Old music and writing, plus numbers

I've been having good writing days lately. I contribute a good bit of this to my strict lack of writing rituals. I've written briefly about this before. I used to ritualize the act of writing, and I've cut out all of that nonsense. Well, almost. If I have anything like a ritual anymore, it centers around the music I listen to while I'm writing. I can waste a good few hours coming up with the perfect playlist to listen to. Spotify has made this task both easier and more difficult. Easier in that I can find some many great songs so easily. Difficult in the I have so many more songs at my fingertips -- it makes choosing difficult sometimes.

Lately I've been listening to older stuff, stuff that I remember listening to 20 or 30 years ago. You know, when I was a baby. Not sure why this is. I usually crave new music. Maybe it's a phase >shrugs shoulders<. For now I'm just rolling with it.

Here's one song that's been in heavy rotation on my current writing playlist (entitled, imaginatively, Writing II) on Spotify. Supergrass were a British alternative band in the early '90s. This song, "Alright," is the only one I remember from them. I think it's in a commercial for something right now. That may be where I heard it and decided I needed it in a playlist. Or maybe it's in a movie the boys have watched lately. Kids' movies seem full of oddly inappropriate music cues nowadays, thought that probably hasn't changed much since I was a kid. Anyway, here's the video for the song, which seems like a classic of the let's-grab-a-camera-and-shoot-a-video-to-promote-our-hit-single variety. This sort of thing would never fly today...



That video really makes me want a plain white tee with "ADAM" printed across the front in Futura black.

Here are today's numbers:
Daily word count: 1,641
Novel word count: 51,677

Musical crush #4 in a series (plus a tangent and lots of parentheses)

I'm doing a lot of writing at the moment, which is great for a lot of reasons, chief among them is that I listen to a lot of music when I write. Lately I've had the self-titled album from Elastica on repeat as I work (despite the fact that it is in no way appropriate for what I'm writing). 

I know a lot of writer types, and I would say that the majority of them have said that they need to listen to music that is somehow related to what they're writing. If it's a horror story, they throw on the soundtrack to The Shining. If it's a period piece, they listen to music from that period. Et cetera. I have never been like that. All I require of the music I listen to is that it be music I have some familiarity with. If it's brand new to me, I have to listen intently. Too intently for me to be able to write down the thoughts in my noggin.

Elastica hit it big back in 1995. The album spawned five singles here in the US. And the band never recorded another. According to Wikipedia, they got in some trouble with other bands for "borrowing" riffs and melodies too heavily (they settled everything out of court). It's a shame. I really thought they were going to go places. They had a great look and sound (though maybe the sound wasn't entirely their own...). Regardless, thanks to Spotify, I am now able to listen to this band again and dream that someday there'll be a follow-up album and a reunion tour.

New, I mean old, musical crush #3 in a series

Weird Al Yankovic. Let that sink in. My musical crush right now is Weird Al Yankovic. We listen to music at my day job thanks to Spotify. Yesterday we spent at least half the day listening to my buddy Al. It occurred to me the other day as I was watching a new Yankovic video that he's had a career spanning more than three decades. A lot of the artists whose songs he's parodied would kill for that kind of longevity. Hell, I hope my own career as an artist last that long.

His latest song and video are right in my wheelhouse (are we still saying that?). Parodying "Blurred Lines" and turning it into a grammar lesson? Yes, please! I'm pasting it below.

And I'm hoping the "Weird Al" will still be singing in another thirty years.

New musical crush #2 in a series

Thao and the Get Down Stay Down have been in very heavy rotation in my ear holes as I finished off the manuscript for Zombified. I think there's just something really sexy about this music, and about Thao's voice. So there: now you get to picture me thinking sexy thoughts while you listen to this. You are welcome.



Also, it occurs to me that I was introduced to Thao and the GDSD, and to Valerie June, by my co-worker, Trinh. We listen to music at the book buying counter via a Spotify account and I think I'm lucky that she has such good taste. Thanks, Trinh!

