____________
1. iloveyouihateyou
The exhibition iloveyouihateyou at Magasin 3, Stockholm is based on an audiovisual work by Leah Singer and Lee Ranaldo. This work is an exploration of how image and and sound interact, was staged as a live performance, book, and as an installation. Their performance work and installations combine a flow of images and sounds taken from everyday situations, moments that reveal the beauty of the ordinary and turn the commonplace into something extraordinary. -- Libraryman
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2. 5 Sonic Youth songs by Lee Ranaldo
'Eric's Trip'
'Hoarfrost', directed by Lee Ranaldo
'Hey Joni'
'What We Know'
'Wish Fulfillment'
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3. From Here to Infinity
'Lee Ranaldo's first solo album From Here to Infinity was originally released in 1987 by SST Records on lock groove vinyl, which allowed the listener to listen to the remaining few seconds of each composition for as long as they desired. On the original vinyl recording, Ranaldo created a few of the tracks directly in the mastering studio where the cutting of the original vinyl version took place. In addition to the locked grooves, the LP was mastered at 45 RPM (although the vinyl's record label also gave a "varispeed" designation, suggesting that the record could be enjoyed at any speed) and also contained on the album's second side an engraving of the serpent designed by Savage Pencil, which was given its own track number, title, and facetious "infinity" track length.
'The spontaneous insertion of recordings during the vinyl cutting stage proved to be both a blessing and a minor setback when it came time for the compact disc edition of the album to be created, according to Ranaldo's sleeve note on the CD edition; Ranaldo utilized a combination of the original master tapes, and recordings taken directly from a vinyl copy of the album to reproduce the tracks that Ranaldo had done in the mastering studio. Ranaldo also extended the length of many of the tracks, and cut new tape loops based on the original recordings "to replace certain lock grooves" that the artist "wasn't altogether happy with" on the original record. The utilization of some transfers from a vinyl copy inspired Ranaldo to boast on the bottom of the sleeve note that the CD edition of From Here to Infinity was "the only compact disc with surface noise".' -- Allmusic
'Lathe Speaks', from From Here to Eternity
'Kings Ogg', from From Here to Infinity
'The Resolution', from From Here to Infinity
3. From Here to Infinity
'Lee Ranaldo's first solo album From Here to Infinity was originally released in 1987 by SST Records on lock groove vinyl, which allowed the listener to listen to the remaining few seconds of each composition for as long as they desired. On the original vinyl recording, Ranaldo created a few of the tracks directly in the mastering studio where the cutting of the original vinyl version took place. In addition to the locked grooves, the LP was mastered at 45 RPM (although the vinyl's record label also gave a "varispeed" designation, suggesting that the record could be enjoyed at any speed) and also contained on the album's second side an engraving of the serpent designed by Savage Pencil, which was given its own track number, title, and facetious "infinity" track length.
'The spontaneous insertion of recordings during the vinyl cutting stage proved to be both a blessing and a minor setback when it came time for the compact disc edition of the album to be created, according to Ranaldo's sleeve note on the CD edition; Ranaldo utilized a combination of the original master tapes, and recordings taken directly from a vinyl copy of the album to reproduce the tracks that Ranaldo had done in the mastering studio. Ranaldo also extended the length of many of the tracks, and cut new tape loops based on the original recordings "to replace certain lock grooves" that the artist "wasn't altogether happy with" on the original record. The utilization of some transfers from a vinyl copy inspired Ranaldo to boast on the bottom of the sleeve note that the CD edition of From Here to Infinity was "the only compact disc with surface noise".' -- Allmusic
'Lathe Speaks', from From Here to Eternity
'Kings Ogg', from From Here to Infinity
'The Resolution', from From Here to Infinity
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4. Road Movies
'The literary equivalent of the dark and noisy waters of Sonic Youth's early work, the language of Road Movies mirrors the beauty of the band's emotive walls of noise. As the title suggests, large parts of the book are inspired by time spent on the road with Sonic Youth. His words evoke the strange suprises and almost out of body clarity that occurs during travel. Interspersed with grainy photographs of road side fireworks stands, cigarette machines, and tractor trailer wheels, the book recalls the everyday things that, when taken out of context, become absolutely extraordinairy. In this way he tells, in flashes reminescent of the absolute freedom attained in the literature of Kerouac and Bukowski, the story of one restless mind's journey across and through America.' -- Soft Skull
Excerpt:
Locusts
In a world where
things fall apart
form, substance and force are lost
words of violence
stalk the earth
artificial souls
feign walking edges
like a raging plague
sweeping through the fields.
Is there really a reason?
