BOOK REVIEW: "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Trees" by David More and John White

 

If you're contemplating trees and you want to know the identification of a certain species, you can pull out a pocket field guide for trees to aid you. It should be as simple as that.

But if you're tree-obsessed and the mere identification of a species doesn't quell your curiosity - when an elm tree isn't just an elm tree but a distant European hybrid cousin of an elm tree - then The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Trees (Second Edition, Princeton University Press, 2013) should satisfy the deeply rooted dendrologist within you.
 
This mammoth book (832 pages) identifies nearly 2,000 species and cultivars (cultivated through selection for desirable characteristics) found in Europe and North America. It offers an extensive history of the collecting and dispensing of tree seedlings.

Readers will discover Johnny Appleseed is not the only name in tree seed lore. Seventeenth-century European explorers, as colorful and animated as the celebrated Appleseed, adorned Western Europe with a host of new species discovered in Asia, which eventually found their way to American shores.

David More (illustrator) and John White (writer) have produced a labor of love and their fascination for trees keeps the stiff scientific data from absorbing the pleasure of reading about these ancient mystical plants. Leisurely yet encyclopedic, the volume serves as a studied document of tree history beginning with ancient glaciers determining tree distribution in northern Europe and America. It also offers practical advice and knowledge for the average gardener and tree enthusiast.

David More spent more than a decade painting illustrations from real specimens. The result is a colorful array of nature's mightiest plants. A touch of whimsy graces the purely scientific illustrations as the artist includes attributes of a species, for instance a dog sitting lazily under the shade of a tree that offers protection from the sun.

While the book only studies trees of the northern temperate zone, it includes an illustrated chapter on southern tropical trees, an area of the globe greatly untapped in the identification, transfer, and planting of tree species. It seems a likely hint at the volume to come from these tree-worshipping authors.


this article was first published by me at http://blogcritics.org/book-review-the-illustrated-encyclopedia-of-trees-by-david-more-and-john-white/

Book Review: The World's Rarest Birds, by Erik Hirschfeld, Andy Swish, and Robert Still

In our ever photographic world, where satellite technology can reproduce an image from anywhere on the planet, and cell phone cameras are as plentiful as pocket change, it is hard to imagine any mundane image not captured by the lens of a camera. In the huge and exhaustive new book, The World's Rarest Birds by Erik Hirschfeld, Andy Swash and Robert Still (Princeton University Press 2013), we're reminded that advanced photographic technology can do wonders, but it can not lift the canopy off a jungle forest and record the creatures living there. They must be sought after the old fashioned way - beating a path on foot with a good camera.

It is noted here that 75 of the 590 species of the world's birds that are either endangered, critically endangered, or living only in captivity, have never been photographed. The existence of these 75 species is known only through eyewitness accounts and illustrations. Yet the likelihood of their existence, in remote, difficult to access areas of the planet is promising. Reports of extinct species of birds being seen keep bird conservationists unwilling to classify a bird as extinct until all possible avenues of discovery are exhausted.

                                                          Orange-bellied Parrott

The species of birds that have never been photographed, but are presumed extant are meticulously illustrated here by renowned wildlife artist Tomasz Cotta. His work is so well defined it appears photographic. The actual photographs of the 515 species known to be endangered are stunning, partly the result of a prestigious international photo competition organized by BirdLife International for the publication of this book. The authors have canvassed the four corners of the world to obtain images of the most elusive, sometimes the most fabled birds known to exist. Brilliant tropical colors splash across the pages and dizzying aerial flights add excitement to what could have been a big and beautiful (but unread) coffee table picture book.

                                                            Pileated Woodpecker


But the urgency of the narrative, and the alarming statistical data makes The World's Rarest Birds a compelling read as well as a gorgeous book. As if in a race against time, the authors address the great efforts underway, and the obstacles against - loss of habitat, poaching, hostile or indifferent political structure - insuring the survival of endangered bird species. A great sadness is felt reading through the list of bird species confirmed to be extinct, akin to reading through a list of human fatalities.

