Last week was a much-needed respite for me. My good friend Dave was out, and we bounced between hanging out at home watching movies and taking in two of the three Mr. Bungle Raging Wraith of the Easter Bunny shows at LaLa Land's Fonda Theatre (one of my favorite West Coast venues). We drank a ton of great beer (me), and artisanal Gin (him), and generally just acted like two friends who don't see each other nearly enough and welcomed the chance to hang out and act foolish. And as usual when I see Dave, certain songs/groups followed us wherever we go. One of those songs was Michael McDonald's What a Fool Believes. McDonald had a bad rep for about a decade and a half, mostly thanks to a certain early 00s comedy, but whatever you feel about him and his music, he's a great song writer. This is the pinnacle of truth to that statement, but of course, Matt Mahafey makes everything better than it already was.
Especially with toy piano.
**
Congratulations Joker. I haven't seen Parasite yet, but I was glad to see Todd Phillips' masterpiece clean up - including Hildur Guonadottir receiving best score. I'm still not thrilled about this one having a sequel on the horizon, but when you're film grosses over a billion dollars, well, that's inevitable.
Speaking of Joaquin Phoenix, one of the movies I watched while Dave was visiting was Lynne Ramsay's 2017 You Were Never Really Here. Not what I expected, and deeply affecting. I really enjoyed this one, despite subject matter that would normally make me cringe. Ramsay knows how to handle the intensely disturbing pockets of our world just right, and seeing this has me considering watching 2011 We Need To Talk About Kevin, a film I have completely avoided for eight years despite all the accolades, because, well, I'm a wimp and everything I've always heard about this one makes me think it will burrow way too deep beneath my skin.
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Five episodes into Netflix's Locke and Key and I'm digging it quite a bit. Quite a few of my friends are considerably more invested in the comic than I - I finally read the series this past December/January - and most of them have reservations. So far though, I'm enjoying it, even if it is a little more "CW" than it should be.
It's really interesting to see how Mike Flanagan's Haunting of Hill House and its success have affected titles that pre-date it in other forms, specifically here Locke and Key. The show definitely has a similar feel, and that's no accident. Flanagan's show was an unmitigated smash, and stands as one more example of why the man has become such a stalwart in the Horror genre.
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Playlist - pretty much all thrash of late, thanks to those Bungle shows:
SOD - Speak Spanish or Die
Anthrax - Spreading the Disease
Testament - The Gathering
Anthrax - Among the Living
Me and That Man - Songs of Life and Death
Slayer - Reign in Blood
**
Card of the day:
Fertility and the idea of creating something new; propagation. Fits exactly with an insight I had into a stalled project from last year, which I may spend some time outlining soon.
I've been pretty well obsessed with Chris Isaak's 1989 album Heart Shaped World of late, and "Kings of the Highway" is the major impetus for that. This song is so fucking haunted it's unbelievable. For a song I'm fairly certain I never heard upon its release - I would have been thirteen, and while I knew and loved "Wicked Game" as it drifted from radios and tv alike that year, I didn't go any deeper than that - the soft, airy guitar, minor chord inflections, and perfectly reverberated drum kit creates a sonic space that, in my head, summons so many sense memories of my life at the time that it's as close to time travel as I've come. This goes beyond nostalgia; this is something else, and it's tied into how a scrawny Midwest metalhead kid came into contact and fell in love with David Lynch later that same year. Maybe these reveries of the past are firing off, careening backward through the time stream and colliding with my younger version, effectively priming me to be in the right place at the right time, that fateful Sunday night when I wandered into the living room and plopped on the sofa across from my Dad, only to get slowly engulfed in what he was already watching - ABC Sunday night movie, the two-hour pilot of David Lynch and Mark Frost's Twin Peaks.
Whether that's massive hyperbole or not, one thing is for sure. I'm not gonna talk about Judy.
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Speaking of Peaks, here's a head scratcher Mr. Brown brought to my attention recently. CBS recently stopped the 26-year, independently run Twin Peaks Fest. The plan, apparently, is for an official Fest to start up this spring, held in all places, Graceland.
Yes. That's right. Graceland.
Now, at first this just strikes me as all kinds of sad and bizarre. The sad doesn't alleviate the more I think on it, but the Tennessee part eventually turned on a little light bulb. If you've kept up with anything that's happened online with Twin Peaks over the last few months, there was a flurry of activity back in early October that suggests there may be more Peaks coming (read the article HERE), and while it's all conjecture, what if some element of the next chapter takes places in Graceland?
At this point, only the Owls - and probably Carl Rodd - know for sure.
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NCBD: I had a handful of items to pick up, and with my pull slowly being split between The Comic Bug and my DwC co-host Mike Wellman's new Atomic Basement shop in the LBC, I've been behind. Here's what I landed in the last week:
Black Stars Above has now replaced the in-hiatus Criminal (see below) as the most bang for my buck every month. The story continues to unfold in a creepy, confounding way, and this third issue incorporated about six pages of prose. No idea where this is going, but it also occurs to me we have a Lone Wolf and Cub-like scenario similar to what Disney did recently with The Mandalorian, except replace Baby Yoda with what I'm kinda thinking of as Baby N'yarlohotep.
Going back and re-reading all of this currently Criminal "Cruel Summer" arc in anticipation of this final issue, I have to say, Brubaker and Phillips may have topped themselves. This one is Grand, capital "G" intended.
A new book in Joe Hill's Hill House imprint at DC, I had to bite back my aversion to monthly big two books when I saw A) Kelley Jones is the artist on Daphne Byrne, and B) there were no snickers ads in the book. Not really many ads at all (still more than there should be for a book that sports a $4.99 cover price). So far, I'm hooked.
Gideon Falls is as fascinating as it is perplexing, and with the conclusion of this fourth volume, I intend to go back and do a serious, deep-dive re-read before the new arc arrives in May.
TMNT continues it's fracturing of the traditional mores and paradigms of the TMNT universe, and it's just as good as it's ever been.
And with that, we have no more Trees on the horizon for some time. Sad face emoji.
**
Wednesday, February 5th my good friend Dave flew out for an extended weekend of not one but two of the three Mr. Bungle 'reunion' shows happening here in LaLaLand. The show is, exactly as the remaining members advertised in advance, a full-on thrash show, so I wasn't expecting to hear anything other than their Raging Wraith of the Easter Bunny demo - re-worked by Dunn, Spruance, and Patton with the help of Anthrax's Scott Ian and Fantomas/Slayer's Dave Lombardo. This first show was great despite the fact that for a large part of the show, all I could hear was Lombardo's drum kit, and I'm looking forward to tonight's, hoping there will be some covers or surprises exclusive to each night. The highlight of Wednesday's show for me were never-before-played Eracist, and Speak Spanish or Die, a re-worked version of the title track from SOD's 1985 debut album.
That's the entire set on youtube, however, I've dropped you in at the aforementioned cover song.
**
The first 'teaser' from the next AHS dropped recently. I must say, if Season 10 is even half as good as Season 9, I will be happy.
It feels a little early for this to have teasers for this one, and I haven't looked around online for synopsis, but this looks like a very high concept season.
**
Playlist:
Chris Isaak - Heart Shaped World
Chris Isaak - Eponymous
The Great Old Ones - Cosmicism
Testament - Night of the Witch (pre-release single)
20 Watt Tombstone - Wisco Disco
Cash Audio - The Orange Sessions
David Bowie - Hunky Dory
...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of the Dead - X: The Godless Void and Other Stories
Simon Bonney - Past, Present, Future
Zonal - Wrecked
Mol - Jord
Steely Dan - Aja
Billy Joel - The Stranger
The Fixx - Reach the Beach
Zombi - Shape Shift
Alice in Chains - Rainier Fog
Jenny Hval - The Practice of Love
Boy Harsher - Careful
Barry Adamson - As Above So Below
Me and That Man - Songs of Love and Death
Faith No More - King for a Day
**
Card:
Sevens follow me these days. Even in the Major Arcana, I'm never far from Netzach. There's a little lesson about this card, that you shouldn't confuse the armor you use to face the world as your real self. I'm not sure how that relates exactly, but it's good to contemplate that from time to time.
