i'm not as cool as trent reznor

the wife and i went to see NIN the other day
(i’d not seen them live before / she had,…. when she was 15.)

now…
i am not one of those concert goers
that stands in the seats drunkenly dancing
signing along
screaming hysterically
or crowding the front to take blurry cell phone pictures
i go to watch
to be played to
to be surprised
to enjoy the sonic atmosphere the people watching

that said
the presentation didn’t get interesting until the screens came down
and the music got decidedly un metal

sitting in a room full of roughly 19,000 people
hushed to near silence
while trent and company played material from ghosts
was spectacular

ironically the material i felt presented the best
were songs from the fragile which i hate
and year zero
also which im not that fond of
im attributing it to the facts

1. the guitarist wasnt wanking away (working on getting fired i called it)
2. and there was an absence of the typical ridiculous rock band posturing on a stage that is far too large for five people.
3. also, there were three people on stage synths / effects / controllers in front of a sound reactive screen

overall the whole performance
left me wishing i had a budget bigger then zero dollars for live presentation
and wondering if trent misses playing small venues

im sure the large arena shows are a nice paycheck
19000 × 60$ is a nice days work for sure
but
at what cost

i have a hard enough time playing to a crowd of <100
i cannot fathom 19,000 screaming fans
in one place
at one time
paying that much
to watch me stare as if frozen by the glow of the laptop screen
grimacing occasionally
pressing buttons
and smoking
which is precisely why i will never play a show of that scale

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it has occured to me randomly

• there will probably never be a proem documentary.
• my story is not that interesting.
• i may never play live in front of more than 300 people.
• if i did play for more than 500 people it would be time to stop being proem.
• large scale arena shows are stupid, as a performer and as a participant.
• my days as a musician are numbered in sales and listener stats and not both.
• artists with a cult following toil in obscurity until the day they die in obscurity.
• people find me cryptic and odd (like japanese advertising for american products) because i am. Contrary to my own opinion which is that you are all telepathic and abnormal.
• i should be used to the words “very creative, good job.” by now. they appeared in red pen at the top of every writing assignment i’ve ever done (usually followed by a big fat C-). but i’m not and i won’t. ever.
• there are only about 20 people reading this.

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an open letter to bitcrush

dear bitcrush

i’ve been attentively listening since gridlock
which always felt cold almost emotionless to me
perhaps because there weren’t enough basslines
and the drums carried everything
there wasn’t much to hold on to
it was good
and well done
but not unlike eating salad without croutons

alyssa however loves the gridlock
which strikes me as odd
considering the bulk of her music intake is the antithesis of industrial

however

this In Distance record of yours,...
nonstop
for weeks now
makes me want to skip work
take a long walk with my headphones
hit up a coffee place
sit in the park
watch people

its overcast
chilly
maybe colder
like it has been

an instant classic in my house.
its an imaginary house
its small
with only four rooms

• one for skinny puppy, einstruzende, and the legendary pink dots
• one for nitzer eb and slayer, and the misfits [they can share really]
• one for old autechre [amber/tri repetae++]

[yes they get their own room]

• one for interpol, joy division, the smiths and the cure [again sharing]

worth its weight in whatever monetary value you carry
so,... thanks. Here’s to hoping you have an equally lovely follow up which im already waiting for.

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best of 2k6

this was a crap year for music
slim pickings to say the least
yet we press forward
we make the best of a dying world

here are this years gems

1. bitcrush – in distance
2. helios – eingya
3. boxcutter – oneric
4. squarepusher – hello everything
5. burial – burial
6. loscil – stases
7. ontayso – procesameinto digital dos
8. VA – squadron 2
9. machinefabriek – marijn
10. slayer – christ illusion

here’s a short list of things i’ve re/discovered
that occupied a large chunk of my brain grapes
and even more of my evil nano this year.

• william basinski – disintegration loops
• daniel menche
• lustmord
• dead can dance
• the legendary pink dots
• echo and the bunnymen
• the misfits
• obituary
• morbid angel
• cannibal corpse

as you can see i went through i a bit of an darkwave/ambient noise/death metal phase. but that should not be a surprise.

AND even though a crap year in music was had by all…
it has been an excellent year for games: gears of war, rainbowsix3 vegas to name a few.

It has also been an even better year for TV.
I’m telling you right now if you are anti-television… get over it.
watching TV is cool again.
here’s a quick run down of the shows i schedule my life around.

studio60
amazing writing. a perfect blend of humor and politics romance with walk and talks so fast your head will spin.

dexter
the mind of a serial killer on tv. whats that you say? he moonlights as a forensics investigator? oh wait he only kills people that deserve it? dont they all? he lives in miami?...

how i met you mother
best comedy on tv EVER. still. always. The perfect amount of character in jokes. and, and wait for it… geek humor. thats right i went there. I’m so blogging this! suit up and watch. its LEGENDARY!

battlestar galactica
forget that its scifi, seriously. its the best damned show on. the writing is unstoppable. the cast is amazing. cinema grade all around. not a single bad episode in the 3 seasons its been on.

weeds
this show gets better and better with every season. may the tv gods at showtime deem it worthy of at least four more seasons.

theres more… that i watch
[16 at last count]
but this will do for now

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