Sunn O))) Pyroclasts

The description of this album is one of the more intriguing musical ideas I've seen expressed by any band in recent memory. This is kind of what I wish Tool had to say about Fear Inoculum; a band's Intent with a given piece of music can completely alter the way I look it/listen to it. I used to think Tool thought this deeply about their music. I am no longer sure of that, in regard to Maynard and the boys. Sunn O))), however, continue to express the hell out of me.

Also, recorded by Steve Albini. Always a damn good thing.

You can pre-order Pyroclasts at Southern Lord Records HERE.

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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
10/21: Uncanny Annie
10/22: Scream
10/23: Simpsons 666: Treehouse of Horror
10/24: Jennifer's Body
10/25: Belzebuth/The Lighthouse/Halloween
10/26: Murder Party
10/27: AHS 1984 Ep. 6/Arsenic and Old Lace/(The Fair Haired Child Masters of Horror Ssn 1 Ep 9)

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Playlist from 10/27:

Alice in Chains - The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here
Fields of the Nephilim - The Nephilim
Billy Idol - Greatest Hits
Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen
Trust Obey - Fear and Bullets

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Card of the day:

I needed this, which seems to be a running theme with my Pulls of late. A direct reference to a short I've been picking at for almost a year; I finished it, realized the story had gotten away from what I intended (in a bad way), and have periodically gone back and re-worked it over and over. I nearly finished it last night, and when later mentioned the new direction to K, who expressed bewilderment that I had removed some of her favorite elements. In thinking about it, I realize the story was all but finished last year, my real problem was with the ending, which I should be able to synthesize if I go back and master all of the ingredients along the way.

2019: May 24th - New Pelican Track!

On June 7th, Southern Lord is releasing the newest album from Chicago Post-Metal group Pelican, and from the two tracks we've heard so far, Nighttime Stories looks like it is a serious contender for my top ten this year. I love the texture of this track; thick, sludgy, but not without melody and a certain swing in its step. You can pre-order the album HERE.

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Two more episodes of Ozark season one down last night, so that means two to go, then I can finally begin Season Two. This show really holds up on second viewing, and I'm pretty sure its dark, foreboding tone, exceptionally well-written characters, and left-of-center plot twists will continue to impress me; Ozark is the kind of show that already feels destined for greatness.

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Final episode of The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs on Shudder tonight, but, in case you haven't heard, it will be back. In my excitement, I looked up some old clips:



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Playlist from 5/23:

The Cure - Disintegration
The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust
Faith No More - King for a Day
Faith No More - Angel Dust

Card of the day:

I've never been a fan of this card. Frankly, it has always visually been intertwined with a former lover, and I'm one who usually shuts the door on the past pretty hard, so I'm never really enthused to receive anything in the way of reminders. But last year at some point, this card came up a couple times in close proximity, and in discussing it with my good friend Missi, she put something to me I'd never stopped to consider; basically, why? Why did the Queen of Wands have to be what I had come to think of it as? And this morning, free from any pull of the past, I uncover this card and think, "That's not what this is at all."

So then, the question remains, what is the Queen of Thoth to me?

Let's start basic. From the Grimoire: "Emotional Intelligence." Well, that in and of itself is sometimes as difficult to find as the Dodo; the waters of emotion run rapid when they run best, and sluiced through the right tributary, we may find it very difficult to apply any guidance to the rush toward conclusion. So then, when I pull this, especially today, where my day-to-day gig at the biorepository feels a bit out of control (mother business expanding exponentially constantly), I feel as though the eyes of this fiery lady are telling me to watch my mouth, which runs often, loud, and considerably unchecked at work.

Also, there's the related idea of the 'Consciousness in Spirit,' which I see pop up online when scouting around for other facets of this card. Consciousness in Spirit equates to Intensity of Purpose, which I have absolutely lacked for going on a week now, as work as been difficult and some passing bug has kept me feeling sick and run down for most of the week, even now when I'm through the worst of it. I read this as a need to get my ass back in gear; for the past two weeks, I've had a fantastic regiment of after-work writing and yoga going almost every day, then Sunday I woke up sick and ever since, I've haven't done either. The little bit of yoga I forced myself to do last night ended up making me feel amazing, and that's as good as any other reason to re-focus and re-acquire that Intensity of Purpose.

2018: September 14th

Last night, I scored a ticket to the Southern Lord 20th Anniversary show coming up on November 18th. Sunn O))) is the only announced act at this point in time - I've never seen them live and the show is at the Echoplex, so there was no debating my attendance. That said, I'm holding out hope a Burning Witch reunion might be in the works, so I'm throwing this live performance out to the Universe as a suggestion/nudge. Let's see if it works.

New Emma Ruth Rundle dropped today; I woke up to find it loaded in my Apple Music. Can't wait to chow down on this one later today, preferably at night, stoned. I have make it through work and Drinking with Comics first though.

I have it on good authority the new Predator movie is not good. My friend Anthony sent me a text about it last night directly after leaving the theatre. I trust Anthony's opinion 100%, so despite my initial fervor, I will now be skipping it.

Playlist from 9/13:

Pallbearer - Fear & Fury EP
Type O Negative - October Rust
Type O Negative - Dead Again
Deafheaven - New Bermuda
Emma Ruth Rundle - Fever Dreams Pre-Release Single

Card of the day:

I guess I will need to be ready to act on unexpected opportunities.

Sunn 0))) - Domkirke

This morning's listening. I have this on vinyl back from when it hit limited release via Southern Lord circa 2008 or 09 but I was happy to find it online as a digital because this morning's writing session is all about headphones.

Black Breath - Heavy Breathing

My friends Chris and Tori are geniuses at unearthing good metal. It's not their only interests, but there's just a rare knack for curation that has brought me hours and hours of enjoyment. Case in point - about six months ago they burned me a spindle of CD's that I am still making my way through. Today, fresh from a week in Chicago where I hung with them for several days, I popped on another disc from that seemingly endless spindle (a good thing). Black Breath - Heavy Breathing grabbed me from the opening bellow and did not let go. Here's that opener, Black Sin (Spit on the Cross) followed by another track I really dug, Children of the Horn. As per my creed, what I dig I try to buy, so I'm planning ordering both Heavy Breathing (2010) and it's 2012 follow-up Sentenced to Life, both on the always fantastic Southern Lord Records.



Also I can't help but remark that I was not surprised to find that Black Breath are from Washington state. As I fall further and further down my current Laird Barron spiral a lot of disparate elements seem to be aligning across some kind of giant, Washington-flavored pentacle.

image courtesy of thestranger.com

New Pelican!!!

There's a bunch of info on the upcoming album and tour on Brooklyn Vegan. I dig these guys, and this new record will be released on the mighty Southern Lord records! How's that?