Tomboy

Princess Nokia
16 x 12 inches, oil on canvas paper, 2017

"Who that is, hoe? That girl is a tomboy." That's how Tomboy by the Bronx rapper Princess Nokia starts. Then she goes on about her "little titties and phat belly" (both of which she shows off in the video for Tomboy) boasting about her prowess. Princess Nokia is Destiny Nicole Frasqueri, an Afro-Nuyorican (that's a new one for me too—a New York Puerto Rican) hip hop recording artist. Despite offers from major labels, she decided to do it all herself. Tomboy is from the mixtape 1992, indeed named after the year she was born.

Beth Orton

Beth Orton
16 x 12 inches, oil on canvas paper, 2017

Beth Orton's new album Kidsticks is already a year old. I had forgotten to keep up with the British singer-songwriter for awhile, it took an airplane ride across the Atlantic to reengage. The interactive media display on the back of the seat in front of me offered the full album which I listened to twice. Snow is the opening track and the one going into the Top 100 2017. Just as Cat Power's latest album Sun, five years old already, Kidsticks is a departure of her earlier albums and features electronics in place of the traditional instruments. The painting, rather slick for my standards, is larger than life. Portraits larger than life are rather uncomfortable to look at and I usually make an effort to avoid this. The last time I fell in the trap was, for some odd reason, also a Beth Orton portrait.

Ralph Carney

Ralph Carney
16 x 12 inches, oil on canvas paper, 2017

I'm always happy to follow up on a recommendation, it doesn't always result in me painting a portrait of the musician, but sometimes it does, especially when the recommendation was made by an individual who knows what would interest me, and certainly when this individual knows a thing or two about what was recommended. Jade Dellinger told me to listen to Ralph Carney. It happens so often that I don't know about a musician I should know about. Ralph Carney is a legend of the Ohio (Akron) music scene and made his mark on the mainstream music scene as a longtime collaborator of Tom Waits, and with the Black Keys, Jonathan Richman, B-52's, and many others. His solo work is indeed worth every second spent exploring. No. 1 in my top 10 last week is a video posted on YouTube called Lament for Charleston. The multi-track saxophone recording the shootings at Charleston, SC and was influenced by Coltrane's Alabama.

Bongwater (2)

Ann Magnuson, Kramer (Bongwater)
12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas paper, 2017

Bongwater was formed by Mark Kramer and Ann Magnuson in 1985. The LP The Power of Pussy is from 1991. Members of the band then included David Licht and Dave Rick. Licht went on to form the Klezmatics, Rick to Phantom Tollbooth. Kramer founded Shimmy Disc Records in 1987 and is an influential producer (Daniel Johnston, Half Japanese, among many). Kramer, Licht and Eugene Chadbourne were in Shockabilly, a band that under a different name also included John Zorn. A host of names there, a who's who of the New York music scene in the 1980s, all Top 100 luminaries. Ann Magnuson (see previous post) is an actress and performance artist. Folk Song, the next entry in this year's list, is an epic nine minute extravaganza featuring a sample of Roundabout by Yes, it closes the Power of Pussy album.