http://www.nonstarvingartists.com http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/screenshot.png http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann/archive/2007/01/18/mother-condemns-the-art-world-and-its-retinue-of-perverts It's the same old story, putting down the art world. But what's going on here? Mother's not one to shoot down artists - after all, she's had painting lessons herself... and she reads the Manchester Guardian. daily 1 2008-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/09/16/musicfest-nw-2008-it-added-up-to-what September saw Portland host the 8th Musicfest NW of logistical mathematics: An exponential event of (n+1)/2 bands in xyz-yz venues over 4 nights = ? (you can only see so many anyway). Eschewing the press pass to experience the punter's experience, here are my highs and lows: Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:36:04 -0700 http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/09/16/musicfest-nw-2008-it-added-up-to-what http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/08/08/blind-pilot-interview---you-take-a-flute-ill-take-another-person Blind Pilot have just entered the Billboard charts, had a #1 day on Itunes sales and got picked up by a major act, to open. Rebellious noise teens, indie fans and mid-life Mothers alike, unite in appreciation. Their CD is classy, their first video oozes authority, even I give a grudging nod. Yet they are back on their bikes, a 1000 mile+ cycling tour, playing for tips. I decided to dig a little deeper into the core of the band - the duo that expands whenever possible to six or more - and found personalities to match the charm of the music: Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:58:51 -0700 http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/08/08/blind-pilot-interview---you-take-a-flute-ill-take-another-person http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/07/23/ursula-living-the-dream-a-hard-life-on-the-road Ursula are a band out on the fringes of music; they've little money, no significant connections, are not especially talented musicians or singers. Why write about them? Because despite their shortcomings, they have something a little different about them, they have no pretense and they write disarmingly good songs. Fri, 25 Jul 2008 23:11:52 -0700 http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/07/23/ursula-living-the-dream-a-hard-life-on-the-road http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/06/24/colin-lake-interview--in-concert-too-young-for-the-blues As long ago as 1956 Ella Fitzgerald, sang 'Too Young For The Blues', and being too young is something that's leveled at all new Blues artists coming through. But does it apply to Blues in the Rock framework? People forget that when Jack Bruce fronted Cream he was in his early 20's. Colin Lake is rapidly making a name for himself, for his writing, his sound (the ambitiously mixed music) and, yes, for his voice... Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:21:45 -0700 http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/06/24/colin-lake-interview--in-concert-too-young-for-the-blues http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/06/11/costello-super-furry-animals-neil-young-the-greatest-form-of-flattery Heard the new CD 'Sweet Songs of Decay' by Elvis Costello? No? How about 'Nothing Says Rich Like Golf Clubs' by Super Furry Animals? Not yet? Well then what about 'La Lamentor' by Neil Young? No. It's not surprising you haven't, because those albums are by other bands that just happen to sound like the name acts. We often dismiss them, yet reviewers continually use known bands as reference points in reviews. And when, as here, the similar act can make a claim to be even BETTER, in one way or another, than the big act, what to say? How do the new releases by Frank Bango, The Swedes and Weinland measure up? Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:17:08 -0700 http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/06/11/costello-super-furry-animals-neil-young-the-greatest-form-of-flattery http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/05/13/siberian-interview---intelligent-evolution Siberian are full of it. Not bulls' it. Nor the it Lou Reed was sick of. Siberian are full of the it Peter Gabriel famously wrote of on the closer of The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. Few bands emerge from the swamp of indie-rock without an annoying copycat stench about them, so when something original pops up, it is worth tracking. Tue, 13 May 2008 19:34:53 -0700 http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/05/13/siberian-interview---intelligent-evolution http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/05/06/loch-lomond-interview----a-depth-charge A Scot named Ian Anderson once wrote "Closing my dream inside its paper-bag. Thought I saw angels... waving me through to cry you a song. That came before the pomp of rock stardom took its "Tull". Anderson could have been portending the music of a new phenomenon with a Scottish name. - In Depth Interview