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‘The Blackgaze genre refers mostly to modern Black Metal with soft, dreamy riffs (more than usual BM at least), frequent changes of tempo (rapid black metal vs. what you’d call post-rock), and often also the use of clean vocals. It’s mostly an European/ Australian counterpart of the Cascadian black metal scene. Blackgaze takes from Alt Rock and from Black Metal to create a new genre that falls under Rock/Indie. It is possible to say this because it no longer has any of the traits that make it metal anymore. The riffs aren’t derived from death, thrash or heavy metal. Remove the distortion and what you get is ambient music. If anything, it’s more similar to Crust Punk than it is to Metal. The style emerged around the turn of the 21st century and became increasingly popular during the latter part of the aughts.’ — collaged
‘I used to have sudden visions, memories of a place that is not the one we know. To make you understand, it’s exactly like you were remembering a nice moment of your life, with all the precise emotions you could feel with it, but the difference is that in my case these ‘memories’ had nothing to do with what we can see in the real world. In these visions I [saw] different colours, [heard] different sounds, and I had a way to perceive what was around me as a whole, not through the enclosed five senses we are [accustomed] to here.
‘[It was as] if my soul and what surrounded me was making a single entity. And this place was so indescribably beautiful and perfect. Nobody can imagine the beauty and the serenity of it, like an immense heavenly garden with pearly, shiny streams and emerald green fields. Everything being static and moving at the same time; like water waves, all bathed in pearly colours and [occupied] by benevolent entities. I can’t explain these visions—I just know that [my experiences] were real, so real that I thought everybody had the same ones.’ — Neige
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Alcest ‘Percées De Lumière’ (live)
‘Alcest is a French shoegazing band/musical project (formerly a black metal band) born in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France. It is a solo project of Neige. As a child, Neige had dreams about a “Fairy Land”, “a place with colours, forms and sounds that do not exist here.” The music of Alcest is highly influenced by these dream experiences. Starting out playing raw black metal, Alcest soon evolved into black metal with strong post-rock and shoegaze influences. The band’s name Alcest doesn’t have any meaning, Neige just chose it for its noble ethereal sounding and wouldn’t imagine any other name in its pronunciation (“Al-sest”) to fit better with this music.’ — collaged
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Les Discrets ‘Song for Mountains’
‘Les Discrets was formed in 2003 as a musical side-project beside Phest of which Fursy Teyssier was a member as a way for Fursy, who is also an illustrator, to express concepts similar to those found within his art. Fellow French musicians Winterhalter and Audrey Hadorn soon joined the line-up. Les Discrets signed a five album contract with German record label Prophecy Productions in April 2009. The band released a split EP with Alcest in December of the same year, and went on to release their first full-length album, Septembre et Ses Dernières Pensées, in March 2010. According to the German Sonic Seducer magazine, the album features dark romantic music that cannot be attributed to any single genre. On July 18, 2010, Fursy posted an update on the official site stating that composition for a second album has been completed and that the studio has already been booked for its recording.’ — Wiki
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Soliness ‘Longing For … ‘
‘Soliness ist eine Band aus Saarbrücken die sich im Shoegaze, Post-Rock, Post-Black Metal wieder findet. Leider ist über die band nicht viel in Erfahrung zu bringen. Jedoch sind die bekannten Songs – vor allem auf der The World Comes To An End In The End Of A Journey Compilation – mehr als grandios. In meinen Augen spielen Soliness ganz oben im Shoegaze Bereich mit. — empyre-forum.de
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Mortisalgia ‘Trees of Stone’ (live)
‘Mortisalgia is a Depressive Post-Black Metal project from the Bay Area formed by drummer Angelo Enea. Later Angelo called and recruited Nick Woodman (Kingdom Scorned) to handle Guitars and Michael Rohwer (Kingdom Scorned) for Guitars and Vocals, Aaron Ekert (Septicaemia) for bass, as well as Kendric DiStefano (Logistic Slaughter) for Vocal duties. The band consists of Depressive and Atmospheric Black Metal with elements of Shoegaze for an incredibly dark, melancholic, and despair-filled listening experience.’ — collaged
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Sun Devoured Earth ‘Melancholy’
‘Gloomy dream pop with a hint of post-punk, post-rock, shoegaze and black metal. Handmade Birds, Parasitecrisis, Rigorism Productions. Members: Vadim.’ — last.fm
