Benkei - Art

This is how a total badass dies.

If you ever go to Japan you will see this guy everywhere. The image of a defiant warrior, killed by many impaling arrows, staring defiantly. It is called "The Standing Death of Benkei." Let me explain.

Saito Musashibo Benkei was a man that lived in feudal era of Japan. He was born in 1155 AD. The son of a noble samurai and a blacksmith, Benkei was 6' 7" and had incredible strength. So he became a warrior.

Benkei was ill tempered, unruly and somewhat savage, so no feudal lord would take him. After getting kicked out of a Buddhist monastery for fighting, Benkei decided to guard a bridge and force every samurai trying to pass to fight him, go the long way or give up their sword. He ended up with 999 by the time he met his match.

By the way, Benkei also had a badass mustache.

One day an epic hero by the name of Minamoto no Yoshitsune, a young samurai and feudal lord who was a champion of the common people and enemy of the current reigning evil government, dueled Benkei for the bridge. Yoshitsune, trained by tengu (Luke Skywalker is based on him), beat Benkei by knocking him unconscious with a metal fan.

Impressed and humbled, Benkei offered to serve the young lord until death. From then on the two were inseparable, and there are many kabuki and noh theater plays based on their adventures.

Although loved by the common folk as a champion of good and justice, Yoshitsune, like most benevolent Japanese epic heroes of legend, was doomed. While inside a castle planning his attack on the reigning evil government, he was betrayed by his allies, who switched allegiance and sent a massive army to capture Yoshitsune.

Knowing that defeat was inevitable, the young lord's friends, family, allies and army deserted him. Since retreat was dishonorable and capture was even more disgraceful all Yoshitsune could do was commit honorable suicide. He was betrayed and all alone. There was nobody left to defend him.

Except Benkei.

While his lord went through the appropriate rituals for a proper suicide, the last friend and warrior he had went out to perform one final mission: delay the enemy until the end. The reason was simple. Back then being captured by the enemy didn't just mean defeat, failure and dishonor. It also meant torture. Days and days of serious torture. Worse than being chained to a toilet, eating shit pudding and watching episodes of "Hee Haw." 

This is what a non sequitur looks like. 

A single bridge led to the castle where Yoshitsune was, and Benkei placed himself on the bridge in the center. The army sent to capture his lord arrived and prepared for a siege. Surely, they thought to themselves, this must be a trick. Where was the rest of the army?

Benkei challenged the other army to single combat. From the perspective of Bushido, this was extremely bad for the enemy army. All alone, he had just performed something so full of honor and badass that it would mean a tremendous loss of face to just attack. They had to respond appropriately to the challenge. So they did.

One by one, and then two by two and three by three's, the enemy army sent samurai warriors out to fight Benkei on the bridge and he killed them all. This was no surprise. Benkei was a monster, since the average Japanese man at the time was about 5' tall.

"O.G."

Another relevant factor was that in Japanese martial arts, a quick, strong downward strike to the enemy's forehead, resulting in a mortal frontal lobotomy, was how a sword fight usually ended (aside from a tsuki to the throat). Since Benkei was using a 6'+ long weapon, and the average samurai katana was 3' long, you can guess exactly what the fuck happened to Benkei's brave, but doomed, opposition. They didn't have a chance because they didn't have the reach, especially since their giant of an enemy was probably 6'+.

This went on for quite some time until the enemy army paused, staring at this awesome, fearless warrior that could not be killed. Realizing his own general was about to be dishonored by being defeated by one single man, an officer in the army dishonorably ordered all of the archers to shoot Benkei to death. So they did.

In Japanese kenjitsu there is a stance known as the "Fuck you, you can't hurt me" stance. You basically spread your arms, weapon in one hand, and stare. That's what Benkei did. Hundreds of arrows impaled his body and killed him instantly.

For a long time, the enemy army stood in formation, afraid. This was because the arrows that killed Benkei also propped him up, making him look like he was still alive. His corpse stood there, glaring, swaying in the wind, saturated with gore and surrounded by many, many dead warriors. Who would want to approach that?

"No offence to your exquisite archery skills, but FUCK YOUR ARROWS." 

