STRANGE AND FAMILIAR

Posted on 2016-03-28

Curated by the iconic British photographer Martin Parr, Strange and Familiar considers how international photographers from the 1930s onwards have captured the social, cultural and political identity of the UK.

From social documentary and portraiture to street and architectural photography, the exhibition celebrates the work of leading photographers, including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Rineke Dijkstra, Robert Frank and Garry Winogrand. Bringing together over 250 compelling photographs and previously unseen bodies of work, Strange and Familiar presents a vibrant portrait of modern Britain.

Opposite – Hans van der Meer, Mytholmroyd, England, 2004

Exhibition runs through till June 19th, 2016

Barbican Centre
Silk St
London
EC2Y 8DS

www.barbican.org.uk

  

EISENSTEIN IN GUANAJUATO

Posted on 2016-03-28

The venerated filmmaker Eisenstein is comparable in talent, insight and wisdom, with the likes of Shakespeare or Beethoven; there are few – if any – directors who can be elevated to such heights. On the back of his revolutionary film Battleship Potemkin, he was celebrated around the world, and invited to the US. Ultimately rejected by Hollywood and maliciously maligned by conservative Americans, Eisenstein traveled to Mexico in 1931 to consider a film privately funded by American pro-Communist sympathizers, headed by the American writer Upton Sinclair. Eisenstein’s sensual Mexican experience appears to have been pivotal in his life and film career – a significant hinge between the early successes of Strike, Battleship Potemkin, and October, which made him a world-renowned figure, and his hesitant later career with Alexander Nevsky, Ivan the Terrible and The Boyar’s Plot.

In theatres April 15th, 2016

www.facebook.com/eisensteinguanajuato

  

THE MUSIC LIBRARY – REVISED AND EXPANDED EDITION

Posted on 2016-03-28

Library Music, also known as source or mood music, was made exclusively for use in animations, commercials, film and TV programmes. Never commercially available and only manufactured in limited numbers, these LPs are now highly collectable.
This book is an exhaustive compilation of cover artwork from some of the most important and beautiful library records produced throughout the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. A fully revised and expanded version of the original Music Library book, it features 625 diverse record cover designs from 230 labels (twice the content of the first edition).
A celebration of and graphic joyride through some of the greatest unseen and unheard music ever made.
There is a slipcase edition that consists of the book and 10″ vinyl together in a slipcase, 500 numbered copies. 10” vinyl features 9 rare library music tracks from the Selected Sound and KPM labels.

fuel-design.com

  

JUJU

Posted on 2016-03-28

JuJu is the latest incarnation of Sicily-based Gioele Valenti (Lay Llamas, Herself). Used to designate objects, such as amulets, and spells used ceremoniously in West Africa, Valenti broadens the scope of ‘juju’ to encompass a mix of rhythmic psychedelia, ancient myths and Mediterranean neo-paganism. Through the music, JuJu tells the story of an on-going exodus from Africa that more often than not ends in ignored tragedies at sea, ‘a total defeat for humanity.’ Inspired by sources of Earth magic and soil secrets, JuJu strives to turn that defeat into a celebration of spirit and modern psychedelia.

sunriseoceanbender

  

KOWTON – UTILITY

Posted on 2016-03-28

Emerging onto the underground circuit back in ’09 with a UKG-indebted roller for Keysound that blended Berlin dub techno with an OG dubstep sensibility. Kowton has consistently pushed FWD his sound with choice cuts on labels such as Idle Hands, Hessle Audio and Whities. But it’s on Livity Sound that he has cut his best dubs.

While it is a collection of expertly built club killers, Utility flows from start to finish with an expertise that feels like it was produced with the intention of blowing minds as well as speakers when deployed. From the whispered voice ghosted into the UK techno emerging from the shadows at 4 am in the smoking area of Corsica Studios on Sleep Chamber to the Berghain at midday Sunday shuffle dub of Bubbling Under, Utility crossed scenes of bass-rooted underground music whilst maintaining a unique flow often hinted at, but rarely achieved within techno albums.

soundcloud.com/livity-sound

  

AWALOM GEBREMARIAM – DESDES

Posted on 2016-03-28

At the age of 28, Awalom Gebremariam arrived in the United States, following a years-long journey from Eritrea. He’d made it to a refugee camp in Ethiopia several years ago and eventually attained asylum status for passage to America. But before he left his hometown, Eritrea’s capital Asmara, he made his first and only recording so far, Desdes.

Awalom completed Desdes in 2007, not long before he departed Eritrea. Because Awalom left after the recording he never received any money for cassette and CD sales. But he also didn’t get to find out how much of an impact the songs have had locally.

His songs appear to focus on love, but Awalom isn’t speaking about romantic love per se. Much of the music Awalom heard growing up was intertwined with Eritrea’s difficult and contentious split from Ethiopia.

He spent years waiting for the chance to escape economic and political turmoil at home. Now 29 and living in North Carolina, Awalom works in a restaurant and plans to bring his music to Eritrean communities across North America as well as newer listeners with whom his powerful sounds and remarkable journey will deeply resonate.

www.awesometapes.com