2007 Celluloid Redux

C E L L U L O I D

1 Inland Empire
2 Control
3 The Science Of Sleep
4 I’m Not There
5 A Prairie Home Companion
6 Paranoid Park
7 Bug
8 Sherrybaby
9 La Noche De Los Girasoles
10 Two Days In Paris

2007 Music redux

...Phew, this has been a vintage year for music... I have spent a very long time agonizing over my top 20 and the order therein.... the remaining 50 or so are in no particular order.

1 Future Artists - The Dead C
2 Boss - Magik Markers
3 The Bark Haze (Vinyl)- The Bark Haze
4 Trees Outside The Academy - Thurston Moore
5 Split LP - Thurston Moore/Graham Moore
6 Remains - Religious Knives
7 Electricity Ghost - Charalambides
8 Green Blues - MV + EE And The Bummer Road
9 Unmuzzled Ox - Sunburned w/Paul Flaherty C40
10 Saw A Halo - Mouthus
11 Yankee Psychic hygiene 7” - Elisa Ambrogio and Karl Bauer
12 Person Pitch - Panda Bear
13 James And The Quiet - Wooden Wand
14 Shelter From The Ash - Six Organs Of Admittance
15 Feels Like Frenching - Leslie Keffer
16 Z - Sunburned Hand Of The Man
17 Tromatic Reflexxions - Von Südenfed
18 Stereo Mars - Lambsbread
19 Weirdo Rippers - No Age
20 XI - The Howling Hex

The Spring press 12" - Magik Markers
Likeness - Charalambides
S/t - Basalt Fingers
Black Weeds/White Death - Thurston Moore C40
Cataracts - X.O.4
Macannabis - Bark Haze C30
Kumpiny Night - V/a CDR
Dear Companion - Meg Baird
Gilded Splinters: Tape Work 1995-2005 - Bruce Russell
Dark Stars EP - White Magic
Panzer Division Lou Reed - Sunroof!
Reformation Post TLC - The Fall
Strawberry Jam - Animal Collective
Power(Fallujah Version)7” - The Dead C
Dispersed Royalty Ornaments - Skaters
Moonlight In Vermont - Emil Beaulieau
In Brooklyn After Dark 12” - Religious Knives
Jiwana - Jim O’Rourke
There’s No Home - Jana Hunter
The Volodor Dance (Vinyl re-issue) - Magik Markers
Through The Panama - Sightings
“Total Joke Era” - Bark Haze
Load Blown - Black Dice
Behold Secret Kingdom - Raccoo-oo-oon
Split 12” - Panda Bear/Excepter
Reformation Post TLC - The Fall
Hallucination Guillotine / Final Worship - Kites
Follow This House - Mouthus
We Are Him - Angels Of light
Love Is Simple - Akron/Family
People EP - Animal Collective
Mirage Of The Other - Zaimph
Three Sparkling Echoes - Birchville Cat Motel
A Tear for Every Grain of Sand - Pocahaunted
Blood Lightning 2007 - Burning Star Core
Hunted Gathering - Pocahaunted + Robedoor
Split 7“ - Michael Yonkers /Little Claw
The Squid - Aaron Dilloway & C. Spencer Yeh
Carrion - Jana Hunter
Bird Sister Blasphemy - Birchville Cat Motel
Strangle The Wretched Heavens - Charalambides
Everyday World Of Bodies - Burning Star Core
The Valerie Project - The Valerie Project
Ask Forgiveness Ep - Bonnie “Prince” Billy
Excellent Italian Greyhound - Shellac
Gettin’ Gone - MV + EE And The Golden Road
The Acidic Wing - Blood Stereo
Spit and Squalor Swallow the Snow - Little Claw
untitled - Kemialliset Ystävät
Valley Of Fire - Jackie-O Motherfucker
Alone in the Dark Wood - Fursaxa
Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind - Vashti Bunyan
Part Two The Endless Not - Throbbing Gristle
And Their Refinement Of The Decline - Stars Of The Lid
S/t - Liars
Luck 12" - Religious Knives
Alles Wieder Offen - Einstürzende Neubauten

