Kspace: Steve Karmazenuk's Writing Weblog

Kspace Moving to Facebook

2011-03-14T01:00:00.000-04:00

Hello all.

I have decided to move my weblogs, both Kspace and The Omniverse directly to the Facebook page for the series.

You can get there from here with this link:http://on.fb.me/grrweY

This blog will remain up and you will be able to read all the previous entries.

Thanks all,

Steve Karmazenuk

An essay on Star Trek: FUCK Rick Berman

2011-02-09T14:05:00.001-05:00

I just have to write this, because right now over on their Facebook page, Star Trek are currently paying homage to the worst thing to happen to the brand, Rick Berman. I shared it with them, but I don't expect it to remain up for very long over there. So here then is my essay, Fuck Rick Berman:

Fuck Rick Berman. Fuck Rick Berman in the ear.

The man turned TNG's final seasons into an uneven mess of "restart-by-closing-credits" melodramas and Rubber Forehead Theatre.

The inability to stick to established Star Trek lore or maintain an even portrayal of characters (or for that matter, DEVELOPING the characters beyond the 2 dimensional), as well as ripping off an idea originally pitched to Paramount by J Michael Straczyinski (The big, blue rotating elephant in the room) to create DS9 only cheapened TNG's already-tarnished legacy.

The movies only ruined things further by taking the Borg completely off the rails, (Creating plot holes the size of which you could fly a planet-eater through), allowing William Shatner a hammish and extended death scene, prostituting the TNG cast to inferior scripts and direction and pointlessly and inelegantly killed off one of the franchise's most beloved characters. The net result? TNG died of terminal suck.

Shall we enumerate the sins of Voyager, of which there are many? Start with the wasted potential to tell REAL "Strange New Worlds" stories, assembling a crew of caricatures instead of characters, spending no time on developing a coherent story arc, completely bollocksing up the Borg, Shoe-horning good, old-fashioned cheezy 1980s Three's Company eye-candy Jeri Ryan into the story (and then not even being able to pull of T&A properly) to distract the horny fanboys who couldn't jerk it to Janeway because she reminded them of their moms, not even ATTEMPTING to formulate any kind of direction for the show...

Enterprise? Purile, outdated garbage. The show would have been great-had it come out 20 years before, when Genre audiences weren't as demanding of intelligent, thoughtful storytelling. And the weekly dose of Vulcan camel-toe (Pon-T'ang, I believe it's called) just wasn't enough to make the show tolerable. Nevermind the Xindi fiasco and the one-again pointless killing off of a beloved character in the finale.

The best thing to happen to Star Trek since "All Good Things" aired was the 2009 alternate-history reboot by JJ Abrams. And even there, we need an extended director's cut to really get the most out of that one, I think.

Rick Berman? Should do to him what the Klingons did to Worf: Turn our backs on him and exile him in shame.

AMAZON Replies...and I write them back...

2011-02-08T21:08:00.003-05:00

News as follows: Amazon replied regarding Peter Michelsen's theft of my work. What follows is their reply (in blue); beneath that, my reply to their latest.

Dear Mr. Karmazenuk,

Thank you for your message.  Please be advised that we are in the process of removing the following Kindle titles from Amazon.com:

The Unearthing [Kindle Edition] ASIN: B004JF4NUK

It typically takes 2-3 days for a listing to disappear once it has been removed from our catalog. We trust this will bring this matter to a close.

Adrian Garver

Copyright/Trademark Agent
Amazon.com

Thank you for tending to this matter.

However, merely removing Mr Michelsen's plagiaristic entry from your webpage is insufficient. I intend to pursue all legal avenues available to me against Mr Michelsen, and to that end will need the details of Mr Michelsen's account: specifically, the number of sales of ebooks he has completed for The Unearthing, as well as his full legal name and contact/mailing information.

Likewise, I have discovered that another of my eBooks, Through Darkness And Stars, is being sold through your site - purportedly by me.

The link is here:

http://www.amazon.com/Through-Darkness-and-Stars-ebook/dp/B004KPM2KW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AZC9TZ4UC9CFC&s=digital-text&qid=1297217004&sr=8-1

Needless to say, the person selling this book is NOT me; I'm shocked that you would allow anyone to sell an eBook through your site without verifying they are in fact the copyright owners of the work in question. Especially considering that the book lists itself as "The Sequel to the Unearthing" and it is not on the same "Steve Karmazenuk" author account as "The Unearthing". Along with the removal of "Through Darkness and Stars" from your listings I will need the details of the bogus Steve Karmazenuk as I've requested for Peter Michelsen.

I look forward to your prompt reply.

Regards,

Steve Karmazenuk

2011-02-07T10:02:00.001-05:00

Well, in the last week I've sent 2 notices to Amazon.com about the plagiarism of my book, The Unearthing, by one vile little thief, Peter Michelsen.

Well, Amazon has yet to get back to me about taking this down and doing something to block this piece of shit, Michelsen.

Today, I discovered someone is also selling - at $4.00 a pop, no less - the eBook for Through Darkness and Stars on Amazon, as well.

Needless to say, I'm vigorously pursuing all legal avenues open to me; and at this point I'm not only considering action not only against Michelsen and whoever this other fuckwit selling Darkness is, but against Amazon as well.

I released both of these novels as FREE downloadable eBooks a while back. The Creative Commons license stipulated that the eBooks were allowed to be read and FREELY redistributed...I did this because it was more important to me to be read than to be remunerated. But to find out that some opportunistic parasites out there are making profit off of my work - blatantly and flagrantly STEALING from me - and violating the Creative Commons license - I'm outraged.

What astounds me is the utter lack of effort on the part of Amazon.com to ensure that the products they are selling on behalf of these people are in fact their legally copyrighted work. Peter Michelsen has literally dozens of titles for sale, all of which are obviously stolen from other authors. This other person posing as me, again, is not only using my work but MY OWN FUCKING NAME to steal from me.

I'm shocked at the lackadaisical effort Amazon has put into verifying ownership of work. I'm offended by their lack of response to my repeated requests to fix this matter.

It's one thing to share a file for free that an author has put out there for that express purpose. It's a whole other kettle of fish to take that same work and try to make a buck off of it at the author's expense.

I'm also pretty sure I'm done giving away my shit for free.

Plagiarism Update

2011-01-29T14:34:00.002-05:00

In the interests of keeping this legal and visible, I present the following:

Noticed the following item for sale thru your site:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Unearthing-ebook/dp/B004JF4NUK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AZC9TZ4UC9CFC&s=digital-text&qid=1296328931&sr=8-1

It is in fact a total plagiarism of this item, also for sale thru your site, these last 4 & 1/2 years:

http://www.amazon.com/Unearthing-Steve-Karmazenuk/dp/1424131642/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1296328978&sr=8-1-spell

In short, Peter Michelsen is selling a kindle version of what is in fact my novel, The Unearthing. I am the sole owner of the electronic rights of The Unearthing. While it is published physically through Publish America, my contract specifies ownership of the electronic rights. This Kindle eBook Mr Michelsen is selling is in fact a verbatim copy of my book, which he claims as his own, down to the last typo.

I have never authorised Mr Michelsen, nor anyone else, to sell this work or to sell it on my behalf. I have no agreement with Mr Michelsen, nor have I ever had any contact with him or anyone representing him. I have not been remunerated for any sales of this work.

I hereby declare under penalty of perjury, that the above information is accurate and that I am the sole copyright owner for The Unearthing.

Wikileaks helps spread State propaganda

2010-12-09T13:39:00.001-05:00

And this is just one of many examples to come of why what Assange did will ultimately prove to have been more harmful than good. It will likewise allow governments to justify further clampdowns on freedom of the Press.

I said it. I said this was irresponsible. I said it was an abuse of Journalistic freedom. I said that no legitimate journalist should defend Julian Assange.

I was right. Again.

Wikileaks is not responsible journalism.

2010-11-29T00:26:00.000-05:00

I don't post often enough. And lately, I've had little to say even when I do.

Tonight, as I chase sleep, my thoughts turn to Wikileaks, instead of to the tenth chapter of the Aeons War, which while fully realized in my noggin, is not yet down on paper.

Wikileaks just published an assload more stolen secret documents. If you care enough you can find the news about it all over teh internetz.

What astounds me, is that so many journalists are rushing to defend Julian Assange, Wikileaks' founder and chief muckymuck.

Wikileaks is itself evidence of what happens when freedom is not balanced with responsibility. Freedom of the press is not absolute. It has the freedom to publish whatever it wishes but has the responsibility to consider the consequences of what it divulges.

It seems as though Wikileaks and Assange deny that the government operatives, the soldiers, diplomats, agents, aid workers and attaches' lives might possibly be worth more than the public's right to know. These people aren't all working in secret, or trying to oppress foreign countries. Some of them are just trying to do their jobs, provide for their loved ones, protect their country or serve it somehow.

It is arrogant, irresponsible, reprehensible and criminal of mister Assange to endanger these peoples' lives, as well as the fragile diplomatic relations that the United States has. It is irresponsible and reprehensible of legitimate journalists everywhere to defend Mr Assange and Wikileaks. The net result of the leaking of these documents could be nothing. Or it could plunge the war-stricken corners of the world into further chaos. For Julian Assange to commit this act of cavalier, sanctimonious hubris is disgusting. For the so-called legitimate journalists of the world to condone and / or defend him for doing it is even more disgusting, for they are in fact colluding with a criminal, and are aiding and abetting the suffering of every person who may be endangered by these leaks.

Wikileaks was founded on the idea of providing whistle-blowers with the means to report criminal activities. Certainly in the past with regards to the workings of the United States government, Wikileaks has indeed reported on criminal wrongdoings of past administrations. But to call the sensationalist garbage of printing secret reports on diplomatic and consular operational intelligence, to endanger the lives of America's and America's allies' lives in the fields of operations, trade, aid, diplomacy and war is the vile, criminal and cynical act of an arrogant coward.

Julian Assange is as much a war criminal as Usama Bin Laden, George W. Bush, Saddam Hussein, or any other countless autocrats, dictators and butchers out there.

It's time that journalists started treating him as such.

Freedom is not absolute. It MUST be tempered with responsibility.

Could Chinese Moon Exploration Touch Off a New Cold War?

2010-11-11T09:14:00.003-05:00

I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I'm sorry...it's been a hectic...year...

Recently, the Chinese have sent out some awesome images from their lunar probe, and spoken enthusiastic about further missions in 2013 and beyond - including manned missions in our lifetimes!

As exciting this is from the Geek point of view, though, it raises some troubling questions.

The exploration and exploitation of the resources on the Moon was unimagined when the US went there. They collected rocks and dirt, drove around, played golf, planted the American flag…it was a pissing match with the Soviets, nothing more.

China, with its near absolute control of industry and science and remorseless determinism of the Chinese Communist system of government can devote whatever resources it wishes to the exploitation of the Moon’s stores, including water ice and untold mineral wealth.

The Moon’s a logical jumping off point to Mars and the potentially mineral-rich asteroid field. Whether you believe in the romantic notions of deep space exploration or not, the questions you should ask yourself are these:

Who do you want to see reach the stars first? Communist Chinese imperialists or an international coalition of American, British, European and Asian space explorers?

Who should have the best access to the riches and knowledge to be found in the solar system – and beyond?

If there is life out there, who should represent Mankind when and if we encounter them?

Micropost & Announcement(s)

2010-10-07T13:39:00.004-04:00

Okay, first an apology: Sorry I've dropped off the face of the Earth. I was doing so well in my resolution to post regularly & keep content active with weekly music reviews cross-posted from CONFRONT Magazine. Well, that didn't work out for several reasons which may or may not remedy themselves in the near future.

Second, I am discontinuing the weekly music review cross-posting. There is a link to CONFRONT over there on the lower left. Scroll down...it's there. If you enjoy reading my reviews, you should read them over at the Magazine; hell, you should be reading CONFRONT Magazine anyway, if you're into music.

Third, I am studying the feasibility of moving up the pitch-launch for Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind. Why? Because I feel the need to strike while the iron is hot. I do not, however, intend to be foolhardy about it.

Fourth, on the Omniverse front, The Aeons War is coming along nicely, the first 7 chapters now put to bed. Looking at the outline for the story I see several points of departure from the script, just as I had with Unearthing and Darkness. I'm actually going to dig up and post those outlines for you soon, so you can see just how the story changed from the original draft.

Finally, with the launch this week of a practical, linked-to-a-smart-device augmented reality headset, I've added another gadget to the long list of gizmos predicted when I first wrote The Unearthing, back in 1997:

The Augmented Reality Windshield
The Portable Console Computer
Headset Computing
Galileo Navigation System (Down to the friggin' NAME!)

So...not for nothing, but it might be a good time to start digging around in Northwest New Mexico...all I'm saying...

Okay, well that's about it for this time; I promise I'll try and update again, soon!

Download News

2010-09-15T14:43:00.002-04:00

New Stats for the Omniverse: The Unearthing has been downloaded over 18 000 times & Through Darkness and Stars almost 7400 times since being posted online.

THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO HAS READ & ENJOYED (my apologies to those who didn't like it) THESE NOVELS! MORE TO COME!

The latest news on Nevermind...and some music reviews

2010-08-17T12:22:00.014-04:00

So, this update was to have been written over the weekend...unfortunately, owing to circumstances beyond my control it's being written now.

That being said, I met with the artists' program coordinator over at YES Montreal the other day, to discuss my plans for Nevermind.

Now, for the four of you that have been reading this blog since its inception in 2005 (Fuck me running! It's been almost 5 years that I've been writing this blog!) know that it's always been my plan to make a career of this writing thing.

Granted, that's not always gone according to plan. The Unearthing, the first volume of The Omniverse was successfully published back in 2006 (Ironically almost a year to the day since I started this blog) I still blame the fact that I was laid off from Bell Canada so Michael Sabia could take a five hundred per cent pay rise on Unearthing's commercial failure.

See, I would have had a minor fortune in stocks and options by the end of the year if my employment hadn't been terminated when it was (those stocks, of course, very conveniently reverted back to Bell upon my being declared "surplus"), and I had hoped to use those stocks to finance Unerthing's promotion.

Anyway...moving on.

They say God never closes a door without opening a window...I say that means God's got some really bad obsessive compulsive disorder issues to work out. In any case, after wallowing for longer than I should have, I decided to release Unearthing and later her followup Through Darkness and Stars electronically, and for free. With nearly 20 000 total downloads of the two novels, I'd say I found some of the success I've been looking for.

Remuneration, however, has evaded thusfar me.

Which brings us to Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind.

When I started writing Nevermind, back in 2002, it was an experiment; an exercise in which I just kept asking myself "I wonder if..."; questions included: "I wonder if I can write a non-genre story?" "I wonder if I can write a book without any actual plot?""I wonder if I can convincingly write a gay sex scene?" "I wonder if I can tell one story from six different points of view?" "I wonder if I can let these characters tell THEIR OWN story?" "I wonder if?" "I wonder if?"

I also thought the "I wonder ifs?" were done when the writing of the story was done, as well. When the initial couple of drafts were done, I put the story aside to write the first and second drafts of Through Darkness and Stars, as well as outline the final three stories of The Omniverse. When I turned my attention back to Nevermind, it was to put the first dozen chapters up on the now-closed PHYTE Magazine website. Nevermind quickly became the second-most popular feature on the site, after the still-going-strong feature, Anterockstar.

Who am I to complain about being #2?

But...where Nevermind had never been intended to be more than an elaborate writing exercise to improve my characterizations and individual character "voices", I realized I had something else on my hands. Suddenly, new "I wonder ifs" came up: "I wonder if I can accomplish something ELSE with this?" and so I started thinking things through.

Come 2008, I decided to launch The Unearthing as a free downloadable novel. When it was launched and gaining steam, I completed work on Through Darkness and Stars, and, figuring I would eventually launch Nevermind as an eBook. To that end, I decided to take Nevermind and Darkness for a spin through the fabulous rewrite machine.

Somewhere between launching the eBook versions of The Unearthing in 2008 and Through Darkness and Stars in 2010, it occurred to me to ask another "I wonder if": this time, it was I wonder if Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind could actually SELL?

Well last week I had my first meeting at YES Montreal to see about doing just that. I'm now looking into compiling a list of publishers and agents to whom I would like to pitch Nevermind, and my councilor is also having me brainstorm about what I want to accomplish/what I need to do to accomplish it...eww...homework.

But, I'm on track right now to eventually sell this puppy!

...and if it doesn't sell? Well then I'll release it as a free eBook just the same!

Some of you might wonder what me publishing a book will mean for The Omniverse and any future free eBook prospects. Well, I intend to keep releasing the novels of The Omniverse as free eBooks...you people, my readers, have made them a success; as much as I wish SOME of you would have donated a little something to my PayPal account, I'll let that slide. While I might, when the five novels are done, decide to release a print edition of the quintology, the eBooks for The Omniverse series themselves will always remain free.

As to my other writing? As much as I would like to make a living as an author, I see no reason not to at least release SOME work as free downloadables, though for obvious reasons the stuff I publish will likely not see the light of day as freebies...unless I can REALLY negotiate the fuck out of a publishing contract.

And now for our regular music feature:

First: Two very different albums by two very different styles of artists: let’s start with the ass-kicking Metal supergroup, Hell Yeah!

Hell Yeah! Stampede

Composed of former and/or current members of the Metal groups Mudvayne, Nothingface, Damageplan, and Pantera. ‘Stampede’, their second album belies more of a Hard Rock than Hard Metal. The sound tends to be somewhat uneven; different songs seeming to showcase sounds and styles that were endemic of the bands Hell Yeah!’s members came from, rather than demonstrating the new band’s own sound.

“Cowboy Way” opens the album capably, establishing the defiant, unapologetic attitude that predominates the rest of the disc, followed by the intense and ominous “Debt That All Men Pay”, a track that reminds me of Pantera’s “Slaughtered” from ‘Far Beyond Driven’. The song I found most visceral on the album is the downtempo and very Grunge-sounding “Better Man”, a ballad as told by a son to his abusive, neglectful and ultimately absent father. Other power tracks on this one include “Pole Rider” and the closer “Order The Sun”.

In spite of its flaws, ‘Stampede’ is a worthy second outing and a refreshingly listenable album, well worth it if you’re a fan of Metal, of Hell Yeah! or of any of the groups that spawned this ragtag band of screwball Metalhead musicians.

Hell Yeah! Stampede
Epic
Steve’s Rating: 8/10

Sheryl Crow: 100 Miles from Memphis

This is album #7 from Sheryl Crow, and I will admit to having been a fan of her work since album #1. This time the music is inspired from that which Crow listened to, growing up, as the album title suggests, in a small town “100 miles from Memphis”.

The music here is has very strong Motown-influenced Rhythm and Blues and Southern Delta Rock influences than Crow’s usual Pop-Rock offerings. She also indulges in covers and collaborations, such as working with Justin Timberlake on “Sign Your Name”, originally recorded by Terence Trent D’arby, or working with Citizen Cope on a cover of his tune, “Sideways”. The album likewise closes with a spot-on Jackson 5 cover, “I Want You Back”.

As a whole it is very interesting to witness Sheryl Crow taking wing in a new direction, experimenting and expressing parts of her musical personality rarely seen.

However, on the aforementioned “Sign Your Name”, I found guest vocalist Justin Timberlake was under-utilized in his role as a background vocalist. The song could have been far more sultry and sinewy had Timberlake’s talents been unleashed on the song’s chorus. Instead, Crow’s high-register voice makes the chorus into a whiny shadow of what could have been.

“Long Road Home” is an outstanding Country-Rock ballad that marks the albums middle four songs. The ballad “Stop” is an effective blend of Country and R&B into a pretty-much guaranteed single and slow-dance favourite, while the funky, sweaty “Roses and Moonlight” more than makes up for the loss of sensuality on “Sign Your Name”.

This is an awesome addition to the Sheryl Crow catalogue, and even if it’s just a one-off, this album demonstrates what has made Sheryl Crow into the power house performer she is today.

Sheryl Crow: 100 Miles From Memphis
A&M
Steve’s Rating: 8.5/10

This music selection came to me via email, download links from bands and their management. Not only is it refreshing to download music legally, it’s nice to see the New Media used to so effectively promote small acts.

So, let’s take a look at my first-ever email orders!

Isle of Thieves: Only Human

I’m not sure if this one qualifies as an EP or as a full album. At nine songs it’s a tad long for an EP, but at around 35 minutes it’s a little short for an album. However you want to quantify the latest from Isle of Thieves, what we have here is for the most part some really good music.

The music is very Post-Grunge; Isle of Thieves has an appropriately intense Pop-Punk-Small-Venue-Rock sound and feel; I’m reminded of Envy on the Coast, or Motion City Soundtrack, Billy Talent, or Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, with maybe just a minuscule soupcon of 30 (Why-The-Hell-Aren’t-They-Coming-To-Montreal) Seconds To Mars. The music captures a raw, intense essence and drives it home with hard-rocking up-tempo music.

The problem is that the intensity is just a little too intense; every song seems to be trying very hard to drive its point home, and every song likewise seems to carry a very heavy message. The result feels as though the band is either manufacturing their intensity, or taking itself way too seriously.

That being said, there are, nevertheless, some excellent tunes on this album: “Love Artificial”, “Clinger”, “Best Mistake” and most especially the powerful closer “String Theory” stand out on the album. I’d add “Six Good Friends” to the list of ‘Only Human’s best tracks, but from the first time I listened to it I couldn’t help thinking how much better it would sound if it were done by the aforementioned 30 Seconds to Mars.

Warts and all, I do enjoy this album; I am anxious to see where Isle of Thieves are going to go.

Isle of Thieves: Only Human
Independent
Steve’s Rating: 8/10

Mt. St. Helens’ Vietnam Band: Where The Messengers Meet

This one sort of reminds me of the kind of minimalist experimental Rock heard on Radiohead’s ‘In Rainbows’, except it doesn’t quite have the bleak melancholic apathy that Thom Yorke’s been inflicting on us for the better part of the decade since releasing ‘Kid A’ in October 2000.

But this band is more than a Radiohead soundalike; incorporating Post-Grunge, Blues Rock and even some inspired back-to-the-source post White-Album Beatles Acid-Pop. The net result is an impossible-to-define sound, unconventional, trippy music and some of the finest auralgasms you’ll find, this year. Imagine something between Radiohead and The Sound of Animals Fighting highly experimental, unabashedly innovative.

Songs to pay attention to? Pick your take on ‘Where The Messengers Meet’. “Gone Again” is exceptional, and “Leaving Trails”, “Not To Know”, and “Bitter Cold”, will impress. But then, so will the rest of the album.

Mt. St. Helens’ Vietnam Band: Where The Messengers Meet
Dead Oceans
Steve’s Rating: 10/10

Arcade Fire: The Suburbs

The darlings of the Montreal (and Canadian) Indie rock scene, Arcade Fire have released two popular and critically acclaimed and platinum-certified albums, been all over the radio and music video channels and generally received with the laying of palm fronds at their feet.

To me, they’ve always sounded like Chris Isaak-light, and their latest album, ‘The Suburbs’ is just more of the same sound. Bleak minimalist Country twangs and reverb-heavy vocals combine with unconventional instruments and electronically-tweaked Rock production and still somehow make something so milquetoast, so banal that it just fades into the background.

Don’t get me wrong: Win Butler et al are accomplished musicians, the music is capably produced and the album is technically masterful. The problem is, The music is dreamy, airy, unobtrusive and, sadly, about as enthralling as watching paint dry.

If you’re a fan of that sort of thing, and therefore of Arcade Fire, likely you will enjoy ‘The Suburbs’. Go for it; anyone looking for something a little more substantive and challenging will do well to look elsewhere.

Arcade Fire: The Suburbs
Merge
Steve’s Rating: 6/10

Ryan Star: 11:59

Although officially being touted as Ryan Star’s debut, it is actually his second full-length release. But, that one came out before Ryan was a contestant on reality TV show ‘Rockstar Supernova’. That he was a contestant on a reality TV show is particularly telling, because the music on ‘11:59’ is very reminiscent of another reality TV show also-ran: Chris Daughtry.

