This week’s Edition of Barron’s once again features my shots of the Barron’s Roundtable members…the ten smartest folks in the room when it comes to what’s gonna happen with the world Markets in the months to come……
Brad Trent
Dr. Daniel Vasella for BusinessWeek
*Click on any image for full-size*
I have quite a few stories in the magazine pipeline, but in this weeks edition of BusinessWeek are the portraits I did of Dr. Daniel Vasella, the CEO of pharmaceutical giant, Novartis…..
And major props must go to Andrew Horton, BusinessWeek’s Design Director, for his elegant layout.
Swine Flu of the Day
So here is the checklist of Flu symptoms on the TamiFlu website…..
1. Fever is usually present with the flu in up to 80% of all flu cases. A temperature of 100°F or higher for 3 to 4 days is associated with the flu.
CHECK
2. A non-productive (non-mucus producing) cough is usually present with the flu (sometimes referred to as dry cough).
CHECK
3. Severe aches and pains are common with the flu.
CHECK
4. Stuffy nose is not commonly present with the flu.
CHECK
5. 60% of people who have the flu experience chills.
CHECK
6. Tiredness is moderate to severe with the flu.
CHECK
7. Sneezing is not common with the flu.
CHECK
8. The flu has a rapid onset within 3-6 hours. The flu hits hard and includes sudden symptoms like high fever, aches and pains.
CHECK
9. A headache is very common with the flu, present in 80% of flu cases.
CHECK
10. Sore throat is not commonly present with the flu.
CHECK
11. Chest discomfort is often severe with the flu.
CHECK
Wow…eleven outta eleven…do I get a Gold Star?!!
Song of the Day
WYE OAK
Take It In
DOWNLOAD: Take It In
Jenn Wasner of the Baltimore-based duo Wye Oak spins a beautifully bittersweet tale as she whispers, moans and floats through this song, surrounded by a clanging caucaphony of guitars and drums and the pulsing heartbeat of an incessant bassline. “We are both the same…..Unwell…”…since I seem to have the picked up a case of the Swine Flu, this just sort of hit home today! ‘The Knot’ drops on July 21st and is a stunning follow-up to their first album, If Children. Give ’em a look over on MySpace
I Have Swine Flu…….
…and no, I don’t think I’m kidding!
UPDATE:
Song of the Day
MOS DEF
Quiet Dog
DOWNLOAD: Quiet Dog
We don’t get much hip-hop here on The List, but I saw Mos Def rockin’ a killer version of ‘Quiet Dog’ on Letterman the other night and just had to pass it along. It was really somthin’ to see him on stage hammering away on two timpani drums, backed up with just a DJ and another drummer…I’m sure you can YouTube it if you’re interested. Anyway, this is off of his new album, The Ecstatic, that dropped this week and if the rest of the album is this cool I just might find myself buying a Mos Def record.
Song of the Day
CARBON LEAF
Lake of Silver Bells
DOWNLOAD: Lake of Silver Bells
Carbon Leaf, a five-piece based outta Richmond VA, proves that you don’t gotta be young to be indie. They’ve been together since 1992 and over the years have gone from playing backyard parties, mixers, frat and sorority parties to being a mainstay opening act for bigger names like The Dave Matthews Band, O.A.R., Jason Mraz, Blues Traveler and Big Head Todd and the Monsters, all the while putting out amazing music, yet remaining completely off the mainstream radar! Well, they just released their seventh studio album, Nothing Rhymes with Woman, and once again seemed poised to crack outta that opening-act mold and headline for a change. I hate to cop out and immediately draw comparisons to other groups, but on “Lake of Silver Bells”, lead singer Barry Privett’s vocal pacing and the way he hits the high register brings Chris Martin to mind and Terry Clark’s howling guitar can get dangerously close to that of The Edge, but it all just makes the whole thing seem comfortingly familiar. If this gets you going, please…head on over to their MySpace page and give ’em a further look.
Song of the Day
REED KD
Winding Roads
DOWNLOAD: Winding Roads
The gently rambling, Simon & Garfunkel-esque fingerpicking acoustic guitars and beautiful vocal harmonizing folkie Reed Dahlmeier has goin’ on in this song is raising goosebumps on my arms! The slight falsetto in his vocal style and the thoughtful, introspective and poetic lyrics will surely have people thinking of Elliott Smith as well, but without all the dark, tortured drama. His new album, “In Case The Comet Comes”, is a record born out of his adventures traveling across the country while living out of the back of a VW Microbus for the past couple of years and will be released June 9th. Give him a look over on his MySpace page or the Reed KD website
Song of the Day
WHEAT
Half Of The Time
DOWNLOAD: Half Of The Time
As soon as I heard Scott Levesque chant “…Half of the time I feel I’m clever and half of the time I just haven’t a clue…” I was on board…what a great, honest lyric! The pride of Taunton Mass. have just completed their latest album, White Ink, Black Ink, due out next month…and I see from their MySpace page, they’ll be playing the Mercury Lounge June 27th…I just might hafta venture downtown to check ’em out! If you like what you hear, head on over to their very cool website…lotsa buttons to push (and more songs you can stream, too).
