Both we and our words

LOVEPUPPIES ((Episode 22)) "Taking Out The Trash" from Chad Fjerstad on Vimeo.

omg these cupcakes i made.... are EDIBLE!

CHOADUSCHOICE.

TOP 10 RECORDS OF 2009 *********

Honorable mention:

PASSION PIT - 'MANNERS'




::::: 10: BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME - 'THE GREAT MISDIRECT'



This is not something that I listen to too avidly, but the technical prowess behind this album simply cannot be denied. I have not heard such unbelievable technicality since probably Necrophagist's 'Epitaph', several years ago now. The difference between Necrophagist and BTBAM is that BTBAM combines every genre they can, while Necrophagist stays in the melodic death metal zone 99.9% of the time. While I felt BTBAM's last effort 'Colors' was their ugliest, most jumbled and confused release - they surprised me with 'The Great Misdirect'. The entire album flows incredibly. From the radio-ready rock opener, "Mirrors" to the stunning conclusion which is a shredfest by the name of "Swim To The Moon", 'The Great Misdirect' is a wild ride worth taking and anyone who denies it is a fool.


::::: 9: PEACHES - 'I FEEL CREAM'



Peaches breaks through with her 4th and most accessible album yet. It seems that moving from San Francisco to Berlin has tamed her quite a bit, as shown through singles like "Talk To Me" and "Lose You" - two songs that have absolutely no sexual references or dirty words. This is unheard of from Peaches! It's nice to see one free-spirited bi-sexual girl rise from the drugged-out crust of her old scene to a polished pop world where she can still manage to be herself. And she's done it all by herself! She is a master of minimalism in modern music and I think her style and attitude is finally starting to rub off on the mainstream... (Lady GaGa...cough cough)


::::: 8: ST. VINCENT - 'ACTOR'



Who is Annie Clark? She's adorable and now everyone knows who she is after her new album, 'Actor'. Critics are raving and everyone wants an interview. Rightfully so. 'Actor' is filled out with 11 grade A songs - not a bad song on the record. There are no cheap tricks. The album stays impressive and enjoyable based merely off of her tasteful songwriting, eclectic array of sounds, and of course her pretty little voice. Although the overall sound seems to stay similar, repeat listens will reveal to you that each song provides a very different atmosphere. I personally enjoy the most abrasive jam on the record, "Marrow" to anything else - but I know many would argue against it. I wouldn't mind if she traveled in a more upbeat direction but I don't really see that happening. She is in her own and at her best just the same way when she's cooing so gracefully over subtle licks in classics like "The Party" and "Laughing With a Mouth Full of Blood". Can't wait to hear what she does next.


::::: 7: BARONESS - 'BLUE RECORD'



So I may have missed the train when Baroness's 'Red Album' took everyone by storm a year or two ago. I still have never heard it. But fortunately I had the pleasure of hearing their follow-up 'Blue Record' last minute. And it is AWESOME! Definitely the best new metal band I've heard in some time. I especially love the way that they aren't just channeling the basic progressive metal we've grown used to, nor the Black Sabbath worship of a lot of bands in the last decade. They're bringing something really fresh to the metal world and I can't quite put my finger on it. I can't say why but I even pick up on hints of grunge at times. The harmonized riffs are really what take the crown. 'Blue Record' doesn't strive too hard to be technical, but instead flows solidly with riffs and structures that both memorable and incredibly powerful. The vocals passages expressed through melodic throaty grunts are the icing on the cake. And the icing is DAMN GOOD.


::::: 6: MASTODON - 'CRACK THE SKYE'



Mastodon have finally found a sound that I can see them sticking with for the rest of their career as a band. The perfectly polished production really makes this album deep enough that every time you dive into it you can find something new. Comfortably shredding through 'Crack The Skye', it finally sounds like all of the pieces of the Mastodon puzzle have fallen into the places they're supposed to be. This is a metal album that makes sense to be on a major label in 2009, and that's a major feat in itself. This appeals to modern metal fans, classic metal fans, rock and roll fans, nu-metal fans, and some non-metal fans as well I'm sure. The last half of this decade, it's been a pretty weak battle for the Major Label Metal Band Championship Belt between Mastodon, Lamb of God, and Killswitch Engage. I think it's safe to say that 'Crack The Skye' is the album that's going to put Mastodon on top of that list and go down as one of the more memorable metal albums of the decade. This album allows the metal world the enter the next decade with a big bang of hope, pride, and shredding.


