Adventures in record shopping at Juno 2006 > 2011

With gracious thanks to my friend and DJ colleague Il Discotto, who pointed out to me the existence of the 'my order history' list. Juno is really the Tesco of online record shopping: it's huge, empty and soulless, plus you just know the person behind you at the checkout has all kinds of horrors in their basket. Still, it really is convenient. I've been shopping there since well before 2006, but that's as far back as this list will go. So let's ride...

Juno @ Wikipedia

Clicking on the track titles will take you to the associated Discogs page for each release:

D MARC CANTU - Black Tears
HUNT, Gene/VARIOUS - Chicago Dance Tracks Part 2
23rd Jul 2011

STAATSEINDE - Eindplaneet (Rude 66 remix)
RUDE 66 - Two Worlds (1992-1998)
WATSON, Neville/APIENTO - World Unknown 2
12th Jul 2011

VARIOUS - The Hidden Tapes: A Compilation Of Minimal Wave From Around The World '79-'85
4th Jun 2011

TENOR, Jimi - Take Me Baby
TRAXX - To The Beat Bizarre!
14th May 2011

CHRISMA - Chinese Restaurant (reissue)
CHRISMA - Hibernation (reissue)
26th Nov 2010

JO SQUILLO ELETRIX - Avventurieri
ACE/THE SANDMAN/JAMIE PRINCIPLE - House Of Trax Vol 3
5th May 2010

HARDY, Ron/HERCULES/VIRGO 4 - DJ's Classic Mastercuts #188
MEDUSA EDITS - Reflection Series #6
NAPOLETANO, Marcello - The Space Voodoo
13th Jan 2010

AFRICANS WITH MAINFRAMES - A Mind Is A Terrible Thing 2 Waste
29th Oct 2009

NUMBER ONE ENSEMBLE - Gipsylon
YELLOW POWER aka TONY CAREY - Yellow Power
25th Oct 2009

LINEAR MOVEMENT - On The Screen
23rd Sep 2009

LEGOWELT - Vatos Locos
12th Sep 2009

NACHO PATROL aka LEGOWELT - Futuristic Abeba
JUNIOR RAFAEL - Darkroom Traxx II
GRACKLE - Desert Acid
COWLEY, Patrick/JORGE SOCARRAS - Soon
11th Sep 2009

MOSKWA TELEVISION - Tekno Talk
MEMBERS ONLY - Historical Archives Volume 13
TWO OF CHINA - Los Ninos Del Parque
22nd May 2009

NIGHTMOVES - Transdance
STINKWORX - Coelacanth
16th Mar 2009

RUDE 66 - Sadistic Tendencies
12th Dec 2008

RUDE 66 - As
ANGELA/RIZ ORTOLANI - I Gotta Little Love
15th Nov 2008

RICHARD, Peter/ARPADYS - Mission #2
OPTIMO/VARIOUS - Sleepwalk
1st Nov 2008

MR PAULI - Jap Fab
KLEIN & MBO - Dirty Talk
7th Oct 2008

CREATURES, The - Mission 6
GHECKO - Firelight
LOUD E - Hey Mr DJ
17th Jul 2008

RUDE BOY FARLEY KEITH, The/CURTIS MC CLAINE & ON THE HOUSE/LIDELL TOWNSELL/JAMES feat PAM WHITE - Give Yourself To Me (reissue)
ELECTRA/SPHINX/AUTOMAT - Cosmic Club Vol 4
10th Mar 2008

COTTON, James T - Like No One
DURACEL - Lady Ultimate EP
6th Mar 2008

TYREE/THE ELECT - I'm Free
OPPENHEIMER ANALYSIS/FOCKEWULF 190/JACKSON JONES/TROPHY - The Devil's Dancers
2nd Feb 2008

HASBEENS, The aka ALDEN TYRELL/DJ OVERDOSE - Make The World Go Away
VALENTINI, Alex/TRANSPORT/SCORTA - Flemming Dalum Italo Edits Vol 2
28th Jan 2008

TRAXX/LEGOWELT/TOM MITCHELL - Stranger In The Strangest Of Lands
TRAXX feat LEGOWELT/LEROY & THE BLACK DIASPORA - MTT Inversion
DREAM DISCO - Take Me Home
16th Jan 2008

AJELLO/THE REVOLVING EYES - Split EP
RUDE 66 - The 1000 Year Storm
27th Dec 2007

DE LA PAZ, Gil/LOVABLES/DARIO DEL'AERE/JO SQUILO ELETRIX - I Wanna Live
GRACKLE - Genres
25th Nov 2007

CAMAROS GANG - Best Of Superradio (Part 3)
CARIOCAS/BRIAN AUGER - Cosmic Club Vol 2
5th Nov 2007

OSMONDS, The/JOE SMOOTH/DENNIS PARKER - Radio Slave presents Creature Of The Night Part 1
JONES, Jamie/MAX BERLIN - Monza Club Ibiza Compilation Vol 2
25th Sep 2007

CLOUD EDITS - Tango Saty
25th Aug 2007

ANGEL FACE - Angel Face
21st Jul 2007

A NUMBER OF NAMES - Sharevari
10th May 2007

FAST EDDIE - Hip House '89
2 LIVE CREW, The - The Revelation
CRYSALIS - I Never Dance
22nd Apr 2007

SUPERSOUND - Assassin
BABY OLIVER - Primetime
6th Apr 2007

AZOTO/CASCO/HIGH ENERGY - Exalt Exalt
TYRELL, Alden feat NANCY FORTUNE - La Voix (remixes)
UNIT BLACK FLIGHT - Where Is Carlos
16th Mar 2007

XENON - Xenon Galaxy
FORCE OF NATURE - Sequencer
LOS ANGELES TF - Magical Body
23rd Feb 2007

EGYPTIAN LOVER - Egypt Egypt
GOLDMANN, Stefan - Sleepy Hollow EP
20th Jan 2007

PHOTOCALL - Silver Clouds
ORGUE ELECTRONIQUE - The Garden
15th Jan 2007

TWILIGHT RITUAL/PEPPERMINT LOUNGE - Webbmen
JOAKIM - Drumtrax EP
13th Dec 2006

BLACK DEVIL DISCO CLUB - 28 After
MC LANE EXPLOSION/ROCKETS/KEBEKELEKTRIK/BLONDIE - Salsoul Presents Disco Trance & Cosmic Flavas
8th Nov 2006

COSMIC EXPLORER - Italo Disco Classic
JONES, Walter - Deuteronomy Brown
22nd Oct 2006

LINDSTROM - The Contemporary Fix
THUGFUCKER - Knight Rider
15th Oct 2006

ISOLATORS, The feat BEBE - Interdit Ce Soir
BC - Konked Out
21st Jul 2006

WANG, Daniel/DMX KREW feat TRACY/ECTOMORPH/LOWFISH - Tangent 2002: Disco Nouveau (Part One Of Three)
REVOLVING EYES, The - Tubular EP
ELITECHNIQUE - We Shall Control EP
23rd Jun 2006

AVIDA aka ALEXANDER ROBOTNICK - Il Grillo E La Formica
SNEAK THIEF - The Hollow Land
27th May 2006

ROBOTNICK, Alexander - The Dark Side Of The Spoon
26th Feb 2006

Adventures in DVD rental 2007 > 2011

What follows is a complete list of DVDs I have rented since November 2007, copied directly from my LOVEFiLM account. We begin in the heady days of the _Black_Acrylic Cine Salon, carrying on all the way up to today.

When choosing what to watch I often refer to a few blogs whose recommendations I trust. William Bennett, DC's and k-punk have all been essential points of reference. Facebook and word of mouth also come in handy.

Clicking on the title of each film will take you to the associated IMDB page.

