How to move:
Apologies for the inattentiveness, bloggerinos. I've moved home to Blogspot for reasons of ease, and the entries over there more or less pick up where these blogs leave off. However, I intend to come back and do something with this site eventually, regarding the Cute Kids Don't Sell Records music project (which in the meantime has its respective homes at Myspace and last.fm).
Thursday, 20th March 2008
How to Alaskan daydream:
I have a really strong compulsion to move to Alaska. Is it really as magical as it seems?
Tuesday, 15th January 2008
How to max-out:
Maybe it's because I recently had a somewhat emotional plane journey coming back to Amsterdam after spending a wonderfully underwhelming Christmas at home (without going into details, epiphanies and concealed tears were involved, and then a friend later dedicated and played a Mountain Goats song on the radio for me...long story), or maybe it's because I've been OD'ing on all Zach Braff-related enterprises over the last few days, but I've been feeling down of late. My classes and exams are over until the next semester starts in February, and I consequently feel like I'm trapped in something of a void; stuck between two temporal entities which fold out infinitely both behind and in front of me, but each just out of my grasp. I'm also feeling panicked because I don't want to get home in the summer and realise I've wasted my year abroad. And when I say that, I have to conclude to myself that I'm really talking about not wanting to waste how I spend my life. Apparently, Amsterdam presents itself to me as a microcosmic example of existence.
So I've planned a trip. I'm going to some places I've never particularly envisaged myself visiting, but maybe when I get there I'll realise I'm actually doing something of merit; seeing or doing new things to intentionally break my routine. (I brushed my teeth with chewing-gum in my mouth for the first time today, but I don't think that counts.) Then, if nothing else, at least I can tell myself in the future that I once went there or did that, and that's what I did on my year abroad/life. So here's the plan: I'm flying from Amsterdam to Vilnius in Lithuania and spending a few days there. Then I'll head up to Finland and meet a friend in Helsinki, before we sail back down to Tallinn, and make our way south through Estonia to Latvia, eventually ending up in Riga. Then (since the only flight I could get from Riga to Amsterdam was via London, two hours from my house at most) I'll spend a few days at home before coming back to the Netherlands for the new university term. (Have I used the joke that I'm in the 'nether' part of the Netherlands before? It's a good joke, and I'm proud I managed to think of it in my state of depression.)
I'm most excited about Lithuania. I think this is because I'll have three days to explore a totally new place completely on my own, and I can go where I want and do it at my own pace. Furthermore, I've heard good things about Vilnius, and it'll be a nice cultural experience in contrast to living in Amsterdam. Even better about the trip, I'll have racked up a nice healthy four new world-capitals in my quest to visit ten, not including Amsterdam and London as the portions of the trip I've already been to.
I have no camera, so I won't be able to get photographical documentation of my journey, but I'm hoping that'll encourage me to really take it all in when I'm actually there. Even more though, I hope it pulls me out of my rut so I can get on with enjoying Amsterdam for the remaining time I'm here. In the meantime, here's a photo I found, presumably taken from Gedinminas Hill. I plan to be in the same spot to see the sun set over the city on the day I arrive.
Monday, 14th January 2008
How to round up the year, internet-stylee:
2007 has been a fantastic year for music, both on a general and a personal level. While on the one hand a great number of excellent new albums have been released - 'future classics', I believe is the correct terminology - a great number of previous years' finest - or 'Coca-Cola classics'- have also come to my attention. Getting anecdotal for just a second: on New Year's Eve a few years back I remember thinking that I'd acquired a good deal of new music over the course of the twelve months prior, and wondered if my music collection had expanded to the point of actually doubling in size. So each year since I've wondered the same thing, thinking of it as being my underlying achievement for the year (that's a little sad, isn't it?) if I do in fact manage to entirely duplicate the scope of my song library; an eternally intensifying psuedo-challenge that demands more and more as I get older and as my music-snobbery inevitably develops. While this year the task has obviously been more difficult than it has ever been, I'm fairly confident in saying I've absolutely smashed the task out of the water. Chalk that up to this year's realisation that I'm perfectly content doing absolutely nothing of any merit. Needless to say, I've given myself a hefty undertaking for the coming year...
