Ramblings:-->Paste Magazine - Death To Anders - College BB Fouls -&- Nektar

"Never thought he’d ever
get his metal boat
to fly in the air...
Moses did it."
Nektar


Just received my second issue of "Paste Magazine" and I have to say...I'm really digging it. Especially the writing. Very interesting without being too long-winded. Better than "Spin" which I always found to be lame and boring.

The music CD included with each issue has been a real treat...with enough variety to satisfy most ears. It's the first thing I tear open each month.

Hopefully, you hooked up with "Paste" while they were bravely offering a year subscription for the generous amount of..."What ever you wanted to pay". In the long run...this gamut may pay off for them. I hope so. Good stuff!

AND ANOTHER THING:
The California based indie band...Death To Anders has released their 2nd CD...“Fictitious Business”(2008)...and it offers up some tasty, deceptively simple, jangling guitar work that wonderfully foreshadows something much more sinister and complex.

With cryptic lyrics that float over beautifully jarring notes and sounds...one quickly realizes that Death To Anders are intent on presenting the underbelly of what ever may be hiding beneath our beds.

This CD opens with the title track...“Fictitious Business”, a nice introduction to this band...and sets the tone for everything else to come. Rob Danson and Nick Ceglio banter nice guitar work throughout...while they share their unique chili powder vocals to confess...And our specialty, we found...writing fiction out of sound.” Very catchy with a foreboding undercurrent.

Death To Anders

“I'm the only one meant for you...until we're done.” (“Untitled”) allows for a cacophony of terrific percussion (John Broeckel) and stinging bass slap (Peter DiBiasio) that pays off nicely.


And that song leads perfectly into my favorite track...”Dark Bathrooms”. As ominous vocals warn...Careful you don't give away...what they don't want anyway”. This song allows the band to spread out and jam...with a rather haunting ending.

“Swig Shift” is another great jam about the need to hit the bottle as the band chants...Distill these days”. And works up a sweat in their convictions.

“That's what we all are...fake entertainers. And all my friends are entertaining starry lights” (“Camera Lens”) is also a great song...one of the best this year.


Overall, Death To Anders captures perfectly all the smoldering sins that pile up in the corners of our lives and has burned them into a terrific CD that demands repeated listens.

Check this gem out:-->"Camera Lens" and then grab DTA's..."Fictitious Business".
Good stuff!

AND ANOTHER THING:
In the college basketball games I try to catch, (about twelve so far) the most irritating and inconsistent fouls being called by the refs have been the "charging/blocking" fouls. The calls have been almost border-line criminal.
And, although the rule for calling a "charging or blocking" foul is pretty explicit...there has not been a single game I've watched that didn't have at least "2 or 3" questionable calls. Brutal calls that totally interupt any chance for rhythm or momentum. It's a fast game...and I realise that referees are doing their best but...Come On!

To get the call right, while keeping the game from dragging out too long...I suggest:
  • Allow one challenge, per coach. The top ref reviews the play upstairs with 1 min. to decide.
  • Limit the number of time outs given each team.
  • Drastically cut down on perverted "commercial " timeouts.
These changes would speed up the game to a more viewer-friendly time frame...and possibly keep a "bad or missed" call from totally changing the outcome of a game.

And , maybe, keep me from yelling so much at my tv.

AND ANOTHER THING:
Released in 1976, "Recycled"...by the German band...Nektar ... is as good, if not better, than most of the more widely known progressive rock albums.

I first heard this band, while stumbling through boxes of old albums down in my parent's basement. It was an earlier Nektar LP with a cover filled with
strange circus characters around a bus. ("Down To Earth" - 1974).

It had been mostly ignored...but I played the hell out of it. Quirky prog-rock that sounded absolutely awesome.

When I found that e-Music had several Nektar CDs to dl last year...I quickly grabbed "Recycled" because of a song I had heard on classic rock radio one time..."Marvelous Moses".

This song is a joy to hear...as is the rest of the CD. Sadly, Nektar never conquered America...and who knows why. Anyway...there's nothing better than going back in time and discovering some music that should have blown down the doors to success.

Here's to hoping you'll want to hear more from this cool and forgotten group. They deserved better. Good stuff!

Casey
Nektar:-->"Marvelous Moses" (Recycled) (1976) (Must Own)

Comments

Anonymous said…
Paste Magazine is really cool! They had a free c.d. with Manu Chao.
The fact that they had him on alone was awesome! Check out his music
myspace.com/manuchao

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