Yes, we’ve gone over to the dark side here….but I do love the idea that you can update Twitter and the blog at the same time. I do love the simplicity of Twitter and actually thought it might replace blogging for a bit, but I see now the utter folly of that notion.
In other news, purchased the Criterion version of Border Radio, more on that after it arrives and I can review it. Two months ago I scored the once-rare vinyl LP soundtrack for the movie which features the Flesheaters, Divine Horsemen and Chris D. I love this movie and it’s even more fascinating now in light of the fact that the music business as depicted in Border Radio all at once no longer exists AND is the same as it ever was.
My first exposure to Christian Marclay was though my bandmates in Crevice. In 1999, some of the Crevice crew hooked up with Marclay to do an art show in San Antonio, Texas at the Art Pace gallery. The show, according to Uncle Buzz Records (the label home of Crevice, Pink Filth, Paisley Babylon, and others) to be an “audio/visual event using hundreds of Christmas records (Marclay) collected while in town.
Interesting enough to combine DJing with art galleries; moreso that the idea was to create new music from a collection of thousands of Christmas records. Ever since then I’ve been intrigued by Christian Marclay and his body of work. I don’t think DJ culture has been the same since Marclay, in the same way that tape manipulation art hasn’t been the same since John Oswald.
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Marclay has been described as a “Dadaist DJ.” He may be a DJ but is far from a club kid knob twiddler.
For starters, he studied sculpture at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston Marclay has been involved in a number of collaborations with high-profile names in music. The term DJ or turntablist is really inadequate for Marclay–he’s gone far beyond club DJing and studio recording. His concepts involve the physical manipulation of the recorded music on vinyl as well as the aural manipulation of it.
Christian Marclay has worked with John Zorn, Sonic Youth, Otomo Yoshihide and Fred Frith. His work has been shown at the Whitney Museum of American Art New York among other important galleries around the world. It’s obvious that he’s a name in the business of sound, in the same manner as Eno, John Cage, Harold Budd and other experimenters/pioneers.
Check this clip about Christian Marclay and his desire for “unwanted sound”. It’s a fascinating little glimpse into the world he inhabits. “When we play a record we don’t want to hear the surface noise,” said Marclay,”But those are the sounds I’m interested in. I’m interested in the sounds I can get out of this vinyl record.”
I can’t help it, I love 70s cheese, and this is by far some of the cheesiest I’ve seen as of late. Listen to that music! Damn…my favorite part is the cornball little new wavey splash/splat after the chorus girls stop singing. “Skashhhhhhhhhhhhh”. Brilliant.
Here’s the trailer in all its’ wretchedly goofy glory. Remember, kid, this one stars James Earl Jones, Richard Burton, and Max Von Sydow–an all star cast. Darth Vader, the guy who played chess with Death, and Bluebeard together–what a hoot. I wish we could go back to the time that these movies were released, when people still thought the Devil was scary. Of course, all you have to do is look at those clothes to know just how misguided they really were–Satan was the least of their problems. Unless your name was Linda Blair.
Why am I posting a clip for WildClaw Theatre’s zombie play, The Revenants? Two reasons–I was behind the editing desk for this AND composed the music for the trailer. I’ve done a bit of soundtrack work in the past and it was fun to get back into the game once more. I’ve yet to see the play—I’m seeing it on Sunday–but it was Critic’s Choice in the Chicago Reader, a real stamp of approval for this town.
The trailer was a lot of fun to work on, and you really should check out the show while there is still time. The play is currently scheduled to end on May 24th, thought there is talk of an extension. It plays in Chicago at the Angel Island Theatre.
