Just kidding playa: I loved you in Con AirTime is money.
And looky here, because this one is a like a quadruple dip for ya. First up:
Philip Sherburne (website, MySpace) may not actually be the world's foremost authority on techno music, but if he isn't, the guy who is had better fire his publicist (either that or the guy only speaks German, Portuguese, French, Spanish, and Japanese and hasn't been translated into English because, well, we don't care enough about techno/"critical beats"). Obviously, I don't know much about that scene (or scenes; don't get your schaffel in my acid house, brother), but I do have a great admiration for those among us who can take a completely alien subject, replete with its own glossary of technical jargon, and make it not only comprehensible but compelling for the rest of us. Sherburne, who does this sort of thing professionally (he writes for The Wire, eMusic, Pitchfork, Earplug, and about a million other publications), is essentially like the first few seasons of ER in that respect: you don't need to know what an infarction is ("the process resulting in a macroscopic area of necrotic tissue in some organ caused by loss of adequate blood supply") to appreciate the underlying drama of what's going on before your eyes, or in this instance, ears.
Sasha Frere-Jones recently gave Sherburne - who also practices what he preaches, both as a DJ and a creator of original work - propers over at his New Yorker blog. In particular, he singled out a recent 90-minute mix Sherburne posted on his website called "Music for the Evening After." I haven't heard that one yet, but just last night I finally managed to stay put for long enough to listen to a briefer mix PS put together for UK techno blog Allez-Allez. Called "Springshowers", it's a dramatic and engaging half-hour that isn't afraid to reach out for the melodies, blending The Knife (by way of a Booka Shade remix), with some folks you may not have heard of, like Argy and and Rekleiner. Not that it's important that you've heard of them; Sherburne's mix, like all great mixes, raises the essential question: how can something so anonymous display so much personality?
As you all know, we also have a contractual obligation to fulfill to the Leonard Lopate Show (on New York's Own Freshest, WNYC), wherein we typically select one piece per week AT RANDOM for posting below. In exchange for the eyes and ears of my readership, Leonard has promised me...nothing. As you can see, a highly equitable arrangement.
Well: due to the high volume of completely excellent interview segments Leonard conducted yesterday, I am going to be givin' ya
not one
not two
not three
BUT FOUR SPOTS TO LISTEN TO! O. M. G.
First, the director of One From the Heart, The Cotton Club, and Jack discusses his latest film, Youth Without Youth. Francis Ford Coppola!:
Then: a man whose blank face constituted subject material for an entire chapter of Greil Marcus' The Shape of Things to Come: Prophesy and the American Voice discusses his role in Edward Albee's Zoo Story and the play Albee recently wrote that has something to do with Zoo Story, Zoo Stor...I mean, Bill Pullman! (With co-star Dallas Roberts):
Then, again: One Crazy Summer. Better Off Dead. Tapeheads. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, I ask, have you not eyes? A man whom I am told knows how to say "thank you" to the ladies: John Cusack!:
And last but certainly not least, an academic who wants you to buy the most expensive pair of jeans you can possibly find and author of the guilt trip Fugitive Denim, I give you, on a day with two show business legends and John Cusack, the most commented story of said day, Rachel! Louise! Snyder!:
