Photographer Rian Dundon has spent much of the past 5 years documenting the lives of various 20-somethings living in and around the major cities of China’s Hunan Province. Considered by many as China’s Lost Generation, these young men and women find themselves straddling a bridge between the values and aspirations of their parents’ generation and the realities of modern China. Theirs is the struggle marked by a frustrating shrinking job market, the pressures of marriage (often arranged by their parents), sexual identity in a culture lacking any acknowledement of homosexuality. All told, the struggle to find a niche in a society going through profound economic, sexual and cultural changes. The result is a human drama that is played out in Dundon’s stunning black and white images.
If rainy weekdays and disastrous spring allergies mean 80 degree weekends like this one coming, then bring on the stormclouds and ragweed (and the bulk Claritin purchases, I swear for medicinal purposes only).
Two exciting events happening tomorrow night I wanted to tell y’all about:
Bollywood Discoat the Vault at Element on Houston and Essex. I’ve always had a soft spot for my homegirl DJ Rekha’s retro filmi disco jumpoff. I’ll be working the door, having flashbacks to high school when Element was the Bank, where all the goth girls I had secret crushes on hung. Come stop by and say hi, I’ll be there 9-4am.
Across the river, one of my newfound favorite MC’s, Zuzuka Poderosa will be throwing down at the Jungle in Bushwick. Zuzuka spits that hot Baile Funk from Rio De Janeiro with a Brooklyn ZIP code and Brooklyn swagger. Her crew Vigarista Collective throw some of the best parties in town. Also performing will be killer dancehall punk artist 77 Klash. This one advertises Electro booty bangers, Bmore Bass, dubstepping jungle boogies, baile funk, dancehall, roots, samba, dirty house, fire perfomers, capoeira and free smoothies. What’s not to like?
The party goes down at 286 Meserole St in Bushwick. Click Here for full details
The look, the sound, the moves of Detroit Techno during its birth. I love everything about this clip.
Sharevari is one the seminal tracks from the early days of Detroit techno. Released in 1981 by a pair of teens calling themselves A Number of Names, this track reflects the heavy influence of the angular sounds of Italo-Disco that were bouncing around Detroit’s teen party scene at the time.
Given the innumerable directions that techno music took in the decades that followed, this clip is a fun reminder of the music’s roots in the always-funky landscape of black Detroit.
Having missed out on all the fun and festivities over at the Bryant Park tents this week, we’re super excited to head over to Chelsea this weekend for Rendez-Vous NYC- the first New York edition of the cutting-edge contemporary fashion tradeshow held each season in Paris.
We’re particularly thrilled to support our boy Claude Grant, who will be exhibiting his latest menswear collection (including that sharp piece above) alongside some of today’s best designers and leading brands. We hear that DFA will be providing the DJs for the event, so there’s another added bonus for us.
The fun runs all day through Sunday at the Altman Building, 135 West 18th Street at 6th ave.
I was lucky enough to catch the lovely Shilpa Ray with her newish band Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers last night at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Shilpa Ray is the kind of kick ass rock and roll singer whose voice can go from quietly introspective to destructively loud in the course of a few droning chord changes. That mix of punk rock and the blues has been done before, but Shilpa and her happy hookers strike just the right notes to make for some classic NYC good-time music.
I could go on for days about Shilpa’s voice, but suffice it to say that it’s all over the vocal map; she can strike a macabre tone one moment and fall into complete chaos the next. It’s a thing of beauty– beautiful in same way John Lennon’s voice is beautiful on “Well Well Well” when the bottom falls out into a complete panic attack only to come out the other end completely buttoned-up and whimsical.
Also great are her somber and wonderfully titled songs with lyrics that are fun to get drunk to and sing out loud to your friends. For example:
(in a waltz)
“I fell in love and forgot about the homeless,
the hunger in Africa, the women on welfare,
the strippers who need health care,
the friends, the beggars, the thieves.”
from the song “What the fuck was I thinking?” Of course none of that was happening on a cold Monday Night at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, but it’s still a fun thought.
Shilpa’s amazing voice aside, the Happy Hookers’ band are no slouches either: Jay Braun on bass, some incredible drums by Josh Fleischmann, guitar by Vin Cacchione and Ray’s hypnotic harmonium (every band should have one). Taken together, they create a densely layered sound that kinda has a Phil Spector effect. I had a weird fantasy about busting out a mosh pit, but again reality set in- ain’t happening on a Monday night in Williamsburg.
Anyhow, the band hit the stage promptly at 8:30 with no introduction as the opening for the Brit-Pop band du jour, The Duke Spirit. A few people remembered to clap. Nervous awkward energy circled the half empty room. No one made any eye contact. The band agreed on a key, counted off the first song and BLAM! out comes Shilpa’s voice to shatter the icy curtain and turn otherwise uncomfortable situation into an amazing half-hour set.
I’m tempted to compare Shilpa to Alice Smith, another one of my favorite New York singers, but I won’t. I also won’t say that her sound is somehow indebted to drinking whiskey, which is often said about female singers who really cut it loose (my illusions of drunken sing-a-longs aside).
