Why EDM Sucks (a brief history of Electronic Music and EDM as Commercial Music)

mixmag.com

Let’s start with a brief introduction of electronic music in general: it all began in the end of the raging 80s and the beginning of the 90s, when making music with the help of computers was already all in, synthpop had worn itself out, alternative, grunge and hip-hop was slowly coming in. People were getting tired of the monotonous beats of synthesizers and drum machines and musicians decided that electronic music shouldn’t die out, so DJs and vocalists started creating new bands and groups that mostly relied on sampling and on finding new sounds, not just pleasing the audience.  But this style of electronica sounded nothing like synth, because most of the Djs and bands wanted to use a more rough sound and tense melodies, they never stopped on one simple beat and started layering along with sampling. They incorporated different sounds and noises, genres and styles and the final product was always electric and amazing!  You couldn’t call this music simply electronica, because it was a mix of so many things, which I think makes electronica – a mix of different products. A lot of the bands that are the best examples of 90s electronic music are not alike at all: The Prodigy, Underworld, The Chemical Brothers, Boards of Canada, Bjork, Muslimgauze, Fatboy Slim, Massive Attack, which is actually trip-hop, but I included them anyways, because what the trip-hop musicians play today is total bullshit, it’s just a cheap, “underground” remake of todays’ EDM. (Notice how almost all the bands are from UK! YaY!) These musicians created radically different sounds from everything everyone had ever heard. The reason these musicians were so successful and so diverse is simple: they knew how to play music. At that time, a computer wasn’t enough for all the sounds you needed, so you had to use actual vocals, actual drums and actual guitar. Even if you didn’t have real drums, they used drum machines, and the sound of the drum machine is totally different from the sample drum sounds in the computer. Some might say that electronica has evolved along with technology and that’s the reason people have given up on real instruments and it’s part of growing up. Come on! Just because you have evolved doesn’t mean that you have to forget about the good things the past has. You will never be able to create the same sounds with a computer as you can with many different machines. I mean, if you hate actual instruments like guitars and bass so much and want to rely on machines, why not use real drum machines, ELECTRONIC guitars and so much more! These people don’t even need to have a good voice. Anybody can sing now.

What’s happening now is a disaster. It especially pissed me off that Georgian DJs are just like the foreign ones. The thing is, in other countries, music has a huge, long history of different genres, musical revolutions and so on. And here in Georgia we have a brief history of 90s alternative, then some alternative mixed with folk in 2000s and now we have EDM. We didn’t go through any musical evolution so why the fuck do we try to do the same that others are doing? To play minimalist music, you must first learn to play some fucking noise rock. Georgian Djs don’t want to evolve because they are satisfied with the fact that they have a full audience and Dj Sets almost every night at locals clubs. They don’t want more, and they never try to incorporate any other genres. Just the same beats all over again. It’s even worse than synthpop. Hell, Depeche Mode were the most cheesy, weird, quirky and the synthpopest band of all time, but since the 90s they have used such a huge array of sounds you might get confused as to what you are listening to.  The only good thing in these few years in electronica here in Georgia was when Daddy G came to Tbilisi to play his DJ Set. I thought, maybe if musicians heard Daddy G perform they would become more ambitious and start creating something more diverse, but diverse my ass. Daddy G didn’t wear himself out by improvisations either, but the tracks he had were enough to get you high. Everyone said they had weed and Vodka with them, but didn’t smoke or drink because Daddy G’s music was enough to get them up high and make them ecstatic. The reason behind G’s awesomeness is that he doesn’t just sit at the computer and write tracks on one program, he plays instruments, different machines, sings, performs and Djing is just is hobby out of the band. He knows the value of music and it shows up in his performances. And he just play just for himself, he looks at the crowd from time to time, observes and then decides which track he should switch to. Now that’s playing music for the pleasure of the audience. When you actually look at them!

But the thing is, electronica is dead not only in Georgia (Let’s not talk about the topic of Georgian music shall we?). I hate these disgusting Youtube playlists, you know, the ones in which all of the songs sound exactly the same and each video has a photo of some sexy model. I’m not saying that they sound the same without knowing it. Oh, I know it well. Last week, I was sick, so I sat down and listened to almost every song on these playlists and it was the worst experience I have ever had, regarding music. But I did it for the sake of research and yes, I have nothing else to do. These stupid, totally unworthy songs have the same beats, same moaning vocals. Even if you forget about the playlists and take the example of “underground” Djs and EDM, the result is exactly the same! I don’t even know why it’s called Electronic Dance Music, because I don’t understand how can someone dance to it! The best you can do with it is to turn it on as background noise when you are hanging with friends or something. It has absolutely no value. You can’t even sing along. The only one I like in these musicians is Avicii, who mixes good vocals with badass electronica and bluegrass folk.

People, when you sit at the computer and create music, why do you stop on one sound? One beat? I tried doing that and even I was successful at creating what people call electronica today, using some stupid program I found on Linux. If you can’t create a good sound yourself, at least try some sampling for christ’s sake. The Beastie Boys built their whole musical career on sampling before moving on to instruments. THE BEASTIE BOYS! The dudes whose first album includes the songs all of which are sampled, who barely played any real instruments, who are the main inspiration for every hip-hop artists, even they returned to playing music! Guitar, bass, vocals, drums and so on.

Another thing i don’t understand is this: How can these musicians, after listening to Massive Attack, or Sigur Ros, or Bjork, sit down after that and create shitty music? Why don’t they want more than just “being cool” and having sex after the show. And how can people like it so much. Everytime there is a DJ playing in Tbilisi, the venue is always full! Why people? What happened to good old live shows in shady bars? Fuck it.

You know how many people around me listen to this dumb music? A lot. Even the type of people that look like hippies and listen to ethnic music or if they want electronica they turn on Muslimgauze, even these people listen to EDM! Come on!

In short, I fuckin hate EDM and I fuckin hate the fact that it is aimed at young adults who only want to have fun and have sex and it has no artistic value. I hate the fact that EDM Djs don’t try to create something new by incorporating something old. I hate the fact the EDM is so in right now, that they barely even play other music in bars and clubs.

You might think that I have no right to be writing all this, because I have never tried to become a musician and it is easy to criticize and all that shit. But I have the right. Because I’m an artist, and as you know, music is art as well. And as an artists, I am never satisfied with what I do and always try to do more. When I see the paintings of Jean-Michel Basquiat I want to shoot myself but it makes me inspired to do my job and get better and better at it and people see the progress I make each year. So I know the feels and I know it’s hard but that’s what an artist should love to do.

The only good that came out of my 1 week of research and raping my ears was the discovery of King Krule. Which was like finding heaven. Now here is a young English dude, not trying to look and sound like a douchebag. If you listen to King Krule’s voice without seeing his face first, trust me, you are gonna have a huge heart attack. Because he looks like a little British redhead, has the style of a typical British skinhead/chav/punk/every style UK has given us. King Krule is nothing like EDM, thank God! I didn’t even expect him to be so good. He was only 16 when his first music video came out! And his voice sounds like a 40 year old’s. It was so good listening to him, a real trip: nice low voice, with a very British accent and some flaws which make it better, a melodic guitar which sometimes sounds like jazz, sometimes like punk, sometimes like post-punk, sometimes like surf-rock. He just plays and sings and doesn’t give a shit. Listen to it(he used to be called Zoo Kid as well):

And another thing I discovered is Eliot Sumner, the daughter of Sting, which actually looks like a son sometimes. But she’s awesome, and androgynous and tomboyish, which I love. And sometimes has the voice of a female Ian Curtis. Well, actually she used to perform under the name I Blame Coco and her songs of that time are really different from what she does now. I like her new style better and you’ll now why.  I like her. Her songs Information is a wonderful mix of New Wave and Post-Punk. And Joy Division.

 Seriously though, how can you not love Josh Hamilton, especially after watching Alive? Look at his eyes! And look at his films! All of them are independent comedy films that are supposed to suck but are just genius! I wonder why he doesn’t play in more films, cause I just can’t get enough of him! He is the amazing mix of Christian Slater and at time Keanu Reeves. He has Slaters childish sexy look and sexy Keanu’s distant stare

Films to Watch When You Are Sitting Home Alone With Nothing to Do (Part 1)

There are some days, when you spend the whole day at home, having no desire whatsoever to get out. Not because you have no friends, or you don’t feel good, or you are depressed, or you are a loser, but just because the weather outside is plain and gray and you woke up late in the morning. Plus, it’s just one of those days when you are too lazy to do anything and want to spend the whole day with yourself. I strongly believe in spending some alone time with yourself. It’s kind of like a therapy.

To me, this sort of therapy mostly involves watching films. But not just action films, or comedy films, or romcoms, or dramas, or blockbusters. No no no. The films I choose for such days are strictly about human nature and overcoming yourself and being strong or being afraid or being stuck. Some of them are full of action, but not the type where the main character runs around town and blows things up. Some of them are documentaries and some of them are slow-paced independent films.

These films are strongly recommended for watching on your own, so that you can sit back after watching the film and think about what you have just seen. Plus, in case you are stuck in a young adult crisis or just existential crisis and find int hard to realize your dreams, these are for especially you.

1. Whiplash (2014)

PHOTOGRAPH BY DANIEL MCFADDEN / SONY PICTURES CLASSICS / EVERETT

I didn’t know about this film until after the Oscars. When I saw that it was in the list of nominees after the awards and I hate totally missed it, I googled it instantly and what I read made it obvious that Whiplash shouldn’t be missed. A film about a JAZZ drummer (a JAZZ! drummer) who wants to be the best drummer in the world and does everything he can to achieve that, he is even ready to be embarrass by his extremely strict and ruthless teacher in front of everyone to reach his goal. If you are an avid jazz lover, I can’t say you will be crazy about the music in the film, but the compositions and the drums are truly good and fit perfectly into each and every scene. This film is good for everyone, even if you hate jazz, if you hate music. I can’t descrive in words just how much it has affected me (though the post before this one definitely shows it well). The reason you should watch this film home alone and than think about it for yourself, is because it shows you just how much it takes to reach your goal and why and how you should never give up and how you should know what you stand for so that you don’t go crazy after the whole world denies your wishes. Trust me, after thinking about the film the whole day and the whole night, you WILL want to get out of the house and discuss it very deeply with your friends and do everything you have ever wanted to do. It is truly a very inspirational film and one of the few best films I have seen in the last few years that have made me realize so many things.

2. Kicking and Screaming (1995)

Noah Baumbach’s debut masterpiece, which will help you realize Baumbach’s goal – To show humans just the way they are, without any alternations. Watching this film, I felt my heart slowly melt into a warm mess from all the sweetness, witty dialogue, friendly jokes. The basic idea of the film is to show how college graduates feel stuck on the line between being young and being an adult, when just hanging out with friends in bars isn’t enough to be satisfied, but also having a job and having no time is also not a very pleasurable idea. In the film, we have 4 friends, all guys, all played by amazing actors who are unfortunately not well known, especially my new blue-eyed love Josh Hamilton (the reason I watched the film in the first place). These four friends all have their problems, which they don’t really try to overcome, but they feel uncomfortable non the less. They frequent one bar where we hear them talk the most realistic, witty and comic dialogues, they play dumb trivia games and talk all the same about philosophical stuff that in the end they know makes no sense. They are nihilistic and bored. What I like the most about the film is that there is no big epiphany in the end, there are no cheesy love songs, no cheese break-ups or make-ups, and we don’t see the main character having a sudden realization in the end and walking into the street with a happy face and some inspirational music in the backgrounds and then the titles roll. The ending is very simple, and quite abrupt, but trust me, it leaves you with a very warm smile. So in case you are a 20-21 year old student, on the verge of ending University and stepping into the real life and feeling scared and stuck, definitely watch this film.

3. The Virgin Suicides (1999)

Those who have seen this film will be surprised as to why this sad tragic story should be on the list. But I do have a good explanation for this! It sure is perfect for hot, dull summer days. The film is full of the intolerance with the every day life, the effect of peers on teenagers and the effect of parents and strictness. The reason it’s good to watch alone on a dull summer evening, is the style in which it is made: pastel colors, frequent scenes filmed in dusk or dawn, teenage girl bedrooms filled with girly, unneeded stuff. Sofia Coppola can tell any store with amazing style and beauty, even a tragic one like this one. But you know, tragic things are sometimes romantic things. so if you are feeling romantic and bored in summer, it’s a must-watch with amazing visuals and soundtrack that might leave you feeling a bit sour, but it’s okay. You will realize that your life shouldn’t be wasted the same way the lives of the Lisbon sisters were. After watching this film, treat yourself with something tasty, or smoke a cigarette, and sit outside in the chilly weather for a while. Plus, you will want to watch this film every summer.

4. The Punk Singer (2013)

Okay, I am obsessed with Kathleen Hanna – THE punk rock feminist singer who began her work in the 90s and hasn’t stopped yet. The woman behind 90s feminism, zines, Bikini Kill, Le Tigre, Julie Ruin, Adam Horovitz’s wife! This documentary film is here not only because I am obsessed, but also because it makes you think about what you want out of life and what you stand for, what your principals, morals and ideals are. Kathleen never had a problem with this, she always did what she was told she couldn’t do, she wasn’t afraid of anybody, she wasn’t afraid fo having a relationship with a cheeky Beastie Boy who sang the most misogynistic songs ever in the 80s. The only thing that stopped her only for a while was the illness she found very hard to overcome, but fights it every day and doesn’t give up on feminism and singing. Also, the film just goes on to show you that you shouldn’t be judgemental, because if the most feminist ever woman married the most sexist man ever, the anything is possible. Well, Adam wasn’t singing sexist shit anymore when they met, but he used to anyway. And the way these two people have effected each other and helped each other is very inspirational. The Punk Singer is also filmed very well and the story is told well and the end leaves you very happy and makes you want to do everything you have ever wanted to do.

5. Gummo (1997)

Harmony Korine’s yet another masterpiece after Kids. Gummo is one of the films that doesn’t require you to use your brain and think about what each and every character has said, because Gummo is about nothing, actually. We see a small American town in ruins after a storm, and we see young people trying to live amongst the collapsed buildings and deteriorated culture of the town. The youngsters spend the time doing nothing, being violent, being sexy, drinking and smoking, partying and fighting, eating and bathing. They are bored and they don’t know how to get out of the boredom. It’s one of these things you know, when some dull emotion takes over and you feel so comfortable with it you don’t try to change the every day dull life you have because that means you have to become uncomfortable and that’s a challenge. Most of the dialogues and scenes appear as unscripted, and maybe they are, and none of the actors are actual professionals, which gives the film the natural and organic film, like Kicking and Screaming with a bit of a creepy, perverted and at moments disgusting twist. So watch it if you are bored and feel like nothing, because after watching Gummo, everything will seem extremely entertaining. So Gummo is basically about this – how humans adapt to their surroundings unlike animals and learn to entertain themselves.

So this is it for now, because I am extremely sleepy and have lessons tomorrow. There are more to come, and I do know which films to add. I wish I wasn’t so sleepy and it wasn’t so late, but my brain can’t function and I can’t continue so this is a Good Night Everyone!

On Equality, Feminism and Why I Choose to Stop

I have been calling myself a feminist for a very long time now, without realizing the real meaning of the word. I started calling myself a feminist because I didn’t want to compromise, I didn’t what guys and men to think of me as a weak person, because in their mind a woman is a weak person. And I still don’t want that. I watched everything I could about Kathleen Hanna and the 90s feminist movement, I was mesmerized and amazed by these women, who were doing what they wanted, without thinking about the opinion of men. They were ruthless. But I don’t think 90s feministic standards fit today. Today, feminism is chic. Every woman is a feminist, despite the way the think, dress, look and so on. They use the word feminism the same way I use it – to define that they don’t want to be controlled by men. But the truth is, they still are controlled, without realizing it, by men. Most of the girls my age talk about “strong women”, and yet they spend every night thinking about the guy that they made out with, they had sex with. They talk about men all the time, trying to figure out why a certain guy did what he did and how could he do it. Yet, we all know why he did it, but these girls have an enormous feeling of satisfaction when they talk with their girlfriends and try to figure out the subtle signs men and guys give us while flirting, or while being in a relationship, or after a break-up. I have figured it all out, with their guys as well as mine, and now I’m silent. Because talking about men 24/7 and yet, calling yourself a feminist, means you are a hypocrite.

Today, especially after Emma Watson priceless speech about real feminism, gender equality and women in general, feminism has changed. Feminism has become all about women, instead of becoming all about both genders. Feminists now are viewed as elegant, beautiful creatures, who love make-up and fashion and a real woman is a woman who is elegant, taken care of, and well looked-after. The definition of woman is going back to the same definition it had decades ago. There is more and more self-confidence and self-help advice online and in general than it ever was. To be beautiful you have to do this, you have to be fit, you have to beautiful, you have to be elegant, you have to have manners. Why I like the 90s? Because 90s women were against all the things that are happening now. These women didn’t care about appearance, about manners, about femininity. Even the casual streets style today is a good example of the change: in the 90s, women bought clothes from male stores and wore their boyfriends’ or father’s clothes, without making them look feminine. The goal was totally different. The goal of wearing male clothes was to say – I don’t have to look sexy to be a woman. I don’t have to wear a dress to be a woman. Now, girls buy male clothes and fit them to a totally feminine style, cutting them up and changing the shapes and styles. Femininity is the word I hate, and women today shouldn’t try to encourage it. It may sound weird coming from a girl that calls herself a feminist. But to me, feminism is all about not caring about what men say and not trying to fit their taste. To me, being a feminist means not thinking about guys, until an actual guy comes along and you fall in love, because when you are in love, you have to think about the other person as well. I don’t mean changing to fit them. I mean you have to stop thinking about other guys and both sides should try to stand up for each other. To me, being a feminist is about reaching my goals without the help of my parents, or boyfriend, or men in general.

Which is why I have stopped calling myself a feminist. Because the majority of feminists today don’t stand the same ground as me. Or maybe I should keep calling myself a feminist and eventually women around me will realize what it is all about.

I have come to hate anything feminine.

I have come to hate all the trash-talk and male-talk.

I have come to hate girls and girl bands singing about love and men. I have come to hate make-up and long hair.

I have come to hate high heels. I don’t understand at all why women have to suffer and wear high heels just because centuries ago somebody decided that it makes our legs look more beautiful.

I have come to hate anything that can be mildly associated with women.

I have go to hate myself when I thing about guys and remember the relationships I used to have. I have come to hate people.

I have come to hate films with girls as main characters.

Why?

Because in almost every film or TV series, no matter how feministic they call themselves, the creators make the girls look extremely complicated, male-oriented and depressed. They make them look fragile and soft and girly. If there is a girl that doesn’t talk about men 24/7, that doesn’t wear dresses and doesn’t have short hair, she’s a lesbian. Or if there is the character created with the idea of a “strong woman”, she‘s extremely sexy and almost always half-naked and almost always tries to get around and reach the goal by seducing men. I watched the pilot of Girls after thinking of doing it for a very long time. I expected it to be this awesome TV series about young girls trying to make a living in the big city. But what I saw really disappointed me. The very first episode is about men. I like the beginning of Hannah’s story, until almost the half of the episode became about Hannah and her unexplained relationship with some guy. The other girl is pregnant, and the third girl can’t decide whether to break-up with her boyfriend. I was very upset. Because I wanted more. I wanted to see more than a 21s century remake of Sex and The City, only with younger characters, which actually makes it worse. I wanted to see what I saw in Whiplash – a person desperate to get what she wants, so desperate that she, without thinking twice, breaks up with her boyfriend to focus on her job. We almost never see that in films where girls are the main characters. In 106 minute Whiplash, the relationship of a boy and a girl is shown for maximum 5 minutes. Maybe a minute more. The other 100 are all about Andrew working his ass off to reach the ultimate goal. This is why I loved Whiplash – It’s ruthless, rough, tough, uncompromising and absolutely breathtaking. Something you never see when the main character is female. Because in such women, everything is softer, unless the female character is a lesbian (though there are some exceptions, like Foxfire and Million Dollar Baby). And if they are not soft, then the roughness is so fake it’s almost cheesy.

I have come to realize that my favorite films mostly have male characters: Fight Club, The Fall (although the main character is a girl, she is a kid and in this film, we don’t have the cheesy kid love story), Whiplash, Roadside Prophets, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Billy Elliot, Primal Fear, Trainspotting, Everything is Illuminated). If you think about it, why are these films interesting? Because they are not about and heterosexual relationship, or a romantic relationship in general. If you see a man and a woman, it doesn’t last more than a few minutes and it’s mostly just a passing thing and you stay focused on one thing – The Protagonist getting what he wants, which is not a girlfriend. Though I can name a few movies about women that really got to me, like The North Country, Kill Bill, The Virgin Suicides, Blue Jasmine, Melancholia. But still, most of these films’ protagonists have a story to tell because of a certain man in their life. While none of the films with male protagonists I listed above had a story to tell because of a woman. You know what I want to see in a film with female characters? I want to see only women, not like in the film Women, where there are absolutely no men and the women talk ABOUT men all the time, but only women working their ass off as Andrew does in Whiplash. I want to see a girl break up with her boyfriend without emotions and crying and thinking, because she needs to concentrate on her diploma or job or artistry or a film she’s making or her band or something like this. There are no women in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, but you don’t even notice this, because you don’t need the cheesy love story to be hooked. But for some reason, in films with women, no matter what the women wants, there is always a small love story. I want to see roughness, ruthless people, I want to see girls who argue with each other about life and politics and music and art, not men and sex.

Meanwhile, I have developed Neurosis. For the exact reasons I listed above. The world around me say: It’s important to have a boyfriend, to be feminine, to look good, to be sexy, to laugh guys’ jokes to make them like you, to be funny and laugh a lot, to be this to be that. Guys have to like you. Why don’t guys like you? Why don’t you have a boyfriend? Why don’t you go out much? I have been going out a lot with friends lately, and I shouldn’t have done that because that is exactly what led me to neurosis. The same stories over and over again: He likes her and she doesn’t and the other he is jealous while she likes the third someone and he loves her and she can’t stop thinking about her ex and they have to talk about their feelings and she found a new guy and she’s so good with guys and so on and so on. I could tell you a million love stories and a million flirt stories and a million break-up and a million make-up stories. All because that’s all that people around me are interested in and to them, I’m boring. Because I want to talk about how speechless good music leaves you, I want to talk about a new band I just discovered, I want to spend 3 hours discussing the Midnight in Paris, I want to talk about the idea of life and space. What I want to do is not give a shit about all these things that matter to girls around me. What I want to do is a get a job, make a name, and make people realize that while they were sitting in bars, trying to figure out their sexual desires and love life, I was working my ass off, and now, I am at the top. I am the new Charlie Parker.

A Post no Movie Lover Can Miss: The Oscars 2015

Right from the day I was born, every year, I waited for Oscars to start. The anticipation was overwhelming. I felt like watching the Oscars made me the part of this amazing world that is the film industry and Hollywood. Like any dumb kid, to me, Hollywood was a dream and something totally surreal. All these women looking gorgeous and out of this world, the men dressed in tuxedos and walking around like sex machines. It was like an amusement park I was desperate to get into. But then, I actually started studying Production Design and the History of Film, and lighting and editing and watching films that had nothing to do with Hollywood. The realization that the film industry has become nothing more that a bay of money hungry pigs ready to snatch up any actor actress or director they can get their hands on was simply devastating. And I’m not the only one that thinks this way. This year Oscars just proves that there is nothing left to say about the movie industry of Hollywood, except – it is shit. I don’t mean that the films are shit. I love Grand Budapest Hotel, I loved Birdman, which is the weirdest film I have seen for a very long time, I love Still Alice, I love The Theory of Everything. But the whole awarding ceremony has become lame and totally unimportant. Sometimes, I think I would like the film more if it didn’t have an Oscar. I’m talking about the new films, starting from somewhere around 2005? Since then, I haven’t seen a single Oscar Ceremony that would make me feel like I definitely want to go to Hollywood, like I did in childhood.

The thing that annoys me the most is the endless interviews and jokes at the red carpet, which I don’t remember happening years ago. I hate the whole twitter and Instagram existence that forces us to see what the people will look like at the red carpet. I love the anticipation of waiting for your favorite star to appear, shining and glowing. With Instagram and Twitter, you have all the information before you want to get that information. And that is what sucks. Once again, I will say that the thing I hate is the destruction of the barrier between actors, actresses, directors, artists, musicians and all these people and the people in general. Yes, all these “celebrities” are just normal people, but when I was a kid, they were the people who seemed so far away, so distant, and so worth everything they had. Now, I don’t even want to know the relationships between kids and stars. These kids have all the information handed out to them, and that sucks because it makes you think that being an actor is easy, and it’s all about partying and having fun, because that’s what these people post on their profiles. It used to be a lot more simple. You had only limited information about a certain actor or actress you loved: you could see them in TV at an award ceremony, or see them in TV in a film. Sometimes, if you had money, you could read the cheap rumors in cheap magazines, which you bought only to cut out photos and pictures of your stars.

Other thing I hated this years, was Neil Patrick Harris’s lame jokes, the length of the whole ceremony, the lame jokes again, the lame musical performances, and the sometimes pseudo-feministic quotes of female stars. The whole thing with the comical part of The Oscars is becoming very annoyig.  Why don’t they just stop trying to make comedy happen? It is not funny anymore. The Matt Damon+Ben Affleck jokes are long overdue after Jimmy Kimmel used them up the good way. The twitter and iphone jokes are so worn out it makes me vomit. I don’t know WHAT MORE TO SAY! It was all so lame.

Also, I loved Patricia Arquette’s speech, which was the best thing at this year’s Oscars, along with EDDIE REDMAYNE WINNING AN OSCAR YAYAYAYAY! And Meryl Streep’s reaction to Patricia’s speech was just priceless. That is feminism in the world of show business, that is what every woman should say at a place like the Academy Awards when she wants to talk about feminism and equality. They shouldn’t talk shit like Emma Stone and Reese Witherspoon, who have suddenly decided to turn into modern day feminists (probably because feminism has become “chic). Emma Stone apparently got just a little pissed when a journalist told her how beautiful she looked and she replied “Thank you. That’s all that matters.” And Reese Witherspoon came up with the whole “Ask Her More” campaign. I mean, really? Are we women so pathetic that we need a campaign on Twitter to get protected form stupid questions? And, since when are compliments and Oscars a bad things? If Reese is so worried about the fact that everybody only cares about women’s dresses at Awards, then why won’t she just shut the fuck up and put on a simple forever21 dress instead of Tom Ford and do her makeup at home instead of paying a stylist 3000 dollars? Why won’t this women, if they don’t like being judged by their looks at the Oscars, just stop wearing stuff that they payed millions for? Why won’t they just get rid of their stylists? Dita Von Teese doesn’t have single fuckin stylist, but manages to look marvelous no matter what. If Emma Stone had been approached on the street by a paparazzo, instead of a Journalist at the Oscars, then her reaction would have been just right. As for the #AskHerMore campaign, it is bullshit. Because men are equally judged by their looks at such ceremonies as women. Men waste as much time to get ready as women. If these “stars” want the Oscars to be more than just a party of beautiful people, then the campaign should be called #AskThemMore. Where every gender is asked more than what they are wearing, and who they are with and asked to make lame jokes and speeches. I would love to know more that just that. But Oscars is not the place for that. If people want to listen to actors and actresses discussing their decisions and artistry, then they can go to Youtube and watch tons of interviews, which always satisfies my curiosity. The Oscars is a formal event, and everyone should be dressed formally, and if a men takes a compliment for looking good in a tuxedo, so should a women for looking good in a dress. IT IS A FORMAL EVENT! In case you want to make a feminist statement, then please, do it like Patricia Arquette did it. Don’t address the dumb things like why people care about the dress you chose, address the important things like domestic violence and unequal wages.

P.S. What blew my mind away as well, in a bad way, was the fact that The Grand Budapest Hotel won the best score, while competing with INTERSTELLAR! GBH did have a good score, but not nearly as amazing, breathtaking, atmospheric, emotional, goosebumpy, badass, epic and dark as Interstellar. The score in Interstellar was one of the things that kept me hooked. I can’t put into words just how many emotions are in each and every melody and track. Every scene is perfectly stitched with the melody, everything was perfect. And Hans Zimmer didn’t get the Oscar. This is the part where I give up.

The Good, The Bad and The Middle

I’m not a pacifist. I don’t believe in pacifism or peace and the likes of it. I also don’t believe in war, but I believe in Cold Wars and negotiations. The reason I’m not a pacifist is the same reason I’m not a vegeterian. Firstly, I think beliefs like this are very unrealistic and having too much kindness and peace in the world will do us as much bad as having too much violence and war. If humans give up on eating animals, then animals will start eating us. And believe me, no vegeterian or vegan loves animals enough to give up humanity to them. It’s all about balance. There should be bad to be good, there should be light to be dark, yin and yang and so on. I believe in balance and I don’t believe in anything radical. I remember my grandmother once explained to me the true meaning of the Cross, which has nothing to do with religion. and it goes like this:

The little red cross is you. You are standing in the middle of the big black cross. On the sides you have the bad and the good, but you choose to stand in the middle. Because if you go to the bad side like the little black cross, that side of the big black cross will fall down. So, likely, if you go to the good side, like the little orange cross, that side will fall as well, because the big black cross is only supported in the middle. It doesn’t have any protection at the side. It is the most powerful in the middle, and as you stand in the middle, you won’d fall. That’s were the strongest people are. Although these people are often called weak by the dumb. The reason such people are called weak is because the ones who have chosen to walk away from the middle think the road with a lot of “mines” is the right road. But what they don’t know is that this road will lead you directly to your death. Being radical is the same as being a hypocrite. Take modern radical feminism: these women are trying to do the same to men as men having been doing to women for years, and for these reasons feminism was created. Feminism shouldn’t try to throw away patriarchy and order matriarchy, it should aim for balance.

Another example I have of such extremes is the idea of Heaven and Hell. Say you are a saint, and you go to Heaven and your soul has the right to eternal peace and kindness. Wouldn’t you be bored of eternal peace? Everyone loves everyone, everybody is polite, everybody is at peace. I would go mad. Just like in the idea of Hell, where burning in flames for eternity is painful and excruciating. At this point, if I believed in souls and Heaven and Hell, I would choose for my soul to disappear and not go through the pain and boredom of eternal peace or burning.

If we get back to the example of wars. The reason that war in general shouldn’t exist is the extreme violence and death rates and decline in food and humanity and genocide and the wiping out of entire nations. I simply don’t understand what can people achieve through burning and bombing towns and villages. The reason I like the idea of a Cold War is that it is made through negotiations. If you want to kill someone who is at fault, you should kill the whole nation. You should just kill the person at fault. Wars are useless, and those who say that they are good because there are too many humans and in wars, only those survive who are worth it, are dumb idiots. Natural Selection is bullshit, because everybody has the right to live and the right to die. Nature doesn’t “choose”. We either make things happen ourselves, or they happen by chance. The only thing I believe in is luck. Some people have the kind of luck that makes me want to murder them: they are always at the right time at the right place. But if you think about it long enough and deep enough, luck doesn’t exist as well. People who we call lucky are mostly people who are extroverts, who are everywhere every time and which is why they get more chances than those who spend most of their time at home thinking about stuff like this, like me!

Mr. Perkins and his cats

Okay. How many of us have been obsessed with Andrew Garfield? I think after the release of The Social Network and The Amazing Spider-Man, people have gone totally nuts about Andrew Garfield. I always thought he was talented and handsome and all that, but there is some kind of charm he lacks to put him on the list of the most talented and gorgeous actors. Wait, what? What does Andrew Garfield have to do with the title of the post? Well, if you love Andrew Garfield, you have probably already noticed the amazing resemblance with none other that Anthony Perkins! Yes, the man who has portrayed Norman Bates a lot of times, the man who, to me, has the most amazing persona among all of the actors and actresses in the old Hollywood era. (except James Dean and Orson Welles, of course).

I must admit, even thought I am an avid movie lover,  I didn’t watch Psycho until 2 years ago. Oh NO! How could I have missed that pleasure? You know, sometimes you hear so much about a certain films ever since you are born, that you get bored of hearing about it and people talking about it and praising it and you start thinking that it can’t be that amazing! It’s gotta have some flaws! Most of the time, I watch “classics” like this for one and only reason – to watch the classics. And, a lot of times, I have been very bored. But Psycho was something else, and it wasn’t until the thought-to-be character dies that you realize you are watching something totally different from everything you have ever seen! And it’s not only the sudden plot twist that drives you mad, it’s the man who plays Norman – Mr. Perkins.

I must admit, I was SWOONED when I first saw him. I had never seen Perkins before, and I thought that the psycho was just a manic psycho and that’s it. But the way Perkins plays the psycho, is just of any one’s league. The man IS a legend and I could go on and on about his sensitive side shifting with his insane side and his MAD face at the end of the film and his brassy, kind of childish voice and his swift movement of a scared child.

The thing about Perkins was that one could say that he is too sensitive for this world. One can see that in his interviews and his movements and his expression, and the most important thing: in his photos with cats. What am I talking about? You will see yourself. Judging from the photos, Perkins was an avid lover of cats, which we can’t say about women. This fact drives us to a conclusion that Perkins was a fragile, kindhearted person who could never have become a celebrity today because the showbiz world of today would be too harsh for him to handle, and it is totally understandable.

Here,  I present to you the cuteness overload.

and look at this! Orson Welles and Anthony Perkins laughing their asses off! So cute!

.

And finally my personal favorite, Anthony Perkins napping between the takes of the Psycho!

Why Punk Rock is Important!

I have heard a lot of people say that punk rock is not important, and punk rockers can’t play instruments and can’t sing, that punk rock never last and doesn’t leave anything important in history. I have to strongly disagree on that, though.

Let’s take an example: Bikini Kill. Bikini Kill was a punk rock band formed by Tobi Vail, Kathi Wilcox and the most important person in the band, the frontwoman, Kathleen Hanna. The band lasted for only a few years, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t important at that time. If you think about it this way, every band leaves a subtle impact on how we see the world around us. But at the peak of the band’s activity, the impact is totally different: people live by it. People see the punk band live and seeing a punk band live is like no other experience. A punk band can never effect you if you listen to it on your ipod as it can effect you when you see it live. Bikini Kill’s live shows were like no other anyone had ever seen, at that time. Now, we are used to seeing women perform live, and go to live shows and stand at the frond and jump around and do all kinds of shit, but it’s still not quite that good. Maybe Bikini Kill hasn’t changed everything and it definitely hasn’t changed the way things are in my country – still the same it was in the 90s, but Bikini Kill has changed a lot of things for the people who have actually interacted with them, who were there when Kathleen declared for the girls to come to the front. Bikini Kill inspired other girls not to just sing and create bands and go to the front of a live show, but to speak out and to do the things they want to do without thinking about what men and society will think about.

To leave a feminist band like Bikini Kill aside, let’s talk about The Clash  – whose politicized lyrics and reggae beats and influences inspired a lot the rock and not only rock bands we see today. The great thing about The Clash was they could actually sing and play, unlike the Pistols, whose were indeed the first real punk band with amazing punk style and Johnny Rotten’s desperate screaming, but The Pistols inspired only the style of punk, which was crucial, while The Clash inspired the music of the bands that would come later on. Joe Strummer sang about politics, police, riots, the law, revolution and basically just everything that punk rock is about – revolution and anarchy.

This is why punk rock is important to this day, but for some reason, it has lost it’s effect. We do have punk bands, but they have no impact on society any more. The reason is, the way I look at it, the creation of so many social networking sites, like Twitter and Facebook and Instagram, where you don’t need to sing or play or scream to get your thought ahead to the people: you just write a hashtag #heforshe to define your feminism, or put up a picture of yourself holding the #jesuicharlie sign and that’s it – the job is done. Have you heard any active and popular singer or band actually sing about police, law, politics and society without sounding like a thug, or a hipster? No, I haven’t. At least no major bands do it. We had some bands like Green Day, The Offspring and Rage Against The Machine who have tried to refuse today’s standarts and create a new era of music, but they failed. I mean, what is Green Day? They are nothing today, nobody listens to their songs, except somebody occasionally linking Wake Me Up When September Ends of their Timeline. The reason is that these bands were too soft. I’m not talking about Rage Against The Machine, since I think that they have a lot more to say than any other today’s “punk bands”. But there is  a sad fact: they are not effective. They don’t redefine the way people think, their words don’t reach those who need to be reached, and that’s sad. It’s sad that we live in a society where punk rock has become a style and not a way of life, where nobody addressed actual issues through music, and those who do, do it for fame. Another thing I hate about the way musicians are perceived today is the fact that they are too easy to follow. There is no wall between musicians and the audience. Meeting your favorite singer is not that much of a shock as it was before. You see your favorite band’s faces everyday on the internet, you can read everything about them, you can see everything! Which kind of leaves behind the amazing feeling you can have when seeing the band live: thinking of them as something more than just people who play instruments and sing.

I want to go to a live concert and see the vocalist throw beer bottles and dive into the crowd, I wanna see the guitarist break his fingers and play with a bloody hand, I wanna hear swearing and screaming and aggression and fighting, I wanna see people interact with the members of the band.

Punk is dead, and we killed it, the musicians killed it. Nobody wants to defy the system any more. They only do so when something bad actually happens, something you know exists, but when they actually see it, then people start protesting. The protests last only a few days, then, everybody just forgets.

The new band – Savages

 

I discovered Savages at the Berlin Music Festival and I can’t really say I was thrilled right from the start. There were a lot more interesting acts to see like Blur, Bjork, lots of DJs and all that. There were a lot of stages and while the main stage was getting ready for the Bjorkness, my friends and I were jerking around to pass time. We saw lots of interesting graffiti art and some very cute people were selling home made stuff in one of the little rooms. And next, we came to one of the small stages, with a small group of people carefully listening to the band, which I later discovered was Savages. I had nothing else to do, so I stood a little far from the stage and listened. Actually, it was hard to listen because there was all the noise/post-punk thing going on, and I wasn’t really into it at that time (after I discovered Swans, though, it made it easier for me to understand almost any kinds of music). So I was kind of bothered by the noise, but people loved it really much. What caught my interest though, was the vocalist – Jehnny Beth – with short, boyish black hair, black shirt, black trousers and red shoes with small heels. She immediately made me think – She is so cool! And the movements she made and her noisy voice and her French accent. Another thing I thought – She is the female Ian Curtis! But then Bjork came on and we pretty much forgot about Savages.

It was a few months later, when I found the Berlin Festival brochure in my bag, that I really got into them. I was simply reviewing the bands we had seen and Savages was on the list and I remembered the Joy Divisionness of the band so I checked it out and let me tell you – This time I WAS thrilled! Especially after watching the Shut Up video, which was one of the songs they performed at the festival. The video got to me just as the song did. The bass, the voice, THE VOICE! The monologue at the beginning. How can you not love it? I’m not really good at explaining why I love certain things, so you can just watch the video. But don’t listen to the song once! Never listen to a new song once! Listen to it a few times before it really gets you.

I guess what happened to me, concerning the whole fact of hating Savages at first and then falling in love, was something unexplainable that happens to me very often. Sometimes I decide there is a certain band I have to listen to, and at first I really hate them. But after a little time passes, they resurface into my mind and at that point I just become obsessed. I just can’t help it! This always happens to me. I hate on the band, then I fall in love with it so much I never stop listening. So here is my advice – never trust the first impression. (well, except for the times when you are writing or painting or just generally making art. At this moments, it like this – first thought, best thought)

The Streets of Seattle

projected with the help of deehubs.com