Alexander Laurence's Blog, page 2463

White Arrows share "Leave It Alone" with Consequence Of Sound

White Arrows Share New Track "Leave It Alone" With Consequence Of SoundSummer Tour Dates With The Neighbourhood AnnouncedSophomore Album Due This Fall       
Listen: "Leave It Alone" via Consequence Of Sound or SoundCloudWatch: White Arrows Sophomore Album Writing Process Video via YouTubeConsequence Of Sound has premiered the new White Arrows track "Leave It Alone" from the band's sophomore album In Bardo due this fall on Votiv. Click here for a behind the scenes look at the recording process for In Bardo.  Bardo is defined as a transitional state of being, the phase of existence between death and rebirth. It marks the end of one thing and the beginning of another. It represents an evolution, which is why the title of White Arrows' second album, In Bardo, is so appropriate. The Los Angeles indie rock band found themselves in a new plane of being after touring extensively since their inception, hitting the road with bands such as Cults, White Denim, The Naked and Famous, and performing at festivals like Coachella and Sasquatch. The band finally grounded themselves enough to create a cohesive work that reflected the musicians' present mindset. Songs like "Leave It Alone" represent the musicians' current mindset and inspirations. For White Arrows, In Bardo is the transition. It marks the end of one thing and the beginning of another.   White Arrows is excited to announce that they will be supporting The Neighbourhood on this summer's El Tour Blanco in June and July. In addition to touring with The Neighbourhood, White Arrows will be playing several headlining shows including dates at NYC's Mercury Lounge and a hometown show at The Troubadour. Travi$ Scott, Danny Brown and The 100's will join the tour on select dates. All upcoming shows are listed below.    White Arrows Tour Dates
June 19 - San Francisco, CA - Rickshaw Stop % June 21 - Vancouver, BC - Mailkin Bowl * June 23 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory  June 24 - Salt Lake City, UT - Salt Air * June 25 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre * June 27 - Kansas City, MO - Power & Light District * June 28 - Chicago, IL - Chive Fest  June 29 - Milwaukee, WI - Summer fest  July 01 - Cleveland, OH - Jacobs Pavilion * July 02 - Indianapolis, IN - Egyptian Room * July 03 - Louisville, KY - Headliners Music Hall  July 07 - Charlotte, NC - Uptown Amphitheatre * July 08 - Raleigh, NC - Red Hat Amphitheater * July 09 - Washington DC - Echostage * July 10 - New York, NY - Mercury Lounge % July 11 - Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE * July 14 - Nashville, TN - Marathon Music Works * July 15 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade Music Park * July 17 - Houston - Bayou Music Center * July 18 - Austin, TX - Stubbs * July 19 - Dallas, TX - South Side Music Hall * July 21 - Tempe, AZ- Marquee Theatre @ July 22 - San Diego, CA - Open Air @ July 25 - Oakland, CA - The Fox Theater ^ July 26 - Oakland, CA - The Fox Theater ^ July 31 - Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour %   * with Travis Scott and the Neighbourhood @ with Danny Brown and the Neighbourhood ^ with The 100's and the Neighbourhood % White Arrows Headline Show 
For more info, please visit: 
http://www.whitearrows.comhttp://www.facebook.com/whitearrows 

Tangerine debut music video for "Nothing Better"

TANGERINE DEBUT MUSIC VIDEO FOR "NOTHING BETTER"
ANNOUNCE PERFORMANCE AT BUMBERSHOOT MUSIC FESTIVAL
DIGITAL SINGLE WITH B-SIDE OUT NOW ON ITUNESVIA FIN RECORDS
Seattle's Tangerine are excited to debut the music video for their recently released single "Nothing Better".  The digital single, produced by Martin Feveyear (Mudhoney, Mark Lanegan, Damian Jurado), includes the b-side "Northern Line" and is available on iTunes via Fin Records.With "Nothing Better",  "Tangerine Deliver The Indie-Pop Of Your Pacific Northwest Dreams" write MTV Buzzworthy. Tangerine are looking to upcoming performances at the  2014 Bumbershoot Music Festival as well as Seattle's Capitol Hill Block Party. Dates below.
Watch the music video for "Nothing Better" on YouTube"Nothing Better" + "Northern Line" on iTunes  Nothing Better - Tangerine
According to lead vocalist Marika Justad, "Nothing Better" "is about having fun, even recklessly so, in the face of boredom and having a love/hate affair with your hometown, which you feel stuck in." For the music video the band "wanted to show our city, but some of the funkier, less iconic aspects of it (no space needle, skyline, etc)."  The music video for "Nothing Better" was directed by band member's Marika and Miro Justad's sister Jade Justad, and shot by Ty Migota in the SODO industrial area of Seattle.
The "Nothing Better" single follows upon the success of Tangerine's Radical Blossom EP, which garnered praise last summer and fall from Bust, Death + Taxes, NME, Bitch, Tom Tom Magazine, Seattle Weekly, and a nod as Guardian "Band Of the Day" among many other mentions. Recently the band made their debut appearance at SXSW and completed a tour of western states with dates including The Treefort Music Festival.
Comprised of sisters Marika Justad (lead vocalist, songwriter) and Miro Justad (drums), alongside Toby Kuhn (guitar) and Ryan Baker (bass), have had a prolific and well received start to their relatively brief history as a band, setting aside the Justad sisters history of making music together since the ages of 13 and 15 respectively. Tangerine played their first show in January 2013 and self-released their first EP, Pale Summer, a few months later in March. Ambitious in nature, they quickly followed with Radical Blossom in August, which won national and international recognition.
United through family ties and an incredibly close knit friendship that sees the band spending most days together, Tangerine (named for a Led Zeppelin song) draws upon a diverse range of inspirations, from the Breeders and Fleetwood Mac, to the Velvet Underground and 90s R&B. Never predictable, they have established their own breezy and unique sound-raw, catchy, and tender melodies that are fresh yet nostalgic, and uniquely West Coast.
www.tangerineband.com 
Upcoming Shows:
July - Seattle, WA - Capitol Hill Block Party (Date/Venue TBA)
September 01 - Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot Music Festival

