"Vaster Than Empires" by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Caetano Veloso

"Vaster Than Empires" from the soundtrack to Luca Guadagnino's extraordinary film "Queer" with Daniel Craig reaches into me, walks on my soul, effortlessly slays me. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross created the soundtrack, and this song featuring legendary Brazilian Tropicalismo singer Caetano Veloso played over the closing credits.

How can a man who sees and feels
be other than sad?
How can a man who sees and feels (A sad feeling can be seen)
be other than sad? (As a test upon which love)

How can a man who sees and feels (A sad feeling can be seen)
be other than sad? (As a test upon which love)
How can a man who sees and feels (A sad feeling can be seen)
be other than sad? (Did it even happen?)

How can a man who sees and feels (What is an experience if it is not shared?)
be other than sad? (Did it even happen?)

(What is an experience if it is not shared?)
How can a man who sees and feels (A sad feeling can be seen)
be other than sad? (Did it even happen?)

Our love will grow vaster than empires and more slow
Our love will grow vaster than empires and more slow
The price of immortality, immortality
Our love will grow vaster than empires and more slow
The price of immortality, immortality
Our love will grow vaster than empires and more slow

How can a man who sees and feels (A centipede can be seen)
(Did it even happen?)

(You should have thought of these things)
Be other than sad? (As a test upon which love)

(You should have not only...)
Our love will grow vaster than empires and more slow

(You should have thought of these things)

(You should have not only thought of these things)
Did it even happen?
What is an experience if it is not shared?
Did it even happen?

https://www.nin.com/

"The Lake" by Fever Ray

On the heels of yesterday's International Women's Day, here is Fever Ray (the nom de musique of Karin Dreijer), previously here, performing "The Lake" from the new film "The Bride" written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal and starring the award-winning--and Oscar-nominated--actress and singer Jessie Buckley, previously here. A trio of talented, strong women. Fever Ray makes an appearance in the film and I believe it is this footage we see below... we can see The Bride dancing in the audience...

https://feverray.com/
https://www.thebridemovie.com/

"Wilding Theme" by Jon Hopkins

Jon Hopkins has created the soundtrack to a film called "Wilding," a documentary about Isabella Tree and Charlie Burrell's pioneering rewilding project at Knepp Estate in England, and the title track is lovely...

https://jonhopkins.co.uk/

"The Paradigm" by Lil' Yachty

I can assure you that Lil' Yachty is normally nowhere to be found in my music collection, but wow, this song created during his psychedelic-rock period is amazing. "The Paradigm" was heard over the closing credits of the film "Leave The World Behind."

Meet me at the bridge past nine
Turn off our phones if you need some downtime
Kick off your shoes and unwind
Relax your brain as you enter the paradigm

You are not dealin' with the typical
One of a kind
Super individual
I see the light

Forget about bills, ridin' them hills, dippin' in cheap thrills
Love in the mill, posin' for stills, poppin' them pills (ooh)
Doublin' down, devil's in town, it's tricklin' down
Ah

I am also loving this track "the BLACK seminole." from his release "Let's Start Here."

Sex symbol, the Black Seminole
A sex symbol, the Black Seminole
African Rambo with more ammo
Can't be escaped, I'm on every channel

What's wrong? What's wrong, Mr. Man?
Your eyes are low
And you're walking with both hands on your head
His response, he's on a clean, clean high
Both feet up on the ground
But his head's way, way, way up in the sky

The Black Seminole, a head general
This deep connection, a large interval
A black man with mouths to feed
Embracing equality throughout greed

No time to joke around, the kid is now a man
And the sadness is filled with remarkable sounds
This part, I've seen in my dreams
Love is not a lie, it just feels like a Tarantino movie scene

Exactly

Now

https://www.lilyachtyofficial.com/

"A Necessary Escape" by M83

I love the soaring, expansive music of M83, the outfit headed by Anthony Gonzalez, so I am excited to see that he has released a new album of music. "A Necessary Escape" is the soundtrack to the documentary film "Dakar Chronicles" about the Dakar Rally, an off-road race through inhospitable terrain, directed by French director/actor Jalil Lespert set for a June 19, 2025 release.

https://ilovem83.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Rick Owens

The maestro of alien/dystopian fashion has done it again. For his FW '25-'26 collection at Paris Fashion Week, he reworked his classic platform boot to have a flat sole, so they can be worn on the fabrication floor at his factory in Concordia, Italy. In fact, the collection is titled "Concordia" and speaks about his experience moving from California to both France and Italy. Another boot innovation is a sort of chain mail made from leather rings and strips that give the layered creation the look of long fur, or feathers.

