January 15, 2012
Major Lazer is a collaborative musical project from DJ/Producers Diplo and Switch. Made up of DJs Diplo and Switch, the two were introduced after working with M.I.A..
The duo’s first album ‘Guns Don’t Kill People… Lazers Do’ was released in 2009, on Downtown Records. It was recorded in Jamaica at Tuff Gong Studios. Vocalists such as Santigold, Vybz Kartel, Ward 21, Busy Signal, Nina Sky, Amanda Blank, Mr. Vegas, Turbulence, Mapei, T.O.K, Prince Zimboo, Leftside and others contribute guest vocals to the album, as well as additional production from Afrojack and Crookers.
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January 15, 2012
Ester Hernandez (b. 1944) is a Chicana visual artist known for her pastels, paintings and prints primarily depicting Chicanas/Latinas. Her artwork captures time, and makes sense of the complex world we live in. She aspires to create a visual dialogue for women’s role in this new multi-cultural millennium. Her work reflects the political, social, ecological, and spiritual themes born from community pride, a commitment to political action, and an abiding sense of humor.
As a solo artist and member of Las Mujeres Muralistas, an influential San Francisco Mission district Latina women mural group in the early seventies, her career has marked her as a pioneer in the Chicana/Chicano civil rights art movement.
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January 15, 2012
Tenacious D is an American rock band that was formed in Los Angeles in 1994. Composed of lead vocalist and guitarist Jack Black and lead guitarist and vocalist Kyle Gass, the band has released two albums – ‘Tenacious D’ (2001) and ‘The Pick of Destiny’ (2006). The band’s studio releases and live performances feature a full band lineup, including such musicians as guitarist John Konesky, bassist John Spiker and Bad Religion drummer Brooks Wackerman.
The band originally performed as an acoustic duo, which gained popularity in 1999 when they starred in their eponymous television series and began to support large rock acts. Tenacious D’s music showcases Black’s theatrical vocal delivery and Gass’s acoustic guitar playing abilities. Critics have described their fusion of vulgar absurdist comedy with rock music as ‘mock rock.’ Their songs discuss the duo’s purported musical and sexual prowess, as well as their friendship and cannabis usage in a style that music critics have compared with the storyteller-style lyrics of rock opera.
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January 15, 2012
Burning Man is a week-long annual event held in the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada. The event starts on the Monday before Labor Day, and ends on the holiday itself. It takes its name from the ritual burning of a large wooden effigy on Saturday evening. The event is described by many participants as an experiment in community, radical self-expression, and radical self-reliance.
Burning Man is organized by Black Rock City, LLC. In 2010, 51,515 people attended Burning Man. In 2011, attendance was capped at 50,000 participants. In 2011, Larry Harvey announced that the Org had begun the process of transitioning management of the festival over to a new non-profit called the ‘Burningman Project.’
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January 15, 2012
Kavinsky, real name Vincent Belorgey (b. 1977), is a French electro house artist, and has released three EPs on the Record Makers label: ‘Teddy Boy’ in 2006, ‘1986’ a year later, and ‘Nightcall’ in 2010. His work has been remixed by SebastiAn and others. In addition to his music career he has also appeared in several films including ‘Steak,’ directed by longtime friend Mr. Oizo. The SebastiAn remix of ‘Testarossa Autodrive’ off the ‘1986’ EP is featured in the video game ‘Grand Theft Auto IV.’
Kavinsky’s fellow producer Surkin once jokingly claimed in an interview that Kavinsky was his father. There has been a long running joke since. Kavinsky’s production style is very reminiscent of film soundtracks of the 1980s. He has also been compared to many similar French house artists including Daft Punk and Danger. Kavinsky’s single ‘Nightcall’ was featured in the opening credits of the film ‘Drive.’
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January 15, 2012
Kode9 (born Steve Goodman) is a London-based electronic music artist, DJ, and owner of the Hyperdub record label. MC, The Spaceape, is a frequent collaborator. Initially inspired by what he calls the ‘hardcore continuum,’ he also draws on dub reggae, and was one of the founding members of the early dubstep scene (which he views as a continuation of developments originally stemming from UK Hardcore).
