This suspension/cancellation was to be expected. I saw it coming. Kimmel saw it coming. Hell, most people who are aware of Trump's infinite hate for the late-night hosts saw it coming.

We'll see what happens next, but until then, all I'm gonna say (aside from "fuck fascism", that is), is Kimmel never censored himself in his monologues or in his choice of musical guests. Remember Poppy and Knocked Loose? Man, those were the good days.

Oh, and also: Donnie, it's still past your jailtime.

I recently discovered Searows, who sounds strikingly like Phoebe Bridgers

A while ago I was listening to Elliot Green, who is practically identical to Julien Baker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxd3n_8UK4I&list=RDKxd3n_8UK4I&start_radio=1

Who are other indie musicians who sound alike? (whether by coincidence or by influence, I don't judge)

I discovered this song and the band itself in I Saw the TV Glow

I don't have much to say about it except it satisfies my misanthropic side. I do have a need to "watch the world burn", but my vision of that is not violent, it's not chaotic, it's not grim. It's more like closing the curtain on an odd avant-garde play. It doesn't make me happy. It doesn't make me sad. I'm just okay with it.

Riding Around in the Dark describes that feeling quite well. Such a grand thing being indifferent to the end of the world.

This is a cover of a song written for a movie featured in another movie. Ain't that a fun fact! It was written for the 1957 "Wild is the Wind". I heard Cat Power's version in "Into the Forest" (2015) with Elliot Page and Even Rachel Wood

Come to learn that it's also been done by Nina Simone and by David Bowie, among others! I had no idea it was this big! It's quite the opportunity to study a broad range of approaches to the same material, if you have the time.

Still, the Cat Power version is the one I connect to the most. It's got a darkness to it that really speaks to me. Having it be associated with one of my favorite movies certainly helps!

P.S.: I tried sharing a Tidal link instead of a YouTube one and it crapped its pants. Several times. That was disappointing. It gave me a "Oops, page not found" type of deal... I used the share button in the app and everything. Not sure what else I could've possibly done.

London is Lonely may not have the most groundbreaking lyrics you've ever heard, but I've been listening to it today, feeling really melancholic.

I can't stop thinking about the footage from that filthy protest. I feel like an era ended yesterday, at least for me personally. To me, London has been the epitome of safety. And - prepare for irony - seeing all those outsiders literally piss all over my neighborhood, a 15-minute walk from where I used to live, with me across the continent (and continent, unlike them!), unable to do anything has really got me down.

I feel like someone trashed my house while I was away.

London has lots of flaws, and even this song written by a then-freshly-arrived Holly Humberstone captures some of them with ease. But for many people across Europe, London is the place they moved to in search of safety and acceptance. For many of us it was the place we went to be left alone and get lost in that way too big crowd.

So I'll allow myself to misappropriate the line "Something's different when you leave my place". On some level this city will never be the same again.

I don't know. Maybe I'm being overdramatic, but what I do know is I saw a post today of someone who took it upon themselves to scrub fascist stickers off lamp posts and bus stops in Waterloo. And I have that same urge today and I fucking swear if I had the money I'd board a flight right fucking now.

I started going to shows regularly in 2013. I had a strict personal rule against filming at shows. Then I started taking a photo or two. Then a snippet of a song here and there. And, finally... by 2019 I was filming entire songs.

This was the first complete song I uploaded to YouTube. Proud to say I still have the self-control to not film the whole show! It didn't get any worse! haha

I tend to pick a song or two ahead of time, often the less popular ones. If there's no footage of them at all yet that's a bonus. Gotta get those rarities out there for the people.

I've been using the "shut the fuck up" part of this screenshot all over social media. 10/10 very efficient

For almost three years now I've been on a quest for a soundproof place to call home (literally). I have a fully written album I finished just over a year ago. I'm supposed to practice and record it next.

In these days of albums earning virtually nothing in streaming revenue, tours becoming more and more expensive and AI threatening the less-than-fun side-gigs, I'm planning long-term. I'm trying to put together a space that will truly allow me to work on a zero budget. Self-sufficient and rent-free for life.

First, a £15,000 soundproofing budget knocked me on my ass and out of my apartment (the worst I do is sing, so this was an option for me. No drums). Now I'm fixing up a whole beat-up old house hoping to get what I need.

But while I've been having this perfectionist's quest for a soundproof and final place to work out of... and here's the point of my post... I've been to more than one studio that isn't soundproof! At all. Not one corner. And I can't for the life of me imagine how they or their neighbors can put up with that. You'll capture their noise and they'll be bothered by yours. It's a nightmare of ruined takes and noise complaints.

Anyway, I wrote all this cause I never miss an opportunity to talk about the pragmatic elements of arts. Most non-musician folks I've met seem to think that writing is the most challenging aspect, and that couldn't be farther from the truth, really, at least for me. I'd rather have to write 5 songs a day for the rest of my life than experience this bizarre limbo of having to keep quiet, practically on forced vacation.

I skipped Christmas last year.

After many years trying to "make it my own", I gave up. I went from SlipKnot's MTV Christmas ads back in high-school to Nightmare Before Christmas in college, to sad old blues tunes by the likes of The Eagles, to Phoebe Bridgers' Christmas covers. I nurtured the creative side of the holiday, I made plans, I covered songs, I did videos, I put up lights.

But for some reason, the urge to "do sad christmas" remains and I am once again considering bringing everyone down this winter.

PUP @ Roundhouse (London) in 2022

A rare photo of PUP standing still and the security staff that helped me out of the pit after three songs cause it was my fifth PUP show ever and I decided that "fun with bruises" with 5,000 people might be a bit much...

"Just boogie through it"

I shot this at one of the last shows I went to in London before making some seriously weird life choices for the sake of making music. I ditched the big city and the epicenter of the European music industry for a mid-sized city in a country that only makes the news when the news is rough. Then I ditched that for a small town in said country.

So as I sit in a room overlooking a wild yard chalk-full of insects, on the edge of a large creek and, past that, a graveyard where my actual great-grandparents are buried (a two-minute walk away from my bed!), it occurs to me: I have reached peak eccentricity. I am become indie (and a little bit goth, but oddly enough, not country, though a little bit rock n' roll).

I've moved to a place where high-speed internet and horseback riding (for work reasons, not fun reasons) co-exist, to record an indie album without fear of bothering anyone with my "noise" (not an issue when several hundreds of your neighbors are literally dead).

And you know what? It's kinda rough. And I hate myself a bit for putting myself through this. But it's probably worth it. So I'll just boogie through it.

And you know what else? What better video to get this indie group started than one I nearly needed a fish-eye lens to film I was so close to the stage!

I've been casually listening to Bjork's entire discography in reverse chronological order.

I'd been aware of Bjork for possibly my entire life, but I never really listened to any of her music until I stumbled upon a video of Human Behavior live on Conan along with an interview that went exactly as I would've expected, as little as I knew.

Her persona immediately struck me as similar to Aurora's, and, later, after going through the first couple of albums I was not surprised to find out that Aurora lists her as one of her influences.

But what really kept me there was the highs in that first song. The raspy, strong, ridiculously well-executed highs. So, if you haven't tried Bjork yet, go to 01:05 in Oceania and be blown away by that literally show-stopping C5. It sounds so good that nothing can follow it, so nothing does, and what a great choice that is!

Meanwhile, I've patiently finished Vespertine and I'm three albums away from trying some Sugarcubes. Yes, I will wait. Odd? Maybe. Satisfying? You betcha.

https://bjork.bandcamp.com/track/oceania