Terence Hannum / Locrian

Offering from Terence Hannum on Vimeo.

Also check out Terence's experimental drone band Locrian.

They have several releases out and an upcoming LP on Bloodlust!

New Zealand Book Council Ad

This is one impressive ad for The New Zealand Book Council. It makes me want to read "Going West" by Maurice Gee, that's for sure.

You can see more work by the studio that created this ad at andersenm.com

Thanks yet again to Mr. Resmini for the recommendation.

Étant donnés

Sometimes I get down on living in Philadelphia. When that happens I remind myself of three special cultural assets that always make me feel better about this city:

1) Exhumed Films

2) The Mütter Museum

3) "Étant donnés"

Today I discovered that there is an entire book dedicated to Marcel Duchamp's masterpiece "Étant donnés: 1º la chute d'eau, 2º le gaz d’éclairage." If there ever were one single work of art the deserved an exhaustive study it's this one. You can pick up the book over here at Amazon.

Here's a fun little story for you... several years back I was visiting The Philadelphia Museum of Art. As usual, I of spent as long as I could with "Étant donnés" without looking like a psychopath. So, I finished peering through the peep holes in the giant wooden doors (to see this - NOT WORK SAFE) and there was a mom and her two kids behind me. The mom looked through the holes, looked a little confused but not offended, and turned to leave. Her kids were too short to reach the holes so they both excitedly asked their mom what she saw. She tried to deflect the question but they insisted. She said, "a naked lady." The two kids looked at each other with bulging eyes and simultaneously went "ooooooooooooooooh!" Ha ha. It was amazing.

If you are ever in Philadelphia I suggest you don't miss seeing "Étant donnés" in person. No photo can do it justice. And while you're here go to The Mütter Museum and try to catch an Exhumed Films screening. Fuck cheese steaks.

Stracult Giallo

I am breaking with tradition a bit here. Normally I only feature things that have some relevance within the last five years. BUT I just ran across this documentary on Italian Giallo cinema and couldn't resist sharing it with you. It's more of a collection of interviews and trailers than a proper documentary but I loved it. You can watch the other three parts starting HERE.

Ok, here's a flimsy connection to current times... the most recent Dario Argento film is called "Giallo" (trailer below). After the travesty that was "Mother of Tears" (his previous film) I have my doubts it will be any good but we all shall find out soon enough as I assume it will come out on DVD in the U.S. this year.

Wolfgang Riechmann / Ferdi Video

My life seems to be filled with weird synchronicity. This post is an example.

Just this week I fell in love with the album "Wunderbar" by Wolfgang Riechmann (who was tragically murdered before his only LP was first released). My friend Rennie Jaffe recommended the album to me a while back and I just finally got around to giving it a thorough listen. This is some just plain great Krautrock from 1978 with some nearly synthpop moments. The album was just reissued last year so I knew I wanted to share it with you folks here. I thought MAYBE there would be some kind of video on YouTube to spruce up what would be an otherwise sparse post.

Holy crap, not only is there a great fan video that was just posted a couple of weeks ago but... it's made up of... like Colors in the Dark man. Cue the theme from Twilight Zone and watch me disappear into a concentric circle vortex with tons of analog delay going "whooooooooooah."

Ahem.... sorry about that.



You can pick up this analog synth experimental masterpiece on CD here on Amazon. It's also available on vinyl (click here for various retailer links).

You can see many more interesting fan videos by Ferdi on his YouTube channel.

Buzzov-en / Orion Landau

(Click image to see larger)

Check out this amazing cover art by Orion Landau for the new/old Buzzov-en release "Violence From the Vault." Orion and I worked together at Relapse Records and I am consistently impressed by how his work just gets better and better. You can see another great piece of Orion's work on this old post.

Buzzov-en's brand of feedback drenched doom crust SHOULD be familiar to you if you like your metal dirty. If not, check them out immediately. As for the EP itself, Relapse says it best... Violence from the Vault were the first recordings to follow the bands venerable Sore album (1994), and would prove to be the last with that lineup. These tracks, unearthed for the first time since their 1995 recording, are a testament to one of the most unique and overlooked bands from the US underground.

I heard an unofficial version of these recordings several years back and they totally kick ass. It's a real pity the band wasn't able to produce a full LP's worth of material at that time.

You can get the 12" Vinyl here at Relapse (and scroll down for the CD and shirts).

And you can get an MP3 of the track "Mainline" over here at allthatisheavy.com

La Fonction de l'orgasme

La Fonction de l'orgasme from Lamashtu 93 on Vimeo.

WARNING: The above video is NOT WORK SAFE.

You can see more videos by Lamashtu on his Vimeo Page.

Also check out his official website at lamashtu.net as well as his blog (French language) at lamashtu-transmission.blogspot.com

Mr. Francisco, The American Rager

(Click images to enlarge)

Mr. Francisco is a mysterious poet / musician / artist in my home base of Philadelphia. I find all his work to be a beautiful combination of street grime and sarcastic intelligence. This isn't "dark" in the usual sense we deal with here on Colors of the Dark but that's what makes it more engaging.

He does an excellent poetry / photo blog called American Rager (from which the photos included in this post were taken). His poetry will be featured in an upcoming book - stay tuned to his blog for further information.



Mr. Francisco also runs the noise label Silvox Recordings

His solo noise project is called M AX NOI MACH. Click here for the M AX NOI MACH - "ORGANS" Video

Mr. Francisco also contributes to the group ANGELDUST (NO NO NO not THAT Angel Dust) Click here for the ANGELDUST - "UNDER THE EL" Video







Many thanks to Mr. Francisco for allowing me to repost his work.

Worm

You can see what else these folks are up to at gallowgames.com

42nd Street Forever / Alamo Drafthouse

As you may have noticed, I love movie trailers. So naturally I am a huge fan of Synapse Films ongoing DVD series "42nd Street Forever."

I finally got around to seeing "Vol. 5 - Alamo Drafthouse Edition" recently and was blown away. First off, the collection of trailers is amazing. Second, I had NO CLUE that The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema was so fucking cool. The DVD comes with a great documentary on The Alamo. I was so impressed I actually contemplated moving to Texas. This thought NEVER crossed my mind before (ha ha).

One of these days I'm getting my ass down there for one of their crazy cult film fests.

So, do yourself a favor and...

1) Buy or at least see 42nd Street Forever 5: Alamo Drafthouse Edition (click here to order)

2) If you are anywhere near Texas, get thyself to the Drafthouse (click here for website)

3) Check out the Alamo's YouTube Channel.

4) Buy/See the other four "42nd Street Forever" DVDs. They are all excellent.

OvO

Whoah! I just discovered the doom noise duo known as OvO. I am perplexed but I really admire their weird approach to "music." Would it be unfair to say Jucifer meets Zeni Geva with some of their own special evil Euro spices mixed in?

You can check out their music and several more videos on their MySpace page. And you can pick up some of their releases (and a free MP3) here at Load Records.

Blood Fountains / Stephen Kasner

My fellow artist Stephen Kasner has been very good to Colors of the Dark this week. He has not only shared some of his beautiful artwork (some rarely seen), he has been kind enough to let me host an exclusive MP3 from his new music project.

Click here to download a five minute edit of the Blood Fountains song "White Wax Blood" from "Floods"

"Floods" is the debut release of dark experimental music by Kasner's project Blood Fountains (cover above). Stephen is backed by David Beaver, Mat Woods, Cheryl Pyle and the haunting vocals of Yoshiko Ohara (Bloody Panda). I am a serious fan of dark ambient music but there's more going on here than that label does justice to. My experience of listening to "Floods" is like being willingly carried off by a river of darkness and mourning. It is beautiful and simultaneously disturbing, just like Stephen's art. The combination of both these elements makes for quite a moving experience.

This CD is in a limited edition of 750 copies and is available for sale here (along with shirts and more).

For more information on Blood Fountains go to the official website. You can learn more on Facebook or MySpace. Also be sure to check out a special Blood Fountains video here.

As for Kasner's artwork make sure to go to his official website. I also highly recommend his beautiful art book "Works 1993-2006" (you purchase the hard cover here or paperback here).

Here's a special selection of Stephen's work...


"Untitled (Black Dream)"


A collaboration between Kasner and artist Steven Cerio.


"NDE II"


"Away"


"Architect"

All the following images can all be seen larger by clicking on them.


"The Flowergarden"


"Apostle V"


"Landscape"


Stephen's art for the Code "Resplendent Grotesque" CD cover


Code "Resplendent Grotesque" CD panel 1


Code "Resplendent Grotesque" CD panel 2

Many thanks to Stephen for the use of his art and music.

Soldier's Disease / Chondritic Sound

My friend Greh from Detroit is a busy guy. He's already well respected for his excellent "psychedelic industrial death noise" label Chondritic Sound as well as his many music projects. Recently he started an EXCELLENT blog called "Soldier's Disease." I pray he will keep updating it regularly as I am hooked.

Besides sharing some items of his strange and wonderful collections he also shows more of his great artwork. I particularly love the below images relating to his recent Hive Mind release "Cities in Bronze"...



You can still get this beautiful two tape set (limited to 100) over at Chondritic Sound - just click on "catalog".







And if all that wasn't enough Greh just put out a limited edition recycled vintage porno zine called "Birch Fever" (more info here). Like I said, the man is busy.

Eno's 77 Million Paintings

Here's the BBC Collective article with a photo gallery from this exhibition.

As for Brian Eno's music... I haven't kept up on all he's been up to since the 70's but I definitely love these two very different albums from that era:

Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure

Cluster & Eno (previously mentioned in the BBC Krautrock Documentary here).

For all things Eno go to EnoWeb and enoshop.co.uk

I've Got the Fucking Power...

...and I'm about to use it.

My apologies for not keeping up on the blog last week. I always shoot for at least three posts a week and I already dropped the ball. I got caught up in my own painting and working on a new music project (more on that soon).

I will make up for it this week - I have many things in the works to share.

Thanks for sticking with me. -Jonathan

R.I.P. Chas Balun (1948 - 2009)

I just found out a couple of days ago that one of my all time favorite horror / cult cinema writers has passed. Chas Balun died on Friday, December 18, after a long and courageous battle with cancer. He was the first critical writer on horror cinema I ever got into. I read his "Connoisseur's Guide to the Contemporary Horror Film" back in the mid 90's and tracked down every single film I hadn't already seen.

I enjoyed everything the man wrote but I must mention his book on Lucio Fulci. "Beyond the Gates" has to have been the very first volume written after Fulci died. Yes, Stephen Thrower's excellent book "Beyond Terror" is more definitive but Chas was on the case first.


Around 10 years ago I spoke to Chas on the phone about a possible illustration job with my then employer Relapse Records. We spent most of the conversation yapping on about horror films of course. I distinctly remember us talking about Fulci's "New York Ripper." I mentioned how much I loved the film and Chas said "you know, Fulci could have dubbed the killers voice any way he liked and he deliberately used that crazy Donald Duck voice... fucking weird." Ha ha. That always stuck in my head.

Anyhow, I consider Chas Balun's writing to have been a MAJOR influence this blog. So please do yourself a favor and read anything you can track down by (or about) the man.

Rest in peace Chas, you were one of a kind!

Here are a bunch of links to various Chas related things online:

The official Deep Red website (sadly it's a bit out of date but make sure to check out the section on his artwork).

Speaking of his art, you can buy several excellent Chas Balun illustrated horror shirt designs over at Rotten Cotton (go to the "Horror, Cult, & Exploitation" section). I would hope that those guys make a special section for Chas' designs soon. In the meantime you can tell which are penned by Balun by his distinctive style. They also have some of his written work in their books section.

Here's a more detailed piece on Balun over at Exploitation Nation.

The first place I heard about Chas was in Shade Rupe's essential "Funeral Party Vol 1." Thankfully the segments on Balun have been compiled into Shade's recent book "Dark Stars Rising."

Chas wrote the script for a never made film called "Chunk Blower." At least we have this excellent trailer by Jim Van Bebber. It seems to me now would be a good time to make this film after all these years.

Finally, here's a recent interview from Fear Zone.

If anyone knows of more good links please let me know and I will update this post.