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Actors Musicians

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Read More David Duchovny Fox Mulder himself, David Duchovny will be releasing his second album Every Third Thought on February 9th via King Baby/GMG. There is no album artwork at the moment, but the record is done with complete track listing below. … The X-Files I was a fan, and watched it even after Agent Mulder (David Duchovny) left the series. I collected the Topps’ X-Files comics for many years, various books & magazines, the original VHS 12 episodes and bought the original DVD boxsets …

DAVID DUCHOVNY
davidduchovnymusic.com

If you’re an X-Files fan, you should check out actor/musician David Duchovny’s third album Gestureland (GMG/Westbound Kyd). This is the follow-up to his 2018 album, Every Third Thought.

Talking about the record, Duchovny said, “The album represents three years of song writing over which time I think we developed into a band so there’s a stronger element of deep collaboration here. The songs are obviously inspired by present day life and problems but we hope to make them universal. We also stretch our sound a little ——getting both heavier and lighter at different times. You want to know which songs are about me. None of them. They’re about you.”

Duchovny is referencing to the fact that it was a challenge to get is his band, featuring Colin Lee on keys, Pat McCusker on guitars and synths, Mitchell Stewart on bass, Keenan O’Meara on guitars, and Davis Rowan on drums, together to finally record the album.

Guitarist McCusker adds, “shortly after our time at Outlier, the pandemic hit. After a month or so of being in full lockdown mode, we started recording overdubs and vocals at our studio in Long Island City. To have our own space to be able to finish Gestureland safely throughout 2020 was a blessing. The more we’ve all worked together, the more we’re all taking risks and tapping into new influences."

Stay tuned, as Duchovny mentioned that there will be a tour to promote the record. If there is an announcement, we’ll let you know as soon as possible.

Read More William Shatner I will tell you why I love this version - because William Shatner does not sing the song. He acts it. The original song was a huge hit for Pulp, and I believe is the Britpop theme (sorry, it's definitely maybe not Oasis). Oasis, to me, was more ...

WILLIAM SHATNER
williamshatner.com

Award-winning actor, director, producer, writer, and chart-topping recording artist… and recently oldest man in outer space, William Shatner recently released his new album BILL, via Joe Jonas’ new label Let’s Get It! Records/Republic Records.

I’ll confess to owning a few Shatner albums, mostly because I am a big Star Trek fan, and the one thing I can tell you is that he does not actually sing on his albums. I’ve described it as “acting” out the songs. It’s amazing.

From what I’ve read about this new album, it’s more or less spoken word: “Through spoken word and genre-bending music, the songs on BILL chronicle significant autobiographical moments in William Shatner’s life and the ideas, challenges, and questions he’s confronted along the way. The tracks were co-written and produced by Grammy Award-winner Dan Miller [They Might Be Giants], while the lyrics were a collaboration between Shatner and his friend and writer Robert Sharenow. In addition to Joe Jonas and Brad Paisley, BILL features guitarist Joe Walsh [James Gang, Eagles, Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band], pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph [Robert Randolph and the Family Band], musician John Lurie, saxophonist Dave Koz, and more.”

Read More Kiefer Sutherland If you were expecting the main character, played by Kiefer Sutherland, to be as aggressive and in your face as 24, you may be in for a disappointment. ...

KIEFER SUTHERLAND
kiefersutherland.net

You love him as the star to 24… well now actor, now musician, Kiefer Sutherland, announced his third album Bloor Street (set for January 21, 2022 on Cooking Vinyl) with a UK tour. Unfortunately, as of this writing, no U.S.A. dates have been announced (but they promised an American tour soon).

So, the coolest thing is that you can get an autographed from Sutherland for the new album, all for regular $13 price, available for pre-order on Amazon. I would recommend the pre-order, as Sutherland will likely only sign a limited number of CD and Amazon will list it as “Sold Out” once they’ve reached their cap.

A few years ago, I bought a Belle & Sebastian signed CD from Amazon. Best purchase I’ve ever made. It’s incredible hard to get all six band members together to sign something… and yes it immediately sold out.

UK tour dates… U.S. tour dates to be announced soon.

01/28/22 - Brighton, Chalk
01/29/22 - Hull, Asylum
01/30/22 - Norwich, UEA
02/01st - London, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
02/02nd - Manchester, O2 Ritz
02/03rd - Cardiff, Tramshed
02/05/22 - Bournemouth, O2 Academy
02/06/22 - Sheffield, Leadmill
02/07/22 - Birmingham, O2 Institute
02/09/22 - Newcastle, O2 City Hall
02/10/22 - Aberdeen, Beach Ballroom
02/11/22 - Glasgow, Old Fruitmarket
02/13/22 - The Netherlands, Utrecht, TivoliVredenburg
02/15/22 - Germany, Stuttgart, Im Wizemann
02/16/22 - Switzerland, Bern, Bierhuebeli
02/17/22 - France, Paris, Café De La Danse
02/19/22 - Germany, Cologne, Carlswerk Victoria
02/20/22 - Germany, Berlin, Metropol
02/21/22 - Germany, Hamburg, Markthalle
02/23/22 - Austria, Vienna, Gasometer
02/24/22 - Austria, Linz, Posthof
02/25/22 - Germany, Munich, Backstage Werk

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com

Incomplete Films: Dune and Halloween Kills

Read More Star Wars Solo: A Star Wars Story is the latest effort in Disney’s master plan to schedule a new Star Wars film in theaters every year, with character-focused back story tales, supplementing the opposite-year’s main storyline. ....

