Dear Reader – ‘Took Them Away’

Cherylin MacNeil successfully brought her South African-bred ‘melodramatic popular song’ project Dear Reader to Germany’s creative capital in 2010. Signed to Berlin-based label City Slang, she has not forgotten her Jozi-roots. On 2013’s Rivonia she takes a look at her home country’s history with a fresh, fervent and harsh eye — which, perhaps, is most competent when it’s gazing from a distance. Rivonia‘s historic slant, immersed in emotionally fused vocals and steady melodies, has of course sparked a desire to be seen live. After mastering a recent performance with grandiosely sinister Get Well Soon at the Berlin Festival, Dear Reader will be embarking on Rivonia Tour Part II in November and visit 13 German cities.

Mr. Sinister Kris – ‘Lonesome Town’

After being a part of the successful Italian rockabilly trio The Boppin Kids, and winning the Heineken Jammin’ Festival with The Horrible Porno Stuntmen, Mr. Sinister Kris left Italy in January, 2012, to chase the dream in Berlin. Once arrived he got involved with various music projects and is now, apart from doing solo stuff, playing with The Boomtown Three and The Offenders. His recent solo undertaking is a cover of Ricky Nelson‘s 1958 hit single ‘Lonesome Town’ which was inspired by his girlfriend’s love of the song. Along with a beautiful video shot by Simone Trotta in Berlin’s Viktoriapark, and sung in a voice that could just be the male equivalent to Janis Joplin‘s raspy serenades, this version becomes a heartfelt reminder of the past.

I Heart Sharks – ‘Neuzeit’

Comprised of ‘one English boy, one German boy and one lost (American) boy’ (facebook.com/iheartsharksmusic), the band’s mixed nationality is increasingly common in Berlin and epitomizes its musical spirit. Their accordingly mixed influences and use of different genres seamlessly work together as postpop, while further extending the ‘influence-pool’ and creating a growing new indie scene in Berlin. Here’s ‘Neuzeit’, a Berlin hit with a German chorus sung in an English accent.

Rotfront – ‘Eyns Tsvey’

Similar to I Heart Sharks, Rotfront is a music collective made up of different genres, nationalities and languages. Active since 2003, and founded by Yuriy Gurzhy, who is also known for being part of the DJ collective Russendisko, Rotfront bring together russian reggae, hungarian garage-rock, ska, klezmer and hip-hop to create a sweat-inducing frenzy they call ‘Emigrantski Raggamuffin’ (immigrant raggamuffin). They often refer to Berlin as the ‘emigrantski republic’, honouring the diversity of nationalities living in the city who fuse culture until it’s a unique feeling that represents the new status quo. Yet since they’re mainly about having fun, the eight-to-sometimes-15 band members are best seen live, but singing along to ‘eyns tsvey dance the night away’ should give you a good idea of what it’s all about.

The Frantic Flintstones – ‘Chasin’ Da Dragon’

Berlin is mainly known for its electronic club scene, but is also home to an unflinching, non-mainstream and 100%-devoted psychobilly scene. The Berlin-based Frantic Flintstones being one of the first to pursue the genre along with The Meteors and Demented Are Go, are a firm part of it. For psychos in Berlin, Wild at Heart and Bassy Cowboy Club are regular hosts of psychobilly bands. Here’s ‘Chasin’ Da Dragon’ from The Frantic Flintstones‘ 2012 album Freaked Out & Psyched Out.

Get Well Soon – ‘Roland, I feel You’

Konstantin Gropper, the man behind Get Well Soon, is called a ‘German Wunderkind’ by NME and has a fervour for doomful melodies. Dedicated to German Hollywood director Roland Emmerich, who Gropper shares a fascination for the end of the world with, ‘Roland, I feel You’ is full of drama, dreams and desperation. And as if the melody wasn’t entrancing enough, it is accompanied by a mesmerizing video directed by Phillip Kaessbohrer — which is, sadly, not a trailer for an upcoming movie, but nonetheless 7:12 minutes of otherworldly pleasure.

