FOR THE RECORD: DD SPARKS
(Reprinted CD review, following interview)
WHAT'S THE COOLEST PLACE TO HANG OUT, IN IOWA?
The Coolest place to hang out in Iowa may not come across as cool to other people, but to me cool is wherever I feel most ceneterd and at home. Chic is a state of mind....that said...the Greenbelt trail in Clive Iowa is where I go to walk for miles and miles all by myself to work outthings both creativly and personally and be close to nature during the barable seasons. I can don a big pair of sunglasses and go all Greta Garbo when I "Vant To Be Alone".
NAME YOUR FAVORITE (SO FAR) PLACE YOU'VE PERFORMED.
My favorite place to perform to date has been The Knitting Factory in NYC. I had the amazing honor to meet downtown legends as Deborah Harry and Joey Arias. The crowd was receptive. The venue was electic in energy, and the steep stairs leading to the stage...treturous in platform boots.
FAVORITE DRINK?
My favorite drink is easily Pantela "De Luxe Cigar Blend" Gautier. This is an Imported Cognac and, of course, impossible to find. So if anyone is thinking of gift ideas for me.....
WHAT LAW WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO SEE ENACTED?
Law I'd like to see enacted...I'd have to think about. I'd probably have to say stronger punishment for abuse to animals. I was really saddened by a judge in a recent case in Sioux City Iowa in which a man beat a puppy to death, and in sentencing the man to only 30 days in jail, the judge was actually quoted as saying, "we must remember this wasn't a human being." I was horrified by his lack of vision and scope when in regard to suffering and murder.
OTHER IOWA BANDS YOU'D RECOMMEND?
Other bands that I would recommend...truth be told I'm not all that hip to a lot of the other bands around here but I'd have to say that Strick9 has been pretty entertaining when I've seen them. Great hooks and clever lyrics.
WHAT'S YOUR PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE (IN TEN WORDS OR LESS)?
My philosophy for life is still developing, thankfully. How's this?...Always be the star of your own life, never a supporting player.
http://www.ddsparks.com/
http://www.myspace.com/ddsparks
DD Sparks
"Maximus Aquarius"(Magic Cabinet Records)
reviewed byDC Larson
(That DD Sparks, creator of the "Maximus Aquarius" character, is my brother in no way moves my critical hand.)
Craft is the thoughtful choreographer of creative impulse. Lacking it, one has only unfocused spark, unproductive energy.But braced by craft's intuitive calculatings, virginal musings assume perspective.
On each action strasse here located, one upturns treasures alurk: Shadow-draped glacial movements, fizzy percolations, spectral intonations -- each distinct shard locks into unseamed correspondence.
(And while head may be above-clouds, feet are maintained to terra firma by trenchant six-string coloration and reassuringly familiar sax testimonies.)
About, one spots splinters of Roxy Music, T Rex, and ELO. But only splinters. Influences are subservient to Aquarius's own striking demeanor.
At once darkly sagacious and wit-flecked, the observational time-trifler character -- a technicolor pastiche of Victorian elan and fantastic consciousness -- imprints the whole with uncanny lilt and commanding presence.
Craft revels in its peculiar reward.
RECOMMENDED "Cutting In the Blue," "Beloved Nemesis," "trick of the light," "dangerous angels"
end
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
VERA RAMONE KING INTERVIEW
-Author, "Poisoned Heart: I Married Dee Dee Ramone" (Phoenix Books)
Vera was married to Dee Dee throughout the punk legend's years with the Ramones. Their union ended only a couple of weeks before he left the group.
His imimitable songcraft -- uber-catchy pop hooks-as-urban angst/cartoonishly mannered yet touchingly poetic lyrical narratives -- contributed to the group's sonic/attitudinal definition and helped ensure its enduring legacy.
A few years ago, they were inducted into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame. One today hears Ramones guitars in everything from contemporary punk combos to (as Vera herself points out) TV commercials.
