Blood Red Shoes - Mexican Dress

Blood Red Shoes' 2019 album Get Tragic is one of those albums that just missed being on my Top Ten Favorite Albums of 2019 list. And I mean, just missed it. A solid album that scratches the itch left by The Kills, whose last album I didn't particularly care for.

That list is coming soon, I swear. In the meantime, Heaven is an Incubator posted his Top Ten Favorite Albums of 2019 HERE. Great stuff, and a lot of it that's new to me. Of particular note is Zetra, whose Bandcamp you can check out HERE.

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I recently became completely obsessed with HBO's Watchmen show. I've always been hesitant with any addition to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's seminal graphic masterpiece, completely ignoring After Watchmen and Doomsday Clock and Doctor Manhattan's Super Happy Funtime Show, or whatever other ridiculous way DC is currently involved in trying to fleece the source material for, so I didn't fall in line with HBO's offering until I learned a few things recently that changed my mind.

1) HBO's show is not a sequel to the Movie Adaptation. It is a sequel to the original comic. That means no Dr. Manhattan blamed for Nuclear Strike, but massive phony squid alien destroys New York, brings humanity together, and diverts Nuclear Holocaust. Three episodes in, I'm floored by the quality of the show. I mean, it's HBO, so the production value is always going to be top of the line. But I'm getting some aesthetic vibes reminiscent of True Detective Season One. Also, the story plays with so many peripheral elements of the world created by Watchmen that it's just not the story I would have ever imagined anyone doing. If that's not awesome enough, the way the show introduces people/events and then doles out information made the first episode basically one big gottasee, so I am hooked.

Oh yeah, and 2) Mr. Brown sent me THIS.

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Shudder recently added Brian Yuzna's Bride of Reanimator. I'd never seen this one before, despite loving the first Reanimator, and I was shocked to find that I think I actually like Bride better! It's funnier, gorier, and really just completely insane.




**

Playlist:

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - Watchmen OST, Vol. 1
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - Watchmen OST, Vol. 2
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - Social Network
NIN - With Teeth
NIN - The Slip
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Godflesh - Pure
Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire
NIN - Not the actual Events
Duende and David J - Oracle of the Horisontal
Blood Red Shoes - Get Tragic
Carpenter Brut - Leather Teeth
Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell
Carpenter Brut - Trilogy

Orville Peck - Nothing Fades Like the Light

From the album Pony, which is most definitely in my top ten favorite albums of 2019. Where's it rank? I'll be posting my list within the next week or so, and you'll find out.

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Happy Friday the 13th, folks! I'll be celebrating tonight with a croc pot full of Chili, copious amounts of beer, and Joe Bob Brigg's Red Christmas Special on Shudder. Can't wait!

What three movies is Joe Bob going to play? I'm guessing Black Christmas, Deadly Games, and Silent Night, Deadly Night 2, the first of which I dig, the other two I have never seen.



**

And now, ladies and gentlemen, it's time once again for...

Last night was Season 1, Episode 3, "Squeeze." I'd seen this one before as well, but it's been quite a while. While I can't say there was anything spectacular about the episode - which, of course, wasn't the point at all - the first of two episodes with "Twentieth Century Mutation" Eugene Victor Tooms is a freaky-ass exercise in creature-of-the-week tone. The idea of a human being able to stretch, squash, and elongate on command is a nice, subtle play on the 'body horror' ethos, and makes me wonder what would have happened if David Cronenberg directed an episode or two of this show.

I especially dug the opening kill of this episode, as it really felt like the beginning of a horror movie or, perhaps better equated, an episode of Tales From the Crypt.



Oh yeah. And the Bile Cave. That was pretty gnarly as well. Now that I'm thinking about comparisons and the X-Files influence down through the years, I'm also feeling a kinship to some of the Body Horror/Nightmare Logic of Channel Zero (RIP).

**

Playlist:

Young Widows - Settle Down City
Kaiser Chiefs - Duck
Me and That Man - Songs of Life and Death
Shining - X Varg utan flock
Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower
The Body - I Have Fought Against It, But I Can't Any Longer
Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire
The Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen

Card:

I'd imagine then that I should be careful about befouling my plans for the weekend. 

Me and That Man - Run with the Devil

Me and That Man is a band I only recently discovered. Back in early November, I spent a few weeks ingesting their 2017 debut Songs of Love and Death. Now they release this and totally throw me for a loop on their sound - which is huge and amorphous - and I'm in love with this! Tarantino meets Bava's Demons meets The Thirsty Crows! How can this be any better? Well, in writing this post I did some reading and realized Me and That Man is a side project for Nergal from Behemoth, a band I'm not a huge fan of, but have wanted to give another try - 2014's The Satanist was fellated by many an online critic but never really burrowed into me the way I had hoped at the time. Maybe five years and seeing this completely different side of the brain trust will change that?

Here's to hoping there's a new album dropping in 2020.

**

Wow. A pretty stacked NCBD:

 Love this cover.

This book is getting even more insane with the newest story arc. There was a point where I thought it lost me; I was wrong.

This kind of NCBD hardly ever happens to me these days, so even though I'm picking up a day late, I'm psyched.

**

K and I wrapped up Season 4 of Veronica Mars last night and... well, wow. Aside from all the tears, I ended up absolutely loving this new tone for the grown-up Veronica world, despite what seemed like a slightly wobbly first two episodes (probably me bringing in baggage as we steam-rolled through season 3, into the movie, right into this, so there was some tonal shock at how the show and, particularly the Veronica character, had changed). Now, it's time for...




K is a complete X-Files virgin, and I was only ever spotty at best watching the show. I've always harbored the tendency to turn my nose up at tv, and that was especially true after Twin Peaks and before The Sopranos, so X-Files just seemed silly to me back when it came out. I never saw any of the first season episodes until waaaay later, and it wasn't until the 'Mythology' episodes hooked me with their eerie continuity before I cared at all. During a recent conversation, Mr. Brown asked if he could curate a 'playlist' of non-Mythology episodes for me, as a kind of overview of the best the series had to offer in its purest form. The idea of seeing the show through my good friend's eyes was something I would never pass up, so here we are. Of course, we have to start at the beginning, even if we deviate sharply from there.

Season 1, Ep. 1 - Pilot.

I'd seen this episode before, at some point, but remembered very little. I've gotta say, I really enjoyed it. There are so many cues The X-Files took straight from Twin Peaks (the episode opens with two Pacific-Northwest lawmen hunched over a dead girl's body found in the middle of the woods. When they turn her over, one of them recognizes her as a classmate of his son's. Does this feel too 'on the nose'?

No. It feels influenced by Peaks, but like the show is trying to do its own thing with the tone, which I appreciate. As the episode continues, I was surprised by the tasteful restraint of the music. Maybe it's later seasons, but I remember catching part of an episode in passing on someone else's tv within the last few years, and the score was so over the top and crescendo-heavy, I couldn't tolerate it for me than a few moments. Not the case here - Mark Snow's score in the non-iconic moments is wonderfully dark and sparse. I never felt like he was trying to manipulate my emotions or the story (when the writing is good, it stands on its own. Nothing worse than an over-indulgent score trying to make up for crappy writing). Also, the chemistry of the situation between Mulder and Scully works from the moment they meet. There's no fat on this one, and even though it has a lot to do in a short time, nothing ever feels rushed.

Overall, a fantastic episode and a great start to Mr. Brown's X-Files Playlist!

**

Playlist:

David Bowie - The Next Day
David Bowie - Black Star
David Bowie - Hunky Dory
Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun
Spotlights - Love and Decay
Orville Peck - Pony
Boy Harsher - Careful
Meg Myers - Sorry
Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell
Deafheaven - Sunbather
Blackwater Holylight - Veils of Winter
Blut Aus Nord - The Work Which Transforms God
Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen
Moor Mother - Analog Fluids of Sonic Black Holes
Revocation - The Outer Ones
Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire

It Never Rains in Southern California

It gives me infinite pleasure to have finished Season Three of Veronica Mars last night - the episode ends with this song - and wake up to find it POURING. Because, like the man sings, it literally never rains in Southern California.

Next: Veronica Mars the movie, then Season 4! WU-HU!

**

Couple movies I watched recently:



Nothing revelatory, but an entertaining watch, to be sure. I really liked the way they used a huge red herring out of the gate and then totally dropped it. Also, the faux choking gag that results from this made me laugh out loud. Letterbxd



I LOVE this movie so very much. Letterboxd.



I LOVE Brad Anderson's films. Most of them, anyway. Transiberian owns a very special place in my heart, as does Session 9 and The Machinist, though to a lesser degree. IN my opinion, Trans is his masterpiece thus far - although there's a few I didn't see in the last few years and one I didn't care for at all, Vanishing on Seventh Street. Letterbxd.

**

I never thought I'd say it, but after reading Gideon the Ninth on a kindle, then moving on to Warren Ellis' Dead Pig Collector (finished, fantastic), and Autumn Christian's Girl Like A Bomb (in the middle of, also great) on it as well, I am in love with the digital reading format. I bought the Kindle version of the Injection Omnibus by Warren Ellis and Declan Shalvey - I have all the issues at home, but wanted to be able to carry the entire thing around with me all the time, as it is a source of endless inspiration at the moment, even though I've been pretty spotty on actually getting any writing done the last few days. Those weekend shifts at work kill me this time of year, and I've generally just been tired and obsessed with finishing V. Mars.

**

Playlist:

Orville Peck - Pony
Allegaeon - Apoptosis
Beth Gibbons and the Polish National Radio Symphony - Henry Górecki - Symphony No. 3
New Radicals - Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too
Canyons - Barrie (single)
Caterina Barbieri - Ecstatic Computation
Blood Red Shoes - Get Tragic
Spotlights - Love and Decay
The Soft Moon - Criminal
The Smiths - Meat is Murder
Meg Myers - Sorry
Blackwater Holylight - Veils of Winter
Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell
Meg Myers - Take Me to the Disco
Perturbator - Dangerous Days
(Sandy) Alex G - House of Sugar

**

No card today.

Grimes - My Name is Dark

New Grimes track! I reluctantly listened to this - while I'm chomping at the bit for the album and can't help but listen to every new track she drops, I'd really like to preserve the album experience. That said, I'm glad I hit play this one time (abstaining after until release day) because this is a fantastic track.

**

Finished Gideon the Ninth. Fantastic - four solid stars on Goodreads. Next up, Autumn Christian's Girl Like A Bomb, which I'm only a few pages into so far but am totally fascinated by. Sex has never been something I've shied away from in fiction, probably because so many of my favorite formative authors utilize it so well. It is a part of life, after all, and Irvine Welsh, Bret Easton Ellis, and Chuck Palahniuk -  to name a few - all write it very well. However, if you look at the common denominator there - all men - you'll probably see what I see, namely the fact that it's pretty one-sided. Christian's book starts off with sex and carries on much the same for the first chapter. It's about a girl's mission to lose her virginity and the strange power she experiences in doing so. Not sure if this power is a metaphor or something extraordinary yet, but then, that's the gotta see of the book, so far, and it's nice to see sex from the female perspective.

Because Girl Like A Bomb is a shorter book, and because I needed some inspiration and Warren Ellis is always raw inspiration, I also bought and downloaded Dead Pig Collector, the novella I picked up a signed copy of earlier in the year but can't bring myself to actually handle in order to read. It was only $.99 on Kindle, so a second, digital copy is hardly extravagant. And of course, within two pages, I'm fascinated and anxious and inspired, all at once.

There are a couple Ellis novels or novellas I've been meaning to read for a few years now, and one I plan to re-read fairly soon, but I figure I'll space them out a bit. The man has a lot of comics I still need to get to as well. The very definition of prolific.

**

My only day off this week due to the on-call schedule, K and I blitzed through a good half-dozen episodes of Veronica Mars season 3 yesterday. Man! I remembered three as being the weakest season, but honestly, just past the half-way mark and I'm thinking it is actually the strongest. The Campus rape storyline is dark AF and I have to wonder if it helped make the show disappear during that original run, but it's the most engrossing storyline to date, and doesn't suffer from being strewn across an entire season, mixed in with the "Scooby-Doo", case of the week stories that pepper throughout. Unlike the Lilly Kane or Exploding Bus storylines, the Campus rape storyline is an omnipotent presence that nips at our casts' heels the entire length of its life, and as such, really creates an ongoing sense of anxiety that works well in a detective, beach-noir show.

We're super close to finishing season three, doing the movie and then finally getting to the new season, so my curiosity is almost at the point of being sated. I purposely know nothing about Hulu's season 4, and cannot wait to dive into it and see where all these familiar characters are in their lives, fifteen or so years later. And after that... the truth is out there. Mr. Brown and my X-Files playlist project begins...

**

Playlist:

Meg Myers - Sorry
Jenny Hval - The Practice of Love
New Radicals - Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too
Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour of the Bewilderbeast
Federale - No Justice
Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure
The Forest Children - Kingdom Animalia
The Forest Children - Darkness Brings the Cold
Oh Baby - The Art of Sleeping Alone
Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
Radiohead - OK Computer
Dungen - Ta det lugnt
Muggs - Dust
Thievery Corporation - The Mirror Conspiracy
Twilight Singers - Twilight
Various Artists - Under Frustration Vol. 2
Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen
Them Are Us Too - Remain
White Hex - Gold Nights
Sleaford Mods - English Tapas

**

Card:

I had to pull a clarifying card after coming up with the Eight of Swords - so some contrary experience will challenge a pre-established idea or ideal I carry with me? Good. It's always nice to get a fresh perspective.

Pan's Labyrinthine Dreamscape

Five days ago: in the car, a cover of Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill comes on KROQ and mildly annoys me. I erroneously dismiss it as another 'Of Monsters and Men' type band covering a song I adore.

One day ago: I hear the same Kate Bush cover on the radio that is always on at work.  Normally tuned exclusively to KXLU, lately, the dial has been set to KROQ. I relive the experience in the car from a few days before, walk out and Shazam the track, realizing as I stand there with my phone in my hand that I actually like the cover.

Fifteen minutes ago: I wake up early, set up to stretch and see that I ear-marked the artist in question, Meg Myers', 2014 Make A Shadow EP on Apple Music. I download the tracks, lay out a yoga mat and hit play. While attempting to stretch out incredibly sore hamstring muscles, the first track starts and I melt.

This is amazing. Full salvo - this hits me hard.

Five minutes ago: I start this post, a newly minted Meg Myers fan.

**

It's time again for...

For the first time in years yesterday, I listened to Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too by the New Radicals. This was a huge album for me in the early 2000s, but perhaps because of that fact, it feels as though it belongs to that era. In this on-going obsession with recontextualizing the 00s, I listened to the album in one straight shot at work and experienced it in a deeply emotional way. Which was very, um, cathartic, I guess. Weird to experience a strong emotional response to music in an office with other people around, but it's kind of a different office aesthetic than most people have, so it worked.

I followed the one album Greg Alexander recorded as New Radicals with a song that often surprises people when it pops up on my iPod in a public forum. I know nothing about Michelle Branch and I'm not the biggest Carlos Santana fan, especially the album I'm about to reference here. However, this song, written by Alexander, sounds like it belongs on that one New Radicals album. I love it. When Ms. Branch hits those "tell my whhhyyyy" parts, it does to my soul exactly what Alexander's voice does on album opener Mother We Just Can't Get Enough, and it feels very, very good.



**

Finished the second season of Veronica Mars, and we're now a quarter of the way through the third. I've seen all these before, but my memory sucks, so while I remember how the main season arcs sweep, I don't completely remember how they get to where they're going. That was certainly the case with the climax of Season Two, where I remembered who had blown up the bus, but not why. I also didn't remember just how damn dark that Season Two finale gets, or how dark Season Three's main story is. Is this why the show ultimately disintegrated in the ratings that propelled it through its initial lifespan and subsequent following?

Chomping at the bit to revisit the movie - which I remember nothing about - and to get to the new Season on Hulu.

**

The new episode of The Horror Vision is up. Movie of the episode is James Gunn's wonderful 2006 gross-out Slither, but the conversation goes all over the place, from Jennifer Kent's Babadook follow-up The Nightengale, to AHS 1984's conclusion (no spoilers), to Clive Barker's Nightbreed. Oh, and our Classic Corner is Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.

The Horror Vision on Apple

The Horror Vision on Spotify

The Horror Vision on Google Play

**

Doing the movies-on-silent-in-the-background-while-I-write thing again, and it seems to be working well for inspiration. Recent features:





**

Playlist:

Alice in Chains - Eponymous
Soundgarden - Down On the Upside
St. Germaine - Tourist
New Radicals - Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too
Federale - No Justice
Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure
Blut Aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta III: Saturian Poetry
Dean Hurley - Anthology Resource Vol. II: Philosophy of Beyond
Telephone Tel Aviv - Immolate Yourself

**
Card:

Which I associate with a very good friend who I spoke to immediately after pulling the card - coincidentally, not by design - who experienced a 6.4 Earthquake in Tirana. Stay safe, brother.

Writing Chamber 11.23.19

Because I'm spending the day with my phone in airplane mode so I can finally finish another of these short stories that have been haunting me for months, I'm revisiting a lot of the stuff that's trapped on my old iPod. Which, as it turns out, is extremely inspiring. Telephone Tel Aviv's album Immolate Yourself was an album I came to unexpectedly: sometime in the mid-00s a friend had given me a bunch of albums in MP3 form, so many in fact that it took me quite some time to work my way around to all of them. One day after work at the bookstore, I came home and hit "Shuffle" on the desktop computer before lying down for a nap. I woke up at some point with this album on, but the wake-up was half-hearted, and as I lie there drifting in and out of sleep, this record slowly endeared itself to me. It has, since then, been a portal back to the weird, twilight mindset of that experience.

**

Along with the old iPod selections, I'm playing a couple movies on silent in the background while I write. Today's choices:






**

With Tasmyn Muir's Gideon the Ninth winding down (it's SO freakin' good), I purchased and loaded Autumn Christian's Girl Like A Bomb in my 'on-deck' reading circle. I don't know much about the book or the author, but I LOVED Shadowmachine, Christian's entry into Robert S. Wilson's Ashes and Entropy anthology earlier in the year, and am excited to read more of her work.

What a cover. The font alone sells it.

**

Playlist:

Blackstar - David Bowie
A Storm in Heaven - The Verve
David Bowie - Diamond Dogs
Oh Baby - The Art of Sleeping Alone
Deth Crux - Mutant Flesh
Ministry - Psalm 69
Bohren and der Club of Gore - Sunset Mission
Bohren and der Club of Gore - Gore Motel