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Articles by Hans Rollmann
Coil's 'Musick to Play in the Dark' Gets a 20th Anniversary Re-Issue
Musick to Play in the Dark Coil Dais Records 27 November 2020 Few musicians have succeeded in manipulating and shaping atmosphere as well as Coil. The duo founded by musical (and life) partners John Balance and Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson in 1982 produced 18 astonishingly innovative studio albums (plus dozens of singles, EPs, remixes, and special versions) over two decades until Balance's death in 2004 (Christopherson died in 2010).
The Power of Restraint in Sophie Yanow, Paco Roca, and Elisa Macellari's New Graphic Novels
The Contradictions Sophie Yanow Drawn & Quarterly September 2020 The Winter of the Cartoonist Paco Roca Fantagraphics August 2020 Kusama Elisa Macellari Laurence King Publishing September 2020 They say you can't judge a book by its cover, and the maxim is even more accurate for graphic novels. This surprised me when I first started reading graphic literature – in a medium that is so heavily iconographic, surely it must be possible to glean something from the cover?
Bishakh Som's 'Spellbound' Is an Innovative Take on the Graphic Memoir
Spellbound: A Graphic Memoir Bishakh Som Street Noise September 2020 Other Bishakh Som's graphic memoir, Spellbound, is an innovative and captivating tale, an attractively drawn and brightly hued memoir which disguises some big ideas beneath its seemingly prosaic surface. Spellbound's magic is its subtle beauty; its endearing framing of the everyday.
Heathen's Queer Feminist Vikings Are the Heroines Pop Culture Needed
Heathen (Volume Three) Natasha Alterici Vault Comics 22 September 2020 The world of pop culture is awash in Vikings these days. From streaming television shows to manga, those nefarious Norse are back in vogue. But if you only have time for one set of Vikings in your life, make it Natasha Alterici's graphic novel series Heathen. The third and final volume of this brilliant series, which centres on a lesbian Viking who's got it in for Odin and the patriarchy, recently hit the shelves.
Marie Davidson and L'Œil Nu Boldly Explore on 'Renegade Breakdown'
Renegade Breakdown Marie Davidson & L'Œil Nu Ninja Tune 25 September 2020 Renegade Breakdown is the title of Marie Davidson's latest album, and renegade is an apt term with which to describe the Montreal musician's approach to her craft. Her previous albums – masterpieces of minimalist electronics – established her reputation on the international club scene, reinforced with years of gruelling tours and live performances.
Can Queer Studies Rescue American Universities?
Poor Queer Studies: Confronting Elitism in the University Matt Brim Duke University Press March 2020 Other Publishing academic books about the problems in the academy has become a flourishing, self-perpetuating field in recent years. There's no shortage of texts speculating on what's wrong with the academy and how it can be fixed. Some, of course, are more insightful than others.
Abortion is under threat again, and there's a sex offender in the Oval Office. A fitting time, in short, to crank up the righteously angry vocals of feminist hard rock heavy hitters like L7.
Smell the Magic (30th Anniversary Edition) L7 Sub Pop 18 September 2020 Abortion is under threat again, there's a sex offender in the Oval Office, and countless studies reveal the glaring underrepresentation of women in the North American music industry (comprising less than one-third of performers and 12.5 percent of songwriters, according to this one). A fitting time, in short, to crank up the righteously angry vocals of feminist hard rock heavy hitters like L7.
I enjoyed chatting with former Renegade Soundwave lead Gary Asquith about his latest musical projects (which are rad as ever)! Also about US politics, Andy Warhol, and gorillas. https://t.co/26c16u6nP0
Telling the tale of the cyclops through the lens of high and low culture, in O'Brother, Where Art Thou? the Coens hammer home a fatalistic criticism about the ways that commerce, violence, and cosmetic Christianity prevail in American society .
Renegade Connection's Asquith Indulges in Creative Tension
Politicians Protesters & Thieves Renegade Connection The Sound of Sinners 16 October 2020 Other Growing up on the east coast of Canada in the '90s, a vital part of any teenaged musical education was MuchMusic, that endearing and chilled out counterpart to America's MTV. Its late-night programming showcased thrilling independent and underground music videos that were inaccessible elsewhere and pushed boundaries of what was considered permissible on Canadian television at the time.
Konqistador and HanHan Team for Darkwave Hip-Hop on "Visaya"
One of last year's most powerful (and underrated) releases was Nafada, the latest album by Detroit-based electronic/industrial outfit Konqistador. Nafada is a remarkable release which saw Konqistador's trio collaborate with some of the leading female hip-hop artists from Africa and the Middle East.
