“Jefferson County made a very different decision than Rhode Island did,” Mr. Klee said. “Rhode Island put bondholders ahead of its citizens, and Jefferson County is not going to do that.”

He called the notion that a full faith and credit pledge was inviolate, and that a debtor must honor it even in bankruptcy, “a myth and a scare tactic.”

Via the NYT (here)

Good for them I say. Seems as if Jefferson County administrators/staff have their priorities weighted correctly. However, it does make one wonder what would happen if other municipalities or government bond issuers, took this approach? Might have some very serious long term consequences both in terms of restricting local government(s) in future efforts to raise money by issuing bonds and also in terms of bond markets and the stability of the larger financial system as a whole.

In terms of hip hop I listened/reflected alot on the following artists/records: Stankonia a classic that i listened to in my car for a good bit on CD and the hard-hitting (politically and lyrically) PL3DGE by fellow Atlantan Killer Mike. Also: Feast or Famine by Davinci (shout out East Bay!) a great set of tracks to run to, LIVELOVEA$AP by A$AP Rocky, Under the Influence by Domo Genesis (the only OFWGKTA affiliated release I have been able to get down to) and then Illusions of Grandeur my favorite (to-date) mix-tape from based God, Lil B, he of prolific releases.

While DaVinci’s work takes a more classicist, Bay area approach, it is a refreshingly distinct and just banging. Meanwhile the other three artists are united by an expansive (sonically) sense of what hip-hop can be. As well as being youthful in terms of energy, sense of boundaries and sub-genre mixing.This is particularly showcased by the fact that two of the three are at least partially “known” for rapping over the production work of Clams Casino. Whose Instrumentals record is a classic of crisp, icy yet synthy and lush, sample(ed) beats. A must own if/when back in stock on wax. And a solid album of the year in it’s own right.

Of course the penultimate hip-hop record of my year, that was a smash critical, artistic and I hope commercial success, featured the re-emergence of Ishmael Butler aka ‘Butterfly’ of Digable Planets fame, in the full length Black Up as Shabazz Palaces. Sub Pop records also put the whole album up as a streamable Youtube video (see below). Apparently they do that for many of their artists. Which in terms of the whole digital-music question, I mention only because I ended up buying the wax LP anyways and the move endeared them to me as it was an easy way for me to listen to the record now matter where I was.

In terms of rock n roll, as mentioned it wasn’t a strong year at least for new releases, yet still I had a few loves. None released, but all purchased, this year. The first being the excellent R.E.M. compilation And I Feel Fine: The Best of the IRS Years 1982-1987. Additionally, two oldies one on wax the other on CD, highlighted the excellent North West Coast doom/grunge rock scene of the 1990s. First the Screaming Trees Change Has Come EP on wax. Followed by Earth (the band) ‘s,  A Bureaucratic Desire For Extra-Capsular Extraction. Both interestingly enough have a song which features guest vocals by Kurt Cobain. Finally, although I didn’t listen to the album all that much, I was continuously intrigued (conceptually) by Celestial_Lineage from Wolves in the Throne Room. Especially after listening to a radio interview with one half of the band which discussed among other things: Shamanic blast beats, the Pacific Northwest, and taking responsibility for wildness.

My most anticipated future concert is now, the one assumes, inevitable Sonic Youth re-union tour. They never made it close enough to Gainesville for me to catch them, since I became a fan but whenever they (hopefully) do a reunion tour, it will, if it follows the standard model reach a large enough audience with enough regional stops to allow me to see them, finally. Or maybe I will by then be living in a major market. Either way the expected (?? and not yet confirmed) breakup of indie rock’s, Adam and Eve, uber art couple must be noted.

The local show/group that got me most excited was seeing the first official show of The Tricycle Chiefs, in the Bocamino Backyard. Partially because Gainesville’s local music scene has always faced a dearth of good hip-hop/rap artists. I am planning to try and make it to the upcoming second show on Jan 5th despite the fact it is on a Thursday. The music is good, so are the lyrics, plus I know two of them.

