Vangelis R.I.P 1943 - 2022

Legendary soundtrack composer, Vangelis, aka Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou, has died at the age of 79.

Vangelis wrote over 40 albums in his lifetime, but will no doubt be remembered for his contributions to popularising electronic music with Hollywood classics Blade Runner (1982), Chariots Of Fire (1981). But I will always fondly remember his low key classic album, L'Apocalypse Des Animaux (1973) which accompanied a tv documentary series of the same title. This mesmerising piece of work lovingly combined acoustic and electronic instruments with a light, deft touch, and a haunting melancholy that permeates the classic track ‘La Petite Fille De La Mer.’

You can hear the album below:

Vangelis enjoyed a long career, but in later years, he rejected his own overblown orchestral Hollywood scores and returned to his first love, electronic music, composing the wonderful ambient album, Rosetta (2016). The album celebrated the European Space Agency mission, Rosetta, which successfully landed a probe on a moving comet for the first time in history.

You can hear the album below:

R.I.P Vangelis.

Dismantling Science 2022 : The United Kingdom Of Complacency

Everyone laughed when Donald Trump suggested that Covid infection rates could be brought down if we simply stopped testing people for Covid.

Yet from April 2022, that’s exactly what the UK government has done. And it’s not funny any more.

The UK government has instigated the wholesale dismantling of Covid precautions, specifically the decision to end the Office For National Statistics study of infection rates and new variants, end free PCR tests, and abandon the clinically vulnerable and care homes. This is blatent perception management and without the Office For National Statistic’s ability to track new variants and infection rates, we will all be ‘living in ignorance’ as opposed to ‘living with covid.’

For an informed, unbiased and interesting exploration of the phases of a pandemic, watch Yale Sociologist Nicholas Christakis’s interview about how Covid Will Reshape Humanity. According to him, the pandemic is likely to end in 2024.

That’s 2 years away.

David Cronenberg's Crimes Of The Future [2022]

David Cronenberg returns with his first new feature film in eight years, Crimes Of The Future [2022].

According to the synopsis, Crimes Of The Future, takes place in the near future as humankind attempts to biologically adapt and evolve to keep pace with technology. The title alludes to Cronenberg’s early 1970 experimental short film of the same name, which may have been an influence, and sees the director coming full circle not with a remake, but a possible return to his roots.

In recent years, David Cronenberg has taken a backseat to directorial duties and watched his son, Brandon Cronenberg, flourish with his own excellent productions, Antiviral [2012] and Possessor [2020]. Now fans of the auteur will be excited to learn he has returned to the directors chair with classic Cronenberg sci fi horror preoccupations. Fears of technology’s effect on the human body and psyche are explored throughout most of his early work, including Videodrome [1983], The Fly [1986], and Existenz [1996]. These themes look set to continue in his latest work.

Crimes Of The Future reunites Cronenberg with his long time collaborator, actor Viggo Mortensen, and also includes Léa Seydoux and Kristen Stewart.

Watch the teaser trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVX7df79BNo

Men Trailer [2022]

Writer and Director Alex Garland returns with a new psychological horror film, simply called Men. Details are scarce, but the premise concerns one woman’s struggle with grief as she comes to terms with the death of her ex-husband in the English countryside.

Im a big fan of Garland’s sci fi work, including Ex Machina (2015), Annihilation (2018) and the gloriously underated DEVS TV series [2020], which was itself a study in determinism. All of Garland’s work is psychological, philosophical, or both at the same time. Well, apart from his screenplay and rumoured directorial role in (Judge) Dredd [2012]. So its an interesting and unexpected surprise that he’s chosen to return from Hollywood with a low key, slow burning British horror film, starring Rory Kinnear - with an eerie visual twist reminiscent of Chris Cunningham’s Aphex Twin treatment.

Men is released in cinemas on May 20th, 2022.

Watch the Men cinematic trailer below :

And if you haven’t seen it already, watch the excellent DEVS. Trailer below:

FREE Roland Studio 50 - Play The TB-303 and SH-101 In Your Browser

Good news for fans of Roland synthesisers and music equipment. In celebration of Roland’s 50th Anniversary the company have released the FREE Roland 50 Studio, a mini online browser-based studio featuring their legendary SH-101, TB-303, and TR-808 instruments.

Created in collaboration with sound designer Yuri Suzuki, these legendary instruments can be sequenced and controlled via your browser in real time. Admittedly, the audio fidelity is somewhat rudimentary in comparison to the original instruments, but it’s a whole world of acid fun!

More instruments are rumoured to be released on April 4th, 2022.

You can access the Roland 50 Studio here (no downloads required) :

https://roland50.studio/

Join Roland’s 50th Anniversary celebrations here:

https://www.roland.com/global/roland-50th-anniversary/

Folk Horror - Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched Documentary [2022]

What Is Folk Horror?

Folk Horror is a term often used to describe rural horror in isolated places, from pagan cults to folklore to collective mania, often forged in our ancestors’ past.

In recent years this genre has gained traction in literary fiction with anthologies such as The Fiend In The Furrows, Andrew Michael Hurley’s The Loney, The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers, and not forgetting Shirley Jackson’s classic short story The Lottery. But perhaps its greatest influence has been in British film and TV, famously with The Wicker Man [1973], Penda’s Fen [1974], and my personal favourite, the BBC’s Robin Redbreast [1970]. Recently there has been an explosion in filmmakers discovering and revising Folk Horror for modern audiences with the excellent A Field In England [2013], Midsommar [2019], and In The Earth [2021].

To most it is a pecularly British genre built on myth and magic in the darkest regions of the human mind. But Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched is a new documentary which challenges this notion and maintains it is not a uniquely UK phenomenon, but is in fact a global genre, albeit one that has often been culturally overlooked.

The Unholy Trinity Of Folk Horror

Beginning with the unholy cinematic trinity of The Wicker Man, Blood On Satan's Claw and Witchfinder General - originally conceived by Mark Gatiss - Woodlands Dark Days Betwitched explores cultural mythology by studying over 200 film gems from all over the world. It investigates how Folk Horror has dripped blood from the earth to the silver screen as we attempt to come to terms with our own past beliefs in a bid to try and understand our world.

Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched

As much as an exploration as an explanation of the Folk Horror phenomenon, this excellent documentary is available to view on Shudder or on DVD with a runtime of 3 hours and a huge cast of interviewees. It comes highly recommended for horror fans wanting to expand their Folk Horror knowledge or personal film collection wishlist.

Visit the website to purchase the DVD :
https://woodlandsdarkanddaysbewitched.com

Watch the full trailer :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSYBpdDSh9A

An Introduction To Pinky Violence Courtesy Of Collider

Explore the Pinky Violence film genre with this link to a beginners introduction to the Japanese exploitation movies of the 1970s, courtesy of Collider.

For the unitiated cinephile, this largely uncelebrated film genre is a wild mix of sex and violence that inspired a generation of film makers, including Tarantino with his Kill Bill series and its unashamedly wholesale cloning of scenes from Lady Snowblood. But for my money, the Female Prisoner Scorpion series is this genre’s crowning achievement. The series features spellbinding cinematography, a fantastic soundtrack, and the world’s most deadly beautiful female protatgonist, played by actress Meiko Kaji, as she wreaks revenge on the men who have wronged her.

Read the full Pinky Violence Collider article here:

https://collider.com/pinky-violence-japanese-exploitation-movies-examples-explained/

Watch the full Female Prisoner Scorpion 701 trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q12XJj05vw

All Of Us Are Dead TV Series [2022]

After the success of the game changing brutal and frankly excellent global hits Squid Game and Kingdom, Netflix are no longer afraid to bring us quality adult Korean horror films and media. In fact, they’re embracing the fear with All Of Us Are Dead, a new Highschool Zombie Apocalypse TV Series, arriving at Netflix on January 28th, 2022.

All Of Us Are Dead is apparently based on the webtoon "Now at Our School (Jigeum Woori Hakkyoneun)" by Joo Dong-Geun and follows a band of students attempting to survive a Zombie Apocalypse.

Education has never been so much fun.

Watch the full trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwPgGgXN_jw

Santa Claus is coming : Watch Christmas Evil (1980)

Watch Evil Christmas [1980]

You’d better watch out ‘cause Santa Claus is coming to town and this year he’s in a bad mood. He knows where you live and he’s carrying an axe. He’s checking his list to see if you’ve been naughty or nice. In fact, he’s checking it twice…

Ive often heard a rumour about a half decent retro horror film featuring a deranged Santa Claus serial killer. Can it be true? Yes, count me in. Its a simple premise, which in the wrong director’s hands could become ridiculous, or just enjoyably ridiculous - like Christmas Evil (1980).

Also known as You Better Watch Out, Christmas Evil’s narrative follows the classic horror file trope where the central protagonist suffers a traumatic childhood event which haunts him for the rest of his life - I’m talking to you Michael Myers. Laughably, in Christmas Evil, this occurs after a small boy is traumatised when he learns that Santa isn’t real. Following a nervous breakdown as an adult, he then goes on to commit a vengeful Christmas killing spree dressed as Santa Claus. (Thanks go out to Vinegar Syndrome for the film tip and trailer). Merry Bloody Christmas…

Watch the Christmas Evil trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2zPRNgzBrM

Watch the FREE full movie on Youtube below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nARbo67el4&t=3s

Lockdown 2022 : The United Kingdom Of Complacency

Welcome To Plague Island.

Like a fat, old, retired heavyweight boxer, the UK government has recently been limbering up and flexing its muscles to make another late comeback in the fight against Covid. Already on the backfoot after waiting for the financial Christmas Golden Quarter to end, it has finally implemented Plan B. This largely faux PR exercise was a package of basic restrictions which should, on the advice of the WHO, have already remained in place to protect the public. Instead the lack of basic measures has fuelled rife mass infections across the country, and given rise to the spread of the new Omicron variant.

The Omicron variant is three times as infectious as previous variants and despite the remarkable effectiveness of vaccines, it could circumvent these defences, and already government incompetence has left the UK with the highest death rate per capita in Europe.

With much of the country sick or in self imposed isolation, there are few options left on the table - except for further undesirable lockdowns to prevent more deaths. But how can anyone trust a government that openly mocks its citizens with allegations and revelations of Number 10 Downing Street parties during Lockdown 2020? This was an unforgivable act. The government will eventually have to step into the ring and hope its subjects are compliant; even if it has proven itself unfit for purpose.

Perhaps we are all trapped in a 2020 timeloop, unable to break the cycle without a pancoronavirus vaccine?

A January 2022 Lockdown is now inevitable.

Happy New Fear 2022.

Roland JX-8P Synth Reborn IN 2021

Good news for fans of the original 1985 JX-8P synth with Roland’s latest announcement of its introduction into the excellent Boutique series, and reborn as the compact JX-08 Synthesizer. Not only is this a new iteration of a huge analogue digital hybrid beast, but it also includes the rare PG 800 hardware controller in-built, complete with original presets and a step sequencer.

Read an original 1980’s advert for the now very rare Roland JX-8P below.

View fullsize

Having once owned the original huge Roland JX-8P and been a fan of its excellent Blade Runner Vangelis pad sounds, I cant believe this thing actual exists and is now small enough to fit in my pocket. Well, almost...

Available from January 2022.

https://www.roland.com/global/products/jx-08/

Top 10 Giallos Of All Time

Who is the mysterious serial killer in black leather gloves?

This is the ultimate premise of every Giallo movie, which begins when the main protagonist stumbles upon a murder and the mysterious killer escapes. The witness then conducts their own investigation into the murderer’s motives while their friends and associaties are picked off one by one - as the killer closes in for the kill.

Giallo translates as the Italian word Yellow, a reference to the unique cover designs for Italian Mondadori pulp murder mystery paperback novels popular in the 1930’s. Giallo’s inception as a film genre began with Mario Bava’s stylistic reinvention of Film Noir as Horror with the Hitchcock influenced The Girl Who Knew Too Much. Although Bava and Lucio Fulci improved on this formula with later films, their work was perfected by Dario Argento who freed it from early genre tropes to create blood soaked celluloid dripping with lurid colours and murder set pieces where no-one - including men - were safe.

But no one does it quite like Argento. Or do they?

In descending order of greatness:

10. The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963)

Mario Bava’s reinvention of the film noir distilled Hitchcock’s master of suspense into a new genre which dominated Italian cinema for decades. Say hello to Giallo.

9. Four Flies On Grey Velvet (1971)

Dario Argento’s early Animal Trilogy began with The Bird With The Crystal Plummage, followed by Four Flies On Grey Velvet, then Cat O Nine Tales. This, the second in the trilogy, is perhaps its best and notably features another soundtrack by Ennio Morricone before Argento later embarked on collaborations with the Goblin and some of his best known films and soundtracks.

8. Your Vice IS A LOCKED ROOM AND ONLY I HAVE THE KEY (1972)

Your Vice Is A Locked Room And Only I Have The Key has to be one of the longest film titles in history. But having said that, this obscure classic has an excellent soundtrack and great use of cinematography that makes this one of the best examples of early and bloodless Giallos.

7. Dressed To Kill (1982)

You can’t mention Giallo without recognising its cinematic influence on Hollwood thrillers which sought to emulate box office returns in the 1980’s with that strange beast, the American Giallo. Although Brian De Palma’s grimy Dressed To Kill is a controversial entry into our list, it proved that not all of them were bad.

6. Tenebrae (1982)

Its a hard choice between including Opera or Tenebrae on this list but Tenebrae is Dario Argento at the technical peak of his mastery with incredible visuals, a Goblin soundtrack, and a wholly original and better ending that you never see coming.

5. Blood And Black Lace (1964)

Mario Bava improved on The Girl Who Knew Too Much with Blood And Black Lace the following year to mix murder and high fashion into one of the genre’s most exquisite and influential contributions.

4. Don’t Torture A Duckling (1971)

Lucio Fulci wrote and directed this dark and disturbing classic about that unspoken rule of cinema - dont kill children.

3. The New York Ripper (1982)

Although it is not often considered a true Giallo, this dark and nihlistic Lucio Fulci classic contains many of the main elements and is much like its central serial killer, murderous and relentless. The New York Ripper’s lurid mysogyny depicts an unforgiving New York awash with sleaze and danger at every turn as women are terrorised and murdered by a killer bizarrely laughing and quacking like a duck. Somehow Fulci makes this madness disturbingly plausible, and the film leaves you feeling as grimy and unhinged as its New York killer.

2. What Have You Done To Solange (1971)

Massimo Dallamano was the cinematographer responsible for A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More so his eye for the camera was legendary even before his directorial debut, the classic What Have You Done To Solange. With its 1970’s soft colour pallete and slow subdued atmosphere Dallamano expertly ramps up the sleaze, tension and intrique as a predatory school teacher is accused of killing his students, only to mount his own investigation into the lives of Convent girls who may not be as wholesome as they seem. The story is loaded with Freudian symbology and takes an unexpected turn in its third act with a memorable ending full of pathos for the main characters, including the killer.

1. Deep Red (1975)

Straight in at number one like a knife from the dark comes Dario Argento’s Deep Red. Like Tenebrae before it, Deep Red follows the life of another musician, David Hemmings, when he witnesses a murder in a neighbour’s apartment only to find himself the next target. This is perhaps the greatest Giallo ever made with great characters, incredible cinematography, shocking gore and masterful suspense that builds to an ever twisting narrative climax. Argento arguably made a catalogue of popular Giallos with bigger budgets and more intricate murder set pieces but Deep Red distills the genre to its raw, bloody, and strangely accessible ingredients.

Rumour has it that Dario Argento himself even donned the famous black gloves of the serial killer in all his movies.

Mondo Freudo 20th Anniversary Outtake

Celebrating The 20th Anniversary Of Mondo Freudo [2001 - 2021]

Join us in celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Freudstein’s debut LP, Mondo Freudo, with an original outtake.

‘Skull Axis’ was originally penned as the final track on the album but never officially released.

Listen to Skull Axis below:

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Sisters With Transistors Documentary

Sisters With Transistors is a powerful and thrilling documentary about the female pioneers of electronic music who changed how we listen to music today. Archive footage of artists such as Clara Rockmore, Daphne Oram, Bebe Barron, Pauline Oliveros, Delia Derbyshire, Maryanne Amacher, Eliane Radigue, Suzanne Ciani, and Laurie Spiegel, reveal their untold story.

Visit the official website:

https://sisterswithtransistors.com/

Watch the full documentary here:

https://www.modernfilms.com/sisterswithtransistors/watch