Eventually they did and the general and the army found Yoshitsune, quite dead. Their mission was successful. They had followed orders. But the damage was done.

From the perspective of Bushido and the code of honor at the time, what the enemy army had done was incredibly bad. The officer who ordered the arrows was ordered to commit suicide for his disgrace. The general was also dishonored, was stripped of his title, and retired to a monastery. The entire army was mocked until their death. Some even committed suicide at Benkei's grave, or on the bridge where they had once opposed him. A single man had defeated them all. Why?

Even more Benkei for your buck.

Because Benkei won. From the perspective of Bushido, he had indeed carried out his last mission: to delay the enemy so his lord could die with honor. Dying to achieve this only made him look more badass. Yoshitsune's enemies all looked like cowards.

Hundreds of years later, Benkei is honored in throughout Japan. There are paintings of him, illustrations of him, tattoos and even statues and shrines. Even to this day, a person who has dedicated themselves body and soul to a cause, whether this is becoming a doctor, an actor, founding a company or achieving a black belt in the martial arts, will bow and burn incense to a Benkei in order to show their true dedication and humble spirit.

As for the general who led the army that killed Benkei, and the officer that ordered the arrows? They are dishonored. Forgotten. Nobody remembers their names.

In Japanese culture, literature, history and art this means,

"BRING IT THE FUCK ON." 

Nøise - Music

Nøise is what happens when a brilliant modern visual artist, innovative DJ’s and a cadre of incredibly experienced musicians join forces to make some very appealing audio magic. The results are more than just mere music and beyond the promise of normal mortal bands. With more songs to listen to right now than there are stars in the sky, why should your average enthusiast pay attention to this highly anticipated musical creation?

Because Nøise’s latest EP is a shining promise of what we have to anticipate from the band in the future. “Little Lions,” one of the tracks on the EP, is as complex and intriguing as the music video that accompanies it. Taunt with tension, haunted by the ghost of the song’s own spectral promise of love, sadness and regret, the song is perfect for a night where you just want to drink hard liquor and think about the good times, the bad times, and the shadowy spaces between as the party moves on around you.

“Little Lions” is dark yet deliciously upbeat from the tantalizing start to a hypnotic reverberating finish. The song moves at a brisk pace, punctuated by accelerated beats, prancing guitars and synthetic reverberations that keep you wondering until the very last note. There are songs within this song, places where the changes transfix you, similar to hellish faerie light manifesting like sonoluminescence from some mesmerizing siren song, part psychic, part demonic, transfixing you with hypnotic, sensual rapture. Nøise knows how to hex the listener because the magicians behind the band have been captivating us for decades. Their names and creations are already legendary.

You are certainly familiar with the artist known as Shepard Fairey, probably because of the famous Barack Obama “Hope” image and the somewhat disturbing Obey Giant logo campaign, which featured WWF star Andre “The Giant” staring down at you within a symbol that brought to mind both 1984 and the horror film They Live by John Carpenter. However, Fairey is also a music DJ, as capable of manipulating Serato and MP3’s as he is line and color, which is how the idea for the band Nøise incarnated.

Fairey contacted many other musicians to make Nøise happen including DJ’s and artists known for their futuristic, visionary achievements such as Moby, Crystal Method, Phil Hartnoll, Tim Armstrong, DJ Z-Trip, Nico and Touch, SSI, John Goff, Merritt Lear, Joe Cassidy and Ravi Zupa. The art for the EP’s album cover is worth spending money to own, featuring a bold black, gold and red design with a lion standing triumphantly in the center, a fitting visual proclamation for a band whose veterans are so already independently accomplished. I already want to own the t-shirt.

To celebrate the first EP release from Nøise, Fairey himself hosted a release party at the Subliminal Projects gallery in Los Angeles, where he put his years of experience as a DJ to work performing for an audience of enthusiastic friends, fans and family. A visual artist composing music? Why not? In a recent interview with the magazine known as Rolling Stone, Fairey said, "Iggy paints and David Bowie painted. Z-Trip can throw a tag down like you wouldn't believe. A lot of my heroes in music are people who dabbled in art," Fairey says. "Our culture likes people to stay in their lane. I'm fine to be an irritant by not staying in my lane."

