The Cultured Hooligan Podcast #1 - Matty King (Stormshadow, The Match and The Moth)

An interview with musician, artist, philosopher Matty King of Stormshadow and The Match and The Moth.

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REVIEW: STORMSHADOW - SET ON DESTROY

When this album was first limitedly released years ago I liked screaming along with the lyrics (most notably "Greaser forever, Social Never") but I couldn't truly grasp it. I knew I was in the presence of something brilliant, but it's taken years of development and growth, of heartache, pain, failures, triumphs - to truly appreciate all that comprises this album.

Completely frenetic, beautiful, sad, lovely and yes, angry. Catchy without being pop. Technical without being annoying. Truly poetic lyrics without being flowery or corny. Sometimes political, sometimes introspectual, sometimes funny, sometimes analytical, sometimes a mixture.

Sweet, angelic (and sometimes even sexy) female vocals juxtaposed with the guttural growls of anger and frustration from a man wrestling with his demons and living in a world where it seems only he knows is insane.

Musically a product of their diverse influences (e.g. Minutemen, Black Sabbath, Human Remains) but without being derivative. A sound of their own.

Most songs clock in well under 2 minutes but are jam packed with changes, energy, and great lyrics. They take you on a journey where time doesn't exist and only on Earth is it that such a short time has passed. The music/feeling/energy hits so hard, that each song itself is a lifetime of emotion that sticks to your soul.

A timeless record, it could have been recorded last week, 13 years ago, or 30 years ago. Kudos to Don Giovani Records for having the smarts to release it and share this with the world.

You'd be a fool not to experience this record, and an idiot not to have it in your life.

Buy it now.

STEVIE TOMBSTONE OCT. 14, 2011 8PM

First show I've helped book in probably a decade.


Friday October 14, 2011 8PM
Stevie Tombstone
with Special Guest Gabe Zander
Calabrese's Barber Shop
33 West Front St., Keyport, NJ

TATTOO AGE

A new tattoo documentary series featuring a series of interviews/profiles of what they're calling "the most interesting and sought-after [tattoo] artists in the world."  It debuts July 13, 2011 on VBS.TV with a profile of a buddy of mine, Dan Santoro.  Although I don't have any tattoos by Dan (yet?), he's a legit artist of all sorts (needle, spray paint, acrylics, etc.) and it's good to see him getting recognized for his talents.  If you like what you see, book an appointment with him at Smith Street Tattoo at (718) 643-0463.  You won't be disappointed. 

 

From the official page:  

Tattoo Age is the new series that takes an inside look at the craft of tattooing through a series of profiles on some of the most interesting and sought-after artists in the world. The series kicks off on July 13th with Dan Santoro, and new episodes featuring such artists as Troy Denning, Mike Rubendall, Freddy Corbin, and Grime will air through November.

REALITY 86'D - BLACK FLAG DOCUMENTARY

A Black Flag Documentary covering their last tour. Never released, but due to the power of the internet, now available. Watch the teaser below, or watch it in it's entirety here.

From the official site:

REALITY '86'D

(Shot in 1986 and completed by director David Markey in 1991 for We Got Power Films, approx. 62 min., Super 8 film)

Three bands and crew (a combined total of 13 individuals), 2 Dodge Ram extended cab vans, one equipment truck, one PA system traverse the continental US for six months. A road documentary shot from the inside of the last Black Flag tour ever (the 1986 "In My Head" US tour.) Greg Ginn along with Henry Rollins, Cel Revulta, and Anthony Martinez comprise the final line up of the band. Featuring behind the scenes proceedings and live performances from Black Flag, Painted Willie, and Gone (Ginn's side project, then featuring Sim Cain and Andrew Weiss (later of the Rollins Band) . David Markey was along for the entire trip as the drummer / singer for Painted Willie (with Phil Newman & Vic Makauskas), documenting the six month tour with his Super-8 camera as it happened. Also features roadie Joe ("Planet Joe") Cole, soundmen Davo Claasen and Dave "Ratman" Levine, and the tour manager who kept it all together, Mitch Bury. A crucial turning point in American underground rock. The end of the line for a trail blazing American band.

THIS IS ENGLAND '86

This is England '86 is a sequel of sorts to the movie This is England, except instead of being a feature film, this one is made for TV as a 4 part mini-series. Currently airing on Channel 4 in the U.K., but will be available on DVD on October 11, 2010.

From the Channel 4 site:

It's 1986 - the year Chris de Burgh is at number one, Top Gun is filling the cinemas, VHS is trumping Betamax, the World Cup is raging in Mexico and over 3.4 million Brits are unemployed.

As Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) sits his last school exam, the realisation dawns that adulthood beckons and in mid-80s England he's going to have to find his own way in the world. Luckily life has dealt a surprise hand to his friends too and no one is quite where they thought they would be. Woody, Lol, Smell, Gadget, Milky - they are all looking for love, a laugh, a job and something that resembles a future.

This Is England '86 is a brand new drama coming to Channel 4 this September. It revisits the gang from the hit film This Is England three years on.

"When I finished This Is England I had a wealth of material and unused ideas that I felt very keen to take further audiences seemed to really respond to the characters we created and out of my long standing relationship with Film4 and Channel 4 the idea for a television serial developed. Not only did I want to take the story of the gang broader and deeper, I also saw in the experiences of the young in 1986 many resonances to now recession, lack of jobs, sense of the world at a turning point. Whereas the film told part of the story, the TV serial will tell the rest." - Shane Meadows, Director

REVIEW: WHO KILLED NANCY

Like many a young punk rocker, the Sex Pistols were one of my favorite bands growing up. With the Sex Pistols comes Sid Vicious. With Sid came Nancy. With Nancy came turmoil. With turmoil came the murder (?) of Nancy. With Nancy's murder came the overdose of Sid. With Sid's overdose came infamy, notoriety, and legendary status. With this legendary status came the legend of Sid and Nancy, and why 30 plus years after the death of these two junkies in their young 20's we're still wondering what the hell happened that night and how did Nancy end up in the bathroom laying in a pool of blood with a stab wound in her stomach.

With a title like Who Killed Nancy I was expecting this to be a deep investigation into the crime that ended with the death of Nancy Spungen in room 100 of the Chelsea Hotel. In actuality this is more of a biography of Sid and Nancy, their relationship together, and their demise. The story is strung together with interviews with their friends (but none of the famous ones you'd really expect - No Johnny Rotten), interspersed with some crudely animated drawings/pictures, reenactments, live performances, old documentary footage (DOA?), and news footage. The "who killed Nancy?" question seems thrown into the movie as more of an afterthought. Seems like they had the idea about making a movie about who killed Nancy (as per author Alan Parker's supposed promise to Sid's mom), but realized they had about 5 minutes worth of that title subject matter, so they decided to fill up the time by telling the story of Sid and Nancy. The movie probably should have been called Sid and Nancy, but Alex Cox beat them to the punch using that title decades ago.

Overall an OK documentary, good for both those who do or don't have knowledge of who Sid and Nancy were (but probably better for those with an interest in the subject matter).



From the Press Release:

Based on the book Sid Vicious: No One is Innocent

On October 12th 1978 Nancy Spungen, an ex-prostitute, sometimes stripper and heroin addict, was found dead in a bathroom at the Chelsea Hotel in New York. She also happened to be the girlfriend of the Sex Pistols’ bassist Sid Vicious, who was quickly accused of her murder. Less than 6 months later, he died of a heroin overdose and the case was closed.

The death of Sid and Nancy has passed into rock legend and has only added to the controversial and notorious image of the Sex Pistols and punk music. At the request of Sid’s mother, who committed suicide in 1996, rock author and punk expert Alan Parker has devoted himself to discovering Who Killed Nancy? By interviewing 182 people and re-examining NYPD evidence, he reveals what he believed happened that night in room 100.