Agenda 2024 – what’s on

with a focus on happenings in the North of Portugal.

Vladislav Delay is back in Portugal, this time in Viseu. Expect an idiosyncratic mix of ambient, glitch, broken beat, house and everything in between. It will be at the beautiful Claustro da Sé de Viseu at midnight. Jardins Efémeros, Viseu - 16 July.

Film Festival Curtas 2024. In competition are Animations, documentaries, fiction films, experimental films and music videos, with a maximum duration of 60 minutes. Curtas, Vila do Conde - 12-21 July.

Heirs to the jazz of Miles Davis and the avant-garde of Autechre or Ryoji Ikeda, the band led by Koshiro Hino return to Portugal. Goat at GNRation, Braga - 19 July.

Osees (aka Thee Oh Sees), the very energetic rock band from S. Francisco plus Shame, The Last Internationale, Mão Morta and more will play a promising Festival de Ponte de Lima - 1-3 August.

Electronic music and digital art festival Semibreve will return for its 14th edition between 24th and 27th of October. Pretty unmissable. Semibreve, Braga - 24 to 27 October.

One of Europe’s finest underground music, art and culture festivals celebrates its 10th anniversary. Amplifest, Porto - 9 & 10 November.

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Primavera Sound in Porto, 6-8 June 2024.

Festival season is open and Primavera Sound Porto is here, taking place from 6-8 June. It will welcome some artists we’re specially curious to see live such as newcomers/millennial glimmers Eartheater and Mandy Indiana, but also avant-electronic weirdos Wolf Eyes and of course, the adorable PJ Harvey and legends Pulp (amongst others).

"History for the music industry repeats itself first as arrogant tragedy, second as arrogant farce. Investment banking and financial services group Goldman Sachs recently published its latest Music In The Air report on the economic health and future of the music business. It is precisely the kind of thing one might expect from an investment banking and financial services group: it goes heavy on praising the plump numbers while roaring that there is plenty more money coming. It’s like a TED Talk from Gordon Gekko in a biker jacket."

in 'How the Music Industry is in a New Age of Arrogance' - 16.05.24
in ↗ the Quietus

Daily
12.04.24

Jung, Rothko, Tanning, Duchamp: Inside the mind of Nadav Kander. An awesome British Journal of Photography interview.

I'm holding a record close to my heart: Deinonychus 'The Weeping of a Thousand Years', a 2023 re-issue of the 1996 dark/doom metal masterpiece.

My trustworthy Fuji XT-4 pistol on a cage. Asahi Super Takumar 35mm f3.5 lens on a Urth mount, and a K&F variable ND filter.

Watched Bronson again.

Sampling beauties.

. I have a tendency to re-watch Brit flicks when I miss London too much. Specially those with a banal urbanity. This is peak Tom Hardy before all of the Hollywood fuss. It's violent to the core, often crass but it's genuine. That scene where a large group of psychiatric inmates starts dancing to the Pet Shop Boys song 'It's A Sin', is alone worth the price of the ticket. If you like Nicolas Winding Refn movies and aesthetic, make sure to check his free curated website of films, essays and more art byNWR.

Daily

07.04.24

1/ Found this stunning Braun Dieter Rams Hi-Fi CE500 & CSV250 on sale here.

2/ Portrait of the great Alfred Schnittke by Reginald Gray. His Requiem composition (1975) is used in my mixes quite often, ranging from the ambient to the ominous ones. One of Schnittke’s most conceptual statements, it boldly combines styles (from the Baroque to avant-garde), composition techniques, and lineups. It is also one of the highest expressions of Schnittke’s Polystylistics and the so-called "new simplicity".

3/ Artwork by the great William Schaff , well known primarily for his mastery at designing the album artworks for Okkervil River, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Songs: Ohia, and this Gravenhurst record. This albuim is a collection of unreleased and intriguing early treasures from the Gravenhurst archives, discovered whilst researching material for the tenth anniversary reissue of Flashlight Seasons and Black Holes in the Sand. It was released by Warp.

4/ A penchant for the dramatic. The vinyl for Prurient 'Oxidation', released 2012 on Hospital Productions.

05.04.24: Sahara sand storms reached Portugal again, turning blue to sepia, reminding us of what a Dune-like dystopian world with a faltering atmosphere looks like.

03.04.24: Just what the doctor ordered... River Minho.

Daily

02.04.24

1/ The MAAT in Lisbon is hosting in its Gallery 1 an extensive exhibition of photographs, videos and sculptural pieces by Nicolas Floc'h (France, 1970). From March 27th until 26 August.

