Former Radish frontman now solo singer/songwriter, Ben Kweller writes exclusively about his infatuation with the music of Nils Lofgren: ‘As far back as I can remember I have listened to the music of Nils Lofgren. Not too many people have heard of him. I know his music because he and my father grew up together in Bethesda, Maryland in the early 1960s. Before Nils dropped out of high school to pursue music professionally, they had a band called The Radical Five. They have remained friends through the years and my dad has collected everything Nils has released in his 35-year career. Because of all this, Nils’ music was playing all the time during my childhood – in the car, the house and in the living room where we used to jam his songs – me on drums, dad on guitar. Although his guitar playing is in the same realm as Hendrix, it’s his piano playing that has always killed me. His syncopated left-hand octave-bass-bouncing was a huge influence on me as a pianist. You can hear what I’m talking about on my favourite cut The Sun Hasn’t Set on This Boy Yet [off his self-titled album of 1975]. The most famous song from the album is Keith Don’t Go, a dedication to Keith Richards. The album ends with a cover of Carole King’s Going Back. Like Hendrix’s All Along the Watchtower, Nils’ Going Back is better than the creator’s version. The more you listen to Nils Lofgren, the more you realise how classic it is. Although it’s a tough album to get a hold of, it’s well worth the search. Listening to it today makes you wonder how such an amazing album got lost in rock ‘n’ roll’s past and reconfirms that good music is out there. You just have to find it’.
Also by ZOLTON
Maths explains the origin of superhero characters
I love the colours and simple reasoning in this clever series by Scottish illustrator Matt Cowen, which uses basic maths equations to explain how certain pop culture icons came to be. Read more
Star Wars Uncut: a fully crowdsourced version of Episode IV
The project of creative technologist, Casey Pugh, this full length version of the George Lucas masterpiece was created from multiple 15 second segments recreated from the original movie and submitted by thousands of Star Wars fans, which were then spliced together by editor Aaron Valdez to form the final product. Genius, as both a commentary on contemporary pop culture trends (there are references to LEGO, stop motion, memes and the like) and on the power of tapping your audience for quality material.
Filmmaker creates LEGO stop motion to propose to girlfriend
Now, this is one for the ages: back in 2010, Atlanta film-maker Walter Thompson created a jaw-dropping LEGO stop motion to propose to Nealey Dozier, his girlfriend of four years. The video took 22 hours of shooting and some 2,600 pictures to splice together, a small sacrifice to pay for years of happiness together. Right? Right! Oh, and she said yes. Bonus.
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San Francisco illustrator Caitlin Kuhwald’s cleanly rendered paintings really hit the figurative spot. It’s so refreshing to come across an illustrator who still gets kicks from beautifully rendering a face, every strand of hair, every wrinkle in their clothing, and then turn around and subvert it all with a big bag of creative tricks. Read more
Woohoo for Dutch illustrator Gerben Steenks and his unique pattern-based work. My eyes need exercise sometimes. Read more
The Liars were in the Netherlands recently and we came across some kids doing this dance. It’s really bizarre to watch. Read more
I came across the Dongzhong cave school, which is situated in a Miao village within the Ziyun county, while watching a fascinating BBC documentary series about China the other night. The school, which was built in 1984 and caters for just under 200 students, is considered to be ‘a teaching branch for nearby resident units’. It looks stunning in its ornate beauty, and it must be one hell of a stimulating environment in which to learn. Read more
The Magazineer is ‘a blog about magazine design and print culture, written by people who love, and make, magazines’. Read more
I usually steer clear of anything smelling of disco-breaks: the thought just bores me. But with Padded Cell’s new release, Night Must Fall, I see a bit of a U-turn on the horizon. There’s something really interesting going on here: it’s a cocktail of 80′s swank laced with woozy narcotic undertones and flecked with snappy drum loops: weird, undeniably dark and ominous, but nonetheless pretty damn satisfying. Read more
Japanese designer Kazuki Kuraishi has come up with the Ian Brown ObyO KZK shoes for adidas Originals and the ex-Stone Roses frontman has his very own limited edition with a bit of his monkey magic tattooed all over it.
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
Christoph Niemann illustrates a nightmare flight
New York Times illustrator Christoph Niemann has created a brilliant visual diary outlining the peril and pitfalls that beset the everyday passenger based on his recent experience flying from New York to his home town of Berlin. Read more
Pitched as ‘Ulterior Motives in Contemporary Art’, Disorder Disorder is running until November 14 at Penrith Regional Gallery. It’ll be well worth the trip out west of Sydney: the Australian, Japanese, American and European cast reads like a warriors of street art roundup and includes Mike Giant, Ed Templeton, Anthony Lister [artwork above], Ozzie Wright, and Jonathan Zawada. Read more
Cookie Boy’s creative cookie designs
I don’t eat cookies, so good thing Cookie Boy’s cookies are little pieces of art too pretty and cute to eat. Read more
Nerd-attack! Man, this TARDIS zipper robe is so much cooler than any Star Wars crap people are hawking this days. This is for the true gangsta nerd.
How ’bout this Jose Manuel Hortelano-Pi guy, huh? Quite the illustrator, yessiree Bob. From Spain, too. Spain is great! Read more
French unisex customized army jackets, each one is slightly different and unique. Embroidered by hand in Berlin with hands and microphone lead logo. As worn by Pixie Geldof. Yup! It is. Read more
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bryon furey said | 29 August, 2007
please ask Ben Kweller and his dad for the first line of the lyric to Rock and Roll crook