Jimmy Vargas is a mirthfully malevolent music/movie maven whose shapely body of work encompassing revisionist jazz, experimental films, and smokin’ spoken word performances evokes the eerily erotic, neo-noir worlds of David Lynch and James Ellroy, as well as echoing classic crime writers like Raymond Chandler and James M. Cain, while managing to remain wholly unique and individualistic. Resembling a slick, satin Satan in a pinstripe suit, with delectable but doomed dolls draping his silky shoulders, Jimmy expertly exudes a sleek, sensuous, sinister, star-crossed style no matter what medium he’s mastering. Requiem for a Shadow Bride is a criminally cool companion piece to his exotic extravaganza Torchin’ at Tallulah’s, this time focusing on his otherworldly obsession with Elizabeth Smart, AKA The Black Dahlia, the most freakily fetishized murder mystery in haunted hipster history. (Brian DePalma should’ve dug this disc before he blew that box office bomb based on her sensationalized story and tragic trajectory.) This passionate platter is packed with evilly ethereal imagery and sensuously surreal sounds, like an archangel’s archive of anarchic anachronisms. It’s a beautiful B movie blend of decadent dreamscapes and neon-lit nightmares, depicted via vignettes, videos and the voluptuous visage of Liliana Scarlatta, a fiery femme fatale and torrid torch singer worth burning in Hell for, even if it’s in exchange for a single session of steamy, sax-serenaded sex. Also included is a PDF pulsating with pure pulp poetry ‘n’ prose, proving Jimmy V. is also a swingin’ scribe in his own retro right. Requiem for a Shadow Bride is essential viewing, listening and reading for anyone fascinated with ‘40s fashions, moody melodies, decadent danger and raunchy romance.

http://www.jimmyvargas.com/

Will "The Thrill" Viharo is a freelance writer, host of the film series “Forbidden Thrills” at Forbidden Island Tiki Lounge, and creator of the long running cult movie cabaret “Thrillville.” He lives in Alameda, CA with his wife Monica “Tiki Goddess” Cortes and their two cats. His pulp novels “A Mermaid Drowns in the Midnight Lounge,” “Lavender Blonde,” “Chumpy Walnut,” “Down a Dark Alley," "Freaks That Carry Your Luggage Up to the Room," “It Came From Hangar 18,” and the "Vic Valentine, Private Eye" series are now available at http://www.thrillville.net/fiction/index.html