La Danse - The Paris Ballet Opera
29 Jul 2011

Deep End
29 July 2011

Sweet Smell of Success
11 July 2011

Kamikaze Girls
7 July 2011

Savage Streets
29 June 2011

Who Can Kill a Child?
20 June 2011

Bedevilled
13 June 2011

Groupies
9 June 2011

Sleepaway Camp
16 May 2011

The Blackout
9 May 2011

Memories of Matsuko
3 May 2011

Happy Birthday To Me
18 April 2011

Genius Within - The Inner Life of Glenn Gould
11 April 2011

Dog Days
4 April 2011

Julien Donkey Boy
28 March 2011

Crimes Of Passion
21 March 2011

The Unseen
5 March 2011

The Big Night
1 March 2011

Coraline
16 February 2011

Glenn Gould - the Alchemist
11 February 2011

Mirror
7 February 2011

Viridiana
12 January 2011

Beyond The Mat
4 January 2011

No Country for Old Men
18 December 2010

The Firm
6 December 2010

Runaway Train
12 November 2010

Made In Britain
6 November 2010

Dans Ma Peau
1 November 2010

Birth
28 October 2010

Pickpocket
21 October 2010

Badlands
11 October 2010

The Devil, Probably
14 August 2010

Mister Lonely
19 July 2010

Paris Is Burning
12 July 2010

Being There
3 July 2010

Lagerfeld Confidential
17 June 2010

The Box
8 June 2010

Offence
29 May 2010

Street Trash
13 May 2010

The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane
10 May 2010

Night Train Murders
6 May 2010

That Obscure Object of Desire
26 April 2010

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
6 April 2010

Divine Horsemen
22 March 2010

The Tenant
16 March 2010

Black Moon
20 February 2010

La Dolce Vita
10 February 2010

Manhunter
21 January 2010

Halloween 3 - Season of the Witch
7 January 2010

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
3 December 2009

Bully
16 November 2009

Martin
9 November 2009

Telstar
5 November 2009

The Addiction
29 October 2009

Romance
14 August 2009

Near Dark
10 August 2009

Hunger
30 July 2009

JCVD
20 July 2009

O Lucky Man!
9 July 2009

Lost Highway
6 July 2009

Lancelot Du Lac
15 June 2009

Performance
8 June 2009

Martyrs
1 June 2009

Tyson - The Movie
19 May 2009

Cannibal Holocaust
14 May 2009

The Hunger
8 May 2009

Stalker
28 April 2009

Wild Things
16 December 2008

Accident
15 November 2007

Nosferatu The Vampyre
28 November 2008

Safe
20 November 2008

Sex - The Annabel Chong Story
5 November 2008

Eugenie De Sade
27 October 2008

A Ma Soeur!
21 October 2008

Pan Sonic - Kuvaputki
11 October 2008

Carnival Of Souls
27 September 2008

Funny Games
13 September 2008

Ratman
9 September 2008

The Hidden
27 August 2008

The Bird With The Crystal Plumage
19 August 2008

Last House On Dead End Street
24 June 2008

15
26 April 2008

The Shiver Of The Vampires
21 April 2008

Der Fan
11 April 2008


Girl Slaves Of Morgana Le Fay
15 March 2008

Christiane F
8 March 2008

The Piano Teacher
14 February 2008

Little Otik
4 February 2008

The Conversation
15 January 2008

Sun Ra - Space Is The Place
8 January 2008

Succubus
26 December 2007

Haxan - Witchcraft Through The Ages
10 December 2007

The Complete Willo The Wisp
4 December 2007

The Beyond
26 November 2007

Arakimentari
23 November 2007

The Servant
15 November 2007

Dundee Live 08.07.11 > 17.07.11

The Dundee Live festival took place over nine days in July and was the brainchild of the artist and facilitator Jonathan Baxter. During the festival, a poetic and liberating response to the city began to emerge through a variety of artworks, performances, exhibitions and events. I caught up with Jonathan after the festival to discuss its impact and potential effect on Dundee’s art scene:

What is Dundee Live?

General description: an innovative, artist-led, public art and performance festival - the culmination of a year's activity by D-AiR (Dundee Artists in Residence). Dundee Live was a public art and performance festival that took place in Dundee between 8th and 17th July 2011. It included exhibitions, live art, dance, music, and discussion.

What were the aims and were they achieved?

The aims were quite simple; to show that Dundee is a city in performance: the tide ebbs, rain clouds gather, people saunter in the street, grown men weep etc. We also wanted to celebrate some of the creativity that takes place in the city.
(In a minor key, I also wanted to show that a festival doesn't need a huge amount of funding, and that if artists and non-art organisations work together, surprising things can happen.)

What artists and institutions were involved in the festival?

The festival was curated by me, Jonathan Baxter, on behalf of D-AiR (Dundee Artists in Residence). Over 30 artists, from a variety of disciplines, participated in the festival - and others came out of the woodwork as the festival progressed. Commissioned artists included Lindsay Brown, Sarah Gittins, Derek Lodge, Pernille Spence, and Mary Sommerville. There were also two group shows. One, a co-curated show at the Hannah Maclure Centre entitled Soil. The second, a show at the Central Library entitled, 'Mappa Mundi'. We also worked in collaboration with Scottish Dance Theatre, DCA and GENERATORprojects. Venues included the Botanic Gardens, City Square, Olympia Leisure Centre, and Tayside Recyclers etc.

What was the response like?

The response was wonderful. Every event was well attended - often with a significantly different crowd for each event. And because we had a wide range of work, often in unlikely places, lots of people encountered the work. For example, Lindsay Brown's 'Drift' performance was both a live event in the river Tay - at 7am and 9.30pm - and a video installation, to be seen whilst swimming in the Olympia swimming pool. This meant that those who knew about the event could attend the performance, but it was also made accessible to people who hadn't heard about the festival. Having seen the video whilst swimming, people then enquired about the rest of the festival. This happened repeatedly: one artwork acting as a doorway into the wider festival.

Will there be more Dundee Live events in the future?

Well, the aliveness of Dundee certainly continues! When last I looked the city was bathed in sunshine. As for a repeat of the festival my confusing answer is yes and no. There'll certainly be something next year but the bunting might be black.

http://www.d-air.org/

Yuck 'n Yum summer 2011

The Yuck 'n Yum summer 2011 issue is finally online and available for your delectation: LINK

xedni

Come hither for a list of righteous links from my Delicious page:

Hipster Priest: A Quietus Interview With Alan Moore

Deep End: A deeply sexy film resurfaces - Telegraph

AHM

Kneel, Mulholland: Drive! »

Murdoch and politicians: a relationship that has only ever worked one way | The Guardian

k-punk: UK Tabloid

receipts

Got paid yesterday so I bought a few things:


Violette Leduc - La Bâtarde, £3.25


Various artists - Gene Hunt Presents Chicago Dance Tracks Part 2, £16.99


D'Marc Cantu - Black Tears 12", £8.99

Zazou @ Kage nightclub, Dundee 22.07.11

To the Kage last night for the latest edition of Zazou: "Synthetic sounds from the pastel days and neon nights of summer, 1983-89. Gelati-cold italo disco meets clanking new beat tinged proto house and techno , as heard pumping from the doorways of sleazy and seedy beach side clubs and bars as the sun goes down but the night is still HOT................"


An unidentified flying object seen on the outskirts of Zazou










People, dancing

Good Grief, Charlie Brown: Existential Despair and 3eanuts

As stated in the brief bio on his website, Daniel Leonard is a 23-year-old teacher, writer, and musician who lives in Wheaton, Illinois. He’s also the man responsible for 3eanuts, a daily webcomic whose raison d’etre is devastatingly simple: vintage Peanuts cartoon strips are presented without their fourth panel, and all the latent anguish is piled up without ever finding the release of a punchline. Each story just hangs there in the air, a mournful setup that leaves only a desperate ennui. Charles Schulz’s characters would go on to get submerged beneath a wave of commercialism and merchandising, so it’s easy to forget just how poignant many of those early strips really were. The 3eanuts re-edit has already attracted a profile on the Time website and has built up a following of thousands since launching in March this year. I emailed Leonard a few questions about his venture:

Which of the 3eanuts strips are you most proud of?

In terms of the 3eanuts strips I like best overall, it's hard not to tear up when Peppermint Patty realizes she is unlovable. The answer we have to give is that she's wrong - of course she's lovable to someone! - but we empathize with how real this idea seems to her at the time and how unbearable it can be for us to face a new day knowing we may suffer further sadness and rejection. We also know the strength we discover within ourselves to do so anyway, day after day.

Another great 3eanuts strip is Snoopy's grim typewritten list of "Things I've Learned After It was Too late" [sic]. He stops writing after entry 1: "A whole stack of memories will never equal one little hope." One cannot manufacture hope through persistence; if hope arrives, it does so on its own. This is either freeing or horrifying.

What's your attitude to the existing Peanuts strips?

Peanuts was groundbreaking in many ways. If you look closely, the kernels of successors like Calvin and Hobbes are there: Linus's extravagant snowmen and philosophical rants, Sally's defiance of scholastic authority, Snoopy's alter egos. To see the bleak core of Peanuts, look no further than the wavy-lined minimalism of the visual style.

