Author Archives for Jay Babcock

Happy President's Day!

You know, with all the “Is Obama The New Black Lincoln?” commentaries going around, George Washington is kind of getting the short end of the stick this President’s Day. With that in mind, we give you the above historical retrospective of Washington’s lesser-known talents (e.g., he had four dicks, rode a crystal horse and “made love like an eagle falling out of the sky”). Every year your contributing editor’s favorite “DC gossip” blog Wonkette posts this thing and he watches it a dozen times before emailing it to all his friends. It’s got some NSFW cusses in it, but you’re probably gonna get laid off anyway so who cares, right?

Watch more ridiculous videos from Brad Neely at his website, Creased Comics. UPDATE: More of Neely’s amazing videos after the jump.

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Tues Feb 17 in Philly: CHROMATIC MYSTERIES, new ensemble featuring Marshall Allen

This just in from Scott Verrastro…

CHROMATIC MYSTERIES
featuring Marshall Allen (Sun Ra Arkestra)

Tuesday, February 17
Johnny Brenda’s
1201 N. Frankford Ave., Philly

Home


215-739-9684
$10, doors at 8pm, 21+

Chromatic Mysteries is a new Philly-based ensemble — or perhaps a conduit for extraterrestrial audio manipulation — comprised of members from such sonic explorers as Sun Ra Arkestra, Bardo Pond, Kohoutek, and New Ghost. Horns collide with guitars that melt with percussion to create alien emissions that communicate with man’s primordial urges.
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Kev's Trips in Iran (or why the Electric Prunes Broke Up)

Fifty Thousand Atomic Rials (= about $4.60)
Fifty Thousand Atomic Rials (= about $4.60)

From Ian Nagoski:
Iran isn’t going anywhere. We know the Iranians bring us thousands of years of cultural history and nearly daily news headlines, but what else do we know about them? After reading Kapuscinski’s book on the Iranian Revolution Shah of Shahs, there are the decidedly more vernacular travel journals of Kevan Harris, Sociology PhD, ‘Merican of demi-quasi-Persian extraction and wayward prog DJ, who has spent the past three summers studying in the belly of a country where the goverment is, well, let’s just say NOT allies of the U.S. and its allies.

In his writings you’ll “meet” strongmen, magicians, the Iranian Frank Zappa, globo-talking blowhard Swiss academics and leftist philosophers as well as tender, juicy and very chewable lessons on the ins and outs of global economics, the problem of fat babies and the inside dirt on whether or not Freddy Mercury can truly be thought of as part of the Axis of Baddies.

Click on the five spot for the site (hosted by hot Chicago rockers No Doctors).

Reasons to be cheerful No. 1

From the Washington Post:

Obamas to Honor Wonder

President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama plan to host a concert Wednesday in the White House’s East Room in honor of Stevie Wonder, reports The Post’s DeNeen Brown. Wonder is to be awarded a Gershwin Prize for Lifetime Achievement from the Library of Congress.

Wonder’s songs “Higher Ground” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” were played often during Obama’s campaign. And it was the performance last month by Wonder, along with Usher and Shakira, that pulled the Obamas out of their chairs and set them to dancing during the inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial.

Wednesday’s concert is scheduled to be shown Thursday on PBS as part of the network’s “In Performance at the White House” series and to celebrate Black History Month, the White House announced yesterday.

OH YES DUDE

fivepeacelogo

Five Peace Band: Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Christian McBride, Kenny Garrett, Vinnie Colaiuta.

www.fivepeaceband.com

Chick Corea and John McLaughlin are truly kindred spirits. Both are brave musical explorers and singular virtuosos on their respective instruments. As young jazz artists, they both did stints with the legendary Miles Davis and appeared together on the groundbreaking jazz/rock/funk classic Bitches Brew.

Each later ventured out to form his own revolutionary band: McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra and Corea’s Return to Forever. The innovative music played by these two groups attracted huge audiences in the ‘70s and helped shape a new genre of music, turning multitudes of rock fans on to a new form of jazz.

Now [touring] with a group featuring some of the greatest musicians on the planet: Kenny Garrett on sax, Christian McBride on bass and Vinnie Colaiuta on drums in Europe while Brian Blade takes over the drum chair in Asia and on select dates in U.S…
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DAILY MAGPIE – ongoing until Feb 28 – The New Dark Age

newdarkageofficial

The New Dark Age

Feb 5 – Feb 28

Deitch Gallery, 76 Grand St, New York

Interdisciplinary artist Ben Jones of the Paper Rad art collective has an ultra-neon, hyper-real, flashing 3D freak out world on display at Deitch Gallery until the 28th.  The exhibit includes video, sculpture, drawings, paintings all in seizure-inducing colors.

It’ll probably be like drowning in this Youtube video

DAILY MAGPIE – Feb 15 – Brooklyn Record Riot

brooklynrecordriotsmall

Sunday, Feb 15, 12-6

at the Warsaw, 261 Driggs Ave, Greenpoint

$3

 

Better get out the elbow pads for some record geek jostling this Sunday at the third installment of the Brooklyn Record Riot.  Over 40 dealers will be selling more vinyl than you could ever possibly afford.  But that’s no reason not to go look.

Comfort your post-Valentines-Day depression with beer and Keilbasa from the Warsaw, multiple DJs, and the knowledge that you probably aren’t the only one there who didn’t get laid last night..

And if you really want to get the best gems, 20 bucks will get you early entry at 10am.

Sneak a peek at Dave Tompkins' vocoder book

New Yorker music critic Sasha Frere-Jones has an excerpt from Arthur contributor Dave Tompkins’ long-awaited book about the vocoder up on his blog. Tompkins connects the dots between Cher, T-Pain, Holger Czukay, and the classic Cylons, sprinkling in ample quotes from Bell Technical Journal along the way. Go read “Unvoiced Hiss Energy” over at the New Yorker. And keep an eye out for Tompkins’ book, due out next spring on Stop Smiling Books/Melville House.

P.S. Tompkins’ infamous interview with Godzilla appeared back in Arthur #10, which is currently available in the Arthur Store.