12 Amazing Vintage Photos From Bill Cunningham's New Art Show

April 8, 2014, 11:00 am

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Bill Cunningham, Editta Sherman on the Train to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, ca. 1972. Gelatin silver photograph. New-York Historical Society, Gift of Bill Cunningham

Before starting his now iconic "On the Street" column for the New York Times, visionary street
style photographer Bill Cunningham explored the fashion history and architectural riches of New York City from 1968 to 1976 through a personal project entitled Facades. Running through June 15 at the New-York Historical Society, Bill Cunningham: Facades will showcase 80 photos from the black-and-white film series. Hunting vintage finds at thrift stores, auction houses and street fairs, Cunningham dressed models in period costumes before snapping their pictures at quintessential New York sites like outside the Guggenheim and inside a grafittied subway car. His most notable muse was his Carnegie Hall Studios neighbor Editta Sherman. Capturing more than 500 outfits and 1,800 locations, Cunningham's photos are a visual trip down memory lane.

Bill Cunningham, Guggenheim Museum (built 1959), ca. 1968-1976. Gelatin silver photograph.
New-York Historical Society, Gift of Bill Cunningham

Bill Cunningham, St. Paul's Chapel and Churchyard (built ca. 1766-96), ca. 1968- 76. Gelatin silver photograph.
New-York Historical Society, Gift of Bill Cunningham

Unknown artist. Bill Cunningham Photographing Three Models at New York County Court House, ca.1968-76.Gelatin silver photograph. New-York Historical Society, Gift of Bill Cunningham

Bill Cunningham, General Motors Building, ca. 1968-1976. Gelatin silver photograph.
New-York Historical Society, Gift of Bill Cunningham

Bill Cunningham, Club 21 (founded ca. 1920s; costume ca. 1940), ca. 1968- 1976. Gelatin silver photograph.
New-York Historical Society, Gift of Bill Cunningham

Bill Cunningham, Grand Central Terminal (built ca. 1903-1913), ca. 1968-1976. Gelatin silver photograph.
New-York Historical Society, Gift of Bill Cunningham

Bill Cunningham, Federal Hall (built ca. 1842, costume ca. 1910), ca. 1968-1976. Gelatin silver photograph.
New-York Historical Society, Gift of Bill Cunningham

Bill Cunningham, Bowery Savings Bank (built ca. 1920), ca. 1968-1976. Gelatin silver photograph.
New-York Historical Society, Gift of Bill Cunningham

Bill Cunningham, Associated Press Building at Rockefeller Center (built ca. 1939), ca. 1968-1976. Gelatin silver photograph. New-York Historical Society, Gift of Bill Cunningham

Bill Cunningham, Gothic bridge in Central Park (designed 1860), ca. 1968-1976. Gelatin silver photograph.
New-York Historical Society, Gift of Bill Cunningham

Bill Cunningham, Paris Theater (built 1947), ca. 1968-1976. Gelatin silver photograph. 
New-York Historical Society, Gift of Bill Cunningham

Bill Cunningham photos courtesy of New-York Historical Society gift of Bill Cunningham.

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Is This the Most NSFW Rom Com Trailer Ever?

April 8, 2014, 1:00 pm

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On this otherwise slow news day, we came across this trailer for a "Rom Com" that is really, uh, honest. A touching story about two New Yorkers looking for love, it isn't afraid to go there. Like, really there there. Enjoy some NSFW watching, above.

(Video created by Joanna Bradley and George Kareman)

Watch Ratking's Ode to Canal Street, Party with them Tonight at Babycastles

April 8, 2014, 1:05 pm

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Ratking's debut album, "So It Goes," is out this week, and this is their visual and musical ode to New York City's Canal Street. Then again, everything about the group is an ode to their -- and our -- hometown and there's lot riding on this album. The group's roots in both hip-hop and hardcore NYC music are evident on every track, but they're not posers or nostalgia victims. These guys are serious contenders, and they're serious about bringing something new the party.  The party starts tonight at the new Babycastles Gallery (137 West 14th Street) from 6 to 9 p.m. with a special performance by Ratking and the opening of an exhibition they co-curated with the gallery called "Sometimes We Explode."

ICYMI: Billy Eichner's "Would You Have Sex with Paul Rudd?" Is So Good

April 9, 2014, 7:00 am

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ICYMI: Billy Eichner and Paul Rudd asked New Yorkers if they would have sex with Paul Rudd for $1. The "hug me, Paul Rudd" woman = our hero. [FunnyOrDie]


Jon Hamm and Craig Ferguson make fun of his cringey '90s dating show clip that surfaced online last week. Total fabulosity. [Uproxx]  


Anne Hathaway was on the Tonight Show last night and performed Broadway renditions of hip-hop jams. It was only mildly annoying. [Uproxx]

Bring me my fucks. [FYeahDementia]

Game of Thrones: Everybody's doin' it. [LaughingSquid]

Thank you for coming. [FYeahDementia]

Pogo sticks away from the haters. [Mlkshk]

Did you know? [FYouNFMe]

 Get it, with middling to intense difficulty, girl. [Mlkshk]

Ben Watt On His New Album and Playing Backgammon With Dave Gilmour

April 9, 2014, 9:30 am

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(Photo by Edward Bishop)

The synthesizer swell that opens Hendra gives the brief impression that Ben Watt might be revisiting the clubby turf that made his erstwhile band Everything But the Girl global superstars -- but it's an acoustic guitar, not a gleaming '90s dance beat, that starts the song in earnest. From then on, the album is a beautifully restrained meditation on loss and endurance anchored to the interplay between Watt and Bernard Butler, the guitar god behind Britpop progenitors Suede.

Hendra is due out April 29 on Unmade Road/Caroline International; less than two months after that, Bloomsbury will publish Watt's second book, Romany and Tom, a memoir about his parents. Watt and Butler were set to play some US shows last week, but a bottleneck at immigration forced them to postpone. Skyping from London, Watt told us about the many influences -- from his wife and EBTG bandmate Tracey Thorn to Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour -- that shaped his first solo album in 31 years.

Grief is a big theme here, whether it's scattering a loved one's ashes ["Matthew Arnold's Field"] or "Nathaniel," a song about a memorial on the side of a trailer in Oregon.

A lot of people have said the album seems to deal a lot in loss and grief and death, and that is an atmosphere that hangs over the record, but I think each of the songs tries to deal with those subjects in different ways. Sometimes it's a sense of defiance that comes out of that story. Sometimes it's resilience. Sometimes it's anger. There's a sense of dealing with the shit that life throws at us and moving on to the next step, whatever it takes. I'm 51 now. You write about the life that you lead. When you were young, you were a rocket, you think everything's possible. But as you get older you realize that you're a train pulling carriages, and those carriages get heavier.

