Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

The willow is too close to the house.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

I really should read my own blog.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Republicans in disarray!

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

DeSantis transforms Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

This fight is for everything.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

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Random Occurences

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So I bought this album by a band named Wolfmother on a lark, and right now I am cranking Where Eagles Have Been, and I feel like I am 13 years old again listening to Yes-Relayer on the cassette player in my bedroom while reading Lord Foul’s Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson.

I guess consider this an open thread, but I am just shocked this is a band from the late 2000’s. Holy loads of flashbacks, batman.

Reader Interactions

67Comments

  2. 2.

    montysano

    Holy loads of flashbacks, batman.

    For more flashback action, try out the Raconteurs, which features Jack White of White Stripes fame. I haven’t heard the new one yet, but the first, “Broken Boy Soldiers”, is very Zeppelin-esque in places.

    But it ain’t no “Relayer” …. 8-)

  4. 4.

    flyerhawk

    Lord Foul’s Bane? I never looked at white gold the same after reading that series. Talk about one of the great anti-heroes.

  5. 5.

    flyerhawk

    The new Raconteurs is OUTSTANDING. The song Rich Kid’s Blues sounds almost Who-like.

    The new Black Crowes continues their sound that hasn’t changed much at all in 20 years.

    The new Black Keys is a real departure from their previous albums. I can’t figure out if I love or hate it. Having DJ Danger Mouse produce a classic blues rock band was certainly daring.

  8. 8.

    Ned Raggett

    you should also check out midlake and black mountain

    Yeah, agreed on Black Mountain, definitely. Early Comets on Fire. (Stepping away a bit: Six Organs of Admittance. Ilyas Ahmed. Alela Diane. Yellow6.) Monster Magnet (remember them?). I’m free-skying at this point, point is that psych/spacerock/prog all of sorts never died, it just transmogrified into different paths. Everyone should just come to Terrastock in June.

  9. 9.

    Ned Raggett

    (There’s an earlier post of mine linking bands that is awaiting moderation — John, please free it up! I’m trying to give music to the people! That the bands want people to hear!)

  10. 10.

    Billy K

    Having DJ Danger Mouse produce a classic blues rock band was certainly daring.

    Not really.

  11. 11.

    Jamey

    “Buying” music? Lord Foul’s Bane? Yes?

    The Dork-o-Meter needle just jumped off the dial…

  12. 12.

    Mr Furious

    If you want some flashbacks, that new Raconteurs album is definitely the ticket. White can crunch with any 70s guitar hero, and they threw a LOT of organ in there this time—plenty of Triumph and Styx* moments.

    *And I mean that in a good way, even if you can’t imagine it.

  15. 15.

    Mr Furious

    If you haven’t heard it, John, the first Rac album (“Broken Boy Soldiers”) is probably my favorite album from the last ten years.

    Highly recommended. And the new one (“Consolers of the Lonely”) is strong too. In fact, I promised a review…better get on that.

  17. 17.

    calipygian

    Oh. My. God.

    Is there any question that atheists are a second class citizen in this country? I served 20 years in the military. I have to admit that the only time I ever faced discrimination as an atheist is a couple of times where a Chaplain prayed in Jesus’ name at an invocation I was forced to attend.

    No one ever told me that I was unfit to serve just because I was an atheist until today.(There were many other reasons for my unfitness, but that is another couple of stories).

    I served my country because I love America and the ideals upon which it was founded. Once it becomes “Christian America uber alles”, then we’re in deep shit. I’ll fight for America against people that fly planes into our buildings. I wont fight for Jesus against some twisted fucks twisting the words of the Prophet Mohammed.

    Its all assinine superstition to me.

  18. 18.

    Incertus

    calipygian,
    I can’t say I’m surprised, but that’s because I live in a state (considered a swing state by many) that’s actively trying to put creationism in the classroom. And no, it’s not one in the middle of the country either.

  19. 19.

