I talked a bit previously about my friend John being in town. This is John of Jonathan Grimm Art. His work is amazing, and he's also the artist and co-creator of The Legend of Parish Fen, the swamp monster comic we hope to have the first volume out of mid next year. We spent the day yesterday working out the entire 2nd issue and it is grand, much better than what we had when we originally beated out this 3 issue arc about a year ago. We also came up with something else, something that's not quite a comic and not quite prose, and should prove considerably easier to release in a more expedient fashion. More on that later, but for now I'll leave you with the title.
CIAZARN
There was no playlist yesterday, as we chose to work on Fen without music. Weird - a day with no music. I'll make up for it today.
Tonight - the Los Angeles premiere of Mandy! I can NOT wait! Here's the recently released Japanese trailer - I'm not watching it, but I'm on trailer ban.
Card of the day:
Always good to see you pop up, especially after a week off working on my current project. I'll be back to that tomorrow, until then, TO VICTORY!!!
Had this pretty little ditty in my head when I woke up, probably because it's used in a fantastic film John and I watched last night.
My friend John Grimm is still in town and we drove out to Hollywood last night. I brought him to the HWA meeting so he could make a few connections, and then we hit Scum and Villainy and The Beetle House, both pop-up bars that have hopefully become permanent. Scum and Villainy is designed after the Cantina from the original Star Wars. It's cool but small. The real joy was Beetle House, which is a bar/restaurant themed around Tim Burton's Beetlejuice. Really, really cool place.
Playlist from 9/09:
John Carpenter - The Thing OST
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin I
Earth - Primitive and Deadly
Zen Guerilla - Positronic Raygun
Card of the day:
Twos represent balance and harmony. They are also of the Crown of Creation and not of the physical world. I'm taking this two ways right now. First, my interest in the idea of a Prime Mover has become more influential, so that it's working it's way into my daily thoughts. Not sure how that will play out with my writing, but I have several older projects that deal with this, so maybe I should think about dusting one off. Second, I've been doing yoga and it's helping me immensely, physically, emotionally, and mentally. Dominion can be seen as rule over self. Control.
Watched a couple great 80s horror flicks yesterday with K and my good friend John who is out visiting. First up:
I love both of the original Demons flicks by Lamberto Bava. The first would rank as my favorite, but mechanics of the horror in two is perhaps odder than the first, with the Demons coming through the television instead of the giant movie screen. In both films, I love the tone of the movie/show the audience is watching and how it kind of reflects their real world and kind of doesn't. There's a weird trans-meta element I can't quite explain, but it really works to make the entire thing creepier. And that's a lesson I often hear repeated - in horror, you don't have to explain everything. Sometimes that takes away from the story (I'm looking at you, Babadook).
Next:
Considerably more solid than you would think, I really enjoyed what I put on expecting a goof from.
Playlist from yesterday:
Secret Chiefs 3 - Book of Horizons
Fred Myrow and Malcolm Seagrave - Phantasm OST
Alice in Chains - Rainier Fog
The Thirsty Crows - EP
Stellar Corpses - Hellbound Heart EP
Stellar Corpses - Respect the Dead EP
Translating to "The Child of the Forest," I immediately feel a kinship here due to my old band The Forest Children's name. This is dark ambient, not like Mr. Kent's Perturbator at all, and I love it. The digital album is available on the bandcamp:
And physical copies can be pre-ordered on Neuropa Records's website HERE.
Ghostland Observatory released a new album today. This is a band I very much dig, but who fell off my radar quite a few years ago. Good to see them back in action.
I've been thinking quite a bit about the bands that kept me afloat in the 00s. These guys were definitely one of them, along with a lot of more electronic-based artists. My general musical inclination has shifted over the last seven or eight years, so that I generally listen to heavier music these days (although Sunn 0))), The Ocean and High on Fire were staples for much of the 00s). That has a lot to do with writing - I just find it easier to write to heavier stuff. Most of the time. Also, it tends to fit my tone.
Oh! Mr. Brown sent me a link to the new film by Harmony Korine. Looks great, and I love the fact that Korine has kind of - for the time at least - reinvented himself with this Neon Beach Noir look.
Playlist from yesterday:
The Ocean - Permian: The Great Dying (Pre-release Single)
White Lung - Eponymous
Dead Rabbits - The Ticket That Exploded
Soundgarden - Super Unknown
The Cramps - Flame Job
John Carpenter - Big Trouble in Little China OST
Black Sabbath - Volume 4
Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
Card of the day:
Dogma. Well, what am I dogmatic about? I don't draw this card often, and when I do I don't always attribute it the respect and fascination it deserves. In my general temperament, I'm used to thinking of this card as being followed by or juxtaposed with XVI The Tower, as in law or dogma in a state of upheaval. Alone, I have to wonder if I am supposed to look deeper into my belief systems, which are ersatz for sure, as I decided long ago the word belief is much akin to the word prison. Maybe that doesn't have to be the case? Most people would read this - I think - as beware your belief structures. I'm wondering if I need to fine-tune my own, as lack of belief is still, ironically, belief.
A collaboration between Alain Johannes Trio and Mike Patton? Nice. Happy weekend peoples! My good friend John is in town and we are going to have some fun! First up - Night of the Creeps on the big screen in my friend Ray's front yard tonight. No, you didn't read that wrong. Ray has a very large inflatable screen and a killer sound system and he puts them up in his front lawn and plays movies until like 4AM. It's amazing. And it's ending soon, because Ray and his family rent and the landlord wants the place back, after like 15 years. These are the harsh truths of the modern world. They have a Go Fund Me and I wanted to post something about it (I just found out about it - I think they got talked into doing it but have trouble asking for help. Just like I would). Link to it HERE.
I watched a flick on Shudder last night called Observance. Very good. Totally a Weird Fiction novella done as a film; I could see the Laird Barron influence in it, which is definitely a good thing. Highly recommended.
Playlist from 9/06:
David Bowie - Reality
White Lung - Eponymous
Minsk -
Windhand -
Secret Chiefs 3 Traditionalists - Le Mani Destre Recise degli ultimi Uomini
Ennio Morricone - Black Belly of the Tarantula OST
Co-owner of Batcave Records, Singer for Stellar Corpses, secret member of Bat! whose debut album is forthcoming on Cleopatra Records (when they're not fighting the forces of darkness!) - Dusty Grave joins us to talk Dylan Dog, Cemetery Man, The Sandman Universe, Unholy Grail and much, much more!
I don't know what's more disturbing, the fact that it's actually been five years since the last album from The Ocean (they released a split 7" with Mono in 2015), or all the changes that have taken place in my life since. Either way, this track is MUCH anticipated and proves this band will never let me down. You can pre-order the new album, Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic on the Metal Blade Records site HERE. Release date November 2nd.
Props to my friend John for tipping me off to this release. Made my night!
I am in love with this White Lung album! They used the track Wild Failure in that movie Excision I wrote about yesterday and I've been listening to the album since.
NCBD yesterday:
And, what I forgot came out and will no doubt have to hurry to grab a copy of:
Playlist from yesterday:
Reverend Horton Heat - Martini Time
The Atlas Moth - The Old Believer
Alice in Chains - Rainier Fog
Stellar Corpses - Respect the Dead
White Lung - Eponymous
Ennio Morricone - Black Belly of the Tarantula OST
I watched David Lynch's Inland Empire last night for the first time in probably over ten years. One of the most incredible theatrical experiences I've had when it came out back in 2007, I've never made it through the entire film on DVD, simply because it is long, fragmented, and requires very specific viewing criteria for me, criteria that usually means I end up falling asleep because of my early schedule. That criteria is
1) Absolute Darkness
2) Stoned
3) As few interruptions as possible
This usually means I have to watch it late at night, and I just don't make it through. Inland Empire really shines in a theatre, but at home it's a bit arduous. That said, it is a wonderful film, amazingly dream-like, and after reading this awesome little interpretation, I am contemplating another viewing sometime within the next week.
Card of the day:
Again, let's go face value and say this means I'll finish the editing on DwC 43 today.
This Yonatan Gat record is completely blowing my damn mind! Thanks to Mr. Wellman for the hesitant recommendation. I Love it!
Watched Excision on Shudder last night. Jesus, the description Shudder uses is perfect, "...blackly comic high school horror film that feels like Welcome to the Dollhouse if it were directed by David Cronenberg. Even the trailer is insane:
Richard Bates, Jr. has three movies and I love all of them.
Playlist from 9/03:
Etta James - Eponymous
Them Are Us Too - Remain
David Bowie - Black Star
Radiohead - O.K. Computer
Yonatan Gat - Universalists
Airiel - Molten Young Lovers
King Woman - Doubt EP
Them Are Us Too - Amends
Playlist from 9/04
Alice in Chains Rainier Fog
The Atlas Moth - The Old Believer
Danzig 666 - Satan's Child
Card of the day:
I can take this one at face value today. Feel really good. The best in a while.
Long-time piano player for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Conway Savage passed away earlier today, so I thought this performance was doubly in order.
Playlist from 9/02:
Stellar Corpses - Respect the Dead EP
Alice in Chains - Black Gives Way to Blue
Alice in Chains - Rainier Fog
David Lynch - Crazy Clown Time
Card of the day:
As the final card in the suit, the Princess can be seen as the end result of the transformation begun in the Ace. Aces are always breakthroughs to me, in the case of Cups an emotional breakthrough. I feel like this describes where I am; I messaged a friend I haven't seen in a few years out of the blue earlier just to tell him I love him. My cup runneth over with emotion. But it's not schmaltzy or crippling; instead, I my emotional battery feels supercharged, while physically I remain somewhat drained and limited. My daily stretching - which falls by the wayside often of late - still tells me the damage from pulling my Hamstring almost a year ago has still not completely healed and it limits me. This of course causes unsought reflections on aging and mortality, which of course probably explains my current wealth of emotions.
Thanks to Jeff at the Comic Bug I found Vaguess. As you can no doubt hear from the above, they are awesome. Guilt Ring will definitely end up on my favorite albums of the year.
Long day of work and sinus infection yesterday. This iteration of the infection proved what the previous one (last year) suggested: the Z-pack antibiotic no longer works. The doctor I saw at the urgent care the other day backed this up, saying he has seen approximately 40% resistance to azithromycin. As a back-up, he prescribed me a secondary prescription of doxycycline hyclate. All this just further proves a theory I have had for about fifteen years now - being that bacteria lives generations for every day we do, eventually it will outrun our defenses and conquer us. The widespread proliferation of antibacterial hand sanitizers and a quick-to-subscribe attitude to antibiotics has expedited that outcome, so be prepared. And if you can't seem to beat your sinus infections, use doxycycline hyclate - until that no longer works.*
I watched a 1971 Italian Giallo last night called Black Belly of the Tarantula. Talk about an awesome title! Directed by Paolo Cavara and scored by none other than the great Ennio Morricone, I loved the flick and intend on hunting down the score on vinyl. It is gorgeous! Here's a taste:
Playlist from 8/31:
Secret Chiefs 3 Traditionalists - Le Mani Destre Recise degli ultimi Uomini
Alice in Chains - Rainier Fog
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Roxy Music - Eponymous
Windhand - Grey Garden (single)
Kyuss - And the Circus Leaves Town
Playlist from 9/01:
Alice in Chains - Rainier Fog
Yonatan Gat - Universalists
Vaguess - Guilt Ring
The Veils - Total Depravity
BeNNi -The Return
Chris Connelly - Artificial Madness
Bowie - Stage
Bowie - Outside
Here's a card I haven't drawn since I began doing these daily pulls. See how intoxicating the visuals are, with their soft pastels and robust female figure? The surreal aspect, where her lower half almost looks more like a mermaid's fin than legs? Of the Swan - which Crowley refers to as a Pelican, and although that may have been his intent, Lady Frieda Harris most certainly painted a swan - tending its young is motherly. I'm interpreting this as my nurture of my ideas, which are essentially like children to me.
*Yes, I realize I am both lambasting and advocating the use of antibiotics here. I only use them for sinus infections, which I get about twice a year.
8/31 - we are in the Dog Days, where Sirius is closest to our planet and has an effect on our gravitational pull and thus, us. I do not put stock in Astrology, this is Science. Look for shit to get weird.
Last night I watched Brian Yuzna's Society. Wow.
Playlist from yesterday:
Second Still - Equals EP
Silk Worm - Firewater
Roxy Music - Eponymous
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Card of the day:
And we continue with a veritable deluge of Court Cards. Freaking me out, a bit.
Being that I have never really connected with the Disks Suite isn't really surprising when I stop to think about it. It's Malkuth, Earthly matters, and I'm always in the clouds, up in Hod, or Yesod, straining to see Tipareth. I can buckle down and take care of Earthly matters, but I do it like I swim - only when I have to and even then, holding my breath the entire time. The Knight is the Fire of Earth, and to me it always looked like he was either bumping up against a forcefield (how money sometimes makes me feel), or about to enter a thin spot, crossing worlds. I take this today as a warning that I will have to cross from my heady Fiction world into the real one to take care of something, and try to recognize that when it rears its head.
Second Still is yet another awesome LA band KXLU turned me on to. SO good. You can hear more and buy their stuff on their Bandcamp HERE. I can't wait to see them live.
Playlist from 8/29:
The Flying Luttenbachers - Constructive Destruction
Alice in Chains - Rainier Fog
David Bowie - A Reality Tour [Live]
Cough - Athame
Windhand - Grey Garden
Lustmord - The Word As Power
John Carpenter - The Thing OST
Card of the day:
A lot of Court cards lately. Higher influence. This card is waaaay loaded for me, so I went to a few websites I like with tarot information and looked around. What I found morphed into this when reflected through my own lens: Self Discovery; Moving on and moving forward. Incorporating past pain into a healthy life view.
