because sometimes the moment needs
a little late '80s neo-hippie vibe
Really Bad Movies
poetry/antipoetry & exploitation movies
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Previous Posts
- the buttercup grill & bar coupletssome places are ...
- i don't know what it is but. . .from silliman's li...
- things to do this summer by nicholas lopez[transcr...
- sittin' around / doing nothingbut for a purpose. w...
- this means nothing to mefor no other reason but th...
- the tao of the vcrfor ernesto priegoPopped the tap...
- quote unquoteHow the Zen Master Got through Airpor...
- very nearly springit was like proserpina visited n...
- hugo est mort (2000 -- 2010)a hole is left in our ...
- contourssome put their trust in a round imaginatio...
8 Comments:
Looking back now, I think of that as a special time. I loved their first album from the moment I heard "Fool's Gold" (still do).
guillermo: for me it was a special time because i was young and still new-fangled. the whole manchester neo-hippie movement, and the neo-hippie movement as practiced by edie brickell and the new bohemians and tracy chapman, back in the late '80s, both excited and repelled me at the same time. i liked the vibe but the practice seemed forced and ill-conceived. not a lot of peace, love and understanding. more about ecstacy mind-alteration and going to clubs. still, looking back on it now it seems to me that there was something positive in the air that might be missing from the indie scene today.
What did you think of "Twenty Four Hour Party People"?
ryan:
a fantastic movie that chronicles a vital era and record label. steve coogan is wonderful in the role. and the section that deals with joy division, esp. when a journalist questions coogan about using the nazi phrase, joy division, and coogan snaps and says, haven't you ever read debord or know anything about the situationists? perfect!
Yeah, there was definitely an element of repetition at the time, of trying to relive past counterculture glories. But in that recycling or repetition I think eventually some original stuff emerged. Even though Nirvana's become very commodified, I think they had something real in their work. I suppose the best artists of the late 80s/early 90s knew they were being commodified and tried to subvert that inevitable situation as best as they could.
I was very inspired by Pavement at the time, so I'm interested in their current tour. Or, several years ago when Slint reunited (saw their Boston show, it was amazing).
I loved 24 Hour Party People and really enjoyed the last scene on the rooftop, in particular, as it really evokes being awake at dawn after an adventure, the sense of sacredness, goofiness and an awareness of something ending.
guillermo:
that is a great scene when coogan sees god.
some bands from the late '80s never really got fully commodified. don't forget the pixies who made quite a noise but didn't become a household word before disbanding. same for the sugarcubes, a band i also loved from the era.
later both bands did become indie cultural loadstones. i want to say something regarding that they attained their status after they were gone is the nature of art itself. rare is it that an art-form or artist is popular and excellent. it seems the history of our cultures is quite the opposite. but i can't quite phrase that thought in a way that might make even a lick of sense.
so yes, i think the neo-hippie movement of the late '80s was a reaching back to the not-so-distant past but that wasn't my beef with it so much. it was something else. i was ready for a youth movement on par of the original hippie movement. and that just never materialized. it dissolved as quickly as it appeared.
now with nirvana and the whole indie scene of the early '90s, there was something in the air. a positive change and music was part of that change. it was only a moment but it was a glorious moment.
Yeah! There was definitely some magic in the early 90s. I remember, for instance, seeing Sonic Youth play a couple times at my university and just being amazed, it was a thrill. The second time they opened for Neil Young & Crazy Horse and the majority of the fans (in the huge USF Sundome) were annoyed by Sonic Youth, some were even booing. So, the band just played weirder and sloppier and just freaked everyone out, it was great.
guillermo: that was the one concert i regret not attending. i was living in s florida when sonic youth and neil young were on tour and i think they were playing in miami, a short drive from where i was living at the time. and if i remember this right, social distortion was the opening band. shit, that holy trinity experienced in the flesh and i would've probably died from the intensity but would've died a happy man. as i've managed to hang on for nearly 20 more years is probably a good thing and a good thing that i didn't go to the concert and died of happiness.
Post a Comment
<< Home