Song of the Day
MAGNETIC MORNING
Indian Summer
DOWNLOAD: Indian Summer
I’m a big fan of both Swervedriver and Interpol, so I was kinda surprised that the news of the side project Adam Franklin (the Capo di tutti Capi of Swervedriver) and Sam Fogarino (Interpol’s drummer) slipped by me earlier this year without any notice! Magnetic Morning is the band and ‘A.M.’ is the album…it’s a fuzzy, drowsy, drone-filled collection of layered guitars on top of pianos on top of strings on top of even more guitars, plodding drums and walls of reverb that delivers some of the most depressing damned songs I’ve heard in ages! I spent the morning listening to the entire album and I think this is the only one I can send out that won’t make you take a header off of the roof! But if you’re into this kinda thing, you can check it out further over on their MySpace page…..
Song of the Day
A CAMP
Love Has Left The Room
DOWNLOAD: Love Has Left The Room
Back in 2001, Nina Persson of The Cardigans and Nicolas Frisk of Atomic Swing collaborated on a little side project called A Camp. They kicked out a really cool album, but unless you were already a card-carrying Cardigans fan, it went pretty much unnoticed, so when I heard they were doing a second go-round, I had to check it out. Unlike the folky vibe of the earlier release, Colonia has a retro-60’s, wonderfully melodramatic, Petulla Clark-backed-by-the-London-Philharmonic thing goin’ on! The album was produced by Persson’s husband, Nathan Larson (soundtrack composer, formerly of Shudder To Think), and had some pretty impressive studio help with Guided By Voices drummer Kevin March, Joan Wasser (aka Joan As Police Woman), Swedish singer-songwriter Nikolai Dunger and former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha all pitching in. The result is a collection of theatrical, lush, well crafted songs that showcase Persson’s distinctive vocals. Check out more of A Camp on MySpace or on the A Camp website
Song of the Day
THE BOY KOAN
Beasts From More Rustic Days
DOWNLOAD: Beasts From More Rustic Days
I like 64-track, lavishly produced music as much as the next guy, but when you hear a piece of good old-fashioned, low-fi, grungey garage rock as nicely done as the new EP from The Boy Koan it kinda puts things in perspective. Sure, ‘Write It On A Postcard’ might lack the high priced producer, multi-platinum guest artists and a big label ad budget…but it’s got all the heart and soul and feedback-heavy guitar riffs you need to get dirty! Let’s champion the little guy for a change and head over to their MySpace page and show ’em some love…they’ve only got 146 friends!
Song of the Day
TARA JANE ONEILL
Drowning
DOWNLOAD: Drowning
It’s been a long time (3+ years) since Portland-based renaissance woman Tara Jane ONeill has graced The List, but after a quick scan of the ‘net this morning I see she’s just dropped her eighth album and I couldn’t resist. I’ve been listening to it for a couple of hours now and her beautiful, fragile vocals and the dirge-like quality of the music has washed over me…kinda what I needed after the past couple of days. See, I had to say goodbye to an old friend…the oldest of our cats, Baby, left us yesterday after 21 years. They say misery loves company and I guess I just wanted to hear something that sort of matches my mood. You can hear more from Ms. ONeill on her MySpace page.
Song of the Day
PEACHES
Talk To Me
DOWNLOAD: Talk To Me
Just in time for summer, everybody’s favorite freaky dirty girl, Peaches, dropped her fourth album, I Feel Cream, and while it’s hardly a surprise that it’s all about sex, who knew Merrill could push out a track so completely danceable as ‘Talk To Me’…?!! The thumping bass riff that drives this song almost makes me wish I liked going to the kinda clubs that will undoubtedly have this thing on heavy rotation…just so that I could experience slinking among a sweaty crowd of hot 20-somethings! Check out Peaches Rocks or her MySpace page for more slippery fun!
Jeff Gomez for BusinessWeek
Last week we had a pretty good time making something outta nothing with Jeff Gomez, the CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment, for BusinessWeek. Who is Jeff and what is Starlight Runner? Well, after asking both my editors and the people who work at Starlight Runner, I still don’t really know, but as best as I can explain, he cooks up back stories and alternate realities for existing products in order to push the brand further with pretty huge clients like the Disney and Coca-Cola! Yeah…I know, it doesn’t make much sense to me either, but since their offices didn’t offer much in the way of ambience and I figured that with all the monster posters around the place he might be a bit of a comic-book aficionado, we decided to get creative and conjure up an alternate reality of our own. The main shot is simply Jeff standing behind a back-lit glass partition and for the second, I liked the grid pattern on their freight elevator door so we slapped him up against it…and as happens a lot, I backed up as far as I could in the cramped space and left my lights in the shot.
Website Update News…..
Nothing too major…but I’ve changed up a couple of the rotating Home Page images and the portfolios have been newly categorized as well as getting some new stuff…most notably the Audrye Sessions shoot and some recent portraits I did for BusinessWeek and Barron’s…..check it out HERE!!!
Song of the Day
LIECHTENSTEIN
Roses In The Park
DOWNLOAD: Roses In The Park
Whenever I hear a Liechtenstein song I always think these are the kinda girls who should have hooked up with the Ramones. Their raggedly raw, unfussy, slightly apathetic, Bananarama-on-drugs pop songs worm their way into my brain and I can’t help but find myself humming along like a dumb monkey…but in a good way! I was kinda bummed to find out that they played Don Hills last week and I missed it, but they’re gonna be back in Brooklyn at Bruar Falls tomorrow night. ‘Roses In The Park’ is off of their new album, Survival Strategies In A Modern World and you can listen to more on MySpace
Song of the Day
DINOSAUR JR.
I Want You To Know
DOWNLOAD: I Want You To Know
I’m deskbound today, retouching…retouching…retouching…and in desperate need of something to wake my ass up, so I was heartened see that the oldest men in indie rock, J Mascis, Murph and Lou Barlow, better known as Dinosaur Jr., are primed and ready to drop their first album on Jagjaguwar next month. The first leak off the new disc, ‘I Want You To Know’, is chocked full of the feedback, fuzzy distortion and Crazy Horse-era Neil Young guitar flourishes you want (and expect) from a Dinosaur Jr. song and just what I needed to give me a mid-afternoon kick in the pants. Farm drops June 23rd, but you can head over to MySpace or their website for more info…
Song of the Day
AA
Suicide Fever
DOWNLOAD: Suicide Fever
Today I’m posting a new song…from 1981! Back in that long-ago time there was once a Belgian quartet going by the name AA (“Anarchists Anonymous”) that played only five shows, put their music to tape only twice (the first time being their first rehearsal) and then like so many young bands, blew up, never to be heard from again. Well…not exactly…..somebody at the Brooklyn indie label Softspot Music stumbled across the recordings from that rehearsal and a second, 4-hour session, and decided to reissue their one and only record. Originally pressed as a copy 900 seven-inch on “Sexy Robot Records” (that’s what the band called their made-up label), the resulting record had all the appeal of kids just learning the music as they were going along and their stripped-down, strangely hypnotic sound borrows from other ‘No Wave’ bands of the time like Joy Division, The Bush Tetras, DNA and Television. So even though they really didn’t know where a tune should start or stop and with lyrics cobbled together from bits and pieces written by everyone in the group, the surprising thing was the EP was getting good reviews and airplay on pirate radio stations…they were in danger of becoming a “real” band…so they did the obvious thing and packed it in! But almost three decades later, like all the kids, they’ve got a MySpace Page where you can hear more from the Essential Entertainment EP…..
The Audrye Sessions ‘Session’…..
So it’s been a couple of weeks since my shoot with Audrye Sessions, but I’ve finally had the time to finish my work on the photographs and get some of them up here…enjoy!
(Click on any image for the Full-Size version)
We started inside…we were shooting in an old factory building in Brooklyn and there was the most amazing stairwell…
…then back in the studio against a plywood wall…..
But eventually we had to go outside…in the heat…up on the roof. Here’s Bo and Kaz, sweating…..
…and the final image, my homage to Art Kane’s shot of ‘The Who’…..
Turning 180 degrees gave me this view…..
Finally, we went back down to the studio, but even though we were running late and the band had to get back into Manhattan for a radio interview, I had one more idea I wanted to pull off…and a ‘mistake’ made it even better. When we were setting up the shot, my first exposure was overexposed about three stops and the grey balance was all effed up…but it was cool, so we left it alone…
…and it led to this…..
Just another day at the office!
Damn Ugly Photography 