—-
Starter
‘It was in 1966, that perhaps the most profound evolution of the Texas Psych genre began, and it was unquestionably and irrevocably lead by the formation of the 13th Floor Elevators. Most of you know the history of that legendary band, so I will not dwell on it here. Suffice it to say they introduced a completely novel approach to rock and roll music. The blending of psychedelic drugs, superb musicianship, and truly artful lyrical content dovetailed perfectly with the ideas some of us were discovering about expanded human awareness through chemical experimentation. The resulting sound was of such intensity and dynamic relevance that audiences were left literally spellbound.
‘Most of the local bands began to take similar paths after having, to that point, mostly covered the English invasions songs and throwing in a few Motown dance monsters. Everybody had let his or her hair grow long and pot was everywhere. Acid was also readily available, as were mescaline and psycillicibin mushrooms. The law in Austin, shall we say, highly disapproved of our music and our lifestyles. It is hard to imagine in 2006 how seriously opposed to pot smoking the ’60’s Texas law was. Possession of even a small amount of marijuana could land you in prison for many, many years — even life imprisonment was a legal option for judges in some cases.
‘The Elevators got busted for pot and things were never quite the same. Several members of my band Golden Dawn got busted too, and so did I. I remember one particularly large Austin bust that netted the cops over 50 young artists, lovers, musicians, philosophers generally innocent enjoyers of life all to be saddled with felony criminal records for the rest of their lives. The Elevators were exiled to San Francisco. With the end of the Elevator era in Austin, things changed forever. The other bands just couldn’t fill the void, although they played good music and had good followings. The whole Elevator/Golden Dawn mystique was gone forever, at least as an actual presence on the Austin music scene. It all disappeared like a mysterious dream of super substantial reality, like the shadows of a once and future dawn.
‘Love had been the basis of it all. Every level of love: sexual, platonic, romantic, familial, humanistic, environmental, socially communal·. everything good about being alive and being human and possessing qualities beyond war, greed, and power that’s what early Austin music was all about. In many ways, we’ve come a long way down from there. Today’s Austin , the live music capital of the world, is just another big town wishin’ it were Houston. Guys like me can’t get a gig playing songs for free in a parking lot.’ — George Kinney, The Golden Dawn
… And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead
_______________
13th Floor Elevators
‘The 13th Floor Elevators were one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic music; many have cited them as the first true psychedelic rock band, and if they weren’t, they certainly predated most of the San Francisco bands that gave the sound a global audience. The Elevators played a bracing fusion of garage rock and genre-defying musical exploration powered by Roky Erickson’s feral vocals and rhythm guitar, Stacy Sutherland’s concise but agile lead guitar work, and Tommy Hall’s amplified jug playing, the latter of which gave them a sound unlike any other in rock. The Elevators were also exploring the outer limits of both consciousness and rock & roll in Texas in the early to mid-’60s, a time and place that wasn’t quite ready for them, leading to the myriad problems that at once fueled their legend and cut down the band before their time.’ — allmusic
‘Reverberation’ (uptempo version)
__________
Bubble Puppy
‘Though typically overshadowed by International Artists labelmates the 13th Floor Elevators, Bubble Puppy enjoyed arguably the greatest commercial success of all the Texas psychedelic bands, scoring a Top 20 pop hit with “Hot Smoke & Sasafrass.” Their raw, garage-psych sound soon landed the group a deal with the famed Texas label International Artists, which issued Bubble Puppy’s debut LP, A Gathering of Promises, in 1969; despite the runaway success of “Hot Smoke & Sasafrass,” subsequent singles including “If I Had a Reason,” “Days of Our Time,” and “What Do You See?” stiffed, prompting the quartet to change its name to Demian.’ — bubblepuppy.com
‘Starvation’
____________
Daniel Johnston
‘As with other talented but troubled artists such as Syd Barrett, Brian Wilson, and Roky Erickson, Daniel Johnston fights a daily battle with the chronic mental illness that has plagued him nearly his entire life. However, despite recurrent bouts of delusional behavior wherein he has physically endangered himself and others, Johnston has carved out a respectable, influential career as a singer/ songwriter of extraordinary talent which has grown since his first crudely recorded cassette was released in 1980. He became the singer/songwriter of choice of the alternative/ underground rock scene, and at various times has had his work championed by members of Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo, Butthole Surfers, Half Japanese, Nirvana (Kurt Cobain was often photographed wearing a Daniel Johnston T-shirt), and numerous others.’ — Rejected Unknown
