RED FERRARI

Luc Ferrari2

I’ve always enjoyed the electroacoustic & ambient work of Luc Ferrari.

Musique concrete maintains a whole other level of respect and coolness in France – maybe it’s due to protectionist broadcast policies, or IRCAM, or their fashion sensibility, or something deep in the Gallic character like the predilection for heavy creams and bureaucracy. (usually my record crate contains at least one LP of what sounds like creaking wood or squirrels gnawing at a piano – doesn’t always get played, but it’s good to have something like that around).

Ferrari made seductive work, which continues to pulls the ear in. Even at the most experimental/abstract moments there’s usually a placid spirit inside it.

This is from a recent release, Archives Génétiquement Modifiées / Société II.

Says the label:

…Mr.Ferrari revisited aspects of his early concepts and compositional strategies to create wholly new works. The result here is a very bizarre, sensual, and beautifully-paced electroacoustic work of aural memories and (re)collections created by Mr. Ferrari utilizing sounds from his vast archive of musical activities.

[audio:Luc_Ferrari_untitled5.mp3]

Luc Ferrari – untitled 5

Album artwork includes a naked lady from 1923 clutching an oud/lute as she sits atop a Pioneer CD-J 1000 CD player, and Mr Ferrari’s large finger stabbing a button. This is one of the few moments where I like “gear shots”, the uncool cool of the CD player, from Ferrari to funk carioca…

rr39brr39a

YOUTOMB

daisies

YouTomb – a fast-growing archive of removed YouTube videos. An online anti-library. A bibliography of absent, missing, deleted texts, videos eliminated from YT-Googlelandia due to alleged copyright violation. blog too.

“The index is currently 192233 seconds out of date.”

HEATWAVE FM

theheatwave-masterg

Tonight’s radio show – special guest Gervase from London’s Heatwave crew! He’s coming straight from the airport to share “some uk and caribbean sounds – bashment, funky, grime, soca. new tunes. tropical via east london! and we can talk about funky, grime, bassline and so on. that crookers/cudi tune has been no 2 in the charts here for the past few weeks…”

Gabriel Heatwave came on the show back in August 07 (streamable as realaudio) and we’re excited to bring another crew member through. For an appetizing earful, head to their blog.

upcoming guests: Telepathe, Feb. 25.

BROOKLYN HEATER UPPER

a last-minute late winter celebration:

NEW YORK TROPICAL: OUT & BAD. friday feb 20th.

Bunny Rabbit, DJ /rupture, and Geko Jones. holding it down at some Greenpoint basement, where we’ll bring Grimm’s reggae bassbins to up the bump. como si fuera un house party!

details & flyer in a bit. I will play this song

[audio:Schlachthofbronx-We_Nah_Fraid_Baby_Cham_Demarco.mp3]

Schlachthofbronx – We Nah Fraid (Baby Cham & Demarco)

and probably this one

[audio:Madera Limpia_la lenta_schlachthofbronx_remix.mp3]

Madera Limpia – La Lenta (Schlachtofbronx remix)

A few months ago Geko Jones tipped me off to the above Bavarian heat – Schlachtofbronx, a name we’ll eventually have to learn how to pronounce, because they’re so great. Who knows what tunes he’s got now.

Bunny Rabbit and the Cult of Miracles are bringing “a drum kit”.

THIS IS REAL BECAUSE WE BELIEVE IT IS, they say:

real1

HAFIDA

Back in Brooklyn with a CIAFRICA woodcarving + at least a full day’s worth of north African music. Not to mention hours of interviews, but that’s another story.

Here’s new Moroccan Berber music from Hafida. Henna, check. autotune, check. animated butterflies, check. If you like these 2 songs you’ll like the entire self-titled album, it’s pretty much an extended jam.

hafida

And no, dear Hafida never turns off her autotune. If that’s not love, what is?

