Archive Page 17

How the Doggie and the Pussycat did an art exhibition.

Published January 4, 2010 art 2 Comments

The exhibition of the work of Josef Čapek in Jízdárna, Prague Castle is big. Probably the biggest of this phenomenal modern czech painter/writer. And one of the most important exhibition in Czech Republic in 2009/2010 indeed.

But to enjoy it might be a bit tricky, not because of its dimensions (Bauhaus or Corbusier in Berlin were way bigger and it was quite easy to keep my eyes open and focused) but because of the treatment of the exhibition.

First: The substance.
Exploration of the individual boxes of the exhibitions space dedicated always to one specific topic of Čapek’s work and introduced by authors own citation confused me quite often by shown pieces visibly from a different area of his work. I bet there was a strong reason why the curator put these works together, but without explanation you have to be the curator, an experienced art scientist, an oracle or Čapek himself to understand the hidden substance of the ordering of these pictures. The submission of some paintings, roughs, drawings and pictures documenting the artist’s groping and immaturity or his romantic tendency to lend his talent to cheap politic proclamations is questionable but in the end of the day – it is a biographic union exhibition, so there is no rule that everything shown has to elevate the spirit of the visitor to new artistic heights. The quantity vs. the quality problem seems to me as the strongest output of the exhibition and the curators desired outcome quite unclear (besides the idea of making it big).

Second: The form.
The exhibition closes at 6PM, not very friendly to contemporary lifestyle but acceptable. We came to Jízdárna at 5PM having an hour (not much) to go through the whole exhibition. But at 5.40 a commando of Makropulos bitches started an ambush trying to kick us off the gallery. Instead of diving into Čapeks art, we spent last 20 minutes by arguing, loosing a fifth of our actual time with people which should help visitors to enjoy the exhibition, in an open fight. Instead of a spiritual renewal my soul was attacked by atavistic rage and anger and I felt like shit for the rest of the day. Partly because I was shouting loud at old ladies, partly I was beaten by old badly mannered whores. And instead of the work of Josef Čapek the topic for the evening was: When all these communist zombies will finally die and their poisoned brains will turn into dust? When even the state galleries will understand that they are not jails for art sometimes having “an open door” policy (when they want to), but they are a public service and they should serve not only with perfection but with selected manners corresponding with their line of business? Thanx God we have DOX, Rudolfinum gallery and steadily growing amount of others.

By the way, you can support the DOX gallery by becoming “a friend” and having a free entrance for you and your friend for the whole year that way. I bought one of these for my friend as a Christmas present, but mind that it’s never too late to donate.

Josef Čapek, selfportrait

TPF MMX

Published December 30, 2009 Uncategorized Leave a Comment

I see you, Mr. Cameron.

Published December 28, 2009 film Leave a Comment

Avatar is out of range, beyond the categories full-visual entertainment which really can entertain and fascinate, but with so stupid screenplay that it seems to be computer-generated, or worse, cut and paste from the worst templates of Hollywood all-time B-classics. It’s a gaming-console-ready story and gradation through the levels is obvious. Marketing of collectable merchandise items is not hidden but even further, almost promoted (frankly, who, being child, would resist to have the whole collection of dragons, the entire tribe and/or all the species growing, hunting, flying and hiding in the deep jungle of the planet Pandora). Respect to film-making skills of Mr. Cameron, respect to the environmental theme-copy of the movie and to the visual approach balancing on the edge of kitsch (in my opinion falling a bit off the edge). The theme of Pandora, being one organism, having all the elements of nature connected with the mother planet and creatures communicating through interlacing their teleneurons, is something I find as a big idea for a cross-generation movie saga, not necessarily original or discovering, but very supporting. But, all these cultural and environmental details are described with a perfection of films with Lara Croft: “Hey, the Aztecs! They were strange and very mysterious and they, God knows why, ain’t living anymore.” Similar impression you’ve got from Cameron’s projection of Pandora. It is amazing as well as it is flat and shallow.

Straight talking, with a matter like this you can do a lot more than a stunning 3D shit. Or maybe you can’t, counting the budget and the mass-taste. The math in this movie is done excellent, the chance to create a masterpiece wasn’t probably even in discussion. The aftermath will be for sure generous. But in my ears something repeats itself like a raven: film industry, film industry. With “film” being whispered a bit uncertainly as it remains just one small piece of an overall idea how to make loads of money. Nothing against it – back to my first line of this review.

