Blogs

B.C. MacEachran - Shooting Stars - ebers|B9 - May 8 - June 6, 2009 (Chicago)

There is a new gallery in town, it is run by Sara Beth Ebers and located at 1359 w. chicago, B9. Here is the press release for there first show.

B.C. MacEachran’s paintings are cultural documents based on his artistic experiences past and present, drawing directly from self-analysis and an expanded multicultural immersion. His process is predicated on the notion that art acts both as artifact, affording it the ability to fall in and out of favor (fashion), and as a production of realities, i.e., ways of looking.

MacEachran finds influence in pluralistic attitudes towards style, attitudes that do not profess loyalty to a singular way of seeing or specific audience. Intent upon addressing the paradoxical point of breaking down the relationship between art and life, while at the same time increasing and reinforcing it, he addresses the ironic link perceived between art and self.

Doug Draime Knox County (Kendra Steiner Editions, #132, April 2009)

Being born in 1978 in the state of Illinois I have no perspective on how fresh and vibrant the memories of a racist south actually run. In Doug Draime’s most recent collection he attempts to paint a picture, through a child’s eyes, of the pre-fifties south. In the poems “Alligator Boots” and “Hanging Tree” he shares these softened, filtered, explanations of a challenging time in our Nation’s history. It’s clear the young boy in these poems is trying to grasp all that he sees, but is unable to fully understand the stories and images. It is a point of view that many still in the south today can probably relate to.

Mixed in with those poems our other childhood memories that combine to capture a more complete picture of the boy’s youth. In just six poems Draime is able to explain the perspective of a young man through vivid snapshots of an eventful life. Also, included in this collection are a few photos by Lena Ozuna that further assist in setting the scene.

Arkansas is home to the latest singer/songwriter to show a full rainbow of Chameleon colors, Chase Pagan. On his forthcoming album “Bells & Whistles”, Chase displays everything from a soulful honk-tonk to a vibrant folk troubadour to a soaring falsetto. Complete with marching band horns, piano, pysc guitars, this album is diverse, but still simple at its core.

Listen to: Life Garden (mp3)

Listening:
1. Stephanie Schneiderman: Sensual in everything, beats, lyrics, and more. Check out her latest album, Dangerous Fruit.
2. Kenan Bell: LA emcee/producer is making a name for himself by rapping over pop songs. You can download his mixtape, Good News, here.
3. UUVVWWZ - No that is not a typo, this Lincoln, NE band is the latest signing to Saddle Creek Records. Listen to: Shark Suit (mp3)

Reading:
1. Tasted like peanut-butter and guava-jelly (on the last, broken half-slice of bread)by Andy Riverbed: Bar room poetry.

A few weeks ago I went to see my boyhood idols, Dinosaur Jr. perform in a small club. I positioned myself directly in front of J and his eight amps, and as I made my exit the buzz was furious in my head. Turning on the car more rock blared, and it was just too much to handle. I rummaged through the stack of cds on the passengers seat and pulled out a cd that I had just received called Zodiac Dust and put it in hoping to sooth the buzz. I was instantly transported away from the crushing sonic waves to a tropical oasis in the middle of the vast arms of space.

Loop 2.4.3 is the work of Thomas Kozumplik and Lorne Watson, and employ a gamut of percussion instruments, from marimba and steel drum to tom-toms, bongos and snare drums, temple bowls and wood blocks, opera gongs and electronics. They even invented a couple instruments for this album. The result is a stunning adventure in percussion and sound.

You can imagine that a musician who takes his moniker from a computer video game from the '90's would have a unique sound and Magnus Sätterström (aka Little Big Adventure) does not disappoint. When you hear him discuss his roots, you may be surprised at how far he has come. "Things turned when I took all my savings and bought a Casio-keyboard. Instead of writing boring guitar songs I could now play everything on this. I’m not exactly a skilled keyboard player so I recorded everything note by note and then cut it all together in my music program. To cover up all my technical flaws I put a noise filter on everything so that no one could hear the glitches between the notes, and no one could hear the noise from the microphone, as everything was noisy." That was five years ago, but the sound on his debut ep, The Hateful Eye, is still clearly handcrafted.

Are there inherent limitations placed on artists when we classify them as illustrators, or designers, or print makers? Perhaps this applies more in school, but regardless, categories can limit the way we perceive an artist. I first saw the work of Angelica Paige at an open portfolio session at a printmaking conference, but I would have never guessed that she is an illustrator who has a passion for printing making and painting.

Her work combines various elements of nature and a few darker forces. She works with paints, etching, litho, and much more. She thrives in the structure of printmaking, but enjoys venturing out into out art forms.

Recently, Angelica was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

"I miss the honest life we used to lead/scraping up odd jobs so we could see/a movie the next town over"

Just when I thought I was beginning to understand the function and process of poetry I happen to come across a book that completely changes my thought process. Poetry, even when collected into book form, is not supposed to tell a story. Poetry is suppose to caress topics, and sweep up snapshots of events in metaphors. Shaindel Beers' debut collection, A Brief History in Time, achieves something more profound. Shaindel manages to tell the story of her life (or something close to it) through verse, and through her honesty and subtle use of methaphor she is able to relate this story to a wide range of readers.

Yesterday, I conducted my ever live interview in an attempt to the followers on Shaindel's vitural book tour something new and different.

Liverpool-born brothers Paul and Alan Farrier have been writing music together since childhood, and were initially driven by a love of artists including Kraftwerk, Human League, Pet Shop Boys and Underground Resistance. As Shadow Dancer they combine these influences with expirements with technology to create a fast-paced collection dance tracks. However, they are not new to the scene by any means. They have actually been creating beats since the '90's, but it wasn't until after a three-year hiatus (brought about by damaged equipment and the brothers’ commitment to their day jobs) that Shadow Dancer came into being. Shadow Dancer has been with their current label Boysnoize since '07, but this June they will make their full-length debut.

Music:
Ben Lee - The Rebirth of Venus
Great Northern - Remind Me Where the Light Is Listen to: Story (mp3)
Paper Route - Absence
Thee Oh Sees - Help Listen to: Enemy Destruct (mp3)
Tosca - No Hassle