NOLL IQ

I mean, you just gotta love this band from the icy north of Sweden - NOLL IQ. Everything about them just shits and vomits DIY, passion, urgency and punk.

Been in touch with these guys for a while now - Not had the chance to catch them live yet as their gig in Gothenburg was sadly cancelled on their recent tour - but hoping to catch them on the next round!

Go check them out for some awesomeness - and get the demo!

www.facebook.com/nolliq

FREE PUSSY RIOT!

As you may know I am a supporter of the Russian band PUSSY RIOT - three of whom are currently in jail:


"Virgin Mary, Redeem Us of Putin,"  - The song criticizes the support shown by some representatives of the Orthodox Church to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and calls on the Virgin Mary to become a feminist and banish Putin.


The Russian authorities subsequently arrested Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova on March 4, and Ekaterina Samusevich on March 15, claiming that they were the masked singers. Although the women admit to being members of the group, they deny any involvement in the protest in the cathedral.


They want to keep them jailed for SEVEN YEARS!


Amnesty and more are doing everything they can - join the protest


http://freepussyriot.org/

AMNESTY PETITION

The Symbol Of Chaos

I got into this discussion a few days ago, it actually turned into a bit of an argument - so I thought I would just share it with my readers so that you too can be enlightened and smart, like me.

The above symbol - the CHAOS SYMBOL that most of you will be familiar with as you've seen it on tattoos, t-shirts and album covers for many years.

Now, much different to what a lot of people think, this symbol is not an ancient occult symbol. There are similarities to other symbols in other cultures - The Dharma Wheel, Crowley's 8-wands and more...but none are the Chaos Symbol. So where did this symbol come from?

It came from this guy - Michael Moorcock. Fantasy/Sci-Fi writer and musician, who collaborated with among others Hawkwind.

In his many, many, many books there is a common thread in a place called "The Multiverse" and one of his more well known Heroes "Elric Of Melniboné" is a follower of the religion/philosophy "Chaos".

Because Moorcock's books are not so black and white you have not just good and evil but also "balance" which are people who think there must be both good and evil in balance, and you have Chaos, which embrace every possibility, hence the 8-points that go off in all directions.

Over the years bands have been fans of Moorcock's work and also the tabletop/roleplaying games company GAMES WORKSHOP (who released the 2nd and 3rd BOLT THROWER albums) also made popular the Chaos symbol in their games.

I believe that since then people have chosen to use this symbol without actually knowing where it came from or what it means - kind of like wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt.

It is no deeper or has no other meanings than a fantasy book and series of games.

So there you go - now go read some Moorcock, it's awesome!

More Horror Movies tips!

Horror film nerd I am. Fact- Here's the latest I have seen. Sorry if I don't tell you everything about the film, I try to be as spoiler free as I can!

First up: NAILBITER

A very new director and a low-budget flick with nothing but charm. A family escape a tornado by hiding in a basement before finding some strange happenings in the town.

The plot in any other context would be dumb but in this the movie actually manages to keep in fresh and pretty tense. The special effects, which are not great but plausible, are not over used, relying more on atmosphere and tension. I got into this. It finishes with a set up for sequel, I look forward to it!

(REC) 3 GENESIS

Not a prequel as I expected but the next in the series. Those familiar with the (REC) films will be a fan of the stupidly long shots filled with almost impossible lack of cutting the camera and dark violence.

Rec 3 is the story of the virus (or whatever it is) spreading and takes place at a wedding party that (surprise) gets overrun by the bitey-undead.

Nothing much more is explained, we don't need it - it's just a zombie-fest. With the added plot of the zombies being "fallen angels" that give off a different reflection to that they are.

The movie only starts off in the classic hand-held camera style before cutting to "normal" which is refreshing.

Not bad, not great, better than Quarantine!

THE INNKEEPERS

A hotel going out of business tries to investigate rumors of it being haunted.

More of a "conversation" film, focusing on the characters and a lot of black comedy elements it's nothing I would call scary but certainly a weekday movie worth a watch.

CARNAGE

Not a horror but worth a mention because it was awesome.

Roman Polanski makes awesome movies - fact. This one is based on the play "God Of Carnage" and the fact that the set is just a house - it shows. Two couples are trying to work out a situation caused by their kids fighting and their attempt to be adult plunges downwards as the film goes on.

The inclusion of Christoph "The Jew Hunter" Waltz was incredible, That guy needs more roles!

DOOM in Gothenburg

My introduction to DOOM was sometime in the early 90s. A friend of mine Pete, that was a year or so older than me and one of the only other people I met that liked punk (at a time when no one else I knew did, and the guy that loaned me my first Black Flag, Snuff, The Stupids and much more) so yeah - he had the DOOM logo on the back of his army jacket and from there I started to listen and became an instant fan.

A few years later and I'm making a fanzine (the old style, typed, cut and paste) and start to advertise a guy making pin badges that I get in touch with, and over time I get to learn that it's Stick, the drummer of DOOM. We become something of a tape-trading pen-pal contacts and of course time and technology took over.

Anyway - a week or so ago Denis (Doom's vocalist who lives in a town near me in Sweden) got in touch and asked me if Aggrenation (the band I play for) would like to support Doom at their next gig in Gothenburg. Of course it's a big fat yes.

A totally pleasant show - DOOM themselves are perhaps the nicest most down to earth guys you'll ever meet in your life, totally friendly and helpful and fun.

Their set was exactly what you'd expect - an awesome mix of old and new(er) songs, crowd pleasers and absolute crust punk purity.

Aggrenation's set was a great one - best for me yet, apart from the one moment when the entire band apart from me played the wrong bit of a song......or was that me? Anyway.

SUMMON THE CROWS played too and were another ball of awesome! A great time and waking up on the sofa at Truckstop before starting to drink again.

Good times.

D-CLONE tour dates 2012

Bad Luck Greggan

FACEBOOK FOOD FOTOS

Put this up on my Facebook today, AS....A.....JOKE!

As sort of a poke of all the "retro-edited and/or pics of food" posts.

LOADS of comments, loads of likes right away. Why does this never happen when I post anything normal?

Detention + AREA 407

Horror film buff that I am, it's time to start sharing my opinions of the new movies out there - lets go!

AREA 407 (Also known as TAPE 407)

Now....I enjoyed this film a lot more because I didn't know anything about it before I watched it. If, like Mrs.Elk, you read the back of the DVD cover.....it basically gave away the whole plot of the film, thus making it super-boring. So, my suggestion - watch it without knowing anything about it! If you want a quick run-down then highlight my spoiler section below.

SPOILER SECTION (Highlight to read)
_______________________________________________________________________________
So, you have a group of people on a plane, the plane goes down and the survivors are left waiting for help, but none comes. After a while it is revealed that they have no idea where they are, but that they are not alone. In fact there is something beastly out there in the dark. After one is attacked and killed the remaining survivors flee for their lives trying to avoid and escape whatever it is that is hunting them. When help finally arrives - it does not help them, but seems intent on helping them die. And so we start to wonder....just where have they landed?
_______________________________________________________________________________

So, it's one of these "found footage" movies that never seem to tire, and of course we are left asking "if you're in so much trouble, why film?" - but as far as found footage films go this one did manage to keep me in suspense and not bored through the whole thing. It's a little bit "B" but, in a good way.

DETENTION

- This film was fuck-yeah one of the best things I have seen in ages! Mix up Donnie Darko with The Breakfast Club, Scream and Scott Pilgrim vs The World and you got it!

It moves through at such a fast past you need to keep sharp to keep up. Presented in a teen-movie kind of way it is a "who-dunnit" slasher film with so many extra twists it leaves you both confused and enlightened.

Jam-Packed with pop-culture references and likenesses any geek will shit with joy - and of course we've got knives, axes and gore too!

It's original, it's classy, it's a cult hit!

Toxic Waste

Got the new MUNICIPAL WASTE/TOXIC HOLOCAUST split "Toxic Waste"" through today - awesome stuff. And a record that will be a source of talk in my house where where I love MW but Mrs.Elk does not, but she loves TH...how is this possible?

We've all asked.

MW seem to be more influenced by the sort of thrash I grew up on, Nuclear Assault, Sacred Reich and DRI whereas TH are more 80s Euro-Trash like Destruction.

Still, awesome split. The TH side is just fine, they do their thing. But the MW side is out there! GO GET!

GLORIOUS MASTER TRANSLATOR

This made me laugh so much I did a wee.

DOOM + SUMMON THE CROWS + AGGRENATION

Well this is gonna be a lot of fun!


AGGRENATION will play with DOOM and SUMMON THE CROWS at the end of the month in Gothenburg - awesomenezz!

https://www.facebook.com/events/384276931626598/

SAINT VITUS in Gothenburg

Nope, I've not seen Saint Vitus before - but ever since Black Flag ranted about them way back when...I had to check out and it was a love affair.

On Monday the doom-rock-gods came to down and DESTROYED IT!

Watching Saint Vitus is like experiencing the past and your own future all in one, it's like the musical version of reading Rollins or Hemmingway - it lifts you up and takes you away somewhere else, makes you happy and sad and makes you question your existence.

Wino and gang look like your coolest ever bunch of grandads (with exception to new drummer) after going through a battle with all sorts of crazy substances and winning - by consuming them.

And in the dark, rustic and beaten surroundings of Truckstop they killed. Crushing, heavy, mystical, gurus, warriors, gods. The set could not have been too long.

URSUS - Barbarian Punks!

Got to check out Spain's URSUS a few weeks ago at Härden in Gothenburg . fuck yeah!

Totally raw, unleashed primal crust punk, earthy and gritty with a whole bunch of Black Metal influences thrown in. The band even played barefoot (brave for Härden, don't know what you might step on!)

Some awesome merch including their album which comes in a screenprinted cloth cover - URSUS are worth your time! Go check out!

www.myspace.com/barbarianpunx 

God Bless America

Remember this guy?

Bobcat Goldthwait who is probably most famous for his role as "Zed" in the Police Academy films. Also of course a stand up comic. Well, over the years he has retired from being in front of the camera and gone behind one to direct. As he told VICE magazine recently, he feels much happier now starting from the ground up.

His 3rd latest movie GOD BLESS AMERICA is a total gem set to be a cult classic,

Summed up it echoes the dark dreams and wishes of, I am sure, all of us!

A man faced with dying of cancer decides to commit suicide but changes his mind when he watches a reality TV show about a spoiled teenage girl who gets a car for her birthday but, it's the wrong one....

His next move...kill them all! From here (with help from a young novice) he goes round his town "taking out the trash".

Kind of a modern "Falling Down". But like, more pointless, but fun.

Go see it! Please someone start the copycat killings. 

CAN WE...START AGAIN.

If you are a regular reader of my lil' blog then you will know that recently, it's been dead. Why is this? well, it's because among other things I have been far too busy but also, I have just not been compelled enough to sit by the computer and write about things that piss me off.

Negativity is all good and well and usually I use this blog as my venting platform so I don't need to have that outlet in my "real" life. But...I just don't feel like it's so healthy anymore.

So, with that in mind I do intend to be keeping a semi-regular update to this blog now, but mostly it will just be about cool stuff that we all can check out. Sound cool? Yeah I thought so too!

First up - go check out my new webstore!