The soundtrack that was played during the show was the English, French, and German versions of David Bowie's classic "Heroes" but due to copyright restrictions, what we hear on the video below is a backward distorted version of the song created by Owens musical collaborator Jeff Judd...which, I have to confess, is just as good if you can't hear the real thing. Quite deliberately I am sure, the set recalls the vertical fluorescent tubes on the stage of Bowie's Isolar II tour in 1978.

Rick Owens show notes:
NAMING THIS COLLECTION C O N C O R D I A N S , I WAS THINKING ABOUT MY 22 YEARS OF TRAVELING TO OUR FACTORY IN THIS SMALL INDUSTRIAL ITALIAN TOWN, CONCORDIA. AND NOT JUST ALONE BUT WITH MY TEAM, ALL TRAVELING FROM THEIR RESPECTIVE GLITTERING CITIES – TO LIVE HERE IN A KIND OF STUDIOUS ISOLATION. ALMOST BLEAKNESS. THIS CLOISTERED LIFE SEEMS TO BE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE ABLE TO FOCUS ON REACHING FOR SOMETHING WEIRDAND WONDERFUL…THE 1ST YEAR, I STAYED IN A GRAND SUITE IN THE BAGLIONI HOTEL IN BOLOGNA THAT MY LICENSE AGREEMENT AT THE TIME PAID FOR. FOR THE NEXT 5 YEARS, I SLEPT ON A COUCH IN MY OFFICE IN THE FACTORY TO IMMERSE MYSELF IN THE RHYTHM OF AN INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION SCHEDULE THAT WAS NEW TO ME AND THAT I NEEDED TO LEARN TO SURVIVE. THE NEXT 10 YEARS, I STAYED AT THE CONCORDIA HOTEL THAT HAD JUST BEEN BUILT OVERLOOKING A GAS STATION, IN A NO FRILLS SERIAL KILLER ROOM. 7 YEARS AGO, AN APARTMENT BUILDING WAS CONSTRUCTED ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE FACTORY AND THAT’S WHERE I HAVE MY CURRENT APARTMENT.
AFTER 20 YEARS OF TRAVELING HERE, I HAVE UPGRADED MY CARRY ON WITH A NEW RIMOWA COLLABORATION CUSTOMIZED WITH A BRONZED EXTERIOR AND FULLY-LINED IN BLACK LEATHER. I ASKED RIMOWA TO GIVE ME THE BRONZE OF A RICHARD SERRA WALL AND, BLESS THEIR HEARTS, THEY DID. MODELS FOR THIS SHOW WEAR NECKLACES MADE WITH COW FUR LUGGAGE TAGS INCLUDED WITH EACH CASE.
MOST LOOKS ARE UNDERPINNED WITH THERMAL LONG JOHNS IN A COMPACT FSC CERTIFIED WOOL/VISCOSE BLEND JERSEY. THERMALS CHANGED MY WHOLE ATTITUDE ABOUT WINTER WHEN I MOVED TO EUROPE FROM CALIFORNIA… HEAVYWEIGHT GROPPONE COW LEATHER IS LASER CUT AND WOVEN TOGETHER BY HAND TO CREATE CHAIN-LINKED SKIRTS AND BOOTS IN A COLLABORATION WITH PARISIAN DESIGNER VICTOR CLAVELLY, WHO SPECIALIZES IN EXAGGERATING THE BODY IN A WAY I’M ALWAYS ON THE LOOKOUT FOR. I HAVE ALSO COLLABED WITH PARISIAN RUBBER MISTRESS MATISSE DI MAGGIO AGAIN, WHO PROVIDED THE TOPS AND HOODIES WITH ALL OVER FRILLING IN NATURAL RUBBER.
SOME TROUSERS AND SHIRTS ARE MADE IN A HEAVY CROSTA SUEDE WHICH IS DYED BY HAND WITH NATURAL INDIGO AND WASHED TO ACHIEVE IRREGULAR COLORATION. THIS IS MADE FOR US BY A TUSCAN TANNERY WITH A LWG GOLD RATING.
