Tamikrest

Wikipedia - "Tamikrest (Tamashek for junction, alliance, the future) is a group of musicians who belong to the Tuareg people. The band was founded in 2006. They mix traditional African music with Western rock and pop influences and sing in Tamashek. Main songwriter and leader of the band is Ousmane Ag Mossa. Their music is characterized by electric guitars and vocals, youyous, bass, drums, djembé and other percussion instruments."
Wikipedia
Tamikrest
YouTube: Aratan N Tinariwen, Fassous Tarahnet, Elhoriya, Adagh!
Obscure Sound (Video)

Off the Wall: Graffiti King from France and Singapore

"Paris street art gallery WallWorks and Singapore art dealer Fortune Cookie Projects present a special exhibition featuring some of the best contemporary urban artists from France: Kongo, Geet, Alex, Colorz, Fenx, Gilbert, Lazoo, Sonic, Tilt; and from Singapore: Antz, AshD, Glogtwo!, The Killer Gerbil, Mimer, Myow, Scope, Slacsatu, Trase, Zero, Jaba One."
Off the Wall
YouTube: Off The Wall #Voilah2011

Kecak: Ramayana Monkey Chant

Wikipedia - "Kecak ... is a form of Balinese dance and music drama, originated in the 1930s Bali and is performed primarily by men, although a few women's kecak groups exist as of 2006. Also known as the Ramayana Monkey Chant, the piece, performed by a circle of 150 or more performers wearing checked cloth around their waists, percussively chanting "cak" and throwing up their arms, depicts a battle from the Ramayana where the monkey-like Vanara helped Prince Rama fight the evil King Ravana. However, Kecak has roots in sanghyang, a trance-inducing exorcism dance."
Wikipedia
Soundcloud: Ketjak The Ramayana Monkey Chant (Chong X RMX)
YouTube: Ramayana Monkey Chant, Balinese Ketjak - Ramayana Monkey Chant

The Decemberists with Gillian Welch "Down by the Water"

"The Decemberists return to Austin City Limits to showcase their latest LP, The King is Dead. Gillian Welch joins them for 'Down by the Water.'"
vimeo

Degas and the Nude

"The nude figure was critical to the art of Edgar Degas from the beginning of his career in the 1850s until the end of his working life, but the subject has never before been explored in a Museum exhibition. 'Degas and the Nude,' co-organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, features paintings, pastels, drawings, prints, and sculpture, and calls attention to the evolution of the treatment of the nude from Degas’s early years, through his triumphant offerings from the 1880s and 1890s, to the last decades of his working career."
mfa
amazon: Degas and the Nude
NYT: An Unblushing Career of Undressing Women
WSJ: Stolen Moments and Persistent Poses
The Hub Review
vimeo: Boston mfs "Degas and the Nude"

Charlie Don't Surf

Wikipedia - "Charlie Don't Surf is a famous line from the film Apocalypse Now, spoken by Colonel Kilgore as justification for taking a beach at the Mekong Delta so the American Soldiers could go surfing. 'Charlie' is slang for Viet Cong, the enemy."
Wikipedia
YouTube: The Clash - Charlie Don't Surf, Tokyo 1982

Broadway Diary, Tim Snell (2002), 8th Street

"Glass mosaic on platform walls. '...The mosaic is composed of 40 'portholes' that depict scenes and historic sites of the neighborhood (Grace Church, Washington Arch, Cooper Union, Astor Place, the vista of Broadway). ... The loose gestural rendering and free use of color with simplified imagery injects a light moment in the hectic schedule of the commuter passing through the station. ... Spreading the elements around the station in an architectural format ... integrates the artwork with the space ..."
MTA, NYT Subway

King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown - Augustus Pablo and King Tubby

