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Lord knows I love watching men doing their little silly manly things. As a big fan of If… the 1968 film by Lindsay Anderson, you can imagine how I felt the first time I watched Feltham Sings, a Channel4 documentary/musical about a prison for male juveniles. This experiment in reality tv has the magic any format has in its early days and because of this, doesn’t feel as exploitative as your typical contemporary cookie cutter reality shows. Feltham Sings is as fresh and heartfelt as it sounds: Feltham’s young offenders narrate the tragic stories that led them to prison and then sing a song about it in the style of their choice, from rap to jungle. Even the guards participate in some of the “music videos”. That’s it. It’s sad and heartbreaking while subtly comical: the inevitable tenderness of these teens trying to sing, brings in a touch of amateurism that is reminiscent of another favorite of mine: Konkurs, a film by Milos Forman where a series of village girls compete in a singing contest filled with screeching voices, eccentric performances and really interesting 1960’s Czech hairstyles.
Oct 25, 2022
Related Recs
IMO this is one of the finest rock-docs ever made. Not sure how close to reality it really is (maybe more "film" than "documentary"), but filmmaker Ondi Timoner followed the bands in question (Portland's Dandy Warhols and SF's Brian Jonestown Massacre) for seven years, amassing something like 2500 hours of footage, to craft a narrative that basically portrays a love/hate relationship between the bands (at one point, BJM frontman Anton Newcombe sends each member of Dandy Warhols a bullet with his/her name on it). I had the advantage of knowing both bands on their own terms -- the Dandys' Courtney Taylor-Taylor is a longtime friend, and I've been a fan of BJM for years, as my reviews/interviews would show -- so I can pick around a bit between what seems real (the music itself, life on the road, dealing with labels and the biz) and what seems contrived (the friction between the bands, Anton's seemingly over-the-top persona). The Dandys are THE most fun hang of all time -- their rehearsal space-cum-party cabin/clubhouse, the Odditorium in Portland, took up a full city block and hosted absolute ragers over the years (including an amazing night with David Bowie and band). The film is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and Timoner has added scenes and additional narration from BJM tambourine player (!!) Joel Gion to bring the movie up to date and balance out some of the overblown-ness of the original version. Compulsive viewing, dead ahead: "Choose your own adventure" with the cameras rolling.
Mar 12, 2024
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Sydney uni student life in the 90s goodness/drama/wankerishness shown via a 4 part docuseries
Oct 18, 2024
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An aging raver goes to an inner-city East London High School to tell the kids that things used to different and maybe a little cooler. The kids aren't exactly sure if they should belive him. One of my new favorite music documentaries.
For fans for Adam Curtis, UK Jungle, and ethnography.
Jan 21, 2024
Top Recs from @amalia-ulman
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Ah…. Trungpa Trungpa. I don’t follow any gurus, nor am I satisfied with any religion in particular, but for many years, I’ve been walking the tightrope between Catholic mysticism and Buddhism. I’m somewhat attracted to Chogyam Trungpa because he’s intentionally bad and everyone in religious circles is always trying so hard to be seem good. He’s a bit of a charlatan but some of his ideas resonate with me, particularly for art making. He coined the term Crazy Wisdom which refers to unconventional, outrageous behavior linked to religious or spiritual pursuits. He was a womanizer who drank, took drugs, and often acted inappropriately to test everyone else around him. He also mocked his western followers’ superficiality by making fun of the sari-wearing hippies that attended his lectures, to which he showed up dressing like a conservative british man (a bit of a Gilbert and George move) instead of the expected traditional Tibetan costume. The play on identities appeals to me. But that being said, I wouldn’t be able to tolerate his contrarianism without Ram Dass by his side providing me with comfort and soft spoken guidance. Great good cop/bad cop combination.
Oct 25, 2022
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And this will be where I sound batshit crazy, but here I go. There’s a silly documentary on Youtube that really affected me, it’s about Anna Breytenbach and her ability to communicate with animals. I know it sounds like bullshit but there’s something about her that makes me believe that she can. I’ve looked at other animal psychics and a lot of them feel like verbose scammers but I don’t have that feeling with Anna. Either way, it isn’t even about actually communicating (with words) but more about becoming quietly attuned to animals, which I do believe is possible and I try to do in my day to day. It’s my favorite little luxury, to be able to spend hours in silence chilling with my cats and understanding all their meows and subtle movements. To contemplate. This is connected to my religious practice of slowmaxxxxxxing, which is a very stupid new word for something I’ve done all my life and my mother would call “parsimonia”, which is to transform regular tasks into delicate, precious rituals, doing everything very slowly and paying attention to detail, to silence. There’s something very humbling about learning to do things the way animals want and not the way it feels good to me. I enjoy experiencing different planes of perception and this is a very good way to do it.
Oct 25, 2022
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My favorite waters are Evian (for casual occasions) and Kaiserwasser (for special occasions) but I recently discovered Sariza water and I was very pleasantly surprised, especially since I got it at the bodega downstairs. 776 Sariza is mineral spring water from the Greek springs of Sariza. According to the company: The water has healing properties, it was suggested that it cures kidney ailments and many other diseases. There is a sign next to the spring saying: “Hi stranger, remember, whenever you return to your homeland, you owe your life to me.” Can’t vouch for any of this but I sure like the taste. There’s nothing more precise I can say about mineral water as of now… but I will be going to water sommelier school next year and I’m looking forward to describing why I like some waters over others in a more convincing manner very soon.
Oct 25, 2022