tsururadio.

tsurufoto presents… you so pretty next to me mixtape

February 4, 2012

Scan “Self-Portrait with Sheila” by me

Howdy kiddos! How the fuck are ya? Me? Well just dandy dandy, thank you for asking… As many of you know, I’ve been a busy boy over at tsurufoto, takin’ lots of pictures, starting a nudie blog, and, of course, running the #1 nudiezine in the world! I’ve taken quite a hiatus from “new music” for a few months and I got to tell ya, it was fantastic. But, after getting a new mp3 player it was time to see what was going on out there in music land and oh my how depressing is it? Of the top 100 artists being blogged about about a week or so ago, I knew maybe 3? Though that lifted my spirits, when I set out exploring all these news bits of data uploaded to the 4 trillion music blogs I was overcome with blahness. Like dear-jeebus-what-is-this-craparoni blahness.

But it ain’t all spaghetti with no sauce out there, there’s a few gems to be found, not that it has anything to do with this mixtape… Nope. Today’s mixtape started when I finally came across Phosphorescent. Where were they may whole life? Fuck. Specifically A Hundred Times Or More. NOM NOM NOM. Anyways, found them, loved them, “Pretty” owned my heart and soul for about 2 weeks and lo & behold a mixtape was born.

But there’s more! You see, I’m one lucky mother-fucker. I’ve got the best job in the world being a photographer & zinester, part of the reason is because I get to do what I love and have a fucking blast doing it, but the other part is the absolutely amazing friends I have made doing it! Sheila, Cherry, Button, Cherie, Angela, Isabella, and on and on and on, so many of the zine’s nudiecranes I’m so happy to call my friends now. Whether it’s going out for a burlesque show and some drinks or simply hanging at Chez Tsuru with arts & crafts time, we love these beautiful women!

“Button being Button”

So, with that and with this I’m dedicating this mixtape to all the nudiecranes out there! From our closest friends to those where we may have only spent an hour together and I never heard from you again. All of you are amazing & beautiful in your own way and it’s your uniqueness that each of you so perfect (and absolutely stunning)! We love you guys!

Okay, enough mushy-pants, let’s get on with the music shall we as tsurufoto presents…

you so pretty next to me mixtape!

PLAY Side A featuring Wilco, Battles, Islands, Radiohead, Justice, Shins, & more

PLAY Side B featuring My Morning Jacket, Sharon Jones, Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s, Silver Jews, White Stripes, Phosphorescent, & more!!!

SIDE A

01 Wilco – Can’t Stand It
02 Battles – Ice Cream (Feat. Matias Aguayo)
03 Violent Femmes – Blister 2000
04 Islands – This Is Not A Song
05 Morphine – I’m Free Now
06 Radiohead – Lotus Flower
07 Justice – On’n'On
08 Field Music – A New Town
09 The Shins – Simple Song
10 Tennis – Origins

SIDE B

11 My Morning Jacket – I’m Amazed
12 Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – Without A Trace
13 Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s – Fingertips
14 The Black Swans – I.D.W.2F.
15 Camper Van Beethoven – All Her Favorite Fruit
16 Silver Jews – Smith And Jones Forever
17 The Rural Alberta Advantage – Tornado ’87
18 The White Stripes – Hotel Yorba
19 Grant Lee Buffalo – Mockingbirds
20 Phosphorescent / Leonard Cohen – Pretty, I’m Your Man

(full zip of the mp3s)

Cheers,
Aaron
tsurufoto.com

Tsuru & The Bride Present… Aaron Loves Meghan Vol. 5: Aaron Loves Meghan Loves Aaron Loves…

November 20, 2011

By Tsuru

Well my friends, it’s that time of year again! November is a key month in the world of Aaron Loves Meghan… it’s the month where we started dating, when we got engaged, and, of course, when we got married. And every year around this time we present our latest Aaron Loves Meghan mixtape!

For the newbs, on Nov. 17th, 2007, Megs & I were married and at our wedding (which I iPod DJ’d) we gave everyone there a mixtape called Aaron Loves Meghan and, of course, posted it up on tsururadio. Since then, we’ve had infinite fun creating a new mixtape together every year, some with themes, some with just the music we love to listen to together, whatever, and present it to you…

This time, as you can tell from the photo above, things got a bit messy… Thank the lardy I had my pencil handy and my lovely assistant to wind that cassette back up, eh?

So, for our 5th volume, we each put together a mini-mixtape for each other. Mine is Side Aaron Loves Meghan, her’s is side Meghan Loves Aaron. Then, when we were all done, we put them together and BLAMO! Awesome-o lovey dovey romantical super good times happy hour!!!

And yes, I know we are a little late getting this mixtape up for you guys… We’ve been a little busy with Baby going to Hong Kong for two weeks, then me to going China for two weeks, then both of us going on a MUCH needed vacation to the Galapagos Islands for a week (which was epic! Like a beachy vacation meets a tropically exploring vacation meets nature’s classroom). We even made a short film for you!

Don’t worry, as per usual it’s not a “talky” and it’s soundtracked by one my favourite songs, “2080″ by Yeasayer!

Okay, back to the mixtape!

Now, just as a little reminder… don’t read too much into each song! Sure, some are blatant love songs, of course they are, but some are just songs we love to sing together or to/at each other – though you can certainly see where October, where we only saw each other for one day, played quite a role in the music selection…

And with that, I think I’ll get to hurrying up to shuttin’ up and get this music going on as…

Tsuru & The Bride Present…

Aaron Loves Meghan Vol. 5: Aaron Loves Meghan Loves Aaron Loves…

SIDE A: Aaron Loves Meghan

1. Noah And The Whale – 2 Atoms In A Molecule
2. Allo Darlin – Kiss Your Lips
3. Iron And Wine – Tree By The River
4. REM – The Lion Sleeps Tonight
5. Primal Scream – Movin’ On Up
6. Rachel Goodrich – Na Na Na
7. The Rural Alberta Advantage – Two Lovers
8. Beirut – Port of Call
9. Feist – Graveyard
10. Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeroes – Home
11. Hard Drugs – Aline And Lloyd (Reprise)

SIDE B: Meghan Loves Aaron

1. Living Sisters – (You Don’t Know) How Glad I Am
2. Charles May And Annette May Thomas – Keep My Baby Warm
3. The Head And The Heart – Honey Come Home
4. Etta James – I Just Want To Make Love To You
5. Paula & Karol – Birds and Bees
6. Jenny And Johnny – Scissor Runner
7. The Pipettes – I Love You
8. Fiona Apple – So Sleepy
9. Summer Fiction – Throw Your Arms Around Me
10. My Morning Jacket – Wonderful (The Way I Feel)
11. Jarvis Cocker – Baby’s Coming Back To Me

That’s it! I hope you enjoy as much as we do… Here’s to year number 5 being as wonderful as each that preceded it!

Love,
Aaron & Meghan

tsurufoto presents… Calling All In Transit: The Very Best Of REM (According To Me)!!!

October 3, 2011

By Tsuru

Photography by me.

I first really fell in love with REM with Green. 1988, I was what, 15? It was before the years of prog when I was still wading through the music world, trying all kinds of stuff, whatever tickled my cockles. I loved “Stand”, hard. Bought the record and wore the fuck out of the vinyl! Then I saw an uncensored version of “Pop Song ’89″ on a friend’s cable late one night and well yeah, I was a smitten kitten.

I didn’t dig into their older stuff at the time, I was still just a poor kid finding out what’s what, pulling away from Top 40, pulling away from the kids around me, dabbling in whatever sounded decent that anyone had a copy of a copy of a casette that I’d get my hands on.

But before I could really dig my teeth into them, Out Of Time came out and I was the first person to call them sell-outs. Big hits, MTV awards, rap, and “Shiny Mother Fucking People”. I said some mean things to my girlfriend about the album she loved. Of course, later, I learned to love that album.

Then Automatic For The People came out when I was living in this garage apartment in Tampa, doing the chef thing, riding bikes & my moped, living life (mostly at Joffrey’s, the local coffee shop). It was with AftP that I finally started digging into their back catalogue, mostly thanks to my neighbor who I’d sit on our little porch with and drink beers listening to him play old REM albums.

It was after that my love of REM became a genunine relationship. Looking back, it’s strange, I can remember where I was, what I was doing, etc, the first time I heard each of their new albums. From Green to Collapse Into Now. Strange, eh? I remember sitting in my living room playing New Adventures for the first time. I remember being in my car on a long drive home listening to Reveal. I remember having friends over for a dinner and playing Up in the background for the first time. I remember listening to Monster back in college in my apartment before digging back into studying and watching the premiere of the video for “What’s The Frequency, Kenneth” and seeing Stipe with his newly stiped hair. God I loved that album.

Wow.

