Tag Archives: Charles Manson

When Broken Broke

From 1989 to 1992, all anyone knew of Nine Inch Nails was prettyhatemachine. Your opinion of that one album was your opinion of Nine Inch Nails.

Before Broken, NIN’s sophomore EP, you could be forgiven for thinking Trent Reznor was the heir apparent of electronic Goth, following the dark path of Joy Division and Depeche Mode. Reznor was the scion of a venerable HVAC company (founded 1888!), and probably spent much of his young life in the presence of gigantic, droning machines. “Industrial” was already wired into his veins.

For all your heating, cooling, and electro-goth needs!

For all your heating, cooling, and electro-goth needs!

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Filed under Bad Influences, Don't Know Don't Care, Faint Signals, Nostalgic Obsessions, Thousand Listen Club

Pleasant Surprises

thrills2In the second issue of Bands I Useta Like, I drew a retrospective entitled “Thrills”, wherein I delineated the major moments of excitement from a lifetime of moviegoing. Thrills come in varying qualities and intensities, from “cheap” to “absolute”. A milder one, that is no less desirable, is the “pleasant surprise“.

One of the first pleasant surprises I took notice of was during the documentary Citizen Shane, from 2004. It tells the true story of Shane Ballard, a rotund, porn-loving oddball who ran for sheriff of his hometown of Lowndes County, Mississippi at 22. Ballard was a talented audiophile whose mother was murdered under mysterious circumstances when he was a baby. Not long after the documentary’s release, Shane Ballard and director Ron Tibbett would also be deceased, under mysterious circumstances. Subcin, the site where I saw the film, is not currently active. Continue reading

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Filed under Faint Signals, Late To The Party, Movies You Missed, Nostalgic Obsessions, Saturday Movie Matinee

Skinny Puppy

BIUL_Skinny_Puppy

There are a handful of things I’d change if I were to redo this strip.

  1. I’d rephrase what “intrigued” me in the caption atop the first panel; my sarcastic quotation marks on “texture” are easily mistaken for a misspelling of an actual Skinny Puppy song, “Testure”.
  2. I would reevaluate my appreciation for them, because these days I find myself turning to their music regularly, like a balm.

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Filed under Bad Influences, Comix Classic & Current, Faint Signals, Late To The Party, Nostalgic Obsessions, Thousand Listen Club