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July 2004 Blog

WWW jahsonic.com

Part online encyclopedia, part music criticism, part blog, JahSonic.com is a fabulous example of hybrid academic/popular discussion of music, culture, subculture, cultural studies, art...you name it. I particularly like the page on subculture. --Jean Burgess via http://mstu2000.blogspot.com, MSTU2000 Music Subcultures and the Media, The University of Queensland, Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Blogs I Frequent

http://www.sauer-thompson.com/conversations/ Philosophical conversations between two Australians Trevor and Gary, covering a wide range of philosophical topics.
http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/~aabb/plus9.html A daily, art-related, weblog from Osaka, Japan.
http://www.geocities.com/headlobe/Blog.html My dear friend Dominique's blog
http://www.mixoftheweek.com Pre-recorded, weekly mixes of soul, house, techno, dub and other groovy sounds. Consistent high quality.
http://www.novaplanet.com/radiolive/novalive.asp Not a blog, but the best radio-station in the world, broadcasting from Paris, Europe
2004, Jul 31; 20:07 ::: erotic art

The Erotic Arts (1973) - Peter Webb [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Bought it at De Slegte today, a second hand bookstore in Antwerp, Belgium. Very well referenced and I like the early seventies point of view. The version on Amazon is a revised edition of 1983. Has an interview with Hans Bellmer. Recommended. The US has the cheapest version, although they may not ship to America. Available in France for 60 Euro.
2004, Jul 31; 12:20 ::: Hip Hop: East Coast vs West Coast

Probably the most famous rap feud is the early to mid-1990s rivalry between East Coast and West Coast industry members. Hip hop had begun in New York City, which remained the undisputed capital of hip hop until 1992, when Dr. Dre's The Chronic became one of the biggest-selling hip hop albums in history. Dre was on Death Row Records, headed by Suge Knight, and he soon built up a roster of stars like Warren G, Tupac Shakur and Snoop Doggy Dogg that reigned on the charts, and Los Angeles replaced New York as the center for hip hop. The biggest stars on East Coast were Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records crew, which included Busta Rhymes, Mase and the Notorious B.I.G.. Puff Daddy had founded Bad Boy in 1993, and it soon outsold Ruthless Records. The rivalry intensified as hip hop continue to enter the mainstream in the United States and abroad; more money entered the industry and raised the stakes. The focal point soon came to a head with Tupac Shakur on the West Coast and Notorious B.I.G. on the East. Shakur claimed to have slept with Faith Evans, Notorious B.I.G.'s wife and herself a rapper, and he responded with "Stupid niggaz mess wit Big Poppa/motherfuckers get roasted if you fuck wit B.I.G.".
On September 7, 1996 Tupac Shakur was shot several times in Las Vegas, dying a few days later. On March 9, 1997, the Notorious B.I.G. was shot and killed in California. Both murders remain unsolved, and numerous theories (some of them conspiracy theories) have sprung up. These include, most notoriously, that Shakur's death was faked.
In 1997, several rappers, including Bizzy Bone, C Low, Doug E. Fresh and Snoop Doggy Dogg met at the request of Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam and pledged to forgive any slights that may be related to the rivalry and deaths of Shakur and Biggie.
Soon after the death of Shakur, Death Row Records folded as Afeni Shakur, Tupac's mother, sued the label for allegedly cheating her son out of millions. Label head Suge Knight ended up in jail for unrelated probation violations. Lady of Rage and Nate Dogg have also filed suits against Bad Boy with similar allegations. Puff Daddy has also had multiple legal troubles, including a much-publicized case resulting from a shooting in a New York club; he has been acquitted, though fellow rapper Shyne was not. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_hop_rivalries#East_Coast_vs_West_Coast [Jul 2004]
2004, Jul 31; 12:06 ::: hip hop

Hard Core - (1996) - Lil' Kim [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
In November of 1996, the world was introduced to Kim Jones. This woman may be little, but her words and opinions aren't. Lil Kim realeased her solo album, but still had some help from her pals Lil Cease, Biggie, and Puffy. A then relatively unknown Jay-Z made a guest appearence on "Big Momma Thang", just months after his own debut album. Commercially successful tracks like "No Time" and "Crush On You" propelled the album's success...Although listeners may have felt mislead when they realized that the album version of "Crush On You" was different from the highly rotated radio version. This album is an in-depth look at a young, hustling female player, and is not for the light at heart. "Not Tonight" is a good lyrical effort with a relaxed beat, produced by another new comer, Jermaine Dupri. His vocals in the background are reminiscent of Puffy, and are now a staple in every rap song. "Dreams" is most likely not was most would describe as their dreams, but you can't say you've never thought of those men! Hard Core is worth a try, give it a couple of listens....If you're not satisfied that's too bad because you'll never find another female MC like Kim. --carakay2 via Amazon.com
Lil' Kim is called the Madonna of hip hop.
Another of the Notorious B.I.G's women--Lil' Kim comes into her own with Hard Core, perhaps the most explicitly pornographic album ever made by a woman. With the possible exception of soulmate Foxy Brown, Lil' Kim is the hardest woman in R&B. Sexual over and undertones abound with songs like 'Take it!', and the album features the usual handful of guest appearances, including the now-late Biggy Smalls and members of her former band Junior Mafia. Production chores are handled by the hottest kids on the block: Sean Combs--a.k.a Puff Daddy, Badboy second-in-command Stevie J. and SoSoDef supremo Jermaine Dupri. With the rudest introduction and interlude sections ever recorded, the album features the single "Crush On You" (not to be confused with the Jets/Aaron Carter) which is confusing since Li'l Kim's only contribution to this track seems to be intermittently moaning the word "true". Incidentally, the album's cover is stolen more regularly than any other from London's largest chain of second hand record shops, although what this says about the music is perhaps open to question. --Ronita Dutta
2004, Jul 30; 16:27 ::: fashion

Belgian Fashion Design (2000) - Luc Derycke, Sandra Van De Veire [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
2004, Jul 30; 13:30 ::: Fashion 2001 Landed #1 - Walter Van Beirendonck

Fashion 2001 Landed #1 - Walter Van Beirendonck, Luc Derycke, Takeji Hirakawa, Denis Laurent, Michel Bauwens [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
About the Author

The curator of "Landed-Geland", designer Walter Van Beirendonck, has always been a maverick. One of the Antwerp Six, he approaches his collections in a multidisciplinary and visionary way. Currently, he designs for two labels, Walter Van Beirendonck and aesthetic terrorists, is a consultant for Starlab's intelligent clothing project, has a shop in Antwerp called Walter, and lectures frequently at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp.
Antwerp=Fashion=Culture=Mode 2001=Landed-Geland. This equation stands for the cosmopolitan, idiosyncratic, fascinating, and stimulating event that was "Landed-Geland", a six-month, citywide, multimedia extravaganza that recently colored and clothed the city of Antwerp in the name of fashion. Twenty five rotating billboards displayed 75 radical images by international designers; the exhibit "Mutilate?" examined the phenomenon of fashion from an ethnic and historical perspective; another exhibit, "2 Women", examined Gabrielle Chang and Rei Kawakubo, two maverick designers of indisputable importance; and 300 interviewees were asked the question: "What was your most intense emotion ever as regards fashion?" And here is the catalog, divided into two parts, with Part I providing all of the fascinating conceptual framework, and Part II vivid and complete photographic documentation of the exhibit that temporarily changed the look of Antwerp.
Edited, introduction and interviews by Walter Van Beirendonck & Luc Derycke. Interviews by Steven Jones, Rei Kawakubo, Mr. Pearl and Takeji Hirakawa. --Book Description via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 30; 12:07 ::: The Stendhal Syndrome (1996) - Dario Argento

The Stendhal Syndrome (1996) - Dario Argento [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
The first half of Dario Argento's heady psycho-thriller is a mesmerizing merging of dream and reality. A beautiful young Italian detective (Asia Argento, who does little to convince us she's a tough, seasoned cop) investigating a serial rapist is suddenly overwhelmed when the paintings in an art museum erupt with life. According to the film, this is "the Stendhal Syndrome," an intense and overwhelming response to art that turns the viewer mad. As Anna steps in and out of fantasy worlds like Alice through the looking glass, she's kidnapped by her quarry, who repeatedly rapes and tortures her in a dark, dank underground cave. The delirious nightmare of shattered reality becomes a sadistic, mean-spirited spectacle of murder and degradation--perpetrated on, of all people, the director's own bound and beaten daughter!--and the thriller disintegrates into a paranoid mystery of amnesia, split psyches, and shadowy phantoms. At its best this is a mesmerizing vision of madness: paintings melt into the real world while objectivity disintegrates before our eyes. But before the unexpectedly sensitive conclusion, Argento puts the viewer through a bravura but brutal series of gory murders (a slow-motion bullet passes through both cheeks of a helpless victim, and another shooting is viewed from inside the body) and unsavory violence. The poetic beauty of Phenomenon and the craftsmanship of Suspiria and Deep Red are sorely missed. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com
2004, Jul 29; 14:58 ::: Michel Blanc

/Dead Tired (1994) - Michel Blanc [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
This uproariously upbeat comedy stars actor/writer/director/Michel Blanc (MONSIEUR HIRE) as both a mischievous celebrity impersonator ... and a French movie star who's being impersonated! Blanc's the star whose life takes a hilarious turn when he's hauled in by the police for a series of crazy incidents he can't seem to recall. But when he learns that an impostor is out to ruin him, he enlists a sexy starlet friend (Carole Bouquet -- FOR YOUR EYES ONLY) to help him find his double and save his reputation! Also featuring Philippe Noiret (IL POSTINO -- THE POSTMAN) and Roman Polanski (Academy Award(R)-winning director of THE PIANIST, 2002), this brilliantly original comic delight received Best Screenplay at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. --via Amazon.com
Also features R�gine (Regina Zylberberg) --jahsonic [Jul 2004]
2004, Jul 29; 14:58 ::: nightlife

Stork Club: America's Most Famous Nightspot and the Lost World of Cafe Society - Ralph Blumenthal [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
F. Scott Fitzgerald, Errol Flynn, Rita Hayworth, Ernest Hemingway, Helen Keller, Marilyn Monroe, John and Jacqueline Kennedy, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor--the list of regulars who patronized New York's exclusive Stork Club is a who's who of early- to mid-20th century society. But this lively, resonant account from Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter Blumenthal (Once Through the Heart, etc.) of the club's rise and fall is more than an exercise in name-dropping. At its heart, it's the story of Sherman Billingsley, the Oklahoma bootlegger who opened the Stork during Prohibition and spent the next four decades keeping gangsters and unions at bay while coddling every rich, influential and famous person he could, plying them with gifts ranging from pure-bred puppies to perfume (called Cigogne, French for "stork"). Billingsley, who served time in Leavenworth for bootlegging, wound up in New York on the heels of one of his convict brothers. There he continued bootlegging (hiding behind his legit business as a drugstore owner) and made a name in real estate before opening the Stork. Media savvy and skilled at mar-keting, Billingsley had a knack for befriending the right people, among them gossip columnist Walter Winchell, who held court at the club for years. The Stork flourished during pre- and postwar years--an era captured vividly by Blumenthal (and well illustrated with a rich supply of period photos). The disillusionment that blanketed the U.S. after the Kennedy assassination, however, heralded the end of those heady times, which Blumenthal colorfully brings back to life in all their glamour. But the pleasant haze of nostalgia he creates (in telling details such as the 14-karat gold chain inside the club's door) doesn't obscure the ugly union-busting actions that helped bring the club down. 75 b&w photos. --via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 29; 14:35 ::: cabaret

Cabaret (1972) - Bob Fosse (Editor) [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Winner of eight Academy Awards, including Best Director (Bob Fosse), Best Actress (Liza Minnelli), and Best Supporting Actor (Joel Grey), Cabaret would also have taken Best Picture if it hadn't been competing against The Godfather as the most acclaimed film of 1972. (Francis Ford Coppola would have to wait two years before winning Best Director, for The Godfather, Part II.) Brilliantly adapted from the acclaimed stage production, which was in turn inspired by Christopher Isherwood's Berlin Stories and the play and movie I Am a Camera, this remarkable musical turns the pre-war Berlin of 1931 into a sexually charged haven of decadence. Minnelli commands the screen as nightclub entertainer Sally Bowles, who radiantly goes on with the show as the Nazis rise to power, holding her many male admirers (including Michael York and Helmut Griem) at a distance that keeps her from having to bother with genuinely deep emotions. Joel Grey is the master of ceremonies at the Kit Kat Klub who will guarantee a great show night after night as a way of staving off the inevitable effects of war and dictatorship. They're all living in a morally ambiguous vacuum of desperate anxiety, determined to keep up appearances as the real world--the world outside the comfortable sanctuary of the cabaret--prepares for the nightmarish chaos of war. Director-choreographer Fosse achieves a finely tuned combination of devastating drama and ebullient entertainment, and the result is one of the most substantial screen musicals ever made. The dual-layered Special Edition widescreen DVD includes an exclusive 25th-anniversary documentary, Cabaret: A Legend in the Making, a 1972 promotional featurette, a photo gallery, production notes, the theatrical trailer, and more. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
2004, Jul 29; 12:53 ::: sex

Sex: An Intimate Companion - Stephen Bayley (Editor) [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
An exploration of sex and sexuality. It consists of a selection of thematic articles, ranging from 2500 words down to 250, written by "Erotic Review" contributors and a few major international writers such as Norman Mailer and Camille Paglia. The articles cover a range of topics, from the snake in Eden to cybersex and Lara Croft, drawing on themes from aphrodisiac to fetishism, and relationships to prostitution. It is illustrated from the archives of the Erotic Print Society. Other contributors include Clive James, India Knight, Jonathon Green, Michael Bywater and Simon Raven. --via Amazon.com
It's the best-ever account of sex, with over 250 eye-popping illustrations (many of them rare) and utterly frank contributions from over 20 distinguished writers-including award-winning novelist Philip Hensher on dance, British Museum curator Catherine Johns on the eroticism of classical art, and Will Self on sex, drugs, and virtual reality. Architect John Pawson (designer of Calvin Klein's flagship Manhattan store) looks at the sensuousness of space and buildings. Trevor Beattie, creator of some of the hottest advertisements ever, reveals his inspirations. Yasmin Alibhia-Brown discusses Indian sensuality, while Lesley Downer explores the role of the geisha in Japan. Victoria Coren asks (and answers) what women want, while Ronald Hyam wonders "whether size matters." From religion and civilization to law and manners, sex and the arts to the body and technology, it's the most fun you can have.with a book in your hands. Bonus: a chronology of sex. --via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 29; 12:24 ::: Belgian cinema

