As someone with too much time on his hands, I’ve always made seasonal mixtapes and talked with friends about our favorite “summer jams”—a term that really only realized means, “songs you listen to and enjoy during summer.” Even Billboard has been tracking its Hot 100 from Memorial Day to Labor Day, naming it the annual “Songs of the Summer” Chart and further rendering the concept of summer songs pretty much meaningless. Music is rarely seasonal. You can make obvious exceptions like dubbing Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago a “winter album” and most of The Beach Boys’ discography as perfect “summer albums” but even then, it pigeonholes music into a limited function. For this list, there’s no scientific method for picking these songs other than the fact that these tracks were released in 2013, are humble recommendations, and might remind you of summer.

There’s no Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” or Robin Thicke’s sexy “Blurred Lines” on this list, but we’re not going to pretend like those aren’t great pop songs. Though most on this mix won’t even crack the Billboard Hot 100, each of these artists have broadened the 2013 pop landscape. From Vampire Weekend’s playful but mature indie rock, to Disclosure’s forward-thinking dance music or Laura Mvula’s idiosyncratic jazz-pop, 2013 is more than what’s been dominating the airwaves and Spotify streams.

Follow the playlist on Spotify.

1. Pacific Air – “Float”

This song led off the 2012 Summer Mix I made for my friends and family. At that time, Pacific Air played music under the moniker of KO KO. Since releasing the track on Bandcamp, the indie pop duo signed with Republic Records, promptly changed their name to Pacific Air and released an EP last fall. Though this playlist mostly has tracks released in 2013, I am making an exception because of how bubbly and catchy this song is—it’s absolutely perfect for summer.

2. Foals – “My Number”

While summer is a time of carefree fun, sometimes a good summer playlist needs a kiss-off. Fortunately, Foals released one of the most danceable “fuck yous” of the year with “My Number.” When lead singer Yannis Philippakis belts out, “Cause I feel alive,” it’s impossible not to feel the promise of summer nights.

3. Alpine – “Hands”

Hailing from Australia, Alpine is a electro-pop band with memorable hooks and a damn good debut in A is For Alpine. They first appeared on the U.S. radar when they played and impressed SXSW in 2012. With “Hands” the breathy vocal interplay between Phoebe Baker and Lou James blends with the pulsating, almost ominous beat. Note: While originally released in 2011, and exception was made because it is on their debut full length that hits stores this year.

4. Vampire Weekend – “Diane Young”

This song is sort of expected. Vampire Weekend proved once and for all that they’re not just another NYC buzz-band with their completely mature and challenging third album Modern Vampires Of The City. Critics and audiences agreed, sending the acclaimed LP to No. 1 on the Billboard Charts and to Pitchfork’s Best New Music. On “Diane Young,” the slick production, vocal distortions, and driving beat make for the catchiest number on the new record.

5. Classixx – “Holding On”

L.A. based production duo Michael David and Tyler Blake impressed last month with Hanging Gardens—a glistening and fun dance album that rivaled the infectiousness of Random Access Memories. The energy and catchiness found throughout the LP is best encapsulated in “Holding On,” the record’s lead single. “Holding On” bounces and grooves—sort of like a 2013 take on Earth, Wind, & Fire’s “September.”

6. Betty Who – “You’re In Love”

If it’s not Alpine, there’s another great pop act coming from Australia. Meet Betty Who, a very tall (6’2”) synth-pop superstar in the making, who moved to America and received her education at the prestigious Berklee College of Music. She caught the eyes of the pop world with her other single “Somebody Loves You,” but with “You’re In Love,” she reaches Katy Perry levels of massive hooks but without the cheese and insufferableness.

7. Cayucas – “High School Lover”

Like Pacific Air, Cayucas recently changed their name from “Oregon Bike Trails” before releasing their debut album. Also like Pacific Air, “High School Lover” was one of my favorite songs last summer and I’m also rationalizing its inclusion into the list by noting that this song was on Cayucas’s 2013 debut album. “High School Lover” takes teenage nostalgia and makes it palatable—it’s a fun summer song that will you have you humming along at the beach.

8. Telekinesis! – “Lean On Me”

Seattle’s Michael Lerner blends the best of power-pop and pop-punk to make consistently solid releases that always seem to get stuck in your head. “Lean On Me” picks up where Lerner left off on 12 Desperate Straight Lines and his latest album Domarion is stronger because of it.

9. Tegan and Sara – “Drove Me Wild”

Canadian twins Tegan and Sara Quin released their seventh studio album, Hearthrob this winter that marked a departure from their previous sound for a more conventional, poppy oeuvre. This isn’t something to complain about as Heartthrob arguably ranks among the duo’s best. Proof of this is the fifth track, “Drove Me Wild.” Along with “Closer,” this is one of the best songs on the new record and a perfect supplement to a fun summer night.

