sick hipster

Hit the jump

2009-03-13T20:24:00.000-07:00

Well, clearly I haven't been able to attend this blog as much as I would have liked to. So goes the Net. If you've come to this site looking for information on my two novels - 6 Sick Hipsters and Very Mercenary - check out the links below. I update those more frequently. Hope to see you there.

Rayo Casablanca home
6 Sick Hipsters
Very Mercenary

Throat Sprockets

2009-01-29T16:35:00.001-08:00

Tim Lucas has a great post about the cult following around his brilliant first novel, Throat Sprockets.

Outsider Writers Collective Interview

2009-01-24T18:32:00.000-08:00

A new interview here - complete with menacing photo.

Fever Ray - If I Had a Heart

2009-01-12T19:28:00.000-08:00

Karin Dreijer Andersson's (of The Knife) solo album will be released stateside in March but you can download it, uh, tomorrow.

The Wal Mart Spread

2009-01-12T18:45:00.001-08:00

Fitting that it's a sickly green.

Allan Guthrie love

2008-12-29T12:11:00.000-08:00

Brilliant crime novelist Allan Guthrie spreads some early Very Mercenary love over at Book Spot Central.

He writes, "Very Mercenary by Rayo Casablanca (Kensington, US, spring ’09) This was the most fun I had reading a book all last year. Very Mercenary reads as if Joe Canrahan (director/screenwriter of Smokin’ Aces), Chuck Palahniuk and Philip Dick got together to write a novel with the remit that they had to really let their hair down this time."

Nice! Check out his other '08 favs here.

Cut from 6 Sick Hipsters #1

2008-12-03T08:48:00.000-08:00

Here's the first of several passages/pages edited from early drafts of 6 Sick Hipsters. The one below is a personal favorite:

"Wolfgang Brown had a squirrel problem.

The frizz-tailed rodents that darted in front of his '89 Honda hatchback did not scramble back to the greenbelt; they stood frozen before his car to be ground to asphalt. It was as though the squirrels were sacrificing themselves. He imagined them lined up, beady eyes trailing after passing cars. Walnut sized hearts pounding. Them ready to jump, spring forward with some chattering cry like fuzzy martyrs. The hatchback was an altar for holocaust. Their deaths seemed so instinctual that it could be nothing less than religious.

Devout Christians found the Virgin in a pancake. They saw her veiled in a roadside shrubbery. Her smiling in a smear of oil on a pane of glass. Perhaps the squirrels saw an imperfection on Wolfgang’s car that demanded worship? Wolfgang had carefully examined the manifold on the hatchback. He checked out the tires. The bumper. Even the windshield. But he could not find any scrapes, tears, bumps, scratches, or splotches that might suggest, in a squirrel’s eye, an object of adoration.

They squirrels simply died and Wolfgang had no idea why.

In order to reduce the casualties, he took what he called “urban” routes to work. Santavista High was only a few miles south of his apartment complex but Wolfgang drove a five mile loop north before coming back down just so he could take Interstate 75 and avoid the neighborhoods and greenbelts where the faithful awaited the coming of their Japanese rear-wheel drive messiah. It actually worked out better that way. Taking I-75 brought Wolfgang through Fruitville and afforded him a chance to meet up with Tony on Mondays before school began."

© 2005-2008 Rayo Casablanca

King Shot - Jodo talks

2008-11-25T12:28:00.000-08:00

Here's a new interview with Jodorowsky re: his feature (produced by David Lynch), King Shot.

Cinebomb #8: Jeu de Massacre

2008-11-23T14:37:00.000-08:00

Alain Jessua's 1967 pop-art masterpiece, Jeu de Massacre (trans: Killing Game, aka Comic Book Hero), concerns a husband-wife cartoonist team (Jean-Pierre Cassel and Claudia Auger) invited to a playboy's mansion where said playboy (Michel Duchaussoy) enacts the comic strips they create. When the cartoonists kill off one of the characters in their strip, Duchaussoy plots revenge. Not only is the film chock-a-block with op-art by Guy Peellaert but the insanely catchy soundtrack is by The Alan Bown Set.

Hear some of it here:

See some of it here:

Sneak

2008-11-21T14:42:00.001-08:00

Stunt Rock

2008-11-02T13:26:00.000-08:00

Greatest movie ever? Judge for yourself here.

Skhizein trailer

2008-10-16T06:30:00.000-07:00

French language short film, Skhizein, is about a man struck by a meteor. The aftereffect is quite odd: He's now displaced 91 centimeters to the side of where he really is. Very clever. Here's to hoping it turns up outside France.

Watch it here

Very Mercenary cover

2008-10-15T12:55:00.000-07:00

Here it is (click on the image for higher res). Once again, designer Kristine Mills-Noble (who I had the pleasure of meeting in '06) has done a bang up job.

Copyedit fog

2008-10-11T11:01:00.000-07:00

Finished the latest copyediting round for my next book,Very Mercenary. The way it works is this: I get a package (FedEX) with the manuscript (ms, not bound) and an editorial note. Depending on when I've submitted the manuscript and how long it's taken to do the bulk of the "major" editing, I have a few days to a week to turn the copyedited ms around. Not much. Many sleepless nights. The copyedits range from typos and minor grammar changes to plot holes (Weren't his ears missing?). Went well this time but many beers are needed for a full recovery.

Heavy rotation

2008-09-15T22:14:00.001-07:00

The Faint - The Geeks Were Right

On headphone/car rotation for nigh on two weeks. With . . .

Underworld - Beautiful Burnout

This is what makes my day . . .

2008-09-15T22:08:00.000-07:00

From a personal ad in Seattle's alt weekly rag, The Stranger. Seriously, my heart's aglow.

Second Skin NYC

2008-09-15T21:37:00.000-07:00

Last week - well, the 5th - I attended the NYC premier of Second Skin at the ACE Festival with Chris and my agent, Jessica. It was fantastic meeting Victor and Juan Carlos in the flesh after so many long, detailed phone and email conversations. Great seeing the doc a second time and with a sold out audience. Lots of gamers there to heckle their on-screen compatriots ("What the fuck is he doing in the Valley of Trails?!").

It seems as though every time I talk to Victor something new and thrilling has come up for Second Skin, whether it's the NYTimes or Dr. Phil (see blog for details). Wonderful to see the film getting the press it deserves. The future is wide-open for Pure West and every write up and positive review just hammers it home.

Victor and I met up at Vinyl in Hell's Kitchen for a marathon dinner session. We talked a ton about adapting 6 Sick Hipsters (he even showed me his copious notes) and I was thrilled with the myriad ideas Victor has come up with. He and Juan Carlos are really thinking outside the box - not only in terms of scripting but promotion as well. They have a lot of big, very exciting ideas. Here's Victor on a tentative timeline (from the Second Skin blog): "I'm hoping (fingers crossed here) to have the script hammered out in the next 6-9 months, as Second Skin is getting released globally- by then I'm sure Juan will have started storyboarding it, and we can start presenting the package... at which point hopefully Peter and Chris can join us on the production side."

Pure West has a new website with a page on 6 Sick Hipsters pre-production here. Explore the site and check out some of their short films and the trailer for Second Skin.

Zombie Zombie - This Road Until Death Sets You Free

2008-08-26T12:12:00.001-07:00

From Second Skin to Sick Hipsters

2008-08-15T20:27:00.000-07:00

Here we go! My novel has been optioned by Pure West Films and I couldn't be more excited. Not only are these guys excellent filmmakers but they are excellent people.

The Pineiro Brothers - Juan Carlos, director, and Victor, producer/writer - are currently riding the wave of critical success generated by their first film, the award-wining documentary Second Skin. The film delves into the world of MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) like World of Warcraft and Second Life. While I'm not much of a gamer, I was instantly caught up in the lives of the people who play these games obsessively. From star struck lovers who have never physically met to a man hopelessly addicted and suicidal, Second Skin literally gets under the skin of MMORPG gamers. It's fast paced, funny without being condescending, and beautifully realized. You can watch the trailer for Second Skin and learn more about it here. Even more importantly, you can enjoy the film in a theatre near you this fall.

Victor is currently at work adapting the novel and I can't tell you how thrilled I am to have him working on this. Not only does he really "get" 6 Sick Hipsters but he's made it his own. All the references (even some of the more obscure ones) are within his startling scope of pop culture/geek knowledge. The man is like a long-lost twin. We talk frequently and each and every discussion makes me giddy with excitement at the prospects of this movie. I will be attending the NYC premier of Second Skin Sept. 5th and will have photos and the like to share from our first "official" meet up.

I should mention that we're talking indie film here. That means tricky but it also means loads of freedom. I know writers who've had big studio films made of their books that turned out, well, disastrously. Sure, they got paid loads but the resulting flick was not only rated PG-13 (when the novel was a hard R) but it was changed from a drama to a comedy. Ouch. While I would love to retire to a mansion in Florida with Hollywood winnings, I'm much happier knowing that 6 Sick Hipsters is in good hands. Victor and Juan Carlos not only want to keep me involved, they want to stay true to the novel. What more could I ask for?

This blog will become (in addition to news about forthcoming novels - Very Mercenary *hint*hint) home to my "production process" diaries. Stay tuned, the fun is just beginning.

Another hint

2008-08-05T06:48:00.000-07:00

Here's another hint regarding the identity of the mysterious "---" who've optioned 6 Sick Hipsters. We're planning on coordinating our announcement of the deal to parlay some press. Hang tight.

uploaded to Flickr by mhuang 8.4.08

Press & Sun-Bulletin review

2008-08-05T06:47:00.001-07:00

6 Sick Hipsters - the movie

2008-07-24T16:31:00.000-07:00

Ah, yes, it's true.

I've signed the film option contract and if the stars align (and we're able to scoot past development hell - personally I'm hoping for the not-quite-as-toasty-or-stressful development tropics) you will be seeing the lovely cast of 6 Sick Hipsters on the big screen sometime in the next few years.

Wow. What a rush. The guy's who've optioned the book are not only incredibly talented but they have a nice track record of getting things done. As soon as all the ducks are formally lined up, I'll be gushing all the details. Maybe tomorrow? Maybe early next week?

What's that? You want a hint? Hmmmm. How about this?

Readings galore

2008-07-12T12:48:00.000-07:00

Had a great time in PDX this week. Powell's is, of course, amazing - I wandered in on Tuesday and came out dazed and several hundred dollars poorer on Thursday. The reading at Powell's on Hawthorne was fun, thanks to everyone who showed up. Looking forward to swinging by again next spring.

Tonight I'll be at Elliott Bay. The reading starts at 7:30 PM. Hope you can make it. This wraps up the initial leg of readings. I'm eager to bring it all home to NYC but haven't scheduled anything yet.

