rustypants speaks

it’s been busy but uninterestingly so. here’s a quick recap of what’s been going on the past few weeks…

• i was not a whole-hearted obama supporter prior to the election - i did vote for him, and did identify with some of the policy ideas he was tossing out, but i was more anti-mccain than pro-obama. i have to say, though: starting with his acceptance speech, looking frequently at www.change.gov, and watching his interview on 60 minutes yesterday - i’m impressed and admit to being a bit excited about this new administration.
• i continue to be mildly shocked at the attitudes of “christians” towards obama. thinly veiled hatred, racism, and things people will “pray” for - it astounds me at times, and at others i can only shake my head and realize that we’re a broken, hurting people. i encourage you to be in prayer for obama, whether you voted for him or not.
• we spent the afternoon saturday in fairhope, alabama - it’s a quaint little town with lots of neat little shops. literally lost track of time while we were there. didn’t buy much but the window shopping was fun. the pic to the right is us freezing on mobile bay near the end of our time in town.
• evenings continue to get cooler here in pensacola - down to the upper 40’s and low 50’s. daytime highs are still in the 60’s and 70’s and our treks to the beach continue be inspirational and relaxing. moving here was absolutely the right thing to do.
• i’ve been twittering, although not much. to all those who say twitter is the next big thing and omg, we all have to jump on the bandwagon, i say this: i won’t argue whether twitter is a “legitimate” form of communication - of course it is. but whether we all have to twitter or be left behind in the technological community-building app dust - this may be making the argument a bit silly.
• teaching high school continues to rock - this is the place to be. having a good time with my classes, with school spirit, and with the staff. sadly, i was not voted teacher of the year, but will post more on that later.
• the dog continues to love the beach. it’s nice now that things are cooling down a bit and the beach is less crowded - we take him as often as we can now!
• recent tunes that have been infecting my brain include the new ray lamontagne album, paul simon’s surprise cd, and santana’s new double disk multidimensional warrior. of the three, the simon album is most refreshing. how does this dude continue to make such good music? santana is still an incredible guitarist, and this double disk is good - it just gets a little… overproduced? the second disk is all instrumental which i thought would be more exciting than it actually is. lamontagne doesn’t surprise me with much with his new CD - it’s good and consistent.
• the movie son of rambow is worth your time.

time to get my junk together for tomorrow.

the boa constrictor song was stuck in my head for several days last week.

it’s only fair to share it with you. (just click on the Audio MP3 button below to listen)

Download The Boa Constrictor Song - Peter, Paul and Mary

i’ve been on a bit of a joe satriani kick the last few days. his technical proficiency aside, he makes some of the best put together songs out there and with such attention to melody. i almost forget that i’m listening to a completely instrumental guitar album. it’s not just “chops” - it’s musical poetry.

this video is of one of my favorite satriani songs, a love song written for his wife - “always with me, always with you” from his album surfing with the alien. this was recorded two years ago and is probably the best version of it that i’ve heard.

i can’t sing.

that’s not a whiny, self-pitying, boo-hoo statement. i just can’t sing. i DO sing, i simply don’t do it in a way that is humanly bearable to those around me.

but don chaffer - there’s no one i know who has a sweeter voice among male singers.

Download On A Night That Felt Outdated

his songwriting is fantastic. his production skills are over the top. his guitar work is wonderful and expansive.

but oh wow - he just has the sweetest and most expressive voice i’ve ever heard. the above song is called On A Night That Felt Outdated - it was captured live a couple years ago at a concert that has been posted online for download here.

chaffer’s band, waterdeep, has been an underground favorite for years with folks who like folksy, bluesy, jam-band, acoustic, electric, rock & funk - they’ve been consistent in their drive to put out solid, well-put-together music without compromising the music itself.

one thing i particularly appreciate about his music (oh, that voice) has been his ability to stay true to living life - chaffer is a christian who writes and sings about real life not the syrupy sappiness that gets played on mainstream christian radio stations. he writes about pain, about joy, about his family, his frustrations, despair, and contentment - all without becoming a caricature or a pretender. much of what passes for “christian” music today is a cartoon of life - it’s not real or even remotely realistic.

