Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
fogs in passing rain
passing along the meadows, i put my hands out in hope they would grab mine. all i get is my blurred vision against the wind. so i put my hands around my legs, close my eyes and allow the world to disappear for a second or two. but a second or two won't quite do, so I roll a joint to relax my mind and free me of the constraints of my reality. a life filled with the ailments of knowing a little more than I should. ah, the wind flows through my hands as I lay in the grass and take a peeks at the sky. my mind.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
musical exploration - mental liberation
It seems the only protesting in music anymore is against a broken-heart or something insignificant and it's bullshit. It has nothing behind it and doesn't deserve the awesome attention that it gets. Most of music now is created from industry and money and not from the heart and the vibe of people like it should be... pretty much like Kenny G and elevator music in general... purely for money. That's how I see a lot of music: elevator music, but instead of elevators, it's played in hip, modern, retail stores and shopping malls. No one goes to shows if the band isn't forced through your ears on the radio because the passion of sharing and experiencing music is gone. I think it has a lot to do with the lack of intelligence that is perpetuated in this country.
Just like how the media is filtered through a few layers before it makes it to your eyes, or how the presidential candidates are strategically chosen for the people, so is music. MTV, Universal Records, Warner Bros Records, etc... they choose the most applicable candidate to make THEM money and out they go to the radio. Local radio stations try to play local music, but it's usually on a Sunday night at like 11pm when no one is listening to the radio... probably because that's when the radio has the least listeners anyway. College radio stations are the best places to hear awesome new music (cause if you've never heard it, it's new to you), but no one knows about them, and if they do, they don't listen because they don't play the same redundant tunes that everyone else is listening to. What's happened?
If more people saw through the traditional conditioning of the normal society, they'd notice there are quite a few things that are askew, but people just fall into place as they're supposed to. We've come so incredibly far since the nascent years of our nation when it comes to technology, but because of the crooked monetary system, technology is based off of scarcity, and institutions can be controlled by the highest bidder. That's why our government can push hundreds of billions of dollars toward the military a year, but our education system is in the shitter. They don't want people to be educated. The fact the Federal Reserve is still around is proof of that because if people knew how that shit truly worked, they'd change their tune.
What I'm getting at is that we're good on technology for now... it's only going to keep getting better, but the next evolution needs to be that of consciousness and intelligence. Imagine if all that money was instead put into research or aiding parts of the world who REALLY need help... like the people in IDP camps in Darfur and Uganda. If people realized the only threat to homeland security is our own system, they'd be more accepting of tax dollars HELPING people instead of killing people.
But the music scene is a great place to do that; to have conversation with people and bring awareness of these things to people... like I keep saying, most of the people are just unaware that they have other choices then the path labeled "traditional" and all they need is for someone to plant the seed... instead of going out and drinking your brain cells away and going to class hungover the next day, go to a show with bands on the bill that you've never heard of; who are experimenting with music instead of falling into the same groove 1,000 other Myspace bands are in. Go and network with people in person. Open discussions. Bring awareness. Find something useful to put your energy into that can help more people than just yourself.
And that's how change will be brought about, simple conversations and thinking outside the norm. If people put more thought into how to acheive happiness for all instead of solely happiness for themselves, everyone would be happy. I could go off about a million other things, but I'm trying to keep this somewhat close to music... that's why a lot of it is vague on details... hopefully you can fill in some blanks for yourself, or have the honesty to ask for clarification.
--I wrote about this back in July (sorry if parts repeat)(and yeah, I go on a lot of tangents, but they all tie in together): what the fuck has happened to music now?! people accept the radio and mtv like it's the end all be all place to find music; as if music doesn't exist if it wasn't on trl. when i put my headphones on, what do you think i listen to? not that shit, i put on something that a group of people made with passion in their hearts, not dollar signs in their eyes. fuck that bullshit. i just do this by default, it's an unconscious reaction to putting an ipod in my hand, to look for good, true music. it's so easy to bang out a shit record and have it go platinum. if you don't believe me, turn on mtv. if you're lucky enough to catch an actual music video, you'll understand.
