One of the records I received as the Relapse Records 30th anniversary golden ticket winner that I've only just been able sit down and really listen to is the Boris/Merzbow collaboration 2R0I2P0, which apparently translates to RIP 2020. It's a kind of tough, noisy record, however, there are moments of sheer, sublime majesty within. This is one of those.
Watch:
What the actual f*ck is going on with Ghost? I'm certain these new webisodes are leading up to an album announcement, and I can't wait! Also, I'm enjoying the return to their weird approach to viral marketing they've long been famous for.
Playlist:
Bridge City Sinners - Here's to the Devil
Boris and Merzbow - 2R0I2P0
Bohren and Der Club of Gore - Sunset Mission
Bohren and Der Club of Gore - Patchouli Blu
Bohren and Der Club of Gore - Piano Nights
Bohren and Der Club of Gore - Dolores
X - Under the Big Black Sun
Russian Circles - Memorial
Kowloon Walled City - Container Ships
Palms - Eponymous
Danizig - Eponymous
Type O Negative - Origin of the Feces
Carpenter Brut - Carpenterbrutlive
Type O Negative - October Rust
Card:
A warning about obscuring things, which perhaps is to remind me about the changes coming over the next year. I'm hedging some bets and need to be sure to keep others' well-being in mind while doing so (this is all work related).
I threw on the Bad Seed TeeVee youtube station yesterday afternoon and let various iterations of Mr. Cave and his band/s wash over me while I finished laying out a friend's novel that I've been working on editing. It was a pretty great mix of Nick Cave, ranging from classic Birthday Party live footage to Grinderman to this track, which I've not heard in I don't even know how long. It lifted my day's transition into evening, and I thought I'd share.
Watch:
Rejoice, for it is upon us once again!
Beyondfest 2021 tickets went on sale Friday, and luckily I had the day off because it took me two-and-a-half hours to get through the bottleneck on the American Cinematheque's website. I'm out of town for almost half of this year's fest, but there was NO WAY I was going to miss attending this year, as if our plans materialize, I will no longer be a resident of LaLaLand come next year's.
So what did I get?
Tickets to the West Coast Premiere of the new 4K presentation of Andrzej Żuławski's 1981 CLASSIC Possession. I am so excited to see this film - which I'd never seen before earlier this year and have now watched twice - on the big screen!
Also, the West Coast Premiere of Scott Derrickson and Robert C. Cargill's Adaptation of Joe Hill's The Black Phone, another film I've been anxiously awaiting.
That's it for now, however, as always with Beyondfest, there are a pretty extensive number of free, RSVP day-of screenings I'm eyeing, and although it's nice to be back in an actual theatre for this year's fest - last year's was at the Mission Tiki Drive-In out in Montclair - it feels like a loss to have this fest not be at the Egyptian Theatre. That said, with a large portion of this year's films at The Aero, I'm uniquely positioned nearby due to the proximity of my work. So stealing off for a free afternoon screening shouldn't be all that difficult.
Also, holy hell - did you see this?!?
What a cast! Holy cow, I guess I didn't realize we were getting a new GDT film this year, and by the looks of it, this ups the ante even from his previous, the stunning The Shape of Water. Between Beyondfest, now this, and let's not forget Edgar Wright's Last Night in SoHo, the last quarter of 2021 are looking good for theatrical viewings.
Playlist:
The Hives - Veni Vidi Vicious
Type O Negative - Origin of the Feces
Type O Negative - Life is Killing Me
Type O Negative - October Rust
Bridge City Sinners - Here's to the Devil
Sleep - Dopesmoker
Sunn O))) and Boris - Altar
Boris and Merzbow - 2R012PO
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Bad Seed TeeVee Feed
Nico Vega - Lead to the Light
Card:
Caught between two two major forces, unable to make a decision. Consult the inner voice that arises from introspection. In other words, I'm smart enough to make my decision, I'm just not trusting in my gut.