The whole of ‘11:59’ sounds like a lost Bon Jovi album from the late 1980’s. The same verse, verse, chorus, verse, verse, chorus structure abounds, and the album is literally nothing more than Arena Rock song after Arena Rock song, and Power Ballad piled on top of Power Ballad until the entire album finally seems like a tribute to the Golden Era of Hair Bands.

No doubt this album will do well among the same set of rubes that enjoys Bland Band music by the aforementioned Daughtry and Bon Jovi, as well as fans of the most malignant of musical cancers, Nickleback and Theory of a Deadman.

If you feel offended by the previous paragraph, go out and buy Ryan Star’s ‘11:59’. If you sneered derisively at my astute observation on the state of what passes for Rock music, give it a pass and go get some old Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Ryan Star: 11:59
Atlantic
Steve’s Rating: 5/10

Black Label Society: ‘Order of the Black’

Black Label Society: Order of the Black

Sometimes, an album manages to capture all the sounds of one particular genre, sometimes even masterfully well, but does so without managing to capture the least amount of that genre’s soul. Case in point, the latest from Professional Metalheads, the Black Label Society.

The album sounds like a perfect mix between Golden Age Metal classic structure, with the Hair Metal bombast of the pre-Metal Crash 1990s. I’m most reminded of Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne, Soundgarden and Metallica in terms of the scope and feel of their sound But while Black Label Society’s sound is spot on, the album itself seems utterly devoid of anything greater than mere technical proficiency.

There doesn’t seem to be any real edge, any anger, desperation, passion or venom behind these tracks; it’s as if on ‘Order of the Black’ that all the band did was sit back and sound awesome, without actually being awesome. The songs are pedestrian, designed to be as radio-friendly as possible, the album seemingly tailored around the notion of scoring hit singles instead of producing anything remotely substantial.

Of the 13 songs on ‘Order of the Black’, there are 4 ballads: “Darkest Days”, “Time Waits for No One” “Shallow Grave” and “January”. Each of the ballads starts with practically the same piano intro, before Zakk Wilde’s expertly mournful vocals take up the task. The other 9 tracks on the album start with similar throbbing guitar notes, except for “War of Heaven” which tries to sound like every freaky/angry Metallica song since “Enter Sandman”. The rest of the album is full of utterly interchangeable riffs, beats lyrics and themes.

So what’s the verdict on this one? Well, technically, I cannot find fault with ‘Order of the Black’. But the effort seems so insincere, so carefully plotted out to maximize airplay that it’s hard to take that technical proficiency at face value.

Fans of Black Label Society will no doubt want to own this one. If you’re a fan of Metal and you haven’t already made up your mind about BLS, you might want to pick this one up. I can’t recommend it, from what I’ve heard.

Black Label Society: Order of the Black
E1 Music
Steve’s Rating: 7/10

Stats and Music Reviews

2010-07-21T09:18:00.005-04:00

So this week I've been doing prep work to build the pitch for Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind. In order to demonstrate my marketability to my potential new publishers, I started digging up the download stats for the novels of The Omniverse, namely The Unearthing and Through Darkness and Stars.

Based on preliminary numbers (I'm still waiting on a couple of websites to report in) both novels are doing better than I'd anticipated!

Unearthing has been fully downloaded more than 12 000 times and Darkness some 5600 times.

Does that translate into as many unique readers? That's where the numbers get a little fuzzy, but at the very least my work has been checked out nearly 20 000 times since I've made it available online.

And for that, I can only say THANK YOU to everyone who's read these novels; you made this happen!

So...how about those music reviews from CONFRONT Magazine?

The Chemical Brothers: Further

This one isn’t quite as in-your-face as previous efforts by the veteran Big Beat Electronic virtuosos. There are trippier qualities to the music here; mellower vibes are incorporated into the 8-song continuous mix CD, along with almost classic 1960’s style Psych Rock elements.

The promo release and second track on ‘Further’, “Escape Velocity” is an epic 12 minute dancer, incorporating lots of signature Chemical Brothers sounds and techniques, along with a sample of what sounds like some classic Styx riffs.

Best on this album though is “Dissolve”, which applies the sound and feel of the Chemical Brothers music and grafts it to a skein of Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd sounding Acid Rock. But the whole album is enjoyable, and with multiple formats and exclusive tracks now popping up online, there’s actually a lot of good supplemental music out there to add to the short tracklisting.

Further’ is a trippy, danceable all-out electronic freak-out, eminently enjoyable and essential Chemical Brothers listening. While I could have done without being shut out from exclusive tracks available only to iTunes subscribers, I can’t really fault what I listened to.

The Chemical Brothers: Further
Parlophone
Steve’s Rating: 8/10

Deadmau5: At Play Vol. 3

The third compilation in Progressive House virtuoso Deadmau5’s ‘At Play’ series seems mainly composed of tracks off of 2006’s ‘Vexiliology’, and 2008’s ‘Random Album Title’. Everything here is instrumental Prog House / Ambient sounds that we’ve heard before, just recycled here for the sake of a third installment.

Disappointing to me is that I’ve heard all this before – long before Deadmau5 was spinning wax. I have to go back 10 years in my music collection, but Astral Projection’s ‘In The Mix’ and Paul Van Dyk’s ‘Out There And Back’ from 2000 could easily be the templates used by Deadmau5 when crafting this 10-song mini compilation.

There are, nevertheless, some good songs here. The versions of “Lai”, “Bounce”, “Templar” and “Whispers” are worthwhile. However, it must be said that the generic nature of the music as compiled here just make it very hard to be in any way enthusiastic about the album. The music here just seems uninspired, not very innovatively handled and just not quite up to my expectations from Deadmau5.

Deadmau5: At Play 3
Ultra
Steve’s Rating: 7/10

The City Streets: The Jazz Age

I don’t know what it is about Canadian Rock acts being so morose or melancholy, but we’re so good at it up here! Relying on heavy treble, their music spliced from Blues and Grunge Rock, ‘The Jazz Age’, the City Streets’ third album in 5 years is firmly rooted in the deepest tradition of mournful Rock.

Opening with the poetic and poignant lyrics of “Midnight Sun”, the tone is quickly set on this album. This is going to be music about heartache and regret, of romance and pain…of everything that has made good music since Mankind started singing.

It isn’t all depressive ballads. The weirdly funny and TMI-rife “Irish Rose” takes a bit of a Brian Setzer / Stray Cats detour around Bluesville, giving us quirky little two-step of a tune. “Young Runs Out” has got to be my favourite here; just for the way the imagery of the lyrics blends with the ebb and flow of the subdued guitar on the piece.

The whole of ‘The Jazz Age’ makes for a very powerful, albeit understated and low-key album; one made for serious music fans that’s still accessible to casual listeners. Definitely going to be a darling of the Coffee House scene, but don’t hold that against this one.

While ‘The Jazz Age’ might be the most assertive album you’ll listen to this year, it’s well worth picking up; play it when you have some quiet time in a chair with a cuppa something warm…see if you don’t enjoy it as much as I expect you will.

The City Streets: The Jazz Age
Clamour Records
Steve’s Rating: 9/10

Jon Butler Trio: April Uprising

Launched in March in Australia, the latest from the Jam Band from down under only crossed my desk just over a week ago. Since then I’ve been listening attentively, if only because I’m not completely sure what to make of ‘April Uprising’, Butler’s 5^th studio album in 12 years.

The 15 tracks are all enjoyable, but ‘April Uprising’ feels uneven, somehow. From one song to the next, Butler and his ensemble change musical styles and thematics. While this demonstrates the trio’s versatility, it also leaves this album without any real sense of cohesion.

The songs on here run the gamut from the contemplative “Revolution” to the infectious and energetic “Come On Now”, to Folksy Bluegrass, on “Ragged Mile”. There’s even a Hip-Hop infused track, “Don’t Wanna See Your Face”. My personal favourite on the album is the closer, “A Star Is Born”, a love ballad from new father Butler to his newborn son.

Taken individually, the music here is capably produced and enjoyable, even if they don’t quite work well enough together as an album. The music here is nevertheless worth your while.

The John Butler Trio: April Uprising
ATO Records
Steve’s Rating: 7/10

Dangermouse and Sparkplehorse: Dark Night of the Soul

Dangermouse is, of course one of the most prolific DJ/Musicians out there, having been the driving force between several successful solo albums, including ‘The Grey Album’ remix of Jay-Z’s ‘The Black Album’; the formation of Gnarls Barkley; he produced The Gorillaz’s ‘Demon Days’ and Beck’s ‘Modern Guilt’, and recently formed up with James Mercer of the Shins to create Broken Bells.

Sparklehorse were one of the best Alternative/College Radio bands of the last 15 years, producing, among other works, the brilliant albums ‘Good Morning Spider’, ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ to name but two.

‘Dark Night of the Soul’ was to be the only collaboration between Dangermouse and Sparklehorse. Mark Linkous, Sparklehorse’s lead singer, committed suicide earlier this year. ‘Dark Night of the Soul’, which was to have been released last year, has languished in legal limbo until recently. What has finally been released is nothing short of brilliant.

The album opens with the haunting, trippy “Revenge”, which could easily pass for unreleased John Lennon. Farther in on the album is “Jaykub”, a scathing ballad directed at the eponymous loser of the title. What sets the latter apart is the beautiful flow of contemptuous imagery juxtaposed into an almost anthemic ballad. Personal favourites on this one include the intense “Little Girl”, “Pain” (Which features vocals by Iggy Pop), the shuffling “Everytime I’m With You”, the 60s-trippy-dippy sounding ‘Daddy’s Gone” and “Grim Augury”, which is easily the most unsettling song on the album.

This one must be listened to in order to be appreciated. It’s also, simply put, essential listening.

Dangermouse and Sparklehorse: Dark Night of the Soul
EMI
Steve’s Rating 10/10

Kilmore Place: What Happened?

With Light vocals and stripped-down-to-basics Pop-Rock instrumentation, the latest EP from Kilmore Place shows us a more sophisticated band; they have honed their craft and sound from their previous, self-titled EP.

There’s already a single “Lost at a Wedding” which is very reminiscent Grunge-era Coffeehouse Rock, a la early Third Eye Blind. Best on this oh-too-short EP is “Bag It Up”, which demonstrates that despite the mostly upbeat sound of the EP, that Kilmore Place are capable of the kind of driving, rocking intensity that is a hallmark of good Rock diversity.

‘What Happened?’ isn’t the question I was asking after listening to the seven meager songs here…what I was asking myself was, “When’s the full album coming out?” Because the thing about ‘What Happened?” is, once you listen to it you’ll want to hear much, much more from Kilmore Place.

Kilmore Place: What Happened?
Independent
Steve’s Rating 9/10

Movement on Project Nevermind

2010-07-12T09:32:00.006-04:00

Okay, so I have made no small amount of progress lately towards my goal of selling Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind.

In a few weeks I will be meeting with a consultant to help prepare my pitch to sell the book. As the story is set in and around Montreal I want to pitch it to some local publishers first.

Right now I'm gathering data to back up the marketability of my writing, including the number of places from which and total number of downloads of the first two volumes of The Omniverse (Or, as it's known for the sake of avoiding branding issues, Steve Karmazenuk's Omniverse), The Unearthing and Through Darkness and Stars. I'm also polishing up my creative resume, linking back to the many articles, interviews and reviews I've done for CONFRONT Magazine, as well as my work in other media.

Likewise I've contacted Nicole Decaria, the artist who provided me with artwork that was to have bookended each chapter; she is on board to complete those illustrations, should the book be picked up.

In other news I am diligently at work on Aeon's War, the third book in the Omniverse series. I've had the story planned our for years and in the third volume, things REALLY start to get intense! But, I don't want to say too much...

Anyway, that's all for now; I'll be posting a music review backlog soon!

Earth-Shaking News!

2010-06-23T14:32:00.006-04:00

Well okay, no, but after the first big regional quake since I was in high school, this Blog post kind of has to take note of it.

Anyway, this week marks the completion of all post-writing work on the manuscript for Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind.

Now comes the real challenge: I've decided that unlike my more famous (and free) eBooks, The Unearthing and its follow-up Through Darkness and Stars, I intend to either release Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind as a paid downloadable eBook or I'll be shopping it around for publication.

This means that my creative writing time is now absolutely rededicated to The Omniverse's third volume, The Aeons War. This is fun, because the story has been screaming at me for months now, but I've wanted to finish the push for Nevermind.

I must once again report feeling both overwhelmed and intimidated as I approach Nevermind's publication. See, being non-genre, I know the novel will be a little bit easier to sell. Likewise, we're just hitting the pop-culture phase where the 1990s Grunge scene will become retro and therefore back in style, so the novel, being set in the era, will be that much more marketable. Plus the mature content and adult situations rife through the book is sure to boost readership, as pervy readers abound.

So basically, I don't want to fuck up the publication of this one, like I did The Unearthing.

But I'm also completely unsure of myself or what to do next.

Bugger.

First, Let's Face The Music...

2010-06-23T12:58:00.004-04:00

Okay...busy, busy...this will be the first of two posts today. If you can't guess from the title, this one's going to be a repost of the backlog of music reviews I did for CONFRONT Magazine.

The second update will entail writing news, relating to the completion of Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind. The novel is good to go and I'll be talking about what's next.

But that's for the next post. For now, well, while we still have the chance, Let's face the music and dance:

I don’t usually review this many albums in one column, but I listened to a lot of music this past week; of it the four releases below are among the most noteworthy. Sit back and enjoy the read, and have fun if you decide to listen for yourself to these latest!

Pete Tremblay and the Boozy Truth: Midtempo Madness

Indie darlings Pete Tremblay and the Boozy Truth have come out with a pretty interesting Indie-Folk-Rock album; 9 tracks of very hard to define music, heavy on old-school Folk Rock, intellectual and self-referential lyrics and Tremblay’s often snarky vocals combine to make an irreverent and entertaining disc.

“Grape (The LA Song)” and “Myself the Cop” are my favourites on the album; Tremblay almost sounds like protest rocker Tom Petty at some points on the album, if Cochrane was dissolved in solution with extract of impertinence from John McCrea of Cake.

All in all ‘Midtempo Madness’ is a refreshing burst of musical energy tempered by a rare lack of self-importance, well worth listening to, especially in an era dominated by supergroups and stars who take themselves entirely too seriously. Highly entertaining and refreshing, ‘Midtempo Madness’ is a good album to put on when you’re in the mood for something a little different and original.

Pete Tremblay and the Boozy Truth: Midtempo Madness
Blacktop
Steve’s Rating: 8/10

Band of Horses: Infinite Arms

This was an album that I should have reviewed back when it dropped a couple of weeks ago; however it only finally landed in my folder last week. I immediately made up for lost time and gave it a listen. I was immediately in thrall.

There’s so many different elements at play on ‘Infinite Arms’ that it’s a veritable stew of styles and ideas. There’s two-part harmony vocals and anthemic Folk-Rock elements, strong Celtic Rock influences and an occasional soupcon of 60s Surfer and Psychedelic Rock and just a dash of Old-School Folk.

Outstanding on this album are the opener, “Factory”, “Blue Beard”, title track “Infinite Arms” and “NW Apartment”. These songs typify the sound on this album; quality standouts and addictive.

I’m assuming a technical flaw occurred with my version of the album; the track “For Annabelle” on my copy was overwritten by “NW Apartment”, and so obviously I was unable to listen to that track. Hopefully this error does not repeat itself on the commercial sales version of the ‘Infinite Arms’. In any event, even with that surprising bug, this is a wonderful musical discovery.

Band of Horses: Infinite Arms
Columbia
Steve’s Rating: 8/10

Delta Spirit: History From Below

Just for the lead single, “Bushwick Blues” (which is pure, distilled Rock & Roll poetry), Delta Spirit’s sophomore album is worth the purchase price. After the slightly unsettling opener “911” flashed back to Black Tuesday in 2001, ‘History From Below’ establishes itself as not yet another post-9-11 protest album.

Thankfully the Rock music here is soulful and largely apolitical, though you are free to find whatever metaphor you wish within their brilliant and eloquent lyrics. “Salt in the Wound” is a mellow, twangy and contemplative North Country Rock ballad and easily the brightest flash of genius on the first half of the album. Now, let’s talk about the closer, “Ballad of Vitaly”: This 8 minute, 5 second track is epic genius which harkens back to the grand Folk Rock of Dylan’s youth, while bringing the music forward with modern touches and tricks.

Words cannot do this album justice; you should all get a copy and experience it for yourselves. In my opinion as the Views and Reviews guy, this is the best Rock album of 2010—if not simply the best album of 2010, altogether. Delta Spirit’s ‘History From Below’ has set the bar by which everything else I listen to this year will be judged.

Delta Spirit: History From Below
Rounder
Steve’s Rating: 10/10

Now normally I’d want to end my column on a high note, such as the review above. This week however, there is an elephant in the room that cannot be gotten rid of with one little pill:

Christina Aguilera: Bionic

Wow; I am blown away. I can’t believe just how much class, grace and originality Christina Aguilera fails to show on ‘Bionic’, her latest album. I had actually been looking forward to reviewing this one; I’d enjoyed Aguilera’s progression and development as an artist over the course of her last couple of albums. Unfortunately with ‘Bionic’, Aguilera’s bollocksed things completely and spectacularly, as only she possibly could.

From the album cover, the lead single and music video for “Not Myself Tonight” and the overall musical style displayed on the album it is clear that Xtina is plagiarizing Lady GaGa in order to boost sales. But listening to the album, we discover that it’s not just GaGa that she is stealing from:

Madonna’s shtick is heavily mined, as heard on tracks “Glam” and “Sex for Breakfast”. Aguilera’s token Spanish-language-see-I-really-am-a-LaTINa track “Desnudate” pilfers unabashedly from Shakira’s body…umm…of work. “All I Need”, which is otherwise a very pretty love song from mother to child, is marred by being a total rip off of every Alicia Keys piano ballad ever. Even Aguilera’s former chief musical rival and mortal enemy Britney Spears is co-opted on “I Hate Boys”: Other than Aguilera’s distinctive vocals, this track could have come from Brit-Brit’s 2001 album, ‘Britney’.

But as cheap as it is of her to rip off her peers and betters, Aguilera’s worst offence with this album comes from its appalling crudeness. Her usual clumsy attempt at portraying herself as a sex-bomb and cheerleader for female sexuality falls flat, making her once again look more like a cheap slut than an empowering advocate of women’s sexual expression. If anything, she does more harm than good to the cause.

Take the song, “Woohoo” which is about the topic of cunnilingus. First, this one sounds almost exactly like “Milkshake” by Kelis—again with the plagiarism! Second, instead of doing something really erotic, sexy or seductive with the subject matter, Xtina treats us to lyrics such as: “All the boys think it’s cake / When they taste my (woohoo) / You don’t even need a plate / Just your face, ha (woohoo) / Licky-licky-yum-yum (woohoo) / What a great guy (woohoo)”

The crass vulgarity continues throughout the album: besides the gratuitous moaning, grunting and panting and tired references to lesbianism on “Not Myself Tonight”, Aguilera relies on the constant use of the word “Fuck” whenever any sex acts are described. In fact, she uses the words “Fuck” and “Shit” so much on ‘Bionic’ that one wonders if Jay and Silent Bob co-wrote the album. Half the album reminds me of how you might imagine a street walker with Tourrette’s Syndrome to sound, falling down a flight of stairs.

Aguilera also makes frequent graceless references to being wet, making herself wet, getting wet and how wet she gets, as well as how no one can touch her better than she can…I’m surprised she isn’t selling her used panties online; they can’t stink worse than this CD. And yes, I am aware of the irony of complaining about how vulgar Xtina is on ‘Bionic’ while being so vulgar while doing so.

The only song of any worth only shows up in the last third of the album: “Lift Me Up” is a truly beautiful, heartfelt ballad; marred by the fact that the flow of the album is completely killed in the final act by the pile up of one ballad after another after another, as if the producer couldn’t figure out where the hell else to put them all.

For all its faults however, what’s most offensive about ‘Bionic’ is that Aguilera’s loyal and easily-pleased critics and fan base are going to lap this one up. Licky-licky-yum-yum, people; spit it out – you don’t know where it’s been.

Christina Aguilera: Bionic
RCA
Steve’s Rating: 2/10

Oasis: 1994-2009: Time Flies Deluxe Limited Edition

It is with great regret that I inform you of the last of some truly great music. Having made their break-up official, Oasis have released, in various formats, ‘Time Flies’, their best of / singles collection.

Yes, that’s right: I come out squarely on Team Gallagher. Say what you will about their douchey behavior, emulation of the Beatles (Still managing to sound better at it than the Beatles, IMHO),multiple fights and break-ups or their being the obvious inspiration for Charlie’s band Drive Shaft, on JJ Abram’s “L O S T”. I admit and acknowledge every last boorish thing about the Gallaghers is probably true.

That does not change the fact that they put out some of the best BritPop / BritAlt Rock of the last 15 years. They’ve won multiple awards and critical acclaim; every one of their albums has gone multi-platinum. Their music has retained a core sound and kept itself fresh – something few bands can claim. And now, they’re gone.

How can we be really, really, sure that this time they really, REALLY mean it? They’ve released ‘Time Flies’, that’s how. See, it is an immutable law of nature that when a band either goes on “hiatus” or breaks up, then releases a “Best Of” or “Greatest Hits” or “Singles” compilation, the breakup is likely either permanent, or for a minimum of three to five years. Obvious exceptions to the rule, such as the Who, also prove the corollary: The more often a band calls it quits and then reunites for “just one more” album and tour, the worse they will begin to suck over time.

The Gallagher Brothers' parting gift to the world is the aforementioned compilation. There’s going to be a few different formats out there; 3 CD, 5 CD, multi-disc vinyl, probably a stripped down el-cheapo CD version to come, as well. I had the good fortune to listen to the 3CD / 1DVD version. I did not watch or listen to the DVD; I don’t like music DVDs. The first two CDs comprise the whole of their singles discography, including some region-specific bonus tracks. The third CD is an iTunes Live album, from Oasis’ set at the 2009 iTunes Festival in London.

The singles collection on the first 2 CDs is a great listen; an annotated cliff notes through the history of Oasis’ music. The live CD is an excellent conclusion to the set, and a triumphant farewell from this iconic band.

Oasis: 1994 – 2009 Time Flies
Sony
Steve’s Rating: 10/10

Whoops!

2010-05-31T10:12:00.002-04:00

Okay, so it's been a while since I updated, hasn't it? This fatherhood gig gets very busy very quickly. Not that I mind in the least! Okay, I could use a bit more time asleep and maybe a couple of hours a week at the cafe, but besides that, who's complaining? The baby...got to change a diaper...

...okay, we're BACK! The good news is in spite of my lack of blog updates I have been busy working! The Aeons War is progressing; Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind is on track, though I've revised the launch window for Fall 2010. There's a bit more work that needs to be done to get this one ready; I'm working with the original illustrator, Nicole DeCaria on cover art ideas and finishing the eBook compile.

I've been spending a lot of time networking with writers, publishers and other creative types as well, so while I've done as much actual writing as I normally enjoy (though I still squeeze in at least a couple of hours a day!) I'm becoming more involved in the writing community.

Fatherhood isn't a topic I'd expected to blog about; there's far more entertaining and informative blogs on parenthood out there, and I want to keep this site as focused on my writing as possible. However, I must say that these first six weeks with Eva-Madeleine have been among the most frightening, rewarding, overwhelming, enjoyable and unbelievably happy days of my life. While Angel gave birth to Eva, I really do feel as though Eva gave birth to me.

So...that's as maudlin as I'm wont to get on these pages...so, how about a backlog of reprinted music reviews from the pages of CONFRONT Magazine?

Crystal Castles: Crystal Castles II

I myself didn’t know what to make of what I was listening to, the first time played ‘Crystal Castles II’. It was my first introduction to the band and to Canadian Experimental Electronic music in general.

The band has of course garnered critical acclaim and toured extensively since introducing the world to their unique sound. They’ve supportit ed for the likes of Nine Inch Nails and Blur, and have performed festivals, including the Coachella Valley fest, Glastonbury, Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, among others.

That being said, their sound is a bizarre hodge-podge of 16-bit electronic noise and asynchronous rhythms and sound effects. Alice Glass’ shrill, hi-lo falsetto and the generalized cacophony of noise combines to make a sound unlike anything I’ve heard before. There are times it sounds like utter chaos; at other times, like a broken Super NES videogame soundtrack. And yet the layer of complex sound works as a whole, cohesive unit. But the layers are so distinct one can listen to the same song over and over again and, just by shifting aural focus to a different instrumentation.

Glass’s vocals are often obscured behind the music, or just rendered incomprehensible by various sound effects incorporated into each song. But given the incomprehensibly self-referential lyrics, that’s not a significant loss. Yet the lost vocals too works, adding to the surreal, hallucinatory feel of this album. ‘Crystal Castles II’ is a musical freak-out, a manic, mind-frying collection of 14 unreal tunes. The music here is frenetic, high-energy and as addictive as any trip-inducing controlled substance out there.

This album is a mindjob for any connoisseur of messed-up music.

Crystal Castles: Crystal Castles II
Fiction Records
Steve’s Rating: 9/10

Soulfly: Omen

First, I’d like to tell you about what’s good about ‘Omen’, the seventh studio album from veteran American Metal act, Soulfly. Having been in this business for thirteen years, the band has become technical masters. The instrumentation, vocals and production of this album are flawless.

However…

The fact of the matter is the lyrics here are completely soulless. The promo team for the album boasts of its violence, its intensity, how aggressive it is, how raw, how powerful…unfortunately the violent imagery, themes and lyrical execution are just so uninspired, cliché and disappointingly bland.

They make all the obvious lyrical choices here…Bloodbaths, mayhem, rivers of red, execution, war, violence…Basically every Hard Core Heavy Metal stereotype and cliché imaginable is lumped together in from one song to the next throughout the album. It’s just really disappointing to listen to…with some proper effort put into the lyrics and imagery of the album, ‘Omen’ could have been kick-ass.

Soulfly: Omen
Roadrunner
Steve’s Rating: 5/10

Meat Loaf: Hang Cool Teddy Bear

The eleventh studio album from the bombastic and over-the-top Rock personality Meat Loaf is chock full of his signature, balladeering vocals, epic songs and light-hearted self-satire. Meat Loaf is best known for his ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ trilogy; while ‘Hang Cool Teddy Bear’ doesn’t have any songs destined for the same iconic status as “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” or “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)” or “Monster is Loose”.

But ‘Hang Cool’ is nevertheless a fun, and unmistakably quintessential Meat Loaf album, expressing itself well on songs like “Los Angeloser” or “Did You Ever Love Somebody” or “Elvis in Vegas” crafting story-songs of poignancy, power and outright entertainment.

Of course, like his namesake dish, Meat Loaf is an acquired taste, and the sometimes sublimely ridiculous spectacle that is his music might not strike the right chord with everyone. Nevertheless, this is a good album from a legendary musician.

Meat Loaf: Hang Cool Teddy Bear
Loud & Proud
Steve’s Rating: 8/10

Colorsound: A New Feeling (EP)

Normally I don’t do EP reviews; I hate the format, even when it’s an EP from an established artist that I like. However, sometimes an EP is just meant to be reviewed. Sluggish email tubes and dodgy Canadian Postal Service meant that I literally only found out about Colorsound’s intro, ‘A New Feeling’ a few days ago. After an email exchange with the band’s manager I finally got access to the tracks. Given the effort made to get this one to me, I owed it to everyone involved to listen to it. I liked it enough to review it, as well!

Regular readers know that I’ve often said Montreal produces some of the best music nobody listens to; this city is brimming with unknown, underrated and simply awesome bands. Up and coming Electro Pop act Colorsound is no exception to this rule.

While I am ambiguous to Electro-Pop as a genre, I can appreciate it when it is done as well as it is here. Colorsound’s instrumentation is well layered and capably produced. The lyrics are appropriately romantic, somewhat innocuous and radio-friendly; vocally they fall somewhere between Simple Plan and Metro Station; It’s a little candy-corn but you know what? That’s all right too every now and again.

Coming in at 5 songs ‘A New Feeling’ is a little hard to use as a barometer for the band; this sounds like 4 top 40 singles and one “serious album” song; good music but a sampler. I’d like to hear more if only to get a better reading. As they’re working on material for a debut full-length it’ll be interesting to hear where they go. They could do some great New-New-Wave or Factory Glam sounding stuff and really surprise me, or even just produce more of the same Electro Pop and I’d be okay with it. From what I’ve heard they’re good at what they do. Time will tell if good can be great.

Colorsound: A New Feeling (EP)
Independent
Steve’s Rating 8/10

Wintersleep: The New Inheritors

Classic Canadian Rock at its best. There’s just no other way to describe Wintersleep as a band. Following the success of ‘Welcome To The Night Sky’, ‘New Inheritors’ is a capable entry; subdued vocals, Bluesy, bleak and trippy guitar work and a languid, mellow vibe infuse the album. Clever, contemplative lyrics rife with brilliant and unconventional imagery flesh out this album’s soul.

The album opens with “Experience the Jewel”, a song evocative of the greats of Canada’s Rock pantheon, and then alternates between subdued Rock intensity and mellow, Blues-driven ethereal Rock tunes.

Have they topped album #3 or have they plateaued? It’s too soon to tell; on the strength of this album, however, I can say that Wintersleep are certainly at their best.

Wintersleep: The New Inheritors
Sonic
Steve’s Rating: 9/10

Frankie Mayfield and the Soundbox: Self-Titled

This one is awful. Sorry, no other way to put it or preface the sentiment. While the musical arrangement and production on this one are capable, the lyrics and especially the vocals are not.

The songs run the gamut of tired cliché; all of them badly sung in a whiny, nasal voice that left me wondering if this was all brilliant comedy or some sort of genius performance art. It is neither. Imagine Adam Sandler from back in the day, doing a funny, retarded voice and then singing an album’s worth of Indie Rock. Yeah…that’s the awesomeness of Frankie Mayfield and Soundbox…only not as funny, and not on purpose. Really, shockingly bad.

Frankie Mayfield and the Soundbox: Self-Titled
Blacktop
Steve’s Rating: 3/10

The Blue Van: Man Up

Denmark isn’t exactly the first place that springs to mind when one thinks about Blues Rock. But veteran Danish ensemble The Blue Van are putting out some of the most kick-ass sounding modern take on Blues Rock and Southern Redneck Rock-revival that I’ve heard, since My Morning Jacket unleashed ‘Evil Urges’ in 2008.

They’ve been around for just under a decade and they’ve put out 5 albums in that time; ‘Man Up’ is their latest. The sound on this one ranges between the aforementioned Blues-rooted Redneck Rock to Post-Grunge, to manic, treble-charged tunes that sound like they’re unreleased material from the Vines.

My only real criticism of this one is that the title track of the album would have made a much better opener than “Be Home Soon”. However, driving through the rest of the thirteen tracks on ‘Man Up’, including “Silly Boy”, the very Chris Cornell-sounding “Lay Me Down and Die”, and my personal favourite, “I’m A Man”, The Blue Van recovers from this one, forgivable fault.

This is, arguably, one of the best albums of the first half of 2010; if you like the Rock music, you really should check this one out.

The Blue Van: Man Up
20 Buck Spin
Steve’s Rating: 9/10

Possible cover art for Oh Well, Whatever Nevermind...

2010-05-17T09:34:00.003-04:00

Yeah...going for a concert-poster kind of feel for the cover. Any readers out there who'd care to comment, you're more than welcome (Comments are moderated but there's little I won't publish)

Thanks!

Lost Words

2010-05-13T08:53:00.003-04:00

The other day I'd really kicked some ass through the eBook revision of "Nevermind". Key scenes that I hadn't quite liked were easily and properly rewritten, and I'd advanced through a full four chapters of the story.

Because I'd been without my laptop I was operating with files on a USB key.

I guess you can see where I'm going with this.

Boom! Lost the key. Files gone.

It really burns me that I'd made so much bloody progress with the eBook to that point. It bugs me because now I have to start back from my previous filesave. It bugs me because I'm trying to get "Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind" out before summer, and I still have to figure out some marketing and distribution details, as well.

The idea of having to completely do-over everything that I just lost is completely discouraging, and right now I don't feel the motivation to do it. I'm going to toy with Aeon's War for a while, now. I might also start building the "Nevermind" eBook site a bit, put out some character biographies, etc.

But I just can't face starting back on everything I lost in my revision right now.

Annd so, here's the music review:

So in the last week I’ve gotten three CDs in the mail and oddly enough all three of them were by Rap artists. I’m notorious for not listening to much Rap, so I assume that this fulfils some sort of Karmic sentence that I’ve incurred along the way. In any case, what I listened to wasn’t all that bad.

Ron Contour & Factor: Saffron

Better known as Moka Only, Ron Contour is yet another in a long line of prolific Canadian Rap artists that you probably haven’t heard of unless you have your ear to the Underground Sound here in the Great White North.

‘Saffron’ is the latest in a very long line of releases he’s put out, over the last 16 years of making music. As I’m unfamiliar with the bulk of Contour’s catalogue, I can only comment on the one album.

The album establishes its sound, brassy, Jazzy, Funky and old-school right out of the package. “Check It Out” more than capably launches the songs on ‘Saffron’ into the ear, demanding attention be paid to the music.

The lyrics here are considered and intelligent, eloquently crafting new poetic images for the listener’s edification. Verbal rhythm is as essential as the rhyme, and Ron Contour is a master of lyrical delivery.

Jazzy instrumentation and old-school music and sound sampling weave together to form the last essential ingredient of the album: the backup. Merged together as a whole, ‘Saffron’ is a fantastic example of Rap done right.

Ron Contour & Factor: Saffron
Fake Four
Steve’s Rating: 9/10

Manafest: The Chase

When I reviewed Manafest’s 2008 release, ‘Citizens Activ’, one of the things that I enjoyed was that the Toronto-based Christian Rapper wasn’t being ham-fisted when delivering his messages of motivation and empowerment, of faith and life. Well, it looks like in the intervening years he’s slipped on his Schneider’s Boxing gloves.

This album is very message heavy; tracks like “Every Time You Run” and “Avalanche” getting nineteen kinds of preachy.

But the real letdown of this album is that Manafest tries to harken back to the dark era of Rap/Metal fusion of the early 2000s. Most of the album sounds like it’s caught in a custody battle between Linkin Park and Papa Roach, with nothing to differentiate itself from either.

There are some okay songs on this album, “No Plan B” (Which isn’t about RU-486, oddly enough) which opens the album among them. But generally I find ‘The Chase’ to be a letdown, especially given how well Manafest fared with 2008’s ‘Citizens Activ’.

Manafest: The Chase
Universal
Steve’s Rating: 6/10

Pip Skid: Skid Row

This one threw me for a curve. The music and vocals here are so grandiose, so melodramatic; the title track, “Skid Row” opens the album with an almost theatrical passion. But their intensity seems to stem from an exuberance and passion that is lacking in much of the music scene these days, across every genre.

Oddly enough, the album doesn’t devolve into the Hip-Hop-Hubris of artists taking themselves seriously. Pip Skid manage to demonstrate how much fun they’re having as they perform; songs like “Tens of Dollars” “I’m Impossible” “Fuck You So Much (pt. 1)” and “I Can’t Sleep” are all very fun tracks that prevent the album from taking itself so seriously.

Even when the album does turn serious, such as on tracks like “Heart Worm”, it does so without devolving into sanctimony. All in all this is a heartily entertaining album, well worth checking out.

Pip Skid: Skid Row
Foultone Records
Steve’s Rating: 8/10

–

Through Darkness and Stars News & The Nevermind Music Playlist

2010-05-07T09:03:00.007-04:00

So the downloads for Through Darkness and Stars have crept past 1000, though I don't have a full accounting yet. The eBook's also migrated to a bunch more eBook hosts; I'm looking to swell those ranks even more.

With roughly 10 000 downloads since March of 2008, The Unearthing, the precursor for Darkness, is still way out in front. What that tells me is that a butt-load of people who read the first part of the story haven't yet heard about the second part. I've gotta suss out what to do about that, as well...

While Googling the book's title this week, I discovered two rather interesting things.

The first, is some dumb son of a bitch named Richar dirwin (presumably a username for someone either named Richard Irwin or Irwin Richard) was trying to sell Through Darkness and Stars for almost $60 a copy, through lulu.com, with his name on the fucking cover!

Needless to say I've informed the good folks at lulu.com of the plagiarism, and they are taking action. Meanwhile, I'm contemplating legal action against this idiot.

What kind of half-wit plagiarist tries to SELL something that the original author has already given away for free? And what kind of moron tries to steal verbatim an established work that has already garnered a not-insignificant following?

I almost feel sorry for this imbecile.

On the brighter side, that same Google session I also discovered Darkness and Stars, a really awesome, ball-breaking Metal song, by a band called Sternenstaub. Needless to say, I'll be checking out their music soon!

The song in question is, uncannily, just about the sort of music I was listening to as I first visualized the Zohor swarm sequence in Through Darkness and Stars so many long years before its writing. Though when I finally wrote that sequence and the balance of the novel I did so listening to John Murphy's In the House In a Heartbeat from the awesome film 28 Days Later, listening to Sternenstaub's Darkness and Stars made me recall the original conception of that scene.

Speaking of music, not yet time for my weekly music review from CONFRONT Magazine (I'll get to that later this week); instead, the long-awaited post about the music behind Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind!

So yes, as befits a novel set during the first half of the last decade of the twentieth century, the music I listened to while writing Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind is almost exclusively Grunge-era. There are a couple of anachronistic choices; a couple of songs from the 1960s and 1970s, a couple that came out after 1995. But overall the music that inspired the writing of Nevermind is music I, myself listened to during those years.

My contemporaries will be pleased to know that Hootie and the Blowfish are not among the list.

All in all there's some 53 songs on the playlist; without further adieu, then, here it is - listed sequentially within the context of the story. I recommend you go to one music sharing site or another to download these tracks, as they are generally awesome, anyway:

01 - Tones of Home - Blind Melon
02 - Mellow Yellow - Donovan
03 - Dancing Days - Led Zeppelin
04 - Hunger Strike - Temple of the Dog
05 - Little Wing - Jimi Hendrix
06 - So What - Ministry
07 - Head Like A Hole - Nine Inch Nails
08 - Dominion / Mother Russia - The Sisters of Mercy
09 - Are You Gonna Go My Way - Lenny Kravitz
10 - Rooster - Alice in Chains
11 - Interstate Love Song - Stone Temple Pilots
12 - Hard to Handle - The Black Crowes
13 - Get Here - Oleta Adams
14 - Hole Hearted - Extreme
15 - Detachable Penis - King Missile
16 - Riders on the Storm - The Doors
17 - Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns N Roses
18 - Orange Crush - REM
19 - Love Buzz - Nirvana
20 - Drug Buddies (Acoustic) - The Lemonheads
21 - Kid Fears - The Indigo Girls
22 - Man In The Box - Alice in Chains
23 - About a Girl - Nirvana
24 - Take a Walk on the Wild Side - Lou Reed
25 - I'm Still Alive - Pearl Jam
26 - Into Temptation - Crowded House
27 - Evenflow - Pearl Jam
28 - Push - Stone Temple Pilots
29 - Kitchen - The Lemonheads
30 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2
31 - Breaking the Girl - Red Hot Chili Peppers
32 - Locked in the Trunk of a Car - The Tragically Hip
33 - Summertime Rolls - Jane's Addiction
34 - You Give Love a Bad Name - Bon Jovi
35 - Unbelievable - EMF
36 - Been Caught Stealing - Jane's Addiction
37 - I Will Never Be the Same - Melissa Etheridge
38 - Cult of Personality - In Living Color
39 - Hey Jealousy - Gin Blossoms
40 - Bullet in Your Head - Rage Against the Machine
41 - Here's Where the Story Ends - The Sundays
42 - Confusion (Pump Panel Reconstruction Mix) - New Order
43 - Runaway Train - Soul Asylum
44 - Old Woman Behind the Counter - Pearl Jam
45 - Loser - Beck
46 - What's Up - 4 Non Blondes
47 - Head Over Feet - Alanis Morrissette
48 - Round Here - Counting Crows
49 - Think About You - Radiohead
50 - Time After Time - Everything but the Girl
51 - Smells Like Teen Spirit - Tori Amos
52 - Closer to Fine - The Indigo Girls
53 - No Excuses - Alice in Chains

New...life

2010-04-29T20:48:00.007-04:00

Wow...so much for my New Year's Resolution about posting more often, eh?

But, I have a really, really, really, REALLY great excuse for not posting sooner.

Her name is Eva, and she was born last week.

Caring for a newborn and helping my wife out around the house has been one of the most taxing, exhausting, frightening, stressful and difficult jobs I've ever had. And I've never known anything more rewarding, gratifying or enjoyable.

So I've not done much by way of writing lately; I'm not sorry about that. It's picking up again; The Aeon's War is insisting upon some attention while Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind is content to stew and wait it's turn (Coming soon!).

Little teaser: Through Darkness and Stars begins 18 months after the Ship leaves Earth, at the end of The Unearthing. The balance of Aeon's War happens some 1500 years after the events of Darkness, and involves time travel - though not used in any way, shape or form you've probably seen before. At least, I like to think it's an original take...

Anyway, getting back onto the topic of Nevermind, I've been promising the "Music At Work" for that one to you for a while, now. That'll be the next post, I promise!

In the meantime, please enjoy a backlog of music reviews written for CONFRONT Magazine!

MGMT: Congratulations

Back in 2008 I stumbled upon MGMT’s ‘Oracular Spectacular’ just in time to review it. I was blown away by the album, and later that summer I got to interview Andrew and Ben at the Osheaga music festival, here in Montreal. (You can read that interview in full by clicking here: http://www.confrontmagazine.com/web/2008/12/10/mgmt-2/)

Back then, Andrew and Ben confided in me that he was astounded by the almost overnight success the band had with their debut: “…it’s all bizarre to us, and we are always wondering how it happened.” Andrew said, “We’re still a bit confused,” Ben added, “We’re really happy that people like our music but we’ve always thought of ourselves as being very strange people, so to be accepted on a mainstream level like this is music to us.”

That culture shock and confusion became the overriding themes that inspired their work on ‘Congratulations’, their second album, just out this week. As they struggled to come to terms with their newfound fame they used the crafting of the songs that became ‘Congratulations’ as a means of coping.

The result is an album far less carefree than ‘Oracular Spectacular’; there’s a noticeable ennui, a weight on this album’s shoulders, which MGMT attempts to work through across its 9 phenomenal tracks. We sort of saw the beginnings of this gravitas on “Handshake” off of ‘Oracular Spectacular’.

Fortunately, the acid-rock vibe of the last album’s latter tracks is preserved here, tempered with a strong dose of Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd influences. The Acid Rock vibe works well here as counterpunch to the lyrical content, and the album falls somewhere between ‘Wish You Were Here’ and ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ in terms of thematic execution.

High points of this album include “Congratulations”, which closes the album and gives an intimate expression of MGMT’s fish-out-of-water malaise with it all; “Brian Eno”, a tribute by MGMT to the Ambient Music icon and his influence on their sound; and “Siberian Breaks”, a 12 minute opus that sums up Ben and Andrew’s feelings through cryptic lyrical allegory.

As a work the sound here has evolved significantly from ‘Oracular Spectacular’, and yet the definitive MGMT sound is reinforced, despite sounding unlike their previous effort. Well worth it for anyone who’s a fan of music that doesn’t conform to the homogenous megalith of commercial music.

MGMT: Congratulations
Columbia
Steve’s Rating: 10/10

Circa Survive: Blue Sky Noise

Circa Survive’s another band that we’ve been eagerly following since the inception of CONFRONT Magazine. The experimental Rock act fronted by Anthony Green of Saosin has matured significantly from ‘On Letting Go’, their 2007 sophomore release, incorporating more sonic effects into the tinny, Treble-charged, mournful music.

The 12 tracks on the basic edition of the album are full of sincere intensity and brilliant lyrical imagery backed by richer, more complex music. Green’s Geddy-Lee sounding vocals add the right note of Emo angst to the albums, particularly on the impassioned “Imaginary Enemy”, as well as on my favourite tracks, “I Felt Free”, “Fever Dreams” and “The Longest Mile”.

There’s nearly a full hour of music on this disc, which in this day and age of 2 minute songs and albums with 39 minute running times is considerable value for your money, especially if you’re into the bittersweet melodies that have made Circa Survive famous.

Of course, another reason I might like this album so much is because I was listening to it when I learned my wife was going into labor, and the album officially dropped on April 20, the day our daughter was born.

Circa Survive: Blue Sky Noise
Atlantic
Steve’s Rating: 10/10

Scott Lanaway: Mergers and Acquisitions

The latest from Toronto-area Electro Folk artist Scott Lanaway is an ethereal delight. I’m reminded of Sting’s solo work with regards to the vocal and lyrical content, with falsetto vocals and an interesting mix of traditional and electronic instrumentation, Lanaway crafts a sophisticated and sensual sound. The music here has a certain bleak beauty to it, a mournful, lonesome romanticism.

The jazzy world-beat sounds, African rhythms and soulful lyrics on songs like “What We Already Knew”, “Gabapentin” and the haunting “Wild Eyes” are gems on an album full of wonderful, musical treasure. This is my first introduction to Scott Lanaway’s music, but it certainly won’t be my last.

If you like folksy, Indie Rock, mellow sounds and poetic lyrics, you really should be listening to ‘Mergers and Acquisitions’.

Scott Lanaway: Mergers and Acquisitions
Aeon
Steve’s Rating: 9/10

Jon And Roy: Homes

So last year I got to listen to ‘Another Noon’, Jon And Roy’s last album, as prep work for an interview with the duo as they came through Montreal. The interview fell through, as these things sometimes do, but I was so enamored of their music I couldn’t help but review it.

So, when I heard through the grapevine that Jon And Roy were coming out with another CD, I jumped on the chance to review it. Jon And Roy are masters of simplicity, crafting eloquent, agreeably cheerful music accompanied simple guitar, bass, drums and occasional harmonica.

From the first notes of “Any Day Now” on, Jon And Roy weave a tapestry of easy elegance. The lyrics of the songs on ‘Homes’ are more sophisticated than their counterparts from ‘Another Noon’. The music is richer, but retains the innocent romanticism and upbeat feel of its predecessor.

Favourites on this Indie Folk Rock compendium include (but are not limited to) “Boon Elm”; “Giddy Up”; the down-tempo instrumental, “Narwhal”; the jazzy “Brooker’s Song” and “Homemade Shirts”.

If you’re a fan of Indie Rock or Folk Rock, you’ll enjoy Jon And Roy’s entire catalogue, but ‘Homes’, their latest, is easily also their best.

Jon And Roy: Homes
Pacific Music
Steve’s Rating: 10/10

Nevermind the Aeon's War and Slash Music

2010-04-13T08:36:00.009-04:00

So for the past few weeks I've been compelled to work on Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind. The story's been pulling me in, in a big way. The story's not connected to The Omniverse in any way, shape or form; in fact, it's a one-off, and the only non-genre story I've ever written.

Of course the drawback to working on Nevermind is that it pulls me away - as the title of this post suggests - from working on The Aeon's War, the third installment in The Omniverse series. And as much as I wish I could flit between the two projects, the truth is that doing so hurts the writing. So while at any given time I have at least a couple of works going at the same time, I can only ever focus on one at a time. And much like children in need of attention, it is the stories themselves that dictate which gets worked on.

I've talked a lot about this story over the years, but I don't think I've ever really gone into great detail. Well, as I'm planning on launching it in the coming months, perhaps it's best that I do so. So starting this week and off and on leading up to its launch, I'll be using this space to talk about Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind a little more.

