SethMatic's Xanga

Friday, April 13, 2007

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 03:56:27 GMT

"Oh my, he's gone and done it again... that Seth character has." this time it's a 1983 Jeep CJ-7!! Were talking a 4.2 Liter straight 258 in-line six. This thing is a HAUS! It will climb over anything, just lock the hubs, and shift her down to 4 Low... oh baby.

More pictures coming soon.

I'm at work now (which I was late. I'm the boss and I'm late?) and we picked it up like 3 hours ago. So tomorrow I will have pictures.

Saturday, April 07, 2007

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 17:42:59 GMT

I Hate Snow

Sun, 21 Jan 2007 16:03:44 GMT

The Decemberists: The Crane Wife

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 02:51:23 GMT

With so much literary focus (as a whole) being turned to The Decemberists, their latest release and major label debut, The Crane Wife, has musicality that exceeds expectation and rebels against such a limited interpretation. Even though Colin Meloy employs his masterful work of historical artistry that is literature about war and death at its best (and thus, any notion of straight-story-telling-antics is gone), it is the combination of flawlessly constructed music with striking lyrics that declares: this group is not to be missed. Each element works to create an artists dream.

And the Decemberist is . . . well let's bring this into perspective, because it sets the stage for understanding great stories told with great lyrics. December 14, 1825, a revolt on Imperial Russia was attempted by army officers that led about three thousand Russians into battle. They were opposed to the Czar, and thus, pioneers of every revolution following. They cast the mold. Because these events occurred in December, the rebels were called the Decembrists. To take on the name Decemberist, was a very honorable title.

The album itself takes on the title from an Asian fable/proverb about a man who finds an injured crane in the forest and nurses it back to health so it can fly away by itself. After a couple days, a woman shows up at the house where love and marriage soon ensues. The husband and wife are very poor, so the wife suggests that the husband sells a very particular cloth that she weaves. There is one condition, that he not look at her in the special room while she is making the particular cloth. After so long, the husbands curiosity peaks and he looks into the room just to discover his wife plucking out her own feathers to intertwine them into the fabric. The wife sees her husband watching, and she flies into the blue never to return. The two songs that follow this storyline are "The Crane Wife 1 & 2" and "The Crane Wife 3."

The Crane Wife album has a lot to offer with a variety of sounds. From a twelve minute Floydian epic sung in three movements called "The Island: Come and See, The Landlords Daughter, You'll Not Feel the Drowning" to grotesque visuals of serial killing lullaby's in "The Shankill Butchers." Meloy's song writing is incredibly interesting. Narrative fiction is the nemesis for all song writers, but this is no burden for Meloy; instead he creates it a stellar piece of art. The lyrics take us to another place. Meloy is in front of us, reading from a book, the way that mothers and teachers have done for years now, however, the content is neither oversimplified, nor childish. Instead, the mature musical capability meets with poetics grounded in history. What we get is a rather revolutionary sound that does not conflict with the lullaby.

The Decemberists take us through a maze of unforgettable emotion that, in the end, proves to be their best work to-date. A low moment cannot be found in the album. Although it is a very somber and dark album, filled with haunting rhymes of war and death, there is a stark release and unexpected lift within each song. There is hostility, a call to arms, saber-rattling, chaos, death, love, more death, calming, silence, and soon peace-every word that best describes The Crane Wife, also describes war. And just as fast as it started "under the boughs unbowed" it ends in a chant: "hear all the bombs fade away."

:sloth

Too Many Puppies

Wed, 08 Nov 2006 15:21:40 GMT

Back in the "Good ol' Days," as my Grand Pappie would say, was a CD that changed my whole outlook on how a Bass (proper name) is suppose to be played. It was 1994, I was in 7th grade and a local jam band by the name of Subway Mind, who played local coffee shops and private get togethers, covered a song by Primus; Too Many Puppies was name of the song. The bass line, in all its glory, spoke to me like scrolls from heaven and I soon had to have this mighty scroll. I immediately asked my mom to drive me to the local Best Buy for the Frizzle Fry album.

At that specific time in my musical life, I'd been playing bass for just 6 months, Weezer and Nirvana were the only CD's in my collection, and the only bass lines I have ever heard. You can imagine the pure shock and amazement when I heard Primus for the first time. I'm pretty sure if you are a Bass lover, such as I, this album is in the collection, Les Claypool is the reason I love "The Low End Theory" so much. After that point in life, the Bass line is the first part to stick out in songs and I went on to listening for the bass greats. Victor Wooten, Jaco, Brian Kruger (Rancid), Ron Carter (Tribe Called Quest), Dirk Lance (Incubus), P-Nut (311), Hub (Roots), Tim Bob (RATM), Justin Chancellor (Tool), and not to mention Flea, had alot to do with my Bass ear.

I bring all this up because Primus put out this live DVD where they play through Frizzle Fry from beginning to end with a whole lot in between, Hallucino-Genetics. It brought me back to memory lane, take it as you will, and if you want to watch it, just let me know.

:sloth

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Thu, 26 Oct 2006 03:29:32 GMT

Well that didn't work very well, thank you Megan. I was trying to conduct alittle experiment so that you, the reader, (Smokey, Mom, and Mom) could comment however you thought, but I guess it didn't work out.

Anybody else excited about Coheeds upcoming releases!! I know I am. Claudios side project, "The Prize Fighter Inferno" brings in another perspective to carry onto the storyline of Coheed and Cambria. It's laid back and rockin'. The same day they are also releasing a new live DVD. Whoa.

