February 10 - My Pal Music

Music has been a good comrade in recent days.

Sunday, Nurse Novels practice was tight and tough. Also, we booked our first show. Friday, March 5, The Nurse Novels will make its live debut at Quenchers, opening for local cave-rock band The Columbines.

Monday I found a really fucking weird Jan and Dean bootleg.
Recorded in 1967 and 1968 after Jan Berry's car accident left him paralyzed, these scarred surf goofs continued their penchant for writing about driving and sugary treats and combined it with psychedelia.
"Fan Tan" is a bizarre song about rainbows or perfume, I think. The string section takes a most bizarre left turn about every 20 seconds. The coda features an added measure over the chant "fan tan, fan tan, fan tan..." It has nothing to do with the obscure Chinese gambling game of the same name.
"I Know My Mind" is a mellow ballad with Lovin' Spoonful harmonies and a sitar solo most likely performed on a Lazyboy recliner. It sounds like LSD had mellowed the straight A football star into a beach drop out who interprets "I Can See For Miles" too literally.
"Mulholland" is my favorite: non-stop Hal Blaine drum fills, a sitar plucked madly like a banjo, erratic key changes in both directions, an oboe solo, song-poem style backing vocals, and a wingy co-ed comedy dialogue on the fade out.
"I feel wasted all day loooong, Mulholland!"
There's also a song whose chorus is "Hate! Hate! Hate! Hate!" and a maudlin tearjerker about a soldier getting shot in Vietnam. The grim details are punctuated with a TV theme glockenspiel.
It's the perfect tragic surf music to go with our miserable, national blizzard.

Tuesday I began a discovery of Neil Young. Finally.
On The Beach and Tonight's The Night have enjoyed repeated spins.
Looking to digest more of it.

Today, Timeless Wavelengths (the Rush Limbaugh! The Musical band) had the tightest performance of the run. It's nice when the drums feel soft under your wrists.

Music has given this cranky, heavy-lidded zombie the energy that thermos coffee cannot.

Verdict: Win

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