"Nathaniel" is also the loudest song. Working with Bernard Butler, were you ever tempted to get dirtier?

No, because I think the main musical dialogue is the way the two guitars interact. When I first went down to write this record, I played the first chord, and it bored me because it was in standard tuning and it felt like every song I'd ever written with Tracey. So I actually started that night just changing all the tuning pegs on my first guitar and suddenly it opened a door. It was like a new technology in my hands. But the songs I wrote ended up being quite languid, and the sound of those open tunings was very impressionistic and folky, and I knew straight away that whilst it was beautiful, it needed a foil, a counterpoint. And this is how Bernard came into the equation. I wanted somebody who would bring the blues, you know, who would bring grit and a sense of tension against what I was playing.

Dave Gilmour plays on "The Levels." Did you tell him that Pink Floyd is mentioned in Romany & Tom?

Absolutely. And in fact, the first time I ever met Dave Gilmour, I actually [ran into] him at a beach bar on this island when I was about 14, and I had a game of backgammon with him. The friend he was playing backgammon with had to take a phone call or something and I took the opportunity to walk up and go, "Excuse me Mr. Gilmour, can I finish your game of backgammon with you?" And he went, "Yeah alright, fine. Come on, then." When I met him again, I told him that we had met in a previous life.

Your first book, Patient, is about surviving a life-threatening disease. Is that all a thing of the past?

It's not over. I still take medication every single day. In simple terms, I suffer from Churg-Strauss syndrome, a hypersensitivity in the immune system that if it's left unchecked runs out of control and gets confused and starts to attack your own body tissue. And it ends up killing you, basically. So I have to take immunosuppressants every day to keep my immune system at normal levels. Luckily, touch wood, I've been taking it over 20 years, and the meds that I take agree with me, but if I stopped I would be very unwell. Most people have 25 feet of small intestine in which to do their digesting; I have less than three feet. Yeah. But I lead an incredibly full life. I've got three kids, I've got a record out, I'm going on tour. I was a DJ for chrissake, for 10 years!

How much do you and Tracey collaborate on each other's solo stuff?

We've always worked very much in isolation. When we first met -- the first time we decided to go to the movies together, when we were like 19, we got to the cinema and we couldn't agree on what it was we wanted to see, so I went into Screen 1 and watched Southern Comfort and Tracey went into Screen 2 and watched Tess of the D'Urbervilles, and then we met for a pizza afterwards. And that was our first date. We've always had this idea that you need to agree to differ to survive. And when it comes to writing, we believe that individual inspiration is very important to make good work. You don't want to compromise an idea too early, you know what I mean? So we often work very much on our own, quite secretive. And then when we feel we've actually got something that's worth showing, we then really do value the other one's opinion.

So no Tracey cameos on Hendra?

No, she's not on the record at all. I mean, we both agreed very early on that this was a very important record for me -- I was coming from quite a long way back in the field, I had a lot of ground to make up -- and I think we both realized that it was important that I did it my way. And you know, I was trying to reconnect with my 19- 20-year-old self, that precocious boy who had the temerity to ring up Robert Wyatt and ask him to be on his first record. And then I put that all aside to work with Tracey, and I think I just needed to go back and meet that person again, and perhaps make the record I might have made had we never met.

Food Blogger Julia Gartland On the Joys of Runny Yolks and Meryl Streep

April 9, 2014, 10:30 am

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In our ongoing series, "Ladies Who Lunch," 2014 Beautiful Person, cook, co-founder of catering company bigLITTLE Get Together and Marc Jacobs' personal chef, Lauren Gerrie, will be whipping up lunch -- and conversation -- with some of our favorite New York City gals.

Although she hails from the Los Angeles enclave where the Kardashians currently reside, food blogger and photographer Julia Gartland is the furthest thing from the '80s stereotype of a "Valley Girl." Eloquent and insightful, Gartland got her start as a photographer by documenting friends during the "live journal" era (think: angsty shots of her teenage experiences collected in journals titled "Pink Eyeliner", "Tequila shot," "_transparent," and "impacts"). She eventually moved to the big city to attend Parsons and it was during this time that she became struck by a slew of digestive problems, which lead her to become educated about gluten-free cuisine and eventually fall in love with cooking. Shortly thereafter, she launched her gluten-free food blog, Sassy Kitchen, and the rest was history.

MENU

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Scallop Crudo with Kimchi Broth
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Curried Cashew / Pea Sprouts / Pear / Apple / Corriander Seeds / Kale Microgreen / Buckwheat Honey

What was your first job in NYC?

In school I was working at the organic juice bar in the Great Jones Spa. My skin looked fucking amazing, even though I was working for pennies. Then I worked for a photography workshop called Digital Photo Academy. Once out of school, I took a job at Trunk Archive. And now I'm doing freelance for food stylist Michelle Gatton and concentrating on my blog Sassy Kitchen.

From one Cali girl to another, what is your eternal West coast food craving?

In-N-Out. After soccer practice growing up it would be a real treat for us to go get burgers and fries. My mom also made this pasta -- I mean it was Prego or something -- with ground turkey. It was her special spaghetti that everyone always wanted. Her special touch.

When you go back now, what is your first stop?

Gjelina and Intelligencia coffee. My dad recently moved to Manhattan Beach, so we are always eating and hanging on Abbot Kinney. I also love Tasting Kitchen. There is another great place called Manhattan Beach Post that has simple delicious food.

You post a lot of Instagram images centered around breakfast and brunch. Is that your favorite meal?

YES for sure hands down. Now that I am freelance I have a different relationship with lunch -- I'm enjoying it more. By dinner time I really just want a drink. You can't beat a breakfast salad with arugula, quinoa, avocado, radish, sunflower seeds, eggs. If you are hung over and nothing feels right have an arugula salad. It fixes the imbalance. I also love avocado toast with a fried or poached egg. Anything with a runny yolk.

What's the one condiment you could eat like real food?

I eat almond butter by the spoonfuls. I also like Maille mustard. I tried to make mustard once. Never again, there are so many good ones out there already.

Can you think of the worst meal you have had in NYC?

This place in Carroll Gardens called Arthur, which is now closed. It was New Year's Eve and they were accepting walk-ins. We had the grossest Caesar salad with a basically uncooked egg on top. My boyfriend had the most overcooked pork chop. I think I had some sort of tomato broth with mussels. Ehhhh it was so bad. I would give them another chance if I had to, but that meal was not good. $200 later I was like "that was not worth it!"

And the best meal you've had in NYC?

Recently Glasserie. I went for my birthday and it was such a wonderful experience. I can't eat the bread, which is what everyone talks about, but we had this feta sauce I will never forget. I love all the little sides, too. For dessert we had the chestnut cake that was gluten-free and great. My all-time favorite NY spots are Franny's and Northern Spy. The food is always good and so homey.

