This Is Book's Music

In the close to 18 years I’ve had a presence online, this is the first I’ve ever had to do something like this, but if you are a regular visitor of ThisIsBooksMusic.com, I need your help this time.

I am not someone who looks for charity, in fact I’m usually the one who prefers to help when I am able to. In the past, not only with this website but with some of the other domains I have maintained over the year, I have not had any problems with renewing my domain name and hosting. This website is and has never been a domain-for-profit, ThisIsBooksMusic.com is a place where you can find music, video, and book reviews, along with news items, links to videos, podcasts, and MP3′s that are offered and approved by publicists and/or artists. It is and hopefully will remain my online home that also serves as a “resume hut”. I have never made any money from this website, nor was it intended to. However, this website has served as a place where potential clients and employers are able to browse through my work and see if I am worthy and/or “of interest”. As a journalist for over 25 years, my work has been in print, which means there was a time you could walk into a store, buy a specific magazine and see a review and/or article with my name nearby. I’ve also done my share of freelance work, and before the internet, I was published in over 70 different publications, both independent/DIY fanzines and mainstream publications.

In the internet era, I have written for a number of websites, including Okayplayer, FunkierThanThou, Music For America, and Skyscraper. As with this website, all of my online articles have been a means for me to get paid work. My goal has always been for me to write for publications that I enjoy reading, and that would not mind for me to be one of their paid contributing writers. Unfortunately, that has been very difficult over the years but that has never stopped me from continuing on with this website. I have a passion to write and in the years I have been online, I feel I have gained more support and a following much greater than I ever did as someone who was print-only. The support has been incredible, humbling, and sometimes overwhelming, but I don’t do it for applause. I simply want to share my love of music with people who are willing to take time to read what I write about.

In life there are peaks and valleys. Currently, I’m in a bit of a valley and right now I am unable to renew the domain and hosting. I’ll be honest: if I have to let the domain and hosting expire, I will do so. I have no problem in shifting things to a tumblr-type blog if need be. When I’m able to get things back together again, I will simply create a new domain and website. I’ve had a few domains expire not due to lack of funds, but lack of interest. I want to continue doing what I do here, and I hope you feel the same way.

If you are a regular visitor and enjoy the artists you have been exposed to, like the type of coverage I do here, or perhaps you may enjoy my style of writing, I would like for you to consider making a donation. What I am looking for right now is $150, which will pay for a 1-year renewal of both the URL, domain, and hosting. I had hoped to make a switch-over to a different hosting company which would have lowered the costs by about 40% or so, but was unable to do so before an established deadline. If you are able to donate $2, $5 or $10, that would be great. I am not looking for anything higher than $150 to raise, this is not a Kickstarter campaign for you to buy my own earwax sculpture documentary. Your donation is here to insure that ThisIsBooksMusic.com will be renewed for at least another year. When I am out of the valley, I will be sure to renew it for much longer than a year so I don’t have to write something like this again.

If you are able to “give a tip” to ThisIsBooksMusic.com, you can do so via PayPal by clicking here. Your private information is secure when you donate via PayPal, and you are also able to make a donation even if you are not a PayPal member. If you want, I would be able to show you as a donator by listing your initials and your zipcode on this page. The deadline is September 27th, so if you are able to donate, I thank you immensely. When I have reached the $150 needed, I will remove this page and will not accept anymore donations, simple as that. If I don’t, that is okay. As stated earlier, I will simply move into tumblr-blog mode for a bit and when I am able to, I’ll start from scratch once more. But if you are able to make a donation, I would be very appreciative.

Mahalo nui (thank you).

-John Book

It’s an acoustic approach to ska and reggae that works quite well for some, and for Everybody Knows, it works quite well. One can listen to this and imagine this being filled with guitars, a booming bass and a funky drummer but by eliminating the need for it and just stripping it bare bone, you have this. The cup does not runneth over instrumentally but musically, “Cup Runneth” is one of those songs that is easy to kick back to but make you think at the same time. Auwe, bruddahs!

This is a really nice song by Peggy Honeywell, and her performance at Room 205 gives it a slight nod to 60′s/70′s variety shows with what she’s wearing and the colors in the background. Not sure if that was the intention, but while those minor things may be insignificant to the song at hand, it works for me.

If she may be familiar to some of you, there is a reason. Honeywell is the alter-ego of Clare Rojas, a visual artist who has done a good amount of work over the years, which means yes, the visuals that you see are meant to be what it is: an ode to perhaps a more innocent time of the 1960′s. Or maybe it’s that in times of strife and struggle, people are relating to the 1960′s as they deal with the concerns of today. Or it simply looks cool and mod.

To find out more about Honeywell/Rojas, go here.

Sadly, I’m a big fan of this man’s work and I did not know he had a new track. Now it’ll look like I’m the slow poke on this one so I apologize for not posting this week, I was not aware of it until today. The “this man” in question is Seattle’s Wizdom, who is always doing some great work and for this one he utilized the talents of Nima Skeemz for production, went up the I-5 to find vocalist Stef Lang and now we have “Forever”. What I like about this track is that with Lang’s vocals, it can be more pop-friendly, which might help bring Wizdom to a wider audience. That in itself doesn’t take away what he has done in his career so far, so consider this a part of the ever-evolving musical puzzle that he provides.

Comedian Chris Crofton released his debut album last month, one that his label says was recorded live at “Nashville’s most notorious shithole, The Springwater.” The album cover looks like this:

If you’re a jazz fan, you know those blocks could only mean one thing. It is an homage to Blue Note Records, more specifically Freddie Hubbard’s Hub-Tones, which looks like this:

Put them together, and you can see them side to side:

Nice right? Crofton is known for his podcast The Chris Crofton Show, which are free if you would like to see what kind of self-proclaimed “abuse” he gives to his audiences. While he has been at work as a comedian since 1991, m Pearls Before Swine: Live at The Springwater (Chicken Ranch) is the first of his efforts to be documented in “album” form and vinyl junkies fear not: this album has been released on vinyl as well.

For a brief preview of what the album is about, listen below.

The album also features a song by Chris Crofton and The Alcohol Stuntband called “Traditional Blues Song”, so you have been warned.

New music from Levek? Not only that, but there’s a new album on the way in September called Look A Little Closer (Lefse), and “French Lessons” is just the first taste of what is on that album, the cover of which looks like this:

Listen to this song while staring at the cover? This sounds like a man who has spent a hell of a lot of time at thrift stores and yard sales, which is a good thing. Look A Little Closer will reach you in full on September 25th.

The weekend of October 26th & 27th will be when keyboard and synth enthusiasts will want to program their schedules to be in Asheville, North Carolina for this year’s Moogfest. Tickets go on sale this Friday, August 10th, and what would make you want to pre-order your tickets then? A change to see and hear these people:

Orbital
Miike Snow
Santigold
Richie Hawtin
Squarepusher
Four Tet
The GZA presents Liquid Swords
Carl Craig
Thomas Dolby
Black Moth Super Rainbow
Mouse on Mars
Prefuse 73 with Teebs
Ana Sia
Killer Mike

Many more will be there, and I’m sure a few more will be announced as things get closer to October. There will also be weekend passes, daily general admission tickets and VIP packages available, so a number of ways to check it out that is affordable for all. For more information, head to Moogfest.org.