Sean Michael Ragan graphically plots out Edward Packard's 1979 Choose Your Own Adventure book "Mystery of Chimney Rock."
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Mystery of Chimney Rock
Sean Michael Ragan graphically plots out Edward Packard's 1979 Choose Your Own Adventure book "Mystery of Chimney Rock."
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Dogmatika review
Caleb Ross gave 6 Sick Hipsters a great review at Dogmatika. Caleb is a first rate novelist you'll undoubtedly be reading soon.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Dante 01 - Marc Caro
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.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
Romantic Times
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
Friday, March 07, 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Happy Hour of the Damned
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.
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.
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Arcade Attack
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:
Monday, February 04, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Detroit Public Schools Book Depository
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.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Twilight Ritual - Elegy
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
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.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Depraved Press - Review, interview
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)
"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)
Friday, January 11, 2008
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Glowing in the Dark: Minimal Synth MP3 Series #1 -Cinema 90 repost
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.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Life After Death - Isn't It Time
Incredible video from the vaults. Early 80s L.A. synth/electro punk band, Life After Death. From the Video 22 show.
Monday, January 07, 2008
Downtown 81
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
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