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2011-11-13T13:00:00.001-05:00

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 50: Annihiloscillator

2010-10-11T21:49:00.009-04:00

1997

An old evangelist friend of mine used to say that all we needed was a good, cleansing fire. Clearly, Merzbow is down with this. Annihiloscillator is a good place to end this 50 CD mountain. Fuck any scorched earth policy. Why limit it to the ground. Merzbow burns the whole world of sound with his work: the high, the low, and the in-between. Annihilation is a gift, and Merzbow just keeps giving.

We offer our gratitude and we end with a prayer.

TRACK LIST

1. Hair Gun // 13:16
2. Kyoko Hamara Air Clyster // 12:14
3. Black Brain of Piranese // 13:26
4. Soft Parts 1&2 // 17:29
5. Wild Pair // 3:50

_____________________________________

Big ups to the world of sharity that gave me the files to do this. Files here . . .

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 49: Motorond

2010-10-10T22:10:00.006-04:00

1997

t's a long way down, but I feel alright
It's a long way down, but I feel alright
And the cops get in, and the crowd gets tight
--Ryan Adams, Starting To Hurt*

Here, Akita shoots his sounds down a narrow hallway. The sonics feel caged up, but that only increases the tension release in the second track when he hits a groove that has the same rocking effect as the deepest space of Coltrane's A Love Supreme. And that's the great illusion of Merzbow. His music might sound dark, but it comes from--and is on its way to--a place of light. Color me blinded.

TRACK LIST

1. Motorond Pt.2 // 31:25
2. Motorond Pt.1 // 27:53

*A sidenote: When the last Sonic Youth album came out the fact that Thurston Moore was influenced by Black Metal made it from the press release into just about every review that was written. You know what I want to see? Somebody to give a shout out to Ryan Adams for his absolutely convincing Black Metal yowl that pops up every once in awhile. Srsly. Ildjarn would have been happy to tap this pain vein.

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 48: Space Mix Travelling Band

2010-10-09T16:59:00.006-04:00

1997

Would like to be objective about this recording, but when Merzbow pulls out this Death Ray of his, I am a goner. Also, I did not expect to think of (early) Kitaro here. Yet, I did. Not because of the sounds, BUT the because of their shared ability to return to the same or similar sounds in creating something fresh and good.

TRACK LIST

1. Travelling 1997 // 20:04
2. Floating Manhattan // 14:06
3. Hongkong Suite // 24:52

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 47: Rhinogradentia

2010-10-08T23:58:00.003-04:00

1996

If Michael Stipe was an icehead and in charge of a faltering Death Ray machine, this is what it would sound like. Fucking fabulous. Windout.

TRACK LIST

1. Rhinogradentia // 14:52
2. Silver Scintillator // 16:41
3. Narco // 24:02

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 46: Marfan Syndrome

2010-10-07T21:52:00.006-04:00

1995

This album is a good example of why people say that all Merzbow albums are the same. It's also a good example of why I don't need to talk to these people about Merzbow. Be in it. Be crushed. Be done.

TRACK LIST

1. Marfan Syndrome for Blue (Remix) // 7:07
2. Oldenbergs Soft Gun // 18:39
3. Spider Nest Castle Pt.1 // 12:26
4. Un Br Che // 11:25
5. Yosef Voice // 2:12

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 45: Red Magnesia Pink

2010-10-06T23:57:00.007-04:00

1995

The swirling dervishes of the high end cut sharply through what feels like the Aokigahara of Noise. You know all that friction is going to cause a fire in the dry season. Thankfully, in Merzbow's world there is no dry season, but things will burn anyway.

TRACK LIST

1. Minus Zero // 5:57
2. Etic // 4:08
3. Delta X // 4:33
4. Tremelo Man // 10:27
5. Euclids Pickel // 13:48
6. Chameleon Body // 9:18
7. Little Bang! // 7:38
8. You - Bahn // 5:27

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 44: Liquid City

2010-10-05T23:59:00.005-04:00

1995

First of all, what's not to like about an album that nods to Throbbing Gristle AND has a song title as good as Cheese Car Commando?

No build-up here. We just get dropped into the middle of the explosion that is "Liquid City 17-1-95". Its non-stop assault finally peters out in the last 30 seconds. Then a short build before the helicopters of Tiabguls kick in. (Total Xhol, Motherfuckers Live alert here, btw.) The choppers stop but things keep spinning through the next song. Lastly, "Cheese Car Commando" stutter steps onto the scene before the plates melt together to form a dense metal mass that happens to be careening towards your head. Good luck with that.

TRACK LIST

1. Liquid City 17-1-95 // 19:11
2. Dalitech Filters // 21:09
3. Tiabguls // 9:16
4. Cheese Car Commando // 7:35

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 43: Exotic Apple

2010-10-05T00:07:00.002-04:00

1994

Merzbow gets his old drum machines and samplers out, and it's a fine damn thing. Goes for a lot of high end too. Not my favorite are in the land of the rising Noise, but what he's doing in opposition to it works so well I don' t care. When his shit is on, it's ON. Make my ears bleed for all I care. Actually, fuck my ears, this is actually making my teeth hurt. I mean it. It's triggered an olfactory memory, and I can smell the dentist's drill. Music (or anti-music) does not get better than this. If I was in a dream, I'd be looking in the mirror and my teeth would be falling out in some mythopoetic kinda way. The Merzbow soundtrack would make it alright though. Like I said last time . . . Bite the apple.

TRACK LIST

1. Sunohara Youri Is Suzanna Erica // 10:16
2. Moon over the Bwana A // 5:30
3. Apple Rock 1 // 14:20
4. Apple Rock 2 // 16:17
5. Apple Rock 3 // 7:23
6. Apple Rock 4 // 7:55

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 42: Sons of Slash Noise Metal

2010-10-03T23:42:00.005-04:00

1993

Far fucking out. Merzbow pays homage to the ever-mighty Iron Butterfly. Heavy trippiness, thy name is In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, and Merzbow's approximately titled In-a-Gadda-Veddah grinds out a spacy groove of mayhem that does its namesake proud. About midway through the groove turns into a layered wall of blackness that careens through the next two songs through the end of the album. Man. Merzbow has clearly hit a harsh stride here. Bite the apple.

TRACK LIST

1. In-a-Gadda-Veddah // 16:53
2. Cross Toad // 10:57
3. Slash Embryo // 32:34

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 41: Brain Ticket Death

2010-10-02T23:43:00.008-04:00

1993

Brain Ticket Death relentlessly explores the pure violence of the drum. It's, quite simply, one of the harshest Merzbow releases I've ever heard. Just. Brutal. Actually, I'll go further than that. It's one of the harshest Noise releases I've ever heard. This, kids, is saying something.

TRACK LIST

1. Metal of Doom // 6:36
2. Electric Peekaboo // 3:45
3. Iron Caravan // 5:33
4. Brain Ticket Death // 34:01

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 40: Music for True Romance Vol. 1

2010-10-01T11:45:00.001-04:00

1992

Oh, honey. I hate you.

But seriously, this is probably the only Merzbow release to remind me of both The Gerogerigegege and Ian Hunter. That's fucked up.

TRACK LIST

1. True Romance Theme // 3:52
2. Music Cave // 2:27
3. She Floating - Preparation // 15:43
4. She Mutilation - Main Ritual // 15:17
5. Injured Imperial Soldiers Marching Song // 22:29

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 39: Stacy Q, Hi Fi Sweet Leaf

2010-10-01T01:54:00.001-04:00

1991

The Sweet Leaf reference in the title reminded me that Merzbow has mentioned that the basic goal of his music to sustain the heaviest moments of Black Sabbath. Done. Brian Eno has stated eloquently and often that rock's biggest contribution to the history of music has been texture. There are few bands outside of Sabbath that have added a more distinctive voice to the conversation. It would have been thrilling even if Merzbow had failed at his task to to harness the great white rhino of Tommy, Geezer, and Bill. But like I said, with Merzbow it's a done deal. Task over.

