Greil Marcus in Lipstick Traces “Live”

12 11 2009

Please join your friends at the ARChive as they present their first event up at Columbia University - Greil Marcus in Lipstick Traces: Live

Thursday, November 19, 6 pm
Free and open to the public

Altschul Auditorium, 417 International Affairs Building (SIPA), 420 West 118th Street

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In Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the 20th Century, Greil Marcus delved into the cross-currents, tangles, and whirlpools that made such vastly different movements as dada, lettrism, the Situationist International, and punk part of a single current. To mark the just-published 20th-anniversary edition of the book, Columbia University presents Greil Marcus in a one-man performance of Lipstick Traces.

This will be smart AND fun!

A book signing will follow the event. Lipstick Traces: Live is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Columbia Libraries, the ARChive of Contemporary Music, and the Arts Initiative at Columbia University.

In addition, the Music & Arts Library at Columbia University will display books by Marcus, books that influenced him, and posters, records, and other materials courtesy of the ARChive of Contemporary Music. The exhibition will be on display from November 1 to December 15, 2009 at The Gabe M. Wiener Music & Arts Library, 7th floor of Dodge Hall, at 2960 Broadway.

Here’s a simple bibliography of Greil’s work:
* Rock & Roll Will Stand (1969), edited anthology
* Double Feature: Movies & Politics (1972), co-authored with Michael Goodwin.
* Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock ‘n’ Roll Music (E.P. Dutton & Co., New York, 1975/2008).
* Stranded: Rock and Roll for a Desert Island (1979, editor and contributor)
* Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the 20th Century (1989/2009), a book on 20th century avant-garde art movements like Dadaism, Lettrist International and Situationist International and their influence on late 20th century countercultures and The Sex Pistols and Punk Movement.
* Dead Elvis: A Chronicle of a Cultural Obsession (1991), about the phenomenon of Elvis Presley in the years since his death
* In the Fascist Bathroom: Punk in Pop Music, 1977-1992 (1993, published in the US as Ranters and Crowd Pleasers)
* The Dustbin of History (1995)
* Invisible Republic: Bob Dylan’s Basement Tapes (1998; also published as The Old, Weird America: Bob Dylan’s Basement Tapes, 2001), an account of American folk culture, seen through Bob Dylan’s Basement Tapes.
* Double Trouble: Bill Clinton and Elvis Presley in a Land of No Alternatives (2001)
* The Manchurian Candidate (2002)
* The Rose & the Briar: Death, Love and Liberty in the American Ballad (2004, co-edited with Sean Wilentz)
* Like a Rolling Stone: Bob Dylan at the Crossroads (2005), a “biography” of the Dylan song
* The Shape of Things to Come: Prophecy in the American Voice (2006)
• A New Literary History of America (2009, with Werner Sollers, Harvard University Press)

call or e-me if you have any questions :  B. George 212-226-6967  arcmusic@inch.com=

DIRECTIONS  -  International Affairs Building (SIPA) / Altschul Auditorium

Getting to Columbia’s Campus:
The main entrances to Columbia’s campus on Morningside Heights in Manhattan are at Broadway and 116th Street (where the subway station is) and at Amsterdam Avenue and 116th Street.

Public Transportation:
The best way to reach campus is using the subway. Take subway line number 1 or 9 local to 116th Street (Columbia University) station.

Parking:
You may park on the street or use the local parking garages. The 512-520 Garage is located at the corner of 112th Street and Amsterdam; the Riverside Church Parking Garage is located on 120th Street between Claremont Avenue and Riverside Drive.

Finding Altschul Auditorium on Columbia’s Campus:
The International Affairs building (also known as SIPA) is on the eastern side of Columbia University’s Morningside Campus. The building is at 420 W. 118th Street, on the south side of 118th Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Morningside Avenue (closer to Amsterdam). Altschul Auditorium is located in the lobby of the building on the first floor, room 417.

Entering From Campus:
From the main campus entrance (right by the subway stop at 116th Street and Broadway) walk east all the way across College Walk (116th Street) to Amsterdam Avenue. Go north two blocks to 118th Street and cross Amsterdam; the International Affairs building is there on the corner. The entrance is on 118th Street (south side).





Alternative China in New York

2 11 2009

For MORE than just this week Columbia’s Arts Initiative, with minimal help from ARC, brings the latest Beijing music scene to your very doorstep.  Organized by the Chinese record label Maybe Mars and the rock club D-22, it’s THE CHINESE UNDERGROUND INVASION TOUR, featuring Carsick Cars, PK-14, White and Xiao He.

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Anti-Cantopop, this group of performers work outside government-controlled media channels, with a sound building off of New York’s No Wave of the late 70s and EU Industrial.  Add to this the PR blub; “The Beijing musicians have nonetheless reconfigured this urban western vocabulary to fit with Beijing opera’s traditional delight with textural experimentation and China’s centuries-long history of infatuation with shimmering melodic structures.  With the sound of broken-down machines cranking out lovely pop songs, the unique sound emerging from China’s music underground illuminates the new social void, aggressively questioning the moral and social basis of the fragile modernity on which it subsists.”  What more could you want?

This series of shows feature the best and brightest:
Carsick Cars is China’s premier underground band.  They’ve played with Sonic Youth on tour, and their 2nd CD was produced by Wharton Tiers.  Their song “Zhong nan hai” has become an anthem for this new Chinese counterculture.  Talk about diverse appeal, Kanye West posted one of the band’s videos to his blog while the Wall Street Journal offered praise!

White is the leading experimental band in China, minimal and mechanical, the latest CD produced by Blixa Bargeld of Einsturzende Neubaten.

Xiao He is described as a surreal folkie, drawing critical acclaim from recent shows in Europe, with a “progressively eclectic sound that draws upon traditional instrumentation and vocal arrangements looped within his live performances.”

P.K. 14 was called by Time Magazine one of five top bands in Asia and one of the most influential bands on the burgeoning Beijing scene.soundkapital_event

Accompanying the live shows is a not-to-be-missed gallery exhibition and book release for Sound Kapital, a remarkable photographic overview of the bands and fans by photographer Matt Neiderhauser.  It’s at the Powerhouse Arena, 37 Main St. @ Water, Brooklyn, 718-666-3049, running from Oct 28 – Nov 29.  Opening reception Thursday, Nov 5, from 7-9, with a pile of music afterward.  I’ll be there, so come by and say hello…

Here’s the short list of Confirmed local shows:
Weds 11/4 – Manhattan  – VON  – Xiao He & Shouwang (from Carsick Cars)
Thurs 11/5  – Brooklyn, NYC  – powerHouse Arena  – Xiao He, Carsick Cars & P.K. 14
Fri  11/6  – Brooklyn, NYC  @  Glasslands  – These Are Powers, Soft Circle, Carsick Cars, P.K.14 & Xiao He
Sat  11/7  – Manhattan  @  SANTOS Party House  – P.K.14 , Carsick Cars, Antimagic, BJ Rubin, Knyfe Hyts
Sun  11/8  – Manhattan  @  Columbia University  – Xiao He
Fri  11/20  – Manhattan  @  Ding Dong Lounge  – Octagon, Carsick Cars, P.K.14 & Xiao He
Sat  11/21  – Williamsburg  @  Secret Project Robot  – Carsick Cars, P.K.14, Xiao He,  Aa, Knyfe Hyts 81 & others…
Sun  11/22  – Manhattan  @  PERFORMA’s Grande Finale  – Shouwang, Xiao He, and many others…

Get the whole schedule and any changes here.

And as music could never happen without devotion AND finance Columbia’s Alumni Arts League will present a Sunday brunch with alumni Michael Pettis and Charles Saliba to discuss current events in China, from financial markets to rock and roll, over a private brunch with an intimate group of fellow Columbians and Asian Cultural Council guests.

