Settled

Disclosure, no matter how many times I listen to your record, we're never getting together. It's not you/me, it's me/you.

Food for thght

Jay Rayner on Le Cinq

As soon as people giggle at Jay's article and direct their Facebook friends to the article, the backlash begins. I get it but it still irks me nonethelesss. In the social media world one has to immediately brace for a counter attack. You like it? You better justify your taste. 

The article is glorious and I am not doubting myself for a minute. (Maybe a second though.) It reminds me of Lilly Allen's pop style. You'll never really list her in your High Fidelity influenced top ten but it is entertaining and witty. While other writers remind me Noise - what is the essence/meaning/message- Allen and Rayner guide you with hooks and seemingly easy comparisons to the finish. It's never condescending nor overly complex. 

Eurotrash

Verhoeven=Haneke + glossy wrapping paper

Funny games

I know it's only April but I have already decided on the best single (which isn't really a single but who cares?) of 2017. Based on the catchy (as the flu) single by Ed Sheeran. His best song by far (which isn't saying much, amirite?). It blends my love for voyeuristic reality shows (cue Haneke slapping me on the head) and forrays into crappy pop songs. Yes, I like mediocrity and low brow programs. Esp when you're caught being the voyeur. 

It doesn't have to be the old scene.

When I was a teen, I was heavily into this, The Style Council and the like. Thinking I was turning away from my dad's obsession w Northern Soul, I was just digging an updated version.  Lol

Sheermaggedon

datapanik in the year sheero

Sublime title and content that actually spoke to me. Others have vomited over the barrage of Sheerness but it made me squirm. We are getting older and more distant from current pop culture. We can critique (and we should) but it only accentuates our age and distance from the product.  We need to distinguish ourselves from teens (urgh, ok, target audience sounds easier on the ears). As a parent I feel more aware of how differently I approach (current) music. The way my kids seem to care less about the artist itself nor the connections to others/the past. (Daft Punk helped out the Weeknd, so what? Rihanna was supposed to do Shape of Whomever Is Filling In That Spot) 

Raw truth

James Baldwin

Ca plane pour moi

Fire
I'll bind you to burn
Fire
I'll bind you to learn
Burn!
You fought hard and you saved
But it's all going to burn
Got your mind, you turn around
You've been so blind
You fall behind!
Fire
I'll take you to burn
Fire
I'll take you to learn
You're gonna burn

(Lizzy is so dizzy)

Delving deeper

Now watching: i spit on your grave

In general the ratings on imdb.com (and other review sites) seem to be below average when it comes to horror movies. Would it be that it's considered too low brow? No desire to look beyond the screams and dead bodies for more subtext? 

How soon is yesterday?

the Smiths mix

 

Infinite silence

watching The Young Pope

 

Gimme danger. Gimme drone

Lovers Discourse

When I first heard Father Figure, I was hesitant. I was a teenager who didn't really grasp the layers/deeper meanings of the lyrics. I strongly believe you can only comprehend the song as an adult. Being a father figure isn't so much about being an authoritarian (as I interpreted as a kid.) "Anything you have in mind." Giving the other the power to decide. 

 At the time it felt religious. The gospel element felt wrong. But I was still a mouth frothing atheist and too young to comprehend the lovers discourse. The confession George Michael was making. (Take me as I am. Don't see me as the teen idol you molded me into.) And even though I already knew he was gay, I didn't comprehend he was just as much talking to his audience as he was seducing an imaginary person within the song. He was begging his audience to see him naked, his true self. 

"Sometimes I think that you never

Understand me (understand me).

Maybe this time is forever.

Say it can be, whoa."

All tomorrow's parties unraveled

 

Cat Marnella

Picture me giving a damn

Tricky's reworking of Public Enemy's Black Steel is one of the best covers ever and seems just as relevant now. I love how Martina's soft whispering vocals narrate a get-out-jail storey. A gender reworking. As much as an African-American is always a second-rate citizen, so does a female have to fight against society. The aggression of Public Enemy's is pumped into scratching guitars and Martina's breathy delivery seems to accentuate the political message. 

CAN - Vitamin C

RIP Liebezeit.

Now reading (and loving the hell out of it)

Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film

by Carol J. Clover 

Rocket Man

"All this science, I don't understand, it's just my job, five days a week." 

I wonder what Rocket Man does on his days off. Music (and art) is as much about what's in it as what's left out. What does Rocket Man do? He just drifts on the weekend? Do drugs? Can you actually snort cocaine in space? Wouldn't it float around in the space ship? 

L'etudiant de la vie

It took me years to realize politics affects my/our life. As a teenager, hearing the teacher explain the political system, it seemed removed from my life. Not having any influence on my life/thinking/relationships. It wasn't until I started reading (and listening to my husband, who studied political and social sciences at uni), that it affects everyone. Now of course you have to be blind to not see the negative impact it has on so many people. I'm grateful to have a husband who can teach our kids what politics does to us/them. It is our duty as a parent (and human being) to teach our kids. And as much as I see myself as a teacher (to our kids), I will always see myself as a student of life. Listening and learning.

I skipped the part about knowledge

There are different reasons for loving dEUS. One of them being a national pride might actually be the last in the row. We've never really embraced success. Always weary of being arrogant is one of our misplaced traits. Also, the fact they were local, meant I understood their outsider attitude. It reflects in the language used. The way the lyrics are at times not really (correct) English reminds me, the listener, I am not ever part of (the English/American) group.  

I think one of the main reasons I love the band as much as I do, is that they kickstarted a learning process. Much like Nirvana kickstarted a love for indie/obscure bands (and a scene), dEUS created a scene in our country but they were also never ashamed to namedrop. On the contrary, they wore their influences on their (record)sleeves. It wasn't merely covering/sampling other bands, from REM to Guided by Voices. The name itself was derived from a band, ie the Sugarcubes. In a way it felt like Hip Hop, in the way to inserted cultural references in their song. It created a familiarity and, when not, you could go out and discovered other bands. 

50 shades of nymphomania

After having watching 50 Shades of Grey over a dozen times and volume 1 of Nymphomania, I still haven't gotten the former really under my skin. Yes, I did watch it over a dozen of times. Mainly as I wanted to (dis)agree with the negative criticism. Juxtaposing it with Nymphomania, I can honestly say I love both though for different reasons.
Nymphomania seems to accentuate what 50 Shades of Grey doesn't/can't/isn't willing to offer. Hollywood can't show reality, namely explicit nude scenes (for commercial reasons). Pornography can and is a reminder that Hollywood can never disclose completely. As such 50 Shades of Grey is never really about sex, nor does it really delve into the power relations of Sadomasochism. The book also avoids to tackle this. It cheapens or brings forward the cliché that SM must be about tortured souls. Grey "heals" by going vanilla. Anastasia (nor Grey?) doesn't understand the sadomasochism's power relationship. As much as the dominant controls the submissive, the latter also has control over the relationship. If that isn't the case, it is (or can devolve into) an unhealthy relationship.
The choice of Anastasia seems apt: mousy and inexperienced. She has zero experience and is in turmoil about the whole "deal." A representation of the meek woman looking for a rich alpha male who controls and offers security. It seems to kill feminism in one single thrust. This is why I love Nymphomania: the main/female character chooses sex without romantic ties. (Of course you know she's making the wrong choice. Every fuck is closer to the abyss.)

Return to hazy thoughts

 

After a decade I felt an urge to return to blogging. A desire to pontificate. Although pontificate is illplaced. Always wondering in the greys, never black&white. Nothing is what it seems.