Gang Of Four

"Gang Of Four is one of the most radical, and radically important, rock groups of the last 30 years. Their music, starting with 1978’s ‘Damaged Goods’ EP, offered a danceable solution to the problem of where four-piece guitar bands could go next after punk. They also provided the perfect answer to the question: how to be polemical without being po-faced, ponderous, banal or doctrinaire?"
Gang Of Four, YouTube - To Hell With Poverty, I Love a Man in Uniform, He'd Send In The Army, Damaged Goods, Anthrax, Not Great Men

June 2008: Gang Of Four

...OUT OF HERE: The Veterans Project

"For three decades, Polish artist Krzysztof Wodiczko has addressed timely political, social, and psychological issues in his artwork, creating over 80 large-scale public projections around the world. In these works, he transforms the stories, voices, and gestures of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances by projecting them onto public monuments and landmarks. In a new, projection-based work for the ICA, Wodiczko focuses on veterans engaged in active combat in Iraq, as well as Iraqi civilians."
ICA, (1), Galerie Lelong, NYT

The Boatman's Call

Wikipedia - "The Boatman's Call is the tenth studio album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released in 1997. The album, which is entirely piano-based and a departure from the band's post-punk catalogue, remains one of the most critically-acclaimed releases of Nick Cave's career."
Wikipedia, amazon, YouTube - Into My Arms, Lime Tree Arbour, People Ain't No Good, Brompton Oratory, There Is a Kingdom, Are You The One That I've Been Waiting For, Where Do We Go Now But Nowhere, West Country Girl, Black Hair, Idiot Prayer, Far from me, Green Eyes

The Hanged Man

Wikipedia - "The Hanged Man (XII) is the twelfth trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks. It is used in game playing as well as in divination."
Wikipedia

Passages from James Joyce's "Finnegans Wake" (1965-67)

"A half-forgotten, half-legendary pioneer in American abstract and animated filmmaking, Mary Ellen Bute, late in her career as an artist, created this adaptation of James Joyce, her only feature. In the transformation from Joyce's polyglot prose to the necessarily concrete imagery of actors and sets, Passages discovers a truly oneiric film style, a weirdly post-New Wave rediscovery of Surrealism, and in her panoply of allusion - 1950s dance crazes, atomic weaponry, ICBMs, and television all make appearances - she finds a cinematic approximation of the novel's nearly impenetrable vertically compressed structure."
UbuWeb

Fela Kuti Live

"What more can I say, this man is a legend, I'm not sure what year this was but as with Fela music, they are timeless. Enjoy."
YouTube - Fela Kuti Live pt.1, pt.2, pt.3, pt.4, pt.5, pt.6, pt.7, pt.8

Concrete poetry

Sigrid
Wikipedia - "Concrete poetry or Size poetry is poetry in which the typographical arrangement of words is as important in conveying the intended effect as the conventional elements of the poem, such as meaning of words, rhythm, rhyme and so on. It is sometimes referred to as visual poetry, a term that has evolved to have distinct meaning of its own, but which shares the distinction of being poetry in which the visual elements are as important as the text."
Wikipedia, A Brief Guide to Concrete Poetry, Google

Tsunamis: A Primer

"For those who saw video footage of it, the tsunami that hit Japan’s north coast on Friday and then moved inland with overpowering force was a terrifying sight. Three days later, this wall of water, generated by a magnitude 8.9 earthquake offshore, is blamed for thousands of deaths and untold destruction in Japan. I am neither an oceanographer nor a hydrodynamicist, but I have learned a little about the physics of tsunamis that I would like to share. More learned readers will no doubt have corrections."
NYBooks, Tom Clark: But Not to Worry, Tom Clark: Theodor Adorno: The Veil of Technology, Tom Clark: The Genie in the Bottle, The Nation: "From Hiroshima to Fukushima", Jonathan Schell, NYT: "Satellite Photos of Japan, Before and After the Quake and Tsunami", NYT: "Map of the Damage From the Japanese Earthquake", NYT: "Video: Japan’s Natural and Nuclear Disasters"

Fresh Stuff From BR1 in Torino italy

"BR1art hasn't created any galleries yet."
Wooster Collective, flickr

Blessed - Lucinda Williams

"As heard here, Lucinda Williams’ voice seems to be losing shape, a battered piano, muddled at some places, strangely fitting at others, wearing out in its own unique way. Matched with pedal-steel guitars as on 'Copenhagen,' the voice bleeds like watercolor, threatening to lose form and wear out the paper. At such points, the words matter more than ever. On this release, we get mixed signals."
off Beat, Interview: A Conversation With The Legendary And Prolific Lucinda Williams - No Depression, amazon, YouTube - Buttercup, Blessed, BLESSED Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Born to Be Loved, Ugly Truth, Kiss Like Your Kiss

Kling Klang - Kraftwerk, 1971

"Ralf Hütter: piano elèctric, teclats, instruments electrònics casolans, caixa de ritmes, baix elèctric, xilòfon, armònica. Florian Schneider: flauta travessera, violí, xilòfon, instruments electrònics casolans."
YouTube

Gilbert & George: The Urethra Postcard Art of Gilbert & George

Gilbert & George, Buses, 2009
"In 2009, nearly four decades after their first exhibition of POSTCARD ART, and twenty years since their last group of pictures to be made in the medium of postcards, Gilbert & George returned to the form to make the epic and dazzling group of 564 new pieces that comprise THE URETHRA POSTCARD PICTURES. This is the single largest group of art works made by Gilbert & George, and in turn comprises seven individual groups of new POSTCARD PICTURES. White Cube Mason's Yard will exhibit 155 of these works."
White Cube, Independent - Gilbert & George: Urethra Postcard Art, YouTube

Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris. Liberty Hall, Texas, 1973.

Wikipedia - "...Before recording, Parsons and Harris played a preliminary three show mini-tour as the headline act in a Warner Brothers country-rock package. The backing band included Clarence White, Pete Kleinow, and Chris Etheridge. On July 14, 1973, the legendary White was killed by a drunk driver while loading equipment in his car for a concert with the New Kentucky Colonels. At White's funeral, Parsons and Bernie Leadon launched into an impromptu touching rendition of 'Farther Along'; that night, the distraught and drunken musician reportedly informed Phil Kaufman of his final wish: to be cremated in Joshua Tree. Despite the almost insurmountable setback, Parsons, Harris, and the other musicians decided to continue with plans for a fall tour."
Wikiedia, YouTube - Streets Of Baltimore, Big Mouth Blues, Sin City, The New Soft Shoe / 6 Days on The Road, Love Hurts

March 2008: Gram Parsons

Cézanne's Card Players

The Card Players, 1890–92, Paul Cézanne
"This exhibition unites for the first time the works from Cézanne's series of Card Player canvases together with their associated oil studies and drawings. Also included is a carefully selected group of Cézanne's related paintings of peasants, several of which depict the same local models who appear in the Card Player compositions."
Met Museum, (1), (2), Slate, YouTube - Cézanne's Card Players

Koko Taylor ft. Little Walter – Wang Dang Doodle

"'Despite the antiseptic setting and lackluster backing, this is a valuable clip. Any blues performance from the ’60s is a relative rarity, and this gives us a look at Koko Taylor when she was young and in her prime, plus a fleeting glimpse of Little Walter near the end of his life. This took place in Copenhagen, 11 Oct, 1967. The guitar player is a young Hound Dog Taylor. Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee are in the foreground awaiting their moment to go on. Since Willie Dixon adapted the lyrics of 'The Bulldyker’s Ball' to create 'Wang Dang Doodle,' I always thought it appropriate that a woman should do a successful cover of it. Just as the clip is a rarity, so was Koko herself. There were far too few women in the postwar Chicago blues scene.' – JS"
East Portland Blog (Video)

Adrian Ghenie

The red is on fire, 2008
"Adrian Ghenie is a young Romanian painter whose works demonstrate his fascination with history and the trauma of dictatorship. The sources for his images are derived from a combination of his own personal memories and from historical books, archives and both documentary and fictional film."
re-title, Saatchi Online, e-flux, vimeo

I Don't Need It, I Don't Want It, And You Cheated Me Out of It

Wikipedia - "You're the Guy I Want To Share My Money With is a double album released in 1981. The album is a collaboration by Laurie Anderson, John Giorno and William S. Burroughs, recorded during their 'Red Night' spoken word tour of 1981."
Wikipedia, Discogs, John Giorno

Kronos Quartet - "Requiem for a Dream"

"Kronos Quartet live in Bucharest (May 11, 2008). Clint Mansell's "Lux Aeterna", the soundtrack of "Requiem for a Dream". Video by Cezar Paul-Badescu."
YouTube - "Requiem for a Dream", W - Requiem for a Dream, amazon

