#Duke Garwood

[rastronomicals]

3:11 PM EDT September 7, 2024:

Duke Garwood - "Night Flight" From the album Physical Graffiti Redrawn (April 2015)

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last.fm

Full length cover of the album you'd think, given away with the April 2015 issue of Mojo.

[allthatiknowisthatiknownothing]

“Ghosts will dwell within me forever more.

It's something lonelier,

Something lonelier,

Something lonelier than death.”

- Mark Lanegan and Duke Garwood, “One Way Glass”

[hellishjoel]

2024 Favorites ✨

thank you for the tag @guiltyasdave! I'm also adding section for tv shows because I watched so many new ones that I loved!

books (I didn't read as many books as I had planned this year, so here's a list of things I'm currently reading and an old favorite I read in middle school and refound!)

fleabag: the scriptures (2019) by phoebe waller-bridge

christmas in coconut creek (2023) by karissa kinwood

lightlark (2023) by alex aster

the duke and I: the bridgertons (2000) by julia quinn

a girl named summer (1986) by julie garwood

movies

challengers (2024) dir. luca guadagnino

twisters (2024) dir. lee isaac chung

the family stone (2005) dir. thomas bezucha

top gun: maverick (2022) dir. joseph kosinski

triple frontier (2019) dir. j.c. chandor

tv shows

rivals season 1 (2024)

love island usa season 6 (2024)

the sex lives of college girls season 3 (2024)

house of the dragon season 2 (2024)

killing eve (2018-2022)

albums

the tortured poets department (2024) by taylor swift

hit me hard and soft (2024) by billie eilish

short n' sweet (2024) by sabrina carpenter

brat (2024) by charlie xcx

take me back to eden (2023) by sleep token

npt (sorry if you've already been tagged ily): @devineconjuring @arcanefox207 @perotovar @frannyzooey @jolapeno @amanitacowboy @sweetercalypso @almostfoxglove @coquettepascal @evolnoomym @goodwithcheese @hauntedhowlett @iknowisoundcrazy @javiscigarette @katiexpunk @luxurychristmaspudding @murder-wife @chaotic-mystery @pedgito @ozarkthedog @penvisions @sp00kymulderr @thetriumphantpanda @wheresarizona @wildemaven @yxtkiwiyxt

[mermaidsirennikita]

Hello! Do you know of any historical romances where the couple gets married and only fall in love later? Thank you!

Yep!

Never Seduce a Scot by Maya Banks is a medieval in which the hero and heroine are betrothed to end a feud between their families. She's deaf and nobody really knows this, so he assumes she can't consent and sort of resigns himself to a sexless marriage, whereas she very much wants a NOT sexless marriage.

The Chief by Monica McCarty. The hero and heroine are sort of forced into a marriage situation (her dad tricks the hero into having sex with her, basically) and only fall in love after they marry—he's rather determined to cold shoulder her.

Untamed by Elizabeth Lowell has the marriage occur to solidify the hero's defeat of the heroine's father, and he really only wants an heir. Untiiiiiiil he wants more

The Bride by Julie Garwood. Scottish border marriage arrangement, they don't know each other at all when they initially marry.

The Courtesan Duchess by Joanna Shupe. The hero and heroine married for financial reasons, and he leaves her without consummating the marriage. Six years later, she needs his heir, and she disguises herself as a courtesan to seduce him and get pregnant.

Prince of Dreams by Lisa Kleypas has the hero essentially manipulate the heroine into marrying him because he wants her, but the actual emotional intimacy doesn't occur until after their marriage.

The Music of Love by S.M. LaViolette has the heroine arrive as the hero's music teacher. They're super attracted to each other, so they give in to meaningless sex a couple times pretty quickly, but she ends up pregnant so he marries her out of duty. They only fall in love after.

Phoebe by S.M. LaViolette has the heroine marry the wealthy hero in order to secure her family's future. They don't know each other well when they marry, but fall in love after.

Scandal's Bride by Stephanie Laurens has the hero and heroine hook up shortly after they meet (long story short, she drugs him initially because her goddess says he's meant to father her children; he figures it out after the first go and pretends to be drugged for the others to figure out what the fuck she's doing and because he likes 'em crazy) but he then blackmails her into marrying him. They fall in love after the wedding (and a ton of sex).

Fiona and The Enigmatic Earl by Grace Callaway has the hero and heroine marry for pure convenience, only falling in love after.

The Truth About Cads and Dukes by Elisa Braden has the stern hero step up to marry the heroine after his brother compromises her (not in a sexual way, but basically by putting her in a situation that looks bad) and they marry as virtual strangers before falling in love.

When the Earl Met His Match by Stacy Reid. The heroine is pregnant by another man and marries the hero because her parents are attempting to take her baby and give it to a baby farm (a really bad thing). The hero was basically her penpal, and he agrees to raise the baby as his own. They only become romantic well after the wedding.

Wicked in His Arms by Stacy Reid. The hero and heroine don't like each other, but hook up in a closet and get caught, which leads to a marriage of convenience. The falling in love part comes after the wedding.

A Caribbean Heiress in Paris by Adriana Herrera. The hero and heroine are definitely super attracted to each other before they marry and like each other, but only fall in love once they agree to a practical marriage.

Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas. But of course!

The Viscount and The Vixen by Lorraine Heath. The heroine shows up to marry the hero's old father as a part of an advertisement he put out for a wife, but the hero finds this all very unethical and basically steps up to marry her himself. Saving the day, he is!

When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare. A very funny handfasting edition of this trope.

Tempt Me at Twilight by Lisa Kleypas. Another "hero traps the heroine into marriage, love ensues" book.

The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare. He marries her purely because he needs an heir; it grows from sex to love.

[dystopicjumpsuit]

Stars Beyond Number Soundtrack

Read the fic here!

Soldiers. Heroes. Deserters. Traitors. They've been called many things. As the Galactic Empire rises from the ashes of the Republic, a small group of clone troopers and their allies will find a new identity: Rebels.

