Random shot!

 

Mount Tamalpais, Marin County. Shot from downtown Corte Madera ca. 2018. A very mysterious mountain.

Sounding the Deep-A Union According to Energy; Sonic Meditations Records 2010

 

A Union According to Energy, the 2010 CD from Sounding the Deep has been in kind of a heavy rotation with Disaster Amnesiac for a couple of weeks now. Recall purchasing it way back then and wanting to enthuse about it, but for some reason that never happened. I came across the disc in the "S" box when looking for some Slayer to be pummeled by. That pummeling did indeed occur, but soon afterward A Union According to Energy was played, and its gorgeous guitar tones just had to be noted here. Six string man David Williams concocted lots of really lovely and fascinating sound from his electric guitar and amplifier. At times during listening to the disc, Disaster Amnesiac has thought that he pulled pretty much Electronic Music sounds from his rig. Realize that the electric guitar is inherently an electronic instrument, of course, but seek out and find this album and I'm sure you'll get my drift. Along with that abstraction, Williams played lovely, pastoral, spacious chord progressions as well; his techniques on the guitar are notable for their creativity and vision. I've seen online that Sounding the Deep morphed into a mostly all-acoustic configuration, and totally understand why. Williams, judging from his music, must be very inclined to go deep into the sound world of his chosen instrument, and guitarists often seem to turn to the acoustic side in order to get to those desired zones. The electric version of Sounding the Deep, and its guitar performances, are no doubt imbued with a deepness of hearing, too. Also great to hear is the sparse, considered drumming of Mike Vera. He utilizes a playing style which isolates selected pieces of the drum kit and really digs in within limited parameters as such. This gives rhythmic and percussive-tonal framing to the guitar sounds, but never gets in their way. A really creative way to approach percussive performance, and admirable in its humility. Vera never bashes through any of the pieces. He lets them develop, free from a lot of the controlling impulse that often besets drummers. Mention must also be made of the audio engineering from one Jamaj. Great tonal/sound capture throughout the entirety of this seven piece album. And that cover art, too! An alluring listen throughout A Union According to Energy is pretty much guaranteed for any fan of spacious guitar-centered meditation sounds.

Greg Walls-Walls of Sound; via Amazon streaming, 2022

 

Walls of Sound, the 2022 EP length release from Greg Walls came into Disaster Amnesiac's view by way of a YouTube clip. In said clip, Walls explained how he was present for the initial formation of Anthrax, and about how his contribution, so vital to the early music of the long running Thrash Metal group, has been obfuscated and ignored. At times during its sixteen minutes and change duration, this clip is punctuated by some very noisy and creative guitar sounds from Walls. Additionally, Greg astutely mentioned that Walls of Sound could be heard online. Naturally, I had to check these sounds out. What one finds on Walls is five well constructed Heavy Metal songs, ones that feature plenty of in your face guitar riffage and soloing. These sounds are supported by solid mid-tempo drumming, very non-Thrash in performance from all of the rhythm section parts, and classic Heavy Metal singing. Walls of Sound is proudly Heavy Metal in its delivery; it's a release that would likely please fans of the genre in its sincerity of formulation and performance. Disaster Amnesiac must opine that it's an improvement upon Fistful of Metal, the album that Greg Walls insists that he wrote mostly on his own, for the burgeoning Anthrax. That album was quite confusing to the adolescent Heavy Metal fan that I was at the time of its release. Walls of Sound is not confusing. Its point of view is very clear and that makes it rock. Stream it over at Amazon, it's a release that deserves some attention from attentive listeners of that most pure of genres, Heavy Metal. Greg Walls was on the ground floor of the initial wave of its American wing, and it'd be a shame for his musical contributions to be ignored and possibly obfuscated for too much longer.

Random shot!

 

 

Twentynine Palms CA; 4/5/2024. Don't tell a soul.

Live shot #112!

 

The Beths at 191 Toole, Tucson AZ 4/17/2024. 

A New Zealand guitar Pop band with a drummer that has the perfect touch for their compositions and harmony singing. This group knows exactly what they're doing, and they have a rabid following in Tucson. People were ecstatically singing along. Pretty major deal music for a big slice of the popular music demographic I'd say. Tickets for Mr. and Mrs. Amnesiac courtesy of KXCI. Real music for real people is their motto. I like this town.

Nora Keyes-Fancy Space People; 2023 via Amazon Music

 

How in the heck did it go down like this? Disaster Amnesiac is sure that I've seen Fancy Space People, the band, play live once. Definitely have purchased some physical product from same. It boggles the imagination as to what behind the scenes machinations transpired in order to make this music find what seems to be its final release in the form of Fancy Space People by Nora Keyes. Not that Disaster Amnesiac is complaining. Certainly not. How could a person complain when Keyes is at the mic, her fantastic soprano massaging the forebrain like some exquisite psychic balm? It's a voice that I've loved for many years now. Hell, it's tough to think back to 2006 or so, the first time that I heard Frankenstein (two versions included here!) and realize just how much time has transpired. Dude, Disaster Amnesiac was in my thirties the first time that song destroyed my consciousness! Here I am at 53 and the damn thing is kind of a new release! These are strange, strange times indeed, fancy space people and earthling compatriots. Fancy Space People features all kinds of compelling musical twists and turns: the Sunshine Pop of Candy, groovy Power Pop on Bongo's Key of Love, the sublime Los Angeles Psych of Frankenstein, Jimmy and Pyramids and straight up Boogie on Superet Light. Keyes was very astute in keeping those original performances for this full length. Fancy Space People the band were hot, hot stuff, featuring the deep talents of several inspired and inspiring musicians, and their playing is all over Fancy Space People. Added to Keyes singular lyrical vision and completely unique vocal delivery, it makes for a recording that Disaster Amnesiac knows will be played very often at mi casita de Tucson. I just really wish that I could be privy to the back story as to how it's taken this form, so unexpected to me. Still, what a nice surprise!

I went to Wonder Valley Experimental Music Festival and saw God.

 

And goddesses. And saints. And sinners. Pretty sure Queztalcuatl also touched my forehead. Beams hitting third eyes. Gorgeous early April Mojave day time sun. Like perfect. Hail fellows well met, yes, it's a lovely day for a hike. Interact with the desert. Let it speak its language, so subtle yet so attainable, to you. Careful with that wind gust, Eugene. Well at least you've got hiking boots on. 

Spent two days driving, one half day hiking and the other half listening to many Experimental Music projects. Most of them from the Los Angeles area, a handful from the San Francisco Bay Area. A wide array of sounds heard. Each has their recognizable dynamics and codes and subtexts ("your Hanatarashi t-shirt tells me things, as does that other act's singing bowl). I flashed again on how Noise and Experimental musics are truly Folk Forms of the most vital sort. During the drive over to Twentynine Palms, I listened to  earlier Folk music on a disc of songs by anthracite miners. It's on Folkways, go and find it, very much worth a spin or seven. A lot of peoples' worldly concerns are the same now as when they were when they were miners. Totally different granular details in most cases, I get it. But, still, people are out in the world making decisions, some of them very complicated in any number of manner. Some of these people will turn to sound making, just as those that came before them had chosen. Damn straight, it's a human need. A lot of us need it to cope with the rest of it all. Who knows, maybe it is all a distraction from more pressing concerns as we navigate our subjective mortal passage. Still, a lot of us choose to remain within its thrall, if thralls are what use distractions to ensnare the human consciousness. And would you believe that Disaster Amnesiac just spelled that word without a spell check? It's God's truth. Turning back to the need for cope, and how people often use music as a means for doing such, I still posit that Noise is a living Folk Form. Don't know if it's the last or the penultimate (thinking about Apocalypse porn here, and what will post-Apocalyptic people use for music makers?) Disaster Amnesiac does know that I saw and lot of cool weirdos and listened to their music at the Palms Restaurant in Twentynine Palms on an early April day and evening. 

If you've read this far: y'all should go over there next year. If you see me there, let's talk about ontology or whatever subject that you're feeling at that time.

Live shot #111!

 

Pianist and composer Andrew Jamieson, Berkeley Arts Festival Building, Berkeley CA 2015.

Random shot!

 

Li-Po Lounge, San Francisco CA circa 2018.