‘Maybe You’d Be My Friend’
____
Huns
‘We weren’t punks, we were assholes. Assholes are punks without a sense of community, without even a punk’s code of etiquette or fair play. Assholes are punks whose parents put them through college, pay their rent, buy their instruments and bail them out of jail. Assholes are punks who slag women and minorities. They vote Republican, drive Corvettes and steal things, not because they need something, but because it’s a kick to steal. Assholes go on stage late, sometimes hours behind schedule, to piss you off. Assholes preach to their fans, whom they hold in utter contempt. They are musically incompetent prima donnas, who spend more time on their makeup and clothes than on their music. They overcharge promoters and underpay their opening acts. They dress up like Nazis and dine at German restaurants for grins. They screw virgin groupies, accuse them of spreading VD and then sing about it onstage. They break into houses on acid and scare the shit out of old people.’ — The Huns
‘Glad He’s Dead’
_______
The Dicks
‘The Dicks, a Commie Faggot Band, emerged during the halcyon days of Austin, Texas punk. The scene centered around the local dive bar Raul’s frequented by local freaks, artists, and soon-to-be punk rockers. The band was the creation of Gary Floyd, a 26 year old from Palestine, Texas who had been a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War and was openly, flamboyantly gay. Although he was advertising the Dicks before they were even an actual band, Floyd soon joined forces with three “terrorist thugs” to complete the group: guitarist Glen Taylor, bassist Buxf Parrot, and drummer Pat Deason. They started writing burly, blues-drenched punk anthems and began playing raucous, shows with local heroes the Big Boys. Unlike that band’s funk-infused, high-production value drag show, the Dicks opted for a cruder but still spectacular approach. Gary Floyd would assault the audience with chocolate frosting pulled from his panties, inviting any rowdy audience members to suck his dick.’ — nyu.edu
‘Hate the Police’
_________
Scratch Acid
‘Born out of the early 80’s Austin noise punk scene, Scratch Acid’s eventual permanent lineup consisted of David Yow on vocals, Brett Bradford on guitar, David Wm. Sims on bass, and Rey Washam (Big Boys) on drums. After putting out a self-titled EP and the full length Just Keep Eating, Touch and Go released the band’s scathing Berserker EP in 1987. The band broke up after the long tour that followed the release, and David and Rey joined up briefly with Steve Albini in Rapeman. After Rapeman broke up, the two Davids formed The Jesus Lizard. In 1991, Touch and Go released The Greatest Gift, which collected all of Scratch Acid’s recorded output.’ — Touch and Go Records
‘She Said’
____________
Butthole Surfers
‘Butthole Surfers are perhaps the most perversely confrontational and calculatedly outrageous American post-punk band. Their stage shows have included everything from backdrop projections of auto accidents and sex-change operations to androgynous nude dancers, crude pyrotechnics, and the incessant gross-out shenanigans of singer Gibby Haynes. (At an early show he removed the dress he was wearing during a performance and-depending on who tells the story-either simulated sex or had sex with one of the band’s dancers.) Though the Butthole Surfers’ music combines the noisy, avant-garde tendencies of late-Seventies no wave with the throbbing, distorted drive of hardcore, much of it is informed by classic, psychedelic rock.’ — Alternative Tentacles
‘Graveyard’ & ‘Moving to Florida’
__________
True Believers
‘If enthusiastic press and the praise of your fellow musicians were all it took to become a rock star, the True Believers would have been one of the biggest American ban
ds of the 1980s. Blending a tightly woven three-guitar attack and passionate songwriting with a punk rocker’s love of pure energy and the sonic firepower of a hard rocker, the True Believers were heroes in their hometown of Austin, TX, and often shared stages with some of the most-respected bands of their day. However, their unique sound was a bit tricky to translate to disc, and by the time they’d finally managed to make it work, the recording was fated to not see the light of day until years after the band’s breakup.’ — allmusic
‘She’s Got’
____
Sugar
‘After two solo albums, ex-Hüsker Dü guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould formed Sugar in 1992, with bassist David Barbe and drummer Malcolm Travis. Sugar’s first album, Copper Blue, was released in the fall of 1992 to enthusiastic reviews and it became Mould’s most successful project to date. Copper Blue nearly went gold and spawned several alternative radio and MTV hits, including “Helpless” and “If I Can’t Change Your Mind.” In the spring of 1993, Sugar released the mini-LP Beaster, a more abrasive collection than Copper Blue that was recorded at the same sessions. Their third album, File Under: Easy Listening, appeared in the fall of 1994. Although it received good reviews and was moderately successful commercially, it didn’t match the performance of Copper Blue. In the spring of 1995, it was announced that Sugar was on hiatus.’ — Mojo
‘Tilted’
___________
Stars of the Lid
‘Stars of the Lid is a duo specializing in drone-based ambient music. They list among their influences minimalist and electronic composers such as Arvo Pärt, Zbigniew Preisner, Gavin Bryars, and Henryk Górecki, as well as Talk Talk (both bands have tracks named “Taphead”), post-rock artists Labradford, and ambient innovator Brian Eno. Their songs are largely beatless soundscapes, composed of droning, effects-treated guitars along with piano, strings, and horns; volume swells and feedback fill the gap of rhythmic instruments, providing dynamic movement within the songs. Their sound has been described as “divine, classical drone without the tedious intrusion of drums or vocals”.’ — Brainwashed
‘Goodnight’
_________________________________
…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
‘…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead (often abbreviated as Trail of Dead) is an American alternative rock band from Austin, Texas. The chief creative members of the band are Jason Reece and Conrad Keely (formerly Conrad Sobsamai). The two switch between drumming, guitar and lead vocals, both on recordings and live shows. The band is known for their wild, energetic concerts, which often end with the band destroying their equipment. Their seventh studio album, Tao of the Dead, was released in February 2011.’ — Wiki
‘Another Morning Stoner’
________________
Explosions in the Sky
‘Explosions in the Sky is an American post-rock band from Texas. The band has garnered popularity beyond the post-rock scene for their elaborately developed guitar work, narratively styled instrumentals, what they refer to as “cathartic mini-symphonies,” and their enthusiastic and emotional live shows. They primarily play with three electric guitars and a drum kit, although band member Michael James will at times exchange his electric guitar for a bass guitar. The band’s music is instrumental and completely void of vocals.’ — dkngstudios
‘The Moon is Down’
_________
Shit & Shine
‘Inside Shit & Shine’s “ways of making you talk” kit is little more than a rack of distortion pedals, guitars and every drum-kit you might happen to find in the territory of Christmas Island. Asking whether they are technically proficient at utilising these tools is as redundant as asking if the CIA used Evian for water-boarding. Should you actually make it to the other side (we barely managed) you will emerge from the darkness a changed person. Casting off the shackles of life, death, fear, regret, suffering, temptation and knowledge as the useless bonds which they are. Your one thought will be that of elation, the realisation that no matter what was thrown at you, you made it through. Raise those arms to the skies and cry for the very clouds themselves.’ — strangeglue
live
__________________________
I Love You but I’ve Chosen Darkness
‘I Love You but I’ve Chosen Darkness is an indie rock (although the band considers themselves to be conversely classic rock and gothic rock) quintet originating from Austin, Texas. The band consists of singer Christian Goyer, guitarists Daniel Del Favero and Ernest Salaz, bassist Edward Robert and percussionist Tim White. In 2006, the band released their first studio album, Fear Is on Our Side, which was produced by former Ministry bassist/keyboardist Paul Barker. Though the group’s output so far suggests a willingness to climb and explore, cynicism would seem to be an enduring I Love You trait. Their recognition of its versatility promises to propel them.’ — Music Brainz
‘The Ghost’
*
p.s. Hey from Amsterdam where I’m staying in this kind of communal apartment that’s out in the city’s relative boonies next to this park that’s supposed to be the prettiest in Amsterdam called Beatrixpark, and also next to this apparently famous restaurant called Kunst Kapel that’s round and serves organic food, which is cool, but they have a rooster that starts crowing at 5 in the morning, which isn’t cool, and the apartment building where I’m staying used to be a mo
