Don DeLillo: The Word, The Image, and The Gun

"On September 27, 1991 BBC 1 broadcast a film on Don DeLillo, titled 'Don DeLillo: The Word, The Image, and The Gun' which was directed by Kim Evans. As of October 2013 the film has been put up on YouTube - here's the link. ... DeLillo at 5:20: 'I think it's true that none of my novels could have been written in the world that existed before the assassination. In my fiction there seems to be a sense of danger everywhere, of something unraveling. When Kennedy was shot, something changed for ever in America. Something opened up, a sense of randomness, deep ambiguity, we lost the narrative thread.'"
Perival
YouTube: Don DeLillo Documentary 50:39

2010 October: Pafko at the Wall, 2012 May: Underworld , 2012 July: The Body Artist, 2013 September: White Noise, 2013 November: The Art of Fiction No. 135.

Sixty-Nine Days - Héctor Tobar

"The San José Mine is situated inside a round, rocky, and lifeless mountain in the Atacama Desert, in Chile. Once every dozen years or so, a storm system sweeps across the desert, dropping a torrent of rain. When that happens, the dust turns to mud as thick as freshly poured concrete. Charles Darwin briefly passed through this corner of the Atacama in 1835. In his journal, he described the desert as 'a barrier far worse than the most turbulent ocean.' In the deeper desert, miners are the only conspicuous living presence; they ride in trucks and buses to the mountains, which contain gold, copper, and iron. The minerals draw workers to the Atacama from all over Chile. On the evening of August 3, 2010, Juan Carlos Aguilar began a bus journey of more than a thousand miles to reach the San José Mine, leaving from the temperate rain forests near Valdivia."
New Yorker

Urban decay

Urban Decay: American Auto
Wikipedia - "Urban decay (also known as urban rot and urban blight) is the process whereby a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. It may feature deindustrialization, depopulation or changing population, restructuring, abandoned buildings, high local unemployment, fragmented families, political disenfranchisement, crime, and a desolate, inhospitable city landscape. Since the 1970s and 1980s, urban decay has been associated with Western cities, especially in North America and parts of Europe. Since then, major structural changes in global economies, transportation, and government policy created the economic and then the social conditions resulting in urban decay."
Wikipedia
100 Captivating Examples of Urban Decay Photography
YouTube: Urban & Rural Decay Photography Slideshow

Brooklyn Heights

Wikipedia - "Brooklyn Heights is an affluent residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Originally referred to as 'Brooklyn Village', it has been a prominent area of Brooklyn since 1834. As of 2000, Brooklyn Heights sustained a population of 22,594 people. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 2. ... It is a popular tourist destination, a fine termination point, with its spectacular views, after a breath-taking walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. By the mid-1950s a new generation of property owners began moving into the Heights. They pioneered the so-called Brownstone Revival by buying and renovating pre-civil war period houses. The new population and their consolidated opposition to a Robert Moses slum clearance plan for luxury rental housing led to the development of a major middle income cooperative known as Cadman Plaza."
Wikipedia
Montague Street: The Shopping Street of Historic Brooklyn Heights
YouTube: New York City - Video tour of Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn (Part 1), (Part 2)

Sully - Blue EP (2014)

"In preparation for his performance at Perth's very own Circo Festival, Keysound Recordings have just announced the release of former garage and dubstep maestro Sully's new 'Blue' EP, in what they're amusingly calling four sides of warm vinyl dedicated to classic break-based rollage ‘n’ choppage: less 'where were you in ’92?' rather 'who wants more from ’94?' One title seems to sum it up best: 'Simple Things'. This double pack is not a statement about 2014, it is not trying to be a new sound, scene or development. This is just seven tracks of uncomplicated, intensely emotive, rhythmic fun – as MC’ed over by original-junglist-at-heart Riko on a recent Rinse FM show."
Stoney Roads (Video)
Podcast 215: Sully (Video)
YouTube: "Blue" [Keysound Recordings], Simple Things, Checkmate, Routine, M141

Zen Arcade - Hüsker Dü

"In many ways, it's impossible to overestimate the impact of Hüsker Dü's Zen Arcade on the American rock underground in the '80s. It's the record that exploded the limits of hardcore and what it could achieve. Hüsker Dü broke all of the rules with Zen Arcade. First and foremost, it's a sprawling concept album, even if the concept isn't immediately clear or comprehensible. More important are the individual songs. Both Bob Mould and Grant Hart abandoned the strict 'fast, hard, loud' rules of hardcore punk with their songs for Zen Arcade. ..."
allmusic
Wikipedia
BBC
FROM THE VAULT: Husker Du – Zen Arcade
Rolling Stone: 33, Hüsker Dü, 'Zen Arcade'
YouTube: Zen Arcade (Private Remaster UPGRADE)
YouTube: Chartered Trips, Something I Learned Today, Broken Home, Broken Heart, Pink Turns To Blue

2009 May: Hüsker Dü

The Complete Eightball 1-18 - Daniel Clowes

Wikipedia - "Eightball is an alternative comic book series written and drawn by Daniel Clowes. The first issue was published by Fantagraphics Books in 1989, soon after the end of Clowes's previous comic series, Lloyd Llewellyn. It has consistently been among the best-selling independently authored comics. Early issues of Eightball featured a mixture of very short, often crudely humorous comics ('Zubrick and Pogeybait', 'The Sensual Santa'), topical rants and satires ('Art School Confidential', 'On Sports'), longer, more reflective self-contained stories ('Caricature', 'Immortal Invisible'), and serialized works."
Wikipedia
W - Daniel Clowes
Fantagraphics Unveils Cover Art For Daniel Clowes’ The Complete Eightball 1-18

Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock: The Complete Performance in Video & Audio (1969)

"What must it have been like to have been at Woodstock? Like, really have been there, not just watched the film or the 2009 movie about Woodstock, not just have gone to any of the several million muddy, druggy outdoor festivals that proliferated in Woodstock’s wake, but really been there, man? I’ll never know. The real experience of the 1960s can feel as forever irretrievable as that of the 1860s. But, wow, am I glad for the development of moving pictures and live audio recording in that 100 years."
Open Culture (Video)

2010 September: Jimi Hendrix, 2013 November: Watch Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train A Comin’, the New PBS Documentary.

Black Panthers (Agnès Varda, 1968 doc.)

"In 1968, Agnès Varda was living in Los Angeles with her husband, director Jacques Demy, who was there to begin filming his first Hollywood film, Model Shop (1969). Although initially hesitant about living in the United States, the couple quickly became caught up in the wave of dissent sweeping the country in the late 1960s. Indeed, amid the finger pointing in France about the perceived failure of the events of May ’68 to bring about revolution, many members of the French intelligentsia looked across the Atlantic for alternative models for political change. Varda became part of a growing contingent of French artists and intellectuals, including sociologists Edgar Morin and Jean-François Revel, and writer Jean Genet, who were attracted to the ways in which cultural revolt, social criticism and political contestation were intertwined in the United States. ... The Black Panther Party (BPP) embodied this new mixture of cultural and political rebellion."
Senses of Cinema
Not Coming
vimeo: Black Panthers (Agnès Varda, 1968 doc.)

August 2010: Agnès Varda, May 2011: The Beaches of Agnès, 2011 December: Interview - Agnès Varda, 2013 February: The Gleaners and I (2000), Cinévardaphoto (2004).

“No Longer Empty” Brings “If You Build It” to Sugar Hill, Harlem ....

 Radcliffe Bailey, From the Cabinet: Fire Music — fashioned with recycled piano keys
"Presented by No Longer Empty in partnership with Broadway Housing Communities, If You Build It features a range of artwork in different media by more than twenty local, national, and international artists. Located at 155th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue in Sugar Hill on a site designed by architect David Adjaye, the exhibit — along with an impressive array of events and programs – continues through August 10. Here is a sampling of the artworks that can be seen on the site’s grounds and in future apartments..."
Street Art NYC

Twin Acres 1955-1966

"... To the right, you can see the edges of the deck that was built out over the water and was a popular place for parents to watch their children swim. Kids fished there for minnows, using wet, wadded-up pellets of white bread as bait, and the minnows were then used by their fathers as bait for bass. From the deck, you could see the fireworks down the shore at Weirs Beach every Sunday night, although the sound was very delayed." - Lessons, 2001. BD.
W - Meredith, New Hampshire
W - Lake Winnipesaukee
W - Weirs Beach
Weirs Beach Drive-In Theater
Weirs Beach Fireworks

PJ Harvey - LSO St Luke's in London (2005)

"BBC FOUR Session: PJ Harvey. A special concert from rock chic PJ Harvey at LSO St Luke's in London. Her set includes Big Exit, Dress and The Letter. Part of BBC FOUR's John Peel Night."
YouTube: PT 1, PT2, PT3, PT4, PT5, PT6

2009 November: PJ Harvey, 2011 May: Let England Shake, 2013 May: Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea, 2013 July: White Chalk (2007).

The Poetry Project

"The Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery was founded in the summer of 1966 as a direct successor to, and continuation of, the various coffeehouse reading series that had flourished on the Lower East Side since 1960. The first of these, at the Tenth Street Coffeehouse on the gallery block between Third and Fourth Avenues, would move to Les Deux Mégots on East 7th Street in 1962 (both establishments were co-owned by Mickey Ruskin, who would later open Max’s Kansas City); from March 1963, readings were held at Moe and Cindy Margules’ Café Le Metro at 149 Second Avenue, where The 13th Step sports bar is now. ..."
The Poetry Project - Insane Podium: A Short History
The Poetry Project

Cory Arcangel

"Before the age of 35, Cory Arcangel had already been included in numerous exhibitions at the Whitney including the 2004 Biennial and Pro-Tools, a 2011 full-floor solo show. In this Whitney Stories video, Arcangel speaks about his relationship to pop culture and avant-garde art, the paradox of working in the constantly-evolving realm of new media, and his history of taking risks at the Museum."
Whitney (Video)
Wikipedia
Cory Arcangel's Official Portfolio Website and Portal (Video)

New Photos of John Coltrane Rediscovered 50 Years After They Were Shot

"On December 9, 1964, saxophonist John Coltrane led a quartet that featured pianist McCoy Tyner, drummer Elvin Jones and bassist Jimmy Garrison into Rudy Van Gelder’s studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, where countless jazz recording sessions were held in the 1950s and ’60s. For photographer Chuck Stewart, Van Gelder’s was a short drive from his home in Teaneck. That day nearly 50 years ago the band recorded a Coltrane composition titled A Love Supreme, a profound expression of his spiritual awakening divided into four movements — 'Acknowledgement,' 'Resolution,' 'Pursuance,' 'Psalm.' For its soaring ambition, flawless execution and raw power, it was hailed as a groundbreaking piece of music when it was released in February 1965, and it has endured as a seminal part of the jazz canon."
Smithsonian

2013 November: A Love Supreme (1965)

Chapbook

Jacket 34 - October 2007
Wikipedia - "A chapbook is an early type of popular literature printed in Early Modern Europe. The tradition of chap-books arose in the 16th century, as soon as printed books became affordable, and rose to its height during the 17th and 18th centuries. Many different kinds of ephemera, popular or folk literature were published as chapbooks, such as pamphlets, political and religious tracts, nursery rhymes, poetry, folk tales, children's literature and almanacs. When illustrations are included in chapbooks, they are considered popular prints. ... The term chapbook is also in use for present-day publications, usually poetry, of up to about 40 pages, ranging from low-cost productions to expensive, finely produced editions."
Wikipedia
Chapbooks: Definition and Origins
Jacket 34 — October 2007. Considering Chapbooks: A Brief History of the Little Book
Chapbooks of the eighteenth century (1882)

PUCK WORKS

"As you no doubt know, Lord Aragorn will at last be crowned King of Gondor tomorrow! It has been a long and grueling journey for the brave descendant of Elros Tar-Minyatur, but after reforging the sword wielded by King Elendil of the Dúnedain during the war between the Last Alliance of Elves and Men and Sauron of Mordor at the end of the Second Age, Aragorn is at last ready to assume the throne. Obviously, this will result in some mass transit service changes. Please be patient! Lord of the Rings service advisory signs posted in various subway stations by the pranksters at Puck Works inform commuters that Great Eagles will be flying between Rivendell and Minas Tirith tomorrow, and travelers are encouraged to take the notoriously slow south east-bound Ents from Fangorn Forest to Minas Tirith."
Gothamist: MTA Unamused By Lord Of The Rings Service Advisory Sign
PUCK WORKS
Instagram

Safe as Milk - Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band (1967)

Wikipedia - "Safe as Milk is the début album by Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, originally released in 1967. It is a heavily blues-influenced work, but also hints at many of the features—such as surreal lyrics and odd time signatures—that would later become trademarks of Beefheart's music. The album is also notable for the involvement of a 20-year-old Ry Cooder, who played guitar and wrote some of the arrangements. ... Meanwhile, Beefheart had been secretly planning changes to the Magic Band's line-up—a practice that would become common throughout the period of the group's existence."
Wikipedia
allmusic
PERFECT SOUND FOREVER
Six Degrees of Captain Beefheart’s Safe As Milk
YouTube: Sure 'nuff 'n Yes I do, Cannes beach (Bouton rouge) - Electricity/Sure 'n' Snuff Yes I Do
YouTube: Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band - Safe As Milk (1999 CD Version) 1:11:12

2009 October: Captain Beefheart, 2009 December: Anton Corbijn, 2010 December: Captain Beefheart, Art-Rock Visionary, Dead At 69, 2011 October: Interview with Captain Beefheart, 2013 August: This Is The Day (1974-Old Grey Whistle Test)

Punk 45: Original Punk Rock Singles Cover Art

"While punk essentially began in New York in the mid ’70s, with the Ramones, Blondie and Television, its lineage dates back to 1960s garage rock, and a huge number of American bands were to prove significant in its birth. New York gave rise to the Velvet Underground in the late ’60s and the New York Dolls in the early ’70s. Detroit produced the definitive proto-punk groups, the Stooges and the MC5. In Cleveland, Ohio, the Electric Eels (whose violent music would remain unreleased until well after the birth of punk) would kickstart a whole scene of proto-punk and punk bands, including Rocket from the Tomb, Pere Ubu, the Dead Boys, the Mirrors, the Styrenes and more."
PUNK 45: The Roots of Underground Punk (Video)
Stuart Baker's top seven punk record sleeves (Video)
addicted to noise
Turn Table Lab (Video)
amazon: Punk 45: Original Punk Rock Singles Cover Art

Komm tanz mit mir - Pina Bausch (1977)

"... These are the marvelous performers we first came to admire when Tanztheater Wuppertal first appeared at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Few are identified along the way (that would possibly have stopped the momentum of the film, since many short sequences elide into one another. Most of these are from Nelken (Carnations) and Waltzer (both from 1982), plus Komm Tanz Mit Mir (Come Dance with Me) (1977). There’s also a scene from Kontakthof (1978) that makes your skin crawl. Nazareth Panadero is surrounded by men who adjust her and play with her body; they crowd in to flick her nose, stick a finger in her ear, rub her stomach, push her shoulder. She just stands there, sad and hurting, as they keep repeating and intensifying their attacks. The camera is close enough to seem like one of them, but it shows us her pain. Repetition is a crucial ingredient in Bausch’s work, whether it escalates or just repeats exactly until it becomes terrifying. Over and over, Josephine Ann Endicott tries to get passing men to dance with her. 'Komm tanz mit mir,' she begs them, ever so coyly, reaching out to them, trailing them. Ever more desperately, she repeats her invitation."
Documenting Dance, Part 2 by Deborah Jowitt
Tanztheater Wuppertal - Komm tanz mit mir
YouTube: Komm tanz mit mir

2008 May: Pina Bausch, 2009 June: Pina Bausch 1940-2009, 2012 August: Pina Bausch Costumes.  

J. B. Hutto

Wikipedia - "J. B. Hutto (April 26, 1926 – June 12, 1983) was an American blues musician. Hutto was influenced by Elmore James, and became known for his slide guitar work and declamatory style of singing. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame two years after his death. ... In Chicago, Hutto took up the drums and played with Johnny Ferguson and his Twisters. He also tried the piano before settling on the guitar and playing on the streets with the percussionist Eddie 'Porkchop' Hines. After adding Joe Custom on second guitar, they started playing club gigs, and harmonica player George Mayweather joined after sitting in with the band. Hutto named his band The Hawks, after the wind that blows in Chicago."
Wikipedia
allmusuc
J. B. Hutto
Dave Weld remembers J.B. Hutto
amazon
YouTube: That's The Truth, Pretty Baby, Combination Boogie, Pet Cream Man, Married Woman Blues, Lullebelle's Here, Summertime, The New Hawk Walk / Black's Ball, My Heart Is Achin' To Love You, Too much alcohol, Somebody Loan Me A Dime, Precious Stone

Chinatown - Roman Polanski (1974)

Wikipedia - "Chinatown is a 1974 American neo-noir film, directed by Roman Polanski from a screenplay by Robert Towne, and starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway. The film was inspired by the California Water Wars, a series of disputes over southern California water at the beginning of the 20th century by which Los Angeles interests secured water rights in the Owens Valley. The Robert Evans production, a Paramount Pictures release, was the director's last film in the United States, and features many elements of film noir, particularly a multi-layered story that is part mystery and part psychological drama."
Wikipedia
The Ultimate Chinatown Filming Location Map of Los Angeles
Roger Ebert
Greatest Films
Roman Polanski, Chinatown, 1974
The Devil In The Detail: Thoughts On 'Chinatown' On Its 40th Anniversary
YouTube: Chinatown (1974) Trailer, Roman Polanski: CHINATOWN Is A Truly Tragic Story

Leonardo Drew

Number 33.A, 1999, rust, shoes
"Leonardo Drew is known for his dynamic large-scale sculptural installations. On the one hand, Drew’s sculptures can be seen as exercises in formalism rooted in the very experience of looking. On the other hand, these works explore memory by employing a wide range of material to evoke common elements of the human experience and of our diverse histories."
Sikkema Jenkins Co.
Leonardo Drew
Explore 30 Americans (Video)
YouTube: Blaffer Gallery interview with Leonardo Drew, Leonardo Drew: Printing at Pace Paper, Leonardo Drew: Creating Cast Paper "Cores" at Pace Paper

Fading Ads of New York City - Frank Jump

"For more than 20 years photographer Frank Jump has been documenting New York’s fading ads. Slowly vanishing signs of yesteryear, the building ads are ephemera that has stubbornly persisted in our constantly changing urban landscape, in defiance of development, decay and all the other challenges conspiring against them. The most common term for such remnants is ghost signs, but Mr. Jump prefers fading ads. 'I never felt comfortable with the word ghost,' he says. 'I don’t really believe in ghosts.'”
Ghost Sign Stories: Photographer Frank Jump Is Haunted By New York’s ‘Fading Ads’
Fading Ad Campaign
amazon
WNYC: Fading Ads of New York City (Audio)
YouTube: Fading Ads

I Am the Real Nick Cave

"... [Nick] Cave, perhaps best known as the frontman for the seminal postpunk groups Birthday Party and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, was in Germany to promote '20,000 Days on Earth,' a film about his life, which was showing at the Berlin film festival. At 56, Cave can claim at least half a dozen vocations: songwriter and performer with the Bad Seeds and their garage-rock offshoot, Grinderman; screenwriter of the acclaimed (and extremely gory) movies 'Proposition' and 'Lawless'; novelist; film-score composer; lecturer; script doctor; and on certain (perhaps thankfully) rare occasions, even actor."
NY Times

2008 August: Nick Cave, 2010 November: Henry Lee - Nick Cave & PJ Harvey, 2011 March: The Boatman's Call, 2011 December: B-Sides & Rarities, 2012 January: Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - White Lunar, 2013 January: "We No Who U R", 2013 April: No More Shall We Part, 2013 June: The Secret Life Of The Love Song/The Flesh Made Word (1999), 2013 October: The Abattoir Blues Tour (2007), 2014 March: Push the Sky Away (2013), 2014 May: Live from KCRW (2013).

Terminal Bar (2013)

"Terminal Bar, the Sundance Jury Prize winner for short form in 2003, tells the story of the the titular Manhattan bar, which was located in Times Square until 1982, and it’s myriad of tough, damaged, hard-drinking customers. Using his father Sheldon Nadelman’s black-and-white photographs from that time, taken while working as a bartender, Stefan Nadelman uses Flash Animation to paint a picture of a by-gone era of New York. The majority of the people portrayed in Terminal Bar, besides some actors or boxers, lived on the edge of society in one way or another, and there is a grimy desperation to the depictions. The film never feels over-long during it’s 23 minute run time, convincingly creating an atmosphere of how life of those who spent most of their times in bars like this must have felt like. It’s fascinating how the use of comments on various profile photos, underscored with moody sound design and intermingled with narration about the bar’s history, makes for a compelling and engaging short film."
Short of the Week (Video)
The Short Films Blog
Documentary Storm (Video)

Montreal, tales of gentrification in a bohemian city

"Montreal, tales of gentrification in a bohemian city is about the effect of condo development and gentrification in Canada's second largest city. Many former working class and low-income communities across Montreal are being transformed by large-scale urban development, which affects many residents. Distinct and historical neighbourhoods such as Shaughnessy Village, Saint-Henri, Griffintown, Pointe Saint-Charles, Parc-Extension and Hochelaga-Maisonneuve are being re-branded by developers with names like District Griffin (Griffintown) and HOMA (Hochelaga-Maisonneuve) while being targeted to become more like Montreal's most well known district, Plateau Mont-Royal."
Montreal, tales of gentrification in a bohemian city (Vimeo) 80:07
YouTube: Montreal Neighbourhoods
W - List of neighbourhoods in Montreal
The Trouble with Saint-Henri
Gentrification in the Plateau, Montreal’s most famous neighborhood
W - The Plateau, W - Saint Denis Street, W - Old Montreal, W - Crescent Street
W - Underground City, Montreal, W - Place des Arts, W - Montreal Botanical Garden
W - Montreal Metro

Fred Tomaselli: The Times

"Drawing upon art historical sources and Eastern and Western decorative traditions, Fred Tomaselli's works explode in mesmerizing patterns that appear to grow organically across his compositions. In the introduction to a 2003 essay on Tomaselli’s work in Parkett magazine, curator James Rondeau writes: 'Over the course of the last ten years, Fred Tomaselli has established an international reputation for his meticulously crafted, richly detailed, deliriously beautiful works of both abstract and figurative art. His signature pieces are compelling, hybrid objects: ersatz, or maybe surrogate paintings, or tapestries, or quilts or mosaics. Their various components—both over-the-counter and controlled pharmaceuticals, street drugs, natural psychotropic substances and other organic matter, collaged elements from printed sources, and hand-painted ornament—are all suspended in gleaming layers of clear, polished, hard resin.'”
James Cohan (Video)
amazon: Fred Tomaselli: The Times
Juxtapoz
Fred Tomaselli Is Off Drugs
VIDEO: The NY Times Reinterpreted by Fred Tomaselli at James Cohan

2010 February: For Tapestry, One More Renaissance, 2010 November: Pills and Thrills: Fred Tomaselli’s Transports.

Miriodor - Cobra Fakir

"The music fashioned by Canadian group Miriodor has always been outside the box. Miriodor was formed in the early 1980s in Quebec. Co-founder Pascal Globensky (who plays several keyboards) and drummer Rémi Leclerc (who also adds percussion, keys and turntable effects) are currently the only remaining members from that earlier era. Right from the start, Miriodor was known for making music which did not easily fit into any specific category, but did show a philosophy equivalent to European ensembles who were aligned with the Rock in Opposition (RIO) style pioneered by acts such as Henry Cow, Univers Zéro and others, who merge progressive rock, avant-garde music, and intricate chamber music."
Audiophile Audition
tribe (Video)
Astounded By Sound
vimeo: Cobra Fakir
YouTube: Cobra Fakir, Titan, La Roche (Washington D.C.)

Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Wes Anderson’s 10 Favorite New York Movies
Wikipedia - "Sweet Smell of Success is an American film noir/drama film from 1957 made by Hill-Hecht-Lancaster Productions and released by United Artists. It was directed by Alexander Mackendrick and stars Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison and Martin Milner. The screenplay was written by Clifford Odets, Ernest Lehman and Mackendrick from the novelette by Lehman. Mary Grant designed the film's costumes. The film tells the story of powerful newspaper columnist J.J. Hunsecker (portrayed by Lancaster and clearly based on Walter Winchell) who uses his connections to ruin his sister's relationship with a man he deems inappropriate."
Wikipedia
Roger Ebert
filmsite
NY Times
10 Shades of Noir
YouTube: Sweet Smell of Success (1957) trailer, Sweet Smell of Success - 1

Wattstax (1973)

Wikipedia - "Wattstax is a 1973 documentary film by Mel Stuart that focused on the 1972 Wattstax music festival and the African American community of Watts in Los Angeles, California. The film was nominated for a Golden Globe award for Best Documentary Film in 1974. The concert was held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on August 20, 1972, and organized by Memphis's Stax Records to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the Watts riots. Wattstax was seen by some as 'the Afro-American answer to Woodstock'. To enable as many members of the black community in L.A. to attend as possible, tickets were sold for only $1.00 each."
Wikipedia
40 years ago, Wattstax festival brought 112,000 African Americans to the LA Coliseum (Video)
Various Artists - Music from the Wattstax Festival & Film
YouTube: Wattstax (1973) 1:49:23

Blues Masters, Vol. 1: Urban Blues

"While more horn-driven and less guitar reliant than other forms of blues, the urban style nonetheless provides its own spectacular highlights, some of the best of which are right here. The first volume in this 15 volume series features classic performances by Eddie 'Cleanhead' Vinson, Dinah Washington, T-Bone Walker, Charles Brown, Joe Turner, and Jimmy Witherspoon. Where the blues meets the jazz and heads uptown for a party."
allmusic
amazon: Blues Masters, Vol. 1: Urban Blues
YouTube: Blues Masters - Urban Blues Volume 1. After Hours - Erskine Hawkins & His Orchestra, Kidney Stew Blues - Eddie Vinson, Ain't Nobody's Business - Jimmy Witherspoon, Baby, Get Lost - Dinah Washington, Double Crossing Blues - Johnny Otis Quintette, Blues After Hours - Pee Wee Crayton, Black Night - Charles Brown, Chains Of Love - Joe Turner, The Things That I Used To Do - Guitar Slim, I Feel So Bad - Chuck Willis, Reconsider Baby - Lowell Fulson, Farther Up The Road - Bobby 'Blue' Bland, I Can't Quit You Baby - Otis Rush, T-Bone Blues - T-Bone Walker, Drivin' Wheel - Junior Parker, Part Time Love - Little Johnny Taylor, Laundromat Blues - Albert King.

Abayomy Afrobeat Orchestra

"Abayomy Afrobeat Orchestra are a brilliant outfit from Rio de Janeiro who need your support to release their debut album that promises to be nothing short of a legendary recording! An expansive afrobeat orchestra consisting of numerous talented musicians who originally got together for a tribute to Fela on Fela Day but soon evolved the sound with many latin influences of course plus special guests like Oghene Kologbo (Fela Kuti’s guitarist) and Tony Allen (jazz/funk drum legend!) and also Duke Amayo (Antibalas!), Abayomy is indeed a happy meeting!"
The Imported Goods
Soundcloud: Abayomy Afrobeat Orquestra (Video)
YouTube: Eru, Som em 4 Tempos, Malunguinho

Radical Middle

John Constable, A View at Hampstead with Stormy Weather, ca. 1930.
"July 2 is the midpoint of the year—we’re 182 days into 2014 with 182 to go. This is obscurely depressing, although there is something neat about its falling on a Wednesday. It’s all downhill from here, you might say—although sometimes people use that expression as a positive, meaning smooth sailing, so take it as you will. Everyone finds New Year’s Day dreary. But summer, for all its promise of leisure and romance and ease, has an urgency that is sad in its own way. From the moment it starts, it’s on the wane—days ever shorter, relentlessly shifting sands in a Wizard of Oz–style hourglass. Outside my window, someone is actually playing 'Summertime' on a saxophone. He’s probably thinking that we are in New York in hot weather, and it is iconic. The pressure is immense. The high-pressure weather is stifling. Ashbery touched on it. 'Soonest Mended' is about much more than the mundane, although it conjures the mundane vividly. ..."
The Paris Review
Poetry Foundation: "Soonest Mended" By John Ashbery
Re-reading John Ashbery ("Soonest Mended")

Ambient Genius - The working life of Brian Eno

"In January, 1975, the musician Brian Eno and the painter Peter Schmidt released a set of flash cards they called 'Oblique Strategies.' Friends since meeting at art school, in the late sixties, they had long shared guidelines that could pry apart an intellectual logjam, providing options when they couldn’t figure out how to move forward. The first edition consisted of a hundred and fifteen cards. They were black on one side with an aphorism or an instruction printed on the reverse. Eno’s first rule was 'Honour thy error as a hidden intention.' Others included 'Use non-musicians' and 'Tape your mouth.'”
New Yorker