Thanks once again to Mr. Brown, I once again found an album that has immediately made my entire life better. The Damned's 2018 Evil Spirits is so good it's helped keep me afloat while I suffer from mild insomnia this first week in L.A.
The Damned is a band I missed altogether when I was younger. Hell, it wasn't until sometime around 10 years ago that Mr. Brown came out to visit me, we hit Amoeba, and he picked up a three-disc set that included the first album, Damned Damned Damned, and I'm not really sure what else. This is the only Damned I knew until Sunday when, on the way to Cold Waves in Mr. Brown's car, he popped this in. I was blown away from the opening track, "Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow," all the way through to the last track, and I've listened to it almost every day since, sometimes multiple times. "Sonar Deceit" is, I believe, my favorite track, but the entire album is just so damn good, pun intended.
The thing that
Watch:
I had two nights to just kind of chill in my hotel room, despite the fact that doing so was exactly what I didn't want to happen (for a fairly heavy account of my pontifications walking the street of West L.A./Santa Monica, check out the most recent Every Day (Is Halloween) newsletter, which you can sub to HERE and comes complete with a playlist). I'm okay, though, and despite suffering from mild insomnia this last week, I'm maintaining and actually welcomed the respite. Here's what I watched while vegging in bed, NOT sleeping:
First up, Jeff Lieberman's 1977 weirdo slasher(?) Blue Sunshine. Here's the trailer:
This one is such a strange film; there's a fairly large scope to Blue Sunshine that kind of peters out at the end, but I love it nonetheless. The opening has stayed with me since the first time I watched it. Blue Sunshine is available on Blu-Ray from the fine folks at Film Centrix.
Next, I caught Mark Rosman's The House on Sorority Row on Shudder TV:
Not great, but then, it doesn't try to be. The House on Sorority Row knows exactly what it is - a film made to cash in on the early 80s Slasher craze, and in those terms, it does its job in a pretty entertaining way. There are elements of this that I really like to think were lifted from Henri-Georges Clouzot's 1966 film Diabolique, and that actually makes me like Sorority Row more than I probably should.
Finally, in anticipation of seeing Demián Rugna's new film When Evil Lurks tomorrow at Beyondfest, I rewatched his 2017 film Terrified.
Another film that sets up a larger incident than it resolves, I dig this film quite a bit but have never understood the proclamations that it's one of the scariest films of all time. Terrified definitely hits a bunch of the "scariest scenarios ever" checklist (something under the bed you're sleeping in; dead child back from the grave, malevolent spirits watching you while you sleep, etc.), but I guess because I've seen all those before, it doesn't move the fear needle. That's not a criticism because most movies don't scare me. Not because I'm tough, but, you know, it's 2023 - we've seen a lot scarier shit in the real world. Still, a great film I recommend to all.
Playlist:
T. Rex - The Slider
Fvnerals - Let the Earth Be Silent
Bell Witch - Future's Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate
Joy Division - Substance 1977-1980
The Damned - Evil Spirits
Witchskull - The Serpent Tide
Godflesh - Purge
Dio - The Last In Line
Various - Every Day (Is Halloween) Playlist #7
The Damned - Phantasmagoria
Nerver & Chat Pile - Brothers in Christ split EP
Chat Pile - God's Country
IDLES - Joy as an Act of Rebellion
Wytch Finger - The Dance EP
FFS - Eponymous
Screaming Females - Desire Pathway
Card:
I'm on the road, so all my Pulls will be from my mini Thoth deck for the next two weeks. Not a bad thing, but wanted to put up a reminder that Grimm's new Tarot Deck, The Hand of Doom Tarot, is both gorgeous and live on Kickstarter until Tuesday, October 3rd. Here's the LINK.
• Six of Swords: Science
• Five of Swords: Defeat
• Three of Disks: Work
Wow. Really easy to read this one: The changes I'm trying to inspire being back at work on-site are just not going to happen and are not worth fighting about. That actually takes a lot of stress off me.