What I will say is that Shilpa Ray’s got my vote for the bandleader of year. She’s also a hysterical blogger and a valentine’s day baby who works a day job as a salesgirl at Henri Bendel. All very cool.
Check out the band’s myspace page or you can download their killer track “Coward Cracked the Dawn” from their RCRD LBL page.
Luckily for us all, Shilpa will be playing a ton of shows in the coming weeks, so go support this great band. A Fish Hook An Open Eye, the yet to be officially released debut album is also available at the merch table at their shows.
Random thought for a bleak and cold February Friday: why is it that most of Spike Lee’s best movies take place during heatwaves? Must be something about that sweltering heat that brings out the best and worst in humanity and makes for great storytelling.
In honor of turning up the heat for ol’ Spike, here are two videos from the Crooklyn Dodgers, a rotating supergroup of Brooklyn MC’s who released two tracks (to my knowledge) in support of Lee’s mid ’90s films, Clockers (1995) and Crooklyn (1994). The first track features Masta Ace, Special Ed and Buckshot; Chubb Rock, O.C. and Jeru the Damaja handle the follow-up
To me, the Crooklyn Dodgers represent the better end of original songs recorded for the Spike Lee discography after “Fight the Power.” (Anyone remember Prince’s Girl 6?).
Takin’ back Ebbetts Field in ‘95.
Crooklyn Dodgers 95 - Return of the Crooklyn Dodgers
Crooklyn Dodgers - Crooklyn (Baseball Original Version)
Pitchfork TV’s new online video channel, “One Week Only,” is currently streaming a fascinating documentary about one of the preeminent collectors of 78 rpm records and a vital link to a wellspring of original American music that will give pause to anyone who has spent time digging for records.
“Desperate Man Blues,” chronicles the story of Joe Bussard, a lifelong resident of Frederick, Maryland, who has amassed a collection of over 25,000 original pressings of traditional blues, jazz and country music recorded in the years immediately preceding the Great Depression. Widely considered one of the most expansive and most important collections of traditional American music in the world, Bussard’s library is unique not only in its sheer scale, but also in the quality of each selection.? In Bussard’s ample stacks, one will find original pressings (in many cases the only surviving copy) of the likes of Robert Johnson, Blind Willie McTell, Uncle Dave Macon and thousands of artists whose music represents the diverse patchwork of the American south, from the hillbilly music of Appalachia, to the cowboy music of Oklahoma and Texas, to the Piedmont style of blues popular in Georgia, Virginia and Tennessee . As writer Eddie Dean puts in the documentary, ” You just won’t find a lot of junk. A lot of people have a lot of records. He’s got a lot of good ones.”
Bussard started his collection in the mid-1950s when he began traveling literally door-to-door asking whoever was home if they had any records they wanted to sell. This strategy proved successful:? at the time, television was quickly taking over as the primary source of household entertainment, leaving the radio and victrola player- and by extension their 78 records– as outdated and useless objects that took up space.? Seizing the opportunity to pay people a miniscule fee to these records off their hands, Bussard began to assemble a historical record of this country as rich as any anthropological study. As his thirst for these recordings grew, he continued his travels, heading deeper and deeper into the south, his quest bringing him to the front steps of homes as varied as the music he collected: rich and deeply poor, black and white, all for the sake of scoring that next record.
Forty years later, Bussard is still at it, demonstrating the quirky, narrow taste I suppose is necessary for such pursuits (”Any music made after the depression cannot be called jazz,” is just one nugget of his many negative opinions on modern music.)? While his collection is worthy of several rooms of the Smithsonian or the Library of Congress, what’s most endearing about Bussard to me is his commitment to making this music accessible. As evidenced by the constant stream of musicians, reporters and music lovers who come into his basement, what’s most important to Bussard is that his records get played, that people get to hear these artists, dance, smoke and enjoy themselves in the company of this great music.? It’s refreshing to see that for all the rarity of his 78s, Bussard gets the most pleasure from what’s on them, a deep love with all the great music made a very long time ago.
Thank god they made records.
Desperate Man Blues (2006), directed by Edward Gillen can be purchased from Dust to Digital or is available to rent via Netflix.
You can also view the entire documentary, in 10 parts, over at http://pitchfork.tv/?p=one-week-only
*Update*
Unfortunately, the folks at Pitchfork have taken down the documentary from their site (I guess they literally meant one week only).? It’s definitely a worthwhile flick, so please try the other channels if you can
The good folks over at ICU Media Lab recently posted some nice footage of recently released MC John Forte who is back in the studio after serving a 7+ year bid at Fort Dix correctional facility.
The older, hopefully wiser Forte, heard here over Kanye’s Homecoming beat, does not seem to have lost much of that trademark flow which started his career with the Fugees over ten years ago. Talib Kweli opens things up with a nice, Brooklyn-centric verse of his own.
Seeing as the brother was just released thanks to a pardon from outgoing President Bush, it’s a good sign to see Mr. Forte hit the studio so quickly. I can’t even begin to imagine the kind of stories he’s got to tell. Hopefully we can expect some new material soon to make up for the lost time.
My name is Alex Barnes, I am a freelance writer, creative director and sometimes DJ. This site is a collection of my work, observations and things that inspire me.
