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theoutcastrogue · 1 year ago

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Cartoon depictions of the homeless increasingly reflect the hostility of today’s political leaders toward people on the streets. We’ve gone from images of charming hobos with bindles to zombies taking over cities. If you consume any news at all, you’ve probably noticed that the United States is pathologically cruel to its homeless citizens. This May, the brutal killing of Jordan Neely—who was strangled to death, at the age of 30, simply because he was unhoused and shouting on the Manhattan subway—captured the national spotlight, but it was just one of many such cases of unprovoked violence. In January, two cops reportedly kidnapped a homeless man in Hialeah, Florida, drove him to an “isolated and dark location,” and beat him unconscious. That same month, art dealer Shannon Collier Gwin faced battery charges after he sprayed a homeless woman with a hose outside his San Francisco gallery, barking “Move! Move!” at her. (Predictably, Gwin got a lenient plea deal of just 35 hours of community service.) Elsewhere in the city, homeless San Franciscans have been attacked with chemical bear spray on at least eight occasions. Other assaults have been more impersonal but no less vicious. On July 14, the city of Houston abruptly closed its only public cooling center in the downtown area, potentially condemning anyone without shelter to suffer heatstroke in 90-degree weather. Among the property-owning class, the phenomenon of hostile architecture—sidewalks with spikes that stab anyone who tries to sleep, benches with iron bars, and the like—has become de rigueur. The widespread callousness and lack of compassion are both infuriating and hard to comprehend. How on Earth, we might ask, did things get this bad? [...]

Looking back at older cartoons, one of the things that stands out immediately is the absence of negative attitudes toward the homeless. In fact, during the Golden Age of animation, creators seemed to have had a real affinity for the poor and unhoused, often placing their most iconic characters in that role. There’s a wonderful 1948 Warner Bros. short called “Riff Raffy Daffy,” in which Daffy Duck is looking for a place to sleep—first on a park bench, then a trash can, and finally a furniture display in a shop window—and has to dodge the harassment of the police, as represented by Porky Pig in a little blue uniform. (Literally, the cop is a pig!) Or, in the 1950 cartoon “Homeless Hare,” Bugs Bunny’s rabbit hole is destroyed by a new construction project, leading him to unleash his usual slapstick mayhem against the developers until they put it back. In these cartoons, homelessness is something inflicted on people by outside forces—gentrification and the real estate business, in Bugs’ case—and something which can be successfully resisted. Even Disney cast a homeless dog as a romantic lead in 1955’s Lady and the Tramp, contrasting Lady’s sheltered naivety with Tramp’s superior knowledge of the world. The title invokes the memory of Charlie Chaplin’s “Tramp” films, which similarly brought dignity and humanity to the role of a homeless man. (Bugs Bunny, too, takes inspiration from Chaplin, and multiple Warner animators have drawn him as the Tramp.) In 1961, Hanna-Barbera’s profoundly underrated Top Cat followed the adventures of a gang of wisecracking Manhattan alley cats, who, like Daffy, are always outwitting a meddling policeman. At worst, classic cartoons may trivialize the suffering and danger associated with homelessness—there’s a certain recurring image of the carefree hobo carrying a bindle, which paints the whole subject in a romanticized light—but the homeless themselves are rarely disparaged or made the butt of the joke. Quite the opposite.

It took a few years, but cartoons caught up to the Reaganite turn. In episodes from the ��90s and early 2000s, there’s a palpable shift in the way homeless characters appear compared to earlier decades. The perspective is different: we’re now seeing them through the eyes of comfortably housed characters, rather than their own. Often they don’t even get proper names. [...] This trajectory leads us, perhaps inevitably, to SpongeBob SquarePants. [..] Squidward gets accused of stealing a dime by his comically greedy boss, Mr. Krabs, and quits his job in a fit of outrage. We then flash forward to see Squidward, now bedraggled and unshaven, living in a cardboard box on the street and begging for change. [...] Mercifully, the ever-cheerful SpongeBob gives Squidward a place to stay—but the moment he’s safely off the street, Squidward turns from a sympathetic victim of circumstance into a lazy, entitled freeloader, straight out of a Reagan speech. He makes no effort to find work and loafs around SpongeBob’s house for ages. [...] Eventually, an exasperated SpongeBob writes “GET A JOB” in his alphabet soup, before shoving him (bed and all) back to work at the Krusty Krab. [...] Worst of all, though, the episode suggests that homelessness can be solved on an individual basis if the people in question simply stop being lazy and “GET A JOB.” This is the biggest myth of all. In 2021, a statistical analysis by the University of Chicago found that 53 percent of people in homeless shelters, and 40.4 percent of unsheltered people, do have jobs. The problem is that their wages are too low, and rents are too high. According to statistics from the same year, it’s impossible for someone working a full-time, minimum-wage job to afford a single-bedroom apartment in 93 percent of U.S. counties, and there are no states in which someone can rent a two-bedroom space on the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. In other words, homelessness has little or nothing to do with personal responsibility, or lack thereof. It’s a consequence of large-scale economic decisions made by landlords and bosses. [...]

— Alex Skopic

#Alex Skopic #theory #the ramblin' rover

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thankssteveditko · 11 months ago

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Sony's PlayStation 5 Presents Insomniac's Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (the third game in the series)

I beat the main story and have enjoyed my time with the game overall! I want to talk about spoilers and things that I liked and disliked in the story, so here's a post with some scattered thoughts.

(Hello! I haven't forgotten that this blog exists! Like I said, no update schedule, I will read more of the Lee/Ditko comics whenever I make time for it. I've actually been sitting on a mostly-complete version of this post since I beat the game in October, thinking that I'd finish the rest of the side quests so I could throw in thoughts on those. But... eh, I'll do that whenever the inevitable DLC rolls around. I just wanna get these thoughts posted.)

Spider-Cop No More

First off: they downplayed the cop shit!!! This was the first thing that really struck me about the game, and I'm stunned that they actually listened to criticism on this. I thought we'd just be stuck with it forever.

It'll never be completely gone, of course. Spider-Man is always going to leave criminals webbed up for the police to take to prison, hoping that they'll do their time and come out the other side as Productive Members of Society. That's just a thing I begrudgingly accept as part of the genre that will probably never go away. But Spider-Man is no longer repairing police surveillance networks. You're no longer beating the shit out of random drug dealers. Gangs of escaped convicts still wearing their orange jumpsuits are no longer terrorizing the streets of New York.

Instead, Peter and Miles are played more as firefighters. Sometimes very literally! They work with firefighters, they rescue people from collapsing buildings, they rush injured people to the hospital. In general there's a huge increase in the number of random onlookers present during the big action setpieces, and the Spider-Men frequently have to save them from harm. One of the major side quest lines is even literally about a cult of arsonists, and you'll routinely find burning fuel tanker trucks you have to extinguish with your webs. It's great! Love this for them.

I also generally liked the side missions in this. There's a lot of good stuff with the Spider-Men being neighborhood heroes willing to help out anyone in need, no matter the problem. Some of them can get corny, sure, but that street level stuff has always been the real heart of Spider-Man to me.

Gameplay

The gameplay's as fun as ever. That probably goes without saying. I will not be spending a thousand words explaining that swinging is fun.

In particular, I really liked the changes to the Focus mechanic. I never loved the way Miles' game made you choose between healing and doing your special attacks, but here your four specials have their own cooldowns, and the Focus meter is spent on either healing or finishers. It still offers that risk/reward element, but those vicious cycles where you can't do any real damage because you keep needing to heal aren't nearly as bad as they were before.

Personally I didn't turn off the swing assist or turn on fall damage, because the streamlined swinging never bothered me in these games, but I'm glad the options are there for people who want them.

