Garage Sale Find

I stopped at a garage sale this weekend, always on the lookout for obscure ephemera and old records. Most of the time, old records at garage sales fall into one of several genres:

• Christmas
• Gospel 
• I've Never Heard Of That Singer

And often they are

• Overpriced
• Musty
• Scratched up
• Missing the sleeve
• Missing the record
• A laserdisc

But sometimes you get lucky and find things that are interesting enough to want, in good enough shape that you could imagine holding on to it and playing it sometimes, and cheap enough to take a chance on if you're not sure.

At this garage sale, they were selling a box of records that included a bunch of recordable records.  These were used by people back in the 30s and 40s maybe? And were sold with a variety of uses advertised, including recording things off the radio, and recording messages to send to loved ones.  A little research revealed that there used to be vending machines in various touristy places, like atop the Empire State Building, where you could record a message and have the record come out with your recorded voice on it.  Then, apparently you could send it home as a vocal post card.

Most of these recordable records were either blank or really beat up, but I did find one that had tracks on it, and looked playable without too much trouble.  My daughter and I cleaned it up as best as we could and put it on the turntable...

And it was apparently some music recorded off the radio back in the forties or so.  Big band kind of stuff.  I was hoping for voices from beyond the grave.  Like this: https://archive.org/details/James_Whitcomb_Riley-Out_To_Old_Aunt_Marys

Maybe next time.

Exploring metal

More often than not I like the idea of metal more than the execution of it, but lately I've been finding inroads and enjoying some great metal bands and songs.  I've always liked Torche, of course, but they seem a little different than the metal I'm thinking of.  Metal that I've tried out recently includes: Amon Amarth, Gridlink, Deafheaven, Kvelartak, and Opeth.  Here's one song from each of those bands, but Opeth - Deliverance is my favorite, and I find myself going back to it pretty often, finding new things in it and just enjoying the hell out of it.  Solid.

Opeth - Deliverance

Amon Amarth - Deceiver of the Gods

Gridlink - Constant Autumn

Deafheaven - Dream House

Kverlartak - Blodtorst

Blade Runner Soundtrack

I've written about Vangelis before, but they're worth exploring in greater detail if you like their work.  I have a great affinity for interesting, ambient, electronic music that inspires the imagination, and Vangelis does that better than many other artists in this genre.  Don't get me wrong, they've got their share of tracks that fall short of my ideals, but when they get it right, it's really really right.  Certainly their album Spiral has a lot to recommend it, and some of the tracks on Albedo 0.39 are tremendous.  More recently, I've been enjoying listening to the Blade Runner soundtrack, which I can enjoy both for the music and for the memories of watching an amazing movie.   Apparently, there are some different versions of the soundtrack that have been released over the years - this is the "Esper" edition.  There are longer and shorter versions with more or less music on them, also.

Capitan Y Tennille

I thought I was getting the first Captain and Tennille album on vinyl, in great shape, for fifty cents. Instead, what I had in my hands was the re-release of the album with all the songs in Spanish.  Still pretty excited.

It makes me think of that Simpsons episode where Homer buys a snow plow, and Barney buys a bigger snowplow, and gets Linda Rondstadt to sing the theme song.  And they're sitting in a hot tub, and Linda says she thinks she might do a Spanish version.  And sings it.  I can't find a youtube video of it, sorry.  You'll just have to track down and watch the whole episode.

The Romeos? Never heard of them.

Digging through the 50 cent bins at Everyday Music in Portland, I found a variety of little gems this weekend.  By 'gems' I mean things I wouldn't have bought for much more than 50 cents.  In the mix, a Barry Manilow album with Copacabana on it, the first Captain and Tennille album (as a gift for a friend), and an album from 1980 called "Rock and Roll and Love and Death" by a pop/rock band called The Romeos.  I'd never heard of them, but I liked the cover, so I gave it a shot.  I'd love to share it with you here, only I haven't been able to find any of the songs on that album on youtube.  Crazy, right?  But here's a representative one of theirs, called "Crazy No More":  

Both the sound of this band and the title of their album remind me of an old Godfathers album I've enjoyed over the years called "Birth, School, Work, Death," as well as some Replacements tunes.  It's all in that '80s rock/alternative rock transition time, maybe.  Is "Rock" even a genre by itself any more?  I mean, it's a style of music, but it seems like the moment a band emerges in that style, they're immediately maneuvered into a narrower, more easily described genre or subgenre, like punk, pop, metal, prog, lofi, goth, etc.  When I think if "Rock" bands, I think of the Godfathers:

And the Replacements:

Superman

Over the years, I've heard several different songs about Superman - either the character or the concept of 'supermen.'  The most recent addition to this list is "Superman" by Barbara Streisand, on a record my daughter picked up at the Goodwill.  I like "superman" as a topic - it can be so easy to fall into common superhero ideas, but anyone who's read comic books in the last twenty years knows that being a superhero is an experience filled with agony, alienation, and self-loathing; the weight of the world on your shoulders and just because you have these powers it doesn't mean your mind is up to the challenge of being super.

Here's four favorite superman songs to help you rise above the crisis:

Laurie Anderson: O Superman (For Massenet)

R.E.M.: I Am Superman

Flaming Lips: Waiting For A Superman

Barbara Streisand: Superman

Writing Update

Well, it's time for a little progress report on the writing front.  As far as my novel goes, things are moving along at a nice pace, I think.  Earlier this year I found an agent, and we've been working on my submission package, which includes a long and short synopsis.  She also had a few suggestions on parts of the book to work with, including a great idea for the end that I really enjoyed exploring.  About a month ago, I sent the manuscript to a copy editor, and I just got it back from her with all kinds of little changes to approve, so I'll be working through those in the next week.  Once it's ready to roll on that front, my agent will start sending it out to her contacts in the world of publishing, and we'll see what happens.

Honestly, I don't know what to expect.  Actually, I know what I do expect - rejection!  But so far everyone seems to like the book and I keep getting a lot of encouragement.  So I'm trying to be cautiously optimistic, and even expect to be accepted.  That's not easy.

On the playwrighting front, I've had another theatre accept one of my short plays for production in a summer festival, so that's fun.  I don't think I get any money for that, so that's less fun.

Something upbeat to keep us all groovin':

Do you remember?

I want to like it, and now I love it

Do you ever find yourself listening to something and thinking to yourself, "Well, a lot of people like this.  A lot of people are saying this is good."  And the reason you're saying that, instead of "Wow, I really like this," is that you want to like it, but you don't.  I've had that experience plenty of times, and I'm sure you have too.  What's great is when you hear something and dislike it at first and then come back to it later and just love it to death.

That was my experience with the band Deerhoof the first time I heard their music.  At first, I thought it was all chaotic, and there wasn't anything stable to hold on to.  Then I thought the chaos was an illusion, and in fact the music had structure, just on a larger or deeper scale.  Like if someone found a pattern in pi after looking through trillions of digits, right?  Then I realized the search for the pattern was a red herring, that there was a kind of anti-pattern at work.  Then I saw them in concert, and watched them perform these chaotic sounding songs note for note and beat for beat.  Even the really jarring, random sounding parts.  It kind of blew my mind.  Here's a song called "Scream Team" that I think is both accessible and representative of the rabbit hole that their music can be:

Another band that I had to warm up to was Black Moth Super Rainbow.  I saw them open for the Flaming Lips once several years ago, and just couldn't figure out what was going on.  It was bizarre.  Plus, I wanted to see the Flaming Lips, and they played an awesome show that night, so I almost didn't remember that BMSR was there.  Years later I heard their album Cobra Juicy, and it's become part of my Top Ten Albums I Could Listen To Pretty Much Whenever.  Check out "Like A Sundae."  It's a great example, and has some of my favorite synth work, at about 2:54.

If you like that, check out the next song on the album, the more abrasive, strange, and amazing "Hairspray Heart"

Also, BMSR has an official video for Hairspray Heart, which is truly disturbing.  Seriously.  omg bmsr wtf?