If you've been reading these pages long enough, you probably know that David Lucarelli is the author of both The Children's Vampire Hunting Brigade and Tinseltown comic series. He's also a friend. A jack of all trades, David recently brought back his band Dame Fortune with a brand new track, and after listening to it oh, maybe a dozen times the other day, I have to say, it's got a shit ton of swagger, awesome lyrics, and the kind of 1987, Sunset-strip bravado that catapulted a lot of hard rock bands to instant stardom back in the days of my youth. It's usually hard to reach me with that kind of sound, but call me crazy, Am I a Warrior rocks, and it's exactly what I needed to hear right now.
Read
I picked up one new comic that was not on my list until I saw it on the shelves yesterday and I have to say, I have not spent $5.99 in a comic shop in quite some time that has brought me so much joy. What book is it I speak of?
This is a big, floppy, glossy volume of absolute joy that takes me back to how much I loved comics as a kid. The first (of three) stories inside is from the old Mirage TMNT, now colorized by Tom Smith's Scorpion Studios (new to me, but I love the name and they did a fantastic job). It tells the tale of Raphael's first encounter with Casey Jones. This is old school, and glorious because of it, and it set the stage for a fabulous reading experience, juxtaposed with two newer, IDW-era Raph stories (both also featuring Casey). Well worth a look.
Playlist:
Electric Wizard - Let Us Prey
Deftones - Ohms
Deftones - Diamond Eyes
Kensonlovers - Keep Rolling
Blood Incantation - Hidden History of the Human Race
Mannequin Pussy - Patience
Bob Mould - Blue Hearts
Card:
I don't feel nearly as grounded as drawing a three would suggest, however, per the Grimoire, "denotes upon appearance a situation to know yourself, what you want, and throw your self doubt away."
First album in something like five years drops on Warp Records, January 31st. Before that, however, and advance 12" titled Vortrack drops. Pre-order HERE.
**
After a slow start, Tasmyn Muir's Gideon the Ninth has me hooked. With only a little over the one hundred pages left, the story is developing into a spooky hybrid of Fantasy and Horror, although not in any way we normally associate with either genre. Sure, there's world-building, and some of that is what got in my way at the start, and I will confess I'm having trouble keeping track of who is who (although in the course of this particular story's The Old Dark House-style whodunnit? that doesn't trip up the story itself, just elements of comprehension).
Gideon the Ninth is apparently the first book in the three-book The Locked Tomb series, with the next book, Harrow the Ninth, up for pre-order on Amazon HERE.
**
Playlist:
David Bowie - Black Star
Belbury Poly - Mind How You Go
Burial - Untrue
Ennio Morricone - Black Belly of the Tarantula
**
Card:
Not going to comment on this at the moment, but I will if what I'm thinking pans out.
I had completely forgotten there was a new album from Le Butcherettes that dropped in February! Only a couple listens in, I prefer the back half of the album to the A side, but overall bi/MENTAL is a stand-out piece of music.
New Music from Grimes, but not Grimes? The music is not grabbing me the way anything on Visions or Art Angels did, but the song isn't really the point. Double click on the embed here and listen to the track on Grimes' official youtube channel. While you're listening, read the summary. It's fascinating. Apparently this is not from the forthcoming Grimes album, but from a musical she is working on. This character is named "Dark." Grimes has a really interesting creative thought process, which is why many of us like her so much. Can't wait to see what comes next. But yeah, I really want that next Grimes album...
Playlist from 3/13:
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Blood Lust
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Wasteland
Second Still - Eponymous
Deafheaven - New Bermuda
Card of the day:
Creative Drive (Binah, the Mother); striving toward a goal. Yep.
The video for Ghost's Dance Macabre dropped almost a month ago and, for the first time, I didn't immediately post it here. Truth is, I didn't even watch Dance Macabre until this morning. Why?
Prequelle was released on June first, and at the time I spent maybe two weeks rotating it through my playlist before I abandoned it. So this is also the first time a Ghost record dropped and didn't take up months of my sonic real estate. I like Prequelle, I think it's a great pop rock album, but for my own personal tastes, it's a bit of a step in a direction I'm less interested in actually listening to than observing.
What the hell does that mean?
Ever since I heard Ghost's cover of Imperiet's Bible, the closing track on 2016's EP Popestar, my theory has been Ghost is moving toward becoming mass appeal entertainment, rather than simply being 'a rock band'. My money is on the band - or rather Papa/Cardinal's - next phase being a high-level musical. And I've felt since the first go-through on Prequelle that as an album, it is a step in that exact direction. And that's awesome. To reach that level and still be singing about Satan makes me very happy. That said, musically there are a lot of other groups that do for me what Ghost used to. Prequelle doesn't have a Year Zero or Circe, i.e. a track that hits me hard, and instead eschews that for an infinitely more pop/polished sound. Which is also fine, for the most part. But Dance Macabre? For my money, the worst lyrics I've heard in a while. Definitely the worst on a Ghost album.
Ghost's first record, Opus Eponymous, is, lyrically speaking, full of metal tropes, so that record is also not my favorite. But Infestissumam and Meliora have extremely strong lyrics, and those are the records that made me a rabid fan of the band. So to go from Year Zero's, "Crestfallen kings and queens cavorting in their faith," to, Dance Macabre's "I just want to bewitch you in the moon light/Want to bewitch you all night," hurts my heart a little. That one element of that one song seriously affected my entire relationship with Prequelle, and sadly I haven't listened to the record since the month it came out.
Then...
Last night, thanks to my friend and fellow Horror Vision co-host Anthony, I had the pleasure of seeing Ghost live again. As I suspected, seeing a lot of this new material, even Dance Macabre, endeared it to me a little more. This morning then, I finally surrendered to a new-found curiosity and fired up the video. And what do you know? I found the video to be an awesome visual accompaniment - nay enhancement - for the song, and beyond that, a fantastic entry to the band's mythos. Because that's what Ghost is building - and by that I mean the man behind it, who I still would rather remain nameless even if his identity has been revealed at this point - a mythos. And that's what I think the imminent musical will be about: their Heaven and Hell, Black Magick mythos.
Enough Ghost, let's talk comics.
Still feeling poorly. This isn't flu, but it does seem to have the tenacity of a flu bug. Attending an arena concert last night probably wasn't a great idea, but those tickets were purchased months ago and the sickness came on fast, so I didn't want to leave my friend high and dry. Also, it was good to get out of the house for a few hours. Today will consist of more convalescing, so that means I'll be finishing Robert Payne Cabeen's Cold Cuts (so good), and then delving into a few comics. I mean to keep on with a few issues for my Chris Claremont's Uncanny X-Men re-read, and then pick up with issue #2 of Menton3's insanity conundrum, Monocyte.
I've had this one since it came out, four issues from IDW back in 2012, I've never been able to successfully read this series. Monocyte requires so much set-up and backstory that the actual story kind of gets lost. I tried with an issue or two back as they were being released and then bagged-and-boarded it, waiting for a day when I might feel up to the task of trying again.
That day has apparently come. I read issue #1 a week or so ago and, although I still feel the book is a bit too stout for its own good, I enjoyed it. The art is ridiculous, as all Menton3's stuff is.
Playlist from 11/16:
Chelsea Wolf - Hiss Spun
Chasm - Divine Illusion
Various Artists - The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
Card of the day:
'
There's an obvious pattern of late with all these orange cards, so let's talk about what this color might have to tell me about these recent draws.
Orange is an amalgam of yellow and red, yellow representing Air and red Fire. So that's intellect and anger, or strength/drive if we're inclined to interpret it in a non-hostile way, which I am. Add to this the Three, which corresponds to Binah, or the Great Mother and Understanding. I'm tempted then, to interpret these deluge of Orange in my pulls this week as a cue to use my brain to better understand where I'm going with this novel, and have the strength to re-wire the things I already know still need re-wiring. Which isn't much, but it's a touch daunting.
A lot of Besnard Lakes lately. There's a certain, "Midwest Basement 90s" vibe that I need to tap into for my next big project, code-named HSL, and it requires that tone. So I'm dipping my toes in the sound of Great Lakes Rock, piecing together a short story that utilizes the same tone and generally trying to re-connect with the inner, seventeen-year-old me.
Weird.
Playlist from Monday, 6/25"
The Besnard Lakes Vol. 1
Lebanon-Hanover - Let Them Be Alien
Ice Age - Beyondless
Svvamp - 2
Ministry - Dark Side of the Spoon
NIN - Bad Witch
Faith No More - Angel Dust
Fantomas - Delirium Cordia
Flying Lotus - Los Angeles
Card for today:
From the Grimoire: "How True are you to your inner aspirations and Will? Denotes upon appearance a situation to know yourself, what you want, and throw your self doubt and fear away." I find that rather lovely. Also, as we're now apparently counting up through the Wands suit, coming on the back of Dominion yesterday, I feel as though this is more affirmation for my goals, which I continue to pursue rabidly.
