The Essence of a Beautiful Scent via M. Gainsbourg and Mr. Hawkins

The Violence of Rock N' Roll

New edition of Tosh Talks

Barry Miles' "London Calling"

London Calling: A Countercultural History of London Since 1945 by Barry Miles


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'm a long term Barry Miles fan. I guess one can consider him as a cultural historian, but he also witnessed many aspects of his own field of interest. Which is American Beat/British Hippie/pop music cultural life. He was also a close associate of Paul McCartney in the mid to late 1960's, as well as a co-writer on McCartney's interesting memoir.

Miles has written biographies on American Beat Greats, as well as his own memoir of London life during the Sixties. But"London Calling" is sort of his masterpiece, and although not historically perfect (some names are wrong, or the wrong artist with the wrong piece), he captures something more important, and that is the life blood of various countercultural youth movements from post-war London to now.

It may be age or perhaps the current social life of London is not that interesting to Miles, but for sure the past is full of colorful characters and various causes in the U.K. capital. From Teddy Boys to British Beats (and how they mixed in with Burroughs/Ginsberg) to the Mods, to the Hippies, and then to the punks is really five or six books in this one volume.

But each section is really alive with details about life then, and I would think a young reader would want to check out the literature/visuals of the various underground movements that took place in the mid to late 20th Century. Also in detail it explains the importance of London as a location as well as an iconic fantasy land of sorts.

This book is by no means the ultimate history, for that you need to read at least fifty other books on the subject of London's subculture. But this is an excellent introduction to a world with great possibility and sometimes disappointment. But the adventure to go from zero to 10 is a magnificent ride.

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Yves Klein's "The Foundations of Judo"

Nick Kent's "Apathy for the Devil"

Apathy for the Devil by Nick Kent


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Nick Kent's collection of essays/interviews "The Dark Stuff" is a must for rock n' roll reading. The one theme that runs through that collection is the fucked-up rock n' roll figure. And he's good at capturing the low moments of very talented artists.

His memoir of the 70's "Apathy for the Devil" is an interesting book that focuses on himself of course, who was basically a mirror image of his subject matters that he wrote about. The 70's decade was not kind to Kent, but it is also what made him interesting - a good writer who can look into the lives of others and pick up the damaging aspect as well as what makes them great. So it is interesting to read what he says about artists of that period -especially the Sex Pistols, for whom he has mixed feelings. I was kind of surprised that he poo-poos Public Image Ltd, but the whole punk experience seems to left him with a bad taste in his mouth.

I don't totally agree with his music taste, but he is honest to see the weakness in lot of his favorite artist's works, and that I think makes him a good critic. The drug addiction aspect of his story must be told, but beyond that it is basically the everyday type of material regarding drug taking and its world.

What makes Kent unique is his take on fellow writers of the music magazine world (NME) and how they function in that world. Of all the writers I found himquite hard on Paul Morley, who I feel is one of the top critics of the 80's and still is. So yeah I don't trust his critical judgement, but I like the way he says it.

"The Dark Stuff" is the essential book to have by Kent, but this is a good volume and a detailed snapshot of life in 1970s London.

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Wallace Berman film with LIVE John Zorn Soundtrack

THURSDAY, APRIL 1ST @
ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES
32 2nd Avenue

8PM / Performance tickets $20

Publication launch:
Wallace Berman (November 6 - January 9, 2010)
Published by Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery

in conjunction with:

JOHN ZORN LIVE!

Please join us for an evening of ecstatic films and electrifying music with Anthology Film Archives’ Composer-in-Residence John Zorn, who will perform live scores for rare films by artists Wallace Berman and Harry Smith. This special event will also celebrate the release of a new publication titled WALLACE BERMAN issued by the Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery. Zorn and trio (Kenny Wollesen, Trevor Dunn) are absolutely not to be missed!