10. Disclosure – “Latch”

Impossibly young U.K. band of brothers Howard and Guy Lawrence released the best dance record of the year with Settle. On an album full of summer dance jams, one of the most stand out tracks is the stunner “Latch,” which features guest vocals from British singer Sam Smith. Sure to be an anthem in clubs everywhere, Disclosure shows off their ear for complex beats and pop hooks despite their respective ages of 21 and 18.

11. Kurt Vile – “Wakin On A Pretty Day”

The best descriptor of Kurt Vile’s music would be “laid back.” After breaking off from The War On Drugs, the rock guitar virtuoso has put out album after album of intricate but seemingly effortless jams. His latest, Wakin On A Pretty Daze is one of those great summer albums despite the fact that six of its eleven songs go past the six-minute mark. Clocking in at over nine minutes, “Wakin On A Pretty Day” doesn’t seem that long as Vile’s subdued vocals and reverb-heavy guitar make for an engaging listen.

12. The Spinto Band – “Shake It Off”

The Spinto Band’s latest full length Cool Cocoon furthered the group’s infatuation with great power-pop tunes. The 17-year veterans kickstart the album with “Shake It Off” a upbeat gem of poppy rock. There’s some dissonance between the light and breezy vibe of the music and the melancholy found in the lyrics, “It hurts to be young and it hurts to be someone who’s scared.”

13. Ex Cops – “James”

Ex Cops are a dream pop duo from New York who have managed to sound fresh in a relatively crowded genre. After signing with Other Music, the band released True Hallucinations. The third track on the debut, “James” has the male/female back and forth vocals of early Belle & Sebastian and the shimmering pop guitars of Teenage Fanclub and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.

14. Jagwar Ma – “Come Save Me”

Psychedelic poppers Jagwar Ma also hail from Australia and probably took a few notes when their compatriots Tame Impala released one of 2012’s strongest albums in Lonerism. “Oohs” and “Ahs” from the backup vocals permeate “Come Save Me” and lead to almost a chant towards the end that’s both mesmerizing and trippy.

15. Vondelpark – “California Analog Dream”

Incorporating R&B rhythms and attitude to indie rock has been one of more welcome trends lately with Rhye, Autre Ne Veut, and inc. impressively leading the charge. Vondelpark uses R&B elements to create a downbeat, almost surreal number in “California Analog Dream.” Lewis Rainsbury’s baritone croon sets the chill mood to the lovely smooth number.

16. Camera Obscura – “Do It Again”

Glaswegian ensemble Camera Obscura have been at it since 1996, but they haven’t run out of material left. 2013’s Desire Lines continued to refine the group’s indie pop sound without being too twee. Though Desire Lines has quite of number of pop gems, none reach the same heights with the upbeat “Do It Again.”

17. Charli XCX – “What I Like”

We’re all familiar and somehow not sick of Icona Pop’s “I Love It,” it was the song of the summer last year, was featured in a great episode of Girls, and still gets constant radio play. Well, Charli XCX co-wrote that jam and this year dropped True Romance, her first official full-length (after a series of mixtapes and a disowned album she refers to as “shitty Myspace music”). Though at 21, Charli XCX has used her millennial inclination towards social media to develop a devoted Twitter and Tumblr fan base, True Romance can’t be described as “shitty Myspace music.” Instead, it’s a well-thought out and incredibly catchy collection of potential pop hits, especially the youth nostalgia-laden love song “What I Like.” It’s easy to see Charli XCX becoming the “next big thing” soon.

18. Laura Mvula – “Green Garden”

Lauren Mvula’s rise to success is one of those awesome feel-good stories that inevitably come with many up and coming artists. She’s a 26-year-old from Birmingham who couldn’t get over her stage fright despite being classically trained. Now, she has a hit album that can’t really be pigeonholed into just R&B or pop. Somehow, her idiosyncratic blend of these genres finds her music somewhere by itself—complex, weird, but ultimately familiar and accessible. She sings, “I’ll fly on the wings of a butterfly, high as a treetop and down again” on “Green Garden,” a standout from Sing To The Moon that incorporates vocoders ala Imogen Heap.

19. Palma Violets – “We Found Love”

Palma Violets received a lot of buzz last year in their native England for the catchy “I want to be in the friendzone” anthem “Best of Friends” which received Song of The Year accolades from NME. After releasing their debut album, 180 this winter, their rambunctiously rowdy brand of garage rock marks the band as not just another Strokes imitation. “We Found Love” is a hopeful anthem complete “La La La’s” and a resolution for the future “I’m gonna find myself a lady friend / stick by her until the end.” It even has a guitar solo and pays homage to The Velvet Underground’s “Sweet Jane.” For those who want to rock, listen to this.

