Tosh Berman's Blog, page 86
June 16, 2021
Playlist for Bryan Ferry/Roxy Music world from Book Musik
One of my favorite music people for the last 49 years is Bryan Ferry. Both in Roxy Music as well as a solo artist. Eno is brilliant, but Ferry is a genius. A great songwriter, he is also a great artist when he approaches other people's songs. For example, I have always preferred his version of Dylan songs than other singers. I think there is a deep connection between Bryan and Bob. For Book Musik, we put together a playlist of music from the world of Roxy, as well as some solo material, including works by Eno, Andy, and Phil. Enjoy!
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5S0tx45myBIZN6CR6Yk1eR?si=3b4f62be9e5143ac&nd=1
Apple Music: Apple Music Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry playlist
June 15, 2021
Hammer Museum's Beyond Baroque & Beyond with Tosh Berman, Amy Gerstler, Dennis Cooper, and Benjamin Weissman
Dennis Cooper, Benjamin Weisman, Amy Gerstler & Tosh BermanTUE JUN 22, 2021 7 PM PDT
An online tête-à-tête between Tosh Berman and poet-auteurs Dennis Cooper, Benjamin Weissman, and Amy Gerstler about their so-called poet-gang, the special friendships formed by the L.A. literati in the early 1980s, being influenced by the French (i.e. literary hauntedness), and the specific problems and pleasantries of poetic programming.
In this three-part online interview series, Tosh Berman writer, poet, Los Angeles publisher of the post-war French literati, and beloved host of the 1980s Tea With Tosh, returns to the screen to confabulate with figures from the Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center's haunted hallways. Summoned to Berman's virtual sofa are a host of poetic voices, each of whom have been central to the center's programs at a point between 1980 and 1986. Not merely interviews, Beyond Baroque is equal parts séance, chat show, reunion, literary production, past life regression, tea time, no nostalgia.
To RSVP and other info here: RSVP & more info here!
Tosh and Kimley are joined by author Simon Morrison to d...
Tosh and Kimley are joined by author Simon Morrison to discuss his new book ROXY MUSIC’S AVALON (33 1/3). Mention AVALON to diehard Roxy Music fans and you’ll get a wide spectrum of responses, but few would put it at the top of their list even if they like it. However, AVALON (their last studio album), is the band’s most successful album in terms of sales and Morrison is more than happy to defend its brilliance with its lush production and sensuous vibe.
Book Musik: Simon Morrison on Roxy Music's Avalon
Spotify playlist: Spotify Playlist of rare Roxy Music
Apple playlist:Apple Music: Playlist of rare Roxy Music
June 13, 2021
The World of Tosh Berman, Sunday, June 13, 2021 (Emmanuelle 8, Part Five, and the Last Episode)
Emmanuelle 8 (part five, and the last episode) by Tosh Berman.
June 11, 2021
June 7, 2021
Les Sewing Sisters New Album (Friday, July 23, 2021)
LES SEWING SISTERS ALBUM RELEASE
Friday, July 23, 2021, is the release date for the first Les Sewing Sisters album Les Sewing Sisters on vinyl (Lun*na Music, EZ-039), Bandcamp, iTunes Store, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Spotify. The album is produced by Adam Lee Miller (ADULT.) and Lun*na Menoh. Recorded in Detroit and Los Angeles.
Les Sewing Sisters are Lun*na Menoh and Saori Mitome. You hear on Les Sewing Sisters noise from sewing machines fine-tuned via computer and the human voice. There are no guitars, drums, synths - just voices and the beautiful sound of the sewing machine. Lun*na and Saori looked back to the industrial age when the sewing machine came into existence and looked onward to making the ‘now’ sound of Les Sewing Sisters. Lun*na first started using her sewing machines as an instrument when she did a version of Maurice Ravel’s Bolero performed and premiered at the sold out Valaslavasay Panorama in 2016. Les Sewing Sisters opened up for the band Sparks in 2017 and 2018. In 2019, they did the Les Sewing Sisters home tour, where they did 22 performances in people’s closet space. Lun*na also has a documentary film, “Who Is Lun*na Menoh?” directed by Jeff Mizushima, which won the best documentary film award at CAAMFEST 2021.
After releasing the nine-song album Les Sewing Sisters, there will be a live streaming show on Friday, July 30, 2021. More information will follow.
The songs on the album Les Sewing Sisters:
I And My Sewing MachineShe SewsThe Needle Is DamagedSee You On The Dissecting TableBanality AttackMothra GirlI’m SewingFashionable NonsenseTailor-made
Every song lyric by Les Sewing Sisters is about clothing, sewing, making clothes, wearing clothes, and fashion. All songs written by Lun*na Menoh.
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June 6, 2021
Bob Dylan - "Rough and Rowdy Ways" Vinyl, Album, 2020 (Columbia)
The album has been released for a year now, and still, I just now got the vinyl edition of Bob Dylan's Rough and Rowdy Ways. Without a doubt, this is my favorite Dylan album. I'm in the school of Dylan admirers but not a full-strength fanatic fan. Some of his recordings I can hear once, and that's enough. However, Rough and Rowdy Ways is a different type of work compared to his other albums. I feel it may have taken him 79 years to make a record like this collection of songs. What appeals to me, of course, are his words, which are masterful with the remarkable juxtaposition of images thrown together like a master bartender.
For the past twenty years, the sound of Dylan's recordings has become more fascinating to me. Admittedly, they remind me of old recordings from the 1940s and 50s, but that is an illusion. Dylan, if nothing else, is the master illusionist behind the red velvet curtain. The design work on the record label itself is a throwback to another era, but it's more of a memory or a Twilight Zone episode. There is something scary, eerie, odd when you listen to the record while thinking of the album's design work. Sometimes his images don't work for me, but I think he does think these things out, and I don't believe they are thrown together in such a state. Anyone who has an announcer saying "Columbia Recording Artist Bob Dylan" before appearing on the stage is a very well-thought-out song and dance man.
The first five songs on this album are one of the great sequencings of music. "Goodbye Jimmy Reed" breaks the mood for me a bit, and it's OK where it is placed on the record, but I adore the soft balladry of songs like "My Own Version of You" and "I've Made Up My Mind To Give Myself To You." At 79 (at the time of the recordings - I think), Dylan is a superb crooner. The band behind him is excellent, and the ambient touches of space allow the blending of instruments behind Dylan's voice is simply magnificent.
The track that leaves no prisoners behind is, of course, "Murder Most Foul." It almost feels like a separate afterthought or a bonus cut on an album. At the very least, an excellent B-side is the longest Dylan song ever recorded, yet it only seems a few minutes while listening to "Murder Most Foul." I'm an American of a certain age, and the death of Kennedy has numerous layers of feelings and dread, and this song captures that angst, fear, and the dark humor of the assassination. Nothing to laugh about, except it's absurd in such a classic American manner. Somehow Dylan brings up the feelings I had when I was nine, and Kennedy died. It was a cultural turning point, and some who are still here can feel that day on November 22, 1963. Without hesitating, this is clearly Dylan's best album.
June 5, 2021
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Bruce Conner Artist Filmmaker on Tea With Tosh
In the heart of the 1980s, I had a cable public access TV show "Tea With Tosh." Here my guest is the artist and filmmaker Bruce Conner. https://youtu.be/vkNtxXN23f4
