july 2023 finds is here, as late as ever, but at least the list is long.
BOOKS
1. i have finally managed to finish the 500 pages of art sex music by cosey fanni tutti. she gives too many details, but maybe the fans appreciate them. ultimately, the book offers another pov for the throbbing gristle story and for her life with genesis p-orridge. and gen turns out to be a big ol’ narcissist. recommended, especially for the fans.
2. i’ve finished clothes, clothes, clothes. music, music, music, boys, boys, boys by viv albertine. she was in the slits, the only girls-only original punk bands in 70s london. as usual with musicians’ autobiographies, i recommend it most to fans. if you are not a fan, like i wasn’t, you may enjoy reading about the punk scene back then and how she survived as an ex-punk in real life.
you could also read this interesting interview. i have her second book waiting in the to-read pile.
3. monstres, mangas et murakami is the catalogue for a show i saw in paris, in 2019. i found it by chance on the internet and it was very interesting to read.
4. warren ellis wrote some sort of autobiography called nina simone’s gum starting from this weird artefact. i’m planning to buy the book. until then, read the interview.
5. i read confessions of an art addict by peggy guggenheim in romanian. the writing is simple, but the story is extraordinary.
MANGA
6. finalmente o verao is a comics written by mariko tamaki and illustrated by jillian tamaki, they are cousins of japanese descendent. i enjoyed their work.
7. guy delisle is a well-known canadian comics author. i re-read cronicas da birmania. he travels to untouristy places with his medecins sans frontieres wife and their son.
8. also, i re-read shenzen uma viagem a china. his style is simple and endearing, i absolutely recomend him.
9. i read two mangas by shigeru mizuki. nonnonba was wonderful and full of yokai, japanese spirits and demons.
10. marcha para a morte was completely different, moving and sad given the war background. find his work and read it.
11. lv commissioned the late mangaka jiro taniguchi to do a travel book in venice. wonderful!
MAGAZINES
12. i only read the august issue of british vogue. the cover girl was the love island presenter, also stormzy’s ex. i liked the wealth of wellness tips and tricks.
MUSIC
13. if you don’t know sade, you should.
14. it’s no secret that i love nin. watch their induction in the rock & roll hall of fame on youtube.
15. i like lars eidinger so much i’d watch him hopping around for a couple of minutes.
16. taehyung from bts has 2 singles out, teasing the layover ep coming on september the 8th. i like the first video which was shot in torres blancas in madrid.
17. i finally went to the local fonoteca. i asked for some bossa nova and i was given brazilian guitar by super musician luiz bonfa. check it out if you like bossa nova and brazilian music in general.
18. i listened to afro-samba by baden powell and viniciu de moraes, too. you have the whole album below. the experience was very interesting, i’ll definitely go back.
CONCERTS
19. i went to fundacao serralves for a sold-out concert. although called 100 cymbals, it actually had two parts: john cage/ryoji ikeda – but what about the noise of crumpling paper (1985/2021) and ryoji ikeda – 100 cymbals. not the best concert, but it was only one hour long.
ARCHITECTURE
20. tate modern has a new cafe called corner. i’ll go next time i’m in town.
21. joana vasconcelos is a successful portuguese artist. she’s currently on show in china and in the uk.
FILMS
22. asteroid city should have been a music video, not a 105-minute film. the characters are too similar to one another. the storyline is weak. the cast and the pastel aesthetic are the only pluses.
TV SERIES
23. i watched the 5 episodes of ss-gb to see lars eidinger. it’s a big production, but i didn’t necessarily like it.
YOUTUBE
24. vogue japan is interviewing this sassy drag queen called mitz mangrove. he seems to have been the one to blame for the bao bao bag shortage years ago lol.
25. on the same website, gyutae shows us a few make-up tricks.
26. i like alaska!
27. takashi is a smart japanese young man whose channel grew to have over 1 million followers. below, an interview with him and one of his recent videos.
28. i have recently found this channel called go travel planet. here are a few videos about porto.
how was your july?
photo and video credits: copyright holders and little aesthete
