zblog: 2013/10

29.10.13

Anders Oinonen's fingers do the talking

I knew I was onto something back in kindergarten- I should have stuck with my original idea, to become a famous finger painter. Anders Oinonen is a Toronto-based artist whose mysterious faces evoke dreamlike memories and associations.

meanders.ca

27.10.13

Wire

Wire were definitely one of the most interesting British bands to emerge from the late 70's punk/post-punk era. While they had much of the energy and anger of punk, their songs were also often very cerebral and abstract, with structures leaning in the direction of prog or art rock without the pretension. The songs were short and sharp and had very interesting architecture.

Unfortunately, and this is only my personal opinion, the only Wire albums worth owning are their first three: , Pink Flag, Chairs Missing and 154. After that some of the original members left the group and the subsequent music was quite different in many ways. However, those first 3 records are highly recommended and have definitely had a huge influence on many other musicians over the years.

16.10.13

Alex Lukas: Underwater Moonlight

These screen printed and painted images of cities under water are definitely creepy. But beautiful as well. Alex Lukas is a Philadelphia based artist.

alexlukas.com

12.10.13

Stereolab!

Definitely one of the more unique groups to emerge from the 1990's, London's Stereolab were made up of members from both England and France, and these cultural origins informed the music in a major way. Beautiful harmonies, often sung in French, cascade over swirling keyboards, guitars and horns, creating a timeless feeling of safety, fun and joy. It's a dreamy, luxurious world of art school drop outs and girls wearing sunglasses inside dimly lit bars, having fascinating conversations over strong dark coffee and cigarettes. A place I would like to visit.

Stereolab have put out a ton of records over the years, many of which I have not heard, but I would recommend any of their 1990's albums as a good place to start: Mars Audiac Quintet, Emporer Tomato Ketchup or Peng! are all great (they are also known for incredibly silly and surreal sounding album titles).