Originally debuted on the New York Dolls' 2009 album Dancing Backward in High Heels, this live version is taken from the 2011 album Live From the Bowery. HUGE loss. David Johansen became a pop culture icon in the late 80s/early 90s, appearing in movies, paling around with Bill Murray, and just generally being a 'personality.' Normally, those are folks that don't have a lot to offer. Not the case here.
Watch:
They had me at "Tom Hardy."
Drops 4/26.
Playlist:
Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables
Firewater - The Ponzi Scheme
Mark Lanegan - Bubblegum
Ween - Paintin' the Town Brown: Ween Live 1990 - 1998
This song makes me unbelievably happy. Not condoning arson, mind you.
Watch:
I have not been excited about anything Marvel has done in a long time. Feels really good.
I never did get around to watching Season Three. Back when it aired, the cancellation had already been announced, so I figured, why bother? Now, I'd like to go back and do all three seasons in a tight burst.
Read:
I am completely unfamiliar with Author Cory O'Brien's work online, but this forthcoming debut novel Two Truths and a Lie, sounds particularly inviting:
"... a debut novel that introduces an unforgettable investigator to the drowned streets of LA in a hugely imaginative and heartfelt blend of Noir and Cyberpunk."
This one drops tomorrow, March 4th! Already added it to my list.
Playlist:
Firewater - The Ponzi Scheme
The Delta 72 - Ooo
The Jesus Lizard - Down
Drug Church - Prude
Me and That Man - New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol. 1
New Raveonettes! In fact, check out this note from the band on YouTube:
"We're back!!! Pa'ahi II will be released shortly followed by another new album later in the year! US/EU/Asia tour dates will be released shortly! RAVE ON XXX SUNE & SHARIN"
Having just seen them live last May, I can attest The Raveonettes are still in perfect form! Can't wait! No pre-order I see yet, but all those old, OOP albums are back up on The Raveonettes Merch Bar site HERE.
Now, important... The DEI blackout is today. Don't know what that is?
So, if you're conscious of this (you may not be, that's okay), wait until tomorrow to order anything because, although the Blackout doesn't boycott an independent band like The Ravenoettes, it does boycott credit card/Debit usage. It'll still be there in the morning.
Watch:
I had not heard of The Rule of Jenny Penn until now. However, I only had to make it 27 seconds into the trailer before I was sold on giving it a shot, especially with John Lithgow and Geoffrey Rush in the cast.
This hits theatres next Thursday, and I've already got my tickets.
Playlist:
Drug Church - Prude
Drug Church - Cheer
Me and That Man - New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol. 1
I haven't listened to this yet and likely will not in an attempt to preserve the album experience when Lonely People With Power drops on March 28th. You can pre-order your copy directly from the band HERE.
NCBD:
Short pull this week, although I'm hoping some of those outstanding books start to filter in today.
I'm still waiting on issue #6 with that awesome cover, so maybe that will show up today, too?
LOVE this cover. It's not the "A" cover, so I may not find this in the wild, but I'm going to try. Stalker fucking rocks!
I did not love The Seasons issue #1. In fact, I struggled quite a bit to get through it at first, and about halfway through, I began to grow listless, flipping to the backmatter where I saw Rick Remender reference Miyazaki as an influence.
This doubly convinced me this book would be a hard pass for me. I can recognize Miyazaki's grandeur, but his work is just not for me. Then I begrudgingly finished the issue and actually found myself drawn in at the end. So, in the interest of always supporting independent comics and giving Rick Remender the benefit of the doubt (he's earned it for sure!), I'm jumping into issue #2 with an open mind and will reassess after I read it.
Also from Remender's Giant Generator, I'm very much digging Phil Bram and JG Jones' Dustbowl slow-burn Horror show Dust to Dust.
Peaks:
The Twin Peaks Day/David Lynch Tribute at the Eastside Bowl on Monday night turned out to be pretty fun. K and I didn't stay long due to a general creeping exhaustion from long days at work, but here are a few pictures we snapped.
David Lynch shrine. Very cool. We stopped to pay our respects.
My cousin pointed out that in pictures, this bar looks a bit like Power and Glory from FWWM (when that name became available, I have no idea. I'd never heard it before a few months ago, but it pops up here and there.
"It's kickin' in, Jacques!"
"A log for you, an owl for you. Presto!"
Special thanks to Easide Bowl and The '58 for putting this on. Hoping it recurs next year - I'll end up getting the day after off or something so we can properly celebrate (maybe wake up in Canada).
Playlist:
Frank Black - Teenager of the Year
Melvins - Houdini
Various - An Anthology of Noise & Electronic Music/Second-a-Chronology Vol. #2 (Disc 1)
The Ravenonettes - The Raveonettes Sing...
X - Under the Big Black Sun
Tennis System - Technicolor Blind
Hangman's Chair - Saddiction
Drug Church - Prude
Ritual Howls - Into the Water
Card:
Getting back to some more rigorous study interpretations - or as rigorous as I can provide at this point with my attention split between finishing a novel, an ever-increasing mental demand at work, and the encroaching apocalypse.
The Hermit reminds me of a lot of my friends. Also, myself, really.
From the grimoire (within which, there's not a whole lot on this one): "Dark and lonely period of gestation. Fetal; a re-grouping."
Sounds like everyone with half a fucking brain in 2025, doesn't it? What's good ol' A.C. say? That the card is tied into the Hebrew letter Yod, the first letter in Yod Hau Vau Hau, the name of God. The figure on the card is shaped to resemble Yod, and the color of his cloak reflects Binah, the great Mother, tying this back into Fertility. Gestation is the result of Fertility; ideas are the result of Gestation. You get the point.
Still probably the strangest song I've ever heard. And honestly, I've heard some pretty strange shit.
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.
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.
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
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."
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).
Jon Spencer and his new band hit KEXP for a live set that absolutely fucking RIPS! Special guest Ty Wagner. Really great stuff.
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.
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