Echo, Rex, and Gregor are on a mission to save as many of their brothers as they can. The task is daunting, and their friends are few. But from these small and desperate beginnings will come a spark of resistance that will set the galaxy ablaze.

Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch

Pairings: Echo x Riyo Chuchi; Gregor x OFC Cerra Kilian

Total Wordcount: 77K

Listen on Spotify:

Listen on Youtube:

Track listing below the cut.

Start a War - Klergy, Valerie Broussard

Mars - Sleeping At Last

Hurts Like Hell - Fleurie, Tommee Profitt

Blank_ - Delhia De France

War Memorial - Mark Lanegan, Duke Garwood

Kingdom - Dave Gahan

Toll - So Below

Hold On - Brooke Annibale

My Love Will Never Die - Amy Stroup, AG

Beautiful Crime - Tamer

Fortify - Kate Miller

We'll All Be Alright - Amy Stroup, AG

Who Are You, Really? - Mikky Ekko

Dangerous Game - Klergy, BEGINNERS

Sweat - ALASKALASKA

Shadows Fall - Regina Price

All Is Lost - Katie Garfield

Run Baby Run - The Rigs

Warfare - Katie Garfield

Bad Feeling - Reuben And The Dark, AG

Rescue My Heart - Liz Longley

Many Are the Stars I See, But In My Eye No Star Like Thee - Ursine Vulpine, Annaca

Witness - Sarah McLachlan

Soldier - Tommee Profitt, Fleurie

Between the Wars - Allman Brown

[jeffament]

tagged by @visible-disappointment to list my ten favorite albums of all time thank youu🫶 this was the hardest tag game ever there’s blood everywhere

elizium / fields of the nephilim #1 forever

clan of xymox self titled

the nephilim / fields of the nephilim

ten, vs., no code, riot act / pearl jam lol

this is hardcore / pulp

floodland vision thing / the sisters of mercy

industrial silence / madrugada

script of the bridge / the chameleons

clairvoyance / screaming trees

with animals / mark lanegan & duke garwood

honorable mentions: mad season deluxe, alice cooper love it to death, siouxsie tinderbox, teenage snuff film, pop crimes, with sympathy, telekon, james laid, dog man star, adolescent sex, catherine wheel chrome, i heart mekons,,…. etc etc

i tag @imdistressed @zemnarihah @wellenklavier @all-rock-and-roll-is-homosexual @skeletalhistory @driftingintomysolitude @sexuallyvague :)

[triviareads]

I started the month strong by cracking, buying the last two books, and finishing Sierra Simone's Thornchapel series (here are my final thoughts), and then mostly spent the rest of the month on ARCs (see below) and a pretty diverse array of romances. All in all a great month!

Bed Me, Baron by Felicity Niven (releases September 7th)

I haven't had this much fun reading a historical romance in a long time. It's one of those romances that start off relatively light and frivolous (and there's an immediate "teach me" moment), but by the end, it really packs an emotional punch. For my full analysis on friends-to-lovers and the daddy of it all, here's my review.

Full Moon Over Freedom by Angelina M. Lopez (releases September 5th)

I'm not one to read romances with magic in them, but Angelina wrote wrote this deeply cultural and spiritual take on magic and superstition and intertwined it with the romance masterfully. Here's my full review.

The Duke Gets Desperate by Diana Quincy (releases September 26th)

This book felt particularly special to me because the heroine is a first-generation immigrant and retains both her family's Palestinian culture and that classic can-do American spirit. The cultural rep as well as the feminist legal themes are compelling reasons for why we should be reading and writing more historical romances set later in the Victorian era. Here's my review.

It Had to Be a Duke by Vivienne Lorret (releases November 28th)

Adorable, hysterical, full review coming in a couple months, but here are my reactions.

What Was Meant To Be by Heather Guerre

Small-town romance done right. This one really hit on an emotional level; Rain has been under her father's thumb her entire adult life and was never given the resources and support she needed as someone with autism. As a result, she finds herself coerced into marry Wes, a guy in rural Wisconsin she's never met, so Wes can get the property he needs for his resort (basically a dowry :/). What follows is heartbreaking and uplifting at once: Rain begins to exercise her independence and she and Wes slowly come around to an tentative understanding. This is a book where fucking leads to feelings and there are some great sex scenes in this one. Rain is the dominant one in their sexual relationship, and Wes is 100% here for it... a Good Boy, if you will. It's a soft domme vibe but effective and very natural in my opinion, and I would love to read more of this dynamic in romance novels.

Knockout by Sarah MacLean

I knocked this one out in a day (here are my final thoughts). Plotwise my favorite in the Hell's Belles series (a series of mysterious targeted explosions? come on), and the romance between Imogen and Tommy was a perfectly done Grumpy/Sunshine. Also, if you weren't imagining Detective Inspector William 'The Duke' Wellington while reading Tommy Peck, you were reading it wrong.

Rules of Engagement by Christina Dodd

If there's one thing Christina Dodd excels at, it's writing a bitchy hero in that early 2000s kind of way. Kerrich has a little St. Vincent in him; his biggest issue (apart from his trauma from accidentally mooning the King of England after he fell off a trellis because he saw a girl naked) is that alllll his servants find him so hot they can't help but proposition him, so he decides to find the ugliest governess, procure a child, and become "respectable" thanks to a blackmail threat. Also, he does unironically wear a monocle and I'm here for it. Pamela is the kind of pragmatic heroine I love: she's willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done, but when push comes to shove, she feels very little shame in seeking pleasure.

The Prize by Julie Garwood

If you find yourself missing the Lillian-Westcliff dynamic but perhaps want to see it play out in a medieval setting, then this is your book! Royce is a hypercompetent Norman lord, and Nicholaa (yes there's an extra 'a' there) is, as the blurb perfectly puts it, a "resourceful, rebellious and utterly naive" Saxon lady. In the grand theme of Westcliff, there was definitely some conversation about how it was "unlike" Royce to do some not-entirely-consensual stuff during the deflowering scene, to which I say no, it really was... in character. Man was on the brink.

