Weekend Music Roundup (Best of the last 4 Weeks)

I know I've missed that four weekends. The problem is that I listen to so much a week that when I miss one, it starts to get overwhelming. Then I miss two and forget. But I want to get back on track. So I've picked some of the highlights over the past 4 weeks to share. These are 4 star or better albums for me...so I recommend them highly.

Pandoras.box - barriers: This is in the same catagory as Mountain of One. It's another German band, neo-psyche record. I think the Germans are finally finding their musical niche.

The Duke & The King - Nothing Gold Can Stay: Just a great singer/songwriter duo, folk record in the style of Elvis Perkins (on my all time favs). 

Quad Throw Salchow - Speed: Very interesting post-punk record. Lots of great rhythms and I love the singer's voice. Just great rockin' weirdness.

TwinSisterMoon - The Hollow Mountain: The latest side project from the Natural Snow Buildings set. A wonderful mellow freak folk album, great for drinking tea.

Band of Skulls - baby darling doll face honey: I love this album. It's a great mash-up of lots of songs that all have that "this sounds like..." appeal. The sounds like ranges from Elliot Smith, to MGMT, to Verve. Not too shabby.

Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer: I was so relieved when I heard this and it was brilliant. The last SR album was a huge letdown for me. The s/t E.P. and "Shut Up I'm Dreaming" are some of my favorite albums and I love Spencer's work with Wolf Parade and Swan Lake. This is a return to form. A for Amazing.
Manic Street Preachers - Journal For Plague Lovers: The Manics new one...this is going to get its own post shortly, but I couldn't leave it off. It's a follow up of sorts to The Holy Bible (which came out 15 years ago and if you don't have it, you're collection is incomplete, plain and simple). I will talk in depth about later...but don't wait...get it now.

Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum: The third effort from Kfasabian harkens back a little to the first in it's experimentation with sonic structures. Groovy...eerie...bitchin'

iron and wine - around the well: I have to admit I was a little weary of this double disc set of previous toss-offs. I loved the first I&W ep five years ago, and even the LP was great. I enjoyed the record with Calexico a little less...and then his subsequent work even less less. SO expectations weren't real high. Boy, was I off the mark. An hour an half of similar sounding songs and I didn't tire of it once. If you don't know his work, this ain't a bad place to start.
Dead Confederate - Wrecking Ball: From Athens, GA this band has that dirty Nirvana sound (not the polished Nirvana imitation sound that pollutes the airwaves). It's grimey, it's loud, and it's great.
Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs - Dirt Don't Hurt: Holly's best known as a garage rocker (famously appearing on White Stripes Elephant) But this album takes on a more country sound...but garage country...with a Ralph Stanely vibe. 

Ray's Vast Basement - Starvation Under Orange Trees: Songs based on Steinbeck stories (as the more literati of you may have gathered from the title) this was a great find. It's got a Woody Guthrie mixed with freak folk sound. Very americana but for the 21st century.

Flower Travellin' Band - Satori: A heavy prog/psyche band hailing from 1970 Tokyo. This was given to me by a friend and it totally blew my mind. A must for any fan of heavy 70's rock.

Circulatory System - Signal Morning: This is the first album in a few years by this collaborative band featuring members of Olivia Tremor Control and Neutral Milk Hotel. A very satisfying listen for any fans of those two bands. If you don't know those bands however...skip this and get OTC's Black Foliage or anything by NMH.

The Monkees - Pices, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, LTD.: I've been wanting this since last fall when I was playing the Monkee's Head album over and over. Fellow Monkees fans were telling me to get this one too. I found it on vinyl in the $1 bin at the local shop and what a steal. This record is amazing. I've always been fond of saying that nobody sounds like the Kinks (their '60s stuff). Well, I finally found something that does. 

My Other Bloggin' Part 3

The third guest blog spot is now up on Tor.com

you can check it out here

Research Takes a Bunny Hop Away from the Long Ears

The research continues on the new chapter book series. But I'm getting close. The voice is starting to come to me. I had to finish the draft of my novel first and clear that voice out of my head. Now I'm feeling ready to hop in.

The latest book I read has nothing to do rabbits. (Still think you know where I'm going?). 

 Warriors: Warrior's Return: This kiddy manga is based on Erin Hunter's expansive children's book fantasy series about Cat clans. (I have yet to read the originals, but after checking this out, I plan to). It's obviously inspired by one of my all time favorite novels, Watership Down by Richard Adams. I really loved the bigness of the story, even in this short manga version, the scope was huge. The art was great and very appealing for the age group (4th grade-ish). It tells the story of Graystripe returning to his uprooted clan. The adventure scenes were very well done and the character relationships were skillful. 

I'd give 4 mice out 5.

My Other Bloggin' Part 2

My second guest blog is also up at Tor.com.

check it out here.

My Other Bloggin'

My first guest blog is now up on Tor.com

I'll be writing a few a week for next month, so check the first one out here.

Research is for the Rabbits

So I thought I'd continue with reviewing the books I'm reading as way of research for my new children's chapter book series. (I'm wondering if you a pattern developing)

Stone Rabbit #1: B.C. Mambo

This graphic novel for younger kids follows a rabbit that discovers a portal in his bathroom. There he meets an primitive rabbit culture, fights dinosaurs, and battles and the world's first evil entrepreneur. Oh, and there's an incident with BBQ sauce. I loved the style of the book, nice bold lines reminiscent of the Powerpuff Girls. I thought the story could have been a little tighter, especially for the age group. It was too much like the wave of manic cartoons that have been dominating the toon networks over the past few years. It's the trend, so I understand why it's employed here, but I've always believed a book can and should provide a little more than that. I think a little more development of the main character would've gone a long way to fix that.

I'll give it 3 carrots out of 5. But again, 8yo boy in me would give it higher, but he wouldn't have actually read the words, just looked at the picture.

Neglect

My blog is beginning to resemble my virtual baby....health, hunger, and happiness all in the red.

But the neglect stops now.

So, I've been working a lot of late. I've also been blogging (just not here). I'm writing a bunch of guest blogs for Tor.com that should appear in the next coming weeks. It's been a lot of fun writing for them. I've taken a Dr. Thompson gonzo approach. I'll post links once they're up.

In the meantime, I'm still plugging away at the 2nd/3rd draft of my novel and it's going really well. I've also got some interest on a new chapter book series. Right now I'm in the research stage. I went to the bookstore last week and picked up a bunch of things that had the feel of what I'm envisioning. I'm reading through those as I work out the storytelling style in my mind.

The first one that I read was Bunnicula by James Howe. This is a classic, but I'd actually never read it before. I read it one sitting and found it quite fun. The dog and cat characters are very authentic and complete with the quirks that make those animals so great for children's books. The two brothers were also hilarious characters and I almost wished there were more of their arguments. They reminded me a lot of the siblings in The Spiderwick Chronicles. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. In the beginning, I thought the choice of narration was going to be a problem (it was this older, wiser, voice) but it does an excellent job of adding just enough to show the voice isn't too wise. 

I'd give it 3 1/2 carrots out of 5 but the 8 year old inside me would give it 5 1/2 carrots out 4.