The Orange Spotlight

Andrew Taylor And the Weary Are at Rest (Sunnyoutside, June 2008)

"Thing will never be the same/again light will angle differently/cold will eat summer" from "Catalf"

This past week a co-worker turned friend, turned mysterious old mentor, pasted away. At the age of sixty-seven, one can say you have lived a full life, but can you ever quite say it is complete? He was a driven worker and a veteran of the Marines, he gave every last ounce of energy to fulfilling what came to be his life's mission, to share his faith with others. Thoughts of legacy, mission, voice, guidance, footprints, and so on were swirling in my mind as quickly grabbed the next chapbook from the pile on my desk. It was random in motion and thought, but it all seemed much more planned and fitting. As we drove to the cemetery to pay respects to our wife grandparent's (these times always evoke emotions that had been hidden), I pulled the little chap out of my bag, and begin with the dedication page "To The Departed". Frozen in thought and time, I read the following 29 pages, 24 poems, instantly.

Liverpool's Andrew Taylor (founder of erbracce-press) has managed to captured the raw and honest conflict of death, and with his latest release of And the Weary are at Rest he shares all of these views with the world. Through out the carefully crafted pages, Andrew covers many different forms of death, death of a marriage, death of a season, death of a thought, and naturally end of physical life itself. Concise and surprisingly filled with life, Taylor puts the weary to rest with grace and class. It's strange, I am also read a forthcoming novel that refers to memories as ghosts frozen in time. Ghosts the appear at various time in various shades of illumination. You really have no control over them, and they fade as quickly as they appear.

"Time is no healer. I think of you, your enjoyment at early evening light."

Wild Sweet Orange We Have Cause to be Uneasy (Canvasback Music, July 29th)

"Oh my God, is this really what you want? Would you tell us if it's not, and could you rewrite the plot and come and get us?" from "Ten Dead Dogs"

What a statement on the mindset of the youth! Yes, there is cause to be uneasy, and through the eleven emotional tracks on the forthcoming full-length debut from Wild Sweet Orange, Preston Lovinggood clearly and expressively explains each reason. There is an overall questioning of life and purpose and true meaning. Preston also speaks out against the way too many children are raised each day in neglect and fear.

Musically this album completely blew me away. This is one of the most complete efforts that I have heard this year. Each tracks really stands on its own, and a few stand just a little taller then others. My favorite track in general is "Sour Milk", with its hushed acoustic and powerful theme of the end of a family and the ensuing end of innocence. It ends with a plea for sobriety and the ability to drown out life and spit out the sour milk that has been forced down their young throats. It is this fear and anger that stands in sharp contrast to the overwhelming sense of love and all the uneasiness that word carries with it.


"Love is not an allusion, sometimes I can see it in your eyes and hear it moaning tumbling down the hill when the traffic dies."

Ten Dead Dogs (mp3)/Tilt/Seeing and Believing/Either, or/Sour Milk/An Atlas to Follow/House of Regret/Crickets/Aretha's Gold/Night Terrors/Land of No Return