Sunday, December 30, 2007

WiKitchen

As we head into the new year, many of us resolve to become better organized. To that end, we present" WiKitchen" by Zach Kmiec. The Data Stream wishes one and all a happy, healthy, creative and adventurous 2008!

[Note that this remarkable video of a temporary art installation, created in conjunction with a University of Iowa class on video blogging, was photographed using a primitive, 'one point oh' video cell phone.]

watch

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Marking Time: The Data Stream at its current address ...

187 posts later, today marks the one year anniversary of The Data Stream at its current address. On Boxing Day 2006, we featured a first post on a memorial for Marcia Tucker, founding guiding light of the New Museum.

The blog began as a project for NAAO, the National Association of Artists Organizations. I'm not 100% sure when it launched, but I'm sure it was no later than February 15, 2005, as posts from that date on are archived in reverse chronological order at www.naao.net/ds_archive/data_stream_15.html.

[graphic from google image search for 'data stream,' from Charles Wehner's Data Compression site.]

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

James Brown May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006)



On the one year anniversary of the death of James Brown, above is a YouTunbe video, footage of a 1968 performance at the Apollo Theater on 125th Street in Harlem.

[more: December 27, 2006 Data Stream post with link to a Fresh Air interview.]

New Orleans Holy Night


[From Troy 'Trombone Shorty' Andrews' website, an mp3 recording of "Oh Holy Night" from a holiday episode of Aaron Sorkin's now cancelled "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." The recording features: Troy 'Trombone Shorty' Andrews - Trumpet; Kirk Joseph - Sousaphone; Roderick Paulin - Saxophone; Frederick Shepherd - Saxophone; Stephen Walker - Trombone; Mervin "Kid Merv" Campbell - Trumpet.]

listen

View a clip from the show of the performance [the music begins at the 2:30 mark]

More: December 13, 2006 Times Picayune article

Monday, December 24, 2007

Oscar Peterson | August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007



[Above, one of a number of videos on YouTube featuring the legendary Canadian pianist Oscar Peterson.]

"TORONTO - Jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, whose flying fingers mesmerized audiences around the world - from dance halls in 1940s Montreal to the lights of Carnegie Hall and beyond - has died at age 82.

He played alongside the giants of jazz: Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Roy Eldridge, Nat King Cole, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington, who once called Peterson the "Maharajah of the keyboard.""

more

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Big Chief


[According to the information provided by geepee on YouTube: "New Orleans Jazz Fest '91." Enjoy.]

The Neville Brothers

Worst Album Covers Ever Part Deux


After months of hiatus, following an earlier post, we're happy to bring back our "Worst Album Covers Ever" feature.

[Special thanks to Allen in Oakland for reminding me of ETN's original tip!]

[image: Manowar album cover]

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

The People's Choice Music

[In honor of the holiday season, the Data Stream will be offering a selection of free online gifts in the days ahead. To begin the sharing of presents, below is a treat from Ubu Web, the brilliant archive of 20th and 21st century avant-garde art, a genuine online treasure]

Komar & Melamid
"The People's Choice Music"
(1997)

"With the collaboration of composer Dave Soldier, Komar & Melamid's Most Wanted Painting project was extended into the realm of music. A poll, written by Dave Soldier, was conducted on The Dia Foundation's web site in Spring 1996. Approximately 500 visitors took the survey. Solder used the survey results to write music and lyrics for the Most Wanted and Most Unwanted songs:

The Most Wanted Song: A musical work that will be unavoidably and uncontrollably "liked" by 72 ± 12% of listeners.
[listen]

The Most Unwanted Song: Fewer than 200 individuals of the world's total population will enjoy this."
[listen]

more

[image: Komar & Melamid, "UNITED STATES: MOST WANTED PAINTING." From Dia web site]

Monday, December 17, 2007

Year of the Diamond Dogs

Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center
Through December 22

Julio Cesar Morales
The Year of the Diamond Dogs

a Hallwalls Artist in Residence Project (HARP)

The Year of The Diamond Dogs is a sonic and visual landscape that evokes the dystopian future explored by Orwell’s novel 1984 and Bowie’s Diamond Dogs. In Morales’ work, peril, expectation, desire and disillusion create a field of tension. Working from a Latino perspective, Morales uses mutated sound samples of Diamond Dogs, language, typography, and idiosyncratic symbols from the Latin American urban landscape—such as the broken bottles that are often found embedded in the concrete atop walls to protect and define property boundaries—to create a dangerous topography that evokes issues of immigration, alienation, dystopia and surveillance.

