#with his earlier stuff it feels like its carried by how strong his collaborators are. divine is great ofc

[argumentl]

The Freedom of Expression Ep 51 - Amazing technology - 'Human with modified skull'

K: Hi this is Dir en grey's Kaoru with this week's  episode of The Freedom of Expression. Joe, Tasai, welcome.

T: And thank you too.

J: Ta-da! We are wearing it.

K: Hahaha

J: We are wearing it. This is naturally cool, isn't it?

T: Yes.

K: Um, if we don't say anything the viewers won't understand.

J: Uh, Tasai, could you explain?

T: Um, so this is another Tokyo Sports T-shirt collaboration. We are putting one out.

K: It was a hoodie before, right? 

T: Yes, that was a collaboration with Don Quijote. This time we've collaborated with the store Hardcore Chocolate in Higashinakano, to create this really cool tshirt.

K: I'm wearing it too.

T: Oh, thank you. Its a Core-choco × Tokyo Sports collaboration.

*clapping/cheering*

K: The back is nice too.

J: Yeah, I mean, I can't see it myself though. What is written on it?

T: Its past Tokyo Sports headlines. The black is pro-wrestling headlines, like 'Inoki's grand KO defeat'.....'Hansen...near murder' etc.

J: Wow.

T: These shocking headlines are...

J: All over?

T: Yes, all over it. And as for the front, Joe, could you turn around?

J: Yes.

T: Those are copies of Tokyo Sports tied up with string, just on the verge of being thrown away, giving a kind if melancholic feel.

J: Ahh, this is cool too.

T: Its very Tokyo Sportsy.

K: Are the white and back versions different?

T:  Yes, they are different.

J: Ah! They are different?

K: The white one has 'Matsui' written on it.

T: Matsui's wedding.

J: Oh yeah.

K: This black one says, 'Brody'.

J: Pro-wrestling?

T: Yes, its mainly pro-wrestling. And the white is showbiz...

J: Sports and showbiz? Oh, so it is.

T: 'Elvis lives' and so on.

J: This is great...ah..'The Monster with 21 faces'!

K: Its nostalgic, isn't it?

T: Yeah, this type of thing.

J: Ahh..of course...Ah, shocking photos.

K: 'Discovery of Kappa'....'Madonna had hemorrhoids' haha.

K, J, T: Hahaha.

J: Does it really matter? haha.

T: Haha, that was about one time a long time ago when Madonna came to do a show in Japan. She requested a bidet toilet, so we reckoned maybe its because she had hemorrhoids.

J: Just from that? You put this headline with it?

K: Your info is thin!

T: Haha.

J: Right?! Zero fact checking! Guess after guess!

K: Incredible. So, there are two of these.

J: What should we do with them?

T: Well, I thought we could make them presents for the people who always watch The Freedom of Expression.

J: Ohhh! *claps*

K: There is black and white.

J: One of each?

T: Yes.

K: The size is S.

J: S?

K: Joe is wearing M, I'm wearing XL. Anyone who wants a big one..

J: Please but it.

K: Yes. For people who want S...um, what should we do...you could leave a comment on my Twitter..

T: With your thoughts on this show.

J: Of course.

T: Yes.

K: Yeah.

T: And we could choose one from those.

J: Leave a decent comment..

T: Like which was your favourite episode or something?

J: Ahh, you know how to do this!

K: Joe, its just that you're always drunk.

J: I'm always drunk, haha. When I see Tasai, Im learning how to conduct myself.

T: Excuse me brother, thank you very much.

J: Your stocks will rise with this tshirt. Yours and Tokyo Sports' stocks.

T: I hope so.

K: Everyone will be cool wearing this.

J: They really will be cool.

K: Please buy it, really.

J: If someone wanted to buy this, where do they get it from?

T: Probably online. You can buy it on Corechoco's site.

J: I see.

K: Ok, so today's story is a Tokyo Sports selection.

J: Its a Tokyo Sports day today.

T: A Tokyo Sports produced story...

The headline is 'Will we rise up in 2021? - Amazing technology, human with modified skull'. As for the content of the story, it asks what new technology will appear in the year 2021, and its by our science writer Hisano, who wrote about some of the things he'd heard.

J: Oh, so he's done it properly?

T: Yes. So firstly, well, we hear a lot about this A.I. deepfake problem at the moment, don't we? Like changing faces without permission, and making these made-up sexy images which cause harm, for example. *1

J: Yeah, its the basis of fake news, right?

T: We are hearing about that more and more, thats the first thing. Secondly, there is apparently this idea called, 'Trans-human' where people power up their own body with technology, and Hisano wondered whether Trans-human technology with develop a lot during this year. Specifically, well, there is actually someone doing this in Spain, Manel de Aguas. He peeled back the skin on his head and attatched self-mafe fin shaped devices to his skull. The fins contain a bone conducting oscillator and temperature sensor, so he can tell if the weather is hot or cold through vibrations in his head. So, this is a way to catch very small atmospheric changes that regular people wouldn't normally be able to sense.

J: I see.

T: And there are pictures of him, so please take a look.

J: If you go to the Tokyo Sports website?

T: Yes, you can see it there. Furthermore, well, there are quite a lot of other examples, like a 'trans-human' using prosthetics, or having an IC chip implanted into your hand to use for the train etc. On top of that, France has plans to make a conscription army like this. The name  of the project is 'The Bionic Soldier Project', which is a really cool name. They would be like super strong soldiers who never got tired and didn't need sleep, and who could heighten their sight and hearing with medication, and would have communication equipment embedded in their brains to connect directly to wireless  netwoks. Bionic soldiers..scary, right?