Throw out your attics full
discard your old loves and
your angels in wait
throw a black cloth over it all
lock the windows
tie down the appliances
the pets
and leave it all
just lock the door
and leave
OPENING
this is the longest movie
I've ever been in
nothing can alter these images
this is life like a movie
so real to the touch
injected with feelings
with no final fading
this is the same still frame
that holds us like frozen lanterns
in mid embrace
this is the movie that should last forever
always on the screen
this is the phone left off the hook
we must be responsible
and contain our movements
to a few frames on each reel
but we can freeze the image
and extinguish the sounds
of everything outside your room
a drawn out sigh becomes the pealing of bells
your skin an endless surface
which I will explore again and again
this is a moment which we must save
to prove such things are possible
this perfect kiss cannot be erased
tho its image may fade and bleach
4. Road Movies
'The literary equivalent of the dark and noisy waters of Sonic Youth's early work, the language of Road Movies mirrors the beauty of the band's emotive walls of noise. As the title suggests, large parts of the book are inspired by time spent on the road with Sonic Youth. His words evoke the strange suprises and almost out of body clarity that occurs during travel. Interspersed with grainy photographs of road side fireworks stands, cigarette machines, and tractor trailer wheels, the book recalls the everyday things that, when taken out of context, become absolutely extraordinairy. In this way he tells, in flashes reminescent of the absolute freedom attained in the literature of Kerouac and Bukowski, the story of one restless mind's journey across and through America.' -- Soft SkullExcerpt:
Locusts
In a world where
things fall apart
form, substance and force are lost
words of violence
stalk the earth
artificial souls
feign walking edges
like a raging plague
sweeping through the fields.
Is there really a reason?
Throw out your attics full
discard your old loves and
your angels in wait
throw a black cloth over it all
lock the windows
tie down the appliances
the pets
and leave it all
just lock the door
and leave
OPENING
this is the longest movie
I've ever been in
nothing can alter these images
this is life like a movie
so real to the touch
injected with feelings
with no final fading
this is the same still frame
that holds us like frozen lanterns
in mid embrace
this is the movie that should last forever
always on the screen
this is the phone left off the hook
we must be responsible
and contain our movements
to a few frames on each reel
but we can freeze the image
and extinguish the sounds
of everything outside your room
a drawn out sigh becomes the pealing of bells
your skin an endless surface
which I will explore again and again
this is a moment which we must save
to prove such things are possible
this perfect kiss cannot be erased
tho its image may fade and bleach
____________
5. 5 duets
w/ Rafael Toral
w/ J. Mascis
w/ Leah Singer
w/ Brigitte Fontaine
w/ Zeger Reyers
____________
6. Amarillo Ramp (for Robert Smithson)
Amarillo Ramp's title track, a 32 minute soundscape of heightening, spacious climax remarks on Ranaldo's talent of creating (sometimes frightening) space with sound. It provides an olfactory explanation of the artist Robert Smithson's spacious, geographic artwork of the late 20th century. Although Amarillo Ramp stands well enough on its own, Ranaldo includes additional tracks which act as added bonuses to his talented, experienced opus. Among them include a soundscape with help from Sy mates Thurston Moore and Steve Shelley, a Kerouacian spoken word piece, a rare acoustic ballad piece, and a cover of John Lennon's "Isolation".
'Notebook', from Amarillo Ramp
'Isolation' (Lennon), from Amarillo Ramp
5. 5 duets
w/ Rafael Toral
w/ J. Mascis
w/ Leah Singer
w/ Brigitte Fontaine
w/ Zeger Reyers
____________
6. Amarillo Ramp (for Robert Smithson)
Amarillo Ramp's title track, a 32 minute soundscape of heightening, spacious climax remarks on Ranaldo's talent of creating (sometimes frightening) space with sound. It provides an olfactory explanation of the artist Robert Smithson's spacious, geographic artwork of the late 20th century. Although Amarillo Ramp stands well enough on its own, Ranaldo includes additional tracks which act as added bonuses to his talented, experienced opus. Among them include a soundscape with help from Sy mates Thurston Moore and Steve Shelley, a Kerouacian spoken word piece, a rare acoustic ballad piece, and a cover of John Lennon's "Isolation".
