'Frankenstorm' Sandy & Climate Change| History Does Not 'Write' Itself

Wondering if 'Frankenstorm' Sandy will generate more than hashtags and RTs, but a substantive & well informed conversation about Climate Change.

Proof, it seems, is in the numbers, and the stark truth is the previously unimaginable is now becoming the norm.A bit of graphing shows it's quite possible discussion will be limited to the billions in damage, Tumblr pics, NY Stock Exchange, Tunnels & Subways closing, and so forth.... 

 

Permalink

History does not 'write' itself, it is up to us - We must be guided by those twin forces, Science and common sense. Getting that message across is the challenge and the imperative in times like these.

Light Sweet Crude | Deep Linking: Artist's Statement

Music, poetry, song; the secret regions of the voice. The far edges of consciousness and memory,: those liminal, sublime realms reached by the Poet's phrasings and timbres, a lover's inchoate whispers. Words and melodies are all tools and instruments, salves or salvos, and, like weapons, they can be directed, aimed and launched, as a direct response or spontaneous reaction; as an invitation or instigation, through subtext or subterfuge.
 The focus of 'Light Sweet Crude' is language and the many ways it can be explored, layered, presented, subverted and delivered.

The springboard for the conceptual framework of the album was an article I read in the New York Times in 2009 which speculated on the origin of flowers. The original working title for the album was 'The First Flower'. Throughout the album, I use the manifold layers of reference for the idea of 'flower’, in part, as a metaphor for the loss of information as a consequence of the passing of time, human interference, as well as the loss of innocence.

I’ve been long-fascinated with the history of words, and explore their origins as the subtext for many of the songs. Before I write, it is often one word that drives me: this idea might then become a drawing or a painting or a poem before it becomes a song. This mixing of media says something to me about the clash or meeting between fields or layers of thought, creating alliances between things, or making them repel and pull apart. I look to language, sound, symbols - to words and their hidden and layered histories - for clues as to how ideas are changed,how messages are coded, intercepted, interpreted, and corrupted, when and which things go from trash to artifact.

The ultimate symbol of a substance intrinsically steeped in our collective history is crude oil, a substance which is both a symbol of the layering of time as well as man's corruption of its essential chemistry through a process of ‘refinement’. The term ‘Light Sweet Crude’ is an example of the power of language to fire the imagination, index time, convey nuance, dimension, hybridity, and complexity, putting emphasis on the fact that the role of Art is to capture the essence as well as the substance, the singularity of experience, to tell that part of the story that History leaves out.

LIGHT SWEET CRUDE is an exploration of the raw material of life, through the recording of all aspects of my experience, in forms that are aural, virtual, physical, metaphorical and textual: expressed through note-taking, sketches, Javascript, HTML and various computer codes: a distillation of my research and experience into the many ways the physical world is becoming less about our connection with nature and more about how we're linked through technology.  

As our lives become more virtual, the traditional tools of the artist are put on trial; does the physical object still matter? A newspaper? A book? Does the writer still feel the need to put pen to paper? Are we losing touch with our raw, tactile selves, or are we experiencing the dawn of a new paradigm of not only deep linking through technology, but deep thinking through the cross pollination of our hybrid experiences?

Unbecoming Levity | Driving Miss Vanessa

Never had a car named in my honor, but there's always a first :-)

Part of what I love about being an artist in these predominately virtual days is reading about how my music intersects with the lives of listeners and comes into play ...

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Driving Miss Vanessa

  In yesterday's “Springtime in New England” post I mentioned that my car had a name. Not “The Purple Rocket”–that's just a nickname. No, my car's name is “Vanessa”. Vanessa is a 2003 Chrysler PT Cruiser GT 2.4L Turbo in a metallic burgundy-purple shade that Chrysler calls Deep Cranberry Pearl. She's my very first new car (since 1983 I've owned/operated many used vehicles, some junky, some not so junky–topic for another day). I love this car.
I'm not really a car nut. At least I thought I wasn't. I've always liked the look of the more shapely vehicles (Corvettes, Miatas, Porsches, both versions of the Beetle, the Neon, etc.) but I've never gone bonkers over an automobile. My wife got her first new car (a forest green 2003 Subaru Outback) a year ago, and I think it is a very full-featured vehicle, but I certainly didn't go nuts over it. Vanessa is a different story. 