Bret Easton Ellis interview

Interview with Bret Easton Ellisby Mark Amerika and Alexander Laurence     
Bret Easton Ellis is the author of four controversial novels including Less Than Zero, The Rules of Attraction, American Psycho, and The Informers. He grew up in Los Angeles where he played keyboards for many new wave groups, hung out in the LA punk scene, and now is often nostalgic for that time in the early 1980s. He wrote a few novels at an early age, made it fashionable to go to Bennington, and eventually moved to New York City. He was often attacked for the intolerable violence in his novels, his character’s passivity, and his generally “devoid of morals” esthetic, especially in 1991’s American Psycho which was so violent that one publisher refused to publish it. Presently, Ellis has been working on a novel about the fashion world and supermodels. So watch out!
Mark Amerika: How did you come to write The Informers? Where did it come from? Did you write this right after American Psycho?
Bret Easton Ellis: It was written over a ten year period of time. I started working on it in 1983 and I finished it last August. It was 50% longer. It was the project I could go to, with no intention of ever publishing it, whenever I got major writer’s block with the other novels. I would go back to this book which seemed to be about a group of people that criss-crossed paths in Los Angeles. That would relax and loosen me up, whenever I got stuck or tripped over someone’s voice in one of my other novels. The Informerswas the place to practice a new monologue or a new voice. It was like going to a gym, or getting in shape for a marathon.          I went down to Richmond, Virginia to finish this novel which I had been working on for a long time. I hoped to finish it by Christmas. It was due to the publishers. A friend had a house down there. I had my own room. I had all my stuff splayed out there. I couldn’t write any of this new book, and went back to The Informers. I started to play around with it. It just became more and more apparent to me that if I don’t push this book out of my life, then I’m going to be fooling around with it, and I’ll never get to this other book that I really want to write. So I offered this to my publishers with the provision that I would be finishing my other book. I said “You don’t have to publish it. I’m just making good on my deadline. You can take it, or throw it away.” To my surprise, they liked it. There were a few stories, that I wanted in that, we argued over.
Alexander Laurence: You spoke of the Rikki Lake show before. What kind of influence has the media had, growing up watching TV, now being 30 years old--how has that informed the novel?
BEE: The question is “How has television informed every book?” Media has informed all of us, no matter what artform we pursue, whether painters or musicians. TV has unconsciously, whether we want to admit it or not, shaped all of our visions to an inordinate degree. How? I don’t know. I couldn’t give you specifics. Is it good or bad? I don’t know. I think it just is.
MA: What do you think of the more alternative, subpop, cultural phenomenon like the Internet and the Zine scene? Is there any connection to what you’re doing?
BEE: Probably not. I’m sent a lot of Zines from other people though. Tower Records in LA has a "Zine section." This last winter I picked up a couple of them. There was this guy who was doing what Dickens used to do; he was serializing a novel. It was an interesting way to get your work out there. This novel was very good. The writing in most of the Zines isn’t that great. But some fiction in Esquire and The Atlanticsucks too. The pessimist in me wants to leap out sometimes and say “This generation is a bunch of dumb asses that just want to sit around and watch Nick at Night.” Then there’s those who are trying to get their work out through Zines. It’s all about getting your work read in a time when so few people actually read. There’s the Internet now and some people are reading that instead of touching books. I think that’s scary, but I’m old-fashioned. I have a computer but I’ve never been on the net. I’m very scared of progress.
AL: To stress the visual aspects of writing and how media has influenced us, there’s one chapter in The Informers which is all unanswered letters. Younger people, being influenced by media and being more visually oriented, would not write letters like your character Sean chooses to do?
BEE: It’s true. I didn’t think of that when I was writing the story. I liked the conceit of writing an epistolary section of the book. On the page, letters, and the way the story is set up, it works better with words rather than dialogue. What am I saying? I know what you’re saying. It’s a good point. In terms of scenes in books I’m writing, in terms of how words look on a page, in terms of space breaks, in terms of how much white should be on a page: these are all things that I think about constantly. If I see that a paragraph looks--just aesthetically, visually--too long and for some reason interrupts some narrative flow or fluidity, then I will break that paragraph up. Not necessarily because of the language or the words, but purely on a visual basis. With a conversation, you might want to get across the idea that they’re not connecting, so in a visual way you can string along twenty single lines of dialogue. The visual stimulus that words have on a page is something I think about. I don’t know if older writers are concerned with that.
