Sunday, November 20, 2005

The First Post Finally Appears


Well, the talk has finally stopped. I have been threatening for a number of months to start my own blog, and become one of the millions in cyberspace babbling about their interests. Finally, that day has arrived.

What are my interests? As indicated by the title of the blog, my obssessive interest is music. I also want the freedom to write about depression, as I have struggled with this ailment all my life. So, occassionally, I may write about how shitty I feel, or the feelings I'm struggling with, and the rest of the fun stuff that goes along with depression, stress and anxiety. My purpose in this? The hope that someone with depression reads one of my depression posts, and something in it clicks with the way they're feeling, and maybe, just maybe, it can aid them on their journey. You never know what will help a person with depression.

OK. The main focus of this blog is music, and when I write about depression, that will be indicated in the title, so those who aren't interested in depression can bypass those posts. I may even start a separate blog for depression; but, I finally started this one, so maybe I should slow down and actually write some posts!

I'm not sure how this blog will develop, or where it's headed....and that's the exciting part for me. I think I'll start this blog off with some random thoughts.
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My friend Randy supplied quite a number of classic krautrock albums to my collection (amongst tons of others. Thanks Randy!), that I was sorely lacking. Can, Amon Duul I & II, Faust, Neu!, Cluster, Harmonia, Kraftwerk, Brainticket, Guru Guru and so on. I'm currently listening to Neu! 1975 and I love it. The quality that strikes me about these groups, is how creative they are. No matter how primitive the equipment, the enthusiasm shines through. Question: How much charm (if any) has been lost with the improvement in equipment? Sounds like a future essay.
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John Cale-Terry Riley: Church of Anthrax (1971) For some reason I always thought this was an electronic, classical kind of album. Never heard it, just read the reviews. Then I got a copy from Randy (thanks again man) and I think it sounds fantastic. Rather jazzy. Probably a ***1/2 rather than the 2 or so it usually gets. I saw John Cale live in Toronto at Larry's Hideaway, around the 1983-1984 period, and I was so fucking drunk I was at the back flirting with a girl named Candy (no, really), unsuccessfully I might add (I think she had some "rounds" to make), then ended up closer to the stage and I believe I shouted out a heckle whereupon Mr. Cale most appropriately put me down, so I proceeded to sulk and get even more childish. Ah, the good old days.
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Amon Duul II: Wolf City (1972) I can't believe I went so long before getting this music. I'd heard of all the big krautrock bands (Can, Faust, Amon Duul etc.), but they were difficult to find, and I'd really only had listened to 30 second snippets on AllMusic, which is NOT the same thing. Green Bubble Raincoated Men is currently playing and this album is beautiful. I love Renate Knaup-Kroetenschwanz' voice......a few puffs and coughs later and I'm really getting into this album. Love It. Did I already say that?
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Neil Young: Journey Through the Past (1972) As you can see, I have gone to a "here's what I'm listening to...my inane comments follow" kind of style for my first post. I must remember not to fall into predictability.

When I was a lonely masterbating drunk, I used to play side 1 over and over. I loved the segues. For What It's Worth / Mr. Soul and Find the Cost of Freedom / Ohio....absolutely rocked. And they still do. And Side 2 is pretty great too. Southern Man and Alabama are fantastic. Words is pretty good. Side 4's pretty fucked up, but interesting once in awhile. So, why do the critics kill this album? It's still not available on cd. I grabbed my copy (My second. The first I sold for beer money 20 years ago) from Rock Your World. If you're ever in Prince George, check out Rock Your World. Great collection of lps. * Plug over *. Anyway, I think this is a **** album, and when you're a lonely masterbating drunk like I was, it's a ***** for the first 2 sides anyway.
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Tammy just walked into the room and asked for a cd by the "I'm Gonna Get Me A Gun" guy. This is how Cat Stevens is remembered if you've ever seen an 18 year old Cat Stevens jocularly sing "I'm Gonna Get Me A Gun". Try to check it out. It's on "The Singer and the Song" dvd I got at a very evil place.
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