Jackson is all things to all men. Neither black nor white, neither masculine nor feminine, he looks like a bizarre blend of Napoleonic dandy and star trooper. Disturbingly, Jackson lists among his inspirations Liza Minelli, Diana Ross, and Peter Pan, a catholic enough collection to cover all the angles. - Deyan Sudjic, Cult Heroes
Smooth Criminal is my favourite MJ track of all time. He uses his voice to varying effects and to portray multiple characters, first starting out as if a machine gun, then sounding like the cacophony of a worried crowd and finally attempting the shrilled helplessness of a victim. I don’t know which other MJ song embodies the pop icon more than this particular one — a criminal, spectacle and victim all at once.
As he came into the window / it was the sound of a crescendo
confession #1:
a priest on a bicycle is quite a sight!
confession #2:
in Rome, at the Trinita dei Monti, a Baroque church,
i recorded the gregorian chant of a holy choir
with a secret little stick of a machinery.
until today, the voices haunt and awe me.
like a fear of the Lord.
like a joy in the Lord.
a trembling and a settling down.
O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth.
- Psalm 96:1
to do even a wee bit of Europe satisfyingly in a month turned out to be overly ambitious. it has so much to offer! in that short time span, my memory gathered a flurry of song, dance, excellent coffee and art. all of these which share a common quality — that of being so highly addictive. could i ask for more? yes, yes and yes!
a) musicians, Barcelona
b) Gaudi museum, Barcelona
c) cafe, Barcelona
d) cafe, Barcelona
e) Dali museum, Barcelona
f) busker, Barcelona
g) metro, Madrid
h) St. Isidro festival, Madrid
i) bullfight, Madrid
j) night music and dance, Madrid
k) train ride, Paris
l) Venus de Milo, Paris
m) Eiffel, Paris
n) singer, Rome
o) bicycle, Pisa
p) gifts for my ladies, Singapore
(hehe.. nicely hand-wrapped too because i couldn’t wait to try out the new letter stamp from London!)
Europe + London = ♥♥♥!!!
*
but time changes everything. if i move the hands of the clock 5 hours forward, there is a place close to my heart that is aching and is far from love. i stole away occasional news headlines on the planes where there were free papers. and good news often doesn’t make news.
“Everything okay?”
“Okay,” Jamil says.
“Okay,” in all the English he can muster up.
(and courage, too)
“Everything okay?” he asks back.
“O… kay.”
Pakistan = ♥♥♥
*
In other news, The God of Small Things has been a great vacation companion, how can it not be loved? and why had i not read it much, much earlier? in any case the sights and sounds of a pretty land far off are now trapped within its pages — not too bad a thing, yes? ;)
The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to hear again. The ones you can enter anywhere and inhabit comfortably. They don’t deceive you with thrills and trick endings. They don’t surprise you with the unforeseen. They are as familiar as the house you live in. Or the smell of your lover’s skin. You know how they end, yet you listen as though you don’t. In the way that although you know that one day you will die, you live as though you won’t. In the Great Stories you know who lives, who dies, who finds love, who doesn’t. And yet you want to know again.
That is their mystery and their magic.
- Arundhati Roy
*
still, there is a season for joy and indulgences ♥
A) white hot chocolate from Whittard of Chelsea is a dream come true!
B) and its traditional biscuits make two dreams come true!
C) Succour magazine is “Granta for the Facebook generation” according to Time Out. am neither a fan of Granta nor Facebook, but this is still nonetheless one of the more amazing discoveries from the remarkable Shakespeare & Co.
D) in Sleepwalk and Other Stories, Adrian Tomine draws out the nuances of the isolations of modern life. and makes them beautiful.
E) Phoenix croons in Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, “where would you go / where would you go / with a lasso?” how not to love such a rhyme? ;) heard the album at the legendary Rough Trade and it’s been hard to get it out of my mind since!
F) and finally, before Elliot Smith there was Nick Drake and a gorgeous Pink Moon.
*
Don’t be shy you learn to fly
And see the sun when day is done
If only you see
Just what you are beneath a star
That came to stay one rainy day
In autumn for free
Yes, be what you’ll be - Things Behind the Sun, Nick Drake
One of the joys of buying a CD is enjoying the album cover and the art that accompanies it, and Storm Thorgerson has been a recent obsession. I started getting really interested in Storm’s work when a year ago, I bought my first Pink Floyd album, Pulse, and thought to myself, wow, just what is this piece of work trying to say? When something gets me worked up like that, I get all curious and I just have to — HAVE TO — find out!