Belgian Cinema/Le Cinema Belge/De Belgische Film - Marianne Thys, Cinematheque Royale De Belgique [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Belgian cinema may not be as familiar as French or Italian, but this trilingual (English/French/Dutch) volume from the Royal Belgian Film Archive is essential for any comprehensive international film library. The more than 1600 "Belgian" films represented here are all Belgian-financed; entries may have been produced in any of about 40 countries. Silent and sound films are treated equally, with one page and a black-and-white photo devoted to each film; all genres (experimental, feature, animated, and documentary) are covered. While the volume is not a history, it provides some background throughout on the Belgian film industry. The chronological arrangement forces readers to use the indexes of names and film titles, but that is a minor irritation. Highly recommended for all film collections. --Anthony J. Adam, Prairie View A&M Univ. Lib., Houston via Amazon.com
BELGIAN CINEMA describes in a lively style 100 years of Belgian cinematic production. This extensively illustrated, tri-lingual volume presents a chronological outlook on national production between 1896 and 1996. The idea was for a serious reference volume which would serve as a basis for the work of journalists, students and academics as well as film restorers and archivists. Finally, in compiling this publication we also set ourselves the goal of opening a gateway, allowing the material filmed in our country to reach a wider audience not (yet) familiar with Belgian cinema and its history. --Book Description via Amazon.com
The sources employed the film collection of the Royal Film Archive naturally, but also contributions from other collections and, above all, countless written sources permitted the discovery of an important and relatively little known cinematic production. The results take the form of a filmography divided into two parts: the silent era and the sound cinema. Given that the information to be found on the first three decades of cinema in Belgium is as surprising as it is scarce, we have chosen to take a closer look at film production during that era and cover every individual work, regardless of length. To bring clarity into this more nebulous period of history, we have divided the section on the silent era into three periods or chapters. These three chapters have themselves been subdivided into a series of thematic - though not necessarily systematic - sections, where each film has its place. The remainder of the book is devoted to the sound era. Here, all sound films of mor! ! e than 60 minutes in length are listed in chronological order, year by year, film by film. Fiction and documentary, animation, art and experimental film - all genres are represented here. Each is covered by a single page comprising a column of credit details / technical data, an illustration and a text in English, French and Dutch. The texts not only describe the contents of the film, but also consider the production history of the work, the career of the director or members of its cast and the reception of the film. They reflect the individual characteristics of the film and try to place it in its historical context. The texts as a whole thus give an overview of 100 years of Belgian cinema history. This book is not a film history. Yet readers will be surprised to discover, turning the pages on a whim or with the simple desire to revisit old flames and happen across new, that this weighty volume expands in unexpected directions. It becomes an endless puzzle in which loving study can discern, guided by the thread of our films, the living history of our century.(Andr� Delvaux) --via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 29; 10:57 ::: Vic Gentils Show at Oostende (Belgium)

08.05.2004 - 29.08.2004
Provinciaal Museum voor Moderne Kunst Oostende
De spil van deze tentoonstelling wordt gevormd door het kunstwerk van Gentils Ensor et ses squelettes veulent se chauffer (1984). Deze hommage aan James Ensor stond als bruikleen al meer dan 10 jaar tentoongesteld in het museum, en kon nu - dankzij de steun van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap - aangekocht worden.
De beeldengroep uitgevoerd in gepolychromeerd hout vormt een persiflage op het bekende werk van de Oostendse meester �Squelettes voulant se chauffer� (1889) uit de collectie van het Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth (Texas, VS).
Het werk is echter meer dan zomaar een hommage aan een groot kunstenaar. Er zijn immers heel wat affiniteiten tussen het werk van Ensor en dat van Gentils. De sarcastische en soms zelfs cynische blik op het mensdom staat voorop. Net als Ensor parodieert Gentils de hoogmoed, het misverstand, de na�viteit en vooral de georganiseerde dwaasheid.
De definitieve aanwezigheid van het werk in het PMMK en in de Ensorstad Oostende is heel belangrijk. Dit kunstwerk wordt op de tentoonstelling omgeven door grote groepen die Vic Gentils realiseerde tussen 1967 en 1981, zoals Het Groot Schaakspel uit het Middelheimmuseum te Antwerpen, De acht hoofdzonden uit de collectie van de Dexiabank te Brussel en het vermaarde werk, het Monument Camille Huysmans uit de Universiteit van Antwerpen.
Negen grote monumentale groepen van de hand van Vic Gentils zijn met deze tentoonstelling voor het eerst samengebracht in de zalen van het PMMK-gelijkvloers.
2004, Jul 28; 23:39 ::: post-pop

Franz Ferdinand (2004) - Franz Ferdinand [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Franz Ferdinand is an unrelentingly smart, fluffy, and fun debut. This Scottish four-piece plays vaguely angular, guitar-heavy post-pop that makes you want to dance around the room while playing air guitar. It's the ideal hipster guilty-pleasure music for 2004. This is what the Rapture and Interpol would sound like if they wrote songs half as good as those they rip off, or the Strokes if their parents had sent them to art school instead of the fashion academy. Every song on here is so blatantly derivative it sounds almost original, like a modern Blur without the gloomy hangover. It's too early yet to tell if this is just a band for the moment or one for the ages--but who really cares with pop music, anyway? Songs like "Darts of Pleasure," "Come on Home," "Take Me Out," and "Cheating on You" are so good they will surely appeal to those without slanty, messy haircuts. --Mike McGonigal, Amazon.com
Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand (sometimes called Francis Ferdinand in English) (December 18, 1863 - June 28, 1914) was born in Graz, Austria and was the Habsburg Archduke of Austria and heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. His assassination by Gavrilo Princip on June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo, Austrian-occupied Bosnia-Herzegovina, precipitated the Austrian declaration of war against Serbia which triggered World War I. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Ferdinand%2C_Archduke_of_Austria [Jul 2004]
2004, Jul 27; 15:00 :::: dance music

The Anniversary Collection 1984-2004 - Various Artists mixed by Bobby and Steve [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Disc: 1 1. The More I Get,The More I Want � Teddy Pendergrass 2. Looking For A Love Tonight � Fat Larry�s Band 3. The Boss � Diana Ross 4. You Know How To Love Me �Phyllis Hyman 5. Secret Rendezvous � Rene And Angela 6. Do You Love What You Feel � Rufus And Chaka Khan 7. Southern Freeze � Freeze 8. I Like (What You�re Doing To Me) � Young And Co 9. You Are The Star � Jakki 10. Saturday Night, Sunday Morning � Thelma Houston 11. You�re Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else � The Jones Girls 12. Just Us � Two Funs Of Fun 13. I Want To Thank You (Heavenley Father) � Alicia Myers
Disc: 2 1. My Piece Of Heaven � Ten City 2. Welcome To The Real World - Bobby And Steve 3. La Tromba � Dj Jopj 4. Mystical Journey � Lenny Fontana pres Galaxy People 5. Deeper In Love � Bobby Steve feat Barbara Tucker And Brian Chambers 6. Hooked On You �Cerrone feat Jocelyn Brown 7. Breathe � Blaze 8. Morning Sun � Incognito 9. Brotherly Love � Bobby And Steve 10. Just Let It Happen � Danism 11. This Means That � Bobby And Steve Remix 12. Follow U � Tery Hunter feat Charlottle Small 13. Music � Tiefshwarz 14. Butterfly � MAW feat Patti Austin 15. C�est La Vie � Kim English 16. Para Goza � Nuzzoli
It could be their �Zoo Experience� radio show, the longest running show on London�s Kiss FM, or maybe their Saturday night jam �Garage City�, the UK�s most established garage night out. Perhaps it�s their ultimate dance weekender Summervibes or the roadblock night at the Ministry of Sound known as Soul Heaven.
It could always be their sell-out parties at the Miami Winter Music Conference or the legendary Klub Zoo, maybe their Friday night residency, Groove On @ Heaven, the list is endless. Exactly what it is that does make Bobby & Steve so successful is hard to pinpoint, but one thing is for sure, they�ve come a very long way from their weekly slot at Simpson�s Wine Bar in east London�s Forest Gate.
Brought up on and inspired by soul music�s greats such as Teddy Pendergrass, Loose Ends, The Chi-Lites, Leroy Burgess, McFadden & Whitehead, Barry White and Thelma Houston, born and bread east end twins Bobby & Steve�s musical heritage rests firmly on the shoulders of soul, funk and disco.
From an early age the boy�s free time was dedicated to music, be it collecting new and classic pieces of vinyl to their already immense collection, adding new pieces of equipment to their self constructed sound system or simply providing the music at friends house parties, locally Bobby & Steve were already carving a name for themselves as respected DJ�s.
At just twenty years of age the twins landed their first regular DJ gig at �Simpsons�, and soon afterwards were holding regular Saturday night warehouse parties. Playing their favourite soul and funk music at their own parties alongside fellow guest DJ�s Norman Jay, Linden C and Trevor �Madhatter� Nelson and because of this Bobby & Steve became instrumental and respected figures in the eighties warehouse party scene.
News of just how successful the boys parties soon spread and it wasn�t long before Bobby & Steve were approached by Gordon Mac, initiator and pioneer of London�s biggest (then) pirate radio station Kiss FM, who offered them a weekly slot on the station, the already established �Zoo Experience� was born. Ten years on and the �Zoo Experience� is Kiss 100 FM�s longest running specialist show. Hosted by Bobby & Steve, the �Zoo Experience� broadcast each and every Friday night between the hours of 10.00 pm and 12.00 am, with the boys calling it a day in February of this year. After 10 years at the top they have decided focus all their concentration on even bigger things.
Once Kiss FM was granted its legal place on the airwaves in 1990, the twins decided to do the same with their now somewhat legendary nights and Klub Zoo was launched. Held every Wednesday night at Munkberry�s in London�s west end, it later moved to a Friday night slot around the corner at the Soho Theatre.
Famed for its mix of classic soul, disco grooves and very early house music, the Zoo regular following would flock religiously to the club each week to hear their favourite Salsoul, Prelude or Philadelphia International grooves. Klub Zoo ran for four successful years and Bobby & Steve and the club later became instrumental in planting the UK roots for what would later become more commonly referred to as house and US garage music.
However, it was a trip to New York at the tail end of the eighties that was to mark a major turnabout in the futures of Bobby & Steve and Zoo. A visit to Larry Levan�s infamous Paradise Garage club gave the twins their first taste of a new sound dubbed �Garage� music, a sound which American jocks such as Levan and Tony Humphries were championing. Evolving from the more soulful and gospel parts of disco, garage music with its soaring vocals, melodic productions and jazzy instrumentals, garage captured the ears of the twins. They had found their sound, dance music that still contained their beloved soulful influences.< BR>
With this in mind Bobby & Steve went back to London and wasted no time in launching their new Saturday night venture �Garage City�. Starting out at the intimate Joe�s Basement in 1991, it wasn�t long before �Garage City� moved onto the somewhat bigger capacities of the Podium (now The Coliseum) and later Bar Rumba. With residents Bobby & Steve playing the best in soulful, funky and uplifting house & garage each and every Saturday, joined regularly by the biggest names from the house and garage arena. �Garage City� is today the London's most seminal garage night out and has seen visits from the likes of Louie Vega, Tony Humphries, Eric Morillo and Todd Terry.
Other residencies also include the Fezz Club (Reading), Space @ Club Coliseum (London) and there own Soul Heaven @ Ministry of Sound. The launch night on 17th February 2001 saw Bobby & Steve joined by Masters at Work�s Kenny �Dope� Gonzalez playing to over 2500 party people bring back the vibe to the Ministry with a furth er 1000 queuing outside.
The Ministry of Sound must have been impressed too � as from January 2001 Soul Heaven became a monthly fixture and word on the street is that Louie Vega requested it to become his only UK residency! As the night continued to grow, by invitation Soul Heaven hosted the Pacha closing party in Ibiza in September 2001. Bobby & Steve also released a Soul Heaven compilation album mixed and compiled by the twins themselves on Defected Records in March 2001.
Away from their club nights and busy DJ schedule, their company �Zoo Enterprises� keeps them busy. The past has seen them launch their own Zoo Experience Records through which they released seven tracks with Leeroy Burgess and later their Klub Zoo International label which saw their artist Overjoyd nominated for the �Best Gospel Group� at the 1997 MOBO (Music of Black Origin) Awards. Their own production �Loves Gotta Hold of Me� was released via Cooltempo Records in 1992 reaching the dizzy heights of NO.66 in the natio nal charts, whilst in the same year they released their first compilation album �Garage City� through Telstar Records.
September 2003 saw the launch of their latest venture Zoo Groove Stereo. The boys are continuing to fly the flag for soulful house with their brand new monthly event at Herbal, spinning soul, funk, house, disco and classics. In addition, they have an exclusive residency at City Loud, Turnmills in connection with their Zoo Groove Stereo label. They are focusing on producing monthly releases on the label and are enjoying a heavy but exciting release schedule. Having just returned from the Miami Winter Music Conference, where they hosted their �Soul on the Beach� party, now in it�s 9th consecutive year, 2004 sees busy times ahead for the twins as they hit the studio hard, while at the same time managing a jam-packed DJ schedule. Their compilation albums are constantly in production - we look forward to a �Soul on the Beach� compilation - to be released Summer 2004.
This year th ey celebrate 20 years of Djing and promoting, and to mark the occasion they have a double CD coming out on Susu in May 2004, revelling in soul, soulful house and classic house. Also their tour to the US kicks off in June where they will wow the crowds in LA, San Fran and Salt Lake City. There is no doubt that the brothers have created a timeless legacy.
2004, Jul 27; 14:43 :::: soul music

Philly Soul (2003) - Various Artists [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
1. We Live In Philly - DJ Jazzy Jeff feat Jill Scott 2. Superstar - King Britt feat Ivana Santilli 3. I Don't Know - Jaguar Wright feat Black Thought 4. Fun - Floetry 5. Something in the Way - Jazzyfatnastees 6. Golden Boys - Res 7. Say The Word - Lizz Fields 8. Soul Sista - Bilal 9. Grover - The Philadelphia Experiment 10. 7 - Ursual Rucker feat MAD 11. It's Love - Jill Scott 12. Newness - Musiq 13. Child of Troubled Times - Quite Sane 14. Looking for Love - Vikter Duplaix 15. Rock Wit U (Yoruba Soul Dub) - DJ Jazzy Jeff feat Erro

New York Soul (2004) - Various Artists [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
1. Fire Department - Track 19 2. Coolys Hot Box - Over and Over 3. Q Tip - Even If It Is So 4. Sara Devine - Take Me Home 5. DJ Spinna feat Angela Johnson - Glad You're Mine 6. Blaze - I Think of You 7. Soulive feat Chali 2na, Akil & Me'shell Ndegeocello - Doin Somethin 8. McKay - Thinking of You 9. Pete Rock - A Little Soul 10. Alison Crockett - Alive 11. Big Brooklyn Red - Time 12. Heavy - Unbelievable 13. Carl Hancock Rux - Trouble of this World 14. Nick Rolfe- Let It Happen 15. Angie Stone - Brother

Detroit Soul (2004) - Various Artists [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
1. Welcome - Blue Eyez 2. The Truth - Dwele 3. You - Amp Fiddler 4. Open Your Eyes - Platinum Pied Pipers 5. Inside John Arnold Feat Malik Alston 6. Think Twice - Detroit Experiment 7. The Red - Jaylib 8. Feeling Of Love - Anetria Wright 9. People Make The World Go Round - Innerzone Orchestra 10. Contentment In Humidity - Lovers Quarrel 11. Brazilan Groove - Jay Dee 12. Burning Brightly - Ayro 13. Tainted - Slum Village Feat Dwele 14. The Loviest - Athletic Mic League 15. Coming Up For Air - George Katsiris 16. Goodbye - Def Con 5 Feat Blue Eyez
2004, Jul 27; 14:02 :::: Gilles Peterson

Talkin' Loud 1990-1994 (2004) - Various Artists [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
1. Apparently Nothin (Original 12" A Side) - Young Disciples 2. Always There (Blues Mix) - Incognito Feat. Jocelyn Brown 3. There's Nothing Like This - Omar 4. Step Right On (Dub) - Young Disciples 5. K Spells Knowledge (Out EP Version) - The K-Creative 6. 57th Minute Of The 23rd Hour - Galliano 7. All I Have In Me (Young Ideas Mix) - Young Disciples 8. I Dont Mean A Thing (12" Mix) - Omar 9. Take Me Now (12") Mix) - Tammy Payne 10. Feed The Feeling (Out & About EP Version) - Perception 11. I Commit (12" Mix) - Bryan Powell 12. Prince Of Peace (12" Mix) - Galliano 13. Music (12 Mix) - Omar 14. Who Chooses The Seasons - Omar Feat Carleen Anderson 15. Still A Friend Of Mine - Incognito 16. Colibri (album Version) - Incognito 17. Back To The Real World (Album Version) 18. The New Tower Of Babel - The K- Creative 19. Hide And Seek (original Version) - Urban Species 20. Brother (Earthling Bonus Beats) - Urban Species 21. Long Time Gone (Album Version) - Galliano 22. All About Eve - Marxman 23. Listen (12" Mix) - Urban Species 24. Keep The Fires Burning (12" Promo Version) - Incognito
A brilliant smattering of tracks from one of the most important labels of the past decade or two -- Gilles Peterson's groundbreaking Talkin Loud -- home to some of the most revolutionary soul of the 90s! The imprint first began as a showcase for some of the up-and-coming British acid jazz acts that were part of Gilles Peterson's scene -- but almost immediately, it grew to become a powerhouse for British soul -- and extend its grooves into the 21st century with an unbelievable influence! This set showcases the first 5 years of Talking Loud, and brings together a wealth of great music that hasn't been in print for years, including some great mixes that were only available on singles! 2CD set features 24 tracks that include "Apparently Nothing (12" mix)" by Young Disciples, "K Spells Knowledge (Out & About version)" by K-Collective, "There's Nothing Like This" by Omar, "Always There (Bluey's mix)" by Incognito with Jocelyn Brown, "Find The Feeling (Out & About version)" by Perception, "I Commit (12" mix)" by Bryan Powell, "Prince Of Peace (12" mix)" by Galliano, "Music (12" mix)" by Omar, "Colibri" by Incognito, "Listen (12" mix)" by Urban Species, "Step Right On (dub)" by Young Disciples, "Keep The Fires Burning (12" promo)" by Incognito, "Take Me Now (12" mix)" by Tammy Payne, "Don't Mean A Thing (12" mix)" by Omar, "All I Have In Me (Young Ideas mix)" by Young Disciples, and "Back To The Real World" by K-Collective. --via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 27; 13:24 :::: art

