New Music From High On Fire!!!

 

The first harbinger for High on Fire's upcoming album Cometh the Storm has landed, and as one would expect, it's the sonic equivalent of having Matt Pike kick you in the skull! The album is out April 19th, pre-order HERE.

This is the first High on Fire album in six years and I'm pretty damn excited. I've followed these guys since Man's Ruin (RIP) released The Art of Self Defense in 2000, and I'd grown rather used to looking to a new album every 2-3 years*, so I'm more than ready for a new full-length. 

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* Granted, Pike Vs. the Automaton came out two years ago, so it's not like I've been going through a total detox. 

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Watch:

I feel like I've been waiting on a release announcement for Larry Fessenden's Blackout for a year now, so imagine my surprise and excitement this morning when I found that a trailer had dropped!

Despite my recent aversion to trailers (they ruin movies), I did allow myself to watch this one. Probably mostly because I doubt I'll see this in the cinema before any movies, so I'll be able to control only seeing it the onc time. And, as with all of Fessenden's films, my anticipation for this one is already sky-high already! Some of what I'm reading shows this getting a slightly wider-than-usual theatrical release, so I'm crossing my fingers we get it here in Clarksville or, at the very least, in Chicago. I'd totally drive seven hours to see a Larry Fessenden film on the big screen.

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Playlist:

Jim Williams - Possessor OST

Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch - Censor OST

High on Fire - Burning Down (single)

Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou - May Our Chambers Be Full

Mannequin Pussy - I Got Heaven (pre-release singles)

Justin Hamline - The House With Dead Leaves

Various - Return of the Living Dead Soundtrack

Idles - Tangk

Idles - Joy As An Act of Rebellion

Zeal & Ardor - Eponymous

Yawning Balch - Volume One & Two

The Police - Synchronicity

Dean Hurley - Tales From the Library of the Occult Present: Flower

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Card:

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

• Five of Swords

• IX: The Hermit

• Two of Pentacles

Five of Swords is a tricky place to start. There's an interpretation that Fives cast a Pall over other cards in the reading, as they can be seen as indicating conflict or struggle. Struggle is not necessarily a bad thing, though. So we're starting at a struggle, and moving into The Hermit, which usually bespeaks re-grouping or gestation. Finally, the Two of Pentacles can suggest both collaboration and opposition. Now, it would be tempting to take that "Pall" of the Five of Swords (especially because it's Swords) and read this entire Pull as negative or conflictory, however, from the Grimoire:

"Two's - Chokmah on the Sepheritoic Tree of Life - actually represents the number one, as they are the first physical manifestation of the elements, still harmonious and untainted by anything material. I'd look at this, then, as a forthcoming struggle of intellect that will require a period of deliberation (gestation) and a new idea/approach, untainted by previous lust of result.

That's a considerably more in-depth interpretation than I've done in a while. Not sure if I'm just looking for a cheerier answer than "conflict!" or if the motivation to go below a surface reading is stronger today. Either way, this applies pretty directly to what I'm currently working on, so I'll take it. 

*The only Sephiroth/Trump higher being Kether, which is, in Grant Morrison speak, the intangible "White Hot Room."

Jim Williams - Possessor

I can feel a viewing of Brandon Cronenberg's Possessor on the horizon. I've become quite entranced by the score, which I'd always enjoyed in the context of the film but hadn't completely warmed to as a stand-alone listen. That ended yesterday, when I played the album - and this track in particular - over several times. 

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NCBD:

It's New Comic Book Day! Here are my picks:

The final issue. I still haven't been able to physically acquire issue three, although Mike Shin has a copy for me at Amazing Fantasy in Frankfort. Since I never subbed Syzmon Kurdanski's Blood Commandment at Rick's, it's a toss-up whether or not I actually bring issue four home today. If not, I'll call Mike. 

Not going to lie; I cannot wait to read this issue just based on the cover alone. Something about the image of Lorna Dane in her father's armor just feels like, yeah, something I've always wanted but never put into words or even coherent thought.

James Tynion IV and Josh Hixon's The Deviant continues to spiral deeper into a psycho-social mystery that, although we already know who (or what) the killer is, carries a 

I still can't believe we're three issues from the end. Damn. Looking around online, I've yet to see any concrete information as far as whether the new Jason Aaron series will continue the continuity built up over 150 glorious issues of this series or if it will just restart everything. Hoping for the former, afraid for the latter. 

The cover says it all. I never thought I'd see Optimus Prime wearing Megatron's Canon arm, but then, between everything we've seen in the pages of Daniel Warren Johnson's Transformers and Joshua Williamson's Cobra Commander, I guess I should now just be prepared for a lot of surprises when it comes to these two long-time properties.

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Watch:

I showed K Destroy All Neighbors yesterday. She loved it. So did I; totally holds up upon second viewing.

 

The vocoder hostage negotiation scene is one of the funniest things I've seen in recent years. Directed by Josh Forbes and written by Charles A. Pieper, along with Jared Logan and Mike Benner, this one really arrived at the right time for me. Horror-comedy is a favorite when it's done right, and this does it exactly right. There are so many '90s Oddball vibes in here. Then, of course, factor in Gabriel Bartalos, and you have a straight-up win all around. The prosthetics on Alex Winter are INSANE, and he does an outstanding job acting through them. In fact, there's a fantastic article in the latest Fangoria about this that really peeled back the curtain on some of the production (though not too much to eclipse the overall film). 

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Playlist:

Jim Williams - Possessor OST

Blut Aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta II: A Dialogue with the Stars

Genghis Tron - Dream Weapon

Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou - May Our Chambers Be Full

Dream Division - Beyond the Mirror's Image

Tears for the Dying - Memories

Justin Hamline - The House with Dead Leaves

Psychetect - Extremism

Morphine - The Night

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Card:

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

• 0: The Fool

• Eight of Cups

• XIII: Death

A journey starts and almost immediately fails and ends. Rapid prototyping? I have to think about this one for a bit, as depending on how I choose to interpret it, this may be advice on opting out of a project I was planning on releasing soon. I don't feel like said project 'failed,' although I did think it would be done by now. That said, I took a huge jump forward with it, then relaxed because, honestly, I have really lost the thread with Writing since December. I just didn't get very much done in January while I was in L.A., and it's only yesterday that I began actively carving out a workspace for it. 

Tears for the Dying - Lost Girls

I found Tears for the Dying last night watching Alice Maio Mackay's Bad Girl Boogey, which just hit Shudder. This track grabbed me the moment it began to play onscreen, and it was just with quite a gusto I made my way over to Apple Music and downloaded the entire album, which I have yet to play, but am looking forward to this morning.

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Watch:

As stated above, I threw on Alice Maio Mackay's Bad Girl Boogey last night and was instantly blown away. This film has such a DIY feel, but also, it feels so much like a Video Nasty from back in the 80s. 

The opening setup and kills, which take place over the course of many "Halloweens" and involve different groups of people are brutal and stem from a creepy, blue-collar Occult underground that just works for me in so many ways.

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Playlist:

Stereophonics - Just Enough Education to Perform

The Veils - ... And Out of the Void

Cake - Fashion Nugget

Cake - Motorcade of Generosity

Bohren & der Club of Gore - Sunset Mission

Jim Williams - Possessor OST

Fever Ray - Radical Romantics

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Card:

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

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• 0: The Fool

• VIII: Strength

• Seven of Cups

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The journey here is one of Strength, or rekindling it. Victory is assured, or at least likely, but the first steps have to be taken. I'm afraid this pain in my knees is not going to go away; that would suck. I feel an apathy toward myself has crept in around the edges of my life; I'm so focused on the things I focus on (the elements of the world that tend to populate these pages), that it's difficult to muster the reserves to focus on myself. Because, of course, "something always comes along to save the Simpson children." Only, that's not true, is it? Just because I'm sitting here typing, healthy now, doesn't mean I will be in a year, a month or even a day. 

New Music From Beth Gibbons!!!

 

Holy smokes - new music from Beth Gibbons! Interesting synchronicity, as I cracked out Henryk Gorecki: Symphony No. 3 Symphony Of Sorrowful Songs for the first time in a while. Gibbons' voice is legendary, and I'm into pretty much anything she does, so the fact that this new solo album, Lives Outgrown, drops on May 17th on Domino Records is very good news indeed. Pre-order HERE.

Man, this sounds a lot like something that could have fit into Portishead's Third. Love that!!!

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Watch:

I want to watch this trailer for Late Night With the Devil SO F*&KING BAD. Not going to do it, though.

Opening in theatres on March 22nd, this is one that, if my local Regal doesn't get it, I will travel for. I've really grown to love David Dastmalchian - his performance in The Last Voyage of the Demeter blew me away, as I did not even realize it was him until well after the movie ended - and I've just generally become a fan of everything he does. His comic Count Crowley - about a TV Horror Host - makes me incredibly happy (what I've read of it, that is), and his brief appearance in Rob Savage's The Boogeyman ranked as possibly the best performance in a movie full of them. Couple all that with the little bit I know about Late Night with the Devil's concept (not much), and I'm practically frothing at the mouth for this one. No reason then, to let possible oversaturation of the trailer ruin anything for me.

 

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Read:

I am happy to report I was totally blown away by the first issue of Simon Spurrier, Aaron Campbell and Jordie Bellaire's new Hellblazer series, John Constantine Hellblazer: Dead in America.

Full disclosure: I haven't read the previous two volumes of Spurrier's Hellblazer. In fact, I haven't really read any new John Constantine material since, well, long before the original Vertigo series ended. I've picked up a few number ones since the title was brought back under the "Sandman Universe" umbrella - the new sub-heading for DC's Black Label that basically indicates, "Former Vertigo Glory Days Title," because I definitely think Constantine - while I LOVE the character - is really only done a disservice by an ongoing title. So I'm reading Dead in America based on that idea, that I haven't checked in on a solely JC-focused title in years and am about due for a fix. This proved perfect because it incorporates Dream of the Endless in a story setup that takes us all the way back to John's encounter with the previous iteration of Dream in the very first Sandman storyline. Very cool way to bring things back around and give it a nostalgic twist that felt more story-driven than story-derivative. 

This looks to be a four-issue series, and I'll be sticking around for the duration, so you'll definitely hear more about this one. 

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Playlist:

Genghis Tron - Dream Weapon

Genghis Tron - Board Up the House

Various Artists - Learn to Relax: A Tribute to Jehu

Alice Donut - Dry Humping the Cash Cow

Witchfinder - Forgotten Mansion

Beth Gibbons - Henryk Gorecki: Symphony No. 3 Symphony Of Sorrowful Songs

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Card:

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

• King of Wands

• Ace of Swords

•XVIII - The Moon

The King (or Prince in Thoth) of Wands is the Airy aspect of Fire - Drive and motivation. The Ace of Swords (what my mind keeps seeing as the Ace of Spades this morning) is a Breakthrough. Enlightenment. seeing Clearly or the intellect as a bridge to the unconscious mind. The Moon is something occulted, i.e. what am I not seeing. All of this is commentary on the last 12 hours and money situations, not bad, just seeing things clearly (which I don't always do in regards to the cheddar).

Justin Hamline - A Veil For Three Sisters

Justin Hamline is a guy I know only through his Instagram profile and some interactions through that platform; a like-minded Horror/Synth/Punk fan, I no longer remember how I came across him, but we have similar interests and ended up following one another for a couple years before I realized he was also a pretty freakin' awesome musician. Apparently, he took a break for a while but came back recently and has been releasing material left and right. Next up for Justin is the soundtrack to a Giallo that only exists in his head - The House With Dead Leaves! This is the kind of project I love, a la Barry Adamson's first albums; not just music but the story that goes with it in the artist's mind. I'm really digging this stuff - here's the full track:

Really digging this and can't wait to hear the finished product. The House With Dead Leaves drops next Friday, and I have a feeling I'll be incorporating an edible and a nice block of time to just sit in front of my big-ass stereo speakers and take the journey Justin has mapped out for us. 

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Watch:

There are two new Horror flicks coming to theatres this week, and I'm going to try and see them both!* Here's the trailer to Alan Cumming's Out of Darkness:

 

As usual, I watched about five seconds of this - just enough to see the set-up that the film takes place in 43, 000 BC, and I stopped it. That's enough to make me interested, and from here I'd just rather go in blind.

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Read:

As I mentioned in this week's NCBD segment, I picked up the first issue of the new Ram V/Laurence Campbell Futuristic Neo Noir The One Hand yesterday purely on a lark. 

After reading it, I am super excited for this book. But not only this book, because there is a second, complimentary series by Dan Watters and Sumit Kumar coming on February 21st! 

The Six Fingers takes place in the same Blade Runner-esque Future metropolis, Neo Novna, and based on the title and what I know after reading issue one of The One Hand doesn't just tie in but possibly completes the story in the first book. 

Image is just killing it right now. There's an article Image has up on their website HERE that talks about this a little more in-depth. 

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Playlist:

QOTSA - In Times New Roman

Raspberry Bulbs - Before the Age of Mirrors

Justin Hamline - A Veil for the Three Sisters (Un velo per tre sorelle) (single)

Windhand - Eternal Return

Donny Benét - The Don

Amigo the Devil - Your Until the War is Over (pre-release singles)

Mannequin Pussy - I Got Heaven (pre-release singles)

Mannequin Pussy - Patience

Mannequin Pussy - Romantic

T. Rex - The Slider

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Card:

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

• King of Swords

• VIII: Strength

• IV: The Emperor

Man, I see a lot of that Tony Iommi King of Swords in this deck! Does that make Iommi my spirit animal?

I'll tell you right off the bat, what I see here on a very surface, "what do the illustrations tell me" way two things I've been thinking a lot about. Two things that used to be a big part of my life but no longer really are: Guitar and Magick. I've been feeling a tug back to picking up an instrument, but I have several unfinished writing projects at the moment (one very close to completion and release, one a few months out). This is the struggle - stay focused. So, while it would definitely be more in my current inclination to read this one as telling me to go ahead and follow that tug, I'm actually going to look at it a different way - have the strength to recognize that the King of Swords - in Thoth the Prince - is a card that, by Crowley's own interpretation, indicates lots of good ideas but an unstable purpose. That's why I'm seeing this so much! Finish the interpretation off with The Emperor's nod toward linear thinking, and I see that this is in no small voice telling me to figure my shit out, commit and finish. 

Amigo the Devil - Once Upon a Time at Texaco (Pt. 1)

 

New music from Amigo the Devil's forthcoming album Yours Until the War is Over, out February 23rd on Liars Club Records. Pre-order HERE. 

Interestingly enough, there is no "Pt. 2" on the album. Hahaha. Leave 'em in suspense, eh? Brilliant.

 

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NCBD:

Short week, which is great when you consider that I haven't yet read everything from my four-week pull I picked up last week.

