Nightmare Theater - The Hottest Films in Horror SciFi, & Cult Cinema

I am happy to present a new feature here at Nightmare Sound Laboratory! In case you haven't guessed it by now, I sort of have a thing for Horror movies, as well as Sci-Fi, Cult, Asian Cinema and, well, just movies in general. As such I have a collection of over a thousand films, including many obscure titles. From "so bad it's good" to "so good it's terrifying" and everything in-between, I'd like to present some of my favorite picks in this feature I call "Nightmare Theater". I won't be doing reviews here 'per se', but I will present some recommendations and sufficient description to solve your movie night dilemmas. The hottest picks from my private collection, rated on a scale of 1 to 5 skulls.

Today's picks are from my Asian Cinema collection. Here are a couple of my all time favorites and definitely amongst some of the wildest films out there!

Hellevator

"Hellevator" or ("The Bottled Fools") the 2004 Japanese film written and directed by Hiroki Yamaguchi is definitely NOT for the kiddies:) It is gruesome, freakish, post-Apocalyptic cyber-punk in an elevator. This film makes M. Night Shamylan pee his bed while David Lynch laughs about it. It's weird, it's tense, and it's everything I love in a film. "A Clockwork Orange" get's stood on it's head, crammed through "1984" and dropped in to a brave New Tokyo most of which occurs while a group of strangers are trapped on an elevator with dangerous prisoners. Bored with "regular" old movies? THIS IS A MUST SEE FILM! Five Skulls!

Save the Green Planet

"Save the Green Planet" (2003) is a Korean film from the mind  writer/director Joon Hwang-Jang. This Dark Comedy lives up to both characteristics to the highest degree. Again, this film is NOT for children, nonetheless it can be both heartwarming AND horrifying in the same moment. Byeong-gu (Ha-kyun Shin) suspects his boss is an Alien. With the help of his adorable hapless, naive but loyal girlfriend Kang Man-shik (Yun-shik Baek) they go to extreme measures to save the world from invasion! Madcap creepy fun! 5 Skulls!

Volcano High 

Another splendid Korean film by Director Tae-gyun Kim, "Volcano High" (2001) is a fun high flying fantasy FX film about violence between rivals at WanSanGo (Volcano High). This is silly comic book fun with plenty of martial arts madness, schoolgirls who kick ass and enough mystic Kung Fu to sooth the Taoist in me. Think Battle Royal but WAY cooler! Exciting cinematography and experimental tones give this a super comic book feel! The film centers around Kyeong-su (Hyuk Jang) a transfer student known for disciplinary troubles, who must unite the students to face a greater enemy than rival gangs. The DVD comes with an English version dubbed by famous rappers (Snoop Dog, Method Man, & others); DO NOT WATCH THE ENGLISH VERSION! It ruins the movie, and whether you like those artists or not, the dubbing is sub par and the entire flow and vibe of the film is lost. There is also something about the nature of the Korean language that is so critical to the actors' performances. Definitely watch the Korean version with English subtitles. You won't regret it! You guessed it: 5 Skulls!

These are three of my all time favorites so we got 15 Skulls up on the trophy wall!

Nothing like watching a good film with some great fiends!

