Movie: The Films of Dusan Makavejev

After recently watching two of Dusan Makavejev's most popular films I feel the need to write something about them so as not to forget completely the emotions stirred by the experience. The two films were WR: Mysteries of the Organism and Sweet Movie. Both deal largely with the same underlying theme: The influence of socioeconomics on human behavior.

To even begin describing the films a little background information is necessary. In the 1930's a man named Wilhelm Reich began making waves in the infancy of psychoanalytics. Reich is best known for his theory of Orgone energy which can briefly be described as the electrical energy emitted by all organisms including humans. Reich believed that concentrating this energy by isolating an organism in a wooden box insulated with metal, certain maladies could effectively be cured, namely cancer. Now, this is a bit crazy but the theories that preceded this ridiculous invention are not so crazy. Reich believed that many of the destructive idiosyncrasies harbored by humanity were the result of the refusal to accept and to explore sexuality. He would go on to establish clinics where people could receive sex therapy. In these clinics they would be taught about contraceptives and the idea of free love, challenging their general fright and ignorance of their more basic desires. This was obviously controversial at the time because free love is a concept which is fundamentally incompatible with capitalism. Capitalism is predicated on individual ownership and looking through that lens one could say that a relationship is a situation of mutual ownership. The members of a relationship own each other, including the act of sex, preventing other people from borrowing what could be seen as a protected commodity. Free love in contrast can be seen as a very communist ideology. In communism, all commodities are owned by everyone. Individual ownership doesn't exist so within that system relationships would be dissolved and people would share each other equally, share the act of sex equally. Reich believed this was the more advantageous approach because if sex was free, people would partake in the act more often resulting in an overall healthier society.

WR: Mysteries of the Organism focuses on two major characters, a passionate activist obsessed with sparking the fire of communist revolution with the ultimate purpose of free love, and a free lover by nature who instead of trying to change the world around her, simply indulges herself without worrying about the guidelines of the socioeconomic climate. As the narrative develops the finer details of the absurdity born of taking yourself too seriously become clear. The lover lives perfectly happily while the activist is constantly mired in words and ideals rather than ever once partaking in the behavior she so passionately advocates. Yet I think the underlying point of the film is to express the necessity of both characters within a society. Activists take it upon themselves to guide social evolution, they affect policy, they influence perception, they express new ideas and educate the masses. Lovers on the other hand live, they reap the spoils of the hard work of the activists while showing the activists a clear portrait of what they're fighting to preserve. Lovers have no qualms about transgressing the rules of modern society and because of that they are a model of the happiness activists so passionately strive for. Unfortunately one must come to terms with the fact that social evolution is a cross-generational process and many activists and lovers on both sides of any conflict are going to wind up being casualties. 

Sweet Movie is very similar although more expansive in theme. The main character in Sweet Movie is a relatively naive and ignorant young girl who is exposed first to the idea of capitalist ownership then the extreme lack of ownership in anarchism. The film begins with her being sold off to an absurdly rich man who is seeking sexual purity. He's bothered by the risk of disease from prostitutes and as an alternative decides to buy a wife to fulfill his desires as efficiently and safely as possible. This is the ultimate expression of sexuality in the context of capitalism. Sex is bought like any other product or service and the transaction is very industrial, mechanical. There is no emotional development, no sense of partnership, simply the pursuit of the solution to loneliness and paying for it with the spoils of hard work. Obviously this is a sensationalized example, but it does make one reflect on how little of a stretch this is from reality. The girl, disgusted by the thought of herself as an object is cast away into society and eventually winds up a member of a group of anarchists. But she finds their existence just as disgusting as the capitalist. Since anarchy is predicated on the ultimate freedom of the individual, any individual is free to take part in any behavior available to them, and given that we're ultimately a disgusting organism, mired in blood, piss, shit, and ejaculate, anarchic life is a bit disgusting to someone previously initiated with clean civilization, which can be looked at as the avoidance of bodily fluids and the control of bodily urges. The final scene of the film shows the girl as an actress in a commercial for chocolate, she is writhing in a pool of it, sexualizing the product. She's decided that selling her body to commerce is advantageous to a life of lawless chaos. There is a completely separate narrative in this film, but after a little research I discovered that the other narrative was only added because the main actress quit half way through filming due to a few more extreme scenes she found to be uncomfortable and offensive. For this reason I won't examine the other narrative, but I will note the irony of using an actress to portray the evils of using people. Obviously I defend any filmmaker's efforts to do so however because people need to experience extreme characterizations in order to understand the limits of human behavior.

Both films deal with extremes. They show us sensationalized examples of the influence of socioeconomics on human behavior and in doing so they burn unforgettable images into our minds which ultimately serve the purpose of reminding us to be aware of our surroundings, to remind us what civilization is, the structure of it, the evolution of it, the potential evils and the potential subjective fulfillment born of it. We are constant spectators of the ever-changing beast that is the spirit of the times and have the freedom to align ourselves with it or rebel against it. And I'd say if you're fascinated by that sort of reflection these films are worth the investment of time. If not keep a wide berth. These films will offend you.

Movie: The Face of Another

The Face of Another is a film based on the Japanese surrealist novel of the same title by Kobo Abe. I've read a few of Abe's novels, but not this particular one, giving me the opportunity to experience the story with fresh eyes. Of course I know Abe's style which often involves taking a character and thrusting them into the unknown, into situations so absurd that their world or their perception of the world is completely changed which ultimately transforms their identity. In this particular story the protagonist suffers an explosion which covers his face with grotesque scarring. In order to live without horrifying the people around him he resigns himself to wearing bandages around his face at all times.

