Harun Farocki is dead - Rest in peace!

Renowned German filmmaker and video artist Harun Farocki died on Wednesday at 70-years-old. Galerie Ropac confirmed the artist’s passing to the German magazine Monopol.The gallery has represented Farocki since 2007.

 

Born in 1944 in present day Czechoslovakia, but what was then part of Germany, the artist make over 90 films during his lifetime. He studied at the German Academy of Film and Television from 1966 to 1968, developing a unique documentary style that was deeply critical of the media and ways in which images have shaped contemporary life and ideology.

 

From 1974 to 1984 Harocki served as the editor of Munich-based film journal Filmkritik. He moved to California during the 1990s where he taught at UC Berkeley. Farocki began greater engagement with the art world in the 2000s. He took part in Documenta 12, presenting Deep Play (2007), which broke down footage from the 2006 World Cup, held in Germany, across 12 monitors.

 

He has enjoyed solo museum shows at Berlin’s Hamburger Bahnhof, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, New York’s MoMA, Cologne’s Museum Ludwig, and London’s Tate Modern, among others.

Aside from Galerie Ropac, Farocki is represented by Galerie Barbara Weiss in Berlin and Greene Naftali Gallery in New York.

 

Maybe you want to check out some of his films on the wonderful Arsenevich blog.

Word, Brass & Steel - Same (1976)

The disco group Wood, Brass & Steel recorded a selftitled album for Turbo/All Platinum Records, the label of Sylvia and Joe Robinson, in 1976.

The album spawned a pair of minor hits in the form of "Always There" (a Ronnie Laws cover that did well in the U.K.). Bassist Doug Wimbish and guitarist Skip McDonald played a lot of music together, in clubs and colleges around New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Three years after that, Skip and Doug teamed up with Keith LeBlanc and they became the house band for the Robinsons’ new label, Sugar Hill Records. The trio subsequently played on seminal early rap hits such as The Message and White Lines (Don’t Do It) with Grandmaster Flash.
Later they relocated to the U.K. and formed Tackhead as well as Fats Comet with Adrian Sherwood.   

Tracklist:

Funkanova	5:35
My Darling Baby	4:00
Theme Song	3:00
Working On A Dream	3:04
Say What You Want To Say	3:37
Same Ol' Me	3:25
My Lady	3:25
Without You	6:30
Welcome To The Party	3:30
Always There	5:25

Word, Brass & Steel - Same (1976)       
(320 kbps, front cover included)       

Reneshoua

Jillem, thanks a lot for all your musical gifts, we miss you and your wonderful blog! Hope to see your blog again soon!

Mighty Ryeders - Help Us Spread The Message

A funky treasure from the 70s - a record that hardly made waves at the time, but which has lived on strongly for years - thanks to a great sample history and key interest from generations of groove diggers! Coming on like a black hippie missionary cult (a belief bolstered by the cover photo of the band sitting atop several globes featuring each of the continents), the Ryeders' sole album is chock full of killer creative tracks mixing funk, soul and boogie-disco arrangements.



Mighty Ryeders have a sound that's clearly influenced by Earth Wind & Fire - funk with a good dose of jazz, often done with some righteous undercurrents in the lyrics - but their groove is also a bit more rough-edged too, sharing some funky 45-levels of excitement, and showing a great ear for sharply jazzy changes! This last aspect has really helped the group's sound stay fresh over the years - and the album's a treasure trove of killer cuts - from the famous "Evil Vibrations" (sampled by De La Soul on "A Rollerskating Jam Named Saturday"), right on down through other gems like "The Mighty Ryeders", "Let There Be Peace", "Lovely", "Help Us Spread The Message", "Fly Away With Me", "Sar Children", and "I've Really Got The Feeling".

Mighty Ryeders - Help Us Spread The Message
(192 kbps, small cover included)