After years of silence*, Vera now tells the story of those golden years. And while it's always interesting (for different reasons), it's sometimes more than a bit depressing. Recounted in sorrowful detail are Dee Dee's addiction-related travails -- which twisted both his personal and professional lives -- and occasionally abusive tendencies.
* In their introduction to Vera's book, former Talking Heads Chris Stein and Tina Weymouth (NYC friends and colleagues of Dee Dee and Vera) note that one legal requirement of Dee Dee and Vera's divorce was that he not speak publicly about her; that explains her total absence from his own book, "Poison Heart."
http://www.veraramoneking.com/
Recently, Vera spoke to Damnation Dance Party.
DDP: You write that Dee Dee "totally freaked out," when served with your divorce papers, and
that you feared he might stalk/attack you. I just read new statistics showing domestic
abuse up, with women being the primary victims and attempts to leave abusive
situations the leading cause.
Even given that potential danger, would you recommend women so victimized remove
themselves from the situation? (I don't mean to make you responsible for anyone's
circumstance, just interested in your informed insight.)
VERA: Everyone's situation is different and people have to make their own choices. In my case there were no children involved and it was much easier for me to remove myself if I believed I was in any danger. For others it's not so cut and dry to make that decision. I only did what I thought was the best for myself under the conditions I was living in.
DDP: You mention Dee Dee kept journals (at least for a time). Do you know if these (and/or
unused lyrics) still exist?
VERA: Actually, yes I still own a diary that he kept while he was on the road with Ramones that details what he did and what went on that particular tour. I believe it to be the ONLY one if it's kind in existance today.
DDP: Do you still have many friends from your days in the scene? Any you'd like to name?
VERA: I still have many good friends that I've kept in touch with over the couse of the years. Mickey Leigh (Joey Ramone's brother) and his wife Lene, Marky and Marian Ramone are also very close friends and Ritchie Ramone and his wife Annette Stark have also stayed close. Joey's girlfriend of many years has remained one of my best friends for the last twenty five years. Then of course there is Monte Melnick , their longtime road manager. I owe my life to that man!! There are others but too many to mention at this time.
DDP: In their intro to your book, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth note that Dee Dee asked to
rejoin the Ramones, after having quit in '89. I'd never read that, before. Comment?
(Several things might have turned out differently -- not necessarily better, but different.)
VERA: Dee Dee quit the band 2 weeks after we split up. I told him that it was a BIG mistake at the time but he was no longer on his medications and there was no reasoning with him or logic to what he was doing.
He did after a six months or so ask to rejoin the band but CJ Ramone had already taken his place by then and he was a lot less trouble to deal with; they didn't want Dee Dee back without me because he was completely uncontrollable at that time. Too hard to deal with and his erratic behaviour became something no one wanted to deal with anymore.
DDP: In Dee Dee's own book, he claims to have left when End of the Century was going to be
recorded, and to not know who ultimately played bass on that record. Your book
recounts him recording on it. Did he only play on some of it?
VERA: Dee Dee played on EVERY album until his departure in 1989, despite what you may have read or heard. He may have threatened to leave , but NEVER did! Besides, he wrote most of the songs on the albums and he even sang a lot of them towards the end.
DDP: Did he play on all other Ramones studio LPs?
VERA: Absolutely, positively!!! It was ALL Dee Dee playing!
DDP: From your account of the Ramones (and from others, including Dee Dee's), there
certainly seemed to be great storm and stress between the members. Did they
basically like each other? Why did they remain a band for as long as they did?
VERA: As with many bands, when you stay on the road together for So long at a time , it is only natural that it becomes a ground for hostility. There were also ego clashes and some differences of opinions regarding music and other things. However, at the end of the day they would always get up on that stage and play to their many fans. They NEVER wanted to let their fans down! After So many years together it was more than "just a band".
