SOUNDTRACK: SACKVILLE-The Principles of Science [CST007] (1999).
For Sackville’s only release for Constellation Records, they created a short disc of great folk with a hint of art rock
“Gold Dust” is a catchy uptempo folk song with some nice violin melodies as accents. It’s a catchy number with Levine’s vocals sounding once again kind of like the guy from Social Distortion singing a mellow folk song. The chorus has nice backing vocals added. “Water” is a mellow song with, again, a beautiful guitar and violin melody. The vocals have a great distinctive melody over the top.
“Blue Lips” has a kind of saloon sounding quality in its piano and a super catchy violin riff that runs through the song (and informs the vocal line). I really like the lyrics on this one: “If memory serves me well…I may forget your name but not your face…unusual face.” This song is only 3 minutes and it is over way too quickly. “Four Alarm Fire” is a slow, evolving song coming in at nearly 7 minutes. It opens with some quietly played guitar and a bass line that seems to be quiet but soon plays and interesting line that propels the song (albeit slowly).
The title song picks up the pace with a pretty guitar and piano melody. The catchiness of the chorus “this light will disappear like breath on a mirror” is a great ending to this quiet disc.
Their final album of odds and ends, Natural Life, is available to stream on bandcamp.
[READ: June 20, 2016] A Year Without Mom
This book is a graphic novel (mostly) about a year without mom. This is actually a memoir from Tolstikova about the year in her life when her mother left Moscow to study in America. Dasha was 12 years old in 1983 and her mom was an advertiser in Russia. But she didn’t like the kind of advertising she did. She had applied to a Masters program in America and was accepted. And soon enough she packed up and shipped out.
Dasha was to stay in Moscow with her grandparents.
In August she and her grandparents went to the country for a writers retreat. Other kids would be there, too. Her grandparents encouraged her to play with them but Petya, the leader is an anchor on a children’s TV show and his mother is a famous actress herself–it’s an intimidating scene. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 