    Joshua Norton

    “Christian America uber alles”

    The new Air Force motto is “Above All”. How much closer to “Uber Alles” can they get?

  20. 20.

    eglenn

    “Leper! Outcast! Unclean!”

    Lord, those were some harsh-my-mellow books.

    My age-adjusted comparables were “Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road” and LOTR.

  21. 21.

    dj spellchecka

    for something that mixes loud and odd, try the new mars volta album. anyone else agree?

  22. 22.

    Andrew

    Somebody please tell me that this is bullshit before I waste money on it.

    Buck, please send me a check for $25 and I will tell you whether or not it is bullshit. This unlimited time offer could save you as much as $25 dollars!

  23. 23.

    Grand Moff Texan

    and I feel like I am 13 years old again listening to Yes-Relayer on the cassette player in my bedroom while reading Lord Foul’s Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson.

    How the fuck were you ever a Republican?
    .

  24. 24.

    Ned Raggett

    Are you sure?

    I figure if a band puts music on its myspace site but the bandmembers don’t want people to hear it, then that’s a good art project but not a good promotional tool.

  27. 27.

    OniHanzo

    Apologies if someone’s posted this before but this infuriates the fuck out of me.

    (CNN) — The U.S. military is promising action to address conditions in a barracks at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, after a soldier’s father posted images on YouTube showing a building that he said “should be condemned.”

    Paint — which Frawley said is lead-based — is chipping. Ceiling tiles are missing. A broken drain pipe allows sewer gas into the building, while another one has tissues stuffed into it in an apparent effort to stop the gas from coming in.

    Photos from the communal bathroom show some of the most disgusting images. In one, a soldier stands in a sink to avoid what Frawley describes as 3 inches of sewage water that filled the floor when toilets overflowed.

    Is there anything the Bush administration HASN’T lowered the bar on?

    “We’re up to our armpits in human shit, you moron!”

    “Well…at least we’re not up our noses.” **cheap salesman smile**

  28. 28.

    DFH no.6

    So, Jamey, paying artists for their work today, and having one such creation elicit nostalgic feelings of books read and music enjoyed 30 years ago makes John (and, obviously, anyone like him) a dork. A ginormous one at that, apparently.

    Man, if we could only be as cool as you. Tell us — what hipper-than-thou shit were you into back in ’78? It will only make us feel dorkier to find out, I know, but we’re used to it.

  30. 30.

    Crusty Dem

    Yep, Buck, that is most definitely bullshit. “Oxyhydrogen” or Brown’s gas, or whatever the fuck they want to call it is just hydrogen/oxygen gas combined. You can make it from hydrolyzing water with electricity, but there’s no magic way to it, you only get out the energy you put in (actually less, unless you’re planning on violating the laws of thermodynamics). If you did happen to make it oxyhydrogen, you would most likely blow your ass up.

    Amusingly, it is actually possible to run an old diesel engine on water (allegedly, maybe we need to get mythbusters to try it..). Supposedly, when the engine is good and hot you can replace the diesel with water, and the engine can run for up to an hour. The water reacts with the iron in the engine, causing it to oxidize (rust) and releasing heat, turning the water to steam to power the pistons. At the end of that time, your engine will be a large chunk or rust, never to run again. I doubt this would work with a newer engine, but it’s an old myth that’s at least theoretically possible (unlike the magical perpetual water engine, which is just bullshit).

    But don’t feel too bad about getting suckered by this website, an Indian conman managed to get an news article into the scientific journal Nature touting a “tea” he could brew from certain herbs and grasses that would power a gasoline engine. Turned out he just had a hidden fuel tank he utilized to make it appear the engine ran with his special elixir. And don’t get me started on the whole “cold fusion” fiasco. Energy-related stuff happens to bring out the cons, liars, cheats and idiots; just look at our current president (and vice-president).

  31. 31.

