Italian food stores have New York’s best signs

"Most of them are in the city’s faded Little Italy neighborhoods—white, green, and red store signs with 1970s-style letters spelling out an Italian surname and the choice delicacies they sell. Mozzarella, ricotta, tortellini, gnocchi: Whatever the vintage sign says, you know you’re in good hands. So many of these old-school Italian food stores have closed up shop, it’s good to celebrate the ones that remain. Like Piemonte Ravioli on Grand Street. Established in 1920. Reading the 'Made Here Daily' sign in the window makes my mouth water. Same with Russo’s, making mozzarella and fresh pasta since 1908 on East 11th Street—once the center of a mostly defunct Little Italy in today’s East Village. Italian cakes and pastries are baked on the premises at Caffe Roma on Mulberry Street, going strong since 1891. I like this painted ad better than their actual store sign. ..."
Ephemeral New York

Colette: On the Streets and in the Clubs, 1972 – 1985

Colette
"From the very start of her career in the 1970s, Colette was a much-noted presence in the New York art world. It was a time of radical change brought on by the advent of pop art, and a new generation felt free to break the rules that traditionally separated fine art and popular culture. Colette worked without inhibition. Acting out an inner-world of fantasies she began making photographic self-portraits, creating soft fabric environments in which she was often a crucial living presence, and exhibiting self-referential hybrid works that combined sculpture, painting, and photography. By the mid-1980s she was famous here and in Europe for performances in which she slept in store windows and art spaces, street paintings for which she was once arrested, and forays into fashion and music that worked equally well in boutiques, nightclubs and museums. ..."
Gallery98

Kondi Band - The Freetown Tapes 2006-2016

"In 2006, blind Kondi (thumb piano) player Sorie Kondi was surviving by busking on the streets of Freetown, Sierra Leone, abandoned by relatives who had fled the rebel takeover of the city in the late ‘90s. His sound was marked by his electrified Kondi, run through a small distorted amplifier that he carried on his back. Since then, he has recorded and finished five albums, culminating in ‘Without Money No Family’, which caught the ear of US producer / DJ Chief Boima (also of Sierra Leonean descent) after chancing upon a YouTube link. The two joined forces as Kondi Band, combining Sorie's traditionalist performances with Boima's globally-informed electronic production. The duo released an EP this year on Strut, recently performed acclaimed sets to thousands at Transmusicales and Womex, and have received accolades from tastemakers including Gilles Peterson. With a Kondi Band album coming in 2017, Boima has created a free mix to showcase Kondi's incredible history. As well as collecting songs from across Sorie Kondi’s recorded music career, this mix also includes one original and two remixes of songs from ‘Salone’, the forthcoming debut album. ..."
Kondi Band (Audio)
INTLBLK (Video)
Salone by The Kondi Band (Audio)
Kondi Band release debut album ‘Salone’ (Audio)

There Is a Revolution on the Left. Democrats Are Bracing.

Abdul El-Sayed, a liberal candidate for governor of Michigan, worked the crowd at a barbecue in Milford. He is part of a wave of young politicians redefining the left in the Democratic Party.
"DETROIT — For Rachel Conner, the 2018 election season has been a moment of revelation. A 27-year-old social worker, Ms. Conner voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 primaries, spurning the more liberal Bernie Sanders, whom many of her peers backed. But Ms. Conner changed course in this year’s campaign for governor, after concluding that Democrats could only win with more daring messages on issues like public health and immigration. And so on a recent Wednesday, she enlisted two other young women to volunteer for Abdul El-Sayed, a 33-year-old advocate of single-payer health care running an uphill race in Michigan to become the country’s first Muslim governor. ... Voters like Ms. Conner may not represent a controlling faction in the Democratic Party, at least not yet. But they are increasingly rattling primary elections around the country, and they promise to grow as a disruptive force in national elections as younger voters reject the traditional boundary lines of Democratic politics. ..."
NY Times
New Republic: The 2018 Midterms Are All About Health Care

#1 - Le Mellotron: Mehmet Aslan • DJ Set

"Now approaching its eighth year, Le Mellotron in Paris has firmly staked its place in the city’s alternative music scene. Recorded at a modest and trendy bar in the heart of Paris, the radio station offers a refreshing taste of what some of the city’s finest DJs and artists are all about. We reached out to learn more about the station’s alluring philosophy and what lays behind the steady rise of Le Mellotron." [00:00] Selda Bağcan - Acıyı Bal Eyledik; [04:32] Barış Manço - Kara Haber; [07:30] Barış Manço - Eğri Eğri (De Los Miedos Edit); [12:46] Osman İşmen Orkestrası - Disco Madımak (Barris K Edit); [17:53] Salma Agha - Come Closer; [23:09] Nur Yoldaş - Nagehan Bustane Faslı (Kaan Düzarat Edit); [27:20] Arşivplak - Volga Nehri; [31:19] Hakkı Bulut - Ben Köylüyüm; [34:15] Steaua De Mare - ?; [39:25] Mazhar Ve Fuat - Nerde Hani (Mehmet Aslan Edit); [48:03] Steaua De Mare - Doamne Ce Greșeală Am (Mehmet Aslan Remix); [55:33] Moğollar - FAIRY TALES / Peri Bacaları; [58:04] RÜYA ÇAĞLA-ODANA SERDİM HALİ"
YouTube: Mehmet Aslan • DJ Set
MixCloud: Mehmet Aslan • DJ Set
French club Badaboum is going to hide DJs behind a curtain (Video/Audio)

Death of a Cyclist - Juan Antonio Bardem (1955)

Wikipedia - "Death of a Cyclist (Spanish: Muerte de un ciclista) is a 1955 social realist Spanish drama film directed by Juan Antonio Bardem and starring Italian actress Lucia Bosè, who was dubbed into Spanish by Elsa Fábregas. It won the FIPRESCI Award at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival. While returning to Madrid after an illicit tryst, a wealthy socialite housewife and a university professor accidentally strike a bicyclist with their car. Although they see that he is still alive after the accident, they know they cannot summon help for him without their affair being revealed. They drive away and leave him to die. After the bicyclist's death is reported in the newspaper, the pair deal with ever-rising tension, borne from their fear that their deeds will be exposed. ..."
Wikipedia
Culture Court
senses of cinema
amazon
YouTube: Death of a Cyclist - Trailer

Le Grand Canal - Claude Monet (1908)

Wikipedia - "Le Grand Canal is an oil on canvas painting by French Impressionist painter Claude Monet (1840–1926). This painting is part of a series of paintings Monet undertook during 1908. This painting series en plein air, is a classic view of the Grand Canal, an attempt to capture the ever-changing face of Venice, as seen from the Palazzo Barbaro, where he stayed during his trip, was painted during a period that is generally regarded by art historians as the peak of his career. It is one of the paintings from this series of Venetian waterscapes by Claude Monet. ... While there Monet completed a series of artwork on the Canale Grande painting the same motif at different times of the day. Monet had the habit of studying the same subject in a varying light, at different times of the day, which resulted during his active career in many distinct Monet series, like for example the Water Lilies series, Poplar series, Rouen Cathedral series, Haystacks series and Charing Cross Bridge series. ..."
Wikipedia
YouTube: Monet’s ‘Le Grand Canal’ | Sotheby's

Who Are You, Jack Whitten? By Jack Whitten

Mr. Whitten in his studio in TriBeCa in 1983.
"... My first studio in New York was a storefront at 369 East 10th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C. Stanley’s Bar was on the corner of Avenue B at 12th Street. The Lower East Side in 1960 was a thriving young art community and Stanley’s Bar was our favorite meeting place. Every night of the week I could speak with Ishmael Reed, Calvin C. Hernton, David Henderson, and other members of the Umbra Group of Poets and Writers. Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg often frequented the bar on off hours. Stanley, the Polish owner, knew Charlie Parker who was also a visitor in the early fifties. I loved to hear Stanley’s stories about Charlie Parker spending hours playing the jukebox and playing Polish polkas! Stanley, like Mike Fanelli who I would meet later in the sixties when I moved to the Lower West Side, was a friend of the artist. You could always get a hot meal on credit, cash a check without having a routine identification card; this was important because who had a bank account? The first time I ever showed a painting in public was at Stanley’s…a small group of collage paintings from 1963. ..."
The Paris Review
W - Jack Whitten
NY Times: Jack Whitten, Artist of Wide-Ranging Curiosity, Dies at 78
art21: An Artist's Life - Jack Whitten (Video)
artnet
YouTube: Jack Whitten on Mapping the Soul

Éliane Radigue: The Mysterious Power Of The Infinitesimal

"Éliane Radigue receives me in the soothing half-light of her apartment located in the middle of a little street in the 14th arrondissement. It’s not a very good day, she informs me at first, as her back is hurting and she nearly canceled our appointment. To show my gratitude, I slip a copy of Ardor into her hands, a book by Roberto Calasso dedicated to the Vedas, the sacred word of the Brahmins. The radiant octogenarian flips through the book with interest, her luminous gaze a near translucent blue. The charm has worked and a rapport is quickly established between us. We get off to a flying start for a four-hour conversation, over the course of which her memories become haphazardly entangled as she blithely skips from one anecdote to the next. ..."
Red Bull Music Academy Daily (Video)

ARP 2500

2014 February: Women And Their Machines: A Think-piece About Female Pioneerism in Electronic Music, 2018 May: Trilogie de la Mort (1988-1993)

Painted Land: In Search of the Group of Seven

JEH MacDonald, The Little Falls Sketch, 1918
"One would think The Group of Seven needs no introduction. Their iconic works are known to millions of Canadians, yet few are familiar with the lives of the artists themselves. Why did they choose locations in the remote, rugged wilderness of northern Ontario? Does anyone know precisely where they went? Past meets present in a film that is evocative in approach, energized by breathtaking cinematography and an uplifting musical score, and offers a new and articulate voice to the artists who were the Group of Seven. Painted Land weaves seamlessly the experiences of Lawren Harris, J.E.H. MacDonald, A.Y. Jackson, Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, Franklin Carmichael and A.J. Casson – with the adventures of three modern day sleuths. Historian Michael Burtch, and the writer and photographer team of Gary and Joanie McGuffin are determined to track down the precise locations of these famous paintings. Archival film, letters, journals and photographs of the artists – some of which have never been seen in public – take the viewers back in time. This film weaves this history with a modern day adventure, up mountains, down canyon rivers and over portages with our trio as they try to achieve their own personal quest: to actually ‘walk in the Group of Seven’s footsteps’."
White Pine Pictures (Video)
W - Group of Seven (artists)
W - Painted Land: In Search of the Group of Seven
Painted Land (Video)
vimeo: PAINTED LAND: In Search of The Group of Seven (sizzle reel)

Frederick H. Varley, Stormy Weather - Georgian Bay, 1920

The ROIR Label’s Timeless Documents of Underground Music

"If you had a taste for underground music in the ‘80s, you almost certainly had multiple releases on the ROIR (pronounced 'roar') label in your collection. The tiny New York label’s output was exclusively available on brightly-colored cassettes, with liner notes by noted rock critics like Lester Bangs, Robert Christgau, Byron Coley, Kurt Loder, Jon Pareles, and a pre-Yo La Tengo Ira Kaplan. The catalog included releases by proto-punk and punk legends like the MC5, Television, the New York Dolls (and Johnny Thunders), Nico, the Raincoats, the Dictators, and Suicide, as well as hardcore acts like Flipper and GG Allin, compilations like New York Thrash (featuring the Beastie Boys’ earliest recording), and the Bad Brains’ legendary 'yellow tape.' They also released noisy, arty music by Glenn Branca, Christian Marclay, Laibach, and Einstürzende Neubauten. ..."
Bandcamp (Audio)
ROIR - Bandcamp
W - ROIR
W - List of artists that appear on ROIR

New Orleans Funk 1960/75 - Soul Jazz

"Check the title -- New Orleans funk is not the same thing as New Orleans R&B or soul, so this may not be the sound that you're expecting. Even if it opens with the Meters, this isn't a compilation that plays to familiar sounds or expectations. Instead, it lays the groundwork for funk as it was known in the '70s or plays forgotten, possibly never-heard sounds from the '70s. So there ain't a single cut here that you will have heard or recognize unless you are an unrepentant New Orleans fanatic; some names are familiar -- the Meters, Lee Dorsey, Eddie Bo, Huey Piano Smith, Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, and Robert Parker -- but apart from Professor Longhair's 'Big Chief,' there's not a single thing here that regularly makes New Orleans comps or that will be recognized by anyone outside of the devoted. All 24 selections were chosen on one basis -- whether their recorded grooves were funky enough to be sampled and reappropriated to something else. Most of them are, but that may be beside the point, since this is a collection for record collectors who don't specialize in this style -- they're just looking for grooves. ..."
allmusic
Discogs
amazon
YouTube: New Orleans Funk 1960/75 - Soul Jazz [Full Album]

G Lucas Crane: Time Boiler

"Time Boiler is both a tale of time travel memory loss told in tape collage music and a series of attempts at time compression through musical trials on the performing body. In this program, G Lucas Crane will be tasked with specific times in which to tell each part of the story, cooking down time itself into a series of dense atmospheric collages set to otherworldly video pieces. He will reveal the lost tapes of prophecy and use these mutant tapes of yore to succeed in the trials of the Time Boiler. This performance will illustrate the psychological consequences of time travel on the human mind through a series of live compositions constructed from the depths of his cassette tape archive of ancient sound memories collaged together in the style of an apocalypse DJ. ..."
Roulette (Video)
Roulette: Spotlight on G. Lucas Crane
G. Lucas Crane (Audio / Video)
vimeo: G. Lucas Crane, NYC @ Silent Barn | 09 Apr 2011, g lucas crane live november
YouTube: G. Lucas Crane Explains Himself: Tapes, Analog Livin' and the Silent Barn (2011), G LUCAS CRANE REMIX ON POST APOCALYPTIC MUSIC (2009)

Felipe Jesus Consalvos

"A self-appointed 'artist, healer, and man,' Felipe Jesus Consalvos worked for much of his life as a cigar roller, and he extrapolated the vernacular tradition of cigar band collage to a sophisticated practice. The Havana-born artist immigrated to Miami around 1920, eventually settling in New York and then Philadelphia. His obsessive body of work—over 750 surviving collages on paper, found photographs, musical instruments, furniture, and other unexpected surfaces—was discovered in 1980 at a West Philadelphia garage sale. Consalvos' practice parallels and in some cases prefigures certain contemporaneous developments in Surrealist, Dada, and Futurist and Pop collage, and even poetry. His collages share the biting socio-political satire and absurdist impulse of Dadaists like Kurt Schwitters and Max Ernst, along with abstruse mysticism. ..."
Fleisher Ollman Gallery
W - Felipe Jesus Consalvos
W - Outsider art

DNA - A Taste Of DNA (EP - 1981)

“New York's DNA have had a massive effect on alternative / indie rock around the world, despite the trio never releasing a full-length studio album during their four year tenure (1978-82). Various groups citing them as an influence have included Sonic Youth, Boredoms, Big Black and Blonde Redhead (the latter taking their name from DNA's most-famous song). While the band's explosive live performances captivated audiences, extant recordings captured DNA's dynamic sound and savage economy in songwriting. Originally released in 1981, A Taste Of DNA remains a primary source for No Wave archaeologists. Singer/guitarist Arto Lindsay and drummer Ikue Mori are joined by bassist and Pere Ubu founding-member Tim Wright. Across the EP's six anti-epic tracks, the band charges forward with jagged guitars and dislocated grooves, while Lindsay's guttural screams create a thoroughly personal semantics. ..."
Boomkat
W - A Taste Of DNA
Discogs
YouTube: A Taste of DNA (Full Album)

2009 October: Arto Lindsay, 2012 July: Lounge Lizards, 2015 October: The Golden Palominos - The Golden Palominos (1983), 2015 November: Love Of Life Orchestra ‎– Extended Niceties EP (1980), 2017 October: The Lounge Lizards - Lounge Lizards (1981), 2018 February: Arto Lindsay ... Simply Are

Trump, at Putin’s Side, Questions U.S. Intelligence on 2016 Election

During a press conference with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, President Trump would not say whether he believed Russia meddled with the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
"HELSINKI, Finland — President Trump stood next to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Monday and publicly challenged the conclusion of his own intelligence agencies that Moscow interfered in the 2016 presidential election, wrapping up what he called a 'deeply productive' summit meeting with an extraordinary show of trust for a leader accused of attacking American democracy. 'They said they think it’s Russia; I have President Putin, he just said it’s not Russia,' Mr. Trump said, only moments after the Russian president conceded that he had favored Mr. Trump in the election because of his promises of warmer relations with Moscow. 'I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be' Russia that was responsible for the election hacking, Mr. Trump added. 'I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.' The 45-minute news conference offered the remarkable spectacle of the American and Russian presidents both pushing back on the notion of Moscow’s election interference, with Mr. Putin demanding evidence of something he said had never been proved, and Mr. Trump appearing to agree."
NY Times (Video)
The Atlantic: Trump Sides With the Kremlin, Against the U.S. Government
NY Times: 12 Russians Charged: Major Highlights of the Indictment and Rod Rosenstein’s Statement (Video)

Balcony Seats to the City

A newly arrived immigrant eats noodles on the fire escape in New York City.
"Even in quickly evolving New York City, there’s something romantic about slowing down, stepping out of the fast currents of foot traffic, and looking up. Few neighborhoods will disappoint. Look up high, especially in Manhattan, and you can see the built history of the big city play out in the architectural details and ornamental facades of buildings, awnings and balconies standing out like grooves in record, ready to reveal the story of each block. Within the skyscraper canyons of Midtown, you can spot the pinnacles of great towers, and the cranes of greater towers in the making. But look a little lower, around the corners and in the alleyways, and you’ll see a structure with a romantic connection to an older New York City, zig-zagging down towards the streets. Fire escapes have a fairly straightforward purpose, designed for the noble role their name implies. But for much of their history, in cities across the world, they’ve served altogether different roles. ..."
Patrick Sisson

Tintin Mural, Brussels. By Chris Brearly

A solstice track from Malta-based Robert Farrugia

"Gossamer lines that go on forever. Layers of tones that never congeal, each left with enough space to retain its own unique quality, its own place in the nonetheless lush, expressive, and expertly choreographed mix. Deep swells, occasionally sudden, that lend drama in the face of stasis. These are just a few of the qualities of 'Transition' by Robert Farrugia. The track is one of eight on Solstice, a new compilation from the Archives label. Also featured on Solstice are the musicians r beny, Steve Pacheco, Pechblende, Mikael Lind, Hotel Neon, Hirotaka Shirotsubaki, and Warmth, the latter aka Agustín Mena, the Valencia, Spain–based head of Archives. Track first posted at soundcloud.com/archives-5. Get the full album at archivesdubmusic.bandcamp.com. More from Farrugia, who is based in Malta, at robertfarrugia.bandcamp.com."
disquiet (Audio)
Out Now! Robert Farrugia – Almost There (Audio)

France, Finally Showing Its Class, Wears World Cup Crown

France’s celebrates after winning the World Cup.
"France’s first goal came off a Croatian’s head. The second was scored with the aid of the Argentine referee, and became the first video-assistant-reviewed goal in World Cup history. But the next two — hard low shots by the young French stars Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappé — confirmed what everyone knew even before France polished off its 4-2 victory on Sunday: France was the best team in the field this summer in Russia, and for that reason its team — a potent mix of greatness, grit and good fortune — is the world champion again. The title is France’s second and the first since it won on home soil in 1998, and it ended a thrilling run by Croatia. The Croats survived three consecutive extra-time games and two penalty shootouts to reach their first final, and they even had the better of the game on Sunday. ..."
NY Times
Aljazeera: France beat Croatia to win World Cup 2018
Guardian: France 4 - 2 Croatia
YouTube: France vs croatia 4-2 ¶¶ hightlight all goals final

Henry Singleton, "The Storming of the Bastille."
"Today people all over the world celebrate the 1789 storming of the Bastille Saint-Antoine — a dramatic popular rebellion that sparked the French Revolution. But what was the French Revolution, how did it reshape Europe and the world, and what relevance does it have to the workers’ movement today? Here’s a short primer, lovingly compiled by Jacobin to mark the occasion. What was the French Revolution? The French Revolution was one of the most dramatic social upheavals in history. In 1856, French sociologist Alexis de Tocqueville reviewed the so-called “grievance books” — lists of demands made by the various social layers of France in anticipation of the Estates-General, the assembly that would undermine Louis XVI’s reign and lead ultimately to revolution. What he discovered startled him. ..."
Jacobin: A Guide to the French Revolution
Jacobin: Yes, the French Revolution Was Necessary
The Nation - ‘The Social Ladder Is Broken’: Hope and Despair in the French Banlieues
The France of No Tomorrow

Dealing with Creative Block? A Deck of Cards Might Help

Ricardo Cavolo, from the series “Tarto Del Fuego,” 2016. Courtesy of Station 16 Gallery.
"Geeta Dayal was stuck. Back in 2007, the music journalist was working on a book about Brian Eno’s 1975 album Another Green World, but ideas and drafts kept piling up with little forward progress. The project, she wrote later, had started to weigh on her 'like a ten-thousand-pound albatross.' So she picked up an Oblique Strategies deck—a set of instruction-based cards written by Eno and artist Peter Schmidt to help overcome creative block—and let them guide her. 'Work at a different speed,' one commanded. Dayal jotted down her ideas without hesitating or overthinking. 'Make a sudden, destructive unpredictable action; incorporate.' She ripped up the chapter she had been working on. 'Take a break.' She stopped writing for a while—long enough to take up cycling and read both volumes of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. ..."
artsy

Around the World in 51 Soccer Movies

“Péle: Birth of a Legend”
"I started off intending to write an article about soccer and cinema, but I wound up writing just as much about poverty, tyranny, and war. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Football has always been tied up with politics, revolution, and social change. It’s the world’s most popular sport, and practically every country — no matter how small its film industry — has a movie about it. Sometimes these are triumphant tales of overcoming great odds: little kids whose dreams come true, or downtrodden nations finding success at the World Cup. Sometimes they are stories about how even soccer can’t defeat forces of violence and hate; indeed, sometimes the football is a weapon wielded by those very forces. The Beautiful Game can just as often be the ugliest one. ..."
Voice

Markets of Paris - Dixon Long & Marjorie R. Williams (2012) / The Markets of Paris - Emile Zola (1873)

"The food scene in Paris has changed dramatically since 2006, when Markets of Paris was first published. Yes, the same markets are held in the same locales as always—literally, for centuries—but many have undergone a remarkable transformation led by a young generation of purveyors focused, even more than their predecessors, on local and organic ('bio') produce. Markets of Paris, 2nd Edition revisits and updates the entire market scene in Paris, with new entries, including Virtual Markets and Market Streets, Markets Open on Sunday, Artisan Bakers and Artisan Foods, Getting Along in the Food Markets, Brocante Fairs, and more. Updates focus on the most interesting vendors and most unique and enticing offerings to be found at each locale, including prepared food that can be eaten on the spot. One of the biggest changes in the Paris market scene in recent years has been the spike of interest in organic, reflected in the popularity of the Raspail organic market. Often it’s referred to as 'Le Marché Bio,' and many claim it’s the crème de la crème of all Paris’s markets. ..."
NYRBooks
The Belly of Paris by Émile Zola - On Bookes
W - Le Ventre de Paris
The markets of Paris - Zola, Émile

The Square in front of Les Halles by Victor Gabriel Gilbert, 1880.

Left Politics Can Win All Over the Country

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, May 26, 2018.
"The Democratic establishment is clearly flustered by the stunning upset victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over the person who was considered to be the likely next Democratic leader of the House, Congressman Joe Crowley. Former DCCC Chair Steve Israel, in a quote I found entertaining as a former Iowan who has knocked on a lot of doors in Brooklyn, Iowa, opined that 'What sounds good in Brooklyn, New York, doesn’t work in Brooklyn, Iowa.' Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, who is at least a Midwesterner, said in response to Ocasio-Cortez’s victory that a political platform 'too far to the left' could not win in the Midwest. Other Democratic insiders are insisting that this upset isn’t that big a deal, making the case that Ocasio-Cortez’s ideas are actually no different than mainstream Democratic Party stuff, she just wraps it in the label 'socialism.' ..."
The Nation

Ikebe Shakedown - Hard Steppin' (2016)

"Ikebe Shakedown's debut release is as heavy as an angry herd of elephants! Recorded at Dunham Studios in Brooklyn with the help of members of The Budos Band, these tracks are rough and tough to be sure and offer a variety of different sounds from the band. Ikebe seamlessly blends the raw emotion and passion of '70s African Funk with the danceable horns and rhythms of American soul music! Ikebe Shakedown is Brooklyn-based, eight-piece instrumental juggernaut that incorporates the sounds of '60s and '70s African Funk and American Soul Music for a totally fresh sound. Featuring dynamic horns backed by a hard-hitting rhythm section, Ikebe Shakedown (pronounced ee-kay-bay) will get you out of your seat and onto the dance floor! With obvious influences from legendary groups such as The J.B.'s and The Meters, Ikebe Shakedown is also looking to make their own mark on the Brooklyn scene in the vein of more contemporary groups like The Budos Band, Antibalas, and The Menahan Street Band."
Underground HipHop
Discogs
iTunes
YouTube: Ikebe Shakedown - Hard Steppin' [FULL ALBUM STREAM]

The Burning House

David Wojnarowicz with Tom Warren, Self-Portrait of David Wojnarowicz (detail), 1983–84
"I was reading Close to the Knives in Mexico, where David Wojnarowicz spent significant amounts of time—Oaxaca, mainly, and Mexico City and the border towns—though I didn’t know that then. I was staying at an expensive resort, which was in a state of constant repair, as those kinds of resorts always are: stucco was being smoothed and repainted, bright clouds of bougainvillea were being trimmed, concrete was being resurfaced. It was an ultimately futile tussle between man and nature, one frustrating and poignant to watch; it took teams of people, and their collective diligence, to try to undo what nature would keep doing. One day, the resort would close, and within months or weeks or days, all of those years of vigilance would mean nothing—the rains would rust the metal lanterns, the sun would leach the color from the walls, the hibiscus would grow stalky and shaggy. ..."
The Paris Review

Agnès Varda - Vagabond (1985)

"Unapologetically transgressive, righteously bleak and infused with a uniquely feminist sensibility, Vagabond proved to be one of Agnès Varda’s most essential films, winning the Golden Lion at the 1985 Venice Film Festival and a best actress César for Sandrine Bonnaire. Set against the frigid winter landscape of rural France, it follows Mona, a complex and contradictory drifter, who survives on handouts and ephemeral liaisons with strangers. We begin at the end, with the discovery of her corpse in a ditch. Then, through flashbacks and interviews with people who came into contact with her, Varda’s film attempts to reconstruct the final days of her life. Here are five reasons Vagabond deserves your attention. ..."
Five reasons to watch Vagabond, Agnès Varda’s austerely beautiful masterwork
W - Vagabond
Portrait of a Vagabond: An Appreciation of Agnès Varda
NY Times: Archives | 1985
amazon
DailyMotion: Trailer: Vagabond (Sans Toit ni Loi)

Agnès Varda directs Vagabond

August 2010: Agnès Varda, May 2011: The Beaches of Agnès, 2011 December: Interview - Agnès Varda, 2013 February: The Gleaners and I (2000), 2013 September: Cinévardaphoto (2004), 2014 July: Black Panthers (1968 doc.), 2014 October: Art on Screen: A Conversation with Agnès Varda, 2015 September: Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962), Plaisir d’amour en Iran (1976), 2017 April: Agnès Varda’s Art of Being There, 2017 April: AGNÈS VARDA with Alexandra Juhasz, 2017 August: Agnès Varda on her life and work - Artforum, 2017 October: Agnès Varda’s Ecological Conscience, 2018 March: Faces Places - Agnès Varda and JR (2017)

August Wilson - Pittsburgh Cycle

A scene from the August Wilson play “Jitney” on Broadway at the Friedman Theater.
Wikipedia - "Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle, also often referred to as his Century Cycle, consists of ten plays—nine of which are set in Pittsburgh's Hill District (the other being set in Chicago), an African-American neighborhood that takes on a mythic literary significance like Thomas Hardy's Wessex, William Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County, or Irish playwright Brian Friel's Ballybeg. The plays are each set in a different decade and aim to sketch the Black experience in the 20th century and 'raise consciousness through theater' and echo 'the poetry in the everyday language of black America'. He was fascinated by the power of theater as a medium where a community at large could come together to bear witness to events and currents unfolding. ..."
Wikipedia
August Wilson’s Pittsburgh. As soon as you emerge from the Fort Pitt Tunnel in Pittsburgh the city’s impressive skyline appears, with the 44-story Art Deco Gulf Tower and the glassy, neo-Gothic PPG Place accentuating the view. Those two buildings tell the tale of the city. Once defined by its production of iron and steel, along with the ensuing smog, Pittsburgh now has self-driving cars being tested on its streets and rapid gentrification in many of its historically blue-collar neighborhoods. It may seem as if the city is changing at an unparalleled pace but Pittsburgh has been steadily evolving for generations. August Wilson, the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, poet, scholar and native son knew this firsthand. Change was something that Wilson brilliantly captured in what is known as the Century Cycle, his collection of 10 plays that reveal the broad African-American experience for each decade of the 20th century. ..."
NY Times
NY Times - August Wilson on Broadway: A History
The Hill District
11 Things You Should Know About August Wilson (Video)

2017 July: Fences (2016), 2017 August: The Ground on Which I Stand, a Speech on Black Theatre and Performance (1992)

The Soul Of Spanish Harlem / El Barrio: Sounds from the Spanish Harlem Streets

"The mid-to-late 60s produced an explosion of Latin soul, emanating a few blocks east of Harlem's Apollo Theater in East or Spanish Harlem. This compilation features the sweet harmony sounds of artists from the area - including Joe Bataan, Ralphi Pagan, the Lebron Brothers and a host of unknowns who recorded for labels such as Fania, Cotique and Speed. It also includes rare 45s by Parrish and 125th Street Candy Store. It gathers up some of the rarest and most sought after recordings of the era, including three-figure singles by Frankie Nieves, Tony Middleton and Harvey Averne which are collected by dancers, as well as Olivieri and Ralphi and the Latin Lovers which are sought-after by vocal group fans. ..."
Holland Tunnel Dive
amazon: The Soul Of Spanish Harlem
YouTube: THE TERRIBLE FRANKIE NIEVES (TRUE LOVE), TITO RAMOS ( HEAVEN), RONNIE MARKS (SOME LONELY HEART)
Juno: The Soul Of Spanish Harlem (Audio)
"Awesome new installment in the essential 'El Barrio' series of compilations from the great Fania salsa label. Fania is to salsa as Motown is to soul or Studio One is to reggae and this compilation picks fifteen killer tracks from the Fania 'family' of labels that included Tico and Allegre. There's a good mixture of 'classic' tracks alongside well chosen obscurities from some of the rarer releases. Explosive New York latin music that incorporates elements of soul and rock from the 1960s and 1970s with intense percussion, fiery singing, and explosive horns. ..."
Holland Tunnel Dive
amazon: El Barrio: Sounds From Spanish Harlem Streets
YouTube: Roberto Roena y su Apollo Sound - Consolacion, Pete Rodriguez Y Su Conjunto - Here come the judge, Tito Puente - Safari, Eddie Palmieri = Chocolate ice cream

All the Roman Roads of Italy, Visualized as a Modern Subway Map

"At its peak around the year 117 AD, the mighty Roman Empire owned five million square kilometers of land. It ruled more than 55 million people, between a sixth and a quarter of the population of the entire world. The empire, as classicist and historian Christopher Kelly describes it, 'stretched from Hadrian's Wall in drizzle-soaked northern England to the sun-baked banks of the Euphrates in Syria; from the great Rhine-Danube river system, which snaked across the fertile, flat lands of Europe from the Low Countries to the Black Sea, to the rich plains of the North African coast and the luxuriant gash of the Nile Valley in Egypt.' All that power, of course, originally emanated from Italy. The builders of the Roman Empire couldn't have pulled it off without serious infrastructural acumen, including the skill to make concrete that lasts longer than even the modern variety as well as the forcefulness and sheer manpower to lay more than 400,000 kilometers of road. ..."
Open Culture

Funky Destination ‎– Revolution Is Only Solution (2013)

"Funky Destination a.k.a Vladimir Sivc returns with a brand new release for Timewarp. Already counting one album and numerous ep's & singles during the past four years, he finally presents his next, highly anticipated, full length album! 'Revolution Is Only Solution' presents 11 new well made funk tunes and songs plus two remixes on the song 'The Inside Man' from great funksters Soopasoul and Valique. This great album presents Funky Destination's musical skills that blend funk, soul, house and breaks with great party feeling and easy going funk grooves. Plus we agree with him regarding what the album title states: 'Revolution Is Only Solution'. All songs mastered by Angelos Timewarp Stoumpos (except Valique remix). ..."
Timewarp Music (Audio)
Discogs
iTunes
YouTube: The Inside Man (Soopasoul remix), Hollywood Jollywood, Such A Good Feeling, The Inside Man

For the Sake of the Song - Townes Van Zandt (1968)

Wikipedia - "For the Sake of the Song is the debut album by country singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt, released in 1968. The majority of the songs, including the title track, 'Tecumseh Valley', '(Quicksilver Daydreams of) Maria', 'Waiting 'Round to Die', and 'Sad Cinderella', were re-recorded in more stripped-down versions for subsequent studio albums. For the Sake of the Song would be the flagship release on Poppy Records, a label operated by Keven Eggers, with whom Van Zandt would have a long and complex professional relationship. ... Clement, who had been an engineer for Sam Phillips at Sun Records and an established songwriter himself, offered to produce the album with Jim Malloy. ..."
Wikipedia
Townes Van Zandt: For the Sake of the Song
allmusic
amazon
YouTube: For The Sake Of The Song [Full Album] 36:54

2018 Tour de France

Wikipedia - "The 2018 Tour de France is the 105th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's three Grand Tours. The 3,351 km (2,082 mi) race started from Noirmoutier-en-l'Île, in the Vendée department, on 7 July and will finish with the Champs-Élysées stage in Paris, on 29 July. A total of 176 riders across 22 teams are participating in the 21-stage race. The Tour is the shortest of the millennium and will be the fifth time a tour has set out from the Vendée department. ... Defending champion Chris Froome (Team Sky) was generally considered the main favourite for victory. He had won four out of the last five editions, and was also the current defending champion at both other Grand Tours, the Vuelta a España and the Giro d'Italia. However, Froome's participation was cast into doubt when he returned a urine sample at the 2017 Vuelta a España, which contained twice the allowed amount of the asthma drug salbutamol. ... The sprinters considered favourites for the points classification and wins on the flat or hilly bunch sprint finishes are Peter Sagan, Fernando Gaviria, Dylan Groenewegen, Arnaud Démare, Marcel Kittel, Michael Matthews, Mark Cavendish, André Greipel, Alexander Kristoff, Sonny Colbrelli, Nacer Bouhanni, John Degenkolb. ..."
Wikipedia
Le Tour (Video)
Guardian (Video)
Telegraph (Video)
Telegraph - Tour de France 2018: Full starting list and remaining teams and riders (Video)
BBC (Video)
Steephill (Video)
Cycling
twitter, facebook
YouTube: The Route in 3D - Tour de France 2018

2008 July: Tour de France 2008, 2009 July: Tour de France 2009, 2010 July: Tour de France 2010,  2011 July: Tour de France 2011, 2012 July: 2012 Tour de France, 2015 July: 2015 Tour de France, 2015 July: Tour de France 2015: Team Time Trial Win Bolsters American’s Shot at Podium, 2015 July: Tour de France: Chris Froome completes historic British win, 2016 July: 2016 Tour de France, 2017 July: 2017 Tour de France, 2018 May: 2018 Giro d'Italia

First Album, First Song: The 150 Best Lead-Off Tracks

"Over the years, some bands who've released recording debuts have launched their careers with a single from the album that, in many cases, was the first song on the first side of their record. In the business, these songs are called 'lead-off tracks,' denoting the first in a series of songs on an album. Many of these tracks spawned major hits: from Beyoncé's 'Crazy In Love,' 'Chuck E's In Love' by Rickie Lee Jones and Norah Jones' 'Don't Know Why,' to Foo Fighters' 'This Is A Call' and 'Suite: Judy Blue Eyes' by Crosby, Stills & Nash. Still others, while not major radio hits, have had lasting influence on pop music. 'Radio Free Europe' by R.E.M., 'Illegal Smile' by John Prine, 'Push It Along' by A Tribe Called Quest and 'Sunday Morning' by The Velvet Underground come to mind. From rock and soul to R&B and rap, we've collected 150 of these lead-off tracks into one playlist. Listen below."
NPR (Audio)

The Exquisite Catalog of a Crow Fair

"When Dr. Denene De Quintal arrived at the Denver Art Museum as a curatorial fellow in 2016, one of her first assignments was to dig into the extensive, old-school card catalog that documents objects in the museum’s Native Arts department—a seemingly ordinary task. But De Quintal was greeted by something she describes as both unusual and fascinating. On the backs of the cards were small, exquisitely-detailed watercolor paintings of native objects—baskets, spears, shoes, clothes and more, all rendered in painstaking realism down to the pattern and texture. The volume of the card catalog is staggering: There are over 20,000 artworks in the Native Arts department; of those, 15,000 have illustrated cards. ..."
Topic

The Black and White Cookie at the End of the World

"Last weekend, after 116 years of serving Yorkville’s sweet-toothed populace, Glaser’s Bake Shop permanently closed its doors. Beloved in particular for its lavishly frosted black and whites — perhaps the most iconic example of New York City’s most iconic cookie — the bakery was most recently owned and operated by brothers Herb and John Glaser, the third generation to run the family business. And on Sunday, July 1, it served its final cookie. I’d never been before, despite my twin interests in mom-and-pops (or, as the case may be, sibling-and-siblings) and all things sugar. I woke up early on Saturday morning, Glaser’s second-to-last day in existence, and took the train to the Upper East Side. I expected there might be a line, and if so, I was prepared to wait up to, I don’t know, half an hour? I had no idea what was in store for me. The bakery opened at 7 a.m.; I arrived around 8:15. ..."
Voice
W - Black and white cookie
NYC's Black & White Cookies, Ranked
YouTube: Seinfeld - Black and White Cookie