Charles and Michael are the force behind the D-22 club and the Maybe Mars record label, the folks behind this current tour.  It’s Sunday afternoon on Sun, Nov. 8, and alums can get details by calling 212.851.1879.





ARC Partners with Columbia University

10 04 2009

It’s taken a while, but here’s the text of the official press release from Columbia University.  Yes, were changing the face (facade) of academic study!

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Columbia Forges Partnership with ARChive of Contemporary Music
Collection of be-bop, bluegrass, blues, country, jazz, rap, reggae, rock, zydeco
and other forms to be made available for research and education

NEW YORK, April 6, 2009 — Columbia University has joined in a cooperative agreement with the ARChive of Contemporary Music, the largest collection of popular music in the world, to integrate the resources of the archive into arts programming at the university and other educational and scholarly activities.

The partnership is between the archive, Columbia University Libraries and the Arts Initiative at Columbia. Holdings of the archive include the Keith Richards Blues Collection, endowed by Richards, and the 50,000 disc World Music collection.

“The ARChive is excited to partner with Columbia to create innovative academic initiatives and online content to help with the study, understanding and enjoyment of popular music from all over the world,” said Bob George, director of the archive. “One of the first projects under this new partnership will mount the ARChive’s catalog online, for both students and the general public to access. This initial database, the International Discography, will provide data on a half-million recordings in the collection of over 2 million sound recordings.”

The New York-based archive is supported by a remarkable board of advisors which includes David Bowie, Jellybean Benitez, Jonathan Demme, Ellie Greenwich, Jerry Leiber, Youssou N’Dour, Lou Reed, Keith Richards, Nile Rodgers, Todd Rundgren, Fred Schneider, Martin Scorsese, Paul Simon and Mike Stoller.

“The archive is an extraordinary resource and it is an honor for Columbia to make the collection available for education and scholarship,” said Jim Neal, vice president for information services and University Librarian. “We welcome this opportunity to advance wider availability and use of the archive.”
As part of its continuing commitment to engagement in the city, University Libraries and the Arts Initiative will work with the archive to reach out to interested communities to develop programs and projects that support the work of the partnership. The Arts Initiative will work to develop and implement public programming which highlights the work of the collaboration and brings visibility to the archive.

“The Arts Initiative is especially happy to have collaborated with Jim Neal in the expanded access to this remarkable collection,” said Gregory Mosher, director of the Arts Initiative and adjunct assistant professor of theatre arts. “Connecting the arts with other ways of understanding the world is central to the Arts Initiative’s work, and Bob George’s collection is a unique way of understanding the American, not to mention international, experience as expressed through its most popular art form. We look forward to working with Bob, the library, Columbia’s scholars and artists, and artists from around the world to create unique and compelling programming in the coming years.”

The ARChive of Contemporary Music is a not-for-profit archive, music library and research center located in New York City. It collects, preserves and provides information on the popular music of all cultures and races throughout the world from 1950 to the present. Now in its 24th year, the archive consists of 2 million sound recordings and approximately 3 million photographs, books, press kits, videos, memorabilia and related ephemera.

The Arts Initiative was launched by Columbia President Lee C. Bollinger in February 2004 to re-examine the role of the arts in the university and the university’s role in the arts. Under the direction of Gregory Mosher, the Arts Initiative strives to enliven the arts on campus, connect the campus to the city’s culture, and link the arts with other ways of understanding the world. It collaborates with student and faculty partners across the campus, unconstrained by academic field, and works regularly with the city and national and international cultural partners to make the arts a part of every Columbian’s education and life.

Columbia University Libraries/Information Services is one of the top 5 academic research library systems in North America. Its collections include over 10 million volumes, over 100,000 journals and serials, as well as extensive electronic resources, manuscripts, rare books, microforms, maps, graphic and audio-visual materials. The services and collections are organized into 25 libraries and various academic technology centers. The Libraries employs more than 550 professional and support staff.

About Columbia University
A leading academic and research university, Columbia University continually seeks to advance the frontiers of knowledge and to foster a campus community deeply engaged in understanding and addressing the complex global issues of our time. Columbia’s extensive public service initiatives, cultural collaborations and community partnerships help define the University’s underlying values and mission to educate students to be both leading scholars and informed, engaged citizens. Founded in 1754 as King’s College, Columbia University in the City of New York is the fifth oldest institution of higher learning in the United States.





Strategien Gegen Architekturen

4 03 2009

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Recently the ARSC list posted info on the problems with the increasing number of unstable modern concrete structures, and how safety concerns were rumored (not true) to have led to the relocation, and unavailability, of the great pop music collection at Bowling Green State University.  But an archive in Cologne did collapse.  The heading for this info was, cleverly, Einstürzende Neubauten.

So just for fun, here is our hard-to-catalog list of Einstürzende Neubauten recordings @ ARC, alpha by title, not including compilations, white label promos or the uncatalogued 30plus twelve-inch singles and 11 seven-inch singles in the collection.   As point of reference ARC has catalogued 32 more EN recordings than the Library of Congress and 27 more than Bowling Green.

Einsturzende Neubauten
• 80-83 Strategien Gegen Architekturen  (Homestead, USA, HMS 063, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, 1986)
• 80-83 Strategien Gegen Architekturen  (Mute, UK, STUMM 14, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, 1983)
• 1991 – 2001  (Mute Corporation, 9165-2, 5″, compact disc-2CD, 2002)
• 1/2 Mensch  (Rough Trade, USA, BIZZ/ART 1, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, 1985)
• 2 x 4  (Roir, 133, 5″, compact disc, -)
• 2 x 4  (Roir, 8235, 5″, compact disc, 1997)
• Die Hamletmaschine  (Ego, Germany, 111, 5″, compact disc, -)
• Drawings of O.T.  (PVC, USA, PVC 9902, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, 1984)
• Ein Dokument 1985 In Tokio (Inclues a Booklet)  ( cassette –)
• Faustmusik  (Mute, 9021-2, 5″, Compact Disc, 1996)
• Faustmusik  (Ego, Germany, EGO 501, 5″, Compact Disc, 1996)
• Feurio!  (Rough Trade, Germany, RTD 065 T, 12″, vinyl disc-Single or Ep, 1990)
• Five On The Open-Ended Richter-Scale  (Thirsty Ear, THI 57016, 5″, compact disc, 1995)
• Fuenf Auf der Nach Oben Offenen Richterskala  (Relativity, USA, 88561-8188-1, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, 1987)
• Haus Der Luege  (Thirsty Ear, 57017, 5″, compact disc, 1995)
• Haus der Luege  (Rough Trade, USA, ROUGH 71 US, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, 1989)
• Haus Der Lüge  (Rough Trade, USA, RoughUS 71CD, 5″, compact disc, n.d.)
• Interim  (Mute, 61509-2, 5″, Compact Disc, 1997)
• Kalte Sterne – Early Recordings  (Mute, UK, CDStumm137, 5″, compact disc, 2004)
• Kalte Sterne – Early Recordings  (Mute, 9249-2, 5″, Compact Disc, 2004)
• Kollaps  (Zickzack, Germany, ZZ 65, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, n.d.)
• Live At Club Chicago (Advance CASS)  (, , 12″, cassette , –)
• Perpetuum Mobile  (Mute, 9237-2, 5″, Compact Disc, 2004)
• Perpetuum Mobile  (Mute, UK, CDStumm221, 5″, compact disc, 2004)
• Schwarz (12″, vinyl disc-Single or Ep, –)
• Silence Is Sexy  (Mute, 9132, 5″, compact disc-2CD, 2000)
• Strategies Against Architecture II  (Mute, 61100-2, 5″, compact disc-2CD, 1991)
• Strategies Aganist Architecture  (Mute/Elektra, 61677-2, 5″, compact disc, 1994)
• Tabula Rasa  (Beton, 106, 5″, compact disc, 1993)
• Tabula Rasa  (Mute, 61458-2, 5″, Compact Disc, 1993)
• Tabula Rasa  (Mute, UK, CDStumm156 , 5″, compact disc-2CD, 2004)
• “Thirsty Animal” / “Durstiges Tier”  (Ripoff [?], Germany, n.n., 12″, , 1982) w/ Lydia Lunch.
• “Yu-Gung” // “Seele brennt” / “Sand”  (Some Bizzare, UK, BART 12, 12″, vinyl disc-Single or Ep, 1985)
• Zeichnungen des Patienten O.T.  (Some Bizzare, UK, SBVART 2, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, 1983)





