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Hody Yim by Jahulie

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crumb - jinx (2019)

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“If you can’t do anything about it then let it go. Don’t be a prisoner to things you can’t change.”

— Tony Baskin

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Be with someone who makes you happy.

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Cover artwork for VOICE ACTOR - ‘Sent From My Telephone’, available via Stroom

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is no one capable of holding conversation …

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As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty, dir. Jonas Mekas, 2000.

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Every Record I Own - Day 631: Jets to Brazil Orange Rhyming Dictionary

I loved Jawbreaker but I hadn’t yet come around to Dear You when Blake Schwarzenbach began his new project, Jets to Brazil. As I’ve mentioned before, I was one of those people that felt betrayed by Jawbreaker’s last stab at a more radio-friendly sound, so I approached JTB with some skepticism. My first exposure was their set opening for The Promise Ring at the RKCNDY in Seattle back in 1998. Also on the bill: Pedro the Lion, Sense Field, and Jimmy Eat World. It was a stacked line-up, and Jets to Brazil didn’t have their live set dialed in yet. I was disappointed. 

But my roommate picked up their debut LP, and after a week of spins he decided he wasn’t a fan either, so the album was handed off to me. And I reluctantly gave it a shot. Now that my expectations were low, I began to see JTB’s charms. Orange Rhyming Dictionary quickly became my road trip album. I almost never listened to it at home. In fact, I doubt this LP has been played more than five times. But my dubbed cassette of the album went with me on every long drive, and I now know this album forwards and backwards.

The songs picked up where Jawbreaker left off—taking Schwarzenbach’s scratchy guitar tone and rough hewn melodies and adding a little more ‘80s art rock / new wave into the mix. There was a stronger storytelling vibe to Jets too. It no longer felt quite so much like the poetic journaling of Jawbreaker so much as it felt like a series of character vignettes. Consequently, the drama felt less heavy-handed. You could listen to songs like “Sea Anemone” or “Conrad” a dozen times before realizing they were documenting the suicides of strangers. It was a record that could feel empowering (”Morning New Disease”), dystopian (”Resistance is Futile”), angsty (”Chinatown”), and downright charming (”Sweet Avenue”). It’s a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, but its pacing and consistent pop hooks make it an inviting record. 

I would only get to see Jets to Brazil live one other time: on their last tour. They played at a club called Graceland in Seattle on a heavy night. The club’s bar manager was a well-liked guy in the music community, but he’d just been found guilty of manslaughter for crashing his boat while intoxicated. Scott Jernigan, the drummer for local legends Karp, was killed in the incident. Scott was loved and respected, and his death was tragic. The bar manager’s sentence didn’t offset that tragedy, but only seemed to add to it. I’m not sure how many people at the show that night knew about the verdict—maybe only the staff and a handful of patrons. And I doubt anyone in Jets to Brazil knew. But they ended their set with “Rocket Boy”—the last song off their last album Perfecting Loneliness. Like so many songs off Orange Rhyming Dictionary, the song captures a scene. In this instance, Schwarzenbach uses a first-person vantage to describe a drunk driving accident from the perspective of the intoxicated driver. There’s no sermonizing or lecturing in the song—just snippets of memories so random and detached that it takes a few listens to connect the dots. It was inadvertent timing, but it remains one of the most moving and profound performances I’ve ever witnessed—a sympathetic chronicle of a fatal mistake. It was beautiful and bittersweet.

Maybe Blake said it best on the Jets song “Wish List”

Some people say I’m corny or I’m morbid I always thought I was touching, I was tragic One man’s magic is another’s plastic

Well, which one is it? Am I sweetness? Am I sickness? If I say both, you will say I lack commitment Of course, you’re right Of course, I’m right

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idk why. been on repeat real heavy lately.

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A 1400-year-old Ginkgo tree found within the walls of the Gu Guanyin Buddhist Temple, in the Zhongnan Mountains region of China.

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cant get enough of this stuff

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As I'm getting older, I'm starting to lose my understanding of love. Love used to be more simple and understandable, but now my head cannot really picture it clearly.

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Cavalli SS02.

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Maison Hermes Tokyo, Japan (2001) Architecture: Renzo Piano