New musical crush #1 in a series

It seems like my capacity to develop crushes on musicians is pretty much limitless.Valerie June is one of a couple of new acts (new to me at least) that I've had on heavy rotation as I've been writing lately. And since I've spent so much of the last month writing, that means I've been listening to this a lot.

Rather than fumble around for an inadequate description of her music, why don't you just listen to a little of it? You can than me later.

The Blow

This was a long time ago. It was the first year of Portland's Time Based Arts Festival, I think, so call it maybe twelve or thirteen years ago. A friend invited me to one of the festival's after-parties. I went despite not knowing what time based art was. It seemed (and seems) that all art is time based. Anyway. The party took place in a warehouse space. It was jammed with people, a bar, free food and, at one end, a stage. I knew that there's be a show of some sort by a band called The Blow.

After a while, I girl came out. Blonde and tiny. She carried a boom box. She approached the mic and did her best to get the attention of the crowd. It took a while. Finally, when the majority of people had quieted down, she told us all that the band was running late and that they'd sent her out to entertain us until they were ready. She started to tell a rambling story about (I think) going on a drive with a boy and the conversation they'd had. After a while, she said that it might be better if she sang the next part. She bent over and pressed play on the boom box and began to sing.

It was at that moment that I figured out this girl was The Blow and that everything she had said and done from the very first moment had been part of her act. And I was smitten. I've been a fan of hers ever since through a number of incarnations. All because she played so expertly with my sense of expectation

I called her tiny earlier. Well, as the performance went on, she seemed to grow bigger and bigger with each new song. Honestly, I think I've only had one other musical experience that was like it. I felt like it reshaped me.

Right. What's this got to do with anything? I've been thinking about what I want to do with Zomburbia. You know, my debut YA novel which will be out from Kensington Books next year... I've had a couple of conversations lately about including a message in a story. Does Zomburbia have a message? Yep, and I hope I've sneaked it in in such a way that almost invisible. No matter how important your message, no one's going to get it if it isn't wrapped up in a good story. I hope that's what I've done. I hope I've crafted a novel that walks out on stage, presents itself as one thing – a good horror story – and is in truth something else as well.

Have I succeeded? How the hell should I know? I just wrote the thing. I'll have to wait until the book is out and see what people think of it to know how well I did.

By the way, as I write this, I'm listening to the new self-titled album by The Blow. It came out earlier this month, and it's excellent. I can't recommend it enough.

That's all for now.

Listen to this: Now Now

This single by Minneapolis trio Now Now has been in heavy rotation as I've been writing lately. It's a minute, forty-three seconds of pure pop bliss. The whole album is good, but I keep returning to this song. I love the "get in, wreck the place, get out" feeling of the thing. The band seems to be catching the attention of others, too, if you want more opinions than just mine. Allison Weiss, on whom I previously admitted to having a huge musical crush, loves them, and NPR have featured them in there Field Recordings segment.

Enough of me -- listen to them already.

New music -- Girl in a Coma

I was working on rewrites for my thesis manuscript all day yesterday. A task that, frankly made me want to weep. Fortunately, I stumbled upon a new band that saw me through those dark times. Girl in a Coma is a trio of Latinas from Texas who make sweet, sweet power pop.

A bonus for me was to see so many Latino faces in their videos. It was like visiting family in Southern California. Minus the chance of getting caught up in a brawl...



As a special bonus, you should check out the Tiny Desk Concert they did for NPR.

Things to read and watch 11/04/11

William Gibson, The Art of Fiction No. 211
Here is the full text of the long interview The Paris Review conducted with William Gibson. Tuck in, kids!

Why Science Fiction Writers are Like Porn Stars
Last weekend, Glen Duncan wrote a trollish piece in the New York Times comparing genre writers to, well, porn stars. Charlie Jane Anders at i09 has some questions for Mr. Duncan. The piece includes portraits by SF writer, Richard Kadrey (whose books you should be reading, by the way).