Archivo #1

I originally posted this on another blog somewhere OUT THERE on WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2006

Today I cried real tears. I did too...
After following a link to view Public Image Ltd performing on American Bandstand in 1980... previously to this I'd seen a brief extract but never the performance in it's entirety... and what a treat it was...
All nine minutes and fourty sumptuous seconds to be exact.
Oh my god! it all came back in one fell swoop...
What it means to be truly inspired and to live your life with courage and audacity...
To have enough attitude to demolish buildings...
Where anything is possible in a Werner Herzog "I will walk across continents in my bare feet just to be able to make my next film" type of attitude... not the attitude culled from false pride, but that which comes from purity of intent and above all integrity. (remember that?)
Now believe it or not I have endeavored to live my live by these ideals...
Ever since I was 15 when I read the first interview with the Sex Pistols in Sounds (1976) and the attitude of Mr John Lydon spoke to my heart and captured my mind like a rush of amphetamine.
The tears came from a sudden realisation... my ducts let forth when the span of time slapped me in the face. I was confronted with my youth and my ideals,
caught off guard in the crossfire...
But do you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way. It doesn't matter that every member of this band have since gone on to disappoint so badly... believe you me at the time this was the real deal.
Ladies and Gentlemen watch, listen and weep.

Daydream Curtis...

The Sun Is Cruel

July 31 2007

"EUGENE IS NOW SAFELY BARKING IN BOOTCAMP. HE WAS A VERY GOOD BOY ON THE JOURNEY. I'M VERY PROUD OF HIM."

"YES I'M V EXCITED GOT TO GO TO BED SOON THOUGH. GOTTA GET UP REALLY EARLY. HOW ARE YOU ?"

"PLEASED YOU HAD A GOOD DAY... I'M GOING TO BED IN THE NEXT HOUR !. AFTER A CERVEZA OF COURSE. DESPERATE TO MEET YOU IN BARCELONA MAñANA XXOO"

"AAW HAVE ONE FOR ME XXOO"

August 1st 2007

"I'M HERE DUDE !. I'M ON THE BUS + I'M FUCKING EXCITED ! !. THE SUN IS SHINING + I FEEL REALLY FREE AND GLAD TO BE ALIVE. HURRY UP AND GET HERE ! XXOO"

"SI ES CALIENTE !. I'M ON THE BUS NOW WAITING TO LEAVE FOR BARCELONA. ...PHENOMENAL ! XXOO"

"YES I DID ! + I'M SURE THE SERVICE ASSISTANT WAS ENGLISH. IT WAS REALLY FUNNY ! XXOO"

"HOORAY I'M OFF !. CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU XXOO"

"I AM SITTING BY THE ARC DE TRIOMPF BAKING IN THE HEAT !. I REALLY NEED TO GET SOME WATER... OR A BEER OR 2 !. I LOVE YOU !!! XXOO"j - "WHERE ?. XXOO""I'M IN DESPERATE NEED OF A COLD SHOWER !. I AM SAT IN THE SQUARE NEXT TO THE HOTEL XXOO"

"SI SI XXOO""IT ISN'T HERE... THE SUN IS CRUEL XXOO"

"IT'S STARTING TO MAKE ME FEEL A LITTLE UNWELL XXOO""I AM GOING TO GO AND SIT IN THE OASIS BAR NEXT TO THE OASIS HOTEL XXOO"

"I'M INSIDE NOW AND FEEL A LOT BETTER XXOO""I AM NOW SAT IN THE SQUARE AGAIN WAITING FOR YOU !. XXOO"

Catalytic Convert...

