Reactions to the Twilight Series’ New Moon Soundtrack

Earlier this week, Stephanie Meyer announced the full track list for the upcoming Twilight Saga’s New Moon soundtrack to the groaning of many indie rock fans. Some of indie rock’s most precious gems are slated to appear. Thom Yorke and Grizzly Bear will offer previously unreleased material. A duo between folk sage Bon Iver and rocketing, doe eyed pixie St. Vincent has made the cut. Death Cab for Cutie marquees the list with “Meet Me at the Equinox,” a song that has Ben Gibbard singing watered-down digestible lyrics instead of his usually cryptic, clever metaphors and vivid imagery. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Lykee Li, Muse, Sea Wolf and others compose the list that seems more like an iTunes playlist at a downtown bookstore/coffee shop than what would typically blare from a fifteen-year-old’s bedroom laden with posters of Bella, Edward, and the other pale skinned Cullens. Mixed reactions have spouted from comment walls across the net in lieu of the soundtrack unveiling, which can be dissected into four major groups:

Opinion 1:
Bullshit! How could some of my favorite artists associate themselves with something so void of artistic integrity? Grizzly Bear, Ben Gibbard and Bon Iver were all featured on Dark Was the Night, one of the best musical collaborations of the last century. And now, they’re aiding in the spread of Stephanie Meyer’s talentless story telling. So washed…

Opinion2:
This is obviously an easy way for some great musicians to make money and share their music with a larger audience. Of course the books and movies are terrible, but what’s wrong with talented musicians wanting to make actual money and utilize the chance for broader exposure? Is it really that bad to be good and successful? Grizzly Bear deserves some bills in their pockets.

Opinion 3:
Some people who do listen to really good music are fans of the Twilight series. Deal with it. The series may be frowned upon in the indie scene but hardcore fans really don’t care what pretentious hipsters on the internet think. They are thrilled that two of their worlds have coalesced. The whole idea of not liking something because it gets in the spotlight is so played.

Opinion 4:
Who be Bon Iver and where the F is Paramore?!?!?! Wtf? 4 rlz…  no Paramore?!?!

But through all the comments and coverage spanning our four previously stated opinions, one thing is missing: Alexandra Patsavas.

Patsavas’ huge catalog of work as a music supervisor includes her television debut for Rosewell, The O.C., Mad Men, Grey’s Anatomy and many others and has led up to her latest endeavor, compiling the artists to be featured on the New Moon soundtrack. Patsavas is famous for taking “unknown” songs and making them instantly recognizable. Snow Patrol and The Fray’s popularity on iTunes and the Billboard Charts skyrocketed after Patsava featured them on Grey’s Anatomy. Quite simply, she is very successful at what she does so it’s no surprise that one of the biggest money making franchises in the world is utilizing her talents for their latest project. Patsavas’ love for indie music stretches back to her college days where she started her own booking company at the University of Illinois, working with such bands in the early 90’s as The Smashing Pumpkins, Echo and the Bunnymen, They Might Be Giants and Nirvana. From Illinois she moved to L.A. and found work under BMI as a music supervisor where her career flourished.

So who’s right? Should the artists be publicly tarred and feathered for associating themselves with this tweenager cash cow? Are fans of the books going to accept the indie music replacing their beloved Paramore? Can anyone blame Patsavas for being the best at what she does and attracting huge, mainstream attention? Those curious will have to wait and see when the world of tweenage pop culture and credible indie music collide on a level as never before. God help us.

Patsavas’ label Chop Shop is licensed under Atlantic Records who represents Death Cab For Cutie and Lykee Li. One of Chop Shop’s own acts Anya Marina made the cut for the New Moon soundtrack.

New Moon tickets have sold out in many theaters across the country but the film is not set to premiere until November 16. The soundtrack, via Chop Shop/Atlantic, will be released October 20.

Dan Deacon Launches Tour and Poster Contest

Next week Dan Deacon will load up his veggie-oil powered bus for another national tour (dates below), this time with pals Nuclear Power Pants. To celebrate, Post Typography designed a new tour poster and if you’re the first to ID all 243 cartoon characters portrayed within the poster you’ll win one hell of prize package that includes:

1. $500 cash
2. A portrait of you painted by Dan Deacon
3. One of the last copies of Wham City Box Set #1
4. A copy of each of Dan Deacon’s first 8 impossible-to-find releases (Silly Hat vs Egale Hat, Meetle Mice, Goose on the Loose, A Green Cobra is Awesome vs The Sun, Porky Pig, Twacky Cats, Live 2003, Acorn Master)

