3/31/11
The Man Behind The Mask Is Looking For The Book With The Pages Torn Out. He Is Going Towards The Hiding Place.
"Once upon a time, there was a place of great goodness, called the White Lodge. Gentle fawns gamboled there amidst happy, laughing spirits. The sounds of innocence and joy filled the air. And when it rained, it rained sweet nectar that infused one's heart with a desire to live life in truth and beauty. Generally speaking, a ghastly place, reeking of virtue's sour smell. Engorged with the whispered prayers of kneeling mothers, mewling newborns, and fools, young and old, compelled to do good without reason ... But, I am happy to point out that our story does not end in this wretched place of saccharine excess. For there's another place, its opposite: A place of almost unimaginable power, chock full of dark forces and vicious secrets. No prayers dare enter this frightful maw. The spirits there care not for good deeds or priestly invocations, they're as like to rip the flesh from your bone as greet you with a happy "good day." And if harnessed, these spirits in this hidden land of unmuffled screams and broken hearts would offer up a power so vast that its bearer might reorder the Earth itself to his liking."
And There's Always Music In The Air
That's right dear readers. For 24 hours only, The October Country will be acting as your gateway to the expanded soundtracks of the legendary Twin Peaks scores. Why are we doing this you ask, and why only for 24 hours? Well, for starters, we meant to post this awesome item a few months ago in celebration of Twin Peaks' 20th Anniversary but much like everything else we meant to get to, we didn't due to us just starting out as a website and not being able to find the time to get the project together (more on those details in a moment). Then David Lynch's birthday snuck up on us, which would have been the perfect momentous occasion but again, it came down to time, or the lack thereof. So now, we're throwing this up just because. Or rather, because there is always a time to celebrate the collaboration between Mr. Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti that resulted in one of the small screen's (and later the big screen's) most recognizable, inventive, toe-tapping, eerie, stylish and plain ol' awesome scores (not to mention Grammy winning).
That and a few more reasons starting with this, Reason #1: The original Twin Peaks soundtrack released at the time of the show's airing, is out of print and no longer commercially available to fans. As is 2007's follow up second volume of additional music Twin Peaks: Season 2 Music and More and the soundtrack to the franchise's silver screen endeavor, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.
Reason # 2: I'm guessing that many of the tracks contained herein will never be officially released in any form. Which is sad news for diehard fans.
Reason #3: After closing up shop last year, David Lynch's website has recently relaunched at The David Lynch Music Company, wherein he is releasing previously unavailable music (Twin Peaks pieces and other Lynch related material) on a weekly basis. Which is why we feel it would be nice to give you guys a retroactive selection from which to build your Peaks music library, and why ultimately, these links will only be available for 24 hours; you should heretofore visit The David Lynch Music Company and purchase his additional releases. Hopefully this post will get you excited enough to do just that, as all Peaks fans should be supporting this amazing business outing he is embarking on. Lord knows, many of us have prayed for just such a day since the series wrapped up in the early nineties.
What's so special about the albums being posted here you ask? Well, here is the lowdown. The tracks consist of the original out of print release, the season two release, currently still never released numbers (thanks in part, to qbin2001 at Lynchland.eu) ripped directly from the DVDs and cleaned up of nearly all dialogue, noise and sound effects (really, I've heard many of these kinds of projects and qbin2001 has done an stellar job), non-score music tracks used in the series and lastly, the newly released tracks gifted to us by David Lynch himself. I think that it is safe to say, that the albums below are without a doubt, the most complete collections of Twin Peaks music to date. Many painstaking hours were put into the arrangement of the albums. Anal retentive perfectionist that I am, I wanted to ensure that each individual album flowed from beginning to end and that variations of familiar themes were not bumping up alongside one another. If the albums were collected as originally released, the overall effect is a lot less cohesive (seeing as how the majority of the recurring themes were found solely on the first soundtrack). Additionally (being a completest), songs such as The Swan are contained here also. The Swan, with vocals by regular Lynch collaborator Julee Cruise, was not used in it's entirety on the show, but musical cues from it can be heard throughout the series. Thus, it's inclusion. Anyway, I think that you get the idea.
If there is any doubt that for a brief amount of time David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti were crafting some of the most ethereal, haunting and game changing music on network television, well here then is your proof below. The music of Twin Peaks coming to life in such a way that it was damn-near an additional supporting character on the show; characters themselves become nearly possessed by it's influence, breaking out into impromptu swaying and dancing by it's presence. (for more on this argument, see Kathryn Kalinak's essay "Distrubing the Guests with This Racket": Music and Twin Peaks from the must-own Full of Secrets: Critical Approaches to Twin Peaks). And listening to it even now as I type this, I can't help but feel possessed by it myself. Enjoy dear readers!
Twin Peaks Volume 1
1. Always Music In The Air
2. Twin Peaks Theme
3. Laura Palmer's Theme
4. The Nightengale
5. Americana (Original Version)
6. The Josie Story
7. The Arrow
8. Shelly
9. The King Must Die
10. Freshly Squeezed
11. Piano # 1 (Ben & Tojamura)
12. Josie And Truman
13. Pennsylvania 6-5000
14. The Norwegians
15. Colonel Rielly
16. Ransom Instructions
17. The Mill Deal
18. Discussing Windom
19. Audrey's Prayer
20. Annie & Cooper (Sleazy Audrey)
21. Confrontation
22. Cop Beat
23. Just You (Instrumental)
24. High School Swing
25. Night Bells
26. Dance Of The Dream Man
27. Love Theme From Twin Peaks
28. Falling
Total Running Time: 1.2 hours
Link:
"Where we're from, the birds sing a pretty song and there's always music in the air."
Twin Peaks Volume 2
1. Good News
2. Twin Peaks Theme
3. Packard's Vibration
4. Rockin' Back Inside My Heart
5. Americana (On The Road)
6. Fear Is The Key
7. New Shoes
8. Windom And Leo / The Letter
9. Jones And Truman
10. Twin Peaks Theme (Alternative Version)
11. Lana's Theme
12. Letter From Harold
13. What A Wonderful World
14. Windom Earle's Theme
15. Barbershop
16. Ben's Interrogation
17. When Ben Comes Marching Home
18. Audrey
19. Windom's Deck
20. Harold's Theme
21. Frosty / Candy's Dandy
22. Just You
23. Hook Rug Dance
24. Falling (Nostalgia Version)
25. Drug Deal Blues
26. Into The Night
27. The Giant / You Forgot Something
28. Love Theme Intro
Total Running Time: 1.6 hours
Link:
"I love this music. Isn't it too dreamy?"
Twin Peaks Volume 3
1. Let's Rock
2. Twin Peaks Theme
3. Laura's Theme (Piano Version)
4. The Swan
5. Josie And Jonathan
6. Americana (Extended Mix)
7. Closure / The Owl
8. Dick Tremayne's Swing
9. 24 Hours / Removing The Pawn
10. Audrey's Dance
11. Behind The Mask
12. j' Attendrai
13. Hayward Boogie
14. I'm Hurt Bad
15. The Living Novel
16. Ronette Recognizes BOB
17. Chess & Message From Windom
18. The Bookhouse Boys
19. Americana (Cheerleader Tryouts)
20. Lana's Dance
21. Freshly Squeezed (Bass Clarinet Version)
22. Twin Peaks Theme (Piano Version)
23. Night Life In Twin Peaks
24. Don't Do This To Him
25. The Wolrd Spins
26. Dark Mood Woods / The Red Room
27. Love Theme Farewell
Total Running Time: 1.4 hours
Link:
"Lets Rock."
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (Expanded Soundtrack)
1. I Am The Arm
2. Theme From Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
3. The Pine Float
4. Sycamore Trees
5. Don't Do Anything (I Wouldn't Do)
6. Deer Meadow Shuffle
7. Half Heart
8. A Real Indication
9. Questions In A World Of Blue
10. The Pink Room
11. Blue Frank
12. The Black Dog Runs At Night
13. Laura's Dark Boogie
14. Best Friends
15. Moving Through Time
16. Nightsea Wind
17. Montage From Twin Peaks: Girl Talk / Birds in Hell / Laura Palmer's Theme
18. The Voice Of Love
19. Requiem In C Minor
Total Running Time: 1.4 hours
Link:
"Do you know who I am? I am the arm, and I sound like this..."
A final reminder to keep your eyes trained on The David Lynch Music Company in the near future for more exciting releases to the Twin Peaks music library.
*Editor's Note:
All the downloads on here are for evaluation/preview purposes and if you download something that you like, then you should buy the DVD, CD, tape, or vinyl it comes from. Thanks
Poster Art Appreciation - Volume Four
Many fans today, fed up with studios' uninspired Photoshop hack jobs in regards to both modern movie posters and re-releasing older films with new, boring DVD covers, have taken to personally restoring old poster art in DVD cover form or creating entirely new pieces that recall the glory days (proving that there is no contest for most fans on which form of advertising is preferred and I say the more power to them). Their heyday may be far behind us, but the appreciation of true works of art such as these still lives on in many a horror enthusiast's heart
Nightmare Castle (1965)
Don't Answer The Phone (1980)
Burn Witch, Burn (aka Night of the Eagle, 1962)
The People Who Own The Dark (1976)
Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)
Hell Night (1981)
City of the Living Dead (aka The Gates of Hell, 1980)
Death Ship (1980)
Blood Bath (1966)
Demonoid (1981)
Funeral Home (1980)
C.H.U.D. (1984)
And Now The Screaming Starts (1973)
Pontypool (2008)
The Body Snatcher (1945)
3/28/11
I Get A Lot Of Money For You, And That Makes You MY Bitch
"I've been all over the world. You know, I've been everywhere and the bottom line is: Pussy is pussy. You know, every strip club, every whore house, every... It's all the same shit. You know, I just fucked a girl two days ago and I don't even remember the color of her tits. But this... This is something you never forget, right? RIGHT?"
Score One For Fandom
Coming off of a week full of personal hardships and frustrating distractions, there was one bright spot that shone through all the bullshit and cut a very promising light through the dark. I am talking of course, about the fact that FOX gave an early 4th season renewal (and a full 22 episodes at that) to it's ratings challenged science fiction-cum-horror-batshit-crazy-fantasia, Fringe. Elsewhere on The October Country, we had urged you dear readers, to get your (read: anybody with a television set) heads out of your collective asses and start paying this amazing, challenging show some attention. Did that happen? I'm thinking no. After moving to it's new night and time on Fridays (a move that spelled certain death for the series), it premiered strongly (well, for a Friday night) but as February became March, it's ratings continued to slide deeper into numbers that even the most diehard fan struggled to excuse as acceptable and the writing was seemingly on the wall; Fringe was most certainly a goner. Every Saturday morning at The October Country headquarters was mess of anxiety and apprehension as we reluctantly crawled out of bed and made researching Fringe's numbers from the previous evening our first order of business. At first, we were elated with those numbers. Show runners Jeff Pinker and J.H. Wyman (in addition to FOX president Kevin Reilly) had previously stated that if Fringe retained it's previous Thursday night audience (direly low already) after it's migration, then it would be considered a win for the network, as they would have not seen numbers like that on a Friday in ages. Of course this argument was always dismissed as public relations BS (as was any hopeful notions of the show's renewal) and countered by some "ratings expert" that in no way could this be considered a "win" as Fringe is insanely expensive to produce, and with numbers in that region, FOX would be losing money on this show, not gaining it or even breaking even. Every argument for the show was curtailed by these "experts" in one way or the other. It usually went something like this:
Fan: "But Fringe has a very high DVR audience!"
Expert: "It matters not you silly sod" would come their rebuttal "Advertisers don't care about your DVR numbers."
Fan: "But it sells well on DVD as do all the other profitable merchandise related to it's name."
Expert: "It matters not you fetus. They can milk more money out of you nerdy twits by throwing conventions for the show and hosting cast reunions for years down the line."
Fan: "But it's two years away from being able to be bought up for syndication!"
Expert: "It matters not you nunce, two years is two years too long for your geeky show to stay on the air. Plus it's hard to follow.
Fan: "But it's spring! All shows across the board slip in their ratings this time of year. People want to go outside and watch it later at their convenience."
Expert: "It matters not you titted idiot. Your show sucks and it is still hard to follow." And so on.
However, at first it did retain it's Thursday audience, despite the nay-saying and negativity that it couldn't (hence our elation). Then those ratings begin to slip and we the fans, began to sweat. Then those ratings slipped even further (culminating two weeks ago in it's lowest audience share in it's entire history, though it has since rebounded) and we the fans resorted to outright panic and nail biting and in many cases, delusional outpourings arguing for a continuation of our beloved show. The prospect of waiting until the end of May, to hear that FOX was officially cancelling Fringe (up until last week, a certain foregone conclusion) was more than most of us faithful viewers could bear. Then just a few days ago, the unexpected (understatement of the highest order) happened. FOX surprised everyone but coming out two months ahead of the time they had to deliberate on Fringe's fate and announced that indeed, they were picking it up for another full season. Say what?
I've certainly been too busy counting my blessings to spend an inordinate amount of time sitting around wondering why Fringe experienced this unlikely turn of luck. If I think on it too hard, it boggles my mind into nonsensical oblivion really (like three toke's from Walter's special blend of Brown Betty). Taking into account it's ratings, which 99.9% of the time are the only thing that matters to a network, this shouldn't have been it's fate. This despite the rabid fans. This despite the near-universal critical acclaim. It should have been kapoot. Done. Gone. Finito. Yet, here we are closing in on season 3's conclusion and happily (second understatement of the highest order) anticipating it's 4th. Whatever the reason is that Fringe will be returning to us is the fall, I'm too busy still celebrating to get too caught up in the speculation. But lets not yet put our fears aside and rest. When dealing with a show this dense and complex, we're very likely to be right back here again next year; second guessing it's future and bemoaning the fact that most people would rather watch Jersey Shore than devote 40 minutes of their time to having their brain flexed. But until that time does or does not arrive, I would like to take a moment to thank the writers, the producers, the amazingly talented cast (some of whom have been playing no less than three characters this season) and crew for delivering what has been not only my favorite season yet, full of colliding universes at war, vortexes swallowing American cities whole, inexplicably floating corpses, evil shape-shifters, an awesome shout-out to Twin Peaks' Doctor Lawrence Jacoby (not to mention casting Twin Peak's Joan Chen as Walternate's mistress, kudos), the most moving character development to date and more weirdness than I have the time to detail in this sentence, but for also delivering what has become one of my all time favorite genre serials to grace the small screen, ever. Congrats you guys! For once, it appears as though substance and quality triumphed over the all mighty dollar and rating's shares.
Herein lies FOX's official press release for Fringe's 4th season renewal and Fringe's executive producers Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman reactions to said announcement.
FOX RENEWS “FRINGE” FOR FOURTH SEASON – IN BOTH UNIVERSES
FOX has renewed critically acclaimed thrilling drama Fringe for a fourth season, it was announced today by Kevin Reilly, President, Entertainment for FOX Broadcasting Company.
“Fringe has truly hit a creative stride and has distinguished itself as one of television’s most original programs. The series’ ingenious producers, amazingly talented cast and crew, as well as some of the most passionate and loyal fans on the planet, made this fourth-season pickup possible,” said Reilly. “When we moved the show to Fridays, we asked the fans to follow and they did. We’re thrilled to bring it back for another full season and keep it part of the FOX family.”
Fringe co-creator and executive producer J.J. Abrams said, “We could not be happier that the fans of Fringe (and our most excellent partners at FOX) have allowed us to continue telling stories from the fringe for another season!”
“This early pickup comes at a perfect time as we start production on the Season Three finale,” added Fringe showrunners and executive producers Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman. “We join the cast and crew in thanking our loyal fans and FOX for allowing us to have this much fun telling stories we love.”
Since moving to Fridays (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) in January, Fringe is averaging a 2.2/7 among Adults 18-49 and has established itself as Friday’s No. 1 series in the core adult demographic.
Created by J.J. Abrams & Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci, Fringe is produced by Bad Robot Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. Abrams, Bryan Burk, Jeff Pinkner, J.H. Wyman and Joe Chappelle serve as executive producers, while Kurtzman, Orci and Akiva Goldsman are consulting producers. Additionally, Pinkner and Wyman serve as the series’ showrunners. Become a fan of the series on Facebook at www.facebook.com/fringe and follow the series on Twitter at www.twitter.com/fringeonfox (@fringeonfox).
The best bits of Jeff Pinkner's and J.H. Wyman's reactions via The Hollywood Reporter:
The Hollywood Reporter: How surprised were you by the renewal?
Jeff Pinkner: We might be foolish but no, we were not surprised. [Laughs] FOX has been supportive throughout this process, from the beginning and certainly this season, wall-to-wall. They told us they were thrilled with the show creatively, the number wasn’t exactly what they would’ve hoped for but they know the audience is deep and loyal and returns, and that’s valuable to them. The critics have been so supportive and they were up front when they were moving us to Friday night that it wasn’t one step closer to the door, it was actually a, “Hey, if the audience follows us to Friday night, we’re in great shape.” And the audience did.
We started to hear word back and forth between FOX and Warner Bros. What would the show look like next year over the past couple of weeks? So when a literal call came in yesterday, we were thrilled, but not necessarily surprised.
THR: How did the cast react when they were told?
Pinkner: The cast, they were thrilled. Ecstatic.
J.H. Wyman: When you get to this point, so many people have been saying since we moved [from Tuesdays] to Thursdays — the initial move — “That’s the end. That’s it. They’re done. It’s over.” FOX kept saying, “Well wait a minute, we’re trying some stuff out here. We believe in this show.” So every single step along the way, people have been killing the show before it was dead and I think that [the cast] became a little bit immune to those types of things and realized, “OK, we believe in what we’re doing and we’re going to just consistently do the best work we can and the chips will fall where they may.” They’re saying, “I would love to not have to give up these characters, but I’m living for today.” They were very appreciative.
Pinkner: No matter what, you create a role for a moment in time. That moment in time could be 10 years or it could be three episodes or it could be a stage play or a movie that lasts; the character lives on but the role doesn’t. No one was mourning the patient. Everybody had the highest expectation that they were coming back. Yet, the call is still thrilling.
THR: It helps that [Fox entertainment chief] Kevin Reilly is a big supporter of the show …
Pinkner: It’s the Sally Field moment: “They like me!”
Wyman: Kevin has been a supporter and a believer in the program since the get-go. Like Jeff said, they’ve been completely up front and straight the entire time about what their plans are strategically, what they’re trying to do. It’s not an easy place to be in their positions. A lot of fans have supported this program, the press has been so incredibly kind. Without that, who knows? I don’t think that we wouldn’t be here, but the truth is, they did exactly as they said they were going to do and kept us informed the entire way. I’m sure they get tons of phone calls all the time about, “Hey man, you know you did the wrong thing this one time but we believe you did the right thing.” People should call them and say, “Nice job!”
THR: Can you talk about the big DVR numbers that the show gets?
Wyman: Jeff and I both felt at the beginning, when we start to see what was happening on Thursday nights, we realized a lot of people want to watch Fringe, they just don’t want to watch on Thursday nights. We start to talk about conceptually what does Thursday night mean to the viewer. We landed sort of on, well, it’s sort of a romantic comedy night. People are watching Bones and then they’re going over to Grey's [Anatomy]. It’s sort of a heavy pill to sit down and watch a science-fiction show in the middle of that. They were watching, they just told us when they wanted to watch it so we were confident that the fans would follow us to Friday.
The DVRs now, we’re in a weird evolution when it comes to how are we tracking shows and who’s watching them and advertisers, I’m sure they’re also asking, “How do we track this? How do we sell now? What does this look like?” I know for sure that the DVRs were definitely a part of the decision, they would have to be.
THR: Now that the season is wrapping up, what can viewers be expecting leading up to the finale?
Wyman: Consistently, we’ve tried to have a new chapter begin at the end of the seasons. The first season was the Twin Towers and the second season was Olivia over there. This one will have the same effect that, sort of the beginning of a new understanding of the program.
THR: Has there been a plan in place story-wise for Season 4?
Pinkner: We don’t have all the episodes written but we have the framework of a plan for the next series.
THR: Can you tell us anything about what you see happening in Season 4?
Pinkner: [Laughs] We can’t, sorry. We have to let Season 3 finish first.
You can read the full article at THR.
Fringe airs Fridays on FOX AT 9PM.
We're Back...I Think
Or, I hope. After an entire month of stops and starts and unexpected delays, The October Country is back in business. I know if one were to look at the amount of posts we've made in March, you'd probably wonder why it is that we're drawing attention to the fact that we haven't been around in a week. Surely, we post more often than some better known, more frequented websites out there and they never feel it's necessary to apologize for their occasional absence. Well, the truth of the matter is that it bugs me. If I had it my way, we'd post 10 -15 articles or items a day. Unfortunately my aspirations for what I want The October Country to be outweighs my ability to realize those goals, currently. Life just has a habit of getting in the way like that. Marriage, work and the unfortunate need for sleep, there is always something. Though occasionally I have help from outside sources every now and then, I am just one guy desiring to do the workload of 10. I've have been asking potentially worthy parties if they might be interested in occasionally contributing to our site and though the response has been positive, their follow through has been...lacking. So we'll see what becomes of additional contributors in the future I guess.
The reason we've been absent this week is because our sole computer caught a nasty virus (Antimalware Doctor) and despite all of our efforts to save it, ultimately we had to completely wipe it clean and start anew. Yes, I'm still fuming. Long gone and lost forever or multitudes of items that I had written or was intending to write about for The October Country. Long gone and lost forever are very important links to information for future posts that I'll likely never track down again, so numerous were their numbers (there were tears). However, we are attempting to pick ourselves up by our bootstraps and soldier on. So enough moaning and groaning eh'? On with the show!
3/20/11
Videodrome
Jogger - Nephicide
How heartening is it when you recognize in some little prepubescent, pint sized terror, a bit of yourself at that tender age? Obsessed with death, destruction, mayhem and a general snubbing of one's nose at the plasticized, bright and shiny environs of suburban life, the two little devils in Jogger's endlessly amusing Nephicide music video, are definitely one of us. If your daily life consisted of all those fake happy smiles, who wouldn't don corpse paint and vomit blood on skaters? Though as a teenager, I didn't personally slather my face in the stuff my attitude and shitty disposition towards that particular world was the same. You just know these two are sitting in the back of a theater screening some horror film they snuck into, smiling in amusement at the dismemberment on screen and that dear readers, lands them squarely in the middle of the The October Country crowd. Nephicide's amazing video is directed by Matthew Robinson, the co-writer and co-directer (along with England's current king of wit Rickey Gervais) of The Invention of Lying, and here Robinson brings the same keen eye for subtle social commentary and explosive dark comedy that he did to that overlooked gem. As for Jogger themselves, Newbandday.com had this to say about them:
"Jogger are Amir Yaghmai and Jonathan Larroquette, from Los Angeles, CA with a sound that is so diverse that at one moment your spacing out to a Ratatat beat, then pulling back your headphones from death metal mayhem then you cruise in for a smooth landing with Erland Oyesque vocals. It’s very good and unique enough to help them rise to the top of the Silver Lakers".
I couldn't agree more or say it better myself, so I won't. Save to say this, this is awesome fucking stuff right here kids!