What a weekend -- the weather was perfect and the funk was most definitely in effect with sets by Roy Ayers, WAR and The Ohio Players -- but the show-stoppers of the weekend were Philly's own supremely funky Urban Guerilla Orchestra on Sunday afternoon! Check out their clip below..

This year's Festival exceeded all expectations, doubling last year's attendance record with crowds topping 200,000 and drawing audience from all over the country! Our hats are off to festival organizers and the West Oak Lane community for their dedication and hard work in making this world-class event a reality - now recognized as one of the largest and most eclectic free outdoor festivals in the nation. And thanks again goes out to the folks at uwishunu for sponsoring the free shuttle!

Visit the uwishunu flickr page to see photos from the weekend!

Philadelphia CityPaper
April 25, 2007
by Mickey Jou

You might not recognize the name Philip Glass, but you know his work: He's the all-but-ubiquitous composer behind the scores of films such as Candyman, The Hours and, more recently, Notes on a Scandal. For the last month and a half, the Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts' Stedman Gallery has screened films scored by Glass in anticipation the Oscar-nominated composer's April 29 visit. Glass will participate in a moderated discussion and perform selections of his work in a solo piano performance.

HerJazz
by Maria Tessa Sciarrino

OK, if I wasn’t in the throes of covering the Popped! festival, I would be totally going to this...

Metroblogging Philadelphia
by Marisa McClellan
April 13, 2007

I had to watch Birth of a Nation in a high school social studies class. For those of you not in the know, it is a film by D.W. Griffin that is about the Civil War and the creation of the Ku Klux Klan. It was released in 1915, generated much controvery and made a whole lot of money. It is famous both for it's innovative film techniques and the oppressive and racist perspectives it presents.

Tonight at the Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts, DJ Spooky will perform what he calls a "digital exorcism" of this film (and I do believe it could use it)...

Phillyist.com
By Katie Kuhl
April 13, 2007

If you’ve got nothing to do tonight, or if you’ve got something to do, but want better plans, head over to the Gordon Theater, and check out DJ Spooky’s self-proclaimed “digital exorcism”: “Rebirth of a Nation.”

Commissioned by the Lincoln Center Festival (amongst others), DJ Spooky created "Rebirth of a Nation" in 2004, and has been touring it ever since. It is based on the filmThe Birth of a Nation by D.W. Griffith (which gave rise to the movie industry while promoting the KKK). The show is made up of DJ Spooky's remixed footage from the original film on three screens with a trip-hop soundtrack...

Popmatters
by Anita Schillhorn
April 13, 2007

It's important to reexamine America's racist past, but is it enough to simply recontextualize the same old images? For better or worse, DJ Spooky throws down the gauntlet, remixing and recasting DW Griffith’s Birth of a Nation...

..Needless to say, it’s rife with meanings to be questioned, juxtaposed, redefined, mashed up, and spit out, and who better to do that then the philosopher-king of remix culture? An ongoing exhibition/touring project, DJ Spooky’s Rebirth of a Nation uses both added filmic effects and musical remixes to reimagine the aging tale through a modern lens. And what better place to address some of these issues than Rutgers University, the school at the ugly end of the recent Imus controversy?

Courier-Post
by Jason Nark
April 13, 2007

D.W. Griffith took a critical era in American history, cut it up, mixed it back together, and presented it to the public as something different in 1915.

The result was The Birth of a Nation, a controversial and influential film that depicted, some would say in a racist manner, freed slaves and carpetbaggers wreaking havoc on Southern, white culture in the Reconstruction era and a virtuous Ku Klux Klan rising up to protect it.

Now almost a century later, Paul Miller, aka DJ Spooky, is doing a little cutting and mixing of his own. Miller will be on stage at Rutgers-Camden's Walter K. Gordon Theater tonight for a multimedia performance of Rebirth of a Nation, which he likens to a "digital exorcism" of Griffith's epic but explicitly racist film.

"I basically apply the DJ technique to film. It's kind of a different show every night," said Miller from his home in New York recently.

Miller has made a career coloring outside the lines of the stereotypical club DJ. He's really a conceptual artist whose inspirations include W.E.B. DuBois, Grandmaster Flash and James Joyce. He's worked with Yoko Ono and the drummer for the metal group Slayer, and recently authored Rhythm Science, a book that delves into the relationship between DJ culture and contemporary art...

Phawker.com
April 11, 2007

1915’s “Birth of a Nation” was the film that simultaneously launched the modern movie industry and gave the Ku Klux Klan a foothold in the 20th Century.

Friday night is the Philly premiere of a film project that DJ Spooky
calls “a digital exorcism” .. taking the original 1915 footage and
doing a live 3-screen video/audio remix that turns the tables on the
original..

DJ Spooky's spin on 'Birth of a Nation'
By Shaun Brady
The Daily News
April 11, 2007

THE FAMILIAR image of the DJ hunched over a pair of turntables doesn't quite describe the innovative approach of Paul Miller, aka DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid.

Where other DJs remix songs, adding beats and blending melodies, Miller remixes culture in his style-blending music and as a writer, producer, critic, philosopher and multimedia artist.

On Friday at Rutgers-Camden, he'll present his multimedia performance "Rebirth of a Nation," bringing the art of the remix to one of history's greatest and most controversial films, "Birth of a Nation."

"Cut, splice, scratch - it's all about editing," explained Miller about transferring his DJ techniques to a visual medium. "When you see someone spin records, they're taking bits and pieces of any performance - classical, hip-hop, etc. In the era of software, it's all about compositional strategy."...

also linked: remixtheory.net

The Philadelphia Inquirer
A gritty "Christmas Carol"
by Rusty Pray
Dec 15, 2006

Philadelphia Weekly
October 11, 2006
By Maggie Serota

Jeffrey Parks was so moved by Steve Volk’s PW stories covering thugs-turned-indie-filmmakers Shawn Banks and Rick Kennedy and their documentary Close to Death that he tracked the duo down. Now he’s debuting their visceral and brutal portrayal of Camden and North Philly street violence at the Artists United Against Violence summit held at the Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts. Parks, the Rutgers University performing arts programs director, explains, “These weren’t film students, but they turned the camera around on real people, examining the impact of gun violence. The film is rough, raw, and real.” Close to Death bears a graphic but cautionary tone akin to the classic Scared Straight TV specials. Parks hopes it’ll inspire kids and young adults to make different choices than the people portrayed in the film: “Some of them aren’t with us anymore.” Following the screening, a panel of community leaders and activists will address the issue of gun violence. Closing the event will be a free all-ages concert headlined by Roc-a-Fella recording artist and recent Roots collaborator/rapper Peedi Peedi. (Maggie Serota)