Pink Floyd
Storm has directed most of the album art/posters/design for Pink Floyd, sealing the band’s identity as that of being otherworldly. On a post-exam spree, I had decided to (undeservingly) reward myself with Mind Over Matter, a hardcover compilation of Pink Floyd imagery by Storm. It’s a solid coffee-table book and a treasure trove at that for not only documenting the history of the band, but also tracing very detailedly on how its personality and creativity get absorbed into Storm’s art. He doesn’t call himself a photographer or designer or artist even as he is all three, rather he sees himself very much an image maker, that is to say, he has an idea and conveys it into an image, no matter the method. I love the way he emphasises on that because too often, we get so caught up with the technicalities of a certain genre that we fail to see the possibilities of going beyond it. The irony is that the lack of technology back then gave him the boldness to try out everything, anything.
Mind over Matter
Dark Side of the Moon
Storm has been designing, creating and art directing since the 60s till today, and when seeing the visual identity of Pink Floyd, you can pretty much chart the social changes happening through the times, as if these albums have become historical documents in themselves. An example is the album Dark Side of the Moon, which consists of a simple image of refracted light. During the time this album was being made, photography was becoming a huge, trendy thing, and Pink Floyd wanted to go against the grain of it, wanted something more graphical than photographical. At the same time, the band was starting to play a lot with stage lights for their live shows, the effect of which was to transcend audiences away from reality into another dimension. Thus the final artwork of a light prism on the cover of Dark Side — a product of the times (of increasing technology and how it enables us with multiple realities), of concepts and of Pink Floyd’s ambitious identity.
Syd Barrett then and after. He passed away in 2006.
The other beauty is the album art direction for Wish You Were Here. Most fans would know that the album is inevitably linked to Syd who had left the band due to his internal struggles and depression. But during a particular band practice, specifically for the song Shine On You Crazy Diamond (a direct dedication to Syd), the man strangely appeared in the room after not seeing the band in years. He just sat there stone-cold, no longer the crazy Syd they used to know, and Storm saw that as Syd being present, yet so absent.
The Diver for Wish You Were Here
The designer then began to play on that idea. He also realised that music-making in a band has got a lot to do with the concept of presence/absence — families would be physically present for them but they were emotionally absent, Pink Floyd were present together, but because they had differences (and ultimately split), they were emotionally absent during much of the process and merely went through the motion for the sake of togetherness. Stay together for the kids, one would say — only this time, the kid was the product of music — so is the parent present or absent? Storm ultimately came up with a few visual ideas, one of which was The Diver. He explains that in this work, there is a dive without a splash, an action without its trace — present, or absent?
Part of the Wish You Were Here visual process also included The Swimmer which wasn’t packaged in the eventual album, but is still incredibly note-worthy. In this piece of a man swimming into sand, it’s not about the absence of water, Storm says, but the absence of awareness (the swimmer hadn’t noticed that he left the sea!) and the absence of purpose (the man just keeps swimming on and on with blind intent, going nowhere). This was perhaps Storm’s interpretation of the Floyd’s emotional/mental health at that time, and to translate it into a stunning visual is simply amazing. It also turned out to be a cautionary tale to life.
The Swimmer
Created with little respect for technology, Storm’s work has been extremely edifying in that manner. Digital manipulation, duplication and shortcuts weren’t that advanced during the 1970s or 80s — unlike today — and Storm was making all these images through different methods of photography, cutting and pasting, and even taking heaps of effort to set up the stage. So for albums like A Momentary Lapse of Reason, Storm and team actually laid and put out all 700 beds on the beach! Which is why he is sometimes better known as a performance artist than a visual maker — there is nothing he would not try, and anything he puts his finger on has got to be larger than life.
A Momentary Lapse of Reason
But technology was something Storm constantly struggled with — not because he couldn’t master it, rather, he would question — is it for better or for worse? How can technology be good if it reduces vinyl (where there was solid album art) to mere mp3s (where album art is completely rendered non-existent)? He adds in jest that mp3s put him out of money since he is an album artist, but he also emphasises that music is a whole experience that cannot be reduced to just listening — it has to be possessed, owned in an all-encompassing way, and compressing things into bytes no longer allows for that.
Light and video made things real and unreal for audiences — this constant theme of surreality permeates in the work of the band and thereafter in Storm’s art
Still, the fact that Pink Floyd was so experimental with music and light technology (most aptly represented in the album cover of Delicate Sound of Thunder — with the birds as metaphor for song and the bulbs as a direct translation for light) meant that technology turned out to be a double-edged sword for them. In the trajectory of the album art of the band, there is a visual sense of experimentation and progressiveness that is only possible through technology, but its rawness reveals a stubborn refusal or resistance to conform to the cleanliness, organisation and perfectionism of computer or technology-generated graphics.
Delicate Sound of Thunder
I wish I could bring a Storm Thorgerson exhibit to Singapore one day — it’s running in Sydney now and you can catch glimpses of his other artworks here. He has also art-directed for Muse, Led Zeppelin, The Mars Volta, Audioslave and The Cranberries, amongst others.
