I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: FISHBONE-In Your Face (1986).

Fishbone’s first full length starts out with two great songs.  “When Problems Arise” has the great stop/start techniques that Fishbone uses so well, as well as a great riff and some fantastic funky bass playing.  The second track “A Selection” has  a great ska feel, and could easily be The Specials or Selecter; however, Fishbone throw in a bit of humor (“No toothpaste?”) to make the song their own.

The rest of the album is good, but it stands in the shadows of its follow up.  (And, actually a bit in the shadow of the preceding EP).   The album admirably mixes up styles throughout.  It includes some of Fishbone’s lightest, most soul/gospel songs like “Movement in the Light,” but it also has some rocking tracks, especially the ending pair: “‘Simon Says’ The Kingpin” and “Post Cold War Politics” (the two songs together are less than two and a half minutes).

My copy still has the Used: $5.99 sticker on it, and I know I got it much later in my Fishbone appreciation.  But really the only problem with the disc is that Truth and Soul and The Reality of My Surroundings are just so good, this one can’t compare.  It’s a good stepping stone though.

[READ: December 26, 2008] “Lostronaut”

The title tells you pretty much all you need to know about this story.  “Lostronaut” is set up as a series of letters from Janice (an astronaut) to her boyfriend, Chase.  Janice is an astronaut at a space station called Northern Lights.  Things are going pretty badly for all on board, and each letter tells of the deterioration of both ship and spirit.

Things can’t possibly end well (for one thing, the ship is surrounded by Chinese space mines that will explode on impact–a dastardly plot to destroy the joint US/Russian space ship).  And despite knowing that things can’t end well, and that Chase never responds to the letters (and we’re left to imagine why not), the story was surprisingly well-paced and tension- filled.  There was also a lot of character development, especially as J would tell a detailed story and then berate herself for being too detailed.  Also, her physical deterioration is quite moving.

My previous exposure to Lethem was the odd little book This Shape We’re In.  While this story also takes place in an unusual setting (and I assume that he did the requisite research to know the correct terms and such for a space station) this story was far more “normal” that the novel.  Nevertheless, I enjoyed the story very much, and while I don’t think I’d have wanted it to have been longer, it would have been interesting to learn more about what was happening on the station (perhaps some more letters from earlier in the mission).

It’s available here.