Harmony Korine - fashion short

I'm a big fan of Harmony Korine's work and for some reason I had completely missed this one. I don't really know how it came about, but it seems to have been done as a promotional short for New York designer label Proenza Schouler. I can only assume Korine was given free reign on the film (apart from perhaps when it comes to wardrobe) - compromising his vision has never been his thing. You should watch it...it's a haunting, weird and strangely beautiful experience.

Women's Basketball

(this post has been edited since it was originally written)

This is a bit of an experiment. I'm in a bar in Brussels, trying out a blog app thing on my phone.I'm stuck here with people watching football and since I couldn't care less about West Ham, Birmingham, or football in general, I thought I'd try to post something. There will be no fancy bold text or links, cause the tag button seems to crash the app.

I first came across Women's Basketball whilst on tour with Allo Darlin' in the US last summer. AD were playing at some rock bar in New Haven, MA and Women's Basketball were playing what I believe was their very first gig.

I think frontman Tyler Trudeau is involved in a variety of different projects, but this seems to be his funny electrorockpopmayhem one. Just my kinda thing at the moment. And it's funny without being too stupid.

You can download their debut album for free at the February Records website...and you should. Even if you don't like it, you'll at least have the awesome album title in your music library.


Download link (link from February Records website)


Tyler Trudeau website

Video of the day pt. 2 (Matt and Kim - Cameras)

Actually, I need to put this up...

The new Matt and Kim video is fucking AMAZING!


That is all.

Video of the day (The Emotron - 80's Nightmare)

Jason Kyle Knight is The Emotron, a one-man electro-pop-punk freak fest. Kind of like Atom And His Package, with a more advanced package and crossed with GG Allin. I guess he is also slightly less likeable than Adam (but more likeable than GG). The music is always great, but occasionally the lyrics get a bit too crude in a stupid way. And live, well...you can youtube it yourselves. It looks like an experience.

This song is off his 2007 (mostly) amazing album The Decemberwrist. It's very catchy and I find it rather impossible to not scream along to lines like "I hope you get cancer when you listen to The Cure" or "I hope Bret Michaels poisons your well". Hmmm. Yes. Mainly Safe for work viewing, apart from brief clip that's not safe to view anywhere.



The Emotron's latest album, Vampire Lunch Lady Tits was released last year and you should get it...or at least go into HMV and ask them to search for that album title in their system :)

The Emotron on myspace

Video of the day (Robot Goes Here - What All The Screaming's About)

It's Sunday, Robot Goes Here. That is all...

Video of the day (Times New Viking - No Room To Live)

Excitement! There's a new Times New Viking record out in April They just released an absolutely stunning video...and the song is gorgeous as well. Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!



Times New Viking official website

Jeffrey Lewis and Peter Stampfel live (Brixton Windmill, 18th January 2011)

When I went to New York in winter 2007, I stumbled across a documentary about seminal New York psychedelic folk pioneers The Holy Modal Rounders. They were having a sort of premiere/DVD launch at Anthology Film Archives and Jeffrey Lewis was introducing the film and performing together with Peter Stampfel. Here's a polaroid from that night.


It was a great night, so I was a bit hesitant seeing the two again. It was never going to be the same. Back then I was in New York for the first time, the event was hosted by a local brewery (meaning free beer) and it was a really intimate event....well, just not very busy at all. It was very special. Last night, you know, it was at a completely packed out Brixton Windmill. Just not the same. But, but...I needn't have worried. Both Jeff and Pete were on topform and despite it being the early show (late show tickets sold out before I had a chance) they gave it all, playing mainly Stampfel songs, with the odd Jeff Lewis "music video" thrown in. I don't think I've ever seen Jeff Lewis play a bad show and this wasn't any different. He's an incredible performer.








Here's a short video of them performing Stampfel's Black Leather Swamp Nazi, which is about as awesome song titles get. The song's pretty great as well. Sorry about the shaky camera.


Jeff Lewis and Peter Stampfel have recorded an album together, which is available now. It contains a great songs about collecting bottle caps. Appararently, Stampfel has more than 12,000 in his private collection.

The next Records Make Great Pets night!

So, I'm putting on a show on 9th February at Catch in Shoreditch, so put it in your diaries. It's a rather awesometastic line-up, so I definitely think you should round up all your friends and come join the fun. Duncan from Tigercats have made this awesome flyer!

Tickets are on sale now at http://www.wegottickets.com/event/101876 for the bargain price of £6!

Video of the day (Pointed Sticks - I'm Numb)

It's a rainy, dark and generally quite miserable morning in London, so what better way to brighten up ones commute to work than with some powerpop? Today, I opted for Pointed Sticks, a Canadian band who were originally around in the late 70's/early 80's. Apparently they are playing again after having reformed in 2006. Anyway, they are totally awesome. Think a more keyboardy Buzzcocks and you're not that far off.


Incidentally, they are the band that Cebe goes to watch (and ends up playing drums with) in Out Of The Blue, the film I wrote about yesterday. Here's that very scene, which contains a mixture of lip-syncing to a backing track and a bit of actual live recording.

I finally got to see Out Of The Blue!

I had wanted to see this film for at least ten years. I'm not quite sure why it took me so long. I guess the urgent desire to see it just drifted in and out of my head from time to time and when it occasionally popped up, it was always either unavailable or too expensive.

I finally picked up a copy last week in Brisbane. For some strange reason it was part of a budget combination disc; you know, those 2 films on one disc things that you see in pound shops, but that usually aren't even worth that pound. But, there it was. Out of The Blue, lumped together with some Charles Bronson film whose name escapes me now, for five Aussie dollars.

Made in 1980, it marked a return to directing for Dennis Hopper, after the flop of The Last Movie in 1971. I only watched it last night, but I already want to watch it again. It really is a stunning piece of work, with amazing performances from Dennis Hopper and Linda Manz in the lead roles. It is slightly confusing and difficult to follow at times, but somehow it kind of adds to the chaotic nature of the story itself.



Hopper himself plays Don, a common criminal/alcoholic/trucker who's jailed for crashing his truck into a stationary school bus, having been distracted from driving by kissing a clown. He eventually returns from prison to find his world has changed completely. His daughter Cebe (played by Linda Manz) has grown up to be a rebellious teenager. Obsessed with punk music and Elvis, she drifts around, skips school and causes trouble. His wife on the other hand, works as a waitress, shoots heroin and fools around with his former best friend and sleazebag Charlie. There really isn't much of a plot here. We mainly follow these characters as they attempt to restore some sort of order to their chaotic lives. A history of incest and paedophilia is hinted at throughout the film, but it's only really towards the end of the film when we fully realise how messed up everything really is. Apologies for the spoiler, but you'll find it difficult to read any reviews of this film that doesn't mention the ending. It really hits you in the face in a complete what-the-fuck-just-happened kind of way.

The film is beautifully photographed throughout, but the stand-out scenes for me are the ones of Don working at the rubbish dump, completely surrounded by seagulls.



It's not an easy film to watch. But stick with it and you'll find it is a beautiful and intense experience, dealing with difficult subjects in an extremely frank way. At times, it reminded me of Fassbinder's work. That is pretty much as high an appraisal as I can give, so Out Of The Blue is definitely worth tracking down.