CricketToes

Comix & Music: Now That's A Weekend!

Here's a little scenario I've no doubt you've suffered through before: You're standing in a gallery space, completely immersed in an awesome exhibit of finely crafted comix--only losers spell it the old-fashioned way and you, my friend, are no loser--when it suddenly dawns on you that the only way this stupendous experience could possibly be even more noodle-exploding is if there was live music. You look around, listen hard and hear only the largely non-musical jabberings of other human beings. We've all been there, people, and it hurts--it hurts bad.

Well, good news, kids! Woodland Pattern Book Center will save us from such pain and agony this weekend with two exciting events happening simultaneously: Hal Rammel's Comix & Cartoons and the 3rd Annual Music Marathon & Benefit for Alternating Currents Live--Whoot and Hooray!

First up is Mr. Rammel's exhibit Comix & Cartoons in the Woodland Pattern Gallery. "What?!" I hear you cry. "Hal Rammel draws comix and cartoons? But isn't it enough that he's the experimental music guru of all of Miltown and points beyond, creating his own compositions and sharing those of others on his Alternating Currents show that airs on WMSE 91.7 FM every Sunday from 6-9PM?" The answer to that fair if overly wordy question is "Yes, he does and, no, it is not enough." Ya see, when you've got a fantastically active brain like Hal's, you've always got to keep it moving or else. Don't know what the "or else" might be, but let's not dwell on that, 'kay? 'Kay.

While it may be news to some, Hal's been puttin' ink to paper for a mighty long time, and this exhibit will display 30 years of his work, including new drawings and cartoons. There's an artist's reception on Thursday--the night that the cool kids know actually starts the weekend--August 18, beginning at 6PM, with live music--you heard me--supplied by guitarist Chris Rosenau at 7PM. The exhibit runs to September 25, 2011.

Okay, so in that same gallery space on Saturday, August 20, the 3rd Annual Music Marathon & Benefit for Alternating Currents Live will kickoff at 1PM and continue on until you keel over in utter amazement at all the talent harbored in our fair city or 9PM, whichever comes first. So far, the line-up's looking pretty sweet, with a few of our local favs, like Steve Nelson-Raney in the 3PM slot, John Muther at 4PM and our bud Dan Schierl--a.k.a. Dan of Earth--in the 8PM hour.

There's room for more musicians, folks, so if you'd like to strut/strum/blow/pluck/tap/bang your stuff in front of a live audience--let's keep it clean, people--and help raise funds for the outstanding Alternating Currents Live series hosted by Woodland Pattern, call 414-263-5001 to sign up! Artists get 10 minutes to perform, and 5 minutes for set-up. Also, ya gotta raise at least $25.00 in pledges, but you can do that in your sleep.

Phew! It's hard to believe that these two wondrous events will be happening in the exact same place in one weekend, isn't it? And yet it is true. Should you doubt my word, I can only advise that you find out for yourself by going to 720 East Locust Street for both and, in the process, renew your faith in a weekend well spent.

(Thanks Hal!)

Milwaukee Soundscapes: A Smorgasbord Of Aural Art

While nearly everyone and their uncle/aunt/pet of choice are readying themselves for this weekend's quarterly madness known as Gallery Night and Day, the curious and lucky students who enrolled in the Milwaukee Soundscapes summer Humanities course at Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) are preparing to show the world the results of their intellectual, aural inquiry tonight at the Urban Ecology Center, getting a whole day's jump on the rest of the artsy crowd--so there!

Led by Thomas Gaudynski, their teacher and our compatriot in sound exploration, the students will be presenting their conclusions and non-conclusions gleaned from a whole summer semester spent in the deep state of active listening 'round our fair city.

As Thomas told me in a recent email:

"So the drive was to have students understand why the soundscape, in different places, inside and outside, sounds the way it does, rather than telling them or having the read Murray Schafer's great text The Soundscape. For the first six class periods we took soundwalks… from these initial experiences, they discovered what keynote sounds were… [t]hey identified Hi-Fi or Lo-Fi environments… they grappled with the cultural and design reasons for these characteristics… [and] they experienced the vastness of soundscapes such as Lake Shore State Park versus the close experience of Riverside Park where on a path you can hear insects, birds, and the rustling of leaves.