this somewhat ties in with my disdain for the mindless television people watch, but only somewhat because that's where they get you. the radio gets you by playing the same infectious shit over and over again so it gets stuck in your head, but tv gets you subliminally. no, i'm not talking about playing a record backwards, i'm talking about your visual memory. it's the reason people say "fuck reading books, i'm going to stimulate my brain with tv!" visual stimulation is much more concrete then audial, or imaginative, so people get pulled in by a music video. the people who rule the tv world know this. it's all contrived. (after seeing a(music video, you have some background visualization to put to the song, so you're more inclined to listen. have you ever REALLY wanted to get a song from a movie because you love the song so much? perhaps you only like the song because you really like the where scene it's played in in the movie that you also really like... maybe? i know it's happened to me a few times.)
i'd call it genius, but is it really a genius plot to play off of the ignorance you created yourself? i don't think so. it's like saying you're "proud" to be an american... to be proud of something means you strived for and acheived a goal of some sort. but you're american by default. you had no say in it, you were just born here and given a number (social security). you can be proud OF america, for whatever reason, but you can't really be proud TO BE something you didn't acheive.
anyway... just to prove my point about the tv addiction (don't take the word addiction too seriously here, i'm using it in the "mental addiction" context, not the "chemical dependence" context), there was a study done (sorry, i can't find a link) where children who watched 'x' hours of tv a day were restricted from watching for three months and urged to read more. as time went by, they did, in fact, begin reading on their own. and after the three months was over and tv was given back to them, they continued to read on their own. yes, they did start watching tv again, but not nearly as much as before. in my interpretation, before the study, the only place reading took place for them was school... which in the eyes of a child equates to NO FUN! so when tv was gone, they found a joy in reading freely that they were not even aware of.
i attempted to do this with my little brothers, but they refused to even give it a second thought. i assumed this would be the case, but it kind of scared me that they couldn't even imagine not watching tv. they said "shawn, you watch tv too!" to which i replied, "yes, this is true, but i don't watch mindless crap. if you can't learn anything from it, it's not worth watching. but i will stop watching tv as well if you guys do." and still, they refused haha.
albeit every human remembers more visual stimuli, children do so more than adults. and that is scary to me... because if all they are watching is mindless drivel, what is it, do you think, that they retaining? exactly. (quick fun fact on that... the brain actually remembers visuals that are flashed quickly before your eyes better than staring at something for a while. for instance, in fight club when tyler edits in the one frame of a dudes cock... or in the ring when randomly they'd flash a ring while changing scenes... your subconscious mind knows you saw it before your conscious mind does, and for some reason, remembers it.)
i was watching my mom watch tv the other night and i really pondered it. i don't know what she was watching, but a bunch of dudes were talking to the host about a girl... i think it was the reunion for one of those bachlorette shows (which i'm not even going to get started on) and then the girl came out and discussed the show with them, the host being the middle man... and i really let the situation sink in for a bit and i realized what was going on...
imagine you were walking through the mall and you were invisible. you go around and you can eaves-drop anyone's conversation, follow people around, whatever you want to do. so you sit down at a table and listen to some people talk about a past relationship and eventually that gets boring, so you jump over to a few older woman talking about their husbands flaws, but how they still love them... another table is having a political debate, etc etc etc... you get it..... that's the majority of televsion. and you can apply it to almost every aspect of tv because that all it is. people talking. why don't you go out and do that with real people? make some of you're own conversation other than talking about the other people you were watching for three months... it just doesn't make sense. people love to watch other people's lives and then talk about it... or even better, they love to watch other people talk about other people's lives or habits or "back in the day" or whatever. are we seriously that bored?
anyway (again), back to my original thought... music. record companies no longer look for talent, they look for something that will make them money. it's very sad because then bands who just want to make it are conned and brainwashed into making crap music that's been done a thousand times already. i pretty much feel like the bands/artists that have been out in the past ten plus years are just changing their names, getting facial reconstructive surgery, and then continuing to make music under another name because it all sounds the same! nothing is new anymore. don't get me wrong, i respect, to some degree, a band's talent and what not, but if i'm being real, if they're so talented, why do they sound like ten other bands that are out around the same time. bands say "if you're a fan of this band, you'll like us" and they list a bunch of bands that have a similar sound, and, oh, low and behold, they too sound just like a drunken orgy birth child of all those bands... why??? why do you want to sound like them... why don't you just make your own music? anyone who knows me knows how worked up i get about this, but this is why... it's so frustrating!
