I forgot to write in the mp3 tags that the cover photo for Tonight the Lone Wolf Rides… Alone was taken by my sister, Mary.  She snuck up on me playing in our kitchen; I didn’t even know she’d taken the shot until a print arrived, attached to the front of a card she sent.  That card became the cover, twine tie and all.

“Open Columns” – From the nickel EP.  This song lends itself well to solo playing; I think it’s the only echoes song with some acoustic guitar in the original.  For Mom, who talked me into reading “The Power of One,” spring 2004.  I was reading on the back steps in the sun when it was written.

“Talk Me Down” – From Shacker’s Pardon My Pretension, But Isn’t It Blackbeard’s Birthday? CD.  We always did a lot of acoustic Shacker, and if you’ve spent much time hanging out with me you know I mix Kibler’s songs and my own without much regard for who wrote what.  For Lone Wolf I wanted to do one we hadn’t done together, so I played with a few and ended up with this.  It’s pretty straight, except for a slightly echo-fied chorus.  For Cory Alan.

“The Picture Song” – From howie&scott’s b.sides, where it had the name “Hymn for our Technological Manifest Destiny.”  This is a favorite of the Iris Avenue / 12:00 Fence fellows, but they can never remember the original title; hence, “The Picture Song.”  I voiced some of the chords differently on this cut.  For Justin, Jake, and Jeremy.

“Pushing the Envelope” – From The JV All*stars Document The Fall EP (there it’s called “Stick Clicks”… the other title comes from the Indian Burn Records Study & Research sampler).  Before JVA existed, I was in an un-nameable punk band in Milford, NE with Eric Mellow.  I played drums, high school kids brought cheap pizza over to Eric’s grandma’s basement, and we goofed off with a few originals and MxPx covers.  It was my introduction to real punk rock, and I haven’t forgotten.  JVA is roughly a million times better than we were, and I love them forever, so it’s ok that our band didn’t make it.  For Eric Mellow & Dave.

“Holy Moses” – This is a new tune, probably destined for a new Sally Ride EP/album in the distant future.  I went to Mexico with the team from WCC in June 2005, and one of the songs we sang at the Campfire every night was “Abilene.”  I’ve never heard the original, only JR’s version, but the way he taught me the tune mixed some major and minor chords in a way that caught my ear.  The main section of “Holy Moses” is a weird permutation of those chords.  And I really love its story.  For Hank, Charlie, and Emerson.

“America Votes” – Also from my nickel EP.  I always liked playing this song acoustic, but it was hard to play a good-sounding version for the tape.  For the first woman elected President.

“My Time” – From Blacklight Sunshine’s (now More Than Yesterday) You Make Your Own Self Fall.  I’ve written elsewhere about this album’s (and band’s) impact on me, but it has taken a long time to interpret their music into something I could play.  I eventually found this place after I stopped trying to re-channel BLS/MTY’s fury, cutting everything back to the minimum and letting the notes and words speak for themselves.  For everyone I shared a Blacklight show with.

“JCM” – From the Be A Ska Rat EP.  There’s not much to say about this, it’s just a fun song.  I know it’s Jerry’s favorite from Ska Rat, but I swear I’d decided this was for LIG before he even heard it.  For Jerry & Jason.

“Hawaiian Bells” – A first release for this meditation.  The lyrics are improvised each time, though there are some phrases that tend to repeat among different performances.  I worry that it’s too long, but playing it is something hypnotic for me, I’m lost in the chiming pattern; maybe you will get lost too.  For the Something or Someone that rings Hawaiian bells.

“A320” (bonus track – limited to 50 copies) – From the Godzilla (1996) soundtrack, by Foo Fighters.  Dave Grohl dropped this absolute gem between The Colour and the Shape and There Is Nothing Left To Lose.  I like to think that the lyrics point forward to “Learn to Fly.”  I love them, but the Foos have always been more Mary’s band, even when I put them on some little voices goes “hey, these guys belong to Bear!” and that adds something.  The original’s ending is big, with huge guitars and an orchestra, but the chords themselves are so strong I think it holds up.  For Bear.

I am finishing artwork for Tonight the Lone Wolf Rides Alone, which I will release this week (hopefully tomorrow) and Robot, Creep Closer!  The Benjamin Axeface EP is in its final stages as well; we will release these three works very soon, two weeks apart beginning with echoes.

