Brian James's Blog, page 8

Fiction Friday (119)

 

Oh, that shiny new book appeal, far greater than the appeal of new cars, and somewhere right up there with new records. After months of playing the waiting game, my library finally placed a sizable order for new books about a month ago, books that have since been cataloged and placed on the shelf. I was nosing through them last week when one exceptional cover caught me eye. I did what I always do in that situation, I read the flap copy and if it appeals, I flip to the middle and read a random paragraph. I was sold instantly on this one.

A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet

(W.W. Norton, 2020)

Parents are shapeless masses drowning in alcohol, drugs, and a yearning for their youth. They are worthless in the eyes of their children. Children who have been dragged along for a months long reunion of matured college friends. Children left to entertain themselves while the grown friends wallow in all the pointlessness of grown-up life. 

The mansion where they are vacationing holds little appeal for the children, ranging in age from 10 to 17. It is an old fashioned mansion in an undisclosed location that resembles the Hamptons, or the Cape, or anywhere not too far from the sea where rich people go to spend their time. Of course, devices were confiscated so that the children could appreciate the time, but it only ends up adding to the alienation they feel toward the older generation.

Then the storm comes.

Millet's sublime writing enriches this perfectly crafted novel, elevating it truly biblical proportions. Part Lord of the Flies, part Oryx and Crake, part  The Road, this novel's scope and power build so carefully that they settle upon the reader like a wave that gave no indication of its arrival.  An absolutely stunning novel that I don't expect I will ever forget.

The Joys of Parenting

 

Some of the greatest moments as a parent come when you get to share something you love with your child. Recently, I've been watching my favorite anime series, Cardcaptor Sakura with my daughter and she loves it. 

Of course I had the Clow Card book, sitting on a shelf in my office for years, that I took out. She has spent days studying the cards, reading the names, and making me act them out so that she can use her wand (she uses a stuffed giraffe) to capture them. I even had a stuffed Kero who now spends most nights in my daughter's bed alongside well-loved bunnies.

Sakura is such great character. It's important to me that my daughter sees strong girl characters in shows and books, characters that aren't simply made more masculine to make them powerful, but who strong because they are who they are. I'm so proud of the strong girl my daughter is and will continue to become.

Weekend Music Roundup

 

It's another weekend, the first official post-Trump weekend. It's been a rainy week around my parts and I've been trying to match my listening to the soundtrack to the weather. As a result, there is a lot of psychedelic folk and metal on here, two genres that I often turn toward in the fall. Some of them are new, some not so new, but all new to me over the past several weeks. Enjoy.

Big Blood - Operate Spaceship Earth Properly: I don't know how I missed this album when it came out two years ago. I'm usually on top of everything this husband/wife from Maine release. They are one of the most original psychedelic folk outfits today and having been consistently tapping into my wave length for well over a decade. This is one of their more experimental albums, expanding the psychedelic aspects and sinking the folk into the undertones.  Another fantastic record.

 

A Blaze of Feather - Labyrinth: The second album from the British indie band is equal parts indie folk and equal parts mellow experimental rock, a combination that creates a nice sound. The guitarist was in a band called Haven about twenty years ago, a band who I really enjoyed. This is a very melodic and ethereal album, the kind that I really enjoy hearing while I'm working. "Witching Hour," "Fields," and "Clock Hands" are my personal favorites.  

 

Dungeon Weed - Mind Palace of the Mushroom God: The debut album from the Oakland sludge metal band was released at the end of summer. The moment I saw the cover and read the title, I simply had to give it a listen. As one might expect, it's heavy stoner metal. As one may not suspect from the comical name and title is that it's a competent rock record. Very Sabbath influenced, and very much in line with Electric Wizard. "Beholder Gonna Fuck You Up," "Lumbering Hell," and "Mind Palace" are stand out tracks. 

 

Big Black Cloud - Dark Age: The 2010 first album under this name from the band formerly known as Here Comes a Big Black Cloud from the Portland lo-fi noise rock band is an album I picked up on a whim during the local shop's used vinyl sale on Record Store Day. It's their third album. This definitely has an 80's dark punk sound, something akin to Christian Death but much more lo-fi. It's chaotic and frenzied, and that's the appeal. 

 

Night - High Tides - Distant Skies: The fourth album from the Swedish band is their first in three years. This is a power metal throwback to the late 80s and NWOBHM bands. There's been a lot of these bands over the past half-decade, bands like The Sword and others, some which nail it and other that don't. I wouldn't say Night nails it, but they do a decent job of capturing the energy of the sound. "Give Me to the Night" and "Under the Moonlight Sky" are the real standout tracks for me.

 

Grin - Gone Crazy: The forth and final album from Nils Lofgren's early 70s band formed after he left Crazy Horse and years before joining the E-Street Band. Released in '73, this album is very much blues based rock of the time, but Nils is an exceptional guitarist and this album really show that. My local shop was having a 30% sale on used vinyl and I picked up a white label promo of this one for under $10. Money well spent.

 

Fiction Friday (118)

 

As I've mentioned in other recent Fiction Friday posts, I'm so thrilled that my daughter is now old enough for me to read novels with at bedtime. A few months ago, we read the first Mary Poppins book and she really enjoyed it. I'd had the second book for years, but had never ventured to read it, so it was a treat to be able to read something with her that I had never read before. Sometimes there are classics that don't hold up well, and then there are books like Mary Poppins...

Mary Poppins Comes Back by P.L. Travers

(Harcourt 2006, First Published 1935)

The world's most famous nanny abruptly left the Banks family of Cherry Tree Lane at the end of the first novel, leaving Jane and Micheal wondering if they'd ever again see the stern woman they'd come to love. But one thing they never lost sight of was that Mary Poppins is full of surprises. So one day, while flying a kite in the park, they are not at all surprised to find Mary Poppins descending on the string after the kite disappears into the clouds.

During her second stint as the nanny for the Banks children, her stay is once again riddled with unbelievable and impossible occurrences that leave Jane and Micheal perplexed and mesmerized. Of course, being the proper English lady that she is, Mary Poppins never admits that their fantastical adventures together ever truly happened, but the children know better. 

The joy of these books, beyond the pure imaginative escapades, is that there is no moral lesson being thrust upon the readers. These are books are entertainment and fun. They are filled with clever word play, wonderfully true dialogue, and unexpected adventures...all the ingredients that make for a timeless story.

Weekend Music Roundup

 

The weekend has returned, and around these parts, it's brought a return to warmer weather. Perhaps then it's fitting that this list features almost all new releases, and the kind of music that really speaks to me around this time of year. This features a few albums that I'm pretty certain will end up on my favorites for the year, and at least one that will end up as a big disappointment. Enjoy.

Big Blood - Do You Wanna Have a Skeleton Dream?: The newest album from my favorite psychedelic folk outfit out of Maine is yet another stunner. It opens with what is possibly their best song ever, "Sweet Talker" and just scorches from there. There are so many good songs on here, but "Insecure Kids" is heartbreaking and stunning. One of the things that I love about these guys is how every album feels different, though the undercurrent lets you know that it's them. As with all of their albums, it's fantastic.

Cut Worms - Every Once in a While: Though this Chicago band has been around for almost a decade, and despite being on one of my favorite labels, they escaped my atmosphere until recently. I checked out this EP first and fell in love immediately. Their alt country indie sound is downright perfect. They are also a band that feels so timeless, one that you could image generations have been listening to it. "Sold My Soul" is one of the best songs I've heard in a long time. Definitely a band I'm going to explore more of.

 

Lord Loud - Timid Beast: The second album from the L.A. noise rock band has a blues based garage sound. This is classic dirty rock with just the right level of feedback, riffs, and rancor for my taste. This isn't anything ground breaking, but has all the ingredients that make up a great rock record. "Lady Sunday," "Imaginary," "Wherewithal," and the title track are personal favorites.

Swans - The Glowing Man: Released in 2016, this is follow-up to the NYC post rock's celebrated 2014 album, "To Be Kind." I had recently picked up that record on vinyl, having had it digitally since it came out, and discovered I loved it more than I remembered. I came across a used copy of this one at the local shop and didn't want to miss it. As I expected, it's just as brilliant as it's predecessor. This moody kind of post-rock has been right in my headspace these days. It's six sides of eerie greatness. 

Marilyn Manson - We are Chaos: Thirty years into his career, the once world dominating shock rocker continues to release music, including this album, his first in three years. After a resurgence when Twiggy rejoined, his last two albums have seemed flat now that Twiggy is once again absent. It lacks the edge that makes Manson his best on his best albums. This isn't a bad album, it's just a watered down Marilyn Manson album. If I'm in the mood for Manson, this isn't the record I'm going to listen to.

 

 

Fiction Friday (117)

 

I recently took over running the book club at the library where I work, a book club that has been going for over twenty years and is made up entirely of woman who are significantly older than myself. The books they read are books they vote on, so needless to say, they choices are not titles I would typically pick up. In addition, the books are primarily all somewhat contemporary. As a general rule, I don't read much if any contemporary adult fiction, so it's been interesting to get into the books. This is the first one that I feel worthy of sharing with you all.

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate(Ballentine 2017)

In the not so distant past, just over 80 years ago, there was an orphanage called the Tennessee Children's Home Society that matched wealthy families with children in need of a home. But what if those children weren't in need of a home? What if they had loving families and were stolen from those families and essentially sold to the highest bidder?  

Told in alternating time periods, Lisa Wingate's powerful novel is horrifyingly based on the very real situation that many children of the time period found themselves in. A journalist at heart, Wingate based her story on the mountain of evidence that had been uncovered to reveal how the orphanage had been run like a racketeering empire, using a network of legislators, police, and social workers to take children from poor families, preferably attractive children and place them into the homes of the well-connected, who were lied to and left in the dark about the circumstances that brought these children into the home's custody.

May (formerly Rill) was twelve when the police took her and her siblings from their boat home on the river and delivered them to the abusive home. As she struggles, and fails, to keep her family together, we experience the heartbreak and injustice of her situation...a situation which she hid until a present day granddaughter of May's youngest sister uncovers the truth. 

May's story is told with tenderness and grit, bringing her 12 year old self to life in the spirit of Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird. The modern day story reads more like a cleverly unfolding tale of family intrigue, which feels slightly less literary, but doesn't detract from the overall experience.

Weekend Music Roundup

 

It's the weekend and that can only mean one thing, time for a music roundup. There's a few new albums on here, but there's also a lot of older albums that I recently picked up. This is also an all rock list, though that wasn't planned. But the truth be told, can never have too much rock. Next week should be a bunch of new albums again, but for now, it is what it is. Enjoy.

Dead Lord - Surrender: The fourth album from the Swedish hard rock band was released early in September. This was my first introduction to the band. They are a garage based hard rock band with a bit of a punk vibe, but punk by way of 90s Bad Religion and vocals that sound like Elvis Costello. This is a pretty solid album with a few killer tracks. "Evil Always Wins" and "Genna Get Me" are standouts for me.  

Cheap Trick - Heaven Tonight: The third album by the hard rocking band from the Mid-West was released in '78, a little more than a year after their debut. This album solidified their sky-rocketing success and shows them truly on top of their game. This is classic late 70s American rock n roll, with it's the-world-might-be-falling-apart-so-let's-just-have-some-fun vibe. It was a vastly different approach than the British contemporary rock was dealing with. It feels eerily applicable to today. I've been really digging the two albums of theirs I've picked up in the as last few month. The title track and "On Top of the World" are two of my favorites. 

The Telescopes - Early Studio Recordings: This vinyl compilation was released in 2018 in Spain and I recently acquired a copy after fist discovering this 90s UK band about a month ago. The band would eventually go on to be signed by Creation Records (the premiere Britpop label) and would go on to be more shoegaze oriented. These early recordings are from '89-'90, a time when the underground was developing all kinds of genres that would explode in the years to come. This is a combination of noise rock, shoegaze, and punk that is the kind of sound that could only have come out in that period. While I loved the shoegazer stuff I encountered on their "Altered Perceptions" comp, this is even better. "7th# Disaster," "This Planet," "The Perfect Needle," "Sadness Pale," "To Kill a Slow Girl Walking," and "Forever Now" are standouts on this fantastic record.

 

Tom Waits - Bawlers: Back in 2006, the iconic gravelly voiced singer released the triple album Orphans which I have on CD. Two years ago, the label wisely re-issued the three albums individually on vinyl. I recently picked up this one, which was always my favorite of the set (though truth be told, all are brilliant). Bawlers are more ballad-y, melancholic and lo-fi, which highlight the purity of Waits in my opinion. It's like a Woody Guthrie album filtered through a Parisian gramophone circa 1921.   

 

Mark Lanegan - Straight Songs of Sorrow: Over the past decade, the former Screaming Trees frontman has been quite prolific and reinvented himself as the indie Tom Waits, producing forlorn Americana roots rock. His newest album follows that same path. This is an autobiographical album, with many highlights, but it feels flat in some areas for me. In particular the drums, and background synth are distracting and weak. "Ketamine" was my favorite song on this record.

 

 

My Vote is Cast

 

I voted today. This is the first year that New York has early voting, and I took advantage of it and did my civic duty today. I strongly believe in the power of voting and have voted in every election since I turned 18, not just every four years and not just national elections. I get the disillusionment that many feel, but the system is counting on your continued disillusionment which is why voting is important.

This year I voted for Joe Biden and the other Democratic party candidates, but I voted for them on the Working Families line. Though I'm a registered Democrat, I only registered as one in 2015 in order to vote for Bernie in the primaries. I've voted for Democrats in every election, but hold no illusion that the party represents my interests. 

This year, it was especially important to me that I voted on a third party line, even if it was for a candidate of the Democratic party. It may seem like forever ago, but it was only back in Feb. that we say the party manipulate the process to get their moderate on the ticket and squash the progressive movement. By voting on the Working Families line, it is my way of letting them know that they need to honor the progressive agenda if they want to continue to count on my support. 

Weekend Music Roundup

 

The weekend is here again, and as promised, this week I'm taking a look at mostly new releases that I've been listening to over the past couple of weeks. This is a pretty even list of folk rock and rock rock, but with a recent jazz pick up thrown in the middle for good measure. There's some solid albums here, and a few that didn't quite grab me, but are sure to grab others. Enjoy.

Matt Berry - Phantom Birds: The new album from the London artist is his seventh, but my first introduction to him. This is psychedelic folk and a throwback to a lot of lesser known artists of the late 60s and early 70s, the kind of artists that I love. There's a purity and honesty that makes this record really stand out.  "Phantom Birds," "You Danced All Night," "Moonlight Flit," and "Covered in Clowns" are personal favorites on this fantastic record. 

 

Bright Eyes - Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was: It's been 9 years since Conor Oberst has released an album under the Bright Eyes band name, though he's released many solo efforts that don't differ much. I've been a fan since they came up in '98 and have been looking forward to hearing this album which was released in August. This is standard Conor, with heartfelt honesty in the lyrics and delivery, and subtly complex chamber folk arrangements. I love his music, but if I have one complaint, it's that there is little to distinguish one album from the next. But that's okay, especially when you're this good.  "Mariana Trench," "Persona Non Grata," "Dance and Sing," "Stairwell Song," and "Comet Song" are my personal favorites. 

 

Swans - To Be Kind: It's not all that often than a band's most popular album is their 14th album that came out 30 years after their debut, but that's what this is. The no-wave NYC band had been part of that scene through the 80s, but by 2013, they'd evolved into an amazing experimental post-rock band. There's a reason this is the #1 highest rating album for 2014 on RateYourMusic. I'd heard the album back then, and enjoyed it, but it wasn't until now that I truly get it. I found a used copy of the vinyl for cheap and when I put it on, it was a whole different experience from the one I remember. This isn't what I was feeling back then, but this is what I'm feeling these days. It's the soundtrack to the kind of dreams that come to me during every New Moon. 

 

Wayne Shorter - Second Genesis: Originally recorded in 1960, but remained unreleased until '74, this is from the early days the saxophonist's rise. He'd recently become part of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers when this album was recorded. (Blakey plays drums on this album). This is hard-bop gold, but flavored with a cool jazz vibe. Given those are two of my favorite genres, this is truly an album that speaks to me. It also shows the earliest signs that Wayne would move into jazz fusion, which would eventually lead to his '70s powerhouse outfit Weather Report. "The Albatross" and "I Didn't Know What Time it Was" are simply beautiful. 

 

The Cuckoos - Honeymoon Phases: The new album from the Austin indie band is an interesting combination of gothic glam and electro dance. It kind of like The Kooks if they were fronted by Peter Murphy of Bauhaus. There were moments when I found this clash of sounds to be inspiring, and other moments where I was left tilting my head and wondering what they were thinking. Either way, I applaud the guys for trying something different. It opens with two great tracks, "Weekend Lover" and "I'll Be Ur Tramp." Then it kind of tapers off, but still worth a listen as I know there are others out there who will love it more than me.

 

JunkBunny - Down the Rabbit Hole: The second EP from the Texas trio is very much a throwback to 90s alternative. It's power pop punk riffs and youth yearning lyrics would have fit right in with the mainstream of indie rock in '95. That said, it's not a genre that I long for in any way. There were tons of middle of the road bands back then on any number of a dozen labels, and these guys would fall into that category. It's not that it's bad, just not all that interesting. Fans of early Green Day might dig this.

A Story of Ghosts

 

I wanted to give a little writing update, something I haven't done in a bit. I've been working on a Middle Grade ghost novel for over a year. It's a complicated story and I've been consistently interrupted by life, but have continued to work on it nonetheless.

This week, I had a bit of a breakthrough. I'm currently writing a pivotal scene where the action is going to turn. There are two schools of thought when it comes to writing these types of passages. One is to get the idea down and push through, then go back and make it perfect. The other is to suffer through carefully and make sure the tone and details are solid. I fall into the second school of thought. For me, getting the tone right here will set the style for the rest of the story. Getting it wrong can lead to the wrong trajectory and ruin a story.

The other night I was perfecting an encounter and once I nailed it, a burst of what was to come hit me. I love these kinds of breakthroughs. The trick is to harness them into momentum.