On Film: In The Dark, Michael Runion and Kristen Kassinger

In The Dark is a new short film by Michael Runion (JJAMZ, solo) and Kristen Kassinger.

My thoughts after watching it: 1) Oh yeah, Spin the Bottle as an adult is just the worst; 2) someone always has to be That Guy during potentially mortifying kissing games; 3) they have packed a lot of thoughts about the concept of “intimacy” into under four minutes.

Anyway, it is quite good, and you should watch it:

IN THE DARK from michaelrunion on Vimeo.

2012: A Year In Pictures, October and December

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Johnny Hallyday, Beacon Theater, Oct. 7, 2012
 
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Blake Mills, Terminal 5, New York, NY, Oct. 16, 2012
 
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Fiona Apple, Terminal 5, New York, NY, 0ct. 16, 2012
 
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Fiona Apple, Terminal 5, Oct. 16, 2012
 
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Beast Patrol, The Studio at Webster Hall, October 19, 2012
 
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Alex Greenwald and Z Berg, JJAMZ, The Studio at Webster Hall, Oct. 19, 2012
 
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Alex Greenwald and Michael Runion, JJAMZ, The Studio at Webster Hall, Oct. 19, 2012
 
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Sweatheart, Terminal 5, New York, NY, Oct. 22, 2012
 
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The Dirty Pearls, Terminal 5, New York, NY, Oct. 22, 2012.
 
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Justin Hawkins / The Darkness, Terminal 5, New York, NY, Oct. 22, 2012
 
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Jeffertitti’s Nile w/ Father John Misty, Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY, Oct. 24, 2012
 
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Katy Goodman, La Sera, Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY, Oct. 24, 2012
 
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Father John Misty, w/ Jeffertitti, Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY, Oct. 24, 2012
 
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Lindi Ortega, Roseland Ballroom, New York, NY, Oct. 26, 2012
 
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Mike Ness, Social Distortion, Roseland Ballroom, New York, NY, Oct. 26, 2012
 
Apparently I didn’t go to any shows in November, either.
 
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Sheena Ozzella, Lemuria, Webster Hall, New York, NY, Dec. 2, 2012
 
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Ceremony and stage diver going in to the pit, Webster Hall, New York, NY, Dec. 2, 2012
 
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Titus Andronicus, Webster Hall, New York, NY, Dec. 2, 2012
 
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Animal Collective, Terminal 5, Dec. 5, 2012
 
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Casey Neill, 68 Jay Street Bar, Brooklyn, NY, Dec. 8, 2012
 
IMG_8261 A small fraction – there are nine of them! – of Industries of the Blind, Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, NY, Dec. 21, 2012

2012: A Year In Pictures: July – September

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Alex Greenwald and Z Berg, JJAMZ, Webster Hall, New York, NY, July 10, 2012
 
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Michael Runion, JJAMZ, Webster Hall, New York, NY, July 10, 2012
 
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JJAMZ, Webster Hall, New York, NY, July 10, 2012
 
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Lita Ford, Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, July 13, 2012
 
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Bret Michaels, Poison, Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, July 13, 2012
 
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C.C. DeVille, Poison, Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, July 13, 2012
 
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Bobby Dall, Poison, Nikon at Joes Beach Theater, July 13, 2012
 
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Ricki Rockett, Poison, Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, July 13, 2012
 
IMG_6354Poison, Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, July 13, 2012
 
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Rick Allen, Def Leppard, Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, July 13, 2012
 
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Rick Savage and Joe Elliot, Def Leppard, Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, July 13, 2012
 
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Phil Collen, Def Leppard, Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, July 13, 2012
 
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Def Leppard, Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, July 13, 2012
 
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Marcy Playground, Bank of America Pavilion, Boston, MA, July 28, 2012
 
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A. Jay Popoff, Lit, Bank of America Pavilion, Boston, MA, July 28, 2012
 
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Mark McGrath, Sugar Ray, Bank of America Pavilion, Boston, MA, July 28, 2012
 
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Art Alexakis, Everclear, Bank of America Pavilion, Boston, MA, July 28, 2012
 
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Art Alexakis (Everclear) and Mark McGrath (Sugar Ray), Bank of America Pavilion, July 28, 2012
 
