Press Release: 'Hay Qua' Unveils Jam-Packed, Out-of-the-Box Line-Up of Rising Asian American Innovators

From Food to Fashion: 'Hay Qua' Unveils Jam-Packed, Out-of-the-Box Line-Up of Rising Asian American Innovators

"Hay Qua!" Mini-Fest
Saturday, June 27th / 10-4PM
The Bitter End (147 Bleecker St)
Register: www.thatsneaat.com

NEW YORK, NY (June 13, 2009) -- New York is the stuff of dreams, and "Hay Qua!" celebrates this day and night. On Saturday, June 27th, the mini-fest is celebrating big with an impressive roster of passionate, creative thinkers/performers who have continuously pursued their dreams.

In inviting the renown presenters to share their ideas/insights, projects, and anecdotes, "Hay Qua!" hopes to inspire its audience to revisit their own dreams, to draw inspiration, to connect with one another, to wonder, to take away something new, to bring something forth. To witness the beauty of the human imagination at work.

A sampling of imaginative minds at "Hay Qua!":

Alex Nguyen, Trumpet Player // www.alexnguyenmusic.com
Ali Wong, "Best Comedian 2009" by SF Weekly // www.aliwong.com
An Xuan Nguyen, Owner of 'BEP' // www.beprestaurant.blogspot.com
Bao Nguyen, Photographer // www.baonguyenphotography.com
Doan Hoang, Director of 'Oh Saigon' // www.ohsaigon.com
Ina Adele Ray, Director of 'El Paso, Vietnam' // www.adeleray.com
Jared Rehberg, 'Operation Babylift' // www.thebabylift.com
Kim Spurlock, Director of 'Buoi Chieu' // www.kimspurlock.com
Phong Bui, Publisher of 'The Brooklyn Rail' // www.brooklynrail.org
Tam Ngo, Reviewer for 'Serious Eats' // www.seriouseats.com
Thu Tran, TV Host of IFC's Food Party // www.thutranthutran.com
Tracy Nguyen, Publicist for Estelle // www.iprmktg.com
Tuan Bui, Owner of 'An Choi' // www.anchoinyc.com
Vinh Hua, Spoken Word Artist // www.vinh-hua.com
Yen Ha, Partner at FRONT STUDIOS Architects // www.frontstudio.com

But hurry, folks. The "Hay Qua!" + Kollaboration Combo Tickets are now $50 and are only available until 6/22, or until it's SOLD OUT – whichever comes first! Join others from as far as Canada, California, Oregon, Arizona, Louisiana, DC and and as close as Philly and Connecticut. And if you're in a group, email thatsneaat@gmail.com for the group discount and accommodation help!

Contact: Lisa Nguyen
Communications Director
(303) 808-136
ln.lisanguyen@gmail.com
thatsneaat.carbonmade.com

An Old Video of Kite Operations

This is an older video (circa 2007) of Kite Operations playing "The Last Flight Out Left Without Warning" off of Heart Attacks, Back to Back. Ready for some sweet guitar feedback and noise!

Kite Operations will be releasing their third album Festival in September. Expect to find order within chaos, and chaos within order.

Kite Operations - the Last Flight Out Left With No Warning from KOA Records on Vimeo.

Pictures: Chthonic's New "Taiwanese" Look

Chthonic released pictures of their new look. Here's one:



How is this different from one of their older press release pictures? Like this one?



They shed the black marks around facial organs and put on hell-money-like patterns instead. In this way, they have de-blackmetal-ize themselves and re-Taiwanize their look. I wonder what inspired them for their new look.

When I gave a paper at SEM, someone in the audience thought they look like the American (pop) metal group KISS. Maybe they would despise this connection too.

Chthonic Announces New "Taiwanese" Metal Look

Chthonic, extreme metal band from Taiwan, just announced "a new look" at the "Farewell to the Old Style" concert in Taipei. In this new look, they are purging all the black metal references in their makeup. Chthonic's vocalist Freddy emphasized that their facial makeup was always inspired by Taiwanese Taoist rituals and art. He said,“The facial mask of ‘eight generals’ and ‘Kuan-Jiang-Shoe’ were always the main inspirations for our look. I also customized a row of big fangs according to ‘Kuan-Jian-Shoe’’s face. It will be great to put them on when performing on-stage.”

The new look marks the band's identity as just an iteration of European black metal style, but as unique metal form of its own. As important themes, sorrow and tragic stories take central roles in Chthonic's artistic content.

It is no surprise that any bands project the uniqueness of their image. But for Chthonic, part of their unique identity is informed by a brand of Taiwanese nationalism. This new look, I interpret, is a statement of Chthonic as a uniquely "Taiwanese" metal group, apart from other metal bands in the world, particularly of European origins. I wrote about this identity formation more explicitly in an article for Amalgam.

