Best Books of (My) Year 2013

After Friday's Concerts of the Year, now it's time to follow with the books. Here are my favourite 10 reads of 2013. As you will see a year with plenty of literature about music, the direct (and welcomed) consequence of being the responsible of this section at Indienauta. Hope you like it!

10. Sideral- Héctor Castells
Not long ago, Barcelona had a very special Peter Pan. A guy with the looks of David Bowie (Stardust era), an ego as big as his height or his emotional fragility, and a tremendous passion for music. His name was Aleix Vergés, aka dj Sideral, a celebrity of the night in the city. But he became more than that. Icon of a generation betrayed by the promise of a shiny Olimpic summer that quickly showed its ugly face of corruption, speculation and meaningless design. Missing link of Sónar, Primavera Sound, Nitsa, Apolo. Source of inspiration (and frustration) for many. An a fading star. This is his biography, an incandescent book.

9. 200 Discos de Bolsillo- Marcos Gendre
Lists I have done, read and followed many. Music guides too. But books of these kind have never followed me for more than three months, crossed the Atlantic and became the soundtrack of a one-in-a-lifetime experience. And in another personal note, it has been the reason to forge a friendship. Written with the solely purpose of vindicating the best music that was created on the EP format during a very specific period (1997-1991), in all the sub-genres that conform the alternative scene, here there's something for everyone: punk, post-punk, C86, Manchester, Americana, dream pop, hardcore, post-hardcore. And always with the passionate prose of Marcos Gendre. A music feast.
 
8. Post Office- Charles Bukowski
A poignant "I hate my job" tale, in the form of Chinaski's twelve years of slavery (to the wage, as the 99% of us are) at the U.S. Postal Service. Here's the quintessential Bukowski: grim, booze, horses, women. But also something else. An "I need to do something with my life" story, where Chinaski constantly seeks company, fearing being alone, plus an intriguing sadness on his perspective on relations, and a fight against routine, boredom, silliness. An open claim to say "enough", looking towards starting a new chapter on his life, leaving behind jobs that kills something inside of us.

7. Memorias Sónicas. Historias en Siete Pulgadas- Various Authors
This is a gift, a treasure for everyone who doesn't understand life without music. 23 powerful stories written by a true all-star cast of the Spanish indie scene: some are hauntingly beautiful, some are hilarious, other curious, a few utterly compelling, and always very close for anyone that has been "touched" by a record, a song or an artist. A personal and intimate music voyage that every writer/artist shares with the reader. A little treasure.

6. Mooch- Dan Fante
Welcome to the black hole again. To the realm of desperation, where the tale of surveillance this time has a little light at the end of a tortuous, exhausting tunnel. Written on the trademark "take no-prisoners" prose of Dan Fante you'll probably get hurt while reading it, but persevere. There’s a change, an opportunity for Bruno, who has transformed from the "Chump Change" coward who preferred self-destruction instead of confronting its fears into someone brave enough to try living. Maybe there's a future after all.

5. Erasure: A Novel- Percival Everett
Finally I found it: post-modern vitriol. Devastating read, audacious and risky in its structure, allusive and bleak in his prose, sardonic and angry in what it says. Merciless in the portray of hypocrisy in our society (cultural world beware) but also able to include a moving look to a son trying to deal with the aging of her mother. Are you black enough? Monk's struggle to answer this question the way the Academia and the politically correct demand will come with a vengeance, in an incredible box of surprises. A fierce statement, a peculiar comedy that won't make you laugh but think instead, a knock-out read.

4. Black Postcards- Dean WarehamA surprisingly honest memoir of a musician's life. Dean Wareham explains everything about Galaxie 500, Luna, Dean and Britta, his cult status. But also what an artist real life is, with bills to pay and several domestic issues. No heroics, no drama, just the personal recount of a human being that happens to go up on a stage from time to time to plug a guitar and play for a living. If you were looking for yet another glamorous take on fame, drugs and rock'n'roll, look somewhere else. But if you prefer a real slice of life, and the revelation of what music industry is for musicians without private jets, millions spent on advertising and groupies in everyone corner, don't miss "Black Postcards".

3. Pistol. The Life of Pete Maravich- Mark Kriegel
Pete "Pistol" Maravich, an American icon and, foremost, a unique ballplayer that made that elevated that sport to unparalleled levels of spectacle with his never-ending talents deserved a biography like this one. The built of a legend that shaped a sport, but also a personal nightmare where playing the ball, always Pete's shelter, turned also to be his curse. Zero hagiography, on a highly documented work, fuelled with the opinions of countless who were there, plus a will to make no prisoners, but tell a story that is shocking, powerful and touching enough by itself. A tale of obsession and frustration, with basketball being the joy and ruin of the Maravich's family. The Elvis of basketball.

2. Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood- Peter Biskind 
This book is a mind-blowing encyclopedia of the so-called "New Hollywood" and the people behind it. But is much more than the most detailed account on some of the best, most striking films ever made, the work of directors, actors and filming crew. This is also a frightening "human monsters parade". A devastating tale of young and ambitious filmmakers, Scorsese, Coppola, Robert Altman, Hal Ashby, William Friedkin, Roman Polanski or Peter Bogdanovich, willing to inject a revolutionary spirit to a lifeless, unsubstantial industry, but transforming their quest into a dangerous wild ride of people living out of control, letting horrible egos, greed and megalomania rule those times. This is not a celebratory book. Is a fascinating, overwhelming work on the worst of mankind.

1. Kerouac and the Beat Generation- Jean-François Duval
Not another chronicle of the times and lives of the Beats, but instead, a collection of in-depth interviews to the remaining "stars" of those times, unveiling a vivid picture, extremely puzzling, of the so-called generation. Incredibly engaging, the different personalities approached conform a multi-directional look to the Beats, particularly his most famous member: Jack Kerouac. As a fan and well documented investigator, Duval knows what the questions should be, but the answers he got from Allen Ginsberg, Carolyn Cassady, Joyce Johnson, Anne Waldman, Timothy Leary and Ken Kesey reveal a different story of the one we knew. Around the movement (if there's was one) a truth was built: America needed the Beats to offer a definition of the changes the country was going through. I won't spoil it to you. Please read it.

Want to check last year's books list? Just click here
And 2011's? Check here

"A Decade Under the Influence", filming the 70's

A Decade Under the Influence

"A Decade Under the Influence" has many points of attraction and interest. A serious documentary trying to examine the decade of the 1970s in what regards to cinema, giving the voice to some of the most relevant filmmakers (plus some actors, producers and industry heavyweights) from that period (many of them still among the best directors nowadays) to talk about their movies, their meaning and the changes that American society went through on that period of time. It has all the elements to be a memorable work on the so-called New Hollywood era, but it has two serious issues that undermine the film as a whole.

The first one is quite simple: this is not a dynamic film. Don't get me wrong, I'm not asking for special effects or these sort of documentaries where the visual tricks are the recurrent solution to fill the narrative gaps or just extend the length of the work to the usual standards. But Ted Demme (who sadly passed away) takes the most straightforward option. Mixing the opinions of the directors with little additional footage, some historical and some directly from the films. The result is a slow-paced documentary, that can be boring for audiences without a particular interest on it. That's sad because the opinions of Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, Peter Bogdanovich, William Friedkin, Dennis Hopper... and a extraordinary long etc is what makes this movie a must-see. Julie Christie, along with Altman and the great and also forever missed "Sidneys" (Lumet and Pollack) are the ones with the smartest and clearest minds.

And the second one is another proof that some topics are, almost, 90% infallible. How many times have you heard or said that the book is better than the film? "A Decade.." has a much more complete, challenging and interesting competitor in the form of a book. Of course, I'm referring to Peter Biskind's monumental "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls". Everything on the 70s, and much more (dark, poignant and scary), is there. After reading that book watching this documentary seems like a Disney's version of the New Hollywood's decade. Sure, this film is not cheating: wants to grasp the opinion of the filmmakers and artists who were there and with that choice compound a collective tale of the decade. But are the starring characters telling all they know? I'm afraid not. Believe me, please read the book and you'll figure it out.

If you are interested in the 1970s, on its turbulent, contradictory and exciting times (rebellion, activism, hedonism, sexual revolution, civil and counterculture movements, drugs...), and how there was an art, cinema, that tried to reflect that social turmoil for a new generation of moviegoers, but finally gave up, you MUST watch this movie. If you want to discover a time when we weren't forced to watch another crap film after another crap film after another crap film, and directors wanted to show and talk about stories and not the next visual effect, this documentary should be a turning point to make you watch dozens of unforgettable movies. But  if you really want to know about the 70s American cinema,.then remember that there is a book waiting for you. "A Decade" should be just a noteworthy starting point.

SCORE: 6,75/10

"Easy Riders, Raging Bulls", 70s' movies, drugs & egos

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood- Peter Biskind

"I did a lot of drugs because I wanted to do a lot, I wanted to push all the way to the very very end, and see if I could die." Martin Scorsese

"The cocaine problem in the United States is really because of me. There was no cocaine before Easy Rider on the street. After Easy Rider, it was everywhere." Dennis Hopper

"Popcorn pictures have always ruled. Why do people go see them? Why is the public so stupid? That's not my fault." George Lucas (on Star Wars)

These are true sentences, said by some of the most well-known directors-actors on cinema history. These are only three little excerpts taken from "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls" a book that is so full of this sort of ... well, let's say statements, you'll need a couple of weeks (at least) to start reading something else after finishing this book. They also serve to summarise what you are going to find inside this absorbing encyclopedia of the movies that were done on the 70s, the so-called "New Hollywood" and the people behind them. But if I had to choose just one expression to define what this book shows it would be "a monster parade". The most scary I ever read about. Because they were and are real people.

I assume the new directors arising on late 60s really had artistic aims, even a revolutionary spirit to bring substance and interest back to cinema, to integrate movies with the counterculture of that age, a period were Hollywood was agonising and ideas severely lacking. It's depressing to realise that's where we are exactly nowadays. And after reading Biskind's book is even more appalling to find out our current "creative desert" has its origins on the failure of  the exciting "New Hollywood".

Don't want to make this review very long, because in my opinion, every person who loves cinema should read this book, but "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls" is a ridiculously detailed account of the work of talented young filmmakers like Scorsese, Coppola, Robert Altman, Hal Ashby, William Friedkin, Roman Polanski or Peter Bogdanovich. But while explaining how those films were made Biskind reveals much more. Basically that it was a horrible and constant battle of egos, a dangerous wild ride of people living out of control, with little rules and even less humanity, and a genuine miracle that some of the movies became the masterpieces that now we venerate. Being honest, even personal heroes like Scorsese, Altman, De Niro, or Ashby doesn't look very well in this picture. Guys like Spielberg or George Lucas confirmed my suspicions: just a couple of egomaniacs (add Coppola here) with an unbelievable greedy mind.

I have read some reviews that salute Biskind's book as "a unabashed celebration of the 70s". I couldn't disagree more. This is an overwhelming work on the worst of mankind. Some people believing and behaving as if they were some sort of Almighty God just because they had a successful movie. Others forcing the people who surrounded them (wives, girlfriends, brothers, long-time friends, etc) to share their miseries and frustrations. Sex, alcohol, drug abuse to impossible limits, delusions of grandeur and surreal situations abound on the book, all related with accurate and puzzling precision. I'm mesmerized by the amount of information gathered by Biskind, but also why his freedom to paint such an ugly picture of a decade. Worse than that. The epilogue is a devastating summary of what legacy Hollywood's last golden age left us.

Please don't miss this book, but also proceed with care with what you're going to read.

SCORE: 8,5/10