The chief criticism leveraged against Peanuts is that it repeated itself for the last three or four decades of its tenure. Or, worse, that it went soft. I'm of a mind that Schulz simply found what he was looking for, and the ideal of constant artistic reinvention is simply unattainable. He developed some fertile archetypal situations and tropes - the baseball game, Lucy and Schroeder at the piano, Charlie waiting for Valentines, etc., etc. - and varied them endlessly. It's harder than it looks to write 100 jokes with the same premise, and his care and concern for the characters remained infectious to the end.

Is your work a tribute created out of love?

3eanuts is very much a loving tribute to Schulz's work. I aim to clue people in to what Peanuts already does on its own, if read aright: it confronts us with life's worst and helps us to cope. To be honest, I'm torn as to whether the original punchlines merely divert our attention from the preceding misery or whether they accomplish victories over it. I guess I'd say some strips are more successful than others. 3eanuts presents the same anguish as the originals, but without any attempt at resolution; the angst itself becomes darkly humorous. This offers us a different and maybe more contemporary way of coping, involving catharsis (the characters face life on our behalf) but also irony (we know we aren't fit to face life, but we know this communally). This method suggests itself because of the "setup, setup, setup, gag" (1, 2, 3, punch) joke structure that Schulz pioneered in the visual medium. We want to feel a modicum of control over life's vicissitudes, and we feel that these are "captured" by Schulz's first three panels in important ways.

http://3eanuts.com/

Yuck 'n Yum's Andrew Maclean @ Central Station

Yuck 'n Yum's founder Andrew Maclean has written a blog over at Central Station:

I produced the first 3 copies of Yuck 'n Yum on my own. In 2008 I invited artists Ben Robinson and Gayle Meikle to help take my ‘bedroom’ zine from an ad-hoc form to a fully fledged quarterly artzine. Yuck ‘n Yum grew into what it is now, a curatorial collective focused on the distribution of art. Our team expanded to include curator Alexandra Ross and Edinburgh based artist Alex Tobin.

Yuck ‘n Yum provides opportunities for artists. We encourage people to make things and show things. Of course one method is our quarterly artzine another is our events.

I do get excited as we approach our deadlines. I am looking forward to the 15th of August more than Christmas! That is the day I will have all your submissions to our AGK. YES, YOU!

It's you I'm talking to. Yes, you... the one with the face. You don't want to ruin Christmas, do you? I thought not.

Last year rather than having an AGM Yuck 'n Yum had an AGK (Annual General Karaoke). We invited artists, filmmakers, performers, musicians and other creative folk to submit Karaoke videos that were then performed on the night.

Last year's event saw over 20 artists contribute to our agenda. Many interesting points were raised. You can view them all on our website agk.yucknyum.com

When you're making your video, you must remember it has to function as a Karaoke video. By all means push it to the limits, but make sure there is audio to sing along to, and lyrics appear in some form to give the performer a fighting chance! Many who submit insist that they sing to their own video; others are terrified at the prospect. This is fine - Yuck 'n Yum caters for both persuasions.

Every time a video is submitted, an angel gets its wings! If your video is super-terrific there's a chance you could be awarded the £300 cash prize. That put a smile on that face of yours!

On September 24th in Chambers East, Dundee, the second AGK will take place. Your video will be shown and performed to - if not by you, then by someone else. You may be up £300 by the end of the night!

I have to go now; I need to update our Central Station group, where you can ask for help or share tips and advice!

Oh yes - and if you don't submit... I WILL DESTROY YOU.

Huggles,
Andrew Maclean

LINK

Stefan Blomeier @ East Village Radio

You may recall an article I wrote last year for Yuck 'n Yum called The Stefan Blomeier Tapes. Last weekend the enigmatic Blomeier appeared on the playlist of Veronica Vasicka's Minimal Wave show for East Village Radio: LINK

Veronica Vasicka FACT mix

Yuck 'n Yum AGK 2 website online!

The website for this year's installment of the mighty Yuck 'n Yum AGK is now online. Drop by and you can get handy video-making tips, see entries for last year's epochal event, and get links to the dedicated Facebook and Central Station pages: LINK

Yuck 'n Yum / Tin Roof FUNdraiser callout

On Sunday August 28th Yuck 'n Yum will join forces with the Dundee-based arts collective Tin Roof to host an art fair at their studios. I made a flyer and here it is:

AGK video makers Q+A 4

Here's another of the Yuck 'n Yum features on Central Station that reveal how you too can make the perfect AGK video:



AGK Video Makers Q and A -4

This Q and A is with Fear Wasabi, the makers of last year's runner up video. The amazing video is perfect inspiration for those of you in the middle of, or about to begin, Karaoke video making! But how did they make it?