Kraven

I liked Kraven in this! I liked the way they leaned into his Hunters being this weird death cult, and him wanting to go down in a blaze of glory against a worthy foe, to the point that he's actually disappointed anytime a foe can't kill him. It riffs on things people liked in Kraven's Last Hunt without being the exact same story. I like that Kraven's gang is renting out this manor or whatever and just being a complete terror to the wait staff. I liked the way Kraven hunting Peter's rogues' gallery clashed with Peter's belief in giving his villains second chances. I liked that they were willing to have Kraven kill off a couple of the minor villains from the first game to sell how dangerous he is. (I know some people hated this, but like, come on. We already fought the Sinister Six. They don't need to do that again.) I like the way Kraven pushed Peter to the absolute brink, turning him more and more aggressive with the Black Suit. Good stuff all around, even if the Hunter enemy types did wear out their welcome a little bit by the end.

The Black Suit arc

I think I liked the way Insomniac handled Peter's Black Suit arc overall, but there's a tradeoff here.

They REALLY lean into the body horror tentacle stuff, with Black Suit Peter basically just being a skinny Venom by the end. The sequence where you play as Mary Jane while the symbiote puppets an unconscious Peter's body around and goes on a rampage against the Hunters was REALLY great at selling how scary Peter is becoming, and it made me completely change my tune on the inclusion of the MJ stealth missions in the sequel. Having to beat an out-of-control Peter as Miles immediately after Peter beats Kraven was also really good. This is all cool!

BUT, the thing is... with the symbiote powers being so freaky from the start, it really pushes my suspension of disbelief when Peter and co. take so long to become wary of it. I guess when you've been bitten by a radioactive spider and given superpowers, and when you live in the same universe as the Avengers and the X-Men, your perception of what's "normal" is going to be pretty warped. But they buy the whole "organic exosuit created to treat Harry's illness" story WAY too easily lmao. How do the self-aware slime tentacles help with his illness, exactly?

And I'm not sure how I feel about giving Peter Anti-Venom powers in the last act. It feels like it's primarily a concession so that they can give players that branch of their skill tree back, but honestly, the designer in me thinks it would be really cool (if risky) to just permanently lock players out of Peter's most powerful skills past a certain point. Yeah, it'd definitely piss people off, but it drives home the idea that Peter's given up greater power because it's the right thing to do. It'd put you in his shoes! Instead he just gets the symbiote powers back, but it's fine because the Venom voice in his head is gone and also the slime tendrils that explode out of his body are white now, which means they're good.

I have to say it. I'm sorry. The glistening white goo... they turned Peter into the Amazing Cum-Man. I changed back to the Classic Suit after rolling the credits and forgot I still had the Anti-Venom skills equipped, so I just saw regular old Spider-Man exploding his white goo everywhere. Terrible.

Assuming Peter is just stepping into more of a supporting role to Miles and not fully retiring after the events of this game, I really hope the Anti-Venom stuff is gone. I get that he needed it to counter Venom, but that's not what I want for Peter Parker.

Miles

Miles is good in this, and I really like his arc where he struggles with whether or not he should avenge his dad by killing Martin Li. I like how all that plays out. Unfortunately, they don't quite stick the landing when it comes to making him and Peter feel like equals in terms of narrative focus. His arc is definitely the B-plot to Peter's for the middle chunk of the story, which I guess was kind of inevitable since they decided to do the Black Suit arc. But Miles does at least get a lot of moments to shine, and by the end he's very much taking the lead as the main Spider-Man.

Becoming the main Spider-Man also gets Miles a new, wholly original suit that ended up being super controversial, and honestly... I kinda like it? Or at least I like what it's going for, even if the actual design could still use some work. It's something totally unique for Miles, and I like spandex/streetwear combo suits like what the Spider-Verse movies have popularized. But showing his hair is really pushing the limits of his secret identity. He hangs around Brooklyn Visions WAY too much for his classmates to not recognize his voice and haircut. And I understand why people would be wary about it becoming his "canon" look moving forward. But I think it's got potential.

On the subject of Miles, though, I will say that while I liked Miles' side missions, it feels like he's often saddled with the game's broad, kinda touristy, kinda token attempts at Showcasing The Diversity Of New York, in a way that Peter isn't.

I like that Miles has a deaf graffiti artist girlfriend that he and Ganke sign with, and I like that there's a series of side missions that explore some local jazz history, and I like that there's a mission where Miles helps a gay classmate ask his crush to prom. I like all these things! I like Spider-Man being involved with his community, and that said community includes such a wide variety of people! I like that this game slows down to savor these types of moments instead of just being all action all the time! But when I step back, I notice some patterns.

Hailey doesn't have a big role in the main plot, especially when compared to MJ, but Miles gets a side mission where you briefly play as her with muffled audio to teach you what being deaf is like. There are no major queer characters in the story - unless you count Felicia showing up for exactly one mission to mention she has an unseen, unnamed girlfriend in Paris now - but you get a side mission where Miles helps out a gay couple at his school, who then never come up again. To put it very uncharitably, they can feel like Very Special Episode missions. It's like the devs going: we're going to give Miles a Gay Mission, and an Impaired Hearing Mission, and a Cultural History Mission, so that we can say we touched on these things, but we're gonna make them all optional and keep them far away from the full-blown Superhero Stuff like fighting costumed villains. Those flavors cannot mix. Meanwhile, Peter gets to have a whole elaborate subplot about teaming up with Wraith to track down fucking Cletus Kasady. There's an imbalance here, and I think it's part of the reason why Peter still feels like the "main" Spider-Man for so much of the story.

I think this was all written with admirable intentions, but as others have pointed out, you can kinda tell that this game was mainly written by some white guys based in California. These attempts at depicting various marginalized groups can feel kind of detached in the same way that Insomniac's map of New York doesn't quite line up with the real thing. But I dunno. I'm not really the one to dig deep into some of this stuff as a white woman from Florida. I would be curious to read others' takes on this.

Maybe I'm just being overly cynical about the writers' well-meaning but corny and kinda out of touch liberal politics because of the podcasts.

The podcasters

I wish Jameson was in this more! They psyched us out by giving him a full character model for, like, two scenes. I like him being MJ's boss, but I wish we saw inside the Daily Bugle offices to get more Jameson.

At least his podcasts are better than the ones in the Miles game, though. Him completely trusting in Roxxon was just too much for me. Here he condemns Oscorp for the symbiote shit, and he also gets some moments where he takes the ongoing crises seriously and isn't just ranting about the Spider-Men. He isn't just a conspiracy theorist crackpot here. Shit like his "fuck Spider-Man, we have a justice system for a reason" speech makes him feel more like a human being with a point of view, rather than just a caricature. Definitely an improvement.

Unfortunately, I still find The Danikast grating. I'm sorry, Ashly Burch. It's not your fault. The quirky heckin' wholesome millennial podcaster lady who catches you up on current events and then reminds you to drink 64 ounces of water a day in the same breath is just too much for me. At least she doesn't have any lines as bad as her throwing in a "damn" and then going (direct quote here) "That's right - no censoring! That's how REAL I'm being right now!" like in Miles' game. Instead they give her this, like, almost psychic insight into the main plot to try and make her the angel on Peter's shoulder. The second Peter gets the symbiote she's like "Wow, y'all. Have you seen Spider-Man's new black suit? Something's different about him. He's been giving me such bad vibes lately. #NotMySpiderMan" Also she's supposed to be this, like, underdog independent podcaster who started her show on a whim and has become the voice of the people... but she's got billboards plastered all over the fucking city. Which makes her feel like an industry plant lmao

Again, there's a detachment with the writing. This is, like, some middle aged white liberal game dev guys' idea of what a modern leftist teenager would think is a Cool Activism Podcast. Unfortunately, because Insomniac thinks Danika's a hero, Mary Jane's triumphant ending is that she quits her job at the Bugle to become a podcaster, too, delivering a thinly veiled monologue about the pandemic to kick off her new podcast literally titled "The New Normal." She's going to save the world with podcasting, because that's the highest form of activism, I guess.

Venom

So! Venom! Venom was... okay.