Tickets available here!: http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=1499245


Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery
526 W. 26th Street, No. 213
New York, NY 10001
gallery@nicoleklagsbrun.com
P. 212.243.3335
F. 212.243.1059
nicoleklagsbrun.com

Daniil Kharms

Today I Wrote Nothing: The Selected Writing of Daniil Kharms by Daniil Kharms


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Totally a new writer to me and Daniil Kharms hits all my aesthetic spots on target. Absurd to the max but with a lot of heart. One can read the mood of what was happening in Russia at the time of these writings (early 20th Century) but I think that may be misleading. What we have here is a genius who would have been a force no matter what part of the world he came from.

The fact that he was part of the landscape of the Russian revolution and Stalin is just a plus with respect to the writings (he died tragically of couse). But what appeals to me is the logic and wit of his work. It's beautiful writing that holds no prisoner. Excellent collection.

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Tosh Berman Live and presenting Wallace Berman's Film "Aleph" in Berkeley

MARCH 19, 2010, at BAM

Gallery B

Inspired by Semina, a free-form journal published sporadically by artist Wallace Berman and his circle in California in the 1950s and 1960s, each issue of Anne Colvin’s Skank Bloc Bologna is a looseleaf collection of works from an international cast of artists, writers, and poets. Issues One through Three are available in the BAM/PFA Store. Issue Number Four will be the first time-based and paper issue, drawn from Colvin’s five-evening L@TE residency at BAM (February through June, on the third Friday of each month), and will include ephemera from the performances, spoken word events, screenings, sounds, and conversations.

The second installment of Skank Bloc Bologna Number Four features more of the unexpected! Tosh Berman presents Aleph, his father Wallace Berman’s hand-painted filmic meditation on life, death, mysticism, politics, and pop culture. Tosh, who runs Tam Tam Books, will talk about music with respect to his father and the film. Local artist Jennifer Locke’s career as a professional dominatrix and champion submission wrestler informs her physically challenging “actions,” which she performs hidden from the audience and reiterated in a live video feed. A recorded sonic tour by U.K.-based dub poet Lynton Kwesi Johnston explores his experiences as an African Caribbean living in Britain. Journalist, documentarian, and sound artist Tania Ketenjian, the host and producer of arts program “Sight Unseen,” which airs on KALX in Berkeley and is syndicated on Resonance FM in London, will produce field notes drawn from interviews with audience members to be used as the basis for a future radio show. Skanking encouraged!

Preceded at 6 p.m. by KALX DJ Citizen Zain, who will respond to SBB4 with a mix of skank, opera, and Scritti Politti. Wine and beer will be available for purchase.

L@TE is made possible in part by Bank of America, the Tin Man Fund, and the continued support of the BAM/PFA Trustees. Special thanks to our media sponsors, East Bay Express and San Francisco Bay Guardian.

Anne Colvin would like to thank Tosh Berman, the National Film Preservation Foundation, and John Zorn.

Michael Sorkin's "Twenty Minutes in Manhattan"

Twenty Minutes in Manhattan by Michael Sorkin


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
If you look at my list of titles on Goodreads, you can see that I am interested in books that are in a specific place and time. In many ways I think I prefer that than to say 'character.' But then again I find cities and locations are very much character in the sense that the architectural or urban landscape is a narrative in itself and there lies the suspense and often tells how humans react to that environment.

Michael Sorkin, like a skilled surgeon, writes about his neighborhood in lower Manhattan. And what he sees is visual history slowly and surely disappearing as New York merges into another identity or large shopping mall. The human interaction is still in place, but can one imagine a time where that will also disappear like one's favorite little shop.

Sorkin is an architect, and it is basically the eyes of that occupation that he looks at his home. The first chapter on various staircases in Manhattan is fascinating and scary (due to my vertigo). But he also admires all the quirks and charm of a building that doesn't work perfectly. This is a very human take on a city that is changing but will always be fascinating as well.

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Swans Way -a beautiful song "Soul Train"

One of my favorite records in the early 80's : Swans Way

Boris Vian's birthday today March 10, 2010

Alice in Wonderland (1903)

Thanks for Ruth for bringing this to my attention. I am a mega-fan of Alice the book. And due to the Tim Burton film that just came out (haven't seen it yet) there is attention to everything that's Alice. What a complex, weird, wonderful novel. And I am presuming that this is the first film version of Alice. May be the best?

