Eyeball pie
Ahem.
I am not yet tired of this site. I have also not posted here in nearly 8 months. Yes, it's been busy, but there was more to it.
It all started back in early January 2013, when I was working on my next scheduled update of 2012 music. I began last year with a creative itch, a mission to write a little about everything I heard like I used to, back in the salad days. This turned out to be too ambitious. I made it through about 105 or 106 of the year's new releases before I just got stuck. I had finally run out of stimulating ways to say "this indie pop band my friend told me about is pretty good when I listen to them, but I don't remember anything afterward" or "last month, Curren$y made yet another enjoyable batch of freely distributed songs about vehicles and weed" or "I guess I am just not as into power metal as I used to be."
So, uninspired, I turned my attention to my well-fermented end-of-year lists. I never posted a Top 10 for 2011, so I was just gonna do another massive one for 2011/2012, like I did for 2009/2010. I was making pretty good progress, too, lotsa deep insights and all that shit. Then, I learned the danger of writing within Blogger's current post editor, which, unlike the old version, automatically saves your work after what seems to be every other keystroke. Ctrl-A being just a sloppy fingering away from Shift-A, I inevitably managed to delete everything I had written with no chance of recovery. I laughed maniacally for a few minutes, then stepped away.
Another complication I've often mentioned is a time crunch. As a verbose perfectionist, it's hard coming up with 20 perfect summations of my thoughts at once. To combat this, I decided to start fresh with another blog at Tumblr, where you're supposed to be less wordy. I repurposed my failed Wordpress brand, posting a song I liked (with comments) every day. Unrestrained by format, theme or other requirements, I had an outlet, I didn't have to struggle with content that didn't pique my interest, and since Tumblr is also sort of a social media hub, it could possibly help fill the void left by my terminal Facebook aversion. And it worked! For a few months, anyway, until even about 10-15 minutes a day was too much time to devote to something fun. My urge to type thoughts fizzled around the time Jeff Hanneman died, and Scrambled Face grew as dormant as Entartete Kunst had.
And it wasn't until fairly recently that I really understood the root of all of this. From the very beginning of this site, I have written for enjoyment, producing content other people might like but mainly for personal gratification. It helps me offset that other productive part of myself, the part that craves methodical, even repetitive tasks. It was not until my life lacked that breed of detached routine that I truly appreciated the balance I once maintained. From late October until a week or so ago, I spent my days being very present, trying to learn to be resourceful in making sound, spontaneous judgments that directly impacted other people's lives, while also remaining responsible for guiding their progress and productivity. Strangely enough, in my evening free time, I subconsciously yearned to engage in a procedure with a specific end goal and definite parameters, something requiring no input from me other than to make sure the details were accurate.
Therefore, since March or so, I have been ripping every burned CD in my possession, along with promos and other discs that lack full packaging. I'm keeping a few one-of-a-kind items, mostly homemade mixes and old friends' demos. Other than those, I am talking about hundreds of albums, EPs, B-sides, compilation appearances, Japanese bonus tracks, old mp3.com/Napster/Myspace rarities and what have you, roughly 20 years' worth of accumulated music and other recorded ephemera in every genre I listen to, which is most of 'em. All of the content that I wanted to retain fits onto a single external drive that is smaller than my hand, with plenty of room to spare. And I still have two Ikea Billy bookcases completely stocked with CDs, plus 3 boxes of records and two racks of cassettes collecting dust and dead insects in my parents' flood-prone basement.
The point of all of this is that I have learned some things about myself in my recent time without a visible online presence:
1. Being too creative in my busy time makes me uncreative in my down time. (I thought I had learned that already, but it had apparently not sunk in.)
