Acoustic Phenomena

Magnetic Monopoles are a reality?

2012-01-24T04:03:00.001-08:00

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090903163725.htm

Returning

2012-01-22T19:07:00.001-08:00

Returning.

2012-01-22T18:50:00.001-08:00

It's been almost 2 years since the last blog post. So much has changed since then. I'm married. I have a child almost in the world. I have moved to Buffalo and now down to Moriches, NY. I've written almost NO new music but have discovered a lot of new music and have developed a lot of currently unrecorded music into mature ideas. I think it's important. Sometimes letting the ideas ferment will turn them into fine wine and other times into sour grapes. I think the bad grapes would be bad grapes either way. I want to continue to make my art and let it float out into the world via a blog, deviantArt, youtube, and sound cloud. It's one of those things where I like to make it public in case other people might enjoy it, but it's more for me.

I'm going through a Jackson Pollock phase of my art, as i found jacksonpollock.org, a fantastic website. I've always found his art visually fascinating, although I'm not sure what it means philosophically. Anyway, I don't really consider it "my art" in some sense, but I love making it, and I love the way it looks as my desktop, compliments of my wife.

Moving forward, I have a few goals for this year artistically. Record Store Day. Record Theater, Main St. Buffalo, NY. I really want to make this happen. We will see if it becomes a reality. Background goals, I would love to start working on new music to put up on my youtube account, and also post it here. I would love to look into pressing vinyl and working on a new drawing, which deals with darwin fishes. Also, Aug 28, 2012. E and K productions launches a new line of apps. Fantastic ride the first time around. I learned a lot and actually got a job out of it. I would love to take it to the next level. We'll see if my kid allows all this to happen. Oh yeah and I have a wife and a job as an Electrical Engineer.

Easter Madness

2010-04-03T20:27:00.000-07:00

Show from the Hardware Bar still resonating in Easter art.

Happy MJK Day!

2010-01-18T17:23:00.001-08:00

Sample mix to celebrate:

Jambi

Momma Sed

3 Libras

Sour Grapes

Parabol

Parabola

Gravity

The Humbling River

Vagina Mine

Disposition

Puscifer Spring Tour (Mounting Excitement Pt. 1)

2010-01-17T11:26:00.000-08:00

I remember when the only thing that existed on maynardjameskeenan.com was a photo of him giving the peace sign in a black hoodie saying that this would be the future home of MJK. Then we got the Cuntry Boner video linking to blacklotus.com. It seemed like Maynard's new project was going to be a joke band of sorts. And it sort of is. The Cuntry Boner single and ensuing album, "V" is for Vagina led the casual observer to the conclusion that this would be Maynard's outlet for dick and fart jokes. And it sort of is. However, like almost everything else he's put his name on, there are far more layers to this onion. Even on this album, beautiful melodies on songs like Momma Sed, Vagina Mine and Rev 22:20 (Dry Martini Mix) take multiple examinations of the lyrics to even begin to understand what Maynard is trying to describe.

I remember being the only person standing in line at midnight at my local record store for the release of the album. Other people there were waiting for the new Britney Spears album, and I naively asked if they were waiting for Puscifer. "What?"s and puzzled glances ensued. What I can't remember is if my ravenous consumption of this album stemmed from my lack-of-new-maynard material or an actual interest. However, a few weeks later, "V" is for Vagina went to the back of my CD collection.

Then, unannounced, a new song, "The Mission", featuring a female vocalist appeared on puscifer.com. Again, I remember not being taken aback by the song, but liked it enough for it to get rotation on my iPod.

Like most bands, the thing that really got me locked into Puscifer was the release of the live tracks. DoZo and Momma Sed, live from Puscifer's first stretch of shows at The Pearl in Las Vegas immediately rekindled my interest in the band. The promise of a live version of Vagina Mine on the then upcoming digital E.P., "C" is for (Insert Sophomoric Genetalia Reference Here) began to whet my musical whistle for what as to come. I fell in love with "The Mission" even though it had been available for almost a year on the website. I couldn't wait for the tour to reach the northeast. However, as Maynard is located in the southwest, this is where he began the touring act, bringing Puscifer from Texas up the West Coast. Amidst my disappointment, Maynard had made mention to us East Siders that he will be coming in the spring, momentarily ebbing my depression.

Shortly before Christmas, the East Coast tour was announced.

