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This month Yes Folks. It is DIY time.

Do It Yourself. These three words sort of imply that there are other people who—instead of yourself— can do it for you. But, in our little calvinistic country adrift, who are these mysterious people? Right... I haven’t seen them in years.

DIY basicly means you create a small community of people attending eachothers gigs, making eachothers flyers, and buying eachothers records. Beautiful, active idealistic, likeminded people who are really busy liking eachother.

And when the amount of people start to grow, you start having a company.

And then they grow more and you have a brand. And with that brand you make shitloads of money... and, you know what, you did it all youself. Who knows, maybe you even start an airline company. namedropping. . . . . . . . . . . . 6 things that matter. . . . . . . 8 diy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 melanie bonajo. . . . . . . . . . 20 suicidal birds. . . . . . . . . . . . 26 fashion statement. . . . . . . 28 animal collective. . . . . . . 30 film. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 shooting stars. . . . . . . . . . 36 programme. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

opening line

Why don’t you go play with my vinyl!

Name: Sylvia What’s with the text?: I’m like a floorfilling song playing on a party and always up for having a good time, nothing more, nothing less.

Where: de Nieuwe Anita Photo: Tamara van der Laarse 3

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last month at our office

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Music: Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion What critically acclaimed troupe of avant-garde musicians ends a song with the lyrics, “Meeooow...kitties...meeooow...kitties... meeooow”? Animal Collective, that’s who. How badass is that?

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Music: Phosphorescent - To Willie Eleven country/folk Willie Nelson covers, sung by Matthew Houck is all a man needs to get himself through yet another crisis.

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Film: Hunger (Director Steve McQueen) It’s not often you get to stare death in the face from such close range. Not for the faint hearted.

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Book: For Esme With Love and Squalor and other stories J.D Salinger Heartbreaking stories of love, war and decay, by one of the all time masters of post-war American literature.

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Party: Subbacultcha! Magazine Party January 9th Everyone OK?!

Send & Recieve Hei Remco Beste wensen for 2009! Today the boat was surrounded by ice! Thank you for fixing it! Anything to do this friday?

I thought we could go to the Nieuwe Anita (see below); if we reply to this email before Thursday the entrance will be free. Want to join in?

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Send letters to: magazine@subbacultcha.nl

Hi there, I just read your interview with Todd P. in one of your older magazine. What a selfindulgent prick that guy is. I can’t believe you publish that kind of crap. He says he is “all about the community”. But I believe he forgot a few words there. He is “all about the community... kissing his ass!” And on top of it, he makes money of it. Is that where Subbacultcha! is headed? Good Luck!

Frans

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check • We are looking for photographers and illustrators. Send samples and motivation to magazine@subbacultcha.nl • Subbacultcha! is hosting a weekly radio show on Viva Radio (viva-radio.com).

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fresh

New Music:

namedropping

By Leon Caren

Good news for musicians who like bad news

Good news for musicians who like bad news: the best record of 2009 has already been made by Animal Collective. So you can all quit efforts and relax. We know it’s only early in the game, but it’s never too early to acknowledge defeat. Sure we’re excited about the new records coming out by Dan Deacon, Jay Reatard, & The Hunches, but the record of the year award has 6

been safely tugged away.

Enough about that, what else is new in consumer land? We’re personally digging Phosphorescent’s ‘To Willie’ even though it’s not arty, not noisy and sure as hell without any hipster appeal. But that A to the fucking K hipster appeal can certainly be found in the new records by Matt and Kim, These are Powers, Abe Vigoda (EP)

fresh

and Telepathe, all to be released sometime in February. And there’s more good news, this time for people in retail: you better polish up your cash register, cause there’s records coming out by Lilly Allen, Franz Ferdinand, Anthony and the Johnsons and I guess Morrissey will be throwing a dime in there too... That’ll keep the crisis away. I wouldn’t buy those records, but then again, I never buy records, hell I don’t even like music. But if I did buy records, I’d save my pennies for Black Dice, but that ain’t coming out till April. Or maybe, if I was feeling romantic, I’d buy the new Loney, Dear or the new Bishop Allen, but why buy if you can download? (There’s that crisis again.) What else... newsflash: Black Lips do not want to become famous! Or at least, as far as we can tell by the sound of their record preview ‘Starting Over’. Hell, I’m into out of tune singing, but a lot of people ain’t. So, more good news, this time for Jagjaguwar: everyone is bound to love the new Bon Iver EP. He is so in tune, this guy is like the indie version of Jack Johnson,