Can you briefly explain the video that you made last year?

For last year's AGK competition, Fear Wasabi entered new territory by producing our first cover-version of a pre-existing song. The Pixies alt-rock classic Debaser drew inspiration from Dali and Bunuel's 1929 film Un Chien Andalou, and we were gripped by the notion of bringing this movement full circle (movie-to-music-to-musicvideo). Interpreting the song in a slower and more contemplative manner than the original, the video brought visuals with an intense, personal feeling, handwritten lyrics incorporated throughout, like fragments of lost love-letters. (Andy)

Fuck that, we're noise-terrorists. (Phil)

How did you decide upon your chosen track?

We think the idea came to Andy as he was eating fish and chips, but now that time has elapsed, none of us can say for sure. (Imogen)

How did you make it? What hardware /software did you use?

Guitar, violin, Microkorg, OHP, mountain bike, hacked Panasonic GH1 with some old Nikon MF lenses and a reverser ring, Macbook Joe and Final Cut Pro. (Imogen)

Did you use the actual song as a soundtrack or another version?

We recorded our own version of Debaser by the Pixies, in a slightly different style to the original.

Andy had been messing around with an acoustic version of the guitar riff from the song for a while anyway, so we just added some bass and Imogen doing a bit of violin... and some terrifying noise-violence in the background for that authentic Fear Wasabi flavour. I played the background synths on a Korg MicroKorg, with the analogue effect knobs suitably twisted, then Andy cut it all together in Pro Tools. There's not a huge amount of post-production involved in Fear Wasabi; we mostly just find ways to make really bizarre noises which make us go "cool!", then mash them all together. The song for the video was probably the first time we'd made a conscious effort to play the same thing twice. (Phil)

What technique did you use to add text?

Most of the text in our video was done using an old overhead projector. The lyrics were hand-written onto OHP sheets then beamed onto walls, the roof, umbrellas, our arms and faces, through the spokes of a bike wheel...by moving the OHP sheet or the target, it makes it look like the text is moving. We had been experimenting with using the OHP for live drawing and light effects during our gigs already. Some of the text was just written down (on paper, mobile phones, coffee cups, and again our arms and faces) and filmed through a strange kind of defective focus lens that Andy was obsessed with at that point... and there are bits in fridge-magnets and stuff like that. The rest of the text was sort of stop-motion animated or made out of time-lapses, or cut together from video in an odd way - so for instance at one point we shot a word written in salt (no, it's not cocaine, we're not that rock and or roll) which gets blown away, and we reversed the video so that the word sort of magically forms itself out of a load of dust. (Phil)

Did you perform the song on the night? How did it go?

Andy was the singer, and since he suddenly found out he was able to attend the AGK he kindly agreed to perform karaoke at the last minute. He performed with his essential style and quality, though he would have preferred to prepare something more interesting. So when we were invited to the Focus Left event at the Arches, Andy was keen to do something that reflected the quiet, contemplative feel of the song. He came up with a daring plan. (Imogen)

Dressed in our best "rawk" outfits (green wig, Hawaiian-shirt, sunglasses-indoors-at-night) Imogen and I took to the stage invoking the spirit of televised punk by miming our way through the song. When we reached its final chorus, we smashed our unfortunate guitar and violin into tiny pieces, I tore off my shirt to reveal the words FEAR WASABI smudged across me, and we sank to the ground to bemused applause. (Andy)

Did you have any technical problem making your video? How did you overcome this?

What some would call technical problems are what we see as the magic of Fear Wasabi. Even the bit where we had to dangle the microphone from the ceiling round the lightshade to get a decent recording of the violin, just gave us a sense of triumph over adversity. (Imogen)

Did you enlist any help?

Just each other, really. Although I do owe a debt of thanks to Steven Crichton for teaching me about the weird and wonderful world of DSLR-video. And the Pixies for writing the song...(Andy)

Are you entering again this year?

Maybe. Need to get back on the fish and chips and the inspiration will follow! (Imogen)

Any tips on how to make an AGK vid?

Felt-tips. Sorry, can't really help you. I'm still surprised we managed to get one done last year. (Andy)

LINK

"There's no tyrant like a brain" - the world according to Louis-Ferdinand Céline

All quotes from Journey to the End of the Night:

"An unfamiliar city is a fine thing. That's the time and place when you can suppose that all the people you meet are nice. It's dream time. "

"Lots of men are like that, their artistic leanings never go beyond a weakness for shapely thighs."

