Message #2

I’m thrilled and humbled by the response to my last few posts. And, well, I’ll be reconfiguring things a bit from now on, as in, if I have something worthwhile to say, I’ll say it. If you agree with me on that, happy reading. Of course there’ll be enough record reviews to break things up.

As a disabled and conscientious person, I do think that the disabled will get the shaft from Trump and co. So, as a writer, I’ll speak out on it, but rather than ranting, something a lot more fun. Like a screenplay. A web series I've begun work on, titled Modern Rock.

Out indie band Modern Rock runs afoul of the new thing on the block, alt-alt, a scene that takes the wrong lessons from Nineties alternative rock, and the Nineties in general. The upshot is a slew of right-wing, snobbish, ableist bands. When Modern Rock, is told to get with the program, they refuse, self-release a 7” with two happy, healthy songs, and start the counter-revolution. The band is led by Leaf and Gail, a learning disabled couple. It's their songs that set the plot in motion. Their label wants a full album, so the band gets creative and records one. All hell breaks loose.

Creative, in this case, is how it is to create when you’re disabled in some way, and in this part of the script a whole bunch of stupid myths about the disabled get killed. We’re not stupid, and we don’t think we’re hip, trendy, cool, and fun just because we have problems. And just because we have a disability, it doesn't mean we are disabled at everything, and aren't good at anything. We want a fair chance to show what we can do.

My creative process? Despite never knowing what I’m going to process properly, I do try, all the while knowing it’s something I can’t fully control. Various types of media inspire me. I read The New York Times, The Washington Post, my mail, social media. I have the great fortune to live near a great public radio station, WXPN in Philadelphia. I can sit and think to them anytime, and to a select bunch of musicians whose songs are always there, including, in no particular order, the late Scott Miller, Pavement, The New Pornographers, Fugazi, Kelley Deal (all her bands), Jenny Lewis (all her  bands), The Pixies, Daws, Nirvana, Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Dar Williams, and Jill Sobule.

Good art takes a stand. I stand for the rights of the disabled, for LGBT people, for all, and against bigotry. Trump and the alt-right can go to hell. They won’t win, not at all.

Andrea Weiss

SunFire

Kelley Deal and Friends

Sunfire

Self-released

Part of a longer work, a song cycle, this piece features a bass clarinet, a recorded handball game, and Kelly Deal’s self-produced vocals, organs, and sewing machines. King Baby Nuxhall helped create this song, along with Evan Ziporyn on clarinet pieces. Matthew Ritchie and Kelley Deal co-wrote the lyrics. Matt Boynton at Vacation Island Recording mixed it.

The track is excellent for this type of music: nice, mellow, a meditation on Sunfire in the persona of a man. The parts fit together well, very atmospheric, as the song fades in, does its great thing, and fades out. Deal sings it very trancey, and well. Play this on headphones for the full experience.

For more on the piece, and a name your price download, go here: http://specialteamsmusic.bandcamp.com/releases

Andrea Weiss

The Voice Project pairs people like Johnny Depp, Peter Gabriel, and Tom Morello with artists, writers, and musicians who are political prisoners in their home countries. What they do with the pairings is combine the prisoners' mug shot information with photos of those who are championing them, and put the images on t-shirts, which they sell to raise funds. The goal is to raise awareness of free expression and free speech, and show that you can, and should, speak out if your government tries to take away your rights.

Tom Morello

 I find this project timely, welcome, and am fully aware that this could happen here like never before. We have right now a President-Elect who could take our rights away and make the US into something repulsive. We can’t let that happen. So if you like this project, like me, and buy one of the shirts, you’re doing more than buying a shirt. You’re speaking out against injustice at a time when we really need to.

Johnny Depp

Andrea Weiss

A Message To All

I don’t do traditional blog posts often, but felt it was time for one.  In the wake of the US election, I want to say that my blog, and I, will always be inclusive, diverse, and welcoming. As someone who is out, and disabled, how could I be anything less? I despise Trump and everything he and his ilk stand for. To those who are protesting, my physical health prevents me from marching for now, but I’m there with my words. Make the US ungovernable, paralyze the country, and don’t stop until the Bastards are gone. But be non-violent. Don’t give them a reason to throw you into G’itmo.

I don’t write a lot of reviews anymore, as writing scripts is a full time job now, but my audience is so widespread, from all over the world. To all of you, thank you for reading my reviews. It’s wonderful to look at my stats and see where people are from. Keep reading. I will be here, politically, socially, and musically.

Andrea Weiss

GT-BSC

Game Theory

The Big Shot Chronicles

Omnivore Recordings

This is Game Theory at their most pop, which is to say, direct, streamlined, and concise. That goes for the lyrics, too, even when Scott Miller didn't give their meaning, allowing for interpretations, like on "Regenisraen," a made-up word that came to Miller in a dream, and could be about Christmas, losing a friend, or having a lonely middle of the night.

I remember seeing reviews of this album back in the day, that swore the title was a play on John Cheever’s The Wapshot Chronicles, but Big Shot was actually a photo lab where the band rehearsed.

BSC was my starting point with Scott. I heard the wonderful "Here It Is Tomorrow" on Princeton’s WPRB, ran to buy the album, and never looked back. It could be like that for you, too. If you want to hear a lost classic, or want to get to know Scott’s music, this album is for you.  This is pop in a way that should’ve been a hit, like the mighty "Erica’s Word," as close to a perfect pop song as you’re likely to find. To paraphrase a line about the Bangles album All Over the Place in Scott’s book of music criticism, Music: What Happened?, “If this had been the album that sold, what then?”

The bonus tracks could be their own album of covers, alternate mixes, and demos. I’m partial to the live version of the stinging "Make Any Vows," the rough mix of "Erica’s Word," their take on Todd Rundgren’s "Couldn’t I Just Tell You," and the band’s lovely cover of "Sweet Jane."

Now, a word about everyone who made the music with Scott: the great Gil Ray, alternating between thunder drumming and laying back, Suzi Ziegler the master bass player. Shelley LaFreniere, one of the best keyboardists I’ve ever heard. Mitch Easter was the perfect producer; he knew exactly what to do to make this album so great.

Kudos to Omnivore for putting this album back in play. It’s been MIA for too long, and hasn’t dated one iota during that time. It still sounds fresh, modern, and is a tribute to how wonderful and underrated the late Scott Miller was.

/http://omnivorerecordings.com/music/the-big-shot-chronicles/

Andrea Weiss

I belong to a Facebook group called Screenwriters With Disabilities. What’s mine? A learning disability severe enough that I can't drive or work a regular job. I was very glad to be invited to this group for that reason, as I can write. If I can’t work a regular job, I can at least have a writing career.

The backdrop for this group is how marginalized we are. For example, amid all the uproar over Straight Outta Compton being all but ignored at the Oscars earlier this year, all the allegations of discrimination, the disabled were not mentioned at all. It is too obvious to point out that we exist, but we don’t get a lot of work, from actors to screenwriters to other behind the scenes jobs, because yes, Hollywood is ableist. And when a film about the disabled is made, it might ring true to a point, like Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, or have a believable character like Sean Penn in Sam I Am, but with an unrealistic plot.

I mostly write indie scripts. It’s what I write best, and I hope things are better in the indie world. To whomever is reading this, the next time a Compton-like furor erupts, and it will so long as Hollywood is Hollywood, make sure to make a place for the disabled.

Andrea Weiss

Emerson/Lake

Keith Emerson/Greg Lake
Keswick Theater
Glenside, PA 2010

I met Keith Emerson in 2010. He and Greg Lake did a duo tour. I was lucky enough to see the show at the Keswick with my friend, Jen Grover, who had come from WV to see them too. Jen had a blast along with her new friends Sharon and Eileen, who she met in line for the meet and greet. I couldn’t afford that, but I had a great time seeing the show. It was part Q&A, mostly music, a little back story on the songs. For example, Greg Lake wrote Lucky Man when he was 12.

We had heard they were coming out to the barricade after shows to say hello and sign a few things, so we waited, and they did. It was then I met Greg and had him sign my Tarkus shirt. He is a big, tall man, and I was a little starstruck. He picked up on my vibe, clamped an arm around my shoulders for Jen to take our picture, and said, “Relax.” He held me tight for what seemed like minutes.

Keith and I barely spoke, we said hello, he signed my shirt, and I managed to tell him how much I love his music, which he thanked me for. Jen took this wonderful photo, my cover photo for Facebook and Twitter. I was lucky to have had even that moment with him. A rowdy pack of guys behind me were screaming his name and waving things for him to sign. Greg was on his way back to the bus. Keith followed him moments later.

  

Keith took his own life on March 10^th, 2016. I wasn’t depressed so much as very sad. It took a while before I could listen to him again. I feel better now. But this is his legacy, what he means to me. I’ll be forever grateful that I got to meet him. That we exchanged a few words. And this wonderful photo.

Andrea Weiss