Smashbomb

"For the rest of these songs we’re closer to now. My Father-in-law introduced me to this, he’s not a musician by trade but he grew up in the hippy era and was really into blues. He has all of these reference points, music that went totally over the head of my generation. The reference points from that period for my generation are a totally different set of people, Jimi Hendrix or music that even my Father-in-law didn’t know at the time, like the Jim Sullivan record that people are digging out as an undiscovered gem. “I would never have discovered Charlie Musselwhite but for my Father-in-law. He was excited that I was a musician and we could hang out and talk about records, sometimes it doesn’t work and his taste will veer in directions that I totally can’t get into, but he’s introduced me to some great music that I love, like Professor Longhair records. ""I heard this in 2009, after Veckatimest and it was really striking because it’s so straight-up and straightforward. It’s the most minimal 6/8 blues tune and it’s very simple, the drums, organ and guitar line don’t change, the harmonica does the melody and a simple solo and that’s it. There’s these beautiful little contained elements, all the sounds are super lush and it’s another kind of subtlety, the attention to tone is so specific. It’s really elegant and hip, but in a totally different realm, a blues perspective from a totally different era, it’s like what Beach House would have been if they were a blues band in 1962. “It’s not trying to do anything revolutionary, it’s just exactly what it is, great playing without trying to be great playing. It’s so personal and visceral and sometimes you really need that sort of music. It’s the simplicity and soulfulness, it’s so minimal and especially going into Shields we started talking about that more and more, having that sense of space"

Source

Kudos

Rufus Wainwright recommended Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys in Music (curated)

Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys

1966 | Psychedelic

8.8

(19 Ratings)

Album Favorite

"For me, this is very much a hallmark of where I was able fit in musically in my career. When I started out I was in Montreal, but went to New York periodically and failed miserably with what I was trying to do. It was right at the time that Jeff Buckley was on the rise, and grunge, and that whole movement was incredibly heterosexual, incredibly nihilistic, incredibly guitar-based and very, very dark. I admired it, I'm not against that, but when I was dropped into that equation I was this gay piano-playing opera queen who wanted to be romantic and harken back to other more refined eras. What I was trying to do just didn't make any sense in New York. People would often try to categorise me and say I was cabaret or that I should be doing Broadway. It was very complicated and I never figured it out. Then I was signed to Dreamworks, by Lenny Waronker – whom I believe helped make Pet Sounds. I went to Los Angeles and suddenly realised that I was definitely more part of the Brian Wilson tradition. Whether it was him or Randy Newman or Van Dyke Parks or Harry Nilsson, there was a kind of spot that I could fit into. So I listened a lot to Pet Sounds. You can hear it somewhat on my new album, songs like the last track 'Alone Time', but all through my career there's been a real concentration on harmonies and interesting chord changes and a dreamlike quality. I was able to find my niche through that tradition, as opposed to the East Coast. I have a lot to thank Brian Wilson for, he allowed me to inhabit my world comfortably, as opposed to when I was in New York and I was a total anathema to what was happening there. I can't say that I listened to the album obsessively or that I'm obsessed with him and know all his work, but I definitely feel I am a Wilsonite."

Source

Kudos

Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Beauty from Pain (Beauty, #1) in Books

Oct 14, 2019

Beauty from Pain (Beauty, #1)

Georgia Cates | 2013 | Contemporary, Romance

6.7

(3 Ratings)

Book Rating

Well this is a backburner book (#1 on my to-read on Goodreads), having been on my Kindle since some time in January 2014 when it was released. I think I've put off reading it simply because of the "erotica" label it had on Goodreads. It wasn't exactly erotica, though. Yeah, they had quite a lot of sex but there was a romance to it, too.

So this starts with Laurelyn arriving in Australia with her best friend to spend time with her best friends brother for three months as he studies wine making there. On the first night they head out to a bar and take part in an...open mic night? Laurelyn sings and plays the guitar (I think) and attracts the attention of Jack, a man looking for his next lover. Instead of the usual week/month, he plans to spend three months with his next bed fellow, giving her whatever she wishes for and making her feel special. Laurelyn catches his attention and he plans to seduce her into agreeing to his arrangement.

I guess if I was on the receiving end of an attractive rich guy wanting to spend three months with me, getting to know me and spending a lot of that time in bed, I'd enjoy it, too, but I have to admit I got a little bored with this. It was taking a little too long to get where it was going and I skipped entire sex scenes. The books 271 pages felt more like 500.

It had a rather promising start, apart from the slightly stalkerish behaviour of Jack as he tried to meet Laurelyn again, and I enjoyed the slow seduction and how he treated her. But then I didn't really see the relationship grow as such. It didn't work for me, personally.

By the end, I wasn't all that bothered about what was going to happen next with the characters so I won't be continuing the series.