And I love all their albums. From the mumbling old gems to the experimental trilogy post-Berry, to these last two kicks in the nuts, and everything in between. My favourites? Ooo… tough one, but I’ll narrow it down to three, Green, Automatic, and Reveal (yes, Reveal, a totally underrated amazing album, fuck off). I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. When you take into consideration their quality, quantity, & longevity, REM is easily the greatest American band… ever.

Yep.

Deal with it.

But sadly the boys have decided it’s time to move on from the band, do their other things instead of forcing it forward, good for them. But what does that mean for me, the life long fan??? One word: Mixtape.

Oh boy oh boy oh boy I hope you are ready for this! But I’m going to wager dollars to donuts you ain’t! Here’s what we did, we simply built the best REM (according to me) mixtape possible, 2.5 hours broken into 4 sides covering all the full releases and a bunch of gems in between! It’s the best god damn compilation of REM songs ever, for casual fans, people who lost track over the years, hard core fans, and people who ask, “R.E.What?”, all of you, it’s just awesome stuffed with epic! Yeah, you could say I’m pretty happy with the way it came out.

Stipe & the crew, thanks for an amazing 31 years, you soundtracked my life for 23 of them and I’m eternally grateful. Now, let’s send them off in proper tsuru-style as…

tsurufoto presents…

Calling All In Transit: The Very Best Of REM (According To Me)

Side A: Crazy What You Could’ve Had

Side B: Look Up What Do You See?

Side C: And Change Is What I Believe In

Side D: See You In Heaven If You Make The List

Full zip of the tracks. ;)

Feels good, doesn’t it??? Feels… fine.

Cheers,
Aaron Tsuru
Follow @tsururadio

We say goodbye to tsururadio with accompanying mixtape……………….

July 18, 2011

By Tsuru

Photography by Me…

Well my friends, the time has come. The break the rules and have some fun. It’s been a nutty 4+ someodd years over here at tsururadio, we’ve gone through a lot of changes, did everything from mixtapes to vinyl rips, contests to out and out giveaways, we always tried to have fun and keep ourselves in check that we are just music bloggerin’, like 4 kabillion other kids out there on the wide world interconnected super highway of love canals.

But as the wise Canadian Nelly Furtado once sang, all good things come to an end. But, as some other wise human probably said, for every door that closes another opens unless it’s the door to a serial killers basement in which you are probably fucked.

(Ir)regardless… every now and then I find its important to step back and take stock at what the fuck you are doing, then ask yourself, what needs to be cut, what needs to go, and what wants my time & energy. I’ve been a photographer for the past 20ish years. Sometimes a hobbyist, other times an enthusiast, but always a passionist. And for the past 6 months or so, I knew it was coming, I could feel it deep down in the cockles of my balls, that it was time to leave this crazy little thing called music bloggerin’ behind.

Yep.

We’re done.

Why?

A thousand reasons. It could be all the white noise of music bloggerin’. There are so many out there all blogging the same shit, you certainly don’t need this odd ball doing it too, eh? Twitter definitely didn’t help. I love twitter, I really do, but when some crappy ass PR email hits your inbox and suddenly a thousand copy/paste tweeted blog posts hit the stream, well, let’s just say my desire to listen to it kind goes down the shitter with my morning poo. But then again, I don’t do the PR thing. I don’t do the festival thing. I don’t get starry-eyed over the latest hyped band and what is at once my niche is also my downfall. I love music with all my heart, it’s been so critical to so much of what I am, what I do, what I think, but as much fun as I had sharing so many finds over the years, writing about music is just not my passion.

No… at the end of the day, it was my ego that a) kept it going and b) makes me want to shut it down. You see, many of us bloggerin’ fools would probably call it day right now, it gets pretty chore-like at times, but the one thing that keeps you from pulling the plug and going to, say, write for a friend’s blog or whatever is the ego. This is MY blog. I’m famous in my teeny tiny slice of the internet for it. Yeah, not easy to let that go. But, here’s the thing for me that seeded in my brain last year. I blog about music, but it’s not my music, these aren’t my creations. The words are, sure, and to a smaller degree the mixtapes are a bit, but when my heart lies in takin’ pictures and making my zines (Issue #8 is over to the right & we just released our MICRO), things that are my creations, the little marks I’m leaving on this silly little globe (see, my ego again), the whole music bloggerin’ thing seemed silly for me.

There are people out there who have a genuine passion for writing about music and they are wonderful, even when they drive me bat shit, but as much as I thought I would become that, it just isn’t me.

Shhh… don’t cry because I’ve got good news. Though tsururadio is dead, tsurufoto still lives!!!

Sure, it’s littered with all my nudie photography, but going forward, it will also be the site for all my mixtapes as well as the usual songs and viddies that inspire me in my little day-to-day. WOOOT! You can subscribe here:

And you know what? Maybe you aren’t all about nekkid people & nudiezines? That’s cool (weird, but cool). You can still find me tweeting & facebooking & google+ing all kinds of things musical! AND, of course, there’s still our super secret society of music geeks & freaks (shhh… it’s a secret). So, you see? You aren’t losing a blog, you are gaining a more focused and happy Tsuru and that’s a good thing.

BUT.

It wouldn’t be very tsururific to drop a load of big news on ya without an accompanying mixtape, now would it? Of course not. Especially since we are the reigning king of the mixtape battles — Not once, not twice, but THRICE bitches!!! What was going to be just our “July Mixtape” became our final mixtape for the site… almost bitter sweet, eh? But, to get the full effect, I recommend just pushing play on the big fat fatty link right below of the full mixtape all mixed up with a few special secret gems and what not. But, if you are just here for mp3s, you probably aren’t reading this and are already downloading the individual mp3s. It’s cool.

Alright. That’s it! Last thing I want to say is thank you. Thank you to all the wonderful people I’ve met (online and in real life) and all of you who have left sweet comments here and there via the infinite number of methods the intertubes have given us. Without you guys, this would’ve been dead ages ago. I love you guys! You are all amazing…. I’ll see you at the avenue for hanging out of your choice!

Enough mushy pants! Let’s get on with the music, shall we, as…………………………………

tsururadio proudly presents… I am the passenger

PSST…. CLICK PLAY FOR THE FULL MIXTAPE, IT CONTAINS SECRET BONUS SHIT!

01 Neutral Milk Hotel – Song Against Sex (Vinyl)
02 Portugal. The Man – So American
03 Traveling Wilburys – Tweeter And The Monkey Man
04 Mother Mother – Chasing It Down
05 Mister Heavenly – Your Girl
06 Pulp – Help the Aged
07 Smith Westerns – Smile
08 David Lowery – Marigold
09 Queen – You’re My Best Friends
10 Death Cab For Cutie – You Are a Tourist
11 Okkervil River – It Ends With A Fall (Vinyl)
12 The Format – Inches And Falling
13 Ezra Furman & The Harpoons – Teenage Wasteland
14 Nick Diamonds – Gone Bananas
15 Beirut – Santa Fe
16 Trips and Falls – This is All Going to End Badly
17 The Killers – All These Things I’ve Done
18 They Might Be Giants – Destination Moon
19 The Decemberists – The Perfect Crime #1
20 R.E.M – The Passenger

- Zip of individual tracks -

That’s it! Thank you everyone, it’s been fun! I’ll see you over at tsurufoto. Until then, go ride your bikes, go take lots of pictures (of your boobies) and we’ll see you all before long…

Cheers,
Aaron aka Tsuru
Follow @tsururadio

tsururadio presents… transmissions from canada — happy canada day!!!

July 1, 2011

By Tsuru

Photography of baby by me.

A long time ago, we were in an epic mixtape battle with the good folks over at The 405. We each took on a country, The 405 represented California (and yes, they do think they are a country over there) and we took on our beloved Canada, home of the unimitatable TsuruBride. Needless to say, we kinda kicked ass. Between that battle & our battle with The Needle Drop, we’ve pretty much been crowned the king of the mountain, the top mixologist, aka the mixtape master!

Well, since that first mixtape battle, our mixtape transmissions from canada has gone on to become what Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, and even Avril Lavigne would probably call “a national treasure, something that every Canadian or aspiring Canadian, should listen to, love, and cherish”. Those would be brave words coming from them, words that I would be proud of, from three of the most important Canadian icons, the holy trinity of the great white north:

Leonard Cohen

Neil Young

Avril Lavigne (seen here in her natural state)

Just looking at their pictures, I’m humbled.

It’s July 1st, meaning, yes it’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day, but it’s also Canada Day! And in honour of the wonderful country I hope to call home one day (after all, I’m a native-Floridian (Canada’s winterland) and an aspiring-Canadian), I felt it was time to re-present our landmark and epic mixtape to you. Why? Because, as the old saying goes, everyone’s got a little Canadian in him on Canada Day… His name is Bob and you might want to get checked out for a V.D. tomorrow.

