The College Crowd Digs Me

"Everyone Is Everybody Else" - Barclay James Harvest (1974 )      On  their fifth album,  "Everyone Is Everybody Else,"  the band leaves the proggy, symphonic Moody Blues sound they were  tagged with, stuffs it in their back pocket, and takes a different prog path.  Like travelers passing through the corners of Catan,  Barclay James Harvest bring a prog-pop CSN flavor to the wax.  Lighter on the prog to be sure, but I'm absolutely cool with that.  The harmonies are nice and confident, as ever.  The guitars bang when it's time to clock in.  And the beautiful Mellotron and other keys all help push things forward.         The song arrangements may not be as complex by prog standards, I suppose, but they are creative enough and definitely not cheap.  It's a really good square, yet nothing truly stands out.  Is that bad?  Not necessarily.  When the needle returned to its resting pl...

"Bravery Repetition And Noise" - The Brian Jonestown Massacre (2001 - Rei 2007)      Formed in San Francisco,  The Brian Jonestown Massacre's  8th album has an undertow of neo-psychedelia about it, as I was hoping it would, but this is on a different shelf, sounding both fresh and nostalgic.  The album is filled with layers of atmospheric glaze, both dreamy and moody, in various tempos.  Pop-sensibilities with an oddly lysergic dusting.  Plenty of heady levels to play with your senses.      The songs seem to swing easily from one trapeze to the next.  No dirtclods.  No speedbumps.  Just an introspective stroll through an empty park.  And though not what I usually gravitate toward, this may change.  There's a lot to like about "Bravery Repetition And Noise," and I'm sure I'll drop the needle on the bone from time to time just to feel that feeling again. "Bravery Repetition And Noise" - The Brian Jonestown ...

Stone Cold by C. J. Box (2014) Paperback, 398 pages NO SPOILERS:      Stone Cold is the 14th novel from the "Joe Pickett Series" created by author C. J. Box .  Each story stands alone, so don't be afeard.  Joe Pickett is a Game Warden, a family man with Boy Scout virtues and skills.  And Joe's job title might sound lame, but the action and pacing of the novel quickly put any reading trepidations to rest.  In this story, Joe Pickett has been requested by the governor to go to far corners of Wyoming to quietly investigate large land purchases made by some moneybag mysterioso and the small town he seems to have a grip on.  Oh yeah, and there are also rumors that this fellow might be involved in a murder-for-hire operation.       Our hero  Joe Pickett is smart and clever, and he likes to push the envelope.  He's not a bad-ass rogue, like say, Jack Reacher, but Pickett is easy to root for.  The story is more myster...

"Aoxomoxoa" - Grateful Dead (1969 )      I've never been a deep-diver of The Grateful Dead , but I do have a handful of their albums, both studio and live stuff.  I like the vibes they give off.  I like the spirit.  I like the mojo.  I've been especially wanting to collect their early stuff from the 60s when the purse strings allow.  I still need "Anthem Of The Sun," but I did pick up  "Aoxomoxoa" recently.   I'd been looking for a nice copy for quite a spell, and knew one would show up soon enough, so I forgoed listening to the album until I had one in my hands.  On this square, The Grateful Dead still employ the psychematized strangeness of the late 60s, but now with hints of  "Workingman's Dead" and "American Beauty" which were soon to follow.  Of course, the improvised noodling still remains, and it's almost the best of both worlds.  Apart from one dirtclod on side two, mostly because it's out of place, th...

"Hall Of The Mountain Grill" - Hawkwind (1974)      "Hall Of The Mountain Grill" is much more chill than I expected, but wonderfully so.  The music is dense with layers of synths, Mellotrons, and oboes. Saxes and tasty guitar-riffage.  Pleasing sounds that surprise the mind.  Hawkwind  rocks and trips whenever and wherever it pleases, as they are wont to do.  But this square sounds even more in-the-moment.  Cosmic, but without the debris.  I really liked it.         Perhaps not as hard as Hawkwind's earlier albums, but it doesn't disappoint.  Apart from an occasional odd mixing (a little muddy in places), I like everything about it.  And it's a delicious conundrum that you can crank this puppy without restraint in the daytime or kick back in the late-evening and chill the fawk out.  It's a square that's two mints in one .   "Hall Of The Mountain Grill" - Hawkwind (back) "Hall Of The M...

Once An Eagle by Anton Myrer (1968) Paperback, 1291 pages NO SPOILERS:      Once An Eagle is a story that explores soldiering and the choices made in becoming a good soldier and leader.  And rank, fair or not, means almost everything.  And how the military can become an intoxicating lifestyle for some.  Just as interesting are the effects on the family.  Wives, in particular, must be skillful in weaving their way through the unwritten social rules within the military circle.  That's an interesting trip in and of itself.        Amid all this flibbety-floo, the book introduces two main characters, each with their own approach to leading men.  Each presented as the antithesis of the other.  Neither is completely right nor wrong.  However, our main protagonist, Sam Damon, is a leader we would all hope to follow as he rises through the ranks.  Damon's military journey takes him through the course of th...