As this man navigates the world he realizes that he has begun to embrace the identity of a man without a face. The people of the bustling city around him interact with him with only cursory gestures. They're not horrified or startled, merely curious and when their curiosity is sated they avert their eyes and carry on with their lives never connecting with him on any emotional level. As he starts to embrace his new life as a permanent outcast he falls into despair which manifests itself as anger, especially toward his wife. She still performs all of her wifely duties but a distance forms between them emotionally and physically.

As the man falls deeper and deeper into loneliness his doctor, who originally treated his injury, informs him of the possibility of a radical procedure which will affix a mask over his face concealing the scarring and allowing him to re-enter society. The doctor is overwhelmed with worry about this procedure because of the psychological implications. When a man has the ability to assume another identity what would stop him from losing all accountability? A man could do great evil under the guise of someone else and then rid himself of the mask and the resulting guilt. And assuming anyone had this power there would no longer be any trust. There's no telling who you'd be interacting with, who you'd be sharing your secrets with, who you'd be in love with.

The doctor reluctantly performs the procedure with one caveat. The man is to be under constant surveillance so that any extreme behavioral changes can be monitored preventing him from doing anything destructive. Of course the man agrees and of course he rebels against this surveillance the first moment he can. He wants to experience his new identity, experience its effect on people without prying eyes. He approaches old friends and is delighted by the fact that they treat him as an attractive stranger. Then he becomes consumed by the unresolved tension with his wife. He decides to attempt to seduce her as a demonstration of how easily she can be swayed away from his previous deformed identity. This is a shameless trap, it's a demonstration of narcissism, exactly what the doctor feared.

The man is successful in seducing his wife, but is surprised to find out that his wife knew all along that this new man was in fact her husband. She agreed to their secret rendezvous to punish him for trying to deceive her. The man is stricken with complex emotions, but at this point his sense of guilt has become polluted. Is he a new person? Or is he his old self turned rotten by the ability of adulterating his past? He takes to the streets in a state of embarrassed disorientation and attacks a pedestrian. The doctor comes to his aid rescuing him from the police telling them that he's an escaped mental patient.

This story is a thought experiment, a meditation on the limits of identity. It attempts to approach the subject in a novel way and I think the audience comes away knowing a little bit more about the fragility of our personalities. It's common for people to embrace their identity as static, to perceive it as their unchanging soul, but our identities are simply collections of our past. Subtle changes in our lives change who we are over time and radical changes have the potential to send us spiraling into the depths of insanity. Death is the only event that brings about the end of our constant transformation.

5/5

Movie: The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover

The path to discovery for this film was a frustrating one. After seeing an interview with Paul Giamatti for his role in the new Spiderman movie (of which I have no interest) I was curious to see if Paul was in any recent indie flicks I may have missed since he's got quite the reputation for doing projects with no hope of monetary gain. The film River of Fundament caught my eye immediately, a six hour epic directed by Matthew Barney. Mathew Barney... Barney... where have I heard that name before... In this age of technology the struggle for long buried memories doesn't last long and with a click I instantly recalled why the name struck me in such a way.

Barney is responsible for a massive, decade long film project known as the Cremaster Cycle. Now I want to stress my complete ignorance of the project and the resulting frustration very clearly. The Cremaster Cycle had only extremely limited screenings at extremely exclusive events and was never released to the public in any format, leaving me unable to watch it. As you can probably understand, for a person who has access to literally any film, again through the magic of technology and a frayed and rotted sense of moral fiber, encountering something so obscure, and by its reputation so symbolically dark and critical of mainstream culture, and not being able to view it, spun me into a minor rage. The rage was further stoked by the livid hate Barney has received in the IMDB forums. The mob will yell when their beliefs are questioned, the mob will shriek when they encounter something they don't readily understand, especially something regarded as high art to the paid critics. Any real fan of conceptual film will tell you, the more putrid the smell of derision, the more attractive the object of said derision becomes.

But since I'm denied the object, I have to settle for something close to it and luckily enough in one of those heated criticisms from the mob was the mention of Peter Greenaway, a comment along the lines of, "If you think Barney is impressive, Greenaway will make your eyes bleed with bliss." And with a cast including Helen Mirren, Michael Gambon, and Tim Roth, Greenaway's film, The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover was enough to divert my attention away from Barney for the time being.

The Cook is an exceedingly dark film from the very start and because of the obscenity in the first scene I'll save you from the description and just explain that its purpose is to establish the main character, the Thief, as the worst kind of narcissistic egomaniac. He's violent, impulsive, grotesque and overwhelmed with jealousy for anyone who even looks at his abused wife for a fleeting second. His wife, played by Helen Mirren is beautiful, graceful, with a sharp wit to occasionally put her husband in his place. From the title of the film you could probably guess that the wife takes a lover, a quiet, noble gentlemen who is only capable of the deepest admiration for her.

That's pretty much all you need to know about the plot. It's a classic, simple tale told millions of times before, sometimes more subtly, sometimes shrouded in more subtext, but you won't find a more brutal portrayal of the classic story. And you won't find a more stylized one either. This film is a work of visual art and the comparison to Barney is clear now. The film never escapes the walls of one small studio, but the studio is densely filled with the baroque styling one would expect of a multi-million dollar period piece. All visuals, even of the most grotesque variety are beautiful, intricately designed, and presented with thoughtful composition to the audience. I walked away from this film saddened by the blank white walls of my apartment, of the general spartan way of modern living those with a modest salary have to accept. The costumes were equally impressive having been designed by Jean Paul Gaultier. That might ring a bell for some people as he's the same designer responsible for the vivid, other-worldly costumes of The Fifth Element.

I shouldn't have left this for last, but since it's obvious that Helen Mirren isn't going to do anything less than act her proverbial pants off, I shouldn't have to mention it at all. And in all of film, there are few characters I hated more than Michael Gambon's portrayal of Albert. He was a monster, a real villain, and watching him wale and snarl was a rare pleasure.