Download Bob Dylan’s Shelter From the Storm

the above song was recorded at the same concert as the first one - he and his wife lori do a cover of bob dylan’s shelter from the storm.

some of our favorite concerts have been waterdeep shows - they have a cohesiveness and fluidity that showcases not only their collective skill as a unit, but the individual skills of each member. being in the audience as they branch off into long, extended solos and improvisational songs is almost surreal.

but that voice. so sweet. so high.

oh, when i grow up, please let me be able to sing like don chaffer.

as a kid, i remember going through my dad’s record collection and playing a little of everything. he had a cool box that was big enough to hold a number of 45’s (or singles) - he had a card for each one and a short description included on the card - and he had a whole lot of stuff from when he was growing up (50’s and 60’s).

one in particular that will always remain lodged in my brain was called Delicious! and it featured Jim Backus, of Gilligan’s Island / Mr. Magoo fame.

it was the stupidest thing i’ve ever heard. lush, romantic piano background, corks popping, inebriated individuals laughing, carrying on and on and on…

i remember as a kid listening to this and laughing hysterically! dad would listen, too, and he would laugh as well and by the end we couldn’t stop!

and i still can’t help but laugh with them. it’s so damn funny. and stupid.

but it would be unfair of me to tell you about this and not share, so click below on the Audio MP3 button to hear the actual 45 of Delicious! but please listen responsibly - do not operate heavy machinery while under the influence of Backus and crew.

Download Delicious!

a couple years ago, while attending a youth minister’s conference in atlanta, i got to see cannibal corpse in concert. they were playing at the masquerade. i knew i was in trouble when the lead singer said in a very soft-spoken, southern drawl, “this is a song i wrote about chopping my girlfriend’s head off with a rusty hacksaw and having sex with her neck. it goes something like this…”and then launched into the most aggressive and awful rock song i’ve ever heard. the crowd went(?) nuts and i was thinking i might be killed.

secretly, though, i was having fun. i mean, cannibal corpse!!!

when i bought an 80gb ipod 2 years ago, i did so because i knew i’d run out of room on a 30 and was pretty sure the 60 wouldn’t make it either. sadly, the 80 didn’t last long before i had to start shuffling and moving and deleting to make room for the too-many-bootlegs and cd’s acquired over the years.

so, the ipod stats as of 6-20-08:

songs: 9,099
space taken: 71.9gb
most recently added album: weezer (the red album)
most recently played albums:
    - the red album / weezer
- spirit of the century / blind boys of alabama
- money jungle / duke ellington, max roach, charles mingus
most played songs:
- to love is to bury / cowboy junkies
- brokedown palace / grateful dead
- made of tears / joe satriani
most played albums:
- trinity revisited / cowboy junkies
- eye to the telescope / kt tunstall
- live at radio city music hall / dave matthews & tim reynolds
albums loaded but not one song ever played
(aka: why do i own this cd? list):
- verve jazz masters 14 / wes montgomery
- these four walls / shawn colvin
- snake farm / ray wylie hubbard

for those of you playing at home, file this post under: who gives a damn

answer #1:

play guitar with the amp cranked to 11.

one sucky thing about not having a house is this: when you’re in an apartment it’s difficult to just open it up and play loud. i mean, you’ve got people on both sides and they don’t want to hear you play cowboy junkies, green day, and neil young tunes at top volume, you know? there’s no accounting for taste, apparently.

this guitar is sweet - it was a graduation gift several years ago from my dad. fender telecaster special limited edition with a couple dimarzio humbuckers to add to the fun. now, i don’t claim to be a good guitarist by any measure, but there’s something about just going to town even if you’re not very good. when you get in the groove and you’re just going with it…

i’ve been using a small practice amp for a while but a year or so ago i was given a short stack of peavey amps that were going to be put out on the curb - folks, these things, when wired up and cranked, can shake windows! apartment living doesn’t allow for that either, but i can always pretend, right?

summer break is great for playing your guitar at full volume in the apartment. this is answer number one to the question: what do teachers in pensacola do all summer.

