i know you're all panged by the thought of sifting through the suffocating saturation of bands on the black/death metal landscape. with so many bands, how do you know what's what? how does one define it?
there's only 1 (or 2) band(s) from each genre that matter. all else miss the point. don't even mention the 3rd/4th/5th/6th wave of bands that, rather than try to create something new, stick to an old idea with misguided reverence. they become cartoons.
and if you wanted to know the difference, this will illustrate perfectly. just sit back and allow yourself to transcend.
this is black metal. it is like the coldest european winter. darkthrone is all you need to know.
this is death metal. it is like a humid american hurricane. six feet under is all you need to know.
honorable mention (black metal): burzum
honorable mention (death metal): obituary
or you can play both videos at the same time. that's always fun.
been thinking about the process of music making. myth and mystery. how much to reveal, and what is best left a secret. since my songs don't really have "words" (oops!), i figure it's better to provide information that surrounds the songs, i.e. things i'm thinking about, etc.
i'm going to try something and upload tracks from the new album as i finish them...sort of like revealing the whole thing, piece by piece. but not in order. instead, it will be more logistical, to be honest. those i can get done faster, and done more in a more precise fashion, will get up. but of course, i am one who loves to focus on context, so i will no doubt be thinking about which songs are coming next...
since albums are pretty much dead, this might be an interesting way to work; a smaller quantity of songs (more EP like), and uploaded piece by piece (more immediate),
the first song i got done is "searching for the ghost of rasmussen"; it's pretty much a straight-ahead punk type song. has lots of "1,2,3,4" counts.
"searching for the ghost of rasmussen" is a direct reference to flemming rasmussen, the guy who had an important hand in those "classic" metallica ablums ("ride", "puppets", "justice").
track listing for "We Are Sloppy-Fi"
1. Kill Me(tal) With Kindness
2. Everyone Is Crazy, Except For Me
3. Yr Rock Is Mud
4. I Went To La-La Land, and All I Got Was This Lousy Sense of Self-Importance
5. Searching For The Ghost Of Rasmussen
6. Smells Like Synaesthesia
7. Feels Good, Man
8. We Are Sloppy Fi
(approx. 45 min total)
Well, I finally got this album printed. "Death To Westside Culture" was the album I immediately started working on after I finished "Sicks". I wasn't trying to to be so productive, but the music seemed to keep coming. This was by far the quickest, and easiest album I've ever made. I also feel it's my strongest. It seemed that "Sicks" was excruciatingly long to write (7 songs, over a year!), and perhaps that got me warmed up to crank out this one. "D2WSC" took about 4 months (8 songs, plus 12 b-sides). There's something to be said for the immediacy that happens when one is inspired. The frustrating thing was that this album was done in May of 2011, and only am now getting it printed.
Interesting factoids:
the title track, "Death To Westside Culture", was the last song written (although the album already had the same title), and the name is a loose concept about class warfare. I'm not one to get all political, but I've been immersed in boutique culture this past year (my day job), and it got me thinking...
"arbitrary movements of the hand" was titled as such when i was noodling around one day, i felt that i was--quite literally--arbitrarily playing chords in a random sequence, and i liked it enough to solidify it into a song. i also sang vocals along with the guitar as i was writing it, making it the only song i've ever done where vocals were written at the forefront of a songs inception.
in "i want to live", there are 2 layers of drums, a cowbell, washboard, jaws harp, and a tambourine. it almost didn't make the album...i thought the song was too self indulgent. i was also really pushing my vocals into a high register (something i've never done)
"interlude 10" started out as a simple guitar riff several years ago (written during the "V" album sessions), but never quite materialized into anything. it was the first song on the album that had vocals; i'm singing something about "the venus in the foreground". because of it's lightness, and relatively short length, i tagged it as another "interlude", as part of the ongoing "2v1 interlude songs". (the previous 9 "interludes" are sprinkled throughout all previous albums)
"wear again" was the first song written for this album, (it's original title was "sit on a cop on crack", a reference to an old 2v1 song) and even when the music was complete, i still felt it lacked something. so i turned to my friends caroll sun yang, and sarah newberry for lyrical inspiration. sarah had just finished publishing her first book of poetry, and i bought one, and asked if i could have permission to pull some of her writings for potential lyrics. she said yes, and i thought there would be plenty of material to create lyrics for the entire album. instead, i took several poems and totally re-positioned and condensed the words into one song. i also took 6 poems by caroll (things she's sent me over the years that were meant specifically for lyrics). it became a bit of a lyrical hodge-podge word salad. but there's a brash beauty in their words that i love. i will continue to approach caroll and sarah for lyrical/vocal input, as long as they'll let me. (oh, and don't worry, we'll be splitting the millions equally three ways on this song.)
the static-y noise you hear at the beginning of "i'll come running" (just before the vocals start) is me quickly repositioning the mic, so i can begin singing. the title is also a little "tip o' the hat" homage to one of my heroes, Brian Eno.
my wife Seadra walks in at the very tail end of "minimalism makes my teeth vibrate", so that's her you hear singing. she often sings in her very long commute home from the westside, and will at times carry that singing into the house. it just so happened that i was sitting there recording guitar when she walked in.
When "D2WSC" was finished, i was left with about 12 additional songs that didn't make the cut. i was also still writing, but didnt want to seriously commit to making another album so soon. so, i made a conscious desicion to put all the leftovers on another "Throwaways" album (another ongoing 2v1 series), which is an album of half-finished songs, and other ideas that popped up and presented in a very informal state, just after the "D2WSC" sessions.
Right now, I'm back in serious writing/recording mode, and working on a new album called "We Are Sloppy-Fi". This new album is going to be heavier, noisier, and more saturated with the clashing qualities that make up 2v1's ideas. It's going to have death, thrash, drone, atonal, folk, improvisation, and pop; all coming from an acoustic guitar.
Email me at info@twoversusone.com if you'd like a copy of "Death To Westside Culture"
You can also listen to it on twoversusone.com, or on the soundcloud page.
soundcloud is great because it makes it really user-friendly to embed your songs in a flash player, which can then be posted around the internet. unfortunately, there's a lot a lot of uninteresting sludge out there....everyone is an artist.
like any other social media site, independent artists use it to self-promote, often "following" hordes of people, in the hopes that it will help turn around and build into something bigger. i usually check out the tracks from most artists that "follow" me. if they're interesting, i follow back. i think it's good soundcloud etiquette. every now and then, i am truly "wowed" by some strange talent....
check this out...an ambient/folk duo called "Annie & The Crowman", based out of UK:
(unfortunately, they have chosen to disable the "share" option of their music...oh well....so you have to click this link to listen)
