The Rain Song

My good friend NY John at work is always a bastion of interesting Rock'n Roll info and anecdotes. I miss talking to him on a daily basis, when he'd drop by my department at work to vent about corporate moronity and we'd eventually segue into talking about the Stones, Talking Heads, Television, etc. While in the office the other day, he told me to cue up Led Zeppelin's The Rain Song, and upon the intonation of that first, iconic note, he related that he'd read an interview with Jimmy Page where he said he took the chord from The Beatles (I'll let you determine which song). Anyway, hearing just that one chord made me want to hear the entire song, and hearing the entire song, I had to spin House of the Holy and Physical Graffiti in their entirety. I feel a Zeppelin jag coming on. Been a while, and I'm pretty eager to sink into it. Being that I bonded with the band's music at a pretty young, formative age, I feel as though those times when I'm under their spell, my brain works differently. It'll be nice to feel that old familiar "Led Zeppelin" brain again. Also, this is probably my favorite song by the band (although on any given day I might give you an entirely different answer. Fitting, this track, as it's been raining in LaLaLand more consistently than I'd seen in some years when I lived here. 

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Watch:

Monday and Tuesday of last week I was able to sneak in a couple of really cool LA theatre jaunts. When in Rome, right? First, courtesy of the always amazing Cinematic Void, my Horror Vision cohost Ray and I saw a pretty damn nice 35 mm print of Popcorn at the Los Feliz 3 Theatre:

This was fantastic, especially since A) Ray gifted me a Popcorn t-shirt and, B) I got to see Cinematic Void guru Jim Branscome interview Popcorn's star Jill Schoelen after the film.

Then last night, Ray and I got to attend Pi Day, 25th anniversary of Darren Aronofsky's landmark debut film Pi. Even better, before the film, Aronofsky, Star Sean Gullette, Producer Eric Watson, Cinematographer Matthew Libatique, Composer Clint Mansell and actor Stanley Herman (subway singer) spoke about the film at length. Talk about inspiring. 

I haven't watched this one in a while despite the fact that I carry a very tangible love for it with me on an almost day-to-day basis. It's been at least 15 years since I last watched Pi, and I found I remembered it pretty much verbatim. Also, hearing Mansell's score now, I realize it was that which pushed me into really exploring electronic music back in the day. Everything about this one is iconic. 

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Playlist:

Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti

Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy

Damone - From the Attic

Danko Jones - We Sweat Blood

Motörhead - Ace of Spades

The Police - Outlandos d'Amour

The Police - Regatta de Blanc

Thus Love - Memorial

Soul Coughing - El Oso

The Pogues - Rum Sodomy and the Lash

House of Pain - Same As It Ever Was

Pestilence - Consuming Impulse

Le Butcherettes - A Raw Youth

Deftones - Koi No Yokan

Screaming Females - Desire Pathway

Spotlights - Seance EP

25 Years of Darren Aronofsky's PI

Wow. Three for three on this new Metallica album. 

Going back to Hardwired, I've become a HUGE fan of this record, and I'm just kind of speechless that this is happening. You know, the idea that Metallica seems to no longer suck. They flirted with this back in '08 with the caricature Rick Rubin produced, but I have my own theories about that one, and it's better left alone. This new era that Hardwired kicked off, however, seems genuine (even if their album covers still blow). 

I think the thing that actually convinced me is, on the deluxe Hardwired, there's a live show from Rasputin's in San Francisco (great record store, glad to hear it still exists). During the show, the band play almost exclusively tracks from Kill 'Em All and a few from Ride the Lightning, and there's just this... ease at play. I mean, we all know these guys are tight as hell, that's never been in question. But the way they turned their back on what they helped create in SF in the 80s, and the frankly bizarre attempts at, I don't even know what to call their albums after the self-titled. Were they trying to market themselves? Were they confused by the music industry and how it was changing? Clearly, because Metallica didn't stop at incurring great swathes of ill-will from their former fans with bad music. Then there was that entire Napster thing. Ugh - talk about a bad look.

But let's forget all that embarrassing stuff. To me, the band I loved as a kid disappeared into an alternate dimension after Justice, but maybe that LHC did bring them back to our 616 and it just took another eight years for them to shake off the PTSD that would surely come from interdimensional displacement.

Now if they could just find Pushead and get the album covers straightened out (Don Brautigam passed away in 2008).

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Watch:

Two nights ago, we watched Moorhead and Benson's Someting in the Dirt. My second time seeing the film since it's West Coast Premiere at last year's Beyondfest, my first thought upon it ending was, "what an awesome double feature this would make with Darren Aronofsky's PI. I made a mental note to find my DVD, and then promptly forgot. Then, this morning I see this:

I will be in LaLaLand for the screening at TCL Chinese theatre, so I'm pretty sure this was 'meant to be.' Although I haven't watched PI in years, this is always going to be my favorite film by Aronofsky. The B&W is so saturated, it reminds me of James Whale's Frankenstein. PI's release also dovetailed with my then-burgeoning interest in the Occult, so this film imprinted on me hard. Now, I get to see it on the best Imax screen in the world.

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Playlist:

The Police - Outlandos D'Amour

Various - Wolfpack Fight Together Spotify Playlist (Thanks Missi!!!)

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Card:

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

Sidestepping preconceived notions lead to new opportunities that might bring about the culmination of older ideas/projects. Not sure what this is referencing, but that's not unusual of late, because I've been out of tune with the cards. I go through these periods where my id really pushes against anything spiritual, and I'm seeing that right now as excitement and anxiety build up around my two-week trip to LaLaLand. Pack it with as much goodness and friendship as I can, it still feels weird being away from K for that long, especially because this time, I'm in a hotel and without a car the entire time. I'll survive, and I'll thrive, but the expectations are completely frying my mental stability and that's affecting these daily reading, my yoga, my meditation - all of it. 

Isolation: Day 138 The Royal Screw

I cannot get enough of this album! It is perfect, and this song is probably my favorite (I'm rotating through the track list day-by-day). The drum sound on this record is a total throw-back to old school Rhythm and Blues, while having the advantages of modern technology. The alto sax that peppers through the verses evokes Boots Randolph, while the chorus horns hit hard and serve as a good-natured reminder that former Dap-King Thomas Brenneck produced this collection of perfection. Finally, the vocals are perfect - striking a bit of an evocation of classic Van Morrison while still being completely Adam Weiner, snark and energy going full throttle.

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Last night K and I watched the indie film Cosmos. Loved it! In fact, I kept thinking "I never knew astronomy could be so riveting! This reminded me of Darren Aronofsky's π, not in style or tone at all, but simply because the filmmakers made something most people see very little in and make it thrilling (in π it's math).



Cosmos was directed by brothers Elliot and Zander Weaver and stars a total of four freakin' people, and it's one of the best examples of 'more with less' I've seen in a while. True, the score is definitely heavy, and really helps to dramatize situations that might have had slightly less impact, but overall, this one get a four-and-a-half star from me.

The Weavers' production company is Elliander Pictures, website is HERE.

**

Playlist:

The Thirsty Crows - Hangan's Noose
Low Cut Connie - Hi Honey
Run the Jewels - RTJ4
JK Flesh - Posthuman
Dead Swords - Enders
Low Cut Connie - What Has Happened to Me (pre-release single)
JK Flesh - Depersonalization
Baroness - Gold and Grey
Led Zeppelin - How the West Was Won

**

Card:

Turning once again to the Raven Deck, I get a nod to follow my instincts. I think this card is a vexing counterpoint to the 4 of Wands' continuous advice.

Teaser for Darren Aronofsky's Noah

I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm a little weird about the coming of DA's Noah. The return to big, biblical epics would be something I wouldn't necessarily care too much for and might eat up the time and resources of a lot of directors/actors/actresses/studios that I like if it catches on. Imagine another era of films like The Ten Commandments and such... not going to get me into the theatre. And I quite like going to the theatre. With Aronofsky though, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt - even if my ticket $$$ do eventually contribute to the biblical apocalypse of the theatres I prophesize (kind of) above. But how can't this be magnificent? I mean, Aronofsky's movie about Noah building the arc to survive the great flood was interrupted by... a flood! That's nuts...