16 is new to me, but I'm digging their new albums Dream Squasher, just released on Relapse Records!
**
Saturday we ended up having an impromptu Danny Boyle double feature. It started with his latest film Yesterday, which is absolutely fantastic. I'm not a very big Beatles fan, but I can definitely recognize the impact they've had on the world, so the idea that their music would disappear is a pretty interesting one, especially when your main character is the only person on Earth who remembers it.
Once Yesterday, I followed up an itch I've been meaning to scratch for quite some time now, and put on Boyle's 2011 Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire. I hadn't seen this one since it was in the theaters:
Slumdog holds up 100%. Loved it.
**
Playlist:
Cypress Hill - Elephants on Acid
16 - Dream Squasher
Coheed and Cambria - The Aftermath: Ascension
Various - James Brown's Funky People Vol. III
An awesome two-piece I found while snooping around at the Wäntage USA label's Bandcamp page. These chaps are from Australia, and they make some heavy freakin' tunes.
Back in the 90s, Cypress Hill completed the holy trinity my friend Jake and I were musically obsessed with, the other two groups being Black Sabbath and Type O Negative. I hung with the Hill all the way until Skull and Bones, but even my fan inertia couldn't get me to listen to that one for very long before I bounced, and I've never looked back. The few tracks I've caught wind of on subsequent records felt watered down and lame (What's Your Number? Really?), and without Muggs at the helm for ten years, I was definitely not interested.
Until now.
IV ended up in my rotation recently, and I found once I'd listened to it the first time, I couldn't get it out of my head. My favorite will always be III: Temples of Boom, specifically because at the time of its release, I'd never experienced an album that affected me the way that one did. There's a sick undercurrent to its amalgamation of Muggs' music and production and the cartoonish violence of the lyrics that just left me feeling unsettled for the first few listens. Full disclosure, this was the year Jake gave me a glass bong for my birthday, so I was really high most of the time I was listening to it.
At any rate, IV is the first of their albums to show a crack in their sound; I really dig about 80% of the record, but the stupid sex rhyme and an over abundance of down-tempo tracks on the B side means it starts strong and peters out. I'd forgotten how strong that first half was, and after falling back into it, I noticed the group released an album in 2018. I decided to give it a try.
Elephants on Acid is fantastic! There's probably too many songs again, but over all I am absolutely loving this album. Muggs in on 100% of this one, and it feels a bit like a sequel to Temples of Boom, with similar imagery and aural textures; lots of sitar and otherworldly atmosphere. The opening track takes this a bit overboard, and initially I almost turned the record off because of this. However, I hung in for a full listen, and immediately went back for a second. It feels like old Hill, but not in the way that, say, Rick Rubin returns old metal bands to their former glory by basically creating a caricature of their original sound. This feels fresh at the same time it feels old school. and I'm assuming that's because the group has stripped away ideas of doing anything other than being true to what they are.
I was especially pleased with the track above because it brings back Sick Jacken from The Psycho Realm, whose first album is an underrated 90s hip hop classic.
Now, if only I still had that bong Jake gave me...
**
Last night's viewing:
Also, I did House By the Cemetery with commentary the day it arrived, and saved the actual movie for last night. It didn't disappoint. Never does. "Mommy..."
One of the extras on the main disc is the original TV spots for the flick that aired back in '81. Tell me this doesn't sound like Brother Theodore's character from The 'Burbs did the voice over:
**
Playlist:
Cypress Hill - IV
Cypress Hill - Elephants on Acid
The Psycho Realm - Eponymous
The Atlas Moth - Coma Noir
Brainiac - Smack Bunny Baby
The Cure - Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me
**
Card:
An abundance of ideas, projects, and interests, it takes a greater strength than usual to narrow things down and get anything done at all.
I feel as though I've been waiting for this trailer forever. Now that it's here, I really just want the movie. The real shame is, if not for COVID, Brandon Cronenberg's sophomore flick would most likely be premiering at Beyondfest. As it stands, I guess I'll be doing a big VOD event for it when the release is finally announced (please announce soon!)
**
Late last week I caught wind of William Lustig's company Blue Underground having released a 3-Disc, 4K Blu Ray edition of Lucio Fulci's House By the Cemetery. I love this flick - while it took me a while to come around on The Beyond and City of the Living Dead (I love both now), House has always been a film that fascinates me. So as soon as I saw this, I ordered it. Pricey, but worth it.
The restoration is, as with all Blue Underground's restorations - gorgeous. If you go to this edition's page on Blu-Ray.com (HERE), you can read about the transfer and see some screen shot comparisons. The second disc is filled with extras, including a lot of interviews with the actors and crew, and the third disc is a CD edition of Walter Rizzati's brilliant score for the film.
**
Playlist:
Walter Rizzati - House By the Cemetery OST
Primus - Antipop
M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
Moderat - II
Perturbator - The Uncanny Valley
Elephant Tree - Habits
Cypress Hill - IV
Flying Lotus - You're Dead!
Nine Inch Nails - The Slip
Agnes Obel - Citizen of Glass
Brainiac - Hissing Prigs in Static Couture
David Lynch and Marek Zebrowski - Polish Night Music
**
Card:
Power struggles, internal or external. I'm taking this as a warning that discipline will be needed to fully reintegrate my writing time back into The Secret Life of Murder, now that my belabored short story Fixation on a Coworker is finally finished.
Coworker proved extremely difficult to write; I worked on the thing off and on for a year and three months. I finally brought it in at ~7700 words, then decided I wanted to try submitting it to a publication I recently discovered called Infernal Ink. Some of my stories skew into what I'd call Erotic Horror, and this story especially plays in that arena. There's an overarching theme - or character actually - that runs through these stories, so even though they are stand alone, they're part of a bigger story slowly forming in my head. Anyway, Infernal Ink's submissions cut off at 5K, so I knuckled down and decided to practice one of my favorite parts of writing - editing. I cut the story down to 6K, then down another thousand to 5K.
It felt good! The story as it was is probably perfect at 6K. Chopping it down more wasn't easy, but I eliminated a supporting character arc that originally dovetailed with the protagonist's, eased the throttle back on some of my more descriptive passages, and landed it clean. It was at that point I realized Infernal Ink's submissions are closed, as their upcoming October issue will be the magazine's final issue as they switch gears to focus on book publishing.