Canadian Producer Whipped Cream Captures the Zeitgeist on 'Who Is Whipped Cream?'
Who Is Whipped Cream? Whipped Cream Big Beat Records 21 August 2020 Summer may be grinding to a close but Canadian electronic DJ and producer Whipped Cream is making sure it goes out with a bang. Her debut, Who Is Whipped Cream?, is one of the best electronic albums to drop this year, a collection of intensely danceable tracks showcasing the broad stylistic range of this versatile artist. Whipped Cream, otherwise known as Caroline Cecil, hails from the west coast of Canada.
Joe Sacco's 'Paying the Land' Reflects Journalistic Nuance in a Way Other Media Does Not
Paying the Land Joe Sacco Metropolitan July 2020 Other If anyone doubts the urgency of the subject matter in Joe Sacco's latest work, his career trajectory ought to underscore its importance. The pioneer comics journalist, whose classic work on Middle Eastern politics Palestine (1996) revolutionized the genre of war correspondence and the comics medium alike, later set his sights on conflict in the Balkans, producing the gritty but insightful works Safe Area Gorazde (2000) and The Fixer (2003).
'Gender Explorers' Offers Insight into Youth Perspectives on Gender
Gender Explorers: Our Stories of Growing Up Trans and Changing the World Juno Roche Jessica Kingsley June 2020 Other Juno Roche's previous two books – Queer Sex: A Trans and Non-Binary Guide to Intimacy, Pleasure and Relationships (2018) and Trans Power: Own Your Gender (2019) – have been profoundly personal, weighty think-pieces: heady but rewarding engagements with trans and queer theory, deeply rooted in lived experience, that explore and challenge normative conceptions of gender.
Manga 'The Sky Is Blue with a Single Cloud' Is a Superb Kuniko Tsuruta Collection
The Sky is Blue with a Single Cloud Kuniko Tsurita Drawn & Quarterly July 2020 Other Concomitant with the explosive global popularity of manga and its permeating global markets and languages, have been efforts to plumb the genre's archives for forgotten or under-recognized talent. Needless to say, this includes women artists, particularly from the genre's early years before women came to dominate the field as they do today (as both producers and consumers).
A New Erasure Album Is Precisely What This Pandemic Needs
The Neon Erasure Mute 21 August 2020 Erasure to the rescue once more. Stuck in lockdown, barricaded in our homes, fearful of contact with strangers, every expedition to the grocery or drug store an exercise in fear and caution, mask politics emerging as the touchstone for a world already gone to hell in a handbasket in so many ways. It's been a rough six months.
Planningtorock Is Queering Sound, Challenging Binaries, and Making Infectious Dance Music
PlanningtoChanel Planningtorock Human Level 22 July 2020 When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, UK-born, Berlin-based artist Planningtorock – otherwise known as Jam Rostron – was on the remote Estonian island of Hiiumaa, visiting their girlfriend's parents. Suddenly the island shut down – and there they were stuck for the next three months.
'Bigger Than History: Why Archaeology Matters'
Bigger Than History: Why Archaeology Matters Brian Fagan, Nadia Durrani Thames & Hudson December 2019 Other With everything going on in today's fraught world, it can be easy to lose sight of the big picture. Fortunately, there are scientists struggling on both ends of the human experience to keep that big picture in focus.
Graphic Novel 'Cuisine Chinoise' Is a Feast for the Eyes and the Mind
Cuisine Chinoise: Tales of Food and Life Zao Dao Dark Horse June 2020 Other There are few books of which it can be said they're worth buying for the art alone. Zao Dao's Cuisine Chinoise is one of them. The graphic novel is packed with "tales of food and life" but with its compelling combination of lush painted pages and unsettling, fable-like storytelling, it's the eyes and brain which get the true feast here.
A Translator Between Worlds: On Behrouz Boochani's Work from the Manus Island Prison Camp
No Friend but the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison Behrouz Boochani Pan MacMillan (AU)/ Anansi (CA) /Picador (US) Jul 2018 Other Had this entire drama played out 30 years earlier and had Boochani been a refugee escaping the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War, he would have been embraced by presidents, paraded through the streets and awarded an instant tenured professorship at Harvard University.
Five Women Who Fought the Patriarchy
Square Haunting: Five Writers in London Between the Wars Francesca Wade Tim Duggan April 2020 Other Square Haunting tells the story of five important British women from the early 20th century, most of whom (with the exception of Virginia Woolf) are sadly neglected in this day and age. The book's short, lively sketches of these women are a delight to read, but just as important is the hope that it'll revive interest in their important creative and scholarly contributions.
A World Made of War: On Oriana Fallaci's Fearless Journalism
Oriana Fallaci: The Journalist, the Agitator, the Legend Cristina de Stefano Other October 2017 Other Akey component of Fallaci's interviews... was her tendency to treat them as theatre, with herself playing a leading role. The name Oriana Fallaci may not be familiar to younger readers. But for decades it was a household word around the globe; a name that evoked fear and respect among the world's most powerful leaders, and frequent controversy in her home country.
90 Years on 'Olivia' Remains a Classic of Lesbian Literature
Olivia Dorothy Strachey Penguin Classics June 2020 Other What is it about tragic, doomed romances that makes them such irresistible reading? Especially in this day and age? We know, at long last, that it's possible for queer relationships to turn out happily and for queer books to have happy endings. We have no shortage of joyous depictions in print to choose from. Yet those classic tragedies retain a power and magnetism that often surpasses their more upbeat contemporary cousins.
'No Modernism Without Lesbians'
No Modernism Without Lesbians Diana Souhami Head of Zeus April 2020 Other It's tempting to imagine a modernist deck of playing cards, with each of the four women covered in Diana Souhami's latest book heading up one of the suits. Diamonds would be represented by Bryher (pen name of Annie Winifred Ellerman) – the gender non-conforming writer and film producer who was also a multimillionaire heiress.
'Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier'
Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks First Second February 2020 Other This year, 2020, is frenetic. Our attention is torn myriad ways: the Covid-19 pandemic; the epidemic of police violence and racist murders of Black and Indigenous people; the global chaos being sown by US President Donald Trump and his administration.
Life Isn't Binary and Neither Is the Coronavirus Pandemic
Life Isn't Binary: On Being Both, Beyond, and In-Between Meg-John Barker and Alex Iantaffi Jessica Kingsley May 2019 Other The coronavirus pandemic has up-ended contemporary life in ways we still haven't entirely grasped, and may not fully reveal themselves for months or years to come. As our world struggles to deal with its unprecedented challenges, important insights can come from unexpected sources.
'Can We All Be Feminists?' Needs Privileged Women to Hear: Women's Rights Are Human Rights
Can We All Be Feminists? June Eric-Udorie, ed. Penguin Sep 2018 Other A few months ago, the provincial legislature in the Canadian province in which I live was rocked by a harassment scandal: elected representatives (both male and female) were filing personal harassment complaints against each other.
'Lie With Me': Beauty, Love and Toxic Masculinity in the Gay '80s
Lie With Me Philippe Besson Scribner April 2020 Other Philippe Besson's Lie With Me is equal parts poignant tribute and glaring warning. It's Besson's tribute to the teenage lover to whom the book is dedicated, although it's unclear just how much of the narrative is novel and how much fact. As with all good literature, it doesn't really matter. The first two thirds of the story chronicles their relationship: from furtive glances and idle daydreams to the moment of first contact.
How the Template for Modern Combat Journalism Developed
Journalism and the Russo-Japanese War: The End of the Golden Age of Combat Correspondence Michael S. Sweeney and Natascha Toft Roelsgaard Lexington / Rowman & Littlefield November 2019 Other For a war that's not much talked about these days, the 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War was pivotal not just for its antagonists but for the entire world.
Claude McKay's 'Romance in Marseille' Is Ahead of Its Time
Romance in Marseille Claude McKay Penguin Classics February 2020 Other Claude McKay has long been considered one of the central figures of the Harlem Renaissance, yet some of his best work is only now appearing in print, more than 70 years after his death.
CONVENIENCE STORE VIRTUES (OR, THE ALIENATION OF MODERN LIFE)
Convenience Store Woman Sayaka Murata Grove Press June 2018 Other For a novelist, the anomie imposed by the modern condition -- a world of alienated, objectified, neoliberal subjects -- is a creative source of immense potential. Despite appearances, Sayaka Murata opts instead to tackle a deeper, universal problem: the anomie imposed by humanity's social condition. Convenience Store Woman hints at the contemporary, but its theme is eternal. Its protagonist, Keiko Furukura, has never fit in.
