In February and March of 2014, I had the good fortune to spend an extended amount of time in Prague, one of the great towns in the world for strange and spooky stories. The following long-form article has been assembled from travel dispatches written while roaming the winding streets of Prague
Author Archives: Keith
Brass Before Ass: Exploring Swinging London with Deadly Sweet
Before Salon Kitty redirected his career toward sex films, Tinto Brass was just another idealistic young director looking to capture the zeitgeist of the 1960s. Deadly Sweet was inspired and influenced by Antonioni’s Blow-Up but also markedly different.
Clora Bryant: Gal with a Horn
Clora Bryant only recorded one album, but you can hear her trumpet alongside some of the greatest to ever take the stage: Billie Holiday, Josephine Baker, Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, and her mentor, Dizzy Gillespie.
Journey to Blofeld’s Hideaway
Piz Gloria, perched atop the Schilthorn and surrounded by some of the most famous peaks in the Swiss Alps, is one of the must-visit James Bond film locations.
Bahut yaarana lagta hai
Todd Stadtman’s vast, voracious appetite for the beautiful and strange art of the world pushed me beyond limitations I would have otherwise settled within. “I still have a lot to discover. “I still have a lot to discover” is one of the best feelings in the world, and Todd instilled it in me almost daily.
Tarot Will Teach You
I have not touched a tarot deck since high school. My relationship with such things has always been casual. But as the human race continues to reel about in its own filth, I’ve begun to rethink my association with certain interests.
Sci-Fi, Shochiku Style
On the Cultural Gutter, I’m writing about apocalyptic scifi and horror from the normally well-behaved Japanese film studio Shochiku. Shochiku was most closely identified with shomin-geki, dramas about the lives of everyday people, and the undisputed master of such films was Shochiku director Yasujiro Ozu. But a studio can only exist for so long onContinue reading “Sci-Fi, Shochiku Style”
Condorman Flies Again
By adulthood, I couldn’t even remember why I hated Condorman. I could only remember that I did. That was just too much like those stories where two sides have been killing each other for so long that they can no longer even remember why they are fighting.
How Nat Became King: Hittin’ the Ramp with the King Cole Trio
Before he was “King,” he was Nathaniel Adams Coles. In the 1930, he put together a rowdy jazz trio that was a lot different than the Nat King Cole most people know.
Noir & B: Slow Grind Fever Vols. 1-4
The Slow Grind Fever series is a fascinating collections of creepy, crawly R&B in a minor key; some songs and artists major hit makers…others mysterious and obscure. It’s proper music for smoky juke joints, rowdy house parties, and dangerous liaisons.
On a Sinister Note: Film Noir Jazz
In the 1950s, film began to move away from romantic or bombastic orchestral scores and toward a more varied landscape. One of the styles that started making its mark on cinematic soundtracks during this period was jazz.
Les Baxter: Music Out of the Moon
A pioneering work of “space age pop,” Music out of the Moon was a collaboration between arranger Les Baxter, composer Harry Revel, and theremin player Samuel Hoffman.