J: Yeah. Its like the end to the era of traditional fighting.

T: Research has been going on even longer America, in their Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, where paralyzed patients have had chips embedded in their brain, and have successfully been able to control drones with their thoughts. They've already done that. Even bedridden people can control drones. Technology his also being developed to go without sleep for 48 hours by running electric currents through the brain. This is not the talk of dreams, we are closing in on these things. There is also a plan by Nasa, a mission to redirect asteroids, where a robot spaceship would grab an asteroid, carry it over to the moon's orbit, and dig up minerals from it. Its like the world of Gundam. What do you think of this for 2021?

J: So, like these might become a reality within this year?

T: Yeah, some of them, as far as the technology goes.

K: It'll be like Robocop.

T: Yeah.

K: Its incredible, its like the world of 'Terminator'.

J: Yeah, it is.

T: In reality, controling a drone with the brain is aleady being used in China with toys.

J: With the brain..?

T: Like, controlling it with your thoughts by just imagining it rising. And in Japan..

J: You have to operate it.

T: In Japan they can be controlled with radio waves *2, but in China they can already move drones around using brain waves. Like, its technologically possible to attatch a bomb to a drone and make it fly somewhere and explode...its scary.

J: If technology advances this far, people won't need to study for exams and stuff, will they?

T: Thats right.

J: With a chip embedded...we talk about preventing cheating these days, but you would have all that data within you, or you could just go outside and remotely update.

K: Or you could send questions with just your eyes and get answers back.

J: Yeah, its like already at the point where you don't have to bother with tests or exams.

K: And it would mean no more back entrance admissions.

T, J: Yeah.

J: Yeah, like whoever has the money.

T: They might starts scanning people with metal detectors when they do exams to see if they have chips or something in them. Like, have you got a chip in your brain?? If it beeps, you'll know they have a chip.

K: They could put the people who have chips inside like anti-vibration shields..

J: Yeah, like to stop the transmissions.

T: Oh, yeah.

J: We're already getting to this point in time.

T: Do we even need to study anymore?

J: Yeah, like the era of people using their brains is ending.

K: We don't even really need universities and stuff anymore

J: We don't! Cause you have have access to all the information in the world in your head, whenever you like.

K:Yeah, if you have it ???*3

J: Well, there's also the issue of whether this kind of thing will be permitted by law. Like how far..

K: Yeah, it wouldn't be allowed immediately.

J: Yeah, like how far can human ability be harnessed in this way. I mean, there is the problem of genetic engineering too, but..thats where we are at now.

K: Well, there might already be people like this out there.

J: Well, yeah, the technology is there already.

K: You don't know whats going on in other peoples' heads.

J: Well, yeah. Eh, what if Kami is one of them?

K: No, I don't think he is. Absolutely not.

J: Haha

Kami: No, gods are different. But the bionic soldiers who don't need sleep, never get tired, and use medication to improve their sight and hearing...they've been around in Nishinari for a long time.

K: In Nishinari?

J: Haha

Kami: People who look like zombies, there have always been tonnes of them. There is also an article about a 'robot girlfriend to go for a walk with you', which Gifu University made, I'm interested  in that. I'd like to support Gifu University with that.

T: I see. Yeah, its a robot girlfriend who holds your hand and goes for walks with you, made by Gifu University.

K: What did Kami say earlier about women, doesn't he have woman trouble?

J: Oh yeah. Kami, don't women like you, being a god?

Kani: Thats a whole different story. Um, this is just a hand holding robot, but I'd like them to try harder with more in-depth research on this.

K: In-depth research? Haha

J: I don't know what he means by that. Kami!!

K: I mean, if they've been able to make the robot to this level, Im pretty sure they can also manage 'in-depth' research. haha.

J: They just won't announce it as university research, they stopped at holding hands.

Kami: Ah, I see. I wanna support deepfake technology too.

K: Ha, you wanna support it.

T: Well, this type of technology was originally invented for mens' pleasure. New technology can even start from such places. Like videos...

K: Ah, yeh, popular people from videos turned up a lot in this erotic stuff (*Sorry if I got this wrong*)

J: Ahh, yes, necessity is the mother of invention. Technology increases due human desires.

T: Yeah, thats it.

J: Well, this could be used for evil ways, or for more interesting ways. There are various ways to use it. Kaoru is there any kind of technology that you ever wanted to invent?

K: That I wanted to invent?

J: Like a specific type of robot or anything like that?

T: If you had a chip in your brain though, and you didn't have to study, what would you do?

K: But if all this stuff becomes normal, I think on the contrary, will might start to want to do things in more detail again. When you can get anything effortlessly, you will start to want to do those things that don't come effortlessly.

J: Ahh, hand made things will become nostalgic.

K: Our sense of value would change. People will want to go out and do things...if you can get everything you need without ever going out. And with food, it will be all there, ready as soon as you open the cupboard, right?

J: Yeah

K: Like, wouldn't you feel like going out instead?

T: Yeah, you'd want to go out and see live performances and stuff too.

K: People were told not to go out on New Years eve, but so many people still went out. haha

T: Oh, yeah.

J: Yep, human mentality just goes like that.

K: People will still go out. So, I think thats the direction it will head.

T: A.I. is pretty popular in human competions at the moment, for example with Shōgi, but in the end, what people really want to see is a human competing with another human.

J: Yes, I think thats true.

