Tag Archives: Soledad

SOLEDAD #6: Lana’s ‘Violet,’ Nouchka Van Brakel, and More

08 Sunday Aug 2021

Posted by in Books, Lana Del Rey, Periodicals, Poetry

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Issue 6 of SOLEDAD Arts Journal – out now via Amazon for just £3.13 in the UK, or $3.78 across the pond – is also the 20th volume from Nostalgia Kinky Publications, including predecessor ART DECADES (and I’m proud to have appeared in all but five.) This issue is peppered with lyrics from French singer-songwriter Véronique Sanson.

The cover story is an exclusive interview with Dutch filmmaker Nouchka Van Brakel, in conjunction with a new triple-boxset on Blu-Ray from Cult Epics. Editor Jeremy Richey has also spoken with film historian Samm Deigan about his new book, The Legacy of World War II in European Arthouse Cinema. Marcelline Block interviews author Sam Nortey Jr., who shares an extract from his novel, Thumbwars. Marcelline also contributes a scrapbook history of feminist artist and scholar, Jenny H. Batlay. There’s poetry from Marcelline and Ruth LaSure, and Emily Clare Bryant meets Sunmates, a synth-pop band from Lexington, Kentucky.

And finally, I’ve written a 24-page essay on Lana Del Rey’s debut poetry book/spoken-word album, Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass. I hope you’ll enjoy delving into this fascinating project as much as I did.

SOLEDAD #5: Lana, Alexandra and More

08 Tuesday Jun 2021

Posted by in Film, Lana Del Rey, Music, Updates, Writing

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The ethereal blonde on the cover of SOLEDAD #5 is Alexandra Hay, best known for her supporting roles in late 1960s movies like Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and Otto Preminger’s Skidoo, and as the leading lady of Jacque Demy’s Model Shop. The final starlet under contract as the old studio system broke down, she also played Jean Harlow in The Beard, a controversial play which led to her being arrested 14 times for ‘lewd conduct’ (with Billy the Kid), before winning an historic acquittal under First Amendment rules. Dylan Staley, who is working on a biography of this neglected actress, shares an extended profile in this issue.

Other highlights include Aaron W. Graham’s article about The Long Distance Piano Player, a 1970 TV drama written and directed by Alan Sharp, the Scottish novelist who became a Hollywood screenwriter. Part of the BBC’s ground-breaking Play for Today series, the teleplay also starred one of English music’s finest, Ray Davies of Kinks fame. Elsewhere, Sandra McCollum presents five evocative prose pieces about growing up in the segregated American South.

Regular contributor Marcelline Block shares two book excerpts (Filmed Letters From Algeria, and The Films of Michel Gondry) and a selection of poetry, while Robert Monell concludes his science fiction series with Government By Magick. There’s also a photo-essay by Amy Pangburn, new poems from Emily Clare Bryant and lyrics by musician David Neuland, and Soledad editor Jeremy Richey’s interview with Christian Valor, author of a new biography of French exploitation filmmaker Claude Mulot.

And finally, my long-overdue, 17-page, illustrated review of Lana Del Rey’s 2019 opus, Norman Fucking Rockwell! Yes, I know she’s made two more albums since then – with another on the way – but I hope you’ll agree that whatever I may lack in punctuality, I compensate for amply in breadth.

Issue 5 of SOLEDAD Arts Journal is available now via Amazon, for just £3.80 in the UK or $4.58 across the pond.

Soledad 4: Madonna’s ‘Madame X,’ and More

17 Sunday May 2020

Posted by in Madonna, Music, Periodicals, Updates

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The fourth issue of SOLEDAD Arts Journal is out now on Amazon, for $7.71 (US) or £6.28 (UK.) And at 186 pages, it’s a content-heavy issue, with a cover story on filmmaker Cosmotropia de Xam. Inside she revisits locations and compares them with other movies made there. These include several areas of Spain, and the Polish city of Lodz, where David Lynch filmed Inland Empire (2006.) There’s also an interview with actress Rachel Audrey, who has appeared in five Cosmotropia projects.

Arizona duo Grumpy Bear, interviewed by editor Jeremy Richey, have released a five-track Soledad EP with a cinematic theme, free to readers on Bandcamp (contact Jeremy at mooninthegutter@gmail.com for the code.) Jeremy has also written a fascinating review of Henry Jaglom’s A Safe Place (1971), starring Tuesday Weld. Elsewhere, LaShane Arnett writes about her love affair with Psychedelic Furs, and Rachael Dunnett and Peter Jilmstead talk about Fragments of Fear, their podcast for fans of Italian horror and ‘giallo’ films.

Marcelline Block’s interview with artist Miles Ladin during his Masquerade exhibit is also featured, and Chris O’Neill talks with singer Gabbie Bam Bam about her influences. Filmmaker John Levy shares still photos from This Wild Wild Wound. Poetry and short fiction make a strong showing, with contributions from regulars Les Bohem, Robert Monell and Emily Clare Bryant, plus newcomers Neddal Ayad and Ruth La Sure, who combines writing and photography to striking effect.

And finally, you can read my review of Madonna’s Madame X – it’s fully illustrated over eighteen pages, and leaves no stone unturned!

 

My Hopes and Fears for 2020

31 Tuesday Dec 2019

Posted by in Books, Film, Lana Del Rey, Music, Poetry, Politics, Television, Updates, Writing

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As a new decade beckons, I’m deeply worried about the way our world seems to be heading. As W.H. Auden wrote on ‘September 1, 1939‘ (a poem deemed so prescient he tried to bury it …) Continue reading →

Soledad 3: Twin Peaks, Blondie and More

13 Wednesday Nov 2019

Posted by in Periodicals, Television, Updates

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The third issue of SOLEDAD Arts Journal is now available to order via Amazon, for £5.18 in the UK or a devilish $6.66 Stateside. The cover photo shows Carol Lynley, who sadly passed away recently, with Gig Young in The Shuttered Room (1967), to which editor Jeremy Richey pays tribute inside. This issue’s muse is Debbie Harry, with Blondie lyrics peppered throughout, and a profile by superfan Dave Stewart (no, not that one.) Debbie was my first pop idol, and her recent memoir, Face It, has brought me back into the fold.

Still on the music front, Jeremy has also interviewed Texan duo Teenage Cavegirl, and Steven Darrow from Sonic Medusa and Sister Midnight. There are short stories by Les Bohem and Robert Monell, poems by Emily Clare Bryant, and photography by Amy Pangburn. John Greco talks about his Noir fiction, and Marcelline Block writes about reading in the digital age. As always, the film world is well-represented, with a review of a new Scorpio Films anthology – including Obsessions (Hole in the Wall), co-scripted by a young Martin Scorsese – and an insightful essay by Laura Kupp Beerman, ‘Seen/Unseen: Halloween, Peeping Tom and Empire of Signs.’

And finally, the concluding part of my Twin Peaks trilogy is also published in this issue, which I’ll dedicate to Robert Forster, who played Sheriff Frank Truman in the revival. He had a long and varied career, from his debut in Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967), through to his comeback in Jackie Brown (1999) and Mulholland Drive (2001.) His surprise appearance in El Camino, the Breaking Bad sequel which aired last month, will now be remembered as his swansong.