Read more Movies and Television.

DUNE
legendary.com

Many say that Frank Herbert’s book Dune was unfilmable… but I think director Denis Villeneuve did a fantastic job with his adaption, at least the first part, of the book. David Lynch made an attempt at bringing the book to screen in 1984, but it’s hard to follow or understand… while Alejandro Jodorowsky (the man who made such cult classics like The Holy Mountain and El Topo) tried and failed to get his Dune version made.

While the action, the world, and characters, are all amazing, the problem with the 2021 film is that there is no ending, no resolution. The film basically ends at the point when Paul, from house Atreides, finds the people of Dune (actually the film only refers to this planet as Arrakis), the Fremen people.

My other problem with the film are some of the characters. Duncan Idaho is a cool, bad-ass character… but when it’s played by Jason Momoa, I just felt like he’s doing Aquaman. His colorful character didn’t blend in with the tone of the other moody, “serious” characters. The other character, Chani (played by Zendaya), who is promoted in the trailers, hardly appears in the film. Her role may be bigger in the next film, but in Part 1, she has like maybe four lines in the film.

As a result of the (lack of) ending, it just felt that Dune is an incomplete film. That’s my only complaint about the film. Otherwise, they did a great job in making the dense book comprehensible to the average viewer.

Watching the film, you can see that clearly the story and ideas inspired George Lucas to make Star Wars and other works (I can also see elements of it in George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones).

The 2021 film is so good that I’m inspired to re-watch the David Lynch film and seeking out the Sci-Fi mini-series… just to see the differences.

Read More John Carpenter Legendary horror film direct John Carpenter is currently on tour, can you believe it ? He’ll be stopping by the Myth, with a full live band, to play some of his film scores… including the very popular theme song for ‘Halloween’. ....

HALLOWEEN KILLS
peacocktv.com

You know I love John Carpenter. Carpenter’s original Halloween film inspired so many slasher films, like Friday the 13th. The latest Halloween film, Halloween Kills, is number 12 in the movie franchise. Halloween Kills is the sequel and 2/3 of the trilogy started by 2018’s Halloween film.

In this trilogy, it ignores all the previous Halloween films, including H20, except for the original film. If you follow that timeline, then 1978’s Halloween started the story… then 40 years later, Michael Myers, escaped from the psychiatric hospital, to go back on his murdering spree.

Halloween Kills takes place only minutes after the 2018 film, so I suggest you re-watch that for a refresher, so you can follow the story in the 2021 film.

Despite all the gruesome kills, this is an awful movie. Lead actress Jamie Lee Curtis spends pretty much the entire film in a hospital, while the town folks of Russellville is in the spotlight. Unfortunately, the entire town is written so poorly, that you almost root for Myers to kill them all. I hated everyone in the film, including the stupid kids, portrayed in the film.

Basically, the movie is about the townsfolk vs Michael Myers – and guess who wins? That’s the movie, unfortunately, you’ll have to come back for Halloween Ends to see how the story ends.

Perhaps when I see all three films, Halloween, Halloween Kills, and Halloween Ends, I can fully appreciate what they’ve done… but, right now, Halloween Kills seems like a filler. I almost feel like you can skip this film entirely and go straight for the ending (which won’t come out until 2022).

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

TV: Midnight Mass, Squid Game, and See

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Read More Haunting of Hill House The Haunting of Hill House is a long, re-imagining of the Shirley Jackson’s 1959 novel of the same name. It’s a haunted house show, but actually the majority of the show is in flashback. The family all moved out of the haunted house years later... but events all lead them back to Hill House. …

MIDNIGHT MASS
netflix.com

From the creator of The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor, Mike Flanagan’s Midnight Mass came out just in time for Halloween, on Netflix. Flanagan and his crew, including music by The Newton Brothers, Andy Grush and Taylor Newton Stewart, all of whom have worked with Flanagan since his 2013 film Oculus (a film that I love and own on Bluray).

I feel if I talk about the story of Midnight Mass, it may be “spoilers”, but I don’t think it would ruin anything if I were to mention or identify the evil forces in the story. I think part of the enjoyment is that the story will slowly reveal what is behind all the “miracles”, so it is a bit of a mystery. However, I still don’t think you won’t enjoy it if I told you what it is about.

Like Flanagan’s previous shows, it’s really not about the ghost or the evil thing… it’s all about the characters. And he does this many of the characters on the isolated Crockett Island.

Riley Flynn is our main character, he returns to his hometown after spending years in prison for killing a woman in a drunk-driving accident. His character is haunted by this dead woman, and you always see her with flashing police light when the show shows his vision. Riley’s childhood sweetheart, Erin Greene, is also back on the island. Greene left the island, but found herself back, leaving her abusive husband, when she got pregnant.

Other characters that we follow are Father Paul Hill, the young, new priest at St. Patrick's Church, he holds a secret, which we will find out midway in the show, and Bev Keane, the overly zealous believer at St. Patrick’s Church. I don’t care what anyone says, Keane is the most evil character on the island… even though she doesn’t believe she’s evil.

The thing is, if you love the two previous Haunting shows, you’ll really love Midnight Mass. Everyone has long, long, long dialogues and monologues, but they are all delivered with such passion and sadness, that it’s hard to look away. You’ll cry, especially hearing Flynn’s last speech and his confession of love for Greene. It’s simply heart breaking.

