http://www.solsken.com/blog Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:08:55 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Remember Archigram, the futuristic, pop-infused collective from the 1960s? The group that dreamed up magical urban environments like the Walking City and the Plug-In City? It seems like the spirit of Archigram has emerged once again in the 21st century, this time in Dubai. Italian architect David Fisher has designed a 1,378 foot-tall skyscraper with ... http://www.solsken.com/blog/2008/06/26/dubai-tower/ It's 92 degrees outside! I can feel the heat in the air! Three cheers for the start of summer and a great weekend ahead: Bruno Pronsato performs tomorrow at the Endup during a day party called Apertura. After his sweet set with Sammy Dee at Mutek (as Half Hawaii), he's now making his way up from South America and ... http://www.solsken.com/blog/2008/06/20/bruno-pronsato/ Bold patterns can work wonders on plain walls, as evidenced by Jocelyn Warner's savvy wallpaper designs. Here are a few to whet your appetite: http://www.solsken.com/blog/2008/06/19/jocelyn-warner/ Amid reunions with friends and immersive audiovisual thrills at Mutek, Ezekiel Honig introduced me to Nicola Ratti, the newest artist on his Anticipate label. At last, after nights of hard-hitting techno, Ratti's From The Desert Came Saltwater comes as a tunefully softer antidote. Its subdued electroacoustic palette -- which encompasses trembling guitar and piano lines, as well as pale flashes ... http://www.solsken.com/blog/2008/06/12/nicola-ratti/ Events like Mutek remind me of the rip-roaring delight of being young, traveling to exotic locations (like Canada!), and indulging in sights and sounds from the outer fringe. Some festival highlights: Morgan Packard and Josh Ott opened the week with ambient techno shavings, helix-like visual permutations, accordian drifts and bird whistles: Barem and Chic ... http://www.solsken.com/blog/2008/06/12/mutek-2008-recap/ The third installment of the LISTEN/VISION series is coming up on Wednesday, May 14. This time, we are super happy to share that Carsten Nicolai (Alva Noto), Frank Bretschneider and Olaf Bender from the Raster-Noton imprint will perform live, both individually and as a trio called Signal.  About Raster-Noton: Raster-Noton is a ... http://www.solsken.com/blog/2008/05/01/raster-noton-comes-to-sf/ After picking up coffee at Farley's this morning, I went to Aquarius Records to browse through my favorite section of the store, Exotica/Novelty. That's where I found The Ghost Orchid, a bizarre collection of paranormal voices and sounds recorded on magnetic tape. Curated by the world's leading EVP researchers, these ... http://www.solsken.com/blog/2008/04/20/ghost-orchid/ Yamaha is sponsoring a free event at 1015 this Friday, April 18, which includes live performances by the likes of Pole, Robert Lippok (of To Rococo Rot), Sutekh, Safety Scissors, and I am Robot. This event will serve as a launch party for a novel instrument that wowed the crowd at SIGGRAPH ... http://www.solsken.com/blog/2008/04/14/tenori-on/ I first encountered the work of Bay area artist David Kwan at last month's LISTEN/VISION 02 event, where I experienced Solaris, an audiovisual piece focused on the diaphanous reverberations of muted light forms. Kwan, who teaches at Mills College in Oakland, is now taking part of Interplay, a new exhibition ... http://www.solsken.com/blog/2008/04/13/david-kwan/   A great lineup is in store for Yuri's Night at Nasa Ames. Of note on the audiovisual side is a psychedelic drawing interface installation by Joshua Ott, Ezekiel Honig, and Morgan Packard (see screenshot above).Other artists like Jon Tejada, Lusine, Deru, and [a]pendics.shuffle will keep the tunes going alongside all of the technological wizardry that one can ... http://www.solsken.com/blog/2008/04/12/yuris-night/