I have been known to make fun of Bob Segar. But I have NEVER made fun of this song. Goddamn does this KICK.
Watch:
Jesus fucking Christ. How do you follow this? Well, I guess with this:
Thanks to Mr. Brown - these both slipped right by me.
Playlist:
The Byrds - Full Throttle
Gram Parsons - Archives Vol. 1: Live at the Avalon 1969
Flying Burrito Brothers - Gilded Palace of Sin
Gram Parsons - Grievous Angel
Sleaford Mods - Spare Ribs
Type O Negative - Life is Killing Me
Blanket - Modern Escapism (pre-release singles)
Reflections - The Color Clear
Cindy Lauper - She's So Unusual
X- Under the Big Black Sun
Miss Piss - Self Surgery
Emma Ruth Rundle - Marked For Death
Chris Isaak - Heart Shaped World
The Replacements - Tim
King Woman - Doubt EP
16 Horsepower - Brimstone Rock
Various - The Devil's Rejects
The Allman Brothers Band - Idlewild South
Palms - Eponymous
Card:
Direct commentary on all the disparate people I met today in the outskirts of Nashville that 100% convinced me I will most definitely be living here in less than a year.
As of today, we are officially into my favorite time of the year (even though you'd never know it in LaLaLand)! Here's some live Type O Negative to start the season right.
NCBD:
Once again, here we are - New Comic Book Day. Here's what I'll be picking up/probably picking up:
Not sure I'm picking this one up - I'm looking to shed some of the books I'm reading, and especially after reading this, seems like a good time to jump off. Not that I necessarily believe the veracity of this report, but with Disney running the Xenomorph show now, I don't necessarily think this is out of the question, either. Reading that the other night, I couldn't help picture a "Baby Xenomorph" phenomenon a few years from now. Ugh. I love me some Grogu, but wouldn't want to see anything like that - or any type of 'good guy' Xeno - in any capacity.
Loving this series.
I've really been enjoying reading a Peter David-penned comic again. Between his epic, years-long run on The Incredible Hulk through the 80s and early 90s, and his creator-owned Fallen Angel series over at DC and then IDW in the 00s - I'll really have to talk about that here again soon because it's criminally unknown - David informed a large aspect of my comic taste, and reading his familiar style feels a bit like a snuggly blanket.
This second arc of That Texas Blood has been a great mash-up of Texas Noir and spooky occultism, a combination that yields excellent results.
One issue left of The Last Ronin after this one. Such a great take on the kind of anti-utopian, out-of-retirement series first popularized by Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns back in the 80s. A lot of the books since that have applied similar approaches to mainstay characters have merely felt like they were checking the Dark Knight Returns boxes, following Miller's formula. And that works just fine, sometimes. But it's nice to get a book like The Last Ronin, which does not feel like that at all, and yet it still takes me back to what comics felt like when I was reading them 30+ years ago, back when all those dark approaches were first hitting characters that had formerly occupied a decidedly more upbeat or 'positive' approach.
Still not 100% sold on how long I will follow this new X-Men series, but I'm staying due to that one throw-away shot of the High Evolutionary in issue #1. Here's to hoping he pops up soon, in a more involved capacity. The Evolutionary War remains one of my all-time favorite crossovers - probably because, besides that and the original Inferno, I don't much care for crossovers. Anyway, it isn't that I'm not enjoying this series. As my first window into the new, Jonathan Hickman-designed X-Verse, I'm curious and enjoy 'looking around,' trying to ascertain the new status quo and how it's changed the characters I've known for most of my life. That said, re-reading Grant Morrison's New X-Men a few months back, everything post-Chris Claremont about Mutant Books that isn't penned by Morrison feels a bit... anticlimactic? Is that the way I'd say it? Maybe.
Playlist:
Type O Negative - October Rust
Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses (Digipak Version)
Plague Bringer (Chicago) - As the Ghosts Collect, The Corpses Rest
Danzig - Eponymous
Boris - No
Card:
Many voices, all of which combine to create a world. This is what I do.
One of the records I received as the Relapse Records 30th anniversary golden ticket winner that I've only just been able sit down and really listen to is the Boris/Merzbow collaboration 2R0I2P0, which apparently translates to RIP 2020. It's a kind of tough, noisy record, however, there are moments of sheer, sublime majesty within. This is one of those.
