Califone ECHO MINE (2020)

inside you there are 2 wolves:

Red Red Meat RED RED MEAT Deluxe Reissue (2015)

 crossing fingers that we see the grey whale migration again this spring, and that the harbor seals successfully deliver their pups. lots lost last year due to aggravation from local construction. they're delicate creatures! they like quiet! who can relate?!

Lucky at Cards by Sheldon Lord
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

breezy little beach read, by famed crime writer Lawrence Block. not sure why GoodReads went with the re-published title but stuck with the original pseudonym.

Red Red Meat BUNNY GETS PAID Deluxe Reissue (2015)

if you don't know Red Red Meat, you might let "weird folk" slide, you might let a whole generation of Jared-Leto-ass date rapists pretend to be so quirked up and intriguing. sometimes wonder if some want to be hypnotized by longhaired fauxmystics, like it is some ancestral rite of passage on the way to disillusionment, suburban aspirations, predestined defeat. being a hater is fine if you have the real deal alternative. Chomsky sucks, here's Parenti.

Loftus LOFTUS (1996)

jelly beans in a bernie mug, they want you beaten down so don't be. can't be. 

we've lost power for at least 2 weeks worth of hours in the last few months, my candle and used book supply coming in ever so clutch. 

Actual Air by David Berman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

my man had a whaleheart

"The Charm of 5:30" is probably my favorite, with "Self-Portrait at 28" in place and "New York, New York" in show. "The Double Bell of Heat" and "The Homeowner's Prayer" are also terrific.

remember: "all water is classic water"

Red Red Meat JIMMYWINE MAJESTIC Deluxe Reissue (2015)

 truly Red Red Meat/Califone/Sin Ropas/Loftus made the most earthy yet sublime music of 1990-2010 and must be remembered, celebrated and shared

Distant Star by Roberto Bolaño
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

an extrapolation and re-telling of the most fascinating portion of Nazi Literature in the Americas, the spiritual enemies of the visceral realists, the barbaric writers have their ultimate acolyte in Carlos Wieder, who take advantage of the chaos and violence of the Pinochet coup to practice his horrific art. can two tired poets and an old private investigator track down a second generation fascist on the lam? we better hope so, because no one else is doing it.

Red Red Meat THERE'S A STAR ABOVE THE MANGER TONIGHT Deluxe Reissue (2014)

 it's pup szn, you know I'm back on my otter spotting grind

Midwife LIKE AUTHOR, LIKE DAUGHTER (2017)

 marionberry imperial sour fixing life right on up, cheers my once and future friends

猫 シ Corp. SELECTED WORKS (2022)

 

spotted otters from one hundred fifty feet up on CA-1: 3 aunts, mom and baby in a nameless cove, seafloor evidently crawling with gifts hard and soft

Fiskadoro by Denis Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

a tremendous short story of a refugee from the fall of Saigon hidden in a tone poem about communities surviving fallout decades later in the Keys, waiting for the Cubans or God

Saariselka THE GROUND OUR SKY (2019)

 

 more Oakland goodness. I'll take it over Berkeley all day every day.   

Nmesh and t e l e p a t h PATH TO LOST EDEN (2015)

 

 hot tip: the whole Geometric Lullaby label discography is on massive sale right

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Twain is funny as all hell, but boy does it take a long walk to get to some of the jokes here.

Steve Roach TOMORROW (2020)

 

we got Pattycakes married so the last desperado has hung up his spurs. legendary bachelorhood run my man.

   Last Evenings on Earth by Roberto Bolaño
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

great collection of short stories. I most highly recommend the title piece and "Mauricio "The Eye" Silva" if you want to give it a try.