My Favorite Music of 2019

Here’s my favorite new releases of 2019. If you are suitably intrigued by any of my choices or the sounds they lead you to, do the world a favor and purchase music and merch in a manner that would most benefit the artist.

The Rosedales—Stereoghost 

Long-awaited new release from one of the finest horrorpunk bands ever to record. Horrorpunk may be a bit of a misnomer, though, as The Rosedales' unique blend of music includes shades of rock, rockabilly, goth, metal, and doo wop for an utterly unique and ofttimes haunting sound. If any of the tracks here excite you, buy their entire output as they haven’t released a single disappointing track.  

Sin Theta—Sin Theta 

Incredibly versatile debut EP from a band with limitless potential; I wrote about them last year when I included their demo—one song—on my best of list last year. One of the only bands I can think of (Opeth being another) who is skilled enough to super-charge your adrenaline or lull you into a state of harmonic relaxation, sometimes within the same song. One of those rare bands where all of the components excel both individually and collectively, a must-listen for those with even a passing interest in metal.

Kristeen Young—The SubSet 

Years ago I bought her whole catalog after seeing her perform once, and I’ve bought every release the day it came out since. This one may be her best, and it shows off both the full dynamic range of her beautiful voice as well as the bottomless depth of her lyrical ability. I’ve spun it a dozen times and still get chills with each subsequent listen. “Everyday Subtraction” might be my favorite song in a year that I found overflowing with great cuts.

Ray Alder—What the Water Wants 

Debut solo album from current Fates Warning vocalist; immensely affecting and powerful. As Fates Warning, especially the Alder years, was the soundtrack of my college years (sharp eyes can spot me and my voluminous, beautiful blond hair at the front left of the stage HERE) , Ray’s voice affects me mentally and spiritually.

Arch/Matheos—Winter Ethereal  

I was turned on to Fates Warning (thanks, Dan) after John Arch had already left the band, but the first three albums he recorded with them are among my favorites, not only in the Fates oeuvre but in my entire collection. I love that he periodically rejoins forces with Fates’ mainman Jim Mattheos, and I love that Winter Ethereal is one of their strongest collaborations yet. Great year for Fates fans.

The Specials—Encore 

Very strong album, as socially revalent as any of their earlier material and just as groove-worthy. Deluxe edition includes some fantastic live tracks of earlier material.

Ironbunny—Tettsui No Alternative 

Apparently there is a great deal going on currently on the heavy metal scene than Babymetal, and I will be investigating that scene deeply in 2020. This was one of the first bands I became interested in, featuring precise, riff-heavy shredding provided by an armor clad “cyborg” and gorgeous harmony vocals from a trio of young women. The EP also features a number of world-class guest shredders

Ride—This Is Not A Safe Place 

No one was happier than I was when Ride reunited to produce 

2017’s Weather Diaries, and I think This is Not a Safe Place is even better than that stellar release.

V/A--Ready or Not Soundtrack 

I saw more films in the theater in 2019 than any year since the mid-nineties when I was an assistant manager in a theater. The title cut alone makes this a worthy listen, especially if you read or write horror stories.

Volbeat-Rewind, Replay, Rebound

A very solid and generous offering from one of my favorite metal bands, Volbeat once again aren’t afraid to throw in some surprises, like the surf usic inflected “Sorry Bag of Bones”, my favorite cut alongside “Leviathan”

Baroness—Gold and Gray 

Intricate and accomplished new addition to the Baroness color palette.

Hawkwind—All Aboard the Skylark

Somehow, I have 46 Hawkwind albums in my iTunes, plus another six records I haven’t yet converted to mp3, plus at least a couple dozen spin-off and Hawkwind related solo projects (unless you count Motorhead as well, then the number is well over a hundred). So obviously, I like Hawkwind. This is my favorite of theirs released in this decade, the perfect vehicle when I need to escape to outer space, as I so often do.

Death Angel—Humanicide 

I’ve always thought “the big four of thrash” designation for Slayer, Anthrax, Metallica, and Megadeth ought to be amended to “the big five” with Death Angel being the fifth. I get it—they don’t sell as much—but the quality of their catalog comes close to the best releases of the previous four and eclipses their worst releases. Humanicide is one of their best releases, and managed to get nominated for a Grammy.

Cheap Trick--Are You Ready? Live 12/31/1979 

My love of Cheap Trick is well-documented and so I was thrilled to get this killer live set, a November RSD release.

Lana Del Rey—Norman F’ing Rockwell

More songs of Californian disaffection, Lana seems to get her own self-projected vibe even more right on her newer release. Someday I hope to repeat my drive along the PCH playing this at twilight to an off-brand hotel I have never been to and may never leave.

The Dickies—I Dig Go-Go Girls/The Dreaded Pigasaurus

Blink-and-you-missed it (but available on iTunes) RSD single release from O.G. California punks. Pigasaurus especially could be dropped in as a bonus cut on Dawn of the Dickies and it would fit right in.

Magic Circle—Departed Souls 

Brand new old school metal from a Boston based band; I just bought it this week but was excited enough to buy their previous two albums. Riffy and deep, with songs that are accessible enough to seem familiar but often branch out it unpredictable but sonically pleasing ways. I bet they listened to Fates Warning growing up, too.

What I Heard: May 2019

Mixtape Masterpieces

My first month in seven years without eMusic...seems weird. And now I hear the iTunes is shifting their platform, which always makes me more than a little nervous as I'm already using alternate universe technology. I have two iPods Classics, a full 120 with a large chunk of my Metal collection, and the beauty below, which is a customized gold "U2" edition Classic with a terabyte chip. Referred to in my household as "The Precious", it is rarely out of my sight and plays for several hours a day at a minimum. I was warned it would become unstable at a certain capacity, so I haven't put my entire digital collection on it but 57015 songs is a pretty good base. 

The Precious

I've mentioned I've done my fair share of business travel over the years, and never without the Precious, one of my dearest companions. I believe the Precious listens to me as much as I listen to it.

Such meticulous curation

Yeah, that isn't at all weird, disturbing, or obsessive. But then again, neither is painstakingly converting all of one's vinyl (a whole wall of it) to mp3--and it seems like yesterday I'd converted all the vinyl to ATRAC so I could enjoy it all on long playing minidiscs! 

Thousands of hours of music! (Thousands of hours of life wasted not pictured.)

For years I could enjoy Lindsey Buckingham's "Holiday Road" on Minidisc long before it was available digitally (it came back when the movie was rebooted)! Also Cheap Trick's "Up The Creek" (came out last year as part of Epic "rarities" compilation!

I still haven't seen Wall of Voodoo's "Exercise" on a legit digital release...

8-Tracks? I had a few. Cassettes? Never my favorite format, but I loved making mix tapes. I loved making collage art for the various tapes even more. I will always take physical formats over digital, and a digital file over streaming.As convenient as they might be, I don't like streaming services for a number of reasons--control, gaps in content, signal, different mixes, advertising, possible glomming of preferences and metadata, etc.  Quite possibly some if not all of those objections can be overcome but I don't care to try.  Get off my lawn.

I'd still take these over streaming

CD

1. Arthemis, Back From the Heat

My favorite Italian Metal band, and this an earlier album, acquired off eBay to complete the catalogue. If you want to have the greatest Metal cover of a pop song ever--yes, even better than Anthrax's cover of Joe Jackson's "Got the Time", then go to their website for the free download of their 6-song unfortunately named EP. You heard it here: Arthemis's cover of Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" is the greatest Metal cover of a pop song, ever. Here, I'll make it easy for you: ARTHEMIS . Just listen to Fabio Dessi nail it! 

Fabio isn't on Back From the Heat, but it is still a solid record

2. Sonic Youth, Rather Ripped

3. Sonic Youth, Murray Street

4. Sonic Youth, A Thousand Leaves

5. Sonic Youth, Sonic Youth Live

6. Sonic Youth, Made in USA

I wrote about Sonic Youth a little in this month's "what I read" blog, and decided to fill the last remaining holes in the "official" catalogue. These are all great--and distinctively so. I'd forgotten about their movie soundtrack Made in USA, which I used to have on cassette before my cassette eating car stereo munched on it like twenty-five years ago. It appears to be OOP digitally (another great reason to trust only in the physical). Probably my third or fourth favorite of all SY-related discs.

7. Pink Floyd, The Endless River

8. David Gilmour, Rattle That Lock

I was able to pick up the super-deluxe CD/DVD versions of both of these for a reasonable price. Haven't watched the DVD's yet but love both discs. The Endless River was my morning coffee choice two Sundays running.

9. Hawkwind, Bring Me The Head of Yuri Gagarin

Live set "Classic" line-up, with Lemmy, Turner, Brock, Dik Mik, even Del Dettmar, but a very fuzzy recording and even the big songs lack the punch they have do on other live recordings from this era.

Digital

10. Megadeth, Cryptic Writings

$5.99 on iTunes for the deluxe version; not my favorite Megadeth (this one isn't as thrashy as many) but still a very enjoyable record

11. Bill Callahan, Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest

Half the album; as a promo they released a side at a time weekly for the digital release, so I didn't get the second half until June. I'll buy this on vinyl, but Callahan is one of several artists I don't want to wait to hear (or mind if I contribute extra profits by purchasing multiple formats). With my usual sense of good timing, I became completely enthralled with Callahan's Apocalypse and Dream River (not to mention Have Fun With God) just before he got married, had a kid, and took a five year hiatus from recording new songs. Luckily he's got an extensive back-catalogue to explore while I was waiting, and it was love at first listen for  It was love at first listen for Shepherd. And what does that title mean, anyway? Is it a warning? Is he saying, "don't join my flock, because I will leave you shorn and skinless in the end"?

Kim tells me I've said this hundreds of times about hundreds of records, but I consider Apocalypse and Dream River life-changing albums for me. Fittingly, I bought them when I was on the road--the first cut on Dream River, "The Sing", is one of those strange cuts that is intensely personal and yet universal enough to make seem my biography, not Bill's--at a great little record store in Phoenix called Stinkweeds

No vinyl this week, but I appear to have infected my son with both the vinyl rockin' pneumonia and the boogie-woogie flu, as he has been scouring the shops and flea markets for records and has come home with dozens of LP's in the past few weeks. Good stuff, too! We're listening to one of his Magic Sam acquisitions as I write this!

I wrote a novel called Aural History about a musician who sees ghosts of other musicians. You can buy it HERE

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What I Heard: April 2019

I've only got five new recordings to report on, which might be the fewest I've acquired in a month in...ten years??? Historically, I've added ten to fifteen full-length recordings a month to my collection, so to see only four is somewhat unnerving. But here's what I got:

Bandcamp

1. Hellripper, Coagulating Darkness 

I'd received two tracks from this album when I was reviewing music for Metal Express Radio and the opening track  "Bastard of Hades" is a real scorcher I'd included in my most intense running setlist. The rest of the album is similarly energetic.

eMusic
2. Sun Ra, Fate in a Pleasant Mood
3. Sun Ra, Marshall Allen presents Sun Ra and His Arkestra: In the Orbit of Ra

One of the reasons my monthly recording acquisitions number is so low is that I have ended my long-standing relationship with eMusic. It gives me no joy to write that sentence. I was a member for over twelve years and many times my monthly credits weren't enough to cover all of the new music I wanted and I'd eagerly buy "booster packs"; alas, eMusic's selection--which once included most major as well as indie labels--has declined to the point I found it to be a struggle to find anything. I'd had about twenty records in the "Save for Later" bucket and overnight eighteen of those were no longer available.

They do have a pretty good Sun Ra selection, an artist I hold in the highest regard.

Listen. Read. Leave the planet.

CD
4. PROG 96, High Hopes

Every so often I'll buy a music magazine with a CD, usually MOJO or PROG. This one had articles of David Gilmour and Hawklords, who sadly are not included on the disc. None of the ten songs really jumped out at me but sometimes these things take time.

Vinyl
5. Hawkwind, The 1999 Party

My Record Store Day Purchase. There have been a few times I've really got caught up in the fervor of Record Store Day, but this year's adventure was a little strange. I wasn't even going to go but read through the online release list and saw The 1999 Party and realized that although I own 53 Hawkwind recordings (and another thirty "Hawkwind Family" recordings--Hawklords, Hawkwind Light Orchestra, Space Ritual, solo projects, etc. Does not include Motorhead) I did not own this one in any format. And this one had  Lemmy, Nik Turner, and Robert Calvert, so it promised to be an eclectic, high energy set.

Usually when I "do" RSD, I get to the local independent record store before it opens and wait, but this time I waffled about even going and so things were already in full swing by the time I got there. The tiny cluttered store was packed and cramped with people: it was like a game of human Tetris. I walked in, turned to the bin to my immediate left, flipped three records, and there it was...The 1999 Party. I grabbed it, and joined the cashier line which was already eight people deep without looking at anything else. The two guys--my age, maybe even older--ahead of me in line spent over a thousand dollars combined!

I felt a little strange driving home without a big bag o'stuff on a RSD, but I also felt an odd thrill of pride for being so focused. When I got home I went for a run, showered, and then queued up the record while looking through the jacket photos and liner notes. This was my favorite photo from the inside jacket:

I doubt Lemmy was the DM

Can anyone identify what they are playing? I don't think it is D&D, but D&D came out in 1974 and the concert on this record was recorded in March of that year. Can you imagine playing D&D with Hawkwind? With Sun Ra as the Dungeon Master???

I did. And I spent the rest of the afternoon listening and working on my current novel.

I wrote a novel called Aural History about a musician who sees ghosts of other musicians. You can buy it HERE

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What I Heard :March 2019

The soundtrack of my life?

March was a big month, music-wise. It typically is, because

A. My birthday is in March, and people in my life know they can rarely go wrong with music or books

B. My birthday is in March, so I tend to treat myself

C. Kim and I try and squeeze in some road trips in March, and all roads tend to lead to record stores eventually

D. Baby, it's cold outside, and so I'm probably sitting in front of the fire browsing on eBay--for music and books.

So, March's haul starts with the record pictured above

1. Various Artists, Daniel Waters 50 Years and Still Undead
This record is one of the most thoughtful, unique, and awesome gifts I've ever received. A good friend of mine had this bespoke record created by sifting through interviews I've given over the years where I've mentioned music I listened to for inspiration and/or while writing and having the songs burned onto wax. Apparently you buy the tunes off a digital platform like iTunes and tell the company what order to put them in and go and create your cover art, which in this case features ghostly black, white, and red images of the beautiful Hyperion-Disney editions of my first two novels. Clearly, there was some expert curation behind the creation of the album, as the A side is the "horrorpunk" side and the B side is the "metal" side. The gift kept giving, too, because the version of Blitzkid's "Pretty in a Casket" was different than the one currently in my collection, and such things are important to me.

I have a large vinyl collection. And a new favorite record.

As though that wouldn't be a thoughtful enough gift, my friend also researched albums that hit Billboard's #1 spot the year I was born, so I also received

2. Johnny Cash, Johnny Cash at San Quentin
3. Original Broadway Cast, Hair Soundtrack
4. Blind Faith, Blind Faith
5. Blood, Sweat and Tears, Blood, Sweat and Tears
6. Supremes & Temptations, The Original Soundtrack from TCB
7. Tommy Roe, Tommy Roe's Greatest Hits

His birthday is also in March; we tend to go overboard. Any guesses as to which of 2-7 is my favorite?

Then there were a couple iTunes purchases:

8. Buckcherry, Warpaint 
Buckcherry is an artist I buy new releases from on release day. I love Buckcherry and have probably seen them live more than any other band in the last decade or so
9. Cheap Trick, The Epic Archive Vol. 3
Cheap Trick is another artist I'll buy on release day, and I bought this after seeing them in concert a few weeks prior. Many, many years ago I was on some promotional live internet chat with Rick Neilson and Robin Zander, and I asked if the band was ever going to compile all of the songs they had on soundtracks--"Mighty Wings" from Top Gun, "Up the Creek" from that stellar movie, etc. I'd tracked most of them down (many were vinyl only for a long time) but there were a few that proved elusive. Rick answered me, "Yeah, someday we should do that." Someday has come, and I finally have their cover of "Money (That's What I Want) from the Caddyshack II Soundtrack.
One of my favorite bands, the only one I have seen in four different decades, surprisingly.
10. Kate Bush, Never For Ever I don't know how I lived this long without having this one; I've got all her others and some weird non-catalogue stuff besides. "Delius (Song of Summer)" is now one of my favorite songs of hers.
11. Various Artists,  Ultra Lounge:Organs in Orbit 
I loved the Ultra Lounge series even before I joined AARP (that's a joke, so, I say it's a joke!). I've got fourteen of them and will add one whenever the mood strikes. This one isn't one of my favorites--I'm partial to Mondo Exotica and Rhapsodesia, but the quest for new sounds continues.

Now playing in my space-age married guy pad

Then my eMusic purchases:
12. The Adverts, Cast of Thousands
13. The Adverts, Crossing the Red Sea
14. Coleman Hawkins, The Acetate Masters Collection
15. The Sun Ra Arkestra Under the Direction of Marshal Allen, Live at Babylon
These were all great, but I worry that eMusic doesn't seem to be pulling new labels like they used to. Almost everything in my "Save For Later" list disappeared by the time I went to make my selections.

Then a couple record store purchases:
16. Bill Callahan, Live at Third Man Records
No clue how I missed this when it came out in November. Add Mr. Callahan to the list of artists I (try to) buy on release day. I've probably listened to Dream River and Apocalypse a couple times a month since I discovered them a few years ago.
17. Jimmy Page & Black Crowes, Live at the Greek

And then there's this:

SIN THETA EP

18. Sin Theta, Sin Theta EP
The band sent me this; I wrote heavy metal album reviews for Metal Express Radio for almost two years, leaving at the end of 2018. Sin Theta made my top eleven metal albums of the year list (find it on MER HERE with a one song demo, "No Allegiance", that was how much I loved that song and the promise I saw in this new band. So when they sent me their debut five song EP, I came out of retirement to write a review which you can find on MER HERE, and if you hop around the site you can find my other reviews--nearly a hundred of them! I love, love, love, this band--the music is like a blend of Shadow's Fall and Fates Warning and is also completely it's own thing. You can buy the EP directly from the band on the Facebook Page BUY SIN THETA HERE

You can also buy my books HERE, and if you like my record reviews or are intrigued by my listening tastes, you might especially like AURAL HISTORY, my novel where I distilled much of my love for music (and ghosts). Only $4.99 in the kindle store!

Actual records from my collection

 Quite a haul for March...and Record Store Day is only three days away!!!

Content With Content: Media Consumed in January

He Whoo Watches and Waits

Today marks the first of a new monthly add to my blog where I intend to let readers know what I've shaving into my eyes, ears, and brain. What I've read, watched, and listened to (just the new acquisitions; the full list of music would be absurd.) and maybe a little about what struck me in the experiences. I'm always interested in what other writers and creative folks are putting into their heads, and I thought a few paragraphs on what I've been absorbing might be interesting to anyone who has enjoyed one of my books or is considering reading one.

But first, some math:
There are 168 hours in a week

I sleep between 6-8 hours a day, so let's say I average 7 and so the 49 hours leaves up with 119 hours.

I am fortunate enough to have a job where I work M-F 8-5 with about 45 minutes of commuting each way. That's 10.5 hours total a day, or 52.5 a week. I often travel in the job, which could ramp this figure up to 60 or 70 hours or more, and in certain situations I have to give up weekend or holiday time, but I also have a fair amount of vacation time so let's stick with the 52.5. We're down to 66.5 hours.

I write at least 30 hours a week. 10 hours on Saturday and Sunday, and 2-ish each M-F. Blogging counts but other social media doesn't. 36.5 hours remain.

Since the start of the year, I've been hitting the home gym & with showers that's about 12 hours a week. 24.5 hours to go.

I try to read an hour a day at least. Sometimes I do more, so I'll say 10 hours a week.

14.5 left for the rest of life--laundry, shopping, the DMV, a date with my long-suffering wife. There's some variance; if I'm researching something for a book that goes into "writing"--my terms, my definitions. Here I remember the advice Jack Ketchum once gave to a writing class I was in: "Sometimes staring at the wall is writing!". Most of my allotted thirty, though, is actually pen to paper or fingers to keys.

I mention the reality not to evoke sympathy--I have a great life and I love what I do, if anything I would escalated the hours spent on most of the segments above--but to indicate many things in life like health, a measure of artistic success, a measure of financial security, do not come easy, and they come with a price tag of time and often money as well. I've lived an extremely privileged life, in many senses of the term, I also work my ass off to make up for my many shortcomings in the "talent" department. For writers, I don't know if the time writing and reading is optional, it certainly isn't for me.

I'll start with What I Watched, then, because it's the easiest for me. I love television and movies but as you can see from the above I've not a ton of time left over to go deep into the stacks of Blu-rays I have lying around waiting to be watched.

WHAT I WATCHED:
1. I Still See You--including all of the deleted scenes, the commentary with Scott Speer and Bella Thorne, and all of the stellar bonus features, especially the ones starring me.

Guess what you're getting for your birthday?

2. L.A. Confidential--Set me on my path to read all of Ellroy this year

3. Monuments Men

All three were watched with Kim (Date night! What a prince I am!)because to keep the schedule I outlined above, sometimes you have to multitask.

WHAT I HEARD:
1. Vice Squad Unreleased--Vice Squad
2. Saturnalia of the Accused--Argyle Goolsby (from Blitzkid)
3. The Mighty Rhythm Tribe--Buddy Miles
4. Land of Plenty--Bill MacKay and Ryley Walker

The four above were from eMusic; I've been a member for twelve years. At one time they had very weird and odd labels along with the back catalogues of just about everyone, but they have scaled back so their offerings are  a shadow of their once mighty warehouse of sounds. I might not make it to year thirteen.

5. A Decade of Dance Live--The Untouchables. Their album Wild Child was a turntable mainstay of my high school years and I was thrilled to learn this live set rom 1989 existed. From Discogs cuz it is out of print..
6. Catholic Boy--The Jim Carroll Band. Discogs again because also OOP. I have a dubbed cassette but no means to play it and just had the synaptic urge to listen--forgot how truly great it is.

Note this is a very short list compared to 2018, where I was listening to an average of 8 new albums a week in my capacity as a reviewer for the good folks at Metal Express Radio; I've a great deal more control over my listening now.

WHAT I READ:
1. Dream Makers--6 Fantasy Artists (art book with some text)
2. The Hidden Lives of Owls--Leigh Calvez
3. Ireland--in the Travelers Tales series
4. Like Brothers--The Duplass Brothers
5. Dr. Haggard's Disease--Patrick McGrath, one of my favorite authors who any fan of horror or weird fiction needs to check out. I'd read this one before.
6. The Electric State--Simon Stalenhag An illustrated coffee table science fiction novella, I enjoyed this one immensely and have added Stalenhag's other work (he does the gorgeous paintings as well) to my list.
7. Astounding--Alec Nevala-Lee A history/Bio of John W. Campbell, Robert Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard and Isaac Asimov
8. Three Days To Never--Tim Powers. Might be my favorite Powers novel, which is interesting considering the breadth of his work.
9. Children of the Thunder--not my favorite Brunner, but I enjoyed it all the same. As much a horror story as science fiction
10. The Shores of Space--Richard Matheson. Genius book. If you want to write short stories, genre or not, you need to read Matheson.
11. The Atrocity Exhibition--J.G. Ballard. I love Ballard and this one alternately warped my mind and made me feel pretty dumb at times, but definitely was one I thought about for days after finishing it. This was the nice illustrated one with Ballard's annotations, put out by RE/SEARCH
12. Cheap Hotels--Daisanne Maclane Photos and text about cheap hotels around the world. Loved it.

Imay have stayed at this one

13. The Art of Bryan Talbot--Bryan Talbot, intro Neil Gaiman. Art and some text
14. Women--Frank Cho. All art
15. Zombie Spaceship Wasteland--Patton Oswalt. Humorous memoir mixed with comedic writings. Loved it' there were times reading it where I felt Patton and I may have lived parallel lives, especially in the chapter regarding his experiences working at a small movie theater. Speaking of theater, he's great on the new Mystery Science Theater 3000

Fifteen seems like a lot, but many of these were art with little text and all but the Brunner, Powers and Astounding are probably under three hundred pages. I think The Atrocity Exhibition took me the longest to get through but was one of the ones I thought about the most.

Thanks for taking the time to root through the junkheap of my mind looking for treasures. If you would like to pay the reader/writer bond forward, please consider taking one of my books home with you by clicking HERE and buying all you can afford. Such generous purchases will ensure I can keep reading and writing in February and the months to follow. Thank you!

My books

A Six Pack for the New Year

If you have enjoyed and/or felt strange or strong emotions reading any of my blog posts, please consider purchasing one of my books, all of which can be found HERE!  They are available in electronic, softcover, and audio editions, except for My Best Friends Are Dead (no audio) and Aural History, which is only available in the kindle store!

Which makes it a lonelier book than the others, in need of staunch defenders and loyal friends (and reviewers!). If you enjoy music, ghosts, musical ghosts, reading, pizza, beagle puppies, sunshine, or hygge, the Danish art of coziness, then you might really enjoy Aural History, for which I have made a special "purchase me" link right HERE!*

*(Disclaimer: while there is music and ghosts in Aural History, there's no mention of most of the other things. But pretty much everyone likes them, so give the book a shot, won't you?

Dan's Favorite Heavy Metal of 2018

I'm wrapping up a two year stint as a reviewer for MetalExpressRadio.com having reviewed nearly one hundred albums, and have contributed my 2018 "best of" radio show, which will air on New Years' Eve. Here's a sneak peak of my favorite releases of the year:

13-11. Judas Priest--Firepower, Dee Snider--For The Love of Metal, Lizzy Borden--My Midnight Things. I cheated and made my top eleven a top thirteen, putting these battle-scarred veterans and their commendable releases in a three-way tie for 11th.

10. Fantasy Opus--The Last Dream Complexly layered, epic in scope, reminds me of late Arch-era Fates Warning while sounding nothing like them.

9. Last Pharoah --The Mantle of Spiders A very NWOBHM sounding debut from an American band. Lots of fun and what a great title and an especially great title track.

8. Against Evil!--All Hail the King! A thrash band from India that has some sonic similarities to Death Angel, one of my favorite bands, all time. Punchy.

7. Sonic Prophecy- Savage Gods Another fun band with a classic metal sound. "Night Terror" is an especially good track.

6. My Regime--A Peek Through The Pines I fell in love with My Regime with last years' Deranged Patterns. This one is a bit less Slayeresque, sounding somewhat in between Deranged Patterns and last year's Shadows Remain from Band of Spice, ringleader Spice's other current product. He's had a prolific and varied career; check out Spiritual Beggars as well.

5. Witherfall--A Prelude To Sorrow Their second album; get last years' Nocturnes and Requiems also. Intricate, expertly crafted metal that reveals more nuance with repeated listening. "Portrait" off their debut was one of my favorite songs of the year.

4. Dark Hound--Dawning American stoner/thrash metal; seek out their first couple independent releases. Hard hitting and heavy.

3. Sin Theta--"No Allegiance" My #3 pick isn't for an album at all, but an unreleased demo track that I just happened to run across in the metalexpressradio folders. Eight minutes of metal bliss, stellar performances at every position in a song packed with great ideas and riffs. I must have run twenty miles on the treadmill this year just listening to this song. 2019 should see them release their debut EP.

2. Ascendant-A Thousand Echoes  Debut album from a Dubai-based band, three members of which grew up in Syria. Unbelievably good songcraft from a new band whose emotive power and song structures hearken to Powerslave-era Iron Maiden. Lindsay Schoolcraft lends vocals on the haunting "Morning Light", a standout track (a ghost story!) on an album utterly devoid of weakness. I can't recommend this one enough.

1. Voivod--The Wake Their best album, especially when packaged with the Post Society EP of a few years ago and a live set. The spirit of Piggy is strong in this one, an endlessly thrilling album from an iconic and sui generis band.

Thanks to all at MeralExpressRadio.com for some great times and great music!

Aural History, Investing In Yourself, and Taking Risks

Buy Aural History HERE

Before I wrote Generation Dead, I wrote a novel about a college-age musician trying to make sense of life and art--and all of the ghosts haunting him. I hadn't yet developed the boss-level networking skills I would later in life (basically, I hid in my home office hoping that sunlight wouldn't touch me) and after a couple rejections I decided to self-publish the novel. This was before the days of kdp and CreateSpace, and I didn't realized that the "royalty" scheme was such that I would actually lose money if I sold a copy through a chain bookstore (I sold three, which nearly drove me to bankruptcy). I didn't know any better. I was proud of the novel and wanted people to read it, believing if they did it would lead to other writing opportunities. So I sank some money into the book and had them print off about forty copies, most of which I sold to family and friends, quite possibly testing the limits of their supportive natures. Even with their charity, I didn't come close to making my money back.

I held a few back for "marketing" purposes--a few I sent to publishers under the (then) mistaken belief that they would be wowed by how "serious" I was. Of those, I heard back from one publisher who didn't believe a "rock 'n' roll" novel, as she termed it, would sell but said she'd read something else when I was ready. Not much of a return on my total investment.

Flash forward a couple years. I've sold a couple short stories and have written a regular music column for pay. I've found gainful employment a job that has helped me develop some basic business skills beyond those in my previous retail-heavy background. I make the momentous decision to "leave the cave" and try and meet other writers and people in the industry. In a complete "jump and the net will appear" moment, I come across an advertisement for a new writing workshop sponsored by Borderlands Press. The instructors are three writers I had been reading and admiring for years--Thomas Monteleone, F. Paul Wilson, and David Morrell, and the fourth guest is editor/publisher (and now Stephen King collaborator) Richard Chizmar. I send in a writing sample and--for the hell of it--my second-to-last copy of Aural History. 

I was accepted into the workshop, called the Borderlands Bootcamp. Maybe my acceptance had something to do with Aural History, which a couple of the instructors read, and maybe it didn't. But one thing is absolutely clear--my attendance at the Borderlands Bootcamp directly led to my first book deal (I attended twice; the second time I workshopped the first chapter and outline of Generation Dead), becoming agented (on a referral from one of the instructors), and all of the changes in my life resulting from having attained my most dearly held goal, and doing so at a level exceeding all my dreams and expectations. Tugging on the narrative thread, none of that would have happened had I not at least written Aural History, and maybe it would not have happened if I hadn't also dropped some cash, taken the time, and taken the risks on my creative self. Tomorrow never knows. I have no regrets; I cherish every dollar I lost in the early self publishing venture.

A few months ago, a good friend who also is a great reader let me know his favorite book of mine is still Aural History, and asked me why I didn't publish it again. My first reaction was to laugh until I realized he wasn't kidding, and then I thought, why not? I love the book, he loves the book, and at least half of the thirty people or so on earth who've read seem to like it. I spent considerable time cleaning up many of my youthful mistakes (but not the cover, which I shot wanting to summon the "DIY" spirit haunting many favorites in my record collection) and have tricked OMZ Press into offering a kindle exclusive of the book on Amazon, where it retails for the thoroughly reasonable price of $4.99. It skews a shade older than my other books--my protagonist is post-college age as opposed to being in high school--but if you've read my other stuff, or are a fan of music, or art, or ghosts, I think you might like this one, too. 

Pete Shelley

A Different Kind of Tension by Buzzcocks was one of the primary texts/soundtracks of my college years, which of course inform everything that comes after. The rest of the catalogue, and Pete's solo material, is great, too.

Thank you, Pete Shelley, for your songs and your sensibility.

Terrible/Beautiful Synchronicity

I posted about Hawkwind yesterday, and my post title a few days ago was taken from an album title of theirs. My obsessions, especially the obsessions that run over the course of my lifetime, can grip me intensely for days if not weeks, so of course I was listening to Hawkwind again today (Space Ritual, what a classic). This led to clicking around the Internet to research various minutia about the band, albums, and songs. One jaunt through Wikipedia brought me to Barney Bubbles, who designed the distinctive cover of Space Ritual and a run of Hawkwind's psych/proggy album art. Barney, or Colin Fulcher, was a graphic designer responsible for a great deal of iconic album art in the seventies--he was art director for Stiff Records in 1977, among other things. An interesting and creative guy who unfortunately took his own life in 1983 at the age of forty-one.

All of which I learned about fifteen minutes ago. The terrible synchronicity part comes in because today, November 14th, is the 35th anniversary of his suicide.

Why did the universe conspire to send me surfing through the Internet to find and learn about Barney on the anniversary of his death? I've no idea. Coincidences, serendipities, and synchronicities like this seem to happen  regularly to me. Of course, the tendency to attach weight and import to events and occurrences that most likely are just random happenstance in likely a common affliction of writers, or these intersections loom large simply because one is attuned to them, or they have a greater likelihood of happening to someone who is constantly absorbing and sifting through vast amounts of information, trivial and otherwise, like most writers do.

I'm thankful for these strange moments. I find them both comforting and unsettling, which, I now realize, is probably my favorite state of being, especially when I'm trying to write. Space is deep.

So thank you, Barney, on the anniversary of your tragic end, for the art that you left behind. 

Learn about Mr. Bubbles HERE

I Live My Life by Hawkwind's Teachings

Went right for the treadmill after work today--hmm I never noticed how irony-laden that statement is--and put on Hawkwind's Coded Languages: Live at the Hammersmith Odeon November 1982.  I love Hawkwind, but especially live Hawkwind. The band's roster has changed dozens of times over the 49 years of their existence and, more so than just about any other heavy band I can think of, each permutation utterly transforms the live sound. I was listening to the album above, Glastonbury 1990, in my car, and although both it and Coded Languages have a few of the same tracks like "Brainstorm" and "Angels of Death", they sound almost nothing alike. Only two of the musicians--mainstay Dave Brock and Harvey Bainbridge play on both of the sets, one  a furious headlong aural assault (with barking dog), the other more an introspective, atmospheric journey through time and space. 

By mile two I think I was in another dimension. 

Amazing Sounds, Amazing Music--the I Still See You Soundtrack

I never dared dream there would one day be a soundtrack to a movie based on a book I had written, but if I'd been so daring Bear McCreary's soundtrack to I Still See You would have been my dream. In one of those strange moments of serendipity, I learned  Bear would be doing the soundtrack when I was watching season four of Black Sails, a show Bear scored. The I Still See You soundtrack is haunting, beautiful, and inspiring. I like to write with music playing, and so to write and be inspired by music that in some way was inspired by something I'd written is a special thrill. 

Tracks eleven and twelve are "Break My Heart" and "A Thousand Times".

Listen to Bear discuss his work and process with I Still See You 's brilliant and tall director, Scott Speer: 

The I Still See You Soundtrack is available for download at iTunes and Amazon.

Questions Concerning a Frisson

Did you ever have the experience of having read a book, watched a movie, or engaged with any piece of art or entertainment, and had a completely mediocre response, and then you encounter the artifact at a different time and the reading or the viewing or the listening is an entirely different encounter than the one you had before?

And that this second (or third, or tenth) engagement with that artifact--an artifact that previously you were suitably nonplussed enough to rate three out of five stars so that the data aggregator would provide you with a more appropriate recommendation next time out--makes you question everything you thought, said or did during the time you engaged with the the artifact, even if that last encounter with the artifact was as recent as six months ago, because this time your experience with the artifact was literally a life changing experience, life changing as in expanding your world, your capacity to understand, your capacity to love? 

And so the elation and excitement you have over having had that expansive life changing experience,the sheer joy in being moved that way-- because sometimes you worry if you can ever be moved by art or entertainment or anything new in that way ever again--that joy is tempered by that back-of-mind worry about the person who saw and dismissed the artifact in the first place? 

What were you thinking?  What were you feeling? 
Were you feeling?

How have you changed? Have you changed? 
Are you changing still? 

Writing these questions, I sense movement at the corner of my eye, but when I turn there is only a bookshelf, some records, some DVDs.

A Complex Math Problem

Here are the facts:

I have 888 songs on an iPod playlist I call Blast! that I play on shuffle. This is the playlist that I workout to.

I workout on the treadmill for an hour about five times a week (since Thanksgiving).

I run somewhere between 5.5-6.0 miles during that hour.

The songs on Blast! range between 1 minute 23 seconds ("Walk Among Us", by The Misfits) to 11 minutes 15 seconds (Black #1, by Type O Negative).

All but 19 of the 888 songs on Blast! are the finest hard rock, punk or metal songs from my vast, vast collection.

In the interest of full disclosure, many metal purists would call quite a few of these songs "false metal".

At least seven of the 888 songs are cover songs. Of these, two of the originals also made the playlist.

The newest song that I've added to Blast! is "Say You'll Haunt Me" by Stone Sour, which is Corey from Slipknot's other band. The name of Slipknot's fan club is "Dead Generation". I am not a member.

Conundrum: How is it that, invariably, I listen to exactly 16 songs during my workout?

Phoebe's Phavorite

DON'T FORGET! LIVE CHAT WITH ME AND ALL YOU ZOMBIE KIDS Tomorrow-- THURSDAY, 8 EST at The HAUNTED HOUSE




In Generation Dead I mentioned a number of bands that Phoebe and Margi like to listen to--some of the bands were fictional, some weren't. The Rosedales--whose picture is hanging in Phoebe's locker, are thankfully one of the non-fictional bands. I say thankfully, because if the Rosedales didn't exist, I'd want to invent them--but the invention would never be as good as the real thing. They have a brand new album entitled Once Upon a Season . I've just finished listening to it a second time through and it is, hands down, my favorite album of 2009. And I got a lot of good stuff this year. If I had my way, the Rosedales would be doing the soundtrack for a Generation Dead movie, that's how much I like the Rosedales (of course, if I had my way, there would be a Generation Dead movie already in production).

I'm not going to do a typical track-by-track dissection of the album, I'm just going to urge you to use those iTunes and Amazon gift cards you'll be getting in your stockings this year on the new album. Give "Cold, Cold Heart" or "Nightgown" or "Never Coming Home" a listen if you are skeptical. Heck, give any of them a listen.

Off-the-cuff descriptions I've read typically lump them in with "horror-punk" or "horror-rock"; I first became aware of them from hearing a track on a horrorpunk compilation. "Horrorpunk", typically, is an industry term for "Misfits copy-band". Understand that I love Misfits copy bands--but the horrorpunk label applied to the Rosedales does them a real disservice, because they have a sound that is all their own. Clean, layered vocal harmonies, atmospheric arrangements, haunting lyrics, music that alternates between driving rock (mostly) and a few lush, quiet acoustic moments that are as breathtaking as they are unexpected, as in "Meet You There". And the thing is, your breath has already been taken away by the epic scope and relentless pace of the earlier numbers.

Okay, I admit it. I'm a total fan. But listen for yourself. Here's a video from one of their songs from their earlier release, Raise Your Spirits:



A ten-spot will cover the album download, and leave you a little change left. You can apply it towards the two new Misfits songs that came out last month, if you. Or if your richie aunt gave you the mega-sized download card, get the Rosedales 'Raise Your Spirits as well (less than twenty bucks for the two!); I promise you won't regret it.

Internet Sabbatical

I'll be taking a sabbatical from the internet (not a sabbatical on the internet, that would just be weird) for a couple weeks beginning on Tuesday. As I very painstakingly moderate all of the posts, none will appear until I get back no matter how many times you try. Sorry!

But if you are surfing and looking for things to do, you can check out Joe Frawley's music, which I referred to in my last blog. You can take the zombie quiz at GenDead.com. You can go buy some beautiful comic book art from my good friend Matthew Dow Smith at his blog matthewdowsmithoriginalart. A surfeit of wonders, that Internet.

See you later!

Phoebe's Playlist Part II

A few blogs ago I linked to my guest spot on Largeheartedboy.com, where I was able to write about some of the music that I listened to when I wrote Generation Dead, music that coincidentally would likely be on Phoebe's iPod. Pretty much everything in that column is uptempo, loud music. So what does Phoebe like to listen to when she's in a quiet, reflective mood? When she's pensive, thoughtful, or relaxing? (Phoebe, for the record, never "chillaxes", btw. Well, yes, she listens to that loud stuff when relaxing, but she also has moments that create a more soothing aural space. The three This Mortal Coil albums help create that space, especially the unbelievably good Filigree and Shadow, and there's an album called Space Age Freakout by Glide (Will Sergeant of Echo and the Bunnymen) that we quite like. During the editing of Kiss of Life I was introduced to a recording artist by the name of Joe Frawley, and he's recently released a CD with called Emperor of Daffodils with an ensemble that I (and thus, Phoebe) have fallen in love with.




Joe's solo work defies easy description, drawing from a number of genres and styles, usually incorporating "found sounds" to create amazing sound collages. This is music that takes you places; often to places you've likely never been.


Here's what Joe has to say about the inspiration for the album:

Artist's Statement
I came across this You Tube video- and apparently there are others like it- of a young woman doing her makeup, talking about which eyeshadows she likes, how she puts on lipstick, etc. And then people would comment back saying "you're so pretty", "that shade looks good on you". It occurred to me that a web cam functions something like a magic mirror to some people, as in: "Who's the fairest of them all?" And it wasn't just one video, she had dozens of them. A lot of the samples you hear on this project come directly from that source. This was the initial fascination, which then lead to further explorations of the idea, from slightly different angles, including the male perspective. I have always found it fascinating, for example, to watch a woman put on makeup. It's a whole world I know nothing about, and have no place in- the world of feminine beauty rituals. This is what lead to the idea of an Emperor of Daffodils (that is of narcissists- the flower in French, narcisse, is named after the mythic figure). I imagined it as a fantasy for a man to have dominion over an empire of self-loving beautiful women, a fantasy which could easily turn dark, as you can imagine. This CD has been the most strictly programmatic work I have made, and I found working within the limits of the concept to be creatively liberating. I am encouraged by the results of this recording and hope to do more collaborative work in the future. –JF


Definitely something Phoebe would want to check out. You can check it out and listen to excerpts of the music at Joe's site joefrawleymusic.info. Eight bucks gets you the new limited edition CD--only fifty made! And I have one of them, so you might need to hurry!

Phoebe's Playlist

I'm sometimes asked via posts to my blog or at book events to talk about what I like to listen to (or, even more often, what Phoebe and Margi like to listen to) when I'm writing. My usual answer--"almost anything"--may seem like a cowardly dodge, but considering that there are currently 33,422 songs on my iPod, I assure you it is a true statement.

That said, I tend to have certain things on in a heavier rotation during certain projects. I'm listening to a lot of Miles Davis and Flying Saucer Attack for something I'm working on now, for example. GD and KOL were written while under the influence of a number of specific songs and albums, and I got the chance to write about a few of them for the wonderful blog LARGEHEARTED BOY, which, in addition to reviews and news about music and literature, also has two great sections, "Book Notes" and "Note Books", featuring authors writing about songs, and songwriters writing about books, respectively.

Click the link to read about what I listened to at the start of writing the GD series--I guarantee that both Phoebe and Margi have these songs on their iPods!--but budget your time, because you are going to want to click around and read what all of the other great writers and musicians have to say about the works that inspired them.