A Racecar In The Red

2009-10-09T21:15:00.000-07:00

Review: KC Red 40th Anniversary Remix/Remaster/5.1 Surround

After a long day at the office, and incredibly worn down by the week, checking the mail simply out of habit, my girlfriend came upon a package. I had forgotten about the e-mail confirmation I'd received a few days before and had never expected to see this product so soon, especially since of the delays with packaging, as the CD was originally slated to be released mid-September.
The concept of the re-releases has been heavily interesting to me since their announcement, as I am more than happy to put my battle-worn jewel cases to rest. I was but a freshman in high school when the definitive mini-LP gatefolds were released, and my brother and I were forced to share one set between us, as that's all our father would buy. My brother inherited the set as we both felt it would be a total shame to split it apart, and I wound up getting the jewels as gifts.
The fact that Steven Wilson, another of my heroes, had been enlisted in the project was just icing on an already boner-inspiring plate.
The Crimson/PT lines have been crossing for a while now, with Fripp opening for the band on soundscapes, to Adrian guesting on Deadwing (Title track and Halo), to P6 playing its handful of dates on the opening bill with PT, to the Adrian Belew Power Trio opening for PT, to Stick Men opening for PT, to Fripp playing a Facts-of-Life-esque solo on Nil Recurring (Title Track), to Gavin Harrison hopping on board for KC-fest '08. Now Fripp has enlisted SW to do the honors of going back and giving these jaw dropping albums the 5.1 treatment.
Any PT fan knows what a wet dream Wilson's 5.1 mixes are, and if the ever-meticulous ringleader Fripp himself is giving Wilson the reigns to mix/master as he sees fit, and subsequently has put the stamp of approval on it, you know it's got to be good.
And good it is.
The CD itself is worth the price of admission alone. You feel like you are sitting in the room. This music does not sound like it was recorded in 1974, even though it does have an analog-y feel to it. This music sounds modern, agressive, cutting-edge, avant garde, phenomenal, ad infiinitum.
I have never been a fan of bonus tracks on a CD reissue. I feel like they should be packaged on a separate CD as when you hear the end of an album you should savor it like a fine wine, instead of the way a lot of reissues go, where you then hear some crappy quality demo come in as you're still reeling from the feeling of the album. This is the exception to the rule. These bonus tracks have the exact same intensity as the album, and sound just as fresh. First, the listener is treated to an isolated trio version of Red, minus any overdubs, and including a few notes that were edited out along the way. Also missing a few lead lines, one can't help but wonder if this is how the song would have sounded had a Red tour ever taken place.
After cleaning up the drool from the floor, I moved on to an instrumental, again trio version of Fallen Angel. The leads Fripp plays during the verses can't help but make you forget that there are supposed to be sexy vocals laid on top of this beautiful music.
The last track, a full live version of Providence, might be the first time I've actually enjoyed listening to this song. Never a fan of the we're-going-to-edit-out-the-crowd-from-this-improv-and-slap-a-title-on-it side of this lineup, the opening violin on Providence is usually quickly followed my a slap on the NEXT button by my finger. This CD just sounds so good that I just couldn't bring myself to turn it off, which was an eye-opening experience for yours truly. I'm in love with yet another KC tune. Go figure.
We haven't even touched the DVD yet. First, and hopefully a continuing trend, the pink covers of the 30th anniv issues seem to be lost, with the audio CD showing the three faces, while the DVD shows the infamous gauge with the red 7 on it. I felt the hair on my arms raise from just looking.
Currently, I have no means to enjoy the DVD-audio content, with a TV which was made no later than 1985, but I did have a chance to explore the video content. It is a real treat to see this band in action, and if you've happened to see any footage of them from the Beat Club from Bremen, this is very similar, but a totally different setlist. LTIA pt II kicks off with the veracity of most live versions, moving into the first live footage of The Night Watch I've ever come across, and not without some quintessential 70's graphics. Fripp is wearing his legendary black shirt with the laces up the front, and rocking the short Red-era (not surprising considering the DVD) hair, not the 'fro from a few years back. He also stares directly into the camera focused on him for long periods of time, creating a very uncomfortable yet exciting feeling simultaneously. Bruford is wearing his classic Boston Bruins overalls, David Cross his white suit with shorter hair, and Wetton rocking his white bass and some sort of frilly shirt. David Cross's violin, while in tune when it's being played, takes a rest while he sits out for most of Lament, another rare visual treat. The band finishes with a chilling version of Starless, leaving you to contemplate the magic you were just subjected to.
Maybe it's the fact that they're playing this on some sort of TV stage, with psychedelic visuals, but I feel like actually watching these performances, while I would never turn down the chance to watch them, changes my experience of the music. When I close my eyes and listen to USA, I picture a much darker stage and lighting setup, more tuned to the shadowy side of the band. Seeing them fully illuminated changes the mood of the songs for me, I'm not quite sure why, but in both events, the music more than speaks for itself.
If you're on the verge of purchasing this, don't cheat yourself out of this. PT and KC cross lines again, get ready for some serious ectoplasm.

Is This Water?

2009-04-09T13:44:00.001-07:00

Review: This Is Water, by David Foster Wallace.

So, we commence with Little, Brown’s milking of David Foster Wallace’s catalog for anything they can get the rights to. When I learned of DFW’s demise in September, I was severly bummed out, and did what I’m sure a lot of people did, which was go out and grab something of his that they didn’t have yet. I picked up Consider The Lobster Audiobook on iTunes. I had actually just finished the book, and it was so weird to hear his voice, in light of what happened. I also then went around and grabbed all the extra DFW non-anothology articles that he published and have been working on what’s almost a shrine of his stuff (just collecting on the computer everything you can’t get in book form). During which one of the first things I wound up reading was his Commencement Speech from Kenyon College. It was fairly short, and I read it on the 10 minute busride from my apartment to my office. It was the second favourite non-book thing I’ve read by him to date, the first being an article about Terminator 2: Judgement Day.
Then I subsequently heard about this This Is Water project. I saw on amazon that it was going to be about 120 pages, and thought maybe Little, Brown was beating me to the punch and going to release this whole compiled mess, and that the Kenyon thing was a part of it.
Fast forward to ~1 month before release. The guy on The Howling Fantods! Website got an advance copy or something and he showed a few pictures of the book. My first gulp! was that the physical dimensions of the book are very small, it’s roughly the size of my hand (official dimensions: 6.8 inches by 4.8 inches). The book was also to include only one sentence of the speech per page, i.e. ~75% of each page would be blank. With thoughts of boycotting this bastardization of DFW and milking him for all he’s worth running through my head, the inner-completist quickly put this to an end and I pre-ordered my copy from the local bookstore.

Fast Forward to 09 April 2009. I happened to be walking past said bookstore this morning and trapsed in to find that they had gotten copies of the book in early, and my copy was waiting for me. I wound up sitting outside and finishing it about 10-15 minutes. I was surprised how nicely the physical reading flowed. Despite constantly flipping pages, this format suits the transcription very well. It forces you to pause and not just race through the sentences. It almost reads like a children’s book, with so little on each page.