That's all for now,  till next time at Nightmare Theater,

Beast Wishes,

T.Reed - Composer @TAOXproductions

http://www.taoxproductions.com http://www.imdb.me/treed

Music Producers - Musical Multiple Personality Disorder

Producer's Journal

The Deep Dark Secrets of Music Production 

Nobody Wants to Talk About

Perhaps only other producers will be able to relate to this dark secret of the business, but many of us suffer from MMPD (Musical Multiple Personality Disorder).
   It starts off innocently through study of music and music appreciation, but like a gateway drug, leads artists to want to actually create music in genres outside their natural areas of expertise, to explore, collaborate, innovate, and finally bend and twist genre on it's head...And then, it's too late; you are hooked.
You start to notice it when you hear a track in a genre you never liked and suddenly have a wave of immense appreciation for the songwriting and production, or worse yet, you can re-imagine the song in an entirely different genre/arrangement. These musical "hallucinations" can have far reaching effects, including a sometimes excessive build up of interesting, but unrelated tracks in one's music catalog.
For producers who come from the performing/recording artist/band world it can be even more traumatic.
An artist with a band or specific solo project already has identity issues, often using one or more obfuscated identities to represent their 'creative selves' versus their 'business selves', and their 'everyday selves'.
   For those afflicted with MMPD, the compulsion to analyze music and engage in unsavory acts like: research, study, practice, collaboration, experimentation and ultimately becoming involved with 'foreign' genres, becomes irresistible, pulling countless producers down a long hard road of musical addiction.
For the performer turned producer, coming down from a 'one genre' focus and having to enter a beginners mind in unfamiliar territories can be a challenging transition, but the lure of "mind expanding" musical experiences often proves too compelling for an artist just leaving the exciting world of long hours, late nights and too much cigarette smoke.
   Side effects of MMPD can be a heavy level of appreciation for cultural diversity and an open mind.
Often times artists with an established following can suffer the stigma of being accused of lack of focus or betrayal of genre/fanbase. Without a community of other producers willing to come out and openly discuss this 'seamier' side of the business, an individual producer can feel isolated and lock themselves in their studios for hours if not days at a time.
If any of these symptoms or conditions sound familiar to you, you may be afflicted. You may be a producer.
Until now, it had been thought that the only cure for this affliction was a steady job doing only one kind of music (or in extreme cases, no music at all!) for the rest of their life...For some, that cure is worse than the disease.
I am happy to be able to reveal to you today, that the real cure is much simpler, free, and readily available!
The secret? Having a good sense of humor, a healthy dose of ambition and perseverance, and finding a supportive place where you can openly declare:
" I am (insert your name here) and I'm a Producer";)

Happy Holidays,
T. Reed - Composer/Music Producer

TAO X Productions Online! 11/29/09

Official TAO X Productions Website now online!

After much tribulation, procrastination, and frequent 'conflustrication' (nope, not a word, ...yet;), I finally retooled the TAO X Productions website.
New easy to access flash audio and video samples, project links, and a sleek new design are finally available.
The Shopping and Newsletter features are not fully functional just yet. At the moment they are still a world of code I have to finish grappling with, but I'm well on the way and should have those aspects ironed out before long.
As a long time practitioner of DIY philosophy, it can be both frustrating and rewarding to pick up new software from scratch and tickle the edge of code, while trying to get regular projects done. Web work can be so time consuming and meticulous!
All that said, I hope I've managed to create an enjoyable and useful space for clients, fans, and new viewers to experience a piece of my world as a composer/artist/musician/producer. As time permits I will upgrade and improve the site to better serve the developing needs of my clients and the general needs of the multimedia, post production, music and entertainment industry.
I want to thank everyone who shows interest and visits my sites/blogs etc.
For clients I hope to bring a unique flavor that really helps lift their projects/campaigns to their highest potential. For listeners and fans, I hope you all enjoy my eclectic collection of odd bits, albums, and video work from throughout my career/life as an Artist/Musician/Composer.
I thank you for your ears and your support!
Best Wishes,



T. Reed - Composer/Music Producer
TAO X Productions
Nightmare Sound Lab
TAO X on Twitter

Retrobots of the Month: Thankful for Dynamic Duobots

Alright, This Thanksgiving I am thankful to be able to work in the field of music and art (for 20-plus years and tracking). I am also Thankful to all creators of Monster and Robot masterpieces like the following video for " Positive Contact".
Yeah, this may be a few years old but it is seriously cool. Awesome animation and a most brilliant "Gamer" hook to it from Intergalactic Hip Hop heroes, Deltron 3030


On the other side of the World we have the second half of this month's Dynamic Duobots, a superior animator from Argentina, Federico Alvarez and his exceptional giant Robot alien invasion short: Ataque de Pánico! (Panic Attack!) 2009 (produced by: Aperato Post).It doesn't hurt to be backed by British Film Composer John Murphy and his incredible song,
"In a Heartbeat"(as heard in"28 Days Later" theme /"Dr. Who" etc.)
This is just one of the most awesome animated SciFi shorts ever!


Till next time...same Bot channel;)

Godzilla Stop Motion Animation/Score/SFX Test

I ran across this stop motion animation test featuring none other than the Big 'G' himself, with models and animation by Stu Venom. I asked permission to use his work as the basis for an exercise for one of my intern/students in the art of music for film.

This clip features models of Super Godzilla vs HyperGezora in battle.

You can find more about Stu's stop motion animation project at:

http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/chokaijugojira/

Kaijusonic Update

Kaijusonic - Release Delayed

Well the idea was to arbitrarily post Halloween as a deadline for this project...The reality is that some film project and festival deadlines and priorities stepped in the way. Not so out of the ordinary in this crazy biz;) That said, I want to make this a spectacular project with lots of fun cool merchandise and an incredible collection of fine monster music so, I am going to take the time I need to make sure this is worth the wait! I promise it will be MONSTROUS!!! I will post a new release date when I've had more time to give this project the focused attention it deserves and I'm sure a financing and distribution chain is in place.
More on this soon...

Kaijusonic Team - Nightmare Sound/TAO X Productions

The Return of Blood Reaper?

Well, no, not really, But I just discovered that Unstoppable Pacific is offering up a way cool poster for a Horror film I scored back in 2002

"Blood Reaper"This Movie got some incredibly cool DVD box art devoted to it for the American, Canadian, U.K., S. African, and Japanese releases... and now this beautiful full size 40"x27" high quality 4-color process poster designed by New York Graphic Artist Brenda Trevethan. The artwork, in fact far surpasses the film, which featured Scream Queen, Brinke Stevens in a brief appearance.

This movie succeeds at being exactly what it is, and does so unapologetically, so despite it being a typical STV teenage slasher flick, for me it had a level of humor and charm others might not necessarily see.
I suppose that scoring this film, for weeks, and hearing the director's instruction in the background of the rough audio added to the humor that I alone would be in the unique position of engraining into my experience. I mean there's something hilarious about watching an actor looking at a dripping substance hitting the ground, and hearing the director in the background whispering

" You look up...and sure enough... it's blood!"

You can see a trailer for Blood Reaper here:

It was the first feature horror film I scored and I had fun doing it. I hope and believe that my music served it well. My favorite aspect of the film was probably the most understated, the scenes with a homeless woman who lived in a tent, played by Emalie Ortega. They had a very 'David Lynchian' vibe which I attempted to accentuate with the sound/music.

I wish all the best to the cast and crew of "Blood Reaper" and the Producers at U.P. and hope they continue to put out creepy films. Their latest short film looks pretty cool!
See Unstoppable Pacific's Trailer for "Eternus" Here:

TAO X Experimental Instrument Gallery

TAO X Productions Experimental Instrument Gallery Series

In this series I will use that Time Machine I was building to go back and document some of the musical, sculptural and experimental projects (created in my studios or in collaboration with others) from the past through the future!
For the first installation I'm pleased to present a collection of Large Outdoor Musical Sculptures created by myself and some of my partners in sonic crime and guerrilla artfare;)

Hill Iron Series: 2000 -2009
The Hill Iron series consists of several large instrument sculptures made primarily from recycled farm impliments (tilling disks, metal tubes, and fan blades, rope) stones and fallen cedar trees. I have recorded some of these instruments and will be adding sound and video clips as soon as they become available. Most of these are large 12 foot tall structures located far from my studio, that stay outside year round in Wisconsin. They require occasional maintenance and I will plan on recording some video next time I drive out to do repairs. You can get a sense of perspective from the ladders underneath the Tubular Bell frame, or the brief case and mikes that made up the recording set up.

Question: How do you scare away a marauding gang of cows like this one?
Answer: Build one of these, apparently;)

Raw Materials



Portable Recording Rig

This rig looked so 'James Bond' that I had to add the gun and stopwatch for effect;)
The cat, my now deceased but much loved Midnight, entered the picture of his own volition
Field Recording Session


Lovecraftian 1: Sounds of the Tripod Disk Gong both struck and with stones poured upon it, are reversed, timeshifted and recorded realtime and finally manipulated via a Roland DJ70 MKII w/360 degree "scratch wheel" controller, and incorporated into this short piece inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's "The Terrible Old Man".


In addition to Instruments we also build other sculptures and various oddities.

Photographs and Artwork - T.Reed 2000 - 2009
Sculptures by:

Tripod Disk Gong - J. Kaminsky
Moth Gong - T. Reed/J. Kaminsky
Giant Tubular Bells (3 sided) - T. Reed
I Ching Chimes - T. Reed
Bell Tree 1 - P. Kaminsky
Guardian II - T. Reed/J. Kaminsky

T. Reed would like to thank J. Kaminsky and Eric K. for the space, resources, creativity, collaboration and cooperation in the creation of this series of large sculptural musical instruments built starting in 2000 and continuing through today. The Tripod Disk Gong was conceived by J. Kaminsky and built with T. Reed.
Bell Tree 1 was conceived and built by P. Kaminsky The I Ching Chimes was conceived and built by T. Reed

Welcome to the Nightmare Sound Laboratory

King Komodo/Cryotanks Image by Todd Tennant used with permission

I'd like to begin with a brief introduction and a story to help you make sense of the many oddities you will doubtless encounter herein. My name is T. Reed and I am a Composer, Music Producer and Artist. This affliction possessed me as a small child infatuated with horror movies, and obsessed with comics, monsters and robots (Oh how little has changed;). I believe I can pinpoint the exact moment in time when my course and purpose was set and permanently engraved upon my soul much like the Curse of the Werewolf that was placed upon Lawrence Talbot in the old Saturday Night creep shows.
At age two, I drew pictures of Batman and declared that I would be an Artist when I grew up, but it was Kindergarten, the ultimate horror story for some, destroyer of youth and innocence, that pushed me into what I am today. In my first encounter with the agencies of conformity and assimilation, I remember nothing of note upon that day until, much to my surprise and wonder, the teacher announced that we were all going to take a trip to the laboratory. As we walked in an orderly fashion down the halls, I envisioned a room with scales, skulls and bones, vials of glowing substances, and beakers of preserved specimens and creatures of unknown origin. I could see a mad scientist suspiciously similar to Boris Karloff in appearance, teaching Mad Science 101 in the Science Lab in my minds eye. On that first day of school, I was launched into society, into the Belly of the Beast, and for one brief shining moment I had hope for a life of excitement and joy. So this was School, eh? AWESOME! This momentary ecstasy was of course merely the product of my imaginings and shattered into pieces on the cold tile floor of the hallway that we seemed to have stopped in inexplicably.
As I waited patiently, I noticed that little by little, the teacher was allowing students to use the bathrooms. "Ah, I see, I told myself, a pit stop on the way to the 'real' laboratory" but even then, a sinking feeling had begun to build in the pit of my stomach that I just couldn't shake. It was confirmed when we turned around and walked back the way we'd come. Who came up with the word 'Lavatory' anyway, and when were we, (as 5 year olds), supposed to have assimilated that word? All I know is that those 8 letters spelled my first great disillusionment. Welcome to the 'real world': disappointment, misunderstanding, boredom, and waiting in line to crap out numbers and yesterdays food products....It was then, that somewhere deep inside, I cracked and made a solemn unspoken oath to fulfill the imaginary world of Laboratories and Mad Scientists I had envisioned waiting in that hallway. That hallway that crushed my childhood and my dreams in one fell swoop, also swung wide the doorway to my imagination.
I now open that door to you.
Never again will you have to face the annoying disappointment of utilitarian blandness! Here at the Nightmare Sound Laboratory there is a monster in every room and a robot doorman to guide the way. Mad science is the only science studied here, and outlandish sonic experiments are the rule and not the exception.
Welcome to my World.

T. Reed - Composer, Music Producer, Artist
King Komodo/Cryotanks Image by Todd Tennant used with permission