Mary Timony, darling of the underground rock scene of Boston in the 90’s and 00’s, with her gritty and sweet songs and arthouse friends, was a captivating presence. I didn’t meet her till five years after this video was taken, at a loft in Dudley Square, but she was a secret crush of mine at the time. The music captivates—its prettiness and the deadpan of its delivery. Enjoy!
Series
Video: Mist
A new ballad from the minds of Manson & Madri. Manson croons over simple piano about Mist and the ephemeral nature of things in general. Like something between Jacques Brel and Daniel Johnston, but in the best possible sense, this tune has a deceptively simple message, but its a message we will never clearly hear.
Mist is just one of a series of rock videos we have been posting from their collaboration, all of which can be found under the Song-A-Day link along the sidebar and you can find a selection of these songs on their album Secret Griefs here.
John Manson and Dan Madri of The Gondoliers, became involved 4 years ago in a project called Fun-A-Day. (Or FAD.) And now John and Dan are continuing this tradition under the title Song-A-Day or SAD, and over the course of the coming months, we here at Mutable will be posting them regularly for your viewing and listening pleasure. Enjoy!
Video: Temptation
This delightful little number from Misters Manson and Madri present us with the dangers of longing for the unattainable. The song seems not only to warn against our desires but to go further. The rousing rumination of its logic eventually comes to a place a little like peace. “All that you don’t have. That’s what makes it real.”
Temptation is just one of a series of rock videos we have been posting from their collaboration, all of which can be found under the Song-A-Day link along the sidebar and you can find a selection of these songs on their album Secret Griefs here.
John Manson and Dan Madri of The Gondoliers, became involved 4 years ago in a project called Fun-A-Day. (Or FAD.) And now John and Dan are continuing this tradition under the title Song-A-Day or SAD, and over the course of the coming months, we here at Mutable will be posting them regularly for your viewing and listening pleasure. Enjoy!
Chapter 6: Impaled on the Horn of Texas
in Podcast, Series, Weltschmerz
In this installment of Boyer’s audio memoir, Gabe and Jill head into Texas where the strangeness continues and the van’s having none of it. Jill’s rash is continuing to be a nuisance and the Metaphysical VW Repair Shop is a locus for time travel. Over drinks ghosts, dreams, and pet sex are discussed. Later, Jill and Gabe continue on into West Texas, but nothing is resolved.
You can find Chapters 1 - 5 here.
Paperback Book
8" x 5.25"
560 Pages
$16.00
Now Available
Sanford belting out a vocal
Boston Bands in the 90's: Neptune
When we came across this amazing early footage of Mutable favorites Neptune playing the Middle East in March of ‘97, we simply had to post it for your listening pleasure. What a time it was! For those of you not in the know, all the instruments the band’s playing here were all built from scratch using scrap metal soldered together by lead singer Jason Sanford. I believe the body of that guitar you are seeing Jason playing in this clip is actually cut from a fridge door.
Billy Ruane was a staple of the scene at one point, and he documented endless shows throughout the 90’s and beyond. These videos came out of that.
Video: Dream
The on-going dream of this nightmare is the topic of our most recent musical addition from the minds of John Manson and Dan Madri. “When the knives come out, we’ll only know how to dream.” Indeed.
Dream is just one of a series of rock videos we have been posting from their collaboration, all of which can be found under the Song-A-Day link along the sidebar and you can find a selection of these songs on their album Secret Griefs here.
John Manson and Dan Madri of The Gondoliers, became involved 4 years ago in a project called Fun-A-Day. (Or FAD.) And now John and Dan are continuing this tradition under the title Song-A-Day or SAD, and over the course of the coming months, we here at Mutable will be posting them regularly for your viewing and listening pleasure. Enjoy!
