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late
adj. lat·er, lat·est
1. Coming, occurring, or remaining after the correct, usual, or expected time; delayed: The bus is late.
2.
a. Beginning after or continuing past the usual or expected hour: a late breakfast; a late meeting.
b. Occurring at an advanced hour, especially well into the evening or night: a late movie on television; the late flight to Denver.
3. Of or toward the end or more advanced part, as of a period or stage: the late 19th century; a later symptom of the disease.
4.
a. Having begun or occurred just previous to the present time; recent: a late development.
b. Contemporary; up-to-date: the latest fashion.
5.
a. Having recently occupied a position or place: the company’s late president gave the address.
b. Dead, especially if only recently deceased: in memory of the late explorer.
adv. later, latest
1. After the expected, usual, or proper time: a train that arrived late; woke late and had to skip breakfast.
2.
a. At or until an advanced hour: talked late into the evening.
b. At or into an advanced period or stage: a project undertaken late in her career.
3. Recently: As late as last week he was still in town.
Idiom: of late
Recently; lately: was feeling better of late.
__________
Molly Nilsson
‘Last year, John Maus’ We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves LP included a song by a little-known, Swedish-born synth-pop artist named Molly Nilsson. “Hey Moon” was a lovely, downtempo duet, offsetting the claustrophobic intensity of Maus’ originals with a moment of understatement and calm. What many of us didn’t realize was that, aside from Maus’ vocals, it was an almost note-perfect rendition of a track from These Things Take Time, a CD-R Nilsson self-released in 2008. Since then the interview-shy, Berlin-based songwriter has written and home-recorded no fewer than three LPs, and put all of them out on her own Dark Skies Association imprint. Like Maus’, her songs are built primarily from vocals and vintage electronics, with a comforting patina of false age.’ — Pitchfork
‘I Hope You Die’
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Death Grips
‘When you are mining the darkest corners of underground music on a regular basis, you are occasionally going to find something awesome that no one seems to know much about. If you are a music writer, you now have two choices, wait for further information to come out or write about it and admit your own ignorance. I am going to go ahead and run with the latter; Death Grips is either a band, an electronica side-project, a rap group, or a band with a rapper in it. You tell me. Their music may have a genre, but if so, I do not know what it is. Someone called Zach Hill is involved and apparently he is a Sacramento drummer famous for both his chops and a bewildering array of side-projects and band associations (Hella, Holy Smokes, Goon Moon, Marnie Stern, The Ladies, and a ton of other groups).’ — cool’eh
‘Get Got’
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Alexander Tucker
‘British avant pop artist Alexander Tucker has just released his much anticipated new album, Third Mouth. This album builds on the strengths revealed by his landmark debut for the label, Dorwytch released in April 2011, culminating in his finest work to date. Using songs written over a 12 month period he achieves his own inimitable blend of psych rock and ambient pop using a variety of studio crafted effects, rudimentary beats, guitar and bass, as well as synth and cello drones. He pushes himself even further however as he breaks new ground on the electronics only track “Rh” and heads further out into the deeper reaches of space with the sci-fi influenced cosmic meditation “Andromeon” as well as experimenting with more progressive song structures like those in “The Glass Axe”.’ — Thrill Jockey
‘Rh’
________
Anhedonist
‘Netherwards is a triumph of death/doom. For such an inherently simple style– death metal meets doom
metal in a ruined Gothic cathedral– there are an infinite number of ways to do it wrong: too sloppy, too forced, too wimpy, too bad. Luckily, we have bands like Anhedonist to carry the torch sparked by the likes of Disembowelment, Celestial Season, Skepticism, and Thorr’s Hammer and fan the flames with their own tormented take on the sound. Netherwards begins with silence, as “Saturnine” slowly slithers into earshot, then pulls the trigger with a merciless blast of crushing, lurching death.’ — Pitchfork
‘Saturnine’
____
Liars
‘Art-punk trio Liars will release their new album WIXIW in June, yet another record that ditches the previous model (in that case the more traditional rock structures of 2010’s Sisterworld) and moves immerses the band something almost entirely new: a world of computerized soundscapes and spooky synth-based songs. In the video for leadoff track “No. 1 Against The Rush,” we see a meticulous and creepy middle-aged man kidnapping all three members of the band and throwing them in the back of his van. It’s a masterfully rendered piece of deep atmospheric dread from director Todd Cole, and it’s also the rare music video that begs for a sequel.’ — Stereogum
‘No. 1 Against The Rush’
__________
Sean McCann
‘Sean McCann is a drone artist and a sound sculptor based in Los Angeles, California. McCann continues to establish himself in the circle of drone musicians since his wake in 2008. His vision is shaped by his approach, creating richly textured ambient drones and blissful synthscapes, each track with a unique instrumental axis. McCann’s orchestration has varied from banjo, violin, piano, electric guitar, to synthesizer and a plethora of other techniques throughout his catalog.’ — lastfm
Live at The Satellite, Los Angeles
_________
Spiritualized
‘After a four-year absence, Spiritualized are back, and the video for their comeback single “Hey Jane” is an appropriately epic one, a powerful ten minute drama about an Atlanta transvestite and prostitute struggling to provide for her son. Director AG Rojas has established a very specific, humanist style to date in his work with the likes of Gil Scott-Heron, and that carries over here; it’s not the most obvious fit for the track, but that makes it kind of brilliant, and we’d definitely peg Rojas as a potential to break out with a feature at Sundance or SXSW in years to come. Be warned, though, it’s a tough watch, and NSFW.’ — indiewire
‘Hey Jane’
_________
Julia Holter
‘On the face of it, the classically trained Julia Holter would seem to be operating at the opposite, arcane extreme to yesterday’s perky Japanese Britpop revivalists. And yet, oddly, there are several occasions when the monastic chanting and decorative drones on her album Ekstasis drift towards pop. It’s at times like these when you could imagine Ekstasis drawing a wider audience than perhaps even Julia Holter anticipated for an album inspired by medieval manuscripts, featuring ghostly, wafting vocals and accompanied by music apparently designed to be experienced in church.’ — The Guardian
‘Four Gardens’
________
Tim Hecker
‘On Record Store Day (which went down on April 21), Double Six released Extra Playful: Transitions, an EP featuring remixes of material from art-rock elder statesman John Cale’s most recent release, last year’s Extra Playful EP. The new EP features contributions from Actress, Alva Noto, Leyland Kirby, Maria Minerva, and Tim Hecker, who turns in this very Hecker-y missive of static ambient noise. The record is cut on white vinyl from the Japanese future in packaging designed by audio satorialists Satomi.’ — Double Six Records
‘Suffocation Raga for John Cale’
________
Purity Ring
‘“Obedear” is the Purity Ring song that most mimics a Grimm’s fairly tale, though they’ve had plenty of jams that beautifully combine the dark and the light. But “Obedear” is so specifically spooky that, underneath vocalist Megan James’ sweet, cyborg-y voice, lies the menace of a deeply screwed demon of a vocal, a voice that pops up every now and then to answer her high notes with hellish ones. It’s Little Red Riding Hood and The Big Bad Wolf dueting, a robotic, 2k12 version of a story that’s been frightening kids for hundreds of years.’ — Fader
‘Obedear’
_____
Actress
‘Actress records have always been a bit of a journey, but it’s never felt as literal as on R.I.P., which stumbles and fumbles through the dark, finding occasional pockets of light and life. The record is ordered with remarkable care, starting off slow with the more ambient title track and “Ascending” before coalescing into something recognizably alive with “Marble Plexus.” Burying a synth beneath blasts of fuzz-bass and shimmering hall-of-mirrors lightworks, its melody seems to squirm and convulse almost at random. It’s a tactile process that results in an album that feels like it’s being improvised live, separate even from previous Actress work which could still feel quantized despite its short-circuiting wires and digitized shrieks.’ — Resident Advisor
‘Serpent’
________
Lotus Plaza
‘Lockett Pundt has always been a terrific songwriter, with a knack for absolutely nailing the kind of complex and layered but still immediate and accessible melodies most of his contemporaries don’t touch because they don’t know how to amalgamate those two criteria. Pundt writes pop songs with six guitar tracks that are still pop songs – that’s what makes his music so interesting. That’s why you shouldn’t be surprised that Pundt made a record as good as Spooky Action at a Distance, his second release as Lotus Plaza. It is a revelatory record in the most literal sense of the word, in that it makes clear things that had not been clear: Pundt’s voice, instantly, obviously, but also the endlessly fascinating shifting complexity of his music.’ — Pretty Much Amazing
‘White Galactic One’
