Sunday, May 31, 2020

New York City's Burning


"After the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, New York Mayor John Lindsay walked the city streets alongside residents, a sign of respect that helped heal and cool the city. Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat elected on a promise to improve the way black and Hispanic New Yorkers were policed, has played a far less visible role. The lack of moral leadership from the mayor over the weekend was devastating."

Bill de Blasio, the limousine liberal mayor of New York City, must resign now. He has long failed his constituents, excused the brutality of the police department, and is now playing the blame game using right wing talking points all while claiming to understand and sympathize with the voice of the people. Perhaps he can get a job as a lobbyist for his pals in big real estate after he fucks off.

Photograph taken on Flatbush Avenue by unknown (Twitter)

Friday, May 29, 2020

Queen Of The Beatniks



Judy Henske was such an unheralded, powerhouse singer who brought the sonic thunder through many eras of music. Even after hundreds of listens, this song still blows me away (same with "High Flying Bird," which she recorded first and inspired countless versions of, most notably Jefferson Airplane's take). All hail the Queen!

Thursday, May 28, 2020

Silence = Death


"The great error has been to mistake the darkness for damnation, to surrender to immobility or worse, to try to retrace our steps backward to a safety that has ceased to exist or never existed."

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Cold Graves In Cold Earth

"Your lies persuaded people to accept the wasted blood, your filthy pride cleansed you of the doubt you should have had. You smile in the face of the death 'cause you are so proud and vain, your inhumanity stops you from realizing the pain."

"The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 has reached a somber milestone: as of Wednesday afternoon, the highly infectious viral disease has taken more than 100,000 lives nationwide." -NPR

Artwork by unknown artist

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Strictly Kings


“A race of angels, bound with one another.”

Brooklyneeze is a living archive of the County Of Kings... The people, the places; art, culture; life and death. Then and now. Dig it here.

Sunday, May 24, 2020

Give The Anarchist A Cigarette


In The Hour Of His Darkest Need

For as far back as he could recall, there was one thing that always brought him comfort. The words that rang true and glowed like burning coal. Words that heralded hope, proclaimed love, celebrated loss, embraced shattered faith, and shook a finger at corruption. Words that carried his broken self to lonesome side-streets, waterfront docks, and beauty parlors filled with sun-pecked faces. Words that caressed with a singular voice, a knowing wink, and left in their wake a warm, seemingly all-knowing security.

Words by Lee Greenfeld © 2020

Friday, May 22, 2020

Interview With John Yates


John Yates made his name in the punk-rock underground as house designer for Alternative Tentacles, the record label owned and run by the Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra. Via his nom de plume Stealworks, he has designed classic album covers for bands as diverse as Bad Religion, Jawbreaker, and The Phoenix Foundation, as well as packaging design and book covers (including notable work for City Lights, PM Press, Haymarket Books, and Verso Books).

Recently Yates has taken on a project of love: Punk Note, a series of radical redesigns of punk and hardcore albums covers, all in the style of famed Blue Note Records designer Reid Miles. The work is striking and pays respect to both Miles and the musicians' vision and style. We decided to reach out to Yates to find out a bit more about the series, and his plans for the future.


You were the long time designer for Alternative Tentacles and have done many projects since, but what sparked your interest in graphic design initially? Did you attend art school?

I didn’t even know what the term “graphic design” meant when I first discovered that I was just attracted to artwork on records as I was to the music itself. But it was my discovery of music — punk — that connected the two for me. I think I always leaned “artistic,” as I would always be drawing or making things as a young kid, but until punk entered my life, none of it really made much sense.

I did not attend what would be considered a straight up art school, but I did attend two different technical colleges in the UK, grad-uating both. I studied art history, photography, printmaking, general art, graphic design, and editorial design over a four year period.


What is your background when it comes to music, and did you alway intend to do work that related to music? 

I discovered music, and punk in particular, as most do, in my early teens through peers at school. I remember vividly the first time I heard The Stranglers on a school trip to France via a friend at the time. It was just so different, to me, and seemed to give me a voice I lacked, but didn’t know I lacked. Like every other teen at the time I started seeking out more and more music, and with that came the lifestyle and the mindset, I suppose.

I had no idea that I could make a career out of music, unless you happened to be a musician, so no. It wasn’t until I started doing a zine, and decided to send a copy to my favorite record label at the time, that I realized it might be possible. 


When did you move to the US, and how did you end up working at Alternative Tentacles? Was that your first design job? 

