Most American film buffs know Emir Kusturica as one of the best directors to come out of the Balkans. What they may not know is that he’s a hell of a band leader. Check out this concert from 2005.
Argentina
[Literature] Palabra De Borges
Youtube provides some of the most amazing treasures…
For those of you who are comfortable with Castilian Spanish, this is the final interview conducted by Argentine fabulist Jorge Luis Borges. The host, Raul Burzaco, completed this for ATC Studios in June of 1985. Two legends speaking.
[Art/Literature] Lot 51: Borges, Xul Solar, and the occult.
Those who know me well will know that I’ll crow on happily about my favorite writer, Jorge Luis Borges. The Paris Review’s Maria Bustillos pens an article on the erstwhile writer, his Argentine, friend and countryman, Surrealist painter Xul Solar, and their interest in the occult.
[Sample] Asalt0 Al Parque Zoológico – APZOO EP
A real tragedy. Asalt0 Al Parque Zoológico are a shoegazer band out of Buenos Aires, Argentina who bring to mind such acts as My Bloody Valentine and Lush, and are certainly worth a listen.
Unfortunately, I came across them too late, as it seems drummer Gabo Malmus and her boyfriend, Sebastian, were killed yesterday in a tragic plane crash over the Alps.
May they rest in peace, and may APZOO recover.
[Video] Eugen Malmstén ja Rytmi Pojat – Argentiinan Kuu (1936)
A quick ditty from the undisputed master of Finnish tango, Eugen Malmstén.
[Lit/Culture] Why Did Borges Hate Soccer?
I’m ambivalent towards soccer. As a kid, I supported a few teams (namely Celta Vigo and Cruz Azul), but never felt the raging support some comrades who love ‘the beautiful game’ felt for their teams. It was no big deal to me, just something fun to watch.
Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges, who witnessed fascism and Peronism destroy his country, makes some valid points against soccer for the same reasons people who become zealots for politics and religion (even fashion, as I’ve seen some women go at it over dresses more than once in my life). It causes strife and division for no good reason.
The New Republic posts the story here.
[Video] Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr. “Borges: South America’s Titan”
This video sums up precisely the raison d’etre of this website and blog. William F. Buckley, Jr., intellectual giant of the Conservative movement, interviewing perhaps the most important write of the 20th Century (at least in my estimation), Jorge Luis Borges. One couldn’t ask for a better pairing.
[Lit] The Daggers of Jorge Luis Borges
Michael Greenberg of The New York Review of Books writes on the ever-magnificent Jorge Luis Borges and his fascination with blades, that most macho piece of fighting machinery, and what it meant to his vision of criollo Argentina.
The book reviewed is Professor Borges: A Course on English Literature
by Jorge Luis Borges, edited by Martín Arias and Martín Hadis, and translated from the Spanish by Katherine Silver, available for purchase here.
Club de Jazz 2/01/13 Irene Aranda (Concierto y Entrevista), Rolf & Joachim Kühn Quartet, etc
El Club de Jazz is the finest podcast I’ve run across in terms of new jazz and improvisational music. The show is broadcast in Spanish, but you need not understand the language fluently to indulge in all the fine music they offer. ECdJ also offers other podcasts, so consider subscribing to them via RSS feel.
To check out this particular program, click here.
A Miscellany Of Tasteful Music 