Robin Schulz – ‘Eines Tages’

Robin Schulz is not Berlin-based, yet ‘Eines Tages’ could not be a more appropriate example of the city’s sound. While its dreamy electro melody is typical of its tourist-drawing, day-and-night club scene, the song’s original vocals were in fact brought into existence in 1978’s East Berlin by Barbara Thalheim. Listening to ‘Eines Tages’ feels like entering a land of no limits, similar to feeling detached from a boundary-driven reality at a days-long club night in Berlin.

Words by Christine Hogg

Images: rockhall.lu, facebook.com

GRiZ – ‘Smash The Funk’

GRiZ- ‘Smash the Funk’

With a sound that touches so many genres it’s hard not to find a part you’ll love from this Detroit native. GRiZ continues to show his love of saxophones while still giving his audience what they want. Starting off tranquil before hitting its high; ‘Smash The Funk’ is a beautifully combined collection of sounds that get bodies moving. His album Mad Liberation is out now.

Heliotropes – ‘Quatro/Joy Unfolds’

Heliotropes – ‘Quatro/Joy Unfolds’

These Brooklyn belles should be applauded for keeping their heads on while making music that’s this rock ‘n’ roll. The sound stays neat, and never feels like four angry girls banging their instruments in an enclosed garage. ‘Quatro/Joy Unfolds’ delivers enough kick to satisfy any rocker without scaring off his double-vodka girlfriend.

Zo! – ‘Count To Five’ featuring Gwen Bunn

Zo! – ‘Count to Five’ feat. Gwen Bunn

The second single from Zo!’s ManMade album, delivers a sound that the radio loves. Whether sipping cocktails at some fancy-ass restaurant or smoking it up in your stylish new open plan apartment, it’s a sound that suits most situations without disappearing into the DJs set-list. When it comes to music, Zo! knows what sounds right and exactly how to deliver it.

Fort Romeau – ‘Jetée’

Fort Romeau – ‘Jetée’

In his latest release this Londoner delivers a single that reminds one of the ever-growing electronic sound right here on our own shores. Starting off slow, before adding the timeless element of a soft piano, he takes the song to a new level and ultimately turns it into something that will be remembered in an over-crowded electronic playlist. Day-drinking song: check!

Mayer Hawthorne – ‘Her Favorite Song’

Mayer Hawthorne – ‘Her Favorite Song’

Some songs are just sexier than others, and this track from Los Angeles artist, Mayor Hawthrone, falls right into that category. ‘Her Favourite Song’ contains all the elements needed to go from being a club hit to on the playlist for a ‘drinks-at-my-place’ kind of night. Definitely an artist to keep an eye out for, or to send to Pharrell Williams for his next mix.

 
 
album artwork: GRiZ, Heliotropes, Zo!, Fort Romeau, Mayer Hawthorne

Previous interviews by Kelly on one small seed:

12th Planet
Matthew Dear
Jeff Mills (printed in Issue 25 of one small seed, the “Bigger Picture” edition)

Kelly’s Links:

Huffingtonpost
Twitter
Website

Image: hypetrak.com

The film director best known for creating strange dreamy atmospheres in movies such as Mullholland Drive or Lost Highway will release his second album The Big Dream across Europe on 15 July. ‘I’m Waiting Here’ is a collaboration with Swedish singer-songwriter Lykke Li and is as hauntingly dreamy as the atmospheres in his films.
 
 
 
Slim Cessna’s Auto Club – ‘A Smashing Indictment Of Character’

Image: flickr.com

Slim Cessna’s Auto Club is a Colorado band that formed in 1992 and are praised for their sophisticated musicianship and quality live performances. Having drums, upright bass, pedal steel, banjos, piano, guitar and vocals as their instruments, they create an uplifting folk-ey sound that induces clapping and much hopping around. After eight albums and playing with artists such as Johnny Cash, 16 Horsepower, Throwing Muses, Violent Femmes and Joe Diffie they released their Best Of entitled SCAC 102: An Introduction for Young and Old Europe.
 
 
 
Oblivians – ‘Pinball King’

Image: pitchfork.com

Formed in 1993, Memphis garage punks Oblivians are now back with Desperation — a new album to be released on 7 June. After re-uniting for festivals and special occasions over the years, the band realised that what they actually missed is ‘creating together’. So here’s ‘Pinball King’, their new song with an old sound.
 
 
 
Las Rosas – Black Cherry

Image: thefader.com

Here’s a song by ex-Harlem bassist Jose Boyer’s new band Las Rosas from their selftitled EP released January this year. ‘Black Cherry’ is carefree garage rock that’ll let the gentle rebel out in you.
 
 
 
Beck – ‘Defriended’

Image: gorillavsbear.net

Beck channelled his inner Taylor Swift expressing his dissatisfaction with someone special in his latest song ‘Defriended’. We don’t know who caused his heartache but we can thank them for inspiring his latest release. ‘Defriended’ brings some deep base lines and cheerful electro underneath bummed out lyrics.

Suicideyear – ‘Goodbye Florida (For Now)’

Image: factmag.com

If you haven’t heard of Suicideyear, you should. Normally after hearing Britney Spears’ name you can expect something outrageous, Suicideyear’s remix of her song ‘Everytime’ for this new single ‘Goodbye Florida (For Now)’, however, is outrageously good. Flowing piano melodies mixed with low key rap beats will take you on a journey to Florida and leave you begging for more when it’s over.

The Lumerians – ‘Dogon Genesis’

Image: consequenceofsound.net

The Lumerians are psych/space/kraut rockers influenced by African, South American as well as Turkish psychedelic treasures of the ’70s and share an interest for the occult — probably reasons for their out-of-this-world qualities. The five Oaklanders manage to create a sound that connects past and future unwoundedly and craft a listening experience that transports to a place certainly not found in this world. Here’s ‘Dogon Genesis’ from their new album with the oh-so-fitting title The High Frontier, we’ll see ya up there!

Mount Kimbie – ‘Made to Stray’

Image: stereogum.com

‘Made to Stray’ off Mount Kimbie‘s second album Cold Spring Fault Less Youth (released 28 May) is a definite let’s-dance-all-night-and-never-go-home-again anthem that’ll put many party souls into mischief mode this summer.

 
 
 

Deafkid – ‘Vigilante’

Image: beatstoit.com

Chris Lockington and Flo Sauvaire, who worked with experimental hip hop artist Ghostpoet make up Deafkid, who blend electronica, experimental and pop genres. While their former tracks were soft and accoustic driven, this one belts out some noisy prog party beats.

Queens of the Stone Age – ‘Keep Your Eyes Peeled’

Image: loudwire.com

Reformed yet again, this time with bassist Michael Shuman (Wires on Fire, Mini Mansions) and multi-instrumentalist Dean Fertita (The Waxwings, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather), Queens of the Stone Age keep up the good work with their recent sixth studio album …Like Clockwork. Here’s ‘Keep Your Eyes Peeled’, a powerfully riffed psych rock tune that’s firmly rooted in the wild and carefree ’70s.
 
 
 

GAPS – ‘Cascade’

Image: consequenceofsound.net

Ed and Rachel are two school friends from Brighton who go by the name of GAPS. Their recently dropped track ‘Cascade’ is part of an AA 7″ on Sexbeat records to be released on 15 July that starts off leaving the listener in the dark but culminates most beautifully into a full blown beat party.

Rejjie Snow – ‘294’

Image: clashmusic.com

Rejjie Snow is a Dublin-hailing rapper, whose new track ‘294’ is a rock-riff-sporting hip hop song that opens with a reference to Jimi Hendrix’s belief in an ‘electric church’ and has some killer lyrics such as, ‘Catch him on the moon while he’s pissing on some horse shit’.