The good news: The trailer is much worse than the actual film and it is easily viewable even for Dungeons & Dragons exorcists. Worth watching it if you don’t want to be aside from debates for next couple of weeks.

P.S. The czech dubbing didn’t help, of course.

The pictures bellow are partly from the movie, partly pre-releases from the video game.

Boss is dead. Hail to the new boss!

Published December 28, 2009 film Leave a Comment

If Copola’s Godfather is a classic in all means and most of following big silver screen mafia stories were literally following it’s genre-defining, hum, “godfather”, it’s obvious that the Cosa nostra genre needs a solid refresh.

The French action and cops films are something I personally don’t see raison d’entre in general. It’s like having snails ala California. Yes, there are probably some exceptions, like with the good mongolian indie-rock bands.

The less I believe in refreshment of mafia movies or in realness of french crime films the more I stood up in complete amaze last night in Mat Kino seeing Un prophète – The Prophet, a french mafia/crime/gangster/drama (more tags would be more appropriate) film by Jacques Audiard. Two and half hours of unusual tension inside of my body, staring at the screen, having no idea where the story turns next second, being blown away by the realness and believability of characters, cast, dialogues, scenes, costumes, locations, soundtrack, theme and overall execution and I left the cinema totally excited!

The realism meets surrealism. While the whole story is well told using realistic to naturalistic tools and you can see, feel, smell and touch roughness of a french prison, the surrealistic element of a ghost of a killed prisoner and dream/phantom sequences bring to the film even more believability and seriousness, which is strange, unseen and masterful.

The life path of a young, 19 years old arabian punk leading through the walls of a prison to heights of a mafia boss has no single gap I would be able to notice and which would disrupt me from drifting on a magic carpet of crime done with honesty, ease, bravery, brain and …a natural prophecy.

I am not an experienced film director, my work is far away from what we are talking about right now, but despite that I have some self-esteem as a moving pictures artist and I do believe in my ability to tell a story. But seeing The Prophet I was left behind clueless and puzzled with no idea how I would put a film like this together. Apart from I’ve already talked about like casting and story, the editing, the camera and the overall dramaturgy is outstanding and simply perfect. Together, hand in hand, Audiard and his team created one of the best movies I’ve seen, probably the best crime drama at least of the decade and definitely a milestone for both, the genre and the french film. Winner of Grand Prize of the Jury in Cannes and nominee for Golden Globe, the film you must see.

We have a new boss. And he’s a prophet.

A theft!

Published December 17, 2009 music 4 Comments

TAL, Togu Audio Line, a Swiss company based in Luzern and run by Patrik Kunz is developing very interesting plug-ins mainly in popular VST and AU format (Do you know any RTAS free plug-ins worth downloading?). They are worth trying for their sound qualities as well as for the fact that they are for free! Which makes them must-have no-brainer items. The compatibility with Garageband makes them the greenhorn’s best friends too.

I personally started with their soft-synth named TAL-BassLine. Once you will install it and open it, you won’t get fooled again. It looks like a Roland SH-101 and it sounds like Roland SH-101 because it is a virtual unauthorized version of this analog legend. It has the same, or almost the same, controls and it has an arpeggiator, so you are instantly ready to create the basic track of the hottest new discovery of 2010, completely new Crystal Castles-wannabe. The hardware Roland SH-101 was heavily used during the acid era and among others was tweaked to death by Orbital, Future Sound of London, Prodigy, Cirrus, Eat Static, Apollo 440, Devo, Aphex Twin, Les Rythmes Digitales, KMFDM/MDFMK, Nitzer Ebb or Chemical Brothers, but also Kaiser Chiefs. You can spot this little fat bass synth also in many studios in Czech Republic, in studio of Jan P. Muchow as well as in the studio of his colleague and fellow, Dušan Neuwerth. We used this synth with The Prostitutes couple of times in Dušan’s studio during recording Hometown Zombies for bass sounds but also for classic arpeggios or basic analog sweeps (together with Juno and Moog Little Phatty).

The hardware version has two notable disadvantages: no patch memory and “vintage” price-tag on eBay. The software TAL version has some minor troubles with MIDI but sounds reasonably similar to the original, basically so much that I would bet you won’t be able to tell the difference from a mixed recording. Plus unlimited number of presets. One of the greatest synth toys ever made re-created with “the right feel” on top of mind. Success for anybody with a download abilities.

Right after that I downloaded U-No-62 aka Roland Juno 60 emulation with brilliant chorus and polyphonic lush sounds. I like the oscillators here and the filter is also great. Real “analog” work horse for almost any occasion (at least in my case). The chorus from this machine is also available extra, just as a audio plugin.