DRACUCOLLARED JACKETS AND COATS ARE MADE IN HEAVYWEIGHT VEG TANNED CALF LEATHER, WHICH IS DRUMMED WITH WAX AND THEN WASHED. ONLY VEGETAL AND NATURAL TANNINS ARE USED IN THE PROCESS OF TANNING AND PRESERVING THIS LEATHER. PANTS, SHIRTS, AND BAGS ARE CUT FROM BLEACHED LARGE-SCALED ALLIGATOR RESPONSIBLY SOURCED IN THE U.S.A. LOOSELY FLARED JEANS ARE EXECUTED IN BRONZE MEGACRUST – LAYERS OF BRONZE FOIL AND WAX ARE PRESSED ONTO 13OZ DENIM AND WASHED TO CREATE A CRUSTY SURFACE TEXTURE. ALL OUR DENIM IS TREATED IN AN ITALIAN WASH-HOUSE BASED IN THE VENETO AREA OF ITALY THAT PRODUCES IN SMALLER TREATMENT BATHS TO REDUCE WATER WASTE AND UTILIZES A WATER PURIFYING PROCESS THAT ENABLES THEM TO RECYCLE A PORTION OF THE WATER USED. ALL OF OUR DENIM WASHES ARE ZDHC CERTIFIED.
SHREDDED AND COLLAGED JEANS ARE MADE IN 14OZ ORGANIC JAPANESE INDIGO SLUB DENIM WOVEN IN THE FUKUYAMA PREFECTURE BY A MILL FOUNDED IN 1893. THESE ARE STONEWASHED WITH MINERAL DYES TO CREATE OUR SIGNATURE HUSTLER WASH. WE CONTINUE OUR BONOTTO COLLABORATION WITH CAPES AND COATS ZIPPED AND HARNESSED IN HOMAGE TO BLIXA BARGELD, THE FRONTMAN OF EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN.
HEAVYWEIGHT WOOL MELTON IS MADE USING RWS CERTIFIED VIRGIN WOOL WHICH ENSURES A HIGH STANDARD IN ANIMAL WELFARE, ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. EACH BALE OF WOOL IS TRACEABLE BACK TO ITS SOURCE. JACKETS AND COATS ARE CUT IN A BRITISH MÉLANGE WOOL FELT BLENDED WITH KEMP, ALSO KNOWN AS DEAD HAIR. KEMP FIBERS ARE NATURAL TO SOME SHEEP BREEDS AND DO NOT TAKE DYE WHICH CREATES THE NATURAL MÉLANGE COLORATION ONCE DYED. FACTORY BOOTS RECREATE THE HEIGHT AND INCLINATION OF OUR KISS BOOTS BUT WITH AN EXTRA STABLE INDUSTRIAL SOLE FOR STEADY FOOTING ON FACTORY STAIRS.
THE SOUNDTRACK IS BOWIE’S HEROES – THE FRENCH, GERMAN, AND ENGLISH VERSIONS, WHICH WE WON’T LEGALLY BE ABLE TO USE ON YOUTUBE BUT IS THE CONSTANT SUBLIMINAL SOUNDTRACK TO A LOT OF OUR LIVES. WHAT YOU LISTEN TO ON YOUR EARBUDS IN AN EMPTY VILLAGE TRAIN STATION ON A COLD FOGGY NIGHT ON YOUR WAY SOMEWHERE TO WORK ON A WEIRD AND WONDERFUL FUTURE.
AND GIVE ME A WEEK OR A MONTH, I CAN FIT EVERYTHING I NEED IN A CARRY ON… I CAN NEED LESS BUT MAKE CHOICES COUNT MORE. I WANT TO DEPEND ON LESS THINGS BUT MAKE THEM AS SUPERNATURAL AS POSSIBLE.

Here are some close-ups of the new boots...I needed to see these to wrap my head around their construction. And the wrap around sunglasses are perfection.

Bowie performing on the stage set for his Isolar II Tour, 1978

Huge kudos to Rick Owens for non-standard casting too...body and age diversity are good to see.

https://www.rickowens.eu/

Currently listening to...

