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Fiction, Reading, Slider 3,

A Scratch and a Hiss

The scratching noise is first detected by Edgar at 8:17 P.M.

He knows this because the scratching noise comes from behind the kitchen wall clock, and he is forced to remove it for investigation purposes.

Silence greets him as he does.

Perplexed, Edgar runs his hands through his frazzled hair.

There was something behind that wall.

Probably a rat or something.

He returns the clock to its original positioning.

Edgar turns away and walks to the entranceway leading to the living room.

A low scratching noise emanates from behind him , and Edgar turns abruptly to discern its whereabouts.

Remaining still, and breathing as slow as possible, Edgar listens intently .

The noise is coming from behind the clock again.

Walking gently, Edgar returns to the wall clock, removes it, and presses his ear up against the wall.

The sound is low but very distinct.

Edgar curls his hand into a fist and bashes the wall with the side of it.

To be safe, he does it three more times.

Remaining quiet, he returns his ear to the wall.

A low hissing sound arises from the other side, and then the scratching resumes.

With anger arising within him, he begins to hammer the wall repeatedly with aggressive force.

But with every pound, the scratching increases in intensity.

There are wires behind there and you’re going to chew through them, aren’t you, you little prick, Edgar thinks to himself.

Edgar turns to walk away, and a loud antagonistic hiss bids him farewell.

Furious now, Edgar walks to the kitchen door leading to the garage.

Opening it, he goes outside to retrieve his sledgehammer.

Once back in the house, he walks with a sense of purpose to the spot of the sound, and without hesitation begins to bash through it with heated aggression.

After four or five forceful smashes, the wall breaks free leaving a giant hole.

Edgar shoves his head through it but encounters no living entity.

Confused, he returns his entire body to the kitchen.

Staring at it, he begins to think that he may have been a tad overzealous with his violent actions.

Now how much was this going to cost him to fix?

In deep contemplation, he detects another scratching sound…this time coming from the living room.

Walking steadily, he walks into the living room, passing the turned over family pictures on the cabinet, and stops dead in the middle of the room…listening.

The sounds arises from the ceiling directly above him.

Dropping the sledgehammer to the ground, he turns and walks back towards the door leading to the garage.

Once inside, he grabs a step ladder and returns to the middle of the living room.

Propping it up, he picks up the sledgehammer and quietly ascends the ladder steps.

He detects a snickering sound from the other side of the ceiling, and without any thought to the consequences, he begins to drive the weapon upwards with destructive force.

After four or five blows, and with plaster raining down from above, a large jagged hole emerges.

Cautiously sticking his head through it, Edgar begins to look around once inside.

Nothing is visible.

Removing his cell phone, he flips on the flashlight app and shines it around the darkened enclosure.

Nothing.

Breathing heavily, Edgar descends the ladder stairs.

There is plaster all over the newly chipped hard wood floors.

You’re not escaping me, thinks Edgar.

A low laughing sound is heard from the garage.

Now I got you.

Walking past the overturned family portraits with the sledgehammer still in hand, Edgar makes his way out into the garage.

Stopping suddenly, he hears the snickering arising from inside his SUV.

He tries the door handle…

Locked.

The keys were upstairs in the bedroom…the one he once shared.

Not wanting to waste any time, Edgar raises the sledgehammer above his head and begins to smash through the SUV’s windshield.

Pounding it with such aggressive force provides very little hope for the life of the glass.

Within seconds, it caves away. Thrusting his head through it, he scans the interior of the car.

Nothing.

Pulling his head upwards, he listens to the sounds of the garage.

With his heart beating fast and his blood pressure now raised to dangerous levels, Edgar has grown frustrated.

Why can’t I find this stupid rat?

A scratching sound arises from within the kitchen.

Gritting his teeth, he walks back into the room with his sledgehammer ready for attack.

The sound comes from the behind the stove.

Smiling, he returns to the garage to retrieve his hacksaw.

Upon his re-entrance to the kitchen, he walks to the stove, grabs the back of it with both hands and pulls it a few feet out from the wall. Locating the gas line located at the back of it, he readies his weapon.

Using the hacksaw, he punctures it.

Continuing to smile, he walks back into the garage and grabs a jerry can full of gasoline sitting in the corner.

He also picks up a book of matches from the shelf.

Returning to the punctured gas line, Edgar turns the can over and begins to pour gasoline onto it. Walking backwards, he exits the kitchen leaving a leaking gasoline trail before him. Making his way through the living room and out the front door, the trail lies splattered on the floor.

At about fifteen feet from the front of the house, he drops the can, strikes the match and drops it onto the trail leading into the house.

He turns and runs to the street located thirty feet from his front door.

It doesn’t take long.

As he turns his body back towards the house, he spares himself just enough time to witness the destruction.

The once darkened sky is now a ball of orange, red and yellow.

The flames rise and rise, and the house begins to crumble.

The smile clings to Edgar’s face.

He raises both arms up towards the coloured sky, knowing he has finally claimed victory.

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Blog, Slider 3,

Darkness Descending

The second of my two stories due for release this summer. A story about vengeance, regret and manipulation.

