The College Crowd Digs Me

"Low" - David Bowie (1977) "Low" is my favorite from Bowie's 'Berlin Trilogy' phase and was his 11th album.  It fluctuates around in my top-5 Bowie albums but never has quite settled.  "Low" is a great album though. all about experimental electronica and snarling, jarring guitars. Side A is short and catchy with Bowie throwing out cool lyrics over cool synths and guitar rhythms.  Nothing ever sounds complete.  Nothing ever gets resolved. Side B is colder and very... Brian Eno-esque.  All instrumental.  And though I have no reason to doubt Bowie was actively involved in the process...it all sounds very..." tastes great, less filling" like.  And again, nothing really sounds complete.  Nothing gets resolved.  Perhaps it's all a metaphor for our pathetic little lives.  And maybe that was the point.  And maybe me thinks too much! I absolutely love side A.  And sometimes...I love side B.  But only sometimes. And ...

(a short jaunt) "The Doctor" - The Doobie Brothers - "Cycles" (1989) I'm not crazy in love with it, but those wonderful Tom Johnston vocals are so familiar, it's hard to stay in a bad mood.  The original members got back together for this album and that's always a good time.  And this song, in particular, sounds like it could have been an outtake from one of the early “The Captain and Me"  sessions.  Feels like a summer day. "Arriving Somewhere But Not Here" - Porcupine Tree / "Deadwing" (2005) This is pretty epic stuff.  It has a very gentle, but dark, Floyd-like intro ("Animals,” to my ears.) Then morphs into something more distorted.  The delicious outro returns to a dark floaty ambiance.  The lyrics are mysterious and haunting and add to the already psychy-prog setting.  Like there's more going on than what you think you hear.   12 minutes of perfect.  Porcupine albums, come to me. ...

HERE'S AN IDEA! Getting to watch jazz legend  Bill Evans  prepare for a television taping is like being a fly on the wall.  This was for a show in Copenhagen, Denmark, 1966...and we see everything!  We see Bill discovering that the piano the TV producers provided him has a funked-up damper pedal.  We see bassist Eddie Gomez ripping off runs, working his fingers and getting ready to go.  But more especially, we watch Bill Evans trying to catch the fill-in drummer, Alex Reid , up to speed.  Now Alex was no hack, he drummed for everyone all over Denmark...but Alex has an awful lot of information thrown at him to eat and has a very short time to digest it all.  So, you can almost hear Alex sweating.  Bill does try to relax his drummer, reminding him it is only a rehearsal.  But even then....the pressure can be felt. And it’s nice watching Eddie trying to help chill out the new drummer who clearly does not want to let Bi...

"Capote In Kansas" (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.) "Capote In Kansas" by Ande Parks,  Chris Samnee 2006 by Oni Press 128 pages NO SPOILERS: Once upon a time, Truman Capote had the idea to take a trip to Kansas in hopes of writing a non-fiction “novel.”   It was a ground-breaking idea.  The story was to be about the horrific and unnecessary murders of the entire Clutter Family that took place in Holcomb, KS in 1959.  The story would be called “In Cold Blood” ...and go on to become one of the most critically acclaimed books of the 20th century. However, this graphic novel is not about the hideous murders.  It is an abbreviated telling of Truman Capote , a talented high society New York dandy trying to get his big story.  His experience...

"Gris-gris" - Dr. John (1968) I had no idea when I picked up this album that "Gris-gris" would slip into my “house on fire” takeout bag of records.  I like it that much.  This is a stew of New Orleans r&b sprinkled with psych salt and stirred into a strange caldron of voodoo blues.  The music is very cool and, at times, a little unsettling I'm not going to banter too much hyperbole about the album's spooky reputation, although it does come by it honestly.  Spinning "Gris-gris" is a fascinating and mysterious experience.  True that.  Voodoo chanting and strange unexpected sounds over a variety of hypnotic rhythms give everything a haunting vibe.  As if Dr. John struck a bargain with who-knows-who allowing him to channel the original Dr. John Montaine, the high priest of New Orleans voodoo.  And, like I said, it is a little unsettling.  Like being an uninvited guest stumbling into an "Eyes Wide Shut" ceremony where guests ...

"All that I know  is all that I think. Dead feelings are cool, down lower I sink." ~  Alice Cooper  ~ RnR HoF bassist Dennis Dunaway , an original member of Alice Cooper , is a writer and performer of some unnerving songs.  Some wonderfully wicked, unnerving songs.  Even their famously euphoric anthems, “I'm Eighteen" and "School's Out" have an underlying hint of danger wandering beneath.  A fuzzy shade of darkness that you can almost touch.  But not quite.  Like magician Shin Lim , you can see the smoke coming out of his mouth, but you're not sure how it got there.  It's just there. Other songs are not as subtle.  No hidden agendas here.  Songs like, "Killer," "Black Juju,"  "Dead Babies," and "Halo Of Flies. "  It is what it is.  Haunting and in your face.  The kind of vibes that throw creepy sugar into the night.  I haven't forgotten about the theatrical pizzazz of Alice , for su...

(a short jaunt) "Effigy" - Creedence Clearwater Revival / "Willy and the Poor Boys" (1969) You just don't hear this one often.  The song was written in one of those darker keys that hint of bad moons rising.  Fogerty was inspired by President Nixon's attitude toward the war protesters, if I remember right.  It's moody and portent.  And if the song was two minutes shorter it would be perfect. "Friends of Mine" - The Zombies / "Odessey and Oracle" (1968) I really like this song, and yet it only made #6 on my favorite songs from the bands classic "Odessey and Oracle" album.  That's how strong this pop-psych masterpiece really is.  "Friends..." is the Zombies tribute to a few of the love birds wandering around in their world at the time.  If you listen closely, you can hear their names.  I watched a clip of original members, Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent performing a couple of songs at a bo...