Come celebrate 50 years of reggae music with VP Records tonite at Santos in New York City. Max Glazer, Eddie Stats, and DJ Gravy hold down the wheels at the Lower Dancehall Society’s weekly Wednesday bashment. Hosted by legendary producer Clive Chin (Black Moses Soundsystem), everyone is celebrating with the release of Randy’s 50th Anniversary CD and DVD collection telling the story of the Kingston-based record shop and studio through the history of music.

Founded in 1958 by Vincent and Patricia Chin, Randy’s was the first complete package - studio, distribution, sales and most importantly vibes. Producers and artists crowded Idler’s Rest—a famous spot around the corner of Randy’s—to get a chance to record in the studio.  Many legends today made their mark at this historic location from Bob Marley and The Wailers’ ground-breaking album Catch A Fire to Peter Tosh’s first two solo albums Legalize It and Equal Rights. According to reggae luminary Pat Kelly, Randy’s had “the sound people want.  We can call it the ghetto sound.  The real roots sound.

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TAGS: Events

Cerasoli:LeBasse Gallery

The Cerasoli:LeBasse Gallery presents an exhibition of new works by artists Jill Simonsen, Scott Belcastro and Nate Frizzell.

Gallery One JILL SIMONSEN & SCOTT BELCASTRO

Gallery Two NATE FRIZZELL ‘Put on a Happy Face’

November 8 – December 5, 2008

Opening Reception: Saturday, November 8, 7-10pm

Los Angeles, CA - The Cerasoli:LeBasse Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of new works by artists Jill Simonsen, Scott Belcastro and Nate Frizzell.

Nate Frizzell’s first solo Exhibition ‘Put on a Happy Face’ portrays characters with a thematic point of view. Frizzell uses highly rendered images and softer graphic elements, weaving tangible emotions into his portraits. As an artist his focus is less on the actual subject as it is on portraying the emotions the character is representing. Contrasting the vitality and flamboyant hues of his foreground figures with an often washed out landscape seen in the background, Frizzell questions the human condition and the difficulty we have being honest with ourselves and those around us.

Jill Simonsen’s latest work explores the journey of both relationships and disconnection. Simonsen uses recognizable and inorganic imagery such as antennae, power lines and buildings to represent various situations and experiences common to all of us. Rendering these elements in a graphic style, Simonsen attempts to understand the means by which people communicate or become isolated. Inspired by the people around her and how they interact with their world and each other, her paintings are both realistic and hopeful.

Scott Belcastro presents a different kind of landscape from that of Jill’s cold urban graphic, they are soft, lush landscapes of foreboding hills and endless fields. Belcastro uses washes of color to recreate stunning backdrops of the childhood places he frequented in upstate New York. His work is a peek into a familiar place we know, but seem to have misplaced inside ourselves, a place of skies that tell tales of lost country sides in far away fantasy lands.

The show opens Saturday, November 8th from 7-10pm

TAGS: Events

At Alphabeta

Martha Cooper, best known for documenting the New York graffiti scene starting from the 1970’s, author of such classic books as New York Frame of Mind, Hip Hop Files, and Subway Art is coming out with a new book called Tag Town. The reception is at Alphabeta at 70 Greenpoint Ave, in Brooklyn. Music by DJ Castor. Drop by and show your support!

Photo by Martha Cooper

TAGS: Events

Halloween Hell Raiser Contest NYC from Got'Em on Vimeo.

Skateboard show down $3000 best trick contest
Nov 1st 12-6pm @ New Design High School, NYC
Rooftop!

Shut Crew will be there! You know what to do!

TAGS: Events

KAFFNY is a one-day New York showcase screening works by emerging and established Korean filmmakers and performers.  We are the event that brought you Benson Lee’s “Planet B-Boy,” Juwan Chung’s “Baby,” and short works by Dennis Lee and Randall Park.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
We are now accepting short film submissions from filmmakers / performers of ethnic Korean descent, of any nationality.  We welcome all genres: narrative, animation, music video, documentary, experimental etc.
There is no entry fee. The submission deadline is November 30.  Please send DVD submissions, NTSC Region 0 or 1, to the address below:

KAFFNY
c/o Barrel
23 W 36th Street, Suite 401
New York, NY 10018

KAFFNY is co-sponsored by New York University Tisch School of the Arts and The Korea Times. For other inquires, email .

TAGS: Events

Nieves

Check out the NY Art Book Fair this Friday and Saturday if you’re in town. Nieves publications has new books by Taylor McKimens and Yuka Katagiri.

Printed Matter’s annual fair of contemporary art books, art catalogs, artists’ books, art periodicals, and ‘zines offered for sale by over 120 international publishers, booksellers, and antiquarian dealers.

Location
Phillips de Pury & Company
450 West 15th Street at 10th Avenue, 3rd floor

Friday & Saturday, October 24 & 25, 11am - 7pm
Sunday, October 26, 11am - 5pm

Friday, October 24, 5pm
A La Mode Cocktail with Aude Lemann and Cynthia Leung

Saturday, October 25, 2pm
This Kind of Livin’ Taylor McKimens book signing

Admission to the fair is free.

TAGS: Events

CBGBs RIP

For the next 7 days, the streets of New York City will play host to over 1000 live acts as music venues, nightclubs, and empty lots on the Lower East Side fill up with the cacophony of unsigned hype. If you’re feeling as overwhelmed by the deluge of information as we are, it might help to keep your eye on the prize and focus on a couple of acts to catch in-between trying to dodge the crowds of badge-wearing college radio DJs. To keep you on the straight and narrow, we’ve put together a list of 5 of our favorite female (or female fronted) acts to check in the next week:

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TAGS: Events, Reviews, Music Reviews, Things We Like

From left to right: Jeff Staple, Eric Haze, Kazunori Yamauchi

We were invited to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the classic racing game, Gran Turismo, with its creator, Kazunori Yamauchi, Jeff Staple and Haze at the Classic Car Club in NYC! After an unveiling of a hand-painted Lotus Exige by Haze (to be auctioned off with proceeds donated to Studio in a School), Yamauchi himself introduced the new game with a “victory lap”. Music by DJ Soul, Theme favorite Neil Armstrong, and a special performance by Fool’s Gold-er Kid Sister. Not a bad way to celebrate a decade of heart-pounding, seat leaning, rubber burning virtual glory. Check a little trailer for the game below:

TAGS: Events

Rostarr

RoStarr is one of our favorite artists and it’s awesome to see him with a lot of new work. He sent us an email recently about his show in Miami.

“If you happen to be in Miami this month? please stop by my current solo exhibition at Our House West of Wynwood:  www.oh-wow.com
for those of you that cant make it, here’s a short jpeg preview.
with warm greetings
Ro”

Rostarr

Rostarr

Rostarr

Rostarr

Rostarr

TAGS: Events

Our friends over at Aperture have teamed up with Tim Barber and his crew of photographer friends to launch a new series of monographs under the TinyVices banner. TinyVices.com is the wildly popular online photography gallery started and curated by Barber. Join them tonite as they celebrate the launch of the book series with photographers Kenneth Cappello, Allan MacIntyre, Jason Nocito, Robin Schwartz, and Jaimie Warren! The photographers will be in attendance.

TAGS: Events