Wikipedia - "King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown is a dub album by Augustus Pablo and King Tubby, released in 1976. It features Carlton Barrett on drums, Robbie Shakespeare and Aston Barrett on bass guitar, and Earl 'Chinna' Smith on guitar. Pablo produced the album and played melodica, piano, organ and clavinet. The album was recorded at Randy's in Kingston, Jamaica."
Wikipedia
amazon: King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown Deluxe Edition
YouTube: Frozen dub (live), Rocker's Rock, King Tubby meets Rockers Uptown, Silent Satta, Keep on dubbing, Stop Them Jah, Skanking Dub, Each One, Young Generation Dub, Natural Way

2009 December: Augustus Pablo
2009 December: King Tubby

Lumière and Company (1995)

Peter Greenaway
Wikipedia - "Lumière and Company (1995, original title 'Lumière et compagnie') was a collaboration between 41 international film directors in which each made a short film using the original Cinématographe camera invented by the Lumière brothers. Shorts were edited in-camera and abided by three rules: 1. A short may be no longer than 52 seconds 2. No synchronized sound 3. No more than three takes"
Wikipedia
amazon: Lumière and Company (1995)
UbuWeb: David Lynch, Peter Greenaway, Wim Wenders
YouTube: Abbas Kiarostami, Costantin Costa-Gavras, Jerry Schatzberg, Spike Lee, Arthur Penn, Fernando Trueba, Juan José Bigas Luna, Zhang Yimou, Ismail Merchant & James Ivory, Vicente Aranda, Raymond Depardon, Patrice Leconte, Gabriel Axel, Claude Miller

Batsumi

Moving Along with Batsumi: "What better way to celebrate South Africa's vibrant democracy than to reveal one of the holy grails of South African spiritual jazz - Batsumi. Contemporaries of Malombo, the Dashiki Poets and other conscious African artists, Batsumi fused jazz, African drums, poetry and words delivering a powerful fusion that was in itself an expression of freedom from physical and mental chains."
Matsuli Music
YouTube: Batsumi Reissue, ZB

Julie Shaw Lutts

"I work in mixed media. I make assemblage from found objects and I paint and collage with encaustic, and create my artist books from all sorts of various media. My studio is full of beautiful weathered artifacts that I’ve discovered on my travels. Collecting objects for my work is always fun. I never know what I’ll find in the markets around the world. When I travel I photograph the everyday beauty all around me. The old patina of the walls, a carved window in a stucco building, even the tile that lines the streets. All of these things inspire my work. When I get back to the studio I use these images in my collages, assemblages and my artist books."
Julie Shaw Lutts
23 Sandy Gallery
Central Booking

Romare Bearden

Wikipedia - "Romare Bearden (September 2, 1911 – March 12, 1988) was an African American artist and writer. He worked in several media including cartoons, oils, and collage."
Wikipedia
Bearden Foundation
National Gallery of Art
npr: The Art of Romare Bearden (Video)
YouTube: Romare Bearden's Southern Sensibility, Bearden, Romare Bearden

Three Places in New England - Charles Ives

Wikipedia - "The Three Places in New England (Orchestral Set No. 1) is a composition for orchestra by Charles Ives. It was composed across a long span of time (sketches date back from 1903, while the latest revisions were made in 1929), however the bulk was written between 1911 and 1914. The piece is famous for its use of musical quotation and paraphrasing, as explained later in this article. Three Places consists of three movements in Ives’ preferred slow-fast-slow movement order..."
Wikipedia
Orchestral Set, Three Places in New England
Pandemonium: Charles Ives
YouTube: Three Places In New England", I. The "Saint-Gaudens" in Boston Common, II. Putnam's Camp, III. The Housatonic at Stockbridge

2008 September: Charles Ives

Pina (2011)