In contrast to “Little Lions”, another song on the EP, “Automatic,” remixed by Moby, is vibrant, spontaneous and positive. Bouncing with digital glee, electrified with evocative beats, vocals and chords that whirl and prance, “Automatic” is a smart reminder that the band known to us as Nøise has a lot more music to offer because the people that comprise it are as talented as they are diverse. 

Musician Joe Cassidy has mentioned that Joe Strummer and Lee “Scratch” Perry have been some of his inspirations while working on the project. “Not so much in terms of their music exactly, but more like, ‘What would these two think of these songs in 2016?’” Your audience empathizes, Cassidy. More Nøise ASAP, please.

Buy it here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/little-lions/id1153993667?ls=1&app=itunes

Website: http://www.noiseproject.com

Subliminal Projects: http://subliminalprojects.com/

Yumiko: Curse of the Merch Girl - Art

Nick Carter is Murs, a California artist and emcee with few limitations. His name is an acronym for "Making the Universe Recognize and Submit," or, "Making Underground Raw Shit," depending on his mood and intent.  1997's F'Real, his first solo album, defined Murs as an independent musician who knew how to weave music and words together to deliver a message only the street can tell.

"Ease Back," track number seven on the album, is the young artist proclaiming to a stale record industry that hip-hop was moving on without them, and Murs was leading the charge. His rapid shot-delivery and dim mak-accurate lyrics, backed up by warping beats and aggressive, droning rhythms, made F'Real both a collector's item and just the first move from a man who has since gone on to dominate the game with each LP he's made since then.

2008's Murs for President proved that he wasn't just a one-topic musician. Here is where the artist directed his incisive logic at politics in America, bashing hypocrisy and blasting the corrupt criminal behavior of the leaders of the U.S. with an album that was both music and message.

"The Science," track number four on the album, is not only good listening, it's an information bomb guaranteed to detonate preconceived notions the uninformed might have of of good and evil in the government, with lyrics like:

"Now let me give my hypothesis, an educated guess

On why my people on the whole seem to be such a mess

Genocide, the deliberate extermination of a race, culture, or an entire nation

Centuries ago they brought us here on a boat

Enslaved us, beat us til our spirit was broke

Then they gave us freedom and a little bit of hope

Then they killed our leaders and they gave us dope (crack)

From the C.I.A. by way of Nicaragua, shipped to Rick Ross, he’s the black godfather

Now Oscar Blandon was his known supplier, he snitched on Rick so he could retire

Ratted on Ricky so he got out quickly, now this is where the situation gets a little sticky

Not a citizen of the U.S.A. he got released and got hired by the D.E.A.

The he got his green card by the I.N.S.

But that should’ve never happened due to previous arrests

See our government seems to think that there’s a difference

Between powdered cocaine and crack, for instance

You get five years for five grams of crack

But in the powdered form you have a hundred times that

Now who has the rock, and who has the powder?

Who’s the oppressed and who has the power?"

Still rocking the underground hip-hop scene, Murs has the money and the momentum to pursue his muse in a million different forms. With his latest project, Yumiko: Curse of the Merch Girl, the artist weaves music and illustration with a project that is both a graphic novel and LP. The album has ten songs, with each song corresponding to a chapter in the comic.

Murs has attached his name to a project that is more than just the story of a pack of super-powered muscle men eradicating faceless criminal mutants and/or mutates with arcade efficiency. Instead, Yumiko: Curse of the Merch Girl is the story of Yumi Morales, who's a merchandising girl for her boyfriend's band, Murder Acts.

While on tour with the band she finds herself stranded in a small town, confronted by images that are merely facades for darker powers. As their images disintegrate, Yumi realizes that she's locked in a reality ruled by gnostic archons which represent either her temptation or salvation.Can she escape?

As an artist who has faced his own temptations (he's long been courted by a mainstream record industry fully intent on handing him the riches of the world for what is probably a measure of his soul), Murs certainly has the background and philosophy to create a soundtrack for a modern day fable of a young woman's journey through Limbo. But the magic of Yumiko: Curse of the Merch Girl is that it is a welcome addition to an industry badly in need of feminine mythology. 

How many times do we have to see Superman, Batman, Power Man or Spider-Man start a story beating up another, more powerful man, only to end up back where he started? Throughout history, human poetry and myth has given us many legends of females that confronted evil and became stronger for it, whether it's the resurrection of Osiris by Isis, or when Jael kills Sisera, the evil commander of the Canaanite forces, with a tent peg through the skull in Judges 4:21 of the Old Testament Bible.

Illustrated by Josh Gracia and and written by Josh Blaylock, Yumiko: Curse of the Merch Girl is a journey worth reading with music worth hearing. It's also another side of Murs, just when you think you might have guessed his next maneuver. In an industry that you can usually predict to choose the safe route when it comes to album sales, it's great to see an independent artist call upon like-minded talent to create a work that shines, far from the mundane shores of the mainstream.

Steven Blush Interview - Art

Steven Blush Talks American Hardcore

Steven Blush is the author of American Hardcore, a book that chronicles the rise and fall of the hardcore punk scene in Southern California from 1980-1986. The books was used as a basis for a documentary of the same name directed by Paul Rachman, featuring interviews and live concert footage of legendary puink bands like Black Flag, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bad Brains, Circle Jerks and Minor Threat.

70’s punk had hit America, splattering itself all over the place, energizing the youth and leaving the rest of the country with the feeling that something awful had just happened. When punk came back for another infection, SoCal youth was ready for the sickness, creating a genre that scared the mainstream and set the tone for future bands that the same aggression and hatred of the mainstream as their British punk predecessors.

Blush treats the subject matter with great respect. He’s created a work that could serve as a college textbook for scholars who want to explore the roots of punk, indie and rock today by following them deep into the hardcore American underground scene of the early 80’s. He captures the excitement and adrenaline of that lost era, but reminds us that the savage soul of the punk music lives on and is still with us even now.

How did you originally get into the punk scene and come up with the concept for American Hardcore?

I was somebody who was lucky enough to fall into it during the 80’s in Washington, D.C. My girlfriend was so hip that she had tickets to obscure punk bands playing downtown in underground clubs. I saw Gang of Four before they were big. I saw the Birthday Party and Bauhaus when they only had a dozen people in the audience.

I fell into it the subculture of punk through the radio stations, too. I remember booking the Dead Kennedy’s, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, GBH, setting up concerts at independent halls and venues. They didn’t last too long because some band would always destroy the place during a show.

Why did you choose to cover the punk scene between 1980 and 1986?


What I got from the scene was that it was an all-encompassing subculture. The indie rock music label started because of this. Youth Brigade started BYO. Bad Religion started Epitaph. This was an American version of punk that had a speed and aggression with an emphasis on speed. It was very different than the British version.

I’ve come to this conclusion: In history we talk about the post-WWII subcultures like hippies and beatniks. We should also include punk.

How do you think the punk music scene was a reaction to new wave?

Other punk bands like the Ramones got signed up, but they were at the top, but to be hardcore you had to be into punk and you had to be against what music had become, which was new wave. What happened was in the late 70’s was that you had this Ramones/Sex Pistols thing, and people were really revolted by it, the safety pins in your cheek, the spitting, the violence, etc. The music wasn’t respected by the industry.

What Sire Records did was create new wave, which was about promoting music, to treat it as a business, and they pushed punk in that direction. But there were kids in the hardcore scene who wanted punk. These bands became more of a youth culture where the bands dressed like the kids. It was a Lord of the Flies setup, where kids created a scene that was great at first, but then it went to hell.

So the early punk scene in Southern California wasn’t about selling out, but it was something more?


The music was the bloated reaction to the entertainment industry. Now there isn’t even such a thing as selling out. Now you can be hip and sell out. I don’t like to be the old guys who complains about music, but I find that a lot of kids today don’t want to be bothered with how hard it was to promote a scene years ago. How certain people took the burnt culturally, painfully, lives ruined because they wanted to have a scene of their own, so they pushed.

That’s how punk rock became strong, it was about meaning and intensity. We all watched the hippies sold out and there was this feeling that we’d do things different.  A lot of bands don’t even have a concept of selling out, now.

Do you feel that most modern punk bands have become so corporate that they would be unrecognizable by their punk ancestors? 

If you talk about the bands of yesteryear, I think they still mean it. Of course it’s not the same when a band gets together 30 years later, but hardcore never really sold out. I certainly feel that we have to be honest about what it is. As for younger bands, well, let’s face it, there’s a conformity with playing music that’s 30 years old. I don’t think there’s the same social movement.

Why did you cover the hardcore punk scene in Southern California?

I’m most interested in people who use punk as a way as an attitude, as a lifestyle, and not just because of the music. I feel that the hardcore scene has its roots in Southern California. It came from the suburbs, where kids were brought away from the city to a place of hyper conformity, and it just created this new breed of monster. If you went to a show you could get your ass kicked for dressing the wrong way.

It’s 100 % California lifestyle. It’s a rite of passage. Hardcore is being passed down to the children. I can’t tell you how many 45 year olds with punk tattoos showed up with their kids. I remember being in Appalachia and hearing fathers tell their kids to listen to "Simple Man" by Lynard Skynard. Now it’s "Mommy’s Little Monster" by Social Distortion.

How did the mainstream view the hardcore punk scene back then?

The mainstream hated hardcore. It took thirty years to be accepted, which is why it is to me an art form. It was dangerous, a walled fortress that you couldn’t penetrate. Back in the day there was no chance that record companies would pick up hardcore music.

Oh, you could talk to hipsters about 70’s punk shows about how rough it was, but 70’s punk changed the world. They were shocked and disgusted about it, but a small minority who were new to it were clued into the new style. The Sex Pistols and their whole notion of punk, that’s’ where punk started and that’s why it developed the way it did.

There seemed to be a lot more violence, back then.

Violence and danger was inherent to the excitement, the popularity, the interest in the scene. We talk about how things have become so sanitized. They try to remove hardcore from the violence, but a lot of it is just being flat out honest that you are ok with it. Slam dancing and stage diving was the reality of the culture.

Young, male, testosterone, angst, alienation and confusion. That’s what Southern California hardcore culture was about. It was a very violent scene. All of the people who are lionized, who pushed the scene, they were violent. They were into clearing house, starting over, ground zero.

Was it a youth reaction to politics?


I think the election of Reagan created a whole new mindset in America. We were all going back to the 1950’s. At the time you couldn’t articulate it clearly because it’s happening around you, you are young, but you know something is wrong. It all goes back to Reagan.

The fallout of the American Hardcore scene was the re-election of Reagan. There were rock against Reagan concerts and shows that protested the government, like today.

Do you believe that the spirit of the scene is still alive?

A lot of bands today can all trace their roots back to hardcore, so the spirit is still alive, at least when it comes to the spirit of “Do it yourself.” Its political roots are alive in disparate ways but the pioneers usually don’t get the credit.

www.stevenblush.com

"Muerto en Vida" at Cactus Gallery and Gifts - Art

WHO: Sandra Mastroianni, Owner

WHAT: 7th Annual Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead Exhibit

WHERE: Cactus Gallery and Gifts, 4534 Eagle Rock Blvd. Eagle Rock, CA 90041

WHEN: October 8, 2011 to November 8, 2011

WHY SHOULD YOU GO?: To enjoy the spirit of Halloween from a whole new angle with gothic Mexican art. 

Art by Ivan Godinez

I love living in Los Angeles because you don't just get one Halloween, you get two. The Day of the Dead celebration has it's own iconography, but the art goes beyond the usual witches, vampires and Frankenstein's monsters to reveal a world that is gorgeous in it's arcane significance. The imagery is unique to Southern California...a melding of the ancient and the modern. 

Art by Ulla Anobile

To the tourists it's just skulls, graves and candy. But under the surface, beneath the imagery, there is a deep symbolism at work. Beyond religion, culture, celebration and ritual, ancient Mesoamerican customs still survive after more than 5,000 years.

