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DANIEL TERRERO
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LED ZEPPELIN LED ZEPPELIN III
This quintessential classic rock group is best known for 8-track LPs that showcase in-studio experimentation, with their signature romp-’n’-stomp rhythm section, and their fuzzbox folk-blues sung in a roaring tenor voice. Best of compilations would generally include songs like “Whole Lotta Love”, “Rock and Roll”, “Heartbreaker”, and “Stairway to Heaven”, but this time the Zep went about this LP with a sideways step.
The record begins with that classic romp ‘n’ stomp bombast mentioned earlier with “Immigrant Song” then moves on to a quasi-psychedelic “Friends,” one of the most unique songs in the LZ catalog, and the first of its kind. Although Zeppelin has had experience doing acoustic songs, the benchmark track has a mystical Eastern feel, one whose melodic characteristics would not be found again until 1973 with Houses of the Holy. The album makes another turn into electric guitar country with “Celebration Day” and “Since I’ve Been Loving You”; the former put less emphasis on blues melodies and chord changes, while the latter is pretty much a straightforward, well-composed blues jam. The heavier, electric side ends with ”Out on the Tiles,” which sounds like something directly lifted from Led Zeppelin II.
Side Two marks the return of acoustically-oriented songwriting with “Gallows Pole,” not just with guitars, but with banjo, mandolin, and a fiddle thrown in the mix. “Tangerine” brings a country-folk flavor to the tracklist, reminiscent of Grateful Dead or Buffalo Springfield. The last three songs follow the same approach, but the mood and feel vary, and Jimmy Page still finds a few tricks to pull.
Overall the flow of the tracks is great, but I do find some flaws with this record. This record has arguably some of the best songs and some that leave the least impression. The main issue is, of course, the hard rockers. They aren’t necessarily bad, but at times they feel at odds with the songs that make the record special. If I could throw out one song, it would be “Out on the Tiles,” but then it would sort of throw the flow of the tracklist.
If I played this for someone who wants to learn more about classic rock, they could see why LZ3 didn’t sell very well, but I could easily invalidate that argument. Rock and roll were not and is not always about loud guitars. Even contemporaries like Black Sabbath knew this. This record showcases more of a sense of dynamics that the previous two Zeppelin records were aiming for but never attained, and the compositions couldn’t be lovelier. “That’s The Way,” in my opinion, is one of the most masterful works in the music genre ignored. This ultimately was a stepping stone for what many consider their magnum opus, Led Zeppelin IV.
I’m feeling a solid 5/7.
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The Bluebird From Over the Rainbow
(from February 2015)
The Gulf of Mexico breathes salty air onto the island of Captiva. The mild weather draws people out of the resorts they’re staying to eat at the Key Lime Bistro on a Sunday morning. The hosts and a few guests wait on a musician running late. It’s 11 o’clock.
An SUV pulls in in front of the restaurant. As soon as the driver steps out, the key breaks, falls and blends in with the shells on the ground. He stands at about 6 feet, 1 inch. He has black curly hair and the build of a tight end. His name is Marc Vee.
Vee is a professional musician with years of experience. Vee performs at various restaurants and events around Southwest Florida as well as writing and recording original music. A native of Miami, Vee found his passion for music through guitar at the age of seven.
“Initially it was an electric guitar that my parents gave me, and that soon turned into a headache for them because I was making all kinds of noise,” said Vee. “So they bought me an acoustic nylon-string Spanish guitar and signed me up for some lessons.”
Initially, lessons were not productive. The instructor was a young, gifted guitarist, but an incompetent instructor who had no interest in teaching Vee much of anything about guitar. Lessons would consist of showing off, leaving young Vee to wait, go over a few things and end the session with “See you next week.” The instructor convinced Vee’s father that the lessons weren’t worth the money. His mother on the other hand, encouraged him to pick up lessons again a year later.
“I was just playing on my own and she would say ‘Why don’t you take lessons at this other place?' And from then on, I never looked back, ‘cause this teacher, Carlos Varela, was very nurturing to me. [He] was a Juilliard music student and became a bandleader, opened his own music academy in Coral Gables. So that’s how I got started.”
