Sukiyaki, not Reinhardt

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 09/07/2013. Enjoy, NØ.


Just got done watching Takashi Miike’s Sukiyaki Western Django. I don’t really do movie revus but this flick is the tits. Miike is my favorite Japanese director (Dead or Alive trilogy, Ichi the Killer, 13 Samurai to name but a few).

We’ve got some crazy cross-culturalism going on here that is fantastic. Sergio Corbucci's violent 1966 classic Django was one of the highlights of the Spaghetti Western genre. He & fellow Sergio (that Leone one) skewered both Westerns & Akira Kurosawa to create memorable Italian westerns. Miike takes those Spaghetti classics & re-invents them in his own inimitable way. This results in a movie of unbridled violence, humor & weirdness. The mix of different cultures: Japanese; American; Italian; creates a heady blend. The film seems to be set in the American West, in the Japanese named town of Yuda in the state of Nevada (sign written in Japanese). Yet the architecture of the town itself is unmistakeably Japanese, reminiscent of the town in Kurosawa’s Yojimbo. The inhabitants are all clearly Japanese, but they speak American, though with very noticeable Japanese accents. At times the line delivery of some characters posits the question whether the actors really spoke American or if they merely memorized their lines. As I watched, I decided this flick was set in some kind of bizarro alternate universe.

All these things combine to make the suspension of reality a simple matter & adds to the over-all enjoyment immensely.

To quote The Mighty Peking Man:
"Sukiyaki Western Django is a great film. If you’re a fan of both Asian and Italian Westerns, it’s a must...It’s not a remake, it’s not a wannabe, it’s not a rip-off, it’s just a great director having fun while making a cool fucking movie."

Koji Endo - Sukiyaki Western Django, Crown, 2007.
decryption code in comments

Tracklist -

Django Sasurai
Foot of a Mountain in the Wilderness
Main Title Sukiyaki Western
A Vast Plain at High Noon
Gold Rush
Red
White
Denhichi Heihachi
Shizuka Dance on the Table Fiercely & Sadly
Sukiyaki Guitar
Ex. 1
Nearby the Mountain Road
Blood
The Blade
Climb a Mountain Road
A Mountain Ridge
Heihachi
Ex. 2
Gion Shouja no Kane no Oto
Sukiyaki Trumpet
The Gunman
Death
Benkei, I'll Make him Notice Me
Denhichi
Benten
Sukiyaki Flute
Something White Floats Down from the Sky
I Ain’t Dead ‘til I Beat You
Django


Enjoy,
NØ

Jewels from Mars

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 09/07/2013. Enjoy, NØ.


I’ve got my night stump tied with a Noctourniquet.

I’ve been called many things in my lifetime, but no one has ever accused me of being a prog-dog. I’ve listened to my share over the years...I think Amon Düül is one of the all-time great collectives in musick. But anyone familiar with this Nothin’ that I spew forth here is well aware that I’m totally queer for The Mars Volta.

As everyone who probably cares probably knows, The Mars Volta has a new release coming out March 27th called Noctourniquet. It is the only thing I’m listening to right now. Especially through good headphones...shit, the channel seperation will blow yer mind. I dug up some of the liquid 1394 I had buried in the backyard & oh what a trip it was. There is much here in common with MV’s debut De-Loused in the Comatorium, but it's tied to the tail of a blazing comet that is the monstrous drumming from Deantoni Parks.

This sucker starts out with an explosion & builds from there. By the time “Dyslexicon” kicks in, they have got the beat & don’t let go. The second track to be pre-released by MV, “The Malkin Jewel” is perfection. I’ve included an extended version here. (decryption code in comments)


I could go on & on about this but there are no words...so buy this sucker if you value my opinion at all. Listen to it yourself & be amazed & awed. It is so typically MV & yet so diverse, exploring musical landscapes where Ms. Rodriguez-Lopez & Bixler-Zavala have never gone before. Every time I listen I am once again rewarded with something new & delightful I missed before, yet challenged by the complexity to listen & grasp for more.

The Mars Volta - Noctourniquet, 2012.

Tracks -

The Whip Hand
Aegis
Dyslexicon
Empty Vessels Make the Loudest Sound
The Malkin Jewel
Lapochka
In Absentia
Imago
Molochwalker
Trinkets Pale of Moon
Vedamalady
Noctourniquet
Z & Ø Ø

I’ve never meant this more...
Enjoy,
NØ

Do the Zanzibar's Twist

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 09/07/2013. Enjoy, NØ.

