New Drawing - Case Study 2.11

(Click image to see larger scan)

I just did this one yesterday. It's titled "Case Study 2.11" - 5 x 3" pencil on paper.

Thanks, -Jonathan

NO TREND - For the Fun of it All

I have such a positive mental attitude today that these NO TREND lyrics keep running through my mind...

FOR THE FUN OF IT ALL

What do you do?
When you don't want to be alive
and you don't want to be dead
What do you do?
When you're on the ledge
but afraid to jump
What do you do?
When you're falling
but you've changed your mind
What do you do?
When you're growing old
but you want to stay young
What do you do?
When you want to change
what you've already done
What do you do?
When you want something
but get nothing
What do you do?
When you don't know what to do
What do you do?
Just being alive

(Taken from the No Trend My Space page. Those are words that do not go together.)

To download the ESSENTIAL album this song comes from go to the excellent Phoenix Hairpins Blog. The download link still works as of a few minutes ago.

Thanks. -Jonathan

The Missing Letter Trailers Part 3

I vow to not post any trailers for at LEAST a week. -Jonathan

Did you know?

This postcard was originally owned by my grandfather. He was fascinated by the Kennedy assassination. The back is yellowed because it was in a frame.

Thanks. -Jonathan

The Missing Letter Trailers Part 2

Favorite Covers 2: VHS GORE

(click images to see larger scans)

In an effort to break up the monotony of my trailer fetish here's a new feature for "Black White Red".... Favorite Covers (this older entry is posthumously #1).

I'm not really a collector of anything... but Favorite Covers are things from my own shelves that I can't seem to get rid of. Items with covers I love.










Thanks. -Jonathan

The Missing Letter Trailers Part 1

For my final assault of trailers (for the moment) here I am filling in the missing letters of the Giallo alphabet with more of my favorite weird and wonderful movies.









One of these days maybe I'll get back to art and music. -Jonathan

The end of A to Z Giallo Week (aka The Case of the Eight Black Posts with No Z)

Lei mi ha fatto fare questo. -Jonathan

A to Z Giallo Week - Day 7

Thanks. -Jonathan

A to Z Giallo Week - Day 6

Thanks. -Jonathan

A to Z Giallo Week - Day 5

These two just happen to be my all time sleazy Giallo favorites.

Thanks. -Jonathan

A to Z Giallo Week - Day 4

Thanks. -Jonathan

A to Z Giallo Week - Day 3

Thanks. -Jonathan

A to Z Giallo Week - Day 2

Thanks. -Jonathan

A to Z Giallo Week - Day 1

I am a Giallo freak. So this week is dedicated to my favorite films of the genre by way of their trailers. One day when I have a few spare minutes I'll mention the ones that do not have trailers on YouTube (or DVD availability for that matter).


Each and every one of these little gems is well worth checking out.

Thanks. -Jonathan

Panic Drawings

(Panic 1)

The night before my Germ show hanging I was desperately trying to come up with some additional artwork. These drawings were an attempt to coax something from nothing (I was totally burned out from doing 12 paintings in one month).

I just had some drinks and started randomly scrawling with a pencil and developed an image if anything looked interesting. Only six images survived after a couple of hours of cranking out dozens of these panic drawings.

I find it funny that I instinctively went straight to to the skull / nude figures again.

I doubt these will go anywhere other than this blog. "Panic 4" might have some potential though?

Click the images to see them larger.


(Panic 2)


(Panic 3)


(Panic 4)

Thanks. -Jonathan

Baudelaire and Pig Destroyer

I recently read "Flowers of Evil" by Charles Baudelaire. I'm not a real fan of poetry but I have to say I really did enjoy reading the book. Death, hate and love... what more do you really need?

I remember several years back I was working with JR Hayes from Pig Destroyer on the design for the "Terrifyer" album. He stayed at my place as we spent the better part of two days laying out the CD and LP. We were in the car and he was telling me about how he wrote a paper on the following poem ("Une Charogne," in English "A Carcass" or "A Carrion" depending on the translation) and how much it meant to him. I could definitely see the connection between JR's lyrics and Baudelaire now that I finally got around to reading "Les Fleurs du Mal." See for yourself...

A Carrion

Do you remember the thing we saw, my soul,
That summer morning, so beautiful, so soft:
At a turning in the path, a filthy carrion,
On a bed sown with stones,

Legs in the air, like a lascivious woman,
Burning and sweating poisons,
Opened carelessly, cynically,
Its great fetid belly.

The sun shone on this fester,
As though to cook it to a turn,
And to return a hundredfold to great Nature
What she had joined in one;

And the sky saw the superb carcass
Open like a flower.
The stench was so strong, that you might think
To swoon away upon the grass.

The flies swarmed on that rotten belly,
Whence came out black battalions
Of spawn, flowing like a thick liquid
Along its living tatters.

All this rose and fell like a wave,
Or rustled in jerks;
One would have said that the body, fun of a loose breath,
Lived in this its procreation.

And this world gave out a strange music,
Like flowing water and wind,
Or a winnower's grain that he shakes and turns
With rhythmical grace in his basket.

The forms fade and are no more than a dream,
A sketch slow to come
On the forgotten canvas, and that the artist completes
Only by memory.

Behind the boulders an anxious bitch
Watched us with angry eyes,
Spying the moment to regain in the skeleton
The morsel she had dropped.

— And yet you will be like this excrement,
This horrible stench,
O star of my eyes, sun of my being,
You, my angel, my passion.

Yes, such you will be, queen of gracefulness,
After the last sacraments,
When you go beneath the grasses and fat flowers,
Moldering amongst the bones.

Then, my beauty, say to the vermin
Which will eat you with kisses,
That I have kept the shape and the divine substance
Of my decomposed loves!

— Geoffrey Wagner, Selected Poems of Charles Baudelaire (NY: Grove Press, 1974)
(photo and text appropriated from fleursdumal.org - a great place to go for more info on Baudelaire)

Here's the album cover for "Terrifyer" (cover painting by Chris Taylor)...

If you like grindcore and you don't already own everything Pig Destroyer has ever recorded you are really missing out. They're pretty much the kings among current bands. It's important to get the actual CDs or LPs as they more often than not contain JR's stunning lyrics and additional writings. He needs to publish a damn book already.

Finally, I would definitely suggest checking out "Flowers of Evil" by Baudelaire. It struck me as one of those "must reads" for anyone interested in counter culture on any level.

Thanks. -Jonathan

FACTRIX Part 2: Electric Boogaloo

Again... fuck. -Jonathan

FACTRIX

It's interesting that I've been listening to and recording experimental music since the early 1990's and to this day I am still running into amazing old albums that I should have been listening to all along.

Well, Factrix's "Scheintot" is the latest album in that category. I was familiar with them by name and from their Survival Research Labs video appearance but I never actually heard any music from this album.

I know there are many old school heads shaking out there right now. Well... I played on a bill with Whitehouse and Intrinsic Action in 1993 so fuck off (ha ha).

Anyhow, Factrix.... fuck, I have been missing out.

If you like my music - just check this shit out. Period.

I first discovered "Scheintot" from this, yep... you guessed it, Mutant Sounds post. The Mutant Sounds post has some background, a link to a more detailed review by Julian Cope and where you can get MP3s. Get on it people.

If I ever make it to Greece I am going to track down Mr. Mutant Sounds and kiss him.

Thanks. -Jonathan

MOPIA Online - Rik Garrett & Yoshifumi Hayashi

(©Rik Garrett - click for larger image)

If you haven't been over to The Museum of Porn in Art's website (or it's been a while) you should check it out. Their website is in frames so I can't provide direct links - sorry. I'm sure you can find your way around.

Two recent shows in particular are online that must be seen...

First, Rik Garrett's "Intimate Alchemy" from Nov / Dec last year. Rik's work is amazing hand manipulated erotic photography (totally non-digital) and he's a very nice guy too. Check out his official website as well.


(©Yoshifumi Hayashi - click for larger image)

Second, is Yoshifumi Hayashi's "Moteur Erotique" which just closed earlier this month. I really appreciate how over the top yet well crafted Hayashi's work is. I couldn't fins an official website but here's some good info and more images from Mondo Bizzarro (another great gallery website to poke around).

Thanks, -Jonathan

Hellhole / Night of the Demon

I had those drinks I needed last night so I watched a double feature of VHS horror (courtesy of the guys at Lunchmeat). What better way is there to distract myself from the impending economic apocalypse? None I say.

First up was "Hellhole" from 1985 (click for imdb info / synopsis). This was an entertaining and fast paced slice of WIP-ish cheeze but not much more. A little bit of gore would have helped this movie a lot. The female lead, Judy Landers, was famous in the early 80's for being on the TV show "BJ and the Bear." Her character's name on that show was "Stacks" so, I assume any guy that rented this back then was hoping to see her tits. Well, instead they got her bad acting and a shitload of ugly / hairy / weird nudity from EVERY FEMALE INMATE in the movie EXCEPT her. The old bait and switch. Don't go tracking this movie down, but if you ever get the chance to see it for free, it's not a horrible waste of an hour and a half.


Next up was "Night of the Demon" (aka "Bigfoot") from 1980 (imdb info here). First things first, this is most certainly NOT the amazingly essential 1957 Jacques Tourneur CLASSIC of the same name. This "Night of the Demon" was pretty gory but was not nearly as entertaining as "Hellhole." Anyway... I remained distracted, that's the key. The main problem here was that the "Big Foot" monster was not scary at all. In fact, he looked like Cha-ka's father or something even less intimidating. Thankfully the end of the movie was pretty much non stop hilarious violence which made up for the rest. I wouldn't recommend this at all unless you are able to fast forward through 75% of it. Or just watch this (sorry for the horrid music - I suggest you use your own).

Thanks, -Jonathan

vintagesynth.com

This site rules... I wish I had more time to look through it.

The above image is similar to my favorite synth that I personally own (thanks to Mark Solotroff). Mine is blue and a bit more "broken in." It was used for "Bleeding on the Flowers," my "Wierd Vol 2" tracks and the score for "The Mind."

Anyway, check the site out. Some of the pages even have sound samples.

Thanks. -Jonathan

Interview

There's a brief interview with me over at the Bloodlust Blog. Here is a direct link.

Mark Solotroff is one of my best friends and Bloodlust has released more of my music than any other label. Mark has been releasing MANY MANY amazing things within the last year... and not a trace of crap in the bunch.

The above photo was taken by SQ at the F.U.E.L. Grand Small Works reception last month. The F.U.E.L. building used to be the MTV Real World Philadelphia house cheezily enough. That's the second floor shower I'm peering out of. I hope I washed my hands after.

Thanks. -Jonathan

70's Eurotrash!

For a lack of anything else to talk about here's some Eurotrash for you.

Thanks. -Jonathan

AMEBIX

I saw Amebix's last show of their U.S. tour last night here in Philly. They were as close to perfect as a band can get. They exceeded all my hopes and put on a flat out amazing show - one of the best I've ever seen.

They were so good that even drummer Roy Mayorga (ex-Nausea) redeemed himself for being in Soulfly (ha ha). He was amazing.

Above is a decent video of their show in NYC a couple of days ago.

I bought a copy of the "No Sanctary" CD at the show. It sounds really great, especially after YEARS of listening to the crackly "Beginning of the End" bootleg CD. I highly recommend buying it if you haven't already.

There's a lot of interesting news on the official Amebix website including plans of a downloadable version of their classic album "Monolith." Info is in their news archive.

You can get "Arise" and "No Sanctuary" from Relapse (and many other places online).

Thanks. -Jonathan