Vee went on to attend the University of Miami’s School of Music in Coral Gables. During his time there he played professionally in local venues.
“I’ve only had one other job, which was washing dishes to buy a better guitar, because my dad said ‘You better go work for it or you won’t appreciate it.’”
Consulting the Key Lime Bistro managers on being late, he gets the staff to help them find his missing car key. Once they find it, Vee grabs his acoustic guitar and gets up on stage. Quickly sets up, quietly introduces himself and begins to play.
Vee has gone on to tour all over the US, Central and South America, but was based in Miami for many years. Miami eventually became too much, so Vee and his wife Elizabeth decided to move to the Fort Myers area.
“I used to play gigs in South Beach and I lived in Kendall, which was approximately a two and a half to three-hour commute from where I lived,” Vee said. “I used to have to invest nine hours to play a three-hour gig, so it became pretty clear that Miami was too crowded for us so we moved to the west coast and this place is getting more crowded too here.”
The set that he plays is not so much a performance, but a serenade for the customers. The sound is not too loud, not too soft. The melodies coming from the plucked nylon strings include some popular songs like “Breezin’” by George Benson, the ballad “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “What A Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong, and “Black Magic Woman” by Santana.
Vee says, “I take pride in playing a very eclectic set because playing for the general public you never know what people are going to favor. Since I play professionally for the general public, and every once in a while, I play concerts for where I gear it towards my originals.”
More and more people walk in crowding the patio of the restaurant as noon approaches. Before he goes on break, a woman walks up to tip him. She examines his records, then leaves. As far as recording he has released six studio albums. Out of all of them, one in particular stands as his proudest.
“I would say that Magic Moments was a really great time for me as far as developing and moving into a more mature phase of my composing and album creation,” Vee says.
His preferred weapons are the Fender Stratocaster, the Martin Dreadnought, and of course the nylon-string Spanish guitar.
Vee stresses that his role as a musician and an artist should center around people. Out of respect for people, he carries himself on and off-stage as the antithesis of wilder characters in music such as Jimi Hendrix and Charlie Parker. His philosophy behind the music he wants to make is to create uplifting music to soothe the soul.
“There’s so much tension in our world today.”
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Report show motor vehicle crashes, fatalities are on the decline
(from March 2015)
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released their annual report in December 2014 showing that motor vehicle crashes fatalities in the US have declined in 2013. According to the report, the nation had 32,719 deaths during 2013, down from 33,782 in 2012.
This follows a larger pattern of decline in motor vehicle fatalities that had begun in 2006, with the exception of 2012, which saw an increase in fatalities.
Karie Partington, Media Relations Manager at the Collier Sheriff’s Office, says Collier County saw a spike in crashes in 2014, crashes have shown a general decline since 2010.
“Vehicle manufacturers are continuing to focus on building safety features into cars, traffic engineers use the latest technology to design the safest road systems possible, and law enforcement works with the motoring public through education and enforcement to promote safe driving.”
Alex Bethune, a fifth year student at Florida Gulf Coast University shared his thoughts about why there is this downward trend.
“Part of it is, I think, the increased safety features on cars. Some cars have different sensors showing if there are drivers to the right or to the left of you, additional cameras when you are in reverse, you know things like that,” Bethune said.
“Also there’s increased awareness to things like drunk driving,” Bethune said. “I think people are driving less because of gas prices fluctuating. Other than that, I would guess that improving road conditions could factor in as well”
Bethune says that to see motor vehicle fatality numbers continually decline he expects to see better technology, smarter cars and looking to other alternatives to automobiles.
“In the future, I’m thinking that there would be smarter cars, not necessarily driverless cars, but something that gestures to some sort of network to base transportation around,” Bethune said.
Bill Harward, Intervarsity Campus Minister at FGCU and Florida SouthWestern College, links the decline to advertising.
“I think that one of the big factors of that decline is that there’s a lot of advertising to not text and drive at the same time,” Harward said. “The ‘Click it or Ticket’ ads might also have something to do with it, because wearing seat belts actually do help prevent death and injury in car accidents in a significant way.”
His ideas to see less accidents in the future, his approach seems a bit more modest than Bethune’s.
“People could be a bit more defensive in their driving, like not running red lights, not passing someone in traffic, and I guess to not pressure everyone to be somewhere in such a rush all the time.”
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World-Renowned Naples Jazz Orchestra to Perform Count Basie Tribute
(from January 2015)
On Monday, February 2, the Naples Jazz Orchestra will be performing A Tribute to Count Basie at Cambier Park in downtown Naples at 7 p.m.
The Naples Jazz Orchestra is a world-class act, bringing together the finest musicians in the world, focusing on large-ensemble performance.
This concert is a part of a larger jazz concert series at held Cambier Park that encompasses acts like the Naples Dixieland Band, Gulf Coast Big Band, and the Music Makers.
NJO founder, musical director and drummer Bob Stone shared this about the art form itself.
“In a word, it means freedom. It’s America’s music,” he said. “They build palaces to white European classical music in this country. Beethoven’s Fifth sounds the same in Chicago as it does in Vienna. However Count Basie’s Band or a jazz band in New York tonight will sound different tomorrow night in London.”
Count Basie was a leader in Big Band jazz, which Stone described as “presented swing to a new definitive.”
“There was a time I went to see Count Basie’s Band. I had to walk out because my head was bobbing so much,” said Stone.
Stone has more than 40 years of experience as professional musician, playing drums for the likes of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Count Basie himself. Stone also lead his world-renowned, Bob Stone Band Even with all that experience, preparing for concerts is no easy feat.
“When you deal with 15 people, who come a great distance, some of our people come from as far away as Clearwater, Sarasota, Miami, St. Petersburg, Orlando … and come here for rehearsals and the show,” Stone said. “Some have to make two trips in two days.”
“In preparation, it’s nuts. This is year-round thing. Just because the series ends on April 6 doesn’t mean we pack up and go home. We start planning for next year,” Stone said.
“Our musicians work for us, but they work for other people, so there’s conflicts,” he said. “We pay our musicians. You cannot get this caliber of musicians without money. Serious money.”
Another issue that the band faces is attendance. The NJO is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, which means the resources to fund the orchestra come from donations. The concerts are held outside, which means attendance depends on good weather. Orchestra manager Pamela Carey shared a great example of what troubles they run into preparing for.
“Last week, there was only the threat of rain, and only 500 people showed up for a world-renowned guest artist, two of them,” she said. “Byron Stripling, who plays the trumpet, and Bobby Floyd, who plays both the piano and the Hammond B3 organ.”
Even with all the problems that the NJO may run into making the shows happen, Stone still finds the experience of performing rewarding.
“It depends on how well you play. Problem is, you never know until you play, but when you do, it’s unbelievable. It’s a feeling unlike anything else.”
Orchestra double bassist Paul Shewchuk of Hollywood, Florida shared his view on why jazz still excites him and why it is still relevant.
“It’s different every time you play. There’s so many angles to it. It’s American, our biggest export. It’s very creative and engaging. You really got to read music well and stay ahead music.”
The results of the hard work put into making concerts are rewarding. Naples resident and long-time attendee Joel Miller can attest to what the NJO does.
“I appreciate the all kinds of music, but with jazz, I love the history, the melody, the rhythm,” Miller said. “They really are a world-class act.”
To find out more about the NJO, visit naplesjazzorchestra.org. To learn more about the Jazz Concert Series at Cambier Park, visit naplesgov.com.
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Moore Haven teen loses right arm to gator
(from April 17, 2015)
Kaleb “Fred” Langdale, of Moore Haven, lost his arm to a 10-foot alligator on Thursday afternoon.
Langdale, 17, was swimming in the Caloosahatchee River when he encountered the alligator.
Langdale’s sister, Rebecca, said his friends nearby began yelling “alligator.” It’s usually a joke, but there was one right in front of Langdale when he looked up.
“He reached up and grabbed the alligator underneath its jaw, by his skin,” Rebecca said, “and the alligator, of course, pulled him down at that point.”
The alligator pulled him underwater and resurfaced. Fred began to swim away, but the gator bit down on his right arm.
“He knew he was losing his right arm, so he just took his feet, buried his feet in the alligator’s head and just pushed so that he could get it free,” Rebecca said.
“Once it popped loose, he just swam as hard and as fast as he could to the dock, where some friends of his pulled him up.”
Rebecca said her brother had seen the move “a million times” on TV, probably on the National Geographic program Swamp Men.
“My adrenaline was running so fast, I didn’t feel the pain,” Langdale said. “I knew if I freaked out or got scared, that was going to be the end of it.”
His friends applied pressure to the wound and called 9-1-1. Langdale was taken to Lee Memorial Hospital in Fort Myers later that afternoon.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers and Moore Haven residents scrambled to find the gator at about 6pm. FWC killed the gator and got the arm out of its belly and took the arm to the hospital.
“Every effort was made to try to get the arm in time to help in any way,” FWC spokesman Officer Jorge Pino.
Lee Memorial surgeon Robert O’Connor said Langdale remained level-headed as he prepared to enter surgery.
“Quite a stud,” O’Connor said. ”He was very much awake and calm telling us the story like nothing happened.”
O’Connor tried reattaching the arm but said too much time had passed to salvage the arm.
The FWC is currently investigating how this incident might have happened, but Rebecca maintains that Langdale did not provoke the gator.
“People just need to use common sense,” Officer Pino said. “Any body of water in Florida will at some point have an alligator.”
Lindsey Hord, a biologist for the Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program, says an alligator will bite if a person bumps into him underwater.
From 1948 to the 2015 there have been 357 unprovoked attacks and 22 fatalities. Last month a gator bit off Wallace Weatherholt’s hand while airboating in the Everglades. Scientists distinguish alligator attacks as an attempt to kill and eat a person.
Still, Rebecca says that her brother has a positive outlook despite having lost his arm.
“He’s making jokes,” she said. “The first thing he told my mom when she arrived on the scene was ‘At least he didn’t get my left arm. I can still drive my airboat, because the airboat is powered with the left.
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My Night With Official Outcome
(From April 2015)
I decided to spend my Friday night at Weekend Willie’s in Naples. I’ve eaten
there a few times before and I love it. I wish I could spend more nights eating
there than at home.
I walk in, grabbed a seat and waited for a server to get me a drink. The band
onstage is preparing to open up the night. They are playing as a quintet, but at the core of the band are Zac Sperry, 21, of Naples and Julia DeTomaso, 15, also of Naples. They are Official Outcome.
Weekend Willie’s was modestly busy that night given the time of year
They started out the night with acoustic pop covers, including Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours”, Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud”, Luke Bryan’s “Play It Again” and “Hero” by Enrique Iglesias.
At the end of these songs, DeTomaso switched from acoustic guitar and sat behind the drum kit.
Their drummer Ryan Cathey takes up a djembe onstage as their keyboardist Garrett Cutler plays the Jeopardy song. They also make note that the Truth Custom drum set is brand new. Julia wasted no time making it sing. She hit that thing hard. I can’t even remember the song they played. I could only
focus on that ferocious drumming.
Again, Julia and Ryan rotated instruments with the Jeopardy song playing. When they feel like the joke isn’t funny anymore, Zac starts playing a blues shuffle in E. I think to myself, “OK where is this going?” Once they got a groove going, Zac does the sliding Chuck Berry riff intro to “Johnny B. Goode”. Not kidding. It got livelier as more people trickle in. From there they go into “Rock Around the Clock” and blink-182’s “All the Small Things” before taking their first break.
