BLACK LANTERN MUSIC: THE STORY SO FAR...

Black Lantern Music is our netlabel and sister-site, a repository for all of the musical output of three distinct stables of producers, emcees and musicians.

These channels are our own WPNZR, run by myself and Cook of Monkeytribe, releasing the best in experimental rock, trip-hop, downtempo electronics and hip-hop music; Harlequinade's NeverZone, who focus on noise, trip-hop, experimental hip-hop and totally out-there drone and rock; and Urge Mode, the brainchild of Morphamish, which has a focus on dubstep, bass music of all kinds, and diverse techno and electronica.

All our releases are free to download, and licensed under Creative Commons, which means they can be shared, spread, remixed, reinterpreted and generally whored about all over the internet in any (non-commercial) way that you want... so if you like what you hear, tell a friend! Tell twenty friends! One hundred!

As a united netlabel, we are very proud to now be 20 releases deep, having launched in October 2009. As we approach our first anniversary, I thought it was high time we did a quick re-cap. Our last few releases have all topped 1000 downloads, which is fantastic - we really feel like we are starting to grow our core audience. For those of you who have just discovered Black Lantern, this post will give you a quick guide to what you might have missed over the last eight months. Click through, download and enjoy!


MUSIC WANTS TO BE FREE.

SILENI - RIDERS ON THE CONQUERING WORM

Visionary, apocalyptic Lovecraftian hiphop in one continuous blast from rapper Harlequinade and producer Gung-Who. A concept album with teeth, tentacles and balls. YUSS.

CHEMICAL POETS ARE... GOIN BACK TO ARKHAM

Mixed sampler for all of the ChemPo solo projects - Double Helix, Sileni, and Burning Bright. Also features Kresch and Kobra Audio Labs.


ASTHMATIC ASTRONAUT - DEJINE COMPILATION

Mixed album from Asthmatic Astronaut, showcasing some great Scottish hip-hop and trip-hop from the likes of 1SP, Underling, Double Helix, Burning Bright, Pigeon Style Kung Fu and more.

CHERRY TREE - BURNING BRIGHT

3 tracks of upbeat, philosophical, socially conscious hiphop from producer Salem Anders and Tickle (CopyLeft / Chemical Poets).

ASTHMATIC ASTRONAUT & LIFESHOWS - INBETWEEN

3 tracks of mellow, jazzy hiphop from Underling producer and Belleruche collaborator Asthmatic Astronaut (Tru Thoughts), and his former Underling bandmate Lifeshows.



godmanwho - BIG WHOOP

A full album from Brighton-based producer Act One and rapper Dan Darsh, collaborating with the hugely talented and visionary emcee Lifeshows. Weed, beer, old-school beats, and a healthy dose of humour.



HARLEQUINADE - NIHILYMOUS GERMSCAPES

Cut-and-paste hip-hop with Lovecrft / horror / soundtrack influences, first instrumental EP from the frontman of vomit-rap band Sileni.


VIGILANTE & SPYTEC - BULLITT VS BUSTA

Mashup project from the former Great Ezcape producer and his collaborator, blending Busta accas with Lalo Schiffrin licks.


TEXTURE - APHASIA

My first solo EP, after 2008's album with Morphamish as Double Helix. Four tracks of bookworm hiphop and hallucinogenic triphop.




EATERS - BITE MARKS

If you don't know the Eaters you should - one of Edinburgh's longest-running and most venerated and admired hip-hop crews deliver a 6-track EP of their greatest hits, reimagined exclusively for Black Lantern.



KEVIN CADWALLENDER - BAZ UBER ALLES

A collision of spoken word and improvised guitar, from celebrated poet Kevin Cadwallender and collaborators. Baz is a Northern Everyman - a journey past pints, poverty, fights, and love lost and found.



mo-seph - THE OTHER PLACE
mo-speh - GROWTH & FORM

Two mini-albums of gorgeous trip-hop / ambient / electronica from mo-seph (Kresch / Chemical Poets), with lush, brooding soundscapes and delicately patterned polyrhythms.





BLACKMASS PLASTICS vs. CROOKED ONE - THE SPINAL CONFLICT EP

Celebrated techno / dubstep producer Blackmass Plastics (Rag-N-Bone) comes correct, battling his alter-ego Crooked One across four tracks of crunchy, bass-heavy electro-dubstep.


MORPHAMISH - THE URGE MODE EP

Morphamish (Double Helix / Audiodacity) drops three tracks of full on peak time tweaked out breaky dubstep, with some eardrum-rattling sub bass, cheeky samples and deep, atmospheric drops. A statement of intent!



DADDY_SCRABBLE - THINGY

5 tracks of jazzy instrumental trip-hop / funk from a local musician and one-time collaborator of Lee Perry.


METATRON - CREATION MYTHS EP

Three tracks of exquisitely narcotic, minimal, melodic dubstep from Metatron, AKA The Niallist (Little Rock Records, Clone/Dissident).


STICK 430 - DON'T FORGET THE MIXER

A badass mighty dirty slice of breaking electro bass from the dynamic Edinburgh duo Stick 430. Satisfyingly old-school electronics, with dubstep, electro and breakcore influences.


COMMA - COMMA

The debut EP by hugely impressive post-rock / math-rock band Comma, who take the best bits of Tortoise, Don Caballero and 90s alt.rock, and come up with something majestic, epic and beautiful.


5HIT HOP NINJA TERMINATORZ - DED KANDI SHIT HED

One continuous mixed track of messianic, psy-ops hiphop from 5HNT, with an old-school sensibility to the rhymes and production, and a viciously intelligent precision in its lyrics.

FICTION: OVERDUE

This one's from the truly excellent Aaron Jacobs, whose last long piece, Gothic horror Reunion in Ice Neath Stone, absolutely blew my fucking mind. His offering today is another horror piece, this time with a deftly comic touch. The original image for this story is 'Vanishing Library' by Miguel M. Almeida.

Isaac Banks woke up tied to a chair with a mouth full of blood and one eye swollen shut, and his first conscious thought was that the night probably wouldn't get any better ...READ MORE

FLASH: TWO MINUTES, MISS DONNA

It's the return of one of our very first Weaponeers, Richard Fannon!! Rich was the author of The Exorcist and Resurrection, way back in the day. Welcome back, Rich. He brings us a short, sharp SF in-joke now, for the Viridians among you. The original image for this story is 'Paparazzi' by practicalowl.

The strobing began before the limo came to the halt, paparazzi swarming for the shot that would be the difference between eating ramen and being able to pay off their drug dealer this month. Bella was ready at the door, composed, focused and with the best smile money could buy firmly anchored into position ...READ MORE

FLASH: THE SECRET OF THE RED DUST

Introducing our latest Weaponeer - please welcome aboard B.B. Smith, a screenwriter and musician based in Edinburgh. His first piece for us is a piece of minimalist, Lynchian speculative fiction, set in a future society where 'spoken word' has become an illegal activity. Please read and spread the link - this is a brilliant wee Flashfic, and we want B.B. to come back and give us more! The original image for this story is 'Heroin Chic' by Sepulture Is Dead.

In the early years people would hide in basements and hold secret 'Speak Free' parties. They feared that the surveillance cameras in their homes might even detect their hushed readings of the (now executed) anti-empire poet, Gabel Reed. Their fears proved correct - they were detected. Soon after, every citizen was fitted with a 'vocal subjugation bug.' The King could now pin-point any spoken word. Even the use of sign language was made a crime, which carried a life sentence of working in the volcanic mines near the Earth's core. A death sentence in itself ...READ MORE

FREE MUSIC! 5HIT HOP NINJA TERMINATORZ - DED KANDI SHIT HED

What can we say about 5hit Hop Ninja Terminatorz? Little that the band themselves don’t cover in their elliptical bio; certainly nothing that the lyrics of Ded Kandi Shit Hed don’t tell you in abundant detail and with scathing, messianic clarity. It’s experimental hip-hop, in the sense that it covers territory that mainstream rappers wouldn’t dare touch. The beats are witty, cheekily-laced with cultural references, and deceptively, mesmerically melodic. It’s catchy and infectious but defiantly anti-commercial, mixed together in one long, breathless take – the product of ‘cannabis and alcohol’ and a lifetime spent rhyming, digging esoteric philosophies and questioning authority. It’s a dangerous blast of anti-propaganda, a ten-year old hoodie yob mugging you with a metal smile and an aerosolized hallucinogen. It’s the latest release from Harlequinade’s NeverZone stable. Download, infect, inspire.

>>DOWNLOAD NOW

SERIAL: SHRIEKONOMICS, CHAPTER 4

Get ready for some serious magickal fight action, as SHRIEKONOMICS continues! C. Brian Hickey's supernatural high-finance thriller reaches its penultimate part, and Jason December finds himself facing an old foe with dark and terrifying allegiances! The image for this chapter is 'Neon Dragon' by swirlingthoughts.

You might look at my situation and say, Wow, Jason—first, tricked by a simple fetch-seeming, and now with a potentially deadly Ronin behind you. It may look as though I'd fallen into a trap. I retort with this: there is no such thing as a trap. Traps only exist insofar as one is caught and taken, and I had no intention of letting that happen. It would tarnish my professional reputation ...READ MORE

PUMZI

via io9

FLASH: THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE CRIMSON SNOW

Harlequinade, author of The Breadhouse and On The Future On A Bite, returns to Flash Fiction with this dark, surreal little virus of a story. A village is marked for tragedy when the snow starts to turn red... but who is the little girl walking out of the forest? The original image for this story is 'Crash' by icebuddah.

The Witch’s Cunt was always busy when the Malarkey was in port. The lone toothless regulars would be swarmed by a raucous and ramshackle gaggle of privateers, opportunists, roustabouts, skallywags, salt dogs, prostitutes, scammers, urchins and drunkards, some fresh onto land after months away plundering, but most were hoping to take advantage of the crew’s newly acquired, but always short lived, good nature and fortune ...READ MORE

SERIAL: OPERATION SUNRISE, CHAPTER 9

Operation Sunrise continues: as more about our two heroes' mysterious past is revealed, we return to the realm of dreams for more symbollism, mystery and suspense! For those of you who want to catch up, you can read the whole of Grimly Whetfox's epic para-psychological thriller from the start right here on Weaponizer.

The fabulous image accompanying this chapter is 'The Black Egg' by Ruth Ray, used with permission (all rights reserved). “The black egg is more sinister, perhaps representative of evil," says Ruth of her painting. "The small boy is very important. He is wondering what is going to happen next and whether he even belongs there and very likely he doesn’t. Perhaps he will remove himself or perhaps he will solve the problem whatever it may be. It is erupting. It is a mystery.” See more of Ruth's work here

"The recurring dream I had when I was a child was kind of different from that. I didn't like it at all, it was more of a nightmare, well, I guess it was a nightmare. I don't really get nightmares anymore, I can't remember when I last had one. The dope kind of stops me dreaming at all, I think. Anyway, this dream I had when I was a kid, it repeated exactly the same every time. It seems there was a competition, some kind of contest, and there were a bunch of kids. We would all have to crawl through really small tunnels to find eggs, that was the competition, to find the eggs. It was very claustrophobic, I hated it, I always woke up shouting and sweating, feeling like I was being crushed and I couldn't get out. It was always exactly the same dream, the kids even had colours for the teams... " ...READ MORE

FICTION: BANDS

A special treat for you science fiction fans tonight. Perennial Weaponizer favourite Will Couper has contributed some excellent stories in the past - you'll all remember the sly horror of Slipe Cats, and the supernatural thrills of The Torch Skull... now Will has brought us some hard SF: a space adventure that bristles with ideas, energy and suspense. An anomoly races through the universe, with the crew of The Celestial Flower in hot pursuit... but what are they chasing? The answer could very well take them to the brink of doom.... The stunning image for this story is 'La Luna' by Gwendolen.

The asteroids were jostled in a domino effect moving outward through the field. There was no way of escaping it, as it was too wide and moving too fast. A shudder ran through the ship, causing the superstructure to twang and thrum and rumble. The paved floors of the walkways vibrated and filled the air with rock dust as some of the paving slabs were loosened from their seating. Crew members and passengers danced along, worrying that the moving stones would hurt them, or worse, kill them. They scrambled with unsteady panic to the walls for support or rushed into shops or homes – any home ...READ MORE

MAKE SOMETHING MAGAZINE

Allen Wiggs is the editor / curator of Make Something Magazine, a zine crossing the boundaries of art, fiction, literature, comics and culture. With contributions from all over the world, and a heavy dose of the weird coming from Warren's Whitechapel Forum, MSM is a fantastic read, pretty to look at, and always thought-provoking. You can grab a copy of issue 2 today for less than £5 including shipping - it features a Weaponizer Twitfic Jam, which we ran earlier in the year. Please show your support for MSM and Weaponizer by ordering your copy today!

NONFIC: GET REAL

Self proclaimed couch-surfer Daniel Ross is one of our Staff Writers. A laconic wit and a sharp mind are what Dan brings to his self-deprecating, wide-ranging and insightful columns. Here, he takes on our notions of the real and the phenomenal, as always with his own particular philosophical slant. The fantastic original image for this article is 'Draw' by Darth Downey.

“I somehow managed to get a grain of rice in the kettle last night. Not sure how I managed it as the lid was on and there's a filter in the spout!” wrote my friend on Facebook today. One of life’s true mysteries. I can’t explain what happened so the only solution is that mystical forces, beyond the grasp of our limited perceptual senses, moved the grain of rice into the kettle. How else did it get there? Perhaps a benevolent, omniscient, omnipotent uber-being put it in there because it was bored. Alternatively, the action of teleporting the grain of rice into the kettle had drastic consequences via the Butterfly Effect and changed the course of the future, thus averting a major humanitarian disaster many centuries away. That could be why our imaginary super sentient Master of the Universe did it ...READ MORE

SERIAL: BALE'S GAME, PART 3: PAWN TO KING'S NIGHT FOUR

K. Patrick Glover's thriller serial BALE'S GAME heats up! Bale is on the trail of rogue former CIA agent Martin Caldwell, a ruthless and mysterious killer from his past. But what has Caldwell done this time? How far into the heart of darkness will Bale have to go to catch him? Can he ever escape his past? FIND OUT NOW in Chapter 3 - PAWN TO KING'S KNIGHT FOUR!

I poured myself a drink and tried to relax my mind. It didn’t work. Thoughts kept racing through my head, memories of my days with the company, foreign countries full of danger, people killing each other over borders and ideals they never fully understood. And Martin Caldwell, smack in the middle of it ...READ MORE

EDINBURGH DUBSTEP

This is pretty cool.
Edinburgh Dubstep from Tim Pankovas on Vimeo.

FREE MUSIC! COMMA - COMMA

Discovered by WPNZR’s itinerant West Coast A&R head honcho Cook (a main player behind the seminal and much-missed band Monkeytribe, and the guy who also brought you the delectable Daddy_Scrabble), Comma are a fascinating proposition for lovers of epic, heartfelt instrumental music.

With all the intricate musicianship of Can or Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and all of the sonic experimentation of Battles or Cougar but with less of the electronic hocus pocus, they are a math rock band in the classic sense – musicians playing complex arrangements in perfect synchronicity, to devastatingly beautiful results.

Echoes of 90s alt-rock and progressive jazz fusion flutter through these six exquisite tracks, providing a listening experience that is as challenging as it is immersive. Black Lantern Music are proud to welcome Comma to the label – we hope you’ll enjoy their first EP as much as we do. The band themselves say:

“Comma's first EP is an interesting fusion of strong childhood influences - touches of Don Caballero and Tortoise can be detected alongside a much gentler musical sensibility. Each track has a character of its own whilst happily contributing to an impression of Comma's over-arching musical direction, which will no doubt only continue to distinguish the band from the totemic inspirations of its youth.”

>>DOWNLOAD EP

THIS WEEK'S BEATS 08/06/2010

Mr Loop – Music From the Tannhauser Gate
The new album from young beatsmith Mr Loop proves that there is a huge wealth of hip-hop being made in the UK that has nothing to do with the embarrassing poptastic excesses of the grime scene. Anyone sick to the back fucking teeth of seeing Tinchy Stryder on Saturday morning telly and Dizzee Rascal working with Tiesto needs to check this album out – it’s an aural antidote to shallow cash-guns-hos-fixated chavstep. From the old-school battle rhymes of Battleslang The Second, which pops and funks like a classic DJ Format cut, to the regional inflections of Pedigree Breed, to the soulful saxophone and strings of Duality (Spit One), every track is just pure quality, both in terms of the lush production and the witty, intelligent rhymes. Standout cuts like Life, a philosophical take on rappers’ motivations, and the fantastic Grown Man Music, which features a brilliant swing-inspired chorus, are among the freshest, most catchy slices of hip-hop to come out of England in a long time. The album’s funniest cut has got to be Suburban Hustler, a tale of a middle-class wannabe gangster that will literally bring tears to your eye (“I’ve got a Megadrive and a Super Nintendo, bitch!”). There’s not a duff track or a lame verse on this album – it is sheer quality through and through. Heavily indebted to golden-age hip-hop like Gang Starr, Pharcyde, and Pete Rock, but never derivative, Music From The Tannhauser Gate is hip-hop how it’s meant to be. Seriously, go and download this now, play it to everyone including your Mum. Free download on Bandcamp.

