Quiet Noise XIV - West Footscray house show - 21 Feb 2026
41 minutes ago
Sunday, 13 March 2011
Nadia Plesner: 'It's time for an intervention and you are all invited'
My latest work, Darfurnica, is a modern version of Picasso’s Guernica. In our time, the boundaries between the editorial and advertising departments in the media are disappearing and entertainment stories about the lives of Hollywood celebrities have become breaking news. Apparantly a genocide in Darfur can be happening RIGHT NOW without being important enough to make headlines. This is unacceptable and I refuse to turn the blind eye to what is happening.
In Darfurnica I have mixed some of the horrible stories I have learned about Darfur over the past years with some of the Hollywood gossip stories which made headlines during the same time period.
In collaboration with ARTMANIPULATOR, my first solo exhibition, INTERVENTION, took place in the Odd fellow Palace in Copenhagen from January 7th until February 4th, 2011. It consisted of Darfurnica and FORBES/DARFUR, a series of drawn portraits of the most and least influential people in 2009. The most influential are based on the list “Forbes 100″ and the least influential are portraits of children in Darfur. The show was opened by the Danish Culture Minister, Per Stig Møller, and was greatly visited, both at the opening day and throughout the month.
AND NOW LOUIS VUITTON HAS SUED ME AGAIN
As I returned to Holland in the beginning of February, I had received a verdict in a new court case started by Louis Vuitton. They are very angry about the bag that the boy in the middle is carrying. They claim again that I infringe their design rights on the pattern used in their “audra” bag and they had the court in Hague put 5000 euro penalties for each day I continue to show this painting on my website or in galleries or anywhere else. They have been counting since January 28, so at the moment the amount is higher than 220.000 euros (!)
Here you can read an English translation of the Court Order
I only heard about this lawsuit when I received the verdict; I have therefore not been able to defend myself. This seems a clear violation of my freedom of speech and artistic freedom.
I have spent the past month searching for an attorney and I am now blessed to have the help from Jens van den Brink and Christien Wildeman from the lawfirm Kennedy Van der Laan.
They have kindly agreed to start helping me but I need to find funds to defend myself and enable me to fend off fines Louis Vuitton may claim.
I have spent the past month searching for an attorney and I am now blessed to have the help from Jens van den Brink and Christien Wildeman from the lawfirm Kennedy Van der Laan.
They have kindly agreed to start helping me but I need to find funds to defend myself and enable me to fend off fines Louis Vuitton may claim.
PLEASE HELP ME RAISE FUNDS TO DEFEND MYSELF
Any donations can be transferred to this Dutch account:
R.M. Keesom
Account nr: 1057.26.818
BIC/SWIFT code: RABONL2U
Iban nr: NL02RABO0105726818
Account nr: 1057.26.818
BIC/SWIFT code: RABONL2U
Iban nr: NL02RABO0105726818
OR
to this Danish account:
M. Engelbrecht
Reg. nr: 3306
Account nr: 4083473037
BIC/SWIFT code: DABADKKK
Iban nr: DK9030004083473037
Reg. nr: 3306
Account nr: 4083473037
BIC/SWIFT code: DABADKKK
Iban nr: DK9030004083473037
Please note, the accounts are not in my own name as I can risk to have my accounts seized by Louis Vuitton.
THANK YOU!
In a few weeks we plan to start summary proceedings against LV to try to have the order lifted.
I can’t believe that our world has come to a place where protection of design and copyrights apparently is more important than protection of human rights.
According to The Save Darfur Coalition, the last bombings of villages in Darfur took place no less than a few weeks ago, and 45.000 new refugees arrived in the Zamzam IDP Camp.
However – this is not something you hear in the media at all.
I can’t believe that our world has come to a place where protection of design and copyrights apparently is more important than protection of human rights.
According to The Save Darfur Coalition, the last bombings of villages in Darfur took place no less than a few weeks ago, and 45.000 new refugees arrived in the Zamzam IDP Camp.
However – this is not something you hear in the media at all.
The story about Darfur must be told, and I believe I should have my artistic freedom of speech to do so.
Kode9 - Time Patrol Dub
The anticipation is steadily increasing as we draw closer to the release date for the forthcoming Kode9 and The Spaceape LP, Black Sun, but to help hold us futuristic beat junkies over in the meantime, Kode9 has sent along this dub version of "Time Patrol" (which originally appeared on the 5 Years of Hyperdub comp back in 2009). As to be expected from a dub, The Spaceape's vocals are completely stripped away, allowing the focus to be on Kode9's lush, booming production. The only trace of vocals left amongst the menacing synth lines and dark horn stabs is the echoing, emotive phrasing of Chinese vocalist Cha Cha, whose contribution to the track marked her first collaboration with the London producer but has since led to her appearing on four tracks for the upcoming LP. In the time before Black Sun drops on April 18, we're thankful that Kode9 has allowed us to take a little trip into his reimagined past in hopes that it'll better prepare us for the mind-warping future he is about to deliver.
Essential Mix 12/03/11
Caribou - Tour CD 2010 DJ Mix
1. Anton Bruhin. Schtandli. Boing.
2. Brave New World. Halpas Corn Dance. Vertigo.
3. Group Inerane. Telilite. Sublime Frequencies.
4. Alog. Every Word Was Once an Animal (Daphni Mix). Unreleased.
5. Crash Course In Science. Flying Turns. Stones Throw.
6. Igor Wakhevitch. Rituel De Guerre Des Esprits De La Terre. Atlantic
7. Unknown. Egyptian Wedding (Luxor). Philips.
8. Nightlife Unlimited. Peaches & Prunes (Ron Hardy Edit). Partehardy.
9. Bernard Bonnier. Vero-La-Toto. Amaryllis.
10. Martin Hall. Fishes. Piermario Ciani.
11. The Doves. I Shall Be Free.
12. Daphni. So Tired Of Crying. Unreleased.
13. Thomas Mapfumo. Shumba (Daphni Edit). Resista.
14. Daphni. For Arnold. Unreleased.
15. Aphrodite's Child. Break. Vertigo.
2. Brave New World. Halpas Corn Dance. Vertigo.
3. Group Inerane. Telilite. Sublime Frequencies.
4. Alog. Every Word Was Once an Animal (Daphni Mix). Unreleased.
5. Crash Course In Science. Flying Turns. Stones Throw.
6. Igor Wakhevitch. Rituel De Guerre Des Esprits De La Terre. Atlantic
7. Unknown. Egyptian Wedding (Luxor). Philips.
8. Nightlife Unlimited. Peaches & Prunes (Ron Hardy Edit). Partehardy.
9. Bernard Bonnier. Vero-La-Toto. Amaryllis.
10. Martin Hall. Fishes. Piermario Ciani.
11. The Doves. I Shall Be Free.
12. Daphni. So Tired Of Crying. Unreleased.
13. Thomas Mapfumo. Shumba (Daphni Edit). Resista.
14. Daphni. For Arnold. Unreleased.
15. Aphrodite's Child. Break. Vertigo.
Can: the ultimate film soundtrack band?
He hardly needs to give up his day job, but Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood seems to have a pretty good alternative career lined up as a film composer. After his dissonant, overpowering strings on There Will Be Blood, he does sterling work on this week's excellent Norwegian Wood, adding to the Japanese teen gloom with sheets of orchestral noise and tender acoustic guitar melodies. But what caught my attention on the soundtrack was the welcome reappearance of Can, whose music not only fits the late-60s setting, but also reminds us how much Radiohead are indebted to the trailblazing krautrockers. They've made no secret of it, even covering Can's The Thief, but listening to The King of Limbs' precision clattering, jazzy guitars, slightly slurred vocals and unorthodox song structures, the spirit of Can still courses through them.
Another reason Can complement Norwegian Wood is the band's Japanese frontman, Damo Suzuki, who sounds like he is singing in his native tongue even when performing in English. The band famously recruited Suzuki off a Munich street in 1970 to play a gig that same night – where his incendiary improvised performance turned away all but the most hardcore, including, bizarrely, actor David Niven, who stayed till the end.