Photo by futureatlas

Happy Canada Day my friends, love The Tsurus! Have a wonderful weekend, go blow up shit, go ride yer bikes, go take lots of pictures of your boobies, and we’ll see you all before long. Until then, let’s get our Canuck ON as…

tsururadio presents… transmissions from canada

(full zip)

FULL THE LOVE OF BUDDHA, ALLAH, JESUS, ETC… PLAY GAPLESS!

01 Intro
02 Broken Social Scene – Ibi Dreams Of Pavement (A Better Day)
03 Clues – Haarp
04 The Rural Alberta Advantage – Four Night Rider
05 Most Serene Republic – Humble Peasants
06 The Lovely Feathers – Family That Doesn’t Know The Game
07 Islands – Rough Gem
08 Arcade Fire – Rebellion (Lies)
09 Wolf Parade – You Are A Runner And I Am My Father’s Son
10 Destroyer – The Sublimation Hour
11 Rock Plaza Central – My Children Be Joyful
12 Stars – Your Ex-Lover Is Dead (Final Fantasy Mix)
13 Patrick Watson – Luscious Life
14 The New Pornographers – The Bleeding Heart Show
15 Sunset Rubdown – Us Ones In Between
16 Plants And Animals – Bye Bye Bye
17 Outro

Cheers,
Aaron

tsururadio presents… summer mixtape!!!

June 23, 2011

By Tsuru

Photo of Cherry La Voix for tsurufoto nudiezine issue no. 7 by me! WOOT!

Ah summer. Hot, humid, sticky, sweaty sweaty swamp ass, bar-b-ques, shaken lemonade, fried snickers, fried dough, fried coca-cola, and even fried kool-aid.

Jazz fest, rib fest, community fest, asian fest, greek fest, indian fest, pride fest, fest fest. We get about 80 years on this earth, plus or minus, and we do the same shit 80 times, plus or minus. Summer is my least favourite season, if you could rank them. As a Floridian from Tampa, summer started in February and ended the day before February, car was hot, you were hot, house was hot, AC was never good enough, humidity sucks, and dear god…. the swamp ass.

Is there anything worse than that wet uncomfortableness lingering between your ass cheeks? Only thing I know to combat it is a good quick dry wipe in the bathroom.

Anywhosals, the one good thing about summer? The music…. Yes, as much as it’s silly & cliche, our funny little brains like to assign seasonality to music. Give it a clean quiet sound and you got yerself a winter album there, bud. Me, I’m an autumn.

Just kidding, I’m pale, I’ve got black hair, and green eyes, maybe I’m a winter? I do want to retire to Canada.

Where was I? Oh yeah, seasonality of music. Now, there’s no hard and fast rules, one man’s Spring gem is another mother of your baby’s brother’s Autumn classic. We are nothing but a culmination of our genetics mixed with our experiences & how we interpret them. For me, a bit of fuzz, a bit of bounce or rain or a bit of water & heat, basically, whatever makes me think of being outdoors or conversely, indoors in the AC, or, I suppose, swamp ass…

So here we go, one of our first ever “summer” specific mixtapes (I think, who the fuck can remember anymore). Led off by Dan Deacon’s “Snookered”… why? Because when I think of swamp ass, I think of Dan fucking Deacon!

My suggestion? Just click play on the soundcloud below and turn up yer speakers nice and fuck yeah. If you like what you hear, grab the zip and enjoy on your way to the beach, to the park, or on that road trip, or really whatever you do this summer! Sound good? Happy summer, my friends! Enjoy!

tsururadio presents… summer mixtape!!!

(full zip)

tsururadio presents – summer mixtape by tsururadio

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLAY GAPLESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

01 Dan Deacon – Snookered
02 MGMT – Kids
03 Cults – Outside
04 Girls – Laura
05 G. Love And Special Sauce – Cold Beverages
06 Beck – Girl
07 Tapes N Tapes – FREAK OUT
08 Weezer – Holiday
09 My Morning Jacket – Circuital
10 The Avalanches – Since I Left You
11 The Shivers – Irrational Love
12 The Strokes – Is This It
13 Beirut – East Harlem
14 She And Him – Oh Boy
15 Summer Fiction – By The Sea
16 Laura Veirs – Saltbreakers
17 Iron And Wine – Biting Your Tail
18 Starfucker – Born
19 Jonathan Richman – Ice Cream Man
20 The Beach Boys – Barbara Ann

That’s it! Enjoy! Now…. go ride your bike, go take some pictures, and go have fun!

Cheers,
Aaron

tsururadio presents… the middle of june mini-mixtape

June 13, 2011

By Tsuru

Photo of Baby & I while picnicing yesterday.

Allo & allo everyone! It’s the middle of june and well, as you can see from looking around the joint, something has changed. Something is……. amiss. Where do I begin?

A wise man once said to me on the radio, “you got to know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away, and know when to run.” But that turned out to be a stretched out piece of turkey jerky

And I don’t know about you, but turkey jerky is meant to be eaten, not listened to… But alas, it was time to recognize that the paper crane collective had migrated just a little too far south, barely keeping formation, and if I know one thing after watching bands like Weezer, it’s better to call it a day than keep on limping on half-assed. So, with a heavy heart (not really, because I’m so happy with our experiment and all the new friendships made around the globe) I put out the call yesterday and set all the birds free. The paper crane collective is no longer a blog.

Shh… shh… it’s okay. It was great fun, the idea was solid gold, but life, regular blog duties, etc, etc, etc got in the way so, as another philosopher once said, “I’m going back to basics! To where it all began”, but even that one turned out to look like a blond snooki..

but yeah, back to basics…. to my first love, i.e. pretty much mixtapes and various music shares. The post may come once a week, every day, or once a month, who the fuck knows, what tsururadio won’t be is joining the bloggerin’ rat race I see on twitter every day — really, when everyone posts the new song by band blah-blah, I can find no reason or desire to post that song unless, of course, it fits in with a new mixtape, eh? Eh, indeed.

So…. with that, let’s do this! To my fellow bloggers who joined me in this idea, thank you. I love you guys, you are all fantastic and I’ll be forever humbled & in awe of your passion! Big smooooches for all of you! Now, let’s get to a little music as…

tsururadio presents… the middle of june mini-mixtape

Beirut – East Harlem
Mister Heavenly – Pineapple Girl
Cults – You Know What I Mean
Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks – Senator
Flotilla – Messy Love (Preliminary Version)
The Ladybug Transistor – Clutching Stems
Dale Earnhardt Jr – We Almost Lost Detroit
Twin Sister (no, not Twisted Sister) – Bad Street
Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros – Home
Bon Iver – Calgary

Thank you again to all the bloggers who gave it a go! I hope some of the tsururadio readers have now found a home on your wonderful sites! Oh, and over the week, the site may continue to get rearranged, still deciding on the visual format, but just a heads up. Until next time…

Cheers,
Aaron

tsururadio presents… reverend aaron’s old timey big tent revival mixtape!

June 3, 2011

By Tsuru

Photography by me.

Are you ready to testify, my brother? Are you ready to preach the good word???? Can I get an amen?

AMEN!

Can I get a halleloo?

HAAALLLEEEEELOOOOOO!!!

That’s better… Did I ever tell you I’m a reverend? It’s true. Got ordained 11 years ago. Nope, I’m no christian or any of that. I’m not this guy:

ew.

Yeah, sure I was raised baptist on my dad’s side and very agnostic on my mom’s side, and yeah, I experimented in college by practicing judaism for a year or so while living with some hippy hasidim. All the while taking religion courses while getting my chemistry degree, ultimately settling into a happy love of quantum theory as my religion, what that means as it relates to jewish carpenters, I gots no idea.

I love religion. Nothing guides your entire life quite like what you think is going on outside your life in the unknown. Your religion, from devout believer to devout atheist, guides your daily choices, your politics, who you fuck, what you do, what you eat, it’s pretty amazing. Who can blame you? Death is scary. What is the meaning and all that. Why the hell am I here, now, blogging about religion and presenting a mixtape???? Surely for some reason?

No clue. Not going to worry about it. Unless the reincarnation peeps are right, you only get one go on this earth, best have some fun with it, love your neighbors, and make some kind of mark so at least somebody remembers you existed, right?

Right.

Speaking of making a mark. You know we gots our nudiezine (issue #7 is almost ready), but check it, Amazon is publishing a little short story I wrote called, “The Field Recordings Of Henry Gowens: 1. The Flight To Detroit”! SWEEEET!

Yes, I know I need a better cover than that… it’s in works (I kinda didn’t think about it when I uploaded the story). Anyways, it will be $0.99, the cheapest price you can make it on Amazon. I hope you like it. Hopefully its the first of many.

But anyways, where were we? Oh yeah! So, the other day when Baby & I were in Phoenix, “Spirit In The Sky” came on and I immediately wanted to build a mixtape as we jammed out. It started forming in my head, fun and maybe a religious theme in the mixtape. We get back to Columbus and I get to work but then it dawns on me…. I already did this!

A dig in the tsuru-archives and blamo, there it is….. a MASSIVE 2 and 1/2 hour long mixtape with tinges of life, death, and religion all clumped together in a gapless epic AAAND I never even shared it with you!

Say whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?

I know, right?

Well, time to rectify (lol… rectum) this, to spread the good werd, to whip you up into a fervor of religiosity!!! But, I got a little present for ya…. I DID start the next mixtape, so instead of scrapping it, I decided to tag it to the bottom of this post as an Appendix of sorts for our little sermon on high, sound good?

Good.

So turn on yer old timey radio…

Turn it up reeeeeeally loud, sit back, and let a little jesus deep inside you, yeah, deeper, yeah… you like that??? Yeah…….

tsururadio presents… reverend aaron’s old timey tent revival mixtape!

tsururadio presents… Reverend Aaron’s Old Timey Tent Revival Mixtape!!! by tsururadio

PUSH PLAY!

Featuring: Neutral Milk Hotel, Martha Wainwright, Clem Snide, The Stanley Brothers, Le Loup, Velvet Underground, The Veils, Holly Golightly, Arcade Fire, Alison Kraus & The Soggy Bottom Boys, Jenny Lewis, Neko Case, Satan, Ezra Furman, Tom Waits, Johnny Cash, St. Vincent, Blitzen Trapper, Cake, The Fire Theft, and so so much more!!!

Appendix:

Norman Greenbaum – Spirit In The Sky
Death Cab For Cutie – St. Peter’s Cathedral
Arcade Fire – Culture War
The Middle East – Jesus Came To My Birthday Party
Violent Femmes – Rejoice And Be Happy
Bright Eyes – A Machine Spiritual (In the People’s Key)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. – Morning Thought
Bon Iver – Perth
Moonface – Fast Peter
The National – Gospel

That’s it! I hope you enjoy. Have a great weekend everyone, ride your bikes, take lots of pictures, and we’ll see you before long!

Love & Cheers,
Aaron aka Tsuru
Follow @tsururadio

tsururadio presents… but I’ll love your troubles I’m not gone.

May 16, 2011

By Tsuru

Photography by me…

Last week, one of our own got hit by a car while riding his bike to a concert, Dyson of dyson sound and this humble little collective. As you know, I ride my bike, let’s just say, a lot. It can be nutsos out there, bad drivers, bad cyclists, bad roads, and lots of really bad people. I don’t know all the circumstances of Matt’s accident, but we here at the paper crane collective wish him nothing but best wishes and get wells and hugs and kisses and sexy nurses and sexy doctors and maybe a sponge bath or two.

We also believe that though laughter may be “the best medicine”, music HAS to be coming in at No. 2, right? So, with that, we built a little mixtape. It’s actually a mixtape that, thanks to Matt, became a mixtape of many dedications. Dedications to all the friends Baby & I have made thanks to this blog, the photography, twitters, facebooks, etc, etc. We have made some of the most amazing friends from all over the world and right here in our backyard, and it’s because of them, of people like Matt, people like the amazing Nudie Cranes that Baby & I went to burlesque and girls night out with on Saturday, people like Chris at Culture Bully who we hung out with now in two different countries, people like Ben & Isa from our humble little music board that hosted us & fed us cheese in Lyon, France, and on and on and on…

It’s not about the number of hits, the page views, the number “likes”, “friends”. or “followers”, no…. it’s about the connections, the conversations, the actual & real friendships you make. Otherwise, what’s the point? Well, I guess there’d be internet porn, but you guys get me, right?

So, with that, let’s get to this… Matt, we love you buddy, get well soon!

tsururadio presents… but I’ll love your troubles I’m not gone.

full zip

01 PJ Harvey – The Glorious Land
02 Beach Fossils – What a Pleasure
03 Geographer – Kites
04 Saskatchewan – Dreamboat
05 Pepper Rabbit – Older Brother
06 Angus And Julia Stone – On The Road
07 My Morning Jacket – Holdin On To Black Metal
08 The Brian Jonestown Massacre – Super Fucked
09 Grinderman – Heathen Child
10 Bill Callahan – Free’s
11 The Features – The Temporary Blues
12 Port O’ Brien – Sour Milk / Salt Water
13 Noah And The Whale – Life Is Life
14 Yeasayer – Madder Red
15 The Luyas – Too Beautiful to Work
16 Baron – The Mill
17 The Rural Alberta Advantage – Muscle Relaxants
18 Ezra Furman & The Harpoons – Heaven at The Drive-In
19 The Strokes – Taken For A Fool
20 Wild beasts – End come soon
21 Elvis Presley – Hurt (x-rated version)

That’s it, I hope you guys enjoy, don’t be afraid to ride your bikes, just keep your eyes on the road, on the cars, be a good cyclists, and, as Matt says, “wear your helmet, kids!!” and Dyson, my brother, get well soon……..

Love & Cheers,
Aaron aka Tsuru

tsururadio (re)presents… songs for saydi, songs for my sunshine

May 6, 2011

By Tsuru

Photo of Saydi by me…

Hello again & a happy friday to ya! For today’s mixtape, we are going to do something a wee-bit different. Instead of bring you something new, I wanted to bring back something from last year. You see, in a few short tiny little days, my oldest bird is turning 18, a genuine, pasteurized, and certified adult. Nuts. I know it’s a cliche to “awww, they grow up so fast!”, but let me tell ya, my friends, they do. Seems like just yesterday she was that tiny little kid with giant eyes who’d freak out if sand got on her feet and yet, here we are, you know?

Of course, it hasn’t always been easy. For a thousand different reasons, life took our family from super nuclear to super scattered, but I think we all did / are doing their bests to make it work as best as we can. The result of all the crazy twists and turns and speedbumps and all the other analogies people use about life is one amazing, determined, beautiful, and super talented woman.

Last year, I made a mixtape for Saydi. She was on my mind so much and the song “You Were Born” by Cloud Cult held a grip on my heart so tight, a mixtape of songs about sunshine (what I used to call her when she was just a wee-thing), songs I think or knew she liked, and songs I just wanted to share with her just spilled out of me in a fury — it was one of those mixtapes where you think about it over and over and over, then when you actually sit down to make it, BLAMO, it’s done in an hour!

Well, with her 18th coming around in a couple days, needless to say, this mixtape has been on pretty much non-stop. Everytime I hear the word sun or sunshine in the song, her face takes over in my mind. I love it when that happens. So today, I’m (re)presenting it to you — with an updated album art from our photo shoot last weekend we did for her high school pictures — WHICH she is now using for her bandcamp page! Yes, bandcamp, because she’s smart.

<a href="http://saydimusic.bandcamp.com/album/raw">Raw by Saydi</a>

So guys, as we head into a weekend of (hopefully) sunshine & good times, let’s push play and let the rays & vibes just soak on in as…

tsururadio presents…

songs for my saydi, songs for my sunshine

(full zip)

PLAY GAPLESS!!!

01 Cloud Cult – You Were Born
02 Drink Up Butterfly – Pink Sunshine
03 fun. – Be Calm
04 Julian Casablancas – Out Of The Blue
05 Fang Island – Life Coach
06 Suckers – It Gets Your Body Movin
07 Florence + The Machine – Cosmic Love
08 Violent Femmes – Crazy (Gnarls Barkley)
09 Neko Case – Hold On, Hold On
10 Bright Eyes – Papa Was A Rodeo
11 Noah And The Whale – The First Days Of Spring
12 O Brother Where Art Thou – You Are My Sunshine
13 Len – Steal My Sunshine
14 Flotilla – Meet Me Outside
15 Yes – Heart Of The Sunrise
16 The National – Bloodbuzz Ohio
17 Arcade Fire – Suburbs
18 Sunset Rubdown – Dragon’s Lair
19 Isobel Campbell And Mark Lanegan – Eyes Of Green
20 Jason Lytle – Brand New Sun
21 Weezer – Perfect Situation
22 Grant Lee Buffalo – Mockingbirds
23 Amy Millan – I Will Follow You Into The Dark (Death Cab For Cutie)
24 Basia Bulat – Heart Of My Own
25 The New Pornographers – Mass Romantic
26 Cloud Cult – There’s So Much Energy In Us
27 The Decemberists – Of Angels And Angles

Happy birthday sweetie. 18… God damn!

Now you guys, go show Saydi all your love by checking out her first EP. Cool? And have a great weekend everyone! Go ride your bikes, go take lots of pictures (you know I will), and, if the good lard’s a-willin’ and the creeks don’t rise, we’ll see you before long……..

Cheers,
Aaron aka Tsuru

tsururadio presents… let them eat prog mixtape (and a little contest)!!!