Watch:
What the actual f*ck is going on with Ghost? I'm certain these new webisodes are leading up to an album announcement, and I can't wait! Also, I'm enjoying the return to their weird approach to viral marketing they've long been famous for.
Playlist:
Bridge City Sinners - Here's to the Devil
Boris and Merzbow - 2R0I2P0
Bohren and Der Club of Gore - Sunset Mission
Bohren and Der Club of Gore - Patchouli Blu
Bohren and Der Club of Gore - Piano Nights
Bohren and Der Club of Gore - Dolores
X - Under the Big Black Sun
Russian Circles - Memorial
Kowloon Walled City - Container Ships
Palms - Eponymous
Danizig - Eponymous
Type O Negative - Origin of the Feces
Carpenter Brut - Carpenterbrutlive
Type O Negative - October Rust
Card:
A warning about obscuring things, which perhaps is to remind me about the changes coming over the next year. I'm hedging some bets and need to be sure to keep others' well-being in mind while doing so (this is all work related).
I threw on the Bad Seed TeeVee youtube station yesterday afternoon and let various iterations of Mr. Cave and his band/s wash over me while I finished laying out a friend's novel that I've been working on editing. It was a pretty great mix of Nick Cave, ranging from classic Birthday Party live footage to Grinderman to this track, which I've not heard in I don't even know how long. It lifted my day's transition into evening, and I thought I'd share.
Watch:
Rejoice, for it is upon us once again!
Beyondfest 2021 tickets went on sale Friday, and luckily I had the day off because it took me two-and-a-half hours to get through the bottleneck on the American Cinematheque's website. I'm out of town for almost half of this year's fest, but there was NO WAY I was going to miss attending this year, as if our plans materialize, I will no longer be a resident of LaLaLand come next year's.
So what did I get?
Tickets to the West Coast Premiere of the new 4K presentation of Andrzej Żuławski's 1981 CLASSIC Possession. I am so excited to see this film - which I'd never seen before earlier this year and have now watched twice - on the big screen!
Also, the West Coast Premiere of Scott Derrickson and Robert C. Cargill's Adaptation of Joe Hill's The Black Phone, another film I've been anxiously awaiting.
That's it for now, however, as always with Beyondfest, there are a pretty extensive number of free, RSVP day-of screenings I'm eyeing, and although it's nice to be back in an actual theatre for this year's fest - last year's was at the Mission Tiki Drive-In out in Montclair - it feels like a loss to have this fest not be at the Egyptian Theatre. That said, with a large portion of this year's films at The Aero, I'm uniquely positioned nearby due to the proximity of my work. So stealing off for a free afternoon screening shouldn't be all that difficult.
Also, holy hell - did you see this?!?
What a cast! Holy cow, I guess I didn't realize we were getting a new GDT film this year, and by the looks of it, this ups the ante even from his previous, the stunning The Shape of Water. Between Beyondfest, now this, and let's not forget Edgar Wright's Last Night in SoHo, the last quarter of 2021 are looking good for theatrical viewings.
Playlist:
The Hives - Veni Vidi Vicious
Type O Negative - Origin of the Feces
Type O Negative - Life is Killing Me
Type O Negative - October Rust
Bridge City Sinners - Here's to the Devil
Sleep - Dopesmoker
Sunn O))) and Boris - Altar
Boris and Merzbow - 2R012PO
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Bad Seed TeeVee Feed
Nico Vega - Lead to the Light
Card:
Caught between two two major forces, unable to make a decision. Consult the inner voice that arises from introspection. In other words, I'm smart enough to make my decision, I'm just not trusting in my gut.
I'm not a huge Monolord fan - in fact, I kind of don't understand why I don't like them more than I do based on all the ingredients they create their music with. I think it has a bit to do with how fanatical I am about Windhand, and the fact that you can really only listen to so many Doom/Stoner bands and feel a unique rush from them. Whatever the case, by saying all this, it is definitely not my intention to derate or downplay them. Monolord is a solid fucking band, with a couple really great records. I just get winded listening to them after only a song or two (most of the time).
This new track, however, is fantastic and feels just different enough that maybe this is their release I'll really become hung up on. Either way, Your Time to Shine drops October 29th on Relapse Records, and you can pre-order your copy HERE.
