Tha D

Mini Video documentary on Theo Parrish in Detroit funded by Adidas. Especially like the Detroit wall at Rick Wilhite's record shop Vibes New & Rare Music, 14500 W 8 Mile Rd Ste 203, Oak Park, MI 48237.

Happy Go Lucky

Word of a new Mike Leigh movie is always well received in my house. His film "Naked" is one of my top five films of all time. Mainly because it sums up the England I left - a bleak, grim Thatcherite island plagued by racism, riots and rot. If there ever was a director who sums up British life then it's Leigh. His work cuts through the BS like a razor. He's also a director whose sense of humor I can relate to, it's very un-American - dry, brittle and often complete with an undertow all it's own. And it's Leigh's commingling of bleakness and humor is what makes his films stand up to repeated viewings. "Naked" is the perfect film for a dark, cold winter night like the one's we're experiencing now.


The new and seemingly happier Mike Leigh film aptly titled "Happy-Go-Lucky" is debuting at the Berlin Film Festival next month (alongside the world premiere of another film I've been waiting for - the documentary on Arthur Russell - "Wild Combination"). Word is "Happy-Go-Lucky" sees the director step back to his classic techniques and regular themes. I'm happy to hear this since even though Leigh's popularity in America soared after 2004's "Vera Drake" that film was hardly typical Leigh. For one it was a period drama, something he hasn't done that often ("Topsy Turvy" the story of Gilbert and Sullivan is the other obvious example). To my mind Leigh excells at dissecting our times. He films are a truer Britain the one exported and sold. I always say if you want to know what Britain is really like watch a Mike Leigh film.

"Happy-Go-Lucky" is described as a comedy set in North London - the film follows the life of a teacher and supposedly, in an unusual step for Leigh, she's seen 'in every single frame of the film'. Talking to the London Film School late last year rumor has it Leigh compared his focus on the protagonist in the film to his work in "Naked" which followed the melancholic eccentric Johnny (David Thewlis) on an odyssey through London. Little else about the new film has been revealed aside from the release date - April 18th in England. Hopefully we'll get it in the States shortly after. Maybe sooner if it wins a prize in Berlin.

I'm also looking forward to buying and reading "Mike Leigh on Mike Leigh" (Faber & Faber UK - April) - a book of new interviews in which Leigh is reported to speak more openly than ever before on his life and unusual working methods all with his playful Northern wit.

Filled my ears: January '08

Just some of the music that made the rotation ...

ALICE COLTRANE - World Galaxy
BARBQ - Barbi In Love (Solomun Remix) *
BOWIE – Low / Heroes
CARIBOU – Niobe
CARTER TUTTI - Feral Vapours of the Silver Ether
CRISTIAN VOGEL - Music For The Creations of Gilles Jobin
DAVID BEHRMAN - Leapday Night
DON CHERRY & TERRY RILEY - Live Radio Broadcast
FAST EDDIE - Jack To The Sound
FORCE OF NATURE – Sequencer (Stefan Goldman Remix) *
FORCE OF NATURE – Transmute (Still Going Mix) *
FRANCK ROGER – The Blind Way *
FUNK BROTHERS - Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart
GENERAL STRIKE - Danger in Paradise
JEFF MILLS - The Sin
JOY DIVISION – An Ideal For Living
LOS HERMANOS - Traditions & Concepts *
M.V.P’s - Turnin' My Heartbeat Up
MANUEL GOTTSCHING - Live at Mount Fuji
MARVIN GAYE – Here My Dear
MATHEW JONSON – Symphony For The Apocalypse *
MILES DAVIS - Complete On The Corner Sessions
THE MODEL - Foundation *
OSBORNE - Osborne *
PARTIAL ARTS - Telescope *
PAUL WOOLFORD - Black Orchid *
PETER GRUMMICH - Therapy Remix *
PRINCE FAR I - Cry Tuff Dub Encounter II
PROSUMER - Brownstone *
QUANTIC - Moonstruck *
ROBERT OWENS - Night Time Stories *
RYUICHI SAKAMOTO – Tony Takitani Sountrack
SEBO K - Far Out *
SPECIALS - The Specials Singles
SUN ELECTRIC - Toninas (Ricardo Villalobos Remix) *
TOBIAS FREUND - Resident Advisor Podcast *

