I've always been a bit on the fence when it comes to Black Mountain. Not sure why, but it very well could just be a case of not having spent enough time with them. Whatever the case, I'm digging this new song the band dropped off their upcoming album Destroyer, out May 24th on Jagjaguwar. Pre-order the album HERE.
Finally heeded all of the recommendations to go see Spider-man: into the Spiderverse last night. BLOWN AWAY. The animation was revolutionary, a far cry from anything that all the pixars of the world put up on the big screen. I never read Brian Michael Bendis' Ultimate Spider-man past the first trade back in the day, so while I've been peripherally aware of Miles Morales since he took over the Spiderman persona in the former Ultimate Universe, I'd never actually engaged with him as a character in a story.
He is marvelous.
As much as I grew up with and will always have a soft spot for Peter Parker, this is the Spiderman of the future. I'm reminded of Grant Morrison's run on Batman and Robin, where Bruce Wayne was dead and Dick Greyson took over the Batsuit, with Damien Wayne as his Robin. Brilliant arc, and Morrison spoke on Kevin Smith's Fatman on Batman podcast about how he told DC that Bruce should stay dead, and that Dick and Damien were the team for the new millennium. And of course, DC ignored him. Status Quo - the staunchest villain to the medium of comics ever. Marvel has, of course, figured out ways to keep all their Spider-characters going, but with the emphasis on Miles in this film, they're clearly hedging their bets on him, as though they heeded Morrison's advice for their own major flagship property.
Playlist from 3/09:
Windhand - Eternal Return
Playlist from 3/10:
Firewater - The Ponzi Scheme
AC/DC - Highway to Hell
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Blood Lust
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - The Night Creeper
Twin Temple - Twin Temple (Bring You Their Signature Sound... Satanic Doo-Wop)
Chromatics - Camera
Noctural Projections - Complete Studio Recordings
Card for the day:
Nine = Yesod: the fields fo imagination, reflection, and foundation, where you can root your creation in firm soil and sit back and let it breath on its own. This pull is telling me I'm pretty much finished and need to prepare to release the book. It's a bit ahead of the actual workload being completed, but close enough to be a sound reminder not to overthink things.
It's 12:00 AM, and for the second time this week, I can't sleep. There's bravado in the clouds tonight, distant thunder echoing across the sky, holding the population of LA's South Bay hostage. Those of us still awake, anyway. I'm on the couch, watching Lucio Fulci's City of the Living Dead as I type this. I've had horror on the brain this evening - I feel both that I want to consume an unheard amount of it, and that there's some new story bubbling just beneath the surface of this rabid spike in fandom I'm experiencing. Maybe it's an escalating love for Shudder's historically minded programming, or a love for all the peripheral content the open-market of the internet has made possible. Or maybe it's just that the world we live in is a horror story, a very sad yet wonderful story whose outcome remains unproven. I watched Horror Noire a few days ago, and the first episode of Eli Roth's History of Horror earlier tonight. One quote from Edgar Wright rings out in my head; while discussing George A. Romero's Day of the Dead, Wright says something to the effect of, "It's an apocalypse you wouldn't mind living in. Or at least, I wouldn't." Very true, but the question is, does ours measure up? Would you rather have a never-ending parade of narcissistic cunts running things and two hyperbolically ludicrous political parties totally devoid of common sense, or a hell-on-Earth, zombie apocalypse?
I'd wager you can guess my answer.
**
I ended up unable to drop off until around 2:00 AM, so I called out from work. Will use the time to make major progress in finishing the book.
But first, let's look at what's happening this morning, now that I have slept.
Sargent House just dropped new music from Seminal Crawl band Earth. New album Full Upon Her Burning Lips drops on May 24th; you can pre-order physical HERE and digital HERE.
**
NCBD:
This is the MVP pick of the day for me. Hell, maybe of the year. I acquired the first two volumes of Warren Ellis and Jon Davis-Hunt's The Wildstorm at Amazing Fantasy in Chicago back in December. I read them in a day, and seriously think it might be Ellis' best comic work since Transmet. The relationship between Jon Davis-Hunt's art and Ellis' script make this the best example of 'wide screen comics' I've seen in years, maybe ever. It's so clean. A complex, fascinating story that just feels effortless in how it's told. And if you're worried about the superhero source material, don't: I had next to no experience with the Wildstorm Universe before this, aside from the occasional mini series by Ennis (not even sure if those are Wildstorm, now that I think of it; all those early Image "team" books run together for me because I never read any of them back in the day), and I think my read on this new reimagining from Ellis is better for it. And it's not a superhero book. At all.
