Sunday, December 28, 2014

ProtoMartyr - Take Away Show



At first I didn't get that this 7 minute and some odd second video is exactly what it says it is: a take away show. It looked like a video where the band was outdoors, sans electricity and pretending to play their instruments to pre-recorded music. Watch the entire thing though and you see mini amps on the bass and guitar players, you'll notice the drummer working - beautifully I might add - with one drum, and you'll see singer Joe Casey carrying his inflections through onto a very unique performance that just further assures me that, only about two weeks after first discovering Protomartyr they are one of the bands I am most excited about right now.

You Wouldn't Like Thom Yorke When He's Angry...




Holy cow, new music avalanche (more likely I've just had a moment to actually pay attention): Thom Yorke put a track from his new record on Bandcamp. and it's a "name your price" for download folks.

New Erase Errata!



Holy cow, new Erase Errata! It's been quite some time...

I love when a band I really like disappears and kinda fades from my radar - well, I don't love it at first - and then resurfaces unexpectedly with a track this great. It's like finding a sonic $10 in your pocket! New album out in January, though I couldn't find any exact release date or label.

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Thursday, December 25, 2014

The Pogues - Fairytale of New York live 1988



Best Christmas song ever.

PO'Boy Special - Barely Gettin' By e.p.



Full disclosure: the guitar player/chief songwriter of Po'Boy Special is one of my oldest, dearest friends. But you know, I go so far back with Anthony Barraco that in a way, in the passage of daily life and how it congeals unexpectedly into block of years, decades and then finally, a life, without ever really granting any quarter, well, the Anthony that recorded this record only really overlaps with the Anthony I know a little bit. When we do manage to see each other - once a year at best - we're in catch up, so it wasn't until this past October that I was ever able to relax my trip home a bit and actually see this band - a relatively new band for Anthony - in an intimate practice setting. Not a performance, but a practice, foibles and all. It was amazing, and now that I hear the recorded version of the band I'm really just left speechless. Anthony's not only quite an amazing songwriter but he engineered this at his home on the south side.

Awesome.

The Barely Gettin' By e.p. is available for FREE download on Po'Boy's bandcamp HERE.

You should hear these guys live if you get a chance - they play Double Door, HOB and Hard Rock Cafe on a somewhat consistent basis that seems to only be ramping up. Their cover of Roy Hawkins's The Thrill Is Gone - probably best known performed by, for now, BB King - is just unbelievable.


Monday, December 22, 2014

RIP Joe Cocker



Much respect to Joe Cocker and his passing, even though I will admit, I've never really considered myself a fan. This song though... this song has a special place in my heart. In my single days, when I was a bartender on the South Side of Chicago, I worked with a waitress that will one day be a character in a novel I have half-finished somewhere on my hard drive. She used to like to go out and party after work, and whenever this song came on, well... certain things would follow.

Thanks Joe. Have a blast on the other side.

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Protomartyr



Holy cow, this band is fantastic!

Monday, December 8, 2014

Avengers: Age of Ultron Sneak Peak



Via Bloody Disgusting. I am very much looking forward to the second movie in the Avengers franchise. I watched the initial teaser Marvel released in October and was floored - it was everything I wanted it to be and so much more. However subsequently I have sworn off any trailers that follow. I mean, the teaser was almost three minutes long, for fook's sake; I detest the amount of exposure the current trend of five minute trailers gives. My favorite thing is to go into a movie - especially one as anticipated as this - as blind as possible. So what got me to watch this?

Elizabeth Olsen.

Ms. Olsen has been one of my favorite actresses since Martha Marcy May Marlene. She has spectacular talent.

But that's enough! No more until May 1st.

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Wytches


... the new series by Scott Snyder and Jock. In the words of my co-host on Drinking with Comics, Mike Wellman, "It's creepy as all hell," and it's the topic on tap in this week's Thee Comic Column over on Joup.

Friday, November 28, 2014

The Babadook



This is playing at Cinefamily this weekend. Gonna try to make it, but my folks are in and I'm thinking this is not something they are going to want to see. Me on the other hand... bring on the Babadook! Looks wicked.

The Neighbourhood - #icanteven



New music from The Neighbourhood! Now where's that second album guys???

Oh yeah, Speaking of FNM...



Right before I left work in West LA today I checked twitter. I'd seen this cryptic Gimp message the other day on FNM's feed and wondered. Well, I almost ran from work and drove straight up to Amoeba Music because they announced a 5-song in store performance today at 6:00 PM. Then I happened to read a little further and realized it was the SF Amoeba location, a mere 8-hour drive north for me and one that I would NEVER hope to make. So if you're a FNM fan and you're in SF, you might wanna head on down. And if you go, Please Please Please hit me back with a comment and let me know what 5 songs they played.

Only about six months until the album...

Faith No More - Motherfucker



I'm admittedly waaaay late on this - I listened to it about a week ago. I've heard a lot of naysayers but honestly, A) I'm not about to judge one of my all-time favorite band's come back on one song and B) I happen to really like the track. It doesn't sound like any other FNM to me and despite how others feel about it, I really dig RB doing the vox on the verses. Ever since seeing them at the Palladium back in 2010, when Roddy's presence on backing vocals and inter-song dialogue was a lot more present than previous I've been interested in hearing more from him. Not that I want to take any vocal duties away from Patton, because he is the man of course, but you know, I think there's room to expand the dynamic even further. I want a FNM album unlike anything I've heard before and this my fellow FNM-friends, is a good start in my book!


Saturday, November 22, 2014

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Zorcom!





While reading the 1983 Storm and Illyana: Magik series this morning I came across a ton of great, nostalgia-inducing ads, as one always does when reading comics from the 80s. This particular one really grabbed my imagination. I don't remember it, don't remember anyone that ever had a Zorcom spaceship, wanted one of even talked about it. But still, this was a thing! To the point that if you look at the copyright at the bottom of the page there (which will most likely be impossible to see even if you can stretch this image) its copyrighted to Zorcom Industries.

There was a place, maybe in an office building, renting a suite, named Zorcom Enterprises, Inc.! Only in the 80s!*

Anyway, there's also an ad for sending away to receive the Zorcom Adventure tapes. After a little snooping around online I found that someone indeed had uploaded this to soundcloud. Truly EVERYTHING is online somewhere, thus furthering my theory that the internet is now actually the physical manifestation of the human collective unconscious.

Enjoy the Zorcom audio series! And if you finish part one and have to know how it all turns out, go to capeofdracula's page on soundcloud, give 'em a follow and dig in for more laser-studded adventures!

................

*Okay, probably not - most likely this was run out of someone's garage, but still!

Saturday, November 15, 2014

TV On the Radio - Happy Idiot



Wow. Can't wait for the new TVOTR rekkid!

Starry Eyes Trailer



I'd seen the name of this film recently somewhere but it was completely in passing. Then, a few moments ago my wife asked me to check and see if PLaNETS had announced any upcoming shows (she really wants me to see them) and when I went to their FB page I saw a blurb about Starry Eyes and how part of it was apparently filmed in the PLaNETS band house. As soon as I saw the trailer I was in. CREEE-PEEEY!!!

Worm is Green



I discovered this band five or so years ago and then they promptly fell off my radar before I ever had a chance to hear more than just the two songs I found online at the time. I'm remedying that now.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Red Fang - Crows in Swine



I know nothing about Red Fang other than my friend Josh digs them so they must be great. This video completely backs up that assertion.

PLaNETS - Scared Coyote



The day after I left for Chicago my wife went to Silver Lake's The Satellite (formerly Spaceland, where we saw one of the best shows ever in A Place to Bury Strangers) to see a band from LA that we love named Battle Tapes. As she tells it, she arrived before the first band went on, took a table on the floor and ordered a GlenLivet on the rocks and proceeded to be blown away by each band (Chastity Belt Megafauna also played). PLaNETS however, stole the show, and again, based on how much I love the album and what she's told me about the performance, I can't wait to see this group live.

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Psychic Teens Score Dementia AKA The Daughter of Horror



I don't really know much about Psychic Teens, but a friend pointed this out to me the other day and Although I've thus far only seen a small part of it, it looks and sounds amazing.

The Afghan Whigs - Lost in the Woods



I'm sure everyone that would click on this has already seen it; I'm behind. Very behind. I spent two and a half weeks running around the Midwest, played a show in Dayton with a total douche and then returned to LALAland just in time to hit eleven days straight at work AND manage my wife's business during my home hours. Simply put, there's but little to no time to consume any content other than what I could fit on an iPod or in a CD wallet. That said, I found some marvelous stuff that I will get to throwing down here shortly. First though, there's a handful of things that filtered in during the trip via various outlets and I wanted to add them here, not for any real informative reasons since, again, this is essentially old news at this point, but because I actually keep this blog more for myself than anyone else - so yes, I'm essentially at least 51% writing to myself at this moment.

"Can I play with madness...?"

Monday, October 27, 2014

The Forest Children - A Demon at My Door



New video for the first single off one of my band's new records, Angels Weep While the Devil Sings.

Formerly known as Darkness Brings the Cold.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Woman In Black 2 Trailer



The first Woman In Black was a film that passed right by my radar for a few years until a very picky, old-school horror fan I work with lent it to me with 'highest possible recommendations'.

He wasn't wrong.

I haven't even had a chance to watch this trailer for the sequel yet, but just based on the strength of that first movie I'm looking forward to this one.

Avengers - Age of Ultron Teaser



Second time through this today, still have chills.

Tuneyards Live Performance on KEXP



Last night my cousin Charles treated me to seeing Tuneyards live at Chicago's wonderful Vic Theatre.

A) Amazing. At one point Merrill apologized for her use of the loop pedal that helps create the textures in the band's music. No need to apologize - half the beauty of seeing this band live is watching Merrill create these intricate vocal and percussive loops and then have everyone throw down on top of them.

The band for this tour is: Merrill Garbus - vocals, ukelele, drums, loops, percussion, synths; Nate Brenner - bass (and he is a marvelous bass player), synths, vocals; Abigail Nessen-Bengson - percussion, vocals; Jo Lampert - percussion, vocals; Dani Markham - drums, percussion, vocals. What these people do onstage is amazingly layered, intricate and beautiful.

B) I had not been to the Vic since maybe Tomahawk in the early aughts. LOVE that venue. Great sound.

Also: I'd be remiss if I didn't promote the charity that Tuneyards talked about last night: carrefourcollaborative.org. I donated a dollar, as it was Merrill's humble suggestion. Read about it and then it'd be cool if you did too.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

New Primus!



From the forthcoming record Primus and the Chocolate Factory with Fungi Ensemble which I would not even know about if not for Mr. Brown, out 10/21.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Cloud Nothings - Full Set @ Pitchfork



Special thanks to my good friend Jacob for turning me onto these guys a couple years ago. Still haven't picked up their most recent record, but if it's half as good as that last one - which the little bit I've watched of this live set seems to suggest it is - then it's classic.

Video via Pitchfork.

Rimbaud Eyes - Dum Dum Girls



Currently in love with this record. Better late than never. Dum Dum Girls have hit their mark and from here on out I think we're in for some amazing music.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Independence?



To my brothers and sisters in Scotland, all the wonderful people I've met there - no matter what you choose I wish you nothing but the best and stand with you in spirit, if not in person (for almost ten bloody years now!)

I'm having a flashback right at the moment, as about six months ago I read Sean-Paul Thomas' Cafe Independence, which takes place on the night of the historic vote.

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Thrice Great


The Smug Brothers



Speaking of the Smug Brothers...

Trailer: The Houses October Built



I watched this the other day and wasn't quite sure how to take it. Watched it again tonight and was way more interested. I know very little about this flick, and that's usually the way I like to go into these things. There's enough in this trailer to make me think it's worth checking out. Cuz yeah, it's almost October, the most wonderful time of the year!!!

Gang of Four - I Love a Man in Uniform (Re-recorded)



Speaking of Post-Punk...

I'll admit, I had some trouble getting into Gang of Four initially. That's Entertainment sprawls a bit, and as much as I loved their sound upon hearing it I never really liked the way that sound was represented by their recordings. Slowly though I got used to it, mostly through the incredibly original musicianship going on with all instruments involved (the guitar on Tourist! Oh my...) but the rift with the recording kind of prevented me from digging any deeper.

At some point a man I respect very much, Dayton, Ohio's Larry Evans - of The Smug Brothers - told me in a beer-fueled conversation that I was doing myself a great disservice not digging deeper into Gang of Four's catalog. Almost at the same time Mr. Brown sent me a copy of the retrospective A Brief History of the 20th Century, which featured the original version of the above song, I Love a Man in Uniform. I gravitated back to this particular track again and again and it made me curious...

Sometime later I wanted to return the favor to Mr. Brown so on one of the occasions that he visited us we hit up a local record store and I picked up a copy of Return the Gift for him. At the time I had no idea it was an album of re-recordings of classic GOF songs. We popped that disc into the stereo and lo and behold here it was! The Gang of Four record I had been waiting for. All those classic records are fine - there's still several I need to explore, but the recording on these new versions are just fantastic; crisp, clear and very much what these guys deserve to sound like. Hard to imagine a band doing this and having it make such a stronger impression - maybe this is mostly because I don't have the history with these guys that other do, but here's the original version of the song - you tell me if the new one doesn't trump it by about 1000%.




Liars - Brats Official Video



How did I miss the video to my favorite track off 2012's WIXIW? These guys have always treated the video component to their music super experimentally and it's made them unlike any other band I know. Go back and watch their video for 2010's Scissors off the Sisterworld album, or this years Mess on a Mission. If this intrigues you and you've never seen it, the album that got me into Liars was Drum's Not Dead; not only is it a fantastic record that is 100% peerless, but there are three video versions of the album that come with the disc and every one of them employs groundbreaking and surrealistic takes on the band's music that completely enhance the experience of the music.

Eagulls - Live Performance on KEXP



Okay, I hate to use genre monikers, especially when you get into sub genres, as I'm about to, however there are a few of these that I find extremely helpful and on the nose when discussing similarities between certain bands/scenes. One is Post-Punk. I know, usually you slap "post" on anything and it immediately sounds pretentious. That's fine; pretension is sometimes warranted and sometimes good. ESPECIALLY when discussing Post-Punk groups such as Gang of Four, Bauhaus, Savages, Wire, The Teardrop Explodes and Magazine. There's been quite a resurgence in Post-Punk these last couple of years and Eagulls definitely fits into it. Expect more of these guys here; like I said earlier, I am in hardcore love with this record.

Eagulls - Soulless Youth



I am absolutely in LOVE with Eagulls debut 2014 record. Oh my. As Mr. Brown said after sending this my way, they'd make a great double bill with Savages.

Grant Morrison & Frazer Irving's Annihilator...


...is the topic of discussion in this week's Thee Comic Column over there on Joup. Published monthly by Legendary Comics (that's the comics arm of Legendary Pictures, the fine folks who endeared themselves to me forever by releasing The Dark Knight Rises and Pacific Rim) Annihilator's first issue sets up what I'm thinking is going to be one hell of a unique tale by mind-fuck master Grant Morrison, with beautiful art by Frazer Irving, who did some of the creepiest art I've ever seen in both Morrison's Klarion the Witch Boy and the penultimate arc of his Batman and Robin series.


Thursday, September 11, 2014

Drinking with Comics Half-Pint



New Half-Pint entry into our 'micro-series' where we discuss Eric Powell's The Goon, his collaboration with John Carpenter on the Big Trouble In Little China sequel book from BOOM! Studios and, er, social ills and how pouring beer on yourself can help them...?

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Sunday, September 7, 2014

My Suggestions for the Top 5 Graphic Novels Everyone Should Read


This week's Thee Comic Column over on Joup is the 100th edition! To celebrate I've compiled this list - it's not necessarily a list of my favorite five - though it's probably close - but the suggestions I would give to anyone - my mom, your sister, Sister Ray, Billy Joel - whoever on how to break in to comics. Because honestly, I feel these books transcend whatever anyone could expect of them and could all shatter whatever misconceptions keep people from giving the comics/GN's a fair shake.

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Scratch Acid - Live Set in Austin, 1985



The sound quality isn't spectacular but it's from 19-freakin'-85 so what could we expect, eh? Mr. Brown sent this to me some time ago and I'm (criminally) just getting around to watching it now. Yow is in good form, although he doesn't seem quite as insane as his Lizard days. I should add I never had the chance to see Scratch Acid live but became a fan after reverse engineering from The Jesus Lizard. This is pure musical archeology here; for the record, as it were.

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Serengeti - The Whip



Okay, I kind of feel as though I'm doing this song a disservice pulling it out of the context of Serengeti's breathtaking 2011 record Family and Friends but I just have to. If the album's a masterpiece - which it most assuredly is - then this song is the pinnacle of that masterpiece; the facet in which every theme reaches a harmonic crescendo of skill and emotion that vibrates at an occult frequency that affects the listener - or at least this listener - in a way that feels as though it confirms and encapsulates life and all its highs and lows in their entirety. This track makes me straight up cry.

Good show Serengeti. Once, long ago I was foolishly afraid you would always be Kenny Dennis, the "Dennehy" guy. You're not that guy anymore; by my count your just about the only person making rap music left that is still worth a damn and Family and Friends is a hip hop masterpiece that completely transforms and transcends the genre.
..................

I interviewed Serengeti back in 2010. You can find both parts to that here and here.

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Drinking w/ Comics #12



Had a great time doing this one! Jessica was truly gracious, the Lost Coast Brewery Downtown Brown has replaced every other Brown Ale as my favorite and the Rick Remender drinking game is officially retired!

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Stray Toasters!


Bill Sienkiewicz's Stray Toasters is the topic of discussion in this week's Thee Comic Column over on Joup. This book freaked me out as a kid and, honesty, still freaks me out to this day.

Friday, August 15, 2014

Lake Street Dive



Wow. My friend Michael just showed me this. Reminded of Erika Wennerstrom from Heartless Bastards, Otis Redding and yeah, a little Amy Winehouse.

Thursday, August 14, 2014

The Raveonettes have a new album out!



Funny, just the other day I found myself thinking that there had to be a new Raveonettes on the way - they tend to release a record a year. And lo and behold, PE'AHI came out July 22nd. This is the first video - and yes, be careful of the strobe. It didn't affect me the way the NIN Came Back Haunted video by David Lynch did, but just be careful.

The Afghan Whigs Cover The Police



And it is freakin' awesome! Listen to those intro drums - like a fist coming out of a bouquet of flowers. Dulli owns on this track - his vocals match the guitars, the vulnerability laced with menace and a hint of defeat. And such a crystal clear mix - focus on the hi hat, let it ride up on top of the mix in your perception. It's, well, it's magic.

