Aesthetics and Names

Thinking about aesthetics here, I think we could pull off a really sweet "dark dazzle" look with ease. The first thing that comes to mind is something like what Zola Jesus does... but I also just want to do something original and highly captivating and conversational. Anyway, take a look at Zola Jesus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM8fEP8FOqE (awesome video)
That's just a start. As I said, I want our on-stage presence to be our own creation so don't want to influence it too much.

Name ideas:
deadpan moon
whorled chain
moonless covers
sorrowing spiders
day spiders
variations
european vacation

My friend made an interesting point the other day about sharing names with other bands. He pointed out that your basically competing with those n other bands to be the best [insert name here]. I guess it's kind of true, albeit kind of shitty if another band is exceptionally rad.

Reverb Chris, can you put spring reverb on our stuff? I was playing around with it today and thought it sounded really cool, kind of garage-y. Can we try it on some of our songs?

i really love the word "spider". its creepy, its fun to say, its visually pleasing with the "p" being the upside down "d", maybe we could use this somehow in our band name?

im not sure how i feel about "a shade of greigh". maybe spider could be an ALBUM TITLE?

i would really like a "the" name too, but i dont know. the shade of greigh?
i also dont think we should be too concerned if another small band across the world is using the same name. its silly to be worried about, as long as its unique.

just some thoughts.

-julia

DEPRESSING POP LOVE POWER BALLAD LYRICZ

Always turn your back on me
hang up the phone
dont want to talk right now
leave me alone
but the clock on the wall
is laughing at me
and the bird in the cage thatll never be free

and back up, wind up, its all over again
till you come running and im waiting again

its just a case of letting the bird out
"things happen naturally"
just open the cages
come on let the bird out
you say
just let the bird out
let the bird out

i take too many memories
swallow them down
we just havent earned it yet
the upside down frown
always leave me hanging
like a noose on the wall
never wish i met you
ever met you at all

and we use words like love
to get out of jail free
till you make up your mind
and really want me

its just a matter of letting the bird out
"things happen naturally"
just open the cages
come on let the bird out
you say
let the bird out...
let the bird out

http://www.slolum.com/band/FascinationStreet.mp3

http://www.slolum.com/band/RedDwarf2.mp3

sdfdslkongggssss
'
hurgleb urgle

Red Dwarf (re-edit of lyrics)

VERSE 1
is this new blood stained robe to wear?
rips and tears
we play
these games

another contest that you won't win
bulls and matadors
we dance
and chase

VERSE 2
every red dwarf worth its weight in caves
like black holes
black holes

a clear night to find the answers in
constellations
where do we begin?

CHORUS?
another promise I make to myself
I'm weaker
I cave, I cave

you won't remember me tonight

FINALE
smooth warped fabric holds the key
plays games with me
i won't
give in

another promise I make to myself
I'm weaker
I cave
I cave

something about nature, cities and maybe falling in love...

CHORUS:
The back aches
the knees break
you pull away
from the embrace

VERSES:
shadows in the trees
lovers in the leaves
a cool night rain
brings curious feelings

secrets grow between
cracks in the pavement
lifted by roots
of romantic silence

running down alleys
op'ning to streets
bright with lamp lights
lush with memories

the scent of thickness
evaporating
the sun lifting
revealing; abiding

is this delusion?
friendly deception?
a divine spark
placing love in my lap

CHRIS HERE

So I compiled all the lyrics we've used in a single file separate from the note pad.

I've worked a bit on them, adding second or third verses for all the unfinished ones.

I hope you like the new stuff I've written. Murp.

Kat: I noticed you also used the "pallid colour" line in the new lyrics for Cranes which we already used in Ruby, but I realized I actually really like that, I think it's cool if some themes repeat across multiple songs.

So yeah, we currently have 9 songs total, and 3 more or less finished songs (The Wreckage, Ruby, and The Lost Room In The Grand Hotel. Clay Pigeons is also mostly done, we just need to decide on structure.)

(The 9th song, which doesn't have lyrics yet, would be the first one me and Julia started before Kat joined, I still really want to use that one).

