Crawl Space Art: Soul drawing

Pen and marker soul drawing by Matt.

Crawl Space Art: Highland Park, IL

Giant cookie at Max's Deli in Highland Park.  There are no words.

Crawl Space Art: Flyer

Flyer originally designed by Jeff for early aughts Mutiny show.  Re-issued in 2008 with new bands.

Crawl Space Art: Backseat driver

Colored pencil drawing by Adam.

Crawl Space Art: Dream

Colored pencil drawing by Adam.  It's relaxing.

Crawl Space Art: Nick

Inkblot style work by Nick.

Crawl Space Art: Three Elephants

Three Elephants drawing by Adam.  Discuss.

Heroes of Crawl Space Art: Herb Kent

Radio legend, Herb Kent.  Featured every weekend on Chicago's home for today's R&B and Old School, V103. Home of the love dusty.

Unintentional Crawl Space Art: Let's Jam!

Black satin rag circa 2000.  Gotta get your waves right.

Crawl Space Art: Matt

Wavy gravy style pen and marker work by Matt.  I'm freakin out, man!

Crawl Space Art: Touch Down to the Pink Road

Original cover art for the No other smuggla release, "Touch down to the pink road."  This album dropped in 2004.  Holy crap!  It's 10 years old.  Remastered re-issue on triple vinyl planned for summer 2014.

Crawl Space Art: Deerfield, IL

Large mural and vintage Goodyear Tires promotional piece at Deerfield Auto and Tire Repair.  Crawl Space Art approved for all your auto needs.

Crawl Space Art: Evan and Nick

"The Adam Doll" drawing by Evan with blurb by Nick.  Circa 2000.  Good times in the basement.

Crawl Space Art: Frank

Chicago itinerary by Frank, circa 2001.  Classic early aughts graphic design.

Food and music: The guide to successful pairing

        It would be to easy to suppose that Mexican food and Mexican music are the perfect pairing.  However, if you are in the US and surrounded by American culture, American music is recommended.  I like music from other countries, but American music is the best thing ever invented.  In case you're wondering, 1980's and early 90's hair metal and cock rock actually pairs best with Mexican food.  It's even better coming from an FM radio station.  Here are some other recommendations:
 

Cuisine	Music	Example joints
Thai and/or Japanese	1990s New Age	Pure Moods, Volume 1
Pizza	Classic Rock	ZZ Top, Tres Hombres Steve Miller Band, Fly Like an Eagle
Corporate fast food	Top 40	Katie Perry, Prism
Mom and Pop burgers and hotdogs	1990s and 2000s Rap and R&B	Usher, Confessions
Culvers, Boston Market, Chic-fil-a	Contemporary country	Toby Randy, Whole Lotta Jesus
Indian	1980s British synth pop and new wave	Depeche Mode, Some Great Reward
Middle Eastern food	1980s and 1990s adult contemporary	Sting, Ten Summoner’s Tales
All buffets: Shakey’s, Old Country, etc	1980s rap	Whodini, Escape
Urban breakfast boutiques	1970s soul and R&B	Curtis Mayfield, There’s no place like America today
BBQ	1960s British invasion and Surf	The Ventures, Walk, don’t run
Ethiopian food	Disco	Chic, C’est Chic

  

Daycare art: South Holland, IL

A little bit of everything here. 

Summer 2013: Go forth into the sun, dudes

Work hard while playing hard, then go chill on the pontoon. 

Heroes of Crawlspace Art: Pablo Picasso

Music Production Advice Part 2

Part 2: Rap music

1. No creative drum machines!  If the beat isn't danceable or catchy as hell, it's already over.  Hardware usage has seen an increase with certain sub-genres (trap music high hat attack), and this will date the sound very quickly.  Get a good loop going, use quality drum sounds, and then press forever.  
2. Use as many effects as possible!  Rap music is constantly re-inventing itself, hyper-creativity is a must.  Effects, weird sounds, insane bass, and more.  Everything, except too much drum hardware. 
3. Lyrics.  Ok, this is a hard one.  I know what I like: Funny/clever word play, catchy hooks, weird topics, and a good diss here and there.  Not a fan of the profanity, violence, etc, but extra positive lyrics tend to be terrible.  Find a balance here.  Andre 3000 is a good mentor on this one.  
4. Last but not least, listen to Herb Kent on V103 for soul sampling inspiration.  He is a living legend!  He will play the hits, but also digs in the crates.  Do not research Northern Soul music, it is bullcrap.  

