Days

You'd think that after two, maybe three, years of coming to terms with how life has changed and how it can never go back to the way it was, allied with the various health service interventions there have been along the way, I might have actually got things straight in my head. Except that that is not how it is. 

Each day I feel like I am poised on a knife edge. Poised above an ever-present emptiness. I believe there is a cure for that hollowed-out feeling. Day to day there are distractions that keep me away from the ache at the centre. Some are longer-lived. Some fleeting. Always, when I least expect it, that feeling pulls at me, reminding me of what I've lost, what I might have had and what I can't seem to find. It is the wild fluctuations of mood that catch me by surprise. The prevailing mood seems to be low. It's always round the corner. I bump into it when I least expect it. Then it's here to stay. Until the next thing. Or until I sleep. [IWJCTD]

In the face of this, music can elevate. Obliterate. Exacerbate. Alleviate. Excite. It just depends. 

Acid Mothers Temple (AMT) generally fall into the obliterate category. AMT & the Melting Paraiso UFO have undergone a rejuvenation following the arrival of three new members. Joining the two remaining original members, Kawabata Makoto (guitar, synthesizer, speed guru) and Higashi Hiroshi (synthesizer, harp, theremin, noodle god) are Jyonson Tsu (vocal, guitar, bouzouki, electronics, midnight whistler), Satoshima Nani (drums, another dimension) and Wolf (bass, space & time). Together they released a new album on Riot Season records, their 100 and something-th album, titled 'Reverse of Rebirth in the Universe'. It is a damn fine album. Above is the new line-up playing live in Japan.