I live!

Damn, it’s been a month! My approximately tri-weekly posts disappeared for a full month. Why is that, you ask? Well, pretty much for the same reasons as last month’s post: moving, becoming acquainted with a new city, etc. etc.

Odd musical obsession for the week: Spiral Architect’s A Sceptic’s Universe has continuously found it’s way into my various CD players after months of absence. As someone that doesn’t much care for metal (prog or otherwise), it’s odd to enjoy an album like this one as much as I do. Things that would normally bother me, like the lead singer’s occasional (well, maybe a little more regular than occasional) screetches and howls, don’t really phase me on this record. The mixing job on this album is something that I specifically like. The bass is mixed up-front and cleanly, and thus doesn’t get lost behind the rhythm guitar wall-of-sound (something that seems to happen on a number of metal albums - I don’t know the last time that I specifically heard John Myung in a non-bass-solo part). Maybe the bass up-front mixing would be considered amateurish by some seasoned studio wizards. All I can say for sure is that I find it preferable to the more typical “where’s the bass? It’s in there!” metal productions.

I can not sing. However, that never seems to stop me from trying.

King Crimson’s The Nightwatch 2CD live set has been a regular in my stereos as well. I sure do enjoy a lot of the Starless & Bible Black material sans-overdubs.

I want a cello. Maybe when I find a job and begin earning some money, I might buy myself one.

Everyone’s copy of NHL 2001 should have the Alamaailman Vasarat “dittie” that I have customized in my own. Only in my virtual NHL arenas can one hear Vasarat, Ratt, Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, Whitesnake, Kenso, Quiet Riot, Deus Ex Machina, and Night Ranger in the span of a few minutes.

“Motoring! What’s your price for flight?”

If I were granted only one wish from a magic genie, I would use it to secure my financial future for life and for the lives of my future offspring (and their reproductive achievements, and so on). But if I had TWO wishes, I would use the second one to get a lock of Steve Wilson’s hair!

I bought the new remaster of Leftoverture by Kansas. The quality is good, but the disc raises a complaint about the inclusion of bonus tracks. Now, while I am usually a strong “bonus track advocate”, the two lackluster live tunes that have been grafted to the end of this rather nice album really rub me the wrong way. I mean, they bite. The vocal performances bring tears of pain to my eyes, and the eyes of anyone within earshot. Certainly not all live Kansas could have been this poor? Surely someone has soundboard tapes of really good performances locked away somewhere. These selections sound as if those responsible for the CD’s production just grabbed the nearest Kansas live tape and ran with it.

“Cum on feel the noize! Girls rock your boyz!”

“vox estote Vos: principes muti eae com sint, leges vos loquentes. Eis ex principiis perpetuis omnes homimum easus et actiones dirigenda!”

I was going to type more, but NHL 2001 calls to me.