Category Archives: Nihilism

In our monthly columnLaughed to Death, Brianna Zigler looks at the marriage between comedy and existentialism. For this installment, she unpacks the idyllic, inane approach to nihilism, mortality, and the absurdity of existence in Harmony Korines The Beach Bum.

I could tell you that Ive been trying to cover the abyss beneath my illusory connection with the world. I could tell you that its all written in the stars. I could tell you that Im a reverse paranoiac; Im quite certain that the world is conspiring to make me happy. All three of which are true, but its a little simpler than that. I like to have fun, man. Funs the fuckin gun, man.

When we first meet Moondog, the most prolific poet in Key West, Florida, in Harmony KorinesThe Beach Bum, hes floating down the darkened, damp road of a night that has only just begun. Suddenly, through his eternally drugged-out haze, he notices a kitten, a pure white, little mewling thing that manages to catch his eye instantly. When no one comes to claim it at that moment, the aimless boozer takes over custody of the abandoned misfit, bringing the animal along with him to a dank, dirty dive bar that welcomes his presence with the enthusiasm of the local legend that he is. Kitten in one hand, notebook in the other, he proceeds to recite a poem for the fawning crowd about finding beauty in his penis that had twice been inside someone he loves that day.

He recites this same poem while wearing a beautiful womens ballgown as he accepts his Pulitzer Prize at the end of the film. Just preceding this concluding moment, he is bathed in a pool of indigo light and donning a floral womens swimsuit top, smiling serenely to himself as he tries to answer an interviewer asking the simple question Howd you pull it off?. Yes, how did this once-revered, has-been poet who pisses away his money on drugs, booze, women, and all forms of utmost pleasure and filth-encrusted decadence come back from the financial and artistic brink and craft another seminal work of art? His aforementioned explanation is one that, on the surface, seems to sum up the entire anchor of this existentialist, stoner comedy.

Korine, the notoriously provocative director of Gummo,Trash Humpers, and Springs Breakers, returns to the humid, hedonistic haven of Florida and centers his seventh film on the exploits of the man known only to us as Moondog (Matthew McConaughey in what feels like the laid-back, dirtbag role he was always born to play). Sometimes, the character can be found schmoozing in grimy bars and fucking patrons in the kitchen; sometimes hes hanging out on a boat called the Well Hung, surrounded by scantily clad women, guzzling alcohol, playing bongo drums, and draped in a live boa constrictor. Hes a beloved, native eccentric who is happiest surrounded by scum and sex, as opposed to the expansive, Miami villa housing his devoted wife Minnie (Isla Fischer), strait-laced adult daughter Heather (Stefania LaVie Owen), and their vast, inherited fortune. Moondog is a celebrated writer long past his prime, marked by his long, greasy hair, sun-kissed skin, clip-on shades, and perennially shirtless body, who thrives as a bottom-feeder in the Florida Keys. But Moondog isnt burned out hes only ever burning.

With its candy-coated cinematography drenching the world in shades of seafoam green, bubblegum pink, fuchsia, cerulean, and violet, The Beach Bum is saturated in color like a Lisa Frank-inspired neon fever dream. The film carries you along its effervescent atmosphere guided by the pleasure-seeking Moondog, who seems to want us to have as good a time as hes having. Moondog can never have a bad time, even in the wake of Minnies tragic, premature death, and the loss of his financial stability, and the alienation from his daughter and her limp dick husband; and even being sentenced to a year in rehab after trashing with the help of a parade of homeless people his former mansion home, which hed been barred from.

Moondog has to, in his own words, go low to get high, so, in his darkest circumstances, he is only ever reaching for the next glimmers of light. You see, just as Moondog loves to soak himself in the muck and the mud, among the salt of the earth and the saltwater expanse that lays ever before him, so too,is The Beach Bum permeated by cynicism just as it is by carefree, bohemian warmth. Part of Moondogs monologue to the interviewer isnt even his its a quote from author J.D. Salinger but thats not the first time he has plagiarized someone elses work on his mostly undaunted path to success. The Beach Bum exhibits an irreverent, nihilistic behavior that matches that of its protagonist.

On the night of his daughters wedding, Moondog discovers though he had had his suspicions that Minnie has been cheating on him with their family friend, Lingerie (Snoop Dogg). Moondog proceeds to get appropriately fucked up after seeing the two of them share a passionate kiss, and he vacates the afterparty. But the equally trashed Minnie, knowing and loving her husband more intimately than any embrace shes shared with Lingerie, leaves to meet Moondog at a bar somewhere nearby.

Buoyed by her delicate voice, Peggy Lees Is That All There Is? carries the two intoxicated lovers to Minnies accidental demise by drunk driving. From there, we learn that Minnie had been holding tightly onto an uncanny suspicion that she would die before her reckless husband, as foretold to her by a psychic, and without Moondogs knowledge, Minnie had it planned out in her will to keep her vast family fortune from him until he pulls up his bootstraps and writes the next great American novel that hes been slowly chipping away at in fits and spurts between his various acts of debauchery.

This throws a wrench into Moondogs life, which despite his own literary success has mostly been kept afloat by his wifes money. This has allowed him, up to this point, to indulge in the vices he allegedly requires for artistic inspiration. So, without them, he lashes out when asked by his daughter why he destroyed his own home after being cut off from Minnies money and their mansion, as he awaits the bus to take him to his court-sanctioned rehab stint, he replies, I dunnoboredom?

He continues on his path of disillusioned destruction by breaking out of rehab alongside the pyromaniac paint-sniffer Flicker (Zac Efron), a vape-smoking delinquent marked by a Bluetooth headset ever in his ear, tiger-striped facial hair, and the widest-leg jeans possible. Sometime after theyve escaped, they attack a disabled man on a motor scooter and steal his money. When Moondog exhibits guilt over their unwarranted cruelty, Flicker gets him back on track by explaining, in the only way a character like Flicker can, that Christ was even a sinner, so we clean man.

Herein lies the paradox of Moondog: death, pain, destruction, and suffering follow him wherever he goes, even if hes not always intentionally inflicting it. He is constantly surrounded by morbidity Minnies accident, his friend Captain Wack (Martin Lawrence) losing his leg in a shark attack, the random acts of violence he knowingly or unknowingly commits against strangers and all the while he cant help but feel his age as his young self clings to the periphery of his life like a ghost.

Its the ironic consequence of Moondogs carefree mindset, which hinges less on hippie love than negligence and distinctly bourgeois lack of empathy for other people. He knocks bystanders off boardwalks and laughs when they plunge into the water. He assaults Limp Dick at Heathers wedding by grabbing his genitals to check his penis size.

And despite the focus on fun and living in the moment that he appears to preach, Moondog is constantly preoccupied with his mortality, looking back on old videos of himself reciting poetry and reflecting on his younger years marked by consistent success. Aint that far down if we dont look, right? he asks Flicker at one point, a serene outlook on his path towards death that still bears a distinct notion of fear.

As if acting only as a glittering faade, the funny, blissed-out, ebullient film harbors a sickness underneath, just like its perpetually tranquil protagonist. Moondogs fun-loving mantra cannot be separated from his own misanthropic malice self-centeredness, carelessness, narcissism, and his deep distaste for his fellow man. You know what I liked the most about being rich? Moondogs previously beleaguered agent Lewis (Jonah Hill) asks him after Moondog has finally sprung back into the arms of success: You can just be horrible to people and they just have to take it. Moondog laughs in agreement.

