I didn't really care for Night Tide, but Black God White Devil is fab!

I think it is unfortunate that Mr. Rogosin has felt the need to respond to my quips as if they were serious analysis, or as if they were printed in Film Quarterly and not a variety blog. I think it is also unfortunate that he has misinterpreted my brief description of the film's style as an ideological attack on its aesthetic, as if I were a Socialist Realist critic condemning Mandelstam and Bulgakov to the chopping block. (It should be noted that, unconstrained by monetary concerns, I only promote things on this blog that I actually like and admire.) Most of all, I think it is unfortunate that he has come here to write of my ignorance while furnishing a well-rehearsed PR script in its place. I am in no doubt as to the film's historical and artistic importance, though I am not convinced that liberal-humanist platitudes like "the deep pool of humanity that we touch" have any more legitimate place in critical discourse than my commentary above. Regarding the ideas and aesthetics of my teachers, I can only say that we are all products of our education. A case in point--Mr. Rogosin seems unable to move beyond the lessons and beliefs of that most important teacher of all: one's parent. If we left behind artistic hagiography for a moment, we would realize that criticism is in no way incompatible with praise and admiration. When Parker Tyler wrote "Underground Film", he forced himself to take a critical eye toward the work of people he deeply respected, some of whom were his closest friends; and one can see similar self-laceration in writers like Farber and Sontag. In some ways, those books where objectivity forces us into 'betrayal' are the hardest to write of all...

Hahaha.

I saw Logan play in Brooklyn last Friday. He sounds pretty much the same as he did in 1966. Everyone should tune in, it's his 75th bday.

I'm thinking there is something wrong with the tape--considering that #9 sounds far worse than #1, despite them being the exact same recording.

No can do. I recorded at the lowest possible volume. Either my tape deck is bad, the tape is degraded, or there's something going wrong in the transfer through iMic...

Thanks Benjamen. I enjoyed your article on the Koons catastrophe, though I haven't managed to find anyone dumb enough to see the show with me yet. I got a kick out of the Village Voice's byline on "Skin Fruit": "as mean (and irrelevant) as a rack of opera minks hung out under the Darfur sun."

That's what happens when you post at 3:30 AM.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aROHygwnjE

It's a 1958 Plymouth -- the only red one on the assembly line. You know what that means... SATAN.

"Don't be gay"? Are you from the island yourself? I understand that homosexuality is still illegal in Jamaica. :(

I just got Roland Young's new LP from them... I find it very relaxing, particularly in the morning.

I love this post!

Actually, if you study contemporary art, there's a very good chance you would know who Yoko Ono is. She was involved with one of the most famous conceptual groups, Fluxus, and made numerous films and sculptures and installations that are still anthologized. Also, your last proposition, "a popular band was great", doesn't make any real sense. "6.) she birthed Sean, who is more attractive than Julian"

I like this. I wasn't familiar with Captured Tracks before. Just bought the EP along with some stuff by Wetdog and Grass Widow.

Re: Con-- Of course, African-Americans are part of the church tradition. But I would suggest that what makes their style of religious song so distinctive is precisely in the way it differs from the white, respectable, Anglo-Saxon mode of prayer. Obviously, no predominantly white church is going to belt it out on the pulpit like Rosetta Tharpe. Re: Ivy-- Thanks for pointing that out. There should have been individual links anyway, but I don't have FTP access here yet and I assume the management is on holiday. My intention was not to rile anyone up unnecessarily. T'was a mere bit of friendly roleplaying. I realize that to say, "Oh, I was only joking" is often used as a way to absolve oneself of guilt. All I can say is that I'm new on Beware of the Blog and would like to try various authorial voices as I find my footing here. In general, I hope no one comes to WFMU looking for good, honest, well-reasoned sociology but heavily biased and irrational slants on the world we live in.

My shiksa?! I have to admit I've always wanted one, if only to irritate my parents. I guess Christmas isn't so bad after all.