Surprising no one, Harry Osborn is Venom. Harry's okay both as himself and as Venom, but I'm not sure his arc is a smooth one. He starts out as Peter's comically perfect best friend who returns to reminisce about the good ol' days and hand him his dream job on a silver platter, and then later he becomes a little ball of rage over the fact that Peter gets his symbiote and can't/won't give it back. I'm not sure that pivot is handled the most convincingly. You kind of have to write it off as the symbiote messing with their heads, I guess.

When he actually becomes Venom, I'm... mixed on the execution. On the one hand, the cool factor is absolutely there. He's a very cool big monster, and Tony Todd is great in the role. But he also wants to take over the world and make everyone a symbiote, and aside from any lingering resentment towards Peter, that's really all there is to him. It makes for a good video game to have a bunch of symbiote enemies and creepy symbiote nests and symbiote tentacles climbing up the sides of buildings in the last act... but is that really what I want out of Venom? Probably not. But he sure does look cool as a big monster guy to fight, and I was happy he was briefly playable.

Suits

Part of me feels like there's something lacking about the suit selection here, but almost every suit I liked in the previous games is back, and also I'm the type of person to give Peter the Classic Suit the second I unlock it and use that for most of the game. So does it really matter for me?

Peter's selection feels dominated by the various live action movie suits, but I get that those are going to be some of the suits people want to wear the most. I wish he had the Peter B. Parker skin to go with Miles' Spider-Verse alts, though. No idea why it's missing. Really I think I mainly just want more of the Spider-Verse designs.

Also I've complained about how most of the original suits designed for these games make Peter and Miles look like they were bitten by radioactive Alienware products, but I can just, you know. Wear other suits.

Misc thoughts

Everyone's already made this joke, but it's extremely funny that the Avengers didn't help with the symbiote invasion. Took one look at that and decided it wasn't their problem

On the subject of other superheroes, I do wish these games would acknowledge the Fantastic Four more. Peter's close relationship with that team feels woefully underutilized in his various adaptations

I like the trope of a boss fight that's a heightened version of a personal conflict between two people who are close, where throughout the fight the boss is airing out their grievances while the hero tries to get through to them emotionally. That especially works for Spider-Man! But WOW has Insomniac played that card a lot of times by the end of Spider-Man 2 lol

They're teasing the addition of Silk, I guess? I'm gonna be honest, I don't know shit about Silk, but I guess it was inevitable that they'd give us some form of Spider-Woman at some point. Gotta work all those costumes in somehow, and they're not brave enough to let one of the boys cosplay as Spider-Gwen.

They WERE, however, brave enough to let Harry say he loves Peter. I liked that little moment. They presumably meant it platonically, but clearly ol' Yaoi Lowenthal knows what's up

Post-leak addendum

So, obviously, by the time I got around to finishing this post the big Insomniac leak happened. I wish the game industry wasn't so secretive that it took a massive, dangerous data breach just to get our hands on some very basic info that would be public knowledge if Insomniac was a film studio, but here we are.

We now know that Insomniac spent somewhere around $315 million making Spider-Man 2 - triple what the first Spider-Man game cost to make. A quote about this from a leaked presentation has been stuck in my head ever since I first saw it on Twitter. “Is 3x the investment in [Spider-Man 2] evident to anyone who plays the game?”

To be honest, I'm not sure it is.

I liked Spider-Man 2, but I'd probably say that overall I liked it about as much as the first game. It's certainly a somewhat bigger game, with marginally more realistic looking graphics thanks to the power of the PS5. But I think I could do without ray tracing and more realistic hair rendering and whatnot if it meant that these games didn't take like five years and hundreds of millions of dollars to make. I could not give less of a shit if the swinging animations were recycled between games. I'd be fine with them being shorter, too.

I like these games, but as we look at that leaked project lineup and realize that Insomniac is turning into The Marvel Game Studio, I think about how many smaller, more original games that those resources could go towards if they scaled back the Marvel stuff just a bit. How many Ape Escapes or Patapons or Gravity Rushes could get made for the budget of just one of these massive AAA tentpole games of Sony's, which are apparently barely even breaking even? How many could be made for the budget of the "smaller, cheaper" Miles Morales game, which somehow cost $156 million to make despite using an updated version of the same Manhattan map from the first game? Hell, how many smaller games could have been made with the $39 million that went into remastering the first Spider-Man game for PS5 a mere two years after launch? How many people will lose their jobs if any one of Insomniac's upcoming Marvel games underperforms - which, in this case, could mean selling "only" 5 million copies? And would hardcore PlayStation fans even accept those smaller games at this point, now that they've been trained to only appreciate mega-budget Prestige Games with cutting edge graphics and treat everything else with disdain? How much worse will this get as the graphical arms race continues?

I think I just miss Japan Studio. Fuck Sony. Uhh but anyway the Spider-Man game this post was supposed to be about was good, some writing complaints aside. 8/10

#tsd post #other media

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fatchance · 3 months ago

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The Tucson Museum of Art is currently exhibiting lithographs by artist Carlos Mérida depicting the Mayan creation myth, the Popol Vuh. On the opposite gallery wall, muralist Justin Favela has created a cut-paper installation that riffs on the colors and forms of the Popol Vuh plates. Favela's paper mural is 53 feet long (16m) – an immense, festive piñata. Up close, the cut colored paper makes me think of the layered scales on butterfly wings.

#photographers on tumblr #mural #cut paper #Justin Favela #Tucson Museum of Art #Tucson #Arizona

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thecoleopterawithana · 1 year ago

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Even though John is under-powered in this period we still see what made him so magnetic to Paul and to others around him. There is a scene early in Part Two that I find riveting. It takes place a couple of days after George has left. The status of everything - the project, the band - remains uncertain, but they are ploughing on for now. John, Yoko, Ringo, Paul and some of the crew are sitting in a semi-circle. Paul looks pensive. Ringo looks tired. John is speaking only in deadpan comic riffs, to which Paul responds now and again. Peter Sellers comes in and sits down, looks ill-at-ease, and leaves having barely said a word, unable to penetrate the Beatle bubble. At some point they’re joined by Lindsay-Hogg, and the conversation dribbles on. John mentions that he had to leave an interview that morning in order to throw up (he and Yoko had taken heroin the night before). Paul, looking into space rather than addressing anyone in particular, attempts to turn the conversation towards what they’re meant to be doing:

Paul: See, what we need is a serious program of work. Not an endless rambling among the canyons of your mind.

John: Take me on that trip upon that golden ship of shores… We’re all together, boy.

Paul: To wander aimlessly is very unswinging. Unhip.

John: And when I touch you, I feel happy inside. I can’t hide, I can’t hide. [pause] Ask me why, I’ll say I love you.

Paul: What we need is a schedule.

John: A garden schedule.

I mean first of all, who is writing this incredible dialogue? Samuel Beckett?

Let’s break it down a little. The first thing to note is that John and Paul are talking to each other without talking to each other. This is partly because they’re aware of the cameras and also because they’re just not sure how to communicate with each other at the moment. John’s contributions are oblique, gnomic, riddling, comprised only of songs and jokes, like the Fool in King Lear. Take me on that trip upon that golden ship of shores sounds like a Lennonised version of a line from Dylan’s Tambourine Man (“take me on a trip upon your magic swirling ship”). “We’re altogether, boy”? I have no idea. Does Paul? I think John expects Paul to understand him because he has such faith in what they used to call their “heightened awareness”, a dreamlike, automatic connection to each other’s minds. But right now, Paul is not much in the mood for it. His speech is more direct, though he too adopts a quasi-poetic mode (“canyons of your mind” is borrowed from a song by the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band) and he can’t bring himself to make eye contact. “To wander aimlessly is very unswinging,” he says (another great line, I will pin it above my writing desk). Then John does something amazing: he starts talking in Beatle, dropping in lyrics from the early years of the band, I Want To Hold Your Hand and Ask Me Why. (To appreciate John’s response to Paul’s mention of a schedule, American readers may need reminding that English people pronounce it “shed - dule”.)

