There’s something to be said about a woman who can sing the blues. Sass, sadness, and a dash of sultriness are all needed to get the message across, but few can illicit gut-wrenching beauty with their lyrics and stage presence. Like Sharon Jones says, “You gotta be genuine!” and no one knows that more than indie soul-blues two piece She Keeps Bees. It’s hard to deny SKB’s power when you see them perform live, as Jessica Larrabee and Andy LaPlant complement each other in style and presence. With a sense of humor, grace, and charm, the duo can shut a rowdy audience up with one note - and the next minute have them giggling at Larrabee’s self-deprecating riffs. Named one of L Magazine’s Eight Bands You Need To Hear, there’s no telling how far these curb-kickin’ kids will go!

There’s really not much to say, except that I’m beyond excited to see what the dudes will come up with for this new season of Human Giant. What kind of crazy shit could they possibly do? What limits could they push? Thank the heavens that MTV has realized how amazing this show is, and pretty much lets them do what they want (which is usually insane). The clip below leaked a few weeks ago, and is just a taste of what you can expect from the new season. Check it:

Thanks to PAN for bringin’ this new video to my attention… “It Girl” & TRACE lovely Zoe Kravitz stars in Jay-Z’s new video for the track “I Know” featuring Pharrel. Pretty slick video production following the trend of mini-films that focus on a character instead of the artist themselves (think Kanye’s new vid for Flashing Lights, Common’s vid for I Want You). This is a fresh way of getting the music out there without the same video reproducing itself over and over again - I mean how many times have we seen the cars, the girls and the clothes? So it’s nice to see heavyweights taking on these little narratives, giving their songs more power visually, and giving up-and-coming actors a chance to flex their chops, at least a little.

As children we often let our imagination roam free, to the limits of what is accepted by adults. Everything exists, if not only for a minute - Chupacabra, Vampires, The Loch Ness Monster, The Boogeyman, Bigfoot, Aliens, Werewolves - the list goes on and on. So what changes from the time we’re kids to the time we reach adulthood? Why does our imagination suddenly turn off? All the creatures of our nightmares suddenly no longer exist, and instead our nightmares are replaced with uneasy images of unpaid bills, unwanted pregnancies and psycho killers. I admit, that is still some pretty scary stuff, but it just doesn’t stand up to the thought of a giant underwater creature waiting for the perfect opportunity to crash humanity’s party.

Thankfully the monsters have once again reared their ugly heads, in film and in reality. With Korea’s 2006 The Host, and more recently the phenomenon known as Cloverfield, it’s safe to say that we’re once again willing to let our imagination roam free, knocking down buildings and decapitating the Statue of Liberty along the way. But what if these monsters that have been relegated to fantasy all of a sudden became real? In Wes Anderson’s 2004 film The Life Aquatic, the cast is in search of a giant leopard patterned shark that killed Steve Zisso’s (played by Bill Murray) best friend. The search ends, when after surviving a handful of disasters, they finally see the mythical creature, and it’s huge. It’s only a movie though right? And mythical creatures, that are constantly denied existence, can’t all of a sudden really appear… can they? Oh, they can - and they have:

“This six-gill shark (Hexanchus) was filmed during a submersible dive off the northeast coast of Molokai at a depth of 1000m (3280ft). The 2 red laser dots are 6 inches apart, resulting in a length of about 18 ft for the shark.Great ecstatic live commentary by University of Hawaii Oceanography Professor Jeff Drazen! Many thanks to Dr. Craig Smith (University of Hawaii) and Dr. Eric Vetter for permitting release of this footage which was obtained as part of their research data set.”

Although footage of this creature is very rare, there has been documentation off the coast of Japan as well. It’s sad but true, we know less about our own oceans than we do about outer space. This shit is legit, and begs us to ask the question: what else is out there?

Let’s face it, there’s always some degree of instability when it comes to our brightest musical stars. As the old saying goes: it’s better to burn out than to fade away - but the truth of this statement is highly debatable. Whether it’s drugs, alcohol, the pressures of fame or mental illness, so many of our icons fall short of their potential, and there’s no better example than Ian Curtis of Manchester based post-punk band Joy Division. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly how many bands have taken a bite off of the Joy Division block in hopes of creating their own sound, but it’s certain that bands like U2, The Cure, Bloc Party, and Interpol were inspired by Ian Curtis’s legacy.

