I just found out Westerberg is dropping 49 minutes of music for .49 cents. Was supposed to be today now probably Monday.
Splendid.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
52 Records #28 The Cardigans-Long Gone Before Daylight-Song of the week Chet Baker.
It's probably a testament to how much I like this record considering it was the soundtrack for one of the most challenging years of my life. The song above "For What It's Worth" is perfection to me, big acoustics and a very crisp beat. The bass player for this band has been killing me since "Lovefool" which has a bass line that makes me delirious. I love Blondie and The Pretenders and Nina Pearson of The Cardigan's delivers the same drop dead vibe with a cool folk chill. When I sent out my record "Willingness" I wrote on the envelopes "If you want me, I'm your country." In that I am country music for you, if you get it. This was a line from this Cardigan's record. The one place that reviewed my record wrote me to ask if the note was a reference to this album. Steph Hasselman from indieworkshop got it. She was the only one in a 100. This band had dropped "Grand Turismo" a few years before and in all reality I might like that record as much but there was something here, something weary and tired and it felt like a bruise from getting punched.
Song of the week is Chet Baker. Chet is smooth. When people talk about sexy, cool, smokey, romantic jazz crooners they mean this guy. The James Dean of jazz, the Marlon Brando of jazz. Possessing good looks and a chiseled chin Chet could sing 3 notes and take you to the stratosphere. This was brilliant until heroin or gangsters or he pushed himself out a window.
I spent most of yesterday listening to Matthew Ryan's song "It Could've Been Worse" with the line-
"Her blonde hair was the setting sun
Her mascara was born to run."
I watched "Burn Notice" and "Reno 911" the rest of the time and put together a plan for writing songs in the future. I got about 12 ideas and I have a theme. I'm mum about the rest. I left a clue in an obvious place. The record's working title is The Smoke Trees.
I spent a good chunk of time thinking about what an amazing writer Greg Dulli is and watching all the You Tube live shows and stuff I could find. I also thought about how Tommy Stinson's "Bash and Pop" is probably one of the best rock n roll records ever. I'll probably cover it in the all things Replacements album run down.
Best-
Monday, July 07, 2008
52 Records #27 Bruce Springsteen Tunnel of Love--Jackie Gleason
I can't find anything on You Tube off this joint that you can embed. So your going to have to seek it out. Sure some like the Asbury E Street Marathon Bruce. Some like Born in the USA and The River. Sure there are a-lot of great songs on those. I think "Born in the USA" hits a streak after the first song that doesn't let up until "My Hometown." Song for song I probably like it as much as this one. But this album aside from the song "Spare Parts" is one of the best takes on country music and popular music you will ever hear. Bruce's voice has so much natural twang and here he puts it down for love songs and broken hearted songs. I'm typing this and singing "Cover Me" for some reason. Maybe it's a two way tie between this and "Born". Speaking of "Tunnel of Love" that could have made a great album title for our song of the week.
The song of the week is really another record but from another era. Anything from "Lush Moods" by Jackie Gleason is perfection. I can see the palm trees and taste the steak. I can see the shimmering lights of hotels and car lights. Cigar smoke and perfume. Drink coasters and television glow. When the horn solos hit on this I feel taken back to some place that seems like heaven.
The song of the week is really another record but from another era. Anything from "Lush Moods" by Jackie Gleason is perfection. I can see the palm trees and taste the steak. I can see the shimmering lights of hotels and car lights. Cigar smoke and perfume. Drink coasters and television glow. When the horn solos hit on this I feel taken back to some place that seems like heaven.
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Bachelorin #5 American Gangster. Gospel
I found this song yesterday. Damian Marley's voice kills me on this. I wish Keith Richards played guitar on this. "I got to keep on walking on the Road to Zion, Jah will be waiting there." Jah is the Reggae word for Christ I guess. Something like Yahweh or Hallelujah. Sure this song goes off into other things but just that line and this vibe would make a great Gospel record. I wish country music still hit me like this kind of stuff. I guess I never should've moved north.
I watched American Gangster last night. The best part of the movie is when Frank Lucas' mom says to her son, "Don't lie to me." It's in this part where she confronts him about the nature of his wealth and the nature of his crimes and admonishes him that his family will be destroyed if he continues toward money and pride. Other than that it was like watching Law and Order where you could cuss and have nudity. It felt like a really great TV show and never felt like a great film. I think there should be a difference. Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe are both actors I like very much so I was excited to see them film but I don't remember any part of the movie really burning off the screen or TV for me. It was the same old Gangster as a noble business man routine. Gangsters have a code of ethics etc all that Italian Gangster stuff which the movie implies Frank learned from the Italians and sure that Godfather stuff is attractive. Everyone loves a sense of ethics and kindness and honesty and furious retribution if we stray, we all see something in that we want for our community. And it had the whole the Cop is just as bad just in a different way routine. Stuff that makes for movies and is true in some sense but not really. Not in any real world sense.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Rock n Roll State of the Union.
Pure ROCK N ROLL eggs too!--Grandpaboy.
So I'm an addict. I can't stop thinking about music and wanting to do something. Not anything but something. Longtime readers know my frustrating rise to the bottom and the resultant burn out. I think I'm still burn out. Why? Well I don't want to seem whiney but here goes. Look I just have to talk about it from time to time. I'm humming 8 mile.
Gigs.
I am really tired of playing in Nashville. If it's not a gig where no one shows it's one where everyone shows for the other person. I have no ability to win a crowd over. I'm not 18 and in a skirt. I also like a band that has a "What the hell is going to happen next factor." Besides that this doesn't go over well here I'm too old for this. There is no place to play that has a built in crowd. It's either uncomfortable silence or your what everyone is waiting to have over with. That said if offered a gig I wanted I'd take it. I read an article in The Scene a few months ago about what a club goes through to book a show. Since there is no built in crowd at any bar so every bar is fighting every night to get a crowd and get money. They depend on hot networking bands to do this. I am neither. I wouldn't book me. My friends that go see music are in bands and have already seen me and know the drill-they have been there, done that. They got better stuff to do. I wouldn't go see me, ok. My other friends don't like the kind of music I do. They see me once and are done. Most of them are my wife's friends and they like Dave Matthews and John Mayer. I'm neither. I make no sense to people under 30. I am from Jimmy Reed and The Stones, I play rock n roll. Not whatever it is cool kids like. I'm not artsy. Which poses another problem. Just as I'm not weird enough for cool kids I'm too weird or artsy for Rock n Roll Country fans because I'm not like Skynrd. I'm not southern rock. I'm southern and I rock. I'd probably do well in Chicago or Minneapolis. To summarize, I can't draw a crowd and nothing about my music or sound is going to draw a crowd here.
This all ties into the live show. I played some pretty terrible live shows here in 2003-2006. This was my window. I didn't do a very good job. I've never gone out and gotten a hired gun band of dynamite players. I've always got who I could get and who wanted to play and often left playing the lead and only guitar up to me. I also during this period played the stuff off of "Willingness" live which is about like watching paint dry, especially when done with a band set up like Nirvana. Yes, I played my bluegrass goth record as a power trio. Brilliant. In 2006-2007 or so I hooked up with Shannon and Greg and started playing fun stuff from my bag. This worked but still with me on guitar which is a two edged sword. Most guitar players bore me. Most are too tasteful. I am a let it all hang out rock n roll throw down which can, as evidenced by recordings made at the 5 Spot, make for 4 bars of nice playing and 40 something bars of erratic playing. So as much fun as Shannon and Greg and I were having I think we were too loud and too sloppy. I think some people liked us but for the most part it was, again, confusing. Pretty much everything I do is confusing. The demos I give out are all with a drum machine. This isn't really helpful either. I sound like 80's pop country doing The Stones. I don't think people can make the leap with the drum machine sound. Conventional wisdom would say to put out your 4 track downer record a few years into your career. Well I put out a 4 track downer record as my first thing in Nashville. I was desperate to put something out. I was depressed. I was being told if I made something things would happen. It's like I shut whatever opening I had. Every publisher who swore up and down they'd be behind it disappeared. I really wish that "February Fireworks" was not the first song. I cannot sing on the 8ths. I wish "Deliverance" was and I wish "Leona Barnett" was the last track. But to do these things you need drums. I could not afford drums. I don't think I'll ever figure out how people afford to make their records. I'm inclined to think everyone is a rich kid and I'm not but I know that can't always be true. I should have made the record with real drums and an upright bass and fiddle etc. I think it would have made sense then.
So to play live I'd like to go back to acoustic and then bring the volume way down with a guitar, drums and bass. I also terribly miss having a girl singer. The male female dynamic in a band always resonates with me. I always have liked that sound, the big acoustic with a back up band. I'd like to be able to play and not be an ear ringer. But time, effort, finding people I can deal with that have time and want to put in effort-for free, this is unlikely.
So why not play gigs in other towns and make a real record? Well I'm not going to travel for nothing and I'm certainly not any good at booking gigs in other towns and I'd have no way to pay for any of this. So it's out until I hit the lotto.
Publishing. I've met with a few publishers and they all tell me I'm really good and have great lyrics but that I need to make a name for them and then people would use them in movies and cover them. Well as far as "making a name for them" see the above for how well that went. A friend asked me a few months ago, "If you were really any good, don't you think someone would have done something?" You know I think they are right. I mean really if a publisher really thought I was Dylan good then why not help me? I walked on my first record deal, my second was a small operation, my third the guy skipped town and then the engineer erased our record. Publisher wise I've had two sing my praises only to absolutely disappear. One even recorded 10 songs by me with drums that I have never heard because they suddenly forgot how to work a phone I guess. I know that quote what is it, "The industry is filled with jerks and this and that and also some mean people." I'm not a very good rock n roll guy. I have no tattoos. I don't stay up all night. I smoke a cigar. I drink a beer. I show up on time. I like punctual. I like an office job. I'm pretty old fashioned. I'd say I could have been Buddy Holly but he was probably a thug. I'd have made a kick ass something.
