Night terrors

Friends, this is one of the very first times there is no passionate optimism. I haven't been sleeping well and I feel like I'm sleep-blogging right now. I'm in a very gray patch in my life. I just woke up from a very heavy sleep... I think. I'd only been asleep for about two and a half hours and I was having a terrible dream. I don't remember what it was about, but thank God I was woken up by a text from Jennifer. I guess it didn't help that I fell asleep listening to Grace (see above).

If you haven't figured it out, it's been a rough summer. I think that tonight was where everything sort of went overboard. I realize now that I'm different than before. I still don't know the extent really, but I'm definitely more easily tired and I'm burned out. I'm much more sad. I spent half an hour crying in the bathtub tonight. I don't really know why.

I'm just hoping that I don't become one of those people with extreme, uncontrollable night terrors. That would suck.

A Summer of Discovery, Disappointment and Discombobulation (Things to watch out for)

About a week ago, I tried to start the "post your favorite album from each year since you've been born" meme on my blog, however I realized that if you looked at my list, you'd think I was a total tool. I don't fully disagree, however, I don't feel strongly enough about any one album to put myself out there in that way. I got up to about 1992 and I realized that nearly every single album was somewhere on Pitchfork's top 100 of whatever decade and immediately, I was disappointed in myself for my lack of creativity. Every other blog that posted the same thing tried to make themselves look a little more interesting than they actually were, entering late-era Neil Young, A Tribe Called Quest or obscure west coast hip-hop. Friends, that is not me. I will have you know that I included Social Distortion's self-titled masterpiece on my list.

Anyhow, I've been burned out on a lot of things for a long time. While I was at work on Friday, I finally took the time to update my iPod (in part). I put on albums that I've acquired over the past few weeks and just haven't had the time to listen to. Some of them were not as good as I had hoped (the new albums by The Walkmen, Lucky Dragons, High Places), however there were some wonderful discoveries as well. Here are a few:



Titus Andronicus - The Airing of Grievances
I have so many wonderful comparisons/RIYL laden language for this one, it'll make you sick. Jeff Enzor said that this was like Ted Leo minus about 15 years. I feel like this is the Walkmen album that all the Bows+Arrows fans deserve, or at least represents the path the Walkmen could have walked if they weren't fed a Steady Diet of Nothing, rather consuming Rum, Sodomy and the Lash. It's as if 17 year old versions of Canada's Fucked Up were raised in New Jersey, only listening to what the rest of New Jersey listens to (anything by the Boss). It's actually not out of place on the shelf next to the Desaparecidos album from a few years ago; energetic and wild, lo-fi as it can be and sung by a Conor-a-like. Anyways, it's wonderful and the album is a real crowd pleaser.



Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual
This band comes from Baltimore and that's nearly all you need to know, considering the fact that Baltimore has been putting out some of the best new music in the last few years (see also: Whartscape festival). The band is a bunch of weird looking kids that listened too a few too many Japanese noise albums. They make joyful, experimental, razor sharp guitar songs that are screamed over with non-sensical syllables.



The Three O'Clock - Sixteen Tambourines
Unfortunately, I don't have a working link for this one, but if anyone wants it, I am more than willing to upload it. This is truly the pride of Carson, CA. The kid you see playing bass and singing was from Carson, but now resides in San Pedro (duh) and this is possibly the best discovery I've had in a while. Jennifer kept telling me about this band that I'd like, but I was totally turned off by the "Paisley Underground" tag. I never really got into The Who or the Velvet Underground, so what the hell did that mean to me? Nothing. That was until I saw the attached video. The Three O'Clock wasn't about anything more than hooks. If someone had told me that before, I would have been all over that like Justin Conway on the Internet.

MUXTAPE #3: je suis nasty

MUXTAPE

There are so many things in life I've missed out on. Music is an endless journey of discovery and very recently, I've discovered that I've been missing out on real post-punk and post-hardcore.

1. The Wedding Present - "Dalliance (Seamonsters)"
Steve Albini guiding one of England's most beloved bands through what would become their first major album. 1991 was an important year for music in the same way that 1979 and 1984 were for their respective decades. David Gedge wrote one of the best "side one track ones" I've heard recently.

2. Mission of Burma - "That's When I Reach for my Revolver (Signals, Calls and Marches reissue)"
Whenever people would talk about Mission of Burma, I thought they were making fun of me with their (more) elitist references.
Little did I know that people that listen to Mission of Burma weren't messing around. I'd always heard that Mission of Burma was "difficult" and that their music wasn't just for anyone; in actuality, it isn't that difficult and is one of the cornerstones for much of the music I listen to today.

3. Sunny Day Real Estate - "Seven (Diary)"
This is one of the first really angular songs I ever encountered at the tender young age of 14. I heard it and had no idea who it was. Soon after, I learned of the magic of Jeremy Enigk through the Emogame and found out just how amazing Diary was. It is now one of my favorite Seattle albums. Sunny Day Real Estate is totally the Seattle Fugazi.

4. Fugazi - "Brendan #1 (Repeater +3)"
Fugazi just fits so well, right after talking about a fake Fugazi. Before Repeater, I'd never heard drums so intense and yet so restrained. This song is the perfect example of this.

5. The Nation of Ulysses - "The Sound of Young America (13-Point Program to Destroy America)"
Svenonius is a genius. Without him, there would be no Refused and I would have no manifesto. I love the idea of rebellion through obedience.

6. Geno - "Act 1 (Free DVDS)"
Brzezicki is a genius. Free DVDS was wonderful and it's only a matter of time before he blows my mind again. The way this is recorded is pretty great; the guitar sounds so sparse and is perfect.

7. Boris - "となりのサターン (SMILE)"
This little gem is directly in the middle of the new Boris album and it took me a long time to get to it. Usually, with a Boris album, I'll get so stoked on the first two songs that I won't get past them. SMILE is a great example of this. "メッセージ" and "BUZZ-IN" are two brain rattling opening tracks. The drums in the verses, set behind the guitar playing the keyboard parts, are beautiful, but then Boris makes you remember why you liked them in the first place.

8. Pink & Brown - "Je Suis Nasty (Final Foods)"
I always thought of Pink & Brown as some sort of ripoff Lightning Bolt and it's not hard to draw comparisons, but they are genius in their own way.

9. Hella - "Welcome to the Jungle Baby, Your gonna live! (The Devil Isn't Red)"
Old Hella is pretty mind-melting. Get stoked on it.

What Summer 2008 means to me

The last few weeks, I've been floundering, not quite sure what this summer was going to bring. There's usually some sort of determination at the end of the school year to either keep the good spirit going or change things altogether. I really came away from this year with mixed feelings. So many things happened this year and I'm not sure what to do. It was generally a mixed bag all year long, with amazing highs and ridiculous lows. What this has left me was extreme appreciation for this exact moment. I still lose sight of what's going on right now, but I know that the second it really goes wrong, it's because I've strayed too far from living presently.

I've been working for a week now, and it's only going to get more intense as the summer goes on. I'm currently working 4 days a week in the office, two of those being scheduled half days. Both of the "half" days last week, I ended up working full days. The other day is devoted to "catching up" even though it's only Tuesday. I guess I knew that I would need the break because I ended up picking up another job for later in the summer that will involve me working on the weekends. At least I'm getting paid for one of these jobs.

All of this being said, summer 2008 maybe won't be so "great." As of right now, all I can see is stress and more white hair, but I've decided that I can still salvage some of the summer and give it a theme that's worthy of working towards.

I guess there really isn't a name for summer 2008 yet; what I really hope is that I can take shelter somewhere until it's over. I've always had a strange relationship with summer. I've never been particularly active during the summer. I've never had a real "summer job." I've never really done much of anything, but I've never particularly wanted summer to end. This is the first year that I've had real thoughts about wanting it to just be over so I can go back to school, which is just as terrifying because it's my last year. I really don't know where I'm going or what I'm doing after next year is over.

One of the things that I need from this summer is relaxation. I also would like for this summer to be about civility. These things haven't been hallmarks of summers past, so I've decided that it merits a new activity, something that I haven't tried before; this summer, I will be hosting tea parties!

Over the last year, I've become a food fanatic. I'm even a bit snobby sometimes. I've decided that food is something that isn't just for function; it is to be enjoyed. Through this, I've also realized the power of a good sommelier. Pairing a wine with food is an art. This has been a slow discovery for me, beginning with tacos, mariscos and sangria. The nature of the food and the drink changes in combination. I still don't drink actual alcohol, however I've decided to take the idea of the sommelier and apply it to something I'm more comfortable with: teas. Summer is all about refreshing tastes and what's more refreshing than a tall glass of iced tea?

So this summer, expect to see an invitation coming your way. Love you all.

What the world needs now... MUXTAPE #3

edit: this one isn't up yet.



MUXTAPE

The last few weeks, I've gone AWOL from nearly everything in my life. Life really caught up to me and kicked my ass. School is finally over for the year and I don't have much to reflect on this year, as I usually do. I guess it's only Monday of the first week, so I'm not much in the mood for reflection yet.