Loki & Scatabrainz – Summer Knows (A Darker Shade of Grey)

Something of a concept album from Loki, who explores the Thatcher era and 1980s politics along with more familiar Scottish hip-hop themes such as Buckfast, eccies and Glaswegian patter. At 18 tracks, the album is somewhat epic in scale, but there is barely a weak track on it. From the hyperactive funk pianos and hilarious wordplay of A Man of Simple Tastes, where Loki takes on the Lucky Me crew, River City and feminism, to the reflective, piano-led boom-bap of Unconditional and the fantastic, understated Social Capital, Loki displays without a shadow of a doubt that he is one of Scotland’s most talented and intelligent rappers. Eschewing the hard man act in favour of thrilling technical proficiency and searing social commentary, this is a million miles away from the arty atmospherics of Edinburgh bands like Eaters and Penpushers, but equally far from the monotonous gangsterisms of much of the West Coast scene. On an excellent album, the best tune has to be the magnificent, harrowing Moonlight Flitting, where Loki manages to both tear Thatcher a new one and tell a disturbing tale of his deprived upbringing. It’s a track to return to again and again, with a brilliant chopped guitar riff and some incredibly well crafted, thought-provoking rhymes. For a scene so routinely slept on, ignored and misunderstood, Scottish hip-hop hosts some genuine innovators – the foremost of these is Loki, a rapper at the very top of his game. His pairing with Scatabrainz is the finest moment in his career so far. Worth every penny and more of the mere £5 it costs on Bandcamp.

Ga’an – Ga’an [Records On Ribs]

Not knowing much about the Italo-horror soundtracks that Ga’an are said to reference and be influenced by, I came to this release with a relatively fresh perspective on the music. Elements of drone, electro and post-rock combine in a velveteen swirl of atemporal melodrama, elegantly draped with operatic vocal and choral flourishes. A pervading sense of menace and tension pervades the six epically structured tracks, which move from sedate and funereal pace to throbbing crescendos as they build and swell. There is definitely a crypt-like atmosphere in the gothic excess of Chasmaeon and Living Tribunal, while the two part I of Infinite Forms is a deep and exploratory inward journey. Excellent drumming and thudding bass provide the backbone of the whole EP, which only slightly falls flat due to a less than perfect studio mix. That said, there is sufficient beauty and complexity in Ga’an’s music to more than outweigh any complaints about production values. Weird, strangely archaic, and unquestionably haunting, this is highly recommended. Free download from the excellent netlabel Records On Ribs.

How To Destroy Angels – How To Destroy Angels

A new project from NIN frontman Trent Reznor, featuring his wife Mariqueen Maandig. You’ve probably already heard this one, or at least read the hype, so I’ll cut straight to the analysis – this is fucking tight. Reznor suits a role behind the boards, and Maandig’s vocals are a very palatable alternative to his alterna-rock frontman efforts. I’m an avowed NIN fan, but quite simply, less is more when it comes to Trent’s own vocals. His harmonies here are understated and tactically deployed, while Maandig’s deceptively smooth tones ride his beats like silk across a Samurai blade. The Space in Between is a gentle opener, swiftly followed up by the building industrial funk of Parasite. Fur Lined recalls With Teeth’s industrial disco stylings, while BBB is all cinematic strip-club bass and whispered menace. The glitches, whirs and clicks of The Believers are defiantly atonal in contrast to the gentle guitars and glockenspiels, coming on like a 2CB-addled Tricky. The EP closes with a classic Reznor ballad, the piano-led A Drowning. This is the sound of a great producer getting free reign to explore his sonic obsessions, but also a remarkably commercial move for Reznor, who massively increases his range and appeal by using a sultry female voice as his central focus. Absolutely bloody brilliant. Free download from the band's website.

SERIAL: STILLETTOEYE & RAZORGUT AND THE FALL OF FELIX8B

Dwayne Coltrane & The HyperDeathPsychoRock Three perfected intravenous administration of Trioxythalopeptimine (street name Awful Juice, or Midget Horror Liquid) in the late 1930s while playing the chickenshack circuit with legendary bluegrass musician Twice-Hanged Jemmy. As early pioneers of the psychedelic freakout, they would roll and convulse on the blood and sawdust floors of the fabled shacks, communing with strange Voodoo swamp Gods and imaginary many-tentacled horrors. Dwayne has never been through rehab - a cruel and vicious temper and a stark refusal to believe in objective truth have kept him grounded through his nightmarish addiction. This one time, he hallucinated he was on Mars... this is the story of what happened, related through the eyes of our glorious heroes, StillettoEye & RazorGut!

StilletoEye and RazorGut’s sleek 55 Cadillac, Betsy, kicked up the red dust into a dense cloud all around them as fast as their windscreen wipers could clear the window. But through the red haze, they could see the network of glass domes and connecting tunnels which made up Felix 8B offworld colony. A satellite clearly advertising Property of Electrinsect Inc. orbited around the largest dome, towards which StilletoEye and RazorGut were driving ...READ MORE

THIS IS WEAPONIZER

Our serial thriller BALE'S GAME by K. Patrick Glover is on a skip week this week - so we'll have some more STILLETTO EYE & RAZORGUT for you later on this evening.

Editing has been somewhat hectic and sporadic over the last week, so thanks for your patience - we've got a new serial launching soon, plus our webcomics section (we're very excited about that!), and more quality music on Black Lantern.

As always, thanks for supporting Weaponizer! If you want to help us out, tell your friends about the site, follow us on Twitter or join our Facebook Group, and follow us on Networked Blogs.

Not been here for a while? Here are some of the recent fiction highlights you may have missed:

NAKED SINGULARITY by Scott Thurlow
TUESDAY AFTERNOON by Lynsey Miller
CUT NOW, CUT DEEP by Peter Morrison
ELSEWHERE ON THE PLANET by Michael Jacobo
SNAKE EYES by Vertigo Jones

Some nonfiction highlights:

ONE NIGHT IN LEITH by Daniel Ross
THE PARADOX OF FEAR by Harlequinade
LEND THEM YOUR EARS by Elle Matheuse
GUTTERSHAMAN PRIMER by Ian 'Cat' Vincent
H.W. INTERVIEW by Bram E. Gieben

HARLEQUINADE VS. SAGE FRANCIS

Our beloved Staff Writer and intinerant hip-hop rebel Harlequinade interviewed the legendary Sage Francis this month for The Skinny Magazine. Read all about it here...

Perhaps more than fellow underground mavericks like DOOM and Noah23, Sage Francis is the quintessential independent hip-hop artist working today. After ten years of gruelling and fearless hard work, Sage has honed his combination of sublime word play, masterful rap flows and clowning lark, and is now enjoying some of the pay-off for his relentless work ethic and skill.

Also by hQ:

A Rough Guide to Sage Francis

NEW COVER ART BY VERONIKA VON VOLKOVA

The new cover art is an exquisite, moody portrait by the talented photographer Veronika Von Volkova. Her sensuous, evocative portraits and still lifes create an air of vaudevillian decadence, tinged with dreamlike, faded grandeur and exquisite strangeness. Check out Veronika's work here on her website, or on her Flickr page. The image featured as this month's cover features Veronika herself, and the fantastic Katelan Foisy, a visual artist and illustrator whose work can also be found online.

Every month we select an artist or photographer to feature on the front page. If you would like your work displayed here please contact the editor.

SERIAL: OPERATION SUNRISE, CHAPTER 8

Chapter 8 of an ongoing serialised novel: para-psychological thriller OPERATION SUNRISE, by our resident star traveller and purveyor of all things monkey, Grimly Whetfox. In this episode, our mysterious protagonist take a voyage inwards, and has some startling revelations.

The landscape was familiar but different, tinged, somehow brighter and more defined. He marvelled at it every single time. How? How can it be so detailed, so thorough, hyper-real. How the hell... Then a knowledge moved through him, and he corrected himself, his back straightening, understanding developing deeper, and he realised again that massive discipline was required, it was growing by the day ...READ MORE

NONFIC: ONE NIGHT IN LEITH

Please give a warm Weaponizer welcome back to Daniel Ross (author of the article If You Can't Beat 'Em), who joins us now as a Staff Writer. His next essay touches on a subject close to my heart - my favourite bit of Edinburgh, and the place where I have lived for most of the past 3 years, sunny Leith. Leith can be a... shall we say... interesting place to live, and Daniel has managed to capture vividly some of the strangeness of living in Edinburgh's proudest subsection. I actually met Dan a few years ago working on the shore of the picaresque port, so it's nice to see a familiar face recurring as our little site continues to expand. Welcome aboard, Dan! The original image 'Leith' by goingdefforaliving.

Early one Thursday morning I lay in bed. My dreams of chaos were disturbed by repetitive ravings and guttural grunting coming from the street outside. This happens quite frequently so I tend to ignore it and snatch some more sleep before my joyless working day commences. I live above a Leith pub. Not any Leith pub but the one that is closest to the local team stadium, Hibernian FC. This ensures that during the season, there is a well populated public house containing locals and supporters, all of whom are invariably intoxicated and unceremoniously violent the majority of the time ...READ MORE

FLASH: TOMORROW, SUPERVILLAINY

New Weaponeer Michael Simon has written a novel and some other bts and bobs before finding his way to our little patch of html, and his first offering is a sparse, elliptical Flash piece about family values. The image for this story is 'Candlestick Phone' by Balakov.

Margo?

Yeah, hi Dad. I just wanted to tell you what happened today. It was...

Margo, why did you call me?

What?

Margo. Last week at dinner... when we had that family discussion...

Yeah, Dad I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so blunt, but I was shocked.

I told your brother and sister and you —

Dad, they have names ...READ MORE

FICTION: NAKED SINGULARITY

New Weaponeer Scott Thurlow writes for www.uninstallreality.com. His first piece fro Weaponizer is a cracked, psychologically complex meta-rant on existence, culture and evolution. Gripping stuff.

The problem, in their interpretation, was that I was supposed to be trying to work towards a sort of harmonious relationship with them as well, and if 'we' could do this, if 'everyone else' did it, then humanity as a whole would achieve some kind of I-am-he-as-you-are-he-as-you-are-me-and-we-are-all-together Kumbaya-ness. Yeah. I’m fucking crying here. The point is that I definitely wasn’t working towards this 'goal,' and this inevitably offended people when they finally, if at all, realized I viewed conversation as a one-way street. Get the fuck out of my way if you’re in it, or something is going to go very awry ...READ MORE

SERIAL: SHRIEKONOMICS, CHAPTER 3

Jason December! Is back! In the thrilling third part of SHRIEKONOMICS! Wherein! Shit gets real! Aaaaaaarrrgh! "I call it Kaballahpunk!" Screams author C. Brian Hickey! We call it fucking BADASS! Image by Thomas Hawk!

She made nasty, fishy little gagging noises on the other end. Good. “And another thing, Miss Reading. Seeing as I know how you tricked the Feds, you can infer that I am not a fool when it comes to The Arts. Unlike you. Your Works were like a temper tantrum, strewn all over my house, which, to be perfectly frank, left me insulted. So this is now a personal matter, between you and I.” ...READ MORE

FREE MUSIC! STICK 430 - DON'T FORGET THE MIXER...

For those of you who've been following Black Lantern Music for a while, you'll need no introduction to the bass-heavy, dope as fuck sounds of URGE MODE, curated by Morphamish. Hot on the heels of Blackmass Plastics / Crooked One's storming 'Spinal Conflict EP' and Morphamish's own 'Urge Mode EP', they continue to deliver the goodies...

A badass mighty dirty slice of breaking electro bass from the dynamic duo Stick 430.

All hardware electronics, often pinned by huge 808 and gabber kicks, punky synths and samples with intricate drum programming weave a dark and dirty tough original sound. It nods to dubstep, 2step, Sativae techno, 8 bit and old school electro then charges on down the hall...

Not for the faint hearted, get stuck in!

>>DOWNLOAD EP