with Richie Young as his band Loch Lomond go on tour in support of their new release. Tue, 06 May 2008 01:12:14 -0600 http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/05/06/loch-lomond-interview----a-depth-charge http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/04/29/the-eels-three-little-words-towards-a-slippery-slope As the Eels tour "An Evening With Eels" winds on through Australia, the question of whether the great Mark Everett could sustain his brilliance raised it's ugly head. Read how The Eels came through the test: Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:29:16 -0600 http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/04/29/the-eels-three-little-words-towards-a-slippery-slope http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/04/19/georgie-james-interview---the-sound-of-chalk-with-cheese Georgie James - intriguing, pop yet not, fresh act but proven class, soft rock with a hard edge? I caught up with the contrary duo, Laura Burhenn & John Davis, on their West coast radio and TV promotional tour, and for a minimal set - live at the Artistery, Portland. Sun, 20 Apr 2008 18:27:16 -0600 http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/04/19/georgie-james-interview---the-sound-of-chalk-with-cheese http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/04/07/le-loup--ruby-suns-less-is-more-more-or-less Two emergent bands opt for decidedly different approaches to delivering their swirling polyphonies of sound. Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:05:36 -0600 http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/04/07/le-loup--ruby-suns-less-is-more-more-or-less http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/03/25/pig-whipped-punk-blues Hillstomp - On Tour, McMenamins Grand Lodge, Forest Grove The hype around Hillstomp is all about fun - "Cans & buckets drum-kit & rambunctious slide guitar" - But this is no noisy mess; it's the blues with a whip, hill-punk with melody; Hillstomp burst out of the garage like wild horses, whinnying new songs that you'd swear were great old ones. Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:31:22 -0700 http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/03/25/pig-whipped-punk-blues http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann/archive/2008/03/06/death-for-no-reason Are sophistic arguments sufficient defence for artists who gain notoriety by ‘documenting’ animals’ deaths? Can the capture and starvation of an animal in exhibit be justified by its oblique commentary on society? What, if anything, is being said under the cover of art? As another show with dubious animal death content opens in San Francisco there’s a different question to ask, one that the artists should ask of themselves. Thu, 06 Mar 2008 18:43:59 -0700 http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann/archive/2008/03/06/death-for-no-reason http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/02/25/st-vincent-spellbound---annie-clark-a-new-sorceress St. Vincent & Foreign Born, Doug Fir Lounge, Portland 3/08: While the USA frets over the possibility of a woman running for the presidency, several other women with creative genius or determined talent have transformed the female presence in rock and popular music. You might pick Chrissie Hynde, Annie Lennox and Alanis Morissette; but it's a more edgy feminine triumvirate that compares obliquely to a new major talent.... St Vincent & Foreign Born live at the Doug Fir, Portland, Oregon Sat, 12 Apr 2008 18:06:33 -0600 http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/02/25/st-vincent-spellbound---annie-clark-a-new-sorceress http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/02/09/with-webbed-ears-what-will-we-hear Music from the internet; coming faster, more smoothly and to you, soon enough: Sod the technology – we know about ‘wired’ space, Ipods and webmusic. Soon ROKU’s spawn will put music into everything small enough to hold. But will the music be worth hearing? Will it be more of the same tightly controlled FM crap? As web streamed music usurps radio, will we be liberated or not? Will old rock and rollers really NEVER die? Can good DJs stay in the business to save us from committees and computers? Music Radio OPB New Media Sat, 09 Feb 2008 12:06:47 -0700 http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/02/09/with-webbed-ears-what-will-we-hear http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann/archive/2007/03/19/isreal-galvn-after-picasso-a-new-spanish-genius-transforms-an-art-form--arena---flamenco-as-never-imagined Flamenco, even as it is popularised, has been in trouble, being either stuck or diluted: Either frozen in formal delivery or laced into spectacular but ultimately meaningless fusions. Galván - one of the most important artists in any dance form - blows all this away. Review from XI Festival de Jerez, Spain. Sat, 05 Apr 2008 18:43:40 -0700 http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann/archive/2007/03/19/isreal-galvn-after-picasso-a-new-spanish-genius-transforms-an-art-form--arena---flamenco-as-never-imagined