In light of Nobel Prize news, I highly recommend these books for those who wasn't aware of Dylan's predecessor (Woody's autobiography opens a wider window into the subject of America's authentic song tradition), roots and role in literature:
Can't wait for his acceptance speech (song?). And of course an additional tiny yay for Litvak winning the Nobel! P.S. this makes me wonder if Nick Cave was at least in a short list?
I'll just leave this here, though for few days I was gathering my thoughts after seeing the "One more time with feeling" and drafting few smart notes on this. After a pause I came to conclusion, that we are not invited to Cave's personal grief (no matter how personal the album is), but probably we have to live with new Cave from now on, as we have to live with new ourselves from time to time.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
P.S. Though I didn't like few compositional moves from the directors point, I have to say, the scale of the documentary is something I look for in every film festival I go (the scale of content, rather than form). I never get to see or hear anything like this though. Because there is only one Nick Cave and only one Warren Ellis.
In case you're just browsing your way to new band names or just unheard sounds of music on blogosphere and internet in general, let me introduce you to the gem of Lithuanian music scene and one of my favorite duets: vocalist Jazzu and producer Leon Somov, playing electronica / pop / experimental music.
Here is a short glimpse to their sound:
But what I love mostly about them is their energy in live performances, so check out this hour-long concert recorded just few days ago in Lithuanian National Radio studio (music starts at about 2:30 min after the introduction):
this post is about a film I've seen in Vilnius International Film Festival in February. It was really cold outside at the time, and my Moscow memories were thrown at me from the screen one by one. The documentary film by Petter Ringbom "The Russian Winter" tells a story about musician, ex-member of the Fugees, John Forté trying to chace his second chance after 5 years in prison and doing it by traveling across Russia with his band and other musicians. I've never seen Moscow and St.Petersburgh filmed so honestly, as it is, at least as I've seen and felt it when living and traveling there in recent years. The documentary is full of great music (including Forté's collaborations with Alina Orlova, Sunsay, Billy's Band and others) and cultural misunderstandings, as well as beautiful street-views and some inspirational talks by Forté himself. Here is a trailer, and official description of the movie:
Taken from the iTunes page:
The Russian Winter
Brooklyn-born John Forté was a Grammy-nominated musician in The Fugees at 21 and a federal prison inmate at 26. When his prison sentence was remarkably commuted in 2008, Forte was given a second chance to share his talents with the world. Chronicling his concert tour across Russia, this inspirational documentary takes us on Forté's personal journey—one that's as much about having his music heard as it is about hearing and learning from the music of others.
Official Selection Tribeca Film Festival 2012
Official Selection Moscow International Film Festival 2012
IDFA Play Competition for Music Documentary 2012
Featuring: John Forté, Alina Orlova, Sunsay, Billy's Band, Zero People, Artemy Troitsky and more.
Directed By: Petter Ringbom
Produced By: Le Castle Film Works
Being an ultimate fan of David Bowie and not an ultimate fan of his songs covers by others, I have to admit, Beck showed some superb powers of interpretation. This is so good, that I've became one of those people who share this video everywhere, including my friends facebook walls (which I normally do not do) saying "listen to this" :)) . One of the best examples of good interpretation I've heard recently. And smart interpretation is hard.
Oi! Finally cover illustration I did for Calvin Cardioid's debut album "But Now I'm Looking Forward" (assigned by King Deluxe label in Canada) is available to see on iTunes store! Brief: re-imagine yellow synth owned by Calvin, also to include typography into illustration. Well, here it is:
All jokes about Alina's voice {sounding like a screaming cat on a roof} aside, this is an interesting try by Alina Orlva feat. SunSay singing in Lithuanian-Russian-English all at once :))) does it work?
It's been a while since my last personal post on this blog and sorry to all my followers for that (one of them even wrote me an e-mail, asking if I've ever post anything again :))) ) but recent month was a real rollacoaster in my personal and professional life, and I don't even know where to start and where to stop to tell a story about it.
So as I'm sitting in front of a window in my hometown Vilnius and see few golden trees in front of me shivering a word 'autumn autumn' already, so its about time to do some retro/introspective thinking. And those thoughts for me now starts with thinking on dearests friends, and a concept of friendship itself. It seems that recently it finally took a shape for me - sometimes it takes me a while - I don't want any random people near me, honestly, I've learned few hard lessons recently and made my conclusions: no more effort from me to to anyone who never puts any effort into the friendship, no feeling uncanny or even guilty when talking about my plans (of ruling the world!!!) in front of anyone who puts me down every time or takes that as dry careerism and an insult to their own indifference and lack of dreams. I'm done with people who take others success as something that make themselves look worse, I'm done with that and I wish I could say it breaks my heart, but it really doesn't when 'friendships' with people like that end.