If the world is your oyster, where would you go eat?

My family just took a trip to Tuscany and stayed in the town of Castellina in Chianti. We went to this tiny little restaurant, Osteria Pastececi, three times in the two weeks we were there. The host and owner was so gracious and she took care of us. The menu was nondescript and then these gorgeous plates of pasta would come out that you couldn't get enough of. I actually ate gluten there, but my stomach wasn't affected. With all the bottles of wine, bread, and pasta I thought I was going to die, but instead I felt like a million bucks. It's amazing how fresh unprocessed foods make you feel.

If NY wasn't home base would you move back to LA?

I like the idea of living in San Fransisco. The environment and culture there are my speed. I also don't like feeling hot, so the weather there is tempting. I've thought about Portland, but that seems so over and boring.

If you weren't a photographer what do you think you would be or who?

Hmmm... if I could be anything I would be what's her name on Law & Order: SVU. I would be Mariska Hargitay!!! She is so passionate about saving people's lives. I have that complex where I would be a super hero and save people.

If you could have lunch with one other lady...who would it be?

Could it be Julia Child and Meryl Streep? I would love for us to all make lunch together. I imagine Meryl Streep making the most delicious food because she is so perfect. She is an angel. I mean whose hair and skin are matching? She is just a ray of light.

A Protest On Behalf of Ai Weiwei Grows In Brooklyn

April 9, 2014, 11:00 am

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Image of Ai Weiwei by Shepard Fairey

The issue of free expression in China is coming to Brooklyn, riding the wave of the world's most famous dissident artist, Ai Weiwei. While the Brooklyn Museum gears up for for an exhibition of his work on April 18th, PEN American Center is organizing a literary protest for free expression in China at the Brooklyn Public Library at Grand Army Plaza on Thursday, Feb. 10 at 7 pm.

A renowned artist whose life and work has been the subject of museum and gallery shows, movies, books, hundreds if not thousands of articles all proclaiming his brilliance and resilience, Ai Weiwei appears as one man against the indomitable will of the Chinese government, speaking truth to power in the face of censorship and incarceration. In a world in need of heroes, he stands out.

Yet to his credit and our eternal gratitude, he has been able to create a beautiful body of work, poetic enough to confound his uniformed scrutinizers who go in search for any excuse to lock him up and throw away the key. Ai Weiwei cannot attend the retrospective of his work at the Brooklyn Museum because his passport is arbitrarily held by the Chinese government.

But he is only the tip of China's iceberg of artistic persecution. PEN's protest rally brings our attention to others singled out by Beijing, including peaceful Uyghur rights advocate and economist IlhamTohti, the recipient of the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award; Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo, who is serving an 11-year prison term; and Xiaobo's wife, Liu Xia, an artist and poet who has been held under extralegal house arrest since her husband's receipt of the prize. An outdoor projection of a never-before-seen video message from Ai Weiwei, accompanied by a lighted message to the Chinese government presented by the New York City Light Brigade, will be a highlight of the rally, which will also include readings of works by Chinese writers by Sergio De La Pava, Jennifer Egan, Chang-Rae Lee, Victoria Redel, Jacob Weisberg, and Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry filmmaker Alison Klayman.

In the video Ai Weiwei tells every individual to "question authority and become creative," calling Freedom of Expression "an essential value for artists to protect and fight for. It will never come as a gift but through our art works, our voice, our lives, our music and poetry... Only by doing this can we have a better society not only in China but elsewhere in the world."

This event will be live-streamed at www.pen.org/ai. Follow PEN's campaign for free expression in China on Twitter with #WithFlowers. You can visit the Facebook page HERE.

And, just in time for Passover, enjoy this exclusive photo of the artist getting into the holiday spirit with some matzoh.

Chag sameach, Ai Weiwei!

The 10 Most Intense Celebrity Couples of All Time

April 9, 2014, 11:41 am

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Most couples are boring, but the crazy, passionate ones with tons of problems? They're our cup of dysfunctional tea. In honor of the release of Jim Jarmusch's romantic vampire drama Only Lovers Left Alive, out April 11th, we've rounded up our favorite super-intense couples in pop culture history.
 

Image via

1) Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera
He was 20 years her senior and, even when they married, a known womanizer. What could go wrong? These two tortured each other with their infidelities (both had relationships with women outside their marriage; she also had a fling with Leon Trotsky) and had a famously volatile marriage, complete with a house that was two separate structures connected by a bridge so they didn't have to deal with each other. Sick of Rivera's cheating (his affair with her sister was a last straw), Kahlo divorced him in 1939 only for the two to quickly re-marry. They remained married until her death in 1955. When she died, Rivera wrote, "I realized that the most wonderful part of my life had been my love for Frida." Though Rivera would go on to re-marry, he requested that his and Kahlo's ashes be combined. He didn't get his wish: Kahlo's ashes are in her childhood home and Rivera's are in the Rotunda of Distinguished Men in Mexico City.   

Photo via.

2) Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton
Two signs you're in a super-passionate relationship: You've either gotten married and divorced from each other twice, or had the Vatican condemn your union as "erotic vagrancy." Both of those things were true for Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, who has a famously boozy and medicated but no-less burning love affair that started as co-stars in 1963's Cleopatra and ended two divorces later in 1976. (They did, however, know their way around an ultra-chic family portrait.) Asked why they could never make it work, Taylor once said "Maybe we loved each other too much."
 

Photo via.

3) Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra
Married for six years after previous marriages of their own, when these two weren't fighting they were having crazy makeup sex. And then they were back to fighting. Followed by crazy makeup sex. And so on and so on. Both had insane tempers -- they were famous for throwing each other's possessions out the window and on to the lawn -- loved to drink, and were obsessed with each other -- so, pretty much a great combination. Describing the first time they had sex, Gardner once said, "It was magic. We became ­lovers for ever, eternally. Big words, I know, but I truly felt that no matter what happened we would always be in love."

 

'Maybe we loved each other too much.'

Image via.

4) Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston
Their on-again-off-again relationship lasted 16 years, ending in 1989 when Nicholson knocked up a woman 12 years his junior. This, after Huston, whose nick name for Nicholson was, ahem, 'the hot pole,'  had begged him for years to have kids. So Huston did what any woman in that situation would: She busted onto the set of Nicholson's The Two Jakes and beat the crap out of him while he was in the middle of a take. Team Anjelica for life.

Image via.

5) Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham
These two. It takes a special kind of crazy bond for a couple to break up and then make each other sing songs about how much the other one sucks for decades after. If you've never seen Fleetwood Mac's Behind the Music, it is one for the ages. Though Nicks and Buckingham -- who met in high school -- were already in the process of breaking up during Rumors, Nicks' budding cocaine and alcohol problem was starting to spring up and, later on, an affair with Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood deeply would not help the situation. But Buckingham also helped push her away by acting like a controlling egomaniac and brat, so we're going to call it even. Even more compelling, years later, it's clear that some of the tensions and wounds remain. There is no more an electric clip than the one of Nicks staring down Buckingham during the band's live performance of Silver Springs for 1997's The Dance as she sings, "I'll follow you down 'til the sound of my voice will haunt you, you'll never get away from the sound of the woman that loved you." Damn.

Image via.

6) Liberace and Scott Thorson
Matching plastic surgery, absurd fashion choices, an unsettlingly father-son-like relationship and lawsuits. These two were all kinds of messed up and had an obsessive and intense relationship full of backstabbing and drugs.

Photo via.

7) Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen
The poster children for doomed, drugged-out punk rock love. Though Vicious was suspected in Spungen's murder, only to die himself a few months later of an overdose, there are lingering theories that Vicious did not commit the crime.

Photo via.

8) Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and Andre Rison
Lopes and Rison, an Atlanta Falcons player in 1994, had a tumultuous relationship, getting into frequent screaming matches. One night after a fight in Rison's house, the football player walked out. When he returned, Lopes had burned his mansion in Atlanta's glamorous  Alpharetta neighborhood to the ground. Still, they couldn't stay away from each other and were on-again off-again until Lopes' death in 2002.

Photo via.

9) Winona and Johnny Depp.
Two words: Winona Forever.



10) Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake
These two who lost their virginity to each other and are responsible for one of the biggest fashion crimes in pop culture history. Still, theirs was a love written in terrible hair cuts and fashion choices, and even though they allegedly haven't spoken in 10 years, we're sure they still think of each other when they pass a denim cowboy hat in a shop window. Those were the days.


Want more passion?  Check out Only Lovers Left Alive in theaters April 11th:

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Doja Cat Gets Us So High

April 9, 2014, 3:30 pm

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Ran into the pot columnist for Vice magazine, T. Kid,at the M.I.A./Audi party last week and we shared some...information.  Seriously, I turned him on to one of my fave books about legalization, Too High To Fail by Doug Fine. But, you're right, this is just a round-about way to mention today's video by Doja Cat. The song, "So High," is the first official single from the 18-year-old L.A.-based singer/rapper. It's trippy for sure, but it's not just one of those 100% kaleidoscopic nightmares: it's classy, like her. #420

Is This the Most BOSS/Delusional Wedding Save-the-Date Ever?

April 10, 2014, 7:30 am

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Some couple made an insane save-the-date video complete with 'Great Gatsby-meets-cheesy bottle service club' party scenes, helicopters and dramatic breathing noises out of a fancy perfume-slash-sports car commercial. They refer to their nuptials as "Boss Wedding" and it's so over-the-top and delusional that all we can do is tip our hat to the happy couple. [via Uproxx] Why so sad Drizzy? [via The Clearly Dope]

Mind = fucked. [via Fuck You No Fuck Me]

Jimmy Kimmel invited three sign language interpreters -- including, we think, the awesome chick who signed Kendrick Lamar's set at Lollapalooza -- to compete in a sign language rap battle set to Wiz Khalifa's "Black and Yellow." We wanna be these ladies when we grow up. [via Tastefully Offensive]

New York City: Expectations vs. Reality. So true, so depressing. [via Buzzfeed]

Duh! [via Pleated Jeans]

Last night Stevie Nicks went on the Tonight Show and she and Jimmy Fallon recreated "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" with Fallon playing Tim Petty. It's awesome and Nicks is an eternal QBIC. [via Pop Culture Brain]

Coachella 2014: What to See, What to Skip

April 10, 2014, 10:30 am

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As per tradition, the good folks at Coachella have waited until the last goddamn minute to post set times for their three-day music and arts festival taking place this weekend (and the next). With about 150 bands on the bill, it means you're probably scrambling to drum up a schedule right now that won't interfere with your chances of getting snapped for a fashion blog slideshow. But don't get your Brandy Melville cutoffs in a twist just yet, because we've gone ahead and done the leg work for you by assessing all the crucial must-sees, must-misses, and buzz-killing conflicts. So load the Jeep up with hula hoops, crack a Bud Light® Straw-Ber-Rita and get your Tinder profile pic just right, because you're heading to Indio.

Friday

3:20: Assuming you can knock off work early (which you probably can, what with the trust fund and all), head on over to the festival grounds to catch Aussie duo Jagwar Ma, who will be bringing their Mancunian-flavored early '90s dance rock to the Gobi tent. Granted, A$AP Ferg is at the Outdoor Theatre 20 minutes later (which would then give you a nice spot for one of the weekend's most buzzworthy acts, pop heartbreaker sister act HAIM), but it all depends on how keen you are on kicking off your weekend hearing "Shabba" live (Editor's Note: you're very keen on this).

6:15: If you've heard "Need U (100%)" (and if you haven't, what the fuck?), there's a good chance you'll be at the Yuma tent for UK house guy Duke Dumont's set. Pro: You'll avoid the hordes of teens checking out Ellie Goulding. Con: They have better weed than you.

8:45: You could stick around the Yuma tent for the recently-added Nicolas Jaar set, but his psyched-out side-project Darkside is playing the following evening, so do yourself a favor and go see the re-formed Replacements at the Outdoor Theatre at 8:45, so you'll be able to die happy having caught them in your lifetime.

9:15: Conventional wisdom suggests you go see Girl Talk's 9:40 set on the Coachella Stage, but christ, how many times have you seen that guy in the past eight years? Instead, go see Bryan Ferry at the Mojave tent, and pray that he plays his stunning, brand new Todd Terje collaboration "Johnny and Mary."

10:30: If you've seen even a second of footage from the Knife's Shaking the Habitual live show, you'll be over at the Outdoor Theatre for their batshit brand of electro performance art.

11:30: OutKast. Coachella Stage. Stank you very much.

Saturday

2:55: Tonight's going to be an absolute conflict nightmare, so spend the morning relaxing and do some people-watching. There's probably a tent giving away free e-cigs, so get a bunch of those or whatever. Then be sure to head on over to catch Ty Segall's face-melting act at the Outdoor Theatre.

3:45: And so it begins. First, there's sultry LA songstress Banks at the Gobi, which will drag at least a decent percentage of the pretty people away from the too-hip synth-saviors Chvrches' Outdoor set at nearly the same time. Don't feel like watching cool people french? Then give London electronic pop outfit Bombay Bicycle Club a shot over at the Mojave.

7:05: Despite being one of the most satisfyingly irreverent acts both on stage and on record for the better part of a decade, people are finally starting to pick up on why Baltimore's Future Islands are so great. Thanks to their meme-generating landmark Letterman performance and a big SXSW, expect it to be packed.

