2011 January 15

The Danchall Reggae Cover Art of Wilfred Limonious

Back in the early 90′s, while record diggin’, I picked up Josey Wales Undercover Lover offa the strength of the amazin’ cover art. So when WFMU’s Beware of the Blog hipped me to an online archive of Limonious’ album artwork, I knew I was in for a treat!

“Who is Wilfred Limonious?
Limonious is a graphic artist who created many of the most memorable jamaican LP covers of the eighties and early nineties. His work remained relatively unknown outside of Jamaica because most of these records were never released internationally. Reggae and Dancehall aficionados frequenting vinyl import stores around the globe however often keep fond memories of these rare records not only due to the music but also because of Limonious’ vivid and often hilarious illustrations. Digging deeper into the crates one will also find examples that go beyond the often cited cartoon characters. Particularly his hand-made renditions of those geometric shapes that were ubiquitous in the eighties have a charm of their very own.
Unfortunately virtually nothing can be found on the web about his personal life and his current whereabouts. Only this: User kalcidis at roots-archives.com mentioned in a forum post that he was “pretty sure” that Limonious has passed away in the first years of the new millennium.”

- The Wilfred Limonious Archive

☛✸Electrik Slide Show✸☚

File under Arts 'n Crafts, Culture, Influences, Music, SeMeN SPeRmS Approved, SeMeN SPeRmS BLArRrG

Conjured by o~ SeMeN SPeRmS ~o on January 15, 2011

Tags: 1980s, 1990s, 80's, 90's, Art, Artist, artwork, Cartoon, Characters, cover, Dancehall, eighties, Gallery, Graphic Design, Jamaica, jamaican, Music, nineties, Records, Reggae, SeMeN SPeRmS, SeMeNSPeRmS, typography, Vinyl, WFMU, Wilfred Limonious

Good Copy Bad Copy (2007) Copyrights and Culture

Here’s a documentary about the current (okay, it’s a few years old) state of copyright and culture in the world, mostly focusin’ on the musical element of sampling and remix culture. The filmmakers go around the globe, from Nigerian Nollywood to Brazilian Tecno brega to Sweden’s The Pirate Bay, to put the limited idea of American intellectual property rules in perspective. Never really felt Girl Talk, but the dude’s pretty endearin’ in this, so maybe I won’t judge him so hard in the future…maybe.

File under SeMeN SPeRmS Approved, SeMeN SPeRmS BLArRrG, SeMeN SPeRmS ViDeO CLuB

Conjured by o~ SeMeN SPeRmS ~o on January 15, 2011

Tags: America, American, Art, Bedroom Music, Blog House, Blogfamous, Brazil, Copyright, Creative Commons, Culture, Documentary, Failing Music Industry, Film, filmmaker, Future, Illegal, Intellectual property, judge, Legal, Nigeria, Nigerian, Nollywood, Pirate Bay, property, Remix, Sampling, SeMeNSPeRmS, technology, TV, United States, World

Afghanistan: Drugs, Guns and Money (2007)

Narrated by Colin Friels and produced by Chris Hilton, Afghanistan: Drugs, Guns and Money asks these difficult questions by following the journey of this years opium crops, tracing the drug trafficking routes heading north from Afghanistan through the nations of the Old Silk Road on its way to Europe.

The film examines who are the winners and losers as the crop finds its way to market. The awesome beauty of the landscape provides a powerful backdrop for the treachery uncovered each step of the way.

Like a cancer, the heroin trade has spread its tentacles through almost every level of society. In Afghanistan there is mass local addiction, local HIV epidemics, an unending cycle of violence and crime, and the corruption of state institutions.

With the war on terror raging, the war on drugs has slipped down the priority list of the current US administration. But, in the crucial frontline states of Central Asia, these two wars are inextricably linked… a fact all too often ignored.

The business is booming. Afghanistan and its near neighbors still supply around 80 per cent of the heroin sold in Western Europe. Yesterday’s drug lords are today’s cabinet ministers. How much of a problem is it for America (and the West) that many of its newest allies are implicated in one of the most lucrative drug routes in the world?