Documents from Gilberto Gil's Private Archive

A very gracious Gilberto Gil, world-renowned musician and Brazil's minister of culture, spoke eloquently about his civic duties in Brazil as well as his 40-plus year career in the music business. He waxed philosophical about everything from the invention of the Tropicalia music movement to nano technology. "Silicon Valley is a byproduct of psychedelic culture. It's not by chance that Silicon Valley is in California, near San Francisco," Gil jested, drawing laughs from the audience of more than 200 panel attendees. Gil spoke about the implications of Brazil's international economy and exportation of culture. "Hip-hop has an international currency in Brazil," he said. "It's a language now, recognized as a very important form of expression. It's giving (young people) an opportunity to express their thoughts and their forms of resistance all over the world, and in Brazil also. Culture is bio-power. It's the power of life."... Even folks who got into the invite-only Gen Art party Wednesday afternoon at Beauty Bar weren't entirely sure what Gen Art was. As one generally informed scenester put it, "Uh, they're a Web site, maybe?" Well, here's info from the site: "Gen Art is the leading arts and entertainment organization dedicated to showcasing emerging fashion designers, filmmakers, musicians and visual artists." This means they throw parties, art shows and screenings. No wonder they set up at the Beauty Bar (and were co-sponsored by Biore, those folks who make the sticky things you clean your pores with). B.B. has become one of the Red River district's most egregiously fashion- victim-driven bars. This party was no exception. Skinny jeans, detailed hair and sunglasses indoors abounded. DJ Kat NYC spun well-meaning techno to an often-empty room for much of the day, but about 4 p.m. things got tighter. Early bands were met with small crowds (which Suffrajett's generic-ish hard rock sort of deserved) but headliners Menomena packed the house (or, rather "tent") with quirky indie rock. Indeed, their indie rock is the very definition of quirky (Baritone sax! Weird tempos!), but the kids loved it. And it kept them out of the rain.. Only a few days ago, Austin's DIY electronica sensations Ghostland Observatory were playing shows in Europe for the first time, making new fans in Camden and London. Wednesday afternoon found the dynamic duo – keyboardist Thomas Turner and vocalist/guitarist Aaron Behrens - dusting off the jetlag and performing to old and new fans alike at Seattle's KEXP 90.3 daytime live radio broadcast shows, which were held in KLRU's studios, on the same stage where "Austin City Limits" is filmed. Although almost all the studio's seats were full, enthusiastic fans arriving minutes before Ghostland Observatory's 3 p.m. start time were able to walk right in. The KEXP live broadcasts, which continue through Saturday, are free and open to the public, providing music fans who don't possess the now-coveted and expensive wristbands an opportunity to see several high-profile bands. .. Michael Corcoran, Parry Gettelman and V. Marc Fort contributed to this report. Find this article at: http://www.austin360.com/xl/content/events/stories/xl/2007/03/16source.html . Click to Print Check the box to include the list of links referenced in the article. SAVE THIS EMAIL THIS Close