Rhys Chatham - A Crimson Grail (For 400 Electric Guitars) (2007)

"... Apparently the answer lies in simple math. If 100 guitars could sound so great, shouldn't 400 sound even better? In 2005, Chatham set out to test this theorem. Commissioned by the City of Paris to compose something for their all-night La Nuit Blanche Festival, he wrote the ambitious 'A Crimson Grail (Moves Too Fast To See).' Gathering 400 guitarists (along with longtime comrades Ernie Brooks on bass and Jonathan Kane on hi-hat) and four leaders listening to his directions through headphones, Chatham led a 12-hour sonic marathon. Starting on the steps of France's largest church, the Sacré-Cœur, the ensemble ended the show inside, beneath a 272-foot ceiling. Nearly 1000 people witnessed this mini-miracle, while thousands more watched on television throughout France. ..."
Pitchfork
NY Times: What Is the Sound of 200 Guitars Wailing?
Rhys Chatham
amazon, iTunes
vimeo: Rhys Chatham: A Crimson Grail (Live)
YouTube: A Crimson Grail (for 400 Electric Guitars) 53:33

2015 August: New York Noise: Art and Music from the New York Underground 1978-88

NYRB: The Moon and the Bonfires, The Selected Works of Cesare Pavese

"Cesare Pavese (1908–1950) was born on his family’s vacation farm in the country outside of Turin in northern Italy. He graduated from the University of Turin, where he wrote a thesis on Walt Whitman, beginning a continuing engagement with English-language literature that was to lead to his influential translations of Moby-Dick, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Three Lives, and Moll Flanders, among other works. Briefly exiled by the Fascist regime to Calabria in 1935, Pavese returned to Turin to work for the new publishing house of Giulio Einaudi, where he eventually became the editorial director. ..."
NYRB: The Moon and the Bonfires, The Selected Works of Cesare Pavese

2015 August: Cesare Pavese

Whose Streets? Our Streets!

"A new exhibition captures the rallies, riots, marches, and demonstrations that erupted in New York City between 1980 and 2000. Entitled 'Whose Streets? Our Streets!' the current show at the Bronx Documentary Center explores residents’ reactions to two decades of swift economic and demographic change. The era was consumed by issues of police brutality, gentrification, AIDS, gay and lesbian rights, reproductive rights, U.S. foreign policy and military actions, and education and labor relations. ..."
The Atlantic: The Power of Protest Photography
Whose Streets? Our Streets!
LenScratch

International Women's Day

Exploring Women’s Rights: The 1908 Textile Strike
"On International Women's Day, March 8th, women and our allies will act together for equity, justice and the human rights of women and all gender-oppressed people, through a one-day demonstration of economic solidarity. In the same spirit of love and liberation that inspired the Women's March, we join together in making March 8th A Day Without a Woman, recognizing the enormous value that women of all backgrounds add to our socio-economic system--while receiving lower wages and experiencing greater inequities, vulnerability to discrimination, sexual harassment, and job insecurity. We recognize that trans and gender nonconforming people face heightened levels of discrimination, social oppression and political targeting. We believe in gender justice. ..."
Womens March
Vanity Fair: Why Women Around the World Are Going on Strike Today
NY Times: Why Women Are On Strike
New Yorker: The Women’s Strike and the Messy Space of Change
Aljazeera: 'A Day Without a Woman' strike aims to raise awareness (Video)

2017 January: Women’s March Highlights as Huge Crowds Protest Trump: ‘We’re Not Going Away’

Dakota Access pipeline could open next week after activists face final court loss

"A federal judge declined Tuesday to temporarily stop construction of the final section of the disputed Dakota Access pipeline, clearing the way for oil to flow as soon as next week. The Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux had asked the US district judge James Boasberg in Washington to direct the Army Corps of Engineers to withdraw permission for the Texas-based developer Energy Transfer Partners to lay pipe under Lake Oahe in North Dakota. ... The tribes argued that construction under the lake violated their right to practice their religion, which relies on clean water, and they wanted the work suspended until the claim could be resolved. When they filed the lawsuit last summer, the tribes argued that the pipeline threatened Native American cultural sites and their water supply. ..."
Guardian
Guardian - Standing Rock: arson accusation renews fear of police targeting military veterans
Guardian: Private investor divests $34.8m from firms tied to Dakota Access pipeline

2011 July: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee - Dee Brown, 2012 September: The Ghost Dance, 2016 September: A History and Future of Resistance, 2016 November: Dakota Access Pipeline protests, 2016 December: Police Violence Against Native Americans Goes Far Beyond Standing Rock, 2016 December: Dakota Protesters Say Belle Fourche Oil Spill 'Validates Struggle', 2017 January: A Murky Legal Mess at Standing Rock, 2017 January: Trump's Move On Keystone XL, Dakota Access Outrages Activists, 2017 February: Army veterans return to Standing Rock to form a human shield against police, 2017 February: Standing Rock is burning – but our resistance isn't over

