Thanky Blog

you can't do that on comedy tour

2009-08-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

This is way late, but we posted photos (and a link to some video) from the "You Can't Do That on Comedy Tour" that came to Thanky. Big thanks to Andrew Jeffrey Wright, Frankie Martin, Brian Blomerth and more who brought good laughs to our little gallery. And, then there was night-swimming!

Lucky Dragons performance

2009-08-05T10:17:00.001-07:00

In July, I went to see Lucky Dragons, the musical project of Sarah Anderson and Luke Fischbeck whose exhibit at Thanky just closed. Their exhibit consisted of drawings done under the name of their other project, Sumi Ink Club. Lucky Dragons performed at a wonderful, positive small-town festival called "What the Heck Fest" in Anacortes, Washington organized by good people (including Geneviève Castrée who exhibited at Thanky in April). Lucky Dragons' sets involve a lot of audience participation to create swirling electronic music that brings everyone together.

Art Jokes!

2009-08-03T19:48:00.000-07:00

YOU CAN'T DO THAT ON COMEDY TOUR!
art jokes, comedy videos and short comedy art plays!

with Brian Blomerth, Frankie Martin and Eyeballz, Andrew Jeffrey Wright
and special guest David Marie Garland!

It's going to be so funny you will forget to laugh!

8pm
Tuesday August 4, 2009 at:

Thanky Space

www.thankyspace.com

Mark Lord (aka C.F.) performance at Thanky

2009-07-05T13:35:00.000-07:00

Mark Lord (aka C.F.) makes music.

On July 1st, Thanky hosted a show with Mark Lord (aka C.F.), Morgan Egg, Across and Narhwalz. Mark Lord is C.F.'s new solo project. C.F. is an accomplished musician and visual artist. On the sonic front, he has self-released a number of cassettes and cd-rs under the moniker Kites. Night People and Load also have released his recordings. He is also currently collaborating with Sakiko Mori in a duo called Daily Life. On the visual front, C.F. has shown his art at the New Image Art Gallery, the Lucerne Art Museum, Giant Robot, Mountainfold Gallery, and the Hope Gallery (and he had a piece or two in a group show at The Bridge PAI in Charlottesville last October). He is included in Kramer’s Ergot 7 and in The Best American Comics. He also helped create the newsprint zine Paper Rodeo which included a lot of our favorite artists (like Ron Rege Jr!). Anyway, C.F.'s newest solo music project is really good, kind of spacey and dreamy.

Morgan Egg is from Providence and happens to be the same person who runs Rare Youth Records. We don't know much about him, but we really liked his set.

Friends and evicted residents of the Church of Crystal Light Narwhalz and Across opened.

tapppppes

2009-06-26T11:31:00.000-07:00

I just want to write about the wonderfulness that is everything that Shawn Reed does. He used to be in Raccoo-oo-oon and he now makes music under the name Wet Hair and runs a tape label called Night People. He makes art for the tapes he releases and sometimes he makes art for just showing too. He's going to show some work at Thanky in July. Check out his tape label here (NP has some vinyl releases as well):

http://www.raccoo-oo-oon.org/np/

So inspiring!

old drawing from a book called Holy Weave of the Cosmic Dream

a release on Night People with art by Shawn Reed

The universe is expanding

2009-06-17T07:14:00.000-07:00

It's best (for the mind/spirit) if you can find your way to a public night at nearby observatory or attend an amateur astronomy night at the city science museum, but it is also nice to just think about space and the cosmos often and sometimes to look at pictures like these from NASA:

NASA - Image of the Day Gallery

find the magic

2009-05-27T15:53:00.000-07:00

matana roberts

2009-05-19T06:31:00.001-07:00

"she has become an eloquent, dramatic tone-warping free-jazz artist, right out of Ayler's anti-bebop tradition."
-Guardian

"a lyrical spiritual essence that recalls the voices of reed players Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, Eric Dolphy, and others–one of profound soulfulness, passion and purity. . . devoid of mimicry or pretense, because she possesses her own identity."
-All About Jazz

woo! this show looks like it's gonna be awesome!

More info about Matana Roberts:
website
myspace page

cosmic rays they're not so strange

2009-05-04T19:03:00.000-07:00

Wow - it was inspirational to get to hang out with Ron Rege, Jr. for this show at Thanky. I am thinking about all sort of amazing things now!

And Windy & Carl stopped by the gallery during installation for The Cartoon Utopia!

I went to Baltimore to visit friends a couple times last month and saw this:

This art work was shown at The Whole Gallery, a collectively run art space. Yes!

Windy & Carl

2009-04-22T06:50:00.000-07:00

Windy and Carl are performing in town on Thursday, April 30th. I am so psyched for this show because I think their music is very beautiful.

