'Heart of Wax' Part II **New Mixes**

"The follow-up to Vanessa's top 40 Billboard Club Play single “Consequences” is the second part of her tender late-night grinder “Heart Of Wax”.  Where Part 1 went for more of a subtle set featuring the languid sounds of Alpha Motive and Ganga’s heady dubby vibe, Part 2 drives the sultry slow burner into ultimate getting down and dirty on the floor territory with Richard Morel, Craig C and Emjae remixes. The mixes are a perfect start to the summer with filtered, swirling synths, pulsating rhythms, progressive grooves, glitch and straight up house.  After this sweaty workout, you can then take a hookah break in the lounge with Blank And Jones’ hazy, Balearic moonscape. The collection of Vanessa’s remixes Moonshine Mixes is coming in Fall 2011."

MAXI

the CHIC INDEX: "Style & Individual Expression through Sartorial Endeavor"

 

Photograph Iké Udé for the CHIC INDEX

I posted last week on my new role as Music Editor at Iké Udé's elegant, esoteric, and glossy aRUDE Magazine. 

I'm supremely excited about this synergy - Part of what I'll be aiming to do, as reflected in aRUDE's aesthetic approach, is explore new ways of discussing, listening, and thinking about music: in search, you could say, of a new Paradigm....  more soon on this...

My new photo was was shot by Iké Udé for the CHIC INDEX, aRUDE Magazine’s style blog.

Poetically described as "Style & Individual Expression through Sartorial Endeavor", the CHIC INDEX is both a visual journal and document; there you'll find reflections, ruminations, & philosophies & histories of style, dress, all on the streets of NYC ~

Part of the 'charge' of Art is that it reflects on all aspects of the visual, verbal, historical, pictorial ~ so that how one dresses is never a thing that is taken for granted, but is perceived in all its uniqueness, the way one regards a painted canvas, for instance... the CHIC INDEX reflects a way of looking not only at the world, but into the world, as a multi-faceted, forever in flux and mutable entity that, for one brief moment, can be captured - gloriously - in one still photograph... how beautiful is that?

 

Link to the CHIC INDEX on Facebook

Iké Udé: Living in the Layers

 "To burn always with this hard, gem-like flame, to maintain this ecstasy, is success in life." Walter Pater, from 'Conclusion'

Iké Udé

 Silhouetted against his 4 Self-Portraits at 

"The Global Africa Project" at the Museum of Arts & Design

"Image is everything," so the saying goes; for the Photographer, however, it is the image that is everything. As a visual document, the photograph is not only the visual legacy we inherit from the past, it is what we are left with when we have exhausted all words.

But history doesn't always get it right, as we learned, for instance, from Neil Armstrong's lunar omission of the word 'a' in his "One small step for [a] man..." Proof that sometimes, when something so seemingly small is lost, there is not just a world, but an entire universe of meaning squandered. The loss of historical nuance and detail, if unnoticed, ultimately leads to impoverishment of spirit and mind, a withering of that 'gem-like flame' that Walter Pater writes of. This exuberance for life's details, past, present, and imagined is expressed reverently and exultingly in Iké Udé's Photographs.

The notion of 'History' is a convenient construct, albeit flawed; there is only our interpretation that remains, and even our understanding of that is prone to be flawed, skewed and distorted through the convex lens of our biases and desires. We take what we want, we leave out what we want, we both pillage and mine History to suit our innate and innermost needs. A glimpse into the history of the word 'silhouette' highlights the fact that a word is not simply a reference to a thing, but a complex and mutable organism rooted in time and the imagination.

Everywhere, we take meaning with us: we adopt symbols, signs, and visual queues. How we present ourselves to the world is reflected in, first and foremost, like it or not, in that social construct, our personal attire: the clothes we choose to wear. How we dress represents not only our visual selves, but communicates something more subtle and profound: our linguistic selves. The fascinating history of the word 'dress':

"A dress is such a common article of modern attire that it is difficult to imagine that the word dress has not always referred to this garment. The earliest noun sense of dress, recorded in a work written before 1450, was "speech, talk."

