Ian Svenonius interviewed by Tobi Vail.You rarely hear a defense of “garbage,” but [the notion of] “trash culture” is used as a rallying cry for enthusiasts of bubblegum, B-Movies and the like. In a sense, punk rock is the child of trash connoisseurs like John Waters and Andy Warhol, who were archivists, curators and appreciators of lowbrow, or “camp,” forms that were dismissed by the bourgeoisie. This culminated with the Ramones. Now, [we have] the rampant triumph of trash everywhere gross-out films, the internet, reality TV, George Bush, Killing as a national sport, i.e. Qaddafi. There is really no “highbrow” in America anymore.
Americans’ defense of trash could be read as nationalist posturing, since “good taste” was, and still is, typically determined by a European standard (as evidenced by the yuppie’s affection for artisanal espresso, Italian cooking, and hand-crafted housewares as well as the critic’s veneration of Euro sensibilities in film, art, etc.).
Either way, “trash” has been utterly assimilated by the culture at large. There are no longer art films, and the art shown in galleries is as grotesque, lowbrow, and kitsch as can be. TV news is interchangeable with pornography and the populace of every class flaunts its illiteracy, ignorance and idiocy at every possible opportunity.
The bourgeoisie has taken up the trash trend quite literally, with the “eco,” “recycling” and “green” trend, where people hoard trash on their porch and in special bins which are set outside for conspicuity, in classic “Keeping Up With the Joneses” style. All this trash-loving and trash hoarding, while the garbage is just shoved in landfills, stuck in lakes and rivers and compacted mercilessly. Garbage goes unloved, unappreciated, despised. Garbage still stinks and includes old diapers, rotten eggs, medical waste and coffee grinds.
Since punk themes are tired, toothless and tedious, garbage power might be the next revolutionary front switching trash for garbage. Lauding garbage, collecting it and putting it in galleries while rejecting trash would be a real kick in the pants to all these self-satisfied trash collectors.
“Until his death in 1982 at age 34, Bangs wrote freewheeling rock ‘n’ roll pieces for Creem, Rolling Stone, the Village Voice and London’s NME (New Musical Express). As a rock critic, he was adept at distinguishing the commercially packaged product from the real thing. Written in a conversational, wisecracking, erotically charged style, his impudent reviews and essays explore the connections between rock and the body politic, the way rock stars cow their audiences and how the pursuit of success and artistic vision destroys or makes rock performers as human beings. This collection covers “fake moneybags revolutionary” Mick Jagger, John Lennon (“I can’t mourn him”), David Bowie “in Afro-Anglican drag,” Iggy Pop, the Troggs, Lou Reed, Van Morrison, Chicago, the Clash, many more.”
Hace 11 años ya de este concierto que acaba de aparecer en youtube.
El grupo más chulo de la historia de los grupos chulos.
(vía @karpovshelby & @lacajanegra).
Dozens of young men and women have been detained for being “punk” and disturbing the peace in Aceh, Indonesia’s most devoutly Muslim province. They are being held in a remedial school, where they are undergoing “re-education”.
para celebrar sus veinte años de andadura, el sello kill rock stars regala un sampler con canciones de veinte de sus grupos. debajo del tracklist está el enlace para descargarlo.
- elliott smith : between the bars (either/or, 1997)
- thermals, the : now we can see (now we can see, 2009)
- gossip :…
![Poly Styrene R.I.P, 1957-2011
“She was a feminist and “misfit superstar” who paved the way for everyone from Kim Gordon to Karen O. Beth Ditto credits her with “shaping my identity”. But for generations of followers, the unassuming singer was more than an icon: she was someone who felt like one of us, and who will be mourned like an absent friend.” (Dave Simpson).
“Everyone always accepted how wonderful X-Ray Spex were, how inspirational their non-conformist singer Poly Styrene was. The way their songs so presciently captured the alienation and sterility of modern-day society. That abrasive saxophone and the repetitive guitar lines. The sardonic and oddly betrayed and wonderfully articulated lyrics. The way ‘I Am A Cliche’ didn’t, but should have, become the theme song for every punk that followed. The gleeful venom Poly Styrene used to spit out lines about her pet rat. […] Poly Styrene was the fucking coolest singer ever. That was so much a given, it feels weird to offer any reasons even now. She had a rasp. She had a translucent honesty. Without a doubt, the reason I fell for Bikini Kill was because Kathleen Hanna also clearly loved her with a passion.” (Everett True).
“Poly lit the way for me as a female singer who wanted to sing about ideas. She taught me, by example, that fame was less the goal than something to back away from when it started to invade your core. Her lyrics influenced EVERYONE I KNOW WHO MAKES MUSIC.” (Kathleen Hanna).](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkacv764q41qzvf7ko1_500.jpg)
Poly Styrene R.I.P, 1957-2011
“She was a feminist and “misfit superstar” who paved the way for everyone from Kim Gordon to Karen O. Beth Ditto credits her with “shaping my identity”. But for generations of followers, the unassuming singer was more than an icon: she was someone who felt like one of us, and who will be mourned like an absent friend.” (Dave Simpson).
“Everyone always accepted how wonderful X-Ray Spex were, how inspirational their non-conformist singer Poly Styrene was. The way their songs so presciently captured the alienation and sterility of modern-day society. That abrasive saxophone and the repetitive guitar lines. The sardonic and oddly betrayed and wonderfully articulated lyrics. The way ‘I Am A Cliche’ didn’t, but should have, become the theme song for every punk that followed. The gleeful venom Poly Styrene used to spit out lines about her pet rat. […] Poly Styrene was the fucking coolest singer ever. That was so much a given, it feels weird to offer any reasons even now. She had a rasp. She had a translucent honesty. Without a doubt, the reason I fell for Bikini Kill was because Kathleen Hanna also clearly loved her with a passion.” (Everett True).
“Poly lit the way for me as a female singer who wanted to sing about ideas. She taught me, by example, that fame was less the goal than something to back away from when it started to invade your core. Her lyrics influenced EVERYONE I KNOW WHO MAKES MUSIC.” (Kathleen Hanna).
Joey Ramone R.I.P. 19.05.51 – 15.04.01
The time you discover there’s life outside school, outside your family, outside your immediate environs, that’s the real important time in life. It’s when your tastes, your sense of being, your ideals and morals and sexual preferences coalesce and become real: adolescence shapes your future life. Yet it’s also a period that is rarefied to the extreme – and that’s why rock’n’roll bands always refer back to it, however old they become. Rock bands utilise the teen ideal in their lyrical imagery: see a girl, walk in the park and hang out – Carbona or soda pop, it’s your drug of choice. Ramones songs, too, hark back to that time.
Una sociedad de narradores interdependientes que no se recogen bajo el paraguas del último blockbuster, sino que ponen en marcha sus propias dinámicas narrativas […] Para mí no tiene nada de naive, no es hablar del cielo imposible, sino de la generación de infraestructuras para narrar, de más narradores, de más historias, de más interconexión, etc. Hacer movimiento, en vez de ilusión de movimiento. Realidad creativa en vez de hype.
Este mes en Crónicas del Hype entrevistan a Elena Garmendi, investigadora de teoría cultural, que habla sobre los límites del movimiento de la cultura libre, sobre Irene Adler y Emma Peel y sobre graffittis con títulos de discos punk (via cronicasdelhype)
Me ha costado muchísimo elegir la cita porque la entrevista está plagada de perlas. Qué tía más lista.
Está realizada en el rancho de Johnny Ramone, en el periodo en el que recibía tratamiento para curar su cáncer. El músico, que sabe que va a morir, tiene poco que perder, y se muestra más sincero que nunca. “Nunca me divertí tocando con los Ramones”, revela.
Entre la reinvención de la masculinidad femenina de Patti Smith y la rubia sin un pelo de tonta de Blondie, Debbie Harry, se esconden mujeres atípicas del punk que, como Ari Up, se enunciaron autónomas e inclasificables. (Publicado en Diagonal #142 como pequeño homenaje a Ari Up).
