Amoeba hollywood Staff
Spirit Only (LP)
Becker & Mukai
Low-energy, dubby jams in the style of Krautrock kings Can.
Read moreAmoeba Hollywood
One of my new favorite bands signed to one of my favorite labels, Dais Records. Hazy and beautiful stuff from these guys. Excited to see where they are headed.
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Heavier than ever. So psyched they are back. This new stuff made me revisit all of the old albums and it all still sounds amazing. There's no one like Yow.
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Any time Actress puts something out, I take note. One of the coolest and provocative electronic artist of the last 15 years. Check out all of his stuff for sure. "AZD" from 2017 is one of my favs.
Read more![ISDN [30th Anniversary Edition Clear Vinyl] (LP)](/sized-images/max/90/90//uploads/albums/covers/other/602458733570.jpg)
Awesome Mid 90's Techno-Ambient-Break-Sample stuff from FSOL. I missed this one the first time around... been playing this a lot lately.
Read moreDistant Call - Collected Demos 2006-2009 (LP)
Broadcast
Amoeba Hollywood
Skull (LP)
Zyklon B Zombies
Dream House 78'17 (LP)
La Monte Young/Marian Zazeela
Mu (LP)
Don Cherry
Sidney Bechet Plays Sidney Bechet (LP)
Sidney Bechet
Amoeba Hollywood
Amoeba Hollywood
I was expecting Ben to suck but it's actually kinda badass? The relationship between the kid (good little actor) and Ben is effective and there's an alluringly surreal quality to this film. Take, for instance, the townsfolk: after each rat attack, said locals gather to observe the aftermath and just stand there silently, frozen in place like a still life. This happens several times and it's very strange. Equally weird is the fact that the ten year old boy is an incredibly gifted musician and songwriter who sits at a piano and writes the title song off the top of his head. He plays Moonlight Sonata on a harmonica at one point. Gene Siskel gave Ben a highly positive review, praising the film for its successful mixture of gross-out horror and genuine drama. He was right. It's a rock solid b-movie.
Read moreCosmopolis (BLU)
David Cronenberg
Moving up my Cronenberg list. The surreal atmosphere of Cosmopolis could choke a horse; all the elements are off-kilter yet easily recognizable. Unmistakably this planet, the era we inhabit. Eric Packer, the dead-eyed billionaire who cruises through a cramped and crumbling urban hellscape in his tomb-like stretch limo, feels real to us despite behaving like a fucking alien. He displays no visible emotion for any living thing, or the fact that his empire is dissipating all around him, but cries his eyes out over a dead pop star he's never met. Like most of Croney's recent efforts, it's heavier on ideas than on spectacle and largely driven by dialogue. It's not easy to get on board with the unusual melding of Cronenberg and DeLillo, but this time around I was fascinated. Cosmopolis is a layered, relevant piece of work where every line delivered both speaks to our world and helps evoke an entirely new one.
Read more![Dillinger [1973] (BLU)](/sized-images/max/90/90//uploads/buystuff_items/760137833598.jpg)
Conan the Barbarian is cool and everything, but Dillinger is by far the best movie John Milius ever directed. A fast, mean, ultraviolent crime story brought to life by an amazing cast. Harry Dean Stanton makes such an impression with a minimal amount of screen time. Milius was pretty young back in '73 and his raw, unpolished (somewhat scatterbrained) style works for the material. There's a sense of immediacy to it. You might expect him to present these criminals as macho badasses - which he does, to an extent - but he's equally interested in making fun of fragile masculinity and chipping away at American myths.
Read moreNighttime (LP)
Killing Joke
Everyone should own this album. It should be distributed to schoolchildren.
Read more![Pig [2021] (BLU)](/sized-images/max/90/90//uploads/movies/primary/pigcage.jpg)
Understated, contemplative character study about a kind old soul re-entering the life he abandoned in search of his beloved pet pig. The film follows no predictable pattern or formula. First time writer/director Michael Sarnoski displays real control, creating a slightly stylized yet relatable environment while delving into a criminal element rarely depicted on-screen: the culinary underworld. Shady restaurant black markets. What he's saying about love, loss, passion, and remorse is communicated with powerful clarity thanks to a tight script and remarkable acting from Cage, who turns in his finest performance since Leaving Las Vegas.
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