What they are going to present on Thursday are some general observations; some readings from their journals; a poetic (literary, visual, informational, and music) response to the sounds of the past inspired by the Faith Family Festa exhibit at the Historical Society; direct observations about traveling on the Milwaukee River; some interactive soundmaps created in google maps (specifically a Sound-Skate map by Sean Weber detailing skateboarding in the Third and Fifth Ward; a Romantic soundmap of the Third Ward by Brett Pearson suggesting places to take your partner for a good listen; and a Shopping SPREE soundmap by Lydia Yang where you can listen as you shop in the Third Ward). These maps where all chosen as best by the students as a group. Finally, three art or design soundscape proposals; again chosen by consensus."

Holy smorgasbord of super cool, sound-based art! Not only that, it's free for you to enjoy! A modest donation to the Urban Ecology Center is highly encouraged and appreciated.

Student creators of the show are Valerie Davis, Brennan Goodwin, Vedale Hill, Maxwell Morein, Brittany Patz, Brett Pearson, Alec Schuppel, Katherine Walton-Myers, Sean Weber, Julie Xiong, and Lydia Yang.

So, where ya gonna go tonight to kick-off your art filled weekend early? The Milwaukee Soundscapes show at the Urban Ecology Center in Riverside Park, 1500 E. Park Place, Milwaukee, that's where! It all starts at 6PM sharp.

(Thanks Thomas!)

RIP Gil Scott-Heron

It was with great and profound sadness that we learned of the passing of Gil Scott-Heron on May 27, 2011, at the age of 62.

A master poet and extraordinary musician, Scott-Heron was not only a major influence on the hip-hop and rap artists who followed in his footsteps but legions of spoken-word artists, writers and poets--like old Cricky here--introducing us to the power of socially conscious art.

His most famous piece "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," originally recorded in 1970, is laced with sardonic humor and timely cultural references, serving as both a scathing indictment of racism in America and a controlled yet sure warning that change is coming, ready or not:

 

Here's how he explained the piece in an interview for the series The 90's:

 

Though brilliantly insightful, Scott-Heron was plagued with drug addiction that waxed and waned for decades, proving that even the most remarkable among us can fall into downward spirals of self-destruction and self-abuse that at times exert such force we cannot free ourselves.

But that is not how those of us who owe so much to Gil Scott-Heron will remember him. No, we shall remember him as a man of intellectual and artistic prowess who taught us that truth-telling is the path to honorable art and a critical component to creating a just world.

Related:
The Art Tim Hetherington & Chris Hondros Left Behind
RIP J.D. Salinger
In Honor of Two African American Artists

A Marathon Of Perfect Words

As consistently stunning as it is to me--and perhaps to some of you--I am often asked, "Cricky, what's the secret to becoming a halfway decent writer?" After gathering myself from the impact of that colossal compliment and mentally stifling my initial instinct to answer, "Why don't ya ask me something simple, like the secret to world peace?" I nonetheless manage to muster up a far less snarky reply by saying, "Practice, practice, practice."

While this is indeed the best on-the-fly answer I've squeezed out of my noodle to date--one which I've stolen from others and seems to placate the majority of inquirers--there are a few key details left unsaid: Listen to, read and write poetry. That's right, poetry.

Now before you frantically click away in fear to find the latest video documentation of the very best jackassery humanity has to offer, let me just share a little mantra you can use to soothe your spirit as you read on: Poetry is not your enemy, poetry is your friend. Repeat while clicking your heels three times. Ha! That's a joke, people!

Okay, so now that you're feelin' as loose as Judy Garland did, well, most of the time--bless her talented, tipsy soul--I shall explain why the exposure to and the writing of poetry is the foundation to becoming a better wordsmith in general. You ready? Then let's do it.

