This Thanksgiving, after you give thanks for your whatever your thankful for, Check out this film festival it's the BAM punk film festival. The choices are really UK in scope - but still a great way to finish the holiday.

All are at the BAM / Rose Cinemas

Highlights include (with some personal notes)
24 Hour Party People - This is the Tony Wilson Story (Factory Records) and include cameos by all your fave Factory Folks - look for Vini Reilly (Durutti Column) acting as a roadie/deliveryman

Jubilee - Derek Jarman directed this great film - It's not often played - don't miss it.

Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten - This is the recent Bio pic of Strummers life by Julien Temple who also did The Filth and the Fury really a great documentary - esp. before and after The Clash

Urgh! A Music War - This is the Classic IRS records showcase movie. I saw this at the Ontario Theater - X played first then they screened the film. No one was really that up for the film after that - it was still a great time.

Follow this link

Labels: movies, music, New York

Before I get to what I should have known, let me remind you that William Eggleston: The Democratic Camera opens at the Whitney this week.

Ok here is the interesting part. After the Velvet Underground many people would consider Big Star to be the most important bands no one really knows. (Bare with me on this poor choice of words) Anyway I was reading the liner notes to the third Big Star record (it's called either Third or Sisters Lovers) and I stumbled over the name of the keyboard player in many of the sessions - that keyboardist is William Eggelston. Consider me floored.

I'm a huge Alex Chilton/Big Star fan and as close to an Eggleston fanboy as there is - so I thought I would share.

Go vote.

Labels: music, New York, Photography

I apologize for the recent political nature of a number of the last few post, however I thought that this was too good to pass up. It's from the Guardian.

A Timeline of the world economy versus AC/DC album releases.

1973:
AC/DC form in Sydney, Australia.
Economy: Start of the oil crisis, which saw the price quadruple

1980:
AC/DC release breakthrough album Back In Black
Economy: Inflation in UK reaches 20% and unemployment nears 2 million

1990:
AC/DC score comeback with The Razor's Edge
Economy: Recession in UK imminent

2008:
AC/DC top UK album charts
Economy: Biggest world recession in decades looms

Labels: international, music

Brian Eno and David Byrne recently finished their first collaboration in about 30 years. The name of the new record is Everything That Happens Will Happen Today and the music will be available on the web on August 18th (free streaming) and can be purchased as a download and in physical formats.

Right now, however you can download one of the songs; Strange Overtones. go to www.everythingthathappens.com and get yours today.

Labels: Eno, music

Sonic Youth & The Feelies

Time: 3:30pm
Date: July 4, 2008
Location: Battery Park
Price: Free

Sonic Youth came on the music scene in the early '80s and continues to be a major force in the indie genre today. Known to "redefine what rock guitar could do," they have created a new sonic landscape rich in alternative sounds. Bring a blanket and come Downtown to enjoy the hits that have earned them a dedicated decades-long following. The Feelies will reunite to open.

This concert is presented with special support from WFMU.

Tickets are required and space is limited. The tickets are free and will be available by reservation on this website starting at noon on Thursday, June 12. There’s a strict limit of 2 per person. You will need to pick up your reserved tickets at one of the specified Downtown locations and times BEFORE July 4th, so please be prepared to do so. The times and locations for pickup will be given to you when you reserve your tickets.

Phone: 212.835.2789
Website.

Labels: music, New York

From Paul Morley's programme "Pop! What Is It Good For?" Simon Armitage, the poet and Paul Morley, a great rock and roll critic. talk through The Smiths "This Charming Man". I was never a huge Smiths fan, but I thought this was kind of interesting.

I thought it was weird to write the words "rock and roll", I mean does that even mean anything anymore?

Labels: music, Video

I doubt many of you are aware of Julian Cope's Krautrocksampler book from a few years back - a detailed and fascinating history of the music produced in Germany in the late 60s and 70s (with a heavy emphasis on "prog" rock). Well, he's now doing the same thing for Japanese music with the Japrocksampler.

Japrocksampler is a larger book than the German one, Japrocksampler is a more detailed look at the Japanese scene, with plenty of background, before focusing on the key artists and collector's favorites.

Labels: music

CBGB founder Hilly Kristal has died from complications of lung cancer at the age of 75. HK was the owner of CBGB's - a club that helped launch the careers for the Ramones, Blondie, and the Talking Heads and most of the New York Punk scene. Over the last few years, Kristal fought a long legal battle with the club's landlord to keep the club open, but lost, and the club closed down after 33 years in business. He was considering resurrecting the venue in Las Vegas.

