Sure,you know what's cool. But do you know what's really fuckin' FAR OUT? That's where Advanced Demonology comes in. Every week, (K)en and (S)wilson trudge through the murky waters of the pop culture hellscape, dredging up sparkly morsels of wonder. These are the result of our latest foray into the world of the weird, our wildest, wiggest-out picks of the week. Call it our 13 Point Program.
13. NY77: The Coolest Year in Hell
Disco. Punk. Hip hop. A heatwave. A blackout. Looting. The Son of Sam. New York City was a powderkeg in 1977, and this killer doc shows you what it looked like when it finally blew. (K)
12. Fugitive Kind
TCM had a little Tennessee Williams fest a few weeks back and I "taped" 'em all and I'm finally getting around to watching them. They are all fantastic but a real surprise stand out was this 1959 burner starring Brando. It's based on his 1957 play Orpheus Descending about a drifter who blows into town and stirs things up, but as with all his plays that's just the surface. Beneath lies a bleak cauldron of racism, sex, and southern morality. The film had to be a little bit of an inspiration to David Lynch's Wild At Heart, it's co-star Anna Magnani, who after some further research I'm convinced is a proto-hippie death goddess. I also now have to officially see every film starring the young Marlon Brando, he really is the black metal of movie acting, whatever that means, check the opener. (S)
11. Alice in Paris
Been listening to a lot of Alice Cooper's early 80's new-wave stuff lately. Flush the Fashion, Zipper Catches Skin, dada, and especially Special Forces, his wigged-out 1981 concept record about a gay suburban paramilitary squad. Alice refers to Special Forces as one of his “blackout” albums, and claims to have no memory of writing, recording, or touring it. If you've seen the drunk tranny look he was sporting at that point, then you can see why he'd wanna forget about it. The Special Forces era is immortalized in a TV special called Alice Cooper in Paris. Here it is. It's amazing and terrifying, just like it oughta be. (K)
10. Pimping in the 70's
I wish my home movies looked like this. Pimp God, Cadillac, Candy Man, Squeaky, and host of other flamboyant players of 1974. Narrated by the pimp legend: Bishop Don Juan. It's too bad pimps today just aint as cool as these guys, I've seen 'em. They dress like basket ball players. (S)
9. Horror Europa
Mark Gatiss is an amiable British actor who, in this fun and insightful documentary, travels around Europe visiting various hotbeds of cinematic horror. The trip to Dario Argento's cheesy “museum” in the basement of his Profondo Rosso horror memorabilia store is a highlight, as is examinations of obscure classics like Daughters of Darkness and Les Diaboliques. It will definitely have you hunting some of these titles down. (K)
8. Agitation Free - Malesh (1972)
Woah! This is just beautiful man. (S)
7. On the Road: Season 3
On the Road is a rock-doc series produced by Vice and hosted by the mustache dude from Eagles of Death Metal. Season 3 finds him heading to Birmingham, the birthplace of heavy metal, to find out how it all went down. Looks amazing! (K)
6. Black Roots (1970) Vs. Deep Purple Mandrake Root (1970)
I was looking for some footage of the Lionel Rogosin's documentary about what it means to be a black man in america in the late 60's early 70's, because it's a great film. Awesome interviews with folk and blues musicians as they share stories over bottles of whiskey and Miller beer. I couldn't find any but I did find this awesome footage of Deep Purple playing the song "mandrake root" check Gillan's threads man. (S)
5. Medusa – First Step Beyond
Sabbath worshipping teenage losers record a four track demo in a haze of bonghits and cheap beer buzz in 1975, and then promptly forget about it for almost forty years. And then they dust it off and release it. On a deluxe gatefold vinyl with a crushed velvet cover. What's it sound like? Exactly like you think it does. Far fuckin' out, man. (K)
I'm into bands named "Free"this week. I hate Paul Rodgers in Bad Company but I love this. The bass player was a flamboyant gay man, the guitar player a flamboyant drug man, who keeps it simple and heavy, even though he did't have too. Hats off! (S)
“Terminal Gods are the heavy leather love children of Iggy and Lemmy, rock 'n' roll outlaws for the new millennium, low-slung, black-clad reprobates riding the crazed rock beast to oblivion.” Buy everything they ask you to. (K)
2. Blossom Toes
If you tune into the Advanced Demonology Crime episode you'll hear the Blossom Toes. I thought I'd post some groovy footage of 'em. They are a pretty complex band for the time. More than meets the paisley hippie eye. Man I wish I was on french TV right now. (S)
1. Ghost BC – Year Zero
This video answers all your questions about who, exactly, is behind Ghost and what their intentions are. Spoiler alert: the devil and chicks, and they want your soul. Heavy! (K)