Images: consequenceofsound.net, stereogum.com, beatstoit.com, loudwire.com, clashmusic.com
 
 
 

Image: ryanhemsworth.com

Canadian-producer Ryan Hemsworth has just released a seven track EP, which you can download for free via his website. This is ‘Perfectly’, a hip-hop-hinted electronic track with a subtle chirp that makes it a safe choice for any panic-struck DJ who needs to get his dancefloor bouncing.
 
 
 
Inga Copeland – ‘Light Up’

Image: dontpaniconline.de

Equipped with a beautiful voice that exudes an air of mysterious foreboding, the Russian-born Hype Williams-member with a fervour for anonymity manages to extract the listener from the seemingly all-knowing norm straight into the gloomy city streets of dubious melancholia. On her Soundcloud page you’ll be able to download six tracks from her recently dropped mixtape Higher Powers, featuring new and old tracks.
 
 
 
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – ‘Rà-àkõ-st’ (Lindstrøm cover)

Image: survivingthegoldenage.com

The Norwegian producer electro-ized the mesmerizing tune ‘Swim & Sleep (Like a Shark)’ in a frenzied club-suited remix, which you can listen to here. To return the favour the laid back psych-rockers covered ‘Rà-àkõ-st’ their way, taking it off the crazed dancefloor and into a chilled-out living room. You can download it off their website in exchange for an email address.
 
 
 
Standish/Carlyon – ‘NEEDLE EXCHANGE 122: Standish/Carlyon’

Image: wavesatnight.com

This is a 48.05-minute-long exclusive mix by futuristic dub pop duo Standish/Carlyon and is downloadable in its entirety via soundcloud. According to self-titledmag.com it is ‘a mixture of humidity and colder tensions. [A] pretty all over the place selection/mix but hopefully it makes sense. TG members are unconsciously represented pretty heavily on this, though no Chris & Cosey. Next time. RIP Guru’.

Words: Christine Hogg

Images: wavesatnight.com, survivingthegoldenage.com, ryanhemsworth.com, songspin.fm

The Danish singer’s debut single for Chess Club Records lets her affection-inspiring, highly melodic vocals hold their own over softly sliced bass-ey beats. Her name roughly meaning ‘unmarried’ or ‘virgin’, the electropop singer’s innocent quirkiness is much anticipated on her still-to-be-completed debut album. Watch out for it!
 
 
 
Standish/Carlyon – ‘Nono/Yoyo’

Formerly members of indie rock band The Devastations, Tom Carlyon and Conrad Standish are trying their hand at something more ‘now’ — with success. Labelled ‘futuristic dub pop’, their recently released debut album Deleted Scenes — some of which you can stream here — is one that’ll have you embrace the winter blues. Here’s the hauntingly chilled ‘Nono/Yoyo’.
 
 
 
Savages – ‘She Will’

All-female London-based post punk band Savages have the same post-revolution spirit that their late 1970s associates are famous for. Heralded ‘Joy Division’s younger sisters’, they unabashedly live up to this cliché with their awakened guitar-screeching single ‘She Will’ from their debut full-length Silence Yourself.
 
 
 
Daft Punk feat. Nile Rodgers and Pharrell Williams – ‘Get Lucky’

Already having sold 500 000 copies in the UK, this tune is bound to stick in many an eardrum for a fair amount of time. ‘We’re up all night ’til the sun. We’re up all night to get some, We’re up all night for good fun, We’re up all night to get lucky…’
 
 
 
The Editors – ‘A Ton of Love’

‘A Ton of Love’ from British alt rockers The Editors serves as a teaser to the band’s forthcoming album The Weight of Your Love. Much like the album it’s an uplifting rock melody ridden somewhat contradictorily but nonetheless effectively by Tom Smith’s steady but longing vocals.
 