Really digging this Bloodrik series by Andrew Krahnke. Sad to see it go after only three issues. I know issue one sold out and had a second print run. Hopefully, that bodes well for a continuation (or anything from Mr. Krahnke) down the road.

Good lord - I feel as though it's been months since the first issue of Count Crowley: Mediocre Monster Hunter hit the stands. And in all that time, I still haven't completed my run of the second Crowley series or acquired the first. Series Writer/Creator David Dastmalchian is a heck of a busy guy, what's my excuse? (I guess my excuse is I'm a pretty busy guy, too).

New, three-issue crime comic from Ram V and Laurence Campbell. Crime Noir that might have a SciFi bent to it. I'm not really sure, but then again, I love going in blind. 

Great thing about picking up four weeks of comics last week, is it shortens the wait between issues! I just read X-Men 30 and loved it, so here we go again. Now with more Nimrod!

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Watch:

Rose Glass's Saint Maud was one of the movies that suffered the most from the jilted release schedule COVID caused, and although I did eventually get to see it - well after what should have been its theatrical release - the entire time I sat in front of my television I just kept thinking how much better the film would have been served by a big-screen viewing. 

I get the same "Cinematic" vibes from this trailer for Glass's new film, the upcoming Love Lies Bleeding. I know they released a new trailer this morning, however, I'm not watching that. I only really saw this one because it played before something I saw in the theatre recently. Good news is it really only solidified my goal of seeing this in the theatre:

The vibe I get from everything I know about Love Lies Bleeding so far reminds me a bit of the Cohen Brothers' Blood Simple. I'm not entirely sure why I say that, but there's a grime here that harkens back to that fabled debut. Whether that's entirely shy of the mark or not, I'm really looking forward to this one, which hits theatres on March 8th.

 

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Playlist:

Genghis Tron - Board Up the House

Melvins - Working the Ditch (single)

Melvins - Gluey Porch Treatment

Turnstile - Glow On

Turnstile - Nonstop Feeling

Pixies - Trompe le Monde

Pixies - Indie Cindy

Genghis Tron - Dream Weapon

Witchfinder - Hazy Rites

Yerusalem - The Sublime

Assembly Line People Program - Eponymous EP

Justin Hamline - A Veil for the Three Sisters (Un velo per tre sorelle) (single)

QOTSA - In Times New Roman

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Card:

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

• Eight of Cups

• Queen of Wands

• Three of Pentacles

In the Crowley/Harris Thoth Deck, the Eight of Cups is "Indolence," and can carry with it a connotation of low or lacking energy/vitality. This is a "Change," and reading these cards here as such, the transition to the Queen of Wands - The Watery Aspect of Fire, I draw on the "tame thyself" interpretation I'd long ago written in the Grimoire. Finally, Three of Pentacles suggests balance. Taken together, all of this suggests something of a crossroads. One of the things I'd hoped my month-long work trip would catalyze is a total change to my at-home protocols. I need to get over having to drive out to a coffee shop after work to write. I can easily use some of the built-in downtime of my WFH scenario to make incremental progress on any number of projects.

Butthole Surfers Week Day 3:

 

I had to pause Butthole Surfers Week for traveling back home to Tennessee, but now that I'm here, let's get right back to the madness. Did you know the original name these guys had was The Inalienable Right to Eat Fred Astaire's Asshole? You probably did, however, it makes me happy just to type that here.

 

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Watch:

I had the chance to re-watch two movies last week that share a love of color and intention. 

This was a bit of a distracted viewing; I stumbled across Mandy playing on Shudder.TV and let it roll while I edited last week's episode of The Horror Vision Presents: Murderboard - A True Detective Night Country Discussion, pausing from my duties to soak up key moments. At this point, Panos Cosmatos' sophomore feature is so much a part of me that I've become holographically entwined with it. That is to say, I can watch a little and it contains the entire film.

Ryan Gosling's only Writer/Director feature to date, every time I watch Lost River, my love of the film and its characters deepens. Missi and I did an Elements of Horror on this one, listen to it HERE.

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Playlist:

Ready for the World - Oh Sheila (12" single)

Robbie Dupree - Steal Away (single)

Nabihah Iqbal - Dreamer

Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest

Boards of Canada - Geogaddi

Boards of Canada - In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country EP

Frankie and the Witch Fingers - Data Doom

The Bronx - (II)

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Card:

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

• Five of Pentacles

• Queen of Cups

• Eight of Pentacles

Mark Says Alright

Guess what? In honor of the recent announcement that Matador Records is re-releasing Butthole Surfers' catalog on remastered vinyl, it's Butthole Surfer's Week!!!

Taken from their 1986 album Rembrandt Pussyhorse, "Mark Says Alright" is the first song I remember hearing from Butthole Surfers' back catalog. A few years earlier while still in High School, 1993's Independent Worm Saloon briefly put the Surfer's on Empty-V's radar with the single/video release of "Who Was in My Room Last Night," which was cool despite in no way preparing me for the absolute madness of their early albums. I remember hearing this track on a cassette Mr. Brown brought around to our practice spot above my Parents' garage, a strange little gem that factored into many mind-altered evenings after we finished working on the set list and early demo for Wink Lombardi and the Constellations.

