Monthly Archives: October 2007

Unlikely musical cross-fertilizations and guilty pleasures

[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOf4uNwvC6c]

The first part is Afrikaan Beat

Afrikaan Beat is a 1962 song by German musician Bert Kaempfert, which in a strange twist of fate became the basis of a very famous Jamaican riddim named African Beat, also known as Under Me Sensi, first recorded by Studio One, widely credited to Don Drummond. Listen to the jamaican riddim at jamrid.com (does not feature Kaempfert’s distinctive horn line). The Kaempfert song is an exquisite guilty pleasure.

Kaempfert would have become 87  tomorrow, had he not gone on a permanent vacation in 1980.

Mihály Zichy @180

Artwork by Mihály Zichy (1827 – 1906)
Image sourced here.

Mihály Zichy (October 15 1827 in Zala, Hungary; February 28 1906 in St. Petersburg) was a Hungarian painter and graphic artist, best remembered today for the erotic pencil drawings in his X portfolio.

He was born 180 years ago today.

His Google gallery

He is not to be confused with “Count” Thedore Zichy:

Unidentified leg photograph

Theodore Zichy is one of the more enigmatic figures in the world of erotomania. All I found is on his page. I’m quite sure he was not a professional photographer, the photo depicted above is the only one I know of, and I can’t even remember where I sourced it. If anyone knows more, please fill me in.

Update: I found more myself. His autobio is That Was No Gentleman, That Was Zichy, London, Polybooks 1974. ISBN 0284985619. And some more photos: (prices range from 500 USD, to 1,000 USD, all gelatine prints): Shoes on a pillow, 1948, Woman and idol, 1948 and Nude with mask, 1948.

 

World cinema classics #17

[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwUuEN2NTts]

Bamboozled (2000) by Spike Lee

It has been a while since we featured an American film. Although almost all of Spike Lee’s films are better than 97% of American cinema, I chose Bamboozled, a 2000 satirical film about a modern televised minstrel show featuring black actors donning blackface makeup and the violent fall-out from the show’s success. A hilarious film.

Did you know that whiteface is also a comic trope?

Previous “World Cinema Classics“

More monkeys in art

In Consultation (1924) – Joseph Schippers

Monkey Portraits (2006) – Jill Greenberg
[Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

Gorilla and Woman (1887) – Emmanuel Frémiet

Some paintings of Gabriel von Max, Joseph Schippers, Chardin. The photography of Jill Greenberg. The sculpture of Fremiet. King Kong at the low art end of the spectrum. Is there a work dedicated to the representation of apes and monkeys in art outside of The Monkey in Art (1994) by Ptolemy Tompkins?

Introducing Gabriel von Max

Monkeys as Judges of Art, 1889

Monkeys as Judges of Art, 1889

 

Äffchen mit Zitrone Gabriel von Max Saure Erfahrung

Monkey with Lemon

Die ekstatische Jungfrau Katharina Emmerich, 1885

Katharina Emmerich, 1885

 

Der Anatom, 1869

The Anatomist, 1869

Gabriel Cornelius Ritter von Max (August 23, 1840, Prague – November 24, 1915, München) was a Prague-born Austrian painter. His themes were parapsychology and mysticism. He surrounded himself and with monkeys and painted them often, sometimes portraying them as human.

See also: Monkeys in art

It made me utter several moans

Bernini Saint Theresa

Ecstasy of St Theresa by Bernini

“In his hands I saw a long golden spear and at the end of the iron tip I seemed to see a point of fire. With this he seemed to pierce my heart several times so that it penetrated to my entrails. When he drew it out, I thought he was drawing them out with it and he left me completely afire with a great love for God. The pain was so sharp that it made me utter several moans; and so excessive was the sweetness caused me by the intense pain that one can never wish to lose it, nor will one’s soul be content with anything less than God.”

 

Lee Perry alert

Disco Devil by Perry

“Disco Devil revisited 2007 ” is a soon-to-be released new track and album by Lee Perry and Adrian Sherwood. It’s a radical but very relaxed re-interpretation of “Disco Devil” (the title of the twelve inch dub of “I Chase the Devil”) . Featuring the usual nonsense verse lyrics by Perry (“my wife is my knife”) and some wonderful Spanish horns, it shows Sherwood and Perry in excellent form. Out soon on On-U Sound Records. Key phrase is “Lucky Number.”

Tip of the hat to Freshly Squeezed, every Saturday from 16.00 to 18.00 PM.

For those of you who can’t wait to listen to this track, go to Steve Barker’s “On the Wire”, click on the Audio text link, it’s the third track.