Only recommended for those with a strong stomach, but for those lucky few, absolutely essential.

5/5

Movie: Babette's Feast

This was recommended by my mother and it took me far too long to get around to watching it. I had heard of Babette's Feast before, nothing more than quiet whispers on obscure film forums where people take their opinions far too seriously and declare vendetta's against the ignorant or the pretentious often falling victim to exactly those criticisms. We're all at times hypocrites, all a little too wrapped up in our own view of the world. The goal of objective observation is so often completely out of our reach. And this is exactly the message the film so articulately expresses.

We're introduced to the lead characters in their later years, icons of charity in their small village. They take it upon themselves to feed the weak and the poor, to keep the dying from dying alone. The film develops their characters by exploring their young adulthood, daughters of a strict priest, forever penitent, forever obedient. The father is portrayed as flawless in his faith, a pillar of the community, a visionary preacher, but he makes no secret the disdain he has for the upper class, for vanity, fame, beauty, and bliss. This is most clear in the way he reacts to the introduction of two suitors, one a soldier destined for conquest, the other an opera singer destined for fame, who try their best to romance the two sisters. The first fails because he realizes the impossibility of taking the daughter with him on his journey through life. The second fails when the object of his affection realizes his intentions of love. Both daughters are obviously terrified of love, terrified of passion, obedient to the values carried down from their father's supreme modesty. The suitors go on to live lavish lives of fame and conquest and the daughters go on with a life of righteousness.

And then we're introduced to Babette, a former chef from Paris who is forced to flee during a revolution, a close acquaintance of one of the suitors. She embraces the small village's way of life unflinchingly as she's taught simple dishes consisting of fish and bread soup. Things seem to be going very well for the sisters and their new cook until subtle rumblings of discontent form in the community, accusations of exploitation, of swindling, all handled passive aggressively and allowed to escalate. The sisters have no idea how to resolve this building tension but do their best by reverting to the teachings of their late father.

Then without any warning, Babette wins a lottery worth 10,000 francs. Now to you, or me, or anyone else this would obviously be a stroke of luck, something joyous and worth celebrating, but this event turns out to be the major conflict of the film. Babette decides to use the money for a lavish French dinner for the small village to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the priest's birth. Leading up to the dinner, the community is absolutely terrified. Stricken with nightmares, the modest people pray fervently to avoid what will surely turn out to be a disaster. They've lived their entire lives on fish and bread soup, of course they're going to be fearful of a dinner consisting of strange, foreign animals, of decadent wines, of flavors and sensations they would never have dreamed of. The townspeople eventually decide to ignore the particulars of the meal, to shield themselves from the evil of decadence, to participate passively and pray for forgiveness afterward.

One of the suitors, now a decorated general, is invited to the dinner and he expresses on his journey that he's going to use the time to reflect on whether or not he made the right choice to devote his life to fame and success when he could have just as easily lived as a modest farmer or fisherman with one of the daughters. At the time he seems overwhelmed with uneasiness as anyone would be when asked the question, "Are you sure you lived your life correctly?"

As the meal begins, the townspeople seem uncomfortable, not sure how exactly to proceed, but they keep a watchful eye on the general, mimicking his approach to consuming the relatively complex dishes. As time goes by, as more alcohol is consumed, the townspeople start to let their guards down. The tension that would have eventually led the village toward destruction eases with each subsequent dish.

By witnessing the stark contrast between the initial hesitation of his hosts and his own worldliness, and the gradual evolution toward simple brotherly enjoyment in life, the general has an epiphany. He addresses the table and suggests that there is ultimately no difference between a life of fame and a life of righteousness. We are simply actors as time moves forward. The choices we make in life are the choices we were meant to make. We can choose to regret our past decisions and that is itself a perfectly valid action, but when you set that option against just enjoying the passing days, finding a passion and succeeding at it, sitting down to good food and drink when you can, why would you waste your time with regret?

Everyone is in exactly the right place and the decisions made are exactly correct.

At the end of dinner as the general is saying goodbye to the woman he loved but never got the chance to be with, he says though they could never be together physically, they would always be together in spirit. In saying this, the general makes it clear that the natural world sets no limit on the potential for love or on any emotion or sensation for that matter. Our life may take us down a particular path, but a sense of universality is always there to keep us from feeling lost or alone. This, I think, is a profoundly deep observation and this film approaches it beautifully. Babette's Feast deserves its reputation in the annals of film.

5/5

Beer: Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout

Do forgive the slightly blurry photo, I must be particularly shaky tonight.

Appearance: Deep black, no light penetration anywhere in the glass. I over-poured a bit expecting this brew to be substantially more viscous like other Imperial Stouts I've tried. A thick light brown head formed as the beer settled, fluffy with lots of big bubbles. As the head dissipated the color gradually became darker near the edges of the glass and remained light brown in the center. Moderate lacing as the level descends.

Aroma: Obvious even during the pour, lots of rich smoke, caramelized dark fruit, a certain freshness is present, maybe a very subtle mint hiding.

Taste: The smoke stands as a backdrop to mint, now more obvious, which evolves darker and darker into caramelized fruit, black cherry, darker still toward cocoa bitterness.

Mouthfeel: At 9% abv, the caramelized fruit into a dark, bitter char flavor progression is really impressive for a relatively light presence on the palate. This is very drinkable, I'd say dangerously so. The slight freshness seems to clear away any lingering syrupy presence.

Overall: I can understand why this is so highly regarded as an archetype of the Russian Imperial Stout varietal. So much flavor and complexity is pulled off without being overbearing or inaccessible.