MA: Speaking of dialogue--there’s quite a bit of dialogue in what you write. You seem to have an ear for dialogue. Is that something innate? Where did you develop that?
BEE: Everything I wrote is a monologue. Less Than Zero is a monologue by this zombie surfer dude from L.A. Everyone thinks “Clay, he’s so sensitive because he went to school back east.” He decides to leave in the end. That would always bother me when people would say, “the hero of the novel”. He isn’t a hero at all to me. He’s like this big void. He troubles me more than any other character that I’ve written about. That novel is a monologue and so is American Psycho.
MA: Why you and your novels are successful and widely read is because you have captured a common language; at the same time, you’re stylizing it. Are there any writers or artists who helped you develop that sense of writing with your ear?
BEE: That’s a really good question. Where does it come from? I would say from seeing a shitload of movies, reading a ton of books, watching enormous hours of television, and having it all soak in. If for some reason you want to be a writer, that’s where the ear comes from. I don’t know what other reference points there were when I was growing up. It was books, movies, TV and rock and roll.
AL: What about raw experience? Is what you write about purely literary and formal, or is it a depiction of a certain world you’ve been a part of?
BEE: It’s really strange. Getting back to Less Than Zero--everyone always assumed that it was such an autobiographical novel. Understandably so, because it was a first novel, and everyone thinks that a first novel is autobiographical. Except for the fact that both Clay and I left Los Angeles and went to college back east, it’s incredibly un-autobiographical. I had actually written two books before Less Than Zero, where I rid myself of a lot of autobiographical tendencies, when I was 16. When I wrote Less Than Zero, I was really writing about a person that I found totally morally bankrupt. The reason why he troubles me more than the other characters is because at least he has a bit of a conscience. Yet he still refuses to break out of his passivity. He still allows evil to flourish around him. That bothers me more than Patrick Bateman from American Psycho, who I can look at as a stylized villain or a big metaphor for a ton of stuff, and a launching pad for anything you want to say was wrong about the 80’s: consumerism, yuppiedom, greed, serial killer chic, etc.
MA: There’s something else to your writing. From the point of view of a reader, you seem connected to this lineage of writers associated with satire; writers like Swift, Céline, and the Marquis De Sade. Do you see a connection with your writing to that lineage?
BEE: I have no idea. Totally not connected. Never informed any of my work. Didn’t know who Céline was till American Psycho was published. I still haven’t read much of Sade. I didn’t see a connective thread to any other writers. Still don’t. I’ve been influenced by a lot of writers, but I still can’t see a thread between me and Hemmingway, Joan Didion, or Joyce, or Flaubert: people who did influence me. When you ask me about a specific writer, I would be pretty hard pressed to tell you where their voice comes from, although I think that I’m pretty well read.
AL: Do you ever write autobiographically?
BEE: It’s interesting, this idea of being so overwhelmingly influenced by pop culture, and yet, in your writing, not that influenced by events in your life. That’s a new idea very common to artists of this generation. You’re making up stuff, but at the same time it’s autobiographical because it stems from how you’re feeling. I think temperament and sensibility can be autobiographical. American Psycho was, for me, an autobiographical novel. Not because I went around chopping up prostitutes, not because I worked on Wall Street, but because the tone of the book accurately reflects how I was feeling when I was writing it. If I was a well-adjusted happy person doing the writing of that book, it would have been a much different book. It would have been a lot less violent and bitter.
AL: How do you feel about all the negative criticism that you received? The Informers received initially all negative reviews, then it turned around. Readers tend to really like your novels or to really hate them.
BEE: I’ve been reviewed a lot. I’ve been reviewed in the New York Times eight times: four times daily and four times in the Sunday. I never got a good review. The one that appeared last Sunday was the first one. So I got one out of eight. The daily review of this book called it “stupid”. They actually used the phrase “This is a stupid book.” This other guy said it wasn’t stupid. Everyone has an opinion. I have to tell you honestly that I just don’t care what anyone says. I really can’t take pleasure in that one good review. I got more calls from people who saw the review who were more gratified than I was. I don’t think that the literary establishment is about to take a new overlook of my career, or work. What you said earlier about people not forgiving me for American Psycho--that’s going to stay true for a long time. You don’t write a novel for a reaction. You write novels for very personal reasons.

