Category Archives: editorial

I’m In a Jess Franco State of Mind

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I'm In a Jesse Franco State Of Mind

Blog discovery of the year? It may be a bit premature to say this in APRIL, but it’s hard to argue with I’m In A Jess Franco State of Mind–a blog that’s been discussing Franco since 2006. Franco’s movies aren’t for the faint of heart–most either instantly love Jess Franco or hate him completely. Turntabling is in the first category–Franco is one of the all time greats in one sense or another. He’s a frickin’ genius even if he doesn’t mean it.

From his greatest serious works (Venus in Furs, the Diabolical Doctor Z) to the masterpieces of hysteria and excessive zoom-lens abuse that are Virgin Among the Living Dead and Vampyros Lesbos, Franco is something wholly other–a filmmaker who plays by his own rules and creates freakish worlds populated by perverts, drooling halfwits, innocent victims turned predatory vampires, and halpless cuckold significant others who just don’t get that their old bed buddy has started batting for the other team…which in this case is the living dead.

I’m In A Jess Franco State of Mind has so much wonderfulness for a Franco fan to explore that you won’t know where to begin. Start from the newest posts and just work your way backwards, it’s better that way. That any blog has survived since 2006 is quite impressive, that a blog specifically about Jess Franco has been going so long is nothing short of brilliant. This is our new favorite blog and we don’t mind raving about it.

Shure Whitelabel Integrated Phono Cartridge

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Shure Whitelabel D2 Phono Cartridge record needleA hundred dollar record needle? Well, the DJ in me wants to correct that line to read phono cartridge, but yes, this Shure Whitelabel integrated phono cartridge DOES sell for $100+. Since it’s aimed at party DJs and club DJs, it’s built for heavy-duty use rather than casual record spins–there’s something to be said for a record needle built to withstand an evening of abuse in the club.

And since a DJ can write off the expense of high-end record needles as a legitimate business expense, why not?

Replacement needles are essential for any vinyl junkie, but even more so for the people who spin for a living. What some like about this one, aside from the gold plated connectors or the forward mass design made for better center-of-gravity conditions for playing and scratching, is the color scheme. It’s kinda hard to see a black phono cartridge against the black vinyl in the dim light of a club.

Some record lovers thing a record needle is a record needle. Others are quite picky. We fall somewhere in the middle. It’s enough to be able to spin the LPs at home with decent sound quality from a typical, well-designed phono cartridge…but anybody who wants to play for hours on end three or four nights a week? A rugged design plus the Shure Whitelabel cartridge’s adjustable overhang (50mm – 54mm to help maintain the forward and backward adjustment of a standard-mount headshell, letting you tweak the adjustment whether you’ve got an S-arm or a straight-arm turntable) means you should probably take a look at a couple of these.

WTF Bad Album Covers: The Best Heavy Metal Album Ever

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WTF Bad Album Covers

It’s not the artwork that makes this one of the worst covers we’ve seen all month, it’s the last word printed on the cover.

There’s only one thing sillier than putting a nancy-boy glam band like Poison on a heavy metal compilation album…and that’s putting a nancy-boy whine-rock band like NICKELBACK on a heavy metal compilation album. That this piece of crap is called The Best Heavy Metal Album In The World Ever AND features a Nickelback song is proof positive that morons rule the world, and we are their slaves.

OK, not ALL of us, but at least the suckers who actually BOUGHT this. Sorry, but the fact that Motorhead shows up here does NOT redeem the album. The Best Heavy Metal Album Ever is, in all possibility by Motorhead…so ignore this and go listen to March Or Die instead.

I hate to go on and on here, but Nickelback? METAL? The very name is the stupidest thing you’ve ever heard. Nickelback is by far one of the absolute worst of the whiner bands in recent memory. They started off as unlistenable angst-whiner rock and went downhill from there to balladeering craphounds. All whiners, all the time. What a bunch of tossers. And now…this. Rock on, dudes. And Nickelback.

Wow, that was a lot of venom directed at the gents in the N-word band. I feel better now. Lighter.

J. Wallace

Tenebre Soundtrack Vinyl…The Last of the Last?

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Goblin Tenebre LP vinyl albumIt’s been fun, but it looks like the fun is about to end. We have it on good authority that the much-beloved Tenebre vinyl LP released by Dagored is finally going out of print. Once they are gone from your local record stores, they are gone unless somebody in Italy changes their mind and decides to run up some more of these.

What does this mean for us, the rabid record collectors, Goblin junkies, soundtrack lovers everywhere? Unfortunately, in the same vein as the much sought-after release of The Beyond soundtrack, prices on any remaining copies of Tenebre on vinyl released by Dagored will probably go through the roof.

The Beyond OST soundtrack CD by Fabio Frizzi already sells for $199 US for a new, sealed copy. That is utter MADNESS, don’t you think? Used copies of the CD sell for about $50. Will this also happen to the much beloved Tenebre soundtrack? Probably.

Turntabling itself has sold out of the Dagored vinyl release of Tenebre–it flew off our table at the HorrorHound Weekend show in Indianapolis, so alas there will be no profiteering from us thanks to the lack of Tenebre vinyl…however we are always looking for more copies and rest assured, if we find them we will put them up for sale here–without the $100 price tag, thank you very much!
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