BORIS. SMILE.

Well, this has only been out a few weeks and a million people have already reviewed it, but I'll add my two cents worth anyway.

I'm by no means a BORIS "freak" but I do like them a lot, especially their drone-based works. Sunn O))) head Stephen O'Malley does play guitar on a song or two (Michio Kurihara also features), but their doom and psych influences are not as prominent as in the past.

SMILE is one of their most diverse albums to date. It's the closest Boris has come to combining all its artistic directions on one release. I like it much better than the overrated PINK that came out a few years ago, but their collaboration with Ghost man Michio Kurihara on last year's Rainbow was pretty darn good. SMILE's got everything, pop grooves, noise, psychedelia, of course lots of overblown speaker crushing riffs, and even a few surprises.

I have to say the only thing I don't like about them is the vocals. I don't know man, the main guy who does vocals just has such a weak style. They need some more "ummmph", he sounds like should be in Pennywise or Blink 182. It just doesn't fit the music all that well. But that's a minor point, because the music is just so devastating. I really like the guitar sound on this album, Wata seems to use more effects on this album than usual.

By all means, get the Japanese release, fuck the Southern Lord CD, it's got the crappiest artwork I've seen in awhile, where as the Japanese release has one of the coolest packages I've seen probably since Japanese issue of the Boredoms Super Ar (in the puffy liquid-filled case). Also, one of the best tracks is not on the SL release, "Message."

Sunn O))) head Stephen O'Malley does play guitar on a song or two (Michio Kurihara also features), but their doom and psych influences are not as prominent as in the past.

Anyway, of course every BORIS geek probably has 3 copies of both editions already. This is one of my favorite BORIS albums so far. Keep that shit comin'.

My only question is: When's Wata gonna do a nude photo book?

Sonoluminescence... Grooooooovy.

I just came across an article about this cool project in WIRED magazine titled CAMERA LUCIDA by Evelina Domnitch and Dmitry Gelfand. Check the video and the photos, this is some trippy shit. The aim was to capture a phenomenon known as Sonoluminescenc, which requires a large quantity of xenon-infused sulfuric acid, which is dangerous even in small amounts because of its' ability to suck the water out of everything it touches, including human tissue.

They needed almost 3 gallons of the shit which they blasted in a specially made chamber with ultrasonic waves. The reactions were then photographed and videoed. The ultraviolet light emitted by the xenon bubbles collapsing as they collide with those waves generate4 temperatures as hot as the sun's surface. That being said, they encountered difficulties in finding a lab that would let them perform such chemical fuckery. They finally found a place in Germany where they killed the lights and started shooting.

The results were pretty psychedelic. They also turned it into an installation, which is even more fucked. People are put in a room for 5 minute in total darkness before the installation begins, to let people's eyes adjust before the acid kicks in. To avoid corrosive meltdowns, they have to use gallons of water spiked with sodium hydroxide and luminol.

Cool stuff, check out the photos and the video. Link above.

HellHammer - Demon Entrails

Goddamn!!!!!! This is a fucking gift from the metal gods if there are such a thing. The first demos from the legendary pre-Celtic Frost band, Hellhammer in a gloriously packaged 2-CD set housed in a DVD-sized mediabook with O-Card plus 36-page booklet w/ extended liner notes, photos and a small poster. This is also available as a bare-bones 2-CD set in a digipak, but I recommend getting this special edition. 29 songs in all, re-mastered from original master copies by Tom Gabriel and Martin Eric Ain. They also dove into their personal archives to supply photo's and never before seen art work.

This set is an important chapter in the shaping of European Black Metal and every fan of Celtic Frost, 80's thrash, European thrash, black metal or just brutal music should make every effort to find this. It's probably hard to find in some areas of the world and if you have to have only the music, the bare bones set is fine, but the extras in the special edition are worth having, plus the price difference is not that much anyway.

These early demos even better than Hellhammer's only "official" 12" LP, the infamous APOCALYPTIC RAIDS, which at the time, was met with scathing reviews, but now remains a classic. It really shows their progression into what would later become Celtic Frost

These demos are actually presented backwards, meaning that Disc 1 starts with the latest demo of the 3, SATANIC RITES, the second disc contains 2 demos, DEATH FIEND and TRIUMPH OF DEATH, so I would recommend starting with Disc 2, then Disc 1.

It's really interesting to hear some of these songs, because much of the material would later be reworked into the early Celtic Frost repertoire. SATANIC RITES is my favorite of the 3 demos, sounding and feeling very much like the bastard child of Frost's MORBID TALES.

This is classic stuff, don't miss out. This will probably go out of print quickly. There is also an upcoming book coming out this year titled "ONLY DEATH IS REAL - The illustrated history of Hellhammer and Early Celtic Frost" written by Tom Gabriel Fischer. There is a page excerpt from the book in this set. Definitely looking forward to this band. Not an overlooked band by any means, but perhaps their importance in the history of black metal may be a bit under appreciated.

3 Films by Hiroshi Teshigahara

This is instantly a classic box and I've been waiting for WOMAN IN THE DUNES to come in a decent fully uncut version for a long time now. Also a brand new transfer courtesy of Criterion. The first time I saw Woman in The Dunes about 2 years ago, it had quite an impact on me. It's one of best examples of the psychological horror genre that Japan is known for. It's images and sounds will sty with you forever.

These 3 films are a very unique and important collaboration between writer Abe Kobo, director Teshigahara Hiroshi and sound composer, Takemitsu Toru. They actually made four films together, and I have no idea why the 4th film wasn't part of this set, which is the only shortcoming I can point out with this box. The four films are PITFALL ((1962), WOMAN IN THE DUNES (1964), THE FACE OF ANOTHER (1966) and MAN WITHOUT A MAP (1968). The film that's missing from the set is the last one, MAN WITHOUT A MAP. These 4 films shook all conventions of Japanese film at the time.

Even though Teshigahara is responsible for organizing these collaborations, one can't ignore that without Takemitsu's score and sound design and Kobo's writing, they wouldn't have been what they turned out to be. Takemitsu not only composed the music, but did all the sound design as well. Especially with WOMAN IN THE DUNES, Takemitsu gives life to the sand through sound. It's there at all times, even when the scene seems completely silent.

Abe Kobo and Takemitsu Toru come from completely different backgrounds than Teshigahara, who's the most "Japanese" in heritage and upbringing. He is the son of Sofu Teshigahara, who's a very famous painter, sculptor, calligrapher and the founder of the the famous and highly innovative Sogetsu flower school.

On the other hand, Takemitsu and Kobo experienced a great deal of freedom and self-confidence that was not experienced by most Japanese people, who grew up in tighter, socially constrained environments.

The 3 films in this box pose essential questions but provide few answers. Like mostly "Who am I?" "Why do I exist?" "What is our purpose in this world and society?" etc. etc. These are the issues that the main characters struggle with alone in these films.

Like in the film FACE OF ANOTHER, the main character is introuced through an X-Ray image of his face. His identity is further called into question when we realize that his bandaged head is not his own face, but the mold of someone else's face grafted on. So then who is he? Does he really have an identity or does he just exist on paper? Can he get away with murder?

In Pitfall, the main character is continually in flight from some unknown pursuers. Is he running from a crime or the memory of his crime? This film has a truly alien quality to it, especially with the man in the white suit, who drifts in and out of the shots. Pitfall seems to morph into or back out of a new movie every few minutes. The acting is purposefully functional, without a trace of emotion or mannerisms. They just go through the motions with heedless efficiency.

Anyway, I'll keep this review short. Just watch the damn films, they are all classics and this is one of the best and most necessary boxsets Criterion has ever put out. My only complaint is the missing film. (?)

The Freedom Manifesto

How to Free Yourself from Anxiety, Fear, Mortgages, Money, Guilt, Debt, Government, Boredom, Supermarkets, Bills, Melancholy, Pain, Depression, Work, and Waste (Paperback)

Reading this book will not solve all your problems like the long-winded title says, but it will help you get a start. It's a very refreshing and easy to read book, and I think this should be read along with Kalle Lasn's CULTURE JAM. This is the "sequel" to" How to Be Idle: A Loafer's Manifesto" by British author and editor (the Idler) Tom Hodgkinson.

He cuts through all the bullshit right from the beginning stating his goal, which is to present a philosophy for everyday life based on freedom, merriment and responsibility, or anarchy. He wants to overthrow modern Puritans and return to an approach to life that is basically having a laugh, doing what you want in your own time, not take life too seriously and reject the system as much as possible. And that approach sounds very inviting to me. I certainly try not take life too seriously. I sometimes have a hard time ignoring all the shit out there though.

The only problem is that many of his topics sound a bit too easy, for example, in the chapter titled Forget Government, the message is Stop Voting, while in another on Submit No More to the Machine, Use Your Hands, his main advice is Use a Scythe. Redefining human relationships based on local needs instead of global capitalism is a fine idea indeed, and in a perfect world, if everyone thought like him, I'm sure we would all be better off. But he never quite explores in enough detail how this would happen in the real world, relying instead on grand statements, like moving out of the city, growing your own garden and not consuming, etc etc. Easy to say, but not so easy to do. We're living in a world where we can't walk a km without seeing a Big M hitting us in the face. The message is quite clear, but more detail is needed. Nevertheless, reading this book, if nothing else, will make think twice about what we buy, how much we buy and what we are doing every day to feed this corporate shit system that we all feed. We all just have to do a few simple things, like reject big corporations as much as possible, just simply don't buy from Wal Mart, MacDonalds and don't buy Nike, recycle, that kind of shit. But most people couldn't live without their TV or cellphone for more than an hour, and they would go into major withdrawal.

The book is excellent at first, a little shaky in the middle, then it wavered between those two emotions for the remaining pages. About halfway through he acknowledges how someone could view his ideas as contradictory. Sometimes the chapters feel like they are unfinished or could have gone deeper with more research. A lot of his chapters could have been contained inside other chapters.

It IS up to the individual to find and create his own happiness and to break free of controls like government or guilt. But then he talks about how people should live in communes and advocates smoking and drinking which are 2 things that feed the system big time.

I do really like his idea about throwing out the TV and reading more books. I also really like the chapter about PLAY, something most of us adults have forgotten how to do. We put so much goddamn importance on CAREER and CAREER advancement, but what does it all mean? Nothing, unless we can't have fun. That's especially true in a place like Japan, where people just work like dogs and NEVER EVER question what they are doing with their lives, they're just serving this big fat machine that sucks their entire life out, then spits them out when they're 64, with no idea what to do with their free time, no hobbies, just wasting the rest of their life away in front of the box.

I also like the chapter about banks. Banks are absolutely the worst evil places on earth and WE ALL are almost forced to use them. It is my dream that one day, every bank in the world will come tumbling down like dominoes. Banks truly suck and they treat us like circus animals. If something is wrong on OUR end, banks bug the shit out of us to no end, or take our homes and assets, but if it's their fault, they usually try to cover it up or make us wait for months. I can't begin to describe the feeling I get every time I am even near a bank. I just start laughing evilly, plotting in my head how I could blow it up...

Anyway, a good book that you can read it a day. It won't change your life, but it will certainly make you think. and will put a smile on your face.

Check out The Idler, Tom's magazine. Pretty interesting.