So I have a week here where I could write some songs but for what? No gigs, no publishing, no fans, no deals, nothing. I used to write for a few reasons. To impress girls. Well I'm married. To prove something to the world. Well, I'm old and not so angry. To be the greatest writer in the world. I got old and realized that's not possible. I found out that it's arbitrary. It took the competition out of it and ruined it for me. It's not worth doing to me for kicks or putting daises between my toes. I don't do it because I love it. But I do love it. But not in any enjoyable way. Make sense? I was out for blood. I'm not as complicated anymore. I don't feel like a lonely scrawny nerd boy anymore. I feel like a man. But I don't know what men do with music. Tom Waits? Bruce Springsteen? Maybe John Hiatt? So there's no return. I'd rather rent a movie and take a walk or shoot some hoops if that's how it is...
So I have a few song ideas...
So I'm an addict. I can't stop thinking about music and wanting to do something. Not anything but something. Longtime readers know my frustrating rise to the bottom and the resultant burn out. I think I'm still burn out. Why? Well I don't want to seem whiney but here goes. Look I just have to talk about it from time to time. I'm humming 8 mile.
Gigs.
I am really tired of playing in Nashville. If it's not a gig where no one shows it's one where everyone shows for the other person. I have no ability to win a crowd over. I'm not 18 and in a skirt. I also like a band that has a "What the hell is going to happen next factor." Besides that this doesn't go over well here I'm too old for this. There is no place to play that has a built in crowd. It's either uncomfortable silence or your what everyone is waiting to have over with. That said if offered a gig I wanted I'd take it. I read an article in The Scene a few months ago about what a club goes through to book a show. Since there is no built in crowd at any bar so every bar is fighting every night to get a crowd and get money. They depend on hot networking bands to do this. I am neither. I wouldn't book me. My friends that go see music are in bands and have already seen me and know the drill-they have been there, done that. They got better stuff to do. I wouldn't go see me, ok. My other friends don't like the kind of music I do. They see me once and are done. Most of them are my wife's friends and they like Dave Matthews and John Mayer. I'm neither. I make no sense to people under 30. I am from Jimmy Reed and The Stones, I play rock n roll. Not whatever it is cool kids like. I'm not artsy. Which poses another problem. Just as I'm not weird enough for cool kids I'm too weird or artsy for Rock n Roll Country fans because I'm not like Skynrd. I'm not southern rock. I'm southern and I rock. I'd probably do well in Chicago or Minneapolis. To summarize, I can't draw a crowd and nothing about my music or sound is going to draw a crowd here.
This all ties into the live show. I played some pretty terrible live shows here in 2003-2006. This was my window. I didn't do a very good job. I've never gone out and gotten a hired gun band of dynamite players. I've always got who I could get and who wanted to play and often left playing the lead and only guitar up to me. I also during this period played the stuff off of "Willingness" live which is about like watching paint dry, especially when done with a band set up like Nirvana. Yes, I played my bluegrass goth record as a power trio. Brilliant. In 2006-2007 or so I hooked up with Shannon and Greg and started playing fun stuff from my bag. This worked but still with me on guitar which is a two edged sword. Most guitar players bore me. Most are too tasteful. I am a let it all hang out rock n roll throw down which can, as evidenced by recordings made at the 5 Spot, make for 4 bars of nice playing and 40 something bars of erratic playing. So as much fun as Shannon and Greg and I were having I think we were too loud and too sloppy. I think some people liked us but for the most part it was, again, confusing. Pretty much everything I do is confusing. The demos I give out are all with a drum machine. This isn't really helpful either. I sound like 80's pop country doing The Stones. I don't think people can make the leap with the drum machine sound. Conventional wisdom would say to put out your 4 track downer record a few years into your career. Well I put out a 4 track downer record as my first thing in Nashville. I was desperate to put something out. I was depressed. I was being told if I made something things would happen. It's like I shut whatever opening I had. Every publisher who swore up and down they'd be behind it disappeared. I really wish that "February Fireworks" was not the first song. I cannot sing on the 8ths. I wish "Deliverance" was and I wish "Leona Barnett" was the last track. But to do these things you need drums. I could not afford drums. I don't think I'll ever figure out how people afford to make their records. I'm inclined to think everyone is a rich kid and I'm not but I know that can't always be true. I should have made the record with real drums and an upright bass and fiddle etc. I think it would have made sense then.
So to play live I'd like to go back to acoustic and then bring the volume way down with a guitar, drums and bass. I also terribly miss having a girl singer. The male female dynamic in a band always resonates with me. I always have liked that sound, the big acoustic with a back up band. I'd like to be able to play and not be an ear ringer. But time, effort, finding people I can deal with that have time and want to put in effort-for free, this is unlikely.
So why not play gigs in other towns and make a real record? Well I'm not going to travel for nothing and I'm certainly not any good at booking gigs in other towns and I'd have no way to pay for any of this. So it's out until I hit the lotto.
