RARWRITER PUBLISHING GROUP PRESENTS

CREATIVE CULTURE JOURNAL

at www.RARWRITER.com      

--------------------"The best source on the web for what's real in arts and entertainment" ---------------------------

Volume 1-2016

MUSIC    BOOKS    FINE ARTS   FILM   THE WORLD

ARTIST NEWS    THIS EDITION   ABOUT   MUSIC   MUSIC REVIEWS  BOOKS  CINEMA   FASHION   FINE ARTS  FEATURES   SERIES  MEDIA  ESSAY  RESOURCES  WRITTEN ARTS POETRY  CONTACT  ARCHIVES  MUSIC LINKS

                                 

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Use this link to add your email address to the RARWRITER Publishing Group mailing list for updates on activities associated with the Creative Culture and Revolution Culture journals, and other RARWRITER Publishing Group interests.

 

ABOUT RAR: For those of you new to this site, "RAR" is Rick Alan Rice, the publisher of the RARWRITER Publishing Group websites. Use this link to visit the RAR music page, which features original music compositions and other.

Use this link to visit Rick Alan Rice's publications page, which features excerpts from novels and other.

RARADIO

(Click here)

Currently on RARadio:

"On to the Next One" by Jacqueline Van Bierk

"I See You Tiger" by Via Tania

"Lost the Plot" by Amoureux"

Bright Eyes, Black Soul" by The Lovers Key

"Cool Thing" by Sassparilla

"These Halls I Dwell" by Michael Butler

"St. Francis"by Tom Russell & Gretchen Peters, performance by Gretchen Peters and Barry Walsh; 

"Who Do You Love?"by Elizabeth Kay; 

"Rebirth"by Caterpillars; 

"Monica's Frock" by Signel-Z; 

"Natural Disasters" by Corey Landis; 

"1,000 Leather Tassels" by The Blank Tapes; 

"We Are All Stone" and "Those Machines" by Outer Minds; 

"Another Dream" by MMOSS; "Susannah" by Woolen Kits; 

Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and other dead celebrities / news by A SECRET PARTY;

"I Miss the Day" by My Secret Island,  

"Carriers of Light" by Brendan James;

"The Last Time" by Model Stranger;

"Last Call" by Jay;

"Darkness" by Leonard Cohen; 

"Sweetbread" by Simian Mobile Disco and "Keep You" fromActress off the Chronicle movie soundtrack; 

"Goodbye to Love" from October Dawn; 

Trouble in Mind 2011 label sampler; 

Black Box Revelation Live on Minnesota Public Radio;

Apteka "Striking Violet"; 

Mikal Cronin's "Apathy" and "Get Along";

Dana deChaby's progressive rock

 

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Rick Alan Rice (RAR) Literature Page

ATWOOD - "A Toiler's Weird Odyssey of Deliverance" -AVAILABLE NOW FOR KINDLE (INCLUDING KINDLE COMPUTER APPS) FROM AMAZON.COM. Use this link.

CCJ Publisher Rick Alan Rice dissects the building of America in a trilogy of novels collectively calledATWOOD. Book One explores the development of the American West through the lens of public policy, land planning, municipal development, and governance as it played out in one of the new counties of Kansas in the latter half of the 19th Century. The novel focuses on the religious and cultural traditions that imbued the American Midwest with a special character that continues to have a profound effect on American politics to this day. Book One creates an understanding about America's cultural foundations that is further explored in books two and three that further trace the historical-cultural-spiritual development of one isolated county on the Great Plains that stands as an icon in the development of a certain brand of American character. That's the serious stuff viewed from high altitude. The story itself gets down and dirty with the supernatural, which in ATWOOD - A Toiler's Weird Odyssey of Deliveranceis the outfall of misfires in human interactions, from the monumental to the sublime. The book features the epic poem "The Toiler" as well as artwork by New Mexico artist Richard Padilla.

Elmore Leonard Meets Larry McMurtry

Western Crime Novel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am offering another novel through Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing service. Cooksin is the story of a criminal syndicate that sets its sights on a ranching/farming community in Weld County, Colorado, 1950. The perpetrators of the criminal enterprise steal farm equipment, slaughter cattle, and rob the personal property of individuals whose assets have been inventoried in advance and distributed through a vast system of illegal commerce.

