Cosmo's Sugarless Long Legs

 

How about a little Creedence Clearwater Revival to start our day? Woke up insanely early - haven't managed more than five hours of sleep a night in a while - and sat on the back porch with coffee, Ivy Tholen's Tastes Like Candy 2: Sugarless (it's awesome!) and CCR's Cosmo's Factory, which is every bit as awesome an album as the cover photo is awful. But hey, it was 1970!

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Watch:

Osgood Perkin's upcoming film Long Legs is one of two flicks coming this summer that I've now seen the teasers for a few times and I can honestly say know how to do a 'teaser' right (Fede Alvarez's Alien: Romulus is the other). Check it out:

 

These teasers tell you absolutely NOTHING about the film, but 100% get me charged up to see it. I wasn't a fan of Mr. Perkins' previous two films (I tried with The Blackcoat's Daughter multiple times; it cheats!), but they are well-made films and that's on me. I'm hoping Long Legs blows me right the F away. Certainly seems like it will.

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Read:

As I mentioned above, I'm trucking along on Ivy Tholen's Tastes Like Candy 2: Sugarless and it is fantastic! 

This one starts out like a typical Slasher sequel and then abruptly takes a left-hand turn. It's not what I thought it was going to be at all. You can order a copy HERE, and it's free on Kindle Unlimited at the moment.

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Playlist:

The Devil's Blood - The Thousandfold Epicentre

Moon Wizard - Sirens

Telekinetic Yeti - Primordial 

Windhand - Eternal Return

Witch Skull - The Serpent Tide

Jim Williams - Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched OST

Bryce Miller - City Depths

Saigon Blue Rain - Oko

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Card:

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

• Ten of Swords

• XV: The Devil

• 0: The Fool

Not exactly the cards I wanted to see with what's on my mind. Ruin, lies/misperception/bad optics/a new journey. 

Ships in the Night - The Fire

I had no pre-existing idea of Ships in the Night when this popped up in my youtube feed, but upon hitting play, I was definitely hooked. It's definitely nothing new - we've been recycling the 80s for longer than that era's aesthetics lasted the first time, but it continues to provide something some of us seem to need. Making peace with the past, perhaps? Either way, I'll be checking out more of Alethea Leventhal's music on the Bandcamp right over HERE.

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NCBD:

The final issue of Duke before we switch over to follow the story in next month's Destro mini-series. I'll never be able to score this cover, but I'd like to.

Just f*cking end already. Goddamn me for my completionist leanings.

Thank god you've returned, SIKTC. Help me wash the taste of Fall of X from my mouth.

Me thinks this issue of The Six Fingers is going to be a bit gnarly. 

It's over. TMNT 150. Wow. I started reading this book in 2012 when they were three issues in and I haven't stopped. What a ride - still the best reboot of a preexisting property I've ever seen. 

Again, this last little bit of the Krakoan era is just killing me. 

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Watch:

I've been in the mood for Folk Horror again lately - seems to be a recurring taste this time of year - so I consulted my Severin Films' All the Haunts Be Ours and pulled out one of the few films in it I had not watched yet, Brunello Rondi's Il Demonio from 1963:

I feel like the B&W photography in this film is second only to that in The Third Man. A revolting, frustrating tale of a woman persecuted and exploited by her community, this one will piss you off even as it leaves you swooning over the imagery on the screen.

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Playlist:

Zeal & Ardor - Eponymous

Zeal & Ardor - Devil Is Fine

Zeal & Ardor - Stranger Fruit

Melvins - Tarantula Heart

Moon Wizard - Sirens

Moon Wizard - Ukiyo (single)

The Veils - ...And Out of the Void Came Love

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Card:

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

• Page of Swords

• Eight of Wands

• XVI: The Tower

Page or Princess of Swords is fitting: Just. Breathe. Things are a mess. Impetuousness. Overcome by the rapid communication suggested by the Eight of Wands. This leads to a paradigm shift. 

Danzig - Blood and Tears

 

I'm not going to say where I unexpectedly heard this song married to Horrific imagery recently, but man was it effective! Danzig's first four albums stand apart from everything else he's done; as much as I like some of the records that came after Chuck Biscuits, Eerie Von and John Christ left the band and Rick Rubin stopped co-producing, there's just something so perfect about the heavy blues influence on those first four. Of those, Danzig II: Lucifuge will always be my favorite. I'll never forget the first time I saw a friend's older brother wearing a Lucifuge shirt - I didn't know what it was and it kind of scared me in that 80s/early 90s way of, "What the hell is this guy into?" 