5/5

Movie: Nymphomaniac by Lars von Trier

To say this movie feels like home would be to expose a side of my identity that I try very hard to keep to myself, but for the sake of this review that's what I'd like to say. Nymphomaniac fits neatly into the genre of extreme film, a genre I'm not sure even exists in the eyes of the average movie-goer. To qualify as extreme a film has to test the boundaries of social acceptability and it can do this in several ways. The film can be extremely violent or extremely sexual or extremely disturbing, the bottom line being that it has to shock you, has to desensitize you in some way. I've always been interested in counter-culture, sub-culture, artistic expressions of rebellion, so it was natural for me to get into this darker side of film.

Early on in my exploration of extreme film I happened upon Lars von Trier's The Idiots. It was earth-shattering for me at the time. Not only was it shocking in its subject matter but the way it was shot was a testament to counter-culture, the mainstream film culture being dominated by Hollywood's focus on post-production polish. The Idiots was filmed according to a strict set of rules known as the Dogme 95 Manifesto. These rules included only on-scene shooting with no props or artificial sets, only hand-held camera work, no added music or sound effects, no special lighting other than what is in the natural shooting environment, etc. Even the subject matter was restricted to prevent any instances of superficial action, i.e. unrealistic car chases or gun battles. After seeing The Idiots I tracked down every Lars von Trier film I could find and kept close attention to his future plans.

When I heard news that he was embarking on a two part project called Nymphomaniac I knew it was going to be something special. Von Trier has always woven sexuality into his work and it was obvious that it was a subject he enjoyed exploring. This would be the unlimited expansion of that theme, a study of human sexuality, the ugly and the beautiful, the domination and submission, the strength and fragility of physical relationships.

The film begins when an unwitting man finds a woman unconscious in a dark alley obviously the victim of physical violence. He asks if she needs an ambulance and she insists that she doesn't. The man takes her to his apartment and as he helps her into the bed of a spare room to convalesce she embarks on the telling of her life story as a nymphomaniac with the ultimate purpose of explaining why she was beaten and left for dead.

This is a perfect setup for such a subject, especially considering the man is a self-proclaimed asexual. As she describes her life of pure sexual addiction the man listens patiently, offering non-sexual analogies to give her descriptions a sort of universal context. There are moments of cold reflection, unflinching and fearless, moments of human frailty, delicately emotional. But most importantly, the film avoids being sensational, it is shocking without attempting to be shocking. The focus is on a real human's experiences in life and never does it feel artificial.

The film isn't perfect though and I've narrowed my criticism down to one issue. Lars von Trier's casting choices are usually non-american actors, being a non-american filmmaker. For this film he made two strange choices, Christian Slater and Shia Labeouf. Both of them Hollywood veterans and both of them ultimately disappointing. They attempt English accents and wind up sounding awkward delivering Von Trier's thoughtful dialog. This isn't a deal breaker though because everyone else, especially the two leads, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Stellan Skarsgard, put on performances of a lifetime.

I know most people will avoid this film, ignore it, dismiss it as smut or perversion, but I can't stress how badly we need films like this in a society of post-Victorian prudes, of post-Catholic abstinence advocates. Sex isn't scary. It is literally the reason we're all here. Sexuality can be strange and awkward, dirty and smelly, but life is often all of those things and it's a choice to not appreciate that. We can choose to explore ourselves and explore each other very intimately and learn from the experience, making our lives fuller, giving us a better understanding of what life is. Or we can keep blindly wandering down the road we're currently on, judging, pointing and sneering, taking the easy, pretty way, where only a very small number of close-minded people will ever find happiness at the expense of the rest of us.

5/5

Best of 2013

1) Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork

“Everyone it seems, has somewhere to go

And the faster the world spins, the shorter the lights will glow

And I'm swimming in the night, chasing down the moon

The deeper in the waters the more I long for you”

Those are the words sung during the final track on ...Like Clockwork, and that is just one example of the poetic clarity, the reflective emotion on this album. It's as if Josh Homme had the zeitgeist whispering into his ear during the entire writing process. The lyrics are so meaningful, so heart-felt, and yet poetically symbolic enough to be applicable on a grand scale. This album is unlike anything The Queens have written before, so I can't stress enough the importance of separating ...Like Clockwork from their back catalog.

I have always been a fan of Queens of The Stone Age though, and for good reason. They write catchy desert rock songs. Josh Homme will never forget the roots he planted with rock legends Kyuss and he'll keep writing tasty hooks long into the future. I just can't expect him to come up with this level of profound song-writing ever again. This is like Siamese Dream era Smashing Pumpkins good, like Ten era Pearl Jam, like Facelift era Alice in Chains. That level of song-writing, that level of timelessness can't be sustained for long, and though I don't expect it, I will express the quietest whisper of hope for their next release because if they've done it once, it's possible they could do it again.

Best of 2013

2) Altar of Plagues - Teethed Glory and Injury

This album, unlike Subrosa, I'll forgive you for not listening to. I chose Altar of Plagues as my number two spot because it takes the genre of Black Metal and brings it somewhere it was never meant to go. Black metal was originally a demonstration of raw hatred, usually satanic, almost always poorly produced and simplistic. It was a movement of music that seemed to say “We hate you so much we refuse to care about learning instruments or making them sound at all pleasing.” I love a few of those old albums because they were something new, an original movement of music, but if black metal were to stagnate at that primitive beginning I certainly wouldn't have paid any attention going forward. Over the years a few bands have managed to give something fresh to that harsh rawness, that monotony, bands labeled as “progressive black metal.”

