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Recommendations is an
incredible new section of
canofzebras.com in which I ask some of my favorite filmmakers
and musicians to recommend 5 films and 5 albums they would like
to share with the world. These are not top 5 lists, but rather 5
films and 5 albums that you may have missed out on if not for
having them recommended to you here. Recommendations will not
always be the obscurest of the obscure, but they're not trying
to impress you. What you won't find here are the usual movies
and music people push on you. - Jason LaRay Keener |
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Freddy Ruppert musician Freddy Ruppert is the mastermind behind two of my favorite music projects: the relentlessly noisy and pained This Song is a Mess But So Am I (get Marble Mouth E.P. at iTunes) and the noise-laced synth-gloom-pop Former Ghosts, which also consists of Xiu Xiu's Jamie Stewart and Zola Jesus' Nika Roza (get their highly acclaimed debut albumFleurs at iTunes.). Fleurs was in my own set of recommendations a while back and I can't recommend it enough. |
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The Boat is Full
(Markus Imhoof, 1981) IMDb | Netflix A brutal and bleak look at Switzerland's "neutral" policy during WWII in regards to Switzerland's policies in providing Jewish refugees with a place to go. |
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Decent People (Amir
Shoucri, 2008) IMDb | Official Site Darkly hilarious and sad short film by Amir Shoucri in which after a woman's boyfriend is left in a coma everyone around her swoops in on her. She also plays a role though in allowing certain actions due to a previous infidelity. Decent People is the perfect name for this short film. |
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Johnny Suede (Tom
DiCillo, 1991) IMDb | Netflix Odd film in which Brad Pitt plays an aspiring musician with a huge pompadour living in a fantasy world. Nick Cave makes an appearance as his alter ego with bleach blonde hair.
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Mystery Train (Jim
Jarmusch, 1989) IMDb | Netflix The way people intersect with the ghost of Elvis over looking everything. |
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Tyson (James
Toback, 2008) IMDb | Netflix Documentary on the legendary Mike Tyson. Completely amazing. There is an insanely intense scene in which Mike Tyson's eyes fill with tears as he talks about growing up and coming to the point of realization that the next time someone fucked with him he would fucking kill them. An unbelievable look at his career, his life, and Tyson the person. |
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Nico - Desertshore iTunes Everyone is familar with Nico's Chelsea Girls album. And it is a great record. But not everyone has delved into Nico's records after that. They are completely dark and dreadful and filled with string and harmonium arrangements and of course Nico's haunting deep voice. This one is my favorite. |
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Wolfgang Press
- Birdwood Cage iTunes Completely underappreciated band from the classic 4AD era. This is their best album where everything worked perfectly. There are some funky Talking Heads esque moments mixed with that classic gothy 4AD sound and lots of bizarre noises. |
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This Mortal Coil -
It'll End In Tears iTunes Probably the saddest record I have heard. I think this is the best one of their three albums. Atmospherics and reverb galore. |
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OMD - Dazzle Ships iTunes A perfect mix of their synthpop and experimental sides. |
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Jack Starr -
Born Petrified amazon Totally amazing outsider rockabilly/country/garage rock recorded in his mom's bath tub in the 50's and 60's. Totally lost and then totally found and released by Norton Records. Two of my favorite most heart breaking 50's esque love ballads ever are on this collection: "You Only Live Once" and "Constellation of a Fool". Did I mention he was also a horror movie make up artist and did a bunch of crazy radio spots that are included on this? Amazing record. |
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