VERS LIBRES by Raymond Radiguet

Erotica by Jean Cocteau's good young friend and genius writer Raymond Radiguet? Wonderful cover.

TV Theme Danger Man (Full Version)

This is the melody I hum every morning while walking or even in the shower. The great Patrick McGoohan's first TV series "Danger Man" that somehow became "Secret Agent Man" in the United States. Eventually the same character, in theory mind you, turned into No. 6 in "The Prisoner." Nevertheless my interest is in the music theme, which I think is a masterpiece of sorts.

"You Can't Always Get What You Want" by Sam Cutler

You Can't Always Get What You Want by Sam Cutler


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
What I find fascinating with respect to books about the Rolling Stones, is that the subject matter (The Stones) are not that interesting as a subject matter. But all the side characters in their long narrative is on another plane itself - and they are fascinating. The drug dealers, the managers, the audience, groupies, the money people - all of them are interesting, but the Stones themselves never come off as interesting figures in their own story. Keith of course is the closest of being an interesting guy and the same goes for Brian Jones (of course).

Sam Culter was the Road Manager for the 1969 Stones tour and then after that went off into the weird world of the Grateful Dead. And his book on both band's life is great. Another classic rock n' roll memoir of life beyond the stage - and the Stones on stage is the one moment where the band comes to life - but alas, the real story is what happened before and after their shows.

And it is not just the rock n' roll sex thing, that becomes common place and kind of boring. Its the American gangster element that came to force during the 1969 tour, and how it sort of was left to attach to themselves to the Stones' inner world. Basically Mick Jagger looked the other way, while Cutler had to deal with shady (are they or aren't they) mafia figures as well as the Hells Angels culture.

The Stones' free concert is a mixture of horror, dread, and watching a slow fatal car wreck as it happens in front of your eyes. Cutler saw it going that way, but couldn't stop the machine or the engine heading towards disaster. And that is the highlight of the book, like the great film "Gimmie Shelter" you just want to cover your eyes to all the ugliness - and Cutler writes about the experience in a straight forward manner that is classic journalism.

Cutler then jumps into the Dead world, and that also captures a time and place like no other. Cutler was in love with the LSD vibe that was going around the band and its followers. Naive is not the exact world, more like a horror show being placed as a foundation to allow a mixture of thugs and hippie dreamers. A weird combination that is through out the book.

Mick Jagger comes off as passive/aggressive and Jerry Garcia is .....very simple. Just wants to focus on the music and nothing else but the music. Which means looking away from the culture that has produced various bad traits as well as some good highlights - the good trip here and there.

But also the practice of the Grateful Dead world (if not the band themselves) spiking various drinks with LSD in their party and beyond is kind of weird and scary. Sam Cutler's memoir of those years leaves a bad taste, but you can also see the need to go through all of that with the hope of tasting something great. But the 'great' has a limited time period before disaster strikes. Essential rock n' roll book.

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Where is my father on the cover?

A nice YouTube collage and I imagine rare images of the making of the Sgt. Pepper album cover. Most of you know that my father Wallace Berman is one of the faces in the background. Which one?

John Waters' new collection of Essays

Role Models by John Waters


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
There is something so comfortable about John Waters' essays. He is an extremely reasonable man in an unreasonable world. The beauty of this book is Waters' riffing on old friends, various famous people who inspired him, and the best part is a tour of his town's (Baltimore) most sleezy bars, which he's an natural consumer of.

Also his appreciation for various Gay Porn directors is both hysterical and moving at the same time. John Waters is one of those once-in-a-lifetime type of character who can both do art (film, visuals, writing, performer) and be sort of the great Uncle in your life. His genius like appreciation for the arts and literature is fantastic as well. Waters is a hardcore aesthetic and is extremely dandy-like with his appreciation for the world and how he transforms that 'place' into his own liking. Amazing!

What I have is a galley, and the book is coming out in June. For sure purchase it!

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Recent Portrait of Tosh Berman