John Carpenter - My Name is Death

 

John Carpenter and Sacred Bones announced Lost Themes IV a few days ago. You can pre-order the record HERE. I'm not going to lie - I don't love this first single (or its video); the song feels like a long 5:44. That said, I've also not had the greatest morning - I woke up with one of my cats puking next to my face, so I might just be in an ornery temperament (JC can no doubt relate given that sour look plastered across his puss in the video). I'm suspending judgment - and all further listens - until I can hear the entire album. Something tells me "My Name is Death" will work better as a lead-in to the rest of the ten tracks. 

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Watch:

I watched Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys for the first time in what I'm realizing is close to twenty years last night. This flick was very important to me when it came out, and afterward. 

No one uses a camera the way Gilliam and long-time Cinematographer Roger Pratt do; a lot of the angles here just reinforce Gilliam's Orwellian, bureaucratic worldview even more than the way he tells his story. This really put me in mind to finally order that Criterion Brazil 3 Disc DVD set they put out in the 90s. The update to Blu-Ray is tempting. However, I can't quite discern from what I'm seeing online if the other versions of the film in the 3 Disc were ported over to the Blu-Ray. 

Gilliam's worldview, especially his sense of humor, very much shaped me as a young adult. I'd go so far as to say that, without early exposure to the works of Terry Gilliam and David Lynch, I would not be the person I am today. It's been quite some time since I revisited Gilliam, so perhaps it's time.

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Playlist:

Double Life - Indifferent Stars

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Abbatoir Blues

Drive Like Jehu - Yank Crime

Baroness - Stone

bunsenburner - Rituals

Judas Priest - Invincible Shield (pre-release singles)

Ministry - Animositisomina

Justin Hamline - The House With Dead Leaves

Judas Priest - Invincible Shield

Mannequin Pussy - I Got Heaven

Brigitte Calls Me Baby - This House is Made of Corners EP

Ministry - Hopiumforthemasses

Genghis Tron - Board Up the House

Jim Williams  - Possessor OST

Tangerine Dream - Sorcerer OST

Amigo the Devil - Yours Until the End of the War 

Frankie and Witch Fingers - Data Doom

Dead Boys - We Have Come For Your Children

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Me and That Man - Mestwo

There's something to be said for artists who, whether they plan to or not, end up defining a part of our time, whether it's a year, or half-year, or period of weeks and/or months. Me and That Man is having that affect on me now, here at the start of the 20s. Part of it is because I didn't hear about them until the back half of 2019, and part of it is the pace at which they have been releasing singles off their upcoming 2020 album, Same Shit Volume One, due out March 27th on Napalm Records (Pre-order HERE). The steady, every-couple-of-weeks has helped keep them on my mind, in my ears, and a continual OST to these cold and dreary days of the first quarter (LaLa Land's 'cold and dreary' might not be as severe as a lot of other places, but everything is relative). This new track is simple, catchy, and has a certain stoic dirge quality that, once again, shows me Nergal is a huge Nick Cave fan. Not a band thing by any means.

**

The similarities between the procedural CDC elements of Chuck Wendig's novel Wanderers and the current 'outbreak' of the Coronavirus are frightening to say the least. Benji Ray's complex relationship with the job of disease identification/control/treatment already inspired me to pull Terry Gilliam's Twelve Monkeys off the shelf in anticipation of a re-watch, reality and the daily news - which I largely shy away from these days other than BBC - have made me think twice about adding to the 'paranoia fire' that seems to lay at the heart of the modern world at the moment.


**

Playlist:

Blut Aus Nord - Memorial Vetusta II: Dialogue with the Stars
Drab Majesty - The Demonstration
Godflesh - Love and Hate in Dub
Godflesh - Songs of Love and Hate
Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen
Bohren and Der Club of Gore - Patchouli Blue
Tangerine Dream - Sorcerer OST
Steve Moore - Bliss OST
Night Shop - In the Break
Black Pumas - Eponymous
Iggy Pop - Lust for Life
Revolting Cocks - Big Sexy Land
Mol - Jord

**

Card:

A direct reference to the power and stability my recent writing sessions have given my made-up world of Shadow Play. As if to further underline that interpretation, a second card leapt from the pile as I pulled the first off the top of the deck:

Second time this week for XXI The Universe, and why not? I'm currently dealing with massive philosophical concepts, finding fun and interesting ways to instill a version of my own cosmology in this work that is coming to define my life (at least until it's over and I move on).

Terry Gilliam Finally Did It!

Mr. Brown sent me this first thing this morning! Can't believe it is finally happening.

Terry Gilliam's Zero Theorem

I completely let this one slip from my radar after the initial announcement and poster release back in the spring. Terry Gilliam has made several of my all time favorite films, including Brazil, 12 Monkeys, Time Bandits and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Oh yeah, and a little film called Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Some people say his adherence to the dystopian future theme is a one-note on the piano scenario but I don't see it that way. I see it as a prophet (because Brazil is VERY prophetic from when it was released to what our world is like now) refining his vision as more and more information becomes available over time.

Can't wait for this.