By overlaying photos of trees from different angles one of top of the other, Kim Boske relays the special diversity and transience of nature. This dudette has a running exhibition in the Netherlands, check out her website for more details.
Kim Buske’s Trees
16-Feb-10
So Joanna Newsom went dormant for three years, and now wakes up with a triple album. Ah, such symmetry, such a sleeping beauty. Well, in that case, it’s quite befitting to accompany this awakening (of a woman!) with Valerie and Her Week of Wonders. Two songs from the upcoming Have One on Me were pre-released. Feast your ears on these while waiting impatiently for the next two weeks for the February 23rd released date. Somehow she strikes me as a post-2000s Fiona Apple. Luckily, she has Drag City and not Sony.
St. Vincent – The Strangers [MP3]
Wildbirds & Peacedrums – I Can’t Tell In His Eyes [MP3]
Wildbirds & Peacedrums – Doubt/Hope [MP3]
There’s a clear hierarchy between the warm-up band and the main act. It’s this kind of clear separation that makes revolutions so sweet. It’s not that St. Vincent wasn’t good. She was the exact rocked-down sweetness that we all came to see. She is charming on stage as she is in my headphones. However, in this night, she wasn’t alone. She wasn’t overshadowed by Wildbirds & Peacedrums, but she was definitely matched by them. This night was balanced, and that’s what made it so great. This balance was part harmony between the amazing energies of both St. Vincent and Wildbirds & Peacedrums, but was also characterized by one moment of contradiction. When early in her act St. Vincent started to talk about calm waters and yoga (it’s Seattle after all), she didn’t take into account the shamanic energies that Mariam Wallentin left behind her. Nobody, was into yoga at that point, people were into dancing in trace around random fires. However, St. Vincent was bold and it paid off when she started her deep version of the Nico’s These Days. At the moment, the crowd belonged to her, we were all yogists just for her. A few random words about Wildbirds & Peacedrums live music: fire, tribes, frost, drums (tons of them), pure energy, wacky ancient spirits possessing a crazy singer on stage. Don’t miss this gig (dates below).
St. Vincent and Wildbirds & Peacedrums:
Feb 6 2010 Doug Fir Lounge Portland, Oregon
Feb 8 2010 Great American Music Hall San Francisco, California
Feb 9 2010 El Rey Theatre Los Angeles, California
Feb 10 2010 Belly Up Tavern Solana Beach, California
Feb 11 2010 Rhythm Room Phoenix, Arizona
Feb 13 2010 The Bluebird Theater Denver, Colorado
Feb 15 2010 Bottleneck Lawrence, Kansas
Feb 16 2010 The Blue Moose TapHouse Iowa City, Iowa
Feb 17 2010 Turner Hall Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Feb 18 2010 Metro Chicago, Illinois
Feb 19 2010 The Pike Room at The Crofoot Pontiac, Michigan
Feb 20 2010 Outland on Liberty Columbus, Ohio
Feb 21 2010 Diesel Club Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Feb 23 2010 Jefferson Theatre Charlottesville, Virginia
Feb 24 2010 9:30 Club Washington DC, Washington DC
Feb 25 2010 First Unitarian Church – Sanctuary Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
St. Vincent (without Wildbirds & Peacedrums):
Mar 12 2010 Yu Gong Yi Shan Beijing, Beijing
Mar 15 2010 Recital Studio, Esplanade Singapore
Mar 18 2010 Pacific Blue Festival Club Wellington, Wellington
Mar 28 2010 Big Ears Festival Knoxville, Tennessee
Mar 30 2010 Highdive Champaign, Illinois
Mar 31 2010 MusicNOW Festival – Memorial Hall / University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, Ohio
Wildbirds & Peacedrums (without St. Vincent):
Feb 26 2010 Mercury Lounge New York, New York
Feb 27 2010 Bruar Falls (Williamsburg) Brooklyn, New York
Kris Lewis
07-Feb-10
The Amber Woods by Kris Lewis.
Bathroom Voyeurism: Edgar Dagas
27-Jan-10
The bathroom, although not a very erotic place, was the chosen scene of crime for many voyeurists, maybe nourishing their fetishism for cleaning from sin, or cleaning before subjection. Edgar Dagas‘ depictions of this artistically unconventional perspective (often art is frontal), tells all this. Each of these images is both mundane and extremely sensual.
I never find myself making those “best of…” lists at the end of a year, yet I can safely say Devendra Banhart’s Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon (2007) is certainly among my most played albums ever. When earlier this year I discovered his new record (his seventh album!), it instantly became one of the most anticipated albums of 2009. No doubt, What Will We Be (2009) shares similarities with the 2007 record and carries that unmistakable Devendra sound. Yet What Will We Be stylistically is more eclectic as Devendra mixes everything from Rock, R&B, Country and Latin to Jazzy-lullaby arrangements. Such an eclectic approach is challenging and ambitious, but Devendra succeeded in delivering a mid-tempo record that flows with ease and delight. Now, I’m hoping for that West-Coast tour.
Update:
Devendra is going to perform a bit, you might be in one of the lucky locations:
Feb 4 2010 Tokyo Unit Tokyo
Feb 5 2010 Tokyo Unit Tokyo
Mar 18 2010 Showbox @ The Market Seattle, Washington
Mar 19 2010 Commodore Ballroom Vancouver
Mar 21 2010 Crystal Ballroom Portland, Oregon
Mar 23 2010 Warfield San Francisco, California
Mar 24 2010 Wiltern Los Angeles, California
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