_________
Los Angeles
‘Michael Cameron (Waterlaso) brings his new musical project to Hollywood in style. With Los Angeles, Cameron can satisfy his electronica needs without worrying his Waterlaso fans, and that is what he did tonite, along with band members Christopher Dreisbach and Nick Cullen as the crowd liked what they saw and danced the night away… Much more than just a side project, Los Angeles is a collective of musicians and friends of Cameron, part the Mountain Fighting Records family and ready to take on the stagnant electronica scene in L.A. and the world!’ — Mountain Fighting
live
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*
p.s. Hey. ** Misanthrope, No, I know you like your rock catchy, so I’ll keep both of my ears and eyes open for bands that I think might fit your criteria, and I’ll try to remember to alert you. Well, that certainly isn’t my favorite Bill Kaulitz self-styling ever, but he himself still looks good to me. More lines, lines sweeter than the sweetest coke, I’m sure: excellent. ** Empty Frame, Jesurun tours, but not a lot. I don’t think he’s ever had his work performed in France, which is weird, but I’m using my post-‘TH’ ‘in’ to lobby the Pompidou to book him. DJ Spooky did some real nice work back when. I’ve found his more recent stuff that I’ve heard kind of quite blah. Mm, I think the only times I’ve read with music simultaneously other than in ‘Them’ was once, ages ago, with a punk/noise band, and it was horrible, and on a couple of long o.o.p. punk era albums of spoken word — ‘English as a Second Language’ and ‘Voices of the Angels’ — and for the collab EP I did with SAFE — but, in those cases, the sound/music was added later. Other than ‘Them’, I think reading live with music doesn’t function with my work. I think my work needs to be heard in isolation if it’s going to succeed aloud at all. That combo does work well with some writers for sure, the Acker/Mekons thing for example, like you said. Yeah, I guess it’s about the writer’s presence and theatricality, and I think the work has to have room in it and a somewhat flexible rhythm. I think my stuff is too locked down maybe. Hollande has an odd kind of charisma, and I think that, after Sarkozy, it’s the relief factor of his nerdy school teacher thing that appeals. Yeah, France might lose some multi-millionaires if Hollande wins, and a celeb or two, but I think they’re all saying they want to move to the US, so you guys may be spared. Thanks for the festival info. Yeah, SXSW-like, sounds that way. Could be very cool. That’s crazy about Elizabeth Fraser performing at Antony’s Meltdown. Does anyone know what she’s going to do? Could be incredible. I hope it’s not just her with an acoustic guitar or something. ** Dom Lyne, Hey, Dom. Yeah, funny how that works, right? I mean the best laid writing plans or non-plans in this case. I wonder if just removing the pressure on your writing triggers a flood of it or something. Yeah, I’ve been really loving the scrapbook pages that you’ve been posting on FB. They’re really beautiful and intriguing. So, kudos on the visual front too. Art making is pretty much the only way I know to keep the world’s wolves and rapists at the door. Not that it always works, but it can. Much love back to you. ** Cobaltfram, Hey! You’re half-real! Or I mean your new name is. My late Texan grandma mysteriously wanted us grandkids to refer to her as Fram instead of as Grandma or Gram or whatever. Maybe you and I are related, ha ha. I read something somewhere that was a sketchy but apparently official hint at what the new Kaufman film is like/about, but I just did a quick search, and I can’t find it, and I can’t remember what it posited. Me, I’ve been kind of wrenched from my downtime mostly ‘cos I have to start working on the new two pieces with Gisele. For the first/next piece, she wants me to write an actual, full-fledged short fiction piece based on the still sketchy elements of the piece that are in place — two characters (a woman and a young boy, maybe around 10 years-old) and the trippy Bulgarian disco-like set that I posted here a while back, etc. The idea is that I would write the fiction piece, and then the staged aspect of the piece would be based on the short story, and that the piece would conclude with the audience being given the short fiction piece, probably in a small book, which they would read afterwards to complete the piece/experience. A cool idea, but a lot of work. And I have to write out a scenario for the following piece — the big, long-in-process walk-through maze piece — to use basically to raise money to build it. And I’m working on two visual artist collabs. And I’m working my way (I hope) into a new novel. So, yeah, I’m kind of newly beset with a lot to do. Great news that you got work in on your novel. Well, the upcoming frustration can be great fuel to work on it in your head ‘all the time’. I always think the head work is one of if not the most important part, and that part can happen in-between everything else in an ongoing way. ‘The Weaklings’ is pretty hard to get. It was a limited edition book, and it’s been o.o.p. for quite a while. But I recently finished an expanded version that has all the poems that are in the ltd. ed. plus a bunch of other, newer poems, and I’m just about to try to find a publisher for it, so, if I can find one, that’ll exist and be easy to get. Awesome day and love to you. ** David Ehrenstein, I’ve already been reading some ridiculous, hysterical fear pieces in the US and in the UK about how France is about to destroy itself, Europe, the world with its scary Socialist government, ha ha. Well, as of this morning, it’s still looking very good for Hollande, although the gap between him and Sarkozy has narrowed a bit to 5-6 percentage points. Yesterday, the biggest centrist party’s head/candidate Francois Bayrou announced he will vote for Hollande, which is a very violent slap at Sarkozy because Bayrou, who might be characterized in US terms as the equivalent of a very moderate Republican, is no Socialist. Today is the last day of the campaign. France has this nice tradition of giving French voters a day to reflect on their own without any campaign input on the day before an election. The reason everybody is still nervous here is because no one really knows what the Far Right Le Pen voters are going to do. Polls say that most of them with leave their ballots blank as Le Pen has suggested, but there’s such a strong thing over
here about the importance of voting that it’s hard to tell if, when they’re in the voting booth itself, they might decide to just go ahead and vote for Sarkozy. That is basically the only hope Sarkozy has. Sorry to go on about this. I’m more than a bit obsessed with the election. ** 5STRINGS, Hey. Really? I like ‘pansexual’. But you know me and my love of puzzle solving. I think the only grave I’ve cried at was Rimbaud’s back in, uh, 1976. I haven’t cried at my mom’s, but it really freaks me out. Oh, sorry to trigger your Derrida collar. Well, not sorry at all, actually. I was was sleepy yesterday, but, anyway, the collar looks ripe on you, man. You know your shit, wow. I’m going to have to give what you wrote a close read after I take off my p.s. collar ‘cos it restricts the blood flow to some of the loftier parts of my brain. Anyway, looks fucking awesome. They don’t show those caveman ads over here anymore if they ever did. Doubt it. I swear to God, there are, like, 18 constantly running commercials here that have MGMT songs as their soundtracks. Those guys must be seriously rich. ‘Regards’: I assume that English word must have derived from the French word ‘regard’ meaning to look, observe. That’s interesting. Or, I don’t know, the unloftiest parts of my brain thinks so. Observes! ** Chris Dankland, Yeah, I saw that pic of Lil B and Roggenbuck. Hilarious. Man, that mix you made is great. I ‘spun’ it a few times yesterday, and now I think I’m really into Lil B, so it worked like a charm. Thank you! Oh, enticing link. Hold on. Everyone, here’s d.l. Chris Dankland speaking in semi-relationship to the post yesterday: ‘Philoctetes is such an amazing play, I haven’t thought about it in a long time…Philoctetes and his festering wound that smells like trash and corpses, abandoned by his friends, exiled to a lonely island…I started googling around and I found a play reading of Philoctetes with Jesse Eisenberg, it’s pretty good if anyone has an hour to kill…’ How did the serious writing go? Sounds delicious. Obviously, thanks for wanting to go back to ‘TMS’. The Blanchot connection with my stuff, for totally sure, although not many people note that. Man, that Blanchot quote you posted … maybe it’s just me, but, shit, dude says it almost all right there. Thanks a lot for that great pleasure. ** Statictick, Ugly toast. Over here, where toast is a weirdo and a big rarity, it’s such an enticing thing, so that’s why I said ugly toast. I’m sorry, man. Let me pass on your PS thing. Everyone, honorable d.l. Statictick has a gift for those of you who are inclined to consider his gift to be a gift. Here he is: ‘I know a few of the blogs readers are Patti Smith fans. This link was provided to me by an old friend right before the stupid laptop squeezed itself out of existence. This is 90 mins. of Patti in the late 70s. I’ve seen her do much better live. But, here’s either a curiosity or a huge love song. (I vote for the latter.)’ ** Ian Tuttle, Hi. That gift question is a big one, yeah, I see. One that will need to be dwelled upon. Off the very top of my head, and being someone who is fascinated by power dynamics and who feels, as a weirdo anarchist, that it is important to try to always consider them up front, I think it’s really interesting how power works in that situation. It’s very complex. The gift giver can have a very specific reason for giving a gift, but the gift itself presents the receiver, at least initially, with a totality of kindness, and, for the giver, there’s a combination of surrender and obfuscation in giving the gift, or something like that. Quick thought there. I would obviously be very interested to hear how the idea evolves for you when/if you’re inclined. Bon day! ** Killer Luka, Yeah, I think my stuff has some kind of suicide underlay in it always, which is very strange. Super interesting thoughts of yours on suicide there, of course. Louis … I’ll have to go look for him. I don’t remember offhand. Hair that is not only blond but long sounds very promising. Dude, awesome about all your art working. Can’t wait. ** Steevee, Third Thursday, okay, good. I’ll see if I can plan a trip accordingly. Thanks! I can see ‘Moonrise Kingdom’ on whatever day it is that the Cannes festival begins ‘cos it opens the festival and opens in France simultaneously. Can not fucking wait! ** Sypha, Would be very cool, obviously, if Rebel Satori wants to issue ‘Confusion’. ** Chilly Jay Chill, Thanks a lot, man. You get a ton of cred for the post’s existence. I tried a bit of June Brides online yesterday, and, yeah, it sounds pretty good. Oh, that’s what Cowboys International was! Keith Levene’s thing after PiL, I remember now, but I don’t remember their sound. I remember it not being what I had hoped for in the light of his work in PiL, but I’ll re-listen now that that aftereffect is extinct. Curious sounding. Mm, overlooked psychedelic records … There’s been this revival of interest in psychedelia in the last few years, as I’m sure you know, and some records that I would have immediately mentioned — the first Mad River album, Clear Light’s only album — are starting to get their due. I feel like maybe the first album by The Collectors — just called ‘The Collectors’ — is still too obscure. I would need to hear it again, but I used to really like Chad & Jeremy’s ‘Of Cabbages and Kings’, but I’m not sure how it holds up. I guess there would be a bunch if I kept thinking about it. As cult-revered as the band Spirit has become, I still think that their prime period albums — the first four — are too underrated, but they’re one of my all-time favorites. ** Postitbreakup, Hey. I don’t hate answering email, but there’s no question that doing the p.s. has caused serious damage to my discipline re: email because, yeah, it’s kind of like I spend my p.s. hours every morning writing ’emails’, and then I want to do something completely different afterwards. I still haven’t seen ‘The Avengers’. It’s been out here for a couple of weeks, but I’m going to really soon. Musicals? Mm, sure. Uh, ‘Threepenny Opera’ and pretty much all the Brecht/Weill works, if those count. I have a possibly guilty pleasure love of ‘The Music Man’. Sondheim’s ‘Sweeney Todd’ and ‘Sunday in the Park with George’. I guess there must be others. The South Park movie, ha ha. I imagine that Mr. E and Mr. Welt will now pop in with all kinds of titles, but it’s not a genre that calls to me particularly, I guess. And you? Favorite musicals? ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben! Well, the videos are mostly just basic documents of Jesurun’s works that don’t do them any kind of the justice that they deserve, but see what you think. I think he’s pretty terrific. Take care! ** Bollo, More applications?! Dude, it’s for the best, as I don’t need to tell you, but, still, take a cyber temples massage and a … uh, manicure? What?! ** Okay. I decided to do a gig post that features samples of some stuff I’ve been listening to and digging of late rather than the kind of groupings-style gigs that I normally launch. Check it. See you tomorrow.
Now available in North America 
Oh man Tim Hecker is great he actually played denver when I was in town last month BUT it was during one of my best friends birthday shindigs and I wouldn't have felt right cutting out for a concert..hopefully he comes through again.
hey d-
this 800 page brautigan bio has me immersed. almost done. the writing is swell keeps it moving, 20 years in the making, so much detail, i'm sure richard would be appalled by it. i'm on my 9th beer as i type, this is like my 4th 9 beer night with this book.
now that i've done some editing on my own work in progress i'm constantly questioning. its ok. i plan to have a major draft done by the end of this year. i just keep changing tone and focus, but the daily writing, i have so much material to work with. go to keep remembering to just finish it, not strive for the best, but just first novel, have an idea of what i want and slowly chiseling towards that.
much love my friend, and now all i want to listen to are taureg guitarists. i will make you a "day"
love,
L
No reason to apologize, Dennis. Our famously "Free Press" gives us next to no information about France at all.
Interesting to think that the LePen loonies might go Sarko, but I somehow doubt it.
If France "Goes Socialist" the Republicans will say that was lynchpin of Obama's plans for World Conquest.
Nice poptpourri today.
Musicals for me begins with "Guys and Dolls" whcih I saw on Broadway with the original cast in 1951.
Yes I was four and I havn't forgotten a nanosecond of it.
You mentioned David Trinidad’s Clue poem yesterday and guess what? I’ll be posting it on my blog in a few days. I’ll put a link here when I do. By coincidence, earlier this week I posted a collaboration you did with him called “S.O.S,” which I really like.
Latest FaBlog: The Shirt Off My Back
Cool line-up – would be some mini-Festival, for sure. Love the Hecker, Death Grips and Spritiualized. I can't quite 'get' the Liars – it's like their reference points or influences are packed so tight around them they can't breathe or something. Neat video though. And first time I've heard Purity Ring, like it a lot -I'd imagine that that track is destined for awesome mixes and about to play in every Berlin club constantly, they go nuts for that sort of stuff over there.
Agree with you about DJ Spooky – he kind of lost me a while back… doesn't help I'm really not into jazz or funk in any form, so a lot of his tweaking and recontextualising just flies over my head and leaves me slightly bored. Someone was telling me last night that he worked with the drummer from Slayer ! Have you heard it? Sounds an insane, possibly awesome combination.
Yeah, see what you're saying about how your work probably wouldn't prosper with music. Your writing's so tight and locked-down and 'itself', if that makes any sense, maybe too claustrophobic to let other sounds/voices in. I can't imagine what sort of music would work – children's nursery rhymes slowed down to the point where they sound like drone/death metal, maybe? Tim Hecker-type stuff? – but then I guess I would just hear it as background noise rather than 50 per cent of the work.
And agree also that Hollande's lack of flashiness will come as a welcome relief! Politicians with 'big' personalities … are usually dangerous megalomaniacs, haha. Re: what you were telling Mr
E, yeah, some of the speculation about a " Socialist"
France borders on the hysterical. We're only talking about a fairly small, incremental rebalancing slightly more to the Left, if that. All I can see happening is a slightly more humane and less rabble-rousing set of policies. And whatever happens, Berlin will continue to determine the future direction of policy. I'm a pessimist when it comes to politics, though, if that isn't obvious!
Great weekends, everyone!
PS Oh, yeah, the Liz Fraser thing is exciting – apparently she had a stack of experiments and work in early stages, and Antony just asked her expecting her to be very reclusive and shy and reluctant, and instead she was like " yeah, let's do it". The only clue so far is she has said she doesn't want her voice to carry as much of the strain as it had to with the Cocteaus, as it was just so exhausting and draining and generally torturous. Very intrigued to see what she does next, too.
Dennis,
I think I prefer queer but then I'm a "Pansexual" virgin. When I think "pansexual", I think of a frying-pan (sizzling vagina) or satyr-sex, as you know I live in the middle of the woods, so satyr-rape was a real fear as a kid. I never liked puzzles. I was a G.I. Joe dude. The only puzzle I ever liked was on this cute blond girl's wall that lived on the farm next to ours. You wouldn't believe how many times I've thought I should have married one of those little blond farm girls. But I would probably have a cap, weigh 500 lbs, run a backhoe, and have changed my name to "Bubba" or something. I cried after I first read Rimbaud, just recently, it was just unbelievable. You know, you hear so & so's great etc., Rimbaud really is fantastic! I'm sorry about your feelings about your Mom's grave. I'm trying to figure out how to never go to another funeral ever, let alone a grave. I like to pretend I'm of the "Let the dead bury their dead", but I'm really like Laura's Dad about that kind of stuff. I like how Derrida/Ronell start interviews with "their being engaged"/consideration, formulation, etc. Don't dig collars, I never did understand how all those boys look so clean, crisp, and tailored in their American Eagle or Abercrombie or whatever. Nah, I've just wasted enough years on it to "deconstruct" it. I like philosophy, as a form of literature. I don't take it seriously. I think one of my GOPAC cassettes was on Anti-Deconstructionism. Some of it's really good stuff in my opinion, I particularly enjoy the continental tradition. MGMT? Never heard them. I would have, if my internet connection wasn't slow as that one guy's in New Mexico. The French are a peculiar people. French TV is just weird. French politics, no clue. Hm don't know? Have a nice day?
IanTuttle,
I saw some thing from like a year or so ago where people were complaining about Ellis' twitter. Don't get it. His new book's ok. It seems a little late to the party and scatter-brained, not a bad read though. Lyndsey Lohan's is kind of fun.
NIce gigs today, Dennis. I look at the Liars video, and all I think of is Dick Cheney. Yikes.
Jesurun looks fantastic. I don't recall any of his pieces getting out to San Francisco though. This town can be so provincial theatrically.
Shut Up/Look Pretty looks, well, pretty. It's on my list.
Bill
yo,
WooHoo Los Angeles! Yay Mikey! He is an awesome dude. In our talks, it's odd cus found out he is from Sedona, and even though we didn't go to the same high school, turns out we were no doubt but 10 ft away from each other many times. He told me the hat that he wears in Los Angeles, the vinyl one covered in chains, is a direct homage/reference to Prince and says he's a big influence on their music.
The bands I am obsessed with at the moment are Iamamiwhoami (Sweden) and Austra (Canada. Lyric: "I came so hard on your mouth. I saw the future." haha <3).
Yeah, yesterday, I was no doubt intellectually over-analyzing suicide thereby objectifying it to the point where I could emotionally distance myself from its impact on my person, so thanks for not saying, "Don't over-romanticize suicide, you nutty muffin." Haha. I dunno what I really think about it cuz it's awfully complex. Perhaps it's not weird that suicide is a pervasive theme in your work since a lot of people in your life have done it.
Ok here is "Louis" of GTS holding his cock like it's an enchanted scepter with its own viable consciousness. He is definitely more of a Da Vinci to Caravaggio's "Vadim". Haha I am such a crackhead.
THe France of "Yes" and The France of "No."
coop! jesurun what a page of wonders.. this should keep me going for a bit.. thanks man.
there's a Broken Flag festival happening this weekend with an awesome line-up but i can only afford to go one night and the choice was soo difficult my deliberation has fucked it up for tonight.. so tomorrow or sunday ummm (fuck i hate being a libran)
so do they do the cinco de mayo do down in paris? i'd love to see some mexicans whupping some french arse down by the seine.
well have a great day/weekend
oh i got some new glasses (the fella in the shop was horrified by my shortsightedness "well the good thing is it isn't glaucoma.. you know you're not legal to drive with eyes this bad?" whoops!).. anyway they look awful so now i'm looking out for something decent as a frame.. i don't want roundies like yours but i don't want those ubiquitous oblong ones either.. maybe i'll just get a visor
Cool gig today! I enjoyed them all but that Spiritualized is a tough one. I like it very much!Thanks a ton for that one. On the musical side for me Hecker and Lotus Plaza are top. Liars leave me always kind of cold. I cannot get into their stuff. Why that?
i saw your link to the review of "High Life". It is translated to German (including your introduction) and I saw the book last week in a bookshelf of an ok bookstore here in Karlsruhe.
I hope i dont write to confusing. I am so tired I almost fall asleep but i wanted to respond this time in any case. Time is running as usual. How is your time? Running too?
Uli
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This stuff is great…it’ll give me some new music to chew on for the next week or two. Thanks! That Molly Nilsson song “Hey Moon” (I only knew the John Maus version) is maybe one of my favorite songs I’ve heard in the last couple years, that’s like a personal anthem song for me.
The writing’s going good–I finally got the first sentence right, I’ve been really happy about it all day:
“Still very much awake, Becky Roosevelt cheerfully bopped her head and wiggled her ass in the little wooden chair beside her bedroom desk—earbuds on, blasting Waka Flocka Flame—swagging, sipping lean from a Styrofoam cup, thinking up words that rhyme with Olajawon.”
In the future I won’t clog up the comment section with shit from my novel, I’m just excited that things are falling into place, sorry.
A really good friend of mine is moving to Orange County in a few days, this will probably be a busy weekend… I have to go meet him in a second, so I don’t have time to tell you much about it now, but he’s going to start a medical marijuana dispensary with a delivery service…you can order some weed from his store by phone or through the internet, and a driver will bring it to your door. Actually he’s planning on calling the business “Dankland THC” so I might have a weed store in Orange County named after me… That's probably good for my street cred.
Have a good weekend!
RIP MCA
oooo some good things in here. purity ring were my big exciting discovery of last year, saw them play at the old blue last: amazing. they played 6 songs and left to whooping and such insistant demand for an encore that megan had to come back on stage and apologize: "sorry, we only have six songs!" so cute. can't wait for the album.
so i'm about half way through springer's progess. i love it, of course. really different from the others i've read. i mean, it was obvious it would be just from the page layout, but the tone of it is totally different too, way earthier and sort of macho (which grated a little at first, i have to admit). reminds me a little of douglas woolf, which i didn't really expect, and maybe donald barthelme a bit too. the voice is also really kind of like TMS (no?) in how self-consciously serpentine it makes the whole deal of revealing/obfuscating at the same time. plus – duh – the sex is kind of great. jabberwocky sex – what the hell is not to love?
@Chris Dankland–I downloaded your Lil B mixtape but iTunes interpreted every song as an individual album. I entered each track as part of an album called "Best of Lil B" but it didn't really work – I wound up with 2 separate brief albums called "Best of Lil B." Any suggestions?
Congrats on the dispensary!
It feels really weird to see the passing of someone whose music was the soundtrack to my high school years.
I like how Lil B will do an entire song about how positive and socially aware he is and then say something like "hoes should get on their knees and suck my dick."
DC: awesome gift ruminations!! I will keep you apprised of any conclusions I reach. (because every question has a conclusive answer, right??)
Also, the tunes on today's post have been great. Headphones + new music = very nice friday at the desk.
That stage/reading experience you described sounds cool. I like the idea of watching something, then going home and reading the end of it in private. And the disco set…. man!
Ciao amigo. Have a glorious weekend. And don't let the politicians get you down! (I just recently rewatched Colbert's roast of George W Bush from 2006. Wow. Stunning. If ever there were a modern version of the genius jester in an imperial court, this is it!).
Hey Dennis,
Great gig here – a bunch of stuff I've been interested in checking out and voila. How's the entire Lotus Plaza album?
Thanks for the overlooked psychedelia recommends – wonder if there's a larger post in that? Some of those names ring a bell, but I haven't heard most of them, apart from Spirit which I really like.
In terms of building up the new voice, I think I remember you saying a while back you were wanting to do something more expansive and emotional inspired by Tree of Life. Are those ideas still in play and underpinning the current impulse, or have they morphed into something else?
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Chris Dankland, I say keep clogging. But it's not my blog, so… 😛
Dennis, I do like a good hook. That's one of the things that drew me to Suede (when Bernard Butler was with them): great hooks. But a nice melody would be fine also. And I'm not totally close-minded to everything non-catchy. I even "liked" that Los Angeles clip on FB that you and Luka liked the other day. I thought it was really good.
Yeah, see, we disagree on ol' Bill there. I think he looks horrible. I mean, I actually can see the cuteness that should be him underneath the facial hair, the green, slicked back mop, and the piercings, but that stuff so overwhelms that good bit for me.
Man, I totally just spent the last hour creeping on the FB pages of friends' friends. What can I say? I see a cute thumbnail and I can't not click on it.
Oftentimes, and no one wants to know this but I must say it, I have FB open in one tab and porn open in the other.
So here are some of those lines. This is just very first draftish, as I'm sure they'll change/get re-arranged and structured:
In bed we lay insane on top of each other,
Practicing being dead.
When you closed your eyes, I said,
“I’ll cut my wrists if it’ll make you laugh one more time.”
The beauty of your smile made me cry.
The first and last lines definitely need changing, but I'm okay so far with the others. And you know what? When I'm finally finished with this poem, I'm going to submit it everywhere.
We like the Los Angeles hamlet-a-go-go guy! The others have fun names! These kinds of tunes balletic interpretation actually adds to it.
We had the British local election results come in yesterday, and the good news is that the government got a thorough spanking. They're increasingly taking on the aura of a dead duck. I'm crossing fingers that things will go a similar way across the channel.
I've been meaning to pick up Hecker's Ravedeath 1972 since forever, so today's post should be just the spur I need.
My today is all planned out. Breakfast at DCA, then later go by train to Glasgow for the Apocalypse Now Now opening at 7. Spend an hour or so there, then get the 8.40 train back to Dundee. I might even be home to watch the FA Cup final highlights tonight if it all goes to schedule.