#400 blows

[driveintheaterofthemind]

Arthouse Muppets

The Crustacean Collection

Art by Bruce McCorkindale

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

[possible-streetwear]

[estellaestella]

Hey would anyone want to do a group watch of THE 400 BLOWS?

It's the first film in the five that François Truffaut made about Antoine Doinel, depi ting different chapters of Antoine's life. It's one of the most highly regarded films of all time and is cited as one of the favourite films of many well-known directors.

Apparently Kurosawa called it "one of the most beautiful films that I have ever seen" and that's good enough for me ☺.

Please drop a comment in the notes if you're onboard. There wont be day to watch it - it'll be more like a 2 week window to watch it and then we can share thoughts on tumblr. (I'll find a link to a free site, this must be in some national online archive).

Let's do this for September and afterwards, maybe we could look into watching the other films about Antoine (Antoine and Colette, Stolen Kisses, Bed and Board, and Love on the Run.) one a month?

Oh btw i'm kicking this off because Luca Guadagnino cited this series of films as something he wants to do for Elio Perlman. CMBYN fans shd def give it a go 😍 Please reblog & feel free to tag ur film-loving friends

[mywifeleftme]

292: Various Artists // Abstract Magazine Issue 5

Abstract Magazine Issue 5 Various Artists 1985, Sweatbox Just got up to flip the record after sitting cross-legged on the couch typing on my laptop for quite a bit, not realizing my leg had fallen asleep until I tried to plant on it and had to pinwheel my arms to keep from falling flat out and cracking my head into my turntable. Absolutely how the coroner will shoot my body someday too, ass-naked and alone on the floor of my apartment, surrounded by instruments I can’t play and books I haven’t gotten to, bleeding into my record collection with a scythe propped sardonically against the wall in the background.

Speaking of ignominious deaths, while doing some research on the compiler of today’s record, a post-punk compilation / fanzine combo from 1985, the first thing that came up was a 2007 post from Burl Veneer’s old Typepad blog, specifically this inimitable sentence: “Abstract was the brainchild of Rob Deacon, who died last month in a canoeing accident at age 42 (same as me).” Strange nautical coincidence that, and a neat trick for Burl to keep blogging after death too (in fact, he’s still at it here on Tumblr), but I kept link hopping, and have learned that Deacon was quite a special guy, and a pivotal figure in two or three generations of UK music.

There’s genuine fondness and grief in The Guardian obit, the kind they reserve for lesser-known people who busted their asses and made a difference behind the scenes in media, and they spell out a resume I’m a little ashamed not to have been more up on. He was in his late teens when he started Abstract magazine, profiling the cream of the post-punk crop and cajoling exclusive tracks out of a bunch of them. Abstract would eventually morph into his own label, the influential Sweatbox, but the magazine + compilation bug stuck with him, and he’d go on to start the CD-era Volume series, which moved real numbers for an indie comp and featured… Jesus, everybody, apparently. He followed that up with the groundbreaking Trance Europe Express and Trance Atlantic electronic compilations, became a dance night impresario, did music photography, started a label (Deviant)… and then he fell out of his fuckin’ boat. Damn.

Abstract #5 is a real time capsule of 1985, featuring songs and interviews with the likes of Swans, Gene Loves Jezebel, Cindytalk, Colourbox, and the Jazz Butcher, interspersed with record reviews, scene reports, comics and more. The written pieces are all over the place stylistically, some transcribed in a borderline-incoherent fashion, others fighting for their lives against the adventurous two-tone printed layouts, but it has a wonderful fanzine energy and a level of ballsy spite you don’t see much these days.

Nearly every artist has a bone to pick with their label or journalists or bands they used to like that sold out or fans who have any sort of expectations of them. (The editorial pages get into it too, describing Morrissey “prancing daffodilously” and previewing a new New Order tune called “I’ve Got a Cock Like the M1,” which would see daylight as “The Perfect Kiss.”)

It’s zany and vulnerable and, even just shy of 40 years later, totally inspiring stuff. Highlights include Swans’ Michael Gira’s typically serial killer-coded interview, in which he talks about watching TV for 14 hours a day and shares the trans body horrific lyrics to a song called “BASTARD” that would eventually come out during the band’s maniac 1986; an account from industrial music pioneers Test Dept of the ’84 miner’s strike in South Wales, with a photo of one member who appears to have two sets of upper teeth like a shark; and the 400 Blows talking about having recorded their contribution to the issue in an echoing drainage pipe in which they nearly became trapped and drowned.

Musically this is by design a mixed bag (side one is kind of the uncommercial, experimental bits; side two the peppier guitar pop stuff). None of these exclusives would make anyone’s definitive collection of any of these bands, but as a complete listening and reading experience, Abstract #5 is a beautiful celebration. Cheers to Rob.

292/365

[speakspeak]

Timeless Cool: Jean-Pierre Leaud

[c-40]

A-T-4 006 400 Blows - Black and White Mix Up

Mad Professor mix of Declaration Of Intent. After a few singles (including the brilliant Beat The Devil) 400 Blows release there debut album …If I Kissed Her I'd Have To Kill Her First… on Illuminated Records. By now Tony Thorpe (Moody Boys, owner of Language Records) had joined Andrew E Beer (founder of Warrior Records) and Robert Taylor (founder of doomcore Fifth Era) in 400 Blows. The album is all over the place as you'd expect, tape effects and cut-ups with funk bass, industrial noise, and electro synths, it's not a gentle listen but it's a lot more fun than Miley Cyrus, A series of singles are released from the album Declaration Of Intent, Groove Jumping, and the non album track Pressure. Of course the 12" format allows them to experiment more

[aloekat]

his ass is NOT grant o’brien!!!!

[seravph]

ultimately i don’t think women are to blame for anti-feminist men

[squeakadeeks]

moodboard for this past week ❤️

[arsonwizard]

considering how murderbot only explains the absolute bare minimum outside of narration, it’s highly likely that Peri didn’t learn what ART stood for until Amena asked about it in network effect. it absolutely shouldn’t be surprised and yet

[citizenscreen]

François Truffaut‘S THE 400 BLOWS premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 4, 1959.

[dailyworldcinema]

The 400 Blows, 1959  dir. by François Truffaut

[speakspeak]

The 400 Blows

[c-40]

A-T-3 065 400 Blows - Return Of The Dog

Second single from the François Truffaut inspired 400 Blows, now on Illuminated Records. For the decade of big production it's refreshingly sparse, it sounds like it could have been a Bboy record. The b-side was titled French Donkey (they'd obviously see a donkey wearing a beret and smoking a Gauloises). You can find their debut here A-T-2 011