December 2010
16 posts
“The more you refuse life, the more you write. This is writing.”
—Bhanu Kapil, Incubation (via invisiblestories)
Captain Beefheart’s 10 Commandments of Guitar Playing →
beatins.tumblr.com
via beatins:
1. Listen to the birds. That’s where all the music comes from. Birds know everything about how it should sound and where that sound should come from. And watch hummingbirds. They fly really fast, but a lot of times they aren’t going anywhere. 2. Your guitar is not really a guitar Your guitar is a divining rod. Use it to find spirits in the other world and bring them over. A guitar is also a fishing rod. If you’re good, you’ll land a big one. 3. Practice in front of a bush Wait until the moon is out, then go outside, eat a multi-grained bread and play your guitar to a bush. If the bush dosen’t shake, eat another piece of bread. 4. Walk with the devil Old Delta blues players referred to guitar amplifiers as the “devil box.” And they were right. You have to be an equal opportunity employer in terms of who you’re bringing over from the other side. Electricity attracts devils and demons. Other instruments attract other spirits. An acoustic guitar attracts Casper. A mandolin attracts Wendy. But an electric guitar attracts Beelzebub. 5. If you’re guilty of thinking, you’re out If your brain is part of the process, you’re missing it. You should play like a drowning man, struggling to reach shore. If you can trap that feeling, then you have something that is fur bearing. 6. Never point your guitar at anyone Your instrument has more clout than lightning. Just hit a big chord then run outside to hear it. But make sure you are not standing in an open field. 7. Always carry a church key That’s your key-man clause. Like One String Sam. He’s one. He was a Detroit street musician who played in the fifties on a homemade instrument. His song “I Need a Hundred Dollars” is warm pie. Another key to the church is Hubert Sumlin, Howlin’ Wolf’s guitar player. He just stands there like the Statue of Liberty-making you want to look up her dress the whole time to see how he’s doing it. 8. Don’t wipe the sweat off your instrument You need that stink on there. Then you have to get that stink onto your music. 9. Keep your guitar in a dark place When you’re not playing your guitar, cover it and keep it in a dark place. If you don’t play your guitar for more than a day, be sure you put a saucer of water in with it. 10. You gotta have a hood for your engine Keep that hat on. A hat is a pressure cooker. If you have a roof on your house, the hot air can’t escape. Even a lima bean has to have a piece of wet paper around it to make it grow.
i will not return your records #86
“here is my tongue/ now cut off my sin..”
playlist:
vic chesnutt - rips in the fabric (skitter on take-off)
godspeed you! black emperor - moya (slow riot for new zero kanada)
father murphy - never forget you have a choice (and he told us to turn to the sun)
gowns - rope (demo) (cd-r)
gowns - rope (live) (cd-r)
peg simone - oh holy night (secrets from the storm)
barn owl - twilight (ancestral star)
grails - self hypnosis (black tar prophecies vol. 4)
talk talk - after the flood (laughing stock)
talk talk - taphead (laughing stock)
gowns - griefer (broken bones)
the for carnation - salo (marshmallows)
sparklehorse - babies on the sun (it’s a wonderful life)
barn owl - night’s shroud (ancestral star)
grouper - make me over (wide)
grouper - vessel (roy montgomery/ grouper split lp)
holy sons - a chapter must be closed (survivalist tales!)
holy sons - slow days (survivalist tales!)
palace songs - christmastime in the mountains (black/ baker) (hope)
swearing at motorists - last christmas (wham!) (free mp3! http://secretlycanadian.com/blog/2009/12/merry-christmas-from-swearing-at-motorists/)
swans - reeling the liars in (my father will guide me up a rope to the sky)
dirty three - dirty equation (xmas mix) (hardcore holiday)
captain beefheart - grown so ugly (safe as milk)
grinderman - grinderman (grinderman)
grinderman - worm tamer (grinderman 2)
killdozer - oh little town of deathlehem (hardcore holiday)
slits - spend spend spend (cut)
thank you, Don Van Vliet.
sundays live on http://www.Radio23.org and on http://errorfm.com/alt
i will not return your records #85
“all this suction/ all this verve/ is just good old fashioned/ self-destruction and loss of nerve..”
playlist:
low - laser beam (live at eindhoven ep)
top sister - untitled (live at CKUT montreal) (aural diptych series #5)
san agustin with suzanne langille - snow sunrise (passing song)
six organs of admittance - maria (six organs of admittance)
holy sons - deprivation thrills (survivalist tales!)
christina rosenvinge - 36 (foreign land)
clairvoyants - to reassure (your new boundaries)
mogwai - christmas steps (come on die young)
molina & johnson - 34 blues (molina & johnson)
patti smith group - pumping (my heart) (radio ethiopia)
scout niblett - meet and greet (the calcination of scout niblett)
picastro - split head (become secret)
aidan baker - element #1 (i wish too, to be absorbed)
william s. burroughs - the do rights (you’re the guy i want to share my money with)
pj harvey - rid of me (4-track demos)
swans - little mouth (my father will guide me up a rope to the sky)
palace songs - christmastime in the mountains (hope ep)
ema - grey ship (unreleased; http://cameouttanowhere.com/music/)
bardo pond - walking stick man (set and setting)
giant sand - wolfy (chore of enchantment)
boss hog - fire of love (jody reynolds) (smells like smoked sausages)
wipers - potential suicide (is this real?)
rapeman - trouser minnow (two nuns and a pack mule)
come - in/ out (don’t ask, don’t tell)
photo © francesca woodman
sundays live on http://www.Radio23.org and on http://errorfm.com/alt
i will not return your records #84
“once she was on the freeway and had manoeuvred her way to the fast lane she turned on the radio at high volume and she drove.” - joan didion
playlist:
bedhead - the dark ages (4songcdep19:10)
scout niblett - duke of anxiety (swearing at motorists) (the calcination of scout niblett)
aerial m - skrag theme (plays aerial m)
akron/family - tunnel of fucking sound (collected recordings tour cd-r)
akron/family - ed match (collected recordings tour cd-r)
bardo pond - amen (peel session 05-01-20)
barn owl - sundown (ancestral star)
microphones - i’ll not contain you (the glow pt. 2)
grouper - hold (hold/sick 7-inch)
said the shark - december (always prattling on about wolves)
magnolia electric co. - such pretty eyes for a snake (trials and errors)
low - below & above (long division)
loren mazzacane connors - evangeline (evangeline)
mark mcguire - brothers (for matt) (living with yourself)
dreamcatcher - starholes (live at coolfest) (coolfestcdr)
les beyond - dancing on my own (robyn) (unreleased)
swans - jim (my father will guide me up a rope to the sky)
vic chesnutt - fodder on her wings (nina simone) (north star deserter)
peg simone - recipe for returning 3.1 (unreleased)
holy sons - sympathetic strings (survivalist tales!)
missincinatti - destroyer life (remove not the ancient landmarks)
thisquietarmy - the iron harvest (aftermath)
unwound - feeling$ real (fake train)
shannon wright - fractured (secret blood)
pj harvey - reeling (4-track demos)
the jesus lizard - glamourous (INCH)
nomeansno - real love (small parts isolated and destroyed)
sundays live on http://www.Radio23.org and on http://errorfm.com/alt