But if that's your jam, then you'll probably enjoy this one.

Redhawk Reunion series by Robin Covington

I found a new favorite Harlequin Desire series this month! The Redhawk Reunion series is about three siblings of Native American descent who were removed from their parents' home by CPS without cause and separated (I strongly urge everyone to look into Indian Adoption Project, the Indian Child Welfare Act, and Haaland v. Brackeen to learn more because it used to be upsettingly common due to government policy). Adam, the hero of the first book, hires PI Tess to find his long-lost siblings and they fall into a FWB situation with a side of secret REVENGE. The second book involves Adam's sister Sarina, who accidentally marries his business partner Justin in Vegas, and they too end up in a FWB situation except, well, as a married (for convenience) couple. As far as Harlequin Desires go, both are top-notch and deliver exactly what you want from this imprint.

Also, I believe the next book is supposed to be about Adam and Sarina's brother Roan and the President of the United States' daughter, whose portrait he's supposed to be painting and I'm VERY excited for that.

[dustedmagazine]

Dust Volume 9, Number 6

Vulture Feather

Perhaps because we left it until the very end of the month, we ended up with a truly massive collection of short reviews this time.  Bill Meyer got especially busy with nine entries this time, but lots of writers did more than two, and a few who rarely participate made an exception for June.  It’s a diverse collection of musical artists, jazz, metal, folk, pop and indie, something for everyone.  Have at it, and enjoy.  Contributors include Bill Meyer, Patrick Masterson, Jennifer Kelly, Jonathan Shaw, Ray Garraty, Ian Mathers, Bryon Hayes, Jim Marks, Christian Carey and Tim Clarke.  

Tim Berne / Hank Roberts / Aurora Nealand — Oceans And (Intakt)

Oceans And by TIM BERNE - HANK ROBERTS - AURORA NEALAND

Forty-four years separate the release of Tim Berne’s first LP, The Five Year Plan, and this uncategorizable trio recording. The alto saxophonist has never been shy about mixing classical sounds and shapes into elbows-out jazz pieces of often-epic link, but he’s never done anything quite like Oceans And. One distinguishing factor is the ensemble’s line-up, which includes Hank Roberts on cello and Aurora Nealand on clarinet, accordion and generally wordless voice. These are players who can both inhabit genres and shuttle between them; they also do honor to the specifically scripted progress and illusorily orchestral arrangements of Berne’s elongated, reflective compositions. In particular, Nealand’s squeezebox delivers both the immensity and complexity of a full string section.  

Bill Meyer

 Blondshell — “Charm You” (Grand Jury)

Charm You (Blondshell Version) by Blondshell

Samia’s big year on the back of January’s bedroom indie staple Honey is about to get a second wind as she’s coaxed artists to cover her songs again, this time for a follow-up singles series called, imaginatively, Honey Reimagined. Maya Hawke, Hovvdy and Ruston Kelly are among the first names due up, but perhaps the biggest of them is another 2023 breakthrough artist: Sabrina Teitelbaum, aka, Blondshell. Teitelbaum’s touch here is pretty light as far as the source material goes, though she sounds a lot less vulnerable than Samia’s original — not just because of her delivery and the subtle addition of backing vocals in spots, but also because she’s plugged the six-string in and has heavier-hitting floor toms. Samia’s raw honesty and unadorned accompaniment is a big reason for her appeal, but even fans of the original will find something to love in a cover that does just enough to merit note.

Patrick Masterson 

 Devon Church — Strange Strangers (felte)

Strange Strangers by Devon Church

“Slouching Towards Bethlehem” nestles in your ear like a paranoiac whisper, soft but surreal, minimalist but also swelling with strings and gospel choirs. Devon Church murmurs baroque poetry about the end of world, matter of fact, mostly, but with a tinge of wonder. “Surely stranger things have happened,” he confides in the song’s understated chorus, as if he’s trying to make sense of it all on the fly. Strange Strangers is the second solo album from this Brooklyn based songwriter, a hollow-voiced devotee of Leonard Cohen who once made up half of ExitMusic. His songs are beautifully made, pillowy with artful arrangements, but even so very pure and simple. The wordplay is, similarly, plain spoken but twisted. “Jesus was a genius,” croons Church slyly, “but I prefer his early stuff,” and sure, don’t we all? And his voice is exceptional, with the haunted, gothy depths that would make even a laundry list sound apocalyptic. Fans of Mark Lanegan, Duke Garwood and (of course) Leonard Cohen, take note.

Jennifer Kelly

 Cut Trio — Pelletron / Dynamitron (Edition Friforma / Inexhaustible Editions)

Pelletron / Dynamitron by CUT Trio: Tanja Feichtmair / Cene Resnik / Urban Kušar

I believe it’s Evan Parker who acknowledged that while free improvisation didn’t exactly change the world, a network has emerged and endured of people who practice it where none existed before. If this album is representative of what happens in Slovenia, the Balkans are doing quite all right in that regard. This trio, which comprises drummer Urban Kušar and saxophonists Tanja Fechtmair and Cene Resnik, doesn’t propose a new concept, but it does what it does exceedingly well. The horns prod and challenge, ceaselessly pressing forward but forever ready to feint and jab; they’re immaculately light on their feet, but heavy enough to make it all feel real. Kušar is an emphatic ornamenter, and a source of focused but never overwhelming energy. While the chances are slight that either they or I will be in each other’s towns anytime soon, if it happened, I’d be there.

