Volume 060.5: What To See/Hear/Read
THE VOICE OF ENERGY VOL. 060.5
One feature of the newsletter that will only be available to folks that pony up for a paid subscription is a weekly run down of things to watch, listen to, and read—as chosen by me. While this makes me feel a little bit like Bruno Kirby in When Harry Met Sally defending the existence of his stupid, wagon wheel, Roy Rogers, garage sale coffee table ("I have... good taste!"), I know there were some of you out there who enjoyed it when I was offering up suggestions of movies to stream. This is a way to bring that back with the added bonus of stuff worthy of your ears and eyes. I hope you get some use out of it.
WHAT TO SEE
Procession (2021, dir. Robert Greene) - How does one truly heal from the scars of sexual abuse, especially when it was meted out from within the so-called sacred space of a religious community? That is one of the questions at the heart of Robert Greene's stunning new documentary, in which he invites six men who, when they were children, were assaulted by leaders of the Roman Catholic church to collaborate on short films to process their trauma by turning into art. Nothing about this feels easy to watch but it is a perfect representation of the messy work of healing and forgiveness. (streaming on Netflix)
The Marquise of O (1976, dir. Éric Rohmer) - Possibly my favorite film from this legendary French director. An adaptation of an 1808 novella about the titular widow (played by Edith Clever) who becomes pregnant despite the fact that her husband was killed three years earlier and she hasn't been with anyone since at the same time as she is wrestling with the advances of The Count (Bruno Ganz). In Rohmer's assured hands, the film becomes a lush, earthy human drama with just a touch of the fantastical. (streaming on Hoopla)
Zola (2021, dir. Janicza Bravo) - This film vanished from theaters quickly when it dropped earlier this year, and more's the pity as it has more teeth, wit, and political edge than nearly every other major release of 2021. An adaptation of a devilishly entertaining Twitter thread from Zola, a woman who, on a whim, joined a new friend on a trip to dance in Florida and found herself in the middle of wild weekend of sex work, drugs, and love quadrangles. Bravo and cinematographer Ari Wegner capture the pastel drabness of the location—a backdrop that allows the actors, especially Riley Keough and Colman Domingo as Stefani and her terrifying pimp, to burst and froth like spray paint. (streaming on Showtime)
The Hands of Orlac (1924, dir. Robert Wiene) - A famous pianist loses his hands in a railway accident but has his career saved when a surgeon grafts new appendages on his arms. But as the musician slowly learns, his new hands once belonged to murderer and starts to fear that they are imbuing him with violent feelings. This premise has been explored a dozen times or more since and to far more gruesome ends, but this silent film from Austria goes deeper into the psychological underpinnings of the source text with the help of a brilliantly tortured lead performance by Conrad Veldt and the director giving an expressionist edge to the visuals. (streaming on Tubi)
WHAT TO HEAR
Corntuth: Music To Work To - About a year ago, a Brooklyn artist going by the name Corntuth released their debut album—a winning ambient collection meant to inspire productivity by fluttering and humming and chirping like a particularly musical rainforest. Your mileage may vary, but I certainly enjoyed letting this album putter away in the background as I attempted to wrest together some of my recent writing assignments.
Body/Dilloway/Head: Body/Dilloway/Head - Part of my brain wants to know the division of labor that went into this taffy-pulled, fried collection of experimental art. Logically, I know the six hands of Kim Gordon, Aaron Dilloway, and Bill Nace have become a blur, turning the bare, raw branches of the icy guitar and vocals of Body/Head into something colorful and prickly, verdant and itchy.
The Jazz Butcher: Dr. Cholmondley Repents: A-sides, B-sides, and Seasides - In October, news broke that Pat Fish, the singer/songwriter behind the mutable pop project The Jazz Butcher, passed away at the far too young age of 64. I've been a longtime fan of Fish's devastatingly witty and poignant lyricism and his angular way of writing jangling, melodic guitar hooks so this loss hit me with some force. If you're an aficionado like me or are new to his work, a great deep dive can be had in this four CD collection of singles from throughout Jazz Butcher history. Winking post-punk, dancehall shuffles, heavenly ballads, Jonathan Richman worship... it's all here.
Beauquet: Beauquet - I've been a vocal supporter of the work of folk artist Allysen Callery for some time now, but my throat has more than enough strength to shout about what her daughter Ava is up to. With her ensemble Beauquet, the younger Callery has washed her songs in the waters of psych-pop and agitated guitar rockers like Come and Throwing Muses. This trio has a much lighter touch but the bruises it leaves behind are just as deep and lasting.
WHAT TO READ
Blues, jazz, electronica. It all flows through Ben LaMar Gay. by Andy Beta for The Washington Post - Steeped in the blues of his hometown of Chicago and an integral figure in his local jazz community, the cornetist and composer embraces a wide range of music, sounding it all through his horn across his vibrant, mercurial songs. And he also loves “The Alphabet Song.” Like, really loves it.“Man, it’s the baddest s--- in the world!” he enthuses from a video call in his kitchen on Chicago’s South Side. “The end of it, ‘Now I know my A-B-Cs, next time won’t you sing with me?’ You’re inviting someone to learn the building blocks of communication. It’s so simple, yet so beautiful.”
He’s the Brusque Mr. Fix-It for Mexico City’s Accordions by Jordan Salama for The New York Times - “Your accordion is a piece of garbage.” Francisco Luis Ramírez shook his head. The old man was carefully inspecting the dusty instrument that I’d brought to his workshop, and he had seen enough. “Una porquería! I cannot fix this. Well, I could, but it would make more sense for you to buy a better one.”
‘It’s repulsive to me’: the bitter feud of indie-rockers the Wrens by Jazz Monroe for The Guardian - Whelan says he gave ample warning about the split, including a February 2021 deadline. “Ultimatum is sometimes seen as a bad word, but if you waited from 2007 until 2021, I think you were pretty generous,” he says. On the matter of credit, he adds: “If you hire someone to paint your walls and it takes 10 years, how should you pay him?”
On maintaining control over the work you make: an interview with Hal Hartley by T. Cole Rachel for The Creative Independent - "I try to follow examples of other artists and how they have grown older and changed, and let the change in themselves live, rather than squash it. You’ve got to be creative in a lot of other ways, too, not just in your work, but you’ve got to be creative thinking about how you’re going to get your work out there. How are you going to get it made, first of all, and then, how it’s going to appeal to the current zeitgeist. There’s nothing wrong with thinking like that. You’re not being an opportunist or anything like that."
Thanks for reading and subscribing, y'all. If you have questions or suggestions, send them my way. Back again soon with a full newsletter with, hopefully, my Robert Görl interview. Just have to get the accursed thing transcribed.
Artwork for this supplemental edition is from Wet-on-wet, a new collection of paintings from Kristen Keegan on display through December 19 at the Konstepidemin in Gothenberg, Sweden.