Rowland S. Howard, underrated musician, former member of the Nick Cave's first band, The Birthday Party, and other projects, died this past week. Here's a track from his band, These Immortal Souls.
Hey Girls——These Immortal Souls
And here's a Mp3 version of this amazing video of Nina Simone. I don't know how she did it, but she squeezed every drop of emotion out of anything she sang, especially during this number, even though she looked kind of bored while singing it.
I remember reading somewhere how she used to hold Richard Pryor to relieve his shaking before he went out on stage, and how thankful he was for it.
DOWNLOAD MP3 of "Ain't Got No..." by Nina Simone HITHER
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
New Year Resolutions
Things to do:
• Beard Topiary. Better beard care. Or no beard.
• Make Summer 08-09 book, sell it.
• Find a consistent job. Or many more jobs. Or hope Nancy gets rich soon so I can borrow some
mo-ney.
• Improve productivity and efficiency. I've tried this method called the Pomodoro Technique.
And guess what? It works! I cheat a little here and there, but it's an improvement over
the usual modus operandi. You work in 25 minute intervals, with small breaks in between. This way, you have a solid sense of how much time you worked in a reasonably scheduled allotment.
And guess what? It works! I cheat a little here and there, but it's an improvement over
the usual modus operandi. You work in 25 minute intervals, with small breaks in between. This way, you have a solid sense of how much time you worked in a reasonably scheduled allotment.
• Beard Topiary. Better beard care. Or no beard.
• Make Summer 08-09 book, sell it.
• Find a consistent job. Or many more jobs. Or hope Nancy gets rich soon so I can borrow some
mo-ney.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Alan Cohen
I came across a website belonging to an artist named Alan Cohen. His work is terrible and interesting. I love how he titles the left column somewhat ironically, "Today's Menu", which contains links to his different bodies of work.
Mr. Cohen breaks down the meaning of this painting on his website:
In the picture on the website the father has one hand on the boy's shoulder, as if to comfort him. But examination of the boy's posture and expression reveals that he feels rigid and held back, as if he is angry and blazing with repressed rage but cannot express it; the situation is made all the more complex by the double-bind feeling that the father is only trying to do his best; so the boy feels guilty and angry at resenting his hold. Another hint as to what is really going on is the shadow. In the painting the boy does not have a shadow of his own, which suggests that he does not really exist for the father (and hence for himself). Thus his self is entirely absorbed and devoured by his father. This is also emphasised in the picture by using brighter colours in parts of the picture to which the boy has no access. His life is dull and grey, indeed without love; his father steals the light from him and makes the boy an extension of himself.
Pardon my sarcasm, I love how he felt he had to explain the image to us. This is why I hate narrative painting, yet love it at the same time. You have a poor man's trove of symbols and meanings most people can understand, mostly derived from 19th-20th century psychological theory. They're staid, but cliche for a reason. Yet, the predictability of this approach is boring and without a process of renewal. In other words, layers get thin after repeated reads. I guess narrative painting is like playing James Brown's "I feel Good" at a party.
It's popular for a reason, but most of the time I'd rather be playing something else. This work charms and disgusts me at the same time.
Mr. Cohen breaks down the meaning of this painting on his website:
In the picture on the website the father has one hand on the boy's shoulder, as if to comfort him. But examination of the boy's posture and expression reveals that he feels rigid and held back, as if he is angry and blazing with repressed rage but cannot express it; the situation is made all the more complex by the double-bind feeling that the father is only trying to do his best; so the boy feels guilty and angry at resenting his hold. Another hint as to what is really going on is the shadow. In the painting the boy does not have a shadow of his own, which suggests that he does not really exist for the father (and hence for himself). Thus his self is entirely absorbed and devoured by his father. This is also emphasised in the picture by using brighter colours in parts of the picture to which the boy has no access. His life is dull and grey, indeed without love; his father steals the light from him and makes the boy an extension of himself.
Pardon my sarcasm, I love how he felt he had to explain the image to us. This is why I hate narrative painting, yet love it at the same time. You have a poor man's trove of symbols and meanings most people can understand, mostly derived from 19th-20th century psychological theory. They're staid, but cliche for a reason. Yet, the predictability of this approach is boring and without a process of renewal. In other words, layers get thin after repeated reads. I guess narrative painting is like playing James Brown's "I feel Good" at a party.
It's popular for a reason, but most of the time I'd rather be playing something else. This work charms and disgusts me at the same time.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
Saturday, December 26, 2009
The Fly Girlz
I was at my friends house last night and they axed me if I heard the Fly Girlz yet. I was like, "What, you mean— from Living Color?". No, my friends said. Then they put on the record, which immediately charmed me; they burned me a copy to take home.
I did some inter-sleuthing and was amazed to find that the record was produced by none other than fellow Bard grad/ex-roomate-- Nathan Corbin, who's been a member of NYC's Excepter for some years now.
The Fly Girlz comprise middle school girls from Brownsville, Brooklyn, who formed the group for a school project. How they ended up in Nathan's line of sight escapes me, but it's a cool project and worth your money.
Sample track HERE
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