"Pina Bausch is a legendary dancer and choreographer. Her unique creations transformed the language of dance and offer a visual experience like no other. This revolutionary 3D film PINA from director Wim Wenders captures the aesthetic of Pina Bausch’s greatest works in a thrilling way."
Wim Wenders
Pina, Film
tiff: Pina, Wim Wenders
NYT, 2009: Wim Wenders to Continue Work on Pina Bausch Project
vimeo: Wim Wenders' 3-D documentary on Pina Bausch coming to U.S. theaters (Video)
YouTube: PINA - Exclusive Clip: Wet, Exclusive Clip: Lean on Me, Exclusive Clip: Strength and Beauty, Exclusive Clip: Obstacles, Exclusive Clip: Love Dance, Exclusive clip: Behind the Scenes
YouTube: Wim Wenders speaks about Pina Bausch's death, Wim Wenders speaks about the use of 3D in PINA, Wim Wenders speaks about how PINA originated

Duke Ellington - "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)", 1943

"Duke Ellington and his orchestra playing this awesome tune in 1943. 'It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)' is a 1931 composition by Duke Ellington with lyrics by Irving Mills, now accepted as a jazz standard. The music was written and arranged by Ellington in August 1931 during intermissions at Chicago's Lincoln Tavern and was first recorded by Ellington and his orchestra for Brunswick Records (Br 6265) on February 2, 1932."
YouTube: It don't mean a thing

History of Hip-Hop Vol. 10: 1988

"Tracklist after the jump!
JVC Force – Strong Island
LL Cool J – Jack the Ripper
Public Enemy – Don’t Believe the Hype
Kool G Rap – Road to the Riches
Antoinette – Unfinished Business
Jungle Brothers – I Got It Like That
BDP – I’m Still #1 (Numero Uno Re-recording)
Run DMC – Beats to the Rhyme
Krown Rulers – Paper Chase
Tuff Crew – My Part of Town
Big Daddy – Set It Off
Kid N Play – Do This My Way
45 King – 900 Number
Rob Base – It Takes Two
Chill Rob G – The Power
L’Trimm – Cars That Go Boom
The Gucci Crew – Sally That Girl
The 2 Live Crew – Move Somethin
JJ Fad – Supersonic
NWA – Boyz in the Hood
Sir Mixalot – Posse on Broadway
MC EZ & Troup – Get Retarded
De La Soul – Plug Tuning
MC Lyte – 10% Dis
Queen Latifah – Wrath of My Madness
Eric B & Rakim – Microphone Fiend
Juice Crew – The Symphony
Biz Markie & Big Daddy Kane – Just Rhymin With The Biz
Craig G – Droppin Science
Positive K – Step Up Front
Stetsasonic – Talkin All That Jazz"
The Rub

Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980

NYT: A New Pin on the Art Map - "The postwar art of Southern California is a house with many mansions, a great number of which are now open for viewing. I refer of course to the cacophonous, synergistic, sometimes bizarre colossus of exhibitions known as 'Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980,' which is rampant throughout the Los Angeles region."
NYT (Video)
Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980

Composers as Gardeners - Brian Eno

""My topic is the shift from 'architect' to 'gardener', where 'architect' stands for 'someone who carries a full picture of the work before it is made', to 'gardener' standing for 'someone who plants seeds and waits to see exactly what will come up'. I will argue that today's composer are more frequently 'gardeners' than 'architects' and, further, that the 'composer as architect' metaphor was a transitory historical blip."
Edge: "Composers as Gardeners" (Video)

Petula Clark

Wikipedia - "Petula Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades. Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II. During the 1960s she became known internationally for her popular upbeat hits, including 'Downtown', 'I Know a Place', 'My Love', 'Colour My World', 'A Sign of the Times", and 'Don't Sleep in the Subway'."
Wikipedia
YouTube: Downtown, I Know A Place, You're The One, My Love, A Sign Of The Times, Don't Sleep in the Subway

Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

Wikipedia - "Heart of Darkness is a novella written by Joseph Conrad. Before its 1903 publication, it appeared as a three-part series (1899) in Blackwood's Magazine. It is widely regarded as a significant work of English literature and part of the Western canon. The story centres on Charles Marlow, who narrates most of the book. He is an Englishman who takes a foreign assignment from a Belgian trading company as a river-boat captain in Africa. Heart of Darknes" exposes the dark side of Belgian colonization while exploring the three levels of darkness that the protagonist, Marlow, encounters: the darkness of the Congo wilderness, the darkness of the Belgians' cruel treatment of the African natives, and the unfathomable darkness within every human being for committing heinous acts of evil."
Wikipedia
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
amazon

