Marfa, my dear...

"Art is made as one lives. It must be as decisive as acts in life..."
     Donald Judd, 1983

Larry Clark has chosen to set his most recent film in the border town of Marfa, Texas - made famous, some of the inhabitants of this small town would contend 'infamous,' by its close cultural associations with the artist Donald Judd and the proto-artistic community he established there.  

In common with other artist, musician and writer contemporaries, Clark is eschewing more traditional means of release/distribution by premiering the film on his own website for a nominal fee (see above.)  His first feature in 7 years, it will be especially interesting to see how such an uncompromising stance fares both artistically and, crucially, commercially - for Clark's sake and for others who share a similar viewpoint on hyper-commercialism in and beyond the Hollywood mainstream.

Despite some early negative critical impressions of the movie I, for one, hope it's a success.

- 'Marfa Girl' - released 20 November 2012 on larryclark.com

Slashed, not burned...

 

Although officially released by Slash records in 1983, Violent Femmes actually recorded their eponymous debut in 1982 - which affords us legitimate ample opportunity to shout about it, get all dove-eyed about it and near demi-deify it in this, the 30th anniversary of its release.

It was a bit of an odd record even way back then - coming as it did in an era of lovingly upholstered long coats and perma-dried ice, the debut single from madonna and an era and genre defying record by some guy who used to sing/dance with his brothers in a band.

With so much going-on and being begun, a freshmen album from some mid-North West musical miscreants was hardly likely to register highly if at all on pop/rock's increasingly ephemeral Richter scale.  But, hugely, surprisingly, it did.  The record found its audience: the same long-coated sophomores looking for a new bible of the beats finding it in the new age kerfuffle-skiffle-punk of this mightiest of trios from Wisconsin.

The record has not dated one inch of one iota.  2 tracks to follow - one live, and one not so.  

Break your heart all over again.

Under the radar...what radar?

It's been 41 years since Bill Fay recaptured our hearts with his second album 'Time of the Last Persecution.' Bill has often suffered at the biting hands of critics: lazy journalism often saw him dismissed as a Nick Drake clone here or a Graham Nash clone there...

These barbs were unfounded and grossly unfair, contributing to his star shining dimly, if at all, throughout the already drifting towards excess 1970's.

2012 sees a new record by Bill Fay, 'Life is People' - on Dead Oceans records.

The voice has changed over the years, becoming more sonorous yet, softer, imbuing the meticulously crafted songs and their choreographed arrangements with a timeless, haunting quality.

And, after 40 years of waiting and waiting, that's more than enough.