A Lovecraftian cinematographic festival

Lord Bassington-Bassington is proud to present a recap of this weekend’s film festival here at Bassington Manor, dedicated to the master of weird fiction, H.P. Lovecraft.

A Lovecraftian film festival is not a new concept, the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland, Oregon has been running for a few years now. But we dare say that this Saturday’s event here at the Manor represents a first in Norwegian history.

The festival, which, it is hoped, will become a more or less regular event, is named the Little Storping in-the-Swuff Howard Phillips Lovecraft, Lewis Theobald III and Sundry Mythos Writers Cinematographic Festival (and Open Absinthe Bar). But, to be quite honest, we here at Bassington Manor simply refer to it as The Festival. This is not only a very Lovecraftian title, as “The Festival” was one of Lovecraft’s most interesting short stories, but also especially appropriate, since Yule (or Christmas, to those of you who are followers of Christ) is approaching and “The Festival” was Lovecraft’s Christmas story. Even if it was a rather unusual Christmas story.

The powers-that-be had provided a fog that swept Little Storping in-the-Swuff in a thick veil of grey, which set the mood perfectly. Participant prepared for the program of Lovecraftian cinema by reinforcing themselves with helpings of American Chop Suey, a New England dish from a recipe kindly provided by Rhode Island-based folk singer Allysen Callery, who had the recipe from her grandmother. A grandmother whose family had come over to New England on the Mayflower. Which surely makes her a full-blooded New Englander!

Suitably slime-green drinks were provided by fraulein Frost and her absinthe tower, purchased at the H.R. Giger museum in Switzerland. Which of course makes for another exciting Lovecraft reference, as Mr. Giger has been heavily influenced by the Gentleman of Providence.



The evening opened with a Shorts Program of short films and trailers, all retrieved from the world wide Interweb.

An animated adaptation of Lovecraft’s “The Terrible Old Man” kicked off the evening’s cinematic program. Followed by the trailer for upcoming Swedish Lovecraftian chiller Fyren (Keeper of the Light), which seems very promising.

The film Lord Bassington-Bassington is probably the most excited about seeing is the upcoming adaptation of “The Whisperer in Darkness”, by the same people who made the excellent silent version of “the Call of Cthulhu” a few years ago. They have since taken the daring step into talkies, and seem to be handling this newfangled technology quite well.

The theologically enlightening The Adventures of Lil’ Cthulhu has already become a Lovecraftian classic. As has the first episiode of Calls For Cthulhu.

While the film about Chuck & Dexter's Super Fun Kick Ass Cult, the comedy SpookySpookyScaryScary, will probably be a hit at next year’s festival.

The main feature was Cthulhu. It'a film that is easy to have severe prejudices against, as one would have against any film with Tori Spelling on the roster, but Cthulhu is actually surprisingly decent and does a good job at capturing a Lovecraftian atmosphere.



A small interlude was provided by a claymation adapatation of “From Beyond”, before the night concluded with a showing of the Stuart Gordon-directed TV adaptation of “Dreams in the Witch-House”.



While Swede Mr. Pär Boström was named the official festival composer – more about this eminent gentleman tomorrow.

The program committee here at Bassington Manor would like to thank those that helped and participated, and like to express our hope that such cinematographic gatherings can become a regularly recurring event, and that we will be able to open our doors for another Little Storping in-the-Swuff Howard Phillips Lovecraft, Lewis Theobald III and Sundry Mythos Writers Cinematographic Festival (and Open Absinthe Bar) early next year.



The program committee hard at work selecting the evening’s cinematographic entertainment.

Neofolk lookbook: Don Bota

Lord Bassington-Bassington continues to shamelessly solicit hits for his Chronicles by trying his paw at fashion blogging. So far he has tried to copy the influental fashion blog The Sartorialist, by looking at ear trends and what people are wearing when visiting a certain Heretical Cellar.

But his somewhat pathetic attempts at fashion blogging need to be taken to "the next level", or however fashion bloggers put it. So when he came over these pictures, he knew he had to compile them into a Neofolk lookbook, modeled by Latin lover and Neofolk gangster Don Bota of Gävle.

Don Bota has recently become a lord, but we here at the Chronicles suspect that Lord Alexander Bota of Jura's title might be even more tenuous than that of Lord Bassington-Bassington himself.

But anyway, on with the fashion story.

Many Neofolk enthusiasts are fond of uniforms, both because of an interest in history and fetishism, and an appreciation for the transgressive nature of some of them, as shown by swastika-wearing punks. But Don Bota takes it a bit farther than most, frequenting clubs where people are obliged to wear historical uniforms to be let in. Here he's modeling some particularly stylish riding boots, which reminds Lord Bassington-Bassington that the season for his own high boots is about to set in.



While uniforms are often stylish, Lord Bassington-Bassington is a snuggler, not a fighter, and tends to be more appreciative of civilian styles. This photograph, taken outside of Kafé Spegeln, one of Gävle's better establishments, shows Don Bota to be a master of the classic dandy pose.



But of course, the ultimate Neofolk style accessory is to be flanked by members of a certain National romantic boy band.



And as a bonus picture, here we see that Don Bota was an early starter when it came to having a style of his own. We here at the Chronicles suspect that one of our regular readers, the indomitable Superfritz, might approve of this particular look.



(Of course, this little lookbook is about style, not fashion. And as he has stated before, Lord Bassington-Bassington holds that style and fashion are not only different things, they are polar opposites. Somewhat harshly expressed, he holds that while style is an expression of one’s identity and values, and therefore tends to be static, fashion is an attempt to compensate for a lack of identity and values by constantly trying to reinvent oneself).

Albion, how fine your trees...

It's supposedly a common phenomenon with Neofolk fans: To start out by having problems with Ian Read's voice, but end up loving it.

Listening to Mr. Read's vocals on some early Death in June and Sol Invictus songs (Mr. Read has been a member of both projects), Lord Bassington-Bassington had reservations about Mr. Read's voice. And when the old Hound tried to listen to Mr. Read's own project, Fire + Ice, the problems were amplified. Perhaps it was the unschooled character of Mr. Read's voice? the then-young Hound thought. Later, he has come to realize that it has more to do the influence of traditional English folk singers on Mr. Read’s singing style.

However, after letting Mr. Read's voice crawl under his hide, Lord Bassington-Bassington's opinion of his vocal abilities changed radically. Meeting the most gregarious Mr. Read in person might have had some influence, but even if Mr. Read is both a very interesting modern mystic, humourist and all-round great fellow, that probably has very little to do with how Lord Bassington-Bassington thinks of his voice. His Lordship can think of several people he would probably want to bite if he ever met them, but whose voices he still appreciates, so a singer’s personality doesn't really count either way.

These days, Fire + Ice is amongst Lord Bassington-Bassington's favourite Neofolk acts. So when His Lordship stumbled upon these videos from Mr. Read's performance in Halle last year, he felt the need to share them with The Chronicles’ readers.

In these live videos, Mr. Read is supported by Barditus, the main project of Uwe Nolte, best known as one half of Orplid (more about them in some later post). Barditus' more aggressive approach to music really shows in these recordings, and give the Fire & Ice songs an extra punch that works great on the stage.

This is especially true for "Gilded by the Sun". This Spenglerian lament is one of the finest Neofolk songs ever written, but was a bit overproduced (hey, the '80s were barely over) when it appeared on the album of the same name. So the more stripped-down, rawer, live version really becomes it.

Albion, how fine your trees stand gilded by the sun
Across the land and in your fields the tree-lined waters run
But in your heart what light is there, what grows and comes to flower?
Does mind grow cold, do weakened hands let slip their ancient power?



And here's "Dragons in the Sunset" from the same concert.



This post is also a way to remind people that excellent label Trumpets of Doom still has copies of its excellent and luxurious re-release of the Fire + Ice album Birdking.

Elegant machinery, elegant neckwear

While this blog will continue to focus on Lord Bassington-Bassington's favourite musical genres, such as Neofolk and Dark Ambient, a bit of Synthpop is always good for lifting the spirit. Especially when the synthetic pop is done with such style and flair as Sweden's Elegant Machinery.

Not only do Elegant Machinery make first-rate pop music, they also occasionally come up with something that's interesting to look at. The lads have tried their hand at halfway ludicrous fetish fashions in the past, but their latest video shows them donning timelessly stylish outfits.




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As a canine given to reflections about religion and morality, Lord Bassington-Bassington is pleased that Elegant Machinery take the time to teach today's youth some important moral lessons. The lesson, in this case, being this: If you get in trouble, be sure to wear interesting neckwear, for then young ladies will help you. People without interesting neckwear, however, get locked into toilets.

"Words of wisdom", to quote one of Elegant Machinery's song titles.

Gods behaving badly: Candid Cthulhu Camera, part II

It's happened again.

Lord Bassington-Bassington thought it was safe to bring Great Cthulhu along to Trondheim for a conference and lecture on Lovecraft the following evening. He knew that is ended in disaster and debauchery last time he let Cthulhu out of the house, but he figured the Old One wasn't too old to learn from his mistakes (and the grounding that followed).

This evidence, captured by Candid Cthulhu Camera, shows all the sordid details from this visit. We apologise for the dubious quality of some of the shots, but it's hard to think about focus and lighting when an ancient God of evil goes on the rampage.

Here we see Cthulhu eating fatty foods...



...drinking Polish vodka...



...and we'd prefer to not even comment on what we think is going on in this picture.



Luckily, Trondheim's comics maestro Mads Eriksen was able to calm Cthulhu down by reading him a suitably Lovecraftian goodnight story. Thank you, Mr. Eriksen! You saved the day yet again!



Great Cthulhu should now consider himself grounded – for good.

Clean living under difficult circumstances

While the richest countries of the world increasingly worships "casual" style and pre-torn jeans, the spirit of style appears in some strange places.

As a Caninist, Lord Bassington-Bassington has mixed feelings about the new breed of Christian missionaries coming from the Global South to re-Christianize the West. But sartorial missionaries from the Congo would be welcomed with open arms.

After looking at renowned documentary photographer Héctor Mediavillas online exhibition of pictures of Congolese dandies, the so-called sapeurs, His Lordship simply had to share these pictures with his readers.

Not only are Mr. Mediavillas' pictures superb, his subjects are stunning. These African dandies maintain the best parts of European style, but, like many Africans, they excel in the use of colours that don't really look good on paler skins. Not only is the result a feast for anyone interested in style, the pictures also say something about a struggle for beauty and a faith in civilization that seems lost in the West.

Some background for this intriguring phenomenon is provided by the following text:

The arrival of the French to the Congo, at the beginning of the 20th Century, brought along the myth of Parisian elegance among the Congolese youth working for the colonialists. Many considered the white man to be superior because of their technology, sophistication and elegance. In 1922, G.A. Matsoua was the first–ever Congolese to return from Paris fully clad as an authentic French gentleman, which caused great uproar and much admiration amongst his fellow countrymen. He was the first Grand Sapeur.

Respected and admired in their communities, today’s sapeurs see themselves as artists. Their refined manners and impeccable style in their attire bring a little glamour to their humble surroundings. Each one has his own repertoire of gestures that distinguishes him from the others. They are also after their own great dream: to travel to Paris and to return to Bacongo as lords of elegance.

Read the rest of the text, and see many more pictures, here.

Gone away

Lord Bassington-Bassington has gone to talk about H.P. Lovecraft at Forum Nidrosiae.

And to attend a conference about contemporary Satanism.

So in the meantime, here's a rather Devilish Basset.

See you later!