September 1994

Arthur Nersesian interview

Arthur NersesianManhattan Loverboy & The Fuck-Up
Arthur Nersesian is a real New York writer. His novels are a celebration of marginal characters living in the East Village and trying to survive. Nersesian's books include The Fuck-Up, The East Village Tetralogy, and now just published by a small press based in New York, Manhattan Loverboy. Nersesian has been a fixture in the writing scene for many years. He was an editor for The Portable Lower East Side, which was an important magazine during the 1980s and early 90s. Akashic Books has recently published novels by Lauren Saunders, Jose Latour, Henry Flesh, and Yuri Kapralov. In fact, when The Fuck-Up came out in 1997, MTV Books picked it up and reprinted it in a new edition for hipsters everywhere. Soon Nersesian was no longer known only to a cabal of young bohemians on Avenue A. His work has been championed by The Village Voice and Time Out.
Manhattan Loverboy is the bizarre story of Joseph Aeiou. He finds out one day that his financial aid has been withdrawn and he can't finish school. Joseph tried to find out who's responsible. This leads him to Mr. Whitlock and a lot of trouble. Joseph's life is turned around and he becomes a pygmalion for a strange business. It's a mystery of the poor and the rich. It's a fabulous novel that can't be defined.
Arthur Nersesian can usually be found at a Starbucks on East 9th and Second Avenue. That is where we met to talk about his new novel.
******
AL: You were profiled in the latest issue of FHM. It was all about how writing a novel is not worth the time, and how you should want to do something more useful. Did you feel exploited by this journalist?
AN: I spoke to the interviewer for a while, and he used what he wanted, and threw away the rest. I feel exploited by you too. But it's controlled exploitation. You have to understand that in FHM Magazine you are going to get that whole wacky tongue-in-cheek tone throughout. I respect that. They should be making fun of people who got a degree in Literature in college.
AL: When did you start writing the new novel, Manhattan Loverboy? Has this been a novel which has been around for years and is finally now published?
AN: I began this book and wrote the bulk of it in 1989. I had written a collection of stories, and was trying to round out the collection with a decent sized story. So I wrote this and didn't know where it was going and wrote ninety pages . I tagged on an ending and it never seemed finished. I kept returning to it. It took on a life of its own and became a novel. The original came out in 1993. I wasn't happy with it. Recently, I did a rewrite for this new edition.
AL: It's a weird title and misleading for a story which seems like a update on a Kafka novel. It should be called The Cog in The System, since it is about a character, Joseph Aeiou, who is an adopted child, who gets involved in political and financial subversion?
AN: Some authors start with a title or have a revelation. I knew that I had this story and needed a title. I was looking at some old poems of mine and found one called "Manhattan Overboard." Since the tone was so intense I thought that would be a funny title. I told a friend the title over the phone, and he said: "What? Manhattan Loverboy?" I said "No" but his title was better and I kept it, because it was about Manhattan, and the main character was both a "man" and a "boy."
AL: Who are some of the writers who inspire you? There was the Kafka feeling with "The Sweet Smell of Success."
AN: I loved that movie. There was no deliberate mimicking of any writer on this book, but I heard many comparisons. I didn't think that I was following any writer consciously. My greatest influence until the day I die will be and always has been the city. I write against the city. I try to absorb all the shit around me and then squeeze it into fiction.
AL: How different is Manhattan Loverboy from the early novel, The Fuck-Up?  The thing about you writing I like is its unpredictable nature. You're always pulling the rug under the characters and the plot.
AN: It's different in style and tone. The Fuck-Up is somber and I tried to be fairly social realistic. The new book is slightly surreal and off the wall. As far as the plot goes, if you can see the end coming up and can predict it, there's no point in reading it. If can anticipate where you are going, then it's pointless. To that end, I don't over-plot or over-outline my novels. I have a general idea where I'm going, and I try to stop until I get there in the writing, and check out my options. I always try to find something unexpected and yet consistent with the ideas and the story, and whatever I'm dramatizing. But I really want to surprise myself. If I can't do that then no one will be surprised. What's the point?
AL: You've had an erratic publishing history. The Fuck-Up was published by Akashic Press in 1997, and then picked up by MTV Books. There was actually commercials on MTV advertising your book, which is rare, and even stranger since Akashic is a small press, and publishes mostly Downtown urban writing.
AN: Manhattan Loverboy was sent to MTV Books and several other major publishers as well. They all passed on it. Frankly I think it was too clever and witty and wacky for them. It is a better book I think because it has more ideas, takes more chances, and is extreme satire, where The Fuck-Up wasn't. I am more proud of it for those reasons. The funny thing is that Manhattan Loverboy has it's own following. There are people who love this book who don't particularly like The Fuck-Up, and visa-versa. Some people have been able to finish Manhattan Loverboy, including my mother.
AL: How was your experience with MTV Books? I find most of their books to be sort of light reading and not backed up by experience and details, as I see your books. They seem to be putting out books for people who don't really read and watch a ton of television.
AN: I have another book, called Dogpark, coming out with MTV Books in the fall. Corporate publishing is a business: it's exactly that. They certainly have an artistic integrity. It's about selling books, figures, and demographics. MTV is their publicity outlet and their audience, and to their credit they're trying to bring some of these TV watchers as readers. That's commendable. More people watch movies and TV obviously. How sophisticated are their readers and how developed are their tastes in literature? That's another question. They're trying really hard to tap into a youth market. The editors there look at a lot of manuscripts. It's not an easy genre or to find writers in. You can take more chances with a small press like Akashic Books.
AL: I noticed that you don't make much reference to music and bands in your novels? Is that a deliberate choice or you don't following what music people are listening to?
AN: That's a sore point for me. I always lived in lower Manhattan, and I lived on 16th Street and 3rd Avenue since 1973. The point is that this is a very musical area for Indie bands, CBGB's, The Academy of Music, and so on. I never really got into that. I saw rock and roll as a homogenized factor for American teens, and absorbed them from what would be an intellectual and literary culture. Initially I had some hostility towards that. Most teens perceived rock and roll as a form of rebellion, and I guess still do, but nowadays seeing a punk is like seeing a hippie back in the 1970s: it's such a cliche. It's not a rebellious act anymore. It's just so sad to see a punk rocker who has a leather jacket and spiked hair today. You might as well join the Republican party. It was a cliche twenty years ago. Music is a small part in my work. I usually celebrate the lamest love songs in a mocking way. It's what I hear in the background at cafes where I write. Most people just ignore it.
AL: Do you write full-time now or do you work at some job to support yourself?
AN: I just got fired from my crappy job of ten years. I was teaching in the South Bronx, which was a noble chore, bringing light to the darkness. I too have Irish ancestry on one side as does Frank McCourt. I write pretty steadily. That's all there's left for people like me. I'm not invited to any parties. I've been excised from the community very slowly. I used to collect string and stack stones, and now my pastime is writing novels.
AL: Was Manhattan Loverboy sort of an attack on yuppiedom and the obsession with the stock market? The silent repressed margins fight back?
AN: This book is about how the city used to be versus what the city is becoming. It's about how the city changes people and is changed by the people. Is it getting better or worse? It's always a different place. New York City is not a good place to be if you're broke. If anyone buys my books, I'll come over and wash their dishes just out of appreciation.
*****

