I remember the first time I heard this song. I wanted to hate it because of the person who played it for me was annoying. So, I avoided all King Crimson except for this song. https://youtu.be/gWmECLnMKGk?si=8rTUgoAMnnEVys4i
Back next week for two whole hours. I can’t believe they let me do this. I’ll be filling in for Kyle Brown’s Up on the Roof.
Leave me a message at (775) 476-2538. Have a request? Want me to play songs influenced by a certain celestial, astronomical, and/or sci-fi specific subjects? Have an idea for the show? Just want to say hi and maybe “nice show”?
The hostile telepaths problem is when you’re dealing with a being (a) who can kind of read your internal experiences and (b) whom you don’t trust won’t make your situation worse due to what they find in you.
There are lots of solutions to the hostile telepaths problem. I don’t claim to know all of them. But recognizing some common ones has helped clarify a lot of my thinking — particularly around self-deception and akrasia.
And getting very clear on the nature of the problem makes identifying real solutions way easier. This fact produces some previously-surprising-to-me predictions, especially for trauma processing and for making emotionally difficult decisions.
With ‘Earth & Sky,’ Lorna Simpson debuts a new body of work exploring our relationships—physical and metaphysical—to unseen forces that work upon us individually and generationally, alternately challenging and empowering our sense of our own humanity. The exhibition encompasses a series of massive paintings inspired by a 1929 textbook ‘Minerals from Earth and Sky,’ along with a pair of monumental paintings depicting the impact of fired bullets.
Tomorrow, January 4th, while you are wearing a few extra layers due to the cold, Earth will be at perihelion, the closest it gets to the sun during its elliptical orbit.
Movie of the week:
Overall, an ok film on space travel. The imagery was amazing BUT … I also laughed a few times because this movie is definitely geared to those people who enjoy sci-fi movies but do not think about the science fiction. For instance, the Neptune sling shot and the killer monkeys. Add in Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones, and this movie could be a real stinker if you care about the overall package. I could get behind a movie, though, about moon pirates, which see a very brief moment of in this movie. Recommended if you just want to be entertained but leave everything else. Also, more Ruth Negga in sci-fi films please!
Hey there, took a little break from websites and updating them. Blame the holidays! Regardless, we made it to Friday, again. Did you have a good Christmas Day? Here’s some stuff I’ve been reading, watching and thinking about.
Currently reading:
Thought Forms: A Record of Clairvoyant Investigation. Sacred Bones reprinted this book and it looks great. Pretty sure this book is in the public domain. The Sacred Bones release, though, is packaged in a beautiful book form that feels and looks great in your hands or your bookshelf.
In the vastness of empty space surrounding Earth, the Moon is our closest celestial neighbor. Its face, periodically filled with light and devoured by darkness, has an ever-changing, but dependable presence in our skies.
In this article, we’ll learn about the Moon and its path around our planet, but to experience that journey first-hand, we have to enter the cosmos itself.
1966 Italian Sci-fi B-movie. Typical with the 60s vibe, the women are dressed pretty proactively, the script is on par with corny Christmas movies and the special effects are not very special but the set and photography is pretty eye catching if you dig 1960s futurism. While it is another alien sci-fi movie about the evils of nuclear destruction, it’s a fun watch and you can see the movie’s influences as well as it’s influence of others that come later in the genre.
The Fastest Spaceship In Science Fiction
Podcasts!
One of my favorite podcasts of 2024 was Every Single Sci-fi Film Ever.
This recent episode was a doozy. I need to try to get Ayesha Khan on Fantastic Voyage.
Hope you all have a fun and safe New Year. I’ll be back live this Sunday at 4pm.
Nala Sinephro’s Endlessness was my album of the year. I usually hate generic end of the year lists because they are so subjective or just done for clicks and clout. As much I loved Endlessness there are other albums I will mention after the Endlessness review that I loved too.The criteria for these albums was more how they made me feel and my experience listening to them, like journal entries or a liner note, rather than how I thought of them critically, like a “music journalist.”
Endlessness was just released on September 6th and it is by far the most listened to album I listened to all year. There’s many great reviews of this album out there so let me tell you how this album makes me feel. As you know I am often watching existential sci-fi films and tv shows. All of these wrestle with the concept of how vast the universe is, let alone our own galaxy and planet, and how significant or insignificant we are amongst it all. It amazes me that 99% of the population takes for granted just looking at the moon, planets and stars with our own eyes. This year we had an eclipse and numerous auroras which piqued some interest but all of that too will fade away once there is no more clout to be had.
