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Divine Trash: Award-winning documentary on John Waters
02.24.2012
07:07 pm
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john_waters_divine_trash
 
The thing I love most about John Waters is that he always appears unfazed by anything. He’s cool, self-contained and shrugs off all condescension. He’s the kind of role model that should be used in schools to get youngsters (and adults) to like themselves, and be confident in who they are and how they want to live.

Steven Yaeger’s documentary on Waters, Divine Trash, is one of those films that ends up on everyone’s wish list at some point or another, it’s an ‘O, I’d love to see that’ kind-of-a-film, and is as good as you hope. This is especially true if you’re a fan of Mr Waters, and want to see behind the scenes and find out all about his early days as a film-maker, in particular the making of Pink Flamingoes. Director Yaeger more than deserved his Film-Makers’ Trophy for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival for Divine Trash in 1998, as he gets the best out of Waters and knows how to tell a damned good tale. With contributions from Divine, Hal Hartley, Steve Buscemi, Jim Jarmusch, Waters and of course those fabulous Dreamlanders.
 

 

Posted by Paul Gallagher
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02.24.2012
07:07 pm
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Baby face Nick Cave sings ‘These Boots Are Made For Walkin’’ (1978)
02.24.2012
11:50 am
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A fresh-looking, immaculately dressed 21-year-old Nick Cave covers the Nancy Sinatra classic along with Mick Harvey, Phil Calvert and Tracy Pew as The Boys Next Door, the original name of The Birthday Party, in 1978 (Rowland S. Howard would join them soon afterwards).

I’m a massive Nick Cave fan, but I’ve never seen this clip before. It’s pretty amazing to witness how fully formed his rockstar persona was then, even at this tender age.

Love the mascara. Adam Lambert eat your heart out…

Video directed by Chris Löfvé:

 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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02.24.2012
11:50 am
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Occupy Wall Street will elect delegates, hold July convention in Philly


 
An Associated Press report today about the latest stirrings of the Occupy movement indicates that this Summer is going to be a hot one indeed, for both Republicans and Democrats alike.

A group of protesters affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement plans to elect 876 “delegates” from around the country and hold a national “general assembly” in Philadelphia over the Fourth of July as part of ongoing protests over corporate excess and economic inequality.The group, dubbed the 99% Declaration Working Group, said Wednesday delegates would be selected during a secure online election in early June from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.

In a nod to their First Amendment rights, delegates will meet in Philadelphia to draft and ratify a “petition for a redress of grievances,” convening during the week of July 2 and holding a news conference in front of Independence Hall on the Fourth of July.

Any U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident who is 18 years of age or older may run as a nonpartisan candidate for delegate, according to Michael S. Pollok, an attorney who advised Occupy Wall Street protesters arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge last year and co-founded the working group.

“We feel it’s appropriate to go back to what our founding fathers did and have another petition congress,” Pollok said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We feel that following the footsteps of our founding fathers is the right way to go.”

In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia and cited King George III’s failure to redress the grievances listed in colonial petitions as a reason to declare independence.

Interesting that the OWS iconography is now dovetailing with the Tea party movement in a congruence that I can’t decide seems forced or organic. I don’t think it’s a bad thing. In Bill Moyers’ fascinating interview with former Ronald Reagan economic adviser Bruce Bartlett, Bartlett expressed his prediction that a lot of former Tea partiers might come to decide that the OWS aims were more in tune with their actual beliefs.

One man and one woman will be elected from each of the 435 congressional voting districts, according to Pollok, and they will meet in Philadelphia to deliberate, draft and ratify a “redress of grievances.” One delegate will also be elected to represent each of the U.S. territories.

Organizers won’t take a position on what grievances should be included, Pollok said, but they will likely include issues like getting money out of politics, dealing with the foreclosure crisis and helping students handle loan debt.

Details of the conference are still being worked out, Pollok said, but organizers have paid for a venue in Philadelphia. Pollok would not identify the venue, but said it was “a major state-of-the art facility.” Pollok said the group planned to pay for the conference through donations.

Once the petition is completed, Pollok said, the protesters will deliver copies to the White House, members of Congress and the Supreme Court. They will demand that Congress takes action in the first 100 days of taking office next year. If sufficient action isn’t taken, Pollok said, the delegates will go back to their districts and try to recruit their own candidates for office.

Being able to hold this event right before the parties throw their respective conventions was a stroke of scheduling luck for the movement. Hopefully the media will be all over this—it’s hard to imagine they wouldn’t be under any circumstances—and the politicians will be forced to respond.

The Republicans are beyond being a lost cause, but the Democrats can be pushed to the left (it’s what happened before the New Deal). It will be very interesting to see how this plays out.

I think there’s a misconception that this was going to be a predictable election cycle. Whereas the outcome (more Obama, not that this is necessarily a “good” thing, it just is) seems like a foregone covclusion, that there will be extremely high drama until then is starting to look like an inevitability. Bring it on.
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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02.23.2012
12:09 pm
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Cinema subverted in ‘Can Dialectics Break Bricks?’ (1972)
02.21.2012
12:37 pm
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Taking a page from Woody Allen’s What’s Up, Tiger Lily? which re-dubbed humorous dialogue over a Japanese spy movie to make the plot about a recipe for a egg salad, René Viénet’s 1973 film Can Dialectics Break Bricks? (“La Dialectique Peut-Elle Casser Des Briques?”) did the same sort of thing, but here the cinematic Situationist provocateur is less out for laughs (although there are plenty of them) and more about the political subversion.

The raw material for Viénet’s détournement is a 1972 Hong Kong kung fu flick titled The Crush (唐手跆拳道) directed by Tu Guangqi. In Viénet’s hands, the movie was turned into a critique of class conflicts, bureaucratic socialism, the failures of the French Communist Party, Maoism, cultural hegemony, sexual equality and the way movies prop up Capitalist ideology, all in a manner that would turn such a product against itself, using Situationist aphorisms, arguments and in-jokes.
 

 
Below, an excerpt from Can Dialectics Break Bricks?. If this looks like your cup of espresso, you can download the entire film at Ubu Web.
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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02.21.2012
12:37 pm
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For your viewing pleasure: ‘End Of The Century - The Story Of The Ramones’
02.21.2012
04:49 am
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End Of The Century is one of the finest rock documentaries ever made, doing justice to one of rock and roll’s great bands. Directors Jim Fields and Michael Gramaglia wring a tremendous amount of emotion in telling the story of a band that was as exhilaratingly wonderful as they were dysfunctional. With the help of Danny Fields, Joe Strummer, Legs McNeil, Arturo Vega, Rob Zombie and a shitload of friends, critics and admirers, this flick will remind you of why you fell in love with this band in the first place. Sometimes the simplest and purest of concepts reach epic dimensions.
 

Posted by Marc Campbell
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02.21.2012
04:49 am
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‘Sticky Floors’: Grindhouse vs. rock and goth megamix
02.20.2012
03:52 pm
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Here’s a mix that’ll mess with your mind. NSFW.

01. “God On The Tongue” - Executive Slacks
02. “After Dark” - Seraphim Shock
03. “Riot Rhythm” - Sleigh Bells
04. “Commando” - The Ramones
05. “Slap Slap Slap Pound Up Down Snap” - Death Set
06. “You Can’t Sit Down” - Phil Upchurch Combo
07. “Ghost Power” - The Cords
08. “Heathen” - Temple
09. “Asmodoi” - Tac Poum Systeme
10. “Rabies Is A Killer” Agony Bag
11. “Ship On Fire” - Temple
12. “Tough As Nails” - Shiver
13. “You’re Pretty Face Is Going To Hell” - Iggy Pop
14. “LSD” - The Pretty Things
15. “Cantique 1” - Die Form
 

 

Posted by Marc Campbell
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02.20.2012
03:52 pm
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Michael Davis bass player for The MC5 R.I.P.
02.19.2012
12:45 am
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Sad news. Michael Davis who played bass in The MC5 and Destroy All Monsters has died of liver failure at the age of 68.

In an interview conducted in 2010, Davis looked back on the Sixties and the pop culture crucible in which the MC5 were formed.