20. Pickwick – “Window Sill”

Seattle soul indie outfit Pickwick’s debut album Can’t Talk Medicine was one of releases I was most excited for this year and it didn’t disappoint. Those familiar with the band know their biggest strength lies with lead singer Galen Disston, a sort of goofy looking guy who can really fucking belt it out. On “Window Sill,” the closest thing the band has to a fists-in-the-air anthem, Disston’s voice soars while the rest of the band brings down the house in just an absolute banger of a track. A stellar live act, Pickwick will be supporting artists like Okkervil River and Black Joe Lewis on tour later this year.

Honorable Mentions

Because not everything is on Spotify, here are some songs we missed

Chance The Rapper – “Juice”

Chicago wunderkind emcee Chance The Rapper dazzled with his sophomore mixtap Acid Rap, an experimental release taking the best of free jazz, an ear for hooks, and Chance’s weird flow into the best rap release of 2013. It’s remarkably mature for someone who is only 20 years old.

MØ – “Waste Of Time”

Danish pop-star-in-the-making MØ hasn’t yet released an album but her previous singles “Glass” and “Pilgrim” have generated considerable buzz. “Waste Of Time” proves this hype isn’t unwarranted. The glitchy beat matched with the jangly guitars and her R&B mentality carves out a spot in the growing list of new pop stars. Think of her as a toned down Grimes and iamamiwhoami, yet more fun than Lana Del Ray.

The post Cause I Feel Alive: Summer Songs of 2013 appeared first on The Airspace.

Set for release on June 18th, Kanye West’s sixth studio album, Yeezus (Def Jam and GOOD Music), has been leaked four days early. In the follow-up to the critically acclaimed hip-hop opus My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kanye returns to a dark form and then some—the key difference being this album lacks the star-studded roster of guest verses. We at the Airspace have worked to single out the moments of brilliance in the oft-underrated lyrical workings of Mr. West.

But brace yourselves, vulgar imagery and words are ahead. Kanye insists on raw sexuality over the typical rapping about drugs, guns, materials, and money that his rapping counterparts. It’s not without effect and meaning, but it can be a little disturbing, however realistic.

We’ve also included some of our favorite user-generated album artwork inbetween posts. The goal of the minimalist accompanying artwork was to encourage fans to create their own and to see the CD for what it really is. Unfortunately, it was hard to find original credits for some of these images.

All lyrics courtesy of RapGenius.com

“On Sight”

“Yeezy season approaching / Fuck whatever y’all been hearing / Fuck what, fuck whatever y’all been wearing / The monster about to come alive again.”

This is a great line to start the album off. Ye steals the stage from anyone else you might be listening to. It wouldn’t be the first time. The Monster is back after a nearly three year solo hiatus.

“Black Skinhead”

“Enter the kingdom / But watch who you bring home / They see a black man with a white woman at the top floor they gone come to kill King Kong.”

American cinema is notorious for its hesitancy about showing a black man and a white woman in a relationship, and when Hollywood does, that interracial relationship usually takes center stage. King Kong touched on a national consciousness with a long fear of black men “destroying the purity” of white women. Kanye sits at the top (see: Watch the Throne) with Kim Kardashian. Only time will tell if America sicks the biplanes on King Kan.

“I Am a God”

“I am a god / So hurry up with my damn massage / In a French ass restaurant / Hurry up with my damn croissants.”

Possibly the most quotable line of the album. Not the most technically skilled, but Kanye has already proven himself as the best in the rap game. Why not have a little fun? Anyway, our relationship with hip hop music is one in which we seek out the corny, cheesy, ghetto lines. It’s why mid-2000s Lil Wayne was one of the most infectious rappers of all time despite dumb wordplay. But, on the bright size, at least Kanye learned not to order fish filet while he’s goin gorillas in Paris. Try the local cuisine, man.

“I just talked to Jesus / He said, ‘What up Yeezus?’ / I said, ‘Shit I’m chilling / Trying to stack these millions’ / I know he the most high / But I am a close high.”

Jesus gives his tacit endorsement to this song and the album’s title. I might just like this line because Kanye released a video of him previewing these lines to Rick Rubin, who suggested “millions” as “more relatable” than billions. I guess when you speak with Christ on the regular, such minor details get lost.

“New Slaves”

“You see it’s leaders and it’s followers / But I’d rather be a dick than a swallower.”

Kanye’s false dichotomy turns the entire world into a sexual relationship. Cringe when you realize we’re the one swallowing his lines.

“Fuck you and your Hampton house / I’ll fuck your Hampton spouse / Came on her Hampton blouse / And in her Hampton mouth.”

Here he exercises righteous indignation at those profiting from consumerism, once again putting realistic, raw sexual energy over material pleasure. Ye looks good (and he knows it), but he’d rather pride himself on his sexual prowess than compare himself to old money or something corporate. If Kanye were in The Great Gatsby—scored by his friend Jay-Z—he would be a West-Egger.

