#Horror Pop

[bitter69uk]

Liverpudlian horror pop group Zombina and the Skeletones – truly a band for whom every day is Halloween! – headlined at the Unskinny Bop Halloween party at Rich Mix on 26 October. This represented the first time I’ve seen them perform since 2006! Here are my photos from THAT gig at the Dirty Water Club at the Boston Arms in Tufnell Park in March 2006. (I seem to recall they all had fake blood capsules in their mouths they bit into for the first song). I interviewed them that night after their soundcheck for a now-defunct publication called Artrocker – I checked, and the link is totally dead (yet another article of mine lost forever into the ether!). Anyway, I’m happy to confirm the Skeletones still sound ferocious. If you’re not au fait with them, their lyrics are steeped in b-movie horror and science fiction imagery and their irresistible catchy-as-scabies music recall the early 1980s New Wave of the Rezillos, X-Ray Spex and the B-52’s. Add Zombina and the Skeletones tunes like “Don’t Kick My Coffin”, “Zombie Hop”or “Nobody Likes You (When You’re Dead)” to your Halloween Spotify playlist! (Speaking of which, here’s mine. Put it on “shuffle” for maximum listening pleasure!).

[nothing-but-music-videos]

Toto Coelo

"Dracula's Tango"

Music video, 1982

[loughie]

My World EP (Re-Release)

[a-peculiar-piece]

Well I think I'm almost done, just a recap of my progress.

[ellehalls]

dig_my_grave.wav by elle out now <3

[jamieroxxartist]

A #HorrorPop #Painting I painted a couple of years ago:

’Zombie Suburbia Selfie, the Party Don’t Stop’

2010 acrylic & oil blend on canvas 20"x16"’ by @ArtistJamieRoxx #Roxx ( www.JamieRoxx.us ) This Sold Painting is Not Available.

#Zombie

[melomancy]

Kate Bush as the Sound Monster in Experiment IV (1986)

[monobmp]

Today's doodles + BillFord I GUESS 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

[quindirecords]

jota solo - nessuno

[QUI012 - neko20]

ltd clear lathe cut made at Burbi Dubs. hand numbered edition

basics recorded at home 11/22 to 2/23. additional instruments and vocals recorded by T. Sasao at Junges Wien, 03+04/23 written and performed by Jota Kaza Lax: cello Ev3 ov Destruktion: add. guitars

mixed by Jota & T. Sasao mastered by Martino Marini

artwork by Frl. Tost cover design by Jota co-released with nekofutschata.

The infamous Signore Jota, known or unknown for his monolithic lifework alongside Frl. Tost as Novy Svet and essential contributions to Mushroom’s Patience, Unitad Sasao, The Tiny Men, Severin Bestombes, Indra 1996, Gnostic Gnomes and a myriad of other musical lifeforms now all stardust – this elusive, serpentine Magi of the post-post-industrial underground is shedding his skin once more on Nessuno, a record of confrontational and permeative isolationist bliss. As with every re-configuration in his artistic vita, Jota drops a few scrambled jigsaw pieces in front of our eyes that remind us of everything and nothing at the same time. Kicking off with a sampled quotation from John Lennon’s “Watching the wheels” (“people say I’m crazy, doing what I’m doing…”), Nessuno transports us into a ritual space right behind Jota’s mind’s eye. And there’s lots of stuff going on here for the forty minutes to follow: the cavernous, residual pulse and hum of abandoned temples, trembling and staggering synth chords that seem to be plucked by invisible hands like will-o’-the-wisps across a nocturnal scene, fragments of acoustic guitar strings that appear more like a reminder of a song that once might have been than an actual instrumentation, the feel of open cables and cold energy, stabs of radio hiss on its ongoing, futile quest for an indefinite frequency. There is a whole world of puro rumore / puro amore being hinted at when Jota’s smoky signature croon strikes through the damaged, hobbling trip hop of Canzone della vita, an early highlight of the record, a few minutes into Side A. Other times, his words, all sung in Italian, bounce on and off the interior walls of the songs like the voice of a speaker who has long since left the room. There is the downward spiraling febrile delirium of Freddo uno and the unholy incantation of self-indictment on 6 || 6. When the fog and hiss of personal history and inner conflict has dissipated on the noise-addled ballad SacrifiZio Vittime, Jota halts to take a startling and rapt look at the inscription of scars torn open once more. For a short glimpse we’re tempted to believe that Jota has gone a skin too far this time, and now he sits naked to the core amidst the beautiful rubble of life. But nah… think twice! There will always be a plethora of mirrors lurking in every corner of the room, re-modeling the artistic persona of Jota Solo into a labyrinth that ramifies deeper than a Borges-ian nightmare. Enter the starlit odyssey dopo mezzanotte that is Il Mare, a melancholic instrumental piece, to touch at the darkly glistening ground of Nessuno’s journey. We can sense the dangerously haunting melodies of sirens shot through with windswept noises, but in the midst of it all there is also peace and contentment here. And then again, closing track Giorni due breaks off midway a demented braindance, waving goodbye in contorted poses whilst the credits roll on, leaving us nonplussed once more to where all of this has just sprung from and where it is heading now. If you’re asking yourself for references, Novi Svets more electronic adventures like Todas las ultimas cosas (2008) and Mono (2015) might pop up as first-choice. In the rare case that you’re novice to the whole microcosm, think Richard D. James having a field day with the ghost of Franco Battiato. Or maybe don’t, if that’s too outré. Either way, Jota’s new record is testament to the fact that he is still way ahead of the game, or more precisely, laying down the rules of a game all his own. However, it’s not this technical aspect, innovation of the hand, but innovation of the soul that lingers with us when the last grooves run out. Like it did so often before. Part of our future, part of our past.

Margot Benetti, Totensonntag 2023

[composeregg]

edit (10/23/2024) now that the poll is over: Original version, with 10 questions, from April 2023 here

And, given that the original is from April 2023, that means I can very easily say:

No, this was not an ISAT reference!

Just because I use parentheses and 2nd person pov and love the same concepts of what a time loop can do to a person doesn't mean it's ISAT

(Yes, I like ISAT, the original poll is why I was recommended the game! But if you look at the original, you can see all the origins of the options to choose from, including what spurred me on with the moss option from the replies)

If I were going to make something for ISAT, I would never be so vague, you can simply look at my ao3 for proof of that

[devilsskettle]

Bride of Frankenstein (1935) / Lisa Frankenstein (2024)

[popculturebaby]

Perfect Blue (1997)

[crimsonkreachr]

[a-peculiar-piece]

Doing some revisions on old sketches I had. should it be colored or black and white?

[heph]

Both of them should not be taking care of growing kids I think

[jamieroxxartist]

a #HorrorPop #Vampire #Painting I painted a few years ago:

‘#Nosferatu (#KlausKinski)’

2011 acrylic & oil blend on canvas 16"x20" by @ArtistJamieRoxx #JamieRoxx ( www.JamieRoxx.us ) This Sold Painting is Not Available.

#PopArt #Portrait #CinemaArt