Familiarily Strange

In the beginning of the summer, I posted about how I finally plunged into Stranger Things and then neglected to report that I finished all three seasons in a few short weeks. There's been a lot of mixed responses to Season 3, and I can see why. The freshness of the concept has waned, expectations were through the roof, and the characters have changed (ie. grown). For my part however, while I thought the first two seasons to be brilliant, I also thoroughly enjoyed the third one. 

The strength of this show is how it masterfully borrows from classics of the 80's, and therefore my childhood, but doesn't simply rehash them. It reshapes elements into a new story with new characters that feed off iconic characters, making them familiar and entertaining. The inclusion of Max in the second season, and her role in the third season, definitely made the stories stronger. The growth of Steve Harrington was also a positive for the show. 

Yes, the whole Russian thing in the third season was a little far-fetched, but being a kid from the 80s, it was nostalgic to see our old foes the Soviets again. I will say that I think the show probably can only squeeze out another season or two before it devolves, but I'm definitely still game for more.

Weekend Music Roundup

As summer begins to wind down, I figured it was about time to do a list that featured some of the recent albums that I've been listening to that capture that late summer vibe, you know, that time of year when as a teen, your freedom was dwindling which meant you lazed around more than ever exploring the word through new perceptions. These albums are all right for that kind of exploration. Enjoy.

The Blank Tapes - Super Bloom EP: The new EP from Cali neo-psych artist Matt Adams is my first exposure though he's been around for over a decade and makes music that is right in my wheelhouse. This album consists of six meandering songs that feel sun-drenched and hazy, reminding me of many other psychedelic pop artists like Psychic Ills. A wonderful lazy summer album, with my favorites being "Get Yourself Down," "Exotica," and the title track. 

Stonefield - Bent: This is the fourth album from the all-female heavy psych band from down under.  This has that heavy eerie sound that we've come to expect from a heavy psych band these days. The grinding guitar work is what really struck me about this album, and Amy's vocals (it's always nice to hear a female voice in rock). There's definitely some prog rock elements on here that set it apart from a lot of other psych albums. "Sleep," "Dead Alive," and "Shutdown" are my personal favorites. 

Yes - Close to the Edge: Released in 1972, this is the prog band's fifth album and regarded by most to be their best. Consisting of only three tracks, one on Side A and two on Side B, this is a true prog album with complex changes in tempo and progressions. This is one of those albums that musicians adore because of the sheer dedication that must have gone into constructing it. A legendary example of the genre that should be included in any prog fan's catalog.  

Return to Forever - No Mystery: This is the fifth album from the NYC jazz funk band, released in 1975. The fusion of jazz and funk created a genre all its own in the 70s, one that brought magic of jazz to a new crowd. Purists have often shunned the fusion genres, but when done right, as this is, it's the creation of something new. Chick Corea is a legendary keyboard player, and he dominates the structure of this record, keeping it from straying too far away from the jazz roots.  This is the kind of album that should be heard in its entirety to capture the intended mood. That said, "Excerpt from the First Movement of Heavy Metal," "Celebration Suite Part II," and the lush title track are standouts.

Inspectah Deck - Chamber No9: It's been nine years since we've had a solo record from the Wu member, though he's done a bunch of stuff under the Czarface team. As with other Wu returns in the past half decade, the boys have found their demons again and continue to put out old school hardcore, that kind of hip-hop that I grew up on and crave. Tight beats, tough rhymes, and lots of attitude. This is another great addition to the Wu Saga.

Erskine Hawkins - One Night Stand with Erskine Hawkins: Recorded live from Blue Room in the Hotel Lincoln, New York in 1946, this features the trumpeter at the height of his skills. This is full of post-war excitement and you can hear it in the audience. The world was new and the future was bright, and Erskine fed that feeling with joyous noise. Another wonderful swing jazz record found on the cheap.

Fiction Friday (87)

As a writer, it's not surprising that I tend to be loyal to authors once I've read something of theirs that I've really enjoyed. And when I read something by an author I hadn't read before, and completely love it, as I did with Mary Stewart's The Little Broomstick, naturally I seek out other works. And being a librarian, I have easy access to those other works. A request was put in for this book the day I finished the last one. The next one will have to wait though as I must begin reading six straight YA books for a discussion I will be taking part in come this October. Enjoy.

