Ink Blots Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia review
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Ink Blot Magazine
Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia
by Joanna Lux
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Imagine a friend gives you the address for a mysterious underground party. Upon arriving, you glide through a velvet curtain while the Dandy's "Godless" chimes through the speakers, setting the scene for the warped and surreal atmosphere. As the seamless transition into "Mohammed" clouds the dark space, it's clear your friend is a no-show and that your cocktail was spiked with a heavy dose of chemical enhancements. As the effects intensify, the volume is turned up for "Nietzsche", and the beautiful faces around you turn sinister.
After escaping the maddening scene with a group of people who also drank from the tainted punchbowl, together you head to the beach. The ocean air delivers freedom without pretension, and strangers become friends. The about-face, giddy-up sound of "Country Leaver" and "Solid" match the feeling, "Horse Pill" moves left of the twang and revs it up, and while grooving around the bonfire, that man with the guitar learns all the chords to "Get Off." As the sparks flicker down, you wander alone to the waterside. The music softens into the haunting lullaby "Sleep", and you sit on the sand, arms grasped around your knees, staring up at the stars. Is that angelic chorus from the heavens or a stereo?
Back in the city at an upbeat and friendly after-hours gathering, "Cool Scene" strikes you as a Zombies or Turtles tune for 2000. Super catchy "Bohemian Like You" also oozes mid-60's pop, but "Shakin" flashes forward to the '80's with its Cars-inspired vocals. The crowd thins out, and realizing it's a useless fight, you agree to leave with the one you're attracted to. The intensity of "Big Indian" reinforces your ultimate surrender - "maybe its karma... keep an open mind all of the time... the future is frightening, but I feel fine." "The Gospel" and its borrowed background chant of "comin' for to carry you home" is a fitting end note as dawn peeks over the horizon and you finally slip into dreamland.
thirteen tales from urban bohemia is akin to a perfectly plotted soundtrack to an unplanned psychedelic journey - multi-dimensional and anything you want it to be. Enjoy the ride.
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