What’s going on throughout this exchange? Maybe Lennon is just filling dead air, or playing to the gallery, but I think he is (also) attempting to communicate to Paul in their shared code - something like he loves him, he loves The Beatles, they’re still in this together. Of course, we can’t know. I can’t hide, John says, hiding behind his wordplay.

— Ian Leslie, "The Banality of Genius: Notes on Peter Jackson's Get Back" (January 26, 2022).

[I was curious to read more of Ian Leslie's approach to the Beatles in general and Lennon-McCartney in particular, since he's currently writing a book about John and Paul's relationship: “John and Paul: A Love Story in Songs". He's also the author of that New York Times opinion piece that came out today.]

#The Beatles #John Lennon #Paul McCartney #Get Back sessions #the person i actually picked as my partner #johnny #macca #I Want to Hold Your Hand #Tell Me Why #But I could never speak my mind #As we share in each other's minds #quote #my stuff #That Paul and John business

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transgenderer · 6 months ago

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art gallery that riffs on duchamp's fountain by commissioning a series of intricately decorated functional urinals and displays them in their real restrooms, but the exhibit is deemed problematic because only men get to see/use them

Unisex bathrooms! All bathrooms should be unisex imo. It's just like, fine. I've been in unisex bathrooms. They're fine. The problems are imagined

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harrisonarchive · 1 year ago

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On The Ed Sullivan Show in August 1965; photo by Howard Grafton, via Robert Kidd Gallery.

Q: “How did you come up with that Rickenbacker riff for ‘Ticket To Ride,’ one of the most distinctive Beatles guitar signatures ever, which appears on Anthology Volume 2 in an August 1965 live version? Was the riff conceived expressly for that song?” George Harrison: “Yeah! But John was just playing the song to us on his rhythm guitar, and I had the 12-string Rickenbacker. It was also something to do with the fact that my part on the guitar was hooking into Ringo’s part. So when I came up with that little staggered riff, it dictated or gave Ringo the cue to play the part that he does. It had a big effect on Jim McGuinn, as he was named at the time — but Roger later — and a lot of other people. Even me. Years later even *I* thought that the Byrds had invented it! I forgot. [Laughter] In the books about Rickenbacker guitars, McGuinn talks about how the Byrds went to see A Hard Day’s Night at the movies, and they stayed and watched it through twice, saying, ‘What’s that he’s playing?‘ Afterward, they got the Rickenbacker, and that’s where they got that jangly sound I’d come up with on ‘Ticket To Ride.’ They also got Gretsch guitars like ours, too. McGuinn’s kind to always mention it.” - Billboard, March 1996 (x)

#George Harrison #Paul McCartney #Ringo Starr #John Lennon #quote #quotes by George #Roger McGuinn #The Beatles #The Byrds #1965 #1960s #Ticket To Ride #George and John #george and paul #Harrison contributions #fits queue like a glove

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lakemojave · 4 months ago

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Thanks for all the music recs the other day y'all! Some of my favorites:

Supernormal - Everything Everything

I Wanna Be A Cowboy, Baby! - CMAT

Alibi - Hurray For the Riff Raff

Ouroboros - Charming Disaster

Gold Rush - Antibalas

Control - Biting Elbows

What I Want - Gregor McMurray

STONEFIST - HEALTH

Working Dream - Al Scorch

Take Me to War - The Crane Wives

Gallery Piece - Of Montreal

Jesus on the Telephone - Machinery of the Human Heart

The Forty-Ninth Parallel

Falling Up - Will Wood

People Will Always Need Coal - Public Service Broadcasting

Point and Kill - Little Simz

Do send me more! I like finding new music and y'all sent some good 'uns for sure

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janamelie · 10 months ago

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Rocky Horror Stage Show Review

As a glance at my blog will tell you, I rarely post about “Rocky Horror” as it’s not my main fandom, but I’ve loved it for 30 years and have just attended a stage show for the first time since the 90s so am writing down my thoughts for my own benefit and sharing here.

I was aware that the current production is somewhat different both from the film and the stage show I saw back in 1994 starring Jonathon Morris. (Yes, I am a Gen Xer and was heartened to see how many others in my age bracket attended, many in costume.)

If anyone’s curious, this was the earlier Friday performance at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre in the UK.

I’ll get the negative part out of the way first and it’s nothing to do with the actual show. Unfortunately there was someone near me who had an ongoing argument with someone who was with her throughout the show and at times it interfered with my enjoyment. (It definitely wasn’t audience participation; I know the difference.)

She carried on doing it after the interval despite being spoken to by staff. During Columbia’s emotional “I loved you!” speech, “Toucha-toucha-touch me” and other quieter parts it spoiled it a bit for me. After the show ended a bloke in full Frank drag told her off publicly for “being an arsehole” and I'm afraid to say she deserved it. If you’re not interested in a show, stay at home and don’t ruin it for the rest of us.

Science Fiction, Double Feature

I love this song and the Usherette’s actress performed it well, getting into the spirit of things straight away with stockings and wiggles.

Dammit Janet

Another really catchy song and the actors handled it well. They both have strong singing voices which is good as I have seen a Brad who wasn’t that great in that respect.

The Narrator’s first appearance was amusing as he ad-libbed in response to the standard insults thrown at Brad and Janet: “They can hear you, you know!” (The actors were currently frozen onstage so he could do his bit and he joked they weren’t allowed to move or there would be dire punishments.)

The Narrator was a highlight throughout - it really does improve on the film version when the pompous character is actually in on the joke and interacting.

Over At The Frankenstein Place

Well performed again and I enjoyed the audience holding up coloured lights to accompany it. Riff-Raff’s first appearance got so much applause he just started singing right over it.

The majority of the audience seemed to have seen the show before or at least the film although the Narrator did jokily “spoil” them with his line “Stranger than a sex-crazed transvestite from outer space - whoops, spoilers!”

A word on the audience callbacks which have of course been a staple since the 70s. There was a reasonable amount but not too much. I have seen shows which were closer to the film and people would yell after almost every line which got a bit much so this was just about right.

Our hapless couple enter the Castle and are immediately surrounded by Riff Raff, Magenta and Columbia who play it more as pantomime villains than in the film but this doesn’t bother me as theatre doesn’t have close-ups and needs to play to the gallery. The Eddie plotline is hinted at and then of course it’s…

The Time Warp

What can I say about this one? Always a showstopper and had everyone on their feet. Brilliant. Columbia got to do her tap solo which was a highlight as it is in the film. And we’ve barely recovered from that before…

Sweet Transvestite

Woohoo. Frank’s actor was great, as charismatic and confident as you need to be for that part. He embraced the sensual nature of the role and had physical interactions with practically everyone, even Dr Scott and in the encore, the Narrator by ripping aside his trousers to reveal stockings and suspenders.

The lab scene whizzes by and soon it’s Rocky’s entrance with…

The Sword Of Damocles

Thoughts on Rocky’s characterisation - of course in the film they went for a non-actor who was well-muscled as required for the role and had him only speak when singing. I actually think Peter Hinwood’s performance works really well as the whole point of Rocky is that he’s just been born and everything is new to him.

But in the stage show Rocky speaks and is more openly rebellious, even telling Frank to piss off twice. This tends to mean casting a professional actor who isn’t as muscular as Frank’s dialogue implies but that wasn’t an issue here - the actor had both acting chops and muscles. The relationship between Rocky and Frank is a lot closer to equal.

Rocky compliments Frank on his “good job with the bodywork” and we go into…

I Can Make You A Man

I’m going to be honest, this is probably my least favourite “RH” song which isn’t to say I don’t like it. I just don’t share Frank’s muscle fetish. But it was well staged and leads into one of my favourites…

Whatever Happened To Saturday Night?

This song rocks hard and Eddie’s actor did it justice. Not sure it got quite as much applause as it deserved but I get it - we’ve just met him, he’s taken the focus off Frank and is about to be unceremoniously killed for that. I adore the way the film stages the song with all the Transylvanians rocking out too.

