Archive for the 'Music' Category
Saturday, January 12th, 2013
Defending Sugar Man
If you haven’t seen Searching for Sugar Man yet, I urge you to do so before reading this, anything else about the film, or watching trailers.
I’m sounding off to take issue with The recently publsihed Lefsetz Letter commenting on the Oscar nominated documentary, Searching for Sugar Man. Bob Lefsetz claims the film is a bogus work of “fiction,” exaggerated merely for profit motives. His argument: “You mean a guy was hit in South Africa and didn’t know it and labored in obscurity for decades, until some filmmaker in Sweden found out about it and made a movie?” Lefsetz is confusing the movie itself with the events it documents – events that occurred some fifteen years ago. The film, nor anyone involved making the press rounds (director Malik Bendjelloul, Rodriguez, Sony Pictures Classics) is claiming this movie found the lost musician Rodriguez. Rather, the movie documents a remarkable series of events that unfolded in the 90s, and weaves an unbelievable but true tale with both accurate and inspiring artistry. The sad irony here is in accusing the filmmakers of misleading the audience, Lefsetz is actually misleading his readers with these baseless, sophomoric conspiracy theories. I was wondering how he, who has been writing about the music biz for some 25 years, got it so wrong this time and missed the obvious. Upon my second read it all made sense – he hasn’t seen the movie yet.
Wednesday, February 1st, 2012
R.I.P. Mike Kelley
The latest reports confirm that artist Mike Kelley , who was found dead in his L.A. home Tuesday, did commit suicide. Kelley’s creative roots trace back to his involvement as a college Michigan student in the self-dubbed “anti-rock” group, Destroy All Monsters. He departed the performance based band in 1976 to pursue a degree from Cal Arts. Since then, Kelley had gained prominence as a contemporary and multimedia artist, collaborating with Paul McCarthy and Tony Oursler. In 1992, his self portrait, Ahh…Youth, featuring the artist surrounded by raggedy away of stuffed animals, graced the cover of Sonic Youth’s biggest commercial success, Dirty.
Kelley’s work is slated to appear in the 2012 Whitney Biennial. He was 57 years old.
Rest in Peace.
Monday, January 23rd, 2012
Disney Riffs Legendary Saville Design
In our second story of the day involving Disney and cultural appropriation, the world’s largest mouse-based media conglomerate has begun selling a new t-shirt riffing celebrity graphic designer Peter Saville’s now legendary cover art for Joy Division’s 1979 classic, Unknown Pleasures. As Pitchfork aptly notes, “Does Disney know that the singer of this band hung himself?! Do they know where the name “Joy Division” comes from?! Do they know how stupid this guy looks wearing this T-shirt?” Amen…
Thursday, September 22nd, 2011
Patti Smith’s 9/11 Babelogue
Plane Folded Flight 11, 175, 2002, pencil on handmade paper, folded as schematic.
Fans of New York City icon, Patti Smith will want to check out 9.11 Babelogue, on view now at Hunter College’s Leubsdorf Art Gallery. While best known for her pioneering contributions to NYC’s downtown music and poetry scenes, the exhibit presents Smith’s role as a visual artist. Comprised of 26 works on paper created between 2001 and 2002, the series responds to the destruction of the Twin Towers in 2001, while offering them as symbols of the universal resiliency of the human spirit. Coinciding with the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the exhibit marks the first time these pieces will be shown together in their entirety in NY.
Ground Zero and Gold Poured Forth, 2002, silkscreen, colored pencil, graphite, and acrylic paint on nineteenth- century handmade paper.
South Tower Skyline, 2002, silkscreen on canvas.
Patti Smith: 9/11 Babelogue
Leubsdorf Art Gallery at Hunter College
Sept. 8 – Dec. 3, 2011
68th Street & Lexington Ave., West Lobby
New York, NY 10065
All images © Patti Smith. Courtesy the artist and Robert Miller Gallery.
Sunday, June 6th, 2010
Condo Covers Kanye
(Photo: Gareth Cattermole/Getty)
After commissioning Takashi Murakami and Kaws for previous releases, Kanye West turns to George Condo for the cover design of his new single, the King Crimson-sampled Power. Of the three, Condo remains largely unknown by West’s younger street blog-savvy audience. Not that that matters much. With a career dating back to the early 80s, the 53 year old Condo is arguably the most established, with his paintings and sculptures residing in the permanent collections of major art institutions,including the Whitney (he participated in both the 1987 and 2010 Biennials), MoMA, and Guggenheim.
A 1995 oil painting by Condo is on view through June 19 at Luhring Augustine (NY), as part of Twenty Five, the gallery’s 25th anniversary group exhibit.
Power (which can be streamed here) is due out on iTunes June 8, with West’s next full length, Good As Job, expected to drop late 2010.
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
Guggenheim Concert Series with Yeasayer
Continuing their ongoing It Came from Brooklyn concert series, the Guggenheim welcomes Brooklyn’s Yeasayer this Friday, Oct. 30. The event will also feature a performance from the band Tanlines and a reading by Rachel Sherman. Tickets here
Friday, September 11th, 2009
12 Inches of Eric White
Get the Knack, 2009. 12″ x 12,” oil on panel
NY based painter Eric White has garnered much praise for his impecable technical skill, coupled with a near astounding ability to seemlessly navigate multiple artistic styles. For LP, an upcoming exhibit at Sloan Fine Art (NY), White will present series of 12 x 12 paintings based on album covers that pay tribute to the artistic influences in his life, while stirring up nosalgia for a lost art form. This is White’s second exhibit exploring the LP theme. The first took place this past June at Magda Danysz in Paris
Hot Rats, 2009. 12″ x 12,” oil on panel
Andy, 2009. 12″ x 12,” oil on panel
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
Eric Beltz Teams Up with Hunters, Run! Artist Series
The second installment of the Hunters, Run! 7-inch artist series featuring the art of Eric Beltz is out today and available via At Arms Ltd. The numbered edition of 200 is on white vinyl with additional insert and inner-sleeve art. For those without turntables, a free CD is included. In addition, Josh Keyes fans will be happy to hear that a very small quantity of record #1 from the band’s leftover tour stock has also been made available online. For this ongoing project, The Hunters, Run! and Battle Standard Recordings have teamed up with art editions company, At Arms Ltd. to curate a series of limited edition vinyl releases, each featuring artwork from a notable artist. Hunters, Run! plays a release show tonight in Brooklyn and tomorrow at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, NJ and will also have records for sale. Those just interested in the music can purchase via iTunes and other online music retailers.
Monday, July 13th, 2009
We’re Throwing a Party
We’re throwing a party this Tuesday to help Hunters, Run! celebrate the release of their second Artist Series 7″ record, available this week (via At Arms Ltd.) with artwork by Eric Beltz. Our friends over at The Accidental Genius have co-sponsored the evening and rounded out the night with some other great NY bands.
Hunter’s, Run! will have copies of the new record (as well as a few remaining copies of their last artist series release with Josh Keyes) for sale.
$5, 5 bands – Come on down and party with us!
Monday, July 6th, 2009
Josh Keyes/Hunters,Run! Signed Charity Auction
At Arms Ltd. and Josh Keyes are conducting a charity auction with 100% of the proceeds benefiting the American Cancer Society. Currently on offer are 2 signed versions (one black and one green vinyl edition) of the sold out Hunters, Run! EP1 7″ record. The record, cover and insert art have all been signed by Keyes. Both auctions are live now. Support a good cause and bid online here.
In related news, At Arms and Battle Standard Recordings are gearing up to release the second installment of the Hunters, Run! artist series later this month. The edition will feature artwork by 2009 Pulse Prize winner, Eric Beltz.