If I had been paying closer attention, I probably would have picked this up earlier, but there you have it. It seems so obvious now.
Tasha Yar and Kara Thrace
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‘A’ quality writer talking B-Movies
Yes, it’s the middle of Passover and we’re having 17 people for our Seder tomorrow night, and it’s Good Friday and I’m in the office and I’m supposed to be catching up on work, but I’ve got a new weakness that I wanted to share before I get into editing my 18 page Federal Complaint that’s being sent to the adjuster today with a nasty demand letter.
John Scalzi is a professional writer. Apparently he writes all kinds of stuff and gets paid for it. in 1998 he started writing a public journal called a blog. I hear these are very popular now. At some point, he wrote a very intelligent and engaging sci-fi book called Old Man’s War. It owes a lot to Robert Heinlein and Jon Halderman, but even without having read any of their works, I loved the Scalzi. The thing about Old Man’s War was that he published it on his blog, basically giving it away to whoever wanted to read it. A publisher caught wind of it and BANG – Scalzi got his first novel published and distributed. Since that fortunate occurrance in 2005, he’s been cranking out great sci-fi and maintaining his blog.
While I’ve really enjoyed reading all the novels, I only just started to get into the blog. How great is it to have a professional, high-quality writer cranking out tasty tidmits for you to enjoy every other day or so? So you get the picture – Scalzi’s a cool dude.
A few days ago, he refrred readers of the blog to a paid gig he has with American Movie Classics (AMC). Ever since Mad Men, AMC has been enjoying a nice little bit of success. They’re even producing a ‘re-imagining‘ (when is that term going to go out of style?) of my all-time favorite TV show of all time ‘The Prisoner‘. So Scalzi has hooked up with AMC to make occassional contributions to one of their columns, prticularly dealing with sci-fi. Good choice! He’s now helping them promote a new on-demand catalog of B-movies. This means that you can simply head over to AMCtv.com and watch any number of low budget favorites from the days of yore.
This got me thinking about the handsome gent from the picture which accompanies this entry. He’s the subject of The Creeping Flesh, a 70’s horror flick that caused me more than a few nightmares when I was 6. I didn’t see it in the movies, but rather on glorious UFH – WKBS48 back in the late 70’s. They had a series that originated in Boston called Creature Double Feature where folks like that Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee (both of whom star in The Creeping Flesh!) were beamed into my brain on a regular basis. A little more sheepnis please!
Happy Passover!!
Can’t talk – busy eating Matzoh. Chag Sameach, everybody!
Elephant9 – Norwegian Power Trio
(That is so baddass)
The traditional organ trio, as far as I understand it, is comprised of Hammond B3, drums and guitar or sax. Think about Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff, Joey DeFrancesco – they used the awsome power of the B3 to carry the bass on the left hand and go nuts with the right for leads and melody. Darediablo proved that the format could work well in a rock setting. In the world of jazz fusion, the great example is Tony Williams Lifetime of 1969. The twist there was that the organ, normally dominant in such contexts, had to play second fiddle to Williams’ drums and McLaughlin’s guitar. Even though Jack Bruce came along to play electric bass, that lineup never gelled. The true genius of Lifetime was the trio – no bass.
Then comes Medeski Martin and Wood. This is not an organ trio, because Medeski is playing everyhing in sight, so long as it has black and white keys, not just the B3. Medeski’s the focus and and it all goes through his playing, but now there is a bass. Wood is almost always on a stand-up acoustic, but it doesn’t take away from the funk. When that band wants to get down, it gets down.
Now I arrive at Elephant9. Things are different in Scandanavia. Fusion is not a dirty word. Progressive Rock is an art form, and not an insult. And in Norway, Stale Storlokken absolutely burns on keys. This is a band that has not one but TWO Joe Zawinul covers on the same record. There is no hiding the influence. This is a direct decendent of early 70’s Miles Davis and Weather Report. Storlokken’s ability to conjure a fiery groove is matched only by his seemingly limitless technical ability. The drums and electric Fender Bass add pure muscle. This is not subtle music. And then you hear the variety of synths and other sound generators in Storlokken’s arsenal, and you can understand why these young men embrace a prog identity.
In 2008 I discovered Beardfish – an amazingly talented group from Sweeden. That love of Zappa and old Genesis has not gotten old, and I wait with bated breath for the time when I can see them live. But Elephant9, and particularly Storlokken, feels like the next big thing for me. I have not been this excited about young musicians in many months.
Idea for song title
Your Fake Tan Looks Really Fake
Stewart to Rush Limbaugh: Gedda frig oudda here, douchebag!
Who Is Making Those New Brown Clouds?
Put a little Frank in yer tank!
I’m supposed to be writing a big Complaint to be filed with the Court, but I need a quick break. Music is a huge help when I’m writing (or drafting, if you prefer) but the recent release of ‘Wazoo‘ from the Zappa archives is especially challenging release. The title of this post is one of the lines from “The Adventures of Greggery Peccary” – it’s one of Zappa’s movies-for-your-ears and it’s extra crazy. Before this live rendering, he even warns the audience about ‘obstruse’ music.
You could say that Frank is telling the world to go shove it up their snoot – he’s gonna play what he goddamn wants to play. I don’t sense any of that anger or obstinance. In fact, he has such love and admiration for his audience that he believes in them and has faith that whatever insanity might be displayed at a given ‘rock’ concert, they will get it because they know what good music is. So, yes, he’s challenging himself to render a complicated piece of studio work as a live performance with a 20-piece band, but he’s also offering something (however difficult it may be for his band) that his audience will not get to experience anywhere else.
Is it great music? I don’t know. I’ve heard this live recording a few times, and listened to the studio version a few more times. It’s tough. It’s all over the place. It’s long. It’s chaotic.
But Frank invites you in and offers you something special and unique, something on which he’s worked incredibly hard. That attitude toward connecting art and audience is the purpose of creativity. Take his hand. Take the ride.
Colbert vs. Glenn Beck
This is something else to make you smile (or fall down laughing) after your visit to cancer land.
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| The 10/31 Project | ||||
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Cancer Bad. Music Good!
After that post below, I need something to cheer me up. Last night’s Tilbrook show was genius and I wish you had all been there. Read my extensive comments below. however bad cancer is, music will save us all. Good, loud, rock music. I’m going to post a tasty Squeeze show on Blogerantz to celebrate the concert last night.
This is intense – be warned
Having just watched The Amazing Emily go through much of the same nastiness described in the cover article of the current Philadelphia Weekly, I was extremely disturbed by this story of a cancer recurrence. It’s also upsetting because I share a home with two cats.
Read the story and get a glimpse of some evil shit.
But the truth is you don’t get to decide. Death isn’t like that. Most of us die lying in our own shit and crying for our mommies.