It's November, and one of the films that came in the new All the Haunts Be Ours, Vol. 2 Box Set is Rainer Sarnet's 2017 November. This one enchanted the hell out of me a few years ago when I caught it on Shudder TV, so I thought, "Hey, it's November; why not?"
I will now watch this film every November.
Gorgeous beyond words, this is the best example of modern authentic Folk Horror I can think of. Of Folk Traditions, the palimpsest of the old world rubbing against the new and the friction - of the "Horror" that causes. Beautifully executed and more than a little comical at times without breaking the tone, primarily because this one has such a strong, unique vision guiding it. I'm definitely interested in seeing what else Sarnet does.
Playlist:
Antibalas - Where the Gods Are in Peace
Fela Kuti - Opposite People
Fela Kuti - Sorrow Tears & Blood EP
Pearl Jam - Vs.
John Carpenter - Lost Themes IV: Noir
The Devil's Blood - The Thousandfold Epicentre
Neon Nightmare - Faded Dream
Dreamkid - All Thriller, No Filler
Dreamkid - Daggers
The Cure - Songs of a Lost World
Drug Church - Prude
Spoon - They Want My Soul
PJ Harvey - Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea
Man, 2024 will be the toughest year to whittle out a Top Ten list since I started doing Top Ten lists. There are quite a few albums that feel like my favorite of the year, and the new Drug Church is the chief among them. Never mind that I love Patrick Kindlon as a comic writer; I like him even more as the singer of this awesome f@cking band!
Pick up the record or some merch from Pure Noise Records HERE.
Watch:
My copy of Severin Film's All the Haunts Be Ours, Volume 2, arrived late last week, and Saturday night I sat down and chose a first offering to watch from it. If you haven't seen the 'track listing,' it's too verbose for me to reiterate here, so follow THIS LINK.
Anyway, I chose Don Sharp's 1973's Psychomania. This was on Shudder for what felt like forever a few years ago, and while I think I caught some of it on a late-night Shudder TV jag, it made no impression other than the film looked like the era of its origin. Flash Forward to last night and the first thing I noticed upon hitting 'Play' was the pristine remastering Severin performed on this one. This comes as no surprise - the inaugural edition of All the Haunts Be Ours showed how serious Severin's approach is to applying their staunch approach to film preservation in the hallowed halls of Folk Horror. So, restoration-wise, picture and sound, this presentation of Psychomania is a pure pleasure to behold. That said, how's the film? Solid. There's a Hammer affectation here without all the trappings that come with Hammer Horror, which I am generally only a fan of for about a month every four to five years.*
My favorite part of this film, though? The opening credit sequence. I watched it three times before moving on to the rest of the film. It's spooky and gorgeous, and the wah guitar-driven score is perfect for capturing the mood and era of the film. Here it is below, albeit culled from YouTube, not Severin's pristine version.
Courtesy of The Other Side of Music's YouTube channel, wdzr. Check out the channel HERE or the blog HERE or HERE. A very interesting little corner of the web for Audio explorers.
* I appreciate what they do; it's just not my jam.
Playlist:
Cocteau Twins - Garlands
The Cure - Songs Of A Lost World
Dr. John - Gris Gris
Matt Cameron - Gory Scorch Cretins
Soundgarden - Superunknown
Soundgarden - Down on the Upside
Michael Jackson - Thriller (single; video)
Goblin - Fearless (37513 Zombie Ave)
Replicas - Gary Numan + Tubeway Army
Roxy Music - Eponymous
Drug Church - Prude
The Hives - Veni Vidi Vicious
The Kills - Midnight Boom
Chelsea Wolfe - She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out
Better Lovers - Highly Irresponsible
Turnstile - GLOW ON
Baroness - Stone
Card:
Today's card for study is the 7 of Disks, Failure:
My only entry in the Grimoire is a sparse and foreboding, "A difficult period in material life," so let's see what Mr. Crowley has to say, shall we?
In opening the Book of Thoth, I'm reminded how little time is spent on the "pip" cards*. Here's the entire entry on the card:
"The number Seven, Netzach, has its customary enfeebling effect, and this is
made worse by the influence of Saturn in Taurus. The disks are arranged in the
shape of the geomantic figure Rubeus, the most ugly and menacing of the
Sixteen. (See Five of Cups.) The atmosphere of the card is that of Blight. On
the background, which represents vegetation and cultivation, everything is
spoiled. The four colours of Netzach appear, but they are blotched with angry
indigo and reddish orange. The disks themselves are the leaden disks of Saturn.
They suggest bad money."
The general sentiment here is to keep your wits about you; something today could go wrong.
