FUCK ART, LET'S ROCK

What I dig are those artsy types who work extensively with labels and bands to create an extensive catalog of groovetastic images.  Pettibon w/ SST, Oliver w/ 4AD, Saville w/ Factory, and so on and so on.  Yes sucked for the most part, but Roger Dean did some excellent work for their album covers.

Nyree Watts takes some amazing photos, excellent covers for various Badman and Mark Kozelek projects.  Similarly, Bruce Licher has done some amazing work for Lanterna.  Just wish they were more prolific.

I also wish Deryk Thomas did more work for Swans/Angels of Light.  Those dad and burning bunnies rule!

No point mentioning Hipgnosis, of course, so I won't, even if I just did.  Always surreal and pretty spectacular, I've got a coffee table book by Storm Thorgerson (RIP) floating around somewhere.  Good shit.

All of this, of course, is just a lead up to showing some cool work by James Marsh, who worked with Talk Talk.  Spirit of Eden?  Laughing Stock?  Fuck, yeah.  Brutally gorgeous music, I think Marsh's art compliments it perfectly.

CHROMATICISM

Dawn got a pretty good picture of this one, out in the back yard.  I'm working in limited palette's.  Much less confusing.  Colors seem pretty close to what they actually are.

IRONY, FOR YOU LOWBROW TYPES

PRICES SO LOW, YOU'LL THINK WE'RE INSANE!

Some odds and ends available from me, limited editions and whatnot, payable thru paypal.

FAMINE is $5, DROWNING is $10, DREAMING MONSTERS is $12, everything else is $8.  As always, postage is included.

NEW PIECE AT SENTINEL QUARTERLY

http://sentinelquarterly.com/2016/10/3747/

the child, cut in two

not the dying man
but his reasons

his hands
which are grabbing

which are empty and so
what would you
fill them with?

the bones of his children
is an obvious answer
so look past it

reinvent the circle
if you have to

build a better bomb

we have been in this desert
too long now and eating
nothing but the dreams
of the starving

we have been bleeding
for as long as we can
remember but
listen

every day brings us
closer to a darker age

every war is the one
that cannot be lost

this is what we tell the
widows as
we undress them

JUST LATELY NOW WHEN MY WIFE TALKS BACK TO ME I SLAP HER AROUND

Even bigger than the Stones vs Beatles conundrum is the Devo/Wall of Voodoo dialect. They always seemed to be cut from the same cloth to me. Devo were more cerebral/conceptual, while Wall of Voodoo had a more SoCal noir feel to their storysongs, but they both had that young curmudgeon/malcontent feel to them, which is why I seem to always end up listening to one after the other.

Devo, tho – what the fuck happened to them? I think they realized they’d gone as far as they could being misfit weirdos, and knew they’d have to start playing by the record company rules if they wanted big time fame and a chance to crawl out of their awesome little niche. Unfortunately, all their music sucked once they decided to go down this disastrous path. Now, they can release all the albums they want and people can mention the word “comeback” ‘til they’re blue in the face, but the band will never be anything but a nostalgia act. No one goes to any of their concerts these days wanting to hear anything but “Whip It”, “Satisfaction”, “Mongoloid”, etc etc.

They make me sad with their lingering ways.

On the bright sad, Dawn loved the “Satisfaction” video when I showed it to her, and “Mongoloid” always makes her smile.

Wall of Voodoo was a much cleaner break. Their first ep was very good, and both their albums with Stan Ridgway kicked righteous ass. Don’t know why he left the band, but it took no time at all for me to realize that neither Ridgway solo nor WOV without him singing was anything I wanted a part of. It was a very clean break. Are they still around doing anything? None of them ever call, so I really don’t know.

But now I have to make a quiche, and pop in Seefeel's Quique for obvious reasons.

A PERENNIAL FAVORITE

http://www.lulu.com/shop/john-sweet/in-the-kingdom-of-oblivion/paperback/product-21316537.html

IT'S ALL A PASSING FAD

Those Beatles, man.....

I give them their due. When they were good, they were AWESOME. Brought popular music into the 20th century. Simultaneously incredibly popular AND pretty damn radical. Like Picasso, but with tunes.  You just can't underestimate their incrediblosity.  Definite recipients of the Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence.

The thing is, tho, I can put all of their songs that I really like from the first album up to REVOLVER on one cd. The goodies from the rest of their albums (and non-album singles) I could probably squeeze onto 2, and only one of them would have the full 80 minutes filled up.

They were a great band, but they never released an album that I actually liked all the way through, start to finish. John got bogged down in Dylan’s shadow, and he never even came close to getting out. Plus his politics were pretty shallow and bandwagon-y. George was good, but only in fits and starts. Paul was one productive motherfucker, but what the hell was up with all of that dancehall/vaudevillian era shit? I understand it was probably the music of his childhood, but good god does it suck. “When I’m 64”? “She’s Leaving Home?” “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”? Bah. And what about “Lovely Rita”? Totally awesome intro and outro, and they bookend one more freaking show tune…..

Dude needed more “Helter Skelter”.

Anyway, someone asked me for my thoughts earlier on the Beatles vs. Stones conundrum that’s plagued mankind for the past 50+ years, and that’s what you get for asking me foolish questions….

I remember a single I had when I was a little kid, “Got to Get You into My Life” b/w “Helter Skelter”, think it had something to do with the ROCK & ROLL MUSIC album that came out in the mid 70s. Good stuff. Almost as good as my K-Tel Looney Tunes album.  Kid in my 5th grade class had DUMB DITTIES, tho, and man did I want that album......

WORKING ON THE FOLLOW-UP

But, in the meantime, this remains my most recent collection.  Good stuff, too!! 

No empty calories, no Hallmark sentiments, lots of swearing for you foul-mouthed types.

https://www.amazon.com/approximate-wilderness-John-Sweet/dp/1530954053

WORK AT DUANE'S POETREE

I seem to keep missing work of mine that's getting published......

http://duanespoetree.blogspot.com/search/label/John%20Sweet

some awesome art by George Rorris, I believe....

AMONG THE GREAT UNWASHED

My scintillating collection is officially in the pile for the free e-book download coming up in a few weeks.  There will be many reminders before then (or possibly only one or two), so prepare to be annoyed.....

http://poetrysuperhighway.com/psh/great-poetry-e-book-free/

currently listening to:

and it's not lost at all!  It's right there!  See it? 

Not as good as the "More" soundtrack,

but I love this period of Floyd's career.

Gotta go back to a painting I'm working on

while it's still wet.

I'm a Renaissance Man, baby!

Unknown in more artistic fields than

you can shake a stick at.......

AWAY

MORE OSNAT, BECAUSE HER COLORS MAKE MY HEAD HAPPY

THE GLAMOUR

Back in the day (early 90s), I'd been publishing in the lit zine scene for 4 or 5 years, had a few chapbooks out w/ press runs that you could count on both hands, and was generally just living large on $250 a week and free meals at whatever restaurant I was cooking for.

One day, this skinny little high school senior shows up at my apartment door, says she's seen my work in a zine in a local bookstore.  I'm not sure if I was in the phone book then, no idea how she tracked me down.  Turns out she was one of those smart but too-smart-for-own-good types w/ some rebellion issues against her mother and stepfather.  She took a shine to my roommate, who was luckily smarter than you and me both.  He had no interest in statutory rape, or in the jail time that tends to accompany it.

This girl would show up every now and then, we'd try to hustle her out the door.  Apparently, she stopped by one day when I was at work in a way-too-small t-shirt to show my roommate how her breasts had gotten bigger, she claimed, since she'd been on the pill.  Not sure about the science behind that one.

As luck would have it, my roommate's future wife was over that day, and was less than impressed.  This incident put me on her shit list for life I'm pretty sure although, again, I'm not sure how the math on that logic worked, since I wasn't even there.  I think it was the old "blame the poet" ploy.....

About a month after that, the girl showed up again, late one weekend night, drunk & stoned, dressed in short shorts and a cropped tee and, from what I could see, covered entirely in obscene magic marker graffiti.  Apparently, whatever assholes she's=d been hanging with had gotten what they wanted from her and dumped her off somewhere and she'd found her way to my place.

So, she spent the night on the couch, didn't puke, woke up the next morning hungover but cheery, and I hustled her back home.  I don't know if she had no memories of the night before, or if nothing horrible had happened, or what, but she seemed her usual self.  Not even pissed at being covered in misogynistic magic marker insults.

That was the last time I saw her.

About a month after THAT, tho, I came home from work one night to find a message from her irate mother on my answering machine, asking if I'd seen her recently (again, how were these people tracking me down?!).  The next day, I received a call from both her stepfather and the cops, asking me the same thing.  No idea where she'd disappeared to, but I hear she showed up again at some point, only to disappear from my life into the mists of time and space.  Hopefully she grew up and got her head straightened out and didn't become some ragdoll party girl.

Generally, it was all a very depressing experience.  I foolishly figured it wouldn't be repeated, and I could write without crazy people finding me.  Hah.

Even more depressing was the fact that, at that time, I knew at least 2 dozen women around my own age who all seemed to be in the same mental place as this girl.  It definitely shaped my writing at the time, and also marked the point where I realized that, if a person doesn't want to be helped, you are not going to be able to help them. 

I had already realized by this point that people generally sucked,  but that lesson was permanently carved into my psyche during this part of my life.

SATURDAY MORNING

2 NEW PIECES AT POETRY PACIFIC

http://poetrypacific.blogspot.com/2016/11/2-poems-by-john-sweet.html

4 POEMS AT MIDNIGHT LANE BOUTIQUE

Actually published in January, I think I missed them when they 
       came out.....

https://midnightlanegalleryii.wordpress.com/tag/john-sweet/

Francis Bacon!!

Saved

Something simple like fucking another
man’s wife. Like walking back to your house
for the first time after the floodwaters
have receded. Everything lost, and the
smell of decay. The heat of the
sun. Paperwork, yes, and then the
value of what’s been lost. A price,
like selling your daughter. A machine,
but too vast to ever be seen clearly
because you can never get far enough
away. Sweat, blood, fuel, all
of it running in thin perfect streams
down to the river until the river
catches fire. Nothing simple, because
she says she’s pregnant. She says she loves
you. A box filled with pictures of
your past, and all of them ruined. The
furniture beyond saving. Gears,
always grinding. Always chewing up
and spitting out. The blood of other
people’s children staining everything.

NEW KRISTIN HERSH NEXT WEEK - HOT DIGGETY DOG!

In her best format, CD w/ book, like CROOKED and the Muses' PURGATORY/PARADISE.  Should be good stuff......

http://www.npr.org/2016/10/27/499145143/first-listen-kristin-hersh-wyatt-at-the-coyote-palace

JUST NOT ENOUGH TIME TO BURY MYSELF ALIVE IN SHIT MUSIC

Because I know far too much useless shit about 60s and 70s rock, my kids keep insisting that I know everything about ALL music.  They constantly say "Hey dad, you know that new song by...." and then they're outraged when I tell them that I don't.  I keep explaining that I mostly listen to the 15 gazillion CDs I own (I'm an old man, you're lucky they're not wax cylinders), and keep my ears open for new music outside of the mainstream.  They choose to ignore everything I say, of course, and keep asking "Hey dad, you know that new song by..."

In any event, here are some artists that I've been informed are mega-huge.  I've never heard anything by them, unless it was in a store, and I would have tuned it out then, anyway.  I never really plan on hearing anything by them.  Life's too short to waste it dealing with corporate dreck.



Adele
Jay Z
Kanye West
That Hannah Montana actress
Rihanna
Taylor Swift
Drake
Ariana Grande
Lady Gaga
Beyoncé
any individual with a number or dollar sign in their name
anyone whose name starts with DJ
anyone who follows their name with "Featuring..."


Katy Perry had a song in a Madagascar movie, I think.  That's the only song I've ever heard by her.  Sounded like 70s disco to me.

On the other hand, I follow what Savages, A Silver Mt Zion, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Mogwai and a batch of others are doing.  I don't know - I guess I like bands who are into making music for the sake of music, not people who use their music as advertisements for their "brand", whatever the fuck that means.  Mostly, I like finding things on my own. 

Right now, I'm listening to the Residents.  I just got Hope Sandoval's latest one, and will probably pick up the new Kristin Hersh, if that scores me any points with the cool people....

POETRY SUPER HIGHWAY

the free poetry ebook thing is coming up again, dec 1st, 24 hours, you can download all sorts of zany-ass shit.  i'm putting a collection together right now, just to give you a heads up....

http://poetrysuperhighway.com/psh/great-poetry-e-book-free/

Little Wing

Man spray paints NOW on the sidewalk in front of

the house, then walks inside and starts shooting. 

Covers the children in feathers, in colored wax and

long strips of silk.  Dreams the day of his daughter’s

birth, then puts the barrel in his mouth.  Believes

that everything is hope.

IT JUST KEEPS GETTING MORE AND MORE RELEVANT.....

https://www.createspace.com/5897870

.

TH' FUCK?