The book is divided into global geographic areas documenting the species of birds of that region threatened with extinction. Each species is given a detailed description regarding its threatened status, its estimated population, and a map showing its likely occurrence. It is like a colossal version of the classic Peterson's Field Guide To The Birds, but with the emphasis not on the discovery, but the survival of bird species. With its comprehensive appendixes and thorough index, and some of the most breathtaking pictures of birds ever recorded, this volume is an essential and timely study of conservationism and natural history.

                                                                  El Oro Parakeets



this article was first published by the author at:
http://blogcritics.org/book-review-the-worlds-rarest-birds-by-erik-hirschfeld-andy-swish-and-robert-still/

Peter Frampton, Live In Detroit - Party Like It's 1977!

 

Fr
  If you can stand another round of Peter Frampton's "Do You Feel Like We Do", complete with talk box guitar - and as offered here with a superlative keyboard solo - and if "Show Me The Way" and "Baby I Love Your Way" are nostalgic musical milestones in your life, then this 1999 concert video, Frampton - Live In Detroit - is a persistent reminder that classic rock will never die. Commercial radio still parties like it's 1977, and the chances of turning on the radio right now and hearing any of Frampton's big '70s hit singles are very, very good.

It's unfortunate that only a slice of Frampton's fan base is aware of his total body of music as opposed to his hit singles. This concert reminds me of just how good some of his lesser known songs are. "Lines On My Face" from 1973's Frampton's Camel, and turned into a classic live track on 1977's Frampton Comes Alive! is still a heart stinging testament of youth leaving a reckless dusty trail behind in the wake of emerging adulthood. Here, as on Comes Alive! the song bleeds with emotion as Frampton's fiery guitar gently, ferociously weeps.

"You Had To Be There", a new song, also recalls the nostalgic past. It's an adrenalin charged rocker that recalls a time when rock and roll was high on peace and love. It's bittersweet lyrics lament a "We Are the Champions" vibe for the aging and wizened hipsters among us.

The weight of the show remains however, Frampton Comes Alive! territory, that seminal 1977 album that taught record label executives that a slickly produced live album by a cult status guitarist could sell upwards of six million copies. "Show Me The Way" is still a sweet song with a heart-achiness that has matured into a longing whimsy. "Baby I Love Your Way", with audience sing-a-long, sounds as heart warming and romantic as thumbing through your old high school yearbook. It sounds almost a bit Nashville countrified with Frampton's gentle strumming of his acoustic guitar complimenting Bob Mayo's sparkling keyboards.

The Frampton standard, "Do You Feel Like We Do" is still an extravagance, but with the added pleasure of Bob Mayo's solo interlude, which gives the song considerable polish and backbone. "Can't Take That Away", again a nostalgic nod to surviving rock 'n roll, from 1993's Frampton boasts Frampton's considerable blues guitar talent.

His voice is strong and rich and his playing impeccable. It's reassuring to see a rock 'n roll graduate like Frampton not succumbing to the lifestyle of booze and drugs. Bright eyed and bushy tailed, and with just a bit of grandstanding (hand cupped to ear - "How ya feeling tonight?") he rouses the crowd like a circus master.

Bonus features include a Frampton interview in which much discussion concerns his mastering of the talk box. The concert is shot in High Definition TV format with 5.1 surround sound.


this article was first published by me at http://blogcritics.org/video/article/dvd-review-frampton-live-in-detroit/

SHUFFLE - 10 Random iPod Songs - The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Joni Mitchell

 Here are the next ten songs to show up randomly on my iPod. I see it as a sort of astrological forecast of doom or fortune. I love the opportunity to discuss my favorite music.

 

1. Joni Mitchell, Just Like This Train

With assistance from Larry Carlton's steely slide guitar, this song off Joni Mitchell's acclaimed 1974 album Court and Spark, is a dreamy slice of blue skies and upbeat horizons, with Mitchell identifying as a train "rolling into town with the brakes complaining". It's a light and jazzy travelogue of sound that will find you gazing out the window of a rolling Amtrak while brainstorming with Joni about love, life and the whole circle game. Playful woodwinds and reeds make it a pleasant and buoyant ride, with just a few lovelorn bumps along the way. Joni Mitchell tells a story of how she played the newly completed Court and Spark album for record executives and one Bob Dylan, who just happened to be in the room. Dylan promptly fell asleep.


http://youtu.be/CMtYtX45emA

2. Son Volt, Windfall

A perfect follow-up to the travel-bound "Just Like This Train". Jay Farrar of Son Volt is driving country roads, crossing time zones, and searching the A.M. radio dial for a station "somewhere in  Louisiana that sounds like 1963 but for now sounds like heaven".  A yawning flowerbed of country steel guitar guides him along in this perfectly modest alt-country classic from Son Volt's first album, Trace (1995). Son Volt treated fans to an unexpected and joyous encore of "Windfall" when they played Buffalo, New York's Thursday at The Square some years ago.

http://youtu.be/ZNTQ2DuJKtU

3, The Beatles, Ticket to Ride

Instantly recognizable from its opening guitar chords, "Ticket To Ride" is the first Beatles' single to clock in past the three minute mark. John Lennon's nasal rich vocals, Ringo Starr's encompassing off beat percussion, and Paul McCartney's wildly fluid guitar lend a driven slower tempo to this rock 'n roll classic. It was a number one hit single in 1965 off the soundtrack album Help!. The song is a simple story of a girl leaving a guy with a "ticket to ride". But John Lennon complicated that theory when he explained a "ticket to ride" was a clean bill of health offered to The Beatles from Hamburg, Germany prostitutes, when they played there early in their careers. As usual, Lennon and McCartney argued over the songwriting of the record, with Lennon insisting he wrote it solo and McCartney claiming they co-wrote it. ---- SPOOKY MUSIC PHENOMENA: I've never heard it but it is  believed an unexplained orchestral version of "Ticket To Ride" is heard at the very end of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of The Moon. At first thought to be an error in the re-mastered version of Dark Side of The Moon (Pink Floyd recorded at The Beatles' Abbey Road Studios), the orchestral version is said to be clearly audible on high quality vinyl pressings of Dark Side recorded before modern re-mastering technology.

http://youtu.be/VMxyK9azXR4

4. The Beatles, Glass Onion

Long before there was an Internet where fans could buzz about their favorite bands, circa 1968, The Beatles' global fan community collectively determined, with clues garnered from Beatles' albums, that Paul McCartney was dead and had been replaced by a look-a-like. This magnificent urban legend, which spawned a flurry of wild media speculation, (the least of which is a 1970 Batman comic book reference) was vehemently denied by The Beatles and called "a load of rubbish" by the Apple Records front office. But determined fans would allow no denial. Paul McCartney was dead and replaced by the winner of a British Paul McCartney look-a-like contest. It said so in a Beatles' track played backwards. While most of the mysterious clues were found in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,  in "Glass Onion", off  The Beatles (The White Album), John Lennon lends credibility to the rumor and fuel to the fire with his seriously tainted and taunting lyrics - "Here's another clue for you all, the walrus was Paul" - causing fans to surmise the walrus is a symbol of death and Paul McCartney was certainly pushing up daisies. For all its gimmicky support of  the Paul McCartney death legend, "Glass Onion" is an intriguing psychological oddity that indeed taunts listeners to seek truth. It's pulsating beat and psychedelic synth keyboard is pleasantly disturbing ear candy. As a post-Beatles adolescent youth, I remember a yearly Halloween radio show on local station WKBW-AM in Buffalo, NY that would investigate the alleged cover-up of Paul McCartney's death. The spooky program would segregate sounds from Beatles' albums that supposedly gave clues to McCartney's demise. The words "I buried Paul" could be clearly heard spoken by a faint disembodied voice at the end of "Strawberry Fields". Songs played backwards seemed to come from a netherworld of horror. For this impressionable youth,, it was a scary and mind-blowing program, and the cause of one classic and award winning nightmare where I was being chased through the woods by the dead Paul McCartney and the dead John F. Kennedy.

http://youtu.be/evxrVjW-aeg

5. Pink Floyd, Vera

My gripe with iPod - I can't group a collective, subsequent group of songs from an album as a single piece of music. For instance, I can't hear The Beatles' final suite of music at the end of Abbey Road as a single song in a mix. The iPod reads the songs as three separate album tracks - "Golden Slumbers", "Carry That Weight" and "The End" and divides them accordingly. It's the same with Pink Floyd's The Wall album, in which several tracks merge to create a single unit of music. So, this entry in my 10 iPod songs is for the beautiful pieces of music that takes up most of Side 3 of Pink Floyd's magnum opus, beginning with the lyrics "Is there anybody out there?", and ending with the same line repeated three songs later at the end of "Bring The Boys Back Home". "Is There Anybody Out There", is a haunting sci-fi embrace of negativism with a ridiculously effective noir TV soundtrack playing underneath a voice calling out to the empty beyond. Northern Lights seem to gather in shrieked echoed reply. The lonely acoustic guitar that follows seems resigned to the vast emptiness and paints the moon draped over an abandoned cemetery. As the acoustic piece ends, voices rise across courtyards in an urban afternoon hell, and "Nobody Home", a lament of a life unrealized, falls quietly into place. Sound bites from the British film "Battle For Britain", along with a thin industrial layer of noise lays a mundane foundation to Vera, a song which simply, with great anguish, questions the whereabouts of a woman named Vera (lyricist Roger Waters is referencing Vera Lynn, a popular WWII British vocalist). An operatic chorus suddenly chimes in with a spirited but heartless plea for the return of soldiers in "Bring The Boys Back Home". The suite ends, where it began but now with clashing voices where emptiness once reigned, with the line, "Is there anybody out there?". It's a moving deeply alienated suite of music.

6. Brak, I Like Hubcaps

  
Quickly then - Brak was a super-villain character in the 1966 CBS Hanna-Barbara cartoon series Space Ghost. When Space Ghost was resurrected to become the unlikely talk show host of a Cartoon Network live action-animation series in the 1990s - Space Ghost Coast to Coast - Brak reappeared as a regular and then went on to star in his own Cartoon Network spin-off series - The Brak Show. Somewhere along the way Brak's character changed from a super-villain with few choice vocabulary ("All hail Brak!") to a childlike simpleton country hick, very similar to the character Ernest T. Bass in the old Andy Griffith Show. The bizarre change of persona in Brak was explained as being the result of Space Ghost tossing him into a cosmic dust cloud. Brak, the once super-villain, now moronic idiot, released a music CD - Brak Presents The Brak Album Starring Brak. This song is from that album. Calling Dr. Demento!

http://youtu.be/fKwnnRWNQ3E


7. The Beatles, Honey Pie

Only the Beatles could take an old-style British dance hall song, and make it sound like something more than a novelty record. Honey Pie is a luscious lick of boozy early 20th Century British popular music, with a strumming ukulele, a horn ensemble, and a delightful guitar solo, playing in a smoky club where drinks are tipped and lovers hold each other up on the dance floor. Paul McCartney's raspy spoken words - "I like it like that -" - is about the most seductive sound in the entire Beatles canon. From The Beatles (The White Album).

http://youtu.be/BTuOAPE-LOo



8. The Beatles, Everybody Got Something To Hide Except For Me and My Monkey

The exuberant joy of escaping all matters of stress and strife, of being freed from a tremendous burden, of being aggressively independent, is the expression found in The Beatles' Everybody Got Something To Hide Except For Me and My Monkey. A ringing fire bell, group hand claps, piercing guitar, and John Lennon's hyper-excited vocals gives the song an immediate urgency that sounds like the adrenalin rush of a lifetime. From The Beatles (The White Album).

http://youtu.be/xTUagXO4kKU

9. Drive-By Truckers, The Three Great Alabama Icons

The three great Alabama icons are Lynard Skynard's Ronnie Van Zandt, Governor George Wallace, and University of Alabama legendary football coach Bear Bryant. Drive-By Truckers' Patterson Hood's spoken narrative attempts to explain away the duality of the south, the attempts to reconcile years of racist segregation. It's a tribute from a voice, so genuinely embracing his Alabama roots, that surges into a dramatic and most satisfying closure. From one of the most under-sung albums of the last 20 years, Southern Rock Opera.


http://youtu.be/m0yLWMZGLZA

10. The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper Reprise

The Beatles' brilliant choice to repeat the main theme on this seminal album, adds a timeless, circle-like quality that has so grandly stood the test of time.

http://youtu.be/VUImpeQG66U

I GO TO A STORAGE WAR

I never thought I'd find going through the laundry bag of someones personal possessions a fun project. But with the popularity of TV's "Storage Wars", apparently a dreamer can believe there is gold in the bags and boxes of the poor folk who can't afford payment on their storage locker rental space.

"Storage Wars", an A&E television series, follows a group of second-hand merchandisers as they frequent storage unit auctions in California. The show's drama is dependent on the competitive bidding among them, and the valuable merchandise they may or may not find in the storage units they win.

The poor saps who lose their personal belongings when payment is not made on a rented storage space, abandon their possessions to the auction bidders who gather like vultures ransacking the pockets of corpses.

It's a gamble for the bidders who have only a few moments to canvass the items in storage and determine their worth. They can not rummage through the stored items, they can not even enter the storage units, but instead are filed by, like a guided museum tour, or a funeral line viewing of the deceased, to get a quick overview of the items up for auction. The entirety of the storage unit is then sold to the highest bidder.

The show is likely contrived, as you could purchase hundreds of abandoned rental units and never uncover the valuable merchandise that is discovered on each episode of the series. It's reality television, meaning - it's not real.

So anyway, the point of this blog entry, which I'm realizing should never leave the draft stage, is to mention I went to a local storage unit auction. I hooked up with my brother-in-law, also a fan of the show, and with dreams of signed Paul Revere candlesticks at the bottom of an old gym bag, we got up early and went to the auction.

But we only stood there in awe of the mega-dollars that were being thrown about. We were obviously "Storage Wars" fan boys among the seasoned baseball-capped bidders who flocked to this city auction. The most remarkable thing was how much the local storage auction resembled the TV show.

I couldn't get that catchy, blues driven theme music to "Storage Wars" out of my head. I wanted to swagger down a storage unit hallway and have "The Neophyte" written across the screen.

We couldn't get a bid in, but we had fun. It was all my effort not to raise the $5 winning bid for  a pathetic unit that contained a pile of old sneakers, a broken Fisher-Price toy, what looked like plastic furniture, and a mysterious cardboard box that certainly hid a valuable treasure.

Devendra Banhart Goes Island Hopping On His New Disc

I've warmed up to Devendra Barnhart's new album, Mala (Nonesuch Records). The folkie freak, who hates when he's referred to as anything resembling a hippie, cruises lazy Tiki bar rhythms and tequila sunrise musings on his latest disc. Soft marimbas and strumming acoustics lap against the shore of his island life fantasy, which isn't so far removed from Jimmy Buffett gone full-blown psychedelic.

It's cool, easy music, like Bobby Bloom's "Montego Bay", but without the snappy, whistling tropical edge that song delivers. Mala forces the listener to sip, slowly and methodically, like you would a tall zombie cocktail on an overpriced grass hut rental vacation, its curious tone of surf-side intimacy. One may want more from a new Devendra Banhart album, and the temptation is there to suck the alcohol out of every mouthful.

But it comes in doses. And like the effects of that killer cocktail, Mala creeps up on the listener unexpectedly with thoughtful, albeit tipsy drunken psychological adventures in sexland. Under a seaside moon, Banhart makes longing eye-to-eye contact with the natives in the cocktail drenched "Mi Negrita", that sounds remarkably like Jonathan Richman's excursions into Spanish eyes territory on his Her Mystery Not Of High Heels And Eye Shadow album.

"Your Fine Petting Duck" (smirk if you will) is an orgasmic night of lovemaking with an island girl call-and-response vocal that is as laid-back and rum influenced as a Kid Coconut record. It lifts like a rising wave (or a very happy petting duck) into a pulsating tropical electronica vibe.