I purchased Vanessa from Robert's Chrysler of Fitchburg, sight unseen. I walked in there with a grocery list of features that I wanted...

[...]

The car has a 6-disc CD player mounted in the dash, and the night before picking it up at the dealer I burned six CDs with my favorite tunes. I like a lot of different stuff, but I am partial to sultry female singers, and as a result sprinkled in many places on the discs were various such artists. In fact disc 3 was entirely devoted to such talents as Suzanne Vega, Dido, Madonna, Enya, Fiona Apple, Kirsty MacColl, Merril Bainbridge, and Vanessa Daou. 

If you've never heard of Vanessa Daou, and you like sultry femme vocalists, I heartily recommend her, but you may find her somewhat shocking. She's definitely not something to listen to when the kids are around. One of her early albums “Zipless” was basically a collection of Erica Jong poetry set to music. That one was a little too shocking for me, but her later CDs, swimming with bisexual lovesongs, are amazing IMHO. Her voice is low and beautiful, her lyrics are poetic, and she sings in a haunting half-whispering way. Great stuff to listen to when you are alone with someone you love. It was after Miss Daou that Vanessa was named, because she too was sleek, graceful, beautiful, and had a whispery song of her own. 

Within a week “it” became “she”, and “the car” became “Vanessa”. I say hello to it in the morning. I thank it for a nice ride when I get out. I love taking it to the carwash. I even washed it by hand in 40 degree weather, using special cleaners on the rims, and a rubber-polish on the tirewalls to make them shiny. Am I crazy? 




Read more @ Unbecoming Levity

BLACK & WHITE EP & VIDEO ***OUT NOW***

Featuring a hard-hitting blend of Finnish nu-disco/electronic house innovator Jori Hulkkonen, German electronic pop conceptualist Mark Reeder, Compost Records’ Shahrokh Dini, and co-writer/co-producer, Blake Robin (aka Baron Von Luxxury).

Watch for Speak.Easy: The Moonshine Mixes (Joe Sent Me Revisited) out late September, featuring a cherry-picked collection of remixed works from Joe Sent Me.

Download on iTunes

Reposted: Interview with SNAPSHOTS FOUNDATION — on prince.org mssg board

Vanessa Daou opines on the state of the music industry

Long read, but good points raised...

Vanessa Daou: Future States of Music

Bio: Gifted with a unique combination of poetic lyricism and a sensuous voice, singer and songwriter Vanessa Daou has defined the sound of New York's progressive jazz infused electronica and downtempo music since the early 1990's. Today Vanessa is releasing her 7th solo recording, is Music Editor at aRUDE magazine, and writes about music and the arts on her blog and website.
Q: Vanessa, you came from a period of success in music of the 1990's. How would you describe the fallout from 2000 on, and how could we have ended up in a healthier state today?

V: I think in many ways, the Music Business has lost sight of its core values. Discovering great talent used to be about the development of a noble idea: to leave a legacy of great and meaningful music, to put something out into the world that would truly resonate. Although there has always been greed as a motivation, the impetus was always to make lasting, timeless music. Where there used to be a cluster of truly visionary A&R executives who drove things creatively, the top tier music executives of today are governed by a kind of ‘herd instinct’, a ROI mentality whereby they move en masse with one purpose, toward the money.

Entire article here.
[Edited 9/7/11 9:37am]

The nobler a man, the harder it is
for him to suspect inferiority in others.

- Cicero

 

http://prince.org/msg/8/366581

Etienne Daho’s | ‘Corps et Armes’ — Deluxe Remastered

Etienne Daho’s brilliant ‘Corps et Armes’ Deluxe, includes our duet ‘Make Believe’ & 2 previously unreleased songs ~ Daho’s velvet voice is smooth-as-ever on ‘Evening’ and ‘Red Dawn’.

Daho is a master of nuance. For a taste of the most sublime cerebral and sensual French Pop you’ll find, this album is an experience that takes hold in your body & soul, and won’t ever let you go.

XOV

'Consequences' on Billboard's HOTTEST MAY HITS 2012 — Work it, Learn it, Stream it!!!!

'Consequences' is on Billboard's HOTTEST MAY HITS 2012 4 CD compilation -

There's something on here for every music lover here, from John Legend Feat. Ludacris (Tonight), to the inimitable Jill Scott (Blessed) to the ubiquitous - but nonetheless fascinating - Lady Gaga (Bloody Mary).

Proof here tat music is still & will always be the world's salve for the soul...!!!

Work it, Learn it, Stream it!!!!

Background on 'Consequences':

'Consequences' appears on my last release JOE SENT ME. The music was co-written by Blank & Jones' & appears on their album 'The Logic of Pleasure' -

The  lyrics address the complexity of navigating love's rough waters, the back and forth game the mind plays. The song begins with with the rejection of love, deals with the aftermath of that decision, and finally, winds down with the embrace of love: through song, poetry & the pen. You can read the lyrics on my online-Xhibition for JOE SENT ME here.

 

I created the JOE SENT ME-Xhibition website out of my sheer love for HTML & Javascript: an amalgam of dynamic computer codes i've tweaked ... put to unusual & neoteric uses - Expect more pushing of these creative realms for my new project...

For news, updates & private links, subscribe to my newsletter here.

Meanwhile, 'Like Me' & keep in touch on FB!!

XOV

Vanessa Daou – Once In A While (Roberto Rodriguez Remix & Dub) | INTHEDEEPEND.AU Review

 

"It's always a hard game to remix a female vocalist in the house game, sure thousands of producers do it on a daily basis, but most of them equate to the aural equivalent of mass produced t-shirts. You know the ones with something scrawled in Helvetica aligned to the left with a full stop at the end. That tee design get's pulled off once in a while.

Which leads perfectly to Roberto Rodriguez' remix for New Yorker, Vanessa Dauo. Aptly titled, his rather lengthy remix which stretches more than ten minutes, further cements that Roberto is on constant top form. I don't think I've heard a remix from him in the past years that I didn't enjoy. Once In A While is certainly no exception, his trademark jumpy electric piano chords lay a solid groove which leads for more subtle variations throughout the track. As always his drum track is too tight to mention, melding analog grit and natural percussive elements.

Those powerful rhythms are capitalised in the gorgeous dub version, which is no doubt my pick of the entire record. Once In A While received the remix rub down from four producers including Roberto, but his renditions stand out like a sore thumb for those seeking dancefloor heat. The tribal vibes are turned up a notch, including the volume of all the percussion and lead melodies. There is a very delicate and majestic use of Daou's sultry vocals deep into the track during the break, with that aside this dub remix is designed for one purpose.

Once In A While is out now on Outsider Music. You can buy it digitally here." 

READ MORE @ INTHEDEEPEND

'ONCE IN A WHILE' | NEW VIDEO & EP ***OUT NOW***

Link

ONCE IN A WHILE REMIX EP ***OUT NOW***

Featuring bigroom REMIXS from soulful minimal-tech craftsman ROBERTO RODRIGUEZ with a 10-minute plus workout, and rising, LA-based, gritty progressive electro-house newcomer DJ BANDER, a chugging, dubbed-out afterhours expansion courtesy of PHURRY FREAKS/MISO RECORDS main man CHARLES WEBSTER, and a silky nocturnal groove from TERRY LEE BROWN JR’S downbeat alter ego, NOR ELLE, that pulses at just the right sensual pace...

Download at iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, and all digital outlets

ALSO on YouTube

DJ Bander's 'Down in the Garden' mix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3APWeYUmTc


Roberto Rodriguez' Reprise:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnu6eDbhZE8 
 

'Heart of Wax' — News, Reviews & Remixes

"Beauty never beats in a heart of wax, it comes down to that / Lovers never sleep once the conversation comes, they're empty as a drum..." So begins 'Heart of Wax'....

I received an email from a long-time fan who was asking about the impetus and inspiration behind 'Heart of Wax'. 

The beauty of language is the ability to communicate one's feelings, those emotions trapped inside of one's heart and mind, those inner-most sanctums. 

The ever-piercing thorn in the side of every Writer & Poet is the inability of language to every fully convey the manifold shades of meaning. It is only possible to approximate, approach, and tease out ones thoughts and feelings through language through the use of metaphor, similie, analogy, etc.

