Monday, April 18, 2011
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
Tranquility + Staggeringly Brilliant Aesthetics—to the Sound of Wim Mertens
It's well-known that I've lived by my love of Japanese film and music since I was 20 at the latest, and for me no other country has produced so many ineffably brilliant artistic gods—the mightiest creative minds of our time, providing boundless joy in a thousand different hues. Seeing the country literally in tatters and in inconceivable further danger, I'm looking for whatever aesthetic inspiration and any sort of calmness I can find at the moment. While working on compiling a post with the loveliest benefit projects by designers and the most credible sources for where to donate (I was infuriated by a piece that said that Verizon and AT+T were taking as much as 3 MONTHS to send donations given by text), and another with a primer of the Japanese music that has defined me for the last 2 decades, this project by Kinetura seemed an apt moment of idyllic distraction. Also it's my first salve in trying to remedy the fact that while I paper my Facebook wall with it, I haven't been posting ANYWHERE NEAR the amount of staggering aesthetic bliss I find daily via Inhabitat on this wall. And if I needed another reason, it's set to a magnificent piece by timeless Crepuscule piano genius Wim Mertens.........
Sending much love and best thoughts to my brothers and sisters in Japan,
xo, B.
Friday, February 04, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
The Belated First Random Aesthetic Loveliness of 2011: The Adorable + Miraculously Skilled Killian Martin in EPICALLY LUSTROUS Color
A belated happy new year all, once again I know haven't been posting enough (spending too much constantly populating my Facebook wall in random aesthetic shorthand + saving only the finest exquisite luster for the blog—if you'd like more please don't hesitate to send me a friend request. I promise the blog'll be updated MUCH more frequently this year! In the meantime, I found the charmingly goofy Man About Town clip w/ the adorable + miraculously skilled Killian Martin this morning via the brilliant Fox is Black, + as often happens it led me to several INFINITELY FINER clips—these being especially resplendent, in EPICALLY FAULTLESS color, all directed by Brett Novak + scored to idyllic songs by Patrick Watson. Enjoy........ xxoo, B.
Saturday, December 04, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Happy Birthday Yoshihiro Okino + Argel Cota!!! These Two Sonic Gods Sharing a Birthday? DAMN......
Had to take a moment to wish a BOUNDLESSLY HAPPY + LOVELY birthday to the godly exquisitely BEAUTIFUL/perennially STUNNING Yoshihiro Okino (don of my favorite label, Especial, + 1/2 of the mightiest of the mighty, Kyoto Jazz Massive (love to Shuya as well!!!)), + to my also lovely friend Argel Cota (arKhota, the GREATEST DRUMMER ALIVE + part of the legendary Niño Astronauta + Kobol)! This Yoshi tribute is so blissfully joyous, w/ a matchless coming together of my idols....... + Alex Barck looks FINE!!!! (Sorry, just had to say it........) Happy birthday to my cousin Ben as well! xxoo, B.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Saturday, October 02, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Thursday, July 08, 2010
Friday, July 02, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Sonic Loveliness for the Morning via My Facebook Homegirl Gigi Lau: Ahmad Jamal + Richard Evans Make Like Tjader + Schifrin
Once again I've been guilty of neglecting to write anything w/ my blog postings but that's about to change. In the meantime I'll say that I have to give my Facebook homegirl Gigi Lau a MIGHTY thanks for turning me onto this EPIC Ahmad Jamal piece arranged by the inimitably brilliant Richard Evans on Argo c. 1963—the same year that the gods Cal Tjader + Lalo Schifrin made their archetypal COLOSSAL + ETERNALLY SUBLIME Asian jaunt on Several Shades of Jade. Ahmad + Richard just followed Afro-Colombian suit in MAGNIFICENTLY MASSIVE fashion!!! The way a big band should sound—like they're LEVELING a city when they're truthfully just ELEVATING it to boundless new heights............ xo, B.!
