I fell back into King Khan and the Shrines yesterday. Previously, I've returned again and again to the apparently well OOP The Supreme Genius of King Khan and the Shrines, one of the best damn compilations I've ever heard. It's not often I get into a band and am happy subsisting on a comp alone, but it happens on occasion, as it did with KK and the Shrines. Mr. Brown burnt said disc for me... hell, I guess back around the time I moved to LA, and it's been an on and off companion since. And although he also burnt me what probably amounts to the remainder of the band's catalogue, as well as plenty from Khan's two-man project, The King Khan & BBQ Show, The Supreme Genius of... has remained my go-to. The tracks just flow so. Damn. Good. Here's a live clip I found of another of my favorites:
That right there is Soul, baby. Khan and his cabal of collaborators have been a major force in taking back Soul from the mis-labelling of the music that began in the 80s and 90s, with crappy melodramatic balladeers. This is Sam and Dave, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding... the list goes on.
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It's one week until I head out to Spokane for work, and then only five days until I spend a long weekend in Seattle. Can't wait. Planning on staying a night in North Bend, a city I would ultimately love to live in, and you can bet K and I will be dining at Twede's, better known to Twin Peaks fans as the Double R Diner. This will be my fourth trip to Washington, the first since 2017. It's K's first, so I'm psyched to see her reaction to the state's beauty.
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Playlist from 3/29:
Ritual Howls - Rendered Armor
Brand New - Science Fiction
Playlist from 3/30:
Deftones - Koi No Yokan
King Khan and the Shrines - The Supreme Genius Of
Otis Redding - Live at the Whiskey a Go Go
Naked Raygun - Series #1
Naked Raygun - Series #2
Naked Raygun - Series #3
Naked Raygun - Free S**t! Live in Chicago
Dum Dum Girls - Too True
Helms Alee - Sleepwalking Sailors
Canadian Rifle - Peaceful Death
Deafheaven - New Bermuda
How to Destroy Angels - Eponymous EP
Card of the day:
Leaning toward an interpretation that juxtaposes The Magus with the source of its inspiration, Hermes Trismegistus, or the Messenger of the Gods Mercury, who Crowley refers to as, "Word of creation whose speech is silent." In other words, time to stop tinkering and send the book to Missi for that extremely important First Reader Experience.
What an awesome mail week! First, yesterday I received Rendered Armor, the new LP from Ritual Howls. Out on Felte Records now, this is a damned fine piece of music; when I pre-ordered the vinyl a few months back, I sunk in the extra couple bucks to receive the hardbound book. A retrospective of the Ritual Howl's existence thus far, the history is told in gorgeous B&W photography and set against a backdrop of all the band's lyrics. Holding the finished product in my hand I can tell you it is very cool. Love these guys so very much.
Second, on Wednesday, I received Shout Factory's Larry Fessenden Collection. I've wanted this for years, finally pulled the trigger on it. Four features - No Telling, Habit, Wendigo, and The Last Winter, as well as the short White Trash. No Telling was the one I'd missed - although I haven't seen Wendigo since the early 2000s, so it will be mostly like seeing it again for the first time - and after watching it last night I absolutely loved it. Maybe my favorite of Mr. Fessenden's (although I'll probably say that about all of them. No Telling is known overseas as The Frankenstein Complex, a title that's a bit too on the nose in my opinion, but me thinks this film serves as a harbinger for Fessenden's much-anticipated new film Depraved, about "...a disillusioned field surgeon who makes a man out of body parts and brings him to life in a Brooklyn loft."
Definite companion pieces.
The package is loaded with extras, many of which Fessenden introduces, and I intend on watching everything and in order of release! Can't wait.
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Playlist from 3/29:
Faith No More - King for a Day
Helms Alee - Sleepwalking Sailors
Nabihah Iqbal - Weighing of the Heart
Ritual Howls - Rendered Armor
This new track from Helms Alee popped up in my youtube feed via Sargent House's channel. Wow. I know nothing of this band, but that changes today. From the forthcoming Noctiluca, out on Sargent House April 26th. Pre-order HERE.
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Shadow Play Book One: Kim & Jessie is finished. Well, the writing part. I spent a good four hours over the last two days tweaking the layout in Scrivener and Veullum, and it's almost right, but not quite. It looks like I'll be spending all day Friday watching 'how-to' videos for both programs, trying to dial in those last little nuances. Oh yeah, I've also secured my all-important First Reader! Thank You, Missi!
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If you're anywhere near my age - 43 - you remember a time before the Internet, when television required what we now refer to as Event Viewing. I'm not going to say that was necessarily better, but it's funny that, as we get further and further into the paradigm where we control the viewing experience 100% in most cases, there's still those of us who nostalgically long for an occasional movie or show to call the shots. I wouldn't want everything to revert to that paradigm because, hey, I'm freakin' busy, as I'm sure you are. But it's nice to have an event to look forward to every now and again. Shudder knows this. Joe Bob Briggs knows this. That's why, I am excited as all hell for tomorrow night and the inaugural Joe Bob Briggs The Last Drive In weekly Double Feature! I have no idea what JBB is showing, nor do I care. All that matters is that he is hosting.
**
Playlist from 3/27:
Bonobo - The North Borders
The National - You Had Your Soul With You (Pre-release Single)
The National - Trouble Will Find Me
Brand New - Science Fiction
Windhand - Eternal Return
White Lung - Eponymous
Tamaryn - The Waves
Card of the day:
Balance and Harmony. The imagery on this card, perhaps more than any other in the deck, instills in my chest a calm and peaceful feeling. The Star sifts the cosmic waters of the Universe, which in a way, is what artists do. I feel good. I feel on track.
While even after multiple attempts, I really never developed a taste for The National's much-lauded 2017 album Sleep Well Beast, I am such an enormous fan of 2010's High Violet that I give everything they do a chance. Admittedly, You Had Your Soul With You probably dropped a while ago, so I'm posting it here well after the fact, but I've been careful about getting off on the wrong foot with I Am Easy to Find, the band's forthcoming album on 4AD. With some bands, pre-album release singles can create false expectations for the overall tone of the album. Despite this, something forced my hand this morning, and now I am very intrigued about the full album, which you can pre-order HERE.
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I've been cleaning a lot of music out of my iTunes to make room on my Mac Book, and this morning I was super freaked out to find I can no longer find my Twin Peaks Music Archive tracks. For those of you who remember this, roughly eight years ago, David Lynch released a massive archive of every music track used in the original show. This included all incidental tracks, and every variation of every track. I'm not entirely sure how I would have deleted these, and there's a chance I have it backed up on a secondary drive somewhere (please please please), but until then, I'm sweating it a little bit. Here's a taste of what I was looking for this morning:
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Playlist from 3/26:
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
PJ Harvey - Uh Huh Her
Nabihah Iqbal - Weighing of the Heart
Finn Andrews - One Piece at a Time
Jaye Jayle - No Trail and Other Unholy Paths
Emma Ruth Rundle - On Dark Horses
Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower
Brand New - Science Fiction
The Atlas Moth - Coma Noir
M83 - Saturdays Equal Youth
Let's go back a few years. Circa 2014. Via Blood Disgusting, I found and fell in love with a podcast called Double Murder. A kind of 'celebrity death match' of horror movies, our hosts Danny and Tim take two horror movies and weigh them for ranking against one another. The criteria is learned and often sophisticated understanding and discussion of content and craft, so it makes for a fantastic listen if you're into Horror as an aesthetic as well as a good time.
Double Murder is a deceivingly intellectual discussion of horror (see their episode Videodrome vs. eXistenz); one of those deep dive shows where you really get to know your hosts in regard to how they approach something you probably also love if you're listening, i.e. horror movies. As with life, over the last few years episodes have dwindled as the hosts' lives have presumably done what all our lives do - run all the fuck over us, stealing our moments and bludgeoning our wills. That's a beating you have to actively work against, and brother, it ain't easy. I mean, some days it can be difficult enough to motivate yourself to do something you love, let alone line up two or more schedules to work on a project. Anyway, due to the dwindle, I'd fallen out of habit checking for new episodes. Then, last week I noticed there was one from last October, a fantastic juxtaposing of Halloween H20 and Halloween 2018. Yay!
Now, here's the thing. Danny! and Tim are from my home town, and that further endears these guys to me. I don't know them, but I'm double rooting for them, in whatever they do. So when Danny! asks Tim for news on his band, Canadian Rifle, I remember that yes! I can look these guys up on Apple Music, a service I didn't have whenever the last time they might have mentioned the band on the podcast and I was listening. I did just that, and was pretty much immediately blown away by Canadian Rifle's 2018 album Peaceful Death. I played this fucker for about a dozen rotations that first day, and it has remained in heavy rotation since. Canadian Rifle's bandcamp is HERE - I'm so ordering some vinyl to support these fellas - and there's a ton of tracks on youtube, Apple Music, wherever fine paperbacks are sold.
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According to Comic List, it's another light week for NCDB. It can be depressing waiting for new issues of A Walk Through Hell and Gideon Falls. However, of note this week is Rick Remender and Matteo Scalera's Black Science begins its final arc with this week's issue #39. Consulting Image Comics, looks like this last arc will culminate in June with Issue #42. What a great book; looking forward to a deep-dive re-read as soon as Black Science is over.
I'm behind on Punks Not Dead. Issue One of the second arc, London Calling, is still sitting on my desk, waiting for me to re-read the final issue of the first arc before diving into this new one.
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Playlist from 3/25:
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
PJ Harvey - Uh Huh Her
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Good Son
Nabihah Iqbal - Weighing of the Heart
Throwing Shade - House of Silk EP
Windhand - Eternal Return
Card of the day:
Another nod toward a new beginning, and a fulfilling one to boot. As I begin to make a list of ideas and scenes for Shadow Play Book Two: The Absence of Light (Tentative title), I'm about to begin actually writing my second collaboration with Jonathan Grimm, a Depression-era, dustbowl circus zombie story called Ciazarn. Not a comic, this is more a prose novella with pictures by Grimm, and judging by what I've already seen, it will be gorgeous.
I am loving the new Finn Andrews' record One Piece at a Time. Another album that is perfect all the way through. Currently, this is my favorite song, although I suppose that may change as on an album this strong, all ten tracks will most likely cycle through as a favorite at some point.
**
My friend Jesus gifted me a copy of Pornsak Pichetshote and Aaron Campbell's Infidel, and after only a few pages in, I can attest that all the great things I've read online are 100% accurate. Described as, "A haunted house for the 21st Century, Infidel follows an American Muslim woman and her multiracial neighbors who move into a building haunted by entities that feed off xenophobia." Amazing, high concept, right? Well, so far the execution is tense to say the least, and Campbell's art is ridiculous it's so fantastic. Here's a sample:
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Finally watched Ryan Gosling's 2014 debut as Writer/Director Lost River. Wow. I was a little tired through the beginning, blinking out in micronaps, and I thought that might affect my experience, but it did not. Reminiscent of Harmony Korine's Gummo meets David Lynch's Straight Story, Lost River's third act pretty much forever endeared the movie to me. The imagery Gosling puts on screen is breathtaking, and Johnny Jewel's OST is perfect.
Oh, and Ben Mendelsohn and Matt Smith are fantastic as two very different varieties of heavies.
**
Playlist from 3/24:
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Bloodlust
Card of the day:
Lots of Earthly concerns, because I've not been as vigilant as I need to be with money. It's very easy to slip, with all of these wonderful boutique companies out there servicing fans of everything from David Lynch to any comic book you've ever read. To move forward, sometimes we have to let ourselves take a few steps back. Does that make sense, or am I mixing metaphors and scenarios? It's early, off to work.
Many thanks to youtube user Baby Gorilla, whose channel you should absolutely go check and support with some likes and a subscription; the video content is outstanding! Link to Baby Gorilla HERE.
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I've known for a while that DC has a subscription service called dcuniverse. Anyone who reads these pages knows this should hold no particular interest for me, as especially in the modern day there is very little content DC generates that I'm interested in. HOWEVER, a week or so ago, my good friend Mike Shinabargar sent me this:
I need to see this, like, soon. While I don't have any interest in reading the current iteration of Doom Patrol that DC Comics publishes, I am a HUGE fan of Grant Morrison's 80s run on the title, and according to Mike, the show leans heavily on it, so if this scene is any indication, I am very interested.