7:55: And we go from "packed" to "crushingly claustrophobic" with Lorde at the Outdoor, one of the weekend's biggest draws. You're probably better off catching Solange over at the Gobi to be honest, but who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and our favorite Kiwi teenager will say some more uninformed shit about rap music.

9:40: If you read the fine print, the purchase of a Coachella weekend pass requires that you go see Queens of the Stone Age on the Coachella Stage.

10:35: If you can stand to hear "Happy" even one more time, go see Pharrell (maybe he'll do "Move That Dope"!), but if not, you have your options. Turn up function: Skrillex in the Sahara tent. Turn Down function: Darkside in the Gobi.

12:00: Help Nas celebrate Illmatic's 20th anniversary at the Outdoor.

Sunday

12:40: Long day ahead here folks, so get limber with UK beat abstracts Factory Floor at the Gobi, then promptly hit the Fruttare Hangout for a popsicle (coconut, duh).

2:50: Though it might be tempting to quirk-out with Aussie singer songwriter Courtney Barnett in the Gobi, you're going to want to go put one in the air with of-the-moment MC Chance the Rapper on the Coachella Stage.

3:35: If you were one of the people who slept on LA dance act Classixx's excellent debut Hanging Gardens last year don't make that same mistake again by missing them in the Mojave. And no, you won't be judged for sneaking out early for the 1975's brand of leather-jacketed pretty boy pop-rock at the Outdoor.

5:15: Hang around the Outdoor for Blood Orange's brilliant low-key funk.

7:30: Aw, what the hell. Go get your millennial on with Calvin Harris for a hot second on the Coachella Stage.

8:15: Protest if you must, but given her recent output of material in advance of her sophomore album Ultraviolence, it's finally time for a serious reassessment of Lana Del Rey. You can repent accordingly at the Outdoor.

9:35: OK, you're wiped out. But tough shit, because English house phenoms Guy and Howard Lawrence, a.k.a. Disclosure, are going to bring the fucking party. Though your uncle will be disappointed you skipped Arcade Fire, and your other uncle will be disappointed you skipped Motörhead, it'll be hard to pull yourself away from this one. If you have any gas left in the tank, check out A-Trak and Armand Van Helden's everything-but-the-kitchen-sink dance project Duck Sauce in the Sahara at 10:25. Unless, of course, you have to be at work the next morning. Which you don't, because, y'know, that trust fund.

Lykke Li's "No Rest for the Wicked" Video: Make Sure You've Got Some Tissues Nearby

April 10, 2014, 2:00 pm

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Wonderful short film for Lykke Li's, "No Rest For the Wicked," off her upcoming album, I Never Learn, out May 6th. The director of this clip, Tarik Saleh, also directed Li's acting debut in a recent film called Tommy. We should also mention up-front that some of you may find the story disturbing, but it certainly fits the song and there's a lot to think about after viewing. And since we've been listening to more up-and-coming Swedish artists recently, let's acknowledge that Li has been musically representing Scandinavia since 2007. Respect.

12 Must-See Art Shows Opening This Week

April 10, 2014, 2:30 pm

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 James Franco's  latest artistic endeavor, "New Film Stills," opens tonight April 10th, 7 to 9 p.m. at Pace Gallery (508 West 25th Street). The exhibit features photo-stills from his imagined films or, as the multi-talented Mr. Franco explains: "Film becomes raw material and is sculpted into new work."

The Hole (312 Bowery) opens their second solo show by Jaimie Warren called "That's What Friends Are For" and also a show of new works by Holton Rower called "Too Many Rivers" on Friday, April 11th, 6 to 9 p.m.  Both are up until May 4th.

As we mentioned Tuesday, Babycastles Gallery (137 West 14th Street) opened two days ago with an exhibition of "underground NYC through video games and hip hop" called "Sometimes We Explode."  It's only up until April 13th, so check it out fast. On Saturday, April 12, they are also hosting the after-party for the 2014 edition of the Different Games conference, which includes the "Realistic Kissing Simulator" above, on "diversity and inclusivity in games," but only DG attendees will be admitted. 

Flux Factory (39-31 29th Street, Long Island City) is hosting their free, monthly potluck dinner (bring something to share) on Thursday, April 10, 10 p.m. so you'll have the perfect opportunity meet their current curator-in-residence, Chris Stiegler, and check out his "Tournament of Value."

Red Bull Studios New York (220 West 18th Street) has an installation called "Omnipresent: A Different View" open to the public on Friday and Saturday, April 11th and 12th, from noon to 8 p.m. featuring original artwork from the sci-fi magazine Omni.  Plus you can an hear an original score created for the show by Philly DJ/producer King Britt.  BTW:  The Red Bull space just won a 2014 Architizer A+ Award.Congratulations to them and the design firm INABA.


On Friday, April 11, 6 to 9 p.m., Ed. Varie Presents (618 E. 9th Street) opens a show of works by the Stockholm-based artist Anna Sorenson called "Neverending Index."  It will be on view through May 4th.

Galerie Au Bon Punk opens Clayton Patterson's "$16 Burger Show" on April 15th, 7 to 10 p.m., in the old space that at one time housed Pop Burger on 9th Avenue near 14th Street. As you may have heard, Patterson is moving to Austria and this show will include everything from photos to embroidered hats by one of NYC's legendary, downtown characters.

ALSO:

Blain/Di Donna (981 Madison Avenue) opens a show of portraits of Jackie Kennedy by Andy Warhol on April 10th, 6 to 8 p.m.

Metro Pictures (519 West 24th Street) opens Robert Longo's "Gang of Cosmos" on April 10th, 6 to 8 p.m.

Sikkema, Jenkins & Co. (530 West 22nd Street) opens an exhibition of new works by Vik Muniz on April 10th, 6 to 8 p.m.

Brooklyn-based artist Swoon unveils a new site-specific installation at the Brooklyn Museum of Art (200 Eastern Parkway) on April 11th.

This Saturday, April 12th, noon to 6 p.m., MEAT MRKT has a big rooftop launch party at 57 Thames Street in Brooklyn with a pop-up shop by Claw Money, art curated by the Wu-Tang's Oliver Grant, craft beer and live music

10 Stylists Tell Us How to Avoid Dressing Like a "Basic Bitch" at Coachella

April 10, 2014, 2:45 pm

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Your Coachella passes have been purchased, your flight's been booked, your tent has been packed and now the only thing left is to figure out your festival outfit. You've spent weeks scoping the goods on ASOS and have popped into Topshop so many times that you practically know their entire inventory, but each time you gravitate towards another floral romper or fringe-y suede vest, it dawns on you: you're going to look like every. single. basic. bitch. there. (You can find further reading on the Basic Bitch over on the Cut today as well.) To help you avoid looking like one of the thousands of clones turning up with daisy crowns and ripped jorts, we've asked ten of our favorite stylists to weigh in with their festival fashion do's and don'ts.