You can order the newly remastered Rembrandt Pussyhorse, along with 1985's Psychic... Powerless... Another Man's Sac and the live PCPPEP 12" directly from Matador HERE. There's even a bundle, which I won't be needing as I already have both Rembrandt and Psychic on vinyl. Can't wait for the re-release of Locust Abortion Technician, though! 

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Watch:

We finally have a trailer for Harmony Korine's new film AGGRO DR1FT, the one that is shot entirely in infrared.

I know I complain about trailers and try not to watch them. However, there's really no way the trailer for a Harmony Korine movie can tell you what it's about because with some of his films, you watch them and you still don't know what they're about. This one will be polarizing, but aside from Trash Humpers, I don't think I've ever not liked anything by him I've seen, so I'm in. 

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Playlist:

NIN - Year Zero

Arab Strap - As Days Get Dark

Pixies - Trompe le Monde

Fugazi - Red Medicine

The Butthole Surfers - Rembrandt Pussyhorse

Matt Cameron - Gory Scorch Cretins

The Knife - Silent Shout

Mannequin Pussy - I Got Heaven (pre-release singles)

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Card:

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

• XVII: The Star

• Five of Pentacles

• Five of Wands

An explosive burst of creative energy will be a struggle to commit to. 

Gory Scorch Cretins

Many thanks to Mr. Brown, who clued me in on the existence of Matt Cameron's Gory Scorch Cretins, a solo album with Melvins as his backing band! Apparently, this came about after a Soundgarden tribute where Buzz and the boys did "Spoonman." All of this is news to me, and I've gotta say I was a little confused when I first saw the cover and title; was this a Melvins tribute? Nope. All original stuff, and they're all great. Furthermore, Cameron - long one of my favorite drummers - makes a fantastic singer! Every track on this is great; I chose this one because it reminds me a bit of Urge Overkill, and for some reason, when I played this for the first time yesterday, that really hit the spot as a final track on the album. 

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Watch:

After picking at it since September - primarily because the show disappeared from the platform I was watching it on and then reappeared on another  - I finally finished the second season of Bryan Fuller's Hannibal yesterday.

I watched the last six or so episodes in a fairly tight burst, and this one is really masterfully done. This isn't something most of the world doesn't already know; I'm ten years late to the game on this one, but man, it burns knowing there won't ever be a season four. 

One of the charms of the show is, of course, watching Hannibal in the kitchen, so I jumped at the chance to post the video above; special thanks to Moonshine Omega - their YouTube channel is an interesting collection of Food and Bevy-related videos from shows we love (there's a cool one of all drinks and food in Jessica Jones Season One!)

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Play:

Having just finished Torture Star/Puppet Combo's Night at the Gates of Hell, I am SUPER happy to get wind of a new game coming our way from them:

As usual, the 80s VHS/Video Nasties influence is a large part of the draw, however, I've really come to prefer Torture Star's games, so I am psyched to be getting another for Switch.

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Playlist:

Disappears - Pre Language

A Place to Bury Strangers - Exploding Head

Fear - Live for the Record

Run the Jewels - RTJ4

Baroness - Stone

Mastodon - Emperor of Sand

Matt Cameron - Gory Scorch Cretins

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Card:

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

• Six of Swords

• XVIII: The Moon

• Six of Cups

The intellectual benefits of balancing the mental and moral components of a conflict lead to emotional revelation. 

No idea what the hell this means at the moment, but as with most of my pulls on this trip (yes, I'm still in L.A.), I'm really just recording all this as data archives for later analyzation. 

New Music From Arab Strap!!!

 

I'm writing this part of today's post on Tuesday the 23rd. I've been listening to Arab Strap for about the last two hours, so how weird is it that when I clicked over to youtube to find a song to post, I see that a new Arab Strap track dropped two hours ago, and a new album is out Februrary 9th! Holy smokes - Awesome! 

You can go HERE to Pre-order I'm totally fine with it 👍 Don't give a fuck anymore 👍 - yes, the emogis are part of the actual title! Check out this cover!!!

Love it! Man, it feels so good to have Malcolm and Aiden back. 

 

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NCBD:

The final of my "away pulls." Can't wait to get back home and pick the last few week's of comics up. 

So according to Image Comics' website, issue 16 is the Newburn series finale. That's a bummer, but at the same time, the storyline is twisting these characters' lives into such a knot, I'd mentioned recently that I couldn't possibly see how this book could last that much longer. Kudos to the creators for sticking to their guns and telling the story they set out to tell. 

We all knew he'd be back, but since Mags destroyed his backup, I'm pretty curious what version this resurrected one will take.

Another series ending soon. Tenement has been a fantastic ride, with the last two issues really pushing the storyline of the overall Bone Orchard Mythos forward. Can't wait to see what's next, but until then, I'm pretty sure these last few issues will be increasingly bizarre and horrific in the fashion only Lemire and Sorrentino can manage.

And yet another BOMBSHELL ending - the news that this title ends with the upcoming issue 150 hit comic news outlets recently. TMNT began again under the IDW banner back in 2012; I picked up the first issue and have enjoyed every single one since. The other end of that big news is that Jason Aaron is taking over the upcoming new title - still under IDW - but what I'm unclear about is if that book will begin a brand new continuity, or continue this one. I hope for the former but also pine a bit for the latter; it would be nice to drop a book from the pull and let this series just sit immortalized in time as the perfect gem it is.

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Watch:

Last night I finally got the chance to see Yorgos Lanthimos' new film, Poor Things. Even better, I got to see it with two good friends at the Los Feliz 3 Theatre. I've posted the trailer here previously, so here's a gorgeous poster:

The only other film by Mr. Lanthimos I've seen is Killing of a Sacred Deer, however, that is one of the best "What the absolute F*ck" viewings I've had in the last ten years, so it instantly endeared the creator to me, while also kind of made me a touch afraid of his work. There is something so all-consuming about Deer, that I've kept The Lobster and The Favorite at bay for years. 

That changes now.

I put a spoiler-free review up on Letterbxd HERE, but in a nutshell Poor Things is beautiful, odd, perverse, tender, vulgar and a touch transgressive, all coming together to make an utterly unique experience.

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Playlist:

Tar - Clincher

Tar - Holding Fast Hitting Long (Live)

The Bronx - V

The Bronx - (II)

The Bronx - (III)

Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet

Arab Strap - The Red Thread

Arab Strap - Philophobia

The Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen

Jay Reatard - Singles 06-07

Carpenter Brute - Leather Terror

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Card:

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

• Six of Swords

• Eight of Cups

• XVII: The Star

New Music From Chelsea Wolfe

More new Chelsea Wolfe, from the upcoming album She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She, out February 9; pre-order HERE. This close to the release date, I'm not even going to listen to this single. I pre-ordered the vinyl and am waiting to sit down and listen start to finish, ripped to the gilly tits on marijuana. Been a while since I've observed that ritual for a new album, would like to get back to it. This seems like a fantastic place to start. 

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Watch:

I'm not even sure how I stumbled upon this last night, but after seeing the trailer and not being able to find anything on IMDB, I realized there was a link to the full film:

I know nothing of El Maestro, however, the trailer for A24's The Grind is equally one of the most beautiful and disturbing things I've seen in a while, so no doubt I'm watching this as soon as I can.

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Playlist:

Your Black Star - Sound from the Ground

The Damned - Evil Spirits

Darkness Brings the Cold - Devil Swank, Vol. 1

††† - Good Night, God Bless, I Love You, Delete

The Trapezoid - Reverb Nation Playlist

Various Mixed by DJ IF: Darkness Exhalation Mix Vol. 2

The Neighborhood - I Love You

FACS - Still Life in Decay

Fine Young Cannibals - She Drives Me Crazy (Single)

The Pixies - Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf - Single)

Grand Duchy - Black Suit (Single)

AFI - This Time Imperfect (Single)

The Bronx - V

The Bronx - Dead Tracks

The Bronx - IV

Tar - Clincher

The Trapezoid - Reverb Nation Playlist

Darkness Brings the Cold - Devil Swank, Vol. 1

Nobuhiko Morino - Verses: The Album

The Soft Moon - Eponymous

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Card:

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

• Queen of Swords 

• III: The Empress

• XV: The Devil

Just recording this here for posterity; will hopefully be able to double back later in the day for interpretation. 

New Dandy Warhols!!!

New Dandy Warhols, from the forthcoming album Rockmaker, out March 15th. Pre-order HERE.

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NCBD:

Jesus. My box is going to be full when I return to Clarksville and pick up my books from Rick's Comic City. Here's what is being added to it this week:

Ash! Evil Ash! 1990s and the far-future. This one has it all, true believers!

Still one of my favorite books to read each month. 

The Deviant is such a gnarly book. Really happy this is going longer than what I originally thought was a three-issue series. 

What's the Furthest Place From Here goes on hiatus after the next issue, so I'm a bit bummed. That said, I can't wait to see how the current arc ends and where that puts us in Boss and Rosenberg's world.

The High Evolutionary returns! I'm not sure how exactly this ties in with the "Fall of the House of X;" doesn't matter because, again, the High Evolutionary.

Cobra Commander. 'Nuff said. I find it interesting that the main characters of this short, lead-in series are apparently Destro, Zarana, CC himself and Mercer. Man, Kirkman's Energon Universe is really going out of its way to do something different with this long-running property. 

Man, could we get a High Evolutionary/Cobra Commander crossover at some point in the future? Probably not, but it's nice to dream.

Additionally for today, the final issue of Enfield Gang Massacre will be in my Chicago Pull at Amazing Fantasy, and I'll probably grab these other two from the Comic Bug while I'm in the South Bay next weekend:

I had incorrectly assumed issue five of Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips' The Enfield Gang Massacre was the final chapter. Nice to see I was wrong and we get one more. Can't wait to get this from Amazing Fantasy and finally read the series start to finish.

I'm still not putting ARAH on my pull list, but for the time being, I'm enjoying seeing where this series and these characters have been since I last checked in on them circa 1991.

I thought I'd give this new Hellblazer series a chance. 

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Watch:

 

In. Totally in.

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Playlist:

T. Rex - The Slider

Fugazi - Red Medicine

Fugazi - 13 Songs

Fever Ray - Radical Romantics

The Knife - Shaking the Habitual

Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar

Danzig With Myself - Rockmaker (pre-release singles)

Mission of Burma - Signals, Calls and Marches

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Card:

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

• Three of Swords 

• Four of Swords 

• Four of Pentacles

I continue to be fascinated by the frequency with which I draw Swords in this deck. I feel like these, coupled with the Four of Pentacles may point to my not using my intellect in regards to Earthly matters. Money? Possibly. 

New Music From Idles!!!

 

From the forthcoming record Tangk, out February 10th on Partisan Records. Pre-order HERE.

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Watch:

True Detective Night Country episode one aired this past Sunday. I have high hopes for this season; Writer/Director Issa López is helming all six episodes, and I have the utmost faith in her. Tigers Are Not Afraid definitely employs the kind of dark, magical realism that could really help TD hit the high notes Season One and Season Three do. 

That said, I do not have a lot of faith in what I can only imagine is the HBO/True Detective Editorial Bullpen, so to speak. Season Three really floored me until the resolution, which absolutely robs that season's story of its magic. I'm hoping they don't do the same thing with this new season; however, after watching the first episode, I'm also hoping they don't overdo the extra-sensory stuff. We'll see. My Horror Vision cohost, Missi, and I are doing a weekly recap; I'll update this later today when it's posted. 

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Playlist:

David Bowie - Low

Various - Lost Highway OST

Frankie and the Witch Fingers - Data Doom

The Damned - Evil Spirits

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!

Arab Strap - The Week Never Starts Around Here (Disk 2)

Arab Strap - The Red Thread

Malcolm Middleton - A Brighter Beat

Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere

Arab Strap - As Days Get Dark

David Bowie - Buddha of Suburbia

Marilyn Manson - We Are Chaos

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Card:

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

• Page of Cups

• Six of Cups

• I: The Magician

Emotional Earthly concerns reach a culmination through Will. That's a pretty crappy, surface-level reading, but it's all I have time for this morning. Working on-site is kicking my arse!!!

David Bowie - Subterraneans

 

I love the way Bowie plays sax on this track. It literally soothes my soul, while also conjuring a mood similar to the one Cowboy Bebop does. 

Thus completeth David Bowie week, an annual event I like to do here to commemorate the life, work and passing of the Alien. He changed our world, I wish I could say we'd learned how to do that from him, but no, I don't think we did.

 

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Watch:

I first saw Michael Mann's Heat opening weekend in 1995. I was nineteen and really just getting into film. I thought I knew a lot, and maybe I did for someone my age. I certainly watched and thought and wrote about them enough. This was, of course before the mass proliferation of the internet, so I'm not sure what I read about Heat before seeing it, but I was excited. I'd learned to identify and love Michael Mann's style via Miami Vice, Manhunter, Crime Story and Thief. All the hype that preceded Heat's release focused on Pacino and Deniro being together in a film for the first time since The Godfather flicks. I saw it, and was pretty damn disappointed. I'd never watched the film again until last night, when several of us headed out to Quentin Tarantino's New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles. 

This outing possessed a two-fold purpose: 1) I'd lived in L.A. for 16 years before moving and never made it to the New Bev. 2) Because of Professor John Trafton and Miles Fortune's This Movie Saved My Life podcast, I found myself wanting to give Heat another chance. I'm happy to report that, while I still very much wish Pacino had dialed it back on a lot of his line delivery, I now agree that Heat is a Neo Noir Masterpiece. 

 

There were two big narrative gaps I credited as my major problem with the film: Waingro's "Serial killer" subplot, which I previously felt went nowhere, and the fate of Pacino's Stepdaughter, played by Natalie Portman. In the latter case, it always irritated me that, as I had previously perceived it, the film did not resolve her fate. Seeing this last night, I now think it is entirely possible that I ran to the bathroom during the scene where the surgeon tells Pacino and his estranged wife Justine (played by Diane Venora) that their daughter is alive and will pull through. I also think I may have just missed it because that scene is really the epitaph to the couple's relationship, and there's a lot of nuance to the scene and performances that I just don't think I would have been experienced enough in life and love to fully grasp at the time. I'd always viewed Portman's suicide attempt as a needless dramatic plot point stuffed in at the eleventh hour for no reason other than to tighten the screws on Al's character. It actually provides an exhale on the subplot of his marriage.

The Waingro issue is a different animal altogether, and last night's viewing led me to the conclusion that Heat is edited unlike any film I had ever seen previously. The film hits the ground RUNNING, and is such a rapid-fire accumulation of edits and characters, that Mann has to establish characters quickly. He does so deftonly, and while I do feel that the serial prostitute killer angle on his character should have had at least one nod past the original - because it's revealed early on that the police are aware they have an active serial killer - but ultimately is serves to establish A LOT about Waingro's character in very little time.

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Playlist:

Marilyn Manson - We Are Chaos

Marilyn Manson - God's Gonna Cut You Down (single)

Massive Attack - Protection

PJ Harvey - Rid of Me

Marilyn Manson - AntiChrist Superstar

David Bowie - Hunky Dory

Run the Jewels - RTJ4

Robbie Dupree - Steal Away (single)

Doobie Brothers - What a Fool Believes (single)

The Bee Gees - Love You Inside Out (single)

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Card:

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

• Four of Pentacles

• XIV: Temperance

• King of Swords

Logging this here and will try to circle back around for an interpretation at some point later tonight or tomorrow. L.A. is keeping me on my toes.

David Bowie - Move On

 

"Move On," the second track from 1979's Lodger, the final of the Bowie/Eno Berlin Trilogy. Easily my least favorite of the three records, Lodger has never 100% caught me, but there are moments that really resonate with the rest of the Trilogy, and I'd argue that track two, "Move On" is one of them. 

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Watch:

A couple of nights ago, I watched Jennifer Reeder's latest film, Perpetrator. Here's a trailer that I offer with the caveat you only watch the first minute:

Did you see the pull quote that said, "The meeting point between John Hughes and David Lynch?" Not too far off. I don't know that everything about this one 'worked' for me, however, I was distracted during the first forty minutes or so with some emergency yoga, and Perpetrator is SO insanely original, I'm definitely going to watch it again. 

Between this and Night's End - which I also loved - Jennifer Reeder is now a filmmaker on my "watch everything" list. 

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Read:

My Horror Vision Co-Host Anthony recently talked me into giving SIKTC's sister book, House of Slaughter, another shot. I read the first two arcs and wasn't super into it, despite really liking the concept. One character introduced that has stayed with me is Jace, and he is the focus of the third arc, Return of Butcher.

So far it's pretty good, but I'm still not sold. This got me thinking about why that is, and I think I've come up with a fairly easy answer. SIKTC is one hundred about the momentum of the story, which is ongoing as it follows Erika Slaughter. House of Slaughter is different; five-issue arcs that jump around to give us windows into the world Tynion has built; ostensibly a welcome idea, it just does not inspire the passion in me that SIKTC does. I've always taken more to books with ongoing continuity - my first comic love was, after all, Larry Hama's G.I.Joe:ARAH and I never really cared much for Special Missions. The exact same paradigms apply here - ongoing vs. individual stories that are a part of the overall tapestry but do not add momentum to it. 

Regardless, House of Slaughter is still a quality book, and in no way am I complaining about reading or purchasing it. I just don't feel the allegiance to this book that I do for its sister. 

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Playlist:

Marilyn Manson - We Are Chaos

Massive Attack - Protection

Cypress Hill - IV

David Bowie - Lodger

The Stooges - Eponymous

The Stooges - Funhouse

††† - Good Night, God Bless, I Love U, Delete.

Marilyn Manson - Mechanical Animals

The Damned - Machine Gun Etiquette

Killing Joke - Eponymous

Rein - God is a Woman

David Bowie - Black Star

The Cure - Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me

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Card:

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

• Eight of Swords

• XIX - The Sun

• Four of Swords

Okay, now I'm really paying attention. I was all set to move on from the Truce/Rest interpretation from yesterday because not only did I go to bed at 8:00 PM Wednesday night, but I stayed in last night as well, taking a nap after work that made me feel the best I have so far this trip. But here it is again.

It dawned on me that the Truce also might apply to a small situation at work, which I came in a skosh concerned about and have definitely applied the Truce aesthetic to. Things feel better there than they have in over a year, so there's that. Aside from those two instances, what do today's other two cards suggest?

Eight of Swords - Eight. Hod - Learning and Ritual in the real of the Intellect.

XIX The Sun - Interestingly, I noticed Grimm posted this card on social media recently, accompanied by the lyrics to Sabbath's "Nativity in Black," and I can't help wondering if there's something there. 

"Some people say my love cannot be true Please believe me my love, and I'll show you I will give you those things you thought unreal The sun, the moon, the stars all bear my seal!"

Maybe not, or, if so, that's a code my conscious mind probably won't crack. So while that simmers on the ol' brain stove, I'm looking toward the "Optimistic" interpretation and stepping back to apply all of this - wait for it - to my worldview. In multiple conversations since I arrived here and have had the chance to reconnect with folks I haven't seen or talked to in months, world events come up and I always begin with the "I'm a pessimist" clause. L.A. just brings it out of me. I walk the streets of West L.A. and just can't believe the filth. Yet, also, this time, I honestly think things may not be as bad as they were in October. Maybe. 

My pessimism probably isn't going to recede permanently, but maybe I can give it a rest at least for a little bit and try and, ahem, Think Positive Thoughts. The Sun, The Moon, The Stars.