Randomize

I wait for the black car. Another evening of snooker and coffee. The development of a pattern. I need some excitement in my life and not the “lets climb a mountain variety” but more of a “tie me up and ravish me you vicious angel” sort of excitement.

I met a girl who uses the word thingamajig in normal everyday conversations. First time I’ve heard someone actually say that. I like her.

A friend complained about the logic gaps in Kill Bill Vol.2. I wasn’t sure how to react to that. Uma Thurman was nominated for a Golden Globe. Now that was a bit much. She looked incredibly pretty through both movies but a Golden Globe for Kill Bill ? Bit much I think. She didn’t win so its all to the good I guess.

I saw Elaan. Mithun rocks. He has so much presence he just takes over the movie. I was actually waiting for him to pop up on screen. Awesome. Arjun Rampal’s another actor I like. I thought he was very good in Moksh and he’s always come across as being quite competent. No different here. Chunkey Pandey returns from Bangladesh’s film industry but he’s still as irritating as ever. Amisha Patel is very pretty but she’s also incredibly irritating. The rest of the movie is kind of crappy though. Still good time pass for 20 bucks.

Next up I want to see Anurag Kashyap’s Black Friday and Bhansali’s Black. No, dear diary the two movies have nothing to do with each other.

I also saw Ocean’s 12. Not as much fun as the first movie but pretty decent. Some completely bizarre WTF moments helped.

I meet Ms. Thingamajig again tomorrow. That should be interesting.

Cold

The word that comes to mind the most when describing Lycia is ethereal. If ethereal wasn’t so filled with pretension I’d use it too. A 2 member dark wave band, Lycia are mellow, melancholic and quite beautiful. They’re sort of like the gathering but not really. There is an aspect of film soundtrack to their music. Describing it is quite difficult.

<>Its like you’re riding a gentle wave and by the time Cold draws to end you’ve drowned in that gentle wave. Still pretentious but true.

I'm Alive

I have this sudden inexplicable urge to cut myself. I think I’m going insane. Not hurtling down but more like crawling inch by little inch into insanity. There’s nothing I can do to stop it. Nothing. I feel like a piece of driftwood except I know my destination. There’s nothing I can do to change direction. A feeling of complete helplessness.

The blood trickles down my stomach. A cut just below my left nipple. Cut myself and wonder if the rusty blade will infect me. I look down at the thin stream of blood in wonder and awe. I taste my blood. A little bitter a little woody. A little stale a little salty. Just like I thought it would be.

I lie stretched out on my bed. My wife sleeps unknowing. Dreams sweet dreams maybe. I haven’t felt this alive in years. I cut myself again. A tiny pansy little cut on my right shoulder. It bleeds. I bleed. I want to wake my wife up and shout at her, “Look. Look! I’m alive.” I put on some clothes and walk out the door.

Killing Joke

< style="font-family: arial;">I’ve been on a huge Killing Joke trip this week. Started with Nighttime, after which I went back to Democracy and then listened to Extremities, Dirt and Various Repressed Emotions and Pandemonium back to back. 4 albums into this band’s massive discography I am yet to hear two albums that sound similar. All four of these albums kick some serious ass in completely different ways. Pandemonium is my current favourite. It reminds me of a more melodic slightly laid back Ministry. There are another 4 albums to go with this band and then I have to hunt down the stuff I’m missing. Still can’t get a handle on this band. I should stop trying.

Kings And Queens

Would you like some turkey for dinner ? Roast or Cold ? You can pick.

Killing joke is one weird band. I cannot figure them out. Vocalist Jaz Coleman is reputedly a nutcase who only brings the band together when he’s pissed off enough at the world to record. I have eight of their albums now and the two that I’ve got down to hearing, Democracy and Night Time are nothing alike. It could be two different bands. Democracy is harsh rock n roll with Coleman sounding like a slightly melodic Lemmy and the band reminding me of Warrior Soul while Nighttime is so 80s disco played in a rock format. Both albums are great but both albums are nothing like each other. I cannot get a handle on this band. Considering the time between those two albums I guess the band just evolved. Also, they’re supposed to be a huge influence on Prong and a whole host of alternative rock bands who started in the 90s. I should get down to listening to the other albums one of these days. I like Nighttime way more than I like Democracy.

crap

Yes – Relayer

About 5 minutes into this album it is apparent that Yes are to blame for every prog rock widdly widdly wank wank band there is today. That alone should be enough to never listen to this band again and pretend that it does not exist. When I want self indulgence I’ll listen to Sutcliffe Jugend. This is utter nonsense. The vocalist makes me feel like beating somebody up. The songs are so fucking long its not funny. This is only the second Yes album I’ve heard. The first was Tales From The Topographic Ocean. A sprawling 2 CD affair that went nowhere. Relayer has 3 songs at a playing time of 40 minutes. The first song is a little more than 20 minutes while the next two are a little less than 10 minutes each. I cannot imagine ever listening to the entire album in one sitting.

Yes ? NO.

Dawn Of The Dead

I saw the remake over the weekend. The original bored me a good deal except for two scenes. One when the cops find a whole bunch of zombies and then have to massacre them all and the second when the white cop is slowly changing. Both those scenes were quite powerful but the rest of the movie just bored me. The new movie has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Utter crap. I’d rather watch dough fall into biscuit trays.

Hunger

No one cares no one cares no one cares anymore
We’ve overslept another armageddon.

When I want to puke and nothing comes out, Two Fingers up the throat is the cure
When I want to write and nothing comes out, Lux Occulta is the cure

I love being me. I have a cure for everything.

Chronicles Of Riddick

I saw this over the weekend. I haven’t enjoyed a big Hollywood film in a while. Like Conan The Barbarian with spaceships, the movie is dumb, violent and a lot of fun. There’s some story about these Necromongers and the planet of Hellion Prime or maybe its Helliom but I don’t remember right now. Not important. The Necros evil as they are want to take over the planet Prime. Riddick is the one man who can defeat the Necros and so he does. There’s some side story of a boy from pitch black who turned out to be a girl and grew up wanting to be just like Riddick. Did you just say “WHAT THE FUCK!” dear diary ? Anyway she’s rotting in jail and Riddick finds time to rescue her in between kicking Necro ass. The fights are superbly done. What a trip. Vin Diesel has a lot of screen presence. He can’t act but he’s a believable tough guy and he uses it to his advantage. The only irritating part is Dame Judi Dench. She reminds me of Raakhi. Another woman who I cannot imagine ever being young and desirable. Anyway, the Dame is an elemental. She calculates events in the universe and gives you odds on what might happen. She can also disappear and reappear at will. She has the plastic grin on her face right through the movie. Riddick defeats the bad guys, kills the head of the Necros, The Lord Marshall and since the Necros keep what they kill, Riddick becomes ruler of the Necros as the film draws to a close and the camera moves to the same fucking plastic smile of Dame Judi Dench. They could have made the movie a little shorter but all in all the movie made little sense but kept me entertained almost all the time.

Bored. I cut myself again because I’m so fucking bored. Acid Bath is quite quickly replacing everything. What a band.

Midnight and the street is quiet for once. Any minute now I’ll hear it. A car. It blended well with Missa Solemnis. Quiet night. Sunday night. The city goes to sleep early Sunday night. Most of it maybe none of it.

This is the last hour of the carnival
I dance I dance though it hurts
Hangman’s rope suits well every gentleman
Madam you look charming that necklace of blood.

This is the last hour of the carnival
I dance I dance though it hurts
I dance I dance though it hurts

People say there’s a day after every night
People say there’s a sun behind these clouds
What a relief
What a relief

I drink to that
Pour me the glass of poisoned wine

What a relief
What a relief
This is the last hour of the carnival
I dance I dance
Though it hurts
This is the last hour of the carnival
I dance I dance
Though it hurts

People say there’s a day after every after every night
What a relief

I typed the words out as the song played and did a damn good job of it. Only three mistakes. I’m proud of myself. This is how jobless I am. I could read but no mood. I could watch a movie but no mood. Fucking jobless idiot.

Hollywood is making a movie of The Chronicles Of Narnia. I wonder if anyone will look at that title and go “Hey, let’s go watch Vin Diesel kick some alien ass.”

For A Taste Of Eternity

Far too much of my fun involves intoxication. So observed a friend. True. 11am and no pot. I’m bored beyond belief. If all goes as per plan, no pot for this entire week. If I can pull it off. I may need you to hold my hand dear diary.

I wish I knew a few jokes. Maybe I should buy a joke book. My granddad has a whole collection of those rugby jokes books. Maybe I should just borrow some of them from him.

I renewed contact with an old friend from a time I did well to expunge from my memory. That friend was the only positive thing to come out of those years and renewing that friendship feels pretty damn good.