A Walk in Wolf Wood by Mary Stewart
(William Morrow, 1980)

John and his younger sister Margaret are picnicking with their parents after visiting the ruins of an old German castle. Their weary parents soon fall victim to the sleepy afternoon, and fail to see the oddly dressed man pass by them and enter into the dark woods. Bored and restless, the children decide to follow him, unaware that they are embarking on the adventure of a lifetime.

In an old cottage, the siblings discover secrets and magic that they can hardly believe. Before they know it, they find themselves stuck far in the past and caught in the middle of a sinister enchantment that they must help break in order to return home. 

Written straight after her acclaimed Merlin trilogy for adults, Mary Stewart is clearly steeped in the time period and has a remarkable way of bringing the castle to life. She also does an excellent job in how she deals with sorcery and fantasy. Having just read her magnificent middle grade novel The Little Broomstick, I will say that story lacks the same character development that drew the reader to Mary Smith in that novel. John and Margaret feel more like plot devices to propel the tale than fully developed children with ideas and imaginations. Because of that, this rather short novel drags slightly in the beginning, but by the middle it really picks up. By the end, it was very enjoyable, if not altogether magical.  

Once Upon A Time...

The era of the Director has long since passed, but a handful of heavyweights still manage to make each new movie an event. Quentin Tarantino is one of those directors, whose name alone could open a moive...but it certainly doesn't hurt that he always has an amazing cast. For his 9th film, he's turned his attention to his well-documented love affair with his hometown. 

This is one of those movies that's hard to pin down in one line what it's about. Sure, it's about the Manson Family's brutal slaying of Sharon Tate (sort of). Yes, it's about the grind-them-up-spit-them-out factory of the movie industry that uses up talent until it becomes useless to the big wigs trying to make money. It's about the stars, both rising and falling. It's about those on the periphery and those under the enchantment of celluloid fiction. It's about a city that is the center of its own created world and the magic that hangs over it. 

It tackles these many themes through a string of loosely connected scenes centering around Leo Dicaprio's character (the falling star) and Brad Pitt's character (the once-was stuntman). It sort of meanders through a six month period in a not-exactly linear style that is remmincent of Tarantino's best work. And as always, the dialouge is extremely tight and hilarious. 

This is another classic film from Quentin, and I'd rank it as my third favorite, just above Inglorious Bastards. Definitely a masterpiece of Hollywood turning the fiction inward and writing a Hollywood version of its own history. 

Weekend Music Roundup

Welcome once again the roundup of music I've been playing recently. This weekend, there are lots of old albums that I've picked up over the past several months, some newly released and others much older than me. There's a couple of records on here that I'd been hunting for some time and was happy to have found. I'm happy to say that I don't think I'll ever stop exploring new sounds and hopefully you won't either, and hopefully my lists provide you with some things to explore. Enjoy.

Ultimate Spinach - Behold and See: The Boston psych band released two albums in '68, this being the second one. Though never achieving wide-spread acclaim in their time, they become one of the great lost bands of era and I'd been searching for either of their first two albums for quite some time and came across this one the other day. This is an absolutely brilliant record that blends the San Fran sound with the NYC sound of Velvet Underground to create something totally unique. 

John Lennon - Imagine (Raw Studio Mixes): This was one of a few Record Store Day releases that I was after this year, but failed to make it to my local shop before they sold out, and then didn't want to pay the secondary market prices that popped up after. I recently went to a shop that was closing one of their locations and everything was marked down 40%, and they had this, so I got a great deal. I've always loved Imagine and have owned it on CD for over twenty years, but when this was announced I knew I wanted it. Having heard a ton of John studio bootlegs, I was sure this would be wonderful, and no surprise it is. I like it a fraction better than the original release, simply for its purity. 

Death Hawks - Psychic Harmony: This is the fourth album from the Finish psych rock band, released earlier this year. This is one of those albums that can't seem to figure out what it wants to be. At times, it feels very solidly indie psych, but then it sort of warps into a indie dance record. Somehow I couldn't wrap my head around it properly. I didn't dislike it, but there were just too many moments where it left me tilting my head in confusion to say that I really enjoyed it. 

Kansas - Song for America: This is the second album from hard rock band, released in 1975. This has the classic hard rock feel that albums from the mid-70s had, pounding drums and great guitar riffs. Though frequently cataloged as a prog rock band, and there are certainly prog elements in the arrangements, they are not as proggy as some others, which probably contributed to their popularity. "Down the Road," "Lamplight Symphony," and "Lonely Street" are personal favorites on another solid record.  

Fats Navarro and Allen Eager - Saturday Night Swing Session: Recorded in the spring of 1947, and released later that year. This live session is a wonderful example of swing era jazz, with amazing bass and trumpet interchanges. I've been digging on Fats for a few years and this album really captures the magic of his playing. A nice album that really has that swing sound that gets your toes tapping.

Little Feat - Waiting for Columbus: It's rare that a live album is one of the more popular albums from a band, but that's the case for the L.A. southern rock band (just like Kiss Alive). This double record was released in '78, after their sixth album and spans their early career. Recorded over a stretch of 8 days the summer before, perhaps it's strength is that it's not a concert album in that sense, it's a collection of live tracks taken from more than one show. It's also worth mentioning that southern boogie rock is the kind of music that comes to life when it's played live, and that's what happens on this record. This is the perfect summertime, backyard BBQ jam album.

Fiction Friday (86)

Over the past six months, I've been reading a lot of Middle Grade fiction, mostly because I've felt the pull of that age group's stories for years and have been working on a middle grade novel for the last several months. A couple of weeks ago, I posed a review of the film Mary and the Witch's Flower and discovered it was based on this early '70s children's book, which I immediately requested from the library, and was rewarded with a first edition arriving through inter-library loan with wonderful illustrations by the talented Shirley Hughes. (Yes, I'm a book nerd that cares about things like that).

The Little Broomstick by Mary Stewart
(William Morrow, 1972)

In that magical time when summer has come to an end, but Fall has not quite begun in earnest, ten-year old Mary Smith is sent to the countryside to spend time with her Great-Aunt Charlotte...and it is perhaps the most BORING and dreadful thing that ten-year old Mary could imagine. That is, until she discovers a strange flower, an old broomstick, and a black cat that leads her on the adventure of a lifetime.

The beauty of this story is it's sparse prose and tight narrative. Every sentence is carefully chosen and the result is an unforgettable and timeless tale.

 * The copy I borrowed had the complete circulation card dating back from publication. I love looking over these things. I love seeing that E. Wesselmann checked it out three times over three years. (Yes, I'm a book nerd).

Full of Hate...

I've been really looking forward to seeing Once Upon a Time Hollywood and I realized that I still hadn't seen The Hateful Eight. As with most pop culture events from 2015 and the two years that followed, I was busy being a parent who was working full time and going to grad school. So I have legitimate excuses for having missed Quentin's three hour epic, but I rectified that oversight yesterday.

In many ways, this is a typical Tarantino film. It features terrible people who are somehow totally cool. It's extremely violent. It's full of clever twists. And it has great characters who are propelled by colorful dialog. In some ways, the premise isn't much different than Reservoir Dogs. You have characters who are unaware that their motivations are working against each other as they are trapped in tight quarters. 

I loved the old school whodunit feel of how this story unfolds and LOVED Samuel L. Jackson in this movie in a way I haven't loved him in a movie since Pulp Fiction. He was really the center of the movie, the only character really in tune with what was going on. I also loved Walton Goggins (Vice Principals). His partnership with Jackson's character in the last chapter of the movie was a kind of metaphor for the film, that despite learned hatred, in the right (or wrong) circumstances, we can see past that nonsense and see each other for who we are.

Weekend Music Roundup

The days have turned away from another week, moving the year closer to more bearable weather and the onslaught of fall record releases. I eagerly await both, but in the meantime, there are still a ton of new releases from earlier in the year that I'm grooving to, as well as some classic records that have made their way into my collection. There's nothing but rock on this list, from heavy psych to agro, new wave to prog rock, this is a bit of a roadmap to the variations that exist in the far too broad genre. Lots of stuff worth checking out. Enjoy.

The Wild Century - Raw: Released this summer, this is the second album from the Dutch band. This is an interesting record that takes a different approach to the stone rock genre by venturing out of the strict hard riffs blueprint that has been established. It's not afraid to show range, which makes it easier to get into than some of the albums in the genre that can veer toward the repetitive side. In that respect, it plays more like a heavy psych record. "Done Lost Your Good Thing Now," "One Time Event," and the epic "Helpless Thing" are real standouts on this outstanding record. 

Graham Parker - Squeezing Out the Sparks: After releasing his first two albums in '76, and a follow-up the year after, the British new waver artist released this, his fourth album in '79. Graham's sound at this time falls right in line with Elvis Costello, and could probably be mistaken for him to the casual listener. The first two songs on the album, "Discovering Japan" and "Local Girls" were both sides of the first single, and are both fantastic tracks. The rest of the album is equally as solid, making for a wonderful example of the period. 

Pretty Vicious - Beauty of Youth: This is the debut album from the punk band out of Wales and follows an EP released a few years ago. This is political and aggressive and reminds a bit of that other band out of Wales' early days, The Manic Street Preachers. It really took two listens for me to really get this record in a way that made me understand that I truly enjoy it. Lots of great tunes on here about being young, down and out, and feeling like no one cares. Of course, I've moved on from that period in my life, but it still resonates and good to know people are still preaching about the universal experience of youth. 

Foghat - Fool for the City: This was the fifth album released by the London band. It came out in '75, only three years after their debut. The world was filled with blues based hard rock bands and they had a hard time breaking through, until "Slow Ride" hit the airwaves from this album. A spin-off (of sorts) of Savoy Brown, this is a solid blues bar type band that is heavy on groove guitar, and while certainly not original, these guys do it pretty darn well. "Terraplane Blues," "Take It or Leave It," "Slow Ride," and the title track are standouts.

YES - Fragile: The fourth album from the prog rock icons was released in 1971 and features probably their best known song, "Roundabout". As I mentioned in a previous Roundup, this is one of those bands that I just finally got around to giving a grown-up listen to after having written them off in my youth.  I think my problem was that in my younger years, I wanted them to be more space rock, more psychedelic, but since them, I've come to appreciate the mixture of blues rock with prog rock. This is more Traffic than Floyd, and that's okay. "South Side of the Sky" actually has proto-hardcore sound to the chorus while also managing to feel a bit like a hippy, bluesy Red Hot Chili Peppers tune. Very complex and very interesting album. 

DeWolff - Thrust: The fifth album from the Dutch hard rock band was released last year, and follows the the blues rock format of their previous albums. This is pretty standard hard blues rock, with lots of rhythm guitar and drums and soulful rock vocals. They play it very well, but it's certainly nothing you haven't heard before. "Once in a Blue Moon," "Freeway Flight," and "Sometimes" are standouts for me.

Fiction Friday (85)

One of the many great benefits of working in a library is the constant exposure to books that you may otherwise have not encountered. Or rather, constant access to books you may otherwise have allowed to sit on a To-Read shelf for years until coming across a copy. I've always felt that I needed to read more Japanese literature, being such a fan of so many other art forms from the culture. In the 20th century, the Japanese had many great writers who rivaled the French in their approach to the new novel format. Having spent the last twenty years devouring the French writers, I figured it was time to delve into the Japanese.

The Ruined Map by Kobe Abé
(Knopf, 1967)

There was a time in the late 60's and early '70s when Knopf ventured into the world of avant garde literature that was featured on lists by Grove Press and New Directions, and managed to release quite a few now nearly forgotten masterpieces (most notably The Demon Flower by Jo Imog). Though surely not forgotten in its native Japan, this is one of those novels that fits the mold.

In the style of Robbe-Grillet's The Voyeur and Erasers, this is a fragmented detective story on the surface. It follows an unnamed narrator, a detective hired by a woman to find her missing husband. During the course of this futile investigation, the narrator consistently receives unreliable information that leads him in circles, never bringing him closer to his objective. Written in first person, the narration leaves the reader in the same sense of confusion, never quite sure what exactly is going on, but completely aware that there is more going on than either we or the character knows.

The noir facade serves as a metaphor for the loss of identity occurring in the rapid expansion of Tokyo in the late 60's. The sterile suburbs that are being manufacturing seemingly overnight hide the seedy underbelly working behind the scenes, allowing people to easily ignore that it's there. But in the process, they are equally unaware of the manufactured world's ability to erase them out of existence. The sameness of scenery, the blandness of life, all work against the human spirit until one simply disappears into the void.

This was the type of book that one should read slowly. There's a lot going on that remains unsaid, forcing you the really exercise your reading skills. But if you do, it's certainly worth it.

Weekend Music Roundup

The weekend has arrived once again. This week is a pretty varied collection of rock spanning the past 40+ years and the different genres that make up that long history of rock. Some of these are new albums that I listened to on a whim, others are recent vinyl purchases, and still some others are old vinyl records that were gifted to me. Lots of great stuff to uncover in here, almost all of it from bands that fall under the radar (with the exception of The Kinks). Enjoy.

The Jackets - Queen of the Pill: The fourth album from the Swiss indie band. Their sound is garage rock revival, but holds more in common with the revival wave of the early 80s than the most recent one of the 00's, which makes this worth listening to. I love the energy on this album and really dug it. It was my first encounter with them, but probably won't be my last. "Don't Leave Me Alone," "Floating Alice," "Dreamer," and "Be Myself" are my personal favorites. 

Camel - Camel: The 1973 debut from the prog rock band out of the UK was the one missing album from their early catalog in my collection. In these early days, they were a band in the vein of Pink Floyd, but certainly more prog than spack rock. Still there is an audio storytelling to their records that I just love. "Mystic Queen," "Seperation," "Never Let Go," and "Arubaluba" are my personal favorites on this vastly under-appreciated album.

Mounties - Heavy Meta: This is the second album from Hawksley Workman's band, released this spring, five years after the debut. There's a bit of Supergrass meets Animal Collective vibe to this record that I really dug. Certainly an interesting blend of indie pop and experimental rock. "Hitchin' Man," "Python Status," "Canoe Song," "Beauty Won't Fail You," "Burning Money," and the title track are standouts on this rather lengthy album.

The Kinks - Low Budget: Released in '79, their would be only two more LPs to follow in the early '80s. As frequent readers will have noticed, I have been getting into this late era Kinks catalog of late and picked this one for a few dollars recently. The band had developed a great arena hard rock sound by this time, and it's pretty great. There's a slick 70s production value that creates this sound of urban decline that was taking place. "Catch Me Now, I'm Falling," "(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman," and the title track are standouts. 

BNQT - Volume 1: Released in 2017, this is a band founded by members of Midlake, Franz Ferdinand, Travis, Grandaddy, Mercury Rev and Band of Horses. I'd been wanting to hear this since it came out, as I appreciate (if not love) all of those bands. I'm always a little nervous about super-groups, but the reason this one works is that the sound of those bands all blend well together to create something new, but similar. Alex Kapranos adds just the right amount of strangeness to keep everything interesting. There is nothing earth-shattering on here, it's kind of what you'd expect, and that is a consistently solid album that is easy to listen to over and over again. "Unlikely Force," "100 Million Miles," "Hey Banana," "Failing at Feeling," and "Fighting the World" are all fantastic songs.

Zebra - No Tellin' Lies: Released in 1984, this is the second album from the New Orleans progressive hard rock band. This is an album that shows the Atlantic label's dedication to the genre, and is also one that shows how prog had been influenced by metal by the early 80's. This is a hard driving rock album that feels a little like early Van Halen with it's up-beat feel good groove, but with a clear Zeppelin influence and prog elements, especially in synthesizer and percussion progressions. "I Don't Like It," "Lullaby," "Takin' a Stance," and the title track are standouts on this very solid record.