Month: April 2011

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‘Prog Rock is a style of rock music originating in the 1970s as part of a mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility. It is characterized by large-scale compositions, often on epic themes, in which musicians display instrumental virtuosity. John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just “succeed the pop of the 1960s as much as take its rightful place beside the modern classical music of Stravinsky and Bartók.” It’s strange now to imagine that the weird, pretentious music could ever have been so popular. Yet it was, and bands such as Muse and Radiohead carry the torch, and James Cameron’s sci-fi epic Avatar was one long tribute to prog cover art. Prog Rock is thought by some to be the final evolution of Rock music, using over-the-top insane musical composition and impossible-to-understand lyrics about moonchildren, tales from topographic oceans or “man-ergs”. Supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer were prog’s biggest stars, selling tens of millions of albums. They also became a byword for onstage excesses that included an entire orchestra, a piano that whirled through the air, a two-and-a-half ton stainless-steel drum kit and a revolving drum riser. The band Yes was nearly as popular as ELP, and provided what is generally considered to be Prog’s nadir moment or death knell when ex-Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman, flush from the success of his concept album Journey to the Centre of the Earth, decided to go one better. For 1975’s The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, he put on three performances at Wembley Arena – on ice. It was seen as the apex of prog silliness, but the album sold many millions of copies. “There are people who think the film This Is Spinal Tap is simply a very funny ‘mockumentary’,” Wakeman said in later years. “Well, with Yes we lived it.” Bruce Eder claims that “the rot” in progressive rock “started to set in during 1976. He claims that “the end [of progressive rock] came quickly: by 1977, the new generation of listeners was even more interested in a good time than the audiences of the early 1970s, and they had no patience for 30 minute prog-rock suites or concept albums based on Tolkien-esque stories.”‘ — collaged from various sources

 

 

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‘Soft Machine were formed in mid-1966 by Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals), Daevid Allen (guitar) and Mike Ratledge (organ). Named after the book The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs, they were one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene, and helped pioneer the progressive rock genre. Though they achieved little commercial success, they are considered by Allmusic to be “one of the more influential bands of their era, and certainly one of the most influential underground ones.”‘ — Wiki

Soft Machine ‘Moon in June’ (1969)

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‘Quatermass was a British progressive rock band formed in London, England in September 1969. The trio consisted of bass player and vocalist John Gustafson, keyboardist Peter Robinson, and Mick Underwood on drums. Their first and only album sold itself through “…compactness, wealth of ideas, forceful lead vocals and complicated arrangements, enriched by pianist Robinson’s tasteful use of classical strings which are on display along with spacious keyboard passages. Major commercial success eluded the band throughout its brief duration.’ — carolhynson.co.uk

Quatermass ‘Laughin’ Tackle’ (1970)

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‘Magma is a concept band whose albums explain the origins and development of the new civilization on Kobaia, and their interactions with the people of Earth and other planets. All of their lyrics are sung in the language of the new civilization, ‘Kobaian.’ As one might expect, the music from Kobaia several hundred years from now is very unlike what we are accustomed to on twentieth century planet earth. Led by drummer Christian Vander, Magma began in the final months of the sixties in France, pretty much apart from the underground music scene of the times. In fact most of the original members had worked in other rock and jazz groups before, although without much notoriety.’ — furious.com

Magma ‘Discorama’ (1970)

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‘King Crimson may be the only commercially important prog rock band to blend dazzling musicianship with real artistic integrity. From the start a vehicle for guitar virtuoso/avant garde mastermind Robert Fripp, they have a long and complicated history of lineup changes, breakups, and shifts in style. But in every period they’ve managed to come up with at least one great record, and they’ve never either sold out like ELP, or bogged themselves down in pompous self-indulgence like Yes. Unfortunately, Fripp’s experimental edge has resulted in quite a few misfires. You’ll have to dig carefully for the few Crimson albums that stay on track with crafted songwriting and economical arrangements.’ — warr.org

King Crimson ‘Larks Tongues in Aspic’ (1974)