“Hold My Liquor”

“Bitch I’m back out my coma / Waking up on your sofa.”

Kanye is back after his stretch of other projects. He was just hungover from the amazing work on 2010′s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. He’s also so bad that you might as well have kicked him out of your bed, so he’s stuck on the sofa. Poor Yeezy.

“I’m in It”

“Eatin’ Asian pussy, all I need was sweet and sour sauce.”

This one was popular on Twitter as far as I could tell. Once again, the simple whimsy of it makes it so memorable.

“Uh, black girl sippin’ white wine / Put my fist in her like a civil rights sign.”

Uh…

“Uh, my mind move like a Tron bike / Uh, pop a wheelie on the Zeitgeist / Uh, I’m finna start a new movement.”

Based on the enormous reaction to this leak, there’s no doubt that Mr. West has been doing donuts on the zeitgeist for years. The Tron bike is fast and futuristic; Kanye is leading the way.

“Blood on the Leaves”

Verse 3 is hands down the best on the album (though “I’m in It” obviously has some great lines), so I’m pulling two—let’s consider these a tie.

“I don’t give a damn if you used to talk to Jay-Z / He ain’t with you, he with Beyonce, you need to stop actin’ lazy / She Instagram herself like ‘Bad bitch alert’ / He Instagram his watch like ‘Mad rich alert’ / He only wanna see that ass in reverse.”

This is Jay’s only real appearance on the album, unfortunately. But it raises a good question: now that both Jay and Kanye are taken, what’s a girl to do but step aside?

“Now you sittin’ courtside, wifey on the other side / Gotta keep ‘em separated, I call that apartheid.”

Jay-Z and Beyonce are often found on the floor of NY basketball games. Jay’s got a face that only a few can love, but if he were a baller on the court, he might have to keep his main girl in the booth suite and his side girl on the floor.

“Guilt Trip”

“Star Wars fur, yeah I’m rockin’ Chewbacca.”

Remember when Kanye’s “Cold” verse from Cruel Summer drew the ire of PETA? Well he hasn’t stopped covering himself in out-of-this-world fur.

“Send It Up”

“She say ‘Can you get my friends in the club?’ / I say ‘Can you get my Benz in the club?’ / If not, treat your friends like my Benz / Park they ass outside ’til the evening end.”

West has a well-documented history of hating on girls for using his popularity to advance their friends or children. Also with his Benz. Maybe Ye should marry that car.

“Bound 2″

“Start a Fight Club, Brad reputation / I turnt the nightclub out of the basement.”

This is the most prescient and self-aware line of the album. With screams and raw realness, Kanye bombs the consumerist culture throughout the album, just like Brad Pitt’s character in Fight Club. The dark sound of his songs is brought out of the underground with this release, and like what we saw in albums past, the rap game will probably follow Kanye’s lead on this one.

“After all these long ass verses / I’m tired, you tired, Jesus wept.”

I was pretty disappointed without the lack of a proper outro to this album, which is uncharacteristic for West. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t end it with the most potent line of all. Referring to the shortest verse of the Bible, John 11:35, Kanye closes his rapping with “Jesus wept.” Even Jesus is mourning the end of Yeezus. But Jesus teared up just before resurrecting his friend Lazarus, so who knows what’s in store for West.

The post The 15 Best Lines from Kanye West’s ‘Yeezus’ appeared first on The Airspace.

MTV declares independence or something, kids hate reading at appropriate age levels, and another dumb comment about rape.

This is Vinny from Jersey Shore and The Show With Vinny. You will not see him on the Fourth of July.

MTV Will Play Music Again (But Only For 12 Hours)

The Fourth of July is approaching and people are already thinking about all the hotdogs, beer, and pie they will consume while watching fireworks and attending parades. But according to MTV, VH1, and CMT a crucial ingredient missing from Independence Day is a 12-hour slot of non-stop music videos. Dubbed “Music Independence Day,” MTV will attempt to free itself from the shackles of everyone saying, “Why doesn’t MTV play music videos anymore?”

Starting July 4th, MTV, VH1, and CMT will devote a 12-hour block of time from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. to music videos that promise to be “the ultimate party playlist for fans of pop, country, hip hop, indie and EDM.” While a nice gesture, it’s likely that viewers are just going to see when the latest offering of reality TV is available for shameless consumption after getting sick of seeing the edited music video of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines.”

Credit: Stephanie Yao Long/The Oregonian

What Kids Are Reading

Millennials can’t catch a break from the mean old media. Millennials would rather just sit down with The Hunger Games after a long day of taking selfies, not getting jobs, and now not reading age appropriate literature. According to a report from NPR, “High-schoolers are reading books written for younger kids, and teachers aren’t assigning difficult classics as much as they once did.” In fact, kids are coming out and saying that they don’t appreciate “realism or historical fiction” but instead prefer sci-fi, fantasy, and horror books written for people younger than they are.

Renaissance Learning’s Eric Stickney found that “the complexity of texts students are being assigned to read has declined by about three grade levels over the past 100 years.” In 1989, the kids were assigned to read books by Charles Dickens, George Bernard Shaw, Edith Wharton, Sophocles, and the Bronte sisters. Now, their in-school reading lists include less complex and more contemporary works, like The Help and The Notebook—books kids actually got credit for reading in an actual school.

GOP Congressman Is A Legitimate Ape

Apparently Trent Franks, a GOP Representative from Arizona completely forgot about 2012 and the justified furor over Todd Akin’s misinformed “legitimate rape” comments, when he recently opened his mouth in public. His questionable comments came in a House Judiciary meeting to defend his anti-choice proposal to ban abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy—in contrast to the 24 week precedent established by the Supreme Court. In an attempt to justify not exempting rape or incest, he said, “The incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low.”.

Well, that’s just not true. For one, experts agree that rape does not lower the chances of getting pregnant. Furthermore, a 1996 study from American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology states [more than 30,000 pregnancies result from rape every year in the U.S. Hopefully next time around, Arizonans will vote someone into office who can use Google to see if the things they are spewing actually ring true.

Whatever & Ever Today is written by deft punk Josh Terry

The post Whatever & Ever Today: MTV Is (Kind Of) Back, Kids Would Rather Read The Hunger Games, & More Dumb Rape Remarks From Elected Officials appeared first on The Airspace.

Americans like movies about scary murderers in dystopian America, designated drivers still drink, and John Oliver tries not to run The Daily Show into cancellation.

Americans Get The Purge Out Of Their System

On Friday, low budget horror flick The Purge opened in theaters everywhere and ended up topping the weekend box office reigning in a whopping $34.1 million. The Purge knocked down Fast & Furious 6 from the top spot and beat out the Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson bro-comedy The Internship that also debuted last weekend. The Internship only raked in around $17.3 million so that may be a sign that most Americans are pretty much over the Wedding Crashers duo.

The success of The Purge is notable considering it only cost $3 million to make and is considered very mediocre, at least [according to most critics. There’s another movie starring Ethan Hawke called Before Midnight and is currently in select theaters. It’s decidedly not mediocre so go see that instead (but only if you’ve seen the first two installments in director Richard Linklater’s Before series).

40% of “Designated Drivers” Aren’t Really Designated Drivers

According to research studying drinkers in an unnamed Florida college town, nearly 40% of designated drivers drink before driving their drunk friends home. Using interviews, breathalyzer tests and other methods, they found that 17 percent had breath alcohol concentrations between 0.02 to 0.049 while 18 percent had BAC’s of 0.05 or more. Though it’s great news that drunk driving fatalities fell below 10,000 for the first time ever in 2011, deaths caused by drunk driving are 100 percent preventable. Don’t drink and drive, please.

The Daily Show With That British Guy?

Tonight marks the first night of The Daily Show’s “Senior British Correspondent” John Oliver summer tenure as host for the Comedy Central mainstay. Oliver will be subbing in for Jon Stewart who is taking the summer off to direct Rosewater, a film he wrote about the trials of BBC journalist Maziar Bahari when he covered Iran’s 2009 presidential elections. Oliver’s run as substitute anchor will last until September 3, when Stewart returns. Though Stewart hasn’t taken a hiatus this long, Oliver has been on The Daily Show for seven years, so this transition will hopefully not be very jarring.

Whatever & Ever Today is written by beard enthusiast Josh Terry

The post Whatever & Ever Today: ‘The Purge’ Shocks The Box Office, Designated Drunk Drivers, and John Oliver Starts ‘The Daily Show’ Gig appeared first on The Airspace.

The MLB wants to fight PEDs, Pictures of Presidents, and OK Go Charms In Their Tiny Desk Concert.

All Braun And No Brains

According to a report by ESPN’s Outside The Lines, Major League Baseball is looking to suspend at least 20 players for their alleged involvement with Biogenesis, a Florida based company that supposedly gave them performance-enhancing drugs. This list includes big names like Ryan Bruan, Alex Rodriguez, Nelson Cruz, Melky Cabrera, and Gio Gonzales. Due to the fact that many of these players are repeat offenders, MLB will institute a 100 game suspension as opposed to the standard 50 associated with the use of PEDs. However, these allegations come from a deal struck between Major League Baseball and Tony Bosch, the head of Biogenesis and current con-man, to crack down to players. Because of MLB’s strange bedfellow, questions like whether or not these allegations are worth considering or if any of these players will actually be suspended due to appeals and other considerations are still up in the air. As of press time, thousands of fantasy baseball players are willing to suspend their aversion to steroids so Ryan Braun can take their team to the very top.