Oh, and Stacy Q. Heh. Two of hearts, my ass.

TRACK LIST

1. Decomposed Cockoo // 26:29
2. Stacy Q, Hi Fi Sweet Leaf // 26:28

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 38: Hannover Cloud

2010-09-29T23:04:00.000-04:00

1990

A grab bag of chaos and destruction tied up by the not-so-neat bow of "Autopussy Go No Go 2". Considering the bumpy ride, it's a pretty low impact landing. The restraints are in full effect.

TRACK LIST

1. Magnetic Void // 20:35
2. Rocket Bomber // 15:17
3. Untitled Cock // 6:13
4. Autopussy Go No Go 2 // 13:22

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 37: Newark Hellfire – Live On WFMU, 1990

2010-09-28T23:52:00.006-04:00

1990

Corey Booker thought he had it bad. Damn. A slow descending before they turn the furnaces on. It's mostly fury from launch through to the end. The slightest respite appears mid-way through the blazing walls of sound in the form of a wah-wah pedal that seems to be eating shrapnel. But not to worry. Merzbow's lesser angels swoop back in before too long and take us the rest of the way into the pit. Obliteration. What a blast.

TRACK LIST

1. Newark Hellfire // 58:45

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 36: Cloud Cock OO Grand

2010-09-27T22:04:00.000-04:00

1990

As an artist, flailing can be a good thing. This recording would be a great example of that. Stagger and drop. Get back up and reach for the ropes.

TRACK LIST

1. Brain Forest for Metal Acoustic Concret // 23:37
2. Spinnozaamen // 24:01
3. Autopussy Go No Go // 7:40
4. Modular // 15:12
5. Postfix // 8:26

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 35: SCUM – Steel Cum

2010-09-26T23:06:00.003-04:00

1989

Yesterday I said, "If Led Zeppelin's great fuck epic Whole Lotta Love was filthier, trippier, heavier, and way more Dada; this is what it would sound like." Take that and add a dentist. I'm hurt bad.

TRACK LIST

1. Mona // 2:51
2. Great Nude Variation No. 3 // 5:57
3. Duck Exercise // 17:14
4. Blues in C Minor // 24:23
5. Body // 6:09

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 34: SCUM – Severances

2010-09-25T19:17:00.002-04:00

1989

If Led Zeppelin's great fuck epic Whole Lotta Love was filthier, trippier, heavier, and way more Dada; this is what it would sound like. Ten years before they even existed, this release plots out an entire career for Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. And it's still as fresh as a tape I bought yesterday, literally. The new Vegas Martyrs' tape on Hospital recalls the filthy and heavy wonder of SCUM - Severances. Run, John Wayne Bobbit, run.

TRACK LIST

1. UP Steel CUM // 16:24
2. Catabolism Variation Stereo No.1 // 14:02
3. Deaf Forever / Wild Thing / Electric Shaver Forest / De-Soundtrack Variation No.1 / Rap the Khabarovsk // 31:01

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 33: SCUM – Scissors for Cutting Merzbow Vol. 2

2010-09-24T23:45:00.004-04:00

1989

Merzbow gleefully exploits the chasm between silence and sound on this one. But don't think that that means it's not a rough rider. It is. Steep drop-offs into the belly of the beats and then back, up through the wormhole again. Hard to listen to this without thinking of John Entwistle.

TRACK LIST

1. Music for Funk Arts No.1 // 22:51
2. Music for Funk Arts No.2 // 22:09
3. Great Nude Variation No.1 // 12:05
4. Extract 5 // 3:40

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 32: SCUM – Scissors for Cutting Merzbow Vol. 1

2010-09-23T23:43:00.006-04:00

1989

Three things to remember here. 1. Spaceships are phallic. 2. Spacejunk is made out of spaceships. 3. Ancient astronomy is art.

Why are there no constellations for those great bent and shattered cocks in the sky? Merzbow has clearly found them. Space is a wide road, but you still gotta stay in the right lane or there will be trouble. (Just ask Patricia Kennealy-Morrison.) And so it is, with nods to Dada, Valerie Solanas, and Yoko Ono, Merzbow exhibits that there is plenty of opportunity for crashing in outer space. In the end, all the space junk and all the stars collapse together into a big black hole. Awesome.

And yes. I know. That was intentional.

TRACK LIST

1. Cockchola // 12:54
2. Extract 1 // 4:21
3. Extract 2 // 5:48
4. Extract 3 // 1:18
5. Extract 4 // 5:59
6. Kinetic Environment // 11:46
7. Yeah, But That Was Just Dyke Stuff Great Nude Variation No.2 // 17:46

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 31: KIR Transformation (w/ Achim Wollscheid)

2010-09-22T23:50:00.007-04:00

1989

Relentless white knuckle dragging across the killing floor of your metal heart. (Too much, that? Exactly.) Oddly enough, KIR Transformation reminds me of Skeltonic rhyme. Just grind down the sound until it's exhausted and then move on to the next useful action to form the whole. You'll get there. And so will I.

TRACK LIST

1. KIR Transformation // 40:40

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 30: Crocidura Dsi Nezumi

2010-09-21T23:36:00.002-04:00

1988

Skull metal. Klang, skitter, and shred.

TRACK LIST

1. Mustela Erminea Nippon // 23:00
2. Mustela Sixasa Namiyei (includes "The Revenge of the Son of Monster Magnet") // 23:50
3. Strange Strings // 16:16

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 29: Collaborative-Merzbow & S.B.O.T.H.I.

2010-09-20T22:45:00.003-04:00

1988

OK. Major soft spot here. I have the original vinyl release of this recording on EXTREME. It's pretty much one of my most prized slabs. Things are smudged, refined, and destroyed to the Nth degree here, and all via the goddamn mail. The borders are crossed mightily as Merzbow and S.B.O.T.H.I. (Achim Wollscheid) go to town on each other's sound sources. It's all hacksaws and scalpels, kids. Nothing is sacred in the house of these two sound lords, and it makes for a listening experience that remains fresh over 20 years later. Damn. I dare you to be this good.

TRACK LIST

1. Joint // 20:51
2. Code-Gerausch-Aggregate // 20:12
3. Jointed // 7:06

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 28: Fission Dialogue

2010-09-19T23:39:00.006-04:00

1988

Dear sad, sorry Kanye West*: THIS is how a real artist pays homage to King Crimson. While this excursion is generally inspired by the Crims, Merzbow is quite specifically channeling the percussive madness of Jamie Muir**. I can think of no higher compliment to either musician. I can't believe I didn't see this coming. Heavy weather, with the sheet metal flying above our heads to prove it.

TRACK LIST

1. White Gamlan // 16:27
2. Fission Dialogue // 9:08
3. Inside Tangues in Tera-Aspic // 32:11

*Only click on that link if you like comedy and lameness.

**Jamie Muir with King Crimson, being neither lame nor funny.

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 27: Storage

2010-09-18T21:32:00.002-04:00

1988

This is your Mars on drugs.

TRACK LIST

1. War Storage Pt.1 // 23:02
2. War Storage Pt.2 // 23:48
3. War Storage Pt.3 // 21:08

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 26: Live in Khabarovsk, CCCP (I'm Proud by Rank of the Workers)

2010-09-17T23:48:00.003-04:00

1988

text t/k

Um. Kind of legendary performance. Note that the first track has the later date on it. Significant because it explains the presence of live drumming. After completely freaking out the festival officials with his first performance, Masami added a live drum kit to the mix the next night to make everything seem more "traditional". Ha! Good luck, Merzbow. In reality, working with a kit made things even weirder and more dangerous because of the unplanned nature of the aural assault. I entered this with the the attitude that I was going to be looking at a curiosity box. It turned out to be more than that. Totally unlocked. This is the sound of an artist who is afraid to fail, but not remotely worried about it.