Read the original post "Chthonic Reveals Their New Look" by the band.

Check out the new look at the "Farewell to Old Style" concert:

Clorox Plus Thao Minus Vocals?

The new Clorox commercial features the instrumental introduction of Thao Nguyen's song "Bag of Hammers." What happened to Thao's off-kilter, infectious vocals?



What ya think? I think Clorox *wiped* away all the grit in what Thao calls "dirt pop", a distinctive style that fuses catchy tunes with a raw, messy sensibility.

Here's the original "Bag of Hammers."

Prepping for Meeting Omar Waqar

Enthralled by Omar Waqar's words and music in my research, as an effort to prep for my meeting with Omar, I decided to post a few words.

Omar Waqar is the musical anchor of DC-based hardcore band Diacritical and Sarmust, his new "Indie Rock / Dance Punk/ World" project, described as "Tabla and electric guitar have joined forces to create a musical world where Qawwali becomes Punk and Ghazal becomes Indie Rock" on Omar's website SuchRecords.com. Also a poet, Omar recently published Gardens For the Lush, a collection of Sufi-inspired poems and lyrics. The book is available as a PDF posted on the Such Records site.

To read more about Omar Waqar, check out a great interview recently posted on Averroes Press.

Here's a video featuring Omar in Muslims' America: the Rock n Roll Muslim. This is part two of the 8-part series.

Tim Be Told Tours To Benefit Freedom In Creation

I sat down with the guys in Tim Be Told and chatted about music and life at a coffeeshop near the UVa campus in Charlottesville tonight. They offered me insight into their music, worldview, and the relationship between the two. They also addressed my intellectual concerns and non-intellectual curiosity generously with thought-provoking perspectives. In the coming weeks, I will post a review their upcoming EP From the Inside integrating some words from the members of the band.

For now, I give everyone a heads-up for their upcoming shows. In addition to their appearance at the final competition performance of Kollaboration NYC on 6/27, Tim Be Told will be touring to benefit Freedom In Creation, "a community-led, arts-based psychosocial, education and water-development program aimed at empowering war affected children in Northern Uganda while celebrating the role of the arts within humanitarianism. FIC addresses the socialization and reintegration of children (non- and ex-combatants) into their communities and access to clean and safe drinking water."

I found a poster of their FIC tour at the coffeeshop. Check out Tim Be Told's myspace page for tour dates and details. And don't be surprise to find me at one of their Charlottesville shows.

Exit Clov Covers Morrisey's "Sing Your Life"

NY-based music blog The Music Slut recently released a compilation of Morrisey covers by current indie rock bands to honor Morrisey's 50th birthday. The Rolling Stone gives a shout-out to Exit Clov's version of "Sing Your Life":

"The Music Slut’s ongoing tribute to Moz on the honor of his 50th birthday continues, with a string of covers — a new one every Friday! — that range from faithful to far-out. May we humbly suggest you start with Exit Clov’s bright and charming take on 'Sing Your Life'?"

Knox Road posted the mp3 file of "Sing Your Life".

taut: Tomie Hahn and Melanie Klein Held In-Tense

This weekend at FTM10 (Feminist Theory and Music conference) at University of North Carolina in Greensboro, I witnessed "taut", a collaboration conceived and performed by Tomie Hahn and sculptor Melanie Klein. Tomie and Melanie wore rockclimbing harnesses and supported the weight of each other using bike tires bound together by industrial-strength rubber bands. Tomie played the shakuhachi while the two women swayed and held in tension: articulating togetherness, strength, and presentness through sound, sight, and embodiment.

Program notes:

keep the line
betwee us
well traveled
xxxxxxxxbuzzing
xxxxxxxxxxrattling



It was an elegant, in-tense performance. I look forward to seeing future collaboration between Tomie and Melanie.

I also had the honor of performing with Tomie in a free improv set with my improv trio Pinko Communoids. Media and report of this show will soon to be posted.

Press Release: APAture: Call for Artist Submissions

Kearny Street Workshop, the oldest Asian Pacific American multidisciplinary organization in the United States, is now accepting submissions for the 11th annual APAture festival of emerging Asian American artists. Each September, APAture showcases about 100 artists at venues throughout San Francisco, making it the Bay Area's biggest platform for Asian American art.

We are accepting submissions in five disciplines: visual arts, film & video, music, literary arts and performing arts. The deadline to submit is July 11, 2009.

Go to kearnystreet.org/apature for more info and to apply online!

Questions? Contact apature@kearnystreet.org