tickley-totem

[mirai-e-jump]

Hero Vision Vol.55 (2015/Winter) Kamen Rider Blade 10th Anniversary Reunion Interviews Discussion on the Blade Drama CD (translations below)

Publication: February 23, 2015

Takayuki Tsubaki (Kazuma Kenzaki/Blade) Ryoji Morimoto (Hajime Aikawa/Chalice) Hironari Amano (Sakuya Tachibana/Garren) Takahiro Hojo (Mutsuki Kamijo/Leangle)

Tsubaki: I know that since Kamen Rider Blade is celebrating its 10th anniversary, the fans have been asking if we could do something for them. It reminded me that this show is still loved by so many people.

Amano: We talked about how it'd be nice if we could do something together. Kindof like how "Ninpu Sentai Hurricaneger" celebrated its 10th anniversary, and released a new project.

Tsubaki: Yeah. Then, we were offered to do a Drama CD. It made me really happy. This is the first of its kind in Kamen Rider history, and I think the only reason such an offer was given, was because the fans, Toei, the sponsors, the staff, and the cast all came together to make it happen.

Amano: For me, at first, I honestly wondered how a 10 year old production would be revived, and whether anyone would buy it.

Morimoto: Yeah. For me, my first impression was that this was a new beginning. Honestly, I was happy, but I was also worried about whether I'd be able to portray the role I played 10 years ago in a convincing way.

Hojo: I felt the same way. However, when I first heard about it, I was more happy than worried. Blade was the work I was most attached to, and had the most vivid memories of during my acting career. Now, in a brand new drama written 10 years later, I was really looking forward to it.

Amano: But, I also thought it was a story that I couldn't accept if all four of us weren't here.

Morimoto: That's the minimum requirement. After all, "Blade" is only possible if we're all together.

Amano: That's why I thought the most important thing was whether Joe (Hojo-san's nickname), who had retired from acting and returned to his hometown Nagoya, would be able to appear in this work. If they said, "He's retired, so just drop it," then there's nothing we can do about it. But, when Joe said he was sure and wanted to continue to be involved with the Kamen Rider series, it was then that I realized for the first time that this story would actually be happening.

Tsubaki: In Joe's case, locating him was quick, but contacting him to finalize the deal was the hard part.

Hojo: Just as we were talking about it, my cell phone died......(laughs)

Tsubaki: It was the first time I saw him in awhile, but he suddenly brought me a box with his new smartphone in it and said, "Baki (Tsubaki-kun's nickname), set it up for me."

Amano: You're better off with a flip phone! (laughs). I sent you an e-mail the other day, but when I asked, "Why didn't you reply?," you said your screen had broke.

Tsubaki: Those kinds of things usually makes me nervous, but it's different when we're working on Blade. The other day, I asked him, "What would you do if you were offered an acting role for something other than Kamen Rider?" He said, "I won't do it. But, if it's Kamen Rider, I'll definitely do it." I'm so happy that Joe still feels that way even after 10 years.

-10 years later, the four of us are just as you imagined-

Morimoto: I was happy to see that the Drama CD was a continuation of the story up to episode 49, which we had performed over the course of a year, all while creating a new story.

Amano: I was happy to see the presence of Kenzaki (Kazuma), how Hajime (Aikawa) had grown as a human, and how Mutsuki (Kamijo) had become an adult.

Morimoto: And also, Tachibana-san is more like a gentleman.

Tsubaki: I think Kenzaki was as I expected. I was told by Director Ishida (Hidenori) in the film "Missing Ace," which takes place 4 years after the show, that, "Kenzaki will not change even after 4 years." I thought that even 10 years later, Kenzaki would still be the same.

Morimoto: It was the exact image I had in mind, or rather, what I wanted him to be like.

Amano: On the flip side, the most unexpected thing was the conversations between Tachibana and Hajime. After 10 years, It seems that Tachibana was now able to talk with Hajime.

Morimoto: That's for sure. At the time, Garren (who Tachibana transforms into) and Chalice (who Hajime transforms into) were enemies.

Amano: Now, Ryo-chan (Morimoto-san) and I are having deep conversations.

Morimoto: Just like me and Amano-kun, I was happy to see that after 10 years, Hajime and Tachibana had developed a strong relationship. That's why I felt that the scene had to be a condensed version of their 10 years together.

Hojo: There's a line from Mutsuki in the TV show, where he says, "I want to protect the smiles and tears of people."……Going along with that, Mutsuki's choice of an event company as a place of employment in order to make people smile had me thinking, "That makes sense." It also makes him happy having junior colleagues. In his mind, Mutsuki's senior is Tachibana-san, but it's not enough to just imitate him. Therefore, I think I was able to play the role of a senior in my own way, although not as strict as Tachibana-san.

Amano: By the way, how are Mutsuki and Nozomi-chan getting along 10 years later? In the Drama CD, it's only brought up alittle bit.

Morimoto: What's more, "Mutsuki," you slurred your words! (laughs)

Amano: I'm very curious. How about in Joe's mind? Do you go for it? Or…..

Hojo: Nozomi……I wonder if we're done.

Amano & Morimoto: What!!? You guys broke up?!

Tsubaki: Nozomi-chan...maybe she married someone else? (laughs) No, no, I'm just joking. What I left out just now, was foreshadowing for the next part.

Morimoto: You left it in!

Tsubaki: I'm sure that in the next part, Nozomi-chan will be in trouble, so Mutsuki, trying to save her, will finally transform into his Jack Form.

Amano: I don't think they (the scriptwriters) put that much though into it!!

-Because we understand each other's roles-

Morimoto: Hajime isn't the type to show his emotions, but during the recording, I was so emotional, that I actually started to cry.

Amano: It was the final scene. When we finished, I said, "This isn't it," and re-recorded it.

Morimoto: Yeah. If Hajime honestly expresses his feelings and becomes 100% human, that's where the story will end. But, after seeing Kenzaki for the first time in such a long time, the thought of never seeing him again made me so emotional. I though, "Hajime should act like this too," but then I realized, "maybe I'm being alittle too feminine." When I asked everyone about it, both Amano-kun and Hojo gave the advice of, "Definitely don't cry." The reason we can share our opinions like that is because we all understand our roles.

Amano: That's right. It's the same for me, I remember other people's roles more than my own.

Morimoto: In a way, it's like looking at it from the Director's point of view. A scene where I tell Amano-kun, "These are the only friends I can trust!," seems strange.

Amano: Now that you mention it, you were very quiet about it at first. But, that scene was also in the TV show, so when I asked Ryo-chan, "What were you doing before?," Ryo-chan remembered it well.

Morimoto: You said I was quite loud at that time

Amano: That's why we re-recorded it. Everyone remembers what Hajime was like, what Mutsuki was like, and what Kenzaki was like.

Tsubaki: When it comes to "that kind of thing" Kenzaki can only speak the "Ondul Language" right? (laughs).

(Everyone laughs)

Morimoto: For better or for worse, the image I have of Kenzaki has never changed. It was the same in the Drama CD. I remembered almost immediately that, "Kenzaki is just like this."

Tsubaki: "Like this," in a good way? (laughs).

Morimoto: Ofcourse. On the other hand, it would be strange if Kenzaki could speak as fluently as (Kenichi) Suzumura-san (laughs).

Tsubaki: Come to think of it, during the dub recording for "Super Hero Taisen," the staff members said, "We have high expectations" So when I asked them, "Which are you expecting?," they said, "Whichever!" Well, from the very beginning, I started chewing as I spoke, and they all started clapping……

Morimoto: You also chewed in the Drama CD (laughs).

Tsubaki: Yeah, I chewed on the first take. Then, a nerve struck in Amano-kun, and he said, "I can't take this anymore…."

Morimoto: Then he left (the recording room).

Hojo: When he came back, he kept laughing like this (he holds his hands over his mouth) (laughs).

Morimoto: It was insanity. I also laughed at the beginning exchange with Kenzaki. In the flashback scene of the main story, he says, "Hajime, you can continue to live among other humans!"

Tsubaki: It came out more, "You can continue to live among other humans….."* (laughs). It's because that scene once traumatized me. *(said slightly slurred towards the end)

Morimoto: Were you actually hurt or something?

Tsubaki: I don't know if it's because people think that my lines with Ondul elements are the correct ones. I was wondering which expectation I should meet, but in the end, I ended up going with Ondul.....

Amano: I was entertained by it though.

Hojo: Another new saying will be born (laughs).

Morimoto: That part of him is what Kenzaki's all about.

Tsubaki: Just so you know, I usually speak very normally. But Kenzaki, he's just different! (laughs)

-We're now eagerly awaiting to visualize it!-

Tsubaki: Thankfully, I heard that the number of pre-orders for the Drama CD exceeded expectations, and Blade, which was broadcast on "Nico Nico Douga" late last year, was also quite popular. So, if we can get a little more support from the fans, I think a video version may be possible.

Amano: I'm glad that we were able to do a Drama CD, and that we were able to appear in Super Hero Taisen with all four of us, but, we mainly did dubbing. Next time I want everyone to appear in a film. By the way, I've confirmed that all four suits of Blade, Chalice, Garren, and Leangle still exist (laughs).

(Everyone laughs)

Tsubaki: Leangle's Jack Form figure is also available!

Amano: No way! I never thought it would actually release….!

Hojo: Come to think of it, at the time of Missing Ace, Baki and Amano-kun lied to me by saying, "I heard Leangle gets his Jack Form……" (laughs)

Amano: Now that it's become a figure, the visualization will also become a reality! So, first of all, we need everyone to support the Drama CD and push for this visualization. It'll be difficult to do something like this in another 5 or 10 years!

Hojo: Kenzaki and Hajime will grow old (laughs).

Morimoto: I'll become a wrinkly Undead! (laughs)

Amano: The Undead don't age, which means we'd have to change the original setting……

Tsubaki: Then it should be within this year. The filming period will be from April to May, and the release will be around August.

Morimoto: That's way too specific! (laughs). If that's the case, we'll have to get a new cards made…..(laughs).

Tsubaki: Talking like this, there's no end to our desires. I still want to make it into a video!

Hojo: When that time comes, I'll come back from Nagoya!

Amano: That's good. I think an adaptation would be fine if Joe actually answered his phone (laughs).

Morimoto: I won't break my cell phone or say that the screen died (laughs). That much is important. But, this year is the anniversary of Blade……so I'd be happy if we could end this year on a good note.

[lastchancevillagegreen]

Monday, 29 January 2024:

Yelling At Mary Mary Karlzen (Y&T) (originally released in 1995, this reissue came out in 2003)

One of the more common jokes between my record collecting brother and myself is how we have both somehow managed to never have traded this 1995 obscure album by the obscure artist Mary Karlzen. We both ended up picking it up when it was released in 1995 thanks to a review in Musician magazine, which in the 90s was kind of our bible. If an album by an artist we'd never heard of got a great review in Musician, both of us, without really consulting one another, would rush out to buy it. That's how we both discovered the likes of Paul Kelly and The Messengers, The Apartments, Moris Tepper and of course Mary Karlzen. For some insane reason, trading away a Musician endorsed album was heresy.

Recently, I was checking my records for when the last time I played the Pogues and Sinéad O’Connor. Both my brother and I have been keeping track of what we have played for the past 30-31 years. It's a ridiculous concept, but that's what we do. Anyhow, in looking for those records, one album kept popping up through the 1990s: Yelling At Mary. I finally saw the title so much I decided, let's play this album! I went to get it and guess what? Gone. Not on my shelf. I wanted to hear it so badly, I pulled out all the boxes of CDs out of my closets, my attic and my basement and there was no Mary Karlzen to be found! I'm still convinced I overlooked it. Yet, I wanted to hear it so badly that I ran to discogs and bought an original sealed copy of it. And then like a fool I added a couple of other CDs to my Mary Karlzen album and guess what? The dealer refunded me my money for the sealed copy of Yelling At Mary because it was damaged in a basement flood! Yet, he allegedly sent me the other two CDs (which was two weeks ago...) and when you see them you'll know how upset I am that the Yelling At Mary CD ain't included...

I then tried to find another sealed copy of the original 1995 CD and no one had it expect one dealer who had a drilled hole in the spine sealed copy for $30 which I wasn't about to pay! I decided to hell with it, I'll buy this new reissue (new! it came out 22 years ago) which includes six bonus tracks for even less than what a normal CD costs. When I bought it on eBay, the dealer sent me an e-mail within seconds and asked, "How do you know about MARY?!!" I told him I read a review in Musician and again, within seconds, he said, "Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam is on the cover! Great Review!" He then told me he owned every Mary Karlzen album ever made and he'd include some bonus things for me because he was so impressed I owned this back in the day. (I didn't tell him I couldn't find my original copy I just told him that I had no idea the album was reissued and that I loved the original so much I need those bonus tracks.)

Above you see the front of the album and then the back of the album (which is different from the original 1995 CD pressing). Below you can see the hype sticker in closer detail. I know it was a sunny, sunny day and everything came out crystal clear, but here it is in closer detail.

And before you move on, look at the people who appear on this album. Myself, I think the big ticket item is David Hidalgo, of Los Lobos. Not only does he appear on at least three songs, so does Benmont Tench of The Heartbreakers. Jackson Browne is a big ticket name but he only appears on one song. As for the other names they come from The Mavericks, Letters To Cleo, John Mellancamp and that's equally impressive. This is Karlzen's debut and let me say, it still rocks after all these years! I'm playing it as I type this and I'm even more impressed by it all these years later. Hell, I'd gladly buy ten of her albums for fifty bucks!

Here is a look at the gatefold of the jewel case below.

Here it is again without the CD in place.

Even though this blind guy thinks that photo is crystal clear (that's how sunny it was today...and I took these photos upstairs in the music room) let's see that insert underneath the inlay tray below.

Here is the booklet opened up. It is just a two panel insert.

Below you will find the CD up close and personal.

One of the two bonus things the dealer sent me because I knew the album and the review it appeared in was a bonus booklet that was signed by Mary Karlzen. I think that is a weird extra thing to have laying around your house but when you own all of her albums, who knows?

He then was excited to include a one sheet about her newest album. He told me it was an excellent album and I must say that after blasting Yelling At Mary I'm tempted to buy the damn thing! Here is that one sheet.

For what was kind of a joke, I'm thrilled I'm playing this again and I am sold on the album as being a jewel that most are unaware of. I'll be checking out her catalog, I assure you that much! (And those bonus tracks are killers as well.)

[arabellaflynn]

Advent Calendar 14: Nintendo's Crazy Ex

Greetings, and welcome to Advent Calendar 2022! This year we're being self-indulgent and rambling about video games.

As usual, the Advent Calendar is also a pledge drive. Subscribe to my writing Patreon here by TOMORROW for at least $5/mo and get an e-card for Ratmas; subscribe for $20/mo (and drop me a mailing address) and you'll get a real paper one!

I hope you're all having a happy winter holiday season. Let the nerd rambling commence!

Gather 'round, children, and let me tell you the story of How The Playstation Came To Be. Once upon a time, there was a Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The SNES was a shiny, shiny thing in 1991 (1990, as the Super Famicom, in Japan). A spiffy new 16-bit games console that played all the latest Mario and Castlevania and Metroid games, its main rival was the slightly older Sega Genesis (né Sega Megadrive, 1988 in Japan, 1989 in North America). The two coexisted for some time with only the usual sibling rivalry, where Sega pulled an attitude and claimed to do "what Nintendon't", and Nintendo pointedly ignored them while pointing at some plumbers from Brooklyn with an inexplicable hatred of turtles.

One day, Sega learned a new trick. The older Nintendo bro, the Famicom, had come up with an add-on device that let it play games off diskettes; the little Sega Megadrive thought about this and went, yes, but what if I used CDs instead? CDs were super cool, cutting-edge, space age tech at the time, which was not coincidentally also 1991. Compared with cartridges, CDs had an unimaginable amount space to fill, and since they were for music first, Sega threw in a nicer sound chip to sweeten the deal. Thus was born the Sega CD.

Nintendo looked at that and grudgingly admitted they had a point.

