11 Temmuz 2012 Çarşamba
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9 Temmuz 2012 Pazartesi
Exploring Internal Body Zones (Zonas del Cuerpo). Video 2. Chest and Seventh Zone.
To contact us Click HERE
This is the second of a series of posts where I expose videos (recorded by me) showing the acting exploration of different Body Zones (Zonas del Cuerpo) and combinations of them.
Those who already know about González Caballero's acting method will understand what I meant with Zonas del Cuerpo, but those who don't know anything about this acting method maybe it is better first to go to this link and take a little look (it is in Spanish): http://agcmetodo.blogspot.com/2007/04/el-apoyo-zonas-del-cuerpo-el-cuerpo.html.
The process of this exploration is very simple: in front of the camera, and only my face, I must work in the inner concentration of one Body Zone (Zona del Cuerpo), with different levels and positions within the same zone, then I combine it with another zone (in this case the seventh zone, known as the crown, the only one with which all zones in this exploration will be combined). As the only thing exposed on screen will be my face, no other part of the body will react to the impulse coming from the concentration on the body zone, only the face.
These videos are also part of my Butoh Vlog (http://gustavothomastheatre.blogspot.com/p/gustavo-thomas-butoh-vlog.html ) therefore it is important to clarify that I'm not listening to any piece of music during the explorations or recordings, nor any movement within the space will be the goal (as it is in Butoh). Even when that could mean for someone that it would not be Butoh, I still considered this exploration as part of my training in this discipline because I'm working with inner images and impulses with muscle movement as reaction of it, and that's one of its principles.
I believe the results (and the process itself) of these explorations will be very interesting for those who want to follow them, watching, studying or carrying out the exploration as well. For myself I'm opening another door in my own acting work, and I'm sure it will be the same for others who want to venture into this acting method and its infinite possibilities for exploration.
Gustavo Thomas Butoh Vlog (Oct 22, 2011): Internal Body Zones Training Part 2. Chest and Seventh Zone. (NO SOUND)
from Gustavo Thomas on Vimeo.
Gustavo Thomas Butoh Vlog (Oct 20, 2011):
Internal Body Zones Training Part 2: Chest and Seventh Zone.
Working with Internal Body Zones (Zonas del cuerpo). This time working with Chest and Seventh zone, the crown (Zona del pecho y séptima zona).
Diferent positions concentrating attention inside the zone. From intensity in low level till climax and back to low level.
This is part of a daily training, I don't have any aesthetic goal in doing it (even when using a video effect or choosing a particular part of that training).
This is a document of my daily artistic life.
Texts, photographs and videos in this Blog are all author's property, except when marked. All rights reserved by Gustavo Thomas.If you have any interest in using any text, photograph or video from this Blog, for commercial use or not, please contact Gustavo Thomas at gustavothomastheatre@gmail.com.
 |
| Working with Chest and Seventh Zone (By Gustavo Thomas. 2011) |
This is the second of a series of posts where I expose videos (recorded by me) showing the acting exploration of different Body Zones (Zonas del Cuerpo) and combinations of them.
Those who already know about González Caballero's acting method will understand what I meant with Zonas del Cuerpo, but those who don't know anything about this acting method maybe it is better first to go to this link and take a little look (it is in Spanish): http://agcmetodo.blogspot.com/2007/04/el-apoyo-zonas-del-cuerpo-el-cuerpo.html.
The process of this exploration is very simple: in front of the camera, and only my face, I must work in the inner concentration of one Body Zone (Zona del Cuerpo), with different levels and positions within the same zone, then I combine it with another zone (in this case the seventh zone, known as the crown, the only one with which all zones in this exploration will be combined). As the only thing exposed on screen will be my face, no other part of the body will react to the impulse coming from the concentration on the body zone, only the face.
These videos are also part of my Butoh Vlog (http://gustavothomastheatre.blogspot.com/p/gustavo-thomas-butoh-vlog.html ) therefore it is important to clarify that I'm not listening to any piece of music during the explorations or recordings, nor any movement within the space will be the goal (as it is in Butoh). Even when that could mean for someone that it would not be Butoh, I still considered this exploration as part of my training in this discipline because I'm working with inner images and impulses with muscle movement as reaction of it, and that's one of its principles.
I believe the results (and the process itself) of these explorations will be very interesting for those who want to follow them, watching, studying or carrying out the exploration as well. For myself I'm opening another door in my own acting work, and I'm sure it will be the same for others who want to venture into this acting method and its infinite possibilities for exploration.
Gustavo Thomas Butoh Vlog (Oct 22, 2011): Internal Body Zones Training Part 2. Chest and Seventh Zone. (NO SOUND)
from Gustavo Thomas on Vimeo.
Gustavo Thomas Butoh Vlog (Oct 20, 2011):
Internal Body Zones Training Part 2: Chest and Seventh Zone.
Working with Internal Body Zones (Zonas del cuerpo). This time working with Chest and Seventh zone, the crown (Zona del pecho y séptima zona).
Diferent positions concentrating attention inside the zone. From intensity in low level till climax and back to low level.
This is part of a daily training, I don't have any aesthetic goal in doing it (even when using a video effect or choosing a particular part of that training).
This is a document of my daily artistic life.
Texts, photographs and videos in this Blog are all author's property, except when marked. All rights reserved by Gustavo Thomas.If you have any interest in using any text, photograph or video from this Blog, for commercial use or not, please contact Gustavo Thomas at gustavothomastheatre@gmail.com.
大野庆人 Yoshito Ohno's Butoh Open Class in Montreal (2011)
To contact us Click HERE
If last April I had traveled to Yokohama with fears of exposure to nuclear radiation from Fukushima plant, why not face Montreal’s cold autumn this time? Master Yoshito Ohno had told me he’d come to Canada in November this year to perform “In Between” with Lucie Gregoire, a French Canadian contemporary dancer, as part of a trilogy they both have been creating since 2007. My experience in Yokohama had been crucial in my artistic path, so I did not hesitate at any point in going to see the show and if possible take a few more sessions, and so I went.
Two days before his performance, Yoshito Ohno’d gave an open Butoh class for students at LADMMI, L'École de Danse Contemporaine. It would be a class for students, yes, but some interested outsiders were admitted.
LADMMI is part of an art schools complex very close to the Place des Arts de Montreal, but independent from it, in one of the main shopping streets, Sainte Catherine. The building, in a forties style, has been remodeled to host art and dance schools and work spaces for everything having to do with bodywork and design; LADMMI is on the third floor and you can take a look from the street itself while some of the classes are happening.
The wait was long, since I had to be there early to make sure I was included among those coming from outside (in the end, we were only three outsiders). So that gave me time to wander around Sainte Catherine, observe some classes at the dance school and eventually discover the difference between my view of Butoh and that of a school of contemporary dance. Obviously, for the dance school, Butoh is a complement to the training of its dancers and, possibly, a way to develop a style in dance. For me, Butoh is a performing art in itself.
Yoshito Ohno arrived with his wife, a translator, Lucie Grégoire and the school principal; we were waiting for him, among a huge mass of students with different levels of training. Lucie apparently had transmitted some knowledge of Butoh to her groups, but not all of those students had had contact with Ohno’s discipline.
Master Ohno, obviously, didn’t remember who I was. He finally did it when I mentioned April, that I was Mexican and that I had taken his workshop in Yokohama. These are the curiosities of certain re-encounters, which I enjoy a lot.
I guessed Master Ohno would repeat most of his common exercises: the flower, the prayer, working with silk, etc. But the presence of dance students made me think I’d experience a kind of pedagogy of Butoh I did not know till that moment, a Butoh introductory class; and that was what he did.
It was an interesting class as a reminder of the rules of this art form, but also an example of teaching people these bases without having previous contact with Butoh.
Posture
The first thing Ohno (with help from the French translator) said was that we should understand the Japanese characters of man, heaven and earth, to identify our body as in the middle of two forces. He emphasized the image of a line passing through the center of the body to the crown and pulling us up, while the feet were “roots” that pull towards the earth. The chin pointing down and our gaze forward. With that posture, we were to walk. “Amazing Grace” was the first piece of music we worked with in this class.
He made a special comment about the hands; he spoke of the strength of the hands and fingers to remain together, with minimal separation. Then he took the idea of how those hands, that position, the chin down and the line between heaven and earth, were a hell to reach a presence on stage, a link between opposing forces.
We made several physical exercises as if pulling something and feeling the force, and then returning to the position and perceiving this new presence in us. This set of physical tensions initially left in us energy moving within us, and when standing, doing nothing, our body energy was charged without movement, what we call presence on stage.
The flower
In a case he had brought to the studio master Ohno had flowers for all, a lot of scented, artificial flowers. Then he spoke of the flower as the best example of what is standing between heaven and earth, in complete union. He asked us to move with the flowers. At some point he talked about being the flower, but did not elaborate on it. And we moved along with the music towards our flowers.
He asked us to carry the flower as if we were wind, and at the sound of our steps he asked us not to make noise, even when walking quickly, giving an example by doing it himself, saying there was no need to disturb the viewer's attention from our objective; our steps then followed the flower in the wind.
He told us how, early in his career, asked his father, Kazuo Ohno, to teach him to dance, and he replied giving him a flower and saying, “look, you don’t have to learn to dance, just seek to be a flower. Move with the flower. Do this every day; one day you will feel that you are that flower and will not need to have it in your hand any more.”
The silk
Similarly, he took out from his case several small pieces of silk and gave them to us; each of us began to work with the idea of the strength and softness of silk, the strength and softness of our body. Moving from one state to another depending on the piece of silk we were stretching in our hands. That was our body and our interior; when strong, before stretching, as an adult, it was tense; as it stretched, it became soft, like a child asking for his mother.
As we were working on the technical aspects of the performance, he took from his bag Hokusai's painting “The Wave”. And he tried to explain the idea emanated from the painting: the artist, who has a different view of things, can see far away and can see up close, like an insect. We had to represent that in order to move, we had to find different views of our work. There was a technical search, but we had to feel the technical work too.
The piece of cloth
He gave each of us a piece of cloth, and we began to squeeze at the same time that our bodies squeezed, twisting with the piece of cloth. It was tension by stress, and the feeling of the texture of the fabric was to guide us in our squeezing movement, we had to work those points as the source of our movement and whatever came of it.
He made short mention of his theory of “forte pianissimo”, where the most complicated thing for the butokah is not to exploit but to maintain the strength of a possible explosion within while moving gently or slowly.
Squeezing the fabric was his way of addressing the “forte pianissimo” idea while moving.
The tissue
Then he showed us the image of the wooden sculpture of the Buddha of Nara. He showed the same photo he had in his studio in Yokohama as part of a calendar. Master Ohno made us note the sculpture's hands, hands that are never fully attached but are together within a separation the width of a sheet of paper.
He then offered us each a sheet of tissue paper and talked about the meeting of these hands together but separated, the same for our knees, and our arms in contact with the torso.
We practiced with that tissue paper for a while, but then he interrupted our work and asked us to add a pray to our movement; without further explanation besides saying that it wasn’t a religious thing, but a personal prayer, internal.
The music played for the final movement was the "Ave Maria" by Schubert, which his father always used in training and was the background music of one of his most famous pieces on the scene dedicated to his mother.
Farewell
At that moment, the time allotted for our class had run out and had to stop. Without saying more, Yoshito Ohno thanked us, saying that all the objects we worked with that day were a gift and we could keep them and should use them daily in our training; then he said goodbye. We all applauded to him, we were at a dance school and this is the way dance students are used to thank to their teachers.
Although Yokohama left me a profound and enlightening experience about Butoh, about its origins and technique, with this short open class in Montreal I discovered (or confirmed), from my point of view, the basis of the pedagogy of Yoshito Ohno for Butoh.
Now I also had something really tangible, physical, to support my daily training, a support as simple as an artificial flower, a piece of silk, a cloth and a small tissue. They will remind me, while working every day with them as physical objects, every of Yoshito’s words, and will be witnesses of my own development.
The performance Yoshito Ohno gave in Montreal together with Lucie Grégoire, “In Between”, will be part of another blog post.
Texts, photographs and videos in this Blog are all author's property, except when marked. All rights reserved by Gustavo Thomas.If you have any interest in using any text, photograph or video from this Blog, for commercial use or not, please contact Gustavo Thomas at gustavothomastheatre@gmail.com.
 |
| Yoshito Ohno and Lucie Grégoire at LADMMI, Montreal. (By Gustavo Thomas. 2011) |
If last April I had traveled to Yokohama with fears of exposure to nuclear radiation from Fukushima plant, why not face Montreal’s cold autumn this time? Master Yoshito Ohno had told me he’d come to Canada in November this year to perform “In Between” with Lucie Gregoire, a French Canadian contemporary dancer, as part of a trilogy they both have been creating since 2007. My experience in Yokohama had been crucial in my artistic path, so I did not hesitate at any point in going to see the show and if possible take a few more sessions, and so I went.
Two days before his performance, Yoshito Ohno’d gave an open Butoh class for students at LADMMI, L'École de Danse Contemporaine. It would be a class for students, yes, but some interested outsiders were admitted.
LADMMI is part of an art schools complex very close to the Place des Arts de Montreal, but independent from it, in one of the main shopping streets, Sainte Catherine. The building, in a forties style, has been remodeled to host art and dance schools and work spaces for everything having to do with bodywork and design; LADMMI is on the third floor and you can take a look from the street itself while some of the classes are happening.
 |
| BELGO, Montreal (By Gustavo Thomas. 2011) |
 |
| LADMMI, Montreal (By Gustavo Thomas. 2011) |
The wait was long, since I had to be there early to make sure I was included among those coming from outside (in the end, we were only three outsiders). So that gave me time to wander around Sainte Catherine, observe some classes at the dance school and eventually discover the difference between my view of Butoh and that of a school of contemporary dance. Obviously, for the dance school, Butoh is a complement to the training of its dancers and, possibly, a way to develop a style in dance. For me, Butoh is a performing art in itself.
 |
| Classroom at LADMMI, Montreal. (By Gustavo Thomas. 2011) |
Yoshito Ohno arrived with his wife, a translator, Lucie Grégoire and the school principal; we were waiting for him, among a huge mass of students with different levels of training. Lucie apparently had transmitted some knowledge of Butoh to her groups, but not all of those students had had contact with Ohno’s discipline.
Master Ohno, obviously, didn’t remember who I was. He finally did it when I mentioned April, that I was Mexican and that I had taken his workshop in Yokohama. These are the curiosities of certain re-encounters, which I enjoy a lot.
I guessed Master Ohno would repeat most of his common exercises: the flower, the prayer, working with silk, etc. But the presence of dance students made me think I’d experience a kind of pedagogy of Butoh I did not know till that moment, a Butoh introductory class; and that was what he did.
It was an interesting class as a reminder of the rules of this art form, but also an example of teaching people these bases without having previous contact with Butoh.
 | ||||
| Yoshito Ohno during his Butoh Open Class at LADMMI, Montreal (By Gustavo Thomas. 2011) |
The first thing Ohno (with help from the French translator) said was that we should understand the Japanese characters of man, heaven and earth, to identify our body as in the middle of two forces. He emphasized the image of a line passing through the center of the body to the crown and pulling us up, while the feet were “roots” that pull towards the earth. The chin pointing down and our gaze forward. With that posture, we were to walk. “Amazing Grace” was the first piece of music we worked with in this class.
He made a special comment about the hands; he spoke of the strength of the hands and fingers to remain together, with minimal separation. Then he took the idea of how those hands, that position, the chin down and the line between heaven and earth, were a hell to reach a presence on stage, a link between opposing forces.
We made several physical exercises as if pulling something and feeling the force, and then returning to the position and perceiving this new presence in us. This set of physical tensions initially left in us energy moving within us, and when standing, doing nothing, our body energy was charged without movement, what we call presence on stage.
The flower
In a case he had brought to the studio master Ohno had flowers for all, a lot of scented, artificial flowers. Then he spoke of the flower as the best example of what is standing between heaven and earth, in complete union. He asked us to move with the flowers. At some point he talked about being the flower, but did not elaborate on it. And we moved along with the music towards our flowers.
He asked us to carry the flower as if we were wind, and at the sound of our steps he asked us not to make noise, even when walking quickly, giving an example by doing it himself, saying there was no need to disturb the viewer's attention from our objective; our steps then followed the flower in the wind.
He told us how, early in his career, asked his father, Kazuo Ohno, to teach him to dance, and he replied giving him a flower and saying, “look, you don’t have to learn to dance, just seek to be a flower. Move with the flower. Do this every day; one day you will feel that you are that flower and will not need to have it in your hand any more.”
The silk
Similarly, he took out from his case several small pieces of silk and gave them to us; each of us began to work with the idea of the strength and softness of silk, the strength and softness of our body. Moving from one state to another depending on the piece of silk we were stretching in our hands. That was our body and our interior; when strong, before stretching, as an adult, it was tense; as it stretched, it became soft, like a child asking for his mother.
As we were working on the technical aspects of the performance, he took from his bag Hokusai's painting “The Wave”. And he tried to explain the idea emanated from the painting: the artist, who has a different view of things, can see far away and can see up close, like an insect. We had to represent that in order to move, we had to find different views of our work. There was a technical search, but we had to feel the technical work too.
The piece of cloth
 |
| Yoshito offering a piece of cloth (By Gustavo Thomas. 2011) |
He gave each of us a piece of cloth, and we began to squeeze at the same time that our bodies squeezed, twisting with the piece of cloth. It was tension by stress, and the feeling of the texture of the fabric was to guide us in our squeezing movement, we had to work those points as the source of our movement and whatever came of it.
He made short mention of his theory of “forte pianissimo”, where the most complicated thing for the butokah is not to exploit but to maintain the strength of a possible explosion within while moving gently or slowly.
Squeezing the fabric was his way of addressing the “forte pianissimo” idea while moving.
The tissue
Then he showed us the image of the wooden sculpture of the Buddha of Nara. He showed the same photo he had in his studio in Yokohama as part of a calendar. Master Ohno made us note the sculpture's hands, hands that are never fully attached but are together within a separation the width of a sheet of paper.
He then offered us each a sheet of tissue paper and talked about the meeting of these hands together but separated, the same for our knees, and our arms in contact with the torso.
We practiced with that tissue paper for a while, but then he interrupted our work and asked us to add a pray to our movement; without further explanation besides saying that it wasn’t a religious thing, but a personal prayer, internal.
The music played for the final movement was the "Ave Maria" by Schubert, which his father always used in training and was the background music of one of his most famous pieces on the scene dedicated to his mother.
Farewell
At that moment, the time allotted for our class had run out and had to stop. Without saying more, Yoshito Ohno thanked us, saying that all the objects we worked with that day were a gift and we could keep them and should use them daily in our training; then he said goodbye. We all applauded to him, we were at a dance school and this is the way dance students are used to thank to their teachers.
 |
| Yoshito Ohno's 4 objects for work (By Gustavo Thomas. 2011) |
 |
| Yoshito Ohno saying good bye to each one of the participants (By Gustavo Thomas. 2011) |
Although Yokohama left me a profound and enlightening experience about Butoh, about its origins and technique, with this short open class in Montreal I discovered (or confirmed), from my point of view, the basis of the pedagogy of Yoshito Ohno for Butoh.
