James Broughton

There is a new documentary out called Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton, directed by Stephen Silha and Eric Slade. Looks great! Broughton was a poet and filmmaker, the mischievous goat-god of the west coast, bard of the Radical Faeries. I really love his stuff. A cinema of eros is the best I can do to describe it, a life-long celebration of cavorting nudes and furry body parts, the earthy pleasures of art, sex, poetry, music, etc. This DVD is really great, and there are a few of his films up on youtube.

I put together some of my favorite music from his films here. If you like harpsichord and moog doodlings, micronesian flute and gamelan and conch shell tone poems then you might be into it. Lou Harrison is the key dude here -- some of his (unreleased?) fourth world-scapes sound like Dolphins into the Future or Spencer Clark.

Enjoy, and as Big Joy said, always 'follow your weird!'

The Woodcraft Folk

Attention campers, really nice Woodcraft Folk archive here. Summer's not over yet!

Stephan & Janis

Locomotion

Geoffrey Jones documentary about the Stockton & Darlington line, the world's first passenger railway. Love the looping, morphing Dies Irae theme with electronics, composed by Don Fraser and performed (uncredited) by Steeleye Span. Jones talks about the music in this interview. I would love to see Steeleye Span perform this at a live screening à la Yo La Tengo...

Try to beat this, Mars

Early Matt Mullican, via this huge new book. The last four details are from a 1974 collage called Untitled (Try To Beat This, Mars).

Taksimler

Turkish cassette drone. From wikipedia: "Taqsim is widely regarded as a connection to the spirit world."

aragon/elegie

Another coastal find... this Hélène Martin LP, a musical setting of Louis Aragon's poem about Pablo Neruda. So far I have not gone wrong buying Hélène Martin records. This one sounds a bit like Brigitte Fontaine without the random cackling, or maybe like a TV special about poetry with weird chanson folk flourishes. And of course it's all very French. Or Chilean. Plus there are lots of pictures on the inside of Neruda and his partner Matilde (I like the selfie above).

The photos of the players are also great. Nice to see Jean Cohen-Solal make an appearance, but I must say the attention-grabber here is Mireille Rivat, who takes care of vocal duties for the songs in Spanish. Haven't heard of her before but I am entranced by her expression in the photo below. Really love the song in the second half of the clip, especially when Cohen-Solal drops the one-finger organ part.

* aragon / élégie à pablo neruda *

Pioniri Maleni

Pioniri Maleni (Little Pioneers), directed by Želimir Žilnik in 1968. Man, this film is punk rock. It's a documentary about homeless gypsy teens failed by the Yugoslavian education system and social services. The title is an ironic allusion to the Stalinist slogan that spoke of children as "little pioneers." Here we see how they have been forced to pioneer in a completely different way, begging and thieving and enduring all sorts of abuse in order to make ends meet. Bleak stuff, but it's astonishing to hear how frankly and buoyantly they describe their lives. There's a lot of bubble-gum smacking, mugging for the camera, practical jokes, and -- my favorite -- a lot of impromptu off-key singing. These kids don't give a SHIT. Seriously, check it out here (with English subtitles) or on youtube (no subs). I like the little face in the window in the second to last photo.

Pankaj Mullick

This whole cassette is really gentle and beautiful. The stickers on the case tell a story, like passport stamps. The wheezy harmonium reminds me of Nico's Desertshore.

* The Genius of Pankaj Mullick *

Portland, ME

Feeling cleansed after spending some time in Portland, Maine, and points south. Seriously relaxing times spent with lobsters, blue skies, fine white beach sand and that salty sea air. Our favorite place was probably this small crescent beach off of Cape Elizabeth.

It was so nice to meet and visit with Maria and Christopher at More & Co. in Portland. Such an inspiring space, and it really couldn't be run by nicer people. We left with a beautiful smock designed by Fanja Ralison of Le Train Fantôme. It was funny because it kind of felt like the North American meeting of the Le Train Fantôme fan club!

Christopher, who records under the name Symbolized, directed me to Portland's many fine record stores. Easily the best record shopping on the east coast outside of NYC. I found some goodies on vinyl and magnetic gold, which I'll be sharing in the next few days. Thanks Maria and Christopher!

Kate Hayes and Bruce Lacey

Just wow. There ought to be a compilation of Bruce Lacey's music.

The Bethany Folk Rock Group

Sloane Square

Hi all. Here's a cool super-8 film by Derek Jarman, shot at his own apartment between 1970 and 1972. On the walls he's spray-painted "tomorrow has been canceled owing to lack of interest." Sound tapestry by Simon Fisher Turner of Deux Filles. Last three minutes or so are completely unreal.