www.akashicbooks.com

Alexander Theroux interview

Interview with Alexander Therouxby Alexander Laurence

Alexander Theroux is the author of three highly literary novels, Three Wogs (1972), Darconville’s Cat (1981), and An Adultery (1987); several books of poetry including most recently The Lollipop Trollops (Dalkey Archive 1992); plays, and now, the new book of essays Three Primary Colors (Henry Holt). John Updike has called the book “an amazing display of omnidirectional erudition and an omnivorous poetic instinct.” Mr. Theroux has taught at Harvard, MIT, Yale, and the University of Virginia. He lives in Barnstable, Massachusetts,
Could you say something about the new book?
Alexander Theroux: The Primary Colors is a celebration not only of the colors red, yellow, and blue but the possibility of giving exuberant cross-cultural commentary on anything. I could have done the same thing about Morocco, Fatty Arbuckle, or the shapes of mouths.
How has your writing process changed since your first novel Three Wogs?
AT: I’ve become more self-conscious, more alert to a my self, a better craftsman, but I’ve probably never been as happy with having written something, no matter how crapulous or inconsequential. But what can compare, say, to adolescent love? I often thought I would die from joy.
How does music influence you as a writer?
AT: Rhythm is important for style, humor, often real comprehension. You can find it as much in Etta James’ “I’d Rather Go Blind” as in Macbeth. The magic of various articles of mine done for various magazines has been killed by editors, convinced cretins, merely taking out a word.
How does art compete with popular culture?
AT: Art, which rarely fails to notice it, has never competed or been confused with popular culture, except in sad souls like Camille Paglia’s, who pretends that she is interested in people like, say, the poet Cacco Angiolieri (1260-1312) but in reality wants to be seen with Madonna. Nixon’s crimes have been forgiven him, according to Lewis Lapham, because he worked so hard to forgive them. But he was a mental case. What about courting tabloid stars?
What is your impression of the term "post-modernism?"
AT: I know nothing about "post-modernism,” except that when I taught at Yale it was a name given to (a) poorly organized short stories students handed in and (b) a spate of crapulous and egotistical criticism where professors confuse themselves with the authors they were interpreting.
Has economics ruined the state of today's art? No one talks about contemporary painting, Anselm Kiefer or Balthus or Eric Fischl for instance, without referring to the price.
AT: Milton got paid 15 pounds for Paradise Lost, while Sidney Sheldon is a millionaire. I weep for merit unrewarded and the proliferation of dunces. Who isn’t tired of all the artless Angelous and warty Wallers. But try to complain. It’s like trying to heat a lobster trap.
There are a number of writers now that are embracing the speed of culture, and capitalizing on pop iconography.
AT: Novels are often no longer written as books qua books, dense products to be picked up and put down, compendia of wit and wisdom, fat with like sentence and solas, like Gravity’s Rainbow or Middlemarch or One Hundred Years of Solitude. Films seem to be on writer’s minds. Hollywood. I’m not sure anymore that knowledge is important to writers. I know it is to me. To Nicholson Baker. To Updike.
Darconville's Cat is a parody of several literary cultures and stretches across much history and learning. Can this novel have any meaning for today’s readers?
AT: Darconville’s Cat in its compendiousness takes language as its province. I use rich but not always general words to clarify not obfuscate. Satirists have always greatly depended on language for their wit. Readers who are neither curious nor inculturated to the tradition of the “encyclopedic” novel will find it all confusing.
How do you see the relation of high art to erotic writing?
AT: Well, look at The Song of Solomon. Lovely. L. P. Hartley’s The Go-Between, Romeo and Juliet. The better novels of D. H. Lawrence. It is always the hack who in his despair becomes salacious, relying on the common and the hackneyed. Good writing is always an assault on cliché.
If you had a party, which historical or literary figures would you invite?
AT: Shakespeare, Milton, Dickens, Proust, Baron Corvo, Thomas Jefferson, Issac Newton, Ingrid Bergman, and The Great Gildersleeve. (pause) Camille Paglia would of course be hired as caterer. She could get autographs.
What should a writer know?
AT: To learn the shadow is the trompe l’oeil  of the sun and to never forget it.
What is your opinion of the writer, Edward Dahlberg?
AT: Edward Dahlberg too often became the purveyor of laborious pronunciamenti. When he was younger and spontaneous, he wrote better. I’ve always wondered if those condundra of his came naturally. They did to Wilde.
What do you think of the esthetics of the Beat Generation writers and poets?
AT: I like Kerouac, who seemed to care. Ginsberg always struck me as facile. Was he ever serious? Howl was great, but I myself have written great things on napkins. Gary Synder probably should have become a Trappist. You can make a good case for the non-existence of spontaneous art. Writing is re-writing. Face it. Next question.
Can satire still be written in the age of political correctness?
AT: Respect has never gone to bed with satire. Even to worry for a minute about offending someone is a refrigerant to the whole mode of satire. “Political correctness” is cowardice and hypocrisy of course, dressed up. It is so shallow and so secular and so transparent. Does anyone fall for it? Does anyone get away with it?
What do you think of the writer’s life?
AT: I find true writers the most noble of people, and even when they are vain, I can excuse it. The bravery of making! “Rehearse death,” said Senece. “To say this is to tell a person to rehearse his freedom. A person who has learned how to die has unlearned how to be a slave.” To get up in the morning and fill pages with ordered thought? What on earth is nobler. OK, Mother Teresa’s work. Nothing else. It is the poetaster, the starfucker, the hybrid soul I abhor.

