Minor Science – Noble Gas EP (TTT018).
Out now on Trilogy Tapes, Minor Science provides sophisticated Dutch house and techno from a London-bred producer. Perfect to the get the weekend going.
Bunkers, Brutalism and Bloodymindedness: Concrete Poetry Episode 1
Part one of the new BBC documentary exploring the merits of my favorite architectural movement, Brutalism. Visually stunning and intellectually stimulating.
-JRS
Bryan Ferry Limited Edition Fine Art
There are few things that combine both art and music more beautifully than Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry album covers. Since the release of Roxy Music (1972), the bands’ album art has reached iconic status, always featuring stunning women in the most glamorous settings. Now, some of this fine art can be yours to own. Released exclusively through BryanFerry.com, prints of “For your Pleasure” (1973) and “In Your Mind” (1977) can be purchased for roughly $832.00. These are truly limited and all are framed (in either black or white) and hand signed and numbered by Bryan Ferry himself. With only 50 of each being made, this is a pretty great deal. If your whole house consisted of just framed Roxy Music prints, you’d be in really stylish shape.
-JRS
Paris Fashion Week: Ann Demeulemeester A/W 2014
Miss Demeulemeester has long been a favorite of the Brvtalist. When she announced her departure from her namesake line last year, I was a little saddened, but still quite hopeful for the future of the brand. This season in Paris marks the first time the company’s founder was not at the helm of the collection. While I was a bit nervous at first, after seeing the line roll out, I knew I could rest easy once again.
With a mix of both men’s and women’s, the line is a nice nod to the woman who started it all. Beautiful drapes and asymmetric cuts definitely hit to the core of the brand, and I was happy to see it stayed more than true to the ethos. Mostly black with some off white and bursts of gold, if I didn’t know Miss. Demeulemeester left I would have just assumed this was her line - and that is a very good thing. Excited to see more from the new designers.
-JRS
Telegram Messenger
Privacy is arguably the hottest, most sensitive subject in technology today. With everyone from covert hackers to your own government being able to spy on you, privacy has become more of a luxury than a right. Enter Telegram, the new messaging app that aims to combat data collectors and let you communicate in secret. Designer Nikolai Durov wanted to “…build a means of communication that can’t be accessed by Russian Security Agencies”. His open-sourced MT-Proto protocol also allows third party developers to build Telegram clients of their own. This is in stark contract to other popular messengers like What’s App which prohibit outside developers and have a uniform client for all. Durov’s goal seems to be a little bit different as the company is set up as a non-profit and has no plans to ever charge customers or include ads.
Upon using Telegram I noticed that it is extremely fast. Messages send and deliver immediately and it looks very clean. Like Whats App, check marks let you know when your message has been delivered and read by the recipient. It has a minimal interface that is somewhat customizable by allowing you to change font and background images. There are essentially two ways to message on Telgeram, the standard format and “secret chat”. Standard is all cloud based (another interesting feature) and you are able to access and send messages from a variety of devices including desktops. Your typical media options are also there and the developers tell us there is no limit to how big media files can be. There’s also a group feature and Telegram accesses your contacts so anyone in your address book that downloads the app will show up. If privacy is more your thing, then you can opt for the “secret chat”. To me, this is what sets Telegram apart from the rest. Secret chats have end-to-end encryption and can be set to self-destruct (think snapchat). Further, secret chat leaves no traces on the company’s servers so you won’t leave behind any footprints. Durov is so confident in the app’s security that he has a running contest that awards $200,000 to anyone that can hack Telegram. Tech Crunch has also reported that Telegram has already given $100,000 to a developer who found a critical bug.
I love messaging apps and until now I’ve been using Kik almost exclusively. I think that’s about change with my discovery of Telegram. I love the privacy and encryption features, and the fact that I know Russian security forces are unable to hack my chats allows me to sleep better at night.
Download Telegram now.
Pacific Pop Festival
This Saturday, March 1st, The Church on York presents a lineup of punk, noise, electronic and experimental. Brvtalist favorite Silent Servant will be the event DJ and some great acts from Asetic House will be performing like Marshstepper and Granite Mask. Arizona’s Destruction Unit will also be bringing their high energy brand of psychedelic infused punk. This should be a good one and at a great new local venue.
Futurism at The Guggenheim
Debuting on February 21, 2014, the Guggenheim New York presents “Italian Futurism: 1909-1944: Reconstructing the Universe”. This landmark show is the largest retrospective of the “Futurismo” artists ever held outside of Italy.
Founded by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti in 1909, Futurism was a complete rejection of anything old or traditional. Changing industrial practices and new inventions fueled the group of painters, writers, composers and even politicians. Technology, speed and machines were all typical themes in Futurist works. The effect would eventually ripple beyond the arts and even influence Mussolini’s fascist party which rose to power in the 1930’s.