Udé's self-portraits both reference and pillage the rarefied, arcane archives of our collective clothed history: they are at once a nod and a negation. His piece titled "Sartorial Anarchy" presupposes our familiarity of this history as much as it pirates, re-defines and conclusively usurps it.

How we 'dress' serves to communicate, obscure, clarify or confuse; it can be antagonistic, anachronistic, anarchic, or an offer of amends; our clothes can contradict or disguise our actions and intentions. The way we 'dress' reflects our dreams, our struggles and strategies, and how we, as humans, 'live in the layers'. What Udé is proposing in his work is as much Philosophy as it is Photography, and it speaks to each of us who seeks, ultimately, "to maintain this ecstasy".

---

Read more about the 'Global Africa Project':

The New York Times

The New Yorker

ARTnews

Lela Luxe

***I'll be blogging soon on my future role as Music Editor at Iké Udé's aRUDE Magazine***
 

The future... Yo-Yo Ma & Lil Buck Dance Performance of The Dying Swan

'The future hasn't happened yet', so the saying goes; well, here it is...

Yo-Yo Ma & Lil Buck in Stunning Dance Performance of The Dying Swan

(via Andrew Plumb via Laughing Squid via Official Hype via YouTube : )

Collin Kelley on a Writer's Worth @ Poets&Writers

Thank you Collin, for your eloquence & bravery with words.... 

---

P&W-SPONSORED WRITER & PRESENTER: Collin Kelley

"For the next few weeks, poet Collin Kelley, author of After the Poison, Slow to Burn, and Better to Travel, and curator of both the Poetry Atlanta reading series and the Georgia Center for the Book reading series will be blogging about his experience as a longtime R/W-sponsored writer and presenter of literary events.

In February 2005, I wrote my first grant approved by Poets & Writers, Inc., when it expanded its Readings/Workshops program to the Atlanta area. The recipient of that grant, Cherryl Floyd-Miller, hadn’t asked for any money, but deserved it for her many years of selfless and uncompensated work as a writer in the city. We had a standing-room-only audience that night at the Barnes & Noble on the Georgia Tech campus, and I was thrilled to be able to put a check in Cherryl’s hand."

Read more at Poets & Writers

David Luckin's 'ElectroLounge' | WJCT, NPR

For those in the mood to explore those interstices between Jazz, Nu Jazz, Electronica, Reggae & Dub, tune into David Luckin's 'ElectroLounge' (WJCT 89.9 FM, NPR)  - My music can be heard throughout... 

Electro Lounge, Airs:

EST 9pm tues-fri 10pm til 2am EST sat... http://www.shoutcast.com/Internet-Radio/wjct

Host David Luckin offers listeners "music without walls," a musical journey around the world and through time. Chill out with the relaxing, laid-back sounds of downtempo, nu jazz, reggae and dub. You'll also find musical surprises – specials that revisit our cultural history or celebrate music icons. 

Music Preview

Supported by:

• Support WJCT & Shop PB1.org
• Folio Weekly
• SheSez.com

View Playlists

Plutonium Glow: 'A terrible beauty is born', again

Nuclear power is perhaps the most invisible, the most invincible force there is.

Is it curiosity, fascination, hubris - a combination of these - that has led humanity down this toxic, radioactive road? How is it that we have allowed the building of these lumbering, monstrous facilities in our towns, backyards, most especially in regions that have long histories of earthquakes and tsunamis? The latest:

Disaster in Japan: Latest developments, March 18

Japan battles nuclear, humanitarian crisis

Japan's Once-Powerful Nuclear Industry Is Under Siege

Q+A: Risks at each reactor of Japan's stricken plant explained

In 1997 I wrote Plutonium Glow, inspired by a Google search of nuclear payloads that were being sent into space. At the time, there were online forums, discussions and newspaper articles about the dangers of a possible release of nuclear material from these payloads, and concurrent calculations as to the risks of its spread and dispersal (wind speed, cloud coverage, distance, etc.)

The need to utilize these types of equations has today, tragically, sadly, become our 'unforeseen' reality.

