The Orange Spotlight

Martin Reiner No Through Road (Art Bureau Highball Reading Series, 2007)

"Yesterday you cried in your sleep. But I was too scared to wake you."

The primary focus of Art Bureau is to give a home to artists looking to display and sell their work. When you visit their site you will find prints, originals, toys, screenprints, sticker, and more from many quality young artists. So how does the first english chapbook from Czech Republic poet Martin Reiner fit into the Art Bureau catalog? Well if you take a look at the original limited edition screen prints the Bureau is producing it may give you an idea of where this chap is coming from production wise. It is printed beautifully, with rounded corners, collages by Ivan Wernisch, perfect font and coloring, it is truly and artistic chap in every sense of the word.

The work of Martin Reiner (as translated by Andrew Oakland) is compact and powerful touching on nature, man, and machine. "Es wird mehr Maschinen gerbraucht!" He makes micro commentaries on life through his perceived reality in the Czech Republic. Reading through this collection you begin realize that life, no matter the physical location, is a universal phenomenon.

"absorbing the world like a wave"

Also included in the package from the books designer and founder of Art Bureau Bert Benson was Poems-for-All Series #775 "Wonder/Divas" which is taken from this chap. Poems-for-all is a wonderful project similar to the GPP, but smaller is size and approaching 1000 in editions. A great way to scatter the written word around the world.

No Through Road was printed in a limited first run of 500. You can purchase it in lot with the first Highball release by Henry Denander and Adrian Manning. It comes in a Gocco printed envelope signed by the poet. You can view this lot and other incredible Art Bureau products at their Etsy page. $10 for the set.

Tilly and The Wall O (Team Love Records, June 17th, 2008)

On their fourth studio Neely Jenkins and Kianna Alarid really crank up the heat. Just in time for summer, this release tears through 11 tracks with fiery and fire. If that sounds unusual to the Tilly fan, it is. The band has always a great sense of songwriting and rhythm, but they have add an energy to this album that overwhelmingly contagious. The only track on the album that does move at this new, enjoyable pace is the opener "Tall Tall Grass" which harkens back to their past albums. The attribute this new found exuberance to recent tours with high-energy bands like CSS, but wherever it came from I am glad to blast it with the windows down.

Another unique twist is that this album does not offically have a title or cover art. Here is the explanation: "The album, produced by the acclaimed Mike Mogis, has no title. It could be called "o," because its cover is just that: an oval-shaped frame for the artwork that will go inside of it. As a band who surround themselves not only with artistic friends, but also artistic fans, Tilly and the Wall have invited everyone in their community to contribute to the cover art for their record. O will have limited edition runs of handmade prints available by different artists that will act as the record's cover, giving the band's fans a unique piece of art for both their album and their walls. Each month, the record will have a different cover; or, of course, you could very well create your own. The frame of the cover art allows the listener to put him/herself into the album, and believe us: this is a record into which you'll want to pour yourself."

Preorder and view the various covers here.

Tilly and The Wall will be in Chicago on Aug. 6th @ The Abbey. Go here for a complete list of tour dates.

Check out the video for Pot Kettle Black.

Tall Tall Grass/Pot Kettle Black (mp3)/Cacophony (mp3)/I Found You/Alligator Skin/Chandelier Lake/Dust Me Off/Falling Without Knowing/Bloodflower/Poor Man’s Ice Cream/Too Excited