"If you aren't rich you should always look useful."

"This instinctive repulsion which tradespeople inspire in men of sensitive feeling is one of the very rare consolations for being so impoverished which are given to those of us who don’t sell anything to anybody."

"There's no tyrant like a brain. "

"That is perhaps what we seek throughout life, that and nothing more, the greatest possible sorrow so as to become fully ourselves before dying."

"I warn you that when the princes of this world start loving you it means they are going to grind you up into battle sausage."

"There is no rest for the humble except in despising the great, whose only thought of the people is inspired by self-interest or sadism."

"When men can hate without risk, their stupidity is easily convinced, the motives supply themselves."

"We've no use for intellectuals in this outfit. What we need is chimpanzees. Let me give you a word of advice: never say a word to us about being intelligent. We will think for you, my friend. Don't forget it."

"A God who counts minutes and pennies, a desperate sensual God, who grunts like a pig. A pig with golden wings, who falls and falls, always belly side up, ready for caresses, that’s him, our master. Come, kiss me."

"In the kitchens of love, after all, vice is like the pepper in a good sauce; it brings out the flavor, it’s indispensable."

"Not much music left inside us for life to dance to. Our youth has gone to the ends of the earth to die in the silence of the truth. And where, I ask you, can a man escape to, when he hasn't enough madness left inside him? The truth is an endless death agony. The truth is death. You have to choose: death or lies. I've never been able to kill myself."

"Love is the infinite placed within the reach of poodles. I have my dignity!"

"Love is like liquor, the drunker and more impotent you are, the stronger and smarter you think yourself and the surer you are of your rights."

"When it becomes really impossible to get away and sleep, then the will to live evaporates of its own accord."

"The sadness of the world has different ways of getting to people, but it seems to succeed almost every time."

"You know about innards? The trick they play on tramps in the country? They stuff an old wallet with putrid chicken innards. Well, take it from me, a man is just like that, except that he's fatter and hungrier and can move around, and inside there's a dream."

LINK

The Skinny Student Handbook

I had a recent assignment to write up some Dundee venues for The Skinny. Fortunately someone else has already done most of the work, but a few spots were still unaccounted for. So I wrote some words and here they are:



Agacan

At first glance you’d be forgiven for mistaking the Agacan for some kind of outsider art installation, with mosaics of painted crockery and other distinctive creations covering every surface. Step inside though and you’re met with a delightful, if quite claustrophobic, setup that delivers the most flavoursome kebabs in town. Generous portions, heavy on the meat, and booking ahead is highly recommended. Choosing the takeaway option gets you a guaranteed meal at a reasonable price, but without the eye-popping visuals.

LINK



The Little Theatre

Round the back of the Wellgate Centre at the foot of the Hilltown, the Little Theatre is a stage for the Dundee Dramatic Society and occasionally hosts other small-scale presentations besides. There’s a bar to retreat to in the intermission, but the venue is hardly a hub for the local creative scene.

LINK



Tartan Café

Just a few steps from the art school, this Perth Road daytime diner brings agreeable Scottish cuisine with a breakfast that comes highly recommended. Big comfy sofas, and a propensity to let customers linger awhile, mean that the place is a popular student hangout.

LINK

indexes

Time once again for a quick round of treats from my Delicious page:

Vice Guide to North Korea 1 of 3 - The Vice Guide to Travel | VBS.TV

What is Experimental Literature? {Five Questions: Dennis Cooper} | HTMLGIANT

Magritte exhibition at Tate Liverpool gets fans of Marc Bolan raving | Art | The Guardian

Trash Fiction

AGK video makers Q+A 3

Here's another of the Yuck 'n Yum features on Central Station that reveal how you too can make the perfect AGK video:



Don't want to sing in public? You can still enter a karaoke vid! The AGK audience is encouraged to pick and sing a song from our karaoke agenda, just like traditional Karaoke.

Unfortunately Alex Hetherington could not make it to last year's event, but we had some eager volunteers on the night to sing to his video! Alex kindly answered some questions for us:

Can you briefly explain the video that you made last year?

This was material from ongoing work, and bore a relationship to the songs which I had been using as an influence on my work. Also it was suggested that I use Toni Basil's piece by a member of Yuck 'n Yum.

