Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti Plays The Live Show on KSCR

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti is coming to play the Live Show on KSCR this Friday February 20th from 1-2pm. The L.A. five-piece will be opening for Animal Collective next Thursday the 26th at the Henry Fonda (a very, very sold out show). Tune in for a live set and interview.

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Animal Collective Fonda Date Officially the 26th... Again

Has anybody been feeling a little dicked around by Ticketmaster? If you purchased a ticket for the Henry Fonda show with Animal Collective, Lucky Dragons, and Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, then you may have received an alert via e-mail/phone yesterday that the show was re-scheduled for Monday 2/23. If you changed your schedule, then you may like me be totally pissed off that another alert arrived this morning that the show was re-scheduled again to the date AC has on their Myspace, Thursday the 26th. We've already been through so many uncertainties and date changes. Ticketmaster really needs to get it together. I feel like I should at least be refunded my convenience fee.

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Bicycle Thievery Near USC and Beyond

The USC campus has never been immune to bicycle thievery, but in the last month this has proved especially apparent. Within my small circle alone, two bicycle thefts and two wheel losses (unfortunately including my own) have occurred in the last month. Here are a few tips for novices and experts for prevention:

• Get a great U-Lock. This article by Slate may be two years old, but the principle remains the same: not all locks were created equal. Another lesson learned is that security may come at a price. The Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit U-lock was the winner and can be found on Ebay for as low as $50. An investment, really, as the true value of a bicycle is not known until it's gone...

• Even for short-term locking, use a cord lock in addition to the U-lock. Especially if you have quick-release wheels and even if you have a bolted-on wheel, an additional 15 seconds of locking really is worth it.

• Lock through the frame, wheel, and to a rack, even if this means more walking to find an appropriate place. Pull the cord lock through your frame, front wheel, and to your lock.

Other guides to safe locking: SF Bicycle Coalition, eHow.

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My Favorite Colo(u)r is Blu

Hello, Mellow, I know it's hard to love an ordinary fellow muses Blu, on the track "Melo" off of the mixtape Her Favorite Colo(u)r, dropped earlier this week. A leader in the reemergence of the Los Angeles underground hip-hop scene, Blu is hardly ordinary and extremely easy to love. Colo(u)r is a gem in the landscape of cluttered and over-produced internet mixtapes: simple, relaxed, and completely lacking in gunshots and sirens. It mixes samples ranging from the classic to the recent (including Billie Holiday, and a sequence from the 2004 movie "Closer") with Blu's meandering, laid-back flow reminiscent of Phife from the Tribe. The feel created is that of a sort of next generation Jazz rap; not quite as organic or ethereal, but just as poetic and honest. Blu's earlier work, on his debut album Below the Heavens, and his collaborations with Producer Mainframe under the name Johnson and Johnson, has shown Blu to be introspective and intelligent. His lyrics reflect a genuine concern for the state of the world, particularly the working youth. On top of that, he's local. Her Favorite Colo(u)r showcases Blu's growing talent and his maturity, still with the same flair for simple wisdom and multi-syllable rhymes. See I'm not the same as Lil' Wayne pleads Blu in the first verse of the songe "Untitled(LovedU)2".  In a world where autotune dominates (and in light of the release of "Prom Queen") I think we can all be grateful for that.

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