...the sublime track "Winter" from David Byrne's 1985 soundtrack to "The Knee Plays" which ran in the short vignettes connecting the longer scenes of Robert Wilson’s mega-opera "the CIVIL warS." The song features treated horns to a stately, haunting, elegiac effect. I bought this when it was released in '85 and this song remains echoing in my head.

https://www.davidbyrne.com/

Currently listening to...

...a nostalgic moment for me: a track from the original motion picture soundtrack to Paul Scharder's "Cat People" starring Nastassja Kinski. The soundtrack was already composed and recorded by Giorgio Moroder, the producer who practically invented Italo-disco and was responsible for the highly electronic sound of some of Donna Summer's greatest songs like "I Feel Love" when Schrader asked David Bowie to collaborate. He wrote the lyrics for the Moroder-composed theme song "Putting Out Fire (With Gasoline)." But for another track, Moroder created a version of the theme song with Bowie's vocalizations only, no words. Called "The Myth," this track recalls the ancient, exotic world in the film where the Cat People come from.

I loved this soundtrack when the film came out, but I loved this track in particular. I was and still am a huge fan of electronic music and at that time, in 1982 when I was a young man of 18, I was still enraptured with Moroder's work with Donna Summer. I was also a lifelong Bowie fan, so the music had a lot going for it to hook me. I had this on a cassette and would pop it in to my Walkman and just drift off...

https://www.giorgiomoroder.com/
https://www.davidbowie.com/

"Raised By Wolves Opening Title" by Ben Frost and Mariam Wallentin

I enjoyed Season One of the dark HBO/Ridley Scott sci-fi series "Raised By Wolves" and have been enjoying Season Two so far, but it is the theme song that has been absolutely haunting me. Written by Ben Frost and sung by Swedish experimental vocalist Mariam Wallentin, there is something so otherworldly and eerie about it while managing to sound like a sad, final lullaby...

The door that finally opens
With light flooding in
Spilling out on the floor

The core that never was
Now it will be
The bones of
What was there before

Every step, every beat
Every thought, every breath
Everything is longing

Pulling you from the sky
Just like love will do

Pulling you from the ground
Just like love will do

http://ethermachines.com/
https://www.instagram.com/mariam_repeatuntildeath/
https://www.hbomax.com/series/urn:hbo:series:GX0WFcAlf5r5cuAEAAADu

Currently listening to...

...David Byrne's miraculous score for Twyla Tharps' production of "The Catherine Wheel." Unexpected, polyrhythmic, pan-cultural, oddly expressive, disturbing, calming, haunting. I bought this when it came out in 1981 and was quite struck by it. It has stayed with me, in my mind, my imagination, my emotional memory, ever since. Here are a selection of some of my favorite tracks.

My Big Hands (Fall Through the Cracks)

Well it ain't my fault
My fault that things gone wrong
And it ain't my fault,
Some things are sticking out.
My big hands
Keep my big hand to myself.
Tip toe too
Tip toe around the house

Come, Come on in
It's not, it's not like that
Down, down we go
Fall through, fall through the cracks.

Well I help myself
Help myself to what I want.
Side by side
Get stupid in the dark.
Didn't get home
Things broke down
No sense
Not at all.

Come, Come on in
It's not, it's not like that
Down, down we go
Fall through, fall through the cracks.

https://davidbyrne.com/

https://www.twylatharp.org/

"Visions of Gideon" by Sufjan Stevens

"Visions of Gideon" is taken from the soundtrack of the 2017 film "Call Me By Your Name" by Sufjan Stevens. Sometimes I put this song on and it ends up on repeat for a few hours...

It played while we watched Timothée Chalamet cry, in an agonizing, relentless, near-five minute close-up for the final scene of the film. Such tenderness and heartbreak. Truly stunning. Read my review of the film here.

I have loved you for the last time
Is it a video? Is it a video?
I have touched you for the last time
Is it a video? Is it a video?

For the love, for laughter, I flew up to your arms
Is it a video? Is it a video?
For the love, for laughter, I flew up to your arms
Is it a video? Is it a video?
Is it a video?

