If you’ve been a longtime reader of the Bloglin you probably then know that a bunch of us have a thing for 70s/80s character actor Joe Spinell (R.I.P.), who is probably best know for his starring role in William Lustig’s slasher classic Maniac. While perusing my Netfix queue yesterday I noticed that The Last Horror Film AKA Fanatic had recently been added to the Watch Instantly feature. The film has long been out of print, but thanks to the good folks at Troma it just got added back into circulation for all us gorehounds to enjoy.

Done a few years after Maniac, The Last Horror Film is Spinell’s only other starring role in a film. Once again Spinell doesn’t disappoint playing what he plays best… a deranged, delusional psychopath! This time he’s NY cabbie Vinny Durand who heads out to the Cannes Film Festival in an attempt convince Scream Queen Jana Bates, played by fellow Maniac alum Caroline Munro to star in his directorial debut, The Loves of Dracula. Of course poor Vinny is  a total creep and can’t get anywhere near Jana which of course leads to some people close to her getting the axe!

Unlike the ultra gritty Maniac, The Last Horror Film was done with a tongue firmly planted in cheek. Spinell’s Vinny Durand was a whole lot like Frank Zito but this time we get humorous inner monologues, dream sequences and the best part… conversations with his mother played by Spinell’s actual mother. If you’re a fan of Maniac I can’t begin to recommend this film enough!

Here is a new mix from the mysterious St. Mandrew. Lady of Sorrow is for all of you who are into the darker side of bass filled electronic madness. Enjoy!

Download it Here!

White Rabbits - It’s Frightening (2009) [TBD] // Grade: C

Originality is vastly overrated, at least when it comes to White Rabbits who pull all the smartest moments from Spoon, Radiohead & The Walkmen in crafting their Metamorpho of Indie Pop. But White Rabbits are pretty damn adapt at taking those band’s familiarity and turning it into a whole album of pleasant and catchy songs, that truth be told held me more enthralled than most of the aforementioned bands recent efforts. So all things considered It’s Frightening could have been a whole lot worse, but outside some excellent percussive melodies and the unorthodox use of dual drummers, this is the sort of album that is just as equally enjoyable as it is forgettable.

This is definitely one for the car stereo of soon-to-be Hipster Soccer Moms who want to get that Prius a rockin’ in between spins of Passion Pit’s new album.

Last week I gave you a little taste of our Summer 09 Keep Watch New Eras, today i’m going to give a bigger bite of the Summer season’s New Era selection. First up are two new colorways of the Death Adder and Bear Mop fitteds. We’ve got a Black/Grey Adder with Orange and Pink highlights and an Oakland A’s inspired friend. On the Bear Mop tip we’ve got an all black cap with a Black Mop on a Neon base. And since the Death Adder got a Baseball companion, we felt it would be only fait to give one to the Bear Mop with a retro Phillies inspired colorway.

And finally we’ve got two new styles. The Watchdog fitted features the little guy some of you may have noticed on our Summer Polos. Well here he is in all his glory, a Greyhound body and a Simon head… WTF? Then we have the Bat Reaper, which is Simon as the visage of death with a Bat as his cloak. Again, WTF? Both are available in Black and Grey.

*Fingers crossed* These should be available this Friday at 350 Broadway as we start our Memorial Day Weekend Sale Extravaganza!

I think that actually does it for Summer New Era styles… but we have loads of snapbacks that some of you may remmeber we leaked via our Twitter about a month ago!

Isis - Wavering Radiant (2009) [Ipecac] // Grade: B+

For the past decade or so, Isis have been one of the most consistent and challenging bands on the planet. The sort of band that categorizing them as anyone thing is not only challenging but takes away from everything they’re able to accomplish album to album.

Wavering Radiant is continues on a progression that was started on Oceanic and ends up right where In the Absence of Truth left off… polishing up some of those rougher edges in their career long pursuit in finding the balance between beauty & brutality. Wavering Radiant juxtaposes Isis’ trademark, dense and pummeling assault against the sort of textural melodies that for the first time scream of their own identity, just as easily as they are content with being part of a greater atmospheric tapestry.

The tension is thick on Wavering Radiant, the years of growth and refinement pushing and pulling until finally hitting the sort of creative crux whose intensity makes this not only Isis’ most accessible album, but one of their most rewarding ones as well.

I have started writing about the things that I hate on this blog, but lo! I am not merely a creature of hate, wriggling amongst the snakes and serpents. I also am a creature of divine love who adores the things that make life worth living. One of those things that I loveth is to write the way Thor speaks. Yea, most verily!

Another thing is old television commercials for undrinkable swill! Here’s my fave-o-rites! That one at the top features the Average White Band playing pinball, singing about the powers of Schlitz and then a bull explodes through an arcade cabinet. Oh, the majesty! Here are some more-eth!

“Beer makes it good/ There’s no debate/ beer makes it good/ Schlitz makes it great!” That is a jingle that will jangle you.

Here are some black people in the seventies thinking up new gross ways to mix fruit juice with malt liquor. Yuck.

This one’s my favorite. Two young attractive kids are hanging out in the middle of nowhere when a totally creepy woman who reminds me of Granny Gross comes out and encourages these two tennis players to get their fuck on by lubricating the hump ignition with some liquid garbage. Then she rides off on a motorcycle and pops a wheelie. “Now doesn’t that wine taste good?” I’m a little mystified by Motorcycle Grandma’s closing statement,”One sip and it’s Strawberry Hills forever!” I’d like to think that Strawberry Hills is the asylum she escaped from and made the wine in. Also why did she think trading a bottle of opened wine for the young lovers motorcycle was a fair trade?

Keep your internet tuned to this bloggle if you want to read more about the things that make me feel love and hate.

I’m actually not cool at all, but I am in the newest issue of Ollie Magazine.

I’m rocking a t-shirt from our soon to be released Summer 09 collection, (Spolierz!) and if you look below you’ll see a “BASS” hat. WTF?! (More Spolierz!) In the bottom photo I tried to make my hands mummy-like. How did I do?

Sonic Youth – Dirty (1992)

Vs.

Alice In Chains – Dirt (1992)

The Game is simple… if only one could exist which would it be?  What’s more important… personal relevance, cultural significance, or simply being the better album all other things aside? Choice is yours…

Eminem – Relapse (2009) [Aftermath/Interscope] // Grade: D+

It’s 2009 and not likely that the real Slim Shady is ever going to stand up again, so when I sat down to listen to Marshall’s latest offering (and first in almost five years) I’ll admit that my expectations were set pretty low. The only track I had found enjoyable and worth listening to more than once was “Crack A Bottle” and it wasn’t even a solo effort. Would this album join the ranks of Encore, a solemn reminder that even the best of the best fall prey to success?

While listening to Relapse, I thought about Em’s career and why it continues to nosedive instead of resurrecting with an album on the level of say The Blueprint. Songs like “3am” and “My Mom” feel like he’s trying to reinvent the wheel and set the album off on a relatively flat note. It really isn’t until the last half of this album that Eminem really starts to deliver anything worth keeping on repeat until you decide to download a leaked copy of Blackout 2. Coincidentally, the best tracks on Relapse are blessed by Dre, particularly “Old Times Sake” and the aforementioned “Crack A Bottle.” The Doctor definitely seems to still have what it takes, so will Detox just come out already?!

Will Eminem ever record another album with the impact of his mainstream debut The Slim Shady LP or it’s follow-up The Marshall Mathers LP? Probably not. At this point in his career, he’ll never be able to make everyone happy, which may be why Relapse fails to rise above the level of mediocracy that seems to keep the mainstream content. It would take a leap of blind faith into the deep end for Eminem to ever record a convincing follow-up to The Slim Shady LP, and I’m talking about some real weirdo Kool Keith conceptual shit. Until then, expect boogie man raps and song about pills, pussy & paraplegics.