on the verge

the (former)sorry state of my glasses - adjusted them last night and snapped one lense clean off the wire bridge that holds them together...I usually never break glasses, and now in the last year i've broken two pairs. c'est la vie. Meanwhile, I'm out of right eye contact lenses (which is a big deal because my right eye is essentially twice as blind as my left eye). So it is tape for me for the next few days until I get some contacts, and a metaphorical flag to hoist declaring my DIY devotion. (in the week it took me to get this done amidst preparation for first show, this was pushed back and my mother got my glasses sent to me!)



Rob and I have not practiced in a long time, since prior to Seattle, and we have a show on Friday in San Francisco (I hope you're not reading this Sammy). I think we'll end up doing an awesome job, but who knows. One other thing that is cool is that Sammy dug up from the vaults something from our old band, Humblebee, and spiced it up. We never played any shows, and just used an 8 track to record some songs in my bedroom using a borrowed Marshall half-stack and my father's drum set. The songs are more like sketches than anything else . Weirdly, some of it sounds a bit like feeble Durutti Column worship, which is great. I love the Durutti Column! Also, at some point this will link to a discussion on why I feel that artists that subtly reference progressive/radical politics but make beautiful music that is only tangentially related, if at all, to their political stance can be more effective both musically and politically. Leaving a sense of mystery that allows the listener to explore if they so choose to do so, rather than enforcing one type of political critique that is usually unsourced; don't do my reading for me.

Anyway, hopefully someday soon Sammy will post the remixed Humblebee song, but it's interesting to see how much production can play a difference in a song, and in fact, totally invert it. Dub is probably the prime example of this. But Sammy took a heavy guitar and drums song with one main riff, and added a bunch of synths on top that seem to blossom over the top of it.