Step away from the feather headdresses. Just step away.

Logan Horne
"Pick a theme for the weekend and run like hell with it. Match everything. No makeup but put on a bright lip and a great sunny that's in theme. Keep it classy. No neon, no high heels, no problem."

Joy Adaeze
"You have to start with your personal style. If you like to wear bold colors or neutrals or wear accent pieces, don't lose that just because you're going to Coachella. Don't think, 'Oooh, I'm going to a music festival, let me look like a music festival attendee.' Do what you're already doing and revamp it for an outdoor environment. I love to pick one really cool, old accessory and work the outfit around that. For instance, if you have an awesome cobalt blue necklace, mix it up with a fun, yellow top. Don't do the typical cut-off shorts look, instead do a cool, printed short. You'll stand out but still be comfortable and can get in the pit, run around and have fun. Also steer away from the maxi dress and do an envelope skirt. And finally I love turbans. They're a great way to protect your hair while still making a statement."

Eli Wasserman
"There's nothing worse than being caught out there wearing the same grungy tee from Urban Outfitters as someone else or looking like a dirty Lower East Side hipster in desperate need of a hepatitis shot. Instead, focus on chic statement pieces to make you stand out from the civilians i.e. a wide brim floppy hat paired with a stunning pair of sunnies (avoid Ray-Bans at all costs! I prefer a fun and quirky cat eye sunglasses over aviators). Cut-off shorts are a Coachella staple but opting for a maxi skirt is a great alternative to staying cool and chic without baring too much skin and accidentally revealing those unkempt bikini areas. Never, never, never, I repeat, NEVER, under any circumstances wear feathers. And this year I think we've seen enough of the Guns N' Roses, ACDC, Led Zeppelin vintages tees. Leave them at home or better yet, bring them to your nearest Buffalo Exchange to pay for some body cooling wipes because the dry hot desert, lack of running water, and cheap fabrication is a lethal combination for a nasty yeast infection."

Heidi Bivens
"Music festivals -- especially Coachella -- are a time when people go wild with their wardrobe and do trends they wouldn't wear anywhere else (like feather headdresses, flowers in their hair, tie-dye). But if you don't normally dress like a 'hippie-bohemian' in your every day and look like that at the festival, it can come off as contrived. I think it's more interesting to focus on your personal style and just elevate it in some way. Less is more. There are classic pieces that will always look good like a pair of well-worn jean shorts or summer dresses. And functional footwear -- wear sneakers or ankle boots."

Ilaria Urbinati
"Don't look like a hipster douche bag. What makes me crazy is anyone in Hunter wellies cuz it's like, this isn't Glastonbury. In general, anything that's trying too hard to look like Kate Moss circa 2003 is pretty obnoxious -- fringe boots, denim 'shorts' that are actually denim underwear (especially if worn with a vest). The list goes on. And [don't wear] anything that's WAY too '70s. Just because it's a music festival doesn't mean it's Woodstock."

Niki Takesh
"The last festival I went to, I wore a big white t-shirt that said "YOLO" on it -- I think it's more rebellious to not even try [to dress up] because everyone else puts so much effort into their style. But the number one look I like is a cute, printed bathing suit with a little mini skirt or sheer dress or big shirt over it. I always like wearing a bathing suit because that way when you're really hot, you can pour water on yourself and not worry about it."

George Alvin
"Dont's: If you are NOT at a pool party, don't walk around in your bathing suit. Actually, don't even pack a bathing suit (I mean, who actually goes to a pool party to swim anyways?). Don't pack anything glittery, sequined, or neon. This isn't the junior prom. Most of all, I can't stress enough about how basic you will be if you are seen walking around in a pair of heels, or wedges. No one cares if they are the latest Manolo Blahnik's, you'll just look like an idiot. Do's: This is one of the best times of the year to ACCESSORIZE. Funky oversized sunglasses are one of my favorite festival trends that have proven to be timeless. But avoid any geometric shapes such as stars, hearts, penises, etc. etc. Circle framed shades are my favorites. I also think Coachella is the best time of the year to pull out all of your vintage pieces -- a pair of your favorite vintage cut-offs can go a long way."

Ms. Fitz
"If you haven't heard, the slutty hippie/Pocahontas look is OUT -- so take that floral headband and denim booty shorts back to the Urban Outfitters mega mall on Bedford Avenue! For style direction, take note from the line-up this year, which is much less "Indie Rockerrrr" (yewwww!) and more European electronic. Get comfy and sexy in monochrome sneakers, basketball shorts and bold, tongue-in-cheek logo tees. Think, like, "Sporty East London chav" but kinda gothy, yeah? The great thing about this look is that its totally functional -- enclosed shoes keep your feet protected in the pit, and you can layer with hoodies and leather for when the nights get cold. If you're a color nut (like myself) then put a lime, blue or pink pastel color rinse through your hair; and you're good to go. The best bets are by brands like WHATEVER21, NVRMND, Hood By Air, KTZ & Chromat."

Saskia Vaye
"If I ever see girls walking around the festival in short-shorts and a bikini top, I'm gonna scream. I'm over it...And it's also probably best to leave your Jeffrey Campbells at home. It was crazy last year -- I saw a girl [in heels] break her ankle. Flats are a great idea. Or opt for a boot."

Solange Franklin
"I definitely recommend wearing a bum bag -- a.k.a. a fanny pack. And in my pristine fantasy world where everything is immaculate and you don't sweat and get nasty, I'd say wear a crisp white dress and fringe moccasins. Definitely no feathers in the hair -- nothing remotely resembling any kind of headdress. Try to avoid rampant cultural appropriation while you're getting your groove on to some new band."

So This Is What DJs Do at Concerts?

April 11, 2014, 9:15 am

≫ Next: Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive: "A Battle Between Creative Drives and Physical Needs"

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Wait a minute, is this what all DJs are doing at concerts? [TastefullyOffensive]
 Cutest couple in the biz. [Bust]

Conversation Stopper Cards from the Portlandia Activity Book. [ThisIsntHappiness]

Just a 30-minute continuous loop of the drum fill from 'In the Air Tonight.' [LaughingSquid]

This is bullshit. We will bark at the moon every night until Ozzy Pawsborn is returned. [TheClearlyDope]
 
A strangely alluring 3-minute video of terrible men's hair cuts from the '60s and '70s. WHAT WAS WRONG WITH PEOPLE? [LaughingSquid]

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Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive: "A Battle Between Creative Drives and Physical Needs"

April 11, 2014, 11:03 am

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Have you ever seen a romcom vampire movie? Well here it is. Seven years in the making, Only Lovers Left Alive is the new Jim Jarmusch movie that his fans have been waiting for. The iconoclastic American original has insisted on doing things his way ever since his genre-busting Stranger than Paradise catapulted him on the international stage in 1984. Opting for a Euro-meets-Japanese-meets-American perspective on storytelling that's part avant-garde and part B-movie, Jarmusch's uncompromising ways have earned him international recognition, including numerous accolades at the Cannes Film Festival.

