"Cherry" by Chromatics

A new video for the song "Cherry" by Chromatics was released the other day. It was directed by Alberto Rossini, with additional footage shot by Adam Miller.



The song will be featured on the Italians Do It Better sequel compilation After Dark 2, along with a few other Chromatics songs. You can download the song for free from bandmember Johnny Jewel's SoundCloud.

New EP and new "Ice Age" video by How To Destroy Angels

"Ice Age" is another song from An Omen, the new EP by How To Destroy Angels. The song is a pretty big departure for the band stylistically. When asked about the song in a recent reddit Q&A, Trent Reznor said, "We were experimenting around with the juxtaposition of something familiar and almost folky sounding sitting in a very cold and sterile environment. (Lead vocalist) Mariqueen had this melody that would have been happy living in a Fleetwood Mac record, and we created this plucky accompaniment that sounded acoustic but was anything but. Then we put all that in the freezer."

There is also a beautiful music video for it, which is directed by John Hillcoat. Rob Sheridan is again featured in the video.



An Omen EP is out now, by the way. You can buy and download it from the band's online store, as well as many other places where you can purchase music. You can also listen to it for free on the band's SoundCloud, or on the player embedded below.

"Keep It Together" by How To Destroy Angels

I've been excited to hear new material from How To Destroy Angels. Two of the band's members are Academy Award winning film score composers Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor, who are also known for the band Nine Inch Nails. How To Destroy Angels' first release was an EP in 2010 that I enjoyed quite a bit. They also had a cover of "Is Your Love Strong Enough?" in David Fincher's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, a movie which Ross and Reznor did the score for. They have a new EP coming out called An Omen, which is sort of a sampler for the full length album that will be coming out some time in 2013. They have a new single called "Keep It Together" which will be on both the EP and the album, and there's a music video for it featuring the band playing the song in their beautiful studio.



One thing about the video that's very interesting to me is that the guy playing the French Connection is the band's art director / photographer Rob Sheridan. He's been a part of the band since the beginning, but I didn't really expect him to have a musical role in it, just a visual one I guess. I've been a fan of his photography and art for many years, but I believe this is the first time I've actually seen him playing an instrument. In my opinion he fits right in.

You can download their first EP for free or preorder their new EP on their online store. On the band's SoundCloud, there are two remixes of "Keep It Together" for free download as well. One by Factory Floor and one by TV On The Radio's Dave Sitek. You can also download the unremixed version of the song.

"Tears From Heaven" by Desire

I'm a huge fan of Desire, which is one of Johnny Jewel's bands. Their debut album is one of my favorite albums from recent years, and I've been very patiently looking forward to hearing more from them.

Yesterday they released a music video for the song "Tears From Heaven" which will be featured on the Italians Do It Better sequel compilation After Dark 2, along with another new Desire song called "The Nightshift". I am really looking forward to the whole compilation, and it should be out sometime soon. To hear the first After Dark compilation, check out the newly remastered version on Johnny Jewel's SoundCloud.

Anyway, I didn't post this yesterday because I wanted to post the Glass Candy song yesterday, being as though it was Halloween and everything. Like Glass Candy's "Halloween" video, the video for "Tears From Heaven" was directed by Alberto Rossini.

"Halloween" by Glass Candy

Happy Halloween!

Apparently last year I forgot I had a blog for several months and didn't post this song, so I'm posting it this year instead.

The song was written by Johnny Jewel's band Glass Candy as an homage to the classic John Carpenter movie, Halloween. It's perfect for Halloween mixes, and for Halloween party playlists. The video for the song was directed by Alberto Rossini.



To read the lyrics or download the song, go to Johnny Jewel's SoundCloud.

Werewolf Balls redux: Giving the people what they want.

I posted an entry on April 4th, 2011 where I wrote a little bit about an anatomically correct werewolf figure I found at a toy store. The figure was so detailed, with not much left to the imagination. You could clearly see the shapeshifter's shaft and bollocks bulging in its tight and torn blue shorts. Composing that sentence made me feel like I was writing a romance novel. Stephenie Meyer has got nothing on me.

About a year after originally posting the story I started noticing that my blog was getting a lot of page views from people searching on Google for phrases like "werewolf balls", "werewolf testicles", "anatomically correct werewolf", and my personal favorite, "what do werewolf balls look like". I've been seeing these phrases in my blog stats pretty regularly ever since then too. Maybe it has something to do with the popularity of Twilight. It all seems rather strange to me, but who am I to judge? These werewolf testicle enthusiasts probably don't do anyone any harm, right? So what do I care if they're into lycanthrope genitalia?

When I first wrote about this wolfman and his fantastical 'nads, I had no idea there was such a rabid fan base. That and also mostly the fact that my fellow shoppers and I didn't have a camera kept me from posting photographic evidence of this creature's bulge. When I started getting so many hits from people specifically seeking werewolf balls, I had the urge to give the people what they want. I was planning to make another post with photographs, but every time I went back to the store with my camera, they didn't have the werewolf toy. I had done some internet research and found out the company that makes the figures is Papo.

In my research I found some wonderful things. There were no specific mentions of the detailed anatomy of the figure, but there were sentences so funny that it's very possible the people who wrote them are in on the joke. For example, on one site there was a warning about the toy that said, "Choke Hazard - Contains Small Parts". Reading that had me laughing for several minutes straight. On the Toys "Я" Us website, I found a review of the figure that said, "I hope that Toys "Я" Us makes more products like this and makes them in other sizes as well, because I like werewolves in all sizes. Meaning small, medium, and large." I bet you do, buddy. I also found out how god damn expensive these figures are. In that original blog entry I called the werewolf toy cheap, and I guess I just assumed they were because they seemed like the kind of action figures poor kids get. These figures don't even have any articulation! I found several pictures of the figure, balls and all, but I really wanted to post my own photos, so I kept bringing my camera every time I went to the mall, hoping they'd restocked the werewolf figures. After so many visits to the mall without ever seeing another figure I was starting to wonder if the store had gotten complaints about the werewolf and stopped selling it.

Well, finally the other day I was at the mall, with my camera in tow, and on the shelf of loose Papo figures, there was a lone lycanthrope, junk and all. Rather than just taking photos of it and parting ways forever, I actually purchased it, adopting this bally werewolf to take home and raise as my very own. Besides just kind of wanting to own it after all we'd been through together, this way I could take my time during the photo shoot. I feel like I owe good photos to these people who pay visits to my blog over and over again looking for the goods. This is my gift to you, weirdos. I hope you appreciate it.

I hadn't noticed before that the blue shorts were unbuttoned. Maybe they changed the mold since I originally saw it. What a strange toy.

And now for the sexy close-up shot you all came to see...

The werewolf figure is now at home on my Halloween mood table.

Another new addition to the table is Cadbury Screme Eggs, and I'm very happy to add them to my Halloween experience this year.

Minecraft Halloween

I decorated my Minecraft house for Halloween!

I'm really looking forward to some Halloween fun in the new Pretty Scary Update. Witches, bats, pumpkin pies... Should be a great time!