Van Dyke Parks singles series

SINGLE CYCLE: At this juncture, it seems entirely fitting top to note that legendary artist, composer and producer Van Dyke Parks, a one man-compendium of American music, is putting out series of seven-inch vinyl singles with cover art from some of Parks’ prominent peers in the graphic arts. This set of tunes, which reprerents Van Dyke’s first new studio music in over 15 years, will be released on his own Bananastan label and distributed by City Hall/ Runt worldwide, starting in August. Each single will be adorned by "a work of art that relates to the music within," as Parks put it. The first two releases will be the Ed Ruscha-illustrated "Dreaming of Paris" b/w "Wedding in Madagascar" and the Art Spiegelman-illustrated "Wall Street"b /w "Money Is King." "They are from highly different genres, each of them,” Van Dyke explained in his inimitably convoluted fashion. “They don't cohere. They belong somewhere. But the emphasis on the visual art is a big, big deal. These are the pre-eminent American artists of our time. We're calling it ‘Nouveau Niche.’” (5/13a)