influences

So I'm listening to FM96 online...just to hear them play us, really.

Observations:

Commercial radio is still garbage. FM96, admittedly, is slightly less icky than most. They do make a concerted effort to break new music. Good for them; it's not easy to swim against the corporate tide.

But then the bad news: the new music. As it turns out, it isn't all that much better than what currently stinks up our airwaves. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Most indie bands, while not entirely wretched, are the very epitome of gener-rock. Seriously...what are you people listening to? I suspect you all own the same ten CDs.

I've decided to offer my services. Improve your influences (and, consequently, your boring, faceless band) in just months. Here's the deal:

Your band probably does suck, but it's not entirely your fault. If you listen to crap, you can't really be expected to play anything but crap yourself. So, simply e-mail me and I will provide you with music to better inspire you. Consider it a summer "reading list" for songwriters.

Do I know better than you? Well, I've never met you, but...yes.

You're welcome.

sounds like rock and/or roll

I can't sleep after really good shows. Tonight was a blast...were you there?

I was incredibly stressed this week, but playing rock and roll has cleared my head. I'm thinking about nothing, and it's everything I thought it could be!

I'm not analyzing, synthesizing, questioning, or dissecting. I'm not lamenting or bemoaning, and I'm certainly not deconstructing. I'm not even pondering, assessing or evaluating.

Perhaps I need to rock out more often. It keeps me sane, methinks.

Well...almost sane. I am, after all, me.

Disorganizing my thoughts

My brain is full...of what, I'm not entirely sure.

I used to have an unhealthy obsession with time. This morphed into an even less healthy obsession with death. But these days, it's time again. Our lives are little more than a series of experiences based on our arbritary notion of time. When I waste a day, an hour, a fucking second...I know it. I hate biding time because biding time is wasting time. All we have between now and the time we die is time, which makes me simultaneously love and fear every second of every day.

Douglas Coupland once wrote that he feels "homesick for moments as they occur." I'm a little behind the curve.

I miss five minutes ago.

Two wrongs really DO make a right

When my CDs were stolen in December, I lost the now out-of-print Rhino reissue of the Plimsouls amazing debut album. After perusing the internet, I came to realize that this seminal power pop masterpiece would cost me upwards of $50 to replace. Apparently, it has become something of a collector's item since I bought it. Doh. Stupid record collector geeks.

But...

Today, I downloaded the entire album off a file-sharing program. Did you hear that RIAA?? You like that?? Come get me!! I am cranking every illegally obtained gem of a song up to 11!!

I've essentially stolen back my stolen CD. I couldn't have afforded this album at its current price tag. But, because of an anonymous (and generous) music fan, I can once again enjoy the life-affirming power pop perfection of the Plimsouls.

So...yay. Yay for file-sharing.