Now I also had something really tangible, physical, to support my daily training, a support as simple as an artificial flower, a piece of silk, a cloth and a small tissue. They will remind me, while working every day with them as physical objects, every of Yoshito’s words, and will be witnesses of my own development.
 |
| Yoshito Ohno and Gustavo Thomas. LADMMI, Montreal. (2011) |
The performance Yoshito Ohno gave in Montreal together with Lucie Grégoire, “In Between”, will be part of another blog post.
Texts, photographs and videos in this Blog are all author's property, except when marked. All rights reserved by Gustavo Thomas.If you have any interest in using any text, photograph or video from this Blog, for commercial use or not, please contact Gustavo Thomas at gustavothomastheatre@gmail.com.
Min Tanaka's The Rite of Spring at L'Ópera Comique(1987)
To contact us Click HERE
Some discoveries are worth sharing immediately, and it is what I'm doing now with this video of a 1987 Min Tanaka's production at L'Ópera Comique, The Rite of Spring.
I knew a little about Tanaka's work thanks to Jocelyne Montpetit, the Butoh dancer; she met him during the 80's in Japan and even worked in his company. Last November during the workshop I took with her in Montreal she told me about someone who has posted The Rite of Spring in Youtube, and that could be a very good example of Tanaka's work if I wanted to understand the words she transmitted about him.
For some stupid reasons I forgot the tip and it was till today that I accidentally came to that Youtube link. Of course I cannot talk more about Min Tanaka's work, but you must know that he's considered one of the most important heirs of Tatsumi Hijikata, the founder of Butoh, but also a very important dancer and choreographer independently of his relation with Butoh.
The Rite of Spring was staged one year after Hijikata's death, and was considered totally a Butoh production (at least by Westerner's eyes), that style of Butoh coming from Hijikata's branch, the dance of darkness o Ankoku Butoh. Other thing was coming at the same time with Kazuo Ohno and his Butoh of light, as some have called Ohno's Butoh.
Please enjoy this whole recording of The Rite of Spring directed by Min Tanaka in 1987:
The Rite of Spring part 1/7
The Rite of Spring part 2/7
The Rite of Spring part 3/7 The Rite of Spring part 4/7
The Rite of Spring part 5/7 The Rite of Spring part 6/7
The Rite of Spring part 7/7
Texts, photographs and videos in this Blog are all author's property, except when marked. All rights reserved by Gustavo Thomas.If you have any interest in using any text, photograph or video from this Blog, for commercial use or not, please contact Gustavo Thomas at gustavothomastheatre@gmail.com.
 |
| Min Tanaka |
Some discoveries are worth sharing immediately, and it is what I'm doing now with this video of a 1987 Min Tanaka's production at L'Ópera Comique, The Rite of Spring.
I knew a little about Tanaka's work thanks to Jocelyne Montpetit, the Butoh dancer; she met him during the 80's in Japan and even worked in his company. Last November during the workshop I took with her in Montreal she told me about someone who has posted The Rite of Spring in Youtube, and that could be a very good example of Tanaka's work if I wanted to understand the words she transmitted about him.
For some stupid reasons I forgot the tip and it was till today that I accidentally came to that Youtube link. Of course I cannot talk more about Min Tanaka's work, but you must know that he's considered one of the most important heirs of Tatsumi Hijikata, the founder of Butoh, but also a very important dancer and choreographer independently of his relation with Butoh.
The Rite of Spring was staged one year after Hijikata's death, and was considered totally a Butoh production (at least by Westerner's eyes), that style of Butoh coming from Hijikata's branch, the dance of darkness o Ankoku Butoh. Other thing was coming at the same time with Kazuo Ohno and his Butoh of light, as some have called Ohno's Butoh.
Please enjoy this whole recording of The Rite of Spring directed by Min Tanaka in 1987:
The Rite of Spring part 1/7
The Rite of Spring part 2/7
The Rite of Spring part 3/7 The Rite of Spring part 4/7
The Rite of Spring part 5/7 The Rite of Spring part 6/7
The Rite of Spring part 7/7
Texts, photographs and videos in this Blog are all author's property, except when marked. All rights reserved by Gustavo Thomas.If you have any interest in using any text, photograph or video from this Blog, for commercial use or not, please contact Gustavo Thomas at gustavothomastheatre@gmail.com.
Ibsen at War: "My book is poetry; and if isn't, it will become such."
To contact us Click HERE
After the publication of Peer Gynt in 1867, in his motherland, Ibsen was attacked as no other author before, attacked because of his style of poetry, his subjects and his strange idea of theatricality (even when Peer Gynt wasn’t conceived for the stage). But that wasn’t the Ibsen of some years before, immature and choleric, who didn’t know how to reply any attack; Italy, the exile and the success of his “Brand” had given to him a self-assurance that nobody in Norway could brake in the future.
After Peer Gynt was published Henrik Ibsen has become a monster.
The next is an extract of a letter to Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (December 9, 1867) as a reply of all those critics:
"Dear Bjørnson, (…) My book is poetry; and if isn't, it will become such. The conception of poetry in our country, in Norway, shall shape itself according to this book. (…) However, I am glad that this injustice has been flung at me; it is sign of divine aid and dispensation; anger increases my strength. If there is to be war, then let there be war! If I am not a poet, what I have to lose? I shall try my hand as a photographer, I shall deal with my contemporaries up there, each and all of them, one by one, as I have dealt with these language reformers; I shall no spare the child in its mother's womb, nor any thought nor feeling that may have motivated the actions of any man who shall merit the honor go being my victim. (…) Do you know that all my life I have turned my back on my parents, on my whole family, because I could not bear to continue a relationship based on imperfect understanding?"(1)
Ibsen is capable to assure that his own text would become in Norway the concept of poetry itself (and it was almost true), and it wasn’t what his critics called errors and mistakes. Who can assure that?
He knew he was at war if he wanted to be the most recognized author in Norway, and that famous sentence about photography that many of us are used to identify as Ibsen’s start in Realism became his chant of battle: “I shall deal with my contemporaries up there, each and all of them, one by one, as I have dealt with these language reformers; I shall no spare the child in its mother's womb, nor any thought nor feeling that may have motivated the actions of any man who shall merit the honor go being my victim.”
We only have to recall his most important plays to see that those words were accomplished.
Ibsen also made a very hard confession about turning his back to his parents and family; coming from a very provincial background, with no intellectual or artistic links, all his relatives were mere obstacles in his way to fame as a writer (since his adolescence he never saw any of them again). Only a man with all his goals in mind, ready to fight any battle to be the number one in his world could write in that manner.
He wanted it, he fought for it and he got it. He was monster.
(1) Ibsen Biography. By Michael Meyer. Double Day, 1967.
Texts, photographs and videos in this Blog are all author's property, except when marked. All rights reserved by Gustavo Thomas.If you have any interest in using any text, photograph or video from this Blog, for commercial use or not, please contact Gustavo Thomas at gustavothomastheatre@gmail.com.
 |
| Ibsen's original draft of Peer Gynt. Act V. (Photo from H. Ibsen Biography by Michael Meyer.) |
After the publication of Peer Gynt in 1867, in his motherland, Ibsen was attacked as no other author before, attacked because of his style of poetry, his subjects and his strange idea of theatricality (even when Peer Gynt wasn’t conceived for the stage). But that wasn’t the Ibsen of some years before, immature and choleric, who didn’t know how to reply any attack; Italy, the exile and the success of his “Brand” had given to him a self-assurance that nobody in Norway could brake in the future.
After Peer Gynt was published Henrik Ibsen has become a monster.
The next is an extract of a letter to Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (December 9, 1867) as a reply of all those critics:
"Dear Bjørnson, (…) My book is poetry; and if isn't, it will become such. The conception of poetry in our country, in Norway, shall shape itself according to this book. (…) However, I am glad that this injustice has been flung at me; it is sign of divine aid and dispensation; anger increases my strength. If there is to be war, then let there be war! If I am not a poet, what I have to lose? I shall try my hand as a photographer, I shall deal with my contemporaries up there, each and all of them, one by one, as I have dealt with these language reformers; I shall no spare the child in its mother's womb, nor any thought nor feeling that may have motivated the actions of any man who shall merit the honor go being my victim. (…) Do you know that all my life I have turned my back on my parents, on my whole family, because I could not bear to continue a relationship based on imperfect understanding?"(1)
Ibsen is capable to assure that his own text would become in Norway the concept of poetry itself (and it was almost true), and it wasn’t what his critics called errors and mistakes. Who can assure that?
He knew he was at war if he wanted to be the most recognized author in Norway, and that famous sentence about photography that many of us are used to identify as Ibsen’s start in Realism became his chant of battle: “I shall deal with my contemporaries up there, each and all of them, one by one, as I have dealt with these language reformers; I shall no spare the child in its mother's womb, nor any thought nor feeling that may have motivated the actions of any man who shall merit the honor go being my victim.”
We only have to recall his most important plays to see that those words were accomplished.
Ibsen also made a very hard confession about turning his back to his parents and family; coming from a very provincial background, with no intellectual or artistic links, all his relatives were mere obstacles in his way to fame as a writer (since his adolescence he never saw any of them again). Only a man with all his goals in mind, ready to fight any battle to be the number one in his world could write in that manner.
He wanted it, he fought for it and he got it. He was monster.
(1) Ibsen Biography. By Michael Meyer. Double Day, 1967.
Texts, photographs and videos in this Blog are all author's property, except when marked. All rights reserved by Gustavo Thomas.If you have any interest in using any text, photograph or video from this Blog, for commercial use or not, please contact Gustavo Thomas at gustavothomastheatre@gmail.com.
