Young Blondes, Stalked and Murdered is a 2024 film that blends elements of character study, slasher/serial killer thriller, and trying to make it in Hollywood satire. It focuses on Stacy- a young strawberry blond, who has recently set down in LA to make it as an actress, as a gloved/ masked killer is taking out aspiring blond actresses. The film has a decidedly darting/ fragment/ sleekly arty structure, which tonally darts all over the place- shifting from unease/ fearful, onto awkwardly vapid, to darkly funny. Here, from the recently resurrected Anchor Bay, is a Blu-ray release of the film.

During the late 1980s, cult director Lamberto Bava agreed to film a four-part anthology series for Italian TV under the banner of High Tension. But after the executives saw the completed features’ extreme themes, graphic violence, and nudity, their broadcast was blocked for nearly a decade, going on to exist as grey market bootlegs for many years. From Severin, here is a four Blu-ray/ CD boxset- presenting classy 2k scans of all four films, with a host of new extras.

Zu are an avant-garde metal trio formed in Rome, Italy, who have been releasing music since 1999. Ferrum Sidereum is their third full-length release for House of Mythology Records and their 14th in total. The band’s current lineup consists of Luca T. Mai on baritone sax, keyboards, synthesiser, and organ, Paolo Mongardi on drums and acoustic and synthetic percussion and Massimo Pupillo on bass, 12-string guitar, synthesisers, and keyboards.

Pushing the death metal envelope, Finnish trio Ligation unleash their brand of 'death mental' with their debut album, After Gods. Working within the confines of that cold, dark, Scandinavian sound, Ligation further their agenda by integrating uncommon, but highly welcome, elements like harsh noise and saxophones. Integrating the three tracks from their two prior split EPs, After Gods showcases the band in all their mighty glory, tearing new holes in the death metal fabric, allowing other dimensions to saunter in and wrap their tendrils on an unsuspecting audience. 

In the field of music, you don't have to look very far to find meditations of all kinds; David Shea's Meditations is something else. Taking its cues from the actual IRL act of meditating, grounded in Buddhism and the Heart Sutra in particular, the eight pieces that make up this album are born out of meditating, sometimes even musically, and are designed to accompany or engender that process. I guess that means listening and being attentive to the other performers, like those who round out the album's lengthy roster and their instruments--vibraphones, guitars, ebows, and yes, singing bowls, among others. 

For 10 Musicians is a modern ensemble suite, at its most stark and spare. The four-track work is built around spaced piano notation, with which the wind and string instruments are sometimes connected. It creates a work that is more about mood/ presence, and less about melody/ structure- though those do sometimes occur.