#36: i'm just trying to have a nice time
Welcome to issue #36 of THIS NEWSLETTER CANNOT SAVE YOU, broadcasting from the few remaining moments before AI smoothly takes over the arduous task of providing you with weird media recommendations each week. You'll hardly notice as the list of recos shifts its bias exclusively toward work that was generated by AI in the first place, until you're subtly but surely conditioned to expect and prefer artwork that quietly displaced a human from contention. In the end, you might even come to believe the promise these software tulpas whisper into your neocortex with each successive issue, that perhaps this newsletter could save you, if only you'd authorize a few charges.
Meanwhile I'm coming to you this issue from the sunny environs of San Francisco, having arrived for a reading in support of WILD MASSIVE and then staying for shenanigans like camping and writing this newsletter. I don't escape from my top secret underground bunker very often, but when I do, something something shenanigans.
Highlights from Scottoworld
You know it's a novella because it's smaller than my other books. [via]
First, a little business: Want 40% off the audiobook of WILD MASSIVE? Now's your chance! Good til May 1st I believe.
In other news, Buttondown recently implemented a Soundcloud integration and I felt the need to kick the tires on it. Here's a recent open format mix I put together if you need a musical jolt in your day:
Anchored by a stunning cover of "All Is Full Of Love," it's full of indie pop and electropop, plus I threw in a few selections from the loungedelica and downtempo era for good measure. You may encounter a few "bops" on this mix - don't panic, this was intentional.
Scottovision
An à la carte selection of things you might like and things you might not. Look, I am not a mind reader.
"Dreamland" (2018) - This abstract animated short film by Mirai Mizue initially feels like one of those "strangely satisfying" videos where everything fits together impossibly well, over and over again, before going geometrically bonkers. The music by Scarlatti Goes Electro feels like it was performed by feeding punch cards into a playerless harpsichord. It all works! Mizue's a long-time mainstay of Japanese independent animation, so if you dig this, you've got a lot more to explore (450 vids on Vimeo, for starters).
"Filmmaker gets shot during interview" (2023) - "Director Kristoffer Borgli gets shot during an interview in LA about the US release of his film Sick of Myself." I've featured Borgli many times in this newsletter, and suspect I'll continue to do so (if he survives). Sick of Myself premiered at Cannes in 2022 and should be hitting theatres nowish.
"Rebranded Mickey Mouse" (2023) - A manic short film in which a method actor goes deep into his vision of a darker, grittier Mickey Mouse, sparking chaos between the duelling factions of Disney and the United States. From comedian / actor Connor O'Malley, who was nominated three times for WGA awards while writing for Late Night with Seth Myers, and who describes himself on YouTube as "Wonderfull young man."
"Nothing to Hide (Bad Kid Stuff)" (2023) - The absurdist animated tale of a young woman who is mistakenly accused of identity fraud by agents of a fascist state not too unlike our own. In the fine tradition of cartoon characters carrying sidearms and shotguns, this young woman brandishes a Glock as she commits identity fraud to escape the charges of identity fraud. From vewn, the animator who delivered my favorite short film about opening your third eye and then wishing you could close it, "fluffy's third eye."
"Pavement gets a proper introduction" (2008) - If it wasn't for KROQ, you never woulda heard of Pavement.
"Fhtagnisqatsi" (2023) - At long last, the Lovecraft / Koyaanisqatsi mashup you never knew you needed. Nice to get an early glimpse of the future days when humanity has fallen and aberrations roam freely through the streets.
"The Greatest Living Show" (2023) - Ostensibly a music video for Toby Fox & Itoki Hana, this is a gorgeous and sinister fairy tale, in which a woman is swept up into a phantasmagoric circus, mesmerized by its ringmaster, and enchanted into service as a performer for the assembled spirits and shadows. Beautiful work by animator Bani-Chan.
"Let Me Be The One You Call On" (2011) - I've shared this gleefully bizarre and good-natured music video from the mysterious Frank Eddie once before, but I'm resharing it for two reasons. First, at the time I had zero idea that Frank Eddie was actually an alias briefly used by Fred Deakin, formerly of the duo Lemon Jelly, from an album called "Let's Be Frank" that isn't too hard to find if you know how to find things like that. I thought this intelligence was worth passing along. And second, I've upscaled it to glorious 4k for no apparent reason, so you have even more pixels to look at this time around. The video was directed, animated and designed by Mr Kaplin and Airside Nippon, a division of Deakin's now-defunct Airside design firm.
"Crime Cutz (The Movie)" (2019) - A short documentary with four subjects: a 92-year-old former fighter pilot taking dance lessons to learn "roboting"; a dancer bringing back "the hustle" in NYC; a 7th grader who brings a unicorn to a karaoke party; and a street performer called the Disco King singing to anyone who will listen. Tying it together is the synthpop / indietronica / nu-disco sound of Holy Ghost!, a currently inactive duo with an EP that supplies the soundtrack. What each subject has in common is an unlikely and contagious passion. It's fifteen minutes of good memories described and experienced by these people.
"Michael Jackson on Fire Diorama" (2023) - And finally, Alison hipped me to sculptor / artisan / maker Bobby Fingers and his latest creation, a diorama depicting the exact moment when Michael Jackson's hair caught fire while filming a Pepsi commercial in 1984. For extra credit, he also made a bronze lamp of the same moment, allowing anyone to light MJ's head on fire. The artistry is actually pretty incredible, and the savage commentary and genial goofing along the way is pretty hilarious.
Exit Music
A few issues back, I shared with you the music video for 4hero's 2001 cover of Minnie Riperton's 1970 classic "Les Fleurs." At the risk of sharing too many fleurs, I'm sending you out this issue with The Swingles and their a cappella version of "Les Fleurs," recorded by the performers singing in isolation during lockdown in 2020. You don't really need to watch this; just listen. No really, don't watch it, they're doing that goofy a cappella thing with the forced smiles and whatever. Just listen to an excellent arrangement of a magnificent and hopeful song, performed by some of the best vocalists around.
Then, as a treat, you can watch an edit of the 4hero "Les Fleurs" overdubbed onto a 1980 dance performance by Legs & Co. on BBC's Top of the Pops. Magic!
A YouTube playlist with this issue's recs can be found here.
Until next time, I remain your friendly correspondent, thinking of you,
Scotto
Scotto Moore is the author of WILD MASSIVE, BATTLE OF THE LINGUIST MAGES, and YOUR FAVORITE BAND CANNOT SAVE YOU.