TRACK LIST

1. Live at Trade Unions Place of Culture Hall 23 March 1988 // 29:21
2. Live at Soviet Army Officers House Hall 24 March 1988 // 28:13

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 25: Vratya Southward

2010-09-16T23:30:00.005-04:00

1987

A surprisingly (and refreshingly) quiet start on this one, bringing to mind a less aggressive take on Nurse With Wound's Chance Meeting on a Dissecting Table of a Sewing Machine and an Umbrella. Which is perfect, given both artists' affection for Surrealism. Even more surprisingly it remains--for Merzbow--quiet to the end. When I say that, I just mean that it's not a full-on pummel straight through. There is almost TOO much room to breathe. Almost. It's an "almost" that creates MORE tension than the usual Merzbow blow-'em-out approach.This isn't quite the negative sculpture of Michael Heizer but it feels like it because of the violently overflowing container that is the rest of Merzbow's work. It almost makes me sad that he didn't travel down this road a little more often. Almost.

TRACK LIST

1. Electroacoustic Voyage // 23:47
2. Electric Red Desart // 18:19
3. Lightning" // 19:10

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 24: Enclosure/Libido Economy

2010-09-15T23:48:00.006-04:00

1987

I don't own too much early Merzbow. Nobody does, really. Unless they have thousands of dollars to blow on ebay. I came to know his work during the period he was releasing a few things on the EXTREME label in the 90s. I missed the ZSF Produkt period. Occasionally, I would hear something in a friend's collection or have some kind of crazy record store luck, but mostly his work from that period simply existed in my mind until I downloaded the Merzbox. Enclosure/Libido Economy IS the music I had been imagining. Tonally ambitious and stylistically diverse, it holds itself together in its service to sound and its dedication to the unpredictable. There are artists who make something this perfect once in their careers. In Merbow's case, he's just geting started.

TRACK LIST

1. Enclosure // 17:27
2. Scarabe // 5:33
3. Interline No.1-3 // 18:10
4. Itch // 5:39
5. Libido Economy No.1 // 5:39
6. Libido Economy No.2 // 5:32

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 23: Mortegage/Batztoutai Extra

2010-09-14T22:18:00.006-04:00

1986

I have to say that this is the most Nurse With Wound-ish Merzbow record I've ever heard. Possibly because I was listening to Drunk With The Old Man Of The Mountains last night, but most probably because of the machines-spinning-off-the-tether-of-their-axes motif that Masami returns to again and again throughout. Also, many scatalogical moments, but less in a Coil way and more on a Satanic High School's gym locker room tip. Merzbow is cracking me up and scaring the living shit out of me on this one. Darkness descends, but with an echoing belly laugh.

TRACK LIST

1. Anus Anvil Anxiety (Long Version) // 14:40
2. Radio 1511 // 24:01
3. Mortegage Inc. Batztoutai // 23:21

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 22: Sadomasochismo/The Lampinak

2010-09-13T23:06:00.005-04:00

1985

Give 'em enough rope.

And so, Akita's enthrallment with Sadomasochism begins. This is going to last awhile, so you might want to settle in. Unsurprisingly, it's all about tension and slack with very few safe words uttered between the beginning and end of a very long and dark night. Tie ya mutha down.

TRACK LIST

1. Antimony Pt.1 // 10:30
2. Antimony Pt.2 // 13:05
3. Eyes of Isonokami // 11:40
4. The Lampinak - Sarpent Power // 10:29
5. Carcass on the Floor // 4:35
6. Village of 8 Graves // 4:30

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 21: Pornoise Extra

2010-09-12T23:58:00.003-04:00

1984

This one is all money shots and cigarettes. Overwhelming and way past complete.

TRACK LIST

1. Flesh Radio 1 // 4:49
2. Flesh Radio 2 // 4:51
3. Dance Of Dharma-Kala // 13:29
4. Psychotic Orange // 0:42
5. Helgas Death Disco // 5:34
6. Eros Pandra // 8:28
7. Kirie // 6:45
8. Domine // 5:54
9. Chopin Is Dead // 5:55
10. Risa Supersex // 2:55

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 20: Pornoise/1kg Vol. 3

2010-09-11T16:51:00.003-04:00

1984

Merzbow. His love is rotten to the core. And kind of gooey.

TRACK LIST

1. UFO vs British Army // 30:46
2. Toy 69 // 28:55

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 19: Pornoise/1kg Vol. 2

2010-09-10T22:31:00.003-04:00

1984

Merzbow is still holding on to the side of the abyss, but barely. And that's fine. Clawing always makes for good tension. The bombs-away descents used in Dynamite Don Don Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 are about the only things that betray the expected. All else is wayward thunder.

TRACK LIST

1. New Karhma // 31:24
2. Dynamite Don Don Pt.1 // 16:54
3. Dynamite Don Don Pt.2 // 13:16

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 18: Pornoise/1kg Vol. 1

2010-09-09T12:42:00.004-04:00

1984

Let the fucking jams begin. With all of his swimming lessons behind him, Merzbow dives headfirst into the gleaming cesspool of porno sex that will sustain him for years to come. Thrilling, this.

"La petite mort". So very in the house. Just check the track list.

TRACK LIST

1. Industrial // 3:32
2. Loop Fuck 1 // 6:12
3. Loop Fuck 2 // 5:39
4. Obituary 1 // 5:15
5. Obituary 2 // 7:12
6. Night Noise White // 31:24

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 17: Agni Hotra

2010-09-08T23:11:00.004-04:00

1984

Like I said before, at least the door was open. All the way.

Repetition burrows in and strikes a blow against your empire. It's a puncture wound in slow motion. These are some of the straightest lines Merzbow will ever draw. He can spit, spin, and swivel later. This one is about driving straight through the night. It all ends with a monstrous drone more fully explored in his utterly terrifying collaboration with Christoph Heemann, Sleeper Awakes On The Edge of the Abyss.

TRACK LIST

1. Agni Hotra // 18:26
2. Asagaya in Rain // 3:51
3. Swamp Metal // 6:29
4. Loops in Flames // 12:30
5. Arbertus Magnus // 7:14
6. Kunyan // 7:52
7. Untitled Waves // 6:45

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 16: Dying Mapa Tapes 2–3

2010-09-07T21:32:00.004-04:00

1983

It's the next day. All the blood has dried on the side of the pool, and the neighbors are out of town at a swingers' party. It will be a long weekend. Things go all Yotsuya Kaiden after that before being interrupted by NHL Hockey coverage.

So. Totally. Dada.

The last track is a quiet morning with the Cleaner showing up for duty. Somehow everything gets bleached back to the '30s. The completion backwards principle.

TRACK LIST

1. Sukha, Chanda, Tanno, Kless // 23:28
2. Genetic Erotic (Sie Wiro Weib) // 22:57
3. Rejet, Ictus, Connotation, Accompagnement, Penisersatz, Stigma Indelible Etc. // 23:14

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 15: Dying Mapa Tapes 1–2

2010-09-06T16:20:00.004-04:00

1983

The kitchen, again, finds itself in the blender. Merzbow seems to be running a knife through the heart of the 1950's Cupboard God. Skittish and disoriented, it staggers its way out the back door, only to find the swimming pool already filled with blood.

The good news? Now the door is open.