2. As a wise man once advised me, I don't need to keep all this stuff around to prove to myself that I like it.
3. If I am writing something long, I need to write in Word or Outlook or anything else that has an undo option.
I am now wiser, refreshed and gazing triumphantly upon a new horizon. My sweet, long-suffering wife finally has an entire bookcase to herself. More content is forthcoming, as it is summer, Sassy Frass has an exciting international jaunt planned, and I have seen too many good movies recently to not desire a bad one. Don't worry, this year's subject looks like a painful pantload of panther shit. Hooray for 2013!
To get back to business, below is a list of all the musical performers I saw playing live during 2012. Pitifully small, I know, but I only hit one festival and completely slacked off toward the end of the year. To be honest, I really haven't been to many shows this year, and I barely remember most of the sets below, either.
1. Rhythmbone
2. The End of the Ocean
3. Clad in Darkness
4. Alcest
5. Noumenon
6. The Big Sleep
7. Fang Island
8. VibeSquaD
9. Bassnectar
10. Deem
11. Winnie Page and the Dirt Band
12. Pete Jive
13. Scarlet Mountain
14. Lower Dens
15. The Olivia Tremor Control
16. Tim Hecker
17. A$AP Rocky
18. Big K.R.I.T.
19. Clams Casino
20. Dirty Projectors
21. Purity Ring
22. Feist
23. The Atlas Moth
24. Cloud Nothings
25. Atlas Sound
26. Liturgy
27. Cults
28. Youth Lagoon
29. Flying Lotus
30. Wild Flag
31. ScHoolboy Q
32. Sleigh Bells
33. Chromatics
34. Danny Brown
35. Godspeed You! Black Emperor
36. Unknown Mortal Orchestra
37. Milk Music
38. Iceage
39. Ty Segall Band
40. Kendrick Lamar
41. Chavez
42. AraabMuzik
43. King Krule
44. Beach House
45. The Field
46. Vampire Weekend
47. Agalloch
48. Reely Dan
49. Tad-TeeMac-Janik
50. Comfortably Floyd
51. Nick Pontarelli
52. American English
53. Stolen Babies
54. Paradise Lost
55. Katatonia
I am not yet tired of this site. I have also not posted here in nearly 8 months. Yes, it's been busy, but there was more to it.It all started back in early January 2013, when I was working on my next scheduled update of 2012 music. I began last year with a creative itch, a mission to write a little about everything I heard like I used to, back in the salad days. This turned out to be too ambitious. I made it through about 105 or 106 of the year's new releases before I just got stuck. I had finally run out of stimulating ways to say "this indie pop band my friend told me about is pretty good when I listen to them, but I don't remember anything afterward" or "last month, Curren$y made yet another enjoyable batch of freely distributed songs about vehicles and weed" or "I guess I am just not as into power metal as I used to be."
So, uninspired, I turned my attention to my well-fermented end-of-year lists. I never posted a Top 10 for 2011, so I was just gonna do another massive one for 2011/2012, like I did for 2009/2010. I was making pretty good progress, too, lotsa deep insights and all that shit. Then, I learned the danger of writing within Blogger's current post editor, which, unlike the old version, automatically saves your work after what seems to be every other keystroke. Ctrl-A being just a sloppy fingering away from Shift-A, I inevitably managed to delete everything I had written with no chance of recovery. I laughed maniacally for a few minutes, then stepped away.
Another complication I've often mentioned is a time crunch. As a verbose perfectionist, it's hard coming up with 20 perfect summations of my thoughts at once. To combat this, I decided to start fresh with another blog at Tumblr, where you're supposed to be less wordy. I repurposed my failed Wordpress brand, posting a song I liked (with comments) every day. Unrestrained by format, theme or other requirements, I had an outlet, I didn't have to struggle with content that didn't pique my interest, and since Tumblr is also sort of a social media hub, it could possibly help fill the void left by my terminal Facebook aversion. And it worked! For a few months, anyway, until even about 10-15 minutes a day was too much time to devote to something fun. My urge to type thoughts fizzled around the time Jeff Hanneman died, and Scrambled Face grew as dormant as Entartete Kunst had.
