As the founder of Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School, I’m besieged by newbies who want to attend, but have the terror they’re not good enough.
Here’s an basic guide to the complex art of figure drawing, so you can show up to your local alt.drawing salon and wield you pencil with pride. Read the full story
‘Spoken from the heart’ may be one of the best and truest ways to describe the music of Roots Manuva, whom Red Bull Music Academy Radio describes as having received his epiphany when, as a kid, he walked past a soundsystem in London’s Stockwell skateboard park. There must have been something electric and alive in the subwoofer that reached the lad and made him decide that music was going to be his life — but the cherry on top was when he heard Rakim, and basically the rest was history. If only all of us could have had our callings at such an early age. But all that aside, Roots (aka Rodney Smith) put a lot of hard work (and heartwork) into his artwork. One of the best things about Roots is his emphasis on certain phrases and words he messes and plays with. You kind of have to hear this to really appreciate it, but let’s just say that where many DJs pretty much repeat the same words over and over again when there seems to be little point, you’ll find that Roots utilizes the same effects and words and quotes over and over again to emphasize something to his crowd, whom, face it, aren’t always paying attention. Again, you’ll probably appreciate this more when you listen. Check out Red Bull Music Academy for more.
Reared by a pair of vagabonding baby boomers, some of my earliest musical memories consist of traveling cross country in the back of my mother’s Chevy Citation, Paul Simon’s Graceland emerging scratchily from a pair of worn speakers behind my seat. Outside of this (perennial) classic and Simon’s follow-up, The Rhythm of the Saints, it could be safely said my suburban honky ass knows next to nada about African music. But it doesn’t really matter, because Konono No.1 differs wildly from Simon’s Ladysmith Black Mazambo, or any of the other (small) samples of African music I’ve heard. Hailing from the Congo, Konono really is to Bazambo music what Yes and Hawkwind were to prog in the 70s — their live performances are long, often monotonous jams, stream-of-consciousness wanderings that combine spacey-moog electronics with traditional Bazambo chants and choruses, tribal drums and what sounds like the din of cold war-era arcade halls (think a cacophony of Millipede, Galaga, and Pole Position). The band creates most of their own instruments from spare parts and whatever they might find laying around. With their rising star, Konono seems to be to modern music what Simon’s Ladysmith were to his own brand of hymns and rhythms: the band was recently selected by Bjork to be her back-up band, and Matt Groening hand-picked the band to play All Tomorrow’s Parties in May. And overnight sensations they ain’t — these guys have been at it for at least three decades. Have yourself a listen right now at Red Bull Music Academy Radio.
When I first heard the concept I was interested, but when I saw the product I was blown away. UK clothing label “Good One” is not only fashion forward, but ethically sound.
Is it just me or does Gary Numan look more and more like Billy Joe from Green Day every year? Despite having been around for what seems like forever (no matter who and where you are, you’ve definitely heard his song “Cars” at least at one point or another). On Red Bull Music Academy Radio, Gary Numan hosts a Fireside Chat and tells you about the art that inspired him, and some of his earliest work. From an early age — 4 to be precise — Gary was fascinated by the technology of electronic music and began fiddling with keyboards and spare parts to computers. He was also a huge fan of pulp sci-fi, which was responsible for his material lyrically. And, in a somewhat surprising statement, Numan admits that he never really had much of an interest in learning theory or scales, and even despite trying, he kind of sucked at it. Numan always preferred the science behind the music rather than the music itself, which always helped lend a sort of interesting tone to it all. He was smart enough to know that punk was one of the only things that sold, and recorded a traditional (and great) punk song, which got him the label, which then enabled him to do his own thing. Experimental and New Wave is perhaps all the better because of it.
Muti Randolph isn’t an artist, a designer, or an architect. He’s a technology junkie and a creative genius. His creativity is only limited by his imagination. Although that sounds like a cliche’ its actually true. He dreams up some of the coolest environments whether they are for a temporary installation, a nightclub, or a fashion show. He has absolutely no fear or limitations when its comes to what’s possible. I find that damn inspirational.