Altar of Plagues is one of those bands and I've been watching them closely for a while now. But, nothing could have prepared me for their latest record. Teethed Glory and Injury does something I've never heard in black metal before and that is largely the heavy presence of post-processing. By that I mean folding in sounds and textures that can't be produced by traditional instruments. By starting with the most primitive of musical styles and opening it to sampling, to frequency shifts, to endless filters and waveform shaping effects, they effectively demolished any boundary that may have remained in the genre of black metal. I was filled with sadness when earlier this year Altar of Plagues announced that this would be their final album, but I'm at the same time filled with hope for the profound influence Teethed Glory and Injury might have on the genre of black metal, on music in general.

Best of 2013

3) Subrosa – More Constant Than the Gods

I'm having a hard time coming up with a description for this one. Sure, it's droney, it's sludgey, it's stonery, but what does that mean? Those words are meaningless to a person who's never heard a drone album, or a sludge album, or a stoner album, and it would be too easy to dismiss this record if I used one of those terms because it might mean this is too weird for the average person to enjoy. I don't want that to be the case here because I would want everyone to listen to this album, from the gentle profession of love as an introduction, to the personal stories of faith and struggle and perseverance, to the haunting violin solos, right up to the ethereal hammered dulcimer guided conclusion.

Some music transcends genre. You can't call More Constant Than the Gods anything but amazing music because pigeon-holing it would diminish its value, its potential to the virgin audience. Regardless of what it is, this album deserves more attention. I want to hear Cosey Mo on the radio. I want to see this in a jukebox and when I pay for it I want the regulars to appreciate it. I know none of that's going to happen, but just do me a favor and try this out. Listen to a track, pull up the lyrics if you can't follow along, ask me for them if you can't find them anywhere. Just listen and try to relate because the message is timeless, the music is worth your attention.

Best of 2013

4) Gorguts – Colored Sands

More death metal?! How boring... But, I would venture to say calling Gorguts death metal is like calling Led Zeppelin rock. Gorguts is very much a death metal band, but every record they released was an example of innovation. Gorguts changed the way many people viewed death metal, as less primitive bludgeoning and more cerebral, more developed. Gorguts introduced a learning curve to death metal. It is impossible to “get” their '98 release, Obscura, upon first spin because there is simply nothing else like it. But, with time the absurdly discordant atmosphere, the mercurial changes in tempo, the desperate vocals all begin to feel familiar. When it was released, Obscura loosened the term of death metal and gave a visionary example of how limitless music can be.

Gorguts broke up in '05 and silence overcame us until earlier this year when news came that the founding member, Luc Lemay, was reforming the band by borrowing musicians from a few progressive acts with plans of releasing the first full-length under the Gorguts name in 12 years, Colored Sands. Now, given the lengthy hiatus and the lack of the rest of the original line-up, I kept my hope in check until I was able to spin this. And with that first spin I knew this wasn't going to be Obscura 2.0. This was going to be its own beast, another album it would take time to “get.” And after a few months of spins, I think I got it. Where Obscura was shocking and chaotic, Colored Sands is more patient and burdensome. The album feels like molten lead brought to a slow simmer with dissonant soloing and desperate screams occasionally escaping like vapor from the surface. This is an oppressively dark album, and I know very well a description like that isn't going to be terribly attractive to the casual music fan. But I can say with confidence, when future generations happen upon death metal with a pure sense of curiosity, Gorguts is going to be one of the bands they choose to study, Colored Sands one of the albums.  

Best of 2013

5) Magic Circle – Magic Circle

Just like with food, occasionally I'll get a craving for certain music. One of those cravings is for old occult doom, Black Sabbath, Pentagram, Saint Vitus, etc. When I feel it I'll pull out one of their albums and spin it until the craving is satisfied. I know there are a lot of bands out there that try to pull off that occult doom style even to this day, but none of them do it nearly as good as those three bands. None of them except Magic Circle apparently.

This album effectively quashed my urge for Black Sabbath this year. It won't replace them as the years go by. I'll still listen to Black Sabbath, but Magic Circle have managed to design an image and delivery that sounds authentically 70's-80's occult doom. The thick, groovy power chord riffs with that sweet spot of power amp saturation, the soaring leads and solos, the charismatic vocal yelling lyrics of warning and repentance. And, with each spin the album charismatically grows in your memory as something special, something epic. Even the production sounds authentic with a little noise and reverb that makes it sound like it's from one of the dustier shelves of the collection. This might be a turn off for some, but at a good volume with a little wattage behind it, the album sounds so warm and organic. From now on my occult doom binges will be mostly stuff from the 70's-80's and one very special album from 2013.

Best of 2013

6) Katalepsy – Autopsychosis

Everyone hates death metal, especially brutal death metal. I completely understand. It's an easy target. You can't understand the lyrics and when you look them up they're usually pretty gross. The guitars shred along with hardly anything to hold on to. The song structures are chaotic and disturbing making any normal person edgy and anxious. Death metal presents a challenge to which there is no discernible reward.

But, I can't help loving it. When I was younger it was like someone flipped a switch and death metal was all I could listen to. And I was never completely satisfied with any one band. There was this insatiable hunger for something more brutal, more complex, more disturbing than anything I had heard before. Though I listen to a lot more these days, that hunger stays with me like an itch I can't help but gouge at. And lucky for me, there is no limit to how brutal these bands can get. Granted, it's the rare band that can impress me at this point, but a few still manage to do it. This year it was Katalepsy, a band that hasn't had a full-length in 6 years.

Autopsychosis came out of nowhere and it can easily compete with any modern death metal album and win. The leads are so memorable, full of perfectly timed pinch harmonics and frantic jumps between octaves. The percussion is so dynamic, swapping out neck-breaking rhythms with lightning precision. The vocal is ferocious, literally frightening. The lyrics are surprisingly thoughtful, each song reading like a modern H.P. Lovecraft. Even the album art is an intricate work of horrifying surrealism. I just hope it doesn't take them another six years before the next masterpiece of brutality.

