Tuesday, May 27, 2025

The World Is So Good That Who Made It Doesn't Live Here


I finally had a chance to sit down and watch my copy of last year's Criterion Collection Gummo. Still one of the ugliest yet also most beautiful films I've seen, and the upgrade was just in time. I believe my previous viewing was somewhere circa 2019, at L.A.'s Egyptian Theatre, when Beyondfest brought Writer/Director Harmony Korine in to discuss the film afterward. I wrote about that experience HERE. My old DVD copy was just not going to cut it any longer.

One of Gummo's many joyful characteristics is its soundtrack, and while it led me to several fantastic artists in the early days of my infatuation with the film - I first saw it somewhere around 1999, I think - Mystifier is a band I'd previously not explored. 

Hailing from Brazil, these guys have a pretty interesting history. The song "Give the Human Devil His Due" comes from their 1996 album The World Is So Good That Who Made It Doesn't Live Here. How's that for a title, eh? The entire record is good, but so far this track is still the highlight (although that's very likely due to my identifying it with one of my favorite films).




Watch:

A Butthole Surfers documentary???? Yes: The Hole Truth and Nothing Butt began select screenings in April!


Director Tom Stern has apparently been documenting the band since 1986, so this should be chock full O' historical moments that help cement this band's ironically insane tenure. I'm not sure where to see it at the moment, but I've subscribed to the film's YouTube channel, so hopefully, there will be some news soon. In the meantime, you can read more about the film on its official website HERE.




Read:

Finally began tapping into the Weird Walk collection released last year:


This is a beautiful hardback book that compiles essays from the 'zine I've talked about here before. The authors cite everything from Jacques Derrida's writings on Hauntology to Julian Cope's The Modern Antiquarian as they set about discussing pre-history, deep time and their theory that to save the future, we must look back at the past. 

This won't be a 'straight-through' read for me. More likely, I will do an essay or two a week while I read other things on a daily basis.

You can check out more from Weird Walk on their website HERE.




Playlist:

Pelican - Flickering Resonance
Rollins Band - The End of Silence
Rollins Band - Human (The End of Silence 1991 Demo)
TAD - Inhaler
White Lung - Paradise
Helmet - Meantime
The Ocean - Heliocentric
Young Widows - Old Wounds
Various - Learn to Relax: A Tribute to Jehu
Kamasi Washington - Lazarus OST
King Khan & The Shrines - What Is?!
Federale - No Justice
Idles - Joy As An Act of Rebellion
Anthrax - Among the Living
Mystifier - The World Is So Good That Who Made It Doesn't Live Here
David Bowie - Black Star
Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments
Jóhann Jóhannsson - Mandy OST




Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.


• Five of Pentacles
• Queen of Swords
• Page of Swords

Intellect over Earthly concerns, or perhaps this is better interpreted as Intellect to hone Earthly concerns.

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