An Echo That's Reversing – Page 27 – more discussions on the Fine Arts, current events, programming, and what-not

Coronavirus – 9 Jul 2020 – Square zero

Updated 11 Jul 2020

I read a short thread that gave me a feeling I haven’t had since the very beginning in mid-March when we were all combing through those graphs and data tables at least twice a day. It feels again like we’re realizing there’s a catastrophe starting and the shock is as if we’ve never felt it before. I think re-reading my old posts refreshed those memories of that odd time back in March (four months ago?!) when everything started hitting. There was a nervous apprehension of the unknown; everything was new. The recent unbelievable spike is magnitudes greater than what we first experienced so, yes, the is as if we’re starting anew.

Lakota and Mt. Rushmore

I just watched the protest that the Lakota Native American tribe held against Trump and Pence (I can’t believe I just thought of TP as a pejorative) before Trump’s speech at Mt. Rushmore. Notes:

Giallo film festival

I immersed myself with Dario Argento/Mario Bava/Lucio Fulci flicks a few years back (so probably 10 years back) having approached them most likely from my immersion in Italian zombie films of the 70s, which was actually a thing. Relatively recently (so probably a few years back) I watched Argento’s The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, a stylish thriller and a departure from his standard psychological horror. It hooked me.

And so I became obsessed with Italian giallo films. Their characteristics, generally, include: murder (natch), suggestive supernatural elements, the absolute grooviest clothing and interior design that you could ever imagine from 70s Italy–even if the setting was ostensibly the US or Germany or wherever–and a high breasts-per-scene ratio. The mood will range from thrilling cat and mouse tension to a Gothic molasses of lingering ennui. A more keen eye than mine could enumerate more fully on the shared cinematic tropes. The quality, as with anything of course, is greater-or-lesser but they are never a waste of time if you’re looking for that impossible combination of gritty murder and stylish, iconic 70s.

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Coronavirus – 28 Jun 2020 – We’ve been here before

Updated 1 Jun 2020

The governors of the worst-affected states are killing their people to impress Trump. They crowed about their bravery but are now sheepishly reversing course (not, of course, without hand-wavy excuses). And every time the governors in Florida and Texas continued with their schedule to reopen, their states were hitting record cases.

Glenn Branca symphonies

Having owned a cassette of his Symphony #1 (refed back in Sep 2018) and Symphony #3 on vinyl in college, I’ve had some persistent curiosity about his other symphonies. I’m not sure I’ll acquire them (those that are acquireable) because I’m a little out of the noise-rock thing at the moment, but I’d like to at least document what’s available. This information is gathered from:

The discography from his Wikipedia entry – several symphonies not mentioned
History and discography pages from his website. Each recording has its own page accessible individually but with no index page. Symphony No.1 links to the others.
Glenn Branca (Foundation for Contemporary Arts, 2009) – Biography and statements from Branca on several of his works, including #s 3, 7, 9, 11, 14
Avant-Garde Composer Glenn Branca Recounts His Cacophonic Symphonies One-By-One (The Village Voice, 19 Nov 2010) – Only excludes #16
Glenn Branca: A Guide to the Symphonies (Red Bull Music Academy Daily, 11 May 2016) – Includes #s 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. These are all of the recorded symphonies except for 13.
Glenn Branca’s Really Experimental Music: Why the Composer Is Still Punk After All These Years (Vice, 16 May 2016) – Interview with Branca and comments on #s 8, 10, 12, 13, 16
MIT Sounding Presents Both Sides of Composer Glenn Branca (Arts at MIT, 26 Sep 2019)
Glenn Branca 1948–2018 (Wire, May 2018)
Glenn Branca (undated), short review of several of his symphonies by David Sheridan and Michael Azerrad, from Trouser Press, includes #s 1, 3, 6, 8, 9, 10, along with other works

Other, symphony-specific sources listed with their respective symphony.