Man it’s been such a lovely weekend up here in the land of the midnight sun. It’s been a perfect mix of bright sunshine, but NOT too hot so you can’t move. Also, the Sun at the moment DOES NOT SET! This means everyone has this carefree attitude to life and living. Even the nihilistic goths are walking around with smiles on their faces. Even watching Iceland’s prime cut arsehole ‘Olafur Ragnar Grímsson on TV right now cannot shake the beaming positivity from our souls.
But in the UK it’s different. There’s rain and the impending crushing oppression of celebrating the old Queenie’s diamond Jubilee celebrations. Everyone is wandering around with the feeling that they have to keep the side up by waving little flags and smiling inanely for “our Queen” and fearing the worst if you dare resist. such depressing times.
But it was never like this. Britain used to be made of sterner stuff. Of Vim, of vigour, of GRIT. And that is exactly what i’M going to show to your people tonight in our ongoing BRIT GRIT SEASON of the Sunday Cult Film Corner. (yay!)
This weeks, instalment is a tale of vicious hardened crims from the old East End, who are always nice of their mums, while at the same time putting nails through the ball sacks of their enemies. Ladies and Gentlemen, i give to you VILLAIN (1971).
Directed in 1971 by Michael Tuchner, it stars Richard Burton as Vic Dakin the “Villain” of the title. Straight from the off, he’s a brutal piece of work, cutting the throat of an associated accused of being a “Stool pigeon.” Dakin is also a closet homosexual who is in a brutal relationship with his sidekick Wolfe (played by Ian McShane). In a step away from his usual racket, he looks to undertake a major robbery of a plastic factory, while undertaking some blackmail of an MP. But with Inspector Matthews hot on his tail (played by T.P. McKenna), will he be able to get away with it, or will he be brought to justice?
While films such as GET CARTER were released in the same year to great critical acclaim, VILLAIN was a film that sank without a trace and did a lot of harm to Burton’s career as a top draw actor. The main reasoning was the upfront homosexuality of the main character, and the bisexuality of his sidekick. A love scene between McShane and Burton was eventually cut as too close to bone for the time. The Dakin character with his mother fixation, is an obvious amalgamation of the real life Kray twins, while Wolfe has the predatory skills of a survivor
Which is a shame, for VILLAIN is a slick, tense, stylish film that is definitely a flash of late ’60s/early ’70s criminal life. Containing a raft of top draw British acting talent (Joss Ackland, Colin Welland, John Hallam, etc) it contains quirky, smiling characters that ooze menace and deviance in equal measure. Unlike Michael Caine’s Carter, these guys are not cool and suave. they’re killers and scumbags, the lot of them. they way Dakin shows contempt for people they feel are beneath them, is rather chilling.
So if you’re fancying a bit of rough rugged types that like to take part in a bit of nastiness, then get your tea and bunting on the go, put your feet and stalking all cockney wanker n’ shite!
So as of tomorrow the 1st of June a downtown Reykjavik institution will be no more. Unless some kind of 11th hour reprieve occurs (which is not likely to happen), the concert venue NASA will close its doors and the venue will be demolished to make way for the building of a hotel. NASA isn’t the first venue to suffer this fate and it won’t be the last, but the closing of NASA seems to have struck a particularly bitter chord amongst everyone.
Many people and musicians over the last few weeks have written (somewhat nostalgically i may add. NASA was only in its current for about a decade. For a long time before, that it was the canteen for the Siminn telephone company, and was a “nightclub” before that) about all the great times they had there. As for me,well I’ve had some great times there too. I first saw Gus Gus there. I remember Thursday night at Airwaves 2010 (the rock gods from hell night), and a few more. I’ve also had some rather awful times there as well, especially the first (and only) time I’ve seen Sálinn, thanks to my drunken wife at the time who SOOOO wanted to go and see them, only for her to pass out drunk 2 hours in. The lack of toilets also meant that by 1am, the area by the entrance looked like a war zone with some rather disgusting incidents fully on display!