The Guggenheim has been able to borrow rarely seen murals by Benedetta Cappa, which have been displayed in a Palermo post office since their commission in 1933 and 1934. Long dismissed by scholars, this is a great opportunity to re-examine the movement and appreciate its progressive and even avant-garde sensibilities. Futurist principles have always influenced The Brvtalist and if in New York from now until September 1, 2014, this is a must see exhibition.
For more information visit the Guggenheim Museum.
Photo credit: The New York Times, AGR/Riccardi/Paolini, The Art Newspaper
"Kesh Angels" by Hassan Hajjaj
Moroccan born and London bred Hassan Hajjaj has worked in many different disciplines throughout his life. In London, he was everything from a DJ to stylist before picking up photography in his late 20’s. Now in his 50’s, Hajjaj premiers a new photography show at New York’s Taymour Grahne Gallery entitled “Kesh Angels”.
His work focuses on the native women and fashions of Marrakesh, a city known for its use of motorcycles as a primary means of transportation. Hajjaj’s women have a bit more flair than one might typically associate with a conservative country. He was less interested in the western aesthetic of Morocco and placed emphasis on the indigenous culture and fashions of the city’s female residents. The result is a stunning and exciting portrait of some pretty bad ass women.
The show runs until March 8, 2014. Photos from Taymour Grahne and Rossa Issa Projects.
-JRS
Looking forward to this release. Out next week on Stroboscopic Artefacts.
From the artist:
Churches Schools and Guns. A provocative name for a provocative album of techno from one of the genre’s most consistently intriguing producers, Lucy. This his second solo album, pushes forward from his debut full-length, 2011’s Wordplay for Working Bees, and firmly establishes him in a league of his own.Over the past few years Lucy’s label, Stroboscopic Artefacts, Has become a watchword for techno’s vanguard - providing a platform for new artists pushing at the genre’s boundaries and a harbor for some of the most experimental work from names you already recognize. Lucy’s progress as a producer has followed that same trajectory, moving from relatively straightforward dancefloor-driven material to deeper, murkier places. Churches Schools and Guns continues on, a collection of 12 tracks that sound - more than anything else - like the act of searching.
Because, despite its title, churches Schools and Guns asks more questions than it answers. Indeed, the song titles are often red herrings: a disembodied voice asks someone to “Leave Us Alone”. But who is it asking? And who does it speak for? Why do bells sweetly twinkle in the background, adding light to the lumbering beat that pulls everything to the ground over and over again? What elemental force flies around “The Self AS Another”, soaring above, below and between the beats?
With track names like “Human Triage” and “Laws and Habits”, you might mistake Churches Schools and Guns for a brutal industrial techno record, designed for destruction. The songs here unsettle, surely, but they do so with misdirection and unpredictability. “Human Triage” slithers and slides in a similar manner to Zeitgeber, Lucy’s recent collaboration with Speedy J. “Follow the leader” presents overtone singing in a techno framework, finding the similarities in both as hypnotic and ritual forms.
What’s perhaps most ear-catching about Churches Schools and Guns, though, is Lucy’s sense of space. The album is by no means a dub techno record, but the intent is the same. How do twist recognizable sounds into new ones that have little or no relation to there origin? And yet, for all its alien wonder, there’s rarely a moment where you feel cut off from something human. Even when the beat gets heavy, you can’t help but feel that you’re in the room with it. Everytime time things feel digital, there’s always something natural that complicates things.
As the record goes along, it continues to pull away from reality - and the Lucy you once new. “We Live As We Dream,” “All That Noise” and “Best Selling Show” all propose possible futures: Elegiac, dystopian and somewhere in between. And then comes “Falling,” which sounds like nothing you’ve heard from Lucy before. But that’s to be expected. Contradictions. The search for an answer being the answer itself. Catch 22’s. The illusion of choice. These are the important things to take away from Churches Schools and Guns, Lucy’s masterful second album. After all, we live in a world where everything is not as it seems. Or do we?
New York Fashion Week- Women: Katie Gallagher F/W 2014
Young upstart Katie Gallagher successfully broke the mold at New York Fashion Week by showing a very inspired, dark, casual yet elegant collection. The line featured flowing, floor length pieces with an all black color palate with nice touches of red, oxblood and crimson hues. The setting, at New York’s High Line Hotel, was the perfect compliment as the gothic archways and dimly lit chandeliers highlighted the collection’s aesthetic. These are very easy, wearable pieces that look both comfortable and stylish, a feat that sounds easy but difficult to get right. Looking forward to more of Ms. Gallagher’s offerings.
-JRS