Post-Pop Art (New Criticism Series, No. 1) (1989) Paul Taylor (Editor) [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Post Pop Art brings together critical essays about American British, and Continental Pop Art written by some of the leading theorists of our time. From Guy Debord's proto-Pop Situationist manifesto of 1950 to a late reflection by Roland Barthes, and two arguments about Pop by the influential philosopher Jean Baudrillard, Post Pop Art provides a timely retrospective look at the complex origins and contemporary manifestations of Pop Art. Post Pop Art also looks at the classic period of Pop Art from a 1980s perspective and discusses its relevance to Punk and New Wave music, artistic appropriation, and the post Pop movements of today. "That critics can still find in Pop a model for political debate is only one of the multitude of paradoxes that abound in this seemingly most impassive and celebratory of art movements," writes Paul Taylor. Also included in the book are essays by Dan Graham on Punk, the full text of a famous essay by Dick Hebdige, "In Poor Taste," and two essays by Americans David Dietcher and Mary Anne Staniszewski written after Andy Warhol's death. Paul Taylor, an art critic in New York is the founding editor and publisher of Art & Text magazine. He has curated several exhibitions on Pop Art and is editor of Impresario: Malcolm McLaren and the British New Wave. Post�Pop Art is a Flash Art Book. --Book Description via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 27; 03:26 :::: anthropology

The World of Goods: Towards an Anthropology of Consumption (1979) - Mary Douglas, Baron Isherwood [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
In this work, a leading anthropologist and an economist join forces to suggest - what market researchers have long suspected and anthropologists have observed firsthand in other cultures - that people use goods as a means of communicating with each other. Food, for example, is not just a way of relieving hunger, but is also a means of communicating socially shared meanings - about time (morning or evening, winter or summer), status, the quality of social encounters (festive or everyday), and much else besides. The same is true of most other goods: the clothes we wear, the homes we live in, the cars we drive - all are culturally determined means for communicating socially shared meanings about ourselves. This text shows precisely how the insights of anthropology can help us better understand the varied ways in which we use the "world of goods" to communicate. --via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 27; 01:47 :::: Vincent Leitch

Theory Matters (2003) - Vincent B. Leitch [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
About the Author
Vincent Leitch holds the Paul and Carol Daube Sutton Chair in English at the University of Oklahoma. He is the general editor of the Norton Anthology of Criticism and Theory. His own books include Deconstructive Criticism (Columbia 1983), American Literary Criticism from the 1930s to the 1980s (Columbia, 1988), which was a Choice Outstanding Book, as well as two smaller books on theory from SUNY
In this new book on what theory means today, the general editor of the Norton Anthology of Criticism and Theory explores how theory has altered the way the humanities do business. Theory got personal, went global, became popular, and in the process has changed everything we thought we knew about intellectual life. One of the most adroit and perceptive observers of the critical scene, Vincent Leitch offers these engaging snapshots to show how theory is at work. This is an utterly readable little book by one of our best historians on the theoretical turn that over the past thirty years has so powerfully changed the academy. --Book Description via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 26; 13:52 :::: subculture

After Subculture: Critical Studies in Contemporary Youth Culture - Andy Bennett (Editor), Keith Kahn-Harris (Editor) [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
The concept of "subculture" has long been of significant importance in research on youth, style, deviance and popular culture. Although in more recent years subculture has been the subject of sustained critique, it still provides a valuable point of reference for study and research. This text offers students an up-to-date and wide-ranging account of developments in youth culture research that reject, refine or reinvent the concept of subculture. Bringing together key theoretical statements with illuminating analyses of particular aspects of youth culture popular music, clubbing, body modification and the internet, among others, this is an introduction to a diverse and wide-ranging field. --Synopsis via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 26; 13:38 :::: subculture

Inside Subculture: The Postmodern Meaning of Style (Dress, Body, Culture Series) - David Muggleton [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
While this book is ostensibly about dress and style in various British subcultures, scholar Muggleton uses clothing largely as a point of departure to explore the values and motives of those who identify themselves, at least partially, as "punk," "goth," "skinhead," or "hippy." With the greater purpose of investigating current claims about the "postmodern" nature of subcultures, Muggleton conducted a series of 57 interviews with subculture participants in Brighton and East Sussex. Subculturalists, he concludes, are postmodern in their identification with fragmentation and heterogeneity but modern in their commitment to individual freedom and self-expression. While there is considerable popular interest in the subject matter covered here, Muggleton writes almost exclusively for specialists in the field. His use of professional jargon and propensity to quote liberally from secondary sources will discourage all but the most intrepid general readers. Highly recommended for academic libraries. Andrew Brodie Smith, -- Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 25; 16:03 :::: Marlene Dietrich

Complicated Women: Sex and Power in Pre-Code Hollywood (2001) - Mick Lasalle[Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Between 1929 and 1934, Hollywood was governed by a voluntary code of decency. During this period, women characters were often tough-talking, sexually aggressive, and independent. Under pressure from church and state decency groups, a code with enforcement powers was implemented in 1934. The effect of the 1934 code (which remained in effect until the late 1960s) has been hotly debated recently. LaSalle, film critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, makes it clear what he thinks, blasting the code as a measure "to prevent women from having fun. It was designed to put the genie back in the bottle and the wife back in the kitchen." He calls the code, as enforced by Joseph Breen, "anti-art," antiwoman, and anti-Semitic. However, LaSalle's main purpose is to celebrate the short-lived era of "complicated women," as personified by the early films of Marlene Dietrich, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy, and others. In particular, this book is an unabashed valentine to Greta Garbo and Norma Shearer. It features insights on significant scenes from precode films and evaluates some modern counterparts to the great ladies of the early 1930s. This book is more narrowly focused than other recent books on the subject such as Thomas Doherty's Pre-Code Hollywood (LJ 7/99) and Mark A. Viera's Sin in Soft Focus (LJ 11/1/99) and some may disagree with the author's conclusions, but it is recommended for large film and women's studies collections. Stephen Rees, Levittown Regional Lib., PA --From Library Journal via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 25; 14:43 :::: Patrick Adams

Percy Grainger (1999) - John Bird [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Cloud One, "Atmosphere Strut"

Earlier this year I was on a pretty big disco kick (ah, who am I kidding, I still am), and thanks to the excellent web resource Jahsonic I discovered the music of Patrick Adams, one of disco's early innovators. Adams recorded "Atmosphere Strut" with his band Cloud One in 1975, at a time when disco was still emerging from the Philadelphia soul sound of bands like the O'Jays and the Spinners; tracks like this, with its synthesized sound, jazzier feel and longer instrumental format, helped differentiate the new style from its pop-format predecessors.

I bought a Cloud One CD compilation this spring, and while the sound quality is extremely spotty (some tracks sound like they were mastered from a sun-warped eight-track tape!), it's a lot of fun, and unlike better-known disco of the Saturday Night Fever era it's barely aged a day. We don't get too many warm, humid nights here in the Bay Area, but for those of you who do I imagine this would be an ideal soundtrack.

(And yes, "Atmosphere Strut" is a drug song — but given the famously coked-up excesses of latter-day disco, it's almost quaint to hear these guys get so worked up over passing a joint around!) --http://www.woodland.org/podfodder/
2004, Jul 25; 13:57 :::: Percy Grainger

Percy Grainger (1999) - John Bird [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
This extensively revised edition of John Bird's acclaimed biography of Percy Grainger gives the first circumstantial account of the life and works of one of the strangest figures in twentieth-century music. Behind Grainger's highly original compositional achievements, folksong collecting, and glittering career as a virtuoso concert pianist lay a tragic and chaotic personal life, long domination by his mother, unorthodox sexual predilections, an eccentric athleticism, a demonic spiritual drive, and a wildly inconsistent personal philosophy with Anglo-Saxon obsessions such as his famous "Blue-Eyed English". A list of published compositions, a current discography of performances by Grainger, and a selection of his seminal writings complete what has already proved to be a standard work. --Book Description via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 24; 20:10 :::: Weimar

Weimar Culture: The Outsider as Insider (1968) - Peter Gay [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
About the Author
Peter Gay is the author of more than forty books, including the best-selling Freud: A Life for Our Times and the National Book Award winner The Enlightenment.
A seminal work as melodious and haunting as the era it chronicles, now reissued with a new introduction. First published in 1968, Weimar Culture is one of the masterworks of Peter Gay's distinguished career. A study of German culture between the two wars, the book brilliantly traces the rise of the artistic, literary, and musical culture that bloomed ever so briefly in the 1920s amid the chaos of Germany's tenuous post-World War I democracy, and crashed violently in the wake of Hitler's rise to power. Despite the ephemeral nature of the Weimar democracy, the influence of its culture was profound and far-reaching, ushering in a modern sensibility in the arts that dominated Western culture for most of the twentieth century. Vivid and eminently readable, Weimar Culture is the finest introduction for the casual reader and historian alike. --Book Description via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 24; 19:26 :::: George Clinton Played Ghent Last Night

The second weekend, 'All That Jazz?', will be, as it has been the past years, dedicated to the pelvis. With, amongst others, the hardcore funk of George Clinton and Meshell Ndegeocello, the soul of Angie Stone, The African vibe of M��k's Spirit and Zap Mama, and - exclusively - the one and only concert of the Belgian dancemeister Marc Moulin. --Bart Cornand, Jazz-critic Focus Knack --via http://www.bluenotefestival.com/ [Jul 2004]
2004, Jul 24; 15:57 :::: dub

Dangerous Dub - Roots Radics, King Tubby [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
This set shows Tubby and Jah Screw mixing Roots Radics rhythms in a stark, dry, bass-heavy style. Judicious use of echo and the most subtly mutating snare-reverb effects of any Tubby production necessitate a careful listen that rewards with mindblowing intensity. If you like your dub busy with garish effects, this might not be the set for you. But if you crave mashing bass and dub as a fine art, this is as good as it gets. --R. Squibbs (Joisey) via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 24; 15:18 :::: Fillmore

The Art of the Fillmore: The Poster Series 1966-1971 - Gayle Lemke, Bill Graham, Jacaeber Kastor [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
...a comprehensive, gorgeously reproduced and chronologically arranged collection... --San Francisco Chronicle, Regan McMahon
Legendary impresario Bill Graham began in January 1966 to commission posters to promote the concerts he was putting on at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium. The poster artists created vivid, irreverent banners that reflected their own sense of poetics, style, and wit. What resulted were signature juxtapositions of design, lettering, and color that represented a brand-new art form. These posters now occupy a place in art history while surviving as treasured artifacts of rock archaeology.
Published in cooperation with Bill Graham Presents, The Art of the Fillmore reunites for the first time in a single volume the original Bill Graham posters created exclusively for the San Francisco and New York Fillmore dance concerts. Indexes cross-reference the posters with the bands they advertised and the poster artists who created them. --Book Description via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 23; 17:55 :::: Grand Guignol

Grand-Guignol: The French Theatre of Horror (Exeter Performance Studies) - Richard J. Hand, Michael Wilson [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
About the Author
Richard Hand and Michael Wilson are Principal Lecturers in Drama at the University of Glamorgan. Richard Hand is assistant editor and translator of 'Naturalism and Symbolism in European Theatre, 1850-1918' (CUP, 1996). Michael Wilson is author of 'Performance and Practice: Oral Narrative Traditions among Teenagers in Britain and Ireland' (Ashgate, 1997).
The Th��tre du Grand-Guignol in Paris (1897�1962) achieved a legendary reputation as the "Theatre of Horror", a venue displaying such explicit violence and blood-curdling terror that a resident doctor was employed to treat the numerous spectators who fainted each night. Indeed, the phrase grand guignol has entered the language to describe any display of sensational horror.
Since the theatre closed its doors forty years ago, the genre has been overlooked by critics and theatre historians. This book reconsiders the importance and influence of the Grand-Guignol within its social, cultural and historical contexts, and is the first attempt at a major evaluation of the genre as performance. It gives full consideration to practical applications and to the challenges presented to the actor and director.
The book also includes oustanding new translations by the authors of ten Grand-Guignol plays, none of which have been previously available in English. The presentation of these plays in English for the first time is an implicit demand for a total reappraisal of the grand-guignol genre, not least for the unexpected inclusion of two very funny comedies. --Book Description via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 23; 17:23 :::: Berlin

Voluptuous Panic: The Erotic World of Weimar Berlin - Mel Gordon [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
An intriguing cache of recently discovered erotica from 1920s Berlin (photographs, theater programs, guidebooks and pictorial magazines) is on display in Voluptuous Panic: The Erotic World of Weimar Berlin. U.C. Berkeley theater professor Mel Gordon (The Grand Guignol) enhances the compelling visual images with snippets of personal memoirs, interviews and other sociological accounts that describe a sexually charged city brimming with prolific prostitution, homosexuality and drugs in the heady days before the Nazis came into full power. --From Publishers Weekly via Amazon.com
Between 1921 and 1933, Berlin developed a reputation for debauchery unrivaled by any city before or since. Unlike European capitals like Paris, Barcelona, and Amsterdam, where brothel districts were extensive but discreet, in Berlin sexual tourism was a primary industry. On any given evening, over 600 establishments, from massage parlors to sex clubs to cabarets to private torture dungeons, promised unique sights and pleasures. Using tourist guidebooks that appeared before the Nazi period, historical memoirs, and more than 400 specialized journals and books, Mel Gordon has put together a controversial exploration of Berlin's erotic demiworld and its relationship to the rise of Nazism. --Book Description via Amazon.com

Hot Girls of Weimar Berlin (2002) - Barbara Ulrich, Mel Gordon (Introduction)[Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
...evokes an era when sexual orientation was a laughing matter and cruel boots were not. --Playboy, February 2003
Fascinating snapshots and artworks of the women of that incredible time and place... Delicious, decadent and delightful. --Harry Eugene Baldwin, Frontiers, 2/28/03
2004, Jul 22; 13:58 :::: MP3

Apple 15 GB iPod M9460LL/A - Apple [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
The super-slim iPod defines what a digital music player should be. It�s lighter than two CDs, can hold up to 10,000 songs, thousands of digital photos and works as a personal voice recorder. Now you can sync with iTunes for Mac and Windows at blazing speeds, and take your entire music collection with you wherever you go. --From the Manufacturer
2004, Jul 22; 09:18 :::: Dub disco re-releases from Island Records in Japan
Dub disco re-releases from Island Records in Japan. Amazon Japan is the only place you are going to find these tracks outside of second hand vinyl shops.