Obviously the thing to do was steal this concept, so Nintendo got to work on a CD add-on for the SNES. Neither company worked with CDs or audio tech themselves; Sega had partnered with JVC for the Sega CD. (JVC stands for Japan Victor Corporation, by the way, the Japanese subsidiary of RCA Victor, the people who used to use the painting of a terrier listening to a phonograph as their logo. The original painting was titled "His Master's Voice", which title eventually ended up, through a complicated series of divestitures and acquisitions, as the name of the HMV record stores in several Commonwealth countries.) Nintendo phoned up Sony, who had developed the original CD standards in conjunction with Philips Electronics. Together they started work on a prototype equivalent of the Sega CD, accurately if boringly titled the Super NES CD-ROM.

The unveiling at the Consumer Electronics Show was an event. Sony proudly unveiled the fruits of its labor, a combination SNES-cartridge/CD-ROM machine they called the "PlayStation". It received many oohs and ahs from the audience. The very next day, Nintendo revealed its half of the project, a CD-ROM add-on for the SNES, produced in partnership with... uh, Philips. Philips Electronics. You know, Sony's best friend.

To say Sony was angry was an understatement. They were livid. It just wasn't working out, Nintendo said. Sony kept asking for things -- licensing fees, rights, content control. Nintendo and Philips just had long term goals that were so much more compatible! Mainly because they made Nintendo more money. Surely Sony would understand. It was just better for business.

Fine, said Sony. We'll just make our own console! With blackjack! And hookers! I'm not actually kidding about that part, a lot of the early Playstation marketing centered around the fact that Sony would let you publish games including adult things like sex, violence, drugs, and naughty words, which were all still very much banned in Nintendo titles. This ultimately led to Sony landing the Grand Theft Auto console ports, and we all know how that turned out.

The SNES CD-ROM project eventually stuttered to a halt, and nothing of the sort ever came out, even in Japan. The backlash soured Nintendo on CDs so much that they refused to make the switch with everybody else for their next console generation, opting instead to use ROM cartridges in the Nintendo 64. This bout of sour grapes actually lost Nintendo several of their loyal publishers -- the Golden Age of JRPGs started on the Super Nintendo, but chafed at the space restrictions of the N64. The biggest, fattest rat to jump off that particular sinking ship was Squaresoft, who started developing for the N64 but ultimately opted to publish the smash hit Final Fantasy VII on Playstation, where the game could span three CDs.

Nintendo continued to drag its feet on disc technology through the DVD era, declining to include DVD-Video playback on its GameCube, Wii, and WiiU systems, even though all three use DVD drive mechanisms, and are physically capable of reading DVD discs (mini-DVD in a GameCube, without a case mod). Sony, in contrast, coughed up the licensing fees and advertised the shit out of the DVD player function of their Playstation 2. The PS2 didn't just wipe the floor with the Wii (and the Xbox), it became the best-selling video game console of all time.

The Nintendo/Sony PlayStation fell into the black hole of history. For almost a quarter century it was thought that none of the prototypes had survived, but in 2015 a single example was discovered in a bankruptcy auction of random stuff from a completely different company where a Sony CEO had once worked. The creaky, dusty, substantially-broken thing was presented to Benjamin Heckendorn, aka "Ben Heck", a passionate nerd who accidentally invented a career for himself about two decades ago by hacking apart an Atari 2600 and reassembling it into a handheld. 

He did a full teardown of the machine on The Ben Heck Show, a series he filmed for the content provider element14, and managed to get it working, in conjunction with a boot ROM mysteriously leaked to several prominent members of the retrogaming/emulation community. There is no known surviving software for the machine, but several people have verified that homebrew games will play.

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[petiteredlady]

So apparently there’s going to be a “Mononofu series best album” released on June 6th ! (link)

It will have all theme songs from Mononofu shiroki tora, Tsumuru ookami kuroki kamo and Kake hayabusa hito yamato. There will be ten songs + ten instrumental versions.

Two versions will be released : - CD+DVD at 3300 yens (tax excluded) - CD only at 2500 yens (tax excluded)

There is still the option of buying the mp3 songs of the first two stage plays (here), for 1000 and 1200 yens respectively.

[jaskiersvalley]

I absolutely love your writing!! It's so very enjoyable and your au's are absolutely delightful. I just thought you should know.

Thank you so much, Nonnie! AUs are something I really enjoy and to hear that others find them fun makes me so very happy. As a little thank you, here’s another AU feat Kaer Morhen Radio and a Jaskier driving an 18 wheeler.

Life was a lonely one on the road. There were many acquaintances and other drivers Jaskier had a passing friendship with, Valdo Marx had the annoying habit of having similar routes to him - they did say mimicry was the highest form of compliment. Alas, nobody was a steady presence in Jaskier’s life. Well, nobody who was aware of him. Though there was the Kaer Morhen Radio family. They were the closest Jaskier had to everyday friends, as sad as that sounded.

“Good morning fuckheads.” Such a declaration could only mean it was 6am and Lambert had taken over. Instinctively, Jaskier was smiling as he sat up with a yawn. Most radio stations liked to gently rouse listeners with swelling music that got more up beat as the day went on. Not Kaer Morhen Radio. They had Lambert as their morning DJ, there to wake sensitive ears in more and more creative ways. He had become known for his unique way to wake listeners up; from bringing in pots to bang to trying to imitate the mating call of a moose at full volume. The only thing listeners loved more than Lambert being a general prick was his flirtation with Aiden who did weather and traffic announcements.

“And, in those four famous words: and now, the weather,” Lambert announced gleefully. After a long moment of silence, he snickered. “We shall have to give Aiden a moment to climb out from under the desk and rinse his mouth. In the mean time, here’s a banger.”

The banger, Jaskier was surprised to find, was quite literally a recording of someone (possibly Lambert) attempting to play drums (badly) on some kitchen pots. By the time the piece reached its rather boisterous end, it seemed that Aiden was no longer preoccupied.

“The weather today-” Jaskier tuned Aiden’s words out in favour of figuring out whether he was messing around or whether he really did sound so husky and gravelly thanks to having his throat fucked. It was quite the conundrum and Jaskier spent the start of his morning drive wondering how many complaints Lambert and Aiden will get now. Their record was 36 for the game of “identify that noise” wherein they stuck their fingers in various containers and made them squelch. To that day, nobody knew whether the last one really was, in Lambert’s words, “Aiden’s well used hole and my come”.

Afternoons were much more peaceful. Eskel took over at 2pm and he was laid back, played soothing music and gave the impression of being a very calm and reliable member of society. Jaskier always maintained it was an impression because, among all the chat, Eskel would sometimes drop a strange little fact that made him do a double take or two.

“This next song,” Eskel had once said, “was written while under the influence of cocaine.” It was a reasonable enough fact to share, Jaskier had been listening while stuck in a traffic jam along a motorway. “How they managed to write it though, I have no idea. Cocaine is terrible for your focus, I could barely scratch an itch before being distracted by something else. So kudos to the writers for creating a whole song while off their face.”

Which was something Jaskier had never thought Eskel would know anything about. He always seemed to demure, the solid rock of Kaer Morhen Radio. He balanced out Yennefer’s news updates perfectly. It was probably why Jaskier liked him so much, now that he thought of it. The surface innocence mixed in with hints of a very colourful life lived beneath the steady exterior. Well, hints other than the incident where Eskel somehow managed to not turn his microphone off and had a conversation about going to a rave with someone who worked at the radio station. Nobody knew the man’s name and his answers were half muffled but listeners swore they heard him suggest something along the lines of a collar and leash - which Eskel had hummed in agreement to, sounding all too happy. When questioned, Eskel resolutely refused to name the mystery man but conceded that there had been a rave. Jury was out whether Eskel had grumbled about being ‘in ecstasy’ or ‘on ecstasy’ for it. And there was definitely a picture of floating around the internet of him in a collar at what definitely looked like an underground rave.

The real reason Jaskier listened to Kaer Morhen Radio was the late night DJ. 10pm on the dot, Eskel would flick the switch and a prerecorded intro played, announcing that it was Late Late Nights with Geralt. Between 10pm and 6am, Geralt manned the station. The only reason Jaskier knew his name was because of the intro. Otherwise the man was silent other than a few hums between songs. Sometimes, presumably when he knocked something over, there would be a growled “fuck” that listeners lived for.

As little as Geralt said, Jaskier was in love. The music was eclectic and death metal could be followed up by electro swing or grime. There was to way to predict just what Geralt would play next, he didn’t take requests, didn’t talk to his listeners. But, somehow, he still drew them in. Jaskier had made the mistake of looking Geralt up online and swooned a little at the few pictures available. It seemed Geralt was an elusive man, somehow managing to turn away from cameras with an uncanny ability. Though a few pictures did exist of Lambert and Eskel on either side of him, quite literally holding him down for a photo.

Truthfully, Geralt was one of the main reasons Jaskier chose to do overnight hauls. Not only did they pay better, he also had Geralt’s nonverbal grunts and hmms to look forward to. He was well aware that it was an infatuation and nothing more. He’d never met Geralt before, Geralt wasn’t even aware of his existence. So, really, Jaskier could daydream all he wanted but had no intention of doing anything more.

Except, Jaskier couldn’t help but wonder. Geralt had such range in his musical taste, maybe he would like what Jaskier wrote. It was a rare night off and Jaskier was well into the bottle with Valdo when they got talking, egging each other on about who was the better musician. It ended with Jaskier drunkenly posting a CD of his music to Kaer Morhen Radio, addressed for Geralt. When he woke up in the morning, on the floor next to his couch which was occupied by Valdo, Jaskier groaned.

Thankfully, there was never a mention or even a single note of his music in the next week. Slowly, Jaskier relaxed, only a little disappointed that his music hadn’t even been acknowledged by Geralt. He almost had a heart attack when eight days later, Lambert came on air with a mad cackle.

“Morning fuckheads!” Lambert sounded more cheery than ever before. “You’ll never guess what I found. Geralt has been hoarding new music. Good music. Said it was for him. Well, I have decided he cannot hold this back from us. If you’re listening, Jaskier, your note was hilarious. I hope your hangover was worth it. Thanks for the CD!”

There was a growl that sounded like Geralt storming into the booth but the microphone was cut and Jaskier’s song started playing. Jaskier almost crashed his truck in shock. Especially when Lambert declared it so good, they would play it again and, sure enough, the song went back to the beginning to play twice in a row.

If it had just been Lambert, Jaskier would have quietly died of shame, accepting that he was being mocked. But Eskel got in on it too. That afternoon he introduced Jaskier’s song with the promise that management were looking into getting in touch with him about the music. Even worse, a listener even requested the song later that evening. Jaskier was both in heaven and hell at the same time. That night, Geralt didn’t play his song and Jaskier was only a little disappointed.

His phone rang the next day.

“Good afternoon, my name is Vesemir, I’m calling from Kaer Morhen Radio. May I speak to Jaskier?”

Jaskier promptly choked. He got an invitation to the studio. It was a good seven days of driving away and Jaskier searched for a contract that would take him across the continent. While he drove, he got a bit braver and started e-mailing the radio station on his breaks.

His written request for songs were acknowledged by a hum and the song coming on next. When he asked Geralt for a shout out, he got obnoxious pop music playing instead. So Jaskier asked for two hums if Geralt wanted to meet and three if he didn’t. Thus, there was a “fuck” on air and the Beauty and the Beast theme song started playing. It was safe to say Jaskier didn’t understand it but he wasn’t deterred.

By the time Jaskier got into town and made his delivery, it was almost 6am. There was no time he had been specifically invited for and he ended up approaching the building at the same time Lambert showed up with Aiden and three large cups of coffee in hand.

“Excuse me,” he called out, “I’m here to see Vesemir.”

“Bit early for that.”

“He never gave me a time so I figured an early start would be appreciated.” It wasn’t exactly a lie but Jaskier kind of wanted to meet Geralt who would be finishing up soon.

For some bizarre reason, Jaskier was led into the radio studio, no questions asked. Surely it was a security issue but then again, Jaskier checked out Lambert and Aiden, they would no doubt be able to handle any issues. Then there was Geralt, stepping out of the booth, Lambert’s intro queued up. He froze when he spotted Jaskier and, curiously, glanced away, seemingly all shy. The curious response was explained away all too soon. There, on the wall, was Jaskier’s CD and a polaroid of him and Valdo, helpfully labeled “The Talent” with an arrow to Jaskier and “The Fake” pointing at Valdo.

“You here for Vesemir?” Geralt asked eventually, sipping at one of the cups Lambert had brought.

“Amongst other things,” Jaskier replied.

“He won’t be here until 10. Why don’t we go grab breakfast while you wait?”

Aiden wolf whistled at that and Lambert whooped, arms in the air.

“My dear fuckheads,” he purred into the microphone, “we have a date between our local cryptid and our mystery siren. Please wish them luck.”

It turned out that, in person, Geralt was a bit more talkative than on air. And Jaskier helped fill any silence without any problems. He ended up being later than planned to meet Vesemir and Tissaia who had a very handsome cheque for him for playing his music and also his phone number with the promise of passing it on to some connections who had expressed an interest in his music.

Never before had Jaskier thought he would thank Valdo Marx for anything. But, one drinking session with him had landed Jaskier with not only a contract with a record label but also a boyfriend. With his first pay, Jaskier send Valdo the biggest bouquet of flowers humanly possible.

[zee-writes-and-draws]

Truly Important

Summary: A look at some of the more important birthdays that Saw Paing has had, and the one he celebrated right after the tournament.

A/n: It's still July 8th, so I'm on time w/this. Nonetheless, I slept five hours so I apologize for lack of proofreading.

------

The first birthday that Saw Paing truly considers important is his fifth one, the day he gets to start Lethwei training for the very first time. He comes home covered in scratches and bruises and a trickle of blood running down his forehead. His father fusses a little and his ma doesn’t let him up until she bandages every little cut and bruise but nothing can spoil his good mood as Ne Win Paing puts him in a headlock and their little sister congratulates him on the start of his training.

------

Most birthdays to Saw Paing aren’t majorly important beyond the fact that even as a fighter Pa Paing did his best to see every single child on their birthday every year. But some are important because there’s new people in his life, people who aren't’ there, certain benchmarks and events that are important in and of themselves, but are easier to tie to years and dates and celebrations.

Saw Paing’s sixteenth birthday is remembered fondly only because it is one week before he meets his eternal rival for the very first time, a boy named Gaolang Wongsawat.

------

Seventeen. Nothing particularly important. Current youngest brother starts his training that year.

Eighteen. Important solely by the freedom it grants in travelling. Almost all countries recognize eighteen as an age of majority, an age where you can do a lot of things that would be illegal otherwise like go somewhere without an adult’s supervision or rent a car so you have your own transport. Going to places outside of Myanmar and Thailand is the most interesting he’s done in his entire life.

Nineteen. He finally gets a job outside the village. The weapons corporation that hired him is run by an old man and a teenage girl with a vicious streak longer than the destruction radius of the missiles she’s designed. Still, they hired him to safety test things and work to rescue people in afflicted areas, not attack them. It’s Togo Tomari’s brilliant ruthlessness that causes him to end up in the same place as Muteba for a month. Another friendship struck up with someone he’s fought against. A birthday gift of an absolutely gorgeous button-up with twelve patterns and wild color is dropped off at his door that year. Even though the gifter will likely never see it, Saw Paing wears the shirt with pride as often as he can for the next few years.

Twenty. Barely important but it was Gaolang’s eighteenth birthday that year and the time the title ‘God of War’ starts creeping into people’s thoughts about him. Saw Paing cheers his rival on whenever possible.

Twenty-one. Nothing. Little sister asks out crush, dates her for seven months and change before they have to break up because the crush’s family is moving. He and Muteba have each others numbers saved and text between missions.

Twenty-two. He and Ne Win Paing get to fight outside of legal matches for the first time. It’s exhilarating. Their father hugs them both afterwards and tells them how proud he is.

Twenty-three. The first birthday in their family celebrated after Pa Paing passes. It’s somber. Saw Paing would rather have skipped the day entirely if not for how his youngest siblings all seemed determined to follow traditions for at least the illusion of normalcy  and he’s not about to ruin their coping process just because he’s sad. With Ne Win Paing travelling nearly full-time and recovering when he’s home, Saw Paing is the de facto leader of the family and he’s not going to let them down so easily.

That night there’s a card delivered to him by a hassled-looking mail carrier. It’s from Gaolang.

I heard about your father’s death, Saw Paing. My deepest condolences to both you and your family. Take care of yourself. Do what you must to feel more stable.