November 1994

FYF Fest Announced w/ the Strokes, Phoenix, Interpol, Haim, Death Grips

FYF FESTAUGUST 23rd & 24th, 2014LA SPORTS ARENA & EXPOSITION PARK
Saturday, August 23rdPhoenix, Interpol, Slowdive, Julian Casablancas, Grimes, Little Dragon, Caribou, Future Islands, Tycho, Death Grips, Slint, Against Me!, Albert Hammond Jr, Real Estate, Todd Terje (Live), Run the Jewels, Ty Segall, Boris, Man Man, DJ Harvey, Angel Olsen, XXYYXX, Mount Kimbie, Joyce Manor,  Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks, Chet Faker, Mariachi El Bronx, Connan Mockasin, Daniel Avery, Jacco Gardner Sunday, August 24thThe Strokes, HAIM, The Blood Brothers, Flying Lotus, Blood Orange, DARKSIDE, Jamie XX, Built to Spill, Earl Sweatshirt, Four Tet, Murder City Devils, Mac Demarco, The Bronx, Tanlines, John Talabot (DJ Set), Daphni, Presidents of the USA, Deafheaven, La Dispute, Thundercat, Kindness, Kelela, Ryan Hemsworth, Les Sins, Pink Mountaintops, Benjamin Booker, Jessy Lanza, Balance & Composure, Joanna Gruesome, Twin Peaks Presented by Goldenvoice & FYF.  Tickets on sale this Thursday, May 22nd at 12pm PST Details at :fyffest.comFacebookTwitterInstagram 

LOOP @ Biltmore Vancouver

All photos taken in Vancouver BC by Bev Davies.

The Beach Boys Celebrate 50 Years of "Fun, Fun, Fun" with New U.S Tour

THE BEACH BOYS CELEBRATE 50 YEARS OF "FUN, FUN, FUN"  WITH NEW U.S. & INTERNATIONAL TOUR DATES
AL JARDINE & DAVID MARKS TO MAKE SPECIAL APPEARANCE AT JONES BEACH JULY 5TH PERFORMANCE
Grammy®-Winning Singer/Guitarist Jeffrey Foskett Officially Joins The Band
The Beach Boys Unveil Special VIP Package for Fans at Select Venues
  
