Nox Novacula

 

From the upcoming album Feed the Fire, out August 2nd on Artoffact Records. 

I'd never heard Nox Novacula before, but I'm digging both this song and the video. You can pre-order from the band's Bandcamp HERE.

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Watch:

Friday night, I finally saw Kathryn Bigelow's first film, 1981's The Loveless. 

Willem Dafoe's debut performance and you can pretty much see that he's going to be a force to be reckoned with. I LOVED this film and have to wonder if it wasn't also an influence on David Lynch, which kind of blows me away, as I'd always thought of Kathryn Bigelow's most important work coming after Lynch's, but this would definitely rearrange that. 

Also, hot damn is this a great soundtrack. Robert Gordon - who plays Davis in the film - lays down a Rockabilly extravaganza the likes of which I'd not heard before. There's stuff here that bridges the greaser/beatnik aesthetic, which kind of runs together socially a bit during the 50s before counterculture became driven by capitalism. 

Can't recommend this one enough, and it's currently included with prime. Would make a fabulous double feature with either Paris, Texas or, as I chose to do Friday night, Lynch's Wild At Heart. 

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Read:

I finally got around to reading Dan Watters and Lamar Mathurin's four-issue Cowboy Bebop series, which Titan Books published a few years ago. 

Really fun stuff. I'm sure I've talked about this here before, but even though I don't go in for very much animation, the original Cowboy Bebop cartoon is one of my favorite things of all time. Also - and this was a total surprise at the time - I really liked the live-action Netflix show this series is based on. Watters really captures the spirit of both shows, and Mathurin just nails the perfect blend of how the characters look in the cartoon and how they look played by actors. The story revolves around - what else - a heist and a bounty, but snakes into some serious Grant Morrison territory just enough to have made this feel unique but still very much in the spirit of the show that does indeed transcend the genre.

You can order a trade of this direct from Titan Books HERE.

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Playlist:

Tim Hecker - Infinity Pool OST

Mars Red Sky - Eponymous

Brainiac - Predator Nominate

Genghis Tron - Dream Weapon

Blut Aus Nord - The Mystical Beast of Rebellion

The Atlas Moth - Coma Noir

Eagulls - Eponymous

Megadeth - So Far, So Good... So What?

Jawbox - For Your Own Special Sweetheart

Justin Hamline - The House With Dead Leaves

Zeal & Ardor - Wake of a Nation E.P.

Death Valley Girls - Under the Spell of Joy

Forhist - Eponymous

Fen - Dustwalker

Donny McCaslin - Beyond Now

Suicidal Tendencies - Controlled By Hatred/Feel Like Shit... Déjá-vu

Deafheaven - Sunbather

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Card:

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

• XVII: The Star

• Eight of Pentacles

• IX: The Hermit

XVII is a much needed reminder - "Create unto and within yourself a Universe, shaped of your strengths and built on your accomplishments as foundation."

Eight of Pentacles - Earthly transformation, and IX is the concentration needed to achieve it. In other words, finish the book!!!

Poor Things - Your Arse is on Fire

 

Looks like Mr. Bungle encored with "My Ass is on Fire" two nights ago in Pomona, CA. I don't have tickets for any of these shows (obviously; my best chance of seeing Bungle now is if they add a Chicago date), but I'm psyched to hear they pulled this one out of the toy box. I got to see them play it on the Disco Volante tour at the Chicago Metro back in, gasp, 1995! By the time they came around for the two California tours, they had a new, 'remixed' version I didn't particularly care for. Still, good to see them pulling out something from the first album, and hopefully the new lineup might be working up to a few more surprises down the road.

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Watch:

I have, to date, only seen one film by Yorgos Lanthimos, and that's Killing of a Sacred Deer. That film blew me away, and I really need to get on seeing the others. In the meantime, while I've been sitting on my hands as a potential fan, Mr. Lanthimos has constructed a new film:

 

Frankenstein? Well, obviously to some degree, but I'd wager there's a lot more going on here. Interesting to see the fantastic imagery here; almost reminds me of an LSD-laced version of Wes Anderson. 

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Read:

After seeing a friend post about it on social media, I went ahead and grabbed the first issue of Dan Watters and Sebastián Cabrol's The Seasons Have Teeth. Here's the photo my friend posted that convinced me:

Yeah, that's all I needed, too. The logline here is what if the Seasons manifested as beasts. This right here is Spring, and it's where we start our story, through the lens of a news photographer whose grief has him ready to risk his life to get the pictures that will show the world the Seasons' faces.

Dan Watters has really floored me over the last few years. Between Homesick Pilots and The Picture of Everything Else - which finally finishes with the release of issues 4 and 5 nxt month - I've now seen his name on an upcoming Marvel title or two. Let's celebrate his success by hoping he has enough time to continue to make these wonderful Creator-owned books, too.

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Playlist:

QOTSA - Emotion Sickness (pre-release single)

QOTSA - Villains

QOTSA - Era Vulgaris

The Hives - Tyrannosaurus Hives

White Lung - Paradise

White Lung - Premonition

White Lung - It's the Evil

White Lung - Full Performance KEXP

Slayer - Decade of Aggression

Trombone Shorty - Too True

Blanck Mass - In Ferneaux

           

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Bound Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

I feel like I see the Seven of Swords a lot lately. Taken here with the Ten of Cups and The Moon, I'd say there's something hidden or obscured that's preventing me from achieving victory in regard to a monetary issue. 

 

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