Monday, February 24, 2003

Aw, heck- sleep is overrated anyway.

Just wanted to mention a couple of things. I went to Barnes & Noble on my lunch break (or at least the last 30 minutes of it, anyway) and checked out some stuff, most notably the latest issue of Mojo magazine (or the latest one to come out in the US) and a brand new (to me) Neil Young book. I used to buy Mojo faithfully for a while, then it occurred to me to subscribe, figuring it was cheaper to sign up for a one-time gouge of 70 or so bucks that pay my eight dollars 12 times a year...I did that for a couple more years but when I was laid off in 2000 my sub ran out and I couldn't afford to re-up. I missed several issues before I found employment again, and let me tell you its easier to do almost anything than it is to find affordable back issues of Mojo...so I just pop in once in a while at B&N and sit and read 'em. If they mind, they don't act like it. Anyway, the issue I perused today had a cover feature about Carlos Santana and his namesake band, and covered the time leading up to when he recorded what is most certainly my favorite of his albums, Caravanserai. I found it very interesting, anyway. Also within were articles on Kate Bush, a fave of mine from back in the 80s, and my favorite period of the Kinks, 1968-1971.

The Neil Young book, which I've added to my Amazon wish list (hint hint), is named Journey Through The Past: The Stories Behind The Classic Songs of Neil Young. It's essentially a song-by-song, album-by -album commentary on Neil's music through the years. Each song gets a capsule review, at least a paragraph...some more than that. He likes On The Beach as much as I, although we disagree strongly on Landing On Water. But then again, I don't think anybody liked that one but me, not even Neil. I've got a couple of books (Beatles songs, John Lennon solo) like this already, and I find them irresistable. I wish somebody would do similar books on McCartney and Harrison. I won't hold my breath.

Music today: Tom Waits-Beautiful Maladies (I hate the song selection on this one. I need to get Swordfishtrombones and Rain Dogs.), Beatles-Abbey Road, Coldplay-A Rush of Blood to the Head (I thought they were quite good last night backed by that orchestra- a little ragged but that's OK), and Prince-The Gold Experience.

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