TRACK LIST

1. Denigration // 10:07
2. Indifferent Pt.1 // 6:20
3. Indifferent Pt.2 // 8:01
4. Ooinon for Satva Karman (Sprashutavia) Decoup // 21:46
5. Dharma Kamarage // 22:17

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 14: Mechanization Takes Command

2010-09-05T18:07:00.004-04:00

1983

Junky, funky rhythms get dissolved by industrial strength acid soon enough before morphing into the bad dreams of syphilitic chickens. The "junky funky" part makes me think of David Ellis' trash sculptures. The "syphilitic chickens" make me think of Merzbow's future fear of contracting the Avian Flu. All is erased later when a vicious Martin Rev riddim swoops in to save this diseased day and scrub it down with a rusty Brillo pad. We skip from there to a Kavorkian test tube mineshaft and then to a striated psycho-billy guitar burn-out. Exhilarating and nuts.

TRACK LIST

1. Electric Pygmy Decollage // 14:12
2. Machanization Takes Command // 11:01
3. Peaches Red Indian // 10:46
4. Sahara // 5:44
5. Iggy // 3:15
6. Suicidal Machine // 14:17
7. Ai-Da-Ho // 10:19

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 13: Material Action 2 (N.A.M.)

2010-09-04T10:19:00.004-04:00

1983

Tumbling and overwhelming. Starts off with what sounds like a chicken farm massacre dubbed atop rhythms played on the empty drums of argon and nitrogen that were used for the deed. It goes downhill from there. There will be no barn raising after this. EVERYTHING falls apart. And then it stays that way. In a word: Perfect. This is considered a classic for a reason.

TRACK LIST

1. Nil ad Mirari // 22:47
2. Nimbus Alter Magneto Electricity // 18:12

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 12: Nil Vagina Tape Loops

2010-09-03T18:13:00.003-04:00

1982

Loops spinning into oblivion. Good times. Merzbow's employing a technique of loop clipping and crunching applied later, but with more subtlety, by Randy Grief on his classic (and still-thrilling) The Barnacles Inside. If the machines really did take over, this is what it would sound like. For an update on this approach, seek out anything you can find by the very convincing Ordinary Machinery.

TRACK LIST

1. Nil Vagina Tape Loop No.0 // 14:08
2. Nil Vagina Tape Loop No.1 // 30:19
3. Nil Vagina Tape Loop No.2 // 28:28

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 11: Expanded Music

2010-09-02T22:35:00.004-04:00

1982

Starting off on the Starship Enterprise . . . THOSE are six words I never thought I'd use to describe a Merzbow release. But YO, Lt. Uhura's communications board is totally in the house! The frequency gets tweaked upwards pretty quickly though, and the coordinates get set for the planet Pain. Lines of action drop out and reappear. All the bending and stretching of rhythm and pitch brings to mind the mid-70s Jamaican dub masters King Tubby and Lee Perry. Merzbow is figuring out his sound from the low-end to mid-range to the high-end, piece-by-piece on this release. Some of the low-end knob twiddling is especially fascinating as the effect would be used repeatedly, filthily, and effectively 30 years later in the twin bastard genres of Grime and Dubstep. Which brings us back to mid-70's Jamaica. Recycle people. It's good for you and your environment.

TRACK LIST

1. Manipulation 1 // 17:37
2. Manipulation 2 // 5:28
3. Manipulation 3 // 6:36
4. Manipulation 4 // 3:53
5. Manipulation 5 // 2:51
6. Manipulation 6 // 2:15
7. Manipulation 7 // 1:57
8. Manipulation 8 // 5:45
9. M.F.S. W 1 // 18:58

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 10: Solonoise

2010-09-01T23:31:00.003-04:00

1982

Midway through Solonoise Pt.2 the Overwhelming Cloud of God Static climbs to the top of the junk heap, and leaps off. It made me think of history again. Not Merzbow's this time though. I can hear the next 25 years of everybody else's history being written here. Kind of like what Rob Zombie says about Black Sabbath in Metal: Headbanger's Journey. "Every great riff has already been written by Sabbath. Everyone else is just stealing." Which is fine. Most art and music is thievery. That's not a bad thing. We're only human. Or we're Merzbow.

The last track is a dramatic pull-back from the second, seeking refuge in the squawky high-end. It was a good choice. We weren't ready for the future.

TRACK LIST

1. Solonoise Pt.1 // 23:55
2. Solonoise Pt.2 // 23:42
3. Solonoise Pt.3 // 22:21

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 9: Yantra Material Action

2010-08-31T21:44:00.004-04:00

1982

Tortured warning sirens screech at the listener before melting into surf guitar samples. Welcome to the post-Hiroshima generation, kids. Pots and pans get banged in tune and in sepia, backing away from history. This is the breath.

I can imagine David Lynch listening to this in 1982 and thinking, "If only I'd made Eraserhead weird." This really is more cinematic than most Merzbow. I can only be impressed with how Merzbow has held off on the soundtrack offers over the years. Not that I have hard evidence that he's gotten them. It's just impossible to imagine that he hasn't.

TRACK LIST

1. Untitled // 11:25
2. Untitled // 2:52
3. Untitled // 1:48
4. Untitled // 4:37
5. Untitled // 1:06
6. Untitled // 8:40
7. Untitled // 7:26
8. Untitled // 4:35

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 8: Material Action for 2 Microphones

2010-08-30T23:55:00.007-04:00

1981

Thrilling to hear Merzbow's future take hold on this disc. Both the tweeked high-end that was perfected on Music For Bondage Performance 1 & 2, and the the molten thunder that will keep the low-end pinned to the ground for years to come. Forward.

TRACK LIST

1. Hoochie Coochie Scratched Man // 25:31
2. Yumin, Non Stop Disco // 21:14
3. New Acoustic Music No.7 // 23:58

50 Days of Merzbow, Day 7: Paradoxa Paradoxa

2010-08-29T23:45:00.005-04:00

1981

Lon Chaney seems to be hiding behind every door on this one, grinding away at something. More primitive drumming a la CAN that would later inspire O Yuki Congugate and half the acts on Cold Meat industry. By the 2nd track the Chaney-mood organ drone gets decidedly weirder and starts to feel more like all the incidental music for the circus horror classic, BERSERK.

TRACK LIST

1. Paradoxa Paradoxa Pt.1 // 46:14
2. Paradoxa Paradoxa Pt.2 // 26:08

50 Days Of Merzbow, Day 6 (5): Collection Era Vol. 2

2010-08-28T21:58:00.005-04:00

6 (5)*

1981

Here Merzbow begins to pick, in earnest, at the tectonic plates. And he sounds giddy at the prospects of the Great Falling Apart. Furious sliding of all kinds for the duration. Sometimes it's the edge of a continent falling into an ocean, and other times it's a box of sharp knives spilling across a frozen pond.

TRACK LIST

1. Untitled // 5:17
2. Untitled // 5:59
3. Untitled // 10:35
4. Untitled // 6:13
5. Untitled // 4:53
6. Untitled // 6:51
7. Untitled // 3:14
8. Untitled // 22:52

50 Days Of Merzbow, Day 5 (6): Collection Era Vol. 3

2010-08-27T23:54:00.009-04:00

5 (6)*

1981

Merzbow calls it Rock but it is definitely Rock of the funkiest order. The filthy beats remind me of Bloodrock, but the moves on top sound like the soundfield mined by the Bill Laswell/Otomo Yoshide project, Soup, 20 years later. Akita is so far ahead that he's ahead of the musicians and artists who are already pretty far ahead. The two "Gamlan" songs abuse the infinitely layered Javanese rhythms while Merzbow crowds the dinner table with heaping bowls of metal soto.

And I'm pretty sure Merz Scat is not referring to the Jazz singing style. Just sayin'. I'll meet you on the other side. Bring the Coil. I'll grab the staircase.

