photo & text by nacrowe
you always got the feeling with COMEDIC LEGEND DON RICKLES that his ABRASIVE shtick wasnt entirely MEAN-SPIRITED, but rather counterintuitively WHOLESOME and done with some semblance of LOVE and EMPATHY. it was as if poking fun at a CELEBRITY or a NO-NAME paying customer was an act of intimacy as if to suggest that we are all stronger than we give often ourselves credit for. that our INDIVIDUAL INSECURITIES and INTERNAL SELF-DOUBTS can be transcended, even when provoked upon in a public setting. at least that was the just i got from reading his consciously unimaginatively titled memoir RICKLES' BOOK (SIMON & SCHUSTER, 2007).
i say this because the whole book is a testament to his LOVE of FAMILY and FRIENDS. first and foremost, as the only son of two WORKING-CLASS LITHUANIAN JEWISH immigrants, RICKLES pays tributes to his PARENTS MAX and ETTA and the childhood he had in JACKSON HEIGHTS. his FATHER PASSED AWAY PRE-FAME and his MOTHER was the driving force of his career, tirelessly networking and advocating on his behalf and her support knew no limits. then there is his WIFE BARBARA and the FAMILY they created. probably the most INTRIGUING RELATIONSHIPS presented here to fans of RICKLES would be those of FRANK SINATRA, BOB NEWHART, JOHNNY CARSON, ED SULLIVAN, BOB HOPE and DEAN MARTIN. its a UNIQUE perspective on a generation of COMEDY that is pretty removed from today's ELEVATED sense of CULTURAL BOUNDARIES and QUOTE UNQUOTE GOOD TASTE. two generations ago during the postwar period when LAS VEGAS was in full swing and the country had yet to become divided by RELEVANT and LONG-POSTPONED debates over RACIAL and GENDER EQUALITY, this cohort of COMEDIANS reigned UNOBSTRUCTED with the world as their oyster. and they seemingly did it with a sense of CLASS and TASTE that makes their COMEDY somewhat EVERGREEN in nature. i cant say that such is the same for the INSULT COMEDY that came in the wake of RICKLES in the likes of later generations of COMEDIANS in ANDREW DICE CLAY, SAM KINISON, ANTHONY JESELNIK, GREG GERALDO, BILL BURR, JIM NORTON, COLIN QUINN and ROBERT SMIGEL (i.e. TRIUMPH THE INSULT COMIC DOG) who seemed more concerned with TRANSGRESSIVE SHOCK tactics than projecting any PALPABLE sense of empathy and COMMUNITY. to me that is the SINGULAR GENIUS and UNIQUE SPIRIT of the COMEDY of RICKLES, that through shared LAUGHTER at our own individual expense came a more familiar feeling of COMMUNITY. his INSULT COMEDY was INCLUSIVE rather than the more BRASH and ABRASIVE variant we see to day which feels more DIVISIVE and AGGRESSIVE, as if peeling off this layer of one's PERSONA would reveal a more SINISTER, SUBTERRANEAN agenda. almost like a form of WAR or CHARACTER ASSASSINATION. you look at those two cohorts of COMEDIC GENERATIONS and you can see where we have traversed as a CULTURE. not to say that such is NEGATIVE, since one may be more HONEST and AUTHENTIC than the other, but it is INTRIGUING nonetheless to consider. RICKLES' BOOK is pretty plainly written for a MASS AUDIENCE and does its job of position RICKLES in terms he appreciates relative to his FRIENDS and FAMILY, but i am interested in the book that really dives into his backstory and how his personal narrative intertwined with the changing tides of AMERICAN COMEDY and POPULAR CULTURE throughout his long career. especially during the 1960s. understandably such was effectively glossed over here since such was not the purpose of this book. but that is the narrative i hope to read someday. this book is perfectly SERVICEABLE but not recommended unless you are a true HARDCORE RICKLES fanatic.
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photo & text by nacrowe
ARCHITECTURE is one of those constants in our lives that absolutely goes UNNOTICED and UNHERALDED, yet is responsible for the efficiency and quality of our lives relative to our predecessors. its also the type of thing you become aware of when in a developing country with more NASCENT SYSTEMS (such as PLUMBING, ELECTRICITY, WATER, etc.) that make basic tasks that much more difficult. BUILT: THE HIDDEN STORIES BEHIND OUR STRUCTURES (BLOOMSBURY, 2018) is an absolutely ENGROSSING book that serves as a primer to all things STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING for the uninitiated. it explains not only the SCIENCE and PHYSICS at play behind STRUCTURES and how they work, but also the people and the history behind how such knowledge and PROCESSES were innovated and acquired over time. this includes everyone from ARCHIMEDES, FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI, FAZLUR KHAN and HENRY BESSEMER to EMILY ROEBLING, ISAMBARD BRUNEL and ELISHA OTIS among many others.
author ROMA AGRAWAL, herself a STRUCTURAL ENGINEER that worked on the modern LONDON ARCHITECTURAL ICON THE SHARD, displays a deep passion for communicating this core subject in a manner that is both INFORMATIVE and ENGAGING. at no point was i left wondering why i was reading at length about the HISTORY of SEWER CONSTRUCTION since such was related to innovation regarding MATERIALS and the PHYSICS of ARCHES discussed in previous chapters. each chapter, much like the foundation of a STRUCTURE, laid the BASE UNDERSTANDING for subsequently more COMPLEX CONCEPTS that further complicated and built upon such. i left this book with a more NUANCED UNDERSTANDING of the multitude of CONSIDERATIONS that go into conceiving and CONSTRUCTING a BUILDING, with all of its UNDERLYING REQUIREMENTS and VITAL SYSTEMS, than i certainly did before. having lived overseas in several developing countries such as NIGERIA, ALBANIA and MYANMAR, i was always keenly aware of the hardship that comes with a breakdown in BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE and how DISRUPTIVE such can be for the lives of regular people. much of BUILT speaks to the technological marvels of MODERN SKYSCRAPERS and ICONIC BRIDGES, but the heart of the conversation for me is how BASIC FUNCTIONS are going to be addressed globally given the future swelling of the human population and LIMITED RESOURCES. for me those EXISTENTIAL CONCERNS are what will be the true future test of ENGINEERING moving forward and not the CONSTRUCTION of the next BURJ KHALIFA or AKASHI KAIKO BRIDGE. when reading about SEWER SYSTEM CONSTRUCTION and the need for WELL-CONSIDERED WATER PURIFICATION/DISTRIBUTIVE SYSTEMS i could not help but viscerally remember moments abroad where i had no access to either and that is the status quo for a majority of the world's population. i just wonder how much incentive there is out there to utilize this vast TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE to uplift said underserved populations instead of showcase STRUCTURES meant to further cement economic hegemony on a global stage. BUILT is an INCREDIBLE ACHIEVEMENT that should read by everyone. i found this to be an ESSENTIAL book that very much assisted in adding value to my appreciation for ARCHITECTURE and the SCIENCE and HISTORY behind it. it is most definitely worth checking out. photo & text by nacrowe
i always felt INDIGNANT whenever encountering RELIGIOUS ZEALOTS and HOLY ROLLERS growing up and i especially felt for their kids. in a very REAL sense they were innocently trapped in a FANTASY WORLD of bullshit MAGICAL THINKING. case in point, a friend of my brother's lost a FATHER because his mother's HARDCORE CHRISTIAN BELIEFS precluded him from getting brain surgery for an operable tumor. the POWER OF PRAYER or something. dude lost a FAMILY MEMBER over this type of STUPIDITY.
in that sense, reading the RAVE (DRAWN & QUARTERLY, 2022) graphic novel by JESSICA CAMPBELL was viscerally PAINFUL to take in due to its NARRATIVE examining that same PSYCHIC TERRAIN of the socially ADVERSE ramifications of AGGRESSIVE RELIGIOSITY on IMPRESSIONABLE minors who are still DEVELOPING and exploring their sense of identity. the plot centers around a young girl in secondary school dealing with the AWKWARD HARDSHIPS of being a NORMAL TEENAGER with the added burden of choosing whether or not to internalize the OUT-OF-TOUCH LESSONS from her nearby EVANGELICAL PASTOR and his EXTREME SERMONS that advocate a DOOMED world full of SINNERS and US-VERSUS-THEM THINKING. the NARRATIVE follows this QUEER girl as she comes to challenge that CLOSETED MINDSET through exploring her own SELF-DETERMINED EXPERIENCES, FEELINGS and SEXUALITY independently from what her FAMILY and COMMUNITY seemingly advocate so forcefully. thankfully i never had to deal with that sort of MENTAL PRISON at the behest of SOCIALLY-ADVOCATED, RELIGIOUS or POLITICALLY-INFORMED MAGICAL THINKING. but i intimately know people that had to deal with such HURDLES and it took much PERSEVERANCE and heartache to transcend such. it meant leaving people behind, including FAMILY MEMBERS. RAVE gets at the very heart of that CENTRAL MANIPULATION at play in CULT-LIKE BEHAVIOR and the social PERILS and outright COURAGEOUSNESS of breaking away from GROUPTHINK and SELF-ADVOCATING your INDIVIDUAL PERSPECTIVE, SEXUALITY or IDENTITY against an UNSUPPORTIVE BLOB. this story took me right back to the day i found out that this father passed on, the one who coached little large baseball teams i played against growing up overseas and was always WELCOMING and CHARMING. a dude that seemingly did walk in the path of JESUS CHRIST in how he treated others but seemingly took it a few steps too far and DIED for his mistake in not trusting MODERN SCIENCE in the face of FAMILY-imposed MAGICAL THINKING. but he was an adult who made his own DECISIONS and his sons abandoned the FAITH thereafter. and have maintained a STRAINED bond with their MOTHER ever since, whom they personally blame for his PERMANENT ABSENCE from their lives. i think CAMPBELL is very much on to something PROFOUND with RAVE in that all BELIEF SYSTEMS that impose BLIND FAITH are DANGEROUS. it is a form of COERCION and thankfully the main character sees her way out of it when the curtain of her life sheds light on the INSANITY, lack of EMPATHY and outright HYPOCRISY at the heart of her PASTOR's MESSAGE. she moves on. i absolutely adored this graphic novel and will likely seek out other titles by CAMPBELL moving forward. RAVE is definitely worth checking out. photo & text by nacrowe
at the heart of the long SELF-PERPETUATED national narrative regarding AMERICAN MASCULINITY, there is this CORE BELIEF in HARD WORK, AMBITION and DETERMINATION paying off. that through some INGENUITY and plenty of elbow grease, the AMERICAN DREAM of personal AGENCY and FINANCIAL SECURITY is within reach. if anything, through his LISTLESS, PERIPATETIC and SEMI-AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL alter ego, HENRY CHINASKI, in the PICARESQUE FACTOTUM (BLACK SPARROW PRESS, 1975) novel, CHARLES BUKOWSKI is interested in absolutely none of that.