'Notebook', from Amarillo Ramp
'Isolation' (Lennon), from Amarillo Ramp
____________
7. HEY OTIS:
I don’t know what/whose show YOU saw last week, but what I saw was the best show I’ve seen Dylan do in maybe FIFTEEN years, a MASTER at the height of his POWERS, singing (singing real good!) and playing just INCREDIBLY, with a CRACK band supporting him (finally!), playing songs from EV’RY PERIOD of his lengthy CAREER and just doing everything right. I’m talking about before, LONG BEFORE Neil and Bruce came out during 3rd encore and place went ultra-nuts. When they were sitting with GINSBERG (& GE Smith) in VIP area, and Dylan was singing ‘Only TIME WILL TELL who has fell and who’s been left BEHIND’, how could they have felt??? Here he was, just beautiful, singing strong and loud, no mumbles - if you stop trying to force the songs to sound like his old vocal stylings and just lissen, he is doing really amazing versions—of MY BACK PAGES, JOEY, BOOTS OF SPANISH LEATHER—songs from ev’ry one of his MANY times. Dressed in impeccable black pin-striped suit, I felt he’d finally come through, after a decade of alkie/druggie/sexxee troubles and lame shows, he finally seemed ready to assume the mantle which he RIGHTLY DESERVES - the same respect that Neil (f’rinstance) has. It also occurred to me that in a way his lame shows of past years have actually PROTECTED him, that his not succeeding to be more successful has PREVENTED him from having to try to get over to ARENA-ROCK size audiences—the slow death of anybody good. He played fukkin’ ROSELAND! THREE NIGHTS! Hello, Axl? Mad Donna? Oh JaggerKeefHenleyMichaelPink.... Eddie... Stipe... Fukkin WEEZER n SHIT.... WAKE UP!!!
Now you know how many Zimmie boots I’ve got, and you probably also know that I lose most interest 1980 onwards, but maybe, JUST MAYBE it’s time to start collecting the ‘94-5 show pirate copies again.
AMEN!
(I like Slow Train Comin though….)
Now Bob, about producing that next elpee, here’s how I think it should go down...
Kind regards ,
Lee
P.S. In case you were wondering: Neil looked comfortable like he was sittin’ in an old easy chair, he was playing for fun and makin’ Bobby laugh; whereas Bruce couldn’t even follow the easy chord changes, all stiff and just watching the gtr player’s hands all through both Rainy Day Wimmen (Dylan finally giving the crowd a real chorus to sing {EVERYBODY MUST GET STONED!} after confounding their lyrical expectations all night long with brilliant new forms) and Highway 61. How could I have left this show, even for Sebadoh?
Lee Ranaldo performs Bob Dylan's 'Visions of Johanna'
7. HEY OTIS:
I don’t know what/whose show YOU saw last week, but what I saw was the best show I’ve seen Dylan do in maybe FIFTEEN years, a MASTER at the height of his POWERS, singing (singing real good!) and playing just INCREDIBLY, with a CRACK band supporting him (finally!), playing songs from EV’RY PERIOD of his lengthy CAREER and just doing everything right. I’m talking about before, LONG BEFORE Neil and Bruce came out during 3rd encore and place went ultra-nuts. When they were sitting with GINSBERG (& GE Smith) in VIP area, and Dylan was singing ‘Only TIME WILL TELL who has fell and who’s been left BEHIND’, how could they have felt??? Here he was, just beautiful, singing strong and loud, no mumbles - if you stop trying to force the songs to sound like his old vocal stylings and just lissen, he is doing really amazing versions—of MY BACK PAGES, JOEY, BOOTS OF SPANISH LEATHER—songs from ev’ry one of his MANY times. Dressed in impeccable black pin-striped suit, I felt he’d finally come through, after a decade of alkie/druggie/sexxee troubles and lame shows, he finally seemed ready to assume the mantle which he RIGHTLY DESERVES - the same respect that Neil (f’rinstance) has. It also occurred to me that in a way his lame shows of past years have actually PROTECTED him, that his not succeeding to be more successful has PREVENTED him from having to try to get over to ARENA-ROCK size audiences—the slow death of anybody good. He played fukkin’ ROSELAND! THREE NIGHTS! Hello, Axl? Mad Donna? Oh JaggerKeefHenleyMichaelPink.... Eddie... Stipe... Fukkin WEEZER n SHIT.... WAKE UP!!!
Now you know how many Zimmie boots I’ve got, and you probably also know that I lose most interest 1980 onwards, but maybe, JUST MAYBE it’s time to start collecting the ‘94-5 show pirate copies again.
AMEN!
(I like Slow Train Comin though….)
Now Bob, about producing that next elpee, here’s how I think it should go down...
Kind regards ,
Lee
P.S. In case you were wondering: Neil looked comfortable like he was sittin’ in an old easy chair, he was playing for fun and makin’ Bobby laugh; whereas Bruce couldn’t even follow the easy chord changes, all stiff and just watching the gtr player’s hands all through both Rainy Day Wimmen (Dylan finally giving the crowd a real chorus to sing {EVERYBODY MUST GET STONED!} after confounding their lyrical expectations all night long with brilliant new forms) and Highway 61. How could I have left this show, even for Sebadoh?
Lee Ranaldo performs Bob Dylan's 'Visions of Johanna'
______________
8. Sonic Youth Stolen Guitars
Hello all, this is Lee from Sonic Youth here, we have had a fucked up situation come down on us over this last night--a brand new Ryder truck parked at a Ramada Inn in Orange County with ALL OF OUR GEAR IN IT was STOLEN! All of our guitars, tools, amplifiers, drums, synth -- EVERYTHING. We are fucked, both for the show tonight at the "This Ain't No Picnic" here in Orange Co., and for shows upcoming this week in Austin and Santa Fe. Our guitars are all mostly older and either very modified and/or fucked up/beat up. They are unmistakably ours, as are some of the amps, including my own 60s Fender Concert with the red/blue/yellow "Jasper Johns-style" target on it. We are asking ANYONE with ANY INFORMATION about this to get in touch with us as soon as possible by calling our man Aaron Blitzstein in New York City at 212.343.2314, or via email to "Mascara66@aol.com". Call collect if you want to. Please no pranks, all, this is really serious--all the gear we've used to write our last few LPs worth of stuff, instruments used for songs old and new which if truly lost will mean those songs will be lost forever. Help us out if you can, there will be a reward for any info, I'm sure. All our road cases, etc, are fully marked up with our name on them, the gtrs are so unusual that they won't really be too hard to mistake. ANY info at all will be appreciated. If the thieves themselves read this, I'm sure we'd rather buy the stuff back from you than lose it forever (you fukkerz).
8. Sonic Youth Stolen Guitars
Hello all, this is Lee from Sonic Youth here, we have had a fucked up situation come down on us over this last night--a brand new Ryder truck parked at a Ramada Inn in Orange County with ALL OF OUR GEAR IN IT was STOLEN! All of our guitars, tools, amplifiers, drums, synth -- EVERYTHING. We are fucked, both for the show tonight at the "This Ain't No Picnic" here in Orange Co., and for shows upcoming this week in Austin and Santa Fe. Our guitars are all mostly older and either very modified and/or fucked up/beat up. They are unmistakably ours, as are some of the amps, including my own 60s Fender Concert with the red/blue/yellow "Jasper Johns-style" target on it. We are asking ANYONE with ANY INFORMATION about this to get in touch with us as soon as possible by calling our man Aaron Blitzstein in New York City at 212.343.2314, or via email to "Mascara66@aol.com". Call collect if you want to. Please no pranks, all, this is really serious--all the gear we've used to write our last few LPs worth of stuff, instruments used for songs old and new which if truly lost will mean those songs will be lost forever. Help us out if you can, there will be a reward for any info, I'm sure. All our road cases, etc, are fully marked up with our name on them, the gtrs are so unusual that they won't really be too hard to mistake. ANY info at all will be appreciated. If the thieves themselves read this, I'm sure we'd rather buy the stuff back from you than lose it forever (you fukkerz).
____________
9. a random collection of cells
'In one series of ink paintings on paper, imagery from newspaper clippings are magnified and subtly altered, removed from their original journalistic context and re-presented as purely visual images. Divorced from the stories surrounding them, the pictures begin to describe a new, accumulative narrative, free of topical content. Found texts in the form of spam are often used as a component in the free-form proseused to juxtapose unrelated images, texts or sounds.' -- Hogar Collection
See all of Lee Ranaldo's artworks in the series and read about the exhibition here.
9. a random collection of cells
'In one series of ink paintings on paper, imagery from newspaper clippings are magnified and subtly altered, removed from their original journalistic context and re-presented as purely visual images. Divorced from the stories surrounding them, the pictures begin to describe a new, accumulative narrative, free of topical content. Found texts in the form of spam are often used as a component in the free-form proseused to juxtapose unrelated images, texts or sounds.' -- Hogar Collection
See all of Lee Ranaldo's artworks in the series and read about the exhibition here.
____________
10. Text of Light
'The Text of Light group was formed in 2001 with the idea to perform improvised music to the films of Stan Brakhage and other members of the American Cinema avante garde of the 1950s-60s (Brakhage's film 'Text of Light' was the premiere performance and namesake of the group). The original premise was to improvise (not 'illustrate') to films from the American Avante-Garde (50s-60s etc), an under-known period of American filmic poetics. Members of the group include Lee Ranaldo and Alan Licht (gtrs/devices), Christian Marclay and DJ Olive (turntables), William Hooker (drums/perc), Ulrich Krieger (sax/electronics), and most recently Tim Barnes (drums/perc).Various combinations of these players attend 'Text' gigs, depending on individual schedules, so the group takes on various permutations---sometimes all members participate, sometimes not.' -- ToL Website
Official trailer for "TEXT OF LIGHT" a documentary by Steven Andrew Garcia
Text Of Light: Live at the Latvian House Toronto 2007
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10. Text of Light
'The Text of Light group was formed in 2001 with the idea to perform improvised music to the films of Stan Brakhage and other members of the American Cinema avante garde of the 1950s-60s (Brakhage's film 'Text of Light' was the premiere performance and namesake of the group). The original premise was to improvise (not 'illustrate') to films from the American Avante-Garde (50s-60s etc), an under-known period of American filmic poetics. Members of the group include Lee Ranaldo and Alan Licht (gtrs/devices), Christian Marclay and DJ Olive (turntables), William Hooker (drums/perc), Ulrich Krieger (sax/electronics), and most recently Tim Barnes (drums/perc).Various combinations of these players attend 'Text' gigs, depending on individual schedules, so the group takes on various permutations---sometimes all members participate, sometimes not.' -- ToL Website
Official trailer for "TEXT OF LIGHT" a documentary by Steven Andrew Garcia
Text Of Light: Live at the Latvian House Toronto 2007
----
*
p.s. RIP: Jose Saramago, Tom Nicon. Nicon was in the outer circle of Yury's friends. He'd told me a number of times how unusually kind and sweet Nicon was for someone so incredibly in demand and successful. Yury and his friends are quite shaken up by this terrible news. And with that, hey. I've been hinting around at something not so subtly in the body of the p.s. with little effect, so I'm going to forefront it just this once and then leave you be. To wit, I'll be in Brest for a week starting next Tuesday, and, five days after my return, I'll go to Avignon for twelve days. As I've said, the blog will run normally during the Brest stint, and I'm doing my utmost to arrange a way to keep the blog running as usual when I'm in Avignon. The problem is that between my more limited internet access and heavy workload during those periods, it's very unlikely that I'll be able to put together future blog posts while I'm away. At the moment, it seems very possible that I will run out of posts during the early days in Avignon. If some people here have the time and inclination to put together guest posts for the blog in the next several days, that would help me out greatly and likely prevent the blog from going on hiatus for a while starting around the second week of July. If you're too busy right now or lack ideas, cool, no problem. If you can send me a guest post, awesome. Nuff said. ** David, Any appearance of nose wrinkling was probably an accident of misphrasing and my flawed attempt at a clever tone, I guess. Genre's cool. Very interesting list, of course. I hope to God that Pallett's not this decade's Rufus Wainwright. I'll hit some of those sites I don't know. Nice names. ** Oscar B, Hey, pal. Hope you got your stuff done. An awesome kind of busyness. Palais de Tokyo, def. Maybe today? What's your sched? ** Oliver, That link honored this place, man, trust me. Fantastic post/piece, by the way. That film had better open here soon or ... else. That's so true about the lazy or utopian talk of immersion as videogames' ideal effect. It seems like a fantasy of non-gamers and a very condescending one at that, as though the working part of playing videogames is their problem, the thing that keeps them from being holy like movies or paintings or whatever. Great call, man. I expect very little from the 3D systems and games, or at least to start. If Miyamoto himself designed a game for the system, that would be exciting, but I don't believe he has. Thanks much, Oliver. ** David Ehrenstein, Fascinating about Elzbieta Czyzewska. I didn't know of her at all. Yes, RIP to her and to Ronald Neame. Death has been so starved lately. ** Paul Curran, To hear French people who actually know the ins and outs, the French team's flop-out was par for the course and was long expected. Much blame is being place on Domenech and Hidalgo's bizarre decision to barely use Thierry Henri, and that certainly was an inexplicable call. ** Davidpeak, Hey, David! Welcome, and it's very cool that you keep up with my blog. I'm a fan of your writing, and in fact I tried to order 'Dreams from the Darklands' a short time back, but I got there too late. Anyway, great to have you here. Please do hang out anytime. The Locrian album is really worth tracking down. Gorgeous. No, I haven't heard the last Yellow Swans record. It's been on my to-do list for a while. I'll push it to the top. Thanks a lot, and respect to you. ** Tosh, My pleasure. So, what 60s and 70s stuff have you been listening to and especially liking, if you don't mind saying? ** _Black_Acrylic, It's real! Everyone, drum roll, the new issue of the zine to beat, the fraught and violently good Yuck 'n Yum, co-edited by the blog's maestro of a d.l. _Black (Ben Robinson) _Acrylic, is up and ready for us all to view or download, and it includes among its wonders an interview with the legendary Frank Sidebottom by Mr. Robinson himself, and, long story short, get your red hot copy right here. Stellar news, Ben. Can't wait to incorporate it. ** Christopher Higgs, Hi, Christopher! Oh, listen, it's an honor. Your novel is just mindbogglingly good. I'll be very curious to see what you think of 'Enter the Void' once you've seen it and if you write about it somewhere. I think the way it does and doesn't deploy narrative might be of interest to you, if nothing else. And thanks a lot for the tip on HTMLG about Amanda Goldblatt's 'Catalpa'. I'm excited to read it. The very best to you. ** Christopher/ Mark, Hey, Mark! I really need to get my paws on that Forster bio. Shakespeare & Co. said they'd probably have it in early this week, and I'll be there. ** Stan_cz, Yuppie Pricks ... okay, I don't know their stuff. I'll try to dig some out. Thanks. Good art galleries in LA? There are a lot. Hm, off the top of my head: Marc Foxx, Richard Telles, David Kordansky, Overduin and Kite, Patrick Painter, the Chinatown gallery scene in general -- China Art Objects, Black Dragon, Jack Hanley, etc. etc, all short walking distance from one another, ... I could go on. The LA gallery scene is maybe the most exciting in the world, in my opinion. You have a blog! Fuckin' A! Great news. I'll be all over it, of course. Everyone, the honorable writer and d.l. Stan_cz has just launched a blog, and, if you know him, and you at least kind of do, you know it's going to a be must-bookmark kind of deal. Start your addiction now and here. ** Empty Frame, England, oops. They call it Christopher St. Day? Odd. Anyway, knock a million back, don't knock too many heads together, and I'll see you in the afterburn. ** Bill, No word from the Gisele people, but G. assured me we can get you a ticket, so don't worry. You'll get in one way or another. I'll try for a ticket on the 14th. Oh, I found that Crime et Chatiment image by googling the show's name plus Musee Orsay, I think. ** Mark Gluth, Howdy, Mark! Excellent on your hunkering down. Me too, although I surface long enough to do this thing every day. No, I haven't read 'Wolf Parts' yet. I need to get it. No doubt it'll be on my year-end list. Matt Bell is awesome. Hope 'TH' did you good. ** Killer Luka, Thanks for your list, pal. I'm kind of really excited to see 'Toy Story III' strangely and not so strangely. Books aren't as heavy as paintings, dude. ** Ben Brooks, Hey, Ben! Oh, man, your new novel is just fantastic. All the respect from me that there is. Ha ha, yeah, that's what I get for illegally downloading albums sometimes, i.e. I didn't have a clue what the CC cover looked like, and I just grabbed the wrong one. Oops. Second album's the one I meant, yeah. Thanks a lot for stopping by. Take care. ** Tonyoneill, Hey, Tony. Yeah, the swell of affection and respect for SH is moving if sadly belated. I'm wondering if I should try to get over to see the theater piece in London. Do you know whether he was happy with it? Take care, man. ** Waiting for John, Oh, well, he's safe and sound sort of again, which is ... good news? Surely. I've had hours that felt like entire nights. I'm having one right now, ha ha. No, thank you. ** Tristam's Mum, All of my escorts are uncut. It's a DC's guarantee. ** Colin, Hey, Colin. 'Persistent Voices' and the Poets Theater books are on my most awaited list. The Eigner too. I don't know the Abstract Comics anthology. I'll google it. Anna Kavan pictures? The Anna Kavan? Wait ... so it is. I didn't know she painted. That's a bit of a revelation. Wow, very cool. I'll find what I can find. Thanks a lot for the list and for the news, man. ** Pilgarlic, Masquerade rings the bell. I think that's it. Nice imagery and about the Hank Williams III show. ** Alan, Habitat and Math's place, yeah, duh. That's the forgetting thing I mentioned. I did not know of Goths in Hot Weather, and it looks to be really something on first peep, yep. Everyone, courtesy of Alan, if you haven't found it yet, go directly to Goths in Hot Weather. Money's money, and I got mine for free, so, there you go, but the Schuyler book has some absolutely divine work in it. Actually, I'm hoping to be in NYC to see the Brion Gysin show at the New Museum. I think his drawings and paintings are extraordinary. I just think he's a terrible writer is all. ** Toniok, Hey, man! Did you get my email asking for more images if possible? I haven't heard back, and my email account is a bit unreliable. Thank you for the lists. I've noted everything I didn't already know, which was quite a few things. I'm sorry if things are rough. But everything you say is way more than good as far as I'm concerned. ** Ken Baumann, Not as thrilled as I was/am to plant those flowers in this bed. Or something. You know what I mean. Next year, I want a book by you, and I mean written by not published by, on my list. Make it happen, man. 