Take Me To The Top!

Wow! What a month, what a last few months, what a year!
Is it that time again? Yes it is! God Dammit! It is! It's time for another God damn update!!!!!! Hellelujah!
And what a last few months it's been! Fan-freaking-tastic! Just when I think I've become old, jaded, and crusty I come across something that kicks my ass and makes me feel young again! It's even weirder when it happens a few times a year.
It's been so long and we've seen so much cool stuff, it's been a treat my friends.
As my friend Zach used to say, "Take me to the top!"

A few days, weeks, I don't know, it seems so long ago (OK about 2 weeks) I had the distinct pleasure of catching the amazing canadian post-psychedelic rock outfit Caribou at the B72 here in Vienna. If you haven't checked out their newest recording "Andorra" I humbly suggest you give it a spin. It's one of the best things I've heard all year. It's a bit hard to describe, it's definitely psychedelic music, but somehow filtered through 30 years of punk-post punk-new wave-post hardcore-electro-post rock-and-electronica. Somehow Caribou manage to avoid all the clichés and pitfalls of psychedelic pop and make some great tunes. Their live show is what was really fantastic, they really put on a great live set. I'm happy to say they tour as a full band, with main-man Dan Snaith doing the multi instrument change-aroo during almost every song, often playing two instruments at once. Of course, what impressed me the most was when Dr. Snaith (the dude just got his Ph.D in mathematics!) was playing the drums, and Caribou had the dueling drumsets. It was a far freaking out, man!

So, you know, I was burrowing through the series of tubes we know as the internets, and I stumbled across Charley Harper. This guy must be the most influential illustrator that, it would seem, no one has heard of. OK it turns out he's a bit like Norman McLaren, and he did enjoy a bit of fame and fortune back in the day, but as time passes on, he's become a bit obscure. I've been influenced by Charley Harper without even knowing it. I've tried to draw/design simple and stylized animals for years, and it's hard to imagine Don Pendleton/Alien Workshop, Ryan McGinness, or Geoff McFetridge haven't all been heavily influenced by Mr. Harper!
It turns out that designer extraordinaire, Todd Oldham, has been slaving away making a book featuring Charley Harper's work, and that big, heavy, and expensive book arrived in the mail yesterday. When Anna and I got home, we started looking through this huge book and had a sense of amazement with the turn of every page. And on the next page there was something more amazing than what we had just seen, Harper's work is so clean, geometric, minimal and iconic, but it's never stiff. Hats off to Todd Oldham, who's Laissez-faire graphic design let's Charley Harper's work stand out. This book could have very easily become horribly and gratuitously over-designed, but Mr. Oldham let's Harper's work speak for it self. Amazing stuff.



And in the Holy-f@cking-sh!t category, we had the rare opportunity to see the meastro himself, ENNIO MORRICONE, live in concert. Now in his late 70's and having composed the soundtrack to some 400 films, Ennio Morricone has decided that he should take his show on the road. We were lucky enough to catch his show here in Vienna, and it did not disappoint. Having over 40 years worth of work to choose from, Morricone tended to stay away from his, shall we say, quirkier soundtracks and really put the orchestra to work. It was amazing to watch Morricone conduct a 100 piece orchestra and and additional 80 peice chorus, the music was beautiful and sublime. Of course, he played the "big hits" such as the main score from "The Good The Bad and the Ugly" and "The Mission" as well as lesser-known works such as "Indagine Su Un Cittadino Al Di Sopra Di Ogni Sospetto" and "Queimada." When they played "The Ecstacy of Gold" it gave me goosebumps! Needless to say, the crowd enjoyed it, and il Maestro came out for 7 encores! Leaving the concert hall, I wondered if we had just watched the Mozart or Beethoven of our time? What would movies and music be like without the music and influence of Morricone?