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Archive for the ‘Daniel Abraham’ Category

Daniel Abraham–“Balfour and Meriwether in The Adventure of the Emperor’s Vengeance” (2009) [from Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded] (2010)

Posted in 19th Century, Adventure, Daniel Abraham, Egyptology, End of the World, Fantasy, Fears, Moon Hooch, Moonhooch, Short Story, Steampunk, Supernatural, Violence on June 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »

steamiiSOUNDTRACK: MOON HOOCH-“Bari 3” (2014).

bari3Man, I love Moon Hooch–that loud crazy baritone sax and the other skronky sax.  But there’s also the great drumming.  And, in this song, there’s so many stops and starts, it’s amazing they can do so much with just 2 different types of instrument.

Just how many different things can one band do with two saxophones and a drummer?  Well, in the case of Moon Hooch, the answer seems to be limitless.  This song jumps and twists–it has a heavy loud section and a smooth groovy section, it even has a loud thunderous section.  Between Colin Stetson and Moon Hooch, the saxophone is definitely cool again.

And why not watch Moon Hooch play this song at a scenic rest stop on a Pennsylvania highway:

[READ: June 10, 2014] “Balfour and Meriwether in The Adventure of the Emperor’s Vengeance”

After having read the other two Balfour and Meriwether stories, it seemed only natural to track down the first of the stories.  And it happened to be collected in this Steampunk anthology.  I didn’t read anything else in the anthology even though I like steampunk, mostly because I didn’t have time.

This story opens, as the others do with Balfour and Meriwether sitting at home by the fire.  Then Lord Carmichael bursts in with news.  This means Balfour and Meriwhether know it is time to save Queen and country.

In this case, the crisis involves Napoleon and some old plundered Egyptian goods.  This proves to be a similar premise as Tales from the Clockwork Empire and I have no idea if Napoleon’s plundering of Egyptian artifacts led to any clockwork machinery for real or not–I may have to look that up.  But this story ups the ante by having a Jewish conspiracy as well.

The British museum has several Egyptian artifacts (taken from Napoleon’s army), but it is believed that Napoleon’s men included false items with the loot in order to discredit anyone who thinks that all of the items are real.  One such falsity was believed to be a sarcophagus.  Lord Abington (the anti-Semite) wants that sarcophagus opened while no one else around.  But when he opened it the others in the next room heard a scream, a thud and then silence.  Meriwther and Balfour speculate about what was in there–perhaps it was plague and the whole museum may need to be razed.  This freaks out Lord Carmichael, naturally. (more…)

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Daniel Abraham–Balfour and Meriwether in The Vampire of Kabul (2011)

Posted in 19th Century, Adventure, Constellation Records, Daniel Abraham, Demons, Fantasy, Fears, Short Story, Steampunk, Supernatural, Violence on May 21, 2014| Leave a Comment »

bm-cover-sm-225x300SOUNDTRACK: ERIC CHENAUX-Dull Lights [CST043] (2006).

dullI’ve talked about other Eric Chenaux discs before, and this one is similar to those–very mellow with Chenaux’s gentle voice running through some melodies.  The instruments include electric guitar, 12 string banjo, lap steel guitar, harmonica, electric banjo, portable sample keyboard and drums.

It’s never always clear to me what he’s signing about because his words are stretched out quite long and I’m often very distracted by the music that is accompanying the songs.

The first song “Skullsplitter” is in no way what you might be expecting from a song with that title.  There are cymbals, but no real drums, there’s a scratchy sound like a violin (although none are listed in the credits so perhaps it is samples) and what sounds like randomly plucked notes on a muted banjo.   The martial drums on track 2, “Worm and Gear” really help to coalesce the elements of this song  so you can really appreciate what Chenaux is doing here.  “I Can See It Now” has a woozy almost drunken feeling.  Chenaux has such a pretty voice that you want to lean in but the music seems so unusual.

Later in the disc, “Memories Are No Treasure” is catchy with a nice vocal melody, showing that Chenaux can write a more conventional song.  “White Dwarf White Sea” has a banjo line that has always reminded me of lines from “God Bless America”–in the middle of the riff, the banjo seems to play “from the mountains to the prairie.”   “Ronnie-May” has a very catchy county melody.  A pretty wild (genuinely wild) guitar solo, breathes crazy life into the record.  “However Wildly We Dream” concludes the record with that same kind of drunken feel (the drums are just insane).

I definitely didn’t enjoy this one as much as his other discs

[READ: April 7, 2014] Balfour and Meriwether in The Vampire of Kabul

This is a short story that I discovered because I enjoyed the (written later but not impacting this story in any way) novella that came out this year.

Abraham has written three stories about these two turn of the 20th century “detectives.”  They are like a supernatural Holmes & Watson (with a tad more violence).  In this story, which, again, is completely independent of the others, Meriwether & Balfour are sitting at home on a December night in 188- bored out of their minds.

Just as Meriwether says he wishes that something would break their malaise a ninja comes crashing through their giant window.  In a trice she has a gun at Balfour’s head. Meriwether is helpless to assist.  But they both recognize who it is almost immediately–Maria Feodorovan, the czarina of Russia and sworn enemy of Meriwether & Balfour.  As the dust clears, we learn what Maria is here for–she is daring to ask for help from our duo.

It appears that the Czar has gone mad.  But not from natural causes–someone or something attacked him.  There was “an ectoplasmic darkness” in the corners of the room and while he has recovered somewhat, it seems that his mind is no longer his own.  And, she explains based on overheard knowledge that the Queen of England is next.  As she says this, the police rush in to say that The Queen has been attacked. (more…)

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Daniel Abraham–Balfour and Meriwether in The Incident of the Harrowmoor Dogs (2014)

Posted in Built to Spill, Daniel Abraham, Demons, Fantasy, Fears, Neil Young, Shellac, Short Books, Slint, Steampunk, Steve Albini on April 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »

balfourSOUNDTRACK: SLINT-Spiderland (Remastered) (1991/2014).

slint2Slint is an overlooked band except by those who think they are really super important.  Slint played what would eventually be called post-rock before people called it that–they had spoken vocals and dark guitar, loud and quiet riffs and intense building sections (and on this album no songs under 5 minutes).  Some riffs were super catchy, indeed, many of the songs on Spiderland have super catchy sections, and yet there is something that resists you casually getting into them (probably those spoken lyrics).

I’ll even say that I tend to forget about them.  They get lumped in with other Steve Albini produced bands (Albini produced their first album, but not Spiderland, and since Albini’s band was Shellac, they are even close in the alphabet), but they don’t really sound like Albini’s output.  They’re much warmer and, dare I say ,emotional–the screamed vocals are incredibly passionate.  Plus, they only released one album before they broke up (this one was after the breakup), so their legacy is bigger than their output.

So I’m thrilled about this reissue if only so that it will give them a wider audience. And you can hear the entire two hour spectacle before it come out at NPR.

At the same time I didn’t notice a huge difference in the production.  It sounded great, but then I haven’t listened to it in a while so it’s hard to compare.  The deluxe package is a behemoth: the box comes with the album, outtakes and demos on 180 gram vinyl and on CD. It also includes a 104-page book with never-before-seen photos, lyrics, and a foreword by Will Oldham and Breadcrumb Trail, a 90-minute documentary about the making of Spiderland with interviews with the band, James Murphy, Steve Albini, David Yow, Ian MacKaye, Matt Sweeney and others.  Since it retails at about $150, I won’t be buying that.

slintI did listen to the whole thing and again was reminded of how great the album is.  The bonus material is, well, a little disappointing.  You get three more early versions of “Nosferatu Man,” one of which is an instrumental.  Two demo versions of “Washer” and “Good Morning, Captain” (one is an instrumental kind of goof).  There’s three versions of a song called “Pam” which didn’t make Spiderland, so that’s interesting.  Then there’s another outtake called “Glenn” and two post Spiderland songs called “Todd’s Song” and “Brian’s Song.”  They’re all good, but are in various stages of construction.

Perhaps the most interesting bonus track is the live (from Chicago 1989) version of Neil Young’s “Cortez The Killer.”  But I have to admit that vocally, they just can’t handle it.  The music sounds good, but the singer just never seems to be in tune, but nor is he talking it either.  It was a little disappointing (especially compared to Built to Spill’s live cover).

So if you are a die hard fan of this unheralded band, this is a worthy addition (especially for the book and movie).  Otherwise, enjoy the original, it’s a great album.

[READ: April 7, 2014] Balfour and Meriwether in The Incident of the Harrowmoor Dogs

I was immediately attracted to the cover of this novella–two men in bowler hats and button down shirts wielding weapons in front of a spooky background.  What’s not to like?  Especially when the book is tiny (80 pages).  I grabbed it and brought it home to read.

That’s when I learned that Balfour and Meriwether appear in other books and that this was “the first novella-length work” about the pair.  Did that mean that there was a lengthy series and this is the first short piece about them?  Indeed, no.  There are two other stories about them which are both shorter (these first two stories have been collected in one book).  And according to Abraham, he has no plans to write more, but that doesn’t mean he won’t.

So this is a fun and surreal adventure story set in England in the 1880s.  It is taken from Meriwether’s Diary (written in 1920).  Meriwether acknowledges that God the Creator has made many beautiful things but He has also made some abominations that walk the Earth.

And that leads us into this story of subterranean creatures and British political dealings with them. (more…)

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