As with all of the DFW I’ve read, this didn’t disappoint (even though I’d already read it once). Unbelievably, my conversion to be a supporter of this format leads me to believe that Little, Brown, albeit obviously looking to make money, as they are a business, seem to care quite a bit about the preparation and presentation of the finite amount of what we have left from DFW.

Footnote: I want to call him David here but I refuse because I never met him and don’t want to be one of those people who refers to Dave Matthews as “Dave” even though the person on the flipside of the coin have never even met we the speakers nor know our names.

I know that reading someone’s writing can make you feel closer to someone you’ve never met than someone you actually know, because this is exactly how reading every word of his writing makes me feel. I get a tight feeling in my chest and my nerves feel all jiggly. I feel like I’ve lost a friend and that makes me feel weird because I’m sure if I died he wouldn’t feel that way. Why would he?

Oddity Faire No. 1

2009-04-09T12:23:00.000-07:00

Concert Trip Cleveland 22 March 2009

0900h Went to Wegmans to procure snacks for the trip. Dropped large canister of hummus on the ground right near the checkout. Cashier assured me multiple times that it was fine and happened all the time but I couldn’t help feel like she thought I was a real horse’s ass due to the multiple reassurances, or maybe I was visibly shaken.

1000h Kiersten decides she’s coming on the trip, must make trip to library to get extra ticket, where they have both a printer and high speed wireless internet, of which we have neither at our home. Set to hit the road by 1100h, somehow I heavily doubt this.

1700h Arrived in Cleveland after about 15 miles of being lost at the beginning we finally got on track and the ride was smooth after.

1800h Me and my brother have a borderline fighting argument about when to go down to the show because I am obsessive and compulsive about getting there early and getting a good vantage point/seat and my brother could care less which begs the question “why is he even going?” of which at this juncture I have no answer. The power of live music comes from the entwining of both the audio and visual elements, but I would ascert that the visual element is more powerful because live music is by nature sloppy and unclean because it is so loud, and the visual element is clean because you can see clearly what is happening. So you are not entirely there for sound I’m sure tons of people are going to disagree with me on that. And to have a vantage point where people are constantly going to be getting in your way and obscuring your view makes the spectacle diminish exponentially, at which point why bother.

1830h Walk to venue. Upon arrival we find the doors, opening time never disclosed, are already open and we head up to the balcony, at which point my brother and girlfriend decide they don’t like the balcony and want to relocate to the lower level. I have a seat on the very edge of the balcony with 0 obstruction of the stage and zero possibility of any concertgoer getting in my way or distracting me or ruining my show. We relocate to the lower level where my compatriots have found a table in the absolute back of the venue, which they seem to be enjoying. I throw somewhat of a temper tantrum about this because I’ve been to enough concerts to know that even though right now with the venue maybe 25% full the view is awesome but 3 hours from now it’s going to be absolute torture. I decide I’m going to go back up and find a seat. We relocate back and forth a total of five times, at which point we find a seat in the balcony that is at least moderately acceptable to all parties but ultimately leaves everyone unhappy. At this juncture my girlfriend decides to get a drink because of the squabbling of her 2 concertgoing mates are probably the most juvenile people she’s ever come across and most likely rethinking her decision to attend the event altogether.

1930h Secret Chief 3- They all come out wearing Scream-ish black robes with hoods. The guitar/one-indian-stringed-instrument looks like a thin version of the old version of Jerry Garcia, with the full grey beard. The keyboard player is maybe 5’4”. The bass player looks like Cat Stevens. They also have a violin player whose face I never get a clear look at because of the robe. The drummer is the single most entertaining part of this act, for sure. His bass drum and ride cymbal are at least 1.5x bigger than the largest bass drum/ride cybals I have ever come across in my life. His one crash cymbal is maybe 2-3 feet over his head so he has to reach to hit it every time he tries, and has to lift himself off his seat in order to do so. This strikes me as odd because I thought maybe it was an accident of setting up but at one point the cymbal stand comes loose and sort of collapses down within itself, which they’re designed to do, and falls down to what to me would be a comfortable level, and he actually fixes it to be set up to that uncomfortable height. When the drummer is playing, his head turns to a 45 degree angle and contorts into what looks like children with disabilities look like when they cannot control their facial faculties. His jaw hangs and his eyes almost roll back in his head. It is hilarious. The music however, is not all that great. The first song is a mix of middle eastern music and heavy rock, and would be interesting if it was isolated to that song. However, it is their entire sound and the next 30-45 mins are essentially just this song played over and over. Their second song is the same thing as the first song but as a variation of the theme from the movie Halloween, which to me is the highpoint of their set. Secret Chief 3 is heavily into the fact that they are wearing black robes, and to me would rather be wearing black robes than playing music. During one song my brother actually yells “END IT”. The rest of the audience seems to be enjoying themselves, and we are confused why. They seem to play way longer than the next two opening acts, and I wonder as to whether or not they overstepped their allotted time. For their set, Mike Dillon crouches next to a huge stack of speakers and plays tabla with them. No member of Secret Chief 3 acknowledges him while they are on stage.

2030h Saul Williams

A very short black man with a mohawk and a black leather jacket is walking around who my brother and I think may or may not be Saul Williams. He soundchecks and sounds exactly like him. We are sure it is him, but he looks a little short. He has brought out a wooden table with a beat box machine on it which is surrounded with a long snake of blinking lights. Another man who plays a very small 2 octave keyboard and a laptop is wearing huge black goggles and a two sided shiny black and white cape, with the white side pointed towards his body. A guitar player dressed in like a golden metallic bodysuit looks almost exactly like a clone of Omar Rodriguez from The Mars Volta with a fuck-me-lipstick red guitar is tuning up. And then the real Saul Williams hops/saunters onto the stage. He is wearing a bright red button down jacket and bright red pants. He has khaki colored fuzzy boots on with what I can only describe as native American frills hanging off the tops which I think are just too cool. He sounds almost exactly like his beat box guy, who turns out to double as his hype-man.

