OCTOBER 2006 POSTS
10-25 CHICAGO FILM FESTIVAL REVIEWS / WHO IS 'SOLVE'? GRAFFITI IN UPTOWN AND LAKEVIEW / 10-22 A TOUR OF GRACELAND CEMETERY / 10-20 MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC CO. AT THE ABBEY PUB (WITH ARRIVER AND FOG) / 10-16 BONNIE 'PRINCE' BILLY AT THE PORTAGE THEATER (WITH DREAMWEAPON) / 10-14 JUANA MOLINA AND ADEM AT LAKESHORE THEATRE / 10-9 TV ON THE RADIO AND GRIZZLY BEAR AT METRO / 10-8 OKKERVIL RIVER AND ELVIS PERKINS AT SCHUBAS / 10-7 CHEER-ACCIDENT AND LORD OF THE YUM YUM AT THE EMPTY BOTTLE / 10-5 THE LONESOMES AND PHIL ROCKROHR AT THE ELBO ROOM / 10-1 SOME (OLD) PHOTOS OF THE KOOKS / WEIRDEST SEARCH PHRASES THAT LEAD PEOPLE TO THE UNDERGROUND BEE
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The Chicago International Film Festival is over, but many of the films that showed at the festival will be coming back soon on screens big and small. Here are my reviews of what I saw. TAXIDERMIA
OK, now that we’ve winnowed down the potential audience to a few brave souls, it seems a good fit for the midnight cult movie circuit. It’s a film with eye-popping visual power and a twisted view of the world. Like “Hukkle,” “Taxidermia” has a visceral feel as it shows close-ups of everything from naked breasts to the guts of animals. Even as the film plunges deep into demented fantasies, the images give it a tactile sensation, as if you could reach out and touch those shapes. Both of Pálfi’s films have had a black sense of humor – and a sense of observational wit, as if some alien anthropologists watching the human race are chuckling at our absurdities. But while “Hukkle” contained no dialogue (that’s right – it was essentially a silent film as far as the spoken word goes, but it conveyed its story through images and sound), “Taxidermia” has plenty. The movie spans three generations of the same warped family, covering much of Hungary’s history throughout the 20th century, though it’s too weird to be called a historical epic. (It may be a little “Tin Drum”-like at times.) The first part of the film concerns a sex-obsessed lieutenant at a rural outpost who peeps on the local ladies, spews flames from his penis when he masturbates, has his pecker pecked by a rooster and fantasizes about having sex with his commanding officer’s fat wife – even as he is actually, um, making love with the slaughtered remains of a pig. Or is he? He is killed for his transgressions. A son is born, with a pig’s tail. The movie cuts ahead to that boy’s future as a speed-eating champion. Eating contests and the subsequent vomit-a-thons dominate the fat middle of “Taxidermia,” a satire of the Soviet era. The last third of “Taxidermia” brings the family ahead another generation, as the eating champion’s son becomes a skinny taxidermist. After that, things get even weirder, but I won’t reveal anymore. (Except to include this photo link.) In a synopsis, the filmmakers say: “Past exists only in memories ... And why cannot it be true? Why could not the world be like this? Why cannot the fertile human imagination toy with the facts of history, personal fates, details of lifestyles? Maybe this is the common border of things really happened and truth.” “Taxidermia” has a number of scenes that are gruesome, sickening and disturbing. It’s also very funny, and some of the cinematic flourishes are reminiscent of the elaborate screen trickery in “Delicatessan” and other films by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet. And while I can’t say I would really want to watch “Taxidermia” over and over, there is something to be said for art that brings you face to face with those things we think of as grotesque – when they’re just a fact of life. OK, I may be stretching with that point, since this is hardly a realistic film, but if we consider it all right to eat meat, then why not take a closer look at what the animal looks like when it’s being chopped to pieces and pulled apart? “Taxidermia” has a fantastic Flash Web site, with a highly creative design: http://www.taxidermia.hu/
SYNDROMES AND A CENTURY COMEDY OF POWER
CANDY
DAY NIGHT DAY NIGHT
INVISIBLE WAVES
VITUS
FIREWORKS WEDNESDAY
STREET THIEF
Walking around my neighborhood in Chicago, you see a lot of graffiti. And while I don't approve of vandalizing public property, I do have to say some of the graffiti around here is pretty interesting from an artistic standpoint. Time Out Chicago has published an article about the graffiti artist who works under the pseudonym The Viking. I've seen that artist's stickers around here, but I've also noticed numerous pieces of graffiti with the word "SOLVE" near them – which I assume is the artist's identity, or maybe the theme of his or her artwork. Some of these show an image (see above) of a face with a cross running over it, with a couple of hands below that. Others show the iconic mug shot of Al Qaeda terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was arrested with a bad case of bed head. Interestingly, a short time after I first noticed these particular pictures, Mohammed was back in the news, when President Bush announced he was being transferred from one of those mysterious secret CIA prisons to good old Gitmo. I'm not sure what Solve is trying to say with these pictures – some of it is standard anti-establishment imagery, but some of it's quirkier and more interesting than that. Sometime after the Mohammed pictures appeared, a series of round stickers with simple images in black popped up all around the area. I am not sure if these are by the same artist, but I'm guessing they are. Then, in perhaps his most outrageous violation of anti-graffiti laws yet, Solve painted an entire street-light control box lime green with pink polka dots — along with the signature "SOLVE." SEE PHOTOS OF GRAFFITI BY 'SOLVE' (I LEAST I THINK SO) AROUND UPTOWN AND LAKEVIEW. Every October, the Chicago Architecture Foundation offers guided tours of Graceland Cemetery, which is just a couple of blocks from where I live. It was unseasonably chilly, but this was a fascinating chance to see sculptures by Laredo Taft (including an eerie statue of a hooded death-like figure) and ornamentation by Louis Sullivan and other noted designers – and the resting places of Chicago tycoons, boxing champion Jack Johnson and perhaps the most courageous politician Illinois has ever produced, Governor John Peter Altgeld, who pardoned the anarchists imprisoned for the Haymarket Square bombing. You don't need a guided tour to look around inside Graceland; I know I'll be back for return visits. SEE PHOTOS OF GRACELAND CEMETERY. The songwriter Jason Molina keeps cranking out new songs at a prolific pace, and an alarming number of them are very good. One side of his music is the bare-bones sound of his solo recordings. And then there's the fuller sound of Molina backed by Magnolia Electric Co., which especially comes across in the band's live shows. Crazy Horse comparisons are standard-issue, and Molina also gets inspiration from Bob Seger. Whenever Molina takes a guitar solo, he mostly confines his fingers to the lower strings, playing bass-like figures in the middle of the sonic range. Molina and his excellent band rarely play more than an hour; this show clocked in just slightly longer than that, and there was no encore, even though a few of the more enthusiastic fans up-front obviously wanted one. Hearing "Riding With the Ghost" once again confirmed my feelings that it's a terrific song, though even the most powerful live version is somewhat lacking without those haunting female vocals on the studio version. The first opening act of the night, Chicago's Arriver, plays pretty straight-ahead heavy metal with a touch of prog-rock ambition. It's not exactly my favorite kind of music, but Arriver has a fun time with it. (CLICK HERE FOR SOME PHOTOS I SHOT AT AN EARLIER ARRIVER CONCERT.) The second band, Fog... well, I'm not sure what to make of them. There were moments, particularly some of the guitar solos that got my attention, but I had trouble pinning down exactly what sort of music they were playing. Not that that's a bad thing. SEE PHOTOS OF MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC CO. CLICK HERE FOR MY INTERVIEW WITH JASON MOLINA. COMING SOON: A PODCAST OF THE INTERVIEW... The new record by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, The Letting Go, is probably one of his best. (And I say this as someone who owns several BPB or Palace Music CDs, without having the complete discography.) This concert by Billy (aka Will Oldham) was quite good, though it didn't sound much like his recent recordings. The icy recorded-in-Iceland textures and high female harmony vocals were gone, but the music still sounded like no one else's. Oldham has developed a peculiar pattern of motion — I hesitate to call it "dancing" — kicking one his legs behind him as he plays guitar, doing a sort of little skip. It's a good fit for his voice, sometimes a mumble, sometimes a cracked howl. The band sounded loose, very loose, as if the musicians were figuring out the songs as they played them — no, that makes it sound too primitive. Let's say it was more like an informal basement rehearsal, with a band going over songs that it knows but without being too worried about getting every note right. Azita was playing keyboards and operating a laptop, and she had the unusual role of leading a charades-like game with the set list. Oldham would turn to her before most of the songs and ask her what was next, then she would hold up her fingers to indicate how many words were in the song title and offer other clues. I came in as the opening act, Dreamweapon, was wrapping up its set. I showed up in time to see a sitar, harmonium, and um... various other unidentified instruments all making droning sounds. A wave of undulating noise. Pretty good if you're into that kind of thing... A word about the Portage Theater. The last time I was in this building was the early 1990s, when I lived nearby. I came here once to see a movie, "Thelma and Louise." Then this place was shut down for years. It reopened recently and has hosted silent movies and a horror movie convention. I believe this was the first rock concert at the Portage. It's a huge place with a high ceiling, the room shaped a little like an airport hangar. It isn't as ornate as some of the city's more glittering old theaters, such as the Chicago Theatre and the Ampitheatre, but it does have some nice ornamental details on the walls and ceiling. The stage is pretty high off the floor, so the sight lines are good. There's a wide space in front of the stage where people could have stood if they'd wanted (one or two guys did), and I ventured up there a few times for photos. The theater was pretty full for Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. I'd venture a guess that most of the people in this crowd haven't spent much time out in that part of the city, the Six Corners neighborhood on the Northwest Side, where not much happens as far as indie-rock shows. The Portage is a good addition to Chicago's concert venues. SEE PHOTOS OF BONNIE 'PRINCE' BILLY. Last night's concert feels like a dream, or something I experienced while sleepwalking. Not that I was particularly tired, but it just felt strange when I finally made the decision at 10:35 p.m. that I would try to see this concert after all. I thought I would miss the opening act, Adem, but I walked in just as he was starting. I haven't been inside the Lakeshore Theatre since it was a movie theater years ago (the Broadway). It still looks pretty much like it used to, with the concessions stand in the lobby now selling liquor instead of popcorn. It's a nice place to see a low-key, sit-down concert. I've felt ambivalent about Adem until now. His recordings are pretty good, and they have grown on me, but they're maybe a little too restrained. Or maybe the layers of tinkling bells and such haven't worked for me. But seeing his solo performance tonight was almost a revelation. I really like hearing his songs in this minimalist setting. It was mostly solo acoustic guitar and singing, but he played the thumb piano on one song (and awkwardly played thumb piano and guitar simulaneously on another song), ran bells on another and did a lovely little ukelele rendition of "God Only Knows." It all was so pure and beautiful. And it was the perfect opening for Juana Molina, another performer whose music is all about quiet moments, textures and layers and layers and more layers of sound. Like Andrew Bird or Laura Viers, she uses looping devices to create her hypnotic patterns right onstage in front of you. Despite some sound difficulties on the first song (it took a while for her voice to become at all audible), it was a thoroughly enchanting performance... very somnabulistic for me, though, and I could almost have drifted off into a peaceful sleep at a few points, no reflection on the music being boring. It would have been a perfect sleep, like a cartoon character drifting off through puffy clouds. I've had trouble pinning down what exactly makes TV on the Radio's music so unusual and so interesting. Is it the odd layers of sound on their records? The vocal style, including some parts that are almost like post-punk doo wop? I'm still not sure, but after seeing TV on the Radio in concert, I think there's simply something distinctive about the group's peculiar melodies and harmonies. The sound of the band was more direct in concert, but it was still beguiling and strange. It was a high-energy show, with songs from both of the group's albums plus some EP tunes. The band called a halt to the excessive outpouring of Metro's fog machine ("That's a little too much magic"). For the last song, the members of opening act Grizzly Bear came back onstage to dance and clap along. I'm not familiar at all with Grizzly Bear, but I enjoyed their performance, which was mostly quiet ballads of the meditative and soaring sort. SEE PHOTOS OF TV ON THE RADIO. Few singers put on such passionate performances as Okkervil River's Will Sheff. You wonder how he can go through so much onstage catharsis night after night. He and his remarkable band delivered a typically intense show in the second night of a two-night stand at Schubas, including some new songs alongside fan favorites. I like the way the other members of Okkervil River, even the ones without microphones in front of them, sing along or mouth the words of Sheff's songs. Even the guys who are ostensibly just there to play drums or bass obviously love the songs just as much as the fans do. At the end of the night, Sheff introduced "Kansas City" by saying, "This is the second-to-the-last time we'll ever play this song." He said he meaned it, but I'm hoping it was a joke. Opening act Elvis Perkins seemed pretty good. Given his glasses and sweater and the name Elvis, I couldn't help thinking of Marshall Crenshew as I listened. He was much less rockabilly than I'd imagined from his name. His song about the moon was excellent. SEE PHOTOS OF OKKERVIL RIVER AND ELVIS PERKINS. This concert was right up there with the recent Japanese New Music Festival show (also at the Empty Bottle) for sheer strangeness and avant-garde conceptual comedy. Or to put it in more vulgar terminology, what a mind fuck. I walked in late, thinking that Cheer-Accident wouldn't be starting until around 11 p.m. But they were already going at 10:15 p.m. I immediately recognized what they were up to — they were playing one chord over and over in a "lock groove," standing on the stage almost perfectly still, with blank robot-like expressions on their face. I know Cheer-Accident has been known to play the same chord for long, long stretches of time. In a way, it's better that I walked in late, because now I'm free to imagine that they'd been playing this chord since, say, noon. I think it actually went on for about half an hour. Looked like G minor seventh, I think. Some people in the bar were smirking, others looked annoyed, some had the glassy-eyed expressions of those trying to hear some nuance of slight change in the way the band was playing that chord. Finally, that ended, and the opening act, Lord of the Yum Yum, came onto the stage while the members of Cheer-Accident continued standing there, still expressionless. Now, this Yum Yum dude was something else, a sort of comedic human beat-box singer. When he cracked up one of the members of Cheer-Accident, Yum Yum berated him for not acting enough like a statue. During Yum Yum's final song, the members of Cheer-Accident slowly came back to life like toys with re-energizing batteries. And then, as Yum Yum departed, they launched back into that same chord and played it for a few more minutes. Over the next two and a half hours, Cheer-Accident played a bewildering variety of noisy prog-rock and jazz-tinged pop, including some magnificent moments of instrumental power and some downright silliness. At one point, drummer/singer/trumpeter/keyboardist Thymme Jones came to the front of the stage and said, "It wouldn't be a CD release party without playing — but wait, we've got another song we're going to do first." Then, after playing the next two songs, Jones repeated the same banter and the band played those same two songs again. And then they repeated the whole shtick over again. After performing the same banter and songs three times, creating a peculiar feeling of deja vu, the set list finally moved on. One song featured a few long and silent pauses, which seemed intended to goad the audience into yelling. During one of these interludes, another man came on stage and made noises by rubbing plastic bags on Jones' microphone. And for its final number, Cheer-Accident led the crowd in a German sing-along. SEE PHOTOS OF CHEER-ACCIDENT AND LORD OF THE YUM YUM. The Lonesomes are from Portland, Ore., but they have roots in the Chicago area. I know lead singer Phil Favorite from our days at The Daily Illini, but haven't had a chance to see him play for a long time. The group's new CD, Quick Fixes & Power Trips, is a solid alt-country record that sounds at times like the Drive-By Truckers or Son Volt, with some nice guitar licks. Check out the Lonesomes on myspace. Another Daily Illini alum, Phil Rockrohr, also played at the Elbo Room with his band, the Lifters, playing some from the new CD, Thru the Haze. Rockrohr plays a blend of power pop and old-fashioned rock. The new song "Thinking of You" may be one of his best, with a very catchy chorus and some loud guitar chords. Check out Phil Rockrohr on myspace. SEE PHOTOS OF THE LONESOMES AND PHIL ROCKROHR & THE LIFTERS. OCT. 1 – OK, so this is October and that photo you're looking at is from March. What gives? Well, the Kooks were one band that I did not pay much attention to when I was in Austin this spring. They came onstage just after a smashing performance by Brakes. The Kooks didn't leave much of an impression on me, and I was itching to scurry across town for the Sub Pop showcase, so I left halfway through the Kooks' show. And, when I posted all of those many, many SXSW photos on the Underground Bee, I only bothered to include one measly picture of the Kooks. And then... unbeknownst to me (and to most of the American record-buying public), the Kooks became pretty big stars in the U.K. And in the last couple of months, "The Kooks" shot way ahead of everything else on the list of search phrases that are leading people to find this very Web site. And so, in answer to public demand, I've gone back into my photo files and constructed a whole gallery of Kooks pix. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE WHOLE ALBUM OF PHOTOS OF THE KOOKS.
Most people come here looking for photos or reviews of specific bands. Brazilian Girls and Sabina Sciubba are one of the most popular searches. (Gee, I wonder why? -- See photo above. It's too bad I was using my old camera during that Brazilian Girls concert last year and didn't get the crisper images that I could have with my new camera.) Here are a few of the more unusual search phrases that have led people to my sites (some of the items listed below are linked to the appropriate parts of the sites): WWW.UNDERGROUNDBEE.COM [I think that last one must have led to my site because I mentioned Senegalese music and used the word "fucked" at some point, though I have no idea what this person was trying to find!] WWW.ROBERTLOERZEL.COM [Some of these have to do with my fiction or artwork... The "my husband wears panties" search ties in with a short story I wrote in which I switched the genders of the main characters.] WWW.ALCHEMYOFBONES.COM |
ALL CONTENTS © 2006 BY ROBERT
LOERZEL. PLEASE CONTACT ME FOR PERMISSION TO PUBLISH PHOTOS OR OTHER MATERIAL.
Hungarian director György Pálfi made a startling debut with his film “Hukkle,” and now he has proven it was no fluke. His newest movie, “Taxidermia,” which obviously has a much bigger budget, shows that he’s a major talent. “Taxidermia” floored me. That being said, this is one of those movies that has to come with a “not for all tastes” warning sticker. Oh, yeah, let’s add a “not for the faint of heart” label. And while we’re at it: “Stay away from this movie if you cannot stand the sight of vomit.”
An earlier film I saw by this movie’s Thai director, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, “Tropical Malady,” was one of the most peculiar films of the last few years. It was hard to figure out exactly what the director was trying to say with “Tropical Malady,” but its odd juxtapositions and some of its surreal images stuck in my mind. With “Syndromes and a Century,” Weerasethakul is playing around with our minds once again. According to a synopsis, the film is supposedly about the director’s parents, who were doctors. But it’s far from being a straightforward memoir. Rather, it’s a series of vignettes, many told with realistic and natural humor. A rural hospital in the first half of the film is followed by an urban hospital in the second half, with many of the same scenes being acted out again – with similar but slightly different dialogue. This creates many moments of déjà vu. And then, at the end, “Syndromes and a Century” drifts off into a beautiful but almost abstract sequence, including a long shot of an air vent blowing steam. I don’t know what it all meant, but I found it mesmerizing, one of the best films I saw at the fest.
Claude Chabrol is back with another thriller that isn’t really a thriller. Some of Chabrol’s films are a little dull, while others hit their mark, including the chilling “La Ceremonie.” He films stories that might have appealed to Hitchcock, but more often than not, films them in a matter-of-fact, almost flat style. This one was no exception. It was rather talky, and by the standards of American legal thrillers, it would probably be considered dull. And yet it really held my attention. Isabelle Huppert is great, as is usually the case (though this role was not quite as peculiar as some of her best performances). As a judge investigating corporate corruption, she is stubbornly determined.
This Australian film is well acted and it’s a fairly well told story, but I couldn’t help wondering if it was worthwhile to sit through another movie about people addicted to drugs. I don’t know that I really found any insights into drug addiction that I haven’t seen in countless other films and stories. This isn’t bad, but nothing to get too excited about. The lead actress, Abbie Cornish, is breathtakingly beautiful and sexy ... almost to the point where it distracted me from her fine performance. (OK, OK, I like her, all right?) Heath Ledger also gives a strong performance, and Geoffrey Rush is good in a supporting role.
I wasn’t sure that I really wanted to watch another movie following a woman as she tries to go through with a terrorist plot to blow herself up. (See Santosh Sivan’s film “The Terrorist,” from 1999.) But this was tense and quite effective. It’s clearly filmed on a low budget, but that doesn’t matter, because the filmmakers make excellent use of their limited resources. The terrorist plot is left vague. Who are these people, and why are they sending this young woman to explode herself in Times Square? It doesn’t really matter. The woman seems stoic, though she begins to crack. Is she just a mixed-up young woman who wants to commit suicide, someone who ended up with the wrong people? That’s one possible way of reading the story. Luisa Williams’ performance as the would-be bomber is restrained, almost deadpan at times, but it feels real.
This is sort of a multicultural, international film, teaming up Thai director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang with Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano, Australian cinematographer Christopher Doyle and Thai screenwriter Prabda Yoon. And many of the characters speak in broken English, seemingly as a way to communicate across Asian cultures. (Or maybe just to make the movie more marketable in the U.S.) While it’s described as a thriller, it’s much more existential and abstract than that. Or maybe it’s just confusing. It sort of drifts along without the driving plot that crime movies usually have. It has its moments, but I found it a little lacking. There are some precious moments of humor involving a low-rent cruise ship.
A charming Swiss movie about a child prodigy on piano, which won a decent round of applause at the screening I attended. It’s a heartwarming movie, just quirky enough in places to keep things interesting. It’s the first movie I've ever seen that was in Swiss German, with subtitles in English as well as standard German. I remember enough German from college that I was trying to read the German subtitles and figure out how they related to what was being said, which was a little distracting.
This Iranian film won the festival’s top prize, the Golden Hugo, and it’s a worthy winner. Here’s an oversimplified plot summary: A woman who's about to get married witnesses some other people in marriages that have gone bad. The story unfolds in a way that’s complex yet never confusing, and like the best of Iranian films, it feels like an honest and realistic portrait of the way people relate to one another.
This is a tricky one to describe in much detail because of the underlying question of whether it’s an actual documentary or a mockumentary. It’s fairly compelling, and even after you think you’ve figured it out, it keeps on raising questions. And for once, a movie made in Chicago looks like it was made in Chicago. “Street Thief” captures the city’s side streets better than any Hollywood film.