Here are all the most up to date lyrics:



Clay Pigeons


when it's like
we are two moons
in orbit tonight

there is a tide
sinking all ships

when it's like
we are distant
in our bed tonight

and I hope you
die and I hope
its your fault and
I won't be there

and it tears
you apart








The Wreckage


we will never leave these bodies
these bodies make us whole
we tear off our eyelids to see the wreck below

we will never leave this wreckage
this wreckage is our home
your smile is dissolving the rain
you wash away

i was watching you grey
stumbling down
i smiled and waved
you were throwing grenades

we will never leave this prison
this prison's become home
we deny ourselves company
we sit alone

i imagined us

i turned left and you werent there at all









Candy


oceans would weep for our demise
and skies bleed blue
like candy eyes

onceans would sink our best defence
and skies crack wide
any pretense







Ruby


you pick your pallid colour
you make the moon for me
you pick your pallet well
paint upon the canopy

the moon sets
and the sun grows red
all lies end
drawn to dust instead

you brush the fading stars
swept from the firmament
you paint me cochineal
tell me it's heaven sent








The Lost Room In The Grand Hotel


like hotel
room keys and
hotel room doors
room service
making nights
on hotel floors

like nightmares
that fade fast
locked doors
deny my passage
making plans
on something lost

lonely lives in the entrance way
lonely leaves me nothing to say

this room leaves with nothing to say








The Sabotuer



not letting this
get away this
time
I'm always
the saboteur

I don't want to

not letting this
get out of hand
you're angry
and I understand






Cranes


hear my words, are they voiceless?
scream my song, is it painless?
with inscriptions burned in marble
and words heav'ly etched into stone

how they spill from lips crimson
each one a drop of poison
I'll end up in the ground with you
if I stay here longer

the best one to bind is you
signatures fold in octavo
what I say shall never fade
I'll find it trapped in this eternal

I'm suffocating on these sounds
asphyxiating while I drown
words are hands around my throat
oration takes a tone so mute

keep the rayless morning cold
and the dusty clouds rapt
when a heart as big as yours
is all the light can hold

pick up your pallid colour
make up the moon for me
I know too well the colour
of the secrets you keep

in the first pallor of dawn
you shine just like a sun
under the vanishing starlight
and brightening night

you're too bright to be so dark





Red Dwarf


another contest that you won't win
bulls and matadors
they dance
they chase

every red dwarf worth its weight in caves
like black holes

another promise I make to myself
I'm weaker
I cave, I cave

you won't remember me tonight

Doot doot doo

http://www.slolum.com/band/HARBGLE.mp3
http://www.slolum.com/band/REDDWARF.mp3

CHRISSSSS

a word: crepuscular

I really like this word... perhaps it could be a song title....

crepuscular [krɪˈpʌskjʊlə]
adj
1. of or like twilight; dim

Good Drums

I really like the drum sounds in these songs. I think a lot of the drums they use on Back Catalogue are simple, minimal and really catchy. Check out "Controversy Between":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGxhZiQexO0

Other then the drums on that song I like the overall feel of it right down to the distant vocals and the un-emotional synth-line.

I'm also a big fan of the drum fills in "Nag Nag Nag" by Cabaret Voltaire:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJbD6BP2uoA

Another good thing about that song is the noisy intro bit.

final-ish words to cranes song

*****CRANES*****

Hear my words, are they voiceless?
scream my song, is it painless?
with inscriptions burned in marble
and words heav'ly etched into stone

How they spill from lips crimson
each one a drop of poison
I'll end up in the ground with you
if I stay here longer

The best one to bind is you
Signatures fold in octavo
what I say shall never fade
I'll find it trapped in this eternal

I'm suffocating on these sounds
asphyxiating while I drown
words are hands around my throat
oration takes a tone so mute







Keep the rayless morning cold
and the dusty clouds rapt
when a heart as big as yours
is all the light can hold

Pick up your pallid colour
make up the moon for me
I know too well the colour
of the secrets you keep

in the first pallor of dawn
you shine just like a sun
under the vanishing starlight
and brightening night

you're too bright to be so dark

http://www.slolum.com/band/thesaboteur.mp3

NEW SUNG

http://www.slolum.com/band/thewreckage.mp3

Fucking piece of shit (Blogger.com, not the song)

i also cannot stop listening to Florence & the machine. sooooo good!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PauGzDbLpeY

-ghoulia

THIS http://byebyeblackbird.bandcamp.com/ is pretty much the most beautiful thing ive ever heard and i wanted to share.

i love dreampop shoegaze. love love love.

:)

heres more lyrics for our new songggggg. im thinking the first paragraph as a verse, with slightly different rhythms and harmonies, then the middle bit as a chorus, and the last one as a different version of the chorus? i dont know. i think the vocals could be what makes the parts of the song unique, but the guitar can be basically versions on what ive done thus far?


once you capsize
you cant leave
once you're on board
you must be sunk with me
id be lost without you
in the saddest seas
you keep telling me

we get the keys wrong everytime
im still sinking but i dont mind
though oceans would weep for our demise
and skys bleed blue like candy eyes

we fall gently down shooting stars
you were watching us from afar
though oceans would weep for our demise
as candy melts we'd say goodbye

I AM MAKING A POST

http://www.slolum.com/band/candy.mp3

It sounds better than I initially thought when you listen to it on non PA speakers.

"shoots down"

this was never ever easy
a hundred times ive sat here and watched her
gently fall, gently fall
wipe her eyes, then lick them clean
there's a hundred doors in front you see

and the sames days pass
the sames days crash
pull you out of bed i wish
i could pull you up, i wish i could.

you get the keys wrong everytime
but i don't mind
you get the keys wrong everytime,
but i don't mind, i don't mind

shes probably writing books about you
while you laugh with those boys
and shes writing books about you
bathtubs of words
you are probably smoking with those boys
and shes naming stars after you
counting them one by one

naming stars after you

she gently shoots down
she gently shoots down


you get the keys wrong everytime
but i don't mind
you get the keys wrong everytime

but i don't mind, i don't mind

-random lyrics by ghoulia!

Holy doodle, these are SO random and I feel really mixed about certain lines but I want to get them up here while they're on my mind. I put the stuff I really like in bold.

suspense builds

the drums bellow

belfrys and dungeons

meet with the bludgeons

eternal fog creeps along

lights flicker down the street

as you pass by

a flame goes out

your dress billows in the silty breeze

leave with your gentle hands

touching like cold

holding me hard

a memory of rags and ruins

and put out the star's light

like you've done

with your magic

take the candelabra, drown the flame

I long for nothing that ends

infinitely small holes

letting in all your cold

press your ear up on the glass

to taste a breath

funny how your dream's betrayed.

and you wanted it this way.

you're yelling words I can't hear

-KAHHT

K, so while I still really don't want to be known as "the band that does a cover of [whatever]"

but I figured I'd add my idea to the potential covers list.

Yesterday I was humming to myself and I think an electronic version of Fascination Street by The Cure would be amazingly fun to do.

I keep thinking how fun and cool sounding doing the bassline on the MicroKorg would be, then maybe Julia doing the guitar bit or something and the harp bit could easily be transposed to a synth line, I think. Then we program the same beat that's in the original, but we do it really low fi on the CR-78.

And to intentionally differentiate it a bit from the original we can add our own diverging harmonies, etc.

-Chris

Hurgle burgle. I yam sadly.

I sorta want to write a really bleak song. Minor key~

And we need to make a song where you two have montone spoken word girl vocal parts.

Music is good.

-Chris

words +

I've got a new song worked out. I haven't tried playing it yet but I have a melody that I can share with you guys and then we can play around with it...

I know what its like for the desert sand,
waiting all these years for the rain.
And I don't want it. No, I don't long for it
to come and wash away my pain.

Chorus (this needs work, I'm not super happy with it now):

I don't want you.
I don't need you.
Hear my pleas.


So I plead that you'll stay so far away
bringing love to the ferns and weeds,
absolving the unfortunate of their sins.
I don't want you. I don't want you. Hear my pleas.