 
 
Vampire Weekend – ‘Diane Young’

Taken from their recent third album Modern Vampires of the City, this song still demonstrates what the band is best at — combining catchy with unique and indie. What is more, Ezra Koenig’s exclusive voice will never bore, rendering every new release a relief that the band’s still producing music. We hope that it will never stop, here’s ‘Diane Young’.

Words by Christine Hogg

Multiple talent Herbie Hancock — American pianist, keyboardist, bandleader and composer — also influenced the development of turntablism. 1983’s spacey sounding ‘Rockit’ is the first recognized popular single to feature scratching and other turntablist techniques by DJ Grand Mixer DXT. Written by Hancock, bass guitarist Bill Laswell and synthesizer/drum machine programmer Michael Beinhorn, this song is part of the groundwork for the DJ culture to follow soon afterwards.
 
 
 
Spoek Mathambo – ‘She’s Lost Control’

The 1979 Joy Division song focusing — according to Wikipedia — on Peter Hook’s ‘cool, droning, minimalist bassline formed over a methodical and mechanistic drum beat’ is inventive in its original post-punk version, yet visionary Spoek Mathambo manages to take its initial finesse even further and turns it into a tech-driven apocalypse dance.
 
 
 
Stevie Wonder – ‘Pastime Paradise’

Child prodigy Stevie Wonder adds to the list of early innovation with ‘Pastime Paradise’ — a breathtakingly beautiful anthem of insight. It is also known to be the first song to use a synthesizer to sound like a full string section and has been covered and sampled by many acclaimed artists, the most famous being West Coast rapper Coolio with the 1995 Grammy-winning smash hit ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’. Let’s start living our lives, living for the future paradise!
 
 
 
George Clinton – ‘Atomic Dog’

This funky future-inspiring tune was the p-funk collective’s last to reach number one on the US r&b chart yet failed to reach the Top 100 of the Pop Chart at all. Over the last two decades it has, however, gained greater popularity due to samples of the song appearing in rap songs. Give it a listen, you’ll recognize at least one or two familiar songs.
 
 
 
4hero featuring Ursula Rucker – ‘Loveless’

This 1998 release showcases the true 4hero sound with its blend of spiritualism, environmentalism, talk about astrology and extraterrestrial life forms and rhythms that sway through jazz all the way towards breakbeat hardcore.
 
 
 
Sun Ra – ‘Space Is The Place’

Believing he was of the ‘Angel Race’ and originally born on Saturn, Sun Ra was a pioneer in many regards. From a famed career as a jazz composer and synthesizer player to his work as a poet and philosopher he is recognized for his eclectic and unorthodox music and lifestyle. ‘Space Is The Place’ originally was an 82-minute science fiction film that depicts Sun Ra as a leader who decides to settle African Americans on a new planet before Earth is destroyed.
 
 
 
MF Doom – ‘Doomsday’

An example of a musician who has taken afrofuturistic elements and put their own contemporary twist on it. An English born hip-hop artist who favors soulful beats and lyrics that twist together dreams and harsh realities. Doom’s physical appearance is extremely rooted in the extraterrestrial; he is not seen without his metal mask that is styled after the comic villain Doctor Doom.

Words by Christine Hogg and Emma Remington

‘Three chords, three countries, one revolution. Punk in Africa is the story of the multi-racial punk movement within the recent political and social upheavals experienced in three Southern African countries: South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.’

Here’s ‘Everybody Loves Freedom’ by National Wake, who were a mixed racial band active in the ’70s when apartheid was taking its toll on our nation’s togetherness.
 
 
 
Tension: 25 Years of Underground – Tension – ‘Shock Treatment’

‘Tension: 25 Years Underground chronicles the band’s rise in popularity and how, even through several line-up changes, they stuck to their guns and refused to bow to the demands of record companies. The film leaves you wondering what would have happened to Tension if they had ‘sold out’ and made it big, and indeed the common notion of success itself. Marty Friedman (Megadeth) and Tommy Gattis cut their teeth in this band, and the film opens a time capsule to reveal vintage video footage and unbridled interviews on subjects like how the PMRC helped and hindered ’80s heavy metal music, and how ‘hair bands’ of the
time commercialized the public perception of the genre.’

Here’s ‘Shock Treatment’ from their 1986 LP Breaking Point.
 
 
 
Mission to Lars – Metallica – ‘One’

‘Lars Ulrich is a Heavy Metal God with his own jumbo jet. Tom Spicer lives in a care home in Devon and has fragile x syndrome. Tom has a dream, to meet his hero, to meet Lars. His siblings promise to make it happen, with hopes of good times and bonding. But what starts out a dream soon becomes a nightmare as Tom’s disabilities, a dysfunctional family, and heavy metal’s labyrinthine backstage world thwart the mission at every turn. But as they get closer to Lars, Tom the man starts to shine.’

Here’s the power ballad ‘One’ from the album …And Justice for All by the drummer’s leading heavy metal band Metallica.
 
 
 
EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN: Liebeslieder – Einstürzende Neubauten – ‘Die Interimsliebenden’

‘The undisputed originators of industrial music are the German audio scientists Einstürzende Neubauten, led by the magnetic Blixa Bargeld (who also played guitar for Nick Cave’s Bad Seeds).
This in-depth documentary by Klaus Maeck and Johanna Schenkel takes a focused look at this highly innovative group (formed in the early ‘80s), using more than mere musical instruments to create sounds, from power drills and jackhammers, to scrap metal and vocal contortions they pushed the boundaries of conventional music to another dimension. Includes interviews with all the members, and footage from across their career, with very rare early performances, as well as later shows. This is the definitive documentary on a group that still remains an unparalleled genre unto themselves. German with English subtitles.’

Here’s ‘Die Interimsliebenden’ off the industrial band’s 1993 album Tabula Rasa.
 
 
 
BARóN ROJO – Long Live Rock & Roll – Barón Rojo – ‘Tierra de Nadie’

‘Baron Rojo, the biggest Spanish rock group of all time, received an offer to reunite the original lineup 20 years after their traumatic separation. The four musicians return to the road to face old demons of the past…’

Here’s ‘Tierra de Nadie’, ‘No Man’s Land’ in English, off their 1987 album of the same name.
 
 
 
The Heart is a Drum Machine – John Frusciante – ‘Wayne’

‘What is music? Many of today’s top artists and scholars grapple with the question in this cinematic look at a uniquely human obsession. With musicians, composers, producers, engineers, scholars, scientists & record label owners, feat. John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Maynard James Keenan (Tool), Matt Sorum (Guns ‘n Roses, Velvet Revolver), Juliette Lewis, Charlie Clouser (Nine Inch Nails), George Clinton (Funkadelic), Kurt Loder, Gene Hoglan (Strapping Young Lad), Eddie Kramer, Bob Ludwig, Wayne Coyne (Flaming Lips), Bijou Phillips, Elijah Wood and many more.’

Here’s John Frusciante‘s recent single ‘Wayne’ recorded for his friend Wayne Forman.

Film descriptions taken from flamedrop.com.

 
Three-time Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter, New York Times best-selling poet and critically acclaimed actress are only a few titles held by Jill Scott. Before having the #1 album in the US with her new album The Light Of The Sun, performing at The White House, being named People Magazine‘s Top TV Breakout Star of 2010 and appearing on VH1 Divas alongside Aretha Franklin, the triple threat began her career collaborating with musical icons such as The Roots, Will Smith and Common in the late 1990s.
 
 
 
‘Heroes’ – Ben Sharpa & Pure Solid

 
Considered as one of the African continent’s most accomplished lyricists, Ben Sharpa has dedicated his life to his art. Born in the rugged ghetto slums of Soweto, South Africa in 1979, Ben Sharpa (aka Oh Kaptin My Kaptin, or simply ‘Kap’ to his friends and fans) experienced the full force of the apartheid regime. While Ben was still a young child, his father relocated the family to Chicago where Ben was inspired by the radical new voice that hip hop was giving to the disenfranchised. He returned to South Africa in 1994 forming cult crews GroundWorks and Audio Visual.
 
 
 
‘Ubahlula Bonke’ – Mafikizolo

 
Male-female duo Theo Kgosinkwe and Nhlanhla Nciza are two of the original members of Mafikizolo, which started small as a kwaito group in the 1990s. Various sorrows saw them disband, but Theo and Nhlanhla recently re-grouped to produce an album combining blues and swing called Six Mabone.

 
 
 
‘Never Stop’ – The Brand New Heavies

 
The Brand New Heavies started life in the 1980s as an instrumental acid jazz group called Brother International. As The Brand New Heavies, they gained a cult following in London and soon signed to Cooltempo. In 1990, the band issued a debut recording for Eddie Piller‘s Acid Jazz label. A single, Got to Give, came out on Cooltempo before the Heavies signed to Acid Jazz Records.
 
 
 
‘Grains de Beaute’ – Céu

 
Maria do Céu Whitaker Poças hails from Brazil and calls herself CéU. It means either ‘sky’ or ‘heaven’ in Portuguese, a name which speaks to her warm and tantalising voice. Born into a musical family in São Paulo, CéU studied music and launched her debut album in the US in 2005, when she was already making waves in Europe. Influenced by the sound of jazz singers like Billie Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald, Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu, she fronted a samba funk outfit and then an electro-dance group in São Paulo, capturing the attention of several major record labels.
 
 
 
‘Celtic Steps’ – Jean-Luc Ponty and his Band

 
Jean-Luc Ponty is a pioneer and undisputed master of jazz and rock violin. Born into a family of classical musicians in Avranches, France, he attended the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris after which he joined a professional symphony orchestra.

Words taken from capetownjazzfest.com/

 
Mr. Brown: Lemme tell you what ‘Like a Virgin’ is about. It’s all about this cooze who’s a regular fuck machine, I’m talking morning, day, night, afternoon, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick.
Mr. Blue: How many dicks is that?
Mr. White: A lot.
Mr. Brown: Then one day she meets this John Holmes motherfucker and it’s like, whoa baby, I mean this cat is like Charles Bronson in the ‘Great Escape’, he’s digging tunnels. Now, she’s gettin’ the serious dick action and she’s feeling something she ain’t felt since forever. Pain. Pain.
Joe: Chew? Toby Chew?
Mr. Brown: It hurts her. It shouldn’t hurt her, you know, her pussy should be Bubble Yum by now, but when this cat fucks her it hurts. It hurts just like it did the first time. You see the pain is reminding a fuck machine what it once was like to be a virgin. Hence, ‘Like a Virgin’.
 
 
 
Pulp Fiction – ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ – Dusty Springfield

 
Vincent: But you know what the funniest thing about Europe is?
Jules: What?
Vincent: It’s the little differences. I mean they got the same shit t over there that they got here, but it’s just…just there it’s a little different.
Jules: Examples?
Vincent: All right, well you can walk into a movie theater in Amsterdam and buy a beer. And I don’t mean just like in no paper cup, I’m talking about a glass of beer. And in Paris, you can buy beer at MacDonald’s. You know what they call a…a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?
Jules: They don’t call it a Quarter Pounder with Cheese?
Vincent: They got the metric system, they wouldn’t know what the fuck a Quarter Pounder is.
Jules: What’d they call it?
Vincent: They call it a Royale with Cheese.
Jules: [repeating] Royale with Cheese. What’d they call a Big Mac?
Vincent: Big Mac’s a Big Mac, but they call it Le Big Mac.
Jules: Le Big Mac. What do they call a Whopper?
Vincent: I dunno, I didn’t go into a Burger King. But you know what they put on french fries in Holland instead of ketchup?
Jules: What?
Vincent: Mayonnaise.
 