(2008 releases are marked with a *)

No f**king choice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2v4UwEiO-g

New Joy Divison documentary opens in New York. Final nail towards the end of the myth ?

we can beat them for ever and ever

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

Regality

Remembrances: chased by Nazi's

What does this logo mean to you ? To me it brings back the memory of running for my life around the streets of central Leeds trying to get away from forty Nazi Skinheads determined to kick my head in. Why ? I'd made a wrong turn after leaving a Rock Against Racism outdoor gig.



Wish I could find this documentary on R.A.R. but it doesn't seem to be available anywhere online even in this the day of Youtube. When I get nostalgic for Britain it's for things like this. 2Tone, punks listening to dub, mixed race bands, Northern soul all nighters, Cabaret Voltaire playing at Sheffield University, Compendium Books in Camden (R.I.P), books like Hanif Kureishi's "Buddah of Surburbia" and socialism when the left was left and labor meant Tony Benn not Tony Blair. A England long gone.



Here's more about the film - An interview with the director and a review with comments from Don Letts and Isaac Julien.

Simmered Mackrel in grated Daikon

Serves 4

4 pieces mackerel (150-200g each)
300g daikon (Japanese radish)
1/3 tsp salt
2 chives (chopped)
3 tbsp mirin
some plain flour
vegetable oil for deep-frying
1/3 tsp salt
150ml dashi (Japanese stock)
3 tbsp soy sauce

* Rub salt onto the mackerel and leave for 10 minutes. Grate the daikon and drain lightly.
* Coat the mackerel with the flour thinly and deep-fry until browned.
* Place the mirin in a pan and bring to the boil. Add the dashi stock and bring to the boil again. Then add the mackerel and simmer for a few minutes. Sprinkle the daikon on top and remove from the heat.
* Serve with the broth. Garnish with the chives.

A day like only New York can offer

Sometimes I wonder if I should leave New York and then I have days like yesterday and I think I should NEVER leave New York. The day started simply enough woke up, didn't move, and decided to forgo my usual trip to the farmers market at Grand Army Plaza. Stayed in bed for a bit. Woke up, drunk some juice, went and got my dry cleaning. Came back rocked out to some Northern Soul - especially this Wigan Casino segment in a BBC TV documentary called Dance Britannia. Then went out to Chelsea to meet a friend at the Gladstone Gallery for Shirin Neshat's new show.







What an absolutely fantastic experience it was - a small group of photographs were excellent - especially the one seen at the top of this post which when seen full scale is almost mystical but the meat of the event was the two rooms each showing a separate high definition film.

MUNIS follows the story of young woman and her magical encounter with a dead activist. FAEZEH sees a woman escaping the city to a magical orchard. Yes magical describes both movies and I don't want to give away the plot here.

I was blown away by the cinematography and spiritual feel of these short films. I know I will be going back for sure. Each film also includes a fantastic electronic soundtrack from the ever brilliant Ryuchi Sakamoto. If you are anywhere near West 24th St and 10th Ave go see this.

Here's an Interview with Shirin Neshat from July 2000 in The Guardian, Interview from Adriondacklife and a review of the new show from this weeks Time Out.

We also caught the show of Poul Kjærholm furntiture at Sean Kelly Gallery (way too dry, elitist and brittle in it's presentation) and a not so inspirational show by minimalist Japanese artists Atsuko Tanaka and Akira Kanyama. Maybe Shirin was just so good no one could compete.

To kill some time before dinner I went to the fantastic new, three floor Kinokuniya bookstore at 1073 Avenue of the Americas to pick up the new issue of Casa Brutus which I mentioned a few posts ago (more on it in another post). Of course I should have known I couldn't resist the store and I also broke down and bought a book I've been looking at there for the last 3 months - Electronic Music In The (Lost) World - a fantastic visual document of Synthesizer music in Japan. A few days from the end of January and I broke my no new books in January self imposed rule !! So much for my will power.