Of course I couldn’t write about popular music in 2011 without mentioning the perverse R&B of The Weeknd‘s, Abel Tesfaye. All three of the mixtapes put out under The Weeknd name were centers of discourse and the manner in which Tesfaye has managed his/the groups mystery/image is noteworthy. Chiefly due to the fact that while he has recently announced plans to re-release official (for pay) mastered versions, all the music is for now available free of charge. The music speaks for itself; dark and smooth, twisted and icy, retromania at its best but also so contemporary. The first of the trilogy House of Balloons is generally the more critically acclaimed and of the three was the one I listened to most (generally while working late or on a weekend) at my desk (an odd choice it may seem). However, the second and third are I think, to be more admired. The second for it’s even darker, post-party atmosphere and the third for it’s introduction a level of self-doubt along with the self-assurance and hedonism. As the Pitchfork review writes it “exudes a brazen, animalistic confidence…It’s a chillingly cyclical picture of decay and self-immolation marking the Weeknd’s greatest triumph“. Each of the albums grow in terms of self awareness, depth, production and vocal artistry.

Finally, I will end with a list of a few other albums which featured heavily on my Grooveshark play list this year. Some were old and just now discovered because of some mood or aesthetic appeal and others, new music which I haven’t purchased yet.

At least two of the records Avey Tare’s Down There and Forest Swords Dagger+Paths I  loved for their swampy, echo laden or otherwise hauntological aesthetic. Both were very percussive without being “beat music” per se. Kuedo’s Severant was similarly beat music without the traditional techno/beat sound. Instead the music sounded as many have pointed out, like a sonic future imagined in the 80s. Blade Runner meets grime maybe?

Last but not least the lone “African” or “world” music album of my last year was Group Doueh‘s, Guitar Music From the Western Sahara. A excellent example of dusty, rock n roll from the Western Sahara. In the vein of other Saharan desert blues artists like Tinariwen and Group Inerane.

He said that between 100 million and 500 million trees were lost. That figure does not include trees killed in wildfires that have scorched an estimated 4 million acres in Texas since the beginning of 2011.

As Bruce Sterling noted “These guys who burble stuff like “Mother Nature is amazingly resilient” are part of the problem. Mother Nature wasn’t resilient enough to defend her trees from this climate crisis.” When you talk of landscape scale changes of this magnitude, it seems as if articulating any response becomes difficult. Certainly any sort of designed intervention. What would one propose in response? I would suggest that we should explore the possibilities of post-successionary landscapes, considering that a generation has been removed from the local ecological. Are sequential, ecological processes of the sort suggested by the term successionary able to address problems of this magnitude quickly or effectively enough? What is the time scale for an appropriate response?

Finally, a note on resilience. In contrast to Bruce’s comment re: climate change and ecological resilience, I will note that that Texas Forest Service Sustainable Forestry chief, Burl Carraway is quoted in the above linked article, as suggesting that the problem doesn’t require a (human designed) response. Carraway in fact argues that what Mother Nature has damaged, Mother Nature can repair. Though his line of reasoning isn’t all that reassuring as it is predicated on an assumption, which may be proved false, “Assuming the rainfall levels get back to normal“…..

Ffffing crazy… and I can only imagine the rush.

Via Janchip

a recent artwork as garden titled Who to Believe? designed and assembled by Francois Abelanet. Courtesy of Flickr user groume

This concept of a unique, privileged vantage point provides the basis for Abelanet’s garden. But unlike Le Notre’s work, it discloses a world which is not predictable and logical, or under our control, but topsy-turvy and unpredictable. In essence, he has combined the techniques of Le Notre with an approach to representation normally found only in painting.

