We found our blog's biggest fan. For his own safety, he will remain anonymous but we've agreed to let him write some dispatches from above ground. From now on when you see an "And Now, This" you'll know it's from our favorite SubT stalker. What madness lurks in his mind today?
Some of the Sub-t(le) blog staff here are all into this Halloween thing, but personally scary movies give me the creepy-crawlies. I still have nightmares from watching the Tobe Hooper '79 made-for-tv version of "Salem's Lot." (Ed. - They made a 1987 version "Return to Salem's Lot" that our less-than-intrepid writer has neither seen nor had to discuss in therapy, he claims.) All the more reason to question me posting this little slice of nightmarish tom-ghoulery from one of our fave artists Aesop "Check Out My Intestines" Rock. Equal parts "Thriller", Dawn of the Dead, Halloween II, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown (not really, but it sounds better, doesn't it?), this video is pretty darn solid for our Halloween roundup and timeless with all the scary movies coming out these days.
Me, personally, I'm into Rom-Com's. The only advice I have for Aesop is "Help Me Help You" and give me the homage video to the great classic Jerry Maguire. (Ed. - This writer really does love Jerry Maguire.)
It's finally Halloween right? That's why people are dressed as slutty cats and Harry Potter on the subway?
Here's another missed scary (or at least paranormal/weird) opportunity. The Welsh band Catatonia, which really spent too much time being a vehicle for lead singer Cerys Matthews, with their video for "Mulder and Scully". It was released in 1998, so The X-Files wasn't exactly in it's prime, but still. No aliens, no unexplainable phenomenon...just what looks like the L.A. police tracking them down in an office maze.
Things you probably love: My Bloody Valentine, The Crow (at least the soundtrack) & disenfranchised early 90s L.A. bands who hated hair metal and did the exact opposite.
Hence, you love Medicine (they are the "U.S. response" to that whole shoegaze thing, they were featured in that movie & they are the epitomy of anti-Sunset Strip from L.A.).
Their trippy video for "5ive" is like a visual summary of 120 Minutes from 1989-1993. You know, before they decided it was an ok idea to slip in 311 and the Cranberries.
We're gonna start the Halloween-bashing early.
Let's talk about videos that should be scary but aren't. We'll try to be fair about this, since many goth videos didn't age well, but we've really got to shout out the entire Sisters of Mercy video catalogue. Ok, granted that Sisters of Mercy choose to disassociate themselves with "goth" and prefer to think they're more of a straight rock band. We'll just accept that and say that Sisters and, oh let's say, Nine Inch Nails are the same type of non-goth goth bands.
The difference is NiN made some creepy, dark, scary videos. Sisters of Mercy? Always look like they're hanging out in SoCal or perhaps at a resort near some ancient Mexican ruins while wearing black leather. Occasionally you'll find them in a well-lit post-apocalyptic club or warehouse.
Maybe it's just us, but of all the non-goth goth bands out there Sisters of Mercy are the least scary but with the most potential. We totally love "Walk Away" though. 80s potential fully realized, but still not scary.
We're hot on the psychadelic stuff that's floating around now that everyone's all shoegaze-y again. These dudes from New York called My Best Fiend made a video that exploits that Hype Williams aesthetic while still looking like Trainspotting if it took place in a clean room.
Maybe we're amazed.
And you're getting tricks instead.
Go to MTV.com for last night's episode of Subterranean plus some gore/hilarity/just inappropriate Halloween videos.
We are happy to tell you it includes Alien Sex Fiend, TV on the Radio, Mogwai, Joy Division, Ministry, Ryan Adams...we could go on and on. In fact we did. On MTV.com.
Hello boys and ghouls...mwahahahaha. This Sunday night's edition of Subterranean will be a very special Halloweinie episode. Some scary videos, some videos that just scare us. Lots of new stuff too! We've been saving some special treats (and tricks) for you. Check in again here on Monday cos we spent all day today developing an extra-long bonus video playlist for you with our favorite scary and pseduo-scary videos.
You know, from reading all of this you'd think we really love Halloween or something but...uh, we're blowing the whole thing off to go see Ryan Adams on All Hallows Eve this year. We just can't seem to find the right Slutty Nurse costume. And it's the only thing scarier than Hostel going down this year.
Until then...
You know how Carl Newman's neice is in The New Pornographers now? And she's really good?
We just this week stumbled across this video from 2005 by her other band, Immaculate Machine. They're on Mint Records in Canada, which happens to be the New Porn's original label. It is so hilarous and lovely. Immaculate Machine opened for the New Porns at one of their recent NYC shows but we are sad to report it wasn't the same night we went to see them - or else we're certain we'd be raving about it to you.
Here's what's crazy - the album that "Broken Ship" was on was released in 2004 and yet even then they were cool enough that Owen Pallett (aka Final Fantasy) arranged string parts for them and Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand provided backing vocals.
While we're on that topic, make sure you head to MTV.com to get a free download of The New Pornographers latest single "Challengers".
We've been taking a trip through the MTV video archives today while we put together a special spooky Halloween bonus playlist for this week's Subterranean and in the course of it we've come across some really good videos.
This Kraftwerk one for "The Telephone Call" though - wow. Haven't seen it in years. It's a real must watch.
