Yamaha unveils a new electric motorcycle at the Tokyo Motor show.

(via InHabitat)

Posted by Wills Glasspiegel
wills@greenowl.com

"On June 30, 1960, Patrice Emery Lumumba stood in sweltering heat before an enthralled crowd of millions in Kinshasa to make the first Independence Day speech in his country’s history. The Republic of Congo was newly free from colonization and Lumumba, an anti-colonial fighter, was its first legally elected president. He began in measured, reflected tones urging his countrymen and women to fulfill the realization of dreams they and their predecessors held for generations.

“We are proud of this struggle, of tears, of fire and of blood, to the depths of our being, for it was a noble and just struggle, and indispensable to put an end to the humiliating slavery which was imposed upon us by force,” he noted referring to the notorious Belgian rule. “… Our wounds are too fresh and too painful still for us to drive them from our memory. … I ask you unconditionally to respect the life and the property of your fellow citizens and of foreigners living in our country. … Our government, strong, national, popular, will be the health of our country.”

Ten weeks later, Lumumba was deposed from government and later executed in a coup led by a military officer named Mobutu Sese Seko, plunging the country into more than 40 years of strife, exploitation and unrealized possibilities."

Words: Jimmie Briggs
Photos: Nabil Elderkin

TO GET INVOLVED CHECK OUT:
http://www.oxfam.org
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org
http://www.healingartsafrica.com
http://www.care.org/careswork/countryprofiles/115.asp

(via kanYe West)

Posted by Benjamin Bronfman
ben@greenowl.com

After CMJ'ing till 6 in the morn at the GREEN OWL party, Lee and the Midnight Rockers Express keep our journey going with a new mix curated by Knox Robinson.  Download the mix and stream it here from Brooklyn Radio. 

From MRE: "Knox Robinson is the special guest on the 17th edition of the Midnight Rockers Express for Brooklyn Radio. Robinson is a writer, creative director for Green Owl Records and the manager of Brooklyn MC Theophilus London and South African prog rock force the BLK JKS. Here he offers up tracks from BLK JKS critically acclaimed debut After Robots along with unreleased exclusives from the band and selections from his personal record collection. MRE's DJ GetLive! expertly mixes together all these elements for a trip that begins and ends in Johannesburg while making stops in Accra, El Ayun, London, Mzuzu, Detroit, Bamako, DC, Kingston and NYC."

Posted by Wills Glasspiegel
wills@greenowl.com

Posted by Wills Glasspiegel
wills@greenowl.com

Last night I checked out the soft-opening of FELA on Broadway...
Get your tickets before they're all gone.

Posted by Wills Glasspiegel
wills@greenowl.com

Triassic from natilu on Vimeo.

(via GBQ)

Posted by Wills Glasspiegel
wills@greenowl.com

Space-based solar power, lithium air technology, giant batteries, carbon capture, algae bio-fuels...
Full story here in The Wall Street Journal.

Posted by Benjamin Bronfman
ben@greenowl.com

Grime king, KANO jumps on board with THE VERY BEST for a new remix of "Julia" presented by RCRD LBL.  Find it here.   Also, while searching for pictures of Kano (the rapper), we happened upon this scorcher from Kano, the Italo Disco band:

Posted by Wills Glasspiegel
wills@greenowl.com

The Empire State Building went tie dye last night to celebrate the Grateful Dead. 

(full story via Gothamist)

Posted by Wills Glasspiegel
wills@greenowl.com

GREEN OWL PRESENTS THE CMJ SHOWCASE
TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE AT WWW.LEPOISSONROUGE.COM
TWO ROOMS OF PARTYING ALL WEDNESDAY NIGHT!!!!

Posted by Vanessa Bronfman
vanessa@greenowl.com

Mike started Culture System.org

Last week at the new Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, I got together with Mike M, the founder of one of our favorite blogs, Culture System.  Here's how it went down.

How did Culture System begin?
The name Culture System is supposed to mean the process where different aspects of a culture influence the whole. Specifically, how music and the arts influence society and vice versa.

How does your background of journalism inform the way that you write about and collect music?
Well, I spend more time researching than writing when it comes to journalism. Same goes for digging and music blogging. Also, I recognize the value of original material. Any I try to stay balanced and not be overly opinionated. Crediting my sources is another important thing.

Is there an entry on your blog that best represents the convergence between hard non-music journalism and music writing?
Probably the Policy category, which is lighter on content than I'd like it to be. http://culturesystem.org/category/policy/ I guess discovering new artists is like breaking news. But CS is definitely music blogging, not music journalism, which isn't necessarily worse, just different.

Melodic Wonkster by Waer Rock

How is the concept of "local music" related to what you do on the blog?
I see value in regional scenes. It's good for creating longer lasting, higher quality scenes and that is good for New York as a whole. And strong local cultures have a bigger impact nationally and globally. But good ideas can come from anywhere, so I'll also write about anything of quality, regardless of locale.

Where is DJ culture going right now?
Sailing?

How do you select the tunes in your mixes?
I look for themes in the music that I've been finding and once there's a sort of critical mass, I pursue that theme to flesh out a full mix. I like to include new, unreleased, undiscovered tracks and the occasional classic on the mixes.

What first sparked your love of obscure music?
I actually like all music, regardless of how well known it is. But in terms of the music I choose to use, I like to introduce tracks to people they probably haven't heard.

Take us with you as you dig for new tunes.  What's the journey like?
Did you know they use bad music as a form of torture? There's LOTS of bad music out there.

Who are some of the people you admire in politics right now?
Ralph Nader's older stuff.

What's your daily life like in New York?
You ever see Sex and the City? Nothing like that.

How is the city changing for the better right now?
Well, New York is the safest big city in the country these days. But it's so expensive and restrictive these days that the arts have suffered.

Charcoal Drums by Waer Rock

How is visual art a part of what you do with your blog and mixes?
I used to be a visual artist and still have a lot of love for it. I think that cooperation between the different arts makes for a more satisfying whole. I like to include other artists' work on the cover of my mixes. It's like finding another song for the mix. Same goes for the individual posts. I dig for imagery fits the music I'm writing about.

Do you have a hometown?  How does where you're from affect who you are in New York right now?
I moved around the East coast a lot and never really put any roots down. But I always had a sort of bias against tradition anyway. So I try and take the best from all cultures and create a new one for myself. New York is the only place big enough in the US to satisfy all of my competing interests. But like I mentioned before, the cost of living is so high here that it's hard to plant the roots of new ideas and give them the opportunity to grow into maturity.

Posted by Wills Glasspiegel
wills@greenowl.com

"Members of the Maldives' Cabinet donned scuba gear and used hand signals Saturday at an underwater meeting staged to highlight the threat of global warming to the lowest-lying nation on earth."

Full story via NYTIMES.

Posted by Wills Glasspiegel
wills@greenowl.com

XXYY_oO from danny southern on Vimeo.

Posted by Wills Glasspiegel
wills@greenowl.com

New_Africa_(ZAKEE_KUDURO_REMIX)

Green Owl is proud to present the Zakee Kuduro and Buraka Som Sistema song "New Africa"!!! This beat has been broadcast on many blogs in the last few weeks and we're honored to be posting it here.
For more go to myspace.com/zakdabeast  
Happy Listening!! 

Posted by Vanessa Bronfman
vanessa@greenowl.com

Cool Places and National Geographic team up to present Javelin and Janka Nabay this Saturday night in Williamsburg.   The free show kicks off around 9pm at Zebulon and goes late.   Javelin plays at midnight and Janka hits at 1am.  

Here's what happened when THE VERY BEST played the last Cool Places party at Zebulon...

Posted by Wills Glasspiegel
wills@greenowl.com