In a recent email interview with Spanish newspaper El Mundo, Morrissey has revealed that he's battled cancer—a few times, actually.
"I have had four cancer-scrapings, but so what. If I die, I die," he wrote. "If I don't, then I don't. As I sit here today, I feel very well."
All this news is a little unsettling when one remembers the various cancellations Morrissey has had this past year: 22 United States concerts due to health issues. Pneumonia, an ulcer, Barrett's oesophagus and anemia were all cited as reasons.
"I am aware that in some of my recent photos I look somewhat unhealthy, but that's what illness can do," Morrissey continued. "I'm not going to worry about that, I'll rest when I'm dead."
Arrow Video is excited to announce the UK Blu-ray and DVD release of The Incredible Melting Man, the ‘70s cult classic which saw special effects legend Rick Baker (Thriller, An American Werewolf in London, Men in Black) lend his hand in creating another memorable horror creature. This new edition arrives in time for Halloween on 13th October 2014. Originally starting life as a comedy under the title The Ghoul from Outer Space, writer-director William Sachs clashed with the film’s producers over the tone of the film believing that the studio thought he was making a serious film when he was in actual fact making a parody of the horror genre.
However, despite the clash and the mix of genres, The Incredible Melting Man has had remarkable staying power due to the credible comedic performances given by nearly everyone in the cast, even a group of kids who run into Steve during an ill-fated game of hide-and-seek. Of course, the effects from Baker still manage to turn one’s stomach decades after they were put on film. Additionally, the score by Arlon Ober (and the Cosmic Consort Orchestra) provides a pitch-perfect accompaniment to the on-screen action. Finally, the film looks darn good. Some viewers have complained about the lighting being flat but the restored print makes the film look as good as it ever could be.
The movie will make its UK Blu-ray debut on 13th October 2014 in a newly restored transfer with a host of extra features including an audio commentary with writer/director William Sachs, a Super-8 digest of the film, an interview with legendary make-up artist Rick Baker and an interview with William Sachs.
Alongside this, the Blu-ray disc will also include a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin and a sizable collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film.
Synopsis
Before he turned his hand to lycanthropes in An American Werewolf in London, shuffling zombies in the Thriller music video and hostile extra-terrestrials in Men in Black, special effects legend Rick Baker lent his talents to the creation of another memorable horror creature. Step forward, The Incredible Melting Man!
When spacecraft Scorpio V returns to Earth following a mission to Saturn, two of the crew are dead and the third, astronaut Steve West, is in a critical condition. Critical, that is, until he rises from his hospital bed to bite chunks out of a nurse before escaping into the surrounding countryside. The authorities set about trying to track Steve down before he claims any other victims, but they don’t know the really bad news yet – Steve is also highly radioactive!
The Incredible Melting Man offers up a wealth of show-stopping B-movie moments in its relatively modest running time – chief among them, the scene in which a disembodied head floats down a river only to smash messily on the rocks further downstream – but the real star of the show here is Baker’s ultra-icky special effects work which let you see the Melting Man’s transition in all its gooey, glistening glory.
Special Features
· High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of the feature, transferred from original film elements
· Original Mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)
· Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
· Audio Commentary with William Sachs
· Super 8 digest version of the film
· Interview with Writer/Director William Sachs and Make-up Effects Artist Rick Baker
· Interview with Make-up Effects Artist Greg Cannom
· Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin
· Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film.
Eaves has announced details of his debut EP. The three track As Old As The Grave EP is released on Heavenly Recordings on Monday 10th November 2104.
Available digitally and as a limited edition 7”, the track listing of the EP is as follows:
1. As Old As The Grave
2. Timber
3. Alone In My Mind (For Mannington Bowes).
Still in his early 20s and based in Leeds, having grown up on the other side of the Pennines, the three tracks are a startling introduction to Eaves’ effortless and intuitive songwriting talent.
Equally adept at framing his songs within a band format as he is taking a more simple approach, the EP perfectly showcases his versatility - As Old As The Grave, produced by Cam Blackwood (London Grammar, George Ezra) in his London studio, is grand-scale, while Timber, recorded at the archaic Greenmount studios in Leeds, is a stark piano & vocal take and Alone In My Mind (For Mannington Bowes) features Eaves accompanied by only his acoustic guitar.
Lyrically perceptive & astute and tinged with a world weary wisdom that belies his age, Eaves’ fragile, delicate and haunting songs have an ageless quality. Explaining the songs on the EP, Eaves said:
I grew up in a town where it’s pretty easy to fall into the pace of the place. A lot of hard working people finish their day with drink and lose some ambition in the process, and before they know it a year has gone by and they've rarely left the county. The older I get I start to realise that its not a phenomenon. And more and more I find myself trying to avoid the same trappings. It’s an ancient routine of the working class and I guess it’s pretty hard to shake off. As Old As The Grave touches on that and my own dealings with alcoholism.
Timber is more of a work hard whilst you've got the chance and get the hell out sort of song. It touches on dreams, death, the idea of home, old jobs, and of where I want to be and working out how to get there. Alone In My Mind is a story about Richard Mannington Bowes. He tried to extinguish a fire outside his shop and got attacked by a kid and died in hospital not long after. That was the price for his courage and this song expresses a frustration at the idea of human apathy.
American analog electro artist WVM has released two tracks, 'Empire' and 'Pale Horse' off of his upcoming album "Waves Of Nothing", the release of which has not yet been announced.
'Empire' and 'Pale Horse' were made using analog synths and drum machines, I was heavily inspired by the synth music of the 80s but the songs are not rooted in any era as they sound like they could come from the past, present or future.
About WVM:
WVM is an American analog electro artist located in Los Angeles, California. His debut album "The End is Only the Beginning - EP," released on March 5, 2013 and was produced, composed, performed and arranged by WVM and features Chris Vrenna (Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson) and Josh Freese (Nine Inch Nails, A Perfect Circle) on drums. The album was mixed by Sean Beavan (Nine Inch Nails, Slayer, Marilyn Manson, No Doubt), who also invited WVM to record vocals at his private Blue Room Studio for all the tracks on the first EP.
TRASH KIT have a wild feel for melody, writing songs that pull at the reins with a spontaneous charm. Having formed the band in 2009, Rachel Aggs, Rachel Horwood and Ros Murray have since become the glowing core of London’s DIY underground.
Their music is primal yet thoughtful, affirming yet sincere, drawing on the potential of post-punk and the naturalism of an internal folk music.
They will release their second record, Confidence, on 1st December via Upset The Rhythm. Watch the video for 'Medicine' below...
Although Trash Kit have their forebears in bands like X-Ray Spex, The Ex and The Raincoats, their sound is very much their own take on facing forwards. Galloping polyrhythms, overlapping sung-spoke lyrics and entwining guitars are all drawn together into a taut unity, sounding willfully alive.
As a follow up to their exuberant debut album, Confidence sticks with the “play it all live” pluck we’ve come to expect from Trash Kit. There’s a minimal bent, a lyrical directness, an unadorned ethic that all evokes the sense that the song is being written at the same time as it’s performed. Yet whilst the first album at times felt too fleeting, its succinct songs flashing by so fast, Confidence is startlingly more assured, allowing ideas to develop, conclusions to be gathered. Tracks like ‘Hair’, ‘Skin’ and ‘Boredom’ embrace dynamics like never before. Ros is joined by her previous bandmate Verity Susman (of Electrelane) on a few tracks including the adventurous ‘Shyness’ and lead single ‘Medicine’, lending some fluently inventive saxophone flourishes. It all adds to the heady, sensation of free-falling through the album. A feeling that the horizon has become broader.
In 2010, Trash Kit released their self-titled debut album on Upset The Rhythm, which met with critical applause. The Sunday Times called it “tumbling, spirited and joyously nimble”, whilst it reminded The Quietus that “female punk can sound like cocoons cracking open in full fierce sunlight”. Since then Trash Kit have toured Europe several times, recorded two more 7”s and explored other musical projects as members of Golden Grrrls, Halo Halo, Sacred Paws and Shopping most notably. Writing for their new album started up again in 2012 and saw the band over the last two years recording sets of songs at DIY recording hub Sound Savers with Mark Jasper. When the basket became full earlier this year, the tracks were then handed over to Canadian musician / sound engineer Sherry Ostapovitch for mixing, before they were mastered by Mikey Young (Total Control etc).
Confidence is a robust album with several themes at its heart that keep reappearing. Lyrically the tracks deal with identity, miscommunication, the passing of time and listening closer. Trash Kit are unmatched at making the personal poetic and vice versa, they never become overwrought, they just keep things honest and follow their natural course. There’s a restless energy that abounds, a momentum growing stronger, an alchemy at play between each member of Trash Kit and between each song on Confidence. It’s this reason why we should listen closer, listen to the sum of the parts, listen to ourselves. One day we’ll find gold where once there was only hope.
Confidence is released on December 1st through Upset The Rhythm. The digipak CD is limited to 500 copies, whilst the LP will appear in first pressing on 180g purple vinyl.
Track listing:
01. Beach Babe
02. Medicine
03. Big Feeling
04. Skin
05. Hair
06. Leaves
07. Boredom
08. Cinema
09. Cheshire Cat
10. Teeth
11. Shyness
