Friday Music

Another week done, and another Friday Music!

Got an interesting assortment for you this week — most of which was sourced from my “Discovery Weekly” playlist on Spotify — stuff from acts I’d never heard before, new stuff from classic acts, you name it.

First up, though, in honor of my parents’ 50th Anniversary, a special tune — a close family friend, who has always pretty much been one of my uncles, wrote an original Wedding March for their ceremony back in ’68, which he based on this track. Procol Harum – “A Whiter Shade Of Pale.” Happy Anniversary!

This is an L.A.-based band called Dorothy, which, like “Blondie” is the name of the whole band. The lead singer of the band is named Dorothy Martin, though — and her voice reached through the speakers and just smacked me around. She’s got a powerful belt which reminds me a lot of Florence Welch (from Florence + The Machine), but fronting a more rock-oriented band. Also: This is not the similarly-titled Thorogood song. Dorothy – “Who Do You Love.”

Robert Finley spent the early 70s working as a semi-pro musician, but then gave it up and became a carpenter. In 2015, as a senior citizen, he was declared legally blind and had to stop working as a carpenter, so he started busking…and he was discovered. His debut album Age Don’t Mean A Thing came out in 2016, and his second, GOIN’ PLATINUM! was released late last year. This is a track from that album: Robert Finley – “Get It While You Can.”

A couple of my favorite bands from the 80s have new music out — the first is Blancmange, who, after releasing three studio albums in the early-to-mid 80s, re-formed and started releasing albums again in 2011. This track is from their latest album, Unfurnished Rooms, which came out last year. Blancmange – “What’s The Time?”

The second is Gene Loves Jezebel — well, one of them, at least. The twin brothers who founded the band had a falling out, and now both have their own versions of the band, one in the US, and one in the UK. Each have the right to the name, but when in the other’s territory they are called “[Brother’s Name]’s Gene Loves Jezebel.” It’s sad, really. Anyway, this is Jay Aston’s (UK) version of the band. Gene Loves Jezebel – “Izitme.”

Dipping into the prog side a bit here, with Tauk, a 4-piece instrumental rock fusion 4-piece band from NYC. I’ll admit that the title was the first thing that intrigued me, but the more I listened to the track, the more I really got into it. Tauk – “Space Ghost.”

…and we’ll close with this: A band doing what it calls Carnatic Progressive Rock — a mix of prog with the traditional carnatic music of Southern India. You know that I’m all about genre mash-ups, and this is really interesting stuff. Agam – “Subrahmanyena Rakshitoham (Onwards & Upwards).”

There you go — hope that you enjoyed this week’s selections. Drop me a note to tell me what you thought, or to request any musical genres you’d like to hear me dip into in the future.

Have a great weekend!

 
 

FAR WEST Weekly Update: May 10th

Back again, folks — as I said, I’ll be dropping by weekly, to keep you apprised on developments.

This week, I’ve been buried under a pile of papers (and digital files), putting things in order, with an eye towards not just “make it so that Eric can lay it out with a minimum of frustration on his part” but also “make it so that the document can also be shown to non-graphic-designers and still make sense/be useful”, since I’ll be sending the rules portion along to those of you who said you wanted an advance look at the new design later this month.

So that’s what’s been up this week — but I also wanted to take the time and thank everyone who commented after last week’s long-overdue update, here and via email & social media. It wasn’t an easy update to make (as I mentioned, my stupid brain chemistry turned it into this big anxiety-riddled thing I was avoiding), and the encouragement and enthusiasm that you folks shared with me was absolutely amazing. I’ve been running on that buzz for the past week!

Lastly, on a genre-related angle that some of you might be interested in — one of your fellow backers recommended DRAMAFEVER to me. It’s a streaming service that shows various Asian drama series and movies. There’s a paid premium option, but the main service is free (ad-supported), and they’ve got apps for Roku and other media players (or you can watch via the website). It’s pretty much the best legitimate source for recent Chinese TV, including wuxia/xianxia shows (FYI: the difference — wuxia = quasi-historical, xianxia = more overtly fantasy).

Here are the trailers for two series which I put on my watch list (I’ve managed to see a couple episodes of each so far). They should serve as excellent inspiration for FAR WEST campaigns!

Flame’s Daughter is a wuxia romance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK9AVT0bsLM

…whereas Tribes & Empires: Storm of Prophecy is a Game-of-Thrones-esque xianxia drama:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tshPW5cABho

Anyway — I hope that some of you find those interesting. I’ll be posting a review of the shows, in the “Inspirography” section of the FAR WEST website, once I’ve finished watching them.

No time to watch right now, though — back to work!

I’ll talk to you next week.

Gareth-Michael Skarka
Lawrence, Kansas
May 10th, 2018.

My ConQuesT 49 Schedule

I am pleased to announce that I’ll be appearing as a panelist at ConQuesT 49, Kansas City’s longest-running science fiction convention, sponsored by the Kansas City Science Fiction & Fantasy Society, which is being held at the Sheraton Crown Center on Memorial Day Weekend.

My panel schedule is as follows:

• Friday 6 PM: Those Damned Dirty Apes: Fifty Years of Planet of the Apes
• Saturday 11 AM: From Game to Novel: The art of the tie-in book
• Saturday 6 PM: Birth of the Graphic Novel: Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, and Maus
• Sunday 11 AM: Dr. Who: The Legacy of Stephen Moffat
• Sunday 1 PM: Star Trek Showdown 2018: The Captains!

So, there I’ll be, on Memorial Day Weekend, being a Professional Nerd and talking about Nerd Stuff. Come see me!