Re: the film option: contract negotiations are on-going but going very smoothly. Might have a signed contract as soon as next week. When and if that happens I'll make a scene about it here.

Been meaning to put up this interview with Westword. A nice, brief review here. Some PDX press (scroll down). Here's a hater. Ending with some love, I'm looking forward to meeting fellow Kensington-ite (and all around madman), Mark Henry who frightened me with his gushing praise.

Charleston City Paper

2008-07-02T07:24:00.001-07:00

Rupert Hine - The Set Up

2008-06-28T21:12:00.000-07:00

From "Waving Not Drowning" (1982). All of Rupert's solo albums are brilliant. This was the second in a triptych - the first was "Immunity" and the third "The Wildest Wish to Fly." His lyrics are amazingly satirical and goofy good.

Big Ideas (Don't Get Any)

2008-06-27T09:07:00.000-07:00

Big Ideas (don't get any) from James Houston on Vimeo.
About 1.30 secs in...

Gary Numan collaborations

2008-06-26T20:57:00.000-07:00

Love me some Gary Numan. Outside of the 400 odd songs that Numan has written/performed over the past thirty years, he's been a frequent collaborator with various friends and fellow musicians. Here are a few highlights:

Sharpe and Numan "Change Your Mind" 1985
(Bill Sharpe was in Shakatak, on Numan's Numa label)

Gary Numan vs. Rico "Crazier" 2003
(Numan meets nu-metal, this is a remixed version from Rico's "Violent Silences")

Gary Numan and Dramatis "Love Needs No Disguise" 1982
(Dramatis was Gary's backing band, they released one album "For Future Reference")

Gary Numan vs. Ade Fenton "The Leather Sea" 2007
(Not sure why it always has to be "vs" rather than "with" or "starring")

Q&A and exciting news

2008-06-26T10:24:00.000-07:00

You can find a Q&A from Westword (Denver's Village Voice) here as well as a brief review/mention of tomorrow night's reading here. If you're in town and out to get a hard copy, it's on page 28. Looking forward to seeing you at the reading.

I've added another reading in July. I'll be at Elliott Bay Book Co. in Seattle on July 12th at 7:30 PM. Fun stuff. Still working on some east coast dates and will let you know when, where, and if.

I hope to have a major announcement in the next few weeks regarding the 6 Sick Hipsters film option. The contract is in my hands and my agent and I are going over it. So far everything looks great but there will undoubtedly be some back and forth over details. As soon as it's signed and sealed, I'll let you in on the juicy details.

The Cure - Freakshow

2008-06-18T15:04:00.001-07:00

Next novel?

2008-06-15T15:27:00.000-07:00

Here's a hint:

Listening to: Crystal Castles - Magic Spells

Tattered Cover reading ad

2008-06-04T14:41:00.001-07:00

Borders reading 5/30/08

2008-06-02T23:35:00.001-07:00

Ladytron - Velocifero

2008-05-23T15:19:00.001-07:00

Velocifero is brilliant. The album has "Witching Hours'" combination of dusty electro and industrial glam but it's a bit catchier - I would say pop but that would only apply if we're talking about pop radio in a nightland universe of Soviet-era housing blocks and neon highways. Best listened to in a black leather chair atop a burning building.

Ghosts is a real stand out with a "Personal Jesus" styled stomp and video.

Download it at iTunes.

Ladies and Gentlemen The Fabulous Stains

2008-05-20T19:32:00.001-07:00

Click here for a link to a great "making of" short doc on this under-appreciated, never really released Punk Rock flick from the early '80s. I remember stumbling across parts of this on cable in the mid-80s and then seeing bootleg copies of it floating around record shops in the east village. It'll be released on DVD by Rhino in Sept. Yup, Diane Lane and Laura Dern are in it.

At the mall. Do you want to be a professional? Yeah, those are the Sex Pistols and, yes, that's Diane Lane and Laura Dern.

The B.I.D.E. Files

2008-05-15T18:22:00.000-07:00

A.k.a. Cool psychedelic comix.

Borders ad

2008-05-15T10:36:00.000-07:00

Soft focus, very nice.

Jodorowsky update

2008-05-15T10:34:00.001-07:00

Jodorowsky teams with David Lynch's production company for King Shot. The mind boggles.

LiliPUT

2008-05-11T19:39:00.000-07:00

Big Balls and the Great White Idiot

2008-05-11T19:37:00.000-07:00

VVAA - Obsession

2008-05-11T19:33:00.000-07:00

Zombie Zombie

2008-05-11T19:29:00.000-07:00

Mystery Scene Magazine review

2008-05-06T19:50:00.000-07:00

"That's right: there's social commentary in them thar pages!"

Las Vegas Review-Journal review

2008-05-06T19:36:00.000-07:00

Ahh, Vegas.

Skull Cull - review

2008-05-03T10:24:00.000-07:00

Read it here

Borders reading - 5/30/08 Colorado

2008-04-28T09:54:00.000-07:00

May 30th - 8:00 PM
Borders
Park Meadows
Centennial, Colorado
Grand opening celebration and I'll be reading w/ The Swayback.

Billy Ocean at the Cantina

2008-04-18T17:41:00.000-07:00

Billy rocks Mos Eisley!

Powell's Reading

2008-04-13T19:34:00.000-07:00

So, I'll be reading from 6 Sick Hipsters and doing a bit of Q & A at Powell's Books on Hawthorne on July 10th. Hope those of you in the area can make it out for the festivities!

