After about 17 years of vegetarianism, I've started eating fish. It was a tough decision, and has taken some work in getting my body re-acclimated, but I'm enjoying the new options. The real driver was my lactose intolerance...going out to eat was getting very difficult and repetitive.
I have to say, sushi is pretty awesome.
I've also put my zine out to pasture for a while. I guess I got a little burnt out. It was beginning to feel like I was building with legos instead of writing; not to mention the mortification of putting two issues out with the wrong year on the cover.
I think I will bring it back eventually. Maybe this fall. But it will be as a full-size zine, come out quarterly, and no longer be free. But for now, I'm going to give my brain some time to recharge.
For the record, I love reading about conspiracies. Government mind control, Nazi occult UFO super-weapons, secret societies, cover-ups, and all that.
I don't necessarily believe them. But I think that somewhere in the spectrum of craziness are nuggets of truth here and there. Heck, some people probably still are unaware of the MK Ultra experiments.
And some of it so darn wacky that it's just plain fun to read about.
All that being said, I think there's a danger with getting so involved with these things that it creates a paranoiac religion. In a world that's largely indifferent, I think it gives some individuals a sense of importance, because the government is lying to ME. It gives the person a framework large enough to encompass an international tragedy like Japan.
I think it can become terribly unhealthy; be aware, be active, but don't let second-guessing current events and government poison your life. Because hell, if you really believe all that, they're doing enough of that already!
The band I'm opening for tonight, Black Tape for a Blue Girl, is the featured article in the the City Paper's music section.
It's cool to see them with such high profile local coverage, but it's not the best-researched article.
For starters, much of the article talks about how their latest album, 10 Neurotics, represents such a dramatic break with their past sound. Except it doesn't; They were already incorporating Dark Cabaret into their sound in The Scavenger Bride, Projekt had already released a Dark Cabaret compilation, and had signed a couple of Dark Cabaret bands.
They also talk about the new singer's background with The Cruxshadows, but fail to mention the other singer, Athan Maroulis at all, nevermind the whole Spahn Ranch thing. Heck, they didn't even mention his brother being an American Idol contestant, for fluff value.
Yeah, I know that not every music journalist is such a dark music geek as I. But all this information can be found via Wikipedia in a few minutes, and if you're going to do a feature article, do it right.
Okay, that's exaggerating. But we both have these tiny spots high up on our temples that look like someone took a large pin, poked a hole, and it stayed that way.
Mine used to be behind my hairline, quite some years ago, ahem.
I thought I'd bring this up because after shaving my head this morning and getting out of the shower, I noticed some water still cupped in the hole in my head.
I still wonder what's at the bottom of the hole in my head. I like to think that it goes down to the bone, but know that's just a flight of fancy.
After talking with Jim about Combichrist opening for Rammstein at Madison Square Garden, I've been doing some thinking.
VNV Nation, The Cruxshadows, and Combichrist need to get even bigger.
I don't like VNV Nation at all. I can't stand Future-Pop, and consider their live show uninspired. The Cruxshadows, as probably the most popular Goth band around, represent a travesty of taste to me. Combichrist is mac'n'cheese music - appealing, but not terribly good for you.
Yet, I posit that it would be beneficial for them to increase even more in popularity.
Why?
It's easy to forget Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails in the mid 90s, amidst the former's increasingly poor output and ho-hum shock tactics, and the latter's self-indulgent noodlings. But early on, they managed to bridge popular and underground music. A number of people thought that this would lead to Goth & Industrial finally hitting it big. We know better now. It's not like Chemlab entered rotation on MTV or Black Tape for a Blue Girl were featured on Unplugged.
But it did have an effect. Sure, we had plenty of you're-doing-it-wrong Mansonites and tourists ending up in the clubs. But the popularity of the Nothing stable legitimately brought a pretty big influx of people into the community.
I suspect a blow-up of a band like Combichrist could do the same. And that could make a world of difference with our struggling concerts and club nights. Right now we have a larger number of people that pay attention to the aforementioned three bands while seemingly being uncaring of the deeper depths of the genre, and a smaller group of passionate people that do care. If even a tenth of that larger audience were to cross over, it would do a world of good.
After less than a week, I'm beating the cold that gripped me last Saturday, just in time for the sunshine and warmer temperatures.
Last night Becki and I started watching the Dark Shadows early 90s re-boot on Netflix. Both of us watched it as kids, and it's very interesting re-visiting the series. Plenty of spookiness and melodrama.
I think you can tell a lot about a particular piece of vampire cinema or literature by whether the vampires that always kill who they feed on, or are able to do so without draining their victims dry.
But damn if the series doesn't confirm the fact that the early 90s is one of the worst periods for fashion. It's like everyone took 80s fashion, stripped out all the good things, and tried to make the worst of it look cool. Spandex, ugly colors, shoulder pads, unflatteringly cut clothing, big hair on women, too much gel on men. I laughed when Barnabas was wearing a grey turtleneck and a silk black smoking jacket. Ugh.
It's no wonder Grunge came along and hit it big - wearing ratty clothes was a far better alternative to this stuff.
We recently watched the original Last House on the Left. And, I hate to say it, I was disappointed. Perhaps it was the ridiculous music used on the soundtrack, along with the slapstick cop comic relief? Wes Craven has often used humor and horror together, but here I think it back-fired, completely neutering the horror of the flick.
On the other hand, I also watched Romero's Season of the Witch, which I did enjoy. Concerning a bored suburban housewife's dabbling in witchcraft, it was relatively bloodless, with some experimental sequences worthy of Jodorowsky. One thing that was disappointing, was that most of the action took place inside, so you didn’t get the usual feel of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania that was found in his earlier works.
Finally, Becki and I finally got around to watching the first episode of Dexter. So far, it's not hooking me. I'll give it another shot, but I think the main character just isn't appealing. It's like American Psycho with Bale's intensity to make it work.
And that's about it. I might re-watch The Brood later on this rainy day.
Last night proved to be another show, that while seemingly cursed, still managed to be fun. First, Agnes Wired for Sound were unable to play, but they were replaced with the excellent Wreckcreation.
I arrived to find out that the soundman at the Smiling Moose still hadn't shown, and the other opener, H.A.T.E., had cancelled. To be honest, I was a little leery of them based on their name.
I hung around chatting with friends while the soundman continued to not be there. The headlining act was getting pretty pissed at the guy, with good reason. Finally, hours late, the guy shows up.
Urn, from Chicago, played first. They had a very European Goth Metal feel. Lots of hair and headbanging, clean and growled vocals. Pretty intense. I was curious about them since the singer/guitarist had played guitars for a short time in the Electric Hellfire Club. I can't say they had much in common with their sound, but they put on a good show.
Wreckcreation headlined and played a very enjoyable set. The set was a bit more keyboard-heavy than others, but certainly not in a bad way. Performing as a three-piece, they were tight and energetic.
I walked home as fast as I could, eager to get to sleep. I've never given much mind to the Smiling Moose boycott; it's never been a real hangout of mine, but if I want to see a band, I'm going to go see a band regardless of where they're playing.
That being said, I was aghast when I went downstairs in-between bands and saw that someone was doing stand-up comedy on the stage there. Or at least, they were trying to; he wasn't very funny. The Moose seems to be trying to change its clientele, to a bit more upscale one, what with the new Ikea tables and menu. Yet, they still book predominantly punk & metal bands, and they still have all the horror memorabilia up. Right now they're trying to have the best of both worlds, something I don't think will last. They'll either have to take the horror stuff down or go back to their old ways. Or go under. The last thing the Southside needs is another d-bag bar.
The Smiling Moose's soundman seems to be a perennial source of difficulty. He was also late when I played the Moose, and does a minimal, mediocre job. With only two bands playing last night, his extremely late showing was the only reason I didn't get home until past midnight. Even the Moose staff were pissed at him. I certainly wouldn't lament it if he got fired.
For all that, I enjoyed myself. It was a beautiful night to go out, and the moon was bright as polished silver.
Current Music
The Human Quena Orchestra "A Natural History of Failure"
The temperatures have been making me quite happy. Finally, released from this hellishly hot summer. I tend to be pretty cavalier about the seasons (neither winter freeze nor summer scorch dissuades me from going out and doing things), but this one seemed pretty bad.
It's nice to put the shorts away and break out the jeans. Leather jacket weather will probably be here in another month or two.
It's time to enjoy oktoberfest beers and pumpkin ales. Bourbon neat instead of on the rocks. And red wine instead of chilled white.
Soon Eve will be sticking her nose in every pile of leaves she can.
Autumn always seems to buoy my spirits, and they certainly have needed buoying.
I was going through my old writings when I came across this old editorial from the very early days of my zine on my love of noise and muddle:
It can be easy to understand why beautiful music is enjoyable, to speak of melody, rhythm, and poignancy. But I also have a deep love for ugly music.
There’s something incredibly satisfying in the alienation of the sounds of Power Electronics, original Industrial, Noise, Dark Ambient, and the like. Some music is so underground that it will never be in any danger from the co-opting of commercialist interests.
Or alternately, in a world where we are surrounded by so much noise, noise as music is a form of adaptation. We can’t control the rumble of jets, buses, trains, and construction, but we can control the noise we choose to listen to. And even in chaos, one can eventually hear patterns and rhythms. “One man’s trash is another’s treasure” easily applies to what could be considered the debris of music. There’s plenty of gear that promises noise reduction and clear signals, but not all of us need that. There are plenty of musicians that seek perfect clarity, but it's possible to sound to clean, to clear, too soulless.
