Venus Envy

I had the opportunity to catch the Robyn Hitchcock & Venus 3 documentary Sex, Food, Death... & Insects on the Sundance Channel last night. I'd forgotten just how much I love this stuff even though the fairly recent album "Spooked" has been a regular resident in my CD player for the past couple of years.

Venus 3 is made of Robyn and REM members guitarist Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey on bass and percussionist Bill Rieflin (also former Ministry drummer). The music is just what you would expect from Robyn, no matter what company he keeps... quirky, whimsical, arty, folkie, punky, psychedelic... so if you're not familiar with Robyn's career, you owe it to yourself to check out this film or pick up a disc or two.

Sex, Food, Death... & Insects airs at least four more times during the month of May on Sundance. Check your local listings for dates and time and then set your DVR to record it. You're going to want to watch this one more than once.

In the meantime... here's a little clip of the band captured live at the Fleece in Bristol performing Authority Box. 

Playlist... Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Tuesday morning playlist from "The Academy of Errors" radio program heard every tuesday morning from 6-10am hawaiian time on 91.5FM, listener-supported Manao Radio. You can listen in from all parts of the globe by clicking here.

Meetings With Remarkable Men

 Yesterday, I was paid a visit by my friend David Lewiston (pictured above), once described in an article published in the New York Times as a "musical tourist of the world".

David is perhaps best known for his original, early audio recordings of ethnic world music, being the first person ever to make audio recordings of Balinese gamelan music in 1966. Those recordings were released as phonograph recordings (remember those?) as "Music From the Morning of the World" on the Nonesuch label. This was back in the day when Bali was still far off the beaten tourism track and still quite undeveloped.

Since then, David has travelled to many remote corners of the globe in search of recording opportunities, and has compiled an archive of over 400 hours of audio recordings which include Tibetan Monk Rituals, South & Central American tribal music from Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala & Mexico, Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh in India's West Himalya, Gilgit & Hunza in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province, Darjeeling & Sikkim in the East Himalya, the Republic of Georgia and Morocco.

Besides being an authority of ethno-anthropological musical forms, David is also an outstanding photographer who, along with his recording equipment, always kept a camera close by. His photographs made during those travels are simply stunning and unique glimpses into cultures most of us will never have an opportunity to experience.

David called me a few days ago to ask if I would be willing to provide some assistance in editing a small portfolio of these images to be used in pursuit of a Guggenheim grant which would enable him to digitize and permanently archive his best images for all of posterity to enjoy and learn from. Of course, I jumped at the chance... for the opportunity to both view more of his work and to sit and listen, fascinated, by his wondrous tales of those travels to primitive places.