CricketToes

Super Hero Artists on Film

A few days ago, Milwaukee-based filmmaker/artist Mark Escribano announced the upcoming screening of his documentary The Super Noble Brothers at 7PM on January 15 at the Oriental Theater. Though the film premiered at the 2007 Milwaukee International Film Festival (MIFF), which fell to its--temporary?--demise earlier this year, the screening is a rare chance for those who haven't seen it to do so and those who have seen it to enjoy it all over again.

The making of The Super Noble Brothers was a seven-year journey as Escribano followed the lives of siblings Davey, Tommy and Andy Noble, three local artists/musicians/off-the-grid entrepreneurs. Mary Louise Schumacher penned a compelling piece about the film and Escribano in September of 2007, and it's definitely required reading if you'd like to get more behind the scenes details.

In his MARN post, Escribano also revealed the launch of the film's official website, so I dutifully went to check it out. Created by Miltown artist/musician Aaron Spransy, the site is aesthetically pleasing and cleverly laid out, but it's also extremely slow and heavy--even my cable connection struggled mightily with everything it was trying to do. (To be perfectly honest, our Mac could use a processing upgrade, but not everybody has the latest and greatest.) Nevertheless, I pushed forward to watch the trailer and, oh boy, that baby was all fits and starts.

Now, I am a famously patient person--ask anybody who knows me--and I don't mind waiting for fancy Flash stuff to finish its encoded acrobatics, but if I'm on a site specifically made for a film and I can't watch the trailer, then I do tend to get a little testy.

In an effort to be constructive rather than just bitch and moan like every other blogger, I'd like to make a suggestion or two to Spransy. If the trailer is in HD, perhaps you can upload a non-HD version so a Turn Off HD button can be added. If it's not in HD or you don't wanna go through the whole double version process, can you at least embed the YouTube version as an alternative so users don't have to leave the site in order to watch it? That'd be swell. Other than that, fantastic job!

For the benefit of Cricky readers, here's the YouTube version of The Super Noble Brothers trailer:

Link

UPDATE: Mark Escribano has informed Cricky that the screening on January 15 will be a newer cut than the one shown at the original 2007 premiere. Also, he may have DVDs available at the screening, so bring some disposable moolah.

Redemption, Thy Name is Lars

A couple of weeks ago I gave NPR's All Songs Considered a well deserved kick in the booty for its generally narrow, UScentric Year In Music show. If memory serves, I believe I heaped the most criticism upon host Bob Boilen because, well, he's the Captain of the Ship. Also, I'm super jealous that he gets to wear a fancy hat. Anyhoo, while I'm not backing off from my previous poking-with-a-sharp-stick stance, I am now willing to give ASC ample kudos for airing Viking's Choice: A Year Of Beautiful Noise.

Piloted by Lars Gotrich, production assistant at NPR Music, the show covers a good variety of little known, off-the-chart artists that are due some positive attention. During the show, Boilen very wisely stepped aside--for the most part--to allow Gotrich the time to describe and analyze his carefully chosen Top Ten list. For the record, this is not a lighthearted list of tunes, kids, so if you're lookin' for sunshine and bunnykittens I suggest you click elsewhere.

The first pick worth a mention is Gotrich's #10: The long awaited, much anticipated and frankly wondrous Third album by Portishead. Thank you, sir, for recognizing this brilliant work--oh how we love it so good. No need to waste precious blog space painting a useless word-picture, just go buy it now!

Another standout on his list is Treny by Polish composer Jacaszek. With a diaphanous, plaintive mix of strings, piano and electronics, Jacaszek creates a stunning soundscape guaranteed to make you simultaneously yearn for something lost and something not yet found.

The most truly experimental of Gotrich's picks is The Breadwinner by collaborators Graham Lambkin and Jason Lescalleet. Gotrich chose the song "E5150/Body Transport" to play on the show and it's a complex weave of found sound, created noise from everyday objects and manipulated reel-to-reel tape recordings. It's obviously way too weird for Boilen, but my reaction is simply wow--just wow.

For those of you into Metal--and believe you me, that ain't me--try Krallice's self-titled album. Hardcore fans might enjoy Gotrich's pick of The Chemistry of Common Life by Fucked Up, though you won't hear either Gotrich or Boilen say the actual name of the band on-air and that is majorly effed up, dude.

While I would have appreciated more experimental picks on the list--Gotrich seems to be in the beginning stages of learning about the genre and I hope he continues on with his studies--Viking's Choice manages to largely skirt the problems that The Year In Music show had by including a broader range of artists from other lands and backgrounds, so I'll go ahead and say that it's just enough to bring ASC some level of redemption.

As I did in the other post, I'd like to recommend that you also check out NPR Music's The Best CDs of 2008 page, where you can find African, Jazz, Folk and Classical.

Related:
Surprise! NPR's Year In Music is White/Male/Indie

Listen to Yonat's World at Art Bar

Milwaukee native and international traveler Yonat Mayer takes the stage at Riverwest's Art Bar, 722 E. Burleigh Street, this Saturday, January 3, bringing a unique mix of Pop, Folk, Blues, and World music to charm your ears and move your lazy body.

With a clear, resonant voice, Yonat successfully intertwines many genres, with a noted affinity for those elements found in Near and Middle Eastern music--which is of no surprise since she's lived and studied in both Israel and India. Give her tunes a listen at her MySpace Music page.

The show starts @ 9PM sharp. Be there or be totally uncool, man.

I'm a Lumberjack and I Drink Beer

The suds makers at Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co. announced yesterday that they'll begin hawking their 1888 Bock in January and keep right on selling it through March of 2009.

Milwaukee Business Journal is reporting that the 120 year old recipe was first developed to quench the insatiable thirst of lumberjacks. Well, sign me up for a case 'cause some of my people were forest jockeys of the finest kind, dispatching the woods of Wisconsin and beyond for over 100 years!

With 5.1 percent alcohol by volume, 1888 Bock should be just thing to steady a shaky, ax wielding hand.

Link

When Hip Website Design Turns Pukedelic

Those nutty kids over at Luckystar Studio have launched a new website design and, I gotta tell ya, it's just about the trippiest thing I've encountered in a very, very long time. It's flashbacks aplenty!

Utilizing TiltViewer--a free, customizable 3D Flash image viewing application created by freelance web developer Felix Turner and offered under the company name of Airtight Interactive--Luckystar's new design is so nausea inducing that I couldn't stay on it for more than three minutes. In fact, I was so completely terrified by it that I nearly didn't have the guts to return to copy the URL. Being a consummate professional, I of course did rally my courage to benefit all you loyal readers, proving once again that everything Cricky does we do for you.

As much as I loves me some cool web junk, I have to seriously question why artists would want to draw more attention to the functionality/disfunctionality of their site than to the art itself--a disturbingly common practice, I might add--and why they would settle on a design that makes most users want to flee pretty much immediately for the sake of their sanity. Why, people, why?

Link (via Luckystar Studio on MARN)

UPDATE: Well, they changed it, which is peachy! But that does mean that this critique should henceforth be filed under "I" for irrelevant.

Bob Ragland: Your New Art Guru

Reporter Alison Bryce introduced NPR listeners to Denver artist Bob Ragland this past Saturday on Weekend Edition, and if you didn't hear it you must listen to it now.

With all the marketing know-how of a highly disciplined sales professional and all the energy of a young hipster sans the attitude, the 60+ Ragland has managed to make a living as a real live working artist and teacher for decades.

Best quote: "Rejection has made me everything I am. I just eat rejection in a sandwich and it makes me stronger."

Listen and learn, Grasshopper.

UPDATE: Artist/curator/blogger Joyce Owens was kind enough to leave Cricky a comment with a link to her own blog post re NPR's story about Ragland. I recommend you take the time to peruse the rest of her blog--it's filled with some extremely fascinating and timely art topics ya’ll should definitely check out.

In Case You Forgot the Bleakness of 1987

While searching the Interwebs™ today, I happened upon this fantastic animated short--both lovely and gloomy--created by the legendary Polish director/writer/artist Piotr Dumala:

Ah, those Eastern Bloc artists really knew how to convey the feeling of sliding down a razor blade with beautiful grace, didn't they? I should whip up something with cabbage for dinner tonight--it'll be like coming home.

(via Irene Gallo on Tor.com)

Ko-Thi: 40 Years of Power and Beauty

In 2009 Milwaukee's Ko-Thi Dance Company will proudly celebrate its 40th year of teaching and presenting African, African-American and Caribbean dance and music. Ko-Thi is one of the oldest African dance companies in the US and performs locally, nationally and internationally on a regular basis, bringing powerful demonstrations of dance and drumming to people around the world.

As a part of its 2008 Life's Voices holiday series, WUWM aired an interview with founder and director Ferne Caulker this morning. It's well worth a listen.

The Hypnotic Process of Printing Cartoons

With the help of a few friends, Spanish cartoonist Juan Berrio has put together a short video of the printing of his new book Calles Contadas. Accompanied by the splendid music of Orquesta Tejada and Latin Combo, and featuring some charming, slapsticky animated scenes, it's a worthy way to spend the rare 5 minutes and 38 seconds of sobriety you'll experience this weekend:

See more of Berrio's fine illustrative work at his blog or website, both in Spanish.

(via Drawn!)

People Who Do Noise & Other Effin' Sh*t

Our good friend George Jirasek pointed us to the website of what looks to be an amazing documentary released earlier this year. It focuses entirely on artists involved in the experimental music scene in Portland, OR.

The feature length film is called People Who Do Noise and the trailer offers a tantalizing glimpse into what you'll experience should you choose to see it.

If you do watch the trailer, pay close attention to the dude--sorry, don't know which artist he is--who drops F-bombs every other word, starting at around the 1:15 mark. He's the anti-intellectual thrashing around in a sea of deep thought--hehe, priceless.

We went ahead and put the DVD on our Netflix queue, so expect a review real soon.

Link (Thanks, George!)