97. TO ...

To find a kinship between image, sound and silence.

{Robert Bresson, Notes on the Cinematographer}

96. STREET CHANT "LESS CHAT MORE SEWING"

here's the latest angst-laden, infectious, scuzzy, guitar heavy single from Auckland-based noise/grunge-pop trio Street Chant {formerly Mean Street}, the feisty, fuzzed-out Less Chat More Sewing from their impressive debut album "Means" (2010).

"Your crotch is my ashtray / your coffin is my buffet

there's no point in hating / but I'll do it anyway."

these lyrics alone should secured the 'Silver Scroll' award!!!

MP3: Less Chat More Sewing

check out the new fragmented performance video for Less Chat More Sewing made by "Rover".



et here's the awesome lo-fi clip for the breakthrough single Scream Walk directed by Thomas {the Imposter} Burton {aka Moppy/Wilberforces}!



get yourself a copy of the "Means" album {if you haven't already}, it's available from Arch Hill Recordings on cd or lp+mp3! et is also digitally online from itunes.

you can find Street Chant here: facebook | lastfm | streetchant | archhill

96. AND ...

And faster, and the sky is spinning, and the earth falls away

into the sky and becomes the sky and ...

{Laura Solomon, Black Light}

95. DËNVER "LOS ADOLESCENTES"

if you feel like a certain something is missing from your playlist then look no further, here's a super catchy Chilean synth pop track i discovered recently, Los Adolescentes from San Felipe-based indie/electro pop duo Dënver {Mariana Montenegro & Milton Mahan} off their new album "Música, Gramática, Gimnasia" (2010).

Los Adolescentes is a hypnotic, epic synth-pop teen anthem, i really dig the use of the tennis sound sample in the beginning of the intro, it reminded me of the end scene of Antonioni's film Blow Up. glitchy sci-fi sounding synths shimmer away before the fat beat drops along with droning synths melody et an epic growling guitar riff chugs away. Dënver have a similar clean synth-pop feel/sound to The Naked and Famous.

One day you tell me "Okay" / the next you tell me "I don't know".

One day you tell me "I want to" / the next you tell me "Maybe".

One day you tell me "Later on" / the next you tell me "You see already".

One day you tell me "Short" / the next "Let it grow".

http://lyricstranslate.com

MP3: Los Adolescents

check out the absolutely stunning epic teen ennui/angst music video for Los Adolescentes, this is a truly remarkable document of candid youth, it manages to capture/express so much more than most teen-based music videos. enjoy!!!




the "Música, Gramática, Gimnasia" album is available online from itunes.

you can find Dënver here: myspace | facebook

95. IT ...

It looks rather as though for God the world simply 

provides the occasion for a few attempts at still-lifes.

{Louis Aragon, Paris Peasant}

94. ETERNAL SUMMERS "PRISONER"

here is the latest upbeat, jangly indie pop gem from Virginia-based duo Eternal Summers {Nicole Yun & Daniel Cundiff}, Prisoner is from their forthcoming "Prisoner" 12" EP (2011).


MP3: Prisoner

here's another feisty track from last years stunning debut album "Silver" (2010).

MP3: Pogo

et here is the sublime single Lightswitch from "Eternal Summers" EP (2009).

MP3: Lightswitch

the "Prisoner" 12" EP is being co- released by Forest Family Records et Kanine Records on April 19th, available on white vinyl, limited to 500 so get in quick! otherwise it will be available digitally from itunes.

check out Eternal Summers here: myspace | lastfm | eternalsummerseternal | kaninerecords

94. REMEMBER ...

94.

Remember, this is meant to be a serious novel.

{Diane Schoemperlen, How To Write A Serious Novel About Love}

93. YOUNG MICHELIN "ELLE M'OUBLIERA"

i thought it was about time for some 80s-tinged French pop, here's Elle M'Oubliera from Nandax-based twee-pop trio Young Michelin off their wonderful "Young Michelin" 7" EP (2010).

Elle M'Oubliera is an irresistibly catchy, brooding twee anthem for crestfallen young lovers. Young Michelin's infectious blend of French indie pop is steeped in the warm, blissed-out, tragic-romantic twee-pop sounds of cult 80s-90s UK indie record label Sarah Records. bon appétit!


MP3: Elle M'Oubliera

i'd highly recommend getting yourself a copy of the "Young Michelin" 7" EP, it is still currently available from Bulle Sonore Records, you can listen to the entire EP on bandcamp!

check out Young Michelin here: myspace | lastfm | youngmichelin

93. HIS ...

93.

His face was massive, noble, majestic, and at this
period he protected his eyes behind green glasses, 

out of a desire to astound.

{Maurice Nadeau, The History of Surrealism}

92. COLLEEN GREEN "DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY"

here's an awesomely fuzzed-out, super catchy track i stumbled upon recently Dance The Night Away, from Oakland-based bedroom punk/psych pop artist Colleen Green off her new "Green One" EP (2011).

Dance The Night Away in a smoke filled room with sweaty bodies grinding et an angsty, growling guitar riff screeching away to epic effect, Green's vocals echo across the room with a coolness et detachment, her fuzzed-out, reverb-laden vocals swirl around the dreamy atmosphere, Green takes pleasure emphatically intoning with a punkish snarl "Oh, yeah!" during the refrain, backed up with energetic hand claps.


MP3: Dance The Night Away

if you like what you hear then you should definitely grab a copy of the feisty "Green One" EP, it's currently available on 7" from Hardly Art, otherwise it is available digitally from itunes.

you can head over to Colleen Green's bandcamp page to hear some older tracks et covers ...

check out Colleen Green here: myspace | lastfm | hardlyart | happybirfdayjeff

HAND MOVIE (1966)

 {1966, 6mins, 16mm, b&w, USA}

Hand Movie (1966) was American dancer/choreographer/filmmaker et writer Yvonne Rainer's first foray into filmmaking, it came into being as the result of her confinement to a hospital bed when she was seriously ill et recovering from major surgery. Hand Movie is an extraordinary et unique experimental dance film, it presented a way for Rainer to perform when her body was incapable. the film consists simply of two continuous medium close-up shots of Rainer's disembodied right hand, held upright, presumably against the blank wall of her hospital room.

Rainer proceeds to move her individual fingers independently, her middle finger acting as a soloist of sorts, flexing/contracting/bending them up/down, rotating her arm to reveal the palm, her fingers rub/twitch/flick/contort/slide et criss-cross underneath et over-the-top of each other, then open out. Rainer constantly changes the angle/position of her hand, rotating her wrist to reveal palm-up/palm-down, side/profile, presenting the audioviewer with different viewpoints et perspectives of her wrist/hand/thumb/fingers exploring variations of movements et gestures.

it is quite remarkable how supple et flexible Rainer's fingers are et the amount of control she demonstrates over them, Hand Movie is a deceptively simple performance, yet it is only when you attempt it yourself that you can appreciate the skill et practice it must have taken to choreograph et perform. the film can be read as an exploration or demonstration of the hand's mechanics.

"How to use the performer as a medium rather than persona?
Is a 'ballet mechanique' the only solution?" {Yvonne Rainer}

Rainer creatively used Hand Movie as a way to continue et extend the minimalist/functional choreography she had firmly established with works like the seminal Trio A (1966), where she was reducing dance to the bare essentials, focusing on simple, repetitive, everyday movements, giving them new significance et possibilities. in many ways Hand Movie perfectly represents et illustrates Rainer's ideas of demystifying dance et rejecting any form of persona or narrative which she formulated/declared in her "No Manifesto" in 1965.

the film is completely silent, that is, without any room ambience or musical accompaniment, this allows the audioviewer to focus completely on Rainer's mesmerizing et beautiful hand/finger movements/gestures et variations.

No Manifesto (1965)

No to spectacle.
No to virtuosity.
No to transformations and magic and make-believe.
No to the glamour and transcendency of the star image.
No to the heroic.
No to the anti-heroic.
No to trash imagery.
No to involvement of performer or spectator.
No to style.
No to camp.
No to seduction of spectator by the wiles of the performer.
No to eccentricity.
No to moving or being moved.

Hand Movie was photographed by fellow dancer William Davis. it is in fact made up of two takes, or precisely two complete rolls of 16mm film that last approximately 3 minutes each. the film/performance does not have an end proper, that is, it does not resolve, which adheres to Rainer's manifesto, instead she consciously includes the film burning-out to a white screen as the camera negative runs out. like everyday life we gets a sense that Rainer's hand performance will be repeated endlessly with subtle variations over time.

you can watch Hand Movie below:

92. TODAY ...

92.

Today a fresh clean morning.

{Adrienne Rich, The Evil Eye}

91. CONNAN MOCKASIN "IT'S CHOADE MY DEAR"

i've been totally neglecting antipodean music lately, but i must admit i am finding it rather uninspiring of late {i am keen to be proven otherwise!}, so i found myself revisiting Connan Mockasin's brilliant debut album the other day, et since it has just/finally been released in Europe, i thought it would be apt to post his sublime psych pop track It's Choade My Dear for those who haven't had the pleasure/experience, it is from "Please Turn Me Into The Snat" (2010) / "Forever Dolphin Love" (2011).

It's Choade My Dear is a deliciously languid et spacey, psyched-out track, a warped et disorienting off-kilter guitar melody shimmers et ripples away woozily before Hosford's unique, androgynous et infantile vocals drift in, captivating us, his voice, strangely hypnotic, like a soothsayer, we hang on to his every word, as if he is revealing some cryptic, transcendental secret about the universe, or perhaps reminding us of some wondrous et fantastic childhood mystery we have long forgotten. Choade is spaced-out psych pop at its very finest!


MP3: It's Choade My Dear

et here is the tripped-out, lemony music video for It's Choade My Dear directed by Sam Handley.



et here is the new music video for the epic track Forever Dolphin Love directed by Daniel Brereton.



if you don't have it already the "Please Turn Me Into The Snat" is still available digitally online from itunes/nz, otherwise it would be worth grabbing hold of the European release "Forever Dolphin Love", which contains several live tracks et the classic single Sneaky Dog Friend, it is out on now on Phantasy Sounds et is available digitally online from itunes.

check out Conan Mockasin here: myspace | facebook | lastfm

91. THEY ...

91.

They were, in effect, the last major human community

on Earth untouched and unaffected by the wider world.

{Michael King, The Penguin History of New Zealand}