In Between, Butoh and Dance Performance by Yoshito Ohno and Lucie Grégoire at L'Agora de la Danse, Montréal. (2011)
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I was very excited about watching Yoshito Ohno for first time live on stage (at L‘Agora de la danse); my only experience had been through videos and inside his father’s studio (the Kazuo Ohno Dance Studio), but he was only teaching and sometimes performing minimal chains of movements. Wednesday November 16th 2011 was the day to see him performing in a real production.
In Between is a project, a part of a trilogy (the second part) that Yoshito Ohno has been working with Lucie Grégoire since 2008. Lucie works mainly with modern dance techniques, but she’s been very close to Butoh and also works with it. Master Ohno follows his father's (Kazuo Ohno) teachings as well as his rich experience working (at various times) with Tatsumi Hijikata from the 1950’s till 1970’s; he is a real heir of those Butoh creators.
Lucie Grégoire and Yoshito Ohno performed In Between with several solos and duos, little by little mixing their personalities and techniques. My interest was, obviously, in observing all of Ohno’s movements, but Grégoire was so powerful and the whole piece of such great unity that it was impossible not see both works.
In Between is the encounter of two cultures of body movement, Butoh and Modern Dance, but also the encounter of two artistic personalities. None of them left aside their personal background, style of movement or ways of seeing their own performing art, but their encounter is successful, it reaches a union of a very high quality.
Yoshito Ohno's style of Butoh is simple, clear, we could see and differentiate each action in his work; his movement was so concrete that we could keep our attention on his eyes, his hands or his legs without missing other parts; he knows very well how to direct our attention. His hands were specially strange and beautiful, with almost no movement in them but always charged with energy. We feel him trembling and we never stop watching him.
There were two types of music, two epochs (actually several), and their images gently exploded in front of us. I cannot forget the movements of Grégoire’s back and arms, as well that infant dressed like a rabbit (or a rabbit itself) Yoshito offered to us.
One to one the solos became duos and their physical speech resulted comprehensive and simple: it doesn’t matter what exactly they were talking about, we observed their music, their past, their dreams, we could see their own relatives on stage.
Like a ritual, they looked for their ancestors, for their own ghosts. And what we see at the final scene, two charming ghosts coming from the past in a lovely union, is one of the most beautiful and simple images anyone could ever see on stage.
We were pleased and we were happy at the end of In Between.
Slideshow of In Between at L'Agora de la Danse (Montreal. 2011)
Texts, photographs and videos in this Blog are all author's property, except when marked. All rights reserved by Gustavo Thomas.If you have any interest in using any text, photograph or video from this Blog, for commercial use or not, please contact Gustavo Thomas at gustavothomastheatre@gmail.com.
 |
| In Between, by Yoshito Ohno and Lucie Grégoire (Montreal. 2011) |
I was very excited about watching Yoshito Ohno for first time live on stage (at L‘Agora de la danse); my only experience had been through videos and inside his father’s studio (the Kazuo Ohno Dance Studio), but he was only teaching and sometimes performing minimal chains of movements. Wednesday November 16th 2011 was the day to see him performing in a real production.
In Between is a project, a part of a trilogy (the second part) that Yoshito Ohno has been working with Lucie Grégoire since 2008. Lucie works mainly with modern dance techniques, but she’s been very close to Butoh and also works with it. Master Ohno follows his father's (Kazuo Ohno) teachings as well as his rich experience working (at various times) with Tatsumi Hijikata from the 1950’s till 1970’s; he is a real heir of those Butoh creators.
Lucie Grégoire and Yoshito Ohno performed In Between with several solos and duos, little by little mixing their personalities and techniques. My interest was, obviously, in observing all of Ohno’s movements, but Grégoire was so powerful and the whole piece of such great unity that it was impossible not see both works.
In Between is the encounter of two cultures of body movement, Butoh and Modern Dance, but also the encounter of two artistic personalities. None of them left aside their personal background, style of movement or ways of seeing their own performing art, but their encounter is successful, it reaches a union of a very high quality.
Yoshito Ohno's style of Butoh is simple, clear, we could see and differentiate each action in his work; his movement was so concrete that we could keep our attention on his eyes, his hands or his legs without missing other parts; he knows very well how to direct our attention. His hands were specially strange and beautiful, with almost no movement in them but always charged with energy. We feel him trembling and we never stop watching him.
There were two types of music, two epochs (actually several), and their images gently exploded in front of us. I cannot forget the movements of Grégoire’s back and arms, as well that infant dressed like a rabbit (or a rabbit itself) Yoshito offered to us.
One to one the solos became duos and their physical speech resulted comprehensive and simple: it doesn’t matter what exactly they were talking about, we observed their music, their past, their dreams, we could see their own relatives on stage.
 |
| Yoshito Ohno and Lucie Grégoire. In Between. (Montreal. 2011) |
Like a ritual, they looked for their ancestors, for their own ghosts. And what we see at the final scene, two charming ghosts coming from the past in a lovely union, is one of the most beautiful and simple images anyone could ever see on stage.
We were pleased and we were happy at the end of In Between.
Slideshow of In Between at L'Agora de la Danse (Montreal. 2011)
Texts, photographs and videos in this Blog are all author's property, except when marked. All rights reserved by Gustavo Thomas.If you have any interest in using any text, photograph or video from this Blog, for commercial use or not, please contact Gustavo Thomas at gustavothomastheatre@gmail.com.
8 Temmuz 2012 Pazar
Rock and Roll GRE
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Analytical Writing
IssueTask: Write a response tofollowing statement. You can accept, reject, or qualify the claim madein the topic, as long as the ideas you present are clearly relevant tothe topic below. Support your views with reasons and examples drawnfrom such areas as your reading, experience, observations, or academicstudies.
The Beatles are overrated.
Argument:Write a critique of anargument presented in the following short passage.
Bon Jovi is great band. They have sold a shitload of albums. They arereally nice guys. They have awesome hair.
Quantitative Ability
1.
A) The quantity in Column A is greater
B) The quantity in Column B is greater
C) The two quantities are equal
D) The relationship cannot be determined from the information given
E) Well, are we comparing quantity or quality here?
2. Dave Clark x + Ben Folds x = yCC
Solve for y
A) 2
B) 5
C) 10
D) 17
E) 23.56432
3. Seven & Seven Is
A) 14
B) A song by Love
4. Haircut x²
Solve for x
A) 1982
B) Love + 1
C) 16
D) ±10
E) 45
Verbal Ability
In the following questions, a related pair of words is followed by fivemore pairs of words. Select the pair that best expresses the samerelationship as that expressed in the original pair.
1. NIRVANA : FOO FIGHTERS
A) Soundgarden : Candlebox
B) Roxy Music : Bryan Ferry
C) Joy Division : New Order
D) New York Dolls : KISS
E) Blue Oyster Cult : Foghat
2. DAVIES : KINKS
A) Deal : The Breeders
B) Followill : Kings of Leon
C) Taylor : Duran Duran
D) Gallagher : Oasis
E) White : The White Stripes
3. The REVOLUTION: THE NEW POWER GENERATION
A) The Attractions: The Imposters
B) Crazy Horse: The Band
C) The Heartbreakers: The Traveling Wilburys
D) The E Street Band: The Asbury Jukes
E) The Raiders: The Detroit Wheels
Each of the following questions provides a given word or phrase incapitalizedletters followed by five word choices. Choose the word or phrase thatis mostopposite in meaning to the given word.
4. THE FALL
A) Sonic Youth
B) The Pretenders
C) The Wedding Present
D) The Cure
E) Dinosaur Jr.
5. BRITNEY SPEARS
A) Usher
B) Tom Waits
C) Pink
D) Tom Jones
E) Cher
6. MINISTRY
A) Revolting Cocks
B) Lead Into Gold
C) Lard
D) 1000 Homo DJs
E) The Bee-Gees
The sentences has blank spaces that indicate omitted words. Choose thebest combination of words that fit the meaning and structurewithin the context of the sentence.
7. After _________ left __________, the band started selling morerecordswhile he ironically found both critical and commercial success bysticking with his arty instincts that had limited the band's audience.
A) Peter Frampton, Humble Pie
B) Peter Gabriel, Genesis
C) Justin Timberlake, the Backstreet Boys
D) Paul Weller, the Style Council
E) David Lee Roth, Van Halen
Please use thisessay to answer the followingquestions.
8. The author's main point is that:
A) Inexpensive videos are the best way for bands to build an audience.
B) Record companies are short-sighted in viewing all artist activitiesas revenue sources.
C) Record companies have always expected to recoup all advances.
D) Bloggers are more important than radio for breaking new bands.
E) The treadmill video is really cool.
9. According to the author, the main function of record companies is to:
A) get CDs distributed to retailers.
B) get radio airplay for artists.
C) provide financial advances.
D) find directors who can create concepts for videos.
E) put bands on metaphorical treadmills.
Answers:
Analytical Writing
Issue
Sample response:
Well, yeah. Kinda.
Argument
Sample response:
You're out of your fucking mind.
Quantitative Ability
1. B or E
2. C
3. A or B
4. D
Verbal Ability
1. C
2. D
3. A
4. A
5. B
6. E
7. B
8. B
9. C
IssueTask: Write a response tofollowing statement. You can accept, reject, or qualify the claim madein the topic, as long as the ideas you present are clearly relevant tothe topic below. Support your views with reasons and examples drawnfrom such areas as your reading, experience, observations, or academicstudies.
The Beatles are overrated.
Argument:Write a critique of anargument presented in the following short passage.
Bon Jovi is great band. They have sold a shitload of albums. They arereally nice guys. They have awesome hair.