April 15, 2011

By Tsuru

Photo by me…

Ah prog. My beloved and maligned genre… so near and dear to my hearticles. Oh how the critics of the world hate you so, with your mixy-mashy time changes, your whimsical & fantastical lyrics about space & trees & rainbows & unicorns & shit…

Add in your tendency to write 20 minute movements instead 3 minute verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus songs…. OH how I love thee so. You come in so many shapes & sizes, from jazz to classical to metal to psychedelic to math to, occasional, borderline pop. Sometimes, you are easy to spot in a crowd with your moog-flag flying loud and high, other times you sneak in with just a few flavour crystals here and there, peppered around & in a seemingly simple song. I think that’s one thing I love so much about you. You are at once, easily defined & undefinable! Maybe it’s because we relate so well to each other…. whatever the reason, though the hey days of King Crimson, Yes, Genesis, & ELP may be long gone, you are still alive & well today.

Last week, we bad a lot of fun exploring the “prog” tag down in bandcamp, so many wonderful unknown gems floating around on this great intertube of super info highways…. I left that post inspired. As I’m usually want to do after a bite of prog, it was time to let my prog flag fly high and proud! And what better way to do that than a brand-spanking new prog mixtape??

None.

There is literally no better way.

Seriously.

So I did but here’s the problem. Prog songs, as we all know, are notoriously long, which makes making mixtapes that fit within “society’s definition” of a normal mixtape length…. challenging. I remember back in my youngin’ mixtaperin’ years, building that epic comp for a friends or someone cutie I had a crush on, wanting to put in at least 1 prog song, but finding that in an hour long mixtape, devoting one third of it to one song, well, it can limit you.

Well THANK THE LARDY LARD FOR DEM INTERNETS!!!

Yep, the digital age & shit. Mixtapes can be as long as you have a gigabyte to stick it in. The possibilities are……. prog-a-licious!

So, with that being said and with this being done and a mixtape to be listenerined to, we built ourselves one DOOZY of a mammer jammer. Epic & insanely ridiculous. Prog. And, in true prog fashion, we drop this bad boy in one 2-hour long single MASSIVE mp3.

BLAMO. In yer proggy face!

Now, you may be excited or cringing, that’s up to you, but if you can make it through it — if you dare, that is — I’ve got a reward for you. The first person who can list the track listing in the comments will win, not only Nudiezine Issue No. 5 but also the newest edition to our nudiezine family, the 99 cent MINI!

Honestly. I don’t think anyone will do it. 2 hours of prog, a couple songs that may require a little “previous tsuru post” research, yeah, it’ll take a brave brave soul to get that tracklisting done.

You think you got the skillset, my friend? Let’s find out as…

tsururadio presents… let them eat prog!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. Go ride yer bikes, go take lots of pictures, and we’ll see you before long…

Cheers,

Aaron aka Tsuru

What I did at Bandcamp with accompanying mini-mixtape!

March 25, 2011

By Tsuru

Not too long ago, we wrote an open letter to independent artists to delete their myspace pages. Now, every other week, we are going to wander along the best alternative out there, Bandcamp, and see what kind of adventures we can have at What I did at Bandcamp (and now with accompanying mini-mixtape) …

Well howdy ho, my friends! Is it Friday already? What a week it’s been! Busy busy boy, some health-issues to contend with (no worries, all is good-ish), lots of miles to ride on the bike, lots of pictures to take, and so on and so forth. But…. it’s Friday, time to take the helm and take a trip down bandcamp lane.

This week’s collection comes almost exclusively via suggestions from the wonderful weirdos down in our society and a few from Baby! The result of which made for one hell of an interesting mixture of sounds. Trying to find a workable tracklisting for this collection was… uh…. challenging. But, in the end, this is about the varied and vast collection of amazing bands hiding over in Bandcamp, not the mini-mixtape we built from it, soooooooooo without further adieu, let’s hop to it!

Priscilla Ahn

First up is Priscilla Ahn by way of Baby.

This is pretty sweet. Got a total Mountain Men meets smooth pop kinda thing. And……. she’s totally swoon-worthy!

Summer Fiction

Ah… piano-driven pop with Summer Fiction! It’s got this retro-vibe thing, maybe kinda 70s AM radio thing-ish and it’s got a bit of boy-girl duet action going on, which pretty much seals the deal.

Quite lovely. The country guitar on “By The Sea” steals my heart….

Magic Man

Magic Man… I think there is something special here. According to the bandcamp page, the songs were written in France, in “a chateau, a farm, a circus festival, and a beach cottage and brought back home to the states for further recording and editing”. It’s this eclecticness — is that a word? — that really shines. Songs like “Monster” build and go quiet, all with quirky sounds/beats dragging you along. It’s almost like Dan Deacon fucked Flaming Lips and produced a Magic Man.

*love*

Slow Animal

Trippy garage rock! Where’s my acid? Love the crappy lo-fi sound (though, granted, on laptop speakers it can be a bit rough, but given a decent pair of headphones, mwah!)

Reminds me of a “more raw” version of Smith Westerns! Go get ‘em Pitchfork!

Secret Knives

Shoegaze! Never my genre, though I am one to gaze at my chucks on occasion.

This one came via the society. I think the lead-off track is the perfect taste for these guys. Trippy synthy shoegazey yummy yummy……

New Animal

Another animal band? I smell a band name trend! What is it about Animals and lo-fi psychedelic-ness?

Well, who cares really? 15 tracks, 75 minutes long, FREE, awesome, and did I mention FREE?!?!?! Expand yer mind man…. good times.

Napoleon

Winning the award for album cover you’d least like to mimic in real life, Napolean’s got their kitchen-sink beats and groovetastic gem “Success” stuck in my brain.

These guys need more songs… like now.

Christian James & The Family

Oh nice…. kinda old school country with a touch of the blues. Slow. Kinda dark by the nature of his voice. And generally brilliant.

If the album art isn’t an indication of the DIY movement going on and what one is able to do with it… actually, most the artists in today’s post, I don’t know what is..

“When I Fall”, the song we chose for the mixtape, oh man.

Adam Amethysts

Creepy album art aside, another lone song artist via the society.

Can’t describe this one. It’s amazing! It’s happy, fun, accessible yet still kinda completely unique. Really, just listen & love on this one, trust me.

Alright! So, yeah, after our last What I did at Bandcamp post, we just left it at that, right? Well, it felt kinda…. incomplete. You know how much I love mixtapes and maybe you aren’t much of a streamer (well, your not the only one), sooooo I made you a mini-mixtape!

WHEEE!!!

9 artists & 9 songs to load up and love and cherish and shake your booty to the left and then maybe a little over to the right and then maybe a little up and a little down, oh you know how I likes it. The only caveat. If you like something, go to their bandcamp and given them proper love, okay? Don’t just love ‘em and leave ‘em. Your momma taught you better than that. Okay, so that’s it!

Enjoy!

Adam And The Amethysts – Prophecy
Priscilla Ahn – When You Grow Up
Summer Fiction – She’s Bound to Get Hurt
Christian James & The Family – When I Fall
Slow Animal – Sanity
Magic Man – Real Life Color – Darling
Napoleon – Success
New Animal – Frightened
Secret Knives – Black Hole

Have a great weekend everyone! Go ride your bikes, go take lots of pictures, and, if the good lard’s a-willin’ and the creeks don’t rise, we’ll see you before long……..

Cheers,
Aaron aka Tsuru

presents… she stands there stark naked mixtape!!!

March 18, 2011

By Tsuru

Happy Friday to ya, my friends!!! Man oh man have I been a busy little beaver lately. Work has been, well, work and nuttier than ever, but that’s work and who wants to talk about that? Not I said the fly! Now, sure, we got you a badass mixtape to finish off the week all proper style…

How’s THAT for a teaser?

But, before we get to that, let’s talk about the other busys keep us busy.

First up? Maybe you missed it the other day, but Baby’s auction to raise money for Japan ENDS TOMORROW!

The money from the winning bid and the matching moneys ALL go to the Red Cross to help out with Japan. They get a little moneys, you get a Kitsune (fox) purse for you or your honey-bunny, all with free shipping! Not too shabs, eh?

Eh. So..

* CLICK – BID – SHARE *

Next… maybe you missed it but TSURUFOTO NUDIEZINE Issue No. 4 has been released and is out in the wild!

WOOOOOOOT! And this time it’s a doozy! In this issue we got our zinexclusive mixtape, activities, amazing artwork, our articles on REM & a bad ass zine we came across, all kinds of randomness, and, of course, our super hot & awesome photo shoots with Nina, Isabella, Becca, & the awesome Lucy Dominga!

Now, you can get a taste of the photo sets with Nina & Isabella and Ms. Dominga over at our vimeo page full or saucy short films we’ve been making, BUT…. if you want a peek at Issue No. 5′s centerfold set, “How Olive Does Arts & Crafts”:

TSURUFOTO Presents… How Olive Does Arts & Crafts! (NSFW) from TSURUFOTO on Vimeo.

