#14: "we came here to dance"
Welcome to issue #14 of THIS NEWSLETTER CANNOT SAVE YOU, brought to you by the same insouciant attitude that allows me to face the world each morning without screaming uncontrollably. I fear the day the dam breaks and a torrent of unforgivable curses explodes from within me in a vain effort to slash the jugular of reality. In the meantime, here's some videos to look at.
Highlights from Scottoworld
[A jolt of recent absurdity from the Tumblr that started it all, THINGS THAT CANNOT SAVE YOU.]
Scottovision
"Interesting Ball" (2014) - A short film by DANIELS, the writing/directing duo generating a lot of buzz right now for their new feature film, "Everything Everywhere All At Once" (in wide release as of April 8). I wrote about this title back in issue #3: "Probably the most singularly batshit nutso short film I’ve seen in recent history. Short description: 'A red ball bounces past a cafe and a couple folks’ houses and then goes to the beach.' This synopsis, while technically accurate, is exquisitely underplayed, and I might’ve already said too much myself."
"We Came Here To Dance" (2021) - A short film by Martha Treves, a London-based filmmaker & photographer. The film was intended as a response to the loss of club nights & live music performances due to pandemic lockdown, relocating that energy to new environments; NOWNESS refers to the film as "dance therapy." I happen to be a sucker for films & videos in which people cut loose dancing without the safety net of choreography - see, for instance, the music video "Love Love Love" by Moullinex or the short film "Detroit Switch Back To City." This is a choice addition to that library.
"Jupiter's Purse" by MATTIE (2022) - The title refers to both a 5-song EP and a music video EP that were released in tandem by Dallas-based artist MATTIE. Their music is described as "experimental soul," powered by their thick vocals and churning production by collaborator Black Taffy reminiscent of old school Tricky; the video EP is a perfect blend of simplicity and surreality, which sounds like it was their aim: "I wanted it to be clean but experimental, experimental and also clean."
"ride the dragon" by FKA twigs (2022) - twigs has been steadily releasing music videos in support of her latest album, "Caprisongs." This is my favorite of the bunch, in which she and her small troupe of dancers try to find an outdoor spot to perform a dance routine, only to face the looming threat of nearby security goons.
"All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace + Deeper Meditations #1-#6" (2021) - An experimental film by Memo Akten, a computational artist with a PhD in "artificial intelligence × expressive human-machine interaction," specializing in "speculative simulation & data dramatization." I first became aware of Akten via his music video for Max Cooper, "Morphosis," and was subsequently blown away by his film "The Awesome Machinery of Nature: We are all connected." This piece draws its name from a Richard Brautigan poem, and uses "custom software based on state-of-the-art Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence algorithms" to examine how "the boundaries between ‘nature’ and ‘artificial’, between ‘human’ and ‘technology’ are imaginary, non-existent."
"Introvert" by Little Simz (2021) - Rapper Little Simz recently won Best New Artist at the 2022 BRIT Awards, although she's been around since 2010; on the strength of her new album Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, she was also nominated for Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, and Best Hip Hop/Rap/Grime Act. "Introvert" is a standout track. The tightly controlled attack of the sharp lyrics is well supported by the powerful video, showcasing an array of emotional dancers against a backdrop of protest and hope. In fact, you might consider taking a look at her recent performance at the awards ceremony, where she's accompanied by what feels like a hundred dancers and featuring a spoken word segment from Emma Corrin, an actress on "The Crown."
"Care More" (2021) & "Affirmation Chamber" (2022) - A pair of 3D-animated short films by writer/director Thomas Harrington Rawle, which serve as a darker look at the same thematic territory that Memo Akten examines in his work. Rowles presents a dystopian view of the collapsing boundary between humanity and technology, in which ominous "affirmation chambers" that utilize "weaponized meditation" are required to keep the population in line on a planet in so much trouble that it can no longer be ignored. The aesthetic of the films is constantly on the verge of collapsing into total chaos, not inappropriate given (looks around, waves at everything) all this.
"Eternal Spring" (2022) - A short film by Christopher Dormoy, in which ice melts.
"Color Me" (2020) - Say, who'd like a little cosmic horror right about now? In this short film by director Martin de Thurah, beautifully soundtracked by Active Child, the menace is subtle, atmospheric, almost impressionistic, right until it isn't. This is an exceptional entry in the genre, a nearly dialogue-free piece that indicates a vast horrific tapestry behind the veil of reality, while providing only glimpses.
"still lost I guess, here's a tunnel" (2018) - This animated film by Dario Alva and Diego Navarro feels like a sentient corporate marketing presentation losing its mind in slow motion; the description on YouTube simply says, "Expand your understanding of humanity with this cutting edge cgi film." Fun stuff! I'm glad thoroughly weird experimental works are part of Adult Swim's mission alongside its more prominent productions.
"Terminal Bar: Photographs from 1972-1982 by Sheldon Nadelman" (2002) - This short documentary film won the Jury Prize at Sundance in 2003. Sheldon Nadelman was a bartender at Terminal Bar, an infamous dive bar in Times Square across from Port Authority with a reputation as "the roughest bar in New York City." During a ten-year period, he snapped over 1500 black and white photos of the bar's patrons and its surroundings. He narrates the changing nature of the bar's culture in this film, in which his son, Stefan, curates a selection of his photos, illustrating the poverty of the neighborhood and the patrons' struggles with alcohol and drugs. But as the original regulars start to fade away, the place is given a second life as it transforms into a gay bar and relative safe haven. I was captivated by the succession of faces and Nadelman's no-nonsense assessment of nearly every person we see.
Exit Music
Sending you out after this action-packed episode of the newsletter with a track from 2020 by the Avalanches, featuring special guests Jamie xx, Neneh Cherry, and CLYPSO. It's called "Wherever You Go" and it's accompanied by a beautiful, slightly haunting animated visualizer that stands up to scrutiny in the face of many larger budget music videos.
Here is the YouTube playlist featuring almost all the recommendations from this issue; a link to the one item that's missing is provided in the description. If you enjoy this newsletter, pass it on to a friend perhaps; the archives are online if your friend needs more convincing than a single issue can provide.
Until next time, I remain your friendly correspondent, thinking of you,
Scotto