Chapter 5: A Family Affair
in Podcast, Series, Weltschmerz
In this installment of Boyer’s audio memoir, Gabe and Jill meet up with Jill’s parents in Tuscaloosa, and then it’s on to New Orleans, vampire tour guides, tarot cards, and mysterious rashes. Then the two head off on their own once again and into Texas, and a near death experience changes things.
You can find Chapters 1 - 4 here.
Paperback Book
8" x 5.25"
560 Pages
$16.00
Now Available
Mosaic of Time: Scarcely Gilded
in Series, Mosaic of Time, Poetry, Story
‘Scarcely Gilded’ is a poem from the 2020 collection, Between Plague & Kleptocracy: Invented Poetic Creations & Conversations of Seva & Bill, in which the poet, Lina Ramona Vitkauskas, cross-references poems between deceased poets, Vsevolod Nekrasov & Bill Knott.
Throughout this collection, Vitkauskas serves as medium and "translator" of the posthumous conversations, making them essentially invented collaborations. Poems are written in the voice / tone / style of both Nekrasov & Knott, featuring borrowed lines and found poems within those lines—they are the transcripts of their thoughts across astral planes, what they’d perhaps discuss in this perilous time in history: of pandemic, widespread injustice, forced isolation, and of the US mesmerized by a traitorous, snake oil salesman.
SELECTED • 9th International Video Poetry Festival • Athens, Greece (2021)
Poem:
Scarcely Gilded
“Its ferocity is breathtaking and humbling.”
Before we knew
until our lungs
filled with pyrite spring
our lungs
hanging
out
or in
an elephant’s envelope
Mosaic of Time is a monthly series that each month explores another cinepoem by author and artist, Lina Ramona Vitkauskas.
The whole body of the “Mosaic of Time” section will create a broader mosaic, over time, and ideally capture time as the world progresses or regresses—plunging into global events and out again.
Video: Acoustic
Our most recent addition from Dan & John is something of a pleasant little fairytale about an acoustic phenomenon and a changed world. It’s a fireside chat and a bar stool confessional. It’s a heartwarming parable of the weird and the wondrous. “Those who didn’t pull out their own eyes or stop their own hearts were changed and united in their horror.” See below… If you dare!!!
Accoustic is just one of a series of rock videos we have been posting from their collaboration, all of which can be found under the Song-A-Day link along the sidebar and you can find a selection of these songs on their album Secret Griefs here.
John Manson and Dan Madri of The Gondoliers, became involved 4 years ago in a project called Fun-A-Day. (Or FAD.) And now John and Dan are continuing this tradition under the title Song-A-Day or SAD, and over the course of the coming months, we here at Mutable will be posting them regularly for your viewing and listening pleasure. Enjoy!
Boston Bands in the 90's: Thalia Zedek
Thalia Zedek moved to Boston in 1979, and throughout the 80’s and 90’s she led some notable bands, Live Skull and Uzi, but most memorable will always be her 90’s band, Come. Seen here performing a more pared down set with Beth Heinberg at the Middle East Upstairs. All footage care of the legendary and now deceased Billy Ruane and his Road to Ruane feed.
Billy Ruane was a staple of the scene at one point, and he documented endless shows throughout the 90’s and beyond. These videos came out of that.
Chapter 4: The Forest of Freshly Lit Carnage
in Podcast, Series, Weltschmerz
In this installment of Boyer’s audio memoir we find Gabe and Jill are on the road and headed to Knoxville, TN. After two days of near collisions, car trouble, sushi, mountains, baco-bits, and the occasional trip down memory lane, they arrive in the deep south for some latenight shenanigans involving zombies and potted plants.
You can find Chapters 1 - 3 here.
Paperback Book
8" x 5.25"
560 Pages
$16.00
Now Available
Video: Heart
Hearts keep on beating and take beatings and keep on bleeding. Manson & Madri want to give you a lesson in anatomy. “We were built to bleed. We were built to take a beating.” The video for this paired down minimalist rock-and-roll ditty can be found below. It is just one of a series of rock videos we have been posting from their collaboration, all of which can be found under the Song-A-Day link along the sidebar and you can find a selection of these songs on their album Secret Griefs here.
John Manson and Dan Madri of The Gondoliers, became involved 4 years ago in a project called Fun-A-Day. (Or FAD.) And now John and Dan are continuing this tradition under the title Song-A-Day or SAD, and over the course of the coming months, we here at Mutable will be posting them regularly for your viewing and listening pleasure. Enjoy!
My Asinine Life: The Ghost Hand
in Article, My Asinine Life, Series
Gabriel Boyer
I have lost my imaginary friend. She went out for a stroll and never came back. And other things have come to take her place.
Their paperwork was very official. They claimed themselves to be legitimate representatives of my imagination. We have on occasion been taxed with playing you in the early morning, they claimed. But in truth, these were things that wouldn’t play in the familiar ways upon the sprawling filaments of the universe my work station contains.
Sorts of things have hands where they should have eyes, and have eyes everywhere in between. Crawling insufficiencies and elongations of the lower intestine. The underthings—and the overdrive gone into overdrive. And everything in between.
I have been put into quarantine here in my suburban Vietnamese home. I have been in contact with a person who was in contact with a person who was in contact with a person. I have a cat who lives in my yard, and this is not a healthy cat. Old women scale the walls of my garden to chop down bananas and shout at me across the many leafy plants.
So, I’ve become reflective.
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Mosaic of Time: My Vestibule School
in Series, Mosaic of Time, Poetry, Story
The poem is from my 2020 collection titled Between Plague & Kleptocracy: Invented Poetic Creations & Conversations of Seva & Bill.
The collection cross-references poems of two dead poets: Vsevolod Nekrasov and Bill Knott, and the narrator/poet (Lina Ramona Vitkauskas) serves as medium, fusing bits of posthumous conversations and imagined collaborations between them. Vitkauskas hybridizes and recreates their texts, projecting possible dialogues during this perilous time in history: of pandemic, forced isolation, economic decline, and the US finding itself with a pack of kleptocrats and their sycophants overtaking the three branches of government.
The poem itself (below) was written in early 2020, beginning of pandemic. Special thanks to PEN America, which offered a relief grant to the author while unemployed, providing a chance to write the collection.
Poem:
My Vestibule School
National someone
future
something
sometimes
your toes
are a crystal ball
and sometimes
mini executioners
Mosaic of Time is a monthly series that each month explores another cinepoem by author and artist, Lina Ramona Vitkauskas. This month marks her first collaboration with video artist, Michael Lewy.
The whole body of the “Mosaic of Time” section will create a broader mosaic, over time, and ideally capturing time as the world progresses or regresses—plunging into global events and out again.
.
Chapter 3: The Van & The Camera
in Podcast, Series, Weltschmerz
In this installment of Boyer’s audio memoir we find Gabe and Jill back in Boston and waiting on the van so that they can bring theater to bedrooms across America in a 1971 VW minibus, as well as hoping to get Zach to perhaps, possibly buy a camera to document this event. But will Jill and Gabe ever even get on the road? Featuring the occasional flashback.
Paperback Book
8" x 5.25"
560 Pages
$16.00
Now Available
Video: Knights
Knights can have days. They can make a day of it. Sometimes, they take on more than they can chew. Sometimes we pray but pray for what? As we continue our journey through the mind of Manson & Madri, perhaps now would be a good time to ask how we got here? From Angels to Bliss, and now… “Every knight has his day.”
And you can find a selection of these songs on their album Secret Griefs here.
John Manson and Dan Madri of The Gondoliers, became involved 4 years ago in a project called Fun-A-Day. (Or FAD.) And now John and Dan are continuing this tradition under the title Song-A-Day or SAD, and over the course of the coming months, we here at Mutable will be posting them regularly for your viewing and listening pleasure. Enjoy!
