If they don’t make them like that any more, it is because Paul Newman was an exemplar of that most unfashionable of things: manliness. He was masculine in an old-fashioned, untutored, un-ironic way, whether playing good guys or outlaws. And it is with manly reticence and calm that he has now taken his leave.

 From Peter Bradshaw in the GU.

pic via (dez dickerson to prince’s left)

citinite’s new release is something of a lost classic.

Taken from the film Purple Rain, Dez Dickerson’s track ‘Modernaire’ has been an unreleased collectors item for the past 24 years.

“Without a doubt, the most widely known and sought-after of my songs is ‘Modernaire’. The song was immortalized in the film, Purple Rain, during my performance onstage with my band, The Modernaires (then comprised of Paul Cassady on bass, Roland Lozier on keyboards, Ernie LaViolet on drums, and the late, great Joe Hunt on guitar). Whilst all but 18 seconds of our big screen debut wound up on the cutting room floor, the song became somewhat of an underground favourite, with some going as far as taking a snippet of the tune from the film soundtrack and looping it!”

From the dope packaging to the incredible selection of remixers, the degree of care and attention taken over this release puts most labels to shame. It’s even more impressive given the freakish levels of obsessiveness surrounding Prince that citinite are able to bring something so rare and, to most people, brand new to the table.

As much as the original absolutely owns me, the remixes go one step further, with the Hot Persuasion version especially taking that retro edge and repackaging it so it sounds like it was made in some alternative version of the future.

And quite honestly there is little else I want from my funk. (or my life)

There is an overview/interview over at Manni’s blog and you can listen/buy the mp3’s from here.

You really, really need a piece of this.

The why is it. The why is what makes journalism an adult game. The why is what makes policy coherent and useful. The why is what transforms bureaucrats and foot soldiers and political leaders into viable instruments of rational and affirmative change. The why is everything and without it, the very suggestion of human progress becomes a cosmic joke.

And in the American city, at the millennium, the why has ceased to exist.

David Simon on the breakdown of urban society across the US

The guy can write, yes he can.

“Essentially, what has happened in this country is that we’ve confused home ownership with the acquisition of wealth,” says Adam Sampson, Shelter’s chief executive. “Those two concepts, which should be distinct, have become irrevocably yoked together. It shows plainly in the reasons people give for wanting to buy: 30 or 40 years ago, you bought a home for security, stability, status, to gain control over your life. Now you do it to acquire wealth. And that has been encouraged as an article of faith across the political spectrum. It really has been the equivalent of the South Sea Bubble, or the Dutch tulip bulb hysteria.”

A clear and succinct a diagnosis as any I’ve seen.

This is the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas. Art surrounds you here. Paintings on a majestic scale dominate each of its eight walls. There is little to interrupt their power, just the bare plaster, a few benches, and a couple of cushions on the floor. There are doorways, but they don’t lead anywhere, except into a tiny alcove containing nothing. Their presence simply adds to the eeriness of this place, illuminated only by a skylight that softens the fierce afternoon sun. I am here on a pilgrimage to the greatest marriage of art and architecture in the US. But is this journey about art - or religion? The Rothko Chapel was designed to house the paintings of the abstract expressionist Mark Rothko, but it is also a sacred space, a non-denominational place of worship.

Great piece from the GU on the Rothko Chapel and the contradictions found there-in.

Can’t wait for the Tate show.