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Ladies & Gentlemen is/was/is an all-encompassing arts magazine. It started as a physical release in 2001, accompanied with 12" record and screenprinted covers. It's been 4 years since it was last published, but don't let that stop you... buy one now!
Well this certainly snuck up quietly. Yesterday, Bedroom Community announced plans for a new release from Ben Frost and Daniel Bjarnson, due this November. Holy shit, right? Wait, it gets better.
The piece, commissioned by the Unsound festival in Krakow, spawned from initial sketches improvised by Frost and Bjarnson to the Tarkovsky film of the same name (note, if you haven’t seen it, remedy your unfortunate situation poste haste). From there, the duo fed those sketches were:
fed into software designed to correct music which tried to turn their dense and distorted sonic input into a digital sequence of raw musical data. Working from data riddled with error and misunderstanding, a human score was orchestrated; the whole process deftly mirroring the core of the film’s own narrative of memory and loss, alien doppelgängers and emotional feedback loops.
Heavy.
Ben Frost’s By The Throat was my favorite record of 2009, and Bjarnson’s Processions just missed cracking the top ten last year. Even knowing this collaboration exists has me all tingly inside.
The tracklist is as follows:
1. We Don’t Need Other Worlds, We Need Mirrors
2. Simulacra I
3. Simulacra II
4. Snow
5. Reyja
6. Cruel Miracles
7. Hydrogen Sulfide
8. Unbreakable Silence
9. You Mean More To Me Than Any Scientific Truth
10. Saccades
11. Venia
That’s how long it has been since my last post. Normally, I’d be totally ashamed about that, but all manner of crazy shit has been going on since we last spoke. I quit my job, moved to Minneapolis, started a new job, and bought a house–I even had a second (arguably) vestigial organ removed from my body, emergency-style.
I realize that 85% of blogs on the internet end with a post that starts: “Sorry, I haven’t posted in a while…”, so I was tempted to pick up like nothing had changed. I was prepared to ask you to pretend the last 251 days never occurred, and to suggest we’d both feel better about things that way. But the reality is, I’m now two organs short of a full body, and you deserve better.
Therefore, to get us back in gear, I decided to cull together a compendium of six random things I probably would have posted about had I been better at my not-job.
If you haven’t already noticed, it’s that time of year again. The time when everyone with an opinion (and a website or a blog) decides to share with you their “Best of 2010″ lists. While I’d love to pretend that Lagmag is different, we aren’t, so our two-part year-end coverage begins NOW.
Today, we kick things off with my “Best Songs of 2010″ list. You can click on the titles below for links to check out each song. Alternately, I set up a playlist on iTunes so you can easily follow, listen and purchase any of the songs that tickle your proverbial fancy.
“Gone Completely” is the first track off Lux from Chicago’s Disappears, and if you aren’t hooked within the first 30 seconds, this record isn’t for you. It’s a fuzzed-out, scuzzed-up, and reverb-laden gem that perfectly sets the tone for the remaining 27 minutes of the record. Brian Case’s sneering “Do you ever think about / What if we had never met” also happens to be my favorite line to sing along with this year.
There weren’t too many records released this year that melded a Spector-era girl group vibe from the ’50s with the darker minor-key sound of mid-’90s alt-rock, and none did it as successfully as Best Coast’s Crazy for You. “Boyfriend”, the opening track, is that perfect intersection. It’s catchy as hell, but it’s also kind of sad and universally relatable–which is really what great pop songs are all about.
From time to time, I’ll see a record cover that makes me want to say to people, “Hey, check out this awesome cover art.” Thus, I am kicking the tires on a new feature called “Hey, check out this awesome cover art.” Enjoy!
Rachal Duggan is a funny lady. The 23-year-old, Chicago-based illustrator creates a cast of characters as diverse as her influences, but each and every one share a similar air of eccentricity. That isn’t to call Rachal eccentric, she isn’t. She is an artist with a talent for taking the everyday oddities of life, and infusing them into her portraits. Her style, which mixes clean composition with complex texture and pattern, is surreal and occasionally grotesque–but its also really fun.
I’m going to kick this off with a wholly generic and uninspired question, but I’m genuinely curious about what got you into illustration?
Well, I have always drawn but I had no idea where I was going with it. Then, when I was a junior in college, I realized I should try to get better at something I already enjoyed instead of worrying about finding something new. It sounds so simple now, but it was quite the epiphany for me at the time.
If you aren’t familiar with Mike Davis at this point, chances are you’re not paying attention. As part of Minneapolis’ Burlesque crew, he has been pumping out amazing work for the better part of a decade. His work brings to mind the 1960s-1970s output of heavy hitters like Milton Glaser, Herb Lubalin & Alfredo Rostgaar, 1980s pop-culture ephemera, and maybe a little graffiti culture for good measure. But its the way he combines those influences with his own illustration style, centered around clean and simple lines, bold colors and an ever-present sense of levity, that keeps his shit fresh.
Just about two years ago, Mike started the So Much Pileup blog to post some design artifacts and inspirations. One of our favorite regular features is the “Philately Friday” series, where he posts a collections of postage stamps from around the world. We asked Mike to put together a “greatest hits” of the series, and talk to us about his affection for the philatelic arts.
I’ve been a fan of Zach Johnsen since I first laid eyes on the pieces in his “Acid in the Ice Cream” solo show at Backspace gallery in Portland. I was never able to secure an original from the show, but 3 of the prints have found their way into my collection.
This morning I awoke to an email that Zach is selling prints of his similarly awesome “Dancing Nuns” series. Edition of 30. Don’t sleep folks, go get ‘em.
Chances are you saw “Pixels”, a short film by Patrick Jean, posted and/or shared in one of 1000 different places over the last couple of days, but on the small chance you haven’t, I’m reposting it here. It’s a great idea that’s flawlessly executed and 100% awesome. Enjoy.
That’s right friends. Ladies & Gentlemen is back in action-ish. While I understand the Lagmag you have come to love usually involves paper, vinyl, and a pricetag, this one doesn’t.
Since Issue #2 came out, I’ve fielded tons o’ questions about new issues, possible contributions, and story ideas. Additionally, there has been no shortage of art and music catching our attention on a daily basis. It was clear to me that we could sustain a regularly updated web presence celebrating all the things that made us create Lagmag in the first place, and that’s exactly what you have here.
Maybe someday the fabled #3 will see the light of day, but until then, bookmark this here site. We’ll do everything in our power to make you not regret it.
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