Bill Meyer 

 Erik Friedlander, Ava Mendoza, Stomu Takeishi and Diego Espinosa—She Sees (Skipstone)

Jazz cellist Erik Friedlander meets up with his Sentinel ensemble—guitarist Ava Mendoza, percussionist Diego Espinosa and the bass player Stomu Takeishi—for a genre-blurring romp. Chin-strokers keep out. These 10 compositions are pure fun, whether you start with the swaggering roots-blues of “Baskets, Biscuits, Rain,” the rock-propulsive “Blink” or the simmering groove of “Heatwave.” The cello is, naturally, front and center, leading melodically with clear, vibrant tones, but all other instruments get their spot. Newly added bass player Takeishi sounds particularly fine interlacing plucked lines with Friedlander in the meditative spaces of “Summit,” while Mendoza lances rambling “Ache, Air,” with shocked jolts of guitar rock dissonance.  The drums are also very fine, though not in-your-face; these songs swing with easy rhythm. I like gypsy reeling “Sliding,” maybe the best, though this album is a blast all the way through. I thought it might be an “eat your vegetables” kind of good, but it’s a sundae with a cherry on it.

Jennifer Kelly

 Gaika — “Lady (Feat. Bbymutha)” (Big Dada)

Coming off the War Island OST that soundtracked a room at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts in 2022, “perennial internationalist” Gaika returns with a new song on a personal note ahead of his Big Dada debut Drift in September. We covered him some years ago and said then that “a claustrophobic line runs through his production work,” and nothing’s changed his mood in the years since Security; it’s just that now it feels like the world has started to catch up with him. Part of this is because Yves Tumor’s similar David Bowie/Marilyn Manson/TV on the Radio approach to postmodern pop music has popped open an avenue of sound artists like Gaika and Le1f had already been exploring alongside them, and Drift will likely feel familiar to those already on board with such sonics. The trip-hop pace of “Lady” features strung out guitar flourishes and a few percussion fills as delivered by Kidä (from, yes, Yves Tumor), Azekel (Gorillaz) and Max Winter, and as a love letter to a partner, it sure sounds sinister. A promising shot across the bow to anyone that might’ve forgotten he was still out here putting in the good work.

Patrick Masterson 

 Geld — Currency // Castration (Relapse Records)

Currency // Castration by GELD

Geld doubles down on the groin-clenching characteristics of their band name with the title of this new LP, Currency // Castration. Yipes. Not sure if all the emasculating terminology is ironically intended, but there’s a strongly macho vibe running through Geld’s music. It’s hardcore from Oz, after all. A fair amount of critical chatter about the band stresses the ostensibly “psychedelic” properties of the music, and that was true, to some degree, of Beyond the Floor, the band’s 2020 LP (though for more effective recent demonstrations of what happens when the punks take some acid, see Glittering Insects or that amazing Oily Boys record). Geld’s move to Relapse Records has come with an intensification of big rawk sounds. See “Clock Keeps Crawling,” “Fog of War” and “Hanging from a Rope,” which evoke long-haired thrash as much as the metal-edged hardcore records of the late 1980s. This reviewer likes it when Geld plays fast and feral: “Cut You Down” and “Success” don’t seek to innovate, and the songs succeed by keeping things simple, snarling and frantic. The guitar solo in “Success” has some appealing shreddy intensity, like Dimebag Darrell in an especially hostile state of mind — not a dude who was ever interested in neutering his sound. If you’re going to strut, might as well do it like Darrell. If you can.

Jonathan Shaw

 Grindhard E, Rio Da Yung OG, RMC Mike — Ed, Edd n Eddy (Grindhard 4 Money)

These Flint rappers worked in twos before, but this is the first time they’ve recorded as a trio. It’s quite chaotic and kind of drifts along, perhaps because it didn’t have a clear structure in the first place. Just leftover studio sessions, late-night freestyles slapped together, clearly with no pretensions to be anything more. Only the final track “Heads,” with Louie Ray as a guest, has something resembling the usual verse-chorus structure. And it is the best among six songs, with RMC Mike and Grindhard E coming up with a memorable chorus and Rio and Louie Ray providing funny verses on a switched beat.

Ray Garraty 

Jean Luc Guionnet — Dyslexic Harp (Deciphered In The Dark) (Amgen)

DYSLEXIC HARP (DECIPHERED IN THE DARK) by Jean-Luc Guionnet

Dyslexic Harp is a test of memory and mettle. The piece, which was composed by Jean Luc Guionnet for harpist Rhodri Davies, is not a set of notes on staff paper but a set of rules. In short, the musician must sit in darkness so absolute that they cannot see their instrument and, using both hands, play all the possible pitches on the harp. When they make an error, they must play a specific pitch that signals that an error has occurred and then resume. There’s more — a lot more — but that’s enough to give a listener the idea of the sort of memory and concentration that a performer must bring to the task at hand. So, what one hears is a struggle to remember and recover rendered as sound, in which the moments of silence feel more tension-fraught than the purposeful sequences of known notes. Davies’ performance is by turns confident and hesitant, and the spacious recording puts the listener right in the room with him.

Bill Meyer 

 Hatred Surge — Demo 2004 (Iron Lung)

Demo 2004 (LUNGS-246) by HATRED SURGE

It may take you longer to read this brief review than it will to listen through Demo 2004, a sorta-significant document of heavy music — five songs in three minutes from the salad days of Hatred Surge (which may be the purest name ever devised for the super aggro sort of noise the band has made). Since churning out these formative sounds nearly 20 years ago, the band has made some terrific grind and powerviolence records, also experimenting in death metal and harsh noise. On later recordings, it would be hard to overstate the strong creative productivity of Chris Ulsh, the guitarist and drummer who has cut a merciless path through the 21st Century with a number of great bands, including Mammoth Grinder, Power Trip and (of course) Hatred Surge. For this one, Alex Hughes played everything. This reissued demo is likely most appealing to the historically minded and to collectors. But even in their raw, unproduced forms, tunes like “Invisible Noose” and “Wolf in Idiot’s Clothing” are immediately engaging, forecasting the powerful sounds to come.