That's probably around the time the album came out in 1990 and I would have been sixteen. Before the internet, and not so far removed from all the weird fears being a small child during the Satanic Panic instilled in me for a short time. There was a certain... haunted feeling to that era. Everything from the tv news to paperback books to Inside Edition (remember that pile of sh*t?) told you there were secret societies of Satan Worshippers in every neighborhood, just waiting to sacrifice any unlucky folks they happened to target to their dark lord. I actually pine for that feeling now, but not in the way so many do by rejecting everything known in favor of their opinions, fears and fantasies, and empirical data doesn't mean anything to our society as a whole anymore. Anyway, I cracked Lucifuge out and listened to it over the weekend and it doesn't disappoint.

 

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Watch:

This trailer for the new film Pandemonium popped up in my youtube feed two days ago. I have no pre-existing knowledge of this one, or anyone involved in making it, but I'm definitely intrigued. Here's the trailer I half-watched:

Also, wanted to point out that, thanks to Warren Ellis's newsletter Orbital Operations, I've found the first watchable version of Andrej Żuławski's On the Silver Globe on youtube I've encountered. 

I've seen mention for a few years about this popping up for years, but whenever I go looking for it - an irregular occurrence for sure, but one I do periodically undertake, I find ones with awful pictures. Not this, which you can see HERE. I haven't sit down to watch this yet, but it's in the cards for the next few days. 

Thanks to Heavenisanincubator for putting this one on my radar to begin with.

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Read:

I am about a third of the way through Ivy Tholen's Tastes Like Candy 2: Sugarless and I am here to tell you, it's fantastic!

Full disclosure: We recently invited Ms. Tholen to be a guest on The Horror Vision to discuss her novels, and she not only accepted but also sent us digital advance reader copies. That's a moot point, though, because I'd been waiting for this one regardless. If you read the first, this is a great continuation. If you haven't read the first and you love Slasher Flicks, THIS is for you. 

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Playlist:

Black Sabbath - Master of Reality

Black Sabbath - Technical Ecstasy

Moon Wizard - Sires

The Veils - ...And Out of the Void Came Love

The Damned - Night of the Living Damned (Thank You, Mr. Brown!)

High on Fire - Cometh the Storm

Melvins - Tarantula Heart

Ike Reilly - Poison the Hit Parade

Mike Doughty - Live From Ken's House

Danzig - Danzig II: Lucifuge

Nikki Lane - All or Nothin'

Ministry - Hopiumforthemasses

Witchfinder - Hazy Rites

Man Man - On Oni Pond

Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Oz

Led Zeppelin - In Through the Out Door

Jimmy Buffet - Good Luck

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Card:

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

• Ace of Cups

• X: Wheel of Fortune

• III: The Empress

A bird' s-eye view of this (all I have time for at the moment) is quite soothing to a massive stress bomb that has gone off in my life. Ace of Cups is the card that anchors this to a positive interpretation, something I really needed at the moment. Emotional Breakthrough, "Karma" and Fertility, in an abbreviated three-card reading. 

Second Song Second Time Around

 

Yesterday, I began my day with some TV on the Radio. Man, I miss these guys. Technically, I don't think they ever actually broke up; however, their most recent record, Seeds, came out a decade ago now, and their hiatus has lasted just about as long. 

Mr. Brown recently pointed out that the new Chelsea Wolfe album I've been spinning so much was produced by TVOTR's Dave Sitek, so maybe that's why I've been thinking of them lately. 

Interestingly enough, Sitek also produced Scarlett Johansson's 2008 album of Tom Waits' covers, Anywhere I Lay My Head. I remember having an advance copy of that back when it came out, but I don't remember a single thing about what the record actually sounds like.

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Watch:

Kimo Stamboel's new film Dancing Village: The Curse Begins recently received a trailer. The only film I know by Stamboel is 2019's The Queen of Black Magic, but it's a f**king DOOZY to say the least. 

I watched about half of this trailer and am totally in. There's something so visceral about Stamboel's work. Some of it's the setting—the way he uses the jungle—I can almost feel the humidity and discomfort, the dirt and insects. But there's also an almost Body Horror element to some of his kills. They really leave an impression. 

