Stephen McClurg's Blog, page 27

Marginalia #17

I Like Bats (1986) follows a young Polish vampire as she navigates the difficulties of love after she falls for a psychiatrist. Wonky in a fun way. Part of the House of Psychotic Women set.

I’ve been blasting Model Citizen’s 2006 Save It for the Campfire while I get ready for the new album coming soon.

My car jam this week has been the 2008 self-titled release by El Chupa Cobras.

Earlier this week I reviewed Zeria for Horror DNA. I’ll have another review from the Film Maudit 2.0 Festival going live today.

I also did a kind of experimental/film score track for the Disquiet Junto. The prompt was to record ice hitting a glass and make something with it. Details about the process are here.

This week’s playlist contains a tribute to Charles Simic, a favorite writer of mine who died this week and to Jeff Beck. Beck was a an amazing player, but I haven’t connected with his music. I do love his playing on the Stevie Wonder track, “Lookin’ for Another Pure Love,” so you’ll find it there closing out the listening for the week.

At Horror DNA: Zeria Review

I was able to check out some of the features at the Film Maudit 2.0 Festival.

New Sounds: “Overlook” / Disquiet Junto 575: On Ice

This was a quick run through the recording process for the Disquiet Junto. Every year starts with the same prompt: record ice hitting a glass and make something.

As the prompt requires, I recorded ice hitting a glass. I used my iPhone and loaded that audio into the Fluss app that I’ve been wanting to try out. It can be chaotic, so I ran that into Logic with an eq and limiter and recorded live as I adjusted the controls in the app.

If I attempt anything ambient I end up making what sounds like a horror film score, so I just lean into it now. The sample I used plays at the end.

More on this 575th weekly Disquiet Junto project — On Ice (The Assignment: Record the sound of ice in a glass and make something with it) — at: disquiet.com/0575/

More on the Disquiet Junto at: disquiet.com/junto/

Subscribe to project announcements here: tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co: llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0575-on-ice/

My other attempts at the Disquiet Junto are here and here.

Marginalia #16

Comedic anarchy that feels like the Marx Brothers meets MAD Magazine–though MAD didn’t exist in 1941. There’s a great dance sequence provided by Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers with music by Slim Gaillard and Slam Stewart. Beauty!

I can’t explain the excitement of discovering this release. Blood Harvest features Tiny Tim as a potential killer clown. The soundtrack bounces around movie dialogue, vocal performances by the man himself, and glorious 80s horror movie keyboards. It brought much joy over the new year.

If anyone has good info on Mataja, I’d like to hear it. I’ve read a couple of articles and I have more questions than answers. He supposedly built his own instruments and some for Johnny Cash and Geddy Lee.

I happened to be searching through a “Global” selection and saw this. I’ve never heard Yugoslavian folk music that I could remember, and somehow I doubt it sounds like this! This record lands somewhere in the Les Paul or Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant realm. I assume he did overdubs–but maybe he also built effects–I don’t know.

Spiter is a Philly-based black metal/punk band with a serious sense of humor. I recently checked tour dates and realized I missed them a few months ago at a small local place. Really hope to catch the next tour.

For those interested I have a new Musicalia playlist. It features a cowboy song from the BBC, disco from a Birmingham jazz legend, and tracks from Blood Harvest and Branko Mataja albums mentioned above.

You can listen to McClurg’s Musicalia #5 here.

Enjoy! Or not!

Say it with song.

Happy New Year!

More regular posts and updates coming with the new year.

Some playlists for now if you enjoy that sort of thing:

Musicalia #3: Will Hell Be Your Santa Claus?

Musicalia #4: Don’t Lettum Dance on Your New Carpet.

Marginalia #15

Ahh…the Sight and Sound list of greatest films. I’m glad I don’t take those things seriously anymore. I do appreciate seeing the variety of critics’ lists because it challenges me to see movies I may not have come across on my own. Finally saw Vigo’s last film, L’Atalante, which I had confused with von Sternberg’s The Docks of New York. It’s hard to believe Vigo made a few masterpieces and was gone by 29.

Another one from the Sight and Sound list that I had been meaning to watch for years. Beautifully tragic love story in a style reminiscent of the big literary romances.

One of my favorite full-length poetry debuts this year. Frequently circles around ideas and images of family, loss, borders, violence, and love. It often reads like the persona is fractured or we’re getting a view like a compound eye or broken mirror that tells multiple sides at once. That’s an overall impression, the poems are not experimental in that way. Some evocative lines and images.

Horror Noire is one of my favorite documentaries and I was excited about checking out the author’s new work. I was expecting something academic, and this can be, but more than that–it’s hilarious. The humor threw me off at first because so much dialogue about race is serious and angry. Once I settled into the voice of the book, I could acknowledge the serious arguments they were making, while also cracking me up.

Chris Hendrix, an Alabama underground legend, just released a set of acoustic recordings made on a boom box. Great stuff. He looks at love and life and loss with a very pointed sense of humor.

Mississippi bizarro black metal from Vampiric Coffin.

A few folks had asked about some listening recommendations, so I started building some playlists as a way to do that and to keep listening to new music.

Check them out! Or not!

Yeah, these are on Tidal, which may be a nuisance for some, but they have a better record for paying artists. As always, it’s best to see live music and get some merch from the musicians or order from them directly.

Musicalia #1: Goodbye Bad Angel

I’m going on the naughty list with your Christmas Bonus this year. Some bad, maybe offensive, yuletide cheer. Obviously this list is not for everyone.

Musicalia #2: Season’s Beatings

At Horror DNA: Blood Relatives Review

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

Some disappointing news this weekend. AMC Networks, the parent company of Shudder, is laying off personnel, including key people at the horror-streaming service. While I love the various free services out there, especially the ones offering cult films, Shudder has been producing amazing original content, and curating a fantastic range of horror sub-genres with high quality transfers. It would be a shame to see the site start suffering or go the way of FilmStruck, especially since it appears Shudder is doing well in terms of subscribers. I hope if it sinks, then something somehow as good or greater comes of it, similar to how FilmStruck’s demise gave rise to The Criterion Channel.

New Release: Trey Lane’s The Black Scrolls of Golden Age Ufology

Trey is a longtime collaborator and friend. His tastes run so diagonal to mine, it’s frequently difficult coming up with parts when he asks me to. But that challenge is also a lot of fun, But Trey’s a fine bassist with a unique feel and doesn’t need any bass from me. I tend to get asked for additional background colors, but every now and then I get asked to sharpen the foreground. It was a blast doing guitar for some of these songs.

Black Scrolls comes out today on streaming platforms and can be purchased on Bandcamp.

He recently released a lyric visualizer video for “Babe of the Abyss.”

Marginalia #14

I was able to read the second edition that’s coming out next year. Great as a reference, especially if you consider the scores and credits sequences more interesting than most shows themselves. It’s fascinating to get an insight into the process and how it changed over time. The arrangers must have been mainlining speed in amounts rivaling the CBGB crowd.

Paul Leni’s Waxworks (1924) is a fantasy/historical anthology with horror elements. The frame tale is about a poet writing backstories for wax figures played by some major stars of the era, including Conrad Veidt and Emil Jannings. It’s said to have influenced later horror anthologies. It conjured the mood of Lotte Reiniger’s The Adventures of Prince Achmed mixed with German Expressionism.

Paul Leni’s last film. A version of the Old Dark House plot told in a theater after an actor has been killed during a performance. For those who love old mysteries.

Just as there were race records, there were race movies. “Hot Biskits” is a 1931 comedy short by Spencer Williams. The plot involves a bet over a game of miniature golf. Feels like a glimpse into an alternate reality, where we could have had Keaton, Lloyd, Chaplin, and Hot Biskits. Or something like that.

Jessica Bardsley’s 2022 short film “Life Without Dreams” uses original and stock foot to depict the blurring of consciousness that someone might have at 2 am while experiencing continual insomnia and anxiety. I don’t know much else about it, but I enjoyed it.

Any time I’ve had for new music this week has been given over to Kali Malone’s pipe organ drones and synthesized sonic worlds. I’ve spent the most time with Living Torch (2022), The Sacrificial Code (2019), and Cast of Mind (2018).

I recently reviewed Moonchild (1994) over at HorrorDNA for its new Blu-ray release.

At HorrorDNA: Moonchild Review

I reviewed Moonchild over at HorrorDNA.