The Shadows – “See You In My Drums”
The Shadows

A few of The Shadows’ surfy ‘60s tunes may sound familiar, as songs from that era often do. But there are otheres where they hit their stride and do something they like and you feel they wish they could jam on it forever. This is one, with a wonderful extended drum solo by Tony Meehan.

In man or fish, wriggling is a sign of inferiority.

Herman Melville, Moby Dick

Vocabulary: Midleaf Crasis Edition

surcingle: belt worn with a cassock; also one used to strap burdens to horses
crasis: blending or mingling; also combining two vowels into one sound
pasquil: also pasquinade, a satire or lampoon, usually posted publicly
poetaster: an inferior poet (-aster is a universal pejorative suffix)
aerolite: a meteorite, esp. one composed of silicates
caoutchouc: also cauchauc, archaic term for rubber
appetence: desire, appetite, affinity, or tendency
hibernian: relating to Ireland, or an Irish person
chark: to create charcoal, or the material itself
jakes: an outhouse or other outdoors lavatory
wain: an open-topped wagon or cart
collogue: to secretly conspire or plot
putid: morally or chemically corrupt
propugn: to defend or advocate for
harridan: a scolding woman or nag
succade: candied citrus peel
quondam: former, erstwhile
imposthume: an abscess
trivant: truant

The Blue Rondos – “Little Baby”

Produced by Joe Meeks, this and a handful of others were all this short-lived British band put out in the early ‘60s. Still, “Little Baby” is note-perfect: very much a bouncy pop song, yet ever so slightly bent. (official site – watch for autoplaying music)

Failure is less frequently attributable to either insufficiency of means or impatience of labour, than to a confused understanding of the thing actually to be done.

John Ruskin, The Seven Lamps of Architecture

Love has many masks; masks of submission and of oppression; and even more terrible masks that make Nature a stranger to herself and ‘turn the truth of God into a lie,’ as St. Paul wrote.

Ray Russell, Sardonicus

The lady may accept the escort, or the lady may ‘give him the mitten.’

I could cite you more than one hundred incidents corroborating the truth, that people have a very confused idea when their senses are tied up by fear and anxiety. As soon as cool reflection gives way to the horrors of a disordered fancy, we are but too apt to create phantoms and spectres all around us, we do not see what really exists, but what we fear to behold.

Lawrence Flammenberg, The Necromancer; or, The Tale of the Black Forest

Cue – “Wedding Song for Living Things and Dead Things”
Wedding Song

This energetic instrumental has the feel of a frenzied, multi-species jig. The combination of piercing violin, crashing percussion, and noisy guitars could easily have been muddled but it’s done well here, especially the quiet moments that have you waiting for the return of the jangly fury. (myspace)