Quantitative Ability
1.
| Column A | Column B |
| The Smiths'recordedoutput | Morrissey'srecorded output |
A) The quantity in Column A is greater
B) The quantity in Column B is greater
C) The two quantities are equal
D) The relationship cannot be determined from the information given
E) Well, are we comparing quantity or quality here?
2. Dave Clark x + Ben Folds x = yCC
Solve for y
A) 2
B) 5
C) 10
D) 17
E) 23.56432
3. Seven & Seven Is
A) 14
B) A song by Love
4. Haircut x²
Solve for x
A) 1982
B) Love + 1
C) 16
D) ±10
E) 45
Verbal Ability
In the following questions, a related pair of words is followed by fivemore pairs of words. Select the pair that best expresses the samerelationship as that expressed in the original pair.
1. NIRVANA : FOO FIGHTERS
A) Soundgarden : Candlebox
B) Roxy Music : Bryan Ferry
C) Joy Division : New Order
D) New York Dolls : KISS
E) Blue Oyster Cult : Foghat
2. DAVIES : KINKS
A) Deal : The Breeders
B) Followill : Kings of Leon
C) Taylor : Duran Duran
D) Gallagher : Oasis
E) White : The White Stripes
3. The REVOLUTION: THE NEW POWER GENERATION
A) The Attractions: The Imposters
B) Crazy Horse: The Band
C) The Heartbreakers: The Traveling Wilburys
D) The E Street Band: The Asbury Jukes
E) The Raiders: The Detroit Wheels
Each of the following questions provides a given word or phrase incapitalizedletters followed by five word choices. Choose the word or phrase thatis mostopposite in meaning to the given word.
4. THE FALL
A) Sonic Youth
B) The Pretenders
C) The Wedding Present
D) The Cure
E) Dinosaur Jr.
5. BRITNEY SPEARS
A) Usher
B) Tom Waits
C) Pink
D) Tom Jones
E) Cher
6. MINISTRY
A) Revolting Cocks
B) Lead Into Gold
C) Lard
D) 1000 Homo DJs
E) The Bee-Gees
The sentences has blank spaces that indicate omitted words. Choose thebest combination of words that fit the meaning and structurewithin the context of the sentence.
7. After _________ left __________, the band started selling morerecordswhile he ironically found both critical and commercial success bysticking with his arty instincts that had limited the band's audience.
A) Peter Frampton, Humble Pie
B) Peter Gabriel, Genesis
C) Justin Timberlake, the Backstreet Boys
D) Paul Weller, the Style Council
E) David Lee Roth, Van Halen
Please use thisessay to answer the followingquestions.
8. The author's main point is that:
A) Inexpensive videos are the best way for bands to build an audience.
B) Record companies are short-sighted in viewing all artist activitiesas revenue sources.
C) Record companies have always expected to recoup all advances.
D) Bloggers are more important than radio for breaking new bands.
E) The treadmill video is really cool.
9. According to the author, the main function of record companies is to:
A) get CDs distributed to retailers.
B) get radio airplay for artists.
C) provide financial advances.
D) find directors who can create concepts for videos.
E) put bands on metaphorical treadmills.
Answers:
Analytical Writing
Issue
Sample response:
Well, yeah. Kinda.
Argument
Sample response:
You're out of your fucking mind.
Quantitative Ability
1. B or E
2. C
3. A or B
4. D
Verbal Ability
1. C
2. D
3. A
4. A
5. B
6. E
7. B
8. B
9. C
Book Review: The Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB's: A Secret History of Jewish Punk by Steven Lee Beeber
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It's an odd bit of nomenclature, the difference in implication in theexpressions "Christian musician" and "Jewish musician." To call someonea Christian musician is taken to mean an artist whose material dealswith religious and spiritual matters. Christian music is a recognizedgenre, even with its own Billboardcharts. However, to call someone a Jewish musicians refers only totheir religious background but says nothing about content of theirsongs. To talk about Jewish musicians, the default assumption issecular music by people who happen to be Jewish.
All of which boils down to this: don't approach Steven Lee Beeber'sbook TheHeebie-Jeebies at CBGB's: A Secret History of Jewish Punkexpecting to learn about an unknown subgenre of punk featuring thelikes of a sped-up, angry version of "Kol Nidre," not that anyone isapt to make that mistake. Beeber even makes his outlookexplicit, examining what it means to be Jewish from a cultural ratherthan religious perspective, on par with being Italian, Irish or Indianrather than Catholic or Hindu. He may trot out anecdotes about barmitzvahs as evidence of Lou Reed's religious heritage, but Beeber ismuch more interested in Jews as an ethnic rather than religious group.And the big surprise is that the history of punk includes a lot of Jewsin crucial roles.
Beeber goes far beyond the mere curiosity "outing" Jewish punks. Sure,you know that Joey Ramone was Jewish, but did you guess that TommyRamone is, too? The author even questions his own motivation whenRichard Hell (né Meyers) asks Beeber his point in writingthe book. Beeber examines the common cultural forces that influencedthis set of people. Some manifestations are overt, such as the Ramones'exhortation to eat Kosher salami. Others are more subtle, such as thestatus of Jews as outsiders in American society and rebellion againstparental desires to assimilate via respectable high-paying professions.
The author trips up when he lacks primary sources. Most notably in thechapters on Lou Reed and the reclusive Jonathan Richman, he strugglesto interpret their inspiration through their lyrics and other pressclippings. In doing so, his analysis gets stretched too thin and hiswriting becomes repetitive. In other instances, he worked around hisinability to interview his subjects by drawing on other sources.Richard Hell was suspicious of Beeber's angle and refused to beinterviewed, but Beeber researched Hell's archival materials at NYU forinsights. Joey Ramone died before Beeber began to work on the book, butthose close to Joey were clearly forthcoming about him.
The book's greatest strength is in examining early punk's obsessionwith Nazi Germany. The Ramone's brought it to the forefront with one oftheir most political songs, "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg." But before that,many in the scene used Nazi iconography in their work or collected itprivately. Beeber teases this out, observing the place of thisgeneration of Jews in history. For many, they were just young enough tohave not been directly affected by the Holocaust but just old enough togrow up around those who were. Drawing on Susan Sontag's work in Notes on "Camp," hetheorizes that the obsession is a manifestation of an ultimatepsychology victory over the Nazis.
Many ethnic groups take justifiable pride in the accomplishments of itsmembers in various fields. But in chronicling the impact of people suchas band managers Danny Fields and Malcolm McLaren, CBGB's founder HillyKristal, Chris Stein of Blondie and Lenny Kaye of the Patti Smith Groupas well as lesser lights in the punk spectrum, Beeber assembles acompelling argument. The Jewish experience provided a unique influenceon this group of people, and without this cluster of Jews, punk as weknow it would not exist.
All of which boils down to this: don't approach Steven Lee Beeber'sbook TheHeebie-Jeebies at CBGB's: A Secret History of Jewish Punkexpecting to learn about an unknown subgenre of punk featuring thelikes of a sped-up, angry version of "Kol Nidre," not that anyone isapt to make that mistake. Beeber even makes his outlookexplicit, examining what it means to be Jewish from a cultural ratherthan religious perspective, on par with being Italian, Irish or Indianrather than Catholic or Hindu. He may trot out anecdotes about barmitzvahs as evidence of Lou Reed's religious heritage, but Beeber ismuch more interested in Jews as an ethnic rather than religious group.And the big surprise is that the history of punk includes a lot of Jewsin crucial roles.
Beeber goes far beyond the mere curiosity "outing" Jewish punks. Sure,you know that Joey Ramone was Jewish, but did you guess that TommyRamone is, too? The author even questions his own motivation whenRichard Hell (né Meyers) asks Beeber his point in writingthe book. Beeber examines the common cultural forces that influencedthis set of people. Some manifestations are overt, such as the Ramones'exhortation to eat Kosher salami. Others are more subtle, such as thestatus of Jews as outsiders in American society and rebellion againstparental desires to assimilate via respectable high-paying professions.
The author trips up when he lacks primary sources. Most notably in thechapters on Lou Reed and the reclusive Jonathan Richman, he strugglesto interpret their inspiration through their lyrics and other pressclippings. In doing so, his analysis gets stretched too thin and hiswriting becomes repetitive. In other instances, he worked around hisinability to interview his subjects by drawing on other sources.Richard Hell was suspicious of Beeber's angle and refused to beinterviewed, but Beeber researched Hell's archival materials at NYU forinsights. Joey Ramone died before Beeber began to work on the book, butthose close to Joey were clearly forthcoming about him.
The book's greatest strength is in examining early punk's obsessionwith Nazi Germany. The Ramone's brought it to the forefront with one oftheir most political songs, "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg." But before that,many in the scene used Nazi iconography in their work or collected itprivately. Beeber teases this out, observing the place of thisgeneration of Jews in history. For many, they were just young enough tohave not been directly affected by the Holocaust but just old enough togrow up around those who were. Drawing on Susan Sontag's work in Notes on "Camp," hetheorizes that the obsession is a manifestation of an ultimatepsychology victory over the Nazis.
Many ethnic groups take justifiable pride in the accomplishments of itsmembers in various fields. But in chronicling the impact of people suchas band managers Danny Fields and Malcolm McLaren, CBGB's founder HillyKristal, Chris Stein of Blondie and Lenny Kaye of the Patti Smith Groupas well as lesser lights in the punk spectrum, Beeber assembles acompelling argument. The Jewish experience provided a unique influenceon this group of people, and without this cluster of Jews, punk as weknow it would not exist.
Kickin' It Real Old School
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My blog was dormant for two months because I'm back in school, pursuinga masters in music at Tufts, which has left me with little time to seeshows or even blog. My first major paper was on a historic music textin one of Tufts' special collections, A General History of Musicby Charles Burney. It was one of the first two comprehensive historiesof music published in England. Burney released his first volume inJanuary, 1776 but didn't finish the four-volume series until 1789. Hisrival Sir John Hawkins released his history 10 months later in itsentirety. The rivalry was immediate and has persisted for 200 years.Hawkins's strength was in his coverage of ancient music, but that'sabout the only advantage he held. Burney's writing style wasaccessible, and the clear structure of the work made it a usefulresearch tool, whereas Hawkins's style was detached and the work is sodisorganized that it is difficult to find a particular subject withinthe text. While Hawkins intentionally excluded contemporary music,viewing it as worthless, Burney embraced it; it is largely because ofhis extensive coverage of his contemporaries that he is still citedtoday. Besides being an antiquarian, Hawkins was also a curmudgeon,while Burney's social skills allowed him to travel in more prestigiouscircles than his middle class background might have limited him to. Thestory has the makings of a great screenplay.
As I gingerly leafed through Burney's and Hawkins's books, it occurredto me that I doubt I've ever touched anything that old other than abuilding. And as I synthesized my research materials, I started to feelkinship with Burney. I have immersed myself in the world ofcontemporary music but struggle to make sense of music of the distantpast, and until now my knowledge of music history has been throughself-study and interaction with musicians. I'd like to think that mywriting is accessible, but I am humble enough to seriously doubt thatanyone will be quoting me 200 years from now.
As I gingerly leafed through Burney's and Hawkins's books, it occurredto me that I doubt I've ever touched anything that old other than abuilding. And as I synthesized my research materials, I started to feelkinship with Burney. I have immersed myself in the world ofcontemporary music but struggle to make sense of music of the distantpast, and until now my knowledge of music history has been throughself-study and interaction with musicians. I'd like to think that mywriting is accessible, but I am humble enough to seriously doubt thatanyone will be quoting me 200 years from now.
Concert Review: The English Beat, Johnny D's, Somerville, January 4
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The English Beat are better than you remember. Off the top of yourhead, you can only recall "Mirror in the Bathroom" and their cool logo.But they have more songs that make you go, "Oh, yeah, this isreally good," than you realized. And they can get a party going on acold Tuesday night in January like nobody's business.
"How Can You Stand There?" was the unofficial theme song for the night.It was probably about political apathy, but it applied to the audienceat a more literal level to the few hold-outs in the audience. Most ofthe sold-out crowd at Johnny D's was on their feet and dancing. Evenpeople with seats at tables on the edges of the crowded room were upand moving. Dave Wakeling could taunt someone up front for standingstill with arms folded only because it was a rarity. Even moreimpressive about "How Can You Stand There?" is that it was a new song,not yet recorded, but it fit in so easily with their repertoire of hitsthat the audience never slowed down.
And the major and minor hits kept coming: "Hands Off She's Mine," "IConfess," "Best Friend," "Twist and Crawl," "Save It For Later" (Seewhat I said about more good songs than you remember?) They brought outthe covers that they put their own stamp on, "Tears of a Clown," "Can'tGet Used to Losing You" and "I'll Take You There." Guitarist and singerDave Wakeling is the only original member still with the band; thecurrent keyboard player probably wasn't even born when the RankingRoger was bobbing around in videos in the early days of MTV. But theline-up in tight, ably delivering the material that made the band theepitome of the early '80s ska revival.
No, the evening wasn't perfect. While it was impressive that theyplayed more than two hours, the energy in the room sagged at around the1 hour 45 mark; they could have trimmed a few songs and still kept theaudience more than satisfied. And it's hard to fully endorse a group soclearly trading on nostalgia. But it's also hard to fault a band thatgenerates so much fun.
"How Can You Stand There?" was the unofficial theme song for the night.It was probably about political apathy, but it applied to the audienceat a more literal level to the few hold-outs in the audience. Most ofthe sold-out crowd at Johnny D's was on their feet and dancing. Evenpeople with seats at tables on the edges of the crowded room were upand moving. Dave Wakeling could taunt someone up front for standingstill with arms folded only because it was a rarity. Even moreimpressive about "How Can You Stand There?" is that it was a new song,not yet recorded, but it fit in so easily with their repertoire of hitsthat the audience never slowed down.
And the major and minor hits kept coming: "Hands Off She's Mine," "IConfess," "Best Friend," "Twist and Crawl," "Save It For Later" (Seewhat I said about more good songs than you remember?) They brought outthe covers that they put their own stamp on, "Tears of a Clown," "Can'tGet Used to Losing You" and "I'll Take You There." Guitarist and singerDave Wakeling is the only original member still with the band; thecurrent keyboard player probably wasn't even born when the RankingRoger was bobbing around in videos in the early days of MTV. But theline-up in tight, ably delivering the material that made the band theepitome of the early '80s ska revival.
No, the evening wasn't perfect. While it was impressive that theyplayed more than two hours, the energy in the room sagged at around the1 hour 45 mark; they could have trimmed a few songs and still kept theaudience more than satisfied. And it's hard to fully endorse a group soclearly trading on nostalgia. But it's also hard to fault a band thatgenerates so much fun.
Why I'm Not Reviewing Ida Maria's New Album
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I loved Ida Maria's debut album, Fortress 'Round My Heart. It's one of my favorite albums of the last five years, so I jumped at the chance to review Katla, her recent follow-up. But my primary outlet for album reviews these days is CD Hotlist, an online publication aimed at people who buy music recordings for libraries. And that's the hitch. Katla is part of a growing trend of albums that are only available as digital downloads, not in physical form. To make a long story short, because of standard end-user license agreements, libraries can't buy digital downloads for their borrowers to use. My colleague D. J. Hoek has written about this issue in greater detail. So there is no point in CD Hotlist running a review of an album that libraries can't buy.I'm hoping the situation will change. In the short run, I hope Ida Maria's label will view Katla as enough of a priority to issue it on CD. In the long run, I hope the copyright laws will change or vendors will change their restrictions so that libraries can collect, preserve and allow access to digital-only recordings. I've got a review of the album ready to go. The short version is that it's awesome.
7 Temmuz 2012 Cumartesi
So whats been cookin?
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So, what is up? How you been? Quiet around here I take? Okay, lets try to have some fun.
How has your summer been? Its early on so there is time to catch that sunburn and get those bug bites.
So far 2012 has seen a lot of cd releases and I've been very excited with the output. Few records have disappointed
Here is what I am looking forward to in the second half of the year.
No strangers to this blog are Boston Post rockers Caspian . Hopeful for an early fall release by all accounts. More on that once I hear. Irish band "Therapy?" has been churning out records for years and have been ignored here in the US (hence no Boston show since 2001). I am 99% sure the record is out I just need to order it. Dead Can Dance are due with a new record in August (with tour but no Boston show) and there are strong indications that The Sword, Maserati, The Avett Brothers, The Sea and Cake, Dinosaur Jr., Band of Horses and Animal Collective will have things out in September. Other stuff that may see a release here that I am curious about are Codes in the Clouds and Goonies Never Say Die On the live show front been a little light this year for me with 8 shows in the books but the summer in to the fall is really heating up. There are always things I'd “like” to go to. And So I Watch You From Afar play TT The Bears Place on July 26th and then Built to Spill stop by the The Met Cafe Providence on August 31st, but the same night is rumblings of Caspian opening for Arms and Sleepers at TT the Bears. What to do what to do.......
Life is Good Festival returns for two days in September. I have some media pass requests in now so I am hopeful. The line up is very strong. Then, Monday right after I hit the TD Garden for Peter Gabriel as he does “So” in full. The night after that I'd love to see the Alan Evans Trio at the Met Cafe, but...I might find myself a single man by then. The following Monday God Speed You Black Emperor come to the Orpheum Theater
Toss a few jazz shows in there as well as Bob Mould doing his "Copper Blue" (Sugar)
album in full..and just about anything else you can toss my way.
I told a buddy that all bands that I like need to NOT book shows From September 1st to October 20th. I want to see stuff, but they are piling up!
As always I'll try to post more on Caspian news cuz I just dig em way too much and there will be more on Life is Good.
Hopefully updates a little more often...but then again I always say that.
Thanks for stopping over.
How has your summer been? Its early on so there is time to catch that sunburn and get those bug bites.
So far 2012 has seen a lot of cd releases and I've been very excited with the output. Few records have disappointed
Here is what I am looking forward to in the second half of the year.
No strangers to this blog are Boston Post rockers Caspian . Hopeful for an early fall release by all accounts. More on that once I hear. Irish band "Therapy?" has been churning out records for years and have been ignored here in the US (hence no Boston show since 2001). I am 99% sure the record is out I just need to order it. Dead Can Dance are due with a new record in August (with tour but no Boston show) and there are strong indications that The Sword, Maserati, The Avett Brothers, The Sea and Cake, Dinosaur Jr., Band of Horses and Animal Collective will have things out in September. Other stuff that may see a release here that I am curious about are Codes in the Clouds and Goonies Never Say Die On the live show front been a little light this year for me with 8 shows in the books but the summer in to the fall is really heating up. There are always things I'd “like” to go to. And So I Watch You From Afar play TT The Bears Place on July 26th and then Built to Spill stop by the The Met Cafe Providence on August 31st, but the same night is rumblings of Caspian opening for Arms and Sleepers at TT the Bears. What to do what to do.......
Life is Good Festival returns for two days in September. I have some media pass requests in now so I am hopeful. The line up is very strong. Then, Monday right after I hit the TD Garden for Peter Gabriel as he does “So” in full. The night after that I'd love to see the Alan Evans Trio at the Met Cafe, but...I might find myself a single man by then. The following Monday God Speed You Black Emperor come to the Orpheum Theater
Toss a few jazz shows in there as well as Bob Mould doing his "Copper Blue" (Sugar)
album in full..and just about anything else you can toss my way.