A glowing pellet of 238PuO2

During my research, I read about The Hanford Nuclear Plant which was mired in much controversy regarding their handling of Plutonium, the element that inspired the album's title and lyrics. Plutonium - a byproduct of the process of generating nuclear energy - is both tantalizing and terrifying. The artwork for 'Plutonium Glow' was inspired by my readings and reflections on Plutonium, and the idea of a 'terrible beauty', twin qualities which are often unalterably and hideously conjoined.

While we've become adept at calculating dispersal clouds, it's the unforeseen events that we've neglected to factor in, yet, these "unimaginable" - or unimagined - scenarios keep occurring. Perhaps it's time to team up the architects who design these facilities with artists, writers and film makers? In hindsight, the imagination is, perhaps, the one missing element that could have led to a more resilient and robust design of these reactors.

Unbelievably, as of today, 14 years after the release of Plutonium Glow - a Google search of 'the hanford nuclear plant' leads me down a horribly familiar and incredulous rabbit hole:

Hanford needs $2.9 billion in 2013 for cleanup

Hanford Responds to Concerns Over Nuclear Plant: Whistleblower Daily News

From bombs to $800 handbags: Trouble stalks America’s biggest clean-up

Long outage scheduled at Hanford nuclear plan 

A question remains: where will we go from here? Forward, toward progress? Or backwards, against all common sense and logic, making the same deleterious and deadly mistakes, again, again, again...?

                                                                                               

Pictured:
The Hanford Nulclear Plant,
Polaroid from 'Plutonium Glow'

 

Best Albums of the '90s | SLANT Magazine

98. Vanessa Daou, Zipless. It's a small victory that Vanessa Daou was able to sneak "Near the Black Forest," writer Eric Jong's ode to her untended bush, onto VH1's playlist for a short spell. Daou's is a whisper of a singing voice, and her husband's jazz-house compositions would have been a challenge for any pop radio programmer, but more importantly, the content of Zipless, Daou's interpretations of Jong's poetry, was far too sophisticated for general audiences. The lyrical and musical centerpiece of the album is the entirely spoken-word "Alcestis on the Poetry Circuit"; in her understanding of how restraint, imposed both from within and from without ("The very fact of her gift should cause her such pain/That she will take her own life rather than best us"), is countered by the discovery or renewal of one's sense of self, Daou empowers both herself and her listeners. SC 

Read more @ SLANT

Five Albums You Should Be Listening To Right Now | by Sal Cinquemani

4. Vanessa Daou, Zipless

 

We recently posted our long-awaited list of the Best Albums of the '90s, and this is one of our lesser known picks. It's a collection of jazz-house interpretations of writer Erica Jong's poems. The lyrical and musical centerpiece of the album is the entirely spoken-word "Alcestis on the Poetry Circuit," which explores women's self-imposed restraint, both literal and figurative. Also, it's got a kick-ass keyboard solo.

Listen to "Alcestis on the Poetry Circuit" & Read more @ Nerve

'Heart of Wax' | New video

YouTube

'Consequences' | Eric Kupper's Distilled Mix

David Luckin's Playlist: Electro Lounge WJCT Feb 12, 2011

Playlist: Electro Lounge

February 12, 2011

10:00) Iron & Wine “Me & Lazarus”
10:05) Fauna Flash “Mother Nature” Blue Foundation Remix
10:09) A Forest Mighty Black “Duel With A Soul”
10:12) Ennio Morricone “Rivoluzione” Butti 49 Confusion Remix
10:15) London Funk Allstars “Never Can Get Enough”
10:19) Bonobo “Recurring”
10:25) Vanessa Daou “Consequences” Terry Lee Brown Jr.Remix
10:30) Sezer Uysal & Evren Ulusoy “At Night” Karol XVII & MB Valence Remix
10:35) Till Von Sein & Tigerskin “Sirene”
10:41) Danilo Venturi& Alberto Benati feat Isabelle Antena – A Night of Infinity
10:44) Rouge Rouge – C’est Presque Ca
10:49) Tontelas Featuring Ski – On My Way
!0:52) Soulphiction] Soulprint
10:56) Peggy Lee – Fever (remix)