Music production advice

I'm an amateur musician, but what I really want to do is produce.  Since nobody cares, I will dish on some of my oblique strategies:

Part 1: Rock music

1. No creative drumming!  No excessive hardware usage, no excessive percussion, and no weird time signatures.  Same applies to bass.  The back beat should be spare and tight.
2. Serve the song and melody first. Guitar wankery will be abolished.  All keyboard solos will be destroyed (I'm looking at you, Ray Manzarek).  Effects pedals are permitted, but it'd better improve the song or piss off, Metal Zone.
3. Lyrical content and vocals are important.  Here's a short list of AVOIDS: Anything remotely Michael Stipe inspired (bad beat poetry), crybaby emo crap, cookie monster anything, and vintage bluesman posturing (unless you're ZZ Top or JJ Cale, notice the two-letter trend?). 
4.  Lastly, do not conceptualize the music upfront.  It can turn out good, but too much thought kills the artform.

Next up: Rap music

Crawlspace Artist: Amanda Dalton Innis

"Hobbit tree day" painting by Amanda Dalton Innis.  Czech out her joints at: http://amandainnis.com/home.html

Heroes of crawlspace art: Mickey Mouse

Vintage Mickey Mouse comic strip "How to get a date".  Ultra rare ringer shirt. 

Crawlspace art Top 5: Sports logos and mascots

From the top: Vintage San Diego Padres logo, Houston Oilers (RIP) logo, Boston Celtics leprechaun logo, vintage Buffalo Bills logo, and the University of Kansas Jayhawks logo

Outside Art: Bellingham, WA Part II

Bonus cuts* from the Jungle Hut outdoor sculpture garden in Bellingham, WA.  The garden was started by Steve Satushek, a local photographer who owns the property.

* Jungle hut is the #1 viewed post on my blog.  Just wanna give the people what they want.

Crawl space art rules: #4

Think inside the box that resides in the crawl space.

Crawl Space art: Still life with white rabbit

White rabbit still life drawing.

Crawl space art rules: #3

Omit as many details as possible & avoid all attempts at realism.

Crawl space art rules: #2

Repetition is the spice of life.

Crawl space art: Football mascot

Football mascot drawing by Adam. Part of the Sports Mascot series.

Photo enjoyment: Paw Paw Lake, Michigan

Paw Paw Lake at dawn, Labor Day weekend 2011. Featuring Japanese sunrise and the infamous Mud Lake.

Crawl space art: Speed bag

"Speed bag" as seen at the Loyola Center for Fitness. Drawing by Adam. Part of the Health Club series.

Crawl space art: Shower drain

"Shower drain" as seen at the UIC West Campus Sport and Fitness Center. Drawing by Adam. Part of the Health Club series.

Crawl space art: Dark Horse

Dark Horse drawing by Adam. Part of the Pitch Black series.

Roots of Crawl space art: Masters of the Universe

Plates from the color and activity book, "Masters of the Universe". Featured characters include Skeletor, Battle Cat, and Stinkor, the flying skunk.

Crawl Space art: Matt and Evan

Front cover and insert for the Tabledrummer album, "All my Chills." Design by Evan and Matt.

Photo enjoyment: Eagle River, WI

Highlights from Eagle River, WI including Teepee Lake, Wisconsin River, and mounted fish. Great vacation spot to build man skills.

Crawl space art: Plate from "The Peacock Republic"

Flag and front cover of the upcoming book, The Peacock Republic.

Crawl space artist: Sam Vevang

Pen drawings and kraut diary by Sam Vevang.