Archive for November, 2008

One of my acquaintances on facebook is Brenda Staudenmaier, and she posted this picture today which I think is very beautiful:

the lovely brenda collaboration with faro exhibited at alphabeta nyc nov 2008

Recently I purchased 8 collected works of various poets. I am of course still busy reading and interpreting these poems but I can already say that ‘New and Collected poems, 1931-2001′ by Czeslaw Milosz, published by HarperCollins.com is one of the best Collected works I have ever read, and in fact just might be the best poetry book I now own. I was already familiar with the work of Milosz but this book really demonstrates what an incredibly talented and diverse poet he was. I rate him far above any of his contemporaries, and anyone who loves great poetry simply can’t afford to have at least one of Milosz’s collected works (there are others) – what I can tell you though that this particular one is very complete, well edited and contains translations of over 20 different translators, which is usually a more safe choice than depending on a single translator. Milosz in my eyes was perhaps the most important European poet of the 20th century and he’s certainly my favorite. You can buy this work on Amazon for a meagre 13 dollars! I will cite one poem, under the poem is a link to purchase the book.

To my daimonion / Czeslaw Milosz

I.

Please, my daimonion, ease off just a bit,
I am still closing accounts and have much to tell.
Your rhythmical whispers intimidate me.
Today, for instance, reading about a certain old woman
I saw again – let us call her Priscilla,
Though I am astonished that I can give her any name
And people will not care. So, that Priscilla,
Her gums in poor shape, an old hag,
Is the one to whom I return, in order to throw charms
And grant her eternal youth. I introduce a river,
Green hills, irises wet with rain
And, of course, a conversation. ‘You know,’ I say,
‘I could never guess what was on your mind
And I will never learn. I have a question
That won’t be answered.’ And you, daimonion
Just at this moment interfere, interrupt us, averse to
Surnames and family names’ actualities,
Too prosaic and ridiculous, no doubt.

II.

My daimonion, it is certain that I could not have lived differently
I would have perished if not for you. Your incantation
Would resound in my ear, fill me,
And I could only repeat it, instead of thinking
About my bad character, the decline of the world,
Or about a lost laundry ticket.
And it seems that while others loved,
Strove, hated, despaired,
I have only been busy with listening intently
To your unclear notes, to change them into words,
I had to accept my fate, today called karma,
For it was as it was, though I did not chose it -
And get up every day to honor the work,
Even if there is no guilt of mine in it and no merit.

III.

Two five-year-old boys before a poster of a nightclub,
On which a buoyant girl adjusts her garter,
Say something to each other or just stare
At the saurian whiteness of the thigh.

Daimonion, remembering my childhood fears
On this earth of adults, I grasped who you are.

In their night of distant shooting, fires on the horizon,
Coarse laughter, grapplings, harsh breathing,
The heart of a child is troubled. And you, a wanderer,
Your pity is so strong that you avert your face.

You are a friend of the innocent and the defenseless
Who long for the Kingdom, as was that young rich man
So pure that he blushed hearing a lewd word,
And really suffered from it, and probably for that reason
After his short life, they raised him on the altars.

Czeslaw Milosz, from: ‘Facing the River’ published in 1995

Buy New and Collected Poems 1931-2001 by Czeslaw Milosz

The Global superpower is in fact a Global Underdog

One of the greatest faults of the generation that grew up in the 50′s and 60′s, which now, through Obama, is about to be replaced by a new generation which I call the multitasking generation (MTG) – one of their greatest faults was that they invented the American Dream as an answer to World War II. The American Dream always has been a denial, a negative quality on itself: the idea that ‘Anything is possible, anyone can be anything’ as a life philosophy is so ridiculous, not because it is false but because it’s simply always true, everywhere. Anyone can be anything anywhere in the world. That last part, the ‘anywhere’ is exactly what is missing out of this ‘American Dream’ – according to their projections this very simple idea is ‘only possible in the US’. Let us look at this idea very carefully, because what we see here is incredibly typical; let us imagine a small town where 500 people live, including farmer Johnson, who always teaches his family that only on the Johnson Farm anyone can be anything he wants, while out there, on the other farms, this quality would be somehow lacking.

