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curious-minx · 3 years

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Notable 2020 Video Game Soundtracks That Can Be Enjoyed As Standalone Experiences

Video Game Music is gaining recognition, with many soundtracks receiving vinyl pressings, orchestral concert reviews, and an increasing presence on music streaming platforms such as bandcamp and Spotify. We’re also witnessing the uprise of indie video game development teams where games are being made by the sort of passionate type of game designer that takes soundtracks seriously. Soundtracks by small teams of developers such as Celeste, Undertale, Disco Elysium, Hollow Knight, RuneScape, and Lisa: The Joyful are titles with soundtracks that easily stand up against the likes of bigger budget productions made by reliable sources of video game music like Square-Enix and Nintendo.

2020 is no exception in terms of having one of the biggest budget soundtracks around with Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which builds upon a legacy of industry-standard-creating soundtrack work. Taken as a whole, Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s soundtrack is clocking in at over 8 and half hours of music. The soundtrack has three composers with the Beethoven of video game music, Nobuo Uematsu, most notably coming out of retirement to get the job done. Here are some other amazing 2020 video game soundtracks more conducive for standalone background listening:

TETRIS EFFECT by HYDELIC

Genres: EDM, Ambient Pop and straight up Ambient

Describing this album makes me feel like I’m some sort of burnt out fanciful raver, head permanently lodged in the clouds. The level of giddy technicolor enthusiasm rivals that of Icelandic Sigur Ros frontman Jonsi, but if he wanted to keep his post-rock firmly planted in the outdoor music festival on Mars territory. Despite the album’s notable two hours runtime, each and every song feels like its own uniquely crafted composition, no repetitive motifs or nostalgia-baiting.

There is unfortunately still a Tetris movie in some sort of shaggy state of development in Hollywood right now. The movie is being billed as a dull biopic about the creator of the Tetris game. Whereas listening to Tetris Effect you imagine a Tetris movie directed by someone more fitting like the Wakowskis. Tetris Effect’s opening song “Connected (Yours Forever)” is a bonafide vocal pop song, like a more sugary CVRCHES-style cooing of the lyrics:

“I’m Yours Forever

There is No End in Sights For Us,

Nothing Can Measure the Kind of Strength Inside Our Hearts,

It’s all connected we’re all together in this life, don’t you forget it

We’re all connected in this”

Try your best not to imagine a cast of Hollywood’s most beautiful plucky orphan mutant misfit youths using the power of Tetris to heal a broken and dying planet!

Notable Track: Next Chapter

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HADES by DARREN KORB

Genres: Progressive Metal, Folktronica, Folk Metal, Dimotika, Greek Folk Music

Darren Korb has become one of the most notable video game composers of the past decade. Korb, an integral member of the Supergiant family, continues to outdo himself with each and every soundtrack. Bastion and Transistor originally found Korb creating a niche for himself with downtempo folk-infused electronic soundscapes and even some vocal pop with collaborator Ashley Barrett. Hades is an altogether different beast for Korb, who much like the developers of Hades, have found themselves at the height of their powers.

Korb also contributes vocals on this album, and I can say without hesitation that these are some of the nicest vocals I’ve ever heard from a video game music designer, because video game musicians are bonafide musicians.The album clocks in at two and half hours and separate from its game is still an absolute thrill ride.

Notable Track: In The Blood

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DEFECTIVE HOLIDAY by MECHATOK

Genres: Ambient Trance, Balearic Beat, Progressive Electronic, Nature Recordings, Spoken Word, New Age

One glance at the album artwork is all it took for me to know that I must listen to this album. Defective Holiday is an indie walking simulator that is explicit about its intentions: a lightly interactive one hour experience. This soundtrack clocks in at only 31 minutes and it is purely the most conventional album in terms of length.

Last week in late November, Mechatok announced a collaboration with one of the leading zoomer Swedish cloud rap mavericks Bladee, the cofounder of the Drain Gang. Last month gives a pretty clear picture of what kind of circles Mechatok is floating in on. Highly online gonzo vaporwave maestro James Ferraro is another apparent influence on this soundtrack, especially regarding the way the sinister mundane dialogue is woven into the soundscape. There’s one particular track on the Defective Holiday OST, “Rescue Shot Buibo”, that is adorned with standard trap-style drum fills that give the album a shot of energy before wandering back off into the haze. This soundtrack and video game is all about the pure vibe and aesthetic nature that are currently trending in these extremely stressful times. In a time where all of our holidays were defective from the very start, I think the casual walking simulator will remain a genre high in demand. I have a feeling we’re going to hear a lot more from this empathetic young German.

Notable Track: Valley

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Last of Us II by Gustavo Santaolalla, Mac Quayle (and Ashley Johnson)

Genres: Ambient, Cinematic Classical, Dark Ambient, Spanish Folk Music

The Last Of Us is a horror game where the music itself is arguably playing a critical character role, which can only be expected billing two titans of audio visual soundtracks. Of course Academy Award winner Santaolalla knows his way around a soundtrack. Wielding a resume of astonishing versatility in various TV and film projects, he might have found his higher calling in not only video games but in the horror music canon. Last of Us is an extremely emotional series, and with the wrong soundtrack, the experience could become insufferably bleak. The occasional splashes of color and light are what make this soundtrack so unsettling and eerie. Not since Silent Hill 2’s Akira Yamaoka has there been such an effective standalone horror video game soundtrack experience. No wonder Gustavo Santaolalla is one of the only video game composers integral enough to the game to warrant a cameo banjo-playing character model based off of him.

As if having one major composer from prestigious TV and movies wasn’t enough, Mac Quayle, composer of the whole Mr. Robot series, contrasts against Santaolalla’s acoustic contributions. The soundtrack itself is sequenced in a way that switches between the two composers. “The Cycle of Violence” composed by Quayle, a track that more than lives up to its name, is immediately followed by Santaolalla’s somber “Reclaimed Memories.” This dance between violence and heart is what the Last of Us excels at as a franchise, and that is why this soundtrack is an effective stand-alone experience.

The only disappointing part of the soundtrack is that Ashley Johnson, voice actor of Ellie’ three songs, is not included in the game’s official tracklist. Ellie’s “Take On Me” a-ha and “Future Days” Pearl Jam covers have made a little history by being the most powerful songs sung by a video game character. When Ellie sings and plays on her guitar they aren’t some little Easter egg idling moments to provide levity for this heavy revenge horror story. These songs are used to make some of the strongest character development choices made by a video game character seen in recent years. Ellie is joining a small club of singing video game characters alongside Parapa the Rapper and maybe the cast of obscure Atlus title Rhapsody: Musical Adventure.

Notable Track: Unbroken

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Persona 5 Royal Straight Flush Edition by Shoji Meguro

Genre: Acid Jazz, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal, Lounge, Jazz-Funk

This is one of those soundtracks that, much like Nobuo Uematsu’s work in Final Fantasy, is really the heart and soul of the entire Persona franchise (and his work in the adjacent Shin Megami Tensei universe is equally as noteworthy). Persona 5 Royal finds Meguro making his most complete, funky, and otherworldly opus that sounds like no one else in the biz.

You will find many people online scouring message boards, subreddits, bandcamp features, and Yahoo Answers looking for more music like Persona 5. Outside of Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater, how many other games are packed to the brim with truly foxy songs!? Persona 5 could not predict how badly the title “Throw Away Your Mask” would age, despite the game being more than ahead of its time with the majority of NPCs wearing PPE. Be a good Joker, put on your mask and keep chasing Meguro’s acid jazz-infused dragon through many more semesters to come.

Notable Track: I Imagine

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Streets of Rage 4 by Olivier Deriviere & Various

Genres: Electro House, Nu Jazz, Synth Funk, Acid House

Composer Olivier Deriviere is a living definition of a video game soundtrack journeyman. He has a career stretching back to the early 2000s working on notable big budget titles like the divisive 2008 Atari fifth Alone in the Dark installment and Remember Me, an unsung buried gem from the PS3/360 era Capcom title. Remember Me is where Deriviere’s electronic leanings started becoming especially prominent in his sound. On the Streets of Rage 4 soundtrack Deriviere has completely come into his own element, developing a whole new sense of campy playfulness.

Electronic French House music can be a divisive genre. For every Daft Punk commercial success there is a band that ruffles feathers like Justice. I sense a strong presence of late departed French House titan Philippe Zdar of Cassius as well. If you’d played this soundtrack for me out of context, I would have guessed an obscure voguing tape from the 80s or a really talented mysterious DJ set. Instead, this is a sequel to a classic beat em up franchise that left a portion of players disappointed by the game’s four hour playtime. The soundtrack is over an hour and fifty minutes long of high octane House music bliss. Much like the Tetris Effect soundtrack, it is truly impressive how much depth these tracks have when they could have easily been nostalgic recycled beats. Sometimes a game’s soundtrack can offer more post game enjoyment than an actual game.

Notable Track: Chill Or Don’t

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Hylics 2 by Chuck Salamone & Mason Lindroth

Genres: Experimental Rock, Neo-Psychedelia, Hypagogic Pop, Stoner Rock, Jazz-Rock

A soundtrack that comes closest to capturing the experience of hearing the Earthbound or Katamari Damacy soundtracks for the first time. The Hylic indie RPG series is a wonderful and strange beast that is ready to frolic and show its playful side. Hylics is a part of a recent uprising of indie games being developed on the RPG Maker software. 2020 year has left us all with variations of the same stressed out adjectives: Weird. Messed Up. Surreal.

Why not listen to an album from a game that is the perfect embodiment of that surreal mantra? Step away from your computer, draw a bath, and put this album on. Thank me later!

Notable track: Xeno Arcadia

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Ultrakill: Infinite Hyperdeath (Act I Soundtrack) by Heaven Pierce Her aka game developer Arsi “Hakita” Patala

Genres: Drum and Bass, Industrial Metal, Ambient, Progressive Metal, Acidcore

Nothing says “modern indie game development” more than a game built completely from the ground up by one person. Ultrakill’s developer “Hakita” is one of those kindly folkloric DIY figures that make video games such an extensive art form. The game is a painstaking gloriously bloody ode to Dooms of yesteryear but with plenty of its own fine tuned style. The perfect soundtrack for when you’re painting your personal Hell a darker shade of gore, but also would really like to kick your ass into shape if you need an adrenaline boost to your Quarantine blues.

Notable Track: Panic Betrayer

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Risk of Rain 2 by Chris Christodoulou

Genres: Progressive Rock, Space Rock, Space Ambient, Post-Rock

Something about the country of Greece brings the best kind of futurism out of the country’s composers. Christodoulou’s Risk of Rain 2 soundtrack is no Bladerunner knock off. This soundtrack for the colorful sci-fi indie rougelike is punchier and less nocturnal than your typical synth-heavy sci-fi soundtrack. Risk of Rain is one of the more successful Kickstarter series around and has the best quality an indie game can have: it feels like a labor of love on all fronts. There’s no reason a rougelike like Rain of Ruin or Hades needs a soundtrack this good, but Christodoulou casts a spell with his electronic-driven prog rock that makes you want to keep respawning. A huge missed opportunity if Christodoulou does not get to soundtrack an earnest sci-fi action-adventure for even big screens. Oh! This soundtrack also features some spoken word segments from Werner Herzog; what more do you need to know?

Notable Track: The Rain Formerly Known As Purple

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Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus by Guillaume David

A big debut project from an up-and-coming composer Guillaume David. Prior to the making of this soundtrack, David was a video game voice actor who worked on a Resident Evil Devil May Cry crossover voicing the character of “Hunk.” Warhammer 40K might become a franchise that more people will care about solely based on the quality of this installment’s soundtrack. When you see the title Warhammer 40,000, what sort of sounds come to mind? If you guessed “Neo gothic cyber Gregorian chants that seamlessly melds the ancient and futuristic”, you would be correct. A turn-based action game could possibly fall into dull territory, but with a visual identity as strong as Warhammer 40K melded with a suitable musical atmosphere, the action and world becomes irresistible. This soundtrack is a brisk 56 minutes and the other soundtrack on this list with a more conventional runtime. Not a second is wasted on this dynamic and fantastical soundtrack. Prior to hearing this soundtrack I had no intention of ever looking into playing a game based off of something as convoluted as Warhammer 40K, but now I very much want to know what these robot priests are about. That’s the magic of a quality soundtrack.

Notable track: Millenial Rage

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Honorable Mentions:

Happy Listening!

#Video Games #Video Game Music #Soundtracks #Top 10 #Video Games 2020 #Final Fantasy 7 #Persona 5 #Streets of Rage #Hylic #Utrakill #Risk of Rain #indie games #Square Enix #Warhammer 40k #last of us #Last of us 2

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alien-romantic · 3 years

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A thing for Kodie about films /nbh

I really like films with hidden meanings and easter eggs and things you only see on the second or third run through. I really enjoy films by Edgar Wright (Baby Driver, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim etc). I love analysing films too and would love to incorporate film analysis into my university course more.

As I said before, my memory isnt that great and i really struggle to recall what films ive watch, not just in the past few months, but like, ever. So when people ask me what my favourite film is, chances are its a film I cant remember because ive only watched it one and it's not ingrained, imbedded into my brain like films such as "Howl's.." is or "Robin Hood Prince of Thieves" (good film btw). So to find my favourit film, I need to Dig Deep... And maybe scroll through Netflix to see if I can remember what I've seen

The Old Guard: I loved this film. I watched it last year round my friend's uni house by the beach and it was amazing. I really liked what they did with the characters. The pacing was good, although I could tell that it was adapted from a comic book in the way they had to skip over certain things.

Stand By Me: an adaption of a Stephen King short story, The Body. I really enjoyed this film; its about four young boys who hear that an older boy has gone missing and they go in search of his body. It really encapsulates for me ideas about youth and friendship. I really enjoyed this film when I saw it.

The Nice Guys: a neo-noir comedy starring Ryan Gosling. Im not the biggest fan of comedies usually but I liked this film. My mum and step-dad often like to put on films in the evenings and sometimes I end up watching them. While I cant remember the entire plot, I know that there were many aspects of this film that I liked and would watch again.

American Psycho: (this is a funny one, actually) I told my parents at Christmas that I hadn't seen this film and that they might like it, and so we watched it on Christmas Day. On Christmas Day!!! Now while there's some elements of this film that aren't great (some questionable things, you know?), I would watch this film again.

Films that I do not like

Im not the biggest fan of big macho movies about GUNS and MILITARY and ALIEN INVASIONS. Im not the biggest fan of romcoms either, unless they kinda fit into a very specific niche of "'90s romcoms produced by Richard Curtis" (Like Notting Hill or Four Weddings and a Funeral). I dont like that certain genre of comedy films that are specifically aimed at men ( Paul, The Hangover) because I think theyre trash. I would be happy to watch a jumpscare based horror film if I was in the company of someone I trusted, so by living (kind of) alone, I dont watch any (and hey, arent horrow films always best watched with someone?)Ive had The Devil All The Time on my list for AGES and need to find the right time to watch that.

I think my knowledge about tv series I enjoy/have enjoyed is much better than my film knowledge lol

(Im really tempted to do this again but with books because there are many books that I've read once but I adore, so I might save that for next time :D)

Honorable Mentions: Knives Out, Divergent (only the first one though), The Time Traveller's Wife, What We Do In The Shadows, Ender's Game, Spirited Away, Call Me By Your Name (But fuck whatever Armie Hammer's thing is) , Legally Blonde (although I prefer the musical), Shawshank Redemption (another Stephen King classic!)

#do not reblog #for kodies eyes only #everyone else?#'i look away i do not see'#/lh #misc #ar.post

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hobeemin · 3 years

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Resurrection ~ Ep. 2

📺 Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama, Action, Romance

📺 Pairing: Kim Seokjin x (f) OC

📺 Rating: 18+, TV-MA

📺 Warning(s): Strong language, therapy sessions, feelings of abandonment, mentions of alcohol and drug abuse, alcohol consumption, drunkenness, hangovers, illegal experiments, bribery, seedy business practices, fighting, exploitation

📺 Word Count: 4.6k

📺 Credits: Beta read by the marvelous @yoongs-jeontae 💜 ily sis

Banner resources found here (png & photo stock)

📺 TV info: Everyone thought it a myth…legend even, buried away as time moved on. Centuries of secrets and lies for the better of the country. No one knew what to expect. Two brothers. One’s quest for power may lead to destruction. The other, a scientist teaming with a head strong detective and her partner to right the wrongs made. Will they be successful or fail?

📺 A/N: Part of the DramaVers Collab hosted by the amazing and lovely @namluve

A few weeks later, Jin stepped out of the terminal and walked straight to baggage claim. As he waited for the luggage to appear in the conveyor belt, he turned his phone off airplane mode to see if he had any messages. One popped up from Namjoon.

:Hey. I’m waiting at the pickup location whenever you arrive:

Jin looked up from his phone just in time to see his bag appear. Once it moved closer, he grabbed the strap and wheeled it out towards the exit. The sun blazed making him shield his eyes, but he caught a glimpse of a tall man standing by a black SUV. He recognized that stance anywhere. Jin walked faster to the car stopping in front of him to hold his hand out. “Good to see you again Namjoon.”