In the opening line of 'Heart of Wax', for instance, it is unclear whether it is the lovers or the drums that are 'empty' "once the conversation comes".

For me, every song is a reflection, rumination, an offering. Using the metaphor of a burning candle to convey the slow, languorous unfolding of Love , 'Heart of Wax' is a song about the natural defenses a person in love puts up, the invisible boundaries that are drawn until that moment of recognition and surrender, that one is - inexorably, and beautifully - in Love.

'HEART OF WAX'— News, Reviews & Remixes:

'Heart of Wax' — Nominee at the 27th Annual International Dance Music Awards at the WMC

'Heart of Wax' is nominated for Best Chillout/Lounge track at the 27th Annual International Dance Music Awards at the Winter Music Conference in Miami Beach.

You can view the nominees here -

And don't forget to cast your vote for this year's nominees here -



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 Photo by the George Pitts

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iTunes

1. Heart of Wax (Richard Morel Mix)
2. Heart of Wax (Richard Morel Dub)
3. Heart of Wax (Craig C's Master Blaster Mix)
4. Heart of Wax (Craig C's InstraBlaster Dub)
5. Heart of Wax (Emjae Club Mix)
6. Heart of Wax (Emjae's Subterranean Disco Dub)  
7. Heart of Wax (Blank & Jones Late Night Mix)

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In case you missed last year's review of 'Heart of Wax' @ the inimitable JOE MY GOD:

"As a JMG exclusive, here's a free download of famed remixer Rich Morel's take on Vanessa Daou's Heart Of Wax. Veteran househeads will fondly recall Daou's epic 1992 classic Surrender Yourself. (Work it, learn it, serve it, bring it to the ball.) I'm loving this new single."

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Scents & Sensory @ Calming Park:

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FIERCE ANGEL

Tracklisting

 

CD1      

1. Tommy Bones & Lydia Rhodes - What I Feel - Original Mix     
2. Karin De Ponti I Am The Moon Chris IDH Remix
3. Newland & DJ Vivona Ft. Jade - Set Me Free Extended Mix 
4. Madelin Zero Love The Love Original Mix Edit 
5. Morel Shoegazer Disco Linus Loves Vocal Mix 
6. Vanessa Daou - Heart Of Wax Emjae Club Mix

Fierce Angel is celebrating 5 fabulous year ! Set up in 2006 by Mark Doyle the creator of Hed Kandi Fierce Angel has been picking up critical acclaim worldwide. The company is on a mission to provide simply the finest music and the most memorable nights out.

Read more @ FIERCE ANGEL

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Further info @ the ever glamorous & fabulous MAXI: 

Vanessa Daou and Calming Park Candles have joined forces to illuminate her brand new video for “Heart Of Wax” and your Valentine’s Day.  The organic palm wax candles, made in Grasse, France in Vanessa’s favorite scent Pack Of Cactus, are featured in the video for her sultry new single out on youtube and video outlets Feb 14th.  What’s Valentine’s Day without a little candlelight? Now you can bask in this glow.  

Check out Calming Park’s groovy compilations featuring Goldfrapp, Melanie Gardot, Sia and Gotan Project.

/////

            

Vanessa Daou - Heart of Wax

Buddha bar-heart of wax 

Heart of Wax (Ganga mix)

Blank & Jones - Heart of Wax (feat. Vanessa Daou) Heart of Crystal Mix 

Vanessa Daou - Heart Of Wax (Emjae Club Mix)

Joe Sent MDE, Part 8 of 9 - Heart Of Wax

'Heart of Wax' — Nominee at the 27th Annual International Dance Music Awards at the WMC

'Heart of Wax' is nominated for Best Chillout/Lounge track at the 27th Annual International Dance Music Awards at the Winter Music Conference in Miami Beach.

You can view the nominees here -

And don't forget to cast your vote for this year's nominees here -

The WMC features Panels on Music, Creation & Technology, Seminars, networking events and new this year, an International Record Collectors Show.

As well as voting for the music that you already love, there's a lot to discover at the WMC as well: Tiesto's new radio show 'Club Life', Ellie Goulding, Maya Jane Coles, Dada Life's 'Happy Violence', Claudia Cuseta @ MAXI Promotion.