The Decemberists Played on Austin City Limits 
And I missed it. Their album, The King is Dead, is one of my favorites of the year so far. The fact that I can watch this episode on-line makes me very happy.

Here's their video for "The Calamity Song." Enjoy.

And there was much rejoicing

This evening I finished cleaning up the first draft of my novel, Zomburbia, and I sent it away to its first reader. It is now out in the world like some fledgling bird. A fledgling zombie bird. I feel like I'll now be able to think again about things not related to the novel. And I think I'll be posting here again with more regularity. I hope.

First up, a bit of music. This video is for a song by Lelia Broussard, "Satellite." Ms Broussard is from New York and she is part of the same scene (in my mind at least) that also includes Allison Weiss, Jenny Owen Youngs and Bess Rogers -- all of whom I've written about before, right? Either way, I hope you like this song.

Good night.

The future of music distribution

Damian Kulash, the lead singer of the band OK Go, was interviewed on NPR's Talk of the Nation yesterday. Kulash talks about, in broad strokes, the history of music distribution and, more in depth, his band's decision to leave the major label which handled them and start their own. He also wrote an opinion piece on the subject for The Wall Street Journal.

This is relevant to my interests for a couple of reasons. 1) Because I like this band and am interested in how they conduct themselves and 2) because I wonder if what they've done in music can be replicated in the medium of comics. Especially on the scale they seem to be doing it at.

Here's a link to the audio of that interview.

Back From Kathmandu

To wash the taste of that previous, terribly dry post out of our collective mouth (ugh), here's a lovely video. I posted this a while ago on FaceBook, but I think that site is imperfect vessel for something so lovely. Also, I want it somewhere I can find it quickly.

Ok Go make very lovely videos. I thought this was a lost art. I especially like the "Hey, kid's, let's put on a show!" aspect that must of their videos embody. Very DIY, very spontaneous and, because of that, very full of energy and very inventive. That's too many instances of the word "very", but I think you get what I'm going for.

I also like the lyrics to this song:

In the dream you were someone different
You and everyone else all at once
You were beautiful, you were beautiful
In the dream you were just like you are

You loved everyone like a sovereign
Half magnanimous, half unimpressed
And I was talkin' too much I was tryin' too hard
In the dream it was just like it is

Everything was so simple
Things are how they always will be
You are the answer to the question that is me
In the dream it was just like it is

We were captive in, in a prison
Where everyone was guilty by mistake
And it was infinite, it was infinite
In the dream it was just like it is

And I, I asked, "Is that good for you?"
You said, "No, probably not
But everybody's gotta get through the night
And love is all we got", yeah

In the dream it was just like it is
Yeah, in the dream it was just like it is

In the dream you were someone different
You and everyone else all at once
You were beautiful, you were beautiful
In the dream it was just like it is

Dave Brubeck

An early update. I had to do my writing this afternoon because I won't have a chance tonight. I gave up a nap to get it done. Do you see the kinds of sacrifices I make for my art?!

It'll be another short, music-related post. I thought I'd class it up a little bit. This is a video of The Dave Brubeck Quartet doing "Blue Rondo a la Turk." Good, good stuff. I remember being at a party once in college and a girl I was talking to asked me what kind of jazz I liked. I started my (admittedly short list) with Dave Brubeck. Because of this, she said something to the effect of, "You don't know shit about jazz." I had never stated I did, but this really threw me. It's like she was telling me that I wasn't qualified to like what I liked. And I know this kind of pretentious behavior is part and parcel of being that age, but man it got under my skin. I was so mad I didn't even try to hit on her later in the evening when she was obviously drunk. Because, you know, I have principles. I think it was around this time that I started formulating my "no guilty pleasures" theory, where I refuse to feel bad about anything I like. I may have to expound on that at some point here.

