Skid Roche

Just received in the mail, direct from the artist herself in Barcelona (say it with the “th” sound, fucker) which made me feel oh so effin’ punk rock: Lydia Lunch’s Deviations on a Theme, released by Norway’s Provocateur Media.

It’s a retrospective double CD, featuring spoken word and music, including some of Lydia’s best work from Shotgun Wedding, her disk with Rowland S. Howard that I submit is one of the finest hard-rock recordings ever made.

“Deviations on a Theme” features a total of 64 tracks plus enhanced features — video, lyrics, press photos, discography in Adobe PDF format and more.

And I’m popping it in the Discman, just as soon as I change my underwear.



On the theme of receiving Lydia Lunch in the mail, my friend Shade Rupe recently sent me a copy of I Pass for Human, directed by Chris D. of The Flesh Eaters (mentioned in X’s “I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts,” for those of you who know a little but not a lot about such things). The flick uses numerous musical crimes by Lydia, Howard and JG Thirlwell throughout, amping up the tension to great effect. I Pass is a nasty urban horror flick riffing on vampires, ghosts and drug addiction, and one of the wickedest things I have seen in quite a long time. It’s rendered with remarkable artistry but still has all the visceral nut-punch of the best low-fi horror. Not to be freakin’ missed.