Boston Bands in the 90's: Crank Sturgeon
Crank Sturgeon is a phenomena. He has continued to perform and tour from Maine, and has released an album through Mutable, an album where his noise art was remixed by Lineland as Other Occasions Not Minded. Crank Sturgeon is a tireless innovator with an indomitable spirit and an endless capacity for the most abstract forms of play. He can be seen here playing at the Middle East Upstairs, all footage care of the legendary and now deceased Billy Ruane and his Road to Ruane feed.
Billy Ruane was a staple of the scene at one point, and he documented endless shows throughout the 90’s and beyond. These videos came out of that.
Chapter 2: Dream a Little Dream of Dramamine
in Podcast, Series, Weltschmerz
In this second installment of Boyer’s audio memoir of the summer he spent traveling the country, bringing theater to ‘bedrooms across America’ in a 1971 VW minibus, we travel to Brooklyn and the other burroughs, Boyer tries Yohimbe, and an author of comedic drama doubles as a private dick, but what happens when our heroes become lost on the backroads of NYC at 2 something in the AM? Where is it all going? Or is it all just going back?
To hear Chapter 1, Last Week’s Broadcast, go here.
Paperback Book
8" x 5.25"
560 Pages
$16.00
Now Available
Video: Bliss
“I just feel like I might be done.” Another heartwarming song from Manson & Madri on this Sunday morning. Angels become Fillies and Rage evolves to Sirens, then Surge until a Brigade of Maidens feel the need to let off some Steam. Where is this all going? Could it be bliss? Are John and Dan telling us to find our bliss? Where is your bliss? What is bliss? Listen and find out!
And you can find a selection of these songs on their album Secret Griefs here.
John Manson and Dan Madri of The Gondoliers, became involved 4 years ago in a project called Fun-A-Day. (Or FAD.) And now John and Dan are continuing this tradition under the title Song-A-Day or SAD, and over the course of the coming months, we here at Mutable will be posting them regularly for your viewing and listening pleasure. Enjoy!
Mosaic of Time: Poets
in Series, Mosaic of Time, Poetry, Story
“Film fixes reality in a sense of time—it’s a way of conserving time. No other art form can fix and stop time like this. Film is a mosaic made up of time.”
When director Andrei Tarkovsky put forth this notion, he was before a live audience of cinephiles at the Conference Cinema Thieves: International Intrigue, held at the Centro Palatino in Rome (1982). There, the event itself, was a breathing mosaic of beings captured in a moment with the director. The conference was being filmed, and so, this moment is documented and frozen in time as well. We can go back to this moment and hear the artist carefully describe how he arranges within his artform—as a composer would arrange notes on a scale.
What we think of a mosaic is a whole unit—a piece of art made up of pieces. When we look at each of the pieces—we can see the materials, the tangible elements of which they are made: ceramic, glass, wood, plastic, etc. The mosaic itself comprehensively represents an idea. The object is made of objects but the whole is a concept. The scenes of the movie themselves are a part of the greater, larger, mosaic. The artists and actors who make the film are pieces and parts of the film, the mosaic. The moments a director captures/records is the harnessing of time that Tarkovsky describes.
Short films, specifically poetry films (cinepoetry), can be viewed this way. Tiny pixels are the pieces or elements to make an electronic vignette, or, mosaic. Poems themselves are intangible and only represent (or do not represent) a concept or idea. A part of the whole. Poetry on film is not made of physical film, not made of anything but digital pixels, but is made of the arrangement of digital sequences. When you edit a film, there are scenes and transitions—and these are a part of the mosaic.
This month, we feature a cinepoem by Lina Ramona Vitkauskas (also the curator of this series). This is a cinepoem that captures a moment in time during the pandemic. It was recently featured in the Halifax-based poetry series, EVE OF POETRY. It illustrates how poets (who operate in already isolated, private spaces) have dipped further into isolation and insecurities during pandemic times. The original poem comes from her 2013 collection, Professional Poetry, available on Lulu.