Pitchfork

You knew Francis Ford Coppola directed the Godfather movies, and you knew he fathered Sofia and Roman, but did you know dude has a magazine? And he's been publishing it for ten years now? Neither did we, until we found out Will Oldham put together the current issue of Coppola's Zoetrope: All-Story, available now on all the cooler newsstands.

Named for a primitive motion picture device (as is Coppola's American Zoetrope studios), Zoetrope collects writing and artwork and invites a different "artist" to compile and design each issue. Past contributors include David Bowie, Tom Waits, David Byrne, and Laurie Anderson (we suspect the link here is "musicians who act," in one manner or another), as well as Coppola's fellow directors Gus Van Sant and Wim Wenders. Hell, even Dennis Hopper took a swipe at this thing.

Will tackles the Spring 2007 edition, aka the first issue of the 11th volume of Zoetrope. His creation features new pieces of fiction from Woody Allen, Elizabeth McCracken, Rachel Cusk, and Helen Simpson, as well as some interesting graphics. It also has a photograph of a monkey on the cover that Will took. We can't decide if it's aw-shucks cute or goddamn creepy-- doesn't it look like an evil, miniature human? At least a little bit? We're fairly sure it's plotting something heinous.

As previously reported, Oldham hits us with another Bonnie "Prince" Billy single off The Letting Go, "Strange Form of Life", on March 15 via Drag City. He wrapped up a UK tour last month and lands on the European mainland next week for a long stretch of solo shows.

Check out Will's ramblin' Zoetrope introduction bit below and buy the magazine here.

"Notes on Design" by Will Oldham:

what an opportunity to offer these visions to you readers. our brains are allowed to transmogrify and delete, mutate and evolve, seed and fertilize images from inside and out of us. so then if you wander, head down, with confusion possibly ruling for a while, and then raise the face to a lit image that pops open footlockers of your mindbrain, you have made these!

it is great that our able, kyle, lori, cynthia, zoë, magnus, shary find their hands on the instruments that make this shit happen. anyway, it's a series of small victories presented here, victories over no communication, and over ugliness, and over excessive simplicity and laziness, and victories on the fields of juxtaposition and inspiration and content-filled fun as well. and hopefully it's a shot in the neck of carcinogenic evil exercised by the prime deceivers, and a shot in the arm of those who use evil for good.

these artists make their works in vermont, maine, california, indiana, england, new york (even!), utah too. and now you have them. the words will be suited . . . what's more drab than white pages with black script on newsstands full of useless beauty and hectic currency? so thanks, all-story, for letting these pictures come through with your well-chosen and labored-over stories. it's really magnificent to imagine this issue as a cocktail party at which all of the contributors, word and image, are present. add a bowl of keys and some mushroom cookies and i am there.

Oldham abroad:

03-13 Utrecht, Netherlands - Vredenburg
03-14 Frankfurt, Germany - Mousonturm
03-15 Munich, Germany - Amerika Haus
03-16 Hamburg, Germany - Fabrik
03-17 Berlin, Germany - Passionkirche
03-22 Brussels, Belgium - AB
03-23 Copenhagen, Denmark - Vega
03-31 Seville, Spain - Teatro Alameda
04-01 Castellón, Spain - Teatre Municipal de Benicassim
04-02 Huesca, Spain - Centro Cultural del Matadero
04-03 Vigo, Spain - Teatro Auditorio Centro Cultural Caixanova
04-04 Braga, Portugal - Teatro Circo
04-05 Lisbon, Portugal - Club Maxime
04-21 Vienna, Austria - Donau Festival
04-22 Düdingen, Switzerland - Bad Bonn
04-23 Basel, Switzerland - Kaserne
04-24 Milan, Italy - Transilvania
04-25 Rome, Italy - Circolo Degli Artisti
04-28 Faenza, Italy - Teatro Masini
04-29 Venice, Italy - Teatro Fondamenta Nuove