. Citizens Of Contrary Knowledge are a New York City band whose four members come from extremely varied backgrounds. But upon hearing them you get the impression they’ve known each other for a lifetime or more. Download | Subscribe | Subscribe in iTunes | Subscribe to All Links coxrox.com myspace.com/citizensofcontraryknowledge Less

I emphatically recommend watching or listening to all the lessons from the Blackpool, New York and St. Louis Congresses, especially if you are a beginner. The latest lessons in St. Louis (below) were on the articles “The Peace,” “There Is None Else Beside Him” and other Shamati articles. Share This Less

From the Album “+–Prettiest Transmitter of All: Nov. 18, 2008–+” The songs that make up Dare Dukes’ new album, Prettiest Transmitter of All, are a striking combination of incisive intelligence and sweet, doleful hooks. Looking past the shiny surfaces of American life, the Savannah, GA-based singer-songwriter chronicles the everyday world, mining the margins for the eccentric characters and bizarre events that are the heart of his music. [MySpace] Download | Subscribe | Subscribe in iTunes | Subscribe to All Links daredukes.com myspace.com/daredukes Less

Like many bands before them, School of Seven Bells were born as the result of a late-night revelation. Benjamin Curtis connected with sisters Alejandra and Claudia Deheza in 2004 while their bands—Secret Machines and On-Air Library!, respectively—were on tour. While watching PBS at 3am, Alejandra caught a show about the School of Seven Bells: a mythical South American pickpocket academy that may or may not have existed in the ‘80s. The idea of seven minds working as one appealed to her, as did the phrase’s cryptic musicality, and a creative spark ignited. By the end of 2006, Curtis and the Deheza sisters had completely disappeared into School of Seven Bells. From the outset, it was clear that the trio’s music transcended the usual genre restrictions. Early recordings popped up on Sonic Cathedral, Table of Elements, and Suicide Squeeze, then Blonde Redhead tapped School of Seven Bells for a tour. Remixes came from Cocteau Twins’ Robin Guthrie and Prefuse 73, whose “Class of 73 Bells,” a re-imagining of SVIIB’s “Iamundernodisguise,” ended up on his 2007 album Preparations (Warp). School of Seven Bells’ music is full of tensions—Curtis’ gentle guitars wrap around jagged beats; silky vocals hide behind grumpy, alien synthesizers—but the resulting songs are effortlessly cohesive, and insidiously catchy. Elements of dream-pop, Afrobeat, IDM, and 4AD’s gauzier moments provide a constantly shifting frame for the Dehezas’ lyrics, which they write as mysterious missives between the School’s imaginary seven members. On their Ghostly debut, Alpinisms, we get the impression that the three seasoned musicians have taken up full-time residence in a dizzying fantasy world; they move freely within the realm of pickpockets and dreamers, composing a soundtrack according to their own odd, beautiful logic. [ioda] Download | Subscribe | Subscribe in iTunes | Subscribe to All School of Seven Bells “Half Asleep” (mp3) from “Alpinisms” (Ghostly International) Buy at iTunes Music Store Less

Nov. 7: This week Adam and Matty -- recipients of a million dollar MacArthur Genius Grant -- have transformed the grand ballroom at the end of Navy Pier in Chicago into a giant performance space and hired thousands of actors, birthday clowns and giant Macy's Thanksgiving Day-parade balloons to create an epic "living arts" performance piece dramatizing the life of Filmspotting. The role of Adam will be played by Mildred Fletcher, an 84 year-old former Scrabble grand master from Corvallis, Oregon, while Matty will be played by Thabo, an eighteen year-old engineering student of Basotho ethnicity from greater Lesotho. Thabo Matty and Mildred Adam will piece together their thoughts on Charlie Kaufman's latest mindbender "Synecdoche, New York" starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener and Samantha Morton. The real Adam and Matty will then break down the cavalcade of funny performances from the likes of Paul Rudd, Jane Lynch, Sean William Scott and more in "Role Models," the latest comedy from the madcap minds behind The State and "Wet Hot American Summer." As an added bonus, Adam got a chance to catch up with "Role Models" director David Wain and somehow resisted the urge to ask for Paul Rudd's phone number in a great interview. Then in honor of "Synecdoche," the lads play some chess with death and mull exactly how they might shuffle off this mortal coil with their Top 5 Movies About Mortality. Here's hoping Filmspotting's eternal summer shall never fade... Also on the show: Massacre Theatre and music by Ben Folds. ** Now that the presidential race is over, satisfy your craving for news with the latest from the independent film world at SpoutBlog. For all the film news and commentary you need, read blog.spout.com. ** Filmspotting #234 :24-14:33 - Review: "Synecdoche, New York" Music: Ben Folds, "The Frown Song" 15:23-18:32 - Massacre Theatre (Winner: T. Stair) 18:33-22:29 - Voicemail, Polls 22:30-32:34 - Review: "Role Models" Music: Ben Folds, "You Don't Know Me" 34:28-54:26 - Interview: David Wain Music: Ben Folds, "Cologne" 55:13-1:00:37 - New DVDs, Donations 1:00:38-1:13:43 - Top 5: Movies About Mortality 1:13:44-1:16:39 - Close/Next Show/Outtakes NOTES/CORRECTIONS - Less

Charlie Kaufman recently appeared on The Bat Segundo Show #243. Kaufman is most recently the writer-director of Synecdoche, New York, now playing in limited theaters. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Lost in the endless ebb and flow of emotional and cerebral ideas. Guest: Charlie Kaufman Subjects Discussed: [List forthcoming] EXCERPT FROM SHOW: Correspondent: It’s safe to say that you are an idea man. So I must ask you: to what degree do you worry about an idea? Does your mind brim with more ideas — even correct ideas — than you can possibly use? Are you thinking of ideas right now? Is there a slight sense of panic with any idea? What is your idea of ideas? Kaufman: Well, this whole question is based on the premise that I am an idea man, which I’m not sure that I agree with. Correspondent: Oh. Kaufman: So I’m trying to break down what you asked me. And I don’t know. How am I an idea man? To turn this around. On you, Ed. Correspondent: Well, I would argue that this film is laced with endless ideas meshing against each other. Kaufman: Yes, it has a lot of ideas. But the ideas came over a two-year period, as I wrote the script. It’s not that I was furiously — like you or your girlfriend — furiously writing 700 pages in two days so that you could read it two days later. I mean, it’s slow. And sometimes it doesn’t happen at all for long periods of time. Correspondent: So it’s the impression, I suppose, of being an idea man based on the final output here. Kaufman: It’s not like it happens in real time. It’s not like there’s a two-hour movie and I wrote it in two hours. Correspondent: Okay, well then let’s turn that… Kaufman: I mean, I think you thought that before. Correspondent: Oh certainly! Kaufman: But it’s not true. Correspondent: Let’s talk about it. Kaufman: Let’s turn it around. Correspondent: Okay. What is the actual ratio of you coming up with an idea? Is it one idea every 2.2 days? What’s the deal? Kaufman: I would say that…(to himself) you figure two years….maybe it’s an idea a week. Correspondent: And you have to determine whether… Kaufman: And this is terribly disappointing for you. Correspondent: Oh no! It’s actually quite interesting! I’m wondering. Do you have a certain….? Over the course of a week, do you determine whether that idea is correct in association with another idea? Is there kind of an idea peer review process that you run across in your mind? I mean, what’s the situation here? Kaufman: There is no correct for ideas. Ideas are ideas. And if they’re interesting to me, they’re interesting to me. You know, I don’t know what an idea is actually. I think I think more in terms of emotions than ideas, although there are conceptual things that I utilize. Conceptual things that are devices or that are interesting to me. But the meat of the work for me is the emotional aspect of it. And I don’t know if you would consider those ideas or… Correspondent: I think an emotional idea is nevertheless an idea. Kaufman: Okay, then I… Correspondent: You’re assuming that an idea is based entirely on cerebral terms. And I don’t think that’s necessarily the case. Kaufman: Well, it may just be more the way that you’re presenting it. It feels….when you talk about ideas, and how many ideas you come up with, blah blah blah. Correspondent: We’re presenting it in statistical data, yeah. (laughs) Kaufman: It feels very cerebral. Correspondent: Okay. Kaufman: And scientific. And so yes, I have emotional ideas. Less