By Carol Cooper – The Village Voice

Dada and surrealism have a historic rivalry, especially when it comes to their approaches to politicized art. But despite philosophical turf wars, they accomplished more together than apart, especially once Afro-Caribbean “Negritude” emerged as the missing link needed to make sense of Dada nonsense and constructively embody surrealist dreams. Consider New York City’s high-concept Dada dance combos Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band (formed in 1974) and, subsequently, Kid Creole & the Coconuts (born in 1979): Both used music and musical theater to liberate their fans, transforming every stage into the Cabaret Voltaire with a Pan-African backbeat. [Read More]

By Autobrennt

Music – whether making it, buying it or working in the industry – involves sacrifices. Taimur Agha knows this reality all too well.  “I can’t afford to lose any more right now. I’m living on peanuts,” sighs Agha. Then, panning the impressive shelves of vinyl at halcyon the shop that surrounds us, he breaks into a grin and adds, “I need some records.

Less than a month ago Agha’s  Halloween techno hoedown powered by his Blkmarket Membership team was crushed by the citywide crackdown on underground parties that night.  The bust cost his team a fiscal dent and a slew of partygoer backlash that followed.

“It’s been a hard four months,” he said, admitting that he barely can sleep these days. It’s tough enough to be under taskforce threats but that’s not the only pressure he’s facing. In addition to co-running the famed underground Blkmarket parties, Agha is the musical director of the city’s newest club, District 36. He has been fighting an uphill battle with Manhattan’s tight legal grip on venues and nightclubs, hence the prolonged postponement of the club’s official opening. [Read More]

By Virginia Heffernan – NY Times

In 1997, when Garry Kasparov, the great Russian chess champion, resigned the sixth and final game of his match with Deep Blue, theI.B.M. computer, he crumpled. He couldn’t conceal his despair. No opponent had ever beaten him in a match before, and this one didn’t even have a heartbeat. Kasparov announced, “I lost my fighting spirit.” [Read More]

By The Villager

The Underbelly Project, an illegal show of street art, curated by street artists PAC and Workhorse, fills the inside of an abandoned Brooklyn subway station. The project began in 2009. Artists, 103 in all, were escorted into the space individually to create their works. According to the project’s Web site, “Unobstructed by the pressures of commercial sales, e-mail or daily routines, each artist painted one full night.” (There’s definitely no e-mail, since four stories belowground in the century-old station, there’s no WiFi.) [Read More]

By Dave Itzkoff – NY Times

It is not uncommon for people to react with awe to their first up-close encounter with a balloon from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. But when Takashi Murakami saw his contributions to Thursday’s event, he bowed. Twice.

On Wednesday afternoon, on a stretch of West 81st Street in Manhattan where brightly colored, 30-foot-tall inflatable versions of his characters Kaikai and Kiki were wriggling and writhing underneath a huge net, Mr. Murakami, the Japanese pop artist, held a brief Shinto ceremony for purity and luck. He stood at a table where he poured out a glass of water and a glass of sake in front of two plates, one of white rice and one of sea salt. He gave two bows and clapped twice, then declared the ritual complete. [Read More]

By Amanda Farah – BushwickBK.com

When it was announced that Marissa Nadler was playing in Bushwick last week, almost as much buzz surrounded the venue as the artist. It was the first time many of us had heard of Envelope, a space that had held its first and only show in October. What led to further chattering was that the address of Envelope was only given to those who purchased tickets, and that those tickets were $30 — considered steep by “Bushwick standards.”

In a neighborhood with more DIY than licensed music venues, Envelope presents a new approach to the homegrown experience. Envelope hosts only one show a month, with a capacity for only 60 guests. The rest of the time, it operates as a recording studio. Shows have been booked for the next 10 months, but at the moment there are no plans to expand performances beyond the once-monthly showcases. [Read More]

Photo by Clayton Patterson – The Villager

Tompkins Square Park’s “Tent City,” partly seen above in the late 1980’s or early 1990’s, was a highly polarizing issue in the East Village. At times, the homeless settlement occupied as much as one-third of the entire park. [Read More]

By Bille Jam – NewYork Post

It was only 31 years ago that Gary Weis filmed his movie on South Bronx gang culture, 80 Blocks From Tiffany’s, but it seems like an eternity. “It was a whole different time and place. It was kind of like Dresden when I filmed there,” the director now says of the rubble-strewn, bombed-outlooking borough where he shot his gripping, gritty documentary in the summer of 1979.

It was Koch-era New York when the South Bronx, one of the poorest areas in the nation, was such a rundown destitute place that both Presidents Carter and Reagan traveled there for photo ops to exemplify the most striking symbol they could find of urban decay in America. It was also the time and place when the subways were covered in graffiti and when a new music and culture called hip-hop was taking root in the “Boogie Down” Bronx. [Read More]

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by Paul Cashmere at Undercover – Vintage Vinyl News

Paul McCartney is thrilled (and Ringo’s relieved) that the Beatles have finally come to iTunes.

“We’re really excited to bring the Beatles’ music to iTunes,” said Sir Paul. “It’s fantastic to see the songs we originally released on vinyl receive as much love in the digital world as they did the first time around.” [Read More]