Probably You Need This & Luckily It’s Free!
“Covering 5 decades of haunting soundtrack music with over 100 songs! 10 years in the making, this 5 disc set includes never before released music and classic themes ranging from Ennio Morricone to Johan Soderqvist.”
Written In Blood was designed and compiled by good friend, musician and soundtrack fanatic, Nate Ashley. Nate’s been working on completing this 5-disc magnum-opus anthology of rare and essential horror movie music for many, many years. Its drawn from vinyl, cd, cassette, VHS, DVD- and in recent years- rare mp3 soundtrack sources. His knowledge of the genre and commitment to perfection has yielded what I consider to be an instant-classic bootleg compilation, featuring eerie custom illustrations and designs all lovingly rendered by Mr. Ashley himself.
Written In Blood is a truly amazing effort & I am proud to announce that Ghostcapital will debuting all 5 volumes of this collection over the course of October.”
Toward the Sunlight: Lady Folk and Psych-Rock from the 60s and 70s
If you are feeling fall, check out this mix I made of psych-folk/rock music from the 60s and 70s. Features mostly women vocalists. For fans of Vashti Bunyan, Linda Perhacs, Nico, and Josephine Foster.
Morita Doji
Toward the Sunlight: Lady Folk and Psych-Rock from the 60s and 70s
1.”Towards the Sunlight” — Kim Jung Mi (6:53)
2. “Perfilados De Miedo” — Teresa Cano (4:03)
3.”Nothing lasts” — Karen Beth (5:27)
4. “Frijdom” — Irolt (3:16)
5. “Goodbye” — Cheryl Dilcher (3:58)
6. “Minstrel Boy — Wendy Erdman (3:12)
7. “Topanga” — Kathy Smith (3:32)
8. “Break Out The Wine” — Jan & Lorraine (3:06)
9. “in the corner of my life” — Bojoura (2:44)
10. “Sweet Mama” — Cheryl Dilcher (2:34)
11. “Song Celestial” — Windflower (4:47)
12. “Rainy Day” — Susan Christie (3:10)
13. “A shower” (驟雨) — Morita Doji (森田童子) (3:05)
14. “Number 33” — Jan & Lorraine (1:41)
15. “Last Ditch protocol” — Elyse (2:58)
16. “The joys of life” — Karen Beth (4:38)
17. “Dedication: Fred Neil (River Trilogy) Noah’s Dove/A Man Is/Water Is Wide” — All That The Name Implies (7:09)
We used to wait, but now we wait no more
Years ago, scores of indie nerds gathered in slobbery droolfests for the Arcade Fire’s Funeral. I know, I was one of them. The songs are anthems, more remniscent of the days of David Bowie and Queen than anything contemporary. Whereas they’re hardly cutting edge, it’s easy to find yourself singing along, enjoying, pumping your fists high up in solidarity.
A few weeks ago, my friend Susan Cahill (who will probably never read this, but if she Googles herself, she’ll find herself mentioned here, which is always a happy surprise) showed me the new music video for the Arcade Fire’s “We Used to Wait,” which she argued would revolutionize the way music videos are experienced. The video is personalized. Each person is invited to type in their childhood home address, and using the technology of Google Earth/Maps, you are bombarded with standard images of a person running with panoramic, 360 shots of your childhood home today, as it has morphed with the changing times. The images are seen simultaneously, each screen vying for your attention. It’s interactive. I mean: yes, it’s a pretty cool video.
What the hell is the world coming to?
I went to a gala of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s tonight, where they performed an exceptional program. I never saw a room of Beethoven-lovers so enchanted by fucked up avant-garde prepared shit. The whole program was amazing. A soprano, mic-less, hummed an aria, wtf. Some world-renown violinist played what I took to be a broken violin. And the first piece struck me as a cooler Philip Glass thing. It was the “Danza Final” by Alberto Ginastera. Never heard of him. I looked it up on Youtube and found it, but this one is done by those things, the squeeze box. Get a load:
Schumann’s Träumerei
Robert Schumann said: People compose for many reasons: to become immortal; because the pianoforte happens to be open; because they want to become a millionaire; because of the praise of friends; because they have looked into a pair of beautiful eyes; for no reason whatsoever.
Vladimir Horowitz said: I am a general. My soldiers are the keys and I have to command them.
The Best Music Books?
Last month I initiated a discussion about film books. Now I’m wondering about music books. Following the template of the question from last time:
Which are the most inspirational five books about music ever written?
Here are my four — sadly, the scope of music books I’ve read and really enjoyed is so limited I haven’t got five that I can think of — so I’m super thrilled to get recommendations from you:
Michael Nyman – Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond
Alex Ross – The Rest is Noise
Paul D. Miller, ed. – Sound Unbound
Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugerman – No One Here Gets Out Alive
All Good Things in All Good Time
August 9, 2010 is the fifteenth anniversary of the death of Jerry Garcia. My favorite biography of the Grateful Dead is Sweet Chaos: The Grateful Dead’s American Adventure by Carol Brightman. There’s also the Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics. There’s also Rolling Stone magazine’s Garcia book, and Dark Star: An Oral Biography of Jerry Garcia which seems to have just been republished by something called Plexus Press. For those of you who would rather mark the occasion with listening than with reading, I heartily recommend any (read=all) of the following:
Don’t Let Go – a great double live comp from ’76; highlights include “I’ll Take a Melody,” “Sitting in Limbo,” and the gospel triple-shot that rounds out the second disc: “My Sisters and Brothers,” “Lonesome and a Long Way from Home,” “Mighty High”.
The Grateful Dead – Road Trips Vol. 3 No. 3 (May 1970) – I wrote about my love for this most recent GD Productions release here last month.
Jerry Garcia and John Kahn live at Marin Veterans Auditorium 2/28/86 – What can I say? Single disc acoustic gem.
Workingman’s Dead, which btw turns 40 this year
Garcia Plays Dylan – a wonderful two-disc study of JG’s incomparable Dylan covers. “Visions of Johanna” alone is worth the price of admission, but don’t miss “Tough Mama” and, you know, all the rest of it.
And hey, as long as we’re getting into this–people who have read my short story “The New Life” might remember that at one point Brad buys his friend Kenny a Grateful Dead live release for his birthday. The release is 2/11/69 live at the Fillmore East, and I am happy to report that you can download the two-disc set directly from the Dead website for a measly $12.99 (or more depending on your chosen quality/format).