The International Dance Music Awards cover a full range of genres and categories, from the Best Break-Through Artists to the Best American Record Label and Best Headphones. 

Making the trip to the Dance Music Conference in Miami is a yearly pilgrimage for many, it's a time for bringing the best in the industry together for a few days of some serious all-day schmoozing & all-night jamming........!!

XOV

The Importance of Being an Artist: One listener's virtual interpretation of 'Evening' from 'Slow to Burn

Art is the greatest equalizer. Whether Democrat, Independent, Progressive, Republican or Undecided, Art - music, literature, painting, poetry - serves to communicate our collective ideals, values, and beliefs: our fears, frailties, strengths and desires.

Music is perhaps the most potent and vital art because it pulses, it breathes, it inhabits the spaces in which we gather; it haunts our dreams and awakens our memories. Music ignites our unconscious and fires our imaginations. 

It is that same core of our humanity that is touched by Mozart, Pink Floyd, Billie Holiday, The Knife, Francoise Hardy and Etienne Daho, irrespective of the listener's political leanings.

We live in virtual as well as tangible realm. One feeds the other in multiple and manifold ways. To be an artist is to live in all realms simultaneously, detecting the subtle flickers of existence that would otherwise go unnoticed. To the artist, everything is worth noticing.

The virtual world is a means for connecting but can often be distancing, as well. For me, making music achieves the most direct form of communication of all the arts, as it reaches the listener's ear with no intermediary. This video by CreativeGeniusAtWork illustrates this - virtually and beautifully.

MOONSHINE: Coming soon | Joe Sent Me 'Moonshine' Mixes

"Moonshine (meaning illicit distillation, also called white lightning, mountain dew, hooch" Wikipedia

 "On this day in 1833: Southern state illegalizes hooch on this date, officially names Coltrane new sheriff."

Link

Music & Revolution: The Political is Personal - aRUDE Magazine

For those of you who missed my Tweets & FB posts on my recent piece 'Music & Revolution: The Political is Personal' for aRUDE Magazine:

Mahatma Gandhi‘s passive resistance was rooted in the idea that the greatest revolutionary act is borne in the quiet of one’s mind. Resistance manifests itself in manifold ways, sometimes with anger and aggression and other times in stillness and silence. What all revolutions have in common is the resolute mindset of each participant: to resist and remain standing. Standing up against tyranny and oppression is  a rebellious act, an irreverent, irrepressible act.

While it has become an accepted Truth that ‘The Personal is Political’, the reverse also holds true; ‘The Political is Personal’, and nothing is more personal than the music one chooses to live by, to be inspired by, and be guided by. Music and revolution walk hand in hand, and while each Revolution aspires to its own unique ideals, music is one thing they all have in common.  Whether RiotGrrl or RudeBoy, singing “We Shall Overcome” or “Occupy D.C.”, all Revolutions are fueled by words that are poetic, raw, and real – whether they’re scrawled on walls or carefully articulated in Mantras and Manifestos. Throughout history, protesters have marched to songs that speak to their individual as well as collective pain, purpose and philosophy.

In today’s virtual landscape of crowd-sourced revolution, we’ve become used to the images of ‘Revolution’, the ones that typically make the headlines: photos of protesters pressing together en masse, compressed in their fury and urgency. Our collective histories tell the visual tales: The French Revolution, The American Revolution, The Industrial Revolution, The Egyptian Revolution, The New Feminist Revolution – Great throngs that have gathered to stand up against tyranny, oppression, ideology, regime.

Read the full post @ aRUDE

JOE SENT ME rmxs on mark reeder's new album - five point one

"british label chief, producer and musician mark reeder is a product of what many regard as the golden age of science fiction. he grew up in an england dominated by security forces of the future with outsize heads jiggling on strings to save the world from intergalactic menaces, in hit after hit from the gerry anderson stable. he saw doctor who take his first tentative steps into the past and the future on carboard sets populated by jumble sale aliens. in cinema there was the constant threat of communist stealth attacks always from mars or the psychadelic trip that was stanley kubrick’s 2001: a space odyssey. he was fascinated by the synthetic electronic pulsations of the forbidden planet and clockwork orange soundtracks and devoured fan magazines like TV21. wobbly spaceships, cardboard robots, ray guns and bug-eyed monsters; as a child he was drawn to this sometimes quaint, sometimes ominously correct visions of the future. it should come as no surprise then that five point one, his debut compilation of remix work, should concern itself as much with modern technology as it does with music.