Best of 2013

7) Run the Jewels – Run the Jewels

I don't listen to much rap and hip-hop, but once in a while an album will make a few waves on the blogs and my attention will be stirred. It's great fun to listen to with a beefy subwoofer and though I may not relate to it well, I can pretend long enough in the summer months to provide a welcome break from the heavier stuff. But, I have the same expectations for it that I do for anything else. It has to be well-written, it has to have depth and originality, it has to be a good mix of interesting words and captivating music, and Run the Jewels is all those things. When everyone was slobbering over Robin Thicke's tired track saying things like, “This is the song of the summer,” I was spinning this.

Run the Jewels is a collaboration from El-P and Killer Mike, two artists I honestly don't know much about, but after spending so much time with this I'm going to try to remedy my ignorance. These two guys are brilliant. The lyrics cover so much ground, sometimes sticking to misogyny, but mostly just being unabashedly clever. The standout for me is the track, “No Come Down.” It's about getting high, but it really tries to bring you there. There's a description of a surreal psilocybin trip with equal parts sex and death. There are even a few nods between these two guys, just complimenting each other on their form which is great to hear when you have the perception of a genre as mostly ego-fueled and self-centered.

Best of 2013

8) New Keepers of the Water Towers - Cosmic Child

I've spun this album a whole lot, but this is the first time I happened to see where New Keepers of the Water Towers were from, that being Sweden. This is a fairly major surprise for me because this music sounds very American to me. The music is heavily psychedelic rock/metal with plenty of thick amplifier worship, but there's a depth here not many similar American bands seem to achieve, complex chord progressions, smooth but captivating key changes, progressive song structures. Then it occurred to me that there's another Swedish band with a similar sound and a similarly complex delivery, Dozer. I don't know if there's any connection between these bands as they are very unique and take the music in different directions, but the existence of these two bands is going to make me take a closer look at the Swedish psychedelic rock/metal scene because as with a few things, the Swedes might just be better at it than we are.

Cosmic Child is really a stunning record from beginning to end. There might be a few naysayers taking a snooze during some of the more mellow or atmospheric passages, but it's because of all the weed and subsequent short attention spans. The album flows beautifully, creating tension and then resolving it in brilliantly creative ways. There are so many memorable passages, some with obvious influences. I would say there's a big Pink Floyd presence, maybe even a little Opeth, but everything sounds fresh, displaying a distinct personality. Even the production job is wonderful, each instrument mixed perfectly, complementing each other as the vocal guides you through very cosmic territory.

Best of 2013

9) Witherscape – The Inheritance

Before death metal even had a shape, rules of conformity within the genre, there were two bands that seemed to transcend anything that was happening in heavy metal. They were Death and Edge of Sanity, led respectively by two visionaries, Chuck Schuldiner and Dan Swanö. Unfortunately we lost Chuck some time ago, but Swanö has been with us for the duration, hardly ever in the spotlight, but contributing his musical brilliance to countless projects, either as a vocalist, guitarist, or sound engineer. His latest being this remarkable album.

Witherscape could easily be mistaken for a full progressive death metal quartet with years of experience under their belt, but this is a collaboration of two people covering all instrumental duties, Dan Swanö and Ragnar Widerberg. The chemistry between these two musicians is unmistakable. Each track is full of catchy guitar leads, vocal hooks, interesting rhythms, even some really great, restrained synth work. Obviously I'm biased because this is Swanö and his voice sounds just as good as it did twenty years ago alternating seamlessly between passionate croons and guttural growling, so I could be overlooking some flaws, but I really don't see any. If you dig Edge of Sanity and miss the times when death metal was thoughtful and not hopelessly focused on violence and misogyny then this is an essential album.

Best of 2013

10) Tim Hecker – Virgins

I saw Time Hecker a couple years ago at a local venue. At the show little pamphlets were handed out, sort of like a playbill, but it described how Tim had designed the sound system for this particular theater over a period of weeks, positioning certain speakers in just the right places, making absolutely sure to have the audience in a state of complete immersion during his performance. It was one of the most unique musical experiences I've ever had. 

At first it was very chaotic. His signature sound is less about pleasant melodies and consonant harmonies and more about aural texture and frequency contrast. Soon the overwhelming vibration of low bass and upper register frequencies became a little more comfortable and I closed my eyes for the rest of the set, completely at the mercy of the enveloping sound. The performance was a journey, at times uncomfortable, at times hypnotizing, at times very calming, and ultimately a very emotional and rewarding experience.

Virgins is a continuation of his signature style, which is to say unlike any other electronic music you're likely to hear. Using sampled percussive beats, distant breathy instrumentation layered into lattices of hypnotic texture, Hecker tries his absolute hardest to immerse you. And without any words or obvious emotional direction, it's up to you what kind of experience a spin of this record is going to be. For me it's exactly the type of album I want playing on long, lonely drives at night.

Movie: Blue is the Warmest Color

I saw the trailer for this a while back and remember being excited to see it. Lea Seydoux is a wonderful up and coming actress and the lead Adele Exarchopoulos seemed like an infinitely charming girl in just a few seconds of footage. And then the reviews came out and it attained a bit of a reputation. I mentioned that I wanted to see it to a coworker and he gave me that suggestive smirk... I felt so much rage in that moment, but this is an older coworker who has a history of objectifying women, so I let it go. But, it left a residual ickyness about going to see it at the local indie theater. If the assumption is that no single young guy could ever appreciate a film like this, a film that closely examines the intense passion between two young girls, then what am I doing there in the eyes of other people. I must be there perving out. People should know the difference between pornography and drama, but that single comment from a coworker made me question that.

