2018: September 17th

New Soft Moon remix by Imperial Black very much fits my mood today. I woke up with a taste for Industrial music, catalyzed by watching Julian Richards's Darklands. A document of its time, Darklands is sort of a 90s update on The Wicker Man, and is populated with some fantastic industrial imagery, reminiscent of the kind of thing Justin K. Broadrick uses for Godflesh records.

Screen cap from Darklands

Good flick, although much of the aesthetic of the 90s still seems overall cringe-worthy to me. But this definitely transcended those feelings. Darklands is available to stream on Shudder.

Finished John Palisano's excellent Night of 1,000 Beasts and before I jump into my next novel - Neil Gaimen's The Graveyard Book - I'm re-reading some Laird Barron as a pallet cleanser. Procession of the Black Sloth is one of those stories by Mr. Barron that I have read probably three or four times now, and I never grow tired of it. The tone borders on what I call Two A.M., flush with dim night-lighting and drunken reveries. It's a calm descent into terror and that's what I love about it and Barron's work in general.

Procession of the Black Sloth is available in Laird Barron's first collection, The Imago Sequence, which I cannot recommend highly enough.

Playlist from the last two days:

White Lung - Eponymous
Disasterpeace - It Follow OST
Canyons - Barrie single
Canyons - Michigan single
Canyons - Tal Uno single
Yob - Our Raw Heart
Legs Occult - Dark Rituals

Card of the day:

This I'm taking as a confirmation that I should follow my instinct and outline a new story bubbling around in my head. Oh yeah, that said, after putting it 'in the drawer' for a month, I came back to Please Believe Me and finished it the other night. Will be submitting it to a major Sci Fi magazine today or tomorrow, so keep those fingers crossed for me.

2018: September 15th - Emma Ruth Rundle Light Song

Still haven't had a chance to sit down and ingest that Emma Ruth Rundle. Hopefully today.

Funny: That makes me think that way back HERE in April I was holding out listening to the latest Sleep record for a quiet moment where I could smoke and quietly absorb the record on vinyl. Well, I still have not heard more than a note or two on The Sciences. The one time I made it to Fingerprints to look for the vinyl they were out, and the quiet, stoned alone time is a fleeting commodity. I may just break down and order the fucker off Amazon, but I had this entire scenario built in my head for buying the new, unexpected Sleep album at an actual record store, and then sitting with it the way I sometimes - not so much any more - sit with brand new records from bands I love, undivided attention focused as the first listen washes over me...

Hopeless music romantic, or curmudgeon? You decide.

Drinking with Comics was a blast last night, even though I really didn't get to talk about one of the main things I wanted to talk about: re-reading the first six issues of Gideon Falls. This book is spectacular, and feels so close to HBO level execution that I honestly feel the experience of consuming it is less like reading a comic and more like watching True Detective (season 1, of course). Not that there's any overlap story-wise; you know how Warren Ellis makes extremely widescreen, cinematic comics that feel very much like you're 'watching' them on a big screen? Well, Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino, and Dave Stewart have created something similar, but it's an analog to the micro-screen revolution that has served as the only viable, professional, top-tier level outlet for dramatic roles since Disney and the franchise machine stole Hollywood from us. Gideon Falls will no doubt be converted to a cable show soon, and reading it again, I realize the blueprint for that show exists perfectly in the comic.

Playlist from yesterday:

Earth - Primitive and Deadly
White Lung - Eponymous
Dillinger Escape Plan - One of Us is the Killer
Windhand - Split EP
Touche Amore - Eponymous
King Woman - Doubt EP
Jóhann Jóhannsson - Mandy OST

Card of the day:

Face value for sure. Busy few weeks. Today is a day dedicated to my baby!

2018: September 14th

Last night, I scored a ticket to the Southern Lord 20th Anniversary show coming up on November 18th. Sunn O))) is the only announced act at this point in time - I've never seen them live and the show is at the Echoplex, so there was no debating my attendance. That said, I'm holding out hope a Burning Witch reunion might be in the works, so I'm throwing this live performance out to the Universe as a suggestion/nudge. Let's see if it works.

New Emma Ruth Rundle dropped today; I woke up to find it loaded in my Apple Music. Can't wait to chow down on this one later today, preferably at night, stoned. I have make it through work and Drinking with Comics first though.

I have it on good authority the new Predator movie is not good. My friend Anthony sent me a text about it last night directly after leaving the theatre. I trust Anthony's opinion 100%, so despite my initial fervor, I will now be skipping it.

Playlist from 9/13:

Pallbearer - Fear & Fury EP
Type O Negative - October Rust
Type O Negative - Dead Again
Deafheaven - New Bermuda
Emma Ruth Rundle - Fever Dreams Pre-Release Single

Card of the day:

I guess I will need to be ready to act on unexpected opportunities.

2018: September 13th

Beach House have apparently agreed to tell the story of my life in song.

I am still living HIGH off that Mandy screening on Tuesday night. There are so many people I'm trying to reach out to and tell them they will love it, moreso even if they see it in a good theatre with great sound. I'm already planning to see it again either this weekend or next.

NCBD yesterday:

And a preview for a new book coming out from Image/Top Cow on October 10. Infinite Dark feels like an awesome space Sci Fi rumination on the end of the world and humanity in general, but set in outer space, and I'm pretty excited to have creator/writer Ryan Cady will be our guest tomorrow night when we take Drinking with Comics on the road to El Cuervo Gallery in El Segundo!

Playlist from 9/11:
Ghostland Observatory - See You Later Simulator

Playlist from 9/12:
Dead Rabbits - The Ticket that Exploded
The Ocean - Permain: The Great Dying Pre-Release Single
Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower
Ennio Morricone - Black Belly of the Tarantula OST
Sinoia Caves - Beyond the Black Rainbow OST

Card of the day:

I'm going with change of mood on this one, as something happened yesterday that totally revamped my current outlook on a project.

Mandy

I was fortunate enough to see the Los Angeles premiere - thank you Beyond Fest and American Cinematheque - of Panos Cosmatos's Mandy on Tuesday night and I can wholeheartedly say it was possibly the best cinematic experience I've had in over a decade. See this movie IN THE THEATRE.

2018: September 11th - Melvins Cover Sabbath

With Al Cisneros from Shrinebuilder/Sleep!

I talked a bit previously about my friend John being in town. This is John of Jonathan Grimm Art. His work is amazing, and he's also the artist and co-creator of The Legend of Parish Fen, the swamp monster comic we hope to have the first volume out of mid next year. We spent the day yesterday working out the entire 2nd issue and it is grand, much better than what we had when we originally beated out this 3 issue arc about a year ago. We also came up with something else, something that's not quite a comic and not quite prose, and should prove considerably easier to release in a more expedient fashion. More on that later, but for now I'll leave you with the title.

CIAZARN

There was no playlist yesterday, as we chose to work on Fen without music. Weird - a day with no music. I'll make up for it today.

Tonight - the Los Angeles premiere of Mandy! I can NOT wait! Here's the recently released Japanese trailer - I'm not watching it, but I'm on trailer ban.



Card of the day:

Always good to see you pop up, especially after a week off working on my current project. I'll be back to that tomorrow, until then, TO VICTORY!!!

2018: September 10th

Had this pretty little ditty in my head when I woke up, probably because it's used in a fantastic film John and I watched last night.



My friend John Grimm is still in town and we drove out to Hollywood last night. I brought him to the HWA meeting so he could make a few connections, and then we hit Scum and Villainy and The Beetle House, both pop-up bars that have hopefully become permanent. Scum and Villainy is designed after the Cantina from the original Star Wars. It's cool but small. The real joy was Beetle House, which is a bar/restaurant themed around Tim Burton's Beetlejuice. Really, really cool place.

Playlist from 9/09:

John Carpenter - The Thing OST
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin I
Earth - Primitive and Deadly
Zen Guerilla - Positronic Raygun

Card of the day:

Twos represent balance and harmony. They are also of the Crown of Creation and not of the physical world. I'm taking this two ways right now. First, my interest in the idea of a Prime Mover has become more influential, so that it's working it's way into my daily thoughts. Not sure how that will play out with my writing, but I have several older projects that deal with this, so maybe I should think about dusting one off. Second, I've been doing yoga and it's helping me immensely, physically, emotionally, and mentally. Dominion can be seen as rule over self. Control.