Namjoon’s dimples appeared as he grinned wide, gripping Jin’s hand in a warm, firm shake. He bowed his head in greeting. “You too Jin. Been a while.”

Jin nodded in agreement. “Too long. How’s life been here.”

Namjoon opened the trunk and placed Jin’s bag inside. He chuckled, shaking his head. “Life’s been good. I like teaching. The students keep me on my toes.”

They got into the car and Namjoon turned the key in the ignition and started to drive out the airport. Jin looked around as they passed the scenery, staring at the sapphire hued waters of the Korean Strait. He listened to Namjoon talk about his students and how much he enjoyed his courses. Jin smiled at how chattery he was. It was like old times.

“I’m happy you found your niche,” Jin said, giving Namjoon a glance.

Namjoon brushed it aside with a grin. “Don’t get me wrong. I love teaching, but sort of miss being out in the field.”

Jin scoffed, shaking his head. “Trust me. You left just in time.”

Namjoon picked up on the bitterness in Jin’s voice and thought it best to change the subject. “So are you still seeing...uh what’s her name–”

“Hani. Ah, we decided to call it quits. We wanted different things,” Jin replied dryly. He gave Namjoon a light punch in the arm. “What about you? You have yet to tell me about your girlfriend.”

Namjoon blushed and stared at the road. “Oh, Dahyun! We’re doing great. I’m thinking about proposing once she graduates.”

Jin gave an approving noise, “That’s great news! I’m happy to hear that.”

Namjoon smiled wider as he pulled into the parking lot of what looked like a restaurant. After he turned off the ignition, he patted his stomach. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”

“Say no more friend, let’s get lunch,” Jin exclaimed happily.

Two steaming bowls of japchae were placed in front of them by the server. She bowed and walked away. Namjoon held his glass up nodding to Jin. “To friends reunited.”

Jin clinked his glass grinning. “Hear. Hear.”

They dug in with their chopsticks, only sounds of slurping heard over the background music. Jin wiped his mouth as he stared at Namjoon. He swallowed the last few bites as his face became serious.

“Tell me about this plant you’ve found.”

Namjoon took a sip of his iced Americano and sighed. “We can go to the falls before sunrise tomorrow. It makes it easier to study and we won’t be bothered.”

Jin nodded. Though it was a short flight, exhaustion took over quickly. Between his brother and the company, he hadn’t had much time for rest. He stood, grabbing his wallet and went to pay, much to Namjoon's dismay. Jin waved him off and the two friends left the restaurant to go back to Namjoon’s apartment.

“You sure Dahyun won’t mind?” Jin inquired as he carried his bag up the flight of stairs. Namjoon chuckled, shaking his head while he unlocked the door.

“Not at all. She’s visiting her parents this week back in Seongnam,” he answered, stepping inside letting Jin in.

Jin was thoroughly impressed with his friend’s place. Having upgraded from a lone bachelor pad to a place more suitable for him and his girlfriend. Namjoon removed his jacket, hanging it in the closet and threw his keys in the bowl near the door. They took off their shoes and put on the slippers. He nodded towards one of the hallways leading out of the living room. “We set up the extra room for you. Put your stuff down and we can discuss what I found.”

Jin gave a thumb’s up and rolled his bag into the open room at the end of the hall. He laughed to himself, setting his things near the foot of the bed.

“Dahyun really outdid herself,” he murmured. As he took off his coat, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He flipped to the notifications to see that Abby posted a picture of her and Sasha on a walk at Olympic Park. He smiled clicking a like on the photo and placed his phone on the bed and walked back into the living room with his laptop.

Namjoon had already set up his things on the coffee, hunched over on the couch as he typed furiously. Jin sat down next to him. Namjoon’s eyes only darted away from the screen when he felt the couch cushion sag. He removed his glasses and turned his laptop screen for Jin to see. He looked to see worn pages of a book. His brows knitted curiously.

“What is it?”

Namjoon gave a lopsided smirk and cleared his throat. “That is a patient journal written by a nurse named Seo-bi. It's over five hundred years old,” his eyes sparkled as he revealed the news.

Jin studied the journal entries without a sound. What was so great about this to make Namjoon act this way? The look on his face made Namjoon bark out a laugh. “Alright. Why does that matter? Well that particular flower on the screen,” Namjoon gestured to the flower, “was called the resurrection plant. It was said to cure the fatalist of diseases, even death.”

Jin shot him a skeptical frown glancing at the pages. “Cure death? Seriously Namjoon. That’s far fetched even for you.”

Namjoon combed his hands through his hair with a huff. “Reason with me here. This would be something tremendous. Think of what it could do for healthcare.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First I want to see it and then we’ll study samples,” Jin replied. He cocked his head at the screen. “Where did you come across this journal?”

Namjoon sighed. “Well after I came across the plant, I went to the university library. When I couldn’t find anything, I reached out to my mentor. After I explained it, he sent me a few pages of the journal.”

“Hmm.” Jin tried not to let his suspicions rise. This seemed so fantastical even for him. But Namjoon wouldn’t have called him down just for anything. For now he’d attempt to be open to this idea once he saw the plant and studied it. His eyes scanned the writing, barely legible on the bright computer screen. With a reluctant sigh, he placed his hand on Namjoon’s shoulder.

“Okay. I’m on board.”

Namjoon grinned, slapping Jin’s back. “That’s what I like to hear. Get some rest. We got an early morning.”

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The clock ticked quietly on the desk as the two individuals remained quiet. The ceiling fan stirred the air thick with tension. Imogene bounced her knees on the small gray loveseat as she looked across at her counterpart.

Leaning in a chartreuse chair casually, the man had one leg crossed over the knee, notepad balancing in his lap. He would click the ballpoint pen end ever so often, glancing at Imogene with a quiet smile. She didn’t know what she found more unnerving: that she was seeing a therapist or that her therapist was utterly attractive.

Park Jimin didn’t seem like the traditional therapist by any means. A soft oval shaped face with a slight pointed chin, round cheeks, and plump lips. His eyes were round hidden behind thick circle frames and seemed to smile even when his lips weren’t. Hair, a light shade of brown was brushed off his face and styled neatly. Imogene took note of the piercings in each ear; two on the right and three on the left. Dressed in a plain white button down shirt, black slacks, black jacket, and dark loafers to finish his outfit, he didn’t seem to belong there in this small office. He should have been on a movie screen or runway. Imogene came to the conclusion that he was just fucking pretty.

She averted her gaze from him and looked around the office once. The best word she could use was cozy. Accented with a brick wall, the others were dressed in a warm, friendly yellow. The hardwood floor was covered by a large rug that cushioned her heeled boots. To her left was a desk, where she deducted he spent most of his time mulling over notes of other patients. His laptop closed along with a stack of files placed neatly at the side. On the wall hung all his credentials. To finish off there were a few succulents spread across the room.

And still she persisted in staying quiet. What was the point? But much to her dismay, she could hear the Captain’s voice in her head.

“There better be progress or its desk duty until you retire.”

She groaned inwardly as she brought her attention back to him. Clearing her throat she settled back against the cushions folding her hands across her stomach.

“Dr. Park–”

“You can call me Jimin if you like,” he offered with a smile.

Shit. Even his voice was beautiful.

Imogene shook her head. “I’d prefer to address you as Dr. Park, if you don’t mind,” she replied stiffly.

He nodded as his eyes cast down on his notes. “Hmm, we have the same last name. Coincidence, don’t you think Detective Park?”

She shrugged with a sigh. “Dumb luck maybe.”

He titled his head at her curiously. “I don’t want to make any assumptions, but it seems you don’t want to be here.”

Imogene barked out a laugh, drumming her fingers on her knees. “What gave you that idea?”

His lips formed a thin line as he stared at her. “No one is forcing you here, Detective. You’re free to leave at any time.”

“That’s where you are wrong Dr. Park,” she snapped. “I’m mandated to be here, but you already know that.”

“That I do,” he murmured, meeting her gaze. “I also know you want more than anything to be back in the field. So instead of verbally attacking me, maybe we can start over and have a conversation like two mature adults.”

Her jaw dropped in shock. Did she just get called out? Yes, yes she did. For the first in her life, Imogene was left speechless. This is no normal therapist.

Dr. Park’s smile widened making his eyes shape into crescent moons.“I want what’s best for you Detective, a place where you can be comfortable in your work and personal life. So let’s begin, but if you feel like you have nothing to say right now, that’s fine. Silence can hold much weight.”

A chuckle passed her lips as she leaned her elbows on her legs. “Well, you certainly weren’t what I expected Dr. Park.”

“Is that a good or bad thing?” he inquired.

Imogene’s lips spread into a smile for the first time during their exchange. “We’ll have to wait and see won’t we?”

“Agreed,” he scribbled on his pad for a moment. “Unfortunately our session is coming to an end, but we’ll meet at the same time tomorrow. Maybe we’ll make some progress then.”

He stretched out his hand and she took it into hers as they shook.

“Look forward to it Doc.”

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Jin slipped on his sunglasses as the sun’s ray beat down. He followed Namjoon down the path to the waterfall. Though it was early, the heat began to rise making it already an uncomfortable hike. He wiped his brow and huffed as they reached an incline up the hill. Namjoon looked over his shoulder giving him a reassuring look.

“Jin, you alright?”

“Never better,” he huffed deeply, leaning against one of the posts. Namjoon laughed, pulling a water out his bag and tossed it to him. Jin unscrewed the cap and swallowed a healthy amount. He closed his eyes with a sigh. “Thanks.”

Namjoon grinned. “Being stuck in that lab is making you soft. Don’t you miss field work?”

Jin laughed, shaking his head. “Hell no. Give me darkness and fluorescent lights any day.”

Namjoon shot him a look with a tut. “You need fresh air, and this proves it. You're already winded.” He glanced down at his watch. “We got another thirty minutes and we’ll be at the site. Think you can make it?”

“Not unless you carry me the rest of the way,” he joked.

Namjoon rolled his eyes giving him a light punch in the arm. “Not a chance in hell. C’mon Seokjinnie, time a-wastin’.”

Just as Namjoon predicted, they reached Cheonjiyeon Falls half past the hour. Jin drank in the scenery, taking a deep breath. Maybe Namjoon was right. Getting back in the field could do him some good.

Namjoon led him to an observation deck that extended into the water giving a better view of the waterfall. The sunlight hit it just enough to give the water a teal and turquoise tint. A rainbow arched over the water. The view alone was breathtaking.

Namjoon moved closer, motioning for Jin to follow. Jin walked to the edge looking around. He took his camera out and began to snap some photos. Namjoon pointed to the edges of water and land not bathed in sunlight.

“Notice something?”

Jin surveyed the area until his eyes caught the small purple plants dotted around. It seemed unusual how strategically placed the plants were. “They only–”

“Are in places not touched by the sun,” Namjoon finished.

“Fascinating,” Jin answered, crouching low to get a better look. “Plants not requiring sunlight are pretty rare. What do you suppose it is?”

Namjoon looked deep in thought staring at the water. “I’m not sure, but there's only one way to find out.” He opened his backpack and pulled out a few sample bags and gardening shears. “Let’s get some samples.”

They set to work grabbing a bag full of samples each, being sure to put on gloves.

“Who knows what’s on these plants,” Namjoon stated.

Once the bags were filled, they hiked back down the trail. Namjoon chatted about breakfast and headed to his lab to study the plants. Jin, lost in his thoughts, felt a sense of deja vu overwhelm him.

-Her face tilted towards the sun letting it warm her. She gave a small twirl in the room, a soft smile on her face. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“Eunji,” he called from the doorway.

She opened her eyes giving him a smile. “How long had you been standing there?”

“Long enough,” he said, stepping forward, wrapping her in his arms. She swiped at him playfully earning a chuckle from him. “Don’t you have to go into town?”

“Soon. I want to enjoy holding my wife,” he teased, placing a light kiss on her forehead.

She leaned into the kiss, pulling away and went to the table much to his protest. She walked over to a basket that was propped up against the wall and pulled out some flowers. “I found these when I was looking for herbs in the forest,” Eunji explained, holding them up.

He took them from her hands, letting the weight settle. The leaves felt scratchy under his fingertips. His brows knitted in pain as blood began to drip from his hand. Eunji looked at him in bewilderment.

“Jin? Jin?”-

“Jin!”

He let out a yell as his ankle twisted on a tree vine. Jin stumbled into Namjoon, making the taller male catch him. Jin, still shaken, stood straight, hissing as pain shot up his leg. Namjoon reached out grabbing his upper arm, having Jin lean on him. “What the fuck Jin?”

Jin gritted his teeth trying to ignore the dull ache. “I-I don’t know. I must have daydreamed or something.”

Namjoon gave him a look of concern. “Do you want to go back home? I can take the samples to the lab–”

“No. No. I’m fine. I’ll rest at the lab,” Jin reasoned straining a smile across his face.

His friend shot him a skeptical look but gave a reluctant nod. “Okay. Take your time walking down this path.”

Jin nodded as they took their steps tentatively. He let his mind wander back to that dream. What was it? Who was that woman? He let the thoughts continue to play in his mind during the hike back to Namjoon’s car.

---

“Kook!” Imogene called out his name as he entered the bar, waving near the corner.

He turned in the direction of his name and walked over, bowing to the host before sitting across from Imogene at the table. He unzipped his leather jacket letting out a deep grunt. His partner smirked and poured him a generous portion of soju.

“Rough day?”

The young male brushed his black hair back with a sigh. “I need you to hurry the hell up and come back.”

Imogene scoffed, setting the bottle down. “That bad huh.”

“The captain paired me with one of the rookies temporarily. He’s so green, I think he wears pull-ups,” he groaned, swallowing the soju in one gulp.

Imogene giggled, shaking her head. “Don’t act like that. You were the same way when you joined the force. Be patient.”

Jungkook rolled his eyes before scanning the menu. “Yeah. Yeah,” he muttered. “Kimchi fried rice sounds good?”

Imogene nodded, but lifted her brow. “Wait I thought you had a tournament this weekend? Only meat, veggies, and fruits? High protein, remember?”

Her partner gave her his infamous bunny grin. “I’m also drinking with my partner tonight. Call it my cheat day. And I’m buying.”

Imogene whistled low looking quite impressed. “Kook, you sure you alright. When have you ever paid?”

He rolled his eyes hitting the button for the server to come over. “Shh. Just enjoy the moment.”

They both laughed as Jungkook placed their order. He poured another shot into her glass, testing the waters for his next question. “How was your appointment today?”

Imogene groaned and took a sip of her drink. “Eventful. Captain put you up to this?”

Jungkook shook his head. “No, I’m genuinely concerned about you Park. You’re a great detective, I’d hate to lose my partner.”

Imogene’s eyes softened as she looked at Jungkook. He really did care. As reckless as she was, he stood by her side making sure nothing would harm her. Even going as far as to stand up to the Captain for her.

“Kook–”

The shrill of his phone cut her off as he pouted. “I’m off duty,” he said with a huff. But his eyes rounded looking at the caller id and he stood up. “Be right back,” he murmured, walking away as he put the phone up to his ear.

Imogene drummed her fingers on the table waiting for him to return. The server brought their beers and appetizer just as Jungkook ran back in. He pulled his wallet out and placed some bills on the table. Jungkook gave Imogene a knowing look as he sighed.

“What’s wrong?”

“They need me. Something about a riot. They called every off duty cop in.”

Imogene’s eyes widened. “Shit. Do you need–”

Jungkook frowned, waving his hand. “Not a good idea and you know it. Captain would rip you a new one.” He took one more shot of soju and chased it with some of the fried chicken. He wiped his mouth and gave his partner a wink. “I’ll keep you posted. For now, stay out of the Hongdae area.”

Imogene waved as he walked out, now alone again. She sighed and opened her phone scrolling through her accounts. Nothing was popping up, so what were the police getting into.

---

Jin propped his ankled up in one of the chairs, an ice pack wrapped around the bruise. He grabbed the materials, laying out his instruments to look over the specimen. He placed the leaves under a microscope and gazed into the ocular lens. His brows knitted in frustration. Something seemed to lurk on the surface of the leaves.

Jin looked up in disbelief. He glanced over at Namjoon curiously. The taller male was fumbling with pieces of the flower petals adding them to vials and placing various drops of chemicals in each for a reaction.

“Joon, come look at this.”

Namjoon rolled over to Jin, glasses perched on top of his head. “Yeah. What’s up?”

Jin slid over and motioned to the microscope. “Have a look at that.”

Namjoon peered into the lens for a few moments. A noise passed his lips and he adjusted the dials. After a pause, he looked up at Jin dubiously. “What the hell?”

Jin snorted with the shake of his head. “That’s what I said. What is this? I don’t think I've ever seen anything like it before.”

Namjoon tapped his chin, deep in thought, his dimples deepeneding. “Fascinating. It looks like live bacteria. The most unusual thing is that it’s able to thrive with a water source and no sun.”

Jin chuckled incredulously, giving him a stare. That’s not possible. “Bacteria thrive in damp, warm places. I don’t know what the hell this is.”

