I’ll have something more substantial up soon, but it’s been a busy period for me (unlike last summer, when I was basically a jobless bum with loads of time on my hands). I have some cool stuff in the works that may be of some interest to some people, but that’ll have to wait. In the interim, though, I thought I’d share this…In the wake of the death of Alan Vega, I stumbled upon the video below from about three years ago. I must confess that I had zero idea about Roxiny, but hearkening back to Lavallete’s oddball, pop cover of the Cro-Mags’ “Malfunction,” this striking young lady delivers a ... well not quite a cover of Suicide’s “Cheree,” so much as an homage, inventively splicing in bits of swooning R&B, dancehall reggae and old-school Hip-Hop over a sample of the original’s unmistakable foundation.
While I might normally grouse at this sort of stuff, I actually think this works pretty well –- especially augmented with period-specific images of NYC. In this instance, it’s not just appropriation. The video, it turns out, was helmed by former Gray member, Michael Holman. Roxiny writes…
Special thanks to Alan Vega & Martin Rev of Suicide, and to friend, director, screenwriter, musician, and artist, Michael Holman, for giving us access to his personal archive. Michael Holman is a pioneer in the Downtown New York Art Scene and Uptown Hip Hop, Holman founded the band Gray - an industrial atmospheric, noise group - with painter Jean-Michel Basquiat, as well as created and produced the first Hip Hop television show, Graffiti Rock. Holman is a writer/director/producer of film and television, writes film and art criticism, is a painter of splendid works on canvas, and through his revolutionary vision, Holman has helped set the stage for a new epoch in world culture.
Should you be curious, hear Roxiny discuss this song’s roots, her love of Suicide and more here.
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