Friday, June 04, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Sunday, April 04, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Far from Random Aesthetic Loveliness: A Brief Dose of Inhabitat @ Its Most Lustrously Flawless
Hello all,
I've been feeling perennially rather guilty for months that my Facebook page has become my shorthand blog updated countless times daily while these pages haven't been tended nearly as much as they should, and the area where that's most glaringly obvious is in the volumes + volumes of blissfully opulent + vibrant posts I've shared from the site that's become my aesthetic bible, Inhabitat. Yes, Inhabitat is largely a site about green design, + yes, in that respect it ceaselessly comes correct with the most blindingly, awe-inspiringly epic innovations, but it also indefatigably orchestrates + conveys them via a barrage of equally staggeringly luxurious + miraculously hued aesthetics that's bafflingly briliant + absolutely unparalleled. As such I've become an unapologetic junkie in need of a constant fix of their vertigo-inducing brew of future-is-now-50s-sci-fi-dusted—as in that can't possibly finally be a reality, but it FUCKING IS!!!!!—technology (@ which point you realize that it's also purely in the service of eco-innovation + sustainable design, + your disbelief grows even more in the loveliest way....) + psychotropically, bow-to-your-knees-in-stupid-unintelligible-reverence all-encompassing Technicolor sublimity.
Here then is the first of many to come bits of Inhabitat loveliness: a piece on "Shanghai's River Cooled International Cruise Terminal." Now, I'm close enough to senility (I know, I'm not even 38 yet but I've been through the ringer a thousand times over, I'll leave it @ that) that I make no pretenses that I understand a fraction of their scientific jargon, but it looks shiny/immaculately shimmering—+ I know it's all in the most noble vein of unrelenting environmental innovation, so I just nod, smile, + pass on the eye-searing beauty.
And to that I'll add one last caveat—while an ineffable amount of Inhabitat posts are of this peerless quality, there are also many on a more banal bent, so if anyone thinks I'm not editing or filtering these (as I suspect some of my Facebook peops might occasionally), rest assured that I'm only passing on the best. xo, B.!
Thursday, March 04, 2010
Sonic Loveliness for the Morning via My Facebook Homegirl Gigi Lau: Not a Bossa Nova
Something I should do a lot more often, share the wealth from my ineffably brilliant and lovely Facebook community—a.k.a. this immaculately polished jewel via my homegirl/sonic guru Gigi Lau! If this one gets neglected it's because my FB page is my shorthand blog, the one I use just for sharing links and quick non-sequiturs at a rapid pace, but this is where the supreme distillation comes together—only the best!!! Dig! xo, B.
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Monday, January 04, 2010
Sunday, January 03, 2010
Happy New Year from the Liquidator: My 50 Best Discs of the Last 10 Yrs.
Hello all,
I couldn't decide on an order apart from the two on top, but here are my 50 best discs of the last 10 años.... And to all my friends that contributed to the BEAUTIFUL albums on this list THANK YOU BOUNDLESSLY for all your brilliant work + magnificent CONSTANT INSPIRATION!!!!! Everyone enjoy! Happy new year + best + xxoo to all! B.
Swing Out Sister, Somewhere Deep in the Night
Jazztronik, Nana-Iro
Rosalia de Souza, Garota Diferente
Louie Vega, Elements of Life
Incognito, Love x Love Remixes
Jazztronik, Cannibal Rock
Gotan Project, La Revancha del Tango
RSL, Every Preston Guild
M-Flo, Astromantic
Robi Draco Rosa, Draco (my best for 09)
MJ Cole, Sincere
Inspiration Exclusives (comp)
Troubleman, Time Out of Mind
Sharleen Spiteri, Melody
Silent Poets, To Come
Tom + Joyce (s/t)
Monareta, Picotero
Dignan, The Guest
St. Germain, Tourist
Gustavo Cerati, 11 Episodios Sinfonicos
Dimitri from Paris, Cruising Attitude
Los Amigos Invisibles, Venezuelan Zingason
Mondo Grosso, MG4
Kyoto Jazz Massive, Spirit of the Sun
Sabrina Malheiros, Equilibria
Jazztronik, Grand Blue
Swing Out Sister, Beautiful Mess
Reel People, Second Guess
2 Banks of 4, 3 Street Worlds
Nortec Collective, Tijuana Sessions Vol. 1
Kinky, Atlas
Acida, La Vida Real
London Elektricity, Live @ the Scala
Jazztronik, En: Code
Roisin Murphy, Overpowered
Mark Ronson, Version
Dee Dee Bridgewater, Live @ Yoshi's
Mo' Horizons, Remember Tomorrow
Anjali, The World of Lady A
Bebel Gilberto, Tanto Tempo
Robi Draco Rosa, Mad Love
Mr. Hermano, Free as the Morning Sun
Mitchell + Dewbury, Beyond the Rains
Pete Philly + Perquisite, Mystery Repeats
Maria Rita, Segundo
Joy Jones, Godchild
Jody Watley, Saturday Night Experience
Nortec Collective, Tijuana Sessions Vol. 3
Saint Etienne, Tales from Turnpike House
Re:Jazz, Point of View
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Pure Aesthetic Genius for the Day: Katsu's Graffiti Homage to the Mighty Eames' Powers of 10
Via Flavorpill—this clip is boundlessly charming! Dig! xo, B.
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Random Aesthetic Loveliness of the Day: Arrowtown Club House, New Zealand
I've just found my new dream home.... Enjoy! x, B.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Random Aesthetic Loveliness of the Day: Dark Nostalgia
Via Wallpaper's Facebook page I just came across what looks like a quite lustrously beautiful tome, Eva Hagberg's (I won't even get started on that name—it looks like the girl's got taste, so I'll let that one pass!) Dark Nostalgia. If I had an X-mas (or Hanukkah...) list, this would be certainly be on it (behind a few other things that I'll post on shortly)... but, then again, Philippe Starck loveliness is always most welcome and boundlessly appreciated as far as I'm concerned! (FYI, the negative images are just me taking a little artistic license for aesthetic sake—not in the book!) Enjoy... x, B.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Better Things—Random Godliness for the Day: Arthur Sales
When I need a bit of beautiful boy eye candy for a lovely distraction, Man of Austin often comes through. It's one of the only good things to come from my having ever been in that dismal city (finding the best band in the world, McAllen's mighty Dignan, would be the most significant, and my boys Will + Matt @ Maggie Mae's on 6th Street would be another)... Meanwhile the adorable Brasileiro Arthur Sales is more of a pretty boy than I usually fall for, but exquisite is exquisite, and this campaign for Butch Swimwear is a radiant distraction for the day! Thanks to MoA's Patrick Mark for all he does. x, B.
A Heart-Wrenching Decision, and Ineffably Beautiful Document from the Great Dominic Stanton... a.k.a. Domu
I have been going through a difficult time personally for what seems like far too long, and the debacle that was my move to Austin, and subsequently being forced due to lack of any other options to move back to Long Beach hasn't helped anything. The death of Gourmet magazine has hit me much harder than it should, like a death in the family, or more aptly as the end of an incredible era. But this week, the world suffered another great cultural loss, as Dominic Stanton—a.k.a. the mighty DOMU—decided to retire from music and completely withdraw—leaving a miraculous statement articulating beautifully, and in the most heart-wrenching fashion, the reasons why. I've decided to just reproduce it entirely, because it needs to be shared... You can also read it in its original home. Back and Forth also reposted an utterly radiant mix that Dom did in 2006 as a tribute, that serves as an absolutely apt score to reading this piece. Respect and much MUCH love and all the best to Dom!!! Dig:
"It’s over. I can’t go into the personal reasons, but of course will leave you some explanation as to how I got here. It feels a bit like walking away from a life of crime or the Mafia. I am Carlito, I have finally made the break from the old dangerous way of making a living. I just hope Benny from the Bronx doesn’t shoot me as I am boarding the last train out of here. The point is that I am no longer Domu. He is a character, always has been, and as of Friday 13th November 2009, he no longer exists. Neither does Umod, Sonar Circle, Bakura, Yotoko, Rima, Zoltar, Blue Monkeys, Realside or any of the other names I put out music under. I am cancelling all my gigs and not taking any more. My hotmail is closed, my Twitter is closed and my Facebook is closed. If any of you want to talk to me and know me well enough to have my mobile number then that is still the same, and please feel free to call any time. My other email address I mail from occasionally is still open to tie up any loose ends.
"I had started to change, for the worse I am now sure. My confusion was growing, my insecurity and bitterness getting out of hand, a lack of creative direction and focus were leading me somewhere very dark. I have felt so depressed by all of this. Believe me I have searched my soul long and hard this year to find the reasons again why I do this, but I can’t locate them. Too much of ‘me’ is mixed up into all of this, and no one should ever give so much of himself or herself to a job. I once believed in all of it, that I made and played music for a certain type of person, for people who didn’t want to adhere to the ‘normal’ way of life, the free thinker, the independent or open minded type who was bored of the genres, the staples, the blueprints or the formulae. The underground. But I just don’t truly believe I am needed in this battle anymore. It has been passed down to another generation, who are doing it their way, and I have no desire to try and edge in and start proclaiming to be fighting a fight that is no longer mine. I am a 31-year-old man. I can’t claim to be holding a torch up to something that meant so much to me at 15. At 21, maybe. But now, after ten years going full time, I think I have said all I had to say. My creative light has dimmed. Maybe because I started so early, who can tell? But I feel satisfied that this is it.
"I have had an amazing time. I’ve travelled the world, drank and partied and made a decent living out of entertaining people throughout all of my 20’s. I met some incredible people in cities I never dreamed I would visit, shared my thoughts and collected wisdom from a huge range of deeply profound and lovely people. But I have also met some real arseholes, and I could feel I was becoming one. Playing records I wasn’t sure I liked to people who had no idea who I was. I had gone cold, cold to the music, to the reactions and to the point of it all. I was changing what I thought I liked, so that I would be liked. I am not a chameleon. I am not Madonna, I can’t stay abreast of the current styles and keep changing with it just to stay in fashion or retain some kind of credible status or career. I have had my moment. If you know me well, you would have sensed a change in me over the last two years. I have always suffered with problems of confidence, but I know that’s not why I am throwing in the towel. I feel like I have to change so much of what I think is ‘me’ to carry on. What I believe in, how to talk to people, how to behave. I just don’t think I can be so arrogant and harsh to stand out anymore. There is so much noise out there that people have to shout louder and louder to be heard. And for what? I am beating myself up over something I no longer believe in for an income that is stressfully patchy and more often than not, very low.
"I used to say I owed it to ‘the fight’ to keep going. My belief in that has waned over the last few years too. Yes we needed Coltrane to go against the grain, to sacrifice his well-being and life to create beautiful art. We needed all of them, creative and unique beings burning brightly in our souls, our influences and idols that created the music and the movements that can provide us with sanity, sanctuary and meaning through our confusing lives. But music has lost some of it’s meaning to me as a medium. It’s everywhere; everyone is making it, playing it, giving it away, and trying to make a living. So many people have a voice in it now it is hard to pick out what is cutting edge from what I actually truly feel. I have gotten numb to my life’s biggest passion, and I need to leave it for a while to see if I can ever get it back to how it was.
"Some have attributed meaning and understanding to my some of my work. I know it is special to some people, and my message was understood by a few, which I am very grateful to have come to know over the years. I was lucky enough to catch a ride in it for a while, was recognised by some very special and talented people and I earned the respect of my peers and achieved a hell of a lot in a short space of time. There have been huge highs whilst playing music to all sorts of crowds, creating an atmosphere and being in control. I have felt the joy and adrenaline rush of the success, alongside the emptiness and despair of the empty club or the unresponsive floor. Now I recognise I have done all that, I need to put it all behind me and move on, and the only way to do that is to disappear. It has to end sometime, and as I keep saying, everything is finite. I don’t want to lose everything else in my life for this. I just don’t believe in it enough to make that sacrifice. The kids are fighting the battle now. I hope I influenced some of them, I know I have, and that gives me a sense of ease doing this. I haven’t wasted 10 years, I know I have bought joy and hope to many of the disenfranchised, the open-minded, the musical outsider or the devoted dancer. There are people creating things and using technology in a way that I am having to try and catch up to, but I no longer feel the desire to. They are doing it better than I ever could now. It’s their time, and mine has passed. You can either think I am being incredibly brave by admitting it or incredibly weak and stupid for stopping. But it’s just how I feel. I was going wrong in many aspects of my life, and I need to start making a change. I have no idea how long this piece will stay up, but this site won’t be here forever. Please feel free to copy and paste and pass on to preserve it, to let others know why I left, assuming anyone cares.