Saul starts off with a spoken word piece that sounds like something he did on Comedy Def Jam, where he lists the names of tons of political figures and poets and artists, and then saying a word that may embody what they stood for or a sarcastic word for what they stand for. If it’s the piece he did on CDJ he must have amended it because it was maybe a minute long (CDJ was well over 5) and he ends with “AND OBAMA” at which point the crowd erupts into applause.

Gunshots by Computer- This is a “remix” of a NIN song that Saul did, where he took the song HYPERPOWER! And raps over it. What’s awesome about this song is that his band produces it almost exactly with their instruments, which needless to say, are not Trent’s standard weapons of choice. I proceed to lose my mind. I must admit that I was not looking forward to Saul before he came on. His voice has always come off as annoying to me but live he is fantastic. He is a ball of energy, running back and forth on the stage. It also occurs to me at this juncture that this is both my brother’s and my girlfriend’s first live rap experience.

Tr(n)igger

2130h Devotchka

I didn’t like them one bit but Al was fairly very into them. Apparently they created one of the songs in Little Miss Sunshine so he was intrigued. The lead singer had two microphones, one old fashioned radio style and one standard mic and he would grab them both and bring them towards his face and it would look as though he was grabbing breasts to pull them towards his face to push his face into. It was bizarre. It actually didn’t look like that but that’s all that came to my mind. They also had a violin/accordion player who wore a suit and looked very European and also looked very bored with the whole event. The bass/sousaphone player was a girl who wore a dress with red frills on the sleeves and covered her sousaphone in blue Christmas lights. I always feel like bands like this have a semi-attractive girl in the band in order to get people to watch because they want to stare/ogle the woman and I feel like that does both the girl and the music a disservice, but as I commented to my girlfriend at the venue, I’m probably overanalyzing everything.

2200h Devotchka off and some of the quickest tear down/setting up I have ever seen. Sam bass comes out and tunes up his instrument by himself. I feel bad that he has to do this, but maybe he wants to make sure everything is tip top for the performance. Maybe he’s just that anal. I’m not sure. I should probably mention that between all the acts there’s this creepy babyish music with children in high voices talking over it and it adds a very freaky vibe to the Oddity Faire.

2230h Les Claypool.

Setlist:

Highball with the Devil- I’ll admit that I never really liked this song until he started playing it right in front of me. This song comes off extremely well live, and Les has taken to using the envelope filter on the main melody, which makes it sound even better than it usually does. The only word I know of this song while hearing it live is “sodomize” which is not on the studio version, but I sing it live, because it’s so much fun. Les is wearing a bowler hat, a suitcoat with tails, a Spanish looking wine red button down shirt under a black and gold vest. He looks bomb. The other members of the band all have tuxedos on and have masks on that I can’t quite make out. Sam Bass, sitting on his chair, when not playing cello, lets his arms hang (almost to the floor) and stares into the crowd and looks like a deranged monkey that is dressed in a tuxedo and happens to know how to play cello. I love it.

Duchess and the Proverbial Mindspread-

Amanitas- We have enlisted my girlfriend for photo/filming duties for the evening, which she, like a champ, agreed to outright. We have agreed that because the camera doesn’t have enough memory to film the whole show, that we want Amanitas and Mushroom Men captured for posterity. This was definitely the right choice.

Ding Dang- This is the third time I’ve gotten this song live, and the fourth time Les has played it in Cleveland in 5 years. Cleveland always gets Ding Dang. It’s kind of bizarre. But this song comes off fantastically. Something strikes me during this song that I’ve been noticing for the last few songs. The solos during the jams must be predetermined. I have seen no sign of visual cues as to who is allowed to solo during the jams, and each person seems ready to go or to turn the soloing over to someone else. I wonder if every song has a soloing order, that is understood or decided during rehearsals. It seems like Sam Bass usually takes the first solo, and then Mike D. takes over when Sam runs out of ideas and then sometimes Les takes a small solo. Something else I notice during this song. The ordering of the song structures are also very similar. The order goes as follows: Verse/Chorus->Verse/Chorus-> Jam (ordering already discussed) -> Quiet Verse and/or Chorus -> Loud Verse and/or Chorus -> Outtro. We’ve seen this in the last 4 songs. Upon listening back to a bootleg tape it seems that this is a set structure for most of his standard “4-Banger” songs.

A Les Claypool show, ever since the inception of the Fancy Band, Les’ show has a sort of format. First, we get a few 4 Banger tunes, usually 3, then Les moves into his upright section.

Personal opinion #1: I think Les is afraid of being pigeonholed as a slap/pop funk bass player and so as most artists do go out of their way to create a different sound for themselves, so what Les did was add his NS Electric Upright section to his show, which originally showed up as early as Pork Soda, but now is a staple of Les’ solo show.

Personal opinion #2: I’ve heard Ding Dang at all three Les shows I’ve been to. Not that I don’t like it every time, but this time it didn’t have the zing that it had the first time I heard it. I wonder how Les gets on playing Ding Dang almost every other night or so for the last 6 years and maintain the excitement that he has every performance. Maybe that’s why he’s a real pro.

Red State Girl- Okay, so, this to me is the “Vernon” of the album. Slow upright ballad. I hated Vernon on the last album, and to me when I heard OFAF it was more or less the exact same thing, but hearing this song in-person totally wooed me into its favor. (Maybe Vernon would have done the same had Les’ upright string not broken right before it at my last show?) Proof: I now sing lines like “She’s got TITS made outta recycled bottles” aloud while walking to work. (QED)

Precipitation- Les was absolutely a spectacle to watch on this song. Hitting his bass with the bow like a drumstick, Pig Mask on, Les was more or less toying with the audience using his physical presence, which was impossible to miss.

Russian Dance- This is a Tom Waits song that has absolutely nothing to do with Les Claypool. Les has played on some of Waits’ stuff before, but not this song. Having youtubed it before the show, I was not looking forward to this selection. However, after seeing the first 3 acts and the general vibe of the Oddity Faire No. 1 (i.e. the weird voices between sets, and the idea of it being more or less a freak show) this song fit right into the theme of the evening. Plus Les called out the Sousaphone and Violin player from Devotchka and had them jam it out with him. My one complaint is that it is literally the same thing over and over again, with the “AH THREE FOUR” to count us back into the same thing again. At the time though, it fit.

Booneville Stomp- When this song started, it was a percussive intro and I thought we were going into Drums, but then Les came out with the Dobro Bass. I was pumped, and the song went over well, but the live version doesn’t live up to the version on the album, at which point it occurs to me, this is the first Les project, Primus or otherwise, that is stronger on album than the live show. Primus’ albums, albeit strong, don’t touch their live counterparts, and Les’ live albums seem like a diving board for the live set. This album, on the other hand, is, IMHO, a stand alone piece that needs no live counterpart. That being said, Booneville holds up well.

Drums- Discuss with Al what the costumes are supposed to be of. I am convinced that Mike D. is dressed up like George Bush Jr. Al disagrees. He thinks everyone is supposed to be dressed up mostly to look like the 4 creatures on the cover of OFAF, but I still see Dubya hitting percussives like a fiend.

Mushroom Men- Les comes out in safari hunt hat with whamola. Mike D. and Paulo back him up vocally for the “Mush mush mush mush mush…” sections.

Drums- A quick reprise with a nice heavy ending akin to the end of Booneville Stomp.

Of Whales and Woe- This song, on the album seems very rigid and unjammable, but Les makes this jam so fluid and unbelievable it almost doesn’t seem like he’s jamming. He’s the biggest ball of toxins you’re ever apt to meet.

Fisticuffs- Totally unexpected. By previous setlist I was expecting either Dutchess or Fisticuffs. This time we get both. The low octave jam really put the song in high gear. It never occurred to me during Dutchess or Fisticuffs that I was hearing Primus songs being played live. They fit in perfectly with the Fancy Band.

Encore 1:
What Would Sir George Martin Do?

The audient in front of me, who has had quite a few beers, puts his head in his hands when he realizes that this song is starting. Nearly everyone that has commented on it online hates this song and are very polite while Les is playing it. I happen to really enjoy this song and find that it comes off very well live. It’s surprising to me that his audience hates it so much since to me it sounds very similar to a laid-back Mr. Krinkle or even The Air Is Getting Slippery. Les then walks off and since the rest of this tour has had only 1 encore I have a look of horror on my face that this may be the last song we hear for the evening, not because I don’t like it, but because it is such a bizarre choice as an encore and I love when shows end on a burner. Thankfully this is the case.

Robot Chicken- Something I’d noticed during Les’s setup when they wheeled out his amp setup that on top of his rig he had a small keyboard which I figured just factored into his MIDI setup, but it turns out that he uses it to noodle out this tune, which is maybe thirty seconds long and he doesn’t even face the audience for it.

Up on the Roof- The fastest up on the roof ever, except the Studio version. I think Les was definitely sweating curfew at this juncture. My hatred for Secret Chief 3 only grows.

The Next Day, 0745h: The three of us walk out to the car in the hotel parking lot, where the man who runs the parking lot is an older fellow, probably in his fifties, wearing what appears to me to be a tuxedo without a bowtie, as if he’d been partying all night and didn’t have time to go home and change, is telling a man driving through a One Way road that traverses the parking lot that he’s going to call the police. From all accounts the man simply wants to get around a large truck blocking the way and facing in the direction opposite the One Way. The man in the tux then proceeds to get out his cell phone to indicate to the driver that he does indeed mean business, and then proceeds to let his cell phone slip out of his hand and fall on the street in front of the car, where the battery and back of the phone break apart, like right in front of the car, so the man almost has to reach under the idling car of the man who he’s yelling at and the driver would have to do no more than ease his foot off the brake to either injur or at least scare the living bejesus out of the tux man who has done nothing from what I’ve seen so far but be incredibly rude and juvenile. I have no idea what sparked this behavior, and I’m not sure the tux-man is unjustified, but I do know whatever he’s doing he’s going about it all wrong. This man strikes me as the sort of man who dresses up to work at a parking garage and tries to salvage what dignity his life affords him. He flexes his muscle where he can, and clearly this is not where he expected his life would have led him 40 years ago. The man winds up cutting through a very tight pass between the wrong-way-facing truck and the hotel, at which point tux-man, defeated because the man is going to use the One-Way as intended, gets behind the car and screams “YOU’RE AN ASSHOLE!” All three members of our party are agog with disbelief and after we get out of his visibility range proceed to laugh uncontrollably. The whole scene makes me very depressed the way fat people doing anything when they’re upset after they’ve been in a shouting bout depresses me. I don’t really understand the connection but I think there is something very American about these moments and show wholesale the emptiness that buying into the American dream gets you. Les, on the other hand, even when he has beer thrown at him, does not sink to such levels. He classily berates his aggressors, and gets on with it. His performance remains unaffected, for the most part. But, I guess this is why he’s the man with thousands ogling him as a spectacle, and we sit in the balcony watching.

Inspired By Ghosts (Pt. 2)

2009-01-05T17:52:00.000-08:00

So, I decided to make my Ghosts idea a little less lavish, but upon taking the idea of a nin.com boarder, I wrote down 5 words for every Ghosts song and then fueled them into a series of drawings. This is not all of them, but it is some of them. Hopefully I will have one for every single song from Ghosts I-IV. This ties in with some music I've already made incidentally.

Holomorphic

Inspired by Ghosts

2008-11-12T08:26:00.000-08:00

Something I plan on undertaking shortly. To contribute to the Ghosts I-IV NIN film festival, I am going to film myself drawing a separate track while listening to each track of Ghosts, confined to the time of the song. Then I'll synch up the music, and post it on youtube. I'm confident this idea is not original, but it seems very fitting for the Ghosts format. Anyone agree?

A Game of Chess

2008-09-09T07:55:00.000-07:00

Expecting there to be a major step forward for me musically very soon.

Two Originals

2008-09-08T13:52:00.000-07:00

Electricity

Magnetism

Two Tool Covers

2008-09-08T13:39:00.000-07:00

Parabola

Triad

2008-09-04T09:35:00.000-07:00

Just Like You Imagined

2008-08-28T07:11:00.001-07:00

Parabol

2008-08-27T06:48:00.001-07:00

Buying New Soul

2008-08-19T08:01:00.000-07:00

Nautilus Pt. 1

Nokia Night 3

2008-08-16T22:33:00.000-07:00

So.... The third night at Nokia my 4th Crim Show ever (1 L5, 1TPTB, 1x Philly, 1x Nokia).

Maybe the last?

What a show. To start, sonically, way better than the Keswick. It sounded like was listening to this band through Bose headphones. Also, got to talk to Sid before the show and also got to be in the camera a little bit. W00t!

The Song By Song:

Opening Soundscapes: Two scapes! So cool. Many stupid people jibber jabbering during it and either proving that they ARE once and for all the biggest king crimson fan or just heckling fripp on how boring these soundscapes are, even they're just gravy for our show. It seems like people could just leave if they hate it so much or if they WERE the biggest crim fans they could...I don't know, do something a true crimson fan never does and actually listen to the music. Anyway these scapes rocked. We got a starless tease and a TPTB II tease. Then Fripp walks off stage and lets the loops run for another 20 mins before the band comes out.

Drums: Cool. Pat is turned way down in the mix and either Gavin is and he's hitting his drums WAY harder or he's just always clear as a bell. Love Gavin. It seems like Fripp's flaunting him: "see this guy. He's the best drummer alive, and guess what...we got him."

TCOL: This song kicks so much ass I don't even know where to start. Tony fills Treys shoes nicely. Tony also seems to really enjoy playing the new tunes, which I'm glad of. Really blew the doors off the place right out the gate.

Neurotica: Again, drums only for the chaotic parts. Looks like they run through the "arrive in neurotica" part once without vocals before they sing it. Tony sounds great on back up vocals. He was missed when all they had was Trey. This becomes a lot more evident later on in the show.

Red: Smokin version, much heavier than the one in Philly. Adrian flubbed a little bit during the first pre-"chorus" breakdown but whatever, who cares. They more than made up for it in heaviness towards the end of the song.

TOAPP: Started off to me as rather weak but just got amazing by the first chorus. Really glad they played this song tonight. Tonys vocals again really made the song for me. <3 adrian nevertheless though. Guess I just take him for granted nowadays.

Dinosaur: This song stomped this time around. Super fast intro from Adrian. His orch simulator sounds really keyboardy these days. Wish he had the old one back. It still shreds though. At the very end of the song when fripp slides up the neck to end the song the rest of the band wasn't done yet so he did it 2-3 times to make everything click.

One Time: Fripp was rushing a little but this time it sounded much better than Keswick. Tony was much louder in the mix and Adrian's voice sounded superb. The soundscape in the middle was heavenly as usual.

The Talking Drum: Funk fingers/bass in lieu of stick! Much better decision. Adrian left the stage for the first two minutes leaving fripp to take his place for some soloing.

Larks Tongues: SLOW and SLUDGY. Loved it. Gavin really powerhoused the hell out of this song.

B'BOOM: Creepy soundscape intro. Very THRAK-era-ish. They really do beat the shit out of their drums.

Frame By Frame: The duo vocals were awesome on this song. Tony was really loud in the mix and made the song sound really good. Adrian continued to play at the end of the song and seemed surprised when fripp stopped even though it was time. They also did the harmony guitars a-la live on broadway, loved it. Maybe that's a new york tradition, I wouldn't know, it's my first show here.

Sleepless: Why they continue to force this song is beyond me. It's pretty fun though.

Level 5: Pop-> Metal way better than Metal-> Pop. This song is the defining song for this lineup. Everyone does such a stellar job and it's just heavy beyond all reason. They got a standing ovation. During the Cymbal Choke switch section, when the guitar/stick do their fast runs, for the final run, Tony crouched down and really let it rip. Sounded fantastic. Can't wait to hear it on DGMLive some time in the future WINK WINK

Indiscipline: This song goes over so well. Tony seemed to be having a blast. Pat does sweet electronic drums while adrian borderline taunts the audience.

ENCORE

Drums: Cool.

Thela: A really stomping version. I think gavin gives this song the drums it really deserves. Between hearing adrian cover it solo/claypool/primus/the last incarnation of crim, i thought the drums were continuously lacking (Bruford's shoes are pretty big to fill) but gavin really fills the song out and makes you forget that you're missing Billy. Funk fingers sounded awesome this time around.

Encore #2

Elephant Talk: Sounded almost exactly like the album version, at least stick wise. Lots more energy than the Philly show. My only gripe with this song is that I loved the fast rip roaring version of the Double Trio and that has somewhat spoiled me.

VROOOM/CODA MARINE 475: Great closer. Extremely powerful as expected. At the end Adrian took a huge mimed box and squashed it down while the drums lingered and then on the last cymbal crash he stomped it out. HILARIOUS.

Speculations: Adrian and Tony clearly had huge sway in these setlists. My guess is that Adrian voted to play all the songs that he plays on his solo tour: Neurotica, TOAPP, Thela, and Dinosaur. Same for Tony, as we got Elephant Talk AND Sleepless. Not that I mind much, that's just how I think it went down when they were picking songs. I'm guessing robert voted for Red, LTIA, TCOL and L5. Those seem to be his songs.

I really love this band. As of this post I also picked up the Chicago PW show, although I made my review before listening, as not to be tainted by it. This lineup is as strong if not stronger than any we've seen in the past 25 years. For me my fav lineup so far, followed closely on the heels by the TCOL/TPTB guys. They were just too much. I hope there's something just around the corner for these guys, they're too good to stop making new music, but hey, I'll take the oldies any time they want to play 'em.

First Strike

2008-08-15T09:50:00.001-07:00

Buying New Soul
Nautilus pt. 1
Nautilus pt. 2

Soon.

A Life Changing Experience

2008-08-13T07:21:00.000-07:00

2 Days ago I saw King Crimson at the Keswick Theater. The gravity of that experience just hit me.

It took me and my girlfriend (who now has a crush on Adrian) 3.5 hours to get to the venue from where we live. She couldn't get out of work until the very last minute so as soon as she got home it was a rush. Mapquest gave us some faulty directions at the very last minute which cost us the beginning of TCOL and drums. Fortunately, my friend got there early enough and we handed him his ticket out the window of our moving car so he got to catch it. Here are my reactions (track by track)

TCOL: missed the first 2 mins tops. When i got into the venue I heard the band playing I thought maybe it was just the CD or something but then I rushed to my seat as fast as I could when the realization hit me. People were being seated the whole time. Talked to a guy during the encore he said the band was playing Drums when he walked in as DOORS OPENED. (I will be there ultra early for the Sat NYC show)

Oh yea the song. mind blowing. I think the 2 new songs they played (TCOL/L5) were by far the strongest material. These 2 songs alone put this as my fav KC line up so far (right in front of the Double Duo. I'm one of the few it seems to think that KC has done nothing but get better ever since 1969. [except lizard/islands but those still kick major ass])

Red: I was floored. Tony rocked the stick for this song which surprised me a great deal. Gavin really fits in well for the older tracks it seems.

Frame by Frame: Great performance from the front line. Gavin and Pat switched off playing the verses and then both went BERSERK during the "chorus"(?). First Chorus: Gavin rocks the rims of the drums/snare Second/Third Chorus: Gavin was rocking ride/little bell cymbals (not splash) while Pat was ripping it up on some tribal drums. Not sure if they were electric or not.

Neurotica: Chaotic intro only played by drums. Wow. Adrian missed the first pass of "Arrive in Neurotica". Song ended with just Drums/Stick. Very bizzarre version of this song but TOTALLY awesome.

TOAPP: Blistering version. Love Tony on backup vocals. They really bring the song to life. Adrian takes the solo on this one. Doesn't sound at all like the weird 80's solo, but a backwards guitar solo. I liked it, but i much prefer when Robert takes the solo. I guess Adrian wanted to mix it up a little bit since he's been playing that song all through his solo tours.

Talking Drum/Larks': Tony again rocking the stick. Little muddy and tappy but it fit in really well. Gavin holding the groove for these songs while Pat does ALL KINDS of weird muir-esque things into his overhead mics (waving and whirling and twirling allsorts). Larks' was slow and sludgy as hell. As slow if not slower than the studio versions. Very Metal.

One Time: Adrians voice sounded great, however for all the "And I've been" sections he was off with the drums, but Pat stuck to his guns and didn't shift the groove, which I thought was excellent. Soundscape in the middle of the song was otherworldly. I think this is the best place for soundscapes, just letting the song dissolve into a sea of sound and then bring it right back. Oh Tony dons the bass for the first time.

B'BOOM: (Sort of) They really crank for this song. Gavin does a lot of his signature offtime stuff while Pat holds the ground and when they do the theme it really resonates. Adrian and Tony and Robert all stay on stage. Robert is stonefaced the whole time and Adrian and Tony try to be serious but really arent those kind of people so they wind up smiling a whole bunch during it.

Dinosaur: Great version. No string part in the middle. Pat took lead for this song while Gavin did sort of what Pat used to do during the Double Trio lineup for this song. Gavin seemed mighty bored though. Oh well.

Level Five: Absolutely Jaw dropping. Tony did an awesome job covering Trey's part on the stick. (I was very skeptical of how he'd take care of it, not because of difficulty, but it just doesn't seem like his style). The way the drums were divided up were absolutely insane. There needs to be a release of this lineup doing this song. During the extremely heavy breakdown in the middle it was just cymbal madness and then they'd break for tony/robert to do their complicated duet and then go back into the cymbal chokes. If anyone had second thoughts about their ticket purchases, this song should put them over the edge.

Sleepless: Interesting version of this song. Sounds very similar to the B'BOOM version. Tony rocked the funk fingers for this song. I'm glad we got it because this isn't a sub song, you just either get it or you don't. I think it's placement after level 5 was absolutely awful though. Metal as hell -> 80's dance/pop. Why? Just slide it into the encore, right where it belongs.

VROOOM/Coda: Marine 475: WITH THE MELLOTRON INTRO FROM THE ALBUM! Interesting to say the least. Remained very true to the original version, but Gavin did some strange jazzy hi-hat stuff during the main riffs. I'll have to reconsider how I feel about that on Saturday.

Encore: Here I snuck down to the front and sat in the isle. WAY LOUDER in the front. Makes all the songs just that much more powerful.

Drums: Cool again. Not much more to say.

Thela: They rocked the shit on this song. Gavin went absolutely Hog wild and tony used the Funk Fingers for the main riff and then switched over to his pinky/ring for the "heat in the jungle street" section. Adrian drops to his knees and wrenches his pedals like a madman (he does this on his solo tour too).

Elephant Talk: This song is an excellent encore. Fans loved it, not anything particularly different about it though. Adrian seemed a little bored, didn't have his usual screaming of the lyrics like we got in the Double Trio, but I'm just being picky.

Indiscipline: This song rocked very hard. Pat didn't do very much. Gavin took the intro solo and was the main man for the crazy sections. My first time seeing this song, Adrian is so cool during this song.

Pat gave his sticks to an 8 yr old kid in a TOAPP shirt. (You can see a pic of him on tony's site) They also got snuck backstage after the show. Lucky kid.

Robert was very stoic the whole performance. I feel bad i didn't mention him that much but there's not much to say. During Sleepless (I think) he moved one of the monitors on the floor by like 6 inches. (It wasn't even one that was facing him). I could just imagine him being irritated by it the whole show (THIS IS NOT IN THE CORRECT PLACE) and at that point he just couldn't take it any more. It made me laugh. I think Robert rocks for putting a huge ass effects rack between him and the audience. Someone gets a seat right in front of their hero and all they get is a huge box. Now, in his defense, Robert always keeps his effects rack to his right, so it's pretty much just the fact that he sat on the left side of the stage. He could have switched with Tony easily though and not had the big controversy, so I think he just wants to stay out of the limelight. That's how he's always rolled, why is everyone STILL so irritated with it? Why would someone change their ways after 40 years of perseverance? I think he's a champ for even coming out to do these shows at his age. I'm not sure I would. The solar voyager being in the way lets Robert have it both ways. People want to take pictures, all they're going to get is a big box, while he gets to be on stage and rock out with IMO the finest band I've ever heard.

Thank all 5 of you for this great show.

Winter V

2008-08-08T08:18:00.001-07:00

Shaped up better than I could have expected. With just a guitar track so far this song is extremely powerful. I can't imagine what it will sound like with drums and bass included.

Next Up: Ethylene

Acoustic Goes Electric?

2008-08-06T12:42:00.000-07:00

Upon seeing Buckethead play live it has occured to me to make backing tracks to make my music bigger and better. After some initial "prototypes" (no pun intended) I am very excited to see this through and start adding an electric element to any subsequent shows.

First on the chopping block: Winter V

Subsequent Choppers: Ethylene, Broken Glass, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Holomorphic/Shroud/Possession.

If all goes well there will be some rocking happening within a year.

Prototype Series Over

2008-05-30T19:59:00.001-07:00

The song is called Nothing Left.
As per the song that noone has ever heard before:

This is the completion of the prototype series...
Congratulations you've Lost!

There are 9.

Springfest

2008-04-22T21:48:00.000-07:00

A stipend for playing Springfest! Woohoo! Now we can buy something functional from me playing music. A step towards musicianhood.

Someone wishes they were in King Crimson...

Practicing

2008-04-22T18:24:00.001-07:00

Ideas are coming in about what to play. Lots of stuff coming up. Starbucks.
RIT
Springfest
Omega Party

What do I want to play 4 times and what do I want to leave out.

We'll see how the practicing goes.

Composium

2008-04-19T07:17:00.001-07:00

What a performance last night. How does one follow up a dylan-esque one man band singing about getting serviced on a ski lift?

I'm not sure, but I tried Cassette Loop.

Electricity & Magnetism roared, but at a very unwise place in the set, should have closed with it. Saturnal seemed like a sigh afterwards.

Tape Recorder dropped due to heat, and my unanticipated overwhelmingness of E&M. I wonder if anyone else thought that it roared as much as I did.

Prototype 03: Electricity and Magnetism

2008-04-08T19:16:00.000-07:00

Some thoughts about what happens next:

Photo Shoot

2008-04-03T11:27:00.000-07:00

Tape Recordings...

Tape Recordings

2008-03-31T06:34:00.000-07:00

Tape Recordings is something that just happened recently. It's 11 songs and they sort of just fell into my lap over spring break, but I think they have enough of my attention and enough energy to warrant the front row over everything else. So, as I start recording over the next few months, that will be what of. Also, A Game of Chess on my computer, to give it that grainy low qual feel.

Prototype 02: Tape Recordings:

Tape Recordings
Cassette Loop
Stop-Motion
Tape Recorder
Framerate
Haunted
God's Eye
Lunar
Holy Ghost
Resonance
Eulogy for the Universe

The Beginning

2008-03-12T19:30:00.000-07:00

The beginning of the Acoustic Phenomena project will consist of prototypes. These are songs created in their barest form, with very minimal auxiliary instrumentation other than acoustic guitar. Some of the songs are written exclusively for acoustic guitar. Others for electric, others with a full band in mind. However, they will first appear in their fledgling form and then hopefully evolve into something bigger. I'm looking forward to producing a series of prototypes.

Is this thing on?

2008-03-11T16:24:00.001-07:00

Test one two, test one two....