A RARE DAY OF CULTURE: ROTHKO, MCCARTHY & STRETCH

Normally weekends are reserved for time with the family but today the family had their own plans, so I took the opportunity to take in some art & culture! It was also partly an attempt to escape everyones post election mood & the relentless conversations. 

I met up in Chelsea with Garrett, a recent transplant from LA, who's energy to absorb NYC's culture is energizing. While heading to Printed Matter to see if they had any inexpensive Tom Sachs zines or stickers we saw big signs for a ROTHKO opening today. I remembered reading something about PACE showing some incredible private collection. As I told Garrett, when I was 14, Rothko opened my mind to abstract art & how color is emotional. The exhibition is stunning. We then hit Printed Matter & I scored a NASA shirt for $20 & a TEN BULLETS sticker for $1.

We then headed down to Hauser & Wirth for Paul McCarthy which is hillarious & amazing!

From they had to rush over to Williamsburg to hear old friend, & NY legend, DJ Stretch Armstrong give a talk on his new book. "No Sleep: NYC Nightlife Flyers 1988-1999" Nice surprise to find out I have no less than 6 pages of my own club flyers in the book! Also nice surprise to see that Eric HAZE was on the speaking panel too. HAZE is majorly important to me visually & was huge contributor to my own tome "Stickers" Coincidently Stretch is confirmed as a writer for Vol 2 of Stickers.


Just a few of the MARK ROTHKO'S at PACE. (iPhone pics should be illegal, they do not do these works justice!)

Just a few of the PAUL MCCARTHY'S at Hauser & Wirth. (They are about 5' high)

Old skool NYC crew..


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BLURRINGRadio # 67 "DARK BEATS"

A mixtape of mostly dark groove-based productions.

TRACK LIST BELOW

TO PLAY CLICK HERE.

Massive Attack & Azekel - Ritual Spirit  

Chrome Sparks - All Or Nothing  

Pional - The Way That You Like feat. 

Empress Of  Tensnake - Desire 

The Internet - Just Sayin/I Tried 

Johnny Guitar Watson - A Real Mother For Ya 

Sampha - Blood On Me 

MrSanka- Midnight Air 

Tiga - Blondes Have More Fun (Extended Alternate Mix) 

GILA - Don't Chirp 

Dark0 - Heal 

Kaytranada - WEIGHT OFF (feat. BADBADNOTGOOD) 

James Blake - Radio Silence 

Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie XX - My Cloud 

Radiohead - Separator (Four Tet RMX) 

SOFI TUKKER - Johny 

Nicolas Jaar - Three Sides of Nazareth 

Jagwa Ma - O B 1 

Holy Fuck - Neon Dad 

Classixx - Faraway Reach 

SpectraSoul - Glimpse feat D. Bridge 

Powell - Big Keith ['Ok Ok' Mix] 

Massive Attack & Burial - Paradise Circus

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MARK LECKEY : RETROSPECTIVE : MoMA PS1

In an effort to distract myself from recent events & the ongoing pain in my back & leg from a pinched nerve, I asked Gary Pini if I could tag/limp along with him the the press preview of "Mark Leckey: Containers and Their Drivers". I fell in love with Leckie's work after seeing his very first film Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore, & to this date I think it's still my favorite piece of "video art". Leckey is a UK artist that has been making works since 1999, mostly dealing with memories & images, a lot of which are connected to British youth subcultures. He also references imagery from TV or pop culture & repurposes them in very strange & emotive ways.  I don't necessarily understand a lot of the academic & history based "Containers and The Drivers" he's showing us but the the effect is emotionally powerful, ranging from exhilarating & ecstatic to heavy & morbid. 

The exhibition, which is massive, includes huge rooms full of soundsystems, oversized inflatables,16mm projectors, & a motorway underpass. They all come to life on Sunday Oct 24th & runs till March 5th. To understand better, see the MoMA PS1 description HERE.

One of many of the video works.

Ancient artifacts.

Me thinks the oversized Felix the Cat was a little too oversized for the room. Eve was used to show scale.

One of the most emotive pieces for me was this sculptor mashing the head of a Cyberman with something that looks like it was found in the tomb of Ting Tut (Except its florescent pink). Cybermen regularly drove me to hide from the TV during Dr Who as a kid, & still occasionally show up in unsettling dreams.

Two great vintage stickers used as details in a bed piece. One of them a Dalek, also from Dr Who & my childhood fears.

This room is so strange.
Eve in her own PokiemoGo world, & luckily somewhat oblivious to her surroundings.

We got to hear an intersting 45 minute talk with a bit of a Q&A. Leckey in the middle. (Eve-"it was so boring")

If you cant get to PS1, do yourself a favor, give yourself 15 mins & watch Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore.

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SARAH BURKEMAN 6th June 1982 - 5th Oct 2016 RIP

What a fucked-up 18 months. First dad, then mom, now saddest & most unfair of all, my beautiful, funny, talented smart sister.

Trying to appreciate & find joy in the little things, like the my wife & kids smiles.

Sarah, we miss you. xx


BLURRING RADIO show # 66 "Rock N' Roll Revisited"

A 20 track mixed tape of wicked guitar riffs.

Click HERE to play.

Trans - Rock Steady
Ron Gallo - Young Lady, You're Scaring Me
The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter
Black Mountain - Constellations
TV On The Radio - Could You
Sun Drug - Soaked
Wall of Death - Blow The Clouds
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Willoughby's Beach
David Bowie - Beauty and the Beast
Teleman - Tangerine
Savages - Evil
The Kills - Siberian Nights
The Rapture - Children
Moon Duo - Sleepwalker
Queens Of The Stone Age - God Is In The Radio
PARTYBABY - Everything's All Right
Temples - The Guesser
The Veils - Sign of Your Love
The Stooges - No Fun
The Damnwells - Sleepsinging
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RAYMOND PETTIBON at SADIE COLES LONDON

I forgot to post this at the time but when we were in London earlier this month, Raymond Pettibon was having a big solo show.
In case you don’t know, he was responsible for all the early Black Flack artwork and even created their iconic band logo.
Here are just a few of the works we loved.
When we asked the gallery how much the big wave one was? With out batting an eye, he said its sold but was 650,000 pounds.
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BLURRING RADIO show # 65 "Exclusive Business"

I’ve now been doing this show for over 5 years, and labels & artists have increasingly sent me music in advance of it being publicly available.
Even so, this is the first time that the planets align in such a way to allow me to program a show of all unreleased or exclusive music!

Click HERE to listen.

TRACK LIST :

Ron Gallo  "Poor Traits of the Artist”
Kidnap Kid “Brokenhearted” (Club Mix)
Bryan Kessler  "Power Flower"
Warpaint   "New Song" (Radio Edit)
Digital + Mad Vibes & Audio Habitat  "Rise"
Allah-Las   “Could Be You"
Beyond The Wizards Sleeve  "Diagram Girl"
Kool Clap  “Love Swing"
GILA   "SnoPack"
Hanni El Khatibi   "No Way"
RÜFÜS DU SOL "Be With You" (Booka Shade Remix) [Radio Edit]
London Elektricity "Singing Ringing Tree" (Anile remix)
clipping   "Wake Up"
GOAT   "All-Seeing Eye"
Vessels "BlurringRadio DJ Mix”


RADIOHEAD : MSG TUES & WED 7/16

It’s hard to believe it’s been almost 20 years since Paul Morris and I first saw them play.
That was in Paul’s words the “best gig ever” and it’s definitely in my top 5. Not only was it the OK Computer tour, but it was at Radio City.
I think I’ve been lucky enough to see them do every album since then. In all those years and gigs, only the last one was a bitter disappointment. It was at Roseland, which was one of my fave rooms in NY, so I was so excited for it, but for some reason, there was not nearly enough sound. Plus the band played a super subdued set. So unless you were right at the front, which was totally impossible because the venue had let way too many people in, it was a hot cluster fuck of pissed-off heads. So I’m happy to report these MSG shows were pretty great. Paul was able to get us INCREDIBLE seats for the Tuesday, and I was lucky enough to buy decent ones via the bands awesome management & surprise Max (who had never seen them) on Wednesday.

It’s impossible to pick which day was better. Because our seats on Tuesday were so close to the stage, visibility and sound were definitely better. But I think the band was possibly tighter on Wednesday, plus they played "Weird Fishes” and “Creep" ;)

Below are a couple of snippets of the highlights.





It’s been a pretty amazing week of music for me. On Saturday Paul Instigator Weston braved the ridiculous heat to go see Blood Orange, The National and a little of Kendrick Lamar’s set out on Randall's Island for one of the three days of Panorama Festival. However, the highlight of the day was actually unplanned as we wandered into a tent, only to be confronted by possibly the best dance floor soundsystem I’ve ever witnessed. I was blown away for 20 mins by the sound, and also the track selection: a mix of classic to rare disco tunes, blended with current alt dance like Tame Impala. I was very curious who, like me, had a love of these disparate genres. It was none other than James Murphy. He and 2ManyDJ’s were responsible for the soundsystem itself.

Check this thing out!
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RON GALLO : MERCURY LOUNGE 7/11/16

I hate going to shows where the room feels more empty than full. I always just feel uncomfortable for the artist.
Walking in to Ron Gallo at the Mercury Longe was no exception.
However, as soon as he started playing my discomfort was somewhat lessened. It was so obvious that Ron Gallo would very soon be playing sold-out shows, and that actually Max and I were very fortunate to see him in a room with only 50 people!

His band are as tight as any hard-working outfit I’ve ever seen.
Musically I felt they are drawing influences and inspiration from all over my favorite parts of rock 'n’ roll’s history--from blues-based Zeppelin, to the Cramps’ distorted rockabilly! 
Lyrically, it’s pretty nuts knowing Gallo is only 28. The life experiences and pain dealt with through cathartic songwriting would make one believe he’s much older.
Not only does he have some of the observational skills and earnest intensity of a young Dylan, he has the hair too.

So don’t let anyone tell you rock 'n' roll is dead. Maybe they are.


His debut & cleverly title album "HEAVY META” is due out soon.
Check out more info & merch HERE.

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STAR WARS EPHEMERA & MY MOM

Some of you may know my mother Lila Burkeman passed away recently.
My sister Brie has begun the thankless task of sorting though mom’s home, & in doing so found these envelopes below.
If you’ve looked at STAR WARPS you’ll know that our mom was dating Irvin Kershner (Kersh to friends & family) while he was directing The Empire Strikes Back.
That relationship was the genesis for me creating the book over 30 years later.
Below are some of the envelopes sent to Lila from Kerch.




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