"I have tears in my eyes now. I have so many people to thank for all the personal and professional support they have given me over the years, but I shall do that personally in time. But I want to thank everyone who has bought a song, paid an entrance fee, had a dance or just come up and spoke to me about life, music, the world or whatever. You have given me a dream-like blessed existence for many years. If I have inspired anyone, then I am a happy man. You all have certainly inspired me, and I want to use those years of travelling and sharing to good effect, not this anger and confusion I feel towards it all now. I need to find meaning to the next phase of my life. So I bid you all farewell. I am just too sensitive to keep up the façade of something that doesn’t feel right. I knew it would come someday, maybe some of you that knew me saw it too. I have so much love and respect for my peers and teachers that are carrying on with the struggle, and want the next generation to achieve the best they can for themselves and their art. I am just not a lifer. I’ve traded up, and I’m out.
"I’ll leave you all with this. Life isn’t the X-Factor. No one has a God given right to his or her dream or ambitions coming true. I have worked hard and had some great luck. I followed some opportunities, squandered others. I have no regrets, other than not stopping when I knew I should have done this time last year. The only thing you have to guide you through your life is your instinct. Sometimes the right decision isn’t the easiest, but between your conscience and your intuition you will find the answer. Please listen to it. It’s you."
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Far from Random Aesthetic SUBLIMITY for the Morning: New Lisa Adams BRILLIANCE!
An absolute Technicolor STUNNER from my ineffably brilliant friend Lisa Adams!!!! "In Anticipation of Aberrancy"—lustrous, radiant, resplendent, exquisite and beyond—even I don't have enough adjectives... how apt that I was (and still am...) listening to Sabrina Malheiros' New Morning as she posted it via Facebook! My early morning need for epically saturated color (a thirst that's perennial @ every millisecond of the day, but never more so than after sunrise—especially on a grey morning...) has been more than quenched now that I'm soaking here—congratulations girl!!! xo, B.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Not Quite Random Aesthetic Loveliness of the Day: Emigré #70
I can't honestly claim that I gave Emigré enough of a chance or say that they had a profound influence on my formative years as a budding designer for one simple reason—I for the most have a completely different type aesthetic. The ubiquity/omnipresence of their fonts was always so much more pronounced than the loveliness and luster of their grander design scheme of things. BUT, that said, I know that that's too glib a dismissal + that I most likely missed a lot of loveliness that I'm glad to now go back and reconsider. They gave respect to my early design idols (the godly Vaughn Oliver, Chris Bigg, Neville Brody...), so I always knew their heart was in the right place. Now thanks to this lovely new tome—Emigré mag issue 70: the last issue that never came out/or has been newly devised as a retrospective. Dig! xo, B.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Not Quite Random Aesthetic Loveliness of the Day: Stunning Advert for the Massive Monareta
As many of you already well know, I essentially worship Monareta, and view any chance to glimpse/partake in their massive live spectacle is a gateway to instant blissful lustre—especially if the ineffably beautiful Checho is guesting on drums. But this particular Bogota gig—launching for La Otra Feria de Arte Contemporáneo 2009, on a bill w/ Kompakt's DJ Koze—looks to be an even more radiant endeavor than usual if this exquisite flyer is any indication. Hell, I'd love to live in that building—especially if Monareta were my house band!!!! xo, B.
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
The Most Achingly Exquisite, Crushingly Sublime + Indefatigably Radiantly Beautiful Boy Alive: LUKE PASQUALINO
My dream husband, my ideal boy in every way—the achingly exquisite, crushingly sublime + indefatigably radiantly beautiful Luke Pasqualino! I've come to live by Skins in recent months ever stumbling upon + falling in love with Luke, but it is a brilliant series in most respects—whether or not I'm a teenage Brit, which clearly I'm not, I identify character trait-wise with Luke's Freddie (although heaven knows I'd give anything to look like him (well, I'd give everything I've ever owned to marry him (or most certainly less), but that's another story), Emily, Jay J, + even Thomas in many differing respects. With the season end coming tomorrow night (on BBC America, natch), I thought it apt to finally post some Luke in all his godly beauty...
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Far from Random Aesthetic Loveliness Redux: Sabrina Malheiros in Honor of Rio 2016
Posted on Facebook by none other Sabrina herself!—a new take on her own beautiful bossa instant classic in honor of the Rio 2016 Olympics that I just had to pass on because it's too damn radiantly lovely!!! xo, B.
Not Quite Random Aesthetic Loveliness of the Day: Soundwalk
I'm cautiously optimistic about the prospect of checking out Soundwalk here in Long Beach this evening, and if nothing else am glad just to have something to do in the LBC other than biding my time @ the usual fag bars waiting for somebody intriguing to come in or something (welcome +) unexpected to happen. I've always dug sound installation as a medium, in no small part because I grew up as an industrial boy, with the ambient pastoral soundscapes of (the mighty) SPK, Hafler Trio, Zoviet France et. al... Besides it's lovely enough just to have an excuse to post their brilliantly lustrous graphic (of which I'm more than a little jealous!)! xo, B.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Random Aesthetic Loveliness of the Day: Type by Jeff Rogers for How + Metropolis
A rather sweet type exercise by Jeff Rogers for Metropolis (along with a mightily dope gig poster) that makes me jealous once again that I am not a typographer, but thankfully I have lovely/spot-on sense in choosing fonts + orchestrating their interplay. Thank goodness for little favors! Still, jealous or not, I get a little giddy inspiration from typographers this brilliant!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Far from Random Aesthetic Loveliness Redux: Gilles P.'s Havana Cultura
Exquisite footage, sounds like a mightily lovely project, + is it just me or Gilles (ALWAYS my sonic god of the world, the reason I became a DJ 15 years ago) starting to once again look slightly adorable as he did when I first saw him spin @ a Galliano/Brand New Heavies showcase @ the Village Gate 16 years ago? A night that changed my life + gave me a lifelong love for Gilles! Thanks Gigi Lau for the link!!! xxoo, B.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Random Aesthetic Loveliness of the Day: Charley Harper for the Kids
Loveliness from the immortal Charley Harper via Canadian House + Home by way of Poppytalk. Ostensibly for the "kids' rooms," I say fuck that, I want them for my room!!! Charley's work for me is tantamount to the visual equivalent of Swing Out Sister or Saint Etienne: pure unbridled giddy Technicolor bliss! If I could own a print of every piece he ever created I'd be a mightily happy boy (at least for a little while)... xo, B.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Sonic Sublimity for the Morning: Marlena Shaw c. NOW
After seeing this clip I'm pining to be back in NYC to see the brilliant Marlena Shaw @ Dizzy's tonight, particularly since I could then go on to see Chico Hamilton @ Le Poisson Rouge. As if I wasn't pining enough to be in the city next weekend to see the goddess Marva Whitney. Yes, I'm theoretically seeing my husbands, the beautiful ones—that'd be KINKY for those of you who've just met me—but after hearing the crushing news of Roc Raida's passing, seeing Marlena + Chico feels more than a little apt. As always, I'll be looking to Swing Out Sister + Saint Etienne to get me through another rough patch, with a dose of dancing till I break a hip under the sublimity that is Kinky's Gilberto... Trying to stay strong here, or some such. x, B.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Far from Random Aesthetic Loveliness Coupled with an Essential Message
Clearly I love the immediacy of my technology, but nothing can erase the fact that print will always come first and foremost, and needs to be cherished. From a design perspective, there is NOTHING more beautiful than the tactile sensation of holding something luxurious and opulent in your hands—and that doesn't just apply to precious art book projects: I'm still despondent that Straight No Chaser, Playgirl, + Latin Inches are all strictly digital now!!! (And just a note—calling it an environmental coup is bullshit, there are plenty of recycled paper + eco-friendly inks options widely—+ cheaply—available now (a fact that I do love)!) CAN I GET AN AMEN??!!??!!??