I first started work on Nevermind in 2002, though I'd had the idea kicking around for a couple of years already, by that point. I wanted to tell a story set in and around college life in the early 1990s, and my goal really was to see if I could write something outside of the fantasy/science fiction genre.

My focus shifted back to The Omniverse when I landed the original publishing deal for The Unearthing, and Nevermind sort of languished as I concentrated on writing Through Darkness and Stars and reviewing the outline for the subsequent volumes of the story, including the aforementioned Aeon's War, which, I promise I will work on again soon!

For Nevermind, I came up with six characters, all of whom began to "speak" to me in the first person. This led to the concept that each chapter should be told from a different character's point of view, relating their own experiences and opinions as the story progressed. In one form or another I've been writing and rewriting it ever since; chapters from the earliest version of the novel appeared online at PHYTE.ca, where they were quite popular. Though the site seems unavailable now, those chapters are likely still out there, somewhere, if you can find them.

What started as a writing exercise and thought experiment (Nevermind was written without a traditional story arc or plotline, creating a more fluid, character-driven piece) became a story I obsessed over, feeling the characters' lives as if they were the lives of friends and loved ones.

I think that, despite its setting in the early 1990s, that the story, situation and characters have a universal appeal, and if not, there's plenty of frank depictions of sex and drug use to drive up marketability. In any case, Nevermind remains one of my favorite stories to have worked on.

Next time, I'll talk about the enormous musical playlist that, for me, is associated with the story.

Now, onto our regular weekly music review feature:

Two years ago we were treated to the trainwreck of Axl Rose’s hubris, when he released ‘Chinese Democracy’ under the band-name of Guns N’ Roses. Ironic that, at that time, Axl Rose was the only original member left of GNR. What ‘Chinese Democracy’ was, besides horrible, was essentially the washed-up has-been Axl Rose without Guns N’ Roses.

Well, after that godawful album it was kind of interesting to hear that Slash was putting out an album of his own, collaborating with Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler. Essentially, this is Guns N’ Roses without Axl Rose. Slash’s self-titled debut, ‘Slash’

I’ll give you three guesses as to which of the albums is better, and the first two don’t count.

Slash pulls a bit of a Carlos Santana on this one, collaborating with a slew of big-talent Rock and Metal vocal talents to put this one together, including Ozzy Osbourne on “Crucify the Dead”, Wolfmother’s Andrew Stockdale on “By The Sword” Kid Rock on “I Hold On” and Adam Levine of Maroon 5 on “Gotten”. Of course, the song that everyone is talking about is the cover of GNR classic “Paradise City”, featuring Fergie and Cypress Hill. It is worth hunting down and paying extra for any version (there are a few) of the album that features this song, a bloody brilliant rendition of the quintessential Guns N’ Roses tune. The song also serves as a last “Fuck You” jab at Axl Rose, a last, derisive laugh at the expense of the failed GNR Frontman.

‘Slash’ feels more like a compilation than an album, simply because Slash changes styles as often as he changes vocalists here, tailoring each song for the voice singing it and displaying an incredible versatility. This one is nevertheless a fantastic listen, and the rightful heir to the Guns N’ Roses name.

Slash: Slash
EMI
Steve’s Rating: 10/10

Just the review, then: Envy on the Coast

2010-04-05T16:40:00.002-04:00

Quiet week this week; did a little work on Aeons War but that was about it. I'll have an update soon about Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind, though, I promise!

Envy On The Coast: Lowcountry

We at CONFRONT Magazine first encountered the awesome that is Envy On The Coast when they opened for 30 Seconds To Mars during 30STM’s 2006 tour in support of ‘A Beautiful Lie’. At the time, Envy had a self-titled EP out and a killer hit song, “Temper, Temper”. We were all blown away by their set, and I quite enthusiastically reviewed their first album, ‘Lucy Gray’ when it was released in August of 2007.

My main criticism with that album was that its driving intensity was a tad overwhelming; it wasn’t tempered with the kind of carefree exuberance we’d seen at the live show or heard on their EP. Well I’m very glad to say that on ‘Lowcountry’, Envy On The Coast have maintained that intensity previously heard on ‘Lucy Gray’ and honed it with a good deal more of that rockin-good-time feel.

There are a couple of versions of the album out there; a regular release and a deluxe edition. I unfortunately didn’t get to hear the deluxe album, which has an additional 4 tracks. If those 4 are anything like the 13 I did listen to, I recommend you go out and get the deluxe version, if you can.

Envy On The Coast are masters of lyrical imagery and musical punctuation. They put both to great use on the tracks on ‘Lowcountry’, with some of the best being delivered on the tracks “The Devil’s Tongue”, “The Great American T-Shirt Racket”, “Southern Comfort”, “Made of Stone” and, hidden at the end of Track 12, “Just South of Heaven”.

Most of what I’ve been listening to has been brilliant. The only track I don’t like is a strange interstitial which consists of a few voicemail recordings. Titled “*” I cannot for the life of me understand its purpose. That one track aside, this is a fantastic album and an incredible follow-up to ‘Lucy Gray’.

Envy On The Coast: Lowcountry
Photo Finish Recordings
Steve’s Rating: 9/10

Writing Update and Weekly Music Review

2010-03-30T09:07:00.004-04:00

Well, I've been stricken with another bout of The Block as I work on Aeon's War. Consequence, I've decided to radically shift gears and finally finish work compiling the eBook version of Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind.

I'm already looking at a few different distribution points for Nevermind; owing to its non-genre storyline and "mature themes" subject matter, I'm thinking of putting it out there differently than I am the Omniverse. The next few weeks will see me largely concentrating on that project, though when I go to my cafe for a day's writing on Friday (Having the day off in honour of Nail Your Superhero To A Tree Day) I may very well be drawn back into the complex weave of The Aeon's War for a bit.

Anyway, that's the news for this week. Now here's SteveK with the music reviews:

Omega Crom: Blood, Steel & Fire

Garage Band sensibilities and Classic Metal Era construction combine with modern Speed Metal proclivities to create a fresh take on the genre as a whole. My first impression was awe, as vocalist Johnny K altered between a deep growl and a shrill falsetto not from song to song but within the same lyric. As rapid-fire as his vocal changes, the accompaniment from guitarists Wayne Holden and Ian Wilcke and drummer Dan La Pierre keeps pace and sets tone perfectly across the nine tracks on this treble-charged disk.

This is not the high-speed one-note incomprehensible-growl of most of the supposed “pros” of modern Metal; this simultaneously breaks the mold and returns to Metal’s roots. There are some problems: a poorly-edited sound-effects intro doesn’t merge fluidly with the lead track, terrible album art and occasional production missteps. However the music and performances here redeem. All in all, Omega Crom’s ‘Blood, Steel & Fire’ is an impressive debut.

Omega Crom: Blood, Steel & Fire
Independent
Steve’s Rating: 8/10

She & Him: Volume Two

Okay, okay; it’s been a couple of years but I’m still kind of wowed that Zooey Deschanel, besides being a cute Indie Girl actress is also a cute Indie Girl singer. Not only that, but she and her co-conspirator M. Ward have a pretty good thing going here.

'Volume Two' is, obviously, a follow-up to their debut, ‘Volume One’. The music here is reminiscent of Pop music from the late 1950’s to early 1960’s, with a slight return to the vocals and a mélange of traditional pop instrumentation with orchestral elements of strings, brass and other classic accents.

The music is sophisticated and modern, without the precocious innocence of Pop music’s bygone past. Blended together with upbeat notes, two-part harmonies and retro sensibilities, ‘Volume Two’ is unlike anything I’ve come across since 2007’s ‘In Camera’ by Arthur & Yu.

The songs here are gentle and pleasing, a light but complex, refreshing album.

She & Him: Volume Two
Merge Records
Steve’s Rating: 9/10

Better Late Than Never - Music At Work Part Two

2010-03-24T08:58:00.005-04:00

Okay, this has been a rough week for me. Hence the late update. Work continues on the next book in The Omniverse, and I think the first act is coming along nicely.

Likewise, Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind has been making sentimental appeals to my conscience, and I will complete work compiling the eBook for that one, this spring.

I've been listening to a lot of motion picture scores, lately. Something about instrumental and symphonic music appeals to me when I write, lately. The scores to The Matrix series of films are among my favourites, as are the scores to Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan and 2009's reboot of Star Trek. Massive Attack's soundtrack for Danny the Dog (AKA Jet Li's Unleashed) is another great one. But lately, what's been pulling me in is the original score for The Watchmen, a movie which, like V for Vendetta before it, I preferred to the source material. That's right: I liked the film versions of Alan Moore's greatest works over the comics. So sue me.

Anyway, although I had to reorder the tracks on The Watchmen to sequence with events on film and move the Philip Glass tune Prophecy over from the original soundtrack to the score in order to fully enjoy it, I have to say I have been obsessively listening to Tyler Bates' work for the film as I work on The Aeons' War.

When I work on Nevermind I prefer Grunge and Classic Rock, and there will be a column about the extensive playlist for that project well before the eBook launches.

For now, I owe you guys a music review, don't I?

Jimi Hendrix: Valleys of Neptune

Certain musicians die, and then their recording careers suddenly explode. This happened with Elvis, Tupac, Jimi Hendrix of course, Frank Zappa, John Lennon and many others. Most of the time, these posthumous works come out within a few years of the musician’s demise. A couple of notable exceptions have albums come out regularly, for decades after their untimelies.

Jimi Hendrix is one such exception to the rule, having had 11 releases come out since his death. ‘Valleys of Neptune’ is the latest in a long line of living dead music from the original Seattle Guitar God.

To sum up this album, let’s discuss what “posthumous” releases are generally made up of: previously recorded tracks that were left off of previously released albums. That means these songs were, originally considered to not be good enough for release. But when you’re talking about the caliber of material created by a musical artist like Hendrix, what wasn’t considered “good enough” then is still a hell of a lot better than a lot of the Rock music that gets put out today.

The songs of ‘Valleys of Neptune’ are either previously unreleased material, or formerly only on bootleg or inferior-quality resurrections. A lot of them are also new versions of previous Hendrix releases, such as the opener “Stone Free”, as well as “Fire” and “Red House” There’s also a fantastic instrumental cover of Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love” That just seethes Hendrix.

This is top of the line material; whether you’re a new or returning fan, ‘Valleys of Neptune’ is quintessential Hendrix, and well worth the 13 year wait since his last posthumous release.

Jimi Hendrix: Valleys of Neptune
Sony
Steve’s Rating: 10/10

Viral Darkness & Weak Wind-Ups

2010-03-12T09:44:00.006-05:00

So, as I'm wont to do, I spent a bit of time doing different Google searches for my name and the name of my books. The Unearthing has a huge online presence, and slowly but surely, Through Darkness and Stars is creeping up, too. I'm everywhere, of course, but I never have anything interesting to say that's not in a book or else I'd be getting paid for this.

What's really interesting is that Darkness is going viral; it's showing up on eBook sites that I didn't send it to. While traditional booksellers might go all apoplectic over the notion of someone redistributing their work without their knowledge or say-so, the fact is (1) I released it under a Creative Commons license and (2) I'm giving it away for free because it's more important for me to have readers than get paid to write.

What I like about the viral thing is that the book literally spreads on its own. Someone snipes it from an existing site and puts it on theirs, someone else does that to them, and so it goes. What I find strange, though not necessarily a bad thing, is that instead of using the eBook "cover" art, the sites where I found Darkness they were using the Queen of Light and Sorrow concept art which was truncated into the eBook cover. I wonder what their reasoning is on that one.

Here's what they look like, side by side (or top to bottom)

Anyway on the music front, another album I didn't particularly enjoy listening to this week, for CONFRONT Magazine, is the debut CD from Wind Up Radio Sessions. Here's what I had to say:

The Wind Up Radio Sessions: Red Brick House

Mellow, jazzy, folksy tunes that waft up from ‘Red Brick House’, the debut CD from Hamilton, Ontario ensemble Wind Up Radio Sessions. I’m reminded of the early work of another Greater Toronto Area music act, the Barenaked Ladies. Their music has the same dreamy, carefree vibe dripping with witty, self-referential lyrics sung in contralto.

The eleven song debut is jovial and innocuous, pleasant, light and downright tame. Yes, the vocals, instrumentation, and production are all top notch, but WURS aren’t offering us anything new or challenging, even by the milquetoast standards of adult contemporary. “Me and My Doe” which opens the album is pleasant enough, but the tendency to overplay the quirky lyrics is distracting. Likewise, follow-up track “In The Morning” continues the obscure references while sounding like an unauthorized sequel to Barenaked Ladies’ “Pinch Me”.

These guys have the singer-songwriter Folk-Rock-Jazz thing going, but there’s no grit to this offering, no substance. There’s nothing here to really stimulate a listener, no challenge to the music. It’s designed for mass consumption and easy digestion. But it’s entirely too insubstantial.

For example, while they tout Neil Young as an inspiration to them, their supposed homage, “No One Came” is a pale imitation at best, and perhaps the weakest entry on the album. I think that’s the problem with ‘Red Brick House’ overall: it’s like a diluted blend of other people’s music. These pleasing sounds have garnered a lot of critical acclaim, but I have to wonder if everyone’s not cheering the flavour while ignoring the filler. It’s sort of like eating one of those puffed rice caramel wafers; it tastes great, but it’s just an air biscuit, and not very satisfying in the long run.

Wind Up Radio Sessions: Red Brick House
Independent
Steve’s Rating: 6/10

Sometimes I really enjoy writing a music review...

2010-03-05T09:13:00.005-05:00

As evidenced by the post below, there are times when even reviewing an album I hate can be a pleasurable experience:

Various Artists: Almost Alice

This is a week to rejoice if you are a pasty-skinned, eyeliner-wearing Hot Topic fashion victim. Everyone’s favourite moody, pretentious Art-Fuck Goth Tim Burton is releasing his latest self-indulgent Technicolor drug-dream.

In keeping with the best (and worst) predictable Burton tradition, there’s Danny Elfman providing the LAA-LAA-LAA-LAA chorused symphonic tantrum. But also along for the ride on Burton’s self-styled “sequel” to ‘Alice in Wonderland’, today’s hottest unretired Emo-Pop and Pop-Punk performers, from Avril Lavigne to Tokio Hotel, present songs “inspired” by this latest movie.

Disappointingly but unsurprisingly, most of the songs on ‘Almost Alice’ are clumsy and ham-fisted with the ‘Alice In Wonderland’ theme and imagery. One of the few somewhat inspired tunes on the album is Franz Ferdinand’s “The Lobster Quadrille”. With lyrics by Lewis Carroll, it’s probably more loyal to the author’s original version than Tim Burton’s film that shares a name with Carroll’s most famous work. If you should wonder why Kerli is featured on this CD, you need only look at the Burtonesque Gothy cover to her 2008 debut album. I’m fairly sure Tokio Hotel made it on because of how much Bill Kaulitz looks like Edward Scissorhands’ wussy baby brother.

Otherwise, I have very little good to say about this disc. There’s a predictably whiny Avril Lavigne song; a typically breathless Electro-pop track from Metro Station; an obnoxious 3OH!3 song; a typically saccharine Plain White T’s song, and an ill-advised pop-experiment by Robert Smith, he of the Cure. Grace Slick wannabe Grace Potter commits the worst crime on this album, doing an uninspired karaoke-cover of Jefferson Airplane’s classic, “White Rabbit”.

Fans of any of the collaborators on this album might find something to enjoy here. No doubt Burton’s pretentious “You Just Don’t Get Him” cinematic cultists will rush to fawn and coo over this one, or listen to it in their parent’s darkened, black-lit basement in the middle of the night while smoking clove cigarettes. Whatever. I thought it was crap.

Various Artists: Almost Alice
Disney
Steve’s Rating: 2.5/10

–

FAQ & Alkaline Addictions

2010-02-25T08:38:00.005-05:00

Given the time I spent last week establishing the distribution for Through Darkness and Stars and the (I've still got to link to it maybe today) Facebook Page for The Omniverse I didn't get a chance to do much else, creatively speaking. I answered a couple of emails from readers who liked the new eBook - extremely validating, that - and I've come up with a quick FAQ for you, based on the one question I was asked most often:

WILL THERE BE ANOTHER BOOK IN THE STORY?

That's the good news and that's also the bad news.

The Omniverse has already been outlined in detail, from start to finish. There are five books to the story in total, however, only two of them are complete at this time. The third book, working title The Aeons War, is being written. I've been working on it since November 2008.
I already have friends reading and providing feedback.

The bad news is that it's been the victim of many false starts and restarts. I don't anticipate finishing the first full draft before the end of this year. So yes, there will be another book in the series (And the way I left things off I'd be a real prick if there wasn't) but it's going to be a while longer.

That being said, let's move on to this week's music review from CONFRONT Magazine:

Alkaline Trio: This Addiction

Now this is Pop-Punk the way it’s supposed to be: music being made for the love of music; at least that’s how it sounds. Combining Punk Rock instrumentation with Pop Rock vocals, Alkaline Trio’s seventh album in twelve years is a seasoned, solid, stomping good time. This is raucous, driven Bar Rock; ideal to listen to while slamming back a pitcher with friends.

The album opens with the title track, “This Addiction” which creates an interesting comparison between sex, love and intravenous drug use. The songs are well crafted, creating vivid, violent images to describe events that have affected the members of Alkaline Trio viscerally over the years. The often disturbing themes are masterfully cast against the contrasting upbeat, carefree musical style. The blend of heavy subject matter and light music is masterfully executed here.

Outstanding on this album are the tracks “American Scream” “Dine, Dine My Darling” and “Dorothy”. I’ll leave their lyrics and meaning to you to discover as you listen. They are outstanding only as much as they are the best of an exceptional album.

Alkaline Trio: This Addiction
Epitaph
Steve’s Rating: 9/10

Weekly Musical Roundup & News

2010-02-22T00:12:00.004-05:00

So, I've been in distribution hell since launching Through Darkness and Stars earlier this week. Distribution hell is basically what it sounds like: contacting eBook distributors and negotiating for hosting or linking of the story. It's not very hard to do, but it does take a little time, and it gets repetitive. However, I'm nearly done with my list of distributors!

Likewise, I've also now got an official Facebook page for the Omniverse series, and I'll be permalinking it somewhere on the site soon. The Facebook page even allows me to be able to interact with readers.

Hope to see you there soon!

Story Of The Year: The Constant

I’m really on the fence about SOTY’s latest. I mean, ‘The Constant’ opens with a solid (and quintessential SOTY) anthem, “The Children’s Song”, and they keep up the pressure and the desperate intensity throughout…but it’s just so much like the rest of these medium-venue Rock acts out there, with trebled-up guitar work, repeating hooks and balladeering vocals…it sounds like every Emo and Post-Hardcore band I’ve seen since beginning work for CONFRONT Magazine, four years ago.

I’ve listened to this one several times over the last few days, and I have to admit that I just stop paying attention a couple of songs in. Every now and again a lyric from one of their half-heard songs sparks my attention, but it’s not long after that their Rock interpretation turns into background noise, again. It’s not that I wanted to tune it out; it’s just that ‘The Constant’ really doesn’t do it for me

That being said, I’m sure they put on one hell of a live show, because there’s not a single song on this album that isn’t tailor made for the obligatory “I’m-going-to-stop-singing-and-dangle-the-mic-over-the-audience-so-they-can-sing” portion of the show. Is it contrived? Is it just the kind of music these guys like? I don’t know. But I also don’t care.

Story Of The Year are all capable, talented musicians. The album is capably produced and the songs are all very tight, very well performed. There’s a sincerity to the effort, but earnest delivery just doesn’t make up for the fact that it just sounds too much like every thing else in the genre.

Seriously, in this day and age aren’t we past the need to churn out so much cookie-cutter, pre-fab music?

Story Of The Year: The Constant
Epitaph
Steve’s Rating: 6/10

Massive Attack: Heligoland

I have to admit that I was thrown by the latest – and long, long awaited – ‘Heligoland’ from Massive Attack. See, although I’ve been a fan of Massive Attack for – Holy SHIT almost twenty years – I’ve never actually listened to one of their albums from start to finish.

No, I’m more of a fan of their singles; the groovy, sexy Massive Attack songs that got me laid back in the 1990s…Okay; the Massive Attack songs that were SUPPOSED to get me laid back in the 1990s. So, used to songs like “Dissolved Girl” and “Teardrop” or “Angel” or “Black Milk” or any other of their awesome and SMEXXY songs, I was surprised as I listened to ‘Heligoland’.

It IS different from their previous releases. Gone are the big beat electronics; this one is minimalist, with discordant sounds and very bleak overtones. The sensuous drum rhythms are still there, but this is more chill out music than make out music. It’s all still very good, but ‘Heligoland’ might not be the Massive Attack CD you want to put on if you’re trying to get your freak on. Aurally, I’m reminded of Radiohead’s ‘Amnesiac’ for the dreary minimalism. However, unlike the disappointing follow up to ‘Kid A’, ‘Heligoland’ does not disappoint.

The list of artists who’ve collaborated on this disc reads like a virtual who’s who of avant-garde Trip Hop and Alternative music, including Tunde Adebimpe of TV On The Radio; Damon Albarn from Gorillaz; Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star and Adrian Utley of Portishead.

The opener, “Pray For Rain” sets the strange tone, though the grim sexy on this disc reaches its apex on ‘Splitting The Atom’. There is some good old-school Massive Attack grooves on songs like “Girl I Love You”, “Paradise Circus” and “Saturday Come Slow”, but this album does not dwell on the past.

Now at first you, like me, might find yourself out of sorts over the difference shift on ‘Heligoland’. You might even feel a bit let down, but I promise you that if you keep listening to this one, really pay attention and you’ll wonder how you doubted it. Let there be no doubt: Massive Attack are back, and ready to start their third decade of setting the bar for Trip-Hop tracks.

Massive Attack: Heligoland
Virgin
Steve’s Rating: 10/10

With THANKS TO @WTL...

2010-02-17T00:39:00.008-05:00

THROUGH DARKNESS
AND STARS

The follow-up to The Unearthing

An ancient Ship completing a millions-year old mission has taken Human passengers and crew on an historic voyage to the heart of an ancient cosmic dynasty.

But despite their extensive training, no one aboard the Shipflight is prepared for what they find as they search for the Great Races of the lost League of Worlds.

When catastrophe forces Shipflight onward unable to return to Earth, they set out to discover what happened to those who passed through the cosmos before them.

What awaits them beyond the world that Mankind has always called home is a growing madness aboard the Ship and a lost enemy stalking them as they travel through darkness and stars...

VOLUME II OF STEVE KARMAZENUK'S OMNIVERSE

THROUGH DARKNESS AND STARS

AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD NOW!

Visit the official weblog

"Darkness" Complete & Weekly Music Review

2010-02-15T08:19:00.003-05:00

So a lot later than usual with this week's update...so late in fact that it's technically next week!

But anyway...

Spent a very busy week working/compiling the eBook for Through Darkness and Stars, which I will launch by the end of the week - Just have to update a few things here or there, secure widgets & mass distribution, etc.

I also had some important work to do around the house, fixing up a special room for someone very special who will be very soon an "official" part of our lives...I can't wait!

So those of you who've read the first six chapters of the Darkness preview will very soon be able to sink your teeth into the full volume.

And now for our weekly music feature!

HIM: Screamworks Love in Theory and Practice

Seriously underwhelmed would be the two best words to describe my impression of the latest by Cock-Rock “Heartagram” band HIM. It’s all very generic sounding post-Emo Rock. There’s not much on ‘Screamworks’ that isn’t overtly formulaic with the standard Arena-Rockers, overly-produced and equalized music levels, verse, verse, chorus structure and predictable, angry lyrics and flair-heavy solos.

The whole thing just smacks of opportunistic commercialism, already out of touch with the new trends in Rock music. The songs are so interchangeable as to be nearly indistinguishable from one to the next, and it’s hard to find much good to say about this one; it really is nothing more than a Pop album for people who consume music instead of listening to it.

That’s not to say that the music isn’t capable performed or that Ville Valo’s vocals aren’t up to par. But when the music is as soullessly commercial and cynically mass-market-geared as this disc is, really, what the hell’s the point?

