Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Music

For people who love M.I.A. but are dying for a new album, I would try first Sleigh Bells [like their song Crown on the Ground] and then some of Kanye West's pieces and the remixes/mashups.
In general, mashups are a great source of songs for M.I.A.-style music lovers. Kanye in particular has many songs that naturally approach a type of mashup level in complexity and artistry. His piece Dark Fantasy is one, as is Blood on the Leaves and Stronger.

A very long, almost half an hour piece mixing Kanye's music is the Mega mix which is really absorbing. It's a great mix of beats and his songs.

Like M.I.A.'s music, these songs have a natural rhythmic progression that is very involving and great to listen to. For fun, try the Kanye Christmas album, a hilarious rerecording of his latest album Yeezus. The word substitutions are really fun and it's so creative.

There's a neat Yeezus mashup of the whole album into one single piece here, which is really nice.

Friday, December 19, 2014

Dance

If you're interested in Cambodia, Khmer/Cambodian traditional dance or the Khmer Rouge period, be sure to watch HRH Princess Norodom Buppha Devi's interview on Cambodian dance. She was chosen by the famous French film director Marcel Camus to dance in his film 'L'oiseau de paradis' [1962], also called 'Bird of Paradise' or 'Dragon Sky' in English, or 'Baksey Thansua'.

There is also an interview with Sim Muntha about the costumes in Camus' film on the NYPL archive.

The photo below shows her dancing in a more ornate costume than she does in the movie Apsara [1966]. Here is more information on her work to preserve and enshrine Cambodian dance.


Sunday, December 14, 2014

Art

If you love Cambodia, Khmer ancient art or Angkor Wat -- or the Tomb Raider films with Angelina Jolie -- be sure to read the excellent art record of Angkor Wat from 1927. A 23 year old French girl in Cambodia recorded in clear drawings many of the female spirits/nymphs [called 'devatas' by the French at the time or more commonly 'apsaraSanskrit: अप्सरा] carved on the walls. It's an incredible book, with so many drawings and details it could be used by a film costumer to get a project started.

The book is called Khmer Costumes and Ornaments of the Devatas of Angkor Wat by Sappho Marchal. Below is a typical photograph of Angkor Wat, the enormous complex of stone temples and buildings in Cambodia [it's even represented on the country's flag].

A fun little film about Khmer ancient myths [in this case of Preah Thong [also named King Kaundinya I] and his eventual wife the minor goddess/naga Neang Neak [also named Soma] is Pras Toung Neang Neak. To try Cambodian traditional dance, revived in the mid-1900s by Princess Bopa Devi, watch the long dance performance of Preah Thong Neang Neak.

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Kali

This Bengali woodcut of Ma Kali, the Hindu goddess, by the 19th century artist Sri Hemchandra is quite incredible [there are tons more pieces of art on Kali here]. Kālikā (Sanskrit: कालिका) is associated with empowerment, called shakti. She is the fierce aspect of the goddess Durga.


Snow

This painting 'Winter landscape with a church' by German Romantic painter of landscapes, Caspar David Friedrich [1774-1840] seems apt as we move into December. The brooding romantics often appeal to fans of Poe and the gothic. Try Friedrich's 'Cemetery entrance' as well, it's a great painting. There's often a sense of the 'wild' in nature, of how vast the world is and our insignificant we are, in Romantic artwork. It's something that not all Romantic verse and literature captures, it's unique.


Art

For incredible Hindu artwork/paintings, be sure to look at the amazing image collection at MagicTransistor. The pieces are unique and fascinating. It's a truly awe-inspiring group of images; there's a piece on every figure and deity that draws you in, even if they weren't one you were interested in or felt a connection to.

Recently, cranberry-raisin cookies have been all the rage around here, as has Bvlgari's The Rouge perfume [this is their Fragrantica review collection]. As a big perfume blog reader, I find it strange that our senses of smell may truly be different--what an odd thing to contemplate. Oddly I am more open to the idea that many people see colors differently.

Fun

Great places to look at the art of Hinduism and India in general is ExoticIndiaArt. You could spend forever simply browsing and being exposed to amazing pieces of art.

Lana del Rey's song 'Queen of Disaster' seems perfect for this time of year, for some reason. It's such an enjoyable song, especially for people who like her faster-paced songs. FKA Twigs' has a great song in 'Numbers'.

Also, the French-Canadian group Ibeyi is a really interesting musically, and enjoyable; their piece 'Oya' is an amazing, moving song. It's the type of stuff I want to read reviews of on Pitchfork. Too often I try songs recommended and find them kitschy and silly-sounding, not moving.

World music is something that is an ocean of undiscovered love. The famous writer Paul Bowles recorded intense, incredible music in rural Morocco for the Library of Congress try this piece here or here's some non-Bowles Moroccan drums piece that are great--the music truly is incredible. Try any of the Sublime Frequencies recordings of music from AlgeriaSumatra or Java or my favorite, Morocco.

The huge perfume selection at Possets is literally ruining my life. I need to try 'Blue Danube' and 'Black Tea', and a million other scents. I'm obsessed with the 'black spruce' pine solid perfume at LVNEA--it's from Montreal and amazing. I mean they have 'Mourning Ritual' and 'Ghost Pine', 'Desert Night' and 'Black Sea'. It makes you think of Poe and Welcome to Nightvale at the same time, but make no mistake, these are serious scents for people who love perfume.