Spacelab9 presents The Addams Family

Here are some photos I took of my Addams Family soundtrack from Spacelab9 (w/ Sony Music and RCA apparently). Released on October 16'th 2015 in honor of this television show's 50'th anniversary, this deluxe vinyl edition was released in 4 Limited Edition variations: A Glow-in-the-Dark "Fester's Lightbulb" version (exclusive to Barnes and Noble), a "Lurch Green" version (exclusive to Newbury Comics), a "Cousin Itt Brown" version (exclusive to Hastings), and an extremely limited "Black Pumpkin Splatter" version that sold at NYCC with some leftovers sold online.

I of course bought the Glow-in-the-Dark version because you know, that's just damn cool. Even though the Black Pumpkin Splatter is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen, I actually didn't even know that it existed at the time. If I had known, my decision would have been a lot more difficult. As it were with the three I was aware of the glowing vinyl was a no-brainer. And that's how I like to make all the decisions in my life... without using my brain. Haha, wow. This release is a single sleeve with a 12x24" foldout insert which is a pretty nice read and rather colorful to boot.

For anyone not familiar with the music (what in the fuck!?) it's old school as a motherfucker. It's real shnazzy, and jazzy and a little funky. Think in the realms of the scores for Barbarella or Vampyros Lesbos. That's where this kind of music would fit in. Probably not as weird as those two though as it's mostly upbeat tunes, but genre-wise for sure. The album itself has a pretty moderate hiss throughout the whole thing and sounds a bit aged, but in this case that really doesn't bother me at all since this music is old as hell and that just adds to it for me. It's approximately only a half hour long as well, which goes by pretty fast so it's good for a quick listen.

Cinevox Records presents Mario Bava's SCHOCK!

Libra - Mario Bava's SCHOCK TRANSFERT * SUSPENCE * HYPNOS (CD, Jewel Case, Soundtrack) [2002, Re-Issue] Italy.

1. The Shock (04:07)
2. L'Altalena Rossa (01:28)
3. Transfert I / Hypnos / Transfert II (04:08)
4. La Baia (02:18)
5. La Cantina / The Shock (Ripresa) (03:02)
6. Tema Di Marco I / Tema Di Marco II (03:36)
7. L'Incubo (03:33)
8. Transfert III (01:34)
9. Il Fantasma Suona Il Piano (01:56)
10. Transfert IV / Tema Di Marco II (Ripresa) (04:00)
11. Il Fantasma Suona Il Piano (Alternate piano solo long version)* (02:47)
12. The Shock (Alternate movie version)* (01:40)
13. Tema Di Marco (Alternate movie version)* (01:38)
14. Transfert IV (Alternate movie version)* (02:54)

* previously unreleased on the original Cinevox Album MDF 33/113. Music composed and performed by I LIBRA: Carlo Pennisi - Guitars, Alessandro Centofanti - Keyboards,  Dino Cappa - Bass, Walter Martino - Drums, Maurizio Guarini - Additional Keyboards.

"Nightmare Music Guaranteed to SHOCK!" You got that right. This is some hardcore bad dream inducing music here, and I know it because I've listened to this about thirty or so times while sleeping. If you're looking for some warped, twisted and fucked up dreams then try it out. For this madness inducing piece of work, I Libra (lead by former Goblin drummer Walter Martino) took jazz infused progressive rock to a new level of avant-garde, psychedelic and disarranged experimentation. With distorted sounds, off beat rhythms and a totally chaotic atmosphere, the songs of Schock constantly trial off much like waves in an acid trip, yet always seem to blend seamlessly back together into  another new frenzy of uneasy listening.