I find comfort and amazement of looking up and seeing anything that is not of our world. Watching and reading about our galaxy and the universe doesn’t make me feel insignificant like how other humans do. It does the exact opposite. Hairs stand up on my arms. Shivers race through my body when I see the moon during the day. Endlessness wraps me up in that same comfort. Bad day at work? Endlessness. Excited and need to calm down? Endlessness. Going for a walk? Endlessness. Cup of coffee in the morning? Endlessness. Walking in the first snow fall of the year? Endlessness. The album at all points has the headiness of a pleasant high, giving me the encouragement to keep going and even slow down. Whatever I need to be, Endlessness somehow makes it happen.
Nala’s debut album, Space 1.8, is a personal classic as well. There’s been numerous campfires I’ve had the album on loop, sitting alone, feeling the heat of the fire while looking up at the sky. At just the right volume you can get the crackling of the fire and other ambient sounds coming into play with the album. I cannot wait to try the same with Endlessnees.
Endlessness isn’t exactly club jazz or easy listening. Modular synths, harp, saxophone, and drums all add layers that are equally soothing and energetic. Nubya Garcia’s saxophone on Continuum 5 (and the whole album) is just amazing and perfect amongst the chaotic synths. Nubya’s album Odyssey I need to pick up on vinyl. I highly recommend it.
Everything is right with this album and everything gets right when I listen. Thank you to Nana and all the musicians on this epic album. I hope to one day hear it live.
Finally, there many other albums that I truly adored this past year. While some may not fit the Fantastic Voyage radio show music criteria, they are amazing on their own.
Julie Beth Napolin – Only the Void Stands Between Us. This one snuck into the world on November 29, 2024. Spacey cosmic folk that adds some drone here and there, mind boggling finger-picking, and angelic vocals are just word salad when it comes to describing this album. These words do not give them album any justice. Another album I would love to hear live. Sounds great on vinyl too!
Will Veeder – The Lost And Found. I know Will from a couple of my favorite Rochester bands: Muler and Hinkley. Solo, Will goes off the rock and roll grid with some of the best cosmic droney sounds with guitar work that seems to at you like an aura of swirling colors. If you have yet to see Will live, I highly recommend it, with some ear plugs.
Alan Sparhawk – White Roses, My God. Since Mimi Parker’s cancer diagnosis, eventual passing, and time leading up to this album’s release, whenever I listen to Low, I get choked up. To me, this album is about embracing a pain that will never go away while attempting to experience existential joy. The fact that it doesn’t appear on more end of year lists is beyond me.
J Spaceman & John Coxon – Music for William Eggleston’s Stranded in Canton. Jason Pierce makes albums that are important to me. I love that man’s mind and have learned a lot about music when he has been interviewed. William Eggleston is an artist who always had a soft for. Beyond his pretty photos, I feel like Eggleston had an appreciation of the here and now, finding wonder in people, places and objects right in front of him. Stranded in Canton, the movie, could have been a movie made by anyone, but no one did, except Mr. Eggleston. The score by Jason Pierce and John Coxon is a sweet accompaniment to Stranded in Canton. It has made me think about my own photographs and how I would make and add music to them.
Nada Surf – Moon Mirror. Matthew Caws is a mystical music character for me, much like Jason Pierce, Alan Sparhawk, J. Mascis and Robert Pollard. Nada Surf just does not make bad albums. I need to see them live.
Mannequin Pussy – I Got Heaven. 10 songs, 30 minutes. If you are gonna whine about how short it is, listen to it twice in a row. I feel like this band is going to be very important during the next four years and will continue to define a generation. Each member is so uniquely their own that every song is a genre bending aural treat. If you ever feel guilty for standing your social/political ground, creating boundaries, feeling vulnerable or just being different, Missy Dabice would like to have a word with you.
The Cure – Songs of a Lost World, Kim Gordon – The Collective, Kim Deal – Nobody Loves You More. Robert Smith, Kim Gordon, and Kim Deal are three people I will love forever. Any cool Gen-Xer looks up to them and realizes that what they do is a treat none of us deserve.
Nubya Garcia – Odyssey. Nubya appears on my album of the year and Odyssey definitely deserves not only a shout out but to be on my favorites list for this year. In 2025, I will be digging into her past releases.
Duster – In Dreams. Duster consistently sends me off into space, to float around in a lucid dream-like state.
Dean McPhee – Astral Gold. One of those no skips albums. If I were to play this on Fantastic Voyage (and I will), it will feel like a sacrilege to not play the song before or after. Instrumental. No overdubs. Wrap your head around the sound of this one.
Kevin Coleman – Imaginary Conversation. I often visit a town called Pulaski. That’s how I found about this album; looking up song titles with Pulaski. It’s a great cosmic jam reminding me of hazy memories of seeing the truck stop diner near Pulaski, NY as we raced by on Rt. 81.
Color Green – Fool’s Parade. It’s that missing Stone Roses album where they spent 10 years bopping around US desert towns making that third album and playing pop-up live shows in some grungy biker bars. Stuff of legends.
Notes: While I recognize Billie Eilish and Sabrina Carpenter both have excellent albums and some great ear worms, they are just not for me. The new Pixies album is sadly incredibly boring to me. Space themed death metal was an odd genre for me to get into in 2024, but I did. I get to see Slowdive in Toronto in January. I’m excited for that!
Albums I’mLooking forward to in 2025:
Guided By Voices – Universe Room
Saint Etienne – The Night
Frank Black – Teenager of the Year (30th Anniversary Edition)
Mogwai – The Bad Fire
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Perfect Right Now: A Slumberland Collection 2008-2010
Last year I didn’t play any Christmas music. Mostly because I was still feeling my way around being a DJ. This year I have an hours worth of spacey and space themed Christmas music for you. The playlist and link to the mixcloud archive is below. Enjoy!
Space Ship Santa Claus – Karen Hart Jingle Bells – The Moog Machine Alien Christmas – Professor Steve Zoot, Zoot, Zoot, Here Comes Santa In His New Space Suit – Tiny Tim A Very Spacey Christmas – Space Girls Christmas On The Moon – The Christmas Jug Band Spacey Santa’s Space Ship – Johnny Collins & The Caravans Space Age Santa Claus – Pattie Marie Jay & The Hal Bradley Orchestra Santa’s In The Closet – Ariel Pink Santa To The Moon – Sonny Cole Santa Claus Meets The Purple People Eater – Sheb Wooley Santa & The Satellite, Pt. 1 – Buchanan & Goodman Santa & The Satellite, Pt. 2 – Buchanan & Goodman Outer Space Santa – Nina Kinert Captain Santa Claus (And His Reindeer Space Patrol) – Bobby Helms Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Made Grown? – Dean & Britta & Sonic Boom UFO Christmas – Byron & The Smith Cousins Alien Christmas – Literally Newt Alien Christmas – Bill Michaels Alien Christmas – Tay Zonday We Wish You A Merry Christmas – The Moog Machine Alien Christmas – Nichola Petrone
New research co-led by the University at Buffalo proposes thinking both big and small to confirm their existence, suggesting that their signatures could range from very large—hollow planetoids in space—to minute—microscopic tunnels in everyday materials found on Earth, like rocks, metal and glass.
Cosmology 101 with Katie Mack. The following is the first video of a 11 video series.
NASA’s Juno Spacecraft has made the sweetest photos of Jupiter. The South Pole of Jupiter looks like a cross section of a rock with minerals. Or an eyeball.
The Satellite That Could Change the World. If this doesn’t convince you to try to find something of joy in this life, no matter how small it may seem, grab onto that and feel the existential joy.
Trump chooses billionaire astronaut Jared Isaacman to run NASA. Space is the next frontier … for billionaires. I’ve been following the frank discussion about this assignment on Bluesky. If you haven’t watched For All Mankind on Apple TV, you must. Granted, it is fiction but this subject is broached.
Sky Intruders! In this episode of Weaponized with Jeremy Corbell and George Knapp, they discuss all of those drone sightings, the congressional hearings and more.
I think we all have our doubts, curiosity and beliefs about UFOs, UAPs, aliens, etc. My suggestion is to be skeptical but keep an open mind. UFO podcast bros are the worst. People who spread misinformation are also the worst. Do I think Jeremy and George do this? I do not think so. But believe what anyone says at your own risk. Remember, just because it is or isn’t believable in your mind, doesn’t mean it is or isn’t true.
Today is Bandcamp Friday! Allow me to recommend a few albums. First, a few purchases I already made.
Only The Void Stands Between Us by Julie Beth Napolin. This album is chock full of sweet finger picking spacey/cosmic psych folk. A Bandcamp review mentioned she was a UFO tracker. I asked her via bluesky if this is true, she said no but she’s a “believer.” The album includes a Lungfish cover.
100% of proceeds to Helene relief and recovery in Western NC. Current recipients of funds are Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, Rural Organizing and Resilience (via Holler Harm Reduction), and Poder Emma (via Colaborativa la Milpa)
Masters of divine sci-fi spacekraut dronemusic, sprawling epics that drift heavenward, guitars swirl and pulse, bass throbs and rumbles, rhythms don’t pound or shuffle as much as pulse, a gloriously cosmic ur-rock that is not about rocking at all, but instead about sitting back and drifting off, letting the music lull you into a state of suspended animation, moving inward before moving outward, expanding like a new universe being born. – Aquarium Drunkard
Fantastic Voyage 