Bridge Part:
You may knock.
You may call my name.
You may satiate my thirst

I can cry.
I can feel your arms.
I can dry up again.

Back to a verse:
I deserve every indecency.
I deserve to be unquenched.
Leave me in the morning quiet afterlude.
A shadow. A dawning. A dusk.

Good words

Woah, I love this word...

pe·num·bra  (p-nmbr)
n. pl. pe·num·brae (-br) or pe·num·bras
1. A partial shadow, as in an eclipse, between regions of complete shadow and complete illumination. See Synonyms at shade.
2. The grayish outer part of a sunspot.
3. An area in which something exists to a lesser or uncertain degree: "The First Amendment has a penumbra where privacy is protected from governmental intrusion" (Joseph A. Califano, Jr.)
4. An outlying surrounding region; a periphery: "Downtown Chicago and its penumbra also stand rejuvenated" (John McCormick).

ALSO, this is what I'd jotted down for the non 80's 80s song. Did it have a name?
Escape's not our flattering hue
tossed into the rocks with you
we tear bodies from brine to swim in the sea below

we're tied to what traps us
although we long to leave
we dream of better bodies without the needs we know

Use as you wish. I'm working on another one about words... It's a work in progress for sure but I'm going to post what i have. I 've been trying to formulate it forever, it feels and something's just not coming together. Maybe you two wise guys can help:
:

Hear my words, are they voiceless?
Like bones and cadavers profess
with inscriptions burned into marble
and words heav'ly etched into stone

I'm suffocating on these sounds
asphyxiating while I drown
words are like hands around my throat
oration has a tone so mute

How they spill from lips of crimson
each one a drop of poison
I'll end up in the ground with you
if I continue drinking.

I can't hear the words though you scream

You are the best one to bind
A signature folded in octavo
and what I say shall never fade
I'll find it trapped in this eternal



-KAHHT

this was the song i was thinking of that kats piano reminded me of. i love how sparse and haunting it is. not that i want to emulate an artist, but its just something i love:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMzua0mwrVk

also: this is the cranes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG1vfS8fGic&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQoXIlk5R50&feature=related

http://www.slolum.com/band/MunitionsVocals.mp3

http://www.slolum.com/band/cranes.mp3

I AM KALI, THE DESTROYER

lyriczzzzzzz

another contest that you wont win
bulls and matadors
they dance
they chase

another promise i make to myself
im weaker
i cave , i cave

you wont remember me tonight
you wont remember me tonight
afterthoughts and stark skys
you wont remember me tonight

another empty shell to fill up
wishing it could be easy, easy
like every red dwarf worth its weight caves in
black holes, black holes

you wont remember me tonight

http://www.slolum.com/band/In_Situ_-_Ruby.mp3

Song!

if no one objects, i would like to use some of these lyrics somehow for our "non 80's 80's song".

even just the part about throwing grenades. i like it as sort of a metaphor for fights, relationships. and how some people just stay angry, even when you are sorry.


I was watching you through November waters
i was watching the clouds shift
i think they spelled "away"

i was saying goodbye
because the river in winter
well, its just not the same

as 5am summers
and loving in vain

i was watching you grey
in November rivers
i smiled and waved

i watched you on the rocks
you were throwing grenades

i watched you on the rocks you were throwing grenades

i imagined us laughing
imagined the fall
i turned left and you werent there at all

you were staring back
shrouding mistakes
staring back
scowling in hate

i was watching you, missing you
in the river that day

and you were throwing grenades
you were throwing grenades...

i made this because i am silly.

http://www.myspace.com/insituz

login is same as this blog. feel free to add/change things.

-julia

NEW SONGSSSSSSSSS

http://www.slolum.com/band/non80s80ssong.mp3

http://www.slolum.com/band/palletwell.mp3

SONGSSSSSS

lyriczzzz

a hold on my head

*sometimes i go into a trance like state at the customer service desk at work and i write weird nonsensical words. these are some of them from today*

waiting for the hammer to drop on my head
nothing stays grey for good she said

nothing in winter except icing and dread
waiting for the hammer to drop

counting sheep in your bedroom i said
"nothing stays perfect except the hole in my head"

you have a hold in my head
you have a hold in my head

i keep feeling that something is wrong here
illusions confusions keep asking whats wrong here

nothing stays silver for good you said
nothing stays written in books that you've read

you just have a hold on my head
you just have a hold on my head

-julia

i reallly really realllllly want to jam again dammit! i bought the Big Pink's CD "a brief history of love" and its so inspiring and so like the music i want to make, with more synths added.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j95a2DmKHo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGnNlQ-KNv4

next tuesday eve work for everyone?

-julia

everything is against you

we will never leave the city
this city makes us whole
we scream off buildings to the marching ants below

i know that you want me here
grabbing your hand and holding you near
i know that you want me here
grabbing your heart and letting you steer

we will never leave these bodies
these bodies make us whole
we tear off our eyelids to see the wreck below

i know that somewhere there's a place for us
somewhere someplace
where love wont turn to dust

we will never leave this city
this city makes us whole
we scream off of buildings to the marching ants below

i know that you need me here
suffocating your heart and holding you near
i hear the sound of hands clapping here
applauding us trying, they laugh and they jeer...

The Lost Room in The Grand Hotel

David Hilbert suggested that we:
consider a hypothetical hotel with countably infinitely many rooms, all of which are occupied – that is to say every room contains a guest. One might be tempted to think that the hotel would not be able to accommodate any newly arriving guests, as would be the case with a finite number of rooms... (Wikipedia)

That's the paradox, the hotel can always accommodate one more even though every room is occupied. Infinity has struck again.

SUNG

http://www.slolum.com/band/thelostroom.mp3


THIS IS CHRIS

I still have to, y'know, pay rent and, like, buy food,

but I'm considering buying this mixer:

http://www.allen-heath.co.uk/zed/zed-24.asp

with an eye toward it being for the band. It's in the $700-$800 range.

The nice thing about it is the USB interface. It allows you to record directly to a laptop with very low noise.

It's also a fully functioning 16 mic pre mixer that I could use live.

But that's more of a long term thing.

In the short term I'm seriously considering at getting this:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Line-6-POD-2-0-Guitar-Amp-Modeling-Processor_W0QQitemZ230462023096QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar_Accessories?hash=item35a89b65b8

It basically emulates a guitar amp. This would allow us to patch Julia's guitar directly into the mixer without an amp. We could add any of the effects we have hooked up, but the thing also has built in effects.

Basically I'm thinking if we had this it would allow us to practice using just headphones, if the need should arise. Also, it removes one more chaotic element from the whole process and the guitar wouldn't be deceptively loud anymore in relation to the rest of the instruments.

Also, it includes far better built in reverb than my Peavy amp does.

This is Chris if you haven't already guessed.

Woah, cool art....

I love this album art:



AND the album is pretty phenomenal too. There's a couple of tracks here: http://weirdcanada.com/2010/02/review-mode-moderne-ghosts-emerging/

I really like the song ECHOES, but it's not up there :(

Anyway, I'm sure Julia will come up with some great art. I wanted to share that aesthetic for inspiration.

For some reason the last part got cut off. No idea why.

http://www.slolum.com/band/InSitu-Pigeons.mp3

THIS IS CHRIS.

Three things I love...

1. Our band. I can't wait to try some new jams and work on our songs! It's really exciting. Our stuff is phenomenal.

2. Triangles. I love each side.

3. "Nag Nag Nag" by Cabaret Voltaire. I am so excited that they used the same drum machine that we're using. Is there any way we can make some of these drum beats? Or at least use that crazy fill? Cool.

P.S. The gear I have is a Mackie CR1604, LexiconVortex (effects box), Alesis 3630 Compressor and an Alesis Quadraverb (reverb) - links provided. I think you said you have a Lexicon model too. All the gear is on a rack already so I could just bring it all down without much hassle. I just need to get the right AC adaptors. One of them takes a really weird 5 pronged kind of power... it looks like MIDI ... almost but it is definitely the thing that needs power.

