Riot Material

Art. Word. Thought.

Nan Goldin Breathes Word Into Her Seminal Work, The Ballad Of Sexual Dependency

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On view at Matthew Marks, Los Angeles, are a selection of photographs from Nan Goldin’s hypnotic and haunting series, The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, which in its original format is a 48 minute slideshow documenting Goldin’s life in over 700 photographs and 30 songs, the text of which, those songs, acting as the narrative for the “film.”

In her introduction to the book, The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, Goldin writes:

I was eleven when my sister committed suicide. This was in 1965, when teenage suicide was a taboo subject. I was very close to my sister and aware of some of the forces that led her to choose suicide. I saw the role that her sexuality and its repression played in her destruction.  [Read more…]

Soul Pioneer Jackie Shane To Release Career Retrospective: Any Other Way

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45 years ago, Jackie Shane, a 1960’s transgender soulstress, walked away not only from her career but from the public spotlight, not to be heard from again. Until now. A reluctant Ms. Shane is back with a two-disc retrospective titled Any Other Way, set to be released on October 20. Below is the title track from the new release, as well as an electrifying performance of Shane singing “Walking the Dog,” from 1965:

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An Intimate Encounter With Richard Nixon

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Nixon has been demonized, and rightfully so. But to compare him to Trump, who is no less than a Demon, is far too easy. What can at least be said of Nixon is that he was  thoughtful, that he was a contemplative man. This, obviously, cannot be said of Trump. Imagine Trump ever giving consideration to anything but his own small-hand syndrome, which has its own impressively large orbit of satellite syndromes; imagine Trump ever in good faith reaching out to another human being, let alone to the other side of the so-called aisle. This of Nixon we cannot disclaim, as this video hightlights, and it is this quality alone that sets him high above the lowly cretan currently in office. 

New Work From King Krule: “Dam Surfer”

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King Krule’s (aka Archy Marshall) new single, Dum Surfer, “is about as demonic as [things] can get. [Krule’s] voice, especially, is so tart and poisonous, that it’ll surely pucker one’s face. It’s as if in preparation for The Ooz [Krule’s new album] he was eating a box of nails and puffing at a pack of cigarettes every single day to get his vocals just right. The violent, bodily imagery of his lyrics, perfectly match this acerbic mood: he sings about his brains resembling “potato mash” and puking on a sidewalk. His backing band adds a dash of color to this bleak picture, with slinky guitar riffs and wiggly saxophone. In spite of all the doom and gloom, Marshall and his band have an innate groove. The accompanying music video breathes life in the sickly world Marshall imagines.” — Pitchfork Magazine