Mike Dearborn / Razorsharp [1995]
2 hours ago
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Efterklang – An Island (a film by Vincent Moon)
In August 2010, French filmmaker Vincent Moon and Efterklang‘s 8 piece-live band met up on an island off the Danish coast. The objective was to shoot a film. A film with the same length as an album, and a film full of performances, experiments and collaborations. Over an intense period of 4 days Efterklang collaborated with more than 200 local musicians, kids and their own parents, creating new performances and interpretations of songs from their album Magic Chairs (4AD, Rumraket 2010).
It was all filmed by Vincent Moon who same time conducted several filmic and musical experiments with Efterklang as his dedicated playmates. (An Island)
only online for one week!
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Atheism's aesthetic of enchantment
As an Oxford undergraduate in the early 19th century, Percy Bysshe Shelley developed an argument for the non-existence of God. He entitled it The Necessity of Atheism, and 2011 is the bicentenary of his being expelled from the university for printing it.
The argument itself is simple. If you have seen or heard God, then you must believe in God. If you haven't, then the only possible reasons to believe in God are reasonable argument or the testimony of others. The main argument given for believing in a deity – that the universe must have had a first cause – is not persuasive because there is no reason to believe either that the universe must have had a first cause or that this cause, if it existed, was a deity. The testimony of others – a third-rate source of knowledge in any case – is invariably contrary to reason. This is not least because it reports God as commanding belief, which would be irrational of God, given that belief is involuntary and not an act of will. So there is no reason to believe in God.
It is not a particularly shocking argument these days, but remembering this Shelley anniversary is important for other reasons.
Atheists today are too often castigated as materialistic calculators whose lack of spirituality sucks their universe empty of all beauty. Remembering Shelley's atheism gives us an opportunity to counter this stereotype and to reflect on the aesthetic of enchantment with which a non-theistic world-view can be associated. The works of Shelley join the novels, poems, songs, sculptures, paintings, architecture and plays of generations of godless artists in exposing the straw man of the desiccated rationalist for what it is, and showcasing a humanist vision of life.
More timely is a remembrance of the social and political consequences of Shelley's argument. In The Necessity of Atheism he reminds us of the mistake that people make when they think that "belief is an act of volition, in consequence of which it may be regulated by the mind" and the way that "continuing this mistake they have attached a degree of criminality to disbelief of which in its nature it is incapable". We cannot pillory someone for their disbelief – it is not an area in which choice operates.
Today in Britain, non-religious people are not thrown out of universities because they don't believe in God, but in other parts of the world many suffer this fate – and worse. There are still places where it is illegal to declare yourself as non-religious on your identity papers or official records.
One of the most upsetting stories I was ever told was by a young humanist from Saudi Arabia who grew up so frightened of what would happen if he spoke out loud about his beliefs to another person that the only outlet for his thoughts was to go on long walks away from all people, and speak his mind only to the air. In fact, he never spoke to another human being about his most fundamental beliefs until coming to Britain in his late 20s, and experiencing then for the first time what those of us who live in freedom take for granted: the joyful dynamic of testing and developing our own ideas in conversation and dialogue with others.
In this country the blasphemy laws have been abolished, but elsewhere our fellow men and women face death for speaking and thinking freely. Remembering Shelley – so eloquent himself on the subject of human solidarity – provides a dynamic call for us to address these injustices internationally.
Andrew Copson @'The Guardian'
(Thanx Luke!)
The argument itself is simple. If you have seen or heard God, then you must believe in God. If you haven't, then the only possible reasons to believe in God are reasonable argument or the testimony of others. The main argument given for believing in a deity – that the universe must have had a first cause – is not persuasive because there is no reason to believe either that the universe must have had a first cause or that this cause, if it existed, was a deity. The testimony of others – a third-rate source of knowledge in any case – is invariably contrary to reason. This is not least because it reports God as commanding belief, which would be irrational of God, given that belief is involuntary and not an act of will. So there is no reason to believe in God.
It is not a particularly shocking argument these days, but remembering this Shelley anniversary is important for other reasons.
Atheists today are too often castigated as materialistic calculators whose lack of spirituality sucks their universe empty of all beauty. Remembering Shelley's atheism gives us an opportunity to counter this stereotype and to reflect on the aesthetic of enchantment with which a non-theistic world-view can be associated. The works of Shelley join the novels, poems, songs, sculptures, paintings, architecture and plays of generations of godless artists in exposing the straw man of the desiccated rationalist for what it is, and showcasing a humanist vision of life.
More timely is a remembrance of the social and political consequences of Shelley's argument. In The Necessity of Atheism he reminds us of the mistake that people make when they think that "belief is an act of volition, in consequence of which it may be regulated by the mind" and the way that "continuing this mistake they have attached a degree of criminality to disbelief of which in its nature it is incapable". We cannot pillory someone for their disbelief – it is not an area in which choice operates.
Today in Britain, non-religious people are not thrown out of universities because they don't believe in God, but in other parts of the world many suffer this fate – and worse. There are still places where it is illegal to declare yourself as non-religious on your identity papers or official records.
One of the most upsetting stories I was ever told was by a young humanist from Saudi Arabia who grew up so frightened of what would happen if he spoke out loud about his beliefs to another person that the only outlet for his thoughts was to go on long walks away from all people, and speak his mind only to the air. In fact, he never spoke to another human being about his most fundamental beliefs until coming to Britain in his late 20s, and experiencing then for the first time what those of us who live in freedom take for granted: the joyful dynamic of testing and developing our own ideas in conversation and dialogue with others.
In this country the blasphemy laws have been abolished, but elsewhere our fellow men and women face death for speaking and thinking freely. Remembering Shelley – so eloquent himself on the subject of human solidarity – provides a dynamic call for us to address these injustices internationally.
Andrew Copson @'The Guardian'
(Thanx Luke!)
Remember Marvin Gaye (Documentary)
In 1981, Marvin Gaye, the all time champion of soul music, took refuge in Ostend, a little town located on the Belgian coast. Marvin’s choice to lay anchor in Ostend was totally unexpected, not to say incredible. On the fact of it, there was no reason for this charismatic character to come and live in the home town of famous Belgian impressionistic painter James Ensor.
Marvin nevertheless remained in Ostend for nearly two years. He went back to the States to receive a Grammy Award for his latest album “Sexual Healing”. He died in Los Angeles on 1 April 1984, shot dead at home by his own father, a clergyman. Twenty years after the making of a first 29 minute film entitled “Marvin Gaye Transit Ostend”, I decided to make this second documentary film. It’s my way of bringing to life the picture Marvin Gaye dedicated to me:
“To Richard, From my heart, I thank you for legitimising my artist soul, and above all, I thank you my artist friend for making me immortal”.
Thanks to the use of new technology, unedited rushes and interviews in Ostend of this great American singer were used to make “Remember Marvin Gaye” a poignant and exceptional testimony on this genius of Rhythm and Blues music, who died tragically at the age of 44.
(Richard Olivier - writer 6 director)
via
Marvin nevertheless remained in Ostend for nearly two years. He went back to the States to receive a Grammy Award for his latest album “Sexual Healing”. He died in Los Angeles on 1 April 1984, shot dead at home by his own father, a clergyman. Twenty years after the making of a first 29 minute film entitled “Marvin Gaye Transit Ostend”, I decided to make this second documentary film. It’s my way of bringing to life the picture Marvin Gaye dedicated to me:
“To Richard, From my heart, I thank you for legitimising my artist soul, and above all, I thank you my artist friend for making me immortal”.
Thanks to the use of new technology, unedited rushes and interviews in Ostend of this great American singer were used to make “Remember Marvin Gaye” a poignant and exceptional testimony on this genius of Rhythm and Blues music, who died tragically at the age of 44.
(Richard Olivier - writer 6 director)
via
Jamie Woon - Mirrorwriting
It’s comprised of twelve tracks recorded in East London and Trevone, Cornwall, and includes 2010 single ‘Night Air’, which boasts additional production from Burial. Earmarked as one to watch ever since his exquisite cover of ‘Wayfaring Stranger’ three years back (thanks in no small part to the remix by, yes, Burial), Woon’s star is now truly in the ascendant: he figured prominently in the BBC’s Sound of 2011 poll and performed a sell-out tour (another one has just been announced).
"It’s personal, almost therapeutic," says the 28-year-old of his songs and songwriting. "I’m quite a private person and I don’t set out to talk about my business in public but when songs are done you can’t get around it. They are like a code, and all you need is a mirror to read it."
Tracklist:
1. Night Air
2. Street
3. Lady Luck
4. Shoulda
5. Middle
6. Spirits
7. Echoes
8. Spiral
9. TMRW
10. Secondbreath
11. Gravity
12. Waterfront
(Via FACT)
Alison Krauss: A Hundred Miles or More - Live From the Tracking Room
An hour "in the studio" with the purest musician in America, watching her do songs from her last, elegant but over-finessed album. For a woman who places so much emphasis on naturalness and authenticity, she must really like her make-up artist, who appears to have done the job with a spatula and blowtorch. Nice outfits, though. And hair. The music? Nine songs, starting with "You're Just a Country Boy", performed with eminent guests in a hallowed atmosphere, plus interviews. About as natural and spontaneous as a 'Vogue' cover shoot. (The Independent, 4 January 2009)
1. You're Just A Country Boy 2. Away Down The River 3. How's The World Treating You 4. Sawing On The Strings 5. Shadows 6. Whiskey Lullaby 7. Jacob's Dream 8. Lay Down Beside Me 9. Simple Love
with:
Barry Bales, Ron Block, Sam Bush, Steve Cox, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, John Hobbs, Abraham Laboriel, Greg Morrow, Gordon Mote, Brad Paisley, Tony Rice, James Taylor, Dan Tyminski, John Waite
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
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