----
Well anyway, did I mention that there was an European Basketball championship (Eurobasket 2011) just held here in my home-country Lithuania? It was and it seems a country passed the test with A+ except of the fact we didn't win any medals :))) But somehow even with no medals it felt as a big celebration over here and of course there were few more tourists than normally in September, which was not bad for my 'Lithuania' t-shirt and other souvenir-stuff sales. Plus: now I have my second favored basketball team in Europe (the most favorite of course is Lithianian national team) - so the second place in my personal ranking goooooessss toooooo.... ----- Macedonia! Well done, guys, I wish you've won your bronze, cause you really were worth of it.
So after those dramatic games I needed a break and is there a better place than St.Petersburg for that? Long walks even on a rainy day are worth doing there, not mentioning an improvised visit to the concert by Nina Karlsson or a Graphic Novel festival, great food in Petersburg's cafes, great people, beautiful old-town architecture and great atmosphere hanging in the air, and there is just nothing bad to say about that place, one of my most-loved train-destinations in the whole world.
train station where train from Vilnius comes. Nice architecture, especially when its the first thing you see in Petersburg at 6 o'clock in the morning
a wonderful drawing from the exhibition by Kojiro AKAGI
At the Graphic Novel festival (this was just the entrance, much more ofcourse was hidden inside the building and also scattered all around Petersburg
At the concert of Nina Karlsson
"Demand for: croissants and sandwiches"
Well, thats it for this time, fellows, sorry for a long delay, just needed to put my thoughts together, to sit in the corner of a room hidden in my bathrobe with earphones and sun-glasses on. Now I'm done with it and back to my previous life with few stones taken out of my pockets. Life gets easier every-day.
P.S. I think this band 'BrassBastardz' made of few Lithuanian musicians will be a soundtrack of my autumn2011 - check them out (at http://brassbastardz.bandcamp.com/ or their Facebook page) they just won few 'The People's Music Awards' in the UK and I don't think there is anything that could stop them now.
Its been a while since my last life-style post, so this one will be dedicated to my recent trips to Moscow, as now I live sort of 'one month here, one over there' life and as much as I hate airports and not having my constant work place, my own desk and my books with me all the time, I think I started to enjoy this lifestyle as much as I can and I even admit that recently Moscow was friendlier to me than ever. So I would like to introduce you to some of my favorite places and events over there:
One of my favorite cafes in Moscow - cozy Stolle cafe that serves best PIEROGI (pies) in the world! The next best thing after food there is interior of the
cafe that was inspired by interiors of Russian cities of
the end of XIX and beginning of XX century: oak parquetry, solid wooden
doors, cast brass chandeliers, leathern sofas, natural tones facing. While sitting and eating chicken-pie 'Kurnik' I sort of waited for Chekhov to enter the room. The best thing about this place is its democratic family-type atmosphere, very cozy, very tasty.
' "Usadba.Jazz" is a festival that takes
place during the first weekend of summer in the manor Arkhangelskoe near
Moscow.Festival has five stylistically different stages: Parter (mainstream), Aristocrat (traditional jazz and avangard), Caprice (swing, blues, rockabilly), Waterfront (acid-jazz, cool-jazz, dj's) and LiveJournal
(rock, funk , ethno). Each stage offers full program of performances.
In addition, you will find many different interactive areas, playground,
art objects, exhibitions, fairs, coffee shops.
Arkhangelskoe is a palace and park
ensemble of classicism, a monument of Russian culture, the estate that
once belonged to knyaz Golitsyn, then Yusupov. The artistic value of the
estate, intended "for fun, not for profit", had already been noted in
the XVIII century. Arkhangelskoe has always been a center of arts and
social life. And in the beginning of the XXI century jazz took place in
here. Jazz integrated into the heart of the Russian Country Estate and
made us look with new eyes at palaces and scenic beauty, enjoy the riot
of colors and mixing genres, savoring every drop of art like good wine,
dive into the mystery of new music. '
My favourite act personally from what I saw at USADBA JAZZ was Georgian diva and an energetic life-performer Nino Katamadze: (sorry, the only proper sounding video I could find was a life-act from the previous (not recent) Usadba Jazz festival, but I hope you'll get the idea). And no, I don't understand Georgian, but it still sounds great to me..
MOSCOW ITSELF
There is not enough place in the whole blogasphere to show or describe the beauty of what is left from the Moscows old-town and central area - a mix something European and something Asian, of something imperial and grandiosic and something that chaces that grandiosity. A mix of something that could be called Soviet futurism and something, that was a Soviet reality.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT
After almost three years of visiting Moscow I finally took a ride on a public bus! Pretty cozy after all :)) even if it was a midnight in the middle of somewhere outside the metro-area. Not sure if I took a bus if I were alone at night in Moscow but anyway, a driver seemed very friendly :))
But ofcourse there is nothing as Moscow Metro, starting with names of central stations - Chekhovskaya, Pushkinskaya, Mayakovskaya.. and ending with gorgeous interiors full of marble, ornamental decor, sculptures, paintings, murals, etc., its like a history lesson in live action:
photo taken from http://www.trekexchange.com/tours/131
photo taken from http://www.226-design.com/review/blogimages/2008/1116-moscow-metro.jpg
photo taken from http://www.thisarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/moscow-metro-subway-art.jpg
photo taken from http://www.thisarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/masterpiece-architecture-in-public-area.jpg
but as beutiful as metro in Moscow is, there is nothing better than a train that takes you home. Or at least a train that takes you back to the airport :) bye bye, Moscow, for now, see you soon!