I have loved you for the last time
Visions of Gideon, visions of Gideon
And I have kissed you for the last time
Visions of Gideon, visions of Gideon

For the love, for laughter, I flew up to your arms
Is it a video? (Is it a video?) Is it a video? (Is it a video?)
For the love, for laughter, I flew up to your arms
Is it a video? (Is it a video?) Is it a video? (Is it a video?)
For the love, for laughter, I flew up to your arms
Visions of Gideon (visions of Gideon), visions of Gideon (visions of Gideon)
For the love, for laughter, I flew up to your arms

Visions of Gideon (visions of Gideon), visions of Gideon (visions of Gideon), visions of Gideon
Visions of Gideon, visions of Gideon, visions of Gideon
Visions of Gideon, visions of Gideon, visions of Gideon
Visions of Gideon (is it a video?), visions of Gideon (is it a video?), visions of Gideon

https://sufjan.com/

"Loving Vincent"

"Loving Vincent" is the world's first completely painted biographical animated film. Based on the life and death of painter Vincent Van Gogh, each of the film's 65,000 frames is an actual fully realized oil painting on canvas in the style of Van Gogh. It is set for a September 22, 2017 limited release here in the United States.

And here is "The Sower With Setting Sun" from the soundtrack of "Loving Vincent" by Clint Mansell.

The Van Gogh painting The Sower (With Setting Sun).

http://us.lovingvincent.com/

Just watched...

..."Arrival," Denis Villeneuve's 2016 science fiction film, currently in theaters.

"Arrival" seems to represent a new kind of science fiction film. Ostensibly about the arrival of aliens to our planet, we are mercifully spared yet another film war between humans and a race of some kind of spindly, evil creatures who want to exterminate us. Instead, we are treated here to a thoughtful, meditative film--without exploding spaceships or the sight of major cities around the world being destroyed (a bizarre fetish in recent film history)--about mortality, time, communication, and naturally by extension, the nature of existence itself. A Hollywood film that feels like an art film.

Amy Adams is Dr. Louise Banks, a highly regarded linguist who is enlisted to attempt to learn how to communicate with the aliens. Director Villeneuve's deft, masterful hand imbues the story with a special, low-level, slow-moving anxiety. The sense and look of the film is dependent upon this pacing which is exquisitely measured, creating a dream-like atmosphere and Adams fits beautifully into this texture. Her performance is deft and masterful as well: somehow she is able to open herself up and show us the contents of her head and heart while doing very little and existing in some kind of miraculous, suspended state. It's a marvel to see and the film would have suffered if the lead hadn't been able to immerse herself into this unique perspective. While the art direction is spectacular (there is a spartan look to the film, and the aliens are perfectly realized--Arthur C. Clarke said "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"), special attention should be paid to the incredible soundtrack by Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson. Without giving away any spoilers, the aliens ultimately end up being beside the point. Seems the real point is ourselves in this physical plane.

Recommend? Oh yes. It's beautiful to see but also beautiful to contemplate.

http://www.arrivalmovie.com/

"Mechanical Marvels: Clockwork Dreams" by Alex Menzies

Composer Alex Menzies wrote a hauntingly beautiful score for the 2013 BBC documentary "Mechanical Marvels: Clockwork Dreams." Here are a few tracks...

If you'd like to purchase the entire album, visit:
https://kathexis.bandcamp.com/album/mechanical-marvels-clockwork-dreams

For more information and more music:
https://alexmenzies.net/

Fendi In The Trevi

OH. MY. GOD.
For the end of the women's Paris Fashion Week, Fendi shuttled guests via jet to ROME where they staged their Fall-Winter '16-'17 show at--in--ON--that city's iconic Trevi Fountain. Which is appropriate since Fendi just funded a multi-million dollar cleaning and renovation of the breathtaking landmark. The translucent runway was mounted at water level and made it seem as though the models were literally walking on water. The clothing was reminiscent of Italy in 1890 with some Aesthetic Movement and Art Nouveau touches here and there. And of course how can one stage a show with an Italian motif without using the music of Nino Rota from classic Fellilni films: here we hear excerpts from Fellini's films "Casanova," "Roma" (appropriately from the Vatican Fashion Show sequence, previously here), and possibly my all-time favorite Fellini, "Juliet of the Spirits." But of course the ultimate Fellini-Trevi reference is the legendary fountain scene from "La Dolce Vita" (previously here and here) featuring Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg romping in the water in the middle of the night.

Karl Lagerfeld and Silvia Venturini Fendi came out for bows at the end of the show both for the beautiful collection and for the gloriously renovated, now-pristine Trevi.

http://www.fendi.com/