bands shouldn't say "we sound like this genre or band". right away, you're labeling yourself and closing doors to grow as a band. unless they're saying "we sound like the universe... or a planet exploding in another dimension..." or something crazy like that. no one knows what those things sound like, so that's pretty badass to say haha. it's like when people sing in the car to a song... some people try to imitate the singer while others just sing in their natural voice. you need to just sing in your own voice... if you're imitating the singer, that's no longer your voice... that's your imitation of someone else's voice. same goes for music. and hell, it can be applied to life as well. don't imitate others, just accept yourself and be yourself. if you're not a musician, just change the context of this to life instead of music and it can apply to you too! (ohhhh snap! perception tricks!!!! whoaaaAA!!!)
try to think of it from an outside perspective. if you really like a band and they inspire you, great! go on... but if you imitate that band, who are you going to inspire? what you're doing has already been done, so what's so great about your music? you need to strive to be inspirational. take all the bands you like and just make music with no boundaries. no labels. and if you let your musical inspiration run free, you can make something amazing. go watch some children playing and using their imaginations... where do they come up with it? who knows, but they're having a blast making shit up! you can too!
i know the beginning of this sounds a bit harsh, but it's true. a lot of the bands that are out just need to stop making music all together. why do you think bands put out one or two songs and then "disappear" from the spotlight only to release one or two more albums and then break up? if you go through an mtv hits playlist from this year and last year, i guaruntee there will be a few bands you "completely forgot about". and if you can't figure out why after reading this, you weren't paying attention.--
We must become the change we wish to see... music included.
-the beard
Just like how the media is filtered through a few layers before it makes it to your eyes, or how the presidential candidates are strategically chosen for the people, so is music. MTV, Universal Records, Warner Bros Records, etc... they choose the most applicable candidate to make THEM money and out they go to the radio. Local radio stations try to play local music, but it's usually on a Sunday night at like 11pm when no one is listening to the radio... probably because that's when the radio has the least listeners anyway. College radio stations are the best places to hear awesome new music (cause if you've never heard it, it's new to you), but no one knows about them, and if they do, they don't listen because they don't play the same redundant tunes that everyone else is listening to. What's happened?
If more people saw through the traditional conditioning of the normal society, they'd notice there are quite a few things that are askew, but people just fall into place as they're supposed to. We've come so incredibly far since the nascent years of our nation when it comes to technology, but because of the crooked monetary system, technology is based off of scarcity, and institutions can be controlled by the highest bidder. That's why our government can push hundreds of billions of dollars toward the military a year, but our education system is in the shitter. They don't want people to be educated. The fact the Federal Reserve is still around is proof of that because if people knew how that shit truly worked, they'd change their tune.
What I'm getting at is that we're good on technology for now... it's only going to keep getting better, but the next evolution needs to be that of consciousness and intelligence. Imagine if all that money was instead put into research or aiding parts of the world who REALLY need help... like the people in IDP camps in Darfur and Uganda. If people realized the only threat to homeland security is our own system, they'd be more accepting of tax dollars HELPING people instead of killing people.
But the music scene is a great place to do that; to have conversation with people and bring awareness of these things to people... like I keep saying, most of the people are just unaware that they have other choices then the path labeled "traditional" and all they need is for someone to plant the seed... instead of going out and drinking your brain cells away and going to class hungover the next day, go to a show with bands on the bill that you've never heard of; who are experimenting with music instead of falling into the same groove 1,000 other Myspace bands are in. Go and network with people in person. Open discussions. Bring awareness. Find something useful to put your energy into that can help more people than just yourself.
