john.
i type, you read. simple as that.Archive for June, 2008
review: “inherit” by free kitten
“inherit” by free kitten, released on ecstatic peace
to those of you who thought kim gordon (sonic youth) was dead, you’ve got another thing coming. on may 20, 2008 after over a decade of not releasing anything, her band free kitten is back in business with their newest studio release “inherit”. the band consisting of gordon, julie cafritz (pussy galore), and yoshimi p-we surfaced in the early 1990s with a few releases, and a spot on the lollapolooza tour, but since the mid-90s, we have heard nothing from the group, as the members put the band on hiatus to persue other ventures.
… i suck with sounding formal.
let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of it all. i just took a listen to the album and it sounds like the frumpies and new sonic youth birthed a child; i mean that in a good way. the album is a departure from the band’s previous works which in my opinion sounded like a punked-up version of sesame street songs (don’t throw me up on the cross for that comment, hell, i like the old free kitten stuff). with that in mind, this album marks a shift in the band’s songwriting ability; straying from the really simple, short songs that they had released in the past to this new, richer sound. the vocals in the songs range from a lullaby (ala frumpies), to random shouting, along with gordon’s off-kilter vocal style that she’s rolled with since her days in sonic youth.
the music is comprised more-so of richer guitar sounds, playing more with distortion and deeper chords, it gives the music a more relaxed feeling to it which makes it perfect for listening to while driving… i’m just putting that out there. it’s one of those albums that you can just turn on and putter around to; you know, it just blends really well and it makes for great background music… on the other hand, at times the songs are worthy of cranking and air-guitaring to.
whether you think kim gordon is a pseudo-artsy hack, or a genius, you’ve got to admit that this new album is pretty damn good (if you’re into that art-rock kind of music).
now if you don’t mind, i’m going to go break out some old sonic youth cds and get absorbed in the 90s.
rating: 3.5 old baggy plaid shirts out of a possible 5
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what’s on my plate
random collection of thoughts time:
- got my paycheque for being an extra in “amelia” today… HELL YEAH!
- it’s been two days without coffee so far. i’m going to start scrounging change.
- summer’s been somewhat eventful so far
- possibly driving to sackville soon to get tubski
- getting my rage-on at tracy’s canada day eve party tonight
- i need to clean up my room
- i forgot how not-so-refreshing it feels to take a shower on a humid day
- i should probably start buying more LPs
- re-downloading my music has made me realise not only how many bands i had downloaded that i really just didn’t listen to (because i was a lukewarm on them), but on another hand, just how much time i’ve probably wasted downloading
- i’m just happy that i didn’t have to pay for it
- a tim hortons drive-thru is calling my name
PS – hi, dee
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heed my words
first and foremost, i’m downloading music that i’ve lost and bands that i’ve been planning on downloading for a while. because of this, i finally decided to download both albums by “maylene and the sons of disaster”, and i’ve got to say that i’m really impressed… seriously, look them up, kids.
last night ended on an interesting note after all, tonight was spent mostly in hantsport celebrating a friend’s birthday watching a punk show out of a garage followed by a bonfire… quite a bit of fun, i’ve got to say.
played some of the new songs for people tonight and it was really well received… that makes me a little bit more confident about starting recording sometime soon and actually makes me want to get a head-start on it… i’m waiting on the macbook though.
speaking of the macbook, i’m hoping that it comes in on monday, if not, wednesday (tuesday is canada day); i’m pumped to finally get it.
choppy post, i know. don’t crucify me for it, this is basically a representation of my thought-process.
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it’s friday night
it’s friday night and i just got off work. went to the grocery store with logan for a bit, now i’m waiting for malcolm to answer his phone because he wanted to hang out after work and we’ve been invited to come by tracy’s for a barbecue/bonfire.
this is the life i lead. i know you all wish you had this existence.
first weekend out of high school and the highlight so far is either going to a grocery store, or accompanying logan shoe shopping.
you can start being jealous now.
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watch out, world
it’s 11 pm. i hop in my car, light up a cigarette, turn on some music and start driving toward wolfville, then it hits me: i’m a young adult now, hell, i’m bordering on adult. i’m moving out in september, i’m off to big-kid school, i’m majoring in theatre. somehow i’m blocking out thinking about student loans and other forms of financial aid at the time because i’m more focused on the fact that i’m done high school.
it’s weird when you realise that you’re making the shift to becoming more independent. it’s weird when you realise that university and life after high school isn’t some far-off notion, but that it’s only two months away… i’m talking about university. it’s weird to think that in two months i’m not going to be woken up during naps by my dogs barking. i don’t know, it’s little things like that that are kind of throwing me for a loop.
the year off high school gave me perspective, it helped me get my priorities straightened up and throw things on-track, but it’s just odd to think i’ll have freedom resembling that along with the independence of living away from home.
don’t pay much mind to this, i’m rambling, but it’s just weird to think that things are going to be changing.
i like this change though, hell, i’m welcoming it with open arms.
i’m going to make the future my bitch.
