tomesandtones

[tomesandtones]

The Open Road

I got a lot done working from home in this new world that’s coping with a pandemic. We’re all trying to keep busy with work and getting things done in and outside the home. You need to, otherwise you’d lose it in the media storm.

It was a beautiful day yesterday and I decided to take the bike out for a ride. A little cold, but it was worth it.

Just me and the road.

[tomesandtones]

I just finished reading this late in March 2020, amid the growing fears and reality setting in with COVID-19.

This is a great novel. Some choice quotes to follow.

A Farewell to Arms and Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway wrote “A Farewell to Arms” from his own experience in World War I. Both Hemingway and Frederic began their war careers as ambulance drivers before they were injured at the front. As for similarities between the plot and Hemingway’s life, it sort of stops there. But Hemingway and Henry seem to be very similar people. Hemingway was hurt early in his life by a woman. Ms. Agnes von Kuwosky. He had fallen in love and they had planned to marry, but Agnes later revealed that she was already engaged and left him. Frederic’s scenario of losing the woman he loves is of course different, but it is the same root cause of pain. Hemingway had very unsuccessful relationships in the future, and one can only think that the same would happen to Frederic. Hemingway was also a big drinker, much like Frederic. Pain from the war and other experiences of loss and pain left them trying to protect themselves from getting hurt, or feeling anything at all for that matter. He led an adventurous life, and was frequently injured. After being in bushfires and plane crashes, he had been diagnosed with liver disease, high blood pressure, and arteriosclerosis. Hemingway continued to fight his pain and escape with alcohol, until he finally took his life in 1961. “A Farewell To Arms” covers only a short period in Frederic’s life, but his dependence on alcohol for escaping pain and necessity for love and human contact can only remind the reader of one Ernest Hemingway.

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[tomesandtones]

I came across this tonight. I’m a big Yes fan, but never listened to this.

My Yes experience ended at Relayer. After reading #vinylspinning blog entry, I have added Going for the One to my list.

Yes: Going for the One (1977)

There are very few legendary rock bands with vast discographies, millions of albums sold, and scores of loyal fans that I simply can’t abide, but they include the Grateful Dead, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and, until quite recently, Yes.

By and large, Jon Anderson’s comical squeals are largely to blame, but his pretentious mystical mumbo-jumbo always pushes me “close to the edge” (sorry, couldn’t resist), and, as expected, I found little redeeming value in the progressive rock rubicon (i.e. the point of no return) that is Tales of Topographic Oceans. 

But Going for the One was a different story: once my initial allergic reaction to most things Yes subsided, along with the irritating rash of a title track (Steve Howe’s country steel guitar intro is a clever misdirect, I’ll give him that), I must say this album is totally worth the metaphorical itching and scratching.

Scaling things back from the side-spanning excesses of …Oceans and Relayer, Going… emphasizes sensible songcraft even for its long and complex excursions, putting it in the same category as prior (much more tolerable) career peaks like Fragile and Close to the Edge.

Heck, even though I’m not that big a fan of the song, I have to admit that Anderson’s “Wonderous Stories” may be the best true single Yes ever wrote … at least until “Owner of a Lonely Heart.”

By contrasts, Chris Squire’s driving “Parallels” is a nerd-fest of the highest order, clearly influencing my beloved Rush and featuring keyboard wizard Rick Wakeman bashing a church organ into submission.

Speaking of Wakeman, his return after a four-year absence makes SUCH a difference (and his replacement, Patrick Moraz, was no slouch by any means), as he contributes superhuman parts throughout and rescues the eight-minute ballad “Turn of the Century” from overstaying its welcome.

And the epic suite “Awaken” remarkably doesn’t overstay either, packing every one of its fifteen minutes with memorable moments, such as Howe’s descending guitar theme, blistering runs and precious lick circa 9:55, Wakeman’s Bach-ian church organs, Anderson and Squire’s intricate counterpoint vocals, and Alan White’s tuned percussion and sheer versatile endurance from start to finish.

Ultimately, and I can’t believe I’m writing this, my only major beef with Going for the One is its cover art, which saw longtime Yes favorite Roger Dean and his evocative alien landscapes replaced with some naked dude’s arse, courtesy of those absurdist goofballs at Hipgnosis. 

More Yes: Fragile, Close to the Edge, Tales from Topographic Oceans.

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I’m hoping to replace the JBLs with this speaker set.

[tomesandtones]

Living in Stereo

I’ll do an intro later.  When it feels right.  What feels right, right now, is to start writing about stereo.  Specifically, setting up my old systems.

It has been long overdue.  A long time ago, like 1986 or so, I used to have a daily music ritual where I’d come home after school and sit down in my music room and listen to an album front to back.  In darkness.

It was good.  I felt replenished as I sat thinking and unwinding to that days’ soundtrack in darkness.

33 years pass and now I’m mostly listening to music in my car.  Or my vintage iPod 160 GB Classic.  Another source of listening/viewing has been YouTube.  It is ridiculously addictive.

The common thread here is that I’m listening to crappy audio quality and I’ve let myself slide into this because it’s easy.  Industry has trained us to accept low-res MP3s as ‘good’.

It’s time to change all that.  My old stereo sets (two systems) have been in storage and it’s time to bring them out.

The house is being renovated and the family office and will have a dedicated stereo system.

Carver M-500T amplifier

NAD 1130 pre-amplifier

Dual CS505 turntable w/Ortofon OM-10 cartridge

NAD 5330 CD player

Speakers, for now, JBL Northridge E20

I like everything, but the speakers.  They will have to do for now until I find something that will both match well with the amp and suit the room size-wise.