I'm still not sure where to put these when I'm in an episode of Street Trash. I put the last one I did here as well. So this week's is all about Stranger Things and therefore, this post is going to contain spoilers. I'm going to post the video before talking about it so I don't spoil that as well (yes, it has everything to do with Matty-Bob's pick, you know Matty-Bob, Matty-Bob of the Chester's Cloudy Ice rejection letter).
As I deleted my old blog when I cleaned up my website, some of you reading this may not know that for many years, I hated horror. Like I despised it, every though I was writing it. It wasn't the content. Rather surprisingly, no one was forcing me to watch or read content I didn't want anything to do with (yes, I know, I'm as surprised as anyone typing that sentence out). It was the people around me either creating a fictional version of me which was nothing like me (that created a lot of problems in my life that were completely unnecessary), trying to make me my stuff more extreme (even though I always considered myself an experimental writer) or saying I was the only one doing something as I posted about today. And then arguing with me about it because apparently life must be an argument (that's bullshit, these people are just toxic). And this was after years of the people around me before them not letting me watch Hollywood slashers (but uber violent Japanese films were fine because they didn't come out of Hollywood and that person was obsessed with Donnie Darko by the way) or insults for reading Stephen King.
So yes, despite working in horror, I hated it so much. I just wanted people to leave me alone, not argue with me and let me unwind a bit, but that didn't happen until a) the law changed and b) the #metoo movement. It wasn't until I finally signed up for Netflix that I started enjoying it again and that is down to Stranger Things followed by Haunting of Hill House (despite the jump scares). I'd still hate horror if it wasn't for being able to watch Stranger Things, in my own time, not on a binge. I was able to sit there, knitting or trying to get my drawing skills back and really enjoy it and take it in. This was before Stranger Things 3 (which I really enjoyed by the way), but after season 1 and 2.
I was excited for season 4 and it did not disappoint.
And this is where the spoilers kick in....
Up to season 4, the songs were just there. Sometimes in the background, sometimes when the characters were doing something. And there's songs in season 4 that everyone has forgotten about already.
Season 4 did something a bit different with two of the songs this time. They used the Kate Bush song to pull Max out of Vecna's trance. And that introduced Kate Bush to a lot of people. Some people are pissed off about this (not me, I have more important things to care about and I never really liked Kate Bush, I was familiar with the song because Placebo, who I do like, covered it years ago).
Then there's that fucking amazingly epic scene with Eddie in the Upside Down playing that Metallica song (I think I spelled that right, I don't care for Kate Bush, Metallica however I really don't like at all). Even as someone who doesn't like that type of music, I appreciated that scene (and now, apparently, people are pissed off because Metallica are a bit more popular than they were six weeks ago - they were fucking really popular to begin with and in terms of that particular type of metal, they're like an introductory band, kids hear them first, buy their albums and merch and then get into other bands without ever really losing their love of Metallica, so their audience is already of a mixed age with fans coming onto the scene being younger as the band themselves age).
The mission for this episode of Street Trash...
Find a song for Stranger Things 5. If you've already watched the video above, you know the criteria. If you don't know, or are new to my blog, I am running on empty. I was stretched too thin for too long and now I have my dream job, all my energy is going into that (not like I didn't pour all my energy into building a business or freelancing, and then trying to build them up again when the people around me would tear them down, but that's taken its toll on my health over the years). So I'm tired and sick, but Drew has caught my interest with this one because Stranger Things is so very special to me. There's obviously a big time difference between LA and Liverpool so I saw the call for this episode of Street Trash when I woke up before work. It didn't leave much time, but I left a comment while having my morning coffee (I'm usually writing at that time, so I don't interrupt my pre-work routine for no reason) that he'd have a video from me.
With my first episode of Street Trash, I stuck to a Liverpool theme. It is nice to make these things a bit local.
But I wasn't thinking of Liverpool. I was thinking of Coil. Coil hit the criteria. There's even Coil songs that are definitely in that time frame. But I couldn't find the release date of Horse Rotorvator. If I'm going to introduce Coil to a new generation, it is going to be with a song off that album. It was released in 1986, but I have no idea what month. I could have picked another song, but I didn't want to. So that's a no to Coil, although their cover of Tainted Love did make my rejected list (and I think it is on the spotify playlist, you can interact on the godless pages and get songs added to the playlist etc. - I can't get a godless social media page to load, but type in godless horrors into whatever social media you are using and find the post for this episode of street trash).
Then I thought of Liverpool. A lot of music came out of Liverpool in that time frame. I actually listen to some Echo and the Bunnymen and a lot of OMD (I love OMD). I think I would have been pushing my luck with Echo and the Bunnymen and OMD. Remember, I'm tired. I don't want to film something and then for it to not be good enough and have to go film it again. And I had been announced for this episode before I had sent in a video. I could stick in Liverpool, or I could go further afield.
I nearly did stick to Liverpool and went with Frankie Goes to Hollywood (check out Matty-Bob's insane rant at the end of Street Trash). That would have required me listening to music I'm not particularly familiar with while I'm at work. I know a grand total of three Frankie Goes to Hollywood songs.
If you've made it this far, you're probably saying to yourself, isn't Ultravox your favourite band? Don't they pull you out of the early stages of a PTSD episode? And surely they released albums during that time frame? The answer to all of these things is yes. I rejected Ultravox for the same reason I rejected OMD and I think an Ultravox song was needed in ST3, not ST5. Remember, this isn't songs that would pull me out of Vecna's trance (really any synthpop or post punk would do that anyways, as I stated in my segment). And, given the direction Stranger Things took in season 4, Ultravox wouldn't have worked. Yes, they're dark. They're really fucking dark. (Seriously, given them a chance, put on their albums and if you like black metal, as a lot of black metallers like Ultravox, you could even try Midge Ure's solo stuff - the production quality on some of it is nearly as bad as a Burzum album). But they're dark in a way that would have worked when Hopper was in the Gulag or at any point during ST3 (why isn't Ultravox on the ST3 soundtrack?).
So I've now completely rejected my favourite band. I was teasing on the facebook thread for this. I said I pretty much only listen to post punk and synthpop or something along those lines, but I do listen to some other music (I might have even said industrial and pointed out that I couldn't find a release date for the Coil song I wanted). Drew came back with I better not pick People Are People (terrible song on an otherwise good album, it is a bit jarring to say the least) or How Soon Is Now (I'm sure the desire to punch Morrissey or worse would pull anyone who is even remotely goth out of Vecna's trance, but that's about it). Plus I think The Smiths and Depeche Mode (their like five songs that are appropriate for a younger audience) would be too obvious for Stranger Things. So I basically rejected two entire music genres for being obvious.
I wasn't about to sit at work all day listening to Frankie Goes to Hollywood. I needed music I actually liked. And that's when I thought of Skinny Puppy. Everything about them fit. Absolutely everything. It was perfect.
And that is the thought process I put into picking a song while walking to work one morning.
Below is the song I picked if you can't find the spotify playlist (I use Apple Music and not Spotify so I don't have it). And on that thought, I'm going to cook dinner, finish the laundry and relax (although I do have an author takeover event to prepare for).
So yes, despite working in horror, I hated it so much. I just wanted people to leave me alone, not argue with me and let me unwind a bit, but that didn't happen until a) the law changed and b) the #metoo movement. It wasn't until I finally signed up for Netflix that I started enjoying it again and that is down to Stranger Things followed by Haunting of Hill House (despite the jump scares). I'd still hate horror if it wasn't for being able to watch Stranger Things, in my own time, not on a binge. I was able to sit there, knitting or trying to get my drawing skills back and really enjoy it and take it in. This was before Stranger Things 3 (which I really enjoyed by the way), but after season 1 and 2.
I was excited for season 4 and it did not disappoint.
And this is where the spoilers kick in....
Up to season 4, the songs were just there. Sometimes in the background, sometimes when the characters were doing something. And there's songs in season 4 that everyone has forgotten about already.
Season 4 did something a bit different with two of the songs this time. They used the Kate Bush song to pull Max out of Vecna's trance. And that introduced Kate Bush to a lot of people. Some people are pissed off about this (not me, I have more important things to care about and I never really liked Kate Bush, I was familiar with the song because Placebo, who I do like, covered it years ago).
Then there's that fucking amazingly epic scene with Eddie in the Upside Down playing that Metallica song (I think I spelled that right, I don't care for Kate Bush, Metallica however I really don't like at all). Even as someone who doesn't like that type of music, I appreciated that scene (and now, apparently, people are pissed off because Metallica are a bit more popular than they were six weeks ago - they were fucking really popular to begin with and in terms of that particular type of metal, they're like an introductory band, kids hear them first, buy their albums and merch and then get into other bands without ever really losing their love of Metallica, so their audience is already of a mixed age with fans coming onto the scene being younger as the band themselves age).
The mission for this episode of Street Trash...
Find a song for Stranger Things 5. If you've already watched the video above, you know the criteria. If you don't know, or are new to my blog, I am running on empty. I was stretched too thin for too long and now I have my dream job, all my energy is going into that (not like I didn't pour all my energy into building a business or freelancing, and then trying to build them up again when the people around me would tear them down, but that's taken its toll on my health over the years). So I'm tired and sick, but Drew has caught my interest with this one because Stranger Things is so very special to me. There's obviously a big time difference between LA and Liverpool so I saw the call for this episode of Street Trash when I woke up before work. It didn't leave much time, but I left a comment while having my morning coffee (I'm usually writing at that time, so I don't interrupt my pre-work routine for no reason) that he'd have a video from me.
With my first episode of Street Trash, I stuck to a Liverpool theme. It is nice to make these things a bit local.
But I wasn't thinking of Liverpool. I was thinking of Coil. Coil hit the criteria. There's even Coil songs that are definitely in that time frame. But I couldn't find the release date of Horse Rotorvator. If I'm going to introduce Coil to a new generation, it is going to be with a song off that album. It was released in 1986, but I have no idea what month. I could have picked another song, but I didn't want to. So that's a no to Coil, although their cover of Tainted Love did make my rejected list (and I think it is on the spotify playlist, you can interact on the godless pages and get songs added to the playlist etc. - I can't get a godless social media page to load, but type in godless horrors into whatever social media you are using and find the post for this episode of street trash).
Then I thought of Liverpool. A lot of music came out of Liverpool in that time frame. I actually listen to some Echo and the Bunnymen and a lot of OMD (I love OMD). I think I would have been pushing my luck with Echo and the Bunnymen and OMD. Remember, I'm tired. I don't want to film something and then for it to not be good enough and have to go film it again. And I had been announced for this episode before I had sent in a video. I could stick in Liverpool, or I could go further afield.
I nearly did stick to Liverpool and went with Frankie Goes to Hollywood (check out Matty-Bob's insane rant at the end of Street Trash). That would have required me listening to music I'm not particularly familiar with while I'm at work. I know a grand total of three Frankie Goes to Hollywood songs.
If you've made it this far, you're probably saying to yourself, isn't Ultravox your favourite band? Don't they pull you out of the early stages of a PTSD episode? And surely they released albums during that time frame? The answer to all of these things is yes. I rejected Ultravox for the same reason I rejected OMD and I think an Ultravox song was needed in ST3, not ST5. Remember, this isn't songs that would pull me out of Vecna's trance (really any synthpop or post punk would do that anyways, as I stated in my segment). And, given the direction Stranger Things took in season 4, Ultravox wouldn't have worked. Yes, they're dark. They're really fucking dark. (Seriously, given them a chance, put on their albums and if you like black metal, as a lot of black metallers like Ultravox, you could even try Midge Ure's solo stuff - the production quality on some of it is nearly as bad as a Burzum album). But they're dark in a way that would have worked when Hopper was in the Gulag or at any point during ST3 (why isn't Ultravox on the ST3 soundtrack?).
So I've now completely rejected my favourite band. I was teasing on the facebook thread for this. I said I pretty much only listen to post punk and synthpop or something along those lines, but I do listen to some other music (I might have even said industrial and pointed out that I couldn't find a release date for the Coil song I wanted). Drew came back with I better not pick People Are People (terrible song on an otherwise good album, it is a bit jarring to say the least) or How Soon Is Now (I'm sure the desire to punch Morrissey or worse would pull anyone who is even remotely goth out of Vecna's trance, but that's about it). Plus I think The Smiths and Depeche Mode (their like five songs that are appropriate for a younger audience) would be too obvious for Stranger Things. So I basically rejected two entire music genres for being obvious.
I wasn't about to sit at work all day listening to Frankie Goes to Hollywood. I needed music I actually liked. And that's when I thought of Skinny Puppy. Everything about them fit. Absolutely everything. It was perfect.
And that is the thought process I put into picking a song while walking to work one morning.
Below is the song I picked if you can't find the spotify playlist (I use Apple Music and not Spotify so I don't have it). And on that thought, I'm going to cook dinner, finish the laundry and relax (although I do have an author takeover event to prepare for).