EPIC FU blog

EPIC FU LIVINGROOM SERIES: Paul Dateh + Ken Belcher

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:35:34 -0800

Come party with us this Sunday night as EPIC FU continues its Living Room Series with a Live performance by Paul Dateh & Ken Belcher. They'll be performing songs from their brand new EP, The Good Life, as well as giving away signed copies to a lucky few! I'll be hosting and taking questions from the live virtual audience - so make sure to drop by. Anything can (and will) happen!

Date: Sunday, November 8th, 2009
Time: 7pm PST
Place: YOUR living room! Meet us virtually at live.epicfu.com

RSVP on Facebook!

Since first appearing on the music scene two years ago, singer and violinist Paul Dateh has gone on to garner millions of views on the web as well as national exposure on television and in print. Now, Dateh has teamed up with guitarist Ken Belcher to create "The Good Life" - a concept record that offers a fresh and original take on acoustic urban folk music.

"The Good Life" is a seven-song EP that follows the life of a man living out his adulthood. Classic, well-known stories of finding happiness in each moment and the search for love are presented in new ways with Dateh's pure voice and lush string harmonies while Belcher punctuates each sentence with the soulful strumming of his guitar.

In preparation for this release, Paul Dateh and Ken Belcher have been touring throughout the United States performing to sold-out crowds while also continuing to build a solid following online. The duo will also be making their first one-month tour in Japan starting in November.

Star Wars Uncut

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:24:29 -0800

Star Wars Uncut

Fans from around the world are joining forces to recreate the classic, Star Wars: A New Hope.

The entire movie is split up into 15 second scenes. Claim a scene, film it, and upload it! When it's all done, it'll be stitched together so we can watch the magic happen.

Check out the official Star Wars Uncut Tumblr blog as well.

Lipdubs Never Get Old: I Gotta Feeling

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:56:39 -0800

A fun collaboration by students at the University of Quebec at Montreal!

Hail Mary Mallon "D-Up"

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 03:17:17 -0800

Aesop Rock, Rob Sonic, and DJ Big Wiz make up the team known as Hail Mary Mallon. Their new music video for the song "D-Up" is pretty wild in concept. The single is available now on the Definitve Jux Presents IV compilation.

Directed by Alexander Tarrant and Justin Metros

Funny Sh*t: Ikea Heights

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 02:18:09 -0800

Friend of Epic Fu and general good guy Dave Seger is one of the creators of Ikea Heights, a melodrama (read: understatement) set in an Ikea store in Burbank, California. And I mean they literally film the show in an Ikea store without the store's knowledge, and with customers milling about.

They produced the show for Channel 101, the grandaddy of all funny video sites created by Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab that keeps on chugging along and discovering new talent. This is episode 1 of Ikea Heights. Check out the others on Vimeo (Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4) or at the Channel 101 show site.

Epic Fu Spot for J!nx Now Airing on TV

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:35:08 -0800

Hey friends! We've been away for a bit, but gearing up for the next episodes of Epic Fu. Yes, we are coming back! In the meantime, check out the Epic Fu TV spot Steve Woolf and I produced for Jinx (as well as another for Empire Arcadia). It's for their "Get Into It" campaign, and is currently airing on G4. Steve also directed the spot.

Big thanks to Ray Doustdar for working with us on the campaign as well as Sean Gailey, Tim Norris and the rest of the Jinx team. Also thanks to our DPs Lan Bui and Vu Bui, makeup artist Tracie Cotta, as well as Sarah Atwood and Rick Rey for their amazing production work.

We're revving our engines. Stay tuned! :)

EPIC FU LIVINGROOM SERIES: Jarrod Gorbel

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:44:01 -0800

Jarrod Gorbel of The Honorary Title

Mark your calendars! This Sunday, June 21st at 7pm PST, EPIC FU is kicking off its Live Livingroom Series event with Jarrod Gorbel of The Honorary Title. Jarrod will be giving us a sneak-peak of his highly anticipated upcoming album (still being produced as we speak!). We'll also have a Q&A session and autographed giveaways too! Definitely a must-see for fans old and new.

RSVP on Facebook

Jarrod has appeared on Carson Daly, Steven's Untitled Rock Show, One Tree Hill, MTV Subterranean. His songs have been featured in Greek, Real World, Good Luck Chuck, and The Haunting of Molly Hartley. And he's been written up by Rolling Stone, Alternative Press, and others. We're really happy to have Jarrod play the inaugural event since he was the very first musician to appear on EPIC FU (back then called JETSET) - seems fitting.

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mos def acapella on the streets of japan

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:23:46 -0800

This is a great series of videos from Current of Mos Def busting some acapella verses from songs on his new album. Embedded above is a verse from "Casa Bey" and after the jump are two more. He's promoting his new album The Ecstatic, which comes out today. From what I've heard so far, it's a great album.

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another awesome music video that legally isn't allowed to exist

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 15:06:31 -0800

YouTube user avoidantconsumer recently posted a mashup video that combines scenes from 80s brat pack movies with Phoenix's "Lisztomania". In the video's description section, she simply says, "this song just struck me as 80's movie-ish. so i made it happen."