I moved to the States in 1988. I was providing freelance work for Alternative Tentacles while in the UK (for their London office), but spent a summer in San Francisco volunteering at the label. Then I got offered a full-time position, if I could return the next year. So, I jumped at the chance. Goodbye Thatcher England.

It was not my first design job, though it’s the only one of consequence. I worked at a small design shop immediately out of college for about a year or so, maybe two? The benefit of it was that it allowed me full access after hours to start my own zine using their equipment and supplies, so I figured I’d stick around. Mostly the job involved (very poor) illustrations for adult school medical textbooks. Insanely dull, but it paid the rent, and had fringe benefits, as mentioned.


On to the reason for this interview… I was really impressed by the Punk Note series. What was the impetus behind it?

In my time doing record cover design, I have on occasion dabbled with my version of homages to Reid Miles, the graphic design genius behind the iconic Blue Note jazz label aesthetic (together with Francis Wolff, who provided the majority of the photography). Having lost my job in late March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I found myself with some time on my hands, and way too much time living inside my own head due to personal reasons. I needed something to do, and decided to actualize some ideas I had notes on. The Punk Note series is one of them.

Combining the Blue Note aesthetic through a punk-rock filter seemed like a fun idea, as well as a nice creative outlet, and therapy. My grandparents were jazz listeners — my nan being a jazz singer for a small period of her life in her younger years — and I was always exposed to jazz as a child. I recall the odd Blue Note title from their record collection, so I suppose it was deep inside to some degree. Essentially, this series (200 titles, from 1965 to 1990) was therapy.


While you tackle some obvious classics in the series, you also go a little deeper in your choices. Are you a record collector? Also, are you a jazz fan, or just a fan of Reid’s design work?

I was an avid record collector, but not insanely so, as I just couldn’t afford to be. However, back in “the day,” I, like many others, used to trade tapes of bands. I traded within the UK (where I am from originally), but also with some penpals in the US, so I got exposed to a lot of music I probably wouldn’t have if I had restricted my sources to local record shops and the music press (which is all you had back then). I also had a good friend at a record store who turned me on to a lot of great music I wouldn’t have known about.

I am a fan of jazz music, but only of a certain period, which reflects the music my grandparents listened to and that I was exposed to. My gramps was really into big band stuff, whereas my nan was more into singers. And they had crossover with more traditional '50s and '60s jazz artists. Later in life, after my punk teen years, I revisited jazz for myself, and expanded my interests there. I love it as background music, especially when working, but I wouldn’t pretend to have any real knowledge about it. I just know what I like.


You recreated a few Crass sleeves for the series, and in the past created a fantastic Gulf War poster which is very reminiscent of Gee Voucher’s work with the group. Is the art of Crass an influence on your own work (or political poster-art in general)? Who else do you count as an influence?

Crass, and Gee’s work in particular, were a huge influence on me. I wouldn’t even pretend to be anything near as good as she is, because I am simply am not, but I was hugely influenced by her work, Winston Smith’s work for Dead Kennedys, and then, by extension, other sociopolitical work. I loved pop-art when I studied art history, particularly the work that had something to say (I know, all art has something to say, but it didn’t necessarily speak to me) and that asked questions. Art always had to have a point for me. I’m not particularly attracted to art for art’s sake, which is why I see myself as a graphic designer and not an artist. Well, that and the fact that I cannot draw or paint or do anything else associated with what would typically be seen as an artist.


At this point you’ve created dozens of alternate covers; is this a long-term project for you, and will the art be compiled in any way beyond Instagram?

I produced 200 covers, and have been releasing them in batches of 10 a day. I just posted batch fifteen this morning, so I am almost done. I started with my birth year, which also happened to be the year The Sonics album came out (1965), and decided to call it a day at 1990. At first I just wanted to do a few favorites for the hell of it, but then I got a bit obsessed and, as I said previously, it turned out to be good therapy for me.

I’m not sure what other options I would have to release the work, honestly. All originals are only 4"x4" format, but they are 300dpi, so could, in theory, be printed. I don’t have any plans to do anything with them, other than the Instagram posts.


What else are you working on these days; any projects you are excited about?

There are a couple of other personal projects I am trying to work up from sketch ideas, but I’m not sure when, or if, they will see the light of day. I was pretty pleased with the most recent actual record artwork project that I worked on for the band Be Well, but that’s about it at the moment. I also work on books covers, so there are a fe oof those starting to roll in for the new season. I lost my regular job due to the pandemic, so if there’s anyone out there with design needs, please do reach out!