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Three Fourths of The Horror Vision recorded our Spoiler-heavy discussion to Jordan Peele's Us last night (Chris out helping manage a European tour with Rezurex!). You can find the Us episode below:
After the Us reaction, we watched indie horror gem Book of Monsters, which will be the focus of our episode going up early this week. Here's a trailer:
Nice work on getting this one out there, Dread Central!
Playlist from 3/23:
Windhand - Eternal Return
Canadian Rifle - A Peaceful Death
Gary Numan -
Card of the day:
A new beginning of Earthly Matters. Time to double down on saving money - it's been difficult lately and I've been slipping - and time to start outlining the sequel to Shadow Play!
I should have realized that, a few days ago when they released We Never Fall, that it would be a harbinger of the band's first live album. I can NOT wait to dig into this today.
K and I saw Jordan Peele's Us last night. Despite one of the worst crowds I've shared a theatre with in recent memory, and me being a bit too high to let all the random conversations not affect my viewing, the film is outstanding. Peele is one of the most original filmmakers out there today, and seeing him interviewed recently on both Horror Noire and Eli Roth's History of Horror, it excites me to no end that he embraces Horror as much as he does, and wants to continue to create inside the genre.
Also, that second trailer for Pet Sematary that I had been avoided was foisted on me before the movie last night, and it looks scary as hell.
Playlist from 3/22:
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Canadian Rifle - Peaceful Death
Thought Gang - Eponymous
Stan Getz - Focus
Mr. Brown sent this to me yesterday. I am PSYCHED. I mean, with the momentum of just finishing a re-watch of the original series, I cannot WAIT for May 31st, which really, isn't that long to wait at all.
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When my friend Keller showed me this the other day, it absolutely blew me away. Skating Polly have such a throw-back sound to the 90s, but in a way that feels pretty genuine. Siblings, I'd wager their mother and/or father are about my age, grew up in the 90s and exposed their daughters to PJ Harvey, The Pixies, The Breeders, etc, from an early age. This is influence, not imitation, a fine line in today's world. Anyway, this is an older track; Keller discovered them a few months back at the Echo and ended up seeing them multiple times since then. His assessment? They Rock. The musical exchange here, both in the girls' singing and playing, warms my heart.
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K and I finished the first season of Deadly Class last night; the season finale aired a week or two ago, so we were behind. Man! I'm calling it now - best comic book adaptation yet! These characters are insanely alive in the book, but on the show, I don't know, you get more gravity with their emotions and situations. Also, all the deviations from the book? Well, Remender himself is the show runner, so all of it is him writing new material. My favorite new character? I can't believe I'm going to say this, but French Stewart is freakin' fantastic in the role of Scorpio Slasher. Here's a peek:
LOVE Billy's reaction!
Playlist from 3/21:
Skating Polly - On Audiotree Live - EP
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium
Finn Andrews - One Piece at a Time
Kevin Ayers - Bananamour
Chasms - On the Legs of Love Purified
Chasms - The Mirage
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Wasteland
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - The Night Creeper
Second Still - Eponymous
Stan Getz - Focus
Card of the day:
The Airy aspect of Water. Emotion curbed with intellect. Is this a harbinger to my workday ahead? Probably, so I'll interpret it as a cue to remain mindful even in instances of explosive emotions. In other words: It might be a trying day. Breathe deep and keep your head up and your mouth (mostly) closed. It's eight hours until the weekend.
This showed up in my youtube feed last night and frankly, listening to it was so exciting I had a bit of trouble falling asleep afterward. This band continues to amaze me; while this track obviously bears more than a little passing resemblance to the standard 'Zeal & Ardor Sound,' there's more than enough that's 'new' here to show that Manuel and crew are continuing to stretch that signature sound in new directions, without eschewing the core ideas that made them so awesome in the first place. Not an easy thing to do, but they're doing it. So coupled with Baphoment, the new track K and I saw them play at the Roxy back in August, that's two new tracks. Let's hope we get another new album sooner than later. That said, don't rush it guys. Just keep doing what you're doing.
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Tuesday night after work I drove up to Hollywood, and my friend Keller and I attended something of a dream event - Harmony Korine's 1997 film Gummo in 35mm at the Egyptian Theatre, with Korine present after the film, interviewed at the front of the room by a long-time friend.
It was magnificent. Gummo has, since shortly after I first saw the film back in, oh, probably '99, occupied a spot in my top-five favorite films of all time. And while the movie disgusts many folks, this screening cemented my observation that it is both one of the most ugly and simultaneously one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. There is such life here! After the movie, Korine talked about casting, and how he wanted to put people in the movie that you normally would never see in a movie. You can argue that there's an element of exploitation here, but to that I'd counter that Korine documents and puts himself in the film, which to me dissolves the barrier between filmmaker and subjects. He's one of them, not above them, and I think he makes this very clear. I feel real love in Gummo, and while there's definitely some terrible stuff contained within, it's documented objectively, not celebrated or diminished.
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Because I was out late Tuesday, I'd already secured yesterday off from work. The caveat to myself though, was if I stay home, I have to work. So, I spent the entire day, from about 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM working to finish Shadow Play, with only the distraction of the occasional break to read a comic and several loads of laundry between sessions. There was some major dialogue sculpting I had to do in some of the final chapters, and one serious flaw in a certain character's logic that caused a massive reassessment and overhaul of the last ten chapters. Nothing plot-wise, but all the tiny nuances that go into this disparate collection of characters' lives and machinations all coming to a head in a penultimate moment needed to be massaged something fierce. You know, you change something here, you have to follow the ripples through to the end and make sure they all gel. And although I was exhausted and in need of an ice cold Sierra Nevada by 6:15 PM, I am quite happy with the work. Four more chapters to record and I'm ready for that final go-through. Can't wait.
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I worked with such focus yesterday, that I was able to ignore two major trailers that dropped and had everyone talking. I'll post them here now as I watch them for the first time.
