Covering the crossroads of music and film.
Best films to jam to before heading to the Caribbean (Pt. 2)
By Brandon Kim on 07/02/2009
Wes Craven's "The Serpent and the Rainbow" is easily one of the most freaked out films of the 80's. If that's too bold a statement, let's say it's definitely one of the most freaked out 80's films set in the Caribbean. I'm pretty sure I was permanently scarred by it's voodoo... anytime I see someone who looks like Bill Pullman I feel like I can't breathe. But as horrifying as it's depiction of Haiti was/is, laying on a resort's white sandy beach there today is actually more disturbing. You can see some of the most impoverished people in the world... MORE »
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Best films to jam to before heading to the Caribbean (Pt. 1)
By Brandon Kim on 07/01/2009
Filed under: The refrain
I'm not the most well traveled person but I have been all around the Caribbean, several times even. Jamaica more times than I can recall accurately, Grand Cayman, Cozumel (I think that counts), even Haiti. Cruised around Fidel's Cuba trying to spy on Guantanamo Bay with some binoculars my 5 year old nephew picked out. I still don't know if I was trying to spy on the Cubans or Americans who have shacked up in their bay because the whole thing is confused, it plays with my steel sense of nationalism. How is it that we have a facility in... MORE »
British Sea Power re-score 1934 film
By Brandon Kim on 06/30/2009
Filed under: The Intersection
"Man of Aran" is an early documentary film by Robert J. Flaherty depicting the rough, sea-sprayed life on the Aran Islands, "wastes of rock... without trees... without soil" off the western coast of Ireland. Flaherty had already won acclaim for his even earlier, 1922 documentary "Nanook of the North," considered an important milestone in filmmaking. Chances are good you've not seen either of them unless you went to film school, but the latter is as much a part of vernacular as "Birth of a Nation." I'd never seen "Man of Aran" until recently. The excuse was that it's been re-released... MORE »
Best things about Iggy Pop
By Brandon Kim on 06/29/2009
Filed under: Revolutions Per Minute
Iggy Pop has always been a real cool time, and he shows no sign of stopping. The Stooges are nothing short of awesome and everyone should have the experience of standing in front of a stack and having them blast your face off (live or recorded as long as the DJ isn't one of those knob meddlers - oh you think you know something Iggy doesn't about how this song should sound?). I just heard some of Iggy's latest work, a record inspired by a French novel that you'd file between Jazz and French Pop called Préliminaires. The album came... MORE »
Michael Jackson
By Brandon Kim on 06/26/2009
Filed under: The refrain
Michael Jackson has stunned me all my life. I couldn't even tie my shoes when Off the Wall came out in '79 (my favorite MJ record) but I know I heard it. I know it made it into my consciousness because when I was older and played it seemingly for the first time, I found that I knew every song. The melodies were old dancing friends, the lyrics, arcane chants waiting to be remembered. Everything Michael did in the 80's and into the 90's was a huge event. The records were obviously colossal, the video premieres that accompanied them defined... MORE »
ALL TOMORROW'S PARTIES - THE FILM
By Brandon Kim on 06/25/2009
Filed under: Music Flicks
The concert festival, All Tomorrow's Parties, began in 1999 in England in answer to lame, corporate sponsored events (at say Reading or Glastonbury). It's brilliant locale is some kind of very British Holiday camp, at Camber Sands, East Sussex. Since '99 it's expanded to the US and if you were lucky, perhaps you were at Kutshers Country Club, Monticello, New York last year. But ATP is cool beyond it's idyllic locations, it's curated by a different artist/band each year so not only is it diverse but you get to check out what bands people like Devendra Banhart or Vincent Gallo... MORE »
DJ Spooky
By Brandon Kim on 06/24/2009
Filed under: The Intersection
IFC's Aaron Hillis recently spoke with DJ Spooky (aka Paul D. Miller) about his film project "Rebirth of a Nation" which is his scored, cut up, and remixed interpretation of D.W. Griffith's notorious 1915 film, "Birth of a Nation." I haven't seen it yet but I like this past quote about it from Margo Jefferson in the New York Times: "Silent film scores were grandiloquent, meant to heighten what we saw on screen. Mr. Miller's score, by contrast, deflects our responses, then alters them. A hip-hop drum beat pulses. (It sounds African and urban American.) A wash of industrial sound... MORE »
R.E.M. indie old timers
By Brandon Kim on 06/23/2009
Filed under: The refrain
I'm not sure what college rock is anymore and I really don't want to know what Clear Channel's idea of it is anyway. But back when it was coined in the mid-80's, college rock was a good time. It was about discovery, not rehashing. The term made sense because it's what college radio stations played (and consequently, it was new, fairly underground, and played heavily by cool older brothers). It described something about the music in time and place, it was specific while being inclusive, unlike the Heinrich Himmler style label, alternative rock which followed. How subjective of you! I... MORE »
Bad Lieutenants
By Brandon Kim on 06/22/2009
Filed under: Reel to Reel
New Order lost their edge a long time ago, and though they have some great records, they're a bit dull to my ear when compared with their first incarnation, Joy Division. Just as the remaining members went on with a new name and sound after Ian Curtis' death, so do they now after ditching bassist Peter Hook. Good on them, it's sure not New Order without him. In his stead, they've picked up Alex James from Blur and the name Bad Lieutenant. From what I've heard so far, they don't live up to the name. And make no mistake, there... MORE »
Hollywood's Greatest Year: 1939
By Brandon Kim on 06/19/2009
Filed under: Reel to Reel, The refrain
The Academy's celebratory event for "Hollywood's Greatest Year" caught my attention 'cause I couldn't believe they were more jaded about Hollywood than I am. 1939 was the shit huh? What do these imperious folk think about the past 70 years of Hollywood pictures? I'd probably pick 1982 if I had to grab a year outta the air, I mean just look at it: "Bladerunner" "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" "Poltergeist" "Star Trek: The Wrath Of Kahn" "An Officer and a Gentleman" "First Blood" "Gandhi" "Conan The Barbarian" ...even "Tootsie" What a tough year. But anyway the Academy says its 1939, and when... MORE »
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