via http://blog.howdesign.com/2009/09/16/LongLivePrint.aspx.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Far from Random Aesthetic Loveliness Redux: New Epic Exquisiteness from the Ever-Brilliant Draco Rosa
Hello all,
Just a quick note on a day that begs for distraction—to offer one of the most epically transcendent, immaculately burnished, and flawlessly sublime sort, from a perennially lovely man who also happens to be a sonic GENIUS: Robi Draco Rosa. "Paraiso Prometido" is an epic, sun-drenched Technicolor vista that indefatigably demands to be soaked in... a turbinado, mint and tropical-sake infused kaleidoscope of Valaparaiso... San Juan... Veracruz... Punta del Mar... and Fortaleza, all luxuriously muddled into the most beautiful brew I've doused myself in in YEARS!!! Take a soak, + enjoy the scent, the vistas, + the pure f**king brilliantly potent sonic loveliness! xxoo, B.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
London Loveliness: Vibe Bar Hosts Tru Thoughts' 10th Anniversary
My first of today's inevitable 862 reminders that everything lovely happens in locales that aren't mine... A kaleidoscopically beautiful montage in rapturous Technicolor of Tru Thoughts' 10th anniversary party @ Vibe Bar in London, with Alice Russell, TM Juke, Nostalgia 77 + more. Check the godly lovely + slightly Boricua-looking new boy serving as Alice's guitarist starting @ 2:16 in. The first of today's inevitable 4,484 times today that I'll say I'm in love... xxoo, B.
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Far from Random Aesthetic Loveliness Redux: The Ever-Radiantly Beautiful Nickodemus @ Afro-Funké
How is it that the pure transcendent beauty that is Nickodemus just keeps getting lovelier/more adorable with age? We all knew—or should've known—long ago that he's a sonic genius/capable of all manner of hella brilliance (musical + otherwise), but this radiantly filmed + edited reel from Nick's 7.09 guest @ the also-indefatigably-wise Jeremy Sole's Afro Funké, is a shimmeringly lovely testament. This spot proves without a doubt that Afro Funké is stronger than ever @ Zanzibar, although I only know this via word of mouth, since getting to Santa Monica was an impossibility even when I was still located in Los Feliz—let alone stranded in Long Beach. But I digress—I just wanted to spread this sun-drenched love, + always want to share the boundless charm + loveliness of Nickodemus. It might be frowned on in some circles that I've been in love with him since the early Giant Step days (When did I first meet him/hear him spin? '93? Dunno...), but if loving him is wrong... you know the rest! Soak in this Technicolor splendor, aesthetic + sonic... Dig! xo, B.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Random Aesthetic Loveliness of the Day: Havana Opulence
Andrew Zimmern asked via Facebook for some suggestions on all things Cuban to help him create a Facebook album + Youtube playlist in honor of the Havana episode of his new Bizarre Worlds (which I'm skeptical about—love Bizarre Foods, but that's about as much Andrew as I can take (although as anyone knows I'm always starving for quality armchair/vicarious travel, since I'll seemingly never have the funds to actually visit any of the places I long to go)... Nevertheless it's always nice to have an excuse to dig), and while I'm feeling foggy + not terribly vibrant this morning—having to miss Os Mutantes tonight will do that to a boy (SIGH!!!!)—but I did flash on this lovely stock photo of a Havana street that I've always loved, whether inverted or not (I love it both so I thought I'd just post it here as a duo—it was the invert that I used on the cover of one of my DJ comps, Rare Mint Nectar). Other Cuban things I love that have come to me off the top of my senile head: Alberto Korda (not only the Che photos but also all of his early editorial work, and even the fashion photos—I scribed an exhibition review of a Korda retrospective for the L.A. Weekly circa 1998 that I was always rather proud of), Perez Prado, Beny Moré, for anything else it's poco un demasiado temprano (a little too early—love my Spanish-English translating widget, + heaven knows I need it...)! But of course the most immaculately burnished/indefatigably and ineffably LUSTROUS Cuban artifact will always be Mikhail Kalatozov's 1964 masterwork I Am Cuba. Dig!!! xo, B.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Swing Out Loveliness Redux: An Utterly Sublime Essay on Filth + Dreams!
Hello again all,
Thanks to a link from Andy posted on the Swing Out Facebook page, I was directed to a remarkable—to say the least!—essay by one Thomas Cooney on the 10th anniversary of Filth + Dreams. Now anyone who knows me knows that Swing Out are essentially my religion, and that F+D, Somewhere Deep in the Night, and Shapes + Patterns, are all aesthetically immaculate and resplendently flawless masterworks as far as I'm concerned, essentially gospel, but Thomas took it leagues further in a beautifully thought-out treatise. I thought about just reposting the whole damn thing in its entirety, but thought it better to just link to it. Dig... this ESSENTIAL reading!!! xo, B.
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