More at ARTiculations by Henry Adams

More on how an unlikely mix of media attention and marketing exploitation threatens to polarize an otherwise apolitical practice (urban exploration) in an op-ed by Bradley L. Garrett over at at DOMUS.

the Factoría Joven phot by Iwan Baan

Pedro Gadanho architect and writer, reviewed a playground project by Spanish practice Selgascano. Gadanho compares the project to Rafael Moneo’s Museum of Roman Art which opened in the same town 25 years earlier. The comparison is clarifying. He notes that the musuem “was made for tourists and visitors, offering ruins to interpretation in an adequately contextual environment; theFactoría Joven caters for local, disenchanted populations in the semi-industrial periferia, in an effort to prevent the city’s desertification. Rafael Moneo aspired to perpetuity, and dialogued with ancient, enduring construction techniques; José Selgas and Lucía Cano are interested in ordinariness, and engage with a built landscape that is determined by low-budget, off-the-shelf materials and practices like graffiti, skating, cycling or wall climbing.“

Carlo Ratti, Paola Antonelli, Adam Bly, Lucas Dietrich, Joseph Grima, Dan Hill, John Habraken, Alex Haw, John Maeda, Nicholas Negroponte, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Carlo Ratti, Casey Reas, Marco Santambrogio, Mark Shepard, Chiara Somajni and Bruce Sterling contributed to -a 21st-century manifesto of sorts-on the theme of open source architecture.

Domus also published multiple essays on the various spatio-political occupation and encampment movements that made the news this year. First Andrés Jaque on the indignados protests in Spain, then Joshua Simon on the tent republics of Tel Aviv and then greater Israel and finally Chris Cobb on Occupy Wall Street. All authors explore the protocols, strategies and meanings of these various efforts in relation towards the idea of reclaiming public space as the key trajectory of contemporary, urban(ism).

Site plan and plan of the two Tokyo stadiums: Kenzo Tange, architect with engineers Yoshikatsu Tsuboi and Uichi Inoue. via Domus

Finally, the above image comes from a “re-print” of an old essay Kenzo Tange for Tokyo, an first hand account written by the Japanese architect, soon after he finished the stadiums for the 1964 Olympic Games. Originally published in Domus 424-March 1965.

In it Tange described the relationship between the two stadia “But the true definition of their relationship with the context came about when we resolved the architecture of the ‘street’ with which would connect them. This is the long building having the function of a ‘street’ running, between the two stadiums. It is a long ‘corridor’ which collects all stadium-related services and offices and that has a restaurant and a training pool at the two ends.“

Editor’s Notes: Shout out E-40! Can’t believe that he didn’t spit… Also what the hell re: those green boots Lil Wayne is wearing. Can’t tell if they are leather or artificial material and that color is an interesting choice. Although, I did note they matched (color-wise) the watch he was wearing.

Credit: Herb Snitzer via NYT

From Ben Ratliff’s review in the NYT of Benjamin Cawthra’s “Blue Notes in Black and White: Photography and Jazz”. The review finds the book to be an essayistic history of jazz photos that were taken mostly between the late 1930s and the mid-1960s.

By JOE BURGESS, AMANDA COX, SERGIO PEÇANHA

To judge the huge scale of what Japan is contemplating, consider that experts say residents can return home safely only after thousands of buildings are scrubbed of radioactive particles and much of the topsoil from an area the size of Connecticut is replaced.

Even forested mountains will probably need to be decontaminated, which might necessitate clear-cutting and literally scraping them clean.

The Soviet Union did not attempt such a cleanup after the Chernobyl accident of 1986, the only nuclear disaster larger than that at Fukushima Daiichi. The government instead relocated about 300,000 people, abandoning vast tracts of farmland.

Many Japanese officials believe that they do not have that luxury; the evacuation zone covers more than 3 percent of the landmass of this densely populated nation.

More via the NYT here by Martin Fackler, also see this news item posted to Archinect by myself  The Involuntary park or home: images of the Fukushima Dai-ichi’s exclusion zone

More from the Guardian