The idea that this will be in selected theatres - I'd imagine I have almost no hope of seeing this in Clarksville, but then again, I've been surprised a lot lately by what's come through my town. So we'll see. 

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Playlist:

TVOTR - Nine Types of Light

TVOTR - Dead Science

TVOTR - Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes

Moon Wizard - Sirens

Deftones - Gore

Ministry - Hopiumforthemasses

Adam Kesher - Eponymous

Justin Hamline - The House With Dead Leaves

Blackbraid - Blackbraid II

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Lick My Decals Off, Baby

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Card:

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

• Three of Swords

• Six of Cups

• Queen of Pentacles

Turbulence, Pleasure and Fertility, which sounds like another way of saying from Chaos comes opportunity.

New Music From Barry Adamson!!!

 

Another advance single from Barry Adamson's upcoming Cut to Black album dropped on Monday and it is fantastic! You can pre-order the new album HERE.

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NCBD:

Light week, as I'm trimming a few titles from the Pull:

Ash Williams, you rogue! Only three issues left after this one (I think). Loving it!

At this point, this is easily my most anticipated book each month. The depth of character research and building that's going on here is awesome, and I'm actually excited to see more of the Cobra-La folks. 

Nice revisiting J.C. again. I dug the previous issue quite a bit; such old-school Vertigo flavor. 

Just riding this out. My malaise with the current X-Books doesn't have anything to do with this title, but they're all suffering from this rapid decline. Only one issue left of this series after this.

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Watch:

I only watched the first 20 seconds of this trailer for Byte, a film I had not previously heard of, but those 20 seconds sold me!

Low-budget werewolf movies don't always work, but I'm hoping this one will. 

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Playlist:

Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses

Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger

Various - Brown Acid: The Seventh Trip (1967-1976)

Chelsea Wolfe - She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She

The Jesus Lizard - Mouth Breather 45 single (Sunday You Need Love cover B-Side)

The Jesus Lizard - Puss 45 single (No B-Side)

The Jesus Lizard - Wheelchair Epidemic 45 single (Dancing Naked Ladies B-Side)

Gogol Bordello - Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike

Melvins/Lustmord - Pigs of the Roman Empire

Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments

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Card:

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

• XI: Justice 

• Knight of Swords

• XV: The Devil

Justice or Lust in the Crowley/Harris deck again! Funny, because this card was in the #3 position two posts ago, and yesterday had VII The Chariot in the #2 position. Funny because I relate these cards, and they seem to be showing a process that is reversing itself. I'm just not quite sure what that process is. Also, maybe that feels like a bit of a reach, but my edict is to prevent myself from overthinking these when I do them, and that was definitely the first thing I 'saw' in the cards.

So what else do we have there then? Knight of Swords, or the Firey aspect of Air. This suggests force of Will tempered by Intellect so as to avoid conflict. The Devil has so many attributions, many of them quite fanciful. One I always keep in mind right off the bat is materialism over spiritualism. 

So Primordial forces (which we will pragmatically interpret here as uncontrollable mental or physical attributes - anger, fear, perhaps even logic - that need to be tempered by tempered by Will and a sharp eye on motivations. 

I'm not entirely sure this works for me - that's a lie, it does - but I want to keep it close and think about it. Might be telling me some things I don't want to hear at the moment concerning work.

Blackout in the Sleeping Village

I know it's summer now, as one of the rituals that eased in last year during my first full summer in Tennessee was Black Sabbath's Eponymous debut becoming my 'first thing in the morning' listen. This is no doubt because, for as long as I've loved this record, it will always remind me of two very particular summers—one when I was a Junior in High School and one when I was a year or two out of High School.  I listen to this year-round, but since moving back to the middle of the country and the climate I grew up with Sabbath's debut has come back to an association of hanging outdoors in the green environment of the midwest's humid, sub-tropical environment. 

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Watch:

Holy cow! I completely missed that Larry Fessenden's Blackout hit VOD this past Friday! I remedied that right quick, let me tell you!

I really dug this one, but at this point, that's no surprise. I wouldn't say this is anywhere near my favorite film by Mr. Fessenden, but its ability to mix an almost regional approach with a fairly stacked cast reminded me of Harmony Korine's Gummo - although the subject matter and tone are nothing like that film. This environmentally conscious, small-town set film does some pretty interesting things with the concept of lycanthropy, in a tone that will feel familiar to those viewers who have been with Mr. Fessenden for a long time. Reminded me quite a bit of his 1991 film No Telling, a favorite of mine from the Director's oeuvre. 

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Playlist:

Black Sabbath - Eponymous

Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Barry Adamson - Cut to Black (pre-release singles)

Zen Guerilla - Positronic Raygun

Adam Egpy Mortimer - The Obelisk

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Card:

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

• II High Priestess

• VII The Chariot

• Page of Cups

Of particular interest to me this morning is the High Priestess in the starting position. This is the middle pillar of the sephirothic Tree of Life, and thus concerns concerns the descent of the Supernal into the lower, knowable realms and the ascent of the aspirant to higher plateaus. Taken with The Chariot - the origin of ideas - and the Page (Princess of Cups), which can indicate "Dreams become Reality," I would say this is a nice nod toward a path that might provide the possibility for my work to emerge into a higher (more successful) realm.

New Music from High on Fire!!!

Now that's what I'm talking about! The title track from Cometh the Storm, High on Fire's ninth studio album, out next Friday, April 19th on MNRK Heavy. Pre-order HERE.

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Watch:

I've been busy as hell with regular work stuff and with watching movies and reading comics. Sounds like a great first-world problem, eh? Let's talk about what I've watched.

First, the Soska Sisters' new film Festival of the Dead is a Tubi exclusive and is now up on the streamer, ready to watch. A sequel to George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead, this was a blast. 

The first ten minutes or so feel a bit like an NBC family morality flick, but Festival of the Dead very quickly asserts itself in the Romero tradition and does not look back. Loved some characters, loved watching others die in horrible ways, this one is fun and gory and just a good time in general. Don't let those first ten minutes fool you. 

Next, K and I caught Kiah Roache-Turner's Sting last night at the local cinema. Wow! This one is fantastic, too!

I've mentioned before that I have a bit of a spider phobia, and this one definitely plays on that. The FX are great, and the overall pace and tone here make for a great theatrical viewing. One thing I definitely noticed is there appears to be a huge chunk missing from this film (concerning the Bug Brothers, for those who've seen it), and I can only imagine the studio made the filmmaker trim a section to hit a specific run-time, and that's what came out. The film doesn't suffer for it, but it's pretty obvious. If anything, will make for a great extra feature on the eventual Blu-Ray.

There's a great interview with Sting's Creative Director about the practical FX in the film up on Bloody Disgusting HERE.

Finally, Shudder recently dropped the directorial debut by Alberto Corredor, a film titled Baghead.

Ostensibly a Talk to Me clone, this is still a pretty great first film. It's shot well, the lighting is great, and the location is an old Irish Pub that really steals the show, so it was pretty easy to enjoy this one despite any shortcomings. 

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Read:

As I type this, I'm finishing up my re-read of Chris Claremont and John Byrne's "Dark Phoenix Saga." I'm reading this in Classic X-Men, the way I bought it at a comic show at a Knight's of Colombus Hall somewhere in southern Illinois way back in... I don't really know when. Late 80s? Early 90s?

One thing I've noticed with these Classic X-Men issues is I actually prefer the cover art for a lot of these reprints to the original issues. Here are two great examples:

Above is John Byrne's original cover for Uncanny X-Men 134, while below is his cover for the reprint.

The original is good, but this second version is haunting in my opinion. There's something so chillingly cold and cosmic about Master Mind's eyes, hollowed out by an injection of Chaos by Phoenix. The fact that his slack-jawed, empty visage is so far up in the foreground and that Phoenix is more or less just an outline filled with the same cosmic imagery really ties this together, as does the cool greenish-blue color palette, which helps add a clinically void feeling to this entire tableau. This could be a poster, as far as I am concerned.

Next, the climactic chapter of the saga, Uncanny X-Men 137:

This has been a classic, iconic comics image since I began collecting in 1986, and while it is great - the massive yellow ad copy taking up the upper fifth of the page doesn't really help matters - it pails in comparison to the one on the reprint, Classic X-Men 43:

This one is a lot less dramatic of a moment than the first, so I can't quite figure out why I like it better. Again, the color palette is definitely more to my overall liking, but also, despite the fact that the original image is much more of an 'action' image, this one feels like a moment stolen from the finale of the issue. I think this is a case of the technology being better and the image simply being overall more crisp. 