K: Yeah, its those natural variations

J: Thats it, we need those. Its that type of thing  that is impossible to calculate.

K: A computer couldn't come up with this type of thing. (*holds up Tokyo Sports tshirt*)

T: Haha

K: Its a product of wild fantasies.

T: Hahaha

J: Yeah, that would be impossible.

T: If we let A.I. do this kind of thing we would have lost. Tokyo Sports would be finished.

K: A.I. couldn't make this.

J: Its incredible.

K: 'Human gives birth to frog'.

J: Haha, A.I. could never write this.

K: It probably couldn't, right?

J: Only some bombed out person could do it otherwise.

K: It was worth making, naturally Tokyo Sports.

T: Oh, thank you.

K: So, everyone, please buy one of these tshirts. We have a black and white in size S here, so please send a tweet. Ok, we'll finish here this week. Please subscribe, thank you very much.

*1, 2 Not sure its exactly right.

*3 Couldn't figure out

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[riot-in-reverie]

Also I just made my first ever collaborative fanfiction. Its with

@cardan-greenbriar-tcp who also posted it. You should definitely check them out. Their very nice and they also post neat stuff!

The air is crisp and cool- something unexpected during some of the hottest summer days I have ever fucking endured. Vivi is being extra annoying on the phone, chewing her gum extra loud. I ball my fist up to keep from diving for her face. Taryn’s walking ahead of us, holding Oak’s hands.

I’m supposed to be dropping off Oak to school with Taryn, but Vivi insisted on coming. She said she had some “business with Heather” anyways. I didn’t want to ask any more questions- she usually ditched class just to drop Heather to school. She’s missed enough days though, so it didn’t even matter anymore.

“Hold my backpack, will you?” I groan, slinking the sack over my shoulder.

I trained with Oak last night. I tried to get him to do some pushups, but he got bored and tried to see if I could do 100 in five minutes. I did.

“You’re the one going to school. Carry it yourself” she said, teasing me. “C’mon Vi” I stretched out her name and groaned.

“Fine.” She took my backpack in her hand. I straightened my back and tried to massage my muscles as we walked. I can see Oak’s school in front of us. I can hear the laughter of children getting louder. I miss being young. Whatever.

“Make sure you stay out of trouble” Taryn says, booping his nose. Oak sticks out his tongue. “You little-” I pretend like I’m going to lunge for him, and this sends him sprinting to the sandpit. Innocent jerk. I love him though. Now it’s just the three of us. Vivi, Taryn and I.

We walk close to each other- I stride alone the edge of the sidewalk, Vivi on the other and Taryn sandwiched between us.

“So, what’s the plan afterschool? Who’s turn is it for groceries?” Taryn asks. Gosh, such a busybody.

“Jude’s” Vivi replies cooly.

I shake my head. I’m lying though- it is my turn.

“Fuck no, I’m not getting groceries today. I’ve got got fencing practice.” I didn’t lie about that. Fencing was the only sport at Elfhame High that I actually enjoy. Something I’m good at, besides my usual classes. Fae are no smarter than I am academically. They sure can play around with their words though. I argue with Vivi more, just for the hell of it. Soon enough, we’ve arrived to the pit of hell itsself.

Elfhame high.

It’s packed, as usual, with fae of all sorts lounging or hurrying. Laughter arose in almost every corner. Some were making out- disgusting- and others crying. It was a literal fucking mess. Too bad I stuck out like a sore thumb. I wave Taryn goodbye and head to the third floor to grab my textbooks. They were so heavy for no goddamn reason. And I had no magic to use to carry them around.As I look around at all the chaos, I feel a weight being lifted from my shoulders. My backpack is gone, and standing beside me holding my backpack was none other than Locke.

Pretty bastard.

I didn’t mind Locke. I mean, he’s pretty nice and pretty handsome. Sometimes he reminded me of a fox, his hair the deep russet color of a foxe’s fur. His eyes too- prowling, resembling a fox’s eyes. And not to mention his wit.

Taryn, however, stayed but didn’t say anything. As usual. I looked up at him.

“Backpack. Now.” I say by way of greeting. He chuckles and drops it into my hands.

“And here i thought i’d be a gentleman and carry it for you.” He teases, smiling.

"I shouldn’t have to remind you that I am a strong, independent woman, thank you" I spit.

jerk.

Then Taryn thinks it’s a good idea to bring up how I was complaining about my backpack earlier, but I quickly jab her with an elbow to the side. I catch Locke wink at me and he waves saying he will look for me later.

I hope he doesn’t find me.

I leave Taryn a little later before heading to my first class- Elfhame history. I try not to show it, but it is by far the most interesting class offered at Elfhame. It’s rich with politics, murder, deep discussions. Although the other students couldn’t care less, I find it so much fun. Plus, the professor is pretty fucking amazing.

I step inside briskly. I’m glad I wore a light sweater- even the classroom is cold.

“Hey professor Aethion” I say, throwing hand guns signs at him. He smiles.

“Jude. My favorite student. Take a seat. I hope your classmates arrive soon- they’re always lounging around the halls until the last second. I might have to try enchanting the doorknobs or something.”

I let out a laugh before walking down the large classroom to find a seat. Anywhere was fine, but I preferred the back. Why? Because it was simply the best. I get to see everyone, what everyone’s doing, the whole board.... Wait.

There’s someone sitting in my usual seat. I stop for a second before storming up there, ready to confront the asshole who decided to sit in my favorite seat. No, I’m not a baby for crying out loud- it’s just...