I'm not a huge Monolord fan - in fact, I kind of don't understand why I don't like them more than I do based on all the ingredients they create their music with. I think it has a bit to do with how fanatical I am about Windhand, and the fact that you can really only listen to so many Doom/Stoner bands and feel a unique rush from them. Whatever the case, by saying all this, it is definitely not my intention to derate or downplay them. Monolord is a solid fucking band, with a couple really great records. I just get winded listening to them after only a song or two (most of the time).
This new track, however, is fantastic and feels just different enough that maybe this is their release I'll really become hung up on. Either way, Your Time to Shine drops October 29th on Relapse Records, and you can pre-order your copy HERE.
Watch:
Beyondfest announces their line-up tomorrow. It's 9/29-10/11, so I will be out of town during roughly half of it. I think at this point, the movie I want to see the most is Julia Ducournau's Titane. This is one of those films I have read next to nothing about and the trailer, which I saw on the big screen before The Green Knight last month, looks amazing without telling you anything about the film.
Playlist:
Perturbator - Dangerous Days
Ghost - Enter Sandman (Cover)
Monolord - The Weary (pre-release single)
Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower
Metallica - Eponymous
White Hex - Gold Nights
Card:
Affirmation that although I keep rewriting the same damn section of the new book, my efforts are not wasted.
Although I've been able to spin this one a few times since the vinyl arrived about a month ago, I've not had a chance to really sit down and digest Adam Egypt Mortimer's The Obelisk. That changed a bit tonight, where I carved out a small niche of time to read the final issue of Rick Remender and Jerome Opena's Seven to Eternity.
NCBD:
Pretty mellow week this week, which is how I think it's going to go from now on. Lots of series ending or me jumping off. Here's what's on tap for today:
I'm not 100% on this one, but it's a one-shot and kinda hard to pass up a book on Bouchh, especially when you read the solicitation and realize the armor Lea wore in Jedi came from a pre-existing Bounty Hunter. Which, of course, makes me ask what was their story? This, apparently, is just that.
This book is a staple of my monthly reading. Love the story, love the art.
The first issue sold me.
Watch:
I never got around to reading anything past the first trade of this series, and that was a looooong time ago. Since then, and through series like Saga and Paper Girls, I've very much become a Brian K. Vaughn fan. After watching the first episode of the new FX show on Hulu (they dropped three this week, I only had time for one), I'm definitely going to give the show a chance.
Playlist:
The Plimsouls - Everywhere At Once
Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower
Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments
X - Under the Big Black Sun
High on Fire - Snakes For The Divine
Jerry Cantrell - Brighten (pre-release singles)
The Marias - Superclean, Vol. II EP
Adam Egypt Mortimer - The Obelisk
Bohren and Der Club of Gore - Sunset Mission
Card:
Lots of fortification against encroaching neuroses. Time to find my inner Lion (or cat).
New Mastodon before year's end and it's a double-fucking-album! In general, double albums don't work out so well, but Mastodon inspires enough faith in me that I don't think that will be the case with Hushed and Grim, dropping October 29th. Pre-order in the band's store HERE.
Watch:
Hell, what haven't I watched in the last two weeks? Laid low by what definitely turned out to not be COVID-19, I still spent a week and some change on my couch. I read three books (well, read one and finished reading two others), and watched something like 15 flicks. For most of those, you can see my Letterbxd. What I specifically want to mention here are two readily available new flicks that I absolutely loved, Ben Wheatley's In the Earth, and James Wan's Malignant.
I loved this flick. Wheatley seems to never disappoint - I even dug his recent remake of Hitchcock's Rebecca he did for Netflix - and this is a bit of a return to his previous dabblings in UK Occult/Folk Horror, only this time, with a technological twist I found very much needed. Folk Horror is becoming a bit like Steampunk, i.e. there's a checklist of images and themes associated with it, and all a filmmaker needs to do is add those ingredients to produce an entry in what is becoming a somewhat tiresome set of tropes. A Classic Horror Story attempted to do this as well, I believe, but failed, while Wheatley conjures what could easily be seen as a sister-work to some of what Warren Ellis did with his and Declan Shalvey's comic series Injection.