It is a ripping good yarn, filled with suspense and intrigue. This was designed intentionally to pay homage to the type of creative works being produced in 1950, when the story is set. Richard Padilla has done his usually brilliant work in capturing the look and feel of a certain type of crime fiction being produced in that era. The whole thing has the feel of those black & white films you see on Turner Movie Classics, and the writing will remind you a little of Elmore Leonard, whose earliest works were westerns. Use this link.

 

EXPLORE THE KINDLE BOOK LIBRARY

If you have not explored the books available from Amazon.com's Kindle Publishing division you would do yourself a favor to do so. You will find classic literature there, as well as tons of privately published books of every kind. A lot of it is awful, like a lot of traditionally published books are awful, but some are truly classics. You can get the entire collection of Shakespeare's works for two bucks.

You do not need to buy a Kindle to take advantage of this low-cost library. Use this link to go to an Amazon.com page from which you can download for free a Kindle App for your computer, tablet, or phone.

Amazon is the largest, but far from the only digital publisher. You can find similar treasure troves atNOOK Press (the Barnes & Noble site), Lulu, and others.


 

 

 

PHILADELPHIA LINKS  

The City of Brotherly Love has become one of the hottest centers for Rock in the U.S. Listed below are a few of the bands that are leading this development. Ryan Muir took the photograph above of Beach Slang playing a Red Bull-sponsored show.

 

Beach Slang

Beach Slang gets compared to guitar bands like The Replacements and the Goo Goo Dolls. They are a trio of punkers who issued an EP last year titled Cheap Thrills On A Dead End Street, which is worth finding. Members also play in the bands Weston, Crybaby and Ex-Friends.


 

Cayetana

Singer Augusta Koch leads this female trio whose music has been described as we're-all-in-this-together-down-here-in-the-basement sing-alongs about how fun it is to love and dread everything all at once.


 

CRUISR

Singer-songwriter Andy States made CRUISR happen by sending an email to Youth Lagoon producer Jeremy Park, who liked States' demo tracks and signed on to help. States tapped drummer friend Jon Van Dine to join the band, who then recruited bassist Kyle Cook and second guitarist Bruno Catrambone. They are signed to Vagrant Records and last year played JZ's Made In America Festival.



The Districts

The Districts premiered their newest song, "Peaches", on Jimmy Fallon's Tumblr. They have an LP coming out, 'A Flourish and a Spoil' on Fat Possum. The quartet is playing the festival circuit, including Bonnaroo, Hangout Fest and Governor's Ball. Last year they played Lollapalooza. The Districts' music has been described as reckless, growling, bluesy, lean, pushy.
 

Girlpool

Girlpool relocated from Los Angeles to Philadelphia earlier this year, following the release of a self-titled EP. The duo of Harmony Tividad and Cleo Tucker will soon be heading out on the road with Waxahatchee. They're signed to Wichita Recordings. They have been described as doing shrieky, screamy, bratty, punky indie rock.
 

Hop Along

Hop Along has taken an interesting route to notoriety. They headlined a Red Bull Sound Select show in Brooklyn recently to showcase a song they had developed through the Weathervane's Shaking Through program. That program selects an emerging band to bring into a pro studio to work on a new song with pro producers. The Districts and Cayetana have also experienced this development process. Hop Along is led by singer/guitarist Frances Quinlin, who is into anthemic rock. They've been working on a new album in the studio with John Angello (Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, Kurt Vile).


Nothing

Nothing is in the stable of Philadelphia area metal label Relapse, which released the band's 'Guilty Of Everything' album last year, though Nothing is not really a metal band.
 

Radiator Hospital

This quartet led by Sam Cook-Parrot, and they released an album last year titled 'Torch Song' that featured guest appearances by members of Waxahatchee and Swearin' and was recorded by Kyle Gilbride (of Swearin'), who recorded the last albums by Swearin' and Waxahatchee. Radiator Hospital makes quirky, gritty rock songs about having dreams and nightmares way too big for their small world.
 

Restorations

Restorations released a monster of a rock album last year on SideOneDummy with a very modest name: 'LP3.' Guess what? It was the band's third album.Reviewers have called out their battling guitar melodies and stadium crumbling drums, and their howling and raucous lyrics about the beginning and the end of the world and everything in between.

Swearin'

Swearin is led by Allison Crutchfield whose sister's band is another local favorite, Waxahatchee. Swearin' signed with Wichita Recordings in 2013 and re-released their self-titled album to much praise.

 

Dr. Dog

 

A lot of bounce in this educated mutt...

 

Dr. Dog formed as a side project of songwriters and vocalists Toby Leaman and Scott McMicken and matured into the band we have today. One with a nasally voice (McMicken), the other without, Dr. Dog sets the mood with their fair share of songs about relationships and lifetime woes. Borrowing heavily from bands like the Beatles and the Kinks, Dr. Dog blended the sounds of yesteryear with the low-fi recording style of bands like the Mountain Goats or the Pink Spiders and added ample amounts of harmonies and hand-claps bringing a soothing yet scratchy sound reminiscent of your grandpa’s turntable that was built into his end table. The short version: They bring a hell of a lot of charm to their music and the talent to back it up.

Dr. Dog began gaining traction in 2004 after going on tour with My Morning Jacket. Soon after they released their sophomore album Easy Beat and continued touring and putting out more music, often free of charge through their website. Though Dr. Dog produced their first few albums with a low-fi sound, they’ve since cleaned up their act a bit and polished their sound. Their songs have retained their powerful lyrics and harmonies, bringing forth a matured sound and a tighter-knit band.

Dr. Dog has made appearances on the late-night circuit including Jimmy Fallon, Craig Ferguson, and Conan O’Brien.

 

 

Conspirator Builds Allies

Porter Robinson and AVICII Remixes include "Seek Bromance"

By Wendy Brynford-Jones
Conspirator features Aron Magner and Marc Brownstein (The Disco Biscuits keyboardist and bass player) as an outlet to channel their electronic mad scientist personae. Formed in 2004 with New York DJ/producer DJ Omen, Conspirator has taken on many forms through the years. With the recent addition of virtuoso guitarist Chris Michetti and a rotating cast of some of the country's best drummers – Darren Shearer (the New Deal), Mike Greenfield (Lotus), KJ Sawka (Pendulum) and Adam Deitch (Break Science, Pretty Lights) – Conspirator has reached another level. The band recently issued web only remixes of dance tracks from Porter Robinson and Avicii that have been garnering lots of attention on the electronic music circuit.

According to Brownstein, the idea to do remixes happened one day when hanging out in their studio space in Philadelphia with Khadafi Dub, a rapper from Philly who has become an MC for many of the top dub-step artists in the world. “We mentioned that we would be interested in getting stems from some of the artists whom he knows and with whom he has worked. A few days later the stems started to roll in. The artists included Porter Robinson, Avicii, 12th Planet and more, which enabled us to get to work straight away. When stems from "Seek Bromance,” a dance hit of mega proportions (60 million views on YouTube) come in, you jump on it and remix it immediately. “

The response to the remixes of Avicii’s “Seek Bromance” and the Porter Robinson’s track “Say My Name” have been huge, yielding nearly 85,000 plays combined in a short period of time on Soundcloud after being posted to the popular blog, ThisSongIsSick.com. The latter remix of “Say My Name”, from the 19-year-old electronic sensation Robinson, has already racked up over 33,000 plays in just two short weeks.

Links for the remix tracks:
Avicii - http://soundcloud.com/conspiratorofficial/seek-bromance-conspirator
Porter Robinson - http://soundcloud.com/conspiratorofficial/seek-bromance-conspirator

Conspirator is gearing up for a new full-length release entitled Unlocked - Live from the Georgia Theatre (release date April 10, 2012), which captures the spirit of these true genre blenders. The collection is a smorgasbord of electronic rock bliss, delving, twisting and diving effortlessly between house, dub-step, drum and bass, and electro. Coming off of breakout performances at Ultra Music Festival and Nocturnal Festival, Conspirator has begun to catch the eye of electronic music aficionados everywhere. Upcoming tour date highlights will include headlining shows at Irving Plaza, The Trocadero, The Orange Peel, Georgia Theater, the Fox Theater and more as well as supporting slots with Lotus at the Congress Theater and The Pageant.

Yes, it is the Year of the Dragon but barring the Mayan prediction coming true for 2012, this should be Conspirator’s year as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Copyright © November, 2018 Rick Alan Rice (RARWRITER)