Obake! J-Horror / Hausu spoof video

A discussion of J-Horror cinema with Japan Society's director of Film, Samuel Jamier.

Oh, and I also kill people.

Vaura @ Wierd

Vaura’s debut at Wierd last night brought out a range of dark music devotees all poised to encounter this strange, new beast. While there are no recorded tracks available for public consumption yet, this show and the band’s September debut at Lit help to flesh out a few initial impressions of the foursome’s unique sound.

Vaura weaves a wicked metallic skein of dense shoegaze atmospherics pierced by the thrash of rapid fire riffs and overlaid with classic post-punk vocals both dark in delivery and singular in thrust. It’s a collision of genres that’s difficult to describe, but the evocative aura of the music has a bleak, cruel romance pulsing at its core. While guitarist Kevin Hufnagel (Dysrhythmia, Jarboe, Gorguts) and bassist Toby Driver (Kayo Dot, Tartar Lamb, maudlin of the Well) come from experimental and metal backgrounds, drummer Charlie Schmid (Religious to Damn) and singer/guitarist Josh Strawn (Blacklist, Religious to Damn) bring sweeping, melancholic rock to the table. And despite imagery and ethos that may imply otherwise, Strawn’s disavowals of the band’s place in the new wave of black metal serve only to reveal Vaura’s barrier breaking intent and may paradoxically confirm their status as true black believers in the end.

The name Vaura itself holds the key to many of the fecund, contradictive qualities within the music. It’s a winking orificial allusion that emphasizes their forceful feminine insertion of warmer, brighter tones into the steely strictures that constrain (and often limit) thrash, black, and death metal. Within this (v)aurality, there is a dynamic interplay between Hufnagel’s intense, precise guitar lines invoking a masculine, controlled rationality, and Strawn’s clean, emotive vocals with often indistinguishable lyrics that suggest a primal, pre-linguistic return of feminine, corporeally-driven feeling. But lest one get too entrenched in binaries that cut off the bloodflow, the few excellently placed larynx-shredding screams that break up Strawn’s delivery rip the listener from this womb state. These moments serve to (c)literalize the clash of gendered aurality in theory and provide a soundtrack for the collision of sexed bodies in practice.

Vaura sounds like the violent upheaval of wars waged below the waist. With a balance of melody and brute force, there’s none of that clichéd hypermasculine parade of aggression that can be too clumsy to reach those untouched nether regions where labels devolve and dissolve into sounds of pure pleasure. Vaura’s irruption onto a scene badly in need of cross-pollination is a welcome one. The band’s first official release can’t come too soon.

Japan Fashion Now @ FIT

My new vlog for Japan Society, Nihon New York, deconstructs the sharp silhouettes of Japanese fashion. Everything from Issey Miyake to H. Naoto is covered at FIT's cutting (bleeding?) edge exhibition, and as everyone knows, you can't beat a sack dress! Interview with ever erudite curator Dr. Valerie Steele and spot on commentary by Purevile's Wren Britton offset my off-the-cuff meanderings.



P.S. Oshare = fashionable.

Shadowtime: Ressurection

After a period of ritual rebirth, afterbirth, and mourning, Shadowtime NYC is now black from the dead.



Thanks to Hellbiscuit for the pic.

The Devil's Blood

A Dutch outfit dripping in bloodlust, sex, and Satan, The Devil's Blood play 'Horror Soul' swollen with occult eroticism that brings the best of Black Sabbath, Roky Erickson, Blue Oyster Cult and the dueling guitars of Thin Lizzy together in ways you never imagined could be so deviant. Read a full review of their first full-length, The Time of No Time Evermore, over at The Big Takeover, and enjoy the full-on assault of their horn throwing head banging selves below as they ask the ever burning question, "Christ or Cocaine."

Religious to Damn - Glass Prayer

Religious to Damn's first full-length opens with a whispered roar. Strains of acoustic guitar and cymbals introduce "To Love the Machine" in a deliberate slink as Zohra Atash's ethereal vocals melt into the mix. Here and throughout Glass Prayer, she manages a restrained power that's weightless without weakness, showcasing her lithe soprano in a tease that's never too forceful. The first track ends with a metallic echo, seamlessly transitioning into the next.

What's evident even early into Glass Prayer is its wholeness. The deliberate continuation between songs, like a good old fashioned dance record, is not something you hear much on modern rock releases. The result is the feeling of a full album, not a string of singles as is often the default today.

While the sound Religious to Damn create has aural antecents in Cocteau Twins, Mazzy Star, Fleetwood Mac and their ilk, there's a more nuanced narrative playing out in the music. "Drifter" picks up with a driving, semi-psychedelic groove, and the chorus is layered with guitarist Josh Strawn's backup vocals to great effect; it's a less common pleasure to hear a woman on top in the mix with a supporting male voice beneath. On the title track, Atash keeps the fires burning with a punchy vocal melody as a striking bassline subtly prowls by, and "Black Sand" brings the spacious atmospherics with its slide guitar sprawl. Adding depth with her expressive contralto, Tamaryn's guest appearances on "Let the Fires Burn" and "The Bell" are also of note.

Stylistically, Glass Prayer offers up everything from acoustic folk and dreampop to hard rock, all channeled through washes of tempered passion. As the heaviest track on the record, "Terra" shows off Religious to Damn's versatility: Strawn's galloping vamp is reminiscent of a reoccurring theme on Pink Floyd's The Wall and the drums hit hard as Atash breathily repeats "a heart that bleeds does not deceive." The song unravels in epic fashion, ending with a forceful fade out.

Like many great records, a perceptive peeling back of the layers will reveal new and captivating details. Whether it be a percussive chime or a perfectly dissonant harmonium line, it's the hidden treasures that make Glass Prayer so memorable. Mesmeric pleasures abound with each and every listen.

Catch the band live at Lit this Sunday, and check out the entire record, now streaming on MySpace.

Metropolis 2010

Slate provides a slideshow covering the vast aesthetic influence of Fritz Lang's Metropolis, which is now on view with restored, never-before-seen footage at the Film Forum.



There are mentions of the obvious cinematic offspring - Star Wars, Blade Runner, The Fifth Element, and Madonna's "Express Yourself" - but really, just about everything in vogue right now references the dystopian, shadow-laced cityscape of Metropolis...










1. February 2010 Vogue Germany shoot by Karl Lagerfeld
2. 2010 Autumn/Winter line by Gareth Pugh
3. Late 2009 shoot of Lady Gaga by David LaChapelle
4. Late 2009 video of "Empire State of Mind" featuring Jay-Z + Alicia Keys

The list goes on...