'Spring Rain' Is a Superb Graphic Memoir of the Vagaries of Mind and Memory
Spring Rain: A Graphic Memoir of Love, Madness, and Revolutions Andy Warner St. Martin's Griffin January 2020 Other Spring Rain is bestselling author and cartoonist Andy Warner's graphic memoir of a semester he spent in Beirut as a 21-year-old college student studying Lebanese literature. It was 2005 – the same year mass protests led to that country's 'Cedar Revolution', toppling its pro-Syrian government.
Remember to Come up for Air When You Read 'They Say Sarah'
They Say Sarah Pauline Delabroy-Allard Other June 2020 Other To read They Say Sarah is to understand what it means for a novel to be 'breathtaking'. By the time I'd consumed the first half of the book – in under an hour – I felt like I had barely come up for air. It's only partly due to the vivid sexual passion around which the book is crafted.
Mieko Kawakami's 'Breasts and Eggs' Is a Feminist Masterpiece
Breasts and Eggs Mieko Kawakami Europa Editions April 2020 Other Mieko Kawakami's Breasts and Eggs is one of the most remarkable feminist novels to appear in the English language (even if it was originally published in Japanese). Its unobtrusive plot masks a work of remarkable complexity that launches a radical challenge to both the political and literary status quo.
Mieko Kawakami's 'Breasts and Eggs' Is a Feminist Masterpiece
Breasts and Eggs Mieko Kawakami Europa Editions April 2020 Other Mieko Kawakami's Breasts and Eggs is one of the most remarkable feminist novels to appear in the English language (even if it was originally published in Japanese). Its unobtrusive plot masks a work of remarkable complexity that launches a radical challenge to both the political and literary status quo.
Die Wilde Jagd Dazzles with Dark, Groovy, Techno-Naturalist Soundscapes on 'Haut'
Haut Die Wilde Jagd Bureau B 17 April 2020 To enter the mind of German electronic musician, Sebastian Lee Philipp is to venture into a lush techno-jungle, a dark space pulsing and throbbing with life. Nowhere is this more in evidence than Haut, the third album from Philipp's project Die Wilde Jagd. Sparse rhythms bloom into complex worlds of sound, a cacophony of creatively adapted noise and samples which assume a harmonious, rhythmic consistency merging the natural with the electronic.
Graphic Novel 'Big Black' Is a Stunning Depiction of the Attica Prison Uprising
Big Black: Stand at Attica Frank "Big Black" Smith, Jared Reinmuth, Ameziane Archaia / Simon & Schuster February 2020 Other We can hope that one day American schools will feature mandatory courses on racism. If we can teach history by region (European, World, American) surely we can also do so by theme. A course on American racism would help to complement existing courses on ethics and civics, for what is the point of those studies if not to teach the practical application of their subject?
Comedy, Pathos, and Bibliophilia Merge in Jean Giono's Wartime Journal
Occupation Journal Jean Giono Archipelago March 2020 Other How does a staunch pacifist respond when war breaks out and their country is invaded by Nazis? For French author Jean Giono, the response was to grit his teeth, curse both sides, and try to get on with his writing as best he could. As his newly translated Occupation Journal reveals, this was sometimes easier said than done. Giono's literary career took off between the two world wars.
Graphic Novel 'Big Black' Is a Stunning Depiction of the Attica Prison Uprising
Big Black: Stand at Attica Frank "Big Black" Smith, Jared Reinmuth, Ameziane Archaia / Simon & Schuster February 2020 Other In this more enlightened future, one of the topics our American Racism course will cover is the Attica Prison Riot of 1971. Half a century past, it offers a tragic and yet stirring example of both the viciousness of white supremacist hate (and its virulent grip on US law enforcement) as well as the dignity, strength and resistance of imprisoned African-Americans.
'Trans Power' Is a Celebration of Radical Power and Beauty
Trans Power: Own Your Gender Juno Roche Jessica Kingsley Publishers October 2019 Other Juno Roche concludes their latest book, Trans Power, with a discussion of trans children. They cite an example of the type of news story receiving frequent and controversial coverage these days: young children who wish to "change genders".
When You Discover Your Father Had an Affair with Frida Kahlo...
The Heart: Frida Kahlo in Paris Marc Petitjean Other Press April 2020 Other For an artist who struggled for recognition during her lifetime, there seems little about Frida Kahlo's life that hasn't made it into print in recent years. The iconic Mexican painter has been the subject of dozens of biographical works, in addition to a feature film, animation, ballet, two operas, numerous stage plays, and even an official Barbie doll.
