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Living To Music – The Stone Roses ‘The Stone Roses’

by on 21. Dec, 2011 in Art & Design, CD’s / Digital, DJ / Club Culture, DJ Appearances, Hear, Living To Music, Manchester, Merseyside, Photography, Psychedelia, Records, The Beatles, The Eighties, The Nineties

As we enter 2012 I thought this would be the ideal Living To Music choice to kick off the year, especially given that the first Sunday in January is also the first day of a new year. This highly acclaimed and much-loved 1989 LP, which perfectly caught the mood of the times, provides us with the opportunity to re-visit the past, whilst looking ahead to the summer. When an announcement was made earlier this year, that The Stone Roses are to re-form for 2 shows at Manchester’s Heaton Park in June 2012 (with a 3rd later added), there was genuine intrigue and anticipation. This wasn’t a case of another comeback cash-in, but something more symbolic. If ever there was a band with unfinished business to accomplish, it’s The Stone Roses.

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The Masked Movement

by on 03. Dec, 2011 in Art & Design, Articles, Books, Comics, DVD, Film, Read, The Eighties

Shout out to me mucka Meeko for linking me up to the recent interview in the Guardian with my main man Alan Moore, in relation to the symbolic use of V masks by participants in the ever growing global protest movement.

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Shoutout

by on 13. Oct, 2011 in Art & Design, Black Culture, DJ / Club Culture, Documentaries, Fashion, Film, Misc, The Nineties, The Seventies, The Sixties

Just wanted to make you aware of a project my former Invisible Players colleague, Don Letts, has been commissioned to produce, focusing on the clothing brand, Fred Perry, and its cultural relevance in the UK from the Mods in the 60’s to Britpop in the 90’s, and right up to date via their association with Amy Winehouse, whose designs for the brand continue to be released, with the full blessing of her family, following her untimely death last July.

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Mr. Brainwash

by on 06. Oct, 2011 in Art & Design, Film, See, TV

LA based Mr. Brainwash has really got the art world in a whirl – some still believe he’s a lucky man who made the grade, whilst others suspect a puppet who can see the strings? Behind all the smoke and mirrors you’ll find the Bristolian street art enigma himself, Banksy, whose wonderful Academy Award nominated documentary ‘Exit Through The Gift Shop’ (2010), casts Thierry Guetta / Mr. Brainwash as an unexpected cause célèbre.

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Sex And Death – Nobuyoshi Araki

by on 04. Oct, 2011 in Art & Design, Documentaries, DVD, Photography

With the recent ‘Astrid And The Exis’ piece I came the realisation that this was, over 100 posts in, the first time I’d focused on a photographer. I thought I’d better begin to address this accidental omission, and pay more props to the still image, starting off with the controversial Tokyo photographer Nobuyoshi Araki, now in his seventies, whose medium ranges from global art galleries to the pages of readers wives type porno mags (which brings to mind what Alan Moore said about the difference between erotica and pornography being largely dependent on the income bracket of the buyer).

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Astrid And The Exis

by on 22. Sep, 2011 in Art & Design, Film, Merseyside, Photography, The Beatles, The Sixties

Stayed in a mad hotel last Friday, the Karim Rashid designed Nhow in Berlin. If you like pink, then this is the place for you – it’s literally everywhere. Not really my cup of tea, all a bit garish and, as someone put it ‘Barbie girl in a Barbie world’, but certainly somewhere you’re not going to forget in a hurry. Described as a ‘music and lifestyle hotel’, you can have guitars and keyboards delivered to your room, and the upper section of the building houses two recording studios, which are run by the company that manage Berlin’s legendary Hansa studio (best known for David Bowie and Iggy Pop’s patronage in 1977 - ‘Heroes’ and ‘Lust For Life’, both recorded there, and ‘Low’ and ‘The Idiot’ partly recorded).

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The Mindscape Of Alan Moore

by on 06. Sep, 2011 in Art & Design, Books, Comics, Documentaries, DVD, Film, Read, See, Video

It’s only three months since I blogged about ‘Getting My Dylan On’, setting the wheels in motion for a voyage of discovery that took a turn in a direction I hadn’t anticipated, into the world of ‘Watchmen’ and onto the author behind it, feeding me full of impressions and insights as a whole new vista opened up.

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Reading The Watchmen

by on 07. Jul, 2011 in Art & Design, Books, Film, Read, The Eighties

24 years after it was first recommended to me by my mate Kermit, I’ve finally read ‘Watchmen’, the 1987 graphic novel by the British pairing of writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons. I knew it was going to be something special, so, suffice to say, its right up there for me, a really substantial piece of work with its powerful cast of archetypal characters - take a bow Rorschach, Dr Manhattan, Ozymandias, Nite Owl II, Silk Spectre II, The Comedian, Silk Spectre, Nite Owl and all those in supporting roles who collectively served to knit together what’s been for me, in these past few weeks, an ever-unravelling gift that keeps on giving.

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The Wall

by on 18. May, 2011 in Animation, Art & Design, CD’s / Digital, DVD, Film, Records, See, The Eighties, Video

Watched the 1982 film ‘Pink Floyd The Wall’ with my son a couple of times during recent weeks. It made a strong impression on him, as I hoped it would, whilst reminding me just how powerful an audio / visual experience it provides.

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South Bank Vintage

by on 31. Jan, 2011 in Art & Design, Black Culture, DJ / Club Culture

Inspired by 1951’s Festival Of Britain, it’s somewhat fitting that Vintage is coming to the South Bank in celebration of its 60th anniversary. Given that it wasn’t possible to stage the festival at Goodwood again, this is a fantastic outcome, providing the opportunity to bring the event right into the heart of the capital for a unique one-off (it’ll return to a greener, more orthodox festival setting in 2012).

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