TRACK LIST

1. Merz Rock 1 // 1:58
2. Merz Rock 2 // 8:23
3. Merz Gamlan 1 // 15:54
4. Merz Gamlan 2 // 5:55
5. Merz Scat // 11:29
6. Merztronics Jazz Mix // 11:45
7. Merztronics Rhythm Mix // 11:17

50 Days Of Merzbow, Day 4: Collection Era Vol. 1

2010-08-26T21:59:00.006-04:00

1981

Merzbow's interest in avant-garde Jazz drumming shows up for the first time in this sprawling set, an obsession explored and destroyed 18 years later on his Door Open at 8AM album. Merzbow gets a little funky during the second track, Untitled Material Action. Wasn't ready for that. Then he starts pulling in radio signals from Hell or thereabouts. The spirit of both the water drum and the spring (as in, like, BOING) fills the electronic pulse demons here. The tracks leap from one unseen stone to the next to get across this River Styx. This is an overflowing kitchen sink, flooding a room full of loose and live wires.

TRACK LIST

1. Electric Environment // 24:00
2. Untitled Material Action // 23:57
3. Telecom Manipulation // 18:18

50 Days Of Merzbow, Day 3: Remblandt Assemblage

2010-08-25T12:15:00.002-04:00

1980

Akita gets his Dada 101 books out and goes to town. HaHa. "Remblant." So much anti-music starts here. But not to worry. "Scwitters" gets no respect either. I can hear Merzbow burrowing in for the long haul, aggressively plotting out his philosophy and approach to sound. Shadows of music's past appear only to be seemingly for the sole purpose of being rubbed out. It's like Django Rinehart on acid making a baby with Derek Bailey who is just plain drunk. It's all very dying cow.

TRACK LIST

1. Remblandt Assemblage // 9:44
2. Voice of Scwitters // 2:09
3. Theme of Dadaist // 9:39
4. Hans Arp // 1:47
5. Tape Dada // 5:52
6. Music Concret // 2:34
7. Prepare Guitar Solo 1 // 17:32
8. Prepare Guitar Solo 2 // 3:59

50 Days Of Merzbow, Day 2: Metal Acoustic Music

2010-08-24T12:02:00.004-04:00

1980

Caravaggio. This is the horrible treble of Thomas' finger feeling its way around Christ's wound, groping for faith. Although, here it sounds like Thomas doesn't quite trust his own hand and has opted for a scalpel. Keeps hitting bone.

Also, BB King. Merzbow keeps doing that slam chord that BB King uses at the beginning of a song to slap his band onto the One. Except, tonally, Merzbow is closer to Albert King.

TRACK LIST

1. Balance of Neurosis // 46:59

50 Days Of Merzbow, Day 1: OM Electrique

2010-08-23T21:38:00.012-04:00

1979

The first song is elastic and sequencer-driven. All junked up like Christ, this one. What a place to start. By track 2 the piercing begins in earnest. Remember those closely-miked albums from the 70s where you can hear the sound of the tips of the guitar player's fingers grazing the steel strings? It's like that only it's the tension in Masami Akita's ankle muscles coming through the effects pedals. It feels like Merzbow is scratching at the back of your skull from the inside.

TRACK LIST

1. OM Electrique Part 1 // 31:17
2. OM Electrique Part 2 // 7:55
3. Untitled Taped Drum Solo // 8:59
4. Untitled Guitar Solo // 10:25

Incoming: 50 Days Of Merzbow.

2010-08-23T21:33:00.005-04:00

I found Merzbow's 50-CD Merzbox, a collection of archival and out-of-print recordings, on this excellent sharity site last week. Now I'm listening to it.

All The Way.

2010-08-22T13:42:00.007-04:00

Sharon Butler

Sharon Butler's paintings in On Display, a show curated by Hrag Vartanian at STOREFRONT Gallery, are a microcosm for the entire show. When I first looked at the paintings, I wished that Butler had pulled back a bit. The more time I spent with them though, the more they started to come together. Her instincts had been right. Mine, wrong. In the end, Butler's overdrive minimalism worked for me.

Joy Curtis

And so goes the show. The onslaught of conversation among the pieces is almost too much at first. But then, settling in, getting used to the language, it opens up. Joy Curtis' floor sculptures serve as a lynchpin for the show, adding infinite angles on top of the ones already chatting away on the walls in Butler and Cathy Nan Quinlan's paintings.

The gesture of the "project space" in the front of the gallery is a nice touch. It's a quiet space of invention, letting the viewer in on the original secrets. It's the moment before the artists and the curator all decided to go too far, but as Bryan Ferry said, sometimes "All the way is far enough."

I've posted more photos over on my tumblr site.

Sharon Butler

Cathy Nan Quinlan

Joy Curtis

Installation

From 4-6 today, there will be an artists' discussion AND a birthday party for Abstract art at the gallery.

Love That Burns.

2010-06-23T00:46:00.015-04:00

He seemed to be doing this out of love, out of the need to tell the truth in a place where it seldom finds its way off the floor. Yep. Dread Scott was burning money in front of the Stock Exchange today. It was beautiful, confusing, and cathartic. He moved right through the green wall and took us with him, like a shepherd. Walking through the fool's fire of unfettered capitalism, he sang and burned his way into a ticket for disorderly conduct.

He repeatedly sang, "Money to bur-rn. Money to burn." while burning the money he had attached to his clothes and also that of any passersby who had their own money to burn. The crowd was a mix of lunching Financial District workers, deliciously confused tourists, and a smattering of people like me who had heard about the action on the internet. The mix of the two major elements, fire and money, guaranteed a certain tension. Money is food and rent until it's been recontextualized by a flame. Then we have to think about it.

The tension snowballed when the police showed up though. They seemed as confused as the tourists, but mostly because it seemed that they were unsure if the artist was doing anything illegal. After a number of phone calls and on-the-spot consultations I heard one of them tell Scott that he was being consider "disorderly." This was followed by more consultation, and a ticket was issued. The burning had stopped, and the singing along with it. Scott was waiting now for the moment of repose. His job done, it was time to go.

His walk to the subway felt like a one-man Jazz funeral without the music or New Orleans. It was slow, deliberate, and replete with some kind of mad grief. I was in tears. Dread Scott had put his hand into the belly of the Beast, and found the terrible end of something. It was messy. It was over. Most unsettlingly, it was quiet.

During the performance, a couple curious traders had come over to see the action. They seemed mildly amused. This was a joke, really. They obviously felt at home. After it was all over they went back inside for the afternoon and ushered the Dow down 148.89 points. Burn.

Pre-Bonus track BONUS: Dread Scott has posted a video of the performance.

BONUS TRACK: Fleetwood Mac's Love That Burns

Hello Frederick J. Osterling!

2010-06-17T01:13:00.002-04:00

What a surprise this was. The other week in Pittsburgh I was walking from the ToonSeum to the Mattress Factory. I took an alternate route and came across this perfect little landmarked building. Turns out it was the home and studio of Pittsburgh architect Frederick J. Osterling (1865-1934). Research revealed a number of buildings that weren't especially interesting or innovative, but with the occasional moment of architectural grace. But this building? This shit is magic. I will pretty much spend the rest of my life envying its present inhabitants. All it takes is one great building, kids. And this is a great building.

Check out The Union Trust Building. Like I said: Not especially interesting or innovative, but definitely some moments of grace, especially near the top and the way he takes you there. Plus, some fascinating restrictions were placed on the building by its previous owners, the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Like, Totally.

2010-06-09T00:49:00.011-04:00

I'm pretty confident that BRAVO's new show, Work of Art, will be as ridiculous as all the other formulaic endeavors of Magical Elves Inc. And when I say that I mean that I'll probably like it. But that doesn't mean I won't make fun of it. Also, someday I will use a complete sentence.

