The dark and the mechanical.

     It's been a month since I saved all my music to my new SD card in the event that I was going to lose my Sirius XM. I was given a deal to keep my account, but I'm still very satisfied with having my music on my phone. I've been listening to a lot of albums I haven't heard in a long while. Mostly because I forgot I had them.
     It had been a long while since I listened to music to fall asleep. Now, when I'm between shifts, but don't want to waste gas going all the way back home just to come all the way back to town, I use my phone. And, for some reason, I've been listening to a lot of ambient industrial.

     Ambient industrial is, basically, a dark moody soundscape that features droning techno elements. One the one hand, it sounds like the soundtrack to a supernatural science fiction space horror, one where people find an abandoned ship adrift in space, with nothing aboard except for something moving just out of the corner of the eye. On the other hand, it sounds like KMFDM or Nine Inch Nails on large doses of quaaludes.
     Sometimes, when I listen to it, I envision myself drifting underwater. Or maybe on a run-down elevator or underground rail car that takes me deeper into my subconscious. Within a few minutes, I'm relaxed and almost asleep.
     Some of my favorite albums include 'Ptahil' by Atrium Carceri, 'Astral Disasters' by Coil, 'Procession' by Desiderii Marginis, 'Whispers of the Approaching Wastefulness' by New Risen Throne, and 'The Empty Hollow Unfolds' by Raison d'Etre.
     I think I'm missing albums, so I will have to figure out how to get more. I guess happy hunting to me.

The element of choice.

     How I listen to music has gone through a lot of changes the past year and a half. Thanks to being in the Information Age, there are many ways to access it. I like the element of choice in listening to music.
     The element of choice is probably why I avoid listening to music just because it's in the Top 40; it feels like national peer pressure is telling me what to do. This is also probably why I listen to a lot of music that is either underground, foreign, or older and forgotten; I just went exploring the internet on my own.
     There's always a neat feeling of talking to people who have found one underground band that you like. It's like "Oh, you found this gold vein, too?" Also, I like to hear what others found in their mining. "Oh, you found something neat! Let me dig around there."
     Sometime in 2017, I lost my iPod. It had been with me for years, and since I like being in command of what I listen to, so I wasn't happy when it went missing. I ended up plugging my phone into the aux jack when I drove, and put it on Pandora or YouTube.
     I got rid of my old car, the Old Green Bastard. So, I found that I could use Bluetooth technology in my new car. It was nice, when I missed my music and used YouTube. But I also got to listen to Sirius. It's nice, but not worth $20 and some fees when I could just use the internet for music and podcasts, so I will not be renewing past the introductory rate.
     In preparation for losing Sirius in a couple of weeks, I finally got a 200GB micro SD card for my phone. I transferred all my music to it, and I'm so happy I got it. It not only stores my pics and memes, but it turns my phone into an MP3 player. Denise and I have road trips planned for the next few months, so I'm looking forward to playing DJ. At least she likes Clutch.

"No one sings like you anymore."

     It's been over a week, and I still don't know what to say about this. A one of a kind legend, artist, bard, and great human being, Chris Cornell, has died.
     The night of May 9th, Soundgarden's tour rolled into Detroit. They rocked the Fox Theatre, ending their show with a cover of Led Zeppelin's "In My Time of Dying." It was fitting, as Soundgarden was often compared to Led Zeppelin. But sadly, it was also fitting because it was the last song Cornell sang before he committed suicide in his hotel room mere hours later.
     What can I say about the untimely passing of someone whose art touched me on such a profound level? Over a week later, I still don't know.


Chris Cornell:
July 20, 1964 - May 9, 2017

Two album reviews! One blog entry! And some questions!

     A lot of new music has popped up on my iPod lately, and I really need to talk about them! No use in using two entries to talk about them.

     Ever-evolving, long-standing ass-kickers Clutch have come out with a new one. Psychic Warfare brings that blues-oriented rock feel of the previous albums. I've just been through a couple of run-throughs so far, and I love it. Three stand-out tracks so far: "Sucker for the Witch" and "Doom Saloon", which leads into "Our Lady of Electric Light."

     Faith No More! Faith... No... goddamn... More! I found out about their newest album, Sol Invictus, a year after its 2015 release. I hate feeling like I'm out of a loop! But nonetheless, I have my grubby paws on this album (in a digital sense). Yes, there is some rap-rock in it! This comes courtesy of the first single, "Motherfucker". Yep... their first single after a 19-year hiatus is called "Motherfucker". Their first video in decades is "Sunny Side Up". Good songs; however, I have three personal picks: "Superhero", "Separation Anxiety", and "Matador".

     I hope that 2017 brings to fruition ideas that have been batted around, regarding long-standing and reunited bands. I would like to see Soundgarden's follow-up to 'King Animal', Alice In Chains' newest since 'The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here', and maybe (just maybe) something new from Pearl Jam, though I haven't gotten a hold of 2013's 'Lightening Bolt' yet.
     Speaking of the greats that rose out of the Seattle Grunge era, I'd like to leave with a series of questions. This comes to mind in light of the fact that Soundgarden's 'Badmotorfinger' came out 25 years ago. What counts as classic rock? Does it have to be a certain age? If so, what age? Does it have to be of a certain sound? If so, what is it? Certainly, Jimi Hendrix and AC/DC are both played on the same classic rock stations, but don't sound too similar; I have Hendrix filed under Psychedelic Rock and AC/DC filed under Hard Rock. Is grunge of some lower quality? Certainly not; Kurt Cobain made his mark, and of course Chris Cornell, Eddie Vedder, and Layne Staley all can wail with the likes of Brian Johnson, Steven Tyler, and Mick Jager. I guess my question won't rest until I hear "Rusty Cage", "Alive", or "Man in the Box" regularly played on a classic rock station.

