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The slower, almost cinematic cowboy shuffle of “Hombre” follows. DC’s bass guitar keeps things together here, under Willson-Piper’s Dick-Dale single-note noodling. The keys that slip in add perfectly to the overall 60’s vibe of this wonderful instrumental. For me, it’s the best song on the Shimmer.

The overall effect of Catharsis is that the listener is well under the spell of a master musician/composer, who handles both the organic instruments as well as he does the electronic. 

This three-song EP is a grand old, ‘just the tip’ kind of a tease for wanting more from Hasten Mercy and Michael Baker. But this trio will surely get you on your way.

All good art is relatable to a broad human experience. This is why it touches so many and lasts so long. But not every artist’s story of creation relates. At that time, the Anne Rice/Anne Rampling interplay related to me personally and warmed my cockles. 

A picked acoustic runs underneath the vocal on the last tune here, “The Out.” Once this one gets snapping, we are in what sounds most to me like deep Cobain-like rendering with cool effects and a wavery key line. It’s a great song to end Quiet Girl, as we get some well-placed aggression, the other end of the spectrum of love emotions, to wrap up this EP perfectly. 

From classical masterpieces, contemporary pieces, and original progressive rock, the full range of Pittsburgh’s Beo String Quartet is impossible to label. Which is a very good thing, as far as I’m concerned.

It’s not every day we get to enjoy someone’s compositions when that someone is not playing any instrument creating the recording of that composition. But this is often eh classical way, and it is served well by a talented duo of players rendering Elliot Cole’s writing into reality.

These are just a few lists for you to chew over and enjoy. There are plenty more ‘Best Of’s all over the web, in magazines, and probably in the naughty little noggin’ of your bestie. Enjoy.

I devoured Set the Night on Fire: Living, Dying, and Playing Guitar With the Doors. But I don’t think you need to be a Doors listener, a Krieger fan or even really all that much into rock and roll to enjoy this chronicle of a creative man’s history and his thoughts about life.