Dream White Island

18 June 2003
Island Records (Japan) ISCP-1014

Buy this from amazon.co.jp

Gwen Guthrie - It Should Have Been You (Larry Levan Mix)

Was (Not Was) - Tell Me That I'm Dreaming (Souped-Up Version)

The Earons - Land Of Hunger

The Tom Tom Club - Wordy Rappinghood

NYC Peech Boys - Come On, Come On (Don't Say Maybe) (Dub)

Will Powers - Adventures In Success (Dub Copy)

Art Of Noise - Moments In Love

Wally Badarou - Chief Inspector (Hill Street)

Grace Jones - Nipple To The Bottle

Loose Joints - Tell You (Today)

Dream Green Island

18 June 2003
Island Records (Japan) ISCP-1014

Buy this from amazon.co.jp

Grace Jones - Pull Up To The Bumper

David Joseph - You Can�t Hide (Your Love From Me) (Larry Levan Mix)

Was (Not Was) - Wheel Me Out (Classic 12-inch Version)

Holger Czukay Jah Wobble Jaki Liebezeit - How Much Are They?

Wally Badarou - Mambo

NYC Peech Boys - On A Journey (Dub Mix)

The Slits - I Heard It Through The Grapevine

Aswad - Warrior Charge

New York Citi Peech Boys - Life Is Something Special (Special Edition)

Grace Jones - Feel Up

Padlock
Special Mixes By Larry Levan

18 June 2003 (original release 1983)
ISCP-1016

Produced by Sly & Robbie, featuring Gwen Guthrie, Wally Badarou, Darryl Thompson, Harry Whitaker.

Buy this from amazon.co.jp

Peanut Butter (Prelude)

Hopscotch

Seventh Heaven

Getting Hot

Getting Hot (Prelude)

Peanut Butter

Padlock

Bonus tracks
Hopscotch (Larry Levan Remix Instrumental)

Seventh Heaven (Album Mix)

Getting Hot (Original 12" Version)

Peanut Butter (Original 12" Version)

Padlock (Larry Levan Short Vocal Remix)

2004, Jul 21; 23:51 :::: Jew

Les Juifs, le Monde et l'Argent (2002) - Jacques Attali [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
The historical background is common knowledge. Jews were prevented from engaging in agriculture or working as artisans, with fields reserved for members of the professional guilds, and instead forced to loan money � an economic activity forbidden to the Church faithful. But Attali takes the history lesson up a notch by arguing that Jews engaged in financial affairs because they were eternal wanderers: From the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise and the Mark of Cain, through the journeys of the Patriarchs between the Euphrates and the Nile and the Israelites wandering through the Sinai Desert on their way to the Promised Land, to the exile of the Jews from their homeland and their dispersion among the nations of the world, money has always been the Jewish people's highly portable instrument of survival. And this wandering, Attali argues, may be responsible for another feature of Jewish life: the belief in one God. A nation continually on the move had no time or opportunity to become involved with the statues of a multitude of gods or for adopting the gods of the places where it briefly sojourned. --YOEL SHER
see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Attali
2004, Jul 21; 14:29 :::: John Martyn

Solid Air (1973) - John Martyn [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
In 1973, Martyn was to release one of the defining British albums of the 1970s, Solid Air, the title song a tribute to the singer-songwriter, Nick Drake, who in 1974 was to die suddenly following an overdose of antidepressants. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Martyn [Jul 2004]
2004, Jul 21; 13:49 :::: Gormenghast

Gormenghast (2000) - Andy Wilson (IV) [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
The BBC's lavish, glowingly designed adaptation of Mervyn Peake's eccentrically brilliant novels Titus Groan and Gormenghast is a triumph of casting. Ian Richardson's Lear-like depiction of the mad earl of a remote, vast, ritual-obsessed building is matched by the brutal pragmatism of Celia Imrie as his wife, the synchronized madness of Zo� Wanamaker and Lynsey Baxter as his twin sisters, and the duplicitous charm of Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as Steerpike, the kitchen-boy determined to take over no matter how many deaths it costs. John Sessions is surprisingly touching as Prunesquallor, the family doctor who realizes almost too late what Steerpike intends. It is always tricky to film a book dear to the hearts of its admirers. Wilson and his design team achieve a look rather more pre-Raphaelite than Peake's own illustrations--shabby velvets, garish sunlight, and dank, stone passages. The score by Richard Rodney Bennett is full of attractive surprises--fanfares and waltzes and apotheoses--and John Tavener's choral additions are plausibly parts of the immemorial ritual of Gormenghast. --Roz Kaveney, Amazon.com
Since its publication at the end of World War II, Mervyn Peake's masterpiece, The Gormenghast Novels," has stood unchallenged as one of English literature's most extraordinary flight of imagination. Its themes of treachery, decay, madness and honor have come to be regarded as a metaphor for the fall of an empire, the passing of an age, and the rise of fascism. The glorious castle of Gormenghast is home to the ancient family of Groan, where nothing has changed for thousands of years. The dynasty is threatened by the charming and evil kitchem-boy, Steerpike. With the birth of a new heir, Titus Groan, Steerpike begins his ruthless ascent to power. As he charms, outwits and terrorizes the castle's inhabitants, only the young and timid Earl of Groan, Titus, stands in Steerpike's way. Who will ultimately rule Gormenghast? --Description via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 20; 21:43 :::: soul

The Womack family is steeped in soul music history. Brothers Cecil and Bobby got their start in the music business from Sam Cooke and after his tragic death Bobby married Sam's widow and Cecil married his daughter Linda. This meant that Bobby was Cecil's brother and step-father-in-law, while Cecil was Linda's husband and step-uncle or something like that. Sounds like a cheesy Mexican soap opera to me. Bobby became a bit of a soul music legend himself of course, but Linda and Cecil first made a name for themselves as songwriters, notably penning the dreamy "Love TKO" for Teddy Pendergrass. They didn't release a record as Womack & Womack until the sublime Love Wars [Amazon.com] album in 1983. "Teardrops" is from the almost-as-sublime 1988 album Conscience [Amazon.com] which has a warm and intimate charm that comes from a family making music together, even an uptempo number like this one has an easy-going vibe to it that makes it very nice to groove along to. This was a monster hit in the UK, getting to #3 on the pop charts, but doesn't appear to have done anything in America which I find incredible. "Conscience" isn't even in print in this country - a shocking state of affairs. Shame on you, America. [...]

This the long and extra groovy 12" version which I spent many a night shaking my tail feather to back when my hips were a bit more limber. Ahh, those were the days.

http://www.londonlee.com/blog/mp3s/Teardrops.mp3 --via http://www.londonlee.com/2004_07_01_londonlee_archive.html
2004, Jul 20; 09:15 :::: virtue

The Misfortunes of Virtue and Other Early Tales (Oxford World's Classics) -Marquis De Sade [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Revered by Enlightenment and Victorian thinkers, de Sade was recognized as a founding father by the Surrealists, and holds a prominent place in the history of modernism and post-modernism. This selection of his early writings reveals the full range of his sobering moods and considerable talents.--Synopsis via Amazon.com
The name of the Marquis de Sade is synonymous with the blackest corners of the human soul, a byword for all that is most foul in human conduct. In his bleak, claustrophobic universe, there is no God, no human affection, and no hope. This selection of his early writings, some making their first appearance in English in this new translation by David Coward, reveals the full range of Sade's sobering moods and considerable talents. This is a fully annotated edition including an introduction, a biographical study, and a history of the censorship of these writings. --Amazon.com
2004, Jul 20; 08:57 :::: forbidden

Forbidden Knowledge: From Prometheus to Pornography - Roger Shattuck [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
An intellectual tour-de-force, Forbidden Knowledge is a study of the ethics of literary and scientific inquiry. Shattuck first approaches his subject indirectly, conducting an engaging tour of Western literature: Adam and Eve, Prometheus, Milton's Paradise Lost, Goethe's Faust, and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. He then uses these tales to address the moral questions raised by mankind's tendency to search for dangerous knowledge. He contrasts J. Robert Oppenheimer's acceptance of guilt for the atomic bombings with Edward Teller's dismissal of the same. In his own field of literary criticism he argues against the neutral analysis of immoral works as "pure literature," illustrating his point with a critique of the Marquis de Sade. Forbidden Knowledge is a stimulating and forceful intellectual argument against moral relativism, as well as a practical approach to difficult ethical problems, from genetic engineering to pornography. --via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 18; 11:00 :::: Phil Asher

Chilli Funk Versus Phil Asher (2004) - Various Artists [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
1. East West Connection Feat Sandy Mill � We�re Movin On 2. Notenshun - Unfinished Business 3. Nathan Haines Feat Lyric L - Doot Dude (Ashley Beedle Buff Boys Vocal) 4. Vaceo - Many Nights 5. Gianluca Pighi � Trumpeetha 6. T Kolai - Zouk (Restless Soul Peaktime Mix) 7. T Kolai - Zouk (Restless Soul Peaktime Dub) 8. The Interns � Soulfood 9. Dino & Terry feat L.M.A - Summertime Blues 10. Nathan Haines feat Marlena Shaw - Squire For Hire 11. The Interns feat Snowboy - It's About Time 12. Jody Watley - Photographs (Restless Soul Remix) 13. Nathan Haines - Right By Your Side
Kicking off the party for 2004 the UK'S champions of soulful sounds Chillifunk Records lockdown with Restless Soul's top jock Phil Asher for a head to head sound clash featuring a classy platter of golden nuggets from the Chillifunk repertoire. This wonderful album showcases some of Chillifunk's key releases to date.
2004, Jul 18; 10:45 :::: broken beats

Second Guess (2003) - Reel People [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
1. Can�t Stop 2. Second Guess 3. Back 2 Base 4. Positive Over Negative 5. The Light 6. Runaway 7. Second Guess � The Journey 8. Washing Away 9. Steppin� 10. Feel Free 11. Butterflies 12. Second Guess � The Destination
The quality of virtually every song is high even though there is a huge diversity of musical styles employed by the band. Mike Patto is surely one of the best writers of R&B/Jazz music around and Oli Lazarus' abilities as a top notch DJ in the London area only adds to the overall feel of the music. Add to this an array of excellent vocal talents and you have an album which has something for everyone. My favourite track Runaway employs a beautifully complex bass line and, unusually for this genre, a real drummer. This gives the track plenty of oomph; something missing from many dance tunes these days. The vocal overlay is bordering on pop; the combined effect is extremely pleasing to the ear. I believe that if this track is released as a single it will be a crossover hit. Back to base is another excellent song which could also lead to great things if released from the the album. Of the singles so far, Second Guess is reminiscent of Steely Dan in their heyday. Overall an excellent debut album and I look forward to their follow up. --anonymous, via amazon.co.uk
Reel People are officially comprised of Papa Records boss Oli Lazarus, engineer Tom Davidson and Restless Soulster Mike Patto. A sneaky peek at the liner notes of their debut LP reveals, however, that this is no three-man party.
Guest producers DJ Spinna, Phil Asher, Afronaught and Seiji leap immediately off the page, pretty much guaranteeing a dope selection of beats. Live musicians like Kiwi sax-man Nathan Haines and Neville Malcolm (Horace Andy, Marlena Shaw) are equally as promising. And the choice of featured vocalists - Vanessa Freeman, Krim, Peter Nelson and Dyanna Fearon amongst others seems considered to say the least. --http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/dance/reviews/reel_guess.shtml [Jul 2004]
2004, Jul 17; 23:05 :::: Village People

Village People (1977) - The Village People [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
This is the classic album that gave The Village People their start. It is every bit as essential to mainstream dance music (of the "disco" era) as Donna Summer's Four Seasons Of Love, The Silver Convention's Save Me, or Musique's Keep On Jumpin'. The lead cut on the album, "San Francisco," did very well on the dance chart and made some pop/R&B inroads for the guys. "San Francisco" had an infectious beat, with emphasis on the congas. The lyrics spoke of freedom of expression, overcoming inhibitions, and the thrill of violence. Considering the year was 1977, the power of the song really came across. It was coupled with "In Hollywood," comprising side 1 of the lp. "In Hollywood" was a comical look at stardom, with the hero changing his name, overspending, going to any length to LOOK the part, and even phoning the hotel to have himself paged! It's one of the funniest songs you've ever heard. The two songs were segued into each other, so in the era before mixing came into vogue, a disc jockey could keep the floor packed for 10 minutes straight. Side 2 featured "Fire Island," a song celebrating the freedom to be found in alternative lifestyles (but with the explicit warning: "Don't Go In The Bushes"!). The last cut on the album, "Village People," was a call to all those hiding in the closet, to come on out. The lyrics make this very clear: Village People... We know who we are... Follow your star... Your fight is mine... Fight for the right (and do it while it's daylight), etc. The thumping, simmering Native American beat gives the song the feel of someting spiritual (as in a rain dance). Linking the songs together, breathing life into them (and adding a lot of soul) is the voice of Victor Willis. His gruff, raspy shouts remind one of Dennis Edwards or Edwin Starr or Eddie Levert. He took over the lyric writing with the next album (Macho Man), but even as sales of their records went through the roof ("Y.M.C.A.", "In The Navy"), the anti-disco backlash was already starting to catch up to The Village People. By the time "In The Navy" peaked at #3 pop, a whole lot of people were tired of their sound. It didn't help the group's fortunes any when Willis quit the group shortly thereafter. Without Victor's lyrics or voice, the crash came quickly for The Village People, and it was both loud and unappealing. Looking back, you have to go to the root; this album, to find something worth listening to today. The words said a whole lot, and the beat moved many feet. --David Wayne via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 15; 17:18 :::: music theory

Key Terms in Popular Music and Culture (1999) - Bruce Horner, Thomas Swiss [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
About the Author
Bruce Horner has degrees in both music and English. His essays on song criticism have appeared in such journals as Mosaic, Writing on the Edge, and the Journal of Musicology. He is Associate Professor of English at Drake University, where he teaches courses on song criticism. Thomas Swiss has had essays published in Popular Music, Postmodern Culture, New England Review, and The New York Times Book Review. His most recent books are Rough Cut, a collection of poems (1997), and the co-edited Mapping the Beat: Popular Music and Contemporary Theory (Blackwell, 1997). He teaches courses on music and contemporary culture at Drake University, where he is Center for the Humanities Professor. Key Terms in Popular Music and Culture presents eighteen original essays by leading scholars in the field of popular music studies. Each essay - drawing widely on work in feminist, postcolonial, and cultural studies and the disciplines of musicology and literary criticism - maps the competing perspectives on one of the key terms in ongoing debates on the meaning of popular music and culture, discusses the history of continuities and conflicts in its meaning, and presents the writer's own views on its meaning and how he or she has come to adopt such a position. These essays combine to form a valuable overview of the state of popular music discourse at the end of the twentieth century. They will prove invaluable both to those new to the study of popular music and those already well-versed in popular music and cultural studies. --Book Description via Amazon.com
The editors of this volume have isolated concepts and terms widely used in contemporary discourse on popular music and have assigned authors to an essay intended to explore the intellectual history of the term, examine a range of the term's uses in popular- music studies, and provide examples and case studies. Some essays-for example Paul Th�berge's "Technology," Richard Middleton's "Form," David Sanjek's "Institutions," and Sara Cohen's "Scenes"-accomplish this admirably and more than make this volume worth reading. A few, however, hew a little too closely to the author's own research projects and may be of less general interest. Clearly indebted for inspiration to Raymond Williams's Keywords (CH, Jun'76; rev. ed., 1983) and less encyclopedic than Key Concepts in Communication and Cultural Studies by Tim O'Sullivan et al. (2nd ed., 1994,), this collection attempts to introduce readers to a complex cultural studies terminology that is increasingly central to academic discourse in popular-music studies and more generally Important in the humanities and social sciences. The book features an excellent roster of authors and will make a valuable companion to popular-music studies, histories, and surveys. large collections at all levels. --G. Averill, New York University --Thomas Swiss via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 13; 21:05 :::: Venezuelan Zinga Son 1 (2004) - Los Amigos Invisibles