But, tonight I built up a little courage and went to see it. Unfortunately, my worst fear came true. I walked in to find a seat and while taking off my coat a woman in the next row looked at me with eyes of harsh judgment, but without initially saying anything. To break the tension of the moment, I said "Hi," with my library voice, given the venue. After an awkward pause she raised her voice so that everyone around could hear and said, "Uh, hi. You here to watch the girls?" I was stunned, shocked, disgusted that someone would actually accuse another person of something like that. Instinct delivered the next line, but I was so flustered it came out awkwardly, "No! This is an art film... funny though." She just turned back to face the screen and I tried to hide the red hot anger I felt. 

Then the film started... and it was beautiful. It was passionate and intimate, full of complex, confused emotions, intelligent scenes of witty dialog. The lead actresses gave such stunningly real performances. But, the audience in the theater tried their best to judge it, giggling during scenes of immense tension, giggling and guffawing during the sex scenes which really did push the boundaries of mainstream film, but why we're still considering the human body a taboo at this point in societal development is beyond my comprehension. All people should care about is that the sex was important for the filmmaker to express. He wanted to show us the frantic love between two girls, one confused with her sexuality, confused with what love means, and the other mysterious and charismatic, a teacher, a happy guide into unknown territory, and the sex between them was a very important part of that. I loved the film and I'm glad Abdellatif Kechiche had the guts to do this.

On my way out of the theater I was behind a few young people and overheard one person's review which was met with agreement among friends, "I thought it was bland, I wasn't even surprised by anything, it was just boring." A comment like that after a film like this makes me think they had never loved before, had never been lied to and felt pain, had never had frantic, desperate sex with someone they were infatuated with, because if they had, this film would remind them of all those moments in their life and fill them with an appreciation for life itself.

5/5

Beer: Ballast Point Victory at Sea Imperial Porter

Appearance: Thick pour on this one, like pouring out a bottle of motor oil that's been sitting in a broken down chevy pickup for decades. Thin, dense, light brown head leaving sticky lacing as the level descends.

Aroma: Smoke, vanilla, coffee, with a dark fruitiness somewhere in there, like raisins or figs.

Taste: Over the top richness, like biting into a block of fudge topped with vanilla bean seeds. The coffee presence brings a little chalky bitterness balancing all the sweetness. The resolution is reminiscent of caramel.

Mouthfeel: Very thick, but not unpleasant. That slight chalky bitterness is enough to resolve the molasses-like heft and the alcohol at 10% is right where it should be for a beer with this much body. It's a dessert for sure, so if you approach it with that perception, it's not too much to handle.

Overall: Ballast Point won't be winning any awards for subtlety any time soon but that's alright by me and if you're looking for a rich dessert beer this is perfect. 

5/5

Beer: Dogfish Head - Bitches Brew

I was watching Bill Maher today, his latest installment of Real Time, an HBO show which attempts to address modern times in a comedic way, a little more caustic than the Daily Show is allowed to be. Bill was explaining that a trend is rearing its head in that notorious stretch of America known as the bible belt. People are snubbing their waiters and waitresses with small rectangles of paper that look very much like currency, the green color, the intricate bordering, but it's not money, it's a trick. On the front is all the legitimacy of what a ten dollar bill looks like, but on the back is a line of dialog: "Some things are better than money, like your eternal salvation that was bought and paid by Jesus going to the cross."

Hearing about that sort of thing hurts me, somewhere deep inside where empathy comes from. I'd like to resolve the disappointment with some sort of answer, some form of hope, but I can't really. There will always be people who compartmentalize their capacity for compassion and only dole it out to people they deem worthy. All I can do in this particular circumstance is, when the opportunity should arise, to tip a lot, tip half the bill or more because I can still make ends meet and I need those people to keep me company on lonely nights.

That information isn't really related to this review, other than the fact that it depressed me to the point of needing a drink. So I drove to my nearest distributor and wandered the short aisles for... I really don't know how long. Long enough for the people working there to take a passive interest in my reading every label on every shelf looking for the right kind of help in my moment of weakness. Scanning through the Dogfish section, Bitches Brew caught my eye. This is a beer brewed by someone who just likes to honor people, to respect them and remember them, authentically and compassionately. The micro-brew industry is a group of people who just want other people to be happy, and Dogfish Head is a distilled embodiment of that sentiment. This particular beer was originally designed as a commemoration to the late, the great Miles Davis on the 40th anniversary of the release of his "Bitches Brew" album and so begins the review.

Appearance: Impenetrable darkness, the gentle light of my table lamp is obviously unworthy of making it through this brew. The head is luxuriously fluffy, huge bubbles of carbonation the color of the froth on a freshly brewed cup of espresso. Lacing is heavy as the level descends maintaining that lovely brown hue.

Aroma: Not much of a tell. I get a little smokey malt, I get a little cocoa, maybe even a slight dose of vanilla. But, this is subtle and all it does is invite you. For this beer, it's a perfect introduction. The big, bold appearance gives you a vivid expectation, then the aroma baits you with a little mystery, inviting you to see what other surprises are in store.

Taste: The foretaste is surprisingly light, slightly acidic, slightly sweet, reminiscent of a caramelized cherry. Then the roasted malt takes center stage revealing lots of dark flavor, bitter cocoa, dark coffee, which hangs around for a good long time. The darkness resolves into the final ingredient, the warming sweetness of raw honey, a very welcome twist on the imperial stout varietal.

Mouthfeel: Everything about this beer implies heavy, but it's surprisingly delicate on the palate. At 9% ABV, the alcohol is just right to balance the smoked malt letting the presence of honey resolve into a sweet beckoning for the next sip. 

