A Tale of Two Lions

I finally made it around to really listening to the new Jenny Hval album, The Practice of Love. Wow. The opening track, Lions, put me through a range of reactions, but I came out loving it. I feel like Ms. Hval is involved in a less ostentatious reclaiming of some of the forgotten musical detritus of 80s and 90s Pop, recontextualizing formerly garrish beats and tones in new ways, kind of like what the Hypongogic Pop sound was doing ten years ago, but smoother.

The opening track, which I've posted above, immediately made me think of Tones on Tail, as they're perpetually on my mind this time of year and I haven't listened to them nearly enough yet. Here's a live version of their song Lions; I'm always amazed when I find shit like this on youtube and see it has under one hundred views.



You can order the Jenny Hval from Sacred Bones Records HERE, and if you're unacquainted with Tones on Tail (the first and, in my opinion, best of the bands that three-fourths of Bauhaus created after splitting with Peter Murphy), find the aptly titled Everything double disc. It is fantastic.

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31 Days of Horror:

10/01: House of 1000 Corpses/31

10/02: Lords of Chaos

10/03: Creepshow Ep 2/Tales from the Crypt Ssn 1, Ep 1

10/04: IT Chapter 2, AHS 1984 Ep. 3

10/05: Bliss/VFW

10/06: Halloween III: Season of the Witch/Night of the Creeps/The Fog

10/07: Halloween 2018

10/08: Hell House, LLC

10/09: Dance of the Dead (Tobe Hooper; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 3)

10/10: Creepshow Episode 3

10/11: Jenifer (Dario Argento; Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 4)

10/12: Poltergeist/Phenomena

10/13: AHS 1984 Ep 4/In the Tall Grass
10/14: Invasion of the Body Snatchers ('78)
10/15: Rabid (2019)
10/16: Wounds
10/17: Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
10/18: Creepshow Episode 4
10/19: Ed Wood/AHS 1984 Ep. 5
10/20: Sinister/Sinister 2

Despite what I'd heard over the last few years since its release, K and I followed a viewing of Sinister with the sequel, and I loved it. Definitely not as good as the original, Sinister 2 is still pretty freaking solid. Also, one of my takeaways from the original was how James Ransone's Deputy So-and-So is one of the best-supporting characters in a horror flick in years, so I loved that the sequel stayed with him and what happened to him as a result of the first movie's outcome.

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Playlist from 10/20:

Allegaeon - Apoptosis
Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest
Ulver - Teachings in Silence

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Card of the day:

After the creative, relaxing, and enjoyable weekend, K and I tried to take a few moments to be mindful that we have good lives. If that's not wealth, I don't know what is.

Sinister - Maybe the Best Horror Sound Design Ever

I finally watched 2012's Sinister last night. I missed it at the theatre last October and had been waiting to see it ever since. I'd heard a lot of good things about it from people whose opinions I trust and I am ALWAYS looking for genuinely scary horror movies so I had a pretty mean case of anticipation/expectation, which can be a dangerous way to go into a flick for the first time.

So what's the verdict? Well, the movie blew me away. There were a few little issues with the supporting cast*, but nothing that can't be overlooked based on how adamantly it was committed to be HORROR. The ending was awesome. But what was even more awesome was the sound design. Holy cow, this is probably the best sound design in a horror flick I've ever heard. I mean, granted it has an edge with modern technology over flicks like Halloween and The Exorcist, so we need to adjust for that, but seriously, it was fantastic. After watching the film I went immediately to purchase the score online and found this great blog The End of Summer that posted some of the tracks left off that album.

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* Primarily the wife, played by Juliet Rylance. I donn't think it's Ms. Rylance's fault but her chaaracter was really nothign more than a plot device, acting the way the story needed her to act by constantly riding Ethan Hawke's Ellison and throwing down ultimatums to amp his character's arc's timeline up. Still, totally overlooking that based on EVERYTHING else about the film. Also, as long as I'm crituqing the 'bad' about the supporting cast I should give props to the fantastic. James Ransone - who plays Deputy "so and so" is absolutely fantastic as a cop who, against his sheriff's decree, wants to act as Ellison's inside information man just to get a thank you in the next book. I expect we'll see more good stuff from Mr. Ransone, he was just that good.