Friday, October 20, 2006

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 20:23:48 GMT

I found this poem online today, from an unknown author. I found it on a random poetry site, and I don't know why I like it, maybe it's because I'm trying to wrap my head around what the author is trying to convey, or if means anything at all. If anyone reads this please share thoughts, I want to see what other people say.

The Uproot

Uproot. What is it, that we don't care?
Uproot. The past?
Uproot. Where to go? Next, Uproots the Next.

What about Love. It's all about Love.
God is love, and love is real.
The only dead love is that of the loveless, and
The loveless are looking in an endless space of past.
Present and future? Let the Fire consume.

Love Uproots the next, what about the next, God!
Here we are, a space of unconsciousness.
Be conscience of the next

Man, they can really bring the pain.
Oh God, what's next. Coexisting man, loveless man
Uproot the bad, know that love will save us.
You talk faith with an evil shadow cast. Try this.
Talk faith with a mustard seed and the mountains.

God, I love the shadow cast,
Help me! I beg you to Uproot the past.
Throw it to the door and let me in.

Uproot. We do care, but, strength is in him.
Uproot. Leave the past behind you, love the loveless.
Uproot. Next? Let the Fire guide through present and future.

:Unknown Author

For my mom who likes to read about me and not music, this blog is especially for you!

Tue, 17 Oct 2006 08:09:38 GMT

First off, I got promoted in my job here at the Hotel. You can now call me Mr. Front Office Manager, or FOM for short, (Not quite CEO but I'm getting there.) I came in at the worst possible time, and let me tell you why; the same week they let go of the old FOM they were putting in a brand new 60,000 dollar Property Management System, (or computer system for short.) For the last three weeks I have put in 80 hours each week, killer! But, things will slow down and this job will be more suited for me than sales.

This is a picture of my dream bass. Warwicks are made of exotic tone woods, for example, this Corvette Standard is made of Bubinga (Guibourtia demeusei, pellegriniana, or tessmannii): Bubinga is found in Equatorial Africa from southeast Nigeria, through Cameroon and Gabon, to the Congo region. It is a hardwood that is very lustrous and can be highly figured. Acoustically, bubinga is a very resonant wood that offers very clear lows and well-defined upper mids and highs. When people comment on the unique sound of Warwick basses, they invariably use the word â€œgrowlâ€. One reason these basses have such a special sound is because of the wood used to make all of the necks. Wenge (pronounced either â€œwin-gayâ€ or â€œwen-geeâ€) is a very open-grained, dense wood that offers superior stability and outstanding tonal characteristics. Ovangkol has many of the same tonal traits as wenge, but offers a unique cosmetic look in a closed grain, stable neck wood. The fingerboards are almost always wenge unless the instrument is fretless, in which case Warwick uses ebony.

Oh yeah, back to my life, Work! Sorry about the interuption, one must dream to make it through life, or at least a night audit shift. Smokey, I'm listening to Jaco Pastorius, Weather Reports bass player, good stuff. Well I'm off to crunch some more numbers, I'll let you know if all my totals balance out ok, ok?

:sloth

TV On The Radio:

Sun, 01 Oct 2006 00:27:53 GMT

Ambient. Artistic. American. Acoustic. Beautiful. Brilliant. Bizarre. Clever. Collective. Crafty. Delightful. Experimental. Elegant. Emotional. Fantastic. Far-out. Genuine. Gradual. Graceful. Hushed. Humorous. Haunting. Harmonious. Intriguing. Intellectual. Keen. Junctional. Linear. Literate. Musical. Measured. Novel. Oddball. Orchestral. Orbital. Organic. Poetic. Questionable. Refined. Raw. Restrained. Rock. Rich. Stimulating. Somber. Smart. Subtle. Symphonic. Therapeutic. Unique. Unfashionable. Visual. Wonderful. X. Y. Z.

Rediscovering the Pumpkins

Wed, 20 Sep 2006 03:11:33 GMT

The tune "Cherub Rock" was the first song I ever heard from the legendary Pumpkin crew. They taught me how the first song of an album is supposed to be. The First step is a simple drum roll that coincides with a transparent guitar chord that displaces the bass root, and then the kicker, Billy Corgan, cutting through like a salient axe fresh off the whetstone, just demolishing everything you didn't think was possible. Although "C. Rock" was the first song I heard, "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" blew my mind as a studio album. This release, made up of two CDs and twenty eight songs, threw me from one emotion to the next. The Pumpkins tried so many unconventional concepts on their dual CD, and as I listened on, the music painted a refined picture in my head, thus my made up "Art Alt Rock" Genre is created.

The Smashing Pumpkins claim the crown for being Kings of the Genre, (in my opinion,) though, Sonic Youth and Radiohead would have some words with that I'm sure. Through the years there have been many influenced by The Pumpkins: Muse, Interpol, Snow Patrol, The Mars Volta, Mew, Cursive, The Black Keys, The White Strips, Coheed and Cambria, and my personal favorite, TV On The Radio (who I'm real excited about, TVOTR brings roots from free jazz, blues, and gospel to the Art Alt Rock genre, with a touch of electronic jams.) Those are just a few I'm sure, the Pumpkins have had a huge role in shaping music today, stepping out and doing whatever it is they wanted to do has been their key, and the Pumpkins are still doing that (they are in the studio again!) Nobody wants to listen to the same thing twice from two different bands. Do what you like, make it artistic, and remember, your ear is your canvas, enjoy!