Happy Pride Month, everyone! Like all other corporate entities, The Cut rushes to jump on the bandwagon, hoping to chase down a quick handful of the sweet sweet pink pounds. However,as general policy, we believe you are worthy of love no matter your gender, orientation, weight, colour, age, faith, position on the Myer-Briggs scale or point on the RPG alignment square. You’re all good in our book.
A minor organisational note—we are on a much-needed group away trip next week, so operations will be on a very low burn. We have lined up a treat from the archive so you don’t feel abandoned. We’d never do that. We are too full of love to let you down.
Now is the time. Here is the place. This is The Cut.
Top Gun: Maverick seems to have tickled our collective fancy as part of a general 80s nostalgia vibe. Nice to see the movie finally appear after what feels like two years of trailers. Of course, we get to see Tom Cruise indulge in one of his signature moves, which brings up a question. We all know Tom can fly—but can he run?
Some short fiction for the long weekend, from our pals at The Sunday Morning Transport. This will redefine the phrase ‘moving house’. And ‘location, location, location’.
Staying with all things architecture, we are suckers for a nose round the spaces into which writers burrow when they need to work. Robert Graves’ hideaway in Majorca is a fine example of the form and fills us with unspeakable jealousy. Particularly as we are crafting this episode on a phone while on the M4 westbound. The view is nowhere as nice.
We really enjoyed this deep dive into the making of Yo La Tengo’s best album, I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One. Top tip about ordering at Prince’s Hot Chicken in Nashville, too.
I can hear the heart beating as one
Honestly, The Film Desk insisted this bit from Dread Central was included on the strength of the headline. We are not one to argue when they have their dander up like this. Seriously, though, it’s fascinating to see how the female in horror is transmuting from victim or Final Girl into something more… feral.
We’ve considered film soundtracks recently and how they are much less the product of a single visionary than you may think. Pressi Lovanto, composer for Scandi super-horror The Innocents outlines his unusual and highly collaborative methods, creating one of the most evocative and creepy film soundtracks of the year.
Let’s stick with yon auteur theory for a moment, and interrogate one of the more pervasive myths of 80s horror—that Tobe Hooper did not direct Poltergeist. It seems common knowledge that the producer, one Steven Spielberg, elbowed his way into the big chair. The facts tell a different story…
How many of you have a phone line in your place which isn’t attached to anything? It’s usually cheaper to have the line as part of a broadband bundle than to disconnect it. Seems like a shame to waste it when you can do… well, this.
We run playlists at Cut Central. Big, long ones. Fat, indulgent, uncompromising playlists stuffed to the gills with deep dives and eccentric tonal shifts. It’s a radical shift from the friendly curatorial vibe of a good radio show. Ken Freedman, station manager of the mighty WFMU, explains some of the differences.
And finally. This piece on Colorado’s only public funeral pyre should be gloomy, but somehow is not. It’s important to take control of one of the most vital decisions you’ll ever make, creating a mood of fond rememberance and celebration. After all, a funeral is not about the subject, but the people left behind.
If we’d been a bit more organised, this week’s Exit Music would be streamed daily on the socials over the next month. It’s the perfect anthem for June 2022. Get your boots on.
See you next Saturday, lovers.
EXCUSES AND HALF TRUTHS 