2/ This Birdie is of Danish design and is an ingenious friendly reminder to keep a healthy indoor climate.

3/ The latest Slanted issue is not about war. Instead, it delves into the lives of remarkable individuals within the creative industry in and hailing from Ukraine, as they endeavour to maintain a semblance of normalcy amidst their diligent efforts.

4/ Animal Collective's "Sung Tongs" will be 20 years next month! An album that has made a huge impact on me and is still relevant in my collection. This is a picture I took at 8mm in Porto back in December 23. This is an incredible record store where I got myself some rare Moondog and Urfaust last time I visited and it's guaranteed to make you splurge on dozens of records you didn't know you needed.

Daily

21.03.24

1/ Nearly 1 year after illustrious and versatile composer Ryuichi Sakamoto passed away, the Museu do Oriente welcomes Rodrigo Leão, pianist João Vasco and Surma for a concert celebrating his music.

2/ Ryuichi Sakamoto and model Rena Anju in a 1983 promo shot for the film YMO Propaganda (Dir. Makoto Satō, 1984). Rena has been spotted lately as the muse for the illusive musician Tomo Akiakawabaya's musical projects.

3/ Wolves Evolve. The story of the mighty Ulver, the shapeshifting Norwegian band celebrated 30 years.

4/ Wes Anderson list of favourite films. I watched 'Vagabond' (original name 'Sans Toit ni Loi', meaning 'without shelter or law') again a few days ago, starring Sandrine Bonnaire, a very dark example of cinéma vérité by the great Agnès Varda.

Museum of Contemporary Design and Applied Arts in Lausanne, by Aires Mateus

Up to Montalegre – Portugal

10.03.24

The twisted roads to Montalegre demand your attention but are also the epitome of natural beauty.

It is Sunday today, but no resting for the local cattle breeders.

Mother and Son (front). I took this picture from inside my car. They wouldn't move and rightly so, this is their patch, they own the cobblestones. Hope to see them next year.

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Snow in Montalegre, North Portugal. 10 March 2024.

We go up to Montalegre once every year around this time, for the traditional “Cozido à Barrosã”, a delicious dish proposing an assortment of local smoked meats and vegetables cooked in boiling water. But really, it is only an excuse to venture into one of the countries most stunning sceneries of the North. Second to none in its combination of desolate small planes and majestic mountains, it acquires the status of fantastic with the arrival of the snow. Omit needless words. Music excerpt taken from Malaria by Celer.

Paris FW24

02.04.24

1/ The Paris round-up (28/2 - 2/3).

2/ Outside the bustling Merci.

3/ Mandatory visit #1.

4/ Mandatory visit #6. Ofr. is one of the nicest bookshops for modern magazines and thematic, lifestyle centric books. Congrats to my youngest kid Tita for completing another turn around the sun. Here she is pictured holding a copy of Hartcopy Aesthetic Survival - 20 Bivouacs in One Season.

5/ 'It's the brand's largest store at 1500 sq meter and will provide a holistic lifestyle experience for customers...' - Kith. Sure it is almost embarrassingly big, its got a nice looking bar (pictured) and is full of the 'beautiful people' one expects to see carrying bags (from UAE, KW or similar) and S. Korean tik-tokers and thats all white marble shiny and rivals any dept. store for valuable product, but this is actually a store I will skip for the Internet, and not the other way around.

6/ Now here's a store I will not skip for the internet, its the always seducing Broken Arm (which other store can display items named 'Selfish Cunt' on the open). It's a store that feels really modern but also traditional in its aesthetic, like the good old days at the start of the new millennium, with some incredible new conceptual stores opening such as Trés Bien in Stockholm, Odin in NY, or the much missed b Store in London (closed sometime in 2012) stocking forever favourites like Bless, Christian Wijnants, Ute Ploier or Bernhard Willhelm. I also wanted to speak to the store about their secretive project OHNE which had blew my head away a few years back with its intrepid web design and super content... its currently being updated and will continue to be curated by the good folks from BA.

1/ 'Bom Dia, Boa Tarde, Boa Noite', NR. 42-74: Celebrating 25 Years of Always Stress with BLESS.

2/ Found a nice little book about Alentejo, my favourite region of the South of Portugal, published by A Week Abroad. There's always something interesting to be found at Merci.

3/ More books.

4/ There's always time to go around Vieille Du Temple for some galley fun.

5/ Graffiti mural in the works in Le Marais.

6/ Yes, this is the famous bridge used in Christopher Nolan's 2010 mind boggling movie 'Inception': the 'Pont de Bir-Hakeim'. In the movie a section of the bridge is transformed into an infinite mirror, as Ariadne looked on in disbelief.