29 Feb 2008

Art



I wanted to start sharing some art with you, the first of which is this dude's. Some people in this country may know of Jose Parla, but I’m pretty sure it wont be many…

His work – in his words - ‘Is inspired by the anonymous art found in the streets. The art is often in the form of calligraphy or the actions of torn and stripped posters. The inscriptions in my work are used as a form of drawing, and to maintain a record of my observations…’

I love this. Some things hit you the right way on initial contact - sometimes you absorb it organically, other times it creates conflict and has to be understood and slowly accepted as the great works of art that they are. I think either effect is a sign of the integrity of the work and will lead you to a better understanding of the concepts behind it, and also to hopefully discovering more of the same.

The piece above is called ‘Between the earthly and the divine’ and is one of my favourites. Check out the website


25 Feb 2008

DJ Big Wiz





After sending the link to the blog out, I got a message from Jux DJ Big Wiz, re: my review of the Aes Rock Gig. So I just wanted to say thanks to Wiz for taking the time to read my stuff. Def Jukies:

'...It's good someone is actually paying attention to detail and the work we put in to it. Peace - WIZ'

21 Feb 2008

Aesop Rock. Cargo. January 30 2008.


An unwelcome pattern seems to be forming at Definitive Jux Gigs...

While mid-set at Dingwalls last year while promoting his latest album ‘I’ll sleep when you’re dead’, label head EL-P was interrupted by a drunken middle class white boy, who invaded the stage and proceeded to wave to the crowd before being ‘asked politely’ to leave by the Jux crew (he was pushed off the stage).
Jump forward to Cargo, East London, 11.15pm on a cold January night, and Aesop Rock is in full flow hyping the crowd on his most requested encore track, Daylight – and that’s right, Aesop, Rob Sonic and DJ Big Wiz are joined onstage by a drunken middle class white boy. Totally breaking the MC’s flow.
I mean stopping the track dead.
Suffice to say no one was impressed, and the show went on to end on a high note after he had shuffled away.

But onto the tunes… the set mainly consisted of material from None Shall Pass, one of the best hip hop albums (or if you really want to play professional reviewer:
Alt-Hip Hop albums) of 2007. Big Wiz was amazing as always, and the larger than life Rob Sonic had his moments in the spotlight.
However it was Aes Rizzle who carried the whole night, even with the booming sound quality being just about passable in the tiny room. Even after admitting they were all suffering from massive jetlag, the energy from the stage had been absorbed by the crowd by the end of the night.

The set up was also well planned and executed, projections of music videos to accompany tracks, weird stock footage from the 1950’s somehow connected to Big Wiz’ turntables, being cut up during the DJ’s solo spot.
In fact all the tings sadly missing from the recent GZA / Liquid Swords debacle at KOKO, where the stage was empty – save for a rapidly disappearing bottle of Cognac next to the 1210’s.

After last years Mr Lif gig at Jazz Café, and the aforementioned EL-P at Lock 17 - this was a solid showing from real performers that continued to confirm that Def Jux are as much a hardcore touring crew as they are makers and innovators of top end studio tracks.
Now if we can only get some kind of Cannibal Ox reunion sorted.
www.definitivejux.net

D.

Book Launch / Show
























Here is an image from the upcoming Valerie Phillips book 'I can't believe a girl is playing me Metallica', which my wife has done the production for. The Book Launch & Exhibition are at The Cornell Spaceship Gallery @ Exposure 3-4A Little Portland St, London, W1 on Thurs 10th April, 6.30–9.30pm.

Exhibition runs 11th April–9th May, Monday to Friday, 11–6pm.

20 Feb 2008

New Booklet Soon


For the 5 or 6 of you that have actually read my work, I am aiming to get my 3rd booklet of collected poems out in the next month or so. This one will be free for anyone who would like one, and I will post when they are ready. If you would like a copy please mail: channelzerose4@hotmail.com  Click the image to embiggen.

ZIZEK!

Here's Žizek. A sociologist, philosopher, and cultural critic known for his use of the works of Lacan, and  topics including fundamentalism, capitalism, political correctness, globalization, subjectivity, human rights, Lenin, myth, cyberspace, postmodernism, multiculturalism, David Lynch, and Hitchcock. If you're a film fan, there's a great series called the Perverts Guide to Cinema that you should pick up too. This is a documentary that we saw at ICA last year.


Welcome to the blog

I have been using the name channelzero for over 8 years now, as an umbrella identity for numerous projects of mine including: photography, publishing of prose/poetry/short fiction and other things (forever) on the back burner.

I'm trying to juggle lots of things at once to keep it all fresh and keep moving forward. Even if what comes out of it ends up being repetitive or rambling or a bit involved and introspective – I don’t care. There are too many 'art projects' that re-use old ideas and rely on trends, and by not having a real format I'm trying to avoid that at all costs.

Please keep visiting. I have nothing else to do except skateboarding and it's wet and cold outside.

Dan.