unfinished business.
This is my last regular post for the Nonalignment Pact. It's been a good run, but it's probably been obvious for the last couple months that the well is running dry in all senses: my reservoirs of time, ideas, passion, and inspiration. So it's time to step down and let some fresh blood in.
Perhaps my biggest regret is my unfortunate tendency to start series that I don't finish. So, it seems fitting to close things out with a few endcaps:
The Island. Perhaps someone is wondering what the hell happened to my track-by-track dissection of FULL FORCE GALESBURG by The Mountain Goats, while the majority of you are just fucking grateful you don't have to hear The Mountain Goats every week on the podcast. I'd love to tell you what happens to Island Doug in the end, but the truth is that the series was an experimentation with an open-ended narrative, and it stalled out because I reached a point where I had no idea of where to go. All I really want to say is that, for those who only listened to those eight songs and liked what they heard, pick up the album and listen to the other eight songs. I particularly recommend "Evening In Stalingrad". The lyric "your eyes were glacial and your promises all rang true" never fails to stir up something profoundly wistful in me every time I hear it, like nostalgia for a love I've never had but could imagine instantly on the basis of that line.
Electronic Music That Doesn't Suck. This series was cancelled because I didn't discover any other electronic music that didn't suck.
Aw, just kidding. There's some okay stuff that I recommend in various styles, from Fennesz to Pole to Quarks, just nothing that I ever felt like writing about.
The Crucible. This was my plan to reminisce over an old list of concerts that I'd been to that I found. Cancelled because, well, who really gives a shit? Some selected names that were on that list (a piece of paper I can't find at the moment because I'm packing): Robert Plant, David Bowie, Midnight Oil, 10,000 Maniacs, Anthrax/Public Enemy, and The Mike Gunn. (Playing at a club called MOD, if memory serves. I remember the opening band, Brown Paper Dog, more vividly, partially because it was the only time I saw them and partially because the bassist broke the G string, looked for it for a while, couldn't find it, loudly announced "G strings are for sissies!", and proceeded with the rest of the set on a 3-string bass.
The Experiment. Noted in passing at the end of the post was my plan to spend whole weeks listening to only one kind of music to see how it affected my mental and well being. This didn't happen because I was genius enough to go work on a music show, which basically made it impossible to control music. (Though, truthfully, most every show I work on would involve music, so who am I kidding to think I could have ever pulled off this experiment?) I'm sure the results would have been obvious. By the way, the final episode that I edited of that music show will be posted here from Wednesday night or so; it's the South Africa episode, and in my humble opinion the best of the three shows I edited.
The Best Shows. Apparently I began this post and didn't even get it posted. There's lots of treacly prose surrounding it, but basically it was an excuse to share YouTube videos from live bands that changed things for me in a major way. Namely -
Jawbox
(Also, weirdly, I found a clip of Shudder To Think, who were on tour with Jawbox in 1992 when I saw them, playing at that very show I was at! Revel in the Axiom nostalgia!)
Crash Worship:
Dog Faced Hermans
The Boredoms
Chaos And Control. I had forgotten completely about this one, truth be told. And considering I wrote this novel (still my best NAP post ever, probably; definitely my longest) the week after, no wonder I couldn't remember. I'm sure it ultimately would have been something controversial like "a mix of chaos and control is optimal in music", which isn't exactly inventing the calculus, so no big loss.
---------------
Is that all the unfinished business? Probably not. But it's probably already more than most people cared about. I don't say that disparagingly; I have a complex about disappointing people, and I find in truth that if I give the chance they are more often than not more forgiving of me than I am of myself.
And with that, I'm off. Next week, I'll be in LA, then I'll be in Michigan, visiting my family and backpacking around Isle Royale with my father and brother, then going to the Pitchfork Music Festival and a wedding in South Bend, Indiana, then back to LA, then back to Auckland, where I'm moving into a new flat, and immersing myself into filmmaking to an even greater extent than I currently do. At least, that is the plan.
Take care, and I'll be around when I can. Thanks, everyone, it's been a great time.
