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NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND, VOL. 2
The parallel lines of independent video and indie music have crossed in the past, but only occasionally and under controlled circumstances. This Tuesday they collide in the Drake’s basement, along with comedy and performance art. Hook-wielding pop foursome Spitfires & Mayflowers play, NOW music writer Nick Flanagan does stand-up, a (somewhat uneven) program of video art from around the world screens, and Spanish performance artist Raul Diaz-Obregon does his thing.
But the star of the show is bound to be Daniel Cockburn, who gets the Local Spotlight slot with a fistful of his engrossing, cerebral short video pieces. Watching one of Cockburn’s videos is like watching a Philip K. Dick novel stripped down to its girders: a collection of peculiar personal obsessions spun out into elliptical, witty/paranoid mini-narratives.
Festival favourite Metronome, a dizzying 10-minute essay on rhythm and order, is alone worth the price of admission plus the cab ride to get there. (Drake, July 27)
