More on art, new heights of alienation, and late capitalism.

This is still one of the most perfect soundtracks ever. John Murphy brings out the film's emotional contours -- the dread, the panic, the hope, the sudden and simple appreciation for beauty when everything has been stripped -- perfectly. Peppers in Eno, Godspeed, etc in so well too.

A bit more on Rothko and oceanic feeling. alexanderbillet.substack.com/p/oceans-aga...

I'll be honest, I'm not sure what I find so compelling about this particular ambient album. It is by no means groundbreaking, but it does seem to skate between a few different structures of feeling I associate with the best of ambient: other-worldly, somewhat futuristic, but, somehow... organic?

Something short on Rothko, oceanic feeling, and (of course) late capitalism.

Probably going to write something about this. I do like Optic Sink's music, and I certainly love the films of Maya Deren. They've crafted something that really captures her here.

If Spencer Pratt becomes mayor of Los Angeles, then it's only a matter of time until he tries to get sex tapes recognized as legal currency in Southern California.

Data centers twice the size of Manhattan on the plains of northern Utah. It's difficult to picture any scenario where this ends well...

Trauma shouldn't be healed just so that you can go retraumatize. I don't think this is a particularly controversial thing. alexanderbillet.substack.com/p/the-psyche...

Excellent thoughts and analysis from Barnaby here. In growing quarters, antisemitism is being redefined from "hatred of Jews" into "hatred of the 'right kind' of Jews."

Downtown...

The US military is going to start doing drug testing of psilocybin on soldiers. Does this sound familiar?

Against their better judgment, the friends at the @andorkspod.com podcast decided to have me on their podcast despite my not knowing the first thing about Star Wars.

Finally, the recent (this week) addition to the communist modernism project. An expanded version of the paper I presented at @histmat.bsky.social last year. So expanded in fact it needs to be in two parts. Next part coming in a few weeks.

One of the reasons I haven't been on here as much lately is I got my old Twitter booted up again. Realized I've neglected an audience here, but if you're more active on there, give me a follow. x.com/UbuPamplemou...

A recent review for @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social of AJA Woods' book The Cultural Marxism Conspiracy: Why the Right Blames the Frankfurt School for the Decline of the West. The book is really quite good and I think should be read by anyone who takes culture seriously.

A similarly positive response to this piece on this odd "Looksmaxxing" trend...

Readers also seemed to really respond well to this post on Pasolini, Bataille, and how we got crude oil rain in Tehran.

Next up, I've been at work on a project on the Marxist approach to modernism. The first post took off quickly, readers seemed to like it. It's based on a talk I did for the @rs21.bsky.social writers' group.

Was on @skipintroyt.bsky.social's show back in April talking Yellowstone, country music, and settler colonial realism.

Been absent here for a bit. Rectifying that now, and will be on here regularly moving forward. Been up to a lot lately. Going to post some of the highlights here.

One of the greatest theoretical minds of the European socialist movement and the author of numerous classic works, Rosa Luxemburg, was murdered on this day in 1919. We're offering 30% all works on or by the great revolutionary and theorist.

Long(ish) essay for the website of the @histmat.bsky.social journal: Spotify’s fuckery, how the culture industry is implicated in the war machine, and “the specter of music that could be free.” Pretty proud of this one.

One year ago. Today’s headlines report many Angelenos (particularly on the east side) still unable to return home or rebuild. The land is too toxic, soaked with lead and asbestos. Another instance where longing for “everything to return to normal” feels like being mocked by our own psyches.

I see Greenland is back in the news...

New post. Trying to bring together the events in Venezuela, the current shape of the spectacle, one of my favorite albums from the 1990s, how little has changed since its release, and the torpor of history. I’d say enjoy but that'd be ghoulish.

Socialism of the spectacle...

Leone's birthday today.

And here it is...

Back from break. What did I miss?

Let's fucking gooooooo...

Haven't been on socials lately for many reasons: travel, applying to PhD programs, exciting personal news, the holidays… and, honestly, the need for a much-earned break. I'll more consistent in the coming year. In the meantime, here’s James Ensor’s The Bad Doctors (1892).

"Krukowski zooms in on everyday life to such a minute degree that we can almost separate the various shapes and sounds that make it up." @ubupamplemousse.bsky.social on Damon Krukowski’s “Why Sound Matters.” https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/sound-epistemology/

My review of Damon Krukowski's excellent book Why Sound Matters is up at @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social.

Last night I gave a short presentation at DSA-LA Hollywood Labor's showing of Dawn of the Dead. Some remarks on zombies, late capitalism, early capitalism, and, of course, malls.

Two, three, many Kent States...

Shameless plug for my presentation at the upcoming @histmat.bsky.social conference in London. Talking art, (post?)modernism, and a useful methodology for radicals.

They’ve arrested a suspect for starting the most destructive fires in Los Angeles history, and I’m not sure it’s anything other than completely futile. (Also includes a bit of a preview for an upcoming piece on the wildfires in Salvage.)

My own personal memory of Jane Goodall: she spoke at the commencement for the graduating class ahead of me at university. My class got Billy Joel, who, as he duly reminded us, didn’t graduate high school. If I had an academic inferiority complex well before, this didn’t help. RIP

This poem by Assata Shakur has been getting shared round a lot since her passing a few days ago. For good reason. It's quite lovely. #RIP

With Eric Adams out of the race, I'm resharing the piece I wrote about Mamdani and the forces that must be organized for “socialist governance” to be successful. Paywall removed, but if you want to subscribe and chuck me a few monthly dollars, I won’t argue.

What I wrote about Kneecap for Locust Review as the charges against Mo Chara -- now dismissed, just this morning -- were brought. #Kneecap #Tiocfaidhárlá #rap

Fucking yes.

“It is only for those without hope that hope is given.” ― Walter Benjamin, who committed suicide 85 years ago today. #WalterBenjamin #criticaltheory

It's been a year since Fredric Jameson died. This is what I wrote after hearing the news. I'd say it's held up well. #CriticalTheory #literaturesky