That Lipgloss Crisis makes us feel like such slackers. Back in August when we were throwing wild parties and opening horrible movies, it looked like the Scenics might be scene makers and not just commentators. But we've reverted back to our armchair role, and look on with utmost admiration at New Haven based artist and scene maker Lipgloss Crisis. Just a few weeks ago we enjoyed her Day of the Dead extravaganza; we've already mentioned her upcoming burlesque gig, and this weekend she's giving us another chance to see our other favorite CT musical act, Baby G (who we expect you'll lust love too after tomorrow night's gig) at the opening for a group photography show featuring work by Nick Thigpen, Dana Astmann and Tim Mannle at Bru Cafe. Thigpen? Astmann? Mannle? Could those last names be any awesomer? No! Their photos are probably awesome as well, and will be on view through January 5.
We've already gone over why you shouldn't just boycott shopping altogether this holiday season (if you want your friends to still like you), but you can shop superior by shopping local and independent. A friend-of-the-blog is behind another great alt-shopping event coming up this weekend, which will feature dozens of vendors of art and craft, along with refreshments and another sexy friend-of-the-blog doing chair massage (she totally massages chairs, it's hot). Best of all, this event is free. Because you shouldn't have to pay to shop. Give all your money to the nice starving artists.
We're always happy to have great CT talent brought to our attention. Our newest music promoting friend-of-the-blog recently turned us on to Bronze Radio Return. These guys have a radio-ready sound and have been up to exciting, high-profile gigs like opening for Obama at his recent Bridgeport appearance, so we're sure they're destined for greatness. They have that right mix of contemporary pop sensibility and classic rock influence - and youth and beauty - that made big names in sensitive masculinity like John Mayer, Rob Thomas and Maroon 5 so universally appealing. Truth be told, the Scenics are personally drawn to somewhat edgier (i.e. more depressing, obviously disturbed) fare, so Bronze Radio Return might get old fast if they get the chance to get overplayed - but we see that as a distinct possibility for a band with such hit-making ability and hope to be changing the station on them soon! Check them out Wednesday night at Mohegan Sun's Wolf Den before you have to start paying for these guys.
This show is a must-see for me. I caught New Haven's Baby G, or Leila Crockett, in her solo incarnation a few years back at an open mic and have been wanting more of her antique blues and devastating originals ever since. I hadn't heard of acclaimed national act Vandaveer until my research a couple of minutes ago, but I'm just as excited about him/them now and looking forward to an evening of low-key music and brutal lyrics to send me home deliciously sad. I'll shut up now and let the songs speak for themselves:
Last weekend we so enjoyed the burlesque show at Cafe Nine, and after Thanksgiving we're looking forward to enjoying burlesque-overs this Friday. But we'll have to travel for it. Like, a whole hour. Some of the featured performers are CT gals we've seen before - Kitty Katastrophe and Lily La Vamp - along with some new-to-us names, Serendipity Galore, Captain Elastico and Miss Bettysioux Tailor. We're sure they're charming and sexy as heck too.
Check out Ms Kitty doing her thing:
Next on our burlesque calendar (yeah, we've got a burlesque calendar now): Friday, December 17, our new friend Lipgloss Crisis presents all our favorite CT burlesque chicas that we totally know (Kitty, Dot, Lily, Nikki, All Systems Go-Go) at our favorite New Haven venue, Cafe Nine for a Holiday Spectacular.
This Friday avoid getting trampled to death at gross corporate monstrosity big box stores, by shopping great events like the Blackout at Redscroll, or the Artisan Bazaar in Torrington. Julia of Brazen Betties tipped me off to this event, and she'll be there with her awesome wares along with other local artists and crafters. Shopping for gifts in as inevitable part of this "holiday season." Even if you're the environmentally responsible, non-materialistic type, I assure you, your friends and loved ones will feel much more special and appreciative when you present them with a unique handcrafted gift and support a talented local in the process than if you try and pull that "I made a charitable donation in your name, here's a piece of paper for you" crap. Fact: every time I wear one of my great purchases from Brazen Betties I get attention and compliments. So go shop the bazaar, and wear something hideous for the "Ugly X-mas Sweater After-Party" at Bogey's.
By now you know what kinds of films the Scenics prefer - the "feel-bad" kind. And we're lucky to have a home venue in Real Art Ways to supply us with a steady stream of such. We particularly prefer bad feelings of the first-world variety - the self-inflicted, existential miseries we can totally identify with. Enter the Void, Gaspar Noé's psychedelic meditation on sleaze (or is it a sleazy meditation on psychedelics?), has bad feelings to spare.
As usual, I went into watching this movie purposefully with as little background as possible - having heard only that director was famous for creating one of the most graphic and disturbing cinematic rape scenes ever in his previous film, Irreversible, which I've totally heard of, but hadn't seen. The Scenics caught the trailer for Enter the Void on a previous RAW outing, so I knew it was a drug movie with some overtones of brother-sister incest in the mix.
And you'll get all this too in the opening scene, which also introduces Noé's conceit of filming from our drugged out protagonist's point of view. This is off-putting at first, but pretty soon it's apparent that Noé has brilliantly and accurately accomplished what many have tried before - this drug-vision, which has so often been executed to ridiculous or distracting effect. The Tokyo inhabited by Noé's cast of lowlife Caucasians is all the more beautiful, menacing, luminous and alien as envisioned through a haze of DMT, LSD and ecstasy. Enough cannot be said about Enter the Void as an achievement in visual effects.
However, such praise cannot be heaped on the story that is told. Because of the film's meandering, hallucinatory quality, there isn't a lot of plot to "spoil," but I'll try and be as vague as possible anyway. An effective device of Noé's is his folding of time on itself, with images of the past - both the idyllic and the horrific - infringing on the present day action - the persistent anxieties of a bad trip. Unfortunately the present day action consists of our brother and sister pair on their separate downward spirals of depravity, but because they've been so sketchily drawn and dumbly portrayed, it isn't clear that either had far to fall or innocence for us to mourn the loss of.
Grotesque and gratuitous portrayals of sex, violence and drug abuse and an utter lack of likable or sympathetic characters will be a turn-off to the average viewer (who doesn't read our blog or go to our theater anyway) and a turn-on for the pervy indie minority who will embrace Enter the Void. Those who hang with it will be rewarded by the film's painfully drawn out, climactic multi-orgy scene with it's bizarre glowing genitals and ultimately, the intra-vaginal/penis-thrust cam. But that is all you will be rewarded with.
After my viewing, I checked out what film critics had to say about Enter the Void, and found that we are all pretty much in agreement - simultaneously bowled over by the cool visuals and put off or disappointed by the everything else. But the cool visuals are non-stop for more than two hours, so for filmmakers and drug film aficionados, it's nevertheless a must-see.
The Scenics are an old-fashioned bunch (old actually), so we're all turned on by the prospect of an actual record store with tangible, physical product. In the past we've been motivated to travel far afield to get our hands on such matter as cds and vinyl. This Friday - and all weekend long - if you must participate in the gross American tradition of frenzied shopping following your day of gluttonous eating, we suggest including Redscroll Records' 4th Annual Blackout at Sunrise Sale in your itinerary. Everything will be marked down for the occasion and they are offering further enticements on Friday like live DJs (DJ Lokash and Anthony from The Needle Drop) and hangout room, homemade muffins in tempting sounding seasonal flavors (Sweet potato! Pumpkin! Etc.!) and coffee. We might be in it for the muffins alone, honestly. The action begins Friday at 6 a.m., which is mental, but whatever lifts up your skirt.
We've developed certain Scenic weekend rituals. Like after a admirable morning of self-denial and physical discipline (breakfast-skipping and Bikram yoga) - not to mention the week-long virtue and industriousness we've exhibited by attending our jobs and generally not killing anyone or breaking stuff - we like to reward ourselves with the indulgence of an exotic meal out. Saturday afternoon, DH and I were both jonesing for pho (a favorite dish around here) and attempted to eat at our current favorite pho joint, West Hartford's Pho Boston. Well, Pho Boston was packed and there were people actually waiting to be seated (this place is often moderately jumping, but we've never seen a wait before). So we decided to try something new (to us) in the same plaza - The Thai Room - previously recommended to me by my frequent blog-tivity partner, SuperLula.
At The Thai Room, I was able to satisfy some of the physical cravings I had hoped to work out over at PhoBo - rich, sweet Asian-style iced coffee and the pleasurable act of eating noodles with chopsticks. The iced coffee was artistic perfection. Observe gorgeous Guiness-esque head and drizzly patterns! We each had a bowl of tom ka gai soup to start. The chicken in this soup left something to be desired in terms of texture and flavor (it was a little dry and bland) but the spicy coconut broth and vegetables were great. I had pad thai (just needed noodles, damn it), which was generously peanutted and came in a portion large enough for two leftover revisits over the course of the weekend. DH had ginger chicken, which was impressively gingered - with substantial, crispy spears of ginger and a zingy broth.
We were pleased with our meal and are excited to add The Thai Room to our restaurant repertoire. And on the even brighter side, we're still looking forward to making up for lost eating with another pho outing - soon!
Our regulars already know and love Sidewalk Dave, but for the newcomers, let's take a moment to recap. This great New Haven band was enterprising enough to contact the Scenics early this year for self-promotional purposes. We would have given them press regardless (was that like our first email ever?!), but we were pleased to be able to put our genuine enthusiasm behind them after checking out their material - great songs and self-produced videos. So when it came time to plan our great Blogaversary celebration, it made perfect sense to invite Sidewalk Dave to play. We had yet to see them live or meet in person, but we promised them donuts, liquor and inadequate pay, and they said yes and showed up at the appointed time and place. We were impressed with their punctuality, as well as their youthful good looks and eccentric wardrobe choices.
By the end of the night our whole party was impressed with their awesome live performance, which we later described as twangy and hard rocking beyond our expectations. Since then we've been lucky enough to see them a few more times here on our home turf, and look forward to more of their monthly gigs at the Half Door. We've gotten to know their recordings and are floored by Dave's religion and alcoholism obsessed lyrics. Because nothing is more appealing to a Scenic than a literate alcoholic perspective (or drug-addled in general, let's be honest - may we suggest some of our favorites - Bukowski, Burroughs, Burroughs, Thompson, Welsh, or on the music side, cause that's what we're talking about - Elliot Smith, Murder City Devils, and our eloquent famous friend Peter Dolving). We should be so fucked up, but we're just miserable about nothing. Join us and drown the pain of being alive this Wednesday!
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