Israel

Current mood: aggravated
Category: Music

Tony loaned me his current issue of MOJO music magazine, b/c in it there is an interview with Siouxsie (born Susan Janet Ballion). The interview is supposed sum up the life of the artist, though it touches lightly on the fact she has a new album out called Mantaray.

Anyway, the interview is dramatic enough - she leaves at one point. She got pissed when the interviewer brings up the infamous (though I was unaware) picture of a young Siouxsie with a swastika armband.

They mentioned the song Israel, which she admitted was done in part to atone for the sin of wearing the armband, though she claimed that was done in complete innocence...

It got me thinking, and jogged a memory of how I once found a 7" single of that very song in a junk pile in my old house, at 141 Western Ave...I went upstairs and put it on my stereo at the time, liked it, but wasn't sure who it belonged to, so I put it back after spinning it. Although, now I feel foolish for not taking it, b/c it obviously didn't belong to any of those roommates!

THE ALBUM IS DONE

Hear Ye,

The album is done. It'll probably be self-titled as Black Fortress of Opium, lest we make it unduly hard on publicists and critics, etc who can't get with the concept of something not in comfortable, safe English. Yeah, OK I'm a little pissed about doing this but whatever. It's the music that matters most, and the concept is secondary.

Anyway, it sounds so awesome, and REAL. Sounds good in the car, or headphones. It's an accomplishment the likes of which I have never before achieved. But the real task lies in the details of getting the artwork finished up so a real product can be made. The actual follow-through is multipart.

My eternal thanks to Martin for sculpting our sonic clay into something full of beauty. A hand-stitched item, as it were.

Other tidbits:
Started reading 'Cat's Cradle'. Digging it. It feeds right into my newest song, which was actually inspired by PK Dick's 'A Scanner Darkly', but there are Bokonian threads...Reading about the scientist got me thinking about Tony, and how I can see a bit of his father's scientific method in his actions. His dad was a nuclear physicist at MIT, and Tony was accepted into West Point, but chose instead to be a soldier of the guitaring kind. I bought him a little present today - one of the fruits from Hell...

Hee hee. Anyway good news as his mom's back surgery went better than expected.

I think I might check out the big gtr expo this weekend. I need new gear. I wanna get all American made instruments.

We're gonna jam with a new bass player this weekend. An absolute must after I had to let Joel go, and go off and do other things. No hard feelings on my end, though.

I bought some pussy willows today at the grocery store. They remind me of my childhood - not of any particularly fond memory per se, as I don't have many from then. No, more of a mood and tone thing, really. They used to grow in ditches alongside back roads where my dad would drive me around. We'd go exploring there, near an old salt mill (ironically near Sugarland, Texas) and pick up things like discarded test tubes.

It's all about the science.

Currently reading : Cat’s Cradle By Kurt Vonnegut Release date: 08 September, 1998

Return of the Blog!

Current mood: optimistic
Category: Life

Today is going OK.

Got some good news in the mail - ASCAPLUS award for some $$$ for like the 4th time.

I have been in need of good news.

Today is pleasantly uneventful, thankfully.

I am preparing to go back down to NYC for mastering this weekend. To put the cap on the deal, or something...

In the latest Interview magazine, I read Bob Colacello has a new book coming out called 'Out'. A coffee table sort of deal - photos of Andy Warhol and that scene etc. Harvard Bookstore doesn't have it in yet.

Autumn is rolling, er creeping, in. Though today is kinda hot.

I'm almost back to normal after a nasty bout of bacterial infection. Feeling optimistic about the future. Things feel momentarily stable, and all I have is the moment.

I walk around the city and though I usually am left with an empty feeling at summer's end, between seasons, I feel hope in my heart once more. With all the change around us, good, great, and better things than we could ever imagine are possible.

I like feeling on the cusp of something good and exciting.

Finished watching Art School Confidential last night. Very funny until about 2/3 of the way through. Follow through is rough for filmmakers it seems...I am frequently disappointed with a movie's ending. But that is just myself.