Title: Hanson Brothers - 'It's a Living'  Label: Wrong Records/Southern Records Released: Available Now Format: CD/DVD & Double Vinyl         I love it when I get pleasant suprises, and this the latest opus from NoMeansNo's oddball Bar-comedy-punk side-project The Hanson Brothers, has plenty of them!   The first thing that surprised me was my own lack of any observational skills, and how I should probably eye-ball the press release a bit before slamming CDs into my Mac. This CD has a DVD on the otherside, which really baffled for a second! (I had put the disk in the wrong way!)    First up, the music! THB play a blend of punk rock that harks back to the good-ol days of the Ramones and The Ruts-era Punk, but with the added twist of cleverly placed (and actually funny) odd-ball comedy. The CD is setup to sound like a live radio-session, interspersed with band interviews and rants, which actually works really well. If, like me, you are a fan of NoMeansNo, you will instantly recognise the 'sound' of this record...in fact this kind of reminds me of their earlier releases, but with more of a, dare I say, comedy-concept.    The DVD, which I ended up rewinding once I realised my mistake, is, ...

Charles Fort, the Grandfather of anomalous-research, really does have to be respected, if for nothing more his influence on alternative thinkers, and Paranormal researchers bearing even the minutest quantity of wit. Fort gave an antiquarian middle-finger-salute to the almost cult-like scientific community of the time, by daring to docment that which was virtually ignored by the mainstream. You may recognise his name, well, at least part of it from such great longstanding publications as The Fortean Times, which still exists today as a testament to the mans influence. Fort, basically, took it upon himself to catalouge the weird happenings of his time, and publish them in a almanac-style . He occasionally injected his own opinions, though often preferred to remain impartial (much like the magazine of his namesake). This book, a complete collection of Fort's writings, makes it clear very early-on why Fort's work has remained the staple of so many bookshelves. The man's wit must be commended; whilst dedicating his life to such a bizarre topic must demand a degree of seriousness, Fort doesn't forget to laugh at it from time to time. Considering the vast compendium of strangeness on offer in the book, one of the oddest things on offer is the ...

One of the greatly ignored mediums of our little corner of the web so far has been comics which, in my opinion, produce some of the most compelling, original and revolutionary concepts of our time. When I first thought of who to 'pen' a regular feature, it was imediatly obvious; Scott Carelli, one of the first guests on our podcast, has a passion for comics and all things 'geek' unlike anyone else I can think of, he's also really good at expressing that passion in the written word...   When I was asked to begin writing reviews for comics with a counter-culture spin for Sitting Now, only one comic immediately came to mind: Preacher. Part Western, part Horror story, part Religious Epic, and a lot of weird, Preacher is as counter-culture as it gets. Created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon, Preacher is the story of a small town Texas minister, named Jesse Custer, slowly losing his faith in the god he’s devoted his life to. In one bizarre instant, his life is changed forever, and with his gun-toting ex Tulip and a hard-drink Irish vampire named Cassidy, he aims to find out why and who’s to blame. The story that ...

Fantastic new addition to the SittingNow writing-crew, Adrian Dobbie, gets down and dirty with the recent Julian Doyle (Monty Python)/Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden) written, Chemical Wedding. Is this release finally what acolytes of Aleister Crowley have been waiting for? or another Magickly-huge disapointment?...   Carry-On Crowley?   Among occultists and Thelemites specifically there has long been a certain desire to see their hero Crowley immortalised on film. The exploits of the Master Therion would seem to offer pre-packaged prime subject matter for an industry that thrives on titillation and sensationalism, but while general interest in Crowley does seem to be on the rise, the definitive Crowley film remains to be made. In the last few years we've seen a number of documentaries of varying quality and lately the internet has been awash with teasers and half-baked trailers promising more dramatized takes on the life and times of the Beast 666. Yet none of these have seemed more likely to come to fruition than Bruce Dickinson's project ‘Chemical Wedding'. For those who may not know who Dickinson is, he is the yodelling, spandex-sporting front man of legendary UK metal band Iron Maiden. I have to admit that when I first heard about the Brit-rock legend touting his ...

Experiment: a test, trial, or tentative procedure; an act or operation for the purpose of discovering something unknown or of testing a principle, supposition, etc.: a chemical experiment; a teaching experiment; an experiment in living. A Sontaran: An ugly potato-headed alien from Doctor Who; heavy-set, thugish and with an obsession for conflict and total domination of the universe. After just one listen of this brutal outpouring, it's not hard to see why these guys chose their name! This, their debut album, is an epic and adventurous work of three 'acts' each lasting anywhere from 15 - 25 minutes. Yes! I know what you're thinking: "Urgh! I hate it when bands do this", but stick with me here.  The album opens with layers of strange electronic ambiance, which are brutally interrupted by an explosion of bowel-emptying doom. The tone and tempo of the record shift around like a disturbed and violent rockweiler, one minute you are nodding along (wishing you had a big doom-fan beard) and the next you are thrown into an almost Napalm Death blast-beat-ridden hellfest. The album takes some seriously cool little sidesteps when you least expect it;  Act II, for example, goes down a, dare I say, almost jazzy avenue at one point! So, I told ...

Here at Sitting Now, we don't claim to be Conspiracy theorists, Mystics or Counter Cultural experts (though, I am working on the latter), we just find it all really interesting and enjoy discussing, and exploring it. Now, i've gone on the record in one of our shows saying that, personally, I find the world of Magic/Magick (call it what you will) fascinating...but a bit too snobby. There are a few exceptions to this rule, and one of those is the author and magician Lon Milo Duquette. In Enochian Vision Magic, Duquette attempts to not only document the fascinating story of Dr John Dee and Edward Kelly's quest to make contact with spiritual entities, but also to instruct the reader in the practical application of their findings in the modern environment. Readers not already familiar with Duquette's writings will feel instantly at ease with this book, while regulars will appreciate his attention to detail/yet solid conveyance of the topic at hand. What I feel separates this work from others on the subject, is the intensive research and notation of the original Dee texts. Duquette doesn't just present the reader with a 'how-to' textbook, he painstakingly explains all the symbology and application of each element. ...

ASVA are probably my favourite of the 'Drone/Doom' (whatever) bands out there, SUNN O)) coming a very close second, so I was pretty excited to get my hands on this release. Formed a few years ago by Stuart Dahlquist (Burning Witch, Goatsnake...and I think he was a part of SUNN O)) at one point as well?), and featuring such names as Trey Spruance (Secret Chiefs 3, Mr Bungle) and the oddly named B.R.A.D. (Burning Witch), this is quite the 'super-group'. In their debut album, Futurists Against the Ocean, ASVA took the slow cue from bands like Earth and then added their own, very unique flavour.  In this record that blueprint was dusted off and added to, giving a much more individual feel to each track. At points far more sinister and claustrophobic than it's predecessor, at others faster and more urgent. Spruance's influence on this record feels a lot greater as well, the varied instrumentation, and what sounds like alternate tunings at some points.  The standout track on this record is the incredible 'A Trap for Judges', which lurches slowly like a grim leviathan nearing some awful, unearthly climax (and can be downloaded from the Southern site here). If you're interested in ...

I can't believe i've not encountered this band until now, I love them!  Kylesa play a mixture of Doom-metal and hyper acid-rock that literally grabs your attention the way all good bands should! Some parts of this record remind me of Black Cobra and elements of early Mastodon, to give you a hint of what to expect. The pace of this record is really clever, slow broody noise tracks ala Old Man Gloom set the scene for huge riff-ridden chunks of fast noise. The only real complaint I have about this record is the production, it's begging for 'fatness', and less tinnyness, but it's not bad enough to impare your enjoyment of this great record. The standout track for me is 'Hallow Severer', which lurches into a sonic explosion laced with epic, almost Minor Threat-esque intensity.  I cannot recomend this record enough. It fills the void between the doomy elements of 'Red Sea' era ISIS and 'Houdi' era Melvins perfectly. 4.5/5 Ken Eakins www.kylesa.com www.myspace.com/kylesa

I think this DVD was released on a 'need-to-know' basis; I for one, had totally forgotten it was available! So, imagine my surprise when this arrived in the Sitting Now mailbag!  This was well timed by Ipecac, it's been a while since the last Fantomas record, Suspended Animation  and I think fans of Mike Patton's crazy cut-up metal supremos, used to a pretty much annual release, are starting to get a bit itchy for new material. Ipecac released a CD of a similar show a few years back and for some reason, I think shoddy sound levels, I couldn't get into it. That mistake has been rectified in this release, however, and what you see is pretty much what happened on the day both audibly, and visually (I was at the show).  I wasn't too sure about the animations added into the mix at first, but you soon realise that they compliment, rather than hinder your enjoyment of the show. One of the truly weird elements of this release has to be in the DVD commentary. Buzz and Dale of the Melvins, the promoter of the show, the (I think) filmmaker and Danny Devito (what the hell?) deliever a rather random conversation that includes a quite ...

12 years!...i'll say that again: 12 YEARS! I have waited 12 years to see this, my favourite band. Back in '96 when the Trey Spruance released the mighty 'First Grand Constitution and Bylaws', I was frankly blown away, the crazy mix of Eastern/electro/break-beat/metal was just what the world needed, even though the world barely noticed (a normal symptom of music-fans it seems). Since that first album release (I Know they released some vinyl prior to that, shhh!), we have been treated to an ever evolving slew of epic-genius and crazyness culminating in, to me, one of the greatest releases of all time in 'Book of Horizons'...and now I finaly get to see it live! Cargo is a great venue, I saw Part Chimp and Bullet Union here not so long ago and it was one of the best times i'd seen both bands. Huge sprawling pipes on the walls, a really nice big bar area and a cool garden for us filthy smokers. I grab myself a tonne of merch and head into the main room to witness Zu. Imagine getting Naked City's debut album, mixing it with Morphine's Yes and blending it all down into a slow melting pot with some Old ...