Here are the details:
Rayo Casablanca - 6 Sick Hipsters
Powell's Books on Hawthorne
July 10th, 2008 at 7:30
3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
Portland, Oregon

Bookgasm - review

2008-04-08T06:19:00.001-07:00

Many thanks, Rod!

6 Sick Hipsters - Out and about

2008-03-29T11:26:00.001-07:00

Tattered Cover - Denver (Colfax store)

Borders - 104th and I-25

Barnes & Noble - Highlands Ranch

6 Sick Hipsters - Available*

2008-03-25T06:20:00.000-07:00

* If you peruse your local book seller today you just might come across a copy of 6 Sick Hipsters. While the official street date is next Tuesday, today is the publication date. Many, many thanks to those of you who've already bought the book. Hope you dig it.

Alex Prager

2008-03-22T12:50:00.001-07:00

From 2007's Polyester.

Kas Product - Never Come Back

2008-03-21T14:28:00.000-07:00

Mystery of Chimney Rock

2008-03-19T19:58:00.000-07:00

Sean Michael Ragan graphically plots out Edward Packard's 1979 Choose Your Own Adventure book "Mystery of Chimney Rock."

Evangelicals - Midnight Vignette

2008-03-19T19:39:00.000-07:00

MIDNIGHT VIGNETTE from leachmo1 on Vimeo.

Dogmatika review

2008-03-16T08:01:00.000-07:00

Caleb Ross gave 6 Sick Hipsters a great review at Dogmatika. Caleb is a first rate novelist you'll undoubtedly be reading soon.

Dante 01 - Marc Caro

2008-03-14T20:22:00.000-07:00

Marc Caro is a real fav. He teamed with Jeunet for their first few shorts (Bunker of Final Gunshots (worth finding, amazing) and feature films (Delicatessen, City of Lost Children). Jeunet struck out on his own with Alien: Resurrection but Caro was mum (a short or two) until now.

Dante 01 looks intriguing, has that unmistakable "feel" of a Caro film and the plastic face of Dominique Pinon. Rumor has it, however, that the movie is a bit of a mess and has been all but dumped by the distributor. Who knows, Variety gave a good review.

Also: Caro's videos for Indochine's (France's Cure) "Les Tzars" (87) and "Savoure le Rouge" (93). Note: the pre-Alien: Resurrection look of the "Savoure..." vid.

Gary Numan - I'm an Agent

2008-03-11T09:02:00.000-07:00

From the 2006 Telekon Tour DVD.

Romantic Times

2008-03-10T15:09:00.000-07:00

From the April '08 issue. Many thanks to Liz.

And here is the review from the same issue. (The summary is the best I've read yet):

Thriller
6 Sick Hipsters
Rayo Casablanca
***

Casablanca refashions the serial killer mystery amid a strange amalgam of slacker/hipster nightclubbers. The wacked-out violence and grotesquely flawed characters aren’t for everyone, but the mystery works even if the motive is convoluted and hard to parse. At the very least, Casablanca is a unique flavor on the mystery scene.

Summary: After the grisly murders of three high-profile hipsters in Brooklyn, a loosely connected group of friends deduce that a serial killer is targeting them for extinction. Armed with not much more than their wits and plenty of attitude, Harrison, a paleontologist who secretly writes scientific porn, and Beth, a subversive knitter whose eyesight is fading, lead the charge to track down the monstrous Doctor Jeep, who seems to be killing urban techno youths. A vicious war begins, and a bizarre counterculture movement appears to be at the heart of a deadly mission to counteract rampant consumerism. (KENSINGTON, Apr., 288 pp., $15.00)

Tara Gelsomino

John Foxx kick

2008-03-07T19:44:00.000-08:00

Underpass

He's a Liquid

No One Driving

20th Century

Happy Hour of the Damned

2008-02-21T17:56:00.000-08:00

Mark Henry and I share an editor at Kensington and while I've never read any "urban fantasy," Henry's debut Happy Hour of the Damned just seemed too intriguing to pass up. (Lucky bastard has a deal with Showtime and part of me wanted to know just what the fuss was about.)

Amanda Feral (no symbolism there) is a recent revenant (zombi(e), undead, ghoul, etc.) trying to make it in Seattle's crazy undead scene. Amanda parties, dresses like she's going to a Sex in the City wake and chows down on human viscera. But life isn't all fun and grisly games, there's a evil(er) force at work -- something epic, diabolical -- that has everyone in undead Seattle freaked. I should mention that we're not just talking zombies here. Succubus? Yeah. Werewolf? Why not? Vampire? Of course.

There is no line Henry is unafraid to cross. The man leaps around like Spring Heeled Jack -- when you think he's outdone himself, turn the page you'll be stunned with what he comes up with next. He also packs the novel to the brim with all manner of assorted information, ephemera, jetsam, etc. There are footnotes, quotes from fictional books, drink recipes, DJ set lists -- the style is an intriguing mash-up of semantic game and fashionista manifesto. I love that Henry let's his freak flag fly.

In the end, the plot comes together a bit haphazardly but it actually fits with Henry's convulsive style. Amanda was a bit too bitchy for my tastes, perhaps all supernatural vixens in urban fantasy are snarky to the hilt? But that wasn't the appeal for me in the first place. I was there for the monster melees and Henry certainly delivers in spades. He also crafts a funky and downright atmospheric undead Seattle that’s quite grounded and (despite the apparitional subject matter) gritty.

Clever, bloody, funny, Happy Hour of the Damned is a whip-crack ride into a sexy underworld. This will appeal to a lot of people and I can see why Showtime snapped it up.

Geek Monthly

2008-02-09T08:11:00.001-08:00

Sweet. 94/100. Many thanks to Jeff and Blair.

Arcade Attack

2008-02-09T07:52:00.000-08:00

Pinball warriors vs. Space Invaders. From 1982, this played on HBO's Short Takes between films. It is the ending segment of a 25 min British doc on video games by Mike Wallington. The doc revolves around two game champs - Geoff Harvey (pinball) and Stephen Highfield (Space Invaders). They argue and at the end it comes to life in animation. Great synthy arcade music.

Here is a longer version with more of the documentary bits:

Boulevard Noir

2008-02-04T14:10:00.000-08:00

Brilliant.

Detroit Public Schools Book Depository

2008-01-24T20:10:00.000-08:00

Sweet Juniper has a photo gallery of shots taken at the Detroit Public Schools Book Depository. The waste captured here is uncanny but the images are stunning. I'm particularly taken by the one of mushrooms growing from the rotting pages.

Twilight Ritual - Elegy

2008-01-23T21:43:00.001-08:00

More Belgians, in fact an A Split-Second "side project", but Twilight Ritual (Peter Bonne and Geert Coppens) was (and to some extent still is) an interesting cross between ambient and synth with none of the cliche trappings of either. Haunting, beautiful. This is from the 1985 album "Rituals."

A Split-Second - Mambo Witch, 1988 Hair

2008-01-23T21:20:00.000-08:00

Not only is the quality of this up-loaded video for Belgian EBM act A Split-Second's 1988 "hit" "Mambo Witch" atrocious but it really solidifies my initial sense that these guys were truly the butt-rockers of the industrial dance scene. Regardless, around 1:22 min into the video you get a nice shot of the guitarist (is that you Fedjean Venvelt?) and his hair.

This is exactly how I wanted my hair to look in 1988. Exactly. Sadly, Aqua Net just didn't hold up and my hair was too wavy.

Peur(s) Du Noir teaser

2008-01-18T12:49:00.000-08:00

Depraved Press - Review, interview

2008-01-16T14:22:00.000-08:00

Alex Martin, a nice bloke who frequents the Cult, gave 6 Sick Hipsters a generous review at Depraved Press. We also did a short interview. You can read the contents of both below:

"They stalk on spiderlike legs wearing jeans tighter than condoms. As they are the scourge of Starbucks baristas, so also 6 Sick Hipsters are the bones of this novel, but don't for a minute assume they're the flesh of it. Rayo Casablanca's debut is as dark as it is hilarious, as encapsulating as it is clever.

He leads us by the hand so charmingly through places so noir their bars sell bourbon on tap and all you can do is smile and follow. From Paleontological pornography to a gangster with the best character name in fiction, 6 Sick Hipsters leaves no stone unturned and when you're not laughing out loud you're silently nodding with a half-shameful envy.

I first heard of Rayo Casablanca over at The Cult. There had been a competition for a fictional oral-biography style passage about Chuck Palahniuk there, and there Rayo's sexually charged winning entry provoked much mirth and not a small dash of jealousy from many. In 500 words his style shines through, and his humor is blatant.

But what isn't readily apparent is the depth of Rayo's pop-culture trivia, and even beyond that, the level of literacy in the novel itself. From Thomas Pynchon to The Sisters of Mercy, 6 Sick Hipsters swells with allusions, which are very, very fun. But ultimately the novel's charm comes from Rayo's beautiful juxtaposition of iniquitous comedy, sly satire and subcultural range, and by fuck does he do it well. All in all a very impressive debut."

- Alex Martin (12/07)

A brief discussion with Rayo Casablanca:

Martin: Starting at basics, every writer seems to have their own method when it comes to spinning a yarn. Will Christopher Baer binges, Craig Clevenger goes through drafts like a hot knife through a small lovable creature. What about you?

Rayo Casablanca: I usually start with a title and then write from there. I suppose I would categorize myself as a drafter a la Clevenger. I typically spin off a hundred pages of extraneous material before settling into a single work. On a good day, I'll have four or five drafts going at the same time. You know, one 1st person, one 3rd person, one from the perspective of the syphilitic killer, one from the perspective of the dowdy doorman. Most don't get past the forty-page mark. Some are just sketches really. In the end, those weaker versions wind up cannibalized or discarded.

6 Sick Hipsters was inspired (largely) by women's undergarments. Seriously. There are these cotton-stretch low-slung panties called hipsters. The ones I saw came in packs of 6. Viola! 6 hipsters. I added the sick because that just made it all the more entertaining. As soon as I had the title the rest just came whirling out.

Martin: You work under the umbrella of healthcare, and it's no secret that the most ill-fated of perverse actions come to light under that very same brolly - if you'll excuse the phrase. How much of the book was informed by real-life (I'm specifically hoping for an anecdote about a wild baboon)?

Rayo Casablanca: Almost all. The character of Radij - the physician with the hankering for obscure new wave/minimal synth and a bad habit of cutting himself - was inspired by a number of people I know. The stories he tells are all based on actual incidents. Truth is always, without question, stranger than fiction. Spend a few minutes in an ER and you'll see things you just couldn't make up.

