#18: the sweet release of pure oblivion
Welcome to issue #18 of THIS NEWSLETTER CANNOT SAVE YOU. If you missed my birthday screenings a couple weeks ago, or if you were there and would like to revisit them, I'm making two of the three sets (music videos, and late night weirdness) available for download for a limited window. Reply to this email and I'll shoot you a download link. This offer expires on Monday May 30 around noon.
Highlights from Scottoworld
Recent memecraft of mine for Undeniable Presence, my Tumblr about "fashion, romance, despair, nihilism". Please note I'm not actually a nihilist, although I'd be good at it.
Here's an old favorite I created for the same Tumblr, using a legendary template in a misguided effort to be hip:
It's okay, really. I always have this meme (which I did not create) to keep me company.
Scottovision
Now that we've tended to the required polite greetings and salutations, let us commence with the reliably delightful portion of our correspondence. Naturally I'm referring to the perusal of artwork created by other people instead of me.
"Two Cars, One Night" (2003) - A trailer for the new THOR movie dropped recently, directed by fan-favorite Taika Waititi. That reminded me of this short film he wrote and directed, considered his breakthrough after it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. (Apparently as his name was announced at the ceremony and the camera switched to him, he pretended he was asleep.) It's a sweet little meet-cute between two kids, alternating between combative and endearing, establishing his sense of humor without treating the situation like a joke.
"DALLE-2 AI Variant Test" (2022) - DALL·E 2 is, in its creators words, "a new AI system that can create realistic images and art from a description in natural language." Filmmaker Alan Resnick fed it the prompt "bad photo" and from there, "all I did was request variations, and choose the variant I liked the most, then ask for more variants, repeat. I never gave it any more text prompts." He describes the process in a little more detail on Twitter. The resulting montage of images is bewildering, beautiful, freaky, and haunting, in somewhat equal proportions.
"I Didn't Know I Was Dead" (2022) - Speaking of Alan Resnick, here's a new short film he made to accompany a Negativland track that was originally created in memory of one of the band's founding members, Richard Lyons, who passed away in 2016. After Lyons' death, the band found vocal recordings of Lyons working his way through this monologue, despite the nodular cancer that affected his voice; the band assembled the best takes and added electronics to create this track. It's dark comedy, not unexpected for a Negativland piece, but more so because Lyons knew he was nearing the end when he recorded his takes.
"Dance Away The Pain" (2022) - In this self-directed music video, our heroine Number One Popstar convinces a diner full of staid regulars to get up on their feet and boogie. I've been a fan of hers ever since, like, last year when she posted the late night infomercial "Work On Yourself, Loser!" and I'm pleased to report I like her music too.
"I Dreamt of Iridescence" (2022) - A stunning new generative film by Julius Horsthuis, who specializes in the mysterious ways of fractal art. This artform is about responding to emerging shapes by adding lighting and color and moving the camera about, but the shapes that emerge in the first place are out of the artist's control. The results are far beyond the old-school Mandelbrot zooms that were cool but strangely two-dimensional compared to the immersive fractal architecture you see with modern software in use and artists like Horsthuis at the helm.
"It is Meow Wolf plus cruise plus art plus experience" (2022) - Only Meow Wolf could tempt me onto a cruise ship right now. This, of course, is no ordinary cruise ship.
"Continuum" (2021) - In which master freeride mountain biker Brett Rheeder plunges down a series of treacherous slopes in beautiful locales, captured by impressive cinematography and highlighted with precision match-cut editing, all for your enjoyment. (Well, I suspect he enjoyed it as well.)
"A Bath In My Mother's Womb" (2022) - A short experimental dance film, choreographed and directed by Mona Namér, set to music by Little Dragon. You can read an interview with the director if you'd like to know what the film is nominally about (large and primal themes are being explored, in ways I'm not competent to describe), or you can experience it like I did: out of the blue, with no context, easily immersed.
"I Am Alone and My Head Is On Fire" (2013) - A very short animated film by David OReilly. The topic is self-explanatory.
"Du Hast" (2017) - The Finnish a cappella scene is apparently ruled by three groups - Rajaton, Club For Five, and FORK. These groups came together at the Helsinki Festival in 2017 for a concert experience under the name "AcaCartelli" - for you see, they are the cartel of Finnish a cappella. Their live performance of this Rammstein cover is a tour de force. Might should stop there instead of seeking out the rest of the concert, but if you're feeling brave, you might check out their "We're Not Gonna Take It" music video after you've watched "Du Hast" a couple dozen times.
Exit Music
Sending you out today with a snappy little melodic house set I've put together just for the occasion, the first mix I've recorded since last summer actually. It's called "The Sweet Release of Pure Oblivion Mix" and it should kick off your weekend on an energetic note. (Yes, I am literally asking you to check out my Soundcloud, although you can also find it on Mixcloud if that's your preferred platform.)
Here is the YouTube playlist featuring almost all the recommendations from this issue; links to the items that are missing are provided in the description. If you like this newsletter, keep doing that. That's important.
Until next time, I remain your friendly correspondent, thinking of you,
Scotto