Remember This? Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo

Uh oh. Looks like somebody's 'bout to save the Rec Center. 

Yet Another Reason To Walk: Terrible Airline Seats

These seats may be the future of air travel. I'd rather walk. An airline seat designer called Aviointeriors is trying to promote some sort of new steerage class for planes. These seats would be a step below coach but a step above getting kicked in the crotch when you present your ticket to the stewardess.  I had a hard time believing this was anything but some sort of joke until I read about it on USA Today. If the FAA is worth anything, this will never happen. What's troublesome is that some airlines view it as a viable option. I mean c'mon, they couldn't even get the model to wipe the smirk off her face. 

New Jagjaguwar Releases

Jagjaguwar is a record label in Bloomington, Indiana. I generally like the records they put out and I like that they work out of Indiana. Even though I, as a fan, gain little from their close proximity, it's still cool to have something call attention to my home state. Over the years they have released albums by Odawas, Sunset Rubdown, Bon Iver, and Dinosaur Jr and it appears they will be releasing a couple more good ones soon: Public Strain from Women and New Chain from Small Black. Enjoy the first single from each below and pre-order them from Jagjaguwar here.

Women - 'Eyesore' by nmemagazine

Small Black - "Photojournalist" by OctopusWindmill

Terre Haute Garage: The XL's

        One day while browsing the web about old garage rock 45s, I stumbled across a band from Terre Haute, Indiana called The XL's. Being from Terre Haute myself, I looked into it further and found out that they only released two singles between 1966 and 1968. These records were selling for hundreds of dollars online and I was astonished that I'd never heard of them. Long ago Terre Haute had an impressive music scene due to a couple of its more famous residents, Burl Ives and Scatman Crothers. But recently, and by recently I mean the past 70 years or so, it has been pretty lame. In fact, the only things in recent memory that sort of put Terre Haute on the musical map are the birth of Motley Crue Guitarist Mick Mars in 1951 and the founding of the Kiss Army in 1975. Since both of those events were probably brought on by a little boredom and a lot of vodka, they don't really speak to Terre Haute's creativity.
       As I learned more about The XL's, I discovered that they only pressed 1,000 singles and that those singles were recorded in the very neighborhood I grew up in. After that it was settled. I was going to find one. I assumed that these records couldn't have traveled far and there is an antique mall practically across the street from where the record was produced. After searching through about Six Hundred 45s, I found one. I paid the man $2 and I had my own piece of a Terre Haute legend that Terre Haute is pretty much unaware of.
       After the jump is the song "Mary Jane" by The XL's and their original 1968 press release that appears to have been written by a drunk Danielle Steel. I also included an Onion article about the "Terre Haute Sound" for context.
       
It is also worth mentioning that Terre Haute has a "Musician's Hall of Fame" that has yet to induct Burl Ives, Scatman Crothers, Mick Mars, or The XL's.

Sleepovers

Not long ago, my friends Annie, Dan, and Doug formed a bubblegum pop group called Sleepovers. They've released their first 7" EP Secret on HoZac Records. Listen to it below, realize how much you like bubblegum pop, and then buy it here.

Sleepovers "Secret" by HOZAC RECORDS

Cool Place: Hatch Show Print

I've only been to the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville twice. The first time was back in 2007 for an Interpol show. It was an experience unlike any other. Though the Ryman has a big name, the venue is actually rather small and the stained glass and church pew seating give the place a comforting feel. Besides the venue itself, another great asset of the Ryman is Hatch Show Print. Hatch is one of the oldest working letterpress print shops in the United States and they make amazing concert prints for the Ryman.  They're all made by hand with old-fashioned presses that press wood and metal images against the paper. My second trip to the Ryman was earlier this month when we saw Arcade Fire and I picked up another one of these great show prints.


Arcade Fire Print and a very cool video about Hatch Show Print after the jump.

About Me: I Had A Bitchin' Skateboard

Yep, that's me at 9 years old. I had everything a child of the nineties needed: a bowl cut, a sweatsuit, and a 1990 Mike McGill "Stinger" deck by Powell Peralta. I used to shred my suburban Indiana neighborhood like it was Venice Beach, or at least that's how I prefer to remember it.