"Anywhere But Here" by Noble Oak

A lovely song from Noble Oak, the nom de musique of Patrick Fiore (previously here)..."Anywhere But Here" from his new release "When It Finds You."

http://www.nobleoak.net/

"Environments" by PJS

I've been on an ambient music kick (again) lately...I have loved ambient music since I first heard Brian Eno's seminal work "Music For Airports" about forty years ago (!). This genre has occupied a constant position in my life. And I am glad so many current artists have taken up the mantle and are producing gorgeous ambient works. I just posted the brand new (August 2022) release of How To Disappear Completley's new album "Aural Stream" here.

And another ambient music group making ethereal soundscapes is PJS, a project by Canadians Patrick Dique and Jordan Christoff. They released their collection "Environments" several months ago and when I play it, time seems to stop...

Doing Nothing

https://www.instagram.com/douglascoupland/

Who Is That Masked Man?

I am not a fan of country music. AT ALL. There are a variety of reasons for that, some personal, some political, some social. But there was a time when country music was simply a genre and not a political statement. When I was growing up, my mom listened to Country and Western artists (as the genre was referred to then) like Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner, and of course early Rockabilly-Country Elvis.

And singer-songwriter Orville Peck is a new artist who is attempting to bring back a certain feeling and sound of that kind of country music. He has deliberately cultivated a mystery about who he is by wearing a fringed, leather Lone Ranger mask. And while a bit of sleuthing on-line can reveal his actual identity, I will not reveal here who he is when he is not Orville Peck...because there is something about him, his persona, and his sound that is appealing to me, despite my aversion to country music. The more I discovered about the actual man beneath the mask, I realized why I am drawn to him and the sound. He is Canadian, a former drummer in punk bands, a classically stage-trained actor (he studied mask-making in this capacity and now makes his own fringed masks for Orville Peck), and openly gay. All of that tempers the music...he allows a lot of different influences--punk, shoegaze, early Country and Western--to blend together into something unique. This is reflected in his delightful, kitschy video for his single, "Turn To Hate." And that deep, velvety voice...like Johnny Cash.

Take a look at this song played live with his band on KEXP.

And then do take a moment to watch this charming, funny interview of Peck playing "Would You Rather?"

He is currently on tour through the end of 2019. Check out his site to see if he will be in a city near you!
https://www.orvillepeck.com/

On My "To Read" List

Paintings of imaginary books by the team of Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber.
http://personalmessageblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Library

BEAUTY: Photography--Ned Pratt

Canadian photographer Ned Pratt captures his native surroundings of Newfoundland. It is clear to see that the landscape is bleak, but you know The Void can hold everything, right? His simple yet exquisite, precise, geometric framing makes each view a contained, breathtaking story.

Top to bottom: Barren Cabin, Tin Roof; Harbour Entrance; Heritage Academy; Insulator; North Atlantic; Route 10; Soccer Pitch Garnish, Newfoundland; South, of Ragged Island; Yellow Berm; Vent

http://nedpratt.com/

BEAUTY: Painting--Erik Olson

Canadian artist Erik Olson (I posted his "Architectural Faces" previously here) did a series of paintings of our solar system, from Mercury all the way out to poor Pluto which has been banished as a planet. I love how he uses the ancient Greek names (like Aphrodite, Zeus, and Cronus) for the planets as well as the Roman names we are all familiar with. I also love how his colors and brushowrk are so painterly: regular readers have heard me say before that I love when painters use their medium like cake frosting!

And for good measure, I included his image called The Gateway (Hubble Deep Field), looking out our backyard into the rest of the universe... wow...

http://www.erikolson.ca/

"Blown Minded" by Young Galaxy

"I was born blown-minded/ With an eye on oblivion"
Ah, someone finally wrote a song about me. It will be my theme song...

How did I get to here?
A random chain of events
Or chemical and elements
Conspiring, divining

From the start I've been pulled apart
By weightless love
And the heavy hooks
Of sadness

Oh, I was born blown minded
With an eye on oblivion
Oh, I was born blown minded
With an eye on oblivion

In my heart I have lived without aught
It's been the war of attrition
Between a small-minded fool
And sublime intuition

I believe there's a meteor out there
With my name on it
Hurtling through space
And nothing can stop it

Oh, I was born blown minded
With an eye on oblivion
Oh, I was born blown minded
With an eye on oblivion

http://younggalaxy.com/

BEAUTY: Painting--Wanda Koop

In a series entitled "Hybrid Human," Canadian artist Wanda Koop shows us isolated figures in silhouette, sharing barren landscapes with what could be blank billboards...or planes of reality. It is certainly surreal and vaguely, deliciously disturbing...

http://www.wandakoop.com/

BEAUTY: Art--Andy Dixon

Cute Canadian Andy Dixon is somewhat of a cross-disciplinary artist, having started in music (he has made punk music, as well as experimental electronic music under the nom de musique Secret Mommy) but then he moved into the visual arts. He says he has used naïve outsider art techniques to create outsider content but now he wants to "join the Great Conversation," by which he means a tradition of creating art in the context of art history. The following pieces utilize his marvelous naïve style and riotous color palette to explore a more traditional form of classical portraiture.

Top to bottom: Fox Hunter 1; Matador; Portrait of a Lord 1; Portrait of a Lord 3; Portrait of a Schoolteacher; Woman On Horse

But his abstract work, often featuring text, is quite compelling as well. I love the Cy Twombly-esque scribbling mixed with unexpected words and phrases.

Top to bottom: Countless Things, One Of Them Burning; Everything That Has Ever Happened Up To And Including Today; 17 Things Burning; One Of Many Places To Hide; Such Events Have Led Us Here; Mt. Career; The Patron Saint Of The Hoax; The Place Next To Where I Was Born

Take a look at this charming, whimsical presentation Dixon did at an event in Vancouver called Pecha Kucha in which presenters are allowed to talk while 20 slides of their choosing are shown for 20 seconds each.

Check out his website and his shop where you can purchase music and prints!
http://www.andydixon.net/