While scrolling through instagram a few days ago, I stumbled upon the fact that there's a new album coming from Rob Zombie in March. I've posted my conflicted musings about Mr. Zombie in these pages before, and that more or less remains. Do I like this song? Well, here's the thing. This stuff is made to be played loud in a room with distractions. Other people at a party, or, since we can't do that at the moment, while you're cleaning. Just plugging in the headphones and focusing too much on Rob Zombie's songs make a lot of them disintegrate into the broad-stroke caricatures they are. Even this video feels lazy; notice there are no wide shots to place Zombie or his band on the stages or even in the same room that the brief, initial, establishing stage shots set up. Now, this is obviously due to COVID, so of course, I don't want to bag on them for being safe. It just could have used something else; most of RZ's vocals are delivered in Extreme Close Up shots with no context, and they're delivered with next to no energy. This robs the video, and subsequently the song, of the momentum the guitars and rhythm ride.
I'm really reading too much into this, aren't I?
Anyway, a new track drops in a few days, so we'll see how that is. I usually click into an RZ groove for a week or so every year or two, play the hell out of the White Zombie stuff I dig, then cycle through his solo albums (Or better yet, curated playlists of the standouts from those albums), and then move on.
Pre-order The Lunar Injection Kool Aid and Eclipse ConspiracyHERE from Nuclear Blast Records.
READ:
After burning through the entire 12-issue run of his The Red Mother comic from Boom! Studios, I sought out a copy of Jeremy Haun's 2007 graphic novel Narcoleptic Sunday:
About 70% through it, this one is great, too. A B&W Noir, Sunday kicks off with the "guy meets girl, guy sleeps with girl, guy wakes up and girl is dead" Noir trope and pretty much just steps on the gas from there. This is an especially interesting achievement in a story where the lead character has what appears to be a form of the titular sleep disorder, and as such falls asleep at random moments.
Playlist:
The Smashing Pumpkins - Gish
PM Dawn - Set Adrift on Memory Bliss (Single)
Small Black - Duplex (single)
The Cure - Disintegration
The Bangles - Different Light
The Jesus Lizard - Lady Shoes 45 single
The Jesus Lizard - Wheelchair Epidemic 45 single
Rob Zombie - The Triumph of King Freak (pre-release single)
Gwar - Scumdogs of the Universe
Lard - Pure Chewing Satisfaction
Human Impact - Eponymous
Ministry - The Last Sucker
Card:
Back to my full-size Thoth this morning:
Uncompromising honesty; Balance. I can't help read something like this as advice to stock my personal arsenal with altruistic accouterments for the day.
I've been beginning each day musically with PM Dawn's 1991 "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss".
Being that the track and video were in heavy rotation when I was 15 years old, this one resonates deep. I wouldn't say I was a huge fan of the song at that time, and honestly, I'm not even sure if I realized back then that the bulk of the music is lifted straight from Spandau Ballet's "True", another track that feels archetypal to me know, as I was absolutely aware of its pop-chart presence 8 years prior when I was 7 and had my ear pretty much constantly glued to a little blue, transistor radio that I would take to bed with me every night. Despite that, I don't have a memory of putting two and two together. This was probably because, at 15 in 1991, I'm not entirely sure I (or anyone other than the musicians doing it) knew what sampling was yet, or how it was being used by a lot of artists to craft new music beds for their beats and lyrics.
At fifteen, "Set Adrift" was definitely not in my wheelhouse, and yet, I can remember sitting on the ottoman in my parents' living room while Friday Night Videos (we didn't have cable) played PM Dawn's video. The tropical images flickering before me, I remember thinking there was something so calming about the song. I never sought out the album, but that memory has stayed tethered to me at a distance so that every great while I think of the song.
Last spring, without planning it, while writing the initial draft of Murder Virus, I came to a chapter that I automatically named after this song. I don't name all my chapters, and as I said, I hadn't planned this, but I guess days of hardcore writing had the soup in my head at full boil and that's what came out.
And it fit.
After, I went through an increasingly frustrating attempt to locate the song on Apple Music and could not. Then, two days ago, my Horror Vision co-host Ray Larragoitiy and I had a conversation on the phone that ended up moving around to PM Dawn, and I learned that Ray had gone through a similar search (Note: This song is most definitely in Ray's wheelhouse; he's also the one who, a few years ago, played me Al B Sure's "Night and Day" and subsequently led to my presence on-again-off-again obsession with that song) and located the song and the reasons behind its current obscurity.
Rights. It comes down to the fact that "Set Adrift" on "Memory Bliss" contains samples from other bands (from what I see there are the Spandau Ballet and a Soul Searchers sample), or if it's another case of a pre-streaming artist who has been left out of payment rights from their music via streaming services and thus taken the label currently holding the license to court. Either way, Ray also cued me in on the fact that other than youtube, you can actually find the original Set Adrift on Memory Bliss on Apple Music (and not on Spotify, though) on the OST for the 2012 movie Seeking A Friend For the End of the World.