lise and i took off thursday night to drive to cincinnati - the objective: pack the house up. we drove half way and spent the night at a hotel to relieve some of the stress. now, this is still a six hour drive, so to pass the time, we passed the ipod back and forth for the majority of the trip, each picking one song at a time. our resulting soundtrack:

joe satriani - come on baby
katie reider - show your love
dave matthews / tim reynolds - crash into me
david crosby / phil collins - hero
buddy miles - them changes
caedmon’s call - shifting sand
andy osenga - swing wide the glimmering gates
the band - up on cripple creek
alan parsons band - lost without you
alanis morissette - hand in my pocket
jethro tull - aqualung
john coltrane - say it (over and over again)
judas priest - electric eye
journey - any way you want it
ludacris - freedom of preach
luna halo - aliens
justin hayward / john lodge - when you wake up
monty python - lumberjack song
monty python - the penis song
monty python - always look on the bright side of life
chris deburgh - patricia the stripper
50 cent - my gun go off
zz top - sharp dressed man
rodney carrington - show them to me
roger waters - what god wants pt. 1
ray charles - drown in my own tears
neko case - margaret vs. pauline
mercyme - it’s my joy
led zeppelin - moby dick
jars of clay - flood
jim weider - prayer
audio adrenaline - walk on water
buddy guy - now you’re gone
brian setzer orchestra - winter wonderland
butch walker and the let’s go out tonights - hot girls in good moods
calexico - above the branch
cowboy junkies - to love is to bury
damien rice - the blower’s daughter
grateful dead - brokedown palace
kt tunstall - immune
keith jarrett trio - rider
neil young - rockin in the free world

an extra prize is given to the first person to guess what song lise fell asleep to, leaving scott to pick all of the rest of the tunes.

i always smile smugly to myself when i hear a kid talking who thinks he “discovered” a band that’s been around a long time. my favorite examples are:

• green day - a band that has been around since the late 80’s - these guys get hate and love from all angles but i’ve got to say: i love ‘em. dookie remains one of my favorite CD’s of all time (and you’ll pry it out of my cold, dead hands). when american idiot came out several years ago, guys in my youth group were talking about them as though they were the Next Big Thing. i had to gently inform them that they were the Next Big Thing already (waay back in ‘94, a year after i started in youth ministry). by the way, when the simpsons movie included a green day performance the irony was not lost on me - they were labeled “sellouts” years ago by the punk community! one of the funniest scenes in the movie!
• the red hot chili peppers - now these dudes even have green day beat. i remember back in high school when their first album came out. how old does this make them? (hint: anthony kiedis was born in 1962) when stadium arcadium hit the shelves 2 years ago, i was blown away! and the kids came out of the woodwork again talking like maybe i’d never heard of them before. hee hee! silly teenagers - rustypants knows music!

i can’t be too scornful of the kids, though - when i discovered pink floyd’s dark side of the moon, i was pretty certain that i had made the discovery of the century. little did i know…

i’ve gone for years surfing through musical phases that last anywhere from a few days to several weeks. i might get hooked on blues for a while, then abandon it all together for pink floyd, classical, or rap. jazz has always been a big one but even that comes in phases. all flavors of rock are acceptable, depending on the phase of my musical brain.

i’ve been teased for as long as i can remember for an insanely diverse taste in various genres of music and my 80gig iPod purchase 1 1/2 years ago was due in large part to my being tired of having to carry around 400+ cd’s in my car to keep from getting bored.

recently i’ve gotten stuck in a strange musical dichotomy phase.

my love of the grateful dead is no secret. back in junior high, i got the 3-LP Europe ‘72 album - it’s not the least indicative of a typical dead concert but the music was intriguing. psychedelic rock / bluegrass / folk / jazz / blues all wrapped into extended jam sessions = yummy music.

i’ve since acquired well over 60 bootleg concerts ranging from the late 60’s to around 1991. this is one of the phases i’m in right now, revisiting concerts and video of some 70’s and 80’s shows and just being in awe of their ability to make each show sound different, each song sound different, even after 20+ years playing the same tunes. their versatility impresses me and i’ve said for years that it’s awesome watching technically proficient musicians who enjoy playing together, playing together!

here’s a decent video of the dead in action back in ‘72.

my other current phase is about as far from the dead as you can get and still be in rock.

dream theater is a progressive metal band that’s been cranking out industrial strength speed / orchestral metal for 20+ years. i fall for bands like dream theater based on my early love of jazz fusion bands like return to forever - musicians who are stunning in their abilities individually, but then so in tune together that it seems they play as one. what makes this an unusual choice for me is that DT is VERY over-produced and sometimes almost comically melodramatic in their presentation. they’re tight, and not just because it’s packed together well in the studio: they are crazy tight in concert, too. but that progressive metal with melodramatic overtones gets up in my craw after a while.

and to be honest with you: i don’t really care for their vocalist. if there’s a weak link, he’s it.

