baghdad IRAQ
in the hurt locker kathryn BIGELOW skillfully cuts scene after scene together to induce gut wrenching tension and an overwhelming sense of disorientation and anxiety.
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jim JARMUSCH, master of the shaggy-dog tale, has produced another variation of his man on a mission road movie…[CONTINUED WITH TRAILER]
EAT SKULL’S wild and inside offers an lp of dreamy pop, crackling rockers, and plenty of fuzz. less clamoring than sick to death but with just as much attitude and energy. this portland band channels the pop sensibilities of the flying nun crowd and television personalities with the sonic swirls of the swell maps and gbv. the album has its share of noise and bounce from the pounding keyboard of opener “stick to the formula” to the jangly “heaven’s stranger” and the sandy surf instrumental “surfing the stairs.” there are also some stripped down acoustic numbers which trade the noise for dreamy haze such as “oregon’s dreaming” and the slow lament “dawn in the face.”
the one armed blaise CENDRARS (frederic sauser) is responsible for this explosive surreallist moravagine. a schizophrenic, ranting, romp through the first decade of 20th century europe, moravagine, tells the tale of the title character and his homicidal, jack the ripper tendencies. the author springs moravagine from an international sanitarium where he discovers him in the act of masturbating onto a goldfish in its bowl, and leads him on a trip spanning the trans-siberian highway, paris, new york, and new orleans. evil, humor, anarchists, and plenty of vile edge make this the best book the beats could never write. it contains more edge and wit than naked lunch with a dash of futurism thrown in.
looking for some summer jams? here they are by way of the congo, ca 1980. mississippi records released this lost gem, ntsamina, by the SPIRITUAL SINGERS, in the winter but the shaggs style drumming, booming organ, and male/female harmonies belong in the summer heat. british rock, trojan reggae, and american doo wop combine to create a bouncing, yelping mix of jams such as kimia,” “wey a tsumo ma,” and the slow sinister dirge “come and save us.”
matteo GARRONE’S unsentimental adaptation of roberto SAVIANO’S book, gomorra, scrapes at the underbelly of napoli to squeeze out a beautiful neorealist portrait of 21st century gangsters…[CONTINUED WITH TRAILER]
new york NEW YORK
log 15 continues the any corporation’s dominance over contemporary architecture journals. the issue documents the lectures presented at sylvia lavin’s symposium “as is” which marked phylis lambert’s 80th birthday. barry bergdoll discusses the display of houses in museums, sylvia lavin explores andy warhol and disco, mark wigley writes about gordon matta clark, jean louis cohen “goes underground with chris marker,” beatriz colomina discusses le corbusier and mies van der rohe, and peter eisenman “paints himself into a corner.”
cynthia DAVIDSON, journal, log
Comments Off on log 15 “my idea of a health trip is switching to menthols and getting a tan” denis johnson’s neonoir “nobody move” rips along like a tight, quick pop version of cormac mcarthy’s no country for old men. this tale is complete with hit men, a western backdrop, a femme fatale, and plenty of failures. the hapless luntz, with his barbershop chorus and gambling problem, puts a bullet in the wrong guy’s thigh triggering a series of coincidences that endanger everyone in the cast. the chase runs through bakersfield california and on to trailer parks and suburban malls with plenty of ambushes, shotgun shells, painkillers, and booze along for the ride.
TYVEK’S scuzzy rust belt noise pop channels the milieu of detroit and its empty buildings. The anxious jangling of songs like “burning building” and “circular ruins” cut right to the chase in evoking the mood of the dying city. The album is at times punchy and sludgy as it drifts from repetitive burners like “stop start” and“summer things” to more catchy rockers such as “frustration rock” and the outstanding “duck blinds” which lurches back and forth with its jagged edges, midnight ashtrays and orange netting.
25 year old dash SHAW’S bottomless belly button, published by fantagraphics, tells the story of the looney family as they come together one last time at their beach house before their parents divorce. 720 pages packed full of angst, humor, and sex with a few architectural plans thrown in. the plans are deployed to illustrate the looney beach house as well as the dynamics playing out in the family over the weekend. a family drama interwoven with moments of falling in love, falling out of love, and falling apart. dash’s realism is simple but compelling as he sprinkles surreal moments throughout the book such as the son, peter, who has a frog head or the sister claire’s permanent white gloves. he employs a structure which repeats similar scenes causing the characters emotions and reactions to be more fully exposed over time. he also does a series of stunning pages which catalog types of sand, fighting, water, and tears.
