ORACLE

7/18/2011

[Music Mondays] Univers Zéro

Univers Zéro is one of my all time favorite bands. There are many words I can use to describe their music; dark, brooding, beautiful, harrowing, intellectual, delicious and obscure all readily come to mind. Hailing from Belgium, Univers Zéro emerged from the Rock In Opposition movement during the mid-70s and are widely credited for being a seminal force within the genre. Sighting influences ranging from Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, King Crimson and H.P. Lovecraft, their music is a combination of modern classical chamber music coupled with jazz, rock and even early music arrangements. Univers Zéro is not for everyone, and admittedly, is an acquired taste. Their music is challenging, which makes it that much more appealing to me. Tonight I have decided to share one song from each of their first three albums. Enjoy!

"Malaise" from the album 1313:

"Jack the Ripper" from the album Heresie:

"Dense" from the album Ceux du Dehors:

7/17/2011

Congrats to Laird Barron

I wanted to take a moment to send some positive vibes out to a friend of the Outer Dark, Laird Barron. The 2010 Shirley Jackson Award winners were announced, and Laird was lucky enough, or should I say talented enough, to have won two: the Single-Author Collection award for Occultation, and the Novella award for “Mysterium Tremendum.” Laird specializes in writing dark, creepy stories, and he is damn good at it. Do yourself a favor and buy some of his books. Your life will be better for it!