Tuesday, September 27th, 2016 – An Exemplification of My Current Life

I’m currently funemployed. I’m coasting off money accrued from two years teaching in Taiwan and spending my time catching up with family and friends. I’m about to start a trip out West to see even more family and friends. Thus, I’m not looking for work or any sort of “stability” or “purpose”. As I result I feel very hedonistic. Not in the dictionary sense of sex, drugs, rock and roll*, but in the fact that my actions have no purpose outside of to entertain me.

Listen, Watch, Read: September 18th, 2016

LISTENING

So I know I said I listened to Angel Olsen last Listen, Watch, Read, but I gotta tell you, my listening of Angel Olsen (not just MY WOMAN but her entire discography) increased exponentially. Let’s look at the curve:

Riot Fest 2016

I’ve already posted about one experience I had at Riot Fest, but that was not about the music and RIOT FEST IS (despite it’s name which would imply some sort of rioting or social change) ABOUT MUSIC. So this post is about the music I listened to and enjoyed. The music that made me want to join a band and jump around on stage and jam and perform, having fun and releasing copious about of energy. How does one find people to jam with?

Regardless, sets I watched and enjoyed: Worriers, Summer Cannibals, Kitten Forever, Hard Girls, The Julie Ruin, Bleached, Dee-1, Nots, The Meat Puppets, Gwar, and of course, Sleater-Kinney.

Listen, Watch, Read: September 11th, 2016

LISTENING

On the 18-hour journey homeward bound from Maine, I listened to 4 Spotify playlists: 1) all of Nirvana, 2) all of Sleater-Kinney, 3) an amalgam of Riot Fest artists I was curious about, 4) Angel Olsen’s MY WOMAN.

If You See Something, Say Something – Riot Fest Edition

So Kitten Forever has just finished a really good set. The crowd is transferring from standing in front of the Rebel Stage to the Storyheart Stage adjacent to watch White Lung. I’m far enough back that all I have to do is turn my body. But I’m not really digging White Lung, so I scan the crowd. Then I notice a man, his camera up in the air, zoomed in, but not on White Lung. He is zoomed in on the body of a woman 10 yards away.

Listen, Watch, Read: September 4th, 2016

LISTENING

Listen, Watch, Read: July/August 2016

So…. I’ve been traveling. Two weeks in South Korea / Japan and four weeks in Nepal. I’ve been home in the States about three weeks so far and figure it’s time to get back into the swing of things, so…

LISTENING

Young Marble Giants were a band in the late 70s from Wales and frankly I dig their sound. Minimalist, repetitive, drone, but with a low-fi, punk leaning and lyrics that are interesting. Their set up kind of reminds me of Girlpool (also two guitars). Some of their songs – like “Colossal Youth” – sound rather poppy, while others – like “Credit in the Straight World” – have more of a edge to them. And then songs like “Wurlitzer Jukebox” lie somewhere in between. Also, Kurt Cobain named Colossal Youth as one of his top 50 albums.