 

An Excerpt:

 

It’s more than just sex with her. The sweaty, emotionally-fuelled act of love making is euphoric in a way I never thought possible with another human being.

The look in her eyes pierces through my emotional core with unrepentant relentlessness.

I simply cannot explain it.

On top of her, I can’t help but lose myself in her gaze. Like quicksand, I sink deeper and deeper as her stare reaches, grasps and eventually paralyzes me.

I stare down upon her, smiling, overcome by an indescribable, overwhelming emotional connection.

I’m lost in a world I’ve never journeyed to before.

She stares up at me, smiling, lost in the carnal embrace of two wandering souls finally content in knowing they have found one another.

It was shame that we were both married to other people…

 

COMING SUMMER 2017

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Music Reviews,

Arctic Monkeys- Suck It and See

Album: Suck It and See

Label: Domino

Rating: 4/5

 

It’s never an easy undertaking to predict the sonic structure of an Arctic Monkey’s album. Their first two LP’s, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not and Favourite Worst Nightmare, were hyper-frenetic garage rock anthems while their third album, Humbug, was largely inspired by producer Josh Homme’s (of Queens of the Stone Age fame) fondness for classic rock with a psychedelic twist. Suck It and See is yet another reinvention that heavily embraces vintage rock of the 1950s and 60s.

In all honesty, it did take a few listens of Suck It and See to fully comprehend the denseness of its body. Seductively ensnaring, the music slowly and methodically glides upon you with mesmerizing serpentine prowess.

“Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair” is dark and foreboding with a dizzying array of dense guitar soundscapes and hypnotically dour bass lines. While “The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala” and “Piledriver Waltz” revel in the unpredictability that has come to define the recent musical landscape of the Monkeys.

Easily one of the most intriguing lyricists in modern music, lead singer Alex Turner incorporates wordplay with an almost Dylan-esque sensibility. Full of bewildering imagery that borders on the fantastical and enigmatic (“Jigsaw women with horror movie shoes/ Be cruel to me cos I’m a fool for you”), Turner’s talent for colorful and playful explorations of vocabulary is at its finest and most puzzling during Suck It and See’s duration.

Though the sound of the Monkey’s continues to deviate from its original blueprint, the thematic structure of the band’s art remains largely consistent with previous releases. From the very first album, Alex Turner has brazenly identified himself as a volatile outsider, and with a Jarvis Cocker sort of swagger, Suck It and See once again delivers a funky romanticism peppered with antagonistic richness.

It’s nothing short of bizarre to witness the continual evolution of the Sheffield, England quartet. With simply four albums, the Arctic Monkeys have adamantly refused generic limitations. While some of their fan base may be diminishing as a result, their artistic diversity continues to expand with notable results.

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Music Reviews,

Moby- Destroyed

Album: Destroyed

Label: Little Idiot

Rating: 3.5/5

 

Populated by desolate and dour soundscapes, Moby’s Destroyed eerily captures the essence of emptiness. Basking in haunting structural tones and textures, his tenth LP obsessively consumes itself with the re-creation of the fantastical elements of sleep deprivation. In fact, the electronica mastermind defines his latest release as “a soundtrack for empty cities at 2 a.m.”.

Suffering from bouts of insomnia during the configuration of this album, Moby’s latest release is definitely a curiosity piece; far from perfect, but hardly a write-off.

It should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed his career that Moby prides himself on the seductive manipulation of sound. Embracing a seemingly limitless musical structure, Destroyed expresses a dense abundance of sonic diversity.

Whether it’s the hazy dreamscapes of “The Low Hum”, the Shoegazing-inspired “Lie Down in Darkness”, or the hallucinatory stillness of “Rockets”, Moby invokes a rich and enticing ambience throughout. Even when a few of the tracks border on tedious banality, there always emerges something intriguing hidden amongst the layers of depth.

Destroyed is exactly what you would expect from an insomniac at 2 a.m. (jittery/anxious creativity), and for this reason will more than likely turn people away. It’s definitely experimental, but then again most of Moby’s artistic output tends to be. Suffice to say, it’s intriguing but perhaps it’s too soon to judge if it’s truly memorable.

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Music Reviews,

Ben Harper- Give Till It’s Gone

Album: Give Till It’s Gone

Label:  Virgin

Rating: 4/5

 

Ben Harper’s Give Till It’s Gone is quite simply a quest for understanding. A self-reflective journey navigating throughout many musical genres, Harper’s tenth LP (largely a solo effort) is a melancholic exploration ripe with rhythmic bliss.

Throughout its duration, a clearly emotionally ravaged Harper passionately embraces change with soulful eloquence, heartfelt honesty and frustrated anger. More than likely an ode to the disintegration of his marriage to actress Laura Dern, the album is the work of an artist at an emotional crossroads.

Commencing slowly and melodically with the sad, weeping guitars of “Don’t Give Up on Me Now” and “I Will Not Be Broken”, the album quickly shifts gears as it propels recklessly into “Rock n’ Roll is Free”, a classic Harper concoction of blues infused alt-rock.

The album is also provided additional musical depth by the appearances of key contributors, Ringo Starr and Jackson Browne. In particular, Starr’s drumming on “Spilling Faith” and “Get There from Here” lends a post-pop Beatles psychedelic aura to both tracks.

What’s truly at the heart of the album is a remorseful and recovering Harper continuing to fight the fight. As the title indicates, he is prepared to do all he can until it is no longer possible to do so. The album is largely devoid of overt sentimentality and instead relies heavily on confrontational and questioning emotional catharsis, which is a welcome addition to the sonic scope of Harper’s work.

In a sense, the personal anguish of Harper’s life has led to his most profound work in…well, forever.

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Music Reviews,

Seether- Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray

Album: Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray

Label: Wind-up

Rating: 4/5

 

Pain is a trait rarely desired. But when it helps to creatively fuel one’s own art, it can then be understood as an acceptable and worthwhile attribute to have. Seether’s Holding onto Strings Better Left to Fray is a painful expression of a wounded heart. Angry and volatile, it’s an album that proudly bears its soul to a willing audience.

Seether’s fifth studio release may not be an overly complicated construction, but it is an entertaining and endearing one. Revelling with angst-ridden glee, the album covers familiar territory (rock ballad included) but does it with a candid, albeit loud, perspective.

Throughout the band’s history, the music has tended to rely heavily on the tragic and melancholic while simultaneously incorporating (slight) catchy pop hooks with heavy guitar riffs and pounding bass lines. Holding relatively true to that blueprint, their latest release excels as a result of its emphasis on grungy and seedy explorations of expressive anger.

Some may write the enraged, isolated perspective of singer Shaun Morgan off as mere redundancy, but there is a profound energy that filters throughout his booming vocalisation. Driving and forceful, Morgan’s voice perfects a lonesome fragility in search of permanence.

Though seemingly straightforward, the album’s sound does occasionally diversify. Opening track “Fur Cue” and “Desire for Need” are explosive, in-your-face post-grunge rock outs, while “No Resolution” and “Country Song” are flavoured with a Southern rock twang that elicits boot thumping exuberance.

Though it may not be remembered six months from now, Seether’s latest release is actually their most intelligent and memorable album to date.

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Music Reviews,

The Trews- Hope and Ruin

Album: Hope and Ruin

Label: Bumstead

Rating: 3.5/5

 

Is it fair to criticize a band simply because they refuse to deviate from routine? That’s the question I was asking myself as I listened to The Trews’ fourth album Hope and Ruin. In a way, it’s somewhat egotistical to want a band to alter their sound simply because they have already encountered personal success with that particular style (no matter how deceptively simplistic it may seem at times), but it’s important to critique, anyways.

Sonically, there’s no denying that the album sounds exceptional (it was co-produced by Gord Sinclair of The Tragically Hip). Consistently solid vocalization by Colin Macdonald is impeccably balanced with crisp guitars and drums throughout each track.

However, as easy-going and straightforward as it is sound-wise, the album ultimately suffers from a lack of creative diversity that instills that awe-inspiring ‘oomph’. Powered, at times, by a ho-hum predictability, Hope and Ruin’s potential for greatness is unfortunately squandered by its refusal to truly take any chances musically.

But the album’s lack of experimentation is not a total letdown.

The album’s tendency to focus on gentle melancholic melodies that permeate throughout its duration is truly its highlight. Situated amongst the classic rock-infused pop tracks like “Misery Loves Company” and “People of the Deer”, tender ballads such as “One by One”, “Stay with Me” and “If You Wanna Start Again” highlight a sincere sensitivity/fragility that is a welcome addition to The Trews’ overall sound.

In the long run, Hope and Ruin may not be the daring enterprise many may want it to be, but it does strive to entertain. It’s hard to find fault with

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Music Reviews,

Moon Duo- Mazes

Album: Mazes

Label: Sacred Bones

Rating: 4.5/5

 

There comes a time when an album’s expressive creativity transcends simplistic critical analysis. Moon Duo’s Mazes is that album. A hauntingly unnerving rhythmic exploration of space and structure, Mazes’ eight tracks are sonic escapism at its finest.

Fusing 60’s psychedelic with minimalist rock n’ roll swagger, the album is driven by an unforgettable sense of experimentation. Seemingly focused on repetitive two chord guitar riffs, freakish keyboards, and low key drum patterns, Moon Duo (Sanae Yamada and Wooden Shjips’ Ripley Johnson) unabashedly explore an array of sonic boundaries throughout the Krautrock influenced Mazes.

“Seer” is acid-infused garage rock with hints of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club soaring overhead, while “When You Cut” is a heady mix of hypnotic psychedelia wrapped up in a maze of ‘space-y’ guitar solos.

Highlighted by limited, but tormented and echoing, vocalization, Mazes unfolds strategically, ultimately revealing layers upon layers of musical intuitiveness and scope that eventually culminates with the eight-minute hallucinatory finale “Goners”.

Bursting with chemically enhanced flavor, it’s nearly impossible to define this album with simply one listen. Broad and courageous, the album revels in grungy/moody atmospheric auras that systematically devour the listener with ambitious delight.