Steely Dan - Schlitz Jingle

 Thanks to my good friend Seth for sending this my way, catchiest thing I've heard in some time.

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NCBD:

An interesting haul awaits me later today. Let's see what I'm bringing home for NCBD:

The first issue of Michael Walsh's Frankenstein brought great joy to our house! K loved it, I loved it, and we're both rarin' for more.

Saga issue 69 gets the most appropriate and Saga-like celebration of the number I could have hoped for. I still love this book, despite the cooling of the fervor that settled in with all the hiatuses. 

Ryan Stegman's art on Donny Cates' Venom run a few years ago drew me into that title, and now he's writing a book with Jason "Trees" Howard on art? Definitely picking up this first issue, at the very least. Also, this will be my first Dstlry book. Here's the solicitation, cribbed from League of Comic Geeks:

"Bryce Hunter is a devoutly religious man whose faith is shattered when he catches his wife being...Intimate with an Elder from his church. This harrowing event sends Bryce spiraling into the hands of a demonic entity named Uvydus, Instead of rejecting possession, Bryce ACCEPTS Uvydus. Bryce wants to learn to be “bad” and Uvydus wants to be “less than completely evil.” But before Bryce can use this new partnership to finally live a little, the world's greatest Exorcist sees Bryce as his greatest challenge. But that's not even the worst of it as a murderous group of demons breaks free from Hell and threatens to re-shape earth into a kingdom over which they rule!"

The penultimate issue. Let's see that boom stick, sir!

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Watch:

Another Autumn is upon us, so that means a new V/H/S flick is just around the corner.

 I dug last year's, but these are still usually a mixed bag for me. Still, taking the idea of "Beyond" to this series might make for some very cool ideas. 

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Playlist:

Eldovar - A Story of Darkness and Light

Type O Negative - Life is Killing Me

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Card:

Today's card for study is I: The Magus.

Skill and/or Wisdom. Magick. Take initiative.

You know, when I set out to 'study' these cards more, I had grand designs to really dig deep. I certainly have enough stores of knowledge on them assembled. That hasn't actually happened, though. I really haven't been doing anything different than I normally do, drawing a card for the day and writing out its interpretation/possibilities. I want to change that, but there's just not enough damn time at the moment. 

Looking at Crowley's The Book of Thoth, I'm reminded that he refers to this card as "The Juggler." 

New Music from Dance with the Dead

Okay, newish music from Dance of the Dead, as I've meant to post this one for a while now and keep forgetting. That neon green cross in the thumbnail is something I'd pay to have hanging on my walls, so you can say it caught my eye.

From the new EP Dark Matter, out October 25th. They also have a tour coming up, dates for which you can find HERE. 

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Watch:

Last night, K and I finally saw Tim Burton's Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. This will be the last time I give Mr. Burton A) the benefit of the doubt and B) my time. 

 

Such a waste of a great cast. It's painful to realize that Mr. Burton is very clearly not the same person he was when he made his mark on pop culture, and it's even more painful to watch him try desperately to recapture that person and fail every time. The last movie by him I saw was Dark Shadows, and that, too, made me cringe about his entire aesthetic, which honestly has always been his main appeal. The problem with style over content is, eventually, if it wears out, it's welcome for want of substance. 

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Playlist:

The Ritual Howls - Into the Water

Miranda Sex Garden - Suspiria

The Thirsty Crows - Hangman's Noose

The Jesus Lizard - Rack

Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Oz

Eldovar - A Story of Darkness and Light

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Body Count - Comfortably Numb

 Wait... what?

I don't love this, but it's definitely worth posting. "Comfortably Numb" was probably my favorite song when I was a stoned teenager in high school. My friend Anthony and I were obsessed with Pink Floyd, and this song... just moved the world for me. I still love it, but it's not all that often I go back and revisit Floyd in the religious manner I used to. Still, seeing this as a cover by Ice-T's thrash metal band Body Count floored me, and it's definitely worth a listen, as they do some interesting things with the song, which is an advance single from the upcoming album Meerciless, out November 22 on Century Media. Pre-order HERE.

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Watch:

Last night, K and I watched Tobe Hooper's Poltergeist on Joe Bob Brigg's The Last Drive-In Patreon. The original air date of the episode was 4/3/99 - why does the late '90s look so old to me now? - on a TNT series called Joe Bob's Last Call. 

As a huge fan who only ever heard of Joe Bob in 2018 when he hit Shudder with that Marathon (I never had cable growing up), I've obviously become aware of Monstervision and Up All Night, but Last Call was new to me. I'll have to look to see where that slots in between the others. Anyway, Poltergeist is something of an annual or bi-annual Autumn watch for me, and it was especially wonderful watching it with Joe Bob.

This is a perfect film, in my opinion. I never bothered with the 2015 remake, even out of curiosity, and I likely never will. The world on display in Poltergeist is the world I grew up in - early 1980s suburban America - and that's part of what makes it so effective both as a Horror film and a nostalgia piece. Also, I find it super interesting that the first few times I saw this film I was very young and Jobeth Williams was a "Mom" to me, but over the years as I've aged and the version of her in the film hasn't, she's become one of the hottest Horror movie women I've ever seen. 

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Playlist:

The Damned - AD 2022 Live in Manchester

Human Impact - Gone Dark (pre-release singles)

Human Impact - EP01

Mogwai - God Gets You Back (single)

Dale Crover - Glossolalia

The Mysterines - Afraid of Tomorrows

Bauhaus - Go Away White

Aerosmith - Pump

Deafheaven - New Bermuda

Zeal & Ardor - GREIF

Body Count - Comfortably Numb (single)

Body Count - Eponymous

Soul Coughing - Ruby Vroom

Jane's Addiction - Nothing Shocking

Amy Winehouse - Back to Black

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Card:

Today's card is the Ace of Disks:

Financial Breakthrough. Successful implementation of new ideas/rules/parameters in matters of Earthly providence. Growth and prosperity.

New Music from Mogwai!

The legendary Mary Anne Hobbs premiered a new track by Mogwai a couple of days ago, and now here's the video! No word on a new album yet, but smart money says it's coming, as the band also announcned a 2025 world tour, details of which are HERE.

 

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Watch:

K and I went to see Coralie Fargeat's new film The Substance last night. Pretty sure I will not see a better film for the remainder of the year; Robert Eggers has Nosferatu coming, but The Substance is just... see it on a big screen, that's all I can say.

 

The term "Batshit crazy" gets thrown around a lot - hell, I do a fair share of the throwing myself - but once in a great while, a film comes along that reminds me I really had forgotten what Batshit Crazy is. This is that film. I cannot believe I saw this in a big box theatre in Middle America. The Substance is absolutely INSANE. It almost wears out its welcome, then doubles down on the crazy and just... it feels like the most Body Horror movie I may have ever seen. And I don't offer that lightly.

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Read:

Sweet little comic shop pickup I wasn't expecting the other day; shout out to Ryan and Rick's Comic City for pulling this aside when they got it in, presumably from someone selling some old comics:

Published by Arrow Comics in 1986, this was a fascinating read. Not nearly as intricate as Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead, this is totally outsider art from before Zombies had become mainstream. A group of survivors make their way through a world not only overrun with Zombies but intelligent zombies. There appears to be a classification here, with the intelligent Dead few and far between but able to manipulate or control the hordes of shambling dead. Very cool concept and execution, a nice piece of the 80s Black and White Explosion's history I'd missed until now. 

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Playlist:

The Jesus Lizard - Rack

Kaiser Chiefs - Employment

Ritual Howls - Rendered Armor

Deth Crux - Mutant Flesh

Bauhaus - Volume One: 1979 - 1983

Type O Negative - Life Is Killing Me

Type O Negative - October Rust

The Damned - A Night of a Thousand Vampires

White Hex - Gold Nights

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Ershetu - Ketsurui

 

From the forthcoming record Yomi, out November 8th on Debemur Morti. I just stumbled across Ershetu via the Deber Morti Newsletters. Their first album, 2023's Xibalba, is a confounding puzzle of a record, one in a series of records meant to explore the concept of Death among different cultures. From the press release:

"Cinematic Black Metal project ERSHETU was formed in 2021 by conceptualist/lyricist Void and composer Sacr to explore formulations of Death within particular civilizations or religions. After tackling Mayan mythology via evocative 2023 debut "Xibalba", new album "Yomi" finds the band growing in confidence and stature, heading to deeper and darker climes as they immerse themselves in the death folklore of Japanese Shinto."

Blut Aus Nord's Vindsval is not only once again featured on bass and additional guitars for the new record, but also serves as Ershetu's vocalist on the new album. 

US pre-order HERE

EU pre-order HERE.

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NCBD:

Another Wednesday brings another glorious NCBD. What's in the box for me at Rick's Comic City today? Let's see...

I feel like there's a little bit of an homage to the original Marvel GIJOE: ARAH issue #60, but maybe that's just in my head. I dig the way Hama is basically casting echoes of the original series' Cobra Civil War with this new Battle for Springfield storyline. Lots of factions in Cobra in this series, and Mr. Hama is, as usual, handling them quite deftly.

As I've mentioned, I'm digging the Destro series, and even Scarlett issue 4 turned out pretty good, but the new car excitement has worn off a bit on this new take. I think we're all ready to collapse the Skybound Energon Universe GIJOE storyline down to one monthly comic for a while.

Hellblazer: Dead in America continues to be a wild ride with a ghostly John Constantine and his cohorts through the dark heart of America, and while that's certainly a storyline that's been done in Hellblazer before, this one shares a lot more with classic Vertigo books like Shade The Changing Man: The American Scream than those "New Vertigo" Hellblazer volumes. Nothing wrong with either, but Si Spurrier's ability to hit that classic Vertigo tone on the head rivals Tynion's, and that's saying something. Does that mean a book like this is simply serving a nostalgia purpose? No, I don't think so. John Constantine is one of those characters that got strip-mined by the end of the original Hellblazer series - and certainly since then with all the launches and relaunches, to say nothing of his appropriation into a more recognizable character inside the mainstream DCU - and this series feels like the first new Constantine story I've seen in well over ten years that I actually give a toss about. Maybe it was just luck of the draw for the book, but this book is proving to be very satisfying to this old-school Constantine fan at the moment. 

Finally! The second issue of Spider-Man: Black Suit & Blood. Issue #1 was a surprise - I wrote about it HERE - and I've looked forward to the second installment ever since. Also - another jaw-dropping cover!!!
 

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Watch:

I watched Jennifer Kent's 2019 Colonial Australia Opus The Nightengale recently. This is one I was very much afraid of, knowing a bit about the storyline. One of my compatriots from The Horror Vision recently chose this as her pick for an upcoming episode of Elements of Horror, so I steeled myself and fired up Shudder, where Kent's film is currently streaming.

Not an easy watch in any respect. The Nightengale is film I would definitely say needs to be seen. The harsh indictment of Colonialism, as well as just the general disrespect human beings have for each other, is a reminder that, shamefully, we're really not all that far advanced from this yet. 

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Playlist:

Forhist - Eponymous

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Nell' ora blu

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Blood Lust

Ritual Howls - Scatter the Scars

Ritual Howls -  Their Body

The Jesus Lizard - Rack

Type O Negative - October Rust

The Damned - Night of A Thousand Vampires

The High Confessions - Turning Lead Into Gold with the High Confessions

Neon Nightmare - Lost Silver (pre-release single)

Neon Nightmare - She's Drowning (pre-release single)

Seventh Void - Heaven Is Gone

Type O Negative - Life is Killing Me

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Card:

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

Rules that govern all life. 

This begs the question, is the card a reminder to be mindful of those rules or to seek answers outside their boundaries? The card's visual imagery is overwhelmingly Martial and that can be read as playing by the rules of a situation with the intent of subverting its dogma.

Type O Negative - Die with Me

 

Well, after nearly a week of Autumnal weather, the temperature shifted back into the low 90s yesterday. Doesn't matter - my interior Autumn flourished for 16 years in L.A. and it's firmly intact and engaged. So here's some Type O Negative, from 1996's October Rust.

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Watch:

Longlegs hits Blu-Ray next Tuesday! 

Hail Satan!

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Playlist:

Darkness Brings the Cold - Devil Swank Vol. 1

The Mysterines - Afraid of Tomorrows

Zeal & Ardor - GREIF

Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen

Ershetu - Xibalba

Talking Heads - Remain in Light

Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings and Food

Type O Negative - October Rust

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Card:

Today's card for study is the Nine of Cups - Happiness:

Eight of Cups is emotional change, and adding one to that suggests a new stability. There's balance depicted in Lady Freida Harris' design for this card. A lot going on, but it works out. This then suggests if you keep adding, you will have to work at finding symmetry, but it just might surprise you by occurring naturally. 

Mastodon, Lamb of God - Floods of Triton

I know nothing about Lamb of God, but this collaboration with Mastodon is pretty bad ass. Not sure if this heralds a split E.P. or something bigger, but this is pretty cool. Fantastic cover art, as well.  

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Watch:

I am having a very hard time accepting that I might not be going to L.A. for Beyondfest this year, especially since I didn't even realize that Joe Begos had a new movie that is premiering at the Egyptian! There's no trailer for Jimmy and the Stiggs yet, no nothing except this image posted yesterday on the Beyondfest schedule:

I'm not certain I will be able to accept not going. We'll see. 

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Playlist:

Mastodon, Lamb of God - Floods of Triton (single)

Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden

Danzig - Black Hell (single)

Spotlights - Seance E.P.

NIN - Year Zero

††† - Goodnight, God Bless, I Love U, Delete

Your Black Star - Sound From the Ground

Mastodon - Emperor of Sand

Crystal Castles - II

Crystal Castles - Eponymous

Gourdon Banks - Keep You In Mind (single)

Ghost Cop - Problems (single)

A Place Both Wonderful and Strange - Sorry For Your Loss

In Slaughter Natives - Sancrosancts Bleed

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Card:

Today's card for study is the Two of Swords - Peace:

Rest and recuperate. Perspective.