|
|
|
Archive: September, 2009
 |
The first show announced is a New York performance on September 21, 2010 at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park. A pre-sale begins at 10:00 AM EDT on Friday, September 18, 2009 (tomorrow). ... blah blah blah. ... The general on-sale is slated for 10:00 AM EDT on Friday, September 25, 2009.Cool, except there's a glimmer of despair inside all the hope:
After years of speculation, the most important American band of the Nineties is returning to the stage with the lineup of Mark Ibold, Scott "Spiral Stairs" Kannberg, Stephen Malkmus, Bob Nastanovich and Steve West reuniting for dates around the world in 2010. Please be advised this tour is not a prelude to additional jaunts and/or a permanent reunion.
Local gal artist Kristen Stein tells us that her digital collage photo collaboration with Lyse Marion, "Spirit of Autumn Fire" (pictured above), cameoed on the most recent episode of SyFy series Warehouse 13, about a government storage area that holds paranormal objects ' so, essentially, it's about that place where you see stick the ark of the convenant at the end of Raiders. Stein actually has the piece up for sale on her Etsy site. You can watch the episode, courtesy of Hulu, below. It's hung up in Leena's Bed & Breakfast, and first appeared in the episode "Breakdown."
Thank you so much for story about "Spirit of Autumn Fire" making an appearance on Syfy's "Warehouse 13". Lyse and I are very excited and thrilled with the response that it's received. If folks want to watch episode 'Breakdown', it's online here: http://www.syfy.com/rewind/?sid=1132899 (The link above didn't seem to work.)
Thanks again Molly. We appreciate it!
kristen
StudioArtworks.com
Thank you so much your featuring our artwork. The set desinger for Warehouse 13 bought 5 of my workworks for this show, including this collaborative piece with Kristin Stein. A wonderful artist to work with and so happy to have produced this work with her.
Trying hard against unbelievable odds
 |
| Big Star Keep an Eye on the Sky (Ardent/Rhino) |
Is it 'boxed sets' or 'box sets'? Either way, it's hard to believe the music industry still squeezes out these things. With everything in financial free-fall, you mean to tell me there are still completists and neophytes alike still willing to drop the dollars to pick up physical copies, eager to get their four discs, plus elaborate artwork and design and sundry other accoutrements? In theory, the whole idea of box(ed) sets exists for cultishly adored bands such as Big Star. For many rock nerds, their saga passed into myth long ago. In Memphis, TN, in the early '70s, Chris Bell, Jody Stephens and Andy Hummel ' aspiring rockers obsessed with The Beatles, Kinks and Who ' hooked up with Alex Chilton, former lead singer of The Box Tops. (Chilton sang that band's big hit 'The Letter' when he was 16 years old.) The quartet made #1 Record (1972), a sparkling, chiming record that all but pioneered the power-pop genre. Commercially, it bombed. Bell quit the band. The remaining trio made the spectacular follow-up Radio City (1974), a darker, more disjointed record. Commercially, it bombed. Hummel quit the band. Chilton, Stephens and an assortment of Memphis players then made Third (aka Sister Lovers), which was even darker and even more disjointed. Record labels wanted nothing to do with it. By the time Third was finally released in 1978 ' four years after it was recorded, and the same year that Chris Bell died in a car accident ' the band had long ceased existing. And commercially, the album bombed of course. However, due to the subsequent bolstering of the band's legacy in the '80s by R.E.M., The Replacements, The Bangles and others, the band's legacy grew, if only in the small-beer world that was indie rock back then. In the '90s, their discography came out on CD, and Chilton and Stephens reassembled the band, this time flanked by two members of The Posies. (The so-far-only studio album by this version of the band, 2005's In Space, is basically terrible.) This pretty much brings us to this week and the release of Keep an Eye on the Sky. First, the good news: The sound quality is amazing, a testament to the brilliance of engineer/band mentor John Fry. The box is beautifully designed, shaped like a seven-inch record sleeve, but containing a lavish, informed booklet and a sleeve containing the four CDs. And of course, any collection of music that has songs like 'Thirteen,' 'September Gurls' and 'Nightime' has got something going for it.
 |
Now for the ambivalent news: The first three discs are dominated by the three canonical studio albums from '72-'78 in their entirety. Many tracks labeled on the box as 'Alternate Mix' are pretty much indistinguishable from the original released versions. Chances are, if you love Big Star, you already own much of the music here. As for the bona fide rarities, they are also a mixed bag. I am partial to Chilton's solo demos for Radio City and Third, showcasing both his plaintive musicality and barbed sensibility. There are also some interesting alternate renditions, like a more chooglin' 'In the Street,' a trippier 'O My Soul' and Big Star versions of songs that Bell took with him when he quit, but sung here by Chilton. But I can't say these are revelatory, in the way certain songs on the Velvet Underground or Byrds boxes may have been. Disc four contains a live show from 1973 by the Radio City lineup. Like most live Big Star releases, it's ragged, spirited and not terribly essential. If you're already a happy owner of Big Star's best work, you may find this box an unnecessary extravagance. But if you've always wanted these albums and want to get them in one fell swoop, Keep an Eye on the Sky fits the bill nicely. There is a depth and a sense of disquiet in the music of Big Star that none of their guitar-pop acolytes ever really captured. I've fallen under its spell many times over the years. For newcomers, this box makes it even easier.