John Zorn Is Rolling The Stone From Avenue C To The New School

"On a rainy Wednesday, John Zorn sat on a sofa alongside Richard Kessler. The two talked like old friends, which they are. Zorn, the celebrated composer and musician, and Kessler, the executive dean for performing arts at the New School who is also dean of the university’s Mannes School of Music, are now also partners in a venture that may alter Manhattan’s musical landscape and its relationship with higher education. The Stone, the tiny but influential performance space that Zorn founded in 2005 to present experimental and avant-garde music, will become a fixture of the New School’s College of Performing Arts, taking up residence in the New School’s Glass Box Theater on West 13th St. Beginning in March 2018, when the old club closes, The Stone at the New School, as it will be called, will present concerts at 8:30pm, Tuesdays through Saturdays. ..."
VOICE
NY Times: The Stone, an Influential Music Space, to Move to the New School

2009 March: John Zorn, 2010 August: Spillane 2011 October: Filmworks Anthology : 20 Years of Soundtrack Music, 2012 September: Marc Ribot, 2013 January: Bar Kokhba and Masada, 2013 September: Masada String Trio Sala, 2014 January: Full Concert Jazz in Marciac (2010), 2014 March: "Extraits de Book Of Angels" @ Jazz in Marciac 2008, 2015 June: The Big Gundown - John Zorn plays Ennio Morricone (1985), 2015 July: News for Lulu (1988), 2016 March: Film Works 1986-1990.

Sleepless Nights - Gram Parsons (1976)

"Three years after Gram Parsons' untimely death, his frequent duet partner Emmylou Harris helped arrange for the release of this collection of outtakes -- three songs he cut with Harris for his final solo album Grievous Angel in 1973, and nine others recorded live in the studio with The Flying Burrito Brothers in 1970. Anyone hoping to find the great lost Gram Parsons song is out of luck here; all 12 tunes are covers of vintage country classics, except for 'Honky Tonk Women' (which at least sounds like a C&W classic in this arrangement) and The Louvin Brothers' 'The Angels Rejoiced Last Night,' which is as spiritually uplifting as ever with Harris' pure, clear voice helping to bring it home. ... Sleepless Nights was certainly a labor of love and it's a worthy purchase for committed fans, but neophytes are better off giving a listen to The Flying Burrito Brothers' masterpiece The Gilded Palace of Sin, or either solo album, G.P. or Grievous Angel."
allmusic
W - Sleepless Nights
amazon
YouTube: Sleepless Nights (with BONUS TRACKS)

2008 March: Gram Parsons, 2011 March: Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris. Liberty Hall, Texas, 1973, 2012 May: Sweetheart of the Rodeo, 2013 January: Gram Parsons: Fallen Angel, 2013 September: Flying Burrito Brothers - Live At The Avalon Ballroom 1969, 2014 February: The Gilded Palace of Sin - The Flying Burrito Brothers (1969), 2014 March: Burrito Deluxe - The Flying Burrito Brothers (1970), 2014 May: GP (1973), 2014 September: Grievous Angel (1974), 2015 October: Top 10 Gram Parsons Songs, 2016 November: Death of Gram Parsons

The Classic Typewriter Page : All About Typewriters

"I'm Richard Polt, the creator and webmaster for The Classic Typewriter Page. I grew up loving typewriters and have been collecting them in earnest since 1994. I'm the editor of ETCetera, the magazine of the Early Typewriter Collectors' Association. I've been blogging with and about typewriters since 2010. And I'm the author of a book, The Typewriter Revolution: A Typist's Companion for the 21st Century. The Classic Typewriter Page went live on December 9, 1995. (Here's a snapshot of the site in July 1997, minus images.) As far as I know, this was the first website about antique typewriters and typewriter collecting. ... The parts of the site that are currently updated most often are the online manuals and the list of typewriter repair shops. I also typically get several questions a day about typewriters, which I'm glad to answer (but check my FAQ first)."
The Classic Typewriter Page: About
The Classic Typewriter Page
The Typewriter Revolution (Video)
The Typewriter Revolution blog

2012 February: Typewriter

David Tudor ‎– The Art Of David Tudor 1963–1992

"One of the very first significant pieces of electronic music I ever heard was a performance recording of David Tudor’s Rainforest. Although I can’t recall which version it was (this was in my first electronic music class during my freshman year of college), I have never forgotten how blown away I was by that chirping, squeaking, clanging, banging, blooping wall of sound that did indeed give the impression of a living, breathing, electronic jungle. ... The recently released boxed set of Tudor’s work, The Art of David Tudor (1963—1992) on New World Records, charts his transformation from interpreter and co-composer to composer/performer, presenting a selection of full performance recordings of many of his groundbreaking works. One of Tudor’s specialties was working with feedback within a live performance context. ..."
NewMusicBox
The Art of David Tudor (Video)
Discogs
iTunes

Wikipedia - "David Eugene Tudor (January 20, 1926 – August 13, 1996) was an American pianist and composer of experimental music. ... Tudor also gave early performances of works by Morton Feldman, Earle Brown, Christian Wolff and La Monte Young. The composer with whom Tudor is particularly associated is John Cage; he gave the premiere of Cage's Music of Changes, Concert For Piano and Orchestra and the notorious 4' 33". Cage said that many of his pieces were written either specifically for Tudor to perform or with him in mind, once stating 'what you had to do was to make a situation that would interest him. That was the role he played.' ...”
Wikipedia
David Tudor ‎– WHAT'S NEW
Discogs: David Tudor Discography
Lovely Music (Video)
Getty: The Art of David Tudor
Presenting David Tudor - A Conversation with Bruce Duffie
amazon: David Tudor

Janet Biehl

Wikipedia - "Janet Biehl (born September 4, 1953) is a political writer with a focus on libertarian municipalism and social ecology, the body of ideas developed and publicized by Murray Bookchin. She also opposes eco-feminism. ... In 1986 she attended the Institute for Social Ecology, in Vermont, where she met the social theorist Murray Bookchin. In January 1987 she moved to Burlington, Vermont, to study further with Bookchin. They began a collaborative relationship to advance and promote social ecology. ... Biehl is a supporter of the Kurdish freedom movement. After Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the insurgent Kurdistan Workers' Party, was captured and imprisoned in 1999, he became an avid reader of Bookchin's work in Turkish translation and recommended it to the movement. Drawing on libertarian municipalism, he formulated democratic confederalism as a political program, which the PKK adopted. ..."
Wikipedia
Ecology or Catastrophe
New Compass
ROAR - Thoughts on Rojava: an interview with Janet Biehl

2014 September: Anarchism in America (1983), 2015 August: The Prophet Farmed: Murray Bookchin on Bernie Sanders, 2016 October: Why Bernie Was Right, 2015 October: The Ecology of Freedom (1982), 2016 July: Murray Bookchin’s New Life, 2017 January: Reason, creativity and freedom: the communalist model - Eleanor Finley, 2017 February: Socialism’s Return.

Creative ways to use a tenement fire escape

"In February 1860, a swift-moving evening blaze raged through a tenement on Elm Street—today’s Lafayette Street. Ten women and children died, largely because firefighters’ ladders didn’t reach past the fourth floor. ... So a law was passed two months later mandating that city buildings be made of 'fireproof' materials or feature 'fire-proof balconies on each story on the outside of the building connected by fire-proof stairs.' This regulation, and then the many amendments that came after it, was the genesis of the iconic New York fire escape—a sometimes lovely and ornate, often utilitarian and rusted iron passageway that helped cut down the number of casualties in tenement fires. ..."
Ephemeral New York
Balcony Seats to the City (Video)
NY Times: Great Escapes

Turner’s Modern and Ancient Ports: Passages through Time

Cologne, the Arrival of a Packet-Boat: Evening, 1826
"Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), nineteenth-century Britain’s greatest land- and seascape artist, depicted ports throughout his career, both in monumental oil paintings and in watercolors. An insatiable traveler and an artist with a deep fascination with light, topography, and local traditions, as well as with classical antiquity, Turner brought an innovative approach to the depiction of both modern and ancient ports. In the spring of 2017, The Frick Collection presents Turner’s Modern and Ancient Ports: Passages through Time, a major exhibition that brings together some thirty-five works from the 1810s through the late 1830s in oil, watercolor, and graphite that capture contemporary cities in England, France, and Germany, as well as imagined scenes set in the ancient world. ..."
The Frick Collection
The Frick Collection - A Close Look at Turner’s Harbor of Dieppe (Video)
The Frick Collection: Visual Index
A Luminous Look at Turner’s Port Paintings
amazon

November 2007: J. M. W. Turner, 2009 April: Turner & Italy, 2011 June: J. M. W. Turner - 1, 2014 June: In Which We Find His Theory Of Color Implausible, 2014 May: Ruin Lust, 2014 September: The EY Exhibition: Late Turner – Painting Set Free, 2016 June: Turner’s Whaling Pictures

Adrian Sherwood - Becoming A Cliché / Dub Cliché (2006)

"Producer Adrian Sherwood has spent the '80s, '90s and 2000s exerting an enormous influence on modern pop music, both as head of the avant-garde roots reggae hothouse known as On-U Sound Records and as producer and remixer to forward-thinking pop artists as diverse as Einsturzende Neubauten, Depeche Mode, Simply Red, and Nine Inch Nails. But it's taken almost that long for him to finally release an album under his own name. His first solo effort was 2003's multifariously brilliant Never Trust a Hippy; the follow-up finds him continuing to expand his musical horizons, keeping most of his grooves in an adventurously dubwise but still deeply rootsy reggae-funk vein while promiscuously incorporating any other musical tradition that happens to strike his fancy at the same time. ... If you can get your hands on it, spend a little extra for the limited-edition package, which includes a second disc of dub remixes. Essential."
allmusic
Discogs
YouTube: Dub Cliché, Becoming A Cliché (Full Album)

2011 September: Adrian Sherwood, 2012 April: Dub Syndicate, 2013 August: Don't Call Us Immigrants (2000), 2014 May: Bim Sherman - Across the Red Sea (1998), 2016 November: Keith Hudson - Brand (1979), 2017 February: Sherwood at the Controls, Vol. 2: 1985-1990

Growing Up With the War Tax Resisters

"The memory is vague, perhaps implanted. It may only exist because my mother has taken great pains over the years to remind me of it. It was either 1991 or ’92, and I am about three years old. It’s Christmas Day and we’re at a house in my hometown of Colrain, Massachusetts. Other people are there, too. We brought cookies to the event. At the time I thought of it as a party; I know now it was not. This memory was my mother’s way of telling me that I’ve always, even as a child, been politically active. We were there offering support to our neighbors, Randy Kehler and Betsy Corner. They had been war tax resisters for decades, and at this moment they were having their house repossessed by the IRS. My mother had dragged her preschool-aged son to what was essentially an act of civil disobedience. ..."
New Republic
W - An Act of Conscience (1997)
The Great Anti-War Films - An Act of Conscience
fandor: An Act of Conscience (1997)

2010 July: Draft dodger, Conscientious objector, War resister

Strange Weather - Marianne Faithfull (1987)

"I recently heard Marianne Faithfull in an intimate venue with great acoustics, and was mesmerized from start to finish. Not only by that one-of-a-kind, sandpaper-and-velvet voice but also by what she put into every song, each syllable, whether she wrote the tune or was covering someone else’s. For 1987’s Strange Weather, Faithfull, accompanied by a superb band anchored by guitarist Bill Frisell, elected to sing only covers, mostly ballads, from a variety of eras. From a slower rendition of Jagger/ Richards’ 'As Tears Go By,' which made her a star at 18, to the superb title track, written for her by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan, Faithfull is a singer who owns everything she sings. Other highlights: 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams,' an unaccompanied take of Lead Belly’s 'I Ain’t Goin’ Down To The Well No More,' 'Sign Of Judgment,' Dylan’s 'I’ll Keep It With Mine,' Dr. John’s 'Hello Stranger,' Jerome Kern’s 'Yesterdays,' and Jason and Burton’s 'Penthouse Serenade.' ORG’s 45rpm reissue sounds very good, though the original recording is somewhat uneven. Most critically, Faithfull’s vocals are consistently well captured, and there’s air and ambience, with natural instrumental tones and rich textures."
the absolute sound
W - Strange Weather
Discogs
amazon, iTunes
YouTube: Strange Weather (Live), As Tears Go By (Live)
YouTube: "Blazing Away" | 1990 | FULL length concert film 1:30:11

2008 June: Marianne Faithfull, 2010 November: Marianne Faithfull - 1, 2013 January: Broken English: Deluxe Edition, 2013 November: Before the Poison (2005), 2014 August: Kissin' Time (2002), 2014 October: Broken English short film by Derek Jarman (1979), 2015 March: Give My Love to London (2014).

Pilot Pirx - Stanisław Lem (1979-1982)

Wikipedia - "Pilot Pirx is a fictional character introduced in 1966 in the science fiction stories of Polish writer Stanisław Lem: ten short stories (published in English in two parts, 1979's Tales of Pirx the Pilot and 1982's More Tales of Pirx the Pilot) and the novel Fiasco. In the stories, Pirx is progressively depicted as a spaceship cadet, beginner pilot, seasoned pilot, navigator, and finally, captain (komandor). While this overall story line resembles that of a bildungsroman, Lem writes that it was not his intention; he was going to write only 2–3 stories. ... Unlike traditional heroic space pilots, Pirx is as an ordinary 'space truck driver' and has little if anything heroic about him. Personality traits of Pirx include cold blood, self-control and common sense—which serve Pirx well in all his predicaments. ..."
Wikipedia
W - Tales of Pirx the Pilot, More Tales of Pirx the Pilot
W - Inquest of Pilot Pirx
NY Times: WHO IS HUMAN, WHO IS NOT? (1982)
Transnational Spaces of Science Fiction: An Estonian-Polish coproduction The Test of Pilot Pirx (Test pilota Pirxa / Navigaator Pirx, 1978)
amazon: Tales of Pirx the Pilot, More Tales of Pirx the Pilot

2011 June: Stanisław Lem

Technicians of the Sacred: A Range of Poetries from Africa, America, Europe & Asia - Jerome Rothenberg (1969)

"... Anthologies are, with different degrees of intensity, the creation of a new field made out of preexisting elements; for the most part they define anew what was there before. Only once in a while an anthology can change not only what we know about poetry but the way we read beyond its own selection. Technicians of the Sacred: A Range of Poetries from Africa, America, Europe & Asia is that occurrence, a turning point that made visible what wasn’t before. Even more than an anthology it’s the blue print for a strategy, one that works his complexity up from multiple poetics to present at the same time, and without ever taking them apart, the particular and the whole. ..."
Jacket2: Ernesto Livon-Grosman on Jerome Rothenberg's anthologies
University of California
amazon
Poet and Polemicist: an interview with Jerome Rothenberg

2009 March: Jerome Rothenberg, 2011 June: Alcheringa Archive: A Journal of Ethnopoetics, 1970-1980, 2014 August: New Wilderness Letter, 1977-84, 2014 September: America a Prophecy

New York is a city of rooftop wooden water tanks

"They seem like relics of another New York. But most buildings in the city higher than five or six stories have one of these wooden water tanks perched on stilt-like contraptions on the roof. Photographer Andreas Feininger captured their beauty under a dusting of snow in this image, from 1952. I don’t know where this was taken, but there’s a good chance the water towers look exactly the same today."
Ephemeral New York
NY Times: Longtime Emblems of City Roofs, Still Going Strong
Up on the Roof: NYC's Water Tanks Are Here to Stay
Water towers: NYC's misunderstood icons
Water towers in New York (Video)
YouTube: Inside New York City's Water Towers | The New York Times, The Story Behind New York City Water Towers

2014 November: Water tower

Tango #16 (1986)

 

 

 

"Tango #16 in the Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine series, offers the unexpected pairing of contemporary downtown NY composers with vintage tango songs. It works though, contributors avoiding mimicry and impersonation, and the essence of tango being retaken by participants as slow, melodramatic songs, with added gusto and drama. Tango is merely a dotted line here, serving as rough guidelines to participants eager to emancipate themselves from any popular format, while seeking the intense, gripping mood of tango. I assume the complex choreography of this dance also appealed to the Tellus team as a kind of stage play, as they had always been interested in music theater, radio plays, radio art, etc. Tango is personified here by the legendary argentinian singer Carlos Gardel (1890-1935) with a couple of 78s from the 1930s, and by the late Jo Basile, aka Joss Baselli, a french bal musette accordion player from Paris 1950s-1960s. ..."
Continuo
Harvestworks
Discogs
UbuWeb: Tellus #16 - Tango

2010 June: Tellus #12 - Dance (1986), 2010 June: Tellus #10: All Guitars! (1985), 2010 August: Tellus #13 - Power Electronics (1986), 2011 March: Tellus #15: The Improvisors (1985), 2013 July: Tellus #23 - The Voices of Paul Bowles (1989), 2014 June: Tellus #26 - Jewel Box (1992), 2016 April: Tellus #25 - Site-Less Sounds (1991).

Women’s History Month - National Museum of Women in the Arts

"... Back by popular demand this March, the National Museum of Women in the Arts continues to ask, 'Can you name five women artists?' This simple question calls attention to the inequity women artists face, inspires conversation, and brings awareness to a larger audience. Last year, the campaign struck a chord, and tens of thousands of posts were shared on social media. This year, more than 200 institutions from 50 states, 22 countries, and seven continents have already signed on to participate. Join us throughout the month to share stories of women artists using the hashtag #5WomenArtists on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. ..."
Challenge Accepted: Can You Name Five Women Artists?
The Atlantic: Fighting the Under-Representation of Women in the Arts
National Museum of Women in the Arts - Get Facts

Celebrating Lou Reed: 1942–2013

Photographed by Allen Ginsberg
"In honor of the recent acquisition of the Lou Reed Archive, and the 75th anniversary of Reed's birthday, the Library is featuring highlights from the collection in displays at two locations, plus hosting public programs that bring to life Reed's legacy. Lou Reed was a founding member of the legendary Velvet Underground, as well as a solo recording artist, playwright, poet, and photographer. He is recognized as one the finest songwriters in history and is considered among the most profound influences on modern rock music. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and was the recipient of numerous other awards. Discover highlights from the Library's newly acquired Lou Reed Archive documenting Reed's more than 50-year career—including original song lyrics, photographs, and personal ephemera—at two locations from March 2–20. ..."
The New York Public Library (Video)
NY Times: Lou Reed Archives Head to New York Public Library
YouTube: Dirty Boulevard (Live, Sunday Night 1989), "Bus Load Of Faith", "NYC Man"

2010 August: Heroin, 2011 June: All Tomorrow's Parties - The Velvet Underground, 2011 June: The Velvet Underground, 2012 November: Songs for Drella - Lou Reed and John Cale, 2013 October: Lou Reed (1942 - 2013), 2014 June: The Bells (1979), 2014 August: New York (1989), 2015 June: Capitol Theatre Passaic, NJ 9/25/1984, 2015 October: The Blue Mask (1982), 2016 March: New Sensations (1984), 2016 May: Coney Island Baby (1976).

The People Speak (2009)

Wikipedia - "The People Speak is a 2009 American documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans. The film gives voice to those who, by insisting on equality and justice, spoke up for social change throughout U.S. history and also illustrates the relevance of this to today's society. The film is narrated by historian Howard Zinn and is based on his books A People's History of the United States (1980) and, with Anthony Arnove, Voices of a People's History of the United States (2004). The People Speak is produced by Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Chris Moore, Anthony Arnove, and Howard Zinn. It is co-directed by Moore, Arnove and Zinn. ..."
Wikipedia
Howard Zinn (Video)
NY Times - New Boss, Same as the Old Boss: Howard Zinn Traces Social Change
Netflix

2010 January: Howard Zinn, 2013 November: The Problem is Civil Obedience - 1970, 2014 May: A People's History of the United States - (1980)

Mulatu Astatke - Ethiopiques, Vol. 4: Ethio Jazz & Musique Instrumentale, 1969-1974

"To some, the term 'Ethiopian jazz' might seem impossible; after all, it's a very American form. But what's truly surprising isn't the fact that these musicians play jazz so well, but the range of jazz they manage, from the George Benson-ish guitar workout of 'Munaye' to the twisting sax of 'Tezeta.' Really, though, it's more Jimmy Smith than Duke Ellington in its aim (although Ellington is on the cover, on stage with Mulatu Astatke, the bandleader behind all these selections). ... Given that many of his musicians had graduated from police and military bands, they knew their instruments well, and had plenty of practice time, which shows in the often inventive solos that dot the tracks. Varied, occasionally lyrical, but interesting throughout, this shines a fabulous spotlight on a hidden corner of jazz."
allmusic
amazon, iTunes
Discogs
YouTube: Ethiopiques Volume 4 23 videos

2016 January: New York–Addis–London: The Story of Ethio Jazz 1965–1975

Manchester by the Sea - Kenneth Lonergan (2016)

"... Early in Mr. Lonergan’s new film, 'Manchester by the Sea,' Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) is summoned back to his hometown by news that his older brother, Joe, has died. Joe, an affable bear of a man (Kyle Chandler, in flashbacks), had had congestive heart failure for a long time, so his death, while wrenching and sad, could not have been entirely unexpected. What Joe’s 16-year-old son, Patrick (Lucas Hedges), and Lee face together might fall under the heading of ordinary grief: tragic to be sure, but manageable. Lee, though, already lives with a much more extreme kind of pain. You can see it in his smallest gestures and hear it in his flat, careful diction. The force of his pent-up emotion is terrifying, and so is the self-control he must exercise to keep it invisible. Mr. Affleck, in one of the most fiercely disciplined screen performances in recent memory, conveys both Lee’s inner avalanche of feeling and the numb decorum that holds it back. ..."
NY Times: ‘Manchester by the Sea’ and the Tides of Grief
Wikipedia
Roger Ebert
YouTube: Manchester by the Sea

Africa's Great Civilizations

"In his new six-hour series, Africa's Great Civilizations, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. takes a new look at the history of Africa, from the birth of humankind to the dawn of the 20th century. This is a breathtaking and personal journey through two hundred thousand years of history, from the origins, on the African continent, of art, writing and civilization itself, through the millennia in which Africa and Africans shaped not only their own rich civilizations, but also the wider world."
PBS (Video)
PBS: Map (Video)
NY Times: Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s ‘Africa’s Great Civilizations,’ Shows a Continent’s Grand Sweep
‘Africa’s Great Civilizations’: Henry Louis Gates on Why Understanding Africa’s History Is More Vital Than Ever

An Inner World

Gabriel Metsu, Woman Reading a Book by a Window, c. 1653–54
"An Inner World features seven exceptional genre paintings by Dutch artists working in or near the city of Leiden in the seventeenth century. Genre paintings, or scenes that take everyday life as their subject matter, flourished in the Dutch Republic in this period. Explored through the theme of an inner world, the works in this focused exhibition represent figures in interior spaces and individuals in moments of study, contemplation, and quiet exchange. Paintings by Gerrit Dou (1613–1675), Gabriel Metsu (1629–1667), Domenicus van Tol (c. 1635–1676), Willem van Mieris (1662–1747), and Jacob van Toorenvliet (1640–1719) demonstrate the artists’ sustained interest in the illusionism of space, candlelight, and painted surfaces. By encouraging a focused—and intimate—experience, this exhibition presents new ways of looking at tradition and innovation in genre painting in Leiden. ..."
The Clark
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Genre Painting in Northern Europe
'An Inner World: Seventeenth-Century Dutch Paintings' at The Clark Institute

Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) - The Kinks (1969)

"Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) extends the British-oriented themes of Village Green Preservation Society, telling the story of a London man's decision to move to Australia during the aftermath of World War II. It's a detailed and loving song cycle, capturing the minutiae of suburban life, the numbing effect of bureaucracy, and the horrors of war. On paper, Arthur sounds like a pretentious mess, but Ray Davies' lyrics and insights have rarely been so graceful or deftly executed, and the music is remarkable. An edgier and harder-rocking affair than Village Green, Arthur is as multi-layered musically as it is lyrically. ... The music makes the words cut deeper, and the songs never stray too far from the album's subject, making Arthur one of the most effective concept albums in rock history, as well as one of the best and most influential British pop records of its era."
allmusic
W - Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
Classic Rock Review
amazon
YouTube: Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) (Full Album)

2012 February: The Kinks, 2013 July: "Sunny Afternoon", 2015 August: Village Green Preservation Society (1968), 2015 December: "Waterloo Sunset" (1967), 2016 June: "Dead End Street" / "Big Black Smoke" (1966)

Hotel Ambos Mundos

Wikipedia - "The Hotel Ambos Mundos (Spanish pronunciation: [oˈtel ˈambos ˈmundos], Both Worlds Hotel) is a hotel of square form with five floors, built with an eclectic set of characteristics of 20th-century style architecture. It was built in 1924 on a site that previously had been occupied by an old family house on the corner of Calle Obispo and Mercaderes (Bishop and Merchants Streets) in La Habana Vieja (Old Havana), Cuba. It is a frequent tourist destination because it was home to the popular writer Ernest Hemingway for seven years in the 1930s. From colonial times the zone of Old Havana in which the building is now sited was populated by a diverse collection of family houses. ..."
Wikipedia
Hotel Ambos Mundos
YouTube: Hotel Ambos Mundos Havana Cuba where Hemingway lived years at room 511

Robert Farris Thompson: Canons of the Cool

"A bottle of Cinzano, a can of hairspray, a menorah, a machete and a broken jukebox are devotional objects adorning the altar of a vodun ('voodoo') temple on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. The temple is situated in the compound of André Pierre, vodun priest and painter, alongside a ditch on the road to Cap-Haïtien. ... Robert Farris Thompson and I have come down to Haiti on a 10:30 a.m. flight from New York to pass the weekend with André Pierre and with Madame Nerva, a vodun priestess. Thompson is an art historian, a tenured professor at Yale and master of Timothy Dwight College there. ..."
Rolling Stone
W - Robert Farris Thompson
Aesthetic of the Cool - Dr. Robert Farris Thompson in conversation with Dr. Lowery Stokes Sims
Aesthetic of the Cool: Afro-Atlantic Art and Music - CAA Reviews
[PDF] Flash of the spirit - Robert Farris Thompson
amazon: Robert Farris Thompson
YouTube: Speaks: Daughters of the Dust

2014 April: Flash of the Spirit: African & Afro-American Art & Philosophy

Six Stories of Stunning Passports From Countries That No Longer Exist

"British Palestine. The USSR. The Free State of Fiume. History is rife with states that simply didn’t make it: ones, thanks to the precariousness of politics, that eventually switched names, changed hands, or disappeared altogether. Tom Topol has been collecting passports for 14 years, and runs the website passport-collector.com, a repository of travel documents through the ages. Topol first became fascinated by old passports after a chance encounter with some at a flea market in Kyoto, Japan. 'Today our passports are uniform,' he says, 'but look at an old passport [from the] 19th century—at that time they were really some kind of art.' He has spent last decade and a half learning everything he can about the politics and geography of historical passports, as well as digging into the stories of individual booklets and their bearers. ..."
Atlas Obscura

Kate Bingaman-Burt

"Her work orbits around the objects in our lives: the things we buy, the things we discard, and the collectivity and social interaction that can arise from cycles of consumption. Via illustrations, daily documentation, publications, events, large-scale participatory projects, client work, and a full-time role as educator, Kate’s work invites a dialogue about contemporary forms of exchange. ..."
Kate Bingaman-Burt
The Great Discontent
amazon

Standing Rock is burning – but our resistance isn't over

Tents set ablaze at North Dakota pipeline protest campsite
"... The majority of the few hundred remaining protesters marched out, arm in arm ahead of the North Dakota authorities’ Wednesday eviction deadline. An estimated one hundred others refused the state’s order, choosing to remain in camp and face certain arrest in order to defend land and water promised to the Oceti Sakowin, or Great Sioux Nation, in the long-broken Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851. On these hallowed grounds, history tends to repeat itself. In 1890, police murdered Sitting Bull on the Standing Rock reservation out of suspicion that he was preparing to lead the Ghost Dance movement in an uprising. ... The first whirlwind month of Donald Trump’s presidency has brought the injustices of racism, capitalism, and patriarchy long festering beneath the surface of American society out into the open. The eviction of Oceti Sakowin from their treaty lands forces us to confront another foundational injustice, one rarely if ever discussed in contemporary politics – colonialism. ..."
Guardian (Video)
Guardian: Police remove last Standing Rock protesters in military-style takeover
Guardian: Police make arrests at Standing Rock in push to evict remaining activists (Video)
livestream: Cam 1 - Eviction of Main #NoDAPL Camp (Video)

2011 July: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee - Dee Brown, 2012 September: The Ghost Dance, 2016 September: A History and Future of Resistance, 2016 November: Dakota Access Pipeline protests, 2016 December: Police Violence Against Native Americans Goes Far Beyond Standing Rock, 2016 December: Dakota Protesters Say Belle Fourche Oil Spill 'Validates Struggle', 2017 January: A Murky Legal Mess at Standing Rock, 2017 January: Trump's Move On Keystone XL, Dakota Access Outrages Activists, 2017 February: Army veterans return to Standing Rock to form a human shield against police

Charlotte Brooks

"Charlotte Brooks is a photojournalist who worked for Look magazine from 1951 until 1971. As a sociologist with a camera, she liked to document changes in American life, including politics, health and science, education, families, urban and suburban issues, entertainment, racial conflicts, and women's roles. Her biography is a story of defying the odds, because she achieved her objectives at a time when her gender, religious background, and sexual preference presented her with extra challenges. The only long-term woman staff photographer in the magazine's nearly thirty-five year run, Brooks came to feel accepted as 'one of the guys.' She covered the same kinds of issues as the men photographers, while most of her contemporary female colleagues were confined to soft news and the women's pages. ..."
The Library of Congress
W - Charlotte Brooks
NY Times: Charlotte Brooks, a Photographer for Look Magazine, Dies at 95
The Library of Congress: Image Sampler

Lucinda Williams, "Passionate Kisses" (1988)

"After recording a pair of acoustic blues albums for Folkways, Lucinda Williams found her rightful audience with her eponymous 1988 Rough Trade debut. It contained this hoarse-voiced pop-rock anthem about not only wanting but deserving a comfortable bed, bath, and emotional beyond. Williams was broke and turning 40 when Mary Chapin Carpenter softened the song's edges, added a stirring guitar arrangement and took 'Passionate Kisses' close to the top of the Billboard country chart in 1993, winning Grammys for both herself and its author."
Rolling Stone
W - "Passionate Kisses"
YouTube: "Passionate Kisses"

2008 January: Lucinda Williams, 2010 May: Lucinda Williams - 1, 2011 March: Blessed, 2011 November: Austin, Texas, 1989, 2012 May: World Without Tears, 2012 October: Honky Tonk Women: The Changing Role of Women, 2013 January: "Can`t Let Go", "Pineola", "Changed the Locks", 2013 June: Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, 2013 August: Essence (2001), 2015 November: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert, 2016 February: The Ghosts of Highway 20 (2016).

Kenward Elmslie / Videos

"Kenward Elmslie (1929- ) is a poet, editor and librettist who has facilitated numerous collaborations and connections among members of what is known as the New York School of Poets. The grandchild of Joseph Pulitzer, Elmslie received his undergraduate degree from Harvard before moving to New York City. Among other pursuits, he edited Z Magazine, which published works by poets such as John Ashbery and Elmslie’s longtime partner Joe Brainard, and corresponded with innumerable artists, writers and thinkers including Lucia Berlin and Maxine Chernoff. ... As the catalyst for this short film project, Elmslie hoped to illustrate the artistic spirit of and collaborations among American writers, poets and artists from the late 50s to today."
vimeo: Kenward Elmslie / Videos
Jeff Jackson presents … Please welcome back to the world … Kenward Elmslie The Orchid Stories (1973/2016)
Jacket2: Joe Brainard feature Kenward Elmslie in conversation with Kristin Prevallet

April 2008: Kenward Elmslie, PENNSOUND, Jacket #7, Wikipedia, 2011 February: Kenward Elmslie's poem songs, 2016 February: Nite Soil (2000), 2008 February: Joe Brainard, 2010 November: I Remember, 2011 October: A State of the Flowers Report, 2011 November: Joe Brainard: A Retrospective, 2012 March: Bolinas Journal, 2012 September: I Remember: A Film About Joe Brainard by Matt Wolf (2012), 2014 November: Joe Brainard - Tibor de Nagy Gallery