Candid Photos Of 13 Presidents

Buzzfeed’s Andrew Kaczynski compiled a bunch of photographs featuring the past 13 Presidents and found that a lot of Presidents really like to spend time on boats. If a President isn’t fishing or on a boat, he’s dressing up as Santa (Reagan), hanging out with animals (Johnson), jamming on the piano (Nixon) or running with a squirt gun (Obama). Unfortunately added to a list is a very unflattering picture of an especially pasty and sweaty Bill Clinton, who also dons impossibly short running shorts—a reminder that the 90s weren’t that great.

OK Go’s 223 Take Tiny Desk Concert

OK Go is known for their complex and creative music videos that are noteworthy because of how tedious and exhausting they probably were to film. This time, they were brought in to help NPR All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen move all his stuff from where the Tiny Desk Concerts are filmed to the new NPR offices downtown Washington D.C. Instead of helping out with the actual move, the band decided to do a 223 take music video of their song “All Is Not Lost” going from the old office to the new one via a stake bed truck and a couple of elevators. Be sure to watch the entire video for the endearing outtakes.

Whatever and Ever Today is written by novice cartographer Josh Terry

The post Whatever & Ever Today: Steroids Are Still Bad, Presidents On Boats, and OK Go Has Another Crazy Video appeared first on The Airspace.

Asteroid miners want to make a telescope by the people, for the people; Will Smith and Family are Earth’s true saviors; and James Murphy geeks out.

Send Selfies To Space For Some Reason

Kickstarter has been a pretty controversial topic this year with Amanda Palmer, Zach Braff, Veronica Mars, and even that one band Eisley launching crowdfunding campaigns to mixed reception. Now, Planetary Resources, “an asteroid mining company,” funded by the likes of James Cameron, Eric Schmidt and other billionaires, wants 1 million dollars to create a crowdsourced telescope called ARKYD (pronounced “ahrk-kid.”) Among many other things, you can have your own photo displayed in space for just $25. Strangely, the idea of “space selfies” is less annoying than anything Amanda Palmer has ever done.

Charted: The Smith Family Saves The World

Because Will & Jaden Smith are starring in M. Night Shyamalan’s sci-fli blockbuster After Earth that opens today in theaters,Wired decided to chart how often the Smith family saves the world across their film careers. Apparently, Will Smith’s character has saved all humanity in nine of his movies, even Shark Tale (allegedly). Be it vampires, aliens, Civil War-era criminals, or robots, Will Smith’s characters have been able to stop them all. But, it’s debatable that Willow Smith saves pop music from haters with “Whip My Hair,” because isn’t it obvious that’s what Har Mar Superstar is doing?

Watch James Murphy DJ and Geek Out About Music

This month, the Red Bull Music Academy has been sponsoring lectures and DJ sets from a bunch of influential figures in music including Brian Eno, El-P, and Giorgio Moroder. In the latest entry, LCD Soundsystem and DFA Records Founder James Murphy sat down for 90 minutes to geek out about his favorite tracks and talk about the history of DFA amongst other topics. It’s worth it just to see James Murphy express his love for the B-52s to the surprise of the interviewer. Later on, Murphy played a pretty eclectic DJ set.

Murphy’s DJ set

Whatever and Ever Today is written by übermensch Josh Terry

The post Whatever & Ever Today: A Crowdfunded Telescope, The Smith Family Saves The World, & James Murphy Is Still Awesome appeared first on The Airspace.

Film reviews, in Haikus. Review in Haiku is written by Tony Russo, designed by Blake J. Graham, and updated regularly. Images are also available on imgur.

Iron Man 3 (2013)

Haiku by Max O’Connell

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)

Haiku by Max O’Connell

The Great Gatsby (2013)

Haiku by Max O’Connell

“Baz-tardization: When Style Overwhelms Story,” by Max O’Connell

Romeo + Juliet (1996)

Haiku by Max O’Connell

“Baz-tardization: When Style Overwhelms Story,” by Max O’Connell

Rust and Bone (2012)

Breathless (1960)

Blade Runner (1982)

The Graduate (1967)

“Graduating with The Graduate: the Future and the 1967 Film,” by Tony Russo

Trainspotting (1996)

Haiku by Josh Terry

In The Mood for Love (2000)

Psycho (1960)

The Tree of Life (2011)

Haiku by Max O’Connell

“The Tree of Life: Genesis Retold,” by Jon Catlin

The Social Network (2010)

The Thin Red Line (1998)

The post Review in Haiku appeared first on The Airspace.

Washington Square Park, Chicago

The “Radiant City” is back. Two high-profile buildings currently going up in Chicago draw on a park-centric model for development which has proven problematic in the past.

One, an office building in the West Loop, is built into a 1.5-acre park planned for the West bank of the Chicago River. The other, an apartment building in Hyde Park, rises out of a three story retail complex with a fully landscaped green roof. Renderings and rhetoric have presented these parks as beneficent gifts to the City. Yet, reflecting the “Radiant City” idealism, important questions about the safety and utility of these new green spaces have been left unanswered by the architects and developers.

Le Corbusier, iconoclastic modern architect and designer, coined the term “Radiant City” in his 1933 book of the same name. In the book, Le Corbusier envisioned of the modern city as a collection of skyscrapers dispersed throughout expanses of parks. The public and the architectural elites saw in his vision a way to reunite city-dwellers with nature and a solution to the urban population problem. By the 1950s and 1960s, this conceptual model for development had become hugely influential and was reflected in the design of housing and office building projects across the country. The idea of urban green space as an unassailable end in itself is one of the lasting legacies of this model of city planning.

This way of thinking about green space blinded the public and the elites to the reality that parks are naturally social voids which only occasionally become glorious public spaces through luck and great effort. Jane Jacobs explores in her 1961 book The Death and Life of the American City the effects of city parks upon their surroundings.

For Jacobs, a successful park is a well-used park, and unsuccessful parks go hand in hand with unsuccessful, unpopular, and depressing neighborhoods. She says, “[neighborhood parks] further depress neighborhoods that people find unattractive…for they exaggerate the dullness, the danger, the emptiness.” We have all seen unsuccessful parks in unsuccessful neighborhoods. Abandoned by respectable people, they become the ideal setting for unobserved violent crimes. We see this in New York City, where violent crime rates in City parks are currently leading the rest of the city and are increasing even as citywide crime rates have declined. Thus do unsuccessful parks become cancers which destroy neighborhoods from within. These are the stakes, and this is why it is important to be cautious and thoughtful as we install new parks in our cities.

Yet green space continues to be a winning formula for developers and architects. River Point, the 45-story downtown office building which broke ground on Tuesday, January 15, will be situated in a 1.5-acre park on the West bank of the Chicago River. Plans for City Hyde Park, a mixed-use housing and retail development located at 51st and Lake Park Ave in Hyde Park, show a fully landscaped roof three stories above street level.

Rendering of River Point Plaza

The River Point park seems unlikely to succeed. Located on the West side of the river, in an area currently dominated by parking lots and trainyards, it is a joint collaboration between the City and the developer meant to extend the Riverwalk. Unfortunately, the park is isolated from its surroundings. The park itself will sit on a platform above the train tracks, and plans show only three stairways up to the park. In addition to naturally discouraging frequent, casual use of the park, the limitations on park access are dangerous, and, unless the park is well-patrolled, will make it an obvious target for criminals.

The River West neighborhood is developing, and it is possible that over time, the park will become a central location. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has proposed an ambitious project to redevelop the Riverwalk from Lake Michigan to the fork where the River Point tower sits. This project, if and when it goes through, could make the River Point park more attractive and accessible from the Loop. But at present, with its single-use tenant and discouragements to outside access, it seems likely that the park will stagnate. It will become a place to hurry through at the beginning and end of the workday rather than a place to linger. The developers and the city would have done better to integrate multiple uses into the development or to cut out the park altogether.

Drawing of River Point Tower and Plaza

The green space in the City Hyde Park project is different because it is intended for private, rather than public use. It is relevant to us because it is partially funded with City money through a TIF (tax increment financing) division. Designed by the much-admired Studio Gang, the building will serve a variety of uses, including retail at street level and apartments in the tower rising out of the green deck. Yet the park space, which will contain the amenities for the apartment dwellers above, will be segregated from other users, and so will be denied both the dangers and the vitality of a social space that is a nexus for multiple uses. Little harm will be done; the space will drag the neighborhood down no more than a seldom-used backyard. But it will also contribute nothing spectacular. As such, perhaps the city money diverted to the project would be better used to improve the district in other ways.

Rendering of Connors Park, Chicago

One promising public-private partnership is falling into place now at Connors Park in the Gold Coast neighborhood of Chicago. Connors Park, forgotten by the Chicago Park District, was littered and in disrepair, frequented by vagrants, according to Alderman Reilly, who initiated the partnership with Argo Tea. Under the agreement, Argo Tea will be allowed to construct a teahouse in the middle of the park and will, in turn, maintain and improve the park for the duration of its 15-year lease.

A close look at the terms of the agreement reveals that the city has gotten an exceptionally good deal. The green space of the park should be little altered, since Argo Tea is forbidden from expanding the amount of pavement (termed ‘hardscape) in the park. In addition, the agreement stipulates that the tea shop must be as open as possible and its use, and the use of the park around it, must remain free. In this case, since the failure of the park was due to its disrepair, the improvements and maintenance promised by Argo Tea will likely be enough to make the park comfortable and safe once again. Yet we should expect more even than this. Experiments like this in other cities, such as the food kiosks installed in Madison Square Park, Greeley Square, and Bryant Park in New York City, have been successful at drawing new visitors to enjoy and enliven the parks. We should expect the Argo Tea in Connors Park to do the same.

