Todd Rundgren - I Saw the Light

 

Last night we finished Ozark. Man, what a f**kin' ride! This show brings the anxiety meter to new heights. It obviously wouldn't exist without Breaking Bad, but that's not a knock. In fact, I'd say Jason Bateman and company managed to take the BB template and hone it into an even more impressive beast.

And what a beast this is. The ending didn't make me happy, but it had balls, and that in and of itself, makes me happy. As a viewer, I don't want to get what I want. I want you to tell your story. And they did. Oh boy, they did.

As for the song, if you've seen the latter half of the second season, you'll know why I'm posting this. I'd go on record as saying the "traffic incident" is possibly the best scene in the series.

Also, I loved the Killer Mike cameo in the first part of season four.

 

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NCBD:

Not much of a haul this week, although they're all big issues. Also, after buying the first issue of the Clea Strange-centered Strange series a few months ago, I think I'm going to pick up the second and third issues that I missed. 

Pretty psyched for a Hulk-Thor battle. I doubt it will be as awesome as the old Hulk-Thing battles in the 80s, but still, when Titans collide, and all that.

Loved the first issue, so let's see where this new Sandman spin-off is heading. The Corinthian has always been my favorite Nightmare, and although he received a lot of "screen time" in the old 90s The Dreaming series, I've always kind of felt like there was a lot more room for the right creators to explore with the Corinthian. I think we're finally seeing that.

The last all-women X-issue I read was back in the 80s: Uncanny X-Men #244, which introduced Jubliee. I'm hoping that, like that issue's follow-up in 245 with "Men," this current X-Book pays homage and does the same next issue. Either way, I love this book.

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Watch:

Eskil Vogt's The Innocents looks to be the very definition of unnerving:

 

You can read a nifty little article where Vogt talks about his new film over on Bloody Disgusting HERE. This one hits VOD on Friday, the 13th. I'd be doing a "Day-of" screening, if not for the fact that I've already got tickets to go see Friday the 13th Part 3 at the Aero. I mean, how could I pass that up?

 

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Playlist:

The Effigies - Remains Nonviewable

Zeal & Ardor - Wake of a Nation EP

The Mysterines - Reeling

Ozzy Osbourne - Ordinary Man

The Smiths - The Queen is Dead

Pink Mountaintops - Peacock Pools

Orville Peck - Bronco

Spotlights - Love & Decay

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Card:

It's been a minute since I've done a pull, so here goes:

I've been relying on my intuition when it comes to creative choices, and it's led me to a new strength. Now, I need to finish my current project and move into my next. 

Meg Myers - Children of Light II

 

New Meg Myers! Her stuff is getting weirder, but she still delivers those pulse-pounding hooks.

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Watch:

Oh shit, I forgot ALL about this:

 

No release date yet, but the announcement says "Soon."

 

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Dollar Bin:

I don't know much about Micronauts, other than it was a toy property from just before my era - before the era where cartoons and I always came across stray figures and playsets at garage sales in the early 80s and wondered what they were (same with Shogun Warriors). Last year though, when Chris Saunders and I interviewed comic artist legend Kelley Jones, he mentioned he started at marvel on the Micronauts book. 

I have developed a bit of a phantom nostalgia for toys and comics from just before my era, and finding these in the ol' dollar bin proved impossible to pass up. This falls in line with the weird, TSR, Hobby-Shop genre of SciFi and Horror that I feel existed as a kind of 'quiet zeitgeist' in the early 80s - a pop culture texture that has been mined and revitalized by Stranger Things perfectly. Anyway, I'm hoping to find more Micronauts, or maybe snag some on eBay. I'd like to read a solid run of a handful of consecutive issues, just to get a feel. 

Also, they're written by Bill Mantlo, and I've really come to see him as a kind of underappreciated genius in that Hobby Shop Sci-Fi thing. 

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Playlist:

Ozzy Osbourne - Ordinary Man

Jerry Cantrell - Brighten

Mike Doughty - Live At Ken's House

Prince - Sign O' The Times

Testament - The New Order

Sparks - Hello Young Lovers

Mr. Bungle - The Night They Came Home

Run the Jewels - RTJ4

The Raveonettes - Raven in the Grave

Goatsnake - Black Age Blues

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Card:

Once again, the ways of peace are strong in me, even in the midst of adversity.