Perhaps my biggest regret is my unfortunate tendency to start series that I don't finish. So, it seems fitting to close things out with a few endcaps:
The Island. Perhaps someone is wondering what the hell happened to my track-by-track dissection of FULL FORCE GALESBURG by The Mountain Goats, while the majority of you are just fucking grateful you don't have to hear The Mountain Goats every week on the podcast. I'd love to tell you what happens to Island Doug in the end, but the truth is that the series was an experimentation with an open-ended narrative, and it stalled out because I reached a point where I had no idea of where to go. All I really want to say is that, for those who only listened to those eight songs and liked what they heard, pick up the album and listen to the other eight songs. I particularly recommend "Evening In Stalingrad". The lyric "your eyes were glacial and your promises all rang true" never fails to stir up something profoundly wistful in me every time I hear it, like nostalgia for a love I've never had but could imagine instantly on the basis of that line.
Electronic Music That Doesn't Suck. This series was cancelled because I didn't discover any other electronic music that didn't suck.
Aw, just kidding. There's some okay stuff that I recommend in various styles, from Fennesz to Pole to Quarks, just nothing that I ever felt like writing about.
The Crucible. This was my plan to reminisce over an old list of concerts that I'd been to that I found. Cancelled because, well, who really gives a shit? Some selected names that were on that list (a piece of paper I can't find at the moment because I'm packing): Robert Plant, David Bowie, Midnight Oil, 10,000 Maniacs, Anthrax/Public Enemy, and The Mike Gunn. (Playing at a club called MOD, if memory serves. I remember the opening band, Brown Paper Dog, more vividly, partially because it was the only time I saw them and partially because the bassist broke the G string, looked for it for a while, couldn't find it, loudly announced "G strings are for sissies!", and proceeded with the rest of the set on a 3-string bass.
The Experiment. Noted in passing at the end of the post was my plan to spend whole weeks listening to only one kind of music to see how it affected my mental and well being. This didn't happen because I was genius enough to go work on a music show, which basically made it impossible to control music. (Though, truthfully, most every show I work on would involve music, so who am I kidding to think I could have ever pulled off this experiment?) I'm sure the results would have been obvious. By the way, the final episode that I edited of that music show will be posted here from Wednesday night or so; it's the South Africa episode, and in my humble opinion the best of the three shows I edited.
The Best Shows. Apparently I began this post and didn't even get it posted. There's lots of treacly prose surrounding it, but basically it was an excuse to share YouTube videos from live bands that changed things for me in a major way. Namely -
Jawbox
(Also, weirdly, I found a clip of Shudder To Think, who were on tour with Jawbox in 1992 when I saw them, playing at that very show I was at! Revel in the Axiom nostalgia!)
Crash Worship:
Dog Faced Hermans
The Boredoms
Chaos And Control. I had forgotten completely about this one, truth be told. And considering I wrote this novel (still my best NAP post ever, probably; definitely my longest) the week after, no wonder I couldn't remember. I'm sure it ultimately would have been something controversial like "a mix of chaos and control is optimal in music", which isn't exactly inventing the calculus, so no big loss.
---------------
Is that all the unfinished business? Probably not. But it's probably already more than most people cared about. I don't say that disparagingly; I have a complex about disappointing people, and I find in truth that if I give the chance they are more often than not more forgiving of me than I am of myself.
And with that, I'm off. Next week, I'll be in LA, then I'll be in Michigan, visiting my family and backpacking around Isle Royale with my father and brother, then going to the Pitchfork Music Festival and a wedding in South Bend, Indiana, then back to LA, then back to Auckland, where I'm moving into a new flat, and immersing myself into filmmaking to an even greater extent than I currently do. At least, that is the plan.
Take care, and I'll be around when I can. Thanks, everyone, it's been a great time.
6 Comments:
Man, I am totally going to miss your posts... from all the people who write for this I most often identify with your taste in music, from the mountain goats to beirut... you also offered some nice series, which is something else i like and will miss. (Here's something i've learned about series in blogs - one doesnt have to "finish" them). Anyways, it's been a real pleasure being part of this with you. good luck with the filmmaking... and please stay in touch. Oh, an you also have the coolest location of all of us... how are we ever going to get anyone from anywhere as cool as NZ?
Yours were the posts I liked the most. Sorry to see you go.
come back!
You have always been thoughtful and intelligent. I wish I could say the same of myself. Best of luck.
echo justin's comments. we will miss you. please stay around.
Thanks for the kind words, everybody. I'll be reading as often as possible.
For those that don't know but do care, I blog intermittently at matchframe.blogspot.com. Any interesting announcements (or uninteresting blather that I feel compelled to share) will come through there.
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