Jonathan Shaw

 Hypnodrone Ensemble — The Signal in the Signal (Trepanation)

The Signal In The Signal by Hypnodrone Ensemble

It says something about Hypnodrone Ensemble’s last record, 2020’s Gets Polyamorous, that this one feels pretty stripped down in comparison. Boasting a mere six participants (including three drummers) vs. that album’s 15 (six drummers!), The Signal in the Signal still displays plenty of the ensemble’s trademark, well, hypnotic spacerock drone, just more monolithically. The two sides (which split the album title between them) started from a bass/drum pattern that repeats for the whole hour as other members layer guitar, bass, drums, sax, and viola over it. As the sides gradually build towards a swelling storm of noise it’s fascinating to hear how the character of that initial pulse appears to change as its surroundings do. It’s as apt a demonstration of “the more things change the more they stay the same” as you’re likely to find on record.

Ian Mathers

 Induced Geometry — S/T (Trouble in Mind)

Induced Geometry by Induced Geometry

Philadelphia duo Writhing Squares produce a prog-inspired psychedelic squall that is pretty darn catchy, so this cassette from bassist Daniel Provenzano is quite a surprise. Stark in comparison to his band’s more visceral sound, Induced Geometry borrows liberally from the oeuvres of Reich and Riley. Short synth patterns build upon each other until they become hypnotic geometric structures, with ever-shifting vertices. The complex and evolving shapes are luminescent, producing a strange aura that seems to morph with a deepening textural quality. There’s a warmth here that belies his initial intent with these songs, which was to create a plain, characterless music. Instead, Provenzano has produced an elegant series of synth tapestries that aren’t necessarily lush but are pleasing to behold.

Bryon Hayes 

 Aaron Leaney featuring Guy Thouin — Lockdown (Astral Spirits)

Lockdown by Aaron Leaney feat. Guy Thouin

The Astral Spirits release schedule is sufficiently full-on to tempt a body to skip over a title every now and then. If you’re considering such a move, Lockdown might not be the one to pass by. The title tells you when this Montreal duo made their record (at Hotel2tango, if you’re keeping score), but not much else. It turns out that Guy Thouin is a first-generation Canadian free jazzer, on board since the late 1960s. Aaron Leaney, who is much younger, contributes husky but nimble alto and tenor sax melodies, and also plays enough flutes and percussion that it’s tempting to pull the phrase “little instruments” out of your bag. Leave it there; this is more Interstellar Space meets Babi than AACM in sound, albeit not as heavy and full-on as such comparisons might imply. Instead, there’s a floating quality to this music that’s easy to hang with.

Bill Meyer

 Fred Lonberg-Holm & Tim Daisy — Current 23 (Relay)

Fred Lonberg-Holm / Tim Daisy "Current 23" (relay 034) by Tim Daisy, Fred Lonberg-Holm

Cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and drummer Tim Daisy have been recurring partners in improvisation for over two decades, dating back to a time when they both lived in Chicago and they were in a couple of the same combos led by Ken Vandermark. Residence and work locations change, but they still make it a point to play together at least once a year, world health catastrophes permitting. The title of this recording, which was made while Lonberg-Holm was back in town for the Catalytic Sound Festival, suggests that it is a report — “This is how it is at the start of 2023.” At the moment, Daisy seems especially interested in using dynamic aggregations of small and varied sounds to create open fields of possibility. Turn up the music, and you’ll hear tiny strikes and rustles amid his brisk, ever-changing drum kit-work. Lonberg-Holm alternates between acoustic and amplified, electronically set-ups, but either way, he presses the boundaries of convention and instrumental potential. Daisy proves the perfect accompanist for his forays, forever expanding the perimeter in ways that frame and support Lonberg-Holm, but never limit him. Two notes: James Falzone’s long but extremely edifying liner note on the record’s Bandcamp page are well worth reading. And fans of physical products should be aware that this album, unlike other recent Relay releases, is a commercial CDR, not a glass-mastered CD.  

Bill Meyer

 Andrea Neumann — elletseuef (Thanatosis)

elletsreuef by Andrea Neumann

People who make the transition from classical music to various forms of improvisation sometimes talk about having to divest themselves of various forms of acquired baggage. Few have done so quite as literally as Andrea Neumann, who long ago got rid of the keys and the big, boxy parts of the piano in order to concentrate on the sonic potentialities of the rack of strings inside. She sounds said strings with bows and kitchen implements, and magnifies and distorts them electronically. Elletseuef, a solo performance from 2021, is particularly worthy of attention because she tends to record in collaborative settings. While there are passages whose patient accretion of details brings to mind Keith Rowe’s similarly re-evaluative guitar playing, it’s the quasi-industrial bursts of electricity, and her expert shifts between loudness and silence, that command attention.

Bill Meyer

 Night Gestalt — Staring Light (Bigo & Twigetti)

Staring Light by Night Gestalt

Swedish musician Olof Cornéer’s latest release as Night Gestalt takes all the finest qualities of his last album, Thousand Year Waves (covered in last March’s Dust) and distills them into a simpler, more resonant musical statement. The central elements are closely mic’d piano, where the creak of the wood and the swing of the hammers are as much of a sound source as the vibration of the strings, plus some glassy, nocturnal synth tones. There’s plenty of space in the mix, allowing all elements to individually shine, reverberate and fade away. Nothing gets cluttered or sounds out of place. Pop this one on headphones at night, venture outside into the chill air for some star watching and you’ve got your perfect soundtrack: pin pricks of light in an inky expanse, with sufficient breathing room for the mind to wander.

Tim Clarke 

 Maria Norseth Garli — Morning Light (Sonic Transmissions)

Morning Light by Maria Norseth Garli

Order and entropy do battle for Maria Norseth Garli’s allegiance on Morning Light, which is the Trondheim, Norway-based singer/guitarist’s third LP. You don’t get a Master’s degree from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in that town without sharing some practice rooms and student combos with free improvisers, and her work evidences an appreciation for dynamic and textural extremities that you don’t usually find in the work of self-confessed singer-songwriters. But it’s not really a fair fight; Garli is too committed to melody and the song form to let things fall apart. Instead, heavy guitar chords (including a few played by the undeniably industrious Nicolas Leirtrø of I Like To Sleep, Dafnie and TEIP Trio) fall like toppling timber into the moody meadows of Garli’s spare, image-oriented writing. It might sound dangerous, but nothing ever lands on her voice. Still, the combination intrigues.

