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JENA DOES THE SOCIAL REGISTRY
While in Rotterdam I caught Container, the latest experiment from one my favorite filmmakers, Lukas Moodysson. The film, which premiered in Berlin last year, features black-and-white footage of a heavy-set crossdresser and a young Asian woman doing all sorts of strange things underneath a voiceover by actress Jena Malone. To be clear, it is Jena Malone on the soundtrack, and she identifies herself as “the American actress Jena Malone,” but it’s unclear if the non-diagetic voiceover is completely unrelated to the image or whether its the fantasy of one of the characters. In any case, Picturehouse supposedly has the film for U.S. release, but in the meantime, we can check out another experiment involving Malone. The young star of Donnie Darko has a MySpace page up and is streaming demos of her new band, Jena Malone and her Bloodstains. She’a also teamed up with NYC producers the Social Registry and is planning both an upcoming 7″ as well as shows at New York’s the Mercury Lounge, Union Hall and Joe’s Pub.
All of this music news is via Pitchfork. Posted on the site:
“Actor/actress-turned-musician”…is there any scarier phrase in the English language? (Yes, and it’s “reality-TV-star-turned-musician.”) From Keanu “Dogstar” Reeves and Russell “30 Odd Foot of Grunts” Crowe to Jennifer Love “BareNaked” Hewitt and Gina “I toured with Girls Against Boys” Gershon, history is littered with embarrassing accidents involving beautiful people and guitars.
So what makes Jena Malone different? Well, she’s not a huge movie star yet, for one thing– you might remember her from Donnie Darko, Saved, Pride and Prejudice, or, um, Stepmom. And she doesn’t have a team of assistants, stylists, marketers, and managers controlling her every move. It’s just her, “recording and producing all of my own music with the help of whatever musician is around at the time,” as she told Pitchfork in a recent email exchange.
So far, Malone has recorded two demos, Bloodstains for Sailors and A-NEWT; EMOTIONAL NUTRITION. A pair of tracks from each demo can be heard on Malone’s MySpace page. They’re pretty out-there– bedroom electronics, spaced-out keyboards, and Malone’s spare vocals, falling somewhere in between Scout Niblett and Karen O.
And, below, is an excerpt from Container.