One of my favourites -- Eye 2 Eye for The Scorpions
His creations usually document the story of the band — be it their energy, emotions, attitudes, processes, relationships or simply, their music. Which means to say he takes time off to comprehend the immaterial aspect or journey of these creators and then to materialise them through an idea or a concept — a much more authentic process of visual making that the speed of time (or rather, the compression of time) these days doesn’t quite allow for. For Storm, ideas area container for a story. Now, people expect a work of art or design so quickly with the justification that technology is supposed to churn out something perfect and good in a short time — we get ideas in a snap, but then where do these ideas come from? What more can a piece of work show us besides concepts? What is it trying to tell us other than being a mere representation? To appropriately borrow a title off Pink Floyd, would it just be another brick in the wall?
Understanding the work of Storm has also come in timely as I take a sabbatical from technology for a short trip to Europe. Am hoping there is enough time for a visit to the St Paul’s Gallery too, which specialises in album art — pretty amazing huh? There’re still other works I’d love to share in the near future, but also because everytime my mum visits this space, she says she learns nothing. “Just what are you saying in your blog?!” she asks in genuine frustration. Well then, I be testing her on Storm Thorgerson in a while. God speed!
"Naivete and enthusiasm are great bedfellows. I plunged into the cover for Saucerful without a second thought. I didn't know any better and what doubts I had were soon engulfed by waves of keenness. I was so keen, it was sickening." - Storm T.
No interference we persevere, the purpose is clear
We’re here to leave your ear hurtin severe
You’re lurking in fear cause we take it back like Robbin Loxley
Rockin from country sides to spots where hard rocks be
I often wonder if these MC’s even know how it feels
To dedicate they whole life to this mic of steel
Its not about the bills, that’s not keeping it real
A lot of tight rappers out here ain’t got no deal
We appeal to the brothers with flow finesse
Cause it’s the 100 watt blood shot game of death
Cause we’re protected by the covenant of words and beats
Rewind and feel the heat, recline and take a seat
So ah, let’s take you back to the concrete streets
Original beats with real live MCs
Playground tactics, no ‘rabbit in a hat’ tricks
Just that classic Rap shit from Jurassic
I love the way U2 finds ways to bring their music to people in such a holistic manner by engaging different kinds of artists. Good marketing maybe, but there is this sincerity that’s unmistakable:
Anton Corbijn has been helping to define U2 since 1982, producing iconic photographic images that capture the sound and feeling of each new album. Think of the band in the snow for ‘War’, in the desert for ‘The Joshua Tree’ or at the departure gate for ‘All That You Can’t Leave Behind’ and you are thinking of an Anton Corbijn shot. For the new album U2 asked Corbijn not just to take the pictures but also to make a film to accompany ‘No Line On The Horizon’. The result is ‘Linear’: not a music video but a companion piece that takes themes from the songs and turns them into a mesmerising road trip. – U2.com
Bono confessed that he loved Sugimoto’s seascape photographs and began quizzing the artist about the work. “He started taking notes as I talked,” Sugimoto recalled. Those notes became the foundation for the new album’s title track. Last year, during a visit to Dublin, Sugimoto heard the first demo tape, and a few months later was told by Bono that U2 wanted to use the Boden Sea image on the album jacket. Bono agreed on an “artist-to-artist” barter whereby Sugimoto could use the “No Line on the Horizon” song in any project he wanted in the future. Sugimoto says he still hasn’t made up his mind about how to use the song — which he says he likes, but liked even better in its “more hard rock” demo stage. - Hiroshi Sugimoto’s No Cash Deal With U2
Recently, Unknown Caller has been a favourite of mine in No Line, it’s a very U2 track — there is Bono’s gift for self-reflexivity in his lyrics of bittersweet triumphant, but it all ultimately belongs to The Edge, and wot an epic he does at that! Very glorious altogether. The song — of which can be interpreted to be a conversation between God and man — pretty much speaks to me now as I’ve just been greatly released and am rebooting into a new phase that’s making me very excitable, but I’ve def learn the tough way to stay still, be still and let things roll in His timing!
You know your name so punch it in
Hear me, cease to speak that I may speak
Shush now
Then don’t move or say a thing - Unknown Caller
Ouch! This must be one of the most humbling moments, but it’s also the effect of disobedience, a lack of focus and zilch restraint. I kinda bargained with God. With a deadline, an answer, a stubbornness to hang on. “It’s not right,” He said. “Just won’t you listen?!” And in my finite human self, I still wanted to barge in, still wanted to cave in to earthly desires. But what do I know, really? Faith isn’t about doing it my way, it’s about letting go and believing. I would laugh at this little silliness in a month, a short bedtime story for the grandchildren perhaps, heh. But for now, He says, “Be still, be still, and know that I am God.”
How He moves in mysterious ways. I’ve stepped on a toe too many with the wrong steps so I’ll quit leading the dance for now — He does it better anyway. So, You, which song next? :) This time, I say, here I am.Here I am, Lord, for the second time. It is done.