You are going to have to buy a zine…. ;)

Now… if that wan’t enough, oh my, let me tell you about last night. Yes yes, it was St. Patty’s day, but I really could care less about that part. First, anyone who follows the photo part of tsuru industries knows I get to work with some amazing people. Genuinely beautiful inside & out. Well, a couple of them do burlesque. Baby & I have been trying to go see them for, well, forever, but life & shit kept getting in the way until last night when we went to Circus and got to see not one, but TWO troupes perform! The Velvet Hearts featuring the uber-crush worthy Cherry La Voix AND the Ooh La Las featuring my newest friend Cherie!

One word. Amazing.

Bold, strong, beautiful pasty-adorned women flaunting the awesomeness.

And blowing our minds and melting our hearts. Needless to say, Baby & I are smitten kittens. Consider us groupies!!!

Speaking of beautiful women & smitten kittens, my friends, has I gots a mixtap’ems for yas today very much inspired by the love and beauty that seems to be following us around more and more. We had some fun with this one! Yeah yeah, sure, we got a new song or two that might be floating around your hip & hypem blogs here and there, but for the most part this one’s chock full o’ not-so-newness and not-so-knowness! Yep, we dipped deep into our pockets for some pre-double-digit 2000s goodness, maybe something from the 90s, and I think one or two from the 80s, and lots of fresh bandcamp goodness.

Just a little reminder that, yeah, new music is new, but loving and leaving the songs from a few years, months or days ago is not chicken soup for the soul. And remember, as loverly as the pitchforks and bloggerins of the world can be, there’s still so much out there just waiting and wanting to be heard over in the wide world interconnected intertubes of love canals like Bandcamp and etc.

So here we are and here we go as….

photography by me
modeled by tomagochi

tsururadio presents…

she stands there stark naked mixtape!!!

full zip

01 Noah and the Whale – Jealous Kind Of Love
02 Royal Bangs – Tiny Prince Of Keytar
03 Ween – Ocean Man
04 Beulah – Matter vs. Space
05 Bright Eyes – Shell Games
06 Here We Go Magic – Hands in the Sky
07 Radiohead – Nude
08 Violent Femmes – Black Girls
09 The Decemberists – O New England
10 Bill Callahan – Sycamore
11 Beirut – The Concubine
12 Peter Bjorn and John – Amsterdam
13 Paula & Karol – Ontario
14 Son Volt – Drown
15 The Do – Bohemian Dances
16 Jenny Invert – Still Life / Millet Seed
17 Tera Melos – Manar Was A Rat
18 Isaac and Hilltop – Antique Arms and Armor
19 Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s – Real Naked Girls
20 Joan As Police Woman – The Magic
21 Nicole Atkins & The Sea – The Way It Is

BONUS: David Cassidy – I Think I Love You

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. Go ride yer bikes, go take lots of pictures, and we’ll see you before long…

Cheers,

Aaron aka Tsuru

tsururadio presents… Can we be friends? Mixtape!

March 4, 2011

By Tsuru

Photography by ssammedd…

Wow. What a week, eh? Nothing like a complete format change, handing over the keys, trying to get it all settled in, fixing up my amazing number of little screw-ups, finishing our next nudiezine (issue no. 4!!! this weekend bitches!!!) to keep ye ol’ juices a flowin’, eh? On top of that, a good 120 miles on the bike since Monday, and a rather hectic week at work……. oh my!

But… here we are, Friday Friday. My time slot, my beat. The plan? Every other Friday, bring you a brand spankin’ new mixtape for your aural & oral & orly satifaction! This weeks mixtape? Ah, inspiration abounds! Whether it be the AMAZING sunrises & sunsets on my rides (I ride into the sun on both parts of my commutes) — it’s absolutely overwhelming how a little sunshine could put a little pep in your pedalin’……

Ooo. A moment on the bike. So, cruising along Wednesday night at a good 20-25 mph, feeling good. Smiling. Got my shrunken REM mixtape on and “Ignoreland” comes on. About a block away, a stale green light. One of those lights I never get. That “Ignoreland” baseline and Stipe’s megaphone singing… I smile, put my hands and head down and pedal harder, harder, light turns yellow, I’m so close, Stipe sings that part before the last verse, “Someone’s got to take the blame!”, I’m FLYING! 30mph! Fly into the light, swing left, made it…. a second to spare.

Amazing.

Speaking of… REM’s new album leaked out thanks to npr and Spotify’s listening parties (thanks guys!) and my oh my is it a gem.

That fucking transition to the chorus on “Discoverer” punches you right in the gut! And man, “Oh My Heart”, more like Oh My Oh My! Swoooon……. Yep man-crush on Stipe firmly in place, you bald poet bastard!

nerd-rawr. I got something you can collapse into you!

Ah, and since we are on the subject of anticipated ~~leaks~~ releases, Noah & The Whale’s new one, Last Night On Earth, finally came around. Finally. Ah, genre-hoppers, shape-shifters, I love ‘em but lord knows people tend to hate ‘em. You fall in love with a band’s sound, I know it can be hard to reconcile an about face, but as long as they are true and following their hearts, isn’t that what you should want, even if you don’t like it?

Yeah.. yeah, you should.

And yep, our beloved Whalerds and their Noahan leader have shifted shapes into something decidely more… uh… not “electronic”, well, I mean, its electronic compared to Peaceful, The World Lays Me Dow, but it’s not blips & bleeps and shit. Yeah, it takes a bit of getting used to, but I’m, as McDonald’s once (and by once I mean a million times) said, I’m lovin’ it.

love it or else, bitch!!!

So yeah, between amazing bike rides & albums filling my week with smiles I had enough inspiration there…. but then there’s this, the #pcc, the paper crane collective. I’ve never felt so lucky than when we emailed a bunch of people I’ve grown to love & respect all over this music bloggerin’ intertubes of super highway love canals, asking them to join a collective, something most bloggers have grown quite weary & leary of, and hot diggity damn if 92.53% said “fuck yeah, tsuru!”

Well. If that don’t fill your heart with love, then son… you broke.

Personally, I think our first week has been pretty epic, no?

The result of all this tenderness in my noggin? Today’s mixtape… and boy, this mixtape’s got you covered… Something old (actually, quite a few old timers on this one), something new (Mother Mother! Thanks WLFY!), something borrowed (looking at you Noah & The Whale, that’s a total Tom Petty rip of “Don’t Come Around Here No More” and ya know it you sad saps), something blue (let’s say… Fleet Foxes), and even a fucking Radiohead song. Yeah, I know? Nuts right? Radiohead. I like, what, 2 of their songs?

But here we are.

Mmm…

Yeah. Here. Nice.

So what say you? Shall we do this? Yes, we shall as.

tsururadio presents…

Can we be friends? Mixtape!

(full zip)

Photography by Isabella Misery for tsurufoto nudiezine!

01 Danielson – Lil Norge
02 Noah and the Whale – L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.
03 Kurt Vile – Society Is My Friend
04 Oh No Oh My – You Were Right
05 David Lowery – Deep Oblivion
06 Iron and Wine – Biting Your Tail
07 Crash Test Dummies – You Said You’d Meet Me (in California)
08 Smith Westerns – Weekend
09 Mother Mother – The Stand
10 The Strokes – Under Cover Of Darkness
11 Mister Heavenly – Mister Heavenly
12 R.E.M. – Discoverer
13 PJ Harvey – The Last Living Rose
14 Radiohead – Lotus Flower
15 Lykke Li – Love Out of Lust
16 Violent Femmes – Crazy
17 Ron Sexsmith – Love Shines
18 Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
19 Okkervil River – Mermaid

Have a great weekend everyone! Go ride yer bikes! Go take nekkid pictures (then send them to me, ha!)! We’ll see you all next week… Oh, and we’ll have our updated program guide up for you ASAP!!! Until then… I got some nudiezines to make! SMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCH!

Cheers,
Aaron aka Tsuru

Okay… This is bad ass! DiggUp Tapes Cassingles Vol 1

February 7, 2011

By Tsuru

You know I’ve got a sweet spot for Bandcamp. So, when I got this little email from the guys at DiggUp Tapes about a bandcamp mixtape called Cassingles Vol. 1, I couldn’t help but click-through! I know, right? Weird when even just today my suspicions were even more deeply confirmed that I’m really doing this whole music bloggerin’ thing all wrong.

Oh well! So, right now I’m listening to this bad ass mixtape and I’m thinking… you should to, so here it is! Enjoy!

Cheers!

TSURURADIO Presents… TSURUFOTO NUDIEZINE issue no. 3: We Could Be Heroes!!! With Accompanying Mixtape!

February 4, 2011

By Tsuru

Photography by me of Nina!