Cardan. Cardan goddamned Greenbriar.His tall frame was leaning against my desk, his long fingers carelessly scrolling on what was obviously a very expensive phone. He’s wearing a dress shirt that he wore in a way so it revealed quite a fair bit of his chest, paired with some low waisted ripped jeans that were a faded black.

I took a small step hoping that maybe he would just focus on his phone and I could move past. But as soon as I moved he looked up and towards me. He put his hands on his hips and smirked at me.

“Well if it isn’t Jude Duarte '' He says lightly. Too lightly.

I sighed and turned towards him

“Cardan '' I say back. I made the mistake of looking up at his pretty face. God, I hated that face. The sharp cheekbones that always seemed that they were dusted with gold. His iridescent midnight hair that stopped just before his shoulders, and his eyes. His goddamn eyes. His beautiful coal black eyes with gold lining. I felt my face heat up and I turned away.

He chuckled.

“Something wrong?” He probes. I shake my head a little too quickly.

“Then why are you standing in front of me?” He adds.

“You’re in my seat” I reply cooly.

“I don’t recall us having assigned seats” He says calmly.

“We don’t but…” My voice trails off.

“Well then I guess you're gonna have to find a different seat cause..” He put his feet up on the desk “this ones taken”

God, I wanted to punch him. I wanted to break his perfect nose, to hear it crack under my knuckles but instead i just took a deep breath and sat down next to him I had managed to go through the lesson without having to talk to the bastard but of course as I was packing up he had to open his mouth.

“You know what? I don't even know why they allow mortals in the school. I mean what's the point? We fae are so much better than them at...everything” He says a bit too loud for a group of kids to could hear him.

I scowled and shoved the rest of my stuff into my backpack and stormed out the classroom door.

I can’t stand him. I loathe him.

Not to bad for a first chapter done over tumblr with two people who know nothing about about eachother and have no fan fiction experience. But seriously this was a lot of fun and I hope you guys enjoyed it.

[cjostrander]

Nine Inch Nails: Bad Witch

Hello everyone! I’ve ben facing some technical issues with my laptop which has been preventing me from putting out reviews last month. Since then i’ve been able to still get my hands on a bunch of newer albums and really need to start scratching a couple of them off of my list. This album is the final of what was supposed to be a trilogy of eps from Nine Inch Nails. From what i read the only reason that they decided to instead turn this into a full album was due to how thrown aside eps tend to be on promotion sites. He definitely isn’t wrong in that regard since they dont usually hold the same excitement on a listener as an album does when discovered. This one from what i have heard is going to be a very unique one in the band’s catalog. Trent Reznor actually has a second official band-mate in his group by the name of Atticus Ross. Musically it does have familiar Nine Inch Nails elements but seems to make the effort to display similarities to other artists that were in his field or admired. You will notice heavy comparisons to David Bowie’s final album “Blackstar” (i reviewed) and Radiohead. The David Bowie similarity was intentional due to his admiration of the late singer and previous work with him in the 90′s. Bare in mind also that due to its initial intention to be an ep; this is the shortest NIN album with only 6 songs and roughly a half hour of runtime. Knowing how full the band’s albums can feel at times; this may not be a bad thing but time will tell.

Shit Mirror: This opening track starts off with some aggressive loops or guitars; never sure which is which with this band lol. It warms itself with its initial rhythm and Trent infuses himself into the mix with a much rougher and muffled vocal style than usual and seems to give a very cluttered feeling on the song. The drums and interesting brass elements certainly will provide the listener with quite a bit of activity to focus on. The song does well in the notion that it establishes a nice party atmosphere for somebody to play in the background. Because of this it won’t capture heavy emphasis from the listener when focused directly on. I still find it to be an interesting opener for this album/ep experiment and hopefully leaves the listener with enough of an impression to carry further on into the album. 7/10

Ahead of Ourselves: Now this song begins with electronic drum loops and immediately screams 90′s era David Bowie. The reviews that i have read have referenced Bowie’s album Outside in particular but i personally feel this initial opening is more in tune to Bowie’s follow work Earthing (which i reviewed). This open seems energetic but pretty simple and Trent centers himself in the back of the mix to further build the electronic rhythm of the song. Brass makes an interesting return to this song but the strongest attention grabber is the aggressive drum bashing combined with harsh screams from Trent. This segment will bring fond memories of Trent’s aggressively gloomy style from his 90′s heyday. Like the previous song it comes off as a song meant to be played in the background rather than as a front and center piece. Definitely not a bad thing but if you were to try and over analyze it; the song is going to feel like it is more empty or formulaic than you may like. If you don’t like that kind of mindset then getting into this band may not be for you yet. I would still check Downward Spiral and With Teeth first before giving it a final decision; but so far this album should be complex enough to get you thinking about his work in general. 8/10

Play the Goddamned Part: This track begins with a low bass rhythm and a rather groovy electronic loop that will make it very interesting to dance along to and enjoy a drink over. Brass fades its way in much more blatantly than on the past songs and will bring further David Bowie elements into the album. This brass component is a very strong element in Bowie’s last album Blackstar so if you like this then make sure to check it out. This is an instrumental piece as well so you will definitely find yourself treated to a much stronger focus on complex instrumentals. I actually really like that he decided to bring brass here because his give’s then band slightly fresher sound and exposes a longtime fan to something risky and new; even if you can point out a few very blunt comparisons. 8/10

God Break Down the Door (Single): Now this is the first and probably only single for the album. Electronic loops and strong jazz drumming begins the song off on an energetic note. You almost don’t even notic that this the start of another song since this sounds like a natural progression of the last song so it gives a nice sense of unknowing fluidity to both songs. Trent experiments with a vocal style that bares elements of big band vocals (think Frank Sinatra) but is most likely another throwback to David Bowie’s style since it is very comparable to Bowie’s base vocal style. This style fits specifically for Bowie in his late 90′s era up to his death since he seemed to take on a more classical approach himself (vocally)  during this period. I definitely wouldn’t have picked it as a single for promotional purposes since nobody would think to guess that this is a Nine Inch Nails song. At the same time though; it is a good pick for single because it is just that; a song that isn’t what you’d bring to mind for Nine Inch Nails and showcases probably the biggest risk/experiment that the band takes on this album. That alone should be enough to help give this album a little extra substance to stand strong on. 8/10

I’m Not from This World: This is the second instrumental track on the album and arrives with an eerie extraterrestrial type sound. It is very soothing to the ears and will bring the listener into a rather deep state of relaxation and contemplation. It is a slow building piece so be patient since it is just under six minutes long. The next song is longer at just under 8 so the remaining tracks on the album are going to take their time to make sure you notice them. For an instrumental i really like this one since it brings forth a heavy dose of tension into the atmosphere and would be perfect for a soundtrack to a thriller film. Between the break for the ep project and the last album Hesitation Marks (i reviewed) Him and Atticus were focused on a bunch of film and tv soundtracks. I Believe this lengthy collaboration is what made Trent Reznor grow comfortable to name him as an actual member in the band since everyone before him barely was allowed input on record and were just for touring. Call it a douchebag move for Trent but it’s his project and vision so if he wanted to limit the scope that others could participate; it is entirely in his right and surely they knew what they were singing onto as well. 9/10

Over and Out: This finale piece begins with an 80′s like electronic rhythm and almost flirts with the concept of jazz qualities, Loop wise it has strong comparisons to both Nine Inch Nails’s earlier instrumentals and some of Radiohead’s work on King of Limbs and their Kid A/Amnesiac albums (i reviewed all three). Other than that this one definitely is another slow boil for the listener to focus on; though the softer chime interludes are very soothing and will leave much for the listener to contemplate over. Trent arrives vocally after the first three minutes to deliver more of his Bowie-styled vocals; which are basic but play heavy emphasis on building a deeply moving rhythm on the song. Lyrically substance will be hard to find but it gives a nice push for the instrumentals to liven up a bit. After this it fades away with a soft closing and leaves this short album feeling rather full in my opinion and completed as such. 7.5/10

Overall album rating: 7.9/10

Well this was interesting one to quickly put on and take off of my promotional list. It is short but as i said before his lengthier stuff has had the habit of being a but tiring at times due to the scope of what they have aimed for. This one certainly has that effect as well towards the end but provides to engaging listening music that is good to carry about you day to; party to; and to some small extent contemplate over. I would check it out after having acquired a firm taste for the band’s style since this album doesn’t go out of its way to try and win new fans over. It’s simply an enjoyable experiment that Trent wanted to do and in doing so put out music that he simply wanted to make; nothing more nothing less. Tomorrow i should be pounding out another album for review since i gotta keep up on my anniversary sheet since i haven’t really scratched much off of it this year. Enjoy your day everyone and i will see you next time!

[ulyssessklein]

Behind an all-star Americana collaboration (Mark Erelli interview)

How a “largely unknown independent folksinger” partnered with Sheryl Crow, Rosanne Cash, Josh Ritter, Anaïs Mitchell, and Lori McKenna on his new single.

It’s funny to hear Mark Erelli describe himself as “largely unknown,” since I’ve admired his songwriting and singing for years. But I suppose all things are measured on a scale, and weighed against the Taylor Swifts of the world, his assessment is fair. That being said, he’s a frequent sideman for both Josh Ritter and Lori McKenna, and in the smaller world of folk singer-songwriters, he’s well respected for his own music too.

Aiming to make Americana’s first socially-conscious, multi-artist project (like “We Are the World,” only with more acoustic guitar), Mark recently recorded and released a single about the gun violence epidemic. He called in some favors from a number of other notable singers, including Ritter and McKenna, Sheryl Crow, Rosanne Cash, and Anaïs Mitchell — and partnered with Congresswoman Gabby Gifford’s Courage to Fight Gun Violence organization, which receives 100% of the proceeds.

“By Degrees” is a great song — Rosanne Cash called it “the most compassionate, vivid and non-preaching anti-gun violence song I’ve ever heard” — so I wanted to ask Mark Erelli some questions about the writing process, the collaboration, and what it’s like to distribute and promote a song that has such a clear social purpose. My thanks to him for taking the time.

Mark Erelli on songwriting, collaboration, mysterious music revenues, and laundry.

As someone who admires your songwriting, I’m curious — if you can average out such things — how much stuff do you throw away, compared with how much you keep?

I guess it depends what is meant by “throw away” and “keep.” I might have anywhere from 15-30 new songs when I begin making a new record that will ultimately only have 10-11 tracks on it. It might seem that I throw away as much as 2/3 of what I write, but the just because something doesn’t make the record doesn’t mean it’s discarded.

Some songs get used on future recordings or as part of a concert set. Some of those songs have imagery that I love, but it’s not enough to carry that particular song. Oftentimes, the same or similar lines may appear in a completely different context in a newer song, but does that mean I threw the first song away, or was it just a draft that I had to work through to get to the one I “kept?”

How do you know whether it’s time to discard it, set it aside, or move ahead?

If I’m trying to decide what stage a song is at in this process, the guiding principle is always “what am I trying to say?” Does the song communicate an idea clearly, does it evoke a deep emotional response? If it does, I keep it. If it doesn’t, then I know I’m not finished with it yet. This process can take an hour or two or, literally, years.

“By Degrees” has four strong verses, but for me the real punch of the song happens in verses five and six, when we have to consider the children. Maybe that means I’m as numb as anyone to the feeds and headlines and arguments you refer to earlier in the tune, but Jesus, the kids! When you were writing, did you discover those verses later in the process, or did you start with the kids, and reverse engineer the song? 

I don’t always write linearly, but I think in the case of “By Degrees” I did write the earlier verses first before following the river downstream. It’s not religious, but it is a very “moral” song, in the sense that I felt the need to explore why all these little changes and degradations matter. Adults, at least some of them, can think critically and see how we got to where we are. But the thought that this sort of gun violence might be the only sort of world my kids knew was and remains a sobering thought, so bringing it back to the kids felt like a very natural conclusion.

As I write in the song, I really don’t know what to tell my boys (ages 8 and 11), so I have not had any explicit conversations about societal gun violence with my kids. They’ve heard the song many times, of course, but I’m not sure those later verses have sunken in yet.

Why make this song a collaboration?

I grew up in the 80’s with MTV and I still have vivid memories of things like “We Are The World,” where multiple artists banded together behind a common message. Not that my song is on an equivalent scale, but I felt there was a place for a project like this in the Americana scene. It’s a relatively new designation, and though many great artists identify or are identified with the genre, there really hasn’t been a socially-conscious, multi-artist project like this before, that I can remember.

Ultimately, I am not alone in my struggle to comprehend how we got to where we are, and having multiple voices sing the song kind of emphasizes that this is a problem that we all face collectively and will all have to work together to solve.

How does this kind of collaboration work, I guess first in terms of asking the artists and getting permissions, and then actually piecing the vocals together? Lots of Dropbox?

So much Dropbox! I would have loved to get everyone in the same room and run it down, old-school, which would have saved me months of work. But when you’re a largely unknown independent folksinger, you’re calling in too many favors to work that way.

The whole collaboration started with Rosanne Cash, who was aware of the song and had sung it with me before at a Brady campaign fundraiser. I knew I would need help bringing artists on board, but I felt that if Rosanne wasn’t into it, then it was basically a non-starter. Thankfully, she is so generous and supportive, and it only took her an hour or so to respond enthusiastically.

From there, it was just a matter of dreaming up artists to work with and seeing what connections we had with them. The band signed on right away, so I was able to at least build a good basic track and sing a guide vocal, so artists would get a sense of what they were signing up for. Once people did commit, they basically each sang their verses at different studios, Dropboxed us the files, and mix engineer Lorne Entress did a painstakingly brilliant job of making it all sound cohesive and musical.

How did you come to work with Gabby Gifford’s organization?

For some reason, I have never thought of this song as anything other than one that should raise money for some other group that is doing good work in the fight against gun violence. There are so many that are addressing this issue—Moms Demand, Sandy Hook Promise, Everytown —but Rosanne was the one who suggested and put me in touch with Giffords.

How has the promotion for this song differed from your past releases? Like, I noticed the song has its own website.

I’ve never released a standalone single song before, but it turns out that if you want to do a good job getting it heard than you basically have to do everything to promote and publicize it that you would a full-length record.

The biggest difference was timing: I didn’t get the final verse vocal til just after Labor Day, but the Giffords folks really wanted the song to help amplify their efforts leading up to the midterms. So we basically had to rush to assemble a promotional team on very short notice. I got a few “we don’t have time for this” sort of responses, which I could sympathize with because between my own records and sideman work, I didn’t really have enough time to work on this!

But it was something I felt compelled to do that just happened to have a well-defined political, non-musical timeline, and I just had to find champions who felt similarly compelled to get involved. Fortunately, Signature Sounds, Brad Paul Media and Songlines all came on board, donated their services and gave it their all on very short notice. I am extremely grateful for their efforts.

When a song has such a clear purpose, does it free you up from some of the usual ego things that songwriters deal with when sharing or promoting their music?

Completely. I find it very difficult to talk about the worth of my own material, though I obviously wouldn’t devote my life to something I didn’t fully believe in. But if there’s a bigger purpose other than “look at me!” it makes it a lot easier to push for people to listen to it.

For example, with the Milltowns record, I really wanted to shine a light on the legacy of Bill Morrissey, so it was a lot easier to advocate for it. “By Degrees” was the same way—I don’t make a cent from this. It’s not enriching me personally in any way or selling out concerts for me. It’s just something I’m doing because I know what doing nothing looks like and I can’t just stand by anymore.

I don’t really know how to do political organizing and push for legislation; all I know how to do is write and sing songs that hopefully support the ones directly engaged in those efforts. It feels very good to put myself in service to the music and an idea larger than my own gain.

You’re a professional songwriter and performer, but I’m curious about your day-to-day work that happens away from the guitar or stage. How much of your life is emails, booking, promoting, packing lunches?

Next year will mark my 20th year as a professional musician, and it’s a bit dizzying to think of how my day-to-day routine has changed over that time. The biggest change was becoming a parent, and since I’m home a lot of the weekdays most of my work happens during the school day, between 8 am and 2 pm. I can be pretty productive in that time, but I have to be ruthlessly efficient and come up with a plan for every day.

My average non-gig work day is as scheduled and planned out as anyone who works in an office, and it has to be if anything is ever going to be accomplished. I’m up between 5-6 am everyday, making lunches, doing the morning routines with the boys. After drop off, I head straight to the gym for swimming or lifting. It’s about 9 am after that, so the next 5 hours can go any number of ways, though several loads of laundry are nearly always involved.

If I’m taking a day to do office work, I can spend that entire time keeping up with emails, social media, and advancing gigs. More often than not, I spend those 5 hours rehearsing for whatever I have coming up next. Could be shedding Josh Ritter or Lori McKenna tunes, reminding myself how to play bluegrass, working out and rehearsing set lists for solo shows, and more. I like to say that I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and I haven’t been bored since 1998.

And what’s the revenue picture like for you? Are you earning a living mainly from your own touring? CDs and vinyl sales? Sideman gigs? A little bit of each?

It’s a bit of a mystery to me how it all works out, because I get income from several different streams, and they seem to tag team at random to for the distinction of being the most lucrative.

Sometimes I’m doing lots of solo gigs and that’s where the money comes from, other times it’s a lot of sideman work, which is great because it’s all income and no expenses. I’ll occasionally get a recording session or something like that, and then there are modest checks from Soundexchange, CD Baby for digital online sales, and ASCAP royalties.

Every once in awhile, an extra zero will really surprise me at the end of the payout, which is lovely but completely random and can’t be depended upon. For example, my ASCAP check just tripled for one month and as best I can tell, it’s due to recent airplay of a song from a 16-year old record…in Belgium. I’ve never performed in or even been to Belgium, so that about sums up how unpredictable and capricious making a living as a musician can be. I basically look up at the end of every month and think “holy sh&t, I did it again!”

What’s up next?

I’m working on my 12th full-length album of originals, and it’ll hopefully be released in fall of 2019.

Check out Mark Erelli’s website for concert dates, music, and more.

[Photo by Lara Kimmerer.]

The post Behind an all-star Americana collaboration (Mark Erelli interview) appeared first on DIY Musician Blog.

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A tale of two cities and murder

Harry Bruinius, CS Monitor, February 14, 2018

BALTIMORE AND NEW YORK--Two American cities, separated by just 200 miles along the Northeast corridor, tell two very different stories about the crime of murder.

Just look at last year’s numbers, their raw inverted symmetry, each historic and jaw-dropping:

Baltimore, population 615,000, had 343 murders last year. That’s a murder rate of 55.8 per 100,000 people, the highest the city has ever seen.

New York, population 8.5 million, had 290 murders last year. That’s a murder rate of 3.3 per 100,000 people, and the lowest the city has seen since it began keeping modern records, going back at least 70 years.

The cities’ inverted symmetry is visible in other ways as well. More than three years after its officers subdued Eric Garner in a chokehold, causing his death, the New York City Police Department has reported fewer stops, fewer arrests, and fewer complaints. Presiding over three straight years of record lows in overall crime, the NYPD now points with pride to New York’s status as one of the safest big cities in the world.

Almost three years after its officers subdued Freddie Gray and took him on a “rough ride,” causing his death, the Baltimore Police Department has also reported fewer stops and fewer arrests. Presiding over two all-time high murder rates in three years, the BPD is in turmoil. Two officers in the elite gun task force were found guilty this week of racketeering and robbery, forcing prosecutors to drop or re-open more than 125 cases. The mayor fired the police commissioner. And some community leaders are complaining their police force is not doing enough to protect their neighborhoods.

With numbers so stark, the stories these two American cities tell invite an obvious question: Why? What has New York been doing right? Why is Baltimore in such a state?

Flash back to 2011, and the stories were different. There were 196 murders in Baltimore, the first time the city had fallen below 200 homicides in more than 30 years. Officials and community leaders marveled at the dropping numbers.

It seemed their efforts were finally paying dividends. Forget the puns about Bodymore, Murderland. Maybe the city’s troubled western neighborhoods could finally find gleams of cautious optimism, or even hope to see the dawn of a civic and economic revitalization, just like that of Baltimore’s famous inner harbor, scene of “The Star Spangled Banner.”

In New York that year, there were 515 murders. The city’s 20-year run of plummeting murder rates seemed to flatline. The city was tense. Police officers were stopping and frisking nearly 700,000 people that year--more than the entire population of Baltimore.

City officials and community leaders were waging bitter battles over those ever-increasing numbers, and 2011 would mark the crescendo in the NYPD’s decade-long surge in the aggressive street tactic.

It seemed these efforts were driving deeper divisions. Forget the mean streets of New York. For dozens of civic groups, the most pressing need was to stand against the tactics of the nation’s largest police force, and many within black and Latino neighborhoods were bristling under what they called a virtual police state. Many saw the city’s famous statue in its inner harbor not as a beacon of liberty, but irony.

Which abounds, actually, in the country’s stories about the crime of murder. By 2014, the year of Eric Garner’s death, the United States was experiencing its lowest murder rate in 51 years: 4.5 per 100,000.

The nation is still in the midst of what criminologists call “the great crime decline,” in fact. Since its peak in 1991, the country’s overall violent crime rate has fallen by more than half.

By the numbers, the United States hasn’t been this safe overall, as Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) said of New York earlier this year, since “the Dodgers played in Brooklyn and a slice was 15 cents.”

But it doesn’t feel that way to most Americans.

Besides Baltimore, other American cities, such as Chicago, Detroit, and St. Louis, have also experienced troubling spikes in murders.

These were the primary drivers behind a double-digit jump in the nation’s murder rate in 2015, the largest in a quarter century. Based on preliminary numbers, experts predict the US murder rate to drop some 5.6 percent in 2017.

In many of these cities, too, these spikes occurred in the midst of the deaths of unarmed black men during encounters with police. The emergence of Black Lives Matter and the controversy over NFL players kneeling during the national anthem have laid bare the nation’s deep-seated racial anxieties, and the long-standing tensions between police departments and black communities.

Which is one reason why the historic stories of murder in New York and Baltimore feel so urgent now.

Since getting out of prison about a year ago, Nathaniel Powell has had a burning sense of purpose: Teach these kids on the streets of Baltimore their actions have consequences, he says.

He was telling his story on a Sunday afternoon in January, standing in front of a group of mothers who had experienced the murder of a son or daughter. They were holding their monthly meeting, sharing their own experiences of loss at St. John’s Alpha and Omega Pentecostal Church in west Baltimore, one of the most violent neighborhoods in the country. A few blocks away, the first sparks kindling the riots of 2015 erupted, part of a wave of unrest in the city after the homicide of Freddie Gray.

“I’m sitting here, fighting back tears listening to y’all,” says Mr. Powell. “It’s humbling, because I was one of these little kids.... I was one of those narcissistic little kids carrying a semiautomatic weapon. That’s the environment I grew up in in west Baltimore.”

In 1996, when he was 17 and the United States was just starting to recover from one of the most serious crime waves on record, Powell shot a Baltimore police officer. He served nearly 21 years in prison for attempted murder.

Now, he tells the mothers, he’s making a documentary film, “The Code of The Street,” highlighting the devastating effects of making decisions rooted in violence. His film, and his visits to schools and civic groups to tell his story, is aimed at the young black men most at risk. He came this afternoon to ask mothers to tell their stories on camera, so kids could see the deep anguish their actions could cause.

There were activists meeting with the mothers, too. Community organizers from groups such as Moms Demand Action, Marylanders Against Gun Violence, and the National Survivor Network were updating the mothers on various legislative efforts to address the social conditions behind the jaw-dropping spike in murders.

But here at St. John’s Pentecostal, there’s a strong current of what could be called a common-sense conservatism.

That mirrors a general social and religious conservatism common to many black Protestants, as well as to the congregations that often form the backbone of black political life, especially that of older generations. Despite being the Democratic Party’s most loyal and reliable base, scholars say, black Americans are ideologically quite diverse.

Many within the group, Mothers of Murdered Sons and Daughters United, describe themselves as supporters of the police department. Their group has co-sponsored police initiatives, and remains a part of “We Speak Up,” a collaborative project with Metro-Crime Stoppers and other faith groups to combat the anti-snitching culture in Baltimore, a non-cooperation with police that allows murderers to stay on the streets.

“We need the front-line police officers and we need the heart of the black community to step to the forefront of this discussion,” said the Rev. Kinji Scott, a local pastor who’s held positions in city government. “And that’s when we’re going to see a decrease in crime.” Those who called for police to back off after the death of Freddie Gray, Mr. Scott told NPR, were “our progressives, our activists, our liberal journalists, our politicians, but it did not represent the overall community.”

Powell, who now lives with his wife and two children, says he pondered this question for years while in prison. He believes that individuals and families must change first, before their wider neighborhoods can change.

“It took something to revolutionize my perspective on life for me to change as a person, as an individual,” says Powell. “And it wasn’t having a gun or not having a gun, because a gun don’t hurt people; people hurt people. If wasn’t a gun it would have been a knife. If it wasn’t a knife it would have been a bat. If wasn’t a bat, it would have been a stick.”

One of the mothers had a question, however, a question on most all of these mother’s minds: “What caused you to do this?” she asked. “What happened at home? What made you do what you decided to do?”

Powell remembered how hard his own mother tried to keep him in line, and he told them he thought it was never the mother’s fault. “I got whoopin’s, real whoopin’s, the kind of stuff a person would get locked up for now these days,” he says.

But without the guidance of a man in his life, he says, he learned how to handle his emotions on the street “from somebody I wasn’t supposed to learn from.”

“I wanted to be respected,” Powell says. “I didn’t care what happened. If I felt disrespected in any kind of way, I’m going to get this fully automatic weapon, and I’m going to procure it, we’re going to strap up and come through, and we’re going to shoot your block up.”

What he needed, and what kids now need, he says, is consistent adult male guidance, engaged role models for teens at an already volatile age. Families need men to teach their boys “about who you are, where you come from, and where you fit in relation to everything going on around you.”

“We have to make sure that our kids is getting raised and taught right, because the first formal organization outside yourself is your family, your family structure, and then it’s the community, because the community is a collection of families, and until you get that foundation strong, we’re going to keep producing these little kids who don’t think nothing about nobody,” he says.

The issue of single parent households and the absence of black fathers has a long and stormy history going back to the 1965 Moynihan Report. It was also a controversial theme of President Barack Obama, who grew up without a father, and said to many black fathers were “acting like boys instead of men.”

In 2008, Mr. Obama cited figures that showed children who grew up without a father were “five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime, nine times more likely to drop out of schools and 20 times more likely to end up in prison.” However, the direct correlation has been vigorously contested, and other surveys suggest a much more complicated picture.

Most of the mothers agree with Powell. “I’m not a legislation-type person, either,” says Daphne Alston, president and founder of M.O.M.S. “I will support things, I just believe in being on the ground--it’s important to me that we touch each child individually,” she says. “That’s how we’re going to change what’s going on.”

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