Two of the Can songs in Norwegian Wood are already from existing soundtracks, hence their inclusion on the 1970 album, er, Can Soundtracks: Don't Turn the Light On, Leave Me Alone (bet Radiohead wish they'd thought of that title), Suzuki's first recording with the band, which sounds like a stoned art-students' jam (someone's done a homemade video here); and She Brings the Rain, a mellow, bassy, jazzy melody that doesn't really sound like Can at all (it was performed by their original singer, Malcolm Mooney, shortly before he had a breakdown and left the band). The version in Norwegian Wood, however, sounds like a cover.
Back in my student days – when I should have been listening to Radiohead or studying – Can Soundtracks was a favourite on the electric gramophone. But before imdb, Amazon, iTunes or, in fact, the internet, it was difficult tracking down the films the songs were originally made for. And it still is. They all seem to be obscure German B-movies from the late 60s. Don't Turn the Light On…, for example, is from a film called Cream – Schwabing-Report, on which the only light imdb can shed is the salacious tagline: "What a bored child bride did until she got caught!" That's probably enough information. She Brings the Rain, meanwhile, was from a film called Ein Großer Graublauer Vogel (A Big Grey-Blue Bird). Apparently it's about scientists who invent a computer that solves the mysteries of the universe, but then forget they've done so. Has anyone ever seen this film? Does it really exist?
Fortunately Can's music has been used in edgier but more accessible movies ever since. Keyboardist Irmin Schmidt went on to produce scores of scores, including Wim Wenders's Alice in the Cities. Wenders used She Brings the Rain in Lisbon Story, as did Oskar Roehler in his 2000 film No Place to Go. And the band reunited to do a track for Wenders's Until the End of the World. There's also a lot of Can in Lynne Ramsay's Morvern Callar (the book was dedicated to bassist Holger Czukay), and their funky Vitamin C cropped up in Pedro Almodovar's Broken Embraces. Apparently Can's biggest earner, though, was the track Spoon, which was adopted by hit German TV cop show Das Messer. I thought I heard them recently in another fine and gloomy Japanese youth movie, Confessions, but it turned out to be Boris. Coincidentally, Confessions' soundtrack also features Radiohead.
The good news is that the best of those "lost" movies featuring music from Can Soundtracks is to become available for the first time. This is Jerzy Skolimowski's Deep End, which the BFI is re-releasing in May. A teen drama set in a swimming baths at the end of Swinging London, it features the most legendary song on Can Soundtracks: Mother Sky, which plays as the hero trawls through sleazy Soho, steals a cardboard cut-out, makes the acquaintance of a prostitute with a broken leg and buys a hotdog from Burt Kwouk. Mother Sky is quintessential Can: a mighty 15-minute psychedelic wig-out with crazy screeching guitar, minimalist bassline, clockwork drumming and indecipherable Damo Suzuki chanting. It's garage punk with a longer attention span, math rock with a human soul, and prog without the self-indulgence. Nobody could get away with that now, not even Radiohead.
Steve Rose @'The Guardian'
Another reason Can complement Norwegian Wood is the band's Japanese frontman, Damo Suzuki, who sounds like he is singing in his native tongue even when performing in English. The band famously recruited Suzuki off a Munich street in 1970 to play a gig that same night – where his incendiary improvised performance turned away all but the most hardcore, including, bizarrely, actor David Niven, who stayed till the end.
Two of the Can songs in Norwegian Wood are already from existing soundtracks, hence their inclusion on the 1970 album, er, Can Soundtracks: Don't Turn the Light On, Leave Me Alone (bet Radiohead wish they'd thought of that title), Suzuki's first recording with the band, which sounds like a stoned art-students' jam (someone's done a homemade video here); and She Brings the Rain, a mellow, bassy, jazzy melody that doesn't really sound like Can at all (it was performed by their original singer, Malcolm Mooney, shortly before he had a breakdown and left the band). The version in Norwegian Wood, however, sounds like a cover.
