Pepper Spray Cop infiltrates Georges Seurat’s Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Harry Shearer — yes, that Harry Shearer of Simpsons and Spinal Tap fame — has immortalized UC Davis’ infamous police officer in song. Entitled Ballad of the Pepper Spray Cop, the ditty debuted on Shearer’s
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Art Threat: Radiohead to Occupy Wall Street today?
Rumor has it that Radiohead will be performing for the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators who are camping out in Lower Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park.
Continue readingArt Threat: Whistle while you wait
Skattered throughout Vancouver, bus stop shelters have been turned from ad space to sheet music. Adorno and Nose, as the piece is called, is a collection of ten songs composed and illustrated by Barry Doupe and James Whitman. Each poster contains a different song, notated as standard sheet music, the verse, and a drawn graphic. […]
Continue readingArt Threat: Montreal North stand up – MC Ricardo Lamour-Blaise puts police and politicians on blast following the three-year anniversary of Fredy Villanueva’s death
The Haitian-Québecois rapper is just as likely to dive into a heated debate about a community centre founded by the New Black Panther Party as he is to pen introspective poetry.
Continue readingArt Threat: #Jan25: A soundtrack of the revolution – Q&A with Syrian-American hip-hop artist Omar Offendum
Omar Offendum almost his train of thought when he saw a video post on his Facebook wall, mid Skype interview, of his song #Jan25 being played in Tahrir Square. It was July, months after the whirlwind revolution that brought down Egypt’s former president Hosni Mubarak, but the as protests in the Middle East persist, Offendum’s […]
Continue readingArt Threat: Fashion, sexism and classical music – Pianist Yuja Wang’s dress creates war of words among reviewers
“Her dress Tuesday was so short and tight that had there been any less of it, the Bowl might have been forced to restrict admission to any music lover under 18 not accompanied by an adult.”
Continue readingArt Threat: Harps from Howl – Monday Music Pick: Harp Duet
Sarah Pagé Howl! performance by howlarts Celebrated harp player Sarah Pagé performs a harp duet set with harpist Robin Best. Pagé has performed as a soloist with both the McGill Orchestra and choir and has participated in many orchestral festivals including the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. In 2002, Pagé became interested in exploring the […]
Continue readingArt Threat: The beauty and agony of home – A conversation with God’s Lake Narrows artist Kevin Lee Burton
Kevin Lee Burton talks about his new interactive web project, the politics of storytelling, community and belonging.
Continue readingArt Threat: New old school: bringing back NYC hip-hop – The story of the Rebel Diaz Arts Collective
“We want to politicize people organically. We want to do it internally. We want to do it in the ‘hood,”
Continue readingArt Threat: The (wonderful) rise of marching bands as a form of protest – New documentary from the National Radio Project
The fine folks from Making Contact (a program at the National Radio Project) present Marching for Change: Street Bands in the US, a new documentary about the musical funsters who make protests danceable. Social justice marching bands have emerged in recent decades as essential contributors to North American protest movements filling streets of unrest with […]
Continue readingArt Threat: Cancel your concerts in Israel – Friday Film Pick: Gaza Island
A musical parody drawing attention to Gaza, riffing on Gilligan’s Island.
Continue readingArt Threat: Radio Without Boundaries: Breaking free of format and formula – Interview with Public Radio Remix founder Roman Mars
Public Radio Remix is an experimental sound stream hosted by the Public Radio Exchange to showcase pieces from the PRX archive and to develop new approaches to radio.
Continue readingArt Threat: Radio Without Boundaries: Crowd-sourcing history with personal memories – The Place and Memory Project (interview with Shea Shackelford)
Imagine a ghostly landscape conjured with the voices of people telling stories about their lives. Memories have their places. But they also animate our recollections of who we were in the past.
Continue readingArt Threat: Radio Without Boundaries: Tapping into the treasures of fictional ‘truths’ – An interview with Jonathan Goldstein
Jonathan Goldstein’s work on CBC’s Wiretap is something of an under-appreciated gem of Canadian public broadcasting.
Continue readingArt Threat: A pioneer of political poetry and song – Gil Scott Heron (1949 – 2011) RIP
The world lost one of the pioneers of political poetry, rap and song yesterday. Gil Scott Heron passed away at the age of 62. He will be missed but his music and legacy live on.
Continue readingArt Threat: A voice of African resistance and exile – Review of Mama Africa
An new doc on Miriam Makeba shakes with revolution.
Continue readingArt Threat: Harper Bloody Harper – The Harper Song by John Roby
Take a moment to enjoy a cathartic laugh and watch Toronto composer John Roby’s rousing performance of his latest ditty.
Continue readingArt Threat: Paint and piano reflect Mideast resistance – Uprising by Sundus Abdul Hadi & Stefan Christoff
Uprising is a mixed-media painting by Sundus Abdul Hadi in collaboration with her sister Tamara Abdul Hadi’s photography, in which her flying figures grace the work. Visuals go hand in hand with Stefan Christoff’s piano composition.
Continue readingArt Threat: Monday Music: Duet for Abdelrazik – MP3 features cellist Rebecca Foon and Stefan Christoff on piano
We invite you to download this exclusive duet performance featuring celebrated cellist Rebecca Foon and pianist, community activist and Art Threat contributor Stefan Christoff.
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