House of Gerrish International » Culture

LA

Matt — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:24:13 +0000

“Cities are distinguished by the catastrophic forms they presuppose and which are a vital part of their essential charm. New York is King Kong, or the blackout, or vertical bombardment: Towering Inferno. Los Angeles is the horizontal fault, California breaking off and sliding into the Pacific: Earthquake.”
- Jean Baudrillard

“Los Angeles is just New York lying down”
- Quentin Crisp

“I love Los Angeles. I love Hollywood. They’re beautiful. Everybody’s plastic, but I love plastic. I want to be plastic.”
- Andy Warhol

“I’d move to Los Angeles if New Zealand and Australia were swallowed up…

2000 – 2010: splintering scenes

hugh — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:30:45 +0000

Just reading this Guardian piece debating whether Pitchforks 200 albums of the decade is a significant list that we should take note of. The answer for me from both a music fan and cultural observer angle is yes definitely. Those guys went beyond the guitar based music with the odd exception mindset that the NME and Q had to one where any album, whether it was from a Norwegian disco producer or Brooklyn 4 piece was listened to and assessed on a level playing field.

I’ve got to be thankful to them for some of my…

So Fresh and So Clean

ricky — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:08:49 +0000

Until recently, I was never much of a shoe person. I prided myself on a fine DVD collection, yes, good taste in wine, women and culture…but not shoes. ‘Chumpy’ is a word that comes to mind when describing the shoes of my youth. I spent most of my University years watching close friends obsessing over and building up collections of trainers well beyond what could be considered for practical use. One such friend today has over 80 pairs, the only thing that he is insured for. [See above for the aforementioned individual]

Then suddenly, towards the end of last year,…

I’m a cultural snob but I really enjoyed 2012

miguel — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:38:24 +0000

My ex-girlfriend would always accuse me of being a cultural snob. Ham-fisted efforts to read Proust on the beach, pig-headed plans to visit the Renoir in Bloomsbury, well-meaning yet ill-fated constructive criticism on her choice of Toxic Bachelors as holiday reading, were always met with a sneering: “You. are such a fucking pseeeeeuuudo chin-stroker.”

In a way she was right. I think people into the arts who aren’t Tolstoy or Brian Sewell will always feel slightly insecure about the sum of their cultural clout, and thus the need to tell everyone that they’ve got the arts locked down, sealed off, noone else can enter, cau’ I run this bloodclaat perimeter anyone test Dead…! if you see what I mean.…

Watch out Murdoch

sam — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:22:27 +0000

If you’ve been reading The Sun this week, you’ll be aware of the added difficulties facing Gordon Brown and the Labour party as they seek re-election next year. The Sun are, of course, going Conservative next summer and Rupert Murdoch does not like backing losers. ‘It was the Sun wot won it’, was the headline after their support helped Major into power in ’92, yet today newspapers have nothing like the sway of 17 years ago. So what does Murdoch do? He hammers Brown, again and again via his News Corporation empire,…

Why Mayer Hawthorne is a gimmick

miguel — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:12:59 +0000

by Miguel Cullen of www.stateofthearts.org.uk

For those who don’t know, Mayer Hawthorne is a new soul artist on Stone’s Throw records, the label that puts out Madvillain, Breakestra and J Dilla. His sound is almost inseparable to that of Curtis Mayfield and Isaac Hayes, and his look is a sort of Mark Ronson, slightly geeky in skinny ties/cardigans.
He’s a massive hit among discerning heads in the scene, with his Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out single heading six-figure hits on YouTube and his Maybe So, Maybe No Venice Beach-shot music video getting him a front page interview spot on…

Twitter and the offencerati

sam — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:27:59 +0000

Anyone whose life involves writing more than the odd shopping list will know the feeling. For a split-second (perhaps it is a trick of the mind) all your thoughts summate into one concise, witty, perfect sentence. And then – in absence of pen or dictaphone – it is gone as quickly as it came. So it was that my exact stance on Twitter came to rest somewhere on the southbound stretch of the A21 between Sevenoaks and Tonbridge – a hellish place to die.

I’m definitely not going to describe it as the internet’s marmite. Likening something to marmite is…