New Year’s Eve Sucks
It’s always built up to be the biggest party night of the year, but does it ever live up to that standard? It doesn’t for me, which is why I’ll be in the middle of the woods in Wyoming when the ball drops. Happy ‘06!
KMFDM – Hau Ruck (Metropolis)
Sascha Konietzko’s KMFDM has become formulaic at this point, 20 years since the band’s inception, but the formula – an airtight interplay between thunderous staccato synths, four-to-the-floor rhythms that force you to dance, and politically charged lyrics on the military-industrial complex – is still a flavorful one. Hau Ruck is no Nihil, but it will still satiate your desire for industrial metal bombast. The addition in recent years of former Drill singer Lucia Cifarelli is a welcome one, as is guitarist Steve White, who almost makes you forget that Gunter Schulz is no longer the band’s lead axe man.
Pig – Pigmata (Metropolis)
Former KMFDM player Raymond Watts has been making balls-to-the-wall industrial crunch for a while now, and this album is no different. Solid, but unexceptional.
Adam Ant’s “Goody Two Shoes” in a Diet Coke Commercial
This totally ruined my evening. Why?!
Various Artists – A John Waters Christmas (New Line)
John Waters’ favorite Christmas carol is “Santa Claus Is A Black Man,” and its been added to my list of favorites too after I got this weird collection of obscure Christmas songs Waters put together.
S.E. Schlosser Spooky New York (Globe Pequot, 2005)
This cute little book was given to me as a gift, and it’s filled with haunting old folk tales that take place in various locales across New York state. Most of the ones dealing with Brooklyn and Manhattan involve a lot of drinking – no wonder those people saw a bunch of crazy, supernatural s**t!
Jarboe – The Men Album (Atavistic)
For six years Jarboe has been working on this double disc album which features collaborations with David J., Blixa Bargeld, Foetus, Paz Lenchantin, and a bunch more respected artists. It runs the gamut from experimental squealing to danceable synth beats. Jarboe is as weird as ever, and I love it.
Virus #1, November 2005
A shiny new magazine that covers all kinds of great dark music. They also have a frequently updated web presence
here.
The Devil’s Rejects (R)
The sequel to House Of 1000 Corpses proves that Rob Zombie is a real filmmaker (as opposed to just a hobbyist) with its Easy Rider feel, gritty 70’s aesthetic, and cool cinematography where one shot will freeze on screen and then slide off screen vertically or horizontally to make room for the next. The only thing missing is Karen Black as Mother Firefly – Leslie Easterbrook, who replaces her in the sequel, is nowhere near as slutty or unhinged. While the first film was somewhat of an homage to a bunch of different classic horror flicks, The Devil’s Rejects has more original material for its plot line. Zombie didn’t even include any of his music in this one, opting instead to keep the 70’s classic rock a’comin. Never thought I’d see a car full of people brutally shot to death while Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Freebird” played sweetly in the background. I really recommend it if you missed it in theatres like I did…
Truman Capote – In Cold Blood (Random House, 1966)
I put off reading this non-fiction classic for years, and finally decided to give it a go and I am soooo glad I did! Can’t wait to see how Bennett Miller’s Capote deals with the story…
