The College Crowd Digs Me

 (a short jaunt) "When The World Is Running Down, You Make..." - The Police / "Zenyatta Mondatta (1980) Turn on my V.C.R.  Same one I've had for years. James Brown on the T.A.M.I. show.   Same tape I've had for years. I sit in my old car.  Same one I've had for years. Old battery's running down.   It ran for years and years. I never quite picked up on the lyrics.  It was always the new wave groove that killed.   Almost trance.  Copeland snappin' and poppin' the skins.  Summers and Sting workin' it out.  This was a great band.  And this is just a great song to take for a drive.  Or use for the drive-away ending scene in "Good Will Hunting."  This was the trio's third album. (OWN) "Soul Sacrifice" - Santana / "Santana" (1969) (Instrumental) Back-to-back groove jams.  I fell in love with this song after watching "Woodstock."   I had never heard the studio version til now.  It was an amazing jam...

(4 For Friday) *   What a world!  A woman's gym in the 1940s. *   Plain and Fancy takes a look at the 1968 psych band... People .  The band high charted with a killer psych gem... "I Love You."   I'd heard this song before...somewhere...but never knew who did it. *   Take a moment and give these 30 photos a closer look . *   Check out Ask A Mortician as she explains the least expensive death option .  Her channel is to die for. "Funky Pretty" - Beach Boys (1973) Good stuff. Casey Chambers Follow Me On FACEBOOK  

"Coven" - Coven (1971) Not as interesting as the band's satanic-minded debut.  On their sophomore album, Coven leaves behind their evil ways and brings a more West Coast bar band vibe to the wax.  Mostly female lead vocals, but I found the male vocal-fronted songs more interesting.  And it's not bad, just pedestrian.  And but for a stinker throwaway cover of "Jailhouse Rock,"  the album didn't hurt my feelings none.  It just is what it is.   The album is probably best known for its soundtrack hit "One Tin Soldier" from the popular "Billy Jack" movie.  The whited-out faces of the band with a black cat posing on the front cover hint at darker things within.  Two of the band members even throw devil horns into the mix, but it's all charade.  The only evil oozing from this album is the aforementioned Elvis cover. "Coven" (back) Favorites include the Top-40 track "One Tin Soldier" which closes the album.  I al...

"Growers Of Mushroom" - Leaf Hound (1971 - Rei 2015) This is some heavy, hard-candy, UK stoner rock from the early cusp of the 70s.  And what Leaf Hound lacks in originality, the band makes up for with some sincere ass-kickery attitude.  I admit Led Zeppelin influences can be heard, but the band didn't sell their souls.  And this was 1970 after all.  There weren't that many trails to follow. "Growers Of Mushroom" is a lot of fun and just what I'm looking for when I need to shake cobwebs outta my head and house.  Leaf Hound was workin' it out, man, and doing a pretty good job at it.  It's early proto-metal and still holds up better than many albums that have come down the pike.  This square has gotten plenty of respins and has run off all but the very coolest of spiders out of my house. "Growers Of Mushroom" - Leaf Hound (back) Favorites include the one-two punch of... 'Freelance Fiend" ...a stoner gauntlet that dares anyon...

(4 For Friday) *   Not very safe, but definitely a lot more fun than what we have now. *   Reporter  getting all up into John Lennon's shit.    She's definitely not impressed.  You're gonna wanna see this! *   When  "Star Wars" surpassed "Jaws"  in 1977 as the Top Film,  Steven Spielberg congratulated George Lucas with a full-page ad.   Clever and classy. *   Here are 20 illustrations by German artist Steffen Kraft expressing a few of society's issues.  "Art For Art's Sake" - 10cc / "How Dare You!" (1976) Good stuff. Casey Chambers Follow Me On FACEBOOK

"Obscured By Clouds" - Pink Floyd (1972) Pink Floyd's seventh album... "Obscured By Clouds" ...dropped a little less than a year before their iconic monster album "Dark Side Of The Moon" was released.  In fact, the band was already rubbing sticks and stones together for "Dark Side..." before being called away to provide the music for the French film... "The Village."   Yes, this is another Pink Floyd soundtrack, but this one is not so easily dismissed. "Obscured By Clouds" is a pretty solid spin with a little bit friendlier vibe.  All the grim and foreboding tension would come later.  There are tasty rock moments and light psych-dustings, but the band is clearly slipping deeper into the slide zone of experimental prog-rock.  And you can hear the band getting closer to that "Big Pink" sound. There are 10 tracks; 4 are instrumentals.  All are pleasing to the ear, although a couple of tracks do have an unresolv...

(4 For Friday) *   A giant anaconda climbing onto someone's porch is what nightmares are made of. *   Lou Reed performs "Walk On The Wild Side" with the "All-Star Band Of Comics."  (Jack Black, Conan O'Brien, Adam Sandler, Dana Carvey & Jimmy Fallon.)  You're gonna wanna see this! *   The ten best James Caan movies . *   They surprise the man who saved 669 Jewish children in WWII.  "What is this salty discharge?" "Running Up That Hill" (acapella) - Maytree (2022) Good stuff. Casey Chambers Follow Me On FACEBOOK  

"The Mandrake Memorial" - The Mandrake Memorial (1968) I didn't know what to make of The Mandrake Memorial's self-titled debut album.  For whatever reasons, my expectations were skewed and I just wasn't prepared for the spin.  My expectations threw me off course.  In other words, my head wasn't ready for what my ears were hearing.  This album is definitely psychedelic-minded, but it comes at you from a more floaty, atmospheric realm.  And often with subtle, ominous undertones. There are obvious Doors comparisons, but where The Doors enjoy entering your home through the front door with a baseball bat in hand... Mandrake Memorial  outta Philly, PA, chooses to slip inside through an unlocked window and politely cover your face with a pillow while your guard's down.  And if no one's home, they leave a note saying... "Sorry we missed ya!" and come back another night.  What I mean to say in my poorly ascribed metaphorical way is...if this self-...

The 6th Extinction by James Rollins (2014 ) Paperback, 567 pages NO SPOILERS: James Rollins is a beast when it comes to doing his research.  He collects the facts and joins them with plausible ideas and unlikely scenarios to create stories with uncomfortably believable plots.  And when I need some fast-paced, page-turning asskickery...I'll take all the Rollins you got. This time he dives into DNA and a newer subject...XNA and the strange concept of survival by extinction.  Scientists and biologists.  You can't take them anywhere.  Am I right?  There are three storylines, all connected, with various degrees of adrenaline kick that weave from one to the other.  And there are a handful of characters to latch on to.  The strongest one being a young female ranger who finds herself in the right place at the wrong time.    Rollins  does get a little science-jonesy at times breaking the reading spell.  He does his thing, and it's alwa...

(4 For Friday) *   A coyote has himself some tasty kitty-cat stew .  NOT! *   Let's have another look at the killer version of "You Never Give Me Your Money" / "The End"  offered up by  Tenacious D .  A fun one to revisit. *   Easter eggs (real or accidental) that have been discovered in "Stranger Things." *  A few  American Idol stars  ...then and now.  I remember our good ol' boy, Jason! "I'm A Don Juan" - The Embarrassment / "Heyday 1979-83" (1995) Good stuff. Casey Chambers Follow Me On FACEBOOK  

"Stranger Things (Music From The Netflix Original Series)" - Various (2018) I'm a much bigger fan of the "Stranger Things" albums that include the original score for the series.  And if I wasn't a fan of "ST" ...I probably would have just passed on this soundtrack compilation.  In this instance, two records filled with music from the 80s.  I didn't need it, but I wanted it. I doubt I will play this square very often, but the seller offered me a steal-of-a-deal while loading up his cart to leave.  I was holding the album and he said he would let it go for $5.  The album was opened but still in the shrink.  And as far as I could tell, all the goodies were intact and the vinyl looked unplayed.  Nineteen songs, plus a few short snippets of dialogue mixed in-between the tracks. "Stranger Things (Music From..." (back) The album cover is beautiful and includes a "Stranger Things" sticker and a mini-poster.  The inside gatefold ...

"SRC" - SRC (1968) Really good psychedelic rock with tasty organ and amazing fuzzed-out guitars.  When Gary Quackenbush lets his guitar off the chain, the frying begins.  The spin leaves the mind traveling through a trippy, groovy atmosphere of sensations.  Yet even on the heavier tracks, the music maintains an undercurrent of pop sensibilities that matches up really well with the trip.  On first listen, I caught a surprising rush or two.  Drop the needle and drop out.   SRC was just another killer band outta Detroit.  The band released three good albums, but their self-titled debut album is their best one.  This square is featured in Richard Morton Jack's  book of psych albums and is worth checking out if you have any interest at all in this genre.  Every once in a while I'm able to check off an album from the book.  I'm not trying to collect them all or anything like that, my billfold would never allow for such lunacy....

(4 For Friday) *   The natural Waterfall Bride in Peru. I could stare at that all day. *   Example of dogfight training in an F-16 .  Two minutes of what goes on. *  Here are  30 absolute truths no one wants to admit.  *   Interesting maps to make you pause.  You're gonna wanna see this! "Cockroach" - Sweet / "Give Us A Wink" (1976) Good stuff. Casey Chambers Follow Me On FACEBOOK