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morsels : dreams | random scribblings | politics
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a mosquito is loose there is a mosquito loose in the room. all the doors and windows shut tight. she spins her wings and her tiny insect siren sings the haunting, whining pitch. my unchecked reaction is to kill her, but this i do not truely wish. but i do not want to wake up with another nose bitten onto my nose. if she approaches i'll turn her off with the light. until then, all i can do is listen to her song to keep myself awake. where is she? is this her ultimate victory lap? can she smell
death like a surgeon does blood? goodnight little mosquito, i'm going to bed.
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shoefly "do you know what you're doing?" we woke up with you in ritter, oregon so good luck, i'm opening the window now [ back to top ]
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etymology of the name "the harmonica pocket" i don't normally get excited about clothing, but i've been digging clothes that are about the same age as me. the 70s were just a good time for that stuff -- big collars, bell bottoms, racing stripes, and those bright colors the designers don't dare to match anymore. many of the old zip-up sweatshirts have a single, asymmetrical pocket. these pockets seem to be perfectly tailored to fit a harmonica and a few years ago became known to me as "the harmonica pocket." the phrase became part of my vocabulary in the same way other normal things like "the refridgerator" or "the glove compartment." i would find myself saying things like "would you grab my plastic cowboy -- the one shooting his gun with his hat falling off -- it's in my harmonica pocket." and my friends would always be like "What?!" so i've always been explaining what the harmonica pocket is to someone. as i was putting together this concept for the band -- a rotating caste of players invited to do their musical thing within the context of my songs -- a few different name possibilities were on the list, including "lemonbomb" and "the celica project" (two more stories completely). i really dug the rhythm of "harmonica pocket" and thought it tied well with the theme of where i wanted the band to go. as if you could sort of pull just about anything out of your harmonica pocket and not be all that surprised. and it stuck.
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Q&A about the album ladybug one
ladybug one was primarily recorded at our off-the-grid studio using solar electricity. we use photovoltaic solar panels that convert sunlight into electricity. the electricity is stored in batteries (kinda like big car batteries all wired together). while recording, we run an inverter to convert the power in the batteries to the same type of power found in most homes. then we just run the recording equipment -- computers, harddrives, amps, etc. -- pretty much the same way other studios do. but during the winter when the sun doesn't shine for long stretches of time we have to take lots of unexpected breaks until the batteries get recharged by the sun. when we overdubbed some of the musicians, logistically we had to use whatever traditional power source was available at the different studios we visited. additionally the mastering of the album took place at another studio which was not solar powered.
the non-western sounds you are hearing are sitar and tablas. the song has been arranged in a North Indian Classical style with a new rhythmic time signature of 5/4. deobrat mishra is the master sitar player who recorded on that song. he had never heard this traditional american song before, so it was fun to teach it to him. marco zonka plays tablas and percussion.
yes, played by bob antone. bob comes from a logging family tradition in the cascade mountains. for this song we wanted to feature the saw -- normally used as a tool to cut trees up into smaller pieces -- to both create the haunting sounds and to reference the lyrical theme of the song.
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i'll go for days it's freer to forget in these times
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| throne after viewing the stinkingest,
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the celica project poetness has to do with seeing things (rusty, shiny); it is a reduction to simplicity and as an event it is a complete unit that can stand on its own. the celica project is a unit with a period. it does not need to be hung in a gallery. this is why, in the way we effortlessly see things, everyday people can all poets. the natural, intuitive awareness of experience arrives without strain and just makes sense. the poets whose names we remember are only known because they were particularly disciplined about regularly picking up a pencil. everything appears obvious after it has been stated by the mind. [ back to top ] |
| thoughts on the song "butterfly eyelash": there are times in my days where i feel weaker than most. the stones in the dam i built are weakening, being pulled down the creek by the weight of the water behind. and i can sense this breaking inside my head. your song helps along many of these sticks and stones, loosening every thing inside. it’s in everything. in the tone of that first guitar: DOOUNG—dong. that’s sadness in there. pay attention, you are listening to saddness. i love tracing that snare drum. i can sit right on top of it. in listening to the song it is part of my consciousness that i am missing many of the words—some are of that famous un-utterability where ears replace the authors with their own magical madness which bears some semblance to what was originally there. i hear: “nothing the result, the tally, is more of a composite than a clear and complete understanding. but i don’t care what or why it is or ain’t something or other….gosh, it’s just beautiful.
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| cigarette flower how terribly sad i was and now, in this cold café the only traces of you. [ back to top ] |
| crawl a bug crawl a bug onto your fingertip don’t stoppem at the backle hand and when his scales your shoulder blade but if the bug’rs mannerless or droppem underneath your foot [ back to top ]
so i'll tell ya once a bug jumped. i once saw [ back to top ]
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