Forest Of Beastly Desire — Forest Of Beastly Desire( Blu Ray)

Released in the early 1970’s, Forest Of Beastly Desire (aka Juyoku No Mori) was the second of six roman porno films filmed in Sweden by Japanese studio Nikkatsu. The film blends moodily shot softcore with drama and tragedy- it is relatively well acted (for this type of thing), and the whole thing is well shot, with some great use of lighting & colour. The plot revolves around the loves and losses of blond haired/ twenty something Mamy- played by centrefold model Lisbeth Lindeborg. Its soundtrack features music from key krautrock band Amon Düül II

Z'EV — Schönste Muziek

Forty years after its initial release, industrial legend Z'EV's Schönste Muziek is finally given a state-of-the-art remaster. Metallic, booming percussion fills the air, generating the thick atmosphere for the five album tracks, as well as the newly included "Titan Night," which has been unavailable since 1984! Loaded with banging steel and metal that is the lifeblood of heavy industrial percussion, Schönste Muziek feels like more of a treatise than an album, but I cannot remove my forty-year-thick lens. With that, it is an interesting work, but it tends to be a bit monotonous

Creative ‘n’ Inventive sleaze- The world of Roman Porno

Jasper Sharp interview

In the year 1971, Nikkatsu, the oldest/ at one point, the biggest film production company in Japan. Did something quite daring/ some would say crazy- they completely switched over their production to softcore adult films, which would become known as Roman Porno. Between 1971 and 1988, the company produced around 850 of these titles. The thing that made these films stand out from general softcore films is the often creative & inventive choices made- yes, the films primal focus is sleaze, but great examples of the genre are so much more than that. In the last year or so, there has been a spate of reissues of films in the genre from labels such as 88 Films, Third Window Films, and Klubb Super 8. One of the key figures/contributors behind these releases is Jasper Sharp- one of the world's experts on the genre, and the wider Pink genre it’s connected to. Jasper kindly agreed to give us an email interview discussing his history with the genre, his contributions to releases, and the new/updated edition of his book Behind The Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema on Fab Press.

Having Fun And Enjoying Casual Misery

King Futile Interview

King Futile is the new project from Scotland-based Lea Cummings( Kylie Minoise, Official Music Team, etc), and it’s a big departure from his normal noise or retro sample & electronica sound. It's lo-fi acoustic music, with an outsider feel, and often quite tongue-in-cheek/ sharply sarcastic tone to the lyrics. So far, the project has put out three albums- Casual Misery, How To Have Fun, and Zen As Fuck. I tracked down Lea for an email interview.