Waste of time? Not. At. All. The editing process really bolstered my confidence in a story that otherwise had me running in prosaic circles, and that's never a bad thing. Plus, I found an awesome publisher/magazine in the process (all the issues are on Kindle for under $3).
Previously, I've had no interest in audible, as I'm not one for audio books. This changes everything. A star-studded audio presentation of Neil Gaiman's Sandman? Count me in.
**
I'd been under the impression the final episode of Borrasca was to drop this past Monday, so imagine my surprise when the episode - at a paltry 33 minutes - cut off in an unceremonious manner. Creator Rebecca Kingel had previously said the podcast would wrap with ep 8, so I figured the finale might have been too long for their standard format, making them split the finale into two. I was all set to wait until next Monday when I received word the second part dropped yesterday.
It is amazing.
Easily the scariest fiction I've encountered in any medium for the past several years, the wrap up is filled with revelations and tragedy, and contained a sequence that held me so strongly under its narrative influence that the world around me kind of disappeared for a while. I'm sold on Cole Sprouse as an actor, and very much hope there will be more of this, or at least, another teaming of Klingel and Sprouse.
I really can't recommend this one enough. Earlier, I realized that, along with all the podcast platforms (Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, etc), all the episodes of Borassca are on youtube as well, so I'm posting the first one here as a way to spread the word. I's that good.
**
Playlist:
Walter Rizzati - House By the Cemetery OST
Palesketcher - Jesu: Pale Sketches
Mannequin Pussy - Patience
Exhalants - Band (single)
Le Matos - Summer of '84
Barry Adamson - Stranger on the Sofa
Perturbator - The Uncanny Valley
DAF - Die Kleinen Und Die Bösen
Last week, Metal Blade Records announced the new album from Germany's reigning Post-Metal champs The Ocean. Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic drops on September 25th. Pre-order HERE.
I've followed The Ocean since I stumbled across 2007's reissue of Fluxion in the metal section of a local record store. The group is hot and cold for me, in that I have and love all their albums in theory, but not all of those records are practical listens for me. 2005's Aeolian and 2007's Precambrian have their 'I have to hear that song right now' tracks, but overall are so academically 'post-metal' that, although I appreciate their sonic integrity, I find listening to them for any extended length of time often cumbersome. That said, Fluxion and 2010's pair of albums Heliocentric and Anthropocentric are year-round go-to's, and 2013's Pelegial also easily fits into regular rotation. I'm not quite sure where last year's Phanerozoic I fits into my listening routine yet, primarily because the record kind of got lost amidst a ton of other albums that held my attention for most of the year.
**
A new episode of The Horror Vision Horror Podcast went up yesterday. I've added the handy little widget in the upper right-hand corner of this page where you can listen or follow over to our page on Spotify, since this is the service most of our listens seems to filter through. In this episode, Ray and I go Dynamic Duo and talk about Natalie Erika James' Relic, Jeffrey A. Brown's The Beach House, as well as a bunch of other cool stuff. Also available on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, and Google Play.
**
NCBD - I messed up and posted this week's books here last week, so I'll be picking up those today.
**
Currently reading:
Last week I finished Mark Frost's The List of 7 - very good Victorian mystery novel. Thoroughly enjoyed, and although I was tempted to start the sequel, 6 Messiahs, instead I started Matt Ruff's Lovecraft Country in anticipation of the upcoming HBO adaptation. At a third of the way in, the novel is as fantastic as the trailer looks, so I'm doubly excited now:
The book is very much not what I expected, and that's good. Reading it is a cathartic, as being a long-time Lovecraft fan - we're talking since '92 - I had built up a pretty big head of fandom steam before I ever realized HPL was a completely racist xenophobe. Through the mid-to-late 90s, as his personal correspondences were published, I made it a point to avoid them, as that's when the depth of his ignorance really became apparent (it's in the writing, but not exactly overt, especially not when you're younger and not as skilled at reading into things). Still, as more has come out, it remains more difficult to balance being a fan of his fiction with abhorring his personal philosophies. The first book I read that really played with this was Seamus Cooper's The Mall of Cthulhu, where the protagonists are accosted by a skinhead group who have adopted worship of Lovecraft's entities (great book and only $2.99 on Kindle at the moment). That was a comedy though. Lovecraft Country is not. A taut exploration of this country's racists underpinnings (that just won't seem to go the fuck away), the story is less about Shoggoths and more about human monsters.
**
Playlist:
The Birthday Party - Mutiny/The Bad Seed
Mannequin Pussy - Patience
United Future Organization: 3rd Perspective
Henry Mancini - Charade OST
Charles Mingus - Blues and Roots
Cypress Hill - IV
Raury - Indigo Child EP
The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge
Blut Aus Nord - Hallucingen
Palesketcher - Jesu: Pale Sketches
**
Card:
"A temporary culmination of events or labors. A well-deserved breath." I'll take it.
Some time back in late 2018, my good friend Jesus gifted me a Blu Ray copy of the film Summer of 84. At the time when I first watched it, the film seemed a little too derivative of Stranger Things. Kids on Bikes felt like it was becoming the new Steampunk, i.e. ubiquitous to the point of losing me. Still, I ended up digging the movie that first time.
Yesterday, I came home from work and, as has become my custom, cuddled up with my cat on the couch to take a nap. I generally put Shudder TV on, find something mildly interesting, and nod in and out while I watch. This has been a great way for me to see a lot of films I can't commit to in the course of my regular, evening viewing. Anyway, 84 came on and I fell into it. I felt pretty much the same for most of the movie, and then the last ten minutes or so happened and I finally 'got' what the filmmakers were trying to do. Much like Twin Peaks purposely took on the language of the night time soap opera in order to completely subvert it, Summer of 84 puts on a Stranger Things costume just to turn it on its head at the end. Chilling is the only word I have for it, especially after seeing on Reddit where in a post-screening interview, the directors - François Simard, Anouk Whissell, and Yoann-Karl Whissell - stated they would never make a sequel because - and this is me quoting someone paraphrasing - "The terror was from the ending as it was, and to make a sequel would take away some of the effect."
That's fucking hardcore.
**
The new issue of Fangoria arrived this past Thursday. Look at that cover! The cover story is based on a comic strip Patton Oswalt sent in to Fango in 1984, and the print the entire thing. It's fantastic.
With information about Fangoria's parent company Cinestate coming out on how they ignored one of their producers who sexually harassed women on set coming on top of former Fango head of acquisitions being accused of harassment, it seems that everyone is jumping ship from the magazine.
Not me.
I don't really understand cancel culture in general, but this is insane. The moment the Cinestate story broke, Fangoria Editor in Chief Phil Noble, Jr. posted that Fangoria was looking for new owners, and the head of acquisitions in film had been on board for probably a year since coming over from the same position at Dread Central's film division. He stepped down from Fango immediately, and from what I've seen, there's no suggestion that anyone at Fangoria even knew about his actions. So why then did Shockwaves, Mick Garris, and a host of others dump their association with the beloved Horror mag? Why did one of my favorite new authors not only pull his upcoming book from Fangoria's publishing imprint, but also post a letter to his social media saying that although he has never sexually abused or harassed anyone, he realizes this may have hurt people and he apologizes (I think that's what it says. It's really confusing)?
This apologizing for for nothing is a panicked overreaction in the age of the SJW and cancel culture, and I think it sucks. People are pulling their association with the magazine as a preemptive strike, which is seems more than a little like being guilty until proven innocent. Until someone shows me Fangoria itself actively ignored or fostered this stuff, I'm sticking in as a fan.
The re-launch has been such an amazing vessel for critical and thought-provoking Horror discussion. Much more than the later days of the original magazine's iteration. I never consistently read any of the horror mags when I was younger, but I'd pick them up on occasion and, through the 00s when I worked at Borders, read them on break. By that time, Fangoria paled in comparison to Rue Morgue, in my opinion. No longer the case. Rue Morgue and Horror Hound are still great, but the new volume of Fangoria is fantastic from an academic perspective, and I think everyone who is afraid of the SWJs swooping down on them are going to regret their actions, especially if it tanks the magazine. If you didn't do anything wrong, you didn't do anything wrong. Period. I reject absolutely the idea that everyone on Earth with a penis is a rapist by default, and although I absolutely believe predators of any kind need to be stopped, outed, and punished, guilt by association is not a good thing. One of my closest friends in high school turned out to be a murderer and rapist, and at the time that came out, a lot of people cast suspicions and, on a few occasions, borderline accusations at those of us who hung around him. Although he was my friend, I didn't know what he was capable of, and I certainly did not condone or take part in it. That's the example I use as my guide.
**
Playlist:
Brainiac - Bonsai Superstar
The Chameleons UK - Strange Times
The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge
Le Matos - Summer of '84 OST
Zombi - Shape Shift
**
Short story almost finished, time for something new.
Over the last week or so, I've fallen back into The Chameleons UK pretty hard, and now Strange Times is a daily double listen (at least). I can't explain how much this album affects me; when I first found it in 2015 I was at a precipice, an unknown crossroads before me. It empowered the part of me that knew how everything would turn out, even if another, bigger part refused to go along with it.
I'd be remiss if I didn't add the caveat that, in my opinion, to really get the maximum effect of this song, it must be listened to in the context of the entire album, or at the very least, immediately followed by the next successive track on the record, Swamp Thing. Talk about an extremely powerful double-hitter.
**
I was SUPER excited to come home from work yesterday, smoke out, and watch Jeffrey A. Brown's debut feature The Beach House on Shudder. I knew nothing about this one going in except a blurb I saw that called it "Cosmic Body Horror."
I was not disappointed.
The Beach House takes an everyday situation, makes it awkward, so that a lot of the expectation is based on social mores. The film then balances on a precipice of possibilities, slowly turning up the tension, never quite doing what I expected it to. Which is almost always a great thing.
This one would make a great double-feature with Richard Stanley's The Color Out of Space, as the two films have similar themes and color palettes. Strong tone, great visuals and camera work - some nice juxtapositions of macro and micro with the lens - and eventually, squirm-inducing effects. Highly recommended, but wait for when you're open to a slow unraveling.
The Beach House was the first in a two-day, self-styled event viewing program that culminates tonight with the VOD premiere of Natalie Erika James' Relic. Without theatrical premieres and fests to look forward to, this is the way I stay sane and psyched for Horror Cinema!
**
Playlist:
Various Artists - Twin Peaks (Music from the Limited Series Event)
Ozzy Osbourne - The Ultimate Sin
The Chameleons UK - Strange Times
Lissie - My Wild West
Emma Ruth Rundle - On Dark Horses
Flying Lotus - You're Dead!
Exhalants - Bang (single)
The Obsessed - Lunar Womb
The Jesus Lizard - Head
Jenny Hval - Blood Bitch
Mannequin Pussy - Patience
Pygmy Shrews - The Egyptian
Perturbator - The Uncanny Valley (Expansion)
EPMD - Unfinished Business
Brainiac - Hissing Prigs in Static Couture
Holy Porter - Kistvaen
**
Card:
Personal or global? I think we know the answer to that one, although I don't really have any conflicts (that I know of) at the moment.
New song from Austin's Exhalants. For my money, these guys are the closest band I know of to that old school Jesus Lizard vibe I love so much. I ordered their self-titled debut last year from bandcamp and love it, now it would seem we have a new record coming soon. Can't wait.
**
NCBD:
Didn't 22 just hit the stands last week? Looks like there was one in the queue when the Diamond hiatus happened, so we're getting an extra treat here on the backend. Very nice.
I KNEW IT! I knew that zero issue for Transformers '84 that Simon Furman and Guido Guidi did last year would lead to a series. SO excited. I don't read any other title associated with this beloved childhood franchise, but if Furman writes it, I am there! And look at that cover - does anyone ever get sick of watching Starscream and Megatron try and kill one another? I know I don't.
Love this cover too! This series continues to blow me away with its new direction, so I'm psyched to have 106 come in so close to 105.
**
Playlist:
Andrea Moscianese and Francesco Zampaglione - Tulpa OST
Iggy Pop - Lust For Life
Exhalants - Band (single)
Exhalants - Eponymous
Brainiac - Bonsai Superstar
Brainiac - Hissing Prigs in Static Couture
Perturbator - Dangerous Days
Perturbator - The Uncanny Valley
War on Women - Capture the Flag
Over the weekend, I finally got a chance to check out the Brainiac Doc that's now streaming on Prime. Transmissions After Zero is a fantastic slice of Midwest, indie rock history. I'll never forget the day Mr. Brown first played me Brainiac's Bonsai Superstar. The vocals reminded me of a cross between Marilyn Manson and Adam Sandler's Excited Southerner character (NOTE: This was before Sandler had become an affront to good taste). The music too, especially the guitars, hit the sweet spot between melodic and completely angular and dissonant.
I love all Brainiac's records, and the death of Mr. Taylor was one of the most tragic moments of 90s music history. This doc 100% does both Taylor and the band's legacy justice.
**
Another flick I watched over this past weekend is Jason Lei Howden's Guns Akimbo. Howden has already earned a place in heaven for his 2015 Heavy Metal possession flick Deathgasm, and now this? Akimbo is freakin' nuts; the absolute heir to the Crank series' throne for meth-level madness. Samara Weaving can do no wrong in my eyes at the moment, and Radcliffe gives a great performance as Miles whose punishment for being a worthless internet troll is to have two guns bolted through his palms and made to play in an underground death match internet series. Sound insane? It is:
**
Playlist:
Lustmord - Hobart
Battle Tapes - Sweatshop Boys EP
Soundgarden - Superunknown
Zombi - Shape Shift
Brainiac - Smack Bunny Baby
Van Halen - Eponymous
Brainiac - Bonsai Superstar
Brainiac - Hissing Prigs in Static Courture
**
Card:
Everything needs time and consideration. This dovetails nicely with my early morning realization that the short story I've been wrestling with off and on for over a year now, isn't working out the way I want it to because I've been trying to shoehorn a 10K words at least into under 6K. Accepting this and re-approaching it from that perspective, things may turn out better.
For our second installment of Sunday Bandcamp, I'm sticking with another Spun Out of Control release, however, this time things are not quite what they seem. After discovering Turquoise Moon and their OST from Midnight Demon, I became interested in the band. However, it appears - as in I may be incorrect - that this is actually a side project of Andy Fosberry, who is credited with re-mastering the "Original 1983 tapes" created by Terry Ferrello and Frank Heisenberg, the credited members of Turquoise Moon. That's from the bandcamp HERE. Other than that, there is no information of Terry and Frank, Turquoise Moon, or Midnight Demon anywhere online.
THIS is the kind of thing I LOVE - bands or artists that cultivate mystery. And I feel like it just doesn't happen anymore. Also, really cool album.
I have been nothing but impressed with Two Minutes to Late Night, both as an example of the Late Night TV format I grew up loving with David Letterman (that's where it ends for me), and a vehicle for outstanding cover songs. How do they handle one of my favorite Soundgarden songs?
Perfectly.
They're Patreon is HERE. I've been meaning to sign up. Seems like today is the day.
**
Last night I FINALLY watched Ti West's In A Valley of Violence. As a huge fan of Mr. West's work, my natural inclination to watch this one back when it became available on VOD in 2017. That said, the film proved a source of massive cognitive dissonance for me, as one of the stars is travolta, and I have a 'no travolta' rule when it comes to cinema. There's really no exception to this rule, and while I'll agree he did fine in Pulp Fiction, that film is one I pretty much have no interest in ever watching again, so it works out. At any rate, Valley is currently on HBO, and K was interested in seeing it, thus I had an impartial third party to help me over my hump. Turns out, as I suspected, the film is magnificent. Also turns out, JT does a pretty decent job in it.
Is this a learning experience for me? Should I break down and challenge my No-ben stiller and No jim carey rules?
Nope. Those will stay staunchly in place. I can make an argument that the JT rule was made broken already, as my boycott mainly applies to the post Pulp Fiction work of the actor. His earlier work is spotty, but definitely contains some gems, Brian De Palma's Blow Out being the example that immediately springs to mind.
**
Playlist:
Mastodon - Emperor of Sand
John Carpenter - Skeleton/Unclean Spirit
War on Women - Capture the Flag
The Chameleons UK - Strange Times
True Widow - AVVOLGERE
Prince - Sign O' The Times
The Obsessed - Lunar Womb
Megadeth - Rust in Peace
**
Card:
From the grimoire: "Big Influences and the creation of a new project."
Yes. I'm sitting down to that new project after I post this, so spot on.
Whoah. The month between now and the release of Paul Hyett's new film is going to seem interminable. Read more about it on Bloody Disgusting, HERE. Kind of reminds me of Lynch and Cronenberg in a blender.
What a great way to kick off a holiday weekend, as Sacred Bones announces new, non-soundtrack music from John Carpenter! Read about the new 12" and pre-order it directly from Sacred Bones HERE, or from their bandcamp for 'no fees' day HERE.
**
Speaking of 80s Horror icons, over the past two nights, K and I watched A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Dead and Scream, Queen: My Nightmare on Elm Street, the new documentary on Shudder about the fall of the film's Final Boy Mark Patton's career after staring in the NoES sequel. The doc is great; it sheds light on a lot of questions that naturally arise in the wake of watching the film, and it really helps recontextualize a lot about 80s Mainstream Horror and Hollywood in general. Freddy's Revenge still feels rushed and stilted, however, previously every decade or so I re-watch it thinking it can't be as bad a I remember, and it always is. This time? Maybe in light of the revelations that have come out about the film, or maybe just because time has turned the nostalgia factor up for me - I've never been a huge Freddy fan beyond the original - but I didn't hate watching the film this time.
**
Playlist:
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Various Artists - The Void OST
The Atlas Moth - Coma Noir
The Atlas Moth - An Ache for the Distance
Soundgarden - SOMMS (Record Store Day Vinyl Exclusive)
Black Marble - In Manchester (pre-release single)
**
Card:
Generating positive energy shapes the world. As does negative energy. I've always been a believer in using positive and dismissing the negative. There's a fuckton of negative at the moment, so this is a nice reminder to take a deep breath and look past it.
Available July 3rd. Buy it on Bandcamp, and Ms. Rundle will receive all the proceeds, as 7/03/20 is another 'no fees' day for artists.
**
It's been about five or six years since I last listened to The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast, but I've been meaning to revisit it for some time now. I'm starting with Episode 37: The Shunned House, because honestly, this story came up elsewhere and I have no recollection of ever reading it.
This Lovecraft Amnesia isn't new; I began reading his work circa '92 or '93, when lyrical nods from Heavy Metal bands sent me in search of his work. At that time, it was nearly impossible to find Lovecraft's work in conventional bookstores - this predates Borders - and I ended up buying a copy of The Lurker At the Threshold at a local Record Swap store in Tinely Park, Il.
The shop had a kind of alternative press literary section, not very big at all and filled with titles like The Anarchist's Cookbook, and tomes written about the cinematic underground of Japan. Amidst those titles I came across Lurker, bought it, and promptly read it. It was't until years later I learned this was not a Lovecraft story proper - he'd helped initiate it - but was actually penned by his friend August Derleth, who functioned as a sort of understudy to H.P., eventually opening Arkham House Publishing after his mentor's death. Anyway, Del Rey began publishing cool paperback editions of Lovecraft's work shortly after that - the ones with the Michael Whelan covers - and that was how I initially read what I assumed was all Lovecraft's work. A lot of those stories didn't stick though, so that as years have passed, whenever I go back to them, it's always like I'm discovering them for the first time. After hearing a description of the climactic moments of The Shunned House though, I'm pretty sure I missed this one. I figured I'd brush up with the podcast, and dig into the story this weekend.
If you're a Lovecraft fan, The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast is absolutely worth your time. Also, Chad Fifer and Chris Lackey's wonderful analytical conversations are both fascinating and oddly soothing, making them possibly my favorite podcast hosts ever.
**
Playlist:
Miranda Sex Garden - Fairytales of Slavery
RY X - Unfurl
House of Pain - Same As It Ever Was
Orville Peck - Show Pony EP (pre-release tracks)
Andy Fosberry - Death Ship 2047
Ry X - Thunder (single)
Tangerine Dream - Sorcerer OST
Ritual Howls - Turkish Leather
Card:
The fiery aspect of Earth, which can be dangerous if not controlled. I think this is a warning in regards to the story I'm editing at the moment, which is giving me a bit of trouble, as it has off and on for well over a year now.
It's been a minute since I last broke out the House of Pain. Not sure what inspired it, exactly, but damn! I miss 90s Hip Hop.
**
The sixth episode of the Borrasca podcast dropped Monday. I didn't get a chance to listen until yesterday, and wow! Best episode yet. This one was chilling in its stoicism.
Only two episodes left. I'm all in.
**
Playlist:
Miranda Sex Garden - Fairytales of Slavery
The Chameleons UK - Strange Times
Lustmord - The Dark Places of the Earth
Helms Alee - Sleepwalking Sailors
Code Orange - Underneath
Slipknot - We Are Not Your Kind
Skinny Puppy - Bites
Crystal Castles - (II)
It's been quite some time since I pulled out Miranda Sex Garden's 2000 swan song Carnival of Souls. Last night, prompted by nothing in particular, I noticed its spine on my CD shelf and was moved to give it a spin.
Wow! I've missed this one. My go-to albums with MSG will always be Fiarytales of Slavery and Suspiria. That said, this one has a much more polished feel, but it really works, playing out as a perfect cap on their short-lived career.
And bonus track, because while looking for a video of this one to post, I found this:
This is the first live footage I've found of the band, and it definitely doesn't disappoint. I really wish I could have seen them live.
**
What a NCBD we have this week! Holy cow am I excited! Why?
A 36-page One Shot, the proceeds go 100% to the comic stores selling it! That is awesome. Robert Kirkman can do no wrong in my eyes - he's helping out comic shops and giving us a new dose of one of my all-time favorite characters. Win win.
If that weren't enough:
The second issue of the new series following characters from Garth Ennis and Darrick Robertson's The Boys - with Russ Braun taking over penciling - Dear Becky looks as though it will reveal some interesting things about Butcher's character, while also giving us a glimpse into Wee Hughie's life twelve years after the events of the original series.
I picked up the first issue of this a while back and really liked it, so I'm glad to see the series continue. A weird little take on a horror story, plus, I really like supporting Action Lab. They are forever in my good graces after 2015's Night of the 80s Undead.
Over the weekend I just completed a re-read of The Plot 1-4, I can definitely say I LOVE this book. Ancestral Horror is a thing that needs to make a comeback. After the brief hiatus for the book, I'm psyched to get more answers and, I suppose, inevitably more questions.
**
Playlist:
Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris
Lustmord - The Dark Places of the Earth
Pale Dian - Narrow Birth
Atrium Carceri - Cellblock
Kohler Playlist: Week of 6/29/20
Kohler Playlist: Week of 4/27/20
White Zombie - La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1
Ennio Morricone - The Thing OST
Miranda Sex Garden - Carnival of Souls
**
Card:
"Inspired from Above." Not entirely sure how that applies, but when I think about this card now, I reflect on the fact that this is the highest mark in the cycle of cups, where emotional maturity helps understand the path through Malkuth, the world. There's a harmonic resonance that feels reassuring, even as much of what's outside my window feels like its falling apart, and many of this world's denizens appear to be anything but emotionally mature.
You had me at "Cosmic Body Horror." The Beach House one drops on Shudder July 9th. That means I'll have two days of anticipated premieres, as on the 10th, Relic hits VOD. These last few years have been such an amazing time to be a Horror fan, and despite a segue into real-life Horror, 2020 appears to continue the trend.
**
Via Brooklyn Vegan (article HERE), the Sacramento Music Archive has made a Slayer concert from 1986 available on youtube. This is HUGE in my opinion; I saw Slayer a handful of time, but not before 1994's Divine Intervention, an album I pretty much despise based on what I feel are some pretty lackluster vocals. That said, my love of Slayer is primarily based on their two live albums - Live Undead and Decade of Aggression - both of which I consider among the finest live albums ever released. It's nice to hear something that kind of splits the span of those two records in half, as Live Undead was released in 1984 and DoA 1991. Admittedly not a huge temporal stretch, but in the evolution of arguably the greatest Thrash band of all time, an entire epoch of change spans the divide.
Thank you to the Sacramento Music Archive, whose website you can visit HERE.
**
Playlist:
Andy Fosberry - Death Ship 2047
Van Halen - Eponymous
Phil Collins - Hello, I Must Be Going
Soundgarden - Down on the Upside
Soundgarden - Super Unknown
Queens of the Stone Age - Rated R
Cocksure - Operation C.O.C.K.S.U.R.E.
**
Card:
A solid foundation is what I'm working with on this current short story. That's not the issue. Pulling all the elements together into a cohesive whole is.
I wanted to do something new to break up the regular posts, which will continue under the 'isolation' banner for the foreseeable future because, yeah, COVID is back on the rise. No kidding, huh? I guess all those fucking idiots who thought they could just say, "This has gone on long enough," are realizing that you can't use god or cuntry to boss around a microorganism. I've started to think that maybe, just maybe, this is all going to be a good thing, and that the virus will wipe out all the stupid people. No disrespect to those who have died or gone through the trauma. Hell, I fully realize we're all at risk, but when I see footage of these Orange County and Florida town halls with people demanding their civic leaders relax the mask ordinances, so full of narcissistic and oft-times religious fervor, I understand that these are - hopefully - the people we will lose the most of.
We're probably not going to be that lucky, though.
Anyway, so here's the first installment of Sunday Bandcamp. Andy Fosberry has composed something of an 'extended universe' soundtrack to Paul W. S. Anderson's 1997 classic Event Horizon. I love this album, even if repeated viewings of the film have never quite lived up to the experience I had the first time I watched it, way back when. Event Horizon is still a classic and I love it, despite its flaws, and this OST slots in nicely with the tone and texture of space crazy Anderson achieves with his film.
You can buy Mr. Fosberry's album, titled Death Ship 2047 from the Spun Out of Control label's bandcamp HERE.
**
Playlist:
Andy Fosberry - Death Ship 2047
David Bowie - Low
David Bowie - Aladdin Sane
The Paper Chase - God Bless Your Black Heart
Pale Dian - Narrow Birth
October Language - Belong
Run the Jewels - RTJ4
Gang of Four - Return the Gift (Disc 1)
Team Sleep - Eponymous
Full article on Bloody Disgusting, Legion looks like it will be one hell of a ride. I love the visual allusions to Evil Dead, I love the links to Shamanism and Sorcery, and, well, I guess I love everything about this trailer.
**
Playlist:
C-Building Kids - Shitting in the Urinal
Run the Jewels - RTJ4
Bell Witch and Aerial Ruin - Stygian Bough, Vol. 1
Belong - October Language
Psychetect - Extremism
Andy Fosberry - Death Ship 2047
**
Channeling the Will to forge new goals. As usual, on the nose with my creative endeavors. The novel is finished, I'm palate cleansing with a short story, and then it's back to Shadow Play.
Speaking of writing, here's a situation I find myself in need of help with.
I'm running a poll on the Horror Amino at the moment, but I'll post my quandary here as well. Any readers who are able to post a reply with their opinion on this matter, it would be much appreciated. That said, I generally do not comment on other sites due to an aversion to elongating my online fingerprint, so I will absolutely understand if no one does.
Here's the deal:
The current title for the new novel is The Secret Life of Murder. I'm having doubts about that name, primarily based on friends' who read this back when it was finished in 2008 and didn't take to the title.
Some background:
This is not the second book in the Shadow Play trilogy, which is completely outlined. And when I say outlined, we're talking detailed to the point that the word count of the outline may very well rival or best the eventual word count on the actual novel. That said, I am refraining from actually writing Book Two until Book Three's outline is complete. Three was about 50% outlined as of February, however, two things made me push both of these back so that Book Two will now release in 2021 and Book Three 2022. Those two things were A) Realizing I would not be able to finish outlining Book Three and write Book Two this year, and B) the onset of COVID-19, Shelter-in-Place, and borderline mass hysteria seemed too in-line with The Secret Life of Murder, which follows a small group of characters trapped in Seattle, Washington as a "Murder Virus" the press has nicknamed MV-3 works its way through the population. MV-3 turns everyone infected into rampaging murder drones, and the resulting wave of chaos appears unstoppable. The virus is introduced into the population by way of a book written by a shadowy ex-hippy guru names Abremlin Harvest.
Being that this one was already finished but has sat for over a decade, the work I set out to do was fairly straight forward: I knew there would be a lot of grammatical/syntax issues I needed to edit, because, simply put, I am a much better writer now than I was thirteen years ago. I also knew the timeline of events that make up the plot would need to be sharpened, and I wanted to work the emotions, situations, and socio-political elements occurring in our own world into the story, making it more parallel to what we've experienced so far in 2020. This was not difficult to do, although I did end up changing an entire layer of the final act to better reflect the character arc of the Earth, which figures in as a sort of character when you take into account that, much like I believe with COVID-19, the planet is employing the virus as a medicinal reaction to the overpopulation currently choking the life from it. Taking all this into account, I still feel as though The Secret Life of Murder is the best title, however, after living with this one for so long, I'm unsure if I feel that way because it is a good title, or if it just feels that way to me because it has stood as the uncontested 'placeholder' for it in my head for thirteen years.
The question then is, without having read this novel, is The Secret Life of Murder a title that you would scroll past on amazon or - if you're lucky enough to have one - the shelf of an actual book store. Is its not-so-subtle play on all those non-fiction books from the 00s (The Secret Life of Bees, The Secret Life of Lobsters, etc) cause for an eye roll? Or is it intriguing enough to make you want to at the very least read the synopsis?
Killer track from the upcoming album Shame, out September 11th on Sacred Bones. Pre-order HERE.
**
Today is the day! The first three episodes of Doom Patrol Season 2 drop today, with the remaining six to follow weekly from here out. Season One was easily my favorite show of 2019, and thus I'm expecting a similar reaction to Season Two. Will the show draw more madness from Grant Morrison's infamous run? The Scissormen? Albert Hoffman's Bicycle? Mr. Nobody for President? I can't wait to find out.
Speaking of Grant Morrison, the wonderful folks over at Sequart have released Patrick Meaney's Our Sentence is Up: Seeing Grant Morrison's Invisibles. I snatched a copy on Kindle for a meager $3.99, and even after only glancing through it, I can tell you this volume is worth about ten times that much.
It's been quite some time since I last read The Invisibles, and while I have experienced an increasing pull toward re-engaging with it, at the moment, that seems like a misstep.
**
Playlist:
Various Artists - The Void OST
Powerman 5000 - Black Lipstick (pre-release single)
Alice in Chains - Eponymous
C-Building Kids - Shitting in the Urinal
Uniform - Delco (pre-release single)
The Birthday Party - Live 1981-82
Helms Alee - Sleepwalking Sailors
Apparat - Soundtracks: Dämonen
Perez - Les vacancies continent (single)
The Knife - Deep Cuts
The Knife - Shaking the Habitual
The Knife - Silent Shout
**
Card:
Catharsis and the end of confusion. Globally? I doubt that. Personally, speaking from a mindful perspective at the moment, I don't feel confused per se, unless I broaden that perspective to my place in the world in its current state. Several plates I had spinning are in limbo, leaving a vague sense of, "Well, is that still a thing?" In that regard, an epiphany of any proportion would be most welcome.
Maybe the fact that I happened across this and liked it is proof I'm getting old and complacent. I don't know. I've never cared for pretty much anything about Powerman 5000 before, and I certainly wasn't expecting to dig this. But I kinda did. Are Spider and his bandmates simply latching onto the nearly omnipotent 80s/synth nostalgia that permeates our culture? Probably. Should that piss me off? Well, it would have younger me, but at this particular moment, there's a part of me - the tired, nostalgic part scared by the turns the world has taken - that's just hungry AF for more of the aesthetic from my childhood, when times were simpler and all we had to worry about was Nuclear War, AIDS, and razor blades in candy bars. Ahhhh, childhood...
New album is out on Cleopatra Records in August, HERE's the link to pre-order.
**
After looking for it off and on for the better part of twenty years, I am psyched to say I recently found a copy of Dante Tomaselli's debut film Desecration on DVD for $11.00. This one never made the jump to Blu, and previously I've seen the DVD listed for upwards of $100, so I guess this underrated Italian Director's brief time in the indie horror spotlight has faded. In re-watching Desecration's trailer for the first time in years, I can't help but wonder if this will be one that doesn't live up to the expectations I've slowly been building in my head ever since a good friend turned me onto Tomaselli's work back in 2003, with his feature Horror. While I haven't seen that one in a while, 2006's Satan's Playground remains my favorite of his films to date, and one I rewatch every few years around Halloween.
The mix of imagery employed here is so insane, I'm really hoping the plot doesn't just disintegrate into webbing to hold them all together. I guess I'll find out soon enough.
**
Playlist:
Various Artists - The Void OST
The Veils - Not Vomica
Lingua Ignota - Caligula
Helms Alee - Sleepwalking Sailors
Helms Alee - Night Terror
Helms Alee - Noctiluca
John Carpenter and Alan Howarth - Prince of Darkness OST
Jeff Grace - House of the Devil OST
Misfits - Collection Two
Ritual Howls - Rendered Armor
The Darts - I Like You But Not Like That
**
Card:
Love this card. From the Grimoire: Skill and/or Wisdom. Like yesterday, this feels appropriate. I hit one of those moments last night while reading the finished draft of the book to K where I actually made myself laugh. Always a good sign, because it doesn't happen often, so when it does, it tends to be genuine. As though I'm reading something someone else wrote.
A few days ago, Doves released the first track from what will eventually be their looooong awaited fifth album. "Carousel" is the first since 2009. I'm a huge fan of these guys, in particular, 2000's Lost Souls. The song "Rise" from that album has somewhat of a recurring role in the novel I just finished writing, which will be out later this year, and which I still don't have a title for. Serendipitous then, that this new music drops when I'd gone back into something of an extended Doves mood.
**
Already primed for another narrative podcast to listen to via The Magnus Archives - which I mentioned here a few weeks ago - my good friend Missi recently turned me on to Qcode's Borrasca. Cole Sprouse stars and produces - you might recognize the name as the actor who plays Jughead on Riverdale. While I've never been able to get into that particular show - despite my curiosity about its second season having what I've read described as a 'Giallo' thread in the plot - I'm extremely impressed by everything about Borrasca. At first it seemed a little too "Young Adult" for me, but that isn't the case at all as I've gotten through the first five weeks of what I'm assuming is the first season that's dropping now, new episodes every Monday.
**
NCBD - nice to have this back, eh? I've got some books this week, and one from last week to grab. Here is what's going to be my haul tomorrow:
So nice to get back into this one. There was a moment a few issues back where I thought Gideon Falls might have lost me. No dice. I'm so ready to go deeper into this world:
A new one with art by Jacob Phillips, son and collaborator of one half the dynamic crime fiction duo Brubaker and Phillips. Very much looking forward to this, and I'm hoping for more of that substantial backmatter that makes these books well worthwhile reading month-by-month.
Waiting four months or so since TMNT 104 has been difficult. That issue set up such a rich new world for the brand that I'm even more excited than before with where this title could go. Also, mutant metal bands? Fuck yes!
**
Now that Joe Bob Briggs' The Last Drive-In is over for another year, what the hell will I do with my Friday nights? Well, I recently signed up for HBOMax, and despite my annoyance that it does not work with my firestick, K and I decided to make Fridays Turner Classic Movie night, because TCM is one of the properties lumped in with the sub. There are a lot of movies on there, and being that K is a HUGE fan of old Hollywood, this is perfect.
**
Playlist:
Perez - Les vacances continuent (single)
Deafheaven - Black Brick (single)
Deafheaven - From the Kettle Onto the Coil (single)
Apparat - Soundtracks: Dämonen
Baroness - Gold and Grey
**
Card:
Seems about right, as since I have hit the beta reading phase of the new book, I've already spent an hour or so this morning dusting off something new-ish. Just a short story as a palate cleanser before I dip back into the outline for Shadow Play Book Three!
Well, I know what I'm doing on July 10th. This looks breathtaking.
One of the things I began working on last year is a collection of short horror stories all based around the horrors of aging. Nice to see kinship in a major motion picture. From all accounts director Natalie Erika James is going to be a force to be reckoned with. That's awesome. Good to have another voice along the lines of Jordan Peele, Ari Aster, and Robert Eggers to look forward to hearing from. James' shortfall Creswick is a Master Class in the craft, from the acting to the camera to the sound. I'd expect with a larger budget, someone this good will give us a powerhouse.
**
New Jaye Jayle out August 7th on Sargent House. Here's the latest single. Pre-order HERE.
**
Playlist:
Baroness - Gold and Grey
Flying Lotus - You're Dead
Crystal Castles - II
Lead into Gold - The Sun Behind the Sun
Slayer - Reign in Blood
Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet
Doves - Lost Soul
Stars of the Lid - And Their Refinement of the Decline
Opeth - Blackwater Park
Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower
Public Enemy - State of the Union (Single)
Bell Witch and Aerial Ruin - Stygian Bough, Vol. 1
KRS-One - Return of the Boom Bap
Run the Jewels - RTJ4
Nexus 6 - Too Late to Tease EP
Allegaeon - Apoptosis
Alio Die and Lorenzo Montan á - The Threshold of Beauty
Van Halen - Eponymous
Sault - Untitled
War On Women - Capture the Flag
Black Sabbath - Master of Reality
Doves - Carousels (pre-release single)
Zeal and Ardor - Stranger Fruit
Zombi - Shape Shift
Calling it now: RTJ4 will be my album of the year. Everything surrounding this one is perfect. The digital form of the album dropped months early on Wednesday, June 3rd. The physical is still slated for September, so you know the boys saw the opportunity to issue their statement when it was most needed, in the midst of the Protests and Riots that surrounded George Floyd's murder at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. This particular song directly references Floyd's death, leading me to believe RTJ was recording lyrics up until only a few days or possibly even hours before they dropped the album. That is legendary in my eyes.
I've never been a huge fan of the previous three RTJ records. They're good, and I may grow to like them more in the wake of the impact 4 has made on me, but all my qualms are shattered here. The instrumentation and arrangements are amazing; bombastic, interesting, and weird. Catchy to boot. The lyrics, too, are a level up. As are their delivery, there's a new urgency on this album, one that I can only equate to Chuck D of Public Enemy fame, for my money still the best rapper ever.
**
I should offer a small explanation on my continued use of the "Isolation" moniker for these posts. While a large part of the rest of the world have shrugged off Science's warnings about the continued threat of COVID-19, I am not so cavalier. K and I will be continuing to practice isolation for months to come. Especially after the spike we're already seeing in local microcosmic environments, rising numbers it seems most of the population is content to ignore because they have, "had enough."
Whatever. Thin the population - it does nothing but help the planet and those who will remain.
**
New season of Dark arrives in just two short weeks. That means K and I have to re-watch seasons one and two soon. Nothing like the anticipation that comes from being invested in a series that is not only fantastic, but that has been finite and perfectly plotted from the jump.
**
Jesus, talk about watch list overload. Here's a trailer for the new season of Doom Patrol. Luckily, I won't have to waste my time and resubscribe to the DCU app, as I recently signed up for HBOMAX. That said, after subscribing I realized Max does not work on Firestick, so I have to figure something else out. Either way, this is a MUST.
**
I finished reading Laird Barron's Worse Angels (Fantastic) and Cliver Barker's Books of Blood Volume One, and now I'm on to a book my good friend Chris Saunders (DwC, The Horror Vision) gave me recently. Mark Frost's The List of 7. I've known about Frost's Arthur Conan Doyle novels since their publication in the early 90s thanks to Wrapped in Plastic magazine, the David Lynch/Twin Peaks magazine I subscribed to in the wake of discovering Twin Peaks as it aired. I always knew I'd get around to reading this and the sequel, 6 Messiahs - which Chris also gifted me - and now is as good a time as any.
Here's an awesome website entry about this book that I found while looking for a picture of the cover.
Chris's gifts came at a most opportune time, because the Al Jourgensen auto is proving difficult to get through. A lot closer to what I would expect from a Tommy Lee auto, all braggadocio and not a lot of believable substance at this point (granted, I'm still pretty early in the book). Of course, I expect sex and drugs from any rock star auto, but Al spends a lot of time jerking himself off - metaphorically, in the book there's plenty of random folks to do that for him - and I can't help juxtaposing this with Chris Connelly's auto Concrete, Invisible, Bulletproof, and Fried: My Life as a Revolting Cock, which I read well over ten years ago now, and which is both eloquent and humble. None of that in Uncle Al's early days thus far, and I can't help but wonder if his depiction of ages 13-16 is this filled with conquests and little else, what will the Ministry years be like? I'll get back to this eventually, but I'll probably have to ramp up my Ministry rotation in order to inspire myself to do so.
**
Playlist:
Alice Donut - Dry Humping the Cash Cow
David Bowie - Outside
Flying Lotus - Los Angeles
Flying Lotus - You're Dead
Flying Lotus - Flamagra
Jawbox - For Your Own
Old Tower - The Last Eidolon
Black Magic - Alastor
Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen
NIN - Ghosts VI: Locusts
Underworld - 1992-2012
Run the Jewels - RTJ4
Run the Jewels - RTJ3
Hi-Lo - Poseidon (single)
Kendrick Lamar - Damn.
Beach House - Thank Your Lucky Stars
DAF - Die Kleinen Und Die Bösen
Amon Düüll II - Vive La Trance
Makaveli - The 7 Day Theory
Black Sabbath - Master of Reality
Black Sabbath - Eponymous
Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
Zombi - Breakthrough and Conquer (pre-release single)
Zombi - Earthscraper (pre-release single)
Allegaeon - Apoptosis
**
Card:
Explosion of energy/creativity. Fits perfectly, as over the last 48 hours, I have doubled down on finishing the book. By the end of the weekend, I'm hoping to be in a position to begin reading it aloud to K - one of my most important QC steps, as well as pass it off to two friends who I pay as beta readers. SOON.