--
"the inventors of Michigan space drone" – The Wire

While it may be hard to define Windy & Carl's sound, the guitars, bass, occasional keyboard and vocals are generally ambient in nature - music great for coloring the background, or foreground, of any activity - walks in the park, driving, afternoon naps .... Similarities can be drawn to some of the 80's ambient pioneers as well as modern classical music. They create music with a wide range of atmospheres, from a warm fuzzy blanket, to a deep ocean, and to the open spaces of a frozen antarctic.

A while back, they put a release out on Kranky called The Dream House, which I sort of want to think was was a reference to this place, or maybe not. I don’t know. I just like their music a whole lot.

@ The Triple
3306 W. Broad St.
$6

James River Film Festival

2009-04-15T21:37:00.001-07:00

PLUS

=

PERFECT.

Sometimes, Richmond, you get it just right. Guy Maddin's "My Winnipeg" is showing at the Byrd on Thursday night at 7pm. Check it out, the James River Film Festival looks thoroughly amazing this year. Examples. There's some intense claymation by Bruce Bickford, think of those little scenes in "The Happiness of the Katakuris" or any other scenes of weird or gory raw claymation. Stoked. Also the shot-by-shot remake of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" that those kids did in the 80s that I've been wanting to see. Also documentary about another far-out dude who made up a world called Rocaterrania and has lovingly written and illustrated like six decades of history for it, obsessive-style similar to Henry Darger. Also, more good stuff! Way to go JRFF!

Wizards

2009-04-06T15:10:00.000-07:00

This week I have been listening to one of the books from The Dark is Rising Sequence on cassette. If you aren't already a fan, these are young adult fantasy novels from the 1960s by Susan Cooper.

Geometric Spirituality

2009-03-15T12:58:00.000-07:00

Our friend Jeremy Taylor had a show called "Salus" at The Garage in Charlottesville last month. We attended the closing reception and it was really nice. There was a stunning pyramid-like object made from wood scraps with yarn extending to the ceiling like rays, porcelain deer, prints, drawings, and found ephemera. Beautiful!

Weekend Plans

2009-03-05T12:41:00.000-08:00

here are your weekend plans:
1.) FRIDAY -> Attend the Kevin Hooyman: Friend of the Innocent opening at Thanky 6-9pm. He has been hanging drawings up on the walls there's going to be hundreds of them and you don't want to miss it.
2.) SATURDAY -> Attend MERCY! at Cous Cous to hear awesome soul and funk with a dude from the very excellent Funky 16 Corners site. 10pm.
3.) SUNDAY -> Attend the Dark Dark Dark/Hurray for the Riff Raff music show at Thanky. Early. 7pm doors.

things to avoid this weekend:
1.) the Watchmen movie (read the comic book)
2.) poison oak

Sign Hanging

2009-02-22T10:16:00.000-08:00

Hanging the Thanky sign! (more photos)

Albert Ayler

2009-02-18T12:09:00.000-08:00

The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative is showing My Name is Albert Ayler tomorrow, February 19th at 7 pm. $5 cover.

The prophetic free jazz saxophonist Alber Ayler, who today is seen as one of the most important innovators in jazz, was obsessed with his radical music and by the thought that people would one day understand it. In his own words, “If people don’t like it now, they will.”

Here is a review of the documentary:

"Kaspar Collin’s documentary portrait of the great saxophonist, who died in 1970, evinces a remarkable sympathy with its subject and his art. Born in Cleveland, Ayler first made a name for himself in Stockholm in 1962; Collin, who is Swedish, does terrific legwork to find the musician’s former girlfriend and sidemen, including one who recalls how the unheralded outsider dared to compare his importance to Picasso’s. The ne plus ultra of free jazz, Ayler performed the musical equivalent of speaking in tongues: he left chord changes and swinging rhythms far behind and emitted great spiritual wails and shrieks from his horn. Collin expertly evokes the revolutionary impact of Ayler’s arrival in New York in 1963, when an astonished John Coltrane yielded the bandstand to him. (At Coltrane’s request, Ayler played at his funeral, in 1967, and the film includes an archival recording of that harrowing performance.) The stirring presence and fascinating anecdotes of such bandmates as the drummer Sunny Murray, the judicious, evocative use of archival footage of New York in the mid-sixties, and a generous helping of the music itself combine to offer magical moments of a madeleine-like power, summoning up a vanished world that the music both thrived on and exemplified. Though the end of the film seems rushed—its seventy-nine minutes could have gone on for hours—it is nonetheless a cause for rejoicing."

