Films Division

A few things I am feeling, mostly out of the psych/modernist ferment of 80s (yes, 80s) India. One place I keep returning to is the Films Division youtube page. The Films Division is an organ of the Indian state, part of the Ministry of Info, charged with making public service announcements, documentary shorts, TV specials, etc. Around August or so they put out a really amazing batch of archival films. They are all good, but I really like the following. Crazy music all around, and there's this atemporal thing going on where styles and sounds from the 80s, 70s, and 60s all cross-pollinate.







And then there's this film from 1984 called Khandhar. This has been my main musical inspiration lately. Check out the opening theme at 1:30.

The net magazine east of borneo, which is pretty much the best thing I've seen lately, also has an interesting article by Alexander Keefe about composer David Tudor, cooking, architecture, and the first moogs in Ahmedabad (pic below)



...and lastly, check out these amazing images from India's first design magazine, Inside Outside, designed by Deepankar Bhattacharyya (images via his blog).

Modular Activities Program in Science

Modular Activities Program in Science (Houghton Mifflin, 1974)

THANK YOU for listening to Trish's tape!

September 28

Happy birthday Trish! Thinking of you. James put up a little birthday present at Future Crayon... repost below.

Let the balloons go outside!

Tülay

Hello Turkish record. I like this because it sounds like ESG or Rosa Yemen or some other downtown post punk. Lovely.

Boats, Beasts and Beauties

I'm so happy and excited for my friend Andrew Demetrius, who is curating an amazing exhibition on the English toymaker and sculptor Sam Smith. Smith was a visionary tinkerer who specialized in wooden boats, dolls, and moving automata, always signing his creations "Sam Smith, genuine England!" If you're up in Scotland there is an ongoing show at the Scottish Fisheries Museum, and, coming soon, a related exhibition of Smith's works on paper at the University of St. Andrews. The coup of the story is that on Nov. 2 Andrew will be interviewing the legendary Ron Geesin, who composed the soundtrack for this 1976 documentary about Smith. There will be a screening of the film and a banjo performance by Geesin himself. Aaaaarghhhh wish I could be there!!!

(images via sam-smith.org)

Who Killed Cock Robin?

Our friends Sam and Mabrouka sent us this Folkways record last week. So nice! I've been playing this song over and over.

Crisp and autumny today in Vermont... leaves still green but not for long! It's nice when you want to make an apple pie and you can go right to the local orchard to get the apples. The cider donut is our regional specialty. I was feeling gluttonous going back for seconds but as my wife says, "they're not getting any fresher."