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Nick McCabe recommended Halloween by John Carpenter in Music (curated)

 
Halloween by John Carpenter
Halloween by John Carpenter
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I grew up in the seventies – the era of the video nasty. My friend had Betamax, while we had VHS, but it seemed like Betamax had all the best horror movies. That was the time when I got exposed to quite a lot of electronic music. I was going to chuck in A Clockwork Orange's soundtrack too. It was 'Timesteps' on that that made the big impression. That and Holst's The Planets. I started to enjoy being frightened by music. My partner at the moment really doesn't understand that. She's a real soul and R&B fanatic. She doesn't get the fact that music's got to scare you. The Halloween soundtrack gives me a knot in my stomach… that's become a mark of quality for me in music over the years. Unless it's IBS [chuckles]. It's the tension. Quite a lot of my descriptions of music have little tags like ""nosebleed"". Music can induce a very physical response. I developed this theory that music was analogous to physical activity. Like sneezing; something as simple as that. It mirrors the rhythms of the body. A couple of years back I got Phantasm on DVD and the music on that had a similar effect. It's clear to me now, looking back after years and years of being a music fan, that John Carpenter's stuff in general opened up another field of things I enjoyed in music. The whole krautrock thing. There's a huge element of fear in that. And John Carpenter's work on Escape From New York… that dense, heavy atmosphere. He was consistently brilliant up until about 1988 when the novelty of synthesisers wore off. They became a kind of cheesy thing. But during that era, there wasn't that kitschy element to electronic music – it was genuinely seen as otherworldly and that still comes through to this day. The best of it transcends that kitsch vibe. Like Computer World by Kraftwerk. That sounds more modern and harder than most of the electronic music being made today. It seems weird to me really – to put this ironic slant on something that still works."

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Squared Away (Out of Uniform #5)
Squared Away (Out of Uniform #5)
Annabeth Albert | 2018 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Squared Away (Out of Uniform #5) by Annabeth Albert
Squared Away is the fifth book in the Out of Uniform series, but can be read as a standalone, as I did. However, I must say that now I have found out what an exceptional writer Annabeth Albert is, it won't be the last book of hers I read!

Isaiah is a bit of a 'flirt', and at eighteen he decides he is going to lose his V-card to a SEAL at his brother's wedding. However Mark, the SEAL, isn't interested in just being 'someone' to sleep with, and so tells Isaiah he isn't gay or interested. He then manages to avoid Isaiah for the next five years, although he still hears about Isaiah's exploits. Trust me, he is no longer a card-carrying member! These two get thrown together by tragedy, and are both left in charge of three children. This story revolves around the decisions they make, and how they learn to love and live together, whilst loving three mini-humans who demand so much time.

Squared Away is a complex love story that goes so slow it is completely and utterly scintillating. I wondered how it would work with Isaiah's reputation, but it was simply amazing. Yes, his reputation bites him in the ass, but with Mark, he goes slow - and it is beautiful. There are reasons for this as Mark is demisexual. We find out exactly what this means for Mark, and the struggles he has, both with it and with being scared to want more with Isaiah. Oh man, this is so good. I mean, seriously! The chemistry between these two melted my kindle, and I loved every word. It is heart-breaking, it is beautiful.

With no editing or grammatical errors that I noticed, Squared Away is an exceptional story, told by a brilliant author. Her style of writing is realistic, with plenty of complex emotions and situations. Life doesn't always go smoothly, but it can be worth the effort you put in to a difficult situation. Absolutely amazing, and I am now putting more books by this author on my T-B-R list! You'd be a fool not to read this one.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
WF
Wilde's Fire (Darkness Falls, #1)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
WOW! My reading list recently has comprised of paranormal (romance or otherwise) and contemporary romance, so I decided to go back to my first love and read a fantasy book that had been on my t-b-r list for nearly a year. WHY did I wait so long to read this? This is fantasy as it's best. I was hooked in from the start and am now desperate to read the next two in this trilogy. How would you react if you meet the man you've been dreaming of for the past 6 years? Throw on top of that that you're in a whole new world with new rules and new... erm... demons!

Kate is a good main female. She is strong and independent but also has her close circle of her sister and her BFF, Brad. She accepts the new world quite well but does have a minor breakdown when things start becoming clear. To be honest, I don't blame her at all. Even with Arland to soften the blow, she's dealing with a lot and she doesn't even know how Arland feels for her. Flanna joins Kate's close circle as her friend and confidante and helps ease some of the transfer over. Kate is very impressive with a sword even though she has no training but she can't shoot an arrow to save her life! It's nice to have a main female that isn't perfect at everything!

Arland is wonderful. He is doing everything he can to protect Kate from things that she is not even aware of yet. He is proud of her and is already having feelings for her. But there is a lot of pressure on him as the leader of the Watchers Hall and also with undercurrents of power.

The ending is so in tune with the rest of the book. This book does not follow the 'normal' set pattern and instead breaks a new trend within it's pages. I thought the ending finished this book and set up the next book brilliantly. It gives you an idea of what Kate is up against and why. Now I need to read the second book to see 'how'. I loved this book and will definitely be reading the next two. Highly recommended.