Erstlaub

Jeez man! How the hell did it get to be November already?

The only thing to report on is the lack of decent things to report on. Erstlaub is truly lying dormant at the moment, I’m blaming the time of year and hoping that a spark appears out of somewhere soon. I reckon I’m going to push for optional hibernation over the winter, the combination of it being dark and cold all the time along with my amassed dislike of my birthday/christmas these days just makes this a generally shite time of year.

Managed to drag myself out a few times over the last week trying to break the general malaise. Thursday I went out in Dundee to see the annoyingly fantastic Samoyed. Lovely set from him even if he wasn’t that happy with the lack of monitors etc. Sounded great to me. I had a total Fife Fog experience both before and after though with me driving about not being able to see a thing. It was a bit mad but I survived at least.

Friday saw me making it to the first Numbers I’ve made in a few months. Caught up with Ruaridh, Dave and Iona for some food at Ichiban (mon the Veggie Bento) then down to McSorleys where Nasterlie and Adam Glitch were playing some tunes and Natalie was getting chatted up by a random oldish bloke who we decided might have been a butcher and then on to the Sub for Joker and Dexplicit. Joker pretty much killed it and Dex was pretty full on and bouncy. Relatively early night postSub and then a typically luxurious breakfast with Dave and Iona at the Go Slow complete with a rather fantastic kiwi, banana and apple smoothie then back up the road to the sticks.

Apart from that, not much else Fallout 3 and Fable 2 on the Xbox and Forbidden Planet FINALLY after 2 months decided to deliver From Hell which I’m getting stuck in about. Cheers guys, I wonder how long you’ll take to send me the final volumes of 52 that I ordered. Pffft.

Heads up on a few new sites of interest. My good friend Sietse/Orphax has started up his very own CDR Label called Moving Furniture Records which should have some pretty nice releases on it (if you discount his plans to rerelease my own Deconstructed which was made an uter hash of by a useless Frenchman). I’ll also mention my friend Jaimini Jethwa’s new site (although I still need to do a bit of work on some of the content). Finally, added to the blogroll too is Mat Ranson’s new blog that he’s using to keep the world up to date of his thoughts on his exciting Far East odyssey.
That’s it. Maybe next time I’ll have something decent to say.
D

Listening: True to seasonal form, everything I listen to is leaving me feeling generally blank and unsatisfied.

Watching: Eagle vs Shark, Flight of the Conchords - these both made me laugh, Wristcutters - quirky road trip movie, maybe a bit too “quirky” but enjoyable nonetheless,  Three Colours White - no Binoche, but at least Julie Delpy is still flying the flag for stunning ladies, Dead Set - Brooker is a genius, I also thought Jamie Winstone was awesome in this. I got around to finishing Twin Peaks again. Chemical Wedding - har, a flim so bad, it’s amazing. Seriously, if you ever wondered what a really badly acted episode of a Touch of Frost featuring Crowley, posession, general witchcraftery, scenery chewing overacting and time travel/displacement in the plot might be like, this is pretty much the film for you.

Reading: Just finished Roadside Picnic - the basis for Tarkovsky’s Stalker. Started From Hell and also reading Dance, Dance, Dance - my first Murakami after seeing his stuff on the shelves of everyone I know, quite enjoyable so far.

Pffffft, the nights have only really just started creeping in and already i can feel the corners starting to fray. Creativity has dropped to all-time lows post I am the Line/London, I do have a couple of concepts floating around but have yet to even get myself set up properly again for proper creation. I guess college has been sort of busy but I can’t really call that as a valid excuse as I’ve been busier and more creative at the same time before.

I’ve been trying to fill the void and fuel the groaning and rusted machine that is my inspiration with the usual stimulus so I figured I’d just run through some stuff that I’ve been in about the last wee while.

Reading:

Been on a bit of a graphic novel spree lately:

Sleepwalking by Adrian Tomine - this is a really lovely bleak collection of short stories

The Filth - classic Grant Morrison book centred on a metaphysical garbage disposal team (for want of a better term)

Ultimate X-Men - I’ve always loved the Marvel universe but never really embraced the comic series’ all that much but I always liked the variety and dynamics of the X-men so figured this was as good an in as any.

52 - now this is special, I picked up on it as it’s co-written by Morrison (who i basically can’t get enough of just now) and was originally told in 52 weekly comics, all covering one year in the DC Universe where the big 3 (Batman, Superman and Wonderwoman) are all MIA/dead or otherwise indisposed and shows the universe dealing with their absence. I’m 2 books into the collection of 4 and so far we’ve had crime thriller/time travel/dimensional shifts/a few psueo religious movements/politics and about every major and minor character that’s graced the pages of DC cropping up in some shape or form. In addition to just being a fantastic story, you can really tell that this is 4 very very good writers, on top of their game and having a lot of fun both telling the story and pushing and pulling each other to see how the others react to their plot ripples. Seriously good reading (and hurry up and deliver volumes 3 and 4 please Forbidden Planet - Oh while I’m at it, where on earth is my copy of From Hell???? I’ve been waiting weeks for it now).

Non Graphic novels:

17 by Bill Drummond - Yayyy, reading this is like meeting up with an old friend you haven’t seen in years (well since i finished 45 a few months ago) and remembering withing a few seconds why it is you love them so dearly. The concept and subject of the book is suitably briliant but it’s the directly unrelated waffle and random commentary that makes it. As with 45, I’m sort of trying to ration myself to just a bit at a time so that I get to spend more time with my pal Bill.

Formulas for Now by Hans-Ulrich Obrist - ok this is fairly wanky and self indulgent but fun to dip in and out of when the mood fits. Basically Orbist has invited a load of famous artists, designers, mathematicians, musicians, architects and other “thinkers” for want of a better term, to submit a formula to his collection. Ranging from genuine mathematical symmetry and beauty to the more esoteric approach to human nature, there are some nice jumping off points and potentially inspirational pieces here.

Post Secret by Frank Warren - not entirely disimilar to the above in terms of overall concept but the subject is beautifully pure and far more moving. The invitation was for anyone who wanted, to send a postcard to an address with a confession of some sort, a secret, a fear, a wish, whatever. The only brief was that the card should be used as a canvas, embodying whatever secret was being sent in. I think there are a few collections of these due to the huge response he got but so far I’ve just picked up the smaller A5ish sized hardback book. It’s amazing to read through all these people’s secrets and feel how much everyone shares pretty much the same sets of hopes and fears and stuff. Beautiful.

Watching:

Three Colours: Blue - I bought the trilogy on DVD because it’s one of these things I keep reading about as a cinematic masterwork. Now, I’ve only done the first one but I agree totally, I do feel a bit sad that it was the one with Juliett Binoche in it that comes first because it sort of gives me a little less impetus to watch the other ones knowing she isn’t in them. Anyway, great storytelling, Juliett Binoche, visual poetry, Juliett Binoche, you get the picture.

Cache - So I’ll admit to seeing this in HMV after having watched the above and almost fell over at the prospect of more Juliett Binoche and especially her working with Michael Haneke, a man who crept into my “i love this guys work” list after only one incredibly disturbing film (Funny Games - the original version, not the Naomi Hotts one). So Cache is not quite as off the bat sick and twisted as Games, but still manages to make you feel really uneasy the whole time. There’s also one scene which manages to juxtapose an incredibly mundance scene with an really shocking moment. oooft. I NEED to see more of his work (and Juliett Binoche was in this).

Russian Ark - It’s a bit of an oddity this but a total technical wet dream. The entire film is shot in one single continuous take as we join two characters that don’t really belong in the same timespace as they travel around the Russian State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg wandering into cross sections of time and history. There is a cast of probably thousands and when you take that amount of people in one place into account and the possibility for anything to go wrong and the whole film having to be reshot it’s really an exciting ride. Interesting to get such a sweeping overview of Russian history in such a short space of time.

Citizen Kane - I can’t remember if I’ve typed this before or not. Basically comes under the same heading as Three Colours and La Dolce Vita before it as films I should have seen. Watched it, loved it. I really liked the way Welles dealt with time and the different periods of the story, especially considering it was his diretorial debut and he was pretty young at the time. Good show.

In Search of a Midnight Kiss - well well well, I can honestly say, wait, sit down, ready? I SAW A ROMANTIC COMEDY AND I ACTUALLY ENJOYED IT!!!!! I did probably enjoy it more as a visual love poem to Los Angeles but I’ll have to admit that the lushly grainy film stock, a pretty decent story, the solid, convincing and amazingly sweary performances from like 90% of the cast briefly caused the vast black maw I have at my core to melt just a little. I’ll be buying this on DVD when it comes out. See it, even if it is just so you can laugh at me for being wet. If Sleepwalking were to be made into a film, it should probably look and feel like this.

