Abe Vigoda

Upsilon Acrux

Punk was at least partially a rebellion against prog rock, but now it’s drawing new inspiration from the sort of music it once derided. Upsilon Acrux is firmly rooted in aggressive, snarling post-punk, but their music owes its complexity to bands like Magma, King Crimson, and Henry Cow. Of course, the LA-based band isn’t merely a revival act — it also lists technical death metal band Necrophagist and musical cubists US Maple as influences. Despite the dizzying polyrhythms and intricate melodies, this isn’t self-congratulatory or wanky music — these guys unleash an instrumental onslaught that is at once disciplined and wryly humorous.

William Powhida at LA’s Charlie James Gallery

Fellow alumni William Powhida has a fantastic new exhibit up at Los Angeles’ Charlie James Gallery, No One Here Gets Out Alive. In this new Series Powhida’s aptly named fictional character, Powhida, flees the New York Art World for a stab at destroying LA, indulging in all of our favorite vices, booze, coke, sex and sometimes art. We read about this debauchery in Powhida’s trompe l’oeil notebook pages, newspaper articles and obsessive lists. I even found myself enjoying an issue of 944. Incredible! The show remains open until December 5. Read more

Mirko Martin

German photographer and video artist Mirko Martin has some great photos of car crashes, arrests, and street scenes taken in LA. They are very much imbued with the character of the city, blurring the distinction between Hollywood and reality. Read more

Jürgen Teller for Marc Jacobs

Ten years of German photographer Jürgen Teller’s candid, glamorous photo campaigns for Marc Jacobs’ men’s and women’s collections have been collated into one cohesive 576-page fashion bible. This book does an excellent job of detailing just how significant this collaboration has been for fashion, featuring appearances from the likes of Sofia Coppola, Charlotte Rampling, Meg White, Thurston Moore, Rufus Wainwright, William Eggleston, and Winona Ryder. Read more

Yonlu’s hidden recordings

One of the most intriguing stories I’ve come across this year is about a young artist called Yonlu, born Vinicius Gageiro Marques in the town of Porto Alegre, in Brazil. His story is short but fascinating. As it goes, this sixteen year old songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and virtual artist locked himself in his bathroom, signed on to one of the various suicide forums he belonged to on the Internet, and took his own life, remaining online until the very end. After his death, his father went through his computer and found numerous musical creations, including the songs that make up his debut album through Luaka Bop. It’s an amazing listen and very ahead of its time.

Edgar Muller’s three-dimensional street art

Some people are talented, others are just truly remarkable. German artist Edgar Muller makes these three-dimensional apocalyptic fantasy street art in cities across the world. His work is reminiscent of that of English artist, Julian Beever. Read more