[audio:Hafida_tifrkhin_tena_ourtahlin+ghayli_ghayetflt.mp3]

Hafida – Tifrkin Tena Ourtahlin + Ghayli Ghayteflt (buyable)

& video of a medley from the same album


Hafida ” Ayan dar illa zine ifkas lkhatr…”

POSTOPOLIS: LOS ANGELES

Postopolis: a city of (blog) posts, touching down, realtime.

nearly two years ago, I participated in the first Postopolis event, held at Manhattan’s “uniquely awesome perforated space” Storefront for Art & Architecture, and hosted by a quartet of architecture/urbanism/design blogs BLDGBLG, Subtopia, City of Sound, and Inhabitat. Great concept and interdisciplinary execution. Now it’s time for round 2 –

Postopolis!LogoLo

[logo by Joe Alterio]

I’m very pleased to announce that the 2nd Postopolis will happen daily from 5pm to 11pm on Tuesday, March 29 through Saturday, April 4. In Los Angeles. And it’s free .

…and yrs truly will be one of the hosts/organizers. It was an honor to be asked. I’ll do my best to keep things muddy.

To quote Geoff: “we’re bringing art, architecture, music, film, design, planning, politics, sci-fi, special effects, geology, history, lost rivers, futurism, and archaeology to Los Angeles, that city of tar pits and movie stars, of beaches, landslides, and mountain lion attacks, of universities and parking lots, of real estate speculation and individualized automotive fractality, city of black magic, mass murder, and abandoned swimming pools, military simulation labs, Die Hard and plate tectonics. City of the Center for Land Use Interpretation, of ecologies, gravel pits, and infrastructure.”

I’m particulary excited because I’ve only been to LA once – for less than 24 hours. My friend’s brother had just been sideswiped by a drunk TV celebrity and everything felt magic.

So I mostly imagine it as a city of (now) cumbia sonidera and (then) Raymond Chandler’s investigative social landscapes. A place of built & naturalized transformations, where the American dream hemmorrhages or feeds itself or simply looks at the weather . But down to business–

Location and preliminary names of guest speakers/presenters/artists coming soon. In the meantime, here’s who’s involved on our end:

—David Basulto from Plataforma Arquitectura and ArchDaily (Santiago, Chile)
—Jace Clayton from Mudd Up! (New York City, USA)
—Régine Debatty from we make money not art (Paris, France)
—Bryan Finoki from Subtopia (San Francisco, USA)
—Dan Hill from City of Sound (Sydney, Australia)
—Geoff Manaugh from BLDGBLOG (San Francisco, USA)

Big shout to our LA sponsors For Your Art and Storefront for Art & Architecture. Without these kind, dedicated folks greasing the wheels, a realtime ‘meatspace’ event like this would go nowhere.

So. See you in LA?

For further reasons to come through – Postopolis is part of LA’s Art Weekend.

SO WHAT SO FINE

…have been busy. About to announce a very exciting collaborative project/event but until then – on Feb 24th the very great band Telepathe will be guests on my radio show. (here’s tonite’s episode, made on Vince’s couch)

can’t wait! here’s a video for Telepathe’s “So Fine.” Choreographed Bushwick realism:

JUJU BEES

the plane across the pond showed a movie with Queen Latifah presiding over a matriarchal black beekeeper society (Alicia Keyes wearing a ‘natural’ wig, that successful singing show contestant, etc) and a young white girl escaping from her abusive father. Who made her kneel on rice (symbolic rice?) while he drank beer (symbolic beer?) as punishment for playing in the dirt after bedtime. At this point I assumed the movie was German.

The young white girl has a troubled past which inserts itself into the present via flashbacks. The black women have their laughter, their honey, and the power of music. The editing was clumsy. This is what I understood as I glanced at the screen from time to time with no audio. Also, racism – in a movie theater!

now I’m looking for electricity in the airport.

This song — I’ve heard it sampled but can’t remember where. Maybe you can.

[audio:Synchro Series Synchro System .mp3]

King Sunny Adé – Syncro Series Syncro System

(from, among other places, Rough Guide to Africa & Middle East)