Twin Peaks - the whole lot? again? already? didn’t you just watch it a few months ago? I would hear you ask if I thought anyone actually bothered to pay attention. Well, yes. Truth is, I just can’t get enough. Everytime I watch it I keep finding new things that make it amazing and scary and dark and funny and moving. Oddly enough, this time around, the full horror of the Maddie incident and the town’s psychic reaction I found quite deeply disturbing and moving. Anyway, Agent Cooper is an entirely solid role model (despite his obvious failings in the end), we should all try and be a bit ore like him I reckons.

Westworld - Probably one of my favourite sci-fi movies, definitely my favourite cowboy robot goes postal and hunts down holidaymakers in future resort film. Class, this an Andromeda Strain will live forever in my heart.

I’ve also watched a pile of less significant (but not necessarily not enjoyable things) including. The New Hulk Movie, Diary of the Dead (again), The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Son of Rambow and TV Wise (although I don’t watch TV), caught up with S5 of Peep Show, Heroes S3 and a new sitcom called No Heroics which is shit but has some quite fun comicgeek references within have averted an hour or so of my life a week.

Listening:

Ok, if you made it this far, well done. I’ll keep it brief from here on in.

Windy and Carl - Songs for the Broken Hearted - Ok, I don’t think this is properly out yet, I snagged a dodgy copy off the internets but I’ll be buying it asap. This is the sort of music that plays in my head 24/7, dense, noisy soft drone music. It’s up in my albums of the year for sure.

Windy Weber - I hate People - The explanation above also fits Windy’s solo album from earlier in the year. Love it

Mogwai - The Hawk is Howling - Yasssssss. I don’t even feel it necessary to write much here. It rocks, it’s moody, it’s big scary riff-monster with tiny beautiful melodies hidden away in its belly. Another album of the year. Mon the Mogwai.

Low, Stars of the Lid, The Dead Texan, Brian McBride, Arvo part, Steve Reich and Angelo Badalamenti have all been on heavy rotations also of late as per usual.

I’m really looking forward to hearing a copy of the Mandelbrot Set album which is imminent on HPLL and has just been mastered by Tigrics.
If you made it down here, thanks, hopefull the next time I will have somethng more useful to say. Oh yeah, I did update my design portfolio the other week. I’ve gone totally minimal on it, still needs some work though. Look if you want.

Finally, a big wave to Mat Ranson/Fisk who is away seeing the world. Cheers for everything, haste ye back etc.
Cheers

D

Some more ..line… based activity this week.

“I had just begun to write about this, and how it was reminding me of being buffeted by the bitter North Sea wind on a desperate part of the Scottish coast, when Monkeyman glanced over my shoulder and told me I was wrong. “It doesn’t sound like that at all”, I was informed. “It sounds like spaceships”. Not for the first time, I began to consider the possibility that the wrong member of this household does the writing. I’m starting to think that even the cat has some more useful thoughts on some of the stuff I play, given the expressive way she flounced out of the room when I put this on.

You see, having done some cursory internet research, I found that although Dave Fyans, aka Erstlaub, does hail from the stretch of coastline on I was imagining, the creation of I Am The Line Drawn In The Sand Between The Living And The Dead (the title alone makes me want to stand up and applaud) had been strongly influenced by his immersion in the work of Tarkovsky. And with hindsight - and maybe a little too much chianti it has to be said - you can so hear Solaris in this oh-so-sloooooowly unfolding meditation, with some of its themes (in particular loneliness and a sense of sheer alien “other-ness”) making themselves felt through a hallucinatory fog and biting cosmic wind. One key difference from the film is that this record was recorded in just one take. And, as I can’t quite picture Gordon Brown listening to this with notepad in hand, probably with less interference from the government.

This is Erstlaub’s second album for Highpoint Lowlife, after last year’s On Becoming An Island, and is further evidence of a blooming, droning talent. Listen to an excerpt and pick up a copy of from the HPLL website. It is all about spaceships, obviously.”

from mapsadaisical.

and

“Scottish drone musician Erstlaub again spreads his doom laden misrablism over the world with his second album for Highpoint Lowlife: I Am the Line Drawn in the Sand between the Living and the Dead. Layers of noise and subtle soundscapes drawn you in a deep unknown world of emotion.