While I've cleaned glass out of eyeballs and broken ribs doing chest compressions, I've never encountered victims of wild baboon attacks. That little episode was based on images I've seen about the Gadawan Kura ("hyena guides") of Nigeria. These men have adult baboons and hyenas on chains. Most of them are traveling entertainers, do street shows in the dusty markets of Lagos, though I've read totally unsubstantiated rumors of the animals being used for stick-ups and worse. The mind boggles.

Martin: Is there a book tour planned?

Rayo Casablanca: Yeah. I don't know if I'd call it planned. I'll be in NYC, Denver. Possibly D.C., Boston, Chicago, Seattle and Portland.

Martin: Obviously 6 Sick Hipsters is full of literary and musical allusions, from Pynchon through The Sisters of Mercy to Voltron. Are all of the details facts, any artistic license used, and did you just know this stuff or was there a whole lot of research involved behind it?

Rayo Casablanca: Most of it is true. Some of it I made up. Sad as it is to say, the vast majority of it is gleaned from inane trivia I've lined by brain with. I threw a bunch of in-jokes in there for the equally geeky.

Martin: And finally, when can we expect the next?

Rayo Casablanca: Next spring, in fact. Turning in a first draft next month. The run down: a socialite (less Paris Hilton than Edie Sedgwick) vs. terrorists (schizo and led by their therapist) vs. art school students. Throw in a good number of twists, a nihilist hit man, meth-addled dirties and the ghost of Serge Gainsbourg and you've got it. (12/07)

Williamsburg Courier interview

2008-01-11T10:45:00.000-08:00

Here.
Thanks to Greg Hanlon/Courier Life

Glowing in the Dark: Minimal Synth MP3 Series #1 -Cinema 90 repost

2008-01-09T06:31:00.001-08:00

As requested, here is a repost of Cinema 90's "In Ultra-Violet" - I should have another minimal synth post in the next day or two. Here is the 7" version.

Cinema 90 (a.k.a. Colin MacDonnel, keyboardist for the Seattle post-punk band 3 Swimmers) had one song on this compliation (Seattle Syndrome 2) released by Engram in 1983, "In Ultra-Violet." It's a haunting synth piece with a driving bass line. While there are some similarities structurally to Frank Tovey's early work (RIP), "In Ultra-Violet" is more melodic and less obscure lyrically. Excellent stuff all around and a very nice rip as well.

Life After Death - Isn't It Time

2008-01-08T13:02:00.000-08:00

Incredible video from the vaults. Early 80s L.A. synth/electro punk band, Life After Death. From the Video 22 show.

Downtown 81

2008-01-07T18:40:00.000-08:00

The film was never finished and Basquiat died in 1988. In 1999 the film was resurrected and released. The audio had been lost so actor Saul Williams dubbed Basquiat's lines. Tons of 80s village hipsters: James Chance, Amos Poe, Tav Falco, etc.
Soundtrack: Kid Creole and the Coconuts, James White and the Blacks, DNA, Tuxedo Moon, the Plastics, Walter Steding and the Dragon People, Melle Mel, John Lurie, Lydia Lunch, Suicide, Vincent Gallo, Kenny Burrell and Gray

Terminus

2007-12-28T09:15:00.000-08:00

From Trevor Cawood. Montreal's Spyfilms.

Glass Candy - Digital Versicolor

2007-12-22T19:26:00.001-08:00

Now for something a bit more recent. From New Jersey.

Honkey grandma indeed.

Feeling early industrial, French tonight. . .

2007-12-22T18:09:00.000-08:00

As opposed to?

Buzz - Kennedy. French. From a 12" w/ "Picasso" and "Kennedy".

Futurisk - Army Now. 1982. Florida. Not French.

Orchestre Rouge - Soon Come Violence. 1982. (More like post-punk.) See: Passion Fodder.

Honeymoon Killers - Historie a Suivre. Amazing live footage. 1983.

Starter - Minijupe. Swiss, of course. Look at those moves.

End of Data - Sahrah. French. 1983. From Rennes.

Hard Corps - Dirty. Live, 1986.

Pete Shelley - On Your Own

2007-12-14T14:35:00.000-08:00

Great animation.

Angel Mine

2007-12-13T13:18:00.000-08:00

People who have read 6 Sick Hipsters often ask what "trivia" I made up and which is real. This is something the Annotated 6 Sick Hipsters website will address but here's an example: The whole "Angel Mine" section - banter between Swank (an artist who meets an ill end) and his pal - is based on a very real but really obscure film. Here is some info:

“Angel Mine (which came with the warning: ‘This film contains punk cult material!’) signalled in celluloid the arrival of punk and met with the kind of controversy you’d expect and more. ‘Angel Mine came out of nowhere and caught a lot of people by surprise,’ says Blyth. ‘Twenty years down the track I don’t know whether it’s so controversial. I’ve gone on and become far more middle of the road in terms of my film-making. … Blyth was coming to the end of his time at Auckland University where he had become influenced by European cinema rather than Hollywood as well as the values that went along with the music friends in a band were espousing. ‘We all came from the garage band. I was a garage film-maker. I used an old red Bolex and like the musicians didn’t have any formal education. They just got instruments and started making noises and I got a camera and started pointing it around the room. I thought ‘why wait to get experience?’ Everything was fermenting at the same time. The very first punk concert at Auckland University was raising money for Angel Mine. The thing about the film is that it was shot for $13,000 or $14,000, which meant I didn’t have to go to any of the authorities and have my script fettered. It was an attack on the great suburban dream of New Zealand, the whole focus on ‘get a job, get a house and a mortgage’, a whole philosophy which I guess punk was about questioning. … Despite the low budget and the controversy that followed the film’s release, many critics today, as then, have hailed Angel Mine as a superb piece of film-making.” (Mark Amery, Sunday Star-Times, 12 February 1995)