Thus, The Beach Bum has been pegged as nihilism masquerading as a stoner comedy; a kooky, doped-up testament to our cruel, meaningless world wherein men like Moondog can skate past consequences and fail upwards on account of their perceived genius. But that read of the film feels far too obvious, and theres even a scene in which Heather says this as directly to her dad as if shes saying it to the camera when explaining to him that his genius not just love made Minnie stay by his side: Thats why youve always been able to get away with everything, Dad. Nihilism is a school of thought that negates aspects of life generally held to be true, such as knowledge and existence, and holds the grim belief that life has no meaning and people have no purpose. Which isnt really what The Beach Bumencapsulates.

The film flirts with nihilism but is more aligned with the Absurd. In philosophy, the Absurd refers to the clash between human beings inherent desire to find meaning in life and our inability to do so with true certainty. Possibly the most prominent quote from famous absurdist philosopher Albert Camus is this: Man stands face to face with the irrational. He feels within him his longing for happiness and for reason. The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world.

Watching The Beach Bum feels like a manifestation of this confrontation with the irrational, as we preoccupy and even frustrate ourselves with searching for the reason why Moondog can evade serious repercussion and thrive off his mediocre poetry, which hes twice admitted to plagiarizing. And its not just the viewers; characters in the film are searching for this answer as well. Howd you pull it off? now feels like a question desperately posed from the audience and from every other person in Moondogs world as much as it does this one journalist. Yet all the while, Moondog is having the time of his life, and life only ever goes on.

How can our world be so cruel, so absurd, yet conspire to make a man like Moondog happy? Why can a guy like Moondog get everything he wants and get away with everything else while so much of the planet suffers? But from the absurd is born lucidity, and in the film, it is the understanding that there is meaning in meaninglessness. The ironic beauty and absurdity of The Beach Bum is that happiness can coexist alongside death, that optimism and nihilism are not mutually exclusive, that joy can be found amidst meaninglessness, cruelty, and cosmic unfairness.

There is no real arc for Moondog. He never has any sort of revelatory moment when we witness him repent on his past behavior. Moondog stays exactly the same. He enters the film a carefree vagrant, and he leaves it in a similar fashion, this time wearing womens clothes and carrying a prestigious Pulitzer Prize. Not only does he not experience any internal emotional shift, but he doesnt suffer any retribution for his actions either. He is never truly punished for who he is and what he does; hes only ever rewarded for it. He is a black hole of consumption and greed, and yet he evokes joy from those lucky enough to know him.

Moondog does finally put his nose to the grindstone and finishes his book; he does subsequently regain control over Minnies inheritance. And then he sets it all aflame and burns it in the most bombastic fashion a guy like Moondog could: atop a brand new boat accompanied by fireworks shooting off in a deafening, colorful display behind him. Between Moondogs commitment to finishing his memoir of poetry (titled, of course, The Beach Bum) and the burning of his inheritance, it might feel as if he truly has had a change of heart. But this is an intentionally misleading sequence. Moondogs decision to rid himself of the wealth he once leaned on as a crutch is less an anti-capitalist act or disavowal of his upper-class roots than another display of total carelessness. Scorched cash rains down upon adoring onlookers who are only too eager to catch some of this ruined fortune, now robbed of any value to them.

Yet, at the eye of Moondogs storm of insanity and self-indulgence, of contradictions, indifference, and recklessness, there can be found calm. Everyone who knows Moondog is happy to have known him and to have been a part of his world, even if only fleetingly. Rich, poor, and everyone in between celebrate when Moondog reveals his sweaty face and greasy hair from out of the shadows that he dwells in. Amidst the chaos and decadence and apathy and cruelty can be found beauty and meaning. Moondog is only one man, but he encapsulates the absurdity of the human condition. The magnificent paradox of being alive. Being a part of what you did, Lewis tells Moondog soberly, maybe that means something now.

The realization that life is absurd cannot be an end, but only a beginning, said Camus.

Oh, what a fucking blast, says Moondog, as he floats off into the ocean.

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Is That All There Is? On Beauty and Absurdity in The Beach Bum - Film School Rejects

Novogratz is bullish. Photo: Getty Images for Friends of Hudson River Park

Mike Novogratz, once a partner at Goldman Sachs who went on to be a hedge fund manager at Fortress Investment Group, has found his biggest financial success in cryptocurrency. Now the billionaire founder and CEO of Galaxy Digital, Novogratzis building his own crypto-focused financial empire and has just sealed a deal to buy digital currency trading platform BitGo for $1.2 billion, the first billion-dollar merger in crypto. During a virtual interview at the Ethereal Summit Friday a few days prior to Elon Musks announcement that he was suspending Bitcoin payments for Teslas over energy-use concerns Novogratz discussed his perspective on the technology, how he ended up with 85 percent of his net worth in crypto, and why he keeps losing out on NFT auctions. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.Your company, Galaxy Digital, just acquired BitGo for $1.2 billion. It was the biggest deal so far in the industry. Are you looking at more billion dollar deals? Do you have that kind of dry powder?I do think bigger is better going forward for a bunch of different reasons. Something really cool for us crypto nerds happened in the last six months, like we went from hoping to be an asset class to being an institutional asset class like that. That means that if youre not long, youre short. So every institution we speak to whether its a corporate, financial or tech institution are trying to find their way into the space.

People think, well, whats the total addressable market of our space? Who the heck knows? Its growing so fast. Were making money in places we didnt think we were gonna make money in, and Im sure next year trying to predict my earnings is gonna be really hard. We didnt have an NFT business nine months ago, because almost no one did. But all of a sudden now, NFTs are in inning one of a nine-inning game.Something else thats changed this year is that Coinbase went public, which is a huge change on Wall Street, and Galaxy itself is planning an IPO later this year. How does that change things from your perspective, and what do you say to people who are concerned about seeing crypto go Wall Street?I spent my last six years literally trying to convince people that this revolution was worthwhile, because it was going to help us rebuild the financial infrastructure of our country to make it more transparent, more egalitarian, more fair, more efficient. We have a capitalism thats broken. I dont want to replace capitalism with socialism. We need to fix capitalism, because right now, its not working for a ton of people. When people ask me about Dogecoin, or GameStop, this is a young generation screaming out and basically given the middle finger to the system, and saying, Hey, screw you guys. Theres a nihilism almost to it.

And so Ive been trying to focus on the constructive side of that revolution. This is more than just a financial game. This is a revolution. And so I think the more people we can bring in the tent, the better. There are lots of investors whose first exposure to our space is going to be through public equities. Thats what theyre used to. Thats what theyre comfortable with. I think, to be in this business, youve got to be willing to eat your arm, and then grow a new one. Cut your foot off and grow a new one, right? Because youre not going to go from where we were to where we could go overnight.

But were a long way from, I think, a decentralized world. And the question I have, and its a real question its not a statement is, will the consumer care? Right? Its the back of the TV to the consumer. So does he even know the difference? And if consumers trust us, well, whats the big deal? Until one day we get really drunk and decide to play funny tricks on em? Youve got a lot of blockchains that I call BINOs blockchains in name only. A blockchain is not a blockchain is not a blockchain. Theyre not all the same. And I dont think the consumer or the investor has put a lot of thought into that.

Youve predicted before that bitcoin will hit $100,000 by the end of the year. You also predicted in January that ether would reach $2,600 in January, and weve already blown way past that its lately been trading around $4,000. So are you revising your projection for ether?

You know, hats off to all the ether-heads out there. I think we saw something really awesome in the last few months. And it was a confluence of kind of three tailwinds all at the same time. We already had payments and stable coins that really kind of gave ether the kick last year. But then all of a sudden, you have decentralized finance and NFTs both on Ethereum at the same time roughly, with wild accelerating growth. And you start believing, hey, this will be the supercomputer that authenticates all this stuff thats happening. Listen, all markets correct; almost 100 percent certainty it will happen its just the math. But its pretty staggering. And listen, ether looks likely to go a lot higher now.

How much higher, do you think?You know, its dangerous to give predictions on the highs. But could it get to $5,000? Of course it could.I remember talking to you at the end of 2017 and you were saying about 30 percent of your net worth was in bitcoin, ether, and some other cryptos. What are you at now? How are you thinking about your portfolio and the role of these things in it?

Like anybody in crypto, the last five months have kind of rocked our worlds in terms of what percentage of our net worth is in crypto. And I think Im up to 85 percent in crypto. I have lots of other investments that I love: the mushroom company that Ive been involved in, and Bojangles, the chicken company. Its just that cryptos had a move that is a once-in-a-generation move. And I think people should understand that its not going to keep happening over and over. Like this idea that weve gone from not-an-asset-class to an asset class only can happen once.

But this wild acceleration that were seeing, where things are up 30 times, 40 times, 100 times, thats not normal. It doesnt happen very often. People in the space should kiss their boyfriend or kiss their girlfriend and give each other a hug, because its fun to have been in the space when this stuff happens. Be prudent, take some chips and buy yourself a house if you can afford it, or a car, or at least at least a nice new jacket. You know, take some of those profits and put them into some joyful things.Does that mean youre selling a little bit now, or buying or hodling?Well, listen, Im lucky enough that I had wealth outside of crypto wealth. Im as bullish as Ive been on the space. But I see lots of people that have gone from one lifestyle to having the possibility of really having changed their life. And Im like, Guys, be prudent, take a little bit off the table.

We were talking about NFTs earlier and you mentioned that you havent actually bought any NFTs yourself yet, but you are excited about them. Tell me about that.

I bid on a bunch and I keep missing out on these auctions. Not the Beeple one, but I did bid on the Urs Fischer. Urs, hes an awesome artist. Ive been trying to buy one of his sculptures for a whole lot of money and the NFT seemed cheap. [Bidding on the work started at $1,000; it ended up selling for nearly $98,000.] I find this to be a fascinating space I think its going to revolutionize the way we think about IP, about creativity, about engagement. And I think we literally have no idea where its going, partly because how we display our NFTs, that part of the equation isnt even close to being started yet. Right? Im thinking, if you buy the $69 million Beeple, you want to show it off. Well, that means I want to be able to go to my house and have a giant screen in my living room thats cool as can be where my NFTs can show up. I want to meet you in the metaverse and maybe were having tea in my man cave, and I can pull down the Beeple and we can play each one of the 5,000 individual images that make it up and blow them up and look at them.

When I was talking to Urs Fischer, he was doing this egg with a big lighter in it. He loves to combine objects and it was really cool. Im bummed I missed it. But I was thinking, in the future, well wear these AR glasses and I can walk down the street with my Urs egg floating on my shoulder. And people will be like, Dude, he bought that fucking egg. You know, like an amusement park almost. But people were like, Dude, youre so wrong. Youre so old. Like, were gonna live in the metaverse starting now. So I tried real hard to be Gen Z but then I kicked right back into boomer mode.

The one story you shouldnt miss today, selected byNew Yorks editors.

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A Bitcoin Billionaire on When to Sell vs. HODL and Dogecoin Nihilism - New York Magazine

If you want to buy a bottle of Halston perfume, go to your local CVS and check one of those locked plexiglass fragrance cabinets that house ancient boxes of Liz Claiborne and Jovan Musk. The Halston comes in a beige box, with the late designers name on it in his signature all-caps, sans-serif font, and costs about thirty dollars. But both the plastic-necked bottle and the caramel-colored juice within it are only echoes of Halstons original 1975 blockbuster fragrance. That perfumewhich cost sixty dollars an ounce back then, roughly equivalent to three hundred dollars todaycame in an exquisite glass teardrop bottle designed by the Tiffanys jewelry designer and longtime Halston collaborator Elsa Peretti. The scent, created by the legendary French parfumier Bernard Chant, was tangy, feral, and almost too naughty to wear to work, but this mildly transgressive quality was a big part of the appeal. The seventies were an unbridled and messy time, when loucheness was a life style born of postwar nihilism and economic decline. If the city was crumbling around you, why not smell like death and sex, entropy and excess? The new formula does not smell like these things. It cannot clear elevators or persist through a night of heavy dancing. It evaporates quickly and smells a little like soap. Still, I bought a bottle recently, because I knew that a new Netflix miniseries about Halston (called, simply, Halston,) was coming, and I wanted to turn my viewing experience into a kind of Smell-O-Vision. As it turns out, the synthetic, exasperating reformulation was a perfect match for watching the series.

The life of Halstonwho was born Roy Halston Frowick, in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1932should make for potent television: a Midwestern, gay fashion obsessive comes to the big city, drops his first name, changes his aesthetic, dominates Bergdorf Goodman and Studio 54, sells his name, loses everything, and dies too young. At the height of his fame, Halston oozed courtly glamour out of his pores (which he tinted orange with heavy bronzer) and cut a striking figure in tight black turtlenecks and dark sunglasses, a cigarette perpetually dangling between his fingers. He flew too highhis final headquarters looked out over the spire of a tall cathedral in Manhattanhad too much fun, and then the confetti ran out. But the danger of a seductive story is that it is easy to become seduced while telling it. Halston, directed by Daniel Minahan, starring Ewan McGregor in the titular role, and with Ryan Murphy as an executive producer, feels as slick and indulgent as Halstons sprawling Olympic Tower officea cocaine-fuelled space that featured mirrored walls and tables, a sea of plush cherry-red carpeting, and a reputed forty thousand dollars per year in decorative orchidsbut it does not feel half as uncanny or daring as the actual world Halston created. Instead of presenting a shambling, complex tangle of ambition and artistry, the five episodes play out like a live-action Wikipedia article peppered with faux-campy contrivances. The dramatic plot points are all there, but the soul of Halstons workhis actual creations, and how they shaped the lives of the women who lived in themcomes through only as a faint note.

In the third episode of Halston, for instance, the perfume becomes a sort of heavy-handed metaphor for Halstons inner life and repressed memories. Vera Farmiga plays Halstons nose (a bit of creative license, as the real perfumer was a tweedy Frenchman), asking him to bring in three items that carry sensorial significance. Halston presents her a Lady of the Night orchid (his favorite form of flagrant excess); a box of cigarettes (I find it so comforting, McGregor says, with the exaggerated drawl that Halston started affecting after he dropped his first name); and a used jockstrap in a plastic bag. The jockstrap belongs to Halstons lover, Victor Hugo, a precocious Venezuelan party hopper whom many blame for Halstons descent into drug-bingeing during his later years. The Farmiga character eagerly takes the jockstrap out of the bag and drapes it over her head, then inhales deeply. The scene makes a dirty joke out of what Halston told the Times, at the time of the perfumes release, was probably the most complicated business experience Ive ever had.