 

five point one presents a hand-picked selection of some of reeder’s remixes remastered and re-mixed in crystal clear dolby digital 5.1 surround sound. present is his work for legendary heavyweights such as the pet shop boys and sam taylor-wood, john foxx, anne clark, die toten hosen or former new order as bad lieutenant, vanessa daou or blank&jones, plus an exclusive remix he made for depeche mode, while reeder also puts his particular retro synth-pop spin on tracks from up-and-coming artists such as echoes, electrobelle, fidelity kastrow, may68 or noblesse oblige.

five point one is a deluxe collection of some of the best of reeder’s recent work, a deluxe DVD and 2CD package, gloriously remastered in dolby 5.1 surround sound, creating a listening experience which enhances the depth and radiance of reeder's original stereo mixes, all of which are also included on two CDs for a traditional 2.0 stereo sound system too."

Read more

Tracklist

DVD 5.1 surround remixes

total time 97:16

• 01 John Foxx – Underpass (mark reeder's sinister subway remix edit)
• 02 Bad Lieutenant – Twist of fate (mark reeder's led's twist again remix)
• 03 Noblesse Oblige – Duel (mark reeder's shot at the crack of dawn remix)
• 04 Marsheaux – So Far (mark reeder's so close remix)
• 05 Depeche Mode – Sweetest Perfection (mark reeder's sweetest conception remix)
• 06 Echoes – Ice Cold (mark reeder's cold as ice remix)
• 07 Blank & Jones, Mark Reeder featuring Vanessa Daou – Heart Of Wax (heart of crystal mix)
• 08 Anne Clark – Full Moon (mark reeder's stairway to the stars remix)
• 09 Vanessa Daou – Black & White (mark reeder's monochrome mix)
• 10 Sam Taylor-Wood with The Pet Shop Boys – I'm in Love with a German Film Star (mark reeder's rias remix)
• 11 Spartak – Lets Go Get 'Em (mark reeder's no pain, no gain remix edit)
• 12 Electrobelle – Falling (mark reeder's in your arms remix edit)
• 13 Fidelity Kastrow – 21st Century Girl (mark reeder's strident remix edit)
• 14 May68 – The Prisoner (mark reeder's runaway remix)
• 15 Parralox – Sharper Than a Knife (mark reeder's cutting edge remix edit)
• 16 Bad Lieutenant – Sink or Swim (mark reeder's rettungsring remix edit)
• 17 Die Toten Hosen – Disco (mark reeder's lange hosen remix)
• 18 Anne Clark – If… (mark reeder's seemingly forever remix)

CD2 more 2.0 remixes (stereo audio only)

total time 77:06

• 01 John Foxx – Underpass
  (mark reeder's dark, long & sinister remix)
• 02 Blank & Jones, Mark Reeder featuring Vanessa Daou – Heart of Wax
  (heart of crystal mix)
• 03 Sam Taylor-Wood with The Pet Shop Boys – I'm in Love with a German Film Star
  (mark reeder's rias remix)
• 04 Echoes – Ice Cold
  (mark reeder's colder than ice remix)
• 05 Parralox – Sharper than a Knife
  (mark reeder's cutting edge remix)
• 06 Bad Lieutenant – Sink or Swim
  (mark reeder's waterwing remix)
• 07 Vanessa Daou – Black & White
  (mark reeder's monochrome mix)
• 08 Anne Clark – Full Moon
  (mark reeder's stairway to the stars remix)
• 09 Fidelity Kastrow – 21st Century Girl
  (mark reeder's strident remix edit)
• 10 Electrobelle – Falling
  (mark reeder's in your heart remix)
• 11 Bad Lieutenant – Twist of Fate
  (mark reeder's synth of fate remix)
• 12 Die Toten Hosen – Disco
  (mark reeder's kurze hosen remix)