The instrumental tribute to the celebrated and departed skateboarder Keenan Milton, "The Ballad of Keenan Milton", seems an homage to The Clash's southern hemisphere and their brilliant Sandanista! album. Its soft and sad plucking of an acoustic guitar above the barely audible sound of a siren wailing in the foggy distance is as entrancing as Sandanista's quietest and most powerful moments.

Elsewhere, Banhart's last night on Earth is more pop oriented than his freak folk image would suggest. His signature weird vocal warble, like gargling with stones, is heard only once on Mala, on "Won't You Come Over". It's a catchy melody with a Caribbean easy beat that vaguely recalls Jimmie Davis' blues-country classic "Come On Over To My House".

So I'm a bit hooked to Mala. It has all the strangeness of an exotic fruit and all the familiarity of a great pop songbook. The more I listen to it, the more I am aware of its several influences. Did I mention Elliott Smith? Possibly Mala is Banhart's attempt to bury his freaky folk dude persona once and for all, and celebrate other musical influences besides Donovan Leitch.

He has only himself to blame for the freaky dude label, which he has publicly detested. One story finds him showing up at a Halloween party wearing nothing but a skirt. He claims he didn't know it was a Halloween party.

this article was first published by the author at http://blogcritics.org/music/article/music-review-devendra-banhart-mala/

Music Review: Unwound - "Live Leaves"

Unwound (1991-2002) were a Washington state post-hardcore band that flew under the radar throughout the 1990s, showering their small but committed fan base with a spattering of albums and singles, and boasting a workhorse ethic while constantly touring the U.S. and Europe. Noise-art rock with an atonal ear for spacey guitar drones, Unwound's music also possessed the verbal melodic catch that made it ripe for college alternative radio. At least one song from the Unwound canon, "Look A Ghost", from their 2001 swan song album Leaves Turn Inside You, should have been a huge hit single.

Released in late 2012, their Live Leaves album documents U.S. shows from the band's final 2001 tour. In a press release, frontman Justin Trosper admits to cringing while listening to some of the recordings of the tour, the result of working without an active soundboard. While there is nothing cringe-worthy in these stellar live performances, the softer musical passages of spacey guitar drone, intent on lulling the listener to the farthest reaches of the cosmos, are in competition with the bar-like conversation and chatter coming from the venues.

Listening to the album is like being there. The sound is the quality of an A-plus bootleg recording, with crowd sounds and beer glasses clinking, all rolled into the mix indiscriminately. One happy fan shouts enthusiasm while standing far too close to the microphone. His grunts of appreciation reach the decibel level of the loudest guitar. Patron conversation is distinct enough to be understood. It makes for a cozy but loud, atmospheric live listening experience. Indulging in the sound, the listener can become entranced with the mesmerizing imagery of a thick slab of drone and effects, and then feel the need to mosey over to the bar to tip another beer.

"Look A Ghost" sounds as hot and exciting as an early Rolling Stones record when experienced live. It's lazy, adrift studio version is electrified with the punk spirited antagonism of David Scott Stone's stabbing guitar and Trosper's snotty faux British accent. Percussionist Sara Lund does an inspired set of choppy rolls and discordant beats in the 10-minute "Terminus", a post-punk prog merging with pulsating barbed wire guitar work. The 14-minute set closer "Below The Salt" is a grand opus of drone, buoyed by wavering guitar chords that drift into the abyss like a Spanish lullaby. Bassist Vern Rumsey anchors the ominous soundscape with a commanding lead of sure-footed doom.

It wasn't so many years ago I googled Unwound, after discovering them on vinyl, and found the totality of information to be one Wikpedia entry which stated simply, "Unwound is a post-punk band from Washington state". These days, now that their song is sung, information on them is all over the internet. Live Leaves gives you the opportunity to hear live recordings of the best band nobody ever mentioned in the '90s.


this review was first published by the author at:
http://blogcritics.org/music/article/music-review-unwound-live-leaves/