but they have a killer “official bootleg” of their interpretation of PF’s Dark Side of the Moon that’s worth the price of admission.

this is a pretty good musical representation of dream theater laying down a track in the studio.

i can’t explain the strange phases i go through with music but i always know this: it’ll soon pass…

and next week it might be Jay-Z and Blind Lemon Jefferson. woo-hoo!

ron paul is really the only presidential candidate who intrigues me at this point in the race and while i don’t know a WHOLE lot about him, i know enough to believe i’d support him if he ran independent.

today, that was solidified when i heard that arlo guthrie is supporting paul for president.

and i’ll be damned if the refrain from Alice’s Restaurant isn’t stuck in my fool head now. sheesh.

the cowboy junkies, a band that has been near and dear to me for 20 years, has revisited the trinity sessions, the album that first turned me on waaay back in 1988 at the tender age of 19.

i first blogged about this album back in 2006 when i loaded the thing on my ipod. it’s lost none of its power or greatness since then. i was skeptical at first upon hearing that they were remaking the album, but upon further investigation, it’s a re-interpretation more than simply going back and re-doing the same thing.

and it sounds delicious.

you can download a free song from their revisited website: trinity revisited and can also watch some utube video from the DVD.

sadly, the trinity revisited tour doesn’t come close to pensacola, so i’m out of luck on seeing them perform it live (short of the DVD included with the album) - if you live near one of the cities, go for me, huh?

the following was taken off the revisited website:

The band’s Michael Timmins explains the genesis of the DVD: ’’To celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Trinity Session we decided to head back to Toronto’s Trinity Church with the idea of revisiting the album with the benefit of twenty years of experience under our belts. We enlisted a few musicians for whom The Trinity Session had some personal and professional resonance and whose individual work resonates with us. The idea was to cobble together a loose band sound with just a few hours of rehearsal and a one day recording schedule, resulting in the eight of us bouncing ideas off of each other and inspiring one another spontaneously … much the same way that we created the original recording. We came, we played, and the church, once again, did the rest.’’

i confess that back in junior high

i owned pat benatar’s get nervous album.

and loved shadows of the night.

there are some albums i have on vinyl that have still not been released on CD and this both breaks my heart and makes me smile smugly.

i’ve been an on-again-off-again fan of chick corea since my high school years. corea is one of the most innovative jazz pianists out there - a chameleon of sorts who has changed his style often and leaves me breathless or scratching my head, depending on the album.

back in the early days of my jazz love affair (read: high school) i would frequent several used record shops in the cincinnati area (woodstock, moles, wizards, and ozarka’s all come to mind in the clifton area near UC) and look for new tunes every couple of weeks as the $$ allowed. i found corea’s Return to Forever / Romantic Warrior album on one of these trips and was amazed at the speed and precision that this jazz fusion group could execute. i had also been floored by corea’s crystal silence album with gary burton on vibes - there’s not a more relaxing jazz album i’ve ever heard than this one.
not long after this, i found the griffith park collection. it had many of the return to forever members on it (corea, lenny white, stanley clarke) along with freddie hubbard and joe henderson. reading the liner notes, i saw that this was a mostly unrehearsed album - charts were passed around and the songs were recorded in one take to preserve the spontaneity and improvisational nature of the music. i took this baby home and fired it up - whoa! it became one of my favorite jazz albums on the spot and has never fallen out of grace.

with the advent of cd’s, i have long hoped for this album to be released digitally but it hasn’t happened yet. i recorded it on my record player through my computer several years ago and recently came across the resulting cd as i was rooting through some boxes at the house - i wondered where it had gone and there was a noticeable hole in my ipod without this loaded. all the magic is still there. what a great ensemble of musicians! to hear this thing remixed and remastered for digital? that’d be some awesome stuff.
so, my wish list of LP’s yet to be released on CD:

• the griffith park collection (duh)
• time fades away by neil young (one of the few albums of his not on CD - thankfully i own this LP, too - it’s a classic if you like the off-kilter, depressed neil of the early 70’s. this sucker’s so huge that it’s got it’s own wikipedia page!)
• invitation to openness by les mccann
• live ‘71 by buddy miles
• chick donald walter and woodrow by the woody herman big band

who do i have to sleep with to get these things released digitally??

i forgot to mention…

just before we left for Pensacola, my dad and i and fellow family member greg went to see G3 at the taft theater here in cincinnati.

for the uninitiated, G3 is a touring rock group headed by joe satriani and joined by various guitarists over the years (such as steve vai, yngwie malmsteen, and kenny wayne shepherd, among others). serious guitar wizardry and obviously: guitar gods, depending on whom you ask. this time around, however, the other two guitarists were not known to me - i was sure they’d be good, but c’mon… against satriani, just about everyone sucks.

now, things were getting busy around this time - i was leaving for 2 days in pittsburgh, then back for 3 days and leaving for pensacola for 10 days - this was not a good time for me to spend 4+ hours on a sunday night at what was guaranteed to be the loudest, heaviest concert i’d ever been to. but i wanted to go and be with dad and the thought of seeing joe satriani was nice, too.

i should mention: waaay back when i was in high school, satriani came out with his first album (i always call it the Silver Surfer album, but the actual name of it is surfing with the alien) and it ripped!! this guy was incredible, and i remember hanging with friends who agreed: satriani was the newest guitar god and without question, one of the best.

so, come the night of the concert - we’ve got great seats on the floor. we’re late, but it doesn’t matter - the first of the 3 guys is a no-name who used noise to cover up the fact that he wasn’t that great a guitarist. his drummer had his kit miked in such a way that it was like being defibrillated with each kick of the bass drum. he’s straining and working too hard for my taste.
with the second guy, things were looking up. his name is john petrucci - a guy i later realized i DID know (from the band Dream Theater) - and he was pretty good! all instrumental and pretty kicking. he’s working a bit too hard, too - you know what i mean? he’s, like, fighting his guitar and thinking too hard in the process.
and then.

oh. my. gosh.

joe satriani comes out and absolutely blows my mind. he’s freaking insane on that guitar. and besides being tight, besides doing every guitar trick in the book, besides having some fat and heavy music, the guy looks like he’s not even thinking about it!! he’s just playing this amazing guitar and doing things to it that i’m pretty sure are illegal in some states, and it looks like he could just be sitting in an overstuffed easy chair watching TV and drinking a beer.

he’s as natural a guitarist as i’ve ever witnessed. and i admit it: i couldn’t believe what i was seeing and hearing.

we coulda skipped the first two guys and just come for him and it’d have been worth the night.

his new album is worth every dime. super colossal. and if you get an opportunity to see him live? don’t miss it.

this ipod continues to entertain me as i continue to re-discover albums from my long-gone past.

i’ve long had a fascination with certain album covers and have been known to buy albums by groups i’ve never heard of simply because the cover was so cool or captivating. i’ve gotten some incredible tunes this way over the years (and no duds come to mind in all of them). need an example?

i knew about the grateful dead in my musically formative years (read: junior high) but didn’t know about the music itself. none of my friends were really into the dead and i’m sure i’d never heard their music. we’ve all been hit with the Columbia House Record and Tape Club junk and i was no exception. the dead’s Europe ‘72 album was among the offerings when i succumbed to the intoxicating offer and what a cover!! this sucker was a TRIPLE album (which meant it was like getting three albums from CHR&T - a sacrifice!!) and when it came all i could do was sit. and. stare. even if the music sucked, holy crap! what a great album cover! and luckily the album didn’t suck - it was fantastic music and the dead became a favorite.

around high school i started to branch out into jazz… slowly. one of the first albums i remember buying was miles davis’ tutu. why? geez, look at the cover! think about this picture in a 12″x12″ package - it was HUGE and how could you get away from davis’ piercing stare? picking the album up showed you the back and yet another huge picture of davis, this time with some intense emotion going on. i just couldn’t resist! this never did become a favorite, but it DID introduce me to miles and his trumpeting.

more recently i’ve discovered another favorite band called waterdeep. back in 1999 or so i was shopping for some new, different tunes - as i walked through the CD section of the store, waterdeep’s sink or swim album stood out something crazy. that green cover was the front, the yellow cover was the back. no track listing. just art. and i loved it. took it home, unwrapped it and found MORE art on the inside! oh, it was incredible! quickly waterdeep became a favorite! why? mellow, acoustic rock - here i’d found another jam band! when i saw them in concert the first time and they played on and on and on and sang so sweetly and played so hard, then so soft - oh. my. god.

