Irony
Fac 1, Factory Communications 1979-1992
Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus.
The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, the Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, Northside, and (briefly) Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and James. Factory also ran The Haçienda nightclub, in partnership with New Order.
Factory Records used a creative team (most notably record producer Martin Hannett and graphic designer Peter Saville) which gave the label and the artists recording for it a particular sound and image. The label employed a unique cataloguing system that gave a number not just to its musical releases, but also to various other related miscellany, including artwork, films, living beings, and even Wilson’s own casket and tombstone.
Two short clips about Factory artefacts
“I am not a piece of hash. I’m in charge of Factory Records. I think.”
Tony Wilson
Fac 51, The Hacienda or How Not To Run A Club by Peter Hook - #update
The Hacienda: How Not to Run a Club by Peter Hook
The Haçienda was, as Hook says, in many ways the perfect example of how not to run a club – if you view a nightclub as a money-making business. But if, like the baggy trousered philanthropists Factory, you see it as an altruistic gift to your hometown and a breeding ground for the next generation of youth culture, it was, accidentally, purposefully, shambolically, anarchically, thrillingly, scarily, inspirationally, perfect.
Peter Hook is a founding member of Joy Division and New Order
See him talk about it.
See this short documentary about The Hacienda.
Hans Schnitzler - We Nihilists
Wij Nihilisten
An elite of tech entrepreneurs has succeeded in dominating people and society in a very short time. Since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, services such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat or the cloud have become indispensable. In fifteen years, a collective digital conversion has taken place that has radically changed our lives.
In Wij nihilisten, Hans Schnitzler poses a question that is hardly ever asked: how did this virtual class manage to do this? Inspired by, among other things, Friedrich Nietzsche’s writings on nihilism, he goes in search of the cultural roots of this success. His quest immerses the reader in the wonderful world of the archetype of the internet age: the nerd. At the same time, he presents a mirror to us: in fact we are all nerds.
The data revolution threatens to eat its own children. With this book, Schnitzler urges us to face our own part in this. Because only when we are aware of this change is possible.
You can buy the book here (Dutch only):
https://www.debezigebij.nl/boek/wij-nihilisten/
'The one who sees it all, sees nothing'
C.S. Lewis
Videos about the book and discussions about the presented issues:
All rights belong to the owners of the works presented.
Alessandro Baricco - The Game
Alessandro Baricco presents a theory to the world why we live in the world we live in today.
He calls it The Game
Fascinating on many different levels.
Johnny Marr - Guitar Genius
Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher; 31 October 1963) is an English musician, songwriter and singer, best known as the guitarist and – with Morrissey – co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987.
Some appetizers on this page, but you should read the biography to hear it all
from the man himself, no ghostwriters involved.
Johnny Marr: Set the Boy Free: The Autobiography
'Try to be the master of your craft'
Johnny Marr
See him talk about it…and many other subjects
On writing his biography:
“I didn’t want to use a ghostwriter, I was there, I had to write it, so I learned how to write and be good at it.”
Jan Böhmermann 'recipe' for a corporate pop hit
Jan Böhmermann shows us how it’s done in Germany. A hit written in 30 minutes and a clip using some original footage of Jim Pandzko (an alter ego of Jan Böhmermann) and a lot of stock images and video. The lyrics have been selected by chimps and are derived from calendars, tweets and other ‘found footage”. It also contains (fake) product placements. The hit is called Menschen, Leben, Tanzen, Welt. (People, Life, Dancing, World)
Nathan Barley - In 2005 light years ahead
Nathan Barley is a British Channel 4 television sitcom written by Charlie Brooker and Chris Morris, starring Nicholas Burns, Julian Barratt, Claire Keelan, Richard Ayoade, Ben Whishaw, Rhys Thomas and Charlie Condou. The series of six weekly episodes began broadcasting on 11 February 2005 on Channel 4.
"I'm a self-facilitating media node"
Nathan Barley
According to Digital Spy, Nathan Barley was “a flop when it originally aired, but a cult hit on DVD”. It pulled in 700,000 viewers and a 3% share.[4]
The series features a (nowadays) famous cast such as:
- Nicholas Burns – Nathan Barley
- Julian Barratt – Dan Ashcroft
- Claire Keelan – Claire Ashcroft
- Richard Ayoade – Ned Smanks
- Ben Whishaw – Pingu
- Rhys Thomas – Toby
- Noel Fielding – Jones
- Spencer Brown – Rufus Onslatt
- Charlie Condou – Jonatton Yeah?
- David Hoyle – Doug Rocket
- Nina Sosanya – Sasha
- Kevin Eldon – Nikolai the Barber
- Julia Davis – Honda Poppet
- Benedict Cumberbatch – Robin
Nathan Barley, played by Nicholas Burns, is a webmaster, guerrilla filmmaker, screenwriter, DJ and in his own words, a “self-facilitating media node”. Whilst desperate to convince himself and others that he is the epitome of urban cool, Nathan is secretly terrified he might not be, which is why he reads Sugar Ape magazine, his bible of cool.
The website (trashbat.co.ck) consists of stupid pranks caught on camera, photos of him with attractive women and famous figures (some of them digitally edited to insert himself), and photos of him standing on street corners in major cities around the world.
The humour derives from the rapid rise of both the Internet and digital media, and the assumption by publishers and broadcasters that almost any such work is worthy of attention. Barley and his peers are often hired ahead of actual journalists and talented writers trying to make intelligent points, such as the earnest documentary film maker Claire Ashcroft, and her brother Dan Ashcroft, a jaded, opinionated and apathetic hack who, having written an article for Sugar Ape entitled “The Rise of the Idiots”, is appalled to find that “the idiots” in question – Nathan and his contemporaries – have adopted him as their spiritual leader, failing to see that they are the very people he was criticising.
Trespassing Bergman - Film makers about the influence of Ingmar Bergman
Trespassing Bergman (re-edit from IMDB)
The idea of famous film makers on a pilgrimage to Ingmar Bergman’s Faro Island home is interesting.
Famous directors and actors who like to talk about the influences that shaped their own work and for whom Bergman represented one of the high achievers of their craft. The interviews Woody Allen playing it straight, Lars Von Trier getting laughs, Robert De Niro, who is notoriously awkward in interviews, at ease and making valid comment. To name but a few. Some music by The Radio Dept. one of Sofia Coppola’s (and my) favourite bands.
Check out the trailer and see the film if you’re interested in making a film yourself. Learn from the best in the industry.
Happyish - Starring Steve Coogan
About Happyish (from IMDB)
It is “different” and does not belong to mainstream and regular type of shows that one may watch. It is not a kind of show that is talked about around water coolers and it is not to everybody’s taste. It is not a kind of show that one watches for sheer purpose of entertainment. Not a kind of show that soothes you, either. It is more like a mirror that reflects how we could get lost in banality of life. It is thought provoking, witty, and intelligent. It is truthful, wry, honest, and cerebral. One of the best shows (sadly underrated and overlooked) in the so called “golden age of television”, that tries to touch the vexed question of “happiness” in modern world and address the “tragic sense of life” in a roundabout way and blended with humor.
Best quote:
‘It’s only tragedy when you don’t see the comedy.’
Hear writer Shalom Auslander talk about an episode in this clip.
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold - Morgan Spurlock
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold – Morgan Spurlock
A documentary about branding, advertising and product placement that is financed and made possible by brands, advertising and product placement.
Basically it’s post modern art that Marcel Duchamp would have loved.