And that's how change will be brought about, simple conversations and thinking outside the norm. If people put more thought into how to acheive happiness for all instead of solely happiness for themselves, everyone would be happy. I could go off about a million other things, but I'm trying to keep this somewhat close to music... that's why a lot of it is vague on details... hopefully you can fill in some blanks for yourself, or have the honesty to ask for clarification.
--I wrote about this back in July (sorry if parts repeat)(and yeah, I go on a lot of tangents, but they all tie in together): what the fuck has happened to music now?! people accept the radio and mtv like it's the end all be all place to find music; as if music doesn't exist if it wasn't on trl. when i put my headphones on, what do you think i listen to? not that shit, i put on something that a group of people made with passion in their hearts, not dollar signs in their eyes. fuck that bullshit. i just do this by default, it's an unconscious reaction to putting an ipod in my hand, to look for good, true music. it's so easy to bang out a shit record and have it go platinum. if you don't believe me, turn on mtv. if you're lucky enough to catch an actual music video, you'll understand.
this somewhat ties in with my disdain for the mindless television people watch, but only somewhat because that's where they get you. the radio gets you by playing the same infectious shit over and over again so it gets stuck in your head, but tv gets you subliminally. no, i'm not talking about playing a record backwards, i'm talking about your visual memory. it's the reason people say "fuck reading books, i'm going to stimulate my brain with tv!" visual stimulation is much more concrete then audial, or imaginative, so people get pulled in by a music video. the people who rule the tv world know this. it's all contrived. (after seeing a(music video, you have some background visualization to put to the song, so you're more inclined to listen. have you ever REALLY wanted to get a song from a movie because you love the song so much? perhaps you only like the song because you really like the where scene it's played in in the movie that you also really like... maybe? i know it's happened to me a few times.)
i'd call it genius, but is it really a genius plot to play off of the ignorance you created yourself? i don't think so. it's like saying you're "proud" to be an american... to be proud of something means you strived for and acheived a goal of some sort. but you're american by default. you had no say in it, you were just born here and given a number (social security). you can be proud OF america, for whatever reason, but you can't really be proud TO BE something you didn't acheive.
anyway... just to prove my point about the tv addiction (don't take the word addiction too seriously here, i'm using it in the "mental addiction" context, not the "chemical dependence" context), there was a study done (sorry, i can't find a link) where children who watched 'x' hours of tv a day were restricted from watching for three months and urged to read more. as time went by, they did, in fact, begin reading on their own. and after the three months was over and tv was given back to them, they continued to read on their own. yes, they did start watching tv again, but not nearly as much as before. in my interpretation, before the study, the only place reading took place for them was school... which in the eyes of a child equates to NO FUN! so when tv was gone, they found a joy in reading freely that they were not even aware of.
i attempted to do this with my little brothers, but they refused to even give it a second thought. i assumed this would be the case, but it kind of scared me that they couldn't even imagine not watching tv. they said "shawn, you watch tv too!" to which i replied, "yes, this is true, but i don't watch mindless crap. if you can't learn anything from it, it's not worth watching. but i will stop watching tv as well if you guys do." and still, they refused haha.
albeit every human remembers more visual stimuli, children do so more than adults. and that is scary to me... because if all they are watching is mindless drivel, what is it, do you think, that they retaining? exactly. (quick fun fact on that... the brain actually remembers visuals that are flashed quickly before your eyes better than staring at something for a while. for instance, in fight club when tyler edits in the one frame of a dudes cock... or in the ring when randomly they'd flash a ring while changing scenes... your subconscious mind knows you saw it before your conscious mind does, and for some reason, remembers it.)
i was watching my mom watch tv the other night and i really pondered it. i don't know what she was watching, but a bunch of dudes were talking to the host about a girl... i think it was the reunion for one of those bachlorette shows (which i'm not even going to get started on) and then the girl came out and discussed the show with them, the host being the middle man... and i really let the situation sink in for a bit and i realized what was going on...