The last but not least is TAL-Dub, a delay vintage pedal. You can swap the input signal, you can filter it and you can distort the output and feedback it to create the weirdest psychedelic sounds of the past century. Instant drug, a weed planted under the VU lamps, an enriched Marley.

At TAL homepage you can find a lot more plugins, an electro synth, array of modulation fx, filters and also some vintagers and tube-makers. Anything from TAL makes sense to download and try. Most of it will remain in your plug-in library for ages. But in contrast to many of your other plugins, these won’t catch so much of a dust on their surface.

I asked TAL for some bio information for this blog. Here is an email I got from Patrick Kunz regarding TAL:

I started making music in the year 1994. The first instrument i had, was an Alesis QSR. Few years later i bought a Virus A. I was fascinated by subtractive synthesis and by its filters.
I started the TAL project in the year 2001 while I studied computer science. I learned to program and I had a lot of math lessons in this school. I did the first plugins only for me and wasn’t really involved in the growing internet audio community. I published the first plugin in 2005. My first success was TAL-Vintager. I got a lot of feedback from people. Sites like KVR and Rekkerd helped me to publicate new releases. I could reach a lot of people. This motivated me to do a lot of other plugins and I begun to port the plugins to the mac platform too.
I had the idea to create unique instruments and effects that have their own character and sound. There aren’t a lot of new algorithms in there, but they are carefully modified and tuned by ear. The tuning part is really interesting and important to me and i’m always impressed and happy if I hear an effect or synth the first time. It’s like the “The journey is the reward”. I dont know what the future will bring, but I hope i can make some more plugins – but it uses a lot of energy and i get not younger 🙂

Thank you Patrick for your time and interest!

The video review from Studio Shortcuts is bellow. Tested are TAL-BassLine, Dub II and Bit Crusher – everything you need for a good 8-bit album.

Life’s what you make it.

Published December 15, 2009 music Leave a Comment

Last night, after coming back from The Prostitutes unplugged (almost) Christmas party at 2. patro, being high (legally) I played Talk Talk‘s The Colour of Spring (1986) to fall asleep nicely and smoothly. And again, I put my hat off to a tangible geniality of this band. The artistic highlight of their discography may be the Spirit of Eden (1988), but The Colour Of Spring captures the break-point of their career, their departure from synth pop and launch of their way more progressive and alternative engines which brought the band into a completely different galaxy just two years later. Colour Of Spring is a masterpiece of commercially successful pop rock (with Life’s What You Make It being probably the biggest hit of the album) so fine-tuned and so naturally sounding that it is no wonder that the name of the band is starting to be mentioned by young and rising bands more and more after almost 20 years after it’s split.

“I don’t believe in you”

How people in London’s ad agencies come with the best ideas for Dublin consumers?

Published December 13, 2009 commercial communication Leave a Comment

Working on regional alcoholic product from Ostrava right now, I am trying to capture the spirit of the region distant more than 400 km hidden in lowlands between mountains with mentality so far away from capitol city metrosexualism and mid-class success stories, that it seems to be almost impossible to hit the right target without being there and sitting at least in a apartment in Brioni hotel.

I love the city and I like the region. I spent some of my unforgettable moments there. It’s special and, sorry, in a good way in contrast to Brno (no, you are not all the same there). For it’s mystery and darkness and for people’s straightforwardness and honesty. The real gogetters are sons of miners (like Tom Jones). But how I could for gods sake flip it into a working and believable message?

Music videos. The best and the rest. In Czech.

Published December 13, 2009 film , music Leave a Comment

It’s a local thing, so would be silly to write it in English. Bellow is my article for Instinkt magazine for upcoming week.

Videostars killed the video.

