Dan Perjovschi’s work finds humor in these ever depressing social / political climes.
Here’s his official site:
related links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Perjovschi
http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/24
some of sketches-
enjoy.
fiction from rick
In 2007, Gordon Gano (the frontman to the Violent Femmes) surprised many long-time fans by selling advertising rights for the classic “Blister in the Sun” to Wendy’s Hamburgers.
Although nearly all of the band’s songs, including Blister in the Sun, credit Gano as the sole songwriter, Ritchie (the bassist) responded to the use of the song in the commercial by saying:
“For the fans who rightfully are complaining about the Wendy’s burger advertisement featuring Blister in the Sun, Gordon Gano is the publisher of the song and Warners is the record company. When they agree to use it there’s nothing the rest of the band can do about it, because we don’t own the song or the recording. That’s showbiz. Therefore when you see dubious or in this case disgusting uses of our music you can thank the greed, insensitivity and poor taste of Gordon Gano, it is his karma that he lost his songwriting ability many years ago, probably due to his own lack of self-respect as his willingness to prostitute our songs demonstrates. Neither Gordon (vegetarian) nor me (gourmet) eat garbage like Wendy’s burgers. I can’t endorse them because I disagree with corporate food on culinary, political, health, economic and environmental grounds. However, I see my life’s work trivialized at the hands of my business partner over and over again, although I have raised my objections numerous times. As disgusted as you are I am more so.”
Ritchie filed a lawsuit against Gano in August 2007, seeking half ownership of the Femmes’ music and access to royalty accounting. Many speculated this would lead to the band’s breakup. However, on June 17, 2008 the band released a cover of “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley who had previously covered “Gone Daddy Gone”.
TomWaitslibrary.com used to be an amazing site that had in depth interviews and had documented his legal battles with corporations using his songs or likeness to sell their products and they were worth some good laughs.
One I could remember was in regards of Michael Jackson starring in ads for pepsi in the early 90s he said, “if he wants to work for pepsi, he should just go ahead and get a desk, an office, and the whole deal if that’s who he wants to work for…”
Unlike many music critics and duped peers of mine born between the years of 1980-1988, I never compare contemporary singers to Bob Dylan. Not because he is such an amazing talent (which he is), and not because I’m an incredibly huge fan (I’m not a particularly well-schooled Dylan fan); I just know to put him in context.
The widespread thought is that he created such incredible music in a time that is glorified and romanticized as though he were a prince during a lurid American fairytale that was the sixties. This falsehood is the product of my peers creating such visions from select scenes in films like “Forrest Gump.”
Here’s the sad truth, many singer-songwriters like Conor Oberst and Mason Jennings are continually likened to Bob Dylan. This seems perfectly acceptable to nearly everyone around me, but shouldn’t be. Nobody goes around saying John Mayer is “our generation’s” Jimi Hendrix, or that Kevin Smith is “our” Mel Brooks.
The point is that neither Mason Jennings, Conor Oberst, or anyone of my generation has been that crucial, critical “voice” of so many displaced youth and intellectuals as Bob Dylan was for his generation.
There are many reasons why this is so, radio, video, Internet, etc. have changed the game entirely, and talent doesn’t “rise to the top” the way it used to.
Who could be chosen as that “critical” voice of my generation, America’s youth born between 1980-1988, generation “D” or whatever the hell the advertisers want to call us? To point out, Kurt Cobain was heralded as “Generation X’s” spokesman and us kiddos were born a little too late for that wave, unless you believe that Cobain had us fourth graders in mind when singing “Rape Me.”
You can make an argument for Isaac Brock’s discography from 1996-2004. That includes the albums “This is a Long Drive…” through “Good News…” Another good guess would be Jeff Tweedy, whose albums have much more in common with Dylan’s records than the contemporary pop darlings compared to him. There are certainly other cases that could be made.
The final and most important point is that Bob Dylan was much more than an acoustic guitar paired with a raspy, confidently-quavering voice, and a harmonica. In a time that businesses and corporations fight any valid artistic expression that calls for change and evaluation of our culture and society, nobody can be likened to Bob Dylan. Dylan’s “hits” were rubbing elbows with Sam Cooke’s powerful “A Change is Gonna Come,” Oberst is lucky to rub elbows with Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab.”
It’s a different era, it’s a different industry, we’re a different society, and our great talents are buried beneath megatons of schloky bullshit. Today, knowing about great artists in film, music, literature, and studio (painting, sculpture, installation, etc) is more of a status symbol than a unifying rally call for those opposed to the mindless majority complacent with mall culture and VH1.
tweaking the odds, the ends, and what nots of this site.