Thanks for your kind comments about the Big Star box, and particularly about the audio quality. This project and the Chris Bell Cosmos re-issue (out 9/29)got me back to the mixing desk from the office desk for the first time in many years. I would not have done that for anyone else but thes 4 guys. (Scared to death at first, but it turns out to be like riding a bike, and I had great help from Ardent engineer and archivist, Adam Hill).
Of course it was our policy to re-mix only material or versions for which no contemporary mixes existed, so there are perhaps 6 things on the box and somewhat more on disc 2 of Cosmos.
I of course agree that these premium products are for the real fan or those jsut discovering the music. Yet there do seem to be two music formats in high demand these days - free and premium.
Heck, I would pay the price for the 100 page book. It has photos of John Fry with long hair.
Fringe volunteer/CP contributor K. Ross Hoffman checked out the Sept. 13 performance of Generate.Degenerate, part of Fringe's Off the Grid festival. (He previewed the micro-fest here.) Remember to check out citypaper.net/fringe for more review coverage.
 |
| Bill Hebert/mirodancetheatre.org |
Miro Dance Theatre's contribution to the eco-focused Off the Grid festival is as technologically oriented as anything else in the fest. It looks, however, not to the greenable machinable future but rather to rickety antiquity, with a hand-cranked phonograph struggling to provide faltering sound from scratchy shellacs and a pair of stationary bicycles wired to generate flickery illumination. Lights and music, typically speaking, tend to be subservient to the 'performance' proper ' in this case a single dancer, in a simple sheath, enacting balletically gracious movement. Thus delicately derived, they become instead its emotional crux, the prime agents of isolated, ruminative sepia ambience.
 |
| Wet Circuit |
Lately, we've been interested in getting to the bottom of children's authors and artists. (Remember our post on how we know Fraggle Rock so well, but we know Jim Henson not so much?) So we're pretty excited for tonight's reading by Evan Schwartz for $10 at the Gershman Y (401 S. Broad St., 215-446-3027) at 7 p.m., where he'll be talking about his book Finding Oz. It explores the children's author Lyman Frank Baum, whose classic tale The Wizard of Oz was turned into the beloved 1939 movie of the same name. Click here to check out a video featuring Schwartz, as well as some bizarre illustrations from the original book. And on that brainy note, there will also be a reading by Amy Whitaker for free at 7 p.m. at the Moonstone Arts Center (110A S. 13th St., 215-735-9598) about museums and the art scene. And Pterodactyl (3237 Amber St., 5th floor, 215-501-7158), that Kenzo art space, is kicking off its classes this week on comic books and animal bone art and all sorts of other weird shit. OK. That's all. Those are the only smart things going on in the city.
 |
 |
 |
Every February, the Kelly Writers House at Penn connects students and the community with top talent representing various backgrounds, bringing the writers into a discourse about their work during two day events. While students meet with each fellow following six weeks of study of their work, there are also events open to the public, including a reading at night and a brunch the following day. With roughly 100 spots for each reading and 60 for the brunches, spots fill up quickly, especially with a bill topped by prolific juggernaut of American letters, Joyce Carol Oates, and strong support from poet Susan Howe and long time television writer David Milch (Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue, Deadwood). Community is what the Writers House is all about. 'Joyce Carol Oates could fill Irvine Auditorium, but instead we opt to have a more intimate space so as to allow everyone to enter into the conversation,' says program coordinator Jamie-Lee Josselyn. She added that the inclusion of Howe has an added interest since it represents a reunion with fellow Language poet ' Penn's own Charles Bernstein. The idea of drawing people together is enhanced even further by the student and Writers House staff prepared post-reading dinner. The convivial atmosphere it adds to the already relaxed nature of the program. Brunch ain't bad either. Who wants eggs with their great literature. Learn more about the program and listen to podcast of past fellows.
Reading, Mon. 6:30pm, Brunch Tues. 10am, Feb. 15-16, Joyce Carol Oates, Susan Howe, Mar. 22-23, David Milch, Apr.26-27, rsvp to whfellow@writing.upenn.edu, The Kelly Writers House, 3805 Locust Walk, University of Pennsylvania, 215-746-7636.