Tonight I'll be live-tweeting the first episode from the WNYC studios with a rag tag group of art lovers and geeks organized by C-Monster. When Paddy Johnson of Art Fag City saw a preview of the pilot back in April she said that the show won't embarrass the art world. What a shame. That's OK. For that, we have reality. Srsly.

Here's the HeartAsArena link on Twitter. Hashtag to be determined.

BONUS: Art Fag City's program guide to the contestants.

It Takes A Train.

2010-06-03T10:23:00.009-04:00

Nicolas Frasier

Look. I'm heading out of town for the weekend, but for those of you staying here, let me plan yours. It's simple. Get thee to Paterson, NJ to check out the downright locomotive powers of curator Olympia Lambert who pulled together the massive Escape From New York group show. Installations, sculpture, video, performance and (YES!) painting fill a gorgeous behemoth of a building that once housed a silk factory. In other words, there's something for everyone, and much of it quite damn good. Standouts include Robert Schatz, Nicholas Fraser, Christopher Saunders, Thomas Lendvai, Micah Ganske, Kate Gilmore, Alison Blickle, William Powhida, Bruce High Quality Foundation, and Jen Dalton (Loser or Pig, YO?!?! Choose one NOW!) It takes a lot to laugh, it takes a train to get to NJ. Get on it.

An Xiao in performance (2nd shot w/ Thomas Lendvai in bkgd)

Sean Slemon

Alison Blickle

Micah Ganske

Kezam

No Main Veins.

2010-06-02T00:49:00.006-04:00

I was struck by this photo from Marina Abramovic's Lips of Thomas on view at Sean Kelly Gallery through June 19. Like all good art, it made me think of Slayer. More specifically, it made me think of the legendary Slayer fan who had their name carved into his arm. If it's an aware intention that makes art, then Marina has that covered. The Slayer fan: maybe not so much.

I'd argue that the search for ritual and meaning bonds the two acts together though, however artless the Metal-headed cutlery application might be. For better or worse, one way or another, sometimes we find our way in.

No Death.

2010-05-23T18:50:00.001-04:00

Kassia Meador

Monster Children: With all the new ways to express one's self--video, social networking, TV, podcasting, blah, blah, blah--one could argue that still photography is a dying art form. What do you think?

Kassia Meador: That's like saying that painting is a dying art form. How can art die? It's the only thing that's really constantly sustained. In their happiest times people make art, and in their saddest times they do, too. I think that statement is crap.

Like A Setting Sun.

2010-05-19T01:29:00.008-04:00

Fariba Hajamadi, Father and Son, C-print, 2004.

Yesterday, Christopher Knight offered some ideas for Los Angeles County Museum of Art's BP-sponsored entrance. I would add a couple C-prints from Fariba Hajamadi's "Oil Painting" series to Knight's short list of Benglis, Frankenthaler, and Burtynsky. It's not exactly Gulf-related. Oh, wait. That's right. It is. It's just not the Gulf of Mexico. Gulf. We're hearing the echo of that word, right? Probably not. Same oil. Same blood. Same distance.

Besides Hajamadi I also thought of Josephine Meckseper's 2008 auto stampede at Elizabeth Dee. I thought of Viggo Mortensen's t-shirt on Charlie Rose. I thought of these two fuckers pushing a Porsche up 10th Avenue. I thought of St. Vitus. Then I thought of all my Saint Vitus records. That made me think of the how the needle fits so snuggly into the vein.

Like all good junkies we know the floor, but only as a delivery system. And here we are again, sucking on sand.

Cue Neil.

Get. OUT!

2010-05-15T12:02:00.004-04:00

Been psyched for this show, and now it's here. The thankfully and utterly mad Olympia Lambert has pulled together the massive group show, Escape From New York in Paterson, NJ. One of the reasons for my psychedness is that I'll get to see so much of Olympia's taste up on a wall, actually LOTS of walls. I'm also psyched because it's been too long since I've seen the work of Christopher Saunders (I mean, srsly. Check him the fuck OUT. See below.), Alison Blickle, Boyce Cummings, Micah Ganske, and Robert Schatz on a wall. Also über-psyched to see what Man Bartlett and An Xiao have up their mighty sleeves. Psyched as well to discover some new artists along the way. So, yes. You guessed it. I'm TOTALLY FUCKING PSYCHED! And you are too.

Christopher Saunders, Solid Air

Where Angles Fear To Tread.

2010-05-11T00:51:00.004-04:00

I mean, you see it, right?

One of the unexpected surprises I found with Kate Gilmore's Walk The Walk was how well it worked with its surroundings. Not just the park, but all the angles that hold it.

Another surprise was the sound. Inside the box it sounds like being under a stage during a drunk and angry musical.

Also, there's the control. I'm not sure if she's gained or lost control by not being in the piece. I mean, who's more powerful on the stage than the director? No one. Deep yellow God.

Walk The Walk is only up through Friday, running (or rather, walking) from 8:30am to 6:30am every day. So, go see it now.

Everything's Gone Green.

2010-05-10T00:34:00.005-04:00

Last weekend was the tenth and final installment of Zoe Strauss' I-95 show. This is how it went down.

I have a system. Thankfully, it almost always fails. For the last four years, I've taken three or four passes through Zoe Strauss' I-95 show. The first pass involves looking at every image. The following trips through the pillars are looser, a ramble really. That's when the show really kicks in. Patterns start to appear in Strauss' arrangement of the photographs. Pairs of photos are in conversation across from each other, while entire rows of work dip and weave around each other. There's a lot of movement.

The other thing that would happen in the later passes is that I'd start to keep an eye on the finale. The shows lasted 3 hours. At the end, everybody who wishes to peels a print off its perch and takes it home. Walking through I would start to find favorites, and narrow down my choices. This is where the system invariably and gloriously would fail. I never left with what I thought I'd be leaving with in the beginning. Surprises would pop up that I hadn't noticed while perusing Zoe's selections online beforehand. Or, more likely, by the time I went to stake out my first choice somebody had beaten me to it. This has always turned out to be a good thing, because it kept me honest. If I hadn't been following my gut up until then, I was made keenly aware of it by necessity.

This time was like that. It was 3:30. There was a half hour to go, and Fairbanks Truck and Whittier Basketball Court made up my short list. I started walking towards the former when I ran into a couple people from Zoe's NY gallery. When I turned back toward the photo I saw that someone else had beaten me to it. By the time I got to the Basketball Court, it too had been staked out. The moment of truth kicked in like a train. My first two choices had been academic, but there was an image that had stayed with me all afternoon. I rushed over to it, and as soon as I got there I knew I was in the right place. One of the abstracts, it was all color, angles, and shadows. Game over. Heart full. This was the place. Everything had gone green. Again.

I-95 might have ended at that moment, but it won't be leaving me anytime soon. That shit is forevah.

That Is All.

2010-05-02T00:40:00.000-04:00

As Ever.

2010-04-26T23:07:00.002-04:00

HELLO ELBOWTOE. My heart skipped more than a couple beats when I saw this ELBOWTOE on Saturday night at the Bergen Street stop. True, dat.

Protection.

2010-04-26T22:13:00.004-04:00

I was hoping that Chase was getting ready to clean their Jean Dubuffet sculpture, Group of Four Trees. I watched them do that in 2002, and it's a laborious, piece-by-piece process. The dismantling was almost a shocking thing to see. If I remember correctly it took a couple months. I unfortunately didn't have a camera then, so I was more than a little excited when I saw the scaffolding go up again.

Fake to the left though. I asked one of the maintenance people and it turns out that they're just protecting it from the construction they're doing on the building. Maybe they'll clean it after that. I can dream, can't I?