Venezuelan Zinga Son 1 (2004) - Los Amigos Invisibles [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Although four years passed since their previous album, these Latin playboys are always up for a party, and The Venezuelan Zinga Son Vol. 1 is no different. Produced by New York house music producers Masters At Work, the band's third domestic album is filled with upbeat salsa ("Esto Es Lo Que Hay" is a riot), soft Brazilian grooves, spacey funk, disco, rock and lounge. They roll it all together into street party of good vibes, sexy beats and lecherous thoughts (see track 14), but what keeps the Brooklyn-based sextet out of gutter is that it's hard to find fault when the insidious jams cause you to stop thinking and start dancing. Interestingly, the album seems to ride the arc or raging party: it starts on a promising but mellow tip, then loosens up in the middle part, then rides it out until there�s nothing left to give. Los Amigos' best effort yet, Zinga is all-purpose fun. --Tad Hendrickson, Amazon.com
2004, Jul 14; 12:11 :::: Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

In linguistics, the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis (SWH) states that there are certain thoughts of an individual in one language that cannot be understood by those who use another language. SWH states that the way people think is strongly affected by their native languages. It is a controversial hypothesis championed by linguist Edward Sapir and his student Benjamin Whorf.
First discussed by Sapir in 1929, this idea became popular in the 1950s following posthumous publication of Whorf's writings on the subject. In 1955, Dr. James Cooke Brown created the Loglan language (which led to an offshoot Lojban) in order to test the hypothesis. After vigorous attack from followers of Noam Chomsky in the following decades, the hypothesis is now believed by most linguists only in the weak sense that language can have effect on thought, which is referred to as linguistic relativity. For a Chomskian rebuttal, see, for example, Steven Pinker's book The Language Instinct.
Central to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is the idea of linguistic relativity�that distinctions of meaning between related terms in a language are often arbitrary and particular to that language. Sapir and Whorf took this one step further by arguing that a person's world view is largely determined by the vocabulary and syntax available in his or her language (linguistic determinism). Whorf in fact called his version of the theory the Principle of Linguistic Relativity. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapir-Whorf_Hypothesis [Jul 2004]
Politics and etiquette
Some have attempted to turn the hypothesis into a political tool. So-called politically correct language stems from the belief that using (for example) sexist language tends to make one think in a sexist manner. In its strongest form, belief that constraints on language can actually achieve political goals may be a form of magical thinking. Politically constrained language may however be effective at creating new rules of etiquette, labelling certain disapproved usages as breaches of social custom. It is unclear, however, that political etiquette changes perceptions. The philosopher Steven Pinker coined the phrase the euphemism treadmill to describe the process in which euphemistic neologisms acquire all the negative associations of the words they were coined to replace. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapir-Whorf_Hypothesis [Jul 2004]
2004, Jul 13; 21:44 :::: The Adventures Of The Lactating Man (2004) Infinite Livez

Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of Infinite Livez. Vice magazine has said he could change the face of British rap music forever, mainly by introducing rhymes about man-milk, we guess. Here, in its entirety and for the pleasure of www.jahsonic.com readers, is the video that people who run telly are a little squeamish about showing. Just Infinite, a superhero costume, two glamour models and a few gallons of the White Stuff. Sit back, relax and, erm... enjoy...
Windows Media video stream
http://promo.mudhut.co.uk/BigDada/lactatingman.asx
2004, Jul 13; 21:05 :::: Syreeta Wright dies at 58

LOS ANGELES, California (Billboard) -- Singer-songwriter Syreeta Wright, best known for her duet with Billy Preston on "With You I'm Born Again" and as the former wife of Stevie Wonder, died July 6th 2004 after a long struggle with cancer. She was 58. --Thursday, July 8, 2004 Posted: 1:26 PM EDT (1726 GMT), via CNN.com

Syreeta (1970) - Syreeta [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
1. I Love Every Little Thing About You 2. Black Maybe 3. Keep Him Like He Is 4. Happiness 5. He's Leaving Home 6. What Love Has Joined Together 7. How Many Days 8. Baby Don't You Let Me Lose This 9. To Know You Is To Love You
Wonder married fellow Motown artist Syreeta on 14th September 1970; he premiered many of his new production techniques on 'Syreeta' (1972) and 'Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta' (1974), for which he also wrote most of the material.--http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Syreeta.html [Jul 2004]
2004, Jul 12; 13:13 :::: legend

The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends and Their Meanings (1981) - Jan Harold Brunvand [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
The book that launched America's urban legend obsession! The Vanishing Hitchhiker was Professor Brunvand's first popular book on urban legends, and it remains a classic. The culmination of twenty years of collection and research, this book is a must-have for urban legend lovers. --via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 12; 03:46 :::: urban

The Situationist City (1999) - Simon Sadler [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
From 1957 to 1972 the artistic and political movement known as the Situationist International (SI) worked aggressively to subvert the conservative ideology of the Western world. The movement's broadside attack on "establishment" institutions and values left its mark upon the libertarian left, the counterculture, the revolutionary events of 1968, and more recent phenomena from punk to postmodernism. But over time it tended to obscure Situationism's own founding principles. In this book, Simon Sadler investigates the artistic, architectural, and cultural theories that were once the foundations of Situationist thought, particularly as they applied to the form of the modern city. According to the Situationists, the benign professionalism of architecture and design had led to a sterilization of the world that threatened to wipe out any sense of spontaneity or playfulness. The Situationists hankered after the "pioneer spirit" of the modernist period, when new ideas, such as those of Marx, Freud, and Nietzsche, still felt fresh and vital. By the late fifties, movements such as British and American Pop Art and French Nouveau Realisme had become interested in everyday life, space, and mass culture. The SI aimed to convert this interest into a revolution - at the level of the city itself. Their principle for the reorganization of cities was simple and seductive: let the citizens themselves decide what spaces and architecture they want to live in and how they wish to live in them. This would instantly undermine the powers of state, bureaucracy, capital, and imperialism, thereby revolutionizing people's everyday lives. Simon Sadler searches for the Situationist City among the detritus of tracts, manifestos, and works of art that the SI left behind. The book is divided into three parts. The first, "The Naked City," outlines the Situationist critique of the urban environment as it then existed. The second, "Formulary for a New Urbanism," examines Situationist principles for the city and for city living. The third, "A New Babylon," describes actual designs proposed for a Situationist City. --Synopsis via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 12; 03:35 :::: representation

Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices (Culture, Media and Identities , Vol 2) - Stuart Hall (Editor) [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Representation - the production of meaning through language, discourse and image - occupies a central place in current studies on culture. This broad-ranging text offers a comprehensive outline of how visual images, language and discourse work as `systems of representation'.
Individual chapters explain a variety of approaches to representation, bringing to bear concepts from semiotic, discursive, psychoanalytic, anthropological, sociological, feminist, art-historical and Foucauldian models of representation. They explore representation as a signifying practice in a rich diversity of social contexts and institutional sites: the use of photography in the construction of national identity and culture; other cultures in ethnographic museums; fantasies of the racialized `Other' in popular media, film and image; the construction of masculine identities in discourses of consumer culture and advertising; and the gendering of narratives in television soap operas.
The book analyzes contested and critical questions of meaning, truth, knowledge and power in representation, and the relations between representation, pleasure and fantasy. Combining illustrative examples with activities and selected readings, accessible but not simplified, the book offers a unique resource for teachers and students in cultural studies and related fields as an introduction to this complex and central theme. --Book Description via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 12; 03:21 :::: modernism

Farewell to an Idea: Episodes from a History of Modernism - T.J. Clark [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Modernism was always troubled by its epoch and this tension helped produce some of the most wonderful pieces of modern art. As soon as non-representational art began to dominate the art world the importance of art as critique grew. The critical element inevitably allied itself with those movements that defined an emancipatory project and, in modernism's time, in our time, that project was socialism. With what has been seen as the end of the socialist possibility with the fall of the Russian empire and its Eastern satellite states, and the subsequent confirmation of the bankruptcy of Official Marxism, modernism no longer had a project of realisable utopia to link itself to. Modernism has ended, like Marxism, without reaching its goals. But did they depend on each other? Was the fact that they were coterminous merely a coincidence? How did they interact? What was the nature of their mutual engagement? T.J. Clark's Farewell to an Idea is a beautiful, vital, polemical volume, peppered with stunning reprints, that charts the conversation that these meta-narratives had, investigates the art that was produced, and questions and improves our understanding of what modern art really is. --Mark Thwaite, Amazon.co.uk
2004, Jul 12; 03:14 :::: Guy Debord

Guy Debord - Anselm Jappe, Donald Nicholson-Smith [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
This is the first serious intellectual biography of Guy Debord, prime mover of the Situationist International (1957-1972) and author of The Society of the Spectacle, perhaps the seminal book of May 1968 in France. Anselm Jappe rejects recent attempts to set Debord up as a "postmodern" icon, arguing that he was a social theorist in the Hegelian-Marxist tradition not a precursor of Jean Baudrillard but an heir of the young Georg Lukacs of History and Class Consciousness (1923). Neither hagiographical nor sectarian, Guy Debord places its subject squarely in his historical context: the politicizing Letterist and Situationist "anti-artists" who, in the European aftermath of World War II, sought to criticize and transcend the Surrealist legacy. The book offers a lively, critical, and unusually reliable account of Debord's "last avant-garde" on its way from radical bohemianism to revolutionary theory. Jappe also discusses Debord's films, which are largely inaccessible at present. This English language edition of the book has been revised by the author and features an updated critical bibliography of Debord and the Situationists. --Book Description via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 12; 02:22 :::: modern art

The Painting of Modern Life - Timothy J. Clark [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
The Paris of the 1860s and 1870s was supposedly a brand-new city, equipped with boulevards, caf�s, parks, and suburban pleasure grounds--the birthplace of those habits of commerce and leisure that constitute "modern life." Questioning those who view Impressionism solely in terms of artistic technique, T. J. Clark describes the painting of Manet, Degas, Seurat, and others as an attempt to give form to that modernity and seek out its typical representatives--be they bar-maids, boaters, prostitutes, sightseers, or petits bourgeois lunching on the grass. The central question of The Painting of Modern Life is this: did modern painting as it came into being celebrate the consumer-oriented culture of the Paris of Napoleon III, or open it to critical scrutiny? The revised edition of this classic book includes a new preface by the author. --Book Description via Amazon.com
Not surprisingly, The Painting of Modern of Life has been negatively "reviewed" by every major writer (except Greil Marcus) who has devoted more than a paragraph to it. The manner in which The New York Times responded to it may be paradigmatic: it chose to publish two "reviews" of Clark's book, one devoted to Clark's "politics" and one devoted to his "aesthetics," precisely because his book is an attempt to supercede the contradiction between politics and aesthetics. In its "review" of the "politics" of The Painting of Modern Life, the NYT claimed that "ultimately [Clark] remains weighed down by the chains of ideology"; in its "review" of the book's "aesthetics," it claimed that Clark's book is "seriously flawed" in its lack of attention to the Impressionist painters' concern with "light and color." One isn't sure which is the more preposterous: the ridiculous content of the respective "reviews," or their spectacular separation from each other. --http://www.notbored.org/manet.html [Jul 2004]
2004, Jul 12; 00:14 :::: propaganda

Thomas Hart Benton (American, 1889-1975), The Sowers, 1942, tempera, for a poster commissioned by USA government, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC. This is one of a series of eight paintings Benton made to "support the war effort." Here he portrayed the violence and barbarity of fascism, representing the enemy as a bulky, brutish monster tossing human skulls onto the ground. --http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/Pr.html [Jul 2004]
2004, Jul 11; 19:18 :::: Amazon

Early Adopter Art House & International
These are the newest and coolest products our customers of Art House & International are buying. This list, updated daily, is based entirely on purchase patterns.
Anime & Manga | Cult Movies | Science Fiction & Fantasy | All DVD
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2004, Jul 11; 16:39 :::: Georges Bataille

Ma M�re (2004) - Christophe Honor� [Imdb.com]
Ma M�re is an adaptation of a book by Georges Bataille. Why Bataille?
Because he was an important figure in my path to becoming a writer. I grew up with the writings of Bataille, with his conviction that literature exists to give something to the world that it wouldn't have otherwise. That literature is essential to the world, that writing is along the lines of meditation. And also the expression of Evil. Bataille wrote that a sharp form of Evil of which literature is an expression � has for us sovereign value. But this conception doesn't require the absence of morality, but demands a hypermorality. � This radicalism of Bataille I see in contemporary writers like Bret Easton Ellis, Dennis Cooper or Sarah Kane. Those three writers have influenced me just as much as Bataille in the writing of this screenplay. --http://www.amourfou.at/subs/filme/mere/interview.htm [Jul 2004]
2004, Jul 10; 13:22 :::: Lee Perry

14 Dub Blackboard Jungle (1973) - Upsetters [Lee Perry, King Tubby] [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
"The second album from the new Auralux label is the benchmark Upsetters 14 Dub Blackboard Jungle, produced by Lee Perry and mixed by both King Tubby and Perry. Recorded in 1973, Blackboard Jungle was one of the first dub albums ever to be released and one of Perry's finest to date. Blackboard Jungle collects fourteen of the hardest Upsetter dubs from the early 70's, including Junior Byles 'Fever' and 'Place Called Africa', the Gatherers 'Words' ,The Hurricanes 'You Can Run', the Wailers 'Keep On Moving', 'Dreamland' and 'Kaya' and the Upsetter favourite 'Bucky Skank' all mixed in true stereo with definite channel separation where the rhythm track is in one channel and solo instruments or percussion drift in and out of the other. This record received only a 300 copy Jamaican pressing at the time, but has since been issued in various guises to differing levels of quality. As no tapes exist -- their whereabouts being the subject of much speculation -- Auralux acquired a mint copy of the original pressing which they dubbed and mastered for this release. In addition to the Blackboard Jungle album. Also included are four unreleased treasures from the Black Ark studio. Extensive sleeve notes written by David Katz, author of the Lee Perry biography." --via http://www.forcedexposure.com/labels/auralux.recordings.uk.html [Jul 2004]
Dave Hendley's excellent and informative account of the rise of King Tubby and his studio took us to 1973. At that time, dub was still known mainly as version. It was around 1974 when Lee Perry issued his 'Blackboard Jungle' dub album on Upsetter. It is probably King Tubby's first dub album, although it was only a very limited pressing, and was quickly changing hands for �20.00 or more. The music included is all from the early 70's. and included dubs of the Wailers 'Kaya'. 'Keep On Moving' and 'Dreamland', Junior Byles 'Place Called Africa' and 'Fever', plus two cuts of the title track also known as 'Bucky Skank'.
In 1981, Clocktower Records in the U.S. reissued the album minus three tracks. Even so, this twelve track set remains one of the all time great dub albums and it's in true stereo! The term 'Dub' came into common use when Bunny Lee introduced his 'Flying Cymbal' sound in 1974. A sound based on the 'Disco' style of many Black American records then. Virtually every tune Bunny produced at the time had a King Tubby dub mix on the B.Side (either from King Tubby himself or his first assistant 'Prince' Phillip Smart). People would buy a Bunny Lee production because they knew they would find a Tubby's mix on the B.Side KIng Tubby, mixing engineer, had become a star in his own right. --By Dave Hendley & Ray Hurford [With thanks to Colin Moore], (C) Small Axe 1979 http://www.rayx.freeserve.co.uk/King%20Tubby.htm [Jul 2004]
"Cast your ears back thirty years ago to 1973 and revel in the sheer shock and the musical awe that is invoked by Upsetters 14 Dub Blackboard Jungle, a true piece of sonic innovation from the minds of hands of Lee 'Scratch' Perry. David Katz, 2004.
As the boss of Auralux, the UK label behind this re-issue of what's considered by most reggae afficionadoes as the definitive dub album of all time, David Katz could be expected to splash the hyperbole, though for dub fans he's certainly justified. Because ever since it came out in 1973 Blackboard Jungle has been hailed as one of reggae and Scratch's key defining moments and 31 years later, it's still true.
Upsetters 14 Dub Blackboard Jungle, however, is a new version, or rather the definitive original version, dubbed and remastered from a mint condition copy of the original pressing (of which just 300 were made in total).
As well as all the tracks on the original album, the new CD includes four unreleased recordings from the era and is a fine example of minimal sparse old skool reggae. --http://www.freshdisko.com/review/music/1088034153.php [Jul 2004]
01. Black Panta 02. Black Panta Rock (version) 03. Khasha Macka 04. Elephant Rock
Side 2 01. African Skank 02. Dreamland Skank 03. Jungle Jim 04. Drum Rock 05. Dub Organizer
Side 3 01. Lovers Skank 02. Mooving Skank 03. Apeman Skank 04. Jungle Skank 05. Kaya Skank
Side 4 01. Upsetting Rhythm 1 02. Upsetting Rhythm 2 03. Upsetting Rhythm 3 04. Happy Roots
2004, Jul 09; 11:55 :::: art

A Terry Teachout Reader (2004) Terry Teachout [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Woe to be an artist, writer, musician or fellow critic who incurs Teachout's wrath. In this hefty, erudite collection of essays and reviews from the last 15 years, Teachout (The Skeptic) turns his scathing wit on some of high culture's most sacred cows. Postmodernism is a theory "so patently absurd as to need no refuting"; black studies is a "pitiful and preposterous burlesque of scholarship"; and Norman Mailer is a "nostalgia act" whose work of the last three decades is "noteworthy only for its flaccid awfulness." Hardly pausing for breath, Teachout goes on to blast jazz critic Stanley Crouch for "musical ignorance" and accuse Wynton Marsalis of fostering "reverse racism." Whew! Of course, if all Teachout did was attack, he'd be a pit bull, not a critic. Fortunately, he also takes pride in resurrecting the forgotten and underappreciated artists of eras past and present. He applauds the talents of cartoon magnate Chuck Jones (creator of Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner), praises the moral center of Randolph Scott's Western B-movies and explores the surprising spiritual underpinnings of Tom Wolfe's A Man in Full. Teachout speaks fearlessly on just about every genre under the sun (though he claims to be just a "well-informed amateur" on all subjects other than music), employing a voice that is unapologetically Commentary, National Review and the Weekly Standard; some readers may find the political edge to Teachout's criticism irritating, though always ruthlessly consistent. This book is an impressive testament to Teachout's talents, eloquence and integrity.--From Publishers Weekly
2004, Jul 09; 00:23 :::: Dick Hebdige

Hiding in the Light: On Images and Things (Comedia) (1989) - Dick Hebdige [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
In Hiding in the Light, Dick Hebdige--author of Subculture-- takes the reader on a journey through the territory of images and things. He examines the creation and consumption of objects and images as diverse as 50s streamlined cars, the Band Aid campaign, Swatch watches, and music videos, and assesses their cultural signifcance and impact on popular tastes. --Book Description via Amazon.com
2004, Jun 09; 00:01 :::: Jeff Mills

Choice (2004) - Jeff Mills [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Tracklisting Disc 1

1. Slick � Space Bass - click to listen
2. Teddy Pendergrass - The More I Get, The More I Want - click to listen
3. Sinnamon � Thanks To You - click to listen
4. Chas Jankel � Ai No Corrida - click to listen
5. Geraldine Hunt � Can�t Fake The Feeling - click to listen
6. Goldie Alexander � Show You My Love - click to listen
7. Montana Feat. Goody Goody � Esto Parese Amor (Club Mix) - click to listen
8. Deodato � Keep It In The Family - click to listen
9. Starflight � Dance To The Beat - click to listen
10. Gerardo Frisina � Mas Eu Quer Ser - click to listen
11. Jackie Moore � This Time Baby - click to listen
12. Boys In Shock Feat. Carol Leeming � Give Me Back Your Love - click to listen
13. Denroy Morgan � I�ll Do Anything For You - click to listen

Disc 2

1. Telex - Moskow Diskow - click to listen
2. King Sun � On The Club Tip - click to listen
3. DJ Q � We Are One (Carl Craig Remix) - click to listen
4. Blake Baxter � Sexuality - click to listen
5. Insync Vs Mysteron � Audiable Illusion - click to listen
6. Change � The End - click to listen
7. Ramirez � El Ritmo Barbaro - click to listen
8. Florence � Analogue Expressions - click to listen
9. Bandulu � Serial Operations - click to listen
10. Neil Howard � Indulge - click to listen
11. Silent Phase � Meditive Fusion - click to listen
12. Joey Beltram � South Pacific - click to listen

2004, Jul 08; 14:35 :::: content

Content (2004) - Rem Koolhaas [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
For those used to Koolhaas' fun and games, you will enjoy pouring over his latest catalog of ideas. It has the look and feel of a thick magazine moreso than a book, packed with an astonishing range of project, op-ed pieces and cuttings from the chaotic world we live in. But, for those new to Koolhaas, you may want to check out Delirious New York or S,M,L,XL first.
This book has a sharper political content to it but the cover is little more than a hook. There are some good articles to pour over such as "Re-Learning from Las Vegas," in which Koolhaas interviews Robert Venturi and Denise Scott-Brown. The cover story seems to be "Violence against Architecture," in which Bill Millard offers "tales from the front lines of the war on the city." Koolhaas can't resist promoting himself, noting his Projects on the City, and re-exploring Lagos and Beijing. He also showcases the Seattle Public Library and some of the newest projects he has on the boards. There are his usual witty allusions such as "Miestakes" and "Big Vermeer," but for the most part this book seems to be a celebration of the urban chaos that has resulted in recent years, thanks in large part to globalization. Unfortunately, there isn't a very sharp focus. Most of the images are just eye candy and the articles don't have much weight to them. Still, you can't beat the price and there is plenty to look at. --James N. Ferguson for Amazon.com
2004, Jul 08; 14:12 :::: architecture

Superstudio : Life without Objects (2003) Peter Lang, William Menking [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
About the Authors
William Menking is a professor of city and regional planning at Pratt Institute in New York City. He is on the board of directors of the Storefront for Art and Architecture and The Miami Art Project.
Peter Lang has edited the anthologies Mortal City (1995) and Suburban Discipline (1997). Lang is currently a visiting assistant professor in the department of architecture, Texas A&M University.
Founded in Florence in 1966, Superstudio challenged the modernist orthodoxy that architecture and technological advances could improve the world by creating alternative visions of the future in photo-montages, sketches, collages and films. The five members of Superstudio: Cristiano Toraldo di Francia, Gian Piero Frassinelli, Alessandro Magris, Roberto Magris and Adolfo Natalini-were equally pessimistic about politics and its ability to solve mounting social, cultural and environmental problems. This Fall 2003 New York exhibition catalogue, drawn from Superstudio's archive and curated in collaboration with members of the group, will revisit its work and trace its influence on subsequent generations of architects. --Book Description via Amazon.com
Superstudio: Life without Objects collects nearly 200 of the group's most important images, collages, storyboards and critical writings. White monuments crossing over entire landscapes and cities, vast grid groundplanes spreading over infinite beaches populated by wandering hippies: these are some of the more evocative images that consolidated their fame as vanguard architects. In 1972, MoMA invited them to participate in one of the largest exhibitions in its history, built around Italian design and architecture. With essays from Peter Lang and William Menking, the book is designed to provide the reader with the most detailed account of this avant-garde design group and their lively assault on modernism.
[S]uperstudio's response was to develop its 'Anti-Design' projects: themes from which were echoed in the work of other radical architects and designers, notably the members of Archizoom, a fellow Florentine group consisting of Andrea Branzi, Gilberto Corretti, Paolo Deganello, Dario and Lucia Bartolini and Massimo Morozzi. Both groups were founded in 1966 and their first important project was to express their theories about the crisis of modernism in the Superarchitecture exhibition in Pistoia, Italy. A year later, they refined the ideas aired in Superarchitecture in a joint follow-up show in Modena. --http://www.designmuseum.org/designerex/superstudio.htmw [Jul 2004]
2004, Jul 08; 14:08 :::: architecture

Archigram (1999) - Peter Cook, Warren Chalk, Archigram [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
"In late 1960, in various flats in Hampstead, a loose group of people started to meet: to criticize projects, to concoct letters to the press, to make competition projects, and generally prop one another up against the boredom of working in London architectural offices. The main British magazines of the time did not publish student work and Archigram was responding to this as much as to the sterility of the scene. The title Archigram came from the notion of a more simple and urgent item than a Journal, like a telegram or aerogramme - hence, "archi(tecture)-gram.""--BOOK JACKET.
"This facsimile edition of a book originally published in 1972 is a chronicle of the work of Archigram as told by the members themselves. It includes material published in early issues of the Journal, as well as numerous essays, comics, collages, poems, and fantastical architecture projects. The book is updated with a new introduction from longtime member Mike "Spider" Webb."--BOOK JACKET.
2004, Jul 08; 14:04 :::: architecture

The Inflatable Moment: Pneumatics and Protest in '68 (1999) - Marc Dessauce, Architectural League of New York [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
To a group of architecture students at the �cole des Beaux-Arts in Paris in the turbulent year 1968, the idea of the inflatable held a promise of mobility, movement, energy, and escape. Seeking to overturn the inertia and oppression that they believed characterized mainstream architecture, the Utopie group (as they called themselves) designed a series of pneumatic buildings, furniture, and environments, all heavily influenced by American military structures and comic books as well as by the work of Buckminster Fuller, Henri Lefebvre, Jean Baudrillard, and London's Archigram. Though Utopie architects Jean Aubert, Jean-Paul Jungmann, and Antoine Stinco were unable to realize their dream of a society literally built on air, their fanciful, exuberant, witty, and highly detailed drawings remain some of the most extraordinary in modern architecture. The Inflatable Moment documents this fascinating intersection of architectural, social, and political history, as it presents a complete, annotated catalog of the designs of the Utopie architects alongside similar structures from the period. Essays on the pneumatic phenomenon and the intellectual history of the Utopie group are supplemented by reflections by the three architects, each written especially for this book. --Book Description via Amazon.com
About the Author
Marc Dessauce, a New York-based architectural historian, is the author of Machinations and a former contributor to Casabella.
2004, Jul 08; 12:20 :::: everyday

Critique of Everyday Life, Volume II/Critique de la Vie Quotidienne - Henri Lefebvre [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
"The more needs a human being has, the more he exists," quips Lefebvre in a savage critique of consumerist society, first published in 1947. The French philosopher, historian and Marxist sociologist, who died this summer at age 90, meditates on the dehumanization and ugliness smuggled into daily life under cover of purity, utility, beauty. He deconstructs leisure as a form of social control, spanks surrealism for its turning away from reality, and attempts to get past the "mystification" inherent in bourgeois life by analyzing Chaplin's films, Brecht's epic theater, peasant festivals, daydreams, Rimbaud and the rhythms of work and relaxation. Rejecting the inauthentic, which he perceives in a church service or in rote work from which one is alienated, Lefebvre nevertheless seeks to unearth the human potential that may be inherent in such rituals. --From Publishers Weekly via Amazon.com
This translation of the second edition (1958) of French sociologist and philosopher Lefebvre's Critique de la Vie Quotidienne will introduce the English reader to his examination of the forces and structures that govern various aspects of our daily lives and in particular the role played by alienation in its various manifestations. The text includes a lengthy analytical introduction by the author that did not appear in the first edition of 1947. Lefebvre's Marxist orientation and terminology... --From Library Journal via Amazon.com
Henri Lefebvre's three-volume Critique of Everyday Life is perhaps the richest, most prescient work by one of the twentieth century's greatest philosophers. The first volume presented an introduction to the concept of everyday life. Written twenty years later, this second volume attempts to establish the necessary formal instruments for analysis, and outlines a series of theoretical categories within everyday life such as the theory of the semantic field and the theory of moments. The moment at which the book appeared�1962�was significant both for France and for Lefebvre himself: he was just beginning his career as a lecturer in sociology at Strasbourg, and then at Nanterre, and many of the ideas which were influential in the events leading up to 1968 are to found in this critique. In its impetuous, often undisciplined prose, the reader may catch a glimpse of how charismatic a lecturer Lefebvre must have been. --Book Description via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 07; 13:42 :::: experience

The Necessity of Experience - Edward S. Reed [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Reed (Encountering the World, Oxford Univ., 1996) indicts much of modern thought for ignoring everyday experience. Contrary to what Descartes and his many successors have argued, we are not trapped within our own minds. Quite the contrary, we interact directly with the real world, a vital truth that the pragmatists William James and John Dewey emphasized. In developing his case, Reed makes effective use of the ecological view of perception championed by psychologist James Gibson. For the author, the direct nature of perception is not an arcane issue of epistemology. The position he champions has social implications. In particular, Reed thinks the division of labor cuts workers off from adequate contact with the world. Surprisingly, he does not make use of Dewey's Art as Experience. Nevertheless, this excellent book is highly recommended. --David Gordon, Bowling Green State Univ., Ohio via Amazon.com
In this controversial book, Edward S. Reed warns that first-hand experience as a way of understanding the world and ourselves is endangered, because our culture favors indirect, second-hand knowledge that is selected, modified, packaged, and presented to us by others. Reed offers a spirited defense of unmediated experience against both modernist and postmodernist critics and outlines how to foster this vision of meaningful learning. --Book Description via amazon.com
2004, Jul 07; 13:26 :::: Disinfopedia

Welcome to Disinfopedia, a collaborative project to produce a directory of public relations firms, think tanks, industry-funded organizations and industry-friendly experts that work to influence public opinion and public policy on behalf of corporations, governments and special interests. Sponsored by the Center for Media and Democracy, the Disinfopedia was started in February 2003 and are now working on 5022 articles. To learn how you can edit any article right now, visit Disinfopedia:Welcome, newcomers, our Help page, Frequently Asked Questions, or experiment in the sandbox. --http://www.disinfopedia.org/
2004, Jul 07; 12:14 :::: metaphor

Metaphors We Live by - George Lakoff, Mark Johnson [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
People use metaphors every time they speak. Some of those metaphors are literary - devices for making thoughts more vivid or entertaining. But most are much more basic than that - they're "metaphors we live by", metaphors we use without even realizing we're using them. In this book, George Lakoff and Mark Johnson suggest that these basic metaphors not only affect the way we communicate ideas, but actually structure our perceptions and understandings from the beginning. Bringing together the perspectives of linguistics and philosophy, Lakoff and Johnson offer an intriguing and surprising guide to some of the most common metaphors and what they can tell us about the human mind. And for this new edition, they supply an afterword both extending their arguments and offering a fascinating overview of the current state of thinking on the subject of the metaphor. --Synopsis via Amazon.com
George Lakoff is a professor of linguistics (in particular, cognitive linguistics) at the University of California, Berkeley. Although some of his research involves questions traditionally pursued by linguists, such as the conditions under which a certain linguistic constriction is grammatically viable, he is most famous for his ideas about the centrality of metaphor to human thinking and society, as well as unorthodox views of the scientific process, and its central position in the culture of developed countries as an assumed neutral point of view. He is particularly famous for his concept the "embodied mind". --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lakoff [Jul 2004]
2004, Jul 07; 11:23 :::: erotica

My Secret Life: An Erotic Diary of Victorian London - James R. Kincaid [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
A memoir by an adventurous Victorian Londoner chronicles his precocious childhood sexuality through the end of his ""amatory career,"" during which he engaged in hundreds of romantic interludes with lovers from all walks of life. Reprint. --Ingram At an early age, the author of this scintillating memoir began keeping a diary of his sexual adventures. Representing more than 40 years, his erotic diary uncovers the secret side of Victorian England--the sensual experiments that made 19th-century Britain far more indulgent than history claims. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. --Book Description
This book fell into my hands in 1969 (original edition)and I was 17 at the time. I read it from cover to cover and like most kids, passed it to a friend, who passed it to another, and so on. At that time I thought I was just getting a lesson in sex education, but now that I am turning 50 I find that over the years I have thought of this book many times and now wish to have a copy included in my personal library.
The book is very well written and yes, you need to read it on a cold day because it is highly erotic. Do not read this book if explicit sex bothers you because this man has experienced it all and tells every detail. This is not pornography, it is erotic literature at its finest! --anonymous via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 07; 11:16 :::: erotica