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Playlist:

Turnstile - Glow On

Revolting Cocks - Beers, Steers and Queers

Chelsea Wolfe - She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She

Zen Guerilla - Positronic Raygun

Yawning Balch - Volume One

Trombone Shorty - Too True

Frankie and the Witch Fingers - Data Doom

Man Man - On Oni Pond

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Card:

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

• Ten of Cups

• Eight of Swords

• Seven of Cups

Lots of emotion in this Pull. The pinion here, I think, is the Eight of Swords, as reading center-left-right, that is the middle card. This makes sense in that I've been prone to mood swings based on a certain person in my life; Ten of Cups is emotional maturity, Seven is Victory over emotion, but Eight of Swords can be read as Interference, that there's always some of that keeping me from being victorious over my emotions nad balancing them maturely in the face of trying situations. 

Maxxxine!

 

I woke up the morning of the Eclipse with the B-Side of Soundgarden's final album Down on the Upside. Giving this one a spin always takes me back.

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Watch:

Ti West's Maxxxine finally gets a trailer! Yeah, I know I always bitch about trailers, but I am so excited for this one there was no way I wasn't watching it at least once.

I don't need any press to get me pumped for this one, as to say I've been waiting for it since that first after-credits tease at the end of Pearl's credits would be an understatement. I've been a West fan since I first saw The Roost back in 2005; I remember waiting what seemed an eternity for House of the Devil, and seeing him get a huge boost in the Horror community from that movie. That boost was nothing compared to the one he's had with this X trilogy, and I fully expect Maxxxine to further that. 

July 5th cannot come fast enough.

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NCBD:

Fairly big week and I'm pretty psyched for some of these, especially 

This issue will round out the second volume of Jeff Lemire & Gabriel H. Walta's Phantom Road. This book is getting weirder and weirder. 

The Penultimate issue of Al Ewing & Luciano Vecchio's Resurrection of Magneto. I've LOVED this one, and I'm super curious to see how it resolves, even if I most likely won't be sticking around afterward. There's such an interesting 'metaphysical' aspect to this book, and where that can often go wrong and incur a big eyeroll, Ewing always does that kind of thing correctly.

Starscream verses Soundwave? F**k yeah! 

Christopher Yost and Val Rodrigues's Unnatural Order ends its first arc with this fourth issue. Great series so far; I'm digging the blend of Pre-history and future space, Vikings and Picts and Tech. Kind of a throwback, in some ways, to a lot of 80s SciFi Fantasy comics.

Despite my initial misgivings, I really dug the first issue of What if... Carter Burke had lived. Looking forward to where this is going.

Also, I thought I'd try a new book that technically came out last week:

I don't know anything about this one, but the title grabbed me right away.

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Playlist:

Soundgarden - Down on the Upside

Bauhaus - The Sky's Gone Out

Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - Talk About the Weather

Drug Church - Hygiene

Jim Williams - Possessor OST

Thee More Shallows - More Deep Cuts

Final - Solaris

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Card:

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

Some friends drove down from Chicago this past weekend and, after hanging out for the weekend, we drove out to Paducah, KY for the Eclipse on Monday, April 8th. From that location, we experienced totality, which was crazy awesome. Totality lasted for about two minutes; during that time, I made sure to pull one card. 

Six of Swords. In the Thoth deck, this card is "Science;" it can indicate objectivity and clarity, a healthy balance of emotions and intellect. Also, this card may indicate a good time to make a decision.

In my grimoire, I also have this added, "I can see clearly now the rain is gone." I find that last bit particularly interesting, in that it's been raining all week, and literally just seems to have stopped. 

Other attributes for this card include Innovation and experimentation.

The Acid Machine !

Whoah. I'm not sure how I stumbled upon Brazilian Stoner/Doom/Desert Metal band The Acid Machine two days ago, but hot dam! These guys kick some serious ass! New album Mushrooms is out April 12th. You can listen to/support the band at their Bandcamp HERE or by clicking the widget above. 

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NCBD:

Another short week on the Pull. Not a bad thing. Here we go:

The third issue of The One Hand. I'm already hooked on this and sister title The Six Fingers; I really enjoy the world Ram V and Dan Watters have built here. 

