Paul Gorman

Videos

I Can’t Breathe: Pussy Riot with Richard Hell, Shahzad Ismaily (The Ceramic Dog), Scofferlane, Jack Wood, Andrew Wyatt + Nick Zinner

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//Pussy Riot on the set of the promo video for I Can’t Breathe. Photo: Denis Sinyakov//

I received a message from Richard Hell: “Check out this wildness.”

So I did.

It’s I Can’t Breathe, Pussy Riot’s first English-language release, about the furore surrounding the death last year of Eric Garner.  Hell recites Garner’s final words on the track.

“It felt weird to speak the words of a black man killed by the police, when I’m this privileged white guy,” Hell told Pitchfork. “At the same time, I believe in Pussy Riot. I have faith in them. I think they’re for real.”

Read all about the recording of I Can’t Breathe here.

One of the unpindownables of the counter culture: Jack Henry Moore 1940-2014

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//Jack Henry Moore (right) outside the Melkweg, Amsterdam with fellow film-makers Kit Galloway and Dave Jones, early 70s. Photo: The Generalist/The Videoheads//

Jack Henry Moore – who has died aged 73 – was one of the unpindownables of the counterculture in the 60s and 70s.

Known principally as a pioneering video film-maker and sound recordist (the archive he leaves behind is estimated to contain more than 70,000 hours of tape compiled over five decades), Moore was central to the establishment of many of the foundation stones of the underground in London and other European cities.

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//With Lennon and Ono 1968. Photo: The Generalist/The Videoheads//

Moore joined fellow ex-pat American Jim Haynes in his theatrical experiments in Edinburgh in the mid-60s, where they staged productions by the likes of Lindsay Kemp. As in his native Oklahoma, Moore’s openness about his homosexuality necessitated a geographical shift, this time south to London.

Continue reading One of the unpindownables of the counter culture: Jack Henry Moore 1940-2014

Feliz Navidad by El Vez + Christmas At The Airport by Nick Lowe

elveznickHere’s an old and new Christmas favourite; hope they spread holiday cheer.

Feliz Navidad’s blending of the Mexican Christmas carol as popularised by José Feliciano with PiL’s Public Image never fails to please, bringing back happy memories of the UK leg of the Merry Mex-Mas dates in 2000 I helped organise for my dear friend Robert Lopez, aka El Vez, who wowed audiences with his Elvettes and the Memphis Mariachis. This footage is from that tour.

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Alan McGee’s Poptones released the accompanying album and the song on a limited edition 7in.

Meanwhile I’m adding Nick Lowe’s Christmas At The Airport to my list of hardy perennials; the video’s great and it was fabulous to see Nick at our Christmas drinks a couple of weeks back, fresh from yet another hit American tour.

It’s from his new album Quality Street which is as off-the-wall as you like.PRPCD114-620x621

Hope you enjoy both songs. Thanks for following my blog and Happy Holidays to you.

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Curated by Peggy Noland for MOCAtv: A haul video; how to break open Sharpies; Charlie White’s pink ad panoply; and a Whitney Houston drag horrorshow

The fabulous Peggy Noland has selected four online clips loosely linked by the theme of transformation for LA’s Museum Of Contemporary Art channel MOCAtv:

• A “haul video” from Mall Of America made by dedicated shopper PiinkSparkles

Continue reading Curated by Peggy Noland for MOCAtv: A haul video; how to break open Sharpies; Charlie White’s pink ad panoply; and a Whitney Houston drag horrorshow