ONLINE
Guy Maddin’s Instagram
The Canadian film director of the most extraordinary movies has an excellent Instagram account. I only became aware of it this week (*shame*), but I’ve found it now and plunged into a phantasmagorical world of collage and Maddin surrealism.
New to Guy Maddin? Strap yourself in then, here’s 6 minutes well spent (and a fine place to start).
BOX OF TOYS – BLOG
Or not online anymore, at least that I can find, if I had the URL I’d hit the Wayback Machine but alas… Box Of Toys was a blog during that boom period where author would put up music to download, the difference with this blog being that it wasn’t albums, just one song for each post. The curation was spectacular and covered a huge range of music – Jazz, Prog, Electronic, Experimental, Disco, Acid Jazz, Funk, Soul, New Age… So many things I was unfamiliar with and styles of music I hadn’t spent much time with, and many I still haven’t – I like a lot of stuff. I created a huge playlist in Musicbee, culling through the material I didn’t care for (which was in the minority). I’ve been listening through it this week, and it will take a week.
TV / FILM
Surreal Estate (SBS on Demand)
Series 2 of the haunted house real estate agency has manifested on SBS.
The Maze (1953)
The Maze has the most koo-koo twist reveal but the Val Lewton-esque atmospherics are what you come for.
Squaring the Circle: The Story of Hipgnosis (2022)
Anton Corbijn’s excellent documentary about the phenomenal pop cultural impact of Hipgnosis. I was born in the mid-1960s and used to be fascinated by the album sleeves I would see in record shops when I was a kid although I didn’t care for most of the bands they worked with. The artwork is undeniably iconic and this film fills in the stories behind the work, the excesses, the personalities and relationships involved. Fascinating.
The Hoboken Chicken Emergency (1984)
I know, the what? I found this on Tubi. It’s 55 minutes long, the budget is about 50 cents and it features a vast array of character actors (including Alice Ghostly (Bewitched), Keene Curtis (The Magician), Richard Deacon (everything…)), and Gabe Kaplan (Welcome Back Kotter) playing an alleged chicken-catcher, but is a fraudster. Oh, and there’s a gigantic chicken called Henrietta (costume made by Sid & Marty Krofft) who is the star of the story. It’s nutty.
SOUND
Heartbeat, It’s a Lovebeat – The DeFranco Family featuring Tony DeFranco (1975)
The absolute best bubblegum pop phaser freak-out ever recorded. If you become a drag king, please do a number to this that I can watch.
The Shangri-las – The Best of the Red Bird and Mercury Recordings (2021 Reissue for Record Store Day)
Magical. Even includes several tracks I’d not heard before.
Sufjan Stevens – Javelin (2023)
The Free Design Featuring The Symphony In Blue And The Airmen Of Note – The Now Sound Of Christmas And A Christmas Party (1968)
Soft pop psych genius from The Free Design with spoken interludes.
Various Artists – Ciao Bella! (Italian Girl Singers Of The 60s) (Ace Records 2015)
Knockout compilation includes Mina, Isabella Iannetti, Rita Pavone and other ragazza.
Saint Etienne – I’ve Been Trying To Tell You (2021)
The Very Now 