To anyone else the writing would be cold and impersonal. Saw Paing re-reads it over and over until a drop splashes onto it and the crinkling of paper registers and then he hurriedly folds it and drops it onto the desk in his room so it doesn’t get destroyed.

If in two weeks when they next see each other, Gaolang relents and truly fights Saw Paing for twenty minutes before declaring a defeat form boredom, neither of them acknowledge the change in routine anymore than they acknowledge that Saw Paing’s yelling is more like loud talking and that Gaolang had made an extra plate of his favorite fish seemingly just in case.

------

Twenty-four. Saw Paing meets Sayaka for the very first time that year, a bright and sunshine-sweet teenager who screams out his intro and doesn’t seem to mind that he’s super-loud or that his opponent throws him into the commentators box and nearly crushes her by accident.

When he had apologized she made a joke about it. He made one back. A friendship stronger than any other he’d made was started that day. Sayaka reminds him of his little sisters, friendly and upbeat and ready to take on the world if she has to and come out with a smile, sharp wit and keen mind concealed under a bubbly layer that requires no lying to maintain.

That year his birthday includes a surprise delivery of a completely new set of cookware with a small note attached.

Happy birthday, Saw! Sorry I couldn’t make it, dad scheduled fifty matches for this week alone so I’m not even sleeping, but I hope you like it! See you in May (PS I’m secretly rooting for you!)

That night Saw Paing makes dinner for everyone with said cookware and an unflappable grin on his face.

------

Twenty-five. Nothing.

Twenty-six. His little sister is now formally competing on a near-national level. His brothers, no longer so small but always little in his eyes, work hard to bring in food and water and trade with the local villages and Saw Paing never stops feeling proud of them.

Twenty-seven. More and more fights in the arena. He leaves Tomari’s contracts behind but keeps in touch with Muteba. A chance metal concert allows him to meet Yoshiko, who in turn introduces him to Sawada. Saw Paing mails him several CDs of traditional Burmese music for the other man’s birthday. Gets a collection of ballet remixes in exchange. Listens to the collection every night for weeks and weeks on end until he can whistle half the songs without thinking. Smiles at how many small reminders he has now of the people he cares about.

------

Twenty-eight. The coldest and harshest one yet. Ne Win Paing is not there that year. Everyone’s energy is lower than usual. Saw Paing spends the day mostly taking care of the youngest siblings and visiting the graves of those he’s lost. He can feel the wrongness of this land on his skin, it’s Yoroizuka’s home and that’s better than the alternatives but it is not his home or their home or the home that his family deserved and had grown up in and lost because of Ne Win Paing or maybe because Saw Paing should have noticed sooner, should have caught onto the damage his brother had taken.

Sayaka leaves twenty voicemails and thirty texts, all reassurance and compassion and kindness that Saw Paing is beginning to doubt he deserves. Sawada had arranged for several boxes of their favorite sweets from all over the world to be delivered to his house. Muteba messages him a list of names and places if he needs to fight the emotions out or to talk to a professional specializing in fighters and loss of loved ones and tells him to cherish the rest of his family.

Gaolang visits that evening, sleeplessness evident in his posture and eyebags. It’s rarer and rarer for the two of them to see each other now, between the jobs they both hold and duties they’re bound to. Saw Paing’s first priority will always be his family, just as at the end of the day the Thai God of War is not that but the bodyguard of Prince Rama of Thailand. And yet here they are, sitting next to a firepit just outside a house that was not truly meant for Saw Paing’s family, in a country outside of Gaolang’s own.

“Are you alright?” Gaolang asks him. Saw Paing looks up.

I’ll be fine, he wants to say, thinks instead because even things like talking feel like too much right now. He settles for a nod instead, one that feels too slow and tired to really be him but has to be because who else could he be? Gaolang does not look reassured by this. He sits down next to Saw Paing and talks. That quiet voice, normally at least partially twinged with annoyance and exhaustion, now flows with an undertone of gentle energy. It’s not the fire that Saw Paing usually feels running through his veins. Nor is it Ne Win Paing’s quick fury or Pa Paing’s ruthless confidence.

No, it’s the other kind of energy, the kind that Gaolang always emits though it’s hidden under the day-to-day life’s mundaneness. Gaolang tell him about fights, about what guarding Prince Rama has been like for him, some recipe his parents love and he despises because of how annoyingly spicy it is and how Saw Paing would probably like it. And then he talks about staring into a fire.

“Look,” Gaolang motions at it. “It moves so incredibly, alive and unalive at once.” Saw Paing looks into the fire, watches the moving flames flicker and dance in and out of existence. Next to him, Gaolang smiles.

“It reminds me of you sometimes. The difference is fire burns out. I truly hope you never do.” They sit next to each other, watching for a while until something in Saw Paing’s chest undoes itself, letting some feeling back in. Gaolang notices.

“Tell me about Ne Win Paing,” he asks, shoulder brushing against Saw Paing’s own, warmer than the air around by just enough to be noticeable without feeling too off-balance. And so he does, spilling out every little detail he can remember about his brother and all of the memories that were crafted for as long as he can remember. The sky is light when he finishes, still tired but somehow lighter. That something that had unwound a bit earlier is almost completely gone. He’s still saddened by the loss of one of the greatest people in his life, but things look a little better.

Gaolang leaves then, apologetic but unable to stay. Saw Paing nods at him again to say it’s alright and it must come across sufficiently this time, because Gaolang’s smiling softly as he walks to his car and drives back to his too-loud and too-busy life for such a quiet man and yet a life that couldn’t be anyone else’s.

Saw Paing’s younger siblings are slowly waking up, coming out to check up on him and start their day. He hugs them, feeling his spirit coming back to something normal.

------

Twenty-nine. Still a tad colder than before but mostly better.

Thirty. A year with little occurring beyond the increasing amount of kengan matches and the frequency that he gets to see old friends like Sayaka. The tournament that happens later in the year is undoubtedly something unforgettable that he;ll treasure for the rest of his life. So many new friends made, so many bonds forged and strengthened. He makes it a point to keep correspondence with all of them, even the more quiet ones like Karo and Rei. They clearly need the company if they're quite that quiet.

Thirty-one. He wakes up expecting another birthday that’s rather insignificant. His sisters and brothers in college call and Skype and do whatever else they need to say hello first thing in the morning, yelling through the screen loud enough that he can her the dorm’s complaints through the call. The siblings still at home whether from sentimentality or youth wake him minutes before that by running into his room and wishing a happy birthday to him at the top of their lungs. He’s so proud of their lung training being quite so successful.

He checks his phone after all of the younger siblings hang up out of habit. There’s another twelve messages from various members of the assassin clans he’s befriended, a missed call from Cosmo, a notification about a post from Adam, and an alert of the local post office telling him about several packages that are addressed to him.

On the journey to the post office and back he gets six more calls. As he’s balancing reading a short ‘happy birthday!’ texted to him from Cosmo and a rambly congratulation courtesy of Okubo that is interrupted by an incoming call from either Hanafusa or Yoshizawa, a wonderfully familiar voice calls out.

“Saw! Over here!” Sayaka stands by the edge of the road, looking as red carpet-ready as always, except for the small trolley of boxes and bags she’s keeping from rolling away.

“HEY SAYAKAAAA!!!!!” He yells to her as he runs over. She’s hugging him so there’s no reason not to complete their usual greeting by picking her up and spinning in several circles.

“Happy birthday, Saw!” She laughs as he puts her down. “Sorry I didn’t warn you, but there was a lot of last minute stuff and everyone wanted to send something to you and it was ‘one more thing’ this and ‘oh wait here!’ that, and it’s so great to see you again! Here!” the packages he was holding until two seconds ago are now in Sayaka’s hands, traded for a fancy-looking photo album.

“It’s for you. I wish I could stay, but Retsudo’s been flipping out for six hours and he threatened to send a SAR squad again, but I promise i’ll call this evening, kay? See ya soon, Saw Paing!” She runs to the familiar figures of Takyama and Misasa, waving the whole time they drive away until she’s out of his line of sight. Only tnen does Saw Paing turn his attention to the trolley and the photo album.

Getting everything home requires ignoring messages and calls so his plan to find out what these things are that everyone was so determined to send to him has to wait another hour or so but then he finally has the time to check everything out.

There’s two gorgeous shirts that fit perfectly, bright greens and yellows combining with the soft fabric and reminding him of his old shirt but nicer. This, he knows without even needing to check the card, is a gift that only someone like Muteba would have gotten him. A thick book of various recipes from several different regions in Japan, along with an impressively full binder of leaflet instructions for dishes made in the mountains is sent courtesy of Sekibayashi and Haruo.

A sharp-looking knife that seems to be more familiar with intestines sliding across its blade than vegetables is gifted by the Kures he’d met after Hayami’s rebellion, right next to several ‘free assassination’ coupons Reichii and Fusui must have snuck in as a half-joke and and half-true gift.

Most of the things are actually quite small, just fragile and packaged with an insane amount of cushioning, he realizes. It’s nothing particularly fancy, but they’re all things that will remind him of the senders, be it the scalpel that Hanafusa mailed him with instructions on how to DIY surgery or the old shogi set Kaneda gifts along with a book on most famous shogi strategies played throughout history.

Saw Paing moves everything to where it should be once everything but the photo album has been looked through. The cookbooks go to a specific shelf in the kitchen that no one else can reach. The weapons are hidden in a small box under his bed to avoid any incidents. Muteba’s shirts go onto hangers, Sawada’s fancy candies are set on a plate for eating while looking at this final gift, and then the album is opened.

The first photo makes him smile, a perfect snapshot from one of his earliest fights in the Kengan matches, capturing the moment they had both gone from enemies to friends mid-blow. A date, presumably of when the photo was taken, is written on the border in Sayaka’s neat writing. The second one is of Ne Win Paing from seven years ago. This time, the date is in heavier, blockier writing, not unlike Hollis’s. Saw Paing flips through the album a little more, taking it in. there’s plenty of photos of his various friends, fellow fighters, and even some family from the tournament and before it, but there’s also old photos of his brother and father, and even one of his mother back when she had fought in occasional matches, along with candids of some of the more stoic people. They must have been collected over several months, and not just by Sayaka.

Saw Paing already knows what will happen this evening. Gaolang will come over with some kind of small yet so deeply personal way of also saying happy birthday. Sayaka will call again, most likely throwing a small party in the Katahara house and inviting everyone she can. Rei might stop by and even if he doesn’t, he’ll Skype before the sun sets because he’s a punctual person by both nature and training.

But that’s still hours away, and in the meantime, Saw Paing decides to keep looking at the beautiful snapshots of the past, enjoying the present to it’s fullest.

------

END.

[thenightling]

Disaster buying HP!

Earlier today I called HP to tell them what I wanted in a new PC.  The first sales representative I spoke to was a man who tried to talk to me very fast into buying a particular PC.  I told him I wanted a customized system and that it was very important that I have a drive that can play and burn Blu Ray disks. He assured me that I would have that.   Less than five minutes later he asked me "How important is it for you to have a Blu Ray drive?" I, again, told him it was very important.  He asked "If you have data on Blu Ray discs can you transfer them to something else?"  I, becoming exasperated, told him I want to be able to watch and record Blu Ray discs on my PC.  I use it as my entertainment system. This IS a deal breaker for me.  He reassured me that it would have a Blu ray drive.

After I finish making the VERY EXPENSIVE order I check the E-mail invoice and it's for a DVD Drive.  I call them back (and was left on hold for over two and a half hours).  This time I get a woman who says "Oh, DVD players can play all discs, including CD."  Me: "I am not talking about CD.  I am talking about Blu Ray.  Blue Ray uses a different type of laser."   She tried to assure me that DVD players can play both.   And then said we could read over its capabilities together, she would get me the page for the drive.  A few seconds later she says "Oh, hold on.  I need to talk to my supervisor." She puts me on hold and comes back several minutes later. "You were right, they are read by different lasers."  No kidding!   She then offers me an external blu ray drive for two hundred more dollars.

At this point I wanted to hurry off the phone because there were things going on around me I had to take care of.  So I accepted this.  Once things calmed down I called them again to make sure this was the only option.   This time I got a man, he sounded Southern.   When I told him the situation he asked "Do they even sell Blu Ray discs anymore?"   Then he told me "When I was last in the Business department we still had PCs that could burn and play Blu Ray discs.  You can try our business department on Monday.  They're closed on the weekend."   So I'm stuck with an order I might have to cancel until Monday.

What angers me is I think that first sales rep knew perfectly well that he was selling me something that wasn't able to play Blu Ray.  He was treating me like an idiot the whole time I was making the order, I had a serious sexism vibe, like if I was a man he would not have treated me that way.

I have bought from HP for years and NEVER had this much trouble buying a PC before.  They usually understood and respected my specific customization requests.  And now I have sales representatives who don’t understand there’s a difference between DVD and Blu Ray or don’t even think Blu Rays are manufactured anymore?!??? 

I used to have such good experiences buying from HP because they USED to respect my customization requests.

[chayacat]

Devil’s Sweet Star (9)

Fandom: Dead by Daylight

Ghostface x Female Reader  

Rated M for Violence, Language and Smut  

***

The rain... both beautiful and sad to look at. A real inspiration for some, a moment of relaxation for others. But for you it's mostly the day when people will flock to your café to protect themselves, sipping a good hot chocolate, tea or a good coffee.  

Today you only open in the morning, the weekend is approaching and you want to take a little more time for yourself. There were not many people at the moment, Melina, Jed's colleague and friend, was among the first clients. Decidedly you will attract all the Roseville gazette to your café... You were sitting with her at the table right next to the counter, both with a coffee in her hand, Melina having taken a share of Neptune's cake with her coffee.

Melina Catalina Da silva was born in Las cruces, New Mexico, to a Spanish father and a Mexican mother. They moved to Missouri when she was 4 years old, to live the "American Dream" and, although the early days were difficult, her parents gave her access to education. If her physique and her voice opened the doors of cinema and music, it was to journalism that Melina turned. However, do not rely on appearances, she knows very well to fight and some ended up in the hospital.

“I can't believe, he really told you that?” you said laughing.

“Hell yeah! He thought I was going to shut up after that, instead I blew him a few teeth! You had to see his head with less teeth. Frankly leave me like that... for a bimbo with three tons of paint as make-up, because I was not the easy girl he wanted.” Melina responds proudly.

“Ah Boys... They always want sexy girlfriends who have three neurons. And then we are surprised that some complexes on their bodies. When you love, the body doesn't matter. Only inner beauty matters.”

“Few boys have the same thought. The only ones I've met are Mattew... And Jed.”

“Tell me, you and Jed... Are you already...?”

“Me and Jed?” Starts Melina before laughing. “Hahahaha! You’re so cute! No, we never dated, I consider him as the little brother I never had. That's why I call him Jeddy. And sometimes I'll kick his ass, so he can focus more on his personal life than his professional life.”  

“Oh... Could you tell me more about him? I admit I don't know him as well as you do.” you ask shyly.  

“Well, Jed is... He's a real nerd. He thinks about work all the time and even on days off, he works at home. But... He's a lovely boy when you know him. And when you know what he went through with his parents... sometimes I think that, if I had been in his shoes, I would have killed myself. But he... He got up and fought. He has learned to fend for himself, and he has an almost frightening patience.” Said Melina.

“That's what he told me. And I think I would have ended my life too.” you said looking down to your coffee.

“And yet he didn't tell you everything about his childhood. His parents beat him and treated him like a dog, often leading him to the hospital. And of course, they said it was accidents, like falling off stairs and everything that goes with it. As he must have told you, he was an unwanted kid. But the worst part is that the whole family knew, and no one, absolutely no one helped him. So, he cut ties with his family, all he keeps from them is his last name. He deserved better than that. And when I see what he is today... if I didn't know all this, I'd say he's a lovely boy who was raised like any boys should be. Kind and respectful, but not to be annoyed.” Replied Melina before looking at you, a big smile on her face. “Why do you want to know all this? Do you love him?”

“W-What??? N-no! It's only... curiosity. Just curiosity...” you respond blushing like a tomato.

“Hey. There is no marked "dumb" on my forehead. I saw the little looks you were giving him. And then your face when he gave you his number, I saw it too.”  replied Melina with a smirk.  

“It's embarrassing.” you answer by looking elsewhere.

“Why??? I think it's so cute coming from you! In addition to what you told me about you, I don't understand why no one wanted to go out with a face as adorable as yours! You know, my grandmother used to tell me that sooner or later we'd find her soul mate. That when we born, the bonds were already woven to guide us to him or her. And nothing could stop it. Maybe you and Jed have that bond that brought you together. Now it's up to you to see what you're going to do.” Said Melina before eating her slice of Neptune’s pie.  

“If you say so...”

“My grandma never gets it wrong about this kind of thing. She has... a gift for this mystical stuff. She knew from an early age that she would meet my grandpa. And she knows that my mother will be my father's first and only wife. She even knew that Mattew would go out with Chris.”

“She’s really amazing. But I don't want to force things. I will let things come on their own and I will act on them. I’ll see what happens.”

Melina nod, then you go back to the counter to take care of the customers for the rest of the morning. For once, Jed didn't come and you're a little worried about that. Considering what happened to him yesterday, you can imagine the worst. What if Mike had gone after him again?

You and Melina were the last to leave the café at closing, and even though she assured you that Mike didn't know his address, your concern for Jed didn't go away. You go home with some unsold cakes, give some to Mrs. Lawson before heading to your apartment.  

Your gaze rested for a few seconds on Jed's door and, biting your lips, you decide to check by yourself if everything was okay. You knock on his door. No noise. There's no answer. This is not a good sign. You knock a second time, praying that he's answering.

“One minute, I'm on my way!” he said from the other side of the door, which made you sigh with relief. Thank god he’s alive... “Yes? Oh! It's you.” he said with his angelic smile.

“Hi. I... I was just here to hear from you. With what happened... I confess that I imagined the worst.” you said shyly.  

“Oh... That's very kind of you, thank you. Don't worry Mike doesn't know where I live. It does not risk ... to come and finish the job. I was focused for tomorrow night. We have a scandal to uncover. And a few more researches don't hurt.”

“You're reassuring me. I mean half, I hope you didn't sleepless for this research! I brought you some cakes, at least what Mrs. Lawson left. I thought it would do you good.”

“All the cakes you give me will always be a real sweet moment for me. Do you want to come in? I'm offering coffee for once.” He replied with a wink.  

You nod and he let you in. His apartment was neat and had all the comfort Jed needed. Despite the coat rack at the entrance, Jed had the tendency to put his jackets and coats on chairs or sofa. The kitchen was tidy and clean, some small green plants hanging around the corners.

A few films were on the tv cabinet, a reminder of the days when streaming didn't yet exist, as well as some CDs. Paintings decorated the walls of the living room and hallway, and a library full of books, next to the window. A real journalist's apartment, in short.

“Surprisingly, I expected to see this style of decoration. Simple but comfortable. And... Do you work in your living room?” you ask with a smile.

“Ha ha no, I have an office right next to my bedroom. Locked, in order to keep my job... Safe. I hope... You understand that.”

“Of course. So... Ready for tomorrow night? I must admit that this is the first time I go to this kind of event, and especially to play spies. I feel a little uncomfortable.”  

“As long as you stay with me, you'll be peaceful. But once we have what we are looking for, we will have to leave the place without raising suspicions. And I think I have an idea of what to look for.” He said before getting up and fetching something from his office, locking the door. “I think that... Hoggins will try to double his profits by sinking the last trade he just signed. I made some research about him and discovered that he had signed 4 more partnerships with former competitors, and that these 4 partnerships all flowed because of Mckellan.”

“You think, Hoggins is planning all this with McKellan, with the goal of eliminating his competitors all over the country, and thus being the only one on the market?” you ask looking at the papers.

“I'm sure. By removing his competitors, he recovers the shares that are due to him, if it’s not the whole. And so, he becomes more influential. The goal is to be, with McKellan, the only big fortunes, in the American market. We need to find proof of all this. An e-mail, a written record, between Hoggins and McKellan. And the only place you can find all of this is in his office. And if we succeed, one of the biggest scandals of this decade will come to light.”

“It looks risky. But I'm up for it! if we can put that bastard in jail, I'm ready for anything!” you said determined which made Jed smiles and Danny smiles bigger.  

You chat with him for a long time, laughing heartily and, in the early evening, you leave his apartment with a big smile on your face. It's really nice to talk to a boy as nice as him. Maybe Melina was right, maybe you and Jed were destined to meet? It is said that things never happen through chance, but there is no question of forcing fate either. If something has to happen between you, it will come naturally.

You open the door to your fridge to see what you're going to devour tonight. Homemade nems will be perfect! plus you have everything you need so no need to go out. You want to prepare everything while singing, you love to sing whether in the kitchen or in the shower, washing dishes or cleaning. You have a voice worthy of a bird song. You could have been a singer! But if it was to end up alcolic or drugged ... it wasn't worth it.

Tonight, a horror movie goes on TV, it will change you from those rotten action movies you've seen recently, with a budget as big as the best movies made so far. All with a homemade peach iced tea. Even the drinks, you make them yourself. You don't like industrial products too much, too much fat, too many conservators, too many sugars. Just horrible.  

Once your nems are ready, you prepare your meal tray, and you'll land in front of your TV, right in time for the start of the movie. it was a classic slasher, but it was always having its effect ... especially with a chainsaw. In the middle of the film, you get up to clean your plate and glass before wiping and storing them.  You start yawning while stretching, but you don't want to sleep. You turn off the living room lights and sit back on your couch to see the rest of the movie.

As sleep made you feel carried away, a noise startled you. You get up, slightly trembling and start heading towards the source of the noise. Steps were heard and you rushed to the kitchen to take something to defend yourself.

“I don't recommend it; you could hurt yourself with that little knife.” said a man voice who caught your arm and turned you in front of him, blocking your arms. And the only thing visible in the dark was this mask... “Glad to see you again...My sweet little star.” He said with a soft voice.

“It's not reciprocal.” you respond coldly.

“Ouch, you hurt me so hard. You should be kinder to me. After all, I let you live because my curiosity, about you, took over my desire to bleed that pretty neck.” He replied caressing your neck with his fingertips.

“How did you get in? And if you're not here to kill me, what do you want?”

“It’s a secret. I wanted to see you... face to face. And also, to speak like good friends. You seem to get along well with the little nerd... to play little spies. All this to bring down men I could kill... If you ask me.” he said, chuckling a little.

“Certainly not! I will never kill anyone with my own hands, Even less ask someone to do it!” you respond trying to get you out a little bit, in vain.

“Oh come on. Don't tell me you're a little naive girl who thinks solve all her problems legally. Sometimes you have to use radical means to overcome certain problems... Thorny. Deep down, you want to. You'd like me to shove that knife deep down his throat, to mutilate him for threatening you like this. I know everything he's trying to do to you... absolutely everything.” he replied, gently passing his knife along your face, without hurting you.

“Stop it! Let me go!” you said wiggling before he takes off his hands laughing and backing up. “You’re just a f***ing psycho!”  

“ouch you hurt me again. But I get used to it. Anyway... This guy will die sooner or later by my hands. We can talk about what you owe me at that point. But until we meet again... Pay attention to yourself and your sweet angel face, my sweet little star. You sing divinely well by the way.”  

He stroked your cheek before leaving through the window. You catch your breath, trying to relax your muscles. You close all the shutters and windows of your apartment before turning off the TV and going to bed.  

You look at the roof, thinking back to his words. Deep down, he was right. Solving all problems peacefully is not always the solution, but killing someone is worse. You have always been raised so as to use diplomacy more often than force. And that's not going to change. Even if McKellan deserves to be slaughtered for everything he's done? You sigh and turn off the lamp before covering up.

Tomorrow night will be the big night. And you won't have the right to make mistakes.

***

(Done! It was hard but I've made it! in fact I'm so excited to start the next chapter because I’ve got a lot of ideas in my mind! I'll hope you'll enjoyed it like the others! and don't forget if you have questions or you want to talk or if you have pages to recommend me just do!  See ya!)  

[animeraider]

My Kevin Gilbert Story, and my latest single.

As some of you know I’ve had a few brushes with the “big break” that many in my line of work crave. I was signed to a major label in the early 1990s, and the record I turned in was shelved. The label wanted me to be the “next Michael Penn” and by that point not even Mr. Penn was interested in that, let alone me. I had three songs picked up for a movie, which was never released. I got out of my record contract and signed with another label, releasing an album that included 5 songs from the one that was shelved. The label put no money behind it. I had a big hit in 2009 and signed a European distribution deal, which fell apart when the married couple who ran the business fell into a messy divorce. I sold thousands and thousands of records in Eastern Europe – which were being sold by pirates. It took several years to get that fixed.

I had an audition that everyone felt I was a lock for to play keyboards for a Japanese band that had a huge following. My flight to the audition was supposed to be September 12, 2001. I actually watched the plane I was supposed to board land as it was the last flight grounded. I’ve done some engineering and performing I don’t get to tell anyone about – the NDA’s are pretty strong. One of my songs became the theme to a German Television show.

But let me tell you the story of a relationship I almost had with a multi-Grammy-winning star who soared high and made it further than I have, whose song I have made a cover of and released as a single today.

So where to begin. First of all, yes, I knew Kevin Gilbert. No, we weren’t friends, but we were colleagues and classmates. We performed together a few times – all of if school related. That’s it. Oh, and he invited me to a jam session he was going to have once and I turned him down. I’ll get to that.

Believe it or not, I have to tell this story starting in the middle. There was once a band called Toy Matinee. I loved that band. Clever songs, well written melodies, a sense of darkness and a sense of fun. It was a band that me and my roommate Max could agree on and we cranked that album loud and often. We went and saw them live at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, and were about 10 feet from the stage. This is NOT the live album released in 1999, but I can tell you they rocked the place that night. Played almost every song from the album, and did an encore of Elton John’s “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding” that smoked.

A great night.

Now I jump into the past, to tell the tale of the UCLA Synthesizer Ensemble. It was the brainchild of Professor Roger Bourland, who at the time was only in his 2nd year as a professor at the school and would later become dean of the department. He searched out the most rock and roll musicians in what was mostly a stuffy classical music department. Me. Dave Koz. Joel Harnel. And this kid named Kevin. The five of us took another student’s source material and arranged up a musical. Straight musical theater and full of schlock, and all performed on synthesizers. We eventually put on four shows, with the five of us in the orchestra pit. I wrote the show-stopper ballad and a Latin inspired piece. I hate to say it, but I no longer remember what everyone else did, although I remember Dave mostly for his EWI playing and Joel for multiple reasons – including the fact that he wrote and arranged all of the drum parts.

I knew Joel fairly well – we had played together a few times and he was even more rock and roll than me, with more experience. Dave Koz was, even then, Dave Koz. The only saxophonist I had met up to that point in my life who was better than me. We had played in jazz bands together but he was already a rising star. When he beat me for the gig with Richard Marx’s touring band his career just took off – but all this was before then. I was one of Roger Bourland’s students – in fact, I had been in the “test” classroom when he had auditioned for his job.

I barely knew this Kevin kid. I was constantly getting his name wrong – for whatever reason my brain had him wired as Kevin Anderson.

My only real interaction with him outside of this 12-week experiment was down in the practice rooms. Many of these rooms had pianos in them and on any given day you could hear Mozart, Brahms, Chopin and all of the other usual suspects. I would go and write my own material and be pounding out rock and roll. Kevin did that too. Once while in the middle of the writing process for the musical he came into my practice room while I was working on a song in the style of Elton John. He invited me to a jam session the next Tuesday he was going to, and I declined. Tuesday was when MY band practiced, and as their lead guitarist I needed the practice.

That was the end of it. After the musical was over we all drifted our separate ways and for the most part didn’t run into each other again. I ran into Dave once at a music festival in San Francisco and he introduced me to Clarence Clemmons, which was pretty damned cool.

By now you’ve figured out that Kevin was Kevin Gilbert. Congratulations. I hadn’t. For many years to follow I would remember him as Kevin Anderson.

Now I’ve told you all of this so that you understand that this is long BEFORE Max and I went to see Toy Matinee in concert. I became a fan of the band without knowing that Kevin was its leader. I was ten feet away from him, performing for an hour. I had performed with him myself.

I didn’t recognize him. Nothing clicked in my brain that this was the same guy. I didn’t put two and two together. I rolled for my intelligence check and got a one.

Kevin Gilbert would go on to a solo career, win seven Grammys for his work with Madonna, be part of the driving musical force behind Sheryl Crow’s first album, become one of the founders of the Tuesday Night Music Club, and become one of my songwriting heroes. The man could paint a picture with very few words and his musical ability was enviable.

And then he died; a victim of his own vices. I’m not going to go into that here – I know nothing at all and can shed no light on the subject.

Several years later I relocated to San Francisco with my family. I discovered the band Giraffe once I was on their home turf, and of course discovered the fact that Kevin Gilbert had been their leader when he was a teenager. BEFORE I knew him. Giraffe was a pretty damned good band that had come so startlingly close to making it big – their albums are worth hunting down and they did a fantastic live rendition of Genesis’ “Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” (the full album mind you) that is lots of fun.

I was looking for a recording studio for my second album when I ran across a man named Steve Smith who owned a recording studio down the peninsula from where I was living. In his bio, he briefly mentioned that he was the drummer for Giraffe. Awesome. On his web site of the time if you dug in a little bit there was a bio of Kevin Gilbert, and he talked about the brief time he spent at UCLA.

Parts of the story looked and felt awfully familiar to me. Smith talked about the musical without mentioning the name, and again, it felt familiar. Me being slightly brave, I wrote an e-mail to him to ask what was the title of that musical and that I might have been involved in it. He confirmed it for me.

Holy crap.

All of the pieces started falling into place then. The rehearsals, our discussions about piano playing, that I went to one of his shows and failed to recognize him? The fact that I think he invited me to come join the FUCKING TUESDAY NIGHT MUSIC CLUB and I didn’t even fucking notice!?!!?!!?!!?

I’m an idiot.

Actually, in looking back at the timeline I don’t think he invited me to join TNMC. That came a couple of years later – I think. I’m never going to know for certain. If he had told any of the other members I don’t know about it. I’ve exchanged about a dozen words with one of the other members over social media but we certainly don’t know one another.

I wonder if he saw me in the audience that night and laughed. I will never know. I can tell you there is an album version of that night you can listen to and/or buy. A then-unknown Sheryl Crow played keyboards in the band, dressed up like a dominatrix biker chick. When I found out about that later I was amazed – I didn’t recognize her either.

I’m an idiot.

Nick D’Virgilio of Spock’s Beard played drums. I don’t remember the name of the bass player but what I remember is this man with the thickest eyebrows I have ever seen in my life. Marc Bonilla played lead guitar. Oh, the people I could have met.

I never did work in Steve Smith’s studio. I no longer remember why.

When I was working on my third album in my newly built home studio I recorded a number of covers and one of those was Kevin Gilbert’s “Tea For One”. It’s a fantastic song of unrequited love and missed chances told from start to finish in only a few dozen words. I have no idea if he would have liked what I did to his song – he had a wicked sense of humor that I can recall now but I never got to know him on a personal level as a songwriter, which was my mistake. I could have but I was so focused on myself in those days that even if the overtures were made I probably didn’t even notice.

I recorded the song in what I called "Garage Pop" during those days. A bit uneven, imperfect vocals - what you might get from a band practicing in their garage instead of a polished studio version. If you want that, I recommend hunting down his version.

But I recorded “Tea for One” just the same – it’s a great song and I’d like to think I gave it some justice – even if it doesn’t come close his version. It was on the original version of my third album "The Long Goodbye", which I released myself, but was cut when the album was moved to digital streaming services (In all fairness, I cut 21 songs from the original release – which was a 2 CD set).

My music career has been dark for several years, but it got jump started in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic and I’ve been revisiting a lot of my unreleased work since, and of all the covers I did this is still my favorite. I am releasing it now, in tribute to a musician I admire and could have called friend if I had just paid a bit of attention.

The guy holding the roses was me, as it turns out. I had no idea.

+++++++++++++++++

For those of you with very long memories you should listen to the full single on Spotify, because I’ve thrown in a little bonus for people who remember the 1980’s band ASK. Just a little piece of a little ditty written by me, Kevin Donville and Ed Lee.

[nire-the-mithridatist]

Hello, Nire here!

This is my contribution to @jb-reading-series. It’s an extract from Chapter 4 of A Beauty By Any Other Name. It’s been pointed out that I can’t not read this fic for the Solstice Reading, since Brienne here is an audiobook narrator. Please ignore the awkward paragraph where the word “anything” appears multiple times in short succession. How that escaped my notice upon editing... well.

Context: Jaime and Brienne don't know each other at all in real life. However, Jaime listens to a lot of audiobooks while making art in his free time, which he posts on his blog under the name of Goldenhand. Meanwhile, Brienne narrates a lot of public domain books and uploads them on the internet, where she adopts the pseudonym Rohanne Storm. He finds her audiobooks, he likes her voice--A LOT--and he drops her fifty silvers on her ko-fi tossacoin.

Which leads to her e-mailing him, then him replying and reassuring her that 1. he's not a creep looking to get into her pants, and 2. he thinks of her as a muse.

Which brings us to this scene. Extract under the cut if you want to read along!

She reads the e-mail once more. There’s an odd sort of relief that comes from their reassurance that they aren’t a creep. Brienne had truly forgotten the fact that the internet is full of them, until she read Goldenhand’s e-mail. She’s encountered spambots, yes, but they’re not real sexual propositions. All of her listeners come from Weirwood Dreams anyway, and they all tend to keep to themselves.

Very few have said anything about her music. None has ever called her their muse. Even when no one knows what she looks like, she inspires little.

But if this is some sort of trick to get her to divulge her personal information, or to get her to buy some sort of herbal supplements… she can’t see how. They haven’t asked her for anything, other than if they could link her site on their post. This second e-mail doesn’t even ask for anything. If anything, they have given Brienne money without expecting her to find them, and have said nothing about that in the e-mails.

Maybe Goldenhand is simply a fan of her audiobooks and her music.

That thought is a dangerous one. Creating content in a virtual vacuum means not worrying over reception or worthiness. Why must that change? Sure, this new “fan” just gave her enough money to buy half a new laptop. Sure, that means she can soon work more efficiently, thus creating more content with less energy. Sure, if this keeps up, she can rent studios more often and record more songs.

But nothing has to change. Other than her laptop, maybe, which is nearing the end of its life whether she likes it or not. Her salary is enough to support an independent living, a decent one, if not lavish. She’s been getting great feedback on her performance reviews. She’s in consideration to be a homeroom teacher next year, which means more hours and responsibilities and a nice small pay rise. The choir club loves her. She’s coached Shireen and supported her through her first competition.

Brienne has a good life. Better than many. She should be grateful, right?

And yet, she wants more. Not fame, or stardom, not really, but to have her voice be heard. Write songs and sing them and have the words echo in the chambers of her listeners’ hearts. She wants to live off them, instead of having to push them to the dead of night or the weekend. She wants to sing and be remembered in songs.

She goes utterly still, the knowledge a lump in her throat. She feels her breath leaving her, a small, inaudible “oh.” In one fell swoop, her life is suddenly no longer enough.

No, that’s not right either. Her life hasn’t been enough for a long time. All these were things she’s wanted since before she knew heartbreak. She’s just been settling, compromising, little by little with every failed audition and rejected demo CD. The complacency is a lie she’s been telling herself, and it’s flimsy enough to be shaken by an hour of swimming. The e-mail just shatters the illusion completely.

[alanlicht]

Alan Licht’s Minimal Top Ten List #4

A few weeks ago, near the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, my friend Mats Gustafsson sent out a mass email encouraging people to send him record lists to post on the “Discaholics” section of his website--top tens, favorite covers, anything. I immediately thought of the first 3 Minimal Top Ten lists I did (now found online here) back in 1995, 1997, and 2007 respectively, for the fanzine Halana (the first two) and Volcanic Tongue’s website (the third), and sent them to him. Those articles have sort of taken on a life of their own, and I still see them referenced as the albums get reissued and so on. Occasionally people ask me if I’d ever do another one, and looking at all three again made me think now is the hour. I started writing this in the midst of the lockdown, and the drastic reductions in people’s way of life—the restriction of any activity outside the home to the bare essentials, the relative stasis of life in quarantine, even the visual stasis of a Zoom meeting—make revisiting Minimal music, with its aesthetic of working within limitations and hallmarks of repetition and drones, somehow timely as well.

The original lists were never meant to represent “the best” Minimal albums: they were ones that were rare and in some cases surpass, in my opinion, more widely available releases by the same artist and/or better known examples of the genre. Some were records that hadn’t been classified as Minimalist but warranted consideration through that lens. Likewise, the lists aren’t meant to be ranked within themselves, or in comparison to each other; the first record on any of the lists isn’t necessarily vastly preferable to the last, and this fourth list is not the bottom of the barrel, by any stretch. In some cases the present list has records I’ve discovered since 2007; others are records I’ve known for quite a while but haven’t included before for one reason or another. I’ve also made an addendum to selected entries on the first three lists, which have become fairly dated in terms of what is currently available by many of the artists, and to account for some of the significant archival releases in the 25 years since I first compiled them.

Unlike the mid-90s, most if not all of these records can be heard and/or purchased online, whether they’re up on YouTube or available for sale on Discogs. So finding them will be easier than before (although I haven’t included links to any of the titles as a small tribute to the legwork involved in tracking records down in olden tymes), but hopefully the spirit of sharing knowledge and passions that drove my previous efforts, forged in the pre-internet fanzine world, hasn’t been rendered totally redundant by the 24/7 onslaught of virtual note-comparing in social media.

1. Simeon ten Holt Canto Ostinato (various recordings): This was the most significant discovery for me in the last decade, a piece with over one hundred modules to be played on any instrument but mostly realized over the years with two to four pianos. I first encountered a YouTube live video of four pianists tackling it over the course of 90 minutes or so, then bought a double CD on Brilliant Classics from 2005, also for four pianos, that runs about 2 and half hours. The original 3LP recording on Donemus, from 1984, lasts close to 3 hours. It’s addictively listenable, very hypnotic in that pulsed, Steve Reich “Piano Phase”/”Six Pianos” kind of way, with lots of recurring themes (which differentiates it from Terry Riley’s “In C,” its most obvious structural antecedent). Composed over the span of the 70s, as with Roberto Cacciapaglia’s Sei Note in Logica, it’s an  example of someone contemporaneously taking the ball from Reich or Riley and running with it. Every recording I’ve heard has been enjoyable, I’ve yet to pick a favorite.

2. David Borden Music for Amplified Keyboard Instruments (Red Music, 1981) 3. Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Co. Like a Duck to Water (Earthquack, 1976): These were some of my most cherished Minimal recordings when I was a teenager in the mid-80s, and are still not particularly well-known; they’re probably the biggest omission in the previous lists (at least from my perspective). Borden formed Mother Mallard, supposedly the first all-synthesizer ensemble, as a trio in the late 60s, although there’s electric piano on the records too. He went on to do music under his own name that hinged on the multi-keyboard Minimalism-meets-Renaissance classical concept he first explored with Mother Mallard, as exemplified by his 12-part series “The Continuing Story of Counterpoint” (a title inspired by both Philip Glass’ “Music in Twelve Parts” and the Beatles’ “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill”). I first heard Parts 6 & 9 of “Continuing Story” (from Music for Amplified Keyboard Instruments) on Tim Page’s 1980s afternoon radio show on WNYC, and bought the Mother Mallard LPs (Like A Duck is the second, the first is self-titled) from New Music Distribution Service soon after. I mail-ordered the Borden album  from Wayside Music, which had cut-out copies, maybe a year later (c. 1986). I wasn’t much of a synth guy, but I loved the propulsive, rapid-fire counterpoint and fast-changing, lyrical melodies found on these records. “C-A-G-E Part 2,” which occupies side 2 of the Mother Mallard album and utilizes only those pitches, has to be a pinnacle of the Minimal genre. Interestingly, Borden claims to not really be able to “hear” harmony and composes each part of these (generally) three-part inventions individually, all the way through. The two-piano “Continuing Story of Counterpoint Part Two” on the 1985 album Anatidae is also beloved by me, and there was an archival Mother Mallard CD called Music by David Borden (Arbiter, 2003) that’s worth hearing.

4. Charles Curtis/Charles Curtis Trio: Ultra White Violet Light/Sleep (Beau Rivage, 1997): Full disclosure: Charles is a long-time friend, but this record seems forgotten and deserves another look, especially in light of the long-overdue 3CD survey of his performances of other composers’ material that Saltern released last year. This was a double album of four side-long tracks, conceived with the intent that two sides could be played simultaneously, in several different configurations; two of them are Charles solo on cello and sine tones, the others are with a trio and have spoken vocals and rock instrumentation, with cello and the sine tones also thrown into the mix. (I’ve never heard any of the sides combined, although now it would probably be easily achieved with digital mixing software.) The instrumental stuff is the closest you can come to hearing Charles’ beautiful arrangement of Terry Jennings’ legendary “Piece for Cello and Saxophone,” at least until his own recording of it sees the light of day; the same deeply felt cello playing against a sine tone drone. And it would be interesting to see what Slint fans thought of the trio material. Originally packaged in a nifty all-white uni-pak sleeve with a photo print pasted into the gatefold, it was reissued with a different cover on the now-defunct Squealer label on LP and CD but has disappeared since then. Stellar.

5. Arthur Russell Instrumentals 1974 Vol. 2 (Another Side/Crepuscule, 1984) 6. Peter Zummo Zummo with an X (Loris, 1985):  Arthur Russell has posthumously developed a somewhat surprising indie rock audience, mostly for his unique songs and singing as well as his outré disco tracks. But he was also a modern classical composer, with serious Minimal cred—he’s on Jon Gibson’s Songs & Melodies 1973-1977 (see addendum), and played with Henry Flynt and Christer Hennix at one point; his indelible album of vocal and cello sparseness, World of Echo, was partially recorded at Phill Niblock’s loft and of course his Tower of Meaning LP was released on Glass’s Chatham Square label. He’s the one guy in the 70s and 80s (or after, for that matter) who connected the dots between Ali Akbar Khan, the Modern Lovers, Minimalism, and disco as different forms of trance music (taken together, both sides of his disco 12” “In the Light of the Miracle,” which total nearly a half-hour, could arguably be considered one of his Minimalist compositions). Recorded in 1977 & 1978, Instrumentals is an important signpost of the incipient Pop Minimalism impulse, and the first track is a pre-punk precursor to Rhys Chatham and Glenn Branca’s appropriations of the rock band format to pursue Minimal pathways (Chatham is one of the performers in that first piece). The rest, culled from a concert at the Kitchen, features long held tones from horns and strings and is quite graceful, if slightly undercut by Arthur’s own slightly jarring, apparently random edits. [Audika’s 2006 reissue, as part of the double CD First Thought Best Thought, includes a 1975 concert that was slated to be Instrumentals Vol. 1, which shows an even more specific pop/rock/Minimal intersection]. Zummo was a long-term collaborator of Russell’s and his album, which Arthur plays on, is a must for Russell aficionados. The first side is made up of short, plain pieces that repeat various simple intervals and are fairly hard-core Minimalism, but “Song IV,” which occupies all of side two, is like an extended, jammy take on Russell’s disco 12” “Treehouse” and has Bill Ruyle on bongos, who also played on Instrumentals as well as with Steve Reich and Jon Gibson. A recently unearthed concert at Roulette from 1985 is a further, and especially intriguing, example of Russell’s blending of Minimalism and song form. (That same year Arthur played on Elodie Lauten’s The Death of Don Juan--another record I first encountered via Tim Page’s radio show--which I included on Top Ten #3; Lauten as well as Zummo played on the Russell Roulette concert, as their website alleges).

7. Horacio Vaggione La Maquina de Cantar (Cramps, 1978): Another one-off from the late 70s, and yet more evidence of how Minimalism had really caught on as a trend among European composers of the time. Vaggione had a previous duo album with Eduardo Polonio under the name It called Viaje that was noisier electronics, and he went on to do computer music that was likewise more traditionally abstract. But on this sole effort for the Italian label Cramps, as part of their legendary Nova Musicha series, he went for full-on tonality. The title track is like the synth part of “Who Are You” extended for more than fifteen minutes and made a bit squishier; but side 2, “Ending”--already mentioned in the entry on David Rosenboom’s Brainwave Music in Top Ten #3--is my favorite. Kind of a bridge between Minimalism and prog, and a little reminiscent of David Borden’s multiple-synth counterpoint pieces, for the first ten minutes he lingers on one vaguely foreboding arpeggiated chord, then introduces a fanfare melody that repeats and builds in harmonies and countermelodies for the remainder of the piece. Great stuff, as Johnny Carson used to say.

8. Costin Miereanu Derives (Poly-Art, 1984): Miereanu is French composer coming out of musique concrete. Unlike some of the albums on these lists, both sides/pieces on Derives are superb, comprised of long drones with flurries of skittering electronic activity popping up here and there. Also notable is the presence of engineers Philip Besomes and Jean-Louis Rizet, responsible for Pôle, the great mid-70s prog double album that formed the basis of Graham Lambkin’s meta-meisterwork Amateur Doubles. I discovered this record via the old Continuo blog; Miereanu has lots of albums out, most of which I haven’t heard, but his 1975 debut Luna Cinese, another Cramps Nova Musicha item, is also estimable, although less Minimal.

9. Mikel Rouse Broken Consort Jade Tiger (Les Disques du Crepuscule, 1984): Rouse was a major New Music name in the 80s, as was Microscopic Septet saxist Philip Johnston, who plays here. Dominated by Reichian repeated fills that accentuate the odd time signatures as opposed to an underlying pulse, this will sound very familiar to anyone acquainted with Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin albums on ECM, which use the same general idea but brand it “zen funk” and cater more to the progressive jazz crowd rather than New Music fans, if we can be that anachronistic in our terminology. Jade Tiger also contrasts nicely with Wim Mertens’ more neo-Romantic contemporaneous excursions on Crepuscule. Rouse later performed the admirable (and daunting) task of cataloging Arthur Russell’s extensive tape archive for the preparation of Another Thought (Point Music, 1994)

10. Michael Nyman Decay Music (Obscure, 1976): Known for his soundtracks to Peter Greenaway films, and his still-peerless 1974 book Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond (where I, Jim O’Rourke, and doubtless many other intrepid teenage library goers learned of the Minimalists, Fluxus, AMM, and lots of other eternal avant heroes), Nyman is sometimes credited with coining the term “Minimal music” as well, in an early 70s article in The Spectator. Decay Music was produced by Brian Eno for his short-lived but wonderful Obscure label. The first side, “1-100,” was also composed for a Greenaway film, and has one hundred chords played one after another on piano, each advancing to the next once the sound has decayed from the previous chord (hence the album title). For all its delicacy and silences, you’re actually hearing three renditions superimposed on one another, which occasionally makes for some charming chordal collisions (reminiscent of the cheerfully clumsy, subversive “variations” of Pachelbel’s “Canon in D major” on Eno’s own Discreet Music, the most celebrated Obscure release). This is process music at its most fragile and incandescent. In hindsight it may have also been an unconscious influence on the structure of my piece “A New York Minute,” which lines up a month’s worth of weather reports from news radio, edited so that one day’s forecast follows its prediction from the previous day. I’ve never found the album’s other piece, “Bell Set No. 1,” to be quite as compelling, and Nyman’s other soundtrack work doesn’t hold much interest for me, but I’ve often returned to this album.

11. J Dilla Donuts (Stones Throw, 2006): One more for the road. Rightfully acclaimed as a masterpiece of instrumental hip hop, I have to confess I only discovered Donuts while reading Questlove’s 2013 book Mo’ Meta Blues, where he compared it to Terry Riley. The brevity of the tracks (31of ‘em in 44 minutes) and the lack of single-mindedness make categorizing Donuts as a Minimal album a bit of a stretch, but Questlove’s namecheck makes a whole lot of sense if you play “Don’t Cry” back to back with Riley’s proto-Plunderphonic “You’re Nogood,” and “Glazed” is the only hip hop track to ever remind me of Philip Glass. Plus the infinite-loop sequencing of the opening “Outro” and concluding “Intro” make this a statement of Eternal Music that outstrips La Monte Young and leaves any locked groove release in the proverbial dust. There isn’t the space here to really explore how extended mixes, all night disco DJ sets, etc. could be encountered in alignment with Minimalism, although I would steer the curious towards Pete Rock’s Petestrumentals (BBE, 2001), Larry Levan’s Live at the Paradise Garage (Strut, 2000), and, at the risk of being immodest, my own “The Old Victrola” from Plays Well (Crank Automotive, 2001). On a (somewhat) related note I’d also point out Rupie Edwards’ Ire Feelings Chapter and Version (Trojan, 1990) which collects 16 of the producer/performer’s 70s dub reggae tracks, all built from the exact same same rhythm track--mesmerizing, even by dub’s trippy standards. 

Addendum:

Tony Conrad: “Maybe someday Tony’s blistering late 80s piece ‘Early Minimalism’ will be released, or his fabulous harmonium soundtrack to Piero Heliczer’s early 60s film The New Jerusalem.” That was the last line of my entry on Tony’s Outside the Dream Syndicate in the first Top Ten list in 1995, and sure enough, Table of the Elements issued “Early Minimalism” as a monumental CD box set in 1997 and released that soundtrack as Joan of Arc in 2006 (it’s the same film; I saw it screened c. 1990 under the name The New Jerusalem but it’s more commonly known as Joan of Arc).  Tony releases proliferated in the last twenty years of his life, which was heartening to see; I’d particularly single out Ten Years Alive on the Infinite Plain (Superior Viaduct, 2017), which rescues a 1972 live recording of what is essentially a prototype for Outside played by Tony, Rhys Chatham, and Laurie Spiegel (Rhys has mentioned his initial disgruntlement upon hearing Outside, as it was the same piece that he had played with Tony, i.e. “Ten Years Alive,” but he found himself and Laurie replaced by Faust!) and an obscure compilation track, “DAGADAG for La Monte” (on Avanto 2006, Avanto, 2006), where he plays the pitches d, a, and g on violin, loops them over and over , and continually re-harmonizes them electronically--really one of his best pieces.

Terry Riley: The archival Riley CDs that Cortical Foundation issued in the 90s and early 00s don’t seem to be in print, but I feel they eclipse Reed Streams (reissued by Cortical as part of that series) and are crucial for fans of his early work, especially the live Poppy Nogood’s Phantom Band All Night Flight Vol. 1, an important variant on the studio take, and You’re Nogood (see Dilla entry above). These days I would also recommend Descending Moonshine Dervishes (Kuckuck, 1982/recorded 1975) over  Persian Surgery Dervishes (Shandar, 1975), which I mentioned in the original entry on Reed Streams in the first Top Ten; a lot of the harmonic material in Descending can also be heard in Terry’s dream-team 1975 meeting with Don Cherry in Köln, which has been bootlegged several times in the last few years. Finally, Steffen Schleiermacher recorded the elusive “Keyboard Study #1” (as well as “#2,” which had already seen release in a version by Germ on the BYG label and as “Untitled Organ” on Reed Streams), albeit on a programmed electronic keyboard, on the CD Keyboard Studies (MDG, 2002). As you might expect it’s a little synthetic-sounding, but it also has a weird kinetic edge (imagine the “Baba O’Riley” intro being played on a Conlon Nancarrow player piano) that’s lacking in later acoustic piano renditions recorded by Gregor Schwellenbach and Fabrizio Ottaviucci. But any of these versions is rewarding for those interested in Riley’s early output.

Henry Flynt, Charlemagne Palestine: A few of the artists on that first Top Ten list went from being sorely under-documented to having a plethora of material on the market, and Henry and Charlemagne are at the top of the heap. I stand by You Are My Everlovin, finally reissued on CD by Recorded in 2001, as Henry’s peak achievement, but I’m also partial to “Glissando,” a tense, feverish raga drone from 1979 that Recorded put out on the Glissando No. 1 CD in 2011. Charlemagne’s Four Manifestations On Six Elements double album still holds up well, as does an album of material initially recorded for it, Arpeggiated Bösendorfer and Falsetto Voice (Algha Marghen, 2017). The Strumming Music LP on Shandar is a definitive performance, and best heard as an unbroken piece on the New Tone CD reissue from 1995. Godbear (CD on Barooni, vinyl on Black Truffle), originally recorded for Glenn Branca’s Neutral label (which had also scheduled a Phill Niblock release before going belly-up), has 1987 takes of “Strumming Music” and two other massive pieces that date from the late 70s, “Timbral Assault” and “The Lower Depths”; Algha Marghen released a vintage full-length concert of the latter as a triple CD.

Steve Reich: Not a particularly rare record, but his “Variations on Winds, Strings and Keyboards,” a 1979 piece for orchestra on a 1984 LP issued by Phillips (paired with an orchestral arrangement of John Adams’ “Shaker Loops”), is often overlooked among the works from his “golden era” and I’d frankly rate it as his best orchestral piece.

Phill Niblock, Eliane Radigue: As with Henry and Charlemagne, after a slow start as “recording artists” loads of CDs by these two have appeared over the last twenty years. Phill and Eliane’s music was never best served by the vinyl format anyway—you won’t find a lackluster release by either composer, go to it.

Jon Gibson: I called “Cycles,” from Gibson’s Two Solo Pieces, “one of the ultimate organ drones on record” in the first Top Ten list, and it remains so, but Phill Niblock’s”Unmounted/Muted Noun” from 2019′s Music for Organ ought to sit right beside it. Meanwhile, Superior Viaduct’s recent Gibson double album Songs & Melodies 1973-1977 collects some great pieces from the same era as Two Solo Pieces, with players including Arthur Russell, Peter Zummo, Barbara Benary, and Julius Eastman. 

John Stevens: In Top Ten #2 I mentioned John Stevens’ presence on the first side of John Lennon & Yoko Ono’s Life With the Lions; the Stevens-led Spontaneous Music Orchestra’s For You To Share (1973) documents his performance pieces “Sustained Piece” and “If You Want to See A Vision,” where musicians and vocalists sustain tones until they run out of breath and then begin again, which result in a highly meditative and organic drone/sound environment. In my early 00′s Digger Choir performances at Issue Project Room  we did “Sustained Piece,” and Stevens’ work was a big influence on conceptualizing those concerts, where the only performers were the audience themselves. The CD reissue on Emanem from 1998 added “Peace Music,” an unreleased studio half-hour studio cut with a similar Gagaku--meets--free/modal jazz vibe. I also mentioned “Sustained Piece” in my liner notes to Natural Information Society’s Mandatory Reality too, if that helps as a point of reference.

Anthony Moore: Back in ’97 I wondered “How and why Polydor was convinced to release these albums [Pieces from the Cloudland Ballroom and Scenes from the Blue Bag] is beyond me (anyone know the story)?” That mystery was ultimately solved by Benjamin Piekut in his fascinating-even-if-you-never-listen-to-these-guys book Henry Cow: The World is A Problem (Duke University Press, 2019)—it turns out it was all Deutsche Gramophone’s idea!

Terry Jennings, Maryanne Amacher, Julius Eastman--“Three Great Minimalists With No Commercially Available Recordings” (sidebar from Minimal Top Ten list #2): Happily this no longer applies to these three, although Terry and Maryanne are still under-represented. One archival recording of Jennings and Charlotte Moorman playing a short version of “Piece for Cello and Saxophone” appeared on Moorman’s 2006 Cello Anthology CD box set on Alga Marghen, and he’s on “Terry’s Cha Cha” on that 2004 John Cale New York in the 60s Table of the Elements box too. John Tilbury recorded five of his piano pieces on Lost Daylight (Another Timbre, 2010) and Charles Curtis’ version of “Song” appears on the aforementioned Performances and Recordings 1998-2018 triple CD.

Whether or not Maryanne should really be considered a Minimalist (or a sound artist, for that matter) is, I guess, debatable, but I primarily see her as the unqualified genius of the generation of composers who emerged in the post-Cage era, and the classifications ultimately don’t matter—remember she was on those Swarm of Drones/ Throne of Drones/ Storm of Drones ambient techno comps in the 90s, and I’d call her music Gothic Industrial if it would get more people to check it out (and that might be fun to try, come to think of it). She made a belated debut with the release of the Sound Characters CD on Tzadik in 1998, an event I found significant enough to warrant pitching an interview with her to the WIRE, who agreed—it was my first piece for them. Her music was/is best experienced live (the Amacher concert I saw at the Performing Garage in 1993 is still, almost three decades later, the greatest concert I’ve ever witnessed) but that Tzadik CD is reasonably representative, and there was a sequel CD on Tzadik in 2008. More recently Blank Forms issued a live recording of her two-piano piece “Petra” (a concert I also attended, realizing when I got there that it was in the same Chelsea church where Connie Burg, Melissa Weaver and I recorded with Keiji Haino for the Gerry Miles with Keiji Haino CD).  While it’s somewhat anomalous in Amacher’s canon, making a piece for acoustic instruments available for home consumption would doubtless have been more palatable to the composer herself, who rightly felt that CDs and LPs didn’t do justice to the extraordinary psychoacoustic phenomena intrinsic to her electronic music. “Petra” is more reminiscent of Morton Feldman than anything else, with a few passages that could be deemed “minimal.” Some joker posted a 26-minute, ancient lo-fi “bootleg” (their term) recording of her “Living Sound, Patent Pending” piece from her Music for Sound-Joined Rooms installation/performance series on SoundCloud, which is a little like looking at a Xerox of a Xerox of a photo of the Taj Mahal; but you can still visit the Taj Mahal more easily than hearing this or any of Maryanne’s work in concert or in situ, so sadly, it’s better than nothing (and longer than the 7 minute edit of the piece on the Ohm: Early Gurus of Electronic Music CD from 2000).

A few years after Top Ten #2 I was on the phone with an acquaintance at New World Records, who told me he was listening to a Julius Eastman tape that they were releasing as part of a 3CD set. Say what?!?!? Unjust Malaise appeared shortly thereafter and was a revelation. Arnold Dreyblatt had sent me a live tape some time before then of an Eastman piece labeled “Gangrila”—that turned out to be “Gay Guerrilla,” and is surely one of my five favorite pieces of music in existence (the tape Arnold sent was from the 1980 Kitchen European tour and I consider it to be a more moving performance than the Chicago concert that appears on the CD, although it’s an inferior recording). The other multiple piano pieces on Unjust Malaise more than lived up to the descriptions of Eastman performances that I’d read. The somewhat berserk piano concert I mentioned in that entry seems similar to another live tape issued as The Zurich Concert (New World, 2017), and “Femenine,” a piece performed by the S.E.M. Ensemble, came out on Frozen Reeds in 2016. Eastman’s rediscovery is among the most vital and gratifying developments of recent music history--kudos must be given to Mary Jane Leach, herself a Minimalist composer, for diligently and doggedly tracking down Eastman’s recordings and archival materials and bringing them to the light of day.

The Lost Jockey—I was unaware of any releases by this group besides their Crepuscule LP until I stumbled onto a self-titled cassette from 1983 on YouTube. Like the album, the highlight is a piece by Orlando Gaugh--an all-time great Philip Glass rip-off, “Buzz Buzz Buzz Went the Honeybee,” which has the amusing added bonus of having the singers intoning the rather bizarre title phrase as opposed to Glassian solfège. Also like the album, he rest of the cassette is so-so Pop Minimalism.

Earth: Dylan Carlson keeps on keepin’ on, and while I can’t say I’ve kept up with him every step of the way, usually when I check in I’m glad I did. However I’d like to take this opportunity to humbly disavow the snarky comments about Sunn 0))) I made in this entry in Top Ten list #3. Those were a reflection of my general aversion to hype, which was surrounding them at the time, and of seeing two shows that in retrospect were unrepresentative (I was thunderstruck by a later show I saw in Mexico City in 2009). Stephen O’Malley has proven to be as genuinely curious, dedicated and passionate about drone and other experimental music as they come, and the reissue of the mind-blowing Sacred Flute Music from New Guinea on his Ideologic Organ label is a good reminder of how rooted Minimalism is in ethnic music, and how almost interchangeable certain examples of both can be. 

And while we’re in revisionist mode, let’s go full circle all the way back to the very first sentence of the introduction to the first Minimal Top Ten: “I know what you’re thinking: ECM Records, New Age, Eno ambients, NPR, Tangerine Dream. Well forget all that shit.” Hey, that stuff’s not so bad! I was probably directing that more at the experimental-phobic indie rock folks I encountered at the time, and expressing a lingering resentment towards the genre-confusion of the 80s (i.e. having dig through a bunch of Kitaro records in the New Age bins in hopes of finding Reich, Riley, or Glass; even Loren Mazzacane got tagged New Age once in a while back then, believe it or not), which probably hindered my own discovery of Minimalism. What can I say, I’m over it!

Copyright © 2020 Alan Licht. All rights reserved. Do not repost without permission.

[classof99]

INTRODUCTION

Someone, somewhere, likely with a vague spectrum of power and a cruel sense of humor, decided that forcing teenagers to sit through four long years of the unmitigated hell wasn’t enough. There had to be one last “learning” component before students were unleashed into the world – i.e., the commencement speaker...

Mom liked to remind me that I fell asleep during the commencement speech at my high school graduation.

She told the story often and with great relish.

I always knew it was coming at the holidays, because a twinkling lilt would bubble up in her and she’d touch my father’s arm and remind him that local celebrity real estate agent extraordinaire Gary Pace had been our speaker (yes, where I’m from, a real estate agent can attain quasi-celebrity status if he plasters his face on the side of enough public transit). My father would pat my mother's hand in return and shoot me an apologetic look. He knew what was coming.

“We could see him from the nosebleed! Remember, honey?” she'd say to dad, talking about me like I wasn't there. “He was just sitting there and all of a sudden – bloop – his little head drops to one side, and falls onto his neighbor's shoulder,” she said, volume rising, her half-and-half tea slipping over the brim of her glass as she slapped the table in delight.

She'd turn to me directly then:

“How did you manage to fall asleep? During your high school graduation, no less!”

“Well, if you remember I worked – ” but she'd cut me off, not really asking so much as wanting to retell the story.

“ – On, uhm... who was it again?”

“Brian Goodlow”

“BRIAN GOODLOW! That's right. What a lovely boy. Do you still see him?”

You see, what mom remembers the most was the scattered laughter of my classmates as I nodded off, causing Gary Pace to lose his place (we heard later he'd taken it as a personal insult that someone -- me -- dared not to be completely spellbound by the most didactic of commencement speeches).

Not that Gary would have cared, but I had a legitimate excuse. I'd worked the previous night until 3 am as a projectionist at the movie theater. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace had just been released and I was working the midnight screenings.

I don’t remember exactly at what point I fell asleep during Gary's speech, but I do recall waking to find Brian Goodlow gently petting my hair. It was the closest we’d ever been despite always sitting next to each other due to the fact that our last name's occurred alphabetically.

Among the many things we suffered through that day, the most pandering may have been Gary Pace's self-aggrandizing speech itself:

“Dare to dream!”

“March to the beat of your own drum!”

“Live life to the fullest!”

The obvious mistake Gary Pace made here -- one shared by many highly educated alumni-turned-commencement speakers -- was that he should have known that high schoolers so close to receiving their diplomas are BEYOND learning anything new. Like, over it. They’ve spent the last 13 years absorbing every last detail that every well-meaning teacher could cram between their eyes and ears.

But what do we do? Each school invites a speaker, usually an alumni, and in our particular case, the indomitable and balding Gary Pace, to come give a speech to the bright young stars of tomorrow. He'll remind us that, decades before, he sat in the very same spot with the same ambitions we hold deep, and would serve up an onslaught of platitudes and non-sequiturs of what he'd learned since.

But we, as with most graduating classes, were a captive audience of malcontents, sweating profusely underneath our caps and gowns, generally unfazed by the generic one-size-fits-all life advice being hurled at us from notecards at the podium. I was very busy pondering that things that came next: freedom and what I could only hope would be an endless summer between me and the next four years of college.

We were the class of 1999 — the last graduating class of the millennium (also known as BCC: Before Common Core). Not since the class of 999 had there been so much self-appointed pressure for a class to “go out and do great things” – thank you, Gary, for that pearl.

While I’d like to believe that we all went on to do great things for ourselves and for society, I know it’s simply not true. Not to say that none of us did anything great, just not all nearly four hundred teenagers sitting in that auditorium that May afternoon in 1999 did. Some of us grew up, other didn’t. Some of us succeed and yet others failed and fell down. Some of us didn’t even make it far enough to note a difference.

