1/22/10 spiral joy band with paul metzger in st. paul

01/22/10
spiral joy band w/ special guest paul metzger
@big v.s in st. paul, minnesota

spiral joy band = mike gangloff + mikel dimmick.
(the gentleman on the left is herr metzger).

playing a special show in honor of mike and mikel's late mate in the band Pelt (Jack Rose)

some very potent drones on site this night.

standing ten ft from the stage my torso was buzzing as if it were plugged into an electric outlet while my hands and fingers felt like they were attached to a different body.

My Estrogeneration

My Estrogeneration (Not Not Fun) LP


Picked up this comp. mainly for the exclusive Pocahaunted track but was pleasantly surprised at how consistently good the entire record is.

Previous releases from three participants on side A, Zola Jesus, Inca Ore and U.S. Girls, left me feeling ambivalent. But here; the tribal mechanics that dominate Zola Jesus' track pummel the drang out of the dramatic voicings that typified her first couple of singles. Inca Ore, in the context of a single song amongst the work of others, sounds much more on course than expected.

The Pocahaunted song is an outtake from the Gold Miners Daughter sessions (recorded back when both Amanda and Bethany were fronting the band). The newly released song uses harp as accompaniment even more effectively than on 'Sun'; the one track on the Gold Miners cassette that featured harp and violin . Might the title 'Hand of Alice" be a nod to Alice Coltrane? hope so!

The B-side is equally solid; with standout tracks coming from the chilly bittersweetness of Isaja (aka visual artist Merja Kokkeneon from Finland) and Valet, whose drawn out subterranean chants are likely to induce shudders.

The tremors that echo throughout the ten songs on this collection hold it together in a way that makes the hormonal theme of the title seem, well, irrelevant.

http://www.notnotfun.com

jerzy skolimowski - deep end on TCM

very cool skolimowsky double feature on TCM the other night (1/15) kicked off with "Deep End": a tastefully seamy UK film about mismanaged desire that manages to be both tender and sadistic. dig the underlying 70s pseudo-horror vibe, along with the inclusion of soundtrack work by Can.





the film centers around the relationship between a 15 yr old boy (john moulder-brown) and his more-worldly coworker (jan asher) but, really, it's just as much about the effects (and prevalence) of inequality in love, work, money and desire between all genders; and how individuals each need to find their own unique way of coping with temptation and tension lest they go off... the deep end.



the first hour contains a lot of overt, humorous symbolism as the boy is exposed to some rather perverted types at the public bathhouse where the two work along with his first visits to an x-rated movie, swingers club, live sex show and prostitute in a whirlwind chain of events set off by his unchannelled anxieties.

many scenes are laugh-enducing AND kinda humiliating but never at the complete expense of the willing participants.


"you'll find it very educational"

eventually circumstances become more serious (as they generally do over time). much more serious.



TCM usually reruns the films in their underground series at least a couple of times so watch out for Deep End; particularly the lengthy scene in dark soho that is set to Can's "Mother Sky" and eventually leads to multiple visits to... the hot dog stand.

1/14/10-zeena parkins at the walker art center

turning the galleries inside out...

zeena parkins perfoms three 20 minute pieces at the walker art center in minneapolis on Jan 14th.

some beautiful sounds bouncing around the room this night

riley and his story/monica haller-this is not a book

Today I finally got ahold of a copy of Monica Haller's "Riley and his story" (published by onestar press).

Riley Sharbonno was a ER nurse at Abu Ghraib prison. Monica, his friend; a Minneapolis based interdiscipliarian artist

The many pictures inside (some graphic, some mundane) document Riley's tour of duty.

The text on the cover says a lot.

The words inside, while relatively few, say even more as they attempt to explain the discrepancy between Riley's recall and the contents of the photos that he took.

Amnesia? Repressed memories?? The aftereffects of trauma???

A war story, definitely, but on a fundamental level it also touches upon the impermanence of memory over the the passing of time. Something that in the past hasn't bothered me much; but now I'm not so sure.

Best to let this one soak in for awhile.

to order..
onestar press

Download a PDF of excerpts from Riley and his story.
http://www.rileyandhisstory.com/PDF/riley_excerpts.pdf

rowland s. howard (1959-2009)

rowland s. howard onstage with the birthday party
first avenue/minneapolis april 1983

in the days since guitarist rowland s. howard passed i've been listening to a lot of the older records that he appeared on.

i love his playing on all of the birthday party studio records but whenever i spin them i'm overwhelmed by the monstrously aggro AND catchy bass work of tracy pew (who is also no longer with us).

rowland was a great foil in the birthday party; especially when the band was hitting on all cylinders-- "6 Inch Gold Blade", "Junkyard", "Cry", "Nick The Stripper", "Figure of Fun" and "Happy Birthday". but live and during the recording of their four Peel Sessions the man's work was incendiary. seriously, now... "Rowland Around in That Stuff"!

the crime + the city solution records are good and a little more reserved (though not necessarily restrained) than the birthday party records. better yet were "these immortal souls". for this group rowland, partner/wife(?) genevieve mcguckin, brother harry, and friend epic soundtracks circled their wagons and came up with a couple of personal records that are sneakily sincere. a writer from sounds magazine nailed it when he described their first lp as "an antagonism between fatalistic despair and defiant optimism"

"Most groups seem to have a really one-dimensional approach to things, they either present everything as being really base and vile or they're completely the opposite. You really have to try to have a song with all those elements, then you can have a song that's incredibly evocative of sadness and still has optimism in it as well. Otherwise, ultimately, it's one-dimensional."
Rowland S. Howard -- Sounds magazine 12/12/1987

there's also a one off record rowland recorded with nikki sudden called 'kiss you kidnapped, charabanc' that i enjoyed revisiting. "enjoyed" even during harrowing moments (ie "crossroads" or "don't expain"- billie holiday cover). it never gets too dark when rowland is playing the acoustic bass, slide guitar or harmonium.

rowland s. howard 1959-2009