wake up at seven eat some corn puffs cereal

here's some catch up for the fun house.  there is still one more show to put up that will hopefully be here in the next few days.

the fun house 13: 9.14.11
playlist - this is a slightly shorter show than normal due to being locked out of the studio

the fun house 14: 9.28.11
playlist

also starting in november i will be hosting the funhouse 3 weeks a month, so the shows will be coming even quicker.  also also i am looking into setting the show up as a podcast to help streamline the download process for some.

just for curiosities sake here is a list of artists who have appeared more than once in the first 15 shows. enjoy!

bert jansch (11) - all part of the jansch tribute in show 15

lee noble (4)
the residents (4)
-
exuma (3)
the flaming lips (3)
lee hazlewood (3)
leonard cohen (3)
nina simone (3)
odetta (3)
-
abner jay (2)
big blood (2)
emily reo (2)
fred lane (2)
gil scott-heron (2)
harry nilsson (2)
john jacob niles (2)
john prine (2)
lydia lunch (2)
michael hurley (2)
the raincoats (2)
richie havens (2)
robbie basho (2)
robert mitchum (2)
scientist (2)
thee oh sees (2)
tom ze (2)
townes van zandt (2)
ty segall (2)

words not mine four

words not mine three

words not mine two

words not mine one

they really are disgusted\ the lost episode

Fun House 9.7.11 
playlist

here we have the recording of my 12th funhouse from last week.  for those keeping track, the 11th show is not available.  i was sick/wacko/shitty and when the file was giving me problems at the end of the show i was frustrated enough not to care.  however if anyone wants me to upload what i played as individual tracks i'd be happy too.  the shitty evening did not taint the good music.

lost funhouse playlist (8.24.11)

also, i will probably be posting the radio sessions more than individual albums from now one.  because a) i put a lot of time into them and am proud of them 2) i am more comfortable with that morally III) there are a bajillion album blogs, but only half a bajillion posting radio shows.  that said, if you ever would like more of what you hear on these radio shows, ask.  it's just nice to know people are listening/enjoying themselves and i'd love to aid in more enjoyment.

should have some movie related posts coming mid week.

ta
ta
-johnathon

nathaniel dorsky

-johnathon

i couldn't get away, no matter how far i went

Charles Bradley - No Time For Dreaming

another wonderful modern soul release from daptone.  they have to be one of the most consistent labels these days and we really should all support this kind of music.

Menahan Street Band - No Time For Dreaming (The Instrumentals)

no words, still great.



-johnathon

bullshit rankings: pt. one

lists are dumb, i know.  i haven't really given one much thought in many years.  but while trying to tell a younger co-worker what i though the few good kubrick movies were when he was talking about clockwork i thought it might be fun to occasionally post ranked lists of the filmes i've seen from some of the bigger names in the cannon and probably some random directors as well.  this is mostly for fun and with little thought.  i will however try and be as upfront as possible both in my preferences and in the often embarrassing gaps in what i've seen.  hopefully this and the cinema round up will happen a few times a month.

so lets start with kubrick:

- eyes wide shut
- dr. strangelove
- barry lyndon
- the killing
-
- 2001
-
- clockwork orange
- paths of glory
- the shining
-
- full metal jacket
- killers kiss

still haven't seen lolita or spartacus.









and two others that are easier due to sparse output

terrence malick:

- days of heaven
- the tree of life
- the new world
-
- thin red line
- badlands

andrei tarkovsky:

- stalker
- the sacrifice
- mirror
-
- solaris
- andrei rublev
-
- nostalgia

haven't seen ivan's childhood or the steamroller & the violin











and one more that will pair well with the next roundup, as the top film is also one i just finally watched:

steven soderbergh:

-schizopolis
-solaris
-
- the limey
-
- oceans 11
- out of sight
-
-sex lies and videotape
-
- bubble
- oceans 12
-
- oceans 13
- traffic
- che

12 movies i haven't seen (only interested in a few - like kafka)





-johnathon

something is wrong with everything

-johnathon

cinema roundup: 2 films with adult breast feeding and some others

i am going to try and revive cinema roundup from the old blog.  i will try and mention most films i watch.  i  probably won't ever say a ton about them, at least not in the roundup, and i will also use a slightly arbitrary and completely personal rating system based on a 0-100 scale.  enjoy:

Tabloid by Errol Morris (70)

this was certainly a fun movie and worth a watch for people who like morris.  i just felt like he didn't do much with the material and it felt incomplete in a way.

Black Moon by Louis Malle(82)

i enjoyed watching this and felt like i got at least some of what it was hitting at, but on a beat for beat level, much of this movie baffled me.  feels like something to revisit later.

World on a Wire by Rainer Fassbinder(97)

this will likely tie with "in a year of 13 moons" as my favorite fassbinder film.  somehow it takes ideas that i've seen dealt with before and makes you actually feel them.  it also is wonderful how his idiosyncrasies and maybe even faults are so congruent with the material that everything seems to click.  i will hopefully write a more in depth reaction later.

a new print is currently touring.  DONT MISS IT.  or there is always hulu.

Essential Killing by Jerzy Skolimowski (91)

this is my first skolimowski film, so i mostly saw it through the eyes of a vincent gallo lover and what a treat it is.  it's funny that a man who's breakout as an actor was the endless words of billy brown when he has proved amazing in near speechless roles in this, brown bunny, and trouble every day.  in fact in this one gallo doesn't utter a word, but he is completely captivating the entire time.  there is talk that his most recent film as writer/director/actor... (promises written on water) will never be publicly shown after the two fest appearances it had.  apparently this is a choice gallo has made after the idiocy that brown bunny caused.  i can't say i blame him, but i would love love love to see more work from him.

WR: Mysteries of the Organism by Dusan Makavejev (73)


after loving sweet movie to death i was a bit let down by this.  whereas sweet somehow magically pulled together it's strands this just felt lumpy and not as melancholic.  still some of the isolated moments were great.   

i hate this city, but

-johnathon

i am the warlock supreme

yesterday was my tenth broadcast of the fun house.  to celebrate i thought i would make a megapost of all of the shows, especially since the first few were not available on this blog yet.

01) April 6, 2011
      Playlist

02) April 13, 2011 **there is no recording of this broadcast, so the individual songs are available.  be sure to download both halves*** (part 1)  (part 2)
      Playlist

03) May 11, 2011
      Playlist

04) May 25, 2011
      (No Playlist)

05) June 1, 2011
      Playlist

06) June 29, 2011
      Playlist

07) July 13, 2011
      Playlist

08) July 20, 2011
      Playlist

09) August 3, 2011
      Playlist

10) August 10, 2011
       Playlist

-johnathon

i'm straight and i want to take his place

yet another radio show.  quality should be greatly improved since i finally figured how to record straight off the board instead of recording the online stream.  enjoy.

August 3, 2011
playlist

-johnathon

my dear i can't take much more

two more installments of the radio show:

July 13, 2011
playlist

july 20, 2011
playlist

i will be on the air again tomorrow (wed aug 3 7-9pm cst) on 103.3 if you are for some reason in duluth,mn or streaming at kumd.org

-johnathon

i can dream of you without snoring, and I'm lucky that that's true, because everyone would know that i found them boring, simply because they're not you

Of Montreal - Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety  of Whimsical Verse

if i were to make a list of the perfect pop albums this would be there next to nilsson's aerial ballet and abbey road.

what more could i say.

i'm back?

-johnathon

It Breaks My Heart To See The City

Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue 1977







There are some solo albums out there in the world that sometimes exceed above anything the original ensemble created. Dennis Wilson of the Wilson bros. and Beach Boys co. spent nearly seven years recording demos and ditties while drumming for the Beach Boys and partying. His life and his brother Brian's are incredibly interesting even more so in the 70's when they were more or less has-beens living off their 60's fame. Dennis tragically died diving for buried treasure off the side of his yacht in 1983 but he left this truly wonderful piece of pop music. Listen with a smile on your face.

-Megow

we're all so special

here is the radio show i did last week.

regular posting should return shortly.

-johnathon

I Was The One When You Needed Love

Moby - Destroyed


Moby, huh? Well, yeah, Moby. For the last 20 years, Moby has had a formula that some would call easy but I find it irresistible. Moby has claimed the music for his new album was inspired by late night drives in the city. Since I like Moby and I like late night drives, I could refuse.

-Megow

who's gonna get the blame and who's gonna get the power

-johnathon

there can't be no disguising, that the pretty bird is dying

Todd Rundgren - A Wizard, A True Star

i first found this album when i started buying vinyl in my teens.  when you don't know much and you see a cover that is as nuts as this you buy it.  i loved it then and i love it now.  it reminds me of harry nilsson in a way.  both guys seem like big music nerds who play with the history of rock/pop music.  also maybe the tender/sarcastic tone.  yeah.  todd is great.

-johnathon

the abyss

more tree of life crap today.  hopefully these posts will culminate in the form of a review, or response at least, to the film after i see it on wednesday.



news has come forth that 12 seconds of scott nyerges' experimental short "Autumnal" were licensed to be used in the creation sequence in malick's film.  it is unclear right now if other external works were incorporated in this way.  luckily nyerges freely shares his work on his site.  the few pieces i've watched so far are great and certainly are worth watching even without the malick context.

the weight

-johnathon

everyone loves apple schnapps

The Fun House 6.1.11

another episode of the radio show.

-johnathon

you're so shiny

gq has a wonderful oral history of malick's badlands that is worth checking out.

it has always been my least favorite of his movies, but reading this really makes me want to go back and revisit it.

seems like a good way to prepare for the impending treee of life.

-johnathon

trying to get out

Ty Segall - Goodbye Bread

when i was little i grew up listening to KRNA in cedar  rapids iowa.  their tag line was "krna rocks" and rock it did.

this album reminds me of that time in my life.  all of a sudden a music that maybe i turned my back on for the most part as i matured comes rushing back.  this is good shit.

i've liked ty segall for a while and started to sense the classic rock leanings a lot in his last lp, especially with songs like caesar, but here it is pushed even more to the front.

music seems obsessed with nostalgia right now, and even if the references aren't as posh this most certainly falls under that categorie.  but this isn't some longing for a time not lived.  it more seems like segall is dealing with ideas of growing up and utilizing the music of his (and my own) youth to do so.

so if your childhood memories are sound tracked to bum fuck nowhere classic rock stations playing greasy white boy rock too i'm sure this will hold more meaning.  we all grow up, but we don't escape and maybe that's for the best.

-johnathon

hope it don't turn away

VA - Headed For The Ditch

a nice little neil young tribute album.  standout track for me is "on the beach", one of my favorite n.young songs covered by the lovely emily reo.

-johnathon

sky is charcoal grey

Martin Newell - Songs For A Fallow Land

Support

very 80's & very british and yet very in tune with a lot of things that are being made now.

originally came out in 85 as limited (100) casette, now as a limited (500) lp.

-johnathon

i pulled the head off elvis and filled fred up to his pelvis

i've had this stuck in my head all day.

-johnathon

don't worry

Yoko Ono - Fly (part one) (part two)

let's try and wash away the bad misogynist vibes from the last post, shall we?

if you say you don't like yoko ono you probably are dumb or need to get over your nostalgia or hate japanese people or women people or any people. but seioursly, she has never deserved all of the shit she has had to put with from all the ass holes crying cause they didn't get to hear a beatles do disco album.

that is all.

this is good.

-johnathon

a bad time to not have a penis

if this pissed you off you should contact mr. degraaf and let him know how you feel.

i understand that abortion is a tough issue for a lot of people and i can understand why people are opposed to it even if i think that ultimately it is not the governments place to control access to it. but this country's attitude towards rape is still ass backwards. this is the same country that uses human rights violations against women to defend military action against muslim populations and yet things like this happen in our own communities with little out cry.

stupid. stupid. stupid.

how the fuck can we expect our representatives to solve the huge issues we face when they get caught up on retarded things like this that they only pursue to polarize their constituents and earn votes?

also ben stein.

also egypt.

world: get your shit together.

-johnathon

meditation at lagunitas

All the new thinking is about loss.
In this it resembles all the old thinking.
The idea, for example, that each particular erases
the luminous clarity of a general idea. That the clown-
faced woodpecker probing the dead sculpted trunk
of that black birch is, by his presence,
some tragic falling off from a first world
of undivided light. Or the other notion that,
because there is in this world no one thing
to which the bramble of blackberry corresponds,
a word is elegy to what it signifies.
We talked about it late last night and in the voice
of my friend, there was a thin wire of grief, a tone
almost querulous. After a while I understood that,
talking this way, everything dissolves: justice,
pine, hair, woman, you and I. There was a woman
I made love to and I remembered how, holding
her small shoulders in my hands sometimes,
I felt a violent wonder at her presence
like a thirst for salt, for my childhood river
with its island willows, silly music from the pleasure boat,
muddy places where we caught the little orange-silver fish
called pumpkinseed. It hardly had to do with her.
Longing, we say, because desire is full
of endless distances. I must have been the same to her.
But I remember so much, the way her hands dismantled bread,
the thing her father said that hurt her, what
she dreamed. There are moments when the body is as numinous
as words, days that are the good flesh continuing.
Such tenderness, those afternoons and evenings,
saying blackberry, blackberry, blackberry.

