Art for Progress wants to say goodbye to 2017 with the best electronic music albums of the year.

Below you find our year-end top ten AFP picks that we have selected especially for you. The list includes a video and the label info where the records have been published.

2017!  It was a great year for music in the world with many awesome, high quality albums created by the most talented artists from across the world.

Enjoy the new year and may your 2018 be full of good music!

Happy 2018!

1. LCD Soundsystem – American Dream. DFA and Columbia Records.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKeJFxwuBBE

2.  Björk – Utopia. One Little Indian Records.

3.  Laurel Halo – Dust. Hyperdub.

4. Four Tet – New energy. Text Records.

5.  Bonobo – Migration. Ninja Tune.

6.  James Holden – The animal spirits. Border Community.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj35YNtP3IE

7. Powerdance – The Lost Art of getting Down. Powerdance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHrBXKtc0Sc

8.  Charlotte Gainsbourg – Rest. Because Music.

9. Errorsmith – Superlative Fatigue. Pan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fsCgZh6E8k

10.   Arca – Arca. XL Recordings.

Nerea T. Ruiz

Paradise is an interactive version of The Garden of Earthly Delights which was created in 2016 for the 500-year anniversary of Hieronymus Bosch’s death.

This artwork consists of a curious animated short film that recreates similar characters and the landscape of the original, but represents the excesses and desires of modern society- such as sex, power, consumerism, corruption, entertainment, religion and food.

The original Bosch’s triptych includes God presenting Eve to Adam, animals and nude people. Studio Smack‘s version shows funny details with spaceships, Hello Kitty, Coke, headless fried chicken and fantastic characters. What the animation and Bosch’s triptych have in common is that you’ll hardly be able to take it all in. You can watch it for hours.

The characters are 3D modeled, geometrically incorrect and represented in a bi dimensional picture of historical context. They were rendered in Cinema 4D and later composited in After Effects. Each of them has their own animation loop.

Courtesy of First Run Features

Around a decade ago, Jonathan Olshefski began taking photographs of a basement music studio in North Philadelphia, a hangout for local hip hop artists. The planned photo essay would reflect working life vs. creative life, specifically that of music promoter/producer Christopher “Quest” Rainey, owner of the studio. But Olshefski got so caught up in Rainey’s life and that of his family, that he wound up switching to film and shooting for almost a decade.

The result is Quest, an intimate documentary about a working-class African-American family struggling — and ultimately coping — with crime, poverty and illness. For those who aren’t familiar with rough neighborhoods like North Philly, the film also offers a glimpse into an impoverished but tight-knit community that is both frustrated and hopeful about its prospects. Neither glibly upbeat nor utterly despairing, the film achieves a believable balance that seems to reflect the current situation of so many Americans.

Courtesy of First Run Features

Quest, which opens with the 2008 presidential election as backdrop and closes with Trump soundbites from the 2016 debates, includes various events as time markers, including Obama’s second win in 2012. Though Quest, who exhorts his community to vote, is clearly thrilled with those victories and is suspicious of Trump’s promises to African-Americans, it becomes pretty obvious that the national political scene doesn’t really have much of an effect on the day-to-day realities of his neighborhood.

At the beginning of the film, we see preparations for Quest’s marriage to Christine’a (“Ma Quest”), after 15 years together. We meet their young daughter PJ, an aspiring DJ, and William, Christine’a’s son from an earlier relationship. The father of a brand-new baby boy, William has just been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor and must undergo treatment, with the support of Christine’a and Quest. She already has a challenging job in a women’s homeless shelter, while Quest delivers neighborhood circulars in addition to doing various household chores and walking his daughter to the school bus daily. He also hosts gatherings at his studio for passionate young hip hop artists, as much to keep them out of trouble as to give them an outlet for their aspirations. We watch him interact with one of his main artists, Price, as the latter is clearly still struggling with alcohol addiction despite his protests to the contrary.  Quest is clearly frustrated – he had high hopes for the rapper, which included his own success – but continues to work with him.

Courtesy of First Run Features

From what we see in the film, the Raineys have an easy rapport with each other and with their community, for whom they are pillars—Christopher with his studio; and Christine’a, who is a kind of den mother (as she wearily testifies), hence the nickname “Ma.” Though William’s diagnosis is a hard one, the couple and PJ provide solid assistance, including care for his infant son. William himself is understandably less sanguine, at one point expressing frustration with chemo’s side effects and his inability to find a good job because of his condition. We watch the Raineys toil at their respective jobs, with Christopher finding release in the studio, where mentoring young locals feels like concrete action.

When despite their best efforts, violence befalls the family, it’s a real test of their mettle. Due to their stature in the neighborhood, they have the support of many, including local cops, which helps them get through it. Ultimately,  the Raineys, along with the community, find cause to celebrate.

As an engaging portrait of a typically atypical American family and their environment, Quest is that most successful of nonfiction films: a specific window into others’ lives and a cogent representation of a bigger picture.

Quest opens on Friday, Dec. 8, at the Quad Cinema, NYC.

—Marina Zogbi

On Wednesday 17th November, Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece Salvator Mundi, became the most expensive artwork ever sold, after being purchased for £450M during an historic event celebrated at Christie’s auction in New York.

The two hour auction took place at Christie’s with a total of sold artwork in the amount of $692 million ($785.9 million with fees), on 58 lots. The sale unexpectedly turned into a historic show.

Since the auctioneer Jussi Pylkkänen announced lot nine: Leonardo Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi (circa 1500), it took 19 minutes to sell the artwork for $400 million ($450 million with fees). People clapped and laughed during the unbelievable show. The sale of Davinci’s painting resulted in the most expensive piece ever purchased at an auction and broke all the previous records in the history of art, including the $179.4 million for a Pablo Picasso painting at Les Femmes d’Alger in 2015.

The crowd came to Christie’s expecting a show, and in the end they finally got history.

Salvator Mundi represents a secular image of a a serene-looking Christ dressed in blue and holding an orb. It also shows an ambiguous gender aspect about his appearance that makes it very mysterious and special.

The picture is one of fewer than 20 works by Leonardo still in existence. It’s hilarious that the painting was sold by London’s Sotheby’s auction house in 1958 for less than 50£ when experts refused to believe Da Vinci painted it. For many years it was considered as the work of one of Da Vinci’s students.

Salvator Mundi, which was painted in 1506, was owned by King Charles II. It spent most of its life in London before eventually ending up in the hands of art collector Sir Francis Cook.

Finally the painting was sold this month at Christie’s NYC by Russian billionaire Dimitry Rybolovlev who bought it in 2013 for $127.5 million. The owner of the most expensive art work ever sold, it is not known yet.

Nerea T. Ruiz

The Alien franchise comic books are about to get a makeover.

Although the title has remained popular throughout the decades via various mediums, the comics barely hold the excitement and passion that were ignited by the first film. To reinvigorate the franchise, the company hired acclaimed cartoonist James Stokoe as writer and artist for a new miniseries.

The first comic book under his leadership is entitled Alien: Dead Orbit #1. Vice shared their interview with the veteran illustrator, where he expressed his love for the franchise and how he’s changing his style to fit the series. “I saw the second film at the perfect age—around 12 or so—and I instantly loved everything about it. Then I saw the first film and the sequels, and I turned into an Alien sucker for life,” he gushed.  (The following images are previews from Dark Horse Comics)Stokoe approached the franchise with more suspense than he’s used to in his previous works. He did this to stay true to the films but admitted that it was challenging nonetheless. “I’ve never really done a horror-type comic before, so the pacing is a completely different animal than what I’ve been used to,” the artist stated. He went on to note that he had to redraw some pages to get them right. He views this experience as a major learning curve in his career.

James Stokoe is known for colorful, bombastic and action-packed illustrations. Other comics he has worked on include Wonton Soup, Orc Stain, Strange Tales, and even Marvel’s The Avengers. He relayed to Comics and Cola how he progressed into the impactful independent artist he is today. “I was definitely drawing them before I was reading them. Like, I knew from a young age what they were, but never owned any until I had met a friend with a collection,” he confessed. His ability to layout incredible details is among the traits that are often admired by both readers as well as other artists. This level of dedication inspires fellow indie artists to further hone their craft, despite the challenging situations in the industry.

Stokoe is well aware of the circumstances, too. In terms of his career path, he says that he just goes with the flow. The Canadian artist professed, “Enjoyment and a bit of money is all I’m really asking for. I like to draw, and I like to eat!” He hopes that more talented illustrators and writers will be given the chance to showcase their creations and realize their dreams.

Since the announcement of Stokoe’s involvement with the Alien franchise, Dead Orbit #1 soon became one of the most anticipated comic books of the year. It was even listed by The Guardian as one of the comic books to watch out for in 2017. It was mentioned that the pairing of Stokoe and the Alien franchise was “worthy of notice”. The Guardian describes Stokoe as a rare cartoonist gifted with both technical ability and the capacity for developing beloved characters without straying away from their essence. Paired with Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant, they herald 2017 as a banner year for the franchise.

True enough, the comic became a massive hit when it hit the shelves last April. Nikki Powers of Comicosity even gave it a 10/10 rating after reviewing the issue. She exclaimed, “If you’re an Alien/Aliens fan, you won’t want to miss this book. This first issue captures the horror ethos of the first movie: the dread, the solitude, the unknowing, all while introducing you to a foul-mouthed action-oriented crew, much like the space marines in Aliens.”

The Alien franchise is one of the most iconic sci-fi franchises ever made, so it’s no wonder Stokoe jumped at the chance to be affiliated with it. Its reach is far and wide, and the films have had success in every continent they’ve been released in since the franchise’s inception. Similarly, the many games the Alien franchise has released have also had success. Among them Alien: Isolation, which was released in 2014 by The Creative Assembly is held in high regard and has been downloaded from Steam by hundreds of thousands of sci-fi gamers. Additionally, the franchise collaborated with Slingo to create the Aliens slots game, which consists of three levels – each one incorporating the characters and settings of the original cult classic. The franchise has permeated almost every aspect of visual entertainment, and Stokoe is just the latest artist tasked with breathing new life into it.

With all this positive media attention brought about by Dead Orbit, the future looks bright for Dark Horse Comics and James Stokoe. The independent artist is one of many new artists that are turning the spotlight on the art of comic books and graphic novels. And by touching on a legendary franchise, his stock will undoubtedly rise in the coming months.