YES! I have been waiting for this for about five years now. Not sure how long it usually takes between records - it was The Veils' performance on David Lynch's Twin Peaks: The Return in 2017 that introduced them to me (despite Mr. Brown attempting to previous to that), so this will be my first new Veils' record since becoming a fan.
Wow. Right when I start my Twin Peaks re-watch, too. The Stars, they are aligning!
The new double album, "...AndOut of the Void Came Love" drops March 3rd; you can pre-order it now HERE.
Playlist:
Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks Season Two and More
Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me OST
Card:
Continuing my three pulls for the new year, here's my card from Crowley and Harris' Thoth:
Typically, I read Aces in this deck as Breakthroughs and the fact that we're looking at a breakthrough in Disks reflects the fact that I received a completely unexpected 'extra' paycheck this year and was able to all but pay off the credit card that I used to help us move. This is a HUGE breakthrough, because now, as long as I'm diligent for a bit, I can finish these and then help K whittle down the big box hardware store card she got when we first moved. I can only imagine this Breakthrough should echo good things into the new year.
Holy cow. The Twin Peaks Fest Facebook page is reporting another major David Lynch collaborator's death. Musician John Neff. This is insanely saddening, especially coming on the heels of Angelo Badalamenti's death AND the fact that I somehow missed the news that the One-Armed Man himself, Al Strobel also passed away recently. I can't find any information on Mr. Neff, but there is a lovely memorial over on Welcome to Twin Peaks.
Neff worked with Lynch on several projects in and around the Millennium; however, the stand out is undoubtedly their 2001 album BLUEBOB. Not only is this one of my all-time favorite albums, but it is also the album that propelled Lynch to go on and record Crazy Clown Time and The Big Dream. BLUEBOB was recently remastered and distributed by Solitude Records. You can buy the remastered album HERE. Despite the remaster, I am perfectly happy with my OG copy of the disc, and hope someone puts out a vinyl at some point.
Posted above, the track "Mountains Falling" is perhaps the best-known from the record, a sprawling soundtrack of dirge and decay used in Lynch's film Mulholland Drive.
Watch:
Let's talk a bit about Al Strobel. Mostly known for his dual role in Twin Peaks as Phillip Gerard, the traveling shoe salesman, and MIKE, the antithesis spirit to BOB; if there was one good thing that came out of Michael Anderson's refusal to take part in Twin Peaks: The Return, it's that the absence of Anderson's Little Man From Another Place left the door wide open for Strobel to have a lot more screen time. Essentially becoming the de facto coercing spirit in the Waiting Room, MIKE's interactions with the trapped Cooper create not only the impetus for a lot of Cooper/Dougie's arc in the film but also a large part of the mechanics behind the "Evolved" Red Room.
My favorite moments of Strobel's in the Twin Peaks canon, however, are in the second season of the original series. He is instrumental in the events leading up to the capture of BOB, and Strobel's portrayal of a man deprived of his "medicine" and the transformation that catalyzes is riveting, leading right up to this:
CHILLS to this day! Easily my favorite overall moment with Mr. Strobel. Absolute genius.
RIP Al Strobel - see You in the Sycamore Trees, sir!
Playlist:
Clint Mansell & Kevin Kiner - Doom Patrol Main Title Theme (single)
Wow. Didn't expect to see this. Very cool to see two very different icons come together to perform the music of a third.
**
I fell down a youtube rabbit hole after clicking on this video of David Lynch directing the infamous "Gotta Light?" scene from Twin Peaks: The Return. There's some really great supplemental Lynch material that came up based on viewing this one. I'm not sure how the algorithm works, so I'm not sure if you'll get the same videos I did, but my trip was both wonderful and strange...
Speaking of Lynch, I realized recently that the Wrapped in Plastic fanzine I subscribed to throughout the 90s and into the early 00s now has every issue available in ebook format. Read about it and link to buy HERE. John Thorne and Craig Miller's studious magazine is one hundred percent worth your time if you're a fan.
**
I took a break from Clive Barker's Books of Blood to blow through Sarah Lotz's The White Road. HIGHLY recommended. I literally blew through this one in a day.
The novel deals with the Third Man Phenomenon in and around extreme caving and climbing scenarios. It's horror, but it's Earthy and believable while still coming across visceral and haunting. I loved it.
**
The Cure - Seventeen Seconds
David Bowie - Outside
David Bowie - Black Star
L7 - Bricks Are Heavy
Body Count - Carnivore
Body Count - Cop Killer (Anti-Single)
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
Revolting Cocks - Beers, Steers and Queers
Revocation - Teratogenesis EP
Anthrax - Spreading the Disease
NIN - Pretty Hate Machine
NIN - Bad Witch
Motörhead - Ace of Spades
Lustmord - Hobart
Soundgarden - Superunknown
Pixies - Surfer Rosa
Perturbator - The Uncanny Valley
**
Solid ground again after an anxiety-ridden couple days waiting for a COVID test result that, thankfully, came back negative. Sinus infection, I've never been so happy to see you!
I've never been clear if Rieflin actually played on this particular song - he was in the incarnation of the Cocks for this record - but his mention in this, the title track from the album Linger Ficken' Good, always makes me laugh.
**
Last night K and I watched David Lynch's Wild at Heart. It's been a while since I've seen this one, and for some reason, there are a lot of details that I always forget, but overall, while not my favorite Lynch film by any stretch of the imagination, I still love this flick.
Note: In choosing a trailer to post, I opted for the original, unrestored version over the remastered, Shout Factory. I did this simply because I remember this trailer so vividly from television the year of its release, a time when I was in the throws of my initial introduction to David Lynch and the then-airing second season of Twin Peaks. Something about the grain and vague picture really authenticates the memory for me, so while I'd rather watch a restored version of the film, this trailer 'lights my fire' more than the glossy one.
After Wild at Heart, we did indeed begin a rewatch of Twin Peaks: The Return. This will only be the second time I've watched the series, and I'm excited and trepidatious with going back to it. One thing that I feel is definitely going to enhance this go-through is the fact that I'm also re-reading Mark Frost's Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier, and watching some of the editorial/theory programming that popped up on youtube during and after The Return's initial broadcast run. Having access to information we did not during that initial run, I feel, will make a hell of a difference in accepting and understanding certain elements of the series that otherwise left me feeling a bit... unresolved. The most important video I've found for this is Wow Lynch Wow's brilliant examination of the Cooper/Mr. C connection. If you haven't seen this, dig into it before you go back to the series (or even if you just want to think about it after the fact). I am in complete and total agreement with this man's assessment here:
**
Playlist:
Man Man - Future Peg (Pre-release single)
Steve Moore - Frame Dragging EP
Led Zeppelin - I
I'm not quite through posting about this one yet. Anthrax's 1985 Sophomore album Spreading theDisease has locked into my heart of late, and I'm finding it hard to get my fill of it. Every song is great, and what's really cool is this is Anthrax not fully formed as they will be by 1987's Amongthe Living. That's the album where I think pretty much everyone agrees the band solidified their sound for the next few albums (only to overthrow that again a few albums later by replacing Joey Belladonna with Stan Bush for the release of 1993's Sound of White Noise). But on Spreading the Disease we still have some of the young band's influences showing through, and both today's track 'Lone Justice' and yesterday's 'The Enemy' really show the Iron Maiden influence on these guys. I mean, listen to either of these songs and imagine Bruce "History Major" Dickinson singing over the top and you'll hear it right away. So cool, to see the primordial ingredients of one of the most iconic bands in Thrash history.
Speaking of history, I'm hearing Mr. Bungle's Raging Wraith of the Easter Bunny album should be out in fall, if, you know, the current crisis ends by then and the world that's left even slightly resembles what we have now. Which, hopefully, it will. More on those efforts in Mindful Habitation, below.
**
Mindful Habitation:
Today is my 44th birthday. Holy shit, man! Forty-four. There were times I didn't think I'd get this far; I've always had sort of a prescient block on how to imagine aging (hence my Bowie article HERE), and in light of current events, well, you never know. Could be my last. Not that I'm walking around worried about that. I think we're all probably prone to a certain amount of on-again-off-again existential crisis at the moment, but generally I'm thinking I'll make it through to the other side of whatever this is shaping up to be. And so will all my loved ones, K and our family in both states I divide my consciousness between, but also, all the friends who probably don't know it, but who I carry with me day-to-day as a sort of live-in consensus. This is my world, and as long as they remain consistent, I can adapt. I'm not special; I'm sure most people have these lists and they're tossing dice against the Universe that when the dealer folds, they're holding the better cards. All we can do is sit at the table, employ the our best poker face, and try and beat this. It is going to take a bite out of our population, because it has to. The Planet's needs come first, y'all. However, play it smart and let those too stupid to pay attention or take this seriously be the ones weeded out. And that's the Mindful Habitation for today: I never thought I'd age into the kind of person who thinks the military needs to control things with a police state, but Jesus-Fucking-Christ, all these people still gathering in groups, still playing basketball at the park in large numbers, still not taking this seriously? STOP IT. If you don't? Well, then if Mother Nature has to thin the heard, I'm all for her starting there. The only problem is how many non-morons they might likewise infect. So - and this goes back to a life rule for me - minimize the number of morons in your life.
**
I don't normally make much of a to-do out of my bday anyway, so this year won't be that different. I love to throw parties and celebrate my friends' reiteration renewal, but I prefer to let mine squeak by quietly. That said, I have today and tomorrow off, I ordered a growler of my favorite local beer (King Harbor Brewings' Swirly!), and K and I kicked off two days of marathoning stuff that I love last night with The Big Lebowski and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Been at least ten years since I'd seen either, and both hold up. Lebowski remains one of the funniest movies I've ever seen, and Vegas, although darker with each subsequent viewing, always hits my heart with the weight of Thompson's profound insight into the Death of the American Dream. Today? Not entirely sure yet, but I may be starting a marathon re-watch of Twin Peaks: The Return in a little while. I might work up to that with a first viewing of The Conjuring 2, though, simply because I've still never seen it.
UPDATE: We watched the Conjuring 2. It's very well made shit. I didn't hate it, but total disappointment, because I maintain the original is fantastic, even if it does lose a bit of steam once they show us the ghost on top of the armoire. Still Number Two felt like a massive step backwards, despite some very fancy and expensive camera work.
**
Playlist:
Anthrax - Spreading the Disease
Deafheaven - New Bermuda
Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
Steve Moore - Frame Dragging EP
**
Card:
A reminder, I think, not to let the day go by without some creative time. Think I'll dig back into my current project for a little bit, come up for air in an hour or so. Just to keep the juices flowing.
I'd never heard of Ghost Cop until the most recent newsletter from comic's scribe Warren Ellis, which you can subscribe to HERE and which will make your life better. The Eponymous EP is excellent, really atmospheric electronic music that reminds me of a lot of the more electronically inclined groups and artists I submerged myself in during the 00s. Look for some of that stuff to float back up to the surface of my listening habits.
If you visit Ghost Cop's bandcamp, their new album is up for pre-order.
Lots of Deadwood news yesterday, and as it so happens, the moment K and I finished 31 Days of Horror, we jumped directly back into season 2, so this is perfect timing. This is K's first go-through with Swearengen and the crew, my second or third. I figured out I'd previously watched roughly the first season and a quarter multiple times, but I don't think I've ever gone through the entire cycle more than the first time, which was after it aired. This might be my favorite non-Twin Peaks show folks. Swearengen is easily one of my favorite characters, but the idea of revisiting these folks ten years down the line show continuity wise with a movie is bittersweet; still not sure why HBO/Milch didn't just keep going in the first place. It's always difficult to go home again. Twin Peaks did it well, by becoming something the original show was not. In my head, I consider Season Three of that show more a new 18-hour DavidLynch movie than a revival of Twin Peaks, which it certainly is in some respects but... I digress
Looks like almost the entire cast is coming back for this Deadwood movie, and I don't want to sound like I'm not elated to have a chance to see these folks again, it's just timing, you know? Still, excited.
Playlist from 10/05:
Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
Preoccupations - Eponymous
Preoccupations - New Material
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
Ghost Cop - Eponymous EP
Tom Waits - Mule Variations
Tom Waits - Swordfish Trombones
Card of the day:
Fire of Fire - Pure, communicative leadership. Ideas. Can represent highest idea - again, exactly what I'm aiming at with Shadow Play, and book one is where it starts. It doesn't matter that this is 8 years since I started it (with a year off in the middle, which made me a much better writer), it has to be perfect so it sets up the bigger picture, which is kind of so big - to me - it feels unwieldy.
One week ago tonight it ended. I think it could end here and be perfectly complete. That said, I certainly would love more. As far as arriving at a working interpretation, here are my thoughts.
Hectic week and I forgot to post this here Tuesday night when it went up. Tomorrow 27 years of waiting comes to a head. I can't wait but will also, obviously, be sad to see it go.
There's definitely something here. Unbelievable work by youtube Beyond Reasonwho also did the Sam and Tracy/Naido Cooper side x side from earlier in the season:
The idea of Lynch directing one scene while watching another to pace it is marvelous! The detail in this season is beyond anything he's done before, simply because he's had 18 hours to work with and what amounted to more time to shoot it than a standard film shoot.
2 weeks and 3 episodes left I want the climax but am afraid to get to it.
Fifteen tops fourteen as my favorite of the new Season thus far (if you remove 8 from the equation). I think that weekly one-upping will continue unabated until the end.
Hands down the most frustrating episode of the series to date. Better upon second viewing but then again I don't pretend to expect David Lynch or Mark Frost to do anything other than what they want. I'll still be here cheering it on. Even if it frustrates me so this close to the end.
Watched this in the Seatac airport on my way back from Twin Peaks Fest 2017. First time through was super-charged up front and disappointing on the back end. Second time through I really dug.
I've been burning the proverbial candle at both ends and as such I've fallen way behind in updating this blog. With Episode 10 landing in just five hours I thought I'd go ahead and finally post last week's edition of my after-show discussion video Evolution of the Arm here. As usual, great discussion taking place in the comments below the video so if you want to chime in, please do!
Buy of the goddamn century folks! Over atItalians Do It Better's Big CartelJohnny Jewel has an album's worth of Twin Peaks related music up for download for $1.00.
One Dollar!
I snatched it earlier and along with that Trouble 45 it has made the wait between last week's episode five of Twin Peaks and this coming Sunday's somewhat more bearable.
Did you watch Twin Peaks: The Return episode #5 Sunday night? If you did you saw the creepy ass scene that introduced a scummy new lunatic the credits informed us was Richard Horne. This was the show-stopping wham-bang number that played through it with Trouble on the stage at the Roadhouse. Trouble - featuring long time David Lynch musical/audio collaborator Dean Hurley - has a bandcamp here where you can buy this and another track.
Here's a quote from the site that I believe perfectly encapsulates the vibe of the music Lynch often peppers his fictional drinking holes with:
"Snakes Eyes effectively harkens back to a time when noir R&B was the de-facto soundtrack to hard liquor violence."
Now if that's not poetry I don't know what is. I'd like for "Hard Liquor Violence to henceforth be know as a genre.