Blíží se konec roku a anketami a výročními cenami se to zas všude jen hemží. Vkus lidu nemá smysl propírat a zkorumpovanost polosenilních porot je zbytečné opakovaně napadat. Koneckonců, jsme to my, náš národ, naše zem, naše srabáctví, konzervativismus a nedostatek dobrého vkusu. To udržuje v popředí pozornosti rozličné mrtvoly a vystoupit na povrch dovolí většinou jen svazáckému průměru. Jedna věc mě ale překvapila nadmíru: Nominace na klip roku v cenách televize Óčko. Kdo jiný by měl dokázat vybrat nejlepší hudební videa, než právě naše, řekněme místní, hudební televize? Do čtyřech nominací se ale dostal průměr, abych neurazil. Jediný zaznamenáníhodný klip od Jakuba Koháka pro Wohnouty, který se na list nějak “probojoval”, vypadá ale ve srovnání s nenominovaným Zajíčkovým klipem pro Vladimira 518 a Hogo Toxxe jako veselé povyražení pro pobavení, ale bez vyjímečnosti, která by si zasloužila ocenění. Globální oteplování a Anděl, to už jsou jen takové žerty nominujících, aby dali najevo, že jim je to buřt. O zařazení Óčko Allstars a jejich klipu Ty jsi jako já se vlastně ani nic říkat nemusí. Že si někdo hřeje vlastní polívku se vlastně musí pochopit, ne? Čí je to televize? Vaše? Neni, tak vidíte!

Tady je video Vladimira a Huga Toxxe, pro ty, kdo by ho náhodou ještě neviděli:

A ještě něco, když se bavíme o klipech, co něco znamenají. Liars znám, ale odmáznul jsem je před lety v návalu post-post-new-new vlny, navíc je procpávali lidi, co jsem neměl rád, takže to odnesla i ta kapela. Roman s Emou mi v Nižboru ale pustili tohle video, který mi díky mýmu ignoranství uteklo a já mám s dvouletým zpožděním discovery jak raketoplán. Video i hudba prosté kompromisů.

Astronautalis, a new incarnation of Atom.

Published December 6, 2009 music Leave a Comment

Many years ago, Klobása, the bass player we played with in The Radios, discovered a strange nerd guy calling himself Atom, his band The Package and wearing Czech hockey player representation dress. A couple of months after that, when we already became fans of this Atom & His Package phenomena, he and his package (Line 6 POD, guitar and CD player) travelled Europe and came to 007 club in Prague. His DIY approach to pop-punk (?) was breathtaking and I remember all the people in the crowd changing their mood status from “confused” to “excited” during couple of first songs. These song are easier to reach at his myspace as his home page listed above is more than an paragon of DIY. We loved his sounds and lyrics. Then the years were running by and I forget about Atom. As a memorabilia there is a CD “Redefining Music” in my CD shelf, somewhere should be a signed poster and Luk Santiago still wears Atom’s T. I am writing all this because he came back to my mind today by thinking about Astronautalis and I believe Atom deserves a honorable mention, even their connection looses outside of my head and the walls of 007 club…

But today, in the same 007 club, Astronautalis is playing another CZ show in couple of months. And I don’t go. Because I’ve got another things to do and after last night DJing at Zero till 6AM I don’t have to do any excuses to anybody. But, to the point: I’ve been introduced to his music during one heavy night, couple of months ago, when I found a shelter in Mejla’s place. We played this “And do you know this?” game and one of the latest Mejla’s secret weapons was this video:

Wiki, probably edited by the artist, says it’s hip hop. I think, yes, if Beck is hip hop. Nothing against this broad style, but I believe it’s a part of a must-strategy how to get some press attention in U.S. Anyway, his music has something we don’t hear on a daily basis, drowning our ears in bellow-average 10th generation of indie-and-desperate bands around. Excellent songwriting, troublesome mix of blues, home-DAW electronic, piano and strings and great voice on the edge of caricature makes Astronautalis one of the rare discoveries of a year, at least for me. Not to mention, that Tegan & Sara took him for their European tour (stamp of the quality – buy now!).

Working day.

Published December 2, 2009 commercial communication , film Leave a Comment

Casting for a cooking show. Where are female comedians? Is a female comedian something what actually exists? Seems like yes but as rarely as Panda bear. Hopefully, we think we found one today.

We received a great script for czech beer taking place on a typical czech location with a great male dialogue. The dialogue is the most important part of the story and is so subtle that even the smallest differences will play a huge role. But soon we’ve been told that the foreign creative director is looking absolutely and definitely for an foreign director. Good luck and up yours, snobs.

We prepare a bunch of themes for an interesting photo-story project for one of the biggest advertisers around. Something like we did in Leave Like It Is for The Prostitutes, but different, way more simple, with stronger visual approach. Still in pitch, we didn’t win the project yet, but we would love to work on something like this. Cross fingers.

By the way, one of the coolest photo-story videos recently is this Olympus Pen commercial:

Martin Destroyer

prikryl@me.com
directors@mods.cz
prostitutes@theprostitutes.org

Skype: martindestroyer
iChat: prikryl@mac.com

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