nastery, which is interesting ‘cos I live in an ex-monastery (the Recollets), but it just looks like a Dutch apartment building, so it doesn’t have ex-monastery vibes or anything, and today I’m going to be watching or supervising the installation of the show at the Kunstverein, and that’s my story so far. ** Michael, Hey, Michael! What’s up? Wow, that coaster you linked to is cool or evil or both. I didn’t know about it. That’s awesome. Thanks! Everyone, d.l. Michael adds to the unrealizable theme park stuff circa yesterday with a treasurable proposal called Euthanasia Coaster: The Suicide Roller Coaster, and obviously I think you should look at it. Hence, italics. Thanks about the show. Yeah, great distances, ugh. Tell me about something situated where you are that is tragically impossible for me to see. ** David Ehrenstein, I can only imagine that Pierland would have some hella crazy rides. Well, I see that a certain, ahem, book, ahem, didn’t get a Lammy nomination, but surprised I am not, and big congrats to these anointed ones: Bill Jones, Natty Soltesz (!), David Trinidad, Laurie Weeks, Tim Dlugos, Richard Labonte, Susie Bright, R. Zamora Linmark, Michael Bronski, and Thomas Meyer! ** Pisycaca, Hey, Montse! Well, that’s when Tim Burton was young and more on his game. I bet he would jump at that ride idea today. Oh, there’s a possibility that Yury and I might go to Barcelona for a few days, yeah. It’s Yury’s vacation, and where we go is up to him, but that was the first place he proposed, so hopefully! News when there is some! ** Patrick deWitt , Patrick! You’re almost here! Well, I’m in Amsterdam, so … almost there! Hooray! Oh, gosh, yes, it is Camel Wide Lights, you are so thoughtful. I forget what day you arrive, but buzz me when you’re in. I get back there on Saturday. Hooray! ** Statictick, Hey. I can’t even imagine being able to fall asleep under those conditions. But were you zoned enough that they could read you anyway? Oh, another MRI, so … ? You can whine. You deserve it, and we can totally handle it. Get some sleep bro. ** Zack, Hey. Detroit is in the house today. Glad you liked the post. I’m a theme park maniac. And when it comes to never realized ones or dead ones rotting away on their foundations, I’m a goner. I fear that Bibleland near LA would have been wussed out, true, although that ToB water ride thing looked kind of harrowing. I like the idea of a Rock ‘n’ Roll theme park too, but that one looked … I don’t know. Too spacious, for one thing. If it had, like, Black Metal Land and Indie Land and Glitch Land and blah blah, maybe. Still, I would go to that proposed park anyway and ride the Bohemian Rhapsody ride, etc., blah, wouldn’t you? You have to go to Disneyland. All the other Disney parks, as fun as they can be, are just overblown sequels. The original is high art. Serious. You’ll see. I think maybe it’s a melancholy time of year. I am too, despite everything, so I think it’s an external force maybe. Although the seeming no go with your crush guy is a reasonable guess at the source of yours. I’m sorry. Romantics have it tough ‘cos it does seem like go-for-broke romantics or people who secretly want to be ‘drugged’ silly and thus saved from their petty day to day existences by the onrush of love from go-for-broke romantics aren’t an everyday thing. Anyway, sucks, and I feel for you ‘cos I’m kind of a big romantic too, I think. ** Ken Baumann, Ken! Maybe I’m totally wrong ‘cos I’m not old enough to have lived through the old tabloid stuff with decent consciousness, but when I read about the way it was back then, it seems like it was more civil or something, or maybe not civil but maybe not so amoral and bent on completely destroying celebrities. It seems like it was kind of a game, an ugly game sometimes, but that there were rules or something. I don’t know. It could be just the difference between print magazine based gossip and internet based gossip or something. Interesting about the hours and effort involved in those shows. I guess that makes total sense. Irreality is so elusive and complex. It’s cool. ** _Black_Acrylic, My thoughts exactly, Mr. Robinson. 7 minutes is really nice length. Ideal 12″ remix length. Dude, awesome, yes! ** L@rstonovich, Larst-o! Your trip sounds quite ace. I feel kind of sad that I never played D&D.; So many interesting younger writers like yourself did or do, and it seems like it was a key influence of some sort on the experimental aspect of the work of a lot of the younger writers I tend to really like. It’s guess it’s never too late to learn to play, but I don’t know. I don’t feel anywhere near as sad that I don’t know squat about Magic: the Gathering. But maybe I should? Favorite uncle status is the best. Maybe even better than being a favorite parent, but I don’t really know. That painting is really fucking nice, man. Wow, you should keep going, no? Sweet. Everyone, the very multiply and highly talented d.l. Larstonovich also paints to add even more masteries to his, well, resume, I guess. Anyway, here’s a painting by him. You should look at it. ** Misanthrope, Hey. Yeah, big congrats to our own Bacteriaburger! That’s so awesome! I really hope those people bearing down on Little Show get a fucking clue. Really, Jesus, what a bunch of pre-determining busybodies. I guess that’s the danger of having actual real world friends as Facebook friends. Except I have a bunch, and I guess that has worked out okay. But that defriending dude’s a drama queen. He’ll be back. Oh, come on, dude, you totally fucked that girl. I was there. I saw the whole thing. We all did. We were all standing there going, man, that George guy fucks pretty good for a poof. ** Chris Cochrane, Close but no cigar is better than far away and a cigar. Good obsession. I don’t think I have one today. Unless that crowing rooster I mentioned up top counts, and unless wanting to slip sleeping pills into its food counts as obsession, and I think it does. ** Steevee, Very, very best of luck with the sonogram tomorrow. Wtf with them not sending you screener? Maybe they know the show is a critic-unfriendly disaster? That’s probably over thinking it. ** Frank Jaffe, Hey Frank! Oh, you should totally interview a porn kid for the zine. I’m sure any number of porn kids would jump at the chance. I’ve thought about interviewing one or a series of them for my blog, and I even have a wish list, and there are even a few porn boys on there who probably speak English, ha ha, but I’ve been too lazy. That’s so cool and funny about George Takei. He must be really nice, don’t you think? Just yesterday someone reposted something from his Facebook wall onto my communal news feed that made me a crack up. Did you see it? It was, uh, a picture of an eel with a text grafted on top, and the text said ‘When you’re down by the sea / and an eel bites your knee / that’s a Moray.’ I don’t know why, but I was I was in stitches all day. Tofu burritos, hell yes! Mini! Fuckin’ A! ** Jeff, Hey. Really? I’ve never been to King’s Dominion. Could well be. The only thing like that I’ve ever seen is that cool Flintstones Motel by the Grand Canyon. ** Rewritedept, Hi. Try going to amusement parks on Ecstacy if you can actually manage to find real, uncut Ecstacy somewhere. It’s an interesting combo. I think going on MDMA would be too intense maybe. Cool about the Saturday show. I don’t know: what is it about Canadians that you find so endearing? Come to think of it, I can’t think of a Canadian I’ve met who wasn’t endearing. Interesting. What’s the birthday party going to consist of? Oh, well, I guess I can guess, but … I always like to go bowling with friends on my birthday. If that makes me a dork, so be it. Have fun, be well, dig everything. ** Okay, I’ll go enter Amsterdam proper now. Enjoy the gig today, I hope. See you tomo
rrow.
Now available in North America 
). I am of course n Deep in the heart of). I am of course familair with the 13th Floor Elevators and the Butthole Surfers. The Daniel Johnson cult interests me not.
George Takei is indeed a delightful person. He enjoys being both a nerd icon and a gay activist. Can you imagine what it must have been like for him spending his childhood in the Japanese internment camps?
The Lammys and TMS? That would be their Third Rail.
Barcelona means Barcelona
and
Antonio Gaudi
It also means Barcelona.
Here's my BATTLE ROYALE article for THE ATLANTIC .
I arrive on April Fool's Day but am staying in a nearby hotel until the 2nd, a Monday.
Meant to ask a long time ago, but: are there any ghosts at the Recollets?
Latest FaBlog: Hommage A Christopher Isherwood
Hi, Dennis!
I want to go to Austin at some point. I like the first Trail of Dead albums although I rarely listen to them now.
Well, if Yury's final decision is Barcelona I'm sure you'll both enjoy it! Ask me if you need to know any practical info please.
Today I finished Jamie Stewart's book of haikus and we're seeing Xiu Xiu on Saturday, looking forward to that! And then we're moving to the new flat next week. We're quite busy at the moment.
Hope that rooster doesn't wake you up tomorrow!
Love,
M.
Ah gettin ready for the new Malick movie about the Austin music scene? sweet.
I was just wondering the other day if you had ever done a Daniel Johnston post. Have you?
Also, have you ever heard of
this immense secret underground temple constructed by a neopagan cult in Turin?
Last thing, is it better to use "Centre des Recollets" or "Centre International des Recollets," or is it same difference?
Hi Dennis. I’ve been writing out the interview and I’m happy with how it turned out. It’s particular. It starts off very dry and technical but goes more and more awry. I’ll send it to your regular mail. Now hoping it doesn’t bother you, I had another question (or rather a re-formulated one that I forgot to ask). It’s about some of your characters; specifically the (multiplied, resembling) population of Period, the sluts, or TMS. I couldn’t help noticing when I re-read the talk, that you mentioned twice that there’s ‘a middle’ (or a centre) in the architectural constructs of your books. And it coincides probably with ‘the middle’ among its population. I was wondering how you would define that which lies between these characters that seem like casts (alternating negatives and positives) of each other? Is it a sort of (emotional or social) contingency? Maybe I don’t understand the concept of contingency very well; that’s possible. Anyhow, if you’d find the time to answer it would be nice.
I hope you’re doing fine in Amsterdam. I wish you the best with the exhibition. Thanks for the Texas-psychedelics!
I was expecting to find out instantly whether or not I have more kidney stones, but the nurse who administered the ultrasound told me the results had to be sent to a lab. She said that I should call my doctor's office next week to find out what the result was. I don't feel like I've passed any stones in at least a month, so I'm hopeful there are no more.
Dennis, hope you're having a good time in Amsterdam. Little has changed with me. Eyes have still been a bother, ugh. I did get to see a proof of "Grimoire"'s front and back cover last night though. For the back cover they added an illustration of a sinister Lovecraftian-looking octopus, which I thought was a nice touch. They did end up using the author photograph of me as well: a brooding black and white shot of me standing in front of a giant cross at a cemetery (that I later found out is said to be one of the most haunted places in the entire New England area). So it looks real nice. What I might do (since you offered) is dust off the old Grimoire day I did for you (all the way back in October of 2009) and maybe just add a few new things to it: such as the interview that appeared in the Lulu self-published version (but which I had removed from the Rebel Satori one). Maybe I could update that as well!
I also sent iUniverse a 30-day advance notice that I wanted to cancel my contract with them and get the rights to "Confusion" back. The straw that broke the camel's back was when they recently made it available as an eBook for Kindle and Nook, and fucked up the formatting horribly. I don't want people buying "Grimoire" and reading it, then maybe seeking out "Confusion" and seeing that. So hopefully I'll get the rights back soon and I can find a new home for it. This has also given me the excuse to finally revise it, which I've wanted to do for years now: so far I've already cut 70 pages of material so I feel a little like you, ha ha. I might write some new shit for it though. It'll be Confusion Remixed… or Confusion 2.0. Or something.
Jeff, I will say this about David Beth: he's a good-looking fellow. Although we chatted a bit on MySpace and are friends on Facebook, I don't know him really well. I was asking him questions about some of the more homosexual-orientated rituals mentioned in the VGW and he told me he'd have to ask Bertiaux about that, as he wasn't gay himself! Weirdly enough, despite his interests in dark magic he really has a thing for 80's hair metal.
You might find the first part of "Nightside of Eden" confusing… lord knows I do! The way that the chapters are named and arranged seems very random to me. The second half of the book, where Grant gives an analysis of each of the "Tunnels of Set," is much easier to follow… kind of.
d-
i think i would just be able to handle disneyland on LSD, and since disneyland's always been my favorite theme park and LSD has always been the most social mind-altering substance for me, i think i'd start with those two. granted, i'm always down to drop everything and chew down acid tabs for a couple days. that's how i managed to enjoy being unemployed for the end of 2008-beginning of 09. doing lots of acid, i mean. i think 08-09 was the year where i tripped every day for like 2 months and wrote some of our best songs, but there are some hazy moments there. too much opiate abuse to cloud the otherwise phenomenal hallucinations.
as for the canadians, i dunno. god, it's like every time i see someone at work and i'm like 'oh, you're cute. i wouldn't mind… so uh, where ya visiting from?' and they pretty much fucking always answer like, vancouver or fucking alberta or something. so, i dunno. apparently canadian boys are one of my … things? inasmuch as i can be said to have a 'thing' for anything in particular, i guess.
ok, so while i'm waiting for it to upload. here's the trax for the new mix.
bad luck, it could happen twice. 20 mar 12. 19 songs.
tortoise – TNT.
mastodon – this mortal soil.
tv on the radio – ambulance.
rx bandits – prophetic.
true widow – wither.
jawbox – iodine.
sleater-kinney – the fox.
husker du – flexible flyer.
veruca salt – with david bowie.
jets to brazil – perfecting loneliness.
the afghan whigs – be sweet.
minutemen – nature without man.
hole – gutless.
hot snakes – paid in cigarettes.
hot water music – my little monkey wrench.
the black lips – it feels alright.
the slackers – sing yr songs.
nada surf – yr legs grow.
fugazi – last chance for a slow dance.
unrelated fact, my mom used to call me veruca when i was a kid. apparently i was a bit of a brat.
oh yeah, my friends and i thought we saw george takei at open mic the other night. i doubt pretty strongly that he spends time in las vegas going to open mic nights at hole in the wall dives like the cellar, but it was funny anyway.
and today's big bunch of austin psych is amazing. i can't say i was ever really familiar with the golden dawn, so they're next on my list. that said, i love stars of the lid, butthole surfers and like the first couple trail of dead albums (pretty much everything up to source tags and codes, honestly), but i always had a hard time getting into later ToD stuff and explosions in the sky.
oh, right. so i re: TMS. i was wondering if you did get any time to think on that question i asked a couple weeks ago about using textual clues to 'solve the mystery,' as it were. i have a pretty big theory about the book, but i want to get it written down a bit more clearly before i send it along. it has some pretty interesting ideas, though. i think i figured out who's going to get eaten next, for one, and it's an interesting answer. but yeah. all in due time.
here's the new mix. and i have to get ready for work. have fun. talk soon.
-me.
Dennis,
I think King's Dominion has/had a Hanna-Barbera Land, I don't know if any of the designs from the proposed theme park made their way into it. I'm pretty sure there were no flying Jetsons spacecrafts there. It's been a while, though. I think Misanthrope has been there more recently than me, you can ask him.
I dig the first three International Artists artists here.
Those Huns sound like dicks (not to be confused with The Dicks).
Scratch Acid: contender for best band name ever?
Whenever I see the Butthole Surfers mentioned, I want to recommend their English brother band Terminal Cheesecake (their sister band is Coil). A very underrated band. My favorite Butthole Surfers song is '100 Million People Dead'. Favorite album: Hairway to Steven. I have a well-worn cassette of that from approximately when I discovered pot.
Stars of the Lid: obviously.
Shit and Shine are just wonderful.
OK, that's enough.
Today's book acquisition: 'Another Example of Indulgence' by John Elliott. Quentin S. Crisp mentioned it in his interview with Tartarus press, and I snatched it up from Amazon. Published by Calder & Boyars in 1970. Chômu Press (which crisp co-edits) published his novel 'Dying to Read' in the last year or so.
Anyway, I have the day off, and I'm gonna go to the library now. Hope you enjoy(?) Amsterdam.
Sypha,
Hair metal; that explains the picture on google photos of what looks like the same guy with long hair and groupies by his side.
Weirdly enough? Or entirely appropriate? *gives devil horns and sticks out tongue*
He is good looking. I listened to the podcast interview yesterday, and even though he uses 'you know' as a vocal tic too often (it became distracting when I noticed it), I liked most of what he had to say. Intrigued to read his writing.
Sypha,
…I mean, I have read some of David Beth's writing, I'm just anticipating the delivery of ATUA.
I've only read the introductory parts of Nightside of Eden. I'm at the beginning of 'One', which I'm assuming is chapter one. This is where it seems to get really technical. I put it down at that point and started reading another book.
I am going to try to make my way through it, regardless. Glad to know it becomes easier in the second half (even if deepening in weirdness). Persevere!
Dennis,
I forgot to mention that I bought a book by Bridget Penney called 'Index' today. It was released as the first in Stewart Home's Semina series, inspired by Wallace Berman's series of the same name. Interviews here and here. I've only read a bit of the first one, but was excited to hear she was influenced by Konrad Bayer. I just started reading his book 'The Head of Vitus Bering' last night (I started it after putting down Nightside of Eden).
My review of THE HUNGER GAMES was published in GAY CITY NEWS tonight.
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Yag. Blogger or my own very human error blasted what I just had to say out into nowhere.
Briefly: Scratch Acid, Butthole Surfers (both of those so obvious), and (oddly, I guess) Trail of Dead are among the best bands, ever. So are they all.
Dennis: I think I was static enough for the hospital to get a reading from that eeg. I mention a possible new MRI because the back pain that I mentioned several weeks ago has become mobile and weird. I think the neurologist will want to see what's up with that. Fucking hell, can I get a non-medical year?
On the nicest side, I think Matthew (from the blog) and I are going to check out the White / Panter 'Light Show' at MOCAD this Friday. And who is this Zack person from Detroit I don't seem to know yet? Huh. Zack: [email protected]. I don't bite.
Best, everyone, as always.
Njr
I did an internet search and the only place to buy Stroopwafels is at a specialty shop called The Little Dutch Girl in Spring, which is like an hour’s drive away so I think on Saturday I’m gonna get some to eat in the mornings before work. Coffee and Stroopwafels before the sun is up. Get some super serious meditation time alone, like Robert Frost and Thomas Hardy and shit. Contemplating the darkness and thinking about deep ass stuff and sipping my coffee. Anyway, hopefully you got some good sleep last night, I’ve never stayed somewhere where roosters woke me up in the morning.
I just came back from a week vacation in Boston to see my best friend, I’d never been to Boston before, it was really beautiful. I took a lot of long walks and had a crazy St. Patrick’s day. I think I’m gonna start working on a blog post about Bushwick Bill, have you ever done a post about him? Yesterday’s theme park post was epic, I loved that post. One of my minor life goals is to go to the Suoi Tien water park in Ho Chi Minh City so I can get stoned and look at this, it’s like something out of a Malcolm Lowry novel:
http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l2vyrarSqh1qb4lbuo1_500.jpg
Today’s post in amazing, this will give me a whole lot of new music to listen to…I’ve heard of about half the bands but a lot of them are new to me. I really like Daniel Johnston and the Butthole Surfers and in college I went through a phase where I listened to that Trail of Dead album Souce Tags & Codes all the time.