LOS ANGELES, CA, MAY 15, 2014 - Fifty years after recording one of the greatest summer anthems of all time, "Fun, Fun, Fun," Grammy® Award-winning and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band, The Beach Boys, are in full swing for a U.S. tour and select international dates. The Beach Boys will be playing a host of festivals, amphitheaters, concert halls and arenas throughout the year. On July 5th, The Beach Boys will play Jones Beach, with special appearances from Al Jardine and David Marks.
In addition, Grammy®-winning singer and guitarist Jeffrey Foskett has joined The Beach Boys as a permanent member of the group's touring band. He replaces Christian Love, who is departing the band to pursue a solo career after eight years of touring.
"Year after year it's been a great source of inspiration to see the happiness our music has brought to multiple generations of Beach Boy fans in so many parts of the world," said Mike Love, lead singer and co-founder of The Beach Boys. "This summer I'm particularly excited for the Jones Beach show, which is such a terrific, iconic venue. It will be very special to share the stage with some old friends and bandmates, Al Jardine and David Marks. Bruce and I are really happy to have Jeffrey Foskett rejoin the band- he's a great vocalist and musician and has a long history with The Beach Boys. It's been awesome to have my son my Christian performing with us for much of the past decade. I'm so proud of him and I wish him well in his work as a solo artist. As talented as he is, I hope he'll still want to join his Dad on stage every once and a while."
Al Jardine and David Marks recently performed with Mike Love on stage at the Society of Singers gala in Los Angeles, where Love received the prestigious ELLA Award. At the February 25th event, Love was tributed by such legendary artists as Bill Medley, Micky Dolenz, America, Christopher Cross, Dean Torrence, Dave Koz and David Lee Roth.
Foskett has had a long and successful music career, both as a solo artist and playing alongside some of music's greatest, including Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Ringo Starr. Since his first concert with The Beach Boys in 1981, Foskett has maintained a long relationship with the band, most recently working with co-founding member, Brian Wilson, on a number of projects including Smile, which garnered a Grammy® Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Foskett's impressive vocal range can be heard on The Beach Boys' 2012 album, That's Why God Made the Radio, which debuted at number three on the Billboard album chart.
The Beach Boys touring band features lead singer and songwriter, Mike Love, Grammy® Award-winning artist Bruce Johnston, musical director Scott Totten, guitarist Jeffrey Foskett, keyboardist Tim Bonhomme, bass player Randell Kirsch and drummer John Cowsill.
At select venues, The Beach Boys will be offering three distinct VIP packages for fans to enjoy exclusive backstage access, front row seats, pictures and Q&A's with the band, re-mastered Beach Boys songs, autographed USB laminate loaded music and other special memorabilia. For more information, fans can visit www.MikeLove.com/VIP, beginning May 25th.
For ticket information and the latest updates on sale dates for concerts and performances please continue checking back on: http://www.ticketmaster.com/The-Beach-Boys-tickets/artist/734518. Additional U.S. and International tour dates are expected to be announced later in 2014.
"FUN, FUN, FUN" SUMMER CONCERT TOUR DATES ARE AS FOLLOWS:05/25 - Louisville, KC @ Belvedere Festival Park06/06 - Loveland, CO @ Budweiser Events Ctr.06/07 - Ft. Yates, ND @ Prairie Knights Casino06/08 - Moorhead, MN @ Bluestem Center06/13 - Richfield, UT @ Sevier Valley Ctr. Arena06/14 - Wendover, NV @ Peppermill Casino06/21 - Laughlin, NV @ Edgewater Casino06/22 - Arcadia, CA @ LA Arboretum06/24 - Surrey, UK @ Hampton Court06/25 - Surrey, UK @ Hampton Court06/26 - Derry, N. IRE @ Ebrington Square06/27 - Zurich, Switzerland @ Kongresshaus07/01 - Rattvik, Sweden @ Dalhalla07/05 - Long Island, NY @ Jones Beach07/10 - Huntsville, AL @ Von Braun07/12 - Peachtree, GA @ Frederick Brown Amphitheatre07/17 - Epsom, UK @ Downs Racecourse07/18 - Newmarket, UK @ Racecourse07/19 - Newbury, UK @ Racecourse07/21 - Madrid, Spain @ Festival07/23 - Marbella, Spain @ Starlite Festival07/25 - York, UK @ Racecourse07/26 - Ocean Grove, NJ @ The Great Auditorium07/27 - Selbyville, DE @ Freeman Stage07/28 - Lancaster, PA @ American Music Theater07/29 - Columbus, OH @ Ohio State Fair07/31 - Ventura, CA @ Ventura County Fair08/01 - Saratoga, CA @ Mountain Winery08/02 - Reno, NV @ Silver Legacy08/06 - Sioux Falls, ND @ Sioux Empire Fair08/09 - Williams Bay, WI @ Ferro Pavilion08/10 - Detroit, MI @ Freedom Hill08/12 - Pomona, NY @ Provident Bank Park08/13 - Aston, PA @ Sun Center08/14 - Stamford, CT @ Columbus Park08/15 - Hampton Beach, NH @ HB Casino Ballroom08/16 - Newport, RI @ Yacht Club08/17 - Webster, MA @ Indian Ranch08/21 - Princeton, IL @ Bureau County Fair08/26 - Chicago, IL @ Ravinia08/27 - Livermore, CA @ Wente Winery08/28 - Jacksonville, OR @ Britt Pavilion08/30 - Snoqualmie, WA @ Casino Amphitheater08/31 - Ferndale, WA @ Silver Reef Casino09/01 - Salem, OR @ State Fair09/07 - Wooster, OH @ Wayne County Fair09/18 - Paducah, KY @ Carson Center09/19 - Belleville, IL @ Town Square09/20 - Dubuque, IA @ Diamond Jo Casino10/03 - Rancho Mirage, CA @ Agua Caliente10/04 - Las Vegas, NV @ Cannery10/05 - San Diego, CA @ Humphrey's10/08 - San Antonio, TX @ Majestic Theatre10/09 - Houston, TX @ Arena Theater10/10 - Biloxi, MS @ Beau Rivage10/11 - Biloxi, MS @ Beau Rivage11/21 - Paris, France @ L'Olympia11/22 - Frederikshavn, Denmark @ Denmark-Arena Nord