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Conan's Mushroom Kingdom Set

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 02:22:18 -0800

Image Courtesy of Serious Lunch

Does Conan's new set look familiar? That's because it's the Mushroom Kingdom from Super Mario Bros. The guys over at Serious Lunch caught the coincidence, and Kotaku got the scoop on the backdrop. When they asked Nintendo of America President, Reggie Fils-Aime, if he would send a cease and desist, Reggie said "No. For Conan, we'll let that one slide."

epic fu plans -- need your feedback!!!

Tue, 26 May 2009 02:25:33 -0800

NOTE: the main discussion around this blog post is taking place on Mix. Please go there to participate!

Zadi and I spent a lot of time the past two weeks thinking about what the next iteration of Epic Fu needs to be and how we can do it. Then we had another conversation tonight and it all changed... for the better.

It seems like the longer we make the Epic Fu web show, the more it becomes clear that there is a vast but disconnected sea of people who have a passion for the way global culture is influenced by what is happening on the web. We tend to be the ones who are a couple steps ahead of our friends and families, the ones that the people in our lives look to in order to find out what's coming next.

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d-nice documents the homeless emcee

Fri, 22 May 2009 02:37:36 -0800

A sad story about a clearly intelligent and thoughtful human being who has suffered a great deal and made many mistakes. D-Nice, yes, that D-Nice, is a talented videographer and editor who has over a dozen videos posted on Vimeo as part of his "True Hip-Hop Stories series." For any fan of hip-hop, it's a nice journey. Also, I'd like to know what camera/lens he is using, because I absolutely love it.

Update: Just noticed that the camera is indicated on the Vimeo video page. It's a Canon EOS 5D Mark II, same camera we just used to shoot a tv commercial (yes, it's an SLR!).

metal gods

Wed, 20 May 2009 22:16:32 -0800

Metal Gods, a new film by Matt Porterfield, follows the lives of two damaged teenagers living in a Baltimore suburb. We follow Sean and Jenny's life routine over the course of a week, revealing who they are as they're thrown together by a sudden act of violence.

Quiet complexity comes to mind when I look at the test footage. It'll be cool to see the finished film, which begins shooting this summer. You can make a donation and contribute to the production of the film.

Check out some of the casting test footage with Sky Ferriera, who plays Jenny in the film.

amazing street performance!

Sun, 17 May 2009 15:41:13 -0800

Dub FX, the brilliant performer using beatbox and loops on the street in Bristol, UK.

Filmed by Ben Dowden

daichi is a beatbox legend in the making

Fri, 08 May 2009 01:21:10 -0800

The Beatbox Battle World Championship recently held an open-submission contest for the competition's "wildcard" category via YouTube. One of the people that answered the call was 18-year-old Daichi from Japan. With 687,000+ views in less than a month, this guy is sure to build a strong name for himself within the hip hop community. Check the video for proof.

tommy sparks will get you dancing

Thu, 07 May 2009 17:40:54 -0800

We are big fans of the twisted mind that is encased within Eric Wareheim's rainbow sprinkle-dipped skull.

Yeah... that didn't come out right.

We love Eric's work (We interviewed him and Tim Heidecker previously on EPIC FU) and this particular music video, She's Got Me Dancing by Tommy Sparks showcases the amount of craziness and creativity three minutes can contain. It makes you fall in love with the song even more.

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xeni jardin is online culture personified

Thu, 07 May 2009 17:20:02 -0800

We had the privilege to hang out and talk to Xeni Jardin, and I have to admit I was a little nervous. I'd talked to her at industry events and social gatherings, but it's not often that Zadi and I spend time with people who, like us, have such a vast knowledge of the web and its culture going back ten or more years. There is something special about the people who came of age with the first Internet boom and worked online during the transformation of the web from a tech curiosity into a mainstream cultural force. Luckily for us, she is completely charming and down to earth, and considering her efforts over the past two years with Boing Boing video, we had tons of common experiences.

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why piracy is winning against the studios

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 21:18:59 -0800

On this week's show we talked at some length about the firestorm of coverage and conjecture surrounding the conviction of the Pirate Bay founders on charges of aiding copyright infringement in a Swedish court. Warners, Fox, Sony, and EMI led the fight and hailed it as a great victory.

They couldn't be more wrong.

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passion pit and "the reeling"

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:53:05 -0800

We've highlighted Passion Pit previously on EPIC FU, and we're compelled to do so again, especially since their latest single has been circulating the interwebs at breakneck speed.

The Reeling is a bit more polished than their breakout song Sleepyhead, but it keeps the style and emotion that makes the band unique. The video is pretty amazing as well. The raw rip and tear effect definitely held my attention as it took me from scene to scene.

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brett gaylor RIPs it up with his remix manifesto

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:07:32 -0800

With all that's happening in online entertainment, it's inspiring to see people take more innovative approaches to making and sharing media. Case in point, Brett Gaylor, creator of Open Source Cinema.

Long-time videoblogger, web activist, and filmmaker, Brett's most recent project is an open source documentary about copyright and remix culture. RiP: A Remix Manifesto, focuses on the state of media in the age of free-flowing information. Featuring Girl Talk, Lawrence Lessig, Gilberto Gil, and Cory Doctorow, all influential media figures, the film is set to really delve into some serious issues.

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