And it wasn't until fairly recently that I really understood the root of all of this. From the very beginning of this site, I have written for enjoyment, producing content other people might like but mainly for personal gratification. It helps me offset that other productive part of myself, the part that craves methodical, even repetitive tasks. It was not until my life lacked that breed of detached routine that I truly appreciated the balance I once maintained. From late October until a week or so ago, I spent my days being very present, trying to learn to be resourceful in making sound, spontaneous judgments that directly impacted other people's lives, while also remaining responsible for guiding their progress and productivity. Strangely enough, in my evening free time, I subconsciously yearned to engage in a procedure with a specific end goal and definite parameters, something requiring no input from me other than to make sure the details were accurate.Therefore, since March or so, I have been ripping every burned CD in my possession, along with promos and other discs that lack full packaging. I'm keeping a few one-of-a-kind items, mostly homemade mixes and old friends' demos. Other than those, I am talking about hundreds of albums, EPs, B-sides, compilation appearances, Japanese bonus tracks, old mp3.com/Napster/Myspace rarities and what have you, roughly 20 years' worth of accumulated music and other recorded ephemera in every genre I listen to, which is most of 'em. All of the content that I wanted to retain fits onto a single external drive that is smaller than my hand, with plenty of room to spare. And I still have two Ikea Billy bookcases completely stocked with CDs, plus 3 boxes of records and two racks of cassettes collecting dust and dead insects in my parents' flood-prone basement.
The point of all of this is that I have learned some things about myself in my recent time without a visible online presence:
1. Being too creative in my busy time makes me uncreative in my down time. (I thought I had learned that already, but it had apparently not sunk in.)
2. As a wise man once advised me, I don't need to keep all this stuff around to prove to myself that I like it.
3. If I am writing something long, I need to write in Word or Outlook or anything else that has an undo option.
I am now wiser, refreshed and gazing triumphantly upon a new horizon. My sweet, long-suffering wife finally has an entire bookcase to herself. More content is forthcoming, as it is summer, Sassy Frass has an exciting international jaunt planned, and I have seen too many good movies recently to not desire a bad one. Don't worry, this year's subject looks like a painful pantload of panther shit. Hooray for 2013!
To get back to business, below is a list of all the musical performers I saw playing live during 2012. Pitifully small, I know, but I only hit one festival and completely slacked off toward the end of the year. To be honest, I really haven't been to many shows this year, and I barely remember most of the sets below, either.
1. Rhythmbone
2. The End of the Ocean
3. Clad in Darkness
4. Alcest
5. Noumenon
6. The Big Sleep
7. Fang Island
8. VibeSquaD
9. Bassnectar
10. Deem
11. Winnie Page and the Dirt Band
12. Pete Jive
13. Scarlet Mountain
14. Lower Dens
15. The Olivia Tremor Control
16. Tim Hecker
17. A$AP Rocky
18. Big K.R.I.T.
19. Clams Casino
20. Dirty Projectors
21. Purity Ring
22. Feist
23. The Atlas Moth
24. Cloud Nothings
25. Atlas Sound
26. Liturgy
27. Cults
28. Youth Lagoon
29. Flying Lotus
30. Wild Flag
31. ScHoolboy Q
32. Sleigh Bells
33. Chromatics
34. Danny Brown
35. Godspeed You! Black Emperor
36. Unknown Mortal Orchestra
37. Milk Music
38. Iceage
39. Ty Segall Band
40. Kendrick Lamar
41. Chavez
42. AraabMuzik
43. King Krule
44. Beach House
45. The Field
46. Vampire Weekend
47. Agalloch
48. Reely Dan
49. Tad-TeeMac-Janik
50. Comfortably Floyd
51. Nick Pontarelli
52. American English
53. Stolen Babies
54. Paradise Lost
55. Katatonia
posted by SoulReaper at 11:33 PM
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