A general warning: This man is not to be confused with the philosopher Francis Bacon who once said, “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested…” Although I do find Sir Francis Bacon from the late 1500′s to be most intriguing he is not our topic. Consider yourself warned.
Born October 28, 1909 Francis Bacon, is an Irish-born British painter. Francis is best known for his grotesque, nightmarish figurative paintings. His work is dark and mysterious and will leave the on-looker intrigued and maybe even disturbed. History proves that Francis was always pushing the envelope, even as a small child he would cause an uproar by dressing up as a woman at his parents parties.
When asked about this painting during an interview, Francis Bacon said “It came to me as an accident. I was attempting to make a bird alighting on a field. And it may have been bound up in some way with the three forms that had gone before, but suddenly the line that I had drawn suggested something totally different and out of this suggestion arose this picture. I had no intention to do this picture; I never thought of it in that way. It was like one continuous accident mounting on top of another.”
His career began in the 1930′s and continued all the way up to Francis’ death in 1992. Today his paintings sell for hundreds of millions of dollars and when you set your eyes on his work you will not be surprised. If you wish to get a more visual representative of this incredible man’s life you can watch the 1998 flick Love is the Devil.
Mark your 2009 calendars, or keep your eye out for the exhibit to appear on Magnet’s weekly calendar, for the Francis Bacon Exhibit: A Centenary Retrospective in May at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum is the exhibits last stop and will be in the city until August.
Terry Richardson takes pictures. The subjects of his pictures tend to be some what famous and some what sexy, as one of the world’s most sought after photographers, I’m sure its just part of the job. Through the lens of a camera he is able to capture the raw essence of his subjects while creating a tragic, provocative, and gorgeous photo.
Terry was born in New York City in 1965 but spent most of his childhood growing up in California. When his rock band fell apart, with a little nudge from his mother, Terry put down his bass guitar and picked up a camera.
His work is not limited to celebrity portraits. In fact, he has an impressive resume of big time magazine editorials and fashion designer advertisements. Gucci, Levi, Miu Miu, Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, and GQ are only a few of the names Terry has considered a client. Richardson is at the top of his game, and continues to produce cutting edge work. Keep your eyes out for this man, he is one of the best American photographers today.
Even for you off beat folks, this band can lead you home, a step in time.
Shout Out Out Out Out‘s unique sound relies on 2 drummers, 4 bass players, 5 synthesizers, a handful of cowbells and other gidgets and gadgets. These west coast foreigners, Alberta, Canada, leave the crowd in a sweaty dancing fever. It is a sight unlike any other and one I highly recommend you see. Keep a look out for upcoming tour dates, and keep your fingers crossed for a swift return back to NYC. The new Shout Out Out Out Out album isn’t expected to be released until March, 2008. In the meantime check out their new single “In the End Its Your Friends.”
TV on the Radio can be found under the sub genre of rock n roll known as “art rock.” Basically, TV on the Radio’s music is so avant garde, those that need to put a title to everything had to throw the band into this broad description of music. Isnt all music art? (Just sayin)
The Brooklyn based band is currently on tour promoting their newest album, Dear Science.
One of the reasons why I love live music is the chance to see how a band feeds off a crowd, how they relate to their music, and how they rock it out. The initial excitement of seeing Spoon live and in person wore off about a song and a half into the set. Frankly, Spoon doesnt rock live. Their songs sound exactly like their albums and the four chaps from Texas are so lacking in emotion and energy, they may as well give public speeches on fossil fuel.
Blasting “I Turn My Camera On” from my iPod speakers and dancing around my living room seemed like a better time. I’d warn against spending the money to see Spoon, perhaps the “too cool for school attitude” Spoon exudes wont feel as obvious if you got in to the show for free.
6,557 miles, two and a half weeks, 600 CDs and one man make Killing Yourself to Live one of the best books about death I have ever read. That might not be saying much, as I have read maybe 5 books about death, but trust me Killing Yourself to Live is good.
Chuck Klosterman takes the reader along as his traveling companion as he embarks on a curious roadtrip about rock-n-roll and death. His mission: to understand why one of the best career moves a rockstar can make is to die. ”Somewhere at some point, somehow, somebody decided that death equals credibility.”
The reader suddenly becomes Chuck’s confidante as he reveals his partying, love life issues, family stories and rock-n-roll legends who have met their demise. Published in 2005, Killing Yourself to Live is, in my opinion, a masterful piece of witty nonfiction, pop-culture literature.
Combine The Police, Prince and Roxy Music and you have Tigercity. Formed in the Fall of 2004, Tigercity has quickly become a hot ticket. Their distinct sound has been known to “move even the spazziest of rock nerds to shake their booties(Rolling Stones).”
Bill Gillman, lead vocals, and Joel Ford, bassist, met during their college experience in Massachusetts in the fall. By winter of 2005 they had created their first demo. Pretend Not to Love was released in 2007 and is an incredible sensation of smooth electro synthesizer beats bringing back that 80s sound we all embrace.
On October 21st The Studio, in Webster Hall, opened up its first night with a free show from Tigercity. After several minutes of mic checks and equipment set up the band was ready and so were we. Squeezing in a handful of songs off the 2007 EP and two freshly recorded songs from their not yet named album, Tigercity filled up the small Studio underneath Webster Hall with music induced flailing, head knods, and lots of tapping feet. Great show, good band, my only complaint: no time for Tigercity to play “Are You Sensation?”
Malachy McCourt was born in Brooklyn, raised in Limerick, Ireland and returned to NYC in his early twenties (and who can blame him?). The memoir, A Monk Swimming, is full of amusing accounts of McCourt’s life. After a few years back in the great metropolis, Malachy McCourt had begun to make a name for himself with both appearances on common soap operas and gigs telling stories on late night TV. An Irish pub opened on 3rd avenue named purposely after Malachy. It was there that he became a celebrated bartender. He recalls the women who, in the 1950′s, had only recently been permitted to sit at the bar and how they consistently called him “cute”, this being a lingual adjustment, as “cute” means sly and cunning in Ireland.
It is said by the Irish that, “to eat is an accomplishment, to get drunk is a victory.” Malachy’s anecdotes reveal that he took this earthen proverb seriously and through his attachment to the mug a broken relationship between father and son is exposed.
I loved it. Malachy tells a story like none other. He is captivating in narrative, which makes it almost torturous to put down.
“Feel Good Lost” was released in 2001 as Broken Social Scene‘s debut album. The instrumental album suits its name perfectly as it does make you feel good getting lost in the tunes. There was one problem with this, when it came time to play it live it was difficult to create an interesting show with the instrumentals.
The band pulled together some of their Toronto friends from the Indie music scene to create a more bangin live performance. The collaberative line-up included Leslie Feist, Amy Milan, from the Stars, and James Shaw, from Metric(to name a few.) The creative group came back to work on Broken Social Scene‘s second album “You Forgot It In People”, adding lyrics to their already groovy sound.
Lesson: Sometimes it takes 14 people to get the sound you are looking for. Broken Social Scene is rockin out on tour this season and you can see them at The Brooklyn Masonic Temple on October 24th, 2008
“It’s a fine line between clever and stupid.. Yesterday I was clever. Beautiful notes flotaed from my fingers up towards the heavens. Today I was a wimp. Soft. Limp. Tasteful. Where did I go wrong? What were my crimes?” The Union Hall Basement, home to concerts, readings, magic shows, spelling bees etc, is a small, dark room decorated with random old paintings that makes you feel like you have just walked into a great aunt’s spooky living-room, minus the furniture.
The erie portraits and stale aroma of the joint can set up a book reading better than light dimmers and comfy chairs. I had barely heard of Dean Wareham and his bands Galaxie 5000 and Luna, but I knew just from the cover of the book that it would be an interesting night. I know, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” but lets be honest everyone does, a good cover can lure you into reading a book you wouldn’t normally read. And so here I was, standing in a dark, dank basement, squished against a couple dozen strangers, waiting to hear a reading from a guy I knew little to no background about just because of a book cover.
Black Postcards gives the reader an inside scoop into the music industry, Dean’s recollection of growing up listening to rock-n-roll, personal struggles on the road and his family life, and a bands strife to become successful.
Born October 28, 1909 Francis Bacon, is an Irish-born British painter. Francis is best known for his grotesque, nightmarish figurative paintings. His work is dark and mysterious and will leave the on-looker intrigued and maybe even disturbed. History proves that Francis was always pushing the envelope, even as a small child he would cause an uproar by dressing up as a woman at his parents parties. 
When asked about this painting during an interview, Francis Bacon said “It came to me as an accident. I was attempting to make a bird alighting on a field. And it may have been bound up in some way with the three forms that had gone before, but suddenly the line that I had drawn suggested something totally different and out of this suggestion arose this picture. I had no intention to do this picture; I never thought of it in that way. It was like one continuous accident mounting on top of another.”
Lesson: Sometimes it takes 14 people to get the sound you are looking for. Broken Social Scene is rockin out on tour this season and you can see them at The 
