Listen To: Justin Ripley

Chalk it up to the coffee or maybe all the rainy weather, but something about Seattle turned Justin Ripley into a song-writing machine. In the two years since moving from Lawrence to Seattle, Ripley the former front man for The Pomonas, recorded 80 songs in his apartment and released them through three homemade albums.

The results  are a mixed bag of indie-pop, folk rock, garage rock and piano ballads which all share Ripley’s quirky lyrics, catchy melodies residing somewhere between The Beach Boys and Robert Pollard and the sort of minimal instrumentation and production one would expect from a home recording project. Not every songs is a gem but also none are outlandishly terrible, making this collection of songs a worthwhile endeavor for any fan of indie-rock and good songwriting in general.

This week as warm-up for the remainder of his tour, Ripley returns to his roots to play three live shows in three days at three different venues. Ripley preforms on Wednesday July, 22nd at Harbor Lights (1031 Massachusetts in Lawrence, KS) (solo), Thursday July 23rd at the Emerald Space (1323 Union KCMO) and Friday July 24th at The Jackpot Saloon (943 Massachusetts in Lawrence, KS). Not in our area? Check out the rest of Ripley’s tour schedule on his MySpace.

Listen to some of the tracks on Ripley’s MySpace. We suggest you start with “Blessed Be The Ocean Scrawled.”

Free downloads of Ripley’s music are here.

posted by: Harold Johns III

Artist Shout Out: Julie Verhoeven

Artist Bio: (via SHOWstudio)

Julie Verhoeven has worked in numerous ways across fashion and design, from illustration to creative direction and design consultancy. She studied fashion at Medway College (now Kent Institute), graduating in 1987, and began her career as first design assistant to John Galliano, continuing this role with Martine Sitbon in Paris. She went on to head Italian brand Gibo. She has collaborated on fashion projects on international fashion brands including Louis Vuitton and Mulberry. Verhoeven contributes regularly to publications including Dazed and Confused and Self Service.

Verhoeven’s love of drawing is always at the heart of all the work she undertakes. Since 2002 she has exhibited extensively, with recent shows including solo exhibitions at ZINGERpresents (Amsterdam), Riflemaker (London), Public art mural in Bristol Harbourside and film presentation at Sketch. Two books have been published of Verhoven’s work: ‘Fat-Bottomed Girls’ and ‘Gas Book 13′. She is also a part time tutor on MA Fashion at Central Saint Martins and Royal College of Art.

Verhoeven was also commissioned to re-imagine Versace’s iconography for their Spring 2009 collection.

Click the link below to see more of Verhoeven’s work.

posted by: Brent Carter

Cybernated Phantasm

Pi Art Gallery (419 E. 18th St., KCMO) presents “Cybernated Phantasm”,  new mixed media works by Zac Eubank. There will be an opening reception for the artist (First) Friday August 7, 6-9pm and the show will exhibit until August 22nd.

Artist Statement:
“This body of work could easily be mistaken for a series of dreams, but it is a perception of reality waiting to happen. As we progress into the digital age of effortless manipulation we are leaving behind a part of us rooted into the ground we have paved over. I am a participator in this pattern just like you are. I am enthralled by the possibilities technology has given me in my lifetime and I continually take for granted the song bird, crisp fall air, rolling hills, smell of fresh rain, etc… As we walk into the age of artificial light, coveted solid state drive musical players, genetically enhanced produce, gene mapping, embryo cloning, higher than reality definition progressive scan portable flac viral video players, what will become of our human “nature”? Will we truly be ourselves or digital perceptions of ourselves? I am not arrogant enough to tell you I have the answers (but arrogant enough to tell you I don’t) I am simply asking you to join me in the search for more questions without at least loosing our sense of irony. ”

posted by: Brent Carter

Scapes (Land And Other)

DotDotDot ArtSpace (1910 Haskell Lawrence, KS) presents landscapes translated by the Fresh Produce Collective on July 18th from 6-9 pm. No word on how long the show will hang so try to make it to the opening.

posted by: Brent Carter

Web Hits: This Is Why You’re Fat

Hearing facts like two-thirds of American adults are either obese or overweight doesn’t illicit much of a response anymore. Maybe a greater effect could be achieved if somebody actually documented the greasy, calorie-stuffed, explode-your-heart-out-of-your-chest food that makes America the foremost authority on fat. Exactly what the creators of the single-topic blog This Is Why You’re Fat have been doing since it started in February of 2009. And what they’ve found so far is nothing short of frightening.

Each artery-clogging dish submitted features a close up photo and its own silly name like The Coronary Breakfast Club, which is a buttered toast club sandwich with six slices of bacon, two eggs, topped with cheddar cheese and covered with beef gravy. You think that’s bad, it’s just the tip of the deep-fried iceberg. Consider serving The Porkgasm for your next dinner party. All you do is take some bacon strips, bacon sausage, ham sausage, ham slices, smoked pork sausage and roasted pork belly, surround it with ground sausage, shape into a pig, wrap it all in bacon and roast it all up in a big pan. Or maybe you could make a sandwich filled with ground beef, bacon, corn dogs, ham, pastrami, roast beef, bratwurst, braunschweiger (whatever the hell that is) and turkey, topped with fried mushrooms, onion rings, Swiss/provolone/cheddar/feta/Parmesan cheeses, lettuce and butter on a loaf of white bread, appropriately named The 30,000 Calorie Sandwich. There are plenty of others we could name but I think I just threw up in mouth a little, so we’ll let you tour the rest of the site on your own.

posted by: Harold Johns III