EMO LYRICS

"the eyes are thirsty, cant get water from a stone

all these roads will take you there

anywhere but home

and the words we speak cant make amends to all the walls we hate

and the doors of filthy buildings will stay locked today


i just want to float into your heart again
i just want to float back to the start again"

NOTE: I JUST WAS SINGING ALONG TO THE RAD NEW SONG YOU GUYS DID AND THESE WORDS CAME OUT LIKE VOMIT

nothing too genius here but it sounds good to me, right now.

hehe
;)

http://www.slolum.com/band/fifthsong.mp3

New song me and Kat worked on March 30th. Then we watched YouTube clips.

-Chris

and a long flight home...

My flight home was so long. I finished reading Theatre of the Mind by Jay Ingram and then read The Time Machine by H.G. Wells and started writing songs. Long flight.

This one is pretty long but there are some good parts. I'm not sure if I'm done with it...

Keep the rayless morning cold

and the dusty clouds rapt

when a heart as big as yours

is all the light can hold

Pick up your pallid colour

make up the moon for me

I know too well the colour

of the secrets you keep

in the first pallor of dawn

you shine just like a sun

under the vanishing starlight

and brightening night

you're too bright to be so dark

And this one is shorter

The moon sets

and the sun grows red

and the moonlight dies

and the chill of dawn

dances in ghostly half-light

Before the night creeps in

a horror of great darkness

cannot escape me

and up I thought I could see ghosts

bleeding the colour of my fear

the moon dawns

and pale stars alone

and the moment stills

in a darkling [sic] calm

take the day away

So, yeah, most of the lines were taking from the time machine to some degree or another. I find the colour of my fear one sounds funny but I really like how it's said in the book: "expectations took the colour of my fears"

-Kat

okay i know we said we wouldnt do a cover BUT:

i think this would be an amazing song to do
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUyZgXN6DBQ

we could sing it, all 3 of us, with harmonies and it has such a simple repeated synth bit..it would be really neat to try.

:)

-ghoulia

v-cool

Hey dudes...

I couldn't sleep last night so I'm up early to share lyrics I wrote on the plane trip out to Austin. I think I might have already written some down in that little book but I think I got the chance to refine them a little more.

SONG NUMBER 1:

Whatever she does she can't hide her dark eyes
lids drawn like dusty curtains
I breathed in when she exhaled
I wiped the darkness from my lips
(a line of dark stick off my lips)
to taste the lies like the lids of her dark eyes

it's isolation I don't care to listen
so long as I'm allowed to imagine
what those eyes must look like when they close.

AND NUMBER 2:

Like hotel room keys and hotel room doors
making nights on hotel room floors

This room leaves with nothing to say
lonely lives in the entrance way
lonely leaves me nothing to say.

There are some great bands out here. Blessure Graves are super awesome. I saw them on Wednesday night and I think I'm going to check them out again. I melted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezDVmwaa5WI&feature=youtube_gdata

Okay, I didn't actually watch that video yet so I hope it's okay.....

-Kat

Band 2

I checked out What About Baby Jane? and I find them rad.

I saw the Polyshores a couple weeks ago. They are also rad.
http://www.myspace.com/thepolyshores

THIS IS FOR KAT

http://www.renoise.com/download/renoise/

http://www.slolum.com/band/kat_template.xrns

I AM ALSO CHRIS

THIS IS A SONG

http://www.slolum.com/band/in_situ_-_third_song_demo.mp3

THIS IS ALSO A SONG

http://www.slolum.com/band/in_situ_-_fourth_song_sketch.mp3

I AM CHIRS

sorry i havent written on here lately!! i have been reading all you guys have wrote though DONT YOU WORRY

i am super stoked to hear this drum machine!! yah new order 80's beats!! i really think this will be awesome..i think it suits the way i play guitar anyways. yay. SO EXCITED TO HEAR IT!!

um, what else? ive mostly been listening to alot of early cocteau twins and smiths, but what else is new? haha. early cocteau twins is all about neat basslines and drum machine though so it might be worth a listen, especially "Garlands". what else am i digging lately? shoegazey stuff, like War Paint and The Cats Miaow. oh and... matthew good. hahaha. um, we can just pretend i didnt say that, ok? hah.

i saw that War Paint band last night at the Marquee actually..really beautiful layers of guitars. i definitely would like to fine tune that reverby sound i love so much.