In the meantime, the Wilcoworld.net “Roadcase” is streaming;

Jeff Tweedy live at Mandel Hall, University of Chicago, February 25 2006.

It’s a great show, Jeff Tweedy is a fantastic songwriter and artist, and you will probably love yourself for listening to it.

Thanks Jill, Tim, Brandon, Katy, Doug, and Mike for letting me play songs (and not stuff envelopes) last night.  -h

Cory and I have been bumming around southern CA for a couple days, and we played last night with Derek at the Ventura underground.  I told Cory as we drove to the gig that I was pretty excited; with the addition of the Ventura songs, I was finally feeling like I had a set of playable echoes music that would sound good acoustic.

It seemed to work, I started the night with almost an hour of songs from nickel, Be A Ska Rat, Ventura, a couple other new things, and Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten.”  It felt good, and the crowd seemed to have a good time through it.  I haven’t felt this good about a set since I really wrecked someplace with Scott (I’d have to look at the show archive on howieandscott.com to tell you when that was).  Hopefully I’ll make the time to play more, buoyed by last night’s experience.

Cory and I overlapped, playing Sally Ride’s “Headbone,” Shacker’s “Fully OK,” and Ventura‘s “Coast & Plains” together.  He followed it with a solid group of Beach-Puppy/Axeface songs.  Low-heat microphones meant that he was soft, and the audience responded with a consistent hush and increased attendance to songs like “Nature vs. Nurture” and “Where Did I Go Wrong?”

Derek slayed.  A mix of stuff from D-Rockets, The Ashtray Life, and even a Return song (“You’ve grown up like me / between the desert and the sea…”).  I’m the first to say that the Return is a musical force to be reckoned with, but it’s still a shame that Derk probably doesn’t have more time to spend in an acoustic setting.  I was thoroughly in to his set, sitting back and soaking it in.

We’ve made some new friends this weekend, and had a rad night of music and good times.  I’m really happy that MFR can host a night of our music with three different artists and three twisty twists on the acoustic sound.  -h

Today, I’m sure I’ve heard Bike’s new album as much as anyone else in the world, except for Nate.  I love it and I think there are some really interesting things happening with it from an aesthetic point of view, so I will share some of what I hear when I listen to A Wind I Can Lean In To.

1- “Someone’s at my door” – The title makes this a perfect start to a record.  When someone comes to your door, it’s the start of something; a day in the life, a night out, but something both fairly typical and potentially exciting, even life-changing.  Also, the track sounds like chiming doorbells.  If I could, I would re-wire my apartment’s doorbell to play this song, and invite people over just to hear it.

2 – 4- These songs all include a theme of loss: “Separation…”, a “Requiem”, and a child whose mother is gone.  What kind of beginning is this?  But there’s some sense of peace in the middle of the emptiness.  The background synth-slides in “A wind I can lean into” foreshadow “The horror!”.

5- At unpredictable times, in the middle of my day, I sometimes find myself singing “Doo doo doot-doo!” over and over.

6- “My blood, my bones” has become one of my favorite Bike songs.  It’s amazing to me how this song and “Requiem” can both be perfectly Bike, different-sounding as they are, and belong together like they do.  I wonder how this relates to “Song for a motherless child.”

7- Pure turbo-awesomeness.  Triumphant.  Exuberant.

9- Here’s a song where Nate’s acoustic side and synth side dovetail really well.  Lyrically it connects to the album’s theme.

11- Another synthesis, this time between electric guitar and vocals, which we haven’t heard in combination like this before.  I love the sort of circular/cyclical riff, the way its end bleeds back into its beginning an octave higher.

12- “This is where we die” – The title brings everything full circle, from beginning “…at my door” to an ending.  Musically, it’s like nothing else in the Bike catalog, and the warped piano conjures images of a long-lost, glamorous movie past slipping away; aging actress and again reel-to-reel film machine dying together.

Cory Alan wrote a [blog] a few weeks ago about making MFR mix CDs, and I’ve been pondering more seriously since then about what a MFR compilation might aim for.  A good mix should introduce everybody in an order that makes sense musically, and perhaps chronologically.  What if we took a song from every release, in reverse order; beginning with the newest?

(I realize that Lone Wolf, Robot Creep Closer’s EP, and Benjamin Axeface’s EP aren’t out yet… but for the future’s sake, let’s include them for discussion.)

