A month or two back, one of my guys at work turned me onto Molchat Doma, a Belarusian post-punk band from Minsk, formed in 2017, whose newest album Monument, was released this year on Sacred Bones Records. Probably because of introducing them into my youtube algorithm, yesterday afternoon I stumbled across a thumbnail for a post titled "1 Hour of Melancholic SovietWave" (HERE). Sovietwave? I immediately clicked on this, and the track I've posted above was the lead-in track, which in turn sent me looking for more by this band, Воскресная площадка, which so far I have been unable to find a translation for. In listening, so far, I'm fascinated, so I intend to explore this a bit more over the coming days (and nights; this music is perfect for after the sun sets).
Watch:
Friday night I finally got around to watching Edward Norton's Adaptation of Jonathan Lethem's novel Motherless Brooklyn. Wow. Fantastic film.
It's been at least ten years since I read Mr. Lethem's novel, and being that I finished my re-read of William Sloane's To Walk the Night yesterday, I moved directly into round two with Brooklyn. In cases like this, where I've read the book but not in a while, I'm never sure if I should watch the film first or re-read the book first, so once again, I'm just going to play it by ear. Either way, both are fantastic.
Of special note, the music for Mr. Norton's adaptation was done by Composer Daniel Pemberton, with contributions from Wynton Marsalis and Thom York, to name a few (although, as always, I feel like Mr. Yorke's voice is somewhat of an unwelcome sonic element in film scoring and composition, as it is so distinct and unmusical, it usually takes me out of the story immediately).
Playlist:
Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou - May Our Chambers Be Full
Oliver Nelson - The Blues and the Abstract Truth
Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come
Ella Fiztgerald - The Best of Ella Fitzgerald Vol. II
I became esctatic yesterday after stumbling across the trailer for a big-screen adaptation of possibly my favorite novel by Jonathan Lethem. I read Motherless Brooklyn about ten years ago, and I absolutely loved it. In fact, I recently ear-marked several of Lethem's books to read/re-read, simply because it's been some time since I revisited his work; I think the last time I picked up Amnesia Moon at the always delightful Dark Carnival Bookstore in Berkley in the spring of 2012. I blew through that one in about a day and a half, and that's pretty standard for Lethem's work, which I've been interested in since his completely insane re-boot of Marvel Comics' Omega the Unknown back in 2007. Also of note is the fact that Lethem took David Foster Wallace's place as a Literary Professor at Pomona College after Wallace's death.
What a delightful surprise this adaptation is. Can't wait to re-read the book now.
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Day four of my Dead Milkmen Appreciation Week and I'm finally getting around to representing my favorite album, the band's 1985 debut Big Lizard in My Backyard. And what better way to represent the album than with the title track, which is both endearing and hysterical.
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New episode of The Horror Vision went up yesterday. In it, we discuss Ready or Not, revisiting Rob Zombie's Halloween, 1972 oddity Grave of the Vampire, Michael O'Shea's The Transfiguration, and a whole lot more. Also, as our featured flick, we watch and give an immediate reaction to Scott Schirmer's Found.
Check it out:
Etta James - Etta James (Third Album)
Joy Division - Closer
Deafheaven - New Bermuda
FMLYBND - Letting Go (single)
Ghost Bath - Moonlover
Kevin Morby - Singing Saw
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Today's spread:
When I pulled these, I had a very specific question in mind: I'm caught in a loop on a story that should have been finished weeks ago. It's repeatedly pulled me away from Ciazarn and really been nothing but a pain in the ass. What's more, although I love the core concept, it insists on going to places I'm not particularly comfortable with. So my question was, do I ditch it and start anew? Well, a path is laid one stone at a time (The Fool), and Victory (6 of Wands) often comes at the hands of Instinct (Knight of Disks). I'll give it one more day, as yesterday's writing session was largely instinctual, as I chopped massive sections out of the story in an attempt to stream-line it around an idea I had late Saturday night. One day, then it's back into the piles for it.
