that deer was looking right at me this morning

i published a new mix on 8tracks, listen if you like.

What's next?

i just found the first reason to actually believe the world may end this year...

and it makes me look forward to being swallowed up by a black hole.

how to disappear completely

no one chooses to be sick

sometimes songs are written and you swear they were taken right out of your notebook, they send you chills, you know the words as they come out of the singer's mouth the first time you hear it.
THIS is one of those songs for me, this is one of those songwriters that has a constant grip on my notebook.

i heard it gets lonely

i've realized that keeping up with this can be a bit daunting. i still have a list of bands and albums i'd like to mention but it gets a little overwhelming when i think about sitting down for a long time at the computer and typing in a giant blog entry. i kinda have this internet routine that i do where i check my email, my fantasy hockey (yeah i said it), my favorite music blogs (yeah i said it), and if i have to, my bank account and bill type shit, and then i'm done, i'm off. i'll admit i do this a handful of times each day, but i'm never really "online" for more than like 10 minutes (unless it's sunday morning and i'm reading the aQ newsletter).
so, instead of trying a huge entry to get all of this out of the way so i can move on to the new music of 2012, i've decided to just chip away at the list one at a time. an entry per artist or record.

this one is a thanks to Jubilee, for which, had i not had a paypal account for her to use to order a cassette tape (that never actually made it cuz it was sold out), i may have never heard of Molly Nilsson. maybe i've been snoozin, but oh well, i know her now, and she's really great. here's a video from her 2011 record History.

 find it. buy it. it's good.

that's all for now, maybe i'll post more regularly in this format, maybe not, i don't know. anyway, i'll say goodnight with this great song and video. (from These Things Take Time 2008) again, buy it here.

look up

sleep for me sleepless

 
i'll get around to posting some more from 2011 sometime soon, but for now i'll just share this.

enjoy.

more from 2011

i'll start this post off with a thank you from one side of the globe to the other....thanks Maura (& Andy), I had no idea there were gummi bears in that bag with the Rogue beer you brought over the other night. that was awesome!

the list continues with a pretty ridiculous compilation and if you were one of the lucky ones to get a hard copy of this, well, i'm hella jelly.

Three Lobed Recordings released the 4LP box-set, Not the Spaces You Know, But Between Them, in August and in less than a month the 700 copies were sold out.

Welcome to Bummertown, population: 1. 

Sonic Youth, Eternal Tapestry, Bardo Pond, Sun City Girls and more appear on this comp and in true fashion for most of them, it's no surprise that there's no track breaks on some sides of this 8 sided set. almost 50% of these songs are 10min +.  read about it here. it's a pretty cool story.

oh yeah, all artwork done by Casey Burns, yeah, no big deal. fucking awesome.

having already mentioned Eternal Tapestry and Bardo Pond in short, i'd like to elaborate a bit on the web of psychedelia i found myself immersed and engulfed in when i succumbed myself to the wondrous world of Aquarius Records. my god, that site rules me. if you're still reading this after that link, well, i'm not really sure what and why and who or where you are. i can read that site all day, and actually most all sunday mornings are spent doing just that. coffee, aQ, coffee, aQ, repeat, nap, coffee, aQ, food, bed.

anyway, i'll start here and hopefully you'll follow along in the entanglement:

Bardo Pond/Carlton Melton split LP (aQ puts it best with this quote, legendary Phillie psych rockers Bardo Pond, prove to be the perfect match for Carlton Melton's slow burning laid back psychedelic drift. for real, for real.)

Carlton Melton - Country Ways (title track spans all 20 minutes of the side A)

Eternal Tapestry/Sun Araw - Night Gallery (45 minutes of continuous improv between the 6 musicians during a hang out in Austin)

Eternal Tapestry - Beyond the 4th Door (go ahead, open it)

Sun Araw - Ancient Romans (in this list, it just can't be left out)

also worth mentioning in this post about Bardo Pond, we at Vg just did the gatefold packaging prints for this re-issue of theirs with Tom Carter of Charalambides! 

 release date of Jan. 24, pre-order available now at link. listen to a track here.

i'm tired. more tomorrow.

cheers- 

not a "Best of 2011" list (part 1)

i've been making a year end "best of" list for a pretty long time. i used to just write them down in a notebook for when i got sick of the new year's music so i could re-listen/judge myself, and where i was, when i decided that that record was good enough to say it was one of the "best" records of that year.
you kinda learn a lot about yourself, and your life, when you do something like this i've realized.

because of this, i now make a "favorites" list, not a "best of" list because i don't pretend to be a pretentious ass anymore, thinking i know anything about music, i just know what i like about music, and this is what i like. if you don't like it, i don't really care, i'm sure there's shit you listen to that i don't like. i still learn from myself and that's all that really matters to me, if you're looking for me to teach you something, well, i'd say you're looking in the wrong place.

and if you haven't noticed already, i'm a fan of commas and run-on sentences and the word 'and', probably because i read too many Salinger and Kerouac novels at a much too influential age. on top of that, i'm usually a sarcastic jerk, so again, if you don't like it, i don't really care, i'm sure there's shit you do that i wouldn't like but i'm not gonna complain about it. you could just stop reading if it bugs you that much.

so, without further ado, my favorites list of 2011 (and don't expect me to say anything about that fucking Bon Iver record):

if you know me, you know these were the easy ones...
J Mascis - Several Shades of Why (see previous post)
Dum Dum Girls - Only in Dreams (yes, yes, i love my Dee Dee. even when she goes into the studio)
Vivian Girls - Share the Joy // La Sera - s/t (hard to mention one without the other)
Sonic Youth - SYR9: Simon Werner a Disparu (soundtrack to a french thriller-drama? yes, please)
Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for My Halo (if this dude keeps knockin out records, i'll keep putting them on my list.)
Thee Oh Sees - Castlemania + Carrion Crawler/The Dream (these belong together)
Ty Segall - TY REX + Goodbye Bread (pretty sure this dude isn't human. 21st century King Midas)

speaking of those 2...if you don't have this, and you have a record player, here's a no-brainer.

fucking colored flexi-discs with sweet metallic pictures on them? ca-razy!
not to mention Ty Segall + Michael Kronin killin 2 Bowie songs!
the link is here. buy it

then there's this, which isn't quite as beautiful as actually seeing Jeff Mangum live in person this year, but comes pretty damn close, and is well worth the money: NMH Box Set

First listen winners:
Widowspeak - s/t (was already on the list back in July when I first heard/saw this record on Captured Tracks)
Davila 666 - Tan Bajo (thanks Gardiner!)
Iceage - New Brigade (again, thanks Gardiner! but seriously, aptly fucking titled. these kids are 18 & 19 years old! check them out here)
Disappears - Guider (this came out in January and i've been jammin it since then. new record in March '12 for these guys)
Moon Duo - Mazes (any band that will count Royal Trux as a "touchstone" is fucking awesome in my book)
Peaking Lights - 936 (go ahead, get lost in it. and while you're there check out the Imaginary Falcons record too. and when you wake up, don't be frightened, it's just Wisconsin)

more later...

But it's hard for me, I'm done so easily.

probably the best song and video of the year, 2011 wrapped up in about 3 minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqqH16oePQg

a welcoming post

i've always thought about doing something like this but always found it a bit burden+/-bothersome. apparently, at least for the time being, i don't think so anymore. but don't get your hopes up, because this will probably be one of the worst blogs you'll come across. i'm not on the internet much and when i am i'm usually just looking for new music (which in a way is why i started this, to share what i've found with you, whoever YOU are) so hopefully (for YOU) i don't wear myself out and not leave time enough to actually post on here.
so here goes nothing, pass thru the mirror with me.

a 2011 favorites list is soon to come.
cheers!