I told a buddy that all bands that I like need to NOT book shows From September 1st to October 20th. I want to see stuff, but they are piling up!
As always I'll try to post more on Caspian news cuz I just dig em way too much and there will be more on Life is Good.
Hopefully updates a little more often...but then again I always say that.
Thanks for stopping over.
At the AAS
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I'm attending the AAS meeting in Boston right now (yes, right now). I brought a poster to justify my presence here and a lot of people bring flyer size copies of their poster to give out. The work in my poster is already published, so that seemed a little silly for me (people should just read the paper). At the printer, however, they made a proof of my poster and I figured I might as well bring that and see if anyone took it. I really didn't believe anyone would though. It's not regular paper -- it's like a square foot big (maybe bigger) and much much thicker than regular paper. But it's already disappeared from my table! It was gone before lunch. So someone here is carrying an oversized, cardboard-y version of my poster.
Sent from my iPhone
How Weird Is This?
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I'm working on a post or two about my trip to Italy, but I thought I'd post about this since it happened today. This morning, when I went to put my laptop in my backpack, I noticed that one of the rubber feet had fallen off. I wasn't surprised since it had been loose for a while:
The odd thing is that it turns out that the rubber foot is structural. Without it, you can see straight into the inside of my computer. I tried to take a pic: 
How weird is that?
By the way, I found the missing rubber foot on the floor of my office and currently it's held in place with tape. Should I try to glue it back on? With what?
Italy II: the revenge (Courmayeur)
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I went on a week long trip to Italy for a repeat of the 2009 Italy conference I went to: lots of the same people, same organizers, same week in June, same region of Italy. While still in Valle d'Aosta, this time the little town was Courmayeur not Cogne. And this time I was going to be prepared. 
Imagine June 2009: winding mountain roads, wildflowers everywhere, cheese at every meal (even cheese soup). Me: lactose intolerant, allergies and no antihistamines, antiemetic chewing gum that made my whole mouth numb and freaked me out.
This time I brought piles of Lactaid and Claritin and Dramamine. How did it go? Well, for some reason (maybe they had an early spring), there were no wildflowers. The Dramimine seemed to work okay. But even though I took Lactaid like vitamins, everything I ate made me sick. The first few days were the worse; I felt terrible and I was starving because I couldn't eat anything. Still, I guess two out of three isn't bad.
Here's a photo of my hilariously tiny bed:
And a bunch of photos looking out of my hotel room in different weather conditions:
Not Courmayeur, Mostly Valle d'Aosta
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And here are all the photos from my Italy trip that were not of Courmayeur itself. 
I went for a 'walk' (which turned out to be hiking -- I hate hiking). But it was pretty (pics above and below). 
On one afternoon off (there was more than one afternoon off: it was that kind of conference), we went into Aosta itself. Here is the town hall, but there were a lot of nice Roman ruins too. 
Arco d'Augusto:
Porta Praetoria and the Torre dei Signori Sancti Ursi:
And a Roman theater:
For the conference dinner, we went to some 'agriturismo' place with a field full of cows with very very loud bells attached to them. 
And somewhere behind those clouds and thereabouts is Mont Blanc.
Finally, back in Milan, I stayed one night in a hotel before catching my flight back to the US. It had a garden and pool area crawling with these (kinda cute) little lizards, which did not want me to photograph them.
5 Temmuz 2012 Perşembe
Consider this before you download music without permission
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Other artists such as Marillion and Jill Sobule have asked fans fordirect financial support already, but Dayna Kurtz explains why in clearand precise detail in response to hate mail she got for doing so. Morespecifically, she points out that her latest record sold only 900copies but was illegally downloaded 50,000 from four pirate sites alone.
Not everyone realizes that such downloading is illegal. Those who docome up with all sorts of rationalizations. "A huge artist is alreadyrich so they don't need my money." "A new artist needs exposure tobuild an audience." These arguments fall apart for the glut of midlevelartists who have built a following but aren't getting rich and aren'teven making enough to front their own recording costs.
As Kurtz points out, "the only thing that causes me some degree ofregret about this venture is that i'dbet my bottom dollar that the the vast majority of people that donateare the sort of fans who already buy my music, legally andconscientiously."
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=56856324&blogId=534038996
Not everyone realizes that such downloading is illegal. Those who docome up with all sorts of rationalizations. "A huge artist is alreadyrich so they don't need my money." "A new artist needs exposure tobuild an audience." These arguments fall apart for the glut of midlevelartists who have built a following but aren't getting rich and aren'teven making enough to front their own recording costs.
As Kurtz points out, "the only thing that causes me some degree ofregret about this venture is that i'dbet my bottom dollar that the the vast majority of people that donateare the sort of fans who already buy my music, legally andconscientiously."
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=56856324&blogId=534038996
Book Review: The Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB's: A Secret History of Jewish Punk by Steven Lee Beeber
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It's an odd bit of nomenclature, the difference in implication in theexpressions "Christian musician" and "Jewish musician." To call someonea Christian musician is taken to mean an artist whose material dealswith religious and spiritual matters. Christian music is a recognizedgenre, even with its own Billboardcharts. However, to call someone a Jewish musicians refers only totheir religious background but says nothing about content of theirsongs. To talk about Jewish musicians, the default assumption issecular music by people who happen to be Jewish.
All of which boils down to this: don't approach Steven Lee Beeber'sbook TheHeebie-Jeebies at CBGB's: A Secret History of Jewish Punkexpecting to learn about an unknown subgenre of punk featuring thelikes of a sped-up, angry version of "Kol Nidre," not that anyone isapt to make that mistake. Beeber even makes his outlookexplicit, examining what it means to be Jewish from a cultural ratherthan religious perspective, on par with being Italian, Irish or Indianrather than Catholic or Hindu. He may trot out anecdotes about barmitzvahs as evidence of Lou Reed's religious heritage, but Beeber ismuch more interested in Jews as an ethnic rather than religious group.And the big surprise is that the history of punk includes a lot of Jewsin crucial roles.
Beeber goes far beyond the mere curiosity "outing" Jewish punks. Sure,you know that Joey Ramone was Jewish, but did you guess that TommyRamone is, too? The author even questions his own motivation whenRichard Hell (né Meyers) asks Beeber his point in writingthe book. Beeber examines the common cultural forces that influencedthis set of people. Some manifestations are overt, such as the Ramones'exhortation to eat Kosher salami. Others are more subtle, such as thestatus of Jews as outsiders in American society and rebellion againstparental desires to assimilate via respectable high-paying professions.
The author trips up when he lacks primary sources. Most notably in thechapters on Lou Reed and the reclusive Jonathan Richman, he strugglesto interpret their inspiration through their lyrics and other pressclippings. In doing so, his analysis gets stretched too thin and hiswriting becomes repetitive. In other instances, he worked around hisinability to interview his subjects by drawing on other sources.Richard Hell was suspicious of Beeber's angle and refused to beinterviewed, but Beeber researched Hell's archival materials at NYU forinsights. Joey Ramone died before Beeber began to work on the book, butthose close to Joey were clearly forthcoming about him.
The book's greatest strength is in examining early punk's obsessionwith Nazi Germany. The Ramone's brought it to the forefront with one oftheir most political songs, "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg." But before that,many in the scene used Nazi iconography in their work or collected itprivately. Beeber teases this out, observing the place of thisgeneration of Jews in history. For many, they were just young enough tohave not been directly affected by the Holocaust but just old enough togrow up around those who were. Drawing on Susan Sontag's work in Notes on "Camp," hetheorizes that the obsession is a manifestation of an ultimatepsychology victory over the Nazis.
Many ethnic groups take justifiable pride in the accomplishments of itsmembers in various fields. But in chronicling the impact of people suchas band managers Danny Fields and Malcolm McLaren, CBGB's founder HillyKristal, Chris Stein of Blondie and Lenny Kaye of the Patti Smith Groupas well as lesser lights in the punk spectrum, Beeber assembles acompelling argument. The Jewish experience provided a unique influenceon this group of people, and without this cluster of Jews, punk as weknow it would not exist.
All of which boils down to this: don't approach Steven Lee Beeber'sbook TheHeebie-Jeebies at CBGB's: A Secret History of Jewish Punkexpecting to learn about an unknown subgenre of punk featuring thelikes of a sped-up, angry version of "Kol Nidre," not that anyone isapt to make that mistake. Beeber even makes his outlookexplicit, examining what it means to be Jewish from a cultural ratherthan religious perspective, on par with being Italian, Irish or Indianrather than Catholic or Hindu. He may trot out anecdotes about barmitzvahs as evidence of Lou Reed's religious heritage, but Beeber ismuch more interested in Jews as an ethnic rather than religious group.And the big surprise is that the history of punk includes a lot of Jewsin crucial roles.
Beeber goes far beyond the mere curiosity "outing" Jewish punks. Sure,you know that Joey Ramone was Jewish, but did you guess that TommyRamone is, too? The author even questions his own motivation whenRichard Hell (né Meyers) asks Beeber his point in writingthe book. Beeber examines the common cultural forces that influencedthis set of people. Some manifestations are overt, such as the Ramones'exhortation to eat Kosher salami. Others are more subtle, such as thestatus of Jews as outsiders in American society and rebellion againstparental desires to assimilate via respectable high-paying professions.
The author trips up when he lacks primary sources. Most notably in thechapters on Lou Reed and the reclusive Jonathan Richman, he strugglesto interpret their inspiration through their lyrics and other pressclippings. In doing so, his analysis gets stretched too thin and hiswriting becomes repetitive. In other instances, he worked around hisinability to interview his subjects by drawing on other sources.Richard Hell was suspicious of Beeber's angle and refused to beinterviewed, but Beeber researched Hell's archival materials at NYU forinsights. Joey Ramone died before Beeber began to work on the book, butthose close to Joey were clearly forthcoming about him.
