Mid Year for Music

What a great year for music it has been thus far, but while I am enjoying it; there has been so much that has come out as well. From the ridiculous amounts of music that Nadja is responsible thus far to the latest album from Isis to the "comeback" album of Coalesce, 2009 has exceeded my expectations.

And there are still a slew of records on the way, including Jesu's attempts to catch up with Nadja (which is going to be tough as Nadja still has a bunch of records on the way) as well as other records like GREYMACHINE's Disconnected and the Bad Secrets EP.

For the rest of this week, I will be posting a bit about each of my top 10 records so far this year.

Extraordinarily Rare Logical Reasoning

This is now the name of the concept formerly known as "Common Sense" because it just is not common; in fact, it is all too rare. We are all culpable of making brash or illogical decisions without thinking of the consequences down the line, and while some people call this "Going with their gut feeling", it more than likely will end poorly for people that make decisions in this manner.

So I have changed the name of the concept formerly known as "Common Sense" to "Extraordinarily Rare Logical Reasoning".

Tuesday marks the beginning of another graduate class for me (leaving me with just one more class to go once this is completed), and I am doing my best to psyche myself up for the intense workload that this will bring on me for the next several weeks. I have never done 3 in a year so this is a new experience, and with the fourth following sometime later in the year, I am sure that it will turn out to be exhausting. I have to admit that my major has little to do with my actual academic interests and often complain and argue that the major is academically inferior to other majors, but this major is simply a business and career move. Call it a decision based on "Extraordinarily Rare Logical Reasoning".

So here it goes...

Fissures Recap

Last night was an interesting excursion as I played another show as Fissures. The night began with me loading equipment and setting up late (something I hate being and was disappointed in being last night); while testing out my set up, some 15 year old in tight grey jeans (actually they were almost white) and fluorescent sneakers told me to chill out on the feedback and berated me haha. The sad thing was, I was just turning on the equipment and making sure the sound was coming out of the speakers at decent levels; so much for the open mindedeness of the new tight jeaned hippies. It threw me a bit but made me laugh at the same time.

The first 2 pieces that I made were very tentative, and I am not a hundred percent sure just why that was; but these pieces never developed to my satisfaction ( I think my self consciousness over the volume was one reason for the tentativeness) and were extremely mellow and meandering. When I began the third piece of the night, something clicked and the third piece, while being a bit rough around the edges, turned out much more satisfactorily. The fourth piece also came out rather well for my taste too. A short break followed.

There was no strange banter, but people seemed more interested or at least there were more people witnessing the event than the first performance. It was earlier in the day that I decided to eschew any and all acoustic performance in order to focus on the ambient pieces more, and a short discussion around that as well as some of the awful music I was being subjected to when I was not playing haha.

The fifth and final piece of the night was a huge success and one that I received several bits of positive feedback from those that were listening. Somehow, the different layers all seemed to gel just the right way and my intention of injecting bits of melodic qualities to the night actually came to fruition. This fifth piece definitely made me happy to have played. Maybe next time I will be able to finally add an organ and also set up recording gear to record the event.

Fissures

So tonight is supposed to be the second Fissures performance. This will be interesting as I will be playing more of the ambient material than the last time. If I play anything acoustic, it will not be much simply because my time in California ate into my practice time for that material. Still, I hope that my attempts to inject some more "melodic" sounds into the ambient pieces will make for an enjoyable experience all around. Hope to see some of you tonight.

Big Update

Luna was adopted by a loving family. The wife and I are extremely happy for her and them. The wife feels much better and is now looking towards renewing her search for a canine addition to our family.

Back from California

Just got in from California. I am exhausted, hungry and my head aches from a nasty migraine. Thanks to Teri and Ryan for looking after the Black Panthers for us. Thanks to Clint and his girl for rescuing us in our moment of need (oh where were my wife and my heads haha.).

Still Missing Luna

Last night was really tough. I put off going directly home after work so that it would not be so bad, but I came home remembering that I usually walk her soon after coming in the door; so much so, that I went for a walk along the familiar routes that I had been taking her. I think this is one of the aspects of her living with us that I enjoyed the most. The first night she was gone, the wife said that I could always volunteer to take Luna for walks at the Vet hospital; I think I might do it.

I miss her deeply. I know my wife does too. I really wish that it worked out.

Missing Luna

It was very strange not having an excited Luna around to let out of her crate when we got home last night. I started to remember all sorts of little things about her when she was with us. I enjoyed taking her out in the early morning and the late night to relieve herself (her excitement at being outside must have been contagious). Her constantly wagging tail made me think that she was enjoying every minute of life. 

Hell, even though it annoyed me to no end, her whining at bed time was replaced by an eerie quiet throughout the house.

It is so weird how much she impacted both my wife and I (positively and negatively) that even though she was only with us for 10 days, we miss her a great deal.

Goodbye Luna

Honestly, this situation is heartbreaking. The wife took Luna back to the shelter this morning. Before I left for work, I had to say goodbye to her, and it was really tough. It makes me sad that she is not going to be excited to see me when I come home tonight; I really enjoyed that loving aspect of her personality. It must have been really hard on the wife to drop her off while I was at work.

As I said previously, She is really sweet and deserves a great home. I hope she gets a nice family who will give her that.

Changes? not so fast

A little over a week ago, I posted how Luna came to live with us. For the past week plus, the house has been in uproar. Many good times have been had, because Luna is a great dog. However, our three cats do not agree. Being the curious cats that they are, they have indeed upset Luna several times and provoked a response which is definitely not a good thing. Chasing a dog while screaming as she chases your cats is not cool and has happened several times with increasing frequency. 

Unfortunately, another instance occurred tonight. We care about Luna a great deal, but we also love Mr. Ex, Alia, and Jag just as much. The wife and I decided that it would be unfair to both the cats and the dog to continue having her live with us. So, we must end our foster care of her.

On the plus side, Luna is a great dog (very sweet, very loving, listens well, learns quickly). A house with no other pets or small children would be an ideal home for such a loving dog. I hope she finds a good home because she deserves it.

Fissures...a second helping

Apparently, the fine folks at the "Venue" that I recently played were so thoroughly entertained that I was asked to come back again. So on Thursday, June 18th, they will get their wish. I am working out a set now as we speak and hope to be posting some more information in the next few days.