Category: Film

Vapor Vespers: Ghosts Before Breakfast

Vapor Vespers 
Drops Sophomore Album 
Ghosts Before Breakfast

Acclaimed transcontinental duo Vapor Vespers are back with Ghosts Before Breakfast (Bad Egg Records), their second long-playing release. The follow-up to their critically-acclaimed 2020 debut, One Act Sonix, this 10-track collection of music-powered spoken word will be available via Bandcamp (pre-sale April 5) and streaming services including Spotify beginning May 3, 2024.

Vapor Vespers is the brainchild of NYC and Hudson Valley-based multi-instrumentalist/producer Sal Cataldi (aka Spaghetti Eastern Music) and award-winning Alaska playwright, actor, slam poet and sometime standup comic Mark Muro.  The pair’s musical and personal relationship dates back to their teen years in Queens, N.Y., where they bonded over their love of boundary-pushing musicians like Sun Ra and Frank Zappa and the recordings of writers and music-powered spoken word icons like Lord Buckley, William Burroughs, Charles Bukowski, The Last Poets and John Cooper Clarke. 

The duo’s latest collection ups the ante on the cool grooves, intense guitar riffage, synth textures and the verbal hijinks and narrative absurdity showcased on their debut, something underground radio institution WFMU calls “a supremely cool fusion of spoken word and progressive sound.”  Highlights from the 10-track collection include:

  • Sex – Cataldi’s soundtrack is a slow-creep funk/electro modal blues reminiscent of latter-day Jeff Beck, one on which Muro sleepily riffs couplets that illuminate what sex is.  “Sex is a big basket of shiny red apples and a good sharp knife… Sex is a time bomb under your seat and a dog sleeping at your feet… Sex made a monkey out of Darwin and a man outta King Kong… It’s how I got here and how I wanna go.”
  • Valise – The duo’s audio salute to film noir, a thriller-cum-mystery narrative driven by a funky flatted-5 bass groove, buzzing keys and bickering wah-wah guitars. Here, Muro sounds like Raymond Chandler, narrating the tale of a mysterious suitcase with equally mysterious contents and the femme fatale who may or may not have made off with it.
  • Bent Omelet (DADA #1) – A fatback beat-driven jazzy blues/word salad salute to DADA, the early 20th century movement in art and literature based on deliberate irrationality and negation of traditional artistic values. Think William Burroughs’ cut-ups meeting The Meters in a dark alley of the mind.
  • Reverie (Live at Green Kill Gallery) – A looped and intensely layered solo guitar score and a poem about bar-hopping thoughts.  Recorded live at a 2021 performance at Green Kill Art Gallery in Kingston, N.Y.
  • You Changed – High-energy funk-jazz of the Ornette Coleman Prime Time/harmolodic variety. Its galloping beat, snappy clavinet accents and dueling lead guitars propel Muro’s caffeinated rant about an actress friend who’s now too cool for school and their friendship. “You used to be nice, you used to be normal, you used to be my friend, then you suddenly changed… You started wearing vinyl pants and blowing kisses to strangers… You called me a sad sirloin burger…You wanted to be interesting, so you rented a wolf, had your elbows pierced, bought a stuffed owl and went to the opera dressed as a mermaid!”

Underground radio institution WFMU called the Vapor Vespers “a supremely cool fusion of spoken word and progressive sound,” while NYSMusic.com praised their “blend of spacey synths, spicy guitar, ethereal drones and deep lyrics, a mesmerizing blend of hazy electro-funk and searing, lyrical poetry that redefine what music can be.”  NYC’s Good Times Magazine called the debut disc “a wild, indescribable sonic stew that mixes outrageous lyrics and storytelling with expert musicianship that recalls everyone from Steely Dan to Was (Not Was) to Frank Zappa.” Fresh Underground Podcast labeled it “stunning slam poetry and electro music originality in the tradition of Joe Frank.” Anchorage Daily News said “Cataldi’s music gives Muro’s narratives more urgency, veering between funk-jazz acid trip and graphic novel accompaniment, a collaboration that is something to behold.” Musicians for Musicians called it “colorful and inventive, a perfection of onomatopoeic expression.” Psychedelic Baby Magazine noted its “tripstastic slams of storytelling and genre-skipping sounds” while Radio Spiral called it “as imaginative as it is atmospheric.” KMS Reviews might have said it best: “Push that play button and get ready to float in a sea of sound. It’s an album with a mystical glow that will keep listeners enchanted.”

For more, visit www.vaporvespers.bandcamp.com, Spotify and www.soundcloud.com/vapor-vespers.

Swingers Anonymous: Jonathan Woods

A SOUTH FLORIDA NOIR

When two dead bodies and $20,000 in drug money show up at the end of a swingers party, Bill becomes…well, a little unglued.

Directed and produced by Quincy Perkins. Written and produced by Jonathan Woods.

Based on the story “Swingers Anonymous” by Jonathan Woods. 

Key West Film Festival, 2014 ~ Premier

FilmGate Miami, 2015 ~ Audience Award, Best Film; Best Actor, Tom Frank

Cannes Film Festival, 2015 ~ Short Film Corner

“A modern day Tell-Tale Heart, as if Edgar Allan Poe was a post-modern gonzo noir storyteller – Swingers Anonymous clearly reflects the influence of Hitchcock and Fellini, with a generous touch of the Coen brothers.” — Key West Citizen

“Classic filmmaking in 23 minutes.” — Behind the Scenes

Jonathan Woods has written three pulp noir novels, A Death in Mexico, Kiss the Devil Good Night, and Hog Wild as well as two short story collections, Bad Juju & Other Tales of Madness and Mayhem and Phone Call from Hell and Other Tales of the Damned.

Pat & Mac – Flesheater

Pat & Mac consists of multi instrumentalist Pat Durkin and his Mac computer. Pat produces all of the music completely DIY, with an influence from horror movie and video game soundtracks as well as classic rock, synth pop, and heavy metal.

Pat just dropped a new video and single, Flesheater, from his upcoming album Impost3r Syndrom3. This is the second collaboration Pat has done with Sean Bayles of BaylesDSGN who directed the video and filmed all of the stop motion.

Flesheater is available on all streaming platforms as a single and will be available on Bandcamp in the spring when Impost3r Syndrom3 drops at www.patandmacmusic.bandcamp.com. Fans can also sign up for the mailing list at www.patandmacmusic.com.

Pat & Mac post daily on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, all @patandmacmusic.

Enjoy!

Marc Blackie

Inevitable Silence

Inevitable Silence – A cold dose of erotica for the discerning insomniac.

‘Inevitable Silence’ is the new short film from Marc Blackie, who has graced the pages of HST more than a few times in the past.  For those who may be unaware of his work it has, rather inelegantly though not inaccurately been described as ‘…though directed by David Lynch with a hard on’ and can be thought of as an uncomfortable stew of despondent erotica, with a dash the surreal and awkward.

The current film, which features ten performers largely shot in their own homes during the 2020/2021 lockdowns is a critique of sorts of a dozen condescending sleep hypnosis sessions, with a pessimistic narrator guiding the listeners through a murky unconsciousness:

Allow me to guide you as you drift off, like a discarded prophylactic in an overflowing gutter.

Downwards to a level that will help you to sleep, to relax, to cancel and void.

Focus on the words, allow their meanings to pierce and burrow into you. 

You need to remember that nothing can save you. 

Prepare yourself for total abandonment. 

Be like a fatherless child. 

Be as alone as you possibly can be and then find a way to increase your isolation. 

Think of the slight sound your mother let escape from her mouth on the moment of the first kiss upon your father’s lips and how it is implicated in the dirt beneath your fingernails and the teaming bacteria in your saliva. 

These words drift over a series of scenes involving various UK adult performers, models or friends of the director as well as two cats, a dog, several snakes and a talking inflatable Japanese sex doll.

The film will be premiering at the Polish Post Porn Film Festival in June before getting an online release with further information and a trailer available at http://www.inevitablesilence.co.uk 

Vapor Vespers: Valise

Film Noir and DADA Art Get an Audacious Audiophonic Spin…
Transcontinental music & spoken word duo Vapor Vespers drop another two-sided single,  Valise and Bent Omelette (DADA #1)

New York/Anchorage, January 14, 2022 – Acclaimed experimental music duo Vapor Vespers is kicking off 2022 with the release of another duo of quirky, noir- and funk-tinged singles, Valise and Bent Omelette (DADA #1). These music-powered spoken word offerings are a preview to what’s in store with the Spring release of their sophomore album, Giallo!, the follow-up to their critically-acclaimed 2020 debut, One Act Sonix.

The Vapor Vespers is the transcontinental brainchild of NYC and Hudson Valley based multi-instrumentalist/producer Sal Cataldi (also known as Spaghetti Eastern Music) and award-winning Alaska playwright, actor and slam poet Mark Muro. The pair, whose musical and personal relationship dates back to their teen years in Queens, NY, first bonded over their love of boundary-pushing musicians like Miles Davis, Sun Ra and Frank Zappa and the audio recordings of writers/poets/music-powered spoken word performers like William Burroughs, Charles Bukowski, The Last Poets and John Cooper Clarke.

The duo’s newest singles up the ante on the cool grooves, guitar riffage, synth textures and the verbal hijinks/ narrative absurdity showcased on their debut disc, and with Sex and You Changed, another double-sided preview of their forthcoming album that was released in Fall 2021. Valise and Bent Omelette (DADA #1) will be available for download on Bandcamp and on streaming services including Spotify on January 14 and February 7 respectively.

Valise is the duo’s audio salute to film noir, a thriller-cum-mystery narrative driven by a funky flatted-5 bass groove, buzzing keys and bickering wah wah guitars. Here, Muro sounds like Raymond Chandler, narrating the tale of a mysterious suitcase with equally mysterious contents and the femme fatale who may or may not have made off with it. The tune is being released with a film noir textured video that can be viewed/shared here: https://youtu.be/QajzD76c5fY

For more, visit www.vaporvespers.bandcamp.com, Spotify

Media Contact: vaporvespers@gmail tel/text 516.236.3817

Vapor Vespers: Sex

Vapor Vespers Return with Double-Sided Single of Audacious Sonics and Spoken Word, You Changed and Sex

New York Multi-Instrumentalist Sal Cataldi (aka Spaghetti Eastern Music) Continues Partnership with Alaskan Playwright Mark Muro on More Triptastic Slams of Storytelling and Genre-Skipping Sounds

New York/Anchorage, August 18, 2021 –  It’s a sonic funhouse that draws upon everything from Fripp & Eno ambient and Krautrock to Miles Davis acid-funk-jazz and baroque classicalism. These varied sounds are conjured as soundtracks to spoken word ruminations that are part Eric Bogosian hyper-monologue, Bukowski poetry slam and, occasionally, politically incorrect Rudy Ray Moore party record bawdy. 

This is the world of Vapor Vespers, the edge- and button-pushing transcontinental collaboration between acclaimed NYC & Hudson Valley-based multi-instrumentalist Sal Cataldi (aka Spaghetti Eastern Music) and Alaskan playwright, actor and slam poet Mark Muro.   Drawing inspiration from music-powered spoken word icons like John Cooper Clarke, The Last Poets and Lord Buckley, Vapor Vespers unwrapped their saucy stew with One Act Sonix, their critically buzzed-about 2020 debut album on Bad Egg Records. 

Now the duo is returning with a double-sided single that ups the ante on the cool grooves, guitar riffage and narrative absurdity, You Changed and Sex.  The two tracks, available today on streaming services including Spotify and Bandcamp, are a sneak preview to their sophomore album, slated for winter 2021.

You Changed is high-energy funk-jazz of the Ornette Coleman Prime Time/harmolodic variety. Its galloping funky beat, snappy clavinet accents and dueling snaky lead guitars propel Muro’s caffeinated rant about an actress friend who’s now too cool for school and their friendship. “You used to be nice, you used to be normal, you used to be my friend, then you suddenly changed… You started wearing vinyl pants and blowing kisses to strangers… You called me a sad sirloin burger…You wanted to be interesting, so you rented a wolf, had your elbows pierced, bought a stuffed owl and went to the opera dressed as a mermaid!”

On Sex, Cataldi’s soundtrack is a slow-creep electro modal blues reminiscent of latter-day Jeff Beck, one on which Muro sleepily riffs couplets that illuminate what sex is.  “Sex is a big basket of shiny red apples and a good sharp knife… Sex is a time bomb under your seat and a dog sleeping at your feet… Sex made a monkey out of Darwin and a man outta King Kong… It’s how I got here and how I wanna go.”   

For more visit www.vaporvespers.bandcamp.com, www.soundcloud.com/vapor-vespers, and Vapor Vespers’ Spotify page.

Harry Whitewolf

YouTube Dickheads Banned My Video

Check out my brand-new poem YouTube Dickheads Banned My Video on YouTube.

The poem about online censorship and the coming death of free speech was written in response to YouTube recently banning my poetry performance vid Constable Cunt.

It would have to be the only poetry vid of mine that went viral (with 4.3K views) wouldn’t it?

CHECK IT OUT BELOW

Eddie Woods

Mary

I am Mary,
mother of the true god
of cosmic adventure
and queen of the libertines.
I give myself to all comers
regardless of race, creed and size of penis.
I am available to women as well as men,
to plants as well as animals.
I fuck for nothing
but freely accept all tokens of appreciation,
negotiable or not.
I have no inhibitions,
there is no form of sex
to which I am not partial.
I will even talk to you over a cup of tea.

I am Mary,
patron goddess of all prostitutes,
the only true saints
humankind has ever known.
They give what others are unwilling to part with,
subject themselves to cruelties
others will not endure
and abide the scorn of their less liberated sisters.
Were all women as free as I,
as unattached to their mythical egos,
as unburdened by likes and dislikes,
as unadorned with vanity
and conditioned notions of the body’s needs,
then harlotry would cease to exist,
never again would desire be exploited.

I am Mary,
loving sister of all men,
provider of all their needs,
destroyer of all their wants.
Having seen with my inner mind
to the very core of all their frustrations,
I have also witnessed
the seeds of their aggressiveness,
the twisted roots of their hardened ambitions.
Sigmund Freud has taught me nothing,
I have learned all by opening my cunt,
exposing my bosom
and allowing the whole world
to massage my heart.
Were all women like me,
no man would need play
his ego-inflating games of seduction
nor sublimate his desires
by seeking to conquer the material world.
I deflate egos by hardening cocks.
I take the wind out of all masculine sails
and recycle its potency as a tantric generator.
By making lust sacred, I make men divine:
true gods never need prove themselves,
they live secure in total self-knowledge.

I am Mary,
anarchist princess of spiritual revolution,
scarlet perpetrator of crimes against ignorance,
debauched ascetic
in a cruel world of self-righteous gluttons.
I am the unprincipled advocate of sexual Tao,
I conquer hate by offering pleasure
and quell violence by permitting pain.
I am an empty well of immortal flesh
within whose depths only love can abide.
I am the golden maiden of carnal alchemy,
transforming all vice into highest virtue.
Because I am God I live without fear.
The devil is not my enemy but my self-created lover,
I embrace his darkness with arms of pure light,
giving human sensations their reward for being.
Live as I do and you shall never die.

I am Mary,
calling all my sisters out of their houses,
all my brothers out of their armies,
all my workers out of their factories,
all my admirers down from their temples,
all my lovers out of their shadows,
all my revilers up from their miseries,
all my ancestors out of their heresies,
all my descendants out of their destinies,
all my dreamers out of their fantasies.

I am Mary
and I am real.