Dear Listener,

For those of you that don’t know me yet, my name is Simon. Lemuria was gracious enough to give me a job about a month ago when my beloved employer Be-Bop Record Shop was forced to close its doors. I am very excited to share my insight on my favorite recent read, but a part of me is still strongly linked to music.

Sharpshooter BluesLuckily! I had an idea in which I could share both. I regularly read and I regularly listen. Naturally, I am forced to listen while I read, otherwise I wouldn’t consume nearly as much as I prefer. It wasn’t long before I realized that these two artistic entities were actually working off each other and creating a tension between the moods of the book and the music. Frequently one will overpower the other and convince me to feel things that I wouldn’t have normally felt from the tone of one alone.

Recently I finished Sharpshooter Blues (1995) by Lewis Nordan. It’s no secret that reading Nordan can be comparative to stabbing yourself in the heart with a knife made out of love. Elation and hospitality exist to build one up as to have a longer drop when the floor is ripped away from you.

Music of the SwampHaving already read Music of the Swamp (1991), I had a pretty good idea of Nordan’s ability to perform this magic trick. It was for this reason I decided to try a little experiment. I thought maybe if I listened to something that was almost too happy, the bittersweetness would be easier to deal with. I picked an album by a defunct Jackson band called Circus of the Seed. Raspy southern vocals, trumpet, and a very melodious rhythm section made for an appropriate background for the over-optimism of the lyrics. Well by golly! I’d say it worked. The mixture produced a warm ambiance that very nearly turned what would have been tears of sadness into tears of joy.

My good friend Cody Cox and I produce a monthly mix cd that attempts to spread the good word of local, regional, and nationally known music to garner awareness of the caliber of art that surrounds us. A track from the unreleased Circus of the Seed EP is the first track of the latest mix (Issue #3) that can be picked up for free at Lemuria.

by Simon

Share