from Harvey Dog’s Carnival – Nov. 20th, 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
What are my interests? As indicated by the title of the blog, my obsessive interest is music. I also want the freedom to write about depression, as I have struggled with this ailment all my life. So, occasionally, 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
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.
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.
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.
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
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 masturbating 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
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
Notes & Hindsight
- Well…where to begin? haha
- The start of regaining my creativity after a mental breakdown & medication had stifled my ability to write.
- Oh man – my first post and I actually wrote about being shitfaced at a John Cale show & flirting with a prostitute named Candy. That is true.
- My opinion of the music I wrote about remains the same to this day. Love all 3 albums!