Link to David Luckin's Electro Lounge

'Heart of Wax' @ MAXI

Heart Of Wax Part 1

Vanessa Daou

Label: Daou Records/KID Recordings/Outsider Music

Tags: chill-out, deep, dub, nu jazz, progressive

"Get ready to immerse yourself in the second offering lifted from Vanessa Daou’s Joe Sent Me LP. The tender and romantic "Heart Of Wax" with Vanessa’s delicate vocals, has been reinvented into a soul-stirring, late-night grinder just in time for Valentine's Day. Like swimming through a dream, AlphaMotive (aka Will Thomas of Divine Index and Plumbline) bathes you in warm, swirling electronics for a narcotic, deep house groove perfect for sweaty, late night sessions. Ganga (aka Danish producer Christian Ronn) counters with spacious, dub-drenched beats that pulse at just the right sensual pace for Daou's passionate poetry. It's all leading up to her remix album Moonshine Mixes scheduled for Fall 2011."


Read more @ MAXI

About 'Calming Park' | The Essence of Beauty

Art, music, spirituality, relaxation and fire. All these combine in art and candle by designer/artist and music curator OLIVIER ROHRBACH, founder of the Swiss brand CALMING PARK, renowned for the high concentration of scented essences in its candles. 

Made in Grasse, France, the world capital of perfume, CALMING PARK scented candles are made of soot-free organic palm wax and paraffin with a 12% perfume concentration. Available online and in select shops and high-end hotel’s SPA in France, Switzerland, Italy, Russia, Korea and the US, the luxurious candles have recently found a second home in Paris, in addition to the Officina Slowear store at Village Royal, they are now available at exclusive Haute boutique COLETTE. The prestigious privately-owned shop has become the premier destination for many visiting Paris.

ROHRBACH has successfully nurtured a cult of relaxation with his inviting luxurious brand. He's collaborated with several gurus from the worlds of fashion, music and visual arts to design and customize limited edition candles including famed designer BRUNO PIETERS  (whose creations are worn by A-listers such as LADY GAGA, ROISIN MURPHY, SCISSOR SISTERS frontman JAKE SHEARS and DIANE KRUGER), SABINA SCIUBBA, MELODY GARDOT and French-American singer, actress and model ARIELLE DOMBASLE (whose gothic candle with tuberose and musk notes were inspired by her album GLAMOUR À MORT). 

He's also produced a series of essential, soothing and hedonistic CALMING PARK compilations featuring tracks from GOLDFRAPP, AMY WINEHOUSE, THE BIRD AND THE BEE, SIA, CIBELLE, FEIST, GOTAN PROJECT, JORI HULKKONEN, SUZANNE VEGA and many more.

Starting June 2011, ROHRBACH will create a two hour CALMING PARK music channel for SWISS Air Lines which will be available on every SWISS flight.

Visit Calming Park

Valentine's day 2011: Calming Park candles brighten Vanessa Daou's new video "Heart of Wax"

Valentine's day 2011: Calming Park candles brighten Vanessa Daou's new video "Heart of Wax"

"Calming Park gets enthralled by the spirit and the purport of Valentine's Day, celebrating in music. Calming Park candles will illuminate Vanessa Daou's new video "Heart of Wax", available from February 14th, 2011.

Music, love and being with your significant other, aren't they after all the real luxury?

Vanessa Daou, the high priestess of all things smoky, jazzy and provocative continues her love affair with the dancefloor and those more intimate spaces with the release of  "HEART OF WAX (THE REMIXES)" PT. I.

Issued just in time for Valentine’s Day and hot on the heels of her fiery single "CONSEQUENCES (THE REMIXES)", the single is destined to become an essential home listening companion for those long winter nights (or the theme song for your next great love affair).

In the music video that accompanies the song "Heart of Wax", the dim light of a Calming Park candle accompanies her performance, reflecting a global ambiance. Pack of Cactus, Vanessa's favorite scent from the CALMING PARK ‘s collection, were sent to New York for the video."