Watch:
Last night, K and I rented Steven Kostanskis's new flick Psycho Goreman on Amazon and set up that little Discord watch party with our friends that I mentioned a few days back. The party itself worked pretty good; there were definitely some issues with volume, but overall, it was cool to watch a flick like this with my long-time movie night friends. Of course, we all had to mute our microphones, so there wasn't the usual camaraderie during the flick, however, it was still a cool Quarantine experience, even if one I wouldn't repeat on a first-time viewing again.
So how was the flick? Fantastic! I think I've posted the most recent trailer here a couple times lately, so let's go back and revisit the original one, back from March of last year:
There's a definite perfunctory nature to a lot of the script, especially when it comes to character development and motivation. That said, look at those insane practical effects!
The writing is not bad in any respect, and if anything does itself a great service by quickly developing a kind of visual shorthand that moves you through exposition and development at a fast clip, because all this really does that one could pick at is creates a 'quick to get to a punchline without a proper set-up' feeling. But again, this isn't an issue that that will resonate negatively to anyone who is A) a fan of this kind of cinema, and B) is not a major publication new critic.
Playlist:
PM Dawn - Set Adrift on Memory Bliss
The Jesus Lizard - Wheelchair Epidemic 45
The Jesus Lizard - Puss 45
The Jesus Lizard - Lady Shoes 45
Mission to the Sun - Damaged (pre-release single)
Mission to the Sun - The Unbroken Sea (pre-release single)
Small Black - Best Blues
Small Black - Duplex Single
The Police - Synchronicity II (single)
Robert Fripp - Exposure
Queens of the Stone Age - Villains
The Black Keys - El Camino
The Jesus Lizard - Last EP
Jefre Cantu- Ledesma - Love's Refrain
The Jesus Lizard - Liar
Ministry - The Last Sucker
Lard - Pure Chewing Satisfaction
Dance with the Dead - B-Sides: Vol. 1
Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
Card:
With the inauguration, the Tower definitely toppled this week. However, what also happened, is we kind of started a process whereby all the crazies come out of the woodwork and into the light, which is both good and bad. I had this happen to me this week - beyond the media streams all around us - when an old friend resurfaced on social media to show his ignorant worldview and it made me realize what this card is really communicating is something I think will ultimately be more insidious.
The war on education and the educated.
Have you noticed alt-right folks using the term 'indoctrination' to replace 'education?' This isn't something new, but I believe it's found a larger setting of influence in the wake of our previous administration, and it seems as though the idea of avoiding or actively badmouthing/undermining education is going to become a much bigger issue in the immediate future. Because, you know, why go learn facts if they conflict with what you want the world to be?
Make no mistake, this is a major campaign in the larger setting of the war on reality that I believe will undermine what we think of as real to the point that, in the next ten years, I believe the world and Reality will no longer look anything like what it does now. And that's true of the current moment, if you stop to compare your day to day in 2021 with your day to day of just a few years ago, however, if Reality takes a big enough hit, my guess is that the Science Fiction needle might move drastically enough that things really get strange, kind of like what March 2020 did.
Ah, now we're really starting to get into the releases for the new year. The first new album from Tomahawk since 2013's Oddfellows! A bit of a coincidence, as I've had Duane Dennison on the mind and on the spinner, as you'll read below.
I'm excited!
You can pre-order Tonic Immobility, which you can of course order from the always delightful Ipecac Records, HERE. The record drops March 26th!
Vinyl:
I managed to score a complete set of what I now believe to be a 2009, Record Store Day reissue set of all The Jesus Lizard's 7" singles from back in the day. Nine in total, I originally thought I was getting the original pressings, which, you know, considering one would have been a split with Nirvana (Puss and Oh the Guilt, the cassette for which I still have) and which the actual 45 for would be worth more than I paid for all nine of these re-presses, makes sense that this is not that. Either way, it was super cool, after a workday that ended with me having to get a COVID test, to come home, open a Sierra Nevada, and fire up Mouth Breather on vinyl!
Negative, by the way.
Not a great picture, but you get the point.
NCBD
Because of the scare, I did not stop in to pick up my comics. However, here's what's waiting for me today:
One issue left! Look at that cover! The greens that often flood Jerome Opêna's art are definitely what pulled me into this series. There's something so 'Sci Fi pulp paperback novel from the 80s cover art' about them. Not the style, but the settings: Swamps, bogs, mountains, etc.
Love this book, LOVE this cover, too.
Wow, great covers this week.
These "Best of" books have been the most "pure joy" comic books I've read in years. I don't even bag-and-board these, I have them sitting around just so I can pick them up and hold them every once in a while.
After issue 3 of We Live, this is the book I think of the most. What started as pure SciFi, really took on a Girl With All the Gifts vibe in its last chapter, and the mash-up works perfectly. Can't wait to see where this goes!
Playlist:
Ministry - The Last Sucker
Ministry - Rio Grande Blood
Sleaford Mods - Spare Ribs
The Jesus Lizard - Mouth Breather 45
The Jesus Lizard - Gladiator 45
Card:
Today I went for my original, full-size Thoth deck. I don't have very many decks. As much as I love a lot of what I see out there as far as Tarot Deck's, I'm purely a pragmatician with these. Sure, that DC Vertigo deck is amazing, and, well, maybe one day that is one I would grab just to look at, but I started with the Crowley/Harris deck nearly 20 years ago, and it is two of my three decks (Missi also gifted me a pocket-sized Thoth a few years back). So it's Thoth and Raven, that's it.
I can't help but feel this is a direct nod to the COVID scare and the test I took last night. Hearing I might be infected set me on a negative thought tirade - especially when it comes to imagining the beating I would like to issue to the chin-diaper, COVID-denying moron at work who is the 'patient zero' in our building (always gotta be one). That said, I came home, pulled my shit together, found a place to get a rapid test, and just did it.
It's funny how, in moments like those hours where I thought I might have it - which of course the ego immediately translates to I definitely have it - there's such a pull to surrender, to woe is me, to give up.
Fuck that. Science. Or, in the words of the esteemed Mr. Pinkman:
Literally can't wait for this. There's a great interview with writer/director Steven Kostanski about his influences in the new issue of Fangoria, and reading that really put this one back on my radar. I missed it at Beyondfest last year, so I'm tempted to do something I've not yet done during Quarantine - a watch party with friends! Either way, looks like Psycho Goreman hits VOD on the 22nd, so the wait is almost over!
God this looks fantastic.
Playlist:
Ministry - The Last Sucker
Ministry - Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs
Ministry - Alert Level (Quarantined Mix; single)
Ministry - The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste
Ministry - From Beer To Eternity
Wax Electric - Apple Music Playlist
Lard - Pure Chewing Satisfaction
Lard - 70s Rock Must Die
Deth Crux - Mutant Flesh
Chasms - On the Legs of Love Purified
Dance with the Dead - B-Sides: Vol. 1
Sleaford Mods - Spare Ribs
John Carpenter and Alan Howarth - Big Trouble In Little China OST
Because this was the first song I listened to when I woke up this morning, and because it's such an awesome example of the marrying of Rock and Pop that was so flawless in the early 80s.
Watch:
Kind of stumbled into watching the first season of Evil on Netflix this weekend. I'd seen the minimalist billboards for this around town last year and was intrigued, but being that it's on CBS I dismissed it as network. However, this one's pretty cool for network (and it's not actually on regular, network CBS, but their All Access). There's some really interesting camera work and a decidedly bigger budget - or at least a bigger 'approach' - than a network show would take. And there are some genuinely scary moments so far, so I'm in.
Playlist:
Ministry - Houses of the Mole
Ministry - Amerikkkant
Lard - Pure Chewing Satisfaction
ISIS - In the Absence of Truth
Deafheaven - New Bermuda
ZZ Top - Rio Grande Mud
Ministry - The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste
Ministry - The Last Sucker
The Bangles - All Over the Place
Deth Crux - Mutant Flesh
Etta James - Third Album
Etta James - Second Time Around
Card:
Financial breakthrough, which I will gladly take on with a smile.
I finally picked The Lost Gospels According to Al Jourgensen back up earlier this week, and this time, I find I can't put it down. More about that below. For right now, reading the Biafra interview in the book and hearing Al talk about the origin of the band Lard, I felt motivated to dig out 1997's Pure Chewing Satisfaction. This is one of those records I had on cassette back in the day, and because I still have the actual cassette, I always put off listening to it on Apple Music under the guise that I should dig out that tape. Well, that never happens, so I haven't heard Pure Chewing in a loooong time. Guess what? I gave up on the tape and started playing it the other day, only to find out I miss the hell out of this record!
The Last Temptation of Reid has always been the go-to masterpiece in the Lard catalog as far as I was concerned; however, now I find Pure Chewing Satisfaction is every bit as awesome, starting with this, the opening song, which I could listen to over and over again ad nauseam.
Watch:
Watching the first two episodes of Marvel's Wandavision last night was quite the experience. I now very much understand what Elizabeth Olsen meant in the interviews she did during the run-up to this show when she repeatedly said, "I just can't believe they let us actually do this show."
This is the evolution of Marvel's style.
I'm speechless. Wandavision isn't the best thing I've ever seen or even my favorite of the Marvel stuff, but being that it breaks their fight-on-catwalk-stop-him-before-he-ends-the-world-and/or-destroys-the-entire-city mold and shows that they will begin to take chances, I'm excited. And as fans, that's all we can ask for. That's how the comics gave us things like Matt Faction's Hawkeye series, or Rick Remender's Uncanny Avengers, or any of the mold-breaking stuff Marvel occasionally does to draw in new readers who don't necessarily jive with fight-fight-fight and crossover-crossover-crossover paradigm they seem to still be stuck in.
I'm totally fine having (mostly) given up reading Marvel Comics if I can get stories like this from their MCU.
Read:
Last year when Mr. Brown sent me his copy of Al Jourgensen's autobiography, I read about a fourth of it and had to walk away. This happens a lot with musician autobiographies. Soul Coughing's Mike Doughty's book really started to affect how I felt about one of my favorite bands of all time, so I stopped reading that, too. I thought that would be the case here, but when I picked Gospels up again recently to give it one more chance, I found I couldn't put the fucking thing down.
Al still comes off like a complete douche, which I guess really shouldn't be a surprise. However, the book is also laugh-out-loud hysterical at times. Really, once I got past the utter nonsense of him bragging about how many chicks he nailed as a teenager and moved into the origins of Ministry, well, the douchery didn't stop, but it became mixed with a lot of great information about a band I've loved for most of my life (thanks also to Brown, who lent me his copy of The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste when we were Juniors in High School).
Anyway, if you can get past those initial chapters, and deal with him being one of those "Been there, done that, did that first, fuck those guys I used to work with" tirades, and the endless drug stories that make him really look like an ass - the River Phoenix one is especially awful - then this is a pretty good read.
Playlist:
Lard - Pure Chewing Satisfaction
Lard - The Last Temptation of Reid
The Veils - Total Depravity
The Replacements - Tim
Deafheaven - 10 Years Gone
Ministry - Dark Side of the Spoon
Card:
This morning I thought I'd pull from the Raven Deck. Every time I bring these cards out, I marvel at the work and detail my good friend Missi put into them. The cards literally hum with the energy she put into them, and so they make reading an incredibly unique experience.
Change. From Peter J. Carroll's Liber Null: "The only clear view is from atop a mountain of your dead selves."
I have 100% agreed with this statement since I first began reading Carroll in the early 00s. And I find it funny that I pull this card now, as I try to understand how I've suddenly become able to reintegrate The Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream back into my life.
Tangent? No. Hear me out.
I loved this record upon its release the summer before my Senior Year in high school began, but I have been mostly unable to feel passionately about it since about two or three years later. Everything about this album and that band that I loved was, in my opinion, flipped on its head beginning with the release of the follow-up, and The Smashing Pumpkins became kind of an antithesis to me. However, for every reason I feel justified in distancing myself from their music and personas, I realize too, I was distancing myself from who I was when this album meant so much to me. Which is fine. That's the mountain of dead selves at work right there, and that's important. And there's a vulnerability to reconnecting with something that was so integral and intertwined with who you were when you were a teenager, and I began to make it a point to execute and deny most previous versions of myself somewhere about the time I graduated college and became a bartender (ha! what a sentence).
Anyway, I guess the poignant part of all this is that while Siamese Dream was executed and thrown on the pile with that old version of Shawn, along with records by bands like Pantera, Sublime and the like, it's a new one for me that I can dig this one out of that mountain of corpses, dust it off, and reconnect with it in such a strong way.
Will it last? It feels like it will, however, I should probably avoid hearing anything billy corgan says in the media if I want that to last.
New Mogwai! From the forthcoming album As The Love Continues, out February 13th. Pre-order HERE.
Watch:
Last night, K and I finished watching the Night Stalker documentary that dropped this week on Netflix. Serial killer stuff is normally outside of my comfort zone, however, after moving to LA in 2006 and hearing a good friend talk about what it was like to grow up here as Richard Ramirez held the city hostage for the better part of a year has proved motivation for a fascination that overcomes my squeamish nature when it comes to this type of thing. That, combined with the fact that once you start watching this series and see that director Tiller Russell places the two Police Detectives who hunted Ramirez as the main characters, this was a great documentary that didn't leave me feeling dirty.
As much as I love AHS 1984, I still have issues with the fact that they made Ramirez a character I ended up rooting for (to a degree).
While flipping around Bloody Disgusting earlier I saw they finally released a trailer for Christopher Smith's The Banishing. I'm very much looking forward to seeing this one on Shudder in March, just a couple of days after my forty-fifth birthday no less.
Playlist:
The Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
Michael Kiwanuka - KIWANUKA
David Bowie - Reality
Mogwai - As the Love Continues (pre-release singles)
Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
Loathe - I Let It In and It Took Everything
Card:
Another signifier for the end of my current project, which will lead to the publication of my next book.
I received the cover art this week from Jonathan Grimm - it's BAD ASS! I can't wait to share it.