-- The New Yorker

www.mynameisalbertayler.com

What we've been listening to

2009-02-16T14:05:00.001-08:00

Nezobs

2009-02-12T12:36:00.000-08:00

Andy made some drawings this winter. Here are a few of them. Look:

Play or Pray

2009-01-10T13:05:00.000-08:00

My Christmas present from Andy:

Gamelan Raga Kusama

2008-12-03T18:27:00.000-08:00

There is an excellent community gamelan group in town led by professor Andrew McGraw at the University of Richmond. I was a member of the group for half the year in 2007, before a scheduling conflict prevented me from continuing. It's fun, challenging and the music and instruments are utterly beautiful and inspiring. You don't need to have a background in music, just a vague sense of rhythm and a bit of a work ethic. Professor McGraw is an immensely talented performer and patient teacher and he is always happy to add new members to the group.

Here is some key background information and details taken from their website:

'Gamelan’ refers specifically to the large traditional percussion orchestras of Java and Bali within the Indonesian archipelago. The music typically accompanies theater and dance performance or serves as an acoustic offering within Balinese Hindu temple ceremonies. Above all, gamelan is about community. Ensembles are often owned by community organizations and performers are drawn from the community at large. Gamelan began to be studied in university and community settings within North America in the late 1950s. Today there are over 200 ensembles within America and Canada.

Raga Kusuma rehearsals are held Thursday evenings from 7-9 pm in room BB117 in the Booker Hall of Music (first floor) Rehearsals are free and open to the public. Adults, young adults and (supervised) children are invited to take part; both "trained" and "untrained" musicians are welcome.

For more information or to add your name to the UR Gamelan mailing list, call 804-287-1807 or email amcgraw@richmond.edu.

Paul Metzger + Tim Kaiser

2008-11-19T17:57:00.000-08:00

These gentlemen put on a really terrific show last Thursday night at Thanky. Tim Kaiser brought all sorts of sound wizardry that he had built himself. All housed in clean vintage casings and colored lights!

Paul Metzger played in a band called TVBC in St. Paul, MN in the 80s, 90s, and 00s, but lately he's been doing a solo thing on modified fretless acoustic guitar and modified banjo (21 strings, in fact.) HOLY HELL! He hit us with some splendid long form ragas, dropping an occasional hint of the high lonesome Appalachia by way of the midwest. Terrifying and beautiful and terrifyingly beautiful. Paul mentioned to me that this show was his first time playing in Virginia, dear Lord, let's hope it's not the last. In the meantime, check out some of his recorded material on his store, (his split LP with Ben Chasny and Chris Corsano is sold out, but his latest LP from the excellent Roaratorio label is available, along with an older release on the equally excellent Locust label.)

Chill Out! Chill Out? I Will Not Chill Out!

2008-10-29T16:34:00.001-07:00

Our friend John Bylander coordinated a group art show at The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative in Charlottesville. The show is titled Chill Out! Chill Out? I Will Not Chill Out! and was curated by Colin Langenus (who is a member of The USAisamonster and who performed at the Fuzz installation at Space 1026). Chill Out closed yesterday. Artists in the show included Sara Shapouri, Nick Kuszyk, C.F., Hillbilly Werewolf, dearraindrop, MOOSEJAW, Deya Ramsden, John Fritz, Tom Hohmann, Sebastion Paulson, Heather Clark, John Erik Lawson, Meghan Eckman, and Thom Klepach.

(Note: I went to see this show and was totally psyched about the textile works by Heather Clark that are in the background of this photo of The Corndawg performing.)

Thanks to John for making this happen!

Art Show by Allyson Mellberg

2008-10-22T19:36:00.000-07:00

Our friend Allyson has a solo show at Cinders this month. Here is a photo of some work in the show:

Allyson makes work with non-toxic, recycled, and homemade materials like walnut ink, egg tempera, and used fabric. Allyson was my teacher for the only art class I ever took. Her teaching helped to set me on a positive path of making art and caring about the planet. Her show, Do Little, is up until November 9. Allyson and Jeremy Taylor (her husband and our friend too!) write a blog about art-making, gardening and more, which you can visit here.

Mural by Ron Rege, Jr.

2008-10-20T21:02:00.000-07:00

Andy visited Los Angeles over the summer while on tour. He saw this beautiful mural by Ron Rege, Jr. outside of Family.

Belgian Cassettes

2008-10-15T18:18:00.000-07:00

We carry releases from Sloow Tapes in the shop. Located in Belgium (my motherland -Victoria), Sloow Tapes puts out limited releases of tapes by all sort of out-there musicians. Each cassette comes packaged with pleasing art-work. Musicians on the Sloow Tapes roster include: Suishou No Fune (Japanese psychedelic), Spiral Joy Band (from central Virginia), Lanterns (peaceful jams from the UK), and so many other folks.

Star Wars Supercollector

2008-10-12T16:09:00.000-07:00

Erin showed us some home videos during her opening reception. You might want to watch this because it is amazing: