Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! - A look into exploitation's finest

There's nothing like a good ol' retro exploitation flick. Overplayed melodrama, luscious babes, fast cars, and an absolutely jazzy soundtrack, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! is such a staple of the genre. 

The cool thing about Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! is that it is SUCH inspiration to Tarantino's Deathproof. It always makes me super sad when people trash talk Deathproof, it's always seen as his complete and utter failure. What people don't really notice is that it's his ultimate homage to all things b movie related and cheap slashers. And the soundtrack? Probably his best soundtrack to date. To make matters even worse, upon watching the initial release, people thought there was something wrong with the tape, as nobody realized all the blunt edits and scratches on the film were intentional. Good grief.

Anyways, I digress, and I'll get back into Deathproof later. I'd much rather rant and rave about how absolutely awesome Faster, Pussycat is. And how absolutely dear to me it is. It was made in the 60s, and the amount of girl power in this is absolutely wicked. 

The three main protagonists (or actually pretty much antagonists, in particular Tura Satana who sneers and yells throughout the whole thing) are go-go dancers that race cars in their spare time in the desert. After a lil' incident with a drag racer goes down, the three decide to continue wrecking havoc, this time at a barn, with an old man and his sons. The three girls are honestly divine. Unapologetic females with overtly sexual outfits (Tura's breasts and how they didn't pop out of her top....how is that even possible*) lying and cheating men, what a treat! They totally beat stereotypes too, from driving fast cars, to being more aggressive and cunning than their male counterparts, they're even physically stronger than them!

Russ Meyer is an exploitation master. His films are all about babes, violence, sex, and nudity. The cool thing about Faster Pussycat is that it's his least overtly sexual flick. Yeah, for sure, some scenes are insanely sexy, but there's never any direct nudity. That's pretty awesome in my opinion in a time when cheap exploitation was all skin, skin, skin. It's awesome that after watching some of his other films as well, he does have a distinct style to his work, and that makes him extremely recognizable. That recognizability, and what he's done for exploitation, makes him an influential player, and an important one at that! I really want to take the time and watch The Immoral Mr. Teas, Meyer's first debut at the end of the 50s that started the whole softcore "nudie cutie" craze. Perhaps a review on that next? Eeeeeep, the whole genre gets me excited. I love this sort of thing! 

Honestly, Faster Pussycat is such a gem. I really recommend it to anyone looking for something fun that'll have you smiling throughout. The dialogue is total camp, and the chemestry between the three girls is a treat to watch. Any Tarantino fan should especially watch it, as it's nutty how influenced by this he is. Even at the end of Deathproof, Tarantino leaves us with a little thank you to Meyer.

It's a movie that's completely celebrated, and spawned a cult following on American campuses when it came out. It was so uniquely original for the 60s, and what's not to love about babely babes, fast cars, and trouble around every corner!

*I legit spent the whole film wondering how many times scenes needed to be re-shot because of Tura's buxom upper half. There's absolutely no way they can be so big and stay in place. What's her secret? How does one accomplish this?

FREE 6LACK ; Moody debut from Atlanta's freshest

Guys, I'm so sorry I haven't done anything else but music reviews recently, but holy shit, November has been fire in terms of new releases. And this one I'm about to tell you about? This is my favourite hip hop album that's emerged in a very, very, very long time. I am gifting you with this find right before the weekend, which is the perfect time to unwind to it. 

Cue Atlanta artist, 6LACK. This is huge step for the mysterious lyricist. As the man stated himself, it's a huge transitional period for him. Finally free from his suppressive record label and some old relationships under his belt, 6LACK puts a sexy lil' mark on scene with his debut. 

What an album to just close your eyes to. It's so wonderfully moody and hypnotic, with some songs going directly to your ever growing sex playlist. 6LACK oozes confidence both with his voice and lyrically, and you can't help but get lost in his mesmerizing roller coaster. 

The one thing I really appreciate about this album is that it's all 6LACK. Nobody else is featured on the album, and it just lets you really appreciate what he's done and how far he's come on his own. 

Like the bear on his album cover, he's hungry as, and his debut is the tantalizing appetizer, to what I'm hoping to be is a delectable 7 course meal.

PS; Personally I am so addicted to Learn Ya, I have literally played it to death over the past 24 hours. 

Songs to note: 

PRBLMS 

Free

Learn Ya 

Justice - Woman. Good God, they're back.