About a year ago the London based label Highpoint Lowlife released On Becoming An Island by the Scottish musician Erstlaub. By then we concluded that the person behind Erstlaub, Dave Fyans, wasn’t the most happy person around. Now a year on there is the second release by Fyans on this label and following the title I Am the Line Drawn in the Sand between the Living and the Dead not much has changed in his mood.

On the cd, released in slim DVD case, again we find just one track clocking in at 46 minutes and 10 seconds. This starts to become the trademark of Erstlaub. Proud that Fyans is about it, the liner notes mention that everything on this release was created with modular synthesis on the Nord G2 (a modular synthesizer) and that no other sources for sound were used.

As with all his other music I Am The Line Drawn In The Sand Between The Living And The Dead is based around drones and noise with subtle soundscapes in the background, though compared with his previous work here the noise is much more present. There is an almost continuous layer of hiss and static present that slowly changes. Behind this are delicate layers of sound that sometimes form drones while in other soft evolving melodies appear. These subtle layers are what show the strength of this musician. Erstlaub seems to have an ear for these small. More to the end these layers take over the hiss and static. Minimal soundscapes turn the whole in to a dark moody piece of music that at the same time sounds dreamy. Very emotive music that shows the pain this young musician is struggling with.
The music Erstlaub makes sounds if created from shorter pieces that all tell a part of a longer story. This makes the release as a whole quite diverse which shows another strong point.

I Am The Line Drawn… is a good follow-up for On Becoming An Island, which takes a small step in another direction. It is good to see such a development in the music of Erstlaub and also for the label Highpoint Lowlife again widening the spectrum of music in their roster.
Not to be missed.”

from earlabs.

Couple more smallish reviews about. Huzzah!

“OK I’m almost too hungry to hear but I’ll do one more review before I give up and start gnawing at my feet. Erstlaub on Highpoint Lowlife…. with the ridiculously long titles of ‘I Am The Line Drawn In The Sand Between The Living And The Dead’. It’s one of their numbered DVD style cases, limited to just 100 copies. Which must be infuriating for someone out there I’m sure. It sounds infuriating to me…..I’m practically on fire. Anyway it’s one 46 minute track of digitally processed electronics creating somewhat of an atmospheric world for you to immerse yourself in. Best suited to headphones I reckon as there’s a lot going on though it’s one of those pieces where it doesn’t seem like there’s that much happening. Stick with it though and you’ll immerse yourself into a world of spacey weirdness where I get to eat what I like and tell diets to fuck right off…..”

from here - it left Phil at Norman feeling happy!?!

also:

“The Highpoint Lowlife Label continues to push the boundaries of electronic music with their new release by Erstlaub with I Am The Line Drawn In The Sand Between The Living And The Dead. Isolationism / ambient / sweeping atmospheric drones are the order of the day on this release, but if any of that sends you scurrying for your latest Diplo mix CD then fear not, as whilst this release does require a delicate ear, its by no means harsh or sonically aggressive.
I am the line gradually builds and takes the listener on a dark electronic trip across its 46 minute duration. The piece was recording in one take using a Nord G2 engine and a couple of delay units with no overdubs or edits.
Many lovers of experimental music have probably at one time or another sat through a lengthy piece of minimal experimental music, only to have it pass them by and then the CD is promptly ejected and left forgotten in the rack, this on the other hand, I feel, many will come back to again and again.

Erstlaub - I Am The Line Drawn In The Sand Between The Living And The Dead is part of Highpoint Lowlife’s limited edition runs with just 100 copies pressed and is available to purchase now on CD (at just £5 which is a bargain) and 320kbps MP3 download via the Highpoint Lowlife website.”

from here

Thanks folks

“In space, no one can hear you scream. Probably the most frequent complaint about sci-fi / space opera movies is the fact that they can’t help themselves when it comes to putting sound into outer space. Things don’t go bang, because in a near-vacuum, there aren’t enough particles to vibrate to convert energy into sound. Yet, in music, there is a clearly defined type of aural experience that is readily identified with space – from the Barrons’ theremin and tape loop experimental soundtrack to Forbidden Planet, through the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Tangerine Dream’s early works right up to Murcof’s decdedly cosmic Cosmos album from last year.Dave Fyans’ I Am the Line Drawn in the Sand Between the Living and the Dead is not explicitly, or even implicitly, cosmologically related, and yet the static hiss, distant drones and bass hum conjour up something so huge and otherworldy that it’s hard to relate it to anything else. This is defiantly epic music: a single track that slowly builds, twists and turns over 46 minutes. It has an air of melancholy, but more than that, it has the feeling of insignificance set against something unimaginably vast.