imagine you were walking through the mall and you were invisible. you go around and you can eaves-drop anyone's conversation, follow people around, whatever you want to do. so you sit down at a table and listen to some people talk about a past relationship and eventually that gets boring, so you jump over to a few older woman talking about their husbands flaws, but how they still love them... another table is having a political debate, etc etc etc... you get it..... that's the majority of televsion. and you can apply it to almost every aspect of tv because that all it is. people talking. why don't you go out and do that with real people? make some of you're own conversation other than talking about the other people you were watching for three months... it just doesn't make sense. people love to watch other people's lives and then talk about it... or even better, they love to watch other people talk about other people's lives or habits or "back in the day" or whatever. are we seriously that bored?
anyway (again), back to my original thought... music. record companies no longer look for talent, they look for something that will make them money. it's very sad because then bands who just want to make it are conned and brainwashed into making crap music that's been done a thousand times already. i pretty much feel like the bands/artists that have been out in the past ten plus years are just changing their names, getting facial reconstructive surgery, and then continuing to make music under another name because it all sounds the same! nothing is new anymore. don't get me wrong, i respect, to some degree, a band's talent and what not, but if i'm being real, if they're so talented, why do they sound like ten other bands that are out around the same time. bands say "if you're a fan of this band, you'll like us" and they list a bunch of bands that have a similar sound, and, oh, low and behold, they too sound just like a drunken orgy birth child of all those bands... why??? why do you want to sound like them... why don't you just make your own music? anyone who knows me knows how worked up i get about this, but this is why... it's so frustrating!
bands shouldn't say "we sound like this genre or band". right away, you're labeling yourself and closing doors to grow as a band. unless they're saying "we sound like the universe... or a planet exploding in another dimension..." or something crazy like that. no one knows what those things sound like, so that's pretty badass to say haha. it's like when people sing in the car to a song... some people try to imitate the singer while others just sing in their natural voice. you need to just sing in your own voice... if you're imitating the singer, that's no longer your voice... that's your imitation of someone else's voice. same goes for music. and hell, it can be applied to life as well. don't imitate others, just accept yourself and be yourself. if you're not a musician, just change the context of this to life instead of music and it can apply to you too! (ohhhh snap! perception tricks!!!! whoaaaAA!!!)
try to think of it from an outside perspective. if you really like a band and they inspire you, great! go on... but if you imitate that band, who are you going to inspire? what you're doing has already been done, so what's so great about your music? you need to strive to be inspirational. take all the bands you like and just make music with no boundaries. no labels. and if you let your musical inspiration run free, you can make something amazing. go watch some children playing and using their imaginations... where do they come up with it? who knows, but they're having a blast making shit up! you can too!
i know the beginning of this sounds a bit harsh, but it's true. a lot of the bands that are out just need to stop making music all together. why do you think bands put out one or two songs and then "disappear" from the spotlight only to release one or two more albums and then break up? if you go through an mtv hits playlist from this year and last year, i guaruntee there will be a few bands you "completely forgot about". and if you can't figure out why after reading this, you weren't paying attention.--
We must become the change we wish to see... music included.
-the beard
Monday, October 20, 2008
Post-Modernism
Scenic, your life, my life, their life, our lives, noise, happiness, upsetting, fun, despair, technology, routine routine routine...no structure, no contrived notions, just us and various instruments...gain something new, become something new, transcend.
-boy
-boy
Saturday, October 18, 2008
NO-MUSIC
where has the creativity in music gone?
into the hands of corporations that feed us what's good and what is bad.
the whole music scene is a fucking fashion show glittered with a farce that tells us something is pushing the limits of music or is so called experimental. it's funny and a great joke. thanks.
this stupid attitude in music these days is funny. oh, look at me. look how much I don't care, it's a formula for getting signed t some label or "indie" label. a fucking joke. no original thought.
what is going on with music?
take a look.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
a lie?
so I've changed my mind and put forth another track from Meditation called 5.
download.meditation 5
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Meditations cont..
I don't know how many meditations there will be but this will be the last one for a little while. The 4th meditation means a lot and puts heavy emphasis on where society is headed, but interpret it anyway you please. Just share the music. I am not quite sure if anyone even downloads these songs I keep posting but hopefully one day someone will stumble across some of this music and find it somewhat interesting, until then the music will continue to be posted.
love,
solomon
DOWNLOAD. Meditation 4.
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