If you’re a fan of HIM, if you like Top-40 Pop Rock that you can listen to over and over again now (but in a year or two you’ll be embarrassed to even admit to owning) then ‘Screamworks Love in Theory and Practice’ is a good fit.

Those looking for something a little more substantial, something that will be one of Rock or even Pop music’s timeless classics, well, you’re shit out of luck.

HIM: Screamworks Love in Theory and Practice
WEA
Steve’s Rating: 5/10

Underground Realroad: Slave To The Game

Those who know me (Or who regularly read my column) know that I’m not very impressed by Hip-Hop. At least, not most of what passes for Rap and Hip-Hop these days. And, while no real fan of the genre per say, I do listen to Hip-Hop and Rap on occasion (My preference being for the older stuff, from the early-to-mid 1990s). So, though my opinion might not actually count for much, the truth is that Underground Realroad’s ‘Slave To The Game’ is easily the best Rap album I have listened to in 15 years.

Their sound is dynamically layered, using samples from R&B and Motown hits from the 60s and 70s, looped and repeated for hypnotic, surreal effect. The rhymes are solid, and manage to speak to subjects not related to the usual asinine glorification of thug life. This is urban poetry, hip-hop storytelling at its finest. The songs are atmospheric, the imagery of the lyrics powerful, vivid, anthemic. Songs like “Slave 2 Da Game” demand to be played loud and long.

I’m surprised that this album was released so early in the Winter; I’d have staged it for an early Spring release, simply because this album deserves to peak over the long, hot months and be used as a Summer Soundtrack for those hot days and sultry nights. To my ear, the album as a whole just evokes Montreal in the Summer.

Lyrically, many of the songs deliver messages of empowerment, cautionary stories and even tales of tribute. “Little Boy Street” is one such tale, about a homeless lyricist who lives for the songs he writes. Some of the tracks are just good trips, the Hip-Hop equivalent of Stoner Rock, just setting up some nice sounds to burn out to. Forced to pick out the best on this disc, I’d have to say “Slave 2 Da Game”, “The 101”, “Little Boy Street”, “U-R Always There”, and the trippy, cool, harsh and cautionary “N199@_Y_”.

The only song I can really do without is the closing track, a remix of an earlier track on the disc, “Can’t Stop”. It just seems repetitive when featured here, as opposed to if they’d merely have used it as a B-side on a single version of “Can’t Stop.” Except for that one tune, I daresay this album is as near to perfect as Rap gets

‘Slave To The Game’ distills the essentials of great Rap and Hip-Hop into a pure, concentrated form, one that should never be diluted and always taken at full strength. If there is any sanity in the world of music today, Underground Realroad will set the standard for Hip-Hop for years to come.

Underground Realroad: Slave To The Game
Independent
Steve’s Rating: 9.5/10

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Writer's Block and the Lostprophets

2010-02-06T23:12:00.003-05:00

So I think the ice wall of writer's block is starting to melt...few ideas came to me last night; had a nice dream about the Apocalypse that will translate well into text. Yes, that's a huge-ass teaser right there, that is.

Through Darkness And Stars is a much more grim tale than The Unearthing...see, while that one had a generally optimistic conclusion, the fact is there are always consequences to actions. As the Ship commences its journey back to the League of Worlds, there are repercussions. Those of you who've read the six-chapter preview of the second installment may already sense it; there are a lot of things that can go wrong...

But some things did go right this week, and while they did, I was listening to the latest from the Lostprophets. I don't know if they helped me get over my writer's block, but when I did get over it, I was listening to them, at the time. Here's what I thought about their new album, as told for CONFRONT MAGAZINE:

As far as Indie Brit Rock goes, it doesn’t get better than Lostprophets. They and the Arctic Monkeys rule the sound right now, and the Sound is Good.

‘Betrayed’, Lostphrphets’ fourth album opens with a killer, “If It Wasn’t For Hate We’d Be Dead By Now”. Incorporating elements of Techno Rock, ambient sound samples to bridge between tracks, they create an even flow from one song to the next.

Ian Watkins, the band’s lead singer, describes ‘Betrayed’ as a darker and “nastier” album. In the process, they’ve created a solid rocker well worth the three year wait and multiple launch and production delays. The sound varies from track to track; for example, “It’s Not The End Of The World But I Can See It From Here” sounds more like a post-Grunge Rocker than Brit Rock. Still an awesome track, but it demonstrates quite a range in style. Likewise, “For He’s A Jolly Good Felon” also stands out for its Ska-like nuances. The whole album offers a power and variety that’s unusual in current Rock releases; most of the time these days Rock artists run with a theme or two and call it a day.

One oddity that I rather liked was a couple of instrumental sequences on the albums that are utterly out of place, here. The first of these sequences, a “Munsters” sounding piece of creep-rock, appears on the tail end of “For He’s A Jolly Good Felon”. The second appears as a hidden track on the end of the last song of the album, “The Light That Burns Twice As Bright”. Confusing that they’re there, and sound utterly unlike the rest of the album, but in a good way.
I don’t think anyone, new or returning fans of Lostprophets, will feel in any way betrayed by ‘Betrayed’. Quite the opposite in fact, I think this one is a promise fulfilled.

Lostprophets: Betrayed
Sony
Steve’s Rating: 9/10

"All of this has happened before and will happen again..."

2010-02-05T09:30:00.010-05:00

I let this video speak for itself.

Or watch it here.

My Music At Work - Part One

2010-01-31T20:34:00.001-05:00

Well, this weekend has seen me very frustrated over a bout of writer's block relating to the full eBook for Through Darkness and Stars. Yes, even though the writing of this was largely finished a while ago, the fact remains that portions of the story require a bit of a rewrite to get them just right. However, my brain does not seem to want to participate in the project.

Hell, I'm even having a hard time focusing on this blog post, it seems; that above paragraph took me an hour to write as I kept getting distracted. Beginning to wonder if I have adult-onset ADD.

Usually a little musical therapy is all I need to be able to get the writing flowing again; or yes, time away from the keyboard. But given that the only time I can really focus on my writing is evenings and weekends (as I have to keep a regular day jobt to pay the rent) and as my home/family life is just as important to me as the writing, any time specifically devoted to writing that does not see me writing productively is time lost, in my opinion.

But usually, when writing, music does help. In fact, music is often inspirational to writing, isn't it? So, what about my writing? Well, much of The Unearthing was written as I listened to Portishead's first two albums, Dummy and Portishead, usually on shuffle on my CD player.

But there were other songs I listened to obsessively as I worked on the first, second, third and multiple subsequent drafts of The Unearthing. Most importantly was Tori Amos' 1000 Oceans, which was essential to the rewriting of the interstitial between chapters Seven and Eight of the novel. When you read it (if you haven't already) you'll understand why. What's really interesting, is that segment only really worked after I started to listen to 1000 Oceans and rewrote it. Music is a powerful inspiration.

Through Darkness and Stars takes the Ship and its passengers out into deep space. As I wrote the story, I found myself wanting music more in keeping with the environment. Tangerine Dream artist Christopher Franke's work scoring Babylon 5 got some serious play in my headset. And as my regular readers might remember, J. Michael Straczynski's television opus was an inspiration to me, when in 1997 I sat down to work on The Omniverse's first volume.

Likewise, as I sought to build tension towards the end of the novel, I found myself playing John Murphy's In The House In a Heartbeat (from the fantastic and frightening 28 Days Later) over and over again. I remember something that Andy Warhol said once, which stayed with me: "I had this routine of painting with Rock and Roll, blasting the same song on a 45 RPM over and over all day long…"

Funny thing is, I've kept that same habit when writing. I'll listen to an album, or more often than not just one or two songs, over and over until I'm done with a chapter. Shame it's not working now!

For the upcoming Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind, which takes place in the early 1990s, I of course listened to a lot of Grunge and Classic Rock. As we get closer to the release of that one, I'll cough up the second part of My Music At Work.

Hopefully by the time I'm through with my music review for Thursday's update, I'll have actually finished the rewrite that's been kicking my ass all week.

See you real soon!

Soft Metal

2010-01-28T19:51:00.004-05:00

Well! Time once again for my weekly music review! I promise, by this weekend a fresh post with an update on the full ebook version of Through Darkness and Stars and the first part of my "Music and Writing" blog!

And now for this week's music review, as seen in CONFRONT Magazine!

*****

Mutiny Within: Mutiny Within

The first few times I listened to this one, I couldn’t escape the feeling that something was off. I couldn’t put my finger on it, despite listening to it several times over the course of several days. A few things irked me; the frequent use of piano chords as intros, chief among them. But I was at a loss as to what struck me as not being quite cricket about ‘Mutiny Within’.

So I decided to break it down; the CD consisted of a plastic jewel case, enclosed paper booklet (high gloss, stapled) and the CD itself was made of several layers of optic-grade plastic sealing in a micro-thin layer of aluminum alloy, laser-etched and coated on one side with ink. Everything seemed pretty standard. Okay, moving on then the music stored on the CD, itself.

Thankfully I’d ripped the CD to my MP3 player before examining it; disassembling a compact disc is difficult, and usually results in the utter destruction of that disc. So, music files blasting in my ears I sat back to listen to this one, yet again.

With Metal it’s always the guitar and drums that I “hear” first. Mutiny Within’s no different in that regard. The drumming is complex, manic, an athletic feat as much as it is musical virtuosity. The guitar work is equally fervent, with elaborate, one-note-to-the-next changes; these guys make the impossible look easy. The bass rhythms are almost subsonic, and could easily kill a lesser sound system, and the keyboards add a fuller dimension to the music, pulling it out of the garage in which so much Metal seems to wallow, these days. Overall the music itself is powerful, loud, melodic and demands to be played as loud as your eardrums can bear.

At first, I wasn’t sure about the vocals, either. Though lead singer Chris Clancy can scream and growl and wail and roar with the best of them, he generally keeps to a Human vocal range. His singing therefore has to rely on a lot more than the ability to keep up a steady roar, requiring he actually hit notes, hold them, and stay on-key, which he does, masterfully.

Somewhere in the middle of my commute home to write this review, I was struck by epiphany: the thing about Mutiny Within that’s off is the fact that they’re actually putting an original spin on Metal! These last five years have seen Metal devolve back into the cookie-cutter hell that killed it in the mid 1990s before it made a resurgence. Now, just when all hope seemed gone, along comes this band with their own take on the Metal genre, ignoring the pre-set patterns to do their own thing; who the hell do they think they are?

If you can stand to listen to Metal that doesn’t sound like every other CD you’ve heard, you should pick up the self-titled debut by Mutiny Within. Hopefully we’ll hear a lot more from them soon.

Oh, I’m still deducting points for the piano…I hated that.

Mutiny Within: Mutiny Within
Roadrunner
Steve’s Rating: 8/10

AMONG OTHER THINGS: Motion City Soundtrack: My Dinosaur Life

2010-01-24T13:06:00.005-05:00

OH BOY am I late with the update this week! I had been planning on doing a post about the music I listen to while writing to tie in with last week's guest blog by JR Turner.

WELL, that hasn't happened, because the last seven days have been absolutely insane here. I'm still working on the "music of writing" blog, but it's being put on hold for the moment.

In other news, the full, free, downloadable eBook version of Through Darkness and Stars is coming along nicely. Early Spring is still our target launch date. As always the 6-chapter free preview is still available.

If you are interested in reading Darkness, please, please, p-l-e-a-s-e read The Unearthing first! If you don't, I promise you, you will be completely fucking lost.

As Sunday is a traditional day of worship, I would also like to invite you to watch this little movie and think about where you want your life to take you:

OKAY, that's it for the news, now for the music review:

When a band like Motion City Soundtrack, a band with Pop/Rock roots switches over to a major label, there are always questions. Will the new label meddle with the band’s sound? Will they insist on controlling production of the new album?

While ‘My Dinosaur Life’, the band’s fourth album has been called “radio friendly” by some, the core sound that fans recognize is still intact. Produced by Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, ‘My Dinosaur Life’ does have distinct post-Grunge elements and is similar overall to ‘Commit This To Memory’, the band’s 2006 sophomore release.

There’s a maturity of sound on this album; a sophistication in the lyrics and musical content that charts the progress that Motion City Soundtrack has made over the years. Songs like “A Lifeless Ordinary” “Her Words Destroyed My Planet” “History Lesson” testify to the trials and tribulations of maturing twentysomethings mourning the inevitable loss of youth.

But the reflective, bittersweet lyrics are tempered well through up-tempo Pop and Rock music, making the album’s content fully enjoyable despite the sometimes-heavy subject matter.

While ‘My Dinosaur Life’ doesn’t blow me away, it is good listening and may well spur a few interesting discussions as the lyrical content is deconstructed over coffee among friends. If ‘My Dinosaur Life’ does become Motion City Soundtrack’s “breakout” album as many are suggesting, then it will be validation to the band and their fans and supporters. Likewise, if ‘My Dinosaur Life’ becomes their breakout, it will introduce them to the significantly wider audience they deserve.

Motion City Soundtrack: My Dinosaur Life

Columbia

Steve’s Rating: 8.5/10

TALK TO YOU ALL SOON!

–

First Review of 2010

2010-01-15T19:42:00.005-05:00

Okay, so before getting to our regularly-scheduled weekly review repost, I'd like to just update you on a few things: Through Darkness and Stars, the follow-up to The Unearthing is actually coming along ahead of schedule, so I am going to courageously moving the launch date forward to early spring.

There will be a second spring announcement, but that one's under wraps for now!

In other news I just want to extend my thanks too guest contributor, JR Turner. Her column on the music she listened to inspired me, and I'll be writing a piece about the music I listened to, as I wrote different things.

In particular, I find that the other eBook I hope to get out there for the first half of 2010 (So you all have a little summer reading on your Kindles and Smartphones) is music-heavy. As I've written, rewritten and honed Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind over most of the last decade (about the decade preceding it) the playlist has grown to the point that most chapters have at least one song attached to them. I can't wait to talk about them!

But in keeping with the music theme, I present this week's music review by me, for CONFRONT MAGAZINE:

Vampire Weekend: Contra

This album is a radical departure from Vampire Weekend’s previous effort. It’s darker, angrier, almost violent sounding disc.

NO! I’M KIDDING!

The Brit-poppy Reggae and Ska flavoured musical stew that is New York City musical quartet Vampire Weekend’s very sunny, very enjoyable and upbeat music is very much intact on their second outing, ‘Contra’.

‘Contra’ opens without much intro; Ezra Koenig starts putting out the lyrics right with the first note of “Horchata”, which was released as a downloadable single back in October. The happy vibes continue across the other nine tracks on ‘Contra’, and the album manages to provide whimsy and joy without being saccharine, cloying or otherwise obnoxiously cheerful.

The tropical rhythms are juxtaposed against lyrics rife with cryptic references to personal experiences and obscurities, but if you sit back and listen without wracking your brains over hidden meanings, songs such as the infectious “Holiday” “Run” or “Cousins”, for example, become just utterly enjoyable.

Vampire Weekend have mastered the “Island Sound” on their second disc. The music is more technically complex, but the band maintains the near-manic pacing necessary to the fusion of genres that make up their sound. As widely received and praised as their self-titled debut was back in 2008, ‘Contra’ should finally win them the sort of acclaim they deserve.

Vampire Weekend

XL Recordings

Steve’s Rating: 8.5/10

–

Special Guest Blogger Edition!

2010-01-12T21:59:00.006-05:00

Something new for 2010 - my FIRST EVER GUEST BLOGGER!

A little about JR Turner (Pictured @ left): Born blonde and Polish, Jennifer Turner writes action adventure thrillers and romances. She resides in Wisconsin with her husband Eddie, a red-headed Texan, and her three children, Dustin, Molly and Matthew. Raised by an eclectic assortment of artists and musicians, her upbringing helped shape and hone her imagination and dedication to the romantic arts. Between her commitments to family and writing, she actively pursues three things–white chocolate, dark chocolate, and more chocolate.

And that's it for me until Friday; take it away, JR!

Rockin' and Writin' with J.R. Turner

I love music and I love to write, so it seems natural to me that I would do both at the same time. I'm always looking for new tracks for my 'writing' playlist and hunting up old favorites I'm reminded about—usually in a soundtrack as I'm a big film fan too.

Since my forte is high action, I tend to go for the harder, more pumped up music groups. Lately I've been listening to a lot of Powerman 5000, Seether and Korn. In particular, for a novel that I'm finishing about a female soldier who dies and is resurrected to fight mutants has made "Living Dead Girl" by Rob Zombie a favorite.

When I'm working on my Extreme Hauntings series, I tend to throw in a few softer tracks. Uninvited by Alanis Morissette is a great theme song. The first, DFF: Dead Friends Forever, introduces Kaylee. She's a resilient kid, forced against her will, to solve a century old murder and free a trapped soul from the demon responsible for her death. Yeah, definitely uninvited!

I think what makes this series different from some YA horror novels are the consequences she endures. Often, teens do incredible things to avoid being eaten or to escape the beasties, but never get busted. I didn't want to go down that path and instead, had Kaylee stand trial for arson and grave robbing.

In the second book, School's Out 4-Ever, she's sent to a haunted reformatory where things really get bad. Drowning Pool's album "Sinner" and Disturbed's self-titled album kept my fingers typing through that novel. There's something about their rhythm that allows me type like a deadline is chasing me. (Oh, wait, there usually is! ;))

When it came to choosing tracks for the trailers, I wanted to support emerging artists. For DFF: Dead Friends Forever, The Etiquette gave permission for their song "One Fine Day." This captured the transition I wanted—from the seemingly upbeat sound, to the darker lyrics and their message. The same is in the book—a seemingly 'normal' life underscored by a far more sinister reality.

For School's Out 4-Ever, I needed something much heavier. This book is very dark compared to the first one. Between the multiple deaths and the intensity of Kaylee developing 'abnormal' powers, giving up the hope of ever having a normal life, the themes demanded a hard-hitting track. Rotor, a fabulous band fronted by the very cool Kelly Marlow, had just the track—"Beat The Clock." Not only did this give me tone I wanted, but it perfectly fit the race to stay alive while doing her time.

Music is such a large part of my writing life, I can't imagine working without the sound of bass thumping in the background while the story unfolds across the page. Every great film has a great soundtrack and I doubt I could dig deep enough to find the greatness living inside every story without my own.

J.R. Turner is the author of the Extreme Hauntings series. The first book, DFF: Dead Friends Forever is available at Amazon.com, Kindle, Fictionwise, and Echelon Press.com

Doing Time Is Deadly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lHXMv4e_8c
School's Out 4-Ever
http://tiny.cc/Vol6H

WORST of 2009

2010-01-07T21:53:00.002-05:00

If last week’s “Best Of” list was hard to compile, then this week’s “Worst Of” was a walk in the park. There weren’t many truly bad albums in 2009, but there were enough for me to highlight what I saw as the 10 worst. At least, those that I listened to and decided were the worst.

As usual my criteria were simple: any review where the album in question (1) received a failing grade of 5/10 or less, and (2) albums that struck me viscerally, raising my ire and contempt for their content, or at the very least, disappointing me beyond belief.

So without further ado, now’s the only time of year I get to play music snob, so let’s go!

10-Collective Soul: “Rabbit” Album 5/10

These Georgia Rockers have always sounded more like New Jersey wannabes to my ears. Yes, back in 1993 they had that one good song, “Shine”, their one and only gold-certified single, off ‘Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid’, but really, the rest of their music has been so mediocre and middle of the road they paved the way for Bland Bands like Nickleback.

Surprisingly, Collective Soul’s first four albums went multi-platinum, and their fifth album went gold before people started to wake up to just how much these guys stink. Yet astoundingly they’ve finished up most of their second decade of persistently churning out underwhelmingly bland music. The ‘Rabbit Album’ is more of the exact same tripe they’ve been churning out since 1993.

Collective Soul: “Rabbit” Album

Roadrunner

Steve’s Rating 5/10

09-Morrissey: Years of Refusal 5/10

There was a time when Morrissey could do no wrong, in my books. His work with the Smiths, and even his early solo stuff was among some of the best music of the 1980s and early 1990s. Then, well, frankly he started to suck.

‘Years of Refusal’ is his ninth studio album, and probably his most disappointing. Where once Morrissey’s clever turns of phrase and lyrical twists used to be original and thought-provoking, this disc is rife with some of the most awful Morrissey lyrics I’ve heard. Likewise, in trying to update his sound on this disc to capture a younger market of morose, Emo kids, Morrissey has given away too much of the sound that made him so renown to begin with. Refuse ‘Years of Refusal’ is my advice.

Morrissey: Years of Refusal

Lost Highway

Steve’s Rating: 5/10

08-Prototype A: The Evolving Paradigm5/10

I gotta warn you, folks: the farther we get into this list, the worse the music is going to be. Prototype A tried to do something with ‘The Evolving Paradigm’, as they fused 80s Power Rock and Electronica together into a new kind of musical sound.

Unfortunately, what they tried to do failed. Because the band chose to emphasis things like power chords and overblown balladeering, the result is a one-trick album that chooses to play that trick out, over and over again.

It’s a shame, because the musicians behind this glammed-up band are actually quite good. Unfortunately the focus on style over substance kills the effort.

Prototype A: The Evolving Paradigm

Independent

Steve’s Rating: 5/10

07-Classified: Self Explanatory 5/10

The Toronto Rap scene tends to take itself, like so many things from the Tee-Dot, entirely too seriously. I’ve always suspected that the reason so many Canuck rappers end up on so many lists, such as the Canadian Hot 100, is due in part to Canadian Content laws that see the promotion of Canadian “talent” for the sake of it being Canadian and not for the sake of its talent.

Classified, AKA Luke Boyd, is an accomplished veteran performer, and this disc is capably produced and performed. However, the constant extolling of the virtues and glamour of smoking weed make this album an irresponsible and stupid entrant on the rolls of 2009 music.

Stupid because all Classified does is rap about how wonderful weed is, without talking about the dangers of abuse, the threat of addiction and the consequences of abuse. In fact, with so many constant drug references on this album I daresay that ‘Self Explanatory’ is one of the most irresponsible albums I’ve ever had the displeasure of hearing.

Classified: Self Explanatory

Sony

Steve’s Rating: 5/10

06-All Time Low: Nothing Personal 4/10

All Time Low is billed as Pop Punk. Somehow I missed the memo that redefined Pop Punk as the domain of Jonas Brothers look-and-sound-alikes who give their music an edge by saying “fuck” a lot. This album – in fact All Time Low as a group – besmirches the name of “Punk” music, banalizing it and giving us all yet another reason to hate marketed-to-tween-and-young-teen Pop music.

All Time Low are to punk music as Hannah Montana is to Heavy Metal. Besides making Avril Lavigne look like Courtney Love, All Time Low succeed in making the aforementioned Jonas Brothers seem hard-core in comparison.

When not swearing like a tween who just discovered that they can get away with dirty words when mom and dad aren’t around to hear, or hiding behind random bursts of guitar feedback, lead singer Alex Gaskarth likes to imagine that ‘Nothing Personal’ is somehow a deep album. I’ve seen deeper puddles on the sidewalk than this musical refuse.

All Time Low: Nothing Personal

Hopeless Records

Steve’s Rating: 4/10

05-Ben Lee: Rebirth of Venus 4/10

Ben Lee managed to release one of the most pointlessly self-important and smugly self-righteous albums of the year, when he unleashed the sanctimony of ‘Rebirth of Venus’ on the world, back in February.

Demonstrating himself to be a completely pompous ass, Lee proselytized to the masses with such haughty judgements as the condescending attack on legitimate Pop, “I love Pop Music”, and he makes similar pronouncements across numerous other tracks, from “Wake Up America” to “I’m A Woman, Too”.

Honestly, the arrogance, the self-righteousness on this disc reaches unbearably toxic levels.

Ben Lee: The Rebirth of Venus

New West Records

Steve’s Rating: 4/10

04-Chris Cornell: Scream 3/10

Does anyone remember how awesome Chris Cornell sounded on “You Know My Name”, the theme to Daniel Craig’s triumphant and role-defining debut as James Bond, in ‘Casino Royale’? Yeah, you won’t find any of that kind of awesomeness on ‘Scream’.

Cornell’s major mistake was in deciding to collaborate on ‘Scream’ with mega-homogenizing producer Timbaland. The result is, typically, an album that sounds exactly like every other album that Timbaland has ever laid his hands on.

Cornell is the voice behind Soundgarden and Audioslave; bands that, with Cornell’s work both as their front man and as a soloist, helped to define the Seattle Sound at the dawn of the Grunge Rock era. Here he plays second fiddle to Timbaland, despite this album allegedly being Cornell’s headliner. This one really is less for Grunge Rock metalheads than it is for fans of the generic, tired repetition of Timbaland.

Chris Cornell: Scream

Interscope

Steve’s Rating: 3/10

03-Tantric: Mind Control 2/10

Truly dreadful is the best way to sum up ‘Mind Control’, by post-Grunge rockers, Tantric. Instead of expanding upon a classic sound with an innovative, fresh perspective, Tantric seems satisfied to just give us more of the same old, same old.

To say that ‘Mind Control’ is unoriginal would be entirely too flattering. They riff on Smashing Pumpkins-style guitar work, rip off Alice in Chains two-part harmonies, and just spend most of this album vomiting up stuff done by other, greater musicians of the Grunge Era and calling it their own.

Likewise, lead singer Hugo Ferreira just doesn’t have what it takes to sing this style of music. His voice is anything but raw, pained or emotionally vulnerable; more suited to Pop and Lite Rock, Ferreira’s just not up to the material. But then, neither is the rest of Tantric.

Tantric: Mind Control

Silent Majority

Steve’s Rating: 2/10

02-Set Your Goals: This Will Be the Death Of Us 2/10

This is another one of those supposedly Pop-Punk albums that fails to deliver anything other than a little guitar feedback and raking licks. Dual lead vocals Matt Wilson and Jordan Brown deliver about as much edge as a Goo Goo Dolls ballad on this, Set Your Goals’ sophomore release.

Inspired by the kind of paranoid mind-fuck of movies like ‘They Live’ and ‘The Matrix’, this album is supposed to be about shaking people awake from their Western complacency. Instead, we get drowned in sugary pop music and worn-out, unoriginal musical cliché.

It would be nice if ‘This Will Be the Death of Us’ actually did sound the death knell for Set Your Goals. Unfortunately there’s just enough rubes out there to buy this crap and guarantee them a third album.

Set Your Goals: This Will Be the Death of Us

Epitaph

Steve’s Rating: 2/10

01-U2: No Line on the Horizon 2/10

What can I say about ‘No Line on the Horizon’? It’s unquestionably the worst album that U2 has ever put out, making efforts like ‘Pop’ and ‘Achtung Baby’ seem positively brilliant by comparison. And please note, this isn’t bad in the sense that bad-sex-is-still-pretty-good. This is bad in the sense that it’s utter shit.

It would appear that ‘All That You Can’t Leave Behind’ was the high point of U2’s third decade of making music, because everything since has been downhill, just as everything after ‘Joshua Tree’ and on down to ‘All That You Can’t Leave Behind’ were equally mediocre, though far more forgivable.

‘No Line on the Horizon’ is proof that it’s time to put Bono, The Edge, et al out to pasture. Other than their grandiose, self-righteous, Middle-Aged Liberal, We’re-Awesomely-Saving-The-World-One-Song-At-A-Time antics, U2 really haven’t made any worthwhile contributions to Pop/Rock, in a very long time. Go out and get their old music; their new music’s just plain shit.

U2: No Line on the Horizon

Island

Steve’s Rating: 2/10

That’s it for our look back! Next week I’ll be starting with a fresh batch of music reviews, for 2010. Place your bets as to what’ll be on NEXT year’s Best and Worst lists; next year, I won’t be quite as nice!

My New Year's Resolution is 1280 x 800

2010-01-02T01:05:00.008-05:00

That's about as funny as it gets this early in the year.

Not one to do years-in-review, let's instead look ahead. Now that the six-chapter preview has been out for a few weeks, I've decided to prioritize 'Through Darkness and Stars' for release before the spring. I'll hopefully therefore have 'Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind' out by the late summer / early fall.

In the meantime you may have noticed I'm posting my weekly music column for CONFRONT Magazine here, now. Besides that, I'll soon be having a guest blogger, fellow author J. R. Turner. Also, please note the 2010 edition K-Rune, yours now for a limited time.

10 Best Of 2009

2009-12-31T00:17:00.002-05:00

From CONFRONT Magazine:

As always I compose my “best of” list based on the albums I’ve reviewed over the course of the year. This means that the albums on this list aren’t necessarily those that placed high on the charts, got praise from critics, or were even relatively well known. Usually, eligibility for this year’s list requires an album rate an 8.5/10 or higher. This year, I had to prune the list even further, restricting entrants to those who got full marks.

There are, therefore, a few albums that, despite how much I enjoyed them, did not qualify for this list. Those runners-up include ‘Octahedron’ by The Mars Volta, ‘This is War’ by 30 Seconds to Mars, ‘Abnormally Attracted to Sin’ by Tori Amos, Adam Lambert’s ‘For Your Entertainment’ among others.

Likewise, you’ll not see the likes of Lady Gaga or the Black Eyed Peas or Taylor Swift or other so-called “essentials” on this list, because I didn’t listen to them and therefore cannot make pronouncement on their worth. There’s a REASON I chose not to listen to them, though: I think their music sucks.

So, here’s what I didn’t think sucked in 2009:

10-God Dethroned: Passiondale

When Metalheads God Dethroned released ‘Passiondale’, a hard-core musical retelling of the Battle of Passchendaele during World War I (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passchendaele), the album immediately blew me away. As a genre, Heavy Metal (and its ridiculous legion of sub-genres) has always been able to rely on the topic of war for thematic material for songs.

But to craft an entire album around war in general let alone a single battle in particular is both ambitious and risky. God Dethroned took a huge gamble and it paid off: ‘Passiondale’ is, arguably, their best album yet.

God Dethroned: Passiondale

Metal Blade

Steve’s Rating: 10/10

09-Russian Circles: Geneva

‘Geneva’ is the third album from Instrumental Metal virtuosos Russian Circles. The lack of vocals on work by Russian Circles is their greatest asset: unhindered by a singer the music is predominant, unhindered by the limitations of a human voice.

The result is nearly a full hour of some of the most spectacular rock music that you’re likely to hear. Russian Circles’ previous two releases ‘Enter’ and ‘Station’ are just as good, and I recommend not only this album but their entire catalogue to you.

Russian Circles: Geneva

Suicide Squeeze

Steve’s Rating: 10/10

08-The Prodigy: Invaders Must Die

The Prodigy helped define Big Beat Electronic music. They continue to redefine the sound while reinventing the genre on ‘Invaders Must Die’, their fifth album since 1992. This one is, like most of The Prodigy’s work, highly addictive and entertaining.

This is vibrant, dynamic music that demands to be played loud, over and over again, relentlessly.

The Prodigy: Invaders Must Die

R. E. D. Distribution

Steve’s Rating: 10/10

07-Kasabian: West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

Brimming with vibrant energy and no-holds-barred rock sensibilities, with power riffs and poetic lyrics, ‘West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum’, Kasabian’s third album puts lay to the Sophomore Curse that plagued them on ‘Empire’ and recapture and surpass the greatness of their self-titled debut.

These British rockers have finally learned to properly integrate the obligatory Rock ballads that previously hindered their work. Now the album is smooth and seamless, their fast-paced Rock standards now tempered by the down-tempo ballads on the disc.

Kasabian: West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

Red Ink

Steve’s Rating: 10/10

06-The Black Crowes: Before the Frost…Until the Freeze

The Black Crowes have been putting out amazing Blues-driven Rock for nearly twenty years. Their latest album was released in two parts: ‘Before the Frost’, the physical album available from stores and online retailers, and ‘Until the Freeze’, a free download available (in theory) only to those who purchased the album.

Both sets were recorded in front of a live audience at the Barn, in upstate New York. Typically fun and carefree with intense Blues guitar work and Chris Robinson’s distinctive vocals. The Black Crowes are in fine form on ‘Before the Frost…Until the Freeze’ and the twenty tracks on the two sets are among their best.

The Black Crowes: Before the Frost…Until the Freeze

R. E. D. Distribution

Steve’s Rating: 10/10

05-Our Lady Peace: Burn Burn

Our Lady Peace disappointed with 2005’s ‘Healthy in Paranoid Times’. But their latest album, ‘Burn Burn’ puts them back on top. An unequivocal return to form, ‘Burn Burn’ is lead singer Raine Maida’s love child; it is the first Our Lady Peace album not to feature an outside producer. The songs were all written and produced by Raine Maida, and recorded at Maida’s Los Angeles home studio.

The result is one of Our Lady Peace’s best albums, albeit one with a very short running time. The music here is raw, honest, contemplative and definitive of what made Our Lady Peace the band they are.

Our Lady Peace: Burn Burn

Sony

Steve’s Rating: 10/10

04-Alice in Chains: Black Gives Way to Blue

Very few bands can survive both initial breakup and the death of their lead singer, especially after establishing a long musical pedigree. Alice in Chains (unofficially) broke up in 1996, and lost Layne Staley when he succumbed to years of drug abuse, in 2002.

However, the surviving members of Alice in Chains decided to give it a go in 2005, hiring veteran musician and singer William DuVall. ‘Black Gives Way to Blue’, the band’s first album in 14 years was a stunning release. The album received critical acclaim and wowed the fans, selling over 126 000 copies in its first week of release.

A perfect resurrection of an iconic band, ‘Black Gives Way to Blue’ is an exceptional album from an indomitable band.

Alice in Chains: Black Gives Way to Blue

Virgin

Steve’s Rating: 10/10

03-Amazing Baby: Rewild 10/10

The New York music scene has been reinvigorated over the last few years. Innovative, original bands like Interpol, MGMT, The Strokes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have breathed fresh life into the Capital of avant-garde American pop music.

One of the most surprising additions to the pantheon of great New York Scene musicians came in the form of Amazing Baby. Their debut album, ‘Rewild’ dropped at the beginning of summer, just in time for the band to hit the festival circuit. I caught them at Montreal’s Osheaga festival and was blown away, already a fan from having heard the CD earlier in the year.

‘Rewild’ generates a cosmopolitan feel that harkens back to the early days of the New York Scene, when Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground were kings. Yet despite their retro sound, however, Amazing Baby is highly original and very musically relevant. ‘Rewild’ is essential listening.

Amazing Baby: Rewild

Shangri-La Records

Steve’s Rating: 10/10

02-The Slew: 100% 10/10

Combining Blues-driven Acid Rock with Hip-Hop rhythms, sampling and dubbing, DJ Kid Koala unleashed ‘100%’, a masterful, powerful, original album. The album works on multiple levels, from social commentary to just something to grind to.

I feel a certain level of pride knowing that Kid Koala is a Montrealer. His work on ‘100%’ is among his best. The music is dangerously addictive, haunting and entertaining. Even if you aren’t a fan of Hip-Hop, this album is memorable and worthy of praise and ears.

The Slew: 100%

Puget Sound Recordings

Steve’s Rating 11/10

01-The Decemberists: The Hazards of Love 10/10

Beyond any doubt, the Decemberists deserve the laurels for their fifth studio album, ‘The Hazards of Love’. It is an epic story-song cycle, telling the tale of Margaret and her shape-shifting lover, William, his mother the Forest Queen and The Rake, a murderous, lustful demon lord.

Following traditional Celtic Folk-Rock roots and structured into a very old-school Rock Opera format, ‘The Hazards of Love’ presents us with an audible feast of tale-spinning, harkening back to a time when minstrels and bards would travel the countryside, telling tales and singing songs and creating the roots of our common folklore. The language used on the disc is downright Shakespearean, showing the sort of love and respect for the English language that is sorely lacking in modern Pop culture.

‘The Hazards of Love’ is a masterpiece, unquestionably The Decemberists’ best. This album should be turned into a TRUE Rock Opera, either performed as a Broadway-style stage musical or as a musical motion picture. I would only hope for other performers than the Decemberists to lend their vocal talents to this one; having caught ‘The Hazards of Love’ live at Osheaga, I was less than impressed; Colin Meloy and Becky Stark’s idea of stage presence seems to be just being present onstage, and it is, far and away, the absolute best of 2009

The Decemberists: Hazards of Love

Capitol

Steve’s Rating: 10/10

—

You MIGHT have slept with Tiger Woods if...

2009-12-11T23:50:00.002-05:00

-You wake up naked in a sand trap and $50 in cab fare is under a Titelist

-Right as he's about to cum, the guy fucking you yells "FORE!"

-He asks you to keep your fairway mowed

-His condoms have the "Swoosh" logo printed on them

-His bed is shaped like a golf cart

-His fantasy threesome is with Jack Nicklaus and Fred Couples and has nothing to do with sex

-He calls premature ejaculation "playing through"

-He asks you if you're into "Water hazards"

-In his Craigslist add he describes his penis as "A par-12 with a slight dog-leg to the right"

-He refers to anal sex as "playing the back 9"

6 CHAPTER PREVIEW OF THROUGH DARKNESS AND STARS

2009-12-01T22:55:00.000-05:00

FREE 6 CHAPTER PREVIEW OF THROUGH DARKNESS AND STARS

Ahead of the 2010 launch of the full eBook, I am pleased to offer you the first 6 chapters (and prologue) of Through Darkness and Stars, the exciting followup to The Unearthing!

An ancient Ship completing a millions-year old mission has taken Human passengers and crew on an historic voyage to the heart of an ancient cosmic dynasty.

But despite their extensive training, no one aboard the Shipflight is prepared for what they find, as they search for the Great Races of the lost League of Worlds.

When catastrophe forces Shipflight onward, unable to return to Earth, they set out to discover what happened to those who passed through the cosmos before them.

What awaits them beyond the world that Mankind has always called home is a growing madness aboard the Ship, and a lost enemy, stalking them as they travel through darkness and stars...

DOWNLOAD YOUR 6 CHAPTER PREVIEW COPY NOW!

Haven't read The Unearthing yet?

DOWNLOAD IT HERE FOR FREE!

Through Darkness and Stars Launches Tomorrow

2009-11-30T22:32:00.004-05:00

Watch this space tomorrow for the launch of the free 6 chapter preview of Through Darkness and Stars!

Delayed Releases

2009-11-15T18:15:00.004-05:00

So October was supposed to see me launch a couple of things. First, the promised preview of Through Darkness and Stars, the second novel of The Omniverse Series, which was launched when I published The Unearthing, back in 2006.

Second, I had hoped to complete work on my next eBook, Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind.

Unfortunately, neither project is ready to launch. Nevermind is taking longer than expected to put together and format, and I was so engrossed in the work on that one that I never got around to compiling the aforementioned Through Darkness and Stars.

Here we are, mid-November and I've decided to put Nevermind back on hold for a while, so I can get Darkness out to you, dear readers, sooner rather than later.

I still hope to launch the Nevermind eBook before the end of the year, and Darkness by mid 2010.

Your patience will be rewarded, I promise!

2009-11-10T23:27:00.002-05:00

Though I am loath to endorse any hyperlink that leads back to the dreadfully awful Montreal Gazette, the following story is both important and uplifting to anyone who believes that all Quebecers should have the same full, and equal, rights under the law. This should encourage anyone who believes in freedom of expression, of multiculturalism, and most of all, of courage in the face of overwhelming (albeit utterly discredited) opposition and even violence.

I reprint it here, without permission, solely to ensure that in the likely event the Gazette caves to pressure from a "special" interest group comprised of a goon squad of separatist racists.

One woman against the anti-Royal mobBy David Johnston, The Gazette

Photograph by: John Mahoney, The Gazette

She was a single lone woman up against a noisy nationalist mob tonight outside of the Black Watch armory on Bleury St., in the hour before Prince Charles arrived with Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.

As the bright lights of national television created an something of a chilling aura around the 150 slogan-chanting Quebec nationalists, a small determined woman named Suzanne Reny walked up to the front lines of the protest and told them they were all a disgrace.

Speaking in fluent French and English, and carrying a well-known Scottish flag, the Rampant Lion, this petite daughter of a retired Canadian air-force pilot, and husband of a man of Scottish orgin, tore a strip off the protestors in front of a dozen cameras.

She called them ignorant and stupid, and she called them other things that can’t be printed – and the protestors were taken aback at first, until one man pushed her, prompting other protestors to intervene on behalf of her.

“If they are allowed to have their way in public, then I am allowed to have my say in public, too,” said Reny, the daughter of a father from the Beauce region and a mother from Trois-Rivières.

“If they are going to come here as a gang and say ‘We’re the Jeunes Patriotes’ and all that stuff and ‘we represent Quebec,’ well, I’m here to say they don’t represent Quebec,” said Reny.

Royal-family lovers who had come to stand outside the armory in the hope of greeting the royal couple looked on in amazement as Reny took on all comers and stood her ground in the glare of TV lights against the intimidating mob.

“Am I afraid? No way!” said Reny, who grew up in Lachine, LaSalle and Dollard des Ormeaux.

One of the protestors, a red-haired francophone woman named Danielle Fortin who said she was “a quarter” Irish and who was carrying an Irish flag, said to Reny, “Whose the real minority here? Don’t you know your history?”

Reny shot back, “Where did you learn your history? At the University of the St. Jean Baptiste Society?”

The louder Reny shouted the protestors down, the more the protestors in the background craned their necks to get a look at this woman who had come to stand them down. She was a one-woman counter-demonstration, and the royal couple’s and Black Watch’s strongest defender.

Coming Soon: A 6 Chapter Preview!

2009-10-22T23:11:00.004-04:00

An ancient Ship completing a millions-year old mission has taken Human passengers and crew on an historic voyage to the heart of an ancient cosmic dynasty.

But despite their extensive training, no one aboard the Shipflight is prepared for what they find, as they search for the Great Races of the lost League of Worlds.

When catastrophe forces Shipflight onward, unable to return to Earth, they set out to discover what happened to those who passed through the cosmos before them.

What awaits them beyond the world that Mankind has always called home is a growing madness aboard the Ship, and a lost enemy, stalking them as they travel through darkness and stars...

Through Darkness and Stars
Part Two of Steve Karmazenuk's Omniverse

FREE 6-CHAPTER PREVIEW COMING SOON

FULL DOWNLOADABLE EBOOK COMING IN 2010

Back on Track

2009-10-09T12:08:00.004-04:00

So I got my computer back on Monday, only to find that the promised backup of all my data that was to have been done before the nitwits at Furture Shop reformatted and reinstalled everything on my computer wasn't done.

What limited bakcups I had did not cover everything I had, and it looked as though I had lost all my photos, two novels and everything I've ever written for CONFRONT Magazine. Needless to say I wasn't impressed.

It took me complaining to two different managers and telling customers coming to the repair counter at Future Shop to take their computers elsewhere - and why - before they agreed to do anything to help me.

Finally after an hour-long pissing contest with the idiots in charge of computer repairs at Future Shop before they finally acquiesced and did a data recovery - for free, and in under two hours - of the files I lost.

I recovered everything, thank God.

So, moving on.

This week I finished writing the seventh chapter of the third book of The Omniverse, 'The Aeons War' and last night I hit a wall while trying to start chapter eight. Well, I hit a couple of walls. I don't like the flow of chapter six (which relates directly to chapter eight) so I'll be going back and giving it a rewrite before going forward with chapter eight.

However, 'Aeons War' has been taking most of my writing attention of late, and I am trying to get another e-book out before the end of the ear, namely 'Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind'. So, I'm going to take a break from one to work on the other. I've discovered I've got a little bit of a rewrite to do on certain chapters of 'Nevermind', and so I'm going to start working on that for a while.

What about 'Through Darkness and Stars', you ask? I know a lot of you have read 'The Unearthing' and are anxious for the follow-up. As I've said, I am waiting on some legal work related to The Omniverse and specifically to 'Darkness' to work through; once it's done, I will be launching 'Darkness'. However, before the end of the month I promise to release a preview chapter or two, which you will be able to link to from the link bar on the left.

That's it for now--right now I've got places to go, things to see and people to do, so I'll post again soon.

Still Being Screwed By Life

2009-10-03T21:38:00.002-04:00

The first thing you'll notice is there's no K-rune picture embedded in this post. That's because my computer is currently at Future Shop, where the creme de la creme of Montreal's retail computer technicians have been mucking about and not returning my phone calls for three days. What should have been a simple rootkit removal has turned into a complete electronic sodomization of my computer as they have to reformat and reinstall everything.

Now, owing to the less than stellar customer service they've provided thusfar (in what, 4 days ago, was to have been a 24 hour turnaround) I'm half-expecting to lose all my stored music, images, valuable, valuable pornography, archived emails and other precious electronic resources.

Before you chip-heads bother to mention it: THANK you, I know I should have backed everything up. Didn't happen. I was able to back up my writing files before this cluster-fuck started, but that's it.

Needless to say I've not done much writing work since my last post (the computer went tits-up the day after) and I have rather restricted access to the computer I'm using now.

When and if things ever get back to what apparently passes for normal in my life, and I will let you know.

Stay tuned.

Life Continues its Pesky Interruptions

2009-09-25T19:01:00.007-04:00

So despite my hopes, I'm not yet back on schedule.

The crap and chaos of the last couple of weeks continues, apparently unabated despite everything being done to prevent it.

Those who follow my Tweets above know that thanks to the psychotic imbecile in the basement apartment--who incessantly hoards junk--the entire building was infested with bedbugs.

We were given two days to prep for the fumigation. Two days, in which we had to wash absolutely every scrap of clothing, bedding, towels and fabric in super-hot water, hot-dry and then then seal everything into plastic bags, move all the furniture away from all the walls.

Not to mention that this damnable fumigation cost me the opportunity to visit with some dear, old friends who were premiering their first film, the documentary Shwatarded at the Toronto International Film Festival. Needless to say the junk-hoarding schizoid in my basement is now at the top of my shit list.

On the day of the fumigation, Angel had to pack off to a hotel for 24 hours, I had to evacuate the cats into the pouring rain then waiting 4 hours before it was safe for me to go back in and put everything back together again.

After the fumigation and a much-needed day of rest, I managed to finish the transcript of my conversation with Will and Simon from Amazing Baby, for CONFRONT Magazine as well as my usual weekly music review. I've had no time to work on the "Nevermind" ebook, or anything else since. I'm hoping to get to the cafe tomorrow, but that will depend on a few other factors.

However, the fumigation story is far from over, as we've just been notified that they have to come back in two weeks to fumigate again, because there are at LEAST two apartments that still have bedbugs, including the bastard in the basement, who apparently had (presumably still has) a considerably large colony of the things living in his soiled mattress.

That vulgar little outrage aside, things have been going great. Once this asinine shit is dealt with, maybe I'll be able to get back to my life.

Either way, I'll keep you all posted.

Life Interrupts Again

2009-09-22T22:16:00.004-04:00

A chain of avoidable and wholly unforeseen circumstances has seen me having to put all current writing projects on hold.

With a brief respite tomorrow only from the chaos that is currently at the heart of this maelstrom, it looks like things will only begin to return to normal this Friday.

I might try to sneak in some writing tomorrow, but right now I just need some rest and recuperation.

I hope to be back on schedule before the end of next week.

I will keep you posted in any case.

Word verifications go too far

2009-09-15T15:53:00.000-04:00

You know those damn word verification jpegs you have to read and write out in order to prove to some message boards you're not a bot? They've gotten really fucking ridiculous now:

Gender Biais in MS Word

2009-09-09T14:49:00.002-04:00

So, one of the characters in "The Aeons War" is spoken about in the third person, capitalized--such as in the Bible, when they talk about Jesus, they always refer to Him instead of him, His work instead of his work, etc.

The thing is, according to MS Word you can only write that way about men. Whenever I make reference in the third person, capitalized for the character in question (who happens to be a woman) MS Word returns an error underline; apparently it feels that it is incorrect to ever refer to a woman as Her instead of her, She instead of she.

I've disabled the insipid auto-correct, but the scraggly green line insistently pops up under every instance of a capitalized third person gender feminine word. Most annoying; thought I would share.

Coming Soon...

2009-09-07T18:07:00.003-04:00

10 days later...

2009-08-31T21:37:00.002-04:00

Just a quick update: I am prepping "Nevermind" for relaunch. Right now I'm prepping the blogger page for the novel, planning ahead for hosting the PDF of the whole novel and rediscovering some of the music and artists I listened to while writing the novel.

It's shocking to think that it's been nearly 20 years since I was at John Abbott College...nearly 20 years since I started hanging out in the Oval Coffee House, listening to the rantings and ravings of drug-addled, burn-out English and Philosophy teachers...20 years since the first slow-sprouting seeds of "Nevermind" were planted in the soil of my imagination.

Whoa, that last line was pretentious...

Anyway, things are moving forward and I expect the ebook launch to take place very soon.

411

2009-08-21T00:23:00.003-04:00

What's new:

It's been two very extensive weeks...dead pets and workplace drama abound...

In writing news:

The Nevermind screenplay appears to be on indefinite hold, therefore the re-edited and formatted will soon appear for the first time anywhere as a complete ebook, before 2010. Look for it here and elsewhere, including its default home at Phyte. After all, they're the ones that hosted it first, etc.

Likewise, when he gets back from vacation I'll be inquiring about re-hosting Crossroads with the original host.

Through Darkness and Stars looks slated for a winter launch; I'm waiting on some legal stuff to clear first. Nevermind might just beat it out the gate.

Other stuff still too nebulous to mention other than to say they are there. The rest of the Omniverse seems intent on birthing itself.

More to come...

Strangeness Abounds...

2009-08-06T23:24:00.003-04:00

Apropos of nothing, I received the following text (translated from Japanese into English thanks to the Babelfish) in an email:

Our 们为. 您 stopping. Offering/accompanying 网. 络 Most 广. 泛运 Business 强. 势广. Announcement throwing. 递 clothes. 务! 专. 业互联网电. Child 广. Announcement trust. 函无尘 desk. The room it is pleasant. The sending, it is pleasant. Fast model/imitation. Formula (每 10 days 发. Sending 50,000,000 seal) 标. Associate model/imitation. Formula (每. Month 发. Sending 50,000,000 seal) Before. Period associate. 备您 Merely. Demand 拟. Fixed contents, 确. Stand 醒 eye 标. 题 Fixed. Manuscript empress stand. Carving/moment 开 it begins, throwing. Releasing, same. Sending. Same. 达. Germany. House 邮. Mark dice. Collection skill. 术 Finishing. All fixed. Direction throwing. 递 Spirit. Associate degree 极. High. 更. Multi 详. Feeling giving amount. 类价. Case 请 going/participating.
010-5126. - 8243 137.168.98811 2009-08-0711: 10: 07

Sage advice

2009-07-21T03:19:00.003-04:00

http://artfulwriter.com/?p=29

I'll let the link speak for itself; I agree wholeheartedly with the author.

The New Look (Still under renovation)

2009-07-14T19:38:00.004-04:00

I am pleased to introduce the new Kspace Universe website.

I have created a link to The Omniverse, the series launched in 2006 with The Unearthing. From the left-hand column, you will be able to link to the free download site for that book, as well as its forthcoming follow-up novel, Through Darkness and Stars.

The next phase of operations will see the inclusion in the left column of a link list to all the articles I've written for CONFRONT Magazine, as well as other writing that I've done.

When it's ready, you'll also be able to find a link to the forthcoming full ebook of Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind, as well as news on the project to turn that into a movie.

The right column right now features feed links and blog search, and I will shortly be including links to sites, people and things I find interesting. The right column will also have other features, to be added later on.

While this will continue to be my primary writing weblog, I will be devoting The Omniverse blog to writing about that series, so be sure to subscribe to both or check back often.

As to the Chronicles of an Independent Author, well, I have come to realize that this blog is that chronicle, even when I'm not blogging about writing. The Chronicles may not live on in a formalized format, but they are here, in the blog archive, and with every new post I write.

A change is coming...

2009-07-13T12:28:00.001-04:00

As you can see, things are beginning to shift...change is coming to this blog...

The RRQ FAIL!

2009-07-02T01:30:00.004-04:00

I got my Canada Day present a little late:

From Le Soleil. English commentary by Moi.

Une vingtaine de manifestants du Réseau de résistance du Québécois (RRQ) et du Mouvement de libération nationale du Québec (MLNQ) ont présenté leur butin de drapeaux canadiens (150 petits et une dizaine de grands) aux médias mercredi midi, devant le Musée des beaux-arts.

Well, that's a lot less than the 2000 flags that our friends in the RRQ claimed! I assume that they didn't bother to take their shoes and socks off before they started counting.

Ces drapeaux, «pas achetés, pas donnés, mais qui ont été pris», seront retournés au gouvernement fédéral.

Good news for Canada! Not only will they now have two hundred flags to recycle and/or reuse, but as the flags were, by the admission of the RRQ STOLEN.

This means three things:

(1) The Canadian environment will benefit from less pollution as these flags are reintroduced into the Canadian industry, in one form or another.

(2) As they have now admitted to having committed acts of vandalism and theft, these RRQ members are now all guilty of criminal acts! We can therefore file police reports against them, and take legal civil action against them on behalf of the victims of these acts of vandalism and theft. Canada benefits once again, when they are jailed and/or fined for their actions.

(3) The Canadian flag industry will now have that many more orders to fill for Canadian flags. From manufacture to distribution, to wholesale and onto retail, all levels of the Canadian and World economies (given most of our flags are made in China) will now benefit!

Keep it up, brave men and boys of the RRQ! You're doing Canada proud!

Summertime News

2009-06-28T23:20:00.002-04:00

Well, I've done it again, haven't I? Not updated in a number of weeks, been preoccupied with other matters, forgotten about this blog...

I only have myself to blame for the minimal readership, I suppose, given that I don't keep this blog as faithfully as I used to--nor do I keep it nearly as faithfully as it deserves. Such is life...

Ironically, I've been contemplating updating this blog for about two weeks now...kept putting it off...I blame it all on StumbleUpon: my productivity has plummeted since installing that one. Well, that and highly addictive Flash games...

In any event, this weblog post is the first actual writing-related work of any kind that I've managed to do this past weekend; lately I can't seem to focus much on writing. As I'm on holiday for the next little while, I'm hoping to change that around...hopefully even get out to the cafe a few times more often than normal.

But, onto writing related projects, I've been in touch with my partner for the Nevermind screenplay project, and that is coming along well.

Likewise, I've been checking around, and much to my delight and surprise, there are several new websites distributing The Unearthing, and the downloads now are up around the 10 000 mark from the various points of distribution all combined.

Given the continuing popularity of ebooks, and the number of smartphones, ebook readers and other quaint gadgets coming out almost weekly, it looks like ebooks are gaining in popularity. Despite the elitists who still sneer at the idea of ebooks and epublishing, I've had far more success as an e-novellist than I ever did in print publishing.

To that end, I've decided that the follow-up novel to The Unearthing will be published solely as an ebook. I've got a few things to do before I'm ready to distribute it; some legal, some technical and a whole lot of promotional, but I do intend to release it electronically before the end of the year.

I have a couple of other projects up on deck once more, and there's also my ongoing work with CONFRONT Magazine, and a few other surprises in store.

I promise, I'll update again sooner.

Screenplay Status

2009-05-29T01:36:00.003-04:00

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it?

I promise, I've been busy.

This week I completed work on the first draft of the beat sheet for the Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind screenplay and delivered it to my producer.

As to my other writing projects, I have decided it is best to see how things play out with the screenplay before turning my focus onto anything else. It is a simple, unfortunate truth that between my job, my commitment to CONFRONT Magazine and life, itself, I just don't have time, energy or the capacity to focus very well on multiple projects; at least, not at this juncture.

I'm exploring options that may eventually lead to me being able to write professionally full time, but that is still very, very much up in the air.

I continue to be amazed at this journey. Nothing ever goes as expected, and the things that do happen are wholly surprising. But, I'm beginning to ramble, now, so time to cut it short.

My Vault in Limbo

2009-05-05T01:28:00.003-04:00

Limbo is neither a graveyard nor a gaol. It is a place of waiting. In Christian myth, Limbo is where the souls of the unbaptized babies go. Tainted by Original Sin, the sin of desiring knowledge of Good and Evil, yet innocent of actual transgression, these creatures are not pure enough to enter God’s presence, nor tainted enough to be exiled in Hell.

Where am I going with this, you may wonder.

I believe Limbo, as described above perfectly describes the condition of all the stories, either lost or incomplete, from all the storytellers, poets, bards, minstrels, writers and dreamers of the world. Each storyteller has a vault there, where we each keep our own lost and abandoned tales.

Throughout our lives we continue to fill this vault. Sometimes, we withdraw stories from within, bring them to life anew or reinvent them. More often than not, we consign stories to this place, and leave them here.

But I don’t believe anyone ever forgets a story that they send here.

Whenever I send a project here, I take the time to go through the inventory of my vault in Limbo. Everything I ever wrote is here. The high flying adventures of Captain Jock Stone and the crew of his best friend’s spaceship; the story of mutated children of a government experiment escaping and evolving into something else; the man who steals a time machine in an attempt to change his destiny; the tortured, unromantic life of street-urchin vampires. They were among the first residents of my vault. They came here in the decade between my thirteenth and twenty-third birthdays, and more and more have joined their ranks in the decade and a half since.

Three and a half years of poor sales have seen my publishers decide to pull “The Unearthing” from production. That means that the other four volumes of the story, “Through Darkness and Stars”, “The Aeons War”, “The Destroyer of Worlds” and “Artifacts of Forgotten Gods” have been shipped there, as well.

I was certain that the “Nevermind” screenplay would soon be counted among the residents of this vault. I was so convinced, in fact, that I had begun my grim tour of its contents. Several weeks had passed, during which time I heard nothing from the filmmaker to whom “Nevermind” was to have been optioned. Like so much of my work since I was laid off from my old job in 2006, I found that the project was running out of steam: self-doubt eclipsed my ability to write; anxiety and worry usurped my imagination. I couldn’t maintain my writing.

Likewise, my work with CONFRONT Magazine and my ongoing work with Anglo rights groups in Quebec began taking up more and more of my free time. I wasn’t sleeping properly (no surprise there) and I was continually exhausted at and by my job.

Since 2006, several projects have gone into my vault: a fiction piece about the events leading up to and the aftermath of a school shooting; a retelling of the Frankenstein’s Monster story; the constantly-promised revival of “Crossroads”, which keeps rolling over and going back into hibernation after every unsuccessful attempt to revive it; a story about a daughter who seduces her father, just to see if she can; a “ghost ship” story set in space; a military coup d’etat in the United States; a spy story about a plot to bankrupt Cuba, and several others that never made it past page One.

Never in my life have I gone through the kind of creative agony that I faced from 2006 to 2008. Five months in, I have to admit that 2009 hasn’t been much easier. I had plans to publish two novels; I was supposed to have had one or both of them ready to go, by now. Unfortunately, “Through Darkness and Stars” is on indefinite hold (though I hope to revive it as an ebook) and “Nevermind” got side-tracked into the aforementioned screenplay project.

The best laid plans of mice and men...

However, this past week I heard back from my filmmaker partner-to-be. We have settled on a draft agreement for the option to produce “Nevermind”, and I am back at work on the project, crafting a beat sheet while continuing to peck away at the screenplay. I’m still keeping a light load with CONFRONT so I can concentrate on the script, and if things go well, I’ll hopefully be done with it before the fall.

I will continue to post my regular, if intermittent, updates to this weblog, Twitter and elsewhere. Best thing would be for you, readers, to subscribe to the RSS feed; that’s your best tool, I think, to keep track of those updates.

Until next time!

Language War

2009-04-21T21:16:00.003-04:00

Please, everyone, take the time to read the vulgar interview on page 7 of today's journal Métro - the free daily.

It is with Michel Brulé, who has written--and published--a hateful book, an anti-English diatribe that is nothing short of hate speech.

By definition, hate speech is anything that incites discrimination or violence against anyone on the basis of their race, gender, sex, sexual orientation or religious or political affiliation.

I believe that definition includes language, culture, history and heritage. These are the things that are now at stake for the anglo communities of Quebec. We must stand united.

His book is the definition of hate speech. It is there, in black and white. We MUST challenge this book, it's author and it's publishers. We must boycott anyone who sells this thing, we must boycott anyone who advertises it or who allocates this swine any license to spread his hate.

He is an avowed "Enemy of English" and he considers himself to be "At WAR" against the English. This man is an obviously deranged and hate-filled individual, and a danger to our community's survival.

This will also test the resolve of the Canadian government. If they let this kind of sewage stand, they are in fact condoning our continued ethnic cleansing by attrition.

War has been declared on us. As they want to spread propaganda and lies akin to the anti-Jewish books, leaflets and beer-hall speeches of Germany in the 1920s, we must use the same media, internet, cable television, print, radio, celebrity, etc to spread the simple truth of our peoples, our histories, our heritage and our plight.

Here is the link to the fucking story:

http://www.journalmetro.com/linfo/article/216309--michel-brule-celui-qui-a-l-anglais-comme-ennemi

We must stop this.

We are out of time.

A message to the Anglo Community

2009-03-31T02:09:00.003-04:00

Friends,

Right now, I should be doing one of two things.

One, I should be working on a certain screenplay, because I am in negotiations to option it to a producer.

Two, I should be getting some sleep, because I have work in a few scant hours.

Instead, I am doing something out of a sense of civic duty. It is an unwholesome feeling and I cannot recommend against it enough.

There are some among us, including myself, who have recently been banished as fringe elements, from the ranks and privileges of the Facebook group of the Liberal Party of Canada.

Our expulsion was due for many reasons. These included posting the simple facts as seen from the front line on Quebec’s War on Anglos. This underreported and ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing by attrition has continued to be ignored by the Liberal Party. They have ignored us and they have denied us, by silencing the voices raised in dissent of that Official Party Line.

Sit back and contemplate that Machiavellian concept a moment, then we shall continue.

The Liberals have long since become our alleged last best hope. But let us face the truth: neither in the ranks of the Provincial nor the Federal Liberals are there any Anglophone Quebecers to be seen nor heard. If they are there, they are silent, token chair moisteners for the most cynical of reasons. Beyond these harem castratos, we have no voice in government.

Nor have we any true presence of note in Federal or Provincial civil service, though we do come close with a few Ottawa transplants living in the City Formerly Known as Hull.

The death of Hull for the rise of Gatineau is one of the most flagrant examples of the cultural erasure of the Anglophone Communities of Quebec. Our schools, our churches, our temples have been closed. Our municipal services have dried up, and good luck finding much English text at the UQAM Library. Oh, it may be available, but it’s certainly not available to nous, les autres. We would be auslander—I’m sorry, I meant l’etranger, and not in any Bohemian Paris Anais Nin kind of way.

How many of our neighbourhoods have buildings where our parents and grandparents once went to school, where they played, where they grew up and fell in love, buildings that are closed to us and our children? How many of these buildings still retain any benefit to our community? Sun Youth, to be sure, but who else? How many of us have alma maters that no longer exist? How many of our schools have been erased? How many of us didn’t even get to graduate from one school because it was closed and we were shipped off to another school?

After the 1995 referendum, how many of our hospitals were closed in unnecessary reprisal cuts? What is often never said about the goddamn health care crisis in Quebec is that it was Parizeau, Landry, Marois and Harel who created the crisis to begin with, laying off nurses, forcing doctors to retire or move out of province and closing scores of hospitals.

And let us not forget Louise Harel’s language Gestapo, what she turned the Office de la Langue Francaise into, that saw attacks on Greek, Jewish and Chinese businesses in their respective communities. The response from our so called community was pathetic, at best: a bunch of mumbling passive aggressive yuppies banded together to strut and fret their hour for the camera and sound-bites on CJAD.

What we need, ladies and gentlemen, is true leadership. Not the blunt aggressiveness of Howard Galganov, and certainly not the passive aggressive smile-for-the-camera-boys photo op of Alliance Quebec.

What we need is to unite our diverse communities, Black, Jewish, Muslim, Italian, Mohawk, Innu, Greek, Asian, Catholic, Protestant, Irish, Scot, English, Polish, Ukrainian, Hindu, Sikh, and all those I have failed to mention, to get each and every English-speaking natural-born and immigrant citizen of Quebec, starting in Montreal and growing outwards to all our community strongholds, and join together to speak—and vote—with one voice.

We need to do this with plain talk about hard facts. We need to do this by putting truth to the lies told to cover up our ongoing deletion. Oppressed minorities the world over have only ever garnered sympathy or attention when they united, when the cried out with one voice. Even as our heritage, cultures, histories and communities continue to be eroded by the Franco-supremacist laws and attitudes, there are groups who compare the Francophone Quebecer to the Tibetans and the Chechens, even to the Palestinians and Darfur.

Not only is that attitude insulting to the Anglophones of Quebec given the scourging of the last 40 years, but it is extremely offensive to the Tibetan, Palestinian, Chechen and Darfur refugees, and all those who have suffered under such brutal oppression.

In no way can we compare ourselves to these communities, either. However, in no way are we the best-treated minority in the world, as the Separatists like to claim. What outreach to the English-speaking Quebecers have the Francophone communities ever made? What outreach from either successive Liberal or Pequiste governments have we been offered? We have been wholeheartedly rejected by the Power Elite in Quebec.

Likewise, what has been offered us from Canada? What have the Federal Liberals done for us? The last constitutional crisis in Canada was set off by the ineptitude of the Conservatives under the flailing Lyin’ Brian Mulroney. His disastrous and patently absurd Meech Lake accords were the genesis of the Bloc Quebecois, who broke away from the Tories.

It is time we united our communities and did the same. We will offer the hand of friendship to those in Francophone Quebec who offer it. We will likewise do the same for those from the so-called Rest of Canada who do the same. But it is time to rebuke those who have rejected and denied us. It is time to stand up against all those who have failed us in Ottawa and in Quebec City.

We must unite our communities under the banner of our own political party, both Provincial and Federal. We must strive to take enough votes away from the other parties to ensure that no majority government can be formed, and that our so-called “traditional allies” in Parliament and Provincial Assembly cannot hope to form a coalition without us.

Our democratic rights have been stolen from us. We must therefore seize them back, and the best way to return democratic force to our communities is to elect enough representatives to office to ensure our voice is heard and our rights and heritage protected.

All it took to defeat Meech Lake were a handful of no votes. That’s all that kept the separatists from stealing the referendum in 1995. Let us make our voices be heard, again.

But how? Oh, I have read that phrase in all its splendid forms these last several hours, as I read group messages and message board threads, wall posts and weblogs. Thou fools, you cannot see the forest for the trees!

We have Facebook groups. We have weblogs. We have message boards, we have email. We have Google, Wikipedia, we have radio-bloody-phone-in shows, newspapers, spraypaint and blank walls, printers, faxes, stores and shops, schools and churches, and yet you all scratch your heads and wonder how to do it?

We are the voices of our community! Join Montreal Hellenic Society Facebook groups. Join Montreal Jewish Facebook groups. Join the Asian groups, the Black groups, the Queer groups and every other goddamn English-speaking Montreal or Quebec-oriented internetz group you can fucking find! Talk to people who are ready to speak to their communities! Talk to students at McGill, Concordia, at Bishop’s, at Dawson and Marianapolis, at John Abbott; talk to people at the fucking Fairview Mall parking lot if that’s what it takes!

The price of failure to act is nothing short of our erasure from Quebec culture and history. They’ve already taken away most of our topography. How long before Valleyfield is renamed, or Sherbrooke Street overwritten? How long before another school closes, another friend or family member moves west, or south?

Our communities must unite, and take back what is ours. But it starts with us reaching out to one another. It starts with us.

The long awaited update on everything, well almost.

2009-03-16T00:07:00.004-04:00

So, this was to have been a very busy weekend for me, originally. Certainly, it was to have been a better one.

CONFRONT Magazine was supposed to have a staff meeting / house party, hosted by Angel and me. I would have gone to the Cafe for a day, as usual, to work on and hopefully finish the second act of the screenplay adaptation of Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind. I was also supposed to finish going over the option agreement and draft up a list of my proposed conditions, and I was supposed to finish transcribing my interview recordings with Empire Isis, for CONFRONT Magazine, as well.

Yeah, none of that happened.

At some point in the last seven days, I got infected with a particularly nasty strain of the flu. Since Thursday I've been sick, with Friday and Saturday being particularly hellish. I'm still sick, still not feeling well, still need at least another day's bedrest, but tomorrow I've got to be back at work, at the paying job.

The problem with the paying job right now, is that I'm STILL the only fucking person there who has full knowledge of the general operations software now running our sales and sales finance departments. For the last three months I've come in no matter what, because there's never been time to train anyone else (Christ knows why no one else was trained when I was--that was a colossal error in judgment). Now in all that time, I've thrown my back out three times and alternately I've been progressively sick, sicker and sickest. Still, I've dragged myself in to work. The one time I tried to show initiative and advance the training myself, I was reprimanded for "acting unilaterally". I stayed home one day the last time I was sick and spent most of the day asleep--except for the two times people had to call me because they couldn't figure anything out despite the detailed instructions I had written months ago, as a precaution.

But, I digress.

I've not managed to get anything done this weekend other than cough, sneeze, blow my noze hack up scary looking shit, freeze, be too warm, sleep fitfully and pop cold tablets that did sweet fuck all. The one time I did manage to try and focus on getting work done, I was in too much pain to maintain.

And tomorrow I'm supposed to go in to work?

I need sleep.

More soon...

Say "Good Morning!"

2009-03-12T23:31:00.005-04:00

I will post about the progress with the screenplay this weekend. For now, here is a word from the DAAQ:

Press Release: March 12, 2009

Say Good Morning!

The D.A.A.Q. is encouraging Anglophones province wide, to say "Good Morning!"

Despite the provincial government's continued disregard of Quebec's Anglophone population, and its disposition toward Anglophones as an inconvenience, we will not be saying say "Bonjour" in our communities. It is not our language. Until Quebec society as a whole accepts our equal and inalienable right to not only maintain but to perpetuate our language, our multiple cultures and our shared heritage as part of Quebec, we of the Anglo Community should protest in the most effective way possible: by refusing to use the sole official language of Quebec, except with our own Francophone families, or when professionally necessary. Until we enjoy our full and equal rights under the law we must reject the French-Language Charter. This civil disobedience is the best way to demonstrate our presence, our unity and our demand for our rights.

Despite thirty years of the best efforts of linguistic xenophobia and state-sponsored discrimination, our community will not go quietly into the unending night. Quebec is as much our birthright, our home, as it is our Francophone neighbours. We are as much a part of Quebec society as you. You expect your language, culture and heritage to be respected; respect is a double-edged sword. For generations we have done our utmost to respect you, as our neighbours, as our fellow citizens. It is you who have continually rebuffed us.

As we said, respect is a double-edged sword. We have shown you the utmost respect. You have shown us none. The Anglophone Community must therefore respect ourselves and reject you, until we are accepted as an equal partner in Quebec Society, with all the rights and privileges that the Francophone Community expects for itself.

We have embraced the language of our neighbours, and are overwhelmingly bilingual. In all of Canada, we are the culture with the highest instance of bilingualism. We will not be shamed out of speaking our language. Nor will we be intimidated. We have integrated into Quebec Society, but we will not be assimilated.

We will send our children to English school. We will not allow the government to deny us the right to educate them in the language of their birth. And we will fight, not just for our children, but for the right of all to be educated by the system that will allow them the greatest chance of success.

We will not allow the language we speak to be used to deny us our full rights as citizens of Canada and people of Quebec. Nor will we be made to fear speaking our language publicly. We will defend ourselves against the ethnic cleansing by attrition that has withered our community for far too long. And if Quebec Society refuses to accord us all that is our due as taxpayers and Quebecers, and if the Canadian Government refuses to defend us in the face of such blatant and criminal denial of our rights, then we will shame Quebec, and we will shame Canada to the world; we will denounce our mistreatment before Washington, before the capitals of the European Union, with our trading partners in Asia and the South Pacific. We will expose the bigotry and the state-sponsored ethnic cleansing of Quebec.