and hell, the song ‘Blood Bank’ isn’t even half bad. Finally, a short stop in the lowlands, where a lot of oily lovemaking was going down at the little new year’s reception called Noorderslag. Great!, now everyone in the Dutch music industry has got their fingers up each other’s asses even more. But that’s ok. As long as it’s “gezellig”. In terms of releases, a lot of people are getting excited about De Staat, but I’m failing to dig. I do dig The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble, where did they come from? I also dig Suicidal Birds, who are spending their lives in serious misery and did manage to make a cool record out of it. Furthermore, Elle Bandita is into Emo Punk, Lucky Fonz made a techno album and Hospital Bombers are writing some great new songs.

Ok, that’s it, I’ll leave you with garage rockers The Muslims; word is out, they changed their name to The Soft Pack. Why? God knows, or should I say Allah knows? Well, maybe they’re planning a tour to Israel, or maybe they think The Soft Pack is a better name, I know I don’t. end 7

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By MLSS & NM

Perfect!... A midget posse... that,s what was missing.

Subbacultcha’s personal realm of things, friends, sounds and objects that have surprised, delighted, annoyed and rocked us lately.

Things that Matter

9

phonograph requests | space | capes | enchanting | spiritual side | follow NM&MLSS | healers

feature: DIY

DIY vs DIY The DIY virus is spreading rapidly, infecting both would be pop-stars typing away at their Facebook and MySpace accounts, as well as noisy young hipsters seeking to reinvent the concept of alternative music. The term DIY is so loosely thrown around, however, that one could argue that it has almost lost its meaning completely. Then there’s that whole army of artists and musician out there, claiming to be DIY like a badge of honour. So what exactly is this DIY anyway?

By Leon Caren Drawings by Martyn F Overweel

DIY as independent subculture

F

irst and foremost, DIY refers to home improvement.

Your house needs fixing and you have limited funds, so you do it yourself. In many cases, this is a long and tiresome endeavor, with absolutely no guarantee of achiev-

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ing your original goals. But if you’re prepared to work long and hard, and aren’t afraid to learn from your mistakes, then your chances of success are relatively high. But not only in terms of home improvement can we state that when no-one is prepared to do something for you,

feature: DIY

So far that totally makes sense.

Think about the alternative music scene in the United States in the ’80s and early ’90s. In that period America was a depressing place for those not conforming to Ronald Reagan’s American dream. With the political climate becoming increasThe Olden Days ccording to Wikipedia, The ingly right wing conservative and term DIY originated in the Arts the music industry being dominatand Crafts movement of the late ed by major labels releasing com19th and early 20th century, and mercial artists, there was a lot of was later incorporated by DIY sub- room for counter culture.

It was this context in which cultures in the ’70s’, ’80s and ’90s.

Wikipedia states that these sub- bands like Black Flag, Sonic Youth, cultures explicitly critique modern Hüsker Dü and Fugazi became part of a growing independent network consumer culture and also that: of bands, venues, zines, labels and “Members of these subcultures fans, that for a short while chalstrive to blur the lines between cre- lenged the power structure that ator and consumer by constructing had been dominated by Major rea social network that ties users and cord companies for decades. What happened in those days is a key elemakers close together.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diy) ment of the DIY mentality that we you end up doing it yourself. More often than not, this is not entirely by choice. But within the realm of counter culture, the concept of doing something yourself is often regarded as an act of resistance.

A

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“these DIY kids are not trying to create an alternative for mainstream culture, they’re trying to find alternative ways to fit into mainstream culture.” still tend to romanticise in modernday popular culture: that of the independent artist taking matters into his own hands and questioning the authority of the powers that be.

The band Black Flag is probably the personification of this romantic notion of DIY. They spent years and years, touring endlessly through the states, playing in every shithole you can possibly imagine, going for days without food cause they simply couldn’t afford it. They had a mission. They didn’t give a fuck about Ronald Reagan’s America.

They simply did what they wanted to do, and did it with extreme conviction.

DIY as method for achieving commercial success

T

here’s more to the term DIY than a bunch of inspired musicians sticking it to the man. There’s

another notion of DIY which has become increasingly popular over the past decade; the notion of the self-made pop star.

With the rise of digital media, bands have gained access to their own potential audiences through the internet. Not long ago, we were told to believe that the Arctic Monkeys became a major selling artist just by opening up a MySpace account. Of course, we all know they were picked up by Domino Records much sooner along the way, but the fact is that a popular myth was born. This myth is based on the assumption that major labels are losing their grip on the music industry as a result of the changes brought upon us by the increasing spread of digital media.

It is a common notion today to think that practically anyone can become a major selling artist, simcontinue 13

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feature: DIY

ica, we can conclude that once the DIY scene started to become increasingly popular, major labels realised its growing commercial potential and started signing bands that were key players in that particular scene. After years and years of touring and living on a shoe string budget, a lot of those bands were keen to sign up and take their career to another level. And by the time Nirvana released their hit album ‘Nevermind’, the whole scene had been largely incorporated into mainstream channels altogether.

We can still see the very same process happening today. For instance when looking at the happening music scene right now in Brooklyn. The DIY scene there started out as small-scale and comDIY vs DIY hese two different notions of munity-based, but is now rapidly DIY seem to be worlds apart, emerging as a hyped-up internayet they are often placed in the tional music melting pot. And with same category. One of the main the commercial success of acts reasons is that it’s a very compli- like Vampire Weekend and TV on cated endeavor, trying to draw a the Radio, everyone else seems to line between alternative music and want a piece of the action. The majority of the good bands coming out mainstream music.

Going back to the alternative of Brooklyn are now being signed scene of the ’80s and ’90s in Amer- to bigger labels and bigger agents

ply by managing their own career through the internet. As a result you can find millions of bands out there, clicking away at their MySpace and Facebook profiles, trying to become the next big thing by making friends and booking shows and spreading their mp3s like a rash. Here we find a notion of DIY, in which bands create their own strategies for becoming commercially successful. These DIY kids are not trying to create an alternative to mainstream culture, they’re trying to find alternative ways to fit into mainstream culture. In this sense the DIY mentality is mainly a vehicle for becoming a commercially successful artist.

T

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feature: DIY

and are therefore losing their DIY identity. So what we’re seeing there is that bands that take the romantic notion of DIY as a starting point for their musical career, might become as commercially successful as the bands that utilise a DIY mentality as a tool for becoming commercially successful.

Even though the notion of DIY might be a key element of your identity as a musician, it doesn’t say anything about the music you’re making. When bands are no longer booking their own shows and no longer releasing their own records, that does not necessarily mean that their music changes. Nor does booking your own shows and releasing your own records mean that your music is any good either.

Being DIY is just a means to an end.

And the question is ‘what end?’

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What do you want to achieve with your music? Why are you a musician and why are you devoting your life to music?

When looking at the DIY concept, it is safe to say it’s about artists making music and seeking ways to share their music with a potential audience. We can go on for hours about the true meaning of being independent, but in the end it’s what you create that matters, not how you sell it. And the truth is, a lot of DIY artists these days get so hung up on organising their own tours and distributing their own records, it barely leaves them any time to actually play music. So once others come in and offer to lighten their burden, who are they to argue?

All that matters in the end is that you are creating something

“So even though the notion of DIY might be a key element of your identity as a musician, it doesn’t say anything about the music you’re making.” that has some kind of intrinsic value and then to find a way to sell it to the right audience. And if no one is willing to help you with that part of the arrangement, you’ll have to do it yourself. But that does not mean that the act of doing something yourself adds any quality to the product, nor that not doing something yourself is a valid reason for questioning one’s integrity. It’s not about integrity, it’s about music, or whatever it is you’re making.

The problem with a lot of bands these days is that they write songs just because they need songs to add to their MySpace page. And not only is the term DIY being claimed by bands whose sole purpose is becoming the next big thing, it’s also being incorporated into major record company marketing strategies.

DIY sells and helps keep the fans in touch with their favourite bands.

But frankly it doesn’t matter.

DIY is an empty vessel that anyone can claim. It’s not about the concept, it’s about the meaning that can be derived from the history of the concept. It’s about a man fixing house. It’s about Henry Rollins punching punks in the face on stage while his band kept playing.

It’s about us making these magazines for you to read. It’s about people doing something. As a matter of fact it’s about you right here, right now, reading this magazine.

You lazy bastard.