But all this doesn’t matter that much. Because the fact is that NASA was the only music venue of its size and location in 101 Reykjavik, a middle-sized venue that was the bridge between the small venues like Faktory and the gargantuan cultural death star of Harpa. People have said that the smaller halls in Harpa can be used, but that’s like closing the Brixton Academy and saying that you could use the Barbican instead. It’s just not the same.
Naturally there have been accusations and recriminations, namely the spat between the building’s owner, who said that he was heavily in arrears, and the manager of NASA, who said that she didn’t owe anything. Even the light-footed pop elf, Páll Oskar weighed in with a opinion piece saying “Inga doesn’t owe him a penny!” The problem is that i have absolutely no idea who is right or wrong about this. and just because Páll Oskar says something doesn’t necessarily mean its gospel Either side could have opened their books and clear it up (either the owner was losing money from incompetent managers, or the venue management were paying their way and it was just an excuse to throw them out). But of course this never happened. We’ll probably never know.
The anointed funny guys from the Best Party also came in for some criticism as well for not stepping in to save the place. Davið Roach Gunnarsson for example, wrote in Frettablaðið wondering why the governing political party for the city that contained musicians and numerous people of the arts weren´t going to step in save NASA, even writing that he didn’t take the closing of NASA seriously because he thought they would save the day, guns blazing!
Well, even taking into account that no council will get involved in the intervention of what is essentially a private enterprise, no matter how loved, the fact is that the Best Party were never going to do anything to save it. I even remember a few months ago Jón “mr chuckles” Gnarr saying, “we are not in the business of running nightclubs.” The Best Party may be full of arty people, but i suspect many of them have a slight puritan edge, that their idea of fun is rather different to mine. I honestly think some of them won´t miss NASA that much at all.
But despite all the wailing and back biting you can’t get away from the fact that NASA closing is a major fucking tragedy. It’s being made into ANOTHER hotel, even though that with this year looking to be a bumper year for tourism, hotels in the Reykjavik area will only be at 70% capacity. But tourism is the new aluminum (or is it the new fishing? i forget), and as such people are seeing $$$ signs in everything that can be used to sell to tourists. It’s the lovely human based gold rush and loads of local merchants want in on the action.
What’s especially sad about all of this is what my friend John Rogers mentioned about it all – “People want to come to Iceland for the culture, But they’re destroying the culture to be able to accommodate the tourists.” The fact is that for a long time now the culture of Iceland, especially the music scene, has been used to promote Iceland to the world. For example, the tourist season in Iceland runs till October thanks to Iceland Airwaves (they´ve moved it to early November this year, so to prolong the season by a few more weeks). And then there was Inspired By Iceland. Sheesh! Everything from the Advert, to the testimonials, to the big free concert, it was like putting a big knitted sign on Austurvöllur saying “Iceland: Cute as hell and open for business!”
But Reykjavik is not London, Paris, or New York. It’s centre is basically a small provincial town. And when you have a large influx of tourists coming to and fro over a period of time, it will almost certainly impact on the area, as more infrastructure is put in place to accommodate them all. Take a couple of days ago. I left my flat to get some lunch on Skolavöðustigur, but every cafe and shop was just packed to the brim with tourists and their backpacks. I was finally beginning to understand what Jónsi from Sigur Rós was getting at.
Many musicians have been a bit fatalistic about all of this, but i hope that this whole saga will act as a bit of a Red Letter Day for people. The warning signs were there when Útidur and Havari were closed in early 2011 because the owner of the building wanted to turn it into a hotel (right next door to NASA as well!). With the closing of NASA, i do hope that people will really begin to think about what ramifications increased levels of tourism in downtown Reykjavik will have on the cultural scene, And also, the next time another cool, shiny, glossy marketing campaign comes along wanted to use their image and band persona to promote Iceland, they at least give it a second to think about what it could all mean for the area. Or at least make sure that they paid shedloads of cash for it. I know i won´t be doing any more fucking ads for the airport, that’s for sure!