    Ben

    Came into this thread to recommend Clutch, as well as The Sword, which might be a little too metal…talk about a band that would call a song “Lord Foul’s Bane” though.

  34. 34.

    Ned Raggett

    as well as The Sword, which might be a little too metal…talk about a band that would call a song “Lord Foul’s Bane” though.

    Hahah, OTM. I am pleased to see the old guard keeping things going though — have you heard about Judas Priest’s new double CD concept album Nostradamus? Now there’s a band that will never go gently into that good night.

  36. 36.

    DrDave

    Apologies if someone’s posted this before but this infuriates the fuck out of me.

    It was up on Obsidian Wings on Friday; it’s a fucking outrage. If that was the best the Army can do, they should put the troops up in a Holiday Inn until appropriate facilities can be provided on base.

  37. 37.

    DrDave

    John:

    Check out Crack the Sky. This album is from 1975 and is still a fantastic listen.

    Coincidentally, the lead guitar player owns a recording studio in your neck of the woods. (Studio L in Weirton, WV)

  38. 38.

    Crusty Dem

    Seriously, OniHanzo and DrDave, I read that at Obsidian Wings, that is some fucked up repugnant shit. Can’t we have summary court-martial for the civilian ass clowns (or military ass clowns, whoever is responsible) in charge of this?

    I’m sure if it is a civilian, he’s the type of “patriot” who never forgets his flag pin…

  39. 39.

    vwcat

    sigh. sorry but, I am into the blues. big.
    Now talk some Muddy or Hooker or even Stevie Ray or Buddy and I’m in heaven.

  40. 40.

    Zifnab

    Is there anything the Bush administration HASN’T lowered the bar on?

    Yeah, remind me again about how the army is going to totally vote Republican this year around?

  41. 41.

    p.a.

    Woo. It’s not just a blog, it’s a wayback machine! Yes was my first concert, 1974 age 15. Relayer was about when Yes started to lose me, although it was an improvement on Tales from Topographic Oceans– it was later, right? Bought Close to the Edge a few years ago, listened twice and gave it away. Sometimes you can’t go home again.
    I will check out some of the bands named above; I have begun to listen to the local college radio stations again after a long hiatus. There seems to have developed a nice diversity of styles, many echoing the 60’s and 70’s. Nice change from every band sounding like Creed or the latest angst-riddled screamer. (To plagiarize Dave Barry; what a great name for a band!)

  42. 42.

    myiq2xu

    If someone really came up with a way to run a car on water they wouldn’t have to advertise it.

    I, on the other hand, can sell you the secret to making $1,000 a day over the internet.

    I’m selling the secret for the low, low price of $1,000

  43. 43.

    Martin

    Somebody please tell me that this is bullshit before I waste money on it.

    OMG. You are the people that my 10 year old son mocks when we’re talking about the effectiveness of marketing.

    He’s 10 and he’s mocking you. Seriously. You want me to send him over so he can explain to you how that thing is bullshit?

  44. 44.

    Wilfred

    Cole’s favorite neocon tells it like it really was:

    He argued that former secretary of state Colin Powell and his deputy, Richard Armitage, were the ones who failed to challenge the logic of going to war — not him. He suggested that Powell, Armitage, Franks, former Iraq viceroy Jerry Bremer and even Feith’s old boss, Donald Rumsfeld, should be blamed for the postwar chaos in Iraq — not him. He blamed then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice for the way she operated (“fundamental differences were essentially papered over rather than resolved”). He accused the CIA of “improper” and unprofessional behavior. And he implicitly blamed President Bush for not cracking down on insubordinate behavior at the State Department. Yet at the same time, Feith told the CSIS crowd that he disapproved of the “snide and shallow self-justification typical in memoirs of former officials,” or what Feith cleverly called the ” ‘I-was-surrounded-by-idiots’ school of memoir writing.” Feith pointed out that he supported his account with 140 pages of notes and documents. And yet, in his hour-long panel discussion, Feith seemed to be of the impression that he had, in fact, been surrounded by idiots.”

