Monday, July 25, 2011

Jackson C. Frank

Jackson C. Frank has one of those life stories that when you hear him sing "Blues Run the Game," you believe it for him. Blues did run his game.

Even though he has passed, I feel like his music is poised to get rediscovered in a big way. (I discovered him through Vincent Gallo's Brown Bunny.)
I think this may happen because of John Hawkes's cover of "Marcy's Song" in Martha Marcy May Marlene.


You should give him a listen. His voice destroys me.

Friday, July 22, 2011

The Handshake

My school friends recently started a magazine called The Handshake.

I just did an interview for them with Chicago artist Ken Ellis.


You should read it for a variety of reasons, but mostly because Ken is so darn quotable.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Cults

I suspect that I like this band's aesthetic more than their music. This is entirely possible, since I am kind of superficial. Just their band name alone is dark and punchy. Cults is one of those topics. It captures the imagination. It is unsettling. And, technically speaking, cults are everywhere.

Actual cults make you ask, could I be taken in by one? Could I be duped like that? I am of the mind that if you can believe a lie, then you can get lured into a cult.

Go Outside, by Cults from Boing Boing on Vimeo.


This music video is unsettling. I have seen several documentaries on the Jonestown Massacre, and with them in mind, I believe the editing for this video is extremely well done. Watch MSNBC's "Witness to Jonestown" documentary. They are very respectful and empathetic in the survivor interviews.

I remember when I first learned about Jonestown. I was a little kid then. My mom, sister, and I ran into her cousin at the movie theater. I remember her telling us that he was a pilot, and that he flew Jim Jones' corpse out of Guyana. My mom was good about giving us the honest facts and answering as many follow-up questions as she could. She talked and listened to us. She explained what a cult was and what happened in Jonestown. Her explanation would forever change the way I looked at my religion and Kool-Aid.