Tosh Berman's Blog, page 192
October 12, 2015
"Massive Pissed Love: Nonfiction 2001-2014" by Richard Hell
ISBN: 978-1-59376-627-6 Soft Skull PressRichard Hell can't do no wrong in my world. He's a man of great taste (even though I do not agree with some of it), and one of the few who can mix making music and writing very well. This is his first collection of essays, reviews, and nonfiction writing. It's a wonderful way to spend time with someone, without actually sitting across from Mr. Hell. He's a superb prose writer, who reads the world of cinema, literature, the visual arts and music quite well. His observations of life in New York City right after 9/11 is even unique, in the way he talks about how the city smelled during that time. His writing actually affects all my senses. If he ever wanted to be a food/restaurant critic, I'm sure he would be great for that as well.
I think a lot of people when they hear the name "Richard Hell" - explicit images come up. The thing is, Richard can articulate who he is, and why he likes a certain work of art, or why he does not like it. I can imagine him being a distinguished humanities professor. He understands why people create, and he's sensitive to the process of doing art. I recommend "Massive Pissed Love" to those who know Richard through his music and his role in the New York punk world. But beyond that, Hell is just naturally a very skilled writer. On one level, he's the other side of the coin when it comes to Patti Smith. It's interesting to read both of their memoirs right after the other - because in a way it deals with the same subject matter - and both are very unique and clear-headed prose stylists. Essential book for your collection.
October 11, 2015
The Sunday Series; Sunday October 11, 2015
The Sunday SeriesSunday October 11, 2015
Nothing moves forward unless you yourself become extreme. Otherwise it is what it always is, and that, is not going to happen. I started a vegetarian society called “The Friends of Shelley” - named after the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, who was a life-long vegetarian. He wrote an essay, “A Vindication of Natural Diet, ” where he pisses on the human that eats animal flesh. To quote him in this piece: “And man … no longer now/ He slays the lamb that looks him in the face, / And horribly devours his mangled flesh.”
I went to my local vegetarian restaurant that will remain nameless right now, to protect them from the meat-eaters from that neighborhood, who often shows disrespect to those who choose to befriend the animal than killing them. I left a notice for those who want to go the extra-step in preserving the animal population, that they should meet me at Echo Park Lake near the closed entrance of the bridge going over the water. 9 people showed up - five of them were women, and the other four were male. I read them poetry by Shelley, and told them that I wanted to start a secret society where we devote ourselves to the vegetarian lifestyle and to acknowledge the struggle against the meat-eater, who has nothing but hatred towards us.
Los Angeles is not so bad. There are various vegetarian restaurants as well as a lot of dining places that have a veggie section on their menu. What we want to do is eliminate all meat dishes everywhere. If you allow such a dish to hit the dining table, then that means others will follow. Also it’s getting harder to have a meal with a meat-eating friend. To sit across the table and watch someone fill their gaping hole under their nose with the flesh of an animal is perhaps the most obscene thing ever presented to me. Chewing food seems cruel enough, but to think teeth grinding into something that was once alive, well…
We met at the Echo Park Lake again, but this time at 2 in the morning. We met in the darkest part of the park where the traffic going by would not notice us. I had one lit candle, and as usual read Shelley’s poetry to the gang. It was decided that we will attack all the brand name chain restaurants that feature meat as the main subject matter of their business. With the help of the Google map, we found at least five fast-food restaurants within a ten mile radius. We decided to use as a costume for the gang, a clown outfit, and we plan to attack each restaurant by robbing the place and then handing the dough to the customers, and tell them to spend their money on food that doesn’t rely on once living creatures.
I set up camp in my backyard, where we practiced military maneuvers and sleep on the bushes in the hopes of attracting wild animals. We feel, or I should say I, believe that if you lay yourself down with an animal, one becomes closer to the beast. One night I slept on the hill when I felt a breath above my face. I didn’t respond nor showed fear, but I gently and slowly opened my eye to see a coyote looking straight at me and only inches from my face. Once we saw that I was alive, he or she was scared. But I didn’t move, nor changed my breathing. Once he saw that I was alive, and I wasn’t going to attack him or her, he kindly licked my hand. The tongue was rough, and I gently rubbed my fingers against their paw. He licked my face, and I licked back. I gently took the head and placed its mouth on my mouth. I put my tongue in its mouth and kissed the coyote.
The next morning, I felt my purpose on this planet became crystal clear. Me and the rest of “The Friends of Shelley” gang will be committed for the right change, and won’t back down. One of the texts that we are drawn to is worth quoting fully. It’s by Voltaire and here it is:
“How pitiful, and what poverty of mind, to have said that the animals are machines deprived of understanding and feeling . . . Judge (in the same way as you would judge your own) the behaviour of a dog who has lost his master, who has searched for him in the road barking miserably, who has come back to the house restless and anxious, who has run upstairs and down, from room to room, and who has found the beloved master at last in his study, and then shown his joy by barks, bounds and caresses. There are some barbarians who will take this dog, that so greatly excels man in capacity for friendship, who will nail him to a table, and dissect him alive, in order to show you his veins and nerves. And what you then discover in him are all the same organs of sensation that you have in yourself. Answer me, mechanist, has Nature arranged all the springs of feeling in this animal to the end that he might not feel? Has he nerves that he may he incapable of suffering?” - Voltaire
I have a large estate in Silver Lake, and I decided, with the great assistance of “The Friends of Shelley” to start a colony called “Monte Verità.” As a group we “abhorred private property, practiced a rigid code of morality, strict vegetarianism and nudism.” We are also against the institution of marriage, party politics and dogmas. Due that it is my property, I decided to take the fence down, so wild animals can come in and mingle with the humans. We, as a group refuse to own pets, because that is slavery in our opinion. At this time, I have a dog, two cats, and a parakeet. I released all my animals to the world, and they are free to stay or wander the earth. And one must remember, “The Friends of Shelley” will not take any prisoners, but on the other hand, we will love you as a brother, sister, or more likely, as an animal.
October 10, 2015
"M Train" by Patti Smith
ISBN: 9781408867693"M Train" is perhaps one of the most romantic books of being a writer, and those who likes to read. What can be better than reading and writing in a small hip cafe, and watching the world go by. And on top of that, visit every cool writer's grave site - from Europe to Japan. Patti Smith is not a hard person to figure out. She conveys the spirit of being a book nerd as well as a rock n' roll lunatic. In many ways, it's a very simple image of a writer/artist. Yet it is the simple aspect of it that many are driven towards that world. Millions feel like Patti, but she has the ability to write in a very clear manner her love for icons such as the Beats, Genet, Rimbaud - and to my utter delight - Osamu Dazai. And speaking of Japan, I'm happy that she gives a call-out to my favorite cafe - "The Lion" in Shibuya, Tokyo.For those who fell in love with Patti Smith due to her previous book "Just Kids," will not find the same type of narrative. This is very much a writer's book, about writing and thinking. Also it's a book about nothing, which for many of us (including me) is very much an aesthetic that one follows. In other words, this is a book that is hard to dislike, and one can only dislike this book, if you don't have the romantic impulse of reading and worshiping your favorite artists. For me, I don't see art or artists in that light. They are not gods, but humans, and that is what strikes my fancy regarding the artist and their role in our world.
If I were you (readers), I would treat "M Train" as a classic. I would recommend this book to romantic girls and boys, as well as a bit of social history through the eyes of Patti Smith. May you sit in that cafe, for a long time.
October 9, 2015
October 8, 2015
Semina Culture Wallace Berman & His Circle ARTBOOK | D.A.P. 2015 Catalog Books Exhibition Catalogues 9781938922725
Semina Culture: Wallace Berman & His CirclePublished by D.A.P./Santa Monica Museum of Art
Edited with text by Michael Duncan, Kristine McKenna. Text by Stephen Fredman.
This reprint of the now classic and much sought-after 2005 volume celebrates the circle of the quintessential visual artist of the Beat era, Wallace Berman (1926–76), who remains one of the best-kept secrets of the postwar era. A crucial figure in California's underground culture, Berman was a catalyst who traversed many different worlds, transferring ideas and dreams from one circle to the next. His larger community is the subject of Semina Culture, which includes previously unseen works by 52 artists. Anchoring this publication is Semina, a loose-leaf art and poetry journal that Berman published in nine issues between 1955 and 1964. Although printed in extremely short runs and distributed to only a handful of friends and sympathizers, Semina is a brilliant and beautifully made compendium of the most interesting artists and poets of its time, and is today a very rare collector's item. Showcasing the individuals that defined a still-potent strand of postwar counterculture, Semina Culture outlines the energies and values of this fascinating circle. Also reproduced here are works by those who appear in Berman's own photographs, approximately 100 of which were recently developed from vintage negatives, and which are seen here for the first time. These artists, actors, poets, curators, musicians and filmmakers include Robert Alexander, John Altoon, Toni Basil, Wallace Berman, Ray Bremser, Bonnie Bremser, Charles Britten, Joan Brown, Cameron, Bruce Conner, Jean Conner, Jay DeFeo, Diane DiPrima, Kirby Doyle, Bobby Driscoll, Robert Duncan, Joe Dunn, Llyn Foulkes, Ralph Gibson, Allen Ginsberg, George Herms, Jack Hirschman, Walter Hopps, Dennis Hopper, Billy Jahrmarkt, Jess, Lawrence Jordan, Patricia Jordan, Bob Kaufman, Philip Lamantia, William Margolis, Michael McClure, David Meltzer, Taylor Mead, Henry Miller, Stuart Perkoff, Jack Smith, Dean Stockwell, Ben Talbert, Russ Tamblyn, Aya (Tarlow), Alexander Trocchi, Edmund Teske, Zack Walsh, Lew Welch and John Wieners.Featured image, Wallace Berman's "Untitled" verifax collage, 1961–62, is reproduced from Semina Culture.Semina Culture Wallace Berman & His Circle ARTBOOK | D.A.P. 2015 Catalog Books Exhibition Catalogues 9781938922725
October 7, 2015
"Bowie" by Simon Critchley (Or Books)
9781939293541 Or BooksPhilosopher Simon Critchley on a very important subject matter: David Bowie. As a hardcore Bowie fan, who has read many books on the artist, this one is not exactly essential, but still interesting. To be honest, I feel that the Facebook page I put up for Bowie's albums, are much more interesting and insightful in the making of these albums. The Critchley book is charming, but it really doesn't go into the depth of Bowie's work. In other words, it is not obsessive! He does write about religion in Bowie's songs as well as other spiritual issues that comes up a lot in his work, and also the subject matter of identity as well. This book is not meant to be the end-all of all Bowie text - but just something to pile on the top of the Bowie library or in other words, throw it in with the other Bowie titles.
www.orbooks.com
Velaslavasay Panorama presents "Dog, Lights and Sewing Machine - Our Sound of Beyond
Saturday, October 17th, 2015 7:00PM$12 General / $10 MembersTickets Available Online
Curated by Lun*na Menoh and presented in conjunction with The Velaslavasay Panorama, Dogs, Lights and Sewing Machine is a psychedelic phenomenon that occurs once every 100 years.
Koji Lijima - The Wagging Dog
A compact iron dog comes from Japan to jam with local drummer Martin Silva.
Sam Rowell - Color Objectivism, Harmonic Distortion, and the Illusion of the Noise-free System
Light and sound create site-specific happenings that meld analog tones and subtle color induction to affect audiences in a way that is both subliminal and corporeal.
Lun*na Menoh and Atuko Yoo - We as the Sewing Machine
The vocal and sampling of sewing machine sounds to create experimental sewing music.
October 6, 2015
"Different Every Time: The Authorized Biography of Robert Wyatt" by Marcus O'Dair
ISBN: 9781593766160 Soft Skull PressThis is not really a biography on Robert Wyatt, but more like an intense love-fest for the artist. And really, who would want less than that? Wyatt is one of the great music figures of the 20th century. A great singer in that Chet Baker mode of intimacy, with a mind like Alfred Jarry and the politics of a hard-left fellow. The book is very strong with respect to the early world of The Soft Machine and Kevin Ayers - another iconic wayward genius. One gets detailed information about the making of all of Wyatt's recordings as well as interviews with the musicians who worked with him. Wyatt comes off as a modest man with elements of genius. One thing that makes clear is that Wyatt's wife and muse, of sorts, Alfreda Bengie is a major force in his life. In many ways, she is George to his Gilbert. Plus her best friend is Julie Christie.
Wyatt sees his life (so far) in two sections. Before and after his accident which made him wheel-chair orientated for the rest of his life. Nevertheless the accident (fall from a window) seemed to give him focus, which leads to works like the classic "Rock Bottom." A perfectionist who sometimes takes great time between albums, is also a musician who likes to work with others on their projects. But whenever Wyatt opens his mouth and sings, it becomes very much a Robert Wyatt recording. The book is essential for Wyatt fans and for those who want to research the early 60s life of bands like Soft Machine, Pink Floyd and a touch of Jimi Hendrix.
October 4, 2015
"My Face For The World To See" by Alfred Hayes (NYRB)
Another obscure title in the Hollywood novel category! Beyond that this is an excellent novel. I can tell you the plot or narrative, but that is not that interesting. What is interesting is how the characters see themselves in this narrative. The inner-dialogue parts are fantastic, and although the novel was written in the late 1950s - it reads very contemporary. Alfred Hayes himself, sounds like a very interesting fellow. He wrote or co-wrote neb-italian film classics as well as being one of those guys who is in the right place at the right time - yet, I never heard of him! Till now. He captures the beginning of a causal affair turning into a nightmare very well.
The edition i read is from the library and it's the original release - NYRB just recently put out their edition - and I strongly recommend those who have a fascination with the Hollywood film world - as well as reading a great psychological narrative on a group of disturbed individuals, to get and read this novel.
"List of the Lost" by Morrissey
978-0-141-98296-0 Penguin Books (British Import)Without a doubt, and clearly, one of the oddest literary works by a pop singer ever. It is really beyond the category of good or bad. On one level, it's brilliant. The truth is if this book was or is simply OK, then that would be a crime against both artificial and real nature. While reading this, the name Ed Wood Junior comes to mind. In that, it's a work by an artist who follows no rules except their own. On one level, it's brilliant that he's working with Penguin, and knows its history quite well. The cover and design of this book are genius-like. But how does he arrange to get a book like this released to the world - and within the Penguin empire?
"List of the Lost" is like no other book. It truly goes beyond even taste. For me, it is probably the most Morrissey-like work, in that he has a platform where Morrissey discusses all his obsessions such as vintage AmericanTV shows, and politics. Since the narrative takes place in the 70s there are American politics, but it reads from the point-of-view of a foreigner. Although the narrative takes place in Boston, it is really that country called "Morrisseyland." It's not the United Kingdom, Europe, and for sure, not really America. Yet, it's interesting how Morrissey looks at American culture. In his style, he re-invents the U.S. culture to suit his own aesthetic. And this is what makes him a real genius. I know he's annoying at times, but like the boy with the thorn in his side, he's endlessly fascinating. And although this book is beyond pain or pleasure, it is truly a work of this man. The truth is I love Morrissey.
