D'Nell - I've Read About it

 

I have not thought about D'Nell or their 2005 Trip Hop/Soul Masterpiece 1st Magic in probably a decade. I ask myself, how is that possible? The moment I thought of it, out of the clear blue sky Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, I sought it out, only to find it absent from Apple Music. It's apparently on Spotify, but I only sub to that around October to have access to my four-hour Halloween playlist, so instead, I had to resort to listening to it on youtube.

I hate doing that. I mean, FUCK ads, right? 

Anyway, I'm sure the old burned disc I had is on one of the spindles of burned discs I've hung onto since the '00s. Will it still play? Doesn't matter, because I tracked down a vinyl copy of 1st Magic on Discogs and bought it. Shipping from Germany included, and it came to less than I've paid for some new, domestic records. I cannot wait to get this on my turntable! I know so little about D'Nell - my good friend Ray turned me onto them back circa 2006 or 2007, and it soundtracked the next five or so years of my life pretty heavily. Then... it just fell off my radar. I can't explain the size of the smile on my face listening to this last night and again first thing this morning. 

Such an amazing record.

 

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Watch:

I'm too exhausted to explain what I know about Backrooms - I don't know so much more than I do - but after my friends Maddy and Kenta introduced me to this and Kane Pixels, in general, this time last year, I haven't thought that much about it. 

Until now.

That book I'm currently reading? Coup de Grace? Really reminds me of this, so I've been thinking about it again. I need to carve out some time to sit down, smoke up, and just try and watch as much of this as I can. Also, there is some definite second-generation Hauntology going on in these. Analog ghost worlds, baby. Analog Ghost Worlds...

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Playlist:

D'Nell - 1st Magic

United Future Organization - 3rd Perspective

Secret Chiefs 2 Traditionalists - La Mani Destre Recise Degli Ultimi Uomimi

Calexico - More Cowboys In Sweden (Live)

Me and That Man - New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol. 1

Ethel Cain - Preacher's Daughter

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

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Sunn O))) - Alice

 

Currently becoming re-fixated on Sunn O)))'s 2009 EPIC Monoliths and Dimensions. This was my introduction to Sunn O))); I'd seen references to the band on the Freak Angels Whitechapel board (RIP) that had me curious, so I was primed. I was a subscriber to Wire magazine at the time, and their April 2009 issue had Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson on the cover for the release of Monoliths, so that was my inciting incident. The rest, as they say, is history. I've kept up with the band to a degree, but nothing I've heard by them has ever hit me as hard as the arranging on this one. 

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NCBD:

More excited about this week's pull list than any in a while; that could all drain away if Diamond continues to lag on actually getting the books still entrusted to their care into shops. I'm waiting on three books from the new year - What's the Furthest Place From Here #21, Barstow #2, and TMNT #6. I understand that the company is struggling, but come on.

Okay, enough bitchin' already. Let's get into this week's books!

LOVE this alternative cover for Batman: Dark Patterns issue 3. Chances are I won't be able to snag this, but that's okay, because the A Cover is pretty bad ass, too.. Really digging this book, though. Dan Watters drums up another really well-done series, with some truly crazy ideas that work definite elements of the Horror genre into a Batman comic (always my favorite Batman stories!)

Thundercracker and Skywarp - I love spending so much time with some of these Gen One characters again. Always dug all three of the original Decepticon planes, but Starscream usually gets all the screen time.

New book by Luther Strode/Spread scribe Justin Jordan. Looks like an occult-tinged, super violent revenge story. Here's the solicitation from League of Comic Geeks:

"Harley Creed is a bad man. He used to be worse. A violent ex-con with a string of brutal crimes in his past, he only wanted one thing when he finally walked free from prison: to leave Briar Falls, WV, behind and disappear forever. But Harley’s hometown has a strange way of swallowing people whole—call it a consequence of the low-level folk magic that has permeated its darker corners for generations. And now that Harley has returned, pent-up vengeance for his past crimes is about to come roaring back. Somebody has put a hex on him—and Harley has seven days before he dies in twisted, screaming agony. To reverse it, Harley must find and kill his unseen enemy before their curse can reap its terrible end. But in Briar Falls, there's no shortage of suspects—and Harley is coming for them all. If can't have peace, at least he can have revenge."

I haven't read a lot of Justin Jordan's work, which is an oversight on my part. I miss the guy's voice - Luther Strode is so very near and dear to my heart. Can't wait to give this a shot.

Part two of Zac Thompson's super weird, super creepy Science Horror Into the Unbeing! Been waiting for this one. 

This, like all Z News, will be on hold at my shop in Chicago, so it'll be a minute. Just knowing this is out there waiting for me makes me smile, though.

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Play:

A Metroidvania based on the Beast of Gevaudan? Sign me up!

Hitting Switch this summer. Read the full skinny over on Bloody Disgusting!

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Playlist:

Tangerine Dream - Sorceror OST

Gazelle Twin - Fear Keeps Us Alive (Beak> Mix; single)

Windhand - Eponymous

Boy Harsher - Careful

Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest

Dreamkid - Eponymous

Sunn O))) - Monoliths and Dimensions

Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments

D'Nell - 1st Magic (truncated, youtube playlist version*)

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* See tomorrow's post

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• IX: The Hermit

• Nine of Swords

• Two of Pentacles

Isolation can seem like a good thing for perspective and concentration, however, it can lead to overwhelmingly destruction thoughts. If this occurs, confide in another. 

Exister Exhuma

As I wrote about last week, I'm really only now getting to know Exister, the late Luis Vasquez's final album. Go figure - the one that didn't make that big of an impression on me upon its first release has become my favorite. 

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Watch:

I finally got around to watching Jang Jae-hyun's Exhuma on Shudder. This was on quite a few "Best of 2024" lists I saw and I must say, that ranking is well deserved. Here's a trailer that happily tells you very little of what to expect.

This felt more like short, episodic premium television series stuck together into a film, a bit like Demián Rugna's Terrified, so that's not a bad thing. I really enjoyed Exhuma, although I ended up breaking it into two viewings. The sad state of my life at this time is it's pretty difficult to garner 134 minutes to sit still and watch a film. Sucks, but it's my current version of reality. 

Highlly recommended. 

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Read:

I found a pretty interesting interview with Weird Fiction/Horror Author T.E.D. Klein. This man's work was all but lost, with beat-up paperbacks from the 80s/90s going for absurd amounts of money on auction sites, so until a few years ago, I'd only ever read "The Events at Poroth Farm" (1972). Thanks to PS Publishing/Drugstore Indian Press's diligence in bringing Klein's work back into print, I finally acquired and read The Ceremonies in 2022 and loved it. Still haven't gotten around to Dark Gods, however, that'll probably happen this year.

Read the interview HERE. 

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Playlist:

Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love

Deafheaven - 10 Years Gone

Drug Church - Prude

Drug Church - Hygiene

Nothing - Guilty of Everything

Entropy - Liminal

Sun O))) - Monoliths and Dimensions

The Soft Moon - Exister

Ruin of Romantics - Velvet Dawn

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• IX: The Hermit

• I: The Magician

• IV: The Emperor

Hunker down and make some Magick!

Cherubini - Requiem in C Minor

 

One beautiful piece of music I've often taken for granted.

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Watch:

Friday night, I watched Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me on Joe Bob Brigg's The Last Drive-In Patreon. I'd seen this posted on the Patreon a while ago and had been saving it. Couldn't think of a better time; I'm two-thirds through my rewatch of Twin Peaks The Return and wanted to slow the roll on that. It's definitely gained momentum fast while watching, and I backed off to kind of savor it. 

The original air date of this one was March 6, 1999, on Joe Bob's Last Call. One of the cool things about the Patreon is even though Joe Bob's old shows were basic cable and, therefore edited, the films they put up are the whole enchilada.

I can't say I agreed with most of JB's commentary on the film. However, it was '99, and Twin Peaks was a distant memory to pop culture at large (not to me and my friends; Brown, myself and two other friends would make our first sojourn to the Twin Peaks Fest (RIP) in Washington state a year later in 2000), so without a fresh rewatch of the series - which would have been somewhat hard to do unless you had the Worldvision VHS box set I'd had since it was released in 1993 for $99.95 (had to look the release date on that one up), you probably hadn't seen the series since it originally aired in 90/91 or perhaps when the Bravo network reaired it in 1993. So FWWM would make even less sense.

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Read:

Speaking of surrealist Horrro, I finally got around to starting Sopia Ajram's Coup de Grâce.

Here's the description lifted directly from Goodreads:

A mindbending and visceral experimental horror about a young man trapped in an infinite Montreal subway station, perfect for readers of Mark Z. Danielewski and Susanna Clarke.

Don't remember where I first heard of this one, but I'm enjoying it so far, even though I'm still having a lot of trouble concentrating on prose at the moment. 

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Playlist:

Frank Black - Teenager of the Year

The Jesus Lizard - Down

Mr. Bungle - Disco Volante

Japandroids - Celebration Rock

Deth Crux - Mutant Flesh

Loathe - I Let It In and It Took Everything

Flogging Molly - Float

Riccardo Muti - Verdi: Requiem & Cherubini: Requiem in C Minor

Wolves in the Throne Room - Crypt of Ancestral Knowledge EP

Wolves in the Throne Room - Diadem of 12 Stars

Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen

Blut Aus Nord - The Mystical Beast of Rebellion

Boston Baroque, Conductor: Martin Pearlman - Chrubini: Requiem in C Minor

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Two of Pentacles

• Two of Wands

• Four of Wands

Stability ahead.

Testament - Electric Crown

Earlier this week, I fell into a pretty hard jag listening to Testament's older records and it made me realize just how underrated these guys were, historically speaking. It definitely seems like their status has elevated with time, which is great

 

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Watch:

K and I caught Heart Eyes at the local theatre last night, and while I've definitely grown a little weary of Michael Landon's 'quirky' tone, this is a super fun popcorn Slasher.

Heart Eyes is almost exactly 50% Romantic Comedy, 50% Slasher flick. That's a weird mix, but it mostly works. It's heavy on the 'cute' factor, which is where I occasionally lost my patience with the film, but mileage may vary. I think Josh Ruben's directing anchored this one from floating too far out into quirkyville. 

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Playlist:

Dungen - Ta Det Lungt

Sunn O))) - Domkirke

Frank Black - Teenager of the Year

Revocation - Confines of Infinity

Mastodon & Lamb of God - Floods of Triton

Hangman's Chair - Saddiction (pre-release singles)

Hangman's Chair - A Loner

David Bowie & NIN - Back in Anger

Testament - The Ritual

Disincarnate - Dreams of the Carrion Kind

Testament - Practice What You Preach

Chrystabell & David Lynch - Cellophane Memories

Various - Twin Peaks (Limited Event Series Soundtrack)

The Soft Moon - Exister

PAIN - You Only Live Twice

Rammstein - Eponymous

Testament - Low

Testament - Souls of Black

Genevieve Artadi - Forever Forever

Blood Incantation - Absolute Everywhere

Emma Ruth Rundle - Marked for Death

Spotlights - Love & Decay

Foster the People - Torches

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

For whatever reason, I have zero perspicacity to interpret today's pull at this time, so I'll just leave it here for now and maybe look back later. 

Revocation w/ Travis Ryan - Confines of Infinity

I saw both of these bands live back in 2014 at the Summer Slaughter Fest at Hollywood's House of Blues. Both made a great impression, but it was Revocation that really hit. Cattle Decapitation was great, but my history with the band starts and stops with that show. Digging this collaboration between Revocation and C.D. singer Travis Ryan.

No word if this heralds a new Revocation album, but they're about due based on their past release schedule. This reminds me a bit of the Mastodon/Lamb of God collaboration a few months ago. 

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Watch:

I completely forgot about posting this trailer for Oz Perkins' The Monkey:

I LOVE this trailer! Man, Oz has really had some unbelievably cool marketing for these last two flicks, and I think it has A LOT to do with why these are so successful. So while blumhouse continues to be the trailer bane of the Horror Fan's existence, Neon has really risen to the occasion and will hopefully lead other distributors by example. There's no way The Monkey doesn't smash the box office, and this trailer has a lot to do with the hype.

Also, some pretty great full page inner front cover and back cover ads in the most recent Fango for this, too:

See? These are fantastic!

There's been such a 'vibe' for both The Monkey and LONGLEGS, and that vibe ads to the success. PLEASE let others learn this lesson. Don't make me NOT want to see your movie with the marketing for it (cough*blumhouse*cough).

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Playlist:

Foster the People - Torches

Oranssi Pazuzu - Muuntautuja

Swans - To Be Kind

Frank Black - Teenager of the Year

The Soft Moon - Criminal

The Soft Moon - Exister

Final Light - Eponymous

Blood Incantation - Absolute Everywhere

Testament - The Ritual

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Saying Goodbye to The Soft Moon (One Year Late)

A week or so ago, I saw a post on social media that alarmed me - Luis Vasquez, the singular voice of The Soft Moon, died a year ago! I had no idea...

When I realized I hadn't posted anything from this band since the day after seeing them live in 2018, I guess it makes sense that they were far enough off my radar that I missed the news of Vasquez's passing in January of 2024 and for, you know, the entire remainder of the year. I was in L.A. for the entirety of January 2024, but pulling last year's Moleskin off the shelf, I see that I spent January 18th at Santa Monica Brewworks with my good friend Chris. Looking at my post from that day, I didn't find a serendipitous dalliance with The Soft Moon's music, and scrolling through their discography, I realized I'd kind of tuned them out after 2018's Criminal. 2022's Exister only shows up three times in my daily playlists on this page. 

It also makes sense that I never saw the short film "Stupid Child," a kind of tense noise interstitial for one of the tracks from Exister. This is possibly the most harrowing thing Vasquez had a hand in - the video to "Needs" is pretty fucked up, but I'd say this tops that easily. 

Glad I got to see The Soft Moon live. Great band that had so much more in them. Fuckin' Fentanyl. 

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Watch:

K and I are currently rewatching Yellowjackets seasons one and two as prep for the new season starting on Valentine's Day. Rewatching, I realize there is so much of season two I somehow completely forgot. 

K typically conks out earlier than I do, so after she falls asleep, I've been continuing my first rewatch of Twin Peaks: The Return since 2018. 

I'd never watched The Return directly after the original series before, and honestly, I don't know that I'd do it this way again. There's such a marked difference between the two; every time I watch the original, I fall in love with it all over again, so to switch gears and jump headlong into the follow-up that is not really concerned with being a follow-up at all felt a bit jarring at first. In fact, after the first two episodes, I was starting to think I didn't like The Return. That feeling didn't last that long, though. By the time I got to episode three or four, my brain had caught up, and I had reemerged. 

There's so much about The Return that I love, but first, I have to remind myself that this is 100% a creative vehicle for David Lynch - really his last large-scale vehicle - and he used it to shoot what many TP fans felt was idiosyncratic content that had nothing to do with the answers and resolutions they'd been hoping for since the second season finale aired on June 10, 1991. Lynch famously did things 100% on his own terms (except with Dune, and look how that turned out), and continuing what he'd started and begrudgingly lost control of nearly thirty years ago was definitely not on his "to do" list. I've definitely spent some time wondering what might have been had the show continued, and as usual, those contemplations only yield one result: Better to leave 'em wanting more than to overstay your welcome. Still...

So it took a bit to recalibrate myself coming into this rewatch of The Return, but now I'm 100% in. Friday night, I watched episodes seven and eight, and I was once again struck by (of course) episode eight's absolute grandeur. I woke up the next day wanting to read some critical writing on the series. Happily, I found some excellent articles. 

First, this article HERE on the Wrong Answers blog, where Abigail Nussbaum makes some excellent points about what I have long felt is both the saddest and most remarkably compelling aspects of the series, namely how well it mirrors the disappointments of life. The lyrics to Eddie Vedder's contribution to The Return's soundtrack sums this up beautifully:

Next, Crypto-Kubrology's article on Medium reminded me of a theory I'd read about once before, shortly after the series aired. Namely, that episodes 17 and 18 may very well have been intended to be watched at the same time. 

As a huge fan of The Flaming Lips' Zaireeka, this idea makes me giddy with anticipation, and while Zaireeka has become all but impossible for me to orchestrate listening to properly, 17 & 18 will simply require I muster the wherewithal to carry the tv in my office downstairs and set it up next to* the one in the living room. I have at least three Blu-Ray players, so no problem there.

White The Return may be unlike the original Twin Peaks in most ways, one thing the two series share is the ability to reward repeated viewings with ever more mystery. 

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*Although Cryto-Kubrology's screenshots make me wonder if the screens would be better served stacked as opposed to side-to-side, but I'll take what I can get. 

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Playlist:

The Veils - Asphodels

Frank Black - Teenager of the Year

Frank Black - Cult of Ray

Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues

Sleep - Dopesmoker

High On Fire - Blessed Black Wings

Various - Twin Peaks: Music from the Limited Event Series

Crime Weekly Podcast - Rey Rivera (part 2)

Laura Cannell - A Compendium of Beasts Vol. 1 EP

Squirrel Nut Zippers - Hot!

Amber Mark - 3:33am

Apple Music Playlist: February 2, 2025

The Soft Moon - Criminal

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• VI The Lovers

• Six of Pentacles

• King of Pentacles

Surface reads are always something I avoid, almost to the fact that sometimes I feel like I tend to resist instances where the cards attempt to convey something simply. I'll not make that mistake today. The Lovers is an obvious nod to K and I celebrating out 9th anniversary this past Saturday. Six of Pentacles is a reminder of the stability I have now, a goal I set and accomplished with no small degree of Will. And King of Pentacles is both a nod to giving more attention to everyday Earthly matters (Malkuth), and that I need to listen to more Sabbath; kinda slacking off lately.