+ I AM SLOW +

Soooo...

I have been seriously slacking on the ye olden blog front as of late. I will (attempt to) blame it on being (semi) productive as of late, as much of my time has been spent plotting and recording downtown. Things on that front are finally (or so it seems) bout to hit serious pay dirt, and so I have been running at that full-steam (and awaiting the next major roadblock).

Things I have wanted/intended to blog about but haven't as of yet:

ITEM ONE:
While going through my records in an attempt to catalog and preserve everything I have unearthed more than a few blasts from the past. A few of them I put on to attempt to decide if it was maybe something I didn't need anymore. Do I really still need Hurl, Hal al Shedad, or Griver (and that's just G-H) anymore?
So I am going to not touch the 7"s until I can give up the time to go through them and document the experience of hearing most of that stuff for the first time in years.
Expect this soon.

ITEM TWO:







DONT HATE ON IT AMERICA!

ITEM THREE:
T2 "It'lll All Work Out in Boomland"
There is a point where Cream and King Crimson meet. This LP is that. First LP King Crimson caliber of writing as played by a power trio. Horns and piano pop up in the best spots. If you haven't listen to this and you don't stop and listen to this RIGHT NOW you have no idea what an injustice to yourself you are doing. As simple as that.
Plus...
Check out the nerdiest thing EVER:
http://www.boomland.ukf.net/boomland.swf

ITEM FOUR:
Arthur is back (soon). Thank gawd.

ITEM FIVE:
The Andy Votel "Vertigo Mixed" CD is the best mix I have heard since RJD2's "Your Face or Your Kneecaps" disc of many many years ago. Its an endless supply of fuzz bass riffs and faux-ginger baker breaks that change constantly from blistering tidbit to blistering tidbit. It's more effective (or so I think) than the Mablib "Blue Note" mix, when Sabbath or any of the Vertigo bands of that stature pop up it passes by so quickly that you barely recognize it. When Sabbath does appear it's done so subtly that you barely notice. Using just the harmonica at the start of 'The Wizard' from the first LP, aka no guitar, bass, or drums, as a transition is bloody brilliant. The closest it gets to obvious is a long section from Uriah Heep's 'Walking In Your Shadow' from the 1st LP. The rest is only familiar if you have spent time with Aphroditie's Child or Colosseum.
PS: You could totally use this to change people's minds about prog, SRSLY!
PPS: 'Kettle' by Colosseum is a hell of a jam.

FILLER!

Greetings, America.

So I have slowed down with the posting as of late, aside from the bullshit hype and lists. Since my return to OH-IO I have been sliding down a slippery slope of lackluster and so have been trying to avoid rambling about such BS.

Onward we march.

The BrightBlackMorningLight record is actually good, in fact quite good. I avoided it because of the wave of hype that swam ashore and carried them away, but apparently it was deserved. I do have a very soft spot for the Fender Rhodes and a love of ethereal vocals so I knew I would at least enjoy it some. Maybe the extremeness of their hippyster (PS: BJ Tibbs coined that phrase in the BTDATDBS days, motherfuckers owe him royalties) aesthetic (esp in marketing) made me a little skeptical, and understandably so. For we are at the dawn of the new faux-psych era wherein anything ran through 100ms of analog delay by a dude with long hair and a dime bag who claims to love Eno can magically have his NU band thought of as a wunderous work o' trippy (brah) majesty. Then suddenly some girl, who up until a week ago was busy fucking every graffiti dude in sight, hears it on myspace and thinks it sounds "oh so vintage" and she thinks yer headband "is just out of sight" etc etc etc...
But this, of course, none of that... this LP is the real deal.
I first heard it in the Sea Wolf van en route to SXSW in the middle of nowhere Tejas n the middle of the night. I think this set-up helped me just listen and take it in for what it is.
In this case the hype wins.
The piano riff that opens the record could be a Dead Meadow riff, were it not played on piano, and gives way to amazing dreamy vocals and subdued but spot-on drumming. I dig.

The other day Mr. Doug wrote about David Crosby's "If I Could Only Remember My Name" LP and since I have been addicted. It's a beautifully meandering Laurel Canyon work tragedy that should be placed on tape opposite "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" and listened to while driving a LONG distance with a head full of whatever you like to put in yer head.
It's a forgotten masterpiece, period.

On Tuesday the Alejandro Jodorowsky DVD box set came out and I spent most of my afternoon attempting to track down a copy and sadly the only place in town with it is a 'Big Box' retailer which was a little of a let down (PS: why doesn't the Wex Store carry new releases when they come out?) but worth the search, obviously. The inclusion of the soundtrack to both El Topo and the Holy Mountain on CD is fucking marvelous (PS: I didn't know Don Cherry co-wrote so much of it), as I have attempted to find a RIP of it with no luck on 'ye olden interweb' a few times. I know there will be enough film nerd (something which I am not) blogging going on about this box so I won't eat up yer eyes with my ramblings on it; however, you no longer have a reason not to get turned on to Jodorowsky, as you can now buy his hot shit jamz at fucking Best Buy.

In closing I ask this:
Has anybody out there know a band that sounds A LOT like Gong, esp after Pierre Moerlen started drumming, BUT is fucking EVIL? If this band does not exist I am going to be required to start it immediately.

Death to false neo-psych!

THR33 UN1V3RSAL TRUTHZ!

1. flip-flops are the worst thing you can ever place upon your feet, period. (there is an exception -- and only one -- for jason r womeldorph)

2. every girl EVER has a crush on either levon helm or peter criss. its the truth, ask em.

3. drugs rule.

HYPE!

Monuments = Travis + Mike L + myself / Drone + Swirl.

We will play first.
Show up early... or don't.


Word!

I am drinking Mint Juleps and listening to 2112.
Fuck you, america.

OMGZ!

Drop everything you are doing right fucking now and immediately listen to "March to the Witch's Castle" by Funkadelic.

Fucking do it!



PS: It's on Cosmic Slop.

LIGHTHOUSE KEEPERS

So seriously.
Have you listened to Van Der Graaf Generator lately? You fucking should, dawg.

I had always chosen to dwell on the first couple albums, for whatever reason; however, I have been listening to Still Life and Godbluff nonstop for days now. There is a certain amount of piss and vinegar in those two that just grab you by the back of the neck and throw you around the room. There is just something about this band that is so sinister but smart and so evil but peaceful. It certainly doesn't hurt that Peter Hammil writes endlessly about the endless futility of modern life, albeit often through some sort of sci-fi allegory.
For whatever reason this band has never rang more true or sounded better to me than right now. Maybe it's caused by this second attack of winter making me want to doom and gloom it up a little bit more, or maybe its my general morose mood as of late, but this band is destroying my right now.

Also...
For those of you into the unfortunate format that is CD (and for those of us who download more music than we should) a few of their finer records just got a recent re-mastering with bonus tracks... and are worth hunting down as they sound WAY fucking better than the first gen CDs that are out there.

In Closing...
Apparently I am not the only one in the midst of a VDGG mindfuck. I opened up the newest issue of Wire and there is a great multi-page interview with Peter Hammill. Odd how these things line up sometimes...

PS: Were you aware that Charisma records was basically founded so that VDGG wouldn't get screwed over by another label (re: mercury).