Staying with the developing theme, afterwards I went to Japanese restaurant Sakagura, 211 East 43rd St between 2nd & 3rd Avenues - a place wonderfully hidden in the basement of an office building (odd on the way in / fantastic once you're inside) - I ate:

* Fluke Carpaccio - Thinly sliced fluke sashimi drizzled w olive oil topped with plum paste, salmon roe and shisho leaf
* Satoimo Iridashi - Taro, potato, eggplant, and shitake mushroom fried and served with a broth
* Tori Karaage - Deep fried chunks of chicken marinated in sake Ginger infused soy sauce
* Pear Millefeuille - a desert of Earl Grey ice cream and Pear Millefeuille
* and a glass of Daishichi MINOWAMON Sake.

YUMMY !! I am not reviewing it. It was DELICIOUS and I am most certainly going back to Sakagura.



After that I went to meet my friend Kabir at musician George Lewis' house party. His upcoming book "A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music" is a title I mentioned in my very first post here (things I am looking forward to in 2008). I wasn't expecting to know anyone there and neither was I expecting George to remember me from the brief time I met him at Mills in Oakland but he did, and also old San Francisco jazz friends Bassist Lisle Ellis and Keyboardist Vijay Iyer where also there as was drummer Guillermo E. Brown who I hadn't seen for years. Lisle reminded me of a cover story I wrote on him for California Jazz Now way back in the early '90s and told me how the follow up article had only just came out recently - the cover of Cadence magazine - it only took over a decade !! We smiled about it and I told him that even though now I have been doing PR for many years that press doesn't matter. The people in the music who know the music are always the most important and then those who enjoy it - press or no press. Guillermo E. Brown told me about an upcoming solo gig at the Apollo in Harlem in April that sounded like it will be great.

House parties in New York can be a trip - first off it's just fascinating to see where and how people live - in this city it's so diverse and George's apartment was at Central Park West and 105th St not a neighborhood I'm often in. First conversation I had was with two Japanese women - turns out one of them improvised a special vocal piece by none other than Takehisa Kosugi a musician whose music has really been inspiring the hell out of me lately. The other lady works at Music From Japan - a cultural organization who are presenting a show of Toru Takemitsu music I just bought tickets for this week!. My Japanese theme had continued in and by itself !!

A few interesting hours later, after meeting a fascinating young Columbia University student working on a new controller device, I headed home with a bunch of people from the party. On the train I reached into my bag to show my friend Kabir (a electronic musician) the book I just bought - he showed it to an older couple next to him (also from the party) and the man said "oh - there I am !!" It was Morton Subotnick !! I was speechless. The book had an entire page showing 9 of his albums. He didn't know about the book and was curious where I bought it - saying appropriately "do they still have bookstores ?." He and his partner Joan La Barbara had been at the party but somehow I hadn't got to meet them. Hand shakes ensued and some smiles as we all realized just how wonderfully odd but captivating this city called New York can be. Bring on more days like this.

Funny thing I could have kept going too and gone either to No Ordinary Monkey or Matthew Dear at Minimoo. Suffice to say I decided the day had been perfect enough.

while my broken heart gently....

News of Hip-O-Selects upcoming expanded edition of Marvin Gaye's "Here, My Dear" album returned me to the record. It's a record I have turned to again and again every time my heart has been broken and the sadness has become too hard to cope with. It's THE record I played when the ending of my last serious relationship reduced me to tears. For me it's THE Marvin record, as mind blowing and utterly essential as so much of his music is, somehow Here My Dear is the one that just got deep inside me to a level few records do. Funnily returning to listening to "Is That Enough" at 2am (a track I rarely grooved on before - it was always the versions of "When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You" that destroyed me), I was reminded of a fleeting thought I had today - I've very much realized this year that I am no longer heart-broken, and today I realized that every heart break has made me care that much more. My desire, sensitivity to and appreciation for love is at a level only disaster could create. Every break has made my heart more open. My senses wider. I'm stronger than ever internally. In understanding how my capacity for love has changed I realize now how much more I can love myself and ... others.

BRING ON THE LOVE

Northern to the very End

Wanna see me dance? Play Northern Soul - it's that simple - LOL -





There will be more detailed posts on this subject in the future but for now just wanted to lighten the mood after todays two rantish posts.

Fear of a Muslim President

Tired of being called a "Muslim" democratic presidential candidate Barack Hussein Obama launched an online campaign this week against e-mail chain letters that claim he's secretly a Muslim who attended a radical Islamic school in Indonesia. Pretty sad stuff if you ask me. He's drawing undue attention to the rumors and has helped them spread far beyond their original reach. It's a reminder too how sad America really is - years on from 9/11 and most people can't separate the word 'Muslim' used in any context at all from a sad media-propagated negative stereotype. If you ask me organizations with intentions like the ADC (American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee) need to get more funding. Seeing things like this I seriously doubt that things will change in my lifetime. To a sick majority it seems that "Muslim" is the new N word for the 21st Century. It's a dangerous road to travel. Addressing Obama's problems seasoned politician Jessie James sad to Tavis Smiley on Thursday night that Barack should consider

"...champions play with pain and they run, even if they have to limp. I would make the case for get ahead not get even..."



Now more than ever people need to pay attention to intelligent and accessible individuals like author Reza Aslan. Here's a new article in which Aslan discusses why the next American president should leave God out of the war on terror. Followed by some videos







And here's some of his insightful answers to a quick questionnaire with the Smithsonian in October 2007

* Three words someone else would use to describe me are intense, loyal and loud.
* The most pressing issue facing the world is rapid man-made climate change.
* The most important lesson I ever learned was over-confidence can you get you through a lot of sticky situations.
* My advice for those just starting out in this profession is stop waiting for the right moment, or the right degree, or the right venue to make your voice heard. Start shouting now! People will listen.
* My motto is: "Walk into a room like you own the place, and people will treat you as if you do."

Reza is currently working on a new book "How To Win A Cosmic War: Understanding (and Defeating) Jihadism" to be published by Random House in 2008.

Literature attempts to save Brooklyn

NOW


SOON


Thank god for people like Jonathan Lethem who has not only immortalized streets right next to where I live in his books but is one of the individuals with a large voice standing against R*t Ratner and G*t Gehry the two misguided men about to destroy Brooklyn with an ill conceived, misplaced, inconsiderate and downright over-density development at the major junction of Flatbush and Atlantic Ave's in Brooklyn.

I live right next to this so called "development" which is nothing but a DEVOLUTION and attempt to F... my beloved Brooklyn right in the ... well. Anyway that's my personal opinion. Not only will it 'cause massive gridlock, overload of the MTA system, overload of the local school system, noise pollution and separate Prospect Heights from Fort Greene (where it will cause massive shadows) this scheme still has NO PARKING !! So whose land are they going to abuse the eminent domain laws to steal parking spaces for? Is my house up for grabs ? When Gehry said there was no neighborhood here I wanted to see him on my street so I could spit on him - it made me that mad. A stupid sports stadium for a team who couldn't sell out in New Jersey when they made the playoffs, 16 skyscrapers and 4000 yuppies paying over $800,000- $1.2 million for apartments right at the major already gridlocked junction of Brooklyn is a STUPID IDEA for all the neighborhoods around the site. Prospect Heights, Fort Greene, Park Slope, Atlantic Ave and downtown Brooklyn will NEVER be the same again. It's still going ahead and the developers are using tons and tons of tax payer money too. URGGGGGHHHH. Can you tell I'm angry ? I could on and on about the abuse of the system and how the State is kissing Ratners .... but that's New York today - $ talks and the rest of us can get out of the way unless we can cough up the $.... you can't complain unless you're in the game is what the rule of law seems to be.



Well there is some relief - I have to say thank you to Lethem who is one of a number of authors behind a brand new book called "Brooklyn Was Mine." All of the authors behind the short stories collected in the book and its publisher have banded together in a valiant, selfless pledge to help stop the development by donating the book's proceeds to Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn , the main group opposing Forest City Ratner's Atlantic Yards Project. I saw the book for the first time yesterday in my neighborhood book store Unnameable Books on Bergen St. I'll be buying it soon too (still no book buying this January). And I am looking forward to reading work from writers I don't already know. It's also available on Amazon. Support it if you love Brooklyn.

Speaking of Lethem here is the cover for the upcoming paperback of his most recent novel. I often feel that UK and Japanese editions kick the ass of US editions - for example the Murakami UK editons are just that bit more appealing with their white scheme than the rubbish US sleeves. But this ticks some boxes with me for some reason - feels kinda melancholy but romantic too.

Art at C.I.A Headquarters

This is Not a Love Song

A really well balanced article from Frieze Magazine on designer Ettore Sottsass from a friend I haven't seen in eons - Jennifer Kabat. It's a nice follow up to my post earlier this month (scroll down) and widens the story/ fills the gabs I left out and also includes a comprehensive video of Memphis designs.

Sautéed Trout with Citrus-Olive Relish

Sautéed Trout with Citrus-Olive Relish
TOTAL TIME: 25 MIN
SERVES: 4

INGREDIENTS
2 navel oranges
1 small lemon
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/4 cup pitted green olives, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Four 6-ounce trout fillets, skinned
All-purpose flour, for dusting

DIRECTIONS
Using a sharp knife, peel the bitter white pith from the oranges and lemon; be sure to remove all of the pith. Working over a bowl, cut in between the membranes to release the sections. Add the grated orange and lemon zests, olives, parsley, garlic, olive oil and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper and toss gently.
In a large nonstick skillet, heat the vegetable oil. Season the trout fillets with salt and pepper and dust with flour. Add the trout to the skillet and cook over moderately high heat until browned on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Turn the fillets, reduce the heat to moderate and cook until just white throughout, about 3 minutes. Transfer the fillets to plates or a platter, spoon the relish on top and serve.

SERVE WITH Quinoa salad.
NOTES One Serving: 479 cal, 30 gm fat, 4.6 gm sat fat, 16 gm carb, 2.9 gm fiber.

Andean Quinoa Salad
MAKE-AHEAD
SERVES: 4

INGREDIENTS
1 cup quinoa (about 7 ounces)
2 cups water
Salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3/4 cup finely diced bell peppers, preferably a mix of green, red and yellow
1/2 medium cucumber-peeled, seeded and finely diced
2 tablespoons finely chopped mint
1 tablespoon minced jalapeño
1 scallion, minced
Freshly ground pepper

DIRECTIONS
In a medium bowl, rinse the quinoa under cold running water for 2 minutes; drain. Transfer the quinoa to a medium saucepan, add the water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat until the water is absorbed and the quinoa is tender, about 17 minutes. Spread the quinoa on a baking sheet and let cool completely.
In a medium bowl, mix together the oil and lime juice. Add the bell peppers, cucumber, mint, jalapeño, scallion and quinoa and toss. Season the salad with salt and pepper and serve at room temperature or chilled.

recipes from

Modernist Films of Japan pt1

I'm a sucker for Japan's new wave in the same way I was a sucker for the French, Italian, American and Czech ... after all who can deny a trailer like this?



Kiju Yoshida's 1966 movie "Woman In The Lake" is about to be released on DVD for the first time outside of Japan in France as part of a series of complete Yoshida DVDs. Now where's Criterion ?

Yoshida's "Eros Plus Massacre" was one of my favorite discoveries of 2007 - yeah I know I'm way behind. Here's a clip from it

peeling down reality through the color of words

"a novelist is a person who wants to be alone" Orphan Pamuk

One of my favorite authors Orphan Pamuk was on PBS last night - here's the videos





You can also download a ipod ready video of a conversation between Salman Rushdie and Orhan Pamuk on the subject of " Homeland" from the 2007 New Yorker Festival.

Sadly the Turkish court case of six individuals against Pamuk (accused of making a negative statement against the whole nation of Turkey when he discussed the genocide of Armenians and Kurds in a Swiss newspaper) that was previously overturned is now moving ahead again and a new court ruling this week now allows even more individuals to file against him. Will it ever end ?

Read Pamuk in The New Yorker -
ON TRIAL
MY FIRST PASSPORT
MY FATHER’S SUITCASE

And read Pamuk discussing how he found consolation and inspiration in interviews with other writers.



