More Crack Please!

The first time I read The Crack in Space, I thought that it was where Planet of The Apes got its source material. But to my chagrin, PKD more likely got a major subplot of his 1966 novel from Pierre Boulle's 1963 novel: a planet far away in time and space populated by intelligent pre-humans.

Having now read both books a couple of times, and watching the original movies in an attic in Seattle, the two tales are indeed strikingly similar in some respects and it's always interesting to ponder who and what influenced Dick.

The Crack in Space: PKD on Race and Politics

Given the events of the past six months (market crash, presidential election) I thought it would be appropriate to reread PKD's 1966 novel The Crack in Space. Currently, no other PKD novel better captures the current times; a horrible economy, an unpopular outgoing President, and the election of the first Black President. All of this and more in Dick's underrated Crack. 

From the Ace 2nd Edition blurb: 

"Every crisis that had been building through the 20th century came to a head in the year 2080. And it was an election year.

There were tens on millions of people in deep-freeze waiting for better times--and the pressure was on to wake them up or throw them away. Unemployment had reached an all-time high -- and the people were demanding jobs.

The jiffi-scuttlers which made space travel possible were breaking down and someone had to find out why fast.

The racial problem had become dangerous -- and one of the candidates for President was Black.

But most important of all, scientists had broken into another dimension and found another world -- and a long forgotten ancestral race."

Aside from a few minor details PKD seems to have predicted the future quite admirably. However, Ace probably probably made a printing error and it should have read 2008 rather than 2080. Either way, this is one of PKD's better efforts.

Fingers Let Go: Price Pearlman Releases New LP

Today Price Pearlman releases his new LP, "Fingers Let Go." Recorded over the last year in studios in Brooklyn and Minneapolis, it's a record in two parts; Side A is called "The BQE" and Side B is called "I-90 West." Each side covers the process of holding on, and letting go.

The LP was mostly produced by Andrew Totolos (of Giraffes fame) and Price Pearlman. Totolos also provided drum and bass, and Ryan Maresco rocked the lead guitar. 

Minneapolis' favorite son G. Luke recorded one track at his Minneapolis studio, with the Wentworth String Octet. Other guest musicians include The Clinton Avenue Gospel Choir (feat. Chava Mirel), Byron Kalet, and Kristen Cappadona. Penny Yarborough and Joachim Lustwandel guest on Banjo and Pedal Steel respectively. And Dimitri Endorphin returns to Planet Earth to play some synthesizers and sample some classic rock.

 Look for it in your mailbox soon!

Galactic Pot-Healer

Joe Fernwright fixes ceramic pots in a future Cleveland. Since most of the world uses plastic, Joe doesn't have much work. He's kind of desperate, so when he gets a job offer plopped in his

toilet bowl, not only de we know we're in PKD novel, but he's ready to accept right away. The job offer comes from this Jabba The Hut like alien ("The Glimmung") from another galaxy. After Joe accepts the job (raising a cathdral from the bottom of another planet's ocean) the Glimmung transports Joe to Plowman's Planet where he's supposed to get to work.

Galactic Pot-Healer is probably in the top 5 strangest PKD novels. Sometimes it is completely random. However, in my humble opinion it is Dick's funniest novel. Healer was written in 1969 (PKD's late-60s novels are my favorites). However, it can probably be most closely aligned to Dick's Maze of Death published in 1970. Both novels are overtly religious, and also have a theme of migration to a new planet to begin a new endeavor.

Rumor has it that there will be a 3rd Library of America volume and it will include: Maze of Death, Valis, The Divine Invasion, and The Transmigration of Timothy Archer. While all of these novels display PKD ruminating on religion, I'm a tad aggrieved that Galactic Pot-Healer will not be included. If you're looking for some deep thoughts, and some good laughs, check it out.

sauerkraut!

Back in the world of PKD and reading The World Jones Made. Like all of his novels, this one concerns precognition, or a dude who lives his life one year in the future. Basically he lives his life twice so he always has a sense of Deja Vu. PKD makes this kind of precognition out to be a blessing, but mostly a curse.

Another person who can be considered to have lived in the future is Klaus Dinger. Dinger, along with Michael Rother, was an original member of German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk. However, Dinger and Rother left Kraftwerk because they didn't think the band was pushing the boundaries enough. They went on to form Neu! After Neu disbanded, Klaus went on to form La Düsseldorf with, among others, his brother Thomas. 

Both Neu and La Düsseldorf were well ahead of their time. Indeed, David Bowie once said that La Düsseldorf was the sound of the 80's, even though their seminal LPs were released in '76 and '78. They did make one more record in 1980. I can safely assure you that Neu/La Düsseldorf/Klaus Dinger influenced everyone from the Sex Pistols to Joy Division. OMD even had a b-side called 4 Neu; one of my favorite OMD tracks of all time.

After Neu, Michael Rother went on to make some solo LPs that I'm quite fond of, including: Flammende Herzen and Sterntaler. These records, too, evoked the sound of the 80's well before the decade rolled around. Sometimes I wonder if they too, were living their lives more than once.

I've been digging a lot of this krautrock lately as a matter of fact. Thomas Dinger went on to record some swell solo LPs, including one of my favorite krautrock records, Für Mich. Other current favorites include: Wolfgang Reichmann, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Emtidi, Peter Baumann, and Robert Schroeder. 

As you can imagine, this forward looking music makes the perfect soundtrack for The World Jones Made, and certainly for any other PKD novel you may have lying around. Check out one of my favorite Klaus Dinger/La Düsseldorf songs, "Geld", by clicking on the title of this post.

Birds Fly (Whisper to a Scream)

I had to get away for a little while. I guess I just had a little too much Dick. 

Anyway, I've been bopping around the Con-Ap today, basically cleaning. There is no better song to clean to than Icicle Works' "Birds Fly (Whisper to a Scream)". To be quite honest I haven't been able to get into the band's other songs (maybe some Loyal Boxers can't show me the light).

But this song, which you can access by clicking on the title of this post, is a true barnstormer in the spirit of Big Country's "In a Big Country". Another band that only has one song I enjoy.

You may be thinking, "what does Icicle Works have to do with Dick?" Well, the band named themselves after Frederik Pohl's 1960 short story "The Day The Icicle Works Closed." The real lesson here is that one can find real cool band names from Science Fiction titles. In fact, I think I'm going to cull a nice list of potential band names from Dick titles. Aspiring rock stars stay tuned.

Anyway,  if your Con-Ap is in need of some Mr. Clean, Birds Fly may aid your quest.

In other news, I'm thinking about heading to The World Jones Made. I'm ready to get some Dick back into my life. I hope that makes you happy.

Robert at Joe's Pub

A Loyal Boxer-- "John in D.C." -- was in the same room with me at Joe's Pub for Robert's shows last month. I haven't posted in quite some time and when he let me know he was there I felt obligated to share a couple of hazy memories from the show. I bought the tix for both shows the day they were scheduled and made a reservation for the table in front of the stage.

The 7:30 show was alright. Robert described the 9:30 show as one of the best of his career. I must agree. At both shows, the highlight (for me) was the cover of Grant's "Quiet Heart" -- It was such a fitting tribute to a fallen friend. The song sent chills down my spine.

The whole night was a very cozy affair. John took up Robert on is invitation and met the band at a local bar. I however, stumbled home, high on JJ-180 and basking in the glow of a wonderful show. Wondering what Grant was thinking, looking gazing down with his vast intelligence.

Cheers to Go-Betweens/Forster fans (and Loyal Boxers) everywhere! Shoegazers of the world untie!

And John in D.C., why can't you find the vinyl? Is it no longer available?