I had no interest in seeing this but changed my mind for review purposes (The Horror Vision's deep-dive on Malignant drops tomorrow). In a nutshell, the only things I liked about the first 33 minutes of this flick were DP Michael Burgess' cinematography and Joseph Bishara's score. Then, around 40 minutes I understood what Wan was doing and totally fell for the film.
Playlist:
The Cars - Eponymous
T. Rex - The Slider
Concrete Blonde - Bloodletting
Concrete Blonde - Eponymous
Electric Wizard - Dopethrone
Sleep - The Sciences
Ghost - Prequelle
Powerplant - People in the Sun
Pearl Jam - Vs.
Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou - May Our Chambers Be Full
An Autumn for Crippled Children - The Long Goodbye
Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen
Anthrax - Spreading The Disease
Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower
Mastodon - Pushing the Tides (pre-release single)
Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments
Card:
This makes sense - I've recently found a new path into the second Shadow Play book, which was very much needed.
If you listened to Bret Easton Ellis' The Shards, you know that it ended this week. And if you listened to that ending, you'll know why I posted this song.
*The counterargument says Bret is referencing Blondie's "Dreaming", but I feel that one mindful comparison between these songs makes it pretty clear that he's referring to this one).
NCBD:
ASM #73: One left after this. I have NO idea what the hell is about to happen, but I sure as hell am enjoying the build-up.
Deadly Class #48: Each of the last two issues literally dropped my jaw at one point, so we'll see. My guess is the series will end at 50 and Rick Remender is just being very protective of that fact. There's also a part of me that thinks this might be the end. We'll see. The book definitely feels as though it's winding down, and with it being the last of the original Giant Generator books Remender launched back in 2014 (I think) when he announced his departure from Marvel and sole focus on creator-owned stuff, it definitely feels like we're in the home stretch.
Defenders #2: The first issue was pretty cool, and Javier Rodriguez's art very much reminded me of J.H. Williams III's art on Alan Moore Promethea, which is a HUGE compliment and HUGE pull for me on this one. Rodriguez creates a very interesting and unique visual world, and I can't wait to see more of it.
The Last Ronin #4: At this point, I'm definitely needing a reread of the entire series just to get the proper context for this new issue. I'll end up reading it anyway (I won't be that ill-prepared, as Last Ronin is, at its heart, a classic story archetype, which is why it's so damn fulfilling to begin with), and save the reread for after the next (final) issue hits.
The Me You Love in the Dark #2: I really loved the set up in issue one, so let's see where this one goes. Rooted in what feels like classic Haunted House tropes, I'm pretty sure this will do anything but hit the standard marks.
MOTU: Revelation #3: Super tight story so far, a perfect accent to that Netflix series, which I find it hysterical to watch all the MEN cry about its storyline following... gasp! - a girl! Gimmie a break. One of the best things about the new show is I only had to hear "By the Power of Grayskull!" Once. Well, twice, but if you watched it, you know what I mean.
The Nice House on the Lake #4: No idea where this one is going, but I'm really enjoying how it appears to be taking its time, developing the situation through the development of the characters
Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters #4: This one's been so-so story-wise, but it makes up for that by being the first comic I've read featuring the one group of SW characters I never get tired of: The Bounty Hunters! (obviously)
I think I previously recorded this one in the "Playlist" section of this page as Corpse Eater: Satanic Misery yadayadayada. Apparently, the actual band name is Leviathan the Fleeing Serpent and the album is Crushing the Ritual Live. None of that really matters because this isn't a real band - it's Rob Zombie and his musical cohorts playing the fictional Black Metal band Heidi LaRock and her stoolies interview in Lords of Salem. Whatever the hell the name of it is, I LOVE it and kinda wish RZ would focus on making more of this for a while. Here's a video I didn't know existed until just now.