Watch:
Beyondfest announces their line-up tomorrow. It's 9/29-10/11, so I will be out of town during roughly half of it. I think at this point, the movie I want to see the most is Julia Ducournau's Titane. This is one of those films I have read next to nothing about and the trailer, which I saw on the big screen before The Green Knight last month, looks amazing without telling you anything about the film.
Playlist:
Perturbator - Dangerous Days
Ghost - Enter Sandman (Cover)
Monolord - The Weary (pre-release single)
Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower
Metallica - Eponymous
White Hex - Gold Nights
Card:
Affirmation that although I keep rewriting the same damn section of the new book, my efforts are not wasted.
Although I've been able to spin this one a few times since the vinyl arrived about a month ago, I've not had a chance to really sit down and digest Adam Egypt Mortimer's The Obelisk. That changed a bit tonight, where I carved out a small niche of time to read the final issue of Rick Remender and Jerome Opena's Seven to Eternity.
NCBD:
Pretty mellow week this week, which is how I think it's going to go from now on. Lots of series ending or me jumping off. Here's what's on tap for today:
I'm not 100% on this one, but it's a one-shot and kinda hard to pass up a book on Bouchh, especially when you read the solicitation and realize the armor Lea wore in Jedi came from a pre-existing Bounty Hunter. Which, of course, makes me ask what was their story? This, apparently, is just that.
This book is a staple of my monthly reading. Love the story, love the art.
The first issue sold me.
Watch:
I never got around to reading anything past the first trade of this series, and that was a looooong time ago. Since then, and through series like Saga and Paper Girls, I've very much become a Brian K. Vaughn fan. After watching the first episode of the new FX show on Hulu (they dropped three this week, I only had time for one), I'm definitely going to give the show a chance.
Playlist:
The Plimsouls - Everywhere At Once
Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower
Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments
X - Under the Big Black Sun
High on Fire - Snakes For The Divine
Jerry Cantrell - Brighten (pre-release singles)
The Marias - Superclean, Vol. II EP
Adam Egypt Mortimer - The Obelisk
Bohren and Der Club of Gore - Sunset Mission
Card:
Lots of fortification against encroaching neuroses. Time to find my inner Lion (or cat).
New Mastodon before year's end and it's a double-fucking-album! In general, double albums don't work out so well, but Mastodon inspires enough faith in me that I don't think that will be the case with Hushed and Grim, dropping October 29th. Pre-order in the band's store HERE.
Watch:
Hell, what haven't I watched in the last two weeks? Laid low by what definitely turned out to not be COVID-19, I still spent a week and some change on my couch. I read three books (well, read one and finished reading two others), and watched something like 15 flicks. For most of those, you can see my Letterbxd. What I specifically want to mention here are two readily available new flicks that I absolutely loved, Ben Wheatley's In the Earth, and James Wan's Malignant.
I loved this flick. Wheatley seems to never disappoint - I even dug his recent remake of Hitchcock's Rebecca he did for Netflix - and this is a bit of a return to his previous dabblings in UK Occult/Folk Horror, only this time, with a technological twist I found very much needed. Folk Horror is becoming a bit like Steampunk, i.e. there's a checklist of images and themes associated with it, and all a filmmaker needs to do is add those ingredients to produce an entry in what is becoming a somewhat tiresome set of tropes. A Classic Horror Story attempted to do this as well, I believe, but failed, while Wheatley conjures what could easily be seen as a sister-work to some of what Warren Ellis did with his and Declan Shalvey's comic series Injection.
I had no interest in seeing this but changed my mind for review purposes (The Horror Vision's deep-dive on Malignant drops tomorrow). In a nutshell, the only things I liked about the first 33 minutes of this flick were DP Michael Burgess' cinematography and Joseph Bishara's score. Then, around 40 minutes I understood what Wan was doing and totally fell for the film.
Playlist:
The Cars - Eponymous
T. Rex - The Slider
Concrete Blonde - Bloodletting
Concrete Blonde - Eponymous
Electric Wizard - Dopethrone
Sleep - The Sciences
Ghost - Prequelle
Powerplant - People in the Sun
Pearl Jam - Vs.
Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou - May Our Chambers Be Full
An Autumn for Crippled Children - The Long Goodbye
Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen
Anthrax - Spreading The Disease
Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower
Mastodon - Pushing the Tides (pre-release single)
Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments
Card:
This makes sense - I've recently found a new path into the second Shadow Play book, which was very much needed.
