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BLACK AND WHITE AND COLOURS ALL OVER
Back in 1999, one of the first things I wrote about for Level was the Lomo LC-A camera, around the time it was just beginning to get some attention. Ten years on there’s a digital equivalent, but this time it’s not from Russia. The Digital Harinezumi (or hedgehog in English) was created by a group of obsessive lo-fi toy camera lovers in Japan called Superheadz who were also one of the first to introduce cheap Russian cameras to Japan. They sell a huge range of analogue cameras from their Shibuya store with an increasing number designed and produced by themselves, including a key-ring 110 camera and the Blackbird Fly, a twin lens reflex camera that uses 35mm film. There’s even
—Lee Basford, 25 August 2009
THE WEBSITE HAS ALL THE INFO AND MISTY-EYED SAMPLES YOU NEED and there are MORE STILLS IN THE FLICKR GROUP
The cameras are available outside Japan if you look for them in the usual galleries and bookshops. They’ve also just opened a New York office
RETAIL: AROUND US$170; ¥15,750. SPECIAL EDITION “BEE” AVAILABLE IN WHITE
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In his directorial debut, Moon (2009), Duncan Jones—son of David Bowie—creatively recycles elements from a bygone era of sci-fi. Pieces from films past include a resurrection of HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) in the moon base’s in-house computer GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey), a nod to the hallucinations of Steven Soderburgh’s Solaris (2002), and a similar use of the memory implants from Blade Runner (1982). Also like Solaris, Moon is more concerned with inner space than outer space (and Clint Mansell’s score recalls Cliff Martinez’s best work). Sam Rockwell plays the lead astronaut in a role written specifically for him by Jones. If this movie doesn’t finally make the underrated Rockwell an A-lister then I am no longer qualified to write about movies. If you like the pre-CGI “golden age” of science fiction, Moon is your next destination.
—Roy Christopher, 22 August 2009
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BOOZE AND VIEWS
I’ve had a mild obsession with London rooftops since my formative teenage years were spent escaping authority on the lid of an NCP car-park opposite my school in Hammersmith. In later years, memories of afternoons wasted away in a blissfully forgotten space floating above the chaos and stink of W6 left me wondering why, in this crowded, overstretched, overworked city, we don’t take more advantage of the acres of space that the rooftops of London provide.
Hannah Barry, 25 year old artist, curator and gallery manager from Peckham, seems to have shared similar thoughts and is currently in the third year of producing ‘Bold Tendencies’, an outdoor sculpture gallery located on the top floor of a multi-storey car park in
—Posy Dixon, 21 August 2009
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What else is there to say? Slayer is the best metal band on the planet. Period. They’ve been burning it down for almost thirty years and if you haven’t seen them play live, you must. They’re currently destroying the country with a million other metal bands on the Rockstar Mayhem Festival tour (which I caught last week in San Antonio, Texas) but with Slayer on the bill, no one else matters—and I’m not the only one who thinks so.
—Roy Christopher, 20 August 2009
What do you get when you get together the bass player from Head of David (Dave Cochrane), the bass player from jesu (Diarmuid Dalton) and the masterminds, guitarists and vocalists from jesu (Justin Broadrick) and Isis (Aaron Turner)? The most abrasive, most dissonant metal machine music since Godflesh’s Streetcleaner (which is still the blueprint of this sound Broadrick laid down twenty years ago), that’s what. Greymachine’s debut, Disconnected is two steps forward and one step back and loud and ugly and good in all of the ways this kind of noise should be. If you miss the discordance of Broadrick’s earlier work or you just need a good, hard kick in the ass, Greymachine is your ticket.
—Roy Christopher, 20 August 2009
It’s just as contagious, but unlike swine flu, the nausea only lasts an hour. Rollapaluza is riding high amongst the UK’s hardcore cycling community. I went down, took part, shamed myself and liked it.
—Tom Oldham, 19 August 2009
This is not a website that blows its own trumpet, but if you need another reason to add it to your iPhone’s home screen, now you will get this cute little icon featuring Tom Oldham’s 1999 photo of Nina Persson from the cover of Level issue 01.
The site works perfectly on the iPhone (apart from the ‘latest entry’ hovering-trick on the section links above) so, if you haven’t already, that makes two more reasons to invest in one.
—Chris Noble, 13 August 2009
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LOVE CHILDREN
In 2001, Campbell Milligan emailed me asking what had happened to Level and for advice about starting a magazine of his own. Foolishly, he ignored my warnings, quit his job at Australia’s Waves magazine and, along with Chris Searl, planned to publish his dream magazine at the end of 2002. “She’s pretty much going to be along the same lines Level was with more of a surf skate snow kick”, he wrote in his next email. So if you’re looking at this site with a tear in your eye, mourning the death of print, heartbroken that Level’s only recourse for a return was electronic, you might find solace in the arms of Monster Children.
MC was openly inspired by Level but
—Chris Noble, 10 August 2009
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Artist and signed-up levelmag.com contributor Andy Mueller is currently avoiding doing anything for the website you’re looking at by showing a selection of his work in Chicago. I’m imagining the Public Works co-showers Chris Eichenseer, Justin Fines and Cody Hudson are also avoiding similar volunteer work.
Please do not make your way down to the Andrew Rafacz Gallery at 835 W. Washington Boulevard before August 29th, that way he won’t get booked for future shows and might “find time” to actually put some minutes in at levelmag.com. Thanks.
—Chris Noble, 07 August 2009
My credit’s feeling a tad crunched so I’m off to the British seaside, just like I used to as a young pup. As the UK’s coastline enjoys a new enthusiasm, where else in a famously expensive location can a couple enjoy such a native treat without feeling properly tucked up? Warning: The following feature is a surefire sign that the writer is aging.
—Tom Oldham, 06 August 2009
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