The project includes multi-channel video, sculpture and sound with original music by Los Creamators and additional audio of the artist’s aunt singing obscure Mexican songs. Morales utilizes digital media in the broadest sense—as a printed mural, recorded sound, LED signs, video etc. His artistic practice can be described as employing the DJ’s method of remixing as a means to analyze the politics of culture.

[text of post edited from Hallwalls Web site. Image of artwork by Julio Cesar Morales from Hallwalls Web site.]

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Emory Douglas

MOCA Pacific Design Center
8687 Melrose Avenue
Design Plaza G102
West Hollywood, CA 90069

Though February 24, 2008
Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas

"Bobby Seale and Huey Newton said I was going to be the revolutionary artist, but as the Party grew and we needed more structure, I became the Minister of Culture. I reported to Eldridge Cleaver, the Minister of Information. I was in charge of the printing operation, photography, and the design layout of the newspaper.

We would do posters, banners, fliers, and business cards for people in the community. That helped sustain our operation."


--- Emory Douglas, August 18, 2007.

[image from MOCA web site. "Emory Douglas, poster for The Black Panther, November 8, 1969.]

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Local Noise: Hip-Hop and Langauage


[with thanks to language scholar BKL, my brilliant friend and colleague in Washington State]

"Local Noise is an ARC (Australian Research Council) funded project running since 2005 and led by Dr. Tony Mitchell and Prof. Alastair Pennycook from UTS (University of Technology, Sydney). The project’s focus is on Australian hip-hop, and the localisation of hip-hop in different cultural, societal and educational contexts."

see | hear

[screen grab from Local Noise Web site.]

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Neville Brothers + The Meters

[for your weekend listening enjoyment, a broadcast performance by The Neville Brothers, "New Orleans first family of funk" and the legendary Meters]

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

State of the Nation Art and Performance Series

Ashe Cultural Art Center
1712 Oretha Castle Haley
New Orleans

December 7th, 2007 (Doors at 7pm, Performances 8-10pm)
$5.

"ASHE Cultural Art Center, ArtSpot Productions, Mondo Bizarro, New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival and the Network of Ensemble Theaters are teaming up to produce an evening of performances from local and national artists. Performers and presenters from across North America and beyond will converge on Louisiana for the National Performance Network Annual Meeting December 6-10.

To highlight the work of New Orleans artists, we are hosting an installment of our State of the Nation Art and Performance Series at ASHE Cultural Art Center. Complimentary food will be served from 7-8pm with performances, film and music to follow.

National Guests:
M.U.G.A.B.E.E. (Jackson, MS), Tim Miller (Los Angeles, CA), Millicent Johnnie (Tallahassee, FL), HIJACK (Minneapolis, MN).

Local performers include:
Bamboula 2000, Creative Forces, Cripple Creek Theater Company, The Free Agents Brass Band, Mardi Gras Indians, Jose Torres Tama, Sunni Patterson, 2-Cents, MOOSE, Scotty Heron and Hijack, Origins of Life on Earth, Stephanie McKee, Maritza Mercado Narcisse and many more…"

[information from ArtSpot Productions Web site.. Image of M.U.G.A.B.E.E. from their MySpace page.]

Monday, December 03, 2007

Bronx Museum First Fridays Holiday Party

Friday, December 7 – 6:00pm
Bronx Museum of the Arts

From Salsa & Bachata to Merengue & Son:
The Popular Music of Two Islands

South Wing—Lower Gallery
Admission: Free

A showcase with live band performances and DJs covering popular musical genres from Cuba and Dominican Republic.

Hosted by DJ Cato
Featuring Grupo Son Como Son with special guest David Oquendo.

[photograph of DJ Cato from Bronx Museum mailing.]

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Screen Cleaner

[With thanks for the tip to KMcL of Flashcoders New York]

FYA


[01.12.08 update: from DMcD on the West Coast, we learn that the link is down again. Sigh. See below for the commerce-driven alternative]

[01.11.08 revision: thanks to the SC in Newcastle Upon Tyne, we're now able to present the original cleaner. For context here's the alternate.]

[12.06.07 note: shortly after featuring this project, as often happens the site was removed from the Internet. Again, with thanks to KMcL we've put up a link to a similar project. The image above is a detail from the now defunct site which featured a very rambunctious, slobbery pug.]

Saturday, December 01, 2007