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March 05, 2008
Parallel Strokes
A great looking book by friend Ian Lynam has just been published. "Parallel Strokes is a collection of interviews with twenty-plus contemporary typeface designers, graffiti writers, and lettering artists around the world. The book is introduced with a comprehensive essay charting the history of graffiti, its relation to type design, and how the two practices relate in the wider context of lettering." Go order it from the website. A bargain at 20 US dollars with free international shipping.
Posted by shane at 02:42 AM
March 03, 2008
Steve Jansen with Takagi and Cornelius
Steve Jansen’s live show for his new album Slope came to Japan on Friday. Amazingly he recruited Takagi Masakatsu and Cornelius to perform as his band, along with a Japanese string quartet, and Shoko Ise on visuals. I want to say this was a great show, I am pretty sure it was, but much of the material was so ambient, the theater was very dark, and I had come straight from a long day (and week) of work, so I found myself very drowsy. All the musicians were great and must have been very well-rehearsed, but one thing that struck me is that for the vocal tracks, Steve did not sing; instead all vocals were pre-recorded, and the singing was done by the visual. He, and other vocal performers were recorded singing in some fashion, and played back on the large screen behind them during that particular track. All in all there was a strong human presence, with a nice integration of technology.
It was very dark in there, so my photos aren’t looking so good. The show was at a nice theater called Meguro Persimmon Hall, which I had never heard of before, tucked into a charming residential neighborhood near Toritsu Daigaku.
Posted by shane at 12:05 AM