ba ba ti ki di do

Just heard yesterday of the passing of Merce Cunningham.

I went to see a representation of split sides with music by radiohead and sigur ros (who were playing it live)

Can't say much about him though... he showed at the end , outlining a small pas de danse.

Hope his art will live on for many years . Funny concept he has was to play the order of costumes, choregraphy, music and background at heads or tails for there were two sets of each, making virtually every show a different one.

RIP.

http://www.merce.org/thecompany_r-splitsides.html

Gone too soon

Michael Jackson is dead.

I will not dwell in the futur conspiracy theories who will be going on probably and the media circus that will spread and take over other news for days to come.

Thoughts of course go to the family and friends and a bit to the fans who lost truly an idol.

Now, what I really want is to express about one's feeling. My feelings.

I do not feel sad. Yes, he was a great musician who changed the world and truly left a mark into the world.
True his life took some changes not for the best but it matters not in death all is not fair as in love and war.

But I digress.

Michael Jackson of course rocked my world for a bunch of years when I was young.
I heard a bit of thriller but I fell for it at BAD. And I drifted out after Dangerous.

But some of his songs still touch me.
Liberian Girl, Man in the Mirror, remember the time.....

I recently saw a show with all his best videos... It was great pop for sure.

Hell I even learned the moonwalk.

I'll probably buy some of his albums because it is part of my youth and memory and because of course it was great stuff worth listening to.

Now i'll probably hum beat it and gone too soon for the rest of the day and let the medias and the insurance and the IRS sort out the pieces of the body but in the end it matters not..."for you'll always be in my heart"

Born To Amuse, To Inspire, To Delight

Here One Day

Gone One Night

Thank you Michael for the kind memories.
They are mine but you were part of it.

The Freak Show

Listening on my shuffle the new live from Pendragon concerto maximo, I shut it down on this song. The album Pure will have it's own post for it is a very good album indeed.
This note is mostly motivated by a small overview of the John Byrne Forum, urging me to write as I said before about the dedicated forum of an artist.

Now you see where I'm getting at....

Officials forums and fan clubs forums are great to find fans, get up to date news, insights or even interact with their favorite creator.
Sure they are great for that.

Sadly in most of the dedicated-to-a-group-(or artist)-fan-forums, there is a golden rule.

The artist IS GOD.

Point.

Even if the artist is a nice person without an inch of surpersized ego, he IS GOD and his Word shall maketh Law.

Just to remember the name " Fan" do come from "Fanatic", a word rarely used in a good way, especially when it comes to religion. And when it comes to art and artists, man sometimes it sure gets religious on your a$$.
The artist becomes God, its work is almost always flawless, everyone daring to criticize even a little is almost always banned or burned alive; whatever is the most handy.
It's amazing how people when they are together brings the worst of themselves, hell it looks like army camp all over again, please leave your brain and your thinking matter outside, you'll have no need in here, we'll think for you.

Of course, the human being human, the more people starts defending a point of view without real criticism, the more the opponent starts bashing more and more the point of view in question.
So quickly, the flame war rages on the forum between the moudjahidine and the infidels.

It is amusing to see these persons barking at each other throat as if they really gonna make the other person change his mind.

In almost all the dedicated forums I saw, you have to face that kind of people, of Fans. And boy does it scare me to see so much lack of open mindess.

That is why I rather very much go to general forum. There you'll find people from different walk of life and most of the time with more open mindness than the one who could come across on the dedicated ones.
And you could criticize, argue, debate and even starts a flame war but most of the times, it is way much more open and in the end, that is better for them, you and the wonderful act of debating and exchanging point of views.

And if you want to see the Freak Show going on....

R.I.P HUGH HOPPER

Hugh just died of cancer... Bassist for Soft Machine and many prog outfits...
I saw him with the polyson people and the friend of my dad and Louis Sclavis frequent drummer François Merville in Saint Germain en laye.
Apparently a benefit concert was to take place in Paris at le Triton on the 27th of June... might not make it but sure gonna have a thought about him.


http://www.letriton.com/fiches%202/0627-HughHopper.html
http://www.hugh-hopper.com/

THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #26

Written by John Rozum, art by Scott Hampton, cover by Michael Wm. Kaluta.

Years ago, The Spectre unleashed his terrible vengeance against predatory killer Ray Walker. But some evil can't be snuffed out so easily, and Walker's ghost continues to haunt the city of Dakota! His victims must turn to David Kim, the Xombi, to right the wrong. Don't miss the Xombi's first footsteps in the DC Universe!

32 pages, $2.99, in stores on August 19

I'm doing a shameless plug here to celebrate the return of a great comicbook character, David"Xombi" Kim into the DC universe.

David Kim is a character from the Milestone imprint done by DC in the old days ninety-Mbmrmrm something.

But don't let that scare you. Xombi was pretty much a self contained universe.

Running 21 numbers (plus an origin 0 issue drawn by denys Cowan), Xombi chronicles the story of scientist David Kim who enters a world of esoterism and supernatural after becoming ... a kind of undead.

David Kim was brought back to life by his work on nanotechnology, becoming almost immortal since his body regenerates thanks to the nannies in his bloodstream (Bit like Wolverine.. you know him do you ?)

Anyway, David Kim dives after his death and rebirth into a world full of stranges creatures, angels, demons, odd people who are after his work.

Xombi was a great read, praised by lots of people, Alan Moore being the first.

The whole run by John rozum and with pencils painted by JJ Birch was a bit off beat kinda vertigo taste in mainstream super heroes, a truly great run well worth the read.

And now Xombi is back from the dead.

Go buy, pre order that issue. It's self contained, it's by Rozum with art by Scott Hampton and gracing a cover by Kaluta. Enough to buy by itself.

Hopefully it will spark interest so they can do another Xombi run or at least reprint the series in trade forms.

If not go find also the back issues. Very different, a truly magical serie with well written characters that made me cry once.

And not a lot of them comics makes me cry I assure you.

So go preorder, and stop buying that wolverine comics that month... Hell you're pratically sure to find it on back issues later.

Rise & Fall

Many times we, amateurs of Fine Arts, are obliged to face the good old problem I call the long time band problem.

You discover a band, you like the album. You go to the concerts, all is fine.
They put out a new disc. By likeness or completism, you buy it, listen to it.
And so forth for a certain number of times. And then you feel confronted with two choices. (Especially when you go on the internet and on band forums, which is the worst but that is for another time)

First the band does the same album, different songs of course but same type, same construction, same M.O. Of course that is what you liked in them the first time.

Second, the band changes style (radically or not) at every other album or so. Now it's getting tricky because you don't seem to recognize the band you fell in love with.

And so the internet breaks in half over the new album with those who complain because it is the same album all over again and those who complain because the band betray themselves and what they were at first (or before).

People expect from artists certain things... Quality, recognisable patterns and clichés.
But really can you expect from people to change at all what they are doing or even to expect a small change.
Most of the artists have a personality of their own with their hopes and habits.
As anyone can (and want) to change there is always a bit you can recognise for we humans are creature of habits.
We like patterns, familiar rituals we can do to feel safe because the biggest fear out there is -well-the unknown.

That is why when we like an artist, we feel safe and comfortable (and so he is) with doing a bit of the routine stuff. And that’s why we do feel betrayed when there is change.

Yet sometimes, the opposite strikes. Our thirst for new things, that curiosity that have driven humanity down many roads including technology, space and genetic manipulation ; all that drives us to seek , if not something new, at last something part new, something like evolution.

So everyone is doing their part to create express in any medium to build things, moral constructs or pleasant interludes for ourselves and our fellow humans. The fragile balance is to be attained between being better at our craft and try to evolve, to do other things to broaden our view and let other faces of our diamond-shaped talents shine a bit more.

Life is creation and is movement and it's never-ending and perpetual.

Flashing red light means go

Went to see a couple of groups last week...
First and foremost Delain, a nice female led kinda métal-early gathering band which was a nice venue, charlotte the main voice is a lovely lady with one of the most beautiful smile ever.

But on first part was Whyzdom, a year old band with a disc coming, a project by a connaissance of mine Vynce Leff who found in Telya Melane a beautiful voice.

Whyzdom goes all the way down the traditional heavenly métal female voiced and sure can make themselves a place given time among the others bands in the same style.

And speaking of foreplay again, I managed to see the londonian combo the boxer rebellion again. I previously saw them with oceansize and I must say their post-prog-pop -whetever rock was, if not original, somehow well done.

I had to see them again (and get their new album Union)

So I went to the quidam/brakes/TBR concert in le point Ephemère on Monday.

And they are great... If the music, in the likes of radiohead/sigur ros/marillion/coldplay is not original, the songs are good and not as good as Live I must say. Definitly a band worth checking out...

http://www.whyzdom.com/

http://www.theboxerrebellion.net/