Stephen McClurg's Blog, page 17

Musicalia #66: Surface Tension

The playlist, links, and haiku are available over at The Drunken Odyssey!

Musicalia #65: Melting. Renewal.

The playlist, links, and haiku are all available at The Drunken Odyssey!

Marginalia #48

Exactly what the full title says it is! Rare these days, but true here. I found the reading of it consistent with other versions and interpretations I’ve read. Barnes is refreshingly open and up front about his motives and suggestions and where he sees the ideas here fitting into a larger spiritual landscape. Definitely recommend for those getting interested in mysticism and esoterica. His Hermetica 101 is good, too.

Somehow feels like a hilarious combination of Michael Haneke and Wes Anderson. Roy Andersson is a new director to me and I can’t wait to see more of his work. Feels like Dan Clowes’s Eightball material more than the actual film adaptations do.

This had to be an influence on the Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria section of Fantasia.

I’m not sure how I’m just now discovering the discography of Peter Ivers, the composer behind the songs in Eraserhead. Glorious.

Here is the recent Sleep In Cinema episode where I got to chat with Gareth and Craig about Peter Greenaway’s A Zed & Two Noughts.

Sleep In Cinema: A Zed & Two Noughts

I’m thrilled to be returning to Sleep In Cinema tomorrow to talk about Peter Greenaway’s A Zed & Two Noughts (1985). You can listen online at Substrate Radio or get the app and listen to it on your phone! A replay will be available at some point on Mixcloud.

New Video: Ghost Food at Exprov 18

I’ve been a fan of Ghost Food since they started releasing music on Sweet Wreath. I fell in love with the Spearfinger project and last year’s Moon project. I felt a kinship in terms of themes and sounds, both visual and auditory, so I was both excited and nervous to get asked to improvise as part of Ghost Food for a recent show. There’s a video below, and despite getting a rough start, I feel like our cryptic set went well. I might be recording with them in the future, and while I’m looking forward to it, I also don’t want to mess up the dynamics with a group I genuinely like. They’ll likely be more updates throughout the year. Thanks to Corinna for videotaping and Taylor for all his work making these shows happen!

And oddly related to our cryptic set is the new release of Tok Yathraa’s Bomoh: Black and Roll Anthology now available over at Jackhammer Music. I posted about my participation in this absolute blast of a release over here.

Musicalia #64: Over the Bent World Broods

The playlist, haiku, and links are available at The Drunken Odyssey!

Musicalia #63: Last Night at the Three of Cups

You can grab the links and read the haiku and playlist over at The Drunken Odyssey.

New Music: Tok Yathraa: Bomoh: Black and Roll Anthology

From Jackhammer Music:

The definitive “all killer/no filler” collection of the amazing Tok Yathraa’s work, culled from his wildly fun and original thematic albums that center around Asian folklore/horror. The Singapore based artist explores the mythology and creatures of Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, etc and blends the tales into a music that truly falls under the misappropriated genre of WORLD. It’s metal, it’s folk, it’s rock, it’s heavy, it’s acoustic, it’s just plain GREAT. You’ll hear traces of Mercyful Fate, Sepultura, Traditional melodies of the indigenous, tropical folk pop, and even the chaos of Faxed Head. It’s RAW and it RULES. 

You can pre-order now, with release coming on February 28. Also, you can listen and support Tok Yathraa through his Bandcamp page.

I’m excited about this project finally being available, and was thrilled to play a small part in it. I helped select and sequence the songs. The music hits a sweet spot for me, a combination of DIY ethos, a genre-defiance, folklore, mythology, and horror.

Some listeners might be interested to know that Trey Spruance (Secret Chiefs 3, Mr. Bungle) worked on mastering the audio levels since the tracks came from several different sources.

New Show: Ghost Food at Exprov 18

I had already made plans to go to Exprov 18 because it had a lineup of some of my favorite local acts. I would have gone if it were only Texan Danny Kamins performing–he’s a killer player.

I got asked to help out with the Ghost Food set, which is exciting for me, since I’ve been a fan of their work since they started. Check out their Spearfinger release and the moon series on their main band page.

The show will also feature PawPaw Freeman. Come on out if you’re in the Magic City on Friday!

Musicalia #62: A lamplighter lost in the hills.

You can get the weekly haiku, playlist, and playlist links over at The Drunken Odyssey.