The Healing- Char-El

 While I have liked Char-el's previous work, I've always found it to be a bit too dramatic to be relaxing. It is stand-alone music in the mode of Demby or Kitaro, not very ambient but cosmic, especially with headphones!

   His latest release, The Healing, is more suitable for relaxation and meditation. His synths are aided by guitar, flute and harp this time around, as well as nature sounds. Previous Char-el CDs get played in my car, this one is for bed.

   There are some beautiful harp arpeggio, something not often heard with cosmic sounds. I was skeptical as to how well the guitar would fit in, but it does just fine. The flute takes the lead often in places where one of Char's ethereal synths would have before. The whole effect is much fuller , more alive than with just electronics.  Humanity is amplified through strings and brass as well as circuits and energy this time around.

     One problem with a lot of New Age music is that just as you are getting in a relaxed state, some crashing Irish drums or shrieking didgeridoos shock you back into reality. Not so with this work, which is a nice mix of New Age and Ambient, with some long  resolving themes. Char-el's synths slide in and out of the mix, perfectly behind the other instruments at times, gracefully in the forefront elsewhere. No Drama!

Composed and produced by Char-El, with Desra Dabney on flute, Denise Grupp-Verbon on   harp  and Gerald Natal on guitar.

    I am not big on classifying music as to genre, except for internal use on my iPod, but I'll have to say this is New Age with some Ambient features, rather than the other way round- Ambient, at least the stuff I like , is fairly emotionless and even. This new CD by Char-el is very very  positive and filled with emotion.

Here is a youtube link to sample:

Lovely harmony and sound effects on this clip.

Eventually The Healing will be available from CDBABY.COM, but for now go to CHAR-EL.COM for more information.

The Bad Box

      Harvey Click's previous novel, HOUSE OF WORMS, had a decidedly Lovecraftian, pulpy atmosphere. This new one, THE BAD BOX, has a more modern, gloomy feel, ala King or Rice. This is not to say that Click is copying anyone…goodness no! His narratives have a style that I hope no Big City Editor ever convinces him needs to be smoothed out.  It's hard to talk about this book without fear of giving away important details, and I don't want to diminish anyone's pleasure  (or is it agonizing torture? ) of reading this story of constant surprises.

     Several horror cliches present themselves, but are handled in unexpected fashion. One thing I like about Harvey Click's stories is he is able to write about characters far different from his own point of view. So many authors have characters that seem to have the same opinions and persona as their creator. Click's character's are always fascinating,and often not someone you'd care to be stuck in an elevator with.
    Once again, fans of his previous book will find this one somewhat different, but still quite exciting, thoughtful and fun. Oh, and gruesome. Yeah, gotta have that in a Click novel,and this one doesn't disappoint. I have to admit that at one point, reading it late at night, I, old curmudgeon that I am, got goose bumps. The common can become hellish. Click's descriptive prose will have you feeling those same goosebumps too.

YOU CAN BUY IT HERE

The House of Worms

        Since the inception of the Kindle, I have read many self published books. Most are sorely in need of an editor. Harvey Click's THE HOUSE OF WORMS, however, is not. It is smoothly written, as professional work of fiction as I have ever read.

       Kindle offerings at this price are usually only 10-20 thousand words at most. This novel is a whopper, 120,000 words.  And unlike , say, some tome by King, there is no padding. This adventure moves quickly and is lean and lithe when it comes to verbiage.

I felt the influence of a great number of pulp and SF writers of the past as I read this. Especially H.P. Lovecraft. What better place to start a novel than in a spooky curio shop with exotic trinkets , then a crumbling mansion on the Hudson River? An eerie mausoleum  under the full moon? A backyard in suburban Cincinnati?

      Click moves locale with sometimes dizzying speed. But, as I said, there is little fluff involved. Every sentence in this tale has its purpose. At times I was reminded of one of the whirlwind adventures of Doc Savage as he and his crew romped across the Depression midwest battling evil. Doc only met this type of evil once, at the end of his (written) adventures.

     Splatter horror fans, there is plenty here for you. While you won't need the king-size Vomit Bag required for some others in the genre,  there is enough here to make you winch. There is also loads of dark humor. For some reason I pictured Forrest Ackerman for the image of   Grimes and Bub from "Day of the Dead" as his son. The book has a lot of the feel of Philip Jose Farmer's "Blown", and perhaps, more contemporarily , Neil Gaiman's "American Gods"

    House of Worms covers some of my favorite themes:

~dilapidated old spooky house, creepy mausoleum (That whole thing reminded me of an early HPL story, The Tomb) .

~Location other than the expected glamour spots such as NY or LA.

~Native American spiritual cues

~Near immortal restless soul

~Secret society or cabal

~some quite brutal and innovative torture scenes

~gateways to other realms

~disorientation

A lot of the action was very pulpish (in a good way), and also to some extent in the “modern noir” of thrillers such as Pendelton’s Executioner books. It flowed easily in real time .

I also liked the ambiguity of the characters’ “goodness”. Kept me guessing the whole time.

The novel is available for Kindle from Amazon. It's only 3 bucks. Quite easily the best entertainment value I've ever had using the Kindle. This book is worthy of a paper edition.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO AMAZON AND READ THE OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION.