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Showing posts from May, 2020

TCCDM Pulls One Out..."The Missing Years" - John Prine (1991)

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"The Missing Years" - John Prine (1991) "We all reside down the block inside of 23-Skidoo."   This Grammy award-winning,  "The Missing Years" was John Prine's 10th studio album after taking a fairly long hiatus and it's a really good spin.  There's nobody like John Prine .  His songs are sweet and bittersweet; catchy and filled with wonderful and curious Prine-isms and observations.  And his vocals are friendlier than a front porch.  Some of his biggie friends show up to add sugar to the tea like Tom Petty , Bruce Springsteen , Howie Epstein,   Bonnie Raitt, and a few others.  And they all do so without being the elephant in the room, which is much appreciated.  There is a lot to like here.  The  "Jesus, The Missing Years" track, of course.  "Picture Show."   And the faded love gem, "All The Best" ...which John performed frequently while doing the obligatory TV album promotion thing. My favorite, and ma

TCCDM Pulls One Out..."H.P. Lovecraft II" - H.P. Lovecraft (1968)

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"HP Lovecraft II" - HP Lovecraft (1968) This was to be H.P. Lovecraft's 2nd (and last) album.  It's filled with mostly chill folk-psych with some electric keys tapping the brush in spots.  The lyrics have very much the spin of the times and the words are carried along in an almost foreboding manner.  Every song has been lightly dipped in psych dust and it's a moody little biscuit, at times, but it never gets boring.  Often, the vocals reminded me of a young Marty Balin and I was totally cool with that.  I dug it, actually.  "HP Lovecraft II" succeeds in feeding the head on a late-night bender.  And with a pair of comfortable headphones, it's bonus.  My favorite songs are "At The Mountains Of Madness" ... "It's About Time" ...and "Electrallentando." The band members were from Chicago, but they recorded this square in L.A.  The band quickly fractured into pieces shortly after this release.  The album cover is

TCCDM Pulls One Out..."Space Ritual" - Hawkwind (1973)

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"Space Ritual" - Hawkwind (1973) If this is space rock, I'll take all of it you got!  This is so good.  But you already knew that.  As for me, I just listened to it for the first time a few weeks ago.  Lord have mercy.  "Space Ritual" was Hawkwind's 4th album, an incredible live double album that was recorded in London.  Everything on here is a force to be reckoned with.  There's plenty of head-spinning sounds from insane sax to the spacey oscillating whatever-it-is.  And the energy from the beloved bassist known as Lemmy drives the ship with his crazy and exciting bass runs.  I even enjoyed the short spoken poetry breaks.  I know it sounds lame, but the spoken poetry actually throws an almost portent vibe into the kettle that allows the listener to catch their head before it segues back into the music.  And it does that surprisingly well.  It all makes for a wonderful space-metal-psychedelic vacation. "Space Ritual" (back) T

TCCDM Dig and Flip: "The Snowman" (2010)

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"The Snowman" by Jo Nesbo (2010) Hardcover, 383 pages NO SPOILERS: This novel is a mystery/thriller about a serial killer who targets certain women and leaves behind a freshly built snowman at the scene of each murder.  Often with the snowman facing, not toward the street...but toward the victim's room.  What a very disturbing idea.  Our protagonist is a police detective named...Harry Hole.  I snickered like a 9-year-old when I first read it, too.  Harry's good at what he does but he's been damaged by alcoholism, divorce, and life in general. I really dig  Jo Nesbo's noirish writing style.  The story moves along quickly with plenty of plot twists and ducks to keep everything edgy.  And the author plays fair with the clues, which is always cool.  Clues are scattered here and there and help thread the needle, but thankfully, not too easily.  This was book #7 in Jo Nesbo's ..."Harry Hole" series.  I believe each story is "stand-al

TCCDM Pulls One Out..."The Holy Mackerel" (1968)

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"The Holy Mackerel" - The Holy Mackerel This is a lesser-known psych album led by... Paul Williams .  Yeah, Paul Williams gets a little bit trippy on this "one-and-done" album.  Most of the songs float around in a folk-psych pool that's gentle and sometimes floaty.  There are also a few country-rock tracks that are reminiscent of what Michael Nesmith was trying to do.  I liked those songs as well, but they sorta broke the spell with their placement.  Still, nothing boring or cheap.  There are occasional flutes and sitar and good harmonies.  And apart from one silly stinker that closes out Side One, " The Holy Mackerel" is an enjoyable spin worth picking up. The band also included bassist Jerry Scheff who played on The Doors' "L.A. Woman"  and was a member of Elvis' "TCB" band.  My favorite tracks include the 4-minute "Wildflowers"  ...a very "float downstreamish" psych-driven song.  " Scorp

TCCDM Pulls One Out..."On The Beach" (1974)

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"On The Beach" - Neil Young (1974) "Sooner or later it all gets real."   I skipped over  "On The Beach" more than once before finally pulling the trigger and taking a copy home.  I'm really glad I did.  This was his 5th album.  Neil Young was still a relatively young man.  It was 1974 and he was angry, scared, depressed, and a bit high.  Everything on here hits close to the nerve.  And it's all worth your time and money.  The opening track  "Walk On" is a response to Skynyrd and critics in general.  "See The Sky About To Rain" is a beautiful song that's familiar in a good way.  My favorites are the deeper tracks.    "Ambulance Blues" ...is a 9-min rambling of word-play that I really dig.  And the beautiful despair heard in the title-track is some heady stuff.  And "Revolution Blues" is a crunchy and anger-filled jam said to have been very much Manson inspired. For the longest time, Neil refus