Slayer Soundtrack Sunday ~ Rasputina

Rasputina is an American band influenced by the Victorian Era and the Steampunk movement.

From their official website:

The Rasputina group has existed for more than 20(0) years. Melora Creager founded it to meet like-minded young women (excellent cellists that wanted to play rock music and wear historical costumery). Although often mistakenly lumped into passing fancies, Rasputina manages to survive and defy categorization by maintaining a child-like delight in music-making alongside a clear & true integrity.

The song "Transylvanian Concubine" is included on their album Thanks For The Ether. It was also included on Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Album (1999 Television Series)


The song plays in Episode 13 of Season 2 - "Surprise" - in which Buffy is having a rather dark 17th birthday haunted by bad dreams about the vampire Drusilla killing Angel. Meanwhile, in an ironic parallel, Drusilla and Spike are planning a party with "presents" arriving in the form of body parts from which they hope to construct an invincible demon to defeat the Slayer.

Transylvanian Concubine is really the perfect song for Drusilla and plays toward the end of the episode when she demands "more music" and unveils the demon.

In another ironic twist, it is Buffy who becomes the vampire's "concubine" when Angel gives her an Irish Claddagh ring to seal their love, and she sleeps with him. The moment of bliss created with Buffy lifts the gypsy curse from Angel, who suddenly loses his soul and goes back to being an ordinary evil vampire whom Buffy eventually has to kill in a following episode. So . . . happy birthday, Buffy! Not!






And alternate version of the song called "Manson Mix" (as in Marilyn Manson) is below. I prefer the original.

S.H.I.E.L.D. and Avengers 2 ~ Rumors and Spoilers

Rumors and Spoilers are flying around - hard to know what to believe at this point.

Joss Whedon hinted at new characters in The Avengers 2

Joss Whedon hints Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are in Avengers 2: on.io9.com/gZqepaF
— io9 (@io9) April 25, 2013

From AceShowBiz

The 48-year-old filmmaker revealed that fans would get to see two new characters in the film.

"I've been writing and meeting with actors and we're starting to storyboard, all the preliminary processes. This is the part where it's all still fun," Whedon told Yahoo! Movies. "I've got these two characters, two of my favourite characters from the comic book, a brother-sister act. They're in the movie."

Without further details of the new additions, fans are left to guess who the pair might be, leading to speculation that Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver may be the ones Whedon adds to the sequel to "The Avengers".

. . . the siblings, who are Magneto's twin children, first appear in the X-Men mythology as villains. Scarlet Witch, who wears wimple, has the power to cast hexes to manipulate probability. Her brother Quicksilver, meanwhile, is capable of moving and thinking at superhuman speeds.

And there's a rumor of a character's "resurrection" in S.H.I.E.L.D.

From Hit/Fix

...Today, an alleged spoiler went up online about the "Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D." pilot, and specifically the fate of Agent Phil Coulson, played in "Iron Man," "Iron Man 2," "Thor," "The Avengers," and even the "Ultimate Spider-Man" animated show by Clark Gregg. His death was a major turning point for The Avengers as a team, and it helped unite them against Loki and the invading aliens. /Film seems pretty confident that their report is correct, and it certainly makes a logical sort of sense.

Once Coulson was announced as part of the series, I figured there'd be something like this included in the pilot. The report raises questions that I assume will be addressed in the series, but for now, this appears to be the truth about how Marvel plans to resurrect the character:

In the pilot, it’s revealed Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), the ultimate super spy, faked Agent Coulson’s death on purpose to motivate The Avengers. Some S.H.I.E.L.D. members were in on it (including, possibly, Maria Hill played by Cobie Smulders) but The Avengers were not. Their security clearance wasn’t high enough. Coulson was forced to hold his breath as part of the ruse and that’s a point of contention among his colleagues  After the fact, Fury moved him to a remote location until things died down, and then he was reinserted into duty at the time of the show.

If this turns out to be the way they handle things, it should create some serious tension between Coulson and the heroes who believed him to be dead. It's also going to create some trust issues for Nick Fury.

Slayer Soundtrack Sunday ~ The I in Team

In the episode "The 'I' in Team" Buffy enters the mysterious underworld of the military Initiative. At first Buffy is thrilled to be part of a secret team, proud to show off her skills while kicking around monsters and proving herself to her college professor, Doctor Walsh. And of course, the togetherness with boyfriend Riley is an added plus.



Meanwhile, Xander and Anya are still heating up, while Willow feels lonely and left out, leading her to spend time with Tara. So the title of the episode not only applies to the militaristic Initiative, but also the Scooby Gang, as they each seek personal happiness apart from each other. There's even a scene of Giles trying to inspire Spike to work with them due to a "higher purpose," but the now-neutered vampire just wants to take the money and run.

Of course like Han Solo in Star Wars, Spike is actually deeper than that, and due to his love for Buffy does return again and again to help the Slayer and her friends. In a parallel, Buffy discovers that while she is happy and intimate with Riley, her old friends are far more trustworthy than her new friends. For instance, Buffy figures out that Professor Walsh is up to no good, even while acting all motherly towards Riley.

Lavish ~ "Trashed"
Plays at the Bronze before Buffy arrives.


Black Lab ~ "I Keep Myself Awake"
Plays at the Bronze when Buffy arrives with Riley and the Commandos. This song is included on Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Album (1999 Television Series)





Delirium ~ "Window to Your Soul"
This song plays during the fight between the Commandos and the Demon, interposed with the sex scene between Buffy and Riley. Making things creepy is that they are being watched on a remote camera by Professor Walsh, otherwise known as "Mother."

Avengers Win Big at MTV Movie Awards

At last night's MTV Movie Awards, the Whedonverse won big with "The Avengers" taking home three golden popcorn trophies for Best Fight, Best Villain, and Best Movie.

”We are humbled to be standing here. No, we’re not humbled, we won. We’re… what’s the opposite of humbled? We’re Biebered to be standing here tonight.”

~ Joss Whedon via Popwatch ~ Best Sound Bite of the Night

"Everyone's got to thank this guy. Joss Whedon: creator, writer, director, our fearless leader," Samuel L. Jackson said.
When Whedon took to the stage, he joked, "Chris [Evans] wants to thank me too. Thank you guys, this was very unexpected."
Whedon, Evans and Jackson were joined on stage by costar Tom Hiddleston, who used the opportunity to make a joke of his own. "I just want to say I'm happy to be Hulk smashed any day of the week," he quipped.

~ Via Zap-2-It

In addition to Best Movie, "Marvel's The Avengers" earned victories in the night's Best Fight and Best Villain categories. All three of the Marvel Studios picture's awards were at least partly due to the involvement of Tom Hiddleston, who terrorized the iconic superheroes as Loki, Asgard's very own God of Mischief. Speaking with MTV News back-stage at the show, Hiddleston said "it was fun" to be "burdened with glorious popcorn" in front of so many fans as a big winner throughout Movie Awards night.
"I'm so proud," he said. "Loki is the richest, deepest and most exhilarating character I've ever played. When I started, when I was cast in 'Thor,' I'm not sure Loki was particularly well-known within Marvel. But people like ['Avengers' director and writer Joss Whedon], who write him so beautifully, and all of the people who help me be him — hair and make-up guys, costume guys — I'm so proud that he's been taken to heart, if that's a right word for a villain. I'm really touched and really proud."

~ MTV.com

Slayer Soundtrack Sunday ~ Sprung Monkey

Sprung Monkey is a San Diego, California based band who played in the very first Buffy episode, "Welcome to the Hellmouth." So you could say they "set the tone" for every Bronze band that came after them. They also had songs in "The Harvest" and "The Pack."

All the songs are included in the 1998 album Swirl.

There are several songs by Sprung Monkey in the first episode, according to The Buffy Guide but unfortunately some of them aren't on YouTube. But I did find several:


"Believe" plays as Buffy walks into the Bronze the first time.



Swirl plays when the ill-fated Jesse talks to Cordelia, then the vampire Darla at the Bronze. Ominous sound!



"Right My Wrong" was used in "The Harvest."



"Reluctant Man" is used in "The Pack," in which Xander becomes part of a human-hyena pack.

The Buffy vs. Twilight Meme

The message of female empowerment and spirituality in Buffy the Vampire Slayer is diametrically opposite to the Twilight Series by Joyce Meyer. While Buffy and Bella both have love affairs with vampires the similarity ends there - Buffy never lets herself be dominated by Angel or Spike - on the contrary, she gives the orders.

Buffy falls in love with Angel and Spike in spite of her loathing for vampires, and hates it when those attractions upset her family and friends. And both vampires have to earn Buffy's trust and respect over time. On the other hand, Bella trusts the "sparkly" Edward and is ready to throw away all ties with her parents five minutes after meeting him. Won over by sex and expensive gifts from the Cullen Clan, Bella is besotted with romantic ideas of becoming a vampire herself - soul be damned!

Conversely, Buffy is willing to sacrifice Angel and Spike in order to save the world - choosing the greater good instead of selfish desire.

Besides all that, the writing in the Buffy series is so much more clever, irreverent, self-effacing and just plain entertaining. Twilight is a cloned romance novel that got lucky.

I could go on, but I'll let these pictures speak for themselves . . .

Slayer Soundtrack Sunday ~ Nerf Herder

Nerf Herder wrote and performed the Buffy Theme song heard at the beginning of the show. For the first two seasons, a cover of the song by The Breeders was used. It's included on both the American and UK versions of Radio Sunnydale. Click the pictures to buy either album.



Nerf Herder themselves played the theme in seasons 3-7, and that version is included on Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Album (1999 Television Series)




The name of the band comes, of course, from Star Wars: in "The Empire Strikes Back" Han Solo tells Luke that Princess Leia has expressed her "true feelings" for him. An embarrassed Princess Leia argues back that he's a "Stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-lookin' Nerf Herder," to which Han replies, "Who's scruffy-lookin'?"

From Wikipedia:

In an interview they explain how they came to produce the theme:
"They [the Buffy production staff] had hired some famous theme song composer to come up with a theme and they didn’t like the one he came up with so they were kind of on a low budget, and asked local bands to come up with theme song ideas." [1]

In the DVD commentary for "Welcome to the Hellmouth", Whedon explained that part of his decision to go with Nerf Herder's theme was that Alyson Hannigan had made him listen to the band's music.

Nerf Herder also played in the last season, "Empty Places," playing "Rock City News" at the Bronze.

In April 2003, Nerf Herder appeared as the musical guest in the final-season Buffy episode "Empty Places" – the very last band to play at The Bronze. Their special connection to the series was further acknowledged by a bit of dialogue, as "Rock City News" played in the background:

Kennedy: What kind of band plays during an apocalypse?
Dawn: I think this band might actually be one of the signs.

Whedon & Company at WonderCon

Joss Whedon continued the publicity tour for "Much Ado About Nothing" last week at Wondercon in Anaheim, California. Unfortunately Nathan Fillion was not there, much to the disappointment of the fans.