The fragrance was a new experiment for Halston, an ambivalent tiptoe into high-volume, mass-market commerce after a career in high fashion. He got his start making hats in Chicago, in the nineteen-fifties, and became head milliner for Bergdorf Goodman in New York City. His big break was designing the pillbox hat that Jacqueline Kennedy wore to the Presidential Inaugurationsoon everyone who was anyone had to have a Halston chapeau. He channelled this momentum into launching his own clothing brand, in 1969, called Halston Limited, by convincing one of his regular clients, a Texas oil baroness named Estelle Marsh Watlington, to back him financially, with the promise that she would be funding the first truly American couture atelier (Halston was never short on bravado or the desire to spend other peoples capital). He found an early muse in Liza Minnelliwho to this day wears vintage Halston getups to many public outingsand he made his Madison Avenue workshop into a gathering place for the Manhattan demimonde. Warhol went there. Elizabeth Taylor went there. Babe Paley went there. The artist Pat Ast worked as a saleswoman (and, later, for one of Halstons early fashion shows, leaped out of a giant cake). His work became so popular that after just five years in business he was able to sell Halston Limited, along with his trademark, to the mega-conglomerate Norton Simon Inc. for an alleged sixteen million dollars, with the tacit agreement that Halston would retain full creative control over his output.

What separated Halstons runway designs from others was their ethereal quality (his later licensing work, when he slapped his name on everything from luggage to flight-attendant uniforms, is more uniform and pedestrian). He would drape jersey or chiffon over the body on the bias, relying on twists and tucks to create a floaty, gliding silhouette. The clothes were refreshingly simple and forthright, even if the life was a pulsating soap opera. Take Halstons Ultrasuede shirtdress, or model number 704, one of his best-selling items. In the show, Halston touches a prototype for a suede coat and suddenly has erotic visions of running his fingers along a mans bare buttocks. He fetishizes the texture, but is dismayed to see that the suede doesnt hold up to getting wet. In a later scene, showing off a new run of model 704s to the socialite Babe Paley, he claims to have invented Ultrasuede, a synthetic version of the real material, though some reports suggest that he gently borrowed the idea after seeing the designer Issey Miyake wearing it in Japan. Halston was, however, the first person to use the innovative fabric to create a womans day dress. What he created, in model 704, is a highly technical garment that could stand up to the washing machine. The design stole the best elements of a mens oxford shirtpointed collar, shoulder yoke, double-button cuffsbut also accentuated a womans form with a sash belt. The structured neckline, with buttons that start at the breastbone, was a provocative choice. As the fashion historian Patricia Mears wrote in the exhibition catalogue for a 2015 Halston and Yves Saint-Laurent retrospective at F.I.T., His shirtwaist dress was, according to some, the first low dcolletage seen on an item of daytime sportswear.

The freedom and undeniable energy to Halstons clothes were matched by the way he presented them. He allowed his models to sneer at or flirt with audiences during runway shows. He loosened up waistlines and let long dresses skim the floor. His vision of glamour was that of the butterfly: colorful, ephemeral, transitional. So many women talk of being changed by Halstons clothes, of feeling wild and dominant in them for the first time. But the women of the Netflix series are depicted as more pathetic than powerful. Minnelli collapses and heads to the Betty Ford Center. Peretti, one of the great jewelry innovators of her era (her longtime residency at Tiffany breathed fresh allure into the aging brand), has a grand meltdown in the Hamptons after secretly pining for Halston. Pat Ast, an infamously outsized character with a booming voice and a frizzy wedge of hair, has only one or two lines. Halston was one of the first designers to regularly cast Black models, including Pat Cleveland and Alva Chinn, in his shows. In Halston, no woman of color is given even a minor speaking part.

The shows high-strung theatrics are most entertaining in the final two episodes, in which McGregor chews through Halstons epic descent, clearly delighting in scenes in which he gets to scream at assistants to bring him more cocaine. In 1983, Halston signed a huge deal with J. C. Penney to design a diffusion line, called Halston III, which would allow the women from his Midwestern home town to have a slice of his satiny world. Some might say this move was visionarytoday, major designers do collaborations with Target and Adidas and Ugg boots without a second thought. But going downmarket ruined Halston in the high-fashion world at the time. His beloved Bergdorf dropped his line, and soon other department stores followed. At the same time, Norton Simon sold off Halston to Esmark, Inc., which had a Playtex executive take over the couture house. Eventually, Revlon bought the brand, but discontinued all products except for the perfume, which was still a cash cow. After a series of hostile brand takeovers, with executives who wanted to cut him out of the loop entirely, Halston was exhausted. He made a weak bid to buy back his name from Revlon, but it didnt pan out. He died, of AIDS, in 1990, the same year that Revlon ceased making Halston clothing altogether.

The Netflix series is not the first attempt to chronicle the Halston saga. Steven Gainess dishy biography, Simply Halston, provided the source material for much of the show. In 2010, the filmmaker Whitney Sudler-Smith released an indie documentary called Ultrasuede, in which he wanders around asking nosy questions of Halstons contemporaries. (Minnelli, in a rare and vulnerable interview, begs Sudler-Smith not to linger on the sordid details of Halstons life; he should focus on the solid stuff, not the gossip.) In 2019, a second documentary, also called Halston, from the filmmaker Frdric Tcheng, featured the writer and actress Tavi Gevinson as a fictional investigator hunting for the truth about Halstons rapid decline. These projects, too, have tended to linger on Halstons hard-partying Studio 54 years, on his torrid love affairs, and on his hot temper. What sticks most in my mind, though, is a short scene from Tchengs documentary, in which Fred Dennis, a fashion curator, shows off Halston dress patterns from the archives of F.I.T. One has the spiralled look of a Cuisinart blade, and requires only a single seam. Another looks like a tangrama long rectangle with triangles jutting out at awkward angles. Halston could glance at a lonely square of fabric and immediately know how to manipulate it (a sculptural skill held over from hatmaking). He often worked scissors first, trusting his hands to cut into precious textiles without a premeditated plan. This dynamism in his creative process was key to why women felt so dynamic in his designs. His customers wanted to feel uninhibitedno bra, no worries, and smelling of leatherbut also bolstered by his garments in other ways. He took away the cage, Pat Cleveland says in Tchengs film. In a Halston design, she adds, You didnt really need the structure as much as you needed the woman.

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The Freeing Fashion Behind the Halston Saga - The New Yorker

The film opens with shock images of violence erupting in Mexico City: Its not a revolution so much as a boiling over of underclass rage. Elsewhere, in the walled-off grounds and home of a wealthy developer, a wedding is taking place, and the guests arrive bearing envelopes of cash and the gentility of those protected by their wealth. The bride, Marianne (Naian Gonzlez Norvind), wears a bright red pantsuit, while some of the guests show up splashed with green paint, the color of the revolution. That those are the colors of the Mexican flag is not coincidental.

The first act of New Order plays as class farce with sharpened teeth. A political power player, Victor (Enrique Singer), arrives, and the other men obsequiously defer. The maids and cooks and butlers trade gossip. Rolando (Eligio Melndez), who once worked for the family, turns up at the gate needing a large sum of money to give his wife, also an ex-employee, a life-saving operation. Only Marianne heeds his pleas shes always been so good with the help and leaves the celebration with Cristin (Fernando Cuautle), the son of the maid Marta (Mnica del Carmen). They drive through increasingly chaotic city streets.

Back home the walls are breached and there are barbarians in the wedding garden, at which point Franco lets loose all constraints. The scenes that follow are horrifying in their depiction of social collapse, of servants turning against employers, of chickens coming home to roost, and of a city and a country devouring itself in an orgy of violence, rape, and revenge. If theres a message here, its that those who place their faith in human nature, no matter their class, are doomed, while those who seek out the centers of power will live to see another day. Also that a peoples revolution will almost certainly become a generals coup sooner or later. History rarely proves that last one wrong.

New Order invokes comparisons to Kubrick at his most dyspeptic; its also been likened to Bong Joon-hos Oscar-winning Parasite, a comparison that does no one any favors. Both those films address class war, but thats it; where Bong employs a scalpel, Franco wields a blowtorch. If anything, the new movie is a cinematic fresco with nods to Hieronymus Bosch and to the modernist artwork on the rich mans walls; according to the credits, the latter is by Omar Rodrguez-Graham and its called Only the Dead Have Seen the End of War.

Such undiluted nihilism can turn glib. The characters of the early scenes in New Order become the sacrificial stick-figures of the final moments, and the films dichotomy of a light-skinned European upper class versus a brown, indigenous underclass is simplistic enough that Franco was roasted by critics and commentators in Mexico for his perceived racism. Its easy to imagine a worst-case scenario for humanity without taking the trouble to imagine any solutions. Yet the film remains impossible to shake, so rare are the stories were told that refuse to cushion the blow and so close do this storys blows come to where we live now. The scariest aspect of New Order is that in 2021 it doesnt feel far-fetched at all.

NEW ORDER

Written and directed by Michel Franco. Starring Naian Gonzlez Norvind, Diego Boneta, Fernando Cuautle. In Spanish, with subtitles. At Boston Common. 86 minutes. R (disturbing and violent content, rape, graphic nudity, language).

Ty Burr can be reached at ty.burr@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @tyburr.

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New Order: When theres no tomorrow the day after tomorrow - The Boston Globe

I find it increasingly disturbing when public officials, especially those in law enforcement, decide on the strength of their own beliefs or convictions, they are not going to follow or enforce the laws enacted by the legislature and voted into law by a majority of the voters.

Questioning constitutionality of laws is acceptable when processed through the judicial system as explicitly enshrined in the Constitution of the United States and those of each state. Why should the people tolerate or accept public officials who (not likely constitutional scholars) violate their oath of office, exceeding the scope of their duties and responsibilities, by volitionally choosing which laws they will enforce, which they will not enforce or upon whom they will enforce the laws.

I worked in law enforcement for 36 years for one of the largest sheriff's departments in Southern California. I was a deputy for 10 years and a sergeant for 26 years, working the streets on patrol at seven different sheriffs stations for 30 of those years. I've seen an abundance of the horror, pain, harm, injury and death of gun-related crimes and the negligence of gun owners. I was a school sergeant for three and a half years during the time of the Columbine mass murders, and my school deputies thwarted several gun violence incidents at schools in the years that followed.

Ive seen several colleagues killed by guns and brazen crimes committed with high capacity magazines in weapons designed originally to efficiently kill lots of people in war.

What I haven't seen is any significant or effective measures taken to keep guns out of the hands of mentally ill, or angry, violent individuals and those with specific criminal intentions. I find it to be a ridiculously huge stretch of logic and imagination to suppose the authors of the Constitution intended the Second Amendment to allow every person the right to keep and bear arms, without regard or consideration for a person's mental health, propensity for violence or criminal inclination.

Nor could they imagine the rise of independent armed militias, neonazis, white supremacists or other radical groups who feel they have the right to amass arsenals and actively train and rehearse their espoused intentions to resist and kill law enforcement, government officials and contemplate the overthrow the government of their own volitional beliefs.

What I find repugnant is the unrestrained killing of our children and innocent citizens by violent individuals who our laws and we continue to fail identifying as mass murders, whether mentally ill or just angry, violent, vengeful people intent on making a statement, by murdering as many innocents before commiting suicide or suicide by cop.

I'm reminded of the fire triangle many learned about in grade school. Oxygen, fuel and heat (or an ignition source) are the three ingredients which enable a fire.

We learned a simple fact: if you remove any side or element of the triangle, you can prevent a fire.

Guns are like oxygen. They are ubiquitous and far too easy to obtain by virtually anyone, like oxygen.

People are equivalent to the fuel, catalyzed with the gun, ignited by their anger, despair, nihilism, irrationality, violent ideological self righteousness or other mental illness and instability.

Sheriff Rob Snaza's proposal and stance on enforcing the laws of his choice is a political determination and it makes his performance of the profession less honorable.

Gregory McHenry

Centralia

Original post:

Letter to the Editor: Sheriff's Second Amendment Sanctuary Pursuit Makes His Performance Less Honorable - Centralia Chronicle

"I know that some may say, 'DeWine, youre crazy! This million-dollar drawing idea of yours is a waste of money.' But truly, the real waste at this point in the pandemic when the vaccine is readily available to anyone who wants it is a life lost to COVID-19."

Gov. Mike DeWine, announcing five$1 million drawings for residents who have been vaccinated.

"He was exactly what we needed and more than we ever expected. We will miss him dearly."

Former President Barack Obama, announcingthe death of the familydog Bo.

"You got to treat yourself like fine wine. They say fine wine, it gets better over time. You got to look at it as you get older, you get wiser, and how to treat yourself, treat others. You learn what life is about."

Rap music star Calvin "Snoop Dogg" Broadus Jr., on turning 50.

"As I've seen working for a hospital in the county, recruiting to Canton, Ohio, is a little difficult compared to NewYork, Chicago, Miami, L.A., California, Hawaii. So those places, people want to go. How many people want to come to Canton, Ohio, who haven't trained here?"

Stark County CoronerRon Rusnak, on the challenges offinding and retaining a staff pathologist.

"What can you give someone who has received every type of award that could be given? Well, you give her a school."

YvonneParks,president of the Leila Green Alliance of Black Educators, onre-naming Allen School in Canton after Stephanie Rushin Patrick.

"A lot of these base voters are living in a post-truth nihilism where you believe in nothing and think that everything might be untrue."

Republican strategist Sarah Longwell.

"It's the job, right? 'Get on with it, grin and bear it.'When I was in my early 20s, I decided I don't want this job, I don't want to be here.I don't want to be doing this. Look what it did to my mum."

Prince Harry, explaining why he withdrew from royal life and moved tothe U.S.

"Im not interested in getting into political squabbles. Im not a politician. Im not an elected official. I dont expect anybody to give two(expletive)about my opinions. But I will say this: Those are lies. And peddling that (expletive) is an assault on every officer that fought to defend the Capitol. Its disgraceful.

Capitol Police Officer Michael Fanone, criticizingRepublican congressmenwho described the Jan. 6 insurrection as a peaceful event.

"Expelling Liz Cheney from leadership wont gain the GOP one additional voter, but it will cost us quite a few.

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah.

"Freedom only survives if we protect it.We must speak the truth. Our election was not stolen. And America has not failed."

Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, speaking last week before being ousted from her minority leadership by Republicans.

"We did not cheat to win the Kentucky Derby."

Horse trainer Bob Baffert, blaming "cancel culture" on his winning horse, Medina Spirit, being disqualified from his win following a post-race drug test.

"I used to work as a bartender and these are the kinds of people that I threw out of bars all the time."

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, on being accosted by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia.

Reach Charita at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com

On Twitter: @cgoshayREP

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Commentary: The most memorable quotes from the past week - Canton Repository

Theres a word to describe political movements that emphasize ethnic, racial and religious solidarity over citizenship and pluralistic values, but it has unpleasant historical associations. Using it only causes political conversations to end in bitterness and name-calling.

So let us simply observe that whats going on in todays Republican Party represents the seeming fulfillment of Vladimir Putins ambitions for the Trump presidency. Undermining confidence in elections has long been Job One in the Kremlin: discrediting democracy to promote strongman rule. But Putins too cynical to understand America.

It matters not to him that the strongman in question is an incompetent blowhard, a clownish figure in elevator shoes. One of Americas two dominant political parties is in the process of losing its collective mind. Indeed, the very preposterousness of Donald Trumps Big Lie about being cheated out of an election he lost by 7 million votes claims rejected for lack of evidence in more than 60 courts of law only enhances its allure for conspiratorial thinkers.

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities, Voltaire wrote. The harder Trumps lies are to believe, the more fervently True Believers strive to affirm them. Longtime Republican strategist Sarah Longwell describes the MAGA faithful as QAnon curious, professing faith in deep-state mythology. A lot of these base voters are living in a post-truth nihilism, she told The New York Times, where you believe in nothing and think that everything might be untrue.

To give you some idea, a GOP-sponsored election recount in Phoenix has been searching for traces of bamboo on 2 million ballots based upon a rumor that votes were flown in from South Korea.

No, I couldnt make that up.

Attending rallies of like-minded believers in MAGA hats is important, yes. But so is the ritual purging of heretics like Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, who has sinned against the faith by pointing out that Trump lost the election badly. For this, she is being removed from her leadership role in the House, to be replaced by New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, a onetime New York moderate who has taken to parroting Trumps pronouncements word for word.

Claiming she wants to reassure Americans about election security, Stefanik and allies like House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy are unwittingly following the Kremlin playbook. Back in January, McCarthy professed anger at Trump for raising the mob that attacked Congress. Now he contends that anybody like Cheney blaming Trump for the Capitol riot is not being productive and needs to be removed from House leadership.

That said, Democrats, and Cheney herself, are mistaken to speak of Republican cowardice. Its not fear of Trump that drives them so much as naked ambition. And not ambition for the party or the country, its important to understand, but for themselves.

One thing Republicans in safe districts know is that the MAGA faithful hold the balance of power. A recent CNN poll showed upward of 70% of Republicans have bought the Trumpian Big Lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. So if they want to remain in Congress, its best to keep skepticism about the claim to themselves, at least until the 2022 primaries are over.

And then what? Well, thats the big question, isnt it? Seventy percent of Republicans amounts to less than one-third of the electorate and shrinking, as GOP party membership has gradually declined in recent years. Trumps latest favorable rating was 32%. Try as they may, Republican state legislatures wont be able to prevent Democrats and independents from voting in 2022. Indeed, GOP efforts to make voting harder could very likely end up discouraging their own voters.

Anyway, heres how things look to one informed Republican, Maricopa County, Arizona (Phoenix) Board of Supervisors Chairman Jack Sellers: In Maricopa County, only a third of the voters are Republican, he told The New York Times. A third are Democrats and a third are independents. If you dont even have a third of the voting public altogether, how on earth can you expect to win over enough independents and others?

Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan has spoken of the Cheney purge as a circular firing squad.

My own favorite Republican, Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, put it more colorfully on CBSs Face the Nation. Right now, he said, the Republican Party is basically the Titanic. Were like in the middle of this slow sink. We have a band playing on the deck, telling everybody its fine, and meanwhile, as Ive said, Donald Trump is running around trying to find womens clothing to get on the first lifeboat.

You dont have to be a genius to succeed in politics, the late Robert F. Kennedy once told a friend of mine. But you do have to be able to count.

To MAGA believers, counting is heresy. But not to the rest of us.

Arkansas Times columnist Gene Lyons is a National Magazine Award winner and co-author of The Hunting of the President (St. Martins Press, 2000). You can email Lyons at [emailprotected]

Read more:

The math is not on the side of the MAGA gang - Brookings Register

(Welcome toThe Quarantine Stream, a series where the /Film team shares what theyve been watching while social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.)

The Series:Invincible

Where You Can Stream It:Amazon Prime Video

ThePitch:Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun) is just like any 17-year-old kid: he deals with school bullies and school crushes, and he worships superheroes. Except that his father is actually one: the strongest superhero on Earth, Omni-Man(J.K. Simmons). After years of waiting, Mark finally gets the powers he was supposed to inherit super strength, power of flight, and super speed and can begin his training to be a superhero with his dad. But afterOmni-Man is found near-death alongside the bodies of the Guardians of the Globe, Mark has to step up to become a superhero outside of his fathers shadow.

Why Its Essential Viewing: Lets face it: brutal, hyperviolent superhero re-imaginings are a dime a dozen. Comics have been doing it since the 80s, movies have been doing it since adapting those self-same comics from the 80s, and its all the rage on TV now with notoriously bloody shows likeThe Boys andPreacher. NowInvincible, based on Robert Kirkmans comic book series of the same name, is here to fill the gap on the animation side.

Ill admit being a little skeptical ofInvinciblegoing into it. Despite receiving plenty of critical praise when it first premiered, Ive been wary of any hyper-violent shows or movies that seem too edgelord to me: falling prey to being shocking for shocks sake. And while the gore comes as a surprise inInvincible tacked on after the credits of the first episode its no more gruesome than what youll find in many an adult animated show, or even an anime. Rather, its more interesting how it lays the groundwork for howInvincible grapples with the current superhero landscape.

Set in a world where superheroes are increasingly common and privacy is a thing of the past,Invincible is balancing precariously on the edge of a totalitarian dystopia that many past subversive superhero titles have tackled before (think Watchmen, The Boys,even the Crime Syndicate of theCrisis on Infinite Earths). But theres a thread of optimism running through the show, embodied by our titular hero. Awkward, insecure, and just the right amount of reckless, Mark Grayson is almost frustratingly naive when it comes to the horrors that we know are waiting for him around the corner.Its like a cheery Peter Parker-type got thrown into the world ofWatchmen.

Thatsoptimistic, every character says when he tells them his code name. Mark knows, but hes just likable enough that you hope that his idealistic vision of the world of superheroes stays as shiny and clean as it is at the beginning. It explains thesimple animation style, which feels inspired by the beloved superhero animated shows of the 2000s. Coupled withthe obvious riffs on familiar DC and Marvel heroes,Invincible is enjoyable as a surprisingly straightforward superhero coming-of-age story until the shocks of blood and gore arrive. From then on, the show starts to have an intriguing dialogue with itself, between the optimistic roots of the superhero genre and the creeping nihilism of todays comic book flicks.

See the article here:

The Quarantine Stream: 'Invincible' is the Latest Brutal Reimagining of Superheroes That Avoids Shock for Edginess' Sake - /FILM

What diminishes the impact of Tim Miller's new batch of self-contained short films is the dire lack of original vision and conceptual audacity.

Season opener is Automated Customer Service

Language: English

Love Death & Robots proved to be an unexpected hit in 2019. For Black Mirror fans, the Netflix anthology series was a stopgap hangover cure. For animation junkies, it represented the medium's defiant push towards new definitions and styles. Across the 18 episodes of the first season, the magic of animation manifested in its speculative storytelling and immersive world-building. Not to mention the contrarian leanings promised by the titular subjects. Narratively though, a lot of the stories were found wanting.

The much-awaited follow-up suffers from similar narrative scarcity. But what diminishes the impact of Tim Miller's new batch of self-contained short films is the dire lack of original vision and conceptual audacity. Rehashing overfamiliar cyberpunk visions of humanity and traversing the uncanny valley only to get trapped in it, the new season makes for a mixed bag of mostly uninspired ideas. With episodes running for no longer than 10-15 minutes, it really belonged on Quibi (Rest in peace). Oddly, some of the episodes don't even fit into any one of the three categories suggested in the title.

Among those that do is the season opener Automated Customer Service. Roomba goes rogue, and mounts a rebellion against its ageing human master in an entirely AI-assisted retirement community. An old woman reports the malfunction to an automated customer service. In her frustrations is a farce about technological dependence. At one point, in its villainous rampage, the robot stops to fold a bunch of clothes thrown at it, as its programmed directive briefly supplants its free will. The sense of playfulness to Automated Customer Service is conveyed through a more caricaturish style. A malfunctioning robot turns homicidal even in Life Hutch, which is adapted from a short story by Harlan Ellison. Michael B Jordan plays a starship pilot who is forced to crash-land on a nearby planet during an intergalactic war. But his attempts to send a distress beacon to be rescued are hindered by a maintenance drone which considers him a threat. Its a worn-out plot beat that leaves little to imagination.

Pop Squad

The power of worldbuilding is on full display in Pop Squad and Snow in the Desert. Both imagine dystopias where the promise of immortality has led all things living to only immorality. The slippery slope in Pop Squad culminates in mankind charging a unit of police officers to kill illegally birthed children, as part of its war against overpopulation. While the affluent revel in luxury in their high-rise apartments, those who resist their authority are forced to live in the seedy fringes. If Pop Squad builds on the future noir template set by Blade Runner and Altered Carbon, Snow in the Desert draws heavily from Star Wars. Its desert planet is home to butt-ugly aliens, bounty hunters, and cantinas where they all clash. Here, a man named Snow is pursued by the worst of the worst looking to steal the gift of immortality that courses through his veins testicles. The only force at play here though is cosmic nihilism.

The Drowned Giant is based on a JG Ballard short story of the same name

The season standout is based on a simple premise with unadorned execution. Yet, it has far more to say than the other genre-heavy and hyper-stylised entries. Based on a JG Ballard short story of the same name, The Drowned Giant sees the naked corpse of a large man wash up on the shore of a small town. While the townsfolk's initial excitement dies down with time, the narrator reflects, via voiceover, on the changing roles and perceptions of the body. In its destruction and decay are reflections on life and death, the idea of God being a projection of man, and how man will pick every resource apart down to the bone. All Through the House also benefits from a straightforward premise. Though it has no love, death or robots, it offers a dark yet fun little subversion on the traditional figure of Santa Claus, in the vein of Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale. Sneaking downstairs on the night of Christmas eve, two kids expect to catch a sighting of the version of Santa popularised by Coca Cola. But what they see instead will ensure they're never naughty again. Even as All Through the House gives Santa a Lovecraftian makeover, its style deliberately draws from the likes of Pixar and Dreamwork Animation titles.

Ice

While most episodes resemble modern video game cut scenes not just in terms of shoddy dialogue but in their paint-by-numbers photorealistic rendering, Ice has a gorgeous graphic novel quality to it. On a frozen planet of genetically modded humans, an un-modded pariah tries to earn the respect of his brother and friends by contesting in a race with a giant whale in pursuit. There's a lot of great detail which brings to the fore the whimsiness and litheness afforded only by hand-drawn 2D animation. Judging purely on premise and execution, The Tall Grass, which sees a man hunted by some demogorgons, is another weak and predictable entry. But it's the animation which sustains its thrills.

There is a frustrating incompleteness to nearly every episode in the second season of Love, Death & Robots. Prizing animation at the expense of narrative, 3D realism over 2D abstraction, sure prove to be its undoing. So, you get the feeling you're watching a series of demo reels rather than fully finished films. Perhaps the show's value in a binge-and-forget culture is best symbolised in The Drowned Giant. Once the novelty wears off, it will fade into oblivion as people move on to the next shiny thing on their watchlist.

Love Death & Robots Volume 2 is now streaming on Netflix.

Here is the original post:

Love Death & Robots Volume 2 review: Netflix serves a stale batch of uninspired glimpses into the future - Firstpost

Niger guitarist Mdou Moctars playing is a shape-shifting riot of colour, evolving rhythms and lush melody. It is a reminder of the infinite possibilities that come from playing the electric guitar and an antidote to any player stuck trying to squeeze fresh blood from the same rusty pentatonic shapes and dull rock cliches.

His joyful contemporary fingerstyle playing blends the desert blues and Tuareg guitar styles with Western rock, psychedelia and jazz elements and if you havent heard it, you should. The consensus that is slowly forming is that he is not just one of the leading exponents of Sahel (Sub-Saharan) guitar music, but one of the finest and certainly most expressive, guitarists in the world.

His last record Ilana (The Creator) was the excoriating result of this cross-cultural embrace. Recorded in the US, it took you on a blistering psych rock ride from the Niger desert, past the Mississippi Delta before dipping its toes in the sun-kissed oceans of the West Coast. Now hes returned with Afrique Victime, an album that attempts to bottle the extremes of Moctars feelings for his homeland and the wider African continent. From addressing the suffering it continues to endure amid the fallout of empires and political instability, to moments of tender contentment amid loved ones and his home in the Agadez region.

As such, Afrique Victime captures his most ambitious, powerful playing yet (the astonishing Van Halen-esque solo of the title track, for example), but also some of his subtlest (the touching Tala Tannam), as he incorporates more of the acoustic work honed prior to Ilana.

We spoke to Moctar about the statement he is making with Afrique Victime, the power of music in communicating with the world and what he makes of rocks drink and drugs culture.

This interview was conducted via a translator.

Afrique Victime has been described as your most directly political album to date. You have discussed some of Nigers complex political challenges before. When and how did it become apparent to you that this would be a big theme of this particular record? And why now?

As I have mentioned in previous interviews, I'm really inspired by what's around me to write what I see in nature, and of course, by recent events that are happening around me. So it depends on the periods. Currently, I'm really feeling the suffering of Africa, especially since Gaddafi was killed. Terrorism has been on the rise in various countries. You know, the terrorists of Boko Haram hit us every day. And there's crimes in various countries in the whole of the Sahel and Africa.

Of course, each country has more specific problems there's some diversity. And in Niger, I would say it's mostly the terrorists in the desert and the impact of the installation of a French and US military bases in the country. Other Arab countries have been impacted. For instance, recently, the African leader Idriss Dby was murdered. He was a leader from Chad. He was fighting terrorists and especially Boko Haram. And sadly, he's no more.

Music is my weapon

What role does music have in raising awareness of injustices in Niger and the wider African continent?

For me, music is my weapon. It allows me to transmit my tears of messages to the whole world and talk about what's happening around me. I have no other means to do it. You know, it's thanks to music that we're doing this interview today. I don't know how many people are gonna be able to hear my messages.

Even though, so far, I wouldn't say that my music has been able to cause a great change around me, I think it could happen one day. Even if the only thing that happens is, is people at least are aware of what's happening in Sahel, even that, for me is a huge gain, and it's crucially important. So that's why I chose music as a means as a means to transmit these messages about the situation.

Today things are changing faster and faster. I'm not the only artist transmitting messages of this type. Just in that Sahel region other bands like Tinariwen and Alpha Blondy are doing the same thing, trying to transmit messages of the revolution. Everyone's doing their best, so I want to follow that path and continue trying to do that because my ultimate objective is peace.

You can't even buy strings in the country

Youve undertaken a lot of activities to support other musicians from your local area. What are the limitations young musicians in Niger are facing?

So, as regards young musicians, I think the key thing is just giving them gear to play with just instruments, you know? Decent guitars. And the only way to get that in Niger is for someone who's travelling to bring it back. You can't even buy strings in the country. And the second thing is, we don't have any music schools here. So you need all these things.

"And regarding the music schools, it is not so much the teachings, but I would say what is key is mostly to have a place where they would be allowed to meet and be free to express themselves artistically in whatever way they want. It's quite hard to do that in Niger on a daily basis. You have to go and play and practice in the desert and then after the after that you have to head home. That's how we do it. [Both because music can be frowned upon but also because terrorists have been aiming for groups of people outside] So yeah, they really need a place to play with sophisticated instruments.

It can be difficult to meet like-minded players in any environment, let alone in those circumstances. How did you meet co-guitarist Ahmoudou Madassane?

We grew up in neighbouring villages. And every time there would be school holidays, he would come and stay at my place. And we will play together. So that's how we met. I've always thought he was very talented, even as a young artist, and he always had a strong passion for music.

At that time, when we grew up a little, I started becoming a bit more experimental than him. I had already done my first album, whereas he had left the village to study. So I started to have a bit of a name for myself, then I kind of knew the business a bit more. And I was able to acquire an acoustic guitar for him. So I gifted him his first guitar. And then around 2009 I moved to Agadez, because it was much easier for me to play music there and eventually he also moved there.

"With time, him, and other artists would come to my house and we would always eat together and spend some time and they could use my house to practise if they wanted to, so there was constantly music, where I lived. Then we started doing wedding concerts together a lot. And then it all progressed to how things are today.

In this latest album, Afrique Victime, weve developed some really complex pieces together. Were not necessarily playing in the ranges that you would expect

How would you describe your playing relationship with Ahmoudou? Where do we hear your respective styles?

Usually Im the one who sets the rhythm with the guitar. And then Ahmoudou will follow. And in particular, in this latest album, Afrique Victime, weve developed some really complex pieces together. Were not necessarily playing in the ranges that you would expect, so it took a bit more time for us to learn how to do that. But we understand each other really well, which is very helpful.

"Ahmoudou picks up extremely fast on things, which is why I feel so at ease with him. I feel very free to be able to play whatever I want and I know that Ahmoudou will be able to follow. Whereas when I play with other artists, I might play in more easily predictable ways because Im afraid that the other person will get off rhythm or not really expect it.

What tips do you have for readers who are more used to traditional rock styles and trying to learn and understand Tuareg guitar styles?

My main advice is not necessarily about specific techniques. I feel that a lot of young people today are very eager, and in a rush to become known fast. Some people think that after they start playing for a month or two they are ready to be Eddie Van Halen, or Jimi Hendrix, and go play concerts. But I feel that you have to really take the time to create your own style and your own songs and that involves hard work. It's not the right vision if you're trying to rush it.

"It's really the work that pays off and the work that's going to help you create extraordinary things. So my main advice is to have patience and take it slow.

Mdou Moctars guitar gear

Guitars: (white) left-handed Fender American Strat, (black) left-handed Fender American Strat, CME (Blue) left-handed Fender Jaguar

Amps: 2x Roland JC-120s (a Boss DD-6 is used for a slight ping delay between the two)

Pedals: D'Addario CT-20, TC Electronic Polytune 2, Boss PH-3, Earthquaker Devices Acapulco Gold, Rocktar Fuzz Pedal, Boss DD-6

You famously built your first guitar yourself. Are you still prone to tweaking or experimenting with the builds of your instruments and equipment?

Actually, when I was when I was a child, the main reason why I built my guitar was not really for fun, but just because I didn't have a choice: it was a need. Today, I don't have that need and I'm really glad that I have access to all the different styles of guitar that I might like. When I'm trying to get a specific sound with my guitar, I do experiment [but with my pedals]. I always carry with me all the different types of pedals that I have and Ill use my hands to tweak the pedals. I experiment a lot with that.

What were the main guitars used on Afrique Victime? How would you describe their sound and character?

Its hard for me to answer this question. I don't really know [the terminology]. I definitely can say that I have a white Standard Stratocaster for the electric parts. And then I have this other acoustic guitar, which I bought in New York, but I can't for the life of me remember it because it's got very weird name! And that's the one I use for Layla. For the song, Layla and Tala Tannam.

[At this point we hit the limit of our combined abilities in communicating the terminology across the language barrier and agree to get an email update on his gear list, which you can check out on the right]

I don't even know the names of the different styles of music. So for instance, the words 'jazz' and 'rock', don't mean much to me

Which of the new songs are you most proud of, in terms of your playing? I loved Afrique Victime that guitar solo feels like a real statement.

Each piece really has its own value in the way I compose it, not necessarily because they're more technical. They all have a good reason for existing and people can pick whatever style they prefer. There's definitely a few interesting solos on the album and in the track Afrique Victime, specifically, there's that long solo, which you picked up on, where I'm really trying to transmit what I feel is deep inside of me.

"Really it's a solo where my intention is for the guitar to be spitting out the sound of revolution. Then in the songs that are more focused on feelings of love, those are some simpler solos, that are a bit softer, maybe. I want people to understand that the feeling is a bit calmer, when they're listening.

Rock musics initial principles have long been confused with a culture of drink and drugs or nihilism. As a practising Muslim, what is it you identify with in rock music that feels enduringly true to your values and lifestyle?

You know, to be very honest with you, I don't even know the names of the different styles of music. So for instance, the words 'jazz' and 'rock', don't mean much to me. My music has been described that way after people have heard it and commented on it. That's what I can make out. But regarding alcohol and drinking, it seems to me that stimulants have absolutely nothing to do with music. It's just people who are making themselves suffer for nothing. So, yeah, it's completely unrelated!

I think sometimes people may believe that they play better when they're high but apart from that, it sounds to me that, you know, some people have the privilege of spending large amounts of money to go to music school, whereas other rich people seem to be paying a lot to be ill, or go crazy. Thats how it seems to me. So again, yeah, I think what really pays off in music is practising and hard work. The drugs and alcohol part seems crazy to me

Mdou Moctar'sAfrique Victome is released on 21 May via Matador. For more info visit mdoumoctar.bandcamp.com

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Mdou Moctar: My intention is for the guitar to be spitting out the sound of revolution - MusicRadar