…and it’s nobody’s fault but my own. After 2 years of doing all the right careful things as a good citizen, the allure of a solo acoustic Beck show during SXSW was too good to pass up. I’m vaxxed and boosted. I’ve worn a mask indoors and generally avoided indoor venues/dining for the whole pandemic….
Remixing Heartman & Songstress
L Extreme plays out in album order as a track-by-track adaptation of A Love Extreme, but ironically following the song sequence generated a non-sequential narrative that loops back on itself in a series of flashbacks. Keeping score at home? Excluding framing devices, re-arranging the chapters into chronological story would be along the lines of: 21, 3, 8,…
Benji Hughes, Agatha Christie, Anne Rice, Arthur C. Clarke, Stephen King, Cory Doctorow, David Foster Wallace, Kurt Vonnegut…and me!
One goal I had for L Extreme was to capture the genre crossing styles Benji Hughes uses on A Love Extreme the album through the various song/chapters. Recently I remembered this old I Write Like text analysis website and wondered how well I did at mixing things up. Let’s see… In 15 chapters, I write like Agatha…
Of The Year: 2021
Say what you will about life in the last couple years, but musically it’s been a creative delight. (Maybe that’s just more time to listen?) For the second year in a row I have a full top 10: ALBUMS 1975 — No-No Boy Melodic and memorable with a great story and purpose behind it (the…
LX Commentary #26: Baby, It’s Your Life!
Endings are tough. You need to tie up as many dangling threads as possible, leave the reader satisfied that reading the book was worthwhile, and try to go out on a memorable high note without it feeling abrupt or forced. That’s something I wrote a dozen years ago in the commentary post for the final…
LX Commentary #25: Lyegue
One final instrumental to segue us into the finale! Like Coyotes, in the first draft this was a Benji-centric dream. Realizing that chapter needed to focus on L opened the door for C’s starring turn here. Way back in Tight Tee Shirt, C conveniently said “I had a dream last night too. A dream about…
LX Commentary #24: Love On A Budget
Defeating the villain was (seemingly) the point of the previous chapter, but we still have 3 songs left. What’s next? It’s about to get weird… Just like the song says: “Love on a budget doesn’t make much sense anymore.” A simple line, I embraced the second half of that lyric here—but that’s not how it…
LX Commentary #23: So Much Better
After reading the slapsticky, Monkees / SNL sketch inspired first draft, my longtime first reader / editorial voice of reason Jon Mack commented on sections that were “witty banter for the sake of witty banter.” It was fair criticism that got me thinking if there was a way to have witty banter with a purpose….
Outtake: The Missing Narrator (Extended Version)
This is a fun deleted section that’s a little too meta and absurdist for its own good. I trimmed it waaaay down for the Jubalee chapter of L Extreme, but still dig it enough to share here. I’m a big fan of non-traditional, hyper referential storytelling and loved the setup of the overly loquacious intrusive narrator…
LX Commentary #22: Jubalee
“Jubalee” is an epic track oozing with vivid imagery to work with, making it ripe for a play by play trek across various locales. Florist –> Tea Shop –> Circus My initial approach was a redux of the fake Halloween neighborhood watch trick-or-treating section, sending Benji & C & Frank back out on the town….