On a related Note: It seems like the "baby boom" generation has really started to die over the summer, and as sad as it is to see some amazing people leave us, I don't want this blog to become the art obituaries. So if I miss some of these in the future, it's not that I didn't care, it's just that I need to focus on the living for the most part. Thanks for understanding.

Labels: Death, music, New York

Lee Hazelwood died at his home outside Las Vegas, after a three year struggle with cancer.

Lee Hazelwood proved himself to be one of the most ingenious, inspired and impressively stubborn people the music industry ever saw. Most famous for his work with Nancy Sinatra - he wrote and produced many of her biggest hits, including These Boots Were Made For Walking, Jackson (covered by Johnny Cash as well), and the unforgettable Some Velvet Morning.

Labels: 60's, Death, Las Vegas, music

A Certain Ratio "Shack Up" - Youtube

Section 25: Looking from a Hilltop - Youtube

crispy ambulance - Youtube

New Order: Confusion - Youtube

Joy Division: Love Will Tear Us Apart - Youtube

Joy Division: atmosphere - Youtube

Kalima: You Got Me Beat - Youtube

A Certain Ratio: Don`t You Worry About A Thing - Youtube

Monaco: What Do You Want From Me - Youtube

Electronic: Disappointed - Youtube

Cabaret Voltaire - Sensoria - Youtube

Labels: music, Video

Durutti Column
From the "Amigos em Portugal" record. - You Tube

Durutti Column - Prayer
From spanish tv. - You Tube

Durutti Column - Without Mercy - You Tube

Nicole Blackman - The Courtesan Tales
A short feature on Nicole's most provocative work. - You Tube

Damien Hirst talks about "A Thousand Years"
ATH is a very provocative work that actually contains an entire lifecycle of several maggots. Maggots hatch out of a minimal white box and then feed on a cow's head conveniently placed in the larger glass case. Some of the flies then die in the "insect-o-cuter" while others survive to continue their life cycle. - You Tube

Jack Kerouac explains on the road
Kerouac reads his reason for writing while accompanied by steve allen on piano – from the old Steve Allen Show. - You Tube

Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues
From d. a. pennebaker's film, Dont Look Back. - You Tube

Labels: music, Video

What do you think of Jasper Johns?
Warhol on Johns - You Tube

Warhol eats Burger King
so delicious - You Tube

Robert Raushenberg - Erased de Kooning Drawing
RR interviewed about this artwork - You Tube

Basquiat Interview
This is pretty self explanatory - You Tube

Brice Marden
A PBS interview around the time of his recent show at MoMA - You Tube

Velvet Underground Performance - EPI - European Son
Velvet Underground Performance - Exploding Plastic Inevitable - The Factory Andy Warhol - European Son - You Tube

John Cale and Lou Reed
Lou Reed & John Cale performing Waiting for My Man at the Bataclan in Paris in 1972. - You Tube

Labels: 60's, Brice Marden, music, Video, Warhol

Answers to other arcana of REM can be found here at Pop Songs 07. a website that is dedicated to writing about every song on every REM album.

The background of; "whats the frequency..." (not found on Pop Songs 07) According to the theory (and Rather agrees), William Tager (the Dan Rather attacker), was/is apparently mentally disturbed, was convinced that the news media was beaming signals into his head. It is further alleged that he demanded that Rather tell him the frequency of the signals. Speculation at the time was that Rather received his communications from the CIA on a particular radio frequency while he was in Vietnam, and that his operational code name then was "Kenneth."

According to R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe, It remains the premier unsolved American surrealist act of the 20th century. It's a misunderstanding that was scarily random, media hyped and just plain bizarre.

Labels: light reading, music

Sonic Youth have announced a performance of the Daydream Nation album: July 28 at the McCarren Park Pool in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Tickets available today at 10AM Eastern. Public Tickets onsale Friday May 4 at noon Eastern.

Additional Daydream Nation performances in the USA include July 13 at the Pitchfork Music Festival, on July 19 at the Berkeley Community Theater in Berkeley, CA and July 20 at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.

Labels: music, New York

Blue Monday (Factory Records catalog number - Fac 73) is a song by New Order. To say it is the most famous song they ever did would be an understatement, people claim it is almost single-handedly responsible for rave culture. That may or may not be true (and that may or may not be a good thing). That is not to say Blue Monday is almost near religion among it's fans.

Which brings me to www.bluemondayownersclub.com. I don't have anything to really say about it, because I'm not sure if I think it's the greatest thing in the world or the scariest, I'll let you decide. In a way it's kind of like a shy version of my space where no one has to say anything - because by showing up your already in the club.