JUSTICE HAVE RETURNED. After a 5 year silence, they're back and better than ever, reminiscent to their Cross days (D.A.N.C.E, anyone?) and totally brushing under the rug the slight mess of their second album that followed. I haven't been this excited for a dance album to come out since Daft Punk's Random Access Memories. Just like Daft Punk, they deliver. Literally just get ready for some 70s funk, mixed in with a lil throwback to Cross, their debut phenomenon. 

When they released Safe and Sound, the first single off of this album a few months ago, it was brilliant. The first single in ages. Hearing it as the first track now, while waiting for what's to come, builds the anticipation like mad. The 70s style disco throwback with bass grooves and sassy synths make it bomb as. 

There have already been complaints that the album is a bit cheesy, in particular Pleasure, but that's what I like about it. I'm sorry, but disco and funk are supposed to be slightly cheesy, and this is catchy AF, especially the chorus.  

It reminds me of of just such a mish-mash of everything rad. Tron, the Drive soundtrack, a lil' bit of Daft Punk, 70s funk, 80s synth swag, it's just such a phenomenal collective that drips and oozes cool. They're just so good at creating things to bob your head to, things that make you want to get up and dance. Songs that are so melodic and so endless, they totally make you forget where you are and you lose total track of space and time. It's captivating. 

As consumer friendly as it is, there are some more intense tracks on here that do want to make you go absolutely mental as well. Chorus is wild, you feel like you're on this insane adventure, and you've taken every possible substance under the sun. It's also killer driving music. Alternatively, Heavy Metal just beats at your skull in the best way possible.

The thing I love about Justice and that I really feel they had when Cross came out, and that rings true on Woman as well, are the brilliantly executed orchestral elements. It's something so unique to electronic music today and that's so dreamy, it really causes you to get lost in it all. Emotions can run high with this one, making for the whole album-listening experience a serious expedition. The ending with Close Call is the most perfect fade out too, and the most melodic ending to a whirlwind symphony of sheer genius they've gifted us with.

I loved this album (can you tell?) I think it was such a great "welcome back" from two French dance icons of the early 2000s. Honestly, God bless Justice. And seriously, God bless French dance music as a whole. 

The XX are back.

So I try not to do back to back music posts. Always nice to break things up. However, yesterday, the absolute coolest thing happened. The XX came back with the first single off of their third album that's set to drop in January.

PRAISE THE LORDS.

I'm not here to waste your time so:

In true XX fashion it's prettily morose and beautiful but oddly enough...samples a Hall & Oats song?! SO. AWESOME. It's only a small lil snippet but it's so warped it sounds beyond catchy as a hook. 

It's interesting, upon listening to it for the first time you're kind of thinking that they've gone a bit more upbeat than their previous songs. It's slightly more uptempo for sure. Listening to it a bit more though, the melancholy brooding is still there. It's bittersweet sounding. Maybe it's the fact that I've been on the road and I'm already kind of missing home, but it's really resonating with me on a different level. 

All I can say is...I'm really happy they're back.

Currently Groovin' to... Nick Murphy

Guys guys guys, I am stoked about today's post. Being on the road means curating the perfect road trip playlist. Something you can zip to and focus on the long and winding drive itself. Something that you can coast and whiz along the highway to. Something that just makes you get lost in it all, entirely.

This perfectly coincides with my discovery (albeit a month late but not really since his second single got released about a week ago), of Nick Murphy. 

Man, oh fucking man. This is where it gets even more exciting. Who is Nick Murphy, you ask? He just so happens to be the very own and soulful Chet Faker, one of my favourite artists. The man behind the music basically everyone wants to get down and dirty to. Remember that cover of No Diggity? What about that whole EP itself. Songs like I'm into You brought shivers to my spine. Why the sudden reason to rebrand under a different name? Well, it's his own. 

From the man himself, taken from his Facebook page, "its been half a decade since I started releasing music as Chet Faker and all of you have been the driving force behind the music since.There's an evolution happening and I wanted to let you know where its going.
the next record will be under my own name, Nick Murphy.
Chet Faker will always be a part of the music.
This is next."

Honestly, the two singles that have been released so far are so on the money it's nuts. Almost a total Radiohead In Rainbows vibe except with Murphy's hauntingly beautiful vocals. It's definitely a bit heavier sounding and darker but so absolutely fantastic. This is perfect driving music. Or nihilistic music to just unwind and brood to. Or music to think to. Or music for anything for that matter. I'm hooked.