if you're such a poet, loose yr tongue and show it.

i need to be honest and say that i feel like i'm going to go crazy this summer. like no holds barred, for real shit your pants crazy. it's kind of a problem.

well poop

ITS SOLD OUT WHO SAW THAT COMING.

balls.

why john darnielle is one of the best singers in rock music today.

from http://www.questionablecontent.net/rlblog/

I know, it sounds ridiculous, like one of those deliberately contrary things that people say on music blogs the world over to try to differentiate themselves from the pack. But bear with me here: first up, I don’t mean “in all music ever”. I’m deliberately keeping my argument to a pretty narrow focus here, on the rock & pop world (inadequate though we might deem those descriptions to be). I’m not well-versed enough in the other myriad forms of vocal-dependent music to comment on them. Secondly, I don’t mean to say that John Darnielle has a great singing voice. That’s clearly not the case. Sure, he hits the notes okay, has a pretty good range, but tonally his voice is nasal and over-strident. I don’t think anyone’s denying that.

But Billie Holiday didn’t have a great voice, either. And we all know she was one the greatest singers of the 20th century (and that’s not just received wisdom: go check out some of her Columbia recordings from the ’30s and ’40s). Sometimes what a person does with his or her voice can surpass any limitations within that voice. John Darnielle is one of those people.

This is thanks in no small part to his much-talked about move from bedroom & boombox recording to working within an actual, properly kitted out studio. As has been mentioned by many people in the past, the microphone can be as much of a musical instrument as a guitar or a drum or anything else. When he was recording his songs straight onto cassette John Darnielle’s singing was pretty uniform: just about every song was belted out at maximum force, perhaps out of necessity: subtleties are easily lost among the tape hiss.

Since his move to the studio with Tallahassee, though, he seems to have been revelling in the possibilities granted by the use of a proper microphone. His lyrics had always been exceptional: now he tempers his singing to suit those lyrics. This is demonstrated best on the Mountain Goats’ great, great album from 2005, the Sunset Tree. His voice shifts through all the gears, just as the songs on the album display all human emotions: angry and defiant on “This Year”; desperate and urgent on “Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod?”; quiet and resigned on “Pale Green Things”. The album carries a massive emotional weight, and that’s in no small part to the attention to detail John Darnielle puts into his singing throughout.

There aren’t many people out there in the rock & pop world at the moment who are doing what he’s doing with his voice. Next time you listen to your favourite contemporary rock album, just pay attention to the singer. How much is he or she doing, vocally? Is there any variety between songs? Probably not, I’d bet. That’s why John Darnielle is one of the best singers in rock music today.

i will love you just like i used to

the mountain goats and john vanderslice present:
a night of amplified acoustic guitar and voice.

"We are going to light out for the Territories in a van with two acoustic guitars, some notebooks, our soundman Brandon and a pouch full of charms against ill omen. We are going to get elemental. We are going to stomp our feet and hammer at the strings until we get what we want from them. We, a couple of guys named John, are going to tour, is what we're going to do. We're going to stand alone onstage and play our guitars and sing old songs & new, and then we'll probably play together. We are going to sit side by side with our acoustic guitars like two out of the five guys on the Five Man Acoustical Jam album, only with fewer Tesla songs. Because the whole point of playing an acoustic guitar is not to unplug. It's to get raw and draw blood. Bring along some fresh bandages and we'll see you there!"

on wednesday.
get pumped.

this is my four leaf clover.

i have been straight exhausted for the past few days.
there is too much to do.

it's good, though.
stay busy. stay occupied. be content. be grateful.

love.

someday maybe i'll get to where i'm going

i am far more unbalanced than i thought i was.
i really am trying to clean up, to keep a level head and stay logical and put things in perspective.
it's pretty difficult, though.






so when i'm lost in a crowd
i hope that you'll pick me out
how i long to be found!
the grass grew high, i laid down.
now i'm waiting for a hand
to lift me up, help me stand
i've been laying so low
don't wanna lay here no more

golden.

i got no time for yr sad songs
i got plenty to sing on my own

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