Needless to say it shows that men are truly the obsessive collectors the media and women claim that they are. Trouble is I still have my copy of that record as well. So what to make of this? I'm not sure except that I know that most of the people who have Blue Monday are white, short haired ex-trainspotting record collector types (or are you always that way). So if I see you walking down the street with a stack of records - I'm really not stalking you - I'm looking for that special record you don't know I need.

A quick note about the reach that Blue Monday had. Kraftwerk immediately booked that same studio New Order used for part of their next record - both bands will admit that its almost laughable how low tech that studio was, especially considering the futuristic sounds that ended up coming from it.

Labels: music

I love it when the world is thinking about the same thing avery once in a while. Yesterday, I posted the Nate Harrison thing while over at Pretty Goes With Pretty, A whole rash of turntable type stuff was posted. Also a decent post on "Mingering Mike" who is a DC "Legend" for his imaginary recording career.

For your pleasure today I have a few Christian Marclay posts from YouTube, after that I will stop putting the needle on the record for a bit.

Christian Marclay
For those of you new to the party, CM is a visual artist and musical composer who is exploring the pattern languages connecting sound, photography, video, and film.

CM uses records and turntables in musical performances, and was one of the earliest and one of the most notable musicians to do so outside a hip hop context. Marclay sometimes manipulates or damages records to produce continuous loops and skips as well as using the album - both art work and object to make other art objects.

Mini Ducumentary / 5.5, from Trio

Live Performance / 9.9, From Roulette TV

Video Quartet Excerpt #1/ 2:49

Video Quartet Excerpt #2/ 0:53

Labels: conceptual art, music

Nate Harrison's "Amen Break" / 18:08 mins.

This amazing 20-minute video narrates the history of the "Amen Break," a six-second drum sample from the b-side of a chart-topping single from 1969. This sample has been used extensively in early hiphop and sample-based music, and became the basis for drum-and-bass and jungle music -- a six-second clip that spawned several entire subcultures. Nate Harrison's 2004 video is a meditation on the ownership of culture, the nature of art and creativity, and the history of a remarkable music clip.

I'm sure you know it and think it's a James Brown beat. Well worth your time.

Labels: music

"Exposure" is a difficult record. I'm not going to lie to you, but it is well worth listening to - even now as the retro-eighties sound is pumping through what is being called indie rock, this record is still sounds current, even though it was made in 1979. The reason I write about this record is two fold;

1. it's an amazing record that deserves a wider audience.
   
2. it's approach to collaboration, experimentation, and it's artistic community

Robert Fripp, is best known as the brain behind "King Crimson" and in the traditional music story, he gets screwed by the record industry. After taking some time with an ill-fated trio, he becomes a studio musician, David Bowie and Brian Eno call and the next thing you know, Fripp is playing on David Bowie's "Heroes", and Fripp is in the game again.

However this time there is a bit of a twist, he teams up with unlikely collaborator. Daryl Hall (of Hall and Oates).

But wait, one of the most remarkable things about this record is the music. Ideas are floating in and out of this disk with every track. Multiple viewpoints in some songs to open abstraction in others, however Hall becomes the unknown hero of "Exposure". His vocals are everywhere on this record - in ways that you would never imagine; sounding like a seventies metal god to emulating a film noir detective. While Hall is singing, Fripp is reaching out to the New York music community - playing along is: Brian Eno, Phil Colins, Barry Andrews, Peter Gabriel, Terre Roche among others. In fact, Fripp says the greatest thing about this record was the artistic community around it. People would drop in and give opinions or play a part and then continue with the day - one night Fripp and Blondie play together - performing Donna Summers' big hit, "I Feel Love" as well as Bowie's "Heroes". What we are really talking about here is a true artistic community. I think that is really exciting and this recording is only stronger for it. Chris Stein (Blondie, TV Party) and Amos Poe (TV Party) would end up doing photography and video for the cover art bringing this community full circle.

"Exposure" in my mind is backwardly titled - its really about exposing the listener not the artist. In a way its similar to one of those paintings that just continually open up to the viewer pulling you in deeper - giving you more every time you look. In a world too full of artworks that might as well be pictures of Elvis on velvet, "exposure" delivers in a very rare way.

Labels: 80's, music

My first (and possibly only) imix for the iTunes music store is now available. I have tried to give a reasonable song selection - most of what I'm listening to right now is hard to find on CD - even harder to find here at the iTunes store. Really though you won't go wrong. All of these tracks went #1 in my head at some point in my life.

You can go here if you have iTunes

Labels: general notice, music