What I’ve been up to this week:
Alternating “Who’s Next” SDE with Beach Boys’ “Sail on Sailor — 1972” SDE … a hallucinatory revisiting of the Carl and the Passions and Holland albums. In a nutshell, a damaged and exhausted Beach Boys decamp to a barn just outside of Amsterdam to record their greatest album. It’s all here: colonialism (The Trader), Vietnam (Carry Me Home), Brian banished to the attic and accompanying EP, and an America viewed through the liberationist lens of the Dutch interzone. As per wiki:
In late December 1970, the Beach Boys played three concert dates in Amsterdam as part of a short European tour.[4] On the first date, which had been scheduled to begin at 12:30 a.m., the band arrived four hours late due to a missed flight, and were surprised to find that the concert hall venue, the Concertgebouw, was still packed with attendees. Furthermore, the audience shouted for the group to perform their new songs, rather than their past hits. Carl Wilson told a local magazine, "I love this audience. Our last albums [20/20 and Sunflower] sold poorly in the US, our financial situation is disastrous – and here we have success. I like this country."[5][nb 1]
Holland Radio Promo Spot
From Home Is The Hunter. Home From Hell
‘What do you believe in, Michael?’ His father’s voice. They’re dining at the Vagabond Inn, out by the airport courthouse. His father between cases. Mikey is seventeen, wearing blue jeans and a brown GOOD KARMA T-shirt. In a week’s time he will leave for Houston and a scholarship at Puritan Bennett. Experimental Neurology Division. ‘I’m not interested in meaning, just function’ is the best he can come up with. His father intimidates him. Scares him actually. He leans in close: ‘Michael, if you say to yourself, “Who am I to judge?” then you are already lost. Feeling is no compass. Appeasement is an impossibility.’ Mikey looks down at the cheap carpeting patterned in black and purple with planets and stars, a yellow smudge of tired light from the lamp over their booth. ‘Abolish conscience, Michael. Too bad for those who do not see what is coming. We must share an ambition higher than Law.’ Sloop John B played at low volume from the tinny speakers at the bar. He followed his father out to the waiting Mercedes limousine. That was the last time Michael saw him.
I did my arthouse cinema hard yards in my 20s and 30s, and generally give anything of that ilk a very wide berth. My favourite film of recent years was Wolf Creek 2, so I’m not exactly what you would call a cineaste. However, a kind invitation to view Flux Gourmet by Peter Strickland (Berberian Sound Studio, Duke of Burgundy etc.) definitely revived my jaded palette. I’m certainly a fan of demented food movies (The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Salò, The Cook, The Thief, Hitchcock’s delirious Frenzy), and Strickland delivers a witty and ravishing erotic fable, with a stunning electronic score. I watched the film on the day Michael Gambon died. ♰
Podcast fiends who enjoyed HUNTING WARHEAD may find themselves similarly appalled by THE CHILDREN IN THE PICTURES (Spotify etc.) — strong stomachs only.
I’ve been putting the finishing touches to AS #51 “Coyote” with author Max Restaino and illustrator / designer Steven Purtill. Running close to the wire, but I hope to have it up on the AS site in late October. More details in due course.
Oh, and there’s a new Kleistwahr track too. The poet of the Cronx strikes again.
Reading wise I’ve been enjoying the old rogue Juan Goytisolo’s State of Siege (minus the magical realist, tricksy postmodernist elements, I truly detest that shit); by turns irritating and hilarious, a city collapses in upon itself in a scatological frenzy. Made me realise how much I miss Paris. Another interzone.
Dozens of corpses were piled up on the Boulevard de Bonne Nouvelle; an entire family on Sentier had been wiped out by a mortar shell; snipers posted on the roof of the post office were methodically finishing off the wounded; the Red Cross ambulances couldn't get past the front line. This is only the beginning, the former police officer on the second floor said. The stupefaction of the residents of the district proved stronger than their weeping and wailing. Such an atrocity in the homeland of human rights left them dumbfounded.
Sail on, Sailors.
DISCLAIMER: All extracts are works of fiction
©Amphetamine Sulphate ©Philip Best 2023
Not a horror, but I recommend Wake In Fright as another good 'outback' film if you haven't seen it already. I'm getting thirsty just thinking about it.
Hi Philip. Loving your writing about music. I thought you were fantastic on the noise extra podcast. Would love to hear more about the noise/experimental music that you enjoy. I'd definitely listen if you had your own podcast.