Kier-La Janisse and Lydia Lunch talk folk horror

I like Lydia Lunch's old band, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, and some of her other stuff. She's pretty cool and interesting. She does her own podcast, "The Lydia Spin'', which is interesting if you look at her list of guests. However, when you actually listen to the show ... less so. I find it mind-numbingly boring to listen to their 20-30 minute intros often (but not always) about ... nothing really. Often just blah blah blah. And her male podcast partner, Tim Dahl, and his constant loud, fake laughter ... I wish there were a feature to block people on podcasts like you can block someone on facebook.

Anyhoo, here's a pretty good episode with Kier-La Janisse who did the (apparently huge, I haven't got it) booklet for the folk horror bluray box set that came out a few months back. Skip to ca. 18 minutes into the podcast where the interview starts, and hit the stop button once Dahl takes over and starts babbling about killer car films and animal killer films that he doesn't know anything about ("Did you invent the term 'folk horror'?" Argh!).

Direct link to the episode

PS: don't worry about the "part 2". There is really only this one new part. "Part 1" was a different interview from two yrs ago.

DEATH VALLEY '69 (Richard Kern, 1985)

I've owned Richard Kern's DVD "Hardcore" collection of his underground films from New York for well over 10 years. Last night I rebought the collection - this time on blu-ray. From Oldies.com, haha.

The above video is Kern's short film for the Sonic Youth track "Death Valley '69" about the Manson murders. It has the look and feel of any Richard Kern underground film. It has Kern regulars Lung Leg and Lydia Lunch in it! (although the latter only on the soundtrack) Great video/Kern flick.

Richard Kern, Lung Leg, Dave K, zines from last year and yesteryear

Recently, I received David K's (sometimes Dave K) oneshot fanzine from last year, Fiendish. Thanks, David (and thanks for the mention). David does the A Fiend on Film channel on YouTube. Cool stuff, check it out, paesano! Last night I read his article on the complete blu-ray release of Richard Kern's 1980s underground films from New York entitled "Hardcore". Good stuff.

I watched some of Kern's stuff via 4th or 5th generation VHS dupes back in the 90s and always dreamed of having lived in NY in the 80s - and to have hung out with the likes of Lydia Lunch, haha. (don't mention it, no, I'm sure it wasn't as cool to actually have been there as it is to watch the flicks). Funnily enough, David mentions that if he'd seen Lung Leg (from Kern's films) back then he would probably have fallen in love. I can understand why. Fucked up and yet so attractive. The irony is whereas I wished I'd been in NY in the dark and gloomy 1980s David K was actually there ... and missed the whole thing. Well, the Richard Kern underground thing that is. Oh well, that's how life goes sometimes. In regards to Lung Leg here's something I don't think I've ever mentioned on this blog or elsewhere;

I published my first fanzine in 1994, Banned in Britain #1.  Then at some stage in the latter part of said decade I received an e-mail from someone in the States. I forget his name. My zine was distributed by people in the UK, Norway (Thomas Eikrem's Rage distro), and Denmark. But never in the US. But even so by the end of the 90s he'd gotten hold of a copy of that long gone debut issue, and he sent me an article about Lung Leg. By that time she had completely disappeared off the face of the Earth. Or at least disappeared from the New York underground scene and the people who monitored it.

It was a well written article. And that was about it. I never heard from him again. I was slow at getting my arse in gear and putting out the next issue of Banned in Britain. Didn't happen till 2004 and by then I'd completely forgotten about the article. A couple of years back I remembered it and did a Google search and found out that not only had Lung Leg returned from whatever dark, damp, dank hideout she'd been holed up in, but she'd even been in some new horor flick. Well, as The Cramps might or might not have said; that's the way the flop mops sometimes. 
 

Oh, Lydia

Sods bass player Knudd Odd talking about Lydia Lunch's involvement in their LP "Dagger & Guitar". From the TV documentary OMKRING EN SORT SOL - ET PORTRÆT AF SODS from 1984 (this is from the actual TV broadcast that I taped on Betamax!!!). It's never been repeated in its original form.

When you post about LYDIA LUNCH you don't really need a headline. Just watch the fucking videos!

WILL WORK FOR DRUGS/Lydia Lunch/ Book Trailer from TanKMutaTion on Vimeo.

The past few months I've been a wild and insane hunt for the old NO WAVE bands, the records, the people, the books, the stories, the rumours, the pictures - ohh, the pictures - and indeed the pictures of a young LYDIA LUNCH are nice to say the least. And talking of which, I stumbled over this trailer for a French translated edition of one of Lydia's books that was made public recently. The book is "Will Work For Drugs" (or Déséquilibres Synthétiques in the lingo of the frog eaters). I haven't read it. Or any other books by Lunch. But the pictures are nice and TEENAGE JESUS AND THE JERKS is mandatory listening.

And the VIMEO uploaded video lead me to THIS other video, a new(ish) music video from Lydia. Watch them both, they pretty cool.

Your Love don't Pay My Rent from TanKMutaTion on Vimeo.

PS: I realise the videos are a bit too big for the video space that this blogger layout allows and I could fix it but updating to one of the newer fancier layouts but screw that I'm gonna stick with this old one (that you can't even choose any longer as Blogger has deleted it in the layout section). Alternatively, go to VIMEO and watch the videos in their full size.

My and my buddy Lydia

Yay! Spiffy!! My new T-shirt!!! Well, my new T-shirt that I've ordered and paid for that is, I haven't received it yet. It's the ad for Richard Kern's FINGERED that stars Lydia Lunch. I got those Kerns films almost twenty years ago thru tape trading. And when Another World Entertainment started out many years ago head honcho Jan Schmidt sent me the reg. 1 "Hardcore Collection" dvd (which contains most of Kern's old New York underground films) which Jan was distributing thru his other distribution company at the time (I believe that label dealt with music releases for most part).

Jan really must have dug those films (understandably!) cos he has just released them on the AWE label! Beyond cool if you ask me! The fact that AWE screw up Lung Leg's name on the cover (and on their website) is very embarrassing though! "Leg Lung", hahaha. Hmm, that reminds me of something that happened 7 or 8 years ago. I didn't have internet at home at the time and instead I'd go to the local library and use their computers. One day I received a mysterious email; A guy somewhere in America sent me an article he'd written about Lung Leg and he said I could print it if I wanted to. I assumed he'd somehow got hold of my English language fanzine "Banned in Britian" which was being distributed in various parts of the world back then. And then... nothing. He just disappeared as mysteriously as he popped up.

The article was a long well written piece on Lung Leg and the mystery that surrounded her at the time; After she made the underground films in New York she completely disappeared for many years. Rumour was she was dead, probably of a drug overdose. The article tried to dig into what might have become of her. As I said it was well written and all but I never got to print it simply because I never published another issue of "Banned in Britain". And even if I were to publish another issue (which I'm not) there's now a new problem: Lung Leg has actually surfaced which kinda renders the article void!! Hahaha. There's a (short) Wiki page on her that mentions her new(ish) work.

Anyway, this isn't a review of the Richard Kern films (it's a post about my new cool T-shirt!) but I highly recommend them. Those New York underground films are everything film making should be about. Nasty, gritty, ugly, in black & white, crude, full of violence, and not holding back. There's even love too. Kind of (in a "I really-really hate you and I would stab you if I had a knife or fork or pencil" way). There's a guy called Henry in there as well. How can underground films with a guy called Henry not be awesome (he uses to be in a band called Black Flag too). Oh, and I didn't even mention Nick Zedd. Man, Nick Zedd had the most pissed off face of any faces. Johnny Rotten would've died for that face!!! When THE CRAMPS has a line that goes, "She's got a look on her puss like she was weaned on a pickle" - THAT'S Nick Zedd!!!!! Forever weaned on a pickle.

Check the AWE disc here. It's in rotten Danish but you can have a gander at the pix.

Oh Lydia

Ohhh Lydia

This oughtta be on a 45 and put on repeat. xD

Heey, it's my old SODS tape with Lydia Lunch!!!

In 1984 I taped a documentary off Danish TV (on Betamax tape no less) about the Danish underground band SORT SOL, back then also known as Sods. The docu is entitled OMKRING EN SORT SOL - ET PORTRÆT AF SODS. On Sort Sol's third LP, Dagger & Guitar, they had two tracks which featured New York no-wave queen LYDIA LUNCH. I've kept the tape all these years and last year some Lydia Lunch fan in Spain saw one of my posts on Dvdmaniacs where I referred to it and he wrote me and asked for a copy. He got the copy, never bothered to pay me or even say thanks, but now - lo and behold - some guy in CANADA has just uploaded the part with Lunch from my tape (yes, I recognise the worn tape, LOL). So despite the impolite Spanish dude it's nice that it's finally out for everyone to see.

Sort Sol (aka Sods) featuring Lydia Lunch on the track "Boy/Girl" from "Omkring en sort sol - et portræt af Sods" (from DR TV, Denmark, 1984)



The cover for the "Dagger & Guitar" LP from 1983.



(click the covers for bigger size)