From VHS. A BBC ‘Horizon’ film about the remarkable life of the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. He was born in Vienna in 1889 and died in Cambridge in 1951, having made a profound impact upon the world of modern philosophy.
Category Archives: Video
ROBBIE BASHO :: VENUS IN CANCER, 1969
Venus in Cancer is the sixth studio album by composer and guitarist, the late Robbie Basho, released in 1969.
MORTON FELDMAN :: FOR PHILIP GUSTON – S.E.M Ensemble, 2000, 285 minutes
Composer Morton Feldman’s epic, 4.5 hour long piece dedicated to his friend Philip Guston hovers in place, shimmering like a slowly revolving mobile, its langorous harmonies hanging in mid-air as they gradually evaporate. The piece was written in 1984, in memoriam to Philip Guston, who passed away in 1980. Feldman and Philip Guston were best friends until 1970, when the painter’s sudden switch back from abstract expressionism to representational painting appalled the composer so much that the two men remained estranged until Guston’s death 10 years later. For Philip Guston is one of the longest of Feldman’s serenely expansive late scores. Continue reading MORTON FELDMAN :: FOR PHILIP GUSTON – S.E.M Ensemble, 2000, 285 minutes
BUD POWELL: a time-lapse of a life via song performances
Bud Powell is remembered as the father of modern jazz piano. Breaking away from the popular style of stride piano, Bud innovated new techniques and a new sound which melded with the bebop that Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie had invented; he approached the piano in almost the same way that Charlie Parker did the alto saxophone. Continue reading BUD POWELL: a time-lapse of a life via song performances
ROSCOE HOLCOMB :: I AIN’T GOT NO SUGAR BABY NOW
Roscoe Holcomb, (born as Roscoe Halcomb, September 5, 1912 – died February 1, 1981) was an American singer, banjo player, and guitarist from Daisy, Kentucky. A prominent figure in Appalachian folk music, Holcomb was the inspiration for the term “high, lonesome sound,” coined by folklorist and friend John Cohen. The “high lonesome sound” term is now used to describe bluegrass singing, although Holcomb was not, strictly speaking, a bluegrass performer.
“Bob Dylan stated, “Roscoe Holcomb has a certain untamed sense of control, which makes him one of the best.” Eric Clapton called Holcomb “my favorite [country] musician.” Holcomb’s white-knuckle performances reflect a time before radio told musicians how to play, and these recordings make other music seem watered-down in comparison. His high, tense voice inspired the term “high lonesome sound.” Self-accompanied on banjo, fiddle, guitar, or harmonica, these songs express the hard life he lived and the tradition in which he was raised.” -Smithsonian Folkways, recording notes,http://www.folkways.si.edu/roscoe-holcomb/i-aint-got-no-sugar-baby-now/old-time/music/track/smithsonian
Continue reading ROSCOE HOLCOMB :: I AIN’T GOT NO SUGAR BABY NOW
AMERICAN HOLLOW, documentary, 1999, 90 min.
American Hollow tells the tale of a close-knit Appalachian family that has changed little in the last 100 years.
American Hollow (1999)
Documentary [1 h 30 min]
Bascum Bowling, Clint Bowling, Edgar Bowling, Iree Bowling
Director: Rory Kennedy
Writer: Mark Bailey Continue reading AMERICAN HOLLOW, documentary, 1999, 90 min.
BRIAN ENO :: Interview, Red Bull Academy, NYC 2013, 90min.
Emma Warren hosts a wide-ranging and engaging interview with Eno
interview notes from RBA:
The record producer, sound conceptualist, futurist and artist extraordinaire sits on the couch at the 2013 Red Bull Music Academy. Electronic music didn’t start with Eno, but it was certainly never the same after him. On Roxy Music’s first two albums he helped make synthesizers and tape effects part of a rock lineup, pricking the ears of future synth-pop creators such as Human League. As a solo artist he forged a new genre, which he dubbed ambient music, before effectively becoming a one-man genre himself, lending touches to Genesis (where he’s credited with ‘Enossification’), John Cale, and Bowie during his golden Berlin period. There wasn’t much in the way of experimental ’70s music that wasn’t made a little odder by Eno’s touch. But that touch could also be a multiplatinum one, as he showed as a producer for U2 in the mid-’80s and Coldplay 20 years later. In the ’90s he created perhaps the most widely heard music of all: the six-second start-up sound for Microsoft’s Windows 95 operating system. Typically mischievous, he later let it be known that he’d created it on a Mac.
Hosted by Emma Warren
MERCE CUNNINGHAM / JOHN CAGE EXCERPTS, VARIATIONS V
Variations V (1965)
Musicians: John Cage, David Tudor and Gordon Mumma
Choreography: Merce Cunningham
The Merce Cunningham Dance Company
Filmed Projections & Visual Effects: Stan VanDerBeek and Nam June Paik
Lighting: Beverly Emmons
Directed for Film by Arne Arnborn
Variations V reflects the experimentation and spirit of the 1960s — a collaborative, interactive multi-media event with choreographed dance, elaborate mobile decor, variable lighting, multiple film projection, and live-electronic music often activated by the dancers’ movements.
Continue reading MERCE CUNNINGHAM / JOHN CAGE EXCERPTS, VARIATIONS V
SMILE – A Documentary about the Perception of Mental Illness, 2014, 24min
SMILE follows a series of interviews conducted by Luke Mordue and his team with those who have been affected by the darkness of depression and anxiety from various perspectives.
Shining a light on mental illness in an approachable, light manner, the team fight to eradicate the ignorance and stigma that still lives in today’s society with the hope that it will one day be accepted worldwide as a real problem that needs to be addressed.
It is time it was realised depression and anxiety will not go away with a simple smile.’
Directed by: Luke Mordue.
PHILIP GLASS, IN CONVERSATION WITH TODD L. BURNS: Red Bull Music Academy Lectures NYC, 2013 1.5hours
Todd L. Burns hosts Philip Glass at a Red Bull Music Lecture in 2013. 1.5hours
Introductory Notes:
It’s hard to overstate the influence of New York City composer Philip Glass. Along with Steve Reich, his minimalist compositions transformed the world of classical music and, eventually, popular music in general. Glass’ early epiphanies occurred in Paris during his time in the mid-’60s studying under Nadia Boulanger and in New York when he heard Steve Reich’s “Piano Phase.” These events helped set Glass on a course toward the repetitive, dramatic, and conceptually rigorous style that has become his trademark. Throughout the ’70s Glass refined his work, resulting in career-defining compositions like Music In Twelve Parts and Einstein On The Beach. In the process he became a popular sensation, a serious composer who wasn’t willfully obscure or too difficult to understand. Glass’ stunning soundtrack work for films like The Thin Blue Line and The Hours, and a symphony based on David Bowie’s album Heroes, has only elevated his standing as one of America’s most popular living composers. In this talk at the 2013 RBMA, Glass waxes nostalgic on his time spent in Paris, musical tradition, and the art of performance.
The Incubator 