"Ich Will", my theme song.

     I would have to say that, if I had a theme song, it would be "Ich Will", by Rammstein.
     Rammstein's style of music, known as Neue Deutsche Härte - new German hardness, isn't popular past them. And it's not recognized by many. And it's hard to think that a band that writes songs about the underbelly of life, from necrophilia to cannibalism, would write a song that hits home for someone.
     So, why is "Ich Will" my theme song? Well, to me, it's about many things. There's the inherent need that anyone has to be heard and validated. There's the desire to make a deep impact on the world around you; and sometimes that need can almost be self-sacrificing. And there's a need, that should be inherent in everyone, to unleash one's own inner messiah.

Ich will
Ich will dass ihr mir vertraut
Ich will dass ihr mir glaubt
Ich will eure Blicke spüren
Ich will jeden Herzschlag kontrollieren

Ich will eure Stimmen hören
Ich will die Ruhe stören
Ich will dass ihr mich gut seht
Ich will dass ihr mich versteht

Ich will eure Phantasie
Ich will eure Energie
Ich will eure Hände sehen
Ich will in Beifall untergehen

Seht ihr mich?
Versteht ihr mich?
Fühlt ihr mich?
Hört ihr mich?
Könnt ihr mich hören?
Wir hören dich
Könnt ihr mich sehen?
Wir sehen dich
Könnt ihr mich fühlen?
Wir fühlen dich
Ich versteh euch nicht

Ich will

Wir wollen dass ihr uns vertraut
Wir wollen dass ihr uns alles glaubt
Wir wollen eure Hände sehen
Wir wollen in Beifall untergehen - ja

Könnt ihr mich hören?
Wir hören dich 
Könnt ihr mich sehen?
Wir sehen dich 
Könnt ihr mich fühlen?
Wir fühlen dich 
Ich versteh euch nicht

Könnt ihr uns hören?
Wir hören euch
Könnt ihr uns sehen?
Wir sehen euch
Könnt ihr uns fühlen?
Wir fühlen euch
Wir verstehen euch nicht

Ich will

Unofficial Translation ©2003 Jeremy Williams.

I want you to trust me
I want you to believe me
I want to feel your eyes
I want to control every heartbeat

I want to hear your voices
I want to disturb the peace
I want you to see me well
I want you to understand me

I want your fantasy
I want your energy
I want to see your hands
I want to go down in applause

Do you see me?
Do you understand me?
Do you feel me?
Do you hear me?
Can you hear me?
We hear you
Can you see me?
We see you
Can you feel me?
We feel you
I don't understand you

I want

We want you to trust us
We want you to believe everything from us
We want to see your hands
We want to go down in applause - yeah

Can you hear me?
We hear you
Can you see me?
We see you
Can you feel me?
We feel you
I don't understand you

Can you hear us?
We hear you
Can you see us?
We see you
Can you feel us?
We feel you
We don't understand you

I want

Mining rap.

     As I've said before, I find myself having to dig deeper and deeper past the mainstream to find anything good in the world of music over the past decade and a half. This includes rap.
     I liked watching Chappelle's Show when it was on. Yes, there were a lot of silly sketches, but one thing I loved about it was his musical guests. He always brought on rappers who were really good alternatives to the auto-tuned, catchphrase-spewing mainstream.
     Lately, thanks to Chappelle, I've been looking around for various artists who shred with the mic. Also, I've had a lot of help with an article about the vocabulary of modern artists. So, I started with Aesop Rock, Killer Mike, Talib Kweli, and Common.
     I'm really happy that there are people out there who don't want to listen to what sounds like drowning robots. It's one thing to use electronics for artistic effect (like when aggrotech artists often do it), but when they try to pass it off as their own voice, it's bullshit.

Musical thoughts.

     As my iPod fills up with more and more of my choice of music, I've come to realize something. For the past fifteen years or so, I feel like I have almost totally stopped listening to mainstream music. My musical growth has taken the form of composers and artists that are centuries-old, underground, or overseas. I guess I feel like I grew jaded with mainstream music too early. Most people are into mainstream music until they're in their late twenties, not 23/24.
     There's a joke I like to say. "I love music the way I love America. You have to poke and prod to find what's good and worth holding onto. Why? Because corporate assholes have been ruining it." The reason for this is target marketing. Record companies hire researches to find what's edgy, but safe. Back when mass media started, this was understandable. Cameras and recording equipment were expensive, so to maximize their use, producers chased what was the "latest" thing that "the kids" were into.
     Craig Ferguson said it best: In catering and glorifying "youth culture" they sought to embrace the vitality, energy, and fun of youth. But the problem is that they also ended up embracing the materialism and inexperience of youth.
     Now that that equipment is less expensive, and people can make an album from their basement, there's no reason that millions of people should be listening to the exact same three types of music: modern "country" (AKA tractorpop), "hip-hop" (AKA crap-hop), and that crap that passes for edgy alt-rock. This is the information age. If one person likes something, there's no reason it shouldn't spread to that person's friends like wild fire. As the internet is supposed to act as the megaphone for the word of mouth, tastes would diversify more.
     Still, in the 21st Century, Madison Avenue is still hoarding that "youth dollar". Through search engine optimization and paying for ads that appear in the corners of sites, they've made the internet work for them. In addition, instead of chasing what was the "latest" thing that "the kids" are into, they systematically create what "the kids" will be into.
     In the sea of music the shell of mainstream ice has gotten thicker. I think I just wish that everyone else had the desire to drill as much as I do. Even if they don't find the things I do, it'd be nice to hear what others would find when they drill.