British Singer/Songwriter Natasha Kahn releases a new gem under Bat For Lashes. True to form Kahn calls on forces of nature and human emotion to play the lead in each song, and masterfully crafts her music into whimsically unique tracks reminiscent of the ’80s.
“I will rise now, and go about the city…” quietly opens up Two Suns as Kahn sings the lyrics in echoey achapella, the lyrics are quickly found swirling in city sounds and pounding drums. ”Moon and Moon,” the albums third track, calls on the moon to accompany a wife looking for her husband, it features Kahn on the piano and is sure to play right on your soul, don’t be surprised if this track has you closing your eyes in order to get the full effect. “Traveling Woman” offers advice for survival in this wild world and just might have been Kahn’s theme song while writing and recording her second album as the process took place from Big Sur and Joshua Tree in California, to the Welsh Countryside, to London and New York. ”The Big Sleep,” a duet with Scott Walker and Kahn, is a haunty sleepy track almost operatic in vocals that is perfectly appropriate to end Two Suns. My favorite track off Bat For Lashes‘ new album: “Pearl’s Dream.”
Highly recommended by all who come in contact with them, Futurecop! is taking over the world and quite rapidly at that. Founded just over a year or so ago by Manchester’s Manzur Iqbal, the music is a sensation. Iqbal teamed up with Peter Carrol and the two are touring everywhere you want to be, from the UK to Canada, through the end of March. The inspiration behind futurecop! is the recreation of your favorite 80′s teen flicks. Think of “The Goonies”, “The Breakfast Club”, and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”. Now take that feeling, add some electro-pop beats, and groove it out on the dance floor, which is exactly what we did January 24th at The Mercury Lounge. Their 45 minute set had the entire audience shaking their tails. Some from the crowd even joined the men on stage, some dressed as clowns, and all were merry. If you missed them this time do not fret because they will be back on February 27th for a show at The Studio at Webster Hall.
An EP by the duo released January 5th entitled, The Unicorn and The Lost City of Alvograth, can be purchased on iTunes for under three dollars. It’s time to spend that pocket change and revive your living room dance parties.
Sociologist Sarah Thornton was a student and lover of art. Her PhD on dance clubs and raves was published in a book form under the title, Club Cultures: Music, Media and Subcultural Capital. Over ten years later Thornton has published a new work, Seven Days in the Art World, a behind the scenes artistic expedition in seven days, six cities, and five countries. From The Auction in New York City to The Fair in Switzerland, The Prize in London to The Studio in Japan, Thornton depicts the ethnography and mindset of the contemporary art world. A belief that nothing is more important than art itself brings all subcultures of the current and hip art macrocosm together.
What band refuses to cooperate with the media, answer requests for interviews, and up until recently, refused to perform live? How did you guess? Its The Knife. The swedish siblings, Karin Dreijer Andersson and Olof Dreijer, shake a fist at the “man” and make music for music’s sake. Formed in 1999, the duo stayed off the stage until 2005 when they played their first live performance at London’s ICA. In 2006 The Knife took the act on the road bringing their electro hotness to sold out shows across the world.
Three years after their last album release, Silent Shout, The Knife is back in action and this time they are working on an opera. Set to release in September of ’09 “Tomorrow in a Year” celebrates 150 years since the publication of Darwin’s Origin of Species. With musical compositions from The Knife, choreography by Japanese choreographer and dancer Hiroaki Umeda, and the father of evolution as the main inspiration, this will be one for the books.
Combining forces of life and nature to create some of
the best surrealistic sculptures in the world is something Not Vital has done for over 20 years. Not Vital, born in Switzerland, is
50 Snowballs
considered to be one of the leading sculptors of today.
The artist uses plaster, marble, gold, and silver to bring his pieces to life. There are no boundaries, space is never an issue, at times an entire room is created into a “piece,” the lighting, walls, and floorboards all become a part art.
Lotus
It is pieces like “8 Halves,” with the long scraggly horse legs, that give some of his work a Salvador Dali feel to it, but there is no doubt Not Vital’s work is unique and thought provoking.
The Boyfriend
His latest participation in an exhibition featured his piece, “The Boyfriend,” as part of London’s Frieze Art Fair this past October.
Highly recommended by all who come in contact with them, 
Sociologist Sarah Thornton was a student and lover of art. Her PhD on dance clubs and raves was published in a book form under the title, 
Three years after their last album release, Silent Shout, The Knife is back in action and this time they are working on an opera. Set to release in September of ’09 