Mo-dettes

Wikipedia - "The Mo-dettes were an all-female punk band, formed in 1979 by Kate Korris, an original member of The Slits and brief member of The Raincoats, and Jane Crockford, former member of The Bank of Dresden."
Wikipedia
Trouser Press
YouTube: White Mice, Masochistic Opposite, Foolish Girl, Paint it Black

American realism

McSorley’s Bar (1912), John Sloan
Wikipedia - "American realism was an early 20th century idea in art, music and literature that showed through these different types of work, reflections of the time period. Whether it was a cultural portrayal, or a scenic view of downtown New York City, these images and works of literature, music and painting depicted a contemporary view of what was happening; an attempt at defining what was real. In America at the beginning of the 20th century a new generation of painters, writers and journalists were coming of age."
Wikipedia
Ashcan School

Blow-Up (1966) - Michelangelo Antonioni

Wikipedia - "Blowup (or Blow-Up) is a 1966 film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, his first English-language film. It tells of a British photographer's accidental involvement with a murder, inspired by Julio Cortázar's short story, 'Las babas del diablo' or 'The Devil's Drool' (1959), translated also as Blow-Up, and by the life of Swinging London photographer David Bailey. The film was scored by jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, although the music is diegetic, as Hancock noted: 'It's only there when someone turns on the radio or puts on a record.'"
Wikipedia
filmsite
Roger Ebert
YouTube: Blow-Up Trailer 1966 Extended Version, Blow up Scène Finale

Floating Bear

"After my deal to obtain Floating Bear #24 fell through a month or so ago, Floating Bears have been much on my mind. I broke down and bought a run of 31 of these fragile mimeos from William Reese Company. This bookstore is proof positive of the value and importance of the true bookman. I received three catalogs along with my purchase including a two volume catalog of 20th Century periodicals."
RealityStudio: Floating Bear
MimeoMimeo: Returned to Sender
RealityStudio: Floating Bear Archive

Black Cover

"This blog is dedicated to the search for the perfect little black notebook. Yes, we're insane and obsessive. But for some reason, the Moleskine, which comes close, still feels lacking. And we can't believe there isn't ANY competition out there."
Black Cover

Charlie Palmieri

Wikipedia - "Charlie Palmieri (November 21, 1927 – September 12, 1988) was a renowned Bandleader and musical director of salsa music. He was known as 'The Giant of the Keyboards'."
Wikipedia
YouTube: Maria Cervantes, Son Montuno, Meñique, Charlie Palmieri & Friends At Club Broadway

Matt Saunders

China in Nixon
"Blum & Poe is very pleased to present China in Nixon, Matt Saunders’ first solo exhibition in Los Angeles and his first with Blum & Poe. For this exhibition, Saunders presents two interrelated bodies of work: large-scale unique photographic prints produced from hand-painted “negatives” and a new animated video made from thousands of individual ink drawings on Mylar. Beginning as oil paintings on stretched linen, Saunders then uses these canvases as 'negatives' in the darkroom, passing light through them to expose large sheets of photographic paper."
Blum and Poe, Matt Saunders, Google

Cold Sweat - James Brown

Wikipedia - "'Cold Sweat' is a song performed by James Brown and written by his bandleader Alfred 'Pee Wee' Ellis. Brown recorded it in May 1967. An edited version of 'Cold Sweat' released as a two-part single on King Records was a #1 R&B hit, and reached number seven on the Pop Singles chart. A complete version of the song, over 7 minutes long, was included on the album Cold Sweat. In the song's lyrics Brown protests that he doesn't care about his woman's past or faults, and testifies that with even her slightest display of affection toward him 'I break out in a cold sweat.'"
Wikipedia
YouTube: Cold Sweat, May 1967.
Live At Boston Garden 1968, Cold Sweat Part 1, Part 2.
Cold Sweat & Try Me 1973.
Cold Sweat live in Zaire, 1974.

A New Musical Language (documentary, 1987) - Steve Reich

"A profile of composer Steve Reich, a leading creator of stripped-down, 'minimal' music. The program explores how Reich's music eventually became accessible to the musical audience at large. Included are interviews with the composer himself, and contemporaries, and also performances of some of his works."
UbuWeb (Video)

Hieronymus Bosch

Proverbs
Wikipedia - "Hieronymus Bosch (... c. 1450 – 9 August 1516), was a Dutch painter. His work is known for its use of fantastic imagery to illustrate moral and religious concepts and narratives."
Wikipedia, Hieronymus Bosch, WebMuseum
YouTube: Hieronymus Bosch

Lovely Music

Wikipedia - "Lovely Music (full name Lovely Music, Ltd.) is an American record label devoted to new American music. Based in New York City, the label was founded in 1978 by Mimi Johnson, an outgrowth of her nonprofit production company Performing Artservices, Inc. It is one of the most important and longest running labels focusing exclusively on new music and has released over 100 recordings on LP, CD, and VHS video."
Wikipedia, Lovely Music

Spalding Gray

Wikipedia - "Spalding Rockwell Gray (June 5, 1941 – ca. January 10, 2004) was an American actor, playwright, screenwriter, performance artist and monologuist. He was primarily known for his 'trenchant, personal narratives delivered on sparse, unadorned sets with a dry, WASP, quiet mania.' Gray achieved celebrity for writing and acting in the play Swimming to Cambodia, adapted into a film in 1987. He began his career in regional theatre, moved to New York in 1967 and three years later joined Richard Schechner's experimental troupe, the Performance Group. He co-founded the Wooster Group ensemble in 1975. He died in New York City of an apparent suicide."
Wikipedia, Spalding Gray, NYT: Spalding Gray' Vanishing Act, BOMB 17/Fall 1986
YouTube: "Swimming to Cambodia", What New York Does to You, "True Stories" (1986), Spalding Gray Explains Modern Life, Khmer Rouge history primer
npr: Remembering Spalding Gray (Video)

Apparat’s ‘Breaking Bad’ Season Ender

"Both the German electronic musician Apparat and the music supervisors for the American TV series Breaking Bad found an interesting balance of licensing and scoring for the final episode of the recent season."
disquiet (Video)

Fred Neil

Wikipedia - "Fred Neil (March 16, 1936 – July 7, 2001) was an American folk singer-songwriter in the 1960s and early 1970s. He did not achieve commercial success as a performer, and is mainly known through other people's recordings of his material – particularly 'Everybody's Talkin', which became a hit for Harry Nilsson after being used for the film Midnight Cowboy. Though highly regarded by contemporary folk singers, he was reluctant to tour (something he shared with Nilsson), and mainly spent the last 30 years of his life assisting with the preservation of dolphins."
Wikipedia, Perfect Sound Forever - Fred Neil: The Other Side Of Greenwich Village 60's Folk Scene, Fred Neil, amazon: The Many Sides of Fred Neil, Fred Neil Chronology, Fred Neil discography
YouTube: Everybody`s Talkin`, Everybody`s Talkin` (Harry Nilsson), Fred Neil, Vince Martin & John Sebastian - The Dolphins, Please Send Me Someone To Love, Fare Thee Well, Fred Neil - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Notes for Echo Lake - Michael Palmer

"... Some of Palmer's serenity emerges from the ferocious focus of his poetry itself. The eponymous sequence in Notes for Echo Lake, for example, probes the concepts of subject, setting, and story with a patience born of deferring the tired emotional appeals built into to so much of our poetic tradition."
Interview with Michael Palmer, Boston Review, amazon: Notes for Echo Lake - Michael Palmer

2008 January: Michael Palmer