I Must Try Ginger Bears

I have no idea how to get them though. Google suggests ordering them. That might take too long.

Flight, Black You Wore

"Flight"


"Black You Wore"


Now I know I've gone on record as saying that you should be cautious of any band whose guitarist uses more than two pedals (and you should probably run if the bassist uses any pedal other than a tuner), but tonight after one peanut butter cup and one KitKat, the effects sound pretty alright.

And besides, it's a computer, not pedals. Even worse? Yeah, maybe.

Picture via.

Railroad Town

A rendition of "Red Sun" by Neil Young from the album Silver and Gold.

When the red sun sets
on the railroad town,
And the bars begin to laugh
with a happy sound,
I'll still be here
right by your side,
There'll not be anyone
in my heart but you.

And the dreams that you're having,
they won't let you down,
If you just follow on
'cause you know
where you're bound,
The well will be flowing
and the words will come fast,
When the one who is coming
arrives here at last

On the grassy hills
of the railroad town,
Where we cut through the fences
and over the crown,
Where wind was blowing
right through your hair,
I dreamt that my Momma
and Daddy were there

And the dreams that you're having,
they won't let you down,
If you just follow on
'cause you know
where you're bound,
The well will be flowing
and the words will come fast,
When the one who is coming
arrives here at last

When the red sun sets
on the railroad town,
And bars begin to laugh
with the happy sound,
I'll still be here
right by your side,
There'll not be another
in my heart but you

Snakehead

Silver Days

At 27 seconds into the song you can hear a car backfire, not a gunshot.





picture via That Will Be Fine, from here.

Searching for Heavies

Picture via uuiuu.

Oaken Wings

Old Oaken Bucket of Wings.



Thank You, I'm Sorry, I Love You. Make that ukulele ring.



I cannot stand watching people eat wings. It's just ding.


Jared Cheek, the back of Corey Fogel:

Chunklet's Answer to Oblique Strategies

I always liked Chunklet's answer to Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies cards, so I finally got around to scanning it. Such a funny, smart publication. Try using these next time you're in the studio working on one of your jams.

First Nips of Fall

I went and took a walk out in the new, crisp fall air with my little guitar, and the ideas for notes came to me, the same way that powdered faeries come to Tori Amos and give her lunar song-gifts.













Minor detail: Built to Spill was probably playing a show down the street at the same time I was recording these. Maybe they're bleeding into a few tracks.

A New Kind of Pedal

So I started trying to learn to play the pedal steel guitar two days ago. I don't own one or anything, but there's one at my friend's recording studio, and when I found out that he had one, it sort of dawned on me that I had always really liked the sound of the pedal steel, and I've probably said at one point or another that I wanted to learn to play. It just sounds really mystical the way the notes bend in and out, and it's one of the true great American instruments. So I go over to my friend's place as often as I can to try and practice. I had a real breakthrough last night because I found a chart that shows what pedals you use to make what voicings at certain frets, so that clears up a lot of the mystery. It turns out you can just think of everything as being chords, so that helps. The code has been ever so slightly cracked. Although what I really need next is one of those hex tools that tunes the pedal bends. I have no idea where to look though.

Here's the first thing I've made up on this instrument. It's nice to work with something that makes you really not sound like yourself. I realize it's pretty sloppy, but either I will remain sloppy and that will be my style, or I'll get better at this instrument in the future, and then look back on this one day and think it's cute.



This instrument belonged to a respected Bloomington musician who passed away recently. This makes me really savor the opportunity I have to play it. I'm thinking about maybe buying it. I mean, what the heck, right? When I'm older and have children, it'll be that weird thing that their friends might catch a glimpse of when they come over to play "opto-tweeters" or whatever will be popular in the future.