I’ve done my list, and posted it in comments below (with a couple question marks).  The albums in reverse order are listed below, to help jog your memory.  I expect to actually burn a fair number of these mixes, so weigh in with your thoughts and ideas – if you like, you might even use the same (or a similar) list for your friends.

Axeface
R,CC!
Lone Wolf
A Wind…
Be A Ska Rat
XMAS
Sally Ride
Lady Luck
Nebraska Verses
Furious Instance
D-Rockets
Gilmo
Creepy Eepy
How Is That Possible
The Dimly Lit Room
nickel
Knowing Her Best

:::OUR 100th POST TO THE MR FURIOUS [BLOG]:::

i was goofing around the Live Music Archive at archive.org last night, and found some good shows that you might be interested in streaming or downloading if you’re just hanging out.  there are tons of shows (Mike Doughty’s got 50 or so up!) but these are ones i’ve found are worth multiple listens.

Mike Doughty – http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=29812
Ted Leo + the Pharmacists – http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=32807
Elliot Smith – http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=29761
Death Cab for Cutie – http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=33834 (this may not be their best sounding show on the archive, but the setlist is very close to what they played when i saw them with Jim and Till in December)
The Frames – http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=34314 this was done by the band themselves, and is really great sounding)

you can brows the live music archive yourself at http://www.archive.org/details/etree

-h

First [blog] entry on the new WordPress system:-)

This weekend at St. Peter’s I hosted guest musicians Scott, Megan, and Erin; we spent most of the afternoon yesterday working on music for worship today.  Two original compositions and three unique arrangements rose out of collaboration among friends old and new; below is a piece-by-piece look at the music we made.  Scottie and I also warmed up with some acoustic h&s beforehand, including “Under My Protection,” “Where Will I Alight?,” “Wait, You’re Where?!,” “Blues, or Astroblue?,” and “Major & Minor.”  Q: Why do I like questions as song titles so much?

“St. Peter’s, Va, Mawu, Va” – My drum call with ScoMo was a combination of two rhythms; the first a medium groove for improvising to call the congregation into the sanctuary, then breaking into a furious step (get out the way, get out the way!) and the spoken Call to Worship with Jody in Ewe language.  The title means “St. Peter’s, come!  God, come!” – someday I’ll do an EP/album of drum music, and this is definitely going to the “SAVE” pile.

“Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” – Megan’s guitar arrangement of this traditional hymn placed the first and second verses in a new harmonic framework with a new melody; we all joined together for the third.  It’s a dynamic setting, the music flowing around and reflecting the lyrics; Scott (sax), Erin (viola) and I (djembe) were responsive to her lead and her voice.

“From The Cloud” – Scott’s new composition, written for this Sunday, reflects the day’s text (Mark 9:2-9).  From the sound of footsteps ascending the mountain, the transfiguration itself, and the voice that follows, he sets the elements of the story in a jazz/African context with saxophone melody and drum rhythm.  In a style similar to “At Its Rising” (on the MFR XMAS comp), Scott explores the intersection between composed and improvised elements of music; he writes sections/themes/melodies/rhythms, and some “glue” that holds them together.  For a performance, we dance through these sections/glue in a given order, improvising with their sound, length, intensity, etc. 

“Dear Lord” – Scott chose this Coltrane tune, and we set it in a slow gospel 6/8 rhythm, because of our minimal instrumentation (sax/drums – no piano, etc.) and because I’m not so much of a swing drummer (the original is in a steady swing 4).  I felt best about the 10:30 version; I was finally finding the right combination of space and sound to support Scott’s big sax tone.  Sidenote; the large acoustic instruments, tenor sax and djembe, sounded incredible in the sanctuary without amplification.  I wish my voice and guitar had that size sound, because I love playing without mics.

“This Little Light of Mine” – Funny story; we talked about doing this piece early last week, and decided on it Wednesday.  We didn’t decide who would lead it…  so on Saturday afternoon as we were putting everything together, we discovered that Megan, Scott, and I had all done different arrangements!  We settled on Megan’s, which included a great counter-melody (I need to learn that trick, M+E!) and complete with authentic ’80’s-style drum/vocal breakdown at the end.  “Everywhere I go, I’m gon’ let it shine…”

-h