Mikael Kennedy on the come-up

The homie Mikael Kennedy is getting his propers these days - solo show of 500 polaroids at the Chelsea Hotel, blog write ups, plus this random occurrence. Us VT expats are damn proud of our boy.

Amidst it all he has found the time to deliver a new book collecting Polaroids from 2008. "Passport to Trespass Vol. V - Come Home" documents his journey from New Mexico, back to the East coast, and out to the Northwest during the astrological time of his Saturn Return. We see many familiar faces from the mythos he has built since his first published collection "Still, Not Dead" (2005 interrupt/nine37), but the focus here seems to be on the landscapes he ventured through. Vast scenes in the faded light of instant development, from city nights to mountain roads, offer open ended reflection. Mikael offers little definition for the images until the end of the book where he titles each section to narrate his year of exploration. The images are nostalgic and fresh, memories of right now that remind me of the importance of passing moments.

You can see more images from the collection and purchase this limited edition (100 copies, each signed and numbered by the artist) at mikaelkennedy.com


Also check out this interview which came up about a month ago and I just got around to sharing.

Thirty Days NY Artist Series: Mikael Kennedy from Thirty Days NY on Vimeo.

Album Review: Typhoon "Hunger and Thirst"

Portland’s Typhoon will finally fulfill many fans desire with the release of their new album, Hunger and Thirst, on May 4th by local culture mavens Tender Loving Empire. With gorgeous cover art by R.S. Delucco, the work was produced and recorded by Paul Laxer in the Victorian house they share capturing the beautiful sound and experience of the house shows that Typhoon has become well-recognized for.

It’s been five years since their self-titled debut came out on their own Boy Gorilla Records. The maturity of the group is immediately evident. With seven core members and seventeen players on the record, Typhoon is a mashup of instrumentalists that can pull back to stillness just as easily as they cascade into symphonic emotion. On Hunger and Thirst, they find a taut balance between the two, crafting orchestral folk music arranged for deep impact.

Read the rest of the review on Oregon Music News

Album Review: Graymaker

A while ago I wrote this review of Grayskul and Maker's collaborative project, GRAYMAKER, which came out at the end of 2009 on Taxidermy Records.

Graymaker is the latest release from Seattle’s Grayskul: emcees JFK and Onry Ozzborne of Oldominion and Rhymesayers fame. This project finds them working with Maker, the Chicago-based producer behind the highly acclaimed group Glue.

Maker’s production here is like the soundtrack to a dark seventies crime film. Eerie horns wail over classic soul guitars. The synth is subtle and the drum samples are all very organic, which gives the whole album a classic sound. Jazz and funk elements mesh in spacious loops building an atmosphere of a street late at night.

Read the full review on Oregon Music News

New Music Review - Saudade - Lookouts' Journal LP

I wrote this review for Oregon Music News, which is where it originally appeared.



Saudade is an untranslatable Portuguese word for an irreconcilable longing.

Saudade is also the musical conversation between Jason Gray and Chris Cantino, two artists who met working in a residential psychiatric treatment facility.

They come from different musical backgrounds, and opposite sides of the country, but working together they found a common voice in tonal dialogue. They have been playing shows in Portland since 2007, and their 2008 downloadable LP The Hooded Ones (also released on the cassette-only label Peasant Magik) was well received and made a few top-ten lists in the noise/ambient blog world.

Their newest effort, Lookouts’ Journal, is available this week from Arena Rock Recording Co.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

New Music Review - Adam Kadmon - Teslaphonics LP

Adam Kadmon makes rap music that draws from a multitude of sources and clearly reflects the stew of sound that we encounter on an average day of listening in the aftermath of the blog era. I just googled his name and apparently it references a Kabbalistic character that is the primal soul of all mankind. Good starting point. Teslaphonics is hip hop with all its circuits bent, but not to the point that your ears get overloaded. This is lo-fi, scratchy like vinyl and full of strange tones that linger in the rhythm. Some sound like they are banging out of a bomb shelter symphony (Hark the Herlad), and others sound like they were heard at the Circus-Circus while Hunter Thompson was tripping on ether (Nuggets). His vocal delivery is swag enough to have the current crop of post-Kanye-rappers shaking in their vintage sneakers, and filtered through static like a transmission from earths last radio. The lyrics are poetic, drawing abstract metaphors together with sci-fi braggadocio and vivid images from some brokedown noir film. Wild lines I can decipher include: he held a sign in his hand that said spare change please / and in large bold letters GOD DONT HEAL AMPUTEES, and heavenly trumpets playing from the beaches / kids shooting up the school while they layin with their teachers, and I got a coin-operated laundry list of demands / assisted living off the skin off the palms of my hands / skin of our teeth, our lives are intentionally brief / to keep the meaning of it all insufficiently deep. Clearly you will need to think about these songs and thankfully they are engaging enough to warrant many repeat listens. This record is part of the slew of free releases from the good people at World Around Records, who are committed to developing artists that are creative, honest and personal. Adam Kadmon is, at the very least, all of the above, and this record has me wondering what strange landscapes his music will bring me through in the future. I will certainly be listening.

You can download the full record HERE and check out more great music at WorldAroundRecords.Com

Nanoism - fiction phrased for your phone.

Nanoism is a Twitter-based lit zine (no, really) that publishes fiction of 140 characters or less. As in, the length of a Twitter post. They publish 3 stories a week, and also pay for accepted submissions. Thats not all. They also publish good stories- as good as it can get in that breadth of space. In December they are going to publish a series of serials, each five posts in length, and they are running a contest to find the best stories to publish. The best part about this idea is that they not only have to make sense as a serialized whole, but also must stand alone as individual stories. The theme is the story of life, which I look forward to seeing ripped open across the board.

Apparently there are a growing number of very short story (#vss in the search box) publishers on Twitter and if you like reading quick hits of good words, its worth looking into. It seems like the idea is that you can subscribe to these zines via your mobile device, and get txts of poetry or fiction to brighten your day. Nanoism editor Ben White is blogging about these zines as he finds them at BenWhite.Com. Overall I think this literary arena is worth checking out, because if nothing else, its a quick read.

Visit Nanoism.net

and follow Nanosim on Twitter