Write 'em Til You Can't Write No More

CHRIS' QUARANTINE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DAY (5/29/20) :  RELAXING OLD FOOTAGE WITH JOE PERA by Chris La Vigna ( @Chris_LaVigna ) Leave it to Joe Pera & co. to be able to take a bunch of b-roll & make a work of art... Welp, not only does the general chaos we're experiencing right now seem to be continuing at a steady pace, there are now new issues unfolding to compound all the anger, fear, and frustration. And while we all have a right to be upset, to be demanding change and committing ourselves to direct action, it is still important for each of us to find time to decompress and give our hearts and minds a rest, if only so we can continue to fight the good fight. So take a deep breath, relax. and watch some RELAXING OLD FOOTAGE WITH JOE PERA . If you're unfamiliar with the works of comedian/filmmaker Joe Pera , you should probably first check out his [adult swim] show JOE PERA TALKS WITH YOU , wherein Joe plays a fictionalized version of himself,  a mild-mannered ch...

CHRIS' QUARANTINE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DAY (5/28/20) :  HONEY BOY by Chris La Vigna ( @Chris_LaVigna ) Otis (Noah Jupe) takes a lot of hits in HONEY BOY Among its numerous benefits, art can be a powerful tool for confronting our personal demons. No one knows this better than Shia Labeouf, who began writing the screenplay for today's Q-Rec, the 2019 roman à clef  HONEY BOY , while he was in a ten week, court-appointed rehab program. Labeouf's alcoholism and public meltdowns came to almost completely eclipse his work as an actor in the 2010s, and some wondered whether he'd overcome his issues, or succumb to them. Thankfully, it now seems we can safely say that Shia is turning things around for himself, and this film alone is a testament to his ability to produce great work. The film begins with a rapid fire montage as we are introduced to Otis (Lucas Hedges) a young actor who works hard and parties even harder. We seem him doing his thing on set, we see him getting some ...

CHRIS' QUARANTINE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DAY (5/27/20) :  THE KITCHEN by Chris La Vigna ( @Chris_LaVigna ) If you can't stand the heat, get out of their kitchen... Hell's Kitchen, NYC. 1978. Three women, desperate to make ends meet after their mobster husbands get pinched and shipped off to Rikers Island, take over their hubbies' rackets, and become powerful gangsters in their own right. They take on all comers and grow more powerful and cunning as they protect and expand their turf. When their husbands are eventually released, the question becomes: do things go back to normal, or are these badass women in charge for good? The answer involves a lot of power grabbing, violence, and reckoning with the darkest parts of each girl's pasts. If that sounds like one helluva movie to you, then you need to watch THE KITCHEN . The film wastes no time letting you know what it's all about, either: As we open on an establishing wide shot of the New York City skyline, a cover o...

TERMINAL TRANSMISSION #4 :  FRANKENSTEIN'S FOURTH by Chris La Vigna ( @Chris_LaVigna ) Frankie's having fun, aren't you? ...Well, aren't you? AREN'T YOU?! Another Tuesday, another broadcast of TERMINAL TRANSMISSION ! Today was definitely the best show yet. My mic upgrade has my in-between song vocals sounding way better, and I feel like I'm getting better as a broadcaster in general. Still some kinks to work out, like what even is that voice I'm doing for Joe Camel? Who knows, I'm working it out! If you missed the show live, or just wanna listen back to it because you loved it so damn much, you can find it here . 'Til next time... TT #4 TRACKLIST 1.) Seatbelts - Tank! (Cowboy Bebop Opening Theme) 2.) GWAR - Fuck This Place 3.) Melvins - Bride of Crankenstein 4.) Worn Thin - Flesh Factory 5.) Maintenance - Acceptance 6.) Gama Bomb - Bring Out The Monster 7.) Power Trip - Hornet's Nest 8.) Mr. Oizo - Pharmacist 9.) Mistki - Cop Car 10.) Plutocrat O...

CHRIS' QUARANTINE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DAY (5/26/20):  TERMINAL TRANSMISSION EP. 4:  FRANKENSTEIN'S FOURTH by Chris La Vigna ( @Chris_LaVigna ) Pictured: Me, looking like the super cool DJ I truly am... Today's Q-Rec is another great example of my knack for shameless self-promotion: TERMINAL TRANSMISSION is back for another live broadcast on KPISS.FM from 12PM to 1PM EST today! So tune in by heading over to the site and clicking play on Channel One to hear me play some great tracks from bands like Worn Thin, GWAR, DEAD SARA, and more! Do it! DO IT I SAY!!!!! You can catch up on past shows  here .

CHRIS' QUARANTINE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DAY (5/25/20) :  FAN FICTION SHOWDOWN by Chris La Vigna ( @Chris_LaVigna ) The title card for the debut episode of FAN FICTION SHOWDOWN I've written before about how much I love the works of the multimedia art collective known as  WHAM CITY COMEDY . From the surreal and disturbing short films they've made, like UNEDITED FOOTAGE OF A BEAR and THIS HOUSE HAS PEOPLE IN IT , to their hilarious live shows and the call-in soap operas they've done on the [as] Streams, like THE CRY OF MANN , They continue to amaze me with their willingness to experiment with new styles and mediums, expanding the boundaries of their expression and inspiring countless others who create to try and do the same. Well, while everybody is still doing their best to stay socially distant, the WCC crew have developed a new show for the Adult Swim Streams, one that allows them to stay at home but still have fun and perform together. Ladies and gentlemen, boils and ...

CHRIS' QUARANTINE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DAY (5/22/10) :  EVERY TIME I DIE - SHIT HAPPENS by Chris La Vigna ( @Chris_LaVigna ) Today's Q-Rec is another entry in the storied sub-genre of Rock 'N' Roll "home videos." I've already written about the Pantera Tapes , but this is a more recent example, relatively speaking. Today, I'm telling you to watch EVERY TIME I DIE - SHIT HAPPENS. If you're already a fan of the band EVERY TIME I DIE, you probably don't need an introduction to this film, which is a feature length comp of the band goofing around on tour circa 2005-2006, along with bit of footage of ETID playing live.  The original DVD had been out of print for some time, but thankfully, some kind soul out there was cool enough to upload the full film onto YouTube, and as of this writing it is still up there. If you don't know EVERY TIME I DIE, then do yourself a favor and check out the following albums: EX LIVES , HOT DAMN , FROM PARTS UNKNOWN...

CHRIS' QUARANTINE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DAY (5/21/20) :  FIRE (POZAR) by Chris La Vigna ( @Chris_LaVigna ) When you stare into the abyss, this is what stares back One of the few silver linings of living through this Quarantine has been witnessing the cool little things that many famous artists have been doing to give back or even just entertain us as we try to wait this thing out. Metallica has been streaming full recordings of their past concerts, Andrew Lloyd Weber has been uploading full recordings of his musicals onto YouTube, and David Lynch, America's most beloved surrealist filmmaker, has started up his own YouTube channel ! Which brings us to today's Q-Rec, a short animated short film that Lynch uploaded yesterday titled " FIRE (POZAR) " The film (originally made in 2015) clocks in at ten minutes and thirty seconds, and was written, drawn, and directed by Lynch. It tells what appears to be the story of some terrible creature's birth. A warped looking ...

CHRIS' QUARANTINE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DAY (5/20/20) :  ONE CUT OF THE DEAD MISSION: REMOTE by Chris La Vigna ( @Chris_LaVigna ) The OCOTD crew is back, and they're better than ever! So I've already dedicated a Q-Rec to the great Japanese "zombie film"/meta-comedy ONE CUT OF THE DEAD . It's a superb film that starts off as a very intense horror short and pivots into being a fun behind-the-scenes comedy, a beautifully crafted love letter to filmmaking that will have you smiling and clapping with pure joy by the end. Well, you definitely need to watch it now, because writer/director Shin'ichirô Ueda, along with all of the first film's cast, has come back with a sequel short film: ONE CUT OF THE DEAD MISSION: REMOTE ! Once again, the dutiful director Higurashi is contacted by the two eccentric producers who recruited him to make that live one-take zombie film, but with a different and even more implausible-sounding pitch: they want him to direct a true c...

CHRIS' QUARANTINE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DAY (5/19/20) :  ELVIRA'S HALLOWEEN SPECIAL 1986 by Chris La Vigna ( @Chris_LaVigna ) ELVIRA'S 1986 HALLOWEEN SPECIAL ON MTV! I don't know about you folks, but the ongoing situation with this pandemic is wearing on me now more than ever before. Even though some states, and even certain sections of New York, are slowly starting to reopen, it's clear that we're still far from being out of the woods with this thing. The word on the street is that even if things relax a bit in the coming summer, we should be expecting a second wave in the fall/winter. I don't write that to bring any of you down. I'm just trying to be real about the situation we're in and the situation that lies ahead of us. And while it's a very small, almost petty problem, one of the things that makes a horror nerd like me sad is the thought that we might have to be quarantined for Halloween 2020. So I've been indulging in a lot of Hallowe...

CHRIS' QUARANTINE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DAY (5/18/20) :  DETHKLOK LIVE @ ADULT SWIM FESTIVAL 2019 by Chris La Vigna ( @Chris_LaVigna ) Today's Q-Rec is another [adult swim]-related treat, specifically related to one of their most beloved cult shows, METALOCALYPSE . If you've seen the show, you already know. If not, then all you need to know is that show revolved around the many misadventures of the world's most beloved death metal band, Dethklok. The show drew a dedicated fanbase thanks to its absurdly dark humor, brutal violence, and most importantly, its legitimately awesome soundtrack, which compromised a series of kick ass metal jams written and performed by the show's creator, Brendon Small (the man behind another beloved animated series, HOME MOVIES).  The particular video I'm telling you to watch today documents the band's "return" at the 2019 Adult Swim Festival in Los Angeles, where Dethklok took the stage and played a full eighty-minute s...

CHRIS' QUARANTINE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DAY (5/15/20) :  DAVID BOWIE x NINE INCH NAILS = " DISSONANCE " by Chris La Vigna ( @Chris_LaVigna ) Pictured: David Bowie (left) & Trent Reznor (right), absolutely SLAYING it... David Bowie was an iconic rockstar whose career spanned decades, and his work continues to influence legions of musicians to this day. One of the keys to Bowie's success was his willingness to experiment with new sounds and adapt his style to the times--as evidenced by the fact that he credited Kendrick Lamar's then-recent album TO PIMP A BUTTERFLY as an influence on his final album BLACKSTAR. Well, back in 1995, Bowie was keen on experimenting with the wild sounds of industrial rock that were being pioneered and popularized by artists like Trent Reznor, the mastermind behind Nine Inch Nails. He took inspiration from these harsh soundscapes to craft his underrated album 1.) OUTSIDE . When he took the album on tour in the fall of '95, he re...

CHRIS' QUARANTINE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DAY (5/14/20) :  TENACIOUS D x NEON GENESIS EVANGELION MASHUP VIDEOS by Chris La Vigna ( @Chris_LaVigna ) The Hedgehog's Dilemma: To rock, or not to rock? TENACIOUS D, in case you don't already know, is an amazing comedy rock band consisting of two American treasures, professional musicians/funnymen Jack Black and Kyle Gass. They typically write songs about the joys of life, love, metal, and how awesome their band is. NEON GENESIS EVANGELION is a massively influential anime series, a tonally discordant and surreal show that uses giant robots and kaijus (or as they're called in the show, "angels") as an allegory for depression, loss, and the chasm that lies between our need to connect with each other and our utter horror at the prospect of leaving ourselves vulnerable enough to do so.  You wouldn't think to pair these two things together; most of us wouldn't. Most of us simply lack the unbridled creative genius th...

CHRIS' QUARANTINE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DAY (5/13/20 ):  DEEZE NUTS by Chris La Vigna ( @Chris_LaVigna ) Yeah, they're feeling it... That's right. Grab a handful. It does the body good.

TERMINAL TRANSMISSION #3 :  THE THIRD TERROR by Chris La Vigna ( @Chris_La Vigna ) This poor wino's life has been turned upside down by the terrors of TERMINAL TRANSMISSION! The third episode of TERMINAL TRANSMISSION dropped and rocked the internet like a hurricane! More good tunes, more good times, went a little over my time and got my final song cut off (it'll appear in full on the recording), but still a great show! If you missed the episode live, you can listen back to it here ! See you space cowboy... TT #3 TRACKLIST: Seatbelts – Tank! (Cowboy Bebop Opening Theme) 1.) Megadeth – Blackmail The Universe 2.) Radkey – Glore 3.) Babe Patrol – The Way You Are 4.) Personal & The Pizzas – Dead Meat 5.) Queen Wolf – Tinkerbelle 6.) Drab Majesty – Oxycotin 7.) Patriarchy – Grind Your Bones 8.) Malibu Ken – Acid King 9.) Lightning Bolt – USA Is A Psycho 10.) Wasted Shirt – Zeppelin V 11.) Gezan – replicant 12.) Gezan – AGEHA 13.) Mason Lieberman, Yoko Kanno, v/a – The Real Folk ...

CHRIS' QUARANTINE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DAY (5/12/20) :  TERMINAL TRANSMISSION EP. 3: THE THIRD TERROR by Chris La Vigna ( @Chris_LaVigna ) This guy's ready for the new episode of TERMINAL TRANSMISSION! Are you?  Today's Q-Rec is another great example of my knack for shameless self-promotion: TERMINAL TRANSMISSION is back for another live broadcast on KPISS.FM from 12PM to 1PM today! So tune in by heading over to the site and clicking play on Channel One to hear me play some great tracks from bands like Babe Patrol, Radkey, Patriarchy, and more! Do it! DO IT I SAY!!!!! You can catch up on past shows here .

CHRIS' QUARANTINE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DAY (5/11/20) : FANGORIA'S WEEKEND OF HORRORS (1986) by Chris La Vigna ( @Chris_LaVigna ) Straight outta your VCR, It's FANGORIA'S WEEKEND OF HORRORS! Much like Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, Dracula, and Frankenstein, FANGORIA simply refuses to die, and thank God (or perhaps his horned counterpart) for that, am I right? FANGORIA, both as a horror scene magazine, and as a genre film distributor and book publisher, maintains a massive influence in the horror community, even after all these decades of ups and downs and a shakeup in ownership. But what some younger fans might not know is that Fangoria used to hold its own conventions, and today's Q-Rec is a full length video of the 1986 FANGORIA'S WEEKEND OF HORRORS convention! The hour long video is an amazing time capsule from the decade that many horror fans now regard as a golden age for the genre, and features interviews and appearances with many of ...

CHRIS' QUARANTINE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DAY (5/8/20) : MTV ON THE INTERNET ARCHIVE By Chris La Vigna ( Chris_LaVigna ) Salute the flag you dorks! Alright, good, now let's go watch some Joan Jett videos... Well to start off, I'm assuming you all know about a thing called Music Television, or MTV for short. It was this little channel that showed music videos, and it completely shook up the music industry and became one of the defining forces of popular culture in the 1980s. You might have also heard of the Internet Archive, a great public resource that stores countless documents, video files, and archived web sites from primitive eras of the world wide web.  What do these two entities have in common? Not much, except for the fact that some brave, generous soul has been steadily uploading hours of vintage MTV broadcasts on the Internet Archive . Everything from vintage promos and annual "The Year In Rock" specials, to full tapings of daily broadcas...

CHRIS' QUARANTINE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DAY (5/7/20) : SMILING FRIENDS By Chris La Vigna ( @Chris_LaVigna ) ARE YA SMILING YET?! Okay, I know I give [adult swim] a lot of free advertising on this blog of mine. What can I say? I've pretty much grown up alongside the programming block and watched it grow from this weird little thing that only stoners (and my insomnia-ridden-ten-year-old-self) knew about, into a massive force in experimental media, often imitated but never truly duplicated (not that people haven't tried ). But y'know what? I say screw it! They make a lot of cool stuff that I like & you've probably never heard of, and let's not pretend that you don't just watch whatever overhyped piece of crap Netflix drops in front of you anyway, so go to Hell, today I'm telling you to watch SMILING FRIENDS . Created by Australian animator Michael Cusack (the brilliant bastard behind the Rick & Morty Bushworld special that [as] ai...