The Mandrake Memorial - s/t (a quick review by ~C.A.~)

A wonderfully odd mixture of pop and baroque sounds with just a slight dash of rock. Many of the songs feature a pseudo-harpsichord sound. Me, well, though my favorite song on here is the well-paced "Dark Lady," I think that, overall, the softer sounds on this album are the ones that work the best. The vocalist's voice seems especially well-suited to soft sounds. Some of the musical themes seem to reappear throughout the album, as though the whole album were a Beethoven-esque symphony. All said and done, though, this is a nice album. Some soft moments, some odd moments, some songs that run right into each other, and a proper psychedelic ending with voices and a sound effect. Good stuff.

I know....it sounds clichéd.....

There is nothing....no entity, no concept, no dessert, nothing....that can evoke quite the same feelings, the same psychological "high," as being at a Dead concert in person.

Maybe it helps that I was basically raised in such a way that I "frequented" these things at an early age, so I'm more accustomed to the atmosphere of peace, love, smoke and alcohol than other people may be.....but you get used to that, you know most of the songs, you have a
far
out
time. Sometimes they play a song I don't know so well....still sounds cool, though. I still don't know which song it was, but I have my eye on a website that has all the set lists so far on this Spring '09 tour, so I'll find out soon. Whatever it was, it was a great-sounding bit of fun, quick-paced rock and roll.

They picked out, among others, two of my favorite studio songs: "Weather Report Suite" and "Unbroken Chain", the latter of which our previously uninitiated companion agreed was "beautiful." I swear, I was on the verge of crying my eyes out, overcome by the sheer beauty and surreality of the experience, while hearing these songs, as well as the encore, "Brokedown Palace". Again, maybe I'm biased, having been raised on this music, but it truly is a wonderful experience, sharing and soaking up the groovy vibrations with thousands of kindred spirits.

It must be experienced in person. Watching a DVD recording or just listening to a bootleg on a computer or tape deck is NOT the same. Unless you can somehow get thousands to gather around a giant amplifier through which a concert recording is played and behave the same way as they do when the Dead are actually there. I don't think that's happened yet, though, so even that is somewhat doubtful.

A few selections they played that I can remember (neither the complete set list nor in order):

Dancing in the Street
Tennessee Jed
Mister Charlie
They Love Each Other
Truckin
Throwing Stones
Touch of Grey
Drums > Space > Come Together
Hell in a Bucket
I Know You Rider

And I finally figured out what the other song was through a bit of Googling: The Golden Road (to Unlimited Devotion)

(I know.....I'm not the biggest Deadhead ever. Still not totally evil, though.)

Peace and grooviness.

Feeling Better When I'm Feeling No Pain

Okay, so there is still some decent ice cream in town. What I think it is is a series of stores masquerading as independent entities but still obviously (by looking at the flavors) one company. Nevertheless, that "Birthday Cake" flavor really hit the spot for me yesterday afternoon. And the chocolate with brownie bits in it, whatever that one was called, was pretty good too. Not exactly my beloved Chocolate Fudge, but I doubt there will ever again be anything quite like that one.........

.......Anyway, I saw Gordon Lightfoot in concert last night. He had four guys accompany him on lead guitar, bass, percussion and keyboard. He seemed to be fairly comfortable, tossing in just a little bit of casual talk with the audience between songs. And, of course, the songs themselves were nice and varied, a mixture of old and new, soft and relatively upbeat, and a couple "back-to-nature" songs. On the whole, a fine show, with some quite beautiful sounds on some of the songs, and a few songs I hadn't heard in a looooooong time.......you know that feeling you get when you hear a song you haven't heard in years? Such a great feeling, isn't it?

Yeah, I gotta listen to those records that are on my shelf........

Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason (a quick review by ~C.A.~)

This seems to me to generally not be all that appreciated. I think perhaps it's another victim of people's tendencies to compare albums to other albums that bear the same artist name. I happen to think this album is a fine piece of spaced-out rock. I suppose the mid-to-late-Eighties production on this thing can be a bit of a turn-off at times; nevertheless, I think this album does carry a certain, spooky, far-out vibe about it that is especially amplified on days when the weather leaves something to be desired. Try it....some dark afternoon....

Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A. (A quick sort of personal account by ~C.A.~)

I guess I was in high school when I first heard this album in its entirety. Man, I was ravaged by hormones then; I was on some kind of bizarre high all the time.......and, wow, did "Born in the U.S.A." intensify that high. I have no idea how to explain it.......most of the lyrics on the album are actually rather a downer......but there was just something about the music that gripped me.....made me feel like some kind of stud or something. All I knew was: Springsteen rules.

These days, I've kind of drifted away from that album; I look more to "Born to Run" to get my Springsteen fix now. But every once in a while, I might feel a strange pulse in me.....and reach for the Bs on my CD shelf (Yes, I organize my CDs by first name; I prefer it that way)......and turn it up.........


I played it this morning.

Pussy - Pussy Plays (a quick review by ~C.A.~)

This is, in a nutshell, half of a classic psych/rock album. Four of the eight songs shine, and the other four (three of these are instrumentals) are just kind of there. So, strong start with good, organ-driven psych/rock: "Come Back June" is a good, mainstream-ish rock number that could have been a hit...maybe; "All of My Life" is another good one, with a softly spoken refrain; and "We Built the Sun" is a slower song with a wonderfully eerie bit of organ, piano and gentle electric guitar. At this point, two unengaging instrumentals appear; I would have liked a bit more along the lines of the spoken bit at the end of "Comets"...oh, well.... Then, perhaps the coolest song on the album, "The Open Ground".......a mostly spoken depiction of the world after the utter obliteration of life thereupon, over a wah-wah guitar....great song. The two remaining pieces after this don't really do it for me, though I can sort of understand the ability to dig "Everybody's Song."

Many thanks to Lost~in~Tyme for introducing me to this album. I wish you the best in permanently establishing and maintaining your online library of obscure and wonderful records.

Alan Parsons Project - Eye in the Sky (a quick review by ~C.A.~)

It seems to me that the Alan Parsons Project gets kind of a bad rap. I don't know why; they have some mighty fine music in their catalog. Perhaps my own musical sensibilities are just more pop-oriented than those of most of you that I see on the forums and blogs, and so the sort of borderline pop/prog that the APP plays just appeals to me more than others. This music is different; it's accessible without being too poppy; it features orchestration without being, well, boring; it's original and progressive without being too self-indulgent; and, while I say it isn't too poppy, it nonetheless features nice hooks that I, for one, can easily dig. And the sounds they make are just........cool.
On this album, of course, you got the Chicago Bulls opening music in "Sirius," followed by the pleasant radio hit and title track. "Children of the Moon" has that wee bit of synthesizer that gives it ...um...a different feel, a bit of a trip in time, nothing bad at all, in my opinion. Interesting choral bits and chord changes in that one. "Gemini" is nice and dreamy, just like me.... *ahem* The relatively extended (7:20) "Silence and I" is a couple of hushed ends bookending a classical/orchestral bridge, which is cool and makes itself known. "You're Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned" is a good, strong bit of pop/rock; some might think that the APP couldn't pull off a "straight" pop/rock sound, but I think it works here.
I think "Psychobabble" might be somewhat well-known among some; I remember it was once incorporated into my old high school's marching band's repertoire. Good, kind of weird vibe to that song. Nice. The instrumental bit that follows, "Mammagamma," I can probably do without; it's rather ground in the pseudo-disco sounds of that era (1982), not to mention unexciting. "Step by Step" is another more poppy song; I played this one a couple times before saying "Yeah, it's okay." And the capper, "Old and Wise"...well, the title sums it up, I think, as the album ends on a quiet note.
Look for this on the fora sometime soon. There are some bonus tracks as well, if anyone's into that sort of thing.

Boz Scaggs - Silk Degrees (a quck review by ~C.A.~)

I was talking with one of my regular bus drivers, and, one way or another, the conversation turned to this album. I had heard it in passing once before, but my memory of it was dim, so I checked it out a second time earlier this week. While wholly ground in the decade in which it was released (the Seventies), it's not unpleasant, I don't think. All in all, though, I feel that the two hits from the album, Lido Shuffle and Lowdown pretty much sum it up. Actually, I hadn't heard Lowdown in quite some time; I think the first time I heard it, I thought "Meh...okay" and waltzed right on. I played it a couple of times after playing the full album....I came to realize, it's a pretty cool song. Doesn't that happen frequently with certain pieces of music........

Great show!

Great show, and a great guy as well.....someone I can, and indeed did, actually talk to.

And damn if it doesn't feel good to buy a couple of CDs and physically put the payment right in the artist's hand.

One of my favorites from him is called Psychedelic Relic. I wanted to share it with my psychedelic friends and cyber-acquaintances.....Roy doesn't seem that keen on the idea, but he's not opposed to me doing a "cover" of the song for you folks.

Not a bad idea......(I hope)...if I can find the time to learn how to play it, and then record it.

God bless America......It just might work..........