During the gunfight we fell in love.
Hey. It's been a million years, but that's ok. I've been busy I guess? I haven't been, I mean besides work and bands and whatever. Sometimes I have to go to meetings for things, or I go swimming. Swimming right now is very important. Reading on my porch is important. Sitting in front of my computer and trying to write something is not that important. Also, I've maybe mentioned before that I have this tumblr. I update that everyday because it's really easy. Ever just want to look at a picture? Or hear like one song every couple weeks? Or find out what's in Prince's fridge? That's the place. But yeah, here are some best/killer things and a couple of thoughts. This is just me stretching out a little. Rolling out of bed, finally.


I saw this live Hysterics video the week that all the NSA/Snowden stuff was first reported and it was kind of like all hope was not lost, you know what I mean? I'm looking for reasons to not roll my eyes at life in the USA and it's tough sometimes. But here's Hysterics, raging and perfect. "I want to see all the freaks in the pit" feels like a general all-purpose existential request, applicable anywhere, all the time. And not to be bitchy, but check the YouTube sidebar and see the rest of the Rain Fest bill. If you went to shows 12 years ago, you'll be like "holy fuck, this is STILL HAPPENING?" Which is fine. But the future needs to be something else. Fake-Blood-Soaked Female Pope for President. Hysterics 2016.


Also, I love St Vincent. Love her so much. This is the first episode of Guitar Moves I watched (like literally watched it 10 minutes ago), I don't know why I dragged my feet on it for so long. It's hosted by Matt Sweeney! I will talk about Chavez all night. I think maybe I thought the show would be too tech-oriented and I tend to not want to know. And I usually tune out when people talk about the blues, but then it's like "what if I knew how to do this? what would happen then?" The show is about technique and style and where those come from for everybody, and the segments are short and fun. It makes you want to be better and nerdier. And the way Annie Clark gets into harmonics and those chords where you can zone out -- that's what I do! I sit at my apartment and find ways to zone. Josh Homme's episode is great, too. Sidenote: I had a dream that my friends and I were hanging out with him and having a good time. When I woke up my hand was on my heart, like I was pledging allegiance or maybe in love. I'm full of love, basically. Also, what if Sweeney talked to Bill Orcutt? Holy shit.

This mix of historic female electronic/drone/noise/synthesizer experiments is necessary. The more recent material is great (I want every Noveller record), but there's something about outre music from a time when that was fairly uncommon and couldn't be released, say, as limited CD-Rs and cassettes -- I guess 50/60s/70s era, with all the old Nonesuch LPs that were like educational reels for trans-dimensional thinking or something -- that really grabs me. But it was even more uncommon for women? I don't feel qualified to speak on that. I read that piece on Suzanne Ciani in ANP Quarterly, and it was more about the desire to push boundaries in an all-encompassing way, out of trad conceptual ways of thinking and with new instruments, trying to reach something, trying to be boundless. You can apply that to everything. Sorry if I'm sounding new age-y. Fuck it, maybe I'm new age-y. Try this kale smoothie.


There's this, too, brought to my attention by Jason Powerslime.  The Deele's "Shoot 'Em Up Movies" is already a favorite of yours if you know MF Doom's "Red and Gold".  It's that kind of gentle power snare synth R&B that people try to reference now, but it's never as genuine, and nobody's going so far as to recreate this (cowboy paisley park ballads? smooth movie theater romance?). The past tends to get filtered. I think of this as music from my one sister's Prom in 1989, when she got in a car accident but nobody got hurt. Also, that's Babyface in there on piano, I think. "Then the lights went down/ hayyyyayyyy" says so much.

Lastly, did you hear the GLAM LP? You should hear the GLAM LP, and download it for zero dollars if you're broke. It's a mystery how some bands can more-or-less crank the basics and have it be the best shit in the world. I listened to this record for weeks, and then they came to Rochester and KILLED. It can all be so simple. They played with Crazy Spirit, who are decent, but their set was...I don't know. It was just grunts to me. They looked like farm boys who now live in an alley. Gnarly and growly. I'd call it dumpster-core but I don't mean that as an insult. Anyway, people ate it up. My friends and I shrugged. It wasn't GLAM, that's for sure.

Elsewhere: I made this really long g13 mix a while ago. Good songs, amazing songs, but a little lengthy. I mean you have to download it, you don't have a choice. Did you hear Reed and Cale (mostly Reed) on the radio? I liked it. I even just liked hearing what old NYC radio sounded like. All the monotone, emotionless show announcements. Oh shit, and read Lou's Yeezus review. I've been into soothing sounds, too -- Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou and Alice Coltrane. Kind of wild soothing sounds. I forgot to mention a lot of other things, but I set a time limit on writing. Sticking to a schedule. Also, good time to swim. See above.