I must get round to clearing my room. One of these days. I finally got my CD shelves in order so that’s to the good. I really have nothing to say and you must excuse me Dear Diary but if I’m not doing this then I will remember that I have no pot. Oops. Sad and pathetic. I lapse into self pity.

Insane session on Friday. I have no idea what happened for the most part but it was quite awesome. Thank you wyrmboy.

I shouted at the old man/ parking attendant outside Java City and scared the shit out of him. I felt guilty about it afterwards. Just an old man trying to live, I should have let the damn 5 bucks go.

There is no room for guilt when I’m stoned. Another good reason to light up. Sad shit.

Prong should be the poster boys for the whole mall-core scene. Maybe they are. Cleansing is an album that shows you exactly how good mall-core could have been. Cleansing and Scars by Overdose. These are two albums I want to play to every mall-core loving baggy pant wearing clown. Ah well, if wishes were horses I’d own a stud farm.

Friday I heard The Mother And The Enemy after what was a very long time. Inspired selection. That album just makes me very happy.

What do I follow Irreligious with ? Skeleton Skeletron. Go with the mood. This album was so badly ripped apart by the press when it came out. I like it. Sure, its not Wildhoney and its not even vaguely metal anymore but its still pretty damn good. Damn these kvlter than thou critics. A good song is a good song is a good song and this album has a few of those.

I was listening to We Kill Everything by GWAR in the afternoon and it suddenly hit me. A startling insight. This is probably the worst metal album in the world. Ever. But… because its GWAR, it’s still fun. Or maybe its cause I actually bought the damn thing and I’m never going to admit that it sucks ten ways to Sunday. You’ll never know Dear Diary.

Playing with myself in front of the mirror. Anything to keep my mind occupied till sleep comes. I kick the ball from one side of the bed to the other. I walk across to the other side and kick it right back in front of the mirror again. I’ve been asked why I have beach balls in my room. Now you know Dear Diary.

< style="font-style: italic;">No one here drinks water
No one here is safe
If you pretend you’re my daughter
We’ll do it again and again.

Good lord! I had no idea Tiamat was like this. WTF! Or maybe I just heard it wrong. Which is worse ?

What’s next on the menu ? Thin Lizzy, Jerry Cantrell, Yattering or Dim Mak ? No idea but I will be the first to know.

Tiamat on Skeleton Skeletron has a very strong Mission UK feel. Best Friend Money Can Buy reminds me so much of One Jesus To Another. Now there’s a band I need to get on CD.

I regret giving away my Pearl Jam - Ten CD.

<>Brinjal – I hate (The first option on MS Word auto correct for the word Brinjal is Urinal. I’ll be damned if I’m going to type Egg fucking Plant. Motte Gida in kannada).
Asphyxiation – I like

<>Coffee vending machines – I hate
Eating Ice – I like

<>Strawberry Ice Cream – I hate
Chocolate anything – I like

I saw Musafir a couple of days ago. Sunjay Dutt is the coolest actor in Hindi cinema. Ever. Nobody quite like him. Anil Kapoor is an actor I like. Shakti Kapoor is a child hood favourite and Aditya Pancholi after Saathi became another favourite. Mahesh Manjrekar is in it too and he rocks. Now, this should have been one kickass movie with these chaps in it. Unfortunately its crap. I can handle bakwaas storylines but Musafir takes bakwaas to a whole new level. Loosely based on U Turn with Anil Kapoor subbing for Sean Penn, Musafir is shot like one long music video. Sanjay Gupta should be making music videos. Not movies. That though is not the problem. The film has so many WTF moments that after a while your brain switches off and all you can do is stare numbly at the screen and hope that the movie gets over quickly. Sameera Reddy is so fucking irritating as the ill treated wife of Mahesh Manjrekar that I was hoping she would die. There is some story somewhere but fuck all that. Not really important. There are some snappy dialogues and what passes for witty repartee and some of it is good not because of the lines themselves but because of the panache with which Sanjay Dutt, Mahesh Manjrekar and Aditya Pancholi deliver them. Anil Kapoor goes through the whole damn movie trying desperately to be cool. Not happening. Gupta made me cry with Plan and while Musafir is a little better its still nowhere near as much fun as Kaante or Aatish. Hell, Hamesha was better than this pile of shit.

<>This was actually a movie I looked forward to watching. Now, my only hope is Elaan. Mithun finally comes back to mainstream Hindi movies. As a villain. Go ahead and laugh Dear Diary, but I can hope can’t I ? <>

What’s next on the menu ? Thin Lizzy, Jerry Cantrell, Yattering or Dim Mak ? Black Sabbath – Vol. 4 actually.

Midnight Tides

Midnight Tides – Steven Erikson

A Tale Of The Malazan Book Of The Fallen

<>“Describe your contract offer,” Ormly demanded. “but be advised, we don’t do private functions.”
“What does that mean?”
“I won’t waste my breath on explaining… unless it turns out to be relevant. Is it?”
“I don’t know. How can I tell?”
“Well, that’s my point exactly. Now about the contract?”
“All right,” Tehol said, “but be warned, it’s complicated.”

The Malazan Book Of The Fallen owns every modern fantasy series. Every one of them. The story is long and complicated. Five books in, I have no idea how things will turn out. I’m not even sure if there will be a conclusion.

The fifth book in the planned ten part series, the timeline is around the same time of the events described in Memories Of Ice. In a distant continent far away from the Malazan Empire and its myriad manipulations, are the lands of the Tiste Edur and the kingdom of Lether. Tiste Edur, the children of Shadow and Lether the once legendary first empire, now poised at resurrection according to prophecy. It is also the story of two sets of brothers on either side. The Sengars, a powerful warrior family of the Tiste Edur. Fear, Trull, Binadas and Rhulad. In the kingdom of Lether, a trio of brothers, Beddicts Hull, Tehol and Brys.

A nervous peace is shattered and both empires move against each other. Pawns in a game of gods.

Erikson once again just blows me away with the scope of this story. A brand new continent, two new civilizations, a host of memorable characters and a kickass story. The seeds for this book were planted in Memories Of Ice, the third book of the series although I doubt if the writer will ever confirm that. The Tiste Edur body that was found in Memories Of Ice was our first look at the children of Shadow. The appearance of that body is explained here in book 5.

This book also has the most humour in the series so far. The interactions between Tehol Beddict and his servant Bugg make for some completely laugh out loud moments. The Letheri are by and large irreverent, decadent and live by their own set of casual rules. The Edur are fierce warriors who take themselves far too seriously.

The release of every new book in the cycle means that I have to go back to the beginning and read all the other books. I’m sure that when I get down to it quite a few little bits and pieces will fit in. They usually do with Erikson.

Midnight Tides is a great book but in the scheme of the Malazan Books Of The Fallen it seems more like a place holder. Much like Book 1, Gardens Of The Moon set the stage for the Malazan Empire, Midnight Tides sets the stage for the Tiste Edur. They are no longer the children of Shadow but now bow unknowingly to the Crippled God. There are a fresh bunch of threads that need to be resolved and if Erikson is going to stick to the planed 10 book cycle, there’s only 5 more books to finish this. I can’t wait.

green plague

Meshuggah is my own personal soundtrack to nothing.

I have decided Dear Diary, I will start every entry with a line I like. I’m so intelligent it hurts.

People these days are giving far too much importance to the bizarre and the surreal. The bizarre and surreal shouldn’t even be a part of my existence. Unfortunately God is not all powerful and so I take what I am given. Full of complaints obviously. If I can do nothing to better my lot in life then please let me complain. I digress into rubbish.

Can I ever hope to feel a million light bulbs exploding in my head again ?

Can I escape through sheer apathy ?

Will I ever smoke in front of my parents ?

Can I listen to your heart beat ? Sit in your pocket, ride on your shoulder ?

Will I ever know, if you’re still reading, you’re in the middle of teen angst.

Will you hold my hand

Will you cut my face

Will you feel a million light bulbs exploding in your head ? With me.

Good God. You’re deep in it. Go away. Come back in a couple of years or decades or centuries. Take it from Dr. deathrider.

Last decade dead century. Namedropping has been a long well respected elder cousin of mine.

<>Just because something starts well does not mean that it will end well. Sometimes it is best to leave things halfway than stretch matters till the end. --- The Gyaan Guru speaks… Journal 10, 79.19.

<>Meshuggah on Nothing sound like a really heavy less noisy version of modern day Voivod.I do this sometimes.

I will watch the darkness now. Anna Paquin’s in it. She’s so hot. But it seems so wrong. Yes.

Happy New Year

I heard a lot of music this year but very little that was actually released in 2004. To make matters worse, a bunch of stuff I heard late last year only went into my head this year, so basically anything that made an impact on me in this calendar year gets a mention.

This is going to be a slightly warped year end list but all of this is fucking kvlt and is in no order of preference.