I'm planning a re-read of Void Rivals sometime soon, so I don't have a lot to say about this one other than I'm still loving this series. That cover is classic 80s SciFi/Fantasy comics, too!

Even though I don't have a bad thing to say about Gerry Duggan's X-Men book, I'm honestly no longer enjoying seeing any X-Book come up on my list. I just can't wait for this Fall of X to be over, so it can do its next thing, and I can leave that alone.

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Watch:

From what I saw of this trailer, Cuckoo looks insane in the best possible way.

There is a moment in this that gave me some of the best chills I've had in some time. Very much looking forward. Writer/Director Tilman Singer's previous film Luz gets some great accolades, yet somehow I've yet to watch it. Gonna have to fix that soon. 

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Playlist:

The Cure - Disintegration

Miranda Sex Garden - Fairytales of Slavery

Chasms - On The Legs of Love Purified

Brown Whörnet - Stroke the Apechild

Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses (Suspended in Dusk version/Vinyl)

Zombi - Direct Inject

Iron Monkey - Spleen & Goad (pre-release singles)

Spotlights - Seance EP

Lustmord - Much Unseen Is Also Here

Rollins Band - The End of Silence

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Card:

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

• Five of Swords

• Four of Pentacles

• IV: The Emperor

Numerically speaking, this is one Five and Two Fours, which suggests Stabilization after Damage. Taking the Suites/Faces into account, that's Earthly structure kicking back in after a hit to the Intellect, and we see that structure is a direct draw from the paradigms or "rules" that govern all life. 

The news of Ed Piskor's death really messed me up for the last two days. I know it seems weird that someone I don't know personally could have that effect on me, but it did. I think part of that came from seeing how the bridge away from his ultimate choice disappeared behind him. There's no way to say whether he did what he was accused of, and now, there never will be. This entire episode sent me into a bit of existential crisis because it further proves what I am having a very difficult time acclimating into my own operating system - the Internet is just not a good thing for human beings and human society as a whole. There's seemingly no way to turn back now, but faaauuuuhhhccckkkk - we're already being ground beneath the heel of a 'Robot Overlord;' look no further than the interface before you. 

The cards are a welcome reminder to look past this modern overlay, at the fundamentals of being "human." Seek a stabilizing path forward with that. Easier said than done, but whatever. It's that or give up, which I don't think I have it in me to ever do. 

Gwar - Stalin's Organs

 

One week ago on the 23rd of March was the tenth anniversary of Dave Brockie's death. A decade. That's nearly a third of how old 1995's Ragnarok is. I wanted to do something to commemorate Oderus Urungus's exile from our slovenly realm, but I was in the middle of Man Man week, and posting this past week has been tenuous at best. Anyway, we miss you, Oderus. Earth hasn't been salaminized since you went away, and I'm sure a lot of the folks who read this page would agree that we could really use it right about now.

 

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Watch:

I was on the fence about this one, but seeing a post by Beyondfest earlier today, I bought tickets for tomorrow afternoon:

 

I think I have a phobia of Catholic Horror - weird because I wasn't raised Catholic, although I did attend the odd service as a kid. But there's just something icky about all the pageantry and regalia. This is getting a lot of word of mouth, and a lot of that is making Sydney Sweeney look like a philanthropist for getting a film that has apparently been languishing unmade for over twenty years. I have no idea who she is, but I'm definitely intrigued. Perfect weekend, too. 

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DwC:

Mike Shinabargar and I started a new show! Drinking with Comics Presents: DRUNK on ENERGON!

Once again, I had a lot of fun with this one. I'm absolutely in love with Kirkman's take on these properties, and it gives me great joy to sit around and discuss them with my oldest friend from the Realm of  Comic Shops!

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Playlist:

Grand Ducy - Petite Fours

Brand New - Daisy

Zombi - Direct Inject

Rollins Band - End of Silence

Money Mark - Mark's Keyboard Repair

Ministry - Houses of the Molé

Suicide - Eponymous

Miranda Sex Garden - Carnival of Souls

NIN - The Fragile

Fantomas - Suspended Animation

Gwar - Ragnarok

Metallica - Hardwired... To Self Destruct

Oranssi Pazuzu - Muukalainen Puhuu

Justin Hamline - The House With Dead Leaves

Allegaeon - Iridescent (single)

Allegaeon - Apoptosis

Various - Satan's Proto Discoteque (mix CD circa 2000)

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE. Also, Grimm recently launched a Kickstarter for his new deck, The FaeBound Tarot, which you can marvel at and acquire HERE.

