Czupka Cakis

Annie Ross, Twisted, 1959. With Basie.

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:07:56 +0100

Annie Ross, Twisted, 1959. With Basie.

Jimmie Rodgers, Brakeman’s Blues.

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:28:34 +0100

Jimmie Rodgers, Brakeman’s Blues.

The Great British Synth Documentary, part 1 of 10.

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:06:23 +0100

The Great British Synth Documentary, part 1 of 10.

Marché d’Aligre.

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:55:21 +0100

Marché d’Aligre.

Marché d’Aligre

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:24:50 +0100

Marché d’Aligre

Sunday at the Marché d’Aligre.

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:13:33 +0100

Sunday at the Marché d’Aligre.

2me.

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:28:13 +0100

2me.

Series 3 of The Thick of It: you should find a way to watch...

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:07:00 +0100

Series 3 of The Thick of It: you should find a way to watch this, if you’re not.

American Music Club, Johnny Mathis’ Feet.

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:43:49 +0100

American Music Club, Johnny Mathis’ Feet.

Square Trousseau.

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:19:25 +0100

Square Trousseau.

rendit: Independence Gang of Four You know who I am tired of?...

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:14:27 +0100

rendit:

Independence

Gang of Four

You know who I am tired of? Haters. The same people who throw 80s parties reflexively slag on this shit cuz of some lame Rolling Stone review or whatevers 30 years ago and do you know? Yall can just step off.

Eep. I always kind of liked the Sara Lee/disco incarnation of Gang of Four (R’n’B strings against scratch guitar, yes please), and hopelessly defended Hard at the time as a subversive pop move. That said, I was just playing this and Y walked into the room and said “What is that?” in a tone that meant I-don’t-really-care-what-it-is-it-sucks-goat-pizzle. So, acquired taste. But hey, let’s go ahead and re-assess it!

Lahmacun at Urfa Durum.

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:13:00 +0100

Lahmacun at Urfa Durum.

Off Faubourg du Temple.

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:26:12 +0100

Off Faubourg du Temple.

grimmertown: Trailer Trash Tracys “Strangling Good Guys” (from...

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:13:16 +0100

grimmertown:

Trailer Trash Tracys “Strangling Good Guys” (from the No Pain In Pop compilation 2009)

Slavoj Zizek sitting at the foot of Linda Blair’s bed in...

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:00:00 +0100

Slavoj Zizek sitting at the foot of Linda Blair’s bed in The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema:

A breakneck guide to the darker strains of cinema, delivered by the star philosopher (I haven’t read anywhere near enough of him to say anything intelligent or coherent but: he kinda, sorta uses Lacanian post-Freudian psychoanalysis (quiet, you) as a launching pad to say surprising and sometimes insightful things) .

Zizek whips through Hitchcock and Lynch and a handful of other films, giving a primer that perhaps covers a bit too much well-trodden ground. I’m two episodes in and thinking that picking apart Blue Velvet or Vertigo for subtextual evidence of shared neurosis is a bit easy, no? I’d rather see him set up with a batch of Doris Day/Rock Hudson films, or Disney, or better yet even, contemporary rom-com. Set him loose on Jennifer Aniston’s oeuvre, see what horrors he uncovers.

Still, it’s very much a fast-paced funhouse ride, with lots of great, disturbing scenes from some excellent movies. Zizek, who is above all a great entertainer, is cleverly inserted into many of the films by the director — as above, where he lectures during the “Your mother sucks cocks in hell” scene from The Exorcist. Good times.

Beach Boys, Johnny Carson. The network makes him break his back.

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:22:16 +0100

Beach Boys, Johnny Carson.

The network makes him break his back.

Roedelius and Moebius of Cluster. The recent BBC4 doc Krautrock:...

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:19:34 +0100

Roedelius and Moebius of Cluster.

The recent BBC4 doc Krautrock: The Rebirth of Germany has lots of great vintage sequences, but the best part by far was the contemporary footage of all of these fascinating old fellows, many of them still out in the woods heroically banging away at cement mixers and 70s-era synths. If you’re even slightly interested, you should hunt it down.

Julhés on a busy Saturday afternoon: We’re starting to use...

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:14:07 +0100

Julhés on a busy Saturday afternoon:

We’re starting to use Faubourg St-Denis as our market street. It’s got a lot of depth, and is more reasonably priced than anything on rue de Bretagne. There are extensive vegetable stands (where we’ve been stocking up on winter roots), lots of intriguing Turkish delis, hopping butchers and fishmongers, and the remarkable Julhés fromagerie/patisserie/épicerie/cave (at 54 rue du Faubourg St-Denis, 75010). Haven’t had a bad thing from them yet. The street itself is always a fascinating, ramshackle scene. Urfa Durum, a Kurdish sandwich joint just north of Julhés, makes great fresh flatbread wraps, baking the bread to order in a big oven by the door, and then stuffing them full of the meat of your choice, plus fresh parsley, mint and lettuce/tomatoes. They also have a type of Kurdish pizza that’s a very good deal at two Euros a pop.

Another new cheap food discovery: Ganesh Corner, further up in the 10th by Lachapelle métro. It’s across the street from the French Hell’s Angels’ HQ and is extremely bare-bones — the owners have a slightly less Spartan restaurant down the road we haven’t tried yet — but you get serious bang for your Euro. Thalis, for instance, are six Euro, big silver platters of really first-rate Tamil food that will leave you feeling as stuffed as your granny’s couch. I am NOT a vegetarian, nor have I ever been an eggplant fan particularly, but their aubergine curry was the tits. The place is full of Sri Lankan expats happily chowing down. Join them, why don’t you? 61 rue Louis Blanc, 75010.

Marais.

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:16:57 +0100

Marais.

Svengali noodles

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:28:27 +0100

The high-ish, slightly whiny voice, balding ginger curls: I realized over lunch today that I was eating bo bun next to Malcolm McLaren.