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Read of the Week: Bauhaus. Updated Edition by Taschen

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Germany’s Bauhaus School of Art and Design is known to have changed the face of modernity. In this brilliant 400-page book by Taschen, dive into the history of the pioneering school, which we still see a lot of today. Magdalena Droste, an ex-professor of art history at BTU Cottbus and who from the 1980s worked at the Bauhaus-Archiv in Berlin, wrote the book in collaboration with Taschen who are known for their diverse, and open-minded publishing.

The book includes around 575 illustrations, including architectural plans, studies, photographs, sketches, and models.

If you’re a fan of impactful art and the history of Bauhaus, you will love this book.

Hayley Williams Postpones UK and Europe Tour

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Hayley Williams has postponed her upcoming tour dates in Europe and North America until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Paramore singer announced yesterday (April 28th) that she is officially postponing her 2020 tour, which was set to begin in late May in support of her upcoming debut solo album, Petals for Armor. Tickets will be honoured for the rescheduled dates, which have yet to be announced.

“I’m very sorry we wont see each other in real life soon,” Williams wrote. “Eventually, though.”

Williams has been sharing tracks off Petals for Armor (to be released in full on May 8th) across two EPs, the second of which is out now. It features the recently released single ‘Dead Horse’, produced by Paramore guitarist Taylor York.

Pabst Present Video for New Single ‘Hell’

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Pabst, an exciting band out of Berlin, Germany, presented their latest single Hell just last week. With the song released, they presented a music video which added another dimension to the song.

The song itself confronts the darker emotions within one’s self and is due to be released on the band’s upcoming album Deuce Ex Machina. Drummer of the band, Tore Knipping stated this about the song: “The song Hell is about the darker feelings inside of you, them returning once in a while and sucking you into a hole. It sounds feasible; enlightenment can sometimes only be found through suffering, but sometimes it is so dark down there that you just can’t see whom you’ve made a pact with: “Gave everything to the devil, got nothing in return”.

This depression will make you get stuck and lose the connection to reality – no matter how hard you try to convince yourself that this is only a phase and that you can get out of it. You try to regain control and live a life as they recommend you to, and yet it somehow only feels borrowed and strange. Like a bad comedy show. Even if you manage to get out of it, the fear of entering this zone overcomes you again – a fear of fear.

And then the song is also about friends, acquaintances and the family and how they deal with the situation – when they realize that they just cannot help how they’d like to, they may feel invisible. These people too seem to make an acquaintance with hell.”

Album Tracklist

1. Machina
2. Ibuprofen
3. Useless Scum
4. Legal Tender
5. Skyline
6. Wish.com
7. Fugitive (Another Song About Running Away)
8. Hell
9. Straight Line
10. Up The Heat
11. My Apocalypse

14 Striking Stills from 8½ (1963)

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Federico Fellini’s 8½ is considered to be one of his best. Starring Marcello Mastroianni, Guido Anselmi, and Claudia Cardinale, the film follows Guido Anselmi, a director whose new project is collapsing around him, along with his life. Overcome by all of this, the director withdraws into his thoughts and frequently shifts into fantastical territory. As Anselmi attempts to sort out his many entanglements, Anselmi finds his production growing more autobiographical.

Here are fourteen striking stills from the film and its set.

Gardens in Art

A spell of warm weather, along with a mandatory stay in one’s own home, is a perfect opportunity for would-be artists to head out into the garden and get some inspiration from the sight of flowers and greenery.

Of course, plants and flowers are among the first things that many artists learn to draw, and many of history’s most famous painters continued to paint garden scenes throughout their careers. Plants make great subjects, as they’re naturally beautiful, interesting form-wise, and they won’t fidget or wander off when you’re midway through your piece. Provided you’ve got a suitable bench or lounger from which to contemplate your surroundings, the garden is the best place for any artist to be.

But which famous painters took inspiration from their gardens?

Van Gogh

Of course, the Dutch master’s most famous flower paintings were his sunflower series. What’s less well-known is his paintings of the garden of fellow painter, Daubigny. These works were painted in early summer of 1890, just before Van Gogh’s death.

Bonnard

Pierre Bonnard’s garden in northern France was kept deliberately untidy and overgrown, with the artist himself dubbing the style ‘jardin sauvage’ (that’s ‘wild garden’). The result is something that looks a little more like a natural landscape than a garden in the formal sense we might recognise.