The energy of times of the late ‘60s was something that probably won’t ever be duplicated because at that point in time everything was changing from the post-war era into what we might call modern society and technology. When I first started playing in the MC5, a lot of things were still in black and white, not everything was in color, especially the things from Europe, what we called foreign film back then. It had a certain character back then, a lot of the photos of British bands were in black and white. It carried that rainy day mood, it wasn’t all bright and lollipops. It was somber and bluesy. It was such enormous fun to break away from being a straight kid, and dress in Carnaby fashions, skinny pants, pointy boots, little skinny ties and white shirts.

It was an era that was unique, and really a lot of fun. It had this particular soul to it, Motown was happening, everybody was very dapper, before the psychedelic thing took over. The spirit of the times is what stands out.

I believed in us (the MC5), and believed what we were doing was so unique. For me the important thing was to be original, because I came from an art background. Copying someone else’s stuff wouldn’t get the attention that I wanted. Originality was the key to any kind of long-term recognition. I wanted us to be totally original. I thought what we were doing was totally unprecedented, at least not in rock and roll. There was plenty of jazz music, Sun Ra, where people improvised and played free. When we started doing it with electric instruments I just felt the energy levels that we achieved were so profound. I could see it in the audience reactions to it. Audiences absolutely hated it or went crazy. I thought that it would have a long-term effect. But you know it wasn’t successful in the business part of it. It wasn’t that marketable. It wasn’t like the Beatles. But I actually did have a kind of a suspicion that it would be long-term. Having said that, I am really surprised it did turn out that way.”

This footage of The MC5 from 1967 features Michael Davis in supreme form.
 

Posted by Marc Campbell
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02.19.2012
12:45 am
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7 Classic Tracks
02.18.2012
05:30 pm
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bowie_blondie_strummer_sonic
 
Age may weary and death may claim, but the ears will not condemn this fine selection of essential listening from Blondie, Joe Strummer, Ian Dury, Sonic Youth, David Bowie, Johnny Cash and Leonard Cohen taken from Later with Jools Holland.

01. Blondie - “Heart of Glass” from 1998
02. Joe Strummer - “London Calling” from 2000
03. Ian Dury - “Sex and Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll” from 1998
04. Sonic Youth- “Sacred Trickster” from 2009
05. David Bowie - “Ashes to Ashes” from 1999
06. Johnny Cash - “Folsom Prison Blues” from 1994
07. Leonard Cohen - “Dance me to the End of Love” from 1993
 

 

Posted by Paul Gallagher
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02.18.2012
05:30 pm
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Fake Bands: a highly entertaining video mix of music acts created for movies or TV
02.16.2012
04:22 pm
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The Looters. Paul Cook, Steve Jones, Ray Winstone, and Paul Simonon. Photo: Caroline Coon.
 
Here’s the first in a series of video compilations of fake bands. These are fictional music groups or solo acts that were created for film or TV. Some are quite excellent.

1. The Mosquitoes - “Gilligan’s Island”
2. Android - “Buck Rogers In The 25th Century”
3. The Looters -“Ladies And Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains”
4. The Flowerbuds - “Carry On Camping”
5. Drimble Wedge And The Vegetations - “Bedazzled”
6. Steven Shorter - “Privilege”
7. The Bugaloos - “The Electric Company
8. Tom Monroe - “SCTV
9. The Queen Haters” - SCTV

Compilation two coming soon.
 

Posted by Marc Campbell
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02.16.2012
04:22 pm
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‘One Drop’: The first new Public Image Ltd. song in 20 years
02.14.2012
09:53 am
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Rotten!
 
DJ Steve Lamacq premiered the new PIL song earlier today on BBC 6.
Our John may have lost his upper register, but it is nice to hear him strain at it in such a raw way over the type of back-to-basics reggae-rock bed that’s screaming for a remix/dub-out…

According to the alt-‘80s blog Slicing Up Eyeballs:

The song will be released on a vinyl EP as part of Record Store Day on April 21 in advance of the release of the full-length This Is PiL in May or June.

Enjoy…
 

 
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
PiL : Design
Public Image Ltd: The infamous riot at the Ritz gig

Posted by Ron Nachmann
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02.14.2012
09:53 am
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