"There are no bohemians in Angel Mine. The couple, played by Derek Ward and Jennifer Redford, are confirmed city dwellers. In their sterile brand-new Lockwood show-home, isolated in the middle of a Pakuranga subdivision, haven for the nouveau riche, they try desperately to conform to the image of the ideal young couple in the commercials. They are surrounded by the material trappings that the slick advertisements insist are requisites for happiness: yet real happiness eludes them. The phantom doubles or Doppelgangers, dressed in shiny black vinyl suits, represent the physical, sensual, animalistic aspects of the couples' personalities, so effectively subliminated by the mass media." (Diana Ward/Art New Zealand, 1978)

"No locally made film has caused more hullabaloo since the advent of the State-sponsored NZ Film Commission than David Blyth's Angel Mine which premiered in Auckland in November and has since moved to other of the country's main cites. It has been the cause of renewed urgings to the Minister of Internal Affairs Alan Highet to tighten censorship law, and to the Government in general to carefully watch how the taxpayers money is being spent in the new surge towards a developed local film industry. Porn watchdog Patricia Bartlett, in particular, has been assiduous in penning letters to Government leaders and newspapers about what she sees as the degrading content of the film and the use of public money for such enterprises. In fact, Angel Mine, which has been made on a minuscule budget of about $30,000 and blown into 35mm from original 16mm footage, is much more than all the "put down" ballyhoo suggests... What it does is make a particularly strong statement about urban materialism and the corrosive nature of visual advertising in the context of the relationship - sexual and otherwise - of a suburban couple..."- (Mike Nicolaidi, Variety, January 10,1979)

The Annotated 6 Sick Hipsters

2007-12-11T10:29:00.001-08:00

Coming soon. It'll be a website, open to additions. Page by page references, etc. Should have it up by April. Have any thoughts, or want to lend a helping hand, let me know.

Williamsburg Courier

2007-12-11T10:13:00.000-08:00

Did an interview last night with the Williamsburg Courier. Nice chat, though I may have rambled a bit. (How is it that I mentioned the Lost & Found Times?)Not sure when it will hit newsstands.

Banner

2007-12-09T06:16:00.000-08:00

Many, many thanks to Alex Martin for this. Spread the love.

Monaco - What Do You Want From Me?

2007-12-08T21:25:00.001-08:00

Peter Hook (New Order) and David Potts, post Revenge. 1997.

Metro NY

2007-12-06T20:48:00.000-08:00

Metro NY interview. If you're in the city, pick up a copy.

Title Sequences

2007-12-06T19:57:00.001-08:00

Always been a huge fan of title sequences. In 5th gade, my teacher brought in a 16mm reel of Saul Bass credits and I was hooked. This is a nice compliation. Some of these are quite obscure (Dorian Gray) and many I would not have normally considered (Death Machines - love it). Below are some of my favs:

Vertigo

Delicatessen

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Mysterious Cities of Gold (Seriously, how can you resist that song?)

6 Sick Hipsters - Trailer 2

2007-12-06T07:09:00.000-08:00

Second trailer for the book. Muchas gracias to PureShot for this. Genius.

Ain't It Cool News

2007-12-04T06:53:00.001-08:00

Gothamist

2007-12-03T18:21:00.000-08:00

Interview

Paper

2007-11-29T19:15:00.000-08:00

Amazon

2007-11-28T18:09:00.001-08:00

Pre-order away.

6 Sick Hipsters: Teaser Trailer

2007-11-26T05:56:00.000-08:00

6 Sick Hipster ARCs

2007-11-21T06:24:00.000-08:00

Hanukkah in November.

Samurai Cop

2007-11-21T06:17:00.000-08:00

Priceless.

"No way, his lips are burned."

Shriekback - Glory Bumps

2007-11-12T09:59:00.000-08:00

Shriekback's eleventh studio album, Glory Bumps, is both a continuation of lead singer/songwriter Barry Andrews' long-running neo-primitive sound as well as a throw-back to the Shriek's earlier, edgier rock scuttles. Eschewing the programmed percussion that flattened the sound of Shriekback's last album, the brilliant but flawed Cormorant, Glory Bumps is something of a return to form. I say "something" because for Andrews there is hardly a form. Sure, it's not difficult recognizing a Shriekback song -- the funky bass slithers, the turtle-shell percussion, the synth noodlings and doomy washes and Andrew's grave whisper -- but musically Glory Bumps harkens back to the earliest stirrings of the band when they were more experimental forces than proper recording artists. While Andrew's songwriting remains consistent with his later output, this new album shines a light into the deep waters of what most fans may have considered thoroughly explored territory.