Watch:
Another day at home yesterday, feeling like crap, waiting for the PCR test results to tell me what I'm now certain of: I do not have COVID. As I write this, I feel MUCH better. The AC/DC is cranked, my fingers are moving over the keys, and I'm starting my third pot of coffee. I'm almost 60% of the way through Stephen Graham Jones' new novel My Heart is a Chainsaw and I LOVE it so much. Spent a lot of time with that yesterday, as well as watching the following three flicks:
I bought this one sight unseen back when it was released on DVD circa 2008, watched it once or twice and, although really liking it, never made it back for another viewing until now. How was it? Vinyan is a Five Star film. Contrary to all the shit that studios like dimension were pumping into the Horror-sphere in the 00s, people like Fabrice du Welz were making excellent films such as this (his other Horror film I know, Calviare, is pretty badass too if memory serves).
Vinyan gave me the taste for more foreign Horror, so I decided to A and B an original and a remake, for which I chose the Indonesian film The Queen of Black Magic. The original was released in 1981, is pretty cool for that time and place, but doesn't sit terribly well now. It's by no means bad, just dated, so you really have to try and put yourself in the headspace of someone seeing this film in Indonesian in '81, which was admittedly probably insane. Overall I dug this one as a fun, kind of Hammer Horror-esque getaway.
So how's the remake?
I f*&king loved this one. It's slow off the start, which I don't mind but feel deserves a warning. However, once this one gets going, holy hell, there's some squirm-worthy scenes the likes of which I don't think I've felt since Fede Alvarez's 2013 Evil Dead (which I adore). Really cool, simple story and execution, and lots of gnarly Horror.
Playlist:
(NOTE: I didn't listen to any music yesterday, so this is what's on the stereo so far today)
Leviathan the Fleeing Serpent - Crushing the Ritual
Various - Lords of Salem OST
Zombi - 2020
Various - The Devil's Rejects OST
AC/DC - Highway to Hell
King Woman - Celestial Blues
Card:
The past four days have definitely added up to a sort of renewal for me. I was pretty burnt out from work. If you look at the dark colors of Wednesday's pull (7 of Disks) and now the light, gentle colors of The Empress, that is sort of a visual expression of where I was two days ago compared to where I am now.
This Abby Sage is something else. I can't say I'm as crazy about "Residing in the Sky" as I am "Smoke Break," but then of late, I'm not crazy about any song the way I am about "Smoke Break." Still, Ms. Sage makes some very cool, interesting music. I don't know that I'd define it as Pop, but I don't know that I wouldn't, either. Whatever her sound, it's unique, that's for sure.
NCBD:
Because of my situation at the moment (see "Watch" below), I won't be making it into the shop today. Luckily, my shop delivers to nearby Pull Customers, so this is what I'm asking them to drop off later this afternoon:
The final issue of this mostly pointless series that I still wouldn't have missed due to its part in the countdown to Nick Spencer's final issue. I've decided in the interest of saving space and $$$, I will not be going forward with the next regular, essentially weekly AMS title. When I get the craving, I can always re-read the Spencer run (I started with issue 48, I think) or any of the 80s Spidey comics I've added to my collection from back-issue bins of late.
I read the first trade of Jeremy Haun's Beauty when it first hit shelves, however, I fell off. The trade later got damaged when I moved and is long gone. Since meeting Jeremy, I've become rather fond of the bloke - he is a true Horror fan, a gentleman and most definitely a scholar. That has bumped up re-starting Beauty on the list. I think I'll start by buying the one-shot series finale this week, just to have it in the collection, then finally read it when I can grab the series in trade and catch up.
I'm not 100% I'm going to buy this title, but I'm intrigued to say the least.
I just caught up with the last two issues of Geiger a week or two ago and I'm already hungry for more. This is shaping up to be one of my favorite books of the year.
This book is F*&king INSANE. Like a modern version of early 80s exploitation cinema, but gorier!
Watch:
Well, after a year-and-a-half of caution and close calls, I'm sick at home since Tuesday morning, waiting on the results of a COVID test. It's funny how, even if you don't let your guard down, the world can get you. One of my employees has an eleven-and-a-half-year-old sister who started school two weeks ago, was tested and found to have COVID, and thus, the virus may have made its way to me by way of the office we share. We observe all the proper protocols, and both the employee in question and myself are vaxxed, so the symptoms are mild at best, but still. While my employee is a confirmed positive - luckily with next to no symptoms - and two rapid tests in the last few days came back negative for me, we're playing it extra safe and I'm waiting on the PCR results at home. I'd just finished 9 days in a row and have been feeling like crap anyway, so I ordered a bottle of Breez Royal Mint Spray (the ease of the cannabis delivery world is one thing I will miss when I move from LaLaLand), and spent yesterday doing a full recharge. Besides beginning Stephen Graham Jones's new novel My Heart is a Chainsaw - which, a quarter of the way through I f*&king LOVE, and which totally put me in the headspace for 80s Horror - here's what I watched as recharge comfort food:
And how can you watch the original and not follow it with one of the all-time greatest movies in history? The answer, you can't.
So, that was the comfort food portion of my sabbatical. Next up, a film I had not seen, but my friend/colleague Heaven is an Incubator logged on his Letterbxd a few months back and looked interesting, 1989's The Dead Pit:
Turns out I LOVE this flick! It's not good by any stretch of the imagination, but its heavy-handed Nightmare on Elm Street influence immediately endeared it to me, as well as the fact that the weird, dream-like tone and often half-completed set design makes it the perfect pairing for a double feature with another schlock flick I adore, 976-EVIL, which I may watch today.
Next, one I had not seen in ages, and thus did not readily remember very well. Stan Winston's 1988 directorial debut, Pumpkinhead:
There is not a shot in this film that I don't adore. The lighting and set design are heavenly... well, hellenly? You know what I mean. The Blackwood Cemetery sequence and Pumpkinhead's grave especially stay with me, as does the fact that, when Ed Harley first digs up Pumpkinhead and Haggis sets about resurrecting it, the young version looks almost exactly like Sam from Trick r' Treat without his mask on!
Pretty cool, huh? So, when Sam grows up, will he be a demon of vengeance?
Playlist:
St. Vincent - Daddy's Home
Jerry Cantrell - Atone (single)
Ultra Bann - Big Trouble in Little Haiti
The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
Abby Sage - Smoke Break
The Bangels - All Over the Place
Adam Egypt Mortimer - The Obelisk
Deafheaven - Infinite Granite
Card:
I'm assuming this is a nod that I will 'fail' my COVID test, ie be negative. This means I'm just suffering from a cold - something that didn't use to garner nearly this much anxiety.
Looking at the image for this card makes me want to go a bit deeper, though. I'm seeing it for the Abyss it represents visually. I may choose to use this as a starting point for something I may attempt to write today (can't spend every day recharging).
Here's a group I had all but forgot about. A big name to me in the early 2000s, The Hives still sound great today, and I was excited to hear this track at the end of Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley's Invincible. It put the band back on my radar and I'm excited to go through their albums for the first time in probably a decade.
Read:
The new Stephen Graham Jones novel is out today. I had completely forgotten about this until, just before bed last night, I read an article SGJ contributed to the most recent issue of Fangoria, wherein he offers some pretty interesting theoretical methods to fix three problematic Slasher films from the past (Shocker, F13 V and Nightmare on Elm Street 2). Anyway, I grabbed this on Kindle (despite my growing dislike for the device) because I read both of Jones's novels last year and both blew me away. Here's to hoping that this one - with such an awesome title - will do the same. I have every reason to believe it will.
Watch:
So, yeah, K and I finally finished the first season of Invincible. Initially, the first episode had a huge effect on me - it was engineered to do so - but then my interest tapered off. It's this thing I have about pretty much all animation sans Cowboy Bebop, 80s Transformers and... well, that's about it. I don't know why, I just don't connect with it, and I find it hard to finish any series. It was that way with Castlevania - made it up to about halfway through the third season and stopped, and even that took multiple attempts and a couple of years to do. Same with Trese, which I made it about halfway through. Anyway, if you haven't watched it, here's a trailer. However, I think it shows way too much, so maybe just go watch the first episode all the way through. In most cases, that should be enough. Unless you're like me.
Playlist:
Mark Lanegan - Bubblegum
The Jesus Lizard - Liar
The Birthday Party - Mutiny/The Bad Seed
Grinderman - Eponymous
Gesaffelstein - Aleph
Old Blood - Acid Doom
Slipknot - We Are Not your Kind
Code Orange - Underneath
Type O Negative - Life is Killing Me
Sturgil Simpson - Sound and Fury
Metallica - ... And Justice For All
The Hives - Veni Vidi Vicious
The Afghan Whigs - 1965
Card:
I feel like this is referencing something bigger than me, something I'm hopelessly caught in a repetitive dance with. I'm just not sure what that is.
Heard this the other day and it sent me down a Gesaffelstein rabbit hole. Love this track, as well as pretty much everything I've heard from this artist since. Here's the Gesaffelstein Bandcamp - check it out!
Watch:
Last night, K and I watched the first two episodes of the new American Horror Story. The Season is dubbed "Double Feature," however, the first two episodes - part of what I'm assuming is the first feature and will comprise half of the new season - are titled American Horror Story: Red Tide.
I've always maintained that AHS is a mixed bag. While I genuinely like the seasons I've watched - Murder House, Asylum, Hotel, Roanoke and 1984 - all of those except Roanoke and 1984 suffer from being too long. One of the things about Roanoke that blew me away was that, after all the previous seasons clocking in with 12 -13 episodes a piece, Roanoke went 10 and finished cleanly, without dangling plotlines hanging around, needing cleaning up after the major arcs closed. I'm hoping the double feature format will mean both of the stories that will populate this new Season will at worst leave me wanting more.
So, Red Tide is Vampires, and I have to say, the explanation they give for the show's reinvention of the fictional species is possibly my favorite EVER. Yeah, if what Even Peters's character told Finn Wittrock's characters is true, this is some serious outside-the-box thinking on an iconic horror creature that has, frankly, been pretty tired for some time now (with a few exceptions peppering the last decade).
Can't wait for more!
Playlist:
The Rolling Stones - It's Only Rock 'N' Roll
The Rolling Stones, Nicky Hopkins and Ry Cooder - Jamming w/ Edward
Talk about a goddamn legend! So sorry to hear this man left us, but what a legacy he leaves behind. I'm not much of an Exile fan - I prefer pretty much every record the Stones released on either side of it by five years to this one - however, this track, as well as a few others on the four-sider, is a CLASSIC.
Rest in Peace Charlie Watts. You'll be missed.
NCBD:
I had mistakenly thought the opening story arc of Marvel's first Alien title ended in last month's issue #5. Not so, therefore, I am back this month to see how this wraps up and just what the heck Alpha is.
Wow. One of my favorite covers yet. Not gonna lie - I'm not digging the Sinister War title all that much, as it seems extremely superfluous. That said, I still love this core AMS title, and especially after the excitement generated by THIS, I'm in the mood for some Spidey!
This title disappeared for a few months, but it's back, and I'm hoping the cover means we're actually going to see Baron Zemo take on Peter with a sword. That would be awesome
This title has quickly risen to the top of my 'must read' list every month. Can't wait to see where this current arc goes.
If issue #120 really is Raph vs. Hob, there's not much more that I need to hear. The textbook definition of the classic 'Nuff said.
Watch:
After what feels like forever, The Last Matinee finally hit VOD yesterday. Maximiliano Contenti's gory A.F. Neo Giallo is slow-moving almost to a fault at times as it stumbles through attempting to recreate the tone of classic Argento/Lenzi/Martino black-gloved kill-fests, but that's okay. Overall, K and I both really enjoyed the film, and once it gets moving, it really gets moving. If you're so inclined, and you're in for a slow burn, The Last Matinee is currently a $4.99 rental on Prime, and would especially make good viewing for a group.
Playlist:
Quicksand - Slip
Abby Sage - Wasting Away (single)
Jenny Hval - Blood Bitch
Abby Sage - Smoke Break (single)
College - Teenage Color EP
Chromatics - Faded Now
Massive Attack - 100th Window
Slipknot - We Are Not Your Kind
Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou - May Our Chambers Be Full
Mrs. Piss - Self-Surgery
Card:
The elevated perspective will shed new light. I could totally use that on this short, which I am hopelessly drowning in at the moment.
I love love love this song! A random dalliance with NPR this past Saturday introduced me to Abby Sage's Smoke Break, and since, I have been unable to get it out of my mind. This appears to be a single, as with the other tracks I've found on Apple Music by Ms. Sage, so I'll be following her and can't wait until she releases a full album!
Watch:
I went back into a bix box theatre this past Saturday and saw David Bruckner's The Night House. An all-around good experience (We hit a matinee, so there were about five folks other than us there), and the movie was outstanding. A SUPER slow burn, to use a somewhat tired term, The Night House trusts its audience enough not to over-explain everything. This one's sure to spark some "What the fuck?" conversations in all the right ways. There's also a certain logic to its mechanisms that really drives home the fact that Bruckner and screenwriters Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski are exactly the right folks to be working on the new iteration of Clive Barker's Hellraiser.
Rebecca Hall and Barry's Sarah Goldberg turn in great performances, and the story goes places you're never gonna see coming, always an added plus.
Playlist:
The Plimsouls - Everywhere All At Once
Etta James - Eponymous
Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou - May Our Chambers Be Full
The Jesus Lizard - Liar
White Lung - Eponymous
White Lung - Paradise
The Joy Formidable - Into the Blue
Deafheaven - Infinite Granite
Yola - Stand For Myself
Zeal and Ardor - Calloway (Single)
Boy Harsher - Careful
CCR - Bayou Country
David Bowie - A Reality Tour (Live)
Nicholas Elert - The Stylist OST
Abby Sage - Smoke Break (Single)
Zeal and Ardor - Stranger Fruit
Deafheaven - New Bermuda
Card:
Strength in what you know. Words of wisdom Lloyd, words of wisdom. I could use them. Short story is driving me CRAZY.,
I fell back into Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' 2016 album Skeleton Tree album unexpectedly yesterday. I had forgotten how good this record is. Definitely for the quieter moments in life, but exquisite in a way nothing else Cave has done. This is part of the reason I've been unable to get into the 2019 follow-up, Ghosteen - the two albums feel so much alike, Ghosteen strikes me as redundant. I'm certain this is my problem, and that I've just not hit on it at the right moment yet, so I'll keep trying.
Watch:
Hungry for new on new Horror movies coming out, I found this teaser for Frida Kempff's debut feature Knocking on Bloody Disgusting. This one looks fantastic!
This is totally one that would play for free at this year's Beyondfest in the Speilberg theatre space at the Egyptian if that theatre wasn't under construction by new owners Netflix until 2022. As is, because of how I scheduled my first trip back to the Midwest since February 2020, I may not be heading to Beyondfest this year, but if by some miracle the switch of venue to what I'm assuming will be the Los Feliz 3 and Aero Theatres moves the annual fest to a different spot on the calendar, I'll definitely be trying to see Knocking on the big screen. If not, it hits VOD on October 19th.
Playlist:
Pilot Priest and Electric Youth - Come True OST
Soulsavers - The Light the Dead See
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree
The Twilight Singers - Powder Burns
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Tropic of Cancer - The Sorrow of Two Blooms
Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou - May Our Chambers be Full
Zeal and Ardor - Stranger Fruit
Zeal and Ardor - Devil is Fine
Code Orange - Underneath
Card:
Follow my intuition? It's funny, at this exact moment, that would line up perfectly with the post I did earlier in the week where I mentioned blowing up my life. I'm chomping at the bit to leave L.A., to leave my job, for everything in my professional life to change. I just don't know how to effect that change.
Quite possibly, my favorite Black Sabbath song. Although that is probably as difficult to stick by as a mother picking a favorite child.
Sabotage is without a doubt my favorite of the band's albums. The music is phenomenal - really a step beyond anything they'd done before. They kind of split the difference between their blues roots and the shaping of Heavy Metal they began on Paranoid. However, it's the lyrics that really seal the deal on this one for me. There's such an air of prophecy and revelation.
NCBD:
Jesus, my wallet just jumped out of my pocket and took off down the street. Look at this list!
So I was wrong about issue #4 being the finale. Here we go.
This series is so imaginative, so original, and so f*&king gorgeous I just can't believe it. Every issue gets weirder, but never at the cost of the story's inner logic.
I have to have this Skottie Young cover. I'm not generally one of those folks who feel the need to have everything he does - his work is always cool, but it's only when he draws certain classic, larger-than-life Marvel characters that I feel the need to add them to my collection.
Been a minute. Since Lazarus moved to this format, I enjoy the individual issues so much more. That said, with the gap between, I lose A LOT. It's about time for a re-read (which I've been saying for like three years now).
Love this Peach Momoko cover. I dug the first issue of Moon Knight's new ongoing, so I'm interested in where the story is going.
I am really digging this book, and it's great to be back on something with Tony Daniel's art. Waaay back in the day, he was the highlight of Todd McFarlane's Spawn series when I still read it in the mid-90s. I traded in all those Spawns back when I moved to LaLaLand, however, I'd be lying if I didn't say I've actually thought about rebuying a few, just to revisit Tony's art. Now, thankfully, I don't have to. Instead, I can read a well-written book that he illustrates. Win-win.
Coming down to the final days of Nick Spencer's run. I just learned that after he leaves with Amazing Spider-Man #74, the new series will feature Ben Reilly instead of Peter Parker.
Yeah, I totally did a double-take on that one, too.
I'm tempted to jump off again, however, the idea of bringing the clone back (or was Peter the clone?) is too interesting to pass up. At least for a while.
Sweet Declan Shalvey cover on this one. This series is fun as hell, and I love seeing the various bounty hunters whose figures I coveted trying to fuck Fett over. Makes for a helluva story.
Watch:
Last week my copies of Never Hike in the Snow and Never Hike Alone arrived. I missed out on backing Alone, but was able to make it in on Snow. Monday night, I finally had some time to sit down and watch both films.
I'll take this over almost any other F13 feature film any day of the week. F13 is one of those franchises that I want to like so bad, but I almost never do.
Vincent DeSanti does such a fantastic job, not only in stripping these down to what makes the concept of the series great but as Jason himself. Yes, that's the director lumbering in for every kill! And bring back Thom Matthews reprising his role as Tommy Jarvis!
Playlist:
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - The Night Creeper
MadLove - White with Foam
Danzig - Thrall - Demonsweatlive
Danzig - Danzig 4
Deftones - Ohms
The Neverly Brothers - Dark Side of Everything
Razor - Armed and Dangerous
Card:
Harnessing the raw power of an idea and honing it into something tangible.
Another single from the forthcoming album Into the Blue, which is out Friday, August 24, but which you can still pre-order on the band's website HERE.
Watch:
I don't know anything about this new Mike Flanagan Netflix show Midnight Mass except that it's Mike Flanagan.
What else do I need to know?
Also, it looks like this might fit into the Seaside Horror subgenre I've grown rather fond of recently, so that's pretty cool. And really, Netflix has a damn good track record with Horror these days, so I'll definitely be watching this one when it drops.
Listen:
The new episode of The Horror Vision is up. This time, we do a deep-dive into James Gunn's Horror DNA. From writing the screenplay for the Dawn of the Dead remake to Slither, Belko and even a bit on his Troma roots. Check it out!
Playlist:
Alice in Chains - Rainier Fog
The Black Queen - Infinite Games
The Joy Formidable - Into the Blue (pre-release singles)
Deftones - Koi No Yokan
Card:
A larger perspective. Ritual and union. Hmm... not entirely sure how to read this. It may point toward an idea I've had kicking around in my head now for about a week, but I'm unclear if it would be an allusion to it being a valid engagement, or a waste of time.
