And We're Back

So I finally got off my ass and deleted a bunch of the old recordings that were on my web space and so I could finally make the link to the song in the last post work. Here's hoping the legions of people who previously read my blog will come flooding back and bring their friends. And while they're here they should check out the hottest new punk band in Worcester, MA, Kid Omega at their myspace page, the address of which is:

www.myspace.com/kidomegaband

This Is Not A Politcal Blog

This is not a political blog and that said, when I talk about what I did yesterday I will attempt to bring it back to music. Yesterday I went with several of my friends into Boston to see Barack Obama speak at a rally at the World Trade Center. With a minimal amount of gushing, I would like to say that the man made me a believer. I think the time is right to have a candidate with perfect comedic timing and that candidate is Barack Obama (seriously the man makes jokes, he's enjoying himself). The way I tie this into music is that of all my experiences in life, the rally was most like the first time I saw Against Me! play live. This is before they went all hypocritical and changed their sound to suit a more commercially viable audience (Note how I did not use the reactionary 'sold out'), back when they believed and you could believe with them. That was the show where I found myself singing along with the man next to me, smiling and nodding to each other even though we had never met. Last night after a particularly important point I yelled "Yeah" at the same time that the man standing next to me said it. We turn and acknowledged each other and when later as the rally built into a fervor and the man muttered to me "He has to win" it seemed normal. I waited in line for 3 hours, my calves and back were dead, and in that line I talked and made friends the way you can in a crowd of just under 10,000 people who all have the same goal for just a brief time. This is what punk music has always meant to me, in the face of cynicism and the status quo joining with other people, however different, who share our veiw to support the cause we believe in.
To that end I've decided to make my first musical post the new song that Kid Omega is doing. The song is called Elysion. This is the original acoustic demo I did.

Elysion

Bad News, Worse News, hope?

So first the good news that didn't seem to find its way into the title. I finally finished (for the most part) the song I have been trying to write for a couple of months now. To say that I am pretty excited would be a mild understatement. The bad news was that as I was playing to the first person (Dana) to hear it, in fact as I strummed the last triumphant variation of a D chord, the D string snapped. This means that, until I put new strings on the guitar, I can't record the song as either a demo to send to Greg or to post here. In fact I can't record anything to post here (yeah yeah excuses excuses). The worse news is that Greg in his wisdom did some research and it would appear that the booking agency I was so excited about is a scam so that's kinda the end of that.

In far more positive news I went on a bit of a buying spree at my local independent record store and picked up among other things the (comparatively) new album from Canadian Indie rockers The New Pornographers, Challengers. I was surprised to notice that apparently I had been ignoring my itunes labels and have been enjoying a track off of Challengers for quite some time now. For me at least, the song Mutiny, I Promise You is the standout of the track from the pipe organ hook at the beginning to the echo-y boy girl vocal build of the chorus and finally the chorus itself a simple two line affair that was what attracted me to the song in the first place. Other favorite tracks on the album include the call and answer Myriad Harbor and the opener My Rights Versus Yours. As far as the overall sound of album its the same catchy and melodically complex stuff as previous Pornographer's albums but it struck me that it seemed there was a bit more of a folk/country elements to a number of songs which I hadn't remembered from other work by them. Even when she wasn't singing, it reminded me a bit of singer Neko Case's solo work. In all an excellent use of my money I feel (and I so rarely feel that way).

A final note about formats. I bought the album on vinyl and since the band is on Matador records the vinyl comes with a free mp3 download of the songs. A couple other labels do this as well including my personal favorite Saddle Creek. It is without a doubt my favorite trend in music today. Singlehandedly it has made vinyl a reasonable format to purchase music in again. I guess the new mp3/usb turntables do too but I don't have one, so screw 'em.

No new music but a new resolution.

I haven't got a new recording yet because my room is still utterly filthy but I thought I'd let everyone in my new idea for the blog. Besides the theoretical recordings which I hope to begin posting again soon, I will be adding some more links soon and hopefully be doing some reviews. If i get a new album, finish a book, see a new movie or go to a concert I will provide you, my readers, with my thoughts on it. If this sucks please let me know and I'll stop but for a while there I was kind of doing this anyway and it seemed to be going pretty well. Also I'm hoping I'll have news about the band to impart so that will find it's way in here. The current news is that BigTime booking out of Boston has contacted us (which I was sure was never going to happen again) and they have added us to their roster and will be trying to find us some shows in the area. This is exciting.
Going back to a previous note, I recently saw the new National Treasure two movie with my friend Lauren (that's Bama to most of you). and it is........kind of awful. But funny if you're into that sort of thing.
I promise that the new reviews will be better than that.

Lots of apologies to anyone still tuning in

As the title says, I'm really sorry about the dearth of new posts/ recordings of late. For a while there I was trying to get through finals with tests to be studied for and papers to be written and I couldn't really spend the hour and a half or so I spend a night trying to figure out what to play let alone actually recording it and posting it. Now that the semester is over and I am back home I have only to clean up my room enough to set up the mic stand without breaking things. The good news though is that the blog should be back in a couple of days and the better news is that I'm going to be doing a bunch of original bits of songs and complete songs so I can get them in there before people realize that I'm doing the blog again.

Also: Tautology is my word of the week. Look it up and if you see me try to get me to use it so that it becomes part of my vocabulary. The prize for this game is that if you do it and remind me, I will write you a song of thanks. (I know, I know "pretty super duper prize there Keegan!")

Riff Numero Tres

Today's recording is another riff because as the semester winds down, I am less and less inclined to sit down and record a song. I would like to give special thanks to Greg Burton, for showing me how to play the D7 chord that comes in towards the end of this so

***The Wonky D Riff

Back Again

So I said I was back and then I disappeared again and I'm really sorry about that. I understand that the only way to get ahead in the blogosphere is consistency and in failing that, I not only let myself down, but I let you my readers/listeners (?) down as well and I apologize. Hopefully it won't happened again thought I think it is more likely I will be taking weekends off more often. That said, I have what I think is a really good reason for being away. I spent quite a good bit of time this week working with Greg recording his Christmas song for the Asthmatic Kitty and personally I think it sounds pretty awesome. But don't take my word for it because the finished product that was sent off to the label is today's recording. NOTE: The format for this one is a bit different from what I've used before it will probably make you download the song. But thats not the end of the world right?? A whole free Kid Omega song just for you (and whoever else).

Drawing In Fog