It is not very hard to see how ridiculous this idea really is. But instead of focussing on how false the idea of the American Dream is it is far more interesting for us to look at why it was a ‘denial of service’ after the horrors of WWII and why, in effect, the American Dream is in fact an expression of the utmost inner uncertainty, of a massive inferiority complex the entire United States suffers from. Let us start with the latter.

America, a fugative state, has always had a love-hate relationship with Europe. Europe represented the Slave Masters they broke away from, Europe represented Law and Order, whilst they represented Freedom and Opportunity. The relationship of the American with the European is therefore primarily the relationship a former slave has with his old master: he ridicules him, but deep inside still fears him. There is a giant inferiority complex hidden in the citizens of the US, which is exactly why they behaved as they did the last couple of decades: no one sane would behave as if he is the ‘cop of the town’ unless he has some sort of complexion that makes him believe that, by behaving that way, he will gain the respect or admiration of the others.

The simple laws of psychology say that anything that needs to be stressed is a signal of disease. In Holland we have a proverb that reads ‘Goede wijn behoeft geen krans’ which means as much as ‘Good wine doesn’t need to be advertised’. The more a person stresses that he is ‘free’, or ‘great’, or ‘admirable’ the more suspicious this person gets from a psychological viewpoint, since anyone who is really free or admirable doesn’t need to tell himself or others such messages. The fact that it is stressed so often points to a process of hypnotism: but why the need to hypnotize oneself, and what is being hidden here?

What is being hidden is a monumental inferiority complex. It is a well known fact that aggressive macho’s and violent people almost always behave operating from such complexes. Because authority, real authority, is calm and serene. When someone gets mad, gets ridiculous, loses his nerves this is a degradation of his authority, you can ask any teacher that. The worst possible thing you can do in class is exactly that. So, in this light, isn’t it typical that ‘the American Dream’, which consists of the most bland of observations one could possibly summarize (Anyone can be Anything) is formulated as the answer to WWII? Isn’t that exactly the great tragedy that took place in the latter half of the 20th Century for which my generation, the Multitasking generation that has its first Beacon in Barack ‘Blackberry’ Obama, must face? The idea that all we need to get by is that ‘Anyone can be Anything’, and only in the US to boot?

The reality is that we are far, very far from even starting to see how this massive inferiority complex is going to get worked out. As long as it is not recognized, it will just get worse.
America isn’t a global superpower. They cant even get a piece of desert under control. They are a global Underdog, and hopefully someone somewhere will find a big enough mirror to show them.

Martijn Benders, Dutch Poet and Writer, Istanbul 24-11-2008

Not in any particular order of favour:

Oana Catalina Chitu, Bucharest Tango, 2008

This is a great record that appeared on the Asphalt label. Oana sings old Bucharest Tango music as it was played before in Rumenia.

“Bucharest Tango” is a unique album, one that resurrects a lost music, the sound of Romanian Tango as played in Bucharest cafes and parks, restaurants and clubs across the 1930s. Oana Cătălina Chiţu (pronounce Kitsu) and her musicians combine the lost tango songs of that era with the folk ballads of Maria Tanase (1913-1963; the Romanian Piaf).

Oana was born in rural Romania and grew up listening to her father sing the lost tangos. Visiting relatives in Bucharest she found they had old gramophones and scratchy 78 recordings of the tangos. She began to memorise this beautiful, vanished music. At the same time she loved the songs of Maria Tanase, the tragic diva of Romania, whose voice once haunted the nation. No other singer of the younger generation from Romania has been able to approach both the tangos à la romanesque and Tanase’s ballads so authentically yet freely.

Probably the best Romanian accordion player these days – and already a living legend! A must have for all accordion admirers! Compilation from the archives of Electrecord, Romania.

The Album is the laibachian interpretation of Johann Sebastian Bach’s work The Art of Fugue (Die Kunst der Fuge). The majority of the material has been created already in 2006 and premierly performed the same year on June the 1st at Bachfest in Leipzig.

What is Melingo the Magnificent’s recipe? Take a pinch of Roberto Goyeneche, the passionate tango singer known as “El polaco”, for some true tango roots, mix him up with a bit of Nick Cave, the bad seed of the underground, some Tom Waits for an arty vibe, add a little Gainsbourg, and all these growling, throaty voices and lived-in faces will give you some idea of the devilish Melingo, an old rascal who isn’t actually that old, though he’s infinitely roguish.

His tango is built on a bed of rock. That’s the way it is in today’s Argentina. It began in the 80s when he was cutting his teeth on the turbulent alternative rock scene born of military dictatorship and collapsing moral order and featuring groups like Los Abuelos de la Nada (the ancestors of bugger all!) and Los Twist. So is Melingo off his head? It’s more complicated than that. The impish singer with the enormous voice is also a sparrow chilled by the damp morning mists of the river Plate.

Ok, this is probably maybe not the best Jazz record around but its definately one of the coolest Jazz records you could find. It’s really really groovy, atmospheric and totally blows my brains out.

Drummer Chico Hamilton introduced many top young players during his years as a bandleader, but few probably realize that Larry Coryell made his recording debut with Chico a year before joining Gary Burton’s quartet. This CD reissue brings back Coryell’s initial appearance on record, and at times he sounded oddly like Chuck Berry (especially on “The Dealer”). Also heard on this set are altoist Arnie Lawrence, bassist Richard Davis, organist Ernie Hayes (on two numbers), and, on his spirited boogaloo “For Mods Only,” Archie Shepp making a rare appearance on piano. Most of the performances still sound surprisingly fresh, especially the explorative “A Trip,” making this an underrated but worthy release.

One of the first things Obama did when he was elected was promote some rather hawkish long time career democrats as his staff. The rigid pro-Israeli Rahm Emanuel, who voluntarily joined the Israeli army to serve became his chief of staff. Secretary of Finance? 3 nominees, all 3 straight from the Federal Reserve Bank. Having someone from the Federal Reserve as a head of finance is like having someone from KLM be the head of Schiphol Airport. It’s essentially corrupt.

Now, one of the first things Obama lets us know, besides that Iran is still on the list, is that the rockets will still be installed in Poland. Excuse me? Is this supposed to be someone with an agenda for ‘change’? He doesn’t even sound like someone from another party than Bush – in fact probably most Republicans sound more revolutionary than he does. Do me a favour and look at a world map. Now, draw a line between Iran and, say, Paris. Does the line cross Poland? Of course not. The only countries a rocket installation in Poland would protect against Iranian missiles are Norway and Sweden.

What a strange kind of ‘change’ we have here. We have a weird, provocative plan to build a rocket defense system at the Russian border. Then a ‘new president’ comes out and the first thing he lets us know is that this plan won’t change. Wow, that’s rich. I bet Norway and Sweden are going to be really happy to feel safe & protected from Iranian missiles.

It happens rarely that I hear a record that hits me so hard upon the first hearing that I’m simply hooked from the first moment I hear it, but LAIBACHKUNSTDERFUGE is simply their best record in years and perhaps the most brilliant Laibach work ever made. I’m completely spellbound by this record.

The Album is the laibachian interpretation of Johann Sebastian Bach’s work The Art of Fugue (Die Kunst der Fuge). The majority of the material has been created already in 2006 and premierly performed the same year on June the 1st at Bachfest in Leipzig.

Bach himself lived and worked in Leipzig from 1723 till the end of his life in 1750. In this period he also wrote the Art of Fugue, one of his most mysterious and baffling works. The Art of Fugue is a collection of fugues and canons that display the full gamut of fugal transformational techniques, such as augmentation and diminution. The theory that the work was intended as an intellectual exercise rather than for performance is borne out by the fact that no instruments are specified in the score. But although the Art of Fugue (the title was not Bach’s own) reveals Bach in his most academic and puzzle-solving guise, it is no mere pedantry and there is much here of great energy and inspiration. Since Bach did not specify any instrumentation, the big question is: what instrument or instruments should the Art of Fugue be played on? There are many keyboard recordings, but versions are available for everything from saxophone quartet to orchestra. Since the work is very much based on mathematic algorithms, Laibach decided to use computer and computer program as the key »instrument«, providing a very special electronic interpretation and showing that J.S. Bach with his work could as well be understood as the pioneer of electronic, techno, computer music.

For more information the Laibach website