'Coma' is dreamy great. I think you'll dig it. Thanks, Ken. Love and all the best as ever. ** Chilly Jay Chill, I'm only about a third through the new Guyotat, but that was enough to rate it at the top. The style is quite different from, say, 'EEE' or 'Tf500000S'. It's relatively direct and not anywhere near as disjunctive. It's dreamy but memoir-like. Yep, oversight and brain freeze on the new New Pornographers not being there. Don't know the Sacco or Lentricchia books. I'll try to rectify that. 'Mother' ... is that the film by the guy who made 'The Host'? If so, I missed it when it was here. ** Schlix, Oh, what a great music list especially, and especially since I haven't heard a bunch of your choices, and re: the ones I do know, I agree they're fantastic. Noted. Thanks, Uli, if I may still call you that, friend to friend. ** Sypha, You might find 'Coma' easier going than his other books. It's much more linear and conventionally propulsive if not at all conventional itself. ** Syreearmwellion, Hey. Oh, yeah, I could easily have had the Silver Mt. Zion and Four Tet and Gainsbourg albums on my list if I hadn't blanked out at a certain point. Angling to hear the Fur and the S. Nice. Thanks much, man. ** Steevee, The new National album is good, huh? I've been wary of getting it for some reason. I think I need to rehear/ rethink Vampire Weekend. I haven't gotten the thing yet. Haven't seen a bunch of your film choices yet. Is 'Un Lac' being released in the US this year? What a knock out that was. Thanks, S. ** Amccartney, It's really good you have a head of steam on your novel when going back into the teaching gig. I hope it elbows out a lot of space, obviously. Best to you, pal. ** Vincent Kartheiser, Quit playing hard to get and just sit yourself down. You'll see God. Ask anyone within reason. ** Justin, Yury rushed out the door before I could get the name of that camera. I'll get it tonight and pass it along on Monday. No, tail between my legs, I haven't read your FB message yet. I will by Monday, promise. I'm just barely surfacing from my novel at the moment, and everything else is unfairly on hold. Apologies. ** Statictick, I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. Your report a bit back about seeing his Rolling Stones band was beautiful. Thanks for the best of lists. I've written some stuff down to investigate. If Airdoll is Japanese, it might at least barely play here, but the French don't seem to welcome that kind of filmic oddballness. ** L@rstonovich, I don't do nepotism. I call 'em like I read 'em. Gout, yikes. Bernard Welt just had a little visit from gout. Man, sorry. What do you do to get rid of that? ** Inthemostpeculiarway, I've always screened phone calls and picked up when I recognized the voice leaving a message. It started with the creditors, and it became a peace-seeking habit. I can't do that now with these newfangled cell phone contraptions. Since Mr. or Ms. Blocked Number is proving to be a pest, I think my instincts were right. Man, if that ear doesn't stop its nonsense, you've got to see a doctor or something, okay? My nails can only take so much chewing. My day wasn't much yet again. Well, it was much because I worked on my novel for most of the day, but I meant much to talk about. I should have done laundry, but I didn't. I should have read and answered a bunch of emails, but I didn't. I thought that not doing those things would erase them, but it didn't. Other stuff: Helped Gisele pick out the image for the poster/card for 'TIHYWD'. Watched England do nothing much in their WC match. Oh, I had dinner with my friend Laurence Viallet. I think I mentioned already that she runs one of the best French publishing houses. They publish Kathy Acker, Peter Sotos, Matthew Stokoe, David Wojnarowicz, and others in France. She's also a translator for hire. She's translating Rick Moody's next novel into French at the moment. Anyway, I hadn't seen her in ages 'cos we're both workaholics. We had dinner at Cafe Indiana, which is this chain restaurant here that's okay with me because they have okayish Mexican food and veggieburgers on the menu, and there's one right across the street from the Recollets. So, we caught up, blabbed, ate -- I had kind of bad nachos and a kind of bad veggieburger -- and it was great and good fun. Then I came home and worked some more. Yury came from home from work and then drinks with a friend, and he'd just found out about the death of Tom Nicon that I mentioned above, so he was kind of freaked and spent the evening talking with friends and me. Bedtime took me. That's all for now. Please reveal the mysteries of your weekend, and I will do the same. ** Misanthrope, Hey, G. Self-Portrait Day: My Slobbiness. That might work. Well, Turow probably knows deep down that it's all about the here and now for him, and that when he dies, his books are going to be pulped and forgotten so fast it'd make the head on a Rodin sculpture spin. Everyone should have access to books, I agree. Maybe Congress can get on that, ha ha. ** Nb, Need to see 'Fishtank' somehow. Hm. New Solondz is good, yeah, if you like Solondz, and if you like what he was doing in the 'Happiness' days in particular. It's a sequel to 'Happiness'. A brand spanking new and official NB blog? What next?! Awesome. Let me ... Everyone, your attention please. Nb, who surely needs no introduction but nonetheless