Parks should brighten and enliven their neighborhoods; they should be safe and friendly and inviting. The “Radiant City” approach to urban planning and architecture encourages none of these. Before we build more parks, we should look at our old ones, and ask: are they working? Where parks are failing, we should ask why, and, where possible, implement agreements like the one at Connors Park. Above all, we must think of parks always in the context of the overarching aim of urban planning: the creation of neighborhoods and cities which are safe, comfortable, and friendly.

Originally published on Out of the Yards, January 29, 2013

The post How Can We Build Safe Urban Parks? appeared first on The Airspace.

Credit: Pitchfork

Facebook tries to save face with advertisers through human decency, Elvis Costello and The Roots team up, and dance hits get playlisted.

Map of the world as seen through Facebook connections

Facebook Realizes Violence Against Women Counts As Hate Speech

This past week, those in charge of deleting offensive content on Facebook have been seemingly AFK as lots of disgusting and misogynistic material has stayed on the social media site. After losing 15 major advertisers and making those following the story collectively sigh, “what the hell, Facebook?” the website decided to post a lengthy explanation and apology saying that yeah, you’re right, pro-rape postings do count as hate-speech and should be deleted. About time; but it’s still disheartening to see that it took this long for Facebook to take action.

Credit: Tamara Weber

(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Elvis Costello, The Roots, & A New Album

Two very well liked and respected acts are collaborating to make a new record and it will be released later this fall. Elvis Costello and The Roots will put out Wise Up Ghost September 17, through Blue Note Records. Elvis met the Roots during multiple appearances on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon where the Roots play as a house band. What originally started out as just a Record Store Day single quickly became a full album that apparently is “stark and dark on the music, [and] Elvis went HAM on some ole Ezra Pound shit.” Though it’s hard to know what that exactly means, it nonetheless will prove to be a highly anticipated album.

If You Liked That New Daft Punk LP…

Helmet-donning French duo Daft Punk has been “Doin’ It Right” with its highly acclaimed Random Access Memories reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Charts. The album beat out industry forecasts by selling a whopping 339,000 copies and overtook the top spot from Vampire Weekend. Random Access Memories has been outsold in first week 2013 sales only by Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience which saw a staggering 968,000 sold. With Daft Punk’s lead single “Get Lucky” breaking streaming records and being the likely pop single of the year, it’s obvious that people really like Daft Punk. Because of this, Vulture compiled an excellent list of albums that Daft Punk fans may have missed. These eclectic recommendations include full-lengths from Donna Summer, Giorgio Moroder, Michael Jackson, and even Neil Young.

Whatever & Ever Today is written by amateur botanist Josh Terry

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Google wants blimps to connect Asia and Africa, every location in Bob Dylan’s music gets mapped, and Canada’s new $100 bill smells like Maple Syrup.

Google To Add Wi-Fi to Emerging Markets

Though the company joked about using blimps for advertisements as an April Fool’s joke in 2011, Google is looking to give emerging markets access to the Internet using WiFi enabled high-altitude blimps and balloons, also called “High Altitude Platforms.” A small-scale trial is currently being used in Cape Town, South Africa but the plan is to create networks from Sub-Saharan Africa to Southeast Asia. If everything goes according to Google’s noble plan, the new infrastructure will connect millions to the Web (and result in major profits for the already insanely profitable company).

A Map of Bob Dylan Songs

In an exhaustingly extensive project, the folks at Slate have gone through Bob Dylan’s entire discography and put every location mentioned in his songs on one interactive map. The fantastic, albeit massive, collection will likely overwhelm the casual fan but be the coolest thing ever for the diehard listeners who even liked Dylan’s weird 80s period. Last week the prolific and iconic songwriter turned 72 and his breakthrough album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Canadians Hungry After Going To The Bank

Canada is known for its polite citizens, maple syrup, hockey, Mounties, and now its (alleged) crack-smoking mayors. In what’s probably the most stereotypically Canadian news story ever, the country’s newly issued plastic $100 bill smells exactly like maple syrup, causing concerned Canadians to write emails to the Bank of Canada expressing their thoughts. One reads, “They all have a scent which I’d say smells like maple? Please advise if this is normal?” while another writes, “The note … lost its maple smell, I strongly suggest the Bank increases the strength of the … maple smell.” Also, as Ned Hepburn of Death and Taxes Mag points out, there was a lot of maple syrup stolen in Canada last year because of course there was. Perhaps the thieves took a trip to the Royal Canadian Mint.

Whatever & Ever Today is written by Yung Humma super-fan Josh Terry

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