As everyone may or may not know, I got nothin' but love for Phantom of The Paradise in all of its camp and glory. Paul Williams is basically some kind of evil genius? Here he is singing The Hell of It from The Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew Meet Dracula :
While on the subject of Phantom, can I just say that Winslow Leach (The Phantom):
should be receiving royalties from Marilyn Manson for biting his style.
And now for something completely different and off-topic... Jamie T is back! Please check out the video for Fire Fire
Sunday, Sunday is for relaxing and shaking it to the sweet, sweet rock n roll. You know some people have sold their souls for it?
Visions of the past, present, and future fill my mind these days. I don't know if I consider myself superstitious, but some signs cannot be ignored. Many years ago I was driving home from who knows where in the wee hours and along with the White Castle boxes and the cast of usual garbage littered about, there was a bunch of Tarot cards. Yes, in the light from my headlights, there were Tarot cards haphazardly, taunting drivers and I was taking no chances. My luck is shit enough without that hanging over my head, so before I reached the cards, I stopped in the middle of the road and made a detour.
Demonic Cat by Graffiti Island has been stuck in my head and played a lot recently. The lyrics are solid gold and give me a warm fuzzy feeling when I see my own little kitty acting out the scenarios in the song.
I know I posted about Fever Ray last time, but since then the video for the first single has been released. It is chilly and beautiful. The album is pretty fucking magnificent and we should all own it.
Fever Ray 'If I Had A Heart'
Food drama is no fun. I love Cookstr for the easy navigation and brill ideas when I'm tired of everything, they can even "Surprise Me". Love it. These delicious little bastards are too yummy for words:
Sleep has been missing from my existence lately, but more on that later. As usual, life has been stabbing me up with icicle daggers, which is quite green really since I can use the shards to make cocktails. Speaking of ice, I am so captivated by the beauty and artistry of ICEHOTEL. Take a moment to visit the site and check out the various creations, for each room features a different theme as its inspiration.
City Movers by Benny Ekman One room that caught my eye is City Movers , but they are all amazing in their own unique way. I want to visit. Now.
This song has been in my head, so now it can infiltrate yours as well. The Knife - You Take My Breath Away
Fever Ray is exciting me. Karin's voice is so distinct and wonderfully eerie.
Back to sleep or should I say my lack of sleep? Images visit me in folds of fabric, but I'm not lucky enough to have wicked Dali designed dreams like those featured in the clip below from Spellbound (I just get demons, lions, birds, and contorted faces):
Movies keep me company when I should be hanging with Morpheus. Recently I watched two films that were quite nice. Wristcutters: A Love Story was a lovely film about life after suicide and it features Tom Waits and lots of music by Gogol Bordello. Another strangeness regarding music played in the bar scenes, was the fact that they used only bands who lost members to suicide, like Joy Division and Christian Death.
The second movie is nothing shy of magnificent! Phantom of the Paradise is brilliant and I love everything about it. The costumes, the music, and the way the "Phantom" gets disfigured is genius on a silver platter. Glam baby!
Sometimes you just want to be all enclosed away from everything (maybe it would help me sleep better?). I was going to post a beautiful picture of a snuggly cocoon, but rather than looking warm and cozy, they just looked like a tampon. Bummer. Besides, my isolation would possibly end up a shambles like the Ab Fab episode Iso Tank.
I try not to label music, because sometimes an artist/band/whatever you prefer, has such a varied sound that it is often stifling to them and difficult and unnecessary to the listener. Like "Punk"...what the hell? It confuses me, but I like the confusion. I watch the interviews of artists who seem insulted by the term and then there are the ones who love it and wallow in it. Whatever you choose to call it, I would like to quote the wise oracle: Music makes the people come together. Personally, it is definitely a "whatever floats your boat, it floats mine" situation.
The Kid are a Swedish band I am taking for a spin. This song was chosen because it fits the theme of the day, plus I just feel like it.
Upon first listen, I had a love/hate relationship with Helen Love but today it's all love baby. I love the insanity, the references/name-dropping in the songs, and the speed. It's quite fun.
The video I am posting is really good and features interviews with a lot of people that you do not see in the usual "punk" documentaries, such as Jordan and Jerry Nolan!! I cannot lie...I saw The Sex Pistols reunion in 1996 and I loved it. My favorite moment of the show was the madness that was the opening riff of Pretty Vacant, which as we learn in this documentary, borrows from one of the best bands ever : Abba!!! It's a bit long, but so worth it.NSFW.