Publishing. I've met with a few publishers and they all tell me I'm really good and have great lyrics but that I need to make a name for them and then people would use them in movies and cover them. Well as far as "making a name for them" see the above for how well that went. A friend asked me a few months ago, "If you were really any good, don't you think someone would have done something?" You know I think they are right. I mean really if a publisher really thought I was Dylan good then why not help me? I walked on my first record deal, my second was a small operation, my third the guy skipped town and then the engineer erased our record. Publisher wise I've had two sing my praises only to absolutely disappear. One even recorded 10 songs by me with drums that I have never heard because they suddenly forgot how to work a phone I guess. I know that quote what is it, "The industry is filled with jerks and this and that and also some mean people." I'm not a very good rock n roll guy. I have no tattoos. I don't stay up all night. I smoke a cigar. I drink a beer. I show up on time. I like punctual. I like an office job. I'm pretty old fashioned. I'd say I could have been Buddy Holly but he was probably a thug. I'd have made a kick ass something.
So I have a week here where I could write some songs but for what? No gigs, no publishing, no fans, no deals, nothing. I used to write for a few reasons. To impress girls. Well I'm married. To prove something to the world. Well, I'm old and not so angry. To be the greatest writer in the world. I got old and realized that's not possible. I found out that it's arbitrary. It took the competition out of it and ruined it for me. It's not worth doing to me for kicks or putting daises between my toes. I don't do it because I love it. But I do love it. But not in any enjoyable way. Make sense? I was out for blood. I'm not as complicated anymore. I don't feel like a lonely scrawny nerd boy anymore. I feel like a man. But I don't know what men do with music. Tom Waits? Bruce Springsteen? Maybe John Hiatt? So there's no return. I'd rather rent a movie and take a walk or shoot some hoops if that's how it is...
So I have a few song ideas...
Bachelorin' #4 There Will Be Blood.-Basketball.
The title sounds like Rob talking about UNC versus Duke but it's just my Saturday. I used i-tunes last night to watch "There Will Be Blood." I'm taking advantage of the no girls at home. The wife would have lasted 2 minutes in this movie. I liked it. However, I liked the often compared "No Country" better. The cinematography and all that was jaw dropping. Daniel Day Lewis was the same scary mo-fo he was in "Gangs of New York" but this time the movie was better. I love a western when it let's the scenery do the desolation talking and this flicker certainly hit that. I hated the preacher kid but I guess that means he did a good job. He had to do scenes with Daniel Day Plainlewis so that's something. He didn't disappear like Cameron Duh-az and Leo D did in "Gangs". It was like they were in their highschool play.
Shot some ball today. I have a black basketball. It's the color black. I was shooting with a friend a few months ago and he said something like "Aren't black basketballs like some sort of street thing for black guys?" I thought as Johnny Carson once said, "I did not know that." My wife bought it at Target. I like black. It's pretty simple. I know, made for controversy. So today I thought I'll Google this. Well if you Google "black basketball" you will get a-lot of info but none of it helps. Apparently basketball is a predominantly black sport. Yeah no duh I know. I did find some cool You Tube videos of streetball, i.e. black players that make the Harlem Globetrotters look like Globewalkers. So I don't know, maybe, maybe not.
This reminds me of when Greg and I used to go play pool at this place on 8th. I guess Greg and I went on weird nights long enough to make a habit of going here. Maybe we were going on Monday nights or something. We'd go and shoot pool and nobody would be there. Us, the bartender and cheap beer. Well we go one night and there is nothing going. Same deal. About 1/2 into our game the place begins to fill up. Greg and I are in the minority. Now black dudes with Corn Rows and Baggy Shorts and tattoos do not make me want to run for the door. (I feel like I'm running for office.) However, when I hear things like "Well he shot at that guy and threw the gun out the window," I get nervous. We stay and play our game out looking at each other every couple of lines like "Did he just say??" After a while I'm just listening and trying not to look like I'm listening. I'm thinking maybe cops should play pool. I guess they'd look like cops though. The best thing I hear is "The black ball is the only soldier on the table." Which leads me back to my basketball question.
I have too much blog time on my hands.
Shot some ball today. I have a black basketball. It's the color black. I was shooting with a friend a few months ago and he said something like "Aren't black basketballs like some sort of street thing for black guys?" I thought as Johnny Carson once said, "I did not know that." My wife bought it at Target. I like black. It's pretty simple. I know, made for controversy. So today I thought I'll Google this. Well if you Google "black basketball" you will get a-lot of info but none of it helps. Apparently basketball is a predominantly black sport. Yeah no duh I know. I did find some cool You Tube videos of streetball, i.e. black players that make the Harlem Globetrotters look like Globewalkers. So I don't know, maybe, maybe not.
