|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
i found the pub.
back to work. we recorded drums for three new songs today. tomorrow we'll edit today's tracks as well as those from our previous drum session. but lo and behold, we are now finished with all of the drums. sweet...
last night was the first evening at my new temporary housing situation in atlanta. endless thanks to the cliftons for letting me stay in their guesthouse. although the floors are concrete and there's not much furniture (none really), it has air conditioning, a shower, and a kitchen. much more than adequate. no devil television either. and there are dogs. i like dogs. i've also brought an air mattress for lounging/sleeping. and as a first impression, avondale estates feels pretty genuine. i've already found a good coffeehouse and david tells me there's a good farmer's market nearby. so now all i need is a pub of some sort. on a completely different subject, i saw mc hammer in concert last thursday. he performed several irresistible hits such as 'pumps and a bump', 'pray', 'too legit to quit', and the obvious 'u can't touch this'. no 'have you seen her?' for me though. but it's nice to know that he's officially a master of ceremonies again. although i was a bit disappointed that he didn't have an actual band with him. it seems like he could have gotten a better deal with a few solid musicians instead of hiring eight thousand backup dancers. but he's mc hammer and i will not judge mc hammer. just think how that man has entertained us. check it out.  i'll post some photos from the evening soon.
last night i attended the irongrass cd release party at the evening muse in charlotte. it was a rather bittersweet evening, but it turned out better than my last visit there when i was the victim of a three legged chair (i almost recovered two or three separate times, but eventually i fell and spilled a beer on myself. it was quite a spectacle. just ask lauren dennis).
anyway, i knew last night would be the last time i would see some people for a long time. as excited as i am about moving, there are so many individuals here that can never be replaced. i suppose they'll remain with me in my head somehow, but that's not the same, is it? i've lived in north carolina for ten years now. the first four were for school. the next four were for a band. the last two i'm still trying to figure out. but the time has come for a change, so next week i move to kentucky. and that is bittersweet indeed...
at the end of this post is a link to a new song. for various reasons, i've chosen not to include it on the upcoming album, but wanted to share the demo version with you. not putting it on the album has nothing to do with me not liking it. i like this song, but it doesn't fit into the 'big picture' as well as some of the others do. the production value also isn't that great since everything was recorded at home on my computer. for the most part, i had no idea what i was doing.
but now i present you with a choice. you can either 1) read the following - a short reflection / defense / description of the song, 2) scroll down, click the link, and skip my obiter dictum, or 3) close this window and do something else. if you want to learn before you listen, the first option may give you a bit of insight. if you want to be surprised, i suggest the second. no option is better than another. that is unless you choose the last option and go drop-kick a puppy or something. regardless, the choice is yours. this song is called BAD AUTHORITY. i wrote it sometime in december 2004. bush had just won the election, our band was falling apart, and i was generally pissed off and depressed. i turned on my drum machine one morning with the intention of writing something loud, dark, and aggressive. i guess i was upset. i wrote and recorded the rhythm tracks, then layered bass and guitars on top of it, then added words over the next couple days. i felt a new sense of energy after i had finished everything, but was also confused at the fact that i had never written anything like this before. this was a new direction from the songs i had created in the past, whether as part of CIF or bands from high school. but it also left me with a 'what the hell was all that about?' sort of feeling. nevertheless, it was purged from my head for whatever reason as an outlet for how i was feeling at the time about 'the state of things.' it was me or some version of me in december 2004. and that's it. as far as what the actual words mean, i'll leave that up to you to decipher. here they are. the link for the song comes right after them. and whether or not you enjoy this, thanks for reading. and listening... BAD AUTHORITY is the keeper of the uncarved always searching for a blade? has the ism that you’ve trusted now become a masquerade? do you think there’s something out there coming for you in the night? won’t you tell me, what’s your pleasure sir, out of mind or out of sight? oh, they’re watching over me! i’m ready to betray the bad authority! does confusion from messiahs leave you nothing to control? do you think there’s something better than just doing what you’re told? can’t you see the soldiers marching as you scream your favorite tune? is there reason to believe when all you see is sun and moon? oh, they’re watching over me! i’m ready to betray the bad authority! so come away with me tonight we’ll travel at the speed of light we'll drop our faith to join the craze our dreams are full of golden rays oh, they’re watching over me! i’m ready to betray the bad authority! BAD AUTHORITY
the derby party at glenn's on saturday was awesome. i met several nice people like the guy who does the music for "good eats with alton brown" and a couple producers for adult swim. i guess the latter was no surprise since glenn has a signed picture of space ghost in his studio.
we recorded drums on four songs this afternoon. dom showed up about halfway through and hung out for a while. we went to dinner later with my dad who happened to be in town. i ate too much. pieces of steak kept showing up on my plate. very cool artwork ideas from dom, by the way. too bad i can't show you any of it. saturday is the yard sale back in charlotte. if you need a lamp or a small gnome statue, please drop in. i cannot wait to be liberated from my possessions. you are not what you own, it seems. i should have a new song uploaded sometime next week. until then...
more drums tomorrow. hopefully we'll get through 4-5 new songs. dom is driving up from tallahassee to talk about artwork too. nothing much new here over the last few days. just more work on manufacturing and vinyl layout ideas. and i won't bore you with that again. however, i may be uploading a new song or two for you to hear soon. probably next week.
alright then. that's all for now.
yesterday morning we did more keyboard edits. again, not very exciting, but necessary. after lunch i recorded more pads and fx with the omnichord and then did a quick bass part for a short acoustic song. then we moved on to feedback. we ran my robelli through a fender pro deluxe and turned everything up as loud as we could. i think we got some good stuff, but i need to listen to it again. i might bring in a pedal or two for some added strangeness. anyway, overall we accomplished a ton yesterday.
last night beth and michael cooked some cinco de mayo tacos. they have been unbelievably hospitable. and they make very tasty tacos. after dinner michael showed me a place down the street where people sell crack (don’t worry – i just say no to crack). then we stayed up late with some alcohol and did some 'philosophizing'. basically, we came to the conclusion that there is no conclusion. anyway, unfortunately for me, beth just sold her house so i’m looking around for another place to stay. a house inspector came by a couple days to set up a radon test, so now there are ‘CAUTION!: CLOSED BUILDING PROCEDURE’ signs on all the doors and windows. it’s very serious. but for my sake, i hope the radon is not the Raydon. anyone with me? dom should be coming up from florida at some point next week to share some artwork ideas. alright then. today is derby and glenn has invited me over for a PARTY. more insignificant banter next week....
this morning we recorded some lap steel with my new friend bret. then we moved on to more keyboard and bass edits in the afternoon. lots of progress there. regardless, once again today i did not pick up an instrument. sessions like this are difficult. just sitting and staring at the computer screen becomes taxing very quickly. tomorrow i'm planning to have a good time recording feedback. nothing quells the boredom of editing quite like making strange loud noises with no sense of melody.
now i have to go program some ideas on my drum machine for tomorrow. then i'll try to get some sleep. haven't been doing much of that lately. at least very well. that's all for tonight. hope everyone is doing well.
before i went to sleep tonight i stepped out onto the back porch around 3am and heard pink floyd coming from someplace far away at a very high volume. when it stopped, all i could hear were birds. it was beautiful.
this morning we recorded acoustic guitar for three songs, two with words and one instrumental. i used my larrivee, a great sounding guild on loan from glenn's wife cynthia, and a small alvarez high strung to 'nashville' tuning. after that we recorded electric guitar on three songs. we also added a few synth pads with glenn's omnichord. now that is an outstanding piece of technology! all together a productive day. also, i'm sorry about not getting the new clips uploaded. i'll try to get them up soon.
after the session today i drove to phil skipper's favorite vegetarian restaurant again and read 'channel zero' by brian wood. jim rice gave it to me. listen everyone. READ THIS BOOK. it is very important. while driving home i scanned the AM dial and landed on the local 'air america' station. in many ways the programming is just as terrible as clods like limbaugh and hannity. supposedly if i tune in enough i’ll become what they refer to as a 'free thinker.' what a load of crap. and speaking of driving, it's impossible to walk anywhere around here. there are pockets of the avant-garde here and there, but most areas reek from the slow death of suburbia. what do all these people think is going on? there are bigger issues at stake than the new spring collection at jcrew. wake up america and take a deep whiff of what this world is shoveling out for you. there are some extremely beautiful things around and they don't exist in shopping malls. sorry if i'm sounding slightly morose tonight. one of my classmates in high school passed away this weekend. he was a nice guy. sometimes i like to tell myself i'm not afraid of death, but those thoughts often fade quickly when i wake up in the middle of the night wondering if there's a man in my house with a large axe. maybe i just fear pain. pain sucks. or is it the unknown? no, it can't be that. i don't know. neither do you. or do you? let me know if you've figured it out. i’m going to bed.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
