This week's links - 01/07/19
So in the interests of feeding the Howling Pit some, I'm going to include fun links that I've found in the recent now. Might even say a bit about them. We used to call this linkblogging back in the olden days. Maybe we'll come up with a new word for it now.
Quake OST
Here's the ambient soundtrack for QUAKE, from 1995 or so if memory serves. It was composed and performed by Trent Reznor/NIN (don't recall who got the official credit.) It's nice and claustrophobic, downright crawly at times. All of it driven by mid 90s sonic palette and filtering. I'm guessing it was probably done on a Mac as DOWNWARD SPIRAL was legendarily composed on a Mac IIc. Enjoy the trip in the wayback machine.
Yeah, this came from the 90s as well. One of the tumblrs I ran across (no, the platform isn't dead) throws up early internet imagery (really 2000s or so, so kind of third generation internet for me, but the explosion of memetic culture online). Made me think of the cover of NIN's YEAR ZERO, only all soft and cuddly.
Kraftwerk in 1981
Kraftwerk, maybe not at the height of their powers, but certainly one of the phases of their career that I love most, with a bonus warm-up track from Wendy Carlos, which I'm sure set the minds of many future electronic musicians spinning back at the end of the sixties. The set itself is from 1981, though they reach back for "Autobahn" and a few other favorites. I'd pay good money for a technical breakdown of their setups over the years. The machines let the humans make interesting choices when it came time to make sounds.
On the other end of the spectrum is Velvet Underground's infamous BOSTON TEA PARTY set. This is one of the best recordings of a band that was often better served by its live/bootleg recordings than it was on album. Aquarium Drunkard posted this YT link, though I snagged this back in the days of Napster, so a long time ago indeed.
I haven't had time to go through this myself, but here's 1600 occult texts thanks to the nice folks at OpenCulture. Plenty of summoning and ensorcelling opportunities await!
Egyptian Theatre
I don't remember it looking like that the one time I saw a film there in 1991. The film was THE DARK BACKWARDS and I did not like it at all. This from ffactory.tumblr.com
I'm going to have to tackle JOHNNY MNEMONIC sometime. It's an odd movie coming out at an odd time for movies. Pre-MATRIX, which reshaped science fiction for a generation or more. It's the only big screen Gibson adaptation we've gotten. NEW ROSE HOTEL was very much an indie affair, eschewing nearly every Gibsonian bit of technology, whereas MNEMONIC runs headlong into the Sprawl.
Here's a weird bit of history from oldschoolfrp.tumblr.com -- the appearance of the Rankin-Bass HOBBIT adaptation in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in 1977, with inflatable Smaug overshadowing even Underdog, who must've been long in the tooth by then.
Screenshot from the conclusion of the NIGHTBREED interactive game. Not sure what year, but early 90s at a guess. Two of my favorite aesthetics colliding, leaving beautiful debris in its wake.
NEMESIS THE WARLOCK -- 2000AD
Art by John Hicklenton, who brought a sense of the grotesque to the art, imparting an almost occult significance to the violence of his posings. This is something I should come back for a longer look at, but who knows when I'll have the time.
If you wanna see more free content like this, you really gotta hep other folks to it. Mostly on twitter, 'cause I might see it there. Won't likely see it anywhere else.