Liebermann

Max Liebermann was a German impressionist with another contrasting take on what garden painting should involve. Liebermann, like many of his contemporaries, designed his garden in such a way that it would create motifs that would come through in his paintings, even enlisting gardeners to divide the space up into orderly flower terraces with green space between to break up the view.

Sorolla

Joaquín Sorolla’s house in Madrid had a beautiful garden of its own, which was heavily inspired by Spain’s Islamic gardens, and incorporated decorative tiles and paving as well as the floral elements which make a garden a garden. As such, this space was practical to work in as well as beautiful and inspiring – and much of this comes across in the works produced there.

Munch

This Norwegian painter, most famous for ‘The Scream’, took inspiration from many of the local sights and people near to the fishing village of Åsgårdstrand. Gardens often played a starring role in his works – including in ‘Two Girls Under and Apple Tree in Bloom’. Though the subjects were always very conventional, the execution is unmistakably Munchian.

Caillebotte

Having enjoyed a successful career as a painter of urban landscapes, Gustave Caillebotte made the decision to stop displaying his work publicly, and commence a new career as a landscape gardener. This new direction provided an endless stream of inspiration, made possible by the affordability of greenhouses during the late 19th century. Many of his most vivid paintings can be traced to this era.

Monet

Claude Monet is indisputably history’s greatest practitioner of painting in the garden. He had a level of expertise in horticulture that’s unrivalled in other artists, and this is in particular evidence in his paintings of his gardens at Giverny in Normandy, which was designed and maintained in exacting detail by the man himself. Even as his work made him a very wealthy man, Monet remained in charge of his garden, issuing daily instructions to seven gardeners and overseeing the installation of several lily-ponds, which would become the inspiration for his best-known works. The garden occupied him for some two decades, and inspired him to break new artistic ground that others have since been able to tread.

Sustainable Fashion: 5 Ways to Shop and Dress Sustainable

Consumers are becoming more and more informed about sustainable fashion every day, it has become an essential topic in the world of fashion in the recent years that gets more attention than ever. As consumers, the best thing we could do is get informed about the best options we could take to help sustainable fashion grow. To make this easier, we have compiled a short list of things you could do to help.

Buy long-term clothing

High street stores are mostly all fast fashion, meaning items of clothing come and go quickly when each seasons change. One way you can avoid buying items that fall out of fashion is swapping them for an item that can be worn year in, year out, for example a classic pair of jeans or a simple white t-shirt. This choice will save you money but also reduces the clothing waste that you pile up when you no longer want the item.

Shop second-hand or from sustainable shops

Another option when buying clothes is going to second-hand stores or actively seeking out sustainable stores. Second-hand stores are not always anyone’s first option, but there are good finds and bargains when you look hard enough. Not only is it reducing waste, but it extends the longevity of the item. Sustainable stores, on the other hand, tend to be online based due to the market size for them. By actively seeking these stores and being more aware makes you more informed of how they help the environment and the people they have working with them.

Buy quality

We all love a deal, but that does not mean what we are buying is of high-quality. The best thing you can do for yourself and your pocket is to buy items of good quality, as they won’t have to be replaced as often and most likely won’t be thrown away after a few times of wearing. You can usually judge the quality of the product by touch and trying it on in the fitting rooms. Sometimes you can judge by the price; however, this does not mean expensive items are always best in quality.

Always bring a tote bag

One way you can help the environment when shopping around is bringing a tote bag. Even though some shops give you free, recyclable bags, it still uses up energy to recycle. Tote bags can be inexpensive, and many places produce environmentally friendly tote bags with superb designs.

Look after your clothes

When we say look after your clothes, it means taking a look at the wash label and understanding what each symbol means. Certain items of clothing need specific ways of caring for them. They include items such as delicates, leather jackets and suits. Care helps to extend the longevity of your clothing and saves you money.

South Beach VI by David Behar

David Behar, a previously featured photographer who is known for beautiful eye-pleasing photography, revealed another striking series which focuses on the theme of beaches. Behar’s framing is worthy of recognition; it captures the marvellous colours of the spectacular scenery perfectly.

Find more work by David Behar here.

9 Brilliant Stills from The Departed (2006)

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The Departed, a four-time Academy Award-winning film directed by Martin Scorsese, holds some genuinely astounding visuals. To celebrate its striking cinematography, we have selected ten eye-pleasing stills from the film.

Cinematography for the film was done by the late Michael Ballhaus, who also worked on such films as Goodfellas (1990), The Age of Innocence (1993), and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), to name a few.