In my absence, I've been moody. I haven't had much human interaction and that may have been to my detriment, and I've also come out of my "unlimited positivity" mindset, but I've at least tried to make it interesting. Last week, I came across a very interesting download on Sordo. It was marked as "Nirvana - In Utero (Albini version vinyl rip)". I had known that much of In Utero was recorded by Albini, but the vast majority of the better known songs were deemed "radio unfriendly" by Geffen, meaning that someone else had to come in to remix/remaster the songs so that they would be more "people friendly."

When I listened to the full Albini version of In Utero, I realized something that I really hadn't thought about before. The Albini Charm has a lot to do with alienation and alienating people. When you think back to Big Black, Rapeman and Shellac, you think of an abrasive, ironic sense of humor with an "up yours" sound that matched. The more and more I thought about the wider Albini production catalogue, I realized all of the things he's had his hand in (minus Ys and Lift Your Skinny Fists...) have basically had the same spirit or idea driving them. Steve effing Albini doesn't have to be people friendly.

To me, Steve Albini's guitar tone and drum sound are two of the things that set him apart from all the rest of the producers in the world. I don't quite understand how he gets the sounds he does out of those instruments, but he does a wonderful job putting out some of the angriest music of the 90s and the 00s.

Without making you wait any longer, here's Muxtape #3, Albini's Angry Teenage Soundtrack:

1. Nirvana - "All Apologies (demo) (In Utero Albini Version)"
This version is so wonderful. The drums and the bass are so huge, the guitars are beautifully chaotic and the outro is so much better than the album version. Angry 13 year olds everywhere rejoice!

2. Scout Niblett - "Lullaby for Scout in Ten Years (Kidnapped by Neptune)"
For a long time, I didn't quite get it. "Scout Niblett? Who's that? Oh, the girl." That was about as much as I cared. This was the first Scout Niblett song I ever heard and when the distorted guitars came in, I thought that I had never heard something so intense. The transition from the very intimate, small sound to the huge, distorted punch in the face is signature Albini.

3. The Wedding Present - "Suck (Seamonsters remaster)"
David Gedge. Steve Albini. Same room. They just recorded another Wedding Present album together, but this was the original one. Gedge's affinity for melody, coupled with his faux-Ian Curtis vocals and Albini's drums and guitars make for some of the most interesting britpop of the early 90s.

4. Pixies - "Tame (Doolittle)"
Sure, Doolittle had its really beautiful melodic moments, like "Wave of Mutilation" or "Here Comes Your Man," but the really big moments come when Frank Black starts screaming, guitars pounding.

5. Big Black - "Colombian Necktie (Songs About Fucking)"
There's really not much to say here, other than I love the fact that the drummer's name is always credited as "Roland."

6. Shellac - "My Black Ass (At Action Park)"
Same deal here. This is the first Shellac song I heard and all I could think was, "Why does that guitar sound so angry?"

7. Melt-Banana - "Sick Zip Everywhere (Scratch or Stitch)"
I thought that this was one of the most wonderful pairings in all of music production history. Take a Japanese noise band and add one of the noisiest producers in rock and roll? Awesome.

8. PJ Harvey - "50ft Queenie (Rid of Me)"
I never knew much about PJ Harvey beyond the fact that she did amazing work with Nick Cave. This particular album, Rid of Me, was a great example of why Albini draws the best out of his artists. PJ wasn't the angriest grrl on the block until she met him.

9. Jawbreaker - "The Boat Dreams From the Hill (24 Hour Revenge Therapy)"
Here's one of those signature Albini "uncredited" moments. Superchunk also did this. The bands felt like if they credited Albini, his reputation would be damaged because they were too pop for him to produce. Albini did a wonderful thing with this Jawbreaker album in the same vein as his work with The Wedding Present. The raw power and weight of his production coupled with the melodic leanings of Blake Schwarzenbach lead to a beautiful album.

Post #50: Megaposting 2000GREAT!

Here we are, at the end of the academic year and we're sending it up to the spirit in the sky. [/office reference]

Anyhow, I've been here for 49 posts and since I don't actually pay any of you to read my blog, I figured I should give you all a few gifts. How can I do this in a meaningful way that will affect a great deal of you? ALBUM MEGAPOST! As those in the Hickey Underworld would say, happy two thousand great!

These albums are all from my "Best of 2008" list, though it doesn't comprise it fully. They appear in no specific order. Enjoy!


No Age - Nouns


The Magnetic Fields - Distortion


Vampire Weekend - s/t


The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride


She & Him - Volume One


Jason Anderson - The Hopeful and the Unafraid
note on this as well: July 17 = Harry and the Potters, Jason Anderson, Math the Band at the Troubadour. The tour is called the Unlimited Enthusiasm tour. What else do you need to know? Just be there and support the man who's writing some of the most meaningful music today.

Smile and Evil Thoughts

I had a super long entry about group meetings and projects and this album being a wonderful cathartic release, and while it is, there's no amount of explanation that can put this into a proper context.

Listen to this Boris album. It will pound your skull so hard, but you'll keep coming back for more.

Smile

It's 3AM. Do you know where your children are? (MUXTAPE #2)

MUXTAPE

MUXTAPE #2: Summer Shimmer Pop
Summer is upon us! Let's run in the streets and stay out late! The street lights don't go on until 8! We can swim in the ocean, ride seafoam green tandem bikes and get wild!

There's something so great about the stereotypical "American" guitar tone. The only way I've ever been able to describe it is as "shimmery." Fender amps with single coil pickups, high on the mids; all of those things sound like summer to me. I haven't been sleeping all that well lately; the heat, along with the typical "end of the school year everything crisis" mentality has kept me up far too late the last week. All I can say is that I'm going to listen to this muxtape a ton until summer is here.

1. Jeff Enzor - "Filtered Disfunctions (Our Broken Floors)"
Doesn't particularly fit in with the theme in terms of sound, but in philosophy, this works perfectly. This song should be on modern rock radio. No exaggeration there. And, for the record Jennifer, this is not your Jeff song. It should be for everyone. The world will know of this song soon enough.

2. Julie Ocean - "Ten Lonely Words (Long Gone and Nearly There)"
Dischord and DC indie pop vets team up to write one of 2008's best boldfaced power pop albums. There is nothing more summer than power pop.

3. Bruce Springsteen - "For You (Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ)"
I've been so stoked on this album over the last month or so. Subconsciously I can feel summer coming and this album has stood for everything I want my summers to be; it is also the blueprint for all great summer albums in one way or another.

4. Rhett Miller - "Hover (The Instigator)"
Rhett Miller is not only one of the most handsome men in rock and roll, but he's also one of the better songwriters. The Instigator was written mostly by Miller, but was produced (and obviously handled) by Jon Brion. There's so much of the witty Brion charm on this album, it's nearly irresistible.

5. Limbeck - "Yeah, Totally (Hi, Everything's Great vinyl first pressing)"
One of the things that's always been most disappointing to me about Limbeck is the fact that they've decided to relegate some of their best songs to b-sides, tour EPs and compilations. This is a good example of that. It bridges the gap between their power pop incarnation and their current alt.country identity perfectly. I've always loved Limbeck's perspective on music and life, which basically boils down to "life is awesome, let's have fun!"

6. Jason Anderson - "Watch Your Step (The Hopeful and the Unafraid)"
The "life is awesome" school of thought carries over here. I know this song is on Justin Conway's muxtape, but I couldn't leave this one off, because it's just too perfect. It's a beautifully worded love song that has a priceless sense of humor, without losing its seriousness: "Every other day or so/I google image search your name/but there's only one picture/and it's always the same/I had to memorize the lyrics/I downloaded this mp3/I printed out the bass tab/spent my way around the key/I'm working on a version now/to jog your memory/maybe a jog seems ambitious/maybe we should try".

7. The Hold Steady - "You Can Make Him Like You (Boys and Girls in America)"
Though this album came out too late in the year to be a summer album, I think it should be added to the summer album canon because of its unabashed stadium spirit. The thought of hearing Craig Finn screaming out "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at a Mets (or Twins) game is just too good.

8. Stone Temple Pilots - "Plush (Core)"
Originally, this was a perfect 8 song playlist, but I have the obsessive need to be consistent with stupid things like muxtape, so I added this piece of flair. All of STP's singles were pretty good. The idea here is great and the hook is good, but the song is way too long.

9. Paul Westerberg - "Stain Yer Blood (Friends OST)"
What's with those Westerberg songs on the Friends Sountrack? I don't know, but I love them to death. It sounds like the late 90s to me, and God knows I love that. This song actually sticks out to me because it just sounds like the Midwest in the mid-to-late 90s. It actually sounds a lot like a Get Up Kids song, which is weird considering the fact that there would be no Get Up Kids without the Replacements, but whatever.

Liveblogging the Straight Edge Documentary and Final Thoughts

7:08 PM - Arrived home late to find that the documentary already in progress, on commercial
7:12 PM - A sociologist wearing a "POSI" shirt? mega-lawlz.
7:15 PM - FSU. Loving violence. Awesome. This is the death of the middle class. I love that the guy that started FSU moved to Hollywood away from violence.
7:22 PM - Going into the second commercial break, it seems apparent that the only thing Thurston's going to be talking about is people dying, extremism and Salt Lake City. I really don't know what I was expecting, considering the fact that they couldn't get anyone "from the inside" to narrate the documentary. I don't quite understand the connection between Sonic Youth and Straight Edge.
7:27 PM - THERE'S A BATTLE IN SALT LAKE CITY GOING ON BETWEEN INSANE CLOWN POSSE JUGGALOS AND STRAIGHT EDGE GANGS! OMFG! I LOVE CITIES LIKE THAT!
7:30 PM - Straight Edge gangs kill 15 year old with a springbilly?
7:32 PM - YES POSI-SOCIOLOGIST! KEEP IT POSI! DEFEND THOSE KIDS!
7:37 PM - I love that Reno is the focus.
7:43 PM - I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE LIVEBLOGGING.
7:46 PM - "White Suburban Terrorists"! And since when is Nevada the most dangerous state? I mean, four years, but seriously? How is it not California? It must be calculated per capita or something.
7:51 PM - The problem here is that this is a documentary maker's idea of "non-biased," however every single straight edge comment on the blog has to do with "the way the movement has been mischaracterized" or whatever. The thing about an issue like this is that there has to be a bias when portraying it. It's impossible to tackle such a huge issue in 43 minutes and not present some sort of bias; something will always be left out an someone will always be dissatisfied.
7:57 PM - EIGHTH GRADERS?



As someone who used to claim edge, I didn't find the documentary to be overly offensive. More often than not, I feel awkward in social situations where my beliefs are discussed. I still abstain from drugs, alcohol, smoking, etc., however I don't claim edge anymore, which is strange to me. I lived through some of my most formative years thinking that resisting was the only way, that it was us versus them. Today, I follow the school of thought perpetuated by the Revolution Summer crowd, the idea that change is inevitable and we should only work together for something loftier than what's right in front of us, be it drugs, gangs, self-interest, whatever. If it so happens that, like in my case, this involves living a clean lifestyle, then so be it, but this is not the contingent part. In the end, as everyone else says, it's about personal choice. What most straight edgers don't talk about is the fact that personal choice to follow isn't quite as "personal" as it should be.

ps. The image is sort of funny. I used to have this picture of Morrissey laying down in front of the Capital Building with a SSDecontrol 12", but I lost it. I tried to look for it on google image search, but I found that instead, which is an egregious misappropriation of "How Soon is Now?"

And now Jeff Enzor goes on the list.

MUXTAPE

This will be updated periodically; I will post the tracklistings here when I change it. Each muxtape will have nine songs and will be around 30 minutes long, just like one side of a real mixtape.

EDIT: the tracks are now backwards.

MUXTAPE #1
1. Paul Westerberg - "Sunshine (Friends OST)"
WHO WROTE THIS SONG? +10 if you get it.
Anyways, a great version nonetheless; the best part is the bit of canned laughter at the very beginning, probably from a bit of dialogue from the show.

2. Guided by Voices - "Glad Girls (Isolation Drills)"
Possibly the best quote of the year: "wtf 'hey black girls i want ot get you high'"

3. Jason Anderson - "July 4, 2004 (The Hopeful and the Unafraid)"
I think that this should be the second song on every album Jason Anderson ever writes. This version is a very succinct version of the one that ended up on Tonight; I like that both versions exist.

4. Elvis Costello - "Alison (My Aim is True)"
Did you know that Huey Lewis was in Elvis Costello's band during the recording of My Aim is True? He didn't record on this song, but a lot of the 80s make more sense because of this.

5. Paul Simon - "Graceland (Graceland)"
Jeff Enzor goes on the list, not only for introducing me to muxtape, but also for introducing me to Paul Simon.

6. Bruce Springsteen - "Blinded by the Light (Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ)"
Anthony Bourdain was in New Jersey for an episode of No Reservations a few years back and when he went to Asbury Park, he started to talk about this album. This is absolutely the best way to start off a first album.

7. Wilco - "Magazine Called Sunset (demo)"
This is from the leaked engineer's demos. There isn't much more to this version and I actually like the Bridge EP version better, just because the intro is a little different, but I could only find this version to upload.

8. Ryan Adams - "My Winding Wheel (Heartbreaker)"
Something about the way the organ enters the song mimics every other organ moment I love in Americana, but it gets me every time.

9. Whiskeytown - "Indian Gown (Stranger's Almanac reissue)"
One of the hundreds of previously unreleased Whiskeytown demos. Ryan Adams just has too many damn albums, demos, etc. but I love him anyways.