In its most magnificent form, poetry focuses our brains on what is elemental, what is pure and what is basic. This, of course, is not to say that it lacks complexity, but through its intense and deliberate use of perfect words in perfect placement it presents an uncluttered vista at which we may gaze and perceive the true depth of any subject. Also, it very effectively teaches us the skill of elimination, ridding our work of the unnecessary writing that bores the crap out of our readers and ourselves.

Phew! That was a lot to absorb, I'll grant ya, but there's a reason for all that lead-up and it is to encourage you to witness firsthand the power that poetry grants us all by attending Woodland Pattern's 17th Annual Poetry Marathon. You are now free to holler, "Whoozzah!"

Beginning Saturday, January 29, at 10AM and going all the way until 1AM Sunday morning, the gallery space of Woodland Pattern Book Center will be abuzz with the constant stream of perfectly chosen, placed and uttered words, generating what will no doubt be described as an immaculate linguistic maelstrom by those who experience it. And you wanna be counted among them, don't ya? Course ya do.

To you poets, writers, performance artists, and musicians--yes, you're all welcome!--who haven't yet reserved your 5-minute time slot and/or raised at least $35 in pledges, waitin' around for fickle inspiration to kick ya in the caboose, considered yourselves booted and sign-up now!

It all happens Saturday, January 29, at 720 East Locust Street in Milwaukee, and all proceeds go toward Woodland Pattern programming.

Related:
How To Make Writers/Poets (Temporarily) Less Cynical: Pay Them!
Will The Best Poetic Slammers Please Step Forward!

Performathon: A Dangerously Beautiful Four-Hour Music Jam For All!

With the exception of only the most dedicated followers of Plato's hugely contradictory and therefore wacky Philosophy of Aesthetics, few would rationally argue that art in all its forms is fundamentally dangerous and, as such, should be vetted and censored so that only the "right" sort is allowed to exist in society. Because you're way smart, I don't have to bore us all by pointing out the deep and inherent flaws rooted in his theory, do I? Course I don't.

And so, since we know that any danger art presents is not elementally bad for us--that, in fact, experiencing ideas and concepts that challenge our senses and perceptions is most often good for us, not to mention a ton o' fun!--we have acknowledged that education in literature, poetry, drama, visual art, and music is essential to helping us become the well-rounded and complex human beings we need to be in order to navigate the world around us. Unfortunately, this understanding of the great value of art education does not always garner the financial support it requires to flourish, which is very, very bad.

Like all types of creative education, music training has suffered the oh-so sharp blade of the budget knife for decades, depriving both children and adults of the goodness it offers and diminishing the quality of life for the whole society. Well, kids, the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music (WCM), located right here in our fair Miltown, is bound and determined to stem the flow of this life-draining tide and they need your help to do it!

As a true community music school, WCM offers programs to everyone, and I mean everyone. From four-month-old toe biters to wily grand- and, yes, even great grandparents, all are welcome to learn and experience the awesome and unreserved power that music instills in our minds and spirits. Is that dangerous? Of course! Is that good? You bettcha!

Not only that but, through programs like Conservatory Connections, WCM brings music education to schools that have none and supplements those that do. Add its financial aid and scholarship programs and you've got a full-on, community wide music teachin' machine!

Now, humdrum full disclosure dictates that I come clean and inform y'all that I have recently become employed at WCM as its Communications Coordinator--a position for which I am fairly compensated--but that fact merely lends my positive opinion more credibility as I have borne witness to many of the fantastical things this school does up close and personal.

So, how can you help WCM and its incredibly worthy mission? By going to its annual Performathon and Open House this Sunday, November 21, that's how! With four stages of stellar performances by students of all ages--and, believe you me, the whole building will be alive with melodious sound!--a bake sale, a raffle for a 32GB WiFi iPad, and WCM merchandise available for your happy purchase, how could ya not show your adorable faces, huh?

Be there from 1-5PM on Sunday at 1584 N. Prospect Avenue, drop a little cash and show your support for all the dangerously beautiful music we humans can make!

Related:
Midnight Jazz 'Round Midday

TED Presents: Andrew Bird & His One-Man Music Show!