I also like the band name "the Alice prince", which is a play on "the Alice Prins", which is the birth name of my idol, kiki de montparnasse. (pictured here)

i also (dont laugh), really like "Marks Dark Dazzle". its a line from a book describing courtney love being unable to tear herself away from "Rozz's dark dazzle" (a man she dated back in the 80's). And i like it with "Mark" instead because its funny, personally, and it rhymes. lemme know what you think!

-julia

Twilight Skulls!

O.M.G. I'm getting soooo stoked for SXSW. If either of you have time take a look at the panels, let me know if you think there'd be ones we could learn from and I'll try to check them out...

Wednesday Panels

Thursday Panels

Friday Panels

Saturday Panels

Also, I love the aesthetic of this picture - film, washed out, graininess. It's nice. I need to buy film before the weekend is over so I can take lots of pics in Austin.

Drum machineeeeeee!

-Chris

I just caught wind that "Wyrd Fest II" is coming to Calgary on april 30th and I think with the direction we have right now we could get a spot playing. We'd be way more electronic than the others but we have a nice jangley guitar thing going and a really good retro feel.

Other bands playing are Dead Ghosts, Nu Sensae, Women, COSMETICS, Grand Trine, etcetera... I don't think there's much of anything online about it besides on the bands' myspace pages.

Let's talk about it.

-Kat

K. So rather than feel sorry for myself, I've decided that I'm going to turn the living room in my house into a music room (my room mates are on board, fully supportive of the idea).

Going to paint the one wall that is shared with the kitchen a dark purple.

Then I'm going to move every synth, guitar, bass, electronic drum kit, etc. in there, and have them always set up so that anyone can walk up and play them. Also going to buy a piano as soon as I can find one for a decent price.

Beyond that, I'm going to have it set up so that anything in the room can be recorded onto a laptop and possibly also reel to reel, at a moment's notice. Will also have vocal mics, monitor, etc. set up.

Today I went out and bought 6 guitar wall racks like the ones they use in music stores.

Like this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001B7RAB8/ref=asc_df_B001B7RAB81053536?smid=A28RZEVTQ2NMS9&tag=nextag-mi-mp01-delta-20&linkCode=asn&creative=380341&creativeASIN=B001B7RAB8

I also bought a Boss tremolo pedal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp77ueBkqS0

You can adjust the sound so it's much more harsh cut off (square wave) or a softer one (triangle). You can control the depth (how much the volume drops, from 0 to 100%) with each cycle, and you can adjust the rate.

-Chris

Good news everyone!

I mentioned that I was in a band and now Dan (manager of Republik) really wants to put on a show for us when we're ready. We get to choose the bill and they'll put it on and the other sound tech will work it so I don't have to stress.

-Chris

i know that we are aiming for a more electronic sound, but i really love Morrisseys used of falsetto, and Chris, you are so good at singing high too...it just reminded me how much i would love to record a simpler more "folky" guitar and non-electronic sounding bass song.
we could still used some neat echoey little keyboard sounds as well, but i dont know...i just love songs like this SO much! it might be fun to try?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuILSSmByIY&feature=related

-ghoulia

i actuallymeant to post this on my other blog butnow im leaving it on here.who DOESNT want to see a pic of the greatest singer ever?

I'd like to work something around this line:

"this is the sound of the last dance"

And here are some more lyrics I came up with, I imagine the song to be in a style similar to more pop Cure songs like "Why Can't I Be You" or "Lovecats":

"You're so clumsy in bed

you turn the sheets

you bump your head

Ohh, accidental lover

underneath the covers"

3 things I'm digging:

1. Speaking of the Cure, