An introduction to poet entrepreneur Ben Bloom

by Inigo de Amescua

There are some names that I can’t help thinking of when somebody tell me he/she is from Manchester. Morrissey, Gallagher, Wilson, Hook, Summer, Stone Roses, Charlatans, Ashcroft or Ian Curtis are just some of them. Ben Bloom is another one by now, the only true poet, if we don’t count Happy Mondays’ Shaun Ryder amongst them. His poetry is raw in some ways, humorous in others (“I don’t want to give in to my pain so I cover it with humour,” he says), honest always and he is a big liar when he says that he just writes poetry because he is lazy and you don’t have to write a lot in poetry. You don’t have to, that’s true, but you have to mean it, and that’s the hard past. Following the musical thread, I would say that his work is a strong mix between the acid taste of the Mondays and the almost mathematical rhythms of Joy Division. It is just a view from his inside to the world. There we can find desperation, dignity, frustration, dissatisfaction, some anger, intelligence and some humour, he likes Manchester City in a city where the “handsome boys” of the United get all the lads. A lot for a any person, and a lot for a poet these days.

The rest, here: El Halcon Milenario

Art and fashion have always been together one way or another. One influencing the other and vice versa from the Renaissance. In this century, Picasso designed the costumes for the Russian ballets, cubism influenced Channel, Dalí and Schiaparelli worked together in the thirties, Warhol designed shoes… Lately I’ve been looking at the beautiful work of the French artist George Barbier. He, with his elegant and exotic Art Deco style, reflected the décadent, and hype, Parisian high society of the 20’s. His characters are thin, static, introspective and his fashion illustrations are dominated by curves, waves, and insuating body positions. Woman, often dressed as men, and men, always perfectly arranged, both transmit and possess a particular mixture of coolness, superiority and self confidence. The scenes in which the appear are strongly poetic images and go from lakes to opium rooms always with a sad and romantic atmosphere full of oriental influences.

By Inigo de Amescua

I love being an Oasis fan. In Europe, at least in Spain, it is a sure shot to be “booed”. Whenever I mention them, all my hip friends (indie label owners, press and indie music aficionados) open their mouths and say something like: “C’mon! How is that possible?” I love it. I must confess, I love Oasis and I love rock & roll… do you know why? Because they are stupid big mouths with long hair that are not afraid to make enemies… arrogant show-offs guys from the working class: “”Right now I’m young, I’m doing what I’m doing, and I love doing it,” said Liam. “If you’re not in it to be bigger than the Beatles, it’s just a hobby,” said Noel. “It’s a good thing we won, because we were going to thrash the place if we didn’t.” That was Liam on receiving yet another award for Oasis. And you feel this in their songs… rock and roll has to be a slap in the face, it has to be something like: “I don’t buy the kind of life that you offer me, I don’t wanna be a building worker, I wanna be like The Beatles or The Who, wanna live and go to the moon…”. There is this certain part of rock & roll that is just about screaming and shouting and smashing, a way to free your rage, the fact that you have a life you don’t like, that your family is poor and you don’t have a bright future ahead because you are lazy and not very smart, basically you just like playing soccer and listening to music, so you need a ticket to fly away.

The rest of the article can be seen here: El Halcon Milenario

Live Forever
Cigarettes & Alcohol
Supersonic
Rock’n'Roll Star
D’Yer Wanna Be A Spaceman?
Don’t Look Back In Anger
Stand By Me
Cast No Shadow
Fade Away
Half The World Away
Acquiesce
Talk Tonight
Where Did It All Go Wrong?
Sunday Morning Call
Force Of Nature
Hung In A Bad Place
Stop Crying Your Heart Out
Songbird
Guess God Thinks I’m Abel
Mucky Fingers

It came to me on a shiny morning while I was wandering the streets trying to find a place to buy some food. I had lost my sun glasses the day before so I was almost walking with my eyes closed under the explosive Florida sun. I was listening to my MP3 and thinking about Ray Charles when it came to me. It was not new but I did not remember having it there, it was great, pyrotechnic… almost a slap to a sleepy face… like boarding in the Voyager to Venus with a bunch of drunk clowns and a lot of gin. They were Art Brut, and a few seconds later I found myself jumping, singing the lyrics and shaking my head to the rhythm like a mad vagabond. Apart from the fact that I find it strange to listen to an English band in the US, it made me think… ok, they are not Radiohead, but they made me think and take a more satirical look at the music world, what it means to the audience and what R&R is all about… The album I was listening to was Art Brut’s Bang Bang Rock & Roll, which is their debut album, released in 2005, followed last year by It’s a Bit Complicated. The whole idea is fantastic; fresh, catchy, funny, simple, even raw music, accompanied by sarcastic, crazy and groundbreaking themes for the lyrics (I think this is the first time I listened to a song that talks about failing to get an erection) full of references to the music industry, bands, modern art, being in love with the girlfriend you had when you were fifteen, indie brothers, getting new girlfriends… and in general songs about being clumsy, silly, weak and all those things we really are but nobody sings about: Arty English punk-pop against the flow.

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Well… I won the photography award of the University of Florida here in Gainesville. You can see the photo here.