Trash Humpers
Posted: 29/09/2010 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Harmony, Humpers, Indie, Korine, Trash 1 Comment »
Trash Humpers is meant to have an air of discarded and discovered VHS. Static flecked, crude graphics, decayed by rain and composed of overexposed scenes stitched by brash cuts. It could easily be the Youtube upload of Leatherface’s offspring, in both style and content.
Elsewhere there’s seemingly no rhyme or reason to Harmony Korine’s 77 minutes of found footage. On one level Trash Humpers plays like the debased folly of a bored and provocative indie director. It’s oft amusing, unsettling, shocking and occasionally a victim of its own regressive agenda, yet at points I couldn’t help but draw comparisons to the work of directors such as Werner Herzog (Even Dwarfs Started Small) and Lars Von Trier (The Idiots). Clear themes of lunacy run through the film – manifest as some kind of deranged hillbillies – hidden by prosthetic masks that caricature the elderly, but with able young thrusting bodies. Little is known about the grotesques other than their delectation for humping trash and trees. There’s murder, discarded naked bodies, home invasion and kidnap. While it’s unsettling subject matter bereft of any discernible narrative, Trash Humpers is an oddly compelling watch.
The candid style cinematography and continual jump cuts, hazy aesthetic and VHS static add disorientating and enthralling nuances to the film. It’s both frightening and hilarious, disturbing yet strangely beautiful. In a series of short cuts, ordinarily mundane scenes are given an enchanting beauty. This is most definitely a director’s film. It answers to no formula. The decision by Korine to feature in Trash Humpers can be construed as a way by which he’s again throwing off the shackles of conformity as he cackles maniacal behind the lens. There’s something about his madness that’s intrinsically anti-establishment.
Naysayers will dismiss Trash Humpers as lowbrow trash. People will hate it, and to some degree I enjoy it for that. The best art is that which provokes a response, polarizes opinion. I like to entertain the notion that by simply existing it acts as a catalyst for public discussion.
Trash Humpers is out on DVD and Ltd edition VHS (If someone wants to buy this for me I’d love them forever) now, here.
Preview: In The City
Posted: 03/09/2010 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: American Men, Andreya Triana, Angel, band, Beaty Heart, Breton, Bright Light Bright Light, Brown Brogues, Chad Valley, Crystal Fighters, Dog Is Dead, drugs, Eagulls, Ellen and the Escapades, Factory Floor, Fiction, Hype Williams, In The City, Is Tropical, Ital Tek, John Weise, Kisses, Lissi Dancefloor Disaster, Live, lounge, Male Bonding, manchester, Mazes, Moho, Mount Kimbie, Mujeres, Mz Bratt, Night & Day, No Age, O Children, Oh No Ono, On, oOoOO, Porcelain Raft, Roadhouse, ruby, Ruff Diamondz, Skepta, Sky Larkin, Slow Motion Shoes, Spectrals, Team Ghost, Teeth, The, The Bewitched Hand On The Top Of Our Heads, Wall, White Ring, Youthless, Yuck Leave a comment »
For the esoteric music snob, a festi such as In The City (13th-15th Oct) sounds like a very appealing prospect indeed. Not only does it take place among Northern Quarter venues bereft of mud, tents and feckless morons wielding ‘Free Hugs’ signs, but it incorporates the important – albeit oft vilified – strata of the industry who ply their trade in the shadows: managers, A&R men and label bosses, oh my.
This year, In The City sports a simply mouthwatering line-up, including: No Age, Sky Larkin, Mount Kimbie, Male Bonding, Yuck, Crystal Fighters, Factory Floor, oOoOO, White Ring, Skepta, Spectrals, Kisses, Ital Tek, Teeth, Andreya Triana, Mazes, John Weise, Is Tropical, Mazes, Porcelain Raft, Oh No Ono, O Children, Chad Valley, Team Ghost, D/R/U/G/S, Hype Williams, American Men, Fiction, Breton, Brown Brogues, Ellen and the Escapades, Dog Is Dead, Slow Motion Shoes, Beaty Heart, Eagulls, Lissi Dancefloor Disaster, The Bewitched Hand On The Top Of Our Heads, Mujeres, Youthless, Bright Light Bright Light, Mz Bratt, Ruff Diamondz, Angel and Maverick Sabre. As if that’s not enough, more acts are due to be announced.
Couple with this live talks from Jay Brown (President and co-founder of Roc Nation), Mike Pickering (MD, Deconstruction Records), Jho Oakley (Founder, Jho Management), Caroline Protheroe (Manager, David Guetta) and Bertis Downs (Manager, R.E.M) and you’ve got yourself a orgasmic three days of music.
Venues participating include Night & Day, Roadhouse, Band On The Wall, Ruby Lounge, Moho Live and a few more.
- Wristbands are £29.
- Hostel and wristband package is £72 for 3 nights stay at Hatters.
- Hotel and pass packages available at £450 for 3 nights stay at City Inn (ITC main
conference venue).
Everything else you need to know can be found on the ITC website.
