For some odd reason, the late summer of 1986 has been on my mind of late. It was mid-August of that year that my family moved to Sacramento. My father had moved a couple weeks before the rest of us to start work and find us a home. While we were waiting for our rental house to become vacant, we lived in a small one bedroom apartment in the Arden area of town for a week or two. 

I've been trying to figure out why those 10 or so days have been so vivid in my memory. I can remember sitting in the miniscule dining area, eating sandwich cookies in the heat of a Sacramento summer. I remember standing before our front door, staring at the Jewish Senior Center across the street, wondering what happened there. I remember going on walks with my mom. I remember shopping for new shoes and G.I. Joe toys at the nearby Gemco. And I remember my Dad listening to Little River Band's Greatest Hits repeatedly. And, in hindsight, I remember looking out on my new home town, taking in my surroundings with fresh, innocent eyes. 

I'm sure many of these memories and emotions came back because I got my Dad LRB's Greatest Hits on CD for Christmas, and when I traveled north for a friend's bachelor party, I again listened to that album on loop. Here's the song that's probably stuck with me the most:

I'm not sure if this really ties into Chupacabra at all. I'm sure it'll find it's way in there somehow. 

Almost there

Here's what I could find of the "Chupacabra" playlist. Naturally, they don't have some of the more adventurous selections, and I couldn't find any of the Hecker tracks I really wanted. I did include one from him nonetheless. I'll keep digging.

It's been far, far too long

Hey there everybody. Firstly, I want to apologize for the extremely long delay. Once I started working again, my previous life ceased to exist, which meant no spare time to blog, or write, or well, do much of anything. So, yeah, sorry guys.

My girlfriend and I attended the opening night performance of Das Rheingold at the LA Opera last weekend, and it reignited the fire within me to get back to work. Just hearing the prelude is enough to stir all sorts of emotions, and this time, it really gave me a kick in the ass. The opera's themes also started to connect with me and with the story I had been working on: myth, exerting control over one's life, etc. It was a rejuvinating experience that will hopefully lead to more writing, and more blog posts.

Shortly after the opera, I sat and made a playlist that sort of laid out the emotional soundtrack that I had in mind for "Chupacabra." Here it is:

Burial- "Arcangel"
Tim Hecker- "Dungeoneering"
The Twilight Singers-"Hyperballad"
Gyorgy Ligeti- "Lux Aeterna"
Fleet Foxes- "Ragged Wood"
Animal Collective- "In The Flowers"
Aidan Baker and Time Hecker- "Dream of the Nightmare"
Roy Orbison- "Crying"
Arvo Part-"Festina lente for String Orchestra"
Sigur Ros-"Untitled 1"
Krzysztof Penderekci- "The Dream of Jacob"
Time Hecker- "Blood Rainbow"
Radiohead- "Arpeggi"
Richard Wagner-"The Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla" from Das Rheingold

I'll see if there's a way I can gather all this goodness onto one playlist. If not, go to Amazon/iTunes/illicit download site of your choice to check out these jams.