New Music From Woven Hand

 

I will always miss Sixteen Horsepower, however, the work David Eugene Edwards has been doing as Woven Hand over the last decade-and-a-half (or so) is next-level stuff. It's interesting how the slightly toxic religious elements that informed/inspired Horsepower pushed this man into a considerably more Shamanic perspective with his music. 

Woven Hand's new record Silver Sash is out now on Glitterhouse Records and can be ordered from them or Woven Hand's Bandcamp HERE.

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Watch:

This is going to be one of those posts where I post the newest trailer for David Cronenberg's upcoming Crimes of the Future, but don't watch it:

 

Right now, this is my most eagerly awaited film of the year - thus far- and I say that on the cusp of seeing Sam Raimi's Dr. Strange In the Multiverse of Madness tonight, a film I have been CHOMPING at the bit for since... well, since I realized Patrick Stewart's voice is in the trailer. NOTE: I should say something here. Marvel, I'm talking to you now; if it turns out that Patrick Stewart is playing a man named Jim Bohner or some such, I will not be happy. Just saying. And as long as I'm posting trailers I have no intention of viewing, here's that 'Final' Dr. Strange trailer:

I have insanely high expectations for this one, even though I still have been unable to sit through the first Stephen Strange flick. I've always maintained I'm more interested in Marvel's big picture than I am the individual films, and this is the one that - I think - will firmly shape the post-Avengers landscape for the MCU into something more cohesive than it's been (not that I've minded the chaotic and disparate elements of the last few years, which have been very final-years-of-Claremont's-Uncanny-X-men at times).

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Playlist:

Bexley - Eponymous

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

Michael Jackson - Greatest Hits

Kate Bush - Hounds of Love

The Mysterines - Reeling

Sparks - Tryouts for the Human Race (single)

Helmet - Meantime

Motorhead - Ace of Spades

Anthrax - Persistence of Time

Jerry Cantrell - Brighten (Thanks to Mr. Brown for the beautiful vinyl!)

Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain

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Card:

It's been a minute since I've pulled from Missi's Raven Deck, so here goes:

Expecting knowledge to come my way today that might turn things around a bit. Or maybe that was yesterday when we spoke to a new realtor in TN and received a lot of really good, inspiring information. I suppose there's a part of me that demonizes that, simply because the longer we've stayed in LaLaLand, the allure of the routine and easy (not really, but kinda) life we've made here pulls at my ideas of burning it all down and starting over. 

Don't trust comfort. That's the real Devil. 

Bexley - Sick

 

Last night marked my first live show since hitting 2 of the 3 Mr. Bungle shows in LaLaLand back in February 2020, mere days before COVID struck. I've reacquired my comfort level with seeing movies in the theatre, largely because you can very much curate how many people you'll be exposed to. Not in every case, but with Matinees and seating charts online, it's pretty easy to limit exposure. A live show is a more, "All bets are off" situation, though, so it's taken me a while to prepare. That changed recently, though.

When my good friend Jacob introduced me to The Mysterines' music, without even thinking I googled them to see if they were on tour - a practice I've maintained for years when I find a new band I love. When I saw they were playing on May 4th at the Peppermint Club, I didn't think twice about buying tickets. 

I'm glad I did.

Not only were The Mysterines awesome, but in preparation for the show, I looked up opener Bexley and was pretty blown away by her 2021 self-titled album. Above, I've posted my favorite song from said album, and since Bexley is local, I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for more shows, as she and her band were also great.

You can check out Bexley's Bandcamp HERE or her official site HERE.

 

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Watch:

Oh my. I probably wasn't supposed to laugh out loud, but I did. And then I winced enough to almost fall out of my seat.

 

The Sadness is written and directed by Rob Jabbaz, and as far as I can tell, this is his first full-length film. IT LOOKS F&*KING AWESOME, so I'll be watching this the day it drops on Shudder, next Thursday, 5/12/22.

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Playlist:

Sepultura - Chaos A.D.

David Byrne & Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today

David Lynch - Crazy Clown Time

Soundgarden - Superunknown

Bexley - Eponymous

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Card:

Water of Water, pure emotions. This can trip me up, so I'll be attempting to keep a cool on any over-the-top moments I might have; there's a lot of ridiculousness at work of late, and I've grown a bit cantankerous when certain people are involved. Play it cool.

New Afghan Whigs!

 

New Afghan Whigs! 'Nuff said. Pre-order How Do You Burn, out September 9th, HERE.

What a gorgeous video.

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NCBD:

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Playlist:

 Jim James - Eternally Even

Rammstein - Zeit

Def Leppard - High 'N' Dry

Ozzy Osbourne - Ordinary Man'

Blut Aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta I: Fathers of the Icy Age

Ozzy Osbourne - No More Tears

Testament - The New Order

Sepultura - Chaos A.D.

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Card:

Remember last Friday when I drew the Four of Swords: Truce?

 

This was the result. It pays to temper your outrage and anger with time and distance. And it also pays to have a good amount of humility and admit when you've kinda been a dick. 

Angel Olsen - Big Time

 

New Angel Olsen. 

Despite seeing a lot of praise for Ms. Olsen in my peripheral for years, she wasn't really on my radar until my cousin Charles professed his adoration for her 2019 album All Mirrors, which is fantastic. This new single feels like it hits a sweet spot between Patsy Cline and Sharon Van Etten, and I dig it. The new record, Big Time, is out June 3rd on Jagjaguwar, and you can pre-order it in whatever form you chose HERE.

 

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Dollar Bin:

Well, how about this one, huh?

I still have a copy of one issue from the Temple of Doom adaptation Marvel did at the time of the film's release, but I don't even think I'd heard of this Further Adventures of... book before, although it's no surprise this existed based on how popular the Indiana Jones flicks were. I found five or six of these in the dollar bin last week, and although I haven't had a chance to actually read any of them yet, I've spent a few spare moments flipping through them, and they're great.

This particular mid-to-late 80s cover format for Marvel Comics is always going to be my favorite; I love the placement of the logos, the Marvel Comics Group banner along the top, and the character box in the upper left-hand corner. Just seeing these makes me feel happy.

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Fleeting:

Blut Aus Nord recently repressed their first Memoria Vitusta album and it's available on their Bandcamp in a gorgeous "red with subtle yellow marble" that will undoubtedly be gone quickly, maybe before I finish typing this.

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Playlist:

Rammstein - Zeit

Bloc Party - Alpha Games

Ozzy Osbourne - Ordinary Man

Ozzy Osbourne - The Ultimate Sin

Jim James - Eternally Even

Jerry Cantrell - Brighten

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Card:

Oh yes. It will take me strength to get through this day.

Hatching Rammstein's Angst

 

Easily one of my favorite videos to come out in years. I'm hot and cold on the band - I love when they release stuff like this and it gets me excited, but the excitement usually dissipates pretty quickly. Still, this is pretty freakin' awesome, regardless of the album's ultimate longevity with me. That new album, by the way, is Zeit, and you can order it HERE.

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Watch:

I had the unusual thrill of seeing this at, of all places, my local AMC theatre this past Saturday:

 

Hanna Bergholm and Ilja Rautsi's dissection of Finish Suburban perfection was equal parts Todd Solondz/David Cronenberg, and I loved it. For the new episode of The Horror Vision Horror Podcast, we begin with a spoiler-free reaction and then roll into an all-out discussion.

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Playlist:

Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love

Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain

Lead Into Gold - The Sun Behind the Sun

Odonis Odonis - Post Plague

The Cure - Pornography

Calexico - El Mirador

Second Still - Equals

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Card:

I'm definitely feeling an abundance or wealth of ideas of late, and I'm attempting to hold back the desire to switch gears from what I'm currently working on. 

Masking Threshold

 

Mastodon's Hushed and Grim kind of fell off my radar these last few months, so nice of these guys to unleash a video for one of my favorite tracks on the double album and put it back in sight. The intro to this song is insane, and then it kinda just glides into a super soulful (for metal) verse and becomes one of the catchiest songs on the record.

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Watch:

I'm hoping to hit a couple flicks at the virtual arm of Kansas City's Panic Fest this year. Johannes Grenzfurthner's Masking Threshold is top of my list:

 

You start a trailer with a John Cage reference and then move into talking about anechoic chambers and you have my attention.

 

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Playlist:

Ash Ra Tempel - Friendship

Eagulls - Eponymous

Testament - The New Order

Soundgarden - Superunknown

Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger

Carpenter Brut - Leather Terror

Mothership - High Strangeness

Joseph Bishara - Malignant OST

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Card:

Uncanny. I'm not going to go into details, but this is a PERFECTLY timed reminder to keep the peace. 

