Friday, July 3, 2020

This Now Please: Peripheral



Whoah. The month between now and the release of Paul Hyett's new film is going to seem interminable. Read more about it on Bloody Disgusting, HERE. Kind of reminds me of Lynch and Cronenberg in a blender.

Isolation: Day 111 - New John Carpenter!



What a great way to kick off a holiday weekend, as Sacred Bones announces new, non-soundtrack music from John Carpenter! Read about the new 12" and pre-order it directly from Sacred Bones HERE, or from their bandcamp for 'no fees' day HERE.

**

Speaking of 80s Horror icons, over the past two nights, K and I watched A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Dead and Scream, Queen: My Nightmare on Elm Street, the new documentary on Shudder about the fall of the film's Final Boy Mark Patton's career after staring in the NoES sequel. The doc is great; it sheds light on a lot of questions that naturally arise in the wake of watching the film, and it really helps recontextualize a lot about 80s Mainstream Horror and Hollywood in general. Freddy's Revenge still feels rushed and stilted, however, previously every decade or so I re-watch it thinking it can't be as bad a I remember, and it always is. This time? Maybe in light of the revelations that have come out about the film, or maybe just because time has turned the nostalgia factor up for me - I've never been a huge Freddy fan beyond the original - but I didn't hate watching the film this time.





**

Playlist:

Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Various Artists - The Void OST
The Atlas Moth - Coma Noir
The Atlas Moth - An Ache for the Distance
Soundgarden - SOMMS (Record Store Day Vinyl Exclusive)
Black Marble - In Manchester (pre-release single)
**

Card:


Generating positive energy shapes the world. As does negative energy. I've always been a believer in using positive and dismissing the negative. There's a fuckton of negative at the moment, so this is a nice reminder to take a deep breath and look past it.

Thursday, July 2, 2020

Isolation: Day 110 - New Emma Ruth Rundle!



Available July 3rd. Buy it on Bandcamp, and Ms. Rundle will receive all the proceeds, as 7/03/20 is another 'no fees' day for artists.


**

It's been about five or six years since I last listened to The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast, but I've been meaning to revisit it for some time now. I'm starting with Episode 37: The Shunned House, because honestly, this story came up elsewhere and I have no recollection of ever reading it.

This Lovecraft Amnesia isn't new; I began reading his work circa '92 or '93, when lyrical nods from Heavy Metal bands sent me in search of his work. At that time, it was nearly impossible to find Lovecraft's work in conventional bookstores - this predates Borders - and I ended up buying a copy of The Lurker At the Threshold at a local Record Swap store in Tinely Park, Il.


The shop had a kind of alternative press literary section, not very big at all and filled with titles like The Anarchist's Cookbook, and tomes written about the cinematic underground of Japan. Amidst those titles I came across Lurker, bought it, and promptly read it. It was't until years later I learned this was not a Lovecraft story proper - he'd helped initiate it - but was actually penned by his friend August Derleth, who functioned as a sort of understudy to H.P., eventually opening Arkham House Publishing after his mentor's death. Anyway, Del Rey began publishing cool paperback editions of Lovecraft's work shortly after that - the ones with the Michael Whelan covers - and that was how I initially read what I assumed was all Lovecraft's work. A lot of those stories didn't stick though, so that as years have passed, whenever I go back to them, it's always like I'm discovering them for the first time. After hearing a description of the climactic moments of The Shunned House though, I'm pretty sure I missed this one. I figured I'd brush up with the podcast, and dig into the story this weekend.

If you're a Lovecraft fan, The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast is absolutely worth your time. Also,  Chad Fifer and Chris Lackey's wonderful analytical conversations are both fascinating and oddly soothing, making them possibly my favorite podcast hosts ever.



**

Playlist:

Miranda Sex Garden - Fairytales of Slavery
RY X - Unfurl
House of Pain - Same As It Ever Was
Orville Peck - Show Pony EP (pre-release tracks)
Andy Fosberry - Death Ship 2047
Ry X - Thunder (single)
Tangerine Dream - Sorcerer OST
Ritual Howls - Turkish Leather

Card:


The fiery aspect of Earth, which can be dangerous if not controlled. I think this is a warning in regards to the story I'm editing at the moment, which is giving me a bit of trouble, as it has off and on for well over a year now.

Wednesday, July 1, 2020

Isolation: Day 109



It's been a minute since I last broke out the House of Pain. Not sure what inspired it, exactly, but damn! I miss 90s Hip Hop.

**

The sixth episode of the Borrasca podcast dropped Monday. I didn't get a chance to listen until yesterday, and wow! Best episode yet. This one was chilling in its stoicism.




Only two episodes left. I'm all in.

**

Playlist:

Miranda Sex Garden - Fairytales of Slavery
The Chameleons UK - Strange Times
Lustmord - The Dark Places of the Earth
Helms Alee - Sleepwalking Sailors
Code Orange - Underneath
Slipknot - We Are Not Your Kind
Skinny Puppy - Bites
Crystal Castles - (II)

**

Card:


Swift and strong. Needed to hear it today.

Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Isolation: Day 108 Miranda Sex Garden - Tonight



It's been quite some time since I pulled out Miranda Sex Garden's 2000 swan song Carnival of Souls. Last night, prompted by nothing in particular, I noticed its spine on my CD shelf and was moved to give it a spin.

Wow! I've missed this one. My go-to albums with MSG will always be Fiarytales of Slavery and Suspiria. That said, this one has a much more polished feel, but it really works, playing out as a perfect cap on their short-lived career.

And bonus track, because while looking for a video of this one to post, I found this:



This is the first live footage I've found of the band, and it definitely doesn't disappoint. I really wish I could have seen them live.

**

What a NCBD we have this week! Holy cow am I excited! Why?


A 36-page One Shot, the proceeds go 100% to the comic stores selling it! That is awesome. Robert Kirkman can do no wrong in my eyes - he's helping out comic shops and giving us a new dose of one of my all-time favorite characters. Win win.

If that weren't enough:


The second issue of the new series following characters from Garth Ennis and Darrick Robertson's The Boys - with Russ Braun taking over penciling - Dear Becky looks as though it will reveal some interesting things about Butcher's character, while also giving us a glimpse into Wee Hughie's life twelve years after the events of the original series.


I picked up the first issue of this a while back and really liked it, so I'm glad to see the series continue. A weird little take on a horror story, plus, I really like supporting Action Lab. They are forever in my good graces after 2015's Night of the 80s Undead.


Over the weekend I just completed a re-read of The Plot 1-4, I can definitely say I LOVE this book. Ancestral Horror is a thing that needs to make a comeback. After the brief hiatus for the book, I'm psyched to get more answers and, I suppose, inevitably more questions.

**

Playlist:

Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris
Lustmord - The Dark Places of the Earth
Pale Dian - Narrow Birth
Atrium Carceri - Cellblock
Kohler Playlist: Week of 6/29/20
Kohler Playlist: Week of 4/27/20
White Zombie - La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1
Ennio Morricone - The Thing OST
Miranda Sex Garden - Carnival of Souls

**

Card:


"Inspired from Above." Not entirely sure how that applies, but when I think about this card now, I reflect on the fact that this is the highest mark in the cycle of cups, where emotional maturity helps understand the path through Malkuth, the world. There's a harmonic resonance that feels reassuring, even as much of what's outside my window feels like its falling apart, and many of this world's denizens appear to be anything but emotionally mature.

Monday, June 29, 2020

Isolation: Day 109 The Beach House Trailer



You had me at "Cosmic Body Horror." The Beach House one drops on Shudder July 9th. That means I'll have two days of anticipated premieres, as on the 10th, Relic hits VOD. These last few years have been such an amazing time to be a Horror fan, and despite a segue into real-life Horror, 2020 appears to continue the trend.


**

Via Brooklyn Vegan (article HERE), the Sacramento Music Archive has made a Slayer concert from 1986 available on youtube. This is HUGE in my opinion; I saw Slayer a handful of time, but not before 1994's Divine Intervention, an album I pretty much despise based on what I feel are some pretty lackluster vocals. That said, my love of Slayer is primarily based on their two live albums - Live Undead and Decade of Aggression - both of which I consider among the finest live albums ever released. It's nice to hear something that kind of splits the span of those two records in half, as Live Undead was released in 1984 and DoA 1991. Admittedly not a huge temporal stretch, but in the evolution of arguably the greatest Thrash band of all time, an entire epoch of change spans the divide.



Thank you to the Sacramento Music Archive, whose website you can visit HERE.


**

Playlist:

Andy Fosberry - Death Ship 2047
Van Halen - Eponymous
Phil Collins - Hello, I Must Be Going
Soundgarden - Down on the Upside
Soundgarden - Super Unknown
Queens of the Stone Age - Rated R
Cocksure - Operation C.O.C.K.S.U.R.E.


**

Card:


A solid foundation is what I'm working with on this current short story. That's not the issue. Pulling all the elements together into a cohesive whole is.

Sunday, June 28, 2020

Sunday Bandcamp - Andy Fosberry's Death Ship 2047



I wanted to do something new to break up the regular posts, which will continue under the 'isolation' banner for the foreseeable future because, yeah, COVID is back on the rise. No kidding, huh? I guess all those fucking idiots who thought they could just say, "This has gone on long enough," are realizing that you can't use god or cuntry to boss around a microorganism. I've started to think that maybe, just maybe, this is all going to be a good thing, and that the virus will wipe out all the stupid people. No disrespect to those who have died or gone through the trauma. Hell, I fully realize we're all at risk, but when I see footage of these Orange County and Florida town halls with people demanding their civic leaders relax the mask ordinances, so full of narcissistic and oft-times religious fervor, I understand that these are - hopefully - the people we will lose the most of.

We're probably not going to be that lucky, though.

Anyway, so here's the first installment of Sunday Bandcamp. Andy Fosberry has composed something of an 'extended universe' soundtrack to Paul W. S. Anderson's 1997 classic Event Horizon. I love this album, even if repeated viewings of the film have never quite lived up to the experience I had the first time I watched it, way back when. Event Horizon is still a classic and I love it, despite its flaws, and this OST slots in nicely with the tone and texture of space crazy Anderson achieves with his film.

You can buy Mr. Fosberry's album, titled Death Ship 2047 from the Spun Out of Control label's bandcamp HERE.

**

Playlist:

Andy Fosberry - Death Ship 2047
David Bowie - Low
David Bowie - Aladdin Sane
The Paper Chase - God Bless Your Black Heart
Pale Dian - Narrow Birth
October Language - Belong
Run the Jewels - RTJ4
Gang of Four - Return the Gift (Disc 1)
Team Sleep - Eponymous