BOWIE BLACK STAR

A new album is coming in January from David Bowie! The project was announced in Dec with this first single and video for the title track, Black Star. The record will be available in a variety of formats with bonus lithographs. More info at David's site here. Enjoy!

 

DAVID SYLVIAN BOOK

A new career-spanning book, Hypergraphia: The Writings of David Sylvian 1980-2014, will be published in early November. From the press release: "Spanning a duration of over thirty years, Hypergraphia includes previously unpublished material, as well as conversations with the influential improvisational guitarist and founding member of the group AMM, Keith Rowe and the ever-insightful writer and musicologist Marcus Boon. The volume includes aspects of Sylvian's own photographic work as well as selections by some of the most reputable and innovative artists working today and its design celebrate the longstanding collaboration between Sylvian and acclaimed designer Chris Bigg (below). English singer-songwriter and musician David Sylvian came to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead vocalist and main songwriter in the group Japan. Their hits included Ghosts and a cover version of I Second That Emotion. His subsequent solo work is described as 'a far-ranging and esoteric career that encompassed not only solo projects but also a series of fascinating collaborative efforts'." Pre-order at AmazonUK and Amazon.

FRANZ WRIGHT R.I.P.

Pulitzer Prize-winnig poet, Franz Wright, passed away this week. He was the son of James Wright, who won the Pulitzer for poetry in 1972. Franz wrote bluntly about addiction and illness, and his recent collaboration with composer/musician David Sylvian (of Japan fame) captured a raw, human quality that managed, like an Uta Barth photograph, to find beauty in the small observations of the body and mind from moment to moment. Wright won the Pulitzer in 2004. He was working on a new book at the time of his death. Learn more about Franz Wright at the Washington Post, Poetry Foundation, David Sylvian, Below: preview of There's a Light That Enters Houses With no Other House in Sight by Franz Wright and David Sylvian, with contributions by Christian Fennesz and John Tilbury. The album is available at Amazon here. Album website here. 

KRAFTWERK TOUR 2015

Kraftwerk has announced a Fall 2015 tour in North America!

09-16 Edmonton, Alberta - Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium


09-17 Calgary, Alberta - Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium


09-19 Portland, OR - Keller Auditorium


09-23 Denver, CO - Ellie Caulkins Opera House


09-25 Austin, TX - Bass Concert Hall


09-27 Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium


09-29 Miami, FL - Olympia Theater at Gusman Center


10-02 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory


10-03 Boston, MA - Wang Theatre


10-05 Detroit, MI - Masonic Temple Theatre


10-07 Minneapolis, MN - Northrop


10-09 Kansas City, MO - Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland

NEW HAYAO MIYAZAKI DOC

New release: A beautiful new documentary film was released on DVD in January that offers an intimate visit with Japanese artist/director Hayao Miyazaki. From the editorial review on Amazon: "Granted near-unfettered access to the notoriously insular Studio Ghibli, director Mami Sunada follows the three men who are the lifeblood of Ghibli the eminent director Hayao Miyazaki, the producer Toshio Suzuki, and the elusive and influential other director Isao Takahata over the course of a year as the studio rushes to complete two films, Miyazaki s The Wind Rises and Takahata s The Tale of The Princess Kaguya. The result is a rare fly on the wall glimpse of the inner workings of one of the world s most celebrated animation studios creators of successful films including Princess Mononoke and the Oscar winning Spirited Away, the highest-grossing Japanese film of all time and an insight into the dreams, passion and singular dedication of these remarkable creators." US readers can now stream the film on Netflix. Enjoy!

LAURIE ANDERSON LIVE IDEAS

Laurie Anderson is curating the 2015 Live Ideas festival in NYC. Events are scheduled to start on Wednesday April 15th with performances and work by Anderson, Julian Schnabel, Pauline Oliveros, Chris Marker, and John Zorn. Readers on the west coast can see Laurie Anderson during her four-night run at SF Jazz in May (info here). NYC Live Ideas info here. 

MUSIC FOR 6 DRUMMERS

Here is the brilliant 2001 Swedish short Music for One Apartment and Six Drummers. The Six Drummers are a group of artists who "want to challenge the preconceptions of music and explore the boundaries between sound, music and image." Their work is a genius cocktail of performance art, music, and filmmaking. Apartment was nominated for a Palme d'Or at Cannes and the group followed up with a feature film, Sound of Noise, in 2010. The female lead in both films is actress/musician Sanna Persson. Enjoy!

