2019: April 29th: New Music from Rammstein

I've never really kept up with Rammstein, but I would definitely consider myself a fan. Ever since David Lynch introduced the German metal icons to popular culture in Lost Highway I've had an on again off again fascination/appreciation of their sound. That said, the only album I own is 2005's Rosenrot, which I adore, but which never prompted me to purchase any others. Because, I think, Rammstein is a little bit like ACDC to me; one album is really all I need. That said, the keyboard that kicks in at 0:34 on Radio essentially guaranteed I'd get excited for their new eponymous album, which can be pre-ordered HERE, and has a release date of May 17th.

Interestingly enough, Radio bled directly into another track the band released at the end of March. I like Deutschland even more than the previous, and holy smokes - the video! If you read these pages on a regular basis, you know I'm not much of a music video fan - I'll post them for songs, but end up never actually watching many of them. These two Rammstein videos though, wow! Talk about production value!



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Jonathan Grimm and I trekked out to Hollyweird yesterday afternoon to catch Avengers: Endgame. Those who know me, know my relationship with the Marvel movies has been complicated. I began an enormous fan, but somewhere around Civil War I checked out, due primarily to fatigue, but also a host of other, slightly convoluted problems. My main issue began to take root following an interview with American Beauty screenwriter Alan Ball on the Bret Easton Ellis podcast, where Mr. Ball talked about how, in the studio system today (and this was at least four years ago), a movie like American Beauty would never be made at the level it was almost twenty years ago. I have long considered Mr. Ball's breakout opus to be one of the finest examples of filmmaking in decades, and the idea that a film of that calibre would be made on a considerably smaller scale to make room for more comic book movies terrifies me. I feel like, soon, there won't be any major movies that aren't comic book or pre-branded films (remember when this was only a concern for genre flicks? When there was still a corridor for studios to invest major funds on what we now collectively refer to as 'Prestige' films?)

Anyway, soapbox digression aside, I freakin' LOVED Endgame. Infinity War was a begrudging watch a few months ago on Netflix, just to make myself ready for this one, and I didn't love it. Maybe War suffered from home viewing - every time you pause it you see where you are in the egregious run time - but Endgame felt like such a better movie! And I had that feeling I did watching Age of Ultron four years ago, namely that I wasn't watching a movie so much as a comic book brought to life. I didn't know if I would dig Endgame or not, I was just rabid to know how this thirteen-year first phase ends, and let me tell you, it ends magnificently. I wept several times; not Logan sized tears, but sentimental, gooseflesh, 'This is my childhood right flashing before my eyes' tears, and it felt wonderful.

Now, I can't wait to see what they do next. And maybe I'll check out a few of those Marvel flicks I've passed over, starting with Spiderman: Homecoming, which Grimm considers his favorite Marvel movie.

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Playlists have been all over the place with Grimm in, but here's a smattering of the last two or three days:

Type O Negative - Origin of the Feces
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Wasteland
Zeal & Ardor - Stranger Fruit
Blackwater Holylight - Eponymous
John Carpenter & Alan Howarth - Prince of Darkness OST
Richard Einhorn - Shockwaves OST
Turning Teeth - Jesus & The Brides of Dracula (single)

Card of the day:

Okay, I pulled this card two days ago as well, but in spite of previously ascribing it value enough to log here, I skipped it an re-pulled. Getting this again today though, I'm going to log it and maybe spend some time reading randomly about the OTO. I'm not about to join, but it's been a while since I immersed myself in their lore, and maybe there's something there that can help one of my current projects.

2018: June 20th

I've been listening to the Lost Highway OST a lot again lately - it's never far from my ears - and I realized I don't think I've ever posted this track here blog before. Apple of Sodom, as well as Manson's cover of I Put A Spell On You, were the tracks that made me a fan of his. Previous to that, I actually disliked him quite a bit. The problem was, in the mid-90s when he first got huge, depending on what interview you caught with Manson, he might come off like a complete tool. Those were the interviews I saw initially, including one at Woodstock '94, which was right around the time Jeffrey Dahmer was killed in prison. During an interview with Empty-V, Riki Rachtman asked Manson if he felt sadness at Dahmer's passing and Manson went on some asinine diatribe about how a he felt a little piece of him had indeed died with the imprisoned serial killer. Now of course, I realize that Manson was probably fucking with the moronic VJ, while at the same time playing up the stupid image much of his fanbase at the time ascribed to him (the guy singing about worshipping no one but yourself liked to fuck with those who worshipped him). Whatever the motivation, as an early encounter with his persona, I rejected it. It wasn't until the Lost Highway OST that Manson's music music begin to seduce me, and dovetailing with that, a friend lent me his Autobiography, which fully revealed just how smart this guy was. Finally, a rebuttal Manson penned in Rolling Stone magazine post-Columbine, after being blamed as a catalyst for the event, was so well written and thought provoking, I plunged headfirst into his music. I really can only lay the 'genius' tag on two MM records - Antichrist Superstar and Mechanical Animals, but the man is an icon and a really good motivator for self empowerment if you listen to the lyrics. A couple of years ago I recall finding a lot of strength in Superstar while my life was imploding around me and the person I had trusted the most repeatedly stabbed me in the back. I remember her commenting on me listening to Superstar a lot at the time, as if she felt threatened by it. She was right to feel threatened - it helped me stay afloat in one of the most tumultuous times of my life.

Playlist from 6/19:

Danzig 1
Belong - Common Era
Nothing - Zero Day (single)
Nothing - Downward Years to Come
Christopher Young - Hellraiser OST
Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar
Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
Various Artists - Lost Highway OST

Barry Adamson - If You Love Her

If you're not familiar with Barry Adamson, former bass player for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Nick Cave and the Cave Men, Magazine and for a short time the Buzzcockss, and you dig any measure of the stuff I toss out on this page, go get 1996's Oedipus Schmoedipus. An anthological record that features Adamson's jazz/noir musicality and style plus a number of great guests (Carla Bozulich, Nick Cave, Jarvis Cocker to name a few). If you're a David Lynch fan you'll recognize track number two on the record, it had a pretty memorable moment in Lost Highway. Mr. Adamson's soundtrack to Carol Morley's 'Dreams of a Life" which will be aired in the UK tonight, Feb 7th. Said ST can be purchased here on iTunes.



All of the man's albums are fantastic, especially my favorite, 1998's As Above So Below. Atticus Ross assisted with some of the programming and produced it and Flood's on hand for a couple of tracks as well. It's fantastic; a dark, jazzy descent into a noisy, ionic hell where the kiss of an angel waits mockingly just out of reach. Overdoing it? I don't think so. You don't know Barry.



Adamson's earliest records (Moss Side Tory, Soul Murder) are fascinating because they are soundtracks - complete with dialogue snippets - to movies that never existed outside Mr. Adamson's mind. The genius displayed therein put him on Trent Reznor's map back in the early 90's. Reznor used a few of Adamson's tracks and the influence of his MO to put together the Natural Born Killer's ST and then a few years later of course the aforementioned Lost Highway. Two years ago Adamson - a "Cinematic Soul" by his own admission, wrote, directed and released his first film - a 'novella' entitled The Therapist. The film is a heavily-influenced first film but it is good, strong in tone, and it points to even better things to come from this man whose work I love so much. A friend and I saw him live last year in an intimate show at LA's Hotel Bar. Just Barry, minimal accompaniment. It was awesome.