Brand Library Plaza Series
AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2021
FRIDAYS AT 7:00PM
Join us for eclectic live music on the Brand Library lawn!
August 27 The Leftover Cuties (Rock & Swing)
September 3 Son Rios (Latin & Salsa)
September 17 The ROAMies (Contemporary)
September 24 Reckless Night Ensemble (Swing & Jazz)
Concerts run 60 - 90 minutes without intermission. Visitors are welcome to bring a chair or blanket and picnic on the lawn. Seats are not provided.
The Brand Library Plaza Series is sponsored by the City of Glendale Arts & Culture Commission through funding from the Urban Art Program, with support from Glendale Library, Arts & Culture and the Associates of Brand Library.
Additional information about the Plaza Series is available on our website, library event calendar, and Brand Facebook page.
Music Playlists
Listen to a streaming playlist from Freegal Music, Naxos Music Library, Naxos Jazz Music Library, Hoopla or Music Online from Alexander Street free with your library card. Alexander Street will ask for an academic institution, use Glendale Public Library.
Today's recommending listening is Doja Cat, Soul, Haydn, Har Dam Sahara, Grønvad/Søndergaard Quintet, and Emanuel Ax & Yo-Yo Ma.
Official (and slightly less-than-official) musical holidays in August include Elvis Week (August 11-17), National Polka Day (August 9), National Duran Duran Appreciation Day (August 10), International Strange Music Day (August 24), and Musical Yoga Day (August 26). Here are some fun streaming albums to celebrate!
New Music Books
Here are some cool new music books to check out! Find these books and many more in the library catalog.
Music Podcasts
Hanging On Sunset is a new podcast that started in October 2020. Hosts Fernanda and Vincent discuss new LA rock bands to connect musicians with new fans. Recent episodes have included local musicians such as Giant Killer Bats, Fox Violet and Never Loved. Other guests have included journalist Jes Fama and photographer Cody Smyth. A chance to discover some new local bands.
Mind Over Music is a new podcast hosted by Los Angeles musicians Robert Matsuda and Jeremy Gilien covering popular and classical music. Topics of recent episodes have included earworms, who are the four greatest composers, musical snobbery and music in the film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. (the library has the DVD, the novel on Cloud Library, and the soundtrack on CD and streaming. All available with your library card number.)
Films Online
In this new video, Dr. Adrian Smith records a rosy maple moth, a polyphemus moth, a dark marathyssa, a virginian tiger moth, a beautiful wood-nymph, a white-dotted prominent, and a blinded sphinx, while emphasizing their unique characteristics through voice-over narration. The moths’ take-offs were filmed at 6,000 fps by Smith of North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and North Carolina State University. All moths were released after filming.
Try a heartfelt stop-motion short written, directed, and animated by Claire Campbell, Winter’s Blight. In a clearing amongst a forest of pines lives a lonely old man who struggles to keep himself warm, though help comes from an unexpected friend. Watch the behind the scenes here.
Art Online
Go behind the scenes at LACMA and learn how a dedicated team of museum staff take care of the very popular kinetic sculpture, "Metropolis II" by Chris Burden. Check out Art + Work a close look at the work of caring for and preserving art at LACMA along with conversations with artists, Sundays Live music performances and more great content.
Watch a story about artist Yinka Shonibare. How did he decide to become an artist? What inspires him? Learn about his art in this short video for kids from the Tate Museum. The Tate Kids resources include short introductions to artists, activities, games and quizzes.
Eddie Opara summarizes color meanings and explains how he makes sure that a design functions in black and white before introducing color in this film from Adobe Creative. Also check out On Type with Erik Spiekermann, the world-renowned designer shares the essentials of typography.
Checkout some art books from the library in person or using our Contactless Pickup Services.
Brand Library Staff Reviews
Oral history becomes graphic biography and more with author and illustrator Keum Suk Gendry-Kim’s Grass. Grass tells the story of Granny Lee Ok-sun, a Korean woman who survived the period in her life spent as a “comfort woman” for the Japanese Imperial Army. Before and after WWII, the Japanese military operated areas of forced sexual slavery known as “comfort stations” in occupied territories involving hundreds of thousands of often coerced women. Lee grew up poor and her parents were forced to adopt her out at a young age with the promise that she could attend school. Instead, she was kidnapped as a teenager and spent several years in a comfort station before being freed at the end of WWII. There is nothing straightforward about Lee’s story; at no point in her life was anything easy including her older years as an activist fighting for her rights as a victim. When Gendry-Kim interviewed Lee at The House of Sharing in South Korea, a nursing home for former comfort women, her story began to be reimagined for black ink and brush. The illustrations emphasize the anguish of the experiences, but also, at times, the lack of emotion or disassociation taking place in the moment—occasionally the panels are completely blacked out. Gendry-Kim also illustrates her frustrations trying to uncover the history of comfort stations and the guilt she felt asking Lee to recount the painful memories of her life. There are, of course, moments of levity in Grass because Granny Lee Ok-sun is more than a story of tragedy or a person who wants and deserves justice. -SB
The Hu The Gereg (2019). The Hu is a Mongolian band that combines throat singing, traditional Mongolian instruments and hard rock. This is their 2019 debut and their only album to date. The four members play Mongolian fiddles, lutes and jaw harps in addition to singing. Throat singing is an ethereal type of singing using overtones and resonance in Tuva, Mongolia and Siberia. The band also has an additional four piece touring band with guitars, bass and drums. The band sings in Mongolian and lyrical themes include warriors, Mongolian history and legends. Topics that are ripe for metal and the English translations are in the booklet. The music is catchy, you probably will find yourself singing along even if you don’t know the language. Much of the music is folksong and chant-like so you won’t find outward displays of virtuosity except for the rich sound of the throat singing. Loudwire named the album one of the 50 best rock albums of 2019. Song of Women, The Same and The Gereg are my favorite tracks but it’s all fun and a new combination of sounds. More information is also available on their web site and YouTube channel. Since this release the band became part of the Star Wars universe releasing a song and video on YouTube for the video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order titled Sugaan Essena. -BW
Get a free Glendale Library, Arts & Culture Library eCard instantaneously.
It can be used to access online resources including eBooks, eAudiobooks, eNewspapers, eMagazines, online classes, online tutoring, and learning games, as well as streaming movies and music, and more!
If you don't already subscribe to our weekly Wowbrary email newsletter sign up here. Wowbrary contains all of our newest books CDs, DVDs and more for Glendale Library, Arts & Culture.
Covid-19 Resources
Reliable information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) is available from the World Health Organization, the California Department of Public Health, the Los Angeles County Public Health Department, the City of Glendale, and the Library, Arts & Culture department.
Resources for Music Businesses And Industry Workers, Playing for Change, Sounding Point LA
Resources for Freelance Artists, California Arts Council, Americans for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts
Comments