Leica M9, Nocti wide open.
Archive for 2010
Waiting For “Wilderness Heart”
Posted in Uncategorized with tags Leica M9, Noctilux 0.95 on August 20, 2010 by johnbuckley100The Forthcoming Delight Of Black Mountain’s “Wilderness Heart”
Posted in Music with tags "Wilderness Heart", Black Mountain, Blood Meridian, Lightning Dust, Stephen McBean on August 20, 2010 by johnbuckley100In the last 12 months, Black Mountain has made moves toward world domination mostly through the cosmically odd use of “Druganaut” in an ad for the Buick Lacrosse (see Tulip Frenzy’s writeup here.) I guess last year was The Pink Mountaintops’ turn, though it was disappointing that we don’t seem to have anything new from other Black Mountain offshoots such as Blood Meridian or Lightning Dust.
Then in late July we got the gloriously sleazy single “Old Fang,” with its Deep Purple organ and video of Stephen McBean riding shotgun in an early ’70s Mustang as a Susan Atkins-type hippie vixen hitchhiker lures him to her psychedelic lair. “Old Fang” could have been the #1 song on WBCN circa 1972, and Black Mountain would have been headliners at Watkins Glen or something. In 2010, it comes off as an absolutely pitch perfect slice o’ mid-Nixon grunge.
The release of “The Hair Song” on their MySpace page gives a further indication of where the forthcoming Wilderness Heart is heading — the purest homage to Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and the boys, replete with “Kashmir” strings — this side of Lez Zeppelin. Get ready. September 14th release date.
Intensity
Posted in Uncategorized with tags Leica M9, Noctilux 0.95 on August 18, 2010 by johnbuckley100Leica M9, Nocti @ 0.95
A Proper August, Part II
Posted in Uncategorized with tags Leica M9, Noctilux 0.95 on August 14, 2010 by johnbuckley100Leica M9, Nocti 0.95
Dean and Britta’s “13 Most Beautiful” Songs
Posted in Music with tags 13 Most Beautiful: Songs For Andy Warhol's Screen Tests, Dean and Britta, Dean Wareham on August 14, 2010 by johnbuckley100For a decade or more Luna was our favorite band. Some may have found Dean Wareham’s voice offputting, the lyrics occasionally corny, but if you believe in the Unified Field Theory wherein the best rock’n’roll connects to mythical Sterling Morrison/Velvet Underground guitar chords, you had to like Luna. If all the best strands lead back to the VU, Luna was the most tasteful spider in that web. When Wareham broke up the band a few years ago, we admit to feeling an emptiness that has not since been alleviated.
Dean and Britta were a poor substitution, and no offense to Britta, it was mostly because the absence of Sean Eden and Lee Wahl meant Wareham wasn’t really playing in a band. So the brilliance of “13 Most Beautiful: Songs for Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests” was a welcome surprise. In fact, their version of the Velvet Underground’s lost gem, “I’m Not A Young Man Anymore” is the song of the summer.
We were skeptical, given how bad the Cale/Reed collaboration on “Songs For Drella” was, that a Warhol-inspired album could work. This one does. Oh, not every song. But enough of them are prime Luna/VU/Young Marble Giants gems that it almost feels like we have Luna back.
A Proper August
Posted in Uncategorized with tags Leica M9, Noctilux 0.95 on August 14, 2010 by johnbuckley100Actually not having one… Leica M9, Noctilux 0.95
Interesting Interview With Jason Pierce of Spiritualized
Posted in Music with tags Jason Pierce, Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating In Space, Spiritualized on July 30, 2010 by johnbuckley100In honor of their show at Radio City tonight, see this piece here.
Spiritualized To Play “Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space” At Radio City Friday Night
Posted in Music with tags Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space, Spiritualized on July 29, 2010 by johnbuckley100Oh my Heavens, where have we been? How did we not know this and make the according plans. While we have previously expressed concerns about the moral stance of Spiritualized’s epic — possibly the greatest album of the 1990s, certainly one of the five or ten best since the punk era — there are many things, including vestigial organs, we would give to be there. If only we could.
Our Austin Correspondent Reports On The Fleshtones’ Latest Triumph
Posted in Music with tags The Fleshtones on July 22, 2010 by johnbuckley100In addition to posting this video evidence of Fleshtones mania in the capital of the Lone Star State, we have this report from our correspondent in Austin:
They were on fire this weekend. Some highlights:
• Friday and Saturday they pulled their shirts off, went out in the crowd and led a push-up contest.
• In Dallas, Peter Zaremba kept referring to me as “Joey” — so after they were done, people kept coming up to me and calling me Joey.
• Wednesday they played an in-store at Waterloo — the owner introduced them and said “Viva les Fleshtones” and Peter without pause says “Ooo-uff wit dey heads.”
• They started out in front of the clubs all three nights and worked their way through the surprised crowds singing and banging drums like pied pipers.
• Keith Streng and Ken Fox were airborn for probably about 50% of the sets.
The Sleeping Indian
Posted in Uncategorized with tags Jackson Hole, Leica M9, Sleeping Indian, Summicron 90mm on July 18, 2010 by johnbuckley100See it? Leica M9, 9omm Sumicron.
Tulip Frenzy 