Showing posts with label Jenny Lewis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jenny Lewis. Show all posts

Saturday, June 17, 2023

The Big Guns

 

Seeing that I've been listening to Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins' Rabbit Fur Coat again lately, I figured I'd post my favorite track from the album (maybe from Lewis' career, although that's a tough pull from a looong list). Little did I know I would search for it on youtube and find them performing the song on Lettermen! Combining two of my favorite things, and proving Dave has immaculate taste in music.




Watch:

K is traveling to see a friend this weekend, so it's me and the cats for a few days. I'm planning on using the time wisely: I've set a deadline of this coming Tuesday for the first draft of the novel I'm writing, so primarily focused on that after I punched out yesterday. When I retired for the evening, I popped open a Three Floyds Zombie Dust (thanks, Alex!) and fired up a flick I hadn't seen in... well, I think I saw Clive Barker's Lord of Illusions back in the day, but now I'm not so sure. Anyway, WOW! Here's the Red Band Theatrical Trailer from the year it released, 1995 (I didn't even remember there was such a thing as Red Band trailers back then):

 

So Hellraiser came out in '87, Nightbreed in '90 and Lord of Illusions in 1995. Then, as the story famously goes (and Barker has no problem talking about), the fickle, backstabbing nature of the studio system filled him with despair and he tapped out. 

What a goddamn shame! I mean, this isn't an observation probably millions of Horror fans haven't said previously, but those are three damn good films!

I've known Hellraiser since I was young. Nightbreed is one I didn't connect with when I saw it in High School, but then kind of rediscovered about ten or so years ago, thanks to friends who couldn't believe I didn't hold it in particularly high regard. But Illisions, as I stated above, if I saw it back in the day, I discarded it in the same way I discarded Lawnmower Man, a flick I was briefly obsessed with around the time it came out on video, and which I haven't seen since (and think it's probably better if I don't revisit that one).

Anyway, I think the casting of Scott Bakula threw my memory off. Nothing against the man; I was never a Quantum Leap fan (although the one episode I remember watching, where the devil shows up in the guise of Dean Stockwell's character was pretty cool, I have to say), but beyond that, there are plenty of instances of big-ticket Horror flicks in the early 90s casting TV actors to the film's detriment. 

1990's It I'm looking at you. 

In Illusions, though, Bakula does a really good job as recurring Barker character Harry D'Amour. His chops are plenty, and his presence doesn't feel like television casting. Plus, the entire film has such strong visual and narrative crossover with Nightbreed that the two films feel as though they could have been made back to back. 

Barker's imagination is so lush and unique; there are no other Horror movies like the three he wrote for screen and directed. Also, the way he incorporates the Occult always endears his work to me, film or prose. In Illusions, I was particularly excited by his use of Tarot; the scene that is set up by Harry turning over the Ten of Swords and how that pays off later at Swann's illusion just blew my mind. It's simple, but you just don't see the Occult used that way in Horror Movies that often. 

In thinking about that Ten of Swords scene before writing this page, I stumbled on this very cool video on the Rue Morgue Youtube Channel:

 
She goes way into it, with the full spread, which I hadn't even considered. This is exactly what I'm talking about - the lengths Barker uses the Occult for narrative purposes are beyond anyone else I can think of save, Kenneth Anger, who doesn't really have the same idea of 'narrative' as Barker.  

Lord of Illusions - happy to have found you. I believe this is the start of a long-lasting relationship. Now I'm tempted to rewatch Nightbreed again, however, I just realized I need to cancel my Showtime sub soon, and Cronenberg's Existenz is on there and it's been quite some time for that one, too. 




Playlist:

QOTSA - In Times New Roman
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - PetroDragonic Apocalypse
Realize - Machine Violence 
The Obsessed - Lunar Womb
 Secret Chiefs 3 & Traditionalists - Le mani destre recise degli ultimi uomini
Turquoise Moon - The Sunset City




Card:


• Ace of Wands - Achievement of Earthly designs 
• Princess of Swords - A chaotic battle
• IX: The Hermit - Focus; isolation; determination

Not difficult to read at all. If I want to finish my first draft by Tuesday, I have to battle my distraction (chaos) and isolate myself. In keeping with that, I think I'll stop there, post this, and get to work!!!
 


Thursday, June 15, 2023

Suitable Psychos Howling in the Wind

 

Mr. Brown clued me into the fact that Jenny Lewis dropped a new record last week. Totally not on my radar at the moment. I've given Joy'All a few spins - if you dig Jenny Lewis in general, this is for you. I have to say, I'm not taking to this one as easily as I have with her older stuff. Last night I revisited her 2006 collaboration with the Watson Twins (who also, it turns out, have a new album dropping next week!) Rabbit Fur Coat and it reminded me just how much I love Lewis's work. Her voice, lyrics, and arranging.  All that's there on the new album, however, those qualities feel somehow muted. It may just need more listens, which I will surely give it over the upcoming summer evenings. That said, starting with 2014's Voyager - which I adore - I feel like Lewis found a 'sound' and has not veered too far outside it. That's cool. But I miss the days when she mixed things up a bit more. Either way, new Jenny Lewis is still an event to be happy about. You can order the record HERE.




Watch:

Fangoria posted a teaser for Joe Lynch's new film Suitable Flesh; I've been chomping at the bit for this one, so despite my recent tendency to avoid trailers, I watched this. 
 
It's perfect - gives nothing away, floods us with fantastically menacing images, and then disappears. Not unlike a Lovecraft entity, really. That's it for me, though; I won't be watching any subsequent trailers. No word on exact release dates yet, but if this goes wide, I'll be there day one.



Read:

I received and blew through Laird Barron's new Isaiah Coleridge novel, The Wind Began to Howl. Outstanding, as always. I'm amazed at Barron's ability to crank out insanely readable iterations of this character that are primarily stand-alone, modern detective stories, but also have begun to develop not only a big picture but a bridge into the Barron mythos we know from his short story collections and previous novel/novellas.  In my memory at least, back at the outset of Book One: Blood Standard, there was little to no direct sign of his strange, dark 'Outer'. It's here in spades now, although introduced and perpetuated in a way that doesn't fully immerse Coleridge in that world. Yet.
 

The Wind Began to Howl is published by Bad Hand Books and is available wherever books are sold!
 


Playlist:

Type O Negative - Life Is Killing Me
Colter Wall - Imaginary Appalachia
Bria - Cuntry Covers Volumes 1 &2
Blut Aus Nord - What Once Was... Liber II EP
Blut Aus Nord - Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses
Blut Aus Nord - The Endless Multitude (pre-release single)
Godflesh - Purge
Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat
Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl




Card:

I'm feeling a pull back to the Thoth Deck in a way I haven't in quite some time. It's good to be back; I love this deck. First one I owned and really, the only one for nearly twenty years. Missi's homemade Raven Deck and Grimm's Bound are the only other Tarot I own. There are thousands of gorgeous or intriguing decks out there, but I collect enough stuff.

Anyway:


• 7 of Swords: Futility - a conflict reaches a natural pause.
• Knight of Swords - Probably from exhaustion at fighting
• 9 of Cups - an understanding, peace or elation is achieved. 

There are a couple open loops in my life at the moment; none directly affect me, but all affect folks I'm close to. Not entirely sure what this Pull is referencing. 

I dabbled in the first act of Blood Magick I've tried in a long time last night. This was to help a friend, and I should say upfront, I use my own blood; I don't hurt other living things. I don't know that this Pull is referencing that. Full disclosure: I never 'ask the cards a question' before I draw. I just draw and read and usually, the result makes its subject known instantly. But this... I'm not sure how to read yet.

Interesting note: Blood begets blood. I had dark, bloody A.F. dreams all night. Two relatively close friends - no one I have ever mentioned in these pages - died of a knife puncture to the throat. This happened in the old practice spot my bands had in the 90s, the studio apartment above my parents' detached garage. The scenario began with one friend, and the dream jumbles events so I'm not sure if it was a suicide or somehow I was the killer. After the agonizing event of the death, we (no idea who the 'we' were, but it was definitely more than just me) placed the body in the bathtub with ice, then fretted over contacting the person's spouse. This was the worst part of the dream, because it seemed even dream me was unsure if I was responsible for the death. Then, in true dream logic, the body became that of someone else entirely.

This did nothing to abate the horror.

The dream flit in and out of several iterations of waking, so that by the time I awoke this morning, I was unsure if the chronology of torment it imposed on my psyche was from last night, or if the dream has been recurring for several nights and I just haven't remembered it until now. As of typing this, I feel relatively certain this only occurred last night. 

Disturbing, yes. However, like bad drug experiences, I dig nightmares. I'm always able to crack a piece of my consciousness off and have it observe from a third-party perspective, even while the rest of me shrieks in horror. 
 


Saturday, January 3, 2015