Scribble and Strum

I am heavily impressed by Ruth Theodore's debut album. I don't usually do the "sounds like this artist" comparison, because I feel the art should sing for itself. But. I'll just put it this way: I'm a fan of Ani DiFranco, Angie Hart, Tori Amos, and Tom Waits. If you're a fan of at least one of these artists, I think you'll enjoy "Worm Food". Any similarities to them are likely a happy accident, a case of parallel evolution; Ms. Theodore's songs seem unique and sincere. The album uses its time well--every second counts, and none of the instrumentation is mere background to the lyrics. Well-crafted, cohesive, organic. "Worm Food" is self-aware without seeming insular, and that's part of what makes the album work. Ruth, and every sound she puts forth, is singing to us. I'll leave it at that. Listen?:





Great stuff, methinks. If you agree, click up there to download the entire album for free.
Oh, wait, this is the internet--for FREE.

Good morning.

I made two new recordings yesterday; an instrumental and and a lyrical, soothers for the times I needed them.
(If you'd like to hear them, click here.)


Cut the Cord

Signs flash light on the river
I won’t miss them when I’m gone
Behind these eyes, I remember
The bridge I’m standing on

Where is my home?
Why do I roam?
Abandoned
They cut the cord

If God made Joey and Mary
Then God made Mom and Papa, too
With all these years I’ve forgotten
How I ever relied on you two

No longer a son
A family of one
Abandoned
I cut the cord

Tonight I’ll cry me a river
As signs flash nothing, one by one
With salty eyes I’ll be walking
My back to the rising sun, one

I’m saying goodbye
Now I know why
Abandoned
They cut the cord

I cut the cord
We cut the cord
We cut the cord

( Cut to cut the autoplay )

This is simulaneously the best and worst cover I've ever heard. Here, at the blog of April Winchell* (daughter of the great Paul Winchell), is a bunch of fun and interesting music, including sixteen covers of Nirvana's classic. I haven't heard them all (I'm a little afraid of what Great Britain's Ukelele Orchestra has inflicted), but Ragnar's is my favorite.

--I put up a page of my lo-fi recordings on MySpace (again).
Opinions and random friend-ings are welcome, of course. :)

Let's see if I can keep this up this time. I need a new microphone, so I can't record much until I get one. I figure I can share some of my old mp3s and tech-made instrumentals for now. Fuh-uhn.

I'll put more happy up there eventually, I'm just in a pensive place right now. :)

You know, I've been terribly selfish. For months I've been listening the The Green County Boys "Medic Emetics", and it hadn't occurred to me to share. So here I go. If you've been craving jaunty folk songs and sentimental ballads about pap smears, prostates, and pentothal, look no further than WFMU's Beware of the Blog. I'm tickled by these well-crafted tunes, sung (and undoubtedly written) by these doctors to raise money for student scholarships.

WFMU's blog has been a great, steady source of out-of-nowhere audio for me. If you dig the rare and strange, dig through their archives. There's a lot of coal down there, but shovel metaphor, etc. Here's another gem from their mp3 collection: Vic Dana's stoically polite "Hello, Roommate", a gentle fifties tune I'm surprised (selfishly delighted, actually) didn't come into heavier rotation.

 
Watching snow fall.
I think someday this
may not be so profound.

Perhaps that's a warning
to a young reader who
may happen upon this.

The piano is pretty.
I think it is. It is.
Is it pretty because

it's played?

It is pretty because
it is pretty. Those notes
could have been keyed

to a computer staff,
but it is still pretty
because the music

because the music
because the music
because the music

is what it is.

Flakes on phonewires,
placed by chance;
That's a staff, that's a melody.

It is still pretty
because the music
because the music

because the music
because the music
is what it is.
 

Recording's been harder for me since moving to my new place, and a side-effect has been laziness about finishing songs. Making a recording, no matter how shoddy, has always been a big motivator for me to finish one (or at least get a good "skeleton"). And like any craft, the longer you're out of practice, the rustier you get. Gotta work out the muscles. So today I challenged myself to write a song in five minutes, just to DO IT. I DID, and even recorded IT despite the squeaky protests of the dog living across the hall (he's been a big contributor to the the recording woes). These are the lyrics:

( It's Been So Long )

The song's now up at Ettin MySpace with "Too Many Words", another I wrote for a similar self-challenge a few years ago. Share, share, share.

Off to work. Not you, me.

Songs, songs, crazy songs. I updated Ettin MySpace with some oldie-but-uglies: "704 (Reason For A Rhyme)" and "Mouth" are now up in basic, choppy, limited forms. So... Yeah. Eh. What do you want from my life?

Anyone have a spare million bucks, so I can record the way I want to?

Oh yeah--this place.
I posted MySpace bulletins and blogs, altered message board signatures, but I done plum forgot about my Livejournal.

There's "new" music up at Ettin MySpace: "Sunshine" and "Rebus People". Recorded those versions, what, two years ago? Yeah, I think so. I wrote "Sunshine" about four years ago and "Rebus People" about eight. I'm looking forward to getting better digs so I can record the newness.

Admission: I'm not the greatest at self-promotion, so I tend to just leave little bread crumbs here and there for people to pick up or follow. Wasn't always like that. Working on changing it back, so I can jam rolls down throats. ;)

I've switched up some of the songs at Ettin MySpace. The roster is now "Alone With You", "Wind Through the Window", "Your Wall", and "Open Wide". I figure I'll change it every couple of weeks, posting new songs and mp3s from the backlog. I'll be making an effort to mix moods so things aren't too predictable. Hope you dig. If you have an opinion, please, feel free to comment. I love comments. Friending's nice, too. :)

I recently set up a MySpace account for some of my music. Let's see if they allow that remote link thing. Here's a "silly" one from a few months ago that might illustrate why songs shouldn't be written on an empty stomach:

Open Wide (download)
( lyrics )

For the page, I've decided to stick with the old name Ettin. Sure, why not. It's what most online folk have known me as, musically. I've often debated whether I should present my "silly" and "serious" stuff under seperate banners; the name "Ettin" was originally a sort of a compromise between the two. (An ettin's a two-headed giant.) I mean, I know what I make--and it's all me--but what I don't know is if I'm being too difficult in my presentation, or if people assume that my stuff is all done in the way they initially hear.

Maybe I'm just rambling.

Ah, well. Dig if you dig. Or eat a weiner. :)

Ha! I love it. (I nearly choked when I saw this one...it lost something in the shrink, though.)

I've been playing along with The New Yorker's caption contest for a while--in my brain--
but I haven't actually sent in an entry until just now:

Click for pic
"The holidays are when nepotism collects."

Eh? Pretty good, right? We shall see. The cover of this week's issue blew me away.
What empathy, delivery... This really touched me and put my winter blues into perspective:

"Silent Night"
by the bold Anita Kunz.

This song I'm hearing...hits me hard... It's--no. I'll let it sing for itself. Download it and others, if you'd like, from a generous helping of free music by the sugar-voiced Laura Cantrell. My favorites include "Rain Boy", "Churches Off the Interstate", "Nightclothes and Headphones"... Well, I really dig them all.

I haven't posted a music in a while.

Unfortunately, my current life isn't letting me record much, so I'm left sharing old takes. This is a demo of "Your Wall", a song I finished about two years ago. With this recording, I left two tracks (guitar and vox, bass) in Cakewalk for half a year then procrastinated about putting in some additional phrasing (organ) and a solo. Then I moved. Now I'm in this newer, quieter home and can't really do that extra work on it. But, you know, I like it this bare too.

Your Wall (download)
( Lyrics )

Hope you dig. I'd love to know what you think of it. :)

Damn. I have no hosting for my music. For the last four years or so, my gracious friend Levi had let me keep my music on his server. Now the server is no more... Mp3s are chunky animals, and they need a home... Hrm. It's especially a shame when I have new tunes to share. Oh well. Time to look for new digs.

I need to put more thought-through music up. The Talented Mr. the_never currently rules my friends page airwaves, and reminds me that hey--I do that music thing, too!

So...here's a recent, reimagined re-recording of a song of mine from one of my Earfood CDs that folks seemed to like the first time I shared: Reticent

Reticent
What do you keep? What's thrown away?
Where does it go when you tear off the new day?
If you don't speak does it trickle to somewhere
Out of this world and into the Not There...

You're listless and jumpy but you won't divulge your mind
Backward and grumpy / I've already sent you the spine

Shrinking your world will make you so wordly
If you never speak how can you show me?
Rolling your car, tumbling through faith
You're wandering far and trusting your fate--fame

You're pissed off and smiling but you won't destroy your mind
Backwards and stylin', I've already given you time...

Photographs hold an hourglass whole

Alone in your room and shoving your thoughts down
Into your soul--a cry is a let-down
We've never touched--our skin is so distant
No, it's not like that...

You're gallant and clueless but you've always ignored time
Backward and forward, so reticent and sublime

___

Man, I wish I had better equipment. When I hear the above version in my head, I hear an organ, some distortion, and a thick TUNK TUNK of an empty oil drum. Someday, perhaps. Actually, I could've done more in the way of percussion with my computer but I wanted to keep things mostly organic. So what chucks and whumps you're hearing in there are claps, a bass body, and some pencils on a lamp. Someday. Someday I'll get an orchestra for my birthday.

Also: That version of "Reticent" is different in structure than the one from '02, No One. Where the original version is a droning, ambient "intro forever" (as someone put it once), above's got a riff and a beat. Here's the original, just to share with the songosphere: Reticent (original recording).

But that's an old song. What about new I've written? I'm working on it. I've made so many recordings since Earfood and the inbetween I haven't shared online, mainly because I've been aiming for higher quality before doing so. I'm tired of thin, muffled songs and the limitations my PC imposes on the whole process. And, yeah, I let that shut me up. (Well, that and I've had this bitch of an ear problem since late last year.) But I won't no mo'. I didn't let the record quality shut me up then, and I won't now. 'Cause if I'm waiting to get rich, I'll be waiting a looong time.

Tomorrow I think I'll post what I've been working on today. I've learned a lot about mixing in the last year (though you wouldn't know it by Reticent #1 up there) and I hope it'll show.

Mmm...It's a beautiful windy day.

Music. I haven't really put any of my recordings up here (except for that April Fool's doodle). I should. I've been writing, but I haven't recorded anything original for a while, except for some "halfway there" demos and song sketches. Here's an instrumental version of "The Evil Dutch Plan Anthem", a song I was asked to write for some European friends' internet joke:

Evil Dutch Plan Anthem (instrumental) (1.3MB)

I'm really proud of that melody. One of my favorites. There are lyrics, too:

The Evil Dutch Plan Anthem
We'll fight for evil where we are
In Europe's where we wage our war
Against the Reich of Normalcy
And every common man
We'll sing until our hearts are high
With dreams of vic'try--this is why:
"Because the world will be our fish!
The Evil Dutch Plan!"

Here's the original recording I gave them and included on one of my Earfood CDs: EDP Anthem (coffeehouse swing) (2 MB). It's rough and scratchy and imperfect and I digs it. Man, I need a better studio.

"Runny, Decaying Shit": In 1993, rock musician and producer Steve Albini wrote an article called "The Problem with Music". It broke down what most artists could expect to recieve from signing with and creating for a major label. (A pretty small piece of the pie.) I can't imagine that things have improved much, or at all, for signed musicians in over a decade. What a bum deal. Certainly when, after all the work artists put into recording an album, a label can simply opt not to release if it's deemed "too uncommercial".

Hello, all. I'd planned on making this art journal thing something that would be around a long time. I thought be able to update it wherever I go, since I'd be using the world wide web which is, you know, world wide. But from what Sandy says, I'm going to have to leave all of my "trappings" behind in order to achieve Apex. And Apex is something I need to achieve.

Ha, I guess "world wide" doesn't matter when your animus is spanning the universe. :-D

It was fun, guys. I was hoping it'd be lots more fun, but apparently the internet is just like beds and hard food--unnecessary in the grand scheme and damaging in the long run. Ah, well. Peace, y'all. I'll be at the Hall learning how to live for the first time.

Farewell, brothers and sisters. Pure is puree.
Cawto Qran.