Horses Think

Andrew Bird has a new album coming out later this month, Noble Beast.

You can listen to the album in it’s entirety right now because it’s streaming exclusively on NPR.

A special deluxe version of the album will be accompanied by a second disc called Useless Creatures. This is essentially an entire album of completely musical tracks. I’ve been listening to it non-stop for the past two days.

It’s gorgeous, haunting, dramatic and just plain old beautiful.

Have a listen to that too.

still from Nicholas Ray’s Bigger Than Life, 1956

One of the darkest and most bizarre family melodramas I’ve ever seen, Nicholas Ray’s Bigger Than Life is playing in a brand new 35mm scope print at Film Forum through Thursday.

This expressionistic technicolor suburban nightmare starring James Mason is a rarely screened gem.

Nicholas Ray is of course best known for directing James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause from 1955. Bigger Than Life, released a year later in 1956, was based on a true story written in The New Yorker about a man who’s life spins out of control due to a Cortisone addiction.

still from Nicholas Ray’s Bigger Than Life, 1956

Both films share an expressionistic use of bold color, a dramatic use of odd camera angles and distorted exploration of space and architecture but Bigger Than Life takes everything to a claustrophobic and disturbing extreme. From the opening shot of James Mason sitting at his desk to the shocking and climactic meltdown, Ray breaks down the picture perfect suburban world of the 1950’s and pokes giant gaping holes in the façade of machismo.

Read The New Yorker article the film was originally based on before or after seeing the film.

I meant to post this a long time ago and I’m not even sure where it came from originally. One of those things where the link it came from got severed along the way.

Still quite fascinating and wonderful to watch.

Update: The gif comes from Square America and they have a bunch of other animations worth checking out.

Thanks to Charles for pointing that out.

Instead of doing a standard best of list for 2008, I decided to list the 10 things that most affected or inspired me this past year.

In alphabetical order:

1. The Divine Comedy

I was introduced to The Divine Comedy a couple of years ago but it was only this year that I really connected to Neil Hannon’s elegantly composed brand of pop music. There is something very modern about the music but also an over the top Baroque feeling about it. Filled with literary references, great humor and beautiful musical compositions, I’m officially a big fan.

The most recent album, Victory for the Comic Muse, was released in 2006 and contains plenty of knock out tracks but my favorites are the mesmerizing A Lady Of A Certain Age with acoustic guitar, and The Plough with devastatingly gorgeous string instruments.

For an older album check out Promenade from 1994, a concept album about two lovers who spend their day by the sea. The album opens with Bath, a song that slowly breathes its way to life using sounds of the ocean and repetitive strings before announcing itself as a pop song.

Listen to The Booklovers, probably my favorite song, it’s composed entirely of great fiction writer names throughout history. The album concludes with the emotional Tonight containing some of the most beautiful musical arrangements on the record.

2. The Drawing Project by Jason Polan

Drawing #239, Alan and Wayne by Jason Polan

The combination of a pop sensibility, minimalist execution and a wry sense of humor made The Drawing Project a must see each and everyday of its existence. Although it began towards the end of 2007, Polan put his project to rest in August of 2008 after giving away 250 drawings.

3. East of Eden by John Steinbeck

By far the greatest and most affecting novel I have ever read. Beyond epic in scope yet so universal in its themes of good vs. evil and the idea that we have the freedom to choose who we want to be in this world.

East of Eden is probably as close to the bible as I’ll ever get.

3. Fleet Foxes, Bowery Ballroom, July 9, 2008

Fleet Foxes illustration by Tomby

If you haven’t yet listened to Fleet Foxes Sun Giant EP or Fleet Foxes self-titled debut LP, you are definitely missing out on one of the most amazing bands to break out this past year.

Pick up both records and see them live next year, you won’t be disappointed.

4. Gustave Courbet at The Metropolitan

The Desperate Man (1844-45) by Gustave Courbet

If I only got to see the self portraits and nude paintings (including a NSFW Origin of the World) in this extraordinary exhibition of Courbet paintings, I would have had enough but there was certainly more to see in one of the best painting exhibitions I saw all year.

5. Ippudo - Japanese Ramen Noodle Soup

With their homemade noodles and deliciously pork-filled broth, Ippudo always has me ready for another bowl of Ramen. The wait for a table can be long but the food is affordable, served quickly, piping hot and ready to be eaten.

Try the Shiomaru Pork Ramen Classic.

6. Mickey Rourke’s Performance in The Wrestler

It would be close to impossible to argue with the insanity and ridiculousness of Mickey Rourke’s sensitive yet psychotic portrayal of “The Ram” in Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler.

One has to wonder if he was just playing himself but in the end it really doesn’t matter. Rourke brings it all the way, putting his whole life on the line like he’s got nothing left to lose.

7. Spiral Jetty, Great Salt Lake, Utah

Visiting Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty has been a goal of mine for a long time. I finally made it out there earlier this year while I was traveling and working my way through Colorado and Utah.

Needless to say, it was a transcendent experience to say the least, one that cannot be compared to any other art experience. The journey is long and the drive almost treacherous but once you get there and see the Jetty with your own eyes, one quickly realizes how powerful great art can be.

Built in the middle of nowhere with nothing around for miles except the Great Salt Lake and what feels like a desert landscape, the Spiral Jetty appears like an old world relic and ancient monument to nature.

