The Vorhh (2015) by Brian Cartling

Book Review

The Vorhh (2015)

by Brian Cartling

  This book was recommended to me by a friend. It's what you would call a low fantasy, it's a recognizable version of our actual world, set in a faux-German colonial outpost in late 19th century Africa.   The city sits at the edge of an ancient forest, which is called, for reasons unexplained,  the Vorhh. 

  Cartling introduces a dozen major characters including real life French surrealist Raymond Roussel and famous English photographer and orthological eccentric Eadweard Muybridge.  There is also a horny cyclops and myriad eccentric and supernatural denizens of the forest primeval.  And a couple of strong female characters who are involved with said horny cyclops.

   What is it all about? It's hard to say. Rare indeed when a work of fantasy leaves me scratching my head over the broad contours of the plot, as was the case here.  Colonialism is certainly a theme, racism, as part of that.  The Bible and Christian eschatology are in there but again I couldn't exactly say how.   Certainly Catling is miles away from a conventional fantasy plot revolving around a quest for a hidden ring and such, although there are elements of the hero's quest as one among the many threads.  The Vorhh is the first book in a trilogy, and I presume the story becomes clearer the further you read, because after the first volume, I had little idea what lay ahead.

The Serfs are Putting Out a Record Next Year, Touring Now...

The Serfs are a band from Cincinnati Ohio

Event Preview

11/9- Memphis, TN @ Hi Tone*
11/10- Nashville, TN @ Third Man*
11/11- Cincinnati, OH @ Lambda Research*
11/12- Cleveland, OH @ Little Rose Tavern*
11/14- Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club*
11/23- Chicago, IL @ The Empty Bottle*
2/25-San Diego @ The Whistle Stop

       Vinyl production has been a total pain in the ass since I began making vinyl records, but it is particularly bad now.   Dream Recordings is putting out the new Serfs LP next February- it's a record that was paid for in January of this year.  The production factories won't even put you on calendar until you pay in full, and then you wait for a year or more.  It's crazy! What are you supposed to tell bands?  How are you supposed to plan for the future?  Anyway I am super excited about this band and I really think they have what it takes to go far down whichever path they choose.   Can't wait for them to hit the west coast next year, but if you are located in the midwest or north east or south keep your eyes peeled for additional dates, and try to make these dates, because the live show is tops, I've heard.

Event Preview: Cathedral Presents Mvtant, Mannequin and More!

 

Event Preview

Cathedral Presents

Mvtant (San Antonio, Texas)

Mannequin (San Diego)

Bricks Rock Bar 

3626 Fruitland Ave.

Maywood CA. 

Venmo: CathedralLA Code: 2465: Put Note: Mvtant

Limited advance tickets $10, Day of $20

     One of the long term things I've learned writing this blog is that nobody was interested in local music adventures, or at least in mine.  People were interested in local music gossip, to be sure, but publicizing local shows and bands is a gig best left to either professionals or no one.   Then, as I actually managed to put out a record by an artist that obtained national/international attention, interest actually dropped, and there was no long terms interest.  Vs. there very much is continued interest in book review I wrote about 18th century novels six years ok. 

    But I never really stopped being involved with putting out new music, I just stopped writing about it.  The other thing that happened is my partner works in the "real" music industry, and for the past several years almost all the shows have been at her invitation, as the guest of her companies' artists or the promoter.  It's hard to be honest and impossible to be funny or mean, which, frankly are the three joys of writing about music besides shining a light on unknown artists.

   Of course, like everyone, the past two years have been cause for much re-evaluation regarding those and other positions, and I can safely say that I miss local shows, even at the lowest levels, which is where someone like me is ALWAYS going to begin with artists, because any artist who isn't at that level would not contemplate putting out a record on a label I control.

   Mario Orduno started his label Dream Recordings a decade ago, and a couple years ago he invited me to be a partner.  We put out this Mvtant record- Gore + Mirrorshade- which was originally issued on an Austin area tape label, on digital and vinyl.  The record came out smack dab in the middle of the pandemic, making it impossible for Mvtant to tour, which was frustrating, but par to course for Dream, which hasn't made any kind of a national impact and only a limited local impact, entirely through the efforts of Mario.   It's clearly part of the dark wave underground- whatever you want to call it.

  Several of Dream's artists are playing the Substance 2021 Festival: O/X, Some Ember and Spike Hellis, a band we were supposed to put out but had to rethink during the pandemic.   I'm sure Dirty Beaches would be playing Substance if Alex was still around doing stuff under that name (he is not.)

I love the looks of this DIY show called Cathedral, where I'll have my first chance to actually see Mvtant live. 

The Harlem Shuffle (2021) by Colson Whitehead

Book Review

The Harlem Shuffle (2021)

by Colson Whitehead

   What more can Colson Whitehead, a winner of consecutive Pulitzer Prizes for his last two novels, accomplish?  I guess that would be a Booker Prize, which seems possible or a Nobel, which seems less likely but still not impossible where Ishiguro is a recent winner.  

   The Pulitzer and National Book Award must have breathed a sigh of relief when they heard that Whitehead's new book was going to be a work of historical crime fiction. Exciting, as would be an announcement for any new Whitehead title, but not, you know, a book that is likely to merit a third Pulitzer, simply by virtue of genre.  I haven't checked, but crime fiction doesn't win any prizes outside of those exclusive to the genre. 

   Like Zone One, Whitehead's zombie book,

The Harlem Shuffle is both a work of genre, observing relevant genre specific rules, and a work of literary fiction, using authorial skills of character depiction and plot mechanics to create something separate from a strictly genre work.