Rebel Rebel

 

I've been listening to the live double album David Bowie released from the Reality tour. Not only is Reality my favorite Bowie album, I think A Reality Tour is my favorite Bowie live album, as well. Such a great, career-spanning selection of songs, and some especially insightful new versions of old favorites and deep cuts, the best of which might just be this re-working of "Rebel Rebel", the studio version of which was included on a later edition of Reality as a bonus track.

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Watch:

I can't wait for Friday. Seeing Joe Bob and Darcy kick off a new season will be like old friends having a party after time away, and my Last Drive-In text threads - Tommy, Ray and Missy - are always a welcome respite. 

 

My bet is we finally get Halloween III: Season of the Witch, which hit Shudder for the first time since I've been subscribed (2018) and leaves the service on the first of next month.

 

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Playlist:

Calexico - El Mirador

Concrete Blonde - Bloodletting

Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses

David Lynch - The Big Dream

Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch - Censor OST

Testament - The New Order

Download - The Eyes of Stanley Pain

Puppy Gristle - Eponymous (Thanks, Klint!)

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Card:

The mass of all my possessions occasionally weighs on me. Yesterday was one of those days.

Perturbator & Johannes Persson are Final Light - In The Void

 

Perturbator and Cult of Luna's Johannes Persson have a new project called Final Light and the first track is F*&king awesome! Imagine Dangerous Days with deep, guttural vocals and you'll have entered the ballpark. I anticipate great things from this one. You can pre-order the album from Red Creek HERE.

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Watch:

I saw Robert Eggers' The Northman this past Saturday. I was sober, however, as my cohost Ray and I discuss with Seattle University's Professor of Film John Trafton on the newest episode of The Horror Vision Horror Podcast, the film produced in me a pretty intense altered state. Because of this, I went back yesterday and saw it again, this time stoned AF.

I can't even begin to explain the hallucinatory effect Robert Eggers' films have on me, and this one really ratchets that up. I know some of you aren't ready to hit a theatre just yet, and I don't blame you. That's not going to stop me from suggesting if you're at all on the fence for returning to the big screen, this would be a pretty great film to do it for. 

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NCBD:

Here's this week's haul for NCBD:

Yes, I am a glutton. There is a new Amazing Spider-Man and I am going to read it, even though it is probably going to come out 9 times a month. 

I know nothing about this, but the title caught my eye, so I'll give the first issue a whirl.

Finally! The now long-awaited finale of the Miller-esque dystopian near-fture TMNT saga!

I've largely missed the boat on Chip Zdarsky, but I'm glad I've gotten in on Newburn from the jump. This collaboration with Jacob Phillips has so far, been a fantastic, terse crime comic. 

Still not sure how I feel about Frank Castle becoming The Hand's new "murder messiah" or whatever the hell, but I didn't hate the first issue, so I'm coming back for #2.

Saga! 'Nuff said!

I'm going out on a limb here. When I saw the words "Industrial Horror" on the solicitation for this, the 12 issue of a 16 issue run for the current Swamp Thing iteration, I put it on my list. I'll need to (hopefully) pick up issue 11 as well, as from what I see online, this is the second part of a story called "Jericho's Rose." I know nothing about this current ST title, but again, that cover above combined with those words... I have to give it a chance.

Aaaaannndddd... it appears I've become a pretty big Donny Cates fan and am continuing on with his Thor, especially after reading that, A) this month's issue has Odin's funeral and a Beta Ray Bill story, and B) next month this and Cates' fantastic Hulk series SMASH together. 

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Playlist:

Blut Aus Nord - Deus Salutis Meae

Negativeland - DisPepsi

Calexico - El Mirador

David Bowie - A Reality Tour

Alice in Chains - Sap

Orville Peck - Bronco

Judas Priest - Firepower

Judas Priest - Screaming for Vengeance 

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Card:

Poignant. I've been thinking A LOT about how much I love the woman I'm with, and how, despite the delays, I am looking forward to starting a new life with her OUTSIDE of LaLaLand. It's a push/pull - I'm going to miss a bunch of stuff here, but not enough to stand up against what we have planned for our home. 

Computer Blue

 

I'm probably not going to do a full 7-day Prince thing here, because it's been super difficult for me to post seven days in a row for a while. Still, one wasn't enough. I've come to realize that, although I consider Prince a major musical force, and I LOVE some of his music, not all of it is for me. I tend to stop after the 80s - the New Power Generation is all great on paper, but it just doesn't do a lot for me. I think that's the jazz and modern soul vibe that comes into his work at that point. The Prince that really affected me did so because of its strange Punk (more in ethos than sound)/Soul/New Wave hybridization. Nowhere is that more dominant than on the iconic Purple Rain record, which I've argued elsewhere is the Philosopher's Stone album of the 80s.  The entire record still blows me away, nearly forty years after first hearing it as a kid. One of the tracks that I've really grown to appreciate is "Computer Blue."

This song always just blows me away. It has such a strange structure, and where it starts compared to where it ends circumvents all logic, but really feels inevitable. 

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Watch:

I was never really much of a Christina Ricci fan - nothing against her, but my first and maybe (?) only exposure to her before was Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, and I hate everything about that movie - except the set design, which isn't nearly enough to save it - so that's probably what sticks in my craw. But Yellowjackets changed that, as her Misty Farmer is a BRILLIANTLY executed character. So, seeing a new Horror movie on the horizon with her kind has me interested:

Man, I hope this as good as it looks. Love the 50s kitsch - which Ricci is just perfect for - juxtaposed with what looks like some kind of slimy Demonic horror. Also, this one's directed by Chris Sivertson, who broke into Horror and cinema in general collaborating with Lucky McKee on the original All Cheerleaders Must Die short back in 2001, and then remade it with McKee in 2013.

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Playlist:

The Mysterines - Reeling

Alice in Chains - Sap

Kate Bush - Running up that Hill (single)

Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain

Prince - Dirty Mind

Prince - Originals

Anthrax - Among the Living

Goatsnake - Black Age Blues

Sepultura - Quadra

Testament - The Legacy

The Jesus Lizard - Goat

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Card:

It can be difficult to maintain enthusiasm, however, persistence and a good attitude pay off.

RIP Prince - Six Years Gone

 

From 1987's Sign O' The Times, probably my second favorite album by Prince, who died six years ago today.

Something about this album, and this song in particular, really conjures all of the tones and textures, smells and sensual impressions of 1987 to me (it's not exactly readable as 1987 in my head, but when I figure where I was in my life, the specific things I remember about my parents' home at the time, I know it's 1987-1988). There's an underlying tone or ambiance to this track that feels very specific to that time, even though I do not believe I ever heard this song at that time.

This isn't unparalleled. The recording technology of the time - the sonic signatures of microphones, whether you're aware of them or not - definitely inform the era. Also, the keyboard patches, the drum sounds, all of it adds up to a certain era in the recording industry. That's not magick, and it's not B.S. It's fact. I'm assuming that has a lot to do with why this song impacts my memory so drastically. But it makes this album particularly important to me now, so many years later. It's like a time machine, because I can literally smell my parents living room - where I snuck up to watch Friday Night Videos - when I hear this song. 

Weird. But cool. Very cool. Thank you, Prince. Whether you realized it or not, you instigated time travel. 

 

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Watch:

 

I had no intention of watching this flick until I did. It is fantastic, and probably directly responsible for my purchasing tickets to see Anthrax in late July (if I still live here). Mr. Brown and I saw Anthrax - with opener White Zombie - in 1993 at Chicago's Aragon Brawlroom for the Sound of White Noise tour. This means I've never seen Anthrax with original singer Joey Belladonna. 

To say I am excited would be an understatement. It's not going to keep me from moving, but if I am still here - because I'm thinking even if we find something in Tennessee in June, closing will dictate we're still in LaLaLand by the time of this show - I can't wait. At the freakin' Palladium, no less. 

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Playlist:

Various Artists - Nativity in Black: A Tribute to Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath - Master of Reality

Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Midlake - The Courage of Others

Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther

Led Zeppelin - Coda

Peter Gabriel - So

Prince - Sign O' The Times

Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower

Wolves in the Throneroom - Two Hunters

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Card:

A little concerned that, along with yesterday's draw, there seems to be some sort of conflict on the horizon. 

Type O Negative - Symphony for the Devil

 

I've never seen this before, but I'm sure I must have known it existed at some point. I've never been huge on band DVDs - a lot of time they just show you what dildos they actually are. that said, based on all the interviews and whatnot I've read from these guys back in the day, I'm confident enough that Type O won't be one of those, so I may fire this up later tonight. 

Thanks to Phil Zig for posting this on his Channel! Give the man a like and a follow if it suits you.

That's going to conclude the Peter Steele week because as it so happens, we have another anniversary to celebrate tomorrow. 

Day Tripping

 

Let's perform sacrilege: I'll take this version of any of these three songs over the original Beatles version any day of the week. 

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Watch:

 

 Holy shit, I got chills on that final image. Chills - and I have no attachment or experience with the Jane Foster Thor storyline from the books. Trust in Taika.

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NCBD:

Small haul this week. 

If that isn't the most Metal cover since Daniel Warren Johnson's Beta Ray Bill series last year, I don't know what is.

This cover has me extremely excited to see where Donny Cates is taking this book.

Speaking of books I need to re-read and catch up on, The Nice House on the Lake is long overdue for me to reconnect. I keep toying with the idea of just waiting until the entire thing is out, but I'm kind of chomping at the bit to see where the story has gone in the last two issues since it returned after hiatus, and also to re-read those first six books and see what I missed. 

I finally read last month's We Live: Age of the Palladions White #1 and Black #1. I dig it, might be bowing out, but I dig. I think the thing that endeared the first volume of this one to me was how it began as kind of a Girl with all the Gifts apocalyptic story and then, in the last pages of the final issue, became something totally different. Now that the new paradigm has been established, I'm not as interested as I was before. I'll always be thankful I stuck with that first series, though, just to see the transformation. 

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Playlist:

Various Artists - Nativity in Black: A Tribute to Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath - Technical Ecstasy

Sepultura - Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos (single)

Black Sabbath - Master of Reality

Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments

Perturbator - Dangerous Days

Sepultura - Chaos A.D.

Alice in Chains - Sap EP

Sepultura - Quadra

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Card:

I've already been feeling as though there's a shake-up on the horizon. This makes me think it's sooner rather than later. 

Blood & Fire

From the Official Type O Negative youtube channel, here's Blood and Fire. Do yourself a favor and let the playlist take you directly into the track that follows it - hopefully, there won't be an ad - because really these two are two halves of an extremely powerful whole. I can still remember

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Watch:

Other than that first trailer that dropped last year for Stranger Things Season 4, I have avoided all subsequent trailers for the upcoming penultimate season. In keeping with this, I was not going to watch this trailer, either. 

 Then I did. 

 

Wow. I am blown away! This is the show that continually proves the exception to the rule: it's always as good as the hype that precedes and follows it. In fact, in my opinion, each season of Stranger Things is increasingly better than the last, so much so, that I would say this show doesn't get nearly the hype it deserves.

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Read:

I took a break from the Lovecraft and blew through Brian Asman's novel Man, Fuck This House. This is a fantastic Horror-comedy that plays with the Haunted House subgenre.

Great characters and a truly unique mechanical approach to how the house interacts with the unwitting family that moves in. The book really cozies you up to the characters and their lives, kicks off the festivities, then sprints for 60% of its length toward a fantastic conclusion. Very suspenseful, but never at the expense of its humorous tone. If you dig Grady Hendrix, you will definitely dig this. Plus, it's $2.99 on Kindle at the moment.

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Playlist:

Iwan Rebroff - Na Sdarowje (singt Weisen von Wodka und Wein)

Every Day (Is Halloween) - Playlist #3 "In Fear"

Beach House - Once Twice Melody

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Card:

Super appropriate as a reminder that, although I have to do some stuff at work this week I don't like to do, I need to be mindful of how I do it, lest others see me as a dick(tator).

(We Were) Electrocute

 

Continuing Peter Steele week, here's "(We Were) Electrocute," from 2003's Life Is Killing Me.

I've always wondered if this song was in some way about Milli Vanilli. I'm not really sure why.

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Read:

A Stephen Graham Jones Horror comic from IDW? Sign me up.

With cover art here is by Rafael Albuquerque, and series artwork by Davide Gianfelice (Northlanders, Greek Street, Ghosted), Bloody Disgusting reports this one as follows:

“Earthdivers unites four Indigenous survivors in an apocalyptic near future as they embark on a bloody, one-way mission to save the world by traveling back in time to kill Christopher Columbus and prevent the creation of America.”

Read the rest of the BD article HERE. 

Recent events very much on my mind, I can tell you that I LOVE this concept. Here's a rather lengthy video announcement IDW released earlier this week; it mentions several other new titles I'm ear-marking here, particularly Scott Snyder and Hayden Sherman's Dark Spaces: Wildfire.

You can read info on all nine new titles HERE.

Jones' last three books all blew me away, but My Heart is a Chainsaw proved a level up even for someone already so prolific and accomplished. I can't wait to see how his writing plays out in the graphic format.

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Playlist:

The Jim Carroll Band - Catholic Boy

Nurse with Wound - Soliloquy for Lilith

Tones on Tail - Everything!

Skinny Puppy - Last Rights

Nachtmystium - Addicts: Black Meddle, Part 2

Judas Priest - Painkiller

Type O Negative - Life is Killing Me

Slayer - Live Undead

Carpenter Brut - Leather Terror

The Atlas Moth - Coma Noir

Revocation - The Outer Ones

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Card:

I'll be keeping my eyes and my mind open for inspiration or knowledge from an unexpected or previously dismissed source. 

Peter Steele Interview

A pretty candid interview with Steele from '97. I LOVE the way he responds to the interviewer when he suggests that the then newly released October Rust is softer than their previous records. 

Peter Steele's Crimes of the Future

I plan to do this every year and always botch it. Not this time! With yesterday the twelfth anniversary of Peter Steele's death, I thought this would be a perfect time to do a week-long retrospective of some lesser-known Type O songs. 

1992's "live" album The Origin of the Feces is possibly my favorite album by Type O Negative. It's dark AF but still insanely funny, a tone the band was able to balance for most of its career, starting with this release, which followed their 1991 debut Slow, Deep and Hard. Feces is essentially the live version of the first album, and honestly, it's how I like these songs the best. There's no doubt SD&H had a HUGE impact on me when I first heard it, circa 1993, but that humorous tone just isn't there yet - like Peter and the guys hadn't quite found their voice yet - so when I go to this era, I almost always go exclusively to Feces.

That sounds weird.

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Watch:

David Cronenberg returns! Oh man, I want this right. F&^king now, please! 

 

I'm not sure when this drops, but hot damn am I hoping it will be in time for Beyondfest this year, which despite my plans to move out of LaLaLand, I will be returning for NO MATTER WHAT. Seriously, this is their ten-year anniversary, and I am not missing whatever shenanigans those crazy bastards have planned.

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Playlist:

Television - Marquee Moon

Wire - Chairs Missing

Drug Church - Hygiene 

Burial - Antidawn

Type O Negative - Dead Again

Black Mare - Death Magick Mother

Belong - October Language 

Kate Bush - Hounds of Love

Black Sabbath - Eponymous

The Jesus Lizard - Goat

Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Punch the Clock

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Card:

Stop fighting what you know and listen past the distractions. There's inspiration amidst the chaos.

RIP Peter Steele 12 Years Gone

 

12 years.

 

Boris - Funnel of Love (SQÜRL)

 

I'm not 100% sure if this is SQÜRL remixing Boris or what, but I LOVE it. From the upcoming Todo Muere SBXV, which you can order from Sacred Bones Records HERE. 

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NCBD:

Here's tomorrow's haul for NCBD:

New Steve Niles. Always a good thing.

I am so psyched and surprised Marvel is doing a Black, White & Blood for Moon Knight! Can't wait.

I've begun to get a bit freaked out when a Reckless book hits the stands. When you figure Brubaker and Phillips drop them every six months, well, I feel like those months are flying by. Whatever. I love this series.

So now I have three weeks a month with an X-book. If you had told me last year at this time that this is where I'd be, I'd have laughed. Look who's laughing now, eh?

K is a big fan of the 90s X-Men cartoon, so I'm thinking I'll grab this for her. I doubt she has time to catch up on all the House/Powers stuff, so this will be an interesting way for her to experience some of the thrill, but with the versions of the characters she knows and loves.

This is one of the best adaptations of a short story I've come across. Kind of reminds me of that old I Am Legend Prestige format that - bringing it back around without even realizing it at first - Steve Niles did in the early 90s with Elman Brown. Just a solid retelling with some interesting tweaks thrown in here and there. 

I always start reading the Sandman Universe titles and never finish. We'll see how this one goes. One thing is for sure: I love me some Corinthian.

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Playlist:

Ruby Friedman Orchestra - Gem

Walking Papers - The Light Below

Quicksand - Slip

Slow Crush - Hush

Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color

Television - Marquee Moon

Steve Moore - Bliss OST