New Releases: Brian Jonestown Massacre REVELATION

Anton Newcombe is a busy artist and entrepreneur.  While establishing his studio in Berlin and launching A Recordings in 2012, Anton has recorded several artists and released music by his hand-picked bands (Weird Owl, Magic Castles) while also propelling the dynamic, Brian Jonestown Massacre. Highly prolific on Twitter and posting works-in-progress on Ustream and YouTube, Anton reaches his fans directly who in turn have exhaulted him as defining leader of a lifestyle and musical subculture. Yet he continues to touch the mainstream: Boardwalk Empire theme, Anthony Bourdain lists "Anemone" as a favorite song in  Rolling Stone  and Dig continues to be one of the best Rock Docs ever.

BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE: Revelation (May 20)
Encompassing all the weirdness that has been discovered in the past 40 years, Revelation advances the traditional Brian Jonestown Massacre sound of mixing eastern influences with western rock. Two-dozen band members later and numerous “ups and downs” (some have been famously sensationalized in the media), the one thing that has always remained consistent for this psychedelic collective, is front man Mr. Anton Alfred Newcombe. Recorded from late 2012-2014, Revelation is the 14th BJM album and the first album that was fully recorded and produced at Anton’s recording studio in Berlin, Germany.Along with headlining Austin Psych Fest, BJM just played Santa Ana, Oakland and LA. Now it is back to Europe for a 45 date tour throughout the summer.
·      Listen to “What You Isn’t” here:https://soundcloud.com/wastedyouthpr/brian-jonestown-massacre-what/s-qA0r2
·      For the quintessential interview with Anton Newcombe, listen to Pharmacy Radio podcast where he reveals the recording process, how becoming sober changed his life and music, funny stories about music industry, and the status of his friendship with Courtney and the Dandys:  http://i.mixcloud.com/CH9mtH
·      I noticed this insightful & hilarious interview by The Guardian when Andy Partridge/XTC tweeted about it yesterday: gu.com/p/3p7kg/tw
·     And for the ultimate jam, check out when BJM joined The Dandy Warhols on stage at Austin Psych Fest to perform "Oh Lord:" http://youtu.be/7ZPw3Gw0m0E+++

Mute Signs The Acid, NPR Premieres 'Fame' Video

ANNOUNCE MUTE SIGNING 
NEW ALBUM LIMINAL OUT JULY 15TH, 2014
NPR PREMIERES NEW VIDEO FOR ‘FAME’


The Acid have announced a new partnership with Mute Records and US/Canada release of their exceptional debut album  Liminal  on July 15th 2014. Infectious Music will release Liminal ROW July 7th, 2014.To celebrate this news, The Acid are excited to offer a new video for album track‘Fame’ via NPR.
The Acid came together from three separate worlds.  They are globe trotting, Grammy nominated DJ & Producer Adam Freeland, creator of subversive crossover hit 'We Want Your Soul', spearhead of a scene and label boss of Brighton's Marine Parade Records; Californian Polymath Steve Nalepa, whose time is split as a producer, composer, professor of music technology; and Australian, LA based artist and producer Ry X, whose ‘Berlin EP’ was released in late 2013 to softly bubbling acclaim, and who, with his other alter ego as one half of Howling, created an eponymous club smash and toured heavily through 2013’s festival circuit.
Ry and Adam, who had initially met in Australia several years prior, ran into each other at a mutual friend’s party in LA last year. They found common ground in Ry’s recent Berlin underground music adventures and started hanging out, experimenting with song ideas and recording sketches on their iPhones as they went. They fast realized their writing styles coalesced into an exhilarating new form.
The sound they’ve created together is truly genre-less, a term used with increasing frequency but never quite so well suited as to them. The guitar, at times three or four of them layered together, seamlessly blends in amongst bass shudders, beat pulses and elongated drones as Ry’s vocals beatify then rage amidst delicate synth lines and pitched down field recordings of street noise, birds, the clacking of bicycle spokes and the creaking of a leather jacket. The Acid weren’t even sure what they were composing at first, as Ry describes, “It’s like painting before you know what you are painting. You’re stuck in the process before you’ve got an idea of what you’re making. The beauty of that is complete freedom.”
The video for album track ‘Fame,’ was directed by Ry X and Dugan O’Neal (TV On The Radio, Glitch Mob), and features choreography from notable dance and performance artist trio WIFE. Watch the video here.

Liminal  Tracklisting: 1. Animal2. Veda3. Creeper4. Fame5. Ra6. Tumbling Lights7. Ghost8. Basic Instinct9. Red10. Clean11. Feed
THE ACID: WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | SOUNDCLOUD