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

8 Bit Twin Peaks Credit Sequence



Do I even have to say how awesome this is?

Special thanks to Ali Troubadour for sending me this. Thank you Ali!!! And to the folks at Filthy Frackers, I say well done!

Pulp Karaoke Contest Winner is... 9?



This is awesome. Via Brooklyn Vegan. I'll admit I checked out after about half the song and really just had to go put on the actual Pulp track, but this is worth some attention if for no other reason than it's really a bit surreal.

Drinking with Comics Issue #11



Drinking with Comics issue #11 is up! Our guests are Aspen Comics' Vince Hernandez and Siya Oum, talking about there new books - respectively - Damsels in Excess and LOLA XOXO, as well as SDCC 2014, variant covers, gas masks and, um, beer.

Of course.

Monday, August 11, 2014

Dark Day: RIP Robin Williams


I just received a text message from my good friend Dave - it brought with it terrible news. No, I did not know Robin Williams, I didn't even see all his movies. I always felt like I was as selective in watching what he is as he was apparently un-selective in choosing what to star in. That's not a judgement - if doing some of the work that he did that seems, to me, subpar it enabled Mr. Williams to take some of the gargantuan roles that he left tattooed across my memory, than more power. If you know me well enough to have ever really talked movies with me you know doubt know that often touted Mr. Williams as both one of the greatest dramatic actors of our time as well as one of the funniest.

Now he's gone and we'll never get another World's Greatest Dad, The Fisher King or Dead Poets Society.

Fuck.

Along with the powerhouses listed above some of my favorites - big or small - were Insomnia, Death to Smoochy, One Hour Photo, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and Dead Again.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

KITTYGATO



I saw this band tonight at the release party for Guns A'Blazin! #2. Great set.

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Feuerbahn - The Fire Dance



I first heard this about a year and a half ago via Heavenisanincubator. I fell in love immediately. However this was at a time when I was so steeped in finding new music that an awful lot of bands I discovered ended up getting pushed off the plate by a constantly expanding wave of newer stuff. And newer stuff. And newer stuff...

Well, this popped up into my head again today, I spent about fifteen minutes searching through the incubator and once again found Feuerbahn's bandcamp.

Of particular note, I think, it track four, "Triumphwagen". Kind of Seventeen Seconds era Cure meets Fen. Kind'a.

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Surreal Sermons - Laird Barron Interview


I have not had time to listen to this yet but I can't wait. I'm in the process of re-reading Laird's book Occultation and I'm planning on making something of a character map of it and his other books. There's a lot of overlap and I thought it'd be fun to kind of diagram out who recurs and what connections lay beneath the surface. I'd never heard Jeremy Maddux's Surreal Sermons before but am now planning on making it one of the podcasts I listen to on a regular basis. Here's the page, give it a listen and if you dig there's plenty more episodes.

Rob Zombie Talks 31



One more I'm referencing from Bloody Disgusting today. Interesting news on the new Zombie movie 31, including a description that sounds awesome! Remember Chris Claremont's Uncanny X-Men, Arcade's Murder World? Well...

Go here to read about more about 31, watch and listen to a whole lot more information on the project and, if it suits your fancy, back it!

New Opeth Track



Via the mighty Bloody Disgusting, a new track from the forthcoming Pale Communion LP. I have not loved some of the music Opeth has made since they have become a quasi prog band circa 2006' Ghost Reveries. However, I recognize that this is entirely based on the fact that Mikael Akerfeldt wants to keep the project ever moving forward. The band still makes - quality wise - some of the greatest metal music in history and simply because of the pure beautiful majesty of Blackwater Park they always get the benefit of the doubt and the utmost respect from me no matter how I take to their newer material.

Guardians of the Galaxy...




...is the topic of discussion in this week's edition of Thee Comic Column on Joup. However, this is not a review of the film, so much as an exploration of what this movie means to comics and how time and technology have, specifically in the case of Sci Fi, affected the way we interpret Story.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Kevin Smith's Tusk Gets a Trailer



And it looks better than I imagined. Oh I do love Michael Parks...

One thing of note here is that during Smith's two episode stint on Bret Easton Ellis' podcast back around the beginning of the year the two talked about the Stanley Kubrick conspiracy doc Room 237 and Smith told Ellis that the idea of Kubrick's visual symmetry in his films was something he actively took away from the documentary and applied to Tusk. I dare say you really see it in this trailer.

Friday, July 25, 2014

Finally! Joe Hill's HORNS Has a Trailer



Horns was the first book by Joe Hill I read, back when I worked for the book store and stumbled into an advanced reader copy. It was great and it led me to read his first novel, Heart Shaped Box which was even better. Since then I routinely keep up with everything the mad does. Just based on the source material alone this movie should be fantastic, and although I don't always love what director Alexander Aja does, he has a lot of talent.

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Old News: Watch the Constantine Pilot



This isn't breaking news or anything, I've only just gotten around to finding the time to watch the Constantine pilot and thought I'd share it in case there are any other stragglers out there like me.

Suburban Gothic Trailer



Via Bloody Disgusting. This looks fantastic. The tone the lighting alone conveys is worth the price of admission - or VOD if it doesn't make it into wide release. And really, you had me at "Ray Wise" but John Waters doing a cameo? FAN-tastic!

RIP Tommy Ramone



RIP Tommy Ramone, last original member. NOW it truly is the end of the century, adjust your calendars accordingly.

Friday, July 11, 2014

Cocksure - Klusterfuck Kulture



Recently my good friend Chris turned me on to the fact that Chris Connelly has a new band with Jason Novak of Acuman Nation. The band is called Cocksure and their debut EP Klusterfuck Kulture is available for a mere $3.99 at the bandcamp linked above. This is easily my most listened to new music of the year, and I've only had the thing for about a week (Thanks again Chris!). It's fantastic - a perfect synthesis of everything great about old school industrial but without feeling like a throwback or re-hashed ground. I spent the week in the cryo-lab with this spinning over and over on my ipod, six, seven listens in a row, each time finding something new to love about it.

I read this somewhere however now I can't find the confirmation, but I believe the full album is apparently due next month in August on, of all labels... WAX TRAX! Now that is fucking awesome. Both Touch and Go and Wax Trax pressing new music for the first time in years this year? Awesome.

CORRECTION: The single was on Wax Trax, the album, out August 12th, can be pre-ordered now on Metropolis Records.
.........
* I love most incarnations of Ministry but Connelly-era is my favorite

Nick Cave and 20,000 Days on Earth

image courtesy of meltcomics.com

Last night my wife and I attended the premiere of the new film 20,000 Days on Earth. It is a fictional documentary about Mr. Cave, and probably my favorite film of 2014 (definitely up until this point it is). Read about it on Joup here, where I've also posted Mr. Cave and his Bad Seed's masterpiece And No More Shall We Part as my entry into this week's The Joup Friday Album column.


Sunday, July 6, 2014

Drinking with Comics Issue #9



PodCrashed by Chris Gore! Recasting the Avengers, Batffleck, Saranac White IPA and the worst comic book cover gimmicks of the 1990's (Chromium). Plus, a whole lot more!

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Crystal Castles - Year of Silence


Working on the novel to this right now. LOVE Crystal Castles II. The other two records... not so much.

Horror and Kelley Jones' The Hammer...

image courtesy of readingbypublight.blogspot.com

... are the topics of discussion in this week's Thee Comic Column on Joup.

HOLY!!! NEW FAITH NO MORE



One of two new Faith No More songs performed earlier at Hyde Park in London on July 4th, 2014. Thanks to Bloody Disgusting for posting about this. And thanks to youtube user Felipe Faúndez for having the best audio on one of these I've found yet. 

Don't know the name of this song yet. I've seen a bunch of guesstimates but that's napster-era 
crap. The band will name it when they're ready to name it.

Friday, July 4, 2014

Big Black - Bad Penny



Big Black's Songs About Fucking came out in 1987. Ministry's Twitch came out in 1986 and their follow-up The Land of Rape and Honey came out in 1988. I'm a massive Ministry fan, especially their late 80's period, so this is not meant to be a critical or derogative observation. My theory has always been that the change in Ministry's sound during this era, while not directly obvious in terms of sonic texture, was definitely influenced by Big Black's drum machine-driven sound. Bad Penny is possibly my favorite song on an album where I adore every track.

Ti West's The Sacrament

image courtesy of wikipedia.org


It has definitely been hard for me to find time to post things here, so allow me to play a bit of catch-up on this wonderful three-day weekend.

I first encountered Ti West when my good friend Dennis showed me The Roost. Now, The Roost isn't an amazing film, but it's good and fun and it really left a lasting impression on me. Treated so that it plays on your screen as though you're watching it late at night in 1986 on a UHF station The Roost is creepy and visually fuzzy and features a wrap-around that seals the deal in my opinion. After that it was a very long wait from the time Mr. West's follow-up The House of the Devil was announced to the time it was actually released. I'd had something like two or three years to stoke my anticipation for The House of the Devil and when it finally played at the one theatre in Los Angeles that it did I took my friend Michael and we were both blown away. This is still one of favorite horror films of all time and I wrote an open letter to Mr. West on my then-stomping ground CHUD.com telling him how much I appreciated someone making a movie of this calibre - let's face it, at that time horror was in perhaps the worst era it'd been in for a while, with a lot of promising films stalled or fighting for distribution (ie Satan Hates You, off the top of my head) and a lot of shite being bandied about by major studios.

I went back and brushed up on the one Ti West film I'd missed, Trigger Man, and found it to be an exercise in efficient indie film making. Trigger Man is a very low-budget but very effective film about very real horror - several friends on a hunting trip in Upstate New York are pinned down by a sniper and slowly picked off one by one. Not as immersive as The House of the Devil - but then not a lot is - Trigger Man stayed with me for a long time after I watched it and served as a nice appetizer as I awaited West's next film, The Innkeepers.

Again, I don't love The Innkeepers as much as I do THOD, but as an entry into the timeline of a director I've long thought will evolve into one of the best of this era it's an important piece. The words slow burn, usually associated with Ti West's films, is appropriate here, however in The Innkeepers Mr. West plays with the idea and consistency of the film's tone in a way that, while it doesn't completely land, made the film interesting and enjoyable in unexpected if uneven ways and no doubt served to strengthen his overall approach/style.

West's entry into the original V/H/S is one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen in a cinema.

Now, The Sacrament. Holy cow, this film just blew me away.

I don't want to say too much, but The Sacrament had me from the opening text. The modern media framework for the story is a fantastic storytelling device and the story itself is both fascinating and horrifying, especially as it takes its cues from a real-life incident. And the acting is top notch. Joe Swanberg and AJ Bowen are becoming must-watch players in the indie realm for me. Gene Jones deserves to at the very least be nominated for an oscar for his performance and Kentucker Audley's portrayal of the character Patrick is, at his end, so chillingly realistic as to engrain his name in my psyche for all time.

The Sacrament is on VOD right now and it's worth every fucking penny. My suggestion? A pair of good headphones to make the immersion complete.

New Shellac Record Dude Incredibe...



...will be released on Touch and Go Records on September, 16th. You can pre-order the record, which is a paltry $21 for 180 gram vinyl that also includes a CD, on Touch and Go's site HERE.

I am extremely excited for this record. It's been seven years since Shellac's last record, Excellent Italian Greyhound was released. Dude Incredible was, as all Shellac records are, recorded in full analog glory. If you should know anything about guitarist/vocalist Steve Albini it's that he's an analog loyalist. If you go back to one of Mr. Albini's earlier bands, Big Black, specifically their 1987 seminal record Songs About Fucking you'll find that the back cover harbors the famous quote, "The Future Belongs to the Analog Loyalists, Fuck Digital". Mr. Albini is known to record on two inch tape (glory!) and of course he takes it one step further. While there are a handful of bands and artists that still use the analog recording medium, far fewer of those few actually take it a step further and master their records in the analog realm:

"Audio quality is paramount, as always, with Shellac. The LP was mastered entirely in the analog domain, using the DMM (Direct Metal Mastering) process. The LPs are being manufactured at RTI in Camarillo, CA using their HQ-180 system. The pressings are 180 gram audiophile quality."

-quoted from the above-linked pre-order page at Touch and Go Records.com

Friday, June 27, 2014

La Volt Streaming Live In Moments!

image courtesy of the band's Facebook

WORLD TIMES for La Volt Live Stream but if you don't catch it, it will be archived! 
LIVE FEED LINK: http://gigity.tv/event/80452/
10PM EASTERN
9PM CENTRAL
8PM MOUNTAIN
7PM PACIFIC 
12 NOON (Saturday) - Melbourne, AUS... See More

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Drinking with Comics Issue #8



The issue that puts the "drinking" back in Drinking with Comics! Special guests Robin Thorsen of The Guild and Havenhurst creator Tanya Bjork!

Monday, June 23, 2014

White Zombie - Blur the Technicolor



I tend to listen to a lot of metal at work. It helps keep me moving and awake - important when you wake up at 4:30AM. Recently I dug out White Zombie's Astro-Creep:2000 and put it on my iPod. I've probably played fifty times since, sometimes multiple times in a row.

In my opinion, while Zombie's solo career has always been mediocre at best, this record and especially this particular song still sound as damn good today as they did what? Twenty years ago when they were released?

That wah guitar sound is out of this world.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Savages - Fucker



New Fucker/Dream Baby Dream 7"! See what you miss when you drop out for a few? I had no idea this was released back in May. Gonna order this now (HERE), as Savage's 2013 debut Silence Yourself is still one of my 'go-to' records on a weekly or even sometimes daily basis. Dark, jagged British post-punk.

Wait a minute, didn't even realize it at first. The Dream Baby Dream is a cover of the Suicide song! Awesome.

Frank Booth's What's That Smell


What's That Smell" by mindexpands

How have I never known this existed? Many great and hallowed thanks to my good friend Ray for turning me on to this.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Perturbator - Satanic Rites



I've had a slow start on buying music since the turn of the new year, now an unbelievable almost seven months ago. Because of my continued work on Drinking with Comics I've spent much of the time and money I would usually put into music into comics. Couple this with the intense amount of work I've been pouring to my novel, ShadowPlay Book One: Kim and Jessie and my 40+ hours a week I spend in the Cryogenics Lab at my day job new music has just been hard for me to keep track of/partake in. If it wasn't for Heavenisanincubator, the installments my colleagues Grez, Chester and Tommy provide for Joup's Friday Album column, and of course the mighty Brooklyn Vegan and Bloody Disgusting, I would be fucking lost. In the digital age, if you stop to catch your breath for a moment everyone you've been trying to keep track of releases an album all at once!

Recently I began to remedy this. Within the last two or three weeks I've bought several of the records that have been on my list. The Afghan Whigs' return album Do To The Beast, Liars' Mess, Swans To Be Kind, In Slaughter Natives' Cannula Coma Legio and Perturbator's Dangerous Days. I won't say I like any one of the bunch better than the rest, they're all perfect examples of awesome for the particular moods they suit, however thus far I've definitely clocked the most miles with Dangerous Days. Satanic Rites is one of my favorite tracks on an album that consists entirely of favorite tracks.

Interested? You should be. GO HERE and name your price for the downloadable album or buy the JUST re-pressed digipak CD, which I missed getting by about a freakin' day. The art alone is worth it for the tactile copy.

The Children of Old Leech


image courtesy of WordHorde.com

News of The Children of Old Leech reached me about two weeks ago or so when Mr. Barron blogged about it and the news really made my day! A tribute to the mythos of Laird Barron (pre-order it HERE). Hot damn! Have I mentioned here, as I have repeatedly on Twitter, what a 'cosmic horror' phase I'm going through at the moment? It began with Nick Pizzolatto's True Detective, which in turn made me finally begin Robert Chambers The King in Yellow - a book that had been on my radar since acquiring the totally awesome coffee table book The Art of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos several years ago, the first place I heard of The King in Yellow. Laird Barron's work shares some of the DNA of these weird horror classics but it is very much it's own thing. Mr. Barron's skill with the short story is among the best I've encountered and every story I read by him is an absolute pleasure on the brain. He has several collections, not anthologies so much as what he so wonderfully calls mosaic novels. All of them are great. He also, thus far, has one novel and one novella. If you're unfamiliar with his work my suggestion is to just start at the beginning and work your way through it.

The Imago Sequence - mosaic novel
Occultation - mosaic novel
The Light is the Darkness - novella
The Croning - novel
The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All - mosaic novel



The Empty Man... and Trees... and The Superannuated Man

image courtesy of ComicBookResources.com

... is the topic of today's Thee Comic Column over on Joup.

Come to think of it, I've been so busy I've not posted the last two links for my column here. Let's remedy that now because last week's was Warren Ellis and Jason Howard's awesome Trees:

image courtesy of BrokenFrontier.com

And the week before that was Ted McKeever's new book - which I am in love with - The Superannuated Man!

image courtesy of ImageComics.com



Wednesday, June 18, 2014

New In Slaughter Natives!!!



Thanks to my good friend Chris Widerstrom for the heads up on this one. Pre-ordered mine today. Can't wait - there is just no way to describe the ISN sound without using the words "Horror" and "Apocalypse".

Pre-order Cannula Coma Legio Here

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Drinking with Comics Issue #7



We spent last Monday shooting the main part of the show and then Wednesday shooting the True Detective send up intro sequences. Edited all day Friday. I think it was worth it. I have a lot of other ideas on what to do with the show, starting down that road now that we essentially have the main formula down.

RIP Jay Lake


I'm late with this. My good friend and proprietor of my favorite Southbay bookstore The Book Frog Rebecca Glenn contacted me a week ago today to let me know that author Jay Lake had passed away. Several years ago, after wanting to read one of Mr. Lake's books for years I found myself in Berkley, California's Dark Carnival books and it was here that I acquired Pinion, which at the time I mistakenly took to be the first in Lake's Clockwork Earth series. Later I realized Pinion is actually the third book in the series, and it was Becky who ordered the first two, Mainspring and Escapement for me. They are wonderful books and although I only knew Jay Lake through his fiction I'm saddened by his passing. If he was any bit as grand as a human as he was as an imaginative author - which all personal accounts I've read in the past week confirm that he most definitely was - then the Earth lost a marvelous soul last Sunday.

As Kevin Smith would say, big bucket of win.

Brandon Cronenberg's Music Video



I am completely unfamiliar with Animalia's music but this video... wow. The young Cronenberg is definitely keeping his father's 'body horror' alive and well. Antiviral made my best-of films last year. And now this simply made, very effective video. Watching this now I realize that I would very much like a new film by Brandon Cronenberg soon. Please.