Sometimes.

2010-03-23T00:07:00.002-04:00

Sometimes it's just good to post a new Jenny Dubnau painting. Especially one that's this good. Dig.

Learning Annex.

2010-03-08T22:35:00.007-05:00

#hashtagclass set up shop at PULSE this weekend. Does walking into the belly of the beast just make it fuller? I haven't figured that out yet, but I'm glad I'm asking the question. Did it comfort those it was attacking? Probably. So fucking what.

Unmonumental (after Joy Garnett, on top of Duchamp)

2010-02-26T21:23:00.004-05:00

The clearest political/art historical reference I found at the 2010 Whitney Biennial was in the bathroom. I kid you not. I almost looked around to see if there was a placard. But no, it was just coins on a urinal. Oh, if I had only had the Is This Art? app then.

Bedroom.

2010-02-25T00:56:00.006-05:00

Ari Marcopoulos's Detroit is one of the highlights of the Biennial. Full of Noise, the film of the kids he captures making racket in their bedroom is loose and fluid and jammed with color. The music is as direct as the filming, improvised and fresh. Who are these kids? Wolf Eyes, Jr. The Squirrel Bait of Noise. Who knows? Who cares? What a blast.

Cool, but I'm also psyched for when Marcopoulos moves outside the frame and presents some Noise in the Whitney's lower room for their My Turn series. Orphan and Yellow Tears will be in the house. Yellow Tears, motherfuckers! The kings of The Piss Mop. Those who would fist pump to the processed sound of rain. The shirtless. If there's any hope for the space that has contained some of the most boring hours I've ever spent in the land of art (one word: panels), Yellow Tears are it.

Here.

2010-02-24T00:33:00.008-05:00

Shall we start with Pavement? Yes, let's.

And then. Oh, my. Kate Gilmore's installation and video at The Whitney Biennial. So fucking good. And I LOVE that the partially unseen scene of the crime is in the room with the video. It's been a blast to see Gilmore move some of her work out of the studio and into the sites. It adds a dimension of physical tension to watching the videos. There she is. There she was. Here you are. Bring your body.

To Be Real.

2010-02-23T23:42:00.003-05:00

Good from the gitgo, Robert Grosvenor's sculpture got better and better every time I walked by. Libby said she wanted to touch it. I couldn't agree more. Perceived weight + real weight + texture - space = desire.

Why Noise Is More Fun Than Art.

2010-02-23T10:58:00.002-05:00

Here's a head cleaner. Pyrrhic Thanatology Monger's exceptionally and appropriately messy release Free Health Care on the Fusty Cunt label.

And why is Noise more fun than art? Midwest kid garbed in at least five directions of Heavy Metal walks up to a Noise maven and shows him his tape inspired by the healthcare debate. Tape makes it to the shelves of Hospital in a week. And the sounds are mighty and mightily fucked. As a bonus, the packaging reminds one of a rectal exam. Totally appropriate.

Go Ask Alice.

2010-02-16T00:47:00.004-05:00

Salvador Dalí, First Cylindric Crono-Hologram. Portrait of Alice Cooper's Brain, 1973

Catching up with myself now . . . As part of their FLASH POINTS series, Must art be ethical?, the art21 blog has posted my piece "Art is Murder." I dive into the gray with Richter, Dalí, Banks Violette, Alice Cooper and all things Black Metal. Ethics in art? I'm against it! Except when I'm for it (Which isn't very often.).

The Mysteries Of Pittsburgh.

2010-02-15T23:46:00.004-05:00

Tony Oursler, Vampiric Battle, 2009, @ The Mattress Factory

I wrote a two-parter for Hyperallergic a couple weeks ago about the wonders (and mysteries) of Pittsburgh. A highlight of my art viewing every year, it was nice to get to work it all out long-form stylee. Big ups to Hrag who is, like, the coolest and bestest editor in the world. Here's Part 1. And here's Part 2.

And Sidney Crosby wept.

Community.

2010-02-14T19:06:00.006-05:00

Oh, hello very wonderful PLG Community Mural Project in Prospect Lefferts Gardens! Got a nice little tour of the project yesterday and in the process completely fell in love with this neighborhood.

To You.

2010-02-14T11:08:00.002-05:00

Snowgasm.

2010-02-10T17:09:00.005-05:00

In celebration of today's weather I give you one of our faves here at HAA, Andrea Champlin's Snowgasm. White is the new white. At least today it is.

Click on the image to make it blow up. Srsly.

Staring At The Sun.

2010-02-08T00:30:00.003-05:00

Well, to quote Tonio K, better late than never. Last month I had a couple of my ideas for Jeffrey Deitch's upcoming star turn included over at Fast Company Any opportunity to use the words "exhumed body of "exhumed skull of John Fante" and "Eli Broad" in the same sentence I'm gonna take it. Ethics aside (which I'm always more than happy to do here at HAA), I can't wait to see what the Michael Kinsley of the art world does in the City of the Angels.

Bending, Breaking Through.

2010-01-31T22:24:00.007-05:00

Chris Forsyth, Dreams

Chris Forsyth drove right into it last night at Issue Project Room. By "it", I mean everything. The night, the cold, our bodies. I saw him do the same thing this summer at Shea Stadium in Bushwick, only in that case he was cutting through the sweltering heat and too much beer. Without frippery, he drops his audience right down into a deep pit of harmonics, twisted melody, and rhythm. Like Baby Jessica, shit gets dark and weird but the ride back up is a blast. I haven't been this surprised by a guitarist since I saw Roy Buchanan on Austin City Limits when I was a kid. Don't get me wrong, revolutionaries like John Fahey and Loren Mazzacane Connors are LOVED here at Heart As Arena, but that doesn't mean they ever surprised me. Like Buchanan, there's something decidedly off and unpredictable in Forsyth's songs and performances. Will the song end or are we only in the middle? Will a melody dominate or will it be a wall of dissonance; or, will both share the stage? Will he roll or shred? Doesn't matter, as long as you're there. And with Forsyth's music, you will be.

Meg Baird played after Forsyth. I have to admit, I was skeptical, but Baird took care of that right quick. Her rolling and bending guitar lines pulled me in, and her voice kept me there. Forsyth joined her near the end for some scary beautiful and sometimes just downright scary lead runs. Things got especially transcendent when the duo covered the Crazy Horse song I Don't Want To Talk About It. (BONUS: Rod Stewart version.) By the end of the song, the audience knew they had seen something special. And they were right.

Score!

2010-01-29T13:07:00.006-05:00

Taj Forer, To live with you alone, Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee, archival pigment print

Totally scored at Art21's wildly fun trivia fest, Culture Wars, last night. My team--the very awesome Glenn Lowry's Apartment--came in 2nd place, being bested with more than a little irony by the crew from MoMA. No complaints here though. We walked away with prints and gift certificates from the much-loved and ever excellent 20X200. I took home Taj Forer's To live with you alone, Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee. A thousand times YAAAAAAAAAY!

And yes, Ms. Jen Bekman called it. HeartAsArena was drunk. But mostly on the goodness of a fine evening.

Oh, and . . . XANADU!!!

Free Time.

2010-01-08T13:22:00.003-05:00

James Franco

It's great that James Franco is doing performance art and that so many people are discussing it, but shouldn't we first pause to appreciate what he's already added to the world of painting?

Thrust.

2010-01-04T00:26:00.002-05:00

When I saw Jim Marshall's iconic photo of Johnny Cash thrusting The Finger at the camera, I realized it was the second time I had seen it in the Brooklyn Museum. The first time, however, wasn't in a photograph. It was in Mark Dean Veca's wonderfully trippy Good Bye Nail Fungus that had been in the museum's Open House: Working in Brooklyn show back in 2004. Nothing's lost in the translation.