That movie Slackers by Richard Linklater is one of my favorite movies. Austin really can be like that sometimes. In the last five years or so I think the city has gotten a lot more crowded and a lot of rich people have moved in…San Marcos is kind of the new cheap place where everybody bums around all day and goes tubing down the river and does drugs and gets drunk and throws parties. It’s pretty much a college town because Texas State in there plus it’s only half an hour from Austin so you can drive there whenever you want, but the rent is much cheaper. I don’t think the really bummy and grungy and "talkative guy on mushrooms" type of element is quite as prevalent in Austin as it used to be. There are a lot of high rollers coming through Austin these days. SXSW is always really fun and crazy though, even if you’re broke and can’t get into the big deal tents. Austin's a really fun city to visit.
Well take care Dennis—have a good conference, bye…
Steevee,
Nice review. I saw it after “Kill Bill” was released, I guess on VHS, cause I wanted more Chiaki Kuriyama. Anyway, feel better.
Jeff, yes, Grant can go a little overboard with his "creative gematria." And I know his use of footnotes can drive people mad. Once you get used to his style though it all becomes second nature.
hey dennis!!
made chicken francese tonight but used red spanish wine instead of white wine and it was quite interesting 🙂 all the lemons turned a rosy pink and the sauce was very fragrant…. not as good as the original though sadly…
Saw Shame tonight which sadly was kinda "eh", unlike Hunger which is AWESOME!
Yeah!! I'm really excited about George, it'll be a blast!
He's got soooooo many facebok followers…. george takei is tumblr on Facebook for sure…. I didn't see that meme but I bet if i had the visual it would be a lot funnier 😛
I think I might interview Joakim tomorrow for the next issue of the zine and it's looking like Jeremy Shaw (circlesquare) is going to be in it as well which i'm crazy excited about!!
Tomorrow should be a good day,,, might catch Hugo, which i hate the trailer for but apparently everyone loves so we shall see….
talk to you soon!!
xxfrank
Dennis, Hahahahahaha! Shit, you almost convinced me that I did indeed bang that girl. Almost. Hell, maybe I did and I don't remember it. 😛
Oh, he didn't de-friend me, just sent me that bullshit email. I replied and he backed off, admitted the other guy was probably lying since he'd lied about other things. Then jokingly invited me over for sexy time. What the hell? That's the last thing I want with him.
And congrats to the others you listed today too re: Lammy nods. I defo saw them on there too. 'Twould be too funny to see a book that deals with cannibalism in there, you know. ;D
hi dennis.
i once sat next to roky erickson at a mogwai show. he seemed a little out of it except during glasgow mega-snake which totally perked him up. no big surprise there — that song is a monster:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF2ZgK9JADQ
i've been putting together a blog post about dutch doom/dark ambient/black metal band gnaw their tongues. would you be interested in giving it a home here?
anyway, hope yr doing swell. maybe while yr in amesterdam you'll run into gnaw their tongies mainman mories. of course, if he's anything like his terrifying music, you might not want to.
Cool stuff! For me on top are Stars of the Lid. I liked Trail of Dead in the beginning but lost the interest after the the second or third album.
Nice gig!!
That 'eel' thing made me snigger too.
Hope Amsterdamn is treating you well – have you tried the organic cafe place yet?
Wow – I absolutely love that Scratch Acid track… I didn't know their work. Great to see Daniel Johnston on here too… I haven't listened to him in a while. Saw him live a few times. Great gig overall – there's a nice weird sonic thread running through the tracks I've listened to so far…
Dennis – how is it being in Amsterdam again? I can't remember if you said you'd visited a few times since you lived there or not… but I somehow imagine it would be weird and incredibly interesting being back there for this – is it? The show sounds great – I really wish I could see it (not impossible I guess but money's short right now). Do they have all the diagrams and so on relating to the structure of the cycle? I've always been extremely curious to see those.
M x
Hi everyone,Thank you for the kind words and encouragement! Sherry, I hope you have a wonderful graduation party with your son.My anxiety was high this morning in anticipating an upcoming life transition, so rereading this soothed me this morning! My mantra is, “I have what I need. I have what I need. I have what I need. I trust that a solution will present itself.”May we all feel that we have what we need.XO, Karly