As the track wends its way, there are parts that sound like the windswept deserts of other worlds, fragile, crystalline tones, metallic ringing, aching chords and background static that could be the last radioactive decay of aeons. It’s hard not to get lost in it – it’s music to fully immerse yourself in.

What’s more remarkable, is that the whole piece was recorded in one take – no overdubs, no edits – and that it was all put together using the minimum of gear (a Nord G2 Engine and a couple of delay units). While it doesn’t sound particularly constructed or composed, it’s still remarkable that it flows with a purpose, rather than just aimlessly floating about for three quarters of an hour. It’s a mightily impressive work. It’s available as a download from the Highpoint Lowlife website and in a strictly limited CD edition of 100 copies.”

from here

buy the album

First live review is in:

“Erstlaub hails from Scotland and creates moody, brooding, drone filled, soundscapes. The best way to describe the feeling of hearing Erstlaub live is drowning in black syrup!! Slightly scary, dark, but overall sweet and satisfying….if drowning in black syrup can be described in such a way If you happen to think Power Electronics is seriously sinister and scary, you should check this guy out - way more frightening than anything Power Electronics could produce in my humble opinion. The music oozes menace, and lures you in to a false sense of security, whilst pummling all of your available senses. A strange, but enjoyable experience.”

Full Review

drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…….

After a long wait, here it is folks

“hpll029

Release Date: 2008-08-31

Dave Fyans returns with a follow up album to his earlier ‘On Becoming An Island’, with another epic journey into digital processed noise, creating dense worlds of sound and timbre.

The album follows a similar arc to ‘Island’ with a long singular composition spanning 46mins, and again composed and performed exclusively with digital modular synthesis.

The album is released in conjunction with his debut London show at Cafe Oto, on August 31st”

T-19 hours or thereabouts til showtime, mixture of nerves and excitement. Hope to see you there!!!

I’ll be playing at this on the 31st of August. Also on the rather stunning bill wil be TVO doofing around with his usual astounding blend of droney grumblery(tm) and post stadium techno, he’ll be joined by Beaker (Bryan Marcia) who has whipped up some rather intrigueing max/jitter visual machines that he will be kicking around on screen as TVO does his thing. Really really looking forward to seeing Keung and his Mandelbrot Set weaving their sometimes shimmering, sometimes scary webs of sound. We were going to try and have a sneaky little collab session but I’m not totally sure if we’re going to get the time now. Fighting Kites will also be taking up the slack, feedback from some of the London crew was positive from seeing them last week so looking forward to hearing them in person.

First time playing live down in London so I’m a mixture of nerves and excitement at the moment. I’ll be interested to see what sort of punters show up on a Sunday night for some heavy drones and noise action. The venue, Cafe Oto, looks awesome and I’m pretty stoked to be playing there.

I’ve been fighting this week with codecs and diminishing discspace but I should, with a bit of luck, have some shiny new (well creaky black and white) visuals as a backdrop for my set, heavily influenced by my recent love for Andrei Tarkovsky.

The new album is very nearly ready to drop, we are aiming to have it available for purchase at the show on the 31st if everything goes according to plan. I’ll post info and availability over the next few weeks.

An ever so slightly late review of Island appeared out of the blue here this week also at Australian publication Cyclic Defrost. There might even be a few rogue copies kicking around HPLL Towers still so if you didn’t already, get on to Thorsten and he might be able to oblige.

Just a quick shout to all the August birthdays also. My Sis, Louise, Sietse and AndyMegaheaphone Boy all got another year older over the last few weeks.

See you in London.

D

Watching: The Dark Knight (yesssssssssssssssss), La Dolce Vita, The Holy Mountain, Nostalgia, Stalker

Reading: Not anything particular just now, a few things I’m partways into but haven’t picked up in a while.

Listening: Stray Ghost - Losthilde - Fantastic deep, gloomy, droney epic business on HPLL, a bit of Nino Rota, some Cocteau Twins, Picked up the awesome Qaudrange EPs by Autechre - some really dirty acid noises and extended ambiences from the legends there, it might even be more rewarding than the awesome Quaristice albums.

It’s not so much the lack of output at the moment as the lack of dragging my lazy useless arse into gear to do things. Nevermind, caught up rather shockingly on about 5 years of viewing in the last few weeks. In no particular order.

Fellini’s Amarcord
Aliens (the really very long director’s cut)
Ghost Dog - Been meaning to rewatch this for ages, still amazing
The Conversation - as above
Batman Begins - rewatch in prep for The Dark Knight (probably Monday before I go to see)
Battle Royale 2: Requiem
Akira - oh why oh why is this getting a real life remake, so little need.
Curb Your Enthusiasm Series 6
The Return of the Pink Panther (ie. the really really good one)

in addition to this, I’ve embarked on something of a David Lynch retrospective including;

All of season 2 of Twin Peaks - how indeed IS Annie?
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
Eraserhead
Wild at Heart
The Short Films of David Lynch
I tried to watch Industrial Symphony No1 but really wasn’t in the mood

To coincide with this veritable Lynchorama, I’ve been playing to death David Lynch and Marek Zebrowsk - Polish Night Music and of course the amazing amazing works of Angelo Badalamenti. Not sure why everything is so Lynchy at present but there we are.

Right, I’m away to watch 8 1/2 and attempt not to feel so numb.

Later.

D

Dave Production Unit was giving me grief about not updating my blog tonight, so here it is!

Snazzy title eh? Inspired by some waaayyyy past bedtime chat the other night with Craig Mystec, a pretty fantastic Glasgow based artist. Allegedly Goodhand is due to be working on his website (so it might happen - hah!, aye right, believe it when I see it) so I’ll link you good people up if/when it goes live.

Shopping news! I finally caved in and bought not one but two of the ltd edition Addict / Star Wars Tshirts. Too much money to spend on Tshirts but damn they are nice. To complement them, I bought a pair of camo colour puma gutties. I still need to suss out the ideal trouser to set the whole outfit off though.

Ichiban, how I love you! I had my first ever Bento experience at Ichiban, my word! what a delightful assortment of vegetarian friendly sushi. Go there, eat one, it’s a total experience. mmmmmmm edimami too.

Congratulations to Numbers who have now managed to not die / explode / sell their ideals up the river etc for a whole 5 years. The first part of the birthday celebrations took place down the Sub last Friday with Rustie, Goodhand and Callum doing the honours. Playing of The Vamp ensured  that an already way too hot Sub went nuclear. Fantastic. Next part of the celebrations happen this weekend at the spiritual homeland of Club 69 in the basement of an Indian Restaurant somewhere in Paisley, no really. It should be, to paraphrase DJ Funk, off tha chain y’all. I need to establish how hard it will be to partake in public transport seeing as a mass of idiots will be descending on this neck of the woods for T in the Park. hmmmm?!

Big shout to Chris Dooks who managed a rather splendid 8 hour droneathon at the Glasgow Uni Chapel, I didn’t make it through but thankfully a live feed was provided which meant I spent most of my Sunday lazing about listening to Dooks play a succession of lovely tunes over the internets. You can catch a sort of edited highlights on his latest Bovine Life Support System thus. It’s proper good. I got a laugh also when by means of a facebook > real life courier delivered a message to Chris on site and a handwritten “Hello Dave” appeared on the video stream.

Not much else to report, I got a letter today saying my conditional acceptance for year 2 at Perth College in now unconditional and that I’ve met the criteria (which I sort of take to mean that I passed my first year and have an HNC but I’ll believe it when I see it). My current lack of creative output and motivation is starting to annoy me, as is my insomnia. pffft. I’ll deal with it, no-one else is going to.

D

Listening: Leonard Cohen - So Long, Marianne (ehhhhh? not sure why, but album of the week!!!), Joy Division - Substance, Stars of the Lid, Caretaker, Mazzy Star, William Basinski (seeing the theme here?)

Reading: Been a wee bit slack of late but have started on Dante’s Inferno, also geting some nice design schtick from Design Basics Index by Jim Krausse and a sexy new Logo book by Rockport.

Watching: Fellini’s La Strada - wonderful, bleak and depressing, Grave of the Fireflies - really sad, I kept waiting for cute forrest spirits to turn up and fix everything seeing as it’s Studio Ghibli, they didnt, Funny Games - the original 97 version of this in German. Probably the most disturbing film I’ve seen next to Audition, really good and baaad all at once, Das Leben der Anderen - Quality east german stasi paranoia thriller, Lost Highway - words cannot describe how entirely unbored I can get rewatching this movie over and over, Escape from New York - yaaaaaaasssss, cannot get enough of the “I thought you were dead!” and “Call me Snake!” action. I might go and change my name to Kurt Russell by deed poll, what a man!