From Fugazi's 1995 Red Medicine. I'm going through a bit of a Fugazi bender, only I've started at the end of their career. Arguably, this has always felt a bit like two bands to me, with this record being the crux. Fugazi had always harbored an experimental side, but I'll never forget Mr. Brown playing me this record upon its release and thinking, "They sound almost as much like Sonic Youth as they do Fugazi." Not to say anyone in the band's vocal approach ever changed, but the music become considerably more dissonant, distorted and, well, weird (see track 9 Version for the best example of that on this record). Anyway, it's going on 22 years since Fugazi went on hiatus. Wow.
Watch:
Watched a couple of flicks over the long weekend. Here's a breakdown:
Letterboxd review HERE.
Letterboxd review HERE.
Letterboxd review HERE.
Letterboxd review HERE.
Letterbxd review HERE.
Read:
Had a lazy New Year's Day with K. I ended up blowing through the last 150 pages or so of Jeff Vandermeer's Authority and beginning Acceptance, the third and final book in his Southern Reach Trilogy.
Both these first two books in the series have been more intellectual than guttural, which incidentally makes for a great example of how Garland made his film, switching out the deepening paranoia and madness inherently easier to exhibit in a first-person novel than a film to extremely horrific body horror imagery (the 'snakes' in Mayer's stomach). Authority reads to me like a Horror/Espionage mashup; in fact, Authority reminded me a lot of Charles Stross' Laundry Files series.
On to the third and final book in the series now, and I really do not have any idea what to expect. Which is a fantastic way to go into the last volume of a series. One thing I did expect and thus far can confirm, Acceptance fills in some of the gaps left by previous volumes and is every bit as intellectually riveting as its predecessors.
Playlist:
Fugazi - Red Medicine
Fugazi - The Argument
Fugazi - End Hits
Fugazi - In On the Killtaker
Earthless - Rhythms From A Cosmic Sky
Wayfarer - American Gothic
The Bronx - IV
Julee Cruise - Floating Into the Night
Henry Mancini - Charade OST
U2 - War
Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch - Censor OST
Card:
One card from Missi's Raven Deck to set the tone of the new year:
Knowledge is key for the coming year.
This feels like a huge affirmation to a concern that has been growing in me for some time. I feel as though my learning has stagnated, and might have taken with it some of my general 'knowledge base.' I've been left thinking I'm in too good a position, and perhaps need to find way to challenge myself a bit beyond thinking/writing on film/music/comics and literature.