At the mega-brainy, perpetually mobile TED conference this past February, Andrew Bird--a musician of preternatural talent, intellect and sensitivity--performed live to a rapt and appreciative audience in Long Beach, CA. As is their practice, the good folks at TED graciously post every presentation they host for all of our edification and Bird's appearance is no exception.

Watch as he moves effortlessly from one instrument to the next, samples and loops his own magnificent whistling--he's a full-blown virtuoso, kids!--and sings his rare and poetic lyrics--words and images tied together by the finest and most beautiful of threads:

 

Now that's what we call one helluva fantastic one-man music show!

Granted, the vocals run a bit hot in parts, but it'd be complete nonsense to blame that on the sound engineer given Bird's unpredictable use of the mic. No doubt his/her volume level finger was all cramped up by the end, requiring a number of stiff drinks to loosen it back up.

Related:
Mr Love & Justice Brings Both To Turner Hall!
Philosophy 101: Will the Future Kill Arts Institutions?

A Festival O' Noise On The Internets™

So this past weekend was Borg Ward's annual Noise Fest, a spectacular event that we unfortunately failed to blog up due to time constraints. Also, it somehow managed to get an unprecedented amount of publicity this year--Whoot!--and ya know how frightened we get when we're crammed onto an overcrowded bandwagon 'cause we're tiny and nobody hears us when we scream, "Down in front!"

Anyhoo, if ya happened to miss the singular experience of witnessing this no-holds-barred sound art extravaganza in person, you may now stop your pained gnashing of teeth as Bullart--Borg Ward's official video documentarian--has uploaded three days' worth of aural mayhem on Vimeo.

Our favs: Dan Of Earth, Karl Paloucek, and Jon Mueller and Dave Bailey.

Watch now! (Thanks, Dan!)

Related:
Borg Ward's Friday Night Special: Loads Of Sound And Some Fury
Review: People Who Do Noise Is/Are Fun to Watch!

Step Right Up & Get Your Very Own Art Souvenir!

Gentlewomen and Gentlemen, Ladies and Germs, and all the rest of ya who bristle at being categorized by ancient titles fit more for an historical novel than your ultramodern life, may I have your undivided attention please? I have an invitation that is so completely enchanting, so absolutely captivating, even the most sour of sourpusses amongst ya can't resist it.

On Wednesday evening, September 22, there shall be a gathering unlike any known before in our burg--an assembly of artistic performers and jesters sure to bedazzle your senses, mesmerize your mind and make you whisper to your soul mate/friend/hanger-on, "Really, I've never seen anything like it." The event is called Souvenirs and it is the 6th incarnation of the annual Performance Art Showcase!

Brought to you by super artsy co-producers Pegi Christiansen--co-founder of IN:SITE-- and John Loscuito, Souvenirs will present the unique work of 28 artisans, many of whom are famous and not-a-little infamous for bringing a mathematically impossible 110% to everything they create: Kate Brandt and Anna Helgeson, Theresa Columbus, Zoë Darling, Jason and Kasia Drake-Hames, Mark G.E. and Theresa Ala Mode, Laura Gorzek and Angie Moser, Robert Hoffmann with Philipp Hoffmann, Lewis Koch, Angela Laughingheart, Gina Litherland and Hal Rammel, Sarah Luther, Geoff Marsh, Jennifer Morales, Molly Noyes, Jessica Poor and Judy Dubrosky, Petra Press, Joseph Reeves, John Riepenhoff, Danielle Rosen, Paul Schwarzkopf, and Pinkerton Xyloma.

Holy artists convention!

Best of all you won't leave empty headed as each work will provide you with new thoughts, new ideas and new ways to view the world. Also, some attendees will walk away with somethin' tangible to place gently in their hope chests, so you've got nothin' to lose and much to gain!

Souvenirs is tomorrow night--the Autumnal Equinox, don't cha know--in the 4th Floor Gallery at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD), 273 E. Erie Street in Milwaukee, from 7:30-9:30PM. Suggested donation at the door is $3 for students and $5 for everybody else.

(Thanks, Pegi!)

Related:
Open Call For Performance Art Souvenirs
9 is a Magic Number

Finally, Old-Timey Vernacular Gets The Quality Airing It Deserves

As regular digesters of this here blog know, Cricky's awful found of pulling words and phrases out from the dank linguistic cellar and giving 'em a good airing out 'cause, just like anything organic, language can and does get moldy and musty if ya don't. Also, folks tend to forget that the snappy vernacular of our parents, grandparents, etc. is tons o' fun!

In perfect alignment with that sentiment, Wisconsin Hybrid Theater--a.k.a. Radio WHT--and WMSE 91.7 FM are as tickled as giggly school girls to announce a brand new series called Frontier Radio Theater. And to that we say, "Whoozzah!"

Beginning this Sunday morning and continuing on the first Sunday of every month, WMSE Radio and online listeners will have the supreme joy of experiencing radio dramedy like it hasn't been aired in decades--at least not since the majority of y'all poked your tiny, adorable heads into the world.

First up is Sherlock Holmes’ Adventure at Stonor Manor, a re-imagined piece based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Adventure of the Speckled Band, deftly penned by Radio WHT's own Charles Sommers.

Now, I've been guilty of taking titles a tad too literally in the past--usually for the sake of hoots--but I get the distinct impression that old-timey won't be the only type of speech highlighted in this story. In my fragile mind it goes something like this:

"Listen, you no-goodnik, we'll fit ya for a pair of concrete galoshes and toss ya in the drink if ya don't come clean."

"Whoa, man. You need to mellow out, ya know, just loosen up. Like, uh, here, try this."

Eh? Eh? Could happen. I'm not sayin' it will, but it could happen.

I guess we'll all just have to tune in this Sunday at 9AM to find out for sure, right? Indeed.

Link (Thanks, Charles!)

Related:
Leave the Dishes in the Sink Ma--It's Time for Radio WHT!
Wisconsin Hybrid Theater Mashup: Very Old-Timey + Old-Timey + New-Timey

Time & Music Collide In Present Music's Season Opener

It's tough to create and maintain an image that's equal parts dignified and kooky--believe you me, I know--but every year Milwaukee's own Present Music makes it look easy-peasy. From cutting-edge experimental to modern classical, PM introduces and presents the musical work of local, national and international artists that would otherwise remain outside our conscious awareness--ooh, deep!

This September marks the beginning of PM's 29th season of crankin' out fantabulous performances, the first of which is sure to be an oddly beautiful mix of music and all human-known cosmic time zones--a.k.a. the past, present and future.

On September 18 at Turner Hall Ballroom, the PM ensemble will play "Sea Tropes" by Ingram Marshall, a tricky composition that combines a processed recording and live instruments. Timing is everything to this piece, so the audience should be prepared to gasp in admiration frequently. BYOPB--Bring Your Own Paper Bag--to avoid the woozies.

Next up is keyboardist/pianist Phillip Bush's farewell, as he plays the five-movement, 22-minute György Ligeti "Piano Concerto". After 15 seasons with PM, this final concert for Bush should be quite moving to all who have worked with him and the power of that feeling will no doubt find its way into his performance, so don't miss the rare opportunity to experience that, kids.

Bravely pulling themselves together, the group will then take up the mighty challenge of performing Gabriel Prokofiev's "String Quartet No. 1 and 2." Prokofiev is the grandson of Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev--yeah, no pressure there, right? But he's made a big name for himself in the realm of Alt-Classical--yep, you heard me--as the founder of the Nonclassical independent record label and by marrying the sound created by DJ apparatus--i.e. turntables, effects, etc.--with traditional music-making gadgets--i.e. pianos, violins, et al.

Prokofiev will be coming straight from London to be dazzled by PM's performance and to present "Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra" at the end of the concert. Check out this video to get a vibe for some of the sublime madness:

Okay, so Turner Hall Ballroom's the place to be on Saturday, September 18, at 8PM. Single tickets are $30 and $20. If you're a student, tickets are half price--Whoot! Buy yours online or call 414-271-0711.

(Thanks, Laura!)

Related:
Saturday Night is Present Music Date Night
Where the Present Meets the Past