Another week, another lack of posts. I have to ask myself…what the hell is that about? It’s not like I am not at the computer. Of course I have a decent sized video project which is eating up plenty of time but still it’s not like it’s all I’m doing. I have just migrated to a mac just before I started this blog and it’s really opened options that weren’t available when I was on my slowly dying Dell PC. Do I have to even mentioned that my DVD player is dying so the mac is like my entertainment system? The line between all my entertainment sources is blurring. Not complaining mind you just noticing.
(Okay I am complaining alittle bit..stupid dvd player..)
I am still figuring out the internet vs Local/ “Clued vs Clueless” thing. It is very similar to that letter writing conundrum. (Yes I used to write letters.)Do you try to do the catch up thing or do you just throw ‘em into the moment? As I wrote the last sentence I think I am siding with the latter. Just with a side order of the former. I have been in the tributaries of the mainstream for way too long to pretend I came across some things yesterday.
So I am just going to blow off all my big plans and just post some links to the things I’ve been grooving on these days. With the promise to myself I’ll get back to all these things I’ve been digging for years. I am always looking for new things to blow my mind.
From Boing Boing, the well established blog that I finally got into, is this link to Gangstagrass. A free album that mashes up hip-hop with bluegrass to great effect. I am not a big rap fan though I like Anticon, Deltron 3030 and geek stuff like McChris. I tell myself I should check out stuff like Aesop Rock but I am lazy. And my bluegrass tastes lean towards a touch in my insurgent country. Stuff like The Gourds or Robbie Fulks, or even The Mekons will have a taste in their stuff but nothing full blown. But Gangstagrass is equal parts of both genres and not to mention really professional sounding for something you can get for free. Free is good right? Check it out.
My quest for pitch black British comedy has lead me to Peep Show. Only season one has been released in US and it is not the best season. Which is the best season? I am not sure. Like a lot of Britcoms, it is the overall appeal comes through seeing more than one episode. It all about the way the story builds. And a nifty gimmick which gives it a unique style.
So here’s a link to the first part of episode one. Start there and dig further if you find it remotely interesting. This is some funny stuff if you can handle something brutally honest. Each episode builds to an extreme squirmy social situation. I want to write something more detailed. But I have lots of plans.
I enjoy webcomics like Boy on a Stick and Slither
but I also follow newspaper strips online as well. Yeah I like me some Pearls Before Swine but it is actually in papers around here. So here’s a link for something that will probably not come to my neck of Penn’s Wood. Zippy is a playfully odd strip which is the definition of a cult item. The above link is a good start to understanding Bill Griffith’s work. It may take awhile for it to stick but it sure is addictive when you get into its surrealistic media satire groove.
I may be new to podcasts but I am well versed in the slanted funhouse world of cult/psychotronic/ bad cinema. As a struggling movie maker, I find more inspiration in the flawed and failed attempts of past genre specialists than the bland cgi saturated focus grouped efforts of modern Hollywood. On the internet I came upon sites like Eccentric Cinema which wrote smartly about movies that most ‘normal” people would consider dumb. But only now have found what seems to be the top of the line in cult movie podcasts, Cinema Diabolica. The production values seem closer to something that might be played on radio, if radio didn’t suck, and the guys mix intellect with gut level humor with aplomb.
And coming back to music, I point you in the direction of The Kills’ third album Midnight Boom . I never listened to this duo writing off as some White Stripes sort of thing. But boy I’m glad that I listened to them. A rough guitar, some clever “found sound/organic” bits, drum machines, a female singer, and a minimal style which is thoroughly modern but points back to the golden age of first generation NYC CBGB 77 Punk. Greatness in a concise accessible package that is just the right amount of experimentation and straight ahead rock. Recommended. 
Well this felt good. Maybe this is the direction to take this. A wild ride right across the digital info-scape. Okay I am done. See you in about a week with a chance of a more focused post here and there.
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Tags: black humor, boing boing, britcom, cinema diabolica, cult comic, cult movies, eccentric cinema, Gangstagrass, mash-up, meta, peep show, podcasts, psychotronic, The Kills, webcomics, Zippy The Pinhead