It was the perfect moment during an already perfect sunny afternoon by the Thames... I was sitting outside the Queen Elizabeth Hall with my loved one putting the world to rights over a beer or two, both pre and post a screening of the 70's British movie That'll Be The Day at the BFI. We had, had quite a few beers and the discussion turned to our lives together these past 8 or so years... we've been through a lot together you see... and we are still just as strong and maybe even stronger than before... feared by many, understood by few. Then in a moment of pure sun kissed bliss a girl approached urging us to look at a piece of paper that she was eagerly pushing in our direction. On it was a drawing that her younger sister had been toiling over as we were wrapped in close conversation, unaware that we were being observed during our private ruminations. It consisted of a panoramic view of the London skyline opposite, beautifully rendered in early childhood evocation... and there we were for all to see, dominating the foreground space in our mutual euphoria. The mood perfectly captured in infant simplicity. My first thought was that it was the most beautiful drawing that I'd ever seen and I needed to take it home with me as a memento of this wonderful day. But the little girl very wisely declined my request.... reluctantly we then waved goodbye and wished them well as they moved away in the direction of the tube station. The image is however now permanently engraved on my consciousness, never to be forgotten and always to be summoned when I'm standing in the face of adversity.

Lynch travelology

So it all started with a special screening of Inland Empire at the NFT... followed by a Guardian interview and a Q + A session with the great man himself. I very rarely get star struck but I couldn't help but be moved after seeing the amazing latest installment of Lynchworld, (which in itself is enough to bring me to tears of pure joy) followed by the one and only David Lynch in the flesh onstage. I stood up with the rest of the audience, stamped my feet and heartily cheered, only too happy to gave it up for one of my favourite people on the planet... what a special moment, indeed something to cherish forever. Mark Kermode proceeded to ask questions that struck just the right note, he is obviously a David L fan... I was in rapture and wanted the whole experience to last forever. I particularly enjoyed observing David's silhouette against the big screen as scenes from Blue Velvet, Eraserhead and Fire Walk With Me were projected directly behind him onstage. What an interesting experience it must have been for him to be so close to his creations in all of their grainy celluloid glory.Jump forward to a scorching hot day in Paris en route from our hotel on Rue de Vintimille to the Foundation Cartier pour l'art contemporain on Boulevard Raspail (via the Galerie du jour Agnès B, 44, Rue Quincampoix which had a show by Roberto Martinez called Artistes Encore Un Effort. The previous exhibition had been a collection of stills from Inland Empire, interestingly enough)... I already had a blister on my left foot after a marathon of fevered walking in Barcelona, (which we had just flown in from) and was on a mission to catch David's massive retrospective exhibition "The Air Is On Fire" before closing time as we were due to fly back to London the following day...phew. Anyone with a modicum of Parisian street knowledge and suss will tell you that this walk is epic to say the least... especially when you don't really know where you are going and are stranded without a map in the baking, febrile Parisian heat... we eventually found the Galerie du jour Agnès B in a condition that felt very much like our little British heads were frying on a very large French griddle... there is only so much culture that you can take in, in this state of enforced heat induced torpur, so after a brief visit to the gallery we decided to hop skip and jump onto the Metro to curtail our epic journey and arrive at the alter of Lynchworld refreshed and more attentive.This did not happen however... now I don't want to sound overly dramatic... but I was fucked... literally. The last 4 days had been consumed by Barcelona... constant movement and perpetual sensory overload. So here we were in Paris on the cusp of witnessing something that we had been looking forward to, and had planned for months, barely able to put one foot in front of the other. I distinctly remember handing my euros over at the entrance and then everything going into slo-mo overdrive. Like being trapped in a soundscape by The Caretaker... or the Double Leopards, I was awash in a world without gravity. I somehow managed to move into the main exhibition space on the ground floor desperately trying to keep my balance... this is the closest that I've ever come to complete physical exhaustion. Boy o boy what a state to be in to witness this amazing exhibition.I was in a state of complete shock to add to my exhaustion... a lot of these images were very familiar to me as I have actively followed his work since the early 80's when I first saw Eraserhead in Birmingham (of all places)... I have made sure that every ounce of Lynchian magic has not escaped my greedy grasp ever since... as fast as he produces it... I consume every last drop. (you get the picture?) So actually being able to see these works in the flesh, rather than looking at them in books or on the internet was positively mindblowing... of course there was still a lot of unseen gems to discover as well. It was emphatically transcendental being able to see his black and white photo's up close and personal... especially the snowmen series. The whole building was flooded with a soundtrack that he performed himself at the private view.... and added a suitably Lynchian aural landscape to the garden of earthly delights that was on show. The presentation of the work was very carefully considered and executed by the man himself and it was an absolute pleasure and a joy to get lost in the beauty of it all... his paintings, drawings, photographs... little scribbled notes from notebooks and various napkins. Everything that you ever wanted to know about this man was visible for all to see in his art work. Downstairs there was even a facsimile of the Eraserhead stage set where the lady from behind the radiator danced her beguiling two step, which housed a large screen where you could watch all of his short movies, website projects etc. You could also, quite literally, walk into one of his drawings ... I could go on and on waxing lyrical about this once in a lifetime show... the precious time that I spent there pouring over his unique vision will stay with me for a long time. After fully satiating ourselves we eventually arrived back at the hotel completely exhausted and overwhelmed by the whole experience. There was only one thing to do, get some sleep and dream of future endeavours.Sometime later back in London by pure unadulterated coincidence I found myself back at the NFT in the audience for a 'Masterclass with Mike Figgis'. To my absolute surprise and delight, before he arrived onstage there was an unscheduled screening of a small DV movie that he had made in Poland interviewing David on the subject of DV movie making!. Once again I was plunged into Lynchworld and I savored every single second of it... I love it when life springs these delicious little surprises on you..Which finally brings me neatly back to Inland Empire, which was shot on DV... but you already knew that right!. What a pleasure and an absolute luxury it is to lose yourself in this truly inspiring piece of cinema. At this point in time I feel that it is his most essential work. I defy anyone who has seen it and is open to the myriad possibilities of imagination, not to be stunned and intrigued by the scene towards the end of the movie where Laura Dern is staggering down Sunset Boulevard fatally wounded. She collapses on the pavement between three homeless people and expires... that is the end of that you innocently think to yourself... then a completely off kilter dialogue emerges from the three characters and you find yourself transported to another world. That is the beauty of David Lynch and that is the beauty of imagination... get on it.

