CONVERSATION OFF 16TH STREET

In the last two weeks, I've read the equivalent of 3 or so books. For the most part, I'm revisiting: Film at Wit's End by Brakhage, Deathtripping: The Extreme Underground (formerly Deathtripping: The Cinema of Transgression -- this is a recently released, revised, domestic edition) by Jack Sargeant, Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azzerad, and Confusion Is Next by Alec Foege. Our Band... and Confusion... weren't read from start to finish as I was drawing lines from one book to the other, reading portions of the latter two to bolster the former.

I'm a little obsessive by nature but often a lot obsessive, fixating on all sorts of shit (and often it's Satanism, I'm afraid! ::cough::). Right now the focus is heavy on late 1970s/early 1980s New York City. There's a grit, a vibe, an energy to the creative output that's endlessly interesting -- a period of time that could never be recreated due to economic and political factors amongst others. I'm talking music, film, venues, etc. It's the shit that really blew my mind when I was younger. Perhaps nothing made me look forward to becoming an adult more than Richard Kern's Hardcore videos (eh... for better or for worse). Anyway, the focus may shift to West Coast hardcore soon enough -- I can't get enough of Black Flag's In My Head which, honestly, I find more enjoyable than Damaged (heresy!).