Tally Mark Press News - July
Tally Mark News
Tote Bags Now Available
More L.O.V.E. and WI NO NA Tote Bags Now Available in the Tally Mark Store
I finally got around to printing some L.O.V.E. tote bags, along with two variations of a WI NO NA speech bubble bag. You can purchase both tote bag designs HERE.
Busy, Busy, and Busy
I hope everyone is having a great summer. Around here we REALLY need a bunch of rain. It feels strange to be saying it since we had such a long and wet winter. If you are willing and able, dance a little rain jig.
I am busy working on new cards and art prints. I’m also busy researching, sketching, and planning for TWO Fall/Winter shows here in Winona. I’ll be mounting a show in November at one of my favorite coffee shops/restaurants here in Winona, The Blue Heron. And, in December I will be mounting a show at The Acoustic Cafe. I’m looking forward to both but I have a lot of work ahead of me. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Of course, I’ll post more info closer to both shows with the finer details.
Darling The Dawn
by ALL HANDS_MAKE LIGHT
(Constellation Records, 2023)
With apologies to my neighbors, I’ve been blasting this album on my studio sound system lately. It’s a lovely, shape-shifting collection of songs with equal parts soul and the ethereal.
The Bandcamp page for ALL HANDS_MAKE LIGHT describe their music suitably: Voice, Electricity, Old Scales. Additionally from the artists’ description:
“ALL HANDS_MAKE LIGHT is the recently minted duo of Ariel Engle (La Force, Patrick Watson, Broken Social Scene) and Efrim Manuel Menuck (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt. Zion).”
“…Above all it’s the singing and lyrics, in method and melodic delivery, that conjure certain freak-folk furrows. Engle calls this “music inspired by ancestor music, sea shanties for seas we’ve never sailed” and the duo have indeed forged a collection on “Darling The Dawn” where vocals often feel strangely rooted in traditionals, while the instrumentation resonates out-of-time, in a liminal space at once glisteningly synthetic and oxidized in analog patina.”
Tally Mark Sighting
It’s a sad and beautiful…tally mark
Down By Law, by the fantastic director Jim Jarmusch, is one of my absolute all-time favorite films. If you know me well enough, I’ve probably crusaded for this funny black and white comedy about three vagabonds ending up together in a tiny prison cell. It stars none other than Tom Waits (!), Roberto Benigni (!!), and John Lurie (!!!). There are great performances from Rockets Redglare and Benigni’s wife Nicoletta Braschi, as well. Lurie and a small band did the soundtrack(!!!!) with additional songs by Tom Waits, Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas, and Roy Orbison. The cinematography by Robby Müller has a slow-moving, deliberate pace that I love.
One of my favorite scenes in Down By Law is the “I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For Ice Cream” prison scene. Of course, I noticed some funky tally marks on the wall behind them, during a recent viewing. I don’t think that I have ever seen someone use more than 5 slashes in their tally marks before. It’s just a tiny detail that I happened to noticed this viewing. I (ahem) chalk it up to the three characters’ stir craziness, having been pent up together in their small cell. Either way, it is a fantastic and surprising scene that kills me every time I view it. (I don’t want to give too much else away)
If you haven’t seen Down By Law yet, put it on your must-see-films list. I’ll admit that it isn’t for everyone, but if you do see it let me know what you thought. I think it’s brilliant.
Down By Law is streaming on Criterion Collection and Max right now. I believe that you can rent it on Apple TV as well.