He has released two full-length albums: ‘Memories of the Future’ and ‘Black Sun’ (both featuring the Spaceape). Kode9 has a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Warwick. In 2009, MIT Press published his book, ‘Sonic Warfare: Sound, Affect, and the Ecology of Fear,’ exploring the uses of acoustic force and how sound can be deployed to set moods of dread and fear, how sound can be used as torture, as a weapon and as a threat.’
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January 14, 2012
Larry Levan (1954 – 1992) was a DJ best known for his decade-long residency at the New York City night club Paradise Garage, which has been described as the prototype of the modern dance club. He developed a cult following who referred to his sets as ‘Saturday Mass.’ Influential US DJ François Kevorkian credits Levan with introducing the dub aesthetic into dance music. Along with Kevorkian, Levan experimented with drum machines and synthesizers in his productions and live sets, ushering in an electronic, post-disco sound that presaged the ascendence of house music.
Born, Lawrence Philpot, Levan was openly gay and got his start alongside DJ Frankie Knuckles at the Continental Baths, as a replacement for the DJ from The Gallery, Nicky Siano. Levan’s DJing style was influenced by Siano’s eclectic style, and by The Loft’s David Mancuso, who briefly dated Levan in the early 1970s. As Knuckles was still trying to make his way in the New York club scene, Levan became a popular attraction perhaps due to his ‘diva persona,’ which he developed in the city’s notoriously competitive black drag ‘houses.’
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January 12, 2012
A claque [klak] (French for ‘clap’) is an organized body of professional applauders in French theatres and opera houses. Members of a claque are called ‘claqueurs.’
Hiring people to applaud dramatic performances was common in classical times. For example, when the emperor Nero acted, he had his performance greeted by an encomium (speech of praise) chanted by five thousand of his soldiers. This inspired the 16th-century French poet Jean Daurat to develop the modern claque. Buying a number of tickets for a performance of one of his plays, he gave them away in return for a promise of applause.
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January 12, 2012
‘This Machine Kills Fascists‘ is a sticker on Woody Guthrie’s guitar, that has inspired many artists. It is based on inscriptions painted on the sides of airplanes used in the Spanish Civil War.
Guitar manufacturer Gibson has replicated Guthrie’s 1945 Southern Jumbo complete with sticker.
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January 12, 2012
Marco Brambilla (b. 1960) is an Italian-born Canadian video artist who works in the United States. He first worked in commercials and feature films, directing the successful 1993 science fiction film ‘Demolition Man.’ In 1998 he shifted focus to video and photography projects, and has since exhibited works in private and public collections including, ‘Cyclorama’ at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, ‘HalfLife’ at the Santa Monica Museum of Art in 2011. His commissions include ‘Superstar’ for the ’59th Minute’ series in Times Square in 1999, and ‘Arcadia’ for ‘Massless Medium: Explorations in Sensory Immersion’ at Brooklyn Bridge Anchorage in 2001, both for New York public arts organization Creative Time.
His installation, ‘Cathedral’ was showcased during the Toronto International Film Festival 2008, and his 3D work ‘Evolution’ was selected for the 2011 Venice Film Festival and the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. A second 3D work ‘Civilization’ is a permanent installation at the Standard Hotel in New York. ‘Transit,’ a collection of photographs Brambilla took in and around national and international airports, was published in 2000.
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January 10, 2012
The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) is a privately owned museum whose stated aim is ‘to celebrate the labor of artists whose work would be displayed and appreciated in no other forum.’ It has branches in Dedham and Somerville, outside Boston. Its permanent collection includes 500 pieces of ‘art too bad to be ignored,’ 25 to 35 of which are on public display at any one time.
Explaining the reasoning behind the museum’s establishment, co-founder Jerry Reilly said in 1995: ‘While every city in the world has at least one museum dedicated to the best of art, MOBA is the only museum dedicated to collecting and exhibiting the worst.’ To be included in MOBA’s collection, works must be original and have serious intent, but they must also have significant flaws without being boring; curators are not interested in displaying deliberate kitsch.
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January 4, 2012
Fatima Al Qadiri (b. 1981) is music producer born in Senegal and raised in Kuwait during the Gulf War, who now resides in Brooklyn.
She previously released an EP under the name Ayshay, featuring spectral chanting of traditional Islamic songs in Arabic.
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