How did you decide upon your chosen track?

I liked the combination of the two songs which seemed to bear a kind of dysfunctional relationship.

How did you make it? What hardware /software did you use?

Premiere CS 4

Did you use the actual song as a soundtrack or another version?

I used the actual songs.

What technique did you use to add text?

I used a caption generator in Premiere.

Any tips on how to make an AGK vid?

To make a work that has a social aspect. That is a song that for whatever reason everyone knows, eg. Don't You Want Me by The Human League.

LINK

AGK video makers Q+A 2

Continuing the series of Central Station features that advise how to make the perfect AGK video:



Last Year Sinead Bracken wowed the audience with her performance as Milky. It was so good she won prizes for her performance! I asked her some questions about her AGK vid:

Can you briefly explain the video that you made last year?

Myself and Fiona Gordon made a video called 'Coffee and Dundee'. It featured the milk carton from Garth Jenning's Blur music video 'Coffee and TV' having a day out in Dundee.

How did you decide upon your chosen track?

We had the milk carton costume left over from Halloween and thought it would be fun to use that along with the original song.

How did you make it? What hardware /software did you use?

DV Camera. Tripod. Final cut pro. (Tried after effects for text).

Did you use the actual song as a soundtrack or another version?

We used a karaoke version of the song without vocals which we downloaded from Amazon for about 75p.

What technique did you use to add text?

We just placed each line of text over the video on final cut as each line was supposed to be sung.

Did you perform the song on the night? How did it go?

Yes. It went really well. It was great fun! I dressed up in the milk carton and sang it. I'm glad I wore it cause it kept me hidden.

Did you have any technical problem making your video? How did you overcome this?

We had problems trying to get the text to appear or dots to move over the text it as you would see in a karaoke video. We tried installing additional bits for Final Cut and tried the advice from YnY. But due to our own inexperience we couldn't manage it. Other software we downloaded put a nasty watermark over the video too. In the end we just put up each line without any animation cause there was no other way really.

Did you enlist any help?

The Art Bar and Fisher and Donaldsons let us film in their premises which was very nice of them.

Are you entering again this year?

Yes! Well, if we can come up with a good idea.

Any tips on how to make an AGK vid?

Just have fun making it & don't get worried about singing it on the night as the YnY crowd are lovely!

LINK

AGK video makers Q+A 1

The Yuck 'n Yum AGK 2011 is bearing down fast, so this blog will intermittently become a spot for promoting it. We've been using the artist networking site Central Station to do just this, and here begins a series of features that advise how to make the perfect AGK video:



We hope you are all busy with you AGK projects! Over the next few weeks, we will be posting some questions and answers with last years AGK video makers! First up Richie Cummings chats about the 2010 AGK vid he made with Stacey Hunter and Ross Mclean:

Can you briefly explain the video that you made last year?
It's the Cheers title music relocated to a popular Dundee waterin hole,

How did you decide upon your chosen track?
It was short, (less photography, editing and singing time) we could get folk involved easily, everyone knows it.

How did you make it? What hardware /software did you use?
Imovie and a digital slr. Tune ripped from the internet

Did you use the actual song as a soundtrack or another version?
Another version.

What technique did you use to add text?
imovie inbuilt text thing, Its a bit shit

Did you perform the song on the night? How did it go?
Yup, it was AMAZINGLY average and over before we new it. We probably should have practiced.

Did you have any technical problem making your video? How did you overcome this?
Nope because it was made as basically as possible.

Did you enlist any help?
yup, everyone in it helped. Ross Fraser Mclean took the shots, Stacey Hunter helped with the organisation and we got our 'models' through making an event on facebook and grabbed a couple of folk from the bar to be in it too.

Are you entering again this year?
Yup, planning to but we'll see how it works out. Its slightly more appropriately inappropriate this year and a lot more complicated and I still cant work final cut.....

Any tips on how to make an AGK vid?
bash on

LINK

Penpont illustrated

So I just spent a very agreeable few days down in Wales, and the circumstances have been documented on this blog. My mum took a few photos, and here they are:


Your correspondent, rocking the country gentleman look


The Brecon Mountain Railway


The rosegarden


Assorted sheep


The summer house


The centre of the Green Man Maze


Hedges shaped like a herd of elephants


Penpont exterior


More garden action