Danish rap supergroup Majors have just dropped a new single, reprising “Suckers Never Play Me,” arguably the best track on their fine, eponymously titled album, released earlier this year. It’s available for free download from their website, and is well worth it if you’re into traditional hardcore hip hop.
De fleste københavnere, og sikkert også de fleste danskere, har nok allerede hørt om ‘Store Roberts’ kommende entré i Københavns havn, så jeg vil undlade at komme ind på de triste detaljer her og blot eklære mig enig med de efterhånden mange stemmer, der synes at det er en meget dårlig idé, og i øvrigt udtryk for eklatant mangel på dømmekraft fra Overborgmesteren og borgerrepræsentationens side, at dette længe syltede projektet igen er blevet taget op.
Man kan selvfølgelig sige, at det ville være et ganske repræsentativt monument over den talentløshed med hvilken størstedelen af Københavns havn er blevet udviklet over de sidste 10-15 år, men det er næppe et argument i klodsens favør. Ikke alene vil den være fatalt ude af skala i forhold til sine omgivelser på det sted — den lader også til at være det med sig selv.
I was in Bassano del Grappa today. A beautiful small Medieval/Renaissance town scenically situated in the foothills of the Dolemites, it’s well worth a visit. Palladio’s famous pontoon bridge is elegant, almost timeless in its grace, and the collection at the city museum of pictures by the town’s greatest artist son Jacopo del Ponte, aka. Jacopo Bassano, is both grand and moving. His best work is earthy and rustic, yet possessed of a luminous spirituality that transcends the profane.
If you’re in Copenhagen and looking to do something on Thursday, go to the opening of this year’s crop of films by the Super16 group of independent filmmakers. It’s at the Dagmar Theatre and runs from noon till midnight.
The usual full disclosure: the director of one of the films — Black Heart — Ada Bligaard Søby, is a friend of mine. But that doesn’t prevent her from being incredibly talented. Really, go see for yourself. I’ve just watched Black Heart (produced by Morten Kjelms Juhl), and it’s a both ominous and touching piece of documentary reconstruction. It’s hampered somewhat by it’s use heavy handed allegory, but it never becomes a real problem — this is acutely poetic filmmaking in the tradition of the French New Wave. Don’t take my word for it — go see for yourselves!
The picks of the week from around the web.
These have been your picks of the week. I’m sorry 🙂
Just finished this article that Tom linked to (thanks, Tom!). It’s by Andrew Sullivan, a former editor of The New Republic, and it’s on blogging as a way of writing and creating a community. It’s rather utopian, but in that good, inspirational way, and it’s made me return to these thoughts I’ve been having about blogging the Bunker. Basically, I don’t do enough of it.
Sullivan argues strongly in favour of the instant quality of blogging — the live writing — and distinguishes between that and more considered, formally judicious, as well as longer, writing. Thing is, I kind of like the latter, even on the web, despite being aware that most people don’t have the patience to read at least longer pieces. At any rate, I don’t do enough of the shorter, more instant kind of writing here and will endeavour to do this more in the future, all the while maintaining the more traditional pieces as a central element of the blog.
Another thing Sullivan extolls are the virtues of keeping one’s writing open for instant commentary. I have resisted this because I used to run and moderate a discussion forum at the now discontinued Danish comics site rackham.dk and that eventually soured me on the whole exercise. I’m afraid this kind of thing almost invariably means diminishing returns. But Sullivan has me thinking I should perhaps try it again, in this slightly different form, so from today I have opened this site for comments on a probationary basis.
So, you know, feel free to comment!
A true legend of Jamaican music passed away last week. Alton Ellis, Mr. Soul of Jamaica, the King of Rocksteady, is gone after an extended bout with cancer that had been in remission for a while, allowing him to return to the stage as late as last year. I never got the opportunity to hear him perform live, but sure have appreciated his records for the last few years since I got into ska and rocksteady for real.
What an amazing singer. He doesn’t have the rudeboy charm combined with occasional, dreamy vulnerability of a Desmond Dekker, but he makes up for this with sheer confidence in his delicate, unadorned voice, bordering on the nonchalant, hitting the occasional note off key for emotional resonance, and he conveys pain and heartbreak much more intensely. Few singers sound as earnest as him, and in this he touches upon the power of soul.
Shooting Star — Natasjas posthumt udgivne engelskprogede album — er resultatet af en række uheldige sammenfald, ulykkeligt tynget af hendes tragiske død sidste år.
I modsætning til hendes ligeledes posthumt udsendte, mesterlige dansksprogede album fra i fjor, I Danmark er jeg født, var Shooting Star åbenlyst ikke grydeklart som album, og det kan mærkes. Det består af en skønsom blanding af ældre numre, tre af dem endog gengangere fra hendes første engelsksprogede skive, Release fra 2005, lidt nyere materiale hentet andetsteds fra, og sidst men ikke mindst en håndfuld spritnye skæringer.
Producenterne, Pharfar og Peter Skovsted, har gjort deres bedste for at få en helstøbt plade ud af det forhåndenværende, og der er for så vidt ikke noget at udsætte på deres indsats, der skaber en vis sammenhæng i en samling numre af ganske forskellig karakter. Problemet er — desværre — hovedsageligt materialet selv.
Richard Wright (1943-2008)
Read the Bunker’s obituary of the Pink Floyd founding member.
For those of us who have a hard time wrapping our heads around what exactly the underpinnings of the current financial crisis are, I will continue my recent spree of linking to the New York Times (yeah, I know, not exactly the best kept secret when it comes to sources of information, but anyway). This introduction is quite good.
And for comics fans who read Danish and aren’t already aware of it, daily newspaper Politiken‘s most recent and rather promising new cartoonist, Philip Ytournel, did a delightful summary in comics form last week.