Arman

Chopin's Waterloo, 1962
"The Centre Pompidou is to stage a retrospective devoted to Arman, one of the major figures of post-War art. The exhibition will bring together almost 120 works from leading museums and private collections to offer a new and distinctive take on Arman’s work, from the second half of the 1950s to the last years of the 20th century."
artdaily, Centre Pompidou Opens Arman Retrospective, ARMAN at Pompidou Centre, W - Iris Clert Gallery, Art Collage Assembly, Paris Update, Google

Patti Smith - A Reading Of Virginia Woolf

"Patti Smith pays tribute to Virginia Woolf, Fondation Cartier, 28 March 2008 [via Lauren Elkin and 3:AM Magazine]."
A Piece of Monologue (Video)

Marc Séguin

Ruin Angels
"There is a certain amount of dark magic involved in the work of Montreal- and Brooklyn-based artist Marc Séguin. As art critic James D. Campbell explains in our summer 2010 magazine feature “Ars Diavoli,” this underworld aura in Séguin’s work has much to do with the painter’s abiding interest in the mystical realms of the occult, the criminal and the insane."
Marc Séguin: Views from the Underworld, artnet, Charest Weinberg, Marc Séguin Interview

Dust Bowl

Wikipedia - "The Dust Bowl, or the Dirty Thirties, was a period of severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and Canadian prairie lands from 1930 to 1936 (in some areas until 1940). The phenomenon was caused by severe drought coupled with decades of extensive farming without crop rotation, fallow fields, cover crops or other techniques to prevent erosion."
Wikipedia, About The Dust Bowl, PBS - video, The Dust Bowl

The Blind Boys of Alabama

Wikipedia - "The Blind Boys of Alabama are a gospel group from Alabama that first formed at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind at Talladega, Alabama in 1939. The three main vocalists of the group and their drummer/percussionist are all blind."
Wikipedia, The Blind Boys of Alabama, YouTube - Vintage, Higher Ground, Living for Jesus, 'Down By The Riverside

"Rabbits" - David Lynch

Wikipedia - "Rabbits is presented with the tagline: 'In a nameless city deluged by a continuous rain... three rabbits live with a fearful mystery'. As with most of David Lynch's films, the score was composed by Angelo Badalamenti."
Wikipedia, YouTube - "Rabbits", David Lynch

JR at TED: Can Art Change the World?

"French photographer/street artist JR has garnered considerable media attention for his community-minded public art in recent years. Last week, for example, the New York Times chronicled his rise in an article titled “Supercolossal Street Art.” The Times and other news organizations care about JR because, back in October, the TED organization announced that it was awarding the artist with its annual TED Prize of $100,000..."
Thought Catalog (Video), NYT - "Supercolossal Street Art", Announcing the 2011 TED Prize winner: JR

The Shaggs

Wikipedia - "The Shaggs were an American all-female rock group formed in Fremont, New Hampshire in 1968. The band was composed of sisters Dorothy "Dot" Wiggin (vocals/lead guitar), Betty Wiggin (vocals/rhythm guitar), Helen Wiggin (drums), and later Rachel Wiggin (bass). The Shaggs were formed by Dot, Betty, and Helen in 1968 on the insistence of their father, Austin Wiggin, who believed that his mother foresaw the band's rise to stardom. The band's only studio album, Philosophy of the World, was released in 1969."
Wikipedia, The Shaggs, last.fm, "Better Than the Beatles (and DNA, Too)" by Lester Bangs, The Village Voice, Jan. 28-Feb. 3, 1981, YouTube - Philosophy of the world, My Cutie, It's Halloween, My Pal Foot Foot, Wheels

Rock-Paper-Scissors: You vs. the Computer

"Computers mimic human reasoning by building on simple rules and statistical averages. Test your strategy against the computer in this rock-paper-scissors game illustrating basic artificial intelligence. Choose from two different modes: novice, where the computer learns to play from scratch, and veteran, where the computer pits over 200,000 rounds of previous experience against you."
NYT

On-U Sound Records

Wikipedia - "On-U Sound Records is an English record label best known for releasing its own unique flavour of dub music since the 1980s. The label is owned by producer Adrian Sherwood and home to acts such as Tackhead, Dub Syndicate, African Head Charge, The London Underground, Little Annie, Creation Rebel, Mark Stewart, Gary Clail, New Age Steppers, Audio Active, Asian Dub Foundation, and the dub collective Singers & Players plus others."
Wikipedia, On-U Sound Records, YouTube - Gary Clail On-U Sound System - Human Nature, Bim Sherman - REVOLUTION mono - on U sound records roots reggae stepper 1982 10 inch, O.N.U. SOUNDS DUB SYNDICATE 1984 video, Beef- Gary Clail on-U Sound System (Bim Sherman), Depeche Mode Told you so (ON-U-Sound Dominatrix 1983 Remix), On-U Sound++

EVOL

EVOL, Wallflower, Multiple Choice, 2009
"EVOL's interests have focused on the overlooked and the refuse of urban society, offering visual comments and thoughts that remind us of the failure of modernism and its visions of an architectural utopia. EVOL draws our attention to the collective memory of places, a memory that is open ended, but in it’s decoding always seems to remain strangely personal. The artists’ exploration of urban sites and the visual ‘background’ noise of the city is a stark reminder of the transience of life as well as the certainty of death."
WILDE GALLERY, (2), EVOL

Pioneers of the Downtown Scene, New York 1970s

Laurie Anderson performing How to Yodel at Soup and Tart, the Kitchen Gallery, New York 1974
"This Spring Barbican Art Gallery presents Laurie Anderson, Trisha Brown, Gordon Matta-Clark: Pioneers of the Downtown Scene, New York 1970s. This is the first major presentation to examine the experimental and often daring approaches – from dancing on rooftops to cutting fragments out of abandoned buildings – taken by these three leading figures in the rough-and-ready arts scene developing in downtown Manhattan during the 1970s."
Art Daily, Pioneers of the Downtown Scene: a walk on the wall side, YouTube - Laurie Anderson Trisha Brown and Gordon Matta-Clark Pioneers Of The Downtown Scene New York 1970

History of Hip-Hop Vol. 8: 1986

"Tracklist after the jump!
The Beastie Boys – Posse In Effect
Joeski Love – Pee Wee’s Dance
Rodney O & Joe Cooley – Everlasting Bass
Eric B. & Rakim – My Melody
Sweet Tee & Jazzy Joyce – It’s My Beat
Boogie Down Productions – South Bronx
MC Shan – The Bridge
Original Concept – Knowledge Me
Kool Moe Dee – Go See the Doctor
Salt ‘N Pepa – My Mic Sounds Nice
King Tee – Payback’s A Mutha
Run DMC – Dumb Girl
Ultramagnetic MCs – Ego Trippin
Just Ice – Cold Getting Dumb
Eric B. & Rakim – Eric B. For President
Biz Markie – Make The Music With Your Mouth Biz
Stetsasonic – 4Ever My Beat
Heavy D – Mr. Big Stuff
Kool G Rap – It’s A Demo
Steady B – Bring The Beat Back
Word Of Mouth feat. DJ Cheese – Coast To Coast
The Beastie Boys – Time To Get Ill
Run DMC – Peter Piper
Dj Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince – Live At Union Square"
The Rub

Modulations: Cinema for the Ear (1998)

"Iara Lee's compelling documentary chronicles how sound technology has eclipsed traditional modes of performance in much recent pop music. Without passing aesthetic judgments, Lee focusses on how the manipulation of sound has allowed d.j.s and sound mixers to fill the spot once reserved for composers, sometimes with impressive creativity."
amazon, Modulations - Cinema For The Ear 1/8, 2/8, 3/8, 4/8, 5/8, 6/8, 7/8, 8/8

Woodsmen and River Drivers

"Men and women who worked for the Machias Lumber Company before 1930 share their recollections of the logging industry in Maine when they cut trees by hand, hauled logs to the river with horses, and floated them down to the mill. Remarkable documentary footage from the 1930's illustrates this dangerous and exhausting work. The memoires include stories about death on the job and the ballad 'The Jam on Gerry's Rock'."
folkstreams

27 sounds manufactured in a kitchen - John Cage

"In his short film '27 Sounds Manufactured in a Kitchen,' legendary experimental composer John Cage (1912-1992), perhaps most famous for 4'33'', grabs your attention with some incredibly agile editing, then lectures you on the advantages of a macrobiotic diet. It's exactly how every rambly old person who is also an avant-garde artist should behave. (Artinfo)"
YouTube

Christian Marclay - Part I: Race to ‘The Clock’

"A three-part saga of trying to see the last day of Christian Marclay’s The Clock at the Paula Cooper Gallery."
The Paris Review - Part I: Race to ‘The Clock’, Part II: Escape to Newark, Part III: Time’s a Goon