Some Bizarre Songs/Music Videos And A Temporary Farewell

Hello my little sandwich toasters left precariously on the edge of the kitchen counter, I’m afraid I have to bid you a temporary goodbye. My current book is taking up all my energy, and I need what’s left to annoy my friend Steve and fiance Bill.

Please come and find me on YouTube and the Twitters, however, and we can frolic in the spotlight of Big Brother’s baleful gaze.

I usually avoid music because it’s so divisive, but I figured, what the hell. As a child brought up on my sister’s tastes of Massive Attack, Portishead and Bjork, I’ve kept my love of electro oddity, and here are a few of my favourite songs.

Flying Lotus: Zodiac Shit

Flying Lotus, aka Steven Ellison, is a producer, music maker, owner of Brainfeeder records and a filmmaker (Kuso, along with David Firth; both psychedelically brain tickling and stomach churningly gross).

CLOUDdead (Boards of Canada remix): Dead Dogs Two

Boards of Canada are so calming and pretty, and made this ‘experimental’ hip hop song even better. Plus this fan video is amazing.

Tobacco: Super Gum

As well as having their music featured on Silicon Valley, Tobacco made a weird B movie VHS video out of bits and pieces for their album F-d Up Friends. Please be aware, the following video contains ET porn. E…T…Porn…

Sza: Crack Dreams

I never expected to hear such a beautifully dreamy song about doing crack. Her others are great summer listening too.

FKA Twigs: Water Me

I love this weird lady. My favourite song so far is Two Weeks, but this video is wonderfully odd.

Anneka/Milanese: Reading You

I’ve followed Anneka’s (at one point known as Anneka Snip, not sure if that’s her real name) for a few years now. Her EP, Life Force, was recently released with Anti-Ghost Moon Ray. Here’s a song she did with Planet Mu person Milanese.

John Skipp’s Favourite Weird And Horror Short Films From Festivals

Hello hello my Christmas friends, let’s all dance and sing, with joy and stuff and stuff and things and all stuff in between.

While at Bizarrocon, horror author John Skipp had a showing of his favourite short films (or movies, if you want to be all American about it). However a more accurate title for this post should be ‘some of John Skipp’s favourites’ because the showing lasted two and a half hours and I’ve picked out the ones I liked best, and I couldn’t find the full movies of Einstein-Rosen by Olga Osorio or The Honeymoon by Ruth Pickett.

I’ll start with the silliest first. You might recognise the Lovecraftian rapper as Cody Goodfellow, one of the authors who sat with me on the Weird In A Post Weird World panel. Other bizarro authors pop up too, along with Rose O’Keefe, the owner of Eraserhead Press.

Baby Got Bass from Eli Dorsey

The next is a sci fi short most fans of Black Mirror would probably appreciate, SWELL from Bridget Savage Cole

THE BULB from calvin reeder is weird, fun and a little bit gross

And finally Death Metal from Chris McInroy had us howling. Contains daft violence

Merry Christmas and see you next week!

Jazz And Surrealism: Paris In The 1920s

I’m off to Portland, Oregon on Saturday for Bizarrocon and donuts. I’ll be gone for about three weeks but when I return I’ll be full of writerly information and other helpful things.

I’ve read in a couple of different places that Portland is “becoming like Paris in the 1920s,” all the writers and artists are flocking there. I don’t expect it to look the same as 1920s Paris, even Paris doesn’t look the same as 1920s Paris, but I hope to be inspired by a similar artistic atmosphere.

The Années folles (crazy years) was a time between wars where everyone who wanted to make art, dance to jazz or just get a drink (America was under Prohibition) converged on the city. Gertrude Stein held court at her artistic salon (described in her book The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas), Andre Breton was leading the Surrealist movement, and Anais Nin was a brief fixture of the Montparnasse cafe scene.

A Surrealist Ball, by Man Ray

A Montparnasse Cafe

If you wanted to get a glimpse of dancing girls (*whisper* in the nude) you could pop off to The Folies Bergère. One of the headliners at the time was Josephine Baker, a woman of colour treated like a second class citizen in her native America and a star in Paris.

Tracking shot in the 1927 Clara Bow movie Wings:

Below is a promotional film for Josephine Baker’s ‘new’ show. Contains 1920s boobies:

Paris was known for the latest fashions:

And finally, a silent travelogue through all the city had to offer. Toodle pip, and I’ll see you on the other side of my own adventures!

Hollywood Gothic – The Bizarre Murder Of A B Movie Actress

Hello my little hand painted cups! I don’t know about you but I do like a true crime story, and I first heard the bizarre tale (and I mean bizarre, there’s weird injections, ninjas, everything) of Susan Cabot, aka The Wasp Woman, from an incredibly cheesy series called Mysteries and Scandals.

When writer Amelia Mangan told me it was discussed on podcast My Favorite Murder, hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, I thought it would be good to share here. I’ve set it to begin when her story starts but why not listen to the rest afterwards?

I also included the Mysteries and Scandals episode below, enjoy!

Prince Kano, Classic Gothic Horror Poem

Today’s video is very short so tomorrow I’ll add a podcast and mini documentary I found on one of the oddest Hollywood true crime stories I’ve ever heard of.

For now, here’s classic gothic horror poem Prince Kano by Edward Lowbury. Merry almost Halloween!

DADAkitten: If David Lynch Did Comedy Sketches

Merry birthday to me! I hope all my little bits of confetti littering the streets are OK?

I’ve been trying to settle on a creative project which is purely for fun for a while now, and finally my friend Steve and I have settled on DADAkitten. I can only explain it as ‘imagine if David Lynch did comedy sketches. Sort of. Not quite, but a bit. Also Welcome To Night Vale.’ Follow our channel for more delights and daftness.

Anyway here are a couple of mine, from a series called The Drama Farmer which relates YouTube drama on people who don’t exist:

And here’s my favourite one of Steve’s:

When Burlesque, The Gothic And Jazz Age Collide In An Autumnal Extravaganza

Sorry about the title, I’m probably a bit sleep deprived. I’m at my friend’s working on a new book while he does art stuff.

From next week I’ll be posting a spooky themed video made by myself each Tuesday of October, but I thought I’d start Halloween early by sharing other people’s videos of burlesque performances. I like any kind of burlesque but if it has a Gothic twist, or twenties, or circus sideshow it’s even better.

I’ll start with Missy Macabre, partly because I once interviewed her for Bizarre magazine and partly because she manages to combine the twenties, Gothic and sideshow all in one human:

Next is Obskyura, who is basically a modern Josephine Baker in this act:

Tesla Tease is a Gothic mermaid.

Mam’zelle Plum’ti does the Charleston with a bunch of balloons:

Enjoy, I’m off to do more words out my hands, toodle pip!

Creepy Stop Motion Animation – Fantasia by Guldies

Hello my little sections of time spent in bed when you know you have to get up soon thus making it even more comfortable, I found this stop motion animation the other day and couldn’t wait to share its creepy glory.

Alex, aka Guldies, is a Swedish stop motion animator. Have a look at his (pretty sure it’s a he, sorry if not) youtube channel. Enjoy!

Kuso by Flying Lotus

Hello my little chimpanzees who’ve just learned sign language. I’m all of a flap today because I’m in the middle of a mad dash to get everything done before a writer and artist’s retreat at my friend’s in September and October, so I hope you don’t mind me leaving you with this interview link and some clips from music man Flying Lotus‘ recent film Kuso.

I saw it recently (it’s streaming on Shudder) and really loved it, but also really hated bits of it, and if a film can do that it’s worth recommending, no?

Parts are like a beautiful psychedelic dream while others are a juvenile, scatalogical nightmare, which is a bit like life really. Filmed under his record label (and production company too, I suppose) Brainfeeder, it was also co-created by animator David Firth and writer/artist/music man/etc Zack Fox. If you can stomach the really gross bits the originality is more than enough to tickle your brain cells.

Here’s an interview with the three filmmakers. Warning: Clips may be sweary

Shudder promo clip (with the voice of Hannibal Buress)

The first three minutes, featuring Busdriver:

 

Ghost Cars, Paedophiles And Hitler: The Weirdest American Sitcoms

Sitcoms can be quite odd. Often a vacuum of humour, they’re mostly born of a Network’s desire to keep things inoffensive and entertain the whole family, dulling any creativity on the way (Big Bang Theory and Citizen Kahn, I’m looking at you). Sometimes they break free and become something great, for example Nathan Barley, Silicon Valley, Spaced, The League of Gentlemen, Fleabag, The Mighty Boosh and Atlanta (technically a comedy drama but I highly recommend it, particularly the BET episode. My stomach hurt during that).

Most of the time, though, sitcoms are just the same old thing in different settings, cobbling ideas together from already successful shows during a very desperate board meeting. Sometimes they have an original idea, but it’s so outlandish that you can’t quite believe was pitched let alone accepted.

Bosom Buddies

Tom Hanks’ first screen appearance seems to be inspired by Some Like It Hot only more stupid and less funny. Some Like It Hot had to be in black and white for audiences to accept Tony Curtis and Jack Lemon as women, but the Bosom Buddies creators thought nah, it’ll be fine.

Tom and his chum find a cheap apartment to rent but oh, curses, it’s a hotel for women. Did…did those exist in the 1980s?

My Mother, The Car

Wanting to capitalise on the success of fantasy sitcoms like Mr Ed and Bewitched, with a little oedipal complex thrown in, the reviews for the sitcom in which a man’s dead mother is reincarnated as a 1928 Porter were so bad that it wasn’t picked up for a second series. I suggest you watch The Simpsons parody Lovematic Grandpa instead.

Diff’rent Strokes – The Paedophile Episode

I had to include this. Generally a regular, unfunny situational comedy, it took a dark turn when the writers decided to highlight the dangers of paedophiles.

While I think it was well meaning and may have done some real good, the story slips down a rabbit hole of inappropriate laugh tracks and wise cracks while the action onscreen grows ever more disturbing. If you’ve ever watched the Butter’s Very Own Episode of South Park you’ll know what I mean, only this was unintentional.

The Flying Nun

“There’s this nun, see.”

“OK?”

“And she can fly.”

“What? Why?”

“She weighs just 90 pounds and…and…when the wind is strong it catches that funny hat they wear, and off she goes!”

“Tere, your mother and I are very worried about you.”

Mr Smith

The orangutan from Any Which Way But Loose landed a speaking role in this short-running sitcom. Apparently transformed into a genius after drinking an “experimental mixture” (pesky stuff) he becomes a political adviser (?) while his assistant and secretary try to keep his ape identity a secret. Yes, I’m sure it was hilarious.

Bonus! full episode of Heil Honey, I’m Home

Hitler and Eva Braun live in an apartment next to a Jewish couple in this British parody of American 50s sitcoms which aired for a single episode. I suggest you read this review of the shockingly unfunny programme here. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

P.S. The writing at the start is fiction.