Go Back To Those Gold Soundz I think it's overstating it to say nobody saw this coming. Pavement was a great rock band, and a strange one, but still a rock band and therefore susceptible to the accepted rock band evolutionary steps. The exiled first drummer, the singer gone solo, the deluxe re-issues, and now, yes, here we are, with a live reunion gig booked (for a year from now), and more on their way, most likely. Don't get me wrong: I am extremely excited. Militantly so. I saw them at the Troc a few times back in the day and they brought it in a sloppy, happy way. Unforgettable. This will rule. (Now ask me if Neutral Milk Hotel will ever get back together.)
You know about our Fringe review site, right? Where we send out an army of critics to as many Fringe and Live Arts shows as is humanly possible? And they write hungover-after-the-bar reviews the next morning? Or sometimes drunk-at-the-bar reviews that very night? Good.
 |
| livearts-fringe.org |
But it's all so hard to keep track of what's what when there are 200 shows floating around. For It's Hard Times at the Camera Blanca, we double-booked ourselves ' sent Shaun Brady on Saturday, then Ptah Gabrie. Oops! Here's what our dueling critics had to say: Ptah: The actors, dressed in 1920s circus attire, carry on with each other as if they were patrons of the bar. The action takes place in three areas, with everyone coming together for a couple of big moments. The actors never converse with the audience; instead you follow them around and eavesdrop. Since multiple scenes occur simultaneously, it's tough to hear everything going on. But the ambient music, lights and eccentric characters make this a unique theatrical experience. Shaun: If the circus-train wreck in DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth had stranded its cargo at Rick's Caf' Americain, the result would have been something like Applied Mechanics' immersive show. Taking over Murph's Bar in Fishtown, the company rewrites Casablanca with circus folk suffering from an economic collapse. The audience is free to navigate the crowded saloon as multiple scenes play out simultaneously, although it lacks the scope and resultant ambiguity of the similarly-designed Fatebook. The seedy big-top atmosphere is well-designed, though it needs to edge further into surreality in order to pull off its sad-clown conceit. It's Hard Times at the Camera Blanca has one show left, so hop to it. And in the meantime, check citypaper.net/fringe to read reviews and comment on the stuff you've seen. RELATED: Read a review with director Rebecca Wright about her other Fringe show, Being Julia Child.
Wed., Sept. 16, 8 p.m., $10, Murph's Bar, 202 E. Girard Ave., 215-413-1318, livearts-fringe.org.
Release date is December 11, limited, with it going wide Christmas Day. Movie has gotten many very good reviews.
I'm usually not the, uh, biggest spoken word fan, but Yellow Rage (whose performance on Def Poetry Jam is up top) is so angry, funny and talented I can't help but change my mind a bit about the medium. The two Philly-based female performers, Michelle Myers and Catzie Vilayphonh, question racial and gender stereotyping in a way that's extremely confrontational but also very comical, a deadly combo that is perhaps one of the most effective ways to truly change people's minds. They'll be performing along with other lady spoken word artists, poets, fiction writers, musicians and essaysists, including Stephanie Durann, Nzadi Keita and more, at tonight's In Celebration of Women series. It goes down at the Free Library (1901 Vine St., 215-686-5322) from 6:30 to 9 p.m., for free.
- Activism
- Arts
- Arts Events
- Books
- Dance
- First Person Fest
- Last Chance
- Museum
- On the Fringe
- Philly Artists
- The Curator
- Theater
- Visual Art
- Arts News
- Artist Profile
- Arts Preview
- Street Art
- Been There, Done That
- Big Ups
- Comedy
- LOL With It
- Stand-up
- Critical Mass
- DVD
- Events
- Friday Fill-in
- Ice Cubes
- In Memoriam
- Interview
- Just Do It
- Just Opened
- Kaleidoscopic
- LGBTQ
- Art Phag
- Mailbag
- Movies
- Film Fest
- Movie Review
- On set
- Scenester
- screening
- trailer!
- Music
- 10 Track Mind
- Album
- Album Review
- Concert Review
- DJs
- Local Support
- Now Hear This
- One Track Mind
- Philly Bands
- Show
- Somebody Else Was There
- Song
- The Showdown
- concert photos
- jazz
- DJ Nights Blogged
- Night Watch
- Now See This
- Poetic License
- Printed Matter
- Radio
- Shopping
- Coveted
- Fashion
- What We Heart
- TV
- 24
- Idol Hands
- Mad Men
- ProjRun
- True Blood
- Useless Lost Recaps
- Couch Potato
- Shore Trash
- Turned ONN
- TopMod
- Video Games
- Free Online Game
- PSP
- PlayStation 2
- The 1-Upper
- Wii
- Web Junk
- CAGE MATCH
- Free Online Toy
- Weekend Omnibus
- Win