The Erotomaniac: The Secret Life of Henry Spencer Ashbee (2001) - Ian Gibson [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
The life and times of a Victorian gentleman of irrepressible curiosity-and shockingly repressed desire. Henry Spencer Ashb ee (1884-1900) was a prosperous and respectable Victorian gentleman, a family man who counted among his many friends the celebrated adventurer Sir Ric hard Francis Burton. But he was a gentleman with a secret-one so delicious that he rented a separate apartment to contain it. Within the well-appointed chambers of Gray's Inn, Ashbee concealed an astonishingly vast collection of erotica and pornography, thousands of volumes strong. Ian Gibson, the acclaimed biographer of Lorca and Dal, now turns his attention to the hitherto little-known Ashb ee, a man who happily supported his wife and four children but spent his spare time meticulously cat aloguing such risqutitles as Miss Bellasis Birched for Thieving and The Marchioness's Amorous Pastimes. And with exclusive access to Ashbee's diaries and his family's archives, Gibson has uncovered evidence that Ashbee may himself have been the author of the notorious My Secret Life-the "true" autobiography of an unnamed Victorian gentleman and his sexual adventures. With his celebrated touch for evoking both his subject and his subject's era, Gibson has created a telling and provocative portrait of a fascinating character and the no less intriguing age that made him possible. --Synopsis via Amazon.com
About the Author
Ian Gibson lives in a village near Granada, Spain. His Federico Garc�a Lorca: A Life won numerous awards and was named a best book of the year by the New York Times and the Boston Globe.
The life and times of a Victorian gentleman of irrepressible curiosity-and shockingly repressed desire.
Henry Spencer Ashbee (1834-1900) was a prosperous and respectable Victorian gentleman, a family man who counted among his many friends the celebrated adventurer Sir Richard Francis Burton. But he was a gentleman with a secret-one so delicious that he rented a separate apartment to contain it. Within the well-appointed chambers of Gray's Inn, Ashbee concealed an astonishingly vast collection of erotica and pornography, thousands of volumes strong. --Book Description via Amazon.com
Ian Gibson, the acclaimed biographer of Lorca and Dal�, now turns his attention to the hitherto little-known Ashbee, a man who happily supported his wife and four children but spent his spare time meticulously cataloguing such risqu� titles as Miss Bellasis Birched for Thieving and The Marchioness's Amorous Pastimes. And with exclusive access to Ashbee's diaries and his family's archives, Gibson has uncovered evidence that Ashbee may himself have been the author of the notorious My Secret Life-the "true" autobiography of an unnamed Victorian gentleman and his sexual adventures. With his celebrated touch for evoking both his subject and his subject's era, Gibson has created a telling and provocative portrait of a fascinating character and the no less intriguing age that made him possible
2004, Jul 06; 15:51 :::: art

Man's Rage for Chaos: Biology, Behavior and the Arts (1967) - Morse Peckham [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
This is a new edition of the much neglected 1967 breakthrough analysis of behavior and the arts. Cultural criticism has been too obsessed with the rage for order to be able to grasp the import of Peckham's search for "some human activity, which serves to break up orientations, to weaken and frustrate the tyrannous drive to order, to prepare the individual to observe what the orientation tells him is irrelevant, but what may every be relevant." This book is destined to force a sharp turn in critical cultural studies because it addresses the rage for chaos in traditional "high culture," not just in popular culture. --Book Description via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 06; 15:22 :::: DJ Spooky

Rhythm Science (2004) - Paul D. Miller aka Dj Spooky that Subliminal Kid [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
DJ/conceptual artist/author Paul Miller's pseudonym is at once an arcane reference to William S. Burroughs's Nova Express and a childlike recognition of the sometimes eerie, disembodied sounds he gathers�an immediate indicator of the gleeful enthusiasm with which both his "mixes" and his first book juxtapose cultures high and low, new and old, avant-garde and "street." Son of Howard University's dean of law (who died when Miller was three) and a mother who ran an international fabric shop off Dupont Circle, Miller spent much of his childhood in Washington, D.C.'s nurturing bohemia before studying philosophy and literature at Bowdoin. That his thesis was on Richard Wagner�whose theory of gestamtkunstwerk (the total art work) presages much of today's "new media" revolution�is no surprise. The emerging aesthetic he describes is one in which the proliferating technologies of sampling and studio manipulation have eroded the distinction between music's producers and consumers. From "dub" in Jamaica to the turntablism of the South Bronx, how music was manipulated by listeners after the fact has become as important as how it was "originally" made. The range of reference Miller brings to his description of these phenomena reaches back to Vico and Emerson and forward to Eminem, giving "DJ culture" the broad contextualization its innovations have long warranted. Though much of what Miller describes is hardly new either to listeners or practitioners, his insights as a practicing and successful DJ are fresh and unpretentious. The enclosed CD, an expert full-length mix that moves from Artaud to Morton Feldman, then Patti Smith without blinking, paradoxically points out that Miller is still a better DJ than writer; its effortless juxtapositions cohere in a way his text (including 45 minimalist illustrations) rarely manages. But even such writer/musicians as John Fahey and Glenn Gould rarely accomplished that, and Miller has certainly earned a place in their company. --Copyright � Reed Business Information via Amazon.com
"Once you get into the flow of things, you're always haunted by the way that things could have turned out. This outcome, that conclusion. You get my drift. The uncertainty is what holds the story together, and that's what I'm going to talk about." --Rhythm Science The conceptual artist Paul Miller, also known as Dj Spooky that Subliminal Kid, delivers a manifesto for rhythm science--the creation of art from the flow of patterns in sound and culture, "the changing same." Taking the Dj's mix as template, he describes how the artist, navigating the innumerable ways to arrange the mix of cultural ideas and objects that bombard us, uses technology and art to create something new and expressive and endlessly variable. Technology provides the method and model; information on the web, like the elements of a mix, doesn't stay in one place. And technology is the medium, bridging the artist's consciousness and the outside world. Miller constructed his Dj Spooky persona ("spooky" from the eerie sounds of hip-hop, techno, ambient, and the other music that he plays) as a conceptual art project, but then came to see it as the opportunity for "coding a generative syntax for new languages of creativity." For example: "Start with the inspiration of George Herriman's Krazy Kat comic strip. Make a track invoking his absurd landscapes. . .What do tons and tons of air pressure moving in the atmosphere sound like? Make music that acts a metaphor for that kind of immersion or density." Or, for an online "remix" of two works by Marcel Duchamp: "I took a lot of his material written on music and flipped it into a DJ mix of his visual material--with him rhyming!" Tracing the genealogy of rhythm science, Miller cites sources and influences as varied as Ralph Waldo Emerson ("all minds quote"), Grandmaster Flash, W. E. B Dubois, James Joyce, and Eminem. "The story unfolds while the fragments coalesce," he writes. --Book Description via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 06; 01:38 :::: Andrzej Zulawski

Possession (1981) - Andrzej Zulawski
Mark (Sam Neill) comes home from months on the road to find his flighty wife, Anna (Isabelle Adjani in an almost bug-eyed performance), ready to divorce him. Distraught and angry, he tracks down her lover, but discovers a secret unknown to either of the men. Anna has given birth, literally, to a demon lover (created by monster maker Carlos Rimbaldi), and she'll murder anyone who dares to come between them. Full of anger, jealousy, emotional suffering, and vindictiveness, this bizarre, bleak horror film is a mix of Hollywood melodrama, European psychodrama, and the raw, blunt emotions of personal art cinema. Mark and Anna grow increasingly shrill and erratic as they sink deeper into madness and obsession, and finally doppelg�ngers, also played by Neill and Adjani, arise to take their place. Hints of Rosemary's Baby, The Omen, and the biological horrors of David Cronenberg float through the story. The English-language French production was shot in Germany with a Polish director and an international cast, which only adds to the dissonance. Andrzej Zulawski (who claims that the film was inspired by his own divorce) directs this obscure and often alienating film with unrelenting intensity. The 2-hour film was cut down to 80 minutes for its original American release, and has only now been restored to full length. The DVD features commentary by Zulawski in conversation with his biographer, Dan Bird. --Sean Axmaker for Amazon.com
While Zulawski would no doubt want his film to be seen sui generis, perhaps the best way to summarise it, for better or worse, is as a head on collision between David Cronenberg's The Brood and Alejandro Jodorowsky's El Topo. In other words, as a piece of arthouse exploitation that may well fall into the void between the two camps. -- K H Brown 2002-2004 http://www.kinocite.co.uk/14/1410.php [Jul 2004]
Much has been written of Adjani�s performance (which won the Palm D�Or for Best Actress Award at Cannes), which splits fans and foes alike, either bordering on hysteria, or crossing the border entirely. I think the performance is just right, since we don�t get to witness true hysterics in contemporary cinema anymore. It�s almost a lost art form. Regardless, you have to commend a leading lady who plays a sex scene with a sticky, slimy octopus-like Carlo Rambaldi (�E.T.�) creation as her leading man gawks at her from around a corner. --http://www.filmthreat.com/Reviews.asp?Id=3749 [Jul 2004]
With Possession, writer/director Andrzej Zulawski attempts to wed the art house to the grindhouse; unfortunately for the audience, the resulting marriage works out about as well as the one between the movie�s two central characters. There are a number of good ideas struggling to break free of the quagmire that is Possession, and when one or another of them briefly gets its head up above the muck, the film really does work. There aren�t nearly enough of those moments, however, and the self-indulgent, self-congratulatory manner in which Zulawski handles just about everything that goes on between one set of credits and the other makes for about as thoroughgoing a case of self-sabotage as you�re ever likely to see. -- Scott Ashlin, http://www.1000misspenthours.com/reviews/reviewsn-z/possession.htm [Jul 2004]
2004, Jul 06; 01:28 :::: Lars Von Trier

The latest galvanizing and controversial film from Lars von Trier (Dancer in the Dark, Breaking the Waves, The Kingdom), Dogville uses ingenious theatricality to tell the Depression-era story of Grace (Nicole Kidman, The Others), a beautiful fugitive who stumbles onto a tiny town in the Rocky Mountains. Spurred on by Tom (Paul Bettany, Master and Commander), who fancies himself the town's moral guide, the citizens of Dogville first resist Grace, then embrace her, then resent and torment her--little realizing they will pay a price for their selfish brutality. The town is indicated by fragments of building and chalk outlines on a soundstage floor, stylishly pointing to the movie's roots in classic plays (particularly Thornton Wilder's Our Town and Friedrich Durrenmatt's The Visit). Several critics have stridently attacked Dogville as anti-American, but the movie's dark, compelling view applies as easily to Rwanda, Bosnia, the Middle East, or pretty much anywhere in the world. Also featuring Lauren Bacall, Patricia Clarkson, Jeremy Davies, Stellan Skarsg�rd, Chloe Sevigny, and many more. --Bret Fetzer for Amazon.com
2004, Jul 06; 01:16 :::: Lars Von Trier

The Five Obstructions (2003) - Lars Von Trier--http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0354575/
Lars von Trier, the Danish director of "Breaking the Waves," "Dancer in the Dark," and "Dogville" returns with a strange and brilliant meta-film. In 2000, he challenged his mentor, the veteran filmmaker Jorgen Leth, to a one-of-a-kind director's game: von Trier would give Leth rules, or obstructions, by which Leth would have to remake his own 1967 short film "The Perfect Human"--five times.
The first film, according to von Trier's rules, has to be composed of shots no longer than 12 frames and must be filmed in Cuba, without a set. Fast forward to Havana: Leth has found a solution to the difficulties and is making his film with confidence. With satanic glee, von Trier comes up with an even more constraining set of obstructions, clearly taking pleasure in torturing his former teacher. He attempts to find the most crippling rules and devises appropriate punishment when Leth fails to follow them.
Lars von Trier is no stranger to sadism: this is the man responsible for the abuse of Emily Watson, Bjork, and Nicole Kidman in his last three features. "The Five Obstructions" makes it clear that his apparent mean streak is considered, focused, and aimed at a kind of creative catharsis. His agenda is to strip away the pretense, to get from the "perfect" to the "human," as he puts it.
Von Trier is hoping to force his former teacher to make a bad movie, a "pile of crap," but the truth is that creativity feeds on limits: the resulting short films are all terrific. To see how Leth discovers ways to use the devilish obstructions to his advantage is nothing short of thrilling. "Everything inspires you!" the frustrated von Trier complains. The directors' game reveals itself as something more than an empty exercise in style: von Trier had a secret agenda all along, but by the time the fifth film unreels, the ambiguities have multiplied, and it's not clear anymore who exposed himself more, or who obstructed whom. In this creative mindgame, the only clear winner is the audience. --Jurgen Fauth, Creativity Loves Limits in von Trier's Thrilling Meta-Film http://worldfilm.about.com/od/scandinavianfilm/fr/5obstructions.htm [Jul 2004]
2004, Jul 05; 15:55 :::: Balthus

Nude with cat (1949) - Balthus [oil on canvas 65.1 x 80.5 cm]
2004, Jul 05; 13:48 :::: camp

Bubba Ho-Tep (2002) - Don Coscarelli [Amazon.com]

Don Coscarelli directs and Bruce Campbell stars as the King of Camp in this intentionally over-the-top schlockfest. Bubba Ho-Tep is partially about Elvis Presley and partially about the title character, an Egyptian cowboy zombie, but mostly it is about camp. The movie is equal parts story and back story. We learn through narration and flashback how Elvis didn't really die, ending up instead in a rest home in East Texas with JFK (played by Ossie Davis), who was dyed black and had his brain removed, presumably for reasons of national security. Campbell and Davis realize that something strange is going on when their rest-home compatriots start dropping off suspiciously. The whole movie leads up to a final showdown to the death with the Egyptian cowboy zombie who has been sucking the souls of their fellow residents because he thought no one would notice. The movie unfolds a bit slowly; it is, after all, a geriatrics-fight-Egyptian-cowboy-zombie movie. However, one wishes this self-conscious movie's pacing took its cue from the atypically fast-moving zombie instead of from the senior-citizen Elvis and JFK. In the end, though, Campbell is flawless as the aged King; his accent, intonations, glasses, and trademark karate are at the same time sincere and over the top. --Brian Saltzman for Amazon.com
2004, Jul 05; 12:51 :::: literature

Adventures in 'Pataphysics: Collected Works I - Alfred Jarry [Amazon.com]

Alfred Jarry (September 8, 1873 - November 1, 1907) was a French writer born in Laval, Mayenne, France. He is best known for his play Ubu Roi (1896), which is often cited as a forerunner to the theatre of the absurd.
His texts presents some early work in the themes of the 'absurdity of existence' and 'sensibilities'. Sometimes grotesque or misunderstood (remember the famous 'Merdre!', meaning something like 'Shit!'), he put his mark on a science called 'Pataphysics'.
Pataphysics is the acceptance of every event in the universe as an extraordinary event.
If you let a coin fall and it falls, the next time it is just by an infinite coincidence that it will fall again the same way; hundreds of other coins on other hands will follow this pattern in an infinitely unimaginable fashion. -Jarry wrote thus.
French authors Raymond Queneau, Jean Genet, Boris Vian and Jean Ferry have described themselves as following the Pataphysical tradition.
He died of alcoholism and tuberculosis in Paris, France on November 1, 1907 and was interred in the Cimetiere de Bagneux, near Paris. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Jarry [Jul 2004]
2004, Jul 05; 01:42 :::: postmodernism

Exercises in Style (1947) - Raymond Queneau [Amazon.com]

