The Sadness of the Human Head - An interview with DG IX of The Field Recordings

We caught up with one of our favorite people, DG IX from The Field Recordings, to discuss what is happening in his life and art as of late. He had a lot to say, as so much is going on. Much music and even a film is in the works. Take a gander after the break.

Danny Says: a documentary series on Danny Fields

CT based filmmaker Brendan Toller (director of "I NEED THAT RECORD") is working on a new documentary on Danny Fields, full of interviews by all manner of people from the industry/culture. It promises to be something extraordinary and there is a kickstarter to support it!

Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields screenings!

Friday, November 5, and Saturday November 6, 2010:

Location:
Real Art Ways
56 Arbor Street
Hartford, CT 06106

Film starts at 9:00 PM (Also screening on Friday 11-12 and Saturday 11-13)

Admission:
Real Art Ways Members: $5
Seniors & Students Members: $4.50
Non-members: Regular Admission: $9.00
Seniors (62+): $6.25
Full-time Students with ID: $6.25


8:30 PM PRE-film discussion before the Friday screening with Eric Danton, Hartford Courant rock critic and Meghan Maguire Dahn of Real Art Ways.

Ten years in the making, Strange Powers explores Merritt’s songwriting and recording process, and focuses on his relationships with his bandmates and longtime manager Claudia Gonson, revealing an artist who has produced one of the most engaging and confounding bodies of work in the contemporary American songbook.

About Merritt: With his unique gift for memorable melodies, lovelorn lyrics and wry musical stylings that blend classic Tin Pan Alley with modern sounds, Stephin Merritt has distinguished himself as one of contemporary pop’s most beloved and influential artists. Both a prolific recording artist and composer of theater and film scores, he performs most famously as the Magnetic Fields, whose 1999 three-disc opus 69 Love Songs is widely considered a masterpiece of traditional songcraft and irresistible synthpop.

CT Film Fest

Ok, so the CT Film Fest is this week and starts tomorrow. It takes place in Danbury, with tons of great music, films, and panel discussions. It runs all week, 5/4 - 5/9. I can't even begin to list all of the artists, but there's over 70 bands playing over the course of this week. Check out the music schedule over on their website for more details: CLICK.

You don't need a film pass, either, a lot of shows at Heirloom Arts, where you can get in for only $5 if you wanna see any of the bands.

Watch I Need That Record at Pitchfork

Hey dudes, this week you can stream I Need That Record over at Pitchfork.

I had the pleasure of sneaking into this movie at last year's Kent Film Festival, and it is a damn fine documentary. It was directed by local filmmaker Brenden Toller, and tells the tale of the decline of the local record shop. Much of the filming is based in the New England area, focusing on record stores like Malcolm Tent's now-defunct but still completely awesome Trash American Style and others that have been slowly going out of business and closing their doors all across America. You'll see local record store icons like Redscroll Records and Turn It Up in there too. It features interviews with famous folks like Thurston Moore, Mike Watt, Ian Mackaye, Lenny Kaye, Patterson Hood, Glenn Branca, Pat Carney, Legs McNeil and BP Helium.

Check out I Need That Record's website to find out more info about the documentary, and pre-order it online here, or get over to Redscroll Records on July 27th to buy a copy and keep supporting the local guys.

Until The Light Takes Us and Darkwor

Saturday, April 24, 2010, Redscroll Records Presents:


Location:
Real Art Ways
56 Arbor Street
Hartford, CT

Admission:
Real Art Ways Members: $5
Seniors & Students Members: $4.50
Non-members: Regular Admission: $9.00
Seniors (62+): $6.25 (something tells me grandmama and grandpapa are going to pass on this one)
Full-time Students with ID: $6.25

9PM - Movie Showtime (prompt - get there early)

10:30PM - Darkwor

About Until The Light Takes Us:

In 1991, Norwegian churches started to burn. At the same time, a small underground scene of anticonsumerist metal musicians was forming. While reporters and police scrambled for answers, more and more churches went up in flames. They had no leads until Varg Vikernes, one of the leaders of the underground scene, took credit. He was held for questioning long enough for the media to run with a largely fabricated story. Spurred on by sensationalistic media reports of Satanic rituals, abductions and sacrifices, young men began taking cues as to what they should be doing, creating an escalating cycle of fiction creating reality. Black metal, or rather the sensationalized version of it, grew in popularity until it was available in record stores world-wide and was profiled in every major music publication, from Spin to Rolling Stone to Vice, even serving as the inspiration for popular animated shows in the U.S. Succesful visual artists such as Harmony Korine and Bjarne Melgaard are now recontextualizing black metal as contemporary art in international exhibitions.

