I'm alive and still listening to music

Many years have passed, and so to have many bowel movements.  I recognize how irrelevant most of my blogging has been. I love music and am involved in the local scene where I live to an extent, doing gear repairs for several bands and artists, as well as whatever qualifies as moral support.  I do give my personal artistic opinions, but I'm considered old now, and therefore, un-hip. I still build or restore the occasional guitar amplifier.  Ironically, the more I got into that sort of thing, the less I seemed to play guitar.  

What loud music have I been listening to? Well, Thin Lizzy, STARZ, Angel, Black Widow, UFO, Rainbow, Deep Purple MkI-MkIV, Elf, Captain Beyond (excellent band), Budgie, The Damned, anything that Mick Ronson was playing in, Supergrass, Neil Merriweather, KISS, Judas Priest, Saxon, The Dictators, and you get the idea. However, I probably listen to more stuff that wouldn't be featured on a blog called 120 Db's, like The Db's. 

I've reached that age where I am enjoying whatever floats my boat, no matter how uncool that may be.  It's liberating to not give a shit and to not worry about being relevant. Music seems so much sweeter to my ears, now.  R. Stevie Moore still makes music; so yeah, I am good.

Forget what I said about bleeding ears

Sometimes you just need the mellow.

Sweet: Jawbreaking Bubblegum

Sweet don't get the respect that they deserve. Was it the early "bubblegum" hits, the "glam" look that they helped shape, or the overuse of cheesy synth hooks that contributed to this lack of respect? I don't know, really. Whatever the case, they were talented musicians, had good songs, and didn't take themselves at all seriously. That makes good rock and their influence can be heard and seen from KISS to Crue--a good or bad thing, depending on your tastes.
First video: "Turn It Down".
Second video (in full glam mode): "Hellraiser".

The Sounds of Radiation

Normally, it is silent. Coming from the machine it buzzes and you can taste it on your tongue. It neither rocks or rolls. It will burn you to a crisp and make you sleep. But through a machine for healing it just buzzes until you're done.

It's been even longer

I've not been listening to much heavy music. I have been listening to some punk: Stiff Little Fingers, Undertones (really not punk), and my neighbor's dog's artful whining--very post punk. Mostly, I've been listening to playful psychedelic music like early Floyd, Animal Collective, and my neighbor's dog's artful whining--takes on a whole different meaning when tripping.

Cancer has taken me away from dark music. I have enough blackness growing in me at the moment. I have enough toxicity coursing through my veins. I think loud music will always have a place, so I am still all about the dB's--which is a good group, btw.

So, in closing, I hope to do a feature soon on current loud music I've been into. For the few that have ever ventured on this blog, I think you deserve something new.

Gee, golly wizz! It's been awhile. Here's what loud stuff I am listening to right now...

Diamond Head, the "White Album". Favorite track: "Am I Evil?" Why that one sounds familiar: Metallica covered the song and Lars Ulrich got inspired to start his own metal band after hanging out with Diamond Head for a couple of months in 1980. Thus, Metallica was Diamond Head's golden child. Diamond Head is either a metal band playing really good hard rock, or a hard rock band struggling to play heavy metal. Their singer sounds like Steven Tyler from Aerosmith.

Mastadon, "Blood Mountain". Favorite track: "Colony of Birchmen". Yeah, I know it is the popular choice and I don't care. This whole CD is HEAVY! Ok, another awesome track from this album is "Capillarian Crest". It isn't dredged in Satanic crapola, either. The 120 dB's credo is anything that takes you and beats the hell out of your senses and these guys do it well--in a way that is original as well.

Dissection, "The Somberlain". Favorite track: "Black Horizons" Why? Because once in awhile I need to be scared...very scared! Look for the post in the archives that Vera did on this group and you will know what I am talking about. Beware of the messages in these songs--these guys meant everything they said and actually went about proving it.

King Crimson, "Starless and Bible Black". Favorite song: I lump the last three songs into one menacing trio, "The Mincer", "Starless and Bible Black", and "Fracture". These guys were exploring very dark and intense material with this lineup of Robert Fripp (guitar), John Wetton (vocals/bass), David Cross (violin), and a very powerful Bill Bruford (percussion). I know that the violin player seems a bit out of place but it seems to make all the sense in the world when you are listening to a band named after old Beelzebub.

Celtic Frost, "To Mega Therion". Favorite song: "Necromantical Screams". Oh, these guys are totally demented thrash metal and their album art is offensively cool. Some consider them to be of the "first wave" of black metal, but I think their first incarnation "Hellhammer" (not the drummer dude of the same name who came later on to play for Mayhem) was where that distinction came from, not so much Celtic Frost. CF were just plain grating and explored weird ideas not normally found in metal--such as using a brass band in some songs. Their middle period was truly dire. Their drummer took over and kicked Tom Fischer and Martin Eric Ain out of the band. That was a big mistake and it nearly ruined Celtic Frost forever, playing hair metal in hopes of getting rich. Celtic Frost reunited with the classic lineup and made a huge comeback in 2006 with "Monotheist". This comeback more than made up for the dreadful music that had almost ruined them for good.

I would add some punk in here but I haven't listened to punk in a long time. It just isn't punk season for me yet.

Play it loudest!

Something so wrong just seems so right

Enjoy "Immortal".