screenshot from iambrandx.com

In two weeks and less than five hours from the time of this blog post, the fourth season of Current TV‘s “Vanguard” returns.

Interestingly enough, I have been interning with the team of about 14 for about two weeks as well. The duties have ranged from transcribing to researching and assisting the correspondents, and should hopefully flourish into something more participatory where I can really dig my nails in and get into these amazing international stories that the team covers.

Last season, they covered the recession in a three-part series, guns in America, robots in Japan, and war in Iran. This season, more breathtaking documentary episodes to come.

And in the next two weeks we will hopefully be amping up Vanguard’s online presence through social media. While plenty have written off Twitter and Facebook as wastes of time, they still prove their worth  interesting new ways — it’s all about connecting. And man that online world is crazy these days. I could spend a whole day on the Internet just exploring what’s out there, and I’d still be missing tons of awesome stuff. 

Gotta be careful not to become obsessed though. Too much digitalia can rot your brain! Or reduce your sperm count! Or was that Mountain Dew…

Either way, the first episode of the new season, premiering Oct. 14, is called OxyContin Express. It’s about prescription drug abuse and how Florida plays a vital role in supplying pills.

HERE’S THE LINEUP:

Current has also been picking up some steam and notoriety here and there, which is really cool to see. While the Gore/Clinton Korea rescue propelled Current into public eyes, others have been noticing too (see above from iambrandx) — Rolling Stone even made mention of a brand new [mini]series Current is launching called “Embedded.”

Now that looks sweet: exclusive shows on Mos Def, Common, Ben Harper, Silversun Pickups, Thievery Corporation, and The Decemberists. Cannot wait for this. And it debuts right after Vanguard on the 14th.

Rolling Stone says this about EMBEDDED in reason #47 to watch TV this season (more on that later! cable looks like its pulling up it’s pants)

“If Animal Planet had a show that captured musicians in their natural habitats, it would look like this refreshingly raw documentary series. Ben harper gives a tour of his instrument shop in California; Mos Def roams the streets of Osaka, Japan. It’s artists in their everyday lives, free of the crowds.”

Check out some cool videos from today in the Current SF office (Vanguard’s in LA). See Adam Yamaguchi, Mariana Van Zeller and Christof Putzel give a presentation on the new season.

Oh yeah, and Vanguard’s blog tells us that Mariana made her way onto Dr. Phil for an episode about drug abuse airing, yep you guessed it, Oct. 14.

That’s all for now. More to come from inside the Vanguard office, and reviews from a slew of shows I saw in the past week: Portugal. The Man @ The Glasshouse, !!! @ The Troubadour, and Wallpaper @ Cinespace. Phew.

But first off, a quick thank you. Thank you to the LA Times for calling Grizzly Bear overrated! Nothing against the guys, but the music is really so-so. Granted, I still haven’t really gotten into Animal Collective either, who were the “it” band  6 months ago when “Merriweather Post Pavillion” came out. Nonetheless, LA Times’ overrated/underrated gallery claims Grizzly Bear and Zoey Deschanel overrated, Mad Men and Nine Inch Nails underrated. Heres’ the excerpt on GB:

OVERRATED

Grizzly Bear: We’re suckers for hearing the band of the moment, and the quartet’s new album, “Veckatimest,” is touted as this summer’s must-hear. Though the first single, “Two Weeks,” is an addictively airy confection, the rest of this ornate, harmony-rich album left us kind of cold. Each song is undeniably pretty but feels like an impossibly delicate construct, making us wonder whether there’s any blood underneath it all.

Check out the full list HERE. It’s pretty awesome — upscale burgers and indiefied mix casette tapes are also overrated.

Now to the music. I hit up Rhino Records in Claremont last week and got some gems. Raided the uber cheap used section for some An Angle, Brandston, Eisley and a couple other randoms. Haven’t gotten to those yet.

The good stuff though was in the new Portugal. The Man and an album from a band I just started listening to: “The Meek Shall Inherit What’s Left” by Kiss Kiss.

Portugal does it again, with another great album. I can’t get enough of this band. Listened maybe three times through the new one (which has great artwork), and I’ll definitely approve. A more thorough review to come soon.

Kiss Kiss, which I have just noticed from checking out their myspace, has a concert scheduled in space. Yes, space. This could be completely untrue, but their tour schedule is claiming an appearance at the international space station in 2010. Somehow I doubt that, but hey I’d be down! This band has rich strings to complement some slightly avant-garde rock. The falsetto voice, slightly imperfect, is a great match and you can really hear the anguish in a few tracks. Pretty epic music, so I like it a lot. A bit like …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead or Vendetta Red.

Also checked out Spinnerette, a new group from former Distillers‘ frontwoman Brody Dalle. She’s the wife of Queens of the Stone Age front man Josh Hommes. Rolling Stone article here.

Also checked out War Tapes and Parachute at the listening stations. Stellar, but I’ll download.

Also bought 4 old school DVDs for $2.99 each: Johnny Mnemonic, Code 46, DeRailed, Species. My favorite so far (I’ve only watched Species and Code 46) is Species. Who knew that the blazing hot Natasha Henstridge walked around half the movie butt naked? Sexy, indeed.

Grand total? 4 DVDs, 6 CDs for $40. Not bad.

addendum: uploaded tracks so you can hear what I’m talkin’ about. Check out “The Home” from Portugal and “The Best Mistake” from Kiss Kiss.