..a small, good thing...

Vic Chesnutt was a one off. He first came to prominence in the early 1990's - early albums introduced a wicked sense of singularly dark humour allayed to a formidable songwriting sensibility that few of his contemporaries shared. His recent passing leaves a not inconsiderable void - there are few musicians who appear willing or sufficiently adroit to lay bare their souls with such honesty - as an artist, Vic rarely, if ever, gave less than one hundred percent of all of himself. And for this gift of all gifts, we should be eternally grateful.

Protect me from the bad...

Jonathan Carroll's latest novel - his thirteenth, which is scary in itself, sees him covering somewhat erstwhile ground. There is a poignant familiarity between this novel and his earlier, 'white apples;' itself one of the defining literary moments of 2002. Carroll resembles Neil Gaiman in his ability to create multi-layered worlds inhabited by multi-faceted characters, who seem to drift seamlessly from one page to the next, from one book to the next - something inherently unusual in contemporary, non-genre fiction. Jonathan Carroll, like Gaiman; like Venasque, like Calliope...You will want to read all of his books. And you will want to read this one.

'The ghost in love.'

...brand new Cadillac...

It's almost impossible to ignore the beginning of 2010 without celebrating Elvis Presley's upcoming 75th birthday - last seen, Clydey Clyde's fried ham and ham house on 51st and third...Elvis Presley was, and always will be, the pre-eminent figure in twentieth century popular music - Sinatra and Beatles fans can look away now. His influence is even greater now, than it was yesterday. We at TWAT! are proud to acknowledge this fact by appropriating one of his least well known songs - Vern Godsall and Bobby George's 'Long black limousine.'
Enjoy.
Now where did Charlie put my scarves and my water?

'Long black limousine