So what's the big deal about Only Lovers Left Alive? Known for a meandering style he has honed through 10 feature films over 30 plus years, Jarmusch changes it up a bit in his 11th, embracing a more focused story-telling approach where tone and mood and camera and music all blend into a seamless whole without losing the cool that is the Jarmusch brand. And it all works and comes together in a wonderful way, the lighting, locale and cinematography pulling you thorough the film like its own plot line.

The titular lovers are vampires, erudite, sophisticated and beautiful as Adam (Tom Hiddleston) and Eve (Tilda Swinton). Appropriately bathed in darkness, they're vampires living off fresh blood procured from a mercenary lab technician (Jeffrey Wright) and an old friend with impeccable contacts (William Hurt). Adam's a reclusive rock star in love with analog, tape decks, vinyl, tinkering with electronics, a composer of dirges written both for himself and the city of Detroit, its desolate dystopia seen from a car moving through the night. It's as powerful a presence as exotic Tangier, home of his female counterpart Eve, an aesthete as much in love with life as he is with death.

Survivors in an age of tainted blood, Only Lovers Left Alive is an allegory about AIDS and drugs, the battle between creative drives and physical needs. Jarmusch's lovers are like aging hipsters who have lived too long. Having seen it all, it's hard for them to accept the fall, friends like Plato, Byron, Keats and Shelly gone and forgotten by most, the culture that sustained them like the blood they crave now in short supply.

Mia Wasikowska and Anton Yelchin are delightful diversions, pulsating counterpoints to Adam and Eve, providing a spark of life to the prevailing morbidity. But only diversions, minor players in the eternal saga, a creation myth where the original sin is repeated over and over again.

Swinton and Hiddleston inhabit their roles so fully, it's difficult imagining anyone else as Adam and Eve, doomed to live in a decaying time. We're in the hands of a master at the top of his game from the opening scene of a spinning 45 rpm record shot from overhead, the camera turning along with the vinyl, to the very last shot of Adam and Eve, survivors to the very end, the Only Lovers Left Alive.

Only Lovers Left Alive opens today in New York City,

The Five People We Can't Escape at Coachella: An Illustrated Guide

April 11, 2014, 12:15 pm

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The music festival has only just started and already there's people we desperately want to avoid.

THE HUMAN PUDDLE

If you were wondering why you were having so much trouble finding drugs, the reason is that this guy already took them all. Moderation might as well be Sanskrit to this explorer of substances. You'll usually find them either lying around between one tent and the other, or desperately trying to pass off "complete support of non-functional legs via upright structures" as "casual lean." If you find them within 30 minutes of their formation, they'll probably have an exasperated friend or S.O. sitting next to them, but after that time period, they're going to go catch Duck Sauce, because anyways, they ALWAYS do this.

THE SHILL

Well, this is nothing more than a random, attractive celebrity, simply taking in the sights and sounds of the Coachella Music Festival. She's just here to have fun! Fun like taking Instagrams with the 1000 megapixel MotionPro camera on her Samsung™ Nebula G4, until she gets a little hungry, at which point she'll enjoy a few of McDonald's new Beef Spheres™ with their famous fries. And a music festival wouldn't be complete without new Budweiser Riot™ Ultra-Light Ale.

THE ENLIGHTENED OLD COUPLE

They're somewhere between 40-95 years old, by your estimation. But somehow, they're also in better shape and have better hair than you. You'll catch them lounging on a well-worn blanket they picked up on their travels through India, smoking a giant, seventies, "listening to Fog Hat" style joint. However, be careful in conversation, as it seems it will always get around to how their sexual relationship is just as fiery as ever. In extreme cases, the man may be the kind of guy who refers to his penis as a "lingam," and ask if you've read the Kama Sutra.

THE HYPEBEAST

Most likely found milling around after A$AP Ferg's set, so that they can try to give him some graphic tees from their new streetwear line. When two encounter each other, you may see them circling each other in a detailed greeting ritual, evaluating the competitor's "fit." He flipped a coin with his best friend to see who got to go to Coachella, and who had to sleep outside of Supreme in order to cop the new Foamposites. Secretly wishes he knew what lean tastes like.

THE JUDGMENTAL ASSHOLE

Someone too preoccupied with what everyone else is doing and wearing to enjoy the festival. Basically, me.

An Ode to Tilda Swinton: Her 5 Most Swintessential Moments

April 11, 2014, 1:11 pm

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Tilda Swinton photographed for Paper by Richard Phibbs. March, 2004.

We asked the guys behind the brilliant Tilda Swinton parody account @NotTildaSwinton to tell us what they love about their muse. Below, five examples of why Swinton is the coolest. As if we had to tell you.

With Tilda Swinton set to add yet another iconic performance to her already very colorful IMDB page with Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive, opening this weekend, we've decided to take a look back at some of our favorite bits of Tilda (which proves to be a very difficult task, because there are so many.)  While we tried our best to capture the confidently abstract essence of Tilda, the genuine Tilda is always one step ahead. We've managed to break down our general love for her into the following Swintessential moments:

Most recently, Tilda surprised the world with her performance of "The Maybe" at MoMA in New York.  Visitors were given access to a glass box that may or may not contain a sleeping Tilda at any moment.  Often dressed in casual denim, Tilda showed that even when she's at her most ordinary, she still manages to captivate, with observers traveling in droves for simply the chance to witness the elusive actress in her element.  Some artists would've been tempted to wear or add something strange to the installation, but instead she embraced the simplicity of the idea.  Even as people tweeted at us furiously to "do a joke about the box," we could do nothing but shrug, because what else was there to say?  She one-upped us without one-upping us, as expected.



In 2012, Tilda won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the legal drama Michael Clayton.  And as she approached the stage, we waited with bated breath, because any time Tilda Swinton is near a microphone, something truly mystical is sure to follow.  And, never one to disappoint, we were treated to the now famous opening of a "Happy Birthday, Man" delivered to the statue itself.  The next minute and thirty seconds was a whirlwind of soundbites, including a comment on the shape of her agent's head and buttocks, and a seemingly non-sequitur compliment on the infamous "bat-nipples" of co-star George Clooney.  And then, as quickly as she'd arrived, with a reveille of three rapid thank yous, she vanished.  Future Oscar Winners and Halle Berry, take note.