Sound Selection 093: Howling Present New Single ‘Bind’

Howling Bind

Howling, the duo which consists of RY X and Frank Wiedemann has come back with a new song named Bind. The song exhibits just the euphonious sound we have come to love from the duo which delivers on haunting-like vocals, delicious bass and soft deep-house drums. This one is for the playlists.

Enny He’s Not Into You

Opening with a lovely vocal flow is Enny with her debut single He’s Not Into You. In her first official track, Enny presents a mellifluous song that thrives on her smooth silk-like vocals, reminding us of artists such as Mahalia. With this song released, we are excited to see what is next for Enny.

Still Woozy Window

Flowing in with superb dream-like energy is Still Woozy with a genre-bending song Window. In this newest track, Still Woozy carries on a signature vocal tone that we have come to known from songs such as Habit and Cooks. This song is a true ear-pleaser, and a must-have for any fresh playlist.

Albums Out Today: Quelle Chris, Lucinda Williams, Trivium, Awolnation

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In this segment, we showcase the most notable albums out each week. Here are the albums out on April 24th, 2020:

Quelle Chris & Chris Keys, Innocent Country 2

Quelle Chris / Chris Keys: Innocent Country 2 Album Review | PitchforkDetroit rapper Quelle Chris and producer Chris Keys come together for a new collaborative LP titled Innocent Country 2 out via Melloo Music Group. Following his 2019 album Guns and his 2018 collaboration with Jean Grae, Everything’s Fine, the album is a sequel to 2015’s Innocent Country and features contributions from the likes of Earl Sweatshirt, billy woods, Tune-Yards’ Merrill Garbus, Denmark Vessey, Homeboy Sandman, Pink Siifu, and comedian Josh Gondelman. “Where IC1 explored isolation IC2 embraces community. The overtones of pessimism in IC1 have been replaced with hope,” Chris explained in a statement. “This “country,” presented as both the individual and the whole, has hands stained in blood. From action and inaction. IC2 is not only about recognizing what makes us who we are, good and evil, but about acknowledging, growing, healing, helping, communicating, living, learning (and more verbs than I can attempt to write in a quote) together.”

Lucinda Williams, Good Souls Better Angels

Review: Lucinda Williams channels her anger into songLucinda Williams has released her 14th studio album titled Good Souls Better Angels via Highway20/Thirty. The singer-songwriter produced the follow-up to 2017’s Sweet Old World alongside her husband Tom Overby and producer Ray Kennedy, who last worked with her on 1998’s Grammy Award-winning Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. In an interview with Huffpost, Williams revelaed that the album deals with political and social issues. “It proved to be really liberating, and so that was kind of the first step with writing ‘Soldier Song,’ which is an anti-war song,” she said. “And learning how to write about these subjects without it being that obvious thing like, OK, everybody, let’s hold hands and come together and that kind of thing.”

Trivium, What the Dead Men Say

Trivium - What the Dead Men Say (2020) at The Last DisasterTrivium have returned with a new record titled What the Dead Men Say, out now via Roadrunner Records. The heavy metal band’s latest and ninth studio album follows 2017’s The Sin and the Sentence. “What the Dead Men Say is everything that is Trivium,” frontman Matt Heafy said in a statement. “On this album, one can hear the proper ingredients of past, present, and future Trivium. The Trivium sound is having everything the band does — on one album.” Guitarist Corey Beaulieu added, “We wanted to build on the foundation that we established with the last album. The record has all the elements that are Trivium — along with all of us wanting to keep pushing ourselves creatively. This led to a highly-inspired and fast-paced writing and recording process that really captures the energy of the band.”

AWOLNATION, Angel Miners and the Lightning Riders

AWOLNATION mines experience on 'Angel Miners and Lightning Riders ...Alt rock outfit AWOLNATION, who broke out in 2011 with the single ‘Sail’, have released their fourth studio album, Angel Miners & Lightning Riders. The follow-up to 2018’s Here Come The Runts, the album includes the single ‘Mayday!!! Fiesta Fever’ featuring Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero’s Alex Ebert. “The songs were inspired by some of the most difficult events I have experienced,” frontman Aaron Bruno said on Twitter. “I’m excited for us all to enter this new world together & share these stories.”

Other albums out today: 

Braids, Shadow Offering; Brendan Benson, Dear Life; Indigo Girls, Look Along.