Category: Looking back at
Lost gems: Neil Young’s Mirrorball
“There’s a place called Downtown / Where the hippies all go / And they dance the charleston / And they do the limbo / Yeah the hippies all go there / ‘Cause they want to be seen”
Stream – ‘Throw your hatred down’
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In defence of: Doctor Who and the Savages
Editors’ preamble (ramble): During the 1970s, the BBC, under the order of Pamela Nash, followed a policy of wiping and decommission of a lot of their archives (due to various reasons). Amongst the several tapes to meet a nasty end there were several episodes of Dr. Who. There are surviving photographs as John Cura, a reknown photographer, took telesnaps so artists could use them in their portfolio. These photographs are the few visual companions that exist to many a classic show and the BBC kindly hosts them on their website. No copyright infringement is intended. Why not check the BBC’s Classic Doctor Who website after you read this post? Here’s the link.
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Looking back at … The Joy Circuit
The Joy Circuit
There are times when your sanity is put to test because you say you like bands that no one else knows. Are you crazy? Are you making that band up because you feel alone in this world? If you knew who The Joy Circuit was, I can assure you this: you’re not alone or crazy, that band did exist.
It’s like witnessing the presence of a ghost whenever you go searching for this band in the Internet, there’s almost nothing said about them. Maybe it’s because Mr. Jeff Garber (TJC’s vocalist & guitarist, also from Castor, National Skyline and Year of the Rabbit. That’s a CV.) is not that into Internet stuff.
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Notes from Overground
Book Review: American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
(For those that haven’t seen the film of the book or the book of the book)
“I just hate that whole self-involved thing that modern male American writers do” said my friend, a well-read literature student, as we were discussing Bret Easton Ellis over beer one day. There was a mixture in our group of those that had read Ellis’ work and liked it, those that had read it and hated it and those that hadn’t heard of him.
But trying to argue that Ellis is the natural evolutionary outcome of the Jack Kerouac’s and Dr Gonzo’s of this world seemed sort of void to me. It’s not that Ellis himself comes across as narcissistic; rather he has an uncanny ability to penetrate the thoughts and feelings of those that are. Either that, or we may want to start getting quite worried about Mr Ellis.
‘American Psycho’ tells the story of Patrick Bateman, a young investment banker who works on Wall Street during the late 1980’s and early 90’s. A yuppie living in a narcissistic consumerist void. Shallow, charming, attractive, sauve, egotistical, hedonistic, privileged. Oh yes and also possibly a delusional maniac who tortures animals and people to death for kicks.
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Looking back at … The Sundays
The Sundays – Blind
There are seasons and times in our lives we call our very own favorites. Mine are the 90s. Even though I cannot remember much (I was a dispersed child, now I am a dispersed grown-up) I do remember odd hairstyles, my sister wearing strange black boots as she danced to “Industrial” music (and other odd sounding to my ears rhythms), and grunge.
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Looking back at … Gregory and the Hawk
Gregory and the Hawk.
Just floating in the air (a sensation I get when I really dig music), then a sweet voice calls my attention. It was coming from that online radio program I listen to every Sunday, Antifama. The words, the title, ‘The Bolder Thing to Do’; a very little known gifted voice and songwriter (at this part of the world, i.e., Mexico), go girl!
That is how you get the utmost of an acoustic guitar! Some tears leave my eyes as the song goes on, and I write in the radio station’s web page the next day, stating that this song made me cry. It really did, sometimes the past haunts even the most virtuous notes coming from someone else’s heart.
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Looking back at … Billy Joel
“Some things were perfectly clear / seen with the vision of youth / no doubts and nothing to fear, I claimed the corner on truth / These days it’s harder to say I know what I’m fighting for / My faith is falling away / I’m not sure any more” —Billy Joel, ‘Shades of Grey’.
“Every one of Joel’s important songs, including the happy ones, are ultimately about loneliness. And it’s not ‘clever lonely’ (like Morrissey) or ‘interesting lonely’ (like Radiohead); it’s ‘lonely lonely’, like the way it feels when you’re being hugged by someone and it somehow makes you sadder.” —Chuck Klosterman.
There are artists which puzzle me in respect of why they get so much hate. Brand New, Weezer, Smashing Pumpkins, Mars Volta, Porter and Billy Joel.
Yes, I’ve just paired Billy Joel with those once loved, now derided musicians. What’s with the hate?
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Tribute: Sparklehorse
The world loses another troubled genius: multi-instrumentalist Mark Linkous A.K.A. Sparklehorse took his own life on March 6. Linkous has collaborated with artists such as The Flaming Lips, PJ Harvey and Tom Waits as well as producing Daniel Johnston’s record Fear Yourself in 2003. He’s been recording lo-fi, laidback, melody driven sweet indie rock since 1995. Here is Sloucher’s little retrospective and tribute to Mark: … Continue reading Tribute: Sparklehorse
Looking back at … Smashing Pumpkins – Machina
MACHINA/The machines of God “tired of fighting the good fight against the Britneys of the world” — Billy Corgan joking about why SP broke in 2000. The year was 2000, the world didn’t end, shattering the dreams of many a nerdy prophet of doom and the date was 29 of February. Amongst the hellish landscape that was the ubiquitousness of boybands and dressep up tarts, … Continue reading Looking back at … Smashing Pumpkins – Machina
