New Blackbraid!!!

New Blackbraid EP is out today! You can order a copy right here on their Bandcamp for Bandcamp Friday! 

Blackbraid III has become one of my all-time favorite records, and hearing this EP, I can tell that my fervor is only going to continue to mount with each subsequent release.

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After falling in love with James Gunn's Peacemaker series recently, I've actually started a "Shawn Was Wrong" segment on Drinking with Comics. DC finally has its head out of its arse. Need more proof? 

 

I cannot believe they've made Green Lantern something I am interested in! Now that's f**king magick, baby!

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Beyondfest Chicago announced the lineup and hopefully, about ten hours after this posts, I'll have tickets for a handful of screenings. 

None of the films I have my eye on are ones I know nothing about. Always the best way to see any movie. 

That said, the film Normal has one familiar variable: Bob Odenkirk. Here's a trailer:

I've been a fan of Odenkirk's since Mr. Brown made me a lifelong disciple of Mr. Show back in the 90s. It's been a joy to see his film career evolve the way it has. 

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Playlist:

Tool - Undertow

Foxy Shazam - Dark Blue Night

sunn O))) - Eponymous (pre-release singles)

Matte Black - I'm Waving, Not Drowning

Blackbraid - III

Blut Aus Nord - Ethereal Horizons

Blackbraid - Nocturnal Womb (pre-release single)

Jucifer - Lambs EP

Pixies - The Night the Zombies Came

Melvins - Houdini Live '05

Barry Adamson - Scala! OST

Fever Ray - The Lake/Wrong Flower EP

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Back on the Thoth (But you can still order Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot HERE.)

• Ace of Wands

• Ace of Disks

• I: The Magus

Notice how the numbers read 911? Weird, right? 

The two Aces are breakthroughs, so watch for gains and new creative ground (my Will tends to center on creation). The Magus is the flex that makes it happen. Magick.

So we're at this crossroads again, eh? 

Spizm - B4uDie

It's another Bandcamp Friday, and it's also the release date of Spizm's B4uDie record. I pre-ordered this a while back and posted the lead, titular single, and now that I've heard the whole thing, I strongly recommend you throw these guys some $$. Remember, artists keep ALL the money from sales on Bandcamp Friday, so what better way to support independent creators!

Here's a direct link to the Spizm Bandcamp.

 

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There are some pretty Bold Horror Statements being used in the marketing for the new film You Won't Be Alone, which makes me skeptical. However...

Yeah, after watching about a quarter of this trailer, I knew I was in and turned it off lest I learn too much. Directed by Goran Stolevski - who I am completely unfamiliar with despite the fact that his name rings a bell - I think Focus Features is banking on the "Folk Horror Explosion" with this one. That's okay. I find despite the buzz, I'm rarely disappointed by films marketed under that banner. 

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Playlist:

Mark Lanegan - Bubblegum

Converge and Chelsea Wolfe - Bloodmoon: I

Judas Priest - British Steel

Ghost - Impera (pre-release singles)

Ghost - Infestissumam

Neil Young - Greatest Hits

Greg Puciato - Lowered (single)

Greg Puciato - Child Soldier: Creator of God

Hall and Oats - Greatest Hits

Mutterlein - Orphans of the Black Sun

Jim Willaims - Possessor OST

Killing Joke - Night Time

Motley Crue - Shout at the Devil

Ministry - Filth Pig

Tom Vek - Luck

Grinderman - Eponymous

Spizm - B4uDie

The Devil's Blood - The Thousandfold Epicentre

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I'm really having trouble digging past the surface and listening to the inner voice that tells me how to write. I've kind of pushed myself into a frustration corner and can't see past it.

Sunday Bandcamp: The Dead Milkmen's Quarantine Album!

Thanks to Mr. Brown, one of the purchases I made on this most recent Bandcamp Friday was the newly released "Depends on the Horse..." album, recorded in quarantine. The records is probably the most ersatz of the Milkmen's, and feels a bit more like a B-side compilation. NOT A BAD THING. Dig the description from their site (use this link HERE. There's another Milkmen bandcamp page that keeps popping up when I enter their name): 

"Actually... this volume of songs is the soundtrack to the first 36 episodes of the weekly program "Big Questions with The Dead Milkmen" which can be seen on The Dead Milkmen's YouTube channel. The songs were inspired by and created in response to challenges the Dead Milkmen made to each other on the program. Songs 1 - 4 are from "The 4-Track Challenge" episode (September 26, 2020). Songs 5 - 9 are from the Cover Challenge episode (July 11, 2020). Songs 10 - 13 are from the Owner's Manual Challenge episode ("Read the Manual", August 15, 2020). Songs 14 - 17 are from the Genre Challenge episode (June 6, 2020). And song 18 is the theme song from the show, composed and recorded by Dean Sabatino."

What Are You Buying for Bandcamp Friday?

 

Here's one of my purchases. It's been a while since I posted anything by these folks, but they're Covers Vol. 5 is for sale on their bandcamp HERE today only and it included this little gem, which is one of my favorites from their ever-growing repertoire. You can also support Two Minutes to Late Night HERE.

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Yesterday I woke up with a splitting headache that lasted pretty much all afternoon, so I left work a wee early, had half an Inidca Pro Tab and dozed on the couch. While I flit in and out of sleep, the new, "WWII Haunted Nazi Boat" Shudder exclusive Blood Vessel played. I saw most of it, or at least to recognize its fun attempt at doing for Strigoi what Dog Soldiers is for Werewolves. I wouldn't say that I loved the flick, in fact, I'm not sure I liked all that much about it, but it's well made, if not exactly well written, and I'd definitely be interested to see what the creators do next.

After I'd woke and ridden out the last third or so of Blood Vessel, I hoped around and found a pair of Anthology shows I'd never heard of before and that were pretty good. Here's trailers, and I'll be posting a small piece on them over on TheHorrorVision.com later today.

 

 

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Playlist:

Fen - The Dead Light

The Cure - The Head on the Door

Rollins Band - The End of Silence

Maggot Heart - Mercy Machine

Hall and Oats Greatest Hits

Opeth - Deliverance

Sinioa Caves - Beyond the Black Rainbow OST

For anyone who grew up on the Southside of Chicago in the 80/90s, you undoubtedly remember the more serious of the two Classic Rock stations at that time were 97.9 The LOOP and 105.9 WCKG, 'CKG as everyone called it. I found a lot of lifetime bands that way - Zeppelin, The Stones, etc., but there were also always Classic Rock artists - often ones who had gone solo after aging out of famous bands - that had a few songs amongst their singles that really resonated without turning you into a fan of the artist. My CKG Spotify playlist is kind of an odds 'n sods of such tracks.

A couple of these songs rank among my favorite songs ever, plus, they're fun. Double nostalgia - mine and that I inherited from older folks when I was younger, whose fervor rubbed off on me.

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The Princess of Cups has the ability to make dreams come true. This is a concept I think most of us in this world have forgotten about, so it's nice to see it here now, when everything seems held hostage by one big question, and so many of my own personal 'plates' from this year are still spinning.