Music In, 2023, Batch 1

Well, it's taken years decades, but I think I have developed a rhythm for processing Music In. I actually started this post when I did the "2022, Batch 4" post back in February. Writing now, May 8, I have written up all but 4 of the albums/EPs, and removed them from the "_unrated" playlist. That playlist is now 6 albums, 58 songs, 3h49m. I will listen to it, with other new albums, until the final 4 albums are ready to be written up.

• Various (First Word Records) Artists, "Two Syllables Volume Nineteen", 2022, 12 tracks, Bandcamp. I like these annual record label compilations, they are a good way to find new music. Early on after I had starting collecting music again, say ~2009, my oldest daughter Erica gifted me the Luaka Bop 10 year anniversary sampler, where I found Jim White & Os Mutantes. [That sampler "Luaka Bop 10th Anniversary: Zero Accidents on the Job: Slow Jams" came out in 2000???]

  This sampler, I've already harvested Takuya Kuroda & Kaidi Tatham from this label. This was my last acquisition of 2022, I'm going to leave it (less the 2 harvested) in "_unrated" to keep listening.

  OK, 10 weeks later, April 8, 2 new additions:

  1. Allysha Joy's latest, "Torn : Tonic", reviewed below.
  2. Werkha's latest, "All Werk Is Play", reviewed next batch.

  4 stars, but no video - that will be for the selected artists.

• Belle And Sebastian, "A Bit of Previous", 2022, 12 tracks. All these years I thought Belle And Sebastion was a female/male duo, named ... Duh. It's a 4-6 piece band, that is just the name. They are indeed Scottish. This is a good album. Very nice tunes. Reminded me of New Pornographers at times - so maybe a slightly less eclectic, more polished sound? 4 stars. Here's the last track "Working Boy in New York City".

• Bonnie Raitt, "Just Like That...", 2022, 10 tracks. Wow, at 73 YO Raitt is still in great voice, and is of course still 1 of the best slide guitar players of all time. Inspirational! Not a weak tune in the lot. 4 stars. Here's a zydeco-ish tune, "Here Comes Love Again".

• Darwin Deez, "Double Down", 2015, 11 tracks, Bandcamp. I still love the way his guitar sounds. Not sure how to describe it - I would think I should be able to describe it ... Oh well. 4 stars. Here's "Last Cigarette".

• Ella Fitzgerald & Count Basie, "Ella and Basie!", 1963, 18 tracks. There are 3 extra copies of 1 track and 2 extra copies of another, so 13 unique tracks. 6 of these are already in the Jaz Dumoz songbook:
  1. Honeysuckle Rose
  2. Dream a Little Dream of Me
  3. Tea For Two
  4. I'm Beginning to See the Light
  5. Ain't Misbehavin'
  6. On the Sunny Side of the Street
  2 songs now in process:
  1. Them There Eyes
  2. Satin Doll
  This is a bigger orchestra than I prefer, but still a nice album. 4 stars. Here's "Satin Doll".

• Jakub Zytecki, "Remind Me", 2023, 13 tracks, Bandcamp. The pride of Polish prog rock continues. This album seemed a little less guitar-oriented than the other 1 I have. I didn't care for this as much. Maybe a bit too high energy for me? 3 stars.

• RJD2, "Escape from Sweet Auburn - instrumentals", 2023, 14 tracks. I think my daughter gave me a RJD2 CD way back in the day - confirmed, she gave me the CD in 2002, blogged about in 2020. This is enjoyable listening. The drumming is definitely in the pocket. As much as I like vocals, this still gets 4 stars. Odd, 1st time he's gotten more than 3 stars. Here's "Miss Me With That Bullshit".

• David Crosby, "For Free", 2021, 10 tracks. His last album, I think recommended by the old guy in England. Very nice tunes, harmonies that recall whom you would expect: the Byrds, CSNY, etc. 1 track (not the 1 with Michael McDonald) reminded me of Steely Dan. I should probably go back and fill in his other solo work. 4 stars. Here's the title track "For Free (feat. Sarah Jarosz)" - a Joni Mitchell song off of "Ladies of the Canyon".

• The Mountain Goats, "New Asian Cinema", 1998, 5 tracks, Bandcamp. This must have been a reissue - a fact that I didn't notice? Pretty folky, including an out-of-tune banjo. 3 stars.

• Unknown Mortal Orchestra, "V", 2023, 14 tracks, Bandcamp. I liked their 2018 "Sex & Food". Good stuff coming from Down Under, New Zealand in this case. Wikipedia says they are now out of Portland OR. These songs seem more mature and catchier than that prior album. I really like this album. Even the weaker songs are fun. 4 stars. Here's the 1st track, "The Garden" - "Hold on tight, cause it's violent after dark in the garden."

• Allysha Joy, "Torn : Tonic", 2022, 10 tracks, Bandcamp. This came from the "Two Syllables Volume Nineteen" compilation discussed above. Joy is part of the "vibrant Melbourne soul & jazz scene". So Neo-Motown has moved from London to Melbourne, OZ, nice! 4 stars. Unsurprisingly, the track on the compilation album is the best. Here's "Let It!".

• Lucius, "Second Nature", 2022, 10 tracks, Bandcamp. I love the alto & soprano harmonies, but unfortunately maybe just 1 or 2x they got maybe a bit shrill. Good tunes, particularly after a few listens. 4 stars. Here's "The Man I'll Never Find" on Austin City Limits.

• Barrie, "5K", 2023, 5 tracks, Bandcamp. 3rd effort of her's I have collected. Nice, chill pop songs, right up my alley. Nice vocal harmonies. 4 stars. Here's "Unholy Appetite".

Yay, _unrated songlist is down to 28 tracks! I've started back through the BandCamp emails I have saved, I'll see what new stuff I can find. The oldest email is 2022-11-08, so, as usual, some catching up to do.

4

Man, I cannot seem to get myself to finish up the post on "Debt - The First 5,000 Years". I've done 5 chapters out of 12. I haven't worked on it since early April. I will finish it, but I think that will do it for me and Economics books? We'll see. I kind of felt I was done with dilettanting my way through Economics once I discovered MMT, but "Debt" was so compelling, I felt I had to share. Meanwhile, more SFF!

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1st & 2nd up, books 3 & 4 of Ken Liu's "The Dandelion Dynasty":

• "The Veiled Throne", 2021, 1275 pages, 346k words. Wow - hefty!
• "Speaking Bones", 2022, 1333 pages, 362k words. Double wow (bow wow wow?), even heftier!

I read the 1st book "The Grace of Kings" in 2016, blogged here - it was released in April 2015. I then forged ahead into the 2nd book "The Wall of Storms", blogged here. After getting the 3rd book, I decided to wait for the 4th to come out and then read both together. If I had realized it had been 5 years between the 2nd and 3rd, I would maybe not have waited. But, totally unsurprisingly, about 1/4 of the way through the 3rd, I was really having trouble remembering who or what the characters, factions, countries, etc. were - this is despite the book having a "cast of characters" section.

So, I found Ken Liu's email, emailed him and explained my problem, and asked him if he had a précis/summary of the 1st 2 books he could share. 17 minutes after hitting send, I received this reply:

Hi Chris,

I can send you my synopses for the first two books. Hope they help!

Ken

Attached were indeed the synopses of the 1st 2 books! FTW! Once again, I Love Living in the Future! I am going to create a tag for that!

I think though, that these multi-volume epics should, in general, include a "what has happened so far". I think Martin did it with the "Game of Thrones" novels. I just started reading the 3rd volume of an Adrian Tchaichovsky series and it starts with "The Story So Far".

As epic as the 1st 2 books were (1275 & 1014 pages), their page total is exceeded by the second 2 to the tune of 319 pages! The synopses did help me get situated, and the books were great reads. The "silk punk" tech is really cool - totally different ways to achieve technology and automation using materials I would never have imagined. A great cast of characters, who are generally rewarded for being good people.

But I have to say, I think the 1st 2 stories were better. The characters there were more archetypal, and there were fewer of them. It kind of reminded me of the 2nd 5 Zelazny Amber stories vs the 1st 5 - those are also the 2nd generation rather than the 1st, and the stories are just not as strong.

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Next up, "Homeland", by Cory Doctorow, 2013, 444 pages, 120k words. This is the sequel to Doctorow's 2008 "Litle Brother", and is followed by "Attack Surface" in 2020. I read "Attack Surface" late last year and realized I hadn't read "Homeland". This is what comes of buying paper books vs eBooks. I had been buying Doctorow's books in paper so I could pass them on to my now-former-son-in-law - gotta spread those revolutionary memes.

This is an enjoyable book. Doctorow touts his favs Burning Man and cold-brewed coffee. His prodigious output is a moving testament to heavy caffeine intake, LOL! [Note, I almost never have any caffeine, aside from coke with my bourbon when I'm out (at home I stock caffeine-free coke) - it keeps me awake at night.] I think he has talked about kettling and strategies against it and other problems with opposing The Man in large demonstrations on some of his later books.

I wish I had read all these in order. I still haven't read "Pirate Cinema", which I've owned in hardback for what, a decade now? Paper books for me now appear to be bad tech.

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Finally, I got offered (BookBub) for $1.99 "Blood Music", by Greg Bear, 1985 (expanded from an award-winning 1983 novelette), 288 pages, 78k words. I loved this when it 1st came out. It still reads really well. Really well paced, and it has aged (now 40 YO) very well. LOL, the biggest anachronisms (? is that the correct term, for an incorrectly depicted future?) had to do with smoking! Still a fabulous and quick read.