   

  artist links

• john foxx
• bad lieutenant
• noblesse oblige
• depeche mode
• echoes
• the pet shop boys
• sam taylor-wood
• parralox
• anne clark
• electrobelle
• marsheaux
• spartak
• may68
• fidelity kastrow
• blank & jones
• vanessa daou
• die toten hosen

Powhida on the 'production of art and a search for meaning'

I've always found William Powhida's work & words to be in line with my own aesthetic leanings: a craving for synthesis between image & text, a desire for expression of that nexus between the visual & the verbal, the use of line to delineate, outline, hint at or come to some conclusion ... Always with his unique blend of irony mixed with a healthy dose of acerbic wit, eloquently, he writes:

"The artists in Dunkle Wolke are people I consider to be friends, or at least people I've shared a drink and a discussion about art with. They are artists who also have some experience with darkness in all its forms from the purely formal to the emotional weight of loneliness. They talk about darkness as a condition of their environment, history, politics, a color, or personal relationships that often takes on the form of what Bjoern Meyer-Ebrecht describes as an 'ominous shape'. For me, the ominous shape is an expression of anxiety about the production of art and a search for meaning in an often chaotic world where historical narratives break down into reality without the authority of history and moral intention. Through the process of putting reality into a narrative, we attempt give it meaning making it a contentious site to be written and unwritten giving rise to a tension between form and language.

...

All of the works are equivocal representations of time, distance, and space with unfixed beginnings and end points that remain ominously close to darkness and the ambiguity of vision. They question our certainty about history, but they don’t give in to chaos. They are rescued by beauty, maybe even love without sentimentality, a love for process and possibility that art can provide some meaning and relief to the anxiety of living. Even I have to believe that sometimes."

- William Powhida

Link

Beautiful & new from 'Soft Metals' + props from Bop2Bop

"We featured Soft Metals awhile back on here, and are digging the dance elements of new single, Voices. We also like the trippy vocal treatment which remind us of our favorite tripster, Vanessa Daou. The cool video is inspired, not suprisingly, by the films of Suspiria director, Dario Argento. Soft Metals are a psychedelic synthpop duo out of Portland who have recently released their debut cd. Definitely worth checking out if that is your thing."

SOFT METALS - VOICES (OFFICIAL VIDEO) from Dumb Eyes on Vimeo.

Bop2Bop

Snapshots Foundations Q & A | "Future States of Music"

Snapshots Music & Arts Foundation: Mission Statement: "Our Foundation is committed to preserving the history and performances of today’s great artists. To help realize our goal of making great music timeless, we are collaborating with the Library of Congress to archive our media at its Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation. We are developing a true collaboration to preserve the voices of artists for generations to come. Press release." 

It was my honor to be interviewed by the Snapshots Music & Arts Foundation. As you can read above in their mision statement, their objective of presenting & preserving music through technology is a noble and critically important one.

In the Q&A, we discuss the past, present, and future states of music, and the many complex ways the media discusses, dissects and disemminates information. 

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Vanessa Daou: Future States of Music

Bio: Gifted with a unique combination of poetic lyricism and a sensuous voice, singer and songwriter Vanessa Daou has defined the sound of New York's progressive jazz infused electronica and downtempo music since the early 1990's. Today Vanessa is releasing her 7th solo recording, is Music Editor at aRUDE magazine, and writes about music and the arts on her blog and website.

Q: Vanessa, you came from a period of success in music of the 1990's. How would you describe the fallout from 2000 on, and how could we have ended up in a healthier state today?

V: I think in many ways, the Music Business has lost sight of its core values. Discovering great talent used to be about the development of a noble idea: to leave a legacy of great and meaningful music, to put something out into the world that would truly resonate. Although there has always been greed as a motivation, the impetus was always to make lasting, timeless music. Where there used to be a cluster of truly visionary A&R executives who drove things creatively, the top tier music executives of today are governed by a kind of ‘herd instinct’, a ROI mentality whereby they move en masse with one purpose, toward the money.

Signing an act used to be a highly intuitive and selective process, necessitating not only skill, but those intangibles like vision and instinct. There was a nobility and elegance to the process, embracing a kind of ‘Queen Bee’ economics, where the artist was at the top of the hierarchy, treated with the ultimate respect. Ths approach "paid off" in the end, but it took time, patience and commitment.

Read full Q&A @ Snapshots Foundation