To frame the stories that follow, please understand a few things (I’m looking at you Gen-Z)... The class of 1999 was born in 1980-81. We were the “Me Generation”, the tail end of Generation X. Latchkey kids who spent summers with MTV on while our parents were at the office. We microwaved our grilled cheeses on Styrofoam plates even though we kinda knew better. Smoking was still cool, kinda. We made it through high school without cell phones, e-mail or any relevant use of the internet which, in hindsight, has probably saved us all from a lot of embarrassment as adults. A weekend might involve a trip to the local music shop to, ya know, buy CDs. How downright old-fashioned!

But, perhaps most importantly, for the purposes of this story anyways, is that when previous generations graduated from high school, they genuinely lost track of each other which is what made a high school reunion so enjoyable. Discovering what became of everyone. Or what didn't. Today with social media, old high school acquaintances tend to circle each other in an uncomfortable, peripheral social media orbit for years and years after graduation. It's much harder to lose track of everyone, which is a true shame, because losing track of everyone after high school is a great and well-earned privilege.

As I sat there, in May 1999, at the end of my high school career, waiting to make my way up to the stage to grab my diploma, I took a moment to absorb the countless young faces around me. In a curious moment of reflection, I wondered what would happen to each of them. Would they achieve what, if anything, they sought to do with their lives. What ironies did the universe have in store for us collectively?

I catch myself remembering certain people at the most random of times – how they were then and what they made of themselves – and can only imagine what Gary Pace might have said about them. It's been my experience that the lessons you learn in real life are hardly close to the vague horseshit you’re lectured with at graduation. In fact, some time’s there no nice way to wrap up the experiences or expectations of life. Some times it just is.

After graduation, I went onto college and kept in touch with a few of my high school friends. We’d get together over summers or Christmas breaks, only to fall away from each other again afterwards. Even when we did get together, it wasn’t as if we were measuring how daring we’d all been, as Gary had suggested. We were just living our lives, however they came.

Most of my classmates went on to do what most adults try and do in the here and now: college, marriage, a few kids, maybe a divorce (but hopefully not), probably a 9 to 5. As it turns out, though, more than a few of my classmates had stories worthy of one of Gary’s platitudes.

Thanks to the unbreakable bond between Brian Goodlow and I, my mother’s general nosiness, and the burdensome genius of Facebook, Instagram, etc., I’ve managed to collect some of the more interesting stories from my class; stories about the things that actually happen after you graduate.

The following stories are true, almost entirely. However, names have been changed, identifying details have been tweaked and obvious things have been left appropriately VAGUE.

Stay awake. This time it’s worth it.

[dherzogblog]

songs/20

Happy Holidays Everyone! I started making these yearly playlists in 2001 as an attempt to connect with friends in the wake of 911. It was just before the dawn of ITunes, and way before social media. We were not in touch like we are today. I burned dozens of individual cd’s one at a time, printed up customized jewel case covers and snail mailed them all out. It was an annual month-long labor of love. Over the past few years, streaming music has made it much easier and faster to compile and distribute, and frankly much more fun. I still look forward to putting the playlist and blog together and sharing it with all of you. Particularly this year as it gives me a chance to connect with so many friends I haven’t seen in quite some time. It was a tremendously challenging year for all of us. I was grateful to have had my family here in LA the entire time, we remain healthy and well. The west coast Herzogs know just how lucky we have been. The next year will not be without its own challenges, but I'm hopeful we are able to move past this pandemic and the exhausting events of the past 4. More than that, I look forward to seeing each and every one of you in 2021. Until then, be safe, be well, and be good to one another. Enjoy the music.

ox peace, dh

Los Angeles CA. December 2020

Khruangbin - Time (You And I) Don’t ask me to pronounce the name of this eclectic trio from Texas, but this dubby disco tune had me returning to its chilled out groove often during the last few decidedly “un-chill” months. Dreamy and funky, the groove takes me back to NYC’s early 80′s club scene and Ze Records releases from the likes of Kid Creole and Coati Mundi.

Anderson .Paak- Lockdown Scenes from the front, June 2020

.

Bill Withers (1938-2020)- Use Me The legendary Bill Withers left the playing field at the top of his game in the early 80′s, hardly heard from again. And while he didn't pass from Covid, his healing pop hymn Lean On Me seemed to be everywhere as people found music to help them cope with the challenges of the pandemic. Withers left behind a legendary and enduring group of hit songs that moved easily from soul to folk to pop, not to mention the subtle rolling funk of this one.

Black Pumas- Fire Strong debut from an unlikely Austin duo that garnerd both buzz and grammy nods. The critics are calling it “psychedelic soul”. Not quite sure that nails it, but like the artists coming up next, they’re carving out new ground while drawing inspiration from classic sources.

Gabe Lee- Babylon

Marcus King- Wildflowers and Wine

Charley Crockett- Welcome to Hard Times

Three artists that are literally changing the face of Country and Americana music. Soulful, authentic and diverse, reaching back for inspiration but always looking forward. If you like this sort of stuff they are all worth checking out. Each album is filled with quality songs.

Low Cut Connie_ Private Lives Philly’s Low Cut Connie are back at it with a double album that plays like the soundtrack to a boozy night at your favorite bar. Sweaty, funky and not a little bit messy. If Peter Wolf and Bruce had a kid it would be this blue eyed soul boy. Adam Weiner grew up in the shadow of the Jersey shore and can't help but have a bit of that E Street hustle.

Willie Nile- New York at Night One of New York’s beloved adopted  son’s dropped this love letter right into the jaws of a battered metropolis driven to its knees by the pandemic. It was heartbreaking to listen as the “city that never sleeps” came to a full stop. Somehow I still found myself coming back to it, imagining night’s ahead, when NYC is back on its feet and I’m roaming its streets. Looking for music, a beer, or maybe just a slice, and fueled by the irreplaceable energy and promise of the greatest city on earth.

The Long Ryders- Down to The Well Americana pioneers the Long Ryders reunited last year for a surprisingly solid album. This single sounds like it could have been recorded during their 80′s heyday featuring their trademark Byrds like jangle and harmonies, but the lyrics mark this song as unmistakably 2020.

The Speedways- Kisses Are History UK power pop outfit reach back to the the 60′s on this sweet slice of retro pop perfection.

Billie Joe Armstrong- That Thing You Do

In the early days of the pandemic we had all our kids (+ a significant other) at our house for a few months. It worked out great and we were luckier than most. The biggest issue was keeping enough food, weed and wine around.  There were some great nights with amazing meals, followed by gathering around the TV together. We re-watched The Sopranos, binged Billy On The Street, and revisited some of our favorite movies. One night we went back to a old family favorite, Tom Hanks’ underrated love letter to the one hit wonders of the post Beatles era, That Thing You Do!  I’ve seen the movie several times and it never fails to please. A true feel good film and a perfect Kodak snapshot capturing a simpler time in American pop culture. 

While we watch the unlikely chart topper’s The Oneders  fizzle as fast as they rose to fame, its not really the point. The movie is really an old fashioned love story. Playing like a perfect hit song you can listen to over and over, full of both hooks and heart. I always thought the title track, written by Fountains Of Wayne leader Adam Schlesinger  (who we lost to Covid), brilliantly captured the British Invasion sound every group wanted after The Beatles stormed America. Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong must agree. During the pandemic he cut an album’s worth of cool covers including a faithful version of this one.

Gerard Way (W/Judith Hill - Here Comes the End A tale of discovering music in 2020:  Heard this on a Netflix trailer for the series The Umbrella Factory. Turns out it is performed by Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance) who also writes the comic book the series is based on. (got all that?) He’s joined on this searing garage/psych rave up by the talented and versatile Judith Hill doing her best Merry Clayton.

Hinds- Spanish Bombs I’ve been following this Madrid based, all female outfit of punky garage rockers for a few years now. I think they are pretty great. This track, recorded for a Joe Strummer tribute bursts with an unbridled joy the stone faced and politically minded Clash could never muster. I bet Joe would love it though

The Secret Sisters- Hand Over My Heart Have enjoyed their harmonies for some time now. This one gives me vague Wilson Phillips vibes and I don’t really mind. 

Tame Impala- Breathe Deeper I know I’m supposed to like this guy, all the cool kids do, I’ve even seen the band at Coachella. Over the years very little of the music has stuck to me, but the pandemic offered a bit more free time to dig into this funky dubby, chilled out jam, and it stuck with me. Not to mention that 2020 was all about deep breaths.

Ledisi (feat.Corey Henry)- What Kind of Love Is That Ledisi is back with some slinky, sultry R&B and jazzy vocals

Dinner Party- FreezeTag An R&B/Jazz collective featuring Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, 9th Wonder and Kamasi Washington use sweet soul on heartbreaking and all too familiar tale..

Toots and The Maytals- Time Tough  I’ve written an awful lot about my love for Reggae over the years. Right after Bob Marley kicked the door down for me, Toots showed me around the house. Ska, rock steady, and roots. He was true reggae royalty and sadly we lost him to Covid, just after he released what would be his last album. Check my Toots tribute blog and playlist.

Mungo’s Hi Fi- The Beat Goes SKA! These clever UK roots reggae collective never fail to surprise. This kitschy Sonny & Cher cover managed to make me smile every time I heard it. No mean feat in 2020

Stone Foundation (feat. Durand Jones)- Hold on To Love Frequent collaborators with Paul Weller  (he appears on a track on the album), Stone Foundation are back with another batch of their UK soul revival stylings. This one features Durand Jones ( of Durand Jones & The Indications) on vocals and some great reggae style horns at the top.

The Pretenders- You Can’t Hurt A Fool Can’t resist a good torch song, especially sung by the smokey voiced Chrissie Hynde. Was kind of shocked at how many good songs were on this album.

Shelby Lynne_ Don’t Even Believe in Love Sultry country soul and one of her strongest albums in awhile.

Jaime Wyatt- Neon Cross Outlaw country has a new bad girl. And in case you didn’t think she was serious, she enlisted producer Shooter Jennings (and his mom Jessi Colter on one track) to help make her point. 

Daniel Donato- Justice 25 year old guitar prodigy call his music “cosmic country”.  Ok, now I’m listening. You should be too.

The Jayhawks- This Forgotten Town 30 plus + after their debut this Twin Cities alt country group led by founding member Gary Louris continue to deliver. They find their inner Neil Young on this one.

Lucero- Time To Go Home God I wish I was in a bar right now listening to this, even if I might be crying in my beer.

John Prine (1946 -2020)- Lake Marie We lost so many this year, but this one really stung. A true American songwriting treasure, who was still making great music against all odds right up to his untimely passing. His songs are known for their simplicity, and economy of words. but this one goes against the grain. I’m still not exactly certain what it’s about. Sorrowful and haunting, yet somehow uplifting and redemptive. I heard him perform it live here in Los Angeles a just over a year ago and it has stuck in my head ever since. There is surely a place in heaven for the great John Prine.  He sang about it on his final studio album in 2018. Ironically it became the last song on his last record.

Thanks for making it this far....

***Play the entire songs/20 Spotify playlist HERE!***

[purplesurveys]

1059

surveys by lets-make-surveys

1 - When you wake up, do you get up straight away or do you lie around in bed for a while? Lie in bed, even on work days. I work from home, so there’s nothing to prepare or look nice for, anyway. I can stay in bed and just roll out of it and head to my desk at 9 AM to start the day.

2 - Who was the last person you video-called with? Have you done this more often since COVID hit? Video calls make me anxious, so I’ve always turned them down even when it was someone I’m close with who was trying to call, like Angela. The only person I’ve felt comfortable having video calls with was Gab but that obviously hasn’t happened in a while. I think the last people I saw on video was my dad’s family, though I was still shy and asked my mom not to put me in the shot for too long.

3 - How many times a week do you go out for food or drink? Back then I’d do it 2-3 times a week. Then Covid happened and I had to stop; but now that I’m starting to try to put in more effort to take care of myself, I try to bring myself to a coffee shop for me time at least once during weekends.

4 - Do you prefer getting takeaway or actually sitting in a restaurant and eating your meal there? Dine-in. For me ambience is a big part of eating food, and even if I had the once-in-a-lifetime chance of getting to eat the absolute best meal in the whole world, if I’m eating it alone at home I would still feel like shit.

5 - Where’s your favourite place to get takeaway coffee (or whatever your drink of choice is)? Starbucks. We have five joints in the highway I live on alone, so it’s both a personal preference and a I-don’t-really-have-a-choice type of situation haha.

6 - Do you tend to keep your phone on silent, vibrate or loud? It’s on vibrate during work days; then I’ve formed a habit of putting it on Do Not Disturb during weekends or holidays.

7 - If you have pets, when was the last time one of them annoyed you? What happened? Cooper thought my hand was a toy earlier so he was biting on it, and not in a very playful way.

8 - When was the last time you went into a bookshop? Around a week ago when I was buying presents; I needed to get my cousin the mechanical pencils and eraser she wanted for Christmas. I also came across the bookshop that Gab and I would make a habit to visit, but I didn’t go inside as I didn’t know if I was prepared for the memories that would inevitably flood back. I looked through the stuff they had on their windows, though.

9 - What was the last thing you ordered off Amazon? I don’t know if Amazon operates here. But the last thing I got from a local e-commerce app - don’t judge me HAHA - is a phone socket featuring the face of my newest K-drama crush. I placed my order literally 10 minutes ago.

10 - When was the last time you took a dog out for a walk? Is this your own dog or did you borrow someone else’s? Yesterday. Both were my family’s dogs.

11 - What jewellery do you have on at the moment? Not wearing any, haven’t worn any in a while.

12 - Do you have any products in your hair right now? What are they? Just shampoo and conditioner. I never put anything else on it; I don’t really deem hair products other than those two a necessity.

13 - Have you ever used a VPN to access foreign content online? Hahaha no. I’ve wanted to try it out, but I’ve always been paranoid that the NBI would come knocking at my door the moment I install one of those.

14 - Who was the last artist you listened to? Is this someone you’re a fan of? She’s a Korean singer named Cheeze, though she’s honestly unfamiliar to me. The song she contributed for the OST of Start-Up is my absolute favorite in the entire tracklist, and that’s how I knew of her.

15 - What was the last thing you had to drink? I’m at a cafe joint right now and they didn’t have my usual order of caramel macchiato, so I opted for a Spanish latté because it sounded new to me.

16 - When was the last time you cooked something for the first time? Did it work out the way it was supposed to? I made a Monte Cristo sandwich, if that counts as ~cooking; this was about a little more than a monthh ago. It worked out significantly better than I was expecting, given how rubbish I am in the kitchen. I lacked a couple of ingredients, like mustard for the sauce and the right kind of cheese, but I still ended up liking it.

17 - Black cats are considered to be bad luck - is this a superstition that you’ve ever believed in? Not me personally, but I know this is still widely believed in my country. It’s sad, so I approach black cats whenever I can and play with them for a bit.

18 - Would you ever eat blue cheese or do you find the idea of eating mould to be pretty repulsive? It is definitely not my favorite; I’d say 5 times out of 10 I would consume it, and the other 5 I would set it aside. I enjoy it the most in pizzas and as a sauce for chicken wings.

19 - Do you visit the dentist every six months like you should? Is that the standard schedule? Lmao. I only go when I have to.

20 - How old were you when you first used the internet? Was it dial-up or did you have access to proper broadband? I was first exposed to the internet at around the ages of 3 and 4, when my mom would use the dial-up internet to email my dad (he had just started to work abroad). For many years I thought Yahoo Mail was the only website that existed, since that’s all I saw my mom use. Eventually my dad got broadband for the family by the time I was 10, and the first website I ever looked up was YouTube.

21 - Are you old enough to remember using floppy discs? I remember those; I just never had to use them myself.

22 - When was the last time you purchased an actual DVD or CD? Andi gave me a Petals For Armor CD for Christmas, if it counts. Because they’re the most awesome fucking friend. The last DVD I bought myself was probably a Beyoncé's Life Is But A Dream, which was...holy crap, 7 whole years ago.

23 - Do you shave? Which body parts and how often? I do. I shave my underarms every few days, and my legs monthly.

24 - What’s your favourite season, and what are some of your favourite things about that season? We don’t have the usual four seasons we hear about in other countries; we only have wet and dry. Between those two, I definitely like wet more because I love the rain, and I like how cold it can get.

25 - When was the last time you burned yourself? I took a big bite of a lumpiang togue yesterday when it was still piping hot, so it felt like I almost burned my tongue and the roof of my mouth. But since I was a guest at my dad’s family’s house, I couldn’t spit it out.

26 - Have you ever been the victim of a theft or robbery? What was stolen? Did the police ever catch the person who did it? Someone stole my wallet in high school, and I never got it back. It was a small petty thing that the police didn’t need to be involved in, lol. I know my mom’s family got robbed when she was a teenager, though; the worst thing that got stolen was their grand piano :(

27 - What was the last TV show you discovered that you really liked? What was it that got you to watch it in the first place? START UP. I first heard of it from my co-workers who would mention the show here and there; and because I was new to the team and wanted to have something in common with them so that I can break the ice, I figured I should start on the show myself. Ended up getting obsessed with the show and gaining a new Korean crush altogether.

28 - Have you seen any of the live-action Disney remakes? Which one is your favourite? What about your least favourite? No, those have never looked even remotely appealing to me. I never saw the point of recycling movies that already exist and already feel magical by themselves.

29 - Do you have any exciting plans for tomorrow? If not, how are you planning to spend your day? It doesn’t sound exciting on its own, but I’m very much looking forward to be a homebody tomorrow haha. We’ve been with extended family for five days straight and I’m at a café right now for some me time, so tomorrow I can’t wait to just be at home and lounge around.

30 - Would you ever keep a working dog as a pet? Do you think it’s fair to keep dogs like huskies in flats when it’s so different to their natural environments? If the dog is already trained or certified to be a certain kind of working dog, I don’t see the point in keeping them for myself when they could be beneficial for other purposes. The only time I see myself adopting a working dog is if they’re already at the point of retirement and would need a loving home to live out their remaining years.

--

1 - Are you a fan of garlic bread? Do you eat it on its own or as part of a bigger meal? Love garlic bread; I regularly have it with my pasta and occasionally, pizza.

2 - When was the last time your area was under some kind of weather warning? Did it end up being as bad as predicted? Last month, during Typhoon Rolly. Other cities had worse experiences, but it also wasn’t sunshine and rainbows on our end. We had a blackout for around two days and I had to file for an emergency leave four days into my new job, which was super embarrassing. It didn’t flood in our street but the water was high in other areas in our village, so we couldn’t go out for a while.

3 - Do you ever buy things from charity/thrift shops? What was the last thing you bought from there? I don’t recall ever buying anything from either.

4 - The last time you got fast food, did you eat in, takeaway or go through the drive-thru? My last fast food wasssssss Jollibee, and my parents got it for takeout so that we could eat as a family at home.

5 - If you have multiple pets, do they get along with each other? Hahaha no they don’t. It’s been six months since we got Cooper but the two still don’t get along, unless it’s Kimi trying to hump him. It’s understandable; Cooper is a vibrant pup that’s super excited and play bites all the time, and on the other side is a nearly 13 year old, nearly blind, can’t-smell-as-well-as-he-used-to senior dog; and I get that Kimi’s more sensitive to sudden movements now.

6 - Do you ever buy things off eBay? If you do, do you participate in auctions or do you just use the “buy it now” option? I never go on eBay. And since I’ve never checked it out, I never understood the gimmick of the website.

7 - When you go out, do you worry that you’ve forgotten to lock the door or turn something off? Yeah, this is especially the case with locking the front door.

8 - What fruits and vegetables have you eaten so far today? Do you tend to get your “five a day”? I didn’t know five a day is a thing of some sort; but it’s only 8:47 AM and I haven’t eaten anything at all yet today.

9 - When was the last time you were in pain? What caused it and did you manage to get it sorted in the end? Last night when my back was giving me hell. As for the cause...idk, years of bad posture maybe? I was able to deal with it for a bit with the new massage pillow that my dad got for Christmas.

10 - Do you live in an area that gets lots of snow? Do you like it? If not, would you like to live somewhere that gets that cold? I would love to move somewhere that’s generally more cold. Humidity gets exhausting to deal with.

11 - What was the reason for your last doctor/hospital visit? My fever had already been lasting for a week and wasn’t showing signs of going away. No Covid symptoms, just pure hellish fever.

12 - If someone had told you that 2020 would see a global pandemic, countries going into lockdown, compulsory face masks and millions of deaths, would you have ever believed that you’d live through something like that? My personal biggest surprise for 2020 wasn’t even the pandemic. I would have had a more violent reaction if I was told I would no longer be in a relationship and be barely talking to my then-girlfriend of six years by the end of 2020.

13 - Do you prefer having the blinds/curtains open or closed when you’re at home? Does it depend on the weather or the time of day? Always closed. I don’t ever voluntarily open the curtains or windows to let the sunshine in.

14 - Do you use an ad-blocker on your computer or phone? Why/why not? I use one on my laptop because the ones on YouTube can be extremely annoying. I didn’t know it was possible to put on ad blockers on phones (is it?).

15 - Do you still use a paper diary/planner to organise your appointments and schedules? No, but I’m thinking of getting a planner again for 2021. I used to get a Starbucks planner every year just because I wanted to get into their Christmas promo hype, but I never completed any of them. Now that I’m working and am busier all around, I see the bigger need for a planner. These days, I use a Google extension called Momentum to list down my to-do tasks. My parents also got me a corkboard for Christmas on which I stick notepads with things I have to do for the day.

16 - When was the last time you charged one of your electronic items? Do you have to charge that specific item often? I’m charging my laptop now. At this point it’s always plugged in because I want to keep the cycle count low, though I’m not sure if it’s the healthiest thing to do.

17 - Have you ever thrown or broken something in a temper? Yes, definitely. I’m not normally aggressive when angry, but sometimes it happens.

18 - What does your outfit look like today? Did you pick it out for a special reason? I have on a black sundress that I didn’t change out of. I wore it yesterday when I went to a coffee shop to spend some time on my own.

19 - Do you follow any vlogs or podcasts? What is it about them that interests you? I do follow certain channels who do vlogs, but I never tune into them since most of them have gotten a little uninteresting. I’m also subscribed to several podcasts like Andi’s and Renee Young’s, but I’m not always in a podcast mood; I subscribe because I want to support them.

20 - Aside from Tumblr, what websites do you spend the most time on? Do you go through phases of visiting certain websites? I visit Twitter and YouTube the most often. I will binge Reddit every now and then, and I will get into a Wikipedia black hole at least once a week.

21 - Do you have a good relationship with your siblings? If you don’t have siblings, what about your cousins or extended family? I do not maintain a relationship with my brother after he physically assaulted me last year. My sister and I are on good terms, but we’re not close in that I can cry to her or that we know each other’s secrets. We have a very good casual relationship, and we never argue.

22 - When was the last time you were up early enough to see the sunrise? I hate the sun so I don’t really do that lol.

23 - What movie series did you last watch from start to finish? Was it one you’d seen before? I only ever do this with Twilight. I have my annual Twilight Saga marathon where I watch all five films in one afternoon hahaha.

24 - Do you still enjoy watching children’s TV programmes? What was the last one you watched? Yeah, but only the ones I watched as a kid. My cousins and I watched the Wet Painters episode of Spongebob last Christmas Eve right after we finished Midsommar.

25 - Who was the last person to tag you in something on social media? How do you know that person? I have no idea. I’ve been going in and out of deactivation, so at this point I’m sure people no longer have any clue if I’m on a certain social media website or not.

26 - What was the last thing you took a photograph of? It was a screenshot of something I wanted to show Angela.

27 - Are you a fan of giving animals human names? Sure. I certainly find it funny when pets are given incredibly ordinary human names, like Bob or Mark.

28 - When was the last time you weighed yourself? Were you happy with what the scale said? Christmas Eve eve, when I saw a weighing scale in my cousin’s room. I mean it’s what I’ve weighed for the last 5 years or so, so I have no complaints.

29 - How often do you buy yourself new clothes? What was the last clothing item you bought for yourself? Used to be a few times every month, but I have not bought anything new since before the pandemic. The last items I got were still the tops with puffed sleeves that I bought in March.

30 - What is the reason behind your mood today? Is this something you could have done something about? I’m mostly at ease; a little anxious because work continues for a certain headache of a client even though we told them our office would be on shutdown; and a little melancholic for no reason. I’m trying to combat the latter by doing my embroidery and it’s kind of helping, but the sads are still lingering.

[blogacourseinmiracles-blog]

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[abstractanalogue]

The Wormholes interview (1997)

In June 1997 I interviewed Dave Carroll (1970-2019) of The Wormholes for a a one-off mail-order zine I produced for the band (cover above). I thought I’d transcribe the interview and publish it here as it hasn’t been online before. At this time they had released Scorpio:The Album (1997) so I asked Dave about recording it with Stano, other recent recordings with Stan Erraught (these would later be included on Parijuana in 1999), playing with The Fall in London (March ‘95) and their experience of touring in the UK (’95-’97). 

Q: Tell me about recording Scorpio:The Album.

A: We originally met Stano in town and went to Graham’s house that night with Shane and Francis (of Chunkin’ Bronchii). We didn’t know Stano or even really know him when he was leaving that day. He said nothing and just sat there at a four track. It was him who suggested to get us into a studio. He was good to work with, we’d record anything and everything we wanted and he wouldn’t say a word about it. He had maybe three or four mixes for each song. All the music was recorded in one day. The whole Pulse thing was two days and then the day we spent in Graham’s house. I mean I’m sure people will listen to it and go, ‘Yeah, I can gather it was done in 3 days.’ (laughs). It’s just the way we were heading, we knew we didn’t want to do another Chicks. Whether people like it or not, it is our second album. When you pick it up it may look like a mini album because there’s only so many songs, but when you think of it, ‘Kontinental Kop’ is 18 minutes long, ‘Bee Mee’ is 10 and ‘Freak Franco’ is almost 11 and that’s just three songs. We were surprised when we actually played ‘Kontinental Kop’ on the Play Station, it was like, wow, there’s a track on our CD almost 20 minutes long, I thought we’d knocked all that shit on the head. But then even on Parijuana, if that tape didn’t run out, I don’t know how long ‘Drive Dead Slow’ would have been. We were going at it full ahead from this sort of build up and Mark Carolan had to tell us the tape ran out.

Q: What about working with Stan Erraught (ex The Stars of Heaven and The Sewing Room)? These recordings with Stan at Sun Studios, plus other recordings would be used for Parijuana in 1999.

A:  When we heard Stan wanted to work with us we were blown away, we couldn’t get over it. This guy had done so much, I mean he was releasing records in the 80s. It must have been a really weird and difficult time to release anything, but this guy was doing it then when we were all still in school dreaming about what it would be like to own a guitar, let alone put out a poxy single. Same with Stano, he could have fobbed us off like, ‘Oh these little shits they think their doing something different, making a bit of a noise’ (laughs), but he just thought the way we done out stuff was right up his street.  

It was strange going into the same studio and the same desk as well but with totally different vibes. I hadn’t even talked to Stan or Mark (Carolan), I’d just walked in off the street and we did ‘Turkish Prison Dance’. We were just buzzin, the DAT was there, used just the one mic, Stan played the saz, Mark played guitar, Graham played drums, Anto just stood there and shook the maracas and I played the bongos. Everyone was jammed into this one room and we just banged it out there and then. None of us even realised when we were doing it, it was only after we thought, you know we didn’t play anything really, we just picked up some stuff and rattled it alongside what was being played and it was the first time we’d ever done that. When we heard it back none of us could even talk to each other, we were so chuffed with it. 

After that Mark finished putting up the mics and left. So we’d go in, start recording, Stan would be getting levels say and then he’d run in with his guitar and jump in with us, it was brilliant. We’d definitely work with him again. Stan just totally changed our whole outlook on what it’s like to work in the studio. He was giving us records by Faust and Can. I mean, these are records he’d bought 15, 16 years earlier when he was only a nipper. He told us a story about when he bought The Faust Tapes, it was on sale for 49p. He brought that particular record home when he was about 15 years old and he was eating his dinner with his Mum and Dad playing The Faust Tapes and them wondering what the hell he was listening to, they couldn’t get their head around this record that was chopped to bits.

Q: How has your experience of touring the UK been? First 1995 tour dates above (there was at least one that is not listed, Bristol’s Loco on 30th April with TW).

A: The first UK tour with Trumans Water was amazing, we only had to turn up and play, there was no pressure on us and any time we played with Cornershop it was the same deal. Even if there wasn’t many people we didn’t get so downhearted seeing as weren't the headline band.

On the second UK tour we tried to say to Roadrunner, it’s like this, putting us on a headliner is madness, try and get us on with not even a big band, just a band that 50 or 60 people will turn up to see. There were offers there to play with The Supreme Dicks but Roadrunner wouldn’t front us the money, they said it was pointless bringing us to London for 2 or 3 shows, but then they funded the British tour where we played to no-one for two weeks, apart from the Cornershop gigs. Cornershop were saying it was a bad time of year to tour as students were on holidays. 

We went to Hull and played with Trumans and it was amazing, the audience were animals, just wrecking the place. We go there two months later and its dead, drive into town and it’s a ghost-town. I’m not making that as an excuse because even if the town was all hustle and bustle we still would have only got about 20 people cause no-one knew us. 

At least when we went back the second time, even to have three new songs to bring back to England, we had ‘Marshmallow’, we had ‘Riotman’ and ‘Hotel Cash’. To us that was like bringing gold in your pocket, these aren't off Chicks, these are just new songs. 

The second 1995 UK tour dates.

Q: Tell me more about playing with The Fall in London.

A: In March 1995 we played a beautiful little gig (The Forum) supporting Mr. Mark E. Smith and The Fall on his request or so we were led to believe and we were honoured. That was like the icing on the cake for us and when they came to Dublin (Mean Fiddler) in December they asked for us again. I mean what can we say. We were all too chicken to speak to him. We all had this idea that he was the most arrogant, most unbelievably difficult person to even get two words out of and that’s what scared us off.  We were like we wanted to say hello and I wanted to tell him I though This Nation is one of the best records I’ve heard from any British band. That’s the sort of stuff I wanted to say to the guy but when I approached him I think I mumbled, ‘How-a-yi’ in my worst Dublin accent and scurried up the stairs, hoping he wouldn’t say something sarcastic. When I caught up with Anto and Graham I was hanging out of them saying I’d just met Jesus Christ, like I’d had tea with John Lennon or something. Mark E. Smith said hello to me was my claim to fame for the rest of the day. The gig was great. We were real nervous before. If there’s any band you need as role models it’s The Fall, keep their ethics.

Q: Talk about your UK dates with Scotland’s Pilotcan in Jan/Feb 1997. Pic from Scotland above, by Kieron Mellotte.

We played 6 gigs in 11 days. The better shows were in Edinburgh and London (Camden Falcon). We’ve never really been able to get it together in Scotland, the gigs we played there in ‘95 were bad, both tours. We played with Pilotcan, we knew them from the first tour when we slept on Keiron, from the bands, floor. He puts on gigs, we slept on the same floor as Jon Spencer. He was telling us that Deus had stayed in his flat before us and that they were mad. They were all real quiet, if they weren’t out drinking they’d just be sitting around or you’d find them reading a book. They all kept talking their own language and then laughing. Kieron and all his mates would  be sitting there freaked, up the wall, he’s got  a bunch of Belgians having their own private jokes in his flat (laughs).

Stuart from Mogwai got up at the Attic in Edinburgh and played a Smog track, ‘I Break Horses’. He did it amazing, just him and guitar, he did one or two Mogwai tracks as well, the best thing that happened that night. That was the Pilotcan single launch, it was a mad night. We were all on magic mushrooms and we were going back the next day. We fell asleep listening to the Modern Lovers, amazing album, like the Velvets.

Live review from Melody Maker for first UK tour

A: Any more thoughts?

We never thought in a million years that Cornershop would work with us or even Lo Recordings wanting to put our stuff out on compilations and that. It’s staggering to us, it mightn't mean a great deal to a lot of people but it’s what we always wanted to do. Our aim is to bombard the planet with as much stuff as we can.

A few more live adverts

Wormhole and a few other Irish bands played at the 1995 Phoenix festival (get your glasses out to find them all!)

I travelled to see them play at The Garage and then joined them on the road for the next show the following night at Bristol’s Loco supporting Trumans Water. We travelled back the same night to the comforts of The Florence aka Hotel Cash in London’s King Cross.

Stephen Rennicks