Rock 'N' Roll Suicide.

2010-01-03T23:53:00.008-05:00

I saw the excellent Who Shot Rock & Roll at the Brooklyn Museum over the weekend. The set of Richard Kern's photos of Sonic Youth made it hard not to think of the infamous suicide picture of Mayhem's Dead taken by his bandmate Euronymous. There are a couple hundred reasons it might not have been included in the exhibit, ranging from the ethics of its provenance to scaring children. The music geek and Black Metal fiend in me needs to fill the empty space on that wall though, so here's the missing piece of the puzzle. To quote Dead, "Excuse all the blood."

Over.

2010-01-01T00:01:00.002-05:00

Performance, Prurient. Video, Pendu.

2009 Top Ten.

2009-12-31T15:44:00.006-05:00

1-10. The Mattress Factory's reinstall of Greer Lankton's It's all about ME, Not You (1996).

Quite simply, nothing else even came close.

Everything I want from art is in this room in a room. I viewed the piece through tears, brought on by equal parts heartbreak and beauty. Nothing else came closer.

Lankton doing the original installation.

Lankton at the 1995 Whitney Biennial.

Pics: 1 & 4, HAA. 2 & 3, Mattress Factory.

Prominent Fairey: Sidestreets and Alleys.

2009-12-28T10:55:00.003-05:00

Shepard Fairey in Pittsburgh. The first, across the street from The Warhol. Great hydrant-matching abilities in full effect. The second, making it obvious who Fairey's favorite Jackson brother is.

Happy Holidays.

2009-12-22T00:22:00.002-05:00

Locked In.

2009-12-21T00:19:00.002-05:00

RRR-1000 lock groove LPs (120) from Keith Fullerton Whitman on Vimeo.

I repeat myself when under stress. I repeat myself when under stress. RRR-1000 Lock Grooves. 20 artists. 50 grooves each. 1 LP. Each cover unique. Record of the year?

Susan T. Woolf. Rest in peace.

2009-12-14T23:43:00.007-05:00

Quiet Piece 4; Pine needles, grass; Duration 1 week

This is what she did, and what she did was beautiful.

Quiet Piece 15, 2009; flower petals, leaves, concrete; Duration 1 day...

Quiet Piece 11, 2006; leaves, asphalt, office park; Duration 1 day...

Reflections Of Reflections.

2009-12-12T11:27:00.004-05:00

Oliver Halsman Rosenberg's Beloved at Mary Smith & Friends in Greenpoint.

I loved Oliver Halsman Rosenberg's odd and wonderful show at Little Cakes a few years ago. The centerpiece of the show was an exercise bike rigged up to a big wheel that spun around so the viewer could see the paintings at whatever pace they cared to, slowly or with a blur.

His new show, Beloved, is up for just a week at Mary Smith & Friends in Greenpoint. It's mostly by appointment (nights and wknds are best), but there will be a closing party next Sunday, Dec. 20th. All the work is from Oliver's year in India where he spent about as much money per month on food, lodging, and travel as an artist living in NYC would spend on a small studio. He had an open studio, of sorts. Traveling and working he immersed himself in the color and spirit of the country, letting all his reflections pour out onto a shifting varieties of canvasses that he found along the way. I posted a number of the works over the summer when out of a very lovely nowhere a CD appeared in my mailbox. Highly recommended. Make the call or send the email or stop by next Sunday. Do what you need to do, but see this glowing wonder of a show.

Maybe I'm Amazed.

2009-12-07T00:22:00.009-05:00

Clare Grill When You Get That Old, oil on linen on panel

Mixtape at Jen Bekman is my favorite show in town right now. Clare Grill's painting is one of the reasons. It threw me off and brought me in. This show represents everything that is right in the land of art. Everything. Starting with the unexpected and the beautiful, and ending wherever it wants to.

Other ways to sing together:

Track 1. (@ 2:47)

Track 2. (@1:05)

Track 3.

Track 4.

Track 5.

Track 6.

Track 7.

Track 8.

Track 9.

5.

2009-11-30T23:57:00.003-05:00

Charles Demuth, The Figure 5 in Gold, 1928

I must be catching up with myself because I'm finally getting around to saying how awesome it is that ArtCat celebrated 5 years of goodness this month. I don't think it can be overstated what a game changer this site has been for artists, galleries, and writers. It was a wonderful and fresh thing when it started its "opinionated" path, and it remains so 5 years on. Belated--but HUGE--congrats to Barry, James and the entire ArtCat crew. Hugs. 5.

Rather Interesting.

2009-11-27T11:22:00.005-05:00

Atom Heart, Dots

Half way through reorganizing my music. About 3500 CDs and around 2000 slabs of vinyl make this quite a chore. But it's a REALLY FUN chore, with lots of visits to old friends along the way. I'll be sporadically tweeting this post-Thanksgiving Day massacre as the day goes on, and some faves appear. Then next week I'll be consulting with my therapist about what was REALLY going on. That, I will not be tweeting. Time to check out the most realistic scene EVER in all of filmdom . . .

Let The Power Fall. The NuMuBrou In Song.

2009-11-17T23:47:00.015-05:00

Robert Fripp: Let The Power Fall

Horace Andy: Money Money

Negative Plane: A Church In Ruin

For all those "dangerous" bloggers out there who started, y'know, like, asking questions and stuff . . .
First Choice: Armed and Extremely Dangerous.

Taylor Swift echoes Charlie Finch.

And finally, let's keep on looking for the light. For real.

Tweaking.

2009-11-14T15:20:00.009-05:00

Total ACID.

I've been looking forward to the full show of Jenny Morgan and David Mramor collaborative paintings since the summer when they had a couple canvases in a group show at Like The Spice in Williamsburg.

Like I said. Total ACID. No, not the drug or the chemical. The techno sub-genre. Something about the way the pushing in these paintings tastes. The way they come close to an itch, but then break into beauty. No complete sentences here, just full thoughts. That, and some wonderful back-and-forth blossoming. Take one.

For Acid nostalgia, click on D.A.V.E. The Drummer

Every Word Means No.

2009-11-01T21:11:00.010-05:00

No photos at DAC. If you want pictures you can buy the catalog. If you want information and links, you can use Google. You're on your own. You and the art.

Like I said, Every word means No.

In Dreams Begin Responsibilities @ HYPERALLERGIC.

2009-10-20T13:32:00.004-04:00

Hey! Totally psyched about my first post on HYPERALLERGIC! It's about the Bruce High Quality Foundation and the dumb art world I love. It starts with Napalm Death and ends with Taylor Swift, but not before making side trips to A Course In Miracles, American Psycho, Larry Gagosian, a naked Jerry Saltz dream, and Delmore Schwartz.

And Steelerbaby Wept.

2009-10-19T00:03:00.003-04:00

Shepard Fairey @ The Warhol Saturday night.

I guess The Warhol Museum couldn't have timed their Shephard Fairey opening any better than this. Can't wait to see the show in December.

"I'm very disappointed with myself over this," [Fairey] said during an hour-long question-and-answer session about his career and influences.

While he said he couldn't comment much on the case, he described the issue as a mistake.

"There are some things being portrayed as if I was premeditative and sinister about which photo I used," he said. "That's not the case."

Most importantly, here's what a Steelerbaby supporter thinks about all this.

Empty.

2009-10-13T01:51:00.003-04:00

Speaking of empty real estate housing art, I've been curious about this place between Court and Smith since it first went up. It's such an odd space I assumed that it was being built for something specific. Then, when it finally opened it was just a big empty cube that gave great shadow, but there was art leaning up against the walls. I happened to catch it at a good time on Friday and snapped some pics. Then, some dudes walked by with a canoe.