Untidy endings

There is a phenomenon that I've noticed over the years that has separated amazing movies from merely good or adequate ones. This involves the cop out of a nice safe tidy ending.... am I the only person who doesn't need every loose end to be neatly tied up for me, or events to reach a logical conclusion to make me feel satiated, comfortable and happy that I've seen a movie that has everything in the right place... including narrative, characterization and plot development. What has happened to the spiky unpredictable, not always happy or resolved finale that has left me breathless and invigorated, challenged, provoked, inspired and panting for more. I am of course referring to the heady days of the late sixties and early seventies when the art of movie making was all of these things and more and still managed to fit into the mainstream. Which brings me neatly onto Harmony Korine's new movie Mister Lonely... here is a guy who really knows how to make a movie.
I await it's release with baited, expectant breath...

Flower

...Okay, I'm going to keep this pretty esoteric... in a couple of weeks my life will change irrevocably. It's all very, very, very, very good and it involves the extraordinary temporal universe that is contained within these beauties...

Barceloneta #2

So I fell in love with Barcelona and saw my future laid out before me like a rather pleasing display of Nigiri-zushi ...amazingly portentous stuff. As I wandered the streets taking in the sights, the smells, the grit, the beauty. This beautiful urban crumble could not fail to both captivate and provoke. I am of course talking about the oldest southern parts of the city... The underbelly that consumes the powerfully devicive side streets and alleyways. The cultural danger of El Ravel... the ancient squares and quarters of Barri Gótic and La Ribera, the dense brown earthy sandland that is La Barcloneta, which literally breathes the hot aromatic air of relaxed mediterranean chaos into your central nervous system whether you like it or not... and delivers you breathless to the brutality of the toilet. That's right I was fucking excited and still am. I had a hardon for my entire stay. The latin way of life seems very exciting and exotic through the eyes of this pasty sensualist wannabe... The strange thing is that I can see myself wandering these dusty narrow streets, or shuffling down to the gloriously industrial Barceloneta beach when I'm in my 70's.... totally relocated, safe and sound, hermetically sealed in the lens of my camera... taking photographs, being touched by bliss. And of course there is the compellingly brusque lyricism of the Spanish language.
My conversion is total.