The book's greatest strength is in examining early punk's obsessionwith Nazi Germany. The Ramone's brought it to the forefront with one oftheir most political songs, "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg." But before that,many in the scene used Nazi iconography in their work or collected itprivately. Beeber teases this out, observing the place of thisgeneration of Jews in history. For many, they were just young enough tohave not been directly affected by the Holocaust but just old enough togrow up around those who were. Drawing on Susan Sontag's work in Notes on "Camp," hetheorizes that the obsession is a manifestation of an ultimatepsychology victory over the Nazis.
Many ethnic groups take justifiable pride in the accomplishments of itsmembers in various fields. But in chronicling the impact of people suchas band managers Danny Fields and Malcolm McLaren, CBGB's founder HillyKristal, Chris Stein of Blondie and Lenny Kaye of the Patti Smith Groupas well as lesser lights in the punk spectrum, Beeber assembles acompelling argument. The Jewish experience provided a unique influenceon this group of people, and without this cluster of Jews, punk as weknow it would not exist.
Kickin' It Real Old School
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My blog was dormant for two months because I'm back in school, pursuinga masters in music at Tufts, which has left me with little time to seeshows or even blog. My first major paper was on a historic music textin one of Tufts' special collections, A General History of Musicby Charles Burney. It was one of the first two comprehensive historiesof music published in England. Burney released his first volume inJanuary, 1776 but didn't finish the four-volume series until 1789. Hisrival Sir John Hawkins released his history 10 months later in itsentirety. The rivalry was immediate and has persisted for 200 years.Hawkins's strength was in his coverage of ancient music, but that'sabout the only advantage he held. Burney's writing style wasaccessible, and the clear structure of the work made it a usefulresearch tool, whereas Hawkins's style was detached and the work is sodisorganized that it is difficult to find a particular subject withinthe text. While Hawkins intentionally excluded contemporary music,viewing it as worthless, Burney embraced it; it is largely because ofhis extensive coverage of his contemporaries that he is still citedtoday. Besides being an antiquarian, Hawkins was also a curmudgeon,while Burney's social skills allowed him to travel in more prestigiouscircles than his middle class background might have limited him to. Thestory has the makings of a great screenplay.
As I gingerly leafed through Burney's and Hawkins's books, it occurredto me that I doubt I've ever touched anything that old other than abuilding. And as I synthesized my research materials, I started to feelkinship with Burney. I have immersed myself in the world ofcontemporary music but struggle to make sense of music of the distantpast, and until now my knowledge of music history has been throughself-study and interaction with musicians. I'd like to think that mywriting is accessible, but I am humble enough to seriously doubt thatanyone will be quoting me 200 years from now.
As I gingerly leafed through Burney's and Hawkins's books, it occurredto me that I doubt I've ever touched anything that old other than abuilding. And as I synthesized my research materials, I started to feelkinship with Burney. I have immersed myself in the world ofcontemporary music but struggle to make sense of music of the distantpast, and until now my knowledge of music history has been throughself-study and interaction with musicians. I'd like to think that mywriting is accessible, but I am humble enough to seriously doubt thatanyone will be quoting me 200 years from now.
Concert Review: The English Beat, Johnny D's, Somerville, January 4
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The English Beat are better than you remember. Off the top of yourhead, you can only recall "Mirror in the Bathroom" and their cool logo.But they have more songs that make you go, "Oh, yeah, this isreally good," than you realized. And they can get a party going on acold Tuesday night in January like nobody's business.
"How Can You Stand There?" was the unofficial theme song for the night.It was probably about political apathy, but it applied to the audienceat a more literal level to the few hold-outs in the audience. Most ofthe sold-out crowd at Johnny D's was on their feet and dancing. Evenpeople with seats at tables on the edges of the crowded room were upand moving. Dave Wakeling could taunt someone up front for standingstill with arms folded only because it was a rarity. Even moreimpressive about "How Can You Stand There?" is that it was a new song,not yet recorded, but it fit in so easily with their repertoire of hitsthat the audience never slowed down.
And the major and minor hits kept coming: "Hands Off She's Mine," "IConfess," "Best Friend," "Twist and Crawl," "Save It For Later" (Seewhat I said about more good songs than you remember?) They brought outthe covers that they put their own stamp on, "Tears of a Clown," "Can'tGet Used to Losing You" and "I'll Take You There." Guitarist and singerDave Wakeling is the only original member still with the band; thecurrent keyboard player probably wasn't even born when the RankingRoger was bobbing around in videos in the early days of MTV. But theline-up in tight, ably delivering the material that made the band theepitome of the early '80s ska revival.
No, the evening wasn't perfect. While it was impressive that theyplayed more than two hours, the energy in the room sagged at around the1 hour 45 mark; they could have trimmed a few songs and still kept theaudience more than satisfied. And it's hard to fully endorse a group soclearly trading on nostalgia. But it's also hard to fault a band thatgenerates so much fun.
"How Can You Stand There?" was the unofficial theme song for the night.It was probably about political apathy, but it applied to the audienceat a more literal level to the few hold-outs in the audience. Most ofthe sold-out crowd at Johnny D's was on their feet and dancing. Evenpeople with seats at tables on the edges of the crowded room were upand moving. Dave Wakeling could taunt someone up front for standingstill with arms folded only because it was a rarity. Even moreimpressive about "How Can You Stand There?" is that it was a new song,not yet recorded, but it fit in so easily with their repertoire of hitsthat the audience never slowed down.
And the major and minor hits kept coming: "Hands Off She's Mine," "IConfess," "Best Friend," "Twist and Crawl," "Save It For Later" (Seewhat I said about more good songs than you remember?) They brought outthe covers that they put their own stamp on, "Tears of a Clown," "Can'tGet Used to Losing You" and "I'll Take You There." Guitarist and singerDave Wakeling is the only original member still with the band; thecurrent keyboard player probably wasn't even born when the RankingRoger was bobbing around in videos in the early days of MTV. But theline-up in tight, ably delivering the material that made the band theepitome of the early '80s ska revival.
No, the evening wasn't perfect. While it was impressive that theyplayed more than two hours, the energy in the room sagged at around the1 hour 45 mark; they could have trimmed a few songs and still kept theaudience more than satisfied. And it's hard to fully endorse a group soclearly trading on nostalgia. But it's also hard to fault a band thatgenerates so much fun.
Why I'm Not Reviewing Ida Maria's New Album
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I loved Ida Maria's debut album, Fortress 'Round My Heart. It's one of my favorite albums of the last five years, so I jumped at the chance to review Katla, her recent follow-up. But my primary outlet for album reviews these days is CD Hotlist, an online publication aimed at people who buy music recordings for libraries. And that's the hitch. Katla is part of a growing trend of albums that are only available as digital downloads, not in physical form. To make a long story short, because of standard end-user license agreements, libraries can't buy digital downloads for their borrowers to use. My colleague D. J. Hoek has written about this issue in greater detail. So there is no point in CD Hotlist running a review of an album that libraries can't buy.I'm hoping the situation will change. In the short run, I hope Ida Maria's label will view Katla as enough of a priority to issue it on CD. In the long run, I hope the copyright laws will change or vendors will change their restrictions so that libraries can collect, preserve and allow access to digital-only recordings. I've got a review of the album ready to go. The short version is that it's awesome.
4 Temmuz 2012 Çarşamba
Why I'm Not Reviewing Ida Maria's New Album
To contact us Click HERE
I loved Ida Maria's debut album, Fortress 'Round My Heart. It's one of my favorite albums of the last five years, so I jumped at the chance to review Katla, her recent follow-up. But my primary outlet for album reviews these days is CD Hotlist, an online publication aimed at people who buy music recordings for libraries. And that's the hitch. Katla is part of a growing trend of albums that are only available as digital downloads, not in physical form. To make a long story short, because of standard end-user license agreements, libraries can't buy digital downloads for their borrowers to use. My colleague D. J. Hoek has written about this issue in greater detail. So there is no point in CD Hotlist running a review of an album that libraries can't buy.I'm hoping the situation will change. In the short run, I hope Ida Maria's label will view Katla as enough of a priority to issue it on CD. In the long run, I hope the copyright laws will change or vendors will change their restrictions so that libraries can collect, preserve and allow access to digital-only recordings. I've got a review of the album ready to go. The short version is that it's awesome.
Creating "La Danza del Padre" (video of the first rehearsals)
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Creating La danza del padre (From Gustavo Thomas Butoh Vlog) from Gustavo Thomas on Vimeo.
Gustavo Thomas Butoh Vlog: Creating La danza del padre
Extracts from a rehearsal of La danza del padre.
Texts, photographs and videos in this Blog are all author's property, except when marked. All rights reserved by Gustavo Thomas. If you have any interest in using any text, photograph or video from this Blog, for commercial use or not, please contact Gustavo Thomas at gustavothomastheatre@gmail.com.Gustavo Thomas Theatre Blog by Gustavo Thomas is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
Creating La danza del padre (From Gustavo Thomas Butoh Vlog) from Gustavo Thomas on Vimeo.
Gustavo Thomas Butoh Vlog: Creating La danza del padre
Extracts from a rehearsal of La danza del padre.
Texts, photographs and videos in this Blog are all author's property, except when marked. All rights reserved by Gustavo Thomas. If you have any interest in using any text, photograph or video from this Blog, for commercial use or not, please contact Gustavo Thomas at gustavothomastheatre@gmail.com.Gustavo Thomas Theatre Blog by Gustavo Thomas is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
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