    And he was the one in the middle.

  45. 45.

    cbear

    I feel like I am 13 years old again listening to Yes-Relayer on the cassette player in my bedroom while reading Lord Foul’s Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson my father’s Penthouse magazine.

    fixt.

    Some of us had other priorities at that age.

  47. 47.

    cleek

    yeahyeah, The Sword is good.

    Wolfmother is soooo 70’s i couldn’t believe they weren’t a parody. but, they aren’t. they put on a hell of a show, too. they make a lot of noise for just three guys.

  51. 51.

    mikefromtexas

    For anyone with an interest in world music, check out an acoustic guitarist from Mali named Habib Koite. He uses an unusual tuning style on his box and has a very hypnotic voice.

  52. 52.

    Ned R.

    That reminds me, Group Doueh from Mauritania is another recent favorite. Dude and his family, playing together for decades, just released their first formal album. YouTube clip here gives a taste of it.

  53. 53.

    4jkb4ia

    I am impressed that Mr. Cole was listening to “Relayer” if he is at all close to my age. Even KSHE had restricted their Yes playlist to “Roundabout”, “I See All Good People”, “Owner of A Lonely Heart”, and “Leave It” by 1985.
    I owned 90125. By the time I was 13 Dire Straits was the greatest band in the world.

  55. 55.

    cleek

    check out an acoustic guitarist from Mali named Habib Koite.

    also in the same vein, Boubacar Traore and Ali Farka Toure.

  58. 58.

    Mutaman

    “I feel like I am 13 years old again listening to Yes-Relayer

    You can’t make this stuff up.

  60. 60.

    p.a.

    Speaking of world music, how about Celtic music from Spain sung in a Portuguese dialect? Check out Susana Seivane and Millaroiro on youtube, and google ‘music of Galicia’.

  61. 61.

    "Fair and Balanced" Dave

    Check out Crack the Sky. This album is from 1975 and is still a fantastic listen.

    I definitely second that recommendation. I listened to my old LP copy of “Safety in Numbers” not long ago. I had forgotten how good it was. “Safety in Numbers” and “Animal Notes” are available as a “two-fer” now, I just ordered my copy.

    BTW, Crack The Sky is still around and performing. They are headlining the Rites of Spring Festival (ROSFest) in Philadelphia next Sunday.

  63. 63.

    Aratus

    I had a serious flashback on that one. I love Wolfmother, and for me it was King Crimson and Conan, not to mention tons of Yes and Elric of Melnibone.

    I read all the Thomas Covenant books in one go in the 8th grade and I think it made me the person I am today. whether that’s a good or bad thing is up for argument…

  64. 64.

    LITBMueller

    Yea! Wolfmother! Awesome Aussie rock!! The nice thing about being married to an Aussie is that my Aussie in-laws send me CDs before they ever hit the states. I’ve been rocking to “Collosal” cranked to 11 in my car for a long time now!

    The other great Aussie band I’ve been pushing is Eskimo Joe – they are not a hard rock band – a bit more like Coldplay.

  65. 65.

    CWD

    Here’s some geek for ya:
    I had a language revalation at 12 or 13 while reading Lord Foul’s Bane.
    Vitriol! The evil eyles subteranean sorcers all had these staffs that flung vitriol. I expereinced some cognative dissonance as I tried to figure out the usefullness of a magic staff that said insulting things about your enemies. I realized from context that vitriol had to also be something else.
    I looked it up and was then puzzled as to why you would want some bugger at the point of your wedge flinging acid at your enemies right before you charged them – aren’t you going to end up wearing it too?

  66. 66.

    JimH

    and I feel like I am 13 years old again listening to Yes-Relayer on the cassette player in my bedroom while reading Lord Foul’s Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson.

    How the fuck were you ever a Republican?

    My people! You’re here! ;-)

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