Anyway, take it away, Dave:

And here are today's numbers:

Daily word count: 1,010

Monthly word count: 2,980

Novel word count: 101,111

The Johnny Cash Project + numbers

As I near the end of the draft of the novel, I feel like I'm developing tunnel vision. All I can think about is the book. What happens next, and after that? Until I get to the end. Which will be soon. All I really have time for are these bits of Internet flotsam that seem to constitute how I take in the world these days. The easiest of these to post, and those that seem most meaningful to me right now, are the music videos I've been posting. I feel like I couldn't write without music and when I discover that videos exist for these songs that are meaningful in their own right, well, I just have to share them.

A case in point: The Johnny Cash Project. Director Chris Milk (who directed the beautiful video experience for Arcade Fire's "We Used to Wait") has created a site where fans of the late Johnny Cash may contribute to a video of his song "Ain't No Grave." The result is beautiful and moving. I don't want to say too much about it, I'll leave it to you to explore the site, or not. If you click on the link, you won't be disappointed. I promise.

And here are today's numbers.

I was filled with a desire to reach 100,000 words on the novel today. That number, which is nice and round and darts around my brain in a pleasing way, has been floating just out of reach for the last few days and I was determined to put it behind me. Long story short, I did it. Yea, me. Oh, and since this is the beginning of a new month, I'm resetting the numbers. I have a feeling that the novel is the only thing I'll be working on until I reach the end. But I could very well be wrong about that.

Daily word count: 1,970 (which is also the year I was born--more resonance.)

Monthly word count: 1,970

Novel word count: 100,101

Mostly numbers, but also a video

I took the weekend off from writing and read a book for homework. I got back to it tonight and I realized how being away from it for even two days makes me feel sketchy. Aw, well, it was unavoidable.

As to the video: It's been more than a year-and-a-half since I last wrote about Jenny Owen Youngs. I still listen to her music quite a bit. And today on FaceBook, I saw that it's her birthday today. (More than likely, it was her birthday yesterday to you since I'm posting this just before midnight.) I posted songs of hers on Twitter and FaceBook to celebrate, but I thought I'd post a video here. This is Ms Youngs's cover of the Nelly song, "Hot in Here." It's a hoot and a half and I think it still manages to showcase her amazing voice. I hope you like it. Oh, I should probably warn you that it contains some adult language. You've been warned.

And now, here are the numbers:

Daily word count: 1,914 (1,412 novel, 502 story)

Monthly word count: 24,154 (20,138 novel, 4,016 story)

Novel word count: 91,639

The Suburbs + 90k

Like me, do you like the band Arcade Fire? Do you like music videos directed by Spike Jonze? Do you like beautiful, but bleak visions of the lives of aimless teenagers who live in endless, surreal, militarized suburbs? If you said yes to all three then you have scored a trifecta of likes with this, the latest video from the aforementioned band directed by that guy I already named. It really is a lovely video, but it is also bleak, bleak, bleak. Enjoy!

Apparently this is taken from a short film that Jonze directed titled "Scenes From the Suburbs." I just did a quick search online, but I couldn't find any information about when or where one might be able to see the short film. I'll have to keep an eye out for it.

And now here are today's numbers:

Daily word count: 1,386 (all for the novel. Sorry, short story, no words for you today.)

Monthly word count: 22,240 (18,726, novel, 3,514, story)

Novel word count: 90,227 (Holy cow, I feel like I buried the lede here.)

Since I'm ahead on my weekly goal, I'm going to take the weekend off from writing and devote that time to catching up on some of my reading. That means no updates over the weekend. I'm sure you'll all muddle through somehow.

O + AW 4EVER

I'm up late writing this evening because earlier, Melissa and I were irresponsible awesome parents and we drove Oscar an hour South to Eugene so we could all go watch Allison Weiss play live. Allison Weiss is a big deal in our house and Oscar often demands that we play her music. (Actually, given his two-year-old soft palate, he demands that we play "Al Wise.") Ms Weiss, who hails from Brooklyn, is touring the West coast with her friends Bess Rogers and Lelia Broussard, both of whom are very talented in their own rights.

We were also lucky because our friend, Eugene musician, Dan Jones, was able to join us for dinner and the show.