To the Nationalist Elite, to the Linguistic Hard-Liners, to our so-called leaders both Provincial and Federal, we will greet you with a happy smile and open heart. But we will greet you by saying “Hello”, or “Good Morning”. We will offer you a “Good Afternoon” and “Good Evening”, but we will not say “Bonjour”. Until now we have shown you all the courtesy you have not shown us. From now until it is reciprocated, we will instead show you all the courtesy that you have shown us. We are open to change, but only once we are met as equals. Until then, “Have a Nice Day.”

DAAQ.International@gmail.com

www.daaq.wordpress.com

Report to the Reader(s)

2009-03-07T01:05:00.005-05:00

So, I should have written this update a week ago, but I've been busy. I'm putting all other projects on hold right now, you see, in order to concentrate on adapting Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind for the screen.

I'm talking with someone about the screenplay...hopefully about to settle the contractual details. As soon as I've something to present, I'll be looking for someone to start hyping the project up (and helping me wade through the various Canadian and Quebec grant applications, and the like. It is my intention to help see the movie made.

Everyone knows I'm a huge sci-fi geek at heart, and to be honest that is what I would like to ultimately do: see a Genre story of mine up on the screen. Not necessarily "The Unearthing"; in fact I'd rather see an entirely different Genre project of mine put onscreen.

I've been having marathon writing sessions at the Cafe, and trying to squeeze in writing every night. Tonight's the first time this week I'm not going to at least scratch out a few lines before bed. I've wanted to update the weblog for quite some time! The only reason I'm managing to get to it now is because I know damn well that tomorrow I'll be gone writing.

However, last week I killed myself wiping out on ice and sluge on Metro stairs. In the process I really, really sprained my ankle...and threw my back out. So, going to work and commuting by bus and metro, most of the time as a Human sardine, I've been in all kinds of pain. Well, I started taking something new for my back (and as I refuse to endorse a pharmaceutical I will not name any brand or chemical name) and that helped almost immediately. Sadly, my ankle, which had had little attention paid to it all week because of my back, has decided to make up for lost time. I'm hobbling.

But the screenplay, in spit of the adversity attending its birth, is coming along well!

AND my favourite pair of sunglasses got fucked up, too.

2009-02-21T13:38:00.004-05:00

I was on my way to the cafe for my usual Saturday afternoon therapy of lattes and writing. I took the long way in, and while on the #55 bus after a nice, long walk I get assaulted by, well for lack of a better means of identifying him, a French-speaking separatist of middle years starts getting pissy with me about the Canadian flag on my backpack. We had words, which mainly consisted of me telling him to mind his own fucking business and him bitching and acting offended as he insulted me.

Getting off at my stop--or should I say attempting to--he blocked the door and started shoving me, grabbing me and trying to land a punch. Then this OTHER fat fuck starts it too. Everyone is yelling--AT ME--telling ME to stop it, when all I'm trying to do is fucking DEFEND MYSELF.

Finally, I get off the bus, half thrown off by this motherfucker.

My coat's stitching is pulled--thank God I have needle and thread in my backpack. But meanwhile, I'm angry as fuck, my face is scratched (Pussy used his nails) and I just can't stop fucking shaking.

It is clear that we are no longer going to be allowed to live in peace in this Province.

Let history show, however, that we did not start this.

Press Release: The Defense Association of Anglophone Quebec Calls for Boycott.

2009-02-14T14:56:00.003-05:00

February 14, 2009

The Defense Association of Anglophone Quebec is calling for an immediate boycott, by it's members and the Anglophone community, of all businesses that place the Quebec Office of The French Language "Ici on commerce en francais" campaign stickers in their storefronts.

"Here we conduct business in French" is a clear statement of contempt for the Anglophone minority, and an attempt by the O.Q.L.F. to continue it's mandate of eliminating the English language and culture from Quebec.

The D.A.A.Q. is calling for an additional boycott of all businesses that advertise in Quebec nationalist newspapers. Such as Le Journal de Montreal and Le Devoir. These newspapers are well known for their support of the ethnic cleansing of Quebec, frequently publishing anti-Anglophone propaganda, and spreading intolerance toward the linguistic minority populations of Quebec.

Businesses that utilize their medium for advertising are as equally guilty of promoting intolerance and hatred toward minorities in Quebec.

The D.A.A.Q. will encourage tourists and visitors from all other provinces and territories, The United States, and around the world not spend their money at establishments that take part in the "Ici on commerce en francais" campaign.

Members of the D.A.A.Q. are encouraged to submit names of companies that are endorsing the O.Q.L.F. campaign. And companies that advertise in nationalist newspapers.

DAAQ.International@gmail.com

www.daaq.wordpress.com

The D.A.A.Q. is a provincial, national, and international association of Anglophone-Quebecers; who strive to achieve equality under the provincial laws of Quebec. As well as have our rights as Canadian Citizens enforced without compromise, or hindrance in the Province of Quebec.

Oh, Lord, finally an update!

2009-02-04T20:30:00.005-05:00

I used to be so much better at this narcissistic confessional medium that is blogging. I'm sorry it's been three weeks or more since I last posted. But not for nothing, because I've been busy. Mainly with CONFRONT Magazine stuff, but yes, Ihave been busy.

In my paying job, I've been supervising the implementation of a new software platform that bridges sales and production databases and generally has a whole mess of useful features. However, I'm the dude that has to train everyone on how to use the platform, which means I'm up to my nut in work, my regular sales traffic manager duties plus the training and prep that I have to do.

In my writing life, I'm similarly testicle-deep in work, albeit of the creative variety. For one, since January I've set up and conducted interviews, reviewed several new music albums and arranged to listen to more, and I'm researching and writing material for one feature-length piece, while transcribing an hour's worth of interviews with up and coming World Pop superstar Empire Isis for the sake of another cover article for the magazine.

Mind you, I'm not complaining. I enjoy my work with the magazine, if only because of the opportunity it affords me to listen to new music for free, attend great shows for free, and most of all, because it allows me to meet so many new and downright fascinating people.

I'm a writer. I think that that's part of the reason I'm such a voyeur. Watching Buffy, I used to identify with the Watchers. Reading any of the penny dreadfuls that' Anne Rice has written, I used to identify with the Talamasca. But writing for the magazine, I've gotten to meet and speak with so many different and interesting artists and musicians, each one opening my eyes a little wider, fascinating me a little more each time. As someone whose writing is usually character-driven, let me just say how much I enjoy meeting new people!

However, there's more than just CONFRONT Magazine in my repertoire. And these things require my attention as well. Right now, I'm pitching Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind as a movie, and prepping The Darkness and the Stars for publication. I'm likewise beginning to shop around for potential agents and publishers for the aforementioned Nevermind. On top of that I have two other writing projects that are in development and creation.

Unfortunately, I've been spending so much time working on different projects for the magazine that I've been neglecting most of my other work. That's why I'm going to soon be taking a small sabbatical from the mag. A month off, where the most I'll be contributing is a music review or two. In that time, it is my intention to complete my prep work for Darkness and Nevermind so that I can begin the process of getting one or preferably both of them signed to publishers.

Getting one or both signed before the fall is what I'm aiming for.

This weblog, of course, will start charting the progress of this ambitious and possibly unrealistic attempt. Thus will begin part two fo my Chronicles of an Independent Author.

Talk to you soon.

News of a Kspace Nature

2009-01-22T20:30:00.003-05:00

January has been a rather strange month, thusfar. There's been a lot of research and introspection as I've continued to prep to send my next novel off to be published. There's also been a lot of CONFRONT Magazine-related activity, including interviews and album launches, planning out articles, interviewing artists and, of course, music reviews. I've also been busy at my (paying) job, as well as writing "The Aeons War" and occasionally getting more than a couple of hours sleep a night.

I'm on track with my ambition of shipping a novel off to a new publisher, and "Darkness And The Stars" is also going to be pitched to "The Unearthing's" publishers later this year.

But this week something's happened that took me by surprise. For some authors, it would probably be a small thing. Others might scoff because it's taken this long to happen, but nonetheless, what's gone on this week has been particularly exciting and uplifting.

Yesterday and today, I got my first pieces of fan mail, from readers of "The Unearthing".

Now, I'm used to getting fan letters--usually they're fans of some album I've reviewed for CONFRONT who vehemently disagree with my opinion, and they generally take the form of rants and insults. It is the Internet, after all.

But these were notes from people who actually enjoyed what I wrote. Nothing big, nothing overly dramatic, just simple notes from people who enjoyed the novel. It was an is extremely validating to have heard from them; it's encouraging to know that there are people out there who liked to read what I wrote.

So this note is to thank you.

All Too Familiar...

2009-01-05T22:21:00.002-05:00

I remember when I decided to get proactive about The Unearthing, and promoting it and by extension myself as best I could, online.

I remember those first halting and tentative evenings hunched over the computer, Googling as many different subject lines relevant to my quest as I could think of.

History repeats itself this evening, as I have just pulled away from the computer aver poring over link after link after link as I start my search for literary representation and potential publishers.

I remember how discouraging it was to filter the pitifully few grains of wheat from the fields and fields of chaff; this time around there seems to be even more chaff...perhaps it's a wheat shortage.

I also know that any agent or publisher I query or submit to will be likewise looking for those few grains of wheat among tonnes of chaff. All the more reason to do my homework, to making sure I get this right.

Most of all, I remember how overwhelming it feels, because that is what I'm feeling right now.

I'll muddle through, and I'll find what I need, because nothing is going to change unless I do.

And that is gradually becoming my new mantra.

Stay tuned.

All is Quiet on New Year's Day

2009-01-01T16:17:00.008-05:00

2009 begins.

The holidays are behind us at last, and by Monday the stores will have Valentine's Day and Easter crap on the shelves and decorating the malls. The United States will celebrate the end of an error when Bush is finally kicked out on his ignominious ass and Obama takes one of the most historic and important oaths of office of our generation.

Here in Canada we will hopefully be rid of Stephen Harper in a few weeks' time, although I'm not holding out much hope for that, given that the new Liberal leader doesn't seem to care much for the coalition or the will of the Canadian electorate--which puts him on an even keel with the Wrong and Dishonourable Stephen Harper, who is possibly the worst and most hated Prime Minister since the King of Graft, Lyin' Brian Mulroney.

I will absolutely continue to post my opinions on the state of Canadian and Quebec politics--it is my right and obligation to do so. However, I intend on focusing my energies and my time on other things, in 2009.

First and foremost, it is my intention to see more of my work get published, this year. The Darkness and the Stars is, for all intents and purposes, ready to roll. I will be submitting that the publishers of The Unearthing, and it is also my intention to finalize Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind and find a publisher for that book, by the Summer. Both books are, for all intents and purposes, ready to sell. I have spent too much time procrastinating over them, because of The Unearthing's lack of commercial success.

The Unearthing has been successful as an ebook; it has been downloaded thousands of times since being put online in March of last year. While that proves to me I have the skills to write an engrossing story, it is obvious to me I do not have the know-how to successfully market one. Therefore, I am going to be looking for marketing assistance, possibly even representation. An agent or a publicist will go a long way to help me move my "brand" forward, and so this will be an ongoing effort of the New Year.

CONFRONT Magazine continues to be and will continue to be a priority for me. I've just written my first cover article for the magazine, chronicling the up and coming band, Bad Flirt. I will continue to write for the magazine and I will dedicate one blog post per week to CONFRONT; pending Editor approval, I will cross-post that weekly blog to CONFRONT, as well.

I will also continue to reorganize this weblog, to make the Chronicles of an Independent Author more prominent, and as I will once again be working to see my writing published, there will be more updates to the Chronicles.

I intend to post more entries to the blog, as well. Last year I averaged 1 post per week, but I don't feel that that is necessarily adequate. Part of the problem has been that I've spent so much time over the last year and a half since The Unearthing was published worrying about the book's failure and what it means for me. I'm over it now, and I'm working on getting more work out to readers.

So that's it for my first post of the New Year. I hope everyone's had a great holiday, I wish you all the best for 2009 and I promise that there will be more to come, soon.

Merry Christmas to All

2008-12-25T02:35:00.002-05:00

Nothing much to this post, other than to wish a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, to those who celebrate it, no matter how they celebrate it, or why.

This is a season of joy and giving. Give joy to others even as they give it to you. Have fun, party hard.

I'll either be doing a post just before or just after the New Year, about some resolutions I've made for 2009, as well as possibly reviewing events that have happened over the last 365 1/4 days.

Until then, all the best.

Miniature Swiss watch found in 400 year old archaeological dig?

2008-12-17T19:43:00.003-05:00

I read this and the first thing I thought of was Michael Crichton's "Timeline".

The second thing I thought of was "Wait a minute..."

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_3122542.html?menu=news.quirkies

"...The watch ring was discovered as archeologists were making a documentary with two journalists from Shangsi town...

"We picked up the object, and found it was a ring. After removing the covering soil and examining it further, we were shocked to see it was a watch."

The time was stopped at 10:06am, and on the back was engraved the word "Swiss", reports the People's Daily..."

Canadian Politics Have Never Been This Dramatic

2008-12-04T22:05:00.005-05:00

I hate how much time I've spent on this weblog in the last few months talking about politics. I really fucking hate politics. Politics are the reason I didn't go to film school; namely, the backstabbing between students, the mandatory sycophantic adoration of film teachers in college, the ridiculous emphasis on everything other than the abilities of the aspiring filmmaker.

Politics are what made me turn by back on the Catholic Church, and most practicing Catholics (not to mention the so-called "Practical Catholic Gentlemen" of the Knights of Columbus), when politics demanded cowtowing to an arrogant, faithless and unworthy priest intent on destroying some very important community groups operating within the church.

Nothing good has ever come out of politics, least of all effective government. We need only look at what politics have wrought in the United States: environmental disaster, economic collapse, an unwinnable war, poverty and ruin. All because of politics as usual.

So, why is it that time and again I have detoured this space away from writing about writing and am once again writing another long post on politics?

Because once again I feel circumstances have compelled me to.

Earlier this year, Stephen Harper, leader of a minority government, ran head-on to the reality of what a minority government means: despite being the head of the political party that garnered the most votes, the electorate cast more total votes for representatives from other parties. Without the cooperation of the opposition, the minority government cannot govern.

Harper wanted to push through several bills that the opposition would not support. Faced with the prospect of having to build consensus instead of being able to run things his way, Harper called a snap election--in violation of his own election reform laws.

The end result of the election--which was bitter and decisive, partisan and seemed at times far more like an American campaign for all its sleaze and controversy than anything Canada had previously seen--saw Harper's minority returned to power, with only a handful more seats than before.

Harper's ambition had been to win a majority, but the political will of the Canadian people was to vote for anyone other than him. Unfortunately, the vote was split among three parties, meaning that while the Conservatives won the most votes of any party, most voters voted against the Conservatives.

Following the election, Harper appeared conciliatory, willing to reach out to the opposition and seek their input in the governance of Canada. Appearances, however, can be deceiving. It was all lip service, all lies. The minute Parliament was back in session, Harper began acting as though the Conservatives had won a decisive majority. In response to the growing global economic crisis, Harper tabled a plan that would have done nothing but benefit the corporate special interests that have always made up the backbone of Harper's support.

The opposition parties revolted, formed a coalition and advised the Governor General that they intended to call for a vote of non-confidence in the Harper government. Such an action would bring down the government, leading to one of two possibilities: The Governor General would either have to call another election, or ask the opposition parties to form a coalition government.

While exceedingly rare, there is precedent in Canadian history for a coalition government. But Harper went on an attack, accusing the coalition of being anti-democratic and demonizing the separatist Bloc Quebecois, whose support is necessary to give the coalition the majority necessary to govern. In the process, Harper's power base, namely Alberta, began to threaten to leave Canada and create a new independent state.

So, Quebec Separatists are bad, but Alberta Separatists are okay? Why? Because they have oil and speak English?

In any event, Harper managed to convince the Governor General to prorogue Parliament until the end of January. This means that Harper can hold on to power until then, though he cannot govern in any sense of the word. Of course, he can spend countless millions of taxpayer money on a relentless propaganda campaign designed to try and sway the public against the widely-supported (outside of Cowboy Country) opposition coalition.

The truth of the matter is that Harper and the Conservatives are (unsurprisingly) the ones behaving in an anti-democratic manner. The majority of voters elected parliamentary representatives from other parties than the Conservatives. The coalition therefore represents the majority of Canadian voters. The Coalition has every right to refuse to support the minority conservatives, and they therefore have every legal right to vote down the government and either form a new government, or stand for a new election.

Harper has proven, time and again, that he is unwilling and unable to make any concession to the opposition parties. He has proven, time and again and by his very words, that he would rather legislate according to his opinions and moral beliefs than according to the facts, the experts and the evidence. Harper has proven himself unfit to lead the country. His refusal to abdicate power that was never his to claim to begin with is nothing short of criminal. He has also expressed that he will do anything he can to stay in power. That makes him the ultimate threat to Canadian democracy, the Canadian government, and the people of Canada.

Stephen Harper is unfit to lead this country. He should be removed from power by any means necessary. If the democratic process and the Rules of Parliament fail to remove the slime from power, if the Law fails to remove him from power, then it will become incumbent on the Canadian people to do so.

We must look at such tactics as general strikes, blockades of Parliament Hill, and even more radical means of protest and civil action. This is our country, this is our future. If we must fight to protect it, then fight we will. If we must tear down the government, if we must depose Stephen Harper, who is neither right nor honourable, then so we shall. If the only way to dethrone Stephen Harper is through revolution, then we must revolt.

People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of the people.

Work: The REAL enemy of productivity

2008-11-26T00:51:00.003-05:00

So for the last few weeks I have been working on stuff for CONFRONT Magazine, most notably a piece on the Andy Warhol Live exhibit, at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. That involved a lot of my writing time, and required multiple trips to the museum. However, I'm quite pleased with the end result of my labours, which will be going live on Thursday at CONFRONT Magazine.

Also this week, I have been listening to the new Guns & Roses album, also for CONFRONT, for this week's Views and Reviews column. I am a fan of G&R, but I have to say that the latest CD is a letdown. Of course, you'll just have to go to CONFRONT on Thursday to find out my full opinion.

Alas, my work for CONFRONT hasn't been the only drain on my free writing time of late. Last weekend I had a corporate retreat to go to, and though I had one hell of a good time, I did not get my weekly fix of Cagibi lattes and excellent writing atmosphere.

These events have conspired against me to stall my creative efforts, though I can honestly say that sometimes nothing is more important than getting out from behind the desk and getting back to living life. However, it means that my rewrite of Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind and my work on the tentatively-titled Length of Love have been stalled.

All this is especially frustrating, because I had wanted to be done with Nevermind before the end of the year (Which is looking less and less likely) so that I could start shopping it around to agents and publishers in early 2009. Douglas Adams once said he loved the wooshing sound deadlines made as they zipped by. I imagine I should take that concept to heart, but still. It's been four years since I finished the initial draft of Nevermind and I hate how much time has slipped past from that first writing to now.

Equally frustrating, I've been stalled with Length of Love. Granted, I've not had much to say about the project, but that's because it is still in its first draft stage, and the subject matter is bound to be so controversial that I don't want to share with others until I've gotten the initial writing done. That's me suffering for my writing idiosyncracies I suppose.

I would also like to send up another flare about beta readers. I am still looking for people who would be interested in reading the final revision of The Darkness and the Stars, which is the follow-up to The Unearthing. As I've said previously, I'm looking as much for the opinions of readers as I am the opinions of my fellow writers. The story takes place 18 months after the close of The Unearthing, and is not so much a sequel as it is the continuation of the story. If anyone is interested, please email me or post a reply to this entry. The only requirement is having read The Unearthing already. As it is available as a free PDF format ebook from this and many other sites, I don't think I'm asking for too much--plus, you get to read not one, but two books free of charge.

Anyway, I'm off to get shut-eye. I still have to get up for the paying job in a few.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Canadian free internet access under threat

2008-11-16T19:45:00.005-05:00

http://www.digitalhome.ca/content/view/2972/280/

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) this week said it has launched a proceeding in hopes of gaining a better understanding of broadcasting in a world increasingly being dominated by the internet.

The government agency says the proceeding will include a public hearing starting on February 17, 2009, in Gatineau, Que where the federal government is inviting comments on "the significance of broadcasting in new media and its impact on the traditional broadcasting system"

In simple terms, the agency is trying to establish a role for itself in the regulation of what Canadians can and should be able to see over the internet similar to the way the commission regulates what Canadians can see over Canadian radio and television.

The result of these hearings could result in in the overturning of a 1999 decision that exempted from regulation broadcasters that distribute their video content over the Internet. The hearings will also examine a 2007 decision that took a hands off approach to broadcasters and wireless companies who were sending video through cellphones and other mobile devices.

In a written statement federal bureaucrats said the review was required now because Canadians are now spending more time watching video over the internet and mobile devices. The Commission, therefore, wishes to consult on the "the appropriateness of the Commission's exemption orders for new media and mobile broadcasting services."

We are in danger of losing unfiltered access to the Internet! We have to do something to stop this!

Only one possible topic tonight on the Blogosphere...

2008-11-04T23:08:00.004-05:00

God knows I'm ecstatic that Obama's won, if only because it represents the end of an error, namely the last eight years of divisive, violent, incompetent and corrupt administrations in American history.

Obama has consistently talked of dialogue; sitting down with America's enemies to address their grievances. He has talked about reuniting the country, of helping the poor, of working to heal the environment. Obama is the right man for the right time.

And yes, it is a wonderful moment for Black Americans that Barack Obama will be the first Black President. But how shameful is it that it has taken so long for a Black man to be elected President? How shameful is it that America has never had a minority President? Or a woman President?

Let us hope that this is a step forward into the future. Let us hope that America once more becomes a beacon unto the world. But let us also not forget how long it has been...how long it has taken for a Black man to get elected to President.

Questionable Content and Other Sundry Notions

2008-10-20T19:57:00.006-04:00

So one of the biggest productivity-killers I've encountered of late has been the amusing and endearing webcomic, Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques. It's a wonderful ongoing comedy about twentysomethings in college, hanging out, having coffee, listening to hipster music and contemplating life, sex, love and pop culture. The website is here, but if you're new to the comic, you should probably start reading from the beginning, here.

I guess what I like best about this story is that it reminds me in many respects of Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind, my own novel about twentysomething lovelorns growing up and hanging out. I think Jacques nails the sentimentality and the poignancy better than I did, however, and I really think his work deserves to be read. Please check it out; I think you'll enjoy!

***

On to other topics, this weekend I completed the third rewrite of The Darkness and the Stars, which is the follow-up volume to The Unearthing. I am currently recruiting beta readers to go over the "finished" story and let me know their thoughts. For fans of The Unearthing, this is your chance to read the next part of the story before anyone else; it is also an opportunity to provide feedback to the author, and possibly help shape the final version of the novel.

I am also looking for beta-readers for another project some of you may be familiar with, called Crossroads. The latter story is technically "finished", having debuted eight years ago on the Jumpgate web portal. However, I feel it needs a bit of polish. It has proven beyond my capacity to see where to tweak it, so I'm offering it up for book-doctoring. I know it needs some work, I just don't know where.

If you're interested in helping with either project, you can either reply to this post or email me. Don't be concerned if you're not a writer; what's more important is that you be a reader. It is a reader's opinion I need.

***

Also in the "ME" news, I will be going back over Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind as my next project. Following the suggestions of one of it's beta readers, I will be doing the final revision of that story by starting with the last chapter and working backwards. Likely, Nevermind will be the next story I submit for publication. I'll be shortly in the market for an agent/publicist to help with that.

Well, that's it for this post. Glad to be writing about writing again...I'm sick of that beady-eyed fat fuck Stephen Harper. God help us, we have at least another two years of his shit to live through.