Source: ‘Our band could be your life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991’ by Michael Azerrad end 17

feature: DIY

CONG R ATUL ATIONS! yo u arE part of the d i y move m e n t

- You email a lot - You consider the music you like or make obscure - You do not mind dirty toilets - You drive a car from before 1995 - You stay in bed till 12 at least twice a week - You like to drink beer and you feel the danger of alcoholism - You feel guilty sometimes - You try to be a vegetarian - You envy bands with success but you don’t show it - You think your music really matters - You are cynical at times - You think that the music in the charts is commercial crap 18 - You kinda like ‘certain hip-hop’ - You bought a macbook

- You wear Cheap Monday - You download - You hate Microsoft - You consider yourself an antiglobalist - You try to read good books - You watch more TV than you say you do - You value the community - You are an idealist at least that’s how you justify your life - You deny the fact that you’d like to be succesful - You deny the fact that you fantasize about having a manager - You have principles - You forget about your principles sometimes - You are struggling financially - You want to be pure - You’ll do yoga when you hit 35 - You are social - You like HBO series - You should practice more - You say you can’t play guitar and you are proud of it - You wish you were a bit more rock ‘n’ roll on stage - You tried some stuff with a keyboard - You secretly cared about Pete Doherty and Kate Moss - You can be insecure at times - You wear Converse All Stars - You like to ‘partay!’

- You have at least one hoody - You like eighties patterns - You read the right magazines - You hate NME - You talk about a guy’s beard at least once a week - You know at least two graphic designers - You wear bright colours - You like the font ‘Helvetica’ - You are into arthouse films - You think the Coen brothers are getting mainstream - You are thinking about buying a race bike from the seventies - You smile about this list - You say ‘rad’ and ‘ace’ - You want to live in Berlin

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featured artist

F eat u r e d art i s t:

me l an i e b on a j o

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featured artist: melanie bonajo

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featured artist: melanie bonajo

M

elanie Bonajo (1978, Heerlen) uses photography, video and performance related events to express alienated states of consciousness.

In her work she explores the origin of belief systems on a collective and individual level, regarding people’s fear of the unknown as an important part of the human experience and psyche. She creates sessions based on new paradigms of intuitive science like soulology, sphereology and divination. She works part-time as an animal healer and once almost had a masters degree in religious science. Her work has been shown a.o. in SMBA, Krullermuller, Institute Neerlandais, MadVickyTeaGallery. Her work has been published in FOAM magazine, Livraison, Capricious and many more. A book showcasing a retrospective of her work will be published in january 2009 by Capricious publishing.

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interview with self: suicidal birds

“. . . t h e w h ole j u n gle will b e qu i e t u n t il t he sin g i n g parrot d ro p s dead o f e x h au s ti o n an d sta rvat i o n. N ow i s n’ t that ro m ant i c and all?�

Lo-fi garage pu n k d u o T h e S u i c i d a l B i rd s Inter vi ew l o-fi gara g e p u n k du o T h e S u ic ida l B irds

Jessie: What on earth is your favourite bird sound ever?

Chay: For me it is definitely the sound of a parrot mourning over 26

the death of his or her partner.

The parrot will sing these amazing sad songs for days and all. And the whole jungle will be quiet until the

and all. You get this weird buzz in your head. Then the colours change and then you fall asleep. It is very nice, especially if you make a mix of real Chinese green tea and strong valerian with hop tea. It will take Jessie: If you’d have to be a bird, you on a very light trip and all. You what kind of bird would you will have great full colour dreams with credit titles at the end. wanna be and all?

Chay: Cool, I think I’d like to be a Chay: What is the best vegetable Pegasus. That would be really ace, Then I would be able to fly and all, to grow for someone without a but also to walk and run and all. Ab- garden and all?

Jessie: Tomato will work out nicely solutely fabulous and all. inside a house or on a balcony. Plant Chay: How many birds commit- the seeds in February; 6mm in the ted suicide in front of your car/ ground in small flowerpots. When they get leafs, plant each plant in bicycle/skateboard and all?

Jessie: A lot of birds tried, but I nev- a big bucket (make sure there are er killed one. I want birds to live! holes in the bottom). If they grow Once I drove over a cat with my mo- higher, tie them on a stick or on the ped though. I know it’s very bad, but wall. Remove armpit twigs daily it made me laugh. It was so silly, me and cut of the top off the plant if it’s with my small moped…I’m not even 120 cm high. Be careful with watering them, don’t give too much and sure the cat died. don’t spray the leaves. Protect them Jessie: Did you ever take an against fierce sunlight. Good luck. overdose of Goodnight herbal The Suicidal Birds just released tea and how did you feel?

Chay: Far out! I did this more than their album ‘Spend Your Life in Seonce I can tell you. It’s so wicked rious Misery’ on Tocado Records. singing parrot will drop dead of exhaustion and starvation. Now isn’t that romantic and all? After that it is business as usual in the jungle and all.

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Fashion Statement

By Denis Koval

Fashion

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thoughts and opinions

Fact Check:

Animal Collective

Door Oscar Smit

Stiekeme Sunshine Pop

Z

elden zal er op internet zoveel te doen geweest zijn rond een nog uit te komen plaat van een independent, als over het nieuwe album van Animal Collective. Daar heeft hun label, het Engelse Domino Records, nauwelijks iets voor hoeven doen. Het is vooral de cultstatus die de Amerikaanse band de afgelopen tien jaar opbouwde, die er voor heeft voor gezorgd dat hun album ver voor de

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thoughts and opinions

releasedatum al een hype is op internet. Hierbij telt verder mee dat na de successen van MGMT en Vampire Weekend alles uit New York hip schijnt te zijn.

‘Merriweather Post Pavilion’ is de titel van de negende plaat van het tot een drietal uitgedunde Animal Collective.

Het album is genoemd naar de gelijknamige openlucht venue in Columbia, Maryland. De bandleden gingen in hun jeugd vaak naar dit grootse openluchttheater. Ik ben benieuwd wat ze er gezien hebben, want met zijn capaciteit van 16.500 bezoekers spelen hier alleen de groten der aarde. In de sixties waren dat bands als The Who of Led Zeppelin en later acts als Genesis, Eagles, Madonna of Britney Spears. Voor wie er dit jaar eens heen wil: de voorverkoop voor Santana, Megadeth en Duran Duran is al begonnen. Het theater dateert uit 1967 en is één van de vroege werken van de beroemde architect Frank Gehry. Deze Amerikaan, geboren in 1929, is vooral bekend door zijn gedurfde Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (Spanje) en zijn Disney Village in Disneyland Parijs. Het paviljoen is genoemd naar Marjorie Merriweather Post (1887-1973), ooit één van de rijkste vrouwen van Amerika. Ondanks het openluchtkarakter is het podium beroemd om zijn uitstekende akoestiek. In 2008 is het wederom gekozen als Best Outdoor Venue van Amerika.

Ook de geluidskwaliteit van het negende Animal Collective-album is uitmuntend te noemen. Het klinkt allemaal erg eigentijds, zij het niet altijd even origineel. De openingstrack continue 31

thoughts and opinions

Fact Check:

Animal Collective

In The Flowers doet bijvoorbeeld sterk aan Mercury Rev denken. Naast deze eigentijds connectie is er een veel interessantere link in hun muziek, namelijk naar de vocale hippie songs van eind jaren zestig. The Beach Boys is dan meestal de eerste naam die valt. Er waren echter in die tijd meer bands die zich specialiseerden in popmuziek met vocale harmonieën en samenzang, de zogenaamde sunshine pop. Eén van de hoogtepunten van dit genre is de plaat ‘Present Tense’ van de (gelegenheids)formatie Sagittarius. Dit album uit 1968 is een project van producer Curt Boettcher, die ook werkte met bands als The Mamas & The Papas en The Association. Voor Sagittarius bracht hij drie muzikanten bij elkaar die, toevallig of niet, ook ooit in The Beach Boys zaten. Dat resulteerde in prachtige muziek boordevol vocale hoogstandjes. In datzelfde genre kwam vorig jaar de CD Full Circle van Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends uit. Roger Nichols is ook zo’n ouwe hippie die eind jaren zestig actief was in de sunshine pop. Zo schreef hij veel songs voor The Carpenters. In 1968 maakte hij een titelloos album en veertig jaar later deed hij dat met dezelfde groep(snaam) nog eens over. Op Full Circle is nauwelijks te horen dat de Small Circle of Friends ouder zijn geworden. Met hun zonnige popsongs worden we in één klap teruggeworpen naar ’68 toen dit soort vocale producten helemaal hip waren.

Net zo hip als nu de heren van Animal Collective.

Zij hebben ongetwijfeld goed in de platencollecties van hun ouders gekeken, want hun vocale prestaties gunnen ons een onverwachte blik in de zonnige wereld van de sunshine pop uit de sixties.

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Vervolg

thoughts and opinions

Film:

Food for thought

Door Gert Verbeek

got the munchies? too bad

O

ntbijten, lunches en diners kunnen een filmverhaal danig ophouden. Het is namelijk lastig acteren met de mond vol. Acteurs (m/v) worden misselijk wanneer een regisseur minstens veertig takes nodig heeft voor een eetmoment. Naast de acteur zit ook de script supervisor in zijn maag met eet- en drinkscènes. Hij of zij moet goed opletten dat het onaangetaste glas niet in de ene scène half vol is en in de volgende weer tot de rand gevuld. Een continuïteitsfout noemen ze dat in vaktermen.

De ongeschreven regel is: als de plot leidt, lijdt de held(in) honger. Ik kan me voorstellen dat superhelden continue 33

thoughts and opinions

Film:

Food for thought geen gezellig avondje tafelen nodig hebben om op kracht te komen (en te blijven), maar waar halen ‘gewone’ stervelingen als Bruce Willis, Tom Cruise en Kiefer Sutherland de energie vandaan zonder rekening te hoeven houden met het peil van hun suikerspiegel?

En als ze eindelijk de moeite nemen iets te bestellen in restaurant of bar, raken ze hun voorgerecht, snack of aperitief niet eens aan. Soms kan ik het niet nalaten te letten op het gebrek aan eetlust of dorst bij filmpersonages en laat ik me afleiden door details. Bij de meeste films heb ik er weinig last van, maar een enkele keer kan het ontbreken van lekkere trek mij zelfs tegen een film keren. Zo had ik bij de eerste kijkbeurt heel veel moeite met Gena Rowlands en haar titelpersonage in ‘Gloria’ (1980), de meest commerciële speelfilm in het oeuvre van regisseur John Cassavetes. Noodgedwongen ontfermt Gloria zich over het buurjongetje Phil wanneer zijn familie door de maffia wordt omgebracht. De vader van Phil hield een schaduwboekhouding bij en was van plan die door te spelen naar de FBI. Het boek is nu in handen van de kleine Phil. De middelbare, cynische Gloria is een bekende in het maffiawereldje en zoekt daarom geen politiebescherming. Opgejaagd zwerft ze een paar dagen met het jochie door de straten van New York. Tijdens hun belevenissen wordt zo weinig voedsel en vocht genuttigd dat je bijna zou denken aan een diepere, achterliggende gedachte. Het begint al met de boodschappen waarmee Phils moeder thuiskomt. De levensmiddelen blijven in de tassen en het diner zal nooit opgediend worden, ook al is de tafel

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thoughts and opinions

Vervolg

“...Waar halen ‘gewone’ stervelingen als Bruce Willis, Tom Cruise en Kiefer Sutherland de energie vandaan zonder rekening te hoeven houden met het peil van hun suikerspiegel?” gedekt. Op haar eerste vluchtadres laat Gloria eieren aankoeken in de pan. Een glas melk laat ze staan. In het stationsrestaurant verpietert de bestelling, omdat Gloria een tafel verderop een groep zware jongens moet ontwapenen. In een bar heeft ze vroeg in de ochtend geen oog voor haar verkoelende biertje. De gratis donuts laat ze slingeren in een taxi. Ze slaat een bak koffie af. Geen wonder dat ze uitgeput raakt.

Ondertussen word ik moedeloos bij de aanblik van al het ongebruikte etenswaar en vergeet ik me te laten meeslepen door de vechtlust van de stoere vrouw. In het hol van de leeuw drinkt ze eindelijk van een glas rode wijn. Nou ja, verder dan een nip komt Gloria niet en tijdens de korte slok monteert de regisseur weg van de handeling. Doet hij dat expres? Om mij te plagen?

Gloria blijft nog steeds een van de minste films die ik heb gezien van de grote John Cassavetes. Dat zou eigenlijk moeten liggen aan de voor hem atypische schietpartijen en autostunts, de kitscherige slow motion en opgezwollen soundtrack. In plaats daarvan zie ik enkel voedselverspilling. Wat dat betreft ben en blijf ik een oer-Hollandse Calvinist. end 35

ThOughTs and OpInIOns

horoscoop:

Shooting StaRS

door brenda bosma

Wat voorspellen de sterren deze maand voor de muziekminnende

gijS deddenS

Waterman

20 januari – 19 februari 36

thoughts and opinions

N

og steeds winter. Laat die speedo dus nog maar even in de kast en vlinderslag je in je thermo-ondergoed een weg naar Deerhunter in Paradiso. Voor een catharsis van de reinigende soort. Want na het excessieve geconsumeer van de vorige maand(en) heb je nog steeds te kampen met een schuldgevoel.

Hup, door het putje ermee! Karen O., van de Yeah Yeah Yeahs, kwalificeerde het podiumoptreden van Deerhunter eens als een religieuze ervaring. En wel verdomd, de graatmagere frontman Bradford Cox (kan ‘ie ook niks aan doen) toont akelige overeenkomsten met, nou ja, jawel, Jezus hemzelf! Van die uurtjes aan het kruis, welteverstaan. Ja, waarde Waterman, deze maand zijn water (nee, geen wijn) en brood (nee, ook geen bier) je rigide dieet. Als reactie op die aanhoudende fucking K-crisis, maar ook gewoon om die vette plofbek weer in het gareel te krijgen. Niet vergeten je lief mee te brengen vanavond. Het is immers Valentijnsdag. Met mogelijk keiharde copulatie als kers op de taart. Lekker zwemmen door die waterkraan. Ja, laat die speedo zekersteweten maar in de kast. Uiteraard kun je ook gaan zitten wachten op de nieuwe plaat van My Bloody Valentine, recalcitrant Watermannetje, maar een ons wegen we te zijner tijd allemaal wel. Zeker met die recessie op de hielen. Hoe dan ook, mocht na alle liefde een verslapte spier nog voor stuiptrekkingen zorgen (bovendien kennen de sterren je hekel aan beperkingen), kun je altijd nog naar de Winston. Fijn ‘high brow’ discussiëren over de klanken van Oxford Collapse. Hoewel we allemaal ook wel weten dat dat net zulke tonale shit is als, ik noem iets, het Smurfenlied. Enfin, jij zult in ieder geval op je eigen DIY-manier je crises tackelen deze maand. Mogelijk heeft je temperament daar iets mee van doen. Met jouw vuist/bek-coördinatie huf je die spelbrekers zo met een vrije slag vol in ‘t gezicht. end 37

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 6

1982 (bel, Vice) & FIRESTONE

feat. Aux Raus & Malkovich members.

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 12

MR. LOVE & THE STALLIONS

WINSTON KINGDOM WARMOESSTRAAT 131 AMSTERDAM OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK!

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 13

TROY TORINO & ABACO

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 14

OXFORD COLLAPSE (usa, Subpop)

& FUZ

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 26

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 27

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 28

PARAMOUNT STYLES

THE PHANTOM FOUR & M-JO

HOSPITAL BOMBERS (Excelsior) & GO BACK TO THE ZOO

(usa) feat. Girls Against Boys members

Subbacultcha! programme february 2009

Programme:

coming up

it’s a musical

It’s A Musical

1 Feb, Patronaat, Haarlem. With Kid Dakota and Ter Haar It’s a Musical No, it’s not, actually.

Though this Berlin duo comprised of a Swedish lady with an appropriately pretty face and a German dude with an appropriately weird haircut do have a few things in common with that stickiest of all music forms. It’s a) happy tunes and b) the absence of electric guitars. The differences are a) swearwords and b) a certain sense of taste. Okay then. If you must insist on a comparison: they’re like candy-coloured Moldy Peaches. Only way better than that sounds.

Ghosttrucker vs The Birds

1 Feb, De Nieuwe Anita, Amsterdam Stylish poppers take on the Master of Suspense. Normally, a ghost would survive a trucker and a trucker would survive a bird. But tonight nobody survives. At least, that’s what you’ll think when you drive home across Dam square.

Railcars (USA)

1 March, Patronaat , Haarlem Noisy Indie electronics from San Francisco. New EP produced by Xiu Xiu’s Jamie Stewart.

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subbaculTcha! pROgRaMMe febRuaRY 2009

programme:

coming up

oxFoRd coLLapSe

Oxford Collapse

14 Feb, winston kingdom, amsterdam Oxford Collapse is—yes folks, once again!—a band from Brooklyn, Do we need to say more? Yes we do. These three guys: Michael Pace (vocals, guitar), Adam Rizer (vocals, bass) and Dan Fetherston (drums) are making music that has similarities with acts like No Age and Parts & Labor. However, Oxford Collapse is more pop. It has that nice early-morning-cup-ofcoffee kinda style. Not complicated, not weird, no never ending guitar riffs that clutter your day, no depression just that good old feel-good-indie rock. Nice in times like these, right?

The Suicidal Birds

21 Feb, db’s, utrecht These two Frisian females make a hell of a racket. Bursting onto the scene in 2005 with their fast and furious album ‘Z-List’, they set hearts a flutter and bodies in motion with their distorted

ghoSttRuckeR vS the biRdS

melodies and raw passion. Four years on, they’ve just marked the release of their third album ‘Spend Your Life in Serious Misery’, which continues down the noisy path of rough-andtumble punk and lo-fi garage. Rough around the edges was never supposed to sound this much fun.

Wavves

21 Feb, db’s, utrecht The Beach Boys were never in this much of a hurry, but on a cold February night, you can’t really beat the adrenaline rush of lo-fi indie rock.

With the one-take ethos of The Thermals, the melodic noise sensibilities of Pixies and that My Bloody Valentine desire to distort, contort and destroy ear drums, this Californian project bashes out a feral mash of drums, fuzz and sunny harmonies. And with their self-titled debut, Wavves seem intent on spreading the noisy good vibrations.

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ThOughTs and OpInIOns

Subbacultcha! is looking for...

a webmaSteR/ miStReSS We are looking for a guy or doll to update, maintain and expand the Subbacultcha! website Are you worth 5000 euros a month but are you willing to do it for the love of it?

Please contact magazine@subbacultcha.nl

coLophon Subbacultcha! Magazine is a publication of Subbacultcha!.

Grensstraat 14 II, 1091 SX Amsterdam, the Netherlands. www.subbacultcha.nl magazine@subbacultcha.nl To advertise in Subbacultcha! magazine send an email to magazine@subbacultcha.nl Subbacultcha! Magazine is distributed troughout the Netherlands. If you want your shop or business to be on the distribution list please send an email to magazine@subbacultcha.nl Editors: Leon Caren and Bas Morsch

next month we aRe StaRting a new photo page caLLed:

AFTER MIDNIGHT Feel very free to submit photos.

And feel very free to involve alcohol, romance, stupidity, sex, beauty, banality and debauchery.

The only criterium... the photos have to be shot after midnight.

Send photos to aftermidnight@subbacultcha.nl 42

Editorial assistants: Carly Blair, Steven McCarron, Marie-Claire Melzer Sales: Carly Blair, Bitsy Knox Design: Bas Morsch Contributors: Melanie Bonajo, Brenda Bosma, Leon Caren, Gijs Deddens, Femke Dekker, Sarah Gehrke, Denis Koval, Tamara van der Laarse, Nicole Martens, Steven McCarron, Bas Morsch, Martyn F Overweel, Oscar Smit, The Suicidal Birds and Gert Verbeek.

Cover image: Melanie Bonajo

Subbacultcha! programme february 2009

Programme:

overview fEbruary march 2009

Sunday Feb 01 De Nieuwe Anita

Ghosttrucker vs The Birds

Sunday Feb 01 Patronaat

MOUTIQUE FESTIVAL TOUR ft. Kid Dakota (USA), It’s A Musical (GER), Ter Haar (GER)

Friday Feb 06 De Nieuwe Anita

Magazine Party!! ft. The Moi Non Plus (DJ Set) & DJ R-Nasty (more tbc)

Saturday Feb 14 Winston Kingdom

Oxford Collapse (USA)

Starts 19.00 | cover 6 Euro

Starts 20.00 | Entrance Free!

Starts 20.00 | Cover 6 Euro | Free For Mailinglist Members

Starts 21.00 | Cover 7 Euro

Saturday DB’s

Feb 21

Starts 21.00 | Cover 6 Euro

in cooporation with amsterdam underground

Wavves (USA) Suicidal Birds

Saturday Feb 21 De Nieuwe Anita

Subbacultcha! Party ft. sAElors

Sunday March 01 Patronaat

railcars (USA)

Friday March 06 De Nieuwe Anita

Magazine Party!!

Starts 20.00 | Cover 6 Euro

Starts 21.00 | Entrance Free!

Starts 20.00 | Cover 6 Euro | Free For Mailinglist Members

Famous last words:

Did you try this button?

Send your Famous Last Words to lastwords@subbacultcha.nl and win a Wavves cd.

What

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