Yep. TSURUFOTO NUDIEZINE issue no. 3: We Could Be Heroes is LIVE! Not just on Etsy, but even for your Kindle & Kindle Apps on yer iPads, iPhones, Androids, Blackberrys and personal computers.

At 24 pages, it is literally our biggest & most epic issue yet!!! In this issue…

An Illustration by Norbert Fuckerer
Letters To Tsuru
T&A (Tweet & Answer)
TsuruBride Presents… Matilda The Masked Avenger Colouring Adventure
Our Boobwatchers Guide
A zine exclusive Winter Mixtape by dysonsound
Illustrations by Tim Porter
VIVA REVOLUTION aka Our Interview with Beat Radio
Photography & Centerfold: Sheila Savage Saves The Day!!! + A zine exclusive password to Sheila Savage Saves The Day: The Video!!!
Photography Special: We Could Be Heroes, Just For One Day! 5 Super Nudie Cranes! Evil-doers beware!
Calendar: Oiseaux retros for March – Audrey

AND STILL ONLY $4??????

Measures 5.5″ x 8.5″ closed
B&W photocopied & triple stapled

ALSO… every order comes with a link to the PDF version for all your e-zine needs!

INSANITY!!!

As if that wasn’t enough TSURUFOTO action for you…. Check this! A local alternative weekly paper here in Columbus called Columbus Alive did a little article & interview with me and it’s on newstands AND on the intertubal highway of cyber love canals NOW!

Wow, right? I know!

Now, in and of itself, all that is worth a post, imo, even if it is a whole bunch of self-pimping ego stroking, but as you know, we here at TSURURADIO wouldn’t present something without a sweet ass accompanying mixtape to goes along with it, eh? Eh indeed.

And what a sweet dozy we got for you today! About 120 minutes of new & old gems all tied up together in our special mixtaperin’ way we do things around here. Now… There are a few quite new major label type o’ tracks poking around this mixtape (sorry, it’s what I’m feeling) so, to be on the safe side, we are offering this one up, not only blind (i.e. NO track listing – don’t worry, I got you a spoiler, cuz I love you) but also as one big playable mp3.

I actually love these. They play more like a genuine mixtape, like the million I made back in my youngin’ days. Is it doped up with all the hyped and hot songs? Well, it may not have the new Akron/Family song or maybe that Fleet Foxes tune that’s floating around, and it certainly doesn’t have Hey Rosetta, as I’ve never even heard of ‘em. I had that lovely Chinatown from Destroyer on there, but then I remember I just had it on another mixtape.

So what do you get? A femmetastic action packed mixtape featuring Joan As Police Woman, Adele, The Ronettes, PJ Harvey, Kori Pop, Laura Veirs, Rachel Goodrich, Nicole Atkins, and a quite a few other amazing women. But don’t worry fellers, you can relax the falsetto for a few songs as we got a few twigs & berries covered too.

So, I’ll tell you what. How about I shut the fuck up and get the music on, eh? Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! Ride your bikes, take some pictures, and if the creek don’t rise, we’ll see you all here come next week. Until then, let’s go be heroes as….

TSURURADIO Presents..

TSURUFOTO NUDIEZINE issue no. 3: We Could Be Heroes Mixtape!!!

See that little play button? Yeah, PUSH IT!!!

Featuring (not in this order, necessarily)…

David Bowie (of course)
Joan As Police Woman
Adele
The Ronettes
Said The Whale
PJ Harvey
Modern Skirts
REM
Lohio
The Decemberists
Kori Pop
Super Desserts
Rachel Goodrich
Laura Veirs
and so much more!!!!

*TRACKLISTING SPOILER*

We could be heroes! Just for one day……………

Cheers,
Aaron

TSURURADIO Presents… She Drives Me To Distraction! Oh Yeah, She’s My Passion Mixtape & Short Film!!!

January 14, 2011

By Tsuru

Photography by ME! HOORAY!

*WARNING* The following post contains tons of aural awesomeness, visual naughtiness, & some serious self-pimping. So, you know, you’ve been warned.

Alright my friends… a happy Friday to you and shit! I gots something a little special for you today to wrap up the week that was, make that doubly, no, triply special, no, wait, QUADRUPLY SPECIAL!!! WOOT!

Number 1: If you haven’t notice or paid attention or something, TSURUFOTO NUDIEZINE issue no. 2 is LIVE, LIVE, LIVE!!! BUT…………. Not only is it live on Etsy in paper form, it’s also live via Amazon on their Kindle or iPhone/Android/Blackberry/iPad/PC Kindle App!

Awesome, right? Our 2nd zine!!!!

I guess it’s true what they say… I really am the Hugh Hefner of Zines.

What is TSURUFOTO NUDIEZINE? We essentially took the idea of a classic playboy (photosets combined with articles) and the old punk zines, mixed them together, tsuru-style and this time, built a 20-page (including the cover) 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 closed, black & white photocopied zine!

In our 2nd issue we included…

Letters To Tsuru
T&A (Tweet & Answer)
Photography: White Winter Hymnal with Nina
TsuruBride Present… Craft Corner
A Naughty Wordsearch
Photography & Centerfold: A Walk In The Woods with Isabella Misery
Cookin’ w/Tsuru with Accompany Mixtape
Interview: Katie Pierce of Jack In The Pocket
Photography: Tabs & Tiffany Play Hide-n-Seek
Calendar: Oiseaux retros for February

ALL for only $4 in real live paper form or $1.99 in e-form!

Now, what’s that got to do with today? Well… that brings us to number 2!

Number 2: We gots a big ass mammer-jammer double mother-fucking mixtape for you today inspired by one of the photo sets! Yep, in the zine we had a set with Tabs & Tiffany playing naked Hide-n-Seek in the very very very very cold woods — see mixtape cover photo down below! It’s a mix of old and new and funny and fun, but that brings us to number 3.

Number 3: When we shot the set, we also made a brand spanking new TSURUFOTO Presents short film to accompany the mixtape set to a song IN the mixtape by Cub where some of the lyrics became the name of the mixtape! Very fun & very NSFW & very tsururific!

Ah.. but we ain’t done! There’s a twist!

Number 4: The mixtape is a blind mixtape!

Wait.. What? Why blind?

Well, I just found that listening to a mixtape, completely blind, changes the way you listen to it. Here, I’ll give you an example. One of my favourite moments on a blind mixtape is when you’ll be listening to some song, maybe one you’ve never heard before, grooving along, enjoying it, no clue who it is, then suddenly BLAMO! the first few notes kick in on the next song and it’s immediate enjoyment, excitement, & sheer giddiness as “dude! this is one of my favourite jams!” It’s like a wonderful surprise!

Where otherwise, you might scan and judge a tracklisting, happy to see some songs you like, then decide to give some or all of it a go….. not quite the same thing. Last time we did this as one giant mp3, this time we kept it broke up and don’t worry, I left the ID tags in place so if you grab it, your iPod player of choice can figure it all out & shit, but more fun is to just push play on track no. 1 and let the next couple of hours be filled with music & fun & nekkidness! Doesn’t that just sound grand? Oh, and for all you who just hate surprises or for those who just can’t figure out what some of the songs are… there’s a little spoiler link down there for ya.

So that’s it! Quadruple awesome good times on a stick!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. I’m about to head out on a long weekend to Arizona to see my Baby Birds, sedona, and the grand canyon, & try to snap a few cool pics for ya (I’ve never gone before)…

So while I’m away, I you all have lots of fun, ride yer bikes, go get nekkid, take pictures, and report back here. But, until then, enjoy as…

TSURURADIO Presents…

She Drives Me To Distraction! Oh Yeah, She’s My Passion Mixtape & Accompanying Short Film!!!

(Full Zip – except the film, of course)

SIDE A: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

SIDE B: 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34

Bonus: 35 Why? Because I love you…

*SPOILER*

TSURUFOTO Presents… Tabs & Tiffany Play Hide-n-Seek! (NSFW) from TSURUFOTO on Vimeo.

See ya’ll next week, unless you are all over the twitters & whatnots, then you’ll come on my trip with me!

Cheers,
Tsuru

TSURURADIO Presents… I’ll Be Lonely Oh So lonely Living Only To Remember You Mixtape & Film!

December 28, 2010

By Tsuru

Zine by TSURUFOTO!!!

Howdy kiddos! Got a special little mid-holiday post-xmas pre-new years whoop it up for ya in the form of a mixtape!!! BUT… no no no… that’s not all, because accompanying that mixtape is a sweet little film we made, yep!

Before we get to all of that though, I’ve got some exciting news! See that scan of our zine up top that’s available over at Etsy for the low low price of $4?? WELL… let’s say you don’t like the idea of paper and have, like the incomparable TsuruBride & I, moved on to e-ink (or LCD if you prefer your reading in app form) well, the zine is now officially for sale in the Kindle shop for only $1.99!!!

I know, right? Fuckin’ wow! Pretty cool, eh?