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I remember when I got the invite to like their Facebook page. It said Official Outcome formed in December of 2012 at Center Point Community Church in Naples and listed their style as “Americana pop”. Right off the bat they started playing shows all across Southwest Florida and got recognition. Indie Artist Magazine even named them the 2013 Artist of the Year. Their original vocalist Sarajane Sullivan rounded them out as a trio, but left before a year had even passed.
Zac Sperry (left) and Julia DeTomaso (right) of Official Outcome performing at Weekend Willie’s Bar and Grill in Naples on April 24, 2015. Their debut album Never Take It Slow is in the post-production phase. Photo Credit: Daniel Terrero
During the first break, I got to sit and chat with Julia and Zac about what they had been up to. For the past year or so, they have been promoting their debut release Never Take It Slow through their Facebook and ReverbNation accounts.
I started off by telling them what a great performance they put on. They responded with awkward silence and some awkward thanks.
“‘Official Outcome is rude, they don’t say thanks,’” Zac said jokingly.
“You guys have a new LP coming out soon, is that right?” I asked.
“Yes,” Julia replied.
“When does it drop?”
“That’s a good question,” Julia said.
“When you find out, let me know,” Zac said. “Um . . . I don’t know. That’s the only information I can tell you at this time.”
The record, titled Never Take It Slow, was set to be released earlier this year on Valentine’s Day.
Zac said that recording was finished, but there were some decisions being made over a song being featured on their release.
“How do you feel about this being your first LP?”
“I’m excited. I think Zac is too. It’s exciting to be able to get our music out.’
“But this is your first album too, so . . .”
“Wait, wait,” Zac said. “I have to clarify this. It’s only four or five songs, so it’s like a demo. It’s not full LP.”
“It’s not a full LP?”
“It’s an EP.”
At that moment, I was slightly disappointed. I was anticipating a long player at this point in the band’s history, or least for them to have enough material written for one. Everything sort of pointed in that direction. After all, they had put out a music video for their original piece “Tell Me That You Love Me” in 2013, when Official Outcome was still a trio.
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After the break, Official Outcome reconvened to the stage. Again, they returned with the mellow covers like “Secrets” by OneRepublic. They followed up with a tasteful rendition “Cruise’ by Florida Georgia Line and the more upbeat “Best Day of My Life” by American Authors.
They turn up the artificial reverb effects through the vocal mics and through the guitar amps.
Julia jokingly says, “Welcome to Earth.” They take their time making sure everything is set just right.
The spacey noise is so present at this point, Austin yells from the crowd, “Are we at Woodstock?” After Julia gets all the giggles out, she sings “Royals” by Lorde.
Near the end of the song, Zac hopped back behind the drum kit to drag the song out a little longer. I got distracted by two very awkward conversations between an elderly Minnesota man and some tipsy woman. Before I knew it, the second set was over and Official Outcome was on break.
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I’ve known Zac since the spring of 2009 during our sophomore year of high school. He was a home-school student who ran track and field with me for First Baptist Academy. We both signed up for spring football later that year. I figured he would go to Naples High School like told me he would, but his parents decided to enroll him as a full-time student at FBA. Since then, we’ve been friends. We had common interests in music and sports, and we shared a bizarre, offbeat sense of humor. Interestingly enough, our birthdays sit right next to each other.
Zac is also one of the few friends that stayed in Naples after high school. After two semesters at Florida Gulf Coast University, he decided college wasn’t for him. I, on the other hand, dedicated myself to just schoolwork.
I wasn’t too disappointed about the record or the release date. I asked Zac and Julia about the recording process. The recording took place at the Mix Factory studios in Bonita Springs, with production work from local artists Ray Nesbitt, Darrell Nutt and Doug Tracy, whom both refer to as “just Doug.”
“What was the recording process like? Did you already have songs going into the studio?”
“We had songs that were written before,” Zac said.
“Did you improve upon them or were they good to go?”
“No, we definitely improved upon them.”
“What have the guys at The Mix Factory taught you on the production side?”
