Film

Stations of the Elevated (1981) restored trailer


This looks incredible – a restored print of a little-known documentary of old early 80’s NYC. ‘Stations of the Elevated’ (1981) Directed by Manfred Kirchheimer.

“The first ever filmed document of graffiti, Manfred Kirchheimer’s richly chromatic 16mm tone poem sets images of the Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn to a soundtrack that interweaves ambient city noises with the gutbucket gospel sound of jazz titan Charles Mingus. Long regarded by cinephiles and hip-hop heads as an obscure cult masterpiece since it premiered at the 1981 New York Film Festival, Stations of the Elevated is a celebration of a quintessentially urban art form—at a time when it was largely dismissed as vandalism. With lyrical shots of tagged trains, desolate rail yards, and other details of the urban landscape, it remains a priceless portrait of a bygone era of New York City culture. World premiere of a new restoration”
Released by Artists Public Domain/Cinema Conservancy

World Premiere New Restoration Friday, June 27 BAM Harvey Theater for BAM Cinemafest 2014
Tickets: HERE More information on Artists Public Domain

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Live action Ghost In The Shell homage

‘Project 2501’, a short homage to Shirow Masamune‘s Ghost in the Shell is directed by Ash Thorp and stars freelance model Christine Adams in the role of Motoko Kusanagi. Thorp’s tribute to the classic anime masterpiece crowdsourced the skills of filmmakers across the globe, in San Diego, Poland, and Singapore. It couldn’t be nearer the anime version and is also timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the original. Apparently Dreamworks are making their own version, it already has a benchmark to live up to here. More info on this version here with some beautiful poster design too. *Warning* Nudity.

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RIP HR Giger 1940-2014

Very sad to hear that the great Swiss surrealist painter and designer HR Giger has passed away. Few people have a unique vision but I think it’s safe to say that he was one of those few and has influenced generations with his mechanic/organic images.

MUSEUM, ALIEN, EROEFFNUNG, AUSSTELLUNG, SCHLOSS

His work is not easily forgotten once seen and he created one of the great movie monsters of our time in the Alien. The album cover was also a natural canvas for his work with the public exposed to him via Emerson, Lake & Palmer‘s ‘Brain Salad Surgery’ LP well before Alien. His work for Debbie Harry and The Dead Kennedys saw much controversy with the latter being banned and famously brought to court with Jello Biafra defending the artist’s vision.

I remember seeing his large format Necronomicon and Biomechanics books in shops in the 80’s and wanting them so badly but they were way out of my price range at the time. I was lucky enough to visit the tiny town of Château St. Germain in Gruyères, Switzerland one time though to see many of his originals in the Giger Museum – highly recommended. Sadly missed but never forgotten.

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Comics Unmasked opens today at the British Library, Ldn


This just opened in London at the British Library, I’m going Monday, can’t wait!

Featuring such iconic names as Neil Gaiman (Sandman), Alan Moore (Watchmen, V for Vendetta), Grant Morrison (Batman: Arkham Asylum) and Posy Simmonds (Tamara Drewe), this exhibition traces the British comics tradition back through classic 1970s titles including 2000AD, Action and Misty to 19th-century illustrated reports of Jack the Ripper and beyond.

“Can’t recommend British Library’s Comics Unmasked exhibition enough! Unexpected & rare exhibits, wonderfully presented.” – Dave Gibbons (Watchman and many more)
Parental guidance is advised for visitors under 16 years of age due to the explicit nature of some of the exhibits on display, the exhibition runs until August. For more info and updated content visit the Library’s Comics Unmasked page.

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The Soundcarriers LP on Ghost Box pre-order


Absolutely love this, both sound and vision. The Soundcarriers are a new signing to Ghost Box although they’ve released several albums before, some featuring the songs here but in different forms.
You can order the LP here and marvel at yet another Julian House created video for the track ‘Boiling Point’ above. More info here and more soundclips here too, sounds like they’re moving towards a pure 60’s/70’s West Coast Sunshine Pop mood, reminds me of The Free Design or The Hellers‘ records on Command with a bit more edge. Previous LPs ‘Harmonium’, ‘Celeste’ and ‘The Other World Of…’ are highly recommended. Check ‘This is Normal’ from their last LP, featuring the dulcet tones on none other than Elijah Wood!

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Star Wars & Empire early prelim posters & logos

I love these examples of early Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back posters with alternate logos and artwork. Even the finished film poster above has a rare shot of the heroes with Leia in Chewbacca‘s arms and the uneven red ‘crawl’ logo which is quite badly rendered when you look at it.

Below is an even earlier version with Ralph McQuarrie paintings plus an invite to one of the first public screenings.

Below are what look like poster prelims for Empire… with a totally different logo design that I’d never seen before.

Then another, more finished version of the logo with original SW poster art adapted. Love the way Leia is riding side saddle on the version above.

Actually, for all I know, these could be fan art but all the images are sourced from the Star Wars Archives page on Facebook which lends some sort of credibility to them.

Below we get yet another logo with a Luke on Tauntaun image.

Lastly, a preview poster for Empire with a big “BEWARE!” warning across it, this certainly looks real.

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Cheeba After School Special excerpt

http://www.djfood.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/LSD4-Buckly-and-dj-food-web-2.mov

I’m very pleased to be able to feature a little exclusive clip for DJ Cheeba’s After School Special AV event which debuts on Friday in Bristol at the Cube Cinema. Even more exciting is that it features one of my own tracks interspersed with Tim Buckley and Luke Vibert. Nice company to be in. The whole concept is an educational look at drugs from both sides and is more of a sit down affair than a club gig.

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