Ach, it's just a bunch of Kunst

Fuck Politics. Taking a Break.

Right, it’s Friday my friends and before this newsletter turns into another self-gratifying pseudo-political shit stain of hot air that spouts opinions to justify its own meaningless existence, I am taking a break. Taking a break from the absurdity that is US politics and the utter destructive corruption we are being forced into for the sake of consumption and let’s talk about some fucking art. Consider this your take on some alternative, genuine Kunst for your weekend before you and I drop off into some heavily medicated state of escapism and waste time watching Netflix’s suggested fucking algorithm shite. We are going to stick to music and film here, considering that museums and galleries are essentially off-limits anyhow.

“you fall fast in a void of pain, only to remember that you still remain”

As some of you may know, I have a bit of serious hard-on for Sleaford Mods. For the uninitiated, they are a two-piece band from Nottingham, England, and not much since Crass has excited me as much as their work. Again, some of you may well know how much Crass means to me on a political, artistic and musical level and that’s all I am going to waste your time recommending the following. Listen to the Fucking Sleaford Mods…but there is more. Even unbeknown to myself, those sly bastards made a 90 minute documentary chronicling their early years that I have just watched and thus comes my first cultural recommendation. Now, this costs money, 6€ to be precise, and it is money well invested if you so happen to be interested in real, ground breaking music, the likes of which that has been sorely missed since the early 90s.

Here is the trailer to the documentary, here is the link to the film that I implore you to watch and well you do the rest.

Continuing with music - aside from the new Deftones record, the biggest and possibly the equal anti-thesis to that in terms of musical nirvana has been the new Fontaines D.C. record. Admittedly, I was expecting the new Idles record to be the talking point of the year and sadly, it just hasn’t delivered. Fontaines D.C. have though, in a big fucking way and equally to the weight and importance that the new Deftones record has. The entire record is without a fault, from beginning to end, no, it exceeds expectations, breaks new grounds and I am not going to lie, there are a couple of tracks that on there that make me cry, and only Peter Gabriel has been able to do that in 30 some years of tunes. On that, I do not invoke the artistry of Peter Gabriel lightly, he’s is possibly my favourite artist as surprising as that may sound to you:

Nevertheless, if you are going to be spending your valuable time-off - and let’s face it, that time off should be amount to at the very least to 3-4 days a week but no politics today Vogel - spend it with Fontaines D.C. Fuck me. Seriously. It’s been a hot minute since I have been this engrossed in a “new” band and I am. They capture that impossible balance between politics, honesty, craftsmanship and talent that not only is exceptionally rare but deserves our whole support. For those of you that aren’t familiar with them, they sit in this wonderful, original space between The Cure, Joy Division and very early U2 without ever sounding like a copy.

Now, movies and this is where my admission of “ cultural” weakness could come as a surprise but I have no problems admitting it. I have never enjoyed art in film, I watch movies and series for total brain dead escapism and as “avant-garde” as I get is art such as Black Mirror. If music isn’t your drug of choice this weekend, and movies are, may I point you to recent discovery as a consumer of bullshit hollywood propaganda that has allowed me to to cherish film as art without being totally alienated (and bored)

“Don’t Come Knocking” by Wim Wenders is possibly the first Art-Film that I have watched without feeling like a complete cunt and rather, hugely enjoyed it and furthermore, opened the doors to accepting the role of film in art without running away in utter boredom. Thank You Queso for opening this world to me. If, like myself, you are insecure about non-Hollywood films and have felt deeply unsatisfied with the visual drug abuse that has been on offer for past 20 years, please, please, give this a go.

That’s it folks. Irrespective of what those donkeys in D.C. are doing, you and I are just going to have to go on going, and I hope this little excursion today will aid in your realignment with yourself, offer some reprieve and enjoyment. I shall catch you next week, thank you for your time, messages and well-wishes and I extend the same to you and yours.