My First Baptist buddies right before our high school graduation ceremony in 2011. Zac Sperry (pictured third from left) and I (far left) have known each other since we were 10th graders. (Photo Credits: Virginia Ruiz)
“I think they taught us about arrangement,” Zac said. “Arrangement is the biggest thing that I learned about writing songs.”
“What about aesthetics? What’s their production philosophy versus your production philosophy?”
“Something that’s going to stick in your head,” Julia said, “in a good way obviously.”
“They really like catchy hooks,” Zac said. “Julia has a knack for writing catchy hooks, so they don’t have to change a lot about that.”
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Official Outcome jumped back onstage once more and begin with a mashup of Miley Cyrus’ “We Can’t Stop” and Jessie J’s “Price Tag”. The muted instrumentation provides a great foil to Zac and Julia’s soulful delivery. As they drag out the song, Zac starts twerking onstage. Julia jokingly suggests photo editing Kim Kardashian’s butt onto Zac’s backside, which earns them a few laughs from the audience.
They can sense their limits coming on as 10 p.m. approaches, but they take it in stride. They throw an original and a hilariously censored version of Cee Lo Green’s “F**K You.” They end the set doing an extended jam on Sublime’s “What I Got”. They give credit to all the musicians onstage and opens up the musical space to let each of them solo.
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As far as future is concerned, Official Outcome’s plans are to keep playing shows like this in local bars and public spaces, and to seek more independence and a sense of adventure in their songwriting and production. It may sound modest, but Julia is still only a sophomore at Naples High School. She says she and has plans for dual enrollment at Florida SouthWestern College.
In Zac’s case, he’s recently completed his EMT training. Still, they have come this far since losing one member with lots of support from friends and family, and they aren’t too worried about the future. Their manager, Sheri Austin, isn’t worried either.
“As long as they are having fun and have the right attitude and remain humble and follow their dreams, that’s what’s important,” Austin said. “The minute it’s not fun anymore, it stops.”
Of course, in our shared sense of humor, I could not resist asking the very last question.
“Alright, very last question,” I said.
Zac laughs and asks “Is it like a ‘Dan Terrero-back-in-high-school’ question?” I do the best I can to tell him no.
“Do you have any guilty pleasures in music?”
“Brittney Spears,” Zac says. “Just kidding, just kidding.”
“He’s not kidding,” Julia says straight-faced. “He has that song ‘Circus’ on his phone. He knows every single word. I’m not even joking.”
“Ok,” Zac goes, “Circus’ is my guilty pleasure.”
“I’m trying to think, “I don’t know,” Julia says.
“’One Time’ by Justin Bieber.”
We all had a good laugh on that question, promised each other to stay in touch, said our goodbyes and headed home.
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First-time buyers lead existing home sales surge in September, held back by tight inventory.
(from October 26, 2016)
Existing home sales in the United States rose in September after two months of declining sales.
September's sales were tallied at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.47 million, the National Association of Realtors said on Thursday. That rate puts sales at an 3.2% increase from 5.30 million pace in August, and a 0.6% increase from September 2015. The median existing home price was $234,200, up 5.6% from September 2015.
Sales slipped in July and August after hitting a rate of 5.57 million in June, the highest in nine years. Shrinking inventory and rising prices put a good squeeze on the existing homes market.
The surge in sales was pushed by first-time home buyers, making up 34% of the buyer share, the highest it's been in four years.
"Over time we tracked the share of the first-time home buyer since 1981, and we've seen over time that the average share has been around 40% historically," says NAR spokesperson Adam DeSanctis, "but since the aftermath of the Great Recession, coming off of 2009 and 2010, first time buyer share has been depressed and especially so in recent two to three years."
DeSanctis says that more young adults are showing interest in owning a home but are focused on finding financial stability first. According to the NAR’s annual generational trend report, the bulk of first-time buyers are between the ages of 24 and 35, with a median age of 31 in the last five years.
“There seems to be a shift in the last 15 to 20 years where more young adults are pursuing a college degree,” DeSanctis says.
“They want to be a little more mobile when they first start out. Some of those major life milestones such as getting married, settling down, having a kid, starting raise a family, are starting to happen a few years later than it did 20 to 30 years ago, so we may start to see that median age creep up.”