Randolph is currently featured as a part of Intel and Vice Magazines The Creators Project. Which is described as:
The Creators Project is a new network dedicated to the celebration of creativity and culture across media, and around the world. At a time in the history of the arts where digital technologies have revolutionized distribution, democratized access, and completely re-imagined the scope and scale with which an artist can create a vision and reach an audience, The Creators Project is a completely new kind of arts and culture channel for a completely new kind of world.
On one particularly dark and stormy night, when I was around 21, I went walking up a little dirt road near my house and stumbled onto something that seemed a bit out of place in suburbia: a witch’s seance. Their candles flickering, droves of girls stood chanting a bunch of Wiccan stuff into the wind as it howled around them. The only thing that made it less gothic was that it took place in a community pool parking lot. But Salem would have been the perfect soundtrack to muffle their moronic chanting; its eerie electronica could be the audio equivalent of Rosemary’s Baby or The Amityville Horror any film noir-horror flick from the past half-century. That’s only for the first few minutes, until it gradually builds into a crescendo of early 80s synth-organ, distorted wails, and one big wall of screams — which for aficionados of the genre might conjure images of the George Romero and Stephen King schlock horror masterwork Creepshow. It’s not all stream-of-consciousness and soundtrack though; Salem’s happy to throw in a variety of different beats, mostly of the dance-able type. And you’ll barely even notice when a scary voice chants “RBMA Radio!” halfway through the commotion.
Today Band of Horses extend their Infinite Arms, San Francisco thrash legends Exodus releases Human Condition, Janelle Monae gives you The ArchAndroid and James Murphy’s LCD Soundsystem lets you know This is Happening, and a new one from Toots and the Maytals.
Audio Bullys – Higher Than The Eiffel
Band Of Horses – Infinite Arms
Bo Bice – 3
The Black Keys – Brothers
Club 8 – The People’s Record
The Depreciation Guild – Spirit Youth
Exodus – Exhibit B: The Human Condition
Mary Gauthier – The Foundling
Macy Gray – The Sellout
Harvey Milk – A Small Turn Of Human Kindness
John Hughes – Reset The Warehouse
LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening
Jamie Lidell – Compass
Miggs – Wide Awake
Janelle Monae – The Archandroid
Nas and Daminan Marley – Distant Relatives
not An Airplane – Things And People
The Poison Control Center – Sad Sour Future
Solex vs Cristina Martinez & Jon Spencer – Amsterdam Throwdown, King Street Showdown
Carson Taylor – Truly Without
Tracy Thorn [Everything But The Girl] – Love And Its Opposite
Toots & The Maytals – Flip & Twist
Gordon Voidwell – Ivy League Circus
Woven Bones – In And Out And Back Again
(Yes, that’s Bjork!)
Does anyone remember Michael Alig? Oh, come on, you must: legendary club promoter? Leader of the infamous “Club Kids”? Inspiration for the movie Party Monster? Currently imprisoned due to murdering, injecting with Drano, & dismembering Andre “Angel” Melendez, resident drug dealer at The Limelight?
You don’t need to be Lester Bangs to know that Caribou’s an altogether different kind of musical animal. The dude was raised on a steady diet of Yes and Rush, and the blood of progressive rock flows strongly within him. He’s shy about it, like most, calling it ‘overblown’ and hinting at its pretensions, but the mere fact that he keeps making the references means it’s embedded in his subconscious. After a while, he found himself experimenting with more modern dance and electronica, but one need only listen to his music to hear that there’s as much Rick Wakeman and Aphrodite’s Child (and even Simon and Garfunkel) as there is Daedelus and Four Tet. His bio’s almost as interesting: he was even served by a private investigator at one of his gigs, subpoena courtesy of none other than Dictators singer Richard “Handsome Dick” Manitoba, who felt his name was being stolen (Caribou’s stage name was at one time also that of the Canadian province). Caribou appropriately calls Dick a ‘moron’ (I’m inclined to agree since the latter had the balls to ‘reform’ the MC5 in 2003, even though he’d never even played with them). That being said, it helps to have an open mind when listening to Caribou. It’s the prog soundtrack to carnival funhouses and stretch mirrors and makes me feel like a kid again. Check out his story on Red Bull Music Academy Radio.