Refreshing New Pork Beverage Now Available!!!

 

Still probably the strangest song I've ever heard. And honestly, I've heard some pretty strange shit.

 

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Watch:

Okay, this trailer for the upcoming Freaky Tales movie gives me serious reservations, but it also looks like it could be a banger. And hey, great cast. I guess I just feel like this is sandwiching into the 80s revival thing a little too much, too late. Also, the title feels... weak.

Still, I'll definitely see this in the theatre and give it a go. I want to like all movies, especially genre ones with ancient artifacts, katanas and copious amounts of blood. 

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Read:

Over the last two weeks or so, I read about 3/4 of a book I'm not going to name here. It's an independent book/author, and although well-written (mostly, as a hefty amount of spelling and grammatical errors abound), I can't recommend this one because it's just gross. So I jumped off and started David Wong's John Dies at the End.

At around 90 pages in, I am really enjoying this one, and it should be said, I've never been able to make it even halfway through the film adaptation. Wong's tone is so smooth and funny; funny as in 'odd' and funny as in 'ha ha.' I very much recommend this to anyone who digs a little sarcastic, oddball humor with their Horror from time to time.

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Playlist:

Marilyn Manson - One Assassination Under God Chapter One

Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks Season Two OST

Various - Twin Peaks: Music From the Limited Event Series

Primus - Pork Soda

Perturbator - Dangerous Days

Childish Gambino - "Awaken, My Love!"

Ethel Cain - Preacher's Daughter

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Card:

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

• 0: The Fool

• Seven of Swords

• Six of Swords

One thing I love about this deck is the imagery is all very meaningful to me in a Malkuth-kinda way. So it's possible on days where I don't really have the metaphysical bandwidth to dive deep into the occulted meaning of the Tarot, I can just see a spread like this and say, "Hey, pick up the guitar today and write a new song."

Happy Twin Peaks Day!

I tend to go through an emotional resurgence with Twin Peaks in December and January, so I often miss Twin Peaks Day. This year, as the first year without David Lynch, I feel a particularly strong need to celebrate the holiday. So here's Angelo Badalamenti's "High School Swing" from the Twin Peaks: Season Two OST. This is really just a 'More Music from the Series' kind of thing, not solely music from Season Two. Still need to grab this one on vinyl, as it's the only outlier.

Also, Fright-Rags has this little doozy on special today: 

Order here. I grabbed this AND this shirt, which kinda blows me away. You can check out their Twin Peaks items HERE.

Finally, I'm heading out to Eastside Bowl tonight (first time) for their Twin Peaks Day event. No idea what this will entail, but I'll report back and maybe share some pictures (maybe; I'm terrible about taking pictures).

And special thanks to the Twin Peaks Twin Peaks YouTube channel for posting this crystal clear scene we all love so much!!!

All right, in the words of the Little Man From Another Place, '!KCOR S'TEL"

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Jon Spencer live

 

Jon Spencer and his new band hit KEXP for a live set that absolutely fucking RIPS! Special guest Ty Wagner. Really great stuff.

 

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Watch:

I picked up two Blu-rays this weekend that had been on my list forever, and when I noticed one had Sold Out on the manufacturer's website, I sprung into action. Both are, as you will see, the progeny of arguably the largest of the boutique companies specializing in the odd and exploitative film restoration, namely Vinegar Syndrome. I've learned that, with VS's business model, once the print run is tapped out, the secondary market can be brutal. 

First, Carter Smith's Swallowed:

I'm not posting a trailer for this one because I'm not sure how one can exist without giving away details best left served cold to an unknowing viewer. Watched this one last night, my second viewing since this came out and made my "Best of 2023" list over on The Horror Vision. 

I really like this film. In fact, after watching writer/director Carter Smith's Passenger recently, I'm finding that I really like his films in general. I closed the viewing last night by watching the interview supplement on the disc, and I found him likable and quite educational in terms of explaining his films in the context of how he went about getting them made. 

Next, Tammy and the T-Rex, also from Vinegar Syndrome. No problems posting a trailer for this mad-cap little monstrosity because it is what it is from the jump: a teenager's brain transplanted into a T-Rex out for revenge on the mad scientist and his goons who killed his human body:

I originally saw this one at Beyondfest back in 2019, and I'd been meaning to pick it up on disc since Vinegar Syndrome released it the following year. Total oversight, now corrected, because I just cannot let this one sell out and be lost to time. 