"Contrary to what most people assume, one's politics as a novelist have nothing to do with the societies, parties and groups to which one might belong, or even dedication to any political cause. A novelist's politics arise from his imagination - his ability to imagine himself as someone else. 'This' makes him a spokesman for those who cannot speak for themselves, whose anger is never heard and whose words are suppressed." Pamuk to Washington Post


To end here's three quotes from my favorite Pamuk book "Snow."

“Don’t worry,” said Ka. “At the end of this we’ll all be happy.”

“Doing the right thing doesn’t always end in happiness,” said Ka.

“The right thing is the thing that makes us happy,” said Ka.

pages of a book

pages from John Maeda's just published minibook for the anniversary of the Tokyo Type Director’s Club.

the newspaper: then and now

VS


TCM showed a rarely screened Samuel Fuller flick on Tuesday night - Park Row (1952, 82 mins). Self-produced by Fuller himself who put up $200,000 of his own money to make the (for the times) blisteringly drama about blood, passion, and ink spilled over the creation of a new idealistic daily newspaper. Fuller himself started out as a newspaper man and the movie was in part inspired by his own early newsroom memories, his own ideals of a "free press' and an undercurrent of strong oppositional commentary on the downright scary in their virulence McCarthyist witch hunters of the time. The film isn't as stunning visually or ground-breaking story wise as his classics Pickup on South Street, Shock Corridor and The Naked Kiss but it did bring up a lot of issues about what a "free press" is and what a newspaper should strive for. It seems to me that Fuller's attitude and vibe is sorely missing today. It seems especially the case when you contrast the newsroom in Park Row with that in the current season of The Wire. In Park Row we see a newsroom striving to break new ground and bring the people the real story, in The Wire we see what happens when all is lost and a survival tactic aimed at pleasing the money people is put into affect. The Globe in Park Row cares about the people. The Baltimore Sun in the Wire barely cares when people are murdered. I wish America had more people like Fuller. Where is our generations answer to this brave and bold artist?


"Every film must have a message. Maybe I’m too didactic. If so, too bad. That’s just the way I write. Even if people don’t agree with me, I like to make them think a bit. I’m not what you would strictly call an educator, but all the same, I think the cinema must be used in this way…" Samuel Fuller

Apes in Paris

Damn where is Taschen when you need them ? Collette in Paris just opened a fantastic exhibition of photographs by Magnum photographer Dennis Stock taken in 1967 during the filming of Planet Of The Apes. The photos are striking because they feature actors from the film in natural California settings creating startling and iconic juxtapositions that will captivate any Apes fan. The show is accompanied by a special series of 12 limited portfolios of the pictures released to coincide with the 60th anniversary of Magnum Photos & the 40th anniversary of Planet of the Apes. No idea how much the portfolio costs or if you could even still buy one. Wish Taschen would pick this one up and do one of their giant books with the series though - sure it would do well for them.









The final scene in the first Planet Of the Apes movie has to be one of the best Sci-Fi movie moments ever made.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cmw6Jne0tAQ

House Music All Night Long (1988 Edition)

Mr. Fingers (aka Larry Heard) - Ammnesia (1988)


Fast Eddie - Jack to the Sound


And for those who want to read about house music's roots here's a thesis from a PHD student in Oslo complete with graphs and illustrations - Chicago house and the "democratization" of music production

The Bendy House

Around this time every year Japanese magazine Casa Brutus publish a special edition called "My House" that features a selection of the most exciting new houses in Japan. I've been buying it for the last four years and still find each issue inspirational so of course I'm really looking forward to the new 2008 edition. I am especially keen to see this "bendy house" (my phrase) from a fresh duo with a lot of buzz on them - TNA (Makoto Takei and Chie Nabeshima).




The official name for the building (located in the Himonya neighborhood in Tokyo) is the Mosaic House. The house was also featured in Mark Magazine (issue 10). The special idea here is that the entire functions of the house are on an inverted layout with the family living mostly at the top of the house which is covered with one massive skylight. See more pictures and other TNA projects at their website.