Queer Love and Art in the Time of Nazis: 'Never Anyone But You'
Never Anyone But You Rupert Thomson Other Press March 2020 (paperback) Other Crafting a fictional narrative out of the life of a historical figure is always a difficult undertaking. No matter how much research one does, there is that ineffable quality which animates an individual, quite distinct from their art, their writing, or the way their actions are chronicled in written sources.
Queer Love and Art in the Time of Nazis: 'Never Anyone But You'
Never Anyone But You Rupert Thomson Other Press March 2020 (paperback) Other Crafting a fictional narrative out of the life of a historical figure is always a difficult undertaking. No matter how much research one does, there is that ineffable quality which animates an individual, quite distinct from their art, their writing, or the way their actions are chronicled in written sources.
'Miss Iceland' Is a Brilliant Novel of Sexism, Homophobia, and the Writing Life
Miss Iceland Miss Iceland Grove Press / Black Cat June 2020 Other "Despite global praise, New Zealand leader Jacinda Ardern faces election struggle." - Liz Ford I'll never forget my first visit to Iceland. From the moment my plane landed, it was love at first sight. The stunning, stark landscapes aside, it was pure fluke that I arrived at the beginning of Pride Week, and downtown Reykjavik was awash in rainbow-coloured pennants and banners.
'Miss Iceland' Is a Brilliant Novel of Sexism, Homophobia, and the Writing Life
Miss Iceland Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir Grove Press / Black Cat June 2020 Other "Despite global praise, New Zealand leader Jacinda Ardern faces election struggle." - Liz Ford I'll never forget my first visit to Iceland. From the moment my plane landed, it was love at first sight. The stunning, stark landscapes aside, it was pure fluke that I arrived at the beginning of Pride Week, and downtown Reykjavik was awash in rainbow-coloured pennants and banners.
'Serenade for Nadia' Is a Beautifully Wrought Tale of Political Crimes Past and Present
Serenade for Nadia Zülfü Livaneli Other March 2020 Other Serenade For Nadia is the latest in a wave of English-language translations of Turkish bestsellers. Delightful as it is to finally have access to literary classics that have long been available in languages other than English, it comes at a trying time for Turkish writers.
'Going Stealth': Trans Politics and Surveillance Practices
Going Stealth: Transgender Politics and U.S. Surveillance Practices Toby Beauchamp Duke University Press January 2019 Other The connection between transgender politics and US surveillance practices might seem obvious. In the opening chapter to Toby Beauchamp's study Going Stealth, they are starkly – and literally – illustrated on the cover of a training manual for True the Vote (a right-wing offshoot of the Texas Tea Party, self-appointed to monitor polls for purported instances of voter fraud).
'Year of the Rabbit': How Quickly, Cruelty and Genocide Can Become the Norm
Year of the Rabbit Tian Veasna Drawn & Quarterly January 2020 Other The Khmer Rouge regime, which ruled Cambodia from 1975–1979 (after defeating the corrupt and repressive, if not quite as bloodthirsty, US-backed military dictatorship of Lon Nol), has been rightly referred to as a genocide. During those four years roughly two million people (about a quarter of the country's population) died as a result of the regime's brutal policies.
Why Everyone Should Read Samra Habib's Queer Muslim Memoir
We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir Samra Habib Viking June 2019 Other Internationally renowned journalist and photographer Samra Habib's memoir We Have Always Been Here is subtitled (and marketed as) "a queer Muslim memoir". Yet it's much more than that. The book opens by recounting her childhood as a member of the persecuted Ahmadi Muslim minority in Pakistan, followed by her attempts to fit in as a bullied refugee in Canada.
The New World Will Be Built by Refugees: On Two New Japanese Novellas
The Refugees' Daughter Takuji Ichikawa Red Circle November 2019 Other The Chronicles of Lord Asunaro Kanji Hanawa Red Circle January 2020 Other The Red Circle publishing project launched a series of short books in 2018, aimed both at contributing to a growing market for short books (the volumes are each under 100 pages, situated somewhere between a short story and a novella), as well as exposing their authors to a broader audience.
Striking for Its Art, 'New World' Is a Magic Parable of Resistance, Guilt, and Forgiveness
New World David Jesus Vignolli Archaia August 2019 Other One of the controversial plot twists in David Jesus Vignolli's graphic novel New World involves the evil, slave-trading white man transforming into a literal monster. Unnecessary and overkill, assert some reviewers, given that humans can be monstrous enough as they are. But for a comic that is centred on resistance against white colonization of the Americas, I don't think that it's overkill.
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