If you hated Haunting for its slow burn, then I don’t think you can handle Midnight Mass. If you can survive the pilot (which doesn’t even hint at what the show is about), you might get a chance to enjoy it… but if slowness isn’t your thing, you won’t like Midnight Mass.

Read More The Hunger Games Film update: I just saw The Hunger Games: Catching Fire at the dollar theater. We saw this at the New Hope Cinema Grill, for about $12, you can get meal and a film, which isn't bad. …

SQUID GAME
netflix.com

If you haven’t heard, Squid Game is Netflix’s blockbuster television show. Everyone, at least over 111 million, is watching this South Korean drama/thriller.

The show creator and director, Hwang Dong-hyuk, wrote the story, originally called “Round 6”, in 2009 and tried to get companies to fund the project. No one was interested, until finally in 2019, Netflix agreed to pay for it, as part of their foreign programming offerings.

This show is about desperate contestants in a game of death. Immediately, people will notice how similar it is to other films before it, like Battle Royale or The Hunger Games… except the contestants in Squid Game, they all want to play (they are not forced) for a chance to win.

The large cast of characters includes our main character Seong Gi-hun, player #456, who signed up for the deadly game to settle his gambling debts. Cho Sang-woo, player #218), is wanted by the police for embezzling billions of dollars… and who is also Gi-hun’s childhood friend. Kang Sae-byeok, player #067, is a North Korean defector, trying to get money to bring her mother and brother across the border.

The protagonist in the story is a gangster named Jang Deok-su, player #101, who will do anything, kill anyone, in order to win the game. There are many other characters, but those are the main ones that I followed closely.

The most interesting thing about the television series is that is is very gripping and tense. I love how the story will unfold in directions that I didn’t see coming… but it made sense in the context of the film.

Anyway, in the end, the winner of the game received about 40 billion dollars.

The ending of the show is pretty good… although I felt like the show creator left some things open so there might be a second season of Squid Game. I hope not, I personally think that the story should just end with Episode 9, I don’t need a continuation of this story.

I can see another show, in this same universe, that takes place in a different country. After all, in the show, the V.I.P.’s talked about how they liked the Korean Games the best, suggesting that there are other games in other countries. With that… I wouldn’t mind seeing a deadly game of tic-tac-toe or hopscotch.

Read More Apple TV+ I’ve been enjoying the new American drama series called The Mosquito Coast on Apple TV+. The television series was developed by Neil Cross and Tom Bissell and based on the 1981 novel by Paul Theroux. …

SEE
apple.com

Apple TV’s See is a post-apocalyptic science fiction television show about a world where humans lost the ability to see. It stars Jason Momoa, who was a big draw for me to watch it, but ultimately, I just felt the whole concept is just silly.

The story is about this sightless world, with its own rules, the Kane clan wanted to destroy all those who can see… putting our hero, Baba Voss (played by Jason Momoa) and his children in danger. Soon enough, Voss’ tribe is destroyed and they are on the run.

The second season just ended, setting up some things for season three (which was renewed by Apple).

Personally speaking, they should just end the series with the final episode in Season 2. The big battle was very good, and I felt it should just end in a high note.

Before I talk about the bad things in See, I wanted to point out the one good thing the show has: it’s blind fight scenes. Because no one can see, the way they battle is just very interesting. For example, lots of low shots and misdirection. Visually, it looks so cool, because no one with vision will fight like this.

And that brings me to the terrible things about the show. Everyone is beautiful, like they have hairdressers and they wear makeup. Why would anyone look good when everyone is blind ? While we’re at it, why are there windows in houses ? Why are there flowers in vases ???? It just doesn’t make sense. In a visionless word, to me, there shouldn’t really be fire on torches or people wearing uniforms! I guess, realistically, if no one can see, wouldn’t you just walk around naked? Maybe I’m just overthinking it, but this whole sightless concept is just dumb.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Vertigo Comics TV: The Sandman, Y the Last Man, and Doom Patrol

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Read More Neil Gaiman I didn't see Neil Gaiman on his last-ever book tour, but my sister did. She got my Sandman: Absolute book signed. Gaiman was last seen recording music with his wife Amanda Palmer, you can read my review of An Evening With Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer here. …

THE SANDMAN
netflix.com

As you know I used to collect a lot of comic books, particularly DC Comics and Vertigo Comics (an imprint of DC). So I’m glad to see that Vertigo Comics-based shows are on the rise.

We’ve already got Constantine (based on Alan Moore’s Hellblazer), Swamp Thing (mostly based on Alan Moore’s reinvention of the character), V For Vendetta (based on the comic that started in the UK, but finished under the Vertigo banner), iZombie (based on the comic by Chris Roberson), Lucifer (based on Neil Gaiman’s character from The Sandman), The Losers (film based on Andy Diggle’s Vertigo comic), The Kitchen (film based on Ollie Masters and Ming Doyle’s Vertigo title), Sweet Tooth (based on Jeff Lemire’s comic ), and, of course, who could forget the extremely violent and over-the-top Preacher (based on Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s work).

So why are Vertigo titles so popular ? There’s a lot of reasons, comic book properties are hot, as Hollywood are looking for the next big thing. Also, since most titles on the Vertigo line were creator-owned, it’s much easier to sign a deal with the creators and take a chance to option for their works to be adapted for the silver screen.

The next big title to be given the Netflix treatment will be Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman… it’s currently in development. Everyone is excited about the adaption, and hopefully it will bring the story to a bigger audience.

They haven’t announce a date that the show will air, but based on the “First Look” at the Sandman via YouTube … I feel that the production may be in its final stages. The video looks great, and seemed really faithful to the original comic book.

Read More Constantine The Constantine finale is partly an adaptation of Hellblazer #4. It's not a great finale, especially because it doesn't wrap up all the setup from the pilot. This is probably because of two things: they lost the lead actress …

Y: THE LAST MAN
fxnetworks.com

My sister collected Y: The Last Man, when it originally printed in 2002, so I read the whole series from start to finish.

The story is about a mysterious event that killed everything on earth with a Y chromosome, leaving only Yorick and his pet monkey, Ampersand, the only male survivors on the planet. I’ve always thought it would make a good television show, so I was ecstatic to find out it was adapted in 2007, with Shia LaBeouf attached. It was around this time that DC started to collect Y: The Last Man in a slightly oversized Deluxe Collection, which I bought, to support the comic creators, Brian K Vaughan and Pia Guerra.

Y: The Last Man resurfaced again 2013 with director Dan Trachtenberg attached. That went nowhere, and eventually, it was up to FX to finally make the adaption happen in 2018. The original show runners, Michael Green and Aida Mashaka Croal, both left the show due to “creative differences”.

Filming and production for FX’s Y: The Last Man was further delayed, due to the COVID-19 pandemic… so, let’s just say it’s been a rather long road to get the show to finally air.

From the five episodes I’ve seen of Y: The Last Man, I’ll have to say that it’s pretty faithful to the comic book. There are some new changes and additions (particularly with the trans men), but I feel they were necessary for the television audiences.

A lot of critics, who never read the comic book, complains that the least interesting thing is Yorick, who is not a likeable character. While they aren’t wrong, I’m glad they made Yorick, closely based on the loser in the comic book. I would probably be more upset if they changed the character in the TV show.

His sister, Hero, gets more development in the show, which I also like… however, they should stick to the comic book and make her aggressive and anti-men.

Read More Doom Patrol I bought Doom Patrol on Bluray when I saw it was on sale for $10. It’s a great show, and I am a fan of the original source material (owning a complete run of Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol). …

DOOM PATROL
hbomax.com

Now in its third season, Doom Patrol is now exclusively on HBO Max (after it originally debut on the failed DC Universe). The TV show, from the start, is based on Grant Morrison and Richard Case’s Doom Patrol … starting with “Crawling from the Wreckage” storyline. You have to understand that prior to #19, Doom Patrol was the standard DC Super group. When Morrison took over, he brought such an imagination and strangeness to the group that it really didn’t fit in the regular DC Universe. After a few years, the title was moved under the Vertigo Comics banner.

The third season starts off by wrapping up all that Candlestick Maker story from last season… quite quickly! In fact, it all just ended with the pilot of Season 3… which made me think that perhaps the pilot should have actually been the final episode of Season 2. When I see something like this, it just makes me think that the showrunners and creators just have no idea what they are doing.

So far, Season 3, isn’t as crazy as previous seasons. Pacing is really slow on the “vacation” episode, but it does introduce the new threat of the series: The Brotherhood of Evil.

In case you were a punk music fan, Robot Man can be seen with a Toadies and Rancid T-Shirt in Episode 2.

Doom Patrol Season 3, Episode 2 (23 Sep 2021)

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

The Moon and stars

Read more Moon Madness, To the Moon and Back, Howling at the Moon, Over the Moon, Blue Moon, Moon River, and The Moon and the Stars.

The Lone Bellow: Half Moon Light   Read More The Lone Bellow Brooklyn based country trio The Lone Bellow are returning to a sold out show in Minnesota's The Turf Club. The band are touring in support of their second album ...

The Lone Bellow
thelonebellow.com

Nashville by-way-of Brooklyn Americana trio The Lone Bellow has been a favorite since their very beginnings as a band and in May ,released an expanded two-disc edition of their latest album Half Moon Light (on Duotone Records).

The band has returned to the road as well, scheduled to play the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis on November 4, and returns to the main stage at Knuckleheads in Kansas City, MO this Tuesday. You may remember we covered their March 2020 show at the same venue, one of the last area shows before the global lockdown.  Expect a joyous return to live music.

Tour dates:

08/05 - North Truro, MA - Payomet Performing Arts Center *
08/06 - Westport, CT - Levitt Pavillion *
08/09 - Kalamazoo, MI - Bell's Eccentric Cafe
08/10 - Indianapolis, IN - Vogue Theater
08/11 - Louisville, KY - Headliners Music Hall
08/12 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium
08/13 - Birmingham, AL – Saturn
08/14 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
10/15 - Austin, TX - 04 Center *
10/16 - Dallas, TX - Granada Thater *
10/17 - Houston, TX - The Heights Theater *
10/19 - Lafayette, LA - Acadiana Center for the Arts *
11/04 - Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theater
11/05 - Madison, WI - Majestic Theatre
11/06 - Milwaukee, WI - Shank Hall
11/07 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall
11/08 - Ann Arbor, MI - The Ark
11/10 - Cincinnati, OH - Ballroom at The Taft Theatre
11/11 - Buffalo, NY - Asbury Hall at Babeville
11/12 - Homer, NY - Center for the Arts Homer
11/13 - Holyoke, MA - Gateway City Arts
11/14 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
11/16 - New York, NY - Webster Hall
11/17 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
11/20 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
11/21 - Saxapahaw, NC - Haw River Ballroom

*Early James not appearing

Moon Taxi: Silver Dream   Read More Moon Taxi Moon Taxi is an indieprog rock band based in Nashville, Tennessee. The band features singer/guitarist Trevor Terndrup, bassist Tommy Putnam, guitars/programmer …

Moon Taxi
ridethemoontaxi.com

Nashville-based alt rock band Moon Taxi returns to the road including an August 27 stop in Kansas City, MO at The Truman w/Sparkle City Disco opening) on their Silver Dream Tour.  Their latest album of the same name (on BMG Records) was released in January and the band has been organically and gradually building a bigger fan base after appearances at Bonnaroo, Coachella,and Austin City Limits festivals and we’ve kept our eye on them since at least 2012 so are glad for their success.

