Monday, September 23, 2013
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Friday, March 6, 2009
The Cult Of Done Manifesto
1. There are three states of being. Not knowing, action and completion.
2. Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get it done.
3. There is no editing stage.
4. Pretending you know what you’re doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you’re doing even if you don’t and do it.
5. Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it.
6.The point of being done is not to finish but to get other things done.
7. Once you’re done you can throw it away.
8. Laugh at perfection. It’s boring and keeps you from being done.
9. People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right.
10. Failure counts as done. So do mistakes.
11. Destruction is a variant of done.
12. If you have an idea and publish it on the internet, that counts as a ghost of done.
13. Done is the engine of more.
The Cult of Done Manifesto by Bre Pettis and Kio Stark
Friday, January 30, 2009
[The Buddhist texts] are not meant to be "sacred scriptures" that tell us what to believe. One should read them, listen to them, think about them, contemplate them, and investigate the present reality, the present experience with them. Then, and only then, can one insightfully know the truth beyond words.
Sumedho Thera:
sit like a rock
from conditions, things arise.
build your gardens.
icestorm practice drill.
earthquake volcano ocean floor.
it's not meant to be a strife.
it's not meant to be a struggle uphill.
two mice fell into a bucket of cream.
one gave up, drowning immediately.
the other swam, churning the cream.
climbed out on the butter.
a nation of immigrants.
didn't mean to get so wrapped up.
thick headed, it's service to others.
a scratch turned scab.
no time for kissy face.
it's insane.
build your gardens.
icestorm practice drill.
earthquake volcano ocean floor.
it's not meant to be a strife.
it's not meant to be a struggle uphill.
two mice fell into a bucket of cream.
one gave up, drowning immediately.
the other swam, churning the cream.
climbed out on the butter.
a nation of immigrants.
didn't mean to get so wrapped up.
thick headed, it's service to others.
a scratch turned scab.
no time for kissy face.
it's insane.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
this is posted over at buzzgrinder...
Hey Folks! I hope this finds you well. Before I dive in, there are a few things about my top 10 records list. Firstly, I have purposefully omitted some of the bigger guns/scene darlings.
Everybody loved Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, Cut Copy, etc… myself included. Okay, not everybody. However, there were a ton of amazing records out there that hipster bloggers didn’t make love to on a daily basis, therefore not pushing their buzz into a fever pitch, vomit inducing fervor. Secondly, its more of a collection of favorites, so they are in no particular order, and i don’t even necessarily think they were the “best.”
They just spent lots of time pumping out of my iPod. Thirdly, year end lists are so last year. And finally, every record gets a pro and a con… and it’s kinda long. Sorry. So here goes! Happy new year!
Honorable mentions:
Paul Westerberg - 49:00
Air France - No Way Down EP
Atlas Sound - Let The Blind Lead…
Eric Copeland - Alien In A Garbage Dump EP
El Guincho - Alegranza
Plants & Animals - Parc Avenue
Chad VanGaalen - Soft Airplane
Pro: Bedroom recordings have made a big comeback in the last few
years, and VanGaalen makes no effort to hide his love of the lo-fi, much to my delight. Imagine a younger, depression-fueled Neil Young if he had been a big fan of Guided By Voices and Neutral Milk Hotel.
Con: VanGaalen’s voice sometimes ventures into the quivering kind of territory that makes groups like Bright Eyes completely unlistenable for me, if unlistenable is even a word.
Tobacco - Fucked Up Friends
Pro: Imagine a garage band influenced mainly by hip hop beats and rhythms doing their best impression of Boards Of Canada and you are heading in the right direction. Tobacco is also the lead vocalist for Black Moth Super Rainbow, although this album is largely instrumental.
Con: As with many laptop records these days, you can tell that Tobacco used a similar layering formula for the entire record, so it can get a little “samey” at points, ifyouknowwhatimean? Still, its catchy as hell, with more bounce to the ounce.
Marnie Stern - This is it and I am it…
Pro: It’s hard to go wrong with Zach Hill of Hella fame pounding the skins on your records, but Stern manages to upstage even him. It’s like a cheerleader squad performing to early Dillenger Escape Plan or Gorguts with Sleater Kinney handling the choreography duties.
Con: The record title is stupid long. This songs don’t leave you much room to breathe. I hear she will kiss you for a few dollars. Stern’s vocals often fall into a kind of pulsing cadence that can sometimes grate the ears, other times massaging them.
The Ruby Suns - Sea Lion
Pro: A Californian living in New Zealand, Ryan McPhun and his Ruby Suns crafted an album of densely packed, percussion fueled world-pop perfection. Imagine if the Polyphonic Spree were staffed with musical visionaries and weren’t creepy. Not really.
Con: I almost spit out my Diet Coke when i heard their wonderful tune Oh, Mojave being used in advertising to shill out the newest operating system from Microsoft, aptly named. The grade-school punk in me still cringes at corporate sponsorship. But hey! (props to Jay for use of the term “the grade school punk in me”)
Stars - Sad Robots EP
Pro: After loving 2005’s Set Yourself On Fire and abhorring their early 2008 release In Our Bedroom…, I was pleasantly surprised by this. Their live version of Going Going Gone makes the original sound like a bad cover. This release is soft and magical, electric tender feel.
Con: A very boring intro song that is more of an uninspired sound collage that never quite goes anywhere. The older I get, the more I enjoy a record that kicks your ass right off the bat. The rest is pure gold, except for some lyrics in french towards the end.
Annuals - Such Fun
Pro: I always enjoy a bunch of studio rats getting together and crafting an album of tedious musicianship. Using dynamics as a rule and not just a transitional point, Annuals can purr and roar with perfectly equal emotional pitch. This is goosebumps inducing music.
Con: There is one vocal styling employed by the singer that sounds EXACTLY like Christian from Blindside. Not a bad thing, but distracting nonetheless. Also, he is another subscriber to what I like to call “Band Of Horses vocal syndrome”, where certain words are given extra syllables and soft endings. Example: “dear” becomes “dee-air” and “down” becomes “dee-oun.” It’s annoying.
Why? - Alopecia
Pro: Yoni Wolf of cLOUDDEAD fame has a voice that is hard to mistake, which is sometimes a very bad thing for him. It’s definitely NOT a problem here, with the biggest surprise being how well he can sing. Imagine a group of Harvard students starting an experimental hip-hop group backed by members of The Flaming Lips, NIN and The Byrds. Not even close. Fatalist Palmistry is my personal jam of the month. This album has a resounding personal element which deepens upon multiple listens.
Con: I love this record. At one point, Wolf raps about “shitting his pants”. I guess that’s kinda gross and weird.
The Week That Was - S/T
Pro: I always enjoy a band with an intelligent and discriminating use of rhythm, and The Week That Was has this in spades. I especially love how you almost never hear a cymbal. Imagine Pinback with members of The Crystal Skulls and Fireside and you are getting there. Very clean. Very military. Very catchy. The Airport Line is my other jam of the month.
Con: This album is almost too perfect, which is hard to define. The old saying “A face is drawn by the scar” is appropriate here. The Week That Was could easily benefit from showing a few of their scars. Kids dig battle wounds.
Pyramids - S/T
Pro: How do you describe this band and this record? Its like two different musical things going on at once. Grindcore meets psychedelic shoe gazer? Death metal meets no wave? Whatever it is, I hope they keep doing it. Its like a sudden violent accident in slow motion. Like a tunnel.
Con: This record just pummels and plunders the listener with wave after wave of sonic psychotic paranoia. You definitely feel like you need a drink when its done… but then you just want to hear it again.
David Byrne & Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
Pro: Their first collaboration in thirty years, Byrne and Eno bring their vast and varied experience together once again to craft the sleeper hit record of the year. Byrne is in rare form, actually sounding hopeful… cocky even… instead of destined for doom. And as with anything engineered and/or produced by Eno, it sounds absolutely impeccable.
Con: As with most “senior moment” records, the tunes here can be a little long and drawn out. Vocally, Byrne is still his typical self, so if his stylings from the Talking Heads material isn’t your thing, steer clear. I personally just adore the guy… and his voice.
Hey Folks! I hope this finds you well. Before I dive in, there are a few things about my top 10 records list. Firstly, I have purposefully omitted some of the bigger guns/scene darlings.
Everybody loved Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, Cut Copy, etc… myself included. Okay, not everybody. However, there were a ton of amazing records out there that hipster bloggers didn’t make love to on a daily basis, therefore not pushing their buzz into a fever pitch, vomit inducing fervor. Secondly, its more of a collection of favorites, so they are in no particular order, and i don’t even necessarily think they were the “best.”
They just spent lots of time pumping out of my iPod. Thirdly, year end lists are so last year. And finally, every record gets a pro and a con… and it’s kinda long. Sorry. So here goes! Happy new year!
Honorable mentions:
Paul Westerberg - 49:00
Air France - No Way Down EP
Atlas Sound - Let The Blind Lead…
Eric Copeland - Alien In A Garbage Dump EP
El Guincho - Alegranza
Plants & Animals - Parc Avenue
Chad VanGaalen - Soft Airplane
Pro: Bedroom recordings have made a big comeback in the last few
years, and VanGaalen makes no effort to hide his love of the lo-fi, much to my delight. Imagine a younger, depression-fueled Neil Young if he had been a big fan of Guided By Voices and Neutral Milk Hotel.
Con: VanGaalen’s voice sometimes ventures into the quivering kind of territory that makes groups like Bright Eyes completely unlistenable for me, if unlistenable is even a word.
Tobacco - Fucked Up Friends
Pro: Imagine a garage band influenced mainly by hip hop beats and rhythms doing their best impression of Boards Of Canada and you are heading in the right direction. Tobacco is also the lead vocalist for Black Moth Super Rainbow, although this album is largely instrumental.
Con: As with many laptop records these days, you can tell that Tobacco used a similar layering formula for the entire record, so it can get a little “samey” at points, ifyouknowwhatimean? Still, its catchy as hell, with more bounce to the ounce.
Marnie Stern - This is it and I am it…
Pro: It’s hard to go wrong with Zach Hill of Hella fame pounding the skins on your records, but Stern manages to upstage even him. It’s like a cheerleader squad performing to early Dillenger Escape Plan or Gorguts with Sleater Kinney handling the choreography duties.
Con: The record title is stupid long. This songs don’t leave you much room to breathe. I hear she will kiss you for a few dollars. Stern’s vocals often fall into a kind of pulsing cadence that can sometimes grate the ears, other times massaging them.
The Ruby Suns - Sea Lion
Pro: A Californian living in New Zealand, Ryan McPhun and his Ruby Suns crafted an album of densely packed, percussion fueled world-pop perfection. Imagine if the Polyphonic Spree were staffed with musical visionaries and weren’t creepy. Not really.
Con: I almost spit out my Diet Coke when i heard their wonderful tune Oh, Mojave being used in advertising to shill out the newest operating system from Microsoft, aptly named. The grade-school punk in me still cringes at corporate sponsorship. But hey! (props to Jay for use of the term “the grade school punk in me”)
Stars - Sad Robots EP
Pro: After loving 2005’s Set Yourself On Fire and abhorring their early 2008 release In Our Bedroom…, I was pleasantly surprised by this. Their live version of Going Going Gone makes the original sound like a bad cover. This release is soft and magical, electric tender feel.
Con: A very boring intro song that is more of an uninspired sound collage that never quite goes anywhere. The older I get, the more I enjoy a record that kicks your ass right off the bat. The rest is pure gold, except for some lyrics in french towards the end.
Annuals - Such Fun
Pro: I always enjoy a bunch of studio rats getting together and crafting an album of tedious musicianship. Using dynamics as a rule and not just a transitional point, Annuals can purr and roar with perfectly equal emotional pitch. This is goosebumps inducing music.
Con: There is one vocal styling employed by the singer that sounds EXACTLY like Christian from Blindside. Not a bad thing, but distracting nonetheless. Also, he is another subscriber to what I like to call “Band Of Horses vocal syndrome”, where certain words are given extra syllables and soft endings. Example: “dear” becomes “dee-air” and “down” becomes “dee-oun.” It’s annoying.
Why? - Alopecia
Pro: Yoni Wolf of cLOUDDEAD fame has a voice that is hard to mistake, which is sometimes a very bad thing for him. It’s definitely NOT a problem here, with the biggest surprise being how well he can sing. Imagine a group of Harvard students starting an experimental hip-hop group backed by members of The Flaming Lips, NIN and The Byrds. Not even close. Fatalist Palmistry is my personal jam of the month. This album has a resounding personal element which deepens upon multiple listens.
Con: I love this record. At one point, Wolf raps about “shitting his pants”. I guess that’s kinda gross and weird.
The Week That Was - S/T
Pro: I always enjoy a band with an intelligent and discriminating use of rhythm, and The Week That Was has this in spades. I especially love how you almost never hear a cymbal. Imagine Pinback with members of The Crystal Skulls and Fireside and you are getting there. Very clean. Very military. Very catchy. The Airport Line is my other jam of the month.
Con: This album is almost too perfect, which is hard to define. The old saying “A face is drawn by the scar” is appropriate here. The Week That Was could easily benefit from showing a few of their scars. Kids dig battle wounds.
Pyramids - S/T
Pro: How do you describe this band and this record? Its like two different musical things going on at once. Grindcore meets psychedelic shoe gazer? Death metal meets no wave? Whatever it is, I hope they keep doing it. Its like a sudden violent accident in slow motion. Like a tunnel.
Con: This record just pummels and plunders the listener with wave after wave of sonic psychotic paranoia. You definitely feel like you need a drink when its done… but then you just want to hear it again.
David Byrne & Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
Pro: Their first collaboration in thirty years, Byrne and Eno bring their vast and varied experience together once again to craft the sleeper hit record of the year. Byrne is in rare form, actually sounding hopeful… cocky even… instead of destined for doom. And as with anything engineered and/or produced by Eno, it sounds absolutely impeccable.
Con: As with most “senior moment” records, the tunes here can be a little long and drawn out. Vocally, Byrne is still his typical self, so if his stylings from the Talking Heads material isn’t your thing, steer clear. I personally just adore the guy… and his voice.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Our Present States of Being
"Individually, many of us are feeling more and more unmoored and dislocated – the result of old ways beginning to break down around us. Reality first begins within the etheric realms and many of us are feeling these subtle realms. The physical reality of form and matter are the last to break down. Bursting through the etheric into form and matter was/is the financial situation that seems quiet at the moment but will accelerate in 2009. There is no solving of the financial crisis and humanity stands at a transition point between the old dissolving and new not yet created (which we must do together). While many of us don’t know where we’re going yet, most of humanity is going about as if business is usual. The ads in the newspapers for Christmas sales have created stampedes of shoppers that in some cases have resulted in deaths of workers (WalMart, Long Island). This is an example of extreme greed and the continued fanatical desire for “things.” I will paraphrase Thomas Friedman…if this economic breakdown were a 24-hour period; we are just in the first 5 minutes."
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