1. The Chasm – Conjurations of the Spectral Empire

Daniel Corchado has been plying his brand of death metal for donkeys years now. Gaining a small incredibly devoted following in the underground, this Mexican death metal fanatic just keeps on going. The Chasm are old school death metal and Conjurations… just slowly but surely sneaks into your head and stays there.

2. The Gathering – Souvenirs

This band just moves from strength to strength. Souvenirs sounds like a cross between If Then Else and How To Measure A Planet with a bunch of electronics thrown in for good measure. Trickster G’s involvement in the ep before this “Black Light District” might have played some part in this album. All to the good. The Gathering right from Mandylion have not put a foot wrong. Souvenirs just continues their tradition of quite brilliant music.

3. Acid Bath – When The Kite String Pops

New Orleans fucking awesome bands and Acid Bath is right up there with the likes of Crowbar and EyeHateGod. Mike Sanchez and Sammy Pierre Duet make for an awesome guitar duo and Dax Riggs’ vocals are fucking fantastic. This band rocks. Odd Fellows Rest by Crowbar is pretty much my favourite album from that heavy as fuck scene but When The Kite String Pops is right up there.

4. Art By Machinery – Dues Ex Machina

From Norway, AbM is a weird little rock band that a whole lot of people should know. Unfortunately the band were a well kept secret and broke up after only two albums. Dues Ex Machina is their debut. Almost impossible to classify or describe suffice to say that this is a killer album. Both albums are up for free download on the band’s official website so check this band out, They’re well worth your time and they are that damn good. www.artbymachinery.com

5. Nevermore – Enemies Of Reality

This took a long time for me to get around to. In retrospect, every Nevermore album has taken time to sink in. Enemies is a great album let down slightly by a chutiya production job. Like fucking Queensryche over wasn’t enough, Kelly Grey had to fuck with Nevermore too. Still, the songs rock. The I Voyager video was a cause for raised voices and concern in Mohan’s but one thing’s for sure, Enemies Of Reality is another great album from Nevermore.

6. Scholomance – The Immortality Murders

That the band broke up soon after this, their second album will be one of the tragedies of extreme metal. Scott Crinklaw got a whole lot better and while the drum machine is still there, the songs are quite something. Way better than Treatise Of Love, The Immortality Murders should appeal to everyone from fans of extreme metal to fans of guitar wankery to fans of classical music. Quite awesome.

7. GWAR – This Toilet Earth

GWAR. I got a bunch of GWAR albums this year and while Scumdogs Of The Universe and America Must Be Destroyed are way more metal, and We Kill Everything is complete chaos, This Toilet Earth is just the most fun. Everybody should have at least one GWAR album in their collection. Thrash metal with bits of every other style thrown in the blender from jazz to punk, This Toilet Earth is pure fucking entertainment.

8. Dark Tranquility – Damage Done

The boys from Sweden. This album looses steam around about song number 7 but Monochromatic Stains, Final Resistance, Damage Done and Cathode Ray Sunshine are among the best songs DT have ever written. Gothenburg death metal did you say ? Dark Tranquility own Gothenburg. Enough said.

9. Soilwork – Figure Number Five

The album before this, Natural Born Chaos, was a stunning progression for this Swedish death metal band. Most of their death metal sound though has been discarded in favour of a modern groove ridden melodic sound. A slight sense of dik-chak prevails through the album. While Figure Number Five has the faithful up in arms, it takes balls the size of grapefruits for a band to follow up Natural Born Chaos with this. And just in case you were wondering, dear diary, Soilwork still write great songs. They’re just not metal anymore.

10. Crowbar – Sonic Excess In Its Purest Form

I’ve always been a huge mark for Crowbar. Equilibrium was a little disappointing but Sonic Excess is an awesome return to form. Crowbar are incredibly heavy on this album and have also written some brilliant songs. Not as good as Odd Fellows Rest but pretty damn good all the same.

11. Ministry – Houses Of The Mole

So Al gets rid of Barker, plays the guitar and records a bunch of angry pissed of shit. Ministry have not sounded this good or this pissed off since Psalm 69. What a completely brilliant return to form. If you’ve never heard Ministry then shame on you. If you haven’t heard this album yet, imagine the monster grooves of Psalm 69 mixed with the claustrophobia of Dark Side Of The Spoon. Houses Of The Mole fucking rocks!

12. Nine Inch Nails – All That Could Have Been

I’ve only heard this album once. Even then I’m not sure if I heard the whole thing or not. Still, the songs have received a fantastic makeover. Reznor has managed to take each song and add to it. Its almost like he’s showing us all that could have been on each one of these songs. Quite a special live album. Genius.

13. Oysterhead – The Grand Pecking Order

This should have been a prog. rock hippie loving wankathon with no balls whatsoever. Instead, Les Claypool, Stuart Copeland and Trey Anastasio have given us one awesome rock album. Yes, Copeland displays more skill on one of these songs than ten prog rock drummers put together and Claypool and Anastasio just own the bass and the guitar. However, it never ever becomes a wankathon. Awesome rock and roll.

14. Forest Of Impaled – Forward The Spears

The debut album from this American black death metal band Demonvoid was lackluster, tepid and dull. Pretty much a standard extreme metal album that sounded like a 100 other extreme metal albums. Forward The Spears though is one hell of an improvement on the debut. This is still a hybrid of black and death metal but suddenly the songs rock. Forest Of Impaled kick ass.

15. Mastodon – Leviathan

An off shoot of Today Is The Day, Mastodon will CRUSH you. Elements of hardcore, metal and a completely insane drummer means Leviathan is just one non stop adrenaline rush. Brutal, in your face and completely uncompromising.

16. Neglected Fields – Synthinity

Technical death metal from some east European country, Synthinity is a very classy piece of work. The twin guitars and the keyboards work beautifully together. The cover of Prodigy’s Breathe must be heard to be believed. Neglected Fields differ from the garden variety tech. death band simply because they add melody in their songs. This is not death metal of the mindless countless tempo changes. This is death metal that is well thought out and superbly executed.

17. Thought Industry – Short Wave On A Cold Day

Another metal band that’s changed its sound completely. From being this technical thrash metal band to sounding like a poppy Radiohead, Thought Industry have come a long way. The Mr. Bungle touches are still in places and the songs are catchy and fun. The album at a little more than seventy minutes is probably a bit too long but overall, there are enough great songs on this album to keep going back to it.

18. Buckethead – Monsters And Robots

Virtuoso guitar wankery down Arkham Asylum way, right beside the Norman Bates Chicken Farm. This is mad. I really have no words to describe this suffice to say this does not belong to the Steve Vai school of guitar wankery. Monsters And Robots is a lot of fun.

19. Martyr – Warp Zone

Canada has its share of brilliant death metal bands. While not as popular as Cryptopsy or Gorguts, Martyr on Warp Zone show that they are not far behind. An intense display of technical death metal, Martyr have the chops to make your jaw hit the floor and more importantly they can write great songs. Quite a brilliant death metal album.

20. Khert – Neter – Arrival Of The Funeral Dogs

There’s nothing original about this band. The music is mostly Entombed/ Autopsy worship. There’s an Egyptian theme ala Nile and the use of a synth. metal-archives.com tells me it’s a project of two Finnish black metal bands. You would think Dear Diary, that this band has no real reason for existence. But, the songs fucking scream Death Fucking Metal at me and I can’t help but love it. \m/

Insomnia ?

2.10am. No sleep. Another joint ? Don’t see why not. I’ll take your brain to another dimension. Too lazy to roll. Pay close attention. Forgot to take jacket. Froze me balls off. Ab Tak Chappan. What a fucking kickass movie. Patekar rocks. Hundred. there it is again. Just like that. The Grudge. What a waste of time. Rubbish. And this shit is supposed to scare people ? It’ll cure insomnia. fucking

Uncle deathrider’s home made remedies to cure insomnia….. in no order of preference.

1. The Phenom demo
2. Prog. rock
3. The Grudge
4. Aishwarya Rai in any one of her “I’m so pure I piss holy water” movies.
5. Dream Theatre post Images And Words

<>Six Feet Under
Graveyard Classics 2 is out. They’ve covered the entire Back In Black album. This is going to be so much fun.

Haymaker Humanist

Haymaker

You are one of life’s enjoyers, determined to get the most you can out of your brief spell on Earth. Probably what first attracted you to atheism was the prospect of liberation from the Ten Commandments, few of which are compatible with a life of pleasure. You play hard and work quite hard, have a strong sense of loyalty and a relaxed but consistent approach to your philosophy.


You can’t see the point of abstract principles and probably wouldn’t lay down your life for a concept though you might for a friend. Something of a champagne humanist, you admire George Bernard Shaw for his cheerful agnosticism and pursuit of sensual rewards and your Hollywood hero is Marlon Brando, who was beautiful, irascible and aimed for goodness in his own tortured way.


Sometimes you might be tempted to allow your own pleasures to take precedence over your ethics. But everyone is striving for that elusive balance between the good and the happy life. You’d probably open another bottle and say there’s no contest.

What kind of humanist are you? Click here to find out.

Wow. This was quite accurate.

Mortality

Nikki died yesterday. I hate this fucking mortality bullshit.

The Green Plague

So I sit down in front of the computer again. An inconsistent companion. I like this line a lot. Tomorrow morning I might think differently.

Hollow. My life. Hunger. Gone. Fuck. Rarely. Truth. Fantasy. Amorphis. Good. Kill me now. Never. The God On 42nd Street. 5th . Kid Rock. David Lee Roth. Devil. Fun.

The word “hundred” has been playing on my fingers for a while now. 100. Fucking weird. Why 100 ? I remember watching 100 rifles as a kid. A well watched movie cause Raquel Welch was in it and dad had a thing for her. I wasn’t complaining though. Raquel Welch.

I could now tell you a tale of real horror. Not horror of the KLPD variety but of the little horrors of every day life. A visit to the police station. Comfortable chairs it must be said. A general laid back attitude, conducive to chilling out with a book in hand. However, every few minutes, there will be a distraction. Two women beating each other up cause they’re married to the same man. A woman kidnapped for three days because her husband cheated some people. Lots of people cheating each other and two men who dragged each other into the jail. All the while cursing and shouting pretty cool obscenities at each other. A murder of a eunuch by other eunuchs and three cases of lost cell phones. All this in the span of an hour. The police seemed to be good humoured about it all. Not one raised voice or abuse hurled. The people though, man….. if I was a cop I’d fucking lock them all up. Not too horrific after all. I disappoint myself.

There has been no real romance in my life for a long while now. Hundreds. There it is again. Even before I knew it, I’d started typing that accursed word out. Anyway, I think I’ll stop now.

A song of grief

Threinody – Live at AMC College

Threnody used to be a pretty cool band. Threinody suck. An 18 song live album, Threinody have put together a live album with 8 of their own songs and 10 covers. The band used to play a very good brand of thrash metal. The recording isn’t bad at all. Pretty decent job. There are plenty of metal bands around the world on record labels that have put out live albums with sound that’s way more shitty than this.

Of the own comps., In Extremis is a song I’ve heard before and it still kicks ass. Blind Leading The Blind is an own comp that’s just boring. The covers ? Boring. The band added the I in the middle and immediately became boring. This show sounds like it was more fun than the utterly horrendous performance at NLS last year but its still boring. Oh yeah, before I forget, there’s a cover of Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start The Fire. Kill me. Now. There’s also a song called “I Wanna Be Me.” It starts off like a ballad White Lion rejected and then just gets worse. Man, this is just sad. Fuck it! I’m not listening to the whole thing. Quite disappointing.

That disco thing

Jazz rhythms vie with noise. Distortion every now and then. A voice on top. Screaming, singing, mumbling shouting, this is madness. More self indulgent than any prog. rock wankery band Mr. Bungle defies description. Disco Volante for me is Mr. Bungle at their most intense. A harsh difficult listen that never gets easy. This is some mad shit. Carry Stress In The Jaw has a jaw dropping performance from Patton. This is one seriously mad fucker. No real words to describe it. You either love Mr. Bungle or you hate it. No sitting on the fence with this one.

KHERT-NETER

KHERT – NETER – Arrival Of The Funeral Dogs

I knew I would like this the minute I saw the album title. “Arrival Of The Funeral Dogs.” Kvlt or what ? \m/
From Finland, Khert – Neter play death fucking metal. I am very pleased to be able to tell you Dear Diary that they fucking rock! A proper death metal band that just writes really good songs and kicks major butt. After a long while a proper death metal album’s just blown me away. Very happy dear diary. Very happy. They remind me of Nile with the Egyptian themes but only on the surface. Imagine a cross of Entombed and Autopsy with a synth. That’s Khert – Neter. I just hope this band hasn’t broken up already with “Arrival..” being their only album. That would be a tragedy.

1-600-FREAKSHOW

I feel I must do another completely nonsensical update. Far too stoned to write when I had my revelations this weekend.

The watchmen is so fucking brilliant. There’s so many bits I wish I could quote here but for now just one will do.

dog carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach. this city is afraid of me i have seen its true face. the streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over all the vermin will drown. the accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout “save us” … and i’ll look down and whisper “no.”

A simply fantastic story and an even more fantastic way of telling it.

Oh yes. I got the Threinody album. Here’s the funny thing and I kid you not. I put the disc in the player and listen to it. The first song on this live album is a cover. Judas Priest. Grinder. Not bad. But then its Grinder. And Naidu makes everything sound like a Kreator outtake. The second song’s one of their own. Blind Leading The Blind. My speakers decide at this exact moment to completely fuck me over. The volume goes up. The volume goes down. There’s tons of hiss and static. The funny part is, when the song gets over I can hear the crowd and Siddharth with no interference from my speakers. I aim to listen to the CD on my computer one of these days so I’ll be sure to tell you what I think Dear Diary. For now though, Degradation Trip is on the player and Jerry Cantrell rocks.

A hundred miles. Freaks of every shape and size. All coming to audition. A line that could be seen from the moon. Idle speculation. The smoking man. A cigarette in every crevice of his body. Every one of them lit and every one of them being consumed. Smoked. In this menagerie…. his act is lame. The Missing link. Grotesque. Deformed. Walks with a hunch and makes sounds. Hundreds of them in this line. Inbreeding is not as rare as it should be. The bearded lady ? Old hat. The mermaid ? Interesting but this one’s ugly. See if there are any pretty mermaids in the crowd. Giants tread softly. The fat men are carried by their minders. “I can shoot my jizz to an astounding 15 feet.” Not likely. Not on this show son. Removed.

A chain of freaks. The audience will decide on who wins. On who does win takes home a Crore of rupees and a 15 minute pass to the page three lounge. Vote now. When you still can. You decide! Have your say. Which freak will it be ? Call in. Toll free. 1-600-FREAKSHOW.

How Knowledge Got Her Groove Back

Knowledge is in a foul mood today. Nobody really wants her anymore. Brother Ignorance is running wild. All powerful. She walks the street in a dark dangerous sulk. And yes knowledge can be dangerous and not just in the hands of fools.

She has lost her colour. She has lost her groove.

She sits down at heavenshore café. Asks for an espresso. Make that a double. She chain smokes gold flake till her eyes water and her stomach is all topsy turvy. The double espresso only makes matters worse.

She sits arms folded, her soft tragic face a picture of discontent. A finger curls a knot of hair. You see, knowledge was no longer in fashion. She was fashionable for a while. But now ? An outcast. People had embraced ignorance. Her brother. Her love for him matched by her hatred for him. She could hear herself die bit by bit. She will remain only in history now. That is enough for her to survive but not good enough for her to live.

She can only do so much for her continued survival. It is the people who decide. Sister Knowledge or Brother Ignorance. Sister Apathy is rising from sleep ever so quickly and she may toss a lock of her hair into the game at anytime. Everything could be lost if Apathy got into the game.

She walks on. Observant as ever. She dies with every step and with every step she is made privy to more ignorance. She observes. The dark sulk goes away. She is standing on the street. Her long white dress is perfectly still. Ignorance will win this fight. She is sure of it. She can almost hear her brother’s mocking laughter. The people have spoken. “I will survive in history and come back to this war when I can. Till then brother, you can have them.” The people get what the people deserve. She smiles. She walks on. She can hear the sound of a music. A bittersweet symphony. She loves this song. Sister Apathy has gone back to sleep. She smiles. She dances…. On and on and on.

Ichi The Killer

Ichi The Killer

A film by Takashi Mike

An exercise in sadism, misogyny, masochism and various assorted perversions, Ichi The Killer is not for the faint of heart. The plot is quite simple. Jiji a small time thug plays two rival yakuza clans with a mixture of disinformation and his primary weapon, Ichi. Ichi is a sexually repressed murderer who comes up with various incredibly brutal methods of killing people. A post hypnotic suggestion by Jiji helps him gain control of the seriously fucked in the head Ichi and use him for his purposes which to me were never quite clear. The movie isn’t really about the plot, nor does it contain displays in histrionics to rival Lawrence Olivier. The movie is an outlet for the viewer to get off on all his dark deeply guarded fantasies. If you’ve never had a sadistic thought in your head then chances are you’ll switch off this film in the first 30 minutes. If you have thought about causing grievous bodily harm to your fellow man, you will watch this film in its entirety and might even go back for seconds.

Ichi The killer is like a car wreck. Ever stuck your head out your window to peer at the scene of a car wreck in the hope of seeing blood ? Well, you know its wrong and you’re even a little disgusted with yourself but you can’t take your eyes off yeah ? That’s
like watching Ichi The Killer.

Ichi under instructions from Jiji eliminates gang boss Anjo following which Jiji and his clean up crew get rid of the body.. This in turn sets his underling Kahkihara on a quest to find Anjo or at least to find out what happened to him. Kahkihara played by Tadanobu Asano is the centerpiece of this film. Obsessed with finding his boss, Kahkihara is a masochist who wants to find his boss simply because he cannot bear to live without the pain his boss Anjo would inflict on him. Kahkihara is the poster child for BDSM clubs all over the world. Tadanobu has enormous screen presence and his childlike smile of pleasure during the torture of Mr. Suzuki is probably the most cringe inducing smile in all of cinema. Though the character of Kahkihara overshadows Ichi, it is Ichi and his fucked up mind that is at the center of the movie. While Ichi comes across early on as a repressed individual and reluctant killer, it is in his butchering of Karen that he displays his true feelings and enjoys it when his own mind convinces him that he’s just giving Karen what she wants. Right here, you can feel nothing but revulsion for this weak twisted little fucker. Any hope of extracting sympathy is lost. Infact sympathy is one thing that none of the characters in this film evoke. The only slight hope of redemption for Ichi comes in his brief encounter with the son of Kaneko, another member of the Anjo gang. This one hope though is also cruelly snuffed out in the climax of the film.

Takashi Mike has an incredible amount of style and visual flair. The camera through a car window going through the streets with the frame rate set on fast forward before finally closing in on Kahkihara’s severed tongue is a brilliant piece of film and it isn’t the only one. Mike displays style in every shot. Here is my basic problem with the movie. It displays sadism, torture and graphic representations of cruelty to women and it does so in a manner that is cool. Kahkihara with his flamboyant sense of style, is all chic while the rest of the Yakuza are super cool tough guys in designer suits. Ichi is dressed like a superhero of some sort when he sets out to do his killing. Its almost like Mike has made the film cool to appeal to Japanese adolescents. Ichi the Killer could be another Kill Bill. With Kill Bill, you figured it was all fantasy and the style added to the movie. Ichi The Killer is all style but the subject is far too disturbing and perverse. I may change my mind about this film if I ever sit down for a second helping, till then though, Mike makes graphic displays of sadism, rape and torture look very real and also very cool. That is what’s wrong with Ichi The Killer.

God's Honest Truth

"if you are to ever become a successful biter of people you need to stop associating biting people with sex."

When Pornography Is No Longer Enough

Rape. The complete control of another human. Complete loss of control. Sutcliffe Jugend. Kevin Tomkins and Paul Taylor. A concept album on rape. A man rapes a little girl and then writes a letter to her mother telling her everything he did to her little angel. I wish your fucking mother would be here to see this. Noise was never this ugly. Merzbow is noise but strangely appealing. Sutcliffe Jugend is noise and just plain ugly. Feedback, machine tools and Tomkins’ demented shouts. Get on the fucking table. A demented piece of art or absolute rubbish ? Rubbish art. Still strangely captivating. Death metal has nothing on this piece of plastic. Gore-grind has nothing on this piece of plastic. For sheer unadulterated brutality, When Pornography Is Not Enough simply has no equals. The neighbours will complain tomorrow, but tonight this just seems right. I’m in control I’m in control… “With Murderous Passion” has the hint of a riff. Buried under layers and layers of feedback, it may be there, may not. Don’t fucking move. I got this CD a good couple of years ago. Traded for an Iron Maiden album with some fucker in Australia. I’ve heard it twice in that time. Tonight being the third full listen. Still, I wouldn’t part with this disc. Ever. This is something that just must be heard. If you have any interest in extreme music at all, this is about as extreme as it gets. Trust me, trust me, trust me. What do you have to be scared of ?

Method Of Groove

Life of Agony. Spawned from the NYHC scene, LOA is a band that could never quite live up to the expectations generated by their debut album.

River Runs Red released in 1993 is quite probably the finest suicide note set to music ever. Almost all the songs deal with death and the sound bites deal largely with a troubled teenager who after getting the shaft from his teachers, boss and mother finally decides to end it all by taking a razor to his wrist. The media focused on frontman Keith Caputo as the new poster boy for the troubled teen. Unfortunately while Caputo was full of himself he was also just a little too dark and a little too morbid to appeal to your garden variety troubled teen. LOA played crushing heavy music. One part Black Sabbath with a dose of the New York hardcore sound and plenty of thrash. Guitarist Joey Z. had some mighty riffs and was backed up by Sal Abruscato on drums and Alan Robert on bass. A bottom heavy sound, riffs firmly in the heavyweight category, an incredibly tight rhythm section with Abruscato completely owning the drums and Caputo yelling, shouting and singing with all his heart means that River Runs Red is an album that won’t grow old. River Runs Red is very much an acquired taste. The constant barrage of hopelessness and despair gets to you. Everybody dies. Still, LOA caused a good deal of noise with their debut and looked poised to become Roadrunner’s premier band. On a side note, River Runs Red was produced by Type O Negative keyboard player Josh Silver.

The follow up to River Runs Red again on Roadrunner was Ugly. The name of the album was Ugly and unfortunately the music was quite Ugly too. Dark and morbid but the heavy riffs had been replaced by a softer more thought out approach. Almost alternative or modern rock even. The band’s original fanbase did not know what to make of this album and it came, it went and not too many people noticed. Released in 1995, Ugly has aged reasonably well, but is still my least favourite LOA album.

1997 saw LOA release their final album. Soul Searching Sun was a huge leap forward (or backward depending on your point of view). The heavy guitars were now completely gone. Caputo was singing and Joey Z. had melodies and catchy choruses. The band wrote some great songs again. The song Weeds even got some airplay on MTV. Unfortunately, time had passed them by. Interestingly, Sal Abruscato had been replaced by Dan Richardson who also played for Pro-Pain. Still the core of LOA, Caputo, Joey Z. and Robert remained for this album and found their groove again but it was all far too late.

Caputo left after Soul Searching Sun and was replaced by Whitfield Crane from Ugly Kid Joe. This switch didn’t see any studio time and the band folded up soon after. A couple of posthumous live albums/ compilations saw the light in 2000 but LOA was for all intents and purposes, dead.

In early 2003, LOA reunited for a bunch of shows and this led to the live River Runs Again. Signed to Epic with a new album due early 2005, LOA are back. With a major label this time. We’ll probably never get another River Runs Red again but I can hope.

“If tomorrow never shows
I want you all to know
That I loved you all, you’re beautiful
And I had myself a ball.”

Fits In A Teardrop

The Gathering – Souvenirs

The Gathering used to be a death metal band. Then they were a doom metal band for a bit. Today they are neither. Sublime mostly laid back rock with more than a touch of electronics in their music. Souvenirs is a logical progression from their last full length If_Then_Else. The rockier moments from that album have been discarded. Everything is about textures now. A multi layered musical backdrop and Anneke Van Giersbergen’s magnificent voice.

After If_Then_Else came the ep Black Light District which was done in collaboration with Ulver headman Trickster G. The electronic elements on Souvenirs may have come from this union. Whatever the cause, its all for the good. All ties with the band’s heavy metal past has been decisively cut. This too is for the good.

Souvenirs for me has no basis for comparison. Mellow laid back rock is a thought that comes to mind but the noisy discordant ending of Broken Glass is anything but mellow. You Learn About It sounds like the cranberries and IS laid back and mellow. The title song bang in the middle of the album is all swirling guitar feedback and ponderous bass line.

Anneke’s voice can be an incredibly powerful tool but she is subdued through most of the album and the tapestry of sound helps in creating a slightly claustrophobic feel to the whole album. Point in case being the superb We Just Stopped Breathing. A trip hop beat, distortion, various electronic trickery, a saxophone and Anneke’s dead pan vocal style makes this the center piece of the album.

If you thought the band sold out after Nighttime Birds, Souvenirs will do nothing to change your mind. If you stayed with the band through the brilliant If_Then_Else then chances are you’ll like Souvenirs a great deal.

<>The gathering is still a well kept secret. Souvenirs won’t do much to change that. The Gathering rock. Souvenirs will do nothing to change that either.

Spiritual Apathy Smile

I ride. Bangalore 9pm clogged. A gathering of vehicles and people. Curious. An accident or a fight. Maybe both. Truth ? An old man lies on the road. Bleeding. Not moving, not making a sound. Dead ? Maybe. Head propped on a gunny bag people standing around him, talking laughing. I look. Notice the gunny bag. Drive on. A traffic constable is making his slow way to the scene. I feel a little better. Things will be okay now I think. I ride on.

<>You better leave me here alone
I need this night to heal my world
Send me a smile and I’ll get by
But let me drink my wine tonight.
-- The beggars just wrote an awesome song with Send Me A Smile. No justice ? True.

I have my own copy of Veniss Underground now. I am truly kvlt.

<>I almost bought Death Wish yesterday. Almost. Ended up buying a Mick Foley video. The blatant brutality of his match with Vader was something I’d never seen before. Just two big fuckers beating the shit out of each other. Scary exhilarating. Pretty cool so far and the second disk only gets better. I’ve never seen the unedited hell in the cell match between Foley and Undertaker. I just realized what this means. I have no life. Excuse me for a bit. I think I’ll take sanyaas in the Himalayas now.

Fuck it. Mick Foley rocks.

<>I will now proceed to spin a tale. A tale sure to terrify you, delight you, repulse you but above all make you smile.

Ummm… sorry. No mood.

Look At Yourself

I’ve talked about this before and probably will talk about this again. The state of the Kannada film industry.

The 7 week moratorium on non-kannada films was initially reduced to 3 weeks after a compromise between the theater owners and the kannada film people. A few of the theaters refused to co-operate and the recent screening of Veer Zara has again brought this issue to the forefront. A movement that now has the public support of Dr. Rajkumar. The first son of Kannada cinema. Along with his support comes the muscle power of the Rajkumar fan club, politicians who want to capitalize on the vote bank that is the fan club, Sa Ra Govindu his brother in law and also chief instigator of this whole moratorium business and a bevy of kannada film stars who now have the balls to display a more concrete stand on the issue.

Initially, the reasoning behind this was that since nobody was actually watching Kannada films, if the people were simply given fewer choices, then they would rush to the theaters to watch Kannada films. Simply because they have no other choice. Somebody must have pointed out the sheer ludicrousness of this point of view. In recent times, the association of film stars, producers and a few general no goods like the above mentioned Sa Ra Govindu have changed their strategy. The association is now bemoaning the imminent demise of the Kannada language and fighting to preserve the same. How do they do this ? By imposing the 7 week moratorium on all non-kannada films. Look at the state of our own films first you fucking idiots! The abysmal standard of kannada used in the films, the themes of these films, the English-hindi-kannada-tamil-telugu cocktail of the lyrics, the complete lack of any coherent story telling, is what is killing off the Kannada language and the Kannada film industry. Fools! Look at yourself.

Ravichandran one of the Kannada filmmakers/superstars to throw his hat into the fray in support of the moratorium has not had a single original thought since his magnum opus Shaanthi Kraanthi bombed at the box office a good 15 years ago. Upendra, one of the younger stars, managed to instill some life in the industry with Om, A, Shhhh…. and Upendra and then promptly acted in a bunch of Kannada films that were copies of blockbuster Hindi, Tamil and Telugu films. Shivraj Kumar, son of Dr. Rajkumar and another Kannada superstar can barely string together 3 sentences in Kannada.

Imposing a moratorium on non-Kannada films will achieve 2 things: an increase in movie piracy and the possible shutting down of more than half the theaters in Bangalore.

The state government for its part is dilly dallying on the issue and with the good doctor’s official entry into the fray, the government is batting on a very sticky wicket. How powerful is Dr. Rajkumar ? In Karnataka, he’s almost God. The state government also stands to loose about 15 Lakh rupees in entertainment tax for every deferred release. 1200 theaters in the state of which 400 screen kannada films. Can the industry supply prints to the other theaters ? No. What are these theaters supposed to do then ? Sell the land and make way for complexes, malls and multi-level car parks in Bangalore at least. The theater owners in the interior can fuck off and die I guess.

Most Kannada films suck ass. The last Kannada film I saw in the theater paying a ticket was Dr. Rajkumar’s comeback vehicle “Shabdawedi.” That was a good 2 years ago if not more. Unless the Kannada film makers do something about their product, people will continue to flock the theaters to watch Veer Zara or the latest Kamal Hassan or Chiranjeevi movie.

The Kannada film industry is dying of a cancerous tumor. The self appointed doctors are way to busy trying to eliminate the effects of the tumor rather than excising the tumor itself.

Look at yourself. Hopefully before its too late.

Frogs, Buckets, Crowbars and Oblivion

Colonel Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade - Purple Onion

Wow.

Wow. Wow. Wow.

This album made me feel incredibly happy. It made me smile. Made my jaw hit the floor a number of times too. Les Claypool. Wow. The album is incredibly good fun.

Cosmic Highway. What a song.

A rich haul of music from the trollkien and it’s getting richer. I’ve been listening to more music in the last 3 days than I have in the last month. Thank you Ravi.

After listening to Colonel Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade I just had to check out the live album.
It seemed like they covered a whole bunch of songs by Pink Floyd and then jammed for a long time. Les Claypool is talking to the audience. It was probably a great show to be at but it’s boring me. They covered Shine On You Crazy Diamond. A song I like. How is it ? Starts well. Except for the idiots in the crowds shouting. This is building up nicely but I loose interest and turn it off. So much for that.

Viggo Mortenson and Buckethead – Pandemonium In America

I’m not sure who is doing what here. Mortenson narrates, moans, sings and Buckethead does the music. I guess. There’s also a weird baby voice on Half Fling. This is very trippy in a dark disconnected sort of way. Mortenson’s narrative style is cold. Deadpan. Buckethead is building soundscapes in the background and occasionally coming to the fore. Generally an understated performance from him. Weird music. Weird art I guess. Also strangely appealing. I like this.

Crowbar – Sonic Excess In Its Purest Form

Crowbar is an ugly band. They make ugly music that captivates me. Harsh, disturbing and difficult to listen to and yet I can’t bring myself to change it. I sit and listen to Crowbar and usually by the time the album is over I don’t know if I’m coming or going. This one doesn’t seem to be any different. Better than Equilibrium. The middle of the album is where all the best songs are with Repulsive In It’s Splendid Beauty standing miles ahead. Awesome song. In Times Of Sorrow is a soft mournful instrumental that might owe something to Planet Caravan. It Pours From Me is another kickass song. Bloody great album.

Agents Of Oblivion - Agents Of Oblivion

A spin off from Acid Bath with the vocalist and guitarist. This is melancholy hard rock and Dax Riggs sounds great. Very nice album.

Headache. Its been with me all day. Insane sending session last night. Tired. Bored. Beg for sleep. Is this to be another lament on lack of sleep, lon

Headache. Its been with me all day. Insane sending session last night. Tired. Bored. Beg for sleep. Is this to be another lament on lack of sleep, loneliness and other angsty

matters ? No. NLS weekend just got over. This is about that.

NLS this year was as boring as watching milk curdle. Nothing really happened and it may have stunk a bit. The 2 best bands on view were both from Bombay. A sad state of affairs. Bhayanak Mauth kicked immense ass and Demonic Resurrection just sounded huge. Fucking hell, they were good. A whole bunch of other bands played too. I’m sure some of them were technically competent and everything but they were boring as hell. When they finished playing not a single song stayed with me.

Reached the venue late on Sunday after seeing off the trollkien. Watched a couple of boring bands, missed Bhayanak Mauth and through some gap in the space time continuum Demonic didn’t make it to the final. A little bit of a tipper and we came back in to watch Kryptos. Very cool band. When I was driving back home I was humming Twilight’s Grace to myself. \m/

NP: The Gathering – Amity

<>One of my favourite songs by the band. This is off the Sleepy Buildings live album. Quite beautiful. Anneke is as orgasmic as ever.

Mera naam Sam hein ?

I Am Sam is being remade in Hindi. With Ajay Devgan and Sushmita Sen. I’m looking forward to this. Devgan's going to have a tough time standing up to Sean Penn and there’s no contest between Michelle Pfeiffer and Sushmita Sen but I think it’ll be a decent movie all the same.

Pretty Hate Machine

I finally dumped Pretty Hate Machine onto my computer. No more do I need to look at my horribly raped CD and feel sorry for both the CD and I.

Released a good 15 years ago, Pretty Hate Machine still sounds pretty damn fresh. The reliance on dance floor electronics is heavier than on any of Reznor’s other albums but damn these are good songs. He’s also a lot more accessible on Pretty Hate Machine than he was on any of his other recordings. Brooding, introspective and very fucking groovy, the album opens with Head Like A Hole “I’d rather die than give you control.” A song that MTV made famous for a while. After this is Terrible Lie that was a huge favourite when I first heard this album in high school. A rant against God struck all the right chords with me then. “I’m all alone in a world you must despise.” Down In It “and what I used to think was me is now just a fading memory.” and Sanctified both have driving bass lines that propel the song forward. Sanctified is another favourite on this album. A slightly Arabic sounding synth effect and bass line. “Heaven’s just a rumour she’ll dispel as she walks me through the nicest parts of hell.”

Bang in the middle of this album lies the completely magnificent Something I Can Never Have. Sparse, haunting and very dark, Reznor is in top form though out this album and never more so than on this song. “Grey would be the colour if I had a heart.” Its that strange old nostalgia and damn its good to listen to Pretty Hate Machine again.

Reznor experimented with dissonance and noise as music but only slightly on this album. Ideas he would further explore on the Broken ep and further on. The music on Pretty Hate Machine is still very dancefloor, night club oriented with rare bursts of electric guitar. Sin has a driving beat that makes you just want to floor the gas pedal and hit the road, “and if I can’t have everything well then just give me a taste.” Reznor let me have a taste of something quite special with Pretty Hate Machine. The taste hasn’t gone out of my mouth yet. “Lay my hands on Heaven and the sun and the moon and the stars while the devil wants to fuck me in the back of his car.” Ringfinger closes the album out at just a little under 50 minutes and is another catchy as hell song. The groove is so infectious that you can’t help but nod your head or tap your feet or do whatever it is that music makes you do. “I’m so tired I can’t get to sleep and the squeaking of the bed is right in time with the song in my head.’

Pretty Hate Machine was an essential part of my growing up. Going back to it today was like going back to an old girlfriend who is still willing to put out for you. It is that damn good.

Self Indulgence

My playlist from a couple of nights ago...

The Dust Brothers – Finding The Bomb

Quite a brilliant song. Long brooding and atmospheric but with some completely awesome grooves. Lots of studio trickery, sampling, whatever, the Dust Brothers rock.

Perfect Circle – Rose

Wow. This band just rocks. I’m going to be saying that a lot. The song is heavy and lurching and delicate at the same time thanks to the vocalist ( i forget his name) and a brilliant solo though too short..

Opeth – 2nd song on Deliverance

I like Opeth a lot when I only have to listen to one or two songs. More than that becomes boring. This song is long has a cheesy soft section with Akerfeldt’s whiny singing voice but the last 3 minutes of the song just OWN!

Prodigy – Baby’s Got A Temper

This song is easily their best pop song yet. Way catchier than firestarter and breathe. Very cool.

Cathedral – Captain Clegg

Off Caravan Beyond Redemption, Captain Clegg is a bloody catchy song. Not the best on the album but Cathedral just rocked on that album. Rock n roll baby !!

Nevermore – Enemies Of Reality

Over this weekend, this album’s really grown on me. The title song was the first song I heard off this album and always liked it but the rest of the album didn’t do too much for me till now. This is good. Dane is singing, Loomis, Williams and Sheppard are playing, how can it not be good ?

The Chemical Brothers – It Began In Afrika

This was really good fun. Lots of percussion or programmed beats or whatever and very catchy.

Morbid Angel – Maze Of Torment

The best song on Altars. Morbid Angel just have this complete uniqueness to them. No other death metal sounds like they do. That was the brilliance with the big 4 from Florida. Corpse, Deicide, Obituary, and Morbid Angel. All death metal, all hugely influential and all of them sounding completely unique. Sandoval is such an awesome drummer and Azagthoth is bloody brilliant.

Soilwork – Departure Plan

Death metal gone pop. Too much dik chak music. This song is just a completely brilliant pop song. I like Figure Number Five.

Sepultura – Troops Of Doom

\m/

Audioslave – Like A Stone

Another great pop song. It makes me smile and nod my head. Morello plays a great lead although I believe he stole it from Mad Season and man, can Cornell sing.

Sepultura – Slave New World

Fucking kickass. If Chaos AD was Kannte then Slave New World would be Sunjay Dutt. Figure that out or leave now.

Paradise Lost – Symbol Of Life

I think PL took a huge risk with One Second and then took bigger risks on every album after that completely alienating their original fanbase. I think Symbol Of Life is a great sing and a great album.

Fantomas – The Godfather

Fantomas owns you, your dad, your mom and your whole damn family.

Dark Tranquility – Final Resistance

DT completely rule on Damage Done. Heavy and kicking ass but being pretty and melodic at the same time.

Dark Tranquility – Indifferent Suns

Haven was DT at their most accessible. They were still growling but the music was just way too happy. Even when the lyrics were anything but cheerful. For all the cribbing, its still Dark Tranquility and they don’t write bad songs. Indifferent Suns is bloody good.

Spiritual Beggars – Street Fighting Savior

A bit of Thin Lizzy, a bit of Blue Oyster Cult, maybe some Heep, loads of Sabbath and Michael Ammot’s completely beautiful lead guitar. This is retro like nobody’s business. Quite brilliant.

Cathedral – Freedom

Man, this song is awesome. Caravan Beyond Redemption is awesome. Cathedral is awesome.

Children Of Bodom – Triple Corpse Hammerblow

Hate Crew Deathroll is easily the best CoB album yet which is still not saying much. Enjoyable as long as its only a song or two at a time and as long as its not Everytime I Die.

Mr. Bungle – Pink Cigarette

A slightly gentle Bungle song. There’s nobody quite like Patton. Mr. Bungle would be unlistenable without him.

Suidakra – One Piece Puzzle

Suidakra are a completely unremarkable band but they covered Skyclad. That shows good taste at least in what they listen to. One of my favorite Skyclad songs and Suidakra do a pretty good job with it.

Insult – Insanity Reigns Supreme

Woah! First time listen. This is good. A death thrash feel with a nice melodic lead section. Short song.

Nevermore – Tomorrow Turned Into Yesterday

Enemies is fast becoming a favorite. Nice ballad type song and Dane sounds a lot like Geoff Tate.

Mr. Bungle – None Of Them Knew They Were Robots

Bizarre. Brilliant. Mr. Bungle.

Massive Attack – Angel

Laid back, beautiful and quite a trip.

Voivod – Astronomy Divine

Voivod do a Floyd and they do it pretty well.

System Of A Down – Highway Song

Another band that I like listening to as long as its not more than a song or two at a time. Whiny ass opening but then the groove that kicks in is quite cool. Unfortunately, the vocalist thinks he’s a lot better than he actually is.

Lux Occulta – Architecture

Breathe In. Breathe Out.

Fantomas – Twin Peaks – Fire Walk With Me

Patton just owns this song. How he can sing in the way he does is beyond me. Helps to have a backing band, that can do just about anything they want, too

Dark Tranquility – Monochromatic Stains

Another kick ass song off Damage Done.

A Perfect Circle – Sleeping Beauty

Bloody great band.

Dust Brothers – Medulla Oblongata

The Dust Brothers should make for great background music but you can’t help getting sucked in to their world. My favorite song on the Fight Club OST.

Paradise Lost – Mystify

Another great song off Symbol Of Life. Nick Holmes has become a very cool singer and Gregor Mackintosh a rather good songwriter. They’re not doom metal anymore, they’re not even metal anymore but they’re still a great band.

Nevermore – I, Voyager

Kickass.

Dark Tranquility – The Wonders At your Feet

Another great song from Haven. This song has a fair amount of dik chak to it but it rocks just the same.

ten lines or more bitch

I have no idea what to write anymore. I sit in front of the blank computer screen and I wonder. What will I write about today ? I usually have no idea. Unless I’ve had a dream I can remember or read something I can steal. Aaah well, such is life. I know this though, I must have a blog. Maybe one day all the bloggers in my town will get together for a meet. I’d like to meet the other bloggers in my town. A worthy ambition I think.

Lux Occulta. What a band.

6 lines so far. Not bad for somebody who has nothing to say. Think I can go for 10 ? Should I go for ten ? Or maybe a thousand ? Ten at least and thanks to this I’m that much closer. I wonder if a blogger club will have a minimum lines per entry rule for eligibility.

When I paste this onto blogspot will the line count remain the same ? I wonder. I actually did. Scary shit.

“We deal in lead, my friend.” What a killer line. I wish I could use that sometime. I wonder if Charles Bronson was ever young. Even James Coburn managed to look kind of young in Magnificent Seven but Bronson was just still Bronson with the same damn lines on his face but no moustache. Bronson’s cool. I should get hold of Death Wish from somewhere. And that Christmas movie he acted in.

I’m way past ten lines.

The colours on my monitor seem to change in the dark. What’s that about then ?

A feline update

I walk the Diwali streets. The stench of cordite, dogs howling, the purple sky is lit up and there’s noise everywhere. Candles lit. Candles melting. My cat’s run off. I walk these streets in search of Lizzy. The wind is strong, Lizzy must be terrified. I must find her. She’s spoilt. 2 fish in the morning, plates of milk with cream and puppy food whenever she wants it which is quite often.

Kill every motherfucker that’s in my way.

Find Lizzy.

A boy with a pet rat on a string. A girl with red ribbons and yellow bangles. I ask them. They look at me with fear. Why ? The picture yields no sign of recognition.

I walk the streets again. I stick photos of the little one in every department store. I’m quickly loosing hope but not giving up. The black cat looks down on me. Lizzy liked him a great deal. She liked Nikki a great deal too. I like Lizzy a great deal. Lizzy’s gone.

Eid Mubarak

So what else is happening ? Eed Mubarak. Biryani for all.

In other news, the Kanchi seer was arrested. Poor fellow. Tried to play the political game and got bitten on the ass. I wonder if any government will ever arrest Sai Baba. Sodomy is illegal in India. Probably not. He’ll die a peaceful death. Yasser Araafat died a peaceful death too. A fucking murderer who masqueraded as a freedom fighter. Dies a peaceful death in a French hospital bed. A posthumous Nobel peace prize ? Why not.

NP: Graveland – Thousand Swords

Its amazing how cool Graveland is. Rob Darken may have a problem with his music being called cool but it is. Graveland rock.

an update ?

The long dark tea time of the soul is here again. Bored beyond belief. Why do all my extra curricular activities involve intoxication ? Why is the sun so fucking hot ? Same thing. I think I like Enemies Of Reality after all. Its grown on me over the last few days. A nice huge weekend this. I saw a few movies, listened to a lot of music and smoked very little. Hardly drank too. What is happening to me ? Am I complaining ? Are you reading ?

I saw Requiem For A Dream. After all the talk about it I was expecting a lot more. Ellen Burnsteen was quite brilliant and Damon Wayans was quite good too. Leto and Connely just bored me. How is anybody supposed to have even a tiny bit of sympathy for these two losers ? Aaah well, whatever, next.

I also saw Animatrix. Quite stunning.

I saw The Magnificent Seven. Of the three, this I enjoyed the most. Steve McQueen and Yul Brynner are the epitome of the cool cowboy. Very cool movie and something I can see again and again and again.
“We deal in lead, friend.”

I wish all these cracker bursting fools would go to some open field somewhere (preferably on the fucking moon) and burst their crackers there. Lizzy was incredibly scared last night and she’s run off. I hope she comes back.

I quite like System Of A Down. Very cool as long as I only have to listen to a couple of songs at a time.

NP: Fantomas – Twin Peaks - Fire Walk With Me

Mike Patton is a God.

Lizzy’s not back yet. I have a feeling she’s gone for good. I hope not.

A - I am God. God is great.

Upendra wrote directed and starred in A. A kannada film that almost revolutionized a dying industry. A movie so bad and at the same time so good that it captivated you. Once you start watching this film, it becomes almost impossible to switch it off.

Upendra started his career as a director with a string of low budget crass comedies that became hugely successful. His partnership with actor Jaggesh gave the kannada film industry more than a few hits.

A, his first film as hero is rumored to chronicle his own experience with a starlet who used him and then dumped the poor chap for someone more powerful. The story basically aims at telling people that love is an illusion and a futile quest. The movie is also filled with Uppi’s trademark world view. There is no love and “people ain’t no good.” The story is simple enough but it is the manner of the telling that makes A compelling cinema.

“ Indian culture is great. Indian heritage is great. Indian people are not great.”

The movie starts with a viewing of Surya’s half completed film A. A foreigner pronounces interest in reviving the movie and finishing it provided Surya comes in as director to finish the movie he started. Surya though has slipped into an alcohol fuelled demtia and his love for his heroine Chandni is his only over riding concern in life. The movie then goes back to the beginning of Chandni and Surya’s relationship. Chandni’s initial love for Surya, her disillusionment with love, her betrayal of Surya and Surya’s own subsequent descent into madness. The completion of his movie within a movie is the blow out climax. The plot again is way too head fucking to talk about and simply must be watched to completely grasp.

Upendra as Surya is incredible. Over the top and very loud but he captivates you. Whether walking the streets of Bangalore gun in hand and killing people to set the balance of society right again, looking incredibly wasted, proclaiming himself to be God and forcing the temple priest to worship him at gunpoint, Upendra announced that he was a brand new star in Karnataka.

Upendra has been accused of making incredibly violent films. He has been accused of being misogynistic. Women have a tendency of getting beaten up and ill treated in his movies. Fair enough but then so do the men. If anything, Uppi is an equal opportunity hater.

Unfortunately, the success of A propelled Upendra into stardom and a string of commercial Kannada films have diluted his unique style and presence. Still, A is a landmark film in modern Kannada cinema. Upendra will never be hailed as the next Girish Kasaravalli or even a Suresh Heblikar or a Nagabharana but his style is all his own.

The Joker speaks

So when you find yourself locked onto an unpleasant train of thought, heading for the places in your past where the screaming is unbearable, remember there’s always madness.

Madness is the emergency exit.

--- Alan Moore

This and that

I got my computer fixed. Finally. Some things that get broke in my life get fixed after all. Watching Mysore Mallige and listening to the Dead Man Walking soundtrack at the same time is only one of the perks of getting my computer fixed. Quite a mind numbing experience but enough of that for now.

I ride a bike again. The feeling is quite incredible. It’s a bullet. It’s a bullet. It’s a bullet.

Both of Tom Waits’ songs on this soundtrack are really really good. The Eddie Vedder Nusrat Fateh ali khan songs are both old favs. And on the CD I’ve suddenly discovered Suzanne Vega’s “Woman On The Tier.” Patti Smith is stunning on “Walkin Blind.” Who is she?

Mirror Black may actually take off. Well done.

Mysore Mallige is disturbing to watch: a homemade porno that has become something of an urban legend. The girl is plain but like some plain girls who are lucky has a fantastic smile. She also has a certain twinkle in her eye that makes her attractive. I’m having a tough time writing this with a straight face. The movie itself is quite something. The girl goes through various stages of reluctance and each time her reluctance is overcome. I had the volume on off so no real idea what was said but if I remember correctly from previous viewings , nothing of import is said at any time during this movie. The actual acts of sex are boring. The girl makes this movie with her teasing act and ultimately that is the movie, the girl being a tease and yet not. I hope that makes sense.

Come back tomorrow for an in depth look at A and if I have to tell you what that is, then you are simply not worthy.

Oh man, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan can be quite a trip occasionally. I think I’ll listen to the Michelle Shocked song again and then switch this off. Bahut Ho Gaya.

I finally have Assault On Precinct 13 again. Carpenter be very cool. The movie moves along at an incredible pace while still seeming like there’s nothing happening. The car chase between the gang member and the grieving father with the focus on the car headlights from the side is bloody riveting. “Gotta Smoke?” The heroes in this one are your despicable bad as nails prisoner on a life sentence for murder, an upright black cop and more importantly an honourable one. Then there’s a receptionist. A strong woman character at a time when most women in action movies were big breasted, dumb and blonde. This one though is tough. The villains are a street gang called “Street Thunder.” Corny, but it doesn’t really matter. Nothing matters but the breakneck pace and the direction. A gang member goes on a random killing spree. Kills ice cream man and a little girl. Little girl’s father kills gang member then seeks refuge in an almost closed down police station, which has the black cop lieutenant, the receptionist, the telephone operator and a police sergeant. Into this police station comes a prison bus carrying three lifers. The gang Street Thunder attacks the police station to get the little girl’s father and maybe just for kicks (it doesn’t really matter) and all hell breaks loose in a controlled and focussed manner. I like this movie a great deal. I think John Carpenter rocks. Assault…., Halloween, Big Trouble In Little China, The Thing, Escape from New York. He be uber kvlt. \m/

I brushed my teeth violently just now. The toothpaste once inside my mouth took on a strange frothy yellow and red colour. Bleeding Gums did you say ?

Watching Necrophagia’s video for “deep inside her I plant the devil’s seed” with lux occulta’s gambit playing is another trip. I’m quite bored. Not too late to get a life. No, but why should I ? Stream of consciousness ? No, just rubbish.

Thank you.

The Kannada film industry

50/50 ( a film review)

The kannada film industry is in bad shape. With movies like this 50/50 being made it is not difficult to see why. The movie stars Dwarakesh a fine and very talented actor/ film maker who has made some good and original movies in the past. The plot revolves around a winning lottery ticket worth 8 crores and a whole cast of charectars after the lottery ticket. Dwarakesh is the cop in a small resort town where the action takes place and he too is after the money.

Unfortunately, bad acting, terrible songs and some unbelievably shoddy editing takes a plot that could have been fun and churns out a movie that is just incredibly bad. Dwarekesh hams it up like nobody's business and Srinath, another talented senior actor is wasted.

The state of the kannada film industry can be easily explained looking at the quality of the films being released. The Kannada film makers have called for a delay of 7 weeks in screening all other language movies in Karnataka. They hope that this will lead more people into watching Kannada films. Sadly, they seem to have forgotten that language has nothing to do with it. If you make a good film people will watch it.

The biggest recent release was Upendra's ultra violent "Omkara." It is Uppi doing what he does best. Ranting at the injustices of the world, killing a whole bunch of people and slapping a few women around and calling a few other women, whores.

I'm off to see it now. Wish me luck.