One of the big bonuses to being on the artist run label Spotted Peccary (aside from the occasional royalty check Yay!) is getting new discs in the mail from a fellow label artist. Yesterday I received a copy of Deborah Martin’s “Between Worlds” collaboration with Erik Wollo, and it’s really beautiful. When Deborah passed through Redding a few months ago, she stopped by and played me some preliminary tracks, and I was really impressed. What was really fascinating about the project was that she was given permission and access to use extremely rare recordings of Native American songs recorded in 1894 on metal cylinders! She and Erik used songs from those ancient recordings along with their modern instrumentation to make a really unique hybrid of music that spans more than a century. You can link to her project HERE, or listen to a sample of the title track, which is my favorite track, “Between Worlds” HERE. The ancient recordings of voices and melody lend a ghostly quality to some more modern and very spiritual music. Both from a technical and emotional standpoint, I found the music very moving. Highly recommended!
We love kitsch art advertising signs
We found this new art sign on Lake Blvd at Finishline Collision.
It’s very well done. Nicely painted too. An iconic upgrade to entire neighborhood.
We didn’t go around back to check if it was anatomically accurate, like the Merrill Lynch bull sculpture on Wall Street. Better left to the imagination.
Our music featured on Cool Streams at Ambient Caverns
We received news that our music is featured on Cool Streams in the Ambient Caverns section.
Cool Stream plays music over the internet that you can listen to while you work. Pretty, uh, cool!
This is our latest release on Lotuspike, Beyond the Portal. Featuring Redding’s ownCraig Padilla, Zero Ohms of Memphis, and me.
Sand artist brings tears for 1945 Ukraine…and nothing else matters.
Happy Birthday Art Hop images
The Art Hop Birthday Bash was a huge success, from all we saw. There were lots of people out and about, and so much to see and do. We went for quality over quantity, spending time at Kimberly Nicole, and also catching a set of Just Married at the Discovery Shop. The Redding scene continues to evolve…
You know it’s a mild July day in Redding when Hula dancers can perform barefoot on asphalt while the sun’s still up in the sky.
And of course every performer’s dream gig is a corner in a secondhand store, but sometimes certain things just fit comfortably in Redding, and you are compelled to go with the flow.
Yes, they are Still Married, and they offer their authentic CD’s for a mere $5. How can you go wrong on that? A perfect Art Hop birthday present.
Thanks Art Hoppers and shoppers!
Wild time at Wild Thyme
Sundial bridge time is correct once a year
Yesterday a group of folks gathered at the north end of Redding’s Sundial Bridge to observe the Solstice, and perhaps to verify that their cell phones report the same time as the planet. Noon. Yep.
There was a band, and some booths. At one of the booths you could look at the sun, but there were no sunspots or flares, so it pretty much looked like just a bright disk.
Redding lays claim to the tallest known sundial on the planet at 217 ft. We humans have a history of building large and relatively permanent structures to observe the planetary movements.
Video artist/musician worth your view
A lifetime in 42 seconds
Be sure to let this ‘buffer’ some before watching. Hit play, then pause for a bit.
Last Day Dream from Chris Milk on Vimeo.
It’s a brilliant work of film maker art. I celebrate the artist, Chris Milk. Kudos, sir.
Seeing it for the first time yesterday, it has proven almost too poignant for words. The recent death of Adam Martinez has been in my thoughts.
I knew Adam. Last year I showed him some homes, and helped him write an offer on one in east Redding. It was an unsuccessful bid, and he lost the house to another person. We learned later the winning offer had actually been for less money than Adam’s offer. Adam was very disappointed, and we drifted apart. You write a lot of home purchase offers as an agent, and sometimes they are unsuccessful. There can be any number of reasons. Some fail inexplicably, and others for reasons that become clear only in hindsight. Some lost transactions you forget and move on, but this particular offer has played over and over in my head since then, with a great many what-ifs. Now probably more so.
Erin was acquainted with the young man that struck Adam at the nightclub. A single blow to the head. We see where it’s being investigated as a homicide now. All in a very short instant….a moment that effectively shattered two young lives.
May God bless you Adam. My most heartfelt condolences to your family and friends.
Apology for yesterday’s Record Searchlight expose’
Sorry readers. Turns out my “discovery” yesterday that RS has been running and re-running the comic strip of the long dead Charles Schulz for years was not any kind of scoop at all. Several of you informed me that it was a well known fact, and is done intentionally. Of course, that’s even sadder. Like the movie Groundhog Day, except it’s neither funny nor poignant. Maybe surrealist. Anyway the good news is that while researching the post, I discovered a couple of interesting comics by actual living artists. One actually plays on the comic in question:
Done more in the style of the underground comix I remember from my misspent youth, they imagine a post apocalypse Chuck Brown, exploring the classic male adolescent themes of revenge and heavy weaponry.
Folks, you can’t make this stuff up.
I also discovered Garfield minus Garfield:
Finally, a reason to read Garfield. And a new way to see the strip as an art project. Brilliant really. Click on either image to go the the artist website. Warning, you will never view a Garfield strip the same again. OK, maybe that’s a good thing.
Five years in the future, will we see the RS still running dead artist work, over and over, caught in a deathspiral timewarp? Look how easy it is to find better material. Meanwhile, vibrant living art and culture move on, sadly leaving the RS behind….
(Edit) Well I guess we know the answer to that question. 5 years and beyond…