Monday, May 08, 2006

In The Land Of The Midnight Stun....Maniacs Dream 'Die, Learn, No Way' LP






















For damn near the better part've this decade I was stricken by a malaise of an undeterminable nature. It wasn't rickets or scurvy-though they both run in my family-but a sort've lingerin ennui. It even followed me up here to the Fishtown. I remember talkin about it to some clown from the Lily's & he suggested EST. I almost bit then he capped it off by sayin "Look what it did for Veronica Breth"? I thought it was a joke till I heard him tell the bartender "Frangelica on the rocks & keep'em comin". There was no hope. It's like I was bloated, I felt super fat & bustin out all over. My self esteem was at an all time low! MG just laughed & said it was the longest manstrual cycle she's ever seen a fella go through. I laughed back 'n said nothing was longer than that stick she had up her ass. For that I caught the corner of a souvenir glass ashtray that damn near took my scalp clean off. I guess it was touch & go for a while after that. When I finally come outta the coma I was 50 stitches heavier, but 15 lbs lighter. Not a diet I'd recommend, but hey, it worked for me. They finally released MG from the clink & one of the deputies escorted her to Intensive Care & we made up. She promised it'd never happen again on account've the fact that she'd quit smokin.Seems the whole time she was locked up, she weren't allowed to. And besides, they was holdin the ashtray for evidence & there was no way in hell we was goin all the way back to Branson for another one. I know there's plenty of lessons to be learned from this story, but the one I took with me was if you listen loudest & clearest, then there ain't no time to be feelin sorry for your self. That & cigarettes can kill ya, in more ways than one.
But it's the former that stuck out when I played this Maniacs Dream lp on HP Cycle. It's one I missed cause've all them pity parties. Released sometime in 04 or 05 'Die, Learn, No Way' zapped me like a pre-cog taser & I only just heard it this past month. It was like a prophecy of predestination comin true; the wilderness where Faust had plowed stones, This Heat had tilled soil & Dead C had planted seeds, now Maniacs Dream were the bearers of a bountiful harvest. The record consists of 2 side long themes that unfurl organic flora'n fauna ripe in atavistic lung gurgle, exuberant & dense guitar/drum tangles as well as a whole batch've other luxuriant instrumentation layered in to create a lush fragrance of extraordinary, turned on Rock that is-in a word-Edenic. There is mention of Finnish brethren such as Avarus & others whose names're too long to spell, but I think the pollen count on this is way more formidable than any of them, so.... Tearjerks 'n Snifflers need not make the trip. Besides, it was pressed in some micro edition of 420 copies & it's damn near 2 yrs old. I've encountered a couple've folks who claim to be allergic, but me, hell, if they could bottle it, I'd drink their air for breakfast, lunch & dinner. In fact, I can't wait for the second round. Bring it on!

('Die, Learn, No Way' might still be available via http://www.fusetronsound.com/ or http://www.hp-cycle.com/ )

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