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David Kuckhermann, Beacon Theater, New York, NY, Aug. 30, 2012
 
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Dead Can Dance, Beacon Theater, New York, NY, Aug. 30, 2012
 
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Larry & his Flask, Webster Hall, Sept. 29, 2012
 
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Frank Turner, Webster Hall, September 29, 2012

Bits: Juniper Tar, Mike Watt, Sebadoh, Fugazi, The Black Keys, Sonic Youth, Jon Walker, Michael Runion

  • The good guys in Juniper Tar will be taking part in the Pablove Benefit Concert at Turner Hall Ballroom in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this Saturday, January 29, 2011. The show, “a special evening to improve the lives of children with cancer”, kicks off at 5:30 PM and also includes Cory Chisel, Fitz & the Tantrums, an acoustic set from Brian Aubert and Nikki Monninger of Silversun Pickups and more.
  • Stereogum has a free download of “Arrow-Pierced-Egg-Man” from Mike Watt’s latest, an opera called Hyphenated-Man.
  • Sebadoh’s Bakesale is being reissued with bonus material on April 4, 2011. In support of this, Sebadoh will be touring the United States beginning in February (including a stop at the Grog Shop in Cleveland on April 2 – coincidentally, just days after J Mascis brings his acoustic tour through the Grog ).
  • The Fugazi documentary Instrument will be screening at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, on February 27, 2011. Director Jem Cohen and members of Fugazi will be on hand for the screening.
  • If you missed it, the Austin City Limits Sonic Youth/Black Keys split episode can now be viewed at the PBS website. Long live PBS.

Additionally, Jennifer reports:

  • Jon Walker (The Young Veins, Panic[!] at the Disco, 5o4 Plan) has put out a solo record. Recommended tracks: Sun and Moon and Growing a Beard.
  • Michael Runion has revamped his website and there are a couple of new songs available as free downloads. He has also started a new band, The Chances, and they are playing an acoustic show at The Standard in West Hollywood, California, on January 26, 2011, at 7:30 PM at the Cactus Lounge.

Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog: Michael Runion

Jennifer the Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog is so excited about her featured artist today that she’s not even waiting until she has pictures to tell you all about him.


Michael Runion is an artist I discovered entirely due to Twitter. According to his MySpace, his genre is “Visual/Folk/Pop”. (Tangentially, I really do love MySpace genre descriptions; some of them are generic things like “rock/pop” and some of them are more interesting things like “2-step/experimental/country” and finding out who is accurate with their self-labeling is always a good time.) But getting back to the subject at hand: left to my own devices, I think I’d tell you that Runion specializes in beautiful, delicate melodies wrapped around razor-sharp lyrics. The result is songs that are good company for filing as well as long train rides to the beach. (I’ll let you know how they do with the car stereo test after this summer.) I’m particularly fond of Drunk as I’ve Ever Been and Don’t Let Her Hold You Down, the latter of which would be the perfect tune for dancing a barefoot two-step with a cowboy before sending him back out on the rodeo circuit. If that sounds like something you’d be into, you should check him out.

I don’t have any pictures of him (yet; I’m hoping if he tours this summer he’ll swing through New York), so I’m bringing some videos (that are not mine) to share instead. The first one is him singing The Daylight, with Z Berg of The Like (genreless, for now, but: ’60s glamour/fierce ladies/pop, their songs WILL get stuck in your head). There’s a whole story for this song written in her facial expressions and the set of her shoulders:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LqPBRXVrpA]

Next up: another duet/battle, this time doing Don’t Look Back with Dave Rawlings, who sang with Gillian Welch for many years but has recently reconfigured himself as the Dave Rawlings Machine (genre: alternative/acoustic/industrial)(?!) and struck out on his own:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm-jKdpGA7I]

And here he is by himself (kind of; the people lounging on the beanbag chair in the background are his friends) on public access tv, with Soft Hands:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUj96fXac8Y]

And then my favorite video, Our Time Will Come, which, fair warning, contains shirtlessness and shaving:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSwlOHnj1gc]

Michael Runion Official Website – WARNING: PLAYS MUSIC!
Michael Runion Twitter