is a fine, fine writer and true blue d.l., has started a blog called 'everything we are is mostly okay', and there's not much on it yet, but what's there is hot, so go check it out and then keep checking it out forever, yes? I like what you're doing with it so far. ** Math, For a picky person, you liked a fair amount of 2010's wares, I'd say. Yeah, like I told Mr. Brooks up above, wrong CC cover. My file has no cover. Hence, my mistake. Zac's purchases blog is redolent of his strange and wonderful genius. I think there might be a slight breakthrough on the Yury vs. Charles Guslain front. Yury came home the other day and said he'd run into Charles at Colette, I asked how that was, expecting a diatribe, and Yury just said, 'I think I was wrong about him losing his hair', which, in Yury Speak, is like a Nobel Peace prize. Love your thinking about your work. Since I spaced out ridiculously in not putting your site on my best of list where it should rightfully have been, I'll do this: Everyone, Math's 'pleasure is easy' site should have been on my best of the internet list. I spaced. So, put it on the list in your minds, please, and if you haven't been over there lately, do. ** Hectocotylus, Hello, greetings, welcome, thank you. First, you have one really amazing blog there, so thank you for occasioning my discovery of it. I'll be there a lot. Everyone, Hectocotylus, who entered this place yesterday for the first time, has a really fantastic blog called 'The Tarpeian Rock' that you should really check out. For instance, the current post shares some Polaroids by the very great film director Andrei Tarkovsky, and they're amazing. And there are a lot more riches over there where that particular post came from. Yes, Guyotat is pretty much alive and looks quite hardy in fact. Can't say he's respectable even if he does dress semi-respectably and lacks any tattoos that I could see. But he has this weirdly giant head that will forever keep him a Pied Piper of the weird among us. Please do stick around, hang out, anytime you like. ** 'Stoopid Slapped Puppies', I'd say between England's blahness and Germany's loss and the USA's tie, you're on a roll, or you're on my roll anyway. Sounds like you're pulling out all the stops for Holland, and I'll expect miracles. Oh, man, I just saw your last comment as I was refreshing this place one last time today. That's so, so, so good to hear, Nick. Relieving and wondrous. And your dialogue is as knowing as knowing can be, and beautiful because the words are yours, even those that flew in. You understand. I knew you would because our barely and longing understanding had to come from somewhere. Bon weekend, man. Dang, you deserve it. ** Slatted Light, Hey, man! Your book list had my pen scurrying across a Post-It. Thanks! Is that Anne Carson the new one that has, like, a gatefold sleeve or something? I read something ultra-intriguing in that regard. The death thing has just been out of control lately, Jesus. You good? What are you up to at the moment? ** Little foal, Hi, man. Rich list. What is 'Gregory S Moss - Punkplay'? I'll wend my way into Connie Converse's universe. I don't ... think I know her stuff, or else my brain is tired, which it is. Those sandwiches really were knotty. I don't know if it's a French thing or what. You have a sublime weekend, Darren. What have you got up its sleeve? ** Jheorgge, Whoa, hey, my dear old friend! I've missed you much and wondered how you were and are. Dude, it's so nice to see you! My fucking hell, what a year you've had. Jesus, Jhoerrge, I'm so sorry for all the shit you've been through. Yeah, fuck London if that's how it's going to treat you. So, I'm glad you're heading back north. It's prettier there anyway, and if we get to gobble you back in as a consequence, nice bonus on this end. Your lists ... you've seen some films I'm dying to see right there. Glad you liked 'Un Lac'. Loved that film. And there's a bunch on your music list I need to get as well. The Deftones, huh? Interesting. And etc. Gee, Jheorrge, seeing you is an awfully nice way to start a weekend, pal. You take really good care, and I'll keep my fingers crossed for you and for your more regular reappearance here too. Lots of love. ** Hedi, Hey, Hedi. I'm in love with the Guyotat. It's amazing to be able to read his voice doing something like this. Yeah, it's incredible. Are the images his idea? Were they in the French edition? I thought Gary did a great job with the intro. And I've paged through the zine, and it's very beautiful even in a first swim. Thanks so much for everything, man, and have a great weekend. ** Changeling, Hi, C. I really have to download that LCDSS album post-haste. I like the Sleigh Bells album too. That just entered my field of hearing the other day. And the Phosphorescent, duh, that should have been on my list too. Another instance of spacing out damage. Glad I was right, ha ha. You have a particular weekend in mind that you hope to illustrate with yourself? Either way, the weekend really will amaze and reward you if there's any justice in this world, and I still hold out hope that there is. ** Okay, we're done. I've been meaning to do a post celebrating Lee Ranaldo for, like, a year at least, and I finally sussed it, and I hope it pleases. Enjoy this world and the real one too until I see you again on Monday.
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