OK, I pretty much always have a good laugh whenever I read the Soundcheque reviews we print in the magazine. Plus the music is usually fucken awesome. How are more people not talking about these?? SOOOOO I'm gonna start something up here: Soundcheque Mondays! Every Monday, I'll be posting a music review direct from the pages of Color that deserves another go-around, plus a video from the band so you get to hear the actual music that goes along with it! Win/Win!

Here's the first one (FYI this actually didn't get printed! what! It got cut but I thought it really deserved some credit):

Soft Moon total decay EP(captured tracks)

What does a baby bat say before it goes to bed? Turn on the dark I’m afraid of the light! What is Transylvania? It’s Dracula’s terror-tory. What is Dracula’s position in baseball? Batboy. Why did Dracula go to jail? He robbed a blood-bank. Who did Dracula take on a date? His Ghoul-friend! What did Dracula’s optometrist say to him after an eye exam? You’re blind as a bat! Why did Dracula Jr. get sent home from school? He was coffin too much! What did the angry baby say after breast feeding? “I’m fed up!” After two 7- inches, and one year after their self-titled debut release, The Soft Moon are back once again with the Total Decay EP. The Bay Area’s latest post-punk, goth-industrial influenced band unleashes some dark, brooding, and bleak material here, with a newly charged and focused intensity. More developed than past releases, but if you liked those, then hey, why not like this one too? For best listening results wear neon, hang out with your lil’ sister, and look at pictures of Hawaii. —Justin Gradin, Color 9.6

See you next week!

I remember hearing about this documentary years ago, and then came across it awhile ago, but haven't had a chance to watch more then a few minutes of it til last night. Every shot is like a photo you can't take your eyes off, wish I'd taken the time to watch it earlier... If you have an hour and a half, spend it on this.

From Wikipedia: Dark Days is a documentary made by Marc Singer, a British filmmaker. The film follows a group of people living in an abandoned section of the New York City underground railway system, more precisely the area of the so called Freedom Tunnel.

When he relocated from London to Manhattan, Marc Singer was struck by the number of homeless people he had seen throughout the city. Singer had befriended many in New York's homeless community and later, after hearing of people living underground in abandoned tunnel systems, he met and became close to a group of people living in The Freedom Tunnel community stretching north from Penn Station past Harlem. After living with them for a number of months, he decided to create a documentary in order to help them financially. Singer had never been a filmmaker before, and saw the production of Dark Days as a means of gaining better accommodation for the residents of the tunnel.

The film's crew consisted of the subjects themselves, who rigged up makeshift lighting and steadicam dollies, and learned to use a 16mm camera with black-and-white Kodak film. The post-production process took years, as financial difficulties created delays, as did Singer's insistence of creative control to protect the tunnel residents.

Join RVCA & COLOR next Thursday Jan 19th for HOUR HANDS, a most epic group photography show curated by Gordon Nicholas & Brayden Olsen.

More details and list of contributing artists here. Let the countdown begin!

We want to say HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY to one of our favoriteeees around here, Alexis Gross!! Color's big chief, Sandro, and our newest recruit, Dan, got to spend the day with the birthday girl herself while they were all chillin' in LA this past week. Check the photos COMUNE posted of Alexis looking babely (as usual) shooting guns, celebrating and eating her body weight in pastrami. No wonder we like her so much!

Baptists, Congress & OSK are throwing a heavy Xmas party tomorrow night at the Astoria. More info in the Facebook event here...

Friday December 16th19+$7 cover or $5 with a donation for the food bank (why doesn't EVERY party do this??)

Astoria Pub769 East HastingsVancouver, BC

here's a lil video to get you in the mood...

Tonight in LA, Comune is exhibiting a group show of their Drop City collective artists at the R & R Gallery.

From Comune:

“Ce n’est pas la fin du Monde” is the second Drop City group exhibition since the success of 2009′s trendsetting “Experiments in Occultism & Parapsychology”. We have since added on sixteen more unique visual artists, including seven females to the previous Drop City boys club, all of which share the collective vision of Drop City and reflect the COMUNE lifestyle of carefree idealism. “Ce n’est pas la fin du Monde” or “This is Not The End of The World” is a loosely themed group show celebrating life, friendship, optimisism, and individual creative freedom. We are also unveiling the new Drop City logo and will conclude the evening with a performance by special musical guest PLG\VNDR (Plague Vendor).More info here

Longtime Color contributors & our besties Alexis Gross & Alana Paterson both have work in the show, with Alexis in attendance all the way from NYC.

Thursday, December 8th, 2011 // 6pm – 12pm

R & R Gallery929 E. 2nd Street, Suite 106Los Angeles, CA 90012

p.s. check out Comune's newest Drop City skate contributor, Al Partanen's photos from Creature's recent trip down to the land of Oz, on their blog. Bad ass skater who takes a bad ass photo too.

If you're in Kansas City tonight, check out This New Commute, a solo photo show by Ben Hlavacek at Escapist Skateboards. More of Ben's work can be found here.

Past contributions to Color led Ben to spend this past summer rippin' around Vancouver, where we got to know this prolific young photographer as one of our two summer interns. Keep an eye on this kid, he's making a name for himself and we wish we could have him back in the Great White North.

And it'll be worth going to meet Ben's family. Hi Mrs. Hlavacek!

Escapist 405 Southwest Blvd.Suite 100Kansas City, MO7-10pmFacebook event

go straddle a narwhale, you chlorinated gene pool.

To celebrate the release of our newest issue, Color 9.5 "The Film Issue", we're partyin' at Glory Days this Saturday!!Color 9.5 | Annual 'film' issue... In this issue, Ethan Kilgour shares some of his cave paintings and Gordon Nicholas feels the need to relate his unique personal vision from inside the Quiksilver tour van. We talk with a bunch of stressed-out filmers and learn about the many obstacles that prevent them from seeing their vision through to the end. You’ll be shaking your head in amazement at the spectacle that was Jamcouver and director Tristan Patterson goes behind the scenes to talk about his motivations for documenting one of skateboarding gnarliest subcultures. So hand over your stubs to the Film issue.

Glory Days @ The Biltmore, 2755 Prince Edward, Vancouver BCDoors 11pm19+

FREE copies of Color 9.5 !FREE skateboard check courtesy of Antisocial !CHEAP drink specials !RADICAL DEEJAYS My!Gay!Husband!, Sincerely Hana, Rico Uno !

PARTY PHOTOS all night by Lindsay's Diet !

RSVP & MORE INFO in the Facebook event

seeeeeeee you there!

They've only posted two so far, but I'm really digging these short artist documentaries The Popular Workshop in SF has put together, directed by Sunday / Paper. Bob Chisholm is wonderful...

Check out the second film in the series, Hunter Longe's magnetic Degausser, while you're at it.