LA OPERA SINGS MARIO BAVA

The LA Opera will be performing Mario Bava's 1961 film Hercules VS Vampires (Hercules in the Haunted World) this month. In an interesting twist to live-movie accompaniment  the opera cast will be singing the dialog! Bava's cult-classic is an operatic, gaudy vision that I think will translate beautifully to this form of presentation. If you think it might be strange to hear Christopher Lee's dialog sung, remember he was dubbed by another actor for the English-language cut of the film anyway! Don't miss it if you are in the LA area. More info here. 

NEW BOWIE PRODUCTION

David Bowie and Enda Walsh have created a new production of The Man Who Fell to Earth for the New York Theatre Workshop. Inspired by the original novel by Walter Tevis (David Bowie starred in the 1976 film adaptation), Mr. Bowie has also written new music as well as new arrangements of previously recorded tunes for the production. More info here.

SAMUEL CHARTERS

Samuel Charters made a personal quest in the 1950s and 1960s to explore African-American music tradition and to seek out forgotten and undiscovered artists. His field recordings and books represent an important body of work for musicologists, folklorists, and fans of the Blues. He passed away last week at the age of 85. NPR's Fresh Air celebrated Charters with a re-broadcast of his 20-min interview with Terry Gross from 1987, which included great stories about Lightnin' Hopkins and about navigating institutionalized racism during his recording trips. Listen to the program and see the transcript here. New York Times obituary here. Below: Charters' influential first record with Lightinin' Hopkins for Folkways (1959).

ENO: MY SQUELCHY LIFE

Brian Eno's rare unreleased My Squelchy Life finally gets an official vinyl edition! Pressed as a double 12" album, the record will be available on Record Store Day April 18th, 2015. From the Press Release: "First time on vinyl for legendary ‘lost’ Brian Eno album My Squelchy Life. Originally slated for release on Warner Bros in September 1991 and pulled from the schedules at the last moment, in subsequent years it has been heavily bootlegged and entered the lexicon of Eno myth. In 2014 it received an official release as the bonus disc to the expanded All Saints edition of follow-up album Nerve Net. For this exclusive Record Store Day edition it is presented in a deluxe gatefold vinyl edition, including an additional track from the same recording session, “Rapid Eye”, that has never been heard before."

CALVIN AND HOBBES

New Release: A new exhibit catalog featuring 152 pages of original comic art and commentary by Bill Waterson was released on March 10th by Andrews & McMeel. Based on a 2014 retrospective at Ohio State University, Exploring Calvin and Hobbes also includes interviews, Watterson's original syndicate proposal page, and photographs of the artist's studio. Calvin and Hobbes ran from 1985 to 1995 and set a new standard for writing, art, and artist rights in the field of comic strips. More info at Bud's Art Books and Amazon. 

WES ANDERSON X-MEN

Patrick Willems recently completed a wonderful parody short that pays homage to Wes Anderson. Based on the premise of what an X-Men film would look like under Anderson's direction, Willems managed to capture much of the auteur's artistic stamp and movie conventions. Check it out below. Enjoy!

MARC GABBANA

Concept artist Marc Gabbana (Star Wars I-II, Matrix II-III, War of the Worlds) did an interesting interview with Entertainment Designer today about working in the Film and Advertising industries. What do artists need to make it professionally? How can artists promote and target their work to clients? How did his iterations of Star Wars sets inspire George Lucas to write a new sequence? Check out Marc's many helpful tips here.

MOTHERSBAUGH TALKS

Mark Mothersbaugh shares some of his early electronic instruments and talks about synths, process, and art.

Cool Hunting Video: Mark Mothersbaugh's Synth Collection from Cool Hunting on Vimeo.

DARTH VADER PROJECT

Dov Kelemer and Jo Marks at DKE Toys created an interesting group exhibit about ten years ago. Choosing Darth Vader as a theme for a platform show, they procured 100 prop replicas of the Dark Lord's helmet and invited artists from around the world to contribute their customized designs. The group included many heroes from the Pop Surrealist/Lowbrow movement like Josh Agle (Shag), Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, Ron English, Paul Frank, Jesse Hernandez, Sun-MinKim, David Horvath, Joe Ledbetter, Tokidoki, Ragnar, Secret Base, and Amanda Visell. The helmets traveled to eight exhibitions between 2007 and 2010. A full-color catalog is available at the project website. Learn more: The Vader Project, LA Weekly, Wired. Enjoy!

SUBOTNICK EVENT

Pioneer of electronic music and multi-media performance, Morton Subotnick (Silver Apples of the Moon) performs tonight at Mills College. More info here. 

AKIRA KUROSAWA

An interesting little tribute to Akira Kurosawa made on his 99th birthday in 2011. American directors Lucas, Spielberg, and Scorsese speak warmly about his influence and the group congratulates a new Kurosawa film school in Anaheim. Enjoy!

