted take on the pop-funk, synth-soul dance vibe, and they’ve taken the torch from similar sounding groups like Koop, Massive Attack, Zero 7, and Phoenix.

The first single from the new album is in heavy rotation on KCRW, and has a chill, trip-hop vibe to it.

Called “Feather,” there are a few copies floating around YouTube, and here’s one:

That’s some Super GOODness!