if anything, BUKOWSKI through CHINASKI is more concerned with addressing the counter-argument of what is left for the rest of us. you know, those NORMAL folk that are LESS INTREPID, GIFTED, EDUCATED, INSPIRED and endowed with the INSTINCT to further their MATERIAL INTERESTS. that majority of the LABOR FORCE who are just stuck as a cog in the grinding gears of CAPITALISM in UNAPPRECIATED roles at DEAD-END jobs with no sense of DIGNITY or real future. to me that is the focus of FACTOTUM. set stateside during the 1940s, including the war years, when available WORK was supposedly PLENTIFUL for any able-bodied person, CHINASKI is an ASPIRING writer who takes on a long series of DISPOSABLE JOBS throughout the country (LOS ANGELES, NEW YORK CITY, NEW ORLEANS, MIAMI, ST. LOUIS, PHILADELPHIA and so on) in order to temporarily fund his DRINKING and attempts at SEXUAL PURSUITS. these TEMPORARY WORK and residential circumstances are always abandoned and the relationships he picks up along with way, both of a PLATONIC and SEXUAL nature, are similarly just as DISPOSABLE. there is no real DEVELOPMENT or AMBITION for CHINASKI throughout FACTOTUM beyond getting DRUNK and attempting to seek a warm body for the evening. and that lack of consolidation or climax in that narrative arc of FACTOTUM is kind of the point for this type of LISTLESS and DIRECTIONLESS figure in AMERICAN SOCIETY. it speaks of a vein of MASCULINITY that has rejected self-identification with past TRADITIONAL markers such as participation in CONSUMER CULTURE or MILITARISTIC GLORY as stand-ins for one's ACCOMPLISHED sense of personal AGENCY and VIRILITY. instead you are left with this apparent husk of a man who has failed on all accounts, succumbing to to his CHEMICAL and SEXUAL INDULGENCES, but yet still comes off as wholly INDEPENDENT, SELF-MADE and SELF-DETERMINED in a WARPED manner. did AMERICA fail him and those like him or is this the path he chose, to reject SOCIETY and abide by his own VALUES and CODE OF CONDUCT. i woudnt call CHINASKI a REBEL or an ANTI-HERO by any stretch of the imagination inasmuch as he isnt consciously against anything specific, more navigating his IDIOSYNCRATIC path on INSTINCT. what i think he is, is an example of someone that falls and is FORGOTTEN between the cracks of the AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. it is hard to pin down why such happens (technology, lack of education, entrepreneurial spirit, poor finances, lack of networking opportunities, etc.), but it is not hard to look around currently and see CHINASKI in many aspects of a SILENT, UNDERVALUED and OVERLOOKED majority that dont materially benefit from AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS and TRADITIONS. and in that respect, FACTOTUM is beyond prescient to the TOXIC mindset of our current UNRECOGNIZED WORKING POOR that has metastasized and grown BITTER and has largely REJECTED BEDROCK AMERICAN TRADITIONS in recent years. photo & text by nacrowe
its always INTERESTING to investigate the CREATIVE PROCESS of ARTISTS, whether that be EXPLORATORY SKETCHES used by PAINTERS or NOTES and ROUGH DRAFTS of short stories by NOTEWORTHY AUTHORS. such is the case with cartoonist ADRIAN TOMINE's 32 STORIES: THE COMPLETE OPTIC NERVE MINI-COMICS (DRAWN & QUARTERLY, 2002) which is a compilation of his entire early series of (mostly) NON-INTERRELATED and (mostly) SEMI-AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL vignettes concerning post-adolescent life in the 1990s.
originally SELF-PUBLISHED, these mini-comics were sold on consignment as TOMINE began his career as a CARTOONIST and there is a definite PALPABLE sense of EXPERIMENTATION going on with the presentation and execution of that INTRIGUING ALCHEMY that happens between TEXT and IMAGERY. over time the drawn lines in each panel become more CONFIDENT and STYLIZED while the DIALOGUE likewise showcases less EXPOSITION and become more EVOCATIVE and psychologically IMMERSIVE in nature. in essence you are becoming acquainted with an ARTIST learning their CRAFT in REAL-TIME, even including DUDS, HALF-MEASURES and outright FAILURES. some of these brief vignettes just end, which is FINE and VALID, but comes off less determined and artistic and more just the result of outright ABANDONEMENT. in my opinion the most COMPELLING of these 32 stories include those that examine the DISCOMFORTING relationship between SOLITUDE and LONELINESS, where one can be in a relationship yet feel ABANDONED and ALONE with no sense of SECURITY or COMPANIONSHIP. likewise their is the PECULIAR vein of LONELINESS that come with feeling REJECTED or TIRED and FALLING OUT OF LOVE with a romantic interest. those COMPLICATED feelings that come with both being in and out of relationships are what make some of these short narratives really click, irrespective of the quality of the ART. and that is the other major point observed through reading this compilation, that the quality of the story trumps that of the ART. its what separates great ART from a more visually STUNNING but VACUOUS and PREDICTABLE PLOT presented that unveils little of SUBSTANCE and relies on spectacle, which is how i feel about SUPERHERO COMICS versus that of the more PERSONAL ALTERNATIVE COMICS movement. i'd definitely recommend his later WORK over this OPTIC NERVE series, but that is kind of the point. this is in essence a primer to help contextualize his later PROJECTS and witness the EVOLUTION FIRSTHAND. an absolutely INTRIGUING and BRAVE PRODUCT to release to the world given TOMINE's embedded admission of FALLIBILITY. too bad other ARTISTS dont follow suit more often. photo & text by nacrowe
HICKSVILLE (BLACK EYE COMICS, 1998) by DYLAN HORROCKS is quite the unusual graphic novel in that it is a FICTIONALIZED META-NARRATIVE about the MEDIUM itself and its potential of both transporting and mesmerizing the READER into a different state of CONSCIOUSNESS. HORROCKS does this through an interweaving plot surrounding an INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER for a comic publishing company coming out to a NEW ZEALAND called HICKSVILLE in order to run the background and attempt to understand the origins of a MEGA-SUCCESSFUL WRITER back in the states. what this REPORTER doesnt comprehend initially is that HICKSVILLE is the literal spiritual home for COMIC BOOK WRITERS going on centuries and that his subject, DICK BURGER, has broken their OPERATING CODE OF ETHICS.
the effect of this plot is a CODED discussion about the wider industry itself and what truly defines SUCCESS and ARTISTIC INTEGRITY in an environment where the participants are constantly biting off one another and self-cannibalizing their own MATERIAL in the hopes of an EXPANDED READERSHIP and potential revenue stream. the town of HICKSVILLE and its GOOD-NATURED but OPINIONATED inhabitants represents a GREEK chorus of sorts for the higher IDEALS of the READERSHIP of GRAPHIC NOVELS writ large, many of whom are unconcerned with ECONOMIC CONCERNS beyond BASIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY. for some background, HICKSVILLE was written a few years after the INDUSTRY-ALTERING founding of IMAGE COMICS by several HIGH-PROFILE ILLUSTRATORS, formerly of DC and MARVEL. the revolution that was IMAGE initially was that each of these CREATORS maintained control of their INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (essentially leasing such to IMAGE), which was not the case with DC or MARVEL. while SMALL comic book PUBLISHERS had long been a thing, this new INDEPENDENT company was competing at scale in the big leagues. it also announced the arrival of CREATORS maintaining control of their CREATIONS, even at the more SUBTERRANEAN level. i wonder how much of the character of BURGER and his UNFETTERED FINANCIAL ASPIRATIONS, lack of ORIGINALITY and lack of MORAL CLARITY surrounding the UNATTRIBUTED PLAGIARIZING of other artists is a stand-in for the ECONOMIC AMBITION similar gripes against some of those ORIGINAL founding members of IMAGE including JIM LEE (who went back to run DC), ROB LIEFELD and TODD MCFARLANE. i would not be surprised. what i appreciated about HICKSVILLE is how it uses the MEDIUM and VOCABULARY of graphic novels to create a MULTI-LAYERED storyline with INTENTION that adroitly plays with big IDEAS surrounding the EMOTIONAL core of the MEDIUM itself. the town of HICKSVILLE is the physical personification of this ONGOING discussion and village of IDEAS regarding best practices and what BUDDHISTS would refer to as RIGHT INTENTION. the wealth of the industry is thus understood not to be located in the ECONOMIC GAINS of its PARTICIPANTS, but in the QUALITY of the CONTENT and PRODUCT itself. that this was all conveyed in a LYRICAL and ARTISTIC manner is what renders HICKSVILLE such an ASTOUNDING achievement that is well worth checking out for anyone interested in REVOLUTIONARY ART constructed with INTEGRITY. photo & text by nacrowe
i have hard time believing that when JERZY KOSINSKI wrote his SATIRICAL NOVEL BEING THERE (HARCOURT BRACE, 1971), he was not somehow channeling PLATO's PHILOSOPHICAL mind experiment ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE and the PROFOUND effect of education on one's nature. in PLATO's scenario, there is a man trapped inside of a cave since childhood forced to look at backlit shadows against a wall. that cave and those shadows are his REALITY and all that he is aware of, which becomes complicated once he is let out of the cave and forced to come to terms with the OUTSIDE world. in a very real sense this man has no tools for contextualizing, describing or comprehending what he it is he is seeing in this EXPANDED REALITY. PLATO's basic point is that such is man's dilemma when attempting to understand DIVINE and METAPHYSICAL matters that are not limited by our senses and their narrow constructions of REALITY.
in BEING THERE, the reader is confronted with a man named CHANCE who is a caretaker of walled-in GARDEN for a wealthy man. his childhood and upbringing was limited strictly to looking after the GARDEN and watching TELEVISION in an upstairs bedroom, his food regularly brought to him by support staff. outside of the wealthy man, those servants, his bedroom and that GARDEN, CHANCE has had MINIMAL social interactions and no concept of the REALITY outside his immediate threshold. TELEVISION in this context provides an ALTERNATE REALITY. for most viewers it would represent a mirror to their own REAL-LIFE experience, but for CHANCE and his uniquely siloed imprisonment, it provides a glimpse of another WORLD with internally understood CONVENTIONS, PLOT TWISTS, STRUCTURES, MEET CUTES and SOCIAL CUSTOMS. for CHANCE these SHADOWY figures in a very REAL sense are that of his TELEVISION and his GARDEN. and then the old man dies and CHANCE is set adrift outside, which is where the FUN begins. the novel takes place over a few days and immediately upon walking outside the building he is struck by a limousine and brought to another wealthy man's house for recuperation. there his literal descriptions of the nuances of his GARDEN are taken for ASTUTE, PLAIN-SPOKEN aphorisms about the state of the AMERICAN ECONOMY. this new singularly POWERFUL caretaker then introduces him to the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES who is similarly taken by him, as well as ambassadors and foreign dignitaries, each projecting themselves and their SELF-CONFIRMING BELIEF SYSTEMS into apparent METAPHORICAL LANGUAGE issued by CHANCE (whose name is misinterpreted to be CHAUNCEY GARDINER). the plot of BEING THERE is in essence a SARDONIC TESTAMENT to the WARPED nature of POWER. how one's own CONFIRMATION BIAS and SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECIES very much alter one's grasp of REALITY and how such SELF-ABETTING tendencies are at the heart of the MUCH-INTERTWINED WESTERN POLITICAL, INDUSTRIAL, BUSINESS and INTELLIGENCE apparatus. it is a particularly PROFOUND insight that has only come to bear fruit over the decades in understanding the role of the MASS MEDIA in miseducating the population for specific political outcomes (i.e. GEORGE W BUSH administration's PROPAGANDIZED buildup to the second IRAQ WAR, DONALD TRUMP's ELECTION FRAUD lies and so on). in the figure of CHANCE / CHAUNCEY GARDINER you have the very PHYSICAL EMODIMENT of an UNDECIPHERABLE cypher from which power players project their INNERMOST DESIRES and find JUSTIFICATION for such, with literally no actual there being there. embedded in this scenario is the BITING CRITIQUE that being REAL or AUTHENTIC is not nearly as IMPORTANT as the APPEARANCE of being REAL and/or AUTHENTIC. especially on TELEVISION. if one presents as INTELLECTUAL and WELL-INFORMED, then the POWER of the media (and especially TELEVISION) will confirm those SUPERFICIAL cues on the public with potentially DISASTROUS effects. look to the TELEVISED JOHN F KENNEDY versus RICHARD NIXON debates in 1960 and much later TRUMP and his adroit MANIPULATION of PRESS COVERAGE as historically POTENT examples of such. i see KOZINSKI's point about the irrelevance of core competency and the supremacy of PRESENTATION in the age of TELEVISION, and it is still unnerving to consider now that we are more than a decade into the SOCIA MEDIA era where this same dynamic plays out in REAL-TIME without end. in fact, it is absolutely CHILLING. BEING THERE is required reading in my opinion, much as the PETER SELLER's cinematic vehicle that KOZINSKI participated in the screenplay of shortly thereafter. its an AMERICAN PARABLE that never becomes tired, in fact it becomes more RELEVANT with each successive tweet and repost. photo & text by nacrowe
i was never a fan of RACING. just want to be forthright about my bis straight from the jump. i never understood the AESTHETIC APPEAL of incredibly VOLATILE VEHICLES, designed and manufactured at the very limits of AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY, making a PREDETERMINED series of left turns on a CIRCULAR TRACK at exceedingly EXCESSIVE rates of speed. i understood that there was TALENT involved, but it never spoke to me at anywhere near the same level of GRACE and FINESSE as a WELL-TRIANGULATED FOOTBALL assist, an ELEGANT contested jump shot in BASKETBALL or the low parabola of a base hit that barely overshoots the grasp of a shortstop's outstretched glove in BASEBALL.
reading THE DEATH OF AYRTON SENNA (VIKING, 1995) by RICHARD WILLIAMS helped me see RACING in that same EXPRESSIVE vein. WILLIAMS in his LYRICAL and borderline METAPHYSICAL accounting of the innate SYNERGISTIC BEAUTY of the late LEGENDARY BRAZILIAN FORMULA 1 driver AYRTON SENNA, vividly presents not only the DELICATE balance between ART and DEATH inherent in the SPORT, but also the PHILOSOPHY for living that motivated who is largely considered the GREATEST RACE CAR driver of all-time. and its INTRIGUING to consider the position of a driver. in what is ostensibly a highly COLLABORATIVE TEAM SPORT that continually pushes the limits of AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY innovated and provided by corporate partners in an incredibly CUTTHROAT and COMPETITIVE environment, where success is measured literally in millimeters and seconds, the EXPERIENCE of the driver is largely solitary. the driver is where TECHNIQUE, FINESSE and RISK integrates with MECHANICAL, SOFTWARE and METALLURGICAL TECHNOLOGY. SENNA since childhood, is said by WILLIAMS to have had an INNATE and PRETERNATURAL ABILITY to palpably SENSE and FEEL the TECHNICAL LIMITATIONS of his equipment, whether they be GO-KARTS or FORMULA 1 RACE CARS. the acuity of his MEMORY regarding shifts in the functionality of his vehicles was second to none and was a COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE for the engineers he collaborated with throughout his career. not only that, he had the ABILITY to PSYCHOLOGICALLY INTIMIDATE his opponents by driving incredibly aggressively, especially around turns that were not classically considered TRADITIONAL PASSING OPPORTUNITIES. this extreme COMPETITIVENESS was interpreted as RECKLESSNESS by his rivals and FEARLESSNESS by his admirers, but that MENTALITY shifted the sport form its post-WAR roots to that of the MODERN era. he was constantly pushing his own TECHNIQUE, FITNESS, KNOWLEDGE and most importantly his WILL to push the extent of his ABILITIES in the EVER-ASSING present moment. and that sense of OPPORTUNISM and ELITE CONFIDENCE is the crux of what made THE DEATH OF AYRTON SENNA so COMPELLING a read. because in that drive to OUTSMART, OUT-INNOVATE and OUT-WILL your opponent is the very real RISK and UNSPOKEN CONSEQUENCE involved with overplaying one's hand on the track, which is DEATH. and not just your life but potentially that of your competitors and even that of the spectators. with the exception of maybe AMERICAN FOOTBALL, the potential LETHALITY of RACING is PARAMOUNT, OMNIPRESENT and inherently a part of its MYSTIQUE. not to me, but to fans worldwide. part of the allure of SENNA also is how a SOUTH AMERICAN, albeit a PRIVILEGED one, came to DOMINATE what is largely a euro-centric SPORT and became a SINGULAR icon to his home nation of BRASIL. in my review of the CELEBRATED film SENNA (linked HERE), i mentioned the fact that when i went to RIO DE JANIERO almost a decade ago, i was expecting to see yellow PELE SOCCER jerseys with the ICONIC number 10 everywhere, but instead what i saw in small shops and side streets were little DECORATIVE yellow racing helmets with horizontal green and blue stripes. thus was my introduction to SENNA more than two decades after his PASSING. and much like the SHOCKING and untimely DEATH of a BELOVED musician, actor politician or artist, the PASSING of SENNA is a part of the legacy. the EXTRAORDINARY VIGOR, SACRIFICE and AMBITION in which he courted DEATH on the track in pursuit of PERFORMANCE was UNPARALLELED and shook the SPORT to its core. that balance between ART and DEATH was EVER-PRESENT and followed him into his final seventh lap at SAN MARINO GRAND PRIX at the IMOLA CIRCUIT in BOLOGNA in 1994. WILLIAMS attempts to not romanticize such but there is no clear answer about the reason for the CRASH, whether it was MECHANICAL or HUMAN ERROR in nature. his SKILL was such that no one sincerely believes it was the fault of SENNA, instead believing that the EXPERIMENTAL nature of the VEHICLE and its UNPROVEN TECHNOLOGY over-road his ABILITY to instinctually NAVIGATE his way out of a FATAL circumstance. SENNA was the pinnacle of NATURAL BORN INSTINCT, but in the years before his DEATH the SPORT was transforming with the integration of new onboard AUTOMATED COMPUTER SYSTEMS that took over key components of the VEHICLE. such SOFTWARE provided a DISTINCT COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE to his rivals, which was his reasoning behind him switching TEAMS the year before his PASSING from MCLAREN to WILLIAMS. unfortunately those SYSTEMS were outlawed after his transfer and the WILLIAMS car sans those AUTOMATED features was an INFERIOR and UNDER-ENGINEERED VEHICLE. he DIED in a VEHICLE he was largely UNFAMILIAR in an effort to stay the competition. there is a parable in there somewhere, but WILLIAMS in an ARTICULATE and EMOTIVE fashion elucidated the appeal of RACING for me in a manner i was unprepared for, with ART versus DEATH at its central crossroads. THE DEATH OF AYRTON SENNA is a RIVETING book well-worth checking out. photo & text by nacrowe
ACID NUN (SILVER SPROCKET, 2022) by CORINNE HALBERT is not a conventional comic book by any stretch of the IMAGINATION. instead it is more of a TRANSGRESSIVELY-conceived, highly ALLEGORICAL EXORCISM of past REAL-WORLD TRAUMA in a vividly-depicted PHANTASMAGORIC world of the OCCULT with the DEVIL, DEMONS, BAPHOMET and ACID-TRIPPING NUNS aplenty. reading this SUBVERSIVE graphic novel very much reminded me of the latin quote [that some have attributed to the 16th century ENGLISH playwright / poet CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE] "quod me nutrit, me destruit" which roughly translates to "what nourishes me also destroys me." there is a real sense that the DEEP-SEATED PERSONAL EXPERIENCES HALBERT is attempting to PURGE and RESOLVE through the creation of this graphic novel have led to hard-gained WISDOM and CONFIDENCE. in a sense the APPALLING actions depicted in this ADULT-THEMED ALLEGORY can be understood to be the valley needed to be traversed in order to make it to the SUMMIT.
that being said, all the FRANK depictions of RANDOM COPULATION, BRUTAL SEXUAL VIOLENCE and COPIOUS DRUG USE that HALBERT employs seem geared not towards generating SHOCK VALUE per se, but more of an unimaginably INTENSE expression of the depths of PAIN and SUFFERING that come from surviving SEVERE CHILDHOOD TRAUMA. its a WARPED reality with a WARPED MORAL CODE in which the figureheads of the underworld are the protagonists despite their REPETITIVE, HEDONISTIC behavior. given that there are several guest artists that have provided their take on the ACID NUN character and her ugly voyage towards SELF-DISCOVERY, makes me consider that HALBERT has a SUPPORTIVE community that supports this DEBAUCHED endeavor to plumb the depths of DEPRAVITY and basic human decency. i find the whole thing quite LIBERATING. that idea of sublimating all that RAGE, FRUSTRATION and SELF-EVISCERATING FEELINGS into a POSITIVE ARTISTIC EXPRESSION that will likewise hit home for likewise AFFECTED individuals out there. this graphic novel is definitely not for everyone, but neither is the creative work of KATHY ACKER, WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS, ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE, G.G. ALLIN, FRANCIS BACON, J.G. BALLARD, LYDIA LUNCH, HUBERT SELBY JR, LOU REED or ANDRES SERRANO. to HALBERT's audience i think this work is a godsend. pun intended. definitiely worth checking out if you are into more extreme fair and gloriously pseudo-religious, vibrant depictions of the sublime and the unspeakable. photo & text by nacrowe
when i consider the MUSIC of NILE RODGERS the word that keeps coming to mind is JOY. his KINETIC, UPBEAT and monstrously CATCHY RHYTHMS and COMPOSITIONS that he has architected not only for himself and his LEGENDARY band CHIC but also in COLLABORATION as a PRODUCER and CO-SONGWRITER with the likes of DAVID BOWIE, MADONNA, DIANA ROSS, INXS, THE B-52s, GRACE JONES and DURAN DURAN is the sound of EXUBERANT CELEBRATION and the good things in life. which makes it all the more COMPELLING that his life narrative, especially related to his TRAUMA as a child and young adult, is such a HARROWING and borderline TRAGIC affair with NEGLECT, MENTAL HEALTH, DRUG ABUSE and POVERTY affecting his early life. both sides of the coin are discussed in an OPEN and NONJUDGEMENTAL manner that is both DISARMING and GUT-WRENCHING in his RIVETING memoir LE FREAK: AN UPSIDE DOWN STORY OF FAMILY, DISCO AND DESTINY (SPIEGEL & GRAU, 2011).
RODGERS as a kid led a PERIPATETIC existence as a young child, being left to his own devices on both coasts by a string of relatives who were loosely given custody of him as his BEATNICK mother led her DRUG-ADDLED life largely unencumbered by the responsibilities of MOTHERHOOD. being a CURIOUS and INTUITIVE learner from a young age, RODGERS discovered the power of MUSIC when he was in LOS ANGELES, where he learned to read MUSIC and play the flute and clarinet in junior high school. this ability to both read and write compositions, as well as comprehend and implement SOPHISTICATED JAZZ INVERSIONS and VOICINGS of popular CHORD PROGRESSIONS would prove incalculably useful in his later career as a musicians, SONGWRITER and PRODUCER of the first order. after switching to guitar in high school, RODGERS progressed quickly as serendipitously the range of the instrument matched that of the woodwinds he was trained on years earlier. later relocating to NEW YORK CITY, he got involved with PROGRESSIVE politics at the time (including the BLACK PANTHERS) and played small clubs in GREENWICH VILLAGE which eventually after years transitioned into work as a session and back-up musician on the CHITLIN CIRCUIT. in this MUSICAL COMMUNITY he eventually found his musical counterpart in bassist BERNARD EDWARDS, whom he would form CHIC with years later. one of the interesting aspects of this memoir is how RACE played a part in RODGERS life and how he adroitly navigated such in his career. when CHIC started out they were rejected by labels when they learned the band was BLACK, and thus UNMARKETABLE to a WHITE RECORD-BUYING PUBLIC. taking inspiration from KISS and ROXY MUSIC, RODGERS surmised that if himself and EDWARDS laid back in the RHTHYM SECTION and let others (i.e. singers) form the popular image of the group to the PUBLIC, then such would counteract this RACIST BIAS in the music industry. and it worked. later on he would face similar headwinds with songs and whole records being rejected by the labels of COLLABORATING artists (i.e. DIANA ROSS and DURAN DURAN) for sounding too ETHNIC. its INTRIGUING that DAVID BOWIE and a pre-global fame MADONNA had enough industry clout to counteract such PREJUDICES. cant make this stuff up. another intriguing thread throughout the memoir is the fracturing and dismantling of one's IDENTITY and COMMUNITY through DRUG ABUSE. RODGERS is a HIGH-FUNCTIONING DRUG ABUSER, mostly COCAINE and ALCOHOL, with a high tolerance throughout the 1970s and 1980s, but eventually such corroded away both his ABILITIES and warped his literal grasp of REALITY. he hit rock bottom after being confronted with a recording of a live performance showing him to be quite TERRIBLE which countered his IMPAIRED MEMORY of said event. he thought he was hot shit that night. falling into fantasies of PARANOIA and HOSTILE DELUSIONS, he put himself into rehab and got better over time, putting his life before his work for the first time. TRAUMATIC triggers such as the UNEXPECTED sudden PASSING of EDWARDS did not cause him to relapse, thus breaking the cycle that he inherited from his FAMILY. specifically his FATHER who used DRUGS for years until his DEATH to escape the INTENSE PAIN of RODGERS' MOTHER refusing to marry him. at the close of the memoir we briefly learn about his CANCER diagnosis, which we now know years later, long after the publication of this book, that he came out (barely) on the other side of. music during this period, which also included an ALZEIMER'S diagnosis for his BELOVED MOTHER BEVERLY, was his vehicle for finding meaning in existence and literally celebrating life with his extended MUSICAL COMMUNITY. finding that COMMUNITY and its status as a SURROGATE FAMILY is another COMPELLING aspect of this memoir. for someone that was so severely NEGLECTED as a child, the rise of CHIC was specifically POWERFUL as it tapped into a likewise NEGLECTED segment of the POPULATION that intersected UNDERGROUND BLACK, LATINO and GAY SUBCULTURES. when the backlash against "DISCO" happened it cut deeply as it seemed WHITE AMERICA was aggressively assuming back the reigns of cultural hegemony from this UNDERPRIVILEGED MINORITY POPULATION. the RACIAL OVERTONES of the DISCO SUCKS movement were likewise pretty EXPLICIT for those that that chose to pay attention. most record buyers didnt and RODGERS career suffered, until he re-marketed himself and BOWIE resurrected his career. i personally find the whole discussion around DISCO FASCINATING as it is a stain that continues unabated to this day, with the music being disavowed as being largely INTERCHANGEABLE and DISPOSABLE fluff with little to no AUTHENTICITY, as opposed to the SOPHISTICATED MUSICALITY and TECHNICAL EXECUTION that was at its core. never mind the fact that dancing served as an escape and place of REFUGE and CELEBRATION of IDENTITY for all of these UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS. it is still quite an UNRESOLVED dynamic that i take great interest in reading about and learning from. LE FREAK is an CAPTIVATING memoir that very much exposes the steep hills and EXTREME low depths of the valleys of RODGERS' WELL-LIVED life. this book is a RARE achievement and one of the more COMPELLING memoirs ive read about a musician since starting this blog. i'd put it right up there with KEITH RICHARDS' likewise EXCELLENT LIFE (LITTLE, BROWN & CO, 2010), PATTI SMITH's JUST KIDS (ECCO, 2010), HENRY ROLLINS' GET IN THE VAN: ON THE ROAD WITH BLACK FLAG (2.13.61, 1995), JOHNNY MARR's SET THE BOY FREE (DEY STREET, 2016) and PETER HOOK's SUBSTANCE: INSIDE NEW ORDER (SIMON & SCHUSTER, 2017) memoirs. it makes sense that RODGER's legacy includes influencing an ECLECTIC range of NOTABLE musicians from DAFT PUNK, JOHNNY MARR (THE SMITHS), THE WEEKND, ORANGE JUICE and PRINCE to ROBERT WYATT (SOFT MACHINE), LADY GAGA, QUEEN, JUSTIIN TIMBERLAKE and PHARRELL WILLIAMS. LE FREAK is absolutely worth checking out for fans of the history of AMERICAN cultural and musical history. i'd even argue it is ESSENTIAL. photo & text by nacrowe
the graphic novel CYCLOPEDIA EXOTICA (DRAWN & QUARTERLY, 2021) by AMINDER DHALIWAL is an AFFECTING PARABLE about the negative societal outcomes that come from ARBITRARY IN-GROUP/ OUT-GROU DYNAMICS. the PLOT itself deals with a world where two anatomically COMPATIBLE but DISTINCT beings (i.e. CYCLOPES and two-eyed people) live contemporaneously, where one (the two-eyed people) CULTURALLY, ECONOMICALLY, POLITICALLY and even PHYSICALLY DOMINATES the other. the concept of the eye (one of many anatomical differences between the two) as being a DISTINGUISHING FEATURE that projects "OTHERNESS" and is the focus of SCORN and RIDICULE, is a METAPHOR for all types of likewise arbitrary physical features and attributors of IDENTITY that serve as the basis for HATRED and INEQUALITY in our own experience (i.e. RACE, SEX, GENDER, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY, CLASS and so on).
DHALIWAL does an INCREDIBLE job of providing a window into how NORMATIVE CONCEPTIONS of BEAUTY and "NORMALCY" are internalized and affect the victim's own sense of IDENTITY. it seems OBVIOUS, but those groups advocated for in the DOMINANT CULTURE are unaffected by NEGATIVE TROPES and thus dont think twice about said CULTURAL PRESCRIPTIONS and their inherent ARBITRARINESS. to them that sense of SUPERIORITY and PATERNALISM is so complete that anything that competes with said NORMATIVE CULTURE is viewed with SKEPTICISM and often DISDAIN, as if something is threatened to being taken away. it is an INTRIGUING and quite POWERFUL SOCIOCULTURAL DYNAMIC to play with in a graphic novel in an often LIGHT-HEARTED, HUMOROUS and yet POIGNANT TONE. and yet there is also a spectrum of experience which DHALIWAL expertly portrays. her characters run the gamut in GENDER, AGE, SEXUALITY and ECONOMIC STATUS and each feels trapped by this CULTURAL WEIGHT put on them related to their IDENTITY as CYCLOPES in different ways. some confront it aggressively while others take it in stride and yet others feel imprisoned by such. some even have the UNSAVORY experience of being "EXOTICIZED" by the dating pool as a SEXUAL ANOMALY that is either DOMINANT / SUBMISSIVE based on the UNFOUNDED PROJECTIONS of the two-eyed partner. founding POST COLONIAL STUDIES academic EDWARD SAID spoke at length about this sort of dynamic in ORIENTALISM (PANTHEON, 1978) where WESTERN SOCIETY looked to the EAST for EXOTIC "OTHER" cultures that they could enforce HEGEMONIC influence over and ECONOMICALLY, POLITICALLY and even SEXUALLY DOMINATE. thus all those tired COLONIALIST TROPES about ASIAN women rooted in BRITISH IMPERIALISM. i thought it was very CLEVER of DHALIWAL to hint at all these ALLEGORICAL NARRATIVES with a basis in REAL-WORLD HISTORIES without ever being explicit about it. CYCLOPEDIA EXOTICA was quite a revelation and is well worth checking out for anyone interested in the root, limits and negative outcomes that come from a NORMATIVE CULTURE and its indelible effects on the IDENTITIES of all participants, DOMINANT and SUBMISSIVE. fascinating and an incredible achievement. i look forward to seeking out other titles by DHALIWAL in the future. photo & text by nacrowe
the LEGENDARY BRITPOP group BLUR came on my radar the year before i became a teenager when my family visited a BRITISH great-uncle in HERTFORDSHIRE (an HISTORIC suburb just north of LONDON), each summer from 1996 through 1998. at the time my family was stationed in NIGERIA of all places and doing our yearly shipment from ENGLAND made more sense then the UNITED STATES where im from. this great-uncle was pretty cool as he assisted GEOFFREY DE HAVILLAND in developing fighter aircraft during WORLD WAR II as an aeronautics engineer and test pilot in HATFIELD where the aerodrome was located. when i first went there in 1996 BRITPOP was likely past its peak, but BLUR still had enough cultural cache that when my father asked another BRITISH relative's college-aged son what albums students liked at the time, PARKLIFE (FOOD, 1994) and THE GREAT ESCAPE (FOOD, 1995) were the IMMEDIATE answers. so there you go.
from the outside BLUR guitarist GRAHAM COXON always seemed a bit of a RELUCTANT (and more than a tad bit CONTRARIAN) public figure. the few interviews i saw of him at the time always managed to find him seeming UNCOMFORTABLE and unable to drum up the amount of necessary enthusiasm youd expect from a SUCCESSFUL musician, notwithstanding being the guitarist in one of the premier BRITISH ALTERNATIVE ROCK bands of the decade. it was a similar push-pull dynamic witnessed beforehand in KURT COBAIN whereby one is presented with this PHENOMENAL, GENERATIONALLY-TALENTED ENGLISH musician, whose work spoke for itself, yet he would come off MERCURIAL and rather INSCRUTABLE in interviews and media events. no doubt having such CHARISMATIC and ATTENTION-SEEKING willing participants as BLUR frontman DAMON ALBARN and bassist ALEX JAMES helped shield him for years in REDUCTIVE BRITPOP related press articles, but for me COXON was always an INTRIGUING yet entirely UNKNOWABLE creative entity. enter his recent INCREDIBLE recent memoir VERSE, CHORUS, MONSTER! (FABER & FABER, 2023) which details not only the trajectory of his career, but more COMPELLINGLY the parallel arc of his PERSONAL NARRATIVE and his ongoing battle with ALCOHOLISM and the related ANXIETY and DEPRESSION which was enabled and brought on by years of EMOTIONAL NEGLECT. for me, as much as i adore his music, it was this second thread that was the most POWERFUL aspect of his book. i was very moved by the COURAGE it took to be so honest about such a TABOO subject as NEGLECT and how such affects one's SELF-IMAGE and insidiously hinders one's ability to establish LOVING, NURTURING relationships in later life as an adult. it always seems that this subject of NEGLECT and the associated ANXIETY and DEPRESSION that comes with it too often gets DISCARDED in favor of some PERVERSELY IDEALIZED and OUTMODED conception of MASCULINITY. especially in BRITISH CULTURE with its stiff upper lip and culturally INGRAINED "just get on with it" MENTALITY. to be so OPEN and FRANK about an INTERNAL BATTLE with his own sense of SELF-WORTH and admittedly WARPED PERCEPTION of inter-personal dynamics was INSIGHTFUL, HELPFUL and quite effectively written. i should not be surprised that the book was so WELL-CONCEIVED and EXECUTED, given the thought and sense of INTENSE INTERIORITY that marks not only his musical compositions and lyrical content throughout the decades, but also his deeply felt PERSONAL artwork (some of which is included in the book). oftentimes his scribblings are QUICK, HASTILY-DEPICTED MONSTERS that border on the ABSURD but are seemingly EPHEMERAL manifestations of his EMOTIONAL LANDSCAPE. no doubt they were a COPING MECHANISM throughout his career and PERSONAL LIFE. its INTERESTING that these MONSTERS lose their edge at the close of the book as he enters a new phase of life with a new partner and a more DISTANCED and NUANCED PERCEPTIVE on his PUBLIC PERSONA and INDIVIDUAL IDENTITY shaped through experience. i dont mean to glean over the INTRIGUING aspects of his UPBRINGING abroad and in the ESSEX town of COLCHESTER, attending GOLDSMITHS COLLEGE or the rise of BLUR and his associated solo career with all its INTERESTING explorations of GARAGE and TRADITIONAL BRITISH FOLK MUSIC. there are NOTEWORTHY tidbits galore, including the following: it is INTERESTING that there has always been mention by BLUR in various media profiles, including their 2010 reunion documentary THERE IS NO DISTANCE LEFT TO RUN (review linked HERE), that bassist ALEX JAMES played his instrument specifically as if he wanted to be in DURAN DURAN. its just ODD and FUNNY that unexpectedly it would be COXON that would actually be in DURAN DURAN as he wrote and played with the group for their recent FUTURE PAST (BMG, 2021) cycle in the wake of guitarist ANDY TAYLOR's leave of absence due to a late-stage prostate cancer diagnosis. and there is plenty more of that, but it is just that in the context of this book those types of details are unimportant. in fact they are rather secondary or maybe even tertiary in prominence relative to the deep PERSONAL TOLL GRAHAM experienced and the EMOTIONAL / PSYCHOLOGICAL dynamics that triggered by his raised PUBLIC PROFILE, which undoubtedly served as an accelerant that exacerbated his DIMINISHED feelings of SELF-WORTH throughout his career. and thus the SELF-MEDICATION through alcohol. the fact that he was able to navigate those UNSTEADY waters intact is REMARKABLE because, needless to say, there have been lives lost and psyches irreparably WARPED by the ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY throughout the years. maybe his RELUCTANCE to fully participate and buy-in to the FALSE REALITY that is the MUSIC PRESS, as mentioned before, served him well in the end. it is hard to say. VERSE, CHORUS, MONSTER! is a THOUGHTFUL and INTIMATE look at the INTERNAL DYNAMICS of one of the most creative musicians recent memory. definitely worth checking out even if BRITPOP, ALTERNATIVE ROCK or INDIE ROCK is not your cup of tea. photo & text by nacrowe
within the MYTHOLOGY about the AMERICAN CHARACTER that has been passed down generations is the FOUNDATIONAL notion that in our society anyone can prosper and maintain a COMFORTABLE lifestyle with DEDICATION and HARD WORK. here we don't discriminate based on RACE, CREED or other markers of IDENTITY such as had been done with regard to our EUROPEAN forbearers. all that was needed to uplift yourself from POVERTY was a little INGENUITY and the WILLINGNESS to work. of course that myth surrounding the PROTESTANT ETHIC and more broadly the AMERICAN DREAM, was complete BULLSHIT from conception, but it is a DIFFICULT INTERNAL NARRATIVE to dispel entirely from our CULTURE and sense of self.
when i was teaching F. SCOTT FITZGERALD's THE GREAT GATSBY (CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, 1925) it proved to be an EXCELLENT instigator time and time again of INTENSE conversations concerned with the idea of REINVENTION. the internet has succeeding in FLATTENING not only the UNITED STATES, but seemingly the entire planet with up-to-date, user-generated communications about personal information regarding our individual whereabouts and day-to-day adventures as volunteered through social media. but in that pre-internet era it was possible to navigate AMERICA with no HISTORY, no PERSONAL NARRATIVE and nothing holding you back. on paper at least. there was a sense that one could disappear and reinvent themselves within a new context and a new community and have the opportunity to succeed economically without the CULTURAL CONSTRAINTS that once held you back abroad, where CLASS distinctions were often OSSIFIED and INSURMOUNTABLE. at least this was the FANTASY AMERICANS told ourselves. THE GREAT GATSBY itself concerns itself with the MYSTERIOUS aura that envelopes the MERCURIAL millionaire JAY GATSBY and the private events he throws at his LONG ISLAND mansion for the YOUNG, RICH and ELITE. GATSBY himself is almost an opulent yet UNKNOWABLE WIZARD OF OZ-like character of whom much collective projection is centered around during this JAZZ AGE narrative of OPULENCE and PROSPERITY. despite being at the center of the storm, GATSBY finds no pleasure in any of these festivities and is privately tormented and severely obsessed with reconnecting with a former lover. FITZGERALD thus puts his finger on an INTRIGUING pulse about AMERICAN SOCIETY during this period of WEALTH and OPTIMISM, namely how we as a CULTURE define success and whether or not one can really outrun their past. as stated before, a fundamental aspect of the AMERICAN PSYCHE is the ability to reinvent and construct one's life up anew, past be damned. through the figure GATSBY, FITZGERALD makes the argument that such notions are NAIVE and that what defines oneself are their VALUES and the relationships they foster and the company they keep, without such one is IMPOVERISHED in terms of their soul and general well-being. you look now at how AMERICAN CULTURE seemingly elevates and lionizes technology innovators like STEVE JOBS and ELON MUSK to the level of demigods and it feels like nothing has changed in the last century. at all. we are still bereft of purpose and meaning as a CULTURE when we chase ECONOMIC OUTCOMES rather than renewing our relationships with one another. it feels like our society is frayed from ECONOMIC INEQUALITY and the lack of REAL COMPASSION or any semblance of a safety net. and it appears that wont change. perhaps that BULL-HEADED STUBBORNNESS is baked into the cake as well. photo & text by nacrowe
LET'S HIT THE ROAD (FANTAGRAPHICS, 1997) by NEW JERSEYAN graphic novelist RICH TOMMASO is a SEMI-AUTOGRAPHICAL comic that focuses on two college art school dropouts / ASPIRING cartoonists coming to terms with the ARDUOUS and INEVITABLE transition of accepting ADULT RESPONSIBILITY. this transformation is expressed and manifested in an IMPROMPTU roundtrip weekend road trip from their apartment in FLORIDA to one of their childhood homes in MAINE under the auspices of getting some supposedly much needed ART SUPPLIES. the rationale for this journey is less about the official conceit and more about being temporarily alleviated from the HARSH REALITY that awaits them (DEAD-END JOBS, BAD PAY, REGULAR RENT, COHABITING WITH ROOMMATES) back in the BORING post-college REAL WORLD of SUBURBAN FLORIDA. along this long JOURNEY this pair of friends navigate not just the interstate highway system and the effects of sleep deprivation, but more importantly their RELATIONSHIP to one another. over time they realize that such is organically FRAGMENTING and even DIVERGING based on differing GOALS and VALUES.
it is DIFFICULT to take in this graphic novel and not consider one's own LIFE TRAJECTORY, the people encountered along the way and how such EXPERIENCES illuminate some aspect of your PERSONALITY in retrospect. part of the AWKWARD transformation into ADULTHOOD is recognizing and coming to terms with your own sense of SELF and deciding on NEEDS and PRIORITIES that are specific to you. often such information is revealed naturally by situations and relationships encountered along the way. its a PAINFUL process to take HONEST PERSONAL STOCK and evolve away from HARMFUL past patterns and INTERPERSONAL behavioral cycles by separating yourself from an UNPRODUCTIVE or TOXIC situation. what i think TOMASSO in LET'S HIT THE ROAD ingeniously depicts is that GUT-WRENCHING process of INTERPERSONAL ESTRANGEMENT that gradually degrades often subconsciously in real time. i can recall during my early twenties hanging out with certain people because of shared INTERESTS (MUSIC, CINEMA, BOOKS, ART, POLITICS, etc.) and then realizing over a period of months that these people were in fact quite NOXIOUS and not particularly HEALTHY to be around. my default has always been to locate the CULPABILITY within myself and overanalyze my INTENTIONS and PAST CHOICES. usually after much deliberation over a period of time and much INTERNAL strife id come to the conclusion eventually that it wasnt me after all. it was them and i needed to remove myself from the situation in order to maintain my own sense of MENTAL HEALTH and overall WELL-BEING. it is a process that is never not AGONIZING in nature. but i think that such is necessary and part of becoming MATURE, COMFORTABLE and CONFIDENT in your own skin. it is that theme of SELF-REVELATION id argue that is at the very core of this graphic novel, despite the IMMATURE and often CHURLISH banter of the two protagonists. i enjoyed LET'S HIT THE ROAD and look forward to reading other titles by TOMASSO down the line. definitely worth checking out. photo & text by nacrowe
when thinking about the AT WAR WITH THE MYSTICS (WARNER BROS, 2006) era biography STARING AT SOUND: THE TRUE STORY OF OKLAHOMA'S FABULOUS FLAMING LIPS (CROWN, 2006) by CHICAGO SUN-TIMES music critic and CELEBRATED cohost of WCRX's SOUND OPINIONS radio program JIM DEROGATIS, i cant help coming away with the impression that despite its detail it is a rather PEDESTRIAN, STRAIGHTFORWARD narrative being presented. which is probably what i should have expected.
i dont know how else you could make a sense of a SEMINAL cult band that has managed to capture the attention of WIDESPREAD mainstream popular attention, if only for the short CULTURAL MOMENT preceding this book's publication, despite numerous lineup shifts, changing genres, the rise of sharing platforms, streaming and the fall of the RECORDING INDUSTRY and not to mention the serious handicap of being from the CONSERVATIVE, CULTURAL OBLIVION that is the state of OKLAHOMA. a TRADITIONAL episodic narrative makes sense from a writing standpoint by conceptually misses the opportunity to get WEIRD, as THE FLAMING LIPS are one of those few bands that gets more OBTUSE and ECCENTRIC with each release up to the present. its like writing an HONEST accounting of the DADAIST MOVEMENT without partaking in the FUN itself. that being said, there was much about THE FLAMING LIPS i was unaware of: for instance, the extent to which singer WAYNE COYNE was involved with the 1980s HARDCORE PUNK ROCK / INDIE ROCK scene in OKLAHOMA to the point he loaned out-of-town bands his PA SYSTEM and that his former girlfriend MICHELE VLASIMSKY was a concert promoter so revered that her BOUTIQUE firm BULGING EYE became the UNITED STATES booker agent of NIRVANA both pre and post-fame. i always wondered how they were able to gain an audience and network among other EXPERIMENTAL, LIKE-MINDED bands such as THE BUTTHOLE SURFERS in a pre-internet, entirely ANALOGUE environment. they were essentially a nexus point in a wider NETWORK of INDEPENDENT venues and college radio stations that made up the UNDERGROUND SYSTEM that supported everyone from R.E.M. to BLACK FLAG. i was likewise unaware of the internal dynamics behind their storied collaboration with REVERED producer DAVE FRIDMANN who worked with them on most of their more ACCLAIMED and IMAGINATIVE releases. what shouldnt not have been surprising is that such a choice in producer was due largely to budget and control. THE FLAMING LIPS were signed to WARNER BROS and they were unable on their first string of releases to gain the SOUND QUALITY and sense of EXPERIMENTALISM by rushing through HALF-BAKED ideas in an expensive studio with producers INEXPERIENCED and UNINTERESTED in their perspective. learning about FRIDMANN and his UPSTATE NEW YORK studio at a college through a roadie seemed the perfect setting to stretch their budget and also exercise some control over the proceedings, as previous producers just dictated major decisions in terms of RECORDING TECHNIQUES and various aspects of PRODUCTION. over time FRIDMANN became an extended member of the team and utilized THE FLAMING LIPS as a starting off point to beta test EXPLORATORY RECORDING and PRODUCTION IDEAS to the benefit of both. i wish i was able to learn more about former guitarist and all-around musical SAVANT RONALD JONES, but i guess he will just remain an MYSTERY wrapped up in an ENIGMA for the time being. i am assuming DEROGATIS with his long-term access to the band knows more than he lets on but is probably being circumspect of RESPECT and an unspoken DIGNITY for JONES' privacy. as a listener and fan, JONES is almost like SYD BARRETT in terms of his creative output, influence and stunning exit from the MUSIC INDUSTRY. the band was lucky to have him when they did, but even more FORTUNATE to have songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist STEVEN DROZD in their midst at same time. if you are a fan of THE FLAMING LIPS or interested in the unfolding and unraveling of all things 1980s INDIE ROCK and 1990s ALTERNATIVE ROCK then STARING AT SOUND is worth the effort. if not, the book is a bit dry and unassuming which is quite IRONIC given its subject matter. interesting nonetheless. photo & text by nacrowe
life comes at you fast sometimes with MAJOR CHANGES that arent necessarily desired or planned for in advance. such is the case in THE FALL OF HOMUNCULUS (DRAWN & QUARTERLY, 1998) comic by FINNISH graphic novelist PENTTI OTSAMO with a NARRATIVE that centers around the PSYCHIC and INTER-RELATIONAL REPERCUSSIONS that come with an UNEXPECTED PREGNANCY for a YOUNG couple.
not that id know firsthand since ive never had a CHILD. the very idea of it, especially of the UNPLANNED variety is the stuff of PERSONAL NIGHTMARES. just the UNBRIDLED RESPONSIBILITY of it all and the gravity of bringing another HUMAN into the world. i figure that if circumstances dictated at some future point that i participated in that entire enterprise, id at the very least like to be PREPARED in advance as much as possible. or is that NAIVE? in THE FALL OF HOMUNCULUS you have a YOUNG woman who is intuitively in touch with her NATURAL SURROUNDINGS as she loves to garden and explores THEMES surrounding such in her figurative artwork. even after her MISCARRIAGE she maintains a GENERAL FAITH in the JUSTICE of a GREATER COSMIC ORDER. in her way of thinking, that PAINFUL EXPERIENCE was not a complication of her life's trajectory, but rather a TEACHER providing INSIGHT into how NATURE operates and earning her some HARD-WON SELF-KNOWLEDGE. this is complete contrast to her male partner who views the pregnancy as an OBSTACLE to maintaining a CAREFREE lifestyle in which he can get blackout drunk at parties and have ANONYMOUS sex while in said stupor. just the height of IMMATURITY and RECKLESSNESS in the face of ADULT RESPONSIBILITY. its an INTRIGUING inter-personal dynamic that doesnt seem particularly NOVEL or UNBELIEVABLE. you really wonder how many couples maintain a SIMILAR TOXIC DYNAMIC. you also realize quickly the SOCIETAL WEIGHT put on women during this period and the cultural expectations that dont always pressure men to account in a similar manner. in ALCHEMY there is a notion of creating a HOMUNCULUS of oneself, that is, manufacturing a fully formed DIMINUITIVE version which often reveals some UNKNOWN ASPECT OF ONESELF. often a SHADOW VERSION or one with EXAGGERATED features and behaviors that lend to the creator learning more about their own human frailties. this feels like an apt METAPHOR for the unborn child at the center of OTSAMO's NARRATIVE. up until its MISCARRIAGE, this fetus provided VALUABLE INSIGHT into the TRUE NATURES and personalities of the couple and their STRAINED relationship to one another. its fall and demise reveals their MISGIVINGS and INABILITIES to function as a COHERENT UNIT. THE FALL OF HOMUNCULUS is a bit OBLIQUE and NARRATIVELY CUMBERSOME in places, but i felt it was a highly AFFECTING PARRABLE about the DUAL NATURE of human SELFISHNESS and ALTRUISM. definitely worth checking out. photo & text by nacrowe
a 17th-century SAILOR is abandoned at SEA on an EFFECTIVE DEATH SENTENCE when he comes in contact with a MERMAID, an ALLURING harbinger of his own impending DEMISE. JULIA GFRÖRER's AFFECTING graphic novel BLACK IS THE COLOR (FANTAGRAPHICS, 2013) explores the SEDUCTIVE possibilities equated with DEATH and one's own MORTALITY.
for the ship's captain, faced with dwindling supplies, the CRUEL solution of abandoning two of his crew to their DOOM at SEA is an easy decision made on purely UTILITARIAN LOGIC. their SACRIFICE will effectively allow others to live. such are the HARSH REALITIES of life on the water. lost alone at SEA on a dinghy (his partner died shortly thereafter to the elements), the SAILOR is confronted by a MERMAID who visits him at nighttime and eventually seduces him shortly before his DEATH. somewhere else the ship he left catches fire from lightning killing all on board. what is INTRIGUING is not the narrative of all this DESTRUCTION itself, but the BLASE, JADED manner in which a gaggle of MERMAIDS discuss the victims and their IMPENDING DOOM. they treat the victims at a distance and talk of them almost as if they were part of a police lineup, discussing their physical features and their relative value to them based on such. this is an INVERSION of how SAILORS are portrayed in literature speaking of SIRENS and their SEDUCTIVE PROWESS. here the victimized SAILORS are just potential trysts to be used and discarded. rinse and repeat. this dynamic seems to be a METAPHOR of both the UNFORGIVING NATURE of the PHYSICAL WORLD and its ABSOLUTE INDIFFERENCE to the collective efforts, trials and tribulations of humanity. the MERMAIDS in this narrative represent that sense of DETACHMENT, both PHYSICAL and EMOTIONAL, of the NATURAL ORDER from the needs of mankind. by the example of the lost SAILOR at SEA making love to MERMAID, we see that such distance is truly only traversed in the throngs of passing along into another plane of existence, of departing the NATURAL REALM in DEATH. the REAL INTIMACY is the reclaiming of one's physical remains back into the grip of NATURE and utilized to her own ends in the NEVER-ENDING chain system of atoms being REPURPOSED, REORGANIZED and RE-CONTEXTUALIZED in PERPETUITY. the idea that we are not separate from NATURE, but a manifestation of it. too often mankind identifies itself in contrast to the ENVIRONMENT and its processes, but such is SHORT-SIDED and WRONG. NATURE is always in control and back to her embrace we will inevitably return, on her terms not ours, much like the RUINOUS and DESTRUCTIVE AMOROUS advances of a MERMAID. BLACK IS THE COLOR is quite the achievement. even in this translated version (original is in FRENCH), the narrative implications of the theme surrounding DEATH is PROFOUND and deeply THOUGHT-PROVOKING. definitely worth checking out. photo & text by nacrowe
i mean the title says it all. THE HAÇIENDA: HOW NOT TO RUN A CLUB (SIMON & SCHUSTER, 2009) book by LEGENDARY JOY DIVISION / NEW ORDER bassist PETER HOOK goes into excruciating detail about the MISMANAGEMENT and horrendously BAD DEAL-MAKING at the heart of one of the most CELEBRATED NIGHTCLUBS of all-time.
for its part, the MANCHESTER venue THE HAÇIENDA out of dumb genius or FINANCIAL NECESSITY (one person was less costly then putting up a whole band), is credited with elevating the figure of the DJ in the 1980s to a pedestal they still hold in MODERN DANCE CULTURE to date. inspired by the inclusive underground dance venues like the DANCETERIA in NEW YORK, THE HAÇIENDA sought to establish a similar void in BRITISH culture. what is interesting is that it took nearly a decade and the melding of sorts with another DANCE CULTURE, that of the party isle of IBIZA, with its use of a new DRUG called ECSTASY, that saw the emergence of ACID HOUSE under its own watch and became the epicenter of a WORLD-WIDE DANCE PHENOMENON from roughly 1988-1990. the narrative HOOK presents is one where NEW ORDER and its label FACTORY RECORDS basically stumbled into one CULTURAL SUCCESS after another despite their combined efforts to the contrary. from the start, THE HAÇIENDA made NO FINANCIAL SENSE and its INSATIABLE need for CASH INFUSION throughout its history OVER-LEVERAGED all INVESTORS involved, including the band members themselves who were liable for any OUTSTANDING DEBT. not NEW ORDER was overly concerned or involved enough in the day-to-day to see what a drain the operation was on their bottom line. they lived in a COCOONED ALTERNATIVE REALITY with little interest or regard for the combined extracurriculars of manager ROB GRETTON and label head TONY WILSON, for them the venue was a clubhouse of sorts where they could hang out when back home in MANCHESTER from tour or recording. like everything FACTORY-related, the whole enterprise was more of an ASPIRATIONAL ART PROJECT than a CALCULATED BUSINESS OPERATION. as HOOK's other books about JOY DIVISION and NEW ORDER will attest, this naive modus operandi basically carried over to all BUSINESS ASPECTS of their career as guided by GRETTON and WILSON. so much with THE HAÇIENDA was wrong from the get go. the BUILDING itself with its high ceilings and rooftop was not conducive to a NIGHTCLUB in terms of SOUND or ATMOSPHERE. FACTORY brought in a designer who OVERSPENT on the interior design. they OVERPAID for a CRAPPY sound system. OVERPAID for bands. took out LOP-SIDED BAD LOANS. made BAD BUSINESS DEALS with vendors and contractors. the list is NEVER-ENDING. but somehow eventually nearly a decade in, it all worked despite itself. until it didnt. after the peak years of THE HAÇIENDA and the MADCHESTER scene, LOCAL GANG interest reared its head due to the money made on PARTY DRUGS and basically infiltrated the scene, which led to VIOLENCE and AGGRESSION that winnowed away regulars and provided OPPORTUNITIES for EMERGING rival VENUES to exploit. the book is written in sequential year-to-year chapters with figures about REVENUES and EXPENDITURES as well as notes regarding event calendars and FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES for the coming year included in the mix. you can see how it all financially spiraled out of control as well as the dominance of regular DJs over time. it really is a REMARKABLE top-down look at a BUSINESS VENTURE that stayed afloat in spite of itself. the question i keep coming back to in my mind is what would have happened if THE HAÇIENDA was actually run well throughout its run. would it have been more PROFITABLE? its GLOBAL CULTURAL IMPACT more sustained? could it possibly have been more successful? somehow i doubt it. the rolling SHAMBOLIC nature of the FINANCIAL ARCHITECTURE that propelled the VENUE had an energy all its own and the conspiring players in the midst all played a part in its success and eventual downfall. despite everything, the long-defunct VENUE today is a BRITISH LANDMARK that still has an IMMENSE CULTURAL CACHE attached to it. for a FAMOUS BUSINESS FAILURE, and it was surely that, it oxymoronically sure was a CULTURAL SUCCESS for the ages. it is part of the ENDURING MYTHOLOGY of JOY DIVISION, NEW ORDER, FACTORY RECORDS and by extension MANCHESTER itself, just as much as OLD TRAFFORD or FREE TRADE HALL. photo & text by nacrowe
loving stylized to evoke the MODERNIST ARCHITECTURE, GRAPHIC and INDUSTRIAL DESIGN of the first half of the 20th century, the POIGNANT graphic novel WHITE RAPIDS (DRAWN & QUARTERLY, 2007) by FRENCH-CANADIAN illustrator/graphic novelist PASCAL BLANCHET depicts the REAL-LIFE rise and fall of a company town created to oversee the maintenance and day-to-day operations of a nearby private HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER STATION well north of MONTREAL on the SAINT-MAURICE RIVER. conceived and built in the 1920s when the area was largely wilderness, the town of RAPIDE BLANCHE by the late 1960s due to INFRASTRUCTURE efforts was integrated into MODERN society to the point that its existence was deemed OUTMODED, closing its doors by the early 1970s after CANADA nationalized its electric grid and consolidated the parent company into its fold.
the romance of the period is evocatively portrayed with lyrical references to BIG BAND JAZZ and streamlined illustrations of BUILDINGS, ROADS and CARS that evoke the work of ED RUSCHA and his REVERED ADVERTISING-influenced depictions of GAS STATIONS. with BLANCHET's illustrations you get a VIVID sense of the PALPABLE OPTIMISM of this halcyon era when new TECHNOLOGY, of both the INDUSTRIAL and CONSUMER VARIETY, provided improvements in lifestyle that allowed for an appreciation of life and nature that ironically dovetailed with the latter being rained in by such. over time what was once NOVEL became ROUTINE and then rendered IRRELEVANT. this self-contained village was made an ANACHRONISM by the forward march of TECHNOLOGICAL PROCESS that allowed the operations of the dam to be conducted by REMOTE AUTOMATION and maintenance through day trips to the site. RAPIDE BLANCHE was a victim of its own SUCCESS. that OPTIMISM in essence fed on itself in an act of SELF-CANNIBALIZATION. its difficult to take in the example of the COMMUNITY of RAPIDE BLANCHE and not expand such out to our present day when new TRANSFORMATIVE TECHNOLOGIES ranging from MRNA VACCINES, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, CRISPR GENE EDITING, ELECTRIC VEHICLES and even PRESCRIPTION WEIGHT LOSS REMEDIES like OZEMPIC and WEGOVY are set to radically affect not only the future trajectory of our economy, but also our COLLECTIVE RELATIONSHIP to one another and our basic individual sense of IDENTITY. when emerging new technological capacities are inevitably rendered PEDESTRIAN and UNREMARKABLE, something about ourselves quietly dies along with that PROCESS and WHITE RAPIDS strikingly details such. OPPORTUNITY and INNOVATION leads inescapably to expectation and ultimately AUTOMATION. i am not convinced that BLANCHET is necessarily NOSTALGIC for the cultural trappings of the period so eloquently evoked in WHITE RAPIDS, but maybe he is slightly for that sense of buoyant CONFIDENCE and CAMARADERIE that came with exploring and leveraging COMMUNITY and big ideas to affect change (in this case, taming a river and its HAZARDOUS rapids for the public good). by comparison today the scale of our TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS seem more PAROCHIAL and MARKET-DRIVEN, which allows for more excuses concerning value creation on the behalf of the interests of SHAREHOLDERS and an INVESTMENT CLASS rather than the betterment of a COMMUNITY at large. progress moves forward but with the advent of the INTERNET and SOCIAL MEDIA our sense of AGENCY in the mix seems DIMINUTIVE and ever more PRECARIOUS. paradoxically we seem to live in a smaller world as TECHNOLOGY expands ever outward. WHITE RAPIDS is most definitely a COMPELLING graphic novel that deals with deep issues in an EFFICIENT manner that parallels its STREAM-LINED illustrative style. definitely worth checking out. photo & text by nacrowe
when i discovered SEPULTURA in sixth grade back in 1995, it was a few months after my FAMILY moved to NIGERIA from SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. on a FAMILY trip to ITALY, between my brother and me we scored TOOL's UNDERTOW (review linked HERE), RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE'S self-titled debut (EPIC, 1992), FAITH NO MORE's ANGEL DUST (review linked HERE) and SEPULTURA's CHAOS AD (ROADRUNNER, 1993) and ROOTS (ROADRUNNER, 1996) albums. it was one of the better and most INFLUENTIAL record hauls of my life and very much served as the SOUNDTRACK to my experience living in LAGOS during my middle school years. i say this only to setup the fact that MAX CAVALERA's music helped CONTEXTUALIZE the rampant POLITICAL and ECONOMIC CORRUPTION and widespread HUMAN SUFFERING i witnessed of a burdened population with its neck firmly under the boot of a MERCILESS and BRUTAL MILITARY DICTATORSHIP. i was also similarly gutted the following year when CAVALERA left SEPULTURA, effectively ending their relevance as a creative entity moving forward.
my motivation for reading MY BLOODY ROOTS: FROM SEPULTURA TO SOULFLY AND BEYOND (JAWBONE PRESS, 2022) was to gain some INSIGHT and CONTEXT in his own words into the BELOVED BRAZILIAN METAL icon MAX CAVALERA and his ECLECTIC career that i've followed and enjoyed for most of my life. to me the dude is a SINGULAR figure, even among the CELEBRATED greats of the genre, in that he has continued to expand both the LEXICON of the genre by incorporating new TEXTURES and INSTRUMENTS, often from INDIGENOUS world traditions, and has seemingly brought the extended FAMILY of METAL together throughout his career. METAL can feel a bit INSULAR at times, with the never-ending patchwork of evermore OBSCURE sub-genres, but CAVALERA seemingly proves the COMMONALITY and SHARED NATURE of such ARTISTIC EXPRESSION with each DISTINCT iteration and recording by his ongoing SOULFLY project (which has touched on everything from DEATH METAL, THRASH METAL, BLACK METAL, CROSSOVER THRASH, GRINDCORE, DOOM METAL, SLUDGE METAL and even NU METAL). in MY BLOODY ROOTS, CAVALERA presents a BRAZILIAN childhood that was marked by the death of his ITALIAN father when he was 9, effectively impoverishing his FAMILY and transitioning his life in short order from one of means and SECURITY to one of SURVIVAL. by the time he was 13, CAVALERA decided that music was his means not only of EXPRESSION and employment, but also an IDENTITY and sense of COMMUNITY in the wake of his father's passing. it seems obvious that CAVALERA's knack for COMMUNITY BUILDING started in that moment and has continued unabated to the present. along with his drumming brother IGGOR, CAVALERA established SEPULTURA and gradually learned his instrument and the band made its way up the ladder in BRAZIL, each record expanding on the prior in terms of LYRICAL CONTENT, TECHNICAL PROFICIENCY and SONIC BRUTALITY. this culminated in ROOTS, which saw the band incorporate INDIGENOUS RHYTHMS and TEXTURES into their EVER-EXPANDING SOUND, even collaborating some field recordings with the native XAVANTE tribe in the interior MASSO GRATO state in BRAZIL. in the wake of the demise of SEPULTURA, CAVALERA through his SOULFLY has incorporated word RHYTHMS and TEXTURES from SERBIA, TURKEY, RUSSIA and EGYPT among other places to date. SEPULTURA effectively broke up due to INTERNAL business tensions over their manager GLORIA, who in time was married to CAVALERA. the band thought MAX was given PREFERENTIAL treatment and that they could do better as a unit with outside management. her firing led to CAVALERA's quitting SEPULTURA, the band he started with his brother, who stayed along for another decade. the band is still an ongoing entity today, but their influence and stature is nominal at best. they are essentially a HOLLOWED-OUT edifice of what was a ONCE-PROMISING BAND poised to be the next METALLICA. the story of CAVALERA's career is one of finding COMMUNITY in the face of DISAPPOINTMENT and TRAUMA at the STAGGERING LOSS of his FATHER, his BAND and his STEPSON. it is also the story of coming to terms with such and the DESTRUCTIVE coping mechanisms he employed surrounding the excessive use of alcohol and other chemicals. the fact that he address such head-on with no fanfare and went to rehab with the right attitude and came out successful is a testament to his sheer will and LOVE and CONNECTION to his FAMILY, both of the blood and musical variety. i truly feel that what separates CAVALERA is his INTENTION. you never feel that he is going through the motions, just writing and performing music for its own sake. there is a palpable EDGE and a real sense that this process is deeply PERSONAL and CATHARTIC for him, always. in turn the listener buys into the SENTIMENT as well and treats him as a REVERED sage on a truly CHAOTIC but INSIGHTFUL aural journey. i'm always interested in his work with any number of his myriad of side projects, from CAVALERA CONSPIRACY with his brother, to KILLER BE KILLED with peers from THE DILLNGER ESCAPE PLAN and MASTODON, and GO AHEAD AND DIE with his son ZYON. not to mention the downright INCENDIARY NAILBOMB. his memoir MY BLOODY ROOTS may be a bit STRAIGHTFORWARD and UNADORNED, but its HEARTFELT and and unassailably AUTHENTIC much like his music. most definitely recommended. |
NICHOLAS ARCHIVES
March 2024
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