"A Complete Unknown"
Directed by James Mangold
Screenplay by James Mangold and Jay Cocks

New York City was Ground Zero for many of the significant 20th Century cultural upheavals, notable events and musical movements that exploded over the course of a few decades.

The late '40s brought on The Beat Generation of William Burroughs and Gregory Corso. The smoky jazz clubs spawned Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and later John Coltrane who were smashing down the walls down and redefining music, in particular jazz.

A bit over two decades later, Max's Kansas City and CBGB gave rise to Patti Smith, Blondie, Ramones and Television, off the back of The Factory scene with the Velvet Underground.

It was late 1950's that birthed a folk movement in small coffee shops in and around New York City's East Village, with characters like Rambling Jack Elliott and Pete Seeger. Accoustic folk music, with its roots with The Carter Family and acoustic blues from the cottonfields and The Dustbowl, took root with intellectuals and hip kids from inner-city university campuses. The songs became anthems for the labour movement and civil rights activists - In particular the music of Woody Guthrie.

The USA was exploding with a new sense of wildness and free thinking embodied in new art movements. It was also a time when classic older bluesman like Son House and John lee Hooker, ignored and working hand-to-mouth shit jobs, were discovered by a new hip, young and white audience.

I Should Have Been Dead Years Ago The Raw Life of Stuart Gray
Directed by Jason Axel Summers
(Magic Umbrella, Inc.)

Never was a truer phrase uttered. But you have to see the film for the vivid, stupid, quite astonishing reality about Stuart Gray - and aka Stu Spasm of Lubricated Goat, Salamander Jim, The James Baker Exprience and many more - to sink in. 

What you really need to know, though, is that “I Should Have Been Dead...” is an essential rock documentary. Director Jason Axel Summers allows truths to emerge gradually, along with a relentless demonstration of Stuart Gray's talent and determination to play - I should add that his bandmates are people you want to hear more of as well.

Oh, yeah? Well, look: Mudhoney alert. Tex Perkins alert. And, importantly, neither dominate. 

And, thankfully, “I Should Have Been Dead...” is MARKED SAFE from Henry Rollins AND Bono.

So, spoiler alert: either look away now and buy a ticket, or read on, and then buy two, or three tickets. Here's the Facebook page.

The film opens with Gray's current band, the Art-Gray Noizz Quartet. And they're damned good. So much coiled energy. I could waffle about the band but I won't (but you'll love Ryan Skeletonboy and his deliberately-wonked two-string bass and Bloody Rich's eloquent drums, and ... get the idea?)

Munity in Heaven: The Birthday Party
Director: Ian White

Rating? Nine skulls and a pair of horns. Read on for an explanation.

Much to my Mum's surprise (yes, I have a mother. I was in fact born), the other day I apologised to her for all the skulls I brought home when I was a disaffected kid, aged nine or whatever, and placed these scabrous ornaments around my bedroom. There was a cat skull, a dog skull, a few lambs and calves, a pig, a snake and blue-tongue, and goat horns (but no goat skull). 

The area we lived in was countryside only a decade ago so there was a lot of paddocks nearby. I'd hop the ancient barbed wire fence held taut by termite-eroded chunks of wood, and spend most of the day walking. Saw a lot of stuff I probably shouldn't have. Found out first-hand - long before dissection class at high school - what bodies smelt like when dead and when torn open. Some really unpleasant dirty magazines.

I've been watching that Tim Burton Addam's Family reboot, "Wednesday", and smiling when the young actress tears it up go-go zombie, old school death style to an old Cramps tune, also find myself gravitating to old Alien Sex Fiend and Peter Murphy videos in my tiny hours.

As an almost perpetually melancholy and new wave nostalgic, elderly goth antisocial glamarchist, bored to tears in a deadend desert, wind blown, graveyard town, I'm always complaining about how there is almost zero modern music with the coolness and style and abstract innovation of the ‘80s post-punk, goth, and synth-pop I grew up with.

But this dynamic band, Vague Scare, have all the chilly vintage atmosphere and evocative lyrical panache and gloomy, brooding vocals of Joy Division, Depeche Mode, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry and I totally love them. If you came of age in the Bauhaus/Sisters Of Mercy/Skinny Puppy era and yearn to hear some new sounds that got that classic retro gothic vibe, you will love Vague Scare. They are almost too cool, remind me of every record I love.

New album out right now! I heard the recent Soft Cell/Pet Shop Boys duet and VAGUE SCARE is way better! Check out their Bandcamp here.

Ribspreader
Written, directed and produced by Dick Dale
Starring Tommy Darwin
Adelaide Nova Cinemas
Saturday, October 22, 2022

Would you go to see a slash 'n' splatter flick made in ‘Straya's Murder Capital of Adelaide with guest appearances by Chad Morgan, Chantal Contouri, Fred Negro, Spencer P. Jones, and Rat Scabies?

Do bears shit on the Pope?

Do excuse me, it's the morning after the night before and I'm mangling my metaphors. Anyway, last night I went to see one of the films at the Adelaide Film Festival. The world premiere of “Ribspreader”.

About a week-and-a-half prior, I'd tried booking online; after selecting two tickets, I was asked my email ... and then, nothing happened. Maybe it didn't work. I tried again, found that their system now had me down for four tickets, asked me for my email and again, nothing happened. No email. After the second day of no email from the AFF I figured, I'll have to use “other sources”.

Moonage Daydream (2022)
Directed and produced by Brett Morgen

Moonage Daydream, Brett Morgen’s love letter to David Bowie, is complete sensory overload.

Sitting in a near empty cinema on a Sunday evening, I found myself both captivated and bored at the same time. The documentary, at about 135 minutes, was long and some of the footage was used multiple times which was distracting; it could have been edited tighter.

Morgen as director, producer and editor has put together an epic that does, in some way, portray Bowie’s legacy, doing it justice.

Visually, the film was stunning, featuring footage I’d never seen before… not that I’d consider myself a Bowie tragic, but all people of a certain age found their lives intertwined with Ziggy or The Thin White Duke to some extent. Rare live footage of The Spiders was plentiful, if mentions of the contribution of that band, and especially Mick Ronson, were not.

Morgen’s art direction was a clumsy allegory to the chaos and isolation Bowie seems to have fostered. As an insight into the man as an artist you came away with a sense of his disconnection and disordered and chaotic approach to his craft.

The archival footage both on and off stage was plentiful, and you genuinely got a feel for the extent of his many talents with Bowie’s painting and videography featured extensively. There are many montages that flash through gigs and offstage footage at a great pace that becomes exhausting.