Overall: I don't have much to say here. If you like beer, get this beer. Enjoy it with dinner or dessert or just by itself. Share it with a friend, talk about it, express joy. Let it distract you from all the ills of the world for a second and in the next second shoot a few bucks over to http://wfpusa.org/  to help a few people in the Philippines.

5/5

Book: The Art of Loving by Eric Fromm

I can't remember what caused me to download this. It must've been a whim of some sort, maybe in seeking another book exploring the elusive concept of charisma, this was referenced. That seems most likely considering the argument this book, The Art of Loving, attempts to make. It attempts to make the point that the average person has lost the ability to love. That the loving person, the charismatic, charming, person is so rare in this modern Western society because the system we rely on to guide us, guides us away from the basic skill set it takes to love.

Many people should object wholeheartedly to this. If I flagged down the regular passerby and asked them to honestly say if they have ever loved, they would invariably say yes, assuming of course they didn't judge the question too personal to begin with. Fromm would say that the way the average person views love is a meaningless distortion. He describes our modern conception of love as seeking and attaining a commodity; a side-effect of living in a capitalist society with relatively free markets that determine value of certain products and services. We approach life in a way that gives us the most potential to succeed, which can be easily reduced to making enough money to have shelter, to feed ourselves, to clothe ourselves, and to progress in some way continuously into the future, much like the economy, with a constant hunger for innovation. So when we seek out a partner, we're not seeking out someone to love, we're seeking out someone to use to further our potential for success. We're looking for security, an investment in the future.

I can't disagree with this sentiment and I wish I were immune to it, but I'm certainly not. I don't value money as much as most people because I make enough to be completely self-sufficient. I never have to worry about making rent, or buying nice clothes, or feeding myself. So when I meet a girl, her financial security isn't something I generally think about, but there is another way that I do judge a potential girlfriend. She has to know a thing or two about the arts, film, music, and literature, and if she isn't already knowledgeable, she has to be ready and willing to learn what I know. I view my experience in that subject matter to be an investment toward my future and I'm seeking someone to make that investment more secure. There are many examples of the arts which I'm sure have no productive influence on my life, but I still value them very highly and expect the people around me to do the same. I think sometimes the fact that they might have similar interests and obsessions would result in good character traits, but I should look for those traits directly instead of expecting to have so much in common with someone in a world where everyone's interests are so unique.

Fromm would say that what people should look for in a mate is universal kindness, but only after first nurturing universal kindness for yourself because you'll only be able to recognize it after cultivating it in your own personality. He used a term toward the end of this book effectively to describe this kindness, rational faith. He said rational faith is the confidence you have in yourself and in the people around you. It's an undercurrent of instinct that guides each action. To have a strong sense of rational faith you diminish your potential to feel anxiety or depression because you always feel the buoyancy of a strength in self and a clear picture of the people around you. If the overall sentiment is negative toward a given conflict then it obviously points to a personal weakness, which you should strive to improve, or it points to the weakness of your company which you can't expect to improve, but through a well-honed ability for empathy, you should be able to anticipate the reaction.

There are a lot of really profound ideas presented, but to discuss each one would make this already long blog post much too long. So I'll just say here that this is essential reading for anyone who wants to be fully aware of their emotions. And to see that the major lessons we can learn about our most human emotions aren't being taught to us because the system wouldn't profit from it. We were born into a framework that would prefer us to be automatons, skilled, efficient, obedient to our leaders, and argumentative toward our competition. Universal kindness would cause the capitalist system to not work anymore. It would cause us to share, to feel empathy toward those less advantaged, to spend time appreciating life and the people around us. We'd stop hoarding money, we'd stop arguing, we'd stop trying to impose and project our own priorities onto other people. We'd stop diminishing other people. Fromm noted at the end that a society that doesn't teach love will inevitably fall and I believe him. I guess we'll see how things go.

5/5

Beer: Shipyard - Smashed Pumpkin Ale

Appearance: Lovely. I was sipping this while scanning the limited vista from my little wooden balcony. The trees are changing color bringing vibrant shades of yellow and orange where there was only green. I wish the season lasted longer, but the reality is that the color in a leaf signifies death and the resulting decay is swift. Of course that fleeting interval provides a certain delicate character. I'm babbling, but the colors are lovely and this beer, as vibrant as it is, fits perfectly with the swift decay of the season, fleeting in a similar way because it was greedily consumed. Picture deep, radiant orange with a fine, fluffy, off-white head which didn't stick around for long leaving a bit of lacing, not much, but enough to remark upon.

Aroma: Compared to the last pumpkin ale reviewed, this is a great improvement. Big pumpkin flesh with nutmeg and that noticeable heft from a beer of relatively high ABV. 

Taste: I might subtract a point for what this beer forgets and that is quite simply that it is a beer. There isn't much bitterness and there isn't much malt in the background, there is only pumpkin and spice and the warming, smothering alcohol. But, it pains me to do so because even though it doesn't have the subtlety of other pumpkin beers, it does bring the pumpkin in troves. This is a beer for people who miss the taste of pumpkin pie, although don't expect it to satisfy completely. You'll still need a fresh slice along with this to be sated completely. A dollop of whipped cream wouldn't hurt either.

Mouthfeel: As mentioned before, the alcohol makes itself known, 9% is quite a bit, but it doesn't overwhelm. I was surprised by how smooth this is, very drinkable, not at all cloying. If it weren't so expensive I would want to enjoy more of it, but I'd rather save my money for the sake of variety.

Overall: I really liked it. The dogfish offering was a subtle work of art, true to it's roots as a brown ale with pumpkin. This takes a step away from tradition and offers something else, lush pumpkin smothered in molasses sprinkled with sweet autumn spices. 

4/5