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the chopping block
so lately i’ve been in a bit of a groove and i figure that the best way to map out some of my plans would be to spill my thoughts out in this thing.
for the past while i didn’t put much thought into music on my own; i spent most of my time writing stuff with bands, or doing other things, but i realised that it had been a good long time since i had sat down and written a song with an acoustic guitar. in december i started writing again after not creating anything worthwhile since i was in the eleventh grade. with that, i began re-working songs that i had written before to bring them up to par with the stuff i was writing (i got a little bit better at guitar, and had a better sense of song structuring). at first, the process was slow, but just in the past month i’ve written about three full songs that i’m really pleased with; the next step is to compose more for these songs because while they sound nice just with a guitar and singing, a lot more could be added.
after some coaxing from logan, i’ve decided to start putting a focus on writing music on my own and possibly getting something recorded; i’m going to be turning to friends to add parts to it, but from what i’ve tried so far, the sound has been nice. it’s a change of pace from the music that i’ve done before, but i really enjoy it… plus it’s nice not just covering other people’s songs on acoustic guitar for once; i’ve actually got a “set” of about seven songs or so right now.
plans for the summer are to write between four and seven new “skeletal” songs, then start adding other parts to them (probably with some help). i’d like to start recording by the end of the summer, because i do have the equipment available (or at least some of the equipment), and i’d like to maybe have something done and ready to show by the winter.
i don’t know, it’s hard to talk about this kind of stuff without sounding pompous in some way; to be completely honest, this is just something that i’m doing for fun, and it’s a pretty do-it-yourself venture, but that’s how i’d like it to be. maybe i’ll perform, maybe i won’t, although as cliched as it sounds, it’s kind of in my blood.
it’s good to have hobbies.
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the last twenty-four hours
i’m pretty tired and just in from safegrad, with that in mind i’m going to make it so i don’t need to be overly-coherent.
- my external hard drive died and is non-recoverable, so i’ve lost ALL of my music (to put it into perspective, i had an iTunes playlist of over 10 000 songs), and all of my digital photos from the last four years
- yearbook selling and hanging out with people in wolfville was nice
- an encounter with a not-so-pleasant waitress made my food not want to settle properly
- i graduated honors with distinction and received the advanced placement english literature 12 medal. not trying to brag, just regurgitating information
- received some very nice scholarships; not as much as i would have hoped for, but the other ones went to deserving people, so i can’t complain or brood
- safegrad was pretty fun. highlight being hanging out at the pool, the downer being the chaperones losing the coffee that i had just purchased (they took it at the door and said they’d be taking it to some sort of holding area where they didn’t end up leaving it). also couldn’t smoke… almost got hypnotized, but it didn’t really work (i’m kind of skeptical about the whole thing. it just sounded like relaxation at a yoga class to me), it was fun hanging out with malcolm and everyone though
- just got in. i’ve been running on very little sleep for the past week and i think i’m ready to crash.
- still waiting on the macbook, but it should be in relatively soon so i’m still reeling with excitement.
- I’M ALL DONE HIGH SCHOOL. OOOOOH YEAH.
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more rambling, less content
so i’m kind of surprised to see that people are actually visiting this and reading; i’m not one to religiously check up on these things, but i looked at the “stats” page, and i guess i’ve got an audience to entertain. with that being said, sit back and relax while i go on like the little dancing monkey that i am to you.
i know it’s been a popular topic lately, but this whole graduating thing is almost over with… the official ceremony is on wednesday night which i suppose i could say is tonight, and it’s going to be a bittersweet event; safegrad, though, will be quite the interesting time. i must say though, i’m glad to have survived grad practice today, which was made better by the fact that a few of us grabbed lunch afterward then went swimming. today was actually quite full of swimming considering that later on i picked up dray and we went swimming at the resevoir at about 10 pm or so.
acadia emailed me telling me that they have ordered my macbook so i’m basically pooping myself with excitement. this should be a good week if canada post holds up its end of the bargain and i get the damn thing on time.
i should sleep.
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an open letter
an open letter to the guy that tried to get on my girlfriend in front of me at prom party:
for future reference, it’s probably not in your best interest to go around asking girls if they want to screw around in your tent in front of their boyfriends. especially if their boyfriends are much bigger than you. especially if you ever call their boyfriend “gay” in front of them after you ask the girlfriend if she’ll join you in your tent.
i’m just putting that out there. lucky for you, i’m a non-violent person, but others aren’t as passive-aggressive as i am.
i’m not posing a threat or anything, but i’m giving you advice in case you ever try to solicit random girls for sex at parties again.
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i’m through
wow, so high school is basically over… looking back on the past year, i’ve got to say that i’m happy that i sucked up my pride and just went back to high school. after starting correspondence/having all that fun just being out of full-time school, i assured myself that i would never turn around and go back to high school, but that wasn’t the case. correspondence rarely works out and i ended up taking the year off as a total write-off, coming back last september to get my crap together and just finish it up in one foul swoop. now i’m off to university and september and just generally pumped about everything.
major props to logan for basically keeping me sane this year. there have been many times where i’ve been smothered by everything that i’ve had to do, and he’s been the one that’s figuratively cracked me upside the head and brought me back to the real world. i’m tired, you know what i mean.
prom went well. prom party went really well too.
ah snap, it’s almost over.
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