Can't sit on a chair still when this plays but can't turn it off too. for a long time haven't seen a music video that I would enjoy watching repeatedly all day long. Inspiring song, great acting and dancing by Aaron Johnson, and just there is something very very cool in this video that makes me move, forget all the small stresses of daily life and focus on what I'm really chasing after in my life :) I needed this.
I know, I know, I know what I am chasing
I know, I know, I know that this is changing me
<...>
I will make it through the day
And then the day becomes the night
I will make it through the night
If you read my blog, you probably already know that I'm an ultimate fan of thesis-based speeches (such as TED) and long interviews, especially those from Charlie Rose Show. So you may suspect how happy I was to find this in recent Charlie Rose Show archives:
Although I don't have Jay-Z music in my iTunes and this is not my genre, but its always great to get some thoughts from people who achieved as much as he did. And its also great to see people from such different worlds on one stage talking to each other, I think I love Charlie even more after seeing this. Very funny, honest, inspiring interview about Jay-Z's life, music, relationships, inspirations, and future plans. I recommend to everyone, even those as me, who never listen hip-hop and has no idea about the genre, slang, street culture and anything related to it.
I can't tell you how much I love a great band coming out of nowhere, so this time I'm twice as happy because a new emerging Russian band 'On-The-Go' comes out of middle of nowhere literally. Have you ever heard of 'Tolyatti' city somewhere in deep Russia on the edge of Volga? No? Well, for some a fact that russian car Zhiguli was produced there many years ago may tell something. If you never heard of that car, the chances you've heard of Tolyatti are pretty small.
Nikita Zhilina, manager of the label Xuman Records, about shooting this video: 'Straightaway it was decided that we will shoot it in the countryside. Initially, we observed the outskirts of Yalta, but then we thought that members of the band are natives of Tolyatti, where Volga river flows next to Molodetsky mound and Zhigulevskie mountains; beautiful landscape that fits us for the purpose of shooting a video in the nature. So the idea was to express the atmosphere of the song, without making a specific subject - in fact the words in the song are metaphorical and can be interpreted in different ways, so we didn't want to frame it into specific story. Video-clip filmed by Andrei Nikolayev and Sasha Metelkina.'
On-The-Go - In The Wind (Official Video)
I wouldn't be surprised if this video was shot on a photo camera or any other simple device..
Source: some parts translated from http://www.lookatme.ru/flows/muzyika/posts/108087-premera-on-the-go-klip-i-ep
Astrud Gilberto was born as Astrud Weinert, the daughter of a Brazilian mother and a German father, in the state of Bahia, Brazil, and was raised in Rio de Janeiro. In 1959, she married João Gilberto, later emigrating to the United States in 1963 and has continued to reside in the US since then. They eventually divorced in the mid-1960s and, after this, she began an affair with her husband's musical partner, Stan Getz.(Source: Twomey, John. "The Troubled Genius of Stan Getz". jazzsight.com. http://www.jazzsight.com/jazzsightprofiles.html. Retrieved 24 March 2010.)
She sang on the influential album Getz/Gilberto featuring João Gilberto, Stan Getz, and Antonio Carlos Jobim. She had never performed professionally, and sang on the recordings at the suggestion of her (then) husband, João Gilberto.(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrud_Gilberto)
All day listening to her wonderful vocal, while a windy autumn weather is trying to get me through a balcony. Moscow seems dull today, dominating colour behind my window - gray. So this music keeps me warm here while I'm drowning into a sea of sentiments. At least they seem tasteful with this sort of soundtrack.
Talking Heads - "And She Was" from the album "Little Creatures", 1985.
I'm SO IN LOVE with this music video by Talking Heads, not only from a music side; as an illustrator, I'm so happy to see Collage genre expanding out of still illustration frames. This is composed so wisely, and I'm still learning new stuff every-time i watch this, also I've already replayed it few hundreds times.
Love this music-resource, its not so often to get so much inspiration through my ears. 22tracks.com is a jukebox consisting of 22 playlists of different genres, each playlist filled with 22 tracks, selected by specialized DJs from Amsterdam. 22tracks provides a quick overview of the latest music, promotes new artists and lets you discover new genres. No registration, no hassle.
