January 2011
30 posts
are you gay or straight?
I alternate Mondays to Saturdays and on Sundays just go for whatever.
Any Day Now
Elbow
“Any Day Now” by Elbow
any day now
how’s about
getting out of this place
anyways, got a lotta spare time
some of my youth
and all of my senses on overdrive
you're british? you act so american
Hi! Yeah I am British. Other people have commented on me acting “America” or wanting to be so before but I’m not really sure what that even means. I don’t really hold any great attachment to my nationality if I’m honest but at the same time I don’t long to be an American or whatever. Stuff like that doesn’t play on my mind.
Re-reading a “novella” I wrote when I was about 17. Must say some of it holds up quite well for the self-indulgent ramblings of a friendless virgin.
WHY DO YOU SUCK?
because of people like you :)
It's Cool, We Can Still Be Friends
Bright Eyes
“It’s Cool, We Can Still Be Friends” by Bright Eyes
This week I’ve found myself revisiting the music of Conor Oberst, from his early emo band Commander Venus and his first low-fi recordings as Bright Eyes through to his fleshier Bright Eyes material, punk-rock group Desaparecidos and his most recent non-Bright Eyes projects backed by the Mystical Valley Band and in the Monsters of Folk supergroup. I made a massive playlist of all this stuff and came up with 187 songs and got through about 120 of that today on shuffle.
Why? Partly because I feel like I’m undergoing some sort of second, far more futile adolescence and so obviously have to retreat into all that music which meant so much to me when I was 16. Partly because I’m excited for the new Bright Eyes full length The People’s Key, due out next month. Partly because I briefly entertained the idea of doing a Conor Oberst month on here, posting a song a day for the duration of February (don’t worry - decided against it).
But in all that I’ve reminded myself of a few gems in Oberst’s back catalogue I hadn’t listened to in literally years. One of them is this, “It’s Cool, We Can Still Be Friends”, which can be found on the vinyl version of rarities collection Noise Floor (making it a rare rarity, lolz).
It’s from circa 2000 and features in Oberst in full-blown heartbroken teenage heart-throb mode. It is simple, direct and completely fucking devastating in a way so many early Bright Eyes compositions were. The lyrics are as blunt - or, if you will, simplistic - as you can imagine but it is Oberst’s delivery which makes this song, that trademark mix of venom, resignation and pure self-loathing in a barely controlled warble.
Its pretty much the most typical Bright Eyes you could imagine, almost a parody even, but thats what makes it so good. It is a formula but it is done right. No wonder it meant so much to me once upon a time and still has the power to mean so much to me now.
1,000 words
Here’s a 1000 word “micro-story”/piece of “flash-fiction”/whatever I wrote in about 45 minutes earlier this evening. No planning, very little editing. To be fair there’s very little anything - I like minimalism :)
I didn’t write it with the intention of posting it, but I’m bored and there’s nothing on my dashboard. Enjoy, or whatever:
new 8tracks mix →
8tracks.com
tracklist upon request
It's Christmas Time (For God's Sake)
Nosferatu D2
“i just can’t get through this time of year without you”
I meant to post this song over Christmas song - because it’s a Christmas song, kinda - but forgot to and was reminded when I spun the album this evening. So here it is :)
Nosferatu D2 were a two-piece from Croydon who split up after two brief years in 2007 without releasing an album. In 2009 their album (titled *clears throat* “We’re gonna walk around this city with our headphones on to block out the noise”) was finally released by Audio Antihero. Like a lot of people, I probably have Gareth Campesinos! to thank for making me aware of its existence. Anyhow, I saw it Piccadilly Records one day for like a fiver and it really is quite great, a real shame it never got to be heard during the band’s lifespan.
Anyhow, this song sums up my Christmas and probably your’s too. Unless you’re happy. In which case Fuck You.
“To conclude, when Dick Cheney claimed “9/11 changed everything”, he was probably just off his head on blow.”
—i really can’t be bothered with, like, education
My parents have got my Aunty and Uncle around for dinner, but I’m not eating with them and instead staying in my room working on my essays so as to create an air of mystery around myself, so if I ever achieve anything my extended family can go “Oh, I knew he’d succeed; he always worked so hard” and if I don’t they can go “We don’t understand what happened; he always worked so hard”.
“I had no interests. I had no idea how I was going to escape. At least the others had some taste for life. They seemed to understand something that I didn’t understand. Maybe I was lacking. It was possible. I often felt inferior. I just wanted to get away from them. But there was no place to go.”
—
Charles Bukowski (via iwasateenageunicorn)
I read the passage from Ham on Rye this is from last night and, hey presto, I wake up and find someone posted it on my feed.
Proof of something. Confidence probably.
457 Words About New Year's Eve
I went to a friend’s house where two other friends were waiting. When I got there my friend was comparing his vinyl collection with his flatmate. My other two friends were just standing around. I thought about how nice the house seemed and how I’d like to live in a shared house like it. I drank some wine and people started talking about maths. I didn’t understand any of it. We left.
We got to the place and stayed downstairs. My friend Matt didn’t have the same drink twice and didn’t leave gaps between them. They played “There Is A Light That Should Never Go Out” and I said playing The Smiths in Manchester should be against the law, but I don’t think anyone heard me.
At one point me and my friend Matt went to a takeaway. On the way we saw a Hare Krishna band and I explained to him what they were. We spoke about girls. I nodded a lot. One of our friends joined us after we’d finished leaving. My friend Matt left and I stayed in the takeaway with my other friend.
We went back and did shots of Jagermeister and I said the usual stuff I say about Jagermeister. We were in the upstairs room of the place and the sound system was awful. It sounded like a YouTube video. There was a bored look soundguy at the mixing desk who kept walking off.
The first song the DJ played after midnight was “The Queen Is Dead”. I thought about what I said before about how playing The Smiths in Manchester should be against the law but didn’t repeat it. My friend requested “Suedehead” by Morrissey but I don’t think they played it.
Later on, one of us wanted to leave but I’m not sure who because I didn’t want to and we didn’t. The three people I was with all disappeared and I danced in the room with the crappy sound to Springsteen. I saw a girl I don’t know kiss a boy I don’t know and stopped dancing.
Sometimes I swear there’s a switch in my head that goes off in my head and I can’t enjoy anything.
On the way back to Matt’s, my friend Jack said “Happy New Year” and I said “I’m going to kill myself”.
At Matt’s house I watched Peep Show on my own and sipped a bottle of JD. I went upstairs to Matt’s room and showed them my Tumblr. Matt fell asleep but he snored so we moved downstairs.
Whilst the rest of my friends spoke how you could still hear him snoring through the ceiling, I wrote this on my phone. When they fell asleep too I just stared into space.
- written at 6.03am, 01/01/2011, copied from my phone with slight modifications
