The soundtrack to Dario Argento's Suspiria is still one of the loudest, creepiest and most effective scores used on a piece of celluloid to date. Argento's demented fairy tale/Grand Guignol horrorfest is still just as creepy and unsettling as it was when I first spotted it playing on a drive-in movie screen in the 1970s. I had no idea what it was--I was too young at the time to know what I was missing--but Suspiria later made the rounds on HB0 and Showtime where it made believers out of creeped out kids all over America. Check out the Goblin soundtrack on this trailer for the restored version of Suspiria. Argento claims a collaboration with Goblin on this one, but I truly believe that the credit for this belongs squarely with the performers themselves--Goblin may have gotten some coaching from Argento in the studio, but listen to the realization of these sounds and marvel. Goblin has had some decidedly gawdawful results when they aren't on their game, but here they hit all the marks with skill and a precision that predates later sonic attacks along the same lines by Skinny Puppy by many years. Bravo!

I do NOT for a SECOND believe that cassettes are coming back the way vinyl already has. But tapes do keep appearing on my radar lately, quite a lot actually. Example, right down the street from my house at Laurie's Planet of Sound there is a cassette tape which actually tempted me--a Chris Connelly release I'd not heard of before due to being either out of touch or the tape itself being...gasp...new? Then there's the Ohio-based Everybody's Records, which proudly displays the mighty cassette tape rack shown above. I don't know why anyone would shell out four dollars for one, but they advertise .99 cent tapes, too and that wouldn't be a hard sell if the cover art were intact and you are a completist. Everybody's Records--from the photos--looks like an amazingly cool place to shop. What is it with Ohio and their excellent record stores? I am always impressed when I go there...it seems to be an endless supply of great indies. I don't get the appeal of the cassettes these days, but I suppose nostalgia must be part of it...do the sellers of cassette tapes also sell cassette players, too? If not, they should. Ditto for anyone selling 8-tracks. Otherwise ...

Yes, we've gone over to the dark side here....but I do love the idea that you can update Twitter and the blog at the same time. I do love the simplicity of Twitter and actually thought it might replace blogging for a bit, but I see now the utter folly of that notion. In other news, purchased the Criterion version of Border Radio, more on that after it arrives and I can review it. Two months ago I scored the once-rare vinyl LP soundtrack for the movie which features the Flesheaters, Divine Horsemen and Chris D. I love this movie and it's even more fascinating now in light of the fact that the music business as depicted in Border Radio all at once no longer exists AND is the same as it ever was. I love contradictions and dichotomies.

Ever struggled to keep a DJ set tight for six hours? It's a DJ gig hell-ride, to be sure...but there are a few things you can do to survive a very long set, whether you're spinning in a club, doing on-air DJ work or playing a party or wedding. I've done extended sets in just about every one of these situations--on the air, parties, you name it. Naturally the setting you're doing your DJ work in dictates a lot about how you manage a very long night, but there are a few specifics I've found apply no matter what. This ain't a guide to how to make your DJ segues flow or how to keep the club jumping, this is more about keeping your body feeling as close to top form as you can get in hour number four, five and beyond. Blood Sugar is a huge factor. When you load up with a lot of carbs, sugar or alcohol, the crash is coming, believe it. Your DJ set will be much better if you've packed a protein bar or two and keep some kind of carb control snack on hand that's formulated to level out your blood sugar. You WILL feela ...

by Joe Wallace Technics says their Technics SL-DZ1200 was the world's first Direct-Drive Digital Turntable. I don't care if it's the hundred and first, the idea that you can carry around your library on a removable SD card is pretty sweet--even if it does feel totally contrary to nature. While digital turntables are no longer hot-off-the-presses front page news in the DJ world, Technics is still one of the warhorse names in the business and it's no surprise they'd try to dominate in the digital realm as well as with the analog turntables. The Technics SL DZ1200 supports CD, MP3 and AAC formats. In light of my previous post on Christian Marclay, I do wonder how this DJ gear will enable a whole new crop of DJs who I'd label "post music" performers. Imagine doing a set comprised solely of manipulation of your library of samples rather than actual songs. Consider that you wouldn't even need to create a proper playlist if you were skilled enough with the manipulation of a pile of self-created samples. Sounds like a challenge waiting to be taken up by anyone with enough dosh to shell out over $1100 apiece for these digital monsters. The specs on the ...

by Joe Wallace My first exposure to Christian Marclay was though my bandmates in Crevice. In 1999, some of the Crevice crew hooked up with Marclay to do an art show in San Antonio, Texas at the Art Pace gallery. The show, according to Uncle Buzz Records (the label home of Crevice, Pink Filth, Paisley Babylon, and others) to be an "audio/visual event using hundreds of Christmas records (Marclay) collected while in town. Interesting enough to combine DJing with art galleries; moreso that the idea was to create new music from a collection of thousands of Christmas records. Ever since then I've been intrigued by Christian Marclay and his body of work. I don't think DJ culture has been the same since Marclay, in the same way that tape manipulation art hasn't been the same since John Oswald. [ad#Google Adsense] Marclay has been described as a "Dadaist DJ." He may be a DJ but is far from a club kid knob twiddler. For starters, he studied sculpture at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston Marclay has been involved in a number of collaborations with high-profile names in music. The term DJ or turntablist is really inadequate for Marclay--he's gone far beyond club ...

Morricone rightfully gets a ton of respect for his soundtracks, but by comparison fellow soundtrack wizard Roy Budd is woefully underrated. Check out this trailer for Get Carter, which features great soundtrack sounds by Budd throughout. Budd has a nice double disc set featuring some of his best work. Get Budd: The Soundtracks is a worthy investment if you love those 60s action/heist/gangster movie sounds, or if you want to see what else Budd got up to after Get Carter. The movie itself is excellent, Michael Caine really tops himself in this...he's the prototype for Bruce Willis, Stallone, even Arnold had to take some cues from Caine in this film. Chuck Norris is a toffee-nosed stripling compared to Caine in Get Carter...Nobody in the entire world comes as close. Standout moments in the trailer include the totally naked Caine chasing a couple of gangsters out of his room with a shotgun...let's see Norris try THAT. On second thought, maybe not.

I seem to remember seeing one of these great Crosley turntables at Target, of all places. I really love the old-fashioned design of this Crosley record player, combined with the built-in CD player. My friends in Hyperbubble have a Crosley record player in the guest bathroom, the perfect place to chill out to some glorious vinyl albums which relaxing in a hot bath. Add an ice cold beer and you have perfection. Best thing about the Crosley picture here? It's under a hundred bucks. Those old Devo records never sounded better than when you're relaxing in the bath after a rotten day's work.

What happens when you replace the cartridge of a standard turntable and replace it with a tape recorder head? What happens when you create a giant sticky pile of shredded cassette tape on a record platter and spin it on your newly mutated record player? You get this kind of insanity courtesy of F7 Sound and Vision. I have to say, tape manipulation was never THIS bizarre...I love this for reasons I can't even begin to fathom. You can even hear the results of this mad experiment, though I found myself wishing you could hear snippets of what was actually recorded on the tape as this "played" on the record player. John Oswald, beware! This site also gives you instructions for creating a similar experiment using FLOPPY DISKS. [ad#Google Adsense] (Right after I wrote this I found a second Mp3 sample where you CAN hear mutilated bits of what was on the original tapes before they were shredded and mashed like this. Bravo!)

Many thanks to all who came out for Zombie Disco at Chicago's Viaduct Theatre. A great time, tons of tunes, and the zombies were out in full decaying regalia. I spun for FIVE HOURS and let me tell you, that's a musical kamikaze mission if there ever was one! Was great to have the turnout  of what seemed to be  the majority of Chicago Horror Society members on this--the undead came out in force and were truly appreciative of the DJ disco attack. The evening started with Throbbing Gristle, ended up with some dub reggae, with a staggering collection of disco classics and obscurities thrown in between for good measure. I really enjoyed mashing up Throbbing Gristle with German disco sounds in the beginning of the set. This site has been a bit sleepy as of late due to massive work, but we are still breathing and prepping for a new massive attack of vinyl-related goodness. Stay tuned. In the meantime, special thanks to the Horror Society crew and all who attended to make the Zombie Disco night a great success!