Wasn’t sure if they’d accept it, but they DO have a graphic novel / comic “erotica” section, so I gave it a go. e-ink and black & white photocopied paper seems to be a match made in heaven, if you ask me!

Now, we are already building Issue No. 2, so keep an eye out soon, AND… if you are in or around Columbus & want to be a part of our celebration of all things weird, wonderful, & beautiful, check out our casting call over at Model Mayhem and give us a holler!

Very exciting stuff, eh?

Speaking of Issue No. 2… one page is devoted to the photoshoot that brought about our latest short film accompanying today’s mixtape! WOO! Isabella Misery reprises her devastating role as our modern day Bluebeard, this time kidnapping poor Sheila Savage, holding her captive in a less-than-seemly basement and Bluebeard leaves no survivors…. ever.

We caught it all on film, soundtracked it, and put it all together for you as a finale to our latest mixtape endeavour!! So, with all that said, and that’s certainly a enough said for now, let’s hop to it as….

TSURURADIO Presents…

I’ll Be Lonely Oh So lonely Living Only To Remember You Mixtape & Accompanying Film!

(Full zip)

01 The Black Swans – I.D.W.2F. (thanks Eve!)
02 The Decemberists – Down By The Water
03 The Rural Alberta Advantage – Stamp
04 The Rumour Said Fire – Comfort To The Dalai Lama (thanks Peanut!)
05 R.E.M. – Discoverer
06 Tigers That Talked – The Merchant
07 Iron and Wine – Biting Your Tail
08 Bird and Flower – Jump Out the Way
09 Young Galaxy – Peripheral Visionaries
10 James Blake – Lindesfarne II
11 Geographer – Kites (thanks Elias)
12 Destroyer – Song for America
13 Portugal The Man – 1000 Years
14 Miles Kurosky – I Can’t Swim
15 Weezer – El Scorcho
16 Pomegranates – One Of Us
17 The Greenhornes – My Sparrow
18 Brian Bennett – Thug (from Black Dynamite)
19 The Frowning Clouds – Please Yo’ Self
20 White Whale – The Admiral
21 Elvis Presley & The Jordanaires – I’ll Remember You (thank you Isabella & Sheila!)

TSURUFOTO Presents… The Return Of Bluebeard!!! NSFW!!!

Woo! Hot dayum, eh?

Cheers,
Tsuru

The TSURURADIO Community Presents… nobleybones’ Christmas Whiskey Means Good Cheer Mixtape!!!

December 24, 2010

By Tsuru

Well, wouldn’t you know it? It’s already that time of year again….

That time of year when little kids all over Amorica start wanting a bunch of crap you couldn’t afford the other 11 months. The time of year when you are suddenly compelled to buy that person who you don’t know at work some crap “but keep it under $20!”… The time of year when you got to give your boss, who makes, lets say, at least 2 or 3 or 5 times as much as you, a gift. The time of year when you can sponsor this person, help that person, and basically constantly shell out money.

It’s also the time of year for eating. And eating. Aaaand more eating. At dinners, parties, dinner parties, soirees, shing dings, team lunches, team dinners, team snacks, your lover’s team lunches, team dinners, team snacks, and the flood of homemade comfort foods.

Yep.

It’s time again for Kwanzaa.

I know what you are thinking…

T-dog… don’t you mean xmas?

Fuck no. Xmas is dead, man. You can find Santa’s cholesterol-ridden corps right next to Jesus’s. Xmas used to be something. It used to be about commercialism, about getting cabbage patch kids and a transformer or two. But it’s done changed. It’s all smartphones and other smartphones. It’s about iPads and other useless “tweener” gadgets. It’s about gift certificates because what the hell else can you give someone who don’t need nothing except the joy of going out and getting more crap? No, fuck Xmas, I’m moving on to Kwanzaa.

It’s my heritage anyway, so why the hell not, right? It seems to combine what I love when I practiced Judaism during that one year in college (oh my crazy college years) and the date around Xmas so I’m naturally in holiday mode already! Unlike Chanukah which lard only knows when that is each year…

No, I’m sticking with Kwanzaa. It’s something I can get behind. It’s about love. About candles. There’s fruit involved somehow…

Who doesn’t like fruit & candles and maize? Seriously, I don’t think there’s enough miles possible in the year to kill off the calories these fair-weather christians throw at me every year. Always something dipped in chocolate with peanut butter in it…. YOU KNOW THAT’S MY WEAKNESS!!!

Sigh.

Well, I’m about to go hop on the bike for another billion miles in the snow to try to dump this spare tire. So, while I’m out there, and while you head out to the malls to run with the cattle for some last minute smartphones, before you go, looky what we got here. Our good friend and mixologist nobleybones has once again donned us with his gay apparel, fa la la la laaaa la la la laaaa with another sweet ass Xmas cheer mixtape full of 80 proof goodness! Here’s what you need to do, throw this bad boy on yer iPod, go ahead and head out to the maw-maw, turn this bad boy on full blast and slowly make your way through the mess.

Watch as the herds become bit players in a weird surreal holiday video (it will even be in 3D). Laugh as Velvet Underground sings “Jesus” while some soccer mom fights over the last Pillow Pet

Get done, make your way home, load it up there while throw a little brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and a giant bottle of red wine on the stove for some Vin Chaud, then sip and enjoy the pending forced quiet of Xmas before you pack up the family and do it all over again on Sunday — yay returns! yay gift card!

Merry Kwanzaa everybody as…

The TSURURADIO Community Presents..

nobleybones’ Christmas Whiskey Means Good Cheer Mixtape!!!

(Full Zip)

1. Little Hands – Beck & Wilco
2. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing – Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
3. Christmas Time (Is Here Again) – Liverpudlian Lads
4 White Crismas (Reggae Version) – Bob Marley y The Wailers
5 Ginger Snaps – Dean & Britta
6 Winter Rose – The Bees
7 Everything Is One Big Christmas Tree – The Magnetic Fields
8 Holiday Face – Dent May
9 Just Like Christmas – Low
10 Your Christmas Whiskey – Minus 5
11 Snow Days – Real Estate
12 Egg Nogg – Luna
13 Gin Rummy – Nellie McKay
14 Jewish Curses – Tom Waits
15 Jesus – The Velvet Underground
16 Christmastime In The Mountains – Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy
17 Transcendental Light – The Black Lips
18 Behind That Locked Door – George Harrison
19 Graycourt – The Love Language
20 White Christmas (Skiffle Version) – The Cotton Jones Basket Ride
21 Snowalker – Pepper Rabbit
22 Snowstorm – Galaxie 500
23 Happy New Year – Camera Obscura
24 Same Time Next Year – Paul McCartney

Cheers,
The TSURURADIO Community!

Tsuru & The Bride Present… Aaron Loves Meghan: December In Paris Mixtape & Film!!!

December 17, 2010

By Tsuru

All photographies by me…

As you could probably tell from the posts this week (unless you are reeeeeally not paying much attention), we are back! The unimitatable TsuruBride (aka Baby) and I spent last week in Paris (with a day trip to Lyon on Baby’s birthday to visit our friends Isa & Ben from Our Society). What an amazingly awesomely awesome trip it was!

Paris Graffiti No. 1

Epic…. So epic…. but unfortunately with a week off from work and the impending time off for the holidays, work is doing a double-time, if not a triple-time, on our asses. So, though the posts may be a little few & far between until things settle down a bit, we’ll do what we do as much as we can do it…

But back to Paris. I’d never gone before, Baby had gone a few times — it is her favourite place and like I said it was her birthday (the big 3-0), so really, what better way to celebrate? – Exactly, there is no better way.

What can I say about the trip? It’s fucking Paris! It’s beautiful, it’s romantic, it was rainy & grey & amazing!

Chauds

Ah, all things chaud, all things chaud. Yes, it was chilly — though really, crappy weather in Paris kicks crappy weather in Columbus’s ass any day of the week — so that may have had something to do with it, but I’d never had “vin chaud” before — nor chaud crepes with motherfucking nutella — and, well, let’s just say, chaud & I are now intimately familiar with each other.

Wait, that sounded weird.

Rue Mouffetard

I’ll tell you what… instead of my jibber-jabberin’ and really offending even more Parisians — yeah, that was me who spilled his red wine on the group of Parisian business men at the table next to us when we deeked into a cafe on Rue Mouffetard — how we get to the good stuff? You see, I brought you back a little sumtin-sumtin…

No, it’s not much, just a little thing we “picked up”. A little mixtape and a little film I made, you know, no biggie.

So, while I get to work so I can get this weekend on — 3 xmas parties… hooray (I’m tired already) — how about you load up our little film, then load up our epic mixtape and come along with us down the rues of Paris (and a little Lyon), where the vin is chaud, the baguettes are hard — lol — where the croques are extra cheesy, and the mustard ain’t really all that yellow as….