2019: February 26th - New FOALS

I'm digging the Beachhouse/Smiths feel here. Foals is a band my interest has pinioned back and forth on. Their new album, Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 1, is out March 8th and can be pre-ordered HERE, with Part 2 following in Autumn. Pretty cool release idea.

The teaser for the AMC adaptation series of Joe Hill's BRILLIANT novel NOS4A2 dropped yesterday. It's not much, but it certainly has me excited, especially after seeing Zachary Quinto in Charlie Manx, III make-up:

I cannot say enough good things about the novel. After having read Hill's Heart-Shaped Box and Horns and loved them both, when my friend Becky handed me an advanced reader copy of NOS4A2 back in early 2013, I expected I'd dig it, but  what I didn't expect was how different the tone and style would be from Hill's other books. In retrospect, I should have already reached the conclusion that Hill is such an accomplished writer he is able to change these integral elements of his voice and completely reinvent himself from book to book. Where Heart-Shaped Box was a tight, atmospheric horror novel that worked gloriously inside the tone of the mass market paperbacks of the 90s, Horns felt stylistically similar to a Chuck Palahniuk novel. NOS4A2 was the first of Hill's books where I felt the influence of his father, Stephen King. It was also the first where the two writers began to mingle their worlds a bit, and while in 2019 I'm pretty exhausted of 'shared universes,' I still say King/Hill's methods hold up. They intertwined their worlds just the right amount so as to leave you smiling at the possibilities, but without being overly ostentatious about it.

Here's that teaser:



Playlist from 2/25:

Firewater - The Ponzi Scheme
Firewater - The Man on the Burning Tightrope
Beck - Mutations
Ghost - Opus Eponymous
The Devil's Blood - III Tabula Rasa or Death and the Seven Pillars

Card of the day:

Second time in how many days I received this one? Hmm... Looking deeper into it, I'm wondering if this has to do with the somewhat shadowy side of this card. Prince of Cups is the Intelligence that navigates passion, and passion includes Art. It has been in my head of late that I often fall into a pattern of neglecting the ones I love while caught inside these worlds I'm building in my head. Perhaps it's time to find a flash of non-Artistic inspiration and do something unexpected for someone I love?

2019: February 25th

A little classic Firewater to kick off the morning. I drove in to work playing The Ponzi Scheme, the band's 1998 masterpiece, and it reminded me how much I love this album. I've always been a bit reticent when engaging with their other albums; nothing against the band or Tod A, the principal composer/arranger/lyricist who is the anchor of the group, Firewater is just one of those band's whose first album I heard made such a deep impression I've always had trouble going for anything else. That changes today, I think. I've loaded 2003's The Man on the Burning Tightrope to my Apple Music and intend on engaging with it shortly after I post this.

Congratulations to Green Book for winning best picture. I know, I know: I'm one of those people who  flap their gums about detesting the oscars and then applaud when the awards line up with my personal choices. What'dya gunna do?

Quick correction on my previous entry to these pages. In 2015, Hateful Eight was not my favorite/the best movie of the year, it was Alex Garland's Ex Machina.

Saturday night I had the guys from The Horror Vision over and we watched Philip Ridley's INSANE 1991 film The Reflecting Skin. This just hit Shudder and is a bit hard to come by, so I recommend if you have the service you watch it. Haunting, and you will never see daylight and fields of wheat look so freakin' ominous again.



The final episode of True Detective season 3 aired last night. Much like the first season, I didn't love the finale. Still, no complaints on an overall awesome season. My slight disappointment simply stems from the fact that, even more than season 1, this season set up a lot of what could have been really profound ideas and then skirted around them for a pretty convenient and simple resolution. I guess the show will never be what I want it to be, but even just these teases - when executed this well - are enough to permanently endear it to me.

Playlist from 2/23:

Beck - Odelay
Don Shirley Trio - Don Shirley
The Devil's Blood - The Thousandfold Epicenter
Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire
Paramore - All We Know is Falling
Ritual Howls - Into the Water
Odonis Odonis - Post Plague
The Cure - Pornography

Playlist from 2/24:

United Future Organization - Third Perspective

Card of the day:

Hmmm... poisoned waters? Overflow of emotion tainting the perfection of the Six? No idea on this one, though I'm tempted to read it as my preoccupation with a new short story idea - well, a couple of them really, hence the overflowing symbolism - interfering with my editing of the book I've promised myself will be published in April.

2019: February 23rd

There's a new album from Tamaryn on the way. This is a performer I know nothing about. Somewhere are 2010-2011, her debut album Waves ended up in my iTunes - no idea how it got there, which is a story/theory for another time - the point is when I listened to I fell for the album hard. That's it; I know none of her other music. When this came up in my youtube feed this morning I was interested. Sounds very Cure to me, so a departure from that first album, but pretty cool nonetheless. You can pre-order Dreaming the Dark, out on DERO Arcade March 22nd, from Tamaryn's bandcamp HERE.

K and I went to the movies for the first time in forever last night and saw Green Book. Wow. Here I've been down about the fact that there's pretty much no big Prestige films this year, a sad fact when last year was jam-packed: I, Tonya; Three Billboards; Phantom Thread; Shape of Water. I'm sure I'm forgetting some others as well. This year... not so much. But I'd heard Green Book was good, and Viggo Mortensen is always great, and Mahershala Ali has been blowing me away in True Detective, so we gave it a shot.

FANtastic film. Seriously, it won't be in theaters much longer, but if you can, go see Green Book. Some will say it has a touch of schmaltz, but don't believe them. Life-affirming, and it introduced me to the music of Dr. Don Shirley:



Okay, so I never do Favorite Film list anymore. Probably not in five years. Why? Well, A) I never see everything I want to before the end of the year. And B) at some point I went back and looked at my list for 2012 and basically no longer trusted myself to remove the viewing experience and all its facets from the quality of the film, because in 2012 I ranked Argo over both The Master and The Dark Knight Rises. Nope. I call bullshit on you, sir. The reason for this was a fantastic theatrical viewing experience, at home in Chicago with my parents - a family bonding moment - and although I haven't seen Argo since, there's just no way it's better than those other two I ranked below it. It's good. Great even. But not that great.

So I began to consider myself an 'unreliable narrator' when it came to ranking films.

My favorites of the last few years seem more solid choices: Three Billboards in 2017, a tie between LaLa Land and The Witch in 2016, Hateful Eight in 2015, and Whiplash in 2014, but I never get around to seeing everything I feel I need to in order to make an educated assessment. This year, however, since there haven't been many movies I felt I needed to see, I'm a little bit more assured that my opinions are accurate. So here then, is my 'best of' list for film in 2018:

Best film: a tie between Hereditary and Green Book, sort of both ends of the spectrum, but both affected me immensely.

Best Actress: Toni Collette - by a fucking landslide; the fact that she didn't get nominated for an oscar proves how pointless the award is now, and was the impetus for my never capitalizing the award's name again. Forever.

Best Actor: Mahershala Ali -  Viggo's up there as well for Green Book, but Mahershala also has his performance in True Detective factoring in, because like I said earlier, he has me in awe. Juxtaposing the two performances, I hadn't seen a cast list for Green Book before the credits rolled at the end of the film, and I questioned whether it was him or not for the entire movie. In fact, I had pretty much deduced it wasn't him, and was curious to see who played the part of Dr. Don Shirley. There's a physical difference between Ali in the two roles, some of which comes down to the aging make-up in TD, but some of which is Ali's ability to manipulate his mannerisms, stature, and poise.

Favorite movie: Mandy - the reverberations from my initial theatrical viewing the night of the film's release at the Egyptian Theatre still surround me, coloring my thoughts with excitement. This is the film I struggle not to watch every day, so as not to sap its power.


Playlist from 2/22:

Beck - Odelay
The Goat - Puppy
Jaye Jale - No Trail and Other Unholy Paths
C-Building Kids - Shitting in the Urinal
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Mature Themes
True Widow - AVVOLGERE
Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower
Windhand - Eternal Return
Don Shirley - Waterboy

No card today.

2019: February 22nd - Chromatics - Time Rider

Does this mean Dear Tommy is finally nearing release? The cynic in me stifles a, "probably not," primarily based on the fact that three days ago, The Chromatics released this video and announced their first tour at pretty much the same time. I'm effectively in the middle of a concert ban, with only Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats and The Veils being previously cited exceptions. I might add The Chromatics to that list as well. Might. It's a slippery slope, and like everything else in life, I find an acting inertia in concert going, i.e. once I start I can't stop, but now that it's been months since I've been to one, I'm out of the habit and reticent to start up again. It doesn't help that Johnny Jewel and company are playing The Wiltern here, not a bad venue, but certainly one that seems bigger than they require.

Finished my Deadwoods rewatch two nights ago. Wow. I had forgotten a lot of Season 3, especially how it ended. I remember wincing at how unresolved the show was, but it's even more open-ended than I remembered. Good thing this is coming soon:

Playlist from 2/20:

Pink Floyd - The Wall
Pink Floyd - Obscured by Clouds
Faith No More - Angel Dust
Jaye Jayle - No Trail and Other Unholy Paths
Jeff Angell's Staticland - Eponymous


Playlist from 2/21:
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Young Widows - Old Wounds
Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire


Card of the day:

Sensitivity curbed by emotional intelligence. Creation, and perhaps, destruction.

2019: February 20th

Currently in love with Louisville, KY band Jaye Jayle's 2018 record No Trail and Other Unholy Paths. This was produced by David Lynch's long-time music supervisor/collaborator Dean Hurley, and pretty much blew me away from first spin. Think Mark Lanegan/PJ Harvey vibe, but with some dirgey Doom goodness thrown into the mix, I can't wait to go through the band's back catalogue, available on their bandcamp HERE.

Jaye Jayle's music - or at least on this album - totally fits in with my visual life at the moment, because tonight K and I are scheduled to finish Season 3 of Deadwood. I've watched the series before, although I haven't seen Season 3 but the one time, back in the aughts. This viewing has kind of been like seeing it for the first time again. I'm amazed at the pot boiler the show is building out of the Hearst/Swearengen-Bullock skirmish, and I can't wait to finish this out and then keep my fingers crossed 24/7 that the movie we have now actually seen pictures of in EW really does come to pass. Seems impossible at this point that it wouldn't, but you never know...

NCBD: Not a whole lot today, but a new issue of Seven to Eternity is always a reason to celebrate, and D.J. Kirkbride's Errand Boys comes to a rip-snortin' finish with issue #5!

Playlist from 2/19:

Pink Floyd - Works
Young Widows - Old Wounds
Jaye Jayle - No Trail and Other Unholy Paths
Alice in Chains - Rainier Fog
Algiers - Eponymous
The Body - I Have Fought Against It, But I
Chris Connelly - Artificial Madness
Beck - Odelay

No card today.

2019: February 19th

A few nights ago, K and I watched the 1986 film At Close Range, directed by James Foley and starring Sean Penn, Christopher Walken, Chris Penn (looking a lot like Jason Mewes back in the day), Keifer Sutherland, Crispin Glover, and Mary Stuart Masterson. I can remember this film for as far back as I can remember; seeing the television trailers for it as a kid, glimpsing the VHS box at the general store that served as our first video rental outlet (well before Blockbuster or Hollywood existed); but I never actually saw the movie. However, we noticed it's on Prime right now, so I finally pulled the trigger. Not bad; early 80s teen angst/crime mash-up. Interesting to see Christopher Walken before he settled into being Christopher Walken in every role. Also, interesting to see Keifer Sutherland before he was a name brand - he has all of about two lines. Glover and Sean Penn both deliver as usual, and Mary Stuart Masterson does a good job with some of the more uncomfortable scenes. All in all, I'd give it 3.5 out of 5.0.



The soundtrack utilizes the opening, instrumental portion of this Madonna track as score, so we hear it a lot. It served as a serious nostalgia trigger for me, so by the point in the film where they bring in the vocals, I was certain I'd heard it before and placing it was driving me nuts. Now Live to Tell is stuck in my head, or the opening notes are, at any rate. There's not a lot of Madonna I really dig, but I think this track is going onto that list.

Playlist from 2/18:

Pink Floyd - Animals
Young Widows - Old Wounds
Deftones - Gore
Faith No More - Sol Invictus
Pink Floyd - Works
Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland

Emotional intelligence with a penchant for secrets and introversion. I think it's time to pull myself out of the hole I dug for myself while sick over the last week. Today = Writing session.

February 18th: Good Omens Series Title Sequence

To say I have been waiting for an adaptation of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter Witch for a long time is an understatement. Mr. Brown and I read this back in the mid-90s and I've been a fan since (though I could definitely use a re-read). I remember Terry Gilliam was attached for a while, and Johnny Depp and Robin Williams were set to play the Angel Aziraphale and the Demon Crowley, though which was set for which I can't remember anymore. Regardless, the fact that we're finally getting Good Omens, and as a series no less, makes me very happy. The title sequence was revealed recently and watching it, I feel anticipation unlike any in a while. I just wish this could have come to fruition while Mr. Pratchett was still alive.

Playlist from 2/18 was non-existent.

The penultimate episode of True Detective, Season 3 aired last night and it was HUGE!!! I won't spoil anything here, but this season has been masterful.

Also, Episode 5 of Rick Remender's Deadly Class aired on SyFy and it pretty much left me speechless. This has been such an amazing adaptation of a comic, probably the best one I've ever seen, and all the glory is owed to Mr. Remender. In the back matter of the most recent issue of the Deadly Class comic, Remender talked on how he surrendered sleep and freedom to be the show runner on Deadly Class, and he's filled out the story in the comics with much love. Nothing has been added that doesn't expand the source material organically, and the actual ratio of straight adaptation to screen has been fantastic. Episode 5 was the Vegas episode, and the use of animation here was amazing. Reminded me of The Wall, a bit. SO freaking good.



Card of the day:

Okay, many will say I probably should remove this card from my mini Thoth deck, but I left it in and drew it, so I'm stuck interpreting it. Hmmm... I've said this before recently and not followed through, but perhaps I should pull some Crowley off the bookshelf in my room and peruse for inspiration?