Samstag, 7. Juli 2007
Safety valves
We want every day and every action to be a manifestation of love, joy, confusion and revolt. - Refused, Final CommuniqueAs is often the case when I'm feeling a bit down, I have stayed in the past few nights, cleaning my room and listening to old hardcore records. Refused, Anomie, Born Against, Portraits of Past, Clikatat Ikatowi, His Hero is Gone, Frail, Palatka, Yaphet Kotto - all the music that still gets me going. I air drum, shout along with the lyrics, and reconnect with the energy that seems to have been sucked out of me. I write long e-mails and longer letters, dream up new projects, scribble notes on torn pieces of paper, reorganize and reprioritize. It happens every few months, when my relatively stable range of emotions drifts below the horizon line. An internal safety valve. When I think of close friends and lovers, it seems that they all have these mechanisms. I'm very curious to hear what yours might be. For now, I'm off to watch the lights go out on the Empire State Building, a midnight ritual. I'm sure it's done by computer, but I like to imagine that there's one man or woman somewhere up near the 86th floor, looking at a wristwatch and waiting for the exact moment to flip the switch.For those of you looking at this on your friends list: I also hope that, despite the voluminous contributions already made by myself and 3rdworldcinema, you will visit my last post regarding Susan Sontag's essay in this week's issue of The New Yorker and add to the discussion. Thanks!
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6 Kommentare:
Wow, you just pretty much listed my all-time favorite bands. Nobody really knows Anomie - but they are fucking incredible. Everyone points to Fingerprint (or maybe Jasemine) as being THE french bands - but Anomie is so much better musically, politically, lyrically, and have better recordings. The new discography CD that came out is great.....-matt
Clairvoyance is the closest thing I have to a t.v. in this room. My ritual is days, more likely than not, two days, of glorious, deep sleep, bathed in white light and light breaths.
Perhaps you're the person to ask this question, then: What band, if any, has taken up the quasi-political, situationist-inspired torch left behind by Refused and Orchid? I don't follow the current hardcore scene close enough to know, but would be very glad to find out.Also, who released the Anomie discography? I'd be happy if you could provide me a link. I am also a big fan of Vanilla's first LP, which was put out by a Belgian label named Genet records. Not as screamy or political, but amazing drumming and melodies.
YES! I fucking love that Vanilla record too! My other new favorite French band is Amanda Woodward - definately check them out. I just have a burnt CD of their stuff, but it's very good emotional hardcore - pretty mid-tempo, and really intense and passionate.....The Anomie CD was put out my a label called Spurt. Every distro I've tried in the US says it's out of print, but I emailed Spurt and they've got a bunch. You can find it suprisingly easy at more punk-oriented record stores.Hmm, as for Refused and Orchid. I'll admit to being a fan of both bands - but especially towards that latter-half of their career, I think Orchid's art-school-student attitude killed any politics they once had.Musically I was still into it, but lyrically they went downhill.I'm not sure of any bands in a similar veing. Some of the CrimethInc stuff is pretty situ-inspired - so maybe Catharsis or Zegota?-Matt
yesterday i couldn't get started working so i got out a bunch of my old high school tapes and some cd's of bands like the lunachicks, early hole, bikini kill, talulah gosh, nirvana, etc, it made me so happy, i jumped around and had a dance party of one.
i been listening to boysetsfire & refused.if i could find it on this godforsaken island continent i would be listening to trialwoooo ha.
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