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Showing posts from March, 2020

TCCDM Dig and Flip: "Station Eleven" (2014)

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"Station Eleven" by Emily St. John Mandel (2014) Softcover, 333 pages NO SPOILERS: Don't you hate it when you over-expect?  In this instance, I was wanting to really, really like "Station Eleven."   After all, it was considered one of the best reads of 2014.  Unfortunately,   Emily St. John Mandel's best-selling novel was just an okay read for me.  The story follows a troupe of Shakespearean actors and musicians who survive a devastating pandemic and decide to continue to travel and perform in hopes of keeping the Arts from dying.  There are a lot of backstory moments before the pandemic, as well.  And though sometimes interesting, the back and forth made everything a little too busy for such a short novel.  There are bad guys to be met along the way, of course, and choices to be made.  But I just was not feeling the moments. Here is my conundrum.  Emily St. John Mandel's writing style is simply beautiful.  I mean, sentences and paragraphs

TCCDM Pulls One Out..."Blue Mountain Eagle" (1970)

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"Blue Mountain Eagle" (front) Blue Mountain Eagle was a one-and-done acid rock band from the West Coast, that had splashes of psych and occasional moments of a California country-rock vibe.  The album has plenty of tasty fuzz guitar, but not the dirty heavy fuzz.  Here, the fuzz is stinging and biting.  Almost surgical.  I love both.  The vocal harmonies work really well too and make for an altogether entertaining spin.  And my God is that album cover ever beautiful!  I can't nail down the shade of red, but whatever it is...I'll take all of it you got. "Love Is Here" is a fantastic fuzz-driven opener and makes friends with you right away.  "Winding Your String" is another favorite I liked right from the get-go.  "Loveless Lives" is a ballsy fuzz-burner and "Sweet Mama" is a fun cranker with a proverbial drum solo that thankfully does not wear out its welcome.  None of the lyrics are deep or Dylanesque, but sometimes

TCCDM Pulls One Out..."Irish Tour '74.." (1974)

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"Irish Tour '74" (front) These live performances were recorded while really dangerous goings-on were happening in Ireland.  Bombs and the like.  So much so, musical acts were canceling dates preferring to take the short bow with promises to return at a safer time.  This is just another reason to admire Rory Gallagher and the rest of his band for hitting the stage running and letting the devil be damned.   "Irish Tour '74" is a really good album.  Live or otherwise.  Rory Gallagher  with his Strat in tow sounds ready for bear when rockin' out the blues.  And a bit haunting when bringing it down a notch.  His vocals sound well-traveled and lived in.  No trick mirrors.   Rory Gallagher is the kind of guy who's easy to pull for.  You like him and you want everyone else to like him too.  And that also goes for his long-time bassist,  Gerry McAvoy.  Gerry attacks like a tireless badger.  And he's  Rory's biggest cheerleader leaving littl

TCCDM Dig and Flip: "Batman: The Black Glove" (2008)

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"Batman: The Black Glove" Grant Morrison, J.H. Williams III  /  Tony S. Daniel (Illustrator) DC Comics (2008) 176 pages (I stumbled upon a good-sized box filled with a variety of graphic novels at an estate sale. No official count as I've just been pulling from the box when I find time to read one.  Afterward, I post the book and go from there.) NO SPOILERS: We are presented with two stories.  The first story is a murder mystery about an invitation-only meetup amongst a variety of lesser-known superheroes and the big kahuna himself,...Batman.  It has a familiar...“one of us here is a murderer”...who-dun-it rhythm.  Very nostalgic and a lot of fun to flip. However, the second tale was a bit disappointing.  The artwork was nicely done, but the story finds Bruce Wayne dining with a young socialite mixed-up with a fustercluck of flashbacks and maybe/maybe-nots.  I never was quite sure what was going on.  It all felt rushed and confusing.  But that's ju

TCCDM Pulls One Out..."Psychedellic Guitars" (1967)

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"Psychedellic Guitars" (front) This is an early example of a cash-in psych album.  And yes, the word “psychedelic” is spelled wrong on the album.  Not once, but three times.  Kind of funny.  The music is mostly scrappings that were leftover from earlier recordings guitarist Jerry Cole (uncredited) did while making the highly sought-after psych album... "The Inner Sounds Of The Id."  (1967)  And then later... "The Animated Egg."  (1968)  But he hadn't gotten to that one yet.  Some of the scraps are pretty good.  Others, not so much.  But they were quickly gathered up and shoveled onto albums much like this one.  All trying to get a seat on the magic carpet psych train that was becoming a thing.  As I said, some are better than others, but they're all still fun to spin and quite collectible to many Jerry Cole fans. The songs on “Psychedellic Guitars”  are instrumentals, but more garageabilly than psych.  Like what you might hear at an “A-Go

TCCDM Pulls One Out..."Vol. 3 A Child's Guide To Good And Evil" (1968)

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"Vol. 3  A Child's Guide To Good And Evil" (front) Every psychedelic fan is aware of this classic.  And no wonder.  West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band has plenty of heady psych goodness on here.  Tasty fuzz guitar and sitar nudges the lava lamp around while strange and trippy lyrics both sung and spoken haunt and puzzle the head.  Unexpected sounds and noises provide delightful 'wtf' moments.  And it's all beautifully weird and hauntingly clever.  Plus the overall spin-experience has a passive/aggressive attitude that gives everything a slightly ominous flavor.  I thought WCPAEB Vol. 3 was fantastic.  And it left me feeling like I had experienced a time-machine...unique only to my ears.  The album was time and money well spent. This original 1968 album was a pony-up for my pockets.  All of WCPAEB albums are.  My copy has a promo sticker on the front but nothing on the label.  The record is very clean and ready for dancing.  Favorites are "Eigh

TCCDM Dig and Flip: "Gone Girl" (2012)

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"Gone Girl" - Gillian Flynn (2012) Softcover, 415 pages NO SPOILERS: I can't say too much about this disturbing suspense-maker without spoiling all the fun.  There are plenty of well-thought roadblocks and menacing detours.  And absolutely one 'wtf' moment after another.  "Gone Girl" made me stressed and uncomfortable and pissed.  Sociopaths are so good at being fake that you're unknowingly painted into a corner before you even see the brush in hand.    "Gone Girl" was not at all what I expected.  All the characters are various shades of off-putting, yet I really enjoyed turning the pages.  But hell, maybe you might hate it.  Me, I think Gillian Flynn does exactly what she set out to do.  Give everyone a giant wedgie.  And I felt like taking a long, hot shower after reaching the final page. "My Girl (Gone, Gone, Gone)"   - Chilliwack / "Wanna Be a Star" (1981) Good stuff. Casey Chambers Follow Me

Interview -- Andy Cresswell Davis (Stackridge, The Korgis, DLM)

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"He scooped me up in his huge grey claws, and bore me away without any cause." ~ Stackridge ~ In 1979,  Andy Cresswell Davis formed the successful synth-pop band... The Korgis .  Eight years earlier, he was providing some acoustic guitar spankage on John Lennon's iconic album... ”Imagine.”   That right there is a tasty slice of butter pie.  And I'll take all of that you got.  Andy...singer, guitarist, and juggler of many instruments...also formed the wonderful prog-rock band... Stackridge  in 1968, and that's what brings us here today. Stackridge was an amalgam of sorts.  A little pastoral and Beatlesque here.  Symphonic and folk-proggish there.  Art-rock and trippy, as well.  Absolutely nothing cheap.  Sometimes Stackridge would take the stairs two at a time.  Other times they chose to take the long way home.  Just throw your Uber driver a Jackson and relax.  Andy Cresswell Davis , and his Stackridge mates, never recorded a bad album.  And they

TCCDM Pulls One Out..."The Hassles" (1968)

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"The Hassles" (front) I picked this album up for two reasons.  I had read that the album does have its share of psych moments scattered around and wanted to hear the band's take.  But to be perfectly honest, like a lot of you, I was more interested in the Billy Joel factor.  Catching a piece of the “piano man” before his gi-normous rise to fame.  Joel has distanced himself from this album, but The Hassles debut is not too bad for what it is. "The Hassles" (back) Joel sings sometimes, but he's not the main singer.  And his keyboard playing throws out a familiar psych-groove vibe, not unlike Vanilla Fudge, but not as sludgy.  And the rest of The Hassles bring a garagey soulful energy that sounds much like the music scene at the time.  Nothing amazing.  But certainly nothing embarrassing.  And I liked a lot of it.  There are several, mostly average, covers with a few originals thrown in.  “I Hear Voices” and Traffic's... ”Colored Rain” are g