It’s been many a moon since I featured The Emerald Down, and “Caught A Wave” sounds an awful lot like some early Slowdive songs (like “Shine”), a dreamy, buzzy, steady-state sort of Shoegaze, maybe with a little Ride and My Bloody valentine mixed in.
Shoegazer Sunday: The Emerald Down’s “Caught A Wave”
May 30th, 2021Library Addition: The Sandman Overture Absolute Edition
May 27th, 2021An unexpected addition to my Absolute Sandman collection:
Gaiman, Neil and J. H. Williams III. The Sandman Overtures Absolute Edition. DC Comics, 2018. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine slipcase, sans dust jacket, as issued. Given to me as a birthday gift.
Honestly, I was unaware this even existed, as I haven’t kept up with Gaiman’s prodigious comics work. I think I already had all the other Absolute Sandman volumes, but I still lack the Absolute Death collection.
The Eternals Trailer: Super-Meh
May 26th, 2021The trailer for Marvel’s The Eternals dropped:
It’s so lackluster I have to use a meme from the competing DC universe:
There’s nothing there that grabbed me. And I’m a guy who’s seen almost all of the MCU films.
The Critical Drinker has thoughts that largely mirror my own, albeit with more drinking and profanity:
Library Addition: Signed Hardback First of 100 Books by August Derleth
May 25th, 2021My long-term goal of obtaining a complete Arkham House collection gains another important volume:
Derleth, August. 100 Books by August Derleth. Arkham House, 1962. First edition hardback, one of only 200 hardback copies, a Near Fine- copy with wear at head, heel and points (and a few traces elsewhere) on the decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Inscribed by Derleth: “Best wishes,/August Derleth.” Bibliography. Simultaneous with a much larger paperback run. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House, 65. Jaffery, Horrors and Unpleasantries, 67. Nielsen, Arkham House Books: A Collector’s Guide, 69. Derleth, Thirty Years of Arkham House, 65. Currey, page 155. Tymn Schlobin Currey, A Research Guide to Science Fiction Studies, 247. Chalker Owings, The Science-Fantasy Publishers, page 32 (which notes this was actually published in 1963). Bought off Biblio for $360.
Library Addition: Signed, Limited Edition of Jack Vance’s Cugel’s Saga
May 20th, 2021Here’s a Jack Vance limited edition that I’ve been looking to pick up for quite a while:
Vance, Jack. Cugel’s Saga. Underwood Miller, 1983. First limited edition hardback, a presentation copy of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine- copy with slight crimping at head, in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with some age darkening to the spine and touches of wear at head, heel and points, in a Fine- slipcase with a few traces of wear. Sequel to Eyes of the Overworld. Hewett A71b, which notes the slipcase was actually issued later than the book itself. Cunningham 19b, which notes that there were 50 PC copies. Bought off eBay for $202.50, which is about half of what normal copies usually go for, much less a presentation copy with the slipcase.
Library Additions: Two Signed Harlan Ellison Edgeworks Firsts
May 18th, 2021Two more signed Ellison firsts to replace unsigned copies.
Shoegazer Sunday: Is Bliss’ “Belong”
May 16th, 2021Is Bliss hails from Portsmouth, UK. “Belong,” off their album Strange Communication sounds like a cross between something from the noisy, heavy guitar end of Shoegaze (like Civic) and Gentlemen-era Afghan Whigs, a band I probably hadn’t thought of in two decades. Something about the plaintive, nasal howl of the lead singer…
Library Addition: Signed Copy of The Ray Bradbury Companion
May 13th, 2021Another book in my quest to get a signed copy of every Ray Bradbury-related book:
(Bradbury, Ray) Nolan, William F. The Ray Bradbury Companion. Gale Research, 1975. First edition hardback (no statement of printing as per Currey), a Fine copy in a sound, Very Good slipcase from which numerous small (tackhead sized and smaller) pieces of the affixed wrap-around paper label have chipped away, plus a few other touches of dust and wear, sans dust jacket, as issued, signed by Bradbury on page 37. Critical companion on Bradbury’s work. Currey, page 59. Tymn, Schlobin, Currey, 221. Bought off eBay for $59.
Library Addition: Signed First of Poul Anderson’s Flandry of Terra
May 11th, 2021Here’s one of those books I heard good things about in my youth but never actually read:
Anderson, Poul. Flandry of Terra. Chilton, 1965. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with bumping at head and bumping and slight rubbing at heel, in a Fine- dust jacket with slight wrinkling at head and heel and a touch of rubbing, signed by Anderson. Currey, page 10. Anatomy of Wonder 4, 3-7. Bought off eBay for $22.50.
Shoegazer Sunday: Two Versions of Golden Hair
May 9th, 2021Here’s some A/B comparison testing. Here’s Planet Cell covering Slowdive’s cover of Syd Barrett’s “Golden Hair”:
It’s pretty good…up until the end, when it becomes a sort of strident mess.
By contrast, this live version of Slowdive doing the piece themselves at the Best Kept Secret festival (which I’ve posted here before) just takes it to an entirely new level at the end, all the parts of the band meshing together for a soaring climax.