Calming Park

MusicMonday on WomensRadio

By Brian Ball, Host of WomensRadio Music Review

"As there are twenty-four bottles or cans in a case, there are twenty-four fantastic selections here for our listeners to 'crack open' this MusicMonday on WomensRadio!  There’s new music coming in from every angle imaginable, including submissions from AMALIA (Tokyo Dawn Records), Lena Prima Louis Prima), Vanessa Daou (our current downtempo crush) and longtime WomensRadio favorite, Deborah Crooks. (daughter of legendary Jazz singer,

...

If you're on Twitter, you probably are already hip to the use of hash tags (#) to identify topics and trends ... and you probably see the same ones every Monday, “#MusicMonday", "#musicmonday" and "#MM".  These hash tags facilitate worldwide recommendations / promos / plugs / playlists / reviews / concerts / gear and MUCH more throughout Twitter, and now the entire web! 

Here at WomensRadio, we use these networks to give an added boost to the world's finest Independent Female (and Male) Musicians submitting to our studios.  Here are a couple of submissions we picked up early Monday morning:

#1: all in the golden afternoon Psychedelic from Austin, TX

#2: Erika Fatale Pop from Los Angeles, CA

#3: AMALIA Sci-Fi Soul / Punk from Stockholm, Sweden

#4: DJ Sunshine World / Reggae from Jamaica

#5: Lena Prima Jazz / Adult Contemporary from Las Vegas, NV

#6: Phenice Arielle Hip Hop / Pop / R&B from New York, NY

#7: The Lives of the Monster Dogs Swamp Rock / Southern Rock from Pine Lake, GA

#8: Hugh James Hardman Singer-Songwriter from Los Angeles, CA

#9: Steve Belkin Songwriter / Publisher from Los Angeles, CA

#10: Teresa James Blues / Country from Los Angeles, CA

#11: The Academix UK Funky House from North London, UK

#12: Shea Soul Eclectic Soul from London, UK

#13: Vanessa Daou Down-tempo / Electronica / Nu-Jazz from New York, NY

Read more @ FEMMEBOX

'Consequences' - FemmeBox review by Brian Ball

By Brian Ball, Host of WomensRadio Music Review

"We're literally jumping out of our seats to share a HUGE selection of amazing video content with our viewers this week!  There’s shoegaze from ELIKA, downtempo from Vanessa Daou ...

Vanessa Daou : Consequences – If our viewers are fans of anything even remotely classified as downtempo or 'Trip Hop', they're sure to enjoy this slow and sultry love song out on Daou Records. The lyrics are suggestive and the visuals are nothing short of invigorating. Fans of Portishead, Massive Attack, Artemis and Divasonic take note…"

FEMMEBOX

'Consequences' - Timewriter’s New Ways Mix

Link to djmsky's YouTube channel

'Weird Tales for Winter' 2011

Weird Tales for WInter 2011

It wouldn't be winter without Johhny Mugwump's 'weird tales' radio series on Resonance 104.4 FM (UK)...
 
For lovers of what's dusky and lurid - of murky & miasmal mindscapes - don't miss this year's grim & glorious offerings...

Link here

V

'Consequences' - Pop In stereo review

New York's Vanessa Daou is back with a brand new single, "Consequences," out now on iTunes.

"The single, which features production work from Piet Blank, Jaspa Jones and Andy Kaufhold, has been given remixes by house music legend Eric Kupper, The Timewriter, Terry Lee Brown Jr, Harlum (aka David Harness and Chris Lum) and German trance & chillout duo Blank And Jones, so there is something for everyone here. From ambient to deep house, the "Consequences" remix package does not disappoint.

The release of "Consequences" marks the first of several new songs Vanessa will release in a series of inspired works from Joe Sent Me, Vanessa's 6th solo album and first release on her current imprint Daou Records.

I have been a fan of Vanessa's since first seeing the music video for her single "Near The Black Forest," which was taken from her solo debut, Zipless. I find it really easy to connect with her music because the songs are so easy to relate to."

Read more