Download your own high-res copies of all the materials needed for the contest here
Send your submissions to: postercontest@whamcity.com

Dan Deacon’s Tour Dates
10-01 Chapel Hill, NC – Cat’s Cradle *
10-02 Atlanta, GA – Eyedrum *
10-03 Athens, GA – 40 Watt *
10-04 Birmingham, AL – Bottletree *
10-05 Nashville, TN – The End *
10-06 Memphis, TN – Hi Tone Café *
10-07 New Orleans, LA – Big Top *
10-09 Austin, TX – Emo’s Alternative Lounge Outside *
10-10 Marfa, TX – The Shade Structure*
10-14 Irvine, CA – Pacific Ballrom (UC Irvine) *
10-15 Los Angeles, CA – Echo *
10-16 Los Angeles, CA – Eagle Rock Center for the Arts *
10-17 San Francisco, CA – Treasure Island Festival
10-19 Sacramento, CA – Fungarden *
10-21 Eugene, OR – Agate Hall (University of Oregon) *
10-22 Portland, OR – Worksound *
10-23 Portland, OR – Holocene *
10-24 Seattle, WA – Vera Project *
10-27 Denver, CO – Rhinoceropolis *
10-29 Northfield, MN The Cave (Carleton College) *
10-30 Chicago, IL – Logan Square Auditorium *
11-01 Gambier, OH – The Horn Gallery *
11-03 Toronto, Ontario – Sneaky Dees *
11-04 Toronto, Ontario – Great Hall *
11-05 Montreal, Quebec – Il Motore *
11-06 Montreal, Quebec – Eastern Bloc *
11-07 Middlebury, VT – Middlebury College *
11-08 Boston, MA – Pozen Center (Mass. College of Art) *
11-09 Pawtucket, RI – Machines *
11-10 Northampton, MA – Pearl Street Nightclub *
11-13 Troy, NY – Experimental Media & Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute *
11-14 Worcester, MA – The Grind (Clark University) *
11-15 Ithaca, NY – Emerson Suites (Ithaca College) *

* with Nuclear Power Pants

posted by: Harold Johns III

Artist Shout Out: Tomokazu (Matsu) Matsuyama

Artist Statement:
“Within my work, I hope to render traditional icons and imagery within a broader ether of an international intermix that has become the evolution of what seems to be the urban-ideal of the global contemporary. Reinterpretation Edo period imagery as well as contemporary motifs and patterning, I hope to blend what is seen as Eastern and Western aesthetics into one that resists categorization and cultural belonging.

“As cultures become increasingly entangled within another through the fluidity of the pathways of travel, the internet and other ways of communication and connection, urban centers are becoming increasingly familiar, with a patchwork of intermingling cultural signifiers that then become our everyday lives. It is a chaotic mix that has become everyday. However, with this mixing, so has the traditions, local signifiers and cultural identifiers begun to dissolve into an endangered species, seeming to leave behind a trail of homogenization. However, the realities are not as such. As a Japanese national living between the U.S. and Japan, I can only believe that my experience is much like many of those who are now caught within these urban zones. Yet what remains is this struggle between reckoning the familiar local with the familiar global. My work is equally pended as such, between worlds — they are not completely blended, but instead still a patchwork of a controlled chaos trying to evolve into something close to cosmopolitan, yet not so idealized.”

Most recently Mastuyama’s work was featured in Scared Monsters: Everyday Animism in Contemporary Japanese Art and Anime at Tufts University alongside some of the best talent from Japan. Mastuyama also designed an exclusive pair of Nike Air Max LeBron VIIs which he presented to King James himself on Tuesday in New York City during the promotion for James’ documentary More Than A Game.

See more work by Tomokazu Matsuyama here

posted by: Brent Carter

Fashion Monsters III: Adorn of the Dead

Here’s a little preview for an upcoming fashion show we’re helping out with (and I’m designing for) at the Replay Lounge (946 Massachusetts in Lawrence, KS) on Saturday, October 3. Stay tuned for a more in-depth post with coverage of all participants coming next week.

Times New Viking’s “No Time No Hope” Video

Born Again Revisited, the fourth album by Times New Viking,was released today and to mark the occasion Matador Records is circulating this new video for “No Time No Hope” directed by Pelham Johnston and Brandon Reichart. It’s another great song from one of the finest, fuzziest bands playing indie-pop music today.

Preview tracks from Born Again Revisited here
Buy the album here
Check out Times New Viking’s upcoming tour schedule here

posted by: Harold Johns III