i remember discovering santana via album cover, too. but if i’m going to be truly confessional, i must admit - the artwork was strange and awesome to be sure, but the reality is, as a junior high boy, seeing a pair of boobs on an album?? zow! i mean, sure that’s stupid now (hee hee), but back then?? woo! i was ALL FOR SANTANA, dude!! abraxas became a favorite and oye como va? oy, vey!

my final example will be another acoustic band - folksy rock band out of oregon called five oclock people. again, out looking for new music, the nothing venture jumped out at me with its simplistic artwork, conveying nothing and everything. i bought it, took it home, loved the inside artwork, too, and loved the band. then they broke up a couple months later.

toad the wet sprocket is a favorite band of mine. i found out about them towards the end of their run (mid-late 90’s) but have kept up with glen phillips, their lead singer, songwriter, guitarist.

their album, fear, has a song at the tail end of the record called, “I Will Not Take These Things For Granted” and the song has always struck me.

here’s the song - it’s an MP3 and about 8mb in size. be patient.

the lyrics:

One part of me just wants to tell you everything
One part just needs the quiet
And if I’m lonely here, I’m lonely here
And on the telephone, you offer reassurance

I will not take these things for granted
I will not take these things…

How can I hold the part of me that only you can carry?
It needs a strength I haven’t found
But if it’s frightening, I’ll bear the cold
And on the telephone, you offer warm asylum

I’m listening, flowers in the garden
Laughter in the hall, children in the park

I will not take these things for granted (x3)
I will not take these things…anymore

To crawl inside the wire and feel something near me
To feel this accepting
That it is lonely here, but not alone
And on the telephone, you offer visions dancing

I’m listening, music in the bedroom
Laughter in the hall, dive into the ocean
Singing by the fire, running through the forest
Standing in the wind, the rolling canyons

I will not take these things for granted (x3)
I will not take these things…anymore

————-

i’m sure i could come up with something profound to make you scratch your head, ponder your very existence, and then think, “dang! that rustypants sure is a smart and profound dude!!” but i’d like to think that you can make connections with the song yourself.

what are some songs that are profound to you?

loading the iPod this past week has given me renewed appreciation for a couple of albums i’ve loved for many years but hadn’t listened to in a while.

waaay back in 1988 one of my best friends was an art student at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. he had eclectic taste in music and introduced me to such groups as siouxsie and the banshees, edie brickell and the new bohemians, and 10,000 maniacs. one night we were at the art academy and this slow, funky groove is playing in the background with a most awesome female vocalist crooning in an sultry, ethereal tone - who is this, i demanded to know!

it’s the Trinity Session from the cowboy junkies.

never heard of them.

and never forgot them after that night.

their music since then has been consistent. their first album with geffen records almost a dozen years later may be even better than the trinity session album, but maybe not. they’re still together. margot timmins still has one of the most awesome voices out there.

they’ve toured and been good friends with over the rhine for many years, and it’s no wonder. they have a similar sound and style, although i’ll go with the junkies over OTR probably 9 out of 10 tries.

don’t have the album? go download one of their concerts from the Live Music Archive - particularly THIS ONE. it’s probably the best sound quality of the bunch.

have a great thanksgiving!

Syd Barrett died.

for most of you, this is probably not a name you’re familiar with, but for this old man… well.

i was turned on to Pink Floyd by the sister of my best friend in junior high. ken had bought me an album by Billy Joel for my birthday and i already had it (52nd Street, maybe?) - ken’s sister worked at Globe Records and Tapes in the plaza a couple miles from my house. i walked into the store and asked for some help in returning it and getting something else. what would she suggest, my 7th grade former self asked.

and she gave me Wish You Were Here.

and life as i knew it was changed forever.

i didn’t know anything about Pink Floyd at this point. never heard of dark side of the moon. didn’t know animals. no idea who syd barrett was or that Wish You Were Here was dedicated to him and was essentially about him.

sonically, WYWH is probably my favorite Floyd album. the range of the music was mind-blowing. the guitar work of david gilmour - holy cow! the whole thing was mesmerizing.

soon after, i was loaned The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon.

and then i went back further and discovered syd, hiding among the first two albums PF made.

then i bought his 2 solo albums.

did i like them? sure. did i love them? hmm. no. syd’s music was a bit too far gone for me. was he a genius? i suppose. misunderstood genius? definitely.

at any rate, RIP syd. if nothing else, you started the band that would build on your insanity and blow our minds. thanks.