Religion

Taken by my good friend Daniel (Karl Heinz) Olson




One of the most intriguing photos I've seen in a while. Alec Soth has advertised the work from Magnum's first ever portfolio review on his website and I have to say that this photo inspires me more than just about anything I saw from the twenty three photographers who's work he posted for review. Its not that their work is bad, quite the contrary, technically the photographs are proper and correct I think, but unfortunately they are also quite banal. I guess its hard to compare one photo like this to a series of other shots that are trying to convey something through their unity as a whole. And so hopefully when he's finished his month-long dumpster dive for textbooks and discussions and textbooks on discussions, etc, he'll have time to put together a series as such. Until then, we'll just have to enjoy his photos one by one.

A viewer's response to the works posted for review:

empty rooms, dilapidated buildings; portraits of stiff people standing staring down the barrel of a large format camera… Alec you’ve inspired a generation of cliques without being one yourself; a successful template that thousands have copied. the best advice for anyone in any field is to be different, to find your own voice. probably means spending less time looking at other peoples photography. less time looking for a subject and more time observing yourself.

...just so very little art hits the spot; my aesthetic conditioning obviously comes into play. i just find particularly with photography, because it is so ubiquitous it has to carry an emotional punch for any semblance of it to remain with you and unfortunately -or fortunately- that that has to even be translated through a computer screen; these are the times we live in. i think why so many of these folios feel flat to me is because I can’t feel the person who made them in the image. a lot of the images feel unemotional. you could go on endlessly about what makes a good image but for me what is paramount it is the love for the mystery of life and not the art. a love for the mystery of life is something that is lived and if you’re lucky the spin off is art.

“Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.”

Leonard Cohen

Coy and Vance

I spent the morning and afternoon demolishing the already charred floors of a partially fire-burned house when it occurred to me, rather oddly, amidst the prying apart of wooden planks from roasted black joists, that Coy and Vance Duke most likely were Go-bots.

You're Gonna Miss Me

"The Fascinating Story of Rock ‘n Roll Pioneer Roger Kynard “Roky” Erickson And His Struggles With Drug Addiction and Mental Illness."



The essential Roky Erickson documentary will finally be released on DVD July 10 of this year, a must see for anyone interested in the 13th Floor Elevators, Roky Erickson, or, for that matter, the real origins of psychadelic rock music. I saw this back in 2005 when it was still touring the festival circuit, and I was dissapointed that it wasn't eventually given a wider release, at least in the smaller independent theaters. It is not your conventional rock doc as Roky Erickson is not your conventional rock 'n' roll hero. You're Gonna Miss Me deals as much with Roky's mother, Evelyn, and her weird, manipulative relationship with her son as it does with Roky and the Elevators and his indelible fingerprints on psychadelic music. While this might be dissapointing to those in search of early Elevator's footage, (though there is some of this) the documentary more importantly reveals how key a figure Evelyn was and remains to be in Roky's life, and the implications this relationship has had on his music. Much is explained in this film about Roky's early years: his innability to handle heavy experimentation with psychadelic drugs, the inevitable unravelling of the band, and his mental-shock treatment that changed his life forever; his mother is a dynamic enough character to keep the film interesting througout, her surrealist folk-art creations as unsettlingly metaphoric as they are disturbing to behold. The film is funny at times and sad too and there are scenes where Roky casts his own mental condition into doubt; most importantly, though, it succeeds in revealing who Roky Erickson truly is and from where on this planet he has come.

Revelatory Music Now

The Necks: Mosquito



A newly discovered album that I cannot turn off, Mosquito continues in such a way and for such a timeless duration that it becomes a real musical atmosphere, a sonic backdrop that demands attention unlike any ambient piece I've ever heard, though it is not solely ambient, nor is it jazz; and with moving, fluid changes as subtle as the natural buzzing of insects in a river-like field of saw-grass, it is simply a beautiful, disciplined, genre-flattening piece of music. The review from Forced Exposure:

"Another scorching, hypnotic, ground breaking, concept-expanding release from outstanding Australian trio The Necks. Their last few CDs have caused a huge stir. Hanging Gardens was a shimmering space age journey (fuelled by sparkling high hat patterns and lush piano chords), Aether was a profound meditation (on a chord that just kept on coming), while Drive By was a classic R&B road movie soundtrack. This new double CD re-writes the rules yet again. Mosquito begins with the scrunching sound of a hand drum with hanging rattles being draped over percussion, while a fragmentary high piano melody tinkles in the distance. These two elements persist for the entire hour of the CD, providing a supporting texture for the most gorgeous piano chord sequence you've ever heard, gently coaxed by a ride cymbal. There's a hint of Massive Attack's 'Protection' about these chords, which just repeat in an endless melancholy ecstasy. For Llloyd Swanton Mosquito is 'quite austere, but in a rewarding, refreshing way. I think it's one of the most rigorously minimalist pieces we've ever done.' Austere and rigorous it may be, in terms of its beautifully organised structure and economy of means; but don't be fooled. This record is seriously haunting and sensuous. See Through is another beast entirely. Taking its cue from the ultra minimalist Aether, it counter poses ripe piano chords and splashing cymbals (reminiscent of Alice Coltrane) against long passages of silence. Like Aether the music comes in waves, which suggest a vast scale and an open organic structure. But here the silences demand their own space, and the music operates as part of an environment, into which it constantly retreats and from which it endlessly re-appears."

Summer Films

Two movie releases from two great, albeit starkly different, directors: David Lynch's Inland Empire and Werner Herzog's Rescue Dawn.

Rescue Dawn is set to open in select theatres on July 4 and, though the trailer has been cut to appeal to wider audiences, (it is depicted with a bit more hollywood flare, ie. fast action cuts and a dramatic Terminatoresque percussive score, than Herzog is used to presenting), I can only guess that the film will seethe with the director's usual gritty realism and his notorious 'character's-on-the-edge-of-their- own-sanity' style. The movie's is based on the personal account of Herzog's close friend, a P.O.W. in the Vietnam war played by Christian Bale, whose epic struggle is to escape from a remote jungle prison camp in Laos.



Daniel Zalewski wrote an intriguing profile in the April 24th, 2006 issue of The New Yorker that focused on the filming of this movie in particular, and, more generally, Herzog's unique approach to making movies. The article gives a valuable behind-the-scenes look at the director's relationship with his rather disgruntled cast and crew as well as his almost reflexive gambles with the production company. Anyone who has seen Burden of Dreams is aware of the kind of turmoil and desperation upon which Herzog's camera thrives and Zalewski's article brings this depiction further up to date, providing more background concerning Herzog's unique motivations and his sometimes bizarre judgement. I recommend the read for anyone who is a fan of his films.

Inland Empire looks to be vintage Lynch material, but because he is producing the film himself, it has yet to gain much publicity as it continues to tour the globe through various film festivals and screenings. Having thought to have missed one of only two Virginia screenings, I called the North Theatre in Danville where it was supposed to show last week. Call it blind luck or a fortuitous benefaction from the technical struggle of cinema, but only one of the three planned screenings showed due to electrical problems with the circuitry in the film house. So for those in Southwest Virginia who have not yet seen a screening of Inland Empire, the man on the phone at the North Theatre has promised to post the newly revised upcoming show dates for the re-screening of the film on their website. What an event! Without question worth the drive, and how in the world did a small theatre in Danville, Virginia get the film?



Here's the jump to Manohla Dargis' thorough review from The New York Times.

Mississippi John Hurt - Spike Driver Blues

Furry Lewis - When I lay My Burden Down