I Can't recommend The Wildstorm enough:
Finally! Walk Through Hell returns! I think I was referring to this in previous posts as "A Walk Through Hell," and now that I see my mistake, I feel like the title is even creepier, because, in keeping with the story, it's a command.
More Warren Ellis! Cemetery Beach, with artist Jason Howard, comes to an end. I'm assuming this is the end of a first volume, and now that Ellis and Howard's Trees is set to rotate back in with a five-issue third volume, we'll have to wait until after that completes before we have more Cemetery Beach. Whatever the case, this book has been fantastic. If you read Ellis' newsletter, with its fascinating glimpses into the man's work methodology, you can see a window into how he has evolved into such an efficient storyteller. This is the end goal for me folks; it gives me something to shoot for. Not to write like Warren Ellis, but to have as crisp and clean a process.
A new issue of Deadly Class will pair nicely with my continued love of the Remender-run SYFY adaptation, and serves as a reminder that now that K has read the entire run of the comic to date, I need to initiate my own re-read. Look at that cover!
Jesus, this is looking like an expensive week! No complaints though, not when Paper Girls is returning. And again, look at that cover! I'm going to have to revisit the final issue of the previous arc, because I can't quite remember where we are in this totally batshit crazy book.
And I may have listed it here last, but this will be the first book I read today! The Walking Dead 189. This book has, as always, been a riveting descent into the chaos at the heart of humanity's designs on civilization. Why doesn't structure work? Because we are the walking dead, and all order is transient when compared to the chaotic nature of the Universe. Or is it just order on a scale we can't see?
Who knows? Part of the fun is wondering. But I digress...
Part of the beauty of TWD, is it maps out an allegorical timeline to our own history inside the world of the book. The seeming perfection of this new society our long-haul characters have found in this newest arc is turning out to be not so civilized, and as we inch toward the landmark 200th issue, I think things are going to get hairy. As usual though, Kirkman has no limit in his writing and imagination, and he never does what I think he's going to do; that's why I love this book.
Playlist from 3/05:
Various Artists - Trainspotting OST
Cold Showers - Matter of Choice
Cold Cave - Cherish the Light Years
Prince - Sign O' The Times
Blut Aus Nord - Cosmosophy
Boy Harsher - Careful
Card of the day:
Perfectly grounded. Water of Earth; cares for her house. Perfect for the day for two reasons: A) The Earth track that dropped, and B) I'm home and going to attempt to finish this house I've built in Shadow Play, Book One. I finished the Grammarly editing last night, now I have to record myself reading the last half of act two and all of act three, and I can listen to it and suss out any final story edits that need to be made. Excited!
I've posted about LA's Cold Showers here before, but I don't think I ever really gave the band the due they deserve, because as much as I dug their dark, Post Punk sound, I never fully fell into them until yesterday. 2015's Matter of Choice spun around and around on my iTunes yesterday while I plugged along at work, and I became more and more entranced by it with every turn. It's one of those albums where I have trouble taking one song out of the larger context of the full cycle. Which of course makes me like it even more, because I've always held albums in higher regard than songs.
With 2015 being four years ago now, I began to fret that just as I fell in love with Cold Showers, they might have winked out of existence. Not the case. On their facebook page I learned that the band has an album coming out on the always awesome Dais Records this year. Why so long between records? Well, back in July, guitarist, engineer, and founding member Chris King was in an auto accident with an uninsured motorist and has had a slow recovery due to medical costs. The band set up a GoFundMe page, and I'll link to it here; I'm going to throw something down come payday, and if you can, I'd ask you to consider doing the same.
The uninsured motorist is a legitimately terrifying boogeyman here in LaLaLand; I walk A LOT and I can't tell you how many times I've almost been hit by people rolling through or just straight-up blowing stop signs (if I was a serial killer, I would kill people who blow stop signs. No BS, that'd be my MO). I used to be pretty bold about this; you know, someone shows no signs of stopping and I just keep walking, figuring, "Fuck 'em, they hit me, they better kill me or I'll ruin their life."
What a bunch of shit.
My attitude changed when formerly great weekly paper LA Weekly ran an article about what they called the "epidemic" of uninsured motorists who land people in the hospital with no insurance to offset their recovery costs. That, and K's pleading for me to exhibit a little common sense have turned my formerly fourteen-year-old's attitude around. Still, this shit happens, and just so no one thinks my 'uninsured motorist' is some kind of an invisible barb about illegal aliens, IT'S NOT. There's just as many douche bags born in the US as not who are riding around without the proper insurance.
***
Sunday night into Monday I didn't sleep very well, so with Cold Showers on my headphones I bulldozed through my work yesterday by 12:30 PM and cashed in some PTO. Went home and watched the following three films, all of which I enjoyed:
An exclusive on Shudder at the moment, Noroi: The Curse was recommended to me by a co-worker. Previously I'd attempted to get into this one and failed; you have to adjust to a certain pacing, as well as a bit of over-acting at times (Mr. Hori does crazy a little too over the top in certain sequences), but this one is unlike any other film I've seen, and stands as a pretty important cultural artifact as far as Japanese Horror is concerned.
I've been meaning to watch Jodorowsky's 'Horror' movie for years, and it's included with Prime at the moment so I finally had a chance. Wow. I won't lie; there's something about Jodorowsky that leaves me a bit cold. My theory is that it's the cultural background he draws from that I do not have experience with, so his movies resonate less with me than, say, David Lynch, another 'Avant Garde' director, who's life experiences are closer to mine and so I really relate to. That's not to say I didn't dig this film; Santa Sangre is beautiful, and watching the composition of some of the scenes I was blown away. The term 'visionary director' might be overused these days, but not on Jodorowsky it's not.
Personal Shopper was a very pleasant surprise. I'd heard something about this film last year on the Bret Easton Ellis show; I can't remember what that something was, but it was enough to pique my curiosity, so that when I saw this pop up on Netflix recently, I ear-marked it. Really cool film, and it made me want to watch more from director Olivier Assayas.
Playlist from 3/04:
Joy Division - Still
Cocksure - T.V.M.A.L.S.V.
Cold Cave - Cherish the Lights Years
Cold Showers - Matter of Choice
Card of the day:
Lots of Swords lately. There's conflict on the horizon? To clarify, I pulled two more cards, so here's what the whole 3-card spread looks like:
This looks like a lot of confusion, or tiny skirmishes that ultimately play into the reverse side of my psychology. You know, the part of you that doesn't want you to finish those things you've worked so hard on? Chock this up to me not working at all on my book yesterday, but watching three movies instead. That wasn't easy; I positioned it as a 'day of rest' in my head, because I'd been craving new content, but really I should have made some time. It's hard for me to fit anything into a weekday that's not writing, so to knock out those films and 'fill the well' I went the other way completely. The understanding was - and here's where I think the Knight of Cups comes in - I work my ass off for the rest of the week and through the weekend. See that Chalice with the Crab he's reaching for? Almost in reach. That's the book. So very close now that I have to be careful not to sabotage it.
I've been waiting for this documentary for a while now. Can't wait.
Hopefully going to the theatre to see this later today. I'm posting the trailer, but I haven't watched it; I want to go in blind, as I'd not even heard of it until K mentioned it two days ago.
Happy Birthday to one of my extraordinary co-hosts on The Horror Vision, Ray Larragoitiy.
It started strong, but around page 100, Alan Campbell's Sea of Ghosts became magnetic and I ca no longer put it down. The world Campbell has built, this drowned, imperial ghetto, soaked in the fall-out poverty of endless war and a desperate population, is both beautiful and affecting. There are scenes here that I visualize perfectly, in a way that makes me suspect I am seeing exactly what the author saw when he penned them. It's that vivid. HIGHLY recommended.
It's a real shame these books, the two Gravedigger Chronicles volumes Mr. Campbell published earlier this decade, didn't find their audience. I just ordered the second volume, The Art of Hunting, from a bookseller on Ebay. I worked at Borders for five years from 2006 to 2011. We received and sold all three main volumes of Campbell's Deepgate Codex series, but I remember we never received Sea of Ghosts in 2011 when it was originally published. Honestly, I'm not even certain the Gravedigger books were available in America. Tor is the publisher, and in crawling around online, trying to catch up with Campbell's been doing these last few years, I've seen on his facebook that apparently there is a third volume ready for print but Tor wouldn't invest in it because the first two volumes didn't sell well. To that I say, Did you fucking market them at all? Because as a fan, I've had to scratch and claw for every bit of information I've garnered about these books since their inception, and even on Amazon they fetch an insane aftermarket price. So no, I'd say you did not. I hold out hope someone will give this book and any future projects Mr. Campbell has up his sleeve a home, because he is an exceptional writer. This is the kind of Fantasy we need, not more Knights and Dragons.
Playlist from 2/28:
The Cure - Pornography
The Cure - Faith/Carnage Visors (Side B)
Deafheaven - Black Brick
Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
Firewater - The Ponzi Scheme
Deafheaven - New Bermuda
Playlist from 3/01:
Wasted Theory - Warlords of the New Electric
Baroness - Purple
Ritual Howls - Turkish Leather
Budapest Festival Orchestra - Igor Stravinsky: The Firebird Suite
Budapest Festival Orchestra - Igor Stravinsky: Petrushka
Cocksure - K.K.E.P.
Firewater - The Ponzi Scheme
Deafheaven - Black Brick
Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
Deafheaven - New Bermuda
Card of the day:
Epiphany. Good. I'm posting this, tearing Sea of Ghosts from my hands and digging in to work on my own book, which is coming along swimmingly.
Rick Remender's Deadly Class on SyFy continues to blow me away. I seriously think this might be my favorite and possibly even what I would now consider the best comic book adaptation yet. And I love the way they do the flashback sequences for the characters in Wes Craig's animation. Here's Maria's story from last week's episode #6, aptly titled after one of my favorite Bauhaus songs, Stigmata Martyr.
Playlist from 2/27:
Glass Candy - B/E/A/T/B/O/X
Chromatics - Camera
Ghost - Opus Eponymous
Daughters - You Won't Get What You Want
Ghost - Infestissumam
Card of the day:
Breakthrough! This refers to two events: One, that I've begun using the Zoom H4N Pro that I record The Horror Vision with to record myself reading the finished product of Shadow Play, so I can add it to my iPod and listen to it. I can't express enough how reading my writing out loud helps me make it better. It's a 100% game changer. Previously, I've read everything out loud to K and my close friend Keller, but now, reading it for myself, it's even more profound. Especially since I can go over it on my headphones the next day. Breakthrough indeed!
Two, I found out I'm going to Spokane, WA for a week in mid April for work. Nothing like a couple of lonely nights in a hotel room to kickstart new short stories! Breakthrough!
There's a whole slew of music re-released recently on Italians Do It Better, and of particular interest is The Chromatics' 2004 album Nite, long OOP and recorded/released before current lead singer Ruth Radelet joined the band. You can order NiteHERE; there's links at the bottom of the page for a ton of other music from both The Chromatics and Glass Candy, all on beautiful limited edition vinyl.
Now I just wish IDIB would release the old Glass Candy and the Shattered Theatre demos. I'd love to have Night Nurse, Love Love Love, or Brittle Women on vinyl.
NCDB:
Consistently entertaining as all hell:
Finally! The return of Punk's Not Dead! And the new mini series is titled, "London Calling." How awesome is that? Might have to spin some Clash today to prep.
Playlist from 2/26:
Firewater - The Ponzi Scheme
Young Widows - Settle Down City
Jaye Jayle - No Trail and Other Unholy Paths
Bob Mould - Sunshine Rock
Shockwaves Podcast #134 dropped last Friday and the back half of it is an hour-plus interview with Tobias Forge of Ghost. After the lawsuit by his ex-ghouls bringing his identity to light two or so years ago, I've avoided all interviews with the man. I think he's really adept at rolling with the punches, and the lawsuit hasn't hurt the band at all, though it has changed its persona's course for sure, but this one I couldn't pass up. You can find the episode (and all the others) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever fine podcasts are desalinated. You can also go straight to the source HERE.
Finally, at 12:00 PM noon CT time, Mondo/Death Waltz is releasing the John Carpenter/Alan Howarth soundtrack to my favorite JC movie, Prince of Darkness, or as I like to call it, Prince of Fucking Darkness. You can grab that HERE, just know there are probably a bunch of fanboy motherF*&kers like me who have alarms set and intend to be sitting at their computer with their fingers poised over the Order button on Mondo's site.
