Take the ride

I missed the 27th(!!) anniversary of Fish's Sunsets on Empire yesterday. I was going to post another tune from his show in Milwaukee on that album's tour but that will wait until next year. Instead I am going with "Jungle Ride" live in Poland a couple months after the Milwaukee show at Shank Hall.

Sunsets on Empire is definitely a favorite album of mine. Not just of Fish's, but by anyone, of all-time. I think he described it as "progressive nouveau" at the time of its release. Fish and his co-conspirators crafted songs with great melodies that often times, usually when he was in league with Steve Wilson, utilized all the latest/trendiest technology so we had samples and loops as well as all manner of sounds that had never been on a Fish album previously.

While these types of technologies had been utilized to a degree on the previous album, Suits, here they're more prominent and better integrated. Loops are supported by real instruments more there and seem to stand out less, seem less of a novelty. Plus, the rhythms have a bit more groove to them and a bit more punch too.

"Jungle Ride" is a hazy, almost hallucinatory trip through the male psyche. About 3 minutes in a violin slithers into the soundscape with its Middle Eastern vibes and the song settles into a great trippy groove.

Trilliums? Trillia?

It's May and that means the trillium(s)(a) are in bloom. A couple weekends ago I made a trek over to Heritage Sanctuary to check 'em on out.

I don't know why it is but I always hear woodpeckers and blue jays near the entrance. I suppose an abundance of dead trees would explain the former.

Before seeing a trillium, I spied many of these pink flowers that I don't know the name of.

Then a bit farther up the trail white spots appeared in the distance on each side of the trail. Trilliums!

At one point I noticed a log with some nice shrooms.

Edible?

It was a fairly short walk as Heritage Sanctuary isn't that large but it was a lovely morning trek. I think I spied a woodcock but my attempt to get a photo of it failed. Probably just a squirrel in disguise.

Mom's bookshelf

I visited my mother on Mother's Day and noticed this scene on her bookshelf.

Rue Bourre? More like roux Bourre.

I finally made good on my desire to check out the brick & mortar version of Rue Bourre, the purveyors of Cajun delicacies. In fact, I've been there twice. It's beginning to look like a fortnightly treat.

On my first visit, I took pictures of the restaurant but not of my food. For my latest lunch, I attempted to rectify the omission but only partially succeeded.

The restaurant is bright and New Orleans-y with Mardi Gras colors everywhere. Tables have rolls of paper towels and are armed with Louisiana Hot Sauce.

So far I've been a creature of habit and have ordered gumbo with a side of boudin balls on both occasions. My first order of gumbo was disappointing. It was lighter in color than the stuff I bought from them at the North Side Farmers Market last year and it was thicker too. And less flavorful. Needed more thyme and bay. Today's batch was much better.

Darker roux = more Maillard goodness! Plus more herbs. Very tasty.

Boudin balls are out of focus. Oops.

Well done bread crumbs on the outside (Maillard!), hot and moist sausage in the middle. I first encountered boudin balls last month in New Orleans but had boudin many years back in sausage-in-casing form at a paper shack gas station somewhere near Lafayette.

Delicious! Rue Bourre makes a mean gumbo and boudin ball. I should really explore their menu further.

Epistolary most foul

I saw Wicked Little Letters the other day and it was quite a good time.

Olivia Colman plays pious spinster Edith Swan who has been receiving poison pen letters from an anonymous villain. Edith lives at home with her parents and the missives are upsetting her mother and making her nasty, controlling father angrier by the day.

The letters are written very strangely, as if their composer was still a novice at the whole vulgarity thing. And so you get stilted turns of phrase such as "foxy ass piss country whore", "You dirty old bitch, you belong in hell, probably", and "Edith sucks ten cocks a week, minimum!".

One person who is not an amateur when it comes to wielding profanity is the Swan's next door neighbor, Rose Gooding, a single Irish mum who frequents the tavern, amongst other unladylike activities. Rose is accused of sending the dirty dispatches.

She is played by Jessie Buckley who is foul-mouthed, spirited, and a lot of fun to watch. Buckley was great in Men and Women Talking too. Colman does a wonderful job with her facial expressions, sometimes showing her adherence to propriety (and abhorrence at those who would deny it) while at others letting us see the damage done by the repressive patriarchy of her day.

The police investigate the letters and finger Rose as does the rest of the small town. However, PC (Police Constable?) Gladys Moss believes Rose to be innocent and she assembles a Bloodhound Gang of local ladies to prove it. Moss has her own issues/run-ins with the patriarchy in the form of the hierarchy of the police department which bolsters the theme.

We aren't bashed over the head with this theme; rather it is sprinkled here and there so that we never forget it but the patriarchy of 1920s Britain is not allowed to get in the way of the mystery and the comedy.

Wicked Little Letters is a lot of fun and hearing Colman blurt out the amateurish obscenities is hilarious.

Spring has sprung

Last weekend I took a walk through my favorite conservation park. It was a beautiful morning.

 

 

The trees were in full bloom and bird song filled the air. I saw a blue jay but it eluded my camera.

 

 

Mallards and Canada geese were plentiful. This may not be the best photo but I do like the goose with its mouth hanging open as it takes off.

The refulgent orb was right at the peak of the arch which made for some nice lens flares.

Dreaming of Suits

It's been 30 years since Fish released Suits, his 4th album. With his music career a tour away from being only a memory, there's something poignant about seeing him live fairly early on his solo journey. It's a bit sad for me knowing there's no more Fishy music to be had. Waiting for new albums of his and delving into them when they finally arrived had been a part of my life for so long and I miss it.

So here's "Mr. 1470" from 30 October 1993, meaning Suits was still months away from store shelves.

I've got good news

My first ride of 2024

I had intended to go on my first bike ride of the season in the morning but found that I had a flat tire. Later in the day, with chores done, the fine folks at Slow Roll Cycles remedied that and I was able to hit the road come the afternoon.

The neighborhood garden and environs were looking nice.

One of the Leopold benches was adorned with seasonally appropriate art.

Down in the reservoir were a couple of swingin' bachelor mallards.

Starkweather Park was also looking mighty fine. A bit early to see any deer, methinks.

It's a great place for watching the plentiful red-winged black birds.

I hadn't been down the Marsh Path in a while and found that the tent city underneath the overpass was gone.

I wandered along the creek.

There were some very nice views of the Voit Farm property from atop a little hill.

On the way home, I encountered a couple more birds.

22 years on the vapor trail

Rush's "comeback" album, Vapor Trails, was released on this day in 2002. After Neil Peart lost his daughter and wife in quick succession in 1997-98, we fans were left to wonder if the band was over. But they roared back with a vengeance on this album.

This is "Earthshine" from their summer '02 tour stop in Milwaukee, a show I was at.

Fauna, 2 May 2024

A (short) soundtrack for reading John Muir

What music they make

IQ went heavy on their 10th album, The Road of Bones, which came out this day in 2014. It also saw the returns of bassist Tim Esau and drummer Paul Cook.

Even several years and another similarly styled album, Resistance, later, I am still getting used to the heavier sound with those slashing guitar riffs. I really do like this album and think Cook is just full on great throughout plus Neil Durant does not use a light touch on the Mellotron sounds which gets my proggy juices flowing. But I do miss Mike Holmes' more melodic guitar touches, those airy sustained notes.

Well, it just means I need to do more listening.

Here's "From the Outside In" in all its chugging glory.

So Fellini for 23 years

Fellini Days by Fish came out today in 2001. It was a return to form, so to speak, in that it was a divorce/end of relationship album. Going to back to his early Marillion roots.

This is usually my favorite song from it, "Tiki 4". A smoky, easy-going vibe.

Happy 17th Snakes & Arrows

Rush's penultimate album, Snakes & Arrows, turns 17 today. I love this album. Two instrumentals! A fair amount of acoustic guitar, great riffs, some very moving lyrics. It has a wonderful energy to it.

To celebrate, here's "The Larger Bowl" live from Milwaukee on 6 September 2007.

A couple scenes from a spring

Piper likes free jazz

Thanks to Mad City Music for the new tunes. And thanks to Chicago's Tomeka Reid for making the great tunes. I hope you can visit our fair burg again soon and play "Old New" and "17 West".

Happy Beltane!

We are here:

Happy Beltane! Looks to be a nice day here.

Bill Bruford meet Alan White

Union by Yes turns 33 today. To be sure, the album is a mediocre mix of the Squire/Rabin version of Yes and Anderson Wakeman Bruford Howe but it had a few very fine songs on it. Both camps united for a tour.

This is "Shock to the System" recorded at their tour stop at Alpine Valley here in Wisconsin on 26 July 1991.

"Feast of the Green Corn" live

I found a live version of "Feast of the Green Corn" by Sacred Harp, a.k.a. - Daniel Bachman. I simply adore this song. Love his vocalizing here. It adds a very ethereal touch.

Sacred Harp - Feast of the Green Corn - Salem, Oregon from Paul Murray on Vimeo.