• Page of Swords

• Kind of Swords

• Two of Swords

This makes PERFECT sense. I have felt like fighting EVERYONE for the last few days, and I'm not entirely sure why. 

New Music From Arab Strap!

 As usual, huge thanks to Mr. Brown for sending me this, as I've had me 'ead in me arse for the last couple days, and did not see this drop. We're getting awfully close to that new album I'm totally fine with it 👍don't give a f*** anymore 👍 dropping May 10th on Rock Action Records. Pre-order link right HERE. 

Glad to have these guys back for another record; I mean, Aidan and Malcolm went into hiatus while W. was in office, so I kind of thought they might leave the fuckin' planet with what's currently happening. 

This has to be just about my favorite music video since some of the old Liars stuff. 

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Watch:

I had an Ivan Kavanagh double-feature last night. I started with his 2021 film Son:

And then moved on to 2014's The Canal:

I'd seen both of these films previously, but I was happy to go back and revisit them. Both are fantastic; unflinching would definitely be a word I'd use to describe Kavanagh's style. There's a visceral slap to Kavanagh's vision - it sounds a lot like the sound of wet flesh against brick. It's almost mean, but that interpretation is undercut by the lengths to which this filmmaker goes to show the fragile humanity of his protagonists. We see this with Rupert Evans' David in The Canal, and we see it perfected with Andi Matichak's Laura/Anna in Son. There are moments in Son that nearly bring me to tears and the visceral gore that follows later in the film kind of bounces off those soft, quieter moments. Mr. Kavanagh doesn't come across as wanting the terrible acts we witness on screen to befall his characters; instead, it feels as though he's trying to guide them out of the fire to safety.

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Playlist:

Rollins Band - The End of Silence

Run-DMC - Raising Hell

Slayer - Show No Mercy

Beck - The Information

Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me OST

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE. Also, Grimm recently launched a Kickstarter for his new deck, The FaeBound Tarot, which you can marvel at and acquire HERE.

• Ace of Swords

• XX: Judgement

• Knight of Swords

A breakthrough of Intellect - something I feel like I can totally use but is definitely eluding me while I wallow in some unwelcome self-doubt - leads to a rebirth of energy synthesized from the balance of Will and Creativity.

Man Man Week

 

Bringing Man Man week to a close with a live quarantine rendition of the second track off 2020's Dream Hunting in the Valley of the In-Between. So cool to see this done live in this way; reminds me a lot of the Low Cut Connie quarantine sessions. 

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NCBD:

Once again, another Wednesday, another New Comic Book Day! Short stack this week, but three books I'm excited for. 

Loving this series, and after Cobra Commander #3 last week, I am really wondering where Zartan is going to show up. My money is on this book - I have a definite idea who he may be impersonating. Chances are good, though, that we may not know until considerably further down the line. Either way, I'm super psyched to read this one.

Newburn Series Finale! Can't wait to go back and re-read it in a tight burst. I've really enjoyed Zdarksy and Phillips' street-level story, and while I'm sorry to see it go, there's always something satisfying about a finite series. 

The cover promises a lot, but somehow, I'm just afraid of more gobbledegook. We'll see.

We oscillate back to the villain of the story. I'm really digging The Six Fingers and The One Hand. I wish Image had advertised this better because I know a lot of folks who would have dug these two interconnected miniseries but had no idea they existed. 

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Watch:

After a failed attempt on Monday, K and I made it out to the theatre for Rose Glass's new film Love Lies Bleeding.

 

What an absolutely original film. The closest thing I can think to compare it to is No Country For Old Men, but even that falls shy. Watching this film, I kept thinking, "How does one come up with a story like this?" All the disparate elements - Love, bodybuilding, murder, gun running, cops on the take... it's just fucking glorious.

Also, second movie I've seen in the last six or so months that uses Throbbing Gristle's "Hamburger Lady". VERY effective!