All of these incredibly beautiful Barcelona photographs were taken by Crisis Deepens

Barceloneta

las palabras vendrán...

Healing fingers...

...sending out some healing fingers to Pete Young... get well soon. x

Tulsa goddamn...

Cookies and Cream...

Cookies and cream vinyl...kinda beautiful... don't you just love it when you hear a record for the first time and it completely blows you away and you are sure that it is the best thing that you have ever heard? well I have just experienced this rare phenomenon with The Bark Haze Lp on Important records... this is my record of the year already... I can't see anything beating it. This essential piece of vinyl works on so many levels... each of the three tracks are hermatically sealed in their own conceptual perfection... all dressed in a sleeve full of Bill Nace drawings... the macro orgasmic power drone of side 2 flutters and fluctuates through a universe chock full of repetition and variation... the clanging sonorous guitars duel in an aspic golden heaven, the workouts circular and perfectly formed.... the sound is harsh, black and indestructable like the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey... whenever I hear an amazing piece of music that shakes me to the core... I'm reminded of an object... and/or a scenario, sound translates into 3D mass... inexplicably. (The Stooges s/t... Pastrami on rye - Bad Moon Rising - Sonic Youth... a 70's transistor radio - Joy Shapes - Charalambides... frozen tree trunks... For Sada Jane - Magik Markers... a summer breeze gently turning some plastic windmills)... also this handsome chunk of inspiration was a gift from the person that I love the most in the world... life just doesn't get much better than that.

Satan, sin and death... a scene from Milton's Paradise Lost...

...That's how it seemed to me as I went on a late night trawl through the Current Hogarth exhibition at the Tate Britain. Some friends were performing as part of a series of special nightime gallery openings. To say that it was a strange affair is an understatement... kind of like being trapped in a bad movie... when you get to the vaguely unconvincing hallucinogenic scene that makes you cringe with embarrassment because the art director, cast and crew have got it so, so wrong. Imagine if you will the very staid and stuffy interior of this 'great British Museum'... it's walls dripping with 16th, 17th and 18th century British art juxtaposed with silly middle class art students and the odd brace of 'with it' parents and OAP's running around spilling their wine and controlled abandon in the direction of anyone who was looking... to a soundtrack of Fuck Off "... If you don't want to fuck me baby well baby fuck off." by The Electric Chairs... you get the picture. Actually I had a really good time and my friends looked fantastic in their powdered wigs and 17th century night dresses. We ended the evening in the dressing room where I fought to shield my eyes from a flurry of underwear, tits and smudged makeup... lubricated by alcohol and sweat.

Stereo Mars a go go...

...So this is really exciting, the debut Lambsbread platter arrived in the post today and I'm currently listening to side two which is beautifully heady and expansive... Side one starts with a great live vocal exchange before heading off into hard fought oblivion... the Lambsbread speaks!. I have a slight headache which only adds to the delicious freeform din... these guys are really hot at the moment so catch them while they still smoulder. I was lucky enough to witness their gloriously brief appearance at the Thurston Moore's Nightmare Before Xmas festival last December where they were truly spectacular... you can see me here... the taller guy just underneath Zac's right elbow gazing on in rapture... They are reportedly touring the UK with The Skaters in June so get out there and soak it up while you can.(Ecstatic Peace E#105c ...Stop press - as of 03/03/07 there are only 74 copies left!!!... don't sleep.)

Real dramatic stag recording. Rated XXX

Stereo 8 or something

...Indeed thoughts of Sonic Youth performing 'la Daydream Nation'... can these impossible dreams and surefire aspirations be reproduced in another time and context...? the tinkle of thurston's Providence toy piano fills the room with astonishment and amp fuzz a plenty.... Michael Lavines tungsten drenched shots of the band in the broken alleyways of New York make my heart swoon with wonder. It's impossible for me not wax lyrical about this beautiful period in Sonic Youth's history and indeed my own history... for they were both inextricably intertwined in the same tempestuous sea of hope and fearlessness.