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July 29, 2005
Aliens, Illuminati, Money and Beef on the runParanoia -- The Conspiracy Reader has its 39th issue out. It's an all girl issue. Articles included:
-- Beef Without Borders, by Ann N. Martin
-- The Illuminati and the Auric Field, by Beth Goobie
-- Paranoia and Politics, by Jodi Dean
-- The Invisible Hand: Is the Price of Gold Being Suppressed?, by Marilyn A. Guinnane
-- Beings in NothingDrive: An Existential Analysis of the Travis Walton UFO Abduction, by Joan d'Arc
-- The Minders: An Interview w/ Melinda Leslie, by Randy Koppang
-- The Chrononauts: An Interview with Jenny Randles, by Joan d'Arc
-- The Magic and Mystery of America’s Money, by Tracy R. Twyman
www.paranoiamagazine.com
09:43
July 28, 2005
David Woodard's "Aryan Utopia"The latest story on the proposed revitalization of Elisabeth Nietzche's Nueva Germania in Paraguay has popped up on the site of Southern Poverty Law Center.
Excerpt: Fast forward some 120 years, and the promised land isn't much. Illness, snake bites, the oppressive heat and monsoon-like rains drove many of the original settlers scurrying back to Germany. Nietzche-Forster returned home, too, after her husband committed suicide. Today, the descendants of Nueva Germania residents who stayed live in squalor, many of them dark-skinned as a result of intermarriage.
Read more here.
My interview with Woodard is still here.
13:49
Discomfort and CritiqueThe notorious sadist author Peter Sotos is very prolific and has several unpublished works in the can. Creation Books in the UK recently put out a collected volume of 5 of his books. In the US, Void Books is picking up the torch and they now have a new title, "Comfort and Critique", out in a very limited edition of 325 numbered copies. (A paperback version may appear later on, as it did with his previous title "Selfish, Little".)
The book was promoted by a rare public appearance at the Accompanied Library at the National Arts Club, located at 15 Gramercy Park South in New York City. I attended this reading and briefly met Sotos and had a copy of the book signed. The reading was punctuated by sporadic outbursts of giggling and laughter throughout the packed library room, which even the author found puzzling. After the reading Sotos showed a home-edited 20 minute video of primitive glory-hole porn and news reports where relatives of murder victims speak out. Surely an odd and uncomfortable juxtaposition. The video also included interviews with a serial killer victim who got away, but had both her hands chopped off and later replaced with scary-looking metal hooks. As in NYC art openings at galleries, admission to the event was free, and sponsored with free beer and wine.
The publisher has this to say about the book:
In this unsettling new book, cult author Peter Sotos recounts the abduction and murder of 8-year-old Sarah Payne, a crime that stunned England and spawned an aftermath of reactionary outcry and violent protest. Through news bites and tabloid clippings reassembled in reverse chronology, Sotos examines the media apotheosis of Payne's parents in the wake of her disappearance, scrutinizes the hidden motives of reporters and citizens driven to hysterical excess by grief, vengeance, and opportunism, and illumines the insatiable lusts that govern the actions of sexual predators. Punctuated by philosophical overtures and self-deprecating quips, Comfort and Critique is a brutal meditation on fantasy and desire set against a backdrop of media banter and illicit back room activity in bars and underground sex clubs. Supplemented by over 100 photos, this volume is possibly Sotos' most revealing and multi-faceted work yet.
13:06
July 14, 2005
Nothing is trueJohn Geiger, author of the dreamachine book "Chapel of Extreme Experience: A Short History of Stroboscopic Light and the Dream Machine" has written a biography about the inventor of the dreamachine, Brion Gysin.
The book is titled "Nothing Is True - Everything Is Permitted : The Life of Brion Gysin" and is published by disinfo.com.
 From the blurb: "The multimedia artist, poet and novelist Brion Gysin may be the most influential cultural figure of the twentieth century that most people have never heard of.
Gysin (1916--1986) was an English-born, Canadian-raised, naturalized American of Swiss descent, who lived most of his life in Morocco and France. He went everywhere when the going was good. He dabbled with surrealism in Paris in the 1930s, lived in the "interzone" of Tangier in the 1950s and traveled the Algerian Sahara with Sheltering Sky author Paul Bowles before moving into the legendary Beat Hotel in Paris.
Gysin's ideas influenced generations of artists, musicians and writers, among them David Bowie, Keith Haring, Patti Smith, Michael Stipe, Genesis P-Orridge, John Giorno and Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones. None was touched more profoundly than William S. Burroughs, who said admiringly of Gysin: "There was something dangerous about what he was doing."
 It was Gysin who introduced the Rolling Stones to the exotica of Morocco and took Stones' guitarist Brian Jones to Jajouka where he recorded the tribal musicians performing the Pipes of Pan. It was Gysin who provided the hashish fudge recipe published in Alice B. Toklas' cookbook, promising "ecstatic reveries and extensions of one's personality on several simultaneous planes." It was Gysin who introduced Burroughs to an automatic writing method called the cut-up, a literary progenitor to sampling. And it was Gysin who developed-with Ian Sommerville, the Dream Machine-a device that allowed people, with the flick of a switch, to access altered states of consciousness without drugs.
Working with the authorization of Gysin's literary executor, William S. Burroughs, John Geiger has produced the first-ever biography of the painter, poet, piper Brion Gysin.
John Geiger's books have been published in eight languages. He recently contributed to the Thames & Hudson monograph Brion Gysin: Tuning in to the Multimedia Age."
My review of this book will appear in the next issue of Headpress.
16:03
July 13, 2005
Big Bosoms, Square Jaws and DementiaA new biography on Russ Meyer just came out. Jimmy McDonough's "Big Bosoms and Square Jaws" is a 465 page hardcover book that gives a fairly complete picture of Meyer's eccentric and unique life and work, including some info on early, lost films. He made his last theatrical feature in 1979, and the book also provides a detailed story of his last years.
 He died at 82 in 2004. In his old age, he suffered from Alzheimer or some sort of blood clots in the brain that caused gradual brain disintegration. He became more and more incoherent, and difficult to deal with. His female personal assistant shielded him from his old friends and actresses, much to their dismay. But up until his illness there's little doubt that RM lived exactly the life he wanted and always tried to fulfill his dreams of being surrounded by women with balconies that cast long shadows ...
Meyer had his break-through in the late fifties with so-called nudie-cuties like "The Immoral Mr. Teas", followed them with b&w roughies like "Mudhoney" and the classic "Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill!". He then made sex (& violence) films in color, like "Vixen", "Supervixens" and "Cherry, Harry & Raquel". His only films not produced independently were "Seven Minutes" and the insane, deranged and fabulous "Beyond The Valley of the Dolls", both for 20th Century Fox. Meyer never drifted into hardcore but always stuck to his singular, personal vision, like a real auteur.
18 of Meyer's films were recently re-released on 12 UK dvd's, so that's 6 single films and 6 double features, all with trailers, some with interviews. These are £12 each incl. postage from play.com. His US dvd's are $40 each, none of them are double features, and only 11 of the 18 titles are available.
Other Russ Meyer books:
"The Very Breast of Russ Meyer"
"Lips Hips Tits Power"
"Russ Meyer - The Life and Films"
Meyer's gargantuan and catastrophically unedited 15-years-in-the-making three volume autobiography "A Clean Breast" is available from RM Films International Inc. at $349, or from amazon at $199. Fans will primarily want to get their hands on this for the 2500 duotone photos included. Reportedly the books are a high quality print-job on nice paper stock.
There's also a really cool looking Faster Pussycat lunchbox available ...
14:03
July 10, 2005
Looking for EuropeThis just in from Dominion:
DOMINION NEWS 15 (2005):Now available:
Blood Axis shirts from the recent concerts in NYC and Europe. Two different shirts designs (as well as two different colors for one of them) are in stock:
Blood Axis t-shirt -- Imported from Austria. Good quality black heavyweight 100% cotton shirt with silver printing on front and back. Front print features BA cross inside a circle of thorn branches, over left breast. Back print features Tacitus quote from the introduction to "The March of Brian Boru": "We who live on the edge of the earth, and who are the last bulwark of freedom, have to this day been protected by our remoteness, and by the mystery and fear created by our name..." Available in Large and XL sizes only. $18 each first class postpaid in the USA, $22 airmail postpaid to the rest of the world.
Blood Axis "polo-style" sport shirt -- 100% cotton short sleeve pique shirt in good quality. These shirts feature a small (2" diameter) custom-embroidered BA cross surrounded by a circle of thorn branches. Excellent workmanship, detail and a sharp color combination. Two colors available: Black shirts feature embroidery with gold branches and burgundy red cross. Burgundy shirts feature gold branches and black cross.Available in Medium, Large, and XL sizes. Some sizes are in very short supply, so please reserve by email before sending payment. $34 each first class postpaid in the USA; $40 airmail postpaid to the rest of the world.
Please send check or money order payable to DOMINION. Cash may be sent at your own risk -- please hide it well or use registered mail. Prices are postpaid as noted. Send orders to:
Dominion, PO Box 129, Waterbury Center, VT 05677, USA
Paypal orders may also be sent to our email address dominion@pshift.com
Announcing the forthcoming book and CD compilation "Looking for Europe". This ambitious book written in German language features an in-depth chapter on Blood Axis and includes a number of rare photos. The accompanying CD release features the latest song recorded by Blood Axis, entitled "The Ride," which was also recently performed live in NYC and Europe...
"LOOKING FOR EUROPE" book and 4-CD box – the definitive study of the Neofolk genre
In autumn Prophecy will release the book “Looking For Europe”, written by Andreas Diesel and Dieter Gerten. “Looking For Europe” is the first comprehensive portrayal of the Apocalyptic Folk genre. Interpreting all available records, interviews, and secondary sources, the book explains the genesis and nature of today’s Neofolk bands against a backdrop of their musical predecessors as well as their artistic, aesthetic, and spiritual influences. The
many references to writers, art movements, and religious traditions are discussed in band portraits and comprehensive summaries. Recent statements by artists, members of the scene, external experts and critics round off the documentary material to present the definitive study of the Neofolk genre. In conjunction with the book, a lavishly designed 4-CD box will be released to musically document the history of Apocalyptic Folk and its predecessors. The CDs contain many rare, previously unreleased, or exclusive tracks. Among the featured artists are Scott Walker, Nico, Laibach, Death In June, Test Dept., Genesis P. Orridge/Thee Majesty, Sol Invictus, The Strawbs, The Royal Family And The Poor feat. Peter Hook (Joy Division/New Order), Blood Axis, Hagalaz' Runedance, Magnet, Fire + Ice and many more."
More information at www.prophecyproductions.de
Issue 16 of Rûna now available:
Issue 16 of the respected “Northern Mysteries” journal Rûna is available from Dominion. This issue contains part two of Joshua Buckley's interview with Nigel Pennick, "Rig's Tale" by Dave Lee, Michael Sangster on The Lord of the Rings, A Conversation with Stephen Edred Flowers, and much more.
Single copies are available for $8 postpaid in the USA/Can.
The following back issues are also available: Issues 10, 11, 14 and 15. Single back issues are also $8 postpaid, two issues for $15 postpaid, or three issues for $21 postpaid. Four issues are $28 postpaid, and five issues are $35 postpaid.
Please reserve back issues by email before sending payment, as some are in limited supply.
(Europeans should order Rûna direct from the publisher: Rûna c/o BM: Sorcery, London WC1N 3XX, ENGLAND.)
23:07
July 05, 2005
Let it be NakedA new magazine of the weird and wonderful outta Great Britain is NAKED. They have 4 issues out, published irregularly in the last few years. Readers of the underground journal Headpress will find many similarities, but NAKED is thinner (90 pages), runs shorter articles and puts a lot more emphasis on design and illustration. So it's a lighter, easier read than Headpress' exhaustive (but brilliant) 70 page article-clusters on a single subject.
 The latest Naked (#4) has interviews with legendary soundtrack composer Lalo Schifrin, artist Stephen Blickenstaff (with color artwork), Kathy Simmonds (former girlfriend of Harry Nilsson) and director Michael Armstrong ("Mark of the Devil"). There are articles on vanguard record producer Joe Meek, ghost hunting in a haunted pub and a piece by Jack Stevenson on the artist Wilhelm Freddie, a danish surrealist with a penchant for porn. Also fiction, comics and reviews of a handful of books and dvd's.
Contact them thru their website at www.hot-cherry.co.uk/naked.html.
Or order with your credit card thru Headpress' distribution.
10:16
July 04, 2005
Lovers, Buggers & Thieves Headpress/Critical Vision has a few new books out. One of them is a tome on the fringes of popular music. Lovers, Buggers & Thieves, with the subtitle Garage Rock - Monster Rock - Psychedelic Rock - Progressive Rock - Folk Rock. It has a wealth of fascinating articles on a wide range of artists, such as The Monks, The Stooges, Skip Spence, 80's mexican metal band The Wild (and another on obscure & unlistenable south-of-the-border vinyl in general ...), Screaming Lord Sutch and The Bonzo Dog Band.
For me, among the highlights were the piece on Beatles "beatlegs and outfakes" which analyzes tracks on Beatles bootlegs that aren't even performed by The Beatles -- and the article on collecting bootleg vinyl in 1970's England, including the history of under-the-counter album sales in the notorious Savoy store in Manchester, frequented by local hipsters including Morrissey and Ian Curtis.
There's also an article on the music of Charles Manson, based around his "LIE" album. (See a posting below for updates on his current efforts.) I supplied a scan of the "LIE" cover for this chapter. "LIE" was released by Phil Kaufman, a road manager for many famous bands, or "road mangler" as he prefers to call it. Kaufman was also the man who ran away with Gram Parsons' body and burned it in the desert by the Joshua Tree. A movie has been released, with Johnny Knoxville playing Kaufman. It's based on his book "Road Mangler Deluxe". Copies from the original pressing of "LIE" could cost around $200, but you can get it on CD for $15.
Another book out now is Fallen Stars, which is like a british modern-day Hollywood Babylon. Like the cover blurb says: "The decline and fall of screen stars who had it all. What went wrong?". There are chapters on Benny Hill, Peter Cook, Oliver Reed, Diana Dors, Dudley Moore, Mary Millington, Tony Hancock and dwarf actor David Rappaport (1951-1990, was in Time Bandits) among many others.
13:26
July 01, 2005
You can't go wrong ...... if you GoRightly! Adam Gorightly just informed me that he has a new website up. You'll find it at www.adamgorightly.com.
 Gorightly is the author of The Shadow Over Santa Susana, probably the overall best Manson book ever published. His second book, The Prankster and the Conspiracy, is a biography of the shadowy figure Kerry Thornley, a self-confessed unwitting cog in wheel of the JFK assassination, and the founder of Discordianism.
His latest publication came last year and is a 48 page stapled book on Death Cults. From the blurb:
"In Death Cults, acclaimed author Adam Gorightly examines the dark underbelly of the 1960's counterculture, and the many sinister specters that emerged from the Summer of Love. In what is destined to become an underground classic, Gorightly links cults like The Process Church of the Final Judgment and the Manson Family to elements of the underworld and intelligence communities, brushing back the cobwebs of the occult to reveal a truly disturbing story that continues to haunt us today."
Gorightly's old web site is at www.mansonmythos.com.
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