I was born at the age of 18 in San Francisco, U.S.S.A., Summer of Love, on the Eve of Destruction with flowers in my hair.

I spent my childhood in Washington, D.C. AC. V.C., devouring war racist reality, CIAss-ass in nation primer, Winter of Discontent with some ashes in the air.

Home is where the homeless hang, where homeless lessons lessen more or morons hang their heads.

Where might I be when from this Manchild I have groan?

Wanderlust...the now motion devotion, devoted to, yet devoid of, emotion avoiding the void.

The evasion of pressing urges, surges, invasion dirges, Press Club purges, burning bridges spanning occasions, flaming mergers of motion & fog. The putting off of solution's absolution 'til a little while later, 'til we've unblocked the clog.

I woke up last night screaming, dreaming, drowning in a cold sweat. Cities burning, world stopped turning, destruction is the safest bet. Neighbors just kidnapped a baby, cockroaches just ate my dog. Hooker beaten, Politico's cheatin', rat has become...the new god.

p.s. - When I died, I crept out of my body onto this note crumpled in my pocket. This note is a mirror walking down a strange street, empty-handed.

Zanzibar's Twist - Never Mind The Bollocks tape,
Limbabwe Records C07, 1982.
decryption code in comments

Side A -

Play de Fool parts 1 & 2
Een Schnell Nummer
Ode aan Jan Jacobs
I (got You) Feel Good
M-Arc!
Dancing Barefoot in de Park

Side B -

Graansilo
Pinkant Gevrij in de Alpenwei
Les Bouc de Thorn
Die Ami Band
Sonja’s Lied
Eat Your Dreadlocks
Schleyers Schlafen
‘s Bakkebaarden
Daf33
Oriental Uh!

Enjoy,
NØ

Dewey the Freak

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 09/07/2013. Enjoy, NØ.
 
Dewey used to work as a freak in a sideshow at the Carnival.

When Dewey was still a young lad he got all bent out of shape. He started wearing his heart on his sleeve. He had a crush on a cheerleader, but she crushed him instead. She gave him the cold shoulder. Since then he’s had ice water in his veins.

He’d taken to saying that beauty was only skin deep, but he could really get under your skin. He’s such a bare bones kinda guy.

He got a job in the sideshow when the Carnies noticed he was pig-headed & two faced. He was a bald faced liar having a bad hair day. He had a big mouth but he was armed to the teeth. He was always biting off more than he could chew. He often spoke with a forked tongue, but he was always getting tongue-tied, except when the cat got his tongue. He was incredibly thick headed. He had mud in his eye & egg on his face. He used to keep his nose to the grindstone, but the pain was unbearable so he cut off his nose to spite his face. His eyes are bigger than his stomach.

Ever since the cheerleader fiasco, Dewey had butterflies in his stomach. His stomach was tied in knots. He was busting a gut. He had a bug up his butt. He had an ace in the hole. He was ass backwards & had ants in his pants.

His left hand didn't know what his right hand was doing. That’s why all the time he’d be getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Then he’d offer to give you a hand but he’d be all thumbs.

After that, the Carnies gave him an earful. Dewey was all ears. Even with a frog in his throat, his mouth was writing checks his body couldn’t cash.

When he lost his job at the Carnival, he really had his back against the wall. He didn’t have a leg to stand on & he was getting cold feet. Even though he had two left feet he felt like he was getting off on the wrong foot. He tried to tell his brother Hewey, they were joined at the hip, but he put his foot in his mouth. He felt like he had one foot on a banana peel & the other in the grave.

His brother split. He said Dewey had changed. He had a stick up his ass nowadays.

All of Dewey’s friends will tell you...he’s a real freak. He’s a walking cliche.

King Blank – The Real Dirt, Situation Two – SITU 21, 1988.
decryption code in comments

Side A -

Howl Upside Down
Blind Box
The Real Dirt
Big Pink Bang
Guilty as Hell


Side B -

Map of Pain
Shot Full of Holes
Killer in the Rain
Uptight
Bulletproof Crucifix

King Blank is: Ian Lowery - vocals; Kris Jozajtis - electric guitar & backing vocals;
Nigel Pulsford - guitar & keyboards; Hugh Garrety - bass; & Kevin Rooney - drums.

Enjoy,
NØ