In 2009, Tilda, along with film critic Mark Cousins, decided to create a film festival.  However, as to be expected, their vision of a film festival was far from the static schmoozefests of Sundance or Cannes. Instead, it consisted of a mobile cinema, mounted on the back of a truck, towed throughout Scotland with heavy ropes thrown over the shoulders of human beings, including Tilda herself.  Listening to her in this clip, cheerfully commenting on the endeavor while simultaneously pulling a fucking truck through the cold damp highlands, speaks for itself.


Fourth is also the reason PAPER sees fit to have us write this little homage in the first place.  After creating a fake twitter account as the mysterious actor, one of us in the throes of Oxycodone following a wisdom tooth removal, both of us in the bleak haze of postgraduate unemployment, it unexpectedly struck a chord with people on the Internet, and suddenly we had to consider the fact that Tilda herself... might actually see it.  Plenty of celebrities who've been parodied through Twitter have had the accounts shut down or criticized them.  Instead, after a collection of tweets in which we intimated that she had: given birth to a bat, been both birthed and swallowed and eaten again by a coyote, and invented the guinea pig, we simply received a brief e-mail from a somewhat vague e-mail address, giving us her blessing, and then, finally, instructing us to "now eat this computer."



Lastly, we'll leave you with this clip from Ebertfest 2013.  For all the perceptions of her being this avant-garde, strange apparition, she still understands the primal importance of a dance-off with strangers.

We love you, Tilda.

BLESS

1994: The Year 20 Fingers'"Short Dick Man" Broke

April 11, 2014, 2:15 pm

≫ Next: Steve Buscemi On the Late, Great Tom Murrin and LaMama's Upcoming Festival In His Honor

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Ah, 1994. What a year. Truthfully, I can barely remember anything about it, but I do remember this song by 20 Fingers. The group was the brainchild of two producers from Chicago who were tired of the frivolity and superficiality in the music business, and decided to try something serious for a change. Actually, the song had to be released in two versions to accommodate the radio stations that couldn't play the "expicit" version as it climbed the charts and peaked at #14. Even today, we aren't allowed to mention the title. Here's a hint.

Steve Buscemi On the Late, Great Tom Murrin and LaMama's Upcoming Festival In His Honor

April 11, 2014, 3:20 pm

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Photo of Tom Murrin by Patricia Sullivan

Two years ago the world of performance art lost an unsung hero. A tireless performer and advocate for its creative community, Tom Murrin personified what it means to be an artist, generously mentoring, advocating and writing about the work of talented people too often working below the radar, mostly in Paper Magazine. Thanks to Tom, Paper was one of the first national print publications to cover the Upright Citizens Brigade and David and Amy Sedaris. In his honor and as a tribute to his creative energy, Scott Adkins, Laurie Berg, Erin Courtney, John Gernand, Sarah Maxfield, Lucy Sexton and his wife Patricia Sullivan, have curated the Tom Murrin Full Moon Performance Festival, named after his monthly shows that celebrated the lunatic in us all. Running at La Mama from April 17-27, the festival features a who's who of performers and friends, including Jonathan Ames, Steve Buscemi, Diana Y. Greiner and Heidi Dorow, Karen Finley, Annie Iobst, Mike Iveson, David Levine, Lumberob, Salley May, Jennifer Miller, Brooke O'Harra and Sharon Hayes, Nicky Paraiso, Peculiar Works, Radiohole, Gary Ray, Saint Fortune, Chris Tanner, and others. There will also be an exhibition curated by Carlo McCormick at La MaMa Galleria of his hand-painted masks, collages, and paintings. Here, Steve Buscemi talks about his long-time friend and recalls their grungy East Village days and Murrin's influence on his life and work.

I met Tom when I first started going out with [filmmaker, choreographer and artist] Jo Andres around 1982. She brought me over to his apartment on 11th St. She had been talking about her friend Tom and how much she loved him and loved his work, and she had been telling him about me. In fact, she was walking with Tom one night in the East Village when she saw a poster for my show with Mark Boone Jr., The Steve and Mark Show. I had been doing The Steve and Mark Show for almost a couple of years and she was walking with Tom and saw the poster and pointed to my face and said something like, "I'm going to get that guy."

When Jo and I first started dating, she actually didn't recognize me from the poster and it wasn't until she was sitting in my apartment and saw the poster that she said, "that's you!" And she told Tom, "Hey,  remember that guy I told you about? Now we're seeing each other." She really wanted us to meet. [Ed note: Andres and Buscemi married in 1987].

So I went over to his place on 11th St. and we all ate chocolate Hagen Dazs ice cream and told each other stories. Tom told me what his story was, and I'd find out more over the years.

He was performing as the Alien Comic. And I had seen his posters all around town. But I had never seen his shows. I was always intrigued by his posters because he always had the best flyers. And I think it was around that time that Jo and Tom and Dance Noise and Mimi Goese and Billy Shaffner who was producing the Full Moon Shows were all performing. I think that the first time I saw all of them perform was at a Full Moon Show at PS 122, and then I started following all of their works individually. The Alien Comic I followed a lot.

Later, Jo and and Tom were roommates on Ridge St. And then I moved in -- for a little while the three of us were roommates, and I kind of forced Tom out. He took a smaller apartment two flights up which eventually became the Alien Comic [one of Murrin's performing personas] museum because that's where he had all his props. Found stuff that he would drag in off the streets, find, it was just all over his place.

Tom Murrin was a mentor to a lot of people and inspiration to that whole downtown scene, especially coming from the world that he came from. He had been a lawyer before he became a performance artist, and he left that behind and traveled the world doing his shows with Johanna Went. Later, be brought it to the East Village, doing street performances and taking his show it into clubs all with found objects and scenery that he made. He made everything seem so doable and accessible. As long as it had "style and purpose," that was his definition of performance art.

In our world he was the top, and as much as his own work, performance style and commitment to what he was doing, he was as big a supporter to the performance community as anybody. If he liked your work, he was in your corner 100 percent. He was non-judgmental about work. That's why he was so inspiring to younger performers. He really encouraged them and validated them. What you're doing has value even if not fully formed. He saw the potential in so many people, nurtured them and brought them out.

He would go see everything. He was the godfather to our son and he would go see him perform. He was in bands. And Tom would make the trek into the deepest parts of Brooklyn, late at night, see the shows, check out the other bands, stay the whole time and really soak up the whole scene. And even when Jo and I couldn't make it to the shows, Tom would go and write detailed emails about how it all went.

He was always that way, always so supportive and encouraging.

A flyer for a show featuring Murrin's lascivious alter-ego, Jack Bump.

Steve Busemi in Paper, 1996, for a cover story written by Tom Murrin.

 

Tom performing at a Full Moon Show. Photo by Jim R. Moore.

To see more flyers, photos, art work and amazing video shorts Tom made for MTV in the mid-'80s, visit his fabulously curated website at TheAlienComic.com