Black metal was created by three men: one was murdered, one’s in jail for murder and arson, and one continues to release albums in the genre they created. Part modern art movement, part terrorist movement, part rock scene, Until the Light Takes Us explores the brutal history of Norway’s chief musical export and the world of its creators. Far from being a “rockumentary”, however, the film is instead contemplative in its examination of the impact the riotous history and misperceptions have had on its creators.

About the band:

Embracing the weapons of the ancient black metal gods, Darkwor was formed in 2007 as a conduit to the chaotic struggles of humanity's sinister past. Beyond the gates lies the bleak future of our species - as it began with a natural anomaly, so it will end - where five sentients have achieved the inevitable revelation - there will be WAR ON EARTH, FOR ALL TIME...

Gee, Darkwor sound like some gosh darn nice fellas!

It Happened but Nobody Noticed at Coffeehouse

In case you missed the original screening of It Happened But Nobody Noticed, or didn't catch it streaming online, it will be shown again at Coffeehouse Recording Studio in Middletown. If you haven't seen this movie yet, you're really missing out on a great moment in CT's music history.

'It Happened But Nobody Noticed' Showing!
Coffeehouse Recording Studio
510 Main St. Middletown, CT 06457

Thursday, February 18th, 2010
7:30pm, $5/door

Phoenix Art After Hours with The Needle Drop

Thursday, February 4, 2010:


The Wadsworth Atheneum was the first to embrace the presentation of cutting-edge contemporary art in the context of an “encyclopedic” museum through its MATRIX program, which began in 1975 as a series of single-artist exhibitions that have showcased more than 150 artists, providing many with their first solo museum exhibition in the United States . The museum is continuing this tradition with Kitty Kraus. German sculptor Kitty Kraus’ installation of mirrored lightboxes—which emit dizzying beams of light that transform the gallery space—provides an exciting reintroduction to the series, and the exhibition opening at Phoenix Art After Hours from 5-8 p.m.

Beginning at 5 p.m. on Thursday night, our friendly internet-neighbor The Needle Drop’s Anthony Fantano will spin some of the newest sounds from around the world. The Needle Drop’s tagline, “It's nothing but songs you've never heard on albums you haven't seen by bands you don't know,” might as well be the motto for MATRIX.

Taking a cue from the creative installation of Kraus, the theme for the evening is light. Experience light in motion with a dance performance by the Hartford City Ballet and after cocktails and a “Small Talk” from Kitty Kraus, stick around for the 1997 film Insomnia starring Stellan Skarsgård. In Troms , Norway , where the sun barely sets, the police hunt for the murderer of a 15-year-old girl. This intense thriller is certain to leave any audience at the edge of its seat.

Phoenix Art After Hours takes place the first Thursday of every month. Sponsored by The Phoenix Companies, Inc., First Thursdays at the Wadsworth Atheneum offer a wide variety of programming—art, live music, cocktails, gallery talks, and films—in addition to reduced museum admission starting at 5 p.m.

This event is free for Phoenix employees and all Museum members. Admission is $5 for non-members.

Kitty Kraus / MATRIX 158 will be presented from February 4 to May 2, 2010.

The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art is located at 600 Main St. in Hartford , Connecticut . The Museum is open Wednesdays to Fridays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, please visit www.wadsworthatheneum.org.

On A Friday Rooftop Show

Old Hannah "Animal Song" from On A Friday

On A Friday kicked off its rooftop series earlier this month. The show featured Emperor X, Spitzer Space Telescope, and Old Hannah. Who doesn't love Emperor X? That guy rocks.

Check out the full set of videos here.

Memories

Thought some people might get a kick out of this. Thanks to MT for pointing me to this.

Watch It Happened but Nobody Noticed

It Happened but Nobody Noticed is streaming all week at 10PM on Wallingford Public Access. Don't miss your chance to see this flick. It's a documentary on Connecticut's new wave and punk rock scene from 1978-1988. If you missed the screening at Channel 1 in New Haven, now's your chance to check it out.

It Happened But Nobody Noticed screens this Sunday

Sunday, September 6, 2009


The It Happened But Nobody Noticed screening is this Sunday, the documentary on Connecticut's new wave and punk rock scene from 1978-1988.

Location:
CHANNEL 1
220 State Street
New Haven, CT

Directions: CLICK

Time: 6:00pm - 9:00pm

The film is not for children under age 17, for violence and language.


Then hit the FREE after party at BAR for the Stratford Survivors reunion!!

Location:
BAR
254 Crown St
New Haven CT
FREE - 8:30PM - 21+

Directions: CLICK