Musi Cali

7 04 2008

Here are some nice music images from California for all our dedicated disc bloganatii…

The ORIGINAL music makin’ Madonna, namesake for the Madonna Inn, US Highway 1, coastal CA.

A modern madonna from the conjunto band, Jose Luis Ruelas y Sus Rivales del Norte, entertains at lunch at the Capitol Flea Market in San Jose.

Shot off the big screen at the renovated and delux Stanford movie theater, where ARSC members were treated to an assortment of early sound Vitaphone releases, this one of “Guido Diero, World”s Foremost Piano-Accordionist,” from 1928. And according to http://www.guidodeiro.com/vitaphone.html, he is the first accordionist ever to appear in a sound film. Check out the Vitaphone project just for fun, http://www.picking.com/vitaphone53.html.

Signage at 101 Music & Books in San Francisco (no webthing, but great vinyl, (1414 Grant Ave
San Francisco, CA 94133, cross street: Green in North Beach/Telegraph Hill. Tel. +1 415.392.6369)

Record Surplus in LA – a better mural than store.

Singing Nuns at the fleamarket on Berryessa Road.

Mural outside kitchen window at Brooke’s in SF.

That same mural featuring Kid de Brooke, Gabby, selling it as Diana Ross in honor of Disco Day at her school!





Are They So Very Different Today?

8 02 2008

Hipsters, I mean.

No, Columbia wasn’t the hippest label in the 1950s, but the cover of their Columbia House Party LP did nothing to hurt them.  Covered with hipsters hanging around with portable pets, drinking martinis, smoking who knows what and carrying on, it eerily echoes the kinds of things that I see contemporary hipsters doing still.  The music on this one not so cool (snorelights include Norman Luboff, Liberace, Guy Mitchell, Rosemary Clooney, Mitch Miller), but the record is so beautifully well packaged I can’t not blog it.  Check out this amazing cover by Naiad Einsel (click the image for a fuller view)

Columbia House Party Recto

The back cover is great too, detailing what would appear to be the full line of Columbia phonographs and tape recorders:

Columbia House Party Verso

I think I’m going to hit up eBay for a set of “his and hers” model 412s.  My wife, I’m sure, will be speechless, but it’ll all be worth it if she and I someday end up on a record cover just like this one, shown listening to records on our matching 412s.

DTN FUDD





Record Hound of Barcelona

7 11 2007

As you all know that Spanish visionary, A. Gaudi, loved his music. Some insists he was a serious trance + techno fan, sneaking off to rave the Balerics between concrete pours.

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But I’m convinced it was the fandango that fueled his modernist visions. Regardless, images of records, LPs mostly, began to shade his architectural landscape. Here are examples from around the 1900s at the Casa Mila, Casa Batllo and the Park Guell in Barcelona.

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Years ago we had asked Gaudi to help us out and try his hand at an ARC logo. Pretty good, but we had to pass. Like Charles Dickens; a great mind, but his spelling was not quite up to snuff.

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B. = Barcelona