The Strawberry Alarm Clock

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I’m on a total psychedelia groove at the moment—again—so expect more posts like this. The iTunes playlist is stuck in 1965–69 and doesn’t exclude moments of kitsch psych such as Incense and Peppermints by the Strawberry Alarm Clock, their debut single and a big hit from 1967. Thoroughly infectious and redolent enough of the era to feature in the first Austin Powers film, nothing else they produced came close. There were other soundtrack moments, a track called Pretty Song was featured in Psych-Out (1968) and the band themselves appear in Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970), one of many reasons to watch that lunatic movie. I always liked this sleeve design—printed in a number of variations—but even that pales next to their surfboard-shaped guitars, created specially for the band. Read more about them here.

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Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
The album covers archive

Previously on { feuilleton }
Exotica!
The art of Bob Pepper
A splendid time is guaranteed for all
Heinz Edelmann
The L.S. Bumble Bee

Paula Nadelstern’s kaleidoscope quilts

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Kaleidoscopic XXXIII: Shards (2008).

More kaleidoscopes, the sewn variety this time, from New York quilt maker Paula Nadelstern. Amazing work, especially in the detailed views. An exhibition, Kaleidoscope Quilts: The art of Paula Nadelstern, opens at the American Folk Art Museum, NYC, on April 21st.

Via DO.

Previously on { feuilleton }
Deluxe kaleidoscopes
The Kaleidoplex

Versum – Fluor by Tarik Barri

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Regular readers will know I’ve enthused before over the electronica of Robert Henke, aka Monolake. The Monolake site recently resumed its monthly free downloads and the offering for this month is a 9-minute piece of abstract video by Dutch artist Tarik Barri. Fascinatingly immersive, this is like a 360º view of the Star Gate from 2001: A Space Odyssey accompanied by ambient drones and rumbles. Henke and Barri are planning on touring this audiovisual experience with a couple of dates already announced on Barri’s website.

Previously on { feuilleton }
Moonlight in Glory

Arthur Tress’s Hermaphrodite

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Hermaphrodite behind Venus and Mercury (1973).

We had Austin Spare and absinthe yesterday. Looking at some of Arthur Tress‘s photographs today I was reminded me of one of Spare’s hermaphrodite studies (below). The photo is from a series, Theater of the Mind, which Tress created during the 1970s.

Arthur Tress at GLBTQ

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Gynander: Mutation by Besz-Mass (1955).

Previously on { feuilleton }
Czanara’s Hermaphrodite Angel