This reminds me of when Greg and I used to go play pool at this place on 8th. I guess Greg and I went on weird nights long enough to make a habit of going here. Maybe we were going on Monday nights or something. We'd go and shoot pool and nobody would be there. Us, the bartender and cheap beer. Well we go one night and there is nothing going. Same deal. About 1/2 into our game the place begins to fill up. Greg and I are in the minority. Now black dudes with Corn Rows and Baggy Shorts and tattoos do not make me want to run for the door. (I feel like I'm running for office.) However, when I hear things like "Well he shot at that guy and threw the gun out the window," I get nervous. We stay and play our game out looking at each other every couple of lines like "Did he just say??" After a while I'm just listening and trying not to look like I'm listening. I'm thinking maybe cops should play pool. I guess they'd look like cops though. The best thing I hear is "The black ball is the only soldier on the table." Which leads me back to my basketball question.
I have too much blog time on my hands.
Friday, July 04, 2008
Bachelorin #3, Florida-
I've done a-lot of nothing today. I've been listening.
This is the funniest thing I've read all day-
He's talking about a new book he wrote about Obama. He makes the point that he's not a supporter but that the book is about Obama's faith, just like a book called George Washington's Faith would be about just that. I like the quote because it reminds me so much of Christian thinking. So many in the faith just hide under a rock never reading or listening or watching or learning outside of their little box. And sure what else do you need besides the Bible, but really, if your going to be a good influence on the world you have to visit from time to time.
The best line I heard all day was a Phil Hummer song.
I think Phil is one of the best writers in Nashville. I always wanted an all girl back up band and from the looks of his myspace he's done just that. Here's Phil doing a John Cash #.
I've played a few gigs with Phil. It's always a good show.
Well Bachelorin (I was using Bachin' as slang for that but now think I may have made that up.) is in full swing. I spilled a beer all over the stove today. I also grilled. Pork chops and onions mixed with Jalapaeno sauce and mojo grill sauce with some spices. That and a baked potato. Breakfast was a 3 egg omlet with sausage, sauted red pepper and cheese. I shot some hoops early today.
I'm listening to Wilco's "Summer Teeth" because Rob reminded me of it in his album of the week entry. I think "AM" is still my favorite Wilco record. Maybe I'll get that out later.
I went to Borders today too. That might be one of my favorite lazy day pursuits. From the sounds of things the big box book store might be gone in a few minutes so I guess I need to get my visits in. I heard a song with the line "I'm just a harlequin" and really dug it. I like pop stuff. Sue me. I figured I could come home and google it. No dice. It sounded kind of like Gwen Stefani but it also sounded kind of like an artsy Brit Broad with that whole mush mouth thing. It had a Cardigans feel to it. Too bad I couldn't find it. I think my favorite singers are women sometimes. Chrissie Hynde, insane in real life but hot on the mic. I played the Amazon and Google game for an hour trying to find the song. I discovered Goldfrapp and a band called CSS. CSS struck me as so much fun and as so degenerate that I felt like I needed a shower. They reminded me of the Philly band Sweatheart I saw at an art opening. As I trolled the world of girl pop music I discovered that every new singer out there is British, a girl, and a soul singer. Good to see the industry is taking a chance.
I looked at the book Persepolis for the millionth time. I always want to buy that to read. I looked at some Hellboy graphic novels but I never know where to start. Looked at some magazines. I love magazines. I'm a magazine junkie. Shoot I'll read flippin' Glamour.
I read some of the new book "Stuff White People Like." Maybe 2 out of 10 times I am guilty as charged along with my honky brethren but the other 8 of 10 reminds me of why everyone bugs the crap out of me. I thought today of a good entry. Old Glasses. White people love old glasses. If you've not read the blog please click on "Hilarity" on the side bar. I get the feeling sometimes that it's funny to me because I don't like a-lot of this stuff and can't stand the people who do but to the writer he's probably making some sort of "social criticism." Maybe one day I'll give a yay or nay vote on the list.
I saw a cool art book where Chagall illustrated a few chapters of the Bible.
I spent a-lot of time with a book on the artist Banksy. Somehow the mix of art, trickery and a little cloak and dagger sounds cool to me. Maybe it's not. I don't know.
I finished reading "The Way Some People Die" by Ross MacDonald. This is why the noir genre is my favorite in all of literature.
It's packed full of smart a- pithy one liners and more of the dark poetry of cigarette smoke and dark streets. Incredibly satisfying read. I'm working on Gettysburg now by Stephen Sears and may tackle The Road soon.
Florida-I know on a-lot of my trips I come back saying I want to move there. I do not want to live in Ft.Pierce, Florida. No offense. It's great and I love it as a place to visit but I am glad to be home. It's one of those places where if I lived I think I'd go crazy. There's nothing there. We had some dynamite food at La Granja, which is some sort of chain that I can find no info about on line. It's Puerto Rican or Cuban. Some sort of Spanish, Central American food. It was awesome. I had the Pollo Ensalada. Cilantro is all I got to say. Dang o la. Other than that we had the Archies visit for the 3rd year in a row. Great fish sandwich as always. Good spirits for us having a 1 year old in a biker bar too. We sat there saying "You got a baby--in a bar" like in Sweet Home Alabama. My little girl can get mean ass looking old guys covered in leather and tattoos to smile. Which shoot most of them are probably grandpas. Bikers are just a kind of cowboy.
The baby in the bar scene. Oddly this gal doesn't look totally unlike the wife.
I learned that this town was a drug hub for a long time. Makes sense looking around the streets. A good chunk of the people look like they got laid off when this industry went out of business and they've been trying to stay afloat since. Lot's of sad sacked washed out looking people all over the town. You can tell some of this still hangs on. There was a body found in the water down the street while we were there. But on the upside we hit the beach every morning. I got plowed by some waves at high tide one day. The fact that there is nothing to do there makes for a nice vacation. PB Cobbs mart was cool as well. Lined with beers from all over the States and playing 20's-30's era blues and jass. Oh and the last day of vacation I got to help my wife's step dad dig up the sewer line and snake it. I like shoveling in the heat so it was fun.
Okay up next will be a Rock n Roll State of the Union.
This is the funniest thing I've read all day-
"And, by the way, the book wasn't written for evangelicals. It was written for people who read."-Stephen Mansfield.
He's talking about a new book he wrote about Obama. He makes the point that he's not a supporter but that the book is about Obama's faith, just like a book called George Washington's Faith would be about just that. I like the quote because it reminds me so much of Christian thinking. So many in the faith just hide under a rock never reading or listening or watching or learning outside of their little box. And sure what else do you need besides the Bible, but really, if your going to be a good influence on the world you have to visit from time to time.
The best line I heard all day was a Phil Hummer song.
I got an old fashioned love for a modern girl.
I think Phil is one of the best writers in Nashville. I always wanted an all girl back up band and from the looks of his myspace he's done just that. Here's Phil doing a John Cash #.
I've played a few gigs with Phil. It's always a good show.
Well Bachelorin (I was using Bachin' as slang for that but now think I may have made that up.) is in full swing. I spilled a beer all over the stove today. I also grilled. Pork chops and onions mixed with Jalapaeno sauce and mojo grill sauce with some spices. That and a baked potato. Breakfast was a 3 egg omlet with sausage, sauted red pepper and cheese. I shot some hoops early today.
I'm listening to Wilco's "Summer Teeth" because Rob reminded me of it in his album of the week entry. I think "AM" is still my favorite Wilco record. Maybe I'll get that out later.
I went to Borders today too. That might be one of my favorite lazy day pursuits. From the sounds of things the big box book store might be gone in a few minutes so I guess I need to get my visits in. I heard a song with the line "I'm just a harlequin" and really dug it. I like pop stuff. Sue me. I figured I could come home and google it. No dice. It sounded kind of like Gwen Stefani but it also sounded kind of like an artsy Brit Broad with that whole mush mouth thing. It had a Cardigans feel to it. Too bad I couldn't find it. I think my favorite singers are women sometimes. Chrissie Hynde, insane in real life but hot on the mic. I played the Amazon and Google game for an hour trying to find the song. I discovered Goldfrapp and a band called CSS. CSS struck me as so much fun and as so degenerate that I felt like I needed a shower. They reminded me of the Philly band Sweatheart I saw at an art opening. As I trolled the world of girl pop music I discovered that every new singer out there is British, a girl, and a soul singer. Good to see the industry is taking a chance.
I looked at the book Persepolis for the millionth time. I always want to buy that to read. I looked at some Hellboy graphic novels but I never know where to start. Looked at some magazines. I love magazines. I'm a magazine junkie. Shoot I'll read flippin' Glamour.
I read some of the new book "Stuff White People Like." Maybe 2 out of 10 times I am guilty as charged along with my honky brethren but the other 8 of 10 reminds me of why everyone bugs the crap out of me. I thought today of a good entry. Old Glasses. White people love old glasses. If you've not read the blog please click on "Hilarity" on the side bar. I get the feeling sometimes that it's funny to me because I don't like a-lot of this stuff and can't stand the people who do but to the writer he's probably making some sort of "social criticism." Maybe one day I'll give a yay or nay vote on the list.
I saw a cool art book where Chagall illustrated a few chapters of the Bible.
I spent a-lot of time with a book on the artist Banksy. Somehow the mix of art, trickery and a little cloak and dagger sounds cool to me. Maybe it's not. I don't know.
I finished reading "The Way Some People Die" by Ross MacDonald. This is why the noir genre is my favorite in all of literature.
For two hours I drove down the white rushing tunnel carved by my headlights in the solid night. At the end of the run the unbuilt town lay dark around me, its corners desolate under the sparse street lights. When I stepped out of my car the night shot up like a tree and branched wide into blossoming masses of stars.
It's packed full of smart a- pithy one liners and more of the dark poetry of cigarette smoke and dark streets. Incredibly satisfying read. I'm working on Gettysburg now by Stephen Sears and may tackle The Road soon.
Florida-I know on a-lot of my trips I come back saying I want to move there. I do not want to live in Ft.Pierce, Florida. No offense. It's great and I love it as a place to visit but I am glad to be home. It's one of those places where if I lived I think I'd go crazy. There's nothing there. We had some dynamite food at La Granja, which is some sort of chain that I can find no info about on line. It's Puerto Rican or Cuban. Some sort of Spanish, Central American food. It was awesome. I had the Pollo Ensalada. Cilantro is all I got to say. Dang o la. Other than that we had the Archies visit for the 3rd year in a row. Great fish sandwich as always. Good spirits for us having a 1 year old in a biker bar too. We sat there saying "You got a baby--in a bar" like in Sweet Home Alabama. My little girl can get mean ass looking old guys covered in leather and tattoos to smile. Which shoot most of them are probably grandpas. Bikers are just a kind of cowboy.
The baby in the bar scene. Oddly this gal doesn't look totally unlike the wife.
I learned that this town was a drug hub for a long time. Makes sense looking around the streets. A good chunk of the people look like they got laid off when this industry went out of business and they've been trying to stay afloat since. Lot's of sad sacked washed out looking people all over the town. You can tell some of this still hangs on. There was a body found in the water down the street while we were there. But on the upside we hit the beach every morning. I got plowed by some waves at high tide one day. The fact that there is nothing to do there makes for a nice vacation. PB Cobbs mart was cool as well. Lined with beers from all over the States and playing 20's-30's era blues and jass. Oh and the last day of vacation I got to help my wife's step dad dig up the sewer line and snake it. I like shoveling in the heat so it was fun.
Okay up next will be a Rock n Roll State of the Union.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Bachin in part II and the book idea
I already ate my frozen pizza. How sad is that. Worked today and came home, too tired to cook. Worked on songs a bit. Made a frozen pizza and went to the Y. The court was pretty full and I wasn't in the mood to be the guy that boosted the ego of office rats who played ball in highschool.
The book idea? I was talking about gospel/worship music again today. It's all like a 3rd grader's love letter.
"God your awesome-
You are so amazing-
I can't even realize-
Thou art the _______" insert some sort of over the top adjective. And make sure you use "Thou". I love how they take music that sounds just like U2 but put the language of The King James era to it. People don't talk that way anymore-and of course they always say something to the effect of they are taking things straight from the Bible. Well why do they awkwardly marry it to 21st century music if they are so darned concerned with sticking to the King James? It's right there with the argument everyone gives me that it's not about my music taste it's about worship. Everyone that tells me this loves U2 and could give a "huh" about Sister Rosetta Tharp or any other gospel blues giant. It's taste, it's their taste, not my taste and I could do without the condescending "It's not about you" crap. Well if it's not then spring out some Louvin Brothers friends. Oh you don't like bluegrass? Your sure it's not about preference?
So the book idea was to originally be about how derivative and bland Christian/Gospel Music/ Worship music is. How at one time in America Gospel music was influential and powerful and how now it's a watered down version of whatever is already tried and true. It's candy cigarettes. I was going to explore the concept that pop music is just substituting God for a love interest and how any love song, any pining is just the longing for completeness that only God satisfies. This is wonderfully touched upon by Nick Cave in various interviews and most notably here. What we have ended up with as Christ moved from our Gospel in the public eye into a niche market, it mirrored our own societies retreat from God. O now on one side we have Christian Artists making bland second guessing work and on the other we have people who would not consider themselves Christian making intensely powerful and spiritual work about a concept of God or love. My examples are always Tom Waits, Gillian Welch, Isack Brock and Greg Dulli. But I really think any love song can be heard as a God song. It's always what we are missing, what wholeness we lack.
Writing this sounded boring and I ran into a few problems. A-lot of people like the music the CCM industry gives them and they don't care for anything else. Whether I think it's good or bad is beside the point and I'm not going to argue an arbitrary and unpopular point for 200 pages when I can sum it up in a few words. Christian music is so bad because it is unrelateable, It's based in perfection and we live in a fallen world. It's made to reach people but in effect only "preaches to the choir." In the end though I keep running into the reminder that it perfectly suits a purpose for many who do not understand or are even remotely concerned with how bad or derivative it is. The music connects and has purpose for them. That's more than I can say for a-lot of music out there. But Christian artists make no music that acts as art in any challenging way. The only people who make spiritually challenging work are not even Christians-and of course Christians don't listen to them because they are secular and not in the box.
So I settled on the idea of writing the ever popular first person narrative. My life and music and God. I went to a Baptist Private School in K-5. I grew up with preachers flinging themselves from the podium. I remember God when I was 5 or so years old. I remember thinking "rock n roll" was bad. I loved it though. I spent most of my life justifying what I was listening to with God. I've always understood that God was in every kind of music. That the concept of secular is putting God in a box and that He will show up powerfully in unexpected places. I realized though that I wrote songs for years for a reason. I don't like to be straightforward about my past. I like to hide things. I also can't really find a thread to run the whole way through. I'd like to write a book one day about working in NYC and being the only white guy on a furniture store stock team. But other than that-I don't have a-lot of really fun stories. I have a-lot of remember that time we got plastered stories. I have the I had a band and blew it story. I have a-lot of dysfunctional relationship stories. Like I said song stuff, not a book.
So the only thing that has sold to me are these short little vignettes I write on old blues men, aping Ellroy and some sort of Southern Gothic trip. Like this one. I could write a book of these. But I don't think anyone would buy it and it also has nothing to do with any of the above except in a distant way, maybe a way I could tie in.
I think most often now about the point that Tim Keller makes in The Reason for God, that unless Christ was real, unless he really did what he said, then it's all for nothing. We might as well, "eat, drink and be merry." It doesn't matter one bit how nice we are to someone or if we are honest to our spouses or friends or anyone and those feelings of regret and guilt are just chemical synapses and those feelings of love are just survival instincts. That or Christ was real. That's all it comes down to. I would like to write something like Keller where he brings God to the table for the non-believer. And something with a Donald Miller vibe. But then I like Nick Toshces and Ross MacDonald. So I am still planning.
The book idea? I was talking about gospel/worship music again today. It's all like a 3rd grader's love letter.
"God your awesome-
You are so amazing-
I can't even realize-
Thou art the _______" insert some sort of over the top adjective. And make sure you use "Thou". I love how they take music that sounds just like U2 but put the language of The King James era to it. People don't talk that way anymore-and of course they always say something to the effect of they are taking things straight from the Bible. Well why do they awkwardly marry it to 21st century music if they are so darned concerned with sticking to the King James? It's right there with the argument everyone gives me that it's not about my music taste it's about worship. Everyone that tells me this loves U2 and could give a "huh" about Sister Rosetta Tharp or any other gospel blues giant. It's taste, it's their taste, not my taste and I could do without the condescending "It's not about you" crap. Well if it's not then spring out some Louvin Brothers friends. Oh you don't like bluegrass? Your sure it's not about preference?
So the book idea was to originally be about how derivative and bland Christian/Gospel Music/ Worship music is. How at one time in America Gospel music was influential and powerful and how now it's a watered down version of whatever is already tried and true. It's candy cigarettes. I was going to explore the concept that pop music is just substituting God for a love interest and how any love song, any pining is just the longing for completeness that only God satisfies. This is wonderfully touched upon by Nick Cave in various interviews and most notably here. What we have ended up with as Christ moved from our Gospel in the public eye into a niche market, it mirrored our own societies retreat from God. O now on one side we have Christian Artists making bland second guessing work and on the other we have people who would not consider themselves Christian making intensely powerful and spiritual work about a concept of God or love. My examples are always Tom Waits, Gillian Welch, Isack Brock and Greg Dulli. But I really think any love song can be heard as a God song. It's always what we are missing, what wholeness we lack.
Writing this sounded boring and I ran into a few problems. A-lot of people like the music the CCM industry gives them and they don't care for anything else. Whether I think it's good or bad is beside the point and I'm not going to argue an arbitrary and unpopular point for 200 pages when I can sum it up in a few words. Christian music is so bad because it is unrelateable, It's based in perfection and we live in a fallen world. It's made to reach people but in effect only "preaches to the choir." In the end though I keep running into the reminder that it perfectly suits a purpose for many who do not understand or are even remotely concerned with how bad or derivative it is. The music connects and has purpose for them. That's more than I can say for a-lot of music out there. But Christian artists make no music that acts as art in any challenging way. The only people who make spiritually challenging work are not even Christians-and of course Christians don't listen to them because they are secular and not in the box.
So I settled on the idea of writing the ever popular first person narrative. My life and music and God. I went to a Baptist Private School in K-5. I grew up with preachers flinging themselves from the podium. I remember God when I was 5 or so years old. I remember thinking "rock n roll" was bad. I loved it though. I spent most of my life justifying what I was listening to with God. I've always understood that God was in every kind of music. That the concept of secular is putting God in a box and that He will show up powerfully in unexpected places. I realized though that I wrote songs for years for a reason. I don't like to be straightforward about my past. I like to hide things. I also can't really find a thread to run the whole way through. I'd like to write a book one day about working in NYC and being the only white guy on a furniture store stock team. But other than that-I don't have a-lot of really fun stories. I have a-lot of remember that time we got plastered stories. I have the I had a band and blew it story. I have a-lot of dysfunctional relationship stories. Like I said song stuff, not a book.
So the only thing that has sold to me are these short little vignettes I write on old blues men, aping Ellroy and some sort of Southern Gothic trip. Like this one. I could write a book of these. But I don't think anyone would buy it and it also has nothing to do with any of the above except in a distant way, maybe a way I could tie in.
I think most often now about the point that Tim Keller makes in The Reason for God, that unless Christ was real, unless he really did what he said, then it's all for nothing. We might as well, "eat, drink and be merry." It doesn't matter one bit how nice we are to someone or if we are honest to our spouses or friends or anyone and those feelings of regret and guilt are just chemical synapses and those feelings of love are just survival instincts. That or Christ was real. That's all it comes down to. I would like to write something like Keller where he brings God to the table for the non-believer. And something with a Donald Miller vibe. But then I like Nick Toshces and Ross MacDonald. So I am still planning.
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