 
 
Jackie Brown – ‘Street Life’ – Randy Crawford

 
Louis: [exhales smoke, heavy coughing]
Melanie: You ok?
Louis: Just… gettin’ old.
[continues coughing]
Louis: Seems I can’t smoke all that now without coughing.
Melanie: Coughing’s good! It opens up the capillaries. You know, when you cough you’re pulling in air, or in this case – smoke, into parts of the lungs that don’t normally get used. So, coughing’s good, it gets you higher.
 
 
 
Kill Bill Vol. 2 – ‘Urami Bushi’ – Meiko Kaji

The Bride: When will I see you again?

Bill: That’s the title of my favorite soul song of the Seventies.
 
 
 
Death Proof – ‘Down in Mexico’ – The Coasters

 
Abernathy: Listen to this, the Circle A clerk has this month’s issue of Italian Vogue.
Lee: No way!
Abernathy: Way.
Lee: I can’t belive a fucking Circle A clerk carries Italian Vogue.
Abernathy: It doesn’t. It’s his own personal copy. He’ll let it go for 27 bucks.
Lee: [scoffs] 27 bucks?
Abernathy: What the fuck do you care? We’re talking about fucking per diem here. We found an issue of Italian Vogue in Lebanon, Tennessee. We’re lucky he’s not asking for fuckin’ Krugerrands. I’m getting it, and we’re splitting it three ways.
Lee: What? Me, you, and Kim?
Abernathy: No. Kim doesn’t give a shit about Italian Vogue. But Brandy will come in with us, and if she won’t, Tyson, her assistant, will.
Lee: Okay, but if anyone tears out any sheets that I want, you gotta make color Xerox copies of those pages, and I’m not talkin’ fuckin’ Kinko’s here either. You take it to the art department and have them do it fucking right.
 
 
 

Death Proof – ‘It’s So Easy’ – Willy DeVille

 
Zoë: Look, I know what I said when I said it. But when I said it, I didn’t know I’d ever come to America. And when I said it, if had I known that I was gonna come to America and have the chance to play ship’s mast on a fucking Vanishing Point Challenger, I would have added a however. Right?
Kim: Okay, oddly enough, I actually understood that, however, just because you’ve talked yourself into some stupid shit, doesn’t mean I’m out of my Goddamned mind. You need two people to play ship’s mast, and I ain’t playing.
 
 
 
Inglorious Basterds – ‘Cat People (Putting Out Fire)’ – David Bowie

Major Dieter Hellstrom: Now, gentlemen, around this time you could ask whether you’re real or fictitious. I, however, think that’s too easy, so I won’t ask that yet. Okay, my native land is the jungle. I visited America, but the visit was not fortuitous to me, but the implication is that it was to somebody else. When I went from the jungle to America, did I go by boat?

Bridget von Hammersmark: Yes.
Major Dieter Hellstrom: Did I go against my will?
Major Dieter Hellstrom: On this boat ride, was I in chains?
Major Dieter Hellstrom: When I arrived in America, was I displayed in chains?
Bridget von Hammersmark: Yes!
Major Dieter Hellstrom: Am I the story of the negro in America?
Cpl. Wilhelm Wicki: No.
Major Dieter Hellstrom: Well, then, I must be King Kong.
 
 
 
Django Unchained – ‘Who Did That to You’ – John Legend

Django Freeman: How you know Broomhilda’s first master’s was German?
Dr. King Schultz: Broomhilda is a German name. If they named her it stands to reason they’d be German.
Django: Lots of gals where you from named Broomhilda?
Schultz: Broomhilda is the name of a character in the most popular of all the German legends.
Django: There’s a story ’bout Broomhilda?
Schultz: Yes there is.
Django: Do you know it?
Schultz: Oh every German knows that story. Would you like me to tell you? [Django nods] Well, Broomhilda was a princess. She was the daughter of Wotan, god of all gods. Anyway her father is really mad at her.
 
 
Words: Christine Hogg