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Playlist:

Zombi - Direct Inject

Underworld - Lovely Broken Thing

Underworld - I'm a Big Sister, and I'm a Girl, and I'm a Princess and this is My Horse

Various - Mix CD circa 2007

Fela Kuti - Opposite People

Fela Kuti - Sorrow, Tears and Blood

David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars Motion Picture Soundtrack

Man Man - Six Demon Bag

Various - Satan's Discoteque Sweet and Salty (Mix CD circa 2008)

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Man Man Week: The Fog or China

From their 2004 debut, The Man in the Blue Turban With a Face, we have yet another example of how versatile this group is. I love the elements they draw from Tin Pan Alley and 50s Doo Wop, fusing them with something all their own.

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Watch:

Paul Duane's All You Need is Death proved to be one of the highlights of this past year's Beyondfest lineup, and now it's finally being released worldwide. I can vouch for this trailer - it does not give away the movie. 

 

Having seen the film, I can tell you to try your best to see it on the big screen. Duane's approach to Horror thrives on an almost subconscious, microcosmic level while also employing some really big, frightening images. This combination works so well on the big screen, with a professional theatre audio system, especially in regard to Ian Lynch's score, which I can only hope someone releases on vinyl.

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Read:

I've been pretty scattered lately and have not been very successful in reading. I'm chipping along at Malcolm Devlin's Then I Woke Up, which is excellent, but my attention's compass is wonky, pulled from due North by all manner of interfering metals. That said, I recently picked up the missing issues of two early 00s comic series I've been dying to dive into.

First, Mike Baron and Mike Norton's The Night Club, which I'd been missing the final issue of since I picked up the series back in 2005:

Next, from right around the same time, Keith Griffen's Tag.

I'm using the image of the Deluxe Edition Boom! eventually published, however, I was interested in the original issues, as I had two of the three. There was a subsequent series, Tag: Cursed, that I haven't read, but the first two issues of this first one always stayed with me. Ostensibly a zombie story, Tag is a pretty interesting take on what was even a bloated subgenre back in 2005, only two years after The Walking Dead comic started, the same year George Romero returned for a fourth time to his original continuity with Land of the Dead. Tag presupposes an infection you can pass by tagging another person. The pull quote on the top of issue two says it all:

Very much looking forward to reading both of these once I get my head on straight again. 

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Playlist:

All Hell - The Howl (single)

Oranssi Pazuzu - Muukalainen Puhuu

Waste of Space Orchestra - Syntheosis

The Jesus and Mary Chain - Glasgow Eyes

Man Man - The Man in the Blue Turban

Lustmord - Much Unseen Is Also Here

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE. Also, Grimm recently launched a Kickstarter for his new deck, The FaeBound Tarot, which you can marvel at and acquire HERE.

One card today, because I haven't touched the deck in a while and wanted a generalized, "this is the 48 year of your life" kind of reading.

I went with the lighting I'm working in at the moment, too. It felt appropriate. Knowledge above salvation. Sounds great.

Man Man Week - Harpoon Fever (Queequeg's Playhouse)

 

From 2008's Rabbit Habits. THIS is the song that sold me to just how odd this band is. I mean, the boneyard percussion and vaudvillian creep-outs are one thing, but juxtaposed with the bizarre digital freak-out near the end of this song, well, it's old, it's new. It's unlike anything else (accept maybe a shared DNA with Mr. Bungle's "Desert Search for Techno Allah").

 

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Watch:

I caught the trailer for In A Violent Nature about a month ago at the theatre when I went to see Stopmotion, and it completely threw me at first. I seriously thought for a minute that the long-standing F13 legal battles had silently resolved and someone made a new film for the franchise in secret. Not the case, but that's probably a good thing. 

Writer/Director Chris Nash's feature film debut looks Brutal!  Total Video Nasty DNA. Hitting theatres May 31st, I will definitely be putting my arse in a seat at my local to watch this. 

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Playlist:

Zombi - Direct Inject

Zombi - 2020

Goatsnake - Black Age Blues

Anthrax - Among the Living

United Future Organization - 3rd Perspective

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE. Also, Grimm recently launched a Kickstarter for his new deck, The FaeBound Tarot, which you can marvel at and acquire HERE.

• Six of Pentacles 

• XX: Judgement

• Wheel of Fortune 

Earthly plateau - things are right where I want them in some respects, but XX shows it will be a balancing act to keep them there. The Wheel confirms this, but suggests it won't be quite as difficult as I think it will be.