the cabalistic order of the rose cross

claude debussy and erik satiethese two rosicrucian composers, claude debussy and erik satie, were both musically inclined and applauded for their esotericism. although debussy is reported to have detested ornamentation (he thrived on refinery) there are also reports that he loved children’s toys (especially those of his daughter, chouchou) and the circus.  on the other hand, satie’s worldliness spoke volumes in his treatments for piano, and additionally as a writer and philosopher.  satie was published in minimalist journals and vanity fair, to extract his diversity.  these two concentrated on a musical renewal, not a recycling, and were members of an order far beyond comprehension.  how quaint, to be influenced by a superior philosophy; in essence, to live and breathe every corpuscle of what you do in perpetuum. by sv

The Future is Unwritten

joe-strummer-mural-tomorrowstarted

a few days ago, i came across the news that the joe strummer mural, on the side of good ol’ niagara on the the corner of 7A in the EV, was being removed due to renovations. pretty bummed by the news as i have been on a bit of a stummer kick. luckily, i had just borrowed a handful of old albums to play on my new record player, one of them being the clash’s debut studio album. a little earlier today i found out that the mural will be redone after the building is renovated! here’s a little video that pays tribute to strummer and the mural. oh and happy birthday joe. thank you for adding to the soundtrack of our lives. by jr

Krafting all that werk? Afrika Bambaataa Planet Rock

afrika bambaataa & soul sonic force

how the hell did kraftwerk’s ralf hutter and florian schneider’s music make it all the way from dusseldorf germany to the bronx? it’s still beyond me. how cool it must have felt to hear, for the first time, afrika bambaataa & soul sonic force play planet rock back-in-the-day in the middle of the bronx… i can just imagine… (cause my ass clearly wasn’t in the bronx). by dd

Bad Video – Huai Shi Pin with Bix Sigurdsson

ahhhh good video… “bad video”  is the latest installment from our icelandic friend bix sigurdsson (gus gus), or as i recall him bix pender, AKA big spender… that’s what his agent used to call him… love the music especially since just last night i watched a series of great documentaries on brian eno, kraftwerk, pierre boulez, pierre henry (not the footballer!) etc. this track and video were done in collaboration with directors and musicians arni & kinski and chinese artist and vocalist tsien-tsien zhan. lovely… now where do we get it bix? someone post a link in comments. by dd

FA’VELAPUNK: rockin’ it all the way from Indonesia

“cewe rusak is the anticipated single by indonesian artist favelapunk”. dig it! not sure who was anticipating it here, but here it is, and its pretty cool. the instrumentation is right on from the start and while some of the cliche moves stumbles right into the hip hop genre (which is not especially our cup of tea) the whole piece is quite nice. love the styling and the video effects, especially the pacing  in the edit. pretty and cool… that makes it pretty cool. favelapunk video directed by cale mason, styled by sarah scaife, edited by lara benwell, and produced by homme australia. by dd

vanessa paradis – love songs

vanessa-paradis-love-song-mm-paris-biolay-reljin

ok, now that is a great crew. album artwork by m/m paris, photo by karim sadli, music by mister benjamin biolay, video by dusan reljin and well vanessa is pretty nice too… oh and by the way the song rocks! (fuck vevo!) by pp.

foxtrot blues

mighty blue magazine cover

image: cover for sheet music of foxtrot blues;  clip: part three of dmitri shostakovich’s jazz suite, the foxtrot blues themselves with ukelele accompaniment.  setting the tone for my day, gettin’ down with the hawaiian guitar. by sv