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Amesoeurs ‘Gas in Veins’
‘Amesoeurs was a French post-punk/black metal band formed in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France in Summer 2004 by guitarist/vocalist Neige of Alcest fame, and by bassist/singer Audrey Sylvain and guitarist Fursy Teyssier (Phest, Les Discrets) with the purpose of creating a music that reflects the dark side of the industrial era and modern civilization. Neige and Audrey Sylvain are also known for their input as session/live musicians in La sale Famine de Valfunde’s band Peste Noire. The band split up after releasing their first full-length album, due to an inability to agree upon the future of the band. They performed one live show back in 2005. The meaning of the word Amesoeurs is “soulsisters” or “soulmates” in English.’ — collaged
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Lantlôs ‘I Collect The Stars’ (live)
‘Lantlôs was founded in 2005/2006 in Rheda, Germany by Herbst and Angrrau. Some rough demos were recorded and later released on the extremely limited Îsern Himel demo tape by the band itself in 2008. Because both Herbst and Angrrau were not satisfied with the sound and Îsern Himel was always meant to be a demo, they started to record the debut in their homestudio in september 2007. Alboîn joined as a session singer, so the first line-up was complete. Lantlôs, released by ATMF, saw its daylight in september 2008 in combination with a perfect artwork by Fursy Teyssier. In the meanwhile, Angrrau and Alboîn left Lantlôs. The debut was rereleased on LP via Deviant Records and on tape via Karge Welten in 2009.’ — lantlos.com
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Fleurety ‘I Saw Claws’
‘Fleurety is a Norwegian avant-garde metal band. The band was formed in 1991 by Svein Egil Hatlevik and Alexander Nordgaren. Initially Nordgaren was the lead vocalist, but his performance on early recordings (especially “A Darker Shade of Evil”) permanently damaged his vocal chords; so Svein Egil Hatlevik took over lead vocals from 1994 onwards. The band released their first demo Black Snow in 1993. After that came the 7” EP A Darker Shade of Evil in 1994, released via the English label Aesthetic Death Records. Both of these were in a fairly traditional Norwegian black metal style, although with very high-pitched screaming vocals, giving the band a characteristic sound.’ — collaged
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Líam ‘Debris’
‘Líam is an instrumental post-rock band from Germany, found as an One-Man-Project in early 2007 by M. Siegenhort. He recorded the two first EPs My journey to the sky and Two years and a fragment within less than one year. He had the strong desire to present the material live and therefore searched for session-musicians. He found J. Wulfheide, L. Jahns and C. Holler. But instead of rehearsing the existing material the four guys composed new songs. In 2008 their first full length CD Silhouettes Lay Waste To The Living was recorded. In late 2008 P. Dombrink joined the band to play keys on the new album which was recorded in spring 2009.’ — collaged
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Agalloch ‘Falling Snow’ (live)
‘For sixteen years the Pacific Northwest group Agalloch has defined what it means to combine influences from a variety of musical genres into one brooding, colossal, and cinematic sound that provides the soundtrack to existential themes concerning man, nature, loss, and death. It has been said that Agalloch is to heavy metal what Ingmar Bergman is to cinema. Agalloch has earned a reputation for explosive and emotional live performances. They have sold out tours across Europe and the US and have played a variety of major festivals including: Roadburn, Inferno, and Scion among others. The band takes special care constructing the environment of each and every show with wood, incense, and imagery taken directly from their home in the Northwest. Such care makes an Agalloch show more than just a typical heavy metal concert.’ — agalloch.com
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Void of Reveries ‘The Ghost That Sleeps Within Me’
‘Atmospheric Romantic Post-Black Metal from Canada. Formed in 2010 by sole member Inoxia. Inspired by Lucid Dreams, Broken Hearts, Lonliness, Moon Worship, Beautiful Nightscapes and Ghost Stories.’ — The Boston Phoenix
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Woods of Desolation ‘Somehow’
‘Woods of Desolation was formed by D. in New South Wales, Australia in 2005 as a means of much deeper personal expression/unburdening through music. Utilising the help of P. Knight on vocals (and occasionally bass) located in the UK 2005- early 2007 saw the recording of 2 demos and 2 split releases released in very limited numbers via different underground labels. These early releases explored more the idea of raw improvisation and experimenting with various different self-recording techniques to achieve the final result. Band founder and heart of the band; D. is now focused on working towards an exclusive conceptual EP featuring guest drums performed by Vlad of Drudkh/ Old Silver Key.’ — ruinprod
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An Autumn for Crippled Children ‘Formlessness’
‘An Autumn for Crippled Children is a post-black metal or blackgaze band from The Netherlands formed in 2008. The band consists of 3 people playing also in other bands, which are kept secret. The name of the band is an altered song title from UK gothic band Ebony Lake. Their debut Lost was released in May 2010 and their second album Everything was released September 1st, 2011. New 2012 album Only the Ocean Know has now been released.’ — last.fm
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p.s. Hey. ** Misanthrope, Hi, G. I’m sorry to hear about your aesthetic falling out with 1D, and I hope they come to their senses straight away. I think the eternal life option with a time machine app would do the trick. Why haven’t scientists figured that shit out yet? I’m cool with growing older so far, but all bets are off from here on out. I wondered if your water fear was going to go all doozied out on you when you saw that post. But, hey, that’s friends are for too? ** David Ehrenstein, You think ‘A.I.’ is the best Spielberg? Hm. Yeah, maybe. I also have a soft spot for ‘Close Encounters’. ** Scunnard, Oh, awesome. Sure, I’d be into seeing the proposal. I am pretty reclused out by my writing at the moment, but a proposal, etc. seems like it would be a nice little walk in the park, so, yeah, if you feel like it and don’t mind, etc. Greece, wow, where? Athens? I wonder if it’s as crazy in person as it is on this side of the news. ** Pascal, Hi! Sure, about the novel reading, yeah, great, but I do have to give you a pretty big warning that I’m really neglecting a lot of everything right now so I can get this novel draft done, so I wouldn’t be able to start reading it for a while, I’m pretty sure. But, yeah. If you end up deciding to self-publish it, at least there’s never been a better time ‘cos, at least in the States, self-publishing, especially online, is kind of stigma-free, and, as I’ve mentioned here before, I’m reading as many self-publshed eBooks these days as I’m reading anything else. It’s way gray and damp here too. Umbrella ever at the ready, and all that. ** Wolf, Hi, Wolfy! Well, yeah, the underwater city thing blew my mind into post-making-ville, which is the sign among signs that I’ve got a dropped jaw. Ten days left, yikes and whoa and so cool! I’m … not better but hanging in there. I’m still writing my head off, and, as long as that’s happening, I can deal. We definitely should do some Skyping before you head there. Whenever you like, basically. I’m just here doing the painful writing thing mostly right now. ** Gary gray, Hey. Straight hustling, ha ha, me? Sure, why not? Personal submarine would be sweet. I’ve never even gone scuba diving? Have you? ** Steevee, Thanks, Steve. That looks fascinating. Thanks a lot. What a curious character/artist he is. Dang, too bad about the Andrew miss. Time for another lunch, right? ** Kevin Killian, Kevin! Thank you, thank you! I don’t know those two books at all. That title ‘Lake Overturn’ is awfully nice, isn’t it? I’ll check for them. Ah, and thanks for putting the Crown of Killian on the Jottings of James. You good? Miss you, my friend. ** Chris Cochrane, The conquering hero returns! Hi, Chris! The Brazil possibility is totally crazed. Oh my God, the jet lag, but whatev’. That would be unbelievable. Yeah, I’ve been happy/sad to get the announcements for all your gigs that I’m missing. Are they going to your satisfaction? The LA stint is counting down very nicely indeed. Much love to you, Chris. ** Un Cœur Blanc, Hi! You caring so much about your work and even how it looks is completely understandable and sensible to me. And the being scared part too. I’m like that about my work in both respects, and your works and mine are only separated by a genre. So, of course, that doesn’t seem strange to me whatsoever. Unless I’m strange, which, course, I am, ha ha. I’m sorry to hear you’re sad. I’m really, really sad too, if the international company helps. ** Sypha, I think I remember seeing Lovecraft book cover illustrations that showed sunken, underwater stuff. Oh, great about your new story becoming visible. I will read that when the p.s. is no longer imparing my eyes and fingers. Everyone, great news! A new short story called ‘The Yellow Notebook’ by the eminent author and d.l. about blog Sypha aka Mr. James Champagne is newly available for your reading ultra-pleasure right here at the Thomas Ligotti forums, and please lend it our eyes then, if you will, pass along any thoughts to its great and humble author. Thank you! ** Okay. With that, I give or re-give you the latest entry in my Halloween countdown posting fest and/or a solid chance to see what the whole Blackgaze fuss is all about. Try it, please. See you tomorrow.
Now available in North America 
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it looks as though Hurricane Bawbag is slapping Scotland around the face again this morning. Thankfully I have the day off, so I can just sit here watching the storm thrash the trees around outside from the comfort of my living room.
Think I'll apply for the Dundee Visual Artists & Craft Makers Award Scheme later. There's £1500 up for grabs, and I'll ask for money towards a camera for future film-making endeavours.
Really enjoyed yesterday's watery post. The lovely passage in Maldoror praising the ocean was really worth a reread in that context.
Dennis, Oh, Harry's straightened everything out for me. Hehe. But no, I've always taken them as they are, fluff pop, and thought they did a good job of it with their own little twist on it. They've always been decidedly a slight bit different -British maybe?- and I liked that. But now it's getting generic and Bieberish and I'm not so keen on that. But like I said, they all look hot as hell in that new vid, so that's a plus.
Friends are for everything, including creeping the fuck out of me with underwater cities. Ugh, imagine getting thrown overboard and you sink down and you come upon one of those statues staring at you. Man, if I hadn't already shit my pants, I would then.
I think it's much better to embrace old age than to fight it. Otherwise, you end up looking like one of those plastic Barbie women or Mickey Rourke and you die way early anyway. Or something. There are things to be enjoyed at every age. Including rimming by a thousand cuts. ;P
Oh, and I've got some new poems up at my poetry blog. Well, lines I'll be using in bigger poems. Three new little things if you want to check them out. 😀
Hi Dennis,
No worries. I just emailed you some stuff (let me know if it doesn't arrive or I have an old email or something). Have a look in the spirit of it being something to look at/a tour of what's in my head lately. Yes, Athens (and then driving around for a couple weeks)… we shall see if all the news coverage is accurate… and hopefully I don't end up with my head on a pike. We will be meeting up with some distant cousin who is from there, so hopefully she can steer us clear of any uprisings?
your sour chewing gum story led me onto an online store that promises to sell candy you ate as a kid. no 'woodruff' there, however – maybe that's a german thing? i won't be allowed to eat anything sweet at all until thursday anyway, as the next test will be for fructose intolerance. today's breakfast consisted of milo porridge and walnuts. not even that bad. buddha spent the weekend at a farm where they help drug addicts to enter into some kind of healthy-deemed worklife routine, but he was more attracted by the little pigs (and on very friendly terms with the boar that governs the stable there, as a photo he sent me evidences). i decided to include an image, ideally a copperplate print, of 'buddha petting a piglet' in the bible. now he's back to school and really pissed off at having to get up early every morning, but with only one more week to go until autumn vacation. speaking of which, i could use some time off at a pig farm too, but this life won't let me. academic pig farming instead.
Close Encounters is a tad too sweet for me. My fave Spielberg's are A.I. and 1941.
Phaidon is being sold. This may mean I won't get a trip to Paris. Fingers crossed.
I’ve been in an isolation tank many many times. But I guess that’s a different type of diving. Hehe no. I’ve never tried scuba diving. Trippy. I think I’m the guy behind the speaker, hands in pockets brown sweater, in the mortisalgia vid. I’m pretty sure of it. I hope working on yu novel draft isn’t making you too stressed. I am anticipating the finished product with much excitement. Personally I’ve been trying to figure out what mental environment I work best in. I’m starting to think, for me, frantic extinction bursts are the way to go then organizing. But I also have crippling ocd. Maybe I should try stress. Speaking of writing. Is it ok if I use the “fred” character in a story I’ve been working on? If it matters he would be a person/sprit who is omnipresent turned angel/demon as someone’s guide through abramelin ritual, left hand path.
Sypha: fuck jah! any more stories? i just LOVE the type of shit yr writing
Latest FaBlog: Whoop Up
Still no word from Andrew. I plan to go back to the restaurant he works for lunch on Thursday, although I don't know if he works then. However, part of me feels like maybe I'm better off staying away from someone who's either too flaky to respond to my messages or extremely passive-aggressive. It's hard to know what I should do.
Hey, Dennis, Thanks so much and, of course, no rush or pressure whatsoever. I can send you a pdf or a hard copy. Just let me know which you prefer. Meanwhile, I'm going to look at self-publishing more seriously. I guess I still have it in my head that self-publishing is an admittance of failure. And I know this is ridiculous from my experience of truly great self-published poetry at work. Maybe I just don't have that much experience of self-published prose/fiction. I should do some research and reading I guess.
Speaking of work, I've finally got my wish and we're going to have a New Narrative table at the Poetry Library open day. Your Dream Police will feature (by the time we ordered The Weaklings a few years back now it had already gone o/p), but also Little Caesar will get an airing from the Rare Books Room. And work from all the other stalwarts. I'm dead excited and quite pleased with myself for getting it up and running.
Btw, have you come across 81 Austerities by Sam Riviere? It feels a little bit like UK poetry mainstream might be finally catching up with the rest of the world with that book. I'm really enjoying it.
Yeah, thanks so much and have a good day xp
Dennis, thanks for the shout out. It's kind of sad, I haven't written any new short stories stories since the Fall of 2011. Part of the reason for that is that I've been preoccupied with slowly (very slowly) typing/revising my first fantasy novel (I've currently typed out around maybe 130 pages of it). Not to mention working on the 2nd edition of "Confusion." Plus, I pretty much just ran out of ideas for short stories (or at least, horror short stories).
gary gray, thanks! I have two more short stories on my writing blog.
The Aphotic Zone (though this story has since been revised slightly):
http://onyxglossary.blogspot.com/2011/11/leftovers-i-aphotic-zone.html
The Snow Globes of Patient O.T.:
http://onyxglossary.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-12-31T11:07:00-08:00&max-results;=3&start;=9&by-date;=false
I also had a collection of 12 other of my short stories published earlier this year:
http://www.amazon.com/Grimoire-A-Compendium-Neo-Goth-Narratives/dp/1608640388
I picked up the new album by London producer (group?) LV. It's a collaboration with 3 South African rappers, one of whom raps in Zulu. The album is uncategorizable, mixing dubstep, house music, hip-hop and African percussion. It avoids the kind of homogenization that often afflicts such cross-cultural blends. I'm not familiar with contemporary South African hip-hop, but I suspect that even in context, this would sound refreshingly odd.
Hi Dennis,
Blackgaze. I'm not quite sure. I think I need to spend more time. Some yumminess and some . . . pastiche quality, maybe? I'm relistening and relistening.
And catching up on the stuff I missed.
xo
@James: Sorry that I’m late to the party, just wanted to say I really enjoyed your story the other day…just finished reading it and it’s a beautiful chapter. It’s horrible what happened, I’m so sorry that you experienced that. Feel like I say this every time, but every excerpt I read from this just gets better and better, sucks me in more. “the phosphor dot sernity” is such a perfect phrase.
@Sypha: Really enjoyed your story, it made me laugh a lot. I liked how trippy it got near the end—
“Entropiors” is an interesting idea too, it made me think about the video Dennis posted a week ago of the face in the curtains on the interdimensional Bigfoot day…anyway really nice story.
@steeeve: I’m gonna check out that LV album, I haven’t heard of them…
@Dennis: Gahh, the idea of underwater cities freaks me out so much…deep water is one of my few true phobias, I don’t even like swimming out to the part of the ocean where my feet can’t easily touch the bottom. I can’t stand the idea of not knowing what’s around me, it could be anything…the videos of traveling down to the city totally freaked me out, but it was a beautiful post. The pictures didn’t make me feel so anxious. I think someday I might enjoy snorkling around a reef or something, but I will never ever ever snorkle that deep. There could be a whale or a giant squid or something 15 feet below me…
Jasmine (the student I was talking about a few days ago) has had a couple surgeries for her eye, but the doctors are taking it slow and doing everything in little steps because she’s only five and still growing. I think they’re planning to do most of the surgical work next year. The teacher I’m subbing for is out for another week, so I get to spend some more time with her. She really is such a sweet kid.
What music have you been listening to lately? Lately I haven’t been listening to as much stuff as I usually do, looking for suggestions. Listening to a lot of old Lil Wayne because his latest mixtape is so lazy…such a deep pain in my heart to say that, because at one point Lil Wayne was my favorite of all time… He’s had a couple good songs and verses here and there, but they’re so rare now… So sad. Also checking out the new Flying Lotus album which is really nice, I like him a lot…
I liked today’s post—I’m pretty ignorant about Metal, so the Blackgaze genre is new to me. I like it, there’s something about electric guitars that are pretty irresistible. Vibrations, or something.
I have a new story on Shabby Doll House, I’m in a really good mood today…feel very charged up, going to spend the rest of the evening writing.
http://shabbydollhouse.com/the-basic-laws-of-the-universe
Hope you’re doing well…talk to you later, take care
Hi Dennis, Sorry, this is kind of an academic question, but: Do you know if/how much David Foster Wallace wrote for Between C and D? I just read the DT Max biography, and I wondered if the book used the whole DFW-Jonathan Franzen friendship/rivalry to eclipse (pretty much entirely) Wallace's interests in more adventurous styles of writing. I mean, to me, DFW was sui generis no matter what he was trying to do, so sifting out his intentions doesn't really matter that much. But I am kind of annoyed that the bio basically ignores Wallace's interest in more innovative writers (aside from David Markson)…
How's it going? I'm very psyched to see that you are preparing an XL version of the Weaklings! Talk with you soon. PZ
Also David Lynch guest starred on the last two episodes of "Louie"–thought you might enjoy these clips if you haven't seen them yet, they're pretty Lynchian…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwUmXT3RJCM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qob3FTPJ7cM
Hey D,
Just checking in. We're in a Hilton in DC. I love this city a lot, I can tell that already. Chad's sort of been swept up in Grindr-ing (though I don't know if it's really Grindr-ing if nobody shows up, haha), but I'm having just a great time. Pretty boys, pretty girls, incredible architecture, lots of reading. Finished a collection of Alice Munro stories and it totally bowled me over, and now am plunging into another Banville novel. This is 'Shroud.' He calls it his monster child, and his favorite of his books. I'm enjoying it, but it's definitely the darkest thing he's written, with the most wretched protagonists. We saw the National Cathedral today. Even being the atheist I am, I couldn't help but be awed just at the scop and beauty of it. Chad's habit, when he lived here, was to light a candle for his mom every year on the day she died, and today we lit two, to make up for the two years he's been away. Did I mention we want to move here, sooner rather than later? We do. I love it. And we walk everywhere — I feel so fit.
We could also get married here, which looks to be in the cards, so that's exciting. We're going to see 'Samsara' and I'm thrilled just at the chance to see a piece of avant-cinema. And we're getting gyros, which I love. Tomorrow looks to be slated for the Holocaust museum.
Did you get the new iPhone? I upgraded to iOS6, but still just have the 4, whose screen I busted when taking a fall yesterday. I haven't landed face-first into a sidewalk in a while. My face is fine, just my chest got scraped up and, like I said, the front of the phone cracked. There's a place to get it fixed in Waco pretty cheap tho.
But anyway, I've missed coming on here the last few days. I'll try to check in tomorrow/Thursday
Love
Me
_Misanthrope,
I'm really sorry to hear about your brother. There's nothing I can say that you haven't already heard before, but Jesus, I'm sorry about that. My heart and thoughts are with you.
_Kevin Killian,
Thank you for your kind and insightful comments. That means a lot coming from you. I'm hoping to have my novel finished, of which 'House Fire' is a chapter from, in 2 to 3 months. The plan is to be finished with a draft before the Mayan apocalypse, so at least it's there, in rough-hewn form, in case The Big One hits. Then 5,000 years from now post-post-humans can come upon it like the Rosetta Stone. Or something. 🙂 Thank you again.
PS. What was your experience publishing Spreadeagle like with publication studio? Once I'm finished with my novel, I'd like to find a small, indie publisher that takes risks with non-traditional narratives. Any ideas? I'm pretty much a no-name so they'd be taking a risk. Just wondering what your thoughts were? Dennis says the atmosphere for writers w/r/t indie publishers and experimental fiction is better now than it's ever been. I was just wondering about your thoughts on the subject? Have an awesome Weds.
_Chris Dankland,
Thank you for that. Coming late to the party is my middle name. That's very kind of you to say. Maybe if Dennis runs another installment/chapter and isn't totally bored with me by now, the next one will really sweep you off your feet, GWTW-style. Good day to you, and thanks again.
_Dennis,
Hello Mr. Cooper. I meant to comment on yesterday's post, because it was really awesome and totally scary at the same time, but I was at the movies w/the better half. More about that in a moment.. Yep, the Watery, Domestic (nice nod to Pavement) post scared the beJesus out of me! But then I've always been fearful of large bodies of water, and underwater is really SCARY. If you're afraid of water like I am, check out this awesomely terrifying pic:
***WARNING *** SCARY SHIT:
http://www.dailyfundose.com/2011/08/mother-of-all-holes-this-is-one-big-scary-hole/
Now that's scarier than Luka Magnotta hitting on you at a discotheque!
Just wanted to warn you, if you have any ideas about seeing 'The Master,' you might wanna change your plans, Mr. Dennis. I saw it last night and I'm still scratching my head. I mean, I don't have to be tied to a plot, necessarily, but the film was all skim and surface, there was nothing to really help me understand how the Phoenix and P.S. Hoffman characters become who they are. Absolutely nothing beyond surface-scratching. A terrible disappointment. I've seen all of P.T Anderson's films (with the exception of Hard Eight), and I've been a fan, but he lost me on this one. I can only hope he does justice to 'Inherent Vice.' Good day, Mr. Dennis. I'm returning to today's post now to learn stuff about Blackgaze.
Much love,
James
Absolutely marvelous post today. Count me as a Blackgaze fan. I loved almost every band. They went well with the exercises (yes, Dennis, the fem ones). The songs were almost all at least 7 mins. long, so that was perfect for counting and position changes. [An emoticon smiley face here.]
Sypha: Enjoyed your story very much, especially it's satiric elements. Put a smile on my face.
Misanthrope: I like your lines, man.
Dennis: Hey. I really loved Monday's underwater post. Assuming this was on purpose, the graduation from the scientific, 'We are here at Qiandao Lake,' to the History Channel airing a video postulating the interference of aliens and Krishna was most amusing. I'm wondering what aliens might have interfered with Detroit. They glow green, I know that. At times they put on plays based on C.H.U.D. to get our attention, but someone still wants Robocop over by the Fist. I detect other forces at work.
Best to all.
Njr
Blackgaze as a gennre is new to me but the music and the sound is not.
Very nice gig so!
I read about a Vomir gig in Berlin:
"Best saturday night ever! It was Harsh Noise night at NK and French master of static noise Vomir just blew my mind. After Torba’s and Tommi Keränen’s set Romain Perrot aka Vomir gave everyone in the audience a dark plastic bag to put over their head to seperate themself from everything else but the noise."
and:
"He entered the last corner of stage, the lights went out and the noise started. Just plain, static noise. No variation. No nothing. Just a man standing in a corner with his back to the crowd for 45 minutes. I completely lost track of time and place. Just me, the bag over my head, my breathing, the darkness, the sound. Almost meditative. So, imagine 40 people sitting or standing in a dark room with plastic bags over their head, not moving, this is probably hell for someone else. I liked it a lot!"
That kind of stuff is the reason that I want to go back to Berlin in the near future.
Chris Dankland/staticktick, thanks. I suppose in some ways it's kind of a parody of the Lovecraft formula, though there are also references to the Atlantis sections of Robert Anton Wilson's "Illuminatus!" trilogy. The "white room" stuff is taken from Grant Morrison's "Doom Patrol" comic book. The seed for the story was taken from a real-life incident. Late one night a customer showed up looking for various New Age books (some of which I mention by name in the story). He had this yellow notebook with very bizarre contents, which I wish I had had a greater chance to examine. So that customer interaction was what got the story flowing.
hello, mr. Cooper, speaking of your musicless work-ethics, that sounds difficult, but i really like that. your passion for some sort of voiceless inner space and your everyday discipline in it, really fascinates me. one writer told me he listens to glenn gould when he writes poems, i was surprised because i listen to gould, for example, when i lie down, on my bed or floor, in sadness, that has been somehow continuing, having nothing to do with poetry. speaking of my current work, again, i am very excited to have more advisors on the committee and, their advice and encouragement is amazing. their work itself is amazing, brilliant and fluidly gorgeous, too. i read their work and i listen to their experience. very helpful. their criticism is truely fair and at the same time, overwhelming. but the way i feel scared with my work is something different. it's not strange, to you, either, am i right? today, i was about to write something on fourier's idea of pure money in barthes's sade/fourier/loyola, but i got really scared and i just graded a lot of student quizzes continuously in the afternoon. it was a lot about old mythologies and i don't have a time-machine kind of imagination, i was a little bored and relaxed in doing so. but right now, i must get back to work. i have been thinking i must have a rigorous period of writing, not saying anything irrelevant to work and letting it overflow it somehow. sincerely, h
d- this genre may infect me. got back from south carolina trip. boss. random foot pain. slow down of brain. good thing. hurdles just jumped over novel wall. scissors poised. beard and hair gone metaphor rolling onto page for cut. clean. been sludgy. need crisp. but not in guitar. need slop. burp bleed.
-L
Hey Dennis,
Been gone a long while, but have obviously been following. Today has made me want to post again, as this music is what I'm all about, especially at the autumnal period.
Well, this and the new Swans album, which is not as scary and overwhelming as you might think. Seeing it live was revelatory and beautiful in the most ear-crushing way.
Today, my boyfriend gave me a new tattoo. It's a cowgirl rat, holding a six-shooter, smiling. Kinda old western or whatever, but that's a bit of my style, I guess.
I'm doing well, writing and living with my boyfriend and Math and some other folks. I'll be here more often.
I just submitted my application to be coordinator of MaximumRocknRoll. Wish me luck.
At a punk show a week ago, I read a few of your poems from an anthology I can't remember. They slayed me, and I showed them to my friend Amanda. She loved them, and I loaned her some of my collection of your stuff. She's rad, you'd like her, I think.
Anyway, it's always great to be here. Hope all is well with you. I'm very excited about the new book coming out. I have a second chap coming out in January or February. A big one. I'll let you know.
xoxot
This is awesome – I think Autumn for Crippled Children or Woods of Desolation maybe come closest so far to what the dream combo of BM, shoegaze and post-rock would sound like in my, er, dreams… but haven't had time to listen to all of them yet. Actually now I'm listening to I like the 'decadent' portrait photo at the top too…
I'm excited – I picked up teh second volume in Charles Burn's new graphic novel series X'ed Out yesterday. Been waiting over a year for that and I'm going to read it toaday.
morning Dennis – it would be really great to talk… do you want to fix a time to hook up?