So Frank chases Eddie offstage with a chainsaw and returns to reprise “I Can Make You A Man”. I’ll add here that as far as I’m concerned, no production which includes this blatantly queer, unashamedly lustful song is in danger of becoming too “mainstream”. Frank was all over Rocky, complete with gyrating. Even this audience which were certainly the most tolerant in that respect that I’ve been in still reacted to the stronger parts. Mostly with approval though.

I realise that things have changed since the 90s in that respect and as an elder queer myself, it warms my heart. I do think it’s partly that the plot of “Rocky Horror” is better known now. And thank God for that as I don’t need to be in another audience who apparently thought they’d come to watch “The Sound Of Music” and nearly walked out.

After the interval, it’s directly into the bedroom seduction scenes which are staged a bit differently from the film and earlier stage shows - we go straight into (strongly) implied oral sex with first Janet and then Brad, both of whom only then find out that it’s Frank rather than their fiance / fiancee respectively. After which both agree to more sex without too much persuasion needed, as long as Frank doesn’t tell anyone.

All I’m going to say is that “Rocky Horror” has always been problematic. It’s basically an X-rated panto and taking it seriously is kind of missing the point. I enjoy analyses of it though. But when you’re watching it live the music tends to override all that as it’s such a good time.

The production manages to make the Frank / Brad sex scene even more gay by having Riff Raff pop up next to them. Nothing happens as he’s just there to tell Frank that Rocky’s loose but for a second you think there’ll be a m/m/m threesome. Which would of course fit the undercurrent in both show and film that Riff Raff at least is attracted to Frank if maybe not vice versa.

I hope I’m remembering this next part in sequence. Janet enters the lab feeling guilty and upset and meets Rocky who’s hiding from Frank (the aforementioned woman who wouldn’t shut up meant I missed part of the dialogue and it differs from the film. Grrr).

I think Rocky says something to raise Janet’s suspicions so she uses the monitor to search the Castle’s rooms and gets an eyeful of Frank and Brad getting it on. I’ve never been clear as to whether her hypocritical shock is due to the fact that Brad’s having gay sex whereas she had straight sex but at least it leads to another of my faves…

Touch-a touch-a touch me

I love this in the film and it was well done here. My only quibble is that Magenta and Columbia were up in the rafters and just provided a chorus rather than the full-on sapphic frisson which Patricia Quinn and Little Nell treat us to in the film. But I guess it would be hard to make that work on stage.

Exit Janet and Rocky, enter Brad who also uses the monitor and sees his beloved with Rocky. I’m not sure how much emotional sense it makes for him to then launch into…

Once In A While

But I don’t care because this was actually a highlight which it’s never been before in stage productions I’ve seen. I understand it being cut from the film as it would have killed the momentum stone dead.

But in this frantically paced stage production it’s a welcome quiet moment and as I said before, Brad’s actor had the voice to pull it off without the Narrator needing to take the piss out of him to keep audience interest.

Oddly though, Janet reappears in the rafters and sings along with the latter part of the song which makes no sense since she’s supposed to be shagging Rocky right now. I suppose it’s a way to indicate she’s having second thoughts about wrecking her relationship which fits how the show leaves Janet and Brad, hinting they’ll reconcile.

Followed by Frank whipping Riff Raff (offstage of course, they don’t want to cause actual bodily harm to an actor) for letting Rocky escape and wailing about Rocky’s betrayal as he finds it out via that extremely convenient plot device, the monitor. Via which they also notice Dr Scott’s arrival.

Once Scott’s inside, Rocky and Janet reappear and we get that hilarious repeated “Janet!” “Dr Scott!” etc exchange which was milked for maximum humour, ending in Rocky telling Frank to piss off which was a bit jarring for me being such a film aficionado. Although Hinwood’s glare does kind of imply that.

Dr Scott brings up Eddie and rather than the film’s “unknowing cannibalism” scene we just get the actors passing a joint of meat around and pantomiming shock which is fine by me as that bit is gross, let’s face it.

It’s like that meme - I can excuse murder, very dubious consent and incest but I draw the line at cannibalism. Nah, just kidding, it doesn’t bother me that much.

Eddie’s Teddy

A nice ensemble number which I don’t have much to say about. Fine.

Planet Schmanet Janet

Good song which delivers the necessary exposition regarding the Floor Show, followed by Columbia snapping and confronting Frank about how he uses people but instead of getting frozen as in the film she’s hit with drugged gas and has a lengthy trip played for laughs.

Not sure about this change as surely it’s enough to have her frozen like the others to explain her continued participation. It changes the situation from Columbia voluntarily staying in the Castle even though she knows Frank doesn’t love her to her actively deciding to leave until she’s hit with the gas. Not keen.

Having frozen everyone except Magenta and Riff Raff, Frank reacts to her question about when they’ll return to Transylvania by saying their loyalty will be rewarded and this is interestingly different from the film. He says “You will discover that when the mood takes me, I can be quite generous” and pulls at her legs (she’s seated) in a way which makes it blindingly obvious he means sexually.

Her retort “I ask for nothing, Master” happens as Riff Raff chases Frank away from her in an obvious nod to their incestuous relationship (yes, we do get the “My most beautiful sister” line). I really didn’t get the sense that Magenta has any sexual interest in Frank even in this production let alone in the film. Riff Raff, on the other hand, is jealous as hell of him but also wants him. (Although I was seated to the far side so may have missed some nuances.)

So, to the Floor Show. “Rose Tint My World” is such a banger. It was beautifully staged with stunning costumes and lighting as Columbia, Rocky, Brad and finally Janet pop through the curtains in their basques, stockings and suspenders in rapid succession for their solo verses and then Frank makes his starring entrance for “Don’t Dream It, Be It” and “Wild And Untamed Thing”. Love it.

Then of course Riff Raff and Magenta crash the party and Frank pleads for his life with “I’m Going Home” which was sung and performed beautifully and again, got so much applause that the actors had to talk over it.

Frank takes the time during it to have affectionate moments with all four of his most recent paramours which is a nice touch, especially as he seems genuinely upset when Columbia tries to shield him from Riff Raff and is mercilessly shot dead. For a moment at least, then self-preservation takes over. But in vain, and he and Rocky also die. I’m sentimental (sorry Magenta, don’t kill me) so I like the confirmation that Rocky clearly did feel something for Frank even if he was scared of him.

Riff Raff orders Dr Scott to leave but not Brad and Janet. Clearly an oversight somewhere as the Castle takes off into space in an impressive special effects explosion and there they still are to perform “Super Heroes”. They first walk away from each other then change their minds, hug and walk off together, hinting all is not lost for their relationship.

The sweetly melancholy tone continues for the “Science Fiction, Double Feature” reprise. But like the film, they’re nice enough to leave us on a higher note, in this instance by bringing the whole cast back onstage for an encore of the “Time Warp” (this time including Frank which I love) and part of “Sweet Transvestite”.

Excellent decision both to leave us on a musically upbeat note and to (sort of) fix the ending which does kind of fit the “Kill your gays” trope. I know that’s because the show is a celebration of old sci-fi films which usually did kill anyone even remotely like Frank but these days, who cares how awful he is if considered realistically? He’s not real, he’s literally an alien and there is no reason he has to die except for drama, so bring him back at the end. He’s too good to waste.

So that’s it. I had a great time and as always loved the inclusive atmosphere.

#rocky horror show #rocky horror #rocky horror picture show #rhps

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frommybookbook · 2 years ago

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Hamilton, you have only yourself to blame. You choose to keep running for DA.

Hamilton's face when he realizes Perry's done it again is priceless.

#perry mason #hamilton burger #it amuses me to no end that Lt. Anderson is in the background of most of these shots at this point #Tragg gets to sit next to Burger #but Anderson still has to sit in the gallery #with the riff raff

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kramerblogrealgood · 9 months ago

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Comic books that you should read!!! Yes you!!! Right now!!!

These are comics I really enjoy! I'm trying to stick to slightly more obscure comics, preferably stuff that's a little newer, but that's by no means a rule! This is my list baby, I make the rules!

#1: Local Man (Image Comics, 2023)

Local Man follows Jack Xaver, who was once the superhero Crossjack before being unceremoniously kicked out of his team and legally barred from any vigilante activity. Moving back in with his parents in his destitute former hometown, Jack starts to unravel a conspiracy that has ties to both his old team and his old town.

It rules! It's funny and heartfelt and thrilling and if it were a TV show you'd never stop hearing about it. It's also one of the few modern original Image series that actually takes place in the "Image Universe", so it's packed with references to characters like Shadowhawk. You don't need to know all these guys to enjoy the comic by any means, but it's fun for long-time fans.

Most of all, I'm a fan of the basic conceit of this comic: it looks at The Dark Age of Comic Books with the same reverent-yet-critical eye that so many other comics used on the golden and silver ages. I think that rules! A lot of this stuff deserves reappraisal!

#2: The Wrong Earth (Ahoy Comics, 2018)

The concept for this is pretty simple: what if Adam West's Batman got sent to the world of the Nolan trilogy, and Christian Bale's Batman got sent to the world of the 1966 TV show?

They hit all the dramatic and comedic beats you could imagine coming from this premise, and a few you probably couldn't think of. It's not just a one-dimensional parody, though: really sharp writing and an engaging mystery elevate what could easily be, like, a Dorkly video into something special. Which is to say: if you think this premise sounds good you'll love this comic, and if you think it sounds stupid you'll probably still like this comic.

There are some cool character designs here, but my favorite is the villain in both universes:

His name is Number One, and he's a crime boss with an egomania/numbers gimmick. (Sorry for the compressed jpegs)

I imagine "design an original 1960s villain, and then design his edgy 2000s reboot version" would be a difficult prompt for an artist, but Jamal Igle knocks that shit outta the park. Number One really feels like he could fit into Batman's rogues gallery, but he's not a riff on anyone in particular- he's kind of like all of them. The "1"-shaped scar is an especially great touch.

#3: Ice Cream Man (Image Comics, 2018)

(This image isn't from any cover as far as I can tell, it was posted on instagram by writer W. Maxwell Prince.)

Hey, another from Image Comics! And it's my favorite genre, too: horror anthology. If the pic I chose didn't tip you off, this one gets SPOOKAY! The basic premise is that every issue is a one-shot that features a character going through some kind of horrible misfortune. Tying all these tales of woe together is the enigmatic Ice Cream Man, who seems to be somehow torturing all these humans for his own amusement. We eventually learn that he's an evil god-type thing named Riccardus, and he has a good counterpart who's trying to stop him- all the lore stuff is a little vague, but that doesn't mean it's not interesting! The art style used by artist Martin Morazzo is almost uncanny-valley, it reminds me of The Shivering Truth.

Some of the "horror" in this comic is really personal and upsetting, by the way- the one about dementia made me cry. Actually, a lot of these made me cry. Full on snotty gasp-sobbing. 10/10. Riccardus has real sexyman potential if the freaks on this site would ever read something besides fuckin Wayne Family Adventures.

#4: Wayne Family Adventures (DC/Webtoon, 2021)

What? It's cute, fuck you. "eeuuuhhh it's out of character" you sound like a dweeb man

#5: Eight Billion Genies (Image Comics, 2021)

Just like The Wrong Earth, this has a killer elevator pitch: what if every single person on Earth got exactly one wish, all at the same time? Also like The Wrong Earth, it takes it's premise in every angle you can think of- there's wish trading, wish stealing, cities that are kept safe from the chaos of the outside world but you have to give the city government your wish to get in, you name it. No wonder Amazon bought the rights. Keep an eye out for that movie/series, I guess.

Ok, I need some non-image comics.

#6: Giant Days (Boom! Studios, 2015)

Anime fans, this one's for you: you know all those series you love about groups of cute girls just going through their daily lives? Well imagine if those cute girls were over eightee- hey wait where are you going come back

Giant Days is a slice-of-life story about three young women facing the challenges of college life. Apparently it's a spin-off of a webcomic with like 15 years of strips, but I don't care about all that and neither should you! It's a little like gilmore girls in terms of tone. The dialogue is snappy, all the characters play off each other in ways that's fun to see, and there's this 7 foot tall Australian rower chick who's completely obsessed with her reedy loser boyfriend. It's just comforting. It's like a big plate of mashed potatoes, this comic.

Hey, speaking of slice-of-life:

#7: Megg, Mogg and Owl (Indie/Fantagraphics, 2013ish)

This has the honor of being the only comic on this list that's been adapted to another type of media, in the form of a segment on Justin Roiland's weird kinda-shitty Hulu halloween special. Not much of an honor, I guess.

Anyways! MM&O is about a group of "friends" who live together in drug-addled squalor. Megg is a chronically depressed witch just waiting to die. Mogg, Megg's boyfriend, is a talking cat who just wants to keep the degenerate lifestyle they've built for themselves stable, and Owl is a neurotic sex addict who wants to make something of himself but doesn't want to lose his only companions, and Werewolf Jones is a drug-dealing sociopath. It's like Peep Show! I absolutely love this comic, I reread it constantly, but I'm having a hard time pitching it.

If Giant Days is a plate of mashed potatoes this is like... a gas station hot dog eaten over a storm drain or something. Still kind of comforting, just in a different way. Let's cleanse our palette with some capeshit.

#8: Planetary (Wildstorm/DC, 1998)

Planetary rocks. We follow an amnesiac immortal named Elias Snow as he travels the globe with his top-secret Planetary Investigations team to uncover the secrets of the Wildstorm universe. Think of it like... The X-Files crossed with The Venture Brothers. X-Files in that they investigate weirdo mysteries, Venture Brothers in that every genre of speculative fiction- from Doc Savage-style pulp heroes to Kaiju to James Bond superspies- all exist, or existed, in some form.

Also on the team besides Snow are The Drummer (who has some kind of information-based power I never really understood) and Jakita Wagner, the super-strong ADHD daughter of a Tarzan expy. It's hard to do it justice in a post like this, buy a copy! Or pirate it, if you don't want to give Warren Ellis any money!

#9: Bad Enders (Indie, 2020)

Hey, this one is free! Check it out here: https://beany-tuesday.itch.io/bad-enders-pilot-issue

Bad Enders is a shonen pastiche with all the humor and charm you could expect from a @beanytuesday joint. It's great! It follows a burnt-out twentysomething who once had ambitions of becoming a demon hunter, but has since resigned himself to a life of filling out excel spreadsheets. Beanytuesday has stated there probably won't be any more Bad Enders content, but he has another comic called GUE (https://beanytuesday.tumblr.com/tagged/gue/chrono) that takes place in the same universe.

#10: G-Man (Image Comics, 2009)

i bet you thought i was done with image huh

Anyways, this was my jam back in like 3rd grade and you know what? It holds up. When they say "all-ages" they fuckin mean all ages, I'm a grown man and I can enjoy this.

The story of this entry is that I wanted to end on 10 instead of 9.

The story of this comic is that a kid named Mikey G gets his hands on a magic blanket that allows him to fly, but his brother ALSO uses the magic blanket to fly with and they become, like, rivals, but this other kid can also fly and he starts fucking with them... better than it sounds. There's also this crazy arc later in the series where they have a baby brother but- hold on, I'll show you

See? Nuts.

Ok, that was all of them bye

#Comics #Comic Books #Image Comics #Ahoy Comics #Local Man #The Wrong Earth #Ice Cream Man #Eight Billion Genies #Giant Days #Wayne Family Adventures #Megg Mogg and Owl #Planetary DC #Bad Enders #G-Man #(not the g-man you're thinking of sorry)#Comic recommendations

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jules-has-notes · 12 days ago

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Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas — VoicePlay music video

youtube

The holiday season can evoke some complicated emotions, especially when we can't be with the people we love. But expressing those feelings can still be beautiful. When VoicePlay turned this melancholy ballad into a gentle doo-wop tune, they had no way of knowing how much its sentiments would be needed in the coming year.

Details:

title: Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

original performer: Judy Garland as Esther Smith in Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

written by: Hugh Martin & Ralph Blane

arranged by: Geoff Castellucci

release date: 1 December 2019

My favorite bits:

those lovely, warm opening chords

J.None's smooth timbre on the first verse

Geoff holding down the bulk of the rhythm duties with his bass line

the lush backing harmonies with Layne in the mix

Eli's bright tone and agile riffing on the second verse

the syncopation of the echoed ♫ "merry little" ♫

the quick cannon on ♫ "make the Yuletide gay" ♫

Earl's clear, ringing melody in the bridge

the little smile J and Eli exchange during ♫ "golden days" ♫

everyone glancing over at Geoff as he sings ♫ "we'll always be together" ♫

that gorgeous descending bell chord starting from Earl's ♫ "highest bough" ♫

the moment of peaceful silence before they jump back in

J's freedom on those ad libbed riffs and runs

the richness of sound in that final chord, complete with Geoff's rumbling subharmonic underneath

the end of the captions asking, "You ever type the word now so much it stops looking like a real word?" 🤣 (Semantic satiation is the technical term for that, if you were wondering.)

Trivia:

Earl professed on Twitter that this is his favorite holiday song.

The guys had previously recorded a version of this song for "The December EP", a three-song free download that 4:2:Five released during the 2011 holiday season. Those tracks featured their friend Ryan Simpson from Tigerweather in the baritone spot, since it was created in the window between Ryan Reed leaving the group and Tony Wakim joining.

After Tony became a permanent member, they re-recorded all three songs from the EP with him for their 2012 holiday album "Peppermint Winter". The other two songs, "Deck the Halls" and "Here Comes Santa Claus", have often been included in their setlists for holiday concerts and their three-year residency in Mickey's Very Merry Chistmas Party at Disney World.

This video was filmed at a local event venue called Gallery J, which is frequently used for weddings.

According to Geoff in the YouTube premiere chat, their cozy wardrobe was a bit unnecessary on the 72℉ autumn day. Luckily, most buildings in Florida have air conditioning, so they could at least get a taste of artificial winter weather.

During their warm-up rehearsal at the location, they indulged in J.None's favorite part of the process, the intentionally bad take, which they later released on social media as a teaser for the full behind-the-scenes video on Patreon.

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#VoicePlay #music video #a cappella #music #Christmas music #music from movies #video

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notafraidofredyellowandblue · 1 year ago

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OOR 2009 - Nr 10 - Rammstein interview

Rammstein

Six voices, no harmony

The moment OOR returns from Berlin it drops be in the mailbox: the video clip for Pussy, the first single from Rammstein's sixth studio album Liebe Ist Für Alle Da. It's a kind of, well, wie sage ich das jetzt... Please see for yourself and make your own judgement. Guitarist Richard Kruspe had already warned us the day before: "Bigger, better, more extreme" is still the motto of Germany's biggest metal band. A motto that Rammstein has condemned itself to over the past fifteen years, Kruspe admits when we speak to him about the most difficult record the band ever had to make. OOR visited the guitarist in Berlin and flew with red sympath... sorry, ears back.

by Willem Bemboom

Durch Berlin fliesst immer noch die Spree... The old Berlin song comes up when OOR reports to the German headquarters of record company Universal. Inside a typical modern multimedia office, with Moke's Shorland in the listening post, on the banks of the Spree, you are in the middle of the history of the twentieth century. Twenty years ago, this was one of the most scarred places in torn Berlin: directly to the right of the office, the Oberbaumbrücke spans the river. Nowadays the U-bahn runs back and forth over the picturesque building, but in GDR times the bridge formed one of the borders between east (Friedrichshain) and west (Kreuzberg), meaning that only western pedestrians were allowed to pass. Along the road behind the bridgehead begins the East Side Gallery, an elongated preserved part of the Berlin Wall, where artists have enjoyed themselves. The old Ostbahnhof, gateway to Warsaw and Moscow, is now hidden from view from here by the brand new O2 World sports complex. And although Berlin started a great catch-up race immediately after the fall of the wall, the horizon is still dotted with cranes that plant futuristic-looking new things in the cityscape.

A cityscape that Richard Kruspe, guitarist of Rammstein, hardly recognizes. The riff-slinging flamethrower from the stage welcomes us with the friendliest smile and a diet coke in an office on the sixth floor. Previous interviews with Rammstein always meant the presence of an interpreter, but Kruspe, who lives in New York, has no problem with English as the main language. He uses a lightning-quick, thick American/German accent, which is almost eerily correct in terms of intonation. Only the slightly too long rolling 'r' in his pronunciation betrays a different native language. "I moved to New York in 2000 and I no longer recognize the Berlin of that time. It has suddenly become very hip to live, for artists from all over the world. Life is very cheap here, especially compared to other European cities. If you are a starting artist you have to work at least three jobs elsewhere to pay the rent, and then you no longer have time for your music or paintings. Berlin is perfect for such people and also acts as a magnet to others. I now see a much more vibrant, creative Berlin than I am used to."

And the difference with the GDR period?

"Well, the wall has now disappeared in every respect. When I walk through my old neighborhood, I see a mix, there are no longer places where only people from the east or west live. I actually think that's quite a shame, it had something typical. But Berlin will always keep changing and that is a very good thing. You hear all kinds of different types of German and languages from all over the world. A sign that the city is alive. When I first moved here, that was not the case. Berlin was cold, colourless, generic. I knew I had to go here to start a career and meet people who wanted the same thing as me, but I didn't like it here. It was difficult to survive, not obvious in any case. If there were people with the same ideas, they acted very elitist. As an outsider you were not just accepted into a group. In a sense, Berlin is still hard. When I came here with my ex-wife, she did not like it And neither does my girlfriend at the moment; I showed her some places from the past yesterday and she accidentally walked on the bike path. Then someone got off his bike and hit her in the head. This way I know the city again, I thought to myself. Welcome to Berlin, baby! But the city looks beautiful, especially the old east. The architecture and new city planning make it an open whole. Not so typically German anymore, more a mix of different cities and eras."

Growing up in the Eastern Bloc is something we in the Netherlands can hardly imagine.

"I thought the GDR was fine until I was about twelve. When you're young, you don't know any better and you don't care. Now you know how the system worked, then you felt protected. safe and if I compare it to the reality of 2009, it was: now you have a credit crisis, people going hungry, problems in education, drugs among the youth. This is a different world, much more extreme. We had a very simple and straightforward upbringing - what you don't see doesn't exist. As you get older, your curiosity also grows. You want to go somewhere and you can't, because there is a wall. Only when I was about thirteen or fourteen, I became aware of the wall. And of the other sides of the regime, because the more curious you were, the more you got into trouble. Daily life in the Eastern Bloc was simply not meant for the curious. I started making music, primarily to impress the girls, but gradually I understood that it was also one of the few ways to push your boundaries a little. I always managed to stay within the lines, and then maintain a sense of freedom, no, individuality."

How were you able to push your boundaries within the GDR?

"By moving from the north of Germany to East Berlin. I did that purely because of the music. I wanted to start a band and that wasn't possible at home, simply because there weren't enough good musicians who wanted the same. It was quite difficult, because you were expected to have a full-time job and could only do something with music outside working hours. Or you had to study it, but that was of course not the kind of music I wanted to make. Slowly but surely I started to get some blemish on my political background and I decided that I no longer fit into society in Schwerin. Living with music, it had to be in Berlin. Better than at home, but it was not easy at all."

Why did you decide to escape the Eastern Bloc?

"Nothing musical, I accidentally got into a disturbance, a matter of wrong place, wrong time. I ended up in prison, where I was interrogated and investigated. After three days I was released again, completely beaten up. From that point, you will never be out of the picture of the authorities again. I had the feeling that I could no longer even breathe freely, that I was being watched everywhere. I had to leave, so I fled to the west. That was impossible in Berlin, The chances were better in the Czech Republic 1). The border was not so much open, but more flexible. Via some detours I ended up in West Berlin, where it was easier to start a band. After the fall of the wall, Rammstein was also founded there."

And when Berlin and the band were on the rise, you fled to New York?

"You can look at it that way. I have escaped twice in my life, once from east to west and once from Berlin to New York. The latter was quite spontaneous and non-musical, it was about my private life. That has since blossomed into full bloom, which I would never have achieved on that scale in Berlin. From Rammstein I have always been the one who takes the most risks. In 2000 I wanted my life - now I achieved everything i fought for previously - to give a new impuls. There had to be more than just making music and I am still discovering that in New York."

Moving to New York is an adventure even for someone from Boston or Philadelphia.

"Right! I learned a lot from it, of course not after making every rookie mistake. It is indeed a big challenge, but I am a survivor. I come from the Eastern Bloc, I know that life is hard and a lot of you can take. Moreover, I come from the north of the country, where people are on their feet. A rough man in a rough city, that fits. It's a kind of overarching life lesson. I understand New York now, I can use the city to my advantage. Thanks to Rammstein I have the financial security to do this, I am a privileged person. I have a studio at home, I can make music whenever I want. I can go back to Berlin if I need to, and even more important: leave Berlin again if necessary. It is important for me to be able to distance myself from Rammstein. It is such intense work, sometimes you have to be able to forget it. When I moved, I was so caught up in the band that I no longer dared to hand anything over, I could hardly handle it anymore. A world without Rammstein seemed unthinkable, but now I have a universe all my own. A godsend! That distance has been essential, especially for this record."

Was it a difficult recording process?

"That's the understatement of the century, haha! It took two years and if I didn't have New York, I would have gone completely crazy. The level of bullshit often reached such great heights... It was ridiculous. We already had huge arguments about the smallest things and non issues, let alone about the really important matters. Everything had to be decided per meeting, per conference. Sometimes I was completely overwhelmed. Thanks to New York, I gained some perspective on the whole thing. Once back In Berlin I had some positive energy again. If someone was really insisting on a certain point of view, I would say: do it, at least you'll stop talking about it. In this way, many compromises were made just to end the whining."

Let's start at the beginning: you released Rosenrot in 2005, which was not followed by a major tour.

"That record wasn't really planned. We had six completed songs left after Reise Reise, plus a handful of advanced ideas. Throwing it away would be a shame, so after careful consideration it was decided to sculpt a whole album out of it. And that was it. I was eager to start my own project, Emigrate, and the others needed a holiday. That's why we left the Rosenrot story at that and consciously opted for a time-out instead of a tour."

Rumors were buzzing then; if Rammstein didn't even tour anymore after an album, something had to be wrong.

"The thing was, we had never not toured before. In this case it was more important to save the band through that break. After fifteen years I have learned that it takes more effort to maintain the group than to to create a new piece of music. If you work too much, it will cost you at some point. In that respect, I don't envy those American bands that have to do three hundred shows a year. You just can't keep that up for years. They blow themselves up. We got the first warning during the Mutter tour; our keyboard player couldn't handle it anymore and left for a while. He was done with it. At first we didn't understand it, we just wanted to keep going and going. Until we took a closer look at what we were doing. There had to be a construction that would allow us to spare ourselves. If someone can't handle it anymore, you have to stop for a while. Otherwise, at some point you would have a three-man Rammstein. And that is no longer a band. "

After that break, one day you ended up in the same room again. What happened?

"That was after about two years. On the surface everything seemed pleasant, but everyone had other plans. I didn't want to go straight into the studio, but first go on tour to get the band on the same page as quickly as possible. Moreover, with Rosenrot and Emigrate [Emigrate's 2007 debut] I only saw studios and no audience. However, it was decided to make a record first. I still think that was a big mistake, but hey, it was an honest choice."

How did you get started musically?

"That was quite cool, the first two months. We rented a house in the north and rehearsed in a small room, the size of a broom cupboard. Schneider had a small electronic drum kit and we did not play with our large cabinets but on very small speakers. That is a completely different physical aspect of playing, it was much harder, faster and heavier than we were used to. A lot of ideas came out, which we all recorded and at that moment I still liked it. However, things went wrong when we were transferring those ideas, riffs, melodies and rhythms to the computer to go through it. I thought: keep playing guys, it's going well! But no, the democratic group process was started. And that's when the trouble really started. "

Can you give a concrete example of that misery?

"Some members behaved as if nothing was wrong. Problems were simply ignored, like we were in Pink Floyd. You know, making music in Rammstein has never been easy. As a band we have always been more concerned with discussing than making music In the past there was sometimes a fight, to the death - almost literally. Unpleasant, but the problem was solved. Now we are all a bit older and less aggressive. The devil now lies in the attitude and the words. Rammstein is a convergence of egos that can make things very painful and difficult for each other. We have become a bunch of old whiners, haha!"

Were there things you did agree on?

"That this was a nightmare! For me personally, I think for everyone."

It's a miracle there's a record at all?

"As far as I'm concerned, yes. At many times I thought we wouldn't make it. We were all on the verge of quitting at some point. Not everyone recognized it, but you could see it in the look in our eyes: this it was, done, over. Everything has an end, maybe this is our time. Only no one wanted to be the first. No one wanted to take the responsibility for disbanding Rammstein. Or worse: I was afraid that the band would continue if I quit. This record was made on that energy, call it stubborn, or fearful, or pigheaded."

How did that work practically?

"When the six of us could no longer be in one room, we split the group up to continue working in small groups. In shifts, so to speak. Just to find solutions to finish the record. A regular album is made constructively, grows from ideas and creativity. This was the other way around; everything that was on tape was a problem. And everything that was missing was also a problem. Normally you tick off a track and say: great, another song added. Now it was It was a burden lifted off you every time, and on to the next bottleneck. Man, we were often stuck! Completely. At the end of the ride I didn't care about the music anymore, I was purely determined to get that thing done and get rid of it.”

Um, you know you're here to promote the record?

"Certainly, haha! I'm currently letting a lot of people tell me how good it is. I don't really care for it at all at the moment. Per song, per break or sound, I only hear the endless discussions that were attached to it. I can't look at the songs objectively, but that can still change. If you like the record, I'm happy for you. But myself? I don't know."

In this light: is the title Liebe Ist Für Alle Da another wry example of Rammstein humor?

"Not necessarily. We look for the most extreme forms of love in the lyrics. There is a song called Frühling in Paris, and on the other hand you have the single Pussy. One is romantic, the other explicit, but it amounts to the same thing."

Are there any tour plans this time?

"We've made it a point for ourselves that everything we do has to be bigger, better and more extreme than what we've done. Rammstein is a huge machine and even we can't stop it. Sometimes you wish you were in a band like Pearl Jam , where everything revolves around the music and the feeling and the spontaneity. However: I play in Rammstein. The only way to keep going is to make everything grow bigger. Bigger, better, more extreme. Buckle up, everyone."

Is the atmosphere on tour better than in the studio?

"Yes, certainly. That's a good thing. In fact, now that this delivery is over, the mood in the group is fine, at times even great. We are rehearsing, things are going well, there are still a lot of discussion points, but we are a step further, there is progress. That feeling is good for every musician. Look, we don't hate each other, it's just almost impossible to work with each other. Every decision is a battle. And perhaps that is precisely what after all those years still makes us so strong. Apparently we float on pain and drama and frustration and unrest. If you look back at the past you see that many important musical achievements were built on those things, so maybe it just has to be that way."

Do you secretly still love each other?

"Very much even. And above all, very secretly..."

Rammstein live: December 6 Gelredome Arnhem, December 10 Sportpaleis Merksem Antwerp

1) In other interviews Richard mentions having fled via Hungary, this one he mentions Czechoslovakia

List of other Rammstein OOR interviews

#rammstein #rammstein OOR interviews #richard kruspe

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