RKNet Blog... Thing

Last night and well into today has been a flight of extreme fantasy, not all of which was enjoyable, but all of which has left me thinking. Unfortunately I’ve waited too long to write this all down, so some details will inevitably be lost in the rapid cognition thought-shuffling of daily life.

At some point, I woke up and said “Ok, that’s it, no more Howlings before bedtime.” The series of dreams felt like a test. Felt like a warning as well. A test of my mental strength and a warning not to meddle carelessly in affairs which are far larger and more powerful than I have previously taken them to be. It’s true, all throughout the documentary by Poke Runyon, discussing the methods by which they employed the Goetic techniques to summon, and to scry, I (drunkenly) scoffed at the notion of some of the scraping and bowing, and alternately at the idea of binding and domineering these unseen spiritual forces. (It should be noted that while the Goetia is amply available[pdf], I have yet to read the work itself.) While reading Howlings, likewise I took a skeptical attitude towards some of the methodology, considering it to be somewhat overcautious and paranoid. Some have argued that the Goetic (among other) spirits are sovereign beings, and some have argued that these works are exercises in confronting one’s own inner labyrinth. (Think highly aware self-hypnosis and play acting as a form of therapy or mental/spiritual growth, if you will.) Either way, those that have studied these things have preached caution, and some have issued threatening warnings regarding the dangers of treating these things lightly and carelessly.

I have always been a skeptic of sorts, and perhaps a bit overeager and zealous when it comes to the thought of finding proofs to these claims and methods. Last night’s dreams felt like a deeply detailed experience designed to caution me against doing or saying things which may ultimately land me into very hot water.

Yet I digress, these dream logs aren’t intended for me to get into the whys and the wherefores, but to chronicle the dreams themselves for future reference and entertaining reading.
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You’ll you either love or hate Atmosphere. As it’s known today, the group consists of producer Anthony Davis and lyricist Sean Daily or “Slug.” The moniker is telling in that his lyrics often center on a Dave Eggers’ like self-awareness that generally morphs not so subtly into a masochism with which we’re all familiar. The music is grimy, emotional and very real.

A self-described “white boy from Minnesota,” you won’t hear Slug rhyming about any ghettoes or hard-knocks. Rather he’ll speak to you about heartbreak and self-loathing in a way that often hits a little too close to home. The melodic but sometimes raw-edged beats make the perfect complement in that they evoke a broken emotional state infused with a touch of self-conscious irony.

I realize that, thus far, I’ve given you little reason to want to subject yourself to his sometimes wrenching commentary, and the more I think about it, I’ve got little to say on that topic except: Trust Me.

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry (um, that’s true only if you’re as emotionally fragile as I am) you’ll crank it up and let Slug articulate all the bullshit that you can’t seem to get out. (”All she wanted was a little bit of solid.”) Okay, well, this is getting a little personal here; but I guess that speaks to exactly why I love Atmosphere so much. Slug reminds me of a particular ex-boyfriend: drunk, manipulative but oh so soulful. [And everyone in his life would mistake it as love.]

Some of my favorite lyrics:

Fuck You Lucy:

And I travel with feels so I can deal with touch/ It’s like that/ Thank you very much/ Fuck you very much/ And everyone in his life would mistake it as love.

Little Man:

I know there’s gotta be something kickin’ your bruises/ How’s the love? How’s the music? How’s the self-abusiveness?

A girl named Hope:

And that’s the sound that a dog will make /When he’s just been hit by a car.

The Woman With The Tattooed Hands:

There’s good and evil in each individual fire/ identifies needs and feeds our desires/ as long as we keep our spirit inspired/ she can bite her bottom lip all she wants.

My favorite albums are: God Loves Ugly, Seven’s Travels and You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having. Check them out!

Synopsis of totals available behind the cut:
Radio Rock: 1
Country: 2
Psychobilly: 1 (I would like to see Unknown Hinson in either country or Psychobilly. He’s great, you should google him and check it out!)
Pop: NA
Emo: NA
Original Emo: NA
Ambient: 0
Chillout: 5
Indie: 5
Metal: 0
Metalcore: 0
Hardcore: 0
Post Hardcore: 2
Grindcore: 0
Doom / Sludge / Experimental: 0
Powerpop: 2
Punk: 1
Pop Punk: 1
Street Punk: 0
Crust Punk: 1
Rap: 0
Hip-hop: 4
Ska: 0
Classic Rock: 12
90’s Alternative: 6
Industrial: 2
Electroclash: 2
Electronica: 2

My heritage wins out overall. If any bands are missing from my listening loop, please, fill me in! I really only checked off artists I either have albums for, or have a strong familiarity with. Which means there are several in these categories that I “sort of” know, but not enough to stand behind them for the purposes of this survey. Read the rest of this entry »