Tasman Richardson
"Basement Boy Hardcore" DVD
Famefame
Genres: hardcore techno, multimedia
Famefame
393 Harbord St. Unit #1
Toronto, Ontario, M6G 1J1
CANADA
Oct 4 - 10 2004 |
Basement Boy Hardcore is a DVD collecting seven multimedia
works by self-proclaimed recluse Tasman Richardson. His
work is dark and disturbing, comprised of eerie images rapidly
flashing in rhythm with unconventional, sample-based hardcore beats.
The collection begins with "Vader Lives," a
black-and-white video that cuts up Star Wars scenes (including, most
prominently, a mug shot of Vader) in time with music assembled from
various sounds and effects from the movie. The formula works
well, and the video comes off as a slick and undeniably cool work of
multimedia art. "And They Shall Know Us by the Trail of
Kung Fu" and "Distro My Tokyo" do the same with kung fu
films and anime, respectively. However, the real chaos comes in
the form of "Blackest Sabbath" and "Delete
Yourself." The former uses various scary images (Black
Sabbath live footage, anti-drug videos, horror film absurdity) to
produce a downright frightening collage, but the societal commentary
of "Delete Yourself" takes the cake. In it, we are
subjected to profuse clips of videogame murders, hinting at how
detached we've become to the hideousness we witness in popular
media. The music is quite fitting, with gunshot beats and awful
screams of pain forming the track's backbone.
Basement Boy Hardcore is a recommended release, but approach
it with caution - as cool as it looks, its contents can be downright
disturbing.
80%
NOTES: Includes two bonus videos. Limited to 500 copies.
Matt Shimmer [Vitals:
7 videos, distributed by the
label, released 2004] |
