It's been forever/Best of 2009

10. John Parish & PJ Harvey - A Woman A Man Walk By


09. Dead Man's Bones - Dead Man's Bones


08. The Protomen - ACT II: The Father of Death


07. Krallice - Dimensional Bleedthrough


06. Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions


05. Cold Cave - Love Comes Close


04. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest


03. And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - The Century of Self


02. Crippled Black Phoenix - Night Raider/The Resurrectionist


01. Mount Eerie - Wind's Poem


it's been forever i guess with being on twitter soooo much i've kindve neglected this. i'll try and keep up with it more.

Kitchen Songs.

I've given myself a deadline for "Leaving" to be finished. It might get me to actually finish it. I have on song left. There is something different about the way I've done this one. Usually there are no "demo" versions of songs, because I usually write/play and loop parts over a few weeks or months live then record the basic ideas that came from messing around, these become the scratch session or the base coat. Then I spend the next few weeks, months or even in some cases years going back to the sessions to layer or subtract.

So the last song on "Leaving" was written in a day or two while playing around with some loops I recorded a quick version with basic melody, some lyrics and some ideas for layers, I sat and listened to it for a week or so and decided I want to build it from the ground up again, so essentially it has become the first "demo".

I've also been spending quite a bit of time playing acoustic guitar in my kitchen. I like what I have been playing, it might be the wide open space and the tile floor that gives it a different vibe. I've also been writing in more "song" friendly structures. So these few jams might eventually make up the quiet 7" i've been planning for awhile. For the songs to actually have the feel it needs I'll probably do most of the tracking in my kitchen, with maybe some overdubs done in the dungeon. It'll be real basic, acoustic guitar, vocals, organ, maybe some percussion. I may even record it to my 4 track cassette recorder if I ever get a new adapter for it.

Slept Through the New Year.

So I decided to add a version of "Slept Through The New Year" on Leaving, I wrote the song last november and even played it out in January. I've finally programmed drums for the song and plan on recording it this weekend. It's alittle different from the live version, but it should still be rad.

Pattern Against User.

I feel like I need a hobby that doesn't revolve around spending money.

Playing music requires money because at any given time there is a pedal, amp, or other random toys that I would like to add to my set up. These things I want are not cheap.

I still fully believe in purchasing music, I'm a pack rat, I like having the liner notes, the full discography, something tangible. Therefore I spend a good amount of my time in used CD shops, You would think this would save me money, but I never pick up things off a specific list, I grab things I've heard of or have alittle bit of knowledge about. This leads to new discoveries then the endless research starts all over again, what releases are worth getting, what other bands sound like this that are worth getting.

Vinyl has become so much more expensive then it was when I first started getting vinyl when I was 16, mainly because everyone wants their releases on vinyl now so the whole supply and demand thing comes into play. It is true packaging has come along way, and it does take a small fortune for the labels to put these out, and I appreciate every bit of it. I just don't have the income to keep up with it. At times I feel like I should sell off my collection and keep only the real important things, but anything of value really worth selling off are the ones I want to keep. So what's the point of selling them off anyways.

If only I could have a job that the income was great enough to never have to worry if the bills are getting paid on time, and enough extra to easily decide on a saturday off from work that I should pick up that Electro Harmonix POG without buyers regret. Also enough time to fully enjoy all of these things would be nice to go along with that job as well.

better to die on our feet, than on our knees

So I got a twitter. Oh well. It's good for all the quick rants that I try to do here but can never really bring full circle.

In the beginning of the month we were told that they would be merging three positions at work into one position and that we would find out which of the three of us got the job. Monday we found out my position was eliminated and I didnt get the combined spot. I didn't lose my job but I did take a $5 an hour pay cut. I'll be hurting come next March, when I no longer get the lump sum difference they are paying me.

I guess it's time I figure out what I really want to do with my life, again.

I finished rebuilding my stratocaster today. I need to get new machine heads though, and I still need to mess with the intonation alittle bit more.

The X-Men Animated Series Volume 1 & 2 came out on DVD! I'm very excited this was my absolute favorite cartoon growing up so far I'm about 4 episodes into the first disc!

My car went into the shop last night, it decided to die on me while half way to princeton, but luckily I have another 400 miles left on my warranty.

I haven't finished the fuzz pedal yet, I have a ground problem I think I just need a new piece of veroboard so I can start over. I was able to get the bypass right, but once the circuit is engaged there is no sound. Maybe this weekend I'll work on that a bit.

FUZZ

So I just purchased a DIY Fuzz Guitar Pedal kit!!! I'm going to start building pedals!!! can't fucking wait! If this goes well I also want to build a feedback loop to add the fuzz and a delay into it. Way excited!

when i was younger.

I should have been smarter about my purchases. I definitely should've invested into more amplifiers, because now that I am old and have real responsibilities like a mortgage, student loans, car payments, water bills etc it's hard to find like $200 to drop on a shitty amp.