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Playlist:

Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses (Suspended in Dusk version)

Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

X - Los Angeles

X - Under the Big Black Sun

Butthole Surfers - Psychic... Powerless... Another Man's Sac

Gerry Rafferty - City to City

QOTSA - ... Like Clockwork

Them Crooked Vultures - Eponymous

QOTSA - Era Vulgaris

The Smiths - The Queen is Dead

The Jesus Lizard - Rack

Shellac - To All Trains

Tennis System - Technicolor Blind

The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust

Perturbator - Dangerous Days

Marilyn Manson - One Assassination Under God Chapter 1

Placebo - Meds

A Perfect Circle - Mer De Noms

Ministry - Animositisomina

Allegaeon - Apoptosis

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Drinking with Comics Volume 4, Episode 50!!! Plus - Melvins!!!

Melvins 1983 (Buzz and original drummer Mike Dillard at it again. Pre-order the upcoming album Thunderball from Ipecac Recordings HERE.

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NCBD:

Short pull this week, and I only just realized today is Thursday, not Wednesday, so I guess I won't be grabbing these until probably next week:

Good lord, that cover! Already 8 strong issues in, and Epitaphs from the Abyss is everything I want in a Horror Anthology comic. 

Love the cover, but still not really feeling this book. Fan inertia, take me away...

Due to the Diamond bankruptcy and subsequent fiasco, I still haven't acquired issue two of the McKendry's Barstow, so I'm hoping this is in my box today but honestly won't be surprised if it's not. 

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Watch:

Speaking of comics, I've fallen out of the habit of posting Drinking with Comics here since I brought it back a little over two years ago, but Volume Four, episode 50 is a doozy! Mike Wellman returns to talk about his new comic strip, A Shadow Called Danger. He brings artist/director Bradley Rader along and Mike Shinabargar and I have a great time talking politics, the comics industry and Mike's sobriety! 

It was really good to have Mike back on, and the "Meeting of the Mikes" felt epic to this man who loves them both dearly!

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Playlist:

Van Halen - 1984

Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain

Metallica - Master of Puppets

Led Zeppelin - Presence

Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

Them Are Us Too - Remain

Dead Milkmen - Quaker City Quiet Pills

Yerusalem - The Sublime

Nothing - Guilty of Everything

GoGo's - Vacation

Dream Theater - Parasomina

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Card:

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

Loud and clear.

The first or middle card here jumped out of the deck during the shuffle. I'm a touch hungover this morning, so everything feels slightly pained. I drank five or six beers last night and was thinking, "I should stop drinking five or six beers every night," and then the Nine of Cups. Here's a case where the image on the card - which is specific to this deck - spoke directly to me. The other two cards were pulled as clarification cards. 

Four of Cups (from the grimoire): "An emotional idea or institution that has grown beyond the original balance/harmony of its conception."

Page of Wands (from the grimoire): "Baggage."

Well, that's my drinking in a nutshell. Might be time to dial it back. Five or six beers a night every night is, me thinks, too much. 

New Music From Peter Murphy!

 

I haven't ever really kept up with Peter Murphy's solo career, just dabbled here and there. This, however, may remedy that. Love this track. Out May 9th on Metropolis Records; there doesn't appear to be a pre-order link for Silver Shade yet, but check out the Metropolis site HERE.

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Watch:

I had a bit of a New Wave French Extreme binge over the weekend. Starting with my first rewatch of Maury and Bustillo's Inside:

Next up, Fabrice Du Walz's 2004 Calvaire, or The Incident, which the good folks at Yellow Veil cleaned up the transfer on and re-released last year via their partnership with Vinegary Syndrome.

 

I love both of these films intensely. Inside is one of my favorite Gore Flicks ever, and Calvaire is just so... patient. Finally, finished it off by ordering a copy of High Tension on Blu-Ray (had no idea it was out of print, and despite my many issues with the film, it's a seminal, import work AND boasts a fabulous score by one of my favorite composers, the late François-Eudes Chanfrault) and my second ever viewing of Pascal Laugier's Martyrs.

Man, NOT for the faint of heart. This film only proves to be something I can recommend to others based on the final moments of the film, even though it is an excellent film that very much has something to say. Everything that comes before the end is masterfully accomplished, but it's... a lot. 

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Playlist:

Witchfinder - Hazy Rites

Witchfinder - Forgotten Mansion

Melvins - Tarantula Heart

Sunn O))) - Domkirke

Nothing - Guilty of Everything

Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments

Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest

Dreamkid - Eponymous

Michael Kiwanuka - Small Changes

Michael Kiwanuka - KIWANUKA

Vaguess - Bodhi Collection

Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower

Calexico - More Cowboys In Sweden (Live)

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

Oranssi Pazuzu - Muuntautuja

Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love

Childish Gambino - Because the Internet

Outkast - The Love Below

Calderum - Mystical Fortress of Iberian Lands 

YERÛŠELEM - The Sublime

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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.