….And that’s all i have to say on it really. NASA, it was great knowing you. thanks for the memories and lets hope that somewhere new will come along so we can make some more….
For all of those who noticed, there has been a small flurry of activity at the Farm this evening.
Well there’s a simple reason for that. I’m trying to clear my desks as I’m heading off tomorrow to the grand old city of London, where’s i’ll be attending the All Tomorrows Parties event i’ll be your mirror, which has the utmost of heaviness, including… SLAAAAAYER performing “Reign In Blood” and other assorted tunes we hope. Dude it will be sweaty and delirious!
So while I’m having lots of fun, there will be minimal activity going on here over the next few days. But as a small parting shot, i’m leaving you with this frankly cranked up to the hilt headrush from an act on my mate Jonny’s label, MARIA AND THE MIRRORS.
I don’t have enough time or energy to go into too much detail why this record is great (but thankfully this man Has done that for us all). But needless to say that this record packs dirt. The type of dirt you get from just sheer wanton Ego-abandonment and flailing yourself at the mercy of the rush, the dance, the sheer ecstasy of it all. I may be getting on a bit, but too often you feel let down by what’s called the aesthetic style of partying. Looking good, being seen, projecting coolness, mingling with “the beautiful people”. It’s a global scourge i tell you.
Fuck that. I have NEVER been cool. and i’m too fucked to start now. Just give me the bacchic tinged infusion of grime, degradation and no regrets any day.
I recently did a quick review of “Half Time”, the latest album from INTRO BEATS on Möller Records. And you can read it HERE.
It’s an interesting record. Very sampadelic, with lots of Latin flavoured beats. The first half had a very heavy Café Del Mar vibe, but did have a few ho-hum moments. But the second half is pretty much all killer. Interesting that there are very good hardened beats, but when i asked him about it in a separate interview, he said that he wasn’t listening to any new music whatsoever. Interesting.
Anyway. have a listen foryourself, and if you like it, then do him a favour and buy it. He makes his living from skate videos and the health benefits from that are awful.
In the Reykjavik Library, music section, there’s a fine book by Charles Neal titled “Tape Delay: Confessions From The eighties Underground”. It’s a very intriguing book that contains a lot of Q&A stlye interviews people involved in the Undergroun music scenes in the US and the UK.
The roll call is really impressive. Genesis P.Orridge, Lydia Lunch, Boyd Rice, Coil. The Hafler Trio, Current 93, Laibach, Psychic TV (When HÖH was a member), Nick Cave, Clint Ruin, etc, etc, etc, as well as written piece and poetry from the likes of Michael Gira and Henry Rollins.
Of course if you’re in Reykjaivk, you can loan the book. If not the It all on Google book right HERE:
Needless to say this book came to mind instantly when i found this VERY intriguing video that was posted on YouTube recently. Bits of it have been posted before, but never in its entirity.
Titled “The Sound Of Progress,” it was a documentary produced for Dutch TV and the Rotterdam Film Festival sometime in the late ’80s. Containing interviews and live footage from David Tibet, Coil, Test Dept, and JG Thirwell.
What’s also intriguing is the whole watching experience. You’ve got Test Dept, looking as if they’re extra from a film about a Scottish regiment in the First World War. Then there’s David Tibet, looking and sounding thoroughly pissed of with the whole of Western culture (can blame him to be honest). And then there Coil. While there’s humdrum stuff of sleazy working and programming the synthesizer to produce drum sounds, you’ve got the likes of John Balance looking very young and impressionable (even though he was 26 at the time). The real highlight though is their discussion segment, where they talk about their music over dinner that descends into a Le Grand Bouffe style sleaze-fest. Balance spends his time sucking the juices of sleazy’s fingers! Eww!
The video itself, an old VHS rip, the warping audio and twisting visuals only adds to the general unease and queasiness, as if it was some kind of transmission from the past that has a grave warning aobut what western pop culture was becoming.
Some night listening moves for You all. A mix of bastardised electronics of all sorts. Make sure you have extra Tin foil on those TV screens to boost the signals…
Huuuurrrr Hurrrr. sorry for my mild brain spasms, for I have been getting back on that scribing tip today. After what seemed like an eternity this week, where i pretty undertook a full breakdown of my faculties, I’ve finally felt the desire and need to put my thoughts to paper and other porous surfaces.
But now that’s done for the day, it’s time to undertake something that has been lacking over the last week or two. Yes, it’s sunday and that means that it’s time for another slice of celluloid madness. It’s… THE SUUUUUUUUUUUNDAY CULLLLLLLT FILMMMMMMMMMM CORNEEEEEEEEEEEER (belch…).
And, for no other reason than i can, i´ve decided for the next few weeks to curate a slew of movies from the old country, the true birthplace of civilisation, Britain (yes you heard me). titled BRIT GRIT, the next few weeks will se some lovely moves from the harder side of British life, to show that it’s not all afternoons of cricket, high tea, the monarchy and incest.
To start it all off, this week a give you a true underrated classic of gritty ’50s British cinema that’s as black and hard as the cargo it carries. Ladies and gentlemen, i give to you HELL DRIVERS.
Directed in 1957 by Cy Endfield, it lifts the lift on the hard knock macho life of Ballast truck drivers. It stars Stanley Baxter as Joe “Tom” Yately. Fresh out of prison and looking to make a clean break, he takes up a job at a haulage firm, transporting gravel. It’s a tough life where speed is of the essence and one false move could cost you your truck, or even your life. When he decides to go up against the Big dog (a man nicknamed Red) for the record number of hauls in a day, the other workers decide to freeze him out. Just when he’s about to leave, his only friend in the company has a major accident, whereupon the company secretary confides in him about the corruption endemic in the company. Tom then decides to expose the company’s corrupt practices.
“Hell Drivers” is probably one of the best, grittiest examples of the genre that is the ’50s British B movie. In those days, you’d be lucky if you got a single “Damn” or “Bloody” out of the script, but the actors of the screen were men, reaaal men, who did not give a fig for things like feelings, personal grooming, or washing their hands after going to the toilet. The world they inhabit is relentlessly grim and grey, a land of cold baths, boiled meat and cabbage and incessant abuse. Laughing and joking are but alien concepts to these people.
If all this sounds an awful prospect to watch, then don´t be disheartened, for Hell Drivers is positively dripping with talent. As well as Stanley Baker, you’ve got Herbert Lom, Patrick McGoohan, William Hartnell, Gordon Jackson, Sid James, David McCallum and Sean Connery. Meanwhile the director Cy Endfield went on to make the classic film Zulu. It’s pure black gold on celluloid.
So if you want to see some really heartless classic Brit grit, then get that mug of milky weak tea, some tongue sandwiches, and settle back for some serious trucking action.
Some very important news you all need to know. Several weeks ago i was asked by my Good friend and Exotic Pylon records impresario, Jonny Mugwump, to create a mix for his record show on Resonance FM. I duly created said mix and got so excited that i told a lot of people, even my Brother who thinks that Resonance FM are “all over the shop”.
How prophetic my brother’s words turned out to be for on the night when it was supposed to be aired the slack arsed amateurs who were managing the station that night DID EVEN PLAY THE RIGHT PROGRAMME! Jonny was apologetic and stuff, but it was definitely emos all round.
But now it’s back and tonight on Resonance 104.4 at 8pm GMT (9pm British time), Nordic Interstitial Thresholds will take over the Exotic Pylon Radio Show and play sill buggers with your mindz!
You can listen online RIGHT HERE. I think you should do it. My ferrets of death know where you live….
I reviewed the debut album from Anglo Icelandic artist LOW ROAR for the Grapevine.
It’s definitely an example of the “new ephemeral” sound that happening a lot. Home recordings, mixed with lots of laptop effect, delay and reverb. A freeze dried church sound.