Had 115 views from Poland on the blog yesterday.  Seem like some hacking attempts to you?  Hell, yeah....  Had a similar thing a few months back, over 200 views from Russia in a 3 day period.  What a sad little world we live in.  On the other hand, just read this little nugget of wisdom, made me smile and smile and smile......

http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2016/11/last-note-to-trump-voters-you-are-wrong.html


current bootleg listening, for those keeping score:

excavation 1

came out of the dentist’s office
and i’d lost the poem, half
my mouth numb, the other half
filled with the taste of
stale metal

had the bill in my hand

less than a quarter tank of gas

fell to my knees at
the edge of the parking lot
and started scratching in the dirt
for words

found nothing but bones

found nothing but garbage

had things to say, but could
only kneel in the filth of
two hundred years and spit out
                                        blood

IN MY HEAD

Re-reading OUR BAND COULD BE YOUR LIFE for the umpteenth time, I never get tired of it.  The Black Flag story is incredible.  The music, less so.  Saw them in '86 on the In My Head tour when it was just the Greg & Henry show and they were playing out their psychodrama every night on stage.  Not a horrible show, but a bit long & tedious.  Bill & Kira had been fired by this point, I think, so it was just 2 anonymous sidemen on the bass & drums.  Ginn's instrumental band Gone was one of the opening acts, Painted Willie was the other.  The show was in a (now deserted) Masonic Temple building, Henry walked by us in the hallway and pointedly ignored us at one point before the show began.  Oh well.


I get that they were trying to move past the constraints of the hardcore scene they helped create, but GODDAMN did that sludgy music suck.  Let's face it - Damaged was their last decent record. Letting Henry write the lyrics was a huge mistake.  Maybe Greg could've smoked a little less pot, too?

In any event.....

SST Records ruled for quite a few years, I'm still glad I was the perfect age to be into all that glorious chaos.

GREEN DESERT

Tangerine Dream had a pretty good streak of cool albums, from about Phaedra (1974) to Poland (1984).  A few weak spots here and there, but mostly pretty solid.  They had a few impressive moments between the end of the 80s and Edgar's death, but they escape me at the moment.  Mostly, they sucked, and when they weren't sucking they were actively trying to destroy their legacy by remaking their classic albums, and remaking them in as crappy a way as possible.  It never really made any sense.  Dude seemed incredibly insecure.

After Poland came Le Parc, which blows chunks in a big way and should be avoided like the plague.  After that, tho, came Green Desert, which is one of their best, but which I've always been suspicious of.  Supposedly, it was recorded in '73 and then shelved until 13 years later when Edgar decided to spruce it up and release it.  This is the album where all of the stoner Pink Floyd comparisons actually  make sense, and mostly on the 19:25 title track which sounds like a mix between Obscured by Clouds (the song) and some of the Dark Side vibe.  Very contemporaneous of early 70s Floyd.  The rest of the album, while still very good, sounds like it could have easily been recorded in the early 80s, around the same time as TD's Hyperborea. 

We'll never get the truth now, I suppose (not that we ever would have), but I'm just killing time waiting for some paint to dry on a  new painting so I can add another layer of color.

poem in the glare of the neon cross

friday night in the
killer's car and
all he wants to do is fuck you

says his wife doesn't
understand him

drives to the top of
burnt hill road with the
city below stretched out wide
                          and decaying

your children
at home asleep

his hands as bloody as
christ's as they
search for your heat

nothing in this world
ever worth what it costs

zero

spent 2000 years building this
useless machine until the
voice of christ was nothing more
than a mouthful of rust

no dogs around his feet
no crows at his eyes
no need for religion

no sunlight at the end of may
and listen

this is not the edge of anything
these are only houses burning
slowly in a town without 

a future

these are my children
small and beautiful and if
all i have to give them are words
then we are nothing but lost

we are nowhere but home

New work at IN BETWEEN HANGOVERS

Seriously, the paint is still wet on this one:

https://inbetweenhangovers.wordpress.com/2016/11/03/poem-for-broken-hands-in-the-museum-of-fire-and-blood-by-john-sweet/

IT'S A RELIGIOUS TRACT. REALLY.

http://www.lulu.com/shop/john-sweet/give-a-poor-man-god-and-watch-him-starve/paperback/product-21315591.html

YOU CAN'T BEAT THE PRICE

Because you will die bitter and alone waiting for people

to start paying you to read your poetry.....

https://issuu.com/bleedinghorse