One of my favorite short films is Hans Richter’s Ghosts Before Breakfast from 1928. Using ordinary objects and people combined with in-camera techniques such as stop-motion, it feels like if you go on materials alone, anyone could have made this film. However, it is Richter’s surreal imagination and wondrous sense of humor that makes this short so memorable. Easily one of the most accessible films that I’ve seen of the 1920’s avant-garde era, anyone can enjoy watching these inanimate objects in revolt.
I have a fascination with early electronic music and the people who created it. The world’s first electronic instrument, the Theremin, is still one of the most daunting pieces of musical equipment to try and play. Clara Rockmore is known as being one of the greatest Theremin players and the earliest star who attempted to popularize the instrument with creator Léon Theremin. It may be an instrument that we now more associate with 50’s sci-fi sounds and strange noises, but Clara’s playing allowed it to be heard in its original context as a classical instrument, like an otherworldly violin, sounding eerie and beautiful at the same time.
A Clara Rockmore collage is featured in Narrow Sparrow’s music video, “Joe Meek’s Dream.”
3. Daughters of Eve – “Hey Lover”
This song was recorded by The Daughter’s of Eve, an all-girl garage band from Chicago in 1966. U.S.A. Records pressed the single, a Chicago-label known for releasing regional Midwest artists. I found out about this band recently through Coco’s OCD, and being from the Chicagoland area my entire life, it was exciting to hear this overlooked pop gem from a local act.
Narrow Sparrow is a band that plays experimental pop music. They just released their ep, Synthworks, which can be downloaded for free. Narrow Sparrow is from Chicago, Illinois.
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