Last week I was in southern California, driving around, trying to get a better idea of what constitutes American identity. It’s pretty amazing that this country is so incredibly diverse and yet manages to be cohesive enough to aspire to a national archetype. Landing in LA, the tall palms swaying against dry air, I felt as far away from New York as I did in Finland. Read the rest of this entry »
October 17th, 2009
Fall is a funny season. For me, it has the dual connotation of innocence– new school books and pencils, and of decay, the inevitable end of the warm season, and the yearly celebrations surrounding the reminder of mortality. Heavy? Kind of. Read the rest of this entry »
August 30th, 2009
I suppose we all have ideas about what the future entails. Whether our individual future, that of our friends or family, or the future of humanity in general, the weight of what might or might not happen down the road throws a shadow over our experience of life. Some say that this is one of the unique markers of man– we are the only animals capable of projecting our thoughts (and by extension, our wills) beyond the present moment. Read the rest of this entry »
June 29th, 2009
This is a second, high summer mix, tailor made for rooftop barbecues, junkyard dancing, and sizzling down the strip. The recipe is simple, if seasonal, and comes from many years of experimentation. best followed to the letter:
Rad Summer:
(serves 1 well, but more better) Read the rest of this entry »
June 9th, 2009
Really, Rimbaud said it best, so I won’t compete. This year and every year, summer makes us all feel young again, at least for a little while. At least until Monday.
A mix for a Sunday rooftop, waiting for next week’s weekend, laughing, playing cards… Read the rest of this entry »
May 10th, 2009
…another in an occasional series.
White Horses, 1984, directed by Vladimir Grammatikov
I’m sorry, you know, but I had no other options. I didn’t mean for you to come here. But now you are here, you must help us. We can’t last much longer. With these words, White Horses begins its odd, uneven adventure. Roundly panned in the mid-eighties as too incomprehensible for children and too idealistic for adults, this Swedish adaptation of an Italian children’s novel quickly fell into obscurity, though it deserves further notice at least for its incorporation of all the classic eighties fantasy film conceits. Read the rest of this entry »
April 10th, 2009
So, spring is finally eking its way across America, reaching small fingers to my corner of Brooklyn. As a sort of anticipation of the summer, I’ll head due south for this mix, to New Orleans.
I grew up a few hours from New Orleans, and to be honest, it has doggedly followed me around since the first time I visited. They say that the city either gets in your blood or not– it chooses some people to retain for its own, some people to leave outside the circle of influence. Even before the hurricane, it could be a vicious place, full to the brim with poverty, a dark past replete with the worst offenses of the colonial era, and a bizarre, violent sense of humor. It was very cruel… and very beautiful. Read the rest of this entry »
March 12th, 2009
Without further ado, I bring you the first of (hopefully) many Imaginary Soundtracks:
In Jakarta, Andreas Brezchs, 1987 Read the rest of this entry »
February 20th, 2009
Sometimes it is difficult to say what you mean, more difficult to do what you intend– intentions are slippery creatures, constantly shifting with context and emotion. I intended to be productive this winter, to come up with a sort of road map for the next few years, but I find myself at the tail end of it having done almost none of my own work, though I have so far managed not to become a casualty of the economic downturn (yet). So, instead of a road map for the next few years, I made a mix for the next few months– something that reminds me of the coming changes, something somewhat wistful, somewhat quiet. What I really want is to record it onto an old cassette tape and take off somewhere in a beat-up car, but we can’t have everything, I guess. Read the rest of this entry »
January 11th, 2009
A long silence, a new year, and many changes coming. January wears into February, as the cold settles in. Back in the city, for what it’s worth, shuttling between heated houses as quickly as possible and planning for the eventuality of another, warmer, season.
I have been feeling extremely uninspired to create anything, and though I’m sure it is a by-product of winter, the lack of tangible results in my life is beginning to nag. I know in talking to my friends that this is not something unique to me; it is a widespread, insidious feeling lately. This could be due to the obvious downturn in everyone’s fortunes, of course, but I wonder if the hangover doesn’t run deeper than that… Read the rest of this entry »
