Wyatt as reference in the world of painting

I once started to collect articles where Robert Wyatt was used as a reference to describe other artists´ music (mostly new artists), but he was suddenly all over the place, and I gave in. Let´s just be satisfied by the fact that Robert Wyatt is a fixed point in the history of music, that may be used by journalists and other crooks (read: bloggers, twitterers and others) to describe or classify other musicians (just or unjust for Wyatt or the others!).

When Robert Wyatt was mentioned in a piece on the recently deceased painter Cy Twombly (1928 - 2011), I found it too good to just leave it! In an article in Spanish La Vanguardia (7 July 2011) called "Abstracto y literario. Cy Twombly (1928 - 2011). El Penúltimo maestro del expresionismo norteamericano", it is written: "Su obra pictórica oscila entre el balbuceo casi blanco y el incendio cromático, entre el estado carencial y la afirmación apasionada. En esto se parece a la música de Robert Wyatt".

You Spanish speaking people may smile at this wonderfully written (I hope!) description, the rest of us have to stick to Google Translate: "His paintings range from almost white babble and fire color, between the iron deficiency and passionate affirmation. In this it resembles the music of Robert Wyatt". I think I get it!

The Beatles on cell biology books

I admit that I think it´s pretty smart to mix a bit of humor into serious business.
A bunch of cell biologists seem to agree, since they have a The Beatles theme on the back sides of their books.
See the authors of the fifth and fourth edition of "Molecular biology of the cell" and the second and third edition of "Essential cell biology" do their versions of the album covers of "Revolver", "Sgt. Pepper´s Lonely Hearts Club Band", "Meet The Beatles!" and "Help!".

The Raincoats: Odyshape

Good news over at Pitchfork: The Raincoats will release a remastered version of their album "Odyshape" (Rough Trade, 1981).
Robert Wyatt is drumming on the track "And then it´s O.K.".

Arbe Garbe & Eugene Chadbourne

Italian Arbe Garbe brought Eugene Chadbourne along for the Fabrik Free Festival (Milano) 18 June 2011. Must have been some party!
Chadbourne is playing on the band's album "The great prova" (2010).

Richard Thompson: "Live at the BBC"

"Wall of death", "When the spell is broken", "Down where the drunkards roll", "Valerie", "Shoot out the lights" and a bunch of other fantastic songs, some of them more than once, acoustic or electric, with band or with Linda Thompson, all on three CDs and one DVD on Richard Thompson´s new release "Live at the BBC" (UMC 2011). The music was recorded from 1973 to 2009 and the videos were made 1975 - 1985. All in all you get 80 tracks, and most of them are released here for the first time.
Yes, you have to get this one!

If Thompson´s studio albums are necessary, make sure you check out his live albums too. They are sold through BeesWeb, and if you visit you will probably see Richard Thompson sporting some incredibly elegant clothes, having just been named Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)!

Another good box set: "RT. The life and music of Richard Thompson" (Free Reed 2006)!

Richard Thompson´s only Norwegian concert this summer is his solo concert at the Down On The Farm festival.

Rune Grammofon summer sale

If you do not own all of Rune Grammofon´s records, you might want to check their catalogue this summer. Here is what they say:
"Most of the CD titles in the catalogue are now on sale, many of them with a 50% deduction, down to NOK 59.00. This might be your best opportunity ever to fill some spaces in your collection. One of several items is the "Money Will Ruin Everything 2" book/2CD, which is a true bargain at only NOK 99,00".

The next three Rune releases will be:
Humcrush with Sidsel Endresen - Ha! - CD
Hedvig Mollestad Trio - First Chapter - CD/LP
Alog - Phinger - CD/LP

Ungdomskulen´s Gimme Ten (US003, 2011)

Ungdomskulen - Elle from Blank Blank on Vimeo.

Ungdomskulen – Walking the Dog from Blank Blank on Vimeo.

Bergen´s own prog-indie trio Ungdomskulen (Kristian Stockhaus, Øyvind Solheim, Frode Kvinge Flatland) go wild with 10 tracks on one 7", and 10 videos to follow!