A side effect of listening to music too long are reduced ability to concentrate and reduced attention and focus. Extensive and intensive listening ultimately leads to snobbism. "Snobbism is an inextricable mixture of pride and meanness" wrote René Girard, a French-American historian, literary critic and philosopher. This is not just applicable to high culture, it's also applicable for popular culture. In the hilarious book "High Fidelity" by Nick Hornby, the record store owner and his two employees agree that "What really matters is what you like, not what you are like". I'm not free from guilt. Sometimes, when someone asks me about my obscure music taste, I can say diminishing things like "it's an aquired taste" or "it's not for everyone" or "there is nothing for you here". Other times, I'm more helpful and instructive. "Think about a breed between Hank Williams and Nick Cave". However, in most cases this doesn't work. People don't understand the reference. They don't know who Hank Williams was or who Nick Cave is. In the worst case scenario, they don't know about any of them. You are back to square one. I have a very strong suspicion towards people that don't listen to music (in general) and people pretending to listen to music (in particular) and furthermore have bad musical taste when forced to say something. This is not mere snobbism. It's a coping strategy. 

Christian Williams has picked up his trusty old Martin guitar again. This is surprising news since he changed his musical style to experimental electronica many years ago. Before this sharp and unexpected turn, he released five gothic folk (or gothic country if you prefer) albums between 2007-2008. Christian Williams is one of my absolute favorites in the genre. Three years ago he began a new recording project, an off and on project that takes time. According to the artist, the easy part is coming up with ideas; the hard part is shifting through all of that and figuring out what’s worth working with for an album. Now it seems like the project has regained its momentum. Actually, you can follow its progress in real time at Bandcamp, click here (opens in a new window). Christian Williams writes on Bandcamp: "In late 2024, I began writing new songs again after an almost 15 year hiatus. This process has continued into 2025 and my first album of original music since 2009 is starting to take shape. In an effort to both share these new songs as they evolve and also motivate myself to see this album through to completion, I've decided to share the demos of each song as I write them. These will be barebones recordings of just my voice and guitar as I move these songs along from ideas on paper to something I can continue to listen to and tweak. At this point, I don't know which of these songs will make it onto the final album, but you'll be able to follow me through the process of making those decisions through this project. I'll continue to add new songs as they're ready to be shared so be sure to bookmark this page and check back every week or so to see when a new song has been added. The newest song will be at the top of the track listing. As long as the inspiration continues to strike, I'll keep writing new songs and hopefully by the end of 2025 I'll have a nice selection of diamonds in the rough to polish for the new album, which I'm tentatively calling "No Wrong Answers."

What can I say? I have listened to the raw songs on Bandcamp and it's almost to good to be true. Christian Williams still got his songwriting skills left intact. The same goes for his dark baritone voice. However, a man cannot step into the same river twice, because it is not the same river, and he is not same man. In an e-mail Christian Wiliams explains: "For several years now, I've been trying to tap back into the creative mindset that helped me make "Built with Bones" and my other albums and I'm starting to realize that's been holding me back from writing anything new. I think I needed distance from those songs and what inspired them and allow myself to get inspired anew - to find a different creative mindset to work from. I'm starting to find that again in this uncertain world we're living in now. I suppose like any good "gothic country" songwriter worth his salt, I draw inspiration from troubling times whether they be personal or as a reaction to the world around me. "Built with Bones" and my first songs were mostly inspired by my own troubling times; these new songs are shaping up to be inspired by the troubled world we now find ourselves living in." This recording project is a beacon in itself. Christian Williams still got the powers within him. I never gave up hope. A new gothic country album from Christian Williams has been in my "What to expect and wish for in 20XX" blog entries for many years. I hope and wish that he has the inspiration, time and energy to complete these recordings. 

We are living in very strange times, indeed. In a Seinfeldian context: up is down, black is white, good is bad and day is night. Simplified messages are in circulation and you have to, more than ever, check the facts. The proverb "trust, but verify" is attributed to president Ronald Reagan (1911-2004), who used it on several occasions in the context of nuclear disarmament discussions with the Soviet Union. Not many people know that "trust, but verify" is a Russian proverb, which rhymes in Russian (romanized: doveryay, no proveryay). The origin of the proverb is not clear, but it must have been originated relatively recently. Hardline communist leaders Lenin and Stalin voiced similar ideas. "Trust is good, control is better" is attributed to Lenin, but there's no evidence that he ever said that. "Healthy distrust makes a good basis for cooperation" is attributed to Stalin, a proverb that is backed up by historical evidence. Neither of them practised trust-based leadership. On the contrary, paranoid leadership. Blind trust leads to disappointment. Distrust leads to unease. The golden middle way is the desirable middle between two extremes. Healthy skepticism is a good compromise between gullibility and cynicism. It's an irony of history, that president Ronald Reagan became so utterly amused by Soviet exercise of power and dictatorial language. But, hasn't the world always been directionless, equivocal, intermediate and timeless?

   

After seven sorrows and eight afflictions maybe it's all going to happen, after all. I'm talking about Antic Clay's album "Broom of Fire", originally scheduled in 2017 as a 10 year anniversary of the release of "Hilarious Death Blues" (HDB). I'm chastened and sceptical. In the past couple of years there has been updates with hints of a release in the near future. I believe it, when I see it. In a recent update Antic Clay wrote: "Studio work continues here in the first quarter of 2025...With the current rate of progress I think a Spring 2025 release of the Broom of Fire album is likely". If we for the sake of the argument, assume a new album, what will it sound like? Antic Clay has reassured that "fans of HDB will not be disappointed". However, I don't sense any HDB-vibe in the three songs ("Center of the Night", "Brother Wolf Sister Moon" and "Elijah") that have been released. HDB was an album that blew your mind. "A slow dark ride across the scorched hide of America. Think Johnny Cash riding a skeletal mule to Hell. Not without moments of beauty and hope, however". Recreating something close to this album should be impossible. The key to happiness is low expectations. Be prepared to replace your expectations with acceptance and always leave room for disappointment.  

An album cover should have a close link to the music. In short, what you see is what you get. Sometimes the cover mismatch is overwhelming. Maybe the best example is "Brain Salad Surgery" by Emerson, Lake & Palmer from 1973. The album cover was created by Swiss artist H.R. Giger (1940-2014). Giger is known for his biomechanical art, a surrealistic style of art that combines elements of machines with organics. H.R. Giger was a sought-after artist and was part of the special effects team for the visual design of the 1979 sci-fi horror film Alien, and for the creating of the xenomorph itself. How ELP got in touch and persuaded H.R. Giger to create the album cover, and the controversies around it, are covered elsewhere. ELP was much loved and hated. Grandiose, pretentious and overweening are epithets that comes to mind. ELP captured the zeitgeist. Nothing was too big in the 1970s. On tour, about 65 people were involved. Nearly 40 tons of equipment were carried around in three TIR articulated trucks. On the truck roofs, their last names in enormous fonts, only visible from above. Keith Emerson used a total of ten (10) keyboards on stage. Greg Lake had an equally impressive bass rig. Carl Palmer’s hand-made, custom-built, revolving drum set-up complete with drum synthesisers alone weighed two and half tons. Despite the heavy load, ELP sounded quite lame. Personally, I don't dislike them. Actually, I have their first five albums. I was young and influencable (which doesn't explain why I later rebought them on cd). People who bought "Brain Salad Surgery" for the album cover must have been baffled when William Blake's delicate psalm Jerusalem faded in "And did those feet in ancient time / Walk upon England's mountain green? / And was the holy Lamb of God / On England's pleasant pastures seen?". This was a mismatch if there ever was one. One thing is clear. Biomechanical art and progressive rock doesn't go well together.