Wow. Kudos on the use of Baba O'Riley. Also, that's quite the monster near the end, right? And this one, well, I just can't wait for this one:
Playlists from the past few days:
3/20:
John Carpenter and Alan Howarth - Prince of Darkness OST
3/19:
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium
Finn Andrews - One Piece at a Time
Kevin Ayers - Bananamour
Canadian Rifle - Peaceful Death
John Carpenter and Alan Howarth - Prince of Darkness OST
Card of the day:
I keep seeing this one. There's definitely something more below the surface here, something I don't have the time to research at the moment. Deep dive later on.
Wow. I didn't even know this was coming. I've never been a very active Cranberries fan, despite the fact that I loved their sound. Zombie and Dreams were HUGE parts of the musical landscape of my youth, but I never really followed through on their albums. Then, maybe ten years ago, I picked up Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We and experienced a brief fascination with the band again after the use of one of their songs in the movie, The Sound of My Voice. I had just fallen head over heels in love with The Smiths - another band I had previously only dabbled with - and with their music floating through my head 24/7, I began to realize a lot of other bands were directly influenced by them, The Cranberries one of them.
When Dolores O'Riordan tragically passed away in 2018, an unexpected thing happened on Los Angeles radio - everybody began playing The Cranberries again. What's more, from what I gather in my little snippets of FM radio at work, they still play them. Often. This feels a bit like some sad triumph for a great band that kind of disappeared for years, only to resurface after tragedy. Fast forward to April 26th this year, and apparently we get the final album The Cranberries recorded with O'Riordan and then, that's it. This is the first single, and both the song and the video are emotional heavy weights in light of everything that's happened. A fitting tribute to the late O'Riordan, whose voice was really unlike anyone else's on Earth.
I received and began reading The Art of Hunting, the second book in Alan Campbell's Gravedigger Chronicles, and I can already tell I'm going to freak out when it's over, knowing there's a third volume finished that Tor won't publish. I can't express how high a regard I hold Campbell's writing in; I did when I read the Deepgate Codex, and the Gravedigger series feels like a serious level up from that, so in my mind, this is a fantastic example of expertly rendered world-building fantasy that does not succumb to "Tolkienism."
Yeah, I made that term up.
Anyway, thirty pages in, and The Art of Hunting has me as strongly as Sea of Ghosts did.
Playlist from 3/17:
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Wasteland
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Mind Control
The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash
The Pogues - If I Should Fall From Grace With God
Card of the day:
A lot of ending this morning. I'm reading this one at face value: I'll finish the reading of Shadow Play today. I had an excellent session yesterday, and I really can't stress what a game changer reading out loud has been for me. I'm finding the book very much on track, and hearing it out loud is helping iron out little inconsistencies in tone, syntax, grammar, and detail.
Friday March 15th was the three-year anniversary of Tom's death. This year it blind-sided me, and I'm ashamed to admit I didn't even realize it until the morning of the 16th, when K reminded me. Tom - wow. When I stop to consider it, I can still feel his loss like it's a wound that's only scabbed over. You know, the kind you bump against the inside of your dresser drawer that sticks, and it opens and gushes blood and pain for a few hours. That's exactly what contemplating my 'former life' is like, in regards to Tom (and Tom alone). You'd think with the number of friends I've lost in my life - an inordinate amount by most people's standards - death would come a bit easier. And I guess it kind of does. But when the loss is someone you see everyday, that you live with, it's different. And Tom stuck with me through the worst time of my life, and what's more, made it clear he understood and wanted to help me persevere. That's pretty insane, if you ask me. The bond we had was unlike any I've had with a cat before or after, and I am definitely a cat lover. Anyway, Tom, I miss you. I'll be raising a pint in your honor later tonight. In the meantime, this one's for you, my friend:
**
If you want to see the best goddamn coverage of SXSW, click over to Heaven is an Incubator's page and feast your eyes on the meat and potatoes of the yearly fest. You can find coverage on a ton of sites, but not like this. Tommy goes out of his way every year to burrow in deep and really find the stuff that matters, not just the stuff everyone already wants to read about. In years past he usually posts about bands that seep up throughout the subsequent years into taking the spotlight, and I'd wager this year is no different. Also, he's started a 'daily jam' posting schedule that I absolutely adore. Link to Heaven Is An Incubator HERE.
**
Friday night, K and I saw Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats at the Wiltern. WOW! Seriously these guys blew me right the hell away. I mean, I knew they'd be good, but this was another level. All business, no nonsense, Uncle Acid easily goes into the category of 'Best bands I've seen live.' Tight performance, heavy as hell, and awash in Occult/psychedelic imagery, I still can't stop thinking about how great their set was. And as much as I dig their albums, none of them do the band's sound full justice. Neither does this video, from youtube Chicanochrist, but it gives you a sense of their visual presence:
Uncle Acid's Wasteland album might not have made it into my top ten of 2018, but I love it and couldn't wait to see it live. Especially because I had no idea what to expect. I'd never seen what the members of the band look like, and especially with Kevin Starrs' unique voice, I harbored a strange, almost B-movie idea of the face attached to the voice. This ambiguity is a rarity these days, and as much as it is partially of my own design, I feel like it's also part of the band's mythos. So when faced with having the curtain pulled back by seeing them live, I had to embrace the idea of giving that ambiguity up.
But you know what? It didn't happen.
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats took the stage under darkness, with a video image and an elongated version of the loud speaker announcement that begins Wasteland playing over the speakers. From there they ripped directly into album opener I See Through You, then proceeded to plow through song after song, hoping from Wasteland to Bloodlust to The Night Creeper, no acknowledgement of the crowd until after six or seven songs, when the man I'm assuming was Kevin Starrs simply asked how we were doing. Of course, he didn't wait for a reply before kicking into Crystal Spiders from the band's recently re-released demo, Vol. 1.
The reason I can only assume our addresser was Kevin Starrs is because A) he was standing in the middle, and B) he was playing guitar and singing into a microphone. However - and maybe this is simply my self-imposed ignorance of the members of the band, which, as you can no doubt tell from above I prefer - but stage left was another man playing a guitar and singing into a microphone. The music was played so flawless, executed in such a concise manner, that you couldn't tell who was singing or playing what. And other than one subsequent brevity to the crowd, there was no speaking in-between songs. The performance was all about the music and the aesthetic, that's it. So in my mind, the band fully retained their enigmatic presence. Which is awesome, because I love the mythos I perceive around these guys; the evocation of that strange era of the 60s/70s when hippy dippy free love turned into hard drugs, black magick and satanism. This is the first band I've encountered since My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult back in the early 90s that feels dangerous in some capacity.
Opening was local band Twin Temple. My good friend Chris from The Thirsty Crows and The Horror Vision turned me onto these guys a couple weeks ago, and they did not disappoint live. Self-described as "Satanic Doo-Wop," I'd say a more accurate description is a Satanic Amy Winehouse. Either way, check out this video:
Finally, it's St. Paddy's day! Since our new place is considerably smaller than my former residence, I'm unable to hold my annual party, and as such my 'St Paddy's Spirit' is considerably diminished. I've got a corned beef in the slow cooker, and some Guinness to quaff, but I'm not even really in the mood to watch State of Grace - which I'll probably watch and be consumed by anyway.
Playlist from 3/14:
Le Butcherettes - bi/MENTAL
Thin Lizzy - Fighting
Soundgarden - Superunknown
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Vol. 1
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Wasteland
Playlist from 3/15:
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Le Butcherettes - bi/MENTAL
Ozzy Osbourne - No More Tears
Nick Lowe - The Jesus of Cool
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Wasteland
Playlist from 3/16:
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Night Creeper
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Blood Lust
Card of the day:
Hod, the area of Prudence, defined by Merriam-Webster as the ability to govern and discipline oneself with the use of reason. This applies directly to the self-destructive feelings I have toward a certain project I have right now, one that the carelessness of of one of those involved has led to a flurry of thoughts on my part to end the project. Anger and frustration are a natural reaction when the carelessness of others directly affects our plans, lives, etc. But instead of lashing out, it's always better to just take it on the chin and continue. If, that is, it's something and someone you care about.
I had completely forgotten there was a new album from Le Butcherettes that dropped in February! Only a couple listens in, I prefer the back half of the album to the A side, but overall bi/MENTAL is a stand-out piece of music.
New Music from Grimes, but not Grimes? The music is not grabbing me the way anything on Visions or Art Angels did, but the song isn't really the point. Double click on the embed here and listen to the track on Grimes' official youtube channel. While you're listening, read the summary. It's fascinating. Apparently this is not from the forthcoming Grimes album, but from a musical she is working on. This character is named "Dark." Grimes has a really interesting creative thought process, which is why many of us like her so much. Can't wait to see what comes next. But yeah, I really want that next Grimes album...
Playlist from 3/13:
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Blood Lust
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Wasteland
Second Still - Eponymous
Deafheaven - New Bermuda
Card of the day:
Creative Drive (Binah, the Mother); striving toward a goal. Yep.
For the last two days, I've actually woken up before my first alarm at 4:07 AM and had time to do my daily entry early. Both days I've begun things with Talking Heads' 1980 album Remain in Light on headphones. On an album where every song is my favorite song, Born Under Punches is probably my favorite of the favorite. There's something so huge about this song; so many moving parts that comprise the whole. If you listen to Remain in Light on headphones, Brian Eno's production becomes entrancing. This pairing was so well suited; on Eno's three collaborations with David Bowie you can hear how he brings a certain approach to rhythm. The only way I can think to describe it this early, while I wait for my first pot of coffee to complete its brew cycle, is he thickens it. This works wonders for Bowie's music, transforming it into something those who'd followed the Thin White Duke to that point hadn't heard before from him. When we apply the same aesthetic techniques to a band like Talking Heads, a band that already looks at rhythm from a slightly non-rock perspective (not to diminish Bowie), well, you get Remain in Light. This live version further emboldens that approach, only in a live environment, and the result is mesmerizing.
Such a great freakin' band!
Virtually nothing for me on this NCBD, although I'd been on the fence about continuing The Dreaming and I may stop in and pick up the three issues I've missed; having recently completed reading issues three and four, I'm finding I really want to continue. Lucifer, the book I previously thought I would be reading consistently, has kind of fallen by the way side for me, and I'm not sure I will go back to it.
Oh! After a quick check on today's release (I use THIS SITE), I've realized Dan Wickline's Freeze #4 hits stands today, so that's a definite reason to stop in at the Bug and hang out a bit.
Like I need a reason.
David Lucarelli, author of The Children's Vampire Hunting Brigade and the BRILLIANT Tinsel Town, just launched a Kickstarter for the expanded graphic novel edition of the five-issue series. Link to it HERE:
I can't wait to support this, and I suggest you do the same. Tinsel Town is a fantastic historical series about Abigail Moore, the first woman police officer in fictionalized version of the early Twentieth Century Universal City, when Universal Studios was had its own police force! Inspired by Lucarelli's mother, who was a Police Officer for twenty years in Pittsburgh, Tinsel Town is expertly plotted, beautifully told, and personal enough to give it a meaty emotional resonance that will linger in your thoughts well after having read it.
Playlist from 3/12:
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Fela Kuti - The '69 Los Angeles Sessions
Fela Kuti - Sorrow, Tears, and Blood
Prince - Sign O' The Times
Nick Lowe - Jesus of Cool
Misfits - Earth A.D.
Le Butcherettes - bi/MENTAL
Bells Into Machines - Eponymous
Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works
King Woman - Doubt EP
King Woman - Created in the Image of Suffering
In Search of Darkness is the self-appointed, "Definitive 80s Horror Documentary." We've been knee-deep in horror docs at the moment, with both Horror Noire and Eli Roth's History of Horror landing on Shudder within a few weeks of one another, but who cares? I love watching these, hearing insider's interpretations, and building a scope for the tempest I grew up inside the eye of in the 80s. This is everything to pop culture at the moment, or at least the alleys of that culture that I traverse. Stranger Things is based on 80s Horror, Ash, Jack Burton, and Lucio Fulci all have current comic books on the shelves. John Carpenter makes records. Child Play's getting a TV show, and boutique Blu Ray imprints like Arrow, Vinegar Syndrome and Scream Factory and specialty streaming services like Shudder and Prime are making it possible for people to see movies they'd only ever heard of since those films disappeared off first-stage VHS rental shelves, never making the jump to disc. So why the hell would I not want someone to draw an outline around this behemoth?
The final Indiegogo is up now and ends on March 31st, link HERE.
Man, I walked into a book store the other day and hadn't realized Irvine Welsh released the 'Grand Finale of Transporting."
I felt so removed; I used to buy Welsh's books the day they dropped. But he's one of those authors I love SO much, his writing tends to steer my own, and I haven't had much space for that since starting to seriously work on Shadow Play, back in 2012 now. Of course, I've had a few long interstitial projects that have prolonged that, but really, this has been where I've learned to write genre, and there just wasn't room for a more literary pull in my voice. That's changing soon; I vowed to read at least one of the Welsh books I've missed this year, and now that there's a new chapter in the Trainspotters' lives, well, I guess I'll start there.
Wait, no. I believe I have to start with 2016's The Blade Arist, because I'm fairly certain this is what happens when Franco goes to America, which both amuses and terrifies me. Imagine Begby as your new neighbor. Nightmare fuel, that.
Playlist from 3/11:
John Cale - Black Acetate
Placebo - Meds
PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love
Don Shirley - Don Shirley Trio
Erase Errata - Other Animals
Waxwork Records - House of Waxwork Issue #1 OST
Wink Lombardi and the Constellations - 10 Songs
Earth - Phase 3 - Thrones and Dominions
Chelsea Wolfe - Pain Is Beauty
Exhalants - Eponymous
Card of the day:
More Cups. Emotion and sensitivity as directed or acted upon by Fire. This is good. This will get me through the lag I've experienced in finishing the book, where daily life seems to be conspiring against my productivity. I'm saying it now: My birthday is on the 24th of this month. The reading of it will be done by then, which means a few days to listen to it, a few more to make changes based on that listening, and then it's done.
I'm about a week late on this one, but there's a new video for one of my favorite tracks on Windhand's 2018 opus, Eternal Return. Oh, who am I kidding? They're all my favorite tracks on this record. Awesome video, as well.
If you grew up in the 80s and 90s like I did, surrounded by shelf upon shelf of mass market paperbacks in the local library and Kroch's and Bentano's, and whatever that other bookstore in the mall was, you know, before the advent of big box, stand-alone bookstores, then you might have an inherent understanding of the horror paperback boom that permeated the pop literary world. You might have an understanding, but probably not of the scope of that boom. Unless you've read Grady Hendrix and Will Errickson's Paperbacks from Hell, in which two things probably happened:
A) You had an extremely entertaining romp through the history of Horror Literature and understand its timeline a hell of a lot better
B) Since reading Hendrix and Errickson's tome, you find yourself occasionally scouring the internet for copies of some of these lost gems, only to find prices repugnant.
But fear not! Valancourt Bookshas begun a Paperbacks From Hell reprint series - which you can subscribe to - that in most cases will feature the original paperback artwork. For myself, the price point of $16.99 for a MM paperback is better than eBay pricing but still too much for me to pull the trigger, but then again VB has not really solicited any of the titles I want yet, so I'm still keeping my eyes open for some goodies I spied in Hendrix's tome.
BTW - Errickson is a fantastic curator and played a large part in amassing the subject matter of PfH, and his Too Much Horror blog is definitely worth following.
So what are the paperback gems from days gone by that I'm interested in?
Michael McDowell's The Elementals because I am really interested in his Blackwater series, based on the fact that of all the books in Paperbacks from Hell, Blackwater sounds like it might be solid literature. Before beginning a series, however, I'd rather my introduction to McDowell's work be a stand-alone.
Because the pen name Peter Saxon is awesome, and because The Guardians series sound like a lot of fun.
Because the cover is subtle yet absurd and reminds me SO Much of my childhood, when covers like we find on all these books were the wallpaper to my life:
And finally, because I remember holding this one in my hands at a young age back in the early 80s at and almost checking it out of the Worth, Il public library, but never actually doing so.
Satanic Rock bands. Sounds like a great double feature when I finally get around to Hendrix's latest novel:
Playlist from 3/10:
The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes are the Roaring Night
Exhalants - Eponymous
Firewater - The Ponzi Scheme
Earth - Phase 3 - Thrones and Dominions
John Cale - Black Acetate
Card of the day:
This is a very emotional card in respect to Earthly matters. There's revelation, although it might be confused at first. There's no inherent conflict, except maybe that of emotion taking over for a bit. Not really sure what this is in reference to, but I'll keep my eyes open today and try not to let emotions get the better of me.
I've always been a bit on the fence when it comes to Black Mountain. Not sure why, but it very well could just be a case of not having spent enough time with them. Whatever the case, I'm digging this new song the band dropped off their upcoming album Destroyer, out May 24th on Jagjaguwar. Pre-order the album HERE.
Finally heeded all of the recommendations to go see Spider-man: into the Spiderverse last night. BLOWN AWAY. The animation was revolutionary, a far cry from anything that all the pixars of the world put up on the big screen. I never read Brian Michael Bendis' Ultimate Spider-man past the first trade back in the day, so while I've been peripherally aware of Miles Morales since he took over the Spiderman persona in the former Ultimate Universe, I'd never actually engaged with him as a character in a story.
He is marvelous.
As much as I grew up with and will always have a soft spot for Peter Parker, this is the Spiderman of the future. I'm reminded of Grant Morrison's run on Batman and Robin, where Bruce Wayne was dead and Dick Greyson took over the Batsuit, with Damien Wayne as his Robin. Brilliant arc, and Morrison spoke on Kevin Smith's Fatman on Batman podcast about how he told DC that Bruce should stay dead, and that Dick and Damien were the team for the new millennium. And of course, DC ignored him. Status Quo - the staunchest villain to the medium of comics ever. Marvel has, of course, figured out ways to keep all their Spider-characters going, but with the emphasis on Miles in this film, they're clearly hedging their bets on him, as though they heeded Morrison's advice for their own major flagship property.
Playlist from 3/09:
Windhand - Eternal Return
Playlist from 3/10:
Firewater - The Ponzi Scheme
AC/DC - Highway to Hell
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Blood Lust
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - The Night Creeper
Twin Temple - Twin Temple (Bring You Their Signature Sound... Satanic Doo-Wop)
Chromatics - Camera
Noctural Projections - Complete Studio Recordings
Card for the day:
Nine = Yesod: the fields fo imagination, reflection, and foundation, where you can root your creation in firm soil and sit back and let it breath on its own. This pull is telling me I'm pretty much finished and need to prepare to release the book. It's a bit ahead of the actual workload being completed, but close enough to be a sound reminder not to overthink things.
It's 12:00 AM, and for the second time this week, I can't sleep. There's bravado in the clouds tonight, distant thunder echoing across the sky, holding the population of LA's South Bay hostage. Those of us still awake, anyway. I'm on the couch, watching Lucio Fulci's City of the Living Dead as I type this. I've had horror on the brain this evening - I feel both that I want to consume an unheard amount of it, and that there's some new story bubbling just beneath the surface of this rabid spike in fandom I'm experiencing. Maybe it's an escalating love for Shudder's historically minded programming, or a love for all the peripheral content the open-market of the internet has made possible. Or maybe it's just that the world we live in is a horror story, a very sad yet wonderful story whose outcome remains unproven. I watched Horror Noire a few days ago, and the first episode of Eli Roth's History of Horror earlier tonight. One quote from Edgar Wright rings out in my head; while discussing George A. Romero's Day of the Dead, Wright says something to the effect of, "It's an apocalypse you wouldn't mind living in. Or at least, I wouldn't." Very true, but the question is, does ours measure up? Would you rather have a never-ending parade of narcissistic cunts running things and two hyperbolically ludicrous political parties totally devoid of common sense, or a hell-on-Earth, zombie apocalypse?
I'd wager you can guess my answer.
**
I ended up unable to drop off until around 2:00 AM, so I called out from work. Will use the time to make major progress in finishing the book.
But first, let's look at what's happening this morning, now that I have slept.
Sargent House just dropped new music from Seminal Crawl band Earth. New album Full Upon Her Burning Lips drops on May 24th; you can pre-order physical HERE and digital HERE.
**
NCBD:
This is the MVP pick of the day for me. Hell, maybe of the year. I acquired the first two volumes of Warren Ellis and Jon Davis-Hunt's The Wildstorm at Amazing Fantasy in Chicago back in December. I read them in a day, and seriously think it might be Ellis' best comic work since Transmet. The relationship between Jon Davis-Hunt's art and Ellis' script make this the best example of 'wide screen comics' I've seen in years, maybe ever. It's so clean. A complex, fascinating story that just feels effortless in how it's told. And if you're worried about the superhero source material, don't: I had next to no experience with the Wildstorm Universe before this, aside from the occasional mini series by Ennis (not even sure if those are Wildstorm, now that I think of it; all those early Image "team" books run together for me because I never read any of them back in the day), and I think my read on this new reimagining from Ellis is better for it. And it's not a superhero book. At all.
I Can't recommend The Wildstorm enough:
Finally! Walk Through Hell returns! I think I was referring to this in previous posts as "A Walk Through Hell," and now that I see my mistake, I feel like the title is even creepier, because, in keeping with the story, it's a command.
More Warren Ellis! Cemetery Beach, with artist Jason Howard, comes to an end. I'm assuming this is the end of a first volume, and now that Ellis and Howard's Trees is set to rotate back in with a five-issue third volume, we'll have to wait until after that completes before we have more Cemetery Beach. Whatever the case, this book has been fantastic. If you read Ellis' newsletter, with its fascinating glimpses into the man's work methodology, you can see a window into how he has evolved into such an efficient storyteller. This is the end goal for me folks; it gives me something to shoot for. Not to write like Warren Ellis, but to have as crisp and clean a process.
A new issue of Deadly Class will pair nicely with my continued love of the Remender-run SYFY adaptation, and serves as a reminder that now that K has read the entire run of the comic to date, I need to initiate my own re-read. Look at that cover!
Jesus, this is looking like an expensive week! No complaints though, not when Paper Girls is returning. And again, look at that cover! I'm going to have to revisit the final issue of the previous arc, because I can't quite remember where we are in this totally batshit crazy book.
And I may have listed it here last, but this will be the first book I read today! The Walking Dead 189. This book has, as always, been a riveting descent into the chaos at the heart of humanity's designs on civilization. Why doesn't structure work? Because we are the walking dead, and all order is transient when compared to the chaotic nature of the Universe. Or is it just order on a scale we can't see?
Who knows? Part of the fun is wondering. But I digress...
Part of the beauty of TWD, is it maps out an allegorical timeline to our own history inside the world of the book. The seeming perfection of this new society our long-haul characters have found in this newest arc is turning out to be not so civilized, and as we inch toward the landmark 200th issue, I think things are going to get hairy. As usual though, Kirkman has no limit in his writing and imagination, and he never does what I think he's going to do; that's why I love this book.
Playlist from 3/05:
Various Artists - Trainspotting OST
Cold Showers - Matter of Choice
Cold Cave - Cherish the Light Years
Prince - Sign O' The Times
Blut Aus Nord - Cosmosophy
Boy Harsher - Careful
Card of the day:
Perfectly grounded. Water of Earth; cares for her house. Perfect for the day for two reasons: A) The Earth track that dropped, and B) I'm home and going to attempt to finish this house I've built in Shadow Play, Book One. I finished the Grammarly editing last night, now I have to record myself reading the last half of act two and all of act three, and I can listen to it and suss out any final story edits that need to be made. Excited!
I've posted about LA's Cold Showers here before, but I don't think I ever really gave the band the due they deserve, because as much as I dug their dark, Post Punk sound, I never fully fell into them until yesterday. 2015's Matter of Choice spun around and around on my iTunes yesterday while I plugged along at work, and I became more and more entranced by it with every turn. It's one of those albums where I have trouble taking one song out of the larger context of the full cycle. Which of course makes me like it even more, because I've always held albums in higher regard than songs.
With 2015 being four years ago now, I began to fret that just as I fell in love with Cold Showers, they might have winked out of existence. Not the case. On their facebook page I learned that the band has an album coming out on the always awesome Dais Records this year. Why so long between records? Well, back in July, guitarist, engineer, and founding member Chris King was in an auto accident with an uninsured motorist and has had a slow recovery due to medical costs. The band set up a GoFundMe page, and I'll link to it here; I'm going to throw something down come payday, and if you can, I'd ask you to consider doing the same.
The uninsured motorist is a legitimately terrifying boogeyman here in LaLaLand; I walk A LOT and I can't tell you how many times I've almost been hit by people rolling through or just straight-up blowing stop signs (if I was a serial killer, I would kill people who blow stop signs. No BS, that'd be my MO). I used to be pretty bold about this; you know, someone shows no signs of stopping and I just keep walking, figuring, "Fuck 'em, they hit me, they better kill me or I'll ruin their life."
What a bunch of shit.
My attitude changed when formerly great weekly paper LA Weekly ran an article about what they called the "epidemic" of uninsured motorists who land people in the hospital with no insurance to offset their recovery costs. That, and K's pleading for me to exhibit a little common sense have turned my formerly fourteen-year-old's attitude around. Still, this shit happens, and just so no one thinks my 'uninsured motorist' is some kind of an invisible barb about illegal aliens, IT'S NOT. There's just as many douche bags born in the US as not who are riding around without the proper insurance.
***
Sunday night into Monday I didn't sleep very well, so with Cold Showers on my headphones I bulldozed through my work yesterday by 12:30 PM and cashed in some PTO. Went home and watched the following three films, all of which I enjoyed:
An exclusive on Shudder at the moment, Noroi: The Curse was recommended to me by a co-worker. Previously I'd attempted to get into this one and failed; you have to adjust to a certain pacing, as well as a bit of over-acting at times (Mr. Hori does crazy a little too over the top in certain sequences), but this one is unlike any other film I've seen, and stands as a pretty important cultural artifact as far as Japanese Horror is concerned.
I've been meaning to watch Jodorowsky's 'Horror' movie for years, and it's included with Prime at the moment so I finally had a chance. Wow. I won't lie; there's something about Jodorowsky that leaves me a bit cold. My theory is that it's the cultural background he draws from that I do not have experience with, so his movies resonate less with me than, say, David Lynch, another 'Avant Garde' director, who's life experiences are closer to mine and so I really relate to. That's not to say I didn't dig this film; Santa Sangre is beautiful, and watching the composition of some of the scenes I was blown away. The term 'visionary director' might be overused these days, but not on Jodorowsky it's not.
Personal Shopper was a very pleasant surprise. I'd heard something about this film last year on the Bret Easton Ellis show; I can't remember what that something was, but it was enough to pique my curiosity, so that when I saw this pop up on Netflix recently, I ear-marked it. Really cool film, and it made me want to watch more from director Olivier Assayas.
Playlist from 3/04:
Joy Division - Still
Cocksure - T.V.M.A.L.S.V.
Cold Cave - Cherish the Lights Years
Cold Showers - Matter of Choice
Card of the day:
Lots of Swords lately. There's conflict on the horizon? To clarify, I pulled two more cards, so here's what the whole 3-card spread looks like:
This looks like a lot of confusion, or tiny skirmishes that ultimately play into the reverse side of my psychology. You know, the part of you that doesn't want you to finish those things you've worked so hard on? Chock this up to me not working at all on my book yesterday, but watching three movies instead. That wasn't easy; I positioned it as a 'day of rest' in my head, because I'd been craving new content, but really I should have made some time. It's hard for me to fit anything into a weekday that's not writing, so to knock out those films and 'fill the well' I went the other way completely. The understanding was - and here's where I think the Knight of Cups comes in - I work my ass off for the rest of the week and through the weekend. See that Chalice with the Crab he's reaching for? Almost in reach. That's the book. So very close now that I have to be careful not to sabotage it.
I've been waiting for this documentary for a while now. Can't wait.
Hopefully going to the theatre to see this later today. I'm posting the trailer, but I haven't watched it; I want to go in blind, as I'd not even heard of it until K mentioned it two days ago.
Happy Birthday to one of my extraordinary co-hosts on The Horror Vision, Ray Larragoitiy.
It started strong, but around page 100, Alan Campbell's Sea of Ghosts became magnetic and I ca no longer put it down. The world Campbell has built, this drowned, imperial ghetto, soaked in the fall-out poverty of endless war and a desperate population, is both beautiful and affecting. There are scenes here that I visualize perfectly, in a way that makes me suspect I am seeing exactly what the author saw when he penned them. It's that vivid. HIGHLY recommended.
It's a real shame these books, the two Gravedigger Chronicles volumes Mr. Campbell published earlier this decade, didn't find their audience. I just ordered the second volume, The Art of Hunting, from a bookseller on Ebay. I worked at Borders for five years from 2006 to 2011. We received and sold all three main volumes of Campbell's Deepgate Codex series, but I remember we never received Sea of Ghosts in 2011 when it was originally published. Honestly, I'm not even certain the Gravedigger books were available in America. Tor is the publisher, and in crawling around online, trying to catch up with Campbell's been doing these last few years, I've seen on his facebook that apparently there is a third volume ready for print but Tor wouldn't invest in it because the first two volumes didn't sell well. To that I say, Did you fucking market them at all? Because as a fan, I've had to scratch and claw for every bit of information I've garnered about these books since their inception, and even on Amazon they fetch an insane aftermarket price. So no, I'd say you did not. I hold out hope someone will give this book and any future projects Mr. Campbell has up his sleeve a home, because he is an exceptional writer. This is the kind of Fantasy we need, not more Knights and Dragons.
Playlist from 2/28:
The Cure - Pornography
The Cure - Faith/Carnage Visors (Side B)
Deafheaven - Black Brick
Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
Firewater - The Ponzi Scheme
Deafheaven - New Bermuda
Playlist from 3/01:
Wasted Theory - Warlords of the New Electric
Baroness - Purple
Ritual Howls - Turkish Leather
Budapest Festival Orchestra - Igor Stravinsky: The Firebird Suite
Budapest Festival Orchestra - Igor Stravinsky: Petrushka
Cocksure - K.K.E.P.
Firewater - The Ponzi Scheme
Deafheaven - Black Brick
Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
Deafheaven - New Bermuda
Card of the day:
Epiphany. Good. I'm posting this, tearing Sea of Ghosts from my hands and digging in to work on my own book, which is coming along swimmingly.