RALPH MCQUARRIE TRIBUTE

Art Pioneers celebrates the great Ralph McQuarrie with this 5-part Tribute to a Master documentary. McQuarrie is best remembered for his inspired concept art for the Star Wars universe. Keep your eye out for interesting and warm reflections from George Lucas, Marc Gabbana, Doug Chiang, Steve Sansweet, Lorne Peterson, Dennis Muren, and others. Enjoy!

FEDERICO FELLINI

Happy Birthday to Federico Fellini! Born on this day in 1920, Fellini transitioned through the Italian Neo-Realism movement to revolutionize cinema by freely weaving memory, dream, and fantasy into film narrative. Essential works: La Strada, La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2, Juliet of the Spirits, Amarcord. Below: the director on the set of 8 1/2 (1963). Images by photographer Tazio Secchiaroli. 

MUSIQUE CONCRETE

Art Pioneers celebrates Musique Concrete with this educational look at the BBC documentary The New Sound of Music (1979). Doctor Who fans take note!

BOWIE STYLE

Illustrator Helen Green celebrates eery Bowie hairstyle from 1964 to 2014 in a new GIF posted on Slate here. Chart form image below. Enjoy!

DAVID BOWIE

Happy Birthday to David Bowie! Like many teenagers in early 1960s England, Bowie was inspired by American blues and R&B. He took up the saxophone and guitar and formed a string of bands that played blues and rock covers for parties and local entertainment. As a keen student of graphic design, art, and mime (!), his Mod beginnings transformed over the years as he explored areas of musical and theatrical production that we can now recognize as genre-defining outings (1960s Mod, folk-poet, 1970s glam, soul, experimental avant-garde, electronic, dance, 1980s pop, cyber punk, jungle, etc). If an artist is always in the state of becoming, Bowie has spent a lifetime pioneering the outer limits and sending back transmissions of things to come.

David Bowie stayed in the fast lane for forty years, releasing albums and pursuing his acting career, until a heart attack on stage in 2004 made him take stock. There was a nine-year hiatus with few appearances, and it looked like the limelight had been traded for quality time as a stay-at-home dad. He surprised everyone in 2013, however, with an outstanding new album called The Next Day, which was released during a flurry of Bowie-related art shows and a massive retrospective at the Victoria & Albert Museum. The V&A exhibit celebrating his career in music, fashion, graphic arts, fine art, and set design was captured in the illustrated book David Bowie Is. Now Bowie is 68- many happy returns! If his health is up to it, I hope to see him back on stage and recording new material. Collage illustration below by IFAN BATES.

Essential Current Video from The Next Day:

Related post on my Spy Vibe blog: Bowie Spies Berlin. My Bowie-Art image archive on Pinterest here. Essential Bowie: 

Movies: The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), The Hunger (1983), Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (1983), Labyrinth (1986), Basquait (1996), The Hunger (tv/1999-2000), The Prestige (2006).

Concerts/Videos/Docs: The Best of Bowie, Ziggy Stardust, Reality Tour, Storytellers, Under Review 1976-1979 The Berlin Trilogy, David Bowie Is Happening Now.

Albums: Hunky Dory (1971), Ziggy Stardust (1972), Diamond Dogs (1974), Young Americans (1975), Station to Station (1976), Low (1977), Heroes (1977), Lodger (1979), Scary Monsters (1980), Baal (1981), Outside (1995), Earthling (1997), VH1 Storytellers (2001), The Next Day (2013), Nothing Has Changed (career compilation/2014).

HAYAO MIYAZAKI

Happy Birthday to Hayao Miyazaki. Born on this day in 1941, Miyazaki has become one of the most respected artists in Japan. The film director and comic creator has an unparalleled gift at writing strong female characters and his ability to weave magic realism (and often environmentalism) into deep coming-of-age stories has made him the most beloved storyteller around the world. Suggested viewing: My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, Howls Moving Castle. Collage below: key female characters from Miyazaki's most celebrated projects. Learn more: Studio Ghibli Museum, Starting Point, Turning Point, author page. Enjoy!

LAURIE ANDERSON: MACH 20

Laurie Anderson performs "Mach 20" from United States Live (1984) on a short-lived program called The New Show. Her ability to use science as societal lens and story-generator is endlessly fascinating. Her performance art has often used science as form, kind of proto-Ted Talks about nature, behavior, anxieties, and life-changing experiences. Like cartoonists Roz Chast and Gary Larson, who also have scientific and sociological interests, Anderson's observations can be insightful, hilarious, but also haunting. Enjoy!