Let's trace a chain of events so that I can better explain my current musical obsession.
My good friend and collaborator Jonathan Grimm messaged me recently telling me he'd been hired by an awesome band to do a design. A day or two later, I see that the band, Wisconsin's 20 Watt Tombstone, had released an absolutely killer limited edition baseball tee featuring Grimm's design.
The next day at work, where I can often do my most concentrated listening of the day on headphones, I swung over to the band's page on Apple Music and loaded up their 2015 record Wisco Disco.
Immediate love. I listened to the album on repeat all day.
Here's the thing; it's not just that this is an awesome two-piece band. These guys have such a thick, dirty sound that it recalls music long ago ingrained in my blood. Back in the mid-to-late 90s, Mr. Brown, Sonny, Joe Grez, and I - basically the core of Schlitz Family Robinson - used to hang out at Chicago's Empty Bottle a lot, and we took quite a liking to two-piece Touch and Go Records band Cash Money that played there often. We started to kind of follow them around to other venues when they'd play as well, often opening for other Touch and Go bands. But Cash Money - later Cash Audio because of a bullshit lawsuit by the shitty rap label - stands as one of my all-time favorite live bands. John Humphrey and Scott Gimpino had a sound that is so unbelievably similar to 20 Watt Tombstone, that I can't help but feel like I've known 20 Watt a helluva lot longer than I have. Their sound is in my blood. And I don't mean to say I think there's any imitation going on; this is a natural progression of how two guys can set up and play dirty ass blues rock just fine without anyone else in the band. The Gretsch both Humphrys and 20 Watt Frontman/Guitarist Tom Jordan play has a lot to do with the sound, as does the slide, and the rough hewn blues-on-delta-rock vocals. I could go on, but I'd rather just shut my mouth and urge you to go check these guys out on their website and bandcamp, they are a fantastic band in their own right, and come from a lineage of blues/metal/fuzz icons.
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This past Friday, K and I went to the theatre to see Osgood Perkins' new film Gretel and Hansel. I'll say right off the bat, I was very surprised to see this one getting such a wide release, and despite the fact that I am not a fan of Perkins' previous film, Blackcoat's Daughter (aka February), there was no way I wasn't going to support this one in a major chain.
So what did I think of Gretel and Hansel? All the acting is fantastic, it's a very pretty film, and I love the soundtrack. However, the soundtrack largely does not fit the movie. Synth-based music over old world settings play at being anachronistic, but in this case at least, I just don't think it worked. In fact, there were a few other elements that seemed to tease at the idea that Perkins sees this film as inhabiting an anachronistic space similar to, say, David Robert Mitchell's It Follows. Mitchell's film pulls it off in a very strange way; Perkins' film, in my opinion, does not. It's just too half-hearted and feels thrown in after the fact, as if the other elements that made me wonder - a few snippets of colloquialisms in Gretel's dialogue, or the coffee cup the Witch serves her from in one scene - were thrown in simply to try and justify the synth music. There's no doubt that the film, like BlackCoat's Daughter, is shot beautifully, and at least one scene is enhanced by that synth music, but as good as that scene is, it takes away from the overall film, and should have been removed or scored differently. Kill your darlings, dude.
Oh, but it was also really cool to see the old Orion Pictures logo come up at the start of the film. Not sure if that's being brought back, or if I'm just unobservant and it's been around since back in the day, but it feels like we haven't seen it in at least fifteen years if not longer.
All in all, I'd definitely say that, while I had some gripes, Gretel and Hansel deserves your support in the cinema, it just might leave you feeling 'meh.' Then again, I am largely alone in my disdain for Blackcoat's - I simply cannot reconcile the red herring that conceals the twist at the end; it's only accomplished by cheating - so who knows, everyone may very well love this one as well.
**
Playlist:
Butthole Surfers - Rembrandt Pussyhorse
Nothing - Guilty of Everything
Bohren and Der Club of Gore - Patchouli Blue
David Bowie - Heroes
20 Watt Tombstone - Wisco Disco
Chris Isaak - Heart Shaped World
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
The Misfits - Static Age
...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of the Dead - X: The Godless Void and Other Stories
Clark - Daniel Isn't Real OST
The Body - I Have Fought Against It, But I Can't Any Longer
Lingua Ignota - Caligula
Greg Dulli - Pantomina (pre-release single)
Greg Dulli - It Falls Apart (pre-release single)
Me and That Man - Songs of Love and Death
Zonal - Wrecked
Mol - Jord
K and I had a marvelous weekend celebrating our four-year anniversary, now and I have a truncated week at work this week as my buddy Dave is coming out and we're seeing two of the three Mr. Bungle shows (*excited*), so I'm digging back into work on Shadowplay and I've begun the first steps preparing the book I will be releasing this year, what I consider the first successful novel I ever wrote, back in 2008.
It's been a minute since I checked in with The Black Lips. "Rumbler" is definitely not where I'm at mentally, but it is awesome nonetheless, and something I'd imagine I'll have in regular rotation before too long. New album, The Black Lips Sing in a World That's Falling Apart is out now on Fire Records, and you can order a copy HERE.
**
Finally had the occasion to watch David Lynch's What Did Jack Do? on Netflix. Wow, easily one of the weirder, more self-indulgent pieces from my favorite director, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I've been accused of being a "Lynch Apologist" before and I guess that's not wrong. But the man is filled with happiness and optimism, while still being capable of creating some of the most dark and baffling art, that it makes me infinitely happy just to see his face. What Did Jack Do? was no exception.
Here's a nice addendum to the movie. The song Jack performs, "The Flame of Love," is being released on vinyl by Sacred Bones. You can pre-order it HERE. I'm sitting this one out on vinyl - I'm not really a completist for everything Lynch has done (though pretty close), but this will probably end up a bizarre piece of memorabilia.
**
Playlist :
Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - In Summer EP
Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Various Artists - The Void OST
Chris Issac - Heart Shaped World
The Black Lips - Sing in a World That's Falling Apart
Man, this was a blow. I don't know Sean Reinert's catalogue like some of my friends do, but from the moment I first heard this track on Cynic's 1993's debut Focus, I was floored. This was one of the first 'death metal' bands whose vocals didn't put me off, and also, whereas I normally didn't 'listen' to the drums on records like this, with Reinhert, at times that was all I could listen to.
**
Holy smokes! Over at Brooklyn Vegan, Andrew Sacher made my day by posting the news that 90s MetalCore group Deadguy appear to be reuniting. This is one show I will not miss live if they come through LaLa Land! Waaaay back in 1995, when Deadguy's first and only album Fixation On a Coworker came out on Victory Records, I happened to be a writer for southside Chicago music mag Subculture, and this album was sent to me for review. I loved it, and have loved it ever since, and now can't wait to see what more Deadly might have in store for us.
Read Sacher's full article HERE, and below is my favorite song off the album:
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Playlist:
M83 - Knight + Heart OST
Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - In Summer EP
Me and That Man - Songs of
Blut Aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue with the Stars
**
Card:
Motion, movement. Flow. Getting back into a stable, regular writing routine has worked wonders. Sometimes things stop your momentum cold, that's life. You just have to start back up again. It's all a Wheel.
There's something to be said for artists who, whether they plan to or not, end up defining a part of our time, whether it's a year, or half-year, or period of weeks and/or months. Me and That Man is having that affect on me now, here at the start of the 20s. Part of it is because I didn't hear about them until the back half of 2019, and part of it is the pace at which they have been releasing singles off their upcoming 2020 album, Same Shit Volume One, due out March 27th on Napalm Records (Pre-order HERE). The steady, every-couple-of-weeks has helped keep them on my mind, in my ears, and a continual OST to these cold and dreary days of the first quarter (LaLa Land's 'cold and dreary' might not be as severe as a lot of other places, but everything is relative). This new track is simple, catchy, and has a certain stoic dirge quality that, once again, shows me Nergal is a huge Nick Cave fan. Not a band thing by any means.
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The similarities between the procedural CDC elements of Chuck Wendig's novel Wanderers and the current 'outbreak' of the Coronavirus are frightening to say the least. Benji Ray's complex relationship with the job of disease identification/control/treatment already inspired me to pull Terry Gilliam's Twelve Monkeys off the shelf in anticipation of a re-watch, reality and the daily news - which I largely shy away from these days other than BBC - have made me think twice about adding to the 'paranoia fire' that seems to lay at the heart of the modern world at the moment.
**
Playlist:
Blut Aus Nord - Memorial Vetusta II: Dialogue with the Stars
Drab Majesty - The Demonstration
Godflesh - Love and Hate in Dub
Godflesh - Songs of Love and Hate
Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen
Bohren and Der Club of Gore - Patchouli Blue
Tangerine Dream - Sorcerer OST
Steve Moore - Bliss OST
Night Shop - In the Break
Black Pumas - Eponymous
Iggy Pop - Lust for Life
Revolting Cocks - Big Sexy Land
Mol - Jord
**
Card:
A direct reference to the power and stability my recent writing sessions have given my made-up world of Shadow Play. As if to further underline that interpretation, a second card leapt from the pile as I pulled the first off the top of the deck:
Second time this week for XXI The Universe, and why not? I'm currently dealing with massive philosophical concepts, finding fun and interesting ways to instill a version of my own cosmology in this work that is coming to define my life (at least until it's over and I move on).
One of the creepiest songs Godflesh did, and that's saying something.
I've fallen in love with Love and Hate in Dub all over again. This one is never far from my speakers, but many times, my listens are not album-length, as they're confined to the car, or at work where a longer album can be interrupted fairly easy. Lately however, I've been sequestered in the back-half of this one, and the final song, this "remix" of 'Gift from Heaven', off 1996's equally brilliant album Songs of Love and Hate. There's always been something so dark and mysterious about Godflesh, and although I love pretty much everything JKB has done in his career - especially under the Godflesh moniker - possibly the stuff that stays with me the most is the creepy, atmospheric, 'a boiler room in hell' stuff.
**
One episode into the new Chilling Adventures of Sabrina on Netflix and goddamn, I don't care how camp or teenage this show goes at time, the sets, costumes, and overall tone is fantastic, and again, the blasphemy is joy-inducing.
**
Playlist:
Godflesh - Love and Hate in Dub
Mol - Jord
Bohren and Der Club of Gore - Patchouli Blue
Zonal - Wrecked
David Lynch and Marek Zebrowski - Polish Night Music
Kevin Morby - Oh My God
**
Card:
A new journey? That's always the initial interpretation that springs to mind with this one, however I'm inclined at the moment, while reflecting on a fairly successful week of writing sessions, to err on the side of a completely different outlook. One of "new," i.e. a new direction that's becoming apparent within the major arc of the second and third books. It's not radically different than what I originally had planned, but it's more nuanced for sure. In fact, the entire epic is really coming to life in a far more robust way than I'd anticipated. Well, that's not entirely true; I've always known this would be huge, but I guess you can't see it until you're in it, so to speak. And brother, I am IN it now.
