b l o g . b o x o f d i r t . c o m

A New Bridge = New Setup

2010-03-09T17:29:00.001-07:00

Every couple of years, I like to really mess up my instruments by hanging something new and chrome on 'em. The orange one plays great again.

A Darwin Award Waiting to Happen

2010-03-09T11:10:00.002-07:00

On a rototiller:

Outstanding.

2010-03-07T22:02:00.001-07:00

Jeff Bridges did rule in Crazy Heart. I'm glad that he won. Dances With Aliens didn't win. That pleases me very much. The Dolphin movie won for best feature documentary--I still want to see that. I actually saw a few of the docs nominated. I need to see more movies, though.

I despise Alec Baldwin. I wish that they'd had only Steve Martin.

"A Coming Storm" for Ross.

2010-03-07T18:30:00.007-07:00

I didn't realize that Ross didn't have a copy of this song. Hopefully, he'll tell the story in a "Behind the Music" comment. I could totally be remembering this incorrectly, but I think that it's a metaphor about meth addiction. With no lyric sheet, I'm totally speculating. Why didn't we do a lyric sheet?!? I still dig my playing with all the open strings on the chorus.

This one's ostensibly from a live recording at the Elsworth house in June 2004--some of those wound up on the record, but we were sick of hearing this song by the time we pared down the tracks. I think that we cut it live to the mighty ADAT, and apparently didn't mix it. If I remember correctly, I was fighting off a summer illness and had a fever that had me seeing elves. It's not too shabby, even if it's rather raw:

A Coming Storm - Live at the Briney Deep - June 2004

This one's from The Local Shakedown on November 21, 2003. We played pretty alright. I was house-sitting (again with a nasty fever, too). It was really cold outside. Check it out:

A Coming Storm - Live on The Local Shakedown - 11-21-2003

This one was supposed to go on a 7" for Menace to Sobriety Records, which folded as soon as we submitted it. It was recorded in January 2004 (I think) by "Magical" Trevor Morris at The Furnace Room in Englewood. It sounds really slow to me. Trevor didn't have enough microphones at the time, so the bass was recorded in an overdub (I think that I did it in a single take). We all were drinking grapefruit juice (from a can) and vodka. The session is pretty blurry to me because of that. Dig it:

A Coming Storm - from The Furnace Room - January 2004

I Think That This Is Right

2010-03-06T13:12:00.001-07:00

I totally messed up the migration tool to move the blog to a sub-domain. A big part of the problem is that I only know enough about DNS to be totally dangerous. Changing the CNAME records and shit halfway through the migration tool was a stupid thing to do, seriously. I got really panicky because of the evil TTL numbers.

I think that I can continue blogging away, but I have no idea how search engines are going to see stuff. I figure that I'll remove the old URL at some point. For now, it's a nice live backup.

I think that I lost the "Wet Bolt" comment. Oh well, it shows up on the evil Dashboard list. I'd love to do away with that silly bar up at the top, like I did years ago. Maybe I will move to a different platform.

This blog has moved

2010-03-06T08:57:00.003-07:00

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Cool--Probably My Favorite Piece of Music

2010-03-05T19:48:00.001-07:00

Why you've never really heard the "Moonlight" Sonata. - By Jan Swafford - Slate Magazine

A Wet Bolt?

2010-03-04T11:55:00.001-07:00

This is a weird fastener that is virtually impossible to find. Easy enough to fabricate, but I didn't really want to.

More Equipment Lust.

2010-03-03T19:02:00.003-07:00

I frequently lust for big, beasty (usually old) tube bass amps. It seems like one's always in the shop, though. Check out this beauty. I didn't even know such a thing existed. I've been impressed with Matchless amplifiers for wicked loud wicked tone, even if they're like a ship's anchor. I can't even imagine what 200 watts of Matchless bass amp could sound like. The dude is askin' $4,500. I won't be getting it, but it stokes my jonez for more 200-watt tube bass amps. I really need to find something in a 100-watt machine for BLC. Maybe an Ampeg V4B?

I did pick up a new distortion box that's pretty wild, even if it's totally digi. It's actually a lot more evil (in a good way) than I thought. I've dialed up a couple presets (it has six available slots) for use this Friday at practice. I found it online and totally had to pick it up because there's nothing else out there that's really innovative--everything's either Rat-based, Muff-based (bad luck with that box; it's being fixed though), or TS-based, it seems. I wanted a clean blend and a noise gate, and I got it. I wanted a flexible eq, and I got it. Programmable and MIDI and morphing and multi-band and foldback and octave was just gravy.

We all know how much I love gravy--just ask my arteries.

Shutter Island

2010-02-27T20:12:00.002-07:00

I heard that this was supposed to be a decent movie from listening to Coast to Coast AM. Dude said that it had a twist, so I was ready to be totally disappointed (a la Memento--probably the biggest piece of crap ever). Since it's a Martin Scorsese film, I figured that it might be well done. Indeed it is. Totally worth the price of admission, even if I thought that I had it figured out. I actually did by the halfway point, but I second-guessed myself, so it was worth the wait through to the conclusion.

The cast includes some heavy-hitters: Leonardo DiCaprio (I couldn't remember his name...thus, he's "Capicola" to me), Ben Kingsley; and Max von Sydow. I liked Michelle Williams from the gay cowboy movie. Ted Levine completely vibes me out, still. I was convinced that De Niro was in there, too, but it's actually Elias Koteas done up to look like De Niro in that Frankenstein movie.

It's actually decent, although I can't deal with Capicola doing older roles--he's only two months older than me and hasn't oxidized as much, so he looks about 10 years younger. He couldn't convince me that he was Howard Hughes, and I'm still holding it against him.

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Now playing: Psyche - Goodbye Horses

Awesome

2010-02-27T13:47:00.002-07:00

I love imported toys.

Garbage Trucks Say The Damnedest Things.

2010-02-26T07:31:00.000-07:00

Seriously, like I even know what's going on.

I'm Interested.

2010-02-22T19:19:00.003-07:00

Since the Bass Big Muff took a shit at COJ practice on Friday, I'm still in the market for a fuzz. I'm convinced that EHX has a gnomes problem (certainly a big quality control problem). The Black Finger turns itself on and off randomly, and this one suddenly went microphonic on me. Lame. Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong? It Sounds pretty fierce:

I'm still lookin' for one of those Fender Sublime Bass Fuzzes to check out.

It's a perfectly sane food to eat.

2010-02-22T19:05:00.004-07:00

I don't eat hot dogs, but maybe I should. They seemed to be making news today. The "twinkie cheese dog" sounds like it could be a true test of my cholesterol medication:

Remember Fifth Third burger? Take our poll on what should be next West Michigan Whitecaps delicacy - MLive.com

Surely hot dogs are a subversive food now that Michelle Obama is combatting childhood obesity. The way I see it, the final solution to this fat kid problem is to kill 'em with hot dogs:

Pediatricians push for hot dogs to get warning label; 'kid-friendly' food poses choking hazard

Seriously, though...I warning label?!? It's my belief that all food should have a warning label regarding the choking hazard.

Spinal Tap Recording

2010-02-22T18:30:00.004-07:00

Yesterday we did drums for three songs. We've devised a technique to allow overdubs, while keeping a "live" feel (especially for the drums sake). I have no doubt that we could each chug through to a click track solo. It's a lot better to record drums, one guitar, bass and vocals in one pass. It seemed to work out for "Stevie Johnston", so we've kept it up. The next couple of weeks means overdubs of violin, vocals, bass, cymbals and several guitars. I really enjoy working with everyone in the studio because it's all about teamwork and everyone does their part for the art. After we finish up, it actually feels good; like we've accomplished something.

My orange one's new pickups seem to sound pretty nice. The Fralins are definitely more aggressive than stock. I actually used the Sansamp (check out the new and improved model) as intended instead of using a Radial DI. Greg commented that it's nice because it compresses quite a bit, so I don't have to be so careful. I still think that the damn thing sounds too bright, but it actually sits in the mix (very rough at this point) pretty well. It's not as crunchy as my amps, but it'll work for the overdub sessions for everyone. Apparently, that bass has a lot more sustain than I thought it did. It was out-ringing cymbals and Josh's Reverend. We're all standing around looking at each other at the end of each song, waiting for the bass to stop. It was a lot like this:

Organ Parts?

2010-02-19T16:51:00.002-07:00

Today I got asked if I'd like to play organ on a friend's upcoming record. Apparently, the word is out, and Jeremy Paul Jones rides again. I replied that I'd like to, but I can only give an Oklahoma guarantee as far as the quality of my performance goes.

¡Más de YouTube!

2010-02-19T16:42:00.002-07:00

From one of the saddest records ever.

This Sucks.

2010-02-19T12:58:00.002-07:00

Wow...Not Even On The Television News Yet

2010-02-18T17:32:00.004-07:00

Seriously. Channel 31 is more concerned that it's fucking snowing.

I can completely understand how someone can feel such a way. I've made it known that the Colorado Department of Revenue and Qwest aren't two of my favorite things. The IRS only sort of gets me down. My biggest gripes are with the inherent inefficiency in bureaucracy. I got in a (verbal) fight with a sociology professor about that once. Fucker.

There's some creepy (to me) details in CNN's Story:

Texas plane crash pilot: 'I have just had enough

It's crappy to crash a plane into an occupied building, for sure. My band mates also mostly avoid political and religious talk, because it could potentially tear the band apart. We're there to make beautiful music together, not bitch about the man. If something's really bothering any of us, though, it's not unusual to vent a little to each other. Both of my bands are quite therapeutic that way. They're awesome for me.

Crackin' Up

2010-02-18T16:05:00.004-07:00

When I read about this today, I totally went to pieces. I think that I was happy, which I am--that was my favorite show from last year (I had a huge stupid grin on my face for the entire set). I hope that the record doesn't turn disappointing on me.

As for the tickle me emo stuff, I'm counting on practice Friday (COJ) and recording on Sunday (BLC) to help pull me out of this very terrible funk that I've been experiencing for the last few weeks. I just about cut a finger off again today, so this is all going to be interesting.

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Now playing: Smog - Prince Alone In The Studio

This Is Really Great.

2010-02-16T18:30:00.002-07:00

Catch this fast, before he discovers it, and has it pulled. Circa 1984:

Thanks to the Westword for elucidating on this one.

The Internets Are Good For Something

2010-02-15T19:05:00.003-07:00

Even if I can't get over selling people mp3s, the internets are pretty cool for discovering music. On one of my frequented fora, someone posted about the bass sound on this:

It's totally got that earthquake kick drum, too. I do dig the blended/biamped glitchy fuzz tone bass. I wish that I could pull off sounding like that, but usually my fuzz sound sounds nothing but cheesy. I need to work on it, I think. I'm getting closer, though. I remember hearing playback on one particular recording, and being amazed at exactly how overdriven my sound is at times. Greg and I have sculpted some very nice bass sounds for the eminent BLC record. The funny thing is, it's mostly just a good passive DI, with the electric grandmother mic'ed about ten feet out. He used the 1176 to even out some of my excitement, much like McDonald did. (BTW--I've heard some of that guy's new stuff, and it's going to slay listeners when they hear it)

The moral of this long-winded post is that I'm checking out more of Oxbow's catalog.

A Soundtrack?

2010-02-12T18:38:00.005-07:00

This one reminds me of the notorious "Tough Talk" that the RC did back in the day. BLC is not sporty spice, but it's okay. We'll probably get used for some sad shit. Check out the trailer:

Battle for the Boot from Ryan Demers on Vimeo.

When we agreed to do "Tough Talk", I thought that it was a documentary about the Bluebird Theater. It's actually pretty damn funny and low budget:

It's not as interesting as the live score that we did for Bruce Bickford, but until Jan Švankmajer gives us a call (I'd shit, seriously), I'm happy with more movie usage.

Pirate Radio, Without The Pirates?

2010-02-09T19:04:00.004-07:00

That's what I get to listen to all day. My new mechanic, Vic, had to be broken of his "World Class Rock" habit. A couple of weeks ago I stumbled onto KYEN out of Severance, Colorado. They seem to play lots and lots of "deep cuts", including stuff that I've never even heard before. A couple of days ago, they played "Venus in Furs" which is one of my favorite tunes by the VU.

I love the noisy racket (and out of tune viola) on this YouTube find:

My favorite song has to be "Pale Blue Eyes", mostly because that's the song that blew me away when I heard the nascent Red Cloud duo do it at the hipster youth halfway house. It worked out with a sparse arrangement. I wish that someone had recorded that show.

Like the Muppet Lab

2010-02-09T07:54:00.001-07:00

Piston cooking and seal poaching (in a coffee pot). I guess I'm playing the role of Beaker.