New York Times Taylor Mead Obituary

Great obituary here.

Taylor Mead

Here's a small tribute to a wonderful poet, performer, actor and raconteur who was gloriously at odds with the world, and who sadly left it today.

I first met Taylor Mead through the filmmaker Gary Goldberg in 1997. I don't remember too much from that night apart from his insisting that I go and see Harmony Korine's 'Gummo' in spite of the intolerable feline abuse featured in the film. I returned to New York in 1998 and spent more time with Taylor, even featuring on his internet 'chat show', which I think was called The Convertible Taylor Mead Show. We attempted to do a short film called 'The Punk from Puerto Rico' with Kid Congo Powers from The Gun Club and The Cramps, but only got as far as the photo I took above after a swim on a rooftop. We used it as publicity to raise money in the UK, but nobody gave a damn.

I lost touch with Taylor after that aborted attempt to make the film. I only returned to New York last year after a fourteen-year gap and made some attempts to find his lost phone number through some of the film people I know now, but in vain. Some even queried, "who is Taylor Mead?" But perhaps that was part of his charm: never loud, aggressive or self-promoting, at least during that very brief period when I knew him. He didn't strike me as the kind of underground 'star' that could be appropriated by the mainstream the way some of them were and he paid a heavy price for it when one saw how he lived. I only knew a handful of people connected with Warhol or the New York Underground, but from the ones I briefly worked or drank with, I had the softest spot for Taylor - incredibly affable, approachable, gentle and funny. Given the stories I recently read about his battles with his landlord, they only exemplify how there is less and less space both physically and metaphorically for artists who don't conform. What is troublesome about his passing is that the torch doesn't seem to be passed on. It's not just that Taylor Mead has gone, but also the type of person he was seems to have gone into extinction. Hopefully I'm wrong, but that seems to be the nagging concern.

Here is a piece by Jim Hoberman on Taylor Mead, which is fitting since his 'Midnight Movies' book with Jonathan Rosenbaum got me into the New York Underground. All cats will mourn tonight. May the great man be remembered.

Peripheral Conserve distribution

Just a quick note to alert any listeners that the recent Bohman Brothers album, 'Back on the Streets' along with 'Food Science' and 'A Gourmet's Slumber' by The Sonic Catering Band are available through independent record stores in the UK and mail order through Amazon. Downloads of the three albums are also available through itunes. Thanks to Essential Music for helping with this.

More releases very soon. Next up is the single, 'Kunst ist Tot' by Xylitol.

Jess Franco

Just over a year after the death of Lina Romay, now Jess Franco has followed his wife to the Elysian fields. The best and most eloquent obituary I've seen so far is by Stephen Thrower here. To my shame, I've only seen a fraction of Franco's 180 or so films, but I would thoroughly recommend the strange wonders I saw to many. Let's hope more films will be available soon.

James White: Film Restoration in the Digital Domain

Compulsory reading for anyone interested in cinema. James White is one of those many invisible heroes whose work for the BFI DVDs, (and now Arrow) deserves a standing ovation.

Open Air

I meant to post this over the weekend, but better late than never. Something to take one's mind off dwindling butterflies:  Open Air

Polish Films and Posters

Some great events coming up related to Polish cinema and especially the inexplicably forgotten art of graphic art for film posters. Thanks to Daniel Bird for the alert and for putting a lot of this together. More information here, here and here.