Typing by thumbs from vacation just outside Asheville, so forgive any typos. I’m visiting the folks and hoping to visit the Moogseum, the Asheville Pinball Museum, a couple breweries, maybe take in Man…Or Astro-Man? live at the Grey Eagle. But mostly I’m off email and hanging out with the kiddo.
Various this and thats:
I’ve written the liner notes for Psychic Temple’s Plays Planet Caravan! Out Oct. 21 via BIG EGO, it’s the spiritual follow up to Plays Music for Airports wherein Chris Schlarb and pals filter a cult tune — then Brian Eno, now Black Sabbath — through a cosmic jazz prism. I ended up talking to to Chris a loooong time over the phone, some of which made it into the text, but I’d love to publish an edited Q&A. We have some different tastes — though we have gone long on Sonny Sharrock, Don Cherry, Joni Mitchell and King Crimson — but we’re always on the same wavelength when it comes to what draws us to music.
What I’ve been reading: Night Moves by Jessica Hopper; Mary Wept Over the Feet of Jesus by Chester Brown; Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan; Do a Powerbomb by Daniel Warren Johnson; Thor by Jason Aaron; Sex by Joe Casey; Kicking & Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul and Rock and Roll by Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson (audiobook).
What I’ve been watching: From the Source (Whole Hog episode), Beavis and Butt-Head (the new series), Matty Matheson videos on YouTube, Tiny Desks from the early days in preparation for our 1000th (!) concert.
Mixtape: Viking's Caravan
Stream the Viking's Choice playlist via BNDCMPR. Tracklist below:
City of Caterpillar, “Decider”
Psychic Temple, “Planet Caravan”
Croatian Armor, “Young Adult”
BIGMUTHA, “BLKDEATH :(“
Ulaan Passerine, “Pinara”
Omodaka, “Galaxy Deca”
Oxbow & Peter Brötzmann, “Cat and Mouse”
Matthew J. Robin, “Shingles”
DELCO MFs, “MF STOMP”
Skelator, “Good Day to Die”
Tenka, “Nutrition ~ Microorganisms in the Darkness of Life”
Thoughtcrimes, “Keyhole Romance”
Celestine Ukwu, “Okwukwe Na Ncheckwube”
Maggie Björklund, “Lysglimt”
Shannen Moser, “Paint By Number”
No Knuckle, “SANITATION”
The Owners, “Ride”
Bill Nace, “Boil First”
Rival Schools, “Holding Sand (Acoustic)”
Blackbraid, “Barefoot Ghost Dance on Bloodsoaked Soil”
Moth C***, “Invisible Pranks”
пуща, “колискова”
Flore Laurentienne, “Navigation IV”
death’s dynamic shroud, “Fall for Me”
Four Tet, “Mango Feedback”