Schock is a supersexy-swingin' film (see the above photo) about a woman going absolutely batshit crazy and losing her goddamned mind! The accompanying music of Libra is so utterly triumphant at creating the perfect representation of her crashing and crumbling mindset with its pinball-inside-the-skull type pounding grooves, that it may in fact be too powerful of a soundtrack. You read that right, listening to this soundtrack has a brain stimulating effect that triggers anxious, relentless and diabolical tendencies among even those considered mildly insane. It's heavy stuff, doc. I can only imagine what a full blown psychopath would do if he were hooked up to a device that played nothing but this music. Perhaps he'd say that he already owns that album... inside his head, that is!!1

I was watching One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest the other day and during the scenes with Scatman Crothers and Jack Nicholson together I couldn't help but think of this movie. Just look at him and Jack getting on like old friends... if he only knew that five years later in The Shining he'd be shockingly killed with a fucking Axe! Then there's Daria Nicolodi and John Steiner... not only is he killed with a pickaxe to the heart in Schock (see that last photo above), but he's also done in with a fucking Axe five years later in Tenebrae (also starring Daria) as well. Coincidence!?

Perhaps. Wait a minute? Wasn't Scatty murdered with a pickaxe in One Flew Over as well? This shit is just getting too damn weird. Hey, you wanna have a fucked up, weird-out, movie marathon night? Then I suggest you watch One Flew, followed by The Shining and Tenebrae, then end it with Schock. Every time someone has a psychotic episode you've gotta chug a beer, and every time someone is killed by an axe (of any variety, including pickaxes and Nurse "Hatchets" har har har) you've gotta take a puff off the ol' peace pipe. Tell me I'm not brilliant.

Check out the soundtrack for free HERE on youtube. Track 2 really reminds me of the flower power stuff that David Hess did for the Last House on the Left soundtrack. It's so mellow and late 70's maaaannnn... if you haven't seen this film then don't even hesitate to buy it and not thank me later. I seriously am in love with this movie and the soundtrack as well. Consider it highly recommended. D'eth out.

Guns N' Roses - You Could Be Mine

Guns N' Roses - You Could Be Mine (CD, Cardboard-Slip, Single) [1991] England.

1. You Could Be Mine [5:45] *

2. Civil War [7:39] *

* Album Version. Taken from the LP Use Your Illusion II.

Boy do I love me some Guns N' F'n Roses. What more of a badass pairing than the greatness of this song You Could Be Mine and T2's little punk ass John Connor speeding off on his moto. I found this at a record store that I'd only been to once or twice, and remember grabbing it and letting out an "Ah sweet!" I was probably fifteen at the time and yeah, finding this was pretty sweet. Now, not so much. I'll tell you what's great about this Single. Aside from the Title Track fuckin' rocking, and that the release is Rare: Nothin'. The release I got comes in one of those slim cardboard cases, and man do these things suck balls. Not only do they get scuffed up easily, but the CDs can scratch just by sliding it out. Sure, these problems tend to affect Digipaks and normal CD cases, but these cardboard slips take it to the next level of annoyance. As a novelty, this release is nice to own (and I do love collecting Singles), but take a look at that track list. There are no B-Sides, no Live Tracks, no Extended or Radio Versions, no Nothing. Just two Album Version tracks from Use Your Illusion II that everyone already owns, so what the fuck gives England? Who put you up to this!? This would have been the perfect chance to include the MUSIC VIDEO for the track that hasn't been released uh, Anywhere! (Feel free to correct me on that last part.) At least there would have been no Copyright issue as the movie still is used on the CD, or since it's not made in the US does that matter? I understand that Civil War makes a good choice for the second track since it's about War and that's what T2: Judgment Day is all about... but something else could have been done to avoid this reeking of cheapness. Still, the music is kickass, and the sleeve art is quality. This CD was also released in a Maxi-Slim case which I would have preferred to own. Or even better, this Single was also released as a 7" Vinyl and a 12" Clear Vinyl Picture Disc with Backing Insert. Now that's the real deal, baby. A 12" Picture Disc would look good in the collection. A lot better than this sad little CD Single.

The Slice Girls CD...

Many of us have undeservingly had to endure the wrath, somehow or someway, of John A. Russo’s re-cut and re-edit of Night of the Living Dead. Dubbed the 30th Anniversary Version, many people, horror fans especially, proclaim it the “holocaust of horror tampering.” Russo did something unspeakable, and though the original is still in tact and readily available (unlike what some other filmmakers are doing these days), I sometimes wonder…

…what power did this “Scott Vladimir Licina” have over the man? Was it love, lust, or even perhaps both? Russo may have always had this vision, but never really went about it, you know? It’s as if it were something you would speak of to… a lover, asking an annoyingly ass question. “My regrets? Oh, I’ve always wished we got those extra fifteen minutes of Night. I’ve got the budget now, but if only I had a totally serious about being a dark soul vampire being who plays synth and doesn’t mind portraying a priest for the role.”

I don’t know. Maybe it was all business. Who cares really? At the time, I had been a devout follower of Scream Queens Illustrated, Draculina, and such magazines… and there were a lot of independent film mags that popped up in the comic shops around those times that are now defunct. Just like this guy’s career apparently. I still have Issue 8 of SCI from 1995, with Debbie Rochon on the cover. I got a couple other mags with Debbie on the cover too actually, so I guess you could say that even at that grand young age of 15 I was an uber-fan.

So when I was notified that she had done a CD with some other Scream Queens (one which is a parody of the Spice Girls) and it’s signed by all four girls, I said what the hell. Somehow, and I don’t know if she wanted to, he got Steffanie Pitt (daughter of Ingrid) to do lead vocals on the parody CD, with Christine Cavalier, Tammy Parks and Debbie Rochon on background vocals. It’s definitely an interesting and probably now rare piece of independent cinema offspring bullshit work, and according to the girls (as far as I know) it was all done for fun. I can only hope that all parties involved feel the same way.

The first two parody songs are cute and well done, probably since they stick so close to the source material. Which in itself is pretty horrible anyways… but you know what, I don’t mind all that crap. I can dig a few shitty pop songs on the radio sometimes. I know if you hear them enough, you’re susceptible to brainwashing, but realistically, The Spice Girls never did shit for me. For this guy “Vlad” to even study enough of their tunes to copy two and a half tracks, plus do his own horrible Techno remixes to a few, I don’t know. I’d bet he’s a real fan of the original group, but then again, this release is so half-assed.

Perhaps this was an extra in the budget they used for the RotLD re-do. All I know is this, I like the characters they came up with: Debbie as the mummy girl Isis (I’ve got pics but I’ll have to dig them out), Steffanie as the blood sucker Vampee, Tammy as the witch Kraftee and Christine as the Bride-ish Franken. Nothing was really over-explored, especially the “music”, which I bet the real group would have considered suing over, up until they heard “Vlad’s” “creative” remix tendency to shift sound (on crack) from left to right speaker as if that’s “creepy” somehow.

Dude, it totally sucks balls. The remixes are absolute shit, and the whole thing is pretty much as f’n ghey as you can get. But the first two tracks are funny on their own… and hey, I guess it supported four very cool ladies. If you can find it on the cheap I say buy it and check it out for yourself. It’s just a damn shame that this CD is basically a Single with extra tracks. Total weak effort and the dude on Synth just isn’t talented at all. I don’t know what Ingrid Pitt’s daughter has done since then music wise, since she’s basically the main attraction here, but I hope it has nothing to do anywhere near this fucking ass-clown. Good luck girls. Stay out of Hot Topic, you never know what kind of douchebags you’ll meet there.

Soundtrack!: Henry... Portrait.

If Fabio Frizzi’s soundtrack to Fulci’s Gates of Hell is the score of nightmares, then this is the score to the nightmares that fuckin’ nightmares have! And you better believe that shit, too. You want to feel something crawling under your skin, creeping up your back and giving you that “I need a shower” sensation? Hell, that sounds dirty as shit! Uh. Listening to this could quite possibly have you rocking back and forth in the corner of a dark room, not blinking…

…then again, it could have you dancing with your best friend’s sister in the kitchen while pounding down teh brews. Because not only is this CD filled with some of the grimmest, most frightening, low-droning sounds set to women being violently slaughtered and slashed... it’s also got some pretty neat, upbeat jazzy tunes. Alright, baby! And I’m not talking about the joyful little track that is “Adios, Motherfucker” either.

I’m sure the first track anyone would fondly recall is Enuff Z Nuff’s “Fingers On It”… now, the tunes on this CD aren’t really my thing, but this one is definitely the best of them all. It’s pretty solid and enjoyable all over, plus, kinda kickass. Kid Tater & The Cheaters come with four tracks, “Too Young For These Blues”, “La Lania”, “Callin’ Colleen” and “Jukin’”. They’re all old fashioned bluesy-rock tracks that are easy goin’ and honestly aren’t that bad, with the exception of “Jukin”, because really, that annoying terminology alone makes the Docs want to mash Grill. Plus the song sounds different than their others, and sucks way harder. I did a search online for these dudes and all I came up with is a picture from a 45, and that’s it. Anyone know the year they recorded? 1862? No matter. The last song on the album is “My Mistake” from Lynne and the Lizards. It’s a song about a girl whose mistake was loving a guy, and loving that guy was her mistake. Yeah, but it fits at least, for the first part anyways.

Rob McNaughton (Director, Synth, Piano), Ken Hale (Synth, Piano), Steven A. Jones (Synth, Drums) and Paul Petraitis (Guitar) really came up with some sickening stuff here. Incorporating the random screams, gunshots, and array of strange sounds into collages throughout the score  takes an already unnerving feeling to otherworldly dimensions of terror. When you think of films where the soundtrack becomes the aura, it’s in cases like these ones. When listening to this, first of all, you can’t ever forget the film or try to not think of it… and secondly, they don’t let you since they incorporate a lot of the dialogue onto the track introductions. The main theme itself, “Henry’s Theme”, is damn near indescribable in how awesome it is at getting you that out of body and mind experience. The other score tracks are follow-ups in this style that all get you going down that crazy ass road. “Kill Hookers”, “The Stalk”, “Dead Body Drones”, “Home Invasion”, ect… no matter which dark and dank corner you go down, it’s all red sauce.

Well, except for the track, “Becky Downtown”. This light and fluffy 80’s stroll muzak is perhaps the most generic on the record, sounding like something ripped out of Mannequin or some shit. WTF, guys?

For the dialogue only(for the most part) tracks, there’s the “Yeah, I killed my momma” speech, Henry arguing to Otis not to do that because “She’s your sister!”, the late night “Let’s go shopping” for TVs scene, and of course, “It’s always the same… and it’s always different.” All certified classics! “Adios Mother****er” is pretty much all score, unless you count the following horrified screams and squishy stabbing sounds as “dialogue”. Heh.

I liken this Soundtrack to both from The Gates of Hell and Last House on the Left. On one hand, it’s Gates of Hellish in its score, in which you can picture horrifying deadness, decay and agony. Like the Last House soundtrack (with pure sweeeeetness from David Hess) it’s something you wouldn’t expect (in that case Folk-ish, this one Blues-ish) and there’s a track in there that has you shaking your head, but you’ll probably still listen to it for the suck. They do make a great Trio though, and I guess that means I’m going to have to do Last House’s disc next. The booklet for HENRY is filled with 40(!) small but detailed and not to mention cool photos from the set and behind the scenes. Make no mistake, I love this movie – Gave it Full Rank! – and this soundtrack is bomb, but a couple tracks blow like the coke in my nose. That’s 9/10 for the CD (docking points minorly), and Highly Recommended.

Soundtrack!: For Lucio Fulci

After two false starts (one an interview with Lucio’s daughter Antonella on regards to the CD and rokOPERA’s compilation of film quotes laid over the music), GWAR’s version of the Zombi2 lead track kicks in… and boy let me tell you, it’s got one sinister robotic vibe to it, which may sound strange since it was so tribal and un-electronic upon creation. It’s as if the theme had been shot out into deep space, hitting Decepticon radar and Soundwave is recreating what he deciphered to his master, The Almighty Megatron. It’s cold, grim and nearly tentacle rapish.

Carfax then hits you with an absolutely insane mix of severe gothic tones of metal, jazz, classical and just plain electronic strangeness in their Beyond suite. Afterwards, Alucarda steps in with a softer bit from the film. Five tracks to Fulci’s House by the Cemetery are next on the list, one of them by none other than Nile! Hell, who would have thought… I’m just surprised they chose a track from this film and not Manhattan Baby. You know, with all the fuckin’ pyramids and all! But let’s not dwell on the strange shit, shall we not? Al Festa, naturally, chooses and composes the gheyest sounding track on the disc… not that it’s much of a surprise if you’ve seen Fatal Frames(!). The other House tracks are good instrumentals, ON/OFF’s being the best out of the three.

Then things start to get weird. Darkest of the Hillside Thickets busts out with a light, fluffy tune about Fulci’s House of Clocks… they sound like a happy-go-lucky Misfits(I use that as a generic term), and they apparently normally sing about H.P. Lovecraft. Either way, I wasn’t really diggin’ it, but that’s just me. Next up, Still Sad gives a very short but beautifully rendered suite from the film. WARNING! Now is the time to freak out!!1 Four tracks derived from. . . . . The GATES . . . OF . . . HELL! First up is Penis Flytrap with "Crryyyy Tears of Bloooooood!" Be forewarned, and not sober, when you listen to this track. You may just start to bash your own head in listening to this, but no doubt, this woman’s as beautiful as her voice. Doomstone comes next with song Twisted Priest, and its supposedly “black metal-ish”. Seeing as I’m not up to date on Doomstone and this may not represent one of their original songs, I’ll not comment on how I didn’t dig that it wasn’t as much black metal, but more of a Morbid Angel meets Phil Collins type sound. Somebody needs to let me know. James Murphy and Deep Red do a listenable but overly synth sounding track next, and then, well, maybe I shouldn’t even comment on the last one for Gates, entitled “Head Over Heels” by Glen ‘Diablo’ McNeil, because fuckin’ hell, it makes me want to stab myself in the f’n eardrums with a thousand Snarf dicks. Why? Because that would be more pleasurable of a sensation. Hmm. Perhaps it’s a joke track or something. There’s no other way…

Rounding it off on Disc 1 is a complete non-stoppin’, butt-rockin’, drunken-hazen’, fall-asleep-inatin’ tune by rokOPERA to the tune of Conquest. It’s about eight minutes… Eight long ass mufuckin’ minutes, but maybe you’re into that sort of thing. I usually am, if the song kicks ass n’ shit, but yeah. The Black Cat gets its due next with an old school tribute from Marco Werba. It’s a nice Synth job, and it’s probably been a while since we all had one of those. And right before the cherry on the top too, which just happens to be a 1:24 minute portion of select audience reaction to a showing of The Beyond. It could have been better of an ending, but alas, it’s not an ending at all… that was just disc 1. So, let’s see how the other one fairs in comparison.

With disc 2, Alucarda bust in with their second suite to The Beyond... and it’s a lot better than their first offering since this is the main theme and it goes on for just over eight minutes. Only slight problem is that they don’t really do anything special with it other than just give it their signature sound. And while that’s usually ok for this sort of thing, their signature sound is too similar to the original source material in this case. That's not to say that it isn't completely beautiful. ON/OFF does their thing next with The Beyond and its damn near traumatic, quite frightening and reminiscent of the HENRY soundtrack which just rocks the f’n socks off the other two Beyond tracks on this disc. The last is from Necrophagia, and we’ve all heard enough of that one, so really there’s no bother mentioning.

Sorry!, then pulls off a Manhattan Baby tribute that may just leave your brain in stitches, as it is Insane. Afterwards a New York Ripper track from Another Dead Junkie which is Mega-Man like and quite enjoyable. This Secret Garden does a Bela Lugosi's Dead type track for Voices From Beyond… it just makes me want to shoot some smack and hit the dance floor, goth style. You know, where you just kinda stand there and slowly rock back and forth? Then we hit another 3-Block of lust for the film that is THE GATES OF HELL! We’ve got three very unique and different takes on the film…. The first a goth-metal song from Skitzo, the second being some loops and electronic strangeness(which really kicks ass) from Body Hammer, and the third, a straight score job. The rest of the score jobs are for the films: New Gladiators, Door into Silence, Seven Black Notes and Contraband.

This Double-Disc set is sort of a “mixed bag”, but don’t get me wrong though as it is a definite Must Buy! A couple songs seem like inside jokes, most of the heavier punk stuff is just blatantly in-your-face shitty, and the people who did straight score replication in their own styles could have been a little more interesting… but then there are the gems! When it's good it's f'n tremendous, when it's ok it's still enjoyable and when it sucks, you'll be bound to go on a demented rampage, demanding to know what the meaning of this is!

"For Lucio Fulci: A Symphony of Fear" comes with a 16 page booklet that lets you know about the bands, and how much a certain someone loves ol’ Lucio… Now, Graveside Entertainment was most directly responsible for this sweet genre release, and they teamed with Blackest Heart Media. Both of them used to sell UNCUT VHS dupes of all your favorite films, before the VHS biz went down the drain (apparently!?) and people over here got the rights to sell shitty movies. The people who started Graveside were, I do believe, members of the band Alucarda themselves. I remember back in the day on their page the band was mad pimped out. I actually ordered my first two tapes from Graveside back in "96, Argento's Tenebrae and Deep Red. Not exactly sure what happened with them after their collaborations with BHM, but as you should know, Blackest rolled out and transformed into Rotten Cotton Graphics. This time around selling T-Shirts, the remaining bit of their Merch, and making their Black Devil Doll film.

Even though some of the songs here may not be "good" or fit your tastes, you can really feel that a lot of love went into this release. And I guess that counts for something... right? Almost forgot, this 2Disc set was originally going to either be 3Discer or for those who pre-ordered it, you would later get a third. I'm pretty sure nothing came of this and the third disc was never made. Sad as that is, there's still nothing sadder than not owning this release at all. And that my fiends, is me rubbing it in. 7/10 Rating.

Soundtrack!: Gates Of Hell!

What is it you think of when you remember Lucio Fulci's 1980 grimy-ass psychedelic (grimedelic, if you will) film, The GATES OF HELL! ...? Do you recollect some inexplicable Nightmare of spiraling madness and utter decay? Do you fondly think back upon your walking, moaning, groaning blow up mistress Betty CumWetty? Do you think of... the Funk? No, not Betty's funk after a nightly pop, but rather the pulsating beats, tolling bells, paranoia inducing whistles and triumphant brain-eating zombified marching tunes of one Fabio Frizzi! Damn fuckin' straight.

Aside from the completely irrational (some may say) and satisfying (some may argue) storyline... and aside from some visuals that will melt the outer coating of your brain only to leave that shit draining out from your nostrils... and aside from beautiful film grain... there's one thing that takes Fulci's film to the ultimate next level of will-crushing anxiety and night terrors: The Score, baby. Let me tell you something kids, if you're looking for the ultimate in bad acid trips I suggest tongue kissing about six or seven tabs with a nice gothic girl and putting this CD on repeat for the night's session. Just being sober and listening to this in a dim room itself will have you tripping balls! Yes, it's that powerful. And man, did the Fulci / Frizzi collaboration really f'n strike teh proverbial gold this time around. Not to knock The Beyond or Zombie2 down to silver and bronze, but this 28 Minute score paired with the film itself is, for lack of a better word, just fuckin' magical. Whimsical, even.

CMV Laservision released this CD Limitierte Sondeauflage Von 500 Exemplaren!, which means that there's somewhere around 500 of them floating around there in space (Mine is numero 080). I bought it in 2003 when I believe it first came out, and though CMV doesn't have any true "cover art", nor is any of the text in english, the art on this picture disc is f'n Amazing looking! Behind the disc is a picture of poor Catriona about to get a pickaxe through the face, a nice touch to say the least. The back has two nice stills, one of little Billy desperately trying to escape the grasp of the preacher and another of our hero sportin' mad wood. Plus, who doesn't dig that German title font they've got goin' on there? And in glorious yellow, too. When I close my eyes I can see this thing wiggling around like a horde of maggots.

Soundtrack & Release: 10/10 For absolute sweeetness. Find it, if you can.