This bit of grainy film footage with bad audio wouldn't be notable except that it depicts Easy Cure playing a 1977 show in Crawley, UK. The following year, Easy Cure dropped "Easy" from their name, recorded the demos below, signed to Polydor Records' Fiction label, and released their first single, "Killing An Arab." The rest is post-punk, proto-goth history.

(via r/ObscureMedia) Read the rest

Emily aka Angsty X tried to teach her 8-year old how to use Photoshop. She figured that the best way to do this was to introduce her to a few simple manipulation techniques, and let her daughter instruct her on how to change them (it takes a little while to get the hang of that magic wand tool).

They decided to start with band t-shirts, because mom wears a lot of them.  There was one shirt that Emily used to wear more often, but she told her daughter that she didn't like one of the people on it anymore. So her daughter said, "Well, just don't put him on it!"

And thus it began.

Emily's daughter didn't understand why her mom was laughing so hard. Frankly, I don't, either, because Emily's daughter is clearly a genius, as demonstrated by the other shirts that she designed.

Emily decided to turn these into actual t-shirts, which you can find on Teepublic for the time being, with all proceeds going to the Okra Project to support mental health work for black trans men and women; they've already raised around $100! Read the rest

It's hard to sort Hazmat Modine into a neat musical category. They play the blues, but it's not like anything you've likely heard anywhere else. A lot of folks consider the tunes that the New York City musical collective churn out to be "world music." I think that's just a lazy way of saying that they do a little bit of everything. If you've heard the band's music in person or on any their albums, you'll know that they handle their kitchen sink of influences amazingly well: their work incorporates the best elements of African, Eastern European, Caribbean and American musical traditions: blues, reggae, jazz and Mongolian throat singing, they do it all. The result is a wash of emotional, often joyous sound that's hard not to like.

The band's finished work on their fourth album, Box of Breathe. Well, it's mostly finished. The tracks have been recorded (I've heard them and they're fabulous!) but they still need to be mixed. Musicians and production personnel need to be paid. The album, in its physical form, still needs to be pressed. All this is expensive and, as good as Hazmat Modine is, their music isn't the sort of thing that you're likely to hear on top 10 radio these days. As such, the band has turned to crowdfunding in an effort to offset some of the expenses of getting their latest work out to where folks can hear it.

Of course, there are fabulous prizes to be had. You know the game: depending on how much you're willing to throw at the project, you'll be able to enjoy perks like historic post cards picturing old New York City, a copy of their new album, the band's complete catalog, or even a private house concert. Read the rest