Rick Potts is having a solo art exhibition and will play some concerts in Japan this November.

In Tokyo, on November 4th, Rick will play with Tori Kudo (Maher Shalal Hash Baz) at Super Deluxe.

A custom limited edition CD-R by Tori Kudo and Rick Potts titled “Ka-Bella-Binsky-Bungo” (AKA “How Beautiful the Choreographer’s Stew”) was released this July by dependent direct sales (dds) in Tokyo. Each copy is different with special surprises inside and one of five different drawings by Rick on the disc. It was recorded at Rick’s house when Maher Shalal Hash Baz visited LA in 2003 and were his guests. The duo album seems to have been almost sold out but there are plans for a US version to be released some time in the future. This release prompted the invitation for Rick to visit Japan and perform with Tori Kudo at Super-Deluxe. The show will be recorded and plans are to release this as well.

FUKUGAN GALLERY co-sponsored the trip with Super-Deluxe by booking a solo art exhibition and performances in Osaka. 

His paintings and drawings will be exhibited at FUKUGAN GALLERY in Osaka and the show runs from November 5th and lasts until the 19th.

At the opening reception on Nov. 5th there will be a presentation conducted by Takuya Sakaguchi, a long-time supporter of the LAFMS, entitled "Slow... Life Avant-Garde - the Wonderland of Rick Potts". Tak will deliver a slide-show presentation introducing Rick and the LAFMS.Rick will demonstrate his homemade and reconfigured musical instruments. Special guest guitarist Reizen will perform and Rick Potts related videos will also be screened.

This program has been organized as a benefit with fifty percent of the proceeds donated to people suffering from the tsumani and earthquake that devastated a large area of Japan.

A show collaborating with Osaka noise creators is being organized. This noise session is scheduled for November 11th in Osaka (venue TBD). Master noise veterans Jojo Hiroshige and Masahiko Ohno (Solmania) will collaborate with Rick along with Kazuya Ishigami (aka Daruin).

Tom will be showing four of his book jacket designs that he’s done for Tosh Berman’s TamTam Books, including covers for Serge Gainsbourg and Boris Vian titles, as part of Monsieur Gainsbourg. Opening is Thursday, September 22, 5:30 - 8.30 pm, and the exhibition runs Friday, September 23 through November 11 at Here is Elsewhere Gallery at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles.

To mark the 20th anniversary of the disappearance of actor and singer Serge Gainsbourg, Monsieur Gainsbourg is an exhibition that not only aims to pay homage to the cult artist, but also to reveal how he continues to be an inspiration for the 21st century. Photographs from cult and avant-garde artists and friends of Gainsbourg will be shown in L.A. for the first time, while contemporary artists have been commissioned to present their own interpretations of Serge. The program will also involve conversations, video clip and musical performances (to be announced). With works by: Franck Habicht, Kami, Vanessa Atlan, Tom Recchion, Jules Muck, Robert Schwan, Remy Bond and more.

Here is Elsewhere Gallery
Pacific Design Center
8687 Melrose Ave., Suite B231
Blue Building, Second Floor
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Hours: Tuesday through Friday 11-5 PM and by appointment
www.hereiselsewhere.com

Southern California will be transformed for 11 days in January with more than 25 performances and large-scale outdoor sculptures. Part of the region-wide Pacific Standard Time initiative and presented by organizations throughout Southern California, the festival will feature restagings and reinventions of works created and performed by Los Angeles artists between 1945 and 1980.  The famous Live at the Brand Library concert by Le Forte Four will be recreated as part of SASSAS's contribution to PST, "Welcome Inn Time Machine" on January 29, 2012. "WITM" will feature a number of mini-concerts, each in its own hotel room, representing milestones across the sound art and music scene in Southern California, from the 1950s to the 1980s.

Tom Recchion passed along this YouTube video which shows Smegma on a TV news piece from 1988 for "Bud's Ball", a celebration presented by Mayor "Bud" Clark of Portland.

Newscaster to reporter: "... you told me earlier you liked Smegma..."

In the days before the LAFMS, Joe Potts, co-founder of the LAFMS, along with Vetza, the vocals behind the noise, were in "The Pep Boys", an acoustic band that covered early swing (late 20's to early 30's.) This vintage photo is by Dan Dinjian, circa 1970.

L-R: Joe Potts, Allan "Casey" MacGill, Vetza, Steve Ochoa.

The Pep Boys, c. 1970.  Photo by Dan Dinjian