It became their business and their livelihood. It was WHAT they did! Plain and simple.
end
-Author, "Poisoned Heart: I Married Dee Dee Ramone" (Phoenix Books)
Vera was married to Dee Dee throughout the punk legend's years with the Ramones. Their union ended only a couple of weeks before he left the group.
His imimitable songcraft -- uber-catchy pop hooks-as-urban angst/cartoonishly mannered yet touchingly poetic lyrical narratives -- contributed to the group's sonic/attitudinal definition and helped ensure its enduring legacy.
A few years ago, they were inducted into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame. One today hears Ramones guitars in everything from contemporary punk combos to (as Vera herself points out) TV commercials.
After years of silence*, Vera now tells the story of those golden years. And while it's always interesting (for different reasons), it's sometimes more than a bit depressing. Recounted in sorrowful detail are Dee Dee's addiction-related travails -- which twisted both his personal and professional lives -- and occasionally abusive tendencies.
* In their introduction to Vera's book, former Talking Heads Chris Stein and Tina Weymouth (NYC friends and colleagues of Dee Dee and Vera) note that one legal requirement of Dee Dee and Vera's divorce was that he not speak publicly about her; that explains her total absence from his own book, "Poison Heart."
http://www.veraramoneking.com/
Recently, Vera spoke to Damnation Dance Party.
DDP: You write that Dee Dee "totally freaked out," when served with your divorce papers, and
that you feared he might stalk/attack you. I just read new statistics showing domestic
abuse up, with women being the primary victims and attempts to leave abusive
situations the leading cause.
Even given that potential danger, would you recommend women so victimized remove
themselves from the situation? (I don't mean to make you responsible for anyone's
circumstance, just interested in your informed insight.)
VERA: Everyone's situation is different and people have to make their own choices. In my case there were no children involved and it was much easier for me to remove myself if I believed I was in any danger. For others it's not so cut and dry to make that decision. I only did what I thought was the best for myself under the conditions I was living in.
DDP: You mention Dee Dee kept journals (at least for a time). Do you know if these (and/or
unused lyrics) still exist?
VERA: Actually, yes I still own a diary that he kept while he was on the road with Ramones that details what he did and what went on that particular tour. I believe it to be the ONLY one if it's kind in existance today.
DDP: Do you still have many friends from your days in the scene? Any you'd like to name?
VERA: I still have many good friends that I've kept in touch with over the couse of the years. Mickey Leigh (Joey Ramone's brother) and his wife Lene, Marky and Marian Ramone are also very close friends and Ritchie Ramone and his wife Annette Stark have also stayed close. Joey's girlfriend of many years has remained one of my best friends for the last twenty five years. Then of course there is Monte Melnick , their longtime road manager. I owe my life to that man!! There are others but too many to mention at this time.
DDP: In their intro to your book, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth note that Dee Dee asked to
rejoin the Ramones, after having quit in '89. I'd never read that, before. Comment?
(Several things might have turned out differently -- not necessarily better, but different.)
VERA: Dee Dee quit the band 2 weeks after we split up. I told him that it was a BIG mistake at the time but he was no longer on his medications and there was no reasoning with him or logic to what he was doing.
He did after a six months or so ask to rejoin the band but CJ Ramone had already taken his place by then and he was a lot less trouble to deal with; they didn't want Dee Dee back without me because he was completely uncontrollable at that time. Too hard to deal with and his erratic behaviour became something no one wanted to deal with anymore.
DDP: In Dee Dee's own book, he claims to have left when End of the Century was going to be
recorded, and to not know who ultimately played bass on that record. Your book
recounts him recording on it. Did he only play on some of it?
VERA: Dee Dee played on EVERY album until his departure in 1989, despite what you may have read or heard. He may have threatened to leave , but NEVER did! Besides, he wrote most of the songs on the albums and he even sang a lot of them towards the end.
DDP: Did he play on all other Ramones studio LPs?
VERA: Absolutely, positively!!! It was ALL Dee Dee playing!
DDP: From your account of the Ramones (and from others, including Dee Dee's), there
certainly seemed to be great storm and stress between the members. Did they
basically like each other? Why did they remain a band for as long as they did?
VERA: As with many bands, when you stay on the road together for So long at a time , it is only natural that it becomes a ground for hostility. There were also ego clashes and some differences of opinions regarding music and other things. However, at the end of the day they would always get up on that stage and play to their many fans. They NEVER wanted to let their fans down! After So many years together it was more than "just a band".
It became their business and their livelihood. It was WHAT they did! Plain and simple.
end
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
For The Record
THE AFTERDARKS
"The Afterdarks represent something that's gone from America -- an unwavering, unapologetic oath to self that a certain level of brutality thrives inside all of us and if it's forced to linger for too long, you're gonna get some kick ass rock'n'roll."
- Brian Krans, Rock Town Press/author, A Constant Suicide
PERSONNEL: Papa D - upright/electric bass, vocals
Dr. Nasty - guitar, vocals
Smokehaus - drums
BIO: Illinois/Iowa-based punkabilly outfit began in 2003. Has produced 4 EPs, 3 full-length
CDs.
LATEST RECORDING: "Blood Sweat & Gears" (self) 2009
WEBSITE: http://theafterdarks.com/
What's the coolest place to hang out, in the Quad Cities?
"We really like Rascal's Rock Memorabilia Club when we want to relax. Ken, the owner, runs a great sound, and is a former musician himself. RIBCO also stands high with Al Dimeo on sound."
Where's your favorite place to play? (Same as answer to Question #1?) Favorite recording studio?
"Same as #1. We record in our own studio to do the rough mix. Papa Darkness also has recorded other bands as well in the studio."
Favorite fast food? Favorite beer/drink?
"Nachos -- PBR -- hands down!"
Law you'd most like to see overturned?
"We are not really politically motivated, however child abuse tops our list. Strengthening and enforcing existing laws is great for us."
Law you'd like to see enacted?
"PBR must be the drink of choice at every dinner."
Other IL/IA bands you'd recommend?
"The One Night Standards, The Surf Zombies, Sarah Cram and the Derelicts, ZED, and a great bunch of kids in Marmaduke who do Led Zeppelin the way it should be done!"
Philosophy of life in 10 words or less?
"Performing is not a joke! It is an expression of self!"
"The Afterdarks represent something that's gone from America -- an unwavering, unapologetic oath to self that a certain level of brutality thrives inside all of us and if it's forced to linger for too long, you're gonna get some kick ass rock'n'roll."
- Brian Krans, Rock Town Press/author, A Constant Suicide
PERSONNEL: Papa D - upright/electric bass, vocals
Dr. Nasty - guitar, vocals
Smokehaus - drums
BIO: Illinois/Iowa-based punkabilly outfit began in 2003. Has produced 4 EPs, 3 full-length
CDs.
LATEST RECORDING: "Blood Sweat & Gears" (self) 2009
WEBSITE: http://theafterdarks.com/
What's the coolest place to hang out, in the Quad Cities?
"We really like Rascal's Rock Memorabilia Club when we want to relax. Ken, the owner, runs a great sound, and is a former musician himself. RIBCO also stands high with Al Dimeo on sound."
Where's your favorite place to play? (Same as answer to Question #1?) Favorite recording studio?
"Same as #1. We record in our own studio to do the rough mix. Papa Darkness also has recorded other bands as well in the studio."
Favorite fast food? Favorite beer/drink?
"Nachos -- PBR -- hands down!"
Law you'd most like to see overturned?
"We are not really politically motivated, however child abuse tops our list. Strengthening and enforcing existing laws is great for us."
Law you'd like to see enacted?
"PBR must be the drink of choice at every dinner."
Other IL/IA bands you'd recommend?
"The One Night Standards, The Surf Zombies, Sarah Cram and the Derelicts, ZED, and a great bunch of kids in Marmaduke who do Led Zeppelin the way it should be done!"
Philosophy of life in 10 words or less?
"Performing is not a joke! It is an expression of self!"
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Review: The Burning Hotels "Novel"
by
DC Larson
It's not even necessary to enjoy all 11 tracks here to understand that the Burning Hotels' great accomplishment -- indeed, the quality that most persuasively touts them -- is the creation of consistently engaging pop melodizing that grabs up listeners and throttles them into bliss: jangling guitars, harmonies that endear, infectious constructions, and indefatigably shiny movement. Blindingly vivid, giddily animated. One appreciates participating.
(PS. Thanks to Kaytea xo for the tip!)
DC Larson
It's not even necessary to enjoy all 11 tracks here to understand that the Burning Hotels' great accomplishment -- indeed, the quality that most persuasively touts them -- is the creation of consistently engaging pop melodizing that grabs up listeners and throttles them into bliss: jangling guitars, harmonies that endear, infectious constructions, and indefatigably shiny movement. Blindingly vivid, giddily animated. One appreciates participating.
(PS. Thanks to Kaytea xo for the tip!)
Monday, November 2, 2009
Viva (Cult Epics 2008)
a film by Anna Biller
WINKING CAUTIONARY TALE
byDC Larson
To experience delightful sexploitation comedy Viva is to be immersed in arch-stylized 1970s cuts and colors. Indeed, all involved are enthusiastically aboard the technicolored retro train: loud, gaudy ensembles, feathered, fluffed, and lovingly laquered tresses, calculatedly cardboardish (and always effective) acting, the moment's pop culture-choreographed, hipness-ho posturing.
Panache radiates in neon.
Important to Viva's sensory effect as syle is, though, the saucy narrative scores its substantial points through clever plot-craft. Anna Biller as forsaken and frustrated "Barbie" dips a bared toe into the Sexual Revolution, only to be swirled away into its swinging maelstrom of drugs, modeling, delicious licentiousness, and hidden personal costs.
With impressive flair, Anna sported multiple hats in the construction. Writer, director, set and costume designer, starring actor. (She also composes, choreographs, and edits.)
During a post-screening interview, Anna was asked why she had decided to make the fim."I wanted to do a realistic story about a woman who's a scapegoat of the sexual revolution," she responded. "[Someone] who endures everything in the name of being liberated. She's just going with the flow, and it's such a dangerous and demonic world of predators out there, and she's completely unprotected. I thought it was very funny and also a very real kind of story."
Anna claims a BA in art from UCLA and an MFA in art and film from CalArts. While the impressive Viva is her first feature, audiences already know her from several short films and stage musicals; both have been shown at international festivals and art spaces.
Awards Anna has received for Viva include Best Style in a film at the Moscow Film Festival (Vogue magazine), and Best Director, Atlanta Underground Film Festival.(Viva's more than 30 other festival selections include the B Movie, Trash, and Underground Film Festival, the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, the Transylvania International Fim Festival, and the San Antonio Underground Film Festival.)
Like the mini-skirted era Anna affectionately sculpts, Viva looks stunning while flirting with fleshly perils.
http://www.lifeofastar.com/viva.html
http://www.cultepics.com
a film by Anna Biller
WINKING CAUTIONARY TALE
byDC Larson
To experience delightful sexploitation comedy Viva is to be immersed in arch-stylized 1970s cuts and colors. Indeed, all involved are enthusiastically aboard the technicolored retro train: loud, gaudy ensembles, feathered, fluffed, and lovingly laquered tresses, calculatedly cardboardish (and always effective) acting, the moment's pop culture-choreographed, hipness-ho posturing.
Panache radiates in neon.
Important to Viva's sensory effect as syle is, though, the saucy narrative scores its substantial points through clever plot-craft. Anna Biller as forsaken and frustrated "Barbie" dips a bared toe into the Sexual Revolution, only to be swirled away into its swinging maelstrom of drugs, modeling, delicious licentiousness, and hidden personal costs.
With impressive flair, Anna sported multiple hats in the construction. Writer, director, set and costume designer, starring actor. (She also composes, choreographs, and edits.)
During a post-screening interview, Anna was asked why she had decided to make the fim."I wanted to do a realistic story about a woman who's a scapegoat of the sexual revolution," she responded. "[Someone] who endures everything in the name of being liberated. She's just going with the flow, and it's such a dangerous and demonic world of predators out there, and she's completely unprotected. I thought it was very funny and also a very real kind of story."
Anna claims a BA in art from UCLA and an MFA in art and film from CalArts. While the impressive Viva is her first feature, audiences already know her from several short films and stage musicals; both have been shown at international festivals and art spaces.
Awards Anna has received for Viva include Best Style in a film at the Moscow Film Festival (Vogue magazine), and Best Director, Atlanta Underground Film Festival.(Viva's more than 30 other festival selections include the B Movie, Trash, and Underground Film Festival, the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, the Transylvania International Fim Festival, and the San Antonio Underground Film Festival.)
Like the mini-skirted era Anna affectionately sculpts, Viva looks stunning while flirting with fleshly perils.
http://www.lifeofastar.com/viva.html
http://www.cultepics.com
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
VELVETEEN VISIONS: DD Sparks "Maximus Aquarius" review
DD Sparks
"Maximus Aquarius"
(Magic Cabinet Records)
reviewed by
DC Larson
(That DD Sparks, creator of the "Maximus Aquarius" character, is my brother in no way impacts the below judgements.)
Craft is the thoughtful choreographer of creative impulse. Lacking it, one has only unfocused spark, unproductive energy.
But braced by craft's intuitive calculatings, virginal musings assume perspective.
On each action strasse here located, one upturns treasures alurk: Shadow-draped glacial movements, fizzy percolations, spectral intonations -- each distinct shard locks into unseamed correspondence. (And while head may be above-clouds, feet are maintained to terra firma by trenchant six-string coloration and reassuringly familiar sax testimonies.)
About, one spots splinters of Roxy Music, T Rex, and ELO. But only splinters. Influences are subservient to Aquarius's own striking demeanor. At once darkly sagacious and wit-flecked, the observational time-trifler character -- a technicolor pastiche of Victorian elan and fantastic consciousness -- imprints the whole with uncanny lilt and commanding presence.
Craft revels in its peculiar reward.
RECOMMENDED "Cutting In the Blue," "Beloved Nemesis," "trick of the light," "dangerous angels"
http://www.ddsparks.com/
http://www.myspace.com/ddsparks
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dd-sparks/276113375360?v=info
"Maximus Aquarius"
(Magic Cabinet Records)
reviewed by
DC Larson
(That DD Sparks, creator of the "Maximus Aquarius" character, is my brother in no way impacts the below judgements.)
Craft is the thoughtful choreographer of creative impulse. Lacking it, one has only unfocused spark, unproductive energy.
But braced by craft's intuitive calculatings, virginal musings assume perspective.
On each action strasse here located, one upturns treasures alurk: Shadow-draped glacial movements, fizzy percolations, spectral intonations -- each distinct shard locks into unseamed correspondence. (And while head may be above-clouds, feet are maintained to terra firma by trenchant six-string coloration and reassuringly familiar sax testimonies.)
About, one spots splinters of Roxy Music, T Rex, and ELO. But only splinters. Influences are subservient to Aquarius's own striking demeanor. At once darkly sagacious and wit-flecked, the observational time-trifler character -- a technicolor pastiche of Victorian elan and fantastic consciousness -- imprints the whole with uncanny lilt and commanding presence.
Craft revels in its peculiar reward.
RECOMMENDED "Cutting In the Blue," "Beloved Nemesis," "trick of the light," "dangerous angels"
http://www.ddsparks.com/
http://www.myspace.com/ddsparks
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dd-sparks/276113375360?v=info
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