Cactus Gallery and Gifts will be presenting the 7th Annual Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead Exhibit. The exhibit is open to the public and features paintings, wood cut-outs, sculptures, dolls, photographs and other visual media celebrating a holiday dedicated not just to death, but to life, family and nature. 

One popular symbol is a beautifully dressed woman with a skull for a head, parallel to the European Grim Reaper. Carved, painted, tattooed and illustrated, this solemn, elegantly clad figure has many names: La Catrina, la Flaca, la Huesuda, Fancy Lady and la Pelona, but she is popularly known as La Muerta...Lady Death.

Art by Sylvia Ji.

La Muerta is not a symbol of dread and fear, she is a reminder that life is for those who live it and love it the most. To celebrate death is to celebrate life by embracing the beauty of what is just a step in the cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth. 

Art by Sylvia Ji.

To one who has lived their existence to the fullest, with all of their heart, La Muerta is a figure to be admired. When the Spanish observed the Mesoamerican people in what seemed to them to be a morbid, ghoulish festival of death worship, they failed to see the underlying cultural context.

To people back then the holiday was a way of reconnecting with the spirits of lost loved ones and understanding the beauty of life's transience. La Muerta is a visual reminder of this ancient holiday, as families wash the gravestones of loved ones who have passed away, make offerings to their remembrance, and party like there's no tomorrow. 

To the Aztecs she was worshiped as Mictecacihuatl, a goddess who was placated with offerings of food and drink to allow the souls of those who had died could journey onward to Mictlan, the realm of the dead, where they could finally rest. It's gratifying to think that as we eat, drink and be merry, thousands of years later she's still around to enjoy the fun.

"Come Together" at the Andrew Weiss Gallery - Art

WHO: Artists Corey Danziger and Ravi Dosaj

WHAT: "Come Together: SceneFour Collaborative Art"

WHERE: Andrew Weiss Gallery, 179 South Beverly Drive
,  Beverly Hills, CA 90212-3002

WHEN: Public Exhibition from September 15th to November 1st, 2011.

WHY SHOULD YOU GO?: If you are a fan of RZA of Wu-Tang Clan, Chuck D of Public Enemy, Bootsy Collins, Shavo Odadjian of System of a Down, Matt Sorum of Guns 'N Roses, Stephen Perkins of Jane's Addiction, Frankie "Kash" Waddy of Parliament/Funkadelic and more, this is your chance to see them immortalized in a series of modern art projects. 

     Cory Danziger and Ravi Dosaj are two artists who began their careers in 2004 with The Original Lefty's, an anti-war clothing line that combined political messages with rock slogans. 

   "Come Together" will feature paintings of artists across the spectrum, from Dokken's George Lynch to Angelo Moore of Fishbone, immortalized on canvas next to works of Chagalls and Miros at the Andrew Weiss Gallery in Beverly Hills.

     The two artists have gone on to work with everyone cool, from Nine Inch Nails to Al Gore. Each of these paintings are more than just the typical, "Hey, here's a painting of a rapper because he's a rapper."
     Instead, each piece of art was created as a synthesis of paint and music in close conjunction with the musician being presented on the work. This gives each work a depth and personality beyond the posters you get for $19.95 at Spencer's Gifts.
     Not that I'm putting down Spencer's Gifts. This t-shirt gets me beat up and kicked out of every Tea Party demonstration I try to attend:

     If they are ejecting me for wearing that -t-shirt (which, while Made in China, was at least sold in America) the billionaire running that party must really have a small tent.

     I'm going to show up to the art exhibit because of the delicious irony. Public Enemy's Chuck D conquers Beverly Hills, while RZA's iconic image is presented in the same context as Dali and Picasso. Well, after reading their Wikipedia bio's I'm sure both of them would approve.

     The Village Voice recently named Victory or Death, a collaboration with RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan, "...the greatest painting of 2010."   

    I'm going to want to see rock genius put to paint for a lot of reasons, but I'm also hoping that in a country as politically charged as the U.S.A., there might be a little truth in those paintings...something subversive for the rock and roll spirit in all of us.