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‘I know it’s hard to believe, but once upon a time the band that goes by the clumsy-but-cool name of Atomic Rooster were really BIG. Well, not as BIG as the BIGGIES of the time (the time: early Seventies), but definitely bigger than they are today, MUCH bigger considering that today they’re hardly known to anybody at all. Nowadays, when we say something like “Carl Palmer joined ELP after leaving Atomic Rooster”, it might not mean anything; back then, it was a typical indication of the fact that ELP were going to be a real supergroup. However, they were really only big in the UK, and even then, only for about a year and a half. Verdict: this brief stint of popularity was well-deserved, the disappearance from the musical horizons was well-deserved as well, yet this does not warrant our forgetting the band at all.’ — starling.rinet.ru

Atomic Rooster ‘A Spoonful of Bromide Helps The Pulse Rate Go Down’ (1972)

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‘Henry Cow were an English avant-rock group, founded at Cambridge University in 1968 by multi-instrumentalists Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson. Henry Cow’s personnel fluctuated over their decade together, but drummer Chris Cutler and bassoonist/oboist Lindsay Cooper were important long-term members alongside Frith and Hodgkinson. An inherent anti-commercial attitude kept them at arm’s length from the mainstream music business, enabling them to experiment at will. Critic Myles Boisen[1] writes, “their sound was so mercurial and daring that they had few imitators, even though they inspired many on both sides of the Atlantic with a blend of spontaneity, intricate structures, philosophy, and humor that has endured and transcended the ‘progressive’ tag.”‘ — thisislike.com

Henry Cow ‘Beautiful as the Moon’ (1976)

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‘Formed on the late 60’s by the Shulmman brothers, GENTLE GIANT is known as the paradigmatic progressive rock band. With an uncomparable musicianship, they went as far as no one ever did into unexplored grounds in the progressive music, navigating over dissonant 20th-century classical chamber music, medieval vocal music, jazz and rock. They explored Moogs, Mellotrons and Fender Rhodes usage with such majesty! Not to mention other instruments like oboes, violins, cellos and horns among others.’ — progarchives.com

Gentle Giant ‘So Sincere’ (1974)

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‘The band that eventually became known as Pink Floyd started by performing covers of American R&B; songs. When Syd Barrett joined the group in 1965 he began writing most of the band’s songs, and moved the group into the burgeoning psychedelic rock movement. Surreal lyrics and experimental electronic effects established the band as the British epicenter of psych rock. After two albums, Barrett self-destructed due to mental instability aggravated by drug use. He was replaced by David Gilmour in 1968. The band continued to expreriment, increasingly incorporating classical and jazz influences into their music.’ — classicrock.com

Pink Floyd ‘Careful With That Axe Eugene’ (1973)

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‘Can was an experimental rock band formed in Cologne, West Germany in 1968. Later labeled as one of the first “krautrock” groups, they transcended mainstream influences and incorporated strong minimalist and world music elements into their often psychedelic progressive music. Can constructed their music largely through collective spontaneous composition –– which the band differentiated from improvisation in the jazz sense –– sampling themselves in the studio and editing down the results; bassist/chief engineer Holger Czukay referred to Can’s live and studio performances as “instant compositions”.’ — spoonrecords.com

Can ‘Spoon’ (1974)

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‘Like most Progressive Rock bands, ELP were heavily and mercilessly criticized by some music critics. Critics frequently lambasted the band as pretentious, not without some validity. However, the particularly venomous criticism itself frequently approached the overreaching self-importance that the critics so despised in the band. One critic asking, “how do you spell pretentious? Emerson, Lake, And Palmer?” typifies the reaction of a critic. With an even more cruel take on ELP, even going on to insult the group’s sizeable fan base, Robert Christgau said of the band “these guys are as stupid as their most pretentious fans”. Christgau also called ELP the “world’s most overweening ‘progressive’ group”.’ — Wiki

Emerson Lake & Palmer ‘Knife Edge’ (1970)

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‘In August 1972 Camel signed with MCA Records and their eponymous debut album was released six months later. The record was not a success and the band moved to the Deram Records division of Decca Records (UK). In 1974 they released their second album, the critically acclaimed Mirage on which Latimer showed he was adept on flute. Although failing to chart at home, it gained success on the U.S. west coast, prompting a three month tour there. Released in 1975, the instrumental, orchestrated concept album Music Inspired by The Snow Goose, had been inspired by the Paul Gallico short story of the same name. This was the breakthrough album that brought Camel wider attention, but not without controversy. Gallico, who loathed smoking, thought the band were related to the cigarette brand and threatened to take legal action. Camel avoided this by adding the prefix ‘Music inspired by…’ to the album’s cover. The album’s success led to a prestigious sell out concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London, with the London Symphony Orchestra in October 1975.’ — camelproductions.com

Camel ‘Never Let Go’ (1973)

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‘Amon Duul emerged from the radical West German commune scene of the late 1960s, with others in the same commune including the future founders of the Red Army Faction. Founding members are Chris Karrer, Dieter Serfas, Falk Rogner, John Weinzierl and Renate Knaup. The band was founded after Weinzierl and the others met at the Amon Düül “art commune” in Munich. The commune consisted mainly of university students, who formed a music group initially to fund the commune, with initially everyone who lived there joining in to play music whether or not they had any experience or ability. The commune split when they were offered an opportunity to record, which was boycotted by the more musically proficient members of the commune (who went on to form Amon Düül II). Recordings were made by the other members but were of very poor quality and were only released later (under the name Amon Düül) to capitalise on the success of ADII’s albums. As Amon Düül II grew and personnel changed they still remained a commune, living together as a band.’ — last.fm

Amon Duul II ‘Phalus Dei Part 2’ (1970)

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‘Genesis began as a 1960s pop band. During the 1970s, they evolved into a progressive rock band, incorporating complex song structures and elaborate instrumentation, while their concerts became theatrical experiences with innovative stage design, pyrotechnics, elaborate costumes and on-stage stories. This second phase was characterised by lengthy performances such as the 23 minute “Supper’s Ready” and the 1974 concept album, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.’ — genesis-music.com

Genesis ‘The Musical Box’ (1972)

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‘Family were an English rock band that formed in Late 1966 and disbanded in October 1973. Their style has been characterised as progressive rock, although their sound often explores other genres, incorporating elements of such styles as folk, psychedelia, acid, jazz fusion and basic rock and roll. The band achieved recognition in the United Kingdom, through their albums and appearing at festivals, but were unable to attract the same level of attention in USA. The band’s rotating membership throughout its relatively short existence led to a diversity in sound throughout their different albums. Family are also often seen as an unjustly forgotten act, when compared with other bands from the same period and have been described as an “odd band loved by a small but rabid group of fans”.’ — MusicBrainz.com

Family ‘In My Own Time’ (1970)

More

Todd Rundgren’s Utopia ‘Seven Rays’ (1978)

Hawkwind ‘We Took the Wrong Steps Years Ago’ (1971)

Jethro Tull ‘Thick as a Brick’ (partial, 1978)

The Trip ‘Caronte’ (1971)

Gong ‘Fohat digs holes in space’ (1971)

Rush ‘Bastille Day’ (1976)

Van Der Graaf Generator ‘Lost’ (1974)

Yes ‘Roundabout’ (1973)

Eloy ‘Decay of Logos’ (1971)

Procol Harum ‘Repent Walpurgis’ (1971)

Manakin ‘Something is Locked Inside of my Soul’ (1978)

Moody Blues ‘Gypsy’ (1970)

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p.s. RIP: Paul Violi. Hey. ** Math, Super interesting. Kind of what I had guessed but much more complicated and fascinatingly rendered and revised. Was the piece interesting enough for you as a writer to continue down that course in some way? You certainly don’t need to since your own pure voice is great, but you know how I love experimenting with my voice to get it shifted, so I guess I wondered. Anyway, I’m obviously really glad the workshop paid off for you. It was obviously a great thing for us, and it’s echoing through the thinking and comments very interestingly too. Thank you a whole bunch, pal. ** Oscar B, It’s true. It’s all true. Later, nachos, etc., babes. ** Pascal, Yeah, the Aprilness is quite pleasant here too. That kind of deliciously neither here nor there thing is in the air. ** Jax, Hey. Glad you liked the pix. Actually, the Museo Galileo was one of the total highlights. Great museum, well worth a visit if you get to Firenze. Me too: sometimes discarded pieces that didn’t quite work when I was going for something in particular will suddenly perk up when I’m free of that something in particular as my goal. Plus, I’m the kind of writer who likes and maybe needs to be working on something to feel content. And having something in progress always really helps when you have a book coming out and are about to face that whole initially scary and usually disappointing experience when the first judgements start flying around. The Radio Lab thing sounds to have been totally great. Yeah, the co-mingling in a quality way with other artists is really heady, and, sure, the theater work brings that up. I really hope the thing in London is as rich if not more. Let me know. Man, as I keep saying, it’s such a joy to get to experience second hard the kind of renaissance of your writing and love of writing. It’s beautiful. Yury’s better. The doctor said it was an allergic reaction, probably to pollen. ** David Ehrenstein, Yeah, the Trevi Fountain was insanely mobbed. By far the most mobbed attraction we saw on our whole trip. Weird. ** FreeFox, Oh, ha ha, yeah, normal vacation. Or normal vacation surroundings, at least. The head is where the real, abnormal stuff happens, and I guess it can accommodate almost accompaniment. No, I never think about my, whatever, image or whatever public perception there is of me, although I did stick those pix of the serial killer museum in because I thought it would be kind cliched/funny. In truth, we didn’t even go in, just cruised the lobby. ** Pilgarlic, Hey, man! I’m so sorry to hear you’ve been ill. I had pneumonia once, and it was really taxing and strange. But you’re on the total mend, yes? Sorry about Blogger’s bad behavior. It can be such a jerk. So, have you been pretty much down and out while I was away? All the best of the best to you. ** Sypha, Hi, James. Yeah, I agree that pushing obsessions aside is a real good idea ‘cos, for one thing, if they come back, you know they’re somehow important to you. Avoid that stomach flu if at all possible, ugh. But that’s really good news about the future hanging out with that guy. Soon, I hope? Nice development, for sure. ** Alan, Cool. ** David, I heard ‘The Black Dahlia’ was basically a miss. I wonder what happened to DePalma. He used to be fairly usually worth seeing for one reason or another. I think the last film of his I liked more than didn’t was ‘Snake Eyes’, and even there the good had almost only to do with his crazy camera pans. ** Steevee, That’s a shame about the Burzum. The last one kind of never really took much hold of me either in the long run. ** Hyrule Dungeon, Hm, good question. The law of averages? More centuries of weird stuff available to mine? ** The Dreadful Flying Glove, Hey. So I did an old prog day. Whim, I think. Any thoughts? I think my favorites are the stuff that got tagged prog by proxy. The German stuff, Soft Machine, Family. But some of the pomposity is interesting. And some of the detailing like in K. Crimson. Putting it together was interesting. Peter Gabriel was such a dweeb back then. Etc. The Guess Who … hunh. When I was in this kind of heavy ‘power pop’ fascination phase in the 70s, I remember thinking that they were more interesting than people who only knew the hits thought. ‘The Cutter’ is a great song. For me, ‘Heaven Up Here’ is their masterpiece. It’s still in my top ten favorite all-time albums after all the years. Funny Burzum prank piece. The gay thing was a little heavy handed though to me. Pulled me out of it. ** Christopher/Mark, Aw, thank you. That’s really a high compliment, given the wonderment of your eye and art. Love to you too. ** Casey McKinney, Hi, Casey. Oh, I don’t have any set summer plans, I don’t think. Or not lengthily away ones. So maybe let me know a general idea of your window of travel, and it’ll most likely be just fine on my end. That URL, sure, hold on … This is it. The review of the review being written incrementally. You’ll see. Sure, I’ll ask aloud about the Wallace review. Everyone, the honorable Casey McKinney is seeking someone who would be interested in reviewing David Foster Wallace’s ‘The Pale King’ for the great Fanzine site, and he thought one of you amazing people might be game. Are you? I guess if you are, either say so in the comments or contact Casey through Fanzine. Awesome opportunity, guys. Thanks for asking if I’m interested. I think I’m too far away from my journalism side and rusty to take on a major thing like that novel. Love, me. ** Inthemostpeculiarway, The face fountain weirded me out too. That’s why I included it even though there’s a lens flare on the picture. No, being close to the friends limit on Facebook is just annoying, really. I mean, yeah, it’s definitely cool that 5000 people want to be my friend, of course. I always think it’s strange that people get their nails done, but, mm, why not, I guess, and it’s really not that strange. Nail polish smells good. I didn’t know or at least remember if you told me that the barista is all into the Bible and stuff. That’s sad. I mean that he’s so into it that he wants to spread the wisdom or whatever. I guess there’s something innocent about it that’s sweet. But I also think, oh, the poor thing. Hm. Your mention of the dollar store made me realize that I don’t think there are dollar — or I guess euro — stores here in Paris. I wonder why. My day: Let’s see … Oh, Kiddiepunk and Oscar B and I went to see the Stanley Kubrick exhibition at the Cinematheque Francais. It was pretty cool with props from the movies and behind the scenes stuff and period reviews and kind of what you’d expect. Like the monkey suits from 2001 and the axe and typewriter from The Shining and so on. It was worth pushing through the big crowds. This guy who interviewed me once happened to be there, and he asked me if I was me, and I said yes, and he gave me a new book he edited called ‘Mondo Movies et Films de Cannibales’. It’s in French, but it has lots of pictures, so it’s cool to have. Gisele called to ask if I want to go see the great Japanese experimental music artist Ryoji Ikeda play on Friday with her and Stephen, and I said yes. My agent wrote to say that the UK-based magazine Love, which is a Conde Nast/Vogue spin-off fashion/style thing, wants to a big piece on me, and was I okay with doing that, and I said sure. I wrote a bit on that fiction thing I mentioned. I thought I had missed the finale of that French Top Chef show that I’m kind of addicted to while I was away, but it was on last night, so I watched it. My favorite, Pierre Sang, who was the most adventurous contestant, got voted off first, and it was only Fanny, whose food making skills weren’t that interesting, and Stephanie, who it seemed like would win from the beginning because everything she makes is really conservative, going head and to head, and, yep, Stephanie won, and that was kind of a boring conclusion. Then I slept. I also ate and smoked and showered and stuff during the day, of course. So, I think that was it. And your Tuesday, please? ** Paul Curran, Thanks, Paul. You should go to Venice. Venice is amazing and insane. You would have never found your brother there. It’s such a maze. Ongoing best possibly thoughts and vibes on your strengthening. ** Misanthrope, I like the sound of that Wrestlemania. It had a classic WWE quality. Yeah, I think bands run by a single talent that go democratic in order to satisfy the members’ egos rarely ever succeed. But sometimes, I guess. But I guess I’m mostly thinking of bands whose main songwriter quits or dies or something and then it turns out there was another pretty big talent lurking in the group. Like, oh, Joy Division/New Order. Or, even though I’m not a big fan, Depeche Mode only got more successful after Vince Clarke quit. And I guess there are others. It’s a fine line, like you said. I mean, being different is always better than being stagnant. But sometimes it’s better to go defunct than go either of those routes. But I guess it’s hard to know when you’re stagnant if you’re making lots of money doing what you do. Or something. Hm. ** Okay, I thought I’d dredge the 70s prog rock genre up from the mostly dead on behalf of a post and see what happened. So, what happened? I guess I’ll see tomorrow when I see you.

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Welcome back to DC’s Writers Workshop. This is the tenth in a series of days on the blog where writers who are part of the blog’s community will present work-in-progress in search of the opinions, responses, advice, and critiques of both readers who don’t normally post comments here and local inhabitants of this place. I ask everyone to please read these works with the same attention you give the normal brand of posts here and respond in some way in the comments section below. Obviously, the closer your attention and the more you’re able and willing to say to the writer the better. But any kind of related comment is welcome, even a simple sentence or two indicating you read the piece of writing and felt something or other about it would be helpful. The only guideline I’m going to give out regarding comments is that any response, whether lengthy or brief, praise filled or critical or anywhere inbetween, should be presented in a spirit of helping the writer in question. I’ll be responding to the work too in the Comments section towards the end of the weekend. So, I guess all of that is probably clear. Giving support to the artists of different kinds who read and post on the blog has always been a very important aspect of this project, but this workshop series represents one of the first times that aspect has been made formal. This weekend’s features Math Tinder — writer, artist, author, blog/site proprietor, and one of this blog’s longtime distinguished locals. She asks for any thoughts, support, or criticism you can give her. I thank her greatly for entrusting her work-in-progress to us, and I thank you all in advance for your kind participation. — D.C.

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p.s. Hey. Even though it’s mostly a coincidence, a writers workshop seems like a really good way to get this place restarted properly. And Math’s piece is probably the shortest work we’ve ever featured in the workshop context, which makes the plunge a relatively gentle one, which somehow seems appropriate too. So, please do dive in and give Math your feedback on her piece over the weekend. Much appreciated by her, of course, and by me too. I’ll add the two cents of my response late in the weekend. Thanks, Math, and thank you in advance, everyone! Yeah, I’m back in Paris and kind of spaced out and feeling curiously rusty via a vis this p.s. writing business. I’m not used to sitting down much less typing. I’ll do my best, but, yeah, expect a spacey p.s. today, and sorry. The vacation was pretty great, even if I think we stayed in each place about a day and a half too long, but, nonetheless, it was definitely a vacation, and I’ll be parading a slideshow of trip pix here on Monday for better or worse. Anyway, I’ll start catching up from where I left off last time. ** Pre-Thursday ** Polter, Thanks for laying out how you found my stuff. Its trippy and very Xmas-y reading that. ** Bollo, The worst was a 9 euro double espresso. The pizza was or is much, much better in Rome than in Firenze. I don’t know if it’s the local style or whatever, but every pizza we ate in Firenze was just a dry, burnt crust with a sloppy soup of barely cooked ingredients and sauce poured atop it. Oh, shit, about the reference. I was barely internetted while in Italy, so, ugh, sorry for the bad timing on my part. ** Little foal, To be a looky-loo, what you wrote to Polter was great. Harmony Korine, yes! Agreed, of course. Oh, your liking of Von Trier doesn’t bother me. I liked ‘The Idiots’ except for the last fifteen or so minutes. And Yury likes ‘Dancer in the Dark’. It takes all kinds or whatever they say and whatever that means. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi, D. Wow, Jim Nabors, that’s a name I haven’t heard or come across in a long, long time. And thanks a lot for the Lynne Tillman link. ** Jax, I got my second wind in Firenze. It lasted a couple of days. I think my legs are probably kind of muscular by my standards. Yury is someone who hates sitting still. Hence, my improved if sore as shit legs. But it is on amazon.co.uk. Sorry about the price. I muttered quite a whoa when I saw the asking price. Art plus CD books, what can you do. ** Misanthrope, Do a lot of characters die at the ends of my books? Hm, I guess in, uh, ‘Closer’. And … ‘My Loose Thread’. And if video game death counts, in ‘God Jr’, but I think that’s all? I mean if you mean death with a capital D. Hm. ** Inthemostpeculiarway, Hi, man! So nice to see you and your unfolding days again! Yeah, where did Kier go? I liked your day report squib, of course. The blueberry vodka and the ‘Hoarders’ marathon particularly. Envy on the latter, yuck on the former. Well, I have too many days full of too many things to report. It’s a blur, and I’m a very spaced out me this morning. I’ll just do yesterday, is that okay? Even though it was a blah day and not representative or anything. So, let’s see … we woke up in Hotel Fiorini in Firenze/ Florence, which is where we stayed. I thought the hotel was okay bordering on not so hot but doable, and Yury thought it was depressing. I had the hotel’s free breakfast, which was kind of really bad — instant coffee, store-bought cake thing, dry rolls, butter — but free. Then Yury woke up, and we packed and checked out and left our stuff and walked around for a couple of hours. We’d pretty much seen everything there was to see by then (photos on Monday), and we were both kind of tired and ready to go home, so we ended up having double espressos at a cafe on the Republicca and watching other tourists walk around. I would say the breakdown on the tourist population while we were in Firenze would be, oh, 70% Italians, 10% Americans, 10% Russians, 5% French, 5% Japanese. Then we got a taxi to the airport. Firenze has the smallest airport for a fairly big city I’ve ever seen. There’s just one tiny, packed terminal that you have to kind of herd your way through shoulder to shoulder with everyone else and very slowly. It was more weird and interesting than awful, though. The flight was 90 minutes. I read magazines and Yury took pictures out the window of the plane with his iPhone. He took so many photos on our vacation — over 4000 — that his iPhone kept crashing, but it’s okay now. Paris was kind of gray when we got here. It looked very French and good, though, after all that Italian everything. I mean, the Italian everything was really nice, but we both decided we like French everything better, not that it’s a contest or anything. So, we got back here. There was some mail including an invite to Oscar B and Kiddiepunk’s wedding. And a couple of books. I plugged in my computer and enjoyed having the internet as second nature again, and Yury went shopping, and then we ate and stuff, and I fell asleep early ‘cos I was pooped, and I’m still pooped right now, but I think I’ll be normal-ish in a day or so. That’s logical. Okay, man, how was your weekend? ** Tender Prey, Hi, Marc! I’m back on the horse and everything, I think, and I’ll get on you-know-what pretty straight away. ** Math, Hi, M! It’s your weekend, pal. Hope it goes great. I think it will. Thanks for being in the spotlight. ** Colin, Hi, Colin. Thanks for saying how you found my stuff. It’s really cool to know how that worked. It’s strange and a privilege. Oh, Kevin sent me you-know-what while I was away, so I’ll get on that imminently. ** David, Greetings, sir. ** Sypha, Yeah, I think not having sex helps one write about sex or write well about sex or … something. Spaced out, sorry. Nice to see you! ** Steevee, Hey. ** Alan, That’s between me and my hairdresser. Oh, well, then I’m very pleased to have a avoided that Crypt. No, seriously, I feel like an idiot for missing that. I blame the sun. ** Thursday ** David Ehrenstein, Hi again. Oh, I can see that my gayness is interesting, sure, and I would guess my not being that interested in my being gay is part of what makes it interesting. And, of course, like you, I’m quite thrilled that my gayness helps preclude my ‘fitting in’, and I count my lucky stars for that, although, yes, having basic rights is beyond worth fighting for. So, yes. Thanks a lot for the link to the thing about Tim Dlugos. I remember that whole situation with Philip and the Gray Gallery’s chickening out very well. I so hope to get the chance to see the finally completed collaboration. Lovely. ** Bernard Welt, You like them mouthy. That’s interesting. Me too, I think, sometimes. ** Squeaky, Yep, Math fiction, and there it is. It’s great that you guys shared your works and that you met Scott. Oh, yes, that anti-drug and anti-sexual adventure thing is so boring and self-indicting. I get that a lot with reactions to my books and almost always and only from middle-aged gay guys. All that nose wrinkling and holier than thou moralism and blah blah. It’s shocking, really. Or maybe shockingly not shocking? ** Bill, Thank you, Bill. About my slaves. We’ll have to compare notes about Italy. Any further Recollets news or reason for me to query them on your behalf or anything? ** Sypha, I’ll finally get a my first decent look at my Facebook wall today. Cool if Melissa posted there. Thanks for the alert. Interesting and unfortunate about the new Current 93 album, or about the recent ones. Sounds kind of like he’s doing what Coil/Peter C. did in that project’s later phase, releasing and rereleasing a lot of so-so stuff and treading water for income or something? ** Math, Great response to the slaves, my pal. I loved that. Thank you! ** Alter Clef Records, Well, hey there, Nick! I’m kind of tired out and spaced. Italy was very cool, though. Worth the come down. Yes, a little kiddie told me you might be at the wedding thingeroony in July with a musical instrument of some sort in tow. I’ll be there too. Whoo-hoo! Very cool about all the new projects and product. I can’t wait to hear or read or both all of them. Talk soon, yeah, and love to you too, pal. ** Allesfliesst, Hey, man. Dresden, interesting. My only knowledge of it has to do with the Nazi era stuff. Oh, and that band Dresden Dolls. Sounds, you know, really nice and luxurious. Dude, I’ve been doing almost nothing but art appreciation for ten days, not to mention the large quantity of Madonnas involved, so my nerdiness makes yours, uh, whatever. Less nerdy at the very least. But I bet I’m more tan than you are. ** Syreearmwellion, Hey. That was the only picture of magnet4haters. Makes you wonder, right? Makes you suspicious too. Well, if you can get a satellite cable thing that gets MTV Italy, you’ll get a bunch of rugby, but it’s like a reality show thing where, I think, Italian teens are sent if they’re bad or get arrested or something. It was hard to figure out. That Gold Panda vid/song was nice. Thanks for that. ** Steevee, Thank you kindly for that. Steve. There’s a new Burzum album? Like new new? I didn’t know that. I’ll definitely get it post-haste, of course. What do you think of it? ** Jax, Legs feels like I’m walking in a lake but without the cold and getting wet part. ** The Dreadful Flying Glove, Yes, thank you, wonderful, thank you! You made my imagination feel like home again. I would say a lot more if my brain wasn’t so strangely tired. And my arms too. I don’t know why my arms are tired.Oh, wait, from carrying my busted backpack and laptop all over the place, of course. You are super-okay! That is awesome news! ** Casey McKinney, Hey, Casey! What a pleasure and a treasure! Oh, I’m back where the internet is almost free now. Yes indeed, about Blake Butler’s new novel, right? Well, you read my blurb, and I meant it. Killer novel. If the earth doesn’t shake before it, the earth is dead. You personally are reviewing it for Fanzine? If so, wow, cool! Yeah, sure, when there’s a galley or whatever of my novel, I’ll make sure they send you one. Awesome to see you, man. When is your kiddo going to be old enough to allow that long promised trip to Paris? ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi again, Ben. Can’t wait for the new YnY. The event looks cool and trippy. What’s that fish thing? Everyone, courtesy of _B_A, pix from the launch of event of the imminently forthcoming issue of Yuck ‘n’ Yum are here. ** Creative Massacre, Hey, pal! Thanks, yeah, the trip was pretty good. How have you been? ** Misanthrope, Hi, G. Yury really liked the trip for the most part except for the hotel in Firenze and the, in his opinion, utter lack of stylishness and unacceptable hair cuts and colors of the Italian people he came across. Hm, I would say a willing slave is far more interesting than an unwilling one, but remember I’m a anarchist, dude. Oh, yeah? How about, just off the top of my head: ‘Now, I’m gonna love you / Till the heavens stop the rain / I’m gonna love you / Till the stars fall from the sky for you and I’? Defend that. ** Okay, now, please oh please give your attention to Math’s work this weekend and leave respective comments between now and Monday. Thank you so much! I will go try to wake up or readjust to life or something now, and I will see you in the comments area come later Sunday, and I will see you back here on Monday.