Punk and The Sex Pistols
Reggae in its many styles was a favorite of a lot of the early bands like The Sex Pistols, The Clash, and The Slits. The heavy melodic bass sounds soothe and lift. We find ourselves wandering, yet guided by the music that watches over us and our delicate aural apparatus, time and time again.
This is another video that is everywhere at once, but it's too catchy to ignore.
Le Roux - Quicksand
This was a difficult post because I had to use massive restraint. There are so many songs that could have been posed. Reggae and dub would have been absolutely mental since there is so much greatness, but I had to resist. Same with the punky music. A specific example is the version of "London Boys" from Johnny Thunders' album "So Alone". If you are familiar with the song and the lyrics, you would see the flakes of awesome irony that is Steve Jones and Paul Cook from The Sex Pistols contributing guitar and drums on that version. I've lost control again.
Well, this week has been intense, so I'm going to keep it short and sassy. I will say that I am over people trying to cover their creepiness by claiming they are "artists". If you have to keep reminding people that you are an "artist" (Please note sarcastic quotation marks enveloping the word artist. I am talking about a specific type of skeeze here.), maybe you need a new game plan? I know it's always a gamble meeting people in altered states in clubs, but bullshit is bullshit, and my bullshit meter was a tickin'!
Anyway, speaking of artists...I'm really liking The Phantom Band and the pictures of their live performances on their page made me think of Magritte's The Lovers jamming the feck out.
I'm in a gooey, poppy, nearly demented state caused by The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart and I must admit that I like it. Imagine Shoegaze stylings entwined in a ball of pink cotton candy and it would maybe sound like this? The video is also sugary sweet.
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Everything With You
Marybell Katastrophy are another band I've been listening to a lot as I walk through life. I am actually having a hard time describing the music since it seems different from song to song, but the one consistency is that it's a solid album.
I don't know much about The Airborne Toxic Event other than the fact that I am loving their sound. I am into lyrical content and they deliver both musically and lyrically, which leaves me happy and intoxicated.
The Airborne Toxic Event - Sometime Around Midnight
I know this video has been on every blog and its mama, but this is so good that I'm going to post it too. I loved this song the second I heard it and I put it on a mix for a fellow blogger and I told him they would be taking over blogs and music sites in general. I was right. Bump ya'll if you are over the song, because this video is some epic Duran Duran shit:
Street photography is something I've always been interested in,because it makes such random day-to-day activities that may be taken for granted seem fascinating. The spur of the moment shots and the realness are what appeal to me the most. Bruce Gilden is a photographer I enjoy not only because of his work (A Beautiful Catastrophe is my favorite), but his personality. In the video below, I think he is spot on with a lot of his comments, so take a walk with Bruce:
Dancing is good for you. Fact. I like to let loose and be as decadent, insane, naughty, and fun as I can be on the dancefloor...otherwise, what's the point? Sometimes you just have to shake a tail feather and give in to the music and the atmosphere. Shake your rat's nest!
While on the topic of dance and decadence, Anita Berber was a performer who embodied decadence in her dancing, acting, performance art, and life.
The Dancer Anita Berber, 1925 Otto Dix (German, 1891–1969)
Let's face it, music has intoxicating, magical, and healing powers. Whether we are being moved by the bassline, having our heartbeats replaced by something more pleasant pulsing from the speakers, or allowing it as a whole to feed us and nurture us...it has been and always will be there. Music is a constant. The music posted above is for bringing the heat, so these are for cooling it down a bit...just a wee bit though, so don't get all kooky.
Be warned...I'm feeling nostalgic. In the early 1990's I was freakishly into Brit Pop and found myself checking out magazines like Select for my fix. Today, I watched an episode of Seven Ages of Rock, which was dedicated to British Indie and it took me back to times of extreme drunken behavior, dancing, and late-night sing-alongs. Now that I think about it, except for the music, not much of that has really changed and I like it that way. Would you like a ride in my time machine?
Phonogram is a brilliant comic that also took me back to Brit Pop. Everything about this was brilliant: the story, the characters, the art! The cover art for all issues referenced album covers that were a big deal at that time, take a peek and see if you remember the albums. The following is a tribute to Pulp's This Is Hardcore:
The Long Blondes are no more, but they have a Brit Popiness about them. This video is a tad bit scary...like some hipster eye porn with a Cindy Sherman-style wig tossed on it:
