RIP John Cassaday

 

The final track on the band's 1985 album The Head On the Door. Such a great outro to an album that goes through all kinds of emotional disturbances. As this sudden shift in the weather from nearly 100-degree days to cool and smokey 70s took me by surprise, it jump-started my internal Autumn. It's been a few years since I was into The Cure like I am at the moment, and I'm enjoying the hell out of it.

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RIP:

John Cassaday, Age 52. An absolute GIANT - his work with Warren Ellis on Planetary remains the zeitgeist of 00s comics - a book that redefined pretty much everything about the medium. I think the first time I heard the term "Wide Screen Comics" was in regard to Cassaday and Ellis' seminal series. 

Of course, he also worked with Joss Whedon on his beloved Astonishing X-Men, and while I'm not really a fan of that run, Casssaday's art is once again fantastic. 

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Playlist:

Television - Marquee Moon

Garland Jeffreys - Wild in the Streets (single)

The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers

Garland Jeffreys - American Boy & Girl

Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures

The Cure - The Head on the Door

The Jesus Lizard - Rack

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Wild God*

Grinderman - Eponymous

*I only made it two tracks into this one. I'll probably try again, but I'm eternally disappointed that Cave and crew just seem to make the same album over and over again ever since Skeleton Tree and, to a lesser extent, Push the Sky Away, both of which I like upon release, but now feel a lot like Al Pacino's performance in Scent of a Woman - they're just stuck in the same phase. I miss the days when one Bad Seeds record would sound like The Boatman's Call, the next Abbatoir Blues or Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!

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Card:

Today's card for study is the Eight of Wands - Swiftness:

Clear communication. Anti Confusion. Be upfront. Be real. Decisiveness. 

Sway 7A, Baby

 

It's just the best Rock n' Roll song ever recorded from the best Rock n' Roll album ever released.

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Watch:

This recent trend with prequels to 70s Horror classics hasn't given us very much in the way of anything worth hanging onto. The idea that Paramount has a Rosemary's Baby prequel called Apartment 7A coming straight to Paramount Plus didn't move the needle with me at all until I saw Julia Garner is the lead. She will FOREVER be in my good book for Ruth from Ozark. Here's the trailer, which I didn't bother with; I'll just watch and assess when it lands on the streamer come September 27th:

 

I should also mention that there's more good news: Apartment 7A is Directed and Co-written by Natalie Erika James, whose 2020 flick Relic made quite the impression on me (it's definitely time for a rewatch of that one, and it's currently streaming on Shudder).

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Read:

I blew through Nathan Ballingrud's novella Crypt of the Moon Spider yesterday. Both the Hardcover and Paperback are currently available; I posted the paperback's cover art last week, primarily because that's the version I chose for my shelf, as I liked the art just a smidge more; here's the Hardback:

It's fantastic but short, and the advance chapter from the second book of his Lunar Gothic Trilogy that serves as an epilogue to this volume only made me want MORE! Seriously, Ballingrud writes Science Fiction with a silver lining of Horror and it's GLORIOUS! 

Now, however, I'm in between books. Bad Hand Books began shipping Laird Barron's new collection, Not A Speck of Light, last week. However, I've not received a shipment notice yet, so I have some time to kill, and I'm not quite sure what will adequately follow Ballingrud. 

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Playlist:

Ministry - Psalm 69

Bauhaus - Go Away White

Ghost Bath - Self Loather

The Cops - Free Electricity

Chasms - On The Legs Of Love Purified

Megadeth - Rust in Peace 

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Bauhaus - Adrenaline

From their 2008 album Go Away White, which caught a fair amount of slack when it came out, but honestly, always sounded pretty fucking great to me.

 

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Watch:

Writing this Friday night with a pretty good head of steam. Since I pretty much passed out after the second movie of Joe Bob's Nightmareathon last week, I'm picking up the slack this week. I started with Fade to Black, a flick I've started watching several times before and never finished (not the movie's fault), and I found it to be just okay until the third act, which I actually thought was pretty fantastic.

   

The Nightmareathon segued into Children of the Corn after Fade to Black, and I wasn't in the mood for that, so I decided to re-watch Joe Bob host Spookies from The Last Drive-In Season three. Talk about a damn good time:

Some of the sound design really blew me away, and overall, you really have to admire anyone who makes such an absolutely batshit crazy flick. 

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Playlist:

The Cure - The Top

Miranda Sex Garden - Fairytales of Slavery

Bauhaus - Gotham

Blut Aus Nord - 777: Cosmosophy

Bauhaus - Go Away White

Joy Division - Still

Blackbraid - Warriors (single)

Ghost Bath - Moonlover

The Body - I Have Fought Against It, But I Can't Any Longer.

I guess it's Fall, eh?

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Card:

Today's card for study is II: The Priestess:

Alchemical marriage of elements to conceive a new thing (idea, being). This is the cosmic womb that takes I: The Magus's seed and gestates it into a new form. 

Raw Creation, and thus, Will. Tapping into a power greater than your own.

New Music from Jerry Cantrell!!!

 

The second single from Jerry Cantrell's upcoming album, I Want Blood, out on October 18th. Pre-order HERE.

Loving this new record so far. Jerry Cantrell is one of those humans who I root for 

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Watch:

I am unfamiliar with Patricio Valladares's previous films; however, when I first read about her upcoming Invoking Yell, she instantly caught my attention. A found footage film that follows an all-female Black Metal band in Chile, set in the 90s? Events go awry through their penchant for recording paranormal phenomena for their records? What a fantastic idea. 

 

Invoking Yell hits VOD on September 20th.

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Read:

I woke up early this morning and blew through pretty much the entirety of Sandman Volume 2: The Doll's House. I honestly don't know if there is a work of graphic fiction I love more than this one, especially issue #14:

This was instrumental in so much of who I have become. The dialogue, plotting, characters, and the way Gaiman weaves his own brand of dream logic throughout the series, as well as the way a large part of that crescendoes in this volume. We get the resolution for the missing Nightmares Brute and Glob, and how their machinations have affected the world - and the DCU - while Morpheus was indisposed. We are introduced to Lyta and Hector Hall, tying directly into previous Golden Age (?) iterations of 'The Sandman." We get the Corinthian and the Cereal convention, more of those amazing 'confessional' moments that echo back to Volume #1's 24 Hours. Gaiman knows spooky fantasy, but he also knows human nature at its lightest and darkest. Oh yeah, and we meet Hob Gadling, so Gaiman knows his classic English Literature and folklore as well. 

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Playlist:

Black Sabbath - Eponymous

Blut Aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta III: Saturnian Poetry

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

Blut Aus Nord - 777 Sect(s)

Blut Aus Nord - 777 The Desanctification

Blut Aus Nord - 777 Cosmosophy

METZ - Up On Gravity Hill (Thanks, Jacob!!!)

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Card:

Today's card for study is IV - The Emperor:

Rules that govern Life. THIS is an important aspect of the card that I tend to gloss over. When this comes up, it's a reminder to adhere to the boundaries of life, i.e., what keeps you alive. There's also the martial aspect, a further reminder of rigor. That said, there's also a flipside that reminds us not to let rationality and, by extension, civilization become a prison. So balance. That's the name of the game, and it's borne out by the image on the card. 

Decisiveness and linear thinking. 

Brigitte Calls Me Baby - Too Easy

 

From their forthcoming debut full-length album Too Easy, out now. Order HERE. Really digging this band. 

 

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Watch:

Wes Craven passed away on August 30th, 2015, so for the last few nights, I've been watching some of his lesser-known works for a tribute episode we're going to do on The Horror Vision. Last night, I chose Shocker.

 

I saw this back when it first hit VHS, but not since. Let me tell you, this was way more enjoyable than I remembered! Shocker is a totally misguided attempt to make another Freddy-level character/mythology, and while the film fails to do that, it ends up being super fun just from how hard it swings for that ball. Mitch Pileggi deserves a goddamn award for how 'all-in' he goes with the role of Horace Pinker, and while a whole lotta the movie makes no sense whatsoever - why park a van with your name on it in front of the house where you're killing people? Why does Jonathan's girlfriend come back as a powerful spirit for good? How could all the police in this town be that fucking stupid? - none of the inconsistencies, absurdities and downright missteps do anything but add to the fun. 

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Playlist:

Perturbator - Dangerous Days

Blut Aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta III: Saturnian Poetry

Prince - Little Red Corvette (single)

Horrendous - Ontological Mysterium

The Ocean - Heliocentric

Protomartyr - The Agent Intellect

Mastodon - Emperor of Sand

Peter Gabriel - So

Oranssi Pazuzu - Valotus (pre-release single)

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Card:

Today's card for study is the Six of Wands: Victory.

View troubles and disruptions as lessons - they have been necessary to grow. Life is Victory simply by living. Not everyone makes it out of the Strife and Chaos of the Fives. 

Godflesh - For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)

 

I had no idea this existed. Reposted from BlackSunHorizon's YouTube channel, which is full of sludgy goodness. Check it out HERE.

The song itself is taken from the Covered in Black album, an Industrial tribute to AC/DC. If I knew about this back when it came out in 2000 on Cleopatra Records, I had long since forgotten it until stumbling across this track on Apple Music this morning.
 

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NCBD:

Here's what I'm bringing home from the comic shop tonight:

Again, I have to say that this series is really just a corridor for me on the way to the rest of the Energon Universe. I don't hate it, but the fervor I had for the Duke and Cobra Commander mini-series is gone.

Very excited for a new book from Jeff Lemire. Especially one he is 

Penultimate issue! Shit is about to get real and hopefully coalesce into a satisfying conclusion. Tony Fleecs has laid all the pieces out in a very pleasing story of past/present/future - something that isn't easy to do in 2024, where time travel is even more overdone than meta. Every once in a while, though, someone takes the concept and really makes it work. Maybe here it's because Army of Darkness did it long before a lot of other cinematic franchises, or maybe it's just great to have multiple versions of Ash running around. Either way, buckle up.

Get Fury has been another sleeper hit of my 2024. Ennis and Burrows really bring their ultra-violent storytelling to the Marvel Universe with two of the best possible choices for telling this story - Frank Castle and Nicolas Fury! Love it.

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Watch:

I'm posting this here, but I'm not going to watch it, as I'm assuming I'll have to get pretty creative not to see this a million times before it hits theatres on October 18th.

After initially dismissing it, I loved the first Smile and ended up seeing it three times in theaters, so I have high hopes for this one.

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Playlist:

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!

Perterbator - Bloodlust (single)

Braindamage - The Downfall

Tim Hecker - Infinity Pool OST

The Ocean - Heliocentric

Pepper Adams - Encounter!

Godflesh - Pure

Godflesh - In All Languages

Behemoth - Cursed Angel of Doom Live (pre-release single)

JK Flesh - Posthuman

Godflesh - Hymns

Grimes - Art Angels

Grimes - Miss Anthropocene

Zeal & Ardor - GREIF

Cristobal Tapia De Veer - Smile OST

The Fixx - Reach the Beach

Perturbator - Dangerous Days

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Card:

Today's card is The Knight of Cups:

The Firey aspect of Water or the Will as applied to the Emotions. Don't be overwhelmed by emotion. The deluge is not without its rewards. 

Act fast!

Better Lovers!

 

From the forthcoming album Highly Irresponsible, out on October 25th on SharpTone Records. Pre-order HERE.

 

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Watch:

Never been a Demi Moore fan, but maybe anybody can redeem themselves with the right Body Horror movie.

This trailer definitely evokes the work of Brandon Cronenberg and also, Ana Lily Amirpour's episode of GDT's Cabinet of Curiosities, titled The Outside. Hell, maybe even a bit of Larry Cohen's The Stuff.  Writer/Director Coralie Fargeat's previous film Revenge crossed way too many lines for me, but I loved the look of what little I saw of it. Very much looking forward to seeing The Substance on the big screen when it opens on September 18th.

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Read:

I finished Professor John Trafton's BRILLIANT Movie-Made Los Angeles last week, and after such an academic deep-dive into film and regional history - that I really can't recommend enough - I started Ramon Glazov's newly published English translation of Giorgio De Maria's 1975 novel The Twenty Days of Turin.  

I posted about this early last week, how I hadn't been able to stop thinking about what little I knew about the premise via a post author Warren Ellis made on his LTD:

"A decade previously, Turin suffered twenty days of mass insomnia marked by nightly massacres committed by persons unseen or indescribable. The many hundreds of witnesses cannot explain what happened."

 Something about this rattled around in my brain for several days until I finished John's book and promptly ordered a copy of De Maria's novel. Something about that setup reminded me of Carlos Ruiz Zafón's The Shadow of the Wind, and my expectations only grew. 

I received the book yesterday, and at ~65% of the way through, I can confirm The Twenty Days of Turin is a fantastically creepy read. What's more, not only does it remind me of Zafón's work, but reading this is stirring up a desire to re-read Clive Barker's The Great and Secret Show for the first time since I was a Freshman in High School, circa 1991. Both novels deal with secrets gleaned from the throwaway detritus of life - notes, scraps of paper, mail. I've always found the idea fascinating, and realize now there's a throughline between where it was introduced to me with Barker's opus, picked up later (in a manner of speaking) by Zafón's Cemetery of Forgotten Books series, and now reintroduced to me with De Maria's novel. I'm curious if there are more ideas like this out there, and if so, how I might find them.

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Playlist:

Feel the Knife - So Raw... So Nasty... So Hideous.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Grey Rubble - Green Shoots (pre-release single)

Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments

Frank Black - Teenager of the Year

Nature Sounds - Pure Nature (Track 7: Bird Calls)

Revocation - Fathomless Catacombs (single)

Braindamage - The Downfall

Perturbator - Bloodlust (single)

Perturbator - The Uncanny Valley (Expansion)

L'Enfant De La Forêt - ABRAXAS

Gang of Four - Return the Gift Part 1

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Card:

Going to change the way I do this for a while. I'm feeling a bit rusty and disconnected from the cards, so I'm going to take 72 days and go through every card, in whatever order I draw them in, and explore them here. First up - XV: The Devil:

Bringing knowledge. "Bringing light into darkness" - the Lightbringer, as one of Lucifer's many names suggests. This card, like IX, warns against following dogmatic answers laid out by other people's spiritual systems. Worship thine self!!!