Bill Meyer

 Palace, AmaneOG — Drive 2 EP (Noir)

It was one of those fortuitous occurrences that remind you the algorithms really are listening: There I was on the eve of the hundredth running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans — arguably the most famous motor race aside from maybe the Indianapolis 500 or the Monaco Grand Prix — casually searching for some distraction amid a final push on this work project I had going on when, lo, what should appear in my sidebar but Polish producer Palace’s “Drive” and what looked to be a scene from Lost Highway. What I clicked into and found was an eerie night cruiser akin to Kassem Mosse’s early Workshop releases set to actual onboard footage of a Porsche at Le Mans from 2015. The synchronicity was unsettling. AmaneOG goes uncredited in the above video because it’s not from the unhelpfully named Noir Records, which put out the Drive 2 EP upon which this song appears, but I assure you that won’t matter when you hear it. That the Porsche in question was a 919 and not a 909 feels like the only missed opportunity here.

Patrick Masterson

 Nathan Alexander Pape — coat after coat (The Jewel Garden)

coat after coat by Nathan Alexander Pape

This CDR (all respect to Jewel Garden for correctly identifying it on the label’s Bandcamp page; not everyone is so honest these days) documents the solo work of Tulsa, Oklahoma-based guitarist Nathan Alexander Pape. Sometimes titles provide clues, and coat after coat provides a few. If your thoughts drift to paint, it invites you to think of layers, which makes sense of music that is the product of a multi-staged signal chain comprising ideas, fingers, steel-stringed acoustic guitar, amplifier, an overwhelmed recording microphone and an out-of-town space that allows Pape to turn it up and get just the right in-the-red sound. If your associations are more attire-oriented, the direction is towards a series of outer garments. On successive tracks, Pape applies his imagination to Derek Bailey-descended harmonics play, seething timbres and minimalist strategies. And the choice to opt for completely lowercase titling suggests that this stuff is not meant to be momentous. One supposes that, instead of heading for a studio or navigating to some distant city for a gig, Pape has made music-making a part of everyday life.

Bill Meyer

 Pylar — Límyte (Cavsas/Cyclic Law)

Límyte by PYLAR

Andalusian doom-drone occultists Pylar are back with another slab of cosmically scaled, weirdo bum-outs that are psychedelic and soul-consuming in equal measure. Límyte isn’t quite as flat-out bananas as Abysmos, the band’s previous LP, but what it lacks in unhinged intensity it gains in relative momentum. This time around, the collective — allegedly formed by musicians in the orbits of metal bands Teitanblood and Orthodox — foregrounds a conventional trap set in its rhythmic structures and even experiments with traditional metal riffage, here and there; see especially “Ruptura-afuera.” Chanted clean vocals and moaning modular synths come and go in extended waves. The songs are still very long, and the rotational suck into a maelstrom of unhappily dense, strangely sticky textures is very strong. This reviewer likes it when the atmosphere gets spacy and the vibe is slightly more playful. The title song could be a soundtrack for a trip into a haunted house decorated by Dali, or it could just be the consequence of those suspect-looking mushrooms you ate an hour ago. Aficionados of music like this might say: Why choose?

Jonathan Shaw

  Queens of the Stone Age — In Times New Roman (Matador)

Longtime listener, first time caller. I’ve been digging QOTSA, on the sly, since Rated R. The last two albums got by me, but this one has the rupturing power, the slithery chill that has always defined this band. The sheer churn and roar of “Paper Machete” is what you come for, all roiling bass, thunderous drums, guitars yelping in electro-shocked outrage, and Josh Homme’s weirdly mannered, baroque falsetto. It’s a gas and a pose, but it also rocks you right to the ground. This is said to be QOTSA’s “angry” album, but man, I don’t know. Did you listen to Songs for the Deaf? They’ve always been pretty pissed. “Emotional Sickness” rides jabbing hook, as precise and violent as a boxer’s punch, then spirals out in swirling, psychedelic melody; QOTSA picks up your machine-gun riddled body and cradles it in gentle currents of song, and then hits you again. It’s obliterating, and smooth, like the best kind of whiskey, and it may remind you of all the records you don’t listen to anymore. At least it did for me. The girl who loved Van Halen 2, the women who went to school pickup with “Monsters of the Parasol” drifting through her head, the old lady who wants to listen to In Times New Roman one more time: all the same person. Hail the rock.

Jennifer Kelly

 The Soft Moon — Exister (Sacred Bones)

Exister by The Soft Moon

On June 23rd, Soft Moon dropped remixes for the 2022 LP Exister. It seemed like an opportune time to revisit the 2022 recording. Mostly a one-man show, Luis Vasquez handles the instruments and vocals. Even by the standards of The Soft Moon’s previous polyglot assemblages, Exister is a versatile affair. The singing is post-punk with a tinge of goth. The music itself encompasses these styles, with the addition of industrial electronica to the mix. “Sad Song” and “Answers” lean in to Vasquez’s haunting snarl. “Become the Lies” is altogether different, with a high-lying vocal and an alt-rock hook. There are guest artists, the rapper Fish Narc on “Him” and Alli Logout, who adds scary screams to “Unforgiven.” The title track arrives last, and its edgy yet atmospheric arrangement is well worth the wait.

Christian Carey 

 Star City Survivor — Orbital Decay (Soul City)

orbital decay by star city survivor

Star City Survivor is an electric guitar and drums duo from Chapel Hill, NC. The name of this album of spontaneously co-created, open-ended encounters suggests an eventual crash to earth, but the sounds they make are sufficiently gravity-defying to avoid any shattering impacts. Instead, Phil Venerable plays inward-turning, fuzz-encrusted lines that alternately surf atop or surge straight through Tommy Jackson’s kickdrum-heavy attack. A historical challenge of jazz-rock summits is the tendency of the musicians to neglect to rock, but that is not the case here.

Bill Meyer

 Rowland Taylor — A Righteous Man Falling Down Before the Wicked Is a Troubled Fountain (self-released)

a righteous man falling down before the wicked is a troubled fountain by Rowland Taylor

Virginia-based Rowland Taylor has released a number of singles and EPs of Takoma school guitar music over the past few years. The latest release is the longest yet, nearly half an hour, and it hits all of the sweet spots, from Rose-worthy slide (“boss card,” “hold fast”) to lengthy excursions (“krakow lament,” “the seagull”) and a banjo piece reminiscent of Glenn Jones (“i lost my way home last night”). Taylor can play very fast and forcefully when he wants to, but A Righteous Man is a bit less frenetic than some of his earlier work and even ends with a neat Eastern European-sounding fiddle piece swathed in studio effects. This recording also whets the appetite for a full-length album in which Taylor can develop such ideas more fully and indulge in the kind of experimentation on display in that final track.

Jim Marks 

 Vasco Trilla — A Constellation of Anomaly (Thanatosis)

A Constellation of Anomaly by Vasco Trilla

Percussionists commonly find themselves either keeping time or unleashing frenetic salvos of beats. Vasco Trilla obliterates both notions, choosing instead to explore and manipulate resonance. Every surface is a potential instrument for him to push to the extremes of its sound-making potential. On A Constellation of Anomaly, he produces a vast array of textures with an eclectic set of resonant bodies. Drones and groans sustain such that they hover like contrails in the air. Metallic shrieks slice through the atmosphere, leaving a vacuum that Trilla fills with microscopic sound particles. Not every track is wildly experimental: the two pieces called “The Shaking Hand That Leaves a Mark” find Trilla straying into territory that borders on melodic. These pleasing sonorities are a rare glimpse into the lighter side of his personality. He’s happier exploring the uncanny sound world of a timpani filled with wind-up music boxes or crafting a cloud of resonance with bowed bells. In his mind, the permutations and combinations of sound-making surfaces are limitless. Merely producing beats is out of the question.

Bryon Hayes

 Vulture Feather — Liminal Fields (felte)

Liminal Fields by Vulture Feather

Back in the 2000s, Baltimore post-punk band Wilderness released a handful of decent records then disappeared off the radar. Now, nearly 20 years later, Wilderness guitarist Colin McCann and bassist Brian Gossman are based in California and have regrouped with a new drummer, Eric Fiscus, to form Vulture Feather. The two bands have similar yet distinct DNA, clearly derived from the same lineage but evolving with their own character. Wilderness frontman James Johnson was a more declarative, center-stage singer, repeating his oblique, mantra-like phrases over and over. McCann takes vocal duties here, weaving his higher, wavering voice in the midst of the guitars and bass more discreetly, singing along with the music rather than standing atop it. McCann’s guitar lines are as chiming and anthemic as they were back in the Wilderness days, but more repetitive and driving, sounding as if they’ve sparked aflame in the jam room and the songs took shape from there. The result is an economical, tightly written and energetically performed record that proves there’s a worthwhile next phase underway.

Tim Clarke

[manitat]

VA, The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project: The Task Has Overwhelmed Us

01 Mother Of Earth (feat. Dave Gahan) 02 La La Los Angeles (feat. The Coathangers) 03 Yellow Eyes (feat. Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Nick Cave & Warren Ellis) 04 Debbie By The Christmas Tree (feat. The Amber Lights) 05 Go Tell The Mountain (feat. Mark Lanegan, Nick Cave & Warren Ellis) 06 Going Down The Red River (feat. Jim Jones & The Righteous Mind) 07 The Stranger In Our Town (feat. Peter Hayes, Leah Shapiro & Humanist) 08 Secret Fires (feat. Suzie Stapleton & Duke Garwood) 09 Tiger Girl (feat. Hugo Race) 10 On The Other Side (feat. Nick Cave & Debbie Harry) 11 Idiot Waltz (feat. Cypress Grove) 12 Tiger Girl (feat. The Amber Lights) 13 From Death To Texas (feat. Alejandro Escovedo) 14 Vodou (feat. Mark Stewart) 15 Time Drains Away (feat. Lydia Lunch, Jozef Van Wissem & Jim Jarmusch) 16 Lucky Jim (feat. Chris Eckman & Chantal Acda) 17 I Was Ashamed (feat. Pam Hogg, Warren Ellis & Youth) 18 Bad America (feat. Sendelica, Wonder & Dynamax Roberts) 19 Desire By Blue River (feat. Cypress Grove)

[rastronomicals]

1:17 AM EDT August 13, 2024:

Duke Garwood - "Night Flight" From the album Physical Graffiti Redrawn (April 2015)

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last.fm

Full length cover of the album you'd think, given away with the April 2015 issue of Mojo.

[the-book-queen]

Hide your wallets, it's that time again! Your daily thread of romance deals is ready, FREE to $1.99!

FREE ✦ The Deeper I Fall by Erika Kelly

Hockey player + spoiled British heroine. His former coach left him a cattle ranch -- but to inherit it, he must first live and work on the ranch with the estranged daughter.

Contemporary Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/3I2lMib

$0.99 ✦ The Accidental Bride by Christina Skye

A successful chef is ordered to take a vacation at a mountain resort, where she's roped into playing the part of a happy bride to a former military hero.

Contemporary Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/3I2FFFK

$1.99 ✦ Darling Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt

Tortured hero + single mother / actress. He's a Lord who was wrongly accused of murder and has been kept in Bedlam for years, only now escaping and trying to clear his name.

TBQ Rec

Historical Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/3OMyJQO

$1.99 ✦ In the Arms of the Law by Deborah Fletcher Mello

Attorney + special agent. He is determined to prove his brother's innocence in a high-profile murder investigation.

Romantic Suspense (MF) | https://amzn.to/3UINGXS

$1.99 ✦ Rebellious Desire by Julie Garwood

Arrogant Duke + American beauty with a mysterious past and a fiery spirit + a deadly intrigue that draws them together.

Historical Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/49F7IXz

Putting these lists together takes time. If you appreciate this content, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi. http://ko-fi.com/danielletbq

[mermaidsirennikita]

thank you for your continuous recs!!!

any recs where the main couple is already betrothed or about to be or even married in fact and they fall in love? I remember reading Julia Quinn’s Mr Cavendish book where the fmc was always engaged to the mmc (he had a slight thing for another girl at one point) and they fell in love and it was such a disappointing book but I love the idea of two people already being in an arranged situation and like each other well enough to have a nice but placid marriage but ends up loving and passionate?

You're so welcome!

Ravishing the Heiress by Sherry Thomas comes to mind. This isn't my favorite, but I really need to reread it as it's a huuuuge favorite amongst others. In this one, the hero and heroine have been married for years. However, they've only been friends as they agreed to hold off on consummating the marriage until she was older and they were ready to have kids. He's long been in love with his childhood sweetheart (kind of from afar, as she had to marry another man). It's definitely angst, but good if you don't want to read about dickwads.

Beast by Judith Ivory. This has some "EXOTIQUE" elements from the 90s that haven't aged well, but it is a book where the hero and heroine get betrothed before the book really begins. It's pure business, and she doesn't want him, but they end up on the same ship and he goes under disguise to basically fuck around with her... then ends up falling in love. And she falls in love with him. But she hasn't seen his face, so when they marry, she thinks she's in love with another man lol and he has to make her fall for him.

The Bride Goes Rogue by Joanna Shupe. The hero and heroine are in a betrothal set up by their fathers. However, when she calls to collect, he's like HELLLL NO, because his dad has died and he doesn't feel obligated anymore. Until... they hook up at a masquerade ball, lol.

Bride by Ali Hazelwood. If you're down for paranormal, the hero and heroine get married in an arrangement at the very beginning of the book, and fall for each other after.

Kiss an Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. If you're down for (90s era) contemporary, in this one the hero and heroine agree to an arranged marriage and only fall in love after the wedding. In a very angsty, difficult way lol.

A Fire in the Sky by Sophie Jordan. If you're down for FANTASY, the hero thinks he's marrying a princess, but it's actually the heroine, who's the royal whipping girl. Either way, they're married now, and they only fall for each other after the wedding. The Winter King is another fantasy romance with an arranged marriage "love after" setup.

The Chief by Monica McCarty, again—arranged marriage by way of trapping him setup, love after marriage. Untamed by Elizabeth Lowell is a betrothal to marriage to love medieval as well!

The Bride by Julie Garwood is a classic arranged political marriage to love book, with a rebellious heroine and an ultimate alpha hero.

The Courtesan Duchess by Joanna Shupe—their marriage was arranged, and they only fall for each other six years later... when she seduces him disguised as a courtesan so that she can get his heir (as she needs).

Private Arrangements by Sherry Thomas is a great one wherein they've been married a loooong time but separated basically the entire time. There was love beforehand, but it may work for you as they kind of have to re-fall in love (after she's asked for a divorce and he's asked for a baby before they divorce lol).

Regarding the Duke by Grace Callaway is your book. They've been married eight years and have two kids. She's actually in love... But he only falls (or comes to terms with his love) after he gets amnesia. He's a very distant, frosty man lol.

[conte-olaf]

Guarda "Mark Lanegan & Duke Garwood - Feast to famine - 2018 New song" su YouTube

[stagandsteer]

ridiculously late with this but this is a photo from a plane and a kinda horny sexy sensual song. you’re welcome. ✈️☁️

[krispyweiss]

Mark Lanegan Dead at 57

- Gravelly throated singer fronted Screaming Trees, collaborated with Queens of the Stone Age while forging a prolific solo career

Mark Lanegan is dead.

His death at age 57 was announced Feb. 22 without a cause given.

“Our beloved friend Mark Lanegan passed away this morning at his home in Killarney, Ireland,” read a statement that called Lanegan a “beloved singer, songwriter, author and musician.”

“No other information is available at this time. We ask, please respect the family privacy.”

“What a loss,” Rhino Records tweeted; “Legend,” Ryley Walker said.

The gravelly throated Lanegan was at the vanguard of the grunge movement with Screaming Trees in the 1990s.

“He was our true brother and we all truly loved him,” the surviving Trees said in a statement.

Lanegan performing in Ohio in 2019; photo by Sound Bites

While still with the band, he launched an acoustically minded solo career - 1994’s Whiskey for the Holy Ghost is a stone classic - before going on to collaborate with Queens of the Stone Age, Isobell Campbell, Duke Garwood and the Afghan Whigs’ Greg Dulli in a duo called the Gutter Twins.

Dulli posted a photo of himself with his collaborator and no comment.

“Hearing about Mark Lanegan passing away has properly stopped me in my tracks,” Badly Drawn Boy tweeted. “I’m absolutely gutted. … One of THE great singers of the last 30 years.”

The “incredibly shattered” staff of Light in the Attic Records called Lanegan “one of the truly great singers and songwriters,” in a statement issued upon his death.

“What a voice,” the label said. “Speechless.”

Lanegan recently wrote two memoirs, 2020’s “Sing Backwards and Weep,” about his early days as a musician and his struggle with addiction, and 2021’s “Devil in a Coma,” about his near-fatal bout with COVID-19.

“His voice was one of a kind, it reached into your soul and pulled your heart out,” read a statement from the Arkive, which has released several of Lanegan’s albums on its various imprints.

“He was truly unique and will be greatly missed. … We are honored to have had a small part in the long legacy he leaves behind.”

2/22/22

[allthatiknowisthatiknownothing]

“Got me standing in a lightning storm,

Begging sympathy, from mercy torn.

Hallelujah, Lord, that God is born.

Ghosts will dwell within me forever more.

It's something lonelier,

Something lonelier than death.”

- Duke Garwood and Mark Lanegan, “One Way Mirror”