Another factor that can be linked to growth in existing home sales is low mortgage rates. According to Freddie Mac, mortgage rates in the United States have remained below 4% for much of 2016 so far. Low unemployment, rising wages and some stability in local markets also entice the potential buyers. Still, periods with that level of sales activity are usually plagued by a dip in sales in the near future.
The NAR reports that there is about 4.5 months worth of housing inventory, short of the usual 6 months. The Northeast region, which saw 5.7% sales growth, the highest sales leap of any of the four regions in the US, is a prime example of market volatility as DeSanctis explains.
“Five-point seven per cent is a meaningful gain, but if you look at the previous months back in the spring, you saw some 760,000 units to 740,000. That’s roughly stayed around the same pace. There are so many markets right now, including some in the Northeast, particularly in the Boston region, where inventory is so tight.”
DeSanctis further explained that larger markets in the South, which experienced the slowest growth rate of any of the four regions, show different symptoms of the same issue.
“Hot markets like Charlotte, Raleigh, Nashville, even some of the Florida markets like Tampa or Orlando which were slower to recover than some of the other major markets in the country, but they’ve seen employment gains, wages start to pick up a little bit. It’s the same situation where home-buying activities are strong over the past year to year and a half, but at the same time there’s not enough new home construction and not enough current homeowners selling their homes. In some cases, markets short on inventory see an uptick in price growth that doubles or triples the pace of income growth and would hold back some would-be buyers.”
However, NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun stated in the release that there is hope that steady job growth and affordable mortgage rates will provide the correct conditions to help start reverse the decline in home ownership.
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Ritual de lo Habitual
I purchased Jane's Addiction's first two studio albums sometime during the 2014-2015 winter break. I fell in love with 1988's Nothing's Shocking rather quickly. I enjoyed 1990's Ritual de lo Habitual, but it took more time to fully appreciate. I concluded Nothing's Shocking was more consistent, sonically and thematically. The first half of Ritual sounds like a rehash of songs that would have fit better on the Nothing's Shocking tracklist. They might have been better served on a B-side release.
Over time, I've come to appreciate the album's vibe. All the key elements of JA’s sound are there: Perry Farrell's high-pitched vocals, Stephen Perkins' spidery drums, Eric Avery's acrobatic bass, and Dave Navarro's layered guitars. The first three songs come out with emphasis on fast, funky, and melodic breaks. The next two tracks "Obvious" and "Been Caught Stealing" introduce slower tempos and tone down the aggression just enough for almost danceable tracks.
The next four tracks change the mood of the record from goofy to somber. These songs focus more on death, life, and renewal. Farrell wrote these in tribute to Xiola Blue, one of Farrell's friend who died of substance abuse. These tracks feature more progressive song structures. Some clock in over six minutes.
On the lyrical side of things, I tend to classify JA’s lyrics into two camps: goofy and serious. A good example of a goofy song is "Ted...Just Admit It." The lines "Sex is violent!" and "show me, everybody, naked and disfigured." It's goofy, it hardly makes any sense, but it serves the song in a cool way. With "Jane Says" the lyrics are more direct and more wistful. In Nothing's Shocking, the weird provocative lyrics are dominant. Ritual provides a balance between the goofy and serious.
Jane's Addiction is an utter enigma. They've inspired countless bands that sound nothing like them. What is it about them that continues to inspire these groups? I guess what these bands took away from Jane's Addiction was small aspects of their sound. Maybe seeing them live back in the day sent all of those bands back to the drawing board. In this case, I think that they sought to create music that inspired.
To me, Ritual says, "This is how it's done," both with crafting great songs and crafting great albums. Nothing's Shocking comes very close. I highly recommend them paired together, but I can't imagine finding another album as provocative, elegiac, and original.
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Taylor Davis during a writing session in his Cullman, Alabama home. June 2017.
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Construction along Ben Hill Griffin Parkway in Estero, Florida, April 2017.
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