::::: 5: ROYKSOPP - 'JUNIOR'



Electro-bros from Sweden continue in the tradition of other great electronic artists like Massive Attack, filling their album with eccentric guest vocalists. Thanks to their incredible choice in sounds, beats, and structures, and the tasteful vocal performances from Robyn, Lykke Li, and Karin Dreijer-Andersson, Royksopp deliver some of the absolute best modern pop songs of 2009. While all of the songs are fantastic for the dance floor, they still vary incredibly. Opener "Happy Up Here" is a definitive uplifter, and is also one of the only tracks not featuring a guest vocalist - but it's just as strong as the rest. "The Girl and The Robot" with Robyn just about takes the cake with its music that worships italo-disco which I am incredibly partial to and Robyn's vocal performance being one of the catchiest things I've heard all year. And of course, you just can't go wrong with Karin (of The Knife / Fever Ray) - "This Is It" gets my blood flowing pretty hard. Check out the video if you get a chance. It's totally primal. And if you didn't hear the first song they did with Karin, titled "What Else Is There?" - it's a modern classic! You gotta get into it!


::::: 4: DAN DEACON - 'BROMST'



Out of nowhere, this chubby man with big glasses took the whole nation by storm upon the release of his second album, Bromst. It's the most creative thing I've gotten into this year. The songs are primarily based around shrieking synth arpeggios and chipmunk vocals. The music to me portrays a vibe or image of "taking some speed and jumping into a cartoon" or "small babies dancing while sparkling with star power (invincibility) from Super Mario Bros". Apparently, Dan Deacon is not for everyone, which doesn't really come as any surprise. But to me, it's an absolute blast! "Red F" won't be leaving my playlists for a while. And, if you can't take the hyperactive sound, the one chilled out track is actually one of the strongest on the album - download "Snookered" if you are interested. The stuff is portrayed great through his live show too! I recommend everyone get into Dan Deacon!


::::: 3: MEW - 'NO MORE STORIES..."



You just can't go wrong with Mew. 'No More Stories...' is an album (like the rest of Mew's catalogue) that defies genre and simply lays out wonderful MUSIC. I guess you could call them a rock band but there's a hell of a lot more to them than that. In 2009, I feel that "rock" is one of the stalest categories of music in general. Fortunately, with all the reverb and delay this band uses, you can barely tell they're playing guitars half of the time! And with that angelic voice wailing at you, sometimes you can't pay attention to the music because you are so in awe of the astounding voice. This is an album that gets better with every single listen. It can be somewhat challenging on the listener, which is one of the things that makes it so fantastic. Like any challenge, if there's something you didn't get the last time, it's great to pick it up and give it another whirl, and a few more things will be likely to click with you every single time. Although the first three tracks are the strongest in my opinion, No More Stories is flawless all the way through. And Mew could probably be called a flawless band in general, at that.


::::: 2: ANIMAL COLLECTIVE - 'MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION'



This album deserves to be #1. For years now, people have been telling me that Animal Collective was currently the most important band in music, and that they were one of their favorites. I just didn't get it. A few years ago, they released 'Strawberry Jam' and many chose it as their favorite record of the year. I liked the first track, and maybe the third, and otherwise found it to be a strange gargle of ugly noise. But in 09, I see that they're back with 'MPP' and decide to give them another chance. Immediately upon first listen, I am 100% blown away by every aspect of the record: the production, their voices, the way the songs so effectively swell up and explode and break themselves down. The way they can make music that is so unbelievably innovative while keeping it so incredibly catchy and likable throughout deserves eternal pats on the back. People complain that they are "Beach Boys worship" - and yes, I agree that their vocals sound just like The Beach Boys - but since when did The Beach Boys do songs over these kinds of brilliant sounds and production? Oh wait, that's right - that kind of technology didn't exist back then. There is not much as powerful or fulfilling that you can listen to in 2009. From the moment opening track "In The Flowers" kicked in, I knew I was a serious fan. Then, one of the best songs of the year "My Girls" only sealed the deal. Very important record right here.


::::: 1: FEVER RAY - 'FEVER RAY'



I'm sure this is a predictable choice coming from me. Karin Dreijer-Andersson is a music god to me. When I first heard this album upon it's release, I found it to be a somewhat lackluster collection of toned down Knife songs that didn't really offer too much in the long run. However, as the year progressed, I slowly found myself listening to it more and more, and soon I found that one song at a time, I was completely addicted. And it really is that phenomenal all the way through. Every single song is so addictive, as soon as you've let it sink in enough that you can really feel it. You can't be looking for thrills with this record - you've got to sit back and let the tasteful ballads float through you. It is absolutely flawless. I would kill to have her voice, and to be able to lay out songs that sound so natural and effortless. And oh yeah, unlike anything in this world. The songs are so perfect that it feels more like they are living, breathing things or creatures that already existed on their own without being created for the purpose of this record. I still see Karin as an all powerful alien who came here to grace us with her music from another planet. The electronics are therapeutic and so is the calmly structured percussion. Every time Karin sings about things like CUCUMBERS and BOOMERANGS - I want to die, cry, fly, explode, or if I danced, I would just dance. She is one of the only people who makes me want to dance - even if it's tranced out hippie dancing - why does that matter? Fuck you. Perfect music. Still ahead of her time. Record of the year.





My TOP 20 SONGS of 2009 -

01 - Animal Collective "My Girls"
02 - Bat For Lashes "Daniel"
03 - Zombi "Spirit Animal"
04 - Fever Ray "When I Grow Up"
05 - Royksopp featuring Robyn "The Girl and The Robot"
06 - David Byrne & Brian Eno "Strange Overtones"
07 - Fever Ray "Triangle Walks"
08 - Lil Wayne "Prom Queen"
09 - Royksopp featuring Karin Dreijer-Andersson - "This Is It"
10 - The Fiery Furnaces "Charmaine Champagne"
11 - Cursive "From The Hips"
12 - Metric "Help I'm Alive"
13 - Christian Bale "What Don't You Fucking Understand? (Techno Remix)"
14 - Peaches "I Feel Cream"
15 - Fever Ray "Concrete Walls"
16 - School of Seven Bells "Half Asleep"
17 - St. Vincent "Marrow"
18 - Between the Buried and Me "Swim to the Moon"
19 - Air "Sing Sang Sung"
20 - Cave In "Retina Sees Rewind"

Although your performance in 8 MILE was highly overrated, you still have a special place in my heart because this picture had a special place on my bedroom wall from 2002-2005.



Rest in peace, air-headed cutie.

Getting ready to eat out at my grandmas. Waiting for Dan. Hes always late. heh.

Gogol Bordello is great music to clean to. Just sayin

The house sitting has gone.... incredibly boring i was snowed in alone most of it.
Not good since im trying to not over eat.

i love my new phone. i already inserted a number wrong and got in a fight with the asshole i mistexted. Pfft. I should keep texting him and hope its charging him. jeez. i switched a 7, shoot me. or maybe its a girl i dont know. whichever.

Domino

and..

Me over the weekend.. I got a new jacket.

Sitting here listening to Rocky Votolato while my mom makes her diabe-TEA.
too much god.blessed sugar. You know if I think its too much sugar its enough to kill you dead.

Speaking of sugar. I had to get my glucose test done today. they made me drink orange syrupy death.
at first i was like ha! i can do this. by the end i was like oh god stay down. this isnt a stale poorly made orange crush. yuckos modern life. for sure.

I suddenly gained the smell talents of a search dog. I can no longer wear my beloved Dior or Dolce and Gabbana smells to fucking delicious Light Blue. It sets my nose on fire and full of angry bugs. Its cool I am totally down with my own Stank.

..


I thought i was going to be fortunate enough to get a glorious new phone for christmas since i am miraculously eligible for an upgrade... but my trucker daddio lost his job after having it three weeks. I suspect the drinking. he says he got snowed in... (which is probably where the drinking came in) Ugh. Oh well. This is why we dont get too excited about anything.


iM having the HARDEST time finding baby Wren a First Name.

uuuuuuuuuuuuugh

I just finished a final cut of April Showers for the first time - after sitting on it for years. Scrolling through the footage, I found myself cracking up hundreds of times at some of the outtakes and behind the scenes footage, so I decided to throw together a short collection of some of the good memories. Enjoy...

in baltimore tonight.

some place called cynics or cynix or some shit.

txt me bmore
412 304 3238

Post from mobile portal m.livejournal.com

So frustrated, ugh. Tried drawing, epic fail due to me STILL NOT REMEMBERING TO SAVE MY WORK and then the computer turns off. Then I had a thought about the comic.

( ARGH rant noise )

Here's the gist for the TLDR crowd out there. Would you scrap everything you have so far, delay something you really want to get started, and redo all the hard work you just finished, just so you can tell a better story? Or do you plug on through, and find a way to make a bad situation into a good one? Creative problem solving.

Thoughts internet?

Ugh. Today was the day of frustration.

After work I got home and started on some Tekko Christmas art, only to have the power cut out before I saved my work...twice. Yeah, I'm retarded and should know better. Third time I got so frustrated that it was turning out like crap I stopped. I feel bad. I really want to rebuild my rep and get away from the much deserved image of "That guy who does good work but never does it". I want to do art for Tekko and get it turned in on a timely fashion, but my art's just sucking as of late so I'm pulling out my hair worrying about it not being any good. Ugh.

Took a break to continue on the script. Started off frustrated, but eventually got into a good grove. Two more pages, then its done. Reading over it now. Feels good to see progress, even if its not the thing I should be working on at the moment.

First script is this close, THIS CLOSE to being finished. Clocking in at 30 pages (possibly 31 if I stretch out a fight scene). Pretty much just fine tuning the dialogue and panel layouts. Really anxious to show it to anyone, but really want crits, so the usual writers I nag for feedback can expect their in-boxes flooded soon enough.

Oddly enough its just now dawning on me that I have to draw all this. Kinda daunting, since I don't think the art's gonna live up to the wait. But then again, the whole reason I'm doing this is for the practice. Just gotta keep reminding myself that this is a learning process, and its not going to be my greatest work right off the bat. Been getting a whole lot of "why are you even doing it?" vibe from my family. They don't get why I would spend so much time and place so much importance on something that's not going to yield any financial results. So why am I doing this? Because fuck it, I can.