- Robert Hass

Photo by Joao Canziani

you're just a little boy in my bath tub

Alexandre Desplat - Birth OST

my favorite soundtrack by mr. desplat for one of my favorite films from the 00s.

-johnathon

dance music for wheat fields

Alexandre Desplat - The Tree of Life OST

today will be a soundtrack day. listening to this as i count down the days til i get to bask in malick.

-johnathon

too crazy for boys town, too much of a boy for crazy town

The Chemical Brothers - Hanna OST

hanna:the movie - this was a very schizophrenic movie watching experience for me. on the one hand there were wonderful moments of stylization and technical prowess that had my inner cinephile tickled. on the other hand i cared little about what was actually happened in the movie, found most of the action sequences tedious, and found cate blanchett obnoxious (as usual). if you wanted to be positive you could say that as far as modern holywood action movies go, this was very good. but i'm not the positive type. the shallowness of a majority of the films shows even the better parts for what they really are, flashy bullshit and allusions to much better movies.

hanna:the soundtrack - the music is probably the most memorable thing about the movie and in parts i think it really lifts the material up. i've always been medium on the brothers o' chemical, but in this case they do a wonderful job of combining the fairy tale aspects of the movie with more traditional action movie music and in a sense create a microcosm for what the movie seems to be attempting that is much more successful.

-Johnathon

we're gonna kill the california girls

Sonic Youth - EVOL

to go along with the new thurston i thought i would share my favorite sonic youth album.

-johnathon

you know you stole his heart away

Thurston Moore - Benediction

new solo stuff produced by beck. light and lovely.

tigers play too rough

this is a recording of the radio show i did this week for the fun house.

it has good music and also me talking (which is not so good) and also a bit of talking from a friend (better).

-johnathon

so why don't you try to sing all the time

the flaming lips 2011 releases (so far)

Two Blobs Fucking

Flaming Lips & Neon Indian

Gummy Skull

Flaming Lips & Prefuse 73

if you wanna drop 150.00 the gummy skull is available here.

-Johnathon

Motions Makes it Hard to Write

Austra - Feel It Break

What we have here is a cross between minimalist Siouxee and the Banshees and Yaz. Austra is an electronic band from Toronto that will probably have 10 remixes of their single "Lose It" by the end of the summer. Katie Stalmanis' vocals are haunting in the best way possible. Simply put, it's 11 peanut butter cups for the ears.

-Megow

he's gonna puke

is it possible for a documentary film maker to be undeserving of their subject? Barry Blaustein's "beyond the mat" sure makes a compelling argument for this. in the film he seeks to flesh out the depiction of professional wrestlers to show that they are like everyone else. the only problem is that they aren't like everyone else. blaustein seems uninterested or maybe unable to truly get a grasp on even a hint of motivation behind the larger than life figures he encounters. the closest he comes to this is through "jake the snake" who has a penchent for a kind of self pitying rambling that is revealing, but which the film maker seems unsure what to do with. in a scene where jake has smoked crack after reuniting with his daughter blaustein seems hell bent to ruin all of the inherent drama with cheesy law and order music and trippy editing, but still somehow the vulnerability shines through. the whole film seems like a continual series of missed opportunities. never does what is shown in the film benefit from being in this context and so ultimately the best thing you can say about the director was that he was there and had a camera. certainly the "then X called me and we hung out" structuring adds nothing but a sense of monotony and overall lack of purpose. stories are set up as if they will matter and then forgotten just as quickly. again, these people and these situations are powerful and there is no doubt an amazing film could have and maybe still could be made in this world, but this is not it.

-Johnathon

she brings her liquid straight to me

Thee Oh Sees - Castlemania

look at the cover and tell me you don't want this. cummon.

-Johnathon