Writer, musician, wizardly guide to platform independence
Shirley Manson tells a story of a man from the Garbage camp, being upset with her for having the nerve to hire her own lawyer. Her realization in that moment is wonderful and you should listen to the entire interview.
Search, find, discover, rebuild… whatever you have to do, find your nerve. Know that you’re fabulous, your feelings matter, and you’ve got the right to take care of yourself.
That this music is stuck on cartridges played on ancient video game consoles is a shame. I hope these songs never disappear.
The goal of the project is to expose listeners to the musical masterpieces that have been overlooked – mostly because of the 16bit instrumentation.
Switched On SNES
(via Yewknee)
I haven’t stood next to an ocean in awhile. The last time was in NYC, with some booze, and dancing to ‘Party Hard’ on my phone.
Just recently got to see CHON and LITE (from Japan) as Asbury Lanes in NJ. Great area. Good food, coffee, record shop. The venue had its own diner, with $4 tots and plenty of good adult beverages. It was just a two band bill (the best), an entirely instrumental affair, and it was (I think) sold out. I really liked the energy from LITE, and the crowd overall was fantastic. Rock ain’t dead.
Not metal, but totally metal. Dark, moody, and ‘Under the World’ absolutely infected my brain for this entire year. You don’t need 500 words from me to tell you about it. Click play for yourself.
My friend Jaci made a sweet playlist over on Spotify: HOUSE PARTY JAMS, THE PLAYLIST. It’d be a shame if such sweetness like this was lost to the never-ending stream of Twitter, never to be discovered again.
I was on Xanga in the late 90s. Then started a music blog in 2001. In recent years most writing I’ve done has been in the orbit of online marketing, social media, and such.
There was a time before all that when making music was most important. Playing the bass, dabbling with creating more music on the computer, I even put some music on Bandcamp at one point.
Where did I lose that? It’s not just that I know how the sausage is made, both from the editorial side of things, and also the label and publicist angle. For whatever reason, I see the doom and gloom of it. My naive zest from the 90s gone. Not in the sense that I thought I was going to “make it,” but just that child-like joy in “just” making something to make it.
Creating for the sake of creating, and not for some external validation, press, or east coast tour. My mind keeps taking me there, as if without those goals what’s the point. I don’t know how to pluck that from my thoughts.
Lately I’ve been forcing myself to open up Abelton Live and create something each day. Not to write full songs, and think of an album, or plan who will produce my EP – very far from it. I just want to rediscover that creative habit again, and honor the muse again.
I absolutely love this video, and the song ain’t half bad either. Had no idea Beck had a new album out last year, and I really haven’t ventured much beyond this song, but I love this.
Earlier this year I found this song via Apple Music’s algorithm and I’ve been listening to it ever sing. That looping melody is just so odd, and it keeps me coming back.
This video is nine years old and I still look it up on occasion. The visuals boil my eyeballs, and that little half-time “break down” at the end is so good.
Talked with a friend tonight about another ending to Ghost’s ‘Rats.’ He told me he’s never heard anyone get excited about an ending before. It’s the banging intro, the flashy solo, right?
For me, though, with some music, I love the slow build up. When you watch ‘The Big Lebowski’ you don’t skip to the good parts, right? Heck no. You sit. You wait. You take it all in.
Change the world a day at a time. Buy an album or tshirt from a band. Text someone a song you like. Don’t let social media get you down, because it’s designed that way to keep you clicking and commenting. They make $$$ from misery because “misery loves company” is fucking true.
I say “text” someone deliberately. Social media companies aren’t in the biz of sending you clicks. They wanna charge bands, labels, and small biz (big biz, too) lots of money to reach their own audience.
So while you CAN tweet about a band you like, chances are it’s only being seeing by 10% of your followers anyways. Better to start an email list (which usually have 20%+ open rates). Or text a few pals. Make a zine or a podcast and send it around.
Your world was changed years ago before the internet, right? Well, we can still do that.