Love Songs from the Phantom Road

 

Why not? The oddest and to some, a throwaway track from Alice in Chains' 1992 acoustic EP Sap. I love this one, and have long marveled at just how weird AIC could be when hardly trying. 

 

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NCBD:

A damn quiet NCBD, if I say so myself:

I didn't know about this new Jeff Lemire series until I happened to look in my email and see a missive from his newsletter. Sounds pretty badass; from the solicitation on League of Geeks:

"Dom is a long-haul truck driver attempting to stay ahead of his tragic past. When he stops one night to assist Birdie, who has been in a massive car crash, they pull an artifact from the wreckage that throws their lives into fifth gear. Suddenly, a typical midnight run has become a frantic journey through a surreal world where Dom and Birdie find themselves the quarry of strange and impossible monsters. It's grindhouse horror meeting high-concept supernatural fantasy..."

So yeah, short week, which is fine. I'll be in L.A. for the next two NCBDs and plan to make it out to The Comic Bug at some point, so I'll pick up some of the books I read that I don't have on my pull at Rick's here in Clarksville. 

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Playlist:

22-20s - Eponymous

Various - Fight!!! Spotify Playlist

The Smiths - Strangeways, Here We Come

Helmet - Size

Alice in Chains - Sap

The Mysterines - Reeling

David Bowie - Reality

Mastodon - Once More 'Round the Sun

Faetooth - Remnants of the Vessel

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Bound Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

To affect change, an equal force of Will and Renumeration may be required. 

The Wind Began to Howl

A lot of new music coming up lately, although some of it is only new to me. Case in point: that recent viewing of Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla was my first since the advent of Shazam (or since I started using it, anyway), and it was through that film I found the 22-20s, whose entire 2004 self-titled record rules. This is currently my favorite track on the album.

 

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Watch:

Yellowjackets returns in March!

On March 24 - my birthday, no less! To say K and I are excited would be an understatement of extreme measure.

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Read:

I try to severely limit my exposure to social media these days, so I'm late to the game but nonetheless overjoyed to see that Author Laird Barron is home from the hospital and in recovery AND the pre-order is up for the fourth book in his Isaiah Coleridge series. 

Wow, what a cover, eh? This is exciting because, with The Wind Began To Howl releasing from Bad Hand Books in late Spring, I have plenty of time to slot in re-reads of the previous three entries in the series. These are PURE PLEASURE for me, and every time a new entry comes up for pre-order, I go back and re-read the previous ones. 

Pre-order your copy from Bad Hand Books HERE. Also, if you do it within the first 30 days since the announcement (which I believe was last week), ALL proceeds go directly to the author, who is recovering at home from his recent health scare (Laird is tweeting about it on his account), and thus, still racking up medical expenses.

Pre-ordering the new Laird Barron reminded me I still had not ordered my signed copy of Stephen Graham Jones' sequel to 2021's My Heart is a Chainsaw from Boulder Books. 

Don't Fear the Reaper dropped a few weeks ago, the second in a planned trilogy; I can't wait to read this one. Chainsaw rocked my world and I'm looking forward to re-reading that as well.

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Playlist:

22-20s - Eponymous

Clouds Taste Satanic - Tales of Demonic Possession

Fvnerals - Let the Earth be Silent

Karl Casey - XX EP

White Hex - Gold Nights

Myrkur - Folkesange

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Bound Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

It will require a lot of Will to successfully complete a current project. 

The Getaway

 

A couple years ago, Mr. Brown clued me into the greatness of Dr. John when he sent Gris Gris my way for Halloween. Since, every so often, he'll recommend an album. Two weekends ago he introduced me to 2012's Locked Down, where The Black Keys are his band. 

This is the same treatment the Keys have done for other aging icons, but combined with Dr. John, Locked Down struck me immediately. A perfect combination, this, and The Getaway is my favorite song (so far). The coda on this one is fantastic; one of the best guitar solos I've heard in some time.

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Watch:

Watching this final season of Servant has finally made me dig out my DVD copy of Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla to show K Toby Kebbler's first break-out role (that I was aware of, anyway).

 

This one does not disappoint. Face-paced and twisty in that way Guy Ritchie's flicks are when he's on, I put this one right under Snatch as my favorite. And Kebbell is awesome- that pencil scene at the Subways gig! Oh man, I feel that every time I watch this.

 

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Read:

I did a full, deep-dive, note-taking re-read of James Tynion IV's Department of Truth this weekend, and I can definitively tell you that no comic has stirred me up like this since first reading Grant Morrison's Invisibles back around the turn of the century. 

The ideas in this book are massive; Tynion has found a way to wrap everything from Alt-Right Conspiracy to Big Foot into an insanely compelling package that feels a lot like things we've seen before and loved cut with something brand new. My elevator pitch would be "Grant Morrison writes the X-Files" and there is zero hyperbole in that. Conspiracy Theories are fun, but ultimately I've never been a person who cannot refuse them just on some innate mental survival instinct; yes, I think 911 was probably an inside job, or some facet of our own government pulled the trigger on JFK, but it would do me no good to obsess over it, so I do not. This book is a super-intelligent way of working with a lot of that stuff in a fictional environment. 

Also, Martin Simmonds's art is absolutely breathtaking and helps the book feel a lot like the old-school Vertigo titles I love so much.

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Playlist:

Dr. John - Locked Down

Pixies - Surfer Rosa

Pixies - Doggerel

Metallica - Hardwired

Faetooth - Remnants of the Vessel

Clouds Taste Satanic - Tales of Demonic Possession

Ghostland Observatory - Paparazzi Lightning

Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues

White Hex - Gold Nights

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Bound Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

Think things through and don't be distracted by splendor. 

Talking to Nomads

 

Was in a New York Dolls mood yesterday. I love the entire 2011 Dancing Backward In High Heels record, but this is one of the two or three best on there.

 

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Watch:

I noticed a movie from 1986 called Nomads dropped on Shudder last week. I also noticed that John McTiernan directed it.

 

Despite the fact that I believe McTiernan directed the two greatest action movies of the 80s (possibly of all time), I don't know anything about his work other than Die Hard and Predator, so I'll be watching this one sometime soon. Starring Remington Steele and Adam Ant, well, how can this go wrong?

 

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Playlist:

The Police - Outlandos D'Amour

Don Henley - Apple Essentials

New York Dolls - Dancing Backward In High Heels

James Brown - Black Cesar Soundtrack

Mrs. Piss - Self-Surgery

Lustmord - The Others

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Bound Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

Emotional growth ebbs and flows while different aspects of the day-to-day push and pull on me. Pretty vague; that's the kind of reading I'd expect if I paid someone for a reading. However, I slept awful and my head's still a bit spongy, so that's the best I can do at the moment. I guess I'll be watching out for the more reactive side of my personality and be sure to keep it in check. 

Every Loser

 

A few weeks back, I hadn't even realized Iggy Pop had a new record until Mr. Brown messaged me about Every Loser. After a couple listens, I'll say it's a pretty solid album. Then I heard it again this weekend and it really grabbed me.

I haven't been all that receptive to the stuff Mr. Pop has done in the last ten years or so. The album with QOTSA as his band was okay, and although I did dig 2013's Ready To Die and his work with Underworld, neither held my attention for very long. Probably not the music's fault. This record, however, has something different: Producer Andrew Watt, the man that made the two most recent Ozzy Osbourne records. As good as those are to Ozzy, this is to Iggy. 

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NCBD:

NCBD picks! 

Yeah, I know I'm cutting back on what I buy, but I can't pass up a new Tynion book. Especially one titled Blue Book.

I skipped last week's Nightcrawlers, but the first Storm and the Brotherhood entry in Sins of Sinister was good, so I'm definitely picking up Immoral X-Men #1. 

Saga brings me great joy. 

Phantasmagoria has proven to be a sleeper hit for me, and I've next to no doubt that, once this issue is out and the series is tied up, it will end up on my 'Best Of' list for 2023.

Cutter Vs. Erika? 

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Playlist:

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs - Land of Sleeper

Various - Fight! Playlist

Portishead - Third

Beak> - Kosmik Musik

Abby Sage - Smoke Break (single)

Abby Sage - The Florist EP

Ozzy Osbourne - The Ultimate Sin

Perturbator - Dangerous Days

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Bound Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

Monetary conflicts that affect both K and myself at the moment. We're having issues getting our tax returns - which we did on the 8th - submitted due to some computer issues with the company we go to. I take this to mean hold steady and don't let it create conflict.

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs - The Weatherman

 

I had not heard of the band Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs until Mr. Brown sent me something about their newest record Land of Sleeper, which dropped on Friday. I listened to this one on the way up to Indiana on Friday, and it's a fantastic Doom/Stoner Rock record. Favorite song so far? "The Weatherman." Really unique song that almost reminds me of a Robert Howard entry into the Cthulhu Mythos with its eerie chanting and whining guitar. Check it out, and the Seven Pigs Bandcamp is HERE.

 

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Watch:

I watched three movies yesterday. Here's the list in trailers:

 

Outstanding film! There are a few little acting hiccups with the kid leads, but not in any way that takes away from what's here. If you ever wanted to see what Reservation Dogs mashed up with The Thing would look like, find Slash/Back on Shudder and hit play.

   

I had not seen Red Dawn since it first hit VHS, so circa 84/85. This was homework for an upcoming episode of Elements of Horror, with the remake following tonight (remake I have never seen). I can't help wonder how much of the OG Red Dawn is propaganda, or if this was simply a case of, "Hey, these fears run rampant in our culture, let's play with what it would look like if it really happened."

The sad irony, of course, is that if you push this up to today and set it in Ukraine, well, it becomes a f*ckin' documentary.

This movie remains as wonderful and ridiculous as always. Hey Keith David - just put on the damn glasses already!

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Playlist:

Portishead - Third

Beak> - Kosmik Musik

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Bound Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

I keep seeing that Empress coupled with Aces, which makes me feel like I'm flirting with some kind of breakthrough. This time, instead of an emotional nod, we see Will, and adding to that the Five of Cups, which speaks of Emotional conflict, I'm left wondering what am I not seeing? This doesn't appear tied to my writing endeavors, and the last five days have been a bit of a vacation from that, so I'm not sure how to interpret this. In cases like this, I've begun leaving the three-card Pull on my desk all day as I work, so the cards are always right in front of me. 

Slashing/Back to 1984

 

Driving back from Indiana yesterday was a pretty serene experience. After an amazing weekend with my best friends in the world, I hit Route 31 and dug into a deserted drive back to Tennessee, accompanied for the first few hours by a handful of great Rock n' Roll albums. First up - Bowie's Diamond Dogs. I wasn't high, but I swear, I heard things in this listen that I hadn't ever before and really came out the other side with a new appreciation. Of particular mention, 1984, the arranging and production of which inspired a considerably great appreciation than on previous listens. There's a mindset to this album that it takes a very strong concentration to crack; I'm not saying I didn't dig DD before, but I guess I'd never listened to this one in such a concentrated, uninterrupted session before.  Aside from Rebel Rebel - which would have originally been the opening track on side two, and thus strategically placed to be the first song heard after the album is stopped and physically flipped over and re-started, there is a sonic and conceptual vein that runs through this record that almost makes it flow like one long song. 

I'm re-posting this track from youtube user Mister Sussux's channel, which, if you're a Bowie fan, you might want to check out and subscribe to, as it has some really cool Bowie clips.

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Watch:

I missed the trailer on this back a few months ago, but after catching it this morning on accident, I have to say, Slash/Back goes to the top of my Shudder watch list:

One part Stranger Things/Reservation Dogs, one Part The Thing or Slither - I purposely stopped watching the trailer the moment it looked like they might reveal the monster - this looks fantastic. This is the first feature from Slash/Back Director/Co-writer Nyla Innuksuk, who I know nothing about but have a feeling will be getting a spot on my radar after this one. 

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Playlist:

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs - Land of Sleeper

Telekinetic Yeti - Primordial

Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues

Cinematic Void Podcast - Episode 62

Trombone Shorty - Lifted

Television - Marquee Moon

Frank Black and the Catholics - Live at Melkweg March 24, 2001

David Bowie Diamond Dogs

The Police - Outlandos D'Amour

Dr. John - Locked Down

Beck - Odelay

David Bowie - PinUps

Various - Rocktober Blood Soundtrack

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Bound Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

Emotional recharge after letting go of the urge to try and control Earthly things we cannot. I'm not entirely sure what this is saying, but I have a feeling it ties into recent work/life stuff.