Doppelgängers…?

“It’s not just words or music -it’s a whole range of elements coming together and making something that didn’t exist before. It’s telling stories.”

Playlists for The Double R Club’s 10th Birthday Party, 19th September, 2019

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P R E – S H O W :
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The B.O.T.H. – Terry Edwards, from Terry Edwards
Shoot Out – Danny Bensi & Saunders Jurriaans, from American Gods Season 2 Soundtrack
Omlagus Garfungiloops – Coil, from Stolen & Contaminated Songs
Parisienne People (audio from cigarette ad) – David Lynch
Elvis and Marilyn – Jimmy Angel & The Jason Gutierrez 3, from Too Old To Die Young Soundtrack
Speed Roadster – David Lynch, from Crazy Clown Time
Headless Chicken – Thought Gang, from Twin Peaks Limited Event Series Soundtrack
The Door – Hildur Guðnadóttir, from Chernobyl (Music from the Original TV Series)
Laura Palmer’s Theme – The Danish National Symphony Orchestra (Live), watch HERE
Human (excerpt) – Hudson Mohawke
Black Room – Johnny Jewel, from Themes For Television
Autoluminescent – Rowland S Howard, from Teenage Snuff Film
Shadow (Opening Titles) – Johnny Jewel, from Themes For Television
Skin (live) – Oxbow (feat. Peter Brötzmann), recorded at Moers Festival, 2018
Pin-Tied – The Chrome Cranks, from Diabolical Boogie

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I N T E R V A L :
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Happy Birthday from David Lynch!
Bridge – Amon Tobin, from Permutation
Mississippi – The Cactus Blossoms, from Twin Peaks: Music From The Limited Event Series911 – David Lynch & John Neff, from Blue Bob
Blue Frank / Pink Room – Xiu Xiu, from … Xiu Xiu Plays The Music Of Twin Peaks 

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LISTEN TO PLAYLISTS HERE
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My opening act was to Won’t You Be My Neighbor? and You Are Special, by Fred Rogers, from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. My second act was a version of I Know by David Lynch, the original version of which appears on Crazy Clown Time; I closed the show with a version of I Like My Low Life Low, by Terry Edwards, the original version of which appears on I Didn’t Get Where I Am Today.

“BOB, I want all my gar- Oh.”

The Lady In The Radiator’s gone up in the world…

[from Lowlife History Facebook Group]

“You’re still with me, that’s good… ’cause Master Lynch wants his coffee…”

[by Dmitriy Raspopin]

Hey pretty girls, boys and others, time to wake up…

How, how is it possible that The Double R Club is TEN years old on September 19th?

H O W ?

Who would’ve thought, all those years ago in innocent little 2009, that we’d STILL be doing this shit? Still be producing the BEST, DARKEST, STRANGEST show in town? Not us, that’s for damn sure…

TICKETS to the returning dream without end HERE   -come celebrate our first DECADE in dreamland.  T h e r e   w i l l   b e   c a k e .

A Figment In The Elsewhere #4: Heavy Metal Pete

[pic by Juliet Shalam]

-being the fourth in an ongoing series detailing stand-out acts that ‘appeared’ at The Double R Club (often more than once); acts that Rose Thorne and I loved, that seem to typify in some way, or stand as emblems for, just what it is The Double R have attempted to do, to be, displays that went some way to describing our own particular brand of ‘Lynchian’, over the last 100 shows and nearly a decade…

This time: Heavy Metal Pete, and his Lynchian Bad Man act.

Pete has been with us since the beginning and it would be remiss of me not to mention the act he created for us that he’s most well known for, his BOB act. We’d known Pete for a while before he contacted us and mentioned he’d like to manifest as the “inhabiting spirit” and “evil that men do” and, honestly, the prospect seemed as best strange; Pete, it should be said is a very quiet, mild-mannered and altogether lovely individual and, barring the long hair, about as far from a personification of metaphysical malevolence “from another place” as can be imagined. But boy oh boy did he prove all doubting wrong. The first time he crawled onto the Double R stage as BOB, I saw the front row visibly recoil in fear. Apart from being an incredible technical performer, Pete also embodies BOB so well, it’s difficult not to imagine simply handing over all your garmobozia like a child gives a bully his lunch money. At the first ever Twin Peaks UK Festival, Charlotte Stewart (Betty Briggs) and Catherine Coulson (The Log Lady) complemented Pete on his performance and uncanny likeness while performing, to the original, the late Frank Silva. Pete also portrayed BOB, to terrifying effect, opposite Lydia Darling (as Laura) and Snake Fervor (as Ronette) in our immersive, and deeply unsettling, traincar murder at subsequent TPUKFs.

[-with Lydia Darling- pic by Soulstealer]

A particularly visceral version of Pete’s BOB act, crossed with Agent Cooper (there have been several incarnations) won him our first ever Mr. Twin Peaks crown in 2016)

[pic by gh0stdot]

And it is this physical embodiment that sets Pete apart from so many other sideshow and fire performers; many can do the ‘tricks’ that Pete does: fire breathing, body burning, sword swallowing etc. (though often not as well) but very few can then frame those skills in a dramatic character and scenario in the way that he does. When Pete does his thing, it’s as much an acting performance as it is a sideshow act.

This is never more true than in Pete’s Lynchian Bad Man act.

His very own creation, Pete’s Lynchian Bad Man is a kind of amalgamation of elements from various antagonists from Lynch’s worlds, as well as an all-new persona that would not be out of place in any of the dark worlds of Lynch’s imagination. Hair slicked back, teeth blackened and rotten, he may wear a Bobby Peru style pencil moustache and a bootlace tie similar to Frank Booth’s, but when Pete takes to the stage he is both neither of the aforementioned villains and their equal.

[pic by Juliet Shalam]

And it is the second he steps on the stage that the depth of performance becomes clear. Pete’s entire physicality changes, his shoulders narrow, hands limp as his sides, his lurching gait carrying him into the light like a sneering, suited insect. Immediately you know that you do not want to fuck with this man, that he has done things that would keep you up at nights. If he walked into a bar you were in, you’d leave.

To the crushing, epic, bluesy dirge of Wiseblood’s Hey Bop A Ree Bop, (“Where some people said I have a soul, I have a hole… An’ it’s goin’ down fast”) he slithers onto the stage, drinks whisky, puts out a cigarette on his tongue, staples fabric to his bared torso, eats a REAL lightbulb, grinning all the time, often drooling real blood as his seemingly rotten teeth grind the glass to a power, which he then washes down with more whisky.

[pic by Juliet Shalam]

Seldom will you witness on stage a man being both extraordinary bad (with a capital B) and so, so good simultaneously; not to mention so quintessentially ‘Double R’.

Truly, Heavy Metal Pete is the stuff that wonderful nightmares are made on…

[pic by gh0stdot]

Suddenly My House Became a Tree of Sores

Being a track by Unsong, inspired by the David Lynch Painting of the same name.

-released to celebrate the Lynch exhibit ‘My Head Is Disconnected’ in Manchester, England, which opened in July 2019.

Words on a Wing…

(pic by Clive Holland)

Following Cabaret vs Cancer‘s SOLD OUT show at the wonderful Wilton’s Music Hall, a number of audience members asked if I would post the poem I recited on stage so, here it is:

He Struck Me Cold
by Benjamin Louche

If you’re struck by lightning and survive it, it always leaves a mark.
As it was with Mr. Jones, when something told you you should hark,
Hark to the sounds he made, the words he spoke, and to the shape he cut
in that bright spotlight, that crutch-hungry dark, that sweet punch in the gut

as he blazed across the stage, leper messiah, Corinthian, caricature,
You were struck down, yet lifted up, by this thin white provocateur,
And as the lightning struck you, the scar burned bright and deep,
And then it sank, invisible, yet it was always yours to keep.

You wear that flash, that lightning bolt, whether it is seen or no,
Not in imitation but because you have been marked it’s ever there, below,
So paint it on from time to time, it is always yours to wear,
It may not always be visible, but trust me, it’s always there.

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And now, a treat for your ears:

A Superabundance of Bowie #1

A Superabundance of Bowie #2

Bowie (covers and/or improvements)

“Is it future or is it past?”

“Damn fine” PBR!

Yup. Pabst Blue Ribbon is making ‘Hard Coffee‘. Alcoholic coffee. In a can.

Representatives from Heineken were unavailable for comment, because, well, because “FUCK THAT SHIT”.

“Dark. Laughing. The owls were flying. Many things were blocked.”

Landscape with Grave, Coffin, and Owl. Caspar David Friedrich‘s final painting.

“Fire is so magical. There’s a texture to it that occurs nowhere else. And controlling something like that… With me, I always think about magic, the unexplainable.”

(by the incredible Uno Moralez)

“It is beyond the “fire”, though few would know that meaning.”

– Margaret Lanterman, The Log Lady

“I think that in every instance of every sound, there are 760 million sounds that are wrong and there are 34 sounds that are correct. And of the 34, 27 of them are very similar. But 7 of the 34 are completely weird… but they still work.”

                        .gif by Weinventyou

Playlists for The Double R Club’s 10^th Annual Miss Twin Peaks Contest, 20^th June, 2019

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P R E – S H O W :
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The Dream Man’s Shuffle – Aidan Baker, from I Had the Strangest Dream Last Night (The Owls Were Silent)
Packard’s Vibration – Angelo Badalamenti, from Twin Peaks Season Two Music And More
Love Theme Intro – Angelo Badalamenti, from Twin Peaks Season Two Music And More 

(How to speak in the Red Room by Michael J. Anderson / Back To Fat Trout & Teresa’s Autopsy – Angelo Badalamenti, from Fire Walk With Me)

Twin Peaks Theme (Music Box Cover), watch HERE
Audrey’s Dance (redux) – The Chevrons, from Where We’re From, There’s Always Music in the Air (Heaven Is a Large and Interesting Place)
Sycamore Trees – Jimmy Scott, from Fire Walk With Me O.S.T.

(At Home With Philip Jeffries: sound design / dialogue from Twin Peaks: The Return)

Love Theme Farewell – Angelo Badalamenti, from Twin Peaks Season Two Music And More
Twin Peaks- A Wretched Tribute (8bit Just You!) – Filthy Frackers, watch HERE
Slow 30’s Room – David Lynch & Dean Hurley, from Twin Peaks Limited Event Series Soundtrack
Dark Mood Woods / The Red Room – Angelo Badalamenti, from Twin Peaks Limited Event Series Soundtrack
Falling (Twin Peaks Theme) – I Am Snow Angel, listen HERE

(How to speak in the Red Room by Michael J. Anderson / Back To Fat Trout & Teresa’s Autopsy – Angelo Badalamenti, from Fire Walk With Me BACKWARDS)

(Sarah’s Rage – audio from Twin Peaks: The Return, view HERE)

Grady Groove [Featuring Grady Tate] – Angelo Badalamenti, from Twin Peaks: Limited Event Series Soundtrack
Cop Beat – Angelo Badalamenti, from Twin Peaks Season Two Music And More
Freshly Squeezed (bass clarinet version) – Angelo Badalamenti, from The Twin Peaks Archive

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I N T E R V A L :
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Snake Eyes – Trouble, from Snake Eyes
I’m Hurt Bad (extended RRemix) – Angelo Badalamenti, original version from Twin Peaks Season Two Music And More
Blue Frank – Angelo Badalamenti, from Twin Peaks Season Two Music And More
Sycamore Cowboys – Colatron, FREE download from Mashed In Plastic
Mississippi – The Cactus Blossoms, from You’re Dreaming
Blue Frank / Pink Room – Xiu Xiu, from … Xiu Xiu Plays The Music Of Twin Peaks

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LISTEN TO PLAYLISTS HERE

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My opening act was a mashup of Twin Peaks Theme by Angelo Badalamenti and Space Oddity by David Bowie, the originals of which appear on Music From Twin Peaks and Space Oddity respectively. My second act was a version of Axolotl (the Roadhouse Mix) by The Veils, the original version of which appears on Twin Peaks: Limited Event Series Soundtrack.

“Hey you wanna go for a ride?”

                            .gif by Penultimate Straw

“I’ll see you in the trees…”

Is… is that Jerry Horne…?

“…in that dark room and the big picture and the right sound, it’s all a good thing”

Way back in 2007 I was at the NFT for a showing of Lynch’s Inland Empire, followed by an interview with Lynch by Mark Kermode.

After a dark, unsettling and bemusing 3 hours, Lynch appeared to rapturous applause and the interview took place, Lynch being his usual buoyant, hand-waving, and wonderfully, almost belligerently, un-explaining self, after which Kermode threw it out for a Q&A. My hand shot up after each answer but sadly I was never picked (I’m choosing to blame quiff envy on Mr. Kermode’s part).

My question would have been concerning the background sound design in Lynch’s films, the tones, the drones, the buzzes, the hums, the distant and muted mechanical sounds that pervade so much of his work. Ever since seeing Eraserhead, I’ve always thought that if these ambient, background atmospheres were released on CD that they would sell. I’d certainly buy ’em.

In fact, it was with this thought in mind that I made my David Lynch’s Discreet Atmospheres Of Dark And Troubling Things Mixcloud.

Now, however, in lieu of a CD release (but then who the hell buys CDs other than me?) in fact, in lieu of any kind of official release, someone who goes by the name Beyond Reason on Youtube has gone through all of Twin Peaks: The Return and stripped the dialogue from certain scenes, leaving only the atmospheres behind, only the beautiful, reverberating dread and tonal strangenesses. They call their project Listen to the Sounds.

They say: “When removing the dialogue audio channel from Twin Peaks episodes, it is nice to discover the rich tapestry of sound design hidden underneath. Listen to the sounds extracts these layers for you personal enjoyment. This is a compilation of all the sequences previously uploaded separately on this channel to enjoy as a single experience.”

And the result is as close to my dream as anything I’m likely to get. As an added bonus, each track is accompanied by a snippet of the appropriate scene in ultra, dreamlike slow-motion.

Watch, listen and  d r e a m  HERE.

 

S W E E T D R E A M S . . .

An audio / visual sleep aid for when trapped inside somewhere that is “slippery.”

Be Your(dream)self.

This one goes out to Agent Cooper…

[image by Joan Cornellà]

CAVALCADE HOLLYSHORTS (RRemix)

-being a RRemix of audio from the David Lynch Hollyshorts promo (view original HERE) executed for play at The Double R Club, London.

DISCLAIMER:  Any copyright holders who wish to contact me about these works can email us HERE