Oberheim OB-8 / OB-X Series Synth Reborn In 2022

Oberheim are back in production after a 35 year haitus with legendary synth designer Tom Oberheim returning to helm the company. The company have marked their return to synth manufacture with their first synthesiser in over 40 years - a faithful recreation of their classic Oberheim OB-X, OB-Xa, and OB-8 in one incredible instrument. The OB-X8 comes fully fitted with 400-plus factory programs, including the full set of factory sounds for the OB-X, OB-SX, OB-Xa, and OB-8.

2021 was the year Roland recreated the JX-8P with the Boutique Series JX-08.

2022 belongs to the year Oberheim recreated the OB-8 and OB-X with the OB-X8.

https://oberheim.com/

Available now.

Garth Marenghi Returns With 'Terrortome' [2022]

Everyone’s favourite author, dreamweaver, visionary, plus actor, Garth Marenghi, returns with a brand new horror novel, TerrorTome. Although a brand new Darkplace TV series would be preferable, its frankly never going to happen, so we’ll have to thank his satanic majesty and enjoy the fictional author’s unforgettable Shaun Hutson 1980’s inspired horror satire instead. You’ll die laughing.

Here’s an excerpt from the book’s press release:

“When horror writer Nick Steen gets sucked into a cursed typewriter by the terrifying Type-Face, Dark Lord of the Prolix, the hellish visions inside his head are unleashed for real. Forced to fight his escaping imagination - now leaking out of his own brain - Nick must defend the town of Stalkford from his own fictional horrors, including avascular-necrosis-obsessed serial killer Nelson Strain and Nick’s dreaded throppleganger, the Dark Third. Can he and Roz, his frequently incorrect female editor, hunt down these incarnate denizens of Nick’s rampaging imaginata before they destroy Stalkford, outer Stalkford and possibly slightly further?

From the twisted genius of horror master Garth Marenghi – Frighternerman, Darkscribe, Doomsage (plus Man-Shee) – come three dark tales from his long-lost multi-volume epic: TerrorTome. Can a brain leak? (Yes, it can).”

Terrortome, the novel, is released on 10/11/2022.

Watch the horror master in action in the Darkplace TV Series as he effortlessly weaves between life, death and writing - almost as if he’s alive, could die at any moment, and can actually write, sort off…

Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace TV Series

Caterina Barbieri - Spirit Exit LP [2022]

Caterina Barbieri is back with a new album, Spirit Exit, which loses itself inside the depths of her electronic studio with a wider sound palette, and unexpected introspection.

I’ve been a fan of Caterina Barbieri’s music since her Ecstatic Computation LP hynotised me with its unfolding dark electronic ambient sequences that unexpectedly explode into melody. So its been a three year wait, and we’re in a very different world since we last heard from this Italian synthesist, but it’s been worth the wait.

According to recent press releases, Caterina was forced to adopt a new song writing approach to Spirit Exit when the pandemic struck. She could no longer evolve tracks on the gig circuit, and was forced into the isolation of her studio during lockdown. This probably explains some of the new interesting soulful choral directions reminiscent of Holly Herndon’s vocal experimentation, but it’s the Wendy Carlos inspired melodic moments of modular synthesis work that truly make this an extraordinary album worth listening to.

Spirit Exit showcases a fiercesome artist on an inward electronic journey, unafraid to experiment, and you shouldn’t be afraid to join her.

Official Website: https://caterinabarbieri.com/
Buy at Bleep: https://bleep.com/release/292861-caterina-barbieri-spirit-exit

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Check out Exit Spirit’s opening track, ‘At Your Gamut’ below :

Caterina Barbieri - At Your Gamut [2022]

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Check out the full Ecstatic Computation album stream below:

Caterina Barbieri - Ecstatic Computation [Full Album] 2019

Dario Argento Returns To Giallo With 'Dark Glasses' [2022]

Legendary Italian horror film director Dario Argento returns to the giallo genre with his latest film, ‘Dark Glasses.’

Despite Argento’s career flatlining in his later years with ‘Giallo’ and ‘Dracula 3D’ resembling all the passion and production values of 1990’s made-for-TV movie, I’m seriously excited that ‘Dark Glasses’ may at least show some return to form. His framing of imagery and murder set pieces are unrivalled, even today, so there’s always the possibility of a late spark of genuine creativity from Argento as he returns to return to the giallo genre that made his name.

Ilenia Pastorelli and Asia Argento star in his latest and possibly last feature film. The film’s protagonist is Diana, a luxury escort, who loses her sight in a car crash while escaping the ‘Cello’ serial killer in Rome. Blind and scared, Diana must learn to start a new life and escape the killer’s clutches with the help of her suport worker, Rita. But the killing spree has only just begun.

Watch the Dark Glasses Italian trailer below:

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.