Monday 18 September 2017

Recent Music Finds

I've been listening to a lot of music recently and come across some really good songs/artists which I thought I'd share! 

The first song I thought I'd share is Sunshine by Tom Misch. I came across this track about four or so years ago now and rekindled my love for it this summer. I also looked at some more of Misch's music which all has a very laid back tone to it; some other favourites from him include South of the River which has a similar tone to Sunshine and So Close which is a bit more downbeat. 

I find Wolf Alice's music a bit hit and miss, it's very like marmite in that I either love it or hate it. They've managed to produce a very unique sound with echoing vocals and guitars - sometimes quite reminiscent of The Vaccines. Some of their work is a bit too shouty for my personal taste in the way that the vocals and guitar are arranged (such as Yuk Foo) whilst other tracks are so well crafted. I first encountered them through the song Bros and more recently have fallen in love with Don't Delete the Kisses which is lyrically brilliant, involves a lot of spoken word and is complimented by the music. 

If you like Wolf Alice then there's a chance you might like some of the work of the band Daughter. I came across them in 2013 when they released their first album If You Leave, which is definitely one of my favourite albums of all time. Upon the first listen of their second album Not To Disappear I wasn't overly enamoured as there was definitely more maturity in their style which set it apart from the first album which I wasn't sure that I liked. Recently though I have re-listened and a few tracks have stood out; Numbers, Mothers, and How, with How being my favourite, very reminiscent of the style of Bros.

I randomly came across the artist HONNE through spotify. They're an electronic music duo who teamed up with Izzy Bizu on the song Someone That Loves You, and my original favourite being FHKD which features Kill J. Their style is really chilled out, I love it and I'd recommend their other music too. 

Despite the strange name, Tash Sultana is amazing. Jungle has a long guitar intro which is brilliant (sounds great with earphones) and she then brings in her snappy lyricism later in the song. I can't really do this song justice by describing it, it's one you have to give a listen to. Her other stuff is really good too, highly guitar based but Jungle stands out as being something of real excellence to me. 

Glass Animals have really come into fame this past year through songs such as Life Itself and Pork Soda which are both brilliant but two others that I love are Gooey and Black Mambo. These are probably a bit more laid back than the first two but definitely the artist as a whole is worth listening to. 

Finally, quite a random choice, but the song BoRdErSz by Zayn. I listened to his album first of all and didn't think that much of it but its actually quite chilled out, this song in particular being memorable and well executed. 

If you are interested in any of this music I've included some of it on a playlist here  :) https://open.spotify.com/user/e.natalya.b/playlist/2uijwSkIa1MbWCfhANp8RP

Wednesday 22 February 2017

Art Works that Changed my Mind

Ever since I was very small I've struggled with the concept of art being anything but a two dimensional object. Even though I've looked at countless sculptures in and outside of school work, I can't say that I've ever been very taken with any that I've seen - nothing has ever resonated with me as much as a painting. This doesn't even begin to scratch the surface about the problems I have in considering film as an art form (I think I should perhaps write a separate blog post about the difficulty I have with modern art as a whole). This was all until I went to Berlin last summer and encountered some works of art which I thought were exceptional and definitely allowed my mind to open a little more towards the three-dimensional, the temporary and film. 

I found myself in a lovely bookshop which was so modern and full of arty magazines - I loved it and I couldn't leave without buying one. I chose to buy 'Mondial' simply because of the bright yellow cover and I honestly had no idea about what it actually contained (it turns out it was made to broaden the reference points of sport which is completely not me, but it was too late I'd bought it.) 

One of the images that did catch my eye in the magazine was Cornelia Parker, Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View (1991). I'm not actually sure what the article was about however the installation stood out to me. Parker had created a sculpture/installation which literally shows an exploded view stopped in time. All of these separate scraps of materials had been painstakingly put in an arrangement to create something that showed a snapshot of time in a still three dimensional sculpture. It was, in essence, a 3D photograph.

I found the lighting particularly impressive as it illuminated the great structure and cast beautiful shadows on the walls and floor around it, but I think what made me like it the most was how accurately it portrayed what it was trying to show and in such a beautiful way. I've always been passionate about artists showing real skill as I gain little from seeing scraps of crap being put together and called art because of the supposed 'message' that it's trying to portray. For me, Parker's idea was a simple one but one that was well executed, embodying a balance between a message, beauty and intelligence. Image result for cornelia parker an exploded view
Cornelia Parker, Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View (1991)

     As I mentioned before, I struggle with seeing film as an art form in the same league as a great painting. I visited the Hamburger Bahnhof when in Berlin and I was so disappointed by all of the art inside it apart from an exhibition which we stumbled upon by chance: Julian Rosefeldt. Manifesto. Inside the room of the exhibition everything was dark apart from 13 consecutively playing screens with Cate Blanchett portraying different characters. Rosefeldt chose to use different historical and modern manifestos and developed characters that Blanchett would play to bring a modern day context to these powerful words. As soon as you walked in you were hit by a disturbing image as versions of her face surrounded you in different contexts on large screens. 

Julian Rosefeldt. Manifesto

All of the films could be heard playing over one another, and when I first walked in I thought it was awful. But being able to tune in and out of the different films was a wonderful experience, as you could be engrossed in one aspect whilst another was going on, perhaps even making me feel a little anxious as I would not be able to see all of the films at once, yet at the same time being able to hear them all. 

Blanchett was highly commendable in her presentation of all the roles which added to the whole experience. In my opinion this was artistic and deserved the merit of being called art as the setting and elaborate discussion between the films themselves and with the audience created an interactive atmosphere and experience. 

Although these two works are in the minority of art that I enjoy which is not a painting, they definitely made my mind more open to other variation and concepts within the art world. 

Sunday 11 December 2016

A List For Myself

I'm in an odd place in my life where I think really I feel  a little bit lost. I have dropped out of Uni and I'm looking to reapply next year, even though I'm not 100% sure this is the path I want to go down but for now I'm back at home. I'm lacking a lot of structure currently and lacking the motivation and willpower to do things that I really want to do, so I thought that maybe if I put these things 'out there' it will motivate me to actually do them.

This blog post in itself is an achievement; I didn't think too much about it, I just did it which is an attitude I need to have towards the rest of my goals. 

1. Learn German. I can't tell you how many years I've been going on about this but it's something I really want to do as I'd love to live over there at some point. 

2. Draw just because I want to.

3. Paint and sell them. Even if its somewhere local, I want to have the freedom of earning when I want to and to have someone think my work is good enough would be lovely.

4. Learn more about film/editing and uploading and the complexities of photography.

5. Write blog posts. I'd like to find thing's I'm passionate about and put them on here from time to time.