Back in my student days – when I should have been listening to Radiohead or studying – Can Soundtracks was a favourite on the electric gramophone. But before imdb, Amazon, iTunes or, in fact, the internet, it was difficult tracking down the films the songs were originally made for. And it still is. They all seem to be obscure German B-movies from the late 60s. Don't Turn the Light On…, for example, is from a film called Cream – Schwabing-Report, on which the only light imdb can shed is the salacious tagline: "What a bored child bride did until she got caught!" That's probably enough information. She Brings the Rain, meanwhile, was from a film called Ein Großer Graublauer Vogel (A Big Grey-Blue Bird). Apparently it's about scientists who invent a computer that solves the mysteries of the universe, but then forget they've done so. Has anyone ever seen this film? Does it really exist?
Fortunately Can's music has been used in edgier but more accessible movies ever since. Keyboardist Irmin Schmidt went on to produce scores of scores, including Wim Wenders's Alice in the Cities. Wenders used She Brings the Rain in Lisbon Story, as did Oskar Roehler in his 2000 film No Place to Go. And the band reunited to do a track for Wenders's Until the End of the World. There's also a lot of Can in Lynne Ramsay's Morvern Callar (the book was dedicated to bassist Holger Czukay), and their funky Vitamin C cropped up in Pedro Almodovar's Broken Embraces. Apparently Can's biggest earner, though, was the track Spoon, which was adopted by hit German TV cop show Das Messer. I thought I heard them recently in another fine and gloomy Japanese youth movie, Confessions, but it turned out to be Boris. Coincidentally, Confessions' soundtrack also features Radiohead.
The good news is that the best of those "lost" movies featuring music from Can Soundtracks is to become available for the first time. This is Jerzy Skolimowski's Deep End, which the BFI is re-releasing in May. A teen drama set in a swimming baths at the end of Swinging London, it features the most legendary song on Can Soundtracks: Mother Sky, which plays as the hero trawls through sleazy Soho, steals a cardboard cut-out, makes the acquaintance of a prostitute with a broken leg and buys a hotdog from Burt Kwouk. Mother Sky is quintessential Can: a mighty 15-minute psychedelic wig-out with crazy screeching guitar, minimalist bassline, clockwork drumming and indecipherable Damo Suzuki chanting. It's garage punk with a longer attention span, math rock with a human soul, and prog without the self-indulgence. Nobody could get away with that now, not even Radiohead.
Steve Rose @'The Guardian'
Saturday, 12 March 2011
Wisconsin Firefighters Shut Down Bank That Funded Walker
Everybody knows the GOP's biggest weakness is money, so why not hit 'em in the sweet spot? That's what many amazing Wisconsin firefighters did yesterday when they collectively began withdrawing their funds from Madison's M&I Bank -- whose executives and board members were among the highest donors to Governor Scott Walker's campaign.
Heeding a call by Firefighters Local 311 President Joe Conway to 'Move your money,' union members withdrew over $100,000 from the bank, with some reports stating that number is as high as $192,000. Either way, it was a hefty enough chunk of change that M&I shut its doors and closed for the day at 3PM.
This is a very simple, very peaceful way to inflict some serious damage on the money-grubbers; super kudos to the Firefighters Union.
Anecdoctally -- 'M&I Bank received $1.7 billion in bailout money via President George W. Bush's Troubled Assets Relief Program. The bank was acquired by the Bank of Montreal in December of 2010 for $4.1 billion in stock,' reports Dane101.
UPDATE: Stranded Wind over at DailyKos has photos of the protest outside M&I, and says the ante has been upped to $600,000! 'What these pictures show are six hundred ordinary citizens descending on the M&I branch near the Wisconsin Capitol after learning of their purchase of the gubernatorial election last November. Two firefighters with old school ideas about saving had over $600,000 between the two of them and they demanded cashier's checks on the spot.'
Julianne Escobedo Shepherd @'AlterNet'
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