SOUNDTRACK: MASTODON-Crack the Skye (2009).
I’ve really enjoyed Mastodon’s previous records, and this one ranks way up there in intensity and songsmanship. There are 7 songs on the disc, with two over ten minutes long. “Oblivion” opens with a great minor key chord plucked with single notes and a dropped E. And when the vocals come in, they highlight the different vocals styles in the band–from a more screamy, almost punk voice to the more melodic/echoey voice of the chorus (kinda like Alice in Chains). At about 4 minutes the solos play off each other wonderfully, both blistering and then melodic (with almost a Pink Floyd feel at one point). “Divination” has some amazing guitar play both in the intro and the way the bridge soars with great guitar lines underneath the vocals. “Quintessence” opens with furious drums and a great prog rock kind of guitar opener. I love the way the bridge is a gentle (albeit fast) almost trippy section before the chorus bursts in with heavy, heavy chords and chants of “let it go let it go let it go” It’s the kind of song where the parts work so perfectly together but which wouldn’t seem to.
“The Czar” is a four-part, ten-minute epic. It opens with a creepy keyboard melody. The first section is slow and heavy, and when part two comes in the guitars are loud and fast. Part three has a great riff. And the end has some gorgeous solos. It amazes me that ten minutes can pass so quickly. It’s followed by the very heavy (lots of double bass drums) “Ghost of Karelia” the pretty much heaviest song on the record (with a nod to Voivod in the descending guitar solo about three minutes in). “Crack the Skye” opens dark, but throws in some contradictory keyboard notes that lead to another cool extended guitar riff before jumping into a super heavy death metal verse. This gives way to some more soaring vocals–the juxtaposition of these two vocalists is amazing. Imagine the surprise then when the last third of the record has the vocals sounding completely robotic and phased–followed by a mess of guitar solos and concluding with some pretty guitars.
They fade into the final epic, the 13-minute “The Last Baron,” which is one of my favorite metal songs. It opens with some great guitars and some really cool singing. The vocals soar, the bass plays a great melody. There’s a great heavy instrumental section but it keeps returning to the wonderful rising vocal melody line that will get stuck in your head for days. It’s an amazing end to a great album.
The disc also comes with a DVD that’s all about the recording of the album. I watched a few minutes and it seemed kind of fun, so I hope to watch it more soon.
[READ: June 17, 2012] The Architect
In the past, Connell’s books have explored all manner of depravity. His books were violent, often sexual and dealt with an otherworldliness that may or may not be internalized. Despite all of this transgressive material, his work was never schlocky, especially his later pieces which show an amazing growth in topics, word choices and imagination.
Connell’s previous books The Life of Polycrates and Metrophilias featured short stories that dealt with all manner of topics. In Metrophilias, the stories were very short, and it allowed Connell to really explore an idea to its fullest without having to make a “book” about of each one. The short length also allowed him to make the words choices and descriptions more effective.
All of the benefits are reaped in this book, a novella.
Although I enjoyed Connell’s previous longer works, I really loved the way this story started with one idea and stayed with it. Some of his other books are a bit more episodic, which worked for those stories, but in this one, we’re in one place and we are pretty much going to stay there. And that focus makes this story all the more powerful.
The one thing that hasn’t changed is Connell’s scholarship (both real and fake). For this book is a celebration of Dr Peter Körn (1849-1924), visionary and spiritual scientist. As the story opens, four members of the Körn Society are discussing plans for the new Meeting Place, a central location where all members of the Körn society can gather. They are disgusted by the pedestrian, commercial and rather offensive submissions that they have received for their building—a building that should reflect the spiritual visions of Körn.
Dismayed at the architects who have submitted, one of the members of the Society, Maria Venezuela tells the other three that her nephew Peter De la Tour will soon be arriving with something special. Peter brings them a book of architecture designs by Herr Nachtmann. These designs are bizarre and wonderful–organic, amoebic, gravity-defying gorgeous monstrosities–exactly the kind of thing the Society is looking for. Although one member feels that they are impossible to build, the others are firmly on board.
The challenge then is to find the man. There is some history about the man himself–his genius in and out of school followed by his utter inability to have his work taken seriously by the establishment. He even had one of his more ingenious ideas stolen by the very teacher who said it was terrible. And so, when Peter finds him, he is little more than a drunk at the end of the bar.
Yet his ego has never been diminished, and when he is presented to the Society he dismisses their concerns and even tells them that he will not wait for their decision–they have 30 minutes to say yes or he walks. They agree and he begins working on his masterpiece.
The Society loves the sketch–they know it will be expensive, but Nachtmann promises fast work, effective designs and world-wide acclaim. Amazingly, he delivers. He works his men hard. All through the spring and summer and into the fall, the men work carelessness and the building rises at a phenomenal rate. Even if it seems to be growing larger than designed. (more…)
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SOUNDTRACK: FATHER JOHN MISTY-“Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings” (2012).
This song is also on the list of NPR’s Top 50 songs of the year (so far). It comes so far out of left field in terms of who the guy is and the way the music sounds that I can’t believe it made it to their list.
I Just Read About That... 