Follow John Yates on Instagram
Contact John through his website Stealworks


Interview conducted by Lee Greenfeld © 2020

Monday, May 18, 2020

Hoping For Something More


Ian Curtis
July 15th, 1956 - May 18th, 1980

"It was like he was writing little stories, his words always seemed quite inclusive, like how Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground would write stories with other people in. We thought it was great the way he was writing about other people and it sounds so real. You never once thought that he might have been writing about himself. The tragedy of it all, really, is we were all bloody grim northern bastards and you don’t talk about your emotions. It’s got to come out somewhere, all that stuff you’re keeping inside and with Ian it came out in his lyrics because there wasn’t anywhere else for it to go. It was just natural, we assumed Ian wasn’t talking about himself because nobody else did." -Stephen Morris, Joy Division/New Order

Quote from The Independent

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

All We Have Is Each Other


"The search for truly democratic alternatives to the present, and a commitment to social experimentation with them, is a worthy and fulfilling human enterprise."

Is it not time to start giving serious thought as to how to rebuild within our communities, outside of the established system? The response to this pandemic has made it abundantly clear that the government will do nothing of real substance to help the people in need. Horizontally-run, community-based programs are the key to a new future, and a way to upend the plans of the drooling Disaster Capitalists who are already circling like the vultures they are.

It’s been done before and it works: From ambitious endeavors like credit unions, free clinics, street/action medical groups, free breakfast programs, “liberation schools," community-run food banks/co-ops and gardens, to mutual aid networks, D.I.Y. clothing swaps, and neighborhood library boxes.

There are so many examples and inspirations to look to and to learn from: Rojava, The Young Lords, the Paris Commune (minus the executions... or not), the SDS, Occupy (in the beginning), the Kibbutz movement (before it was coopted by government interests), the Zapatista controlled parts off Chiapas, and so on.

The power is in our hands, let us not squander this moment.


Recommended reading: Capital In The Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty (Harvard University, 2013); Mutual Aid: A Factor in Evolution by Peter Kropotkin (various editions, 1902); The Next Revolution: Popular Assemblies And the Promise of Direct Democracy by Murray Bookchin (Verso, 2015) The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein (Picador, 2007); They Can't Represent Us! Reinventing Democracy From Greece To Occupy by Dario Azzellini and Marina Sitrin (Verso, 2014).

Artwork: The Angel Of The Paris Commune by Walter Crane, 1901
Quote excerpted from The Port Huron Statement, 1962

Saturday, May 9, 2020

Here's Little Richard


"I never accepted the idea that I had to be guided by some pattern or blueprint."

Thursday, May 7, 2020

It Takes A Village


Michael Armstrong
Rest In Peace

Fare thee well to The Phoenix community newspaper founder and champion of the County Of Kings, Michael Armstrong. Along with The Phoenix, Armstrong was also the one-time publisher of The Villager, served on the Brooklyn Arts Council’s Board of Directors (as well as the boards for the Old Stone House Museum, the New York State Press Association, Prospect Park Alliance, and the Brooklyn Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra), and helped pass the critical Child Victims Act when he worked for Assembly sponsor Marge Markey.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Where Have All The People Gone?



Despite being an imagining of life after a nuclear war (the "No Doves Fly Here" of the 1960s), "Morning Dew" is chillingly fitting for our current times. While Rose in a sense stole the song and took the deserved glory away from its author Bonnie Dobson*, his version has an intensity and power that shakes you to your core.

* Click here for Dobson's first recording of the song in 1962.

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Don't Just Sit There...


The need is urgent. The time is now. Will you support New York Cares on this #GivingTuesdayNow? Since their COVID-19 relief efforts began on March 16th, volunteers have helped partners like The Campaign Against Hunger distribute over 450,000 meals to food-insecure New Yorkers (including seniors and families with children). They've also made wellness check calls to 1,300 seniors and started new programs to help the New York City Department of Education support students with remote learning. Donations to their relief fund will help them continue this work, which has never been more relevant or vital.

Friday, May 1, 2020

Arise Ye Prisoners Of Want


"The first of May demanded the introduction of the eight-hour day. But even after this goal was reached, May Day was not given up. As long as the struggle of the workers against the bourgeoisie and the ruling class continues, as long as all demands are not met, May Day will be the yearly expression of these demands. And, when better days dawn, when the working class of the world has won its deliverance then too humanity will probably celebrate May Day in honor of the bitter struggles and the many sufferings of the past."

Quote excerpted from The Birth Of A Holiday, 1994