Anyway, putting aside the newly-discovered older albums for the time being, I'll start with a definitive rundown list of my favourite albums to be have come out this year:
- Lucky Soul - 'The Great Unwanted' (Ruffa Lane)
- Cats On Fire - 'The Province Complains' (Marsh Marigo)
- Kate Nash - 'Made of Bricks' (Universal/Polydor)
- Little Man Tate - 'About What You Know' (V2)
- Maia Hirasawa - 'Though, I'm Just Me' (Razzia)
- Jens Lekman - 'Night Falls Over Kortedala' (Secretly Canadian)
- Säkert! - 'Säkert!' (Family Tree)
- Pelle Carlberg - 'In a Nutshell' (Zoo)
- The Anomalies - 'The Anomalies' (unreleased demo)
- Billie the Vision & the Dancers - 'Where the Ocean Meets My Hand' (Love Will Pay...)
I feel at this point it is necessary to point out that five of these albums are from Swedish artists, while four are from Britain and one is Finnish. As soon as I realised that, I have to say I was slightly aghast that America failed to make the grade at all, but the proportions do nonetheless accurately illustrate what national music scenes I've been concentrating on in 2007.
Next, since we compulsive list-makers do occassionally like to indulge our mischievous sides by bending the rules somewhat, please find enclosed a list of 'honourable mentions'. These albums didn't make the cut for whatever reason, but nonetheless deserve the recognition they...er, deserve.
Tender Forever - 'Wider' (K Records)
This is a neat, little synth-pop record which I only heard about through another end-of-year albums list, and which I was immediately
motivated to seek out. Being a last-minute contender, even despite its overwhelming cutesy goodness, I didn't include it simply for reasons of imbalance. If
it had come out a month ago, I'm sure with a few extra listens it would have charmed its way into position.
Elliott Smith - 'New Moon' (Kill Rock Stars)
This year I got into Elliott in a big way, and got my hands on as much of his recorded history as I could possibly muster. This posthumous compilation of rarities is a great record, but I can't help feeling I would have been far more excited about it if not for the fact I'd only heard Either/Or for the first time just 3 weeks previous rather than the full 10 years.
They Might Be Giants - 'The Else' (Zoe Records)
I'm a long-time TMBG fan, and this is indeed a return to excellent form after the two Johns voyaged into the scary medium of children's educational music. It's a great alternative pop record, and retains the Giants' wit, enthusiasm, and keen ear for a great melody. It just falls short of the big ten.
Willy Mason - 'If the Ocean Gets Rough' (Virgin)
Hooray! Some more Americans on the list! Anyway, Willy Mason has crafted a great set of songs on this record, and the production is excellent. Unfortunately I have no frame of reference with his previous albums, but I may be interested in looking into his back catalogue after a few more listens.
Additionally, there was Fountains of Wayne's 'Traffic and Weather', Little Ones' 'Sing Song', A Sunny Day in Glasgow's 'Scribble Mural Comic Journal', Laakso's 'Mother, Am I Good Looking?' and The Apples in Stereo's 'New Magnetic Wonder', all of which showcased their performers' respective, very disparate sounds admirably.
As I've mentioned, this year was the year I finally developed a long-overdue boy-crush on Elliott Smith and the work thereof. I'd hate to be charged with the task of prioritising certain songs of his above others, so in that regard listening to all of his albums for the first time within a few months of each other doubtlessly had its benefits. I'm only sorry I didn't pay attention sooner. (Thanks, Wes Anderson.) Besides Elliott, 2007 has also introduced me to M.Ward (after seeing this on the Fabulist), of Montreal (whose album 'Satanic Panic in the Attic' has rapidly found its way into the list of my favourite albums of all time), Labrador Records and all the juicy, twee-pop goodness found within, and, well...countless others. Like I said, my music collections has (at least) doubled.
I've perhaps not been to my share of concerts this year. I was somewhat put off by going to a Kate Nash in-store performance in the summer and thinking to myself throughout, "I'm far too old to be here." But I also saw both The Cat Empire and Nouvelle Vague in Amsterdam, and kept a two-year-old promise to see Rooney with a friend if they ever came to London. Besides that, I saw the new incarnation of one of my favourite bands of all time, and met one of my drumming inspirations (perhaps overstepping the mark by telling him he was one of my drumming inspirations in a near-empty pub somewhere in East London). It was also at this gig that The Anomalies were giving out free copies of their demo CD to members of the audience, which made it onto this year's list.
Finally, this has also been a good year for my own music, as I played my first entirely solo gig and started to record my own compositions much more fervently. I bought a new guitar and a new, shiny Zoom, and got into the Cubase thing. And I think this is the perfect place to conclude with a hopeful forward-look to the next 12 months, and all the good that is to come with it. Happy 2008!
Monday, 31st December 2007
How to make a home-studio:
Much to report, my little chumlins. Firstly, the reason for my absence since the summer has been my move to Amsterdam, where I'm studying for the year. However, my triumphant return to England for the Christmas and New Year period has prompted me to take on a variety of tasks out of, mainly, boredom. Besides updating this site, these tasks include recording a number of the songs I had been writing in my lonely box-hovel in the 'nether' part of the Netherlands, and completely overturning the dumping-ground room in my dad's house (come on; we all have one of these rooms) and making it inhabitable once more. The best part is that I've converted the room into a cramped little studio, full to the brim with recording equipment, computers, amplifiers, drums, assorted stringed musical instruments and pokémon cuddly toys. And the fact that the room is, at most, 7 feet by 10 feet is in no way detrimental to the coolness of the room, I can assure you.
As for the Cute Kids music project, I've been toying with a number of ideas which you can listen to on the last.fm page. Some of the songs' individual tracks were recorded back in August before the move, and since I've been back I have added vocals and additional instrumentation. I'll hopefully put the new studio to some good, intense usage fairly shortly, since next week I'll be back in the 'Dam until the summer.
In other news, I'll be compiling an end-of-year album picks list quite soon, and I'd like to do write-ups of some of them for the semi-abandoned reviews section of this site ('last updated February 2007'?? Yikes...). Keep posted.
MP3: Cute Kids Don't Sell Records - 'Of Jealousy and Morrissey'
Sunday, 30th December 2007
How to self-release:
I'm currently in the process of updating this Cute Kids site to encorporate my three loves: music, writing about music, and writing about myself. I'm the sort of person who likes everything to be neatly kept in one place, you see, without littering obsolete scatters of website all over t'internet - no matter how confusing it may be to those who try and find order amongst the chaos of the ensuing, solitary site. On that note, however, I'm afraid I'll have to direct you to ANOTHER site, the Cute Kids artist profile on Myspace, which is currently more informative than this temporary blog entry.
The thing is, I've recently made the first several copies of a CD I'd been working on (one or two demonstrative songs of which I've recently noticed are strategically placed throughout this blog) and I foolishly put this web address on the sleeve of the CDs. However, the deadline was simply too stifling for me to adhere to, and I haven't redone this site by the time those of you who visit this site as a direct consequence of noticing the web address on the CD packaging, visit this site. Nonetheless, have faith that if you check back some time - I'll refrain from making a similar mistake vis-à-vis deadlines this time - the site will have some decent bits of information about the CD.
All I can provide for now, I'm afraid, is the cover image, as well as the piece of insight that each copy will cost £3. If you want to purchase one, then come to The Cricketers tonight (9pm) for Vic's Vapour Club, where I'll be playing and whoring my music for your pleasure.