A twentysomething bus rider with a long, skinny neck and a goofy hat accuses another passenger of trampling his feet; he then grabs an empty seat. Later, in a park, a friend encourages the same man to reorganize the buttons on his overcoat. In Raymond Queneau's Exercises in Style, this determinedly pointless scenario unfolds 99 times in twice as many pages. Originally published in 1947 (in French), these terse variations on a theme are a wry lesson in creativity. The story is told as an official letter, as a blurb for a novel, as a sonnet, and in "Opera English." It's told onomatopoetically, philosophically, telegraphically, and mathematically. The result, as translator Barbara Wright writes in her introduction, is "a profound exploration into the possibilities of language." I'd say it's a refresher course of sorts, but it's more like a graduate seminar. After all, how many of us are familiar with terms such as litote, alexandrine, apheresis, and epenthesis in the first place? --Amazon.com
2004, Jul 05; 01:20 :::: postmodernism

Spanking the Maid (1998) - Robert Coover [Amazon.com]

The New York Times Book Review, Alan Friedman
Spanking the Maid is hard-core allegory.... a very funny book, a tragicomedy.
"Though Coover's message is bleak, his delivery is wonderfully comic" (Bharati Mukherjee, "The Globe & Mail" (Toronto)) in this spare, tantalizing, and perfect book, named by Daphne Merkin in "The New Yorker" as one of her "favorite" S/M books.
Taking a cue from Raymond Queneau's Exercises in Style, (1947) and his own short stories featured in Pricksongs and Descants, what would seem to be only an experiment develops into a real commentary on self-reference and post structuralism. Coover's treatment of the master-slave, dominant-submissive relationship serves to show the sado-masochistic exchange that exists in language when that language becomes "meta" language, or language about language. In this way all "criticism" is "criticized," begging the question: if meta language is sado-masochistic, what is meta-meta language?
The novel also works despite its subject matter-- if Coover had chosen some other setting, one could still delight in the way he weaves repitition into an ongoing cascade, each permutation the same and wholly different. Chaos theory as literary genre? Now who's being sado-masochistic? --Jason Edwards via amazon.com
Robert Coover was born in Charles City, Iowa on February 4, 1932. He graduated from Indiana University in 1955, then served in the United States Navy. He received a Master of Arts degree from the University of Chicago in 1965 and has served as a teacher or writer in residence at many universities. He is generally considered a writer of fabulation and metafiction. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Coover [Jul 2004]
2004, Jul 05; 00:38 :::: nude

Naked (1993) - Mike Leigh [Amazon.com]

In between his breakthrough film Life Is Sweet and his world sensation Secrets and Lies, filmmaker Mike Leigh created his most abrasive and daring film, Naked. This "Angry Young Man" for the 1990s follows an acidic wanderer (Cannes award winner David Thewlis) who observes a corrosive Britain. An intellectual, bitter film filtered with debauchery and black humor, Naked follows the bemusing Johnny as he crosses in and out of doorways, drifting into old acquaintances and new lost souls. It is more of a character film than sheer entertainment and thus it can be hard to watch, but it offers one of the great performances of the 1990s. Thewlis would have been an Oscar shoo-in if he'd worn a tuxedo and repressed his emotions. He didn't, and his brilliant work went unrecognized in mainstream America. --Doug Thomas for Amazon.com
2004, Jul 04; 00:45 :::: will

Triumph Of The Will (1935) - Leni Riefenstahl [Amazon.com]

Triumph of the Will is one of the most important films ever made. Not because it documents evil--more watchable examples are being made today. And not as a historical example of blind propaganda--those (much shorter) movies are merely laughable now. No, Riefenstahl's masterpiece--and it is a masterpiece, politics aside--combines the strengths of documentary and propaganda into a single, overwhelmingly powerful visual force.
Riefenstahl was hired by the Reich to create an eternal record of the 1934 rally at Nuremberg, and that's exactly what she does. You might not become a Nazi after watching her film, but you will understand too clearly how Germany fell under Hitler's spell. The early crowd scenes remind one of nothing so much as Beatles concert footage (if only their fans were so well behaved!).
Like the fascists it monumentalizes, Triumph of the Will overlooks its own weaknesses--at nearly two hours, the speeches tend to drone on, and the repeated visual motifs are a little over-hypnotic, especially for modern viewers. But the occasional iconic vista (banners lining the streets of Nuremberg, Hitler parting a sea of 200,000 party members standing at attention) will electrify anyone into wakefulness. --Grant Balfour, Amazon.com
2004, Jul 04; 00:23 :::: Brando's peephole closed July 2, 2004

Last Tango in Paris (1972) - Bernardo Bertolucci [Amazon.com]

Bernardo Bertolucci's controversial 1972 film stars Marlon Brando as an expatriate American in Paris reeling from his wife's suicide and entering into a nihilistic sexual relationship with a young woman (Maria Schneider). The film is still shocking, not simply because of its (sometime unconventional) sexual sequences, but because Brando's protagonist needs his liaison with Schneider's character to remain anonymous, an experience not to be shared but indulged on either end. Bertolucci is also operating on subtext here: in a way, Brando's nonengaging engagement is a metaphor for a certain attitude toward directing movies. Jean-Pierre L�aud costars, but the film is more than anything a vehicle for a great performance by Brando. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com
"Get the butter." � Paul, Last Tango in Paris (1972)
On July 2, 2004, his lawyer confirmed that Marlon Brando had died the day before, July 1, at age 80. The cause of Brando's death was intentionally withheld, with his lawyer citing privacy concerns. It was later revealed that he died at UCLA Medical Center of lung failure. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlon_Brando#Decline [Jun 2004]
2004, Jul 03; 13:04 :::: sex

The history of civilization is the history of a long warfare between the dangerous and powerful forces of the id, and the various systems of taboos and inhibitions which man has erected to control them. Sometimes man has attempted to cap the volcano, but the molten matter has then forced its way out through fissures in the rock, and the damage done has been as great as if he had made no such attempt. Sometimes he has managed to control and render harmless the prisoned energy by providing adequate institutions for its expression. Rarely has he managed to harness it to do creative work. The purpose of this book is to survey these various attempts to control the irrational as they have been developed in western Europe and particularly in England during the Christian era. Or rather its purpose is to survey the treatment men have accorded to the sexual drive - but from this subject the study of violence cannot be wholly divorced. In the language of Freud, man has two inborn capacities, and each may manifest in a nobler or a baser form. There is Eros, which is love and creativity, but also lust; and there is Thanatos, which is hate and destruction, but may also become the power to control and manipulate for useful purposes. Often these two drives become fused: love can make a divine marriage with mastery, just as lust can make a diabolic marriage with pain. Sadomasochism is the reverse side of a coin whose obverse is creative achievement. --Sex In History (1954) by Gordon Rattray Taylor

2004, Jul 03; 12:11 :::: masochism

The Mastery of Submission: Inventions of Masochism (Cornell Studies in the History of Psychiatry) - John K. Noyes [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
That individuals sometimes derive sexual pleasure from submission to cruel discipline is no longer a dark secret hidden in society's closet. As witnessed in many popular movies, sadomasochism has entered the mainstream. How it achieved this status and, more important, its origins are the focus of this scholarly work. Noyes (German and literary theory, Univ. of Cape Town, South Africa) claims that although literary references to the practice date back to the 16th century, it was largely an invention of the late 19th century?an attempt to understand individuals for whom the economy of reward and punishment, on which society was thought to be based, broke down and failed. Noyes explores the work of Viennese physician Richard von Krafft-Ebing, who coined the term masochism, and he documents the evolution of the concept with scenes in literature from John Cleland's Fanny Hill to Pauline Reage's Story of O. This well-researched and penetrating study, geared to academics and the most informed lay readers, is recommended for academic libraries.?David R. Johnson, Fayetteville P.L., Ark. --Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
A very erudite, comprehensive, and searching study, which investigates masochism from a variety of perspectives. --Elaine Showalter, Princeton University
Individuals sometimes derive sexual pleasure from submission to cruel discipline. While that predilection was noted as early as the sixteenth century, masochism was not codified as a concept until 1890. According to John K. Noyes, its invention reflected a crisis in the liberal understanding of subjectivity and sexuality which continues to inform discussions of masochism today. In essence, it remains a political concept.
Viennese physician Richard von Krafft-Ebing coined the term masochism, based on the work of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. Noyes analyzes the social and political problems that inspired the concept, suggesting, for example, that the triumphant expansion of European colonialism was in part animated by an ambivalence in masculine sexuality.
Noyes documents the evolution of the concept of masochism with scenes in literature from John Cleland's Fanny Hill through Sacher-Masoch's Venus in Furs and Pauline Reage's Story of O. Analysis of Freud's vastly influential rereading of masochism precedes an exploration of the work of his successors, including Wilhem Reich, Theodor Reik, Helene Deutsch, and Karen Horney. Noyes suggests that the thematics of feminine masochism emerged only gradually from an exclusively male concept. --Book Description via Amazon.com
2004, Jul 03; 11:44 :::: Aristotle

The Housebook Master Middle Rhenish, active c. 1465/1500 Aristotle and Phyllis, c. 1485 drypoint Rijksprentenkabinet, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Part of a series known as the Power of Women, found in literature as well as other visual arts, this image recounts the late medieval legend that Aristotle tried to teach his protege Alexander about the dangers of love, only to fall prey to this humiliation himself. Consistent with both the courtly audience and the moralizing tone of prints by this multitalented, multimedia Rhenish artist.
Scholars were children of Jupiter, and Aristotle was one of the foremost scholars of antiquity. According to medieval legend he had urgently warned Alexander the Great to abstain from worldly pleasures, but this provoked Alexander's mistress Phyllis, who was determined to humiliate Aristotle and demonstrate the power of the flesh over the intellect. She accomplished this by seducing the great philosopher and then asking him to let her ride on his back. He consented, not realizing that Alexander had been invited to secretly witness this victory.
2004, Jul 01; 23:28 :::: Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1782) - Jean-Jacques Rousseau [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Mademoiselle Lambercier showed towards me a mother's affection and also a mother's authority, which she sometimes carried so far as to inflict on us the usual punishment of children when we had deserved it. ... I had found in the pain and even in the shame of it an element of sensuality which left more desire than fear of receiving the experience again from the same hand. It is true that, as in all this a precocious sexual element was doubtless mixed, the same chastisement if inflicted by her brother would not have seemed so pleasant... Who would have believed, that this childish punishment, received at the age of 8 from the hand of a young woman of 30, would have determined my tastes, my desires, my passions, for the rest of my life?

The foundational Romantic text was Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Confessions. Rousseau began with the assertion that here, for the first time ever, was an autobiography that gave it all away, told it all. The killer ingredient, which sold the book for over two centuries on a whisper and a nod, was Rousseau's confession of sexual masochism and his recollection of the childhood spankings that provoked it. Aside from this, Confessions is 600 or so pages of dissimulation, self-contradiction, treachery, special pleading, innuendo, raving, revenge, and lies. But what gushes out is the overwhelming "presence" of Rousseau himself: the paranoiac, the plaintiff, the pervert. The scandalous incoherence of precisely this person, no better, after all, than he should be, behaving badly, just like us in fact: real, really here. --Fred Vermorel, October - November 2000, Village Voice Literary Supplement, Lurking on the Dark Side of Biography, [http://www.villagevoice.com/vls/170/vermorel.shtml]
2004, Jul 01; 01:53 :::: philosophy

Tractatus Logico Philosophicus (1921) - Ludwig Wittgenstein [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Perhaps the most important work of philosophy written in the 20th century, "Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus" was the only philosophical work that Ludwig Wittgenstein published during his lifetime. Written in short, carefully numbered paragraphs of extreme brilliance, it captured the imagination of a generation of philosophers. For Wittgenstein, logic was something we use to conquer a reality which is in itself both elusive and unobtainable. He famously summarized the book in the following words: "What can be said at all can be said clearly; and what we cannot talk about we must pass over in silence." The work is prefaced by Bertrand Russell's original introduction to the first English edition. --from the publisher
2004, Jul 01; 01:25 :::: language

Verbal Behavior (1957 - B. F. Skinner [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Verbal behavior is a classic work and one the most neglected and underrated scientific texts of century, erroneously believed by many to have been conclusively demolished by Noam Chomsky (whose work in competition with Freud's is possibly the most overrated). Skinners analysis of verbal behavior differs from other accounts both in psychology and linguistics in being entirely naturalistic and free of the quite far-reaching metaphysical assumptions about 'meanings' and 'rules' inherent in traditional approaches. The latter focus on an idealized and abstract entity (grammatically correct language) which does not really exist, whereas Skinner analyses the verbal behavior actually performed by people. He demonstrates that a large amount of linguistic phenomena can be interpreted and explained by the principles of operant conditioning which have been demonstrated in laboratory experiments and he explores the consequences of this analysis for problems normally only addressed by philosophers, such as the nature of meaning, the social aspects of language, the possibility of a private language and the nature of thinking. Many philosophers will surprised to learn that some of the best ideas of the later Wittgenstein can be found more clearly and elegantly expressed by Skinner. --Germund Hesslow via Amazon.com
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July 2004 Blog

Blogs I Frequent

2004, Jul 31; 20:07 ::: erotic art

2004, Jul 31; 12:20 ::: Hip Hop: East Coast vs West Coast

2004, Jul 31; 12:06 ::: hip hop

2004, Jul 30; 16:27 ::: fashion

2004, Jul 30; 13:30 ::: Fashion 2001 Landed #1 - Walter Van Beirendonck

2004, Jul 30; 12:07 ::: The Stendhal Syndrome (1996) - Dario Argento

2004, Jul 29; 14:58 ::: Michel Blanc

2004, Jul 29; 14:58 ::: nightlife

2004, Jul 29; 14:35 ::: cabaret

2004, Jul 29; 12:53 ::: sex

2004, Jul 29; 12:24 ::: Belgian cinema

2004, Jul 29; 10:57 ::: Vic Gentils Show at Oostende (Belgium)

2004, Jul 28; 23:39 ::: post-pop

Franz Ferdinand

Dream White Island

18 June 2003
Island Records (Japan) ISCP-1014

Buy this from amazon.co.jp

Dream Green Island

18 June 2003
Island Records (Japan) ISCP-1014

Buy this from amazon.co.jp

Padlock
Special Mixes By Larry Levan

18 June 2003 (original release 1983)
ISCP-1016

Produced by Sly & Robbie, featuring Gwen Guthrie, Wally Badarou, Darryl Thompson, Harry Whitaker.

Buy this from amazon.co.jp

June [...]

Previous Months

July 2004 Blog

Blogs I Frequent

2004, Jul 31; 20:07 ::: erotic art

2004, Jul 31; 12:20 ::: Hip Hop: East Coast vs West Coast

2004, Jul 31; 12:06 ::: hip hop

2004, Jul 30; 16:27 ::: fashion

2004, Jul 30; 13:30 ::: Fashion 2001 Landed #1 - Walter Van Beirendonck

2004, Jul 30; 12:07 ::: The Stendhal Syndrome (1996) - Dario Argento

2004, Jul 29; 14:58 ::: Michel Blanc

2004, Jul 29; 14:58 ::: nightlife

2004, Jul 29; 14:35 ::: cabaret

2004, Jul 29; 12:53 ::: sex

2004, Jul 29; 12:24 ::: Belgian cinema

2004, Jul 29; 10:57 ::: Vic Gentils Show at Oostende (Belgium)

2004, Jul 28; 23:39 ::: post-pop

Franz Ferdinand

Dream White Island

18 June 2003Island Records (Japan) ISCP-1014

Buy this from amazon.co.jp

Dream Green Island

18 June 2003Island Records (Japan) ISCP-1014

Buy this from amazon.co.jp

PadlockSpecial Mixes By Larry Levan

18 June 2003 (original release 1983)ISCP-1016 Produced by Sly & Robbie, featuring Gwen Guthrie, Wally Badarou, Darryl Thompson, Harry Whitaker.

Buy this from amazon.co.jp

June [...]

Previous Months

18 June 2003
Island Records (Japan) ISCP-1014

18 June 2003
Island Records (Japan) ISCP-1014

Padlock
Special Mixes By Larry Levan

18 June 2003 (original release 1983)
ISCP-1016

Produced by Sly & Robbie, featuring Gwen Guthrie, Wally Badarou, Darryl Thompson, Harry Whitaker.