I follow a man who goes by the handle Jomparantala on IG who has totally made me reassess a lot of the music I grew up with in the 80s but later dismissed. I won't say I ever totally gave up on Judas Priest - Living After Midnight remains a song I never stopped turning up to eleven whenever it comes on, although it's been so long since I listened to any radio station that would play it, so while it lingers on an old playlist, it's been a minute. Seeing Jom post about Priest yesterday, I definitely see myself firing up some today.
Watch:
Somehow I totally missed the fact that Neil Marshall's The Reckoning hit VOD two months ago! What the hell?!? I feel like I waited for this forever, then I let it fall off my radar. Well, that will (hopefully) be remedied this weekend. Here's the trailer. Love those plague masks, right?
Playlist:
The Replacements - Tim
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Shake the Sheets
ACDC - Highway to Hell
Alabama Shakes - Sound and Color
sElf - What a Fool Believes (single)
Santigold - Eponymous
The Clash - Train in Vain (single)
Talking Heads - Sand in the Vaseline
Protomartyr - Under Color of Official Right
Protomartyr - The Agent Intellect
Moonlover - Ghost Bath
Deafheaven - Sunbather (single)
Judas Priest - Killing Machine (single)
Zombi - 2020
Goblin - Dawn of the Dead OST
Card:
Everything lately has pointed to self-control, something I've been in short supply of lately (he types as he opens another beer at 11:04 PM moments after setting alarms that being at 4:05 AM)
While I've picked at a few albums by The Replacements over the last five years or so, I've never really fallen for any. Until now. Holy cow! I'm reminded of when, in 2009, I fell hard into The Smiths decades after many people my age did. A friend pointed out that both The Replacements and The Smiths are bands that classmates with older siblings tended to get into when we were younger, and with both of us being the oldest in our houses, that avenue to some of the more sophisticated music of the slightly older classes was cut off from us. That sounds about right, however, I definitely believe you find things when you need them. That was definitely true of The Smiths, and it feels equally accurate for The Replacements, or so far, their 1985 album Tim.
I love falling in love with older bands because I tend to go through these intense exploratory periods. One album at a time becomes an obsession, and within that microcosm different songs tend to cycle through as favorite obsessions. Currently, I'm stuck on "Swinging Party," its subtle lyrics and shimmering guitar, but I've already moved past "Kiss Me On the Bus", and seem imminently bound for "Little Mascara" to commandeer my obsession.
Watch:
With only a handful of episodes left of Penny Dreadful, K and I made the joyous mistake of watching the first episode of Servant on Apple TV. Five episodes later we are HOOKED and not going to be able to go back to Penny until we blow through both seasons of this show. The tone, the ambiance, the characters! I'm a big fan of Lauren Ambrose's character Claire on HBO's Six Feet Under, so it's nice to see her again.
Playlist:
The Replacements - Tim
Garbage - No Gods No Masters (single)
The Joy Formidable - Into the Blue (single)
The Joy Formidable - AARTH
Zombi - Cosmos
Zombi - Shape Shift
Zombi - 2020
Card:
No capacity for interpreting this at the moment, because I'm worn out from being up too late watching Servant!
I really dig this new single by The Joy Formidable, a band I don't know all that much about. Not sure if this is the precursor to a new album from the band, but I'll be investigating their back catalog now, so either way, it's all new to me.
Watch:
It's been a few days since I posted here. Busy as hell. I did find time to watch a few things this weekend, however, the thing that I must discuss is last week's season two opener of Shudder's Creepshow. I can't express how much this episode lit up all the goodwill in my brain. It had everything, including a full-on entry into the Evil Dead mythology, which I don't think any of us were expecting.
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Next up, Mike Wellman and I have returned with Drinking with Comics! It's been difficult to bring this show back, as it's primarily a live show with an audience that, well, for obvious reasons we can't do at the moment, however, for the moment, we're going to do a weekly NCBD round-up on Thursday nights. It will stream live on our FB page, then appear Friday morning on youtube. Here's last week's episode, where we talk Man-Thing, Stray Dogs, Shadecraft, and even find some time to dig into Tomahawk's new record because, you know, you gotta listen to something while you're reading all those comics:
Playlist:
The Replacements - Tim
Alice in Chains - Dirt
Small Black - Duplex (single)
Run the Jewels - RTJ4
Suburban Living - Always Eyes (single)
Godflesh - Pure
Satanic Planet - Baphomet (single)
Tomahawk - Tonic Immobility
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress
Human Impact - EP01
Megadeth - So Far, So Good... So What!
Pixies - Doolittle
Flogging Molly - Float
Zombi - Cosmos
S.O.D. - Speak English or Die
Mr. Bungle - The Raging Wraith of the Easter Bunny
Howard Shore - Crash OST
AC/DC - Highway to Hell
Ghost - Meliora
The Bangles - All Over the Place
Card:
Here's a fella I see quite a bit on these daily pulls. Time to take control of the more willy-nilly, emotionally compromised elements of my Work and steer things back in an orderly direction.
I've gotta say, 2020's Melvins album Working With God is easily my favorite of the group's since 2006's (A) Senile Animal. My go-to favorite track has pretty consistently been the album opener, a modified cover of the Beach Boys I Get Around appropriately renamed I Fuck Around. But Hot Fish is a very close second, and one I played more than once today in order to get through some monotonous paperwork.
Read:
I've always dug the Marvel character Dane Whitman, AKA The Black Knight, so I picked up the one-shot King in Black: The Black Knight last week. Not a great story - it starts great and then quickly begins to feel editorially driven. Plus, I'm not going anywhere near a crossover of this size, so it was largely lost on me. Still, I dug enough about it that it inspired me to dig out another Marvel title that plays off the old school, pulp Weird Barbarian stuff, Jason Aaron and Mike Del Mundo's Weirdworld, from circa 2015.
I love this book for so many reasons, however, chief among them would be the use of Crystar the Crystal Warrior and some of his supporting cast (now that's a fucking PULL), and the concept of an entire forest made of Man Things.
I only have the original, post-Secret Wars five-issue run, and I know there's a second volume that followed, so I'm going to need to track that down.
Playlist:
Michael Kiwanuka - KIWANUKA
Thievery Corporation - The Mirror Conspiracy
Kate Bush - The Dreaming
The Replacements - Tim
Deftones - Covers
Selim Lemouchi and His Enemies - Earth Air Spirit Water Fire
Zeal & Ardor - Wake of a Nation EP
Suburban Living - Always Eyes
Gun N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction
Skid Row - Slave to the Grind
Bjork - Post
Tomahawk - Toxic Immobility
Fantômas - Suspended Animation
Run the Jewels - RTJ4
Flogging Molly - Float
Genghis Tron - Dream Weapon
Card:
Change continues unabated: I type this entry on my brain new, M1 Macbook. The old one - which I've had since August of 2012 - isn't going anywhere, but it's slowing down and suffering from an erratic track pad, so this was a necessary change.
The new Tomahawk is out and it's super fun! Favorite track so far? Probably still Business Casual, but from the stuff I've only been living with for twenty-four hours, I'll point to the almost prog-rock guitar of Tattoo Zero. Meanwhile, Predators and Scavengers has an old school Jesus Lizard feel at times, and they released a video.
Watch:
Block Island Sound - which is currently streaming on Netflix - already feels like a frontrunner for movie of the year. Of course it's my way to make bold statements like that in March and April, so we'll see.
Too soon to tell or not, I fully expect the McManus Brothers' latest foray into Horror to be in my top ten at the very least. It's such an ominous film, dread dripping into all the little corners of one family's life.
"As part of Sweet Relief Musicians Fund's recent 'For The Crew' fundraising event, Hooky's son Jack teamed up with Mark Lanegan (Mark Lanegan Band/Screaming Trees), Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder and drummer Shane Graham for a special live version of the Joy Division classic 'Disorder'.
All funds raised by this event went towards supporting out of work touring crews who have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
Please consider making a donation if you are able to: https://givebutter.com/FORTHECREW
If you're in the US you can also text FORTHECREW to (202) 858-1233."
Watch:
I had yesterday off, so Tuesday night K and I had a bit of a marathon. Being that it was my birthday, I wanted to reconnect with what I've come to think of my 'power movies.' There are quite a few, but here's what I went with:
Followed by:
Rounded out by my second viewing of Ryan Gosling's gorgeous directorial debut in the last two months (with a third already scheduled):
This was a great night for me; it'd been longer than I realized since my last viewing of my favorite Horror film of the 00s. Kill List I'd only seen once before but it left such a huge impression on me I'd been planning a follow-up for years. Luckily, thanks to Anthony (Butcher) from The Horror Vision, I located a B-Region BR for $5 a few months ago, so now I can watch my favorite Ben Wheatley film whenever I want. And Lost River has just become one of my all-times. I seriously think about re-watching it every day.
Every. Day.
Playlist:
Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
Cocksure - TVMALSV
Etta James - Eponymous
Tennis System - Technicolour Blind
The Dead Milkmen - Welcome to the End of the World
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Abbatoir Blues
The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes are the Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings
Genghis Tron - Dream Weapon
Card:
I felt honored and ecstatic to do my first birthday pull from Missi's Raven Deck. I wasn't disappointed, either:
The presence of Boaz and Joachim are very positively charged images for me, one of the reasons this might be my favorite card from this deck. Plus, I've always considered a strong, mythical female presence as the closest thing to a supreme power in the cosmos of my life. Here, flanked by Soloman's pillars and a weird forest-derived rendition of the Tree of Life, I see nothing but the actualization of the processes I have put into place over the last several years.
My good friend Mr. Grez recently introduced me to Maldita Vecindad y Los Hijos del Quinto Patio, or from what I'm seeing, more commonly shortened simply to Maldita Vecindad. This band is fantastic; they kind of run all over the place, but for an elevator pitch I might simply go with - from the few songs I know so far - Los Amigos Invisibles meets the Blue Meanies. Check this song out, which in particular was the impetus for me pulling out the Meanies late last week.
Read:
It's been difficult to log anything in this particular segment of late because I've literally been drowning in the written word (a nice way to go, eh?). From the early 90s Fantaco Night of the Living Dead graphic novel adaptation series (thanks, Butcher!), to Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, to weekly issues of the monthly series I follow, to the last-minute Bernie Wrightson/Kelley Jones re-reads I flew through over the weekend as prep for Chris Saunders and I sitting down with Jones to discuss Wrightson on the newest episode of A Most Horrible Library, I've been in and out of so many continuities lately that my heads started to spin a bit.
But something I've casually commented on over the last month or so that's percolating into a full-on reread is the old Hellblazer series.
Although I was already in the middle of a slow crawl through Jamie Delano and John Ridgway's original arc collected in Original Sins, I went and reread perhaps Constantine's most iconic arc, the Garth Ennis and Will Simpson's Dangerous Habits. This was seasonal reading - the story I went to over a few pints of Guinness on St. Paddys last week. I finished it last night, and really felt a different aspect of the story resonate with me this time, and that's John's relationship with Matt.
This relationship is extremely poignant in the Constantine evolution because it's one of (if not the first) time in the series that we see John make a new friend, and how because of how he's let down or betrayed so many of his other, old school friends, we see what Matt's friendship means to him, how he comes down on himself in such a brutal fashion when he gets a new lease on life and realizes he may have forgotten about Matt. This B-story is honestly more emotionally fulfilling than the iconic (and still awesome) Constantine cheats the Devil one in the foreground, and it's something that I don't really think made as big an impact on me back in the day as it does now.
From here, I'm going to continue through Original Sins, however, a full-on Ennis/Dillon reread is imminent at this point, now that my appetite for Ennis' particular take on the character has been reawakened.
Watch:
Patreon is a slippery slope. I launched one for The Horror Vision recently, mostly because last year, I found out there is another guy out there using our podcast name. We've had the name (and the .com) since October 2018; he started his almost a full year later. He also very obviously realized there was already a podcast with the same name when he went to buy the website and saw ours (his website is a derivation). At any rate, I don't really bear this person any ill will, however, I find it a little perplexing and frustrating that he wouldn't just, you know, come up with another name. So, after discovering all this, I immediately went and branded everything I could think of with our name, Patreon being one of the big ones.
But do we, The Horror Vision, as a podcast, do anything that warrants someone paying to support us on this platform? At the moment, no. I'm slowly working on getting some things off the ground that will make me better about occupying this space - the Patreon exclusive Podcast Elements of Horror is coming SOON - but in the meantime, I just feel weird about even having it. I mean, I don't even totally understand Patreon. Or, at least I didn't until I subscribed to Jeremy Haun's.
Now, this is nothing against Jonathan Grimm, whose Patreon I subbed to some time ago. John's one of my favorite artists working today, a frequent collaborator, and one of my best friends, so it's different. But Jeremy is someone who I met as a fan, and, I think, hit it off with over the course of a podcast interview so that, while I don't know that we're 'friends' exactly yet, we're friendly. And Jeremy's mind, the narrative work he creates, it just has me. The Red Mother was a unique and completely enthralling experience to read; having the opportunity to pick Jeremy's brain about it (and a hundred other things) was a pleasure and one that made me think I would absolutely benefit from supporting him on the Patreon platform. Turns out, I was right.
Just the Haunthology stuff alone fills my heart with the jet-black glee I love so much. Jeremy's is a narrative with ongoing, far-reaching continuity, and that's my favorite thing. Literally. The video above should help demonstrate that. I guess this is probably coming off as a sales pitch for Jeremy's Patreon, and I guess to some degree it is, because I just spent a wonderful hour immersing myself in it and feel completely elated, the way I do when I sit down and read a full arc by David Lapham, or a Hellblazer trade, or watch a great movie. And those are always going to be the things I want to tell other people about on here, because I like to spread the word. Works for the creator, works for the consumer. Literally, win-win.
Playlist:
Drab Majesty - Modern Mirror
Genghis Tron - Board Up the House
Pailhead - Singles
Primitive Man - Immersion
Steve Moore - The Mind's Eye OST
Sunn O))) - Kanon
Steve Moore - VFW OST
Card:
I have always loved the colors in this card. The rocky, pixelated backdrop and the emerald symmetry of the image in the foreground work together so well to create this feeling of order over chaos, which of course, is the nature of a truce.
This is the truce within myself that I have to navigate in the midst of the, frankly, insane workload I've created in my life. It's a constant energy drain to dodge and weave between projects, but there's no other way I can do things at this point. I believe it's how I've stayed sane during this trying time.
A little Blue Meanies is like a double shot of espresso this early in the morning.
Watch:
I saw a handful of flicks this weekend, however, this is the most intriguing thing I've watched in some time.
For our anniversary last month, I signed her up for Christine McConnell's Patreon. I enjoy Ms. McConnell's content, however, K is a super fan. This video, which is not a Patreon exclusive but one of McConnell's public offerings, is absolutely insane, as we watch her recreate the color of one-hundred-year-old wallpaper by sight, then physically recreate the areas of the paper that were damaged beyond repair.
Playlist:
Human Impact - EP01
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - From Her to Eternity
Suburban Living - Always Eyes
M83 - Saturdays = Youth
Maldita Vecindad - Lo Essencial
Blue Meanies - Full Throttle
Pigface - Live 2019
The Dead Milkmen - Welcome to the End of the World EP
John Carpenter - Lost Themes III: Alive After Death
Card:
Transitions. Completely appropriate, as I was forced to order a new Mac Book today due to the failing health of the one I'm typing this truncated recording on now. These entries may be short or nonexistent after this until early April, while I wait for my new machine to arrive.
A new Human Impact EP dropped last Friday and I totally missed it. Last year's eponymous album from these guys was kind of the soundtrack to the apocalypse, so this comes with mixed feelings. Either way, if shit goes pear-shaped again, at least it'll have another great OST.
Watch:
April 16th can't get here fast enough. Why?
I'll see anything even remotely associated with Larry Fessenden regardless, but it's always great when he spends more time on screen. Here, he's leading man opposite Barbara Crampton? In what looks like a fantastic modern vampire movie, no less. Count me in.
Playlist:
Pilotpriest - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Godflesh - Pure
Arab Strap - As Days Get Dark
Suburban Living - How to be Human
Pigface - Live 2019 (vinyl, 231 of 1000)
Huey Lewis and the News - Weather
Card:
I read this as "letting go," which is especially pertinent to my day job at the moment. Being made salary means I'm taking a pay cut if I continue to work the extra hours I am essentially taking a pay cut, so I have to learn to let certain things go. I have a good team that works for me, and what this ultimately means is I will have a lot more time to write. Win Win, as long as I can let go.
The anticipation for Genghis Tron's new album is becoming palpable! It helps that none of these songs are anything I would have expected from this band, which is, of course, a good thing.
Out next week on Relapse Records, there's still time to pre-order HERE.
Watch:
This one popped onto my radar recently, and after realizing Son is directed by Ivan Kavanagh, who also did 2014's The Canal, I'm very much looking forward to it. Here's the trailer, which I myself am not watching, preferring instead to go in blind on this one:
Son is an easy $6.99 rental on Prime at the moment, so that might just happen this weekend. After the werewolf revenge flick I mentioned in yesterday's post, that is.
Playlist:
Run the Jewels - RTJ4
Godflesh - Pure
Suburban Living - Always Eyes
Suburban Living - How to Be Human
Drab Majesty - Modern Mirror
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - The Night Creeper
DJ Muggs the Black Goat - Dies Occidendum
Flogging Molly - Float
The Pogues - Red Roses For Me
Card:
We'll skip the obvious allusion to drinking on the morning after a fairly subdued St. Paddy's and go for the archetypal:
From the grimoire: "An artist above all things. Intensely secret and dedicated to his craft."
Been drinking, felt the need to post. I was going to watch an Irish Horror Flick tonight, instead I think I'll round out the evening reading old Garth Ennis Hellblazer issues.
I won't be able to celebrate appropriately until Saturday. Even then, this is the second year in a row I can't gather my movie night squad and feed them Corned Beef, Whiskey, and Phil Joanou's Irish Mafia epic State of Grace, which I watch every year. Still, they're in me heart, eh?
NCBD:
Well, this week is a pretty small haul, but it's an issue I've been looking forward to:
Also, this one came out last week, and I've had it on-hold with Atomic Basement:
I'm not entirely certain why I'm buying this one, so let's hope I'm not severely disappointed. I've always said I can't tolerate a monthly dose of the Caped Crusader, and in the past I have been pleasantly surprised by one-off buys like this over-sized anthology of short stories, so I guess we'll see.
Playlist:
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Let Love IN
The Neverly Boys - Dark Side of Everything
Electric Youth - Come True OST
The Birthday Party - Junkyard
Genghis Tron - Pyrocene (pre-release single)
Genghis Tron - Dream Weapon (pre-release single)
Tomahawk - Business Casual (pre-release single)
Tomahawk - Dog Eat Dog (pre-release single)
Card:
Mixing disparate ingredients to bring something new to the table. Committing to follow it through. I'm not quite sure how to interpret that at the moment, however, it may have to do with podcasting and my continued inertia/anxiety about attempting to bring DwC back to life. Plenty of ideas, and maybe the ones that I should be looking at stretch the pre-existing format as far afield as possible.
I received a surprise early birthday package from my good friend Mr. Brown yesterday. Not only was Huey Lewis' newest record inside, but also Dave Svitek of TVOTR's new band, The Neverly Boys, which I had completely forgotten about. The album Dark Side of Everything is FANTASTIC, and I can't stop listening to it!
Thanks, J.B.!
Watch:
Bloody Disgusting ran an article about Director Patrick Rea's new film I Am Lisa HERE.
You had me at "Werewolf Revenge Movie."
Playlist:
Electric Youth - Come True OST
Blut Aus Nord - 777 Cosmosophy
Blut Aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta III: Saturnian Poetry
Zonal - Wrecked
Blanck Mass - Animated Violence Mild
Maldita Vecindad y Los Hijos del Quinto Patio - Lo Essential
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - No More Shall We Part
Radiohead - OK Computer
The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed
The Neverly Boys - Dark Side of Everything
Card:
Victory, which tells me that, yes, I've finally finished a short story I've been struggling with since 2018! That feels good - a nice palate cleanser before switching back to Shadow Play.
I'll admit, I love the song, but don't plan on watching the video. As she gets more clout behind her, and Still, any new music from Meg Myers is a welcome, joyous thing these days. Her aesthetic, instrumentation, production, and of course, songwriting, are top-notch and always hit me super hard, reminds me a bit of how Garbage hit me the first time I snagged my kid really listened to them.
Watch:
After renting Come True on Prime last night, Anthony Scott Burns just became one of my favorite directors. I can't recommend this one enough - imagine Dreamscape married with Beyond the Black Rainbow and that will get you in the ballpark, but Burns' style is all his own, and it's fucking glorious. I just posted the trailer a day or so ago, so here's what will no doubt live on as an ICONIC track from the soundtrack by Electric Youth and Pilot Priest:
Upon finishing the film, I immediately shot over to Waxwork Records and pre-ordered on gorgeous Cyan Blue with Red and Yellow Splatter vinyl:
I will be 100% shocked if Come True doesn't end up in my top five movies of 2021. I cannot wait to buy this film on Blu Ray.
Playlist:
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Push the Sky Away
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree
Radiohead - OK Computer
Meg Myers - Sorry
Mastodon - Once More 'Round The Sun
Ministry - Psalm 69
QOTSA - Villains
Sam Cooke - One Night Stand! Live At the Harlem Square Club, 1963
The Pogues - Rum Sodomy and the Lash
The Replacements - Tim
The Raveonettes - In and Out of Control
SOD - Speak English or Die
Soul Coughing - Irresistible Bliss
Cake - Fashion Nugget
Electric Youth - Breathing OST (For a lost film)
Electric Youth - Come True OST
Dream Division - Beyond the Mirror's Image
Card:
Three of Disks - Too much work of late, it's left me unable to function in my non-work life, so I'll take this as a nod that the hard times are over and things will even back out.
As I mentioned the other day, that algorithm on Apple Music has sent me into a spiral with a band I love but haven't listened to in a while. I feel a full-on Godflesh bender on the horizon, and I welcome it with open arms.
Watch:
The trailer for Anthony Scott Burns' new flick Come True dropped recently, and it looks creepy as all hell.
Ah, you had me at "A Neon-Soaked Cinematic Nightmare." Burns' name is one I marked after his segment in the Horror Anthology Holidays, which seems to be perpetually available on Netflix if you haven't seen it. His "Father's Day" is great, as are most of the others (Kevin Smith's marked the first Smith project in a loooong time that I enjoyed.)
Playlist:
The Devil's Blood - The Thousandfold Epicentre
Ghost of Vroom - Ghost of Vroom 2 (single)
Helmet - Meantime
Godflesh - Pure
Drab Majesty - Unarian Dances
Drab Majesty - Careless
Deth Crux - Mutant Flesh
Nothing - The Great Dismal
Card:
Definitive rulings aren't easy, but they're better for everyone. I tend to want to take on a lot of work for other people, but that's not always good for them and usually not good for me. A friend asked me to edit the manuscript for her first novel, and what I found as I worked through the first chapter - roughly 4K words - was a simple edit wasn't possible without getting into re-writing. I dove in and then checked myself: that's not going to do either of us any good, especially her. She needs this experience because as tired of the novel as she probably is at the moment, reworking it will only make her better. This isn't something that easy to tell someone, however, after assuring her I'm in to help for the long haul, in any way I can, I think it's for the best.
I bought a new phone this past weekend. It was time. One of the new features on Apple Music that is cribbed from Spotify is when an album you're listening to ends, they throw a bunch of songs at you that the almighty algorithm finds based on what you just listened to. This is a little cool and a little lame. Lame, because Nick Cave dredged up a bunch of really bad stuff the other day, cool because after I spun through Soul Coughing's Irresistible Bliss this morning, Apple went into Cake's "Frank Sinatra". One taste of that track and there was no way I wasn't going all the way through Fashion Nugget, one of my favorite records from the 90s. Here's the thing though. I count myself a Cake fan because of how much I love this record, but I'm not really familiar with their other stuff. So when this particular version of Nugget ended with a live version of "Jolene", I was floored.
This track is amazing.
Anyway, I'll finally be digging into some more of Cake's discography after this, so I'm pretty excited. It's not every day I get to have a band from my past feel so new to me (I think that's why I play so coy with some bands in the first place).
NCBD:
Only a few titles this week on NCBD, but that's fine. Last week was a killer.
The Autumnal has been a great Horror title so far, and I'm definitely anxious to see where it's going. Kind of a mash-up of Folk and Ancestral Horror, but with a decidedly more modern feel.
I picked up issue one of Night Hunters a few months back on a whim when I noticed the unmistakable art of Alexis Ziritt. You may know Ziritt's work from Black Mask's 2015 limited series Space Raiders. Hard to say what's going on in Night Hunters after only one issue, but whatever it is, I dig it. From Floating World comics, who are super indie, so give them the benefit of the doubt and pick this one up if you see it at your local comic shop.
Watch:
I caught David Keating's Cherry Tree on Shudder yesterday after work and enjoyed it quite a bit. Pretty cool little flick, but then these smaller, English/Irish films tend to be my jam.
The make-up at the climax has a definite Nightbreed-era Barker feel, which was cool and added to an already very cool atmosphere.
From the hallucinatory reverberations of the sax that opens this track, to the seething keyboards that close it, here's an entry from the original Twin Peaks series first OST that often gets taken for granted. Plus, the Bookhouse Boys!
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A few nights back, K and I finally got around to watching the copy of Criterion's 40th Anniversary, 4K restoration of David Lynch's The Elephant Man. This proved to be a deeply emotional experience, not just because of the movie itself, which is an emotional juggernaut, but also because of Criterion's loving restoration of the film and DP Freddie Francis' realization of Lynch's glorious Black and White vision.
This is one of Lynch's films I had only seen twice before: once just after High School, a few years after I got into Twin Peaks' original airing, and once when I bought the DVD released in the early 00s. Neither viewing proved super memorable to me at the time, and now, I can't imagine why that would be.
Playlist:
ACDC - Highway to Hell
Nick Cave and Warren Ellis - Carnage
Alan Vega - Saturn Strip
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Push the Sky Away
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree
David Lynch and Marek Zebrowski - Polish Night Music
Aphex Twin - Syro
John Carpenter - Lost Themes III: Alive After Death
Ilsa - Preyer
Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks OST
Card:
As the Firey aspect of Fire, we're doubling down on activity, aka actually getting some shit done. The pre-sale for Murder Virus is underway (I officially announced it on social media last night), and I'm taking a bit of a breather by editing a friend's first novel. Meanwhile, I'm reading up on Hassan I Sabbah and the Assassins, as well as the Tetragrammaton, both subjects that will inform the next two books of the Shadow Play series.
As a side note, if you're reading this and you pre-ordered Murder Virus back when I originally announced it here, please allow me to ask a favor of you. Go back in, cancel that order, and then re-order the book. Due to a printing error with the proofs I was sent, the early pre-orders will be getting an inferior edit of the book, thus I'm trying to catch the few that may have gotten through and get those folks squared away with the definitive version.
Because it was the first song I heard after waking today. It's been a while since I sat down with some ACDC, so I threw on Highway to Hell and ripped through the first three tracks while getting ready for work. Now that's a fortifying breakfast!
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I watched several flicks over the weekend. One of them was Martin Scorsese's criminally under-rated 1985 comedy After Hours. Damn, I love this flick.
Playlist:
Perturbator - Death of the Soul (pre-release single) Perturbator - The Uncanny Valley
Alan Vega - Nike Soldier (pre-release single)
Sleaford Mods - Spare Ribs
Robots in Disguise - We're in the Music Biz
Grimes - Art Angels
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - The Night Creeper
Underworld - Barbara Barbara, we face a shining future
Deadmau5 - Random Album Title
Various Artists - The Best of Northern Soul
The Raveonettes - In and Out of Control
The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Damn the Torpedoes
Etta James - Second
The Raveonettes - Raven in the Grave
Ween - Quebec
Ween - Shinola, Vol. 1
The Used - Ocean of the Sky
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Fours are even keel, balance, things get done and we settle into roles/situations/projects. I'm not there yet, but I'm close, so this is encouraging at the moment.
It's hard to believe it's been five years since 2016's The Uncanny Valley, the last album from Perturbator. It seems a lot longer. Sure, there's been an EP and two B-sides/remix discs, but to me, James Kent's Perturbator lives and breathes in the album format. Now, here's the first track of forth-coming Lustful Sacraments, out May 28th on CD and digital, June 25th on Vinyl. You can pre-order those from Blood Music HERE; I was lucky enough to catch one of only 125 of the picture discs!
Let's talk about the new track. I'm reminded of old Nitzer Ebb a bit, early 00s Miss Kitten and the Hacker, and of course, that danger-soaked, percolating blood percussion we all know and love from Kent's previous Perturbator releases, although here there's an underlying wash of 80s dark sparkle and seething industrial menace. In other words, as he promised, this record sounds like it most definitely will be unlike the others.
Good. Let's push things forward...
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I caught Natasha Kermani and Brea Grant's new film on Shudder yesterday afternoon. Very good. Would make a good double-feature with Amy Seimetz's She Dies Tomorrow.
I won't lie, there's a part of this new wave of existential Horror that makes me a little suspicious. The musings of films like She Dies and now Lucky reminds me a bit of those Existential comedies of the late 90s/early 00s. You know, that loose sub-genre or movement that began with Being John Malkovich - a film I can't say a bad word about - and continuing on into Michel Gondry's films and the wake of films that tried for the same tone. That particular movement reminds me a lot of new-age spiritualism, as it's more about the packaging than the actual philosophy. In other words, it's fun to look like we're contemplating philosophical conundrums and the like, but we're not really going through the work of actually contemplating them. I'd wager I'm probably wrong about Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind because, despite the fact that I did not explicitly mention that film by name here, it springs to mind as the actual start of this Cosmetic Existential Genre, so to speak (I always give anything with Jim Carey a bad rap, just because I don't like Jim Carey).
But I've really shifted from my original point, haven't I?
Lucky is a unique take on a Slasher flick, and I dig the mechanics of what Grant (writer/star) and Kermani (director) have set up for the film. It's a skosh reminiscent of the first Happy Death Day, but not in any way that feels uncouth. However, it's this how the filmmakers dress these mechanics and where it actually goes in the end that felt a little 'huh?' to me. Perhaps I am primarily preoccupied with trying to discern if the point of the film was all men are rapists/abusers. I hate that my mind went there immediately upon completion of the viewing, and it may not even be the film's fault, but that's definitely something that's still in the air, and it troubles me because, you know, I'm neither of those things. Nor are my male friends.
Anyway, you can see by my train of thought that Lucky did exactly what a good film should do, and that's make you think. So hats off to Lucky, and really, between this and 12 Hour Shift, Brea Grant is definitely becoming one of my favorite new filmmakers.
Playlist:
David Bowie - Heroes
David Bowie - Hunky Dory
Opeth - Blackwater Park
PM Dawn - Set Adrift on Memory Bliss (single)
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Bayou Country
The Cure - Pornography
Blanck Mass - In Ferneaux
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Listen to what those who know more about things are trying to tell you, a reminder we can all use from time to time.
A little Bowie to start things off today, because I'm missing his presence in the world a great deal at the moment.
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Here's a great little interview with Nick Cave from last year. Really digging the new Nick Cave/Warren Ellis "solo" record, Carnage, which is great, because I didn't care for Ghosteen at all, as it felt too similar to Skeleton Tree.
Playlist:
Jackie Wilson - Higher and Higher
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles - Going to a Go-Go (single)
Run the Jewels - RTJ4
Death Grips - Gmail and the Restraining Orders (single)
Death Grips - The Money Store
The Replacements - Tim
Sleaford Mods - Spare Ribs
Dream Division - Beyond the Mirror's Image
The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust
The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes Are the Last of the
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A recent imbalance definitely caused a miscommunication between myself and one of my fellow podcasters. This has postponed the long-planned Drinking with Comics reunion. I'll probably do a deeper pull later this week to try and figure out how to approach solving this issue.
One of my favorite albums from my Relapse Records 30th Anniversary Golden Ticket is Valkyrie's Fear. Some call this Proto-Metal, and that fits pretty good for me, although straight-up Hard Rock probably also works, as long as that moniker doesn't diminish the band in any way. Because Valkyrie feels like a very tight four-piece making metal that doesn't slot into the modern broth a lot of the bands I dig sip from. There's a definite 'back-to-basics' with instrumentation, arranging, and vocals, so in that regard they remind me a bit of The Devil's Blood or Baroness. But these guys are their own thing, and I dig it.
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I don't remember hearing about Director Chad Crawford Kinkle's new film Dementer before seeing this post on Bloody Disgusting recently, however, with Larry Fessenden's name on top of the video drew me in, so that as I was about to post this trailer last night, I realized Dementer released this very day, so I hit amazon and rented it for a paltry $4.99 - SO very worth it.
The trailer doesn't give anything away, so my elevator pitch would be, "Gummo meets Hereditary." If that sounds as intriguing to you as it does to me, rest assured that although Dementer takes a little bit of a laborious journey to achieve its destination, the destination is 100% worth it, the atmosphere alone inciting a pleasurable Horror movie anxiety the likes of which I haven't had in a while
As an aside, it's been a difficult couple weeks at work - the unprecedented weather in the south basically destroyed FedEx's operations out of their Memphis hub for a fortnight, and with it, made my life a living hell. One of the things that always helps me through a rough day at the office - other than the copious amount of music I listen to on my headphones - is browsing Bloody Disgusting for new movie news. But almost a year after the first major changes due to the COVID-19 virus, the film industry's shut down is finally hitting us in the form of what feels like a MAJOR drought. People just haven't been able to film, and we've run through a lot of what was already in the pipes pre-pandemic, so there's not a lot coming out. First-world problems, I know, but it doesn't change the world from feeling even bleaker at the moment. In contrast to this was my stumbling across Dementer last night and being able to click over and jump right in.
Playlist:
Jackie Wilson - Higher and Higher
Melvins - Working with God
The Raveonettes - In and Out of Control
Lynch Mob - Wicked Sensation
The Misfits - Earth A.D.
The Plimsouls - Everywhere at Once
Nick Cave and Warren Ellis - Carnage
Blanck Mass - Animated Violence Mild
The Foundations - Build Me Up Buttercup (single)
The Foundations - Baby, Now That I Found You (single)
Various Artists - That Philly Sound Presents The Best of Northern Soul
Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters
Run the Jewels - RTJ4
Queensrÿche - Empire
Keiichi Okabe - NieR:Automata OST
Valkyrie - Fear
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The Elevatred (or Macro) view is always the clearest when it comes to details on the horizon.
Another new track from the forthcoming Dies Occidendum, out March 12th on Sacred Bones. Pre-order HERE.
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K and I finally watched Ben Wheatley's remake of Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca over the weekend. Loved it; K only showed me the Hitch a few weeks ago, and I have to say, perhaps because I'd been wanting to see it for so long and had high hopes, I didn't love it. The third act is great, but it's a rough climb to get there. The Wheatley version, however, moves at a better pace. It's not faster, it just doesn't waste as much time with A) Miss Van Hopper (ugh), and B) meandering in the relationships it sets up. It also stages the mechanics of its denouement with a better sense of grace, without sacrificing the gorgeous ambience that often trips up Hitchcock's film.
Playlist:
Melvins - Working with God
Lard - Pure Chewing Satisfaction
The Replacements - Tim
The Raveonettes - In and Out of Control
PJ Harvey - Stories From the City Stories From the Sea
K's 70s Gold Playlist
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I feel like I wasted a lot of time resting yesterday, but after working a pretty rough week and a Saturday to boot, this card confirms I needed it. Now? Time to finish up this last (I swear) edit on Murder Virus, then, onto Shadow Play again.
New Tomahawk track gets a music video! Can't wait for this record.
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Last night, K and I watched the original Black Narcissus film from 1947. Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, I'd never heard of this one before seeing the trailer for last year's remake.
The original is beautiful. Shot in Technicolor, the film earned cinematographer Jack Cardiff an Academy Award that was well warranted. Also on display are the extensive matte paintings. It's a gorgeous film, although acting-wise, it's a bit over-the-top drama for my tastes. Also, I am going to assume the plot will far much better in the newer version (if it doesn't get carried away).
We finished the film and went directly into the first episode of the three-episode FX mini-series remake. Also visually stunning, where the matte paintings are replaced by aerial drone shots of no small ambition.
I think together, these will make perfect counter-points to one another.
Playlist:
Tomahawk - Tonic Immobility (pre-release singles)
Tomahawk - Mit Gas
Queensrÿche - Jet City Woman (single)
Blanck Mass - Animated Violence Mild
Odonis Odonis - Post Plague
PJ Harvey - Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea
Nothing - The Great Dismal
Realize - Machine Violence
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Always a favorite card. That Boaz and Jacin behind her, the pillars from King Solomon's temple. I did a lot of research on these about 17 years ago (!?), but most of it's a fog now. Interesting though, this might run parallel to some of the content in Shadow Play, so I'll take this as a nod to dig up my notes.
It's strange to me that, for all the time I spend listening to the artists on Sacred Bones, I somehow never heard Blanck Mass before yesterday. I'd seen the name, but somehow I just never clicked a link or happened upon anything organically. That changed yesterday when I somehow realized that Blanck Mass is the solo project/primary focus of Benjamin John Power, or as I knew him, one half of Fuck Buttons. I'd lost track of Fuck Buttons these last few years, and it's hard to believe it was a decade ago that I saw them at LA's Troubadour, where they blew my mind and ears in a volatile set of insane noise/techno/edm/soundscapery. Upon learning of Blanck Mass's pedigree, I started with this, the first single from In Ferneaux, out tomorrow on Sacred Bones. I then went to 2019's Animated Violence Mild and proceeded to absolutely fall in love with it. I mean, I listened to this fucker at least five times in a row over the course of my workday.
Order In Ferneaux or any of the other Blanck Mass records - all of which I plan on getting around to sooner rather than later - from Sacred Bones HERE of the Blanck Mass Bandcamp HERE.
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I haven't been in much of a Horror mood of late, however, yesterday I came home and took my near-customary Thursday nap on the couch with Shudder TV's Slashics channel on. When I woke up, I did so in time to catch Preston DeFrancis' 2018 Slasher-esque Ruin Me. I quite liked this one and; Ruin Me definitely plays with tropes we've seen before - maybe too much of late, hence why it took this long and happenstance to get me to watch it - but it's really good at what it does, and it has enough of a fresh spin on the Slasher/Extreme Haunted House set-up to make it unique and interesting. And no, it's not actually a 'haunted house,' but you'll see what I mean when you watch it. Which I'm recommending you do.
Playlist:
Blanck Mass - Starstuff (Single)
Blanck Mass - Animated Violence Mild
Nick Cave and Warren Ellis - Carnage
Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
How to Destroy Angels - Welcome Oblivion
Jim Williams - Possessor OST
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Perseverance in the face of frustration and or routine. This final final final edit on Murder Virus is killing me, but it will pay off HUGE in the end, making the book that much tighter, and thus I hope, compelling and enjoyable, with a healthy dose of "WTF?!?" thrown in for good measure come the fourth part. Still, reading the same book four times in as many months can be pretty fucking difficult, even if it is something you consider quite possibly your best work to date.
The wonderful folks at Sacred Bones Records are bringing us new old music from NY legend Alan Vega! According to the Sacred Bones site, "...Vega was constantly creating. That process naturally led to a wealth of material that didn’t see the light of day immediately when it was recorded, which came to be known as the Vega Vault. Mutator is the first in a series of archival releases from the Vault that will come out on Sacred Bones Records."
The first of these releases, Mutator, was recorded in 1995-1996, and it drops on April 23. Pre-order HERE.
I can't wait to see what else Sacred Bones brings out of the "Vega Vault" (LOVE that such a thing exists).
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I'm not super impressed with what I've heard from the new album, however, it slots nicely into the Rob Zombie wheelhouse and there will definitely be a time/place for it in my routine. That said, I love this animated promotional short:
Playlist:
SRSQ - Unreality
Tassilo Hagström - Berlin (single)
Alan Vega - Nike Soldier (pre-release single)
A.R.E. Weapons - S/T
Alan Vega - Saturn Strip
Perturbator - Dangerous Days
Queensrÿche - Empire
Lard - Pure Chewing Satisfaction
Jim Williams - Possessor OST
Angelo Badalament- Twin Peaks OST
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Emotional Jackpot. Power derived from Feeling. An oversaturation of emotion that while experiential, can cloud judgment and affect process.
Holy cow! This is the third single from the upcoming new album by Arab Strap? Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton's first album as Arab Strap in... a really long time! How did I miss that this was coming? The good news is the album is out March 5th on Rock Action Records, so it's not long now. The bad news? The vinyl is currently completely Sold Out. I'm hoping for a re-stock, so if you're like me, you'll be checking the Pre-order link for the next few weeks.
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Near the end of the newest episode of The Horror Vision Horror Podcast, Ray Larragoitiy asks Tori and me what we're excited about coming out in the next few months. I wasn't prepared for the question at that time and was pretty bummed to realize I could barely think of a thing. Seems like the COVID effect on productions has finally caught up to us. There are a few things, though. One of them is this:
Ben Wheatley's new film In the Earth should be along within the next few months (I hope) and I for one can't wait.
Playlist:
Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou - The Helm of Sorrow
Thou - Rhea Sylvia
Arab Strap - As Days Get Dark (pre-release singles)
