Movies 35 - The Crappest So Far

The Invisible Man (2020)
Great action horror that had me flashing back to the glory days of late 80s/early 90s thrillers. High octane and horrifying action. Since his lukewarm debut Insidious Chapter 3, Leigh Whannell's directing chops have skyrocketed with his previous film Upgrade (2018) and now this undeniable 2020 gem. While we always knew he was a fabulous writer, producer and right hand man to writer/director James Wan he has now come out of that shadow to become the powerhouse force to be reckoned with in Hollywood right now. I'm eagerly anticipating his next project. How many directors can you say that about in 2020?

The Bloodstained Butterfly (1971)
Stylish if a little off putting at the start as you slowly realise a third of the film is going to be spent in the courtroom. This is part police procedural too but there is just enough beautiful murdered women for it to qualify as a Giallo. The opening is pretty fantastic. After a somewhat lack lustre first half the intrigue then picks up to keep you from your ever present 2020 distractions for the second half. Is it just me or is the ongoing coffee gag so tedious and perhaps lost in translation? Many Giallo tropes with a nifty plot. For Gialli enthusiasts going deep into the genre.

If You Meet Sartana Pray For Your Death (1968)
If you can get past the smugness of Sartana (Gianni Garko) you are in for a Spaghetti Western treat. Garko's not half as smug as 60s icons i hate ie. Sean Connery (as Bond) and Clint Eastwood (as any fucking role he plays way beyond the 60s too). We get the stuff.... gold, stagecoach robbery, Gatling massacres, double crossing wives, coffins, coffin makers, saloons, card games, fast gunslinging, Mexican gangs, dynamite and more. There's also hints of mysticism amongst the nihilistic bloodshed which is odd. While this is the first film prepared as a vehicle for Garko as Sartana he appeared the previous year in Blood At Sundown as Sartana but was the antagonist. After this 1968 effort there were four official sequels and in true Italian style there were a bunch of rip offs or "unofficial sequels" which ripped off the name Sartana and his style.

Relic (2020)
SPOILER ALERT. Relic is the worst. This contains the most unconvincing dialogue and characters I've encountered since Lost Gully Road (2017?). Relic is so boring. Then when it attempts to come to life it's like two horror movies in one. Suspense just isn't built and you just wish all the characters would die via a scary monster but one of them is the monster (?). The filmmakers obviously like Jonathan Glazer's masterpiece Under The Skin (2013). Scarlett Johhaannssenn's alien character's human skin suit was a minuscule part of that great film but here Gran's is the whole movie (?). Oh who fucking cares don't waste your time on this bullshit! 

Phantasm (1979)
Great fun sci-fi/horror cult movie that is bananas entertainment. It was a first time watch for me and it was a strange experience. I've had the fabulous soundtrack since the 90s and always assumed the film was some kind of boring ghost story. Wrong. This is a very peculiar and unique horror flick inside a balmy sci-fi film. Or is it the other way around. Late night movie of the week.

The Candy Snatchers (1973)
A heist/horror flick of the darkest variety. This is an infamous near mythical cult flick that has been pretty hard to see until Vinegar Syndrome tracked down the actual owner of the film's rights and released it on blu-ray in the last 12 months. One thing I'm often amazed by is how great the cinematography is in many exploitation films. This 4K transfer is beautiful but that can't help the nasty subject matter. SPOILER ALERT! The best way to describe this is Family Plot (1976) meets Bay Of Blood (1971). I wonder if Hitchcock saw this movie? This is a whole lotta sinister wrong fun, a pure lost treasure. Not for those with weak stomachs but highly recommended.

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*Six films in over a month? What's going on in Space Debris land? Well I'm very distracted by all of the things. Mainly it's the politics but it's music too.

I've been listening to lots of music again. Going through my usual winter obsessions of Cabaret Voltaire, Suicide & Throbbing Gristle. Ghosteen Nick Cave's astounding masterpiece from last year is still enthralling me to no end. I'm also very impressed with two 2020 Nick (Ekoplekz) Edwards albums as well as all the ekoplekz archives and their final release Wrekage 2011-2019 which is a vital compilation of rare tracks. The new Moon Wiring Club remix album Tabitha Reverb is triffic plus recent things from Emily A Sprague, Katie Gately, Gabor Lazar, N Chambers, Sun Araw & C. Lavender.

I dug out those old Soul Jazz New York Noise compilations the other day along with No New York and Ze's Mutant Disco and fuck they're all good. They just make all that post-punk revival shit seem well just shit, which it is! I went through the entire hypnagogic 2010 cannon which was surprisingly still fucking awesome. I'm now going to go backwards through the other years. 2009 & 2008 if I recall properly are the other two peak years. After 2010 it all went glowstick & vaporwave & whatever else but the new crop just weren't as good. Also on the hi-fi have been other old or archival stuff from Prince, Steve Kilbey, Game Theory, The Chameleons, The Sound, A Certain Ratio, Circle X, feedtime, King Snake Roost, Lo Five, Assembled Minds, Global Communication, Fennesz, Pita, Burial, Basic Channel, Vladislav Delay, Danizindan Pojidon, Haruomi Hosono, Nocturnal Emissions, Clan Of Xymox, Ramleh, Merzbow, Manuel Goettsching, Ranil and more. Been listening to some 2020 archival comps like Join The Future: UK Bleep & Bass 1988-91 on Cease & Desist, Black Riot: Early Jungle, Rave & Hardcore from Soul Jazz, Cadence Revolution: Disques Debs International Volume 2 released by Strut Records and Pacific Breeze Volume 2 issued by Light In The Attic.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps featuring PRINCE

So I said to Emma "How about Prince doing Creep?" 
She said 'salright'

Then she said "Have you seen this?" I rolled my eyes at the thought of Tom Petty and Steve Winwood appearing on the same stage but hey Jeff's there with his warm and dulcet tones, George's cute lookalike-y son is on guitar and little ole legendary Prince is off in the fringes on the side somewhere. Halfway through I was thinking:

"Why on earth did they even invite Prince. They've let some other dude do the main guitar break what a waste! Tom Petty's singing is insufferable. This is some bullshit heritage rock boredom for lovers of The Last Waltz. For me there's TWO concert* Films: Stop Making Sense & Sign O The Times. The rest don't come anywhere near close! I can't even see Prince now, he's just lost amongst a bunch of rock bores. This is a bit shit"

At the 3 minute mark it looked like maybe Prince had left the stage but before I got way too grumpy the camera captures our invisible lil hurricane Mr Rogers Nelson majickly manifest into the limelight...and well here you go. This is your sonic treat of the week. OMG!!! The following 3 minutes are magnificent bliss. Dhani Harrison almost loses his mind at the guitar wizardry on display right before his eyes. When Prince cracks a smile it's pure gold because he knows he's feelin what we're feelin and that's that he is astonishing and the fucking best. PURE JOY. A GIFT.

*On audio I'm only into Velvets/Lou live plus every live thing Throbbing Gristle ever did.

CREEP - PRINCE

What the actual FUCK? Everybody knows Radiohead are a bunch of whiney bores but they once had a top tune. That tune was Creep which was at the intersection of a Pixies song & a Smiths song. So how could you go wrong? They didn't and everyone loved it.

This devastating Prince version turned up on my youtube algorithm (Bow down to the mysterious YT algorithm once again) and it has blown my mind! Prince isn't even trying here. Imagine what he could have done in full form but still this will give you chills down yo spine or as the kids say it's got all the feels. Is that what they say?

White Horse - Laid Back/EROTIC CITY - PRINCE

SPACE DEBRIS GOES TO THE 80s ELECTRO-FUNK DISCO & A PRINCE AFTER-SHOW SHOW

WHITE HORSE - LAID BACK (1983)

This classic early 80 electro jam only came to my attention in the late 90s during a couple of successive New Years Eve Parties at The Empress Of India Hotel in North Fitzroy where this got mixed in over some other tune that was a bit more hefty or sampled or something. I still love it though. A year or two later I found a cd single but I can't remember if it was a cover or maybe a 90s tech remix anyway...thanks to the terrific FX series POSE (2018) I rediscovered White Horse when it featured in a scene where Damon and Blanca meet for the first time on the streets of NYC. I had a rush and had to track it down.  

EROTIC CITY - PRINCE & THE REVOLUTION (1984)

The interwebs just told me that Prince loved that above tune so much that it inspired Erotic City but I recall a different story. He apparently told George Clinton that after going to a Parliament/Funkadelic gig he went home and wrote Erotic City. Anyway it's a much storied song for a B-side. In the 80s you bought the 7" & 12" even though you already had the LP because of the B-sides and extended mixes which were sometimes called a dub mixes. I had Lets Go Crazy (1984) on 7" single which had the shorter version of Erotic City, one of his best ever non LP cuts. This extended version is new to my ears and ooh I like. Sheila E does a guest verse. We also get crazy town Prince vocals pitched down, normal & up. Some chipmunk shit going on here! Party time!

Then I discovered this which was previously unreleased until last year. You may have heard it before because he gave the tune to Taja Sevelle in 1987. It was her debut single which came out on Prince's own imprint Paisley Park. Hearing this just made made my brain say "What are you doing? You could be spending you're remaining days on Earth tracking down every single scrap of audio detritus Prince ever recorded and you would be a much happier man for doing so!" Wouldn't U Luv 2 Luv Me is a fantastically narcissistic title. Also Prince doesn't get the kudos he deserves for inventing text spelling/language 20 years before we all had a mobile phone. This tune is bare bones demo-style Prince and sometimes that is best Prince. So last year some enterprising people put together a compilation of demos Prince recorded between 1981 & 85 called Originals. It features a bunch of tunes he gave to his protégées to record. How the fuck did I miss this release? It's got him doing Manic Monday, Sex Shooter, Make Up, The (Fucking) Glamorous Life, Love Thy Will Be Done & Nothing Compares 2 U amongst others. It's 2AM though....

Then there's this! Fuck me. Why didn't he release this as a single? I assume this is from 82/83 era. Was this ever released on anything official during the 80s? The frenetic pace is almost jungle-y. I can't tell if this has been fucked with 10 or 15 years later or if this is just as it was in the early 80s. His off-cuts are better than other artists prime-cuts. This is pure peak Prince and it's astonishing stuff. One of his best tunes ever.