“Maybe BLC might know,” Namjoon blurted out rolling back over to his table.

Jin jerked at the sound of the name. “Why would they know? I only just discussed it with the board a few weeks ago.”

Namjoon’s back stiffened. He ignored the question and fiddled with the vials. Jin noticed the change in his demeanor and turned fully to look at him. “Joon, what’s going on?”

The botanist’s shoulders dropped as he let out a tense laugh. “Well...and you’re going to laugh about this.”

“Doubt it,” Jin replied drily crossing his arms over his chest.

Namjoon frowned, finally meeting his friend’s eyes. “Bangtan LabCorp knew about the plants already.”

Jin felt the heat rise in his neck. He clenched his jaw, but motioned for Namjoon to continue. The younger male fidgeted in his chair. “I-I wasn’t completely honest with you. I found the plants much earlier and sent some samples to Taehyung already.” Namjoon shrugged nonchalantly. “He was the one who suggested I email you about it. They need more samples for testing.”

“Testing?!” Jin let out a harsh laugh. “Taehyung wouldn’t know a bacteria's culture if it smacked him the face! How could you be this idiotic Joon? You told my brother—the worst person in the world—about this?!”

He swiped a few beakers to the floor and the glass shattered on impact. He slammed his fist down with a growl. “Fuck!”

Jin dropped his head into his hands with a painful sigh. “Damn it Namjoon!” He looked over at his friend with distrust. “What else does he know?”

Shame covered Namjoon’s face as he fiddled with his coat. “I-I may have sent him the journal as well.”

Jin let out an exasperated sigh. Namjoon scooted closer bringing his laptop close. “Don’t get mad, but I started experimenting with the plant's properties.” The look Jin sent him made him gulp loudly. “I only started using mice.” He clicked on a file and it brought up video clips. Each was labeled with a date. Jin slipped on his glasses and opened one link.

“Subject 23...male mouse suffering from salmonella. Inserting 2 mg of RP.”

Jin watched the video as the mouse was injected with the liquid. He clicked the next clip dated a few weeks later.

“Subject 23 showing tremendous improvement. Almost back to health. Will keep an eye and assimilate with other mice soon.”

Namjoon sighed as Jin turned to him. “So the plant has helping properties.”

“That’s brilliant Namjoon. But what seems to be the problem?”

Namjoon clicked on the most recent clip. A grim expression covered his face. “All Taehyung saw was the previous videos. I tried to warn him, but he insisted Jin. You have to believe me!”

Jin closed his eyes trying to keep his temper in check. “Let me see the last video.” Namjoon looked pained as he clicked the play button and moved away from the table. Jin focused on the clip.

“Subject 23 has been integrated back into the mice enclosure. Things seem to be going well...wait...something's wrong!”

Jin watched as the mouse began to attack the others instantly. Squeals could be overheard as the bodies were almost torn apart. He closed the laptop and rounded on Namjoon. “Does...does Taehyung know?”

Namjoon nodded slowly. “He doesn’t. At least not this part. He wants to start human trials immediately.”

---

Taehyung sauntered into the elevator and pressed a button before sliding his keycard in. The elevator came to life and began its descent. The numbers dropped with each passing floor until it went past the lab.

The chime went off as the doors opened. Taehyung stepped out and walked down the lone corridor. The soles of his shoes echoed off the walls. Reaching one of the doors, a panel opened and he punched in a few keys as a screen appeared. He placed his hand down as it began to scan his hand print.

The screen turned green and the door beeped open. Taehyung strolled in looking around. A handful of doctors and scientists gazed into glass cubicles placed strategically around the large room.

One of the doctors approached Taehyung with a nod of greeting. “Kim-nim, good evening.”

He returned the nod and picked up one of the pill bottles. The large oblong bright purple pills shook around the bottle. “So, you were able to put it into pill form.”

“Less messy than liquid,” the doctor answered. She placed some hair behind her ear feeling flustered with him standing so close. Taehyung smirked as he walked past. “That’s true. Pills seem better than injections. How much was put into each pill?”

“To start we added just a few milligrams. If results are seen, we’ll up the dosage,” she said.

“How’s the testing going? We were able to get enough people?” Taehyung questioned, glancing at the individuals laying on hospital beds.

“Excellent. We’ve found more than enough volunteers. The shelter at the hospital had the perfect pool to choose from,” the doctor answered. “Each has already had a dose. Once they wake up, they’ll be released and we’ll have them come back in a few days to check for any symptoms.”

“What were the terms?” He leaned against one of the tables and flipped through the reports.

“Simple, a free meal and bed for the night if they try a new drug treatment,” she grinned. Her smile faltered as she stepped closer to Taehyung, her voice dropped. “We are going to need more of that plant. The sample you gave me was only enough for about forty pills.”

Taehyung winked, brushing some hair off her face as she blushed. “Don’t worry. My brother will be back with the samples this week. You’ll get the plant soon.” He leaned forward as his breath tickled the shell of her ear. “Make sure to wear those heels I like, hmm?”

He gave her a pat on her backside and laughed. “Keep me updated doctor. I’ll be in touch.” He glanced around the room. “Good work so far everyone. I see big things in our future.”

His eyes gravitate to the journal on the table with a smirk as he flipped through the pages. “Oh Seo-bi, you’ve unleashed Pandora’s box.”

< TV Guide >

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annalyticall · 4 years

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Anime Newbie in her Twenties Ranks her First 10 Anime

With the recommendations of my sister @ging-ler and friends, I started watching anime just over a year ago and within that time I’ve watched a total of 10 - some clocking in at almost 200 episodes and some with only 12. I told myself a while ago that once I had finished 10 anime shows I would rank them like some Anime Newbie WatchMojo list, so, here we are. Really this is just an excuse to force more of my unwarranted opinions onto unwilling followers.

I should also preface this by saying I don’t think any of the anime I watched this year was bad, and I enjoyed a lot about every show even if I ranked some low. However, the top three anime on my list are the ones I would recommend to anyone following me even if they don’t watch anime.

10. Death Note

Despite absolutely loathing the “protagonist” since episode one, I really enjoyed the first half of Death Note! The story was intriguing with all of its wild twist and turns and I found myself immediately invested in what was going to happen next. Unfortunately, after the death of who I thought was by far the best character, the show seems to go off the rails as it introduces new characters and contrived plot devices in the second half that were frankly hard for me to care about at that point. The ending was satisfying but I forced myself to sit through a lot of painful meandering to get there.

9. Cowboy Bebop

Cowboy Bebop was the first anime I watched as suggested to me by @mcsherrybr. The smooth and jazzy art, atmosphere, animation, action, and music were all a lot of fun, as were the lovable ragtag group of misfits that made up the main cast. I enjoyed myself a lot while watching this western/sci-fi melding pot of a show, and I only ranked it so low because the last few episodes were a huge disappointment to my found-family-trope-loving heart.

8. Violet Evergarden

Violet Evergarden, following the story of a child soldier learning to love, is absolutely beautiful to look at and listen to. The music in this anime is, for me, THE best music from any show on this list. This is also the only anime that made me sob several times while watching it. The collection of short episodic stories that explore the deep facets of human love and connection are incredibly resonant and will stay with me for a long time. However, the strength of the small story arcs made the rushed overarching war story and finale weaker in comparison. Similarly, the memorable characters introduced in the one-off side plots were more interesting to me than the cast of rather bland reoccurring supporting characters. While I will remember a lot of great individual moments, I can’t seem to remember a single character’s name besides Violet’s, but that might also be due to being one of the shorter entries at only 12 episodes.

7. Hunter x Hunter (2011)

Going from one of the shortest anime on this list to the longest, Hunter x Hunter was an great and engrossing story during the entirety of its 160+ episodes. It’s colorful and playful, but can also be very dark and at times even heart-wrenching. Because it contains so many distinct arcs, there is a wide variety characters and stories to get attached to, and some, like the Chimera Ant Arc, I even cried over. But this also left me with issues regarding the pacing. The show has great action and introspective moments but will often drag with long drawn-out pauses between fights to explain simple concepts (though I understand that’s a common trope in old shonen anime in general). The world-building is rich but also caught me off guard with some strange ideas, and admittedly not all of them I liked. Some eccentric characters and concepts rubbed me the wrong way and ended up hindering my enjoyment of the show. Overall though, it was a lot of fun and I left with a few more endearing favorite characters, like Leorio and Killua.

6. Erased

Also a 12 episode anime, Erased was amazingly impactful for how short it was. Even as I followed the unfolding murder mystery, I was also touched by the meaningful themes and kind-hearted characters I met along the way. The already-strong story is accentuated with great symbolism, art, and music. The only problem I had was with the mystery itself; I was able to tell who the true killer was within the first 4 episodes, which didn’t lend itself well to suspense and I spent the remaining episodes frustrated that the main characters couldn’t see some obvious clues.This is a minor problem, though, since the finale has less to do with mystery and more about the morals and resolution of themes that I felt was satisfying.

5. Demon Slayer

Demon Slayer is gorgeous. The stunning art style, fluid animation, and breath-taking music are all valid reasons to watch it, but the main character Tanjiro and his unwavering devotion to find a cure for his sister-turned-demon Nezuko are the reasons to stay. Tanjiro is unbelievably gentle as he shows even the evil demons he has to slay a hard-fought kindness, and it’s those tender moments between all of the amazing action sequences that really elevate this show for me. The issues I have lie with the rest of the cast. While I love some supporting characters, like the pig-headed Inosuke and the stoic Giyuu, others have very niche personalities that can get annoying if they’re on screen for too long, which they definitely tend to be. Still, the bond between Tanjiro and Nezuko is so strong that it gets me through even those dragging scenes.

And it’s written by a woman!

4. My Hero Academia

Hey so this might come as a shock for anyone who’s followed me for a while: My Hero Academia is not my favorite anime! I do love it a lot - it’s the only anime on this list that has inspired me to read the manga, write fic, and buy merch. There are so many lovable characters and exciting arcs in this show that there is bound to be something for everyone to enjoy, both inside and outside of canon. It’s a wonderfully paced and animated deconstruction of the superhero genre and besides its deeper themes and commentary, there’s also just a lot of endearing teenage goofin’ to be had, and the show balances the tone of these two almost-equally engaging aspects of the story fairly well.

The downside, for me, is the show’s sexualization of female characters, especially the teenagers. With the likes of pervy fellow classmate Mineta, it’s a flaw that’s hard to avoid and takes up an unfortunate amount of screen time. There are in-universe characters that protest against this behavior, and the female characters are still well-written for the most part, but that doesn’t make up for the canon material including it at all. It’s not a huge part of the show but it’s present enough that it really knocks the ranking down for me.

3. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Out of my top 5, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is the only one that is complete. Because of that, I can tentatively say that so far, it is the best completed story on this list. From beginning to end, the pacing was perfect - the action never dragged, the characters were never unnecessary, and the plot twists were never unearned. I found myself more invested than I thought I would ever be for the large cast of characters, and everything, including its ending, was satisfying to watch. The animation is fluid and lent itself well to the most impactful scenes, especially involving the flame alchemist Roy Mustang. It’s also written by a woman! Really, the only nitpicks I have were with tonal problems - serious moments would sometimes be ruined by too much slapstick or visual gags.

As I mentioned before, my Top 3 are shows I would recommend to anyone who’s unfamiliar with anime simply because they’re good solid stories with almost no distracting anime tropes. This is a good place to start.

2. The Promised Neverland

The Promised Neverland is deceiving; on the surface it looks like a sweet show about a bunch of adorable kids playing together in the spacious green backyard of their quaint orphanage. Once you finish the first episode, however, you will quickly discover that there is definitely something more sinister lurking under the surface. This show is an expertly executed dark horror/thriller that always had me on the edge of my seat. The cute aesthetic never distracts from the suspense, in fact, it adds to the discomfort when the horrific visuals and expressions are contrasted against the character designs. I loved all of the characters, including the antagonist, who manages to be just as sympathetic as she is menacing. The sound design and music are also beautiful and adds so much to the rich atmosphere. I am definitely excited to see where this series will go!

1. Mob Psycho 100

ONE, the creator of Mob Psycho 100, said the single word he used for the concept for the series was “kindness”. Kindness shines through so much of this story following the life of Mob, a super-psychic kid that just wants to fit in, and I adore every second of it. While many shonen anime stories force the child protagonist to get stronger, become more powerful, and fight in battles against hostile adults, Mob Psycho 100 says “that’s stupid. Kids shouldn’t have to be traumatized by immature power-hungry adults. The only strength that anyone should pursue is strength of character, motivated by self-love and love for others.” And it says it with the most beautiful animation I have EVER seen in a show. The simplistic character designs mean the animators can have as much creative freedom as they like with expressions and movement, and they absolutely use that freedom. Humor is a large part of this mostly-comedy anime, but it makes the serious and introspective scenes so much more important when they do happen. The shifts between these two tones never feel awkward or imbalanced.

Mob Psycho 100 has inspired me to become more experimental and joy-seeking with my art, as well as just become a better person in my own life, which I can’t say for many other anime or many other pieces of media period. Even though a Season 3 hasn’t been officially announced yet, I can still safely say Mob Psycho 100 will forever hold a special place in my heart.

#Well I did it i ranked all the anime i've seen #now to watch naruto lol

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weirdletter · 5 years

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London Lovecraft Festival: A Teatrichal Celebration of the Works and Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft. February 3-9, 2019 at The Old Red Lion Theatre, 418 St. John Street, London, UK. Info: oldredliontheatre.co.uk; londonlovecraft.com.

Taking place over seven nights, the festival will have original and gently-loved productions presented to London audiences deep in the depths of darkest pub theatredom. With world premieres as well as tried and true creations, both Lovecraft novices and deeper initiates should find their palates tickled and their brains disturbed.

6:00pm Sunday, February 3rd Pickman’s Model Meet Richard Upton Pickman, an artist shunned by the establishment because of his horrifying paintings. But what kind of company has Pickman been keeping? And who — or what — pays a visit to his studio on one terrifying evening? The story is perfect material for Nunkie Theatre — one-man performances by Robert Lloyd Parry, who is best known for his adaptations of the work of PD James. He’s an amazing actor, with a real talent for bringing a story to life and sending a shiver down your spine. Although this is a rehearsed reading, the fright factor should be very high as the original story is one of Lovecraft’s best and Parry is an expert at filling intimate spaces with lurking horror.

7:30pm Sunday 3rd Night of 1000 Tentacles Clocktopus Cabaret presents: Night of 1000 Tentacles! On their second expedition, Captain Bang Bang and her trustworthy first mate, Stormina Teacup, set out for eldritch realms. Join them and a host of London burlesque and cabaret favorites, including Dolly Trolly with a brand new Lovecraft themed act, and necromantic sorcerer – er, magician – Chris Benkin with his sleight of tentacle, for an outstanding steampunk/transdimensional night of wonders. You will gasp, you will gibber, you will wonder … where did they hide those eyeballs?

9:15 PM Sunday 3rd Cool Air Dr. Muñoz has spent their life battling the forces of death. When Miskatonic University student Natalie Peaslee comes looking for help for her heart, she has no idea how far Muñoz will go to win that fight. As summer rages, they’ll both need to keep a cool head to make it out of Arkham alive. This staged reading directed by Emma Muir Smith marks the European debut of Ron Sandahl’s stage adaptation, originally presented at Seattle’s Open Circle Theatre in 2005.

7:00pm Monday 4th Lovecraft Shivers Do you like stories that make the hairs stand up at the back of your neck? Sam Enthoven’s Shivers nights have been giving aficionados that sensation of spiders down the spine for more than a year now. Sam picks and adapts the finest frightening literature and finds great performers to read it. The twist with Shivers is that these tales are then paired with live sounds from his uniquely uncanny instrument, the theremin, and some of the best up-and-coming artists from London’s experimental music scene. The result is a kind of cinema for the ears and imagination, with storytelling and sound combining to draw you irresistibly in, to reach cold fingers into your mind, to give you Shivers. The stories of H.P. Lovecraft have, naturally, featured at previous Shivers nights. We’ve performed From Beyond in the chapel of Abney Park Cemetery and Dagon in the hold of Spanish galleon The Golden Hinde. The opportunity, however, to put together a new all-Lovecraft Shivers for the festival that celebrates Horror’s dark prince himself is, like his legacy, irresistible. We look forward to scaring you.

7:00pm Monday 4th Albertina West: Reanimator Schoolmates Albertina West and Carla Milburn are scientists in pursuit of knowledge – about reanimating the dead. But when the formula only seems to work on the freshest of bodies, it’s a small step to take from robbing graves to murder. And for some reason, the awakened dead don’t seem very happy about it… In this work commissioned especially for the London Lovecraft Festival, TL Wiswell extends her suite of genderswitched Lovecraft tales to this perennial favorite. Come and see a play Borne and Walk (but not come back for revenge).

7:00pm Tuesday 5th and Wednesday 6th Providence “Life is a hideous thing.” Prepare to be amazed, terrified, and driven insane! Great Cthulhu may be sleeping beneath the sea, but in Providence, Rhode Island, Lovecraft can’t get a wink. Join the morose and miserable Howard Phillips Lovecraft, author of ‘The Call of Cthulhu’, ‘Shadow Over Innsmouth’ and other incredibly weird tales, as he contemplates the many mistakes that make up his life. His father went mad when he was four. He suffered a mental breakdown when he was eighteen. He lived with his overprotective mother until he was thirty. He loathed seafood, loved coffee and hated immigrants. Indeed he despised anyone who wasn’t an 18th century English Gentleman. But he hated himself most of all. Lovecraft’s losses were fortunately our gains as his enigmatic, tortured mind gave birth to a body of work we now consider as the foundations of the modern horror genre. Using physical comedy, live music and all the classic horror tropes you can rattle a chain at, Dominic Allen (Belt-Up, A Common Man) and Simon Maeder (Superbolt Theatre) explore a wretched life and ask a haunting question: can any love be salvaged from one so filled with hate? Winner of Vaults Festival ‘Pick of the Week’ award.

9:00pm Tuesday 5th and Wednesday 6th The Lurking Fear and other stories Nestled in amongst the Catskills, sits Tempest Mountain. Far from a vacation destination. This mountain is shrouded in death and destruction. At the heart of all the horror, sitting empty and imposing atop the mountain, is the legendary House of Martense. No-one from the town below, that lies quivering in the shadow of the Martense mansion, ever dares venture up there. Especially when there’s a storm brewing. That is until an inquisitive young journalist, with a self-confessed ‘Love of the grotesque and horrible’, finds herself alone, following the trail of what the locals will only call “The Lurking Fear”. Broken Word Productions Presents The Lurking Fear and Other Stories, an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Lurking Fear”, as well as an introduction to some of his shorter stories. With the aid of puppetry and storytelling, follow our Hero as she faces one of Lovecraft’s deadliest monsters. This is Broken Word’s second theatre production, following it’s 4 star debut with Train Journey at the Camden Fringe earlier this year. They are excited to be taking, somewhat of a darker turn in presenting the World Premiere of (in their opinion) not one, but two of Lovecraft’s finest horrors.

9:00pm Thursday 7th The Witching Hour Montague Rhodes James returns with another selection of unsettling tales of antiquarian terror! Brave the horrors lying in wait within “An Episode of Cathedral History”! Witness the spectral malevolent seeking revenge in “A Warning to the Curious”! One-man show and follow-up to our successful touring production of “Old Haunts”. Jonathan Goodwin plays M.R. James in a show scripted by himself, and directed by Gary Archer.

7:00pm Thursday 7th Lovecraft After Dark Allow the cosmic horror of Howard Philip Lovecraft to envelop your senses and blast your imagination! At any moment, the terrors of the Ancient Ones may be unleashed upon the world. The Elder Gods scrutinise our every deed, awaiting their opportunity to reclaim what was once theirs. Madness will be a blessing to those mere mortals who witness the crawling chaos soon to be released upon mankind! Jonathan Goodwin plays Cornelius Pike in Lovecraft After Dark. The show is scripted by Goodwin, and co-directed by Goodwin and Gary Archer.

7:00pm Friday 8th & Saturday 9th 3:00pm Saturday 9th Late Night with Cthuhlu It’s been a few hundred years since the Great Old Ones awoke from their ancient slumber and enslaved humanity. Yet somehow, against all the odds, life has gone back to normal…ish. Thankfully, the people of London now have something to look forward to at the end of a long day of suffering and toiling. A being known only as THE PRODUCER has ordered the city’s best Television Station (or maybe the city’s *only* television station) be reopened, and for the broadcast of a new state-approved talk show “Late Night With Cthulhu” to stretch its tendrils onto the airwaves. Join your hosts Arabella Fenneck Reid and Sebastian Baxter Thompson for the newest instalment of your new favourite (and mandatory) evening of post-apocalyptic light entertainment. Late Night With Cthulhu is a heart-shuddering romp through a world after the return of the Great Ones. So come along and tune in for an evening of all stars, guest stars, and things beyond the stars! If you’re lucky, you might just go insane…” Trigger warnings: Strobe Lights, Loud Noises, Creeping Dread.

5:00pm Saturday 9th Writing Lovecraft A rehearsed reading of the winning play written for the London Lovecraft Festival.

9:00pm Friday 8th and Saturday 9th The Colour Out of Space With their signature live-Foley treatment, Shedload bring the already potent storytelling of Lovecraft to life through a carefully structured mix of live readings by highly-trained and experienced actors, and sound effects, performed by our very own Foley experts. For this, we rely on a whole ‘shed’s’ worth of sound makers, including every day items such as gardening tools, coal scuttles and salad spinners, as well as more niche instruments such as the ‘sea hoops’, grapefruit (and other choice fruit & veg items), and our prized possession: the Waterphone; an instrument that will no doubt be familiar to every horror film fan. So picture the scene – a dimly-lit stage, with a set comprising Arkham’s town sign and boundaries; a lone narrator, centre stage, using to great effect Lovecraft’s faithfully-adapted writing to describe the horror of the disintegrating farm animals before him – but hang on! – not only are you picturing this, you’re hearing it too: A pig barks out its last rattling breath as its skull collapses – its rotting flesh spills out onto the ground… – voice actor, red pepper, grapefruit, and a hammer – The RØDE mic does the rest. Chilling screams from the attic, complete with nails scratching on wooden floorboard, and the palpable wail of the strange celestial matter plaguing the farm… namely, The Colour out of Space.

12:00pm through 10:00pm, Sunday 3rd through Saturday 9th Patient 4620 Gretel Sauerbrot: a once famous artist, admitted to the Raventhorne Institution and then never heard from again. You are invited to the Royal Museum of Contemporary Art, and through a series of audio guides you explore and uncover clues to Gretel’s past. This unique theatre show is a blend of immersive theatre, auditory storytelling, and art installation; resulting in a rich and sensory experience that won’t be easily forgotten. To experience the show at its fullest, audiences should bring a Smartphone or WiFi enabled device, along with a headset. In the event you cannot provide your own device and/or headset, you will be loaned items on entering the show.

#lovecraftian #h.p. lovecraft #lovecraft #weird festival #festival #theatre #lovecraft on stage #london #uk #cthulhu mythos

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mysticdragon3md3 · 6 years

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I have a weird relationship with Horror. I hate being scared, but I love symbolism that resonates with angsty internal turmoil.

When I was little, I used to peruse the horror genre aisle, every time we visited the video store, even though I hated how the horror genre would make me scared. I just wanted to see surrealist art. I didn't know that's what it was at the time, but those 1980's movie covers sure were going for that.

And even now, I'll watch clips from horror movies and listen to video essays analyzing their themes, but I won't watch horror movies themselves. That is not my idea of a good time. I don't want that experience of being afraid. I want that discussion of horrifying themes.

Right now, I'm listening to the soundtrack of Bloodborne. I know it's supposed to fill you will existential dread, and the setting is dripping with traditional Gothic spookiness, but the game's very design puts you in an empowered position. Not like Devil May Cry 3, but with that rally mechanic, I can see how it's so easy to just get carried away with the bloodlust for battle, that the in-game story's themes warn against. It becomes an actual experience felt by the audience, vs just an idea described to us. I love that about videogames. And I love that Bloodborne makes me feel more afraid of myself than of whatever monsters or existential dread is lurking around the game. ...Or maybe it's because I fear the monsters lurking around, that I've tricked myself into that bloodthirsty, fight-hungry mentality, as a distraction and denial. Well played, game. Well played. ^-^ Either way, when I hear that tense music, pumping my adrenaline, instead of feeling the adrenaline rush towards fear, the adrenaline instead gets diverted towards an over-eagerness to fight...and get carried away with it, even to madness. And it's intoxicating. ^_~

I mean, this is what I want to feel from Horror. I don't want to feel afraid and unable to sleep at night because of the dark. I want to consider tough issues of the psyche and face the things that are relegated to the Shadows (Jungian Shadows). I'd much rather revel in existential horrors, internal dissonance, and generally go "mad", than feel afraid. But so many of these dissonant issues are primarily delivered through Horror movies that focus more on feeling Fear than dissonance.

I'm fine with relating to stories about Becoming a monster. It's much more my taste than identifying with the experience of running from monsters.

I wonder why my tastes are like this.

I wonder if it has anything to do with my completely different affinity for Cthulhu. I keep hearing how some Lovecraft fans hate cute-ified Cthulhu plushies, because "you're supposed to be afraid of it". But afraid of what? The unknown? The feeling of being an insignificant speck in the universe? Maybe I've been exposed to too many Eastern philosophies or something, but I think those are things to be embraced. I HUG my plushie Cthulhu! (Mostly because I like cephalopods and think tentacles and spiders are delicately elegant and cute---) But also because I think there is value in embracing the fact that humanity is not the center of the universe. On the one hand, it gives the feeling that there are many amazing things out there, so fascinating that it is beyond human comprehension; the universe is so full of wonder waiting to be discovered. And on the other hand, the niche aspect of human experience makes it feel unique and emphasizes the significance that our human experiences have for us humans. I think that difference from other beings beyond, even transcendent from us, is a reason to be proud of our unique differences. ...But then, with the Cthulhu mythos created by a xenophobe, I suppose it makes sense why Lovecraft tinges the discovery of things beyond and superior to humanity as an intimidation and offense, rather than just a fascination. And after finding Bloodborne was actually about Cthulhu, I am fascinated. ^__^

#weird rambling #for my own records #fandom posterity #please ignore my idiocy #bloodborne #horror genre #symbolism #metaphor #cthulhu #existential dread #processing thoughts #confused with myself

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mediabasedlife · 6 years

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2017 Year in Review

This past year was, to put it mildly, rather tumultuous. For every high point of the year, there seemed to be low points all around it. But now the year has ended, and hopefully, this next one brings more good and a hell of a lot less bad than its predecessor. However, as said; 2017 wasn't all bad, and this is what I've decided to write about today. Finding myself inspired by the myriad of posts about people's top five or ten games, movies, shows, and so on, I've decided to continue that trend and catalogue the media I found to be exceptional, the media that helped me through the ups and downs of these twelve long months we just experienced. Some I may have written about before, and some will be new, but all of them deserve praise and recognition abound...at least, in my opinion. So without further ado; here are my most enjoyed pieces of media I experienced in 2017.

We'll start this article off by discussing a category I haven't really discussed on this blog before - music. The reason I don't usually write about music is due to how disparate my preferences can be for this particular media medium. Some days, I'm all about hard and the heavy, while others I'll dip into instrumentals, jazz, or video game soundtracks. Hence, the music I'll be listing here won't have much of a comparable flow - I just thought it was all pretty good.

This first album ties into one of my favorite games from 2017, easily a contender for my choice for Game of the Year; the soundtrack to the superb indie game Night in the Woods, as orchestrated by Alec Holowka. The soundtrack is beautifully mellow, pleasantly tuned for ambiance. In the game, the music accentuates and emphasizes all of the game's themes, emotional depth, and down-to-earth feel. Out of the game, the soundtrack is perfect for chilling out, studying, writing, or any such easy-going activity. I frequently found myself playing it in the background whilst reading or doing the few articles I wrote, or using it to relax after a particularly trying moment. Continuing the theme of game soundtracks, another that caught my fancy was the Persona 5 OST, composed by Shoji Meguro. An eclectic mashup of genres, the soundtrack bounces between somber piano, energized guitar, and jazz compositions, with a handful of excellent vocal tracks thrown in for good measure. This album is great for a variety of moods or activities thanks to the numerous tones and tempos the music flows between. And with nearly four hours worth of music to sift through, it stands to reason you'll be able to find something you like.

Moving from video game music, another album I found myself enjoying through the year was Alestorm's No Grave but the Sea. If you're unfamiliar with Alestorm, they fill a rather particular music niche; Pirate Metal, a fusion of piratical slang and heavy metal. Alestorm further accentuates their distinct sound with frequent usage of brass and string instruments, as well as a synthesized accordion. I found myself intrigued by their music several years ago when the band released the album Back through Time, and have followed them since. No grave but the Sea is relatively short, coming in at under an hour across its ten tracks. If you're a fan of niche genres, or just a metal fan looking for something new, I'd recommend you give it a listen. Closing out the music section is Linkin Park's One More Light. OML released only a few weeks after Alestorm's No Grave but the Sea but usurped it in my music library almost instantly for a brief time before the unfortunate suicide of Chester Bennington. In fact, I would call One more Light one of Linkin Park's best albums, despite it being the starkest departure from the band's hard rock sound to date. That isn't to say the album isn't heavy, though. One More Light is heavy in tone, as opposed to sound; If you want an example, listen to the premier single "Heavy" or the titular "One More Light", and you'll get a firm grasp on how the album feels. One more Light clocks in at a short but sweet thirty-five minutes, and I would wholeheartedly recommend taking the time to sit down and listen to it in full.

TV shows take the second slot, though I'll be honest; I definitely don't watch a lot of television. Not live, anyway. Most of what I watch is through streaming services, so a few of these aren't technically from 2017, at least not in full. But since I first watched these shows in 2017 it counts. Without further ado, here are my favorite television shows I started or finished in 2017.

Kicking off the television roster is Twin Peaks. If you're unfamiliar with the show, Twin Peaks was written and directed by David Lynch. It stars Kyle MacLachlan as the charming and amusing Special Agent Dale Cooper, a federal investigator sent to the enigmatic small town of Twin Peaks to solve the murder of local sweetheart Laura Palmer. Not much can be said about the plot of this show without spoiling it or just plain confusing somebody, but suffice it to say that all they appear to be. Everybody has a secret, and the show doesn't take too long to spiral into the surreal in typical Lynchian fashion. Twin Peaks initially debuted in 1990, earning two seasons and a cult following that lasted the 26-year gap until its third season released in 2017. Long story short; the show is great - It has intrigue, comedy, a wide cast of interesting characters, and a story that will keep you guessing until the end and beyond. The show isn't without its faults and can be flat out baffling at times, but despite all of that the show and its story is a fantastic experience to behold.

The next show on my list both compliments and contrasts Twin Peaks; Broadchurch. Broadchurch is a crime serial taking place in the fictional (and titular) town of Broadchurch, starring David Tennant as Detective Inspector Alec Hardy, and Olivia Colman co-stars as Detective Sergeant Ellie Miller. The series kicks off by investigating the murder of local youth Daniel Latimer, before moving on through its three-season run to investigate another murder case and finally a sexual assault, all the while weaving a compelling tale of a small town trying to cope with and move on from these horrible crimes. Broadchurch is a heavy experience, with very little levity to break up the tension of each investigation. That being said, It's still an excellent show with a genuinely compelling narrative backed up by the top-notch acting of the cast.

Setting aside the crime drama, we come to the next show - Voltron: Legendary Defender. Technically, the series' first season debuted in 2016, but 2017 saw the release of the second, third, and fourth seasons, meaning it was a pretty Voltron filled year. Legendary Defender is the latest in the long line of Voltron adaptations, following the Paladins of Voltron as they fight to defend the galaxy from the evil Galra Empire. Now I've never watched any of the other Voltron shows, so I can't speak for their quality (or lack thereof). As far as first impressions to a series go, Legendary Defender couldn't be better. Helmed by DreamWorks and Netflix, and written by the creative minds behind Avatar the last Airbender and its sequel Legend of Korra, Legendary Defender was probably the best-animated show I watched all year. In terms of quality, the show is top notch. Excellent voice acting, great animation, and a fun but serious story that has me eagerly anticipating wherever it goes in 2018.

Wrapping up this section are the many, many Netflix Marvel series. This includes Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, and finally The Punisher. I had already seen some of these before but went in for a rewatch in preparation for all the new stuff coming out in 2017. If you're not familiar with these shows, however unlikely that is, I'll summarize each show in a sentence or two. Daredevil follows Matthew Murdoch who, after losing his sight but gaining superhuman senses as a child, fights crime in hell's kitchen on two fronts; as a lawyer, and as the vigilante Daredevil. Jessica Jones follows former street hero turned private-eye, Jessica Jones, as she tries to deal with the aftermath of a traumatic incident in her past while an old foe comes back to haunt her. Luke Cage follows Ex-Con and titular character Luke Cage as he tries to clean up the streets of Harlem and free it from corruption. Iron Fist follows Danny Rand, boy billionaire and sworn defender of Kun Lun as he tries to combat a mysterious organization known as The Hand. The Defenders finally unites these four heroes for the first time, as they all come together to battle the aforementioned Hand in an attempt to stop them once and for all. Finally, we come to The Punisher, which follows war veteran turned vigilante Frank Castle as he hunts the people responsible for the murder of his wife and children. I won't go into an extended review here, so to keep it simple; Daredevil is amazing (though its second season has some flaws), Jessica Jones is great, Luke Cage is great, Iron Fist is fine, The Defenders is amazing, and the Punisher is fantastic...to summarize, pretty much all of these shows are worth a watch.

Now, as I said at the beginning of this article, 2017 was a pretty shaky year. A lot of ups, and a lot of downs. Many of these ups, at least for me, are in the next category; 2017 was a pretty great year for movies, in my opinion. It was a busy year for movies, but when isn't it? For every one movie I watched, there were three more I had to wait on, but pretty much every film I watched in 2017 knocked it out of the park. From comic book films to horror flicks, each one of these movies takes the cake.

The premier movie for this article is Get Out, one of the contenders for my favorite movies of the year. Helmed by Jordan Peele, Get Out is a genuinely uncomfortable horror/thriller about a black boyfriend meeting the family of his white girlfriend. It tells a heavy but undeniably compelling story, one that keeps you guessing and inspires a fair amount of thought after the fact. I won't go into too much here, but I will say that if you haven't seen this movie, you absolutely should. Speaking of movies that make you think, Bright is up next, the new racially-conscious Netflix movie starring will smith and....no, not really. Actually, The Lego Batman Movie is up next; a goofy, charming, and stark contrast to all of the gritty DC movies that have been churned out over the past few years. This movie was genuinely funny and felt fun to watch...something that can't be said about some of the more recent DC films. I've written about this movie before, and my thoughts today still echo that review; This was one of the best Batman movies I've seen. Following The Lego Batman Movie, the next film on my list is John Wick: Chapter 2. There's not much to say about this movie other than the fact that it's a top-notch sequel that keeps all of the pros of its predecessor, and in some cases, improves on them. It isn't a terribly different story than its predecessor; Somebody messes with John Wick, so John Wick messes back by going on a vengeance-fueled spree. It's an action-filled thrill ride that doesn't disappoint.

Another action-filled thrill ride takes the form of Logan, and....wow. Logan is another contender for my favorite film of the year. The movie serves as equal parts finale for both Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman as Charles Xavier and Wolverine respectively, and it does so perfectly. Logan is a shining example of what Comic Book films should aspire to, with an outstanding script, Oscar-worthy acting, and a top-notch story to close out this era of the X-Men cinematic universe. Finally, we come to one of the last movies released in 2017; Star Wars The Last Jedi. I'm sure if you're reading this, you've probably seen this movie. Maybe you liked it, Maybe not. I, however, thought this movie was pretty damn good. One of the better Star Wars films, I think Rian Johnson did well at what he set out to do. I won't say it's the best movie of the year, but it makes my list of favorites.

Finally, we come to the last section of this year in review: Video Games. I actually got to play a fair few of these this year and liked basically all of them. But, this isn't "Year in Review, things I thought were passable". This is "Year in Review, my favorites", and so what follows are my favorite games of 2017. From AAA titles to simple indie games, each one of these had the right amount of fun, charm, and entertainment to keep me hooked and keep me coming back to them time and again.

We'll kick this list off with a game that embodies charming simplicity; Slime Rancher. This game debuted back in 2016 as an early access title but finally released in an official capacity in August of 2017. I didn't think much of it when it came out, just grabbed it since it was free through Xbox Live's games with gold program. Color me surprised, then, when it turned out to be one of my favorite games of the year. I previously wrote about this so you can see my full review here, but what I'll say here is that Slime Rancher is a surefire recommendation on my part. The next two games are anything but simple, at least in terms of story; Kingdom Hearts 1.5 and 2.5 HD (PS4). I had played these games before, on the PS2 and PS3, but what can I say? Kingdom Hearts is one of my favorite gaming franchises out there, and the ability to play it again on modern consoles was a treat. With the release of Kingdom Hearts III on the horizon (hopefully), going back to experience the franchise in full was a fantastic refresher. If you've never played Kingdom Hearts before, getting the modern gen remasters is your best way to experience these games right now.

Following Kingdom Hearts is Persona 5, one of two games I would strongly consider as Game of the Year. I had never played a persona game before this, at least not in full, and this game almost made me regret that. Persona 5 is near perfect, with a great story, smooth and snappy gameplay, and a top-notch aesthetic balanced between its visuals and its sound design. Atlus has a history of making quality games, and Persona 5 is no exception. Continuing from there, we come to Night in the Woods, the second of my two Game of the Year contenders. In fact, were it not for Persona 5, Night in the woods would be the winner for 2017, at least in my book. This is another game I've written about in full and I would recommend reading that review here because I had a fair amount to say. Night in the Woods saw two releases in 2017, once at the start of the year, and once at the end of it. Because of this, the game both kicked off and closed down my 2017 year, and I couldn't have asked for a better game to do so.

That about wraps up my Year in Review. 2017 was a full year for media, and I have a lot to catch up on, but luckily I was able to experience just about as much as I missed. Not everything I did this year appeared in this review, but these were the things that elevated themselves above the competition and took the titles of favorites for 2017. I extend my thanks to anybody who stuck with this blog, or even read just one of my articles in the last year, and hope that the new year is kind to all of you. This year promises to be just as good, if not better for media purposes, so I eagerly await whatever comes next. Here's to a great 2018, folks.

#Year in Review #Gaming #Film Review #Music #About Me

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thisaintascenereviews · 7 years

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Album Review by Bradley Christensen Necrophagist – Onset Of Putrefaction / Epitaph Record Label: Willowtip / Relapse Release Date: September 14 1999 / August 3 2004

Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of death metal, both new and old, as well as different subsets of the genre. I’ve been into a lot of melodic death metal, deathgrind, and technical death metal, as well as straightforward death metral, but it’s amazing to me how there are subgenres within subgenres. Only in metal, huh? Each one is different, too, but to the average music fan, or even a casual listener, it’s hard to pick up on. You could think that all of that stuff sounds the same, and a lot of people do, which I can’t really fault them for, but there are very subtle differences in each sound. Let’s look at them briefly. If we’re going from the heaviest, and most brutal, of the sub-subgenres to the “softest” of them, deathgrind is the most brutal. It’s a portmanteau of death metal and grindcore. I don’t listen to grind, but I might want to dabble at some point. Deathgrind combines the two, but it’s ferocious. I listen to a bit, including bands like Aborted, GUTSLIT, Abnormality, Cattle Decapitation, and a few other bands, but it’s more or less a niche kind of death metal. Technical death metal, or tech-death, is the second heaviest, because it’s pretty intense, insane, and the technical skills from the musicianship and instrumentation can be quite wild. One issue I have with the genre is that it can be more style over substance, even though a more technical and impressive sound is really cool. I like a lot of tech-death bands, because I love guitar solos. Next up is more straightforward death metal, and there’s not really much to say about that, just because you probably have an idea of what it sounds like. Gutteral harsh vocals, blast beats, aggressive and brutal instrumentation, lyrics that are very horror-inspired, you know the drill. Melodic death metal, or melo-death, is the lightest kind of death metal, because it’s got more “melody” behind it. The melody, however, is in the guitarwork. The guitarwork is more melodic, definitely not as brutal or intense, but the death metal sound is still there, no matter what. If I had to tell someone what my favorite kind of death metal was, it’s s toss-up between melo-death and tech-death.

If you guessed that it’s because of the guitarwork involved in both sounds, yeah, you’d be right, because that’s what it comes down to. The guitarwork in both sounds is very different, but it serves a different purpose. When I listen to a lot of death metal, I tend to gravitate towards melo-death or tech-death bands. They’re just more interesting to me, even though some deathgrind bands are great, and the more straightforward bands are great, too. Today I’ll be talking about a tech-death band, though, and one of the more influential and essential bands of the genre. That band is Necrophagist, a German tech-death band that’s been around for a long time, but they’ve only released two albums in their 25-year career. How weird is that? I’ll be talking about those albums briefly today, because they’re both rather similar records, but the thing about Necrophagist is that they’re not really a band that I would say is essential to death metal as a whole. If you want to get into tech-death, they’re a great band to start off with, but in terms of death metal as a genre, yeah, they’re not that influential or that essential. For their subgenre, yes, they are, but for the genre itself? No, not really. They’re one of those bands. You know what I’m talking about, right? Those bands that are very, very good, and there’s no denying their quality, but they’re not a band that changed the game, necessarily, only to help further their respective style(s). Necrophagist is one of those bands, but they’re a damn great band. Both of their LPs, 1999’s Onset Of Putrefaction and 2004’s Epitaph, are very fine examples of tech-death. The band does do something that is kind of interesting, where they take classical music, whether they use specific passages or they have elements or influences of classic music in their sound, but otherwise, they’re pretty standard tech-death. The thing that I like about this band a lot, however, is they keep things short. Both albums are under 35 minutes, so you’re not spending a lot of time with this band at all, but it’s clearly a case of quality over quantity.

I love both of these albums at the end of the day, but it’s tricky whether I’d recommend them to someone. I would, especially if you’re into tech-death, and you haven’t listened to them, because they’re top tier stuff, but at the same time, they’re not an essential death metal band. They’re no Deicide, Obituary, Death, or anything like that, because they didn’t quite pioneer tech-death. If anything, they just further the genre, so they can do more with it, but that’s still worth mentioning. It’s still worth giving them credit, because they are very, very good. This is top tier tech-death of the highest quality, and this what tech-death bands should aspire to be. They’re killer. At the same time, though, they’re not life-changing or influential albums that you’ll see on a best of list of all time, even though you might if you’re a tech-death / death metal fan. That’s one thing, but metal as a whole, or death metal as a whole? Not really. I can understand that, but at the same time, these albums kick ass. As a death metal fan, especially tech-death, I’m pretty into these, but I could understand someone not being into them, or even thinking they’re pretentious wankery records. Necrophagist didn’t necessarily change the game, either, but that doesn’t mean they’re not good. They’re not an essential band that’s at the top tier level, even though they are top tier tech-death. For their genre, they’re great, but at the same time, they’re not a band that a metal fan needs to hear, per se. I mean, I would listen to them if you’re curious, and you’re into more extreme metal, but you’re not necessarily missing anything that you couldn’t get from Death, for example, especially on a record on like 1993’s Individual Thought Patterns, or 1998’s The Sound Of Perseverance. They really helped to pioneer tech-death, but Necrophagist helped to further the genre, meaning that they added to it. They didn’t influence the genre, necessarily, but they expanded the limits of the genre. Either way, though, both of these records are some top notch tech-death, and if you’re a tech-death fan, death metal fan, or you appreciate insane, awesome, and somewhat progressive guitarwork, definitely give these albums a listen, because you most likely won’t be disappointed.

#necrophagist #epitaph #onset of putrefaction #willowtip records #relapse records #technical death metal #death metal #tech-death #tech death #metal #heavy metal

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thewatertowernews · 6 years

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yum, boys!

by andrew salerno

Horror is a vast and expansive genre, and with hundreds of duds produced it may be easy to overlook some of the gems of the genre. As it is the spooky season, I’d like to bring back a movie that you might have never seen, but should definitely be watching.

Jennifer’s Body costars Amanda Seyfried and Megan Fox, who play high school best friends from a small town that gets shaken up by some supernatural shenanigans. Jennifer (Megan Fox), becomes possessed by a demon which makes her eat teenage boys in order to stay pretty, and her best friend has to deal with the repercussions of this. The movie could be horrendously bad with that plot and I’d still watch, but it’s a good thing that doesn’t happen to be the case here.

The writing of this movie is breathtakingly fabulous, with the perfect marriage of millennial humor, coming of age clichés, and horror movie tropes. The amount of amazing lines in this movie is outrageous, with everything from “It smells like Thai food in here, have you guys been fucking?” to “PMS isn't real Needy, it was invented by the boy-run media to make us seem like we're crazy.” There are countless pop culture references hidden in the script, which makes it even that much more enjoyable to our generation. I would argue that this movie has a well-deserved cult following, based alone on how much the fans enjoy and recite the lines exactly as they’re written.

As for the music, the soundtrack for this movie couldn’t be any more beautiful curated for what this movie is; try picturing what your angsty teen self listened to sophomore year of high school and this movie probably has it. With songs from All Time Low, Paramore, Panic! at the Disco, Florence + the Machine, and Dashboard Confessional, you’re bound to experience symptoms of PPSD (post-puberty stress disorder).

The real reason this piece of art is so incredibly amazing, is that it fully utilizes its unique modern femininity, and uses that to express a distinct flavor not usually found in mainstream blockbusters. You have a fully realized vision with the essence of a niche high school comedy, and the sleek cool style of a modern horror movie. There are few movies out there that can match the darkly cynical, yet relatable tone that this movie puts out, while managing to carry the tone throughout the whole piece. The creative team was one not to be reckoned with, thanks to the directing by Karyn Kusama and the screenwriting of Diablo Cody (Brook Busey-Maurio), who both provided the motherly love needed to create something truly special.

Jennifer’s Body is a campy horror comedy, but the deeper themes at work deserve to not be looked over. It’s a story of unspoken and unrequited love between two girls, and failing human connections. It’s a horror story about losing your innocence in a moment’s notice, and learning to live when everything’s been flipped on its head. Most importantly, it’s a look into the contemptuous relationship between female friends, and the trials and tribulations that society puts young women through.

So this Halloween, if you and your friends are looking for the perfect scary movie, try watching Megan Fox look hot while feasting on teenage boys. You never know, you may just end up finding something you weren’t expecting to find.

#the water tower news #volume21issue4 #views #andrew salerno #Jennifer's body #yum

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noisylibrary · 5 years

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This year we decided to list our favourite albums in a new format. Pictured above is the collection of our top 100 albums placed near similar sounding albums.

Below is our top 10 favourite albums of 2018, in no particular order!

You Won’t Get What You Want - Daughters

Uncompromisingly noisy and abrasive, Daughters have proved that, as amazing as their last album was (2010s self-titled release), they were only scratching the surface when it came to the aggression, horror, and abrasiveness. You Won’t Get What You Want has the energy of a thrash or black metal album, but the rhythm and repetition of a Swans record. It’s noise rock pushed to it’s furthest extremities. What separates Daughters here though from other loud rock bands is easily their versatility. When this album gets loud, it gets ear shattering: songs like “The Flammable Man”, standing at just two minutes, is one of the busiest and most overwhelming rock songs of the year. “The Reason They Hate Me” is similar in that regard, but offers a more direct and straight forward song structure.

Even in their quiet moments, Daughters still manages to be as terrifying. “City Song” is atmospheric and chalk-full of tension, with frontman Alexis Marshall speaking his esoteric lyrics at a near whisper quiet volume, back by harsh shots of noise and a thick wall of sound. “Less Sex” and “Daughter” are similar in their hazy approach, but still manage to remain on par in terms of substance, whether it be in the mental health references in the former, or the intense, scoring harmonies at the tail end of the latter.

While the previously mentioned tracks are all fantastic and make for a powerful and diverse listen on their own, Daughters without a doubt saves the heaviest and most mind-melting moments for the last two songs on the record. The first of which, titled “Ocean Song”, takes lyrical cues from an album like Spiderland, telling the story of a man who, upon returning to his home, is struck with an overwhelming sense of terror (“He explodes through the backyard like a shot from a gun, clearing the fence in one leap”). It’s one of the most intense moments on the record, and it is only escalated by the unrelenting piles of guitars and crashing drums. However, it’s on “Guest House”, the albums final moments, that the true horror of this album comes to its ultimate climax. Over and over, walls of sour guitars and drums crash down on top of one another. Marshall’s vocals are more tortured and broken down than they have ever been, as his cries of “Let me in” go completely unanswered. The song is only four and a half minutes, but not a second is wasted, as it is packed with dread and fear that will shake the strongest of souls to their core.

For sure, there are albums in 2018 that might reflect on the current times better than that of “You Won’t Get What You Want”. Will this album still be as relevant as an album like “Wide Awake” or be as well remembered as “Kids See Ghosts” ten or twenty years down the road? It’s hard to say. Regardless of what you think of the album, though, it wreaks of universal dread; its lyrics may be tough to pin down and won’t be as relatable as most albums from the past year, but its sound is unmatched in terms of its experimentation and its emotional trauma. It’s not for the faint-hearted, but if you can see through the many, MANY, noisy guitars and instruments, then you may just find yourself enjoying the existential sadness of this record.

Die Lit - Playboi Carti

Playboi Carti is no lyrical miracle. One listen to his viral hit (and banger) Magnolia from 2017 and his general subject matter and sound are apparent. Unfortunately, his debut mixtape didn’t exactly live up to the expectations of that song. Thankfully though, Die Lit was released earlier this year and allowed Carti to prove himself as a more than worthy name in hip-hop. Die Lit is loaded with dusty trap bangers, minimal and simple but hypnotic instrumentation. The beats are woozy and drugged out, but are filled with psychedelic sounds and samples. Playboi doesn’t venture too far out of his comfort zone, but does demonstrate that his style is more versatile than it was on his debut mixtape and on Magnolia. “R.I.P” is probably trap’s banger of the year, with its aggressive lyrics and Carti's cutting energy. “Shoota” with Lil Uzi Vert is actually sort of epic in the way its pianos and strings escalate with Carti and Vert singing over top of it. This album even has a few topical tracks, like “Mileage”, which is as close to a love song as you’re going to get on this record. If you haven’t been pleased with Carti up until this point, I implore you to give Die Lit a shot. Again, Carti is not this generations Tupac, and his lyrics are easy to criticize for being simple and just plain dumb, but his rapping combined with the whacked out, zany beats on this album create an album that is utterly intoxicating.

Snares like a Haircut - No Age

With the amount of influences on this record, this record should sound like a sad attempt at reinventing the sounds of 80s and 90s indie and post-punk. But it’s just the opposite - No Age combines these influences to make a rock album that tributes its roots while also crafting something strange and idiosyncratic. The vocals are passionate, the riffs are tight, especially on the opening track, and the production is solid from front to back. The band combines Sonic Youth-like indie and psychedelic passages to create something an album that is both accessible but also experimental. The title track, for example, is a spacey, electronic instrumental centre-piece that really shouldn’t work as well as it does. No Age effectively encompasses so many different styles and ultimately succeeded in making one of the best rock albums of the year, hands down.

2012-2017 - Against All Logic

House Music doesn’t really have a lot of sway in terms of influence and popularity in 2018. Sure, the mainstream is crowded with bass-heavy EDM music, and it has been for much of the 2010s, but much like hip-hop, it’s all been saturated to a point in which the current trends and sounds bleed between songs seamlessly to the point where nothing new is being brought to the genre. There comes a time in every genre’s existence that the sounds that were popular decades prior start to creep their way back into the music. In the underground Dance Music scene, this reinvention has undoubtedly been led by producer Nicolas Jaar. His 2011 album Space is Only Noise was hazy and ambient, but featured driving base drums that kept the music groovy. Similarly, in 2013, his collaboration with Dave Harrington under the name Darkside improved on these sounds in a major way, adding some rock elements to the otherwise dark and patient dance beats.

Now, in 2018, under a new alias “Against All Logic”, Jaar out of nowhere drops what is easily one of the grooviest and most infectious dance albums of the past decade. It wreaks of the late 90s and early 2000s house music from the likes of Daft Punk, but the samples and textures that Jaar plays with all add up to an eerily atmospheric and dense listen. But even on the surface, these songs are catchy and funky and will get you moving from the first song to the last. “This Old House is All I Have” is the perfect opener, especially in its title reference the roots of the album's music. From there on, it’s a wild concoction of sample-heavy house; Jaar’s attention to detail in the sounds of this album is evident in each and every one of these songs. It may not be first on our list, but it’s about as close to perfect as a dance music album can sound in the current landscape of music.

Some Rap Songs - Earl Sweatshirt

At 25 minutes and only 15 tracks, Earl Sweatshirt makes a statement before you even hit play on the first track, that this is not going to be a typical release from the former Odd Future member. Then once you do hit play, it becomes even more apparent that Some Rap Songs is not even close to your average rap album in 2018, especially from a name as recognizable as Earl’s. His generally monotone voice and nonchalant style are still here, but it’s the instrumentals and lyrical subject matter that separates this album from not only Earl’s own discography but from every other rap album in 2018. The experimental beats are hard to grasp, cluttered and grimy as if the spirit of Madlib lives within every single one of them. Listen to the piano samples on “Loosie” and “The Mint”, both of which are choppy and grainy, the former being one of the most lumbering on the entire project.

As amazing and unique as the beats are, though, it’s still Earl who steals the show. His sense of humour is still present, but for the most part, these songs deal with Earl’s struggling mental health and personal issues. One of the most compelling and personal moments on this record doesn’t even feature Earl’s rapping, but instead features his mother and late father, intertwined in speech and poetry on the song “Playing Possum”. For such a short album, Earl packs so much emotion into these songs, and admirably so, as this album manages to be so heart-wrenchingly sad but also bittersweet at the same time. It’s not exactly going to brighten your day, but it’s an album whose introspectiveness allows a window into Earl’s current psyche, making for an incredibly compelling character portrait, all in less than half an hour.

- Braeden

Veteran - JPEGMAFIA

The fifth full-length project from Baltimore’s JPEGMAFIA - a single rapper/producer, yes, not a mafia - is strikingly gritty, witty and definitely not shitty. Veteran sounds like a collection of angered thoughts and an ultimate release of energy in an America that JPEGMAFIA isn’t all that impressed with. Targeting white supremacists, the alt-right and Morrissey of The Smiths, “Peggy” uses an array of grinding electric beats, niche O.D.B. samples and a self-produced collection of noises that beautifully compliment the abrasive narrative that is conveyed violently and melodically on this 48-minute rollercoaster. JPEGMAFIA has always been unapologetically targeting specific individuals with his music, songs like Libtard Anthem, Whole Foods and Curb-Stomp may shock younger viewers, caution! The humour in “Peggy’s” delivery and content is felt in songs like Macauley Culkin, My Thoughts on Neogaf Dying and Panic Emoji, reminding us that he is never taking himself seriously enough to appeal to the pseudo-woke rap population, while thoroughly embracing the old and the new’s of hip-hop in a fantastic compilation of songs.

Wide Awake - Parquet Courts

Parquet Courts are a New York-based, art-punk band with a consistently energetic take on everyday subjects and notions of feeling unsure about oneself. On their sixth studio album, Wide Awake!, the sound is an evolved yet familiar one from the group, while the narrative content has both grown and narrowed its scope on a collection of pressing topics for the modern American. Describing the new social divide that the western world is building for itself and comparing it to Total Football, Normalization and Tenderness, Andrew Savage takes the lead on the album’s vocals, in lieu of the past records’ alternating co-lead vocals with Andrew Brown. Where this facet of Parquet Courts’ exchange in dialogue has become a memorable trait in the rest of their discography, Wide Awake acts as one extended plea for change and a sense of revelation in songs like Before the Water Gets Too High, Death Will Bring Change and Extinction. Despite the pessimism in the lyrical content and song titles themselves, Wide Awake maintains an aura of hope, prosperity, and fuel for a fire that invites acts of revolution from the people.

Kids See Ghosts - KIDS SEE GHOSTS

The long-awaited collaboration between Kid Cudi and Kanye West was well worth the wait, making use of the best of the duo’s musical styles in a modern and unprecedented way. With Kanye’s regular production team behind the scenes, this piece of Kanye’s six-album puzzle of 2018 was intricately built to flow from a range of different emotions that were either felt exclusively or shared by the two established hip-hop powerhouses. Following a string of experimental and sonically challenging albums in the preceding half-decade, both Kanye and Cudi managed to compile an uninterrupted stream of triumphant motifs and dance-inducing ballads that resonate with the ever-changing landscape of hip-hop music and its newly divided culture. The exchange between some of West’s strongest and most vulnerable lyrics are chilling in synchronous harmony with Cudi’s swaying hums on songs like Reborn and the eponymous Kids See Ghosts. Memorable to say the least, KIDS SEE GHOSTS shows no pause in the strides of some of the past decade’s most thorough musicians.

Year of The Snitch - Death Grips

If you didn’t like Death Grips in the past, your opinion may not change at all. If you like Death Grips, you’ll love their sixth studio album, Year Of The Snitch. Packed with a full-size punch of industrial hip-hop breaks and hard-rock-influenced live instrument progressions, this album is nothing short of a masterpiece in its personality, raw-ness and dedication to a new and refreshing sound. Following a spree of idiosyncratically absurd promotions through their Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts, the opening track “Death Grips is Online” breaks the fourth wall between their mysterious roll-outs and the cult-ish fanbase that marvels at every breath they take on the internet. The Sacramento trio announced that they would be working with Andrew Adamson (Director of Shrek), Justin Chancellor (Bassist for TOOL) and Lucas Abela (an artist that cuts his lips with glass) on the album with little bits of promo scattered on their social media accounts including a spoof of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia's” opening credits to announce the album name. Chancellor’s bass lines complement and enhance the driving rhythms created by producer Andy Morin and Drummer Zach Hill while Adamson’s spoken vocal recording creates an added mystery to his creative input on the album. Whenever the album builds itself on a riff or motif, it grows to a climax and abruptly tosses listeners back and forth with confusing and abrasive transitions, further developing this overall sense of disgust and crude emotions. This theme is sprinkled most predominantly on songs like The Fear, Shitshow and Black Paint, where a feeling of discomfort is a lasting impression for the unprepared listener. Even where an opportunity existed to have two songs flow seamlessly together, Dilemma is followed by Little Richard instead of The Fear, which sums up the album to a t. In sequence, this album tells a story that is both captivating and mysterious in a challenging and jarring manner.

Your Dog - Rose Droll

Rose Droll’s debut full length made its way into my musical scope out of nowhere, and I could not be happier to have stumbled upon it. Multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Ellen Bert ventures deep within what feels like one drained state of mind following a period of trauma in mentally abusive relationship in an earnest, gripping and thoughtful way. Comparing herself to the dog of her former partner, a Fat Duck and -not- a Happy Kitten, the San Francisco native paints a powerful image of the emotional discomfort that can be felt from an imbalance in energy from one partner to the other with mournfully catchy riffs and melodies, bouncing between a driving DIY indie sound to a singer-songwriter ballad matching the sentiment of each song and resulting in a harmonious and meticulously structured thought. The spoken lyrics in songs like Hush and Boy Bruise beg listeners to follow along and decipher, and within them is a rewarding, exciting and captivating message every stanza of the album.

-Calum

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manoharis · 7 years

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A Year in Review: Telugu Movies!

You can’t pay me to watch these (aka watch me roast them in 10 words or less)

Dictator - a Bala Krishna movie without animals in the title!

Krishnashtami - wyd Sunil.

Terror - the title aptly describes my feelings about this movie.

Guntur Talkies - lets just not. more like gun-to-ur head after watching this.

Attack - this wins for having a director and actor that Idc about!

Edo Raakam Ado Raakam - edho raakamaina torture.

Thikka - ee cinema choosaka vacchedi adhe

Jaguar - just when you’ve thought twood’s exhausted the possible feline comparisions

I really really dont care: Savitri, Raja Cheyyi Vesthe, Abbayitho Ammayi, Killing Veerappan, Express Raja, Naruda Donoruda, Hyper, Speedunodu, Garam, Nayaki

Nenu Sailaja -I had a lot of expectations for this movie because it was said to be “fresh” but there was really nothing new here. I loved Ram’s look, some of the comedy and most of the songs. Worth a watch but nothing ground-breaking.

Nannaku Prematho - A for effort? I just couldn’t connect to the film because I felt like the emotion was kind of artificial and didn’t really pull me in. I couldn’t get behind a lot of the “logic” in this film. Also there disruptive bgm in every scene which made it really hard to focus on the film.

Soggade Chinni Nayana - I feel like this movie was targeted towards middle aged aunties lol. I love Nagarjuna and Ramya Krishna but there were one too many scenes where I was hiding my face from embarrassment. On the plus side, all the sarees in the movie were gorgeous !

Lacchimdeviki O Lekkundi - messy because of all the back and forth plot twists. Horror comedy is literally my least favorite genre so I didn’t like this.

Seethamma Andalu Ramaya Sutralu - below average; I don’t have much to say about this. If I hadn’t watched it, this would belong in the ‘I really don’t care’ list.

Krishnagadi Veera Prema Gaadha - I think I was drowsy when watching this (not because of the movie) so I honestly don’t remember anything but the beginning portion which was really funny. I need to rewatch this.

Malupu - I always love a good thriller but it could’ve been better. Aadhi Pinnisetty’s voice tho !!

Kshanam - FAVE !!! This was so good! again always down for a good thriller. Super gripping and just the right pace. I loved how in this the love story was relevant to the script. It was very well written, acted, and taken as well in terms of technicalities. I can definitely see it getting awards next year.

Kalyana Vaibhogame - The first half was loud and messy which made me almost stop watching it. With a premise like this, the story is extremely predictable, as in you knew the lead pair would fall in love eventually, it was just a matter of when. I thought the second half was pretty cute though.

Shourya – I know this is biased of me but I can’t remember the last movie of the Manchu brothers that I’ve seen because the kind of movies they make are just so not my type. However, when this movie came out I did hear some positive talk for it on twitter. But then it wasn’t talked about at all after like a week? So I’m not exactly sure how successful it was. I may watch it eventually but I’m not dying to see it lol

Run- This was the remake of Neram by Sundeep Kishan (side note: I really like Sundeep, so I was annoyed that he was doing a remake). I didn’t hear much about this either after the first week so I don’t think it did that well. However, I do want to watch it because I’ve been trying to watch Neram since forever but I could never find it with subtitles so I guess this is my chance to watch it, but a lesser version ofc. Although one of the main reasons I wanted to watch was for Nivin and Nazriya so this doesn’t really do much more me lmao

Oopiri – I haven’t seen the original so I really liked this! S/o to Nagarjuna for realizing fairly quickly that its time for him to more age appropriate roles (take notes @ chiranjeevi). This is why the Akkineni’s are my fave! (my bias is showing so much in this post but do I really care). anyways, I loved the chemistry between Karthi and Nagarjuna cause lbr their bromance was the real love story in this. Shriya’s appearance made the childhood shipper in me super happy. Overall, an enjoyable film with some great performances.

Sardaar Gabbar Singh – The amount of hype this movie had, jfc. Tbh I don’t have anything major against Pawan Kalyan. He’s just not one of my favorites, and ngl I liked him in the early 2000s phase (i.e. before Gabbar Singh which is when his fans went to piccha peaks). His fan base is literally one of the worst. I just think they’re super extra and very disrespectful, esp at audio launches. So yes, I was happy that it flopped because one it put the pk fans in their place who were hyping this to no end. Also he wrote the story and screenplay for this and reading some reviews about that gave me life lmao. If you want to hear something good about this movie, Kajal looks stunning in all her princess-y clothes and a few of the songs are pretty good.

Sarrainodu – I actually haven’t seen this yet but I do want to. Here I go being biased again lol. If this starred anyone I didn’t care for, I would have no interest in this movie but because it’s the fave, Allu Arjun, I have to watch it. I like a lot of the video songs and the music actually grew on me when I was forced to listen to it A LOT in India over the summer. Also he looks hella good, I’m sold, bye.

Supreme – Ok this movie was huge in India over the summer. Everyone loved it and ngl I used the phrase “its amazing zing zing” about a thousand times among my cousins without even having seen it. I tried watching it once I got back and it was just too much loud comedy for me to handle and I never finished it.

Brahmotsavam – oh lord. TOO SOON. Jk, I’m over it. Easily the biggest disappointment of 2016 in terms of what was promised and what was delivered. I literally followed this movie since it was even rumored to be happening because Mahesh and Sreekanth Addala. Then Mickey J Meyer was brought on and then Samantha and I was just so hyped. I think the fact that I was dying to watch this in theaters and then I didn’t even want to watch it once it was online, says a lot. I was just really shocked that everyone, fans and non-fans alike panned it especially when it involved sooo many people. The second hand embarrassment is too real. But I did eventually watch it and what the actual hell. There was literally no story, no coherence, and way too many irrelevant characters. Mahesh has a pattern of delivering blockbusters after massive flops so here’s hoping the best for his next!

A…Aa: I have so many feelings about this movie. Trivikram is one of my most favorite directors/writers and has been for a long time. With Attarintiki Daredi, I was pretty disappointed that he went full on commercial and I thought he lost some of his touch. That changed a bit with Son of Satyamurthy (but I feel like a majority of the reason that I liked that movie is bc of Allu Arjun lol). But yeah anyway, A…Aa is still a very commercial movie, its not in any way niche. However, I think Trivikram finally struck the balance of substance and commerciality which made it an entertaining movie while also leaving you with something to think about. The story was actually very simple and something that’s definitely been done before, but the screenplay had Trivikram’s name all over it. It was apparent in every single dialogue. He also pulled out some spectacular performances that were subdued but well done. I remember Samantha saying in an interview that because this is Trivikram’s third movie with her, he knows when she’s reusing an expression which forced her to improve her performance. When the movie was announced, I was kind of disappointed that Nithiin was in it because he’s never been a favorite of mine but I fell in love with him after this. I think in a lot of his movies he tries to do the typical commercial hero act and its obvious that he borrows heavily from Pawan Kalyan’s style. But in this his characterization was very subdued and painted him as a common guy which made him a lot more likable. It was also easier to ship the lead pair because the star aura tends to overshadow the chemistry but here I was really able to see the characters instead of the actors behind them. I just wished the story was more unique but otherwise a really good movie!

Okka Ammayi Thappa - Sundeep really needs to promote his movies more because they always seem to go under the radar. I was actually really excited for this because Sundeep & Nithya as the lead pair. I’m pretty sure its one of those movies that takes place in the span of a single day which I love bc if you can stretch a day into a full film, its gotta be one hell of a day. Not sure if this was a hit or not but I definitely want to check it out once its online.

Gentleman – (Spoiler Free). This was pretty good! A nice balance of romance and suspense. The story was intriguing and the performances were well done. I didn’t like the comedy though. The situational humor was fine but I hated the comedy track and I felt like it made the movie so much slower than it needed to be.

Oka Manasu - I was so hyped for this cause I love Naga Shourya and Niharika but apparently this was very slow and boring. I hope this doesn’t discourage Niharika from doing more movies because tollywood really needs some actual telugu actresses. (Side Note: Allu Arjun’s speech at this movie’s audio launch !! He basically called out the PK fans in a long 10 mins lecture and it gave me lifeee)

Pelli Choopulu - FAVE!!! Truly a new age rom com. I watched this in a theater in India and I loved it! The story was fresh, engaging, and hilarious. I loved how the characters were very realistic and reflective of actual youth and not hero-like at all. Also s/o for the strong female characterization !! You go Chitra! I think it did an amazing job of combining comedy, romance, social issues, and emotion into a very believable and enjoyable film. And not to forget the music which is so so good. Also, I’m gonna quote this movie in my grave.

Manamantha - I looove movies that have multiple inter-related stories. The four characters and their respective stories were written well with each character tackling a unique situation. Overall, I liked it, but it definitely could have been better.

Srirasthu Subhamastu - I watched this in India and it was nice to see it on the big screen because the best part of this movie was the grandeur of production. Starring in a movie produced by your father clearly has its perks. I don’t really care about Allu Sirish but he’s still pretty new so to be fair he was pretty good in this. The story is very very routine and predictable but I remember liking the dialogues

Babu Bangaram - I don’t think this was a hit? But fiiinally, Venky in a movie that’s not a remake, which ofc didn’t last long cause his next is a remake smh.

Janatha Garage - This movie was apparently the biggest hit of 2016 in terms of box office and imo its not deserving. The trailer for this movie made it seem really good but it was a disappointment in the end. The thing with Koratala Siva’s movies is that he always has a good social message but then commercializes it way too much. I understand what he’s trying to do but I wish he’d cut down on the violence and focus on the actual issue. This couldve been a really amazing movie about environmentalism but it turned into something really routine. Im also annoyed that a stellar cast of NTR, Mohanlal, Samantha, and Nithya was wasted on such a mediocre movie.

Jo Achyutananda - This was pretty good. As per the director’s style, it was very simple with life-like characters. The story was very interesting but I thought it was pretty anti-climactic and definitely could have been taken to another level. S/o for Nani’s cameo towards the end which sadly was the only male eye candy (sorrynotsorry).

Majnu - Even though this is Nani’s movie and I usually have high expectations for his movies, I didn’t expect much from this. The movie didn’t offer anything spectacular. The plot started off pretty interesting but then went the routine rom- com path. It gets a fair share of laughs and the music is fabulous but otherwise underwhelming.

Abhinetri - I haven’t seen this yet and I don’t really care tbh but I’ll probably watch it eventually.

Mana Oori Ramayanam - This seems really interesting from the trailer. Definitely a niche film and I don’t think it did well commercially but I want to see it.

Premam - What do I say about this that won’t get me hate lmao. I haven’t seen this yet but it received pretty good reviews as well as commercial success. I don’t support remakes ofc but I know I’ll end up watching this eventually. I’m glad that Naga Chaitanya is back on track again ?

Saahasam Swasaga Saagipo - I really want to watch this because romance + thriller is my faaave. I don’t think this was that big of a hit but Im still excited to see it. The album is amazing and I assume the bgm will be as well. Also s/o for Naga Chaitanya’s look in this movie which is his best yet imo. Is it just me or has he become so much more attractive now that he’s unavaible lol.

Ekkadiki Pothavu Chinnavada - I haven’t seen this yet, but heard that it was really good! Seems like another Karthikeya-type movie? Who would’ve guessed that Nikhil would be most successful actor from the Happy Days gang (besides tamanna ofc).

Jayammbu Nishchayambu Raa - same as above ^, haven’t seen, heard it was good.Other than that, I’m glad a small film got acclaim.

Dhruva - How much credit can you give to a remake ? I haven’t seen this or the original but I know I’ll probably like it.

Overall I think 2016 was a pretty good year for movies with many of the successes coming from small budget films which seems to be an increasing trend in Tollywood. The fact that Sardaar Gabbar Singh and Brahmotsavam were total box office disasters even though they starred arguably the two biggest stars in TFI shows that the majority of audiences crave content over star power which I’m all here for!

#tollywod #telugu cinema #text #kavya

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operationrainfall · 4 years

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Yesterday was a day of many firsts. It was the first time I’ve attended an expo centered around video games from the comfort of my home. It was also the first time I really paid attention to games developed by college students. And lastly, it was also the first year that USC Games Expo was held remotely. In years past when I’ve attended events like PAX West and E3, I admit I hadn’t paid much attention to student projects showcased there. My time was very limited at those events, after all. But the more I thought about it recently, the more I realized that I should have been paying more attention to events like the USC Games Expo a lot sooner. Cause after all, while students don’t have access to the resources a big studio might, game development has to start somewhere. And as an advocate of sharing niche and indie games, it was a simple logical jump to virtually attend the USC Games Expo this year.

This article is focused around the USC Games Expo keynote address, which lasted for a bit more than an hour. It introduced the event to those watching as well as highlighting 6 titles from the 50 or so total. It was also dedicated to all the graduating classes of 2020, which have been impacted by covid-19. The actual coverage was interspersed by small commercials from lead sponsor Jam City, and the show actually lasted for several hours after the keynote, but I wanted to focus on the main points. I’m not one for watching streamers play titles ad nauseam. That said, I was pleasantly surprised by the keynote. For one thing, it had a lot more celebrity talent showcased than I was expecting. It started things off with Danny Bilson and Mark Hamill. And while I was obviously more familiar with the latter, I quickly discovered the former’s resume is nothing to scoff at either. There were also short addresses from the USC principal and a couple of deans. Most of the show was hosted by Geoff Keighley, who I also wasn’t familiar with. We even got names like Judd Apatow, Jeff Kaplan, Kellee Santiago and even rapper T-Pain thrown into the mix. But the real reason I was watching the USC Games Expo wasn’t for the celebrities, but for the games. And just going from those highlighted, I was quite impressed.

As I mentioned earlier, the expo featured 6 titles that helped showcase various styles and genres. It started and ended with a horror title, though neither was remotely similar. That first game was called Light at the End of the Tunnels. It was introduced by Karter Duff, the game’s creator. The first impressive aspect of this project is that it was made for Oculus Rift, making it a VR horror experience.

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It also incorporates clever uses of light to trigger sensors, reveal your surroundings and frighten the ghoulies lurking behind every corner. Your goal as a simple office intern is to investigate an old mining site while searching for your missing colleague. Words don’t do the game justice, so hopefully the included visuals help illustrate why this game looked so compelling. Definitely worth checking out for horror fans that have VR.

Next up was Catharsis, a first person game set in a pitch black world, introduced by creator Dan Qiao. You play an artist who has suffered a traumatic accident, losing your sight in the calamity. Before you worry about the entire game involving stumbling about blindly, there is a key mechanic. By pressing a button, you use a sort of echo location to light up your surroundings temporarily, helping you navigate while reliving your painful memories. But going from the title of the game, I’m sure there’s some form of recovery at the end of this adventure. A very personal and unique journey.

The third title was ShortStacked, and it’s a perfect example of why good PR matters. One creator of the game, Christie Xu, was so effusive and full of positive energy that her presentation easily proved the most entertaining of all 6 featured titles. As for what ShortStacked is all about, the premise is it’s a couch co-op stealth game where two players play children stacked atop each other to pretend to be an adult. Think Octodad but more wholesome, and you’re on the right track.

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The only bummer about this creative and colorful game is that it’s meant to be played with a friend in the room, which is a bit of a challenge in the current pandemic. That said, I was impressed by the demonstration of the mechanics in this game, as well as the cute cartoony style.

The fourth game was Koshka’s Kofe, created by Jasmine Jupiter, Michelle Ma and Cloud Tian. It’s a VN with animal characters, punny names and a Russian cultural focus. You play a young woman who has inherited her father’s coffee shop, and you make drinks for patrons while fighting off the unwelcome advances of a large corporation.

The only other title I can compare it to at all is VA-11 HALL-A, since that’s another story focused game that revolves around making drinks properly. Maybe with a dash of the art style of Hatoful Boyfriend. I dig the noir vibe of Koshka’s Kofe, as well as the charming music.

Next up was Bottles, by Brooke Jaffe, the only mobile title of the featured projects. You play a small aquatic creature in a ship in a bottle world. It makes use of gyroscopic features where you can swipe your phone to move the world as well as move your character, and you can even play Bottles one handed.

Though I normally don’t pay much attention to mobile projects, this is a really beautiful and impressive looking game. Definitely the sort of title that might convince me to be more open to mobile gaming in the future.

Finally the keynote ended with Ginko, a 3D horror project by Joey Tan with really amazing production values. Had I not known this was a student project, I would have thought this was from a AAA studio. The game is inspired by East Asian horror, and the story revolves around a young woman’s search for answers regarding her mother’s mysterious death. You use a magic sewing needle to literally sew parts of this mystical world together, solving puzzles and evading terrifying monsters. As someone that is inexplicably drawn to horror, yet terrified to bits by it, Ginko looks really promising.

All in all, I was very impressed by what I saw at yesterday’s USC Games Expo. To catch bits of the keynote, just check out the trailer below, and stay tuned in the coming days for my own hands on impressions of some of the demos from the expo!

Watch USC Games Expo 2020! from USCGames on www.twitch.tv

IMPRESSIONS: USC Games Expo 2020 Keynote Address Yesterday was a day of many firsts. It was the first time I've attended an expo centered around video games from the comfort of my home.

#2020 USC Games Expo #Bottles #Catharsis #Ginko #Jam City #Koshka&039;s Kofe #Light at the End of the Tunnels #Mark Hamill #mobile #oprainfall #PC #remote #ShortStacked

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news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog · 6 years

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The Myspace-era bands keeping the internet's weirdest music genre alive

The internet can be a deeply unsettling place, especially when you stumble upon videos that you probably should've left alone. But, if you were like me in 2011, you sought out the weirdest of websites and the creepiest of pastas, then shared your intel with all your post-emo friends.

By 2016, I was surfing the internet for some quality spooky material during my college years when I stumbled across something called witch house.

SEE ALSO: Meet the man who makes music with vegetables

It was a musical genre most had pronounced dead — and yet was still surviving and thriving in the weirdest corners of the internet. Two major artists from the early days of witch house, known as White Ring and Ritualz, have been instrumental in helping keep the genre going.

"I really don't know if witch house was ever really alive honestly," Bryan Kurkimilis, one-third of White Ring admits. "It seems like it's always going to be in a perpetual adolescence when it came out 10 years ago, and it's kind of stuck there now."

Kurkimilis' White Ring started off back in 2006 as a duo featuring him and vocalist Kendra Malia. In 2011, the duo went on hiatus, and in 2016 Adina Viarengo joined the band to serve as the group's second vocalist. Now in 2018, with their debut album Gate of Grief finally complete, White Ring is back on track and very much determined to keep witch house relevant.

According to Vulture, witch house music was birthed during the late 2000s and early 2010s during the end of the Myspace era. But the genre's deep, dark electro-wave sound, and the occult imagery in its lyrics, fashion, and music videos have continued to draw fans in well past the genre's prime.

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Early witch house artists typically produced spooky tracks that sampled from '90s and '00s horror films and hip-hop records. They layered these samples with heavy bass riffs, lots of synth, and sometimes vocals. Visually and aesthetically, people in the community reflected this dark music by incorporating magic symbols, upside down crosses, and pentagrams into all black hip-hop clothing.

Like many things created on the internet, witch house had a relatively short shelf life. The term itself appears to have come about in 2009. Travis Egedy (known as Pictureplane) used it in an interview to describe the music he and his friends were producing.

"Mark our words, 2010 will be straight up witchy," Egedy wrote in Pitchfork.

Travis Egedy in his warehouse/studio

Image: Denver Post via Getty Images

He wasn't wrong about 2010, but mainstream interest in witch house didn't last long. The genre tapered off in the early '10s when it was overshadowed by vaporwave, another internet-fueled genre of music.

"I think people are still looking and hoping for witch house bands that have gone away to find a way to come back," Adina Viarengo of White Ring said. "I feel like there's a really devoted base that wants more of this kind of stuff. There's a need for it right now."

The demand for this type of music is something that drives artists like JC Lobo of Ritualz to continue to producing tracks. He started his career on Myspace in late 2009 with just a computer, and to this day Lobo continues to make music that is influenced by this largely forgotten era of music. He released a Ritualz album titled Doom earlier this year.

"It's really different now because witch house isn't as visual anymore because everyone's been a part of the scene for a while," Lobo explained in a phone call. "But the music is different. It's definitely a lot more techno and ravey compared to its earlier hip-hop sound."

"I'm not really a part of the scene anymore," Lobo said. "But when I'm on tour, I play witch house songs and all of the kids from the community come out and listen along."

Lobo posing for the camera.

Image: Courtesy of JC Lobo / Taken by Francisco Mendez

"Witch house was innovative," Lobo said. "It was new and dark, which was really important because it had been a long time since that kind of music was appealing to a large audience."

What made witch house such a strange phenomenon was its purposeful obscurity. Witch house musicians hid. When I accidentally stumbled upon the genre after listening to a witch house remix of a Charli XCX song by BLVCK CEILING, I was happy to know there were a ton of artists and tracks out there — even if they were hiding their names behind band names made up of random symbols.

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While BLVCK CEILING was my own personal introduction to the genre, other artists from the community have made their mark on the scene, some even as early as the Myspace era. A few notable artists from the community include GR†LLGR†LL (pronounced GrillGrill), oOoOO, and Salem.

Artist names featuring crosses and inscrutable symbols are typical. For someone outside of the scene, it's a challenge to find specific tracks or musicians. While Ritualz hid behind the logo "†‡†," White Ring had an all-white Myspace page that required the user to highlight the entire page to see text about new tracks and announcements.

"I always think of it as having a punk spirit where everything is always a 'fuck you,'" Kurkimilis said. "It's like I'm gonna release a song, but I'm gonna do it in this weird way."

Having an immortal punk spirit is obviously cool and all, but the people who helped cultivate it eventually moved onto other projects. While White Ring and Ritualz are the only major figures to release full albums in recent years, other notable artists in the community find interesting ways to stay relevant.

Image: Nigel Ryan / Courtesy of white ring

Take witch house rapper Gvcci Hvcci (pronounced Goo-chee Hoo-chee), who was a major figure back in 2011. As one of the very few prominent women producing witch house tracks, Gvcci amassed a cult following.

In 2012, a post on crvckhouse, a Tumblr page dedicated to promoting witch house artists, claimed that Gvcci Hvcci had passed away. Lobo, who was apparently the last person to collaborate with the rapper, was the first to speak about the news, and confirmed her "death."

"Shortly after our track came out, people kept asking me where she was," Lobo said. "I eventually just started to say 'she's dead' because I was friends with her producer who said she closed all of her accounts and was going to stop releasing tracks."

Prior to her "death," Kurkimilis says he actually had a brief interaction with the mysterious figure in 2011 over the phone. Around this time, rumors began to circulate that the pictures Gvcci Hvcci had used to promote herself were fake. Her entire identity was in question.

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"I know for sure it's an actual girl," Kurkimilis claims. "She was not the girl in the photos, because a friend of hers showed me a real picture of her. I know she's a real person."

After seemingly catfishing everyone in the community, Gvcci Hvcci had made a name for herself. Her infamy would continue to grow after her supposed "death."

Just two short years later, to everyone's shock, Gvcci Hvcci released a track titled "Bullet in the Head." The witch house community went into a frenzy. The rapper, who was now revealed to be alive, took advantage of the cultural moment. As the lyrics go, Gvcci was officially "back from the dead."

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Had Gvcci Hvcci really faked her own death for recognition? The answer is murky. Some community members aren't convinced that the Gvcci Hvcci who returned is the same artist from 2011.

"I just never denied anything and I was playing along with the myth of Gvcci Hvcci," Lobo admitted. "The producer found a different girl, or unreleased tracks, I'm not sure which. I didn't really keep up with the story but it's funny how people are still speculating years later."

These days Gvcci Hvcci is relatively silent. An unfinished track titled "ttryan" which was released in January of this year serves as her most recent published work on Soundcloud. When we approached her on Facebook for a statement, the anonymous rapper responded with: "Guess what? Chicken butt," and sent a link to her Go Fund Me page.

Gvcci Hvcci continuing to troll in 2018

Image: Mashable / Xavier Piedra

On the page, Gvcci Hvcci is asking for $2,500 to help produce and release her work-in-progress track, "Issa night." In the past six months, Gvcci Hvcci has raised $130 from three people of her $2,500. As of September 2018, there have been no updates on production of the new song.

Song titles hiding behind symbols and artists with mysterious personas are what makes witch house unique — and what's kept the genre fresh.

When musicians like Gvcci Hvcci fake their deaths, or when artists like White Ring return from a years-long hiatus, it helps revitalize the community. Like any dedicated fanbase, lovers of the niche genre get excited when they hear news about their favorite artists, good or bad.

Without witch house, we wouldn't have mainstream artists like Charli XCX, Chvrches, and Grimes, who've attributed parts of their style and sound to this genre of music.

"It’s hip-hop for goths," Charli said during an interview with Self-titled magazine in 2012. "I like the whole scene – the cult imagery, the upside down crosses. I love witch house."

Charli XCX during the early days of her career in 2013.

Image: Caitlin Mogridge / Getty Images

Despite its age, witch house still has a place within our culture. While the dark aesthetic and sound might not appeal to everyone, witch house continues to persist, especially on the internet. In fact, Lobo's a firm believer that witch house marks a major chapter in the history of internet culture and music.

"I think witch house has amazing value as being one of the first generations of music born from the internet," Lobo said. "Before then you didn't have any dark or ambient music, so it was a really good balance for internet music genres like chillwave and vaporwave that had mainstream appeal."

The sound itself has shifted a bit over the past ten years, and whether or not it's a positive change is up for debate. Shifting from its hip-hop-inspired sound, witch house has become more clubby and electronic than ever. Lobo attributes this change to the need for faster music that people can dance to.

"I wish it would go back a bit to the days of droning sounds and anonymous artists," Lobo said. "It seems like a lot of people are trying to make it about dancing, and I notice that's a big focus for producers. But the appeal at first was to listen to this weird and dark ambient noise."

But why should anyone listen to this music in 2018? "I think its good to have a balance in your life especially with music," Lobo explained. "Listening to different music will help you understand different people and communities, so it's important you give it a chance and try a bit of everything."

Image: Courtesy of Ritualz / Taken by Daniela Quant

Like any genre of music, witch house has cultivated a community of followers who are dedicated to their favorite artists. Specifically within the witch house Reddit community, the page stays somewhat active as new artists create and share new tracks, or when, for example, White Ring makes an unexpected return.

"Once a genre is created, it can never really go away," Viarengo said. "I know there are pockets of people all over the world who are into witch house that are going to continue experimenting with it."

Lobo agrees and believes that witch house's hip-hop and electronic roots will allow it to evolve alongside these genres.

"I don't think it will ever get stuck," Lobo said. "Hip-hop and electronic music has been changing over the past 30 years, and witch house's sound will continue to be influenced by those two styles of music. Audience-wise it might get stuck, but it can get bigger still, it just need some more time."

With White Ring and Ritualz at the recent forefront of the witch house movement, the community and genre are still in good hands. While I wait for more tracks to feed my goth fantasies, I'll be casting spells to Gate of Grief and Doom on repeat.

WATCH: We made that scene from 'The Shining' a lot less scary with bad foley

#_category:yct:001000002 #_lmsid:a0Vd000000DTrEpEAL #_uuid:27f8414d-b812-3775-884b-9510965d9ccb #_author:Xavier Piedra #_revsp:news.mashable

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chiseler · 6 years

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SALVAGING THE FORSAKEN SOUNDTRACKS

There was a time when film music was an art, what I like to think of as the true American classical music. If done right, a film’s score was as much a part of a picture’s identity as the director or the star, and sometimes could overshadow both. Nowadays movie soundtracks have devolved, for the most part, into little more than banal and empty pop song compilations. The days of full orchestral scores written by Morricone, Korngold, Bernard Herrmann, Nino Rota or Jerry Goldsmith are all but a thing of the past. But people tend to forget that while the aforementioned composers were writing grandiose music for big budget, high-profile pictures, the little B films, the low-budget genre numbers, needed scores as well. That job generally fell to contract composers in studio music departments—like Irving Gertz and Herman Stein at Universal—who, while just as talented as the bigger names, rarely received screen credit for scoring the likes of, say, Badlands of Montana or The Deadly Mantis.

David Schecter is a writer, film historian and accidental musicologist who’s earned the title World’s Foremost Authority when it comes to the horror and sci fi film scores of the Forties and Fifties. He’s co-authored several books, many with horror film historian Tom Weaver, including Universal Terrors, Creature Chronicles (about the Creature from the Black Lagoon franchise) and the Scripts from the Crypt series. He also runs Monstrous Movie Music, a small California-based record label devoted to releasing lovingly and meticulously reconstructed scores from mid-century genre films, more often than not written by composers who aren’t as well-known as, say, Elmer Bernstein or Max Steiner. To date, Monstrous Movie Music has released the scores to This Island Earth, Rocketship XM, Kronos, The Doll Squad, The Brain from Planet Aros, The Last Man on Earth, Mighty Joe Young, and countless other pictures no other label would even consider. For those of us who’ve been collecting more or less mainstream soundtracks for decades while secretly pining for the score to Earth vs. The Flying Saucers, it’s a godsend.

I spoke with Mr. Schecter via telephone on a Saturday afternoon in mid-May.

Jim Knipfel: Did you have any formal musical training?

David Schecter: No, none at all, but music has always been the most important thing to me. It started with pop and rock and folk. When I married a classical composer, Kathleen Mayne,I learned a lot from her. I asked a lot of questions and she helped me, pointed me in certain directions so I could pursue it myself. I can’t play a musical instrument, but I’ve always had good musical instincts. What I didn’t have was the technical knowledge. She helped a lot, so I could read musical scores and follow along with the music when we were doing recordings. I was picking it up when we were on the Job

Jk: So how do you end up becoming the World’s Foremost Authority on Horror and Sci Fi soundtracks from that era?

DS: As I like to say it was by default, because no one else wanted the job. I was fortunate in that I ended up becoming friends with a bunch of the composers when they were alive, and I learned first hand a lot about what went on back then. I had access to a lot of their legal documents and musical manuscripts. I didn’t have to research it the same way a lot of people do, just watching the movies and drawing their own conclusions. I actually got to talk to them first hand, and threw all my amazing theories by them about why things were scored this way or that way, and they promptly shot all of them down, letting me know the answers were much simpler than that, or much more bizarre than that. It gave me an insight into things nobody else really had. It wasn’t that I was brilliant—it was that I was lucky enough to be in the position of having all these people as friends.

JK: So how did you end up meeting and becoming friends with all these old film composers?

DS: In the beginning, my wife and I just liked soundtrack music, so we went to certain events and met certain people. One of them was the soundtrack producer Tony Thomas, who came out of Canada. He was releasing a lot of what we’ll call gray area material as well as legitimate things. He introduced us to a lot of people. But then when we decided to start our label I actually reached out and tried to find some of the composers. So that’s how that started. Once you’ve met one, you can go up to the other one and say, ‘Oh, I’ve been friends with so-and-so for the last six months.’ It lets them open themselves up to you a little bit, because they can call up the other one and find out you weren’t some kind of maniac, but someone who was interested in the music and interested in getting the facts straight.

JK: Does this particular niche arise out of being a big horror and sci fi fan when you were younger?

DS: I loved the movies. I also liked to read science fiction, but the movies were a big thing to me. I used to watch them over and over whenever they were on at three in the morning. I didn’t think about the music—it just became part of the experience, just through repetition. I was watching them for the monsters, the special effects. But the music, like some of the dialogue, sunk into my brain and there was no way I could get rid of it. So when I started to become more aware of the music, it was already there.

JK: What was the impetus for founding Monstrous Movie Music, and when did that happen?

DS: We started looking into it in the mid-Nineties. At that point I was already a soundtrack collector. We had a representative from Epic Records living down the block when I was a kid, and he would give us records every now and again. The Dave Clark Five and a lot of folk artists. And we got a few soundtracks, too. I remember we got Nelson Riddle’s El Dorado, and I listened to that all the time. I remember buying the single “Born Free,” and listening to that all the time too. The one horror soundtrack that was out there at the time was that classic Themes from Horror movies by Dick Jacobs that was advertised in the back of Famous Monsters of Filmland. I saw that, and I think the price was either $3.98 or $4.98, but it might well have been $5000. It was beyond my allowance at the time. But I always wanted that, and would look at the cover with a little magnifying glass, and imagine the music from The Deadly Mantis and The Mole People. That’s what started it—just wanting to hear that music, but it was impossIble financially. So when I was older, we were friends with Tony and some other people who were working in the soundtrack business. They were a generation older than me, and they were releasing music they loved and had grown up with—and I loved it too—things like The Adventures of Robin Hood and Citizen Kane. I appreciated it, but it wasn’t the music I had grown up with. The music I’d grown up with came from the monster movies, and I realized no one was focusing on those. They were kind of pooh-poohed because they weren’t written by the giants of film music like Erich Korngold and Max Steiner. So I decided there was an opening there to try and do the music that was important to me as I was growing up.

JK: Given my own soundtrack collection, I couldn’t believe I wasn’t aware of Monstrous Movie Music until recently.

DS: That continues to surprise me. We’re a small label, we don’t do any advertising, but when I do a convention somewhere, people will always come up to me and say, ‘Oh wow, I’ve been a big soundtrack fan for twenty years and I’ve never heard of you.’ Well go on the Internet and search.

JK: Thing is, I wouldn’t have even considered going online to see if anyone had released the soundtrack to Roger Corman’s The Intruder, figuring it was pretty pointless.

.DS: You and fifteen million other people. Especially since the movie had something like ten different titles. The reason I did that one was because it was Herman Stein’s favorite score. Not that it’s his greatest score. It’s a good score, but he got to score the film by himself, unlike Universal, where everyone was dumped into this stew. But it was also a great movie, and I think he was happy to be associated with something that had a message and was an excellent picture.

JK: How do you decide what scores you’re going to go after?

DS: A lot of it has to do with personal choices, thinking ‘wouldn’t it be great if this was out there?’ Because I loved it. A lot of it also has to do with what was practical in terms of whether I knew where the music was. It definitely had to be a score I thought deserved to be out there for one reason or another, instead of just, ‘Oh, this is lying around so I guess I’ll put it out.’ It’s too expensive and too time consuming to do all the research. In a lot of cases I knew the legalities of it, so I was cleared to release it properly. Those can hold things up. In a lot of cases it was because I knew the composer or their family. That adds a level of enjoyment to it, instead of just putting something out as product. You’re putting it out and you know there are some people who are really going to appreciate it. In many cases the composers felt completely forgotten. They’d scored these movies, but they weren’t ‘acclaimed’ pictures, so they felt lost through history. It’s nice to be able to do something about that.

JK: How do you go about getting the rights for some of these things?

DS: Well the first thing you have to do is understand who owns the rights. Generally you do that by looking at contracts, if they exist, otherwise you have a certain knowledge about the film, the copyright, the publishing history and all that. We’ve always done things by the book legally. I won’t mention names, but we do appear to be in the minority that way. It’s a small business but unfortunately a lot of people have gotten involved, figuring ‘Oh, it’s under the radar, I can do what I want.’

When I got started working in the business, and I was friends with a number of these composers, they were in their eighties and nineties, and their accountants and lawyers and business managers had died off long ago. They started asking me to help them with certain things, like if they heard their music on a television show. They didn’t know about this, that or the other. If somebody wanted to release their music on a compilation they would ask me to look into it, I had to learn a lot about music legalities, even more than I had to learn while running a soundtrack label. We decided early on that we weren’t big enough that we could hire lawyers to fight for us if we did something crooked, so we better do everything honestly. I mean, that’s not the only reason we did it, we also did it because my mom and dad raised me right. You need to look into the history of each individual project to find out exactly who owns it, as opposed to who says they own it, and go from there. I’ve only dealt with the studios in cases where I have some legal control, knowing who owns the music so I can bargain with them and try to get a better deal than some people.

JK: Have there been any scores you’ve been after that have proven elusive?

DS: I had approached the family of Carmen Dragon to do Invasion of the Body Snatchers. This was twenty years ago. I wanted to do a re-recording of it, but they couldn’t find the scores in their warehouse. They did have the original tracks, so we had set something up, I was actually going to be working with Brigham Young University on getting this out. We’d gone through all the contracts and agreements, and then they just pulled the plug at the last second. I think they thought that maybe it was worth more money than it was. I kept re-approaching them every few years, and they kept holding out for more and more money. What eventually happened is they held out for so long, eighty percent of the people who are crazy about this stuff died off, or they decided to put their retirement money into paying their bills. So it didn’t come out until a year or two ago, when another label apparently met the family’s demands, and from what I heard it just didn’t sell well at all. Which is too bad, because it’s a great score.

There are a lot of scores I wanted to do, but we couldn’t find the music. One I was after for a long time was invaders from Mars (1953). People have been looking for that score for ages, and they couldn’t find it. So I ended up getting some clues and following them up, and it seemed that I was getting really, really close to where the scores were. In fact I’m pretty sure I may have even seen the closet they were stored in. Then the person who had them died, and his estate all of a sudden got reclusive. I eventually just gave up. And who knows? They probably got thrown away, or they’re sitting in some garage someplace getting moldy. I have no idea. But that would’ve been a really great score to do a re-recording of, with the choir and all that.

JK: Could you tell me a little bit about how you get from the old written music to the final recording? You sell a few original scores, but most of your releases are re-recordings conducted by Masatoshi Mitsumoto and the Radio Orchestras of Krakow and Slovakia. What’s that process like?

DS: Um, a nightmare? First of all, a lot of the scores we did—especially the Universal ones, the Columbia ones—they pieced these scores together from a wide variety of sources. Music from previous films, music written specifically for this film, different composers. So trying to track down enough of the music so you could do a representative suite from a picture can be really difficult, just in terms of finding things. Then from the legal standpoint, because all of a sudden you’re dealing with different copyrights, different publishers, different composers. And then it all has to be reconstructed. That was something my wife was always really good at, because she’s a conservatory trained musician. All that takes a ton of work, especially if you don’t have the original music recordings to go by. You basically have to look at the written scores, you have to watch the movie a million times, try to figure out what instruments are playing what, which is not always easy when there’s dialogue and sound effects. It helps if you’re lucky enough to have a union sheet that shows who played what on the score. So it’s really really difficult. Even when it’s done and you’ve created the parts for the orchestra and the score for the conductor, the way you record it is difficult because you’re trying to recapture not just the notes, but the way they were performed and recorded and mixed so it has that resonance for those people who grew up watching these movies. So it’s not just ‘Oh yeah, I kinda remember that,’ No! It takes them right back instantly to when they were watching that picture. Trying to get the dynamics right—how loud this instrument is compared with that one, it’s just really, really hard to do it right.

JK: I have a bunch of re-recordings put out by other people—Herrmann’s scores to Citizen Kane and Psycho come to mind—that are miserable. Even a few things that say “original recording” on the cover are clearly re-recordings. You put it on and in an instant you know this is not what you heard in the movie. It’s always such a disappointment. But the things you’ve put out are fantastic. You even get the sound quality right.

DS: When we started doing these, I won’t say all of them but definitely a majority of ({other soundtrack labels} seemed to be aimed at either a pops audience, almost like they’re semi-classical, or like the conductor or record company said ‘Well, let’s just get the music, record it and that’s that.’ We weren’t doing melodic scores like Korngold or Steiner, Waxman or John Barry. Ours were really, really dramatic horror scores, most of them. We felt it was really important to have that presence to the music, where it sounded like the monster was right in front of you, as opposed to feeling like you’re sitting in the back row of a pops concert, listening to this big echoing sound pass over you. We wanted the monsters to be in your living room, or wherever you were listening to it. Having access to some of the original session tapes that were done, we realized that’s how it was recorded. It was recorded very close up front. The musicians were packed together. They weren’t in a huge concert hall, they were on a recording stage in a studio that wasn’t gigantic. They were huddled around just a few mics, and the music had that presence to it. That was something I wanted to do with the re-recordings to try and capture the feeling you were at the original recording session. What would that sound like? Only in stereo, because only rarely did they record monster scores in stereo. That was reserved for the big-budgeted films. So that brought a whole other level of complexity to it, because one of the advantages of recording film music concert style is you set up a few microphones far away from the orchestra, let ‘em play, you record it and release it. If an oboe screws up on bar seventy-two, or the second violin comes in a little late, it’s not as easy to catch it if you don’t have the microphones right up close. We have microphones right up close, so if the flutist belches, you hear it. So the editing, in order to get the best parts of every take, with the composers naked and exposed, is really difficult. That’s the main reason most labels don’t do what we do. What I liked about what we do is it brings out the subtlety of the orchestration, the nuances in the writing. We want you to be able to hear every instrument that’s playing as much as possible.

JK: Now, these are really beautiful, elaborate packages. Along with obtaining the rights, doing all the research, hiring conductors and orchestras, you’ve even hired {legendary sci fi and horror illustrators} Robert Aragon and Vincent DiFate to do the cover art. And your liner notes are extensive and exhaustive, bordering on the obsessive. This seems an extremely expensive and time-consuming undertaking for something aimed at what we’ll call a fairly limited audience.

DS: Yeah, well, that’s why I’m living under a bridge right now. The thing about me is, and it probably led to the divorce, this pursuit of perfection. If you’re doing something you love, something that’s important to you, and it’s likely that no one else is going to do it, it better be done right. How many people are going to put out the score to Animal World? The answer is either zero or me. We have a responsibility, and that came from knowing the composers. We never thought of this as product, we thought of it as doing something important, preserving this historical legacy, this work these musicians had done. We wanted to do it as perfectly as possible, because this is what people will be listening to. There are no other choices. It’s not like Gone With the Wind, where there are a thousand different recordings. So not only do we need to get the music right, we need to get the history right. Because no one’s ever written about a lot of this stuff before.

Gaze in wonder and awe at the Monstrous Movie Music catalog here:

http://www.mmmrecordings.com

by Jim Knipfel

#Jim Knipfel #The Chiseler #Monstrous Movie Music #The Doll Squad #David Schecter

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