One good thing leads to another! And some beauty is ageless, timeless! As the manufacturer of my Jeans (Levis = Product Placement after ages!) says, ‘Quality never goes out of style’! All that I quote can be attributed to the happy accident of discovering the independent work of Allison Attal (the vocalist of the track Translucent in July, featured on my last post). With a voice that is a unique blend of Nadia Ali and possibly Madonna, with a range of its own and a quirkiness which is both fresh and endearing, she has managed to make me applaud some genres of music which are normally not at the tops of my playlists.
I shall start with the smooth, jazzy track: ‘The Fall’. Enjoy it for its soulfulness, and dreamy hauntiness (if that’s a word) :
Next, is some wonderful work on the synth with great vocals (as always); this track has a mind of its own and works big time:
If you like what you hear, pay her a visit on her soundcloud or like her facebook page. She is good on the eyes too ;)!
Karan Khurana
Karan Khurana ( Born in 1982, Mumbai, India) makes photos and mixed media artworks. By using popular themes such as pointlessness, old monuments and nightlife, Khurana creates intense personal moments by means of rules and omissions, acceptance and refusal, luring the viewer round and round in circles.
His photos don’t reference recognisable form. The results are deconstructed to the extent that meaning is shifted and possible interpretation becomes multifaceted. By applying abstraction, he touches various overlapping themes and strategies. Several reoccurring subject matter can be recognised, such as the relation with popular culture and media, working with repetition, provocation and the investigation of the process of expectations.
His works are saturated with obviousness, mental inertia, clichés and bad jokes. They question the coerciveness that is derived from the more profound meaning and the superficial aesthetic appearance of an image. By parodying mass media by exaggerating certain formal aspects inherent to our contemporary society, he makes works that can be seen as self-portraits. Sometimes they appear idiosyncratic and quirky, at other times, they seem typical by-products of consumer-oriented superabundance and marketing.
His works often refer to pop and mass culture. Using written and drawn symbols, a world where light-heartedness rules and where rules are undermined is created.
Karan Khurana currently lives and works in Berlin, Germany!
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