The album opens with the anthem, "Hooray for Everything". It's all loud rolling drums and crawling synth revs and it's somewhat similar to Snog's equally satiric "Hooray!!" "The Bride Stripped Bare" is a fierce monster of snarls and quietly disturbing piano interludes that fades out into a grimy little riff. Glory Bump's first real standout track is the impressionistic funeral dirge on acid, "Burying the Bunny." It's New Orleans via Midian and is highlighted by wolf howls and skeletal keys. Andrew's turns up the ghastly humor in lines like "this benediction isn't something I desire/it was a while ago before I felt so sunny/it's all ridiculous to that I am resigned/and that intensity is very, very funny." A real treat. "Bittersweet" is, as the title implies, a quieter affair and it's as close to anything from Big Night Music that the band has come in the past decade. Choice lines include: "raking through some existential drivel/it was grudgingly sublime, perhaps a waste of time." Glory Bumps finest song is the achingly beautiful "Amaryllis in the Sprawl." Like Oil and Gold's "This Big Hush" or Big Night Music's "Underwater Boys," "Amaryllis in the Sprawl" is a languid meditation (Martyn Baker's percussion is just dead on and the didgeridoo is exquisite) with a soul elevating chorus that is begging for some cinematic use. Best listened to driving at night, it's a Shriekback masterpiece. "Mahalia" is a companion piece to Big Night Music's "Running of the Rocks," all barren but beautiful tumbling chorus and driving, jazzy rhythm. This wouldn't be out of place in a spaghetti western. ("It's a deeply satisfying sound/Mahalia.") The title track, "Glory Bumps", is something of an oddity, a one-off. A snide attack on evangelical thumping, it's loud and aggressive and over-the-top. While the lyrics and clever and cutting, the stagy music is just a bit too shapeless to really deliver the goods. Like Cormorant's "Bonehead", "Squanderer" is a funky cutter. Andrew's falls back on his lyrical listing (a trope from the very beginnings of the band) and some of it is quite silly ("I wanna get a lick of the exorcist stick" Note: Barry clarifies that it's actually "ecstasy stick") but the harmonica infused chorus is undeniably catchy. "Devil's Onions" continues the dusty jams and sounds surprisingly like something from late-90s The The. Great key work and some really nice horns over the "golden age" chorus. The album wraps the instrumental "Yarg 7", similar to Cormorant's burbling "Huytfi Dbl Plus" but without the beats.

All in all amazing.

Buy the album at Malicious Damage Records (see link). There is a limited edition Advent calendar/double vinyl release of Glory Bumps with three additional tracks. Here is more info: "...beautifully packaged in a rapture-ready endtime advent calendar, complete with little windows that open revealing all your little symbols of approaching end-of-the-worldness... the vinyl is packaged in a pure white sleeve and can be stored separately while the calendar can be hung on the wall to impress the vicar when he comes round for tea... there'll also be a numbered personalised certificate of authentication signed by the reverend andrews and a malicious damage representative, plus a few other bits and bobs..." Only 100 made so get it while you can.

New Musik

2007-11-06T08:27:00.000-08:00

"One of those massive Euro hits sung by a bloke who doesn't seem to want to be here..."
Ah, stuido rat bands get no love. Chief among them is New Musik, Tony Mansfield's prescient electro-pop band. Despite the slick and airy sonic touch the lyrics were all dour and apocalyptic. This stuff drives a lot of people crazy but that ultra-modern gloss makes me feel clean. This is bleach for your ears.

Straight Lines (1979)- watch for shots of the bored teeny boppers looking at everything other than the band.

World of Water (1980)

Living by Numbers (1979)

XTC - Making Plans for Nigel

2007-10-24T18:44:00.000-07:00

From Drums and Wires.

Cinebomb #7: The Shout

2007-10-09T05:46:00.001-07:00

How fitting that David Cronenberg cast Polish filmmaker Jerzy Skolimoski as Naomi Watt's irascible uncle in Eastern Promises. While Skolimoski is a good character actor, I suspect the casting had more to do with Cronenberg's affinity for Skolimoski's films than his burly personality.

Skolimoski has directed over twenty films, the majority Polish language. Most western film audiences were introduced to his work via the startling Deep End (1971). But his lone horror outing, The Shout (1978), has deservedly become something of a cult favorite. Why? It's oblique, dreamlike and frustratingly formless. In other words, a perfect cinebomb.

The late Sir Alan Bates (Women in Love) stars as the enigmatic Crossley, a traveler who slips in between John Hurt and Susannah York. Using aboriginal magic he learned during an 18-year drift in the Australian outback, Crossley beds York and drives Hurt nuts. All of this smarmy intrigue is offset by Skolimoski's outlandish (and many times absurdist) touches. (Crossley talks of how aboriginal witch doctors can bring down rain by cutting a flap of skin around their waists and pulling it up. We see just such a scar on Crossley.) The film's titular trick - a shout that can literally kill - is surely one of the creepier, if understated, devices in film history. Seeing Crossley blast down a herd of sheep is truly mind-boggling. Like The Wicker Man, The Shout is a great example of '70s experimentalism running headlong into metaphysical (and "native") horror.

Now, if you could only find a decent copy in the states.

Kensington Catalog

2007-10-07T07:12:00.000-07:00

Page 63, April 08

The Gable Film

2007-10-01T10:27:00.000-07:00

Just in time for Halloween. Found(?)8mm film. Creepy as all get out. Hmmmm. Catch this while you can.

Jason Starr's blurb

2007-09-26T21:27:00.000-07:00

"6 Sick Hipsters is a wild, poignant, twisted, bitterly funny page turner with dead-on dialogue and a wonderful ensemble cast. Rayo Casablanca has written the big novel the hipster generation has been waiting for. "

This comes from Jason Starr, NYT bestselling author of eclectic noir like The Follower, Lights Out, Slide and Bust. Awesome.

They love Logan's Run too

2007-09-11T05:52:00.000-07:00

Daft Punk's Electroma

Vampire Weekend

2007-09-10T14:14:00.000-07:00