Make the journey, spend the night, watch the sunset and catch the shooting stars, The Spiral Jetty is a magical and one of a kind experience.

8. Stellet Licht (Silent Light) by Carlos Reygadas

In a year with too many overhyped films (The Reader, Revolutionary Road, Frost/Nixon), it’s a shame that so little attention has been paid to Stellet Licht.

I’ve written about this previously and it’s finally being officially released here in New York City starting next week at Film Forum.

Don’t waste any time. See one of the best and most cinematic films I’ve seen in a long while.

09. William Eggleston: Democratic Camera at The Whitney

In all honesty, I’ve had enough of William Eggleston, but when an exhibition brings together so many incredible photographs and hangs them on a wall together, my eyes can’t help but take notice.

Gathered together in this exhibition are probably some of my favorite color photographs of all time. I must have counted at least 5 that I would take to a deserted island.

While I think that Eggleston is essentially repeating himself ad nauseum at this point and the newer large format prints in the show disappoint terribly (except the b+w 5×7 portraits, which sing), I still would recommend heading over to the Whitney for a fantastic and refreshing dose of color.

Also, check out five films that influenced the man.

10. Words Without Pictures

Created by the photography department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and written by some of the best known thinking photographers and thinkers about photography, Words Without Pictures, continued to surprise and inspire me with each and every essay.

Read contributions by Mark Wyse, Walead Beshty, Sze Tsung Leong, Charlotte Cotton, Charlie White and Jason Evans.

Although most people seem to be lamenting the end of Polaroid, it’s important to note that instant photography is not completely dead yet. I’m not talking about your square format (600 series or SX-70) but about medium and large format photography which instant film is definitely still available for.

Yesterday afternoon I finally got my hands on the highly in demand FujiFilm PA-45 Instant Holder for my 4×5. The holder takes pack film that contains 10 sheets of instant film and slides into a 4×5 just like your regular polaroid back.

The film itself is also made by FujiFilm and I have to say that I’ve always preferred Fuji Instant Color Film to the Polaroid version as it reproduces an image with better color and a sharper image. Right now Fuji only makes a 100 ISO color film but I’ve been told that an equivalent black & white version is on the way.

Now that’s something to get excited about. Let’s hope FujiFilm keeps the instant film coming in 2009 and for many years to come.

For all those polaroid memories, here’s a wonderful and refreshing advertisement introducing the SX-70 camera created by Charles and Ray Eames, with music by the great Elmer Bernstein.

(via lensculture)

Also, don’t miss Michael Kimmelman’s recent essay mourning the death of Polaroid in last weekend’s New York Times.

Untitled IV, Brimfield, MA, 2008

To request the above photograph:

Send an email (subject: photograph #24) to horses [at] horsesthink.com with your name and address.

If you are the first person to respond after the posting, you will receive the photograph in the mail.

* This photograph is no longer available.

I’m definitely a John and I knew that before I took this test or even this one.

Even though the above video is for charity and a good cause, I’m still not sure what I think about it even if it did have Yoko Ono’s approval.

(via HE)

Eartha Kitt, the great American performer, passed away today.

I first learned of Eartha Kitt while watching the 1992 Eddie Murphy film Boomerang, and from that moment on, I could never forget her.

When I heard that she was performing again at Café Carlyle in New York City more recently, it was definitely on my list of things to do. Then I realized the cost of taking in such a performance and was waiting for a special occasion.

Needless to say, I never made it to the Carlyle to catch a performance by Eartha Kitt, but I can only imagine how legendary it must have been.

Daily Routines is a site devoted to the way interesting artists and writers organize their days.

This post about Truman Capote is one of my favorites:

INTERVIEWER
What are some of your writing habits? Do you use a desk? Do you write on a machine?

CAPOTE
I am a completely horizontal author. I can’t think unless I’m lying down, either in bed or stretched on a couch and with a cigarette and coffee handy. I’ve got to be puffing and sipping. As the afternoon wears on, I shift from coffee to mint tea to sherry to martinis. No, I don’t use a typewriter. Not in the beginning. I write my first version in longhand (pencil). Then I do a complete revision, also in longhand. Essentially I think of myself as a stylist, and stylists can become notoriously obsessed with the placing of a comma, the weight of a semicolon. Obsessions of this sort, and the time I take over them, irritate me beyond endurance.

The Paris Review, Issue 16, 1957

I wish my routine was as exciting. Unfortunately my routine of getting work done is pretty standard and that usually involves many degrees of procrastination like making tea, having a snack, reading the paper, catching up on the internet, looking for new music to listen to. Once I’ve exhausted all those possibilities, I can finally get to work, whatever work might be that day.

Read more Daily Routines or even write your own and post it in the comments.

I found this lovely watercolor painting and drawing over the weekend while I was killing some time.

Lately, I’ve been trying to avoid the Chelsea Antique Garage. I usually walk in there hoping not to find anything I like but it rarely works out that way as there is always a great deal to be found on something absolutely wonderful and surprising.

The details in this drawing are quite precise and very well articulated. I love the pastel colors and the overall softness of the whole thing. I’m not sure how old the piece is but it feels like it could be from around the early 1900’s.

Here’s a detail: