Photo courtesy of Impose; we may or may not know the guy in the mask.

​Well, that didn't take long. Impose brings word today that they'll be setting up a rival studio to Converse's Rubber Tracks, the controversial free, corporate-sponsored recording space that is set to open in Williamsburg some time in the not-too-distant future. This after a long exegeses about selling out and pornography (?!): "Whereas Converse has taken a crappy-looking warehouse and put a state of the art recording studio inside of it, we've taken a state of the art house and put in a crappy recording space," Impose's Derek Evers writes. (We should mention here that another Impose employee, Jeremy Krinsley, also does some work at the Voice.) Apparently, they really mean it.

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all photos by Rebecca Smeyne

Liturgy

Last night was another installment of Test Patterns, the showcase of our pals over at Impose throw every month. This round featured drum tribe Aa, YIMBY faves Liturgy, and the solo work of Parts & Labor's Dan Friel. Apparently they're all too hungover to post anything about last night's festivities, but so these illustrative photos from our DIY-photo ninja Rebecca Smeyne should say it all. Namely, that the ingenious folks at Don Pedro hide holes in the ceiling tile with Corona posters. Goodbye.

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On Monday, our home slices over at Impose unveiled their year-end 50 favorite acts of 2009. It's a uniquely varied list of familiar blog-sprayed faces (Animal Collective, Fever Ray, Black Lips, Dan Deacon, Black Dice), mixtape rappers (Gucci Mane, Freddie Gibbs, Drake), relative unknowns (Nisennenmondai, Eat Skull, Phantogram), and YIMBY stars (Oneohtrix, Drunkdriver, The Beets). As a kind service to readers, fans, Mediafire trigger-fingers, they've logically compiled a corresponding three-zip downloadable mix to go with their awards. The awesomely funny part: as a package, the damn thing's called "Best New Music of 2009."

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Deerhunter's Bradford Cox and Black Lips' Joe Bradley
Photo by Jamie Peck

Gorilla vs Bear may have the Polaroid mugshot game on Kryptonite lock, but our pals over at Impose Magazine recently posted a nifty bunch of instant-camera shots from the last South by Southwest. Only nine months later, this batch already seems like it came from a time capsule--Team Robespierre has since downsized, Vivian Girls have both different hair colors and a different drummer, and Yacht's Jona Bechtolt is now perma-glued to co-conspirator Claire. But perhaps I'm most fond of these scanned snaps because I had the joy of witnessing photog Jamie Peck ask Lou Reed if she could take his picture, him give her half a nod, and then, of course, turn away. Enjoy that meanie-faced profile shot (see below) and tour-hygienic candids of Japanther, Fiasco, Man Man, the Black Lips all over here.