Famed photographer and director Anton Corbijn has paid homage to his early work with Joy Division in the form of his first feature length film Control. Based on the book written by Curtis’ widow, the film takes a raw look at Curtis’ life and the bleak world in which he existed. From the first frame, Corbijn captures the raw beauty and sadness of late 70s Manchester, as if the film itself was made up of breathtaking stills. Winning 5 awards at the British Independent Film Awards (including Best British Independent Film, and Most Promising Newcomer), and most recently BAFTA’s Carl Foreman Award, Control is finally available on DVD today in the UK.

Check out this new video by Jonathan Beamish using the earliest recorded version of “Love Will Tear Us Apart” produced as a John Peel Session for the BBC in 1979, using original performance footage produced by Joy Division for the 1980 single release version. R.I.P. Ian Curtis:

Another genius video passed on to me by our TRACER Crayon: Japanese school kids competing in a cheerleading competition. God bless their little pumping hearts… if only I understood Japanese, because the commentary seems to be just as riveting as the performance itself. Dance dance dance!

With the success of Judd Apatow’s Superbad, three relatively unknown dudes (Michael Cera, Jonah Hill & Christopher Mintz-Plasse) busted onto the scene, and reinvigorated the “teen summer blockbuster” that really wasn’t just for teens. Although Mintz-Plasse was a newcomer, (and will now forever be known as McLovin’,) Jonah Hill and Michael Cera’s careers have been on an upward trajectory for quite some time now. Hill is an Apatow favorite, and Cera gained a cult following by playing George Michael Bluth in Arrested Development. So after all the hooplah I was worried that my precious little Cera would change… but alas, he’s still out there making ridiculous films with his buddies. Case in point Drunk History Vol. 1 whose plot is as follows: “On August 6th 2007, Mark Gagliardi drank a bottle of Scotch… And then discussed a famous historical event. That night history was made…Drunk History.” Too ridiculous to make up. Check it out:

There are no words to describe how utterly cool and cute this video is. They are a powerhouse of intensity and talent… and they’re just kids! Thanks to Crayon for sending me a link - proof that kids nowadays are so much cooler than us.

The fabulous Vashtie (part of the 1992 collective featured in TRACE’s Music Uncommon issue) has done it again. Even with the end of 2007’s 1992 parties, she’s found something new to sink her teeth into. This time around, parties have been put on the shelf, and her creative eye has been put to the test. Done completely for the love of the song, she recently directed a spec video for “Us Placers” off of Kanye’s “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” mixtape. Relying heavily on the help of her friends, Vashtie created this video with no budget and borrowed clothes and everything else she needed from her homies. The song which features the vocal stylings of Lupe Fiasco, Pharrel, Thom Yorke of Radiohead, and of course Kanye is reinvented by Vashtie - each singer’s stand-in is a bad ass kid who knows all the words like the back of his hand. We leave you with this fellow TRACERS, and the best of wishes for the coming year. Happy Holidays! See you again in 2008!

There’s something perverse about our culture’s fascination with reality shows, but what’s most shocking is when some of the most riveting and popular reality shows delve into a world that is downright scary. NBC’s To Catch A Predator is one of those shows. With hidden camera investigations, the show is dedicated to exposing potential child molesters who contact kids through the Internet. What’s weird about this show is that its host Chris Hansen is a veritable celebrity now, and with so many spoofs of the show its hard to take him seriously - and the subject matter is obviously some pretty heavy shit.

Queue the genius that is Human Giant. Their spoof is hands down the best of the bunch. MTV took a chance on these dudes last year and gave them a show that was renewed for this season. Hooray! They sure know how to make me laugh, and last night at New York City’s Upright Citizens Brigade Theater they previewed some new shorts from the upcoming season. All hell is about to break loose people! Here’s the Catching A Predator gem from last season to whet your appetite: