Monthly Music: KISS

I spent the last few weeks watching Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels. It brought up a yearning to sit and listen to KISS albums once I finished. It’s a funny path to my love of the band, especially since there isn’t anyone in my family that likes them. I still remember the way said, “KISS!” with a mix of amusement and “WTF!” in his voice when I got my first album. From that point on he was sure I would out grow them, which I never have. I’ve had pauses, but with as much music I have, you have to rediscover artists all the time.

Anyways, I’m getting off track. My path to KISS. I like to say it was a cheery discovery, but I don’t think I would have had the same connection to the band if I did. My whole life was almost constant teasing and bullying outside of my family. Because of it I didn’t really have friends as most people do. They were acquaintances at best, except my best friend, Pat.  Now, kindergarden through sixth grade weren’t horrible and I knew kids that would get it worse than me. But something happened come seventh grade and the start of middle school. Everything felt like it got turned up just a notch above unbearable. The teasing, peoples attitude toward me, the imposed isolation. And it got to the point where it just wore down any strength of self I had. I was depressed and at times it felt like I was close to doing something…irreversible, shall we say.

One night, when I couldn’t sleep (which was becoming more common at the time and I know now is common for people with cirrhotic livers, but this was pre-A1AD diagnoses) and my mind was wondering down that road I tried to find something on TV to distract my mind. I came across the KISS Unplugged special on MTV.  I got into it fast and it was something that I hadn’t heard much of in rock music at the time.

It was happy. This is ’95-’96. Grunge and alternative were the genre of the day, punk was starting it’s come back. It was getting emo before Emo in the rock charts. So this was something I hadn’t heard in a long time in music and it wasn’t something I was interacting with. And the happiness was infectious. I had seen a number of other Unplugged specials, this was the only one that audience enjoyed it. No canned applause, no “sit and ponder” silence during the song. It was alive (pun not intended)!

And something about all that just made things click in my head. That there was more out there that would make me that happy someday. Since then, KISS has been that band that I can always go to and just be remembered and inspired to go do great things, things that make me happy. ‘Cause in the end, we can only make ourselves happy because we are the only ones that can deny ourselves happiness.

Monthly Music: Nostrildamus

This is the first of a monthly series where I talk about the music that is inspiring what I’m writing. Stories have always be connected to music since the first bards, skalds, and scops ventured out telling the epic tales to song. It also has a deeper connection for me because of my equal love of music and from my majoring in it as well as writing. For me, when I start of writing a story, it will easily succeed or fail if I find the right music for the story. They become almost reference points for me when I feel myself going astray. So I thought I would give you the music I’m using for my current work in progress, Nostrildamus.

The first musical choice I make is atmosphere. So, if you were dropped into the world of the story you would be hearing these song in your head constantly. For Nostrildamus, I’m going with The Alan Parsons Project’s Definitive Collection. This came about serendipitously. Way back when did my post describing the various characters, “Eye In The Sky” popped up on my Last.FM when I was writing up Mimir’s description. I started listening to more and more APP and found theme songs for a few characters and the over all style just fit with story.

Can't find the version I have anywhere, sorry.

The next choice I make is to define the main character. Most people can instant tell you their top three artists or bands of all time, after that they can get wishy washy with there choices. So I do that with all my main characters. I put my iTunes on and see what speaks to the character and I’m developing him. The very first on that came up was Electric Light Orchestra. Now that came about before the pick of APP, but it seems fitting that these two are involved. Both British Prog Rock bands creating and performing around the same time. But where APP being very tied to concept albums and the interconnectivity of songs and a sort of meta-music, which perfect for atmosphere, ELO is just good-old, fun rock that you can see a person turn listening and having a good time. Plus, I watched the episode of Doctor Who called, “Love & Monsters” where the main character is not the Doctor, but bit of a dweeby guy that loved ELO. As Nostrildamus evolved in my mind I realized that there were traits they both shared, and for me were connected to that love of ELO.

The next character builder is The Cranberries, specifically Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We. I have Nostrildamus as a comic artist and cartoonist and this album, of their first three, is the one that seemed most fitting to be something that he would put on as he worked. His age isn’t that far off from mine, so his “music discovery” years would be heavily influenced by alternative music of the 90′s. Plus, I think he would have had a crush on Dolores O’Riordan.

Finally, we have the final piece, Wasting Light by the Foo Fighters. Partly I picked it because it is the most recent of the albums, but also, for me, it reminds me of the very first first album, only very matured and skilled. And the band also just fit with both the idea of Nostrildamus as a concept. The Foo Fighters always have songs with meaning behind them, with humorous videos that draw the audience in. That is the same thing that a humorous story does, like this one.

Cellos Rock!

I love stuff like this. Just watch and enjoy!

The Deal With Born This Way

Doesn't she look like a blow up doll here?

As a music major, my taste in music is very large. I like almost all of it, the only exception come into rap and country where I’m really picky about, most of that is due to not having the same exposure as I do with classical, rock, pop, jazz, r&b, blues, metal, and electronic. But that’s for another time to get into. Suffice it to say, I’ve enjoyed Lady Gaga since I checked her out just before The Fame Monster came out. Now I’m not a Little Monster or anything like that, my membership in the KISS Army is unyielding. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say my head bobs when some of her songs come on and they can get stuck in my heads. There was a lot build up to the release of Born This Way, especially with the release of the title track as a single. Since then, division lines have been drawn and you either love it or you hate. Or at least that’s true with reporters, bloggers, and the many comments on articles and posts.

If anything, that made have to listen to the album just to figure out why the mushy gray area isn’t there. I’ve listen to it twice through and I think I know what it is. Whether purposefully or accidental, Lady Gaga has made a concept album. And here is the problem with concept albums: If they aren’t mind-shattering new, in even aspect of music, they become love ‘em or hate ‘em albums.

Most of the album does reflect  the theme of the song, “Born This Way.” Some are overt, like “Hair,” “Bad Kids,” and “The Queen,” and others are more subtle in the lyrics like “Government Hooker” and “Americano.” Others are tied by just repeated lyrics, usually “I was born this way,” that, if excluded, you wouldn’t necessarily tie-in. And it doesn’t just stop at lyrics and themes. As mainly a dance musician, it’s not uncommon to hear similar sounds on an album. Thought usually there is more of a mix up of sounds on an album: 1.) for variety’s sake, and 2.) most dance music is heavily electronic and you have so many options to work with. The fact that there are as many similar, if not identical, is that she is tying in the even some of the out lying songs into the themes of the album. After those two things, I think there is only two songs that I wouldn’t meld, but then Iron Maiden’s Seventh Son of a Seventh Son has something like three outlying songs (great album by the way, definitely a good starting point for the non metal heads but interested in the band.)

I’m not going to say whether it’s good or bad, enough people are saying that already. What I will say is that when or if you listen to it, don’t go in thinking it is like nearly every album out there where for most part, all songs are supposed be separate entities. These songs are threaded together and while some songs will be great hits for Gaga (I predict now that “The Edge of Glory” will be the credits track of a romantic comedy in the next two years) some of those songs need to be listened to along with the others and album has to be listened to, not the songs.

Where Did The Week Go And Why Wasn’t I Invited?

picture from Ferrell McCollough

Well, it has been quite a week. Lot’s of things to get to and recap.

First, Eldritch Thoughts is fairing well so far, already getting people following on both Twitter and Tumblr. The padding of what I did previously has been a great help. Plus, looking them over has sparked new ideas that I’m adding to the stable.

Women In Horror Recognition Month has started off strong at The Non-Horror Reader Survey with a Spotlight on The Language of Dying by Sarah Pinborough (yes, for those wondering, it is a pared down version of my review here) and an interview with the wonderful Jodi Lee, Editor in Chief of Belfire Press and The New Bedlam Project. There are some great answers there, so I’d check it out. And if you haven’t taken the survey yet, there is no better time than now!

The rest of February will be more Book Spotlights of other women writers, including Angeline Hawkes, Mary SanGiovanni, and possibly one if we have time. March is already starting to form up and it looks like April will be filled pretty full as I help promote Many Genres, One Craft, a new book on writing popular fiction written by alums and mentors of the Seton Hill University Writing Popular Fiction program. If you want an interview or do a guest post on NHRS, just send me a message on the site’s contact page. March still has openings and after April is wide open.

That’s the good news. The bad is that “Witches’ Brooms” is still looking for a place to call home. I’ll probably put it aside for a bit and then go back to it, see if I can tighten it up better. In the mean time, I’m going to finish a story I completely don’t remember starting. It is possibly a memory that was lost as result of the coma. “Every Cell” is going to be an interesting one and it took me a while to find the real conflict in it. Until know it was just an overly described idea. I’m hoping to have it done for submission to Horror Library vol. 5.

It is not the only project that I have going. There are two others, one definite and one possible. I don’t want to say much about the latter until I present my proposals and get a response back. The definite one is my secret “Project 10.” This is an idea that I have had for a while now, and it is possibly one of the most challenging ideas I’ve come up with. It probably won’t even have a word written for it for at least a year, because there is a lot I want to research before diving into it. I’m starting right now at looking at various densely layered stories and analyzing them, both TV and literature. The first one I’m looking at is 24, because no matter what you think of the show, you can’t deny the they brilliance of the plotting through that entire series.

Before I let you go, Valentine’s is coming up. A while ago, I used to make mixes for friends to use during the holiday, and I started it up again. So, for the couples out there, take a look at Valentine’s Day 2011: Somebody’s Somebody. For the first time this year, I decided to make one for the single people too. I know all to well how much it suck to be single on Valentine’s, so I made mix so single people can be pumped to make this year the Year of the Singles. Check out Valentine’s For Singles 2011. Both Tumblr posts are also link to the playlist on iTunes, though it didn’t have all the songs I used (which I note in the posts). Hope you all enjoy them.

That’s all for now. I wish you all a great weekend and Valentine’s Day. Mine will be filled with doctors appointments to figure out why me legs still don’t work.