Tour dates:

8/7 Louisville, KY Iroquois Amphitheater %
8/13 Wilmington, NC Greenfield Lake Amphitheater $
8/14 Island of Palm, SC The Windjammer < $
8/15 Island of Palm, SC The Windjammer <
8/25 Fayetteville, AR. George's Majestic $
8/26 Oklahoma City, OK The Jones Assembly $
8/27 Kansas City, MO The Truman $
8/28 Denver, CO Ogden $
8/29 Aspen, CO Belly Up $
9/02 Dallas, TX Granada Theatre $
9/03 Austin, TX Emo's $
9/04 Houston, TX Warehouse Live $
9/05 New Orleans, LA Joy Theatre $
9/10 Columbus, OH Newport Music Hall $
9/11 Covington, KY Madison Theater $
9/14 Washington, DC 930 Club $
9/15 Boston, MA Royale $
9/16 New York, NY Webster Hall $
9/18 East Aurora, NY. Borderland Festival
9/19 Asbury Park, NJ Sea Hear Now Festival
9/22 Columbia, SC The Senate $
9/23 North Augusta, SC Sharon Jones Amphitheater $
9/24 Huntsville, AL Mars Music Hall $
10/02 Memphis, TN Mempho Music Fest
10/08 Birmingham, AL. Avondale Brewing !
10/09 Asheville, NC Salvage Station ^ $
10/28 Lexington, KY Manchester Music Hall $
10/29 Detroit, MI The Majestic $
10/30 Bloomington, IL The Castle Theatre $
10/31 St. Louis, MO Delmar Music Hall $
11/26 Atlanta, GA The Eastern < %
11/27 Atlanta, GA The Eastern < @

< Two unique nights of Moon Taxi
$ w/ Sparkle City Disco
% w/ Illiterate Light
^ w/ Futurebirds
@ w/ AFTM
! w/ Olympic Music

Insomnium insomnium.net Celebrating almost a quarter-century as a band, melodic death metal band from Finland Insomnium is prepping a new EP, Argent Moon (on Century Media) for a September 17th release, featuring first single. “The Antagonist”.  Frontman Niilo Sevänen  comments, “We wanted to try something a bit different so all the four songs on this release represent the softer side of INSOMNIUM. The ballads and the mellow tunes. Acoustic guitars and clean vocals.” Touring commences in late November, but only in Europe for now, so start planning those air reservations.

Clark facebook/throttleclark Anyone captivated by the latest Stephen King adaptation to hit the screen, Lisey’s Story (currently streaming on Apple TV+) will undoubtedly notice the soundtrack music and second single, “Boo’ya Moon” (on WaterTower Music) from longtime composer Clark (aka Chris Clark).  While not the most internet search-friendly moniker, he does record for esteemed classical label Deutsche Grammophon and counts previous remixes for Thom Yorke, Massive Attack, and Depeche Mode among previous successes.

Sophia Knapp facebook/sophiaxknapp LA-based singer/songwriter Sophia Knapp returns with new single, “Desert Moon” a collaboration with Swedish band Dungen (who W♥M's Vu first wrote about way back in 2008) for a unique mix of Swedish folk, ethereal mysticism tinged with country western, and angelic vocals.  Anyone familiar with Twin Peaks-era Julee Cruise will gravitate towards Knapp’s vocal stylings.

Stay Lunar facebook/staylunar W♥M loves UK bands and this Bristol-based five-piece may be among the next wave to hit it big. New single, “Immediately” is turning heads, with outlet Indie Shuffle describing their sound as “A bit like Bombay Bicycle Club meets Al Bairre” so are ones to watch on your radar.

Moon Kissed moonkissedmusic.com NYC synth-pop female trio Moon Kissed returns with their follow-up to 2019’s debut I Met My Band at a New Years Party with I’d Like to Tell You Something Important, another self-explanatory album title due October 22, with first single, “Bubblegum” out now.  The band’s Khaya Cohen says, “Bubblegum” is an anthem about using the patriarchy to get what you want. If men are going to think of us as tiny and harmless, we can harness that into a power to “use them then eclipse them” in the words of my friend Zoey. The mix of punk and adorable digital is a resistance to being boxed in.”

Michael Lane michaellanemusic.de Speaking of Europe, German-American folk pop singer/ songwriter/ producer Michael Lane released his latest single last month, the life-affirming “Moon & Sun” (on Greywood Records). Lane describes he song, “When I sing, I am the Moon and I am the Sun“ I mean it spiritually. The sun and the moon are a part of ourselves and not just things that move in space.”

john ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

TV: MOTU and AHS

Read more Television.

Read More He-Man The new Masters of the Universe: Origins line, by Mattel, updated the original figures, but adding in updated sculpts and more articulation… so for the first time they can bend their knees and elbows. It’s pretty awesome. …

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: REVELATION
netflix.com

The much-anticipated Masters of the Universe: Revelation (Part 1) dropped on Netflix on Friday (July 23).

If Kevin Smith’s intent was to continue the story of the original He-Man and the Masters of the Universe animated cartoon, it misses the mark. He-Man was the show for the boys… She-Ra was the show for the girls. To have Revelation a show with all female leads of Teela, Evil Lynn, and Andra (new girl character), it felt like the wrong choice for a boys cartoon.

If you understand the original cartoon and its toy origins – it’s a product designed for boys. That meant that there were rarely any female toys. The toys we had were Teela, Evil Lynn, and the Sorceress. Suddenly the 1% of girl characters are now the main subject of Revelation, it just didn’t sit right with many fans.

The reason why it’s the Teela show is because (spoilers), they killed off He-Man and Skeletor in the first episodes. The rest of the show is Teela’s quest to reunite the two Power Swords and bring magic back to Eternia. She’s aided by Evil Lynn, Andra, Roboto, and Orko, on this quest. Ultimately Roboto and Orko dies, leaving only the the girl characters by Episode 5.

When they killed off He-Man for the second time (stop killing He-Man!), I can already see the writing on the wall…. It only makes sense that Teela will become the new He-Man (or She-Ra?).

I think Double Toasted put it best, when they described Revelation like seeing a concert where the main headliner leaves the stage and you’re left with the opening band . Just to clarify – we came to see He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, but what we got was Teela and the Masters of the Universe.

The one thing that I really like about the new show is that the animation and character designs are amazing. As far as I’m concern, the animation is a million times better than anything Funimation ever produced. I like how they modernized all the characters… making them more realistic. I also really love the new toyline, I own a full set of the first wave of toys. Unfortunately, the show suffers from the storyline and the choices and directions that Kevin Smith decided to go in.

Of course, I’ll end up catching Masters of the Universe: Revelation part 2, later this year, to see how it will end. I’m not excited about it, but I’ll watch it. If Revelation ends terribly, hey, at least I still have the toys and my DVDs for the original He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and the He-Man and Masters of the Universe 2002 cartoon.

Read More American Horror Story American Horror Story is one of the show that has its ups and downs for me. The 'haunted house' story of the first season started out great. Then as it started to wind to its conclusion, I sort of fell out of love with it. ....

AMERICAN HORROR STORIES
fxnetworks.com

I’ve previously mentioned time and time again that I really love the American Horror Story series… my favorite being American Horror Story: Coven. Like many long-form television shows, AHS does suffer from being trapped in not having enough interesting story to stretch to 12 episodes. In fact, even in some later seasons, the show cut it short to 10 episodes (Apocalypse) and even as low as 9 episodes (1984).

To solve this the show creators, Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, is experimenting with a spinoff series called American Horror Stories… which are self-contained episodes. So far, only three episodes have aired, and, so far, I’m interested in more.

I wasn’t that into the first two episodes, which further the story of Murder House by introducing new residents … and creating a new Rubber Man (Woman). I think my main problem with the Rubber Woman story is that I didn’t care for the main character Scarlett. Even though the story was broken into two parts, Episode 1 and 2, it still wasn’t enough to explain to the viewer how/why Scarlett was so comfortable being around ghosts that haunts the Murder House.

The best episode so far is Episode 3, “Drive In”… about a movie called Rabbit Rabbit that causes its viewers to become violent and insane. The concept isn’t new, you’ve seen it in The Ring, or that recent Warning Do Not Play film, which causes the viewer death or insanity if you view the movie. In the AHS episode, two teenagers survived the drive in (they didn’t watch the movie because they were too busy making out) and decided to hunt down the director and stop him from releasing his movie in other theaters.

I’m interested in seeing more… the next episode of American Horror Stories will air on FX on July 29, 2021.

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TV: Rick & Loki

Read more Television.

Read More Mark Mallman Did you miss Mark Mallman’s double appearances at the Icehouse last March 25th and 26th? No problem, catch him again at the Icehouse this upcoming Saturday, July 9th. …

RICK & MORTY
adultswim.com

Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty recently started their fifth season… and it’s their craziest season yet. There are so many crazy things that happened in the first two episodes, that the Captain Planet parody episode is a nice breather. For once, in Season 5, the Planetina story is focused, with Morty falling in love with the elemental creation.

At first, it’s all good, but eventually you realized that Planetina’s idea of protecting the earth is to basically murder humans.

The best part of the episode is actually Minneapolis-related. Apparently, during Morty’s “sex” scene, the song you hear, “Flowers” was by Ryan Elder and Mark Mallman!

We’re very proud to see Mallman on one of our favorite shows.

If you haven’t seen the latest Rick & Morty episode, you can watch the “Flowers” music video on YouTube.

New episodes of Rick and Morty will air every Sundays at 11pm on Adult Swim.

Read More Television Disney Plus’ first original Marvel Production, WandaVision, proved to be a hit with fans. With the currently Marvel Comics films being put on pause due to the big COVID virus, moving production to a weekly television…

LOKI
disney.com

The new Marvel Studio/Disney Plus series Loki is pretty good so far. I say that, but as history would have it, these Disney Plus shows do really well in ramping up the story… but they just can’t stick the landing. Both Falcon and the Winter Soldlier and WandaVision ended badly, or at least unsatisfying, so I feel that Loki will follow its predecessors.

We’re only on episode 4, but it’s my favorite so far. Loki was taken by the Time Variance Authority (TVA) for violating the time line. Instead of “pruning” him, Agent Mobius (played by Owen Wilson) ask Loki to help him catch another Loki variant that is running around killing the Time Agents and stealing their Time Bombs.

It turns out that the Loki variant is a female Loki, who actually has powers and looks of the Enchantress… but for the television show, they’re calling the female Loki, “Sylvie”.

So in the new episode, the TVA caught the two Loki’s and we finally met the Three Time Lords… but obviously someone else is pulling the strings. While the easy answer is that Kang is behind this, another theory is that it’s actually the computer, Miss Minute.

Both theories are plausible, but personally I think maybe it’s actually another Loki that is behind the scene (maybe with the help of Kang?) Wouldn’t that be a hoot? It was Loki all along!

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TV: Bosch and Lisey’s Story

Read More Television The pilot does an incredible job of setting the tone and style of the show. This was a police procedural crime drama with two parallel storylines: Detective Bosch on trial for the murder of an alleged serial killer …

BOSCH
amazon.com

Out of nowhere, I got notification that the new Season 7 of Bosch just dropped on Amazon Prime!

I was so excited that I launched the pilot and after viewing the “Last Season on Bosch” recap… I realized I had totally missed the entire Season 6. Basically, I had to binged through Season 6 so I can start on Season 7.

Since these Bosch seasons are based on the Bosch novels, the mysteries are all really well-crafted. The characters are wonderful and unique… and it’s the great writing that kept me interested since I watched the pilot in Feb 2014.

In Season 6, the storylines are based on The Overlook (Book 13) and Dark Sacred Night (Book 21). The FBI/radioactive storyline wrapped up mid-season, but the aftermath (and court trials) would take a backseat as other stories (such as the serial killer copycat) surfaced and resolved.

Overall, Season 6 was solid. I do have some issues, like I didn’t particularly enjoyed the Jerry Edgar/The Butcher storyline. The story felt unsatisfying. We, along with Harry Bosch, knew the truth behind the fatal shooting of the Butcher, but what was the point… and why go in this direction? I suppose, it’s all to setup Edgar’s actions in Season 7.

Season 7 is the final season of Bosch. The storyline was based on The Burning Room (Book 17). Once again, Detective Harry Bosch is doing all he can to solve the death of a 10-year-old girl in an arson fire. This season also heavily focused on Bosch’s daughter, Maddie, who is on a hitlist.

The Inter-Police Division fighting Plot B of Season 7 was just plain silly, in my opinion. I understand that they want to spotlight the other supporting characters in the police department… but it just felt like it was time-consuming and going nowhere.

While it’s true that this is the final season of Bosch, Variety wrote that there will be a spinoff series… From what I’ve read, it seems like the new spinoff series will be focused on Maddie Bosch. Which makes sense to continue the story in this new direction, considering that Maddie was such a main focus in Season 7.

Since Harry Bosch is such a jazz enthusiast, you can expect that same music language in the upcoming spinoff series.

While there’s no official soundtrack for Season 7, Titus Welliver (who plays Bosch) curated his Bosch Playlist, which includes The Soul of John Black and Etta James.

Read More Television The concept is pretty cool, especially because it’s based on the characters and stories of Stephen King... but the execution is just not that great. The same can be said for all of Stephen King’s TV …

LISEY'S STORY
apple.com

Stephen King’s favorite novel that he’s ever written, Lisey’s Story, is being adapted to a limited series on Apple TV+. I’ve previously mentioned that I did not enjoy any of King’s stories to television, based on the horrible Under the Dome and The Mist. It’s the same for Lisey’s Story… the pilot was down-right boring to me, that I gave up. For a pilot, you really need to hook the viewer, and the first episode did nothing for me.

The only Stephen King television I like are Creepshow and, I will admit to liking The Outsider (except for that ending).

Critics are also hit or miss on the new Lisey’s Story show, citing that it’s very slow-paced. I can agree with that, but given that it is based on a long novel, that it would make sense to let the show interpret the story to television form. Even though some people hated the show, they all agree that actress Julianne Moore is doing a great job, playing the lead character.

If you were interested, the Lisey’s Story Apple TV+ Original Series Soundtrack is available on Loud Robot and WaterTower Music. The soundtrack was composed by Clark (aka Chris Clark) and he wanted the music to sound threatening and uneasy: “The idea was to capture the demented threat of Long Boy's presence in a way that made it sound beautiful, like the maws in an H.R Giger painting. So much detail and there's a visceral shock factor that works on screen, but the malevolence is crafted with love and care.”

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Crime Drama: Mare and Clarice

Television I’ve been enjoying the new American drama series called The Mosquito Coast on Apple TV+. The television series was developed by Neil Cross and Tom Bissell and based on the 1981 novel by Paul Theroux. The same novel …

Here are a couple of drama/mystery shows currently airing on TV right now to help you with the lockdown.



MARE OF EASTTOWN
hbo.com

When I first heard the words Mare of Easttown, I thought it was about a “Mayor of Easttown”, and had made up in my mind that it’s loosely based on Thomas Hardy’s “Mayor of Casterbridge”… which, in fact, it is not.

“Mare of Easttown” is an American crime drama miniseries starring Kate Winslet as detective Mare “Ladyhawke” Sheehan in a small Philadelphia suburb called Easttown. Mare is a competent detective, but sometime a little hard-headed, and she’s trying to solve a murder of a teenage mother. The police precinct asked another district to send over another detective to help bring “fresh eyes” to the case.

Although the death of the young girl is the topic of the show, many episodes aren’t really about the murder… but rather Mare’s life and how it’s slowly falling apart around her. I suppose the main point of these shows are to showcase all the interesting characters in the world of Easttown.

As for the actual murder mystery, they revealed the killer in the penultimate episode (sort of), and it wasn’t a massive surprise or anything. I was actually more interested in the serial kidnapper storyline, to be honest. However, they quickly wrap up that story in Episode 5… and that was the last we heard of that story.

The finale will be airing tonight (May 30, 2021) on HBO Max. Let’s hope it’s a satisfying ending.

Television Based on the novel Six Days of the Condor (which was also made into a 1975 film called Three Days of the Condor), this television show is now in its second season. …

CLARICE
cbs.com

While I’ve enjoyed and intrigued by the early episodes of Clarice, I have to admit that the show is running in circles right now. The show suffers from two major problems: the COVID pandemic, which is causing numerous delays in getting episodes to air in a consistent manner. For example, as of this writing, episode 10 won’t air until June 3 (a three weeks break). The other problem is that the show was co-created by Alex Kurtzman. Kurtzman has destroyed the Star Trek franchise, trying to turn the smart Sci-Fi show into a mindless dark and grim action show.

Anyway, the Clarice show is based on the characters from the popular movie (and book) The Silence of the Lambs. We’re following the further development of FBI agent Clarice Starling. As you know, the breakout character from these Harris books is the Hannibal “the Cannibal” Lector, who we first saw in Manhunter, but Silence of the Lambs was the film that really popularized the character. Hannibal would appear in Red Dragon (Manhunter), Hannibal, Hannibal Rising, and the television show that ran three seasons. Personally speaking, I’m tired of following a cannibalistic villain... so I was happy to embrace “Clarice”.

Due to the pandemic, only a few episodes were produced, so we got episodes 1 to 5 on schedule. From what the critics have seen, they hated the show. Maybe it’s because they got the character wrong... and as someone who hasn't read the book, I wouldn’t know it. I do think that perhaps the series could be better if Clarice was out hunting serial killers, rather than trying to investigate a big conspiracy (which is starting to turn out to be more like the X-Files rather than something in the Silence of the Lambs universe).

The series starts off with Clarice coping with Buffalo Bill, and she’s back on active duty to investigate a serial killer (per the FBI director who happens to be the mother of the victim that Clarice saved in the movie). The serial killer turns out to only pretend to be a serial killer. It’s tied to a big corporate company...

Again, I’ll probably continue to see how the show ends. Right now, it’s kind of boring and directionless.

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More Morrissey: Mozquito Coast and ASappy

Read More The Smiths I was excited to see that This Day Is Music is publishing The Smiths - The Day I Was There, a new book on the Manchester band. This book is more or less a collection of memories from various fans, compiled and edited by Richard Houghton. … Morrissey As you know, I used to be a devoted The Smiths and Morrissey fan. Like many of you, I have grown up and may have been a little disenchanted by singer Morrissey’s beliefs and personality... but I still love the music .…

We recently talked about how cool it was to see that Morrissey and The Smiths were suddenly in the news (being on The Simpsons and the topic of Shoplifters of the World) a few weeks ago. Here are a few other Morrissey/Smiths items in the news:



MOSQUITO COAST
apple.com

I’ve been enjoying the new American drama series called The Mosquito Coast on Apple TV+. The television series was developed by Neil Cross and Tom Bissell and based on the 1981 novel by Paul Theroux. The same novel was also made into a motion picture (of the same name) in 1986, starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren.

I haven’t seen the movie, but based on the six episodes that already aired (the finale will air on June 5), I’m really contemplating on checking out the film.

The story is about an American family living off the grid for nine years. They’re discovered by the government and the family soon went on the run. Their journey leads them to The Mosquito Coast, in Mexico.

What I like about the story is that it’s very smart and written in a way that you’re not quite sure how the family will get out of one troubled situation after another. It’s almost on the Breaking Bad level, because you know the main character is really intelligent and without resorting to violence… can out think his way out of the trap.

As for the Smiths appearance, in the second episode, “foxes and coyotes”, the family sought help with a coyote to take them across the border to Mexico. While their father, Allie Fox, removes a police ankle bracelet, their daughter, Dina, goes through the coyotes’ record collection to discover a copy of The Smiths’ classic The Queen Is Dead album. The timeline doesn’t make sense, since the book was written in 1981, and this album came out in 1986. Clearly an invention for the television show.

Anyway, the owner of the records, Chuy, said he much prefers Morrissey’s solo music, and puts on “The First of the Gang to Die” and started dancing with their mother, Margot.

The Mosquito Coast, Episode 2: “foxes and coyotes” (30 April 2021)

A$AP ROCKY
asapmob.com

In the recent GQ interview with A$AP Rocky, he dropped the news that his latest collaboration is with Morrissey! The rapper is a fan and previously mentioned in 2018 on Open Late, that he “f*** with Morrissey on some Smiths sh**. Make some emo, real, retro-infusion, motherf**in’ 2018 shit, man.”

With that, in GQ, A$AP said his album is called All Smiles and will feature the Pope of Mope: “Anything you need him to do, he show up and do.”

Apparently, the new album will be a slight departure from what you normally think of when you think of A$AP. He noted, “It's all about the evolution. If I’m still doing the same sh** with the same sounds and the same bars and the same visuals from years ago, what's the point? You got that catalog. You can go revisit that.”

Say what you will, but based on that, thought, I’m interested in hearing the new All Smiles record.

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