Music Archive: The Pharcyde’s Video For “Drop”

Before Spike Jonze was taking us to “Where The Wild Thing Are” he was one of the freshest music video directors in the game. In 1995 Jonze and seminal hip hop group The Pharcyde teamed up to create this innovative video for the single “Drop” off their classic album Labcabincalifornia. To produce the weird effect in the video Jonze had The Pharcyde learn to lip synch the song backwards and then reverse the tape while editing. I’d tell you more but I’ve got to get back to work, “‘Cause I’m up in the lab assembling…missiles! To bomb the enemy, ’cause they envy me and the making of my mad currency.” Oh, how I do miss the Golden Age of hip hop.

posted by: Harold Johns III

Artist Shout Out: Ashley Lande

This Artist Shout Out has been a long time coming. We first came across Ashley Lande‘s work at a Love Garden opening back in October of 2008 and have been meaning to post about her ever since. We have no excuse for lapse other than the possibility I was so enamored by  Lande’s multimedia drawings depicting bearded men and Native Americans in surreal technicolor scenes I subconsciously and selfishly tried to keep their existence to myself. (I’ll blame this on founder/director B. Carter) But that lame tactic was only delaying the inevitable because the new t-shirt Lande designed for Pac Sun will surely garner her plenty of nationwide acclaim. With work this good, it was only a matter of time.

posted by: Harold Johns III

Photo File: James Nachtwey

East Germany, 1990 – Pollution from a Coke factory

“I have been a witness, and these pictures are my testimony. The events I have recorded should not be forgotten and must not be repeated.” – James Nachtwey

Artist Bio:
“James Nachtwey grew up in Massachusetts and graduated from Dartmouth College, where he studied Art History and Political Science (1966-70). Images from the Vietnam War and the American Civil Rights movement had a powerful effect on him and were instrumental in his decision to become a photographer. He has worked aboard ships in the Merchant Marine, and while teaching himself photography, he was an apprentice news film editor and a truck driver.

“In 1976 he started work as a newspaper photographer in New Mexico, and in 1980, he moved to New York to begin a career as a freelance magazine photographer. His first foreign assignment was to cover civil strife in Northern Ireland in 1981 during the IRA hunger strike. Since then, Nachtwey has devoted himself to documenting wars, conflicts and critical social issues. He has worked on extensive photographic essays in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza, Israel, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Rwanda, South Africa, Russia, Bosnia, Chechnya, Kosovo, Romania, Brazil and the United States.”

Nicaragua, 1984 – Relic of civil war became a monument in a park

“Nachtwey has been a contract photographer with Time Magazine since 1984. He was associated with Black Star from 1980 – 1985 and was a member of Magnum from 1986 until 2001. In 2001, he became one of the founding members of the photo agency, VII. He has had solo exhibitions at the International Center of Photography in New York, the Bibliotheque nationale de France in Paris, the Palazzo Esposizione in Rome, the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego, Culturgest in Lisbon, El Circulo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, Fahey/Klein Gallery in Los Angeles, the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, the Canon Gallery and the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam, the Carolinum in Prague, and the Hasselblad Center in Sweden, among others.”

Afghanistan, 1996 – Ruins of Kabul from civil war

West Bank, 2000 – Palestinians fighting the Israeli army

For more information we suggest viewing the riveting 2001 documentary about James Nachtwey and his work entitled War Photographer. Watch the trailer below.

Watch War Photographer online free here
See more of Nachtwey’s work here

posted by: Harold Johns III

Cinema Style: Frances

Watch the rise and fall of 1930′s Hollywood actress Frances Farmer in 1982′s Frances. Jessica Lange, in an Oscar nominated role, portrays the non-conformist as she acts her way out of her hometown, struggles with a controlling mother, falls in and out of love, and faces the reality of the mental health industry…and quite stylishly I might add.

posted by: Tricia Rock

Listen To: A Sunny Day In Glasgow “Ashes Grammar”

Due to new graduate school locations and the limb shattering of their bassist, A Sunny Day In Glasgow have endured some line-up changes since their last album. But despite setbacks, the bedroom dream pop enthusiasts remained determined to elevate their craft and move forward, creating the lush whirl of pop hooks and layers that are Ashes Grammar.

The album resembles a photomosaic of various nebulae, each song containing elements of delayed guitars, electro pop key boards, and sugary vocals blended smoothly together. At first the compositions are a bit overwhelming and easy to label as a beautiful blurry mess, but after dawning some headphones and isolating oneself in a dimly lit room, Ashes Grammar sends a combination of sound waves simultaneously new and familiar, uplifting and engrossing.

The album seeks a balance within itself, shifting from dark to light, from dense walls of sound to sparseness, all mixed with crisp bursts of dream pop bliss. The longer songs – “Shy,” “Failure” and “Blood white” – create a mix tape feel ranging from Beach Boy’s “In My Room” to M83 “Colouers” with shades of Telepopmusik’s “Breathe” and some early New Order. And the shorter blips of grace such as “Lights,” “Life’s Great” and “Secrets at the Prom,” all clocking in under the one minute mark, add to the album’s mosaic, standing on their own while also playing as intros to their followup tracks. Simultaneously, the more brooding numbers like “Nitetime rainbows” and “Evil, with evil, against evil” offer a break from the album’s onslaught of alluring layers.

Great soup is characterized by time and care. A chef always seeks to be complimented on the perfect combination of numerous individual parts. Ashes Grammar is great soup. It’s hard to point out one aspect of the album without getting distracted by an equally compelling vocal harmony or a hypnotic accordion riff. At first Ashes Grammar can feel too densely overwhelming but with some personal time the album unfolds and expands in ways unique to each listener.

Lawrencians can check out A Sunny Day in Glasgow tonight Tuesday, November 24 at the Replay Lounge (946 Massachusetts). And for their remaining tour schedule see below.

11/25 @ The Cavern, Dallas, Texas
11/27 @ The Ghost Room, Austin, Texas
11/29 @ The AllWays Lounge, New Orleans, Louisiana
12/2 @ The Basement, Nashville, Tennessee
12/3 @ 529, Atlanta, Georgia
12/4 @ Secret Squirrel, Athens, Georgia
12/6 @ The Sentient Bean, Savannah, Georgia
12/7 @ The Bobo Gallery, Asheville, North Carolina
12/8 @ The Cave, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
12/9 @ The Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar, Charlottesville, Virginia
12/10 @ The Red & The Black, Washington, DC
12/11 @ The Metro Gallery Baltimore, Maryland
12/12 @ Union Hall, Brooklyn, New York
12/13 @ Le Poisson Rouge, New York, New York
12/15 @ Johnny Brenda’s Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

by: Bene Garcia