Here is a short but sweet homage to one of my favorite groups, Tangerine Dream, and one of my favorite films; The Keep.
I watched The Keep when I was young and was so enamored by it. Not just the story and atmosphere but at a young age I took notice with how a killer score can really bring out the finest nuances and elements that latch on to what visuals you are experiencing on screen.
I hope you enjoy. If you do, please support and share.
This is an album inspired by the life and work of Jean Cocteau as well as themes of lies and deception mixed with control. Somehow all these concepts are thrown into a blender and out comes Candlesticks of the Apocalypse link below.
Here is the link to my new album. Fairly proud of how this one turned out considering it was my first album entirely made up of real instruments. Nothing virtual was used.
The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre was one of the first films I remember watching as a kid. I was maybe 8 or 10 when I saw it and it really was one of those experiences I played over and over in my head.
I had even started putting together a tribute song back when I was midi recording on my old Atari 1040st back in the early 90’s. Not sure what became of that recording. But this is a new one I had been working on off and on for the past few months. I contains samples from TCM, TCM2, TCM the game, TCM Netflix and others, strung together with old synths and some guitar. Hopefully you enjoy it as much as can be enjoyed.
D, Enemy Zero, D2…legendary survival horror originals all from the mind of Kenji Eno. I remember playing D on the PlayStation when it came out and while frustrated by its difficulty and timed experience I was impressed by its atmosphere and story. I would go on to read an article in GameFan magazine that really impressed me about the man, the myth, the legend. Enemy Zero would, again, be hard as fuck, but engaging and original but it was D2 on the Dreamcast that one my heart and mind over. I was obsessed with it. Not wanting to wait for the US release, I imported it and with the help of GameFaqs.com I was able to play it and complete it twice in a language I didn’t understand. Of course, when the US port came out I would beat that one a couple times as well. I still have my import copy that I go back to from time to time.
Years later I would message Eno-San on Live Journal, My Space and then Facebook before his untimely passing. His responses to me would be short but very warm and friendly.
Fast forward to 2020. I started putting together a few songs dedicated to his creations. I’ve been tinkering with them on and off and hope to release them soon as an EP dedicated to his memory. Hopefully I can get them out before the end of the year, if not, early 2024.
Any horror fan who has read my blogs or knows it’s no secret that I am heavily influenced by David Cronenberg’s 1983 masterpiece cautionary tale; “Videodrome”. Cathode Ray Terrors, itself, was inspired…okay, pretty much lifted from Videodrome; I just modified the ‘T’ to mean Terror instead of Tube yet this cancerous pirate broadcast channels does impart terror thru the tube. Thru the retina of the mind’s eye, as foretold by professor Oblivion.
Yet for all the fandom and admiration I have never written about Videodrome, its importance to me and its relevance to our current day state of constant need for over stimulation. My lovely wife, just last night, pointed out how during a sleepover for my youngest, the 4 little girls all aged between 9 and 10 were all multitasking between watching a movie right in front of them and interacting with their cell phones and tablets simultaneously. Kids today can’t even sit and watch a something on one screen, they have to have visual information shot at them from every angle.
David Cronenberg predicted this 30 some odd years ago. Of course, he took it a bit further. But remember I called it a ‘cautionary tale’. Max Renn’s thirst for badder and bolder content to air on Civic TV Channel 83 drove him to depths he was not prepared for, unveiling a sinister plot, a global conspiracy to control the masses thru the seemingly harmless television set. And what’s so different today? We’ve upgraded from CRT sets to flat screen plasmas, LCDs, LEDS, OLEDS and now beautifully curved, 4k screens that sucks you in and makes you its slave in all its high definition glory. We have 3D tvs, Oculus VR head sets not too dissimilar from the set Max gets to try out in Videodrome.
The 80’s answer to OculusWhile there are other films that illustrate various types of ‘crowd control’ thru media, to me, none is as effective…as perverse, as Videodrome. As I write this blog, the ominous sounds of Howard Shore’s eerie score oscillate out my speakers. I can almost see them breathing, throbbing…yearning to be touched. I can listen to this score over and over and I feel it’s one of Mr Shore’s finest.
If you’re still reading this you have probably caught on that I am not really reviewing Videodrome…just rambling on about it…a fair assessment. I didn’t set out to review a 34 year old movie so much as to simply comment on its importance and relevance. You may disagree on how high of a pedestal I place this film on and, if you do, it could be because you have already experienced a video signal similar to Videodrome and it’s control is gestating deep inside your brain and there is no hope for you; you’re hooked. And maybe that’s the point of the film. Not so much a cautionary tale but a lamentation because we are already defeated. Sensory overload has already happened. What’s the solution to this disease of mind control thru over stimulation? Well, there’s Max Renn’s solution, which I won’t reveal here, or, there’s mine; get the balance right. Disconnect when you can. Don’t get sucked in…easier said than done. Especially since you’re probably reading this on your phone while something else is playing on your 4k flat screen right in front of you.
Me, posing with my copy of issue #25 of Fangoria. One of my oldest issues. In the end, will watching Videodrome make you a different person? It just might. Definitely worth the trip, trust me. I’ve been taking it for years.If you know me and want to watch reach out and I’ll screen it. I never tire of watching.
cathoderayterrors.com 