New Music From Peter Murphy!

 

I haven't ever really kept up with Peter Murphy's solo career, just dabbled here and there. This, however, may remedy that. Love this track. Out May 9th on Metropolis Records; there doesn't appear to be a pre-order link for Silver Shade yet, but check out the Metropolis site HERE.

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Watch:

I had a bit of a New Wave French Extreme binge over the weekend. Starting with my first rewatch of Maury and Bustillo's Inside:

Next up, Fabrice Du Walz's 2004 Calvaire, or The Incident, which the good folks at Yellow Veil cleaned up the transfer on and re-released last year via their partnership with Vinegary Syndrome.

 

I love both of these films intensely. Inside is one of my favorite Gore Flicks ever, and Calvaire is just so... patient. Finally, finished it off by ordering a copy of High Tension on Blu-Ray (had no idea it was out of print, and despite my many issues with the film, it's a seminal, import work AND boasts a fabulous score by one of my favorite composers, the late François-Eudes Chanfrault) and my second ever viewing of Pascal Laugier's Martyrs.

Man, NOT for the faint of heart. This film only proves to be something I can recommend to others based on the final moments of the film, even though it is an excellent film that very much has something to say. Everything that comes before the end is masterfully accomplished, but it's... a lot. 

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Playlist:

Witchfinder - Hazy Rites

Witchfinder - Forgotten Mansion

Melvins - Tarantula Heart

Sunn O))) - Domkirke

Nothing - Guilty of Everything

Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments

Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest

Dreamkid - Eponymous

Michael Kiwanuka - Small Changes

Michael Kiwanuka - KIWANUKA

Vaguess - Bodhi Collection

Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower

Calexico - More Cowboys In Sweden (Live)

Me and That Man - New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol. 1

Oranssi Pazuzu - Muuntautuja

Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love

Childish Gambino - Because the Internet

Outkast - The Love Below

Calderum - Mystical Fortress of Iberian Lands 

YERÛŠELEM - The Sublime

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Bright New Disease Renders Martyrs Livid

 

Boris and Uniform? Holy F*ck - talk about a shot in the arm first thing in the morning! From the forthcoming album Bright New Disease, out June 16th on the always stellar Sacred Bones Records. Pre-order HERE.

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NCBD:

A short and sweet NCBD this week. Here are my picks:

And we are back to our regular 616, Krakoa timeline. Thank You! I started re-reading Immortal X-Men from the beginning yesterday just to prepare.

My suspicion is I won't be reading Sons of X beyond the first issue,  I'm curious about the overall transition back into the regular, Krakoa continuity from the Sins of Sinister timeline. I will say that I reread Sins of Sinister: Dominion a few days ago and had a slightly better experience with it, and I'm curious how Mother Righteous's role might develop in the reinstated timeline.

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Watch:

Looks like Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury's hard-to-find 2011 Masterpiece Livid is now on Shudder: 

 

I picked a region-free disc of this one up sometime in the last year or two and was completely blown away. There's such a Fairytale quality to this film - visually, Vivid reminds me a lot of the music from long-defunct band Miranda Sex Garden. Gossamer-thin realities that come across more like a fable out of time than a modern movie, except that's there too. 

 

Also, Livid isn't the only renowned but difficult-to-find Masterpiece that popped up on Shudder. It's not often that I dig a movie like Martyrs, but despite its unparalleled cruelty, Pascal Laugier's opus more than earns its place in the "must watch at least once column." Just be prepared - it's not easy.

When I watched Martyrs, it was back when Netflix still 'rented' movies through the mail. I wasn't certain what I was in for, but the film had come feverishly recommended to me by my good friend and Horror Vision Co-host Tori. I smoked up, sat down in the middle of the day, and for the first 45 minutes, felt like I was watching a movie that, well, before long, I realized I was not watching. Maybe that's a convoluted way of saying that from the onset, Martyrs seemed as though it was going to be the first great 'Haunting' film I'd seen in some time. Then something happens to a character and I suddenly had the prescience to see where the film was headed. I remember that feeling because my stomach literally dropped*. From there, my resolve was tested, until in the final moments of the film, Laugier blew my mind.

*****

*Incidentally, Laugier's 2018 Incident in a Ghost Land includes a moment that had a very similar effect on me. 

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Playlist:

Mastodon - One More 'Round the Sun

Beach House - Become EP

James - La Petite Mort

The Sword - Warp Riders

Slayer - Decade of Aggression

King Woman - Doubt EP

Windhand - Eponymous

 

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Card:

Since I utilized both my Thoth and Bound Tarot decks for yesterday's Pull, I specifically wanted to go to Missi's Raven Deck for today's Pull.

Buckle down. 

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2018: December 24th

Continuing to hang out in the 80s music of my childhood, I've added a Talking Heads binge to my Police one (still listening to Synchronicity on an almost daily basis).

In 2008 Pascal Laugier ripped my soul open with his film Martyrs. The one film of the 'torture porn' generation to transcend the genre, Martyrs - the original, French version - is a milestone in horror cinema that made me feel something no other film has. Four years later his follow-up, The Tall Man, played like an ABC, movie of the week and left me flabbergasted that the same man had made it. Now, six years later, Mr. Laugier has once again made a film that affected me so deeply, I am still thinking about it four days after viewing it. I'm not posting a trailer here because I watched Incident in a Ghostland with no knowledge what it was about and think you should do the same - I sampled the trailer a few minutes ago and it gives WAAAAY too much away. Just watch it blind; it's $3.99 to rent on Prime right now and is very much worth the money. But do me a favor: watch it alone, in the dark, and if you smoke, maybe have a hit or two beforehand. And then, well, prepare yourself.

Another film I watched recently is The Witch in The Window, streaming on Shudder and nested in their "Best of 2018" category. Very good film; it has a moment that chilled me to the marrow. Very understated horror, with the main focus on a splintered family. This trailer I have vetted and have no qualms posting because it does what a trailer should do - gives you a feel without spoiling anything about the film.



Playlist from 12/23:

Tool - Undertow
The Police - Synchronicity
Talking Heads - Sand in the Vaseline (disc 2)
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black

Card of the day:

Macrocosmic emotional event? Perhaps a commentary on my re-finding my Christmas spirit last year and it really filling me with an all-pervading joy this year during the season?