As we walked into the venue, Oscar started marching around, asking very loudly where Al Wise was. I had seen them on the sidewalk outside unloading their equipment. He wanted to go and see them. Who are we as parents to deny out son (read: I wanted to meet her, too)? Here's a tip to anyone who wants to introduce themselves to three lovely young ladies: have a cute-as-hell two-year-old with you. They thought he was very cute, indeed.

Especially when he was able to tell Ms Weiss the title of his favorite song. It's "Let Me Go" for the record.

The cuteness continued to build to dangerous levels once the show got under way. Oscar stood right in front of the stage, danced and sang along with her set. And then we got pictures and her signature on two of her CDs. Besides being crazy talented, she's also nice and gracious. I think it was well worth the travel and the fact that we kept Oscar up past his bed time. We'll remember it for a long time to come.

Unfortunately, we couldn't stay to see either Bess Rogers or Lelia Broussard perform. O had reached the end of his tether and we needed to leave before a screaming tantrum wiped away all those cute memories. All in all, an excellent night.

And now, here are the numbers.

Daily word count: 1,622 (1,082 novel, 540, story)

Monthly word count: 19,120 (16,339, 2,781 story)

Novel word count: 87,840

Human Behavior

No new writing today, but I'm ahead on my word count so that's okay. Instead, I finally finished rewriting that short story I've been working on for the last several weeks. Man, it was tough to crack. It doesn't help that I am the world's worst rewriter. Tomorrow I will send it off to my advisor and see if he agrees with that assessment.

In the meantime, a video from the past. I sometimes watch music videos with my son--he's a fan of Vampire Weekend and Allison Weiss, but he'll tolerate nearly everything I show him. I like sharing music I like with him. The other day I showed him the video for Bjork's "It's Oh So Quiet." It's directed by Spike Jonez and it's bright and colorful and a lot of fun. Later, after he'd gone to bed, I thought that I should have shown him the video for her song, "Human Behavior." It's also directed by Spike Jonez. I looked it up and watched it. I did not remember it being so nightmare-inducing. Seriously. Everything about it is terrifying. It looks and feels like a kid's movie directed by David Lynch. I am eternally grateful that I didn't show it to my son. The damage to his psyche would have been massive.

Having said all of that, enjoy!

My Playlist for the Melissa

Done just because.

We Used to Wait by Arcade Fire

Sometimes pop songs, despite their ephemeral nature, can really speak to me. This song, a love letter to writing letters to your love, grabbed both me and Melissa the first time we listened to it. Maybe it's just our generation's tendency to navel gaze, but lines like:



"So I never wrote a letter

I never took my true heart I never wrote it down

So when the lights cut out

I was left standing in the wilderness downtown"



and:



"It seems strange to think

How we used to wait for letters to arrive

But what's stranger still

Is how something so small can keep you alive"



seem designed to invoke emotions in us that we forgot existed. Especially since we both used to be big time letter-writers.

Dance Me to the End of Love by Leonard Cohen

The first song that Melissa and I danced to at our wedding. A love song from Mr Cohen that is without irony or cynicism seems pretty specially.

Move the Earth by Dr Theopolis

Melissa knows why.

Slowing down...

Mid-semester in the MFA and I'm starting to feel a little adrift. It doesn't help me to know that others are feeling the same way. In the first two months and change, I wrote between 70 and 80 thousand words (I could do the math, but, quite frankly, lack the energy). Now I'm having a hard time getting back into the book. I know that if I applied myself, hit it at the same pace I did the first two-thirds, I could be done with the first draft in something like a month. Or less. I've been told by a classmate that it's okay to slow down after writing so much so quickly, but I'm having a hard time coming to grips with it personally.

Maybe after this week, which is devoted to revising a short story, I'll be back in the mood to write again.

Also, I'm writing this for myself. Sorry if I've just bored you to tears. If you made it this far into the post, I guess you deserve a treat. Here, look at this: