I had to pause Butthole Surfers Week for traveling back home to Tennessee, but now that I'm here, let's get right back to the madness. Did you know the original name these guys had was The Inalienable Right to Eat Fred Astaire's Asshole? You probably did, however, it makes me happy just to type that here.
Watch:
I had the chance to re-watch two movies last week that share a love of color and intention.
This was a bit of a distracted viewing; I stumbled across Mandy playing on Shudder.TV and let it roll while I edited last week's episode of The Horror Vision Presents: Murderboard - A True Detective Night Country Discussion, pausing from my duties to soak up key moments. At this point, Panos Cosmatos' sophomore feature is so much a part of me that I've become holographically entwined with it. That is to say, I can watch a little and it contains the entire film.
Ryan Gosling's only Writer/Director feature to date, every time I watch Lost River, my love of the film and its characters deepens. Missi and I did an Elements of Horror on this one, listen to it HERE.
Playlist:
Ready for the World - Oh Sheila (12" single)
Robbie Dupree - Steal Away (single)
Nabihah Iqbal - Dreamer
Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest
Boards of Canada - Geogaddi
Boards of Canada - In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country EP
Frankie and the Witch Fingers - Data Doom
The Bronx - (II)
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
Well, I would have never expected to be posting a track off Jeremiah Sand's debut album Lift It Down, out October 30th on Sacred Bones Records. You can pre-order this psyche-folk insanity HERE.
I'll probably be skipping this one, however, I definitely appreciate the ridiculous level of detail that's gone into pulling this from the fictional world of Mandy into our own.
NCBD:
Not a lot out today. However, chomping at the bit for this one after just reading issue two a week or so ago:
Next, there's a couple new books I'm curious about (I know, I know. Wasn't I the guy saying I was done buying monthlies just a few, well, months ago? Yeah). First up, Lonely Receiver from Aftershock comics. Written by Zac Thompson, one of the two writers of Her Infernal Descent, which I loved, and art by Jen Hickman. This one sounds really interesting and taps into something I've been meaning to write a story about myself: AI life mate dolls.
From the solicitation:
"Catrin Vander, a lonely video producer, buys an Artificial Intelligence partner that's meant to bond for life. After ten years together, her holographic wife suddenly discon-nects without a warning. The breakup drives Catrin to the point of near insanity. She's alone for the first time in years and reeling from a loss she can't comprehend. Set in the new future, drenched in pastels and sunshine, LONELY RECEIVER is a horror/breakup story in five parts."
Sound good? Yeah, I think so, too.
Finally, I've always been hesitant to engage with any of the newer iterations of the John Constantine books that DC has put out over the years. Constantly starting/restarting, renaming, endless turnover on of the moment creative teams - what's all of it mean for a character as old and storied - and beloved - as John Constantine? Usually just a watering down of his legacy.
That said, I have an interesting feeling about this one, perhaps based on the facts that, A) they've gone back to calling the book Hellblazer, B) it's a limited series, C) Darick Robertson.
Playlist:
Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower
Oh Baby - The Art of Sleeping
Jawbox - For Your Own Special Sweetheart
Opeth - Blackwater Park
Windhand - Eternal Return
Card:
Four chapters into Shadow Play Book Two, and yeah, it's a new journey alright. This is the first book I've written off an outline - a comprehensive outline whose word count may actually end up rivaling that of the finished product. I've been having back issues, so I'm by the time this post goes up, I've probably taken the day off work and am hip deep in writing.
31 Days of Horror continued last night with yet another viewing of Panos Cosmatos's Mandy. Also, finished Mike Flanagan's The Haunting of Hill House. Pretty damn tight. Being that this is a series, and they do kind of set it up for another season, I'll be curious to see where it goes.
10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
10/13) George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
10/14) The Apostle
10/15) Phantom of the Paradise
10/16) Candyman
10/17) Ghoulies
10/18) John Carpenter's Halloween
10/19) Halloween
10/20) Mandy
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds tonight. Can't wait! I've seen Cave solo and with Grinderman, never with the Bad Seeds. Not happy it's at The Forum, but we do what we must.
Saw the trailer for The Invitation director Karyn Kusama's new film, Destroyer. Looks fantastic, and Nicole Kidman looks as though she puts in the performance of her life.
Playlist from 10/20:
Windhand - Eternal Return
Black Sabbath - Volume 4
Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Wasteland
Second Still - Eponymous
Bauhaus - In the Flat Field
Perturbator - The Uncanny Valley
Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest
Card of the day:
Still one of my favorite cards. From the Grimoire, "Create within yourself a Universe."
'cuz I'm kinda obsessed with this man's brain at the moment. And because Mr. Cosmatos highlights an album his movie Mandy has had me wanting to dust off:
Playlist yesterday was a single album:
Ennio Morricone - Black Belly of the Tarantula OST
No card today - I'll get my shit back together again tomorrow.
Bunch of new music on the way. My good friend Jacob alerted me to a new album from seminal Witch House group White Ring. They haven't been on my radar in ages, so it's cool to reconnect with their music, especially when some of is so indicative to me of what the mid-00s sounded like.
Memories of listening to music.
That's something you don't think about often, or at least I don't. Memories of listening to music. I mean, usually music evokes or scores memories, but to just reminisce on sitting in front of the computer on a day off from Borders and flipping around the internet looking for new stuff. I've lost a lot of the online gate keepers I that helped me find music back then (Not the best one, though), and tech has changed the hunting process greatly, what with the advent of Apple Music, so it feels further away than it is. And the tones White Ring utilizes, the actual synth and drum patches, they still sound right out of 2007, so it triggers these sometimes intense reveries.
Going to see Mandy in the theatre again tonight. It's such a shame this film is getting so small a theatrical run - I'm driving 35 miles each way to the Frida Theatre in Santa Ana so K can see it. This film was meant to be seen on the big screen, incredibly LOUD (thank you, Egyptian!). I ordered the vinyl a few days back, thought it wasn't coming out until November for some reason, but apparently they've already shipped, so I'm super happy about that. And, as you have hopefully already noted above, new music from The Black Queen. I don't know if all the guys from Dillinger Escape Plan's new bands can fill the DEP-sized hole in my life, but it's awesome they are moving on and trying!
Yesterday was apparently national Sunn O))) day, because that is most of what I listened to. Interesting first listen to Flight of the Behemoth, as a lot of it reminded me quite a bit of Throbbing Gristle.
Playlist from Friday, 9/21:
Sunn O))) - Monoliths and Dimensions
Sunn O))) - Void 00
White Ring - Gate of Grief
Sunn O))) - White1
Queens of the Stone Age - Villains
Sunn O))) - Flight of the Behemoth
Card of the day:
As usual, perfectly relevant to me at this moment, as I've just spent a large part of my morning working out the logistics for a new 'journey' I'm poised to begin with three very good friends. What is it? You will know soon enough.
I talked a bit previously about my friend John being in town. This is John of Jonathan Grimm Art. His work is amazing, and he's also the artist and co-creator of The Legend of Parish Fen, the swamp monster comic we hope to have the first volume out of mid next year. We spent the day yesterday working out the entire 2nd issue and it is grand, much better than what we had when we originally beated out this 3 issue arc about a year ago. We also came up with something else, something that's not quite a comic and not quite prose, and should prove considerably easier to release in a more expedient fashion. More on that later, but for now I'll leave you with the title.
CIAZARN
There was no playlist yesterday, as we chose to work on Fen without music. Weird - a day with no music. I'll make up for it today.
Tonight - the Los Angeles premiere of Mandy! I can NOT wait! Here's the recently released Japanese trailer - I'm not watching it, but I'm on trailer ban.
Card of the day:
Always good to see you pop up, especially after a week off working on my current project. I'll be back to that tomorrow, until then, TO VICTORY!!!
Logged into youtube and found this in my recommended feed. I haven't watched it yet, but I can't wait to and wanted to share.
Late start both days this weekend; DwC took it out of me for most of yesterday, and today I'm just off. Also, bracing for a second showing of Panos Cosmatos' Mandy at the Egyptian, the first of which I missed catching a ticket for. I won't miss this time, especially because I want to bring my friend John with, who will be visiting, and who I want to do something insanely nice for, as his work on The Legend of Parish Fen is just ridiculous. Here's a taste:
That's a shrunken size, so it's a bit foggy, which the final art most certainly is not, but it should illustrate just why I am so excited about this project.
Time to get back to writing, but here's the playlist from the last two days (more or less):
Mastodon - Once More 'Round the Sun
Etta James - Eponymous
Alice in Chains - Rainier Fog
Stellar Corpses - Hellbound Heart EP
Squirrel Nut Zippers - Hot
My musical day yesterday was an interesting dalliance in a lot of what I spun in the mid-00s. This song... takes me somewhere. There's a definite tone there, one that I miss, but one that puts me in a totally different headspace from the one I need to be in to write what I'm writing. Hence 'dalliance.'
Playlist from 8/21:
Doves - Lost Souls
Chris Connelly - The Night of Your Life
Chris Connelly - Pentland Firth Howl
Malcolm Middleton - A Brighter Beat
Fugazi - Steady Diet of Nothing
Atlas Moth - Coma Noir
Atlas Moth - The Ache of Distance
Chris Connelly - Artificial Madness
John Carpenter/Alan Howarth - Big Trouble in Little China OST
I missed out on scoring tickets to the LA-Premiere of Panos Cosmatos's Mandy at the Egyptian, as hosted by the Beyond Fest crew. First world problems, I know.
Card of the day:
An abundance of enthusiasm and intelligence that can quickly sap the heart from things. I think this is exactly where I was last night with my writing. Luckily, I recognized the futility quagmire, closed up shop and had a beer. This morning? I drove to work in silence (as I do when I'm having problems with massaging plot) and figured out where my problem was. Thanks Knight of Wands!
