One For Blaise Cendrars by Charles Bukowski

Baudrillard on Loneliness

'Nothing can match the loneliness of a pianist in a large hotel. All around him is just a hum of cocktails and small talk; he is more alone with his melody than he would be on an island. Yet at a particular moment, he stops and people applaud. You are doubly astonished: there was an end to this music then, and people were listening? He was playing something and he was not playing in vain? He seems stupefied himself. But he well knows, in the secret depths of his soul, that this applause only breaks out because his music has fallen silent, a silence these wild things notice in much the same way they notice the sugar melting in their glasses. So, like the bald prima donna, he quickly starts up with a new tune.' - Jean Baudrillard, Cool Memories (1990), p. 223

I'm requoting this from social historian Joe Moran's excellent blog

Image from Cosmicandshit now called Religioner.

Eric Duncan Mix at Coggles

C111 Eric 'Dunks' Duncan (Rub 'n' Tug) Mix by Coggles on Mixcloud

Recently found this link to an excellent mix by half of Rub N Tug, just after I'd done this post about him. I love all his mixes but this is especially worth a mention as it's a bit of a new direction. More spacious and atmospheric than usual but with the same joy of percussion, bass, riffs etc. Reminds me of Donato Dozzy in between his ambient and progressive moods.

Some favourites 4a - Them Jeans

Fresh vibes from Them Jeans out of LA. Can't get enough of his sound right now. One of Prince Language's remixes mentioned 'Them Jeans' - don't know if it's a coincidence or if they collaborated. Then I found his remix of Rihanna's Stay. Just adds a little clackety clack but makes it a much nicer track imho. I've enjoyed all his mixes and original tracks I've heard since then. Hope he blows up.

Moonlight by Blaise Cendrars

Pitching and rolling pitching and rolling
The moon the moon draws circles in the water
In the sky the mast draws circles
Points to every star
A young girl from Argentina leaning over the rails
Dreams of Paris as she gazes at the lighthouse outlining the coast of France
Dreams of Paris which she hardly knows and already regrets
These lights revolving steady double colored flashing ones remind her of those she saw from the hotel window on the boulevards and hold for her the promise of a speedy return
She dreams she will soon be back in France and live in Paris
The noise of my typewriter prevents her from completing her dream
My beautiful typewriter which rings at the end of every line and is as fast as jazz
My beautiful typewriter which prevents me from dreaming port or starboard
And makes me follow an idea to the end
My idea

M.K.

At the Wellcome Collection here in London there's a free collection of Japanese Art Brut / outsider art and this is my pick of the lot.

Bags Of Chris - Dudley Moore Trio

Been looking for this for 10 or 15 years since I heard it on Solid Steel on Radio London. Quality. So simple but so fuckin cool.

I Was Trying To Describe You To Someone - Richard Brautigan

I was trying to describe you to someone a few days ago. You don’t look like any girl I’ve ever seen before.

I couldn’t say “Well she looks just like Jane Fonda, except that she’s got red hair, and her mouth is different and of course, she’s not a movie star…”

I couldn’t say that because you don’t look like Jane Fonda at all.

I finally ended up describing you as a movie I saw when I was a child in Tacoma Washington. I guess I saw it in 1941 or 42, somewhere in there. I think I was seven, or eight, or six.

It was a movie about rural electrification, a perfect 1930’s New Deal morality kind of movie to show kids. The movie was about farmers living in the country without electricity. They had to use lanterns to see by at night, for sewing and reading, and they didn’t have any appliances like toasters or washing machines, and they couldn’t listen to the radio. They built a dam with big electric generators and they put poles across the countryside and strung wire over fields and pastures.

There was an incredible heroic dimension that came from the simple putting up of poles for the wires to travel along. They looked ancient and modern at the same time.

Then the movie showed electricity like a young Greek god, coming to the farmer to take away forever the dark ways of his life. Suddenly, religiously, with the throwing of a switch, the farmer had electric lights to see by when he milked his cows in the early black winter mornings. The farmer’s family got to listen to the radio and have a toaster and lots of bright lights to sew dresses and read the newspaper by.

It was really a fantastic movie and excited me like listening to the Star Spangled Banner, or seeing photographs of President Roosevelt, or hearing him on the radio “… the President of the United States… “

I wanted electricity to go everywhere in the world. I wanted all the farmers in the world to be able to listen to President Roosevelt on the radio….

And that’s how you look to me.

Some favourites 3 - Duff Disco

Prolific London DJ / remixer / producer Duff Disco. His standout track for me is Slow but it's all very very very quality stuff. Future classics no doubt.

Kate and Naomi

Look at this pic of the delightful Kate and Naomi snapped while young and full of fun from Lembergian Photography.

Donald Barthelme's Reading List

When he was a tutor at Houston University, teaching Creative Writing, this was his reading list. Still haven't read Barthelme but he always pops up when speaking of 'postmodern' writers.

Some favourites 2b - Rub N Tug / Dr Dunks

2b. Rub N Tug / Dr Dunks

The second is the prolific Eric Duncan, lately Doctor Dunks and half of Rub N Tug who has been quietly producing an array of dubby, funky and generally excellent tracks and mixes for ages.

I'm gonna post a link to his mix for WPS1 but I'm not sure if it works. I downloaded the mix a while ago and there's a track from it I love which I've played out a few times. Big fat bassy thing with a vocal simple from Indeep's 'Record Keeps Spinning'...

http://artonair.org/show/dj-eric-d-of-rub-n-tug

A few selections here but pick of the bunch is the 'Too Much Love' remix. I didn't like this one at first but now I 'get' it...

Some favourites 2a - Prince Language

2a. Prince Language

Joint second place goes to two NY DJs / producers, both associated with DFA, LCD Soundsystem etc but haven't reached the same heights of fame. Check out PL's mix for Fabric with an amazing mix of disco classic She Can't Love You by Chemise from, say, about 25:30 to about 32:25. I've played this one out a bunch of times. It's what PL is all about - a mix of early hip hop fresh cool, disco funkiness, some feelgood soul and house and a splash of trippy dubbiness thrown in. And his remix of Azari and III turns a very good tune into a freakin great one.

Some favourites 1 - Hot Chip

I was gonna make a best tracks of 2012 compilation but gave up so instead I'm gonna talk about some of my favourite artists right now...

1. Hot Chip

The most fun, creative and cool band on the planet right now. They both remix and get remixed very well and there's a bunch of cool side projects going on like The 2 Bears.

M/M (Paris)

My gf loves M/M (Paris) and I'm starting to too!

Jazz cats

Just wanted to post this avatar from Jazz-nekko, a jazz blogger out there.

A Downtown Affair

Prince Language has been one of my favourite remixers and producers for a year or so now and his latest mix on Soundcloud is utter genius.

BJM

After years of passing interest I'm now a full on BJM (Brian Jonestown Massacre) fan, despite their somewhat tasteless name. Always intrigued, watching the documentary DIG! recently converted me to fandom. Was thus delighted to see Anton (who more or less is the band it seems) is uploading weird and wonderful things on Youtube. Check it out here.

Here's a trailer for DIG! and a choice cut from Anton's Youtube.

Hot Chip - I Feel Better

I have just completely fallen in love with this song. The official video is unwatchable but I love this home video style one.



And here they are on fire in a live session for KCRW in California.

Joe Moran

Joe Moran, listed on Wikipedia as a social historian, wrote a lovely book called Queueing For Beginners which I came to after reading a piece on commuting he wrote for The Guardian. I see he has a blog now which is full of witty, interesting, pondersome observations on the minutae of everyday life. Check it out here and here is a small sample on the death of Ceefax.

'Ceefax’s go-to pages were well known to initiates: 102 for news, 302 for football, 400 for weather, 430 for train timetables, 888 for subtitles – good for watching Top of the Pops if you wanted to decipher the lyrics. Some people would watch the football on Ceefax, staring at the 0-0 score and willing a goal for their team. I suspect this is more gripping than it sounds.

Anyway, RIP pages from Ceefax, little Zen moments of stillness and contemplation in the otherwise endless flow of television. We have no need of you now that television is on all the time and it will never, ever end.'