Stephen McClurg's Blog, page 22

Marginalia #34

Probably not for those with only a general interest in horror and other films scores. However, if you’ve ever been interested in film scoring there’s a lot of cool stuff here, especially about inspiration and different approaches to film scoring.

Fascinating film, often classified as blaxploitation, while pushing at the edges of that genre, too. The 1973 film is based on a novel from the ’60s involving an African American man who becomes a token for the CIA to show the “diversity” in their ranks (this also explains three of the meanings of the title). The agent surreptitiously goes rogue and begins training underground Black Resistance fighters across the US. Plus, a score by Herbie Hancock!

A doc on a genre that I’ve enjoyed my whole life. Jaws is one of the first movies I remember watching and so many of the rip-offs are wonderful, bad, and wonderfully bad. I love how the doc goes into the wider cultural and social aspects of the aftermath of Jaws and the work of Ron and Valerie Taylor, whose expeditions gave us some of the first iconic images of Great Whites. I also enjoyed the outline of the sharksploitation genre cycle.

I remember a time when you could wander through used record bins and find all kinds of early synth music for dimes and dollars. While that’s certainly in the past, at least there are some nice remixed/remastered versions of that work coming out. This is a compilation of Garson’s pseudo-spacey sounds. He’s most famous for Plantasia.

I was on Substrate Radio recently where Psychic Tuesday’s series Experimental Mind Mincing held a listening party for a new album I worked on. You can hear me discuss Inadmissible Evidence on Psychic Tuesday Radio’s Soundcloud or on Substrate’s Mixcloud.

A new review for The Primevals is available at Horror DNA.

And there’s a new playlist for those interested over at Tidal: McClurg’s Musicalia #35: No higher than a Hopkinsville goblin.

At Horror DNA: The Primevals Review

I’ve got a new review for The Primevals over at Horror DNA.

At Psychic Tuesday Radio: The Abdomen

It was a joy to be a guest on Psychic Tuesday Radio to talk about the new Abdomen release, Inadmissible Evidence. You can listen to the episode below:

I start chatting with him about an hour in, but the whole show is always worth a listen. Thanks to Paul and Joel for featuring the album and having me on the show!

Marginalia #33

Poems about life during the AIDS crisis. Gunn was British, but spent most of his life in San Francisco. He was also a formalist at a time when free verse reigned. Some incredible poems about death and grief combined with profound affirmations of love and life.

A rewatch for me. Love this one. Gorgeous photography, a great score, and battling alchemists during the English Civil War.

Dearest Sister, a Laotian folk horror film, is slow, but has interesting character development. I could understand some of the basic social and class commentary, but I think I missed a certain amount of specifics. Slow, but worth another viewing.

I mention current listenings now and again on Instagram, but none has had more people react to it than this one. Abdou El Omari was the Moroccan psychedelic organ king, though I’m not sure how many others were vying for that title. A fairly chilled out record perfect for–as the title indicates–hot summer nights.

Habibi Funk’s first contemporary release, though Charif Megarbane’s Marzipan feels like a late 60s / early 70s film score from the Middle East. Some very cool arrangements.

The Abdomen’s Inadmissible Evidence is available on Bandcamp and streaming services. Field recordings mixed with composed and improvised guitar pieces. I’ll be on an upcoming Psychic Tuesday Radio episode to talk about it and who knows what else.

A new playlist is available: McClurg’s Musicalia #33: Summer’s Dissolve features Jane Birkin, Def Leppard, Brujeria, Merzbow, and others.

New Sounds: The Abdomen

The Abdomen (a duo with Ryan Jetten) has a new recording out called Inadmissible Evidence. It’s a series of field recordings, improvisation, and guitar pieces. Bugs, crows, lawnmowers, mall ambience, and bar chatter sit beside mostly acoustic guitar compositions and improvisations.

It’s available on streaming platforms and Bandcamp.

Here’s the first track.

New Sounds: The Abdomen

The Abdomen is one of the oldest collaborations I’ve had. It started as a group trading four track cassettes and eventually CD-Rs and digital files. This version improvises with objects, cassettes, synths, effects, and whatever is to hand. This version of the group tends more toward soundscapes and film scores. Distant Recordings is available on Bandcamp.

New Sounds: Duo Dacryops

Duo Dacryops started as an improvised group featuring upright bass and electronics/noise and after a long hiatus, has returned in a slightly different mode. This version improvises with objects, cassettes, synths, effects, and whatever is to hand. This version of the group tends more toward soundscapes and film scores. Distant Recordings is available on Bandcamp.

At Horror DNA: Moths Review

I have a review of Jane Hennigan’s debut novel Moths over at Horror DNA.

Marginalia #32

Next Thursday I’ll be opening the Ahleuchatistas tour in Mobile! I’ve got a new Serenity Dagger video and will be improvising on synthesizers with it. Mobile’s own Future Hate will be playing, as well.

The Ahleuchatistas will be playing prog-punk in a new power-trio format featuring an incredible line-up of Shane Parish (fresh off one of my favorite live sets this year with the Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet), Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, John Zorn, and many others), Danny Piechocki (Jitters, Terms).

1930s Hitchcock playing with one of my favorite genres: The Old Dark House. At the beginning, he goes for it, including much of the comedy traditional to the genre, though it’s quite broad and not all that funny. Hitchcock does the understated stuff better. Great mood with some cool camera ideas and visuals.

Around this time, he used models for certain shots in his films and I was a little bummed since this was all in a house. Until it’s not and then we have a train and bus chase ending at a port and about 70% done with models! Glorious!

AKA She-Wolf. A Polish winter Gothic period piece with elements of folk tales and folk horror. I loved this, but it is slow and the eruptions of horror are brief.

This was the first Herzog film I saw, so it and the soundtrack have magical qualities to me. Maybe the first time I noticed contemporary music and musical techniques played against a period piece. I think the dissociative effect of that choice is something that I came to love.

Early industrial noise pop. Honestly, I don’t know anything about the band, but I found this recording and it keeps getting better the more I listen to it.

A new playlist is live! McClurg’s Musicalia #27: Drinking from the Blood Moon. Go have a sip.

Marginalia #31 and Musicalia #26

I’ve been reading Baldwin off and on since high school and at some point I need to read through the bibliography. Baldwin has a fabulous way of weaving social commentary into emotional narratives with indelible characters. Not perfect, but well worth a reread. And like much of Baldwin’s work, it has some glorious and devastating sentences.

I have a review of The Year of the Storm over at Horror DNA.

The only girl-in-prison, all-women pirate gang, kung fu blaxploitation film I’ve ever seen. I think that tells you enough as far as if you want to check this out yourself. Gloriously hammy and fun.

I have a review of Moon Garden over at Horror DNA.

You can check out a new playlist over at Tidal: McClurg’s Musicalia #26: A lonely planet in the velvety folds of space.