Junk F*ck

 

Thirty years ago today. I'm floored. I really wanted to pick up the new vinyl release to commemorate the anniversary, however, I cannot stand that the original track order was, at some point long ago now, changed. "Down in a Hole" originally occupied the second-to-last track on the album, preceding the equally powerful "Would?" I still have my original Compact Disc from 1993 - the one that came in the long cardboard box, as CDs used to. I think I even still have the front of that box somewhere. It hung on my closet door for many, many years.

Later versions of Dirt shifted "Down in a Hole" to track number four, placing it between "Rain When I Die" and "Sickman." I suppose if I could ever find evidence that the rearranging came at the band's behest, I might be okay with it, but there's nothing online about it, so I just continue to revere the version I know. (even if the band did do the rearranging, it would probably ultimately prove to be a case similar to the Donnie Darko director's cut; yes, I know Richard Kelley wrote that opening scene to INXS's "Never Tear Us Apart" - after reading him talk about it, you can pretty much spot right away how the flow of the images fits that song better. However, for me, it's "Killing Moon" that will always belong there and resonate best.

Back to Dirt's anniversary for a moment, Mr. Brown MADE MY DAY yesterday when he sent me a text that on the official AIC site, this has come back into print:

I'll never forget the first time I saw this. High School, Mr. Brown wore it to school. I LOVED this shirt from the moment I saw, it and, a few years later, he gave me his shirt. I have always loved the long-sleeve black band shirt make and model, and this... this was my favorite. I wore that fucker up until about ten years ago when it had become so degraded, I had to relegate it to "sleep only." When I moved from my two-story, two-bedroom townhome I rented in San Pedro to an 1100-square-foot apartment in Redondo Beach, I purged A LOT of stuff. This shirt was practically in pieces, large holes throughout the body, so sadly, I cast it into the aether. 

And now, once again thanks to Mr. Brown, I'll have a brand-spanking new one. Not gonna lie - pretty freakin' excited!

The Bullet Screamed At Me From Somewhere

 

I have Alice in Chains on my mind. Mr. Brown often clues me in on the Pitchfork Sunday Review, where every Sunday a writer looks back on an iconic album. Yesterday was Dirt - one of the most important of my "forever albums," and it made me dive back in head-first. 

I've never been much of a Pitchfork guy, but when they hit it, they really leave a mark on me. This was one of those times. 

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NCBD:

Back home (for now) in LA, so I'll be heading to the Bug to pick up this week's books, which are plentiful:

Some big events kicking off in TMNT and the X-Books, which have the second annual Hellfire Gala followed immediately by Judgment Night (which I'm still not sold on). Also, I'm not necessarily going to jump on this new Mandolorian series, but I definitely want to check out the #1.

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Playlist:

Ghost - Impera

Bria - Cuntry Covers Vol. 1

Black Sabbath - Eponymous

Sleep - Sleep's Holy Mountain

Karma to Burn - V

Black Sabbath - Never Say Die

Mars Red Sky - Eponymous

Billy Idol - The Roadside EP

Faith No More - Sol Invictus

The Jesus Lizard - Liar

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Card:

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

This gives me a teensy bit of an idea of how things are going to be as I prep for leaving LaLaLand. So far, no, things have not necessarily been the way I expected, but nothing has been a straight-up rug, so that's good. The idea in life is always to go in with loose expectations (if any at all), lest you succumb to disappointment despite a triumph.

2018: May 12th 8:07 AM

Here's a song I originally found back in the mid-00s and then lost track of. Recently, I spent a good amount of time looking for Salem's Dirt on youtube but A) although the video left a lasting impression in my head, I could not for the life of me remember the name of the track, and B) there are a lot of bands named Salem. Anyway, I get to Keller's the other day and he has a Grimes-inspired playlist on and I see Salem Redlights. This makes me think about my fruitless search and I go on a tear again, preempting our meeting just to try and find this song. And I finally find it, I think by googling some combination of the words, "Salem + Music Video + Garage". Creepy AF.

I don't know if Salem is still kicking. Back in 2006-2007, I spent a lot of time nosing around online for music. I was also reading Wire magazine rabidly, and between the two I found quite a bit of really left of center music. I'm not talking about System of a Down left of center - they're not - or even Mike Patton left of center. This was small stuff. It was also around the time I first heard the terms "Witchhouse" and "Hypnogogic Pop", which may have essentially been the same thing. Anyway, there's a lot of stuff that just kind of got swallowed with time, Salem being one of them. I stopped reading Wire after I left Borders (I'd have to drive to Amoeba to get it - need to look into reading it online), and started spending my time writing instead of snooping for music. The one site I found during the final years of that whole musical archeology thing that I stick to religiously is Heaven is an Incubator, because honestly, Tommy finds only great stuff and he finds a lot of it. Good to re-claim this now as something I can go to when I need a freaky vibe to catalyze a scene or idea.

I signed up for Tubi and finally gave Rob Zombie's The Lords of Salem another chance and, holy cow, I really liked it. The last time I think my two major problems were we were still kind of coming off his lackluster Halloween stint, and I fell asleep during my viewing. This time I was wide awake in spite of starting the movie with some yawns, but it pretty much kept me glued. And I thought Sherri Moon Zombie did a really great, somewhat nuanced job in the starring role. So that kind of puts RZ's films back in the black with me, with only his Michael Myers-as-Jason Voorhees singular one of his I hate, and the first Halloween feeling pointless and mean.

Playlist from yesterday:

Darkness Brings the Cold - House of Sin 1
Cocksure - K.K.E.P.
Cocksure - Corporate_Sting
Nachtmystium - Doomsday Derelicts
Nachtmystium - Reign of the Malicious
Darkness Brings the Cold - IX
Lustmord - The Dark Places of the Earth
Nachtmystium - Addicts: Black Meddle, Pt. 2
Burzum - Aske

Card of the day:

Watery aspect of fire - temper Will with Emotion.