Weekend Music Roundup

 

The weekend is here, and it appears so it Spring...at least around these parts where the snow has melted, the flowers have bloomed, and the breeze has warmed. This week I've got a few new releases and some recent pick-ups of older albums. It's mostly rock, but with a dash of funk thrown in. Happy exploring and as always, enjoy.

Nik Turner and the Space Falcons - Interstellar Energy: The new album from Hawkwind alum and The Orb's Youth, this bit of space rock/jazz was released last spring. Nik Turner has re-found his 70s style on his recent albums, and this one continues that trend. An immersive piece of space-y soundscrapes that will please any old school fan of the Hawk. "Sygnus," "Solar Probe," and "Space" are personal favorites. 

Bauhaus - In the Flat Field: The groundbreaking 1980 debut from the gothic was an album that was sorely missing from my collection. This is a band that I haven't listened to thoroughly since my youth and I forgot how amazing they are. Along with Christian Death and Joy Division, these guys are the architects of a sound that has always reached into that place of imaginary creation. A deserving classic. 

Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators - Living the Dream: Released in 2018, this is the third album that Slash collaborated with Myles Kennedy on and they are truly in-sync on these tunes. The guitarist slips even further into a traditional guitarist role despite the font size of his name on the cover. Myles is the star of this album. He sounds amazing, blending the Seattle metal sound with Slash's L.A. sleaze guitar. This isn't music that I think the youth would respond to, and I say that because this is a great example of Generation X still making art that speaks to their own generation as it matures. I love that about us."My Antidote," "Lost Inside the Girl," "Slow Grind," and "The Great Pretender" are standouts for me. 

Arab Strap - As Days Get Dark: The first proper album in 15 years from the British indietronica band. I first came in contact with this band in the mid-90s, and their blend of spoken word, electronic and experimental indie music was pretty cutting edge. It's been imitated a lot in the past two decades, but they still do it better than most. As the title suggest, this is a bleak album, not that any of their others are exactly uplifting. It's very much a document into the mind of modern humanity.

 

The Telescopes - Songs of Love and Revolution: The 12th album from the UK band that started it's career in latest of the 80s. This is a band that I recently discovered their old music, a fantastic early 90's Spacemen 3 psych noise before developing into one of the pioneering shoegazer bands of the decade. They have remained true to that sound, creating soundscapes that seem to get progressively darker on this album. This is one of those true dead of winter albums. "Strange Waves," "Mesmerised," and "You're Never Alone with Despair" are personal favorite. 

 

Joe Tex - Bumps and Bruises: My introduction to Joe Tex was on the Death Proof soundtrack, which left me much impressed by the Texas soul artist, best known for his rivalry and disputes with James Brown. Released in '77, this album is one of the last before his untimely death five years later. This is definitely more funk than soul, seen through the disco prism. This is a party album, and Joe Tex knew how to party. When I came across this album for $5 at the local shop, I knew it was going to totally be worth $5 bucks.

Fiction Friday (128)

 

I've continued my exploration into new YA fiction and picked up this recent debut from the library. This was not the type of book I typically gravitate towards, but I've been trying to expand my horizons. It helps that I'm a sucker for alien invasions.

The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow

(Inkyard Press, 2020)

Set in the near future, Earth has been conquered by an alien race of beings who look human and run on electricity. Janelle and her family are among the surviving humans, imprisoned in their NYC apartment complex that has been turned into a type of re-education center. But as the aliens prepare a vaccine designed to turn the humans into a shell to be occupied by alien tourists, time is running out. Determined not to loose the stories that make us human, Janelle runs a forbidden library despite the penalty of death if she is caught.

What Janelle doesn't know is that not of the aliens are as cold and unfeeling as they pretend to be, until she meets one named Morris. Brought together by a love of music and stories, the unlikely pair set out on an adventure that might just save humanity.

Told in alternating chapters, this enjoyable debut explores the power of emotions to overcome difficulty and how love can bloom even in the most unusual of circumstances. There were moments when I felt the love story was dragged out a little bit, and moments when I felt it tried too hard to connect the contemporary fiction elements with the sci-fi elements, but overall, I found it quite entertaining and compelling.

 

Once Upon a Time...

Once upon a time there was heaven.

Once upon a time there was not...

Once upon a time they believed there'd be heaven again.

Once upon a time, they did not.

The King of Staten Island

 

Last year's The King of Staten Island was a movie that I thought looked promising from previews. When I was at the library last week, they had a copy and I checked it out. Until I saw the DVD case, I hadn't known Judd Apatow was involved as director and co-screenwriter. I don't like all of his movies, but the ones I do like, I really enjoy. I also like Pete Davidson, but admit to being unsure of him as a film guy as it was something unproven...however, both were enough to think it was worth a shot.

It's a semi-autobiographical film based on some elements of Pete Davidson's life. There are some hilarious scenes in this film, up their with the best of Apatow movies I've seen. But beyond that, this is also just a good film. The story touches on deeper issues about the working class, mental health, and the loss of hope in an anxiety generation. It offers a more sympathetic view of a generation that has been mislabeled "entitled" by rejecting the Baby Boomer doctrine that when you grow-up you should accept that life becomes work. The question in this film, and one most people between the ages 25-50 are asking, is why does it have to?

Weekend Music Roundup

 

 

The weekend has arrived, and as I promised last week, I've had more time to digest some '21 releases over the past week and am sharing a few of those with you all. In addition to some new albums, there's a few re-releases and some old discoveries on the list. Mostly rock on here, and fair amount of female artists. Hopefully there's something here you might want to check out. Enjoy.

Elizabeth and the Catapult - Sincerely, E: The first album in four years from the Brooklyn singer songwriter who won me over with her debut Taller Children back in 2009. I've always loved the 70's style of her voice, that blue eyed FM folk sound. This album has that, combined with an Aimee Mann introspective examination of the world. "The Muse," "Sweet Chariot," "The Stranger," and "Hope, My Sometimes Friend" are my personal favorites and this very welcomed record.

The Misunderstood - Children of the Sun: The complete recordings of the Riverside, California band that was meant to be the next "it" thing but then never were. After legendary DJ John Peel convinced the band to relocate to London, things began happening. And then lead singer and songwriter Rick Brown was drafted and fled to India where he'd remain for 12 years. Listening to this, it's clear to see the promise that others saw in them. They were blossoming American answer to The Animals. This is one of those nuggets that was in need of a re-issue.

Rob Zombie - The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy: It's been five years since his last solo album and this is a welcomed continuation of the sound that really came into its own two albums ago. With similar titles and artwork, I can help but look at the last three albums as a trilogy and they are a fantastic one of industrial hedonism. "Ballad of Sleazy Rider," "18th Century Cannibals," and "Boom Boom Boom" are standouts on another fantastic display of insanity.  

 

The Great Society - Conspicuous Only in Its Absence: Before she became the San Fran psychedelic icon from Jefferson Airplane, Grace Slick was the front woman of this early psych rock band which recorded the original versions of her classic songs "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit." The band was making a name for themselves in '65, securing a record deal, only to have Grace leave and join Jefferson Airplane who had just released their first record. Their second would be legendary, but this album captures the shadow that came before. This is a live set, that wouldn't be released until '68. Really solid stuff and a must for Airplane fans. 

The Pinkos - The Pinkos: The one and only album from the socialist indie punk band released in 2000 is one of the many little known gems from that explosive era in indie music. This two piece garage punk band out of the North West has roots in the riot grrl scene, which is probably to be expected. While I love bands like Bikini Kill and Babes in Toyland, these guys are much easier to listen to. One of the great things about exploring music is that there are always bands that existed that you missed for whatever reason, and sometimes you find one that just clicks for you. Super solid record.

 

Time is Coming Apart

 Time is Coming Apart

What happens before will happen again

What is to become will come another way.

There is a split in time,

       a tearing of the pages that reconnect in a series of new unexpected events.

The time has come for time to come apart . . 

    for time to become art . .

    for art to be alive in the form of children with insect eyes . .

Seeing multitudes . .

Seeing the future and the past,

    but the present falters in a haze. 

Autonomous Weapons Systems, Determining How we Relate to Other People

 

Autonomous Weapons Systems, Determining How we Relate to Other People

Assemble your doom: Instructions for Cyborg Control Unit

Annihilator cannons to be placed symmetrically,

    hazardous wiring if mis-aligned.

Hive mind to be installed. 

Dismantling of your dreams, comes with assembling your nightmares.

give in . . give up . .

give them all you can.

Let it rain on anything you've begun to love

and never remember what it means to be loved.

Weekend Music Roundup

 

The weekend is here again, and this week I finally had some time to digest a bunch of new releases. It's been mostly indie rock coming through the speakers these days, so that's what this list is mostly about. I've also included two recent vinyl pick-ups, a 70s glam rock album and '60s folk, two favorite genres in my life. Hopefully there's something here that makes you go exploring. Enjoy.

Hello Operator - Hello Operator: Released in November of last year, this is one of those albums that I finally got around to listening to. It's the debut album from a four man rock band out of the UK. These guys remind me a lot Kasabian, Placebo and even early Cooper Temple Clause. It's that kind of British indie rock that's a bit aggressive, a bit noise rocky, but still dance punk at the same time. "Cruel," "I Created a Monster," "I Am Your Bible," "Strangers in the Rain," and "Kings of Ruin" are my personal favorites on this great debut.

Guided by Voices - Surrender Your Poppy Fields: Released just over a year ago, I finally got around to listening this, the first of three albums the band put out last year. Robert Pollard has always been prolific, but with this recent line-up, GBV has gone into overdrive. I'm certainly glad for it, though I do admit, it's hard to keep up with their output, especially when their albums are very indistinguishable from each other. It's almost as if all their albums over the past few years are just one continuation, which also makes it hard to review. They are all consistent, all lo-fi sketches, and all have Bobby Bare Jr's great guitar work. If you're wondering which albums to listen to, I'd simply suggest whichever quirky title grabs you most. 

Billion Dollar Babies - Battle Axe: I found this '77 album while flipping through the stacks at the local shop. I paused at the title, an obvious reference to the my favorite Alice Cooper record. I figured for a few dollars, I'd check out...not knowing that this is Cooper's band. It's not just a reference, they are the Billion Dollar Babies doing glam rock straight from Detroit. This is a quality album with a few standouts, including the title track. 

TV Priest - Uppers: The debut album from the London rock band was released on SubPop this February. I saw it pop up a lot of places and was eager to check it out. This album has style. It's hard to explain what I mean by that, but once your head anything off it, you'll see what I mean. It's like a Irvine Welsh novel if his writing were music. It's a Silver Jews meets Iggy Pop kind of album. It's got style. I don't always love it, but I give them credit for being something that sounds legitimate. 

Dave Van Ronk - Folksinger: In the early 60s, Dave was one of the more prolific and talented Greenwich Village folk artists. Released in '63, at the height of his abilities, this album feels special. Though all of his early records are great, this one seems exceptional. His story was documented in the film Inside Llwyen Davis and it's tragic that he never garnered enough main stream attention. He was a legend.

 

Fiction Friday (127)

 

Having avoided contemporary fiction for most of my life, I've taken a keen interest of late. In the past year, I've read no less than four truly remarkable novels that have been published in the past few years. There seems to finally be a movement back to literary fiction after decades of fluff. There are several more novels on my must-read list, but I'm pretty close to convinced that this movement is true. My latest read was phenomenal. 

 

Piranesi by Susanna Clark

(Bloomsbury, 2020)

In the year the Albatross Came to the South-Western Halls, many extraordinary events happen within the labyrinthine halls the House. There are but two occupants of the House, as well as 12 former occupants whose bones are all that remain among the infinite statues and tides that flow through the halls and vestibules. 

Piranesi keeps a record of his days spent collecting fresh water, seaweed to dry, and offerings for the bones. He is the keeper of the labyrinth. He is one blessed by the House with its kindness. He interacts with The Other on two weekly occasions, but The Other is quite different than Piranesi. The Other is search for the Great and Secret Knowledge he believes is contained within the halls of the House. But of the course of the year the Albatross Came to the South-Western Halls, Piranesi discovers The Other is the one truly holding secrets.

There are but a few stories that attempt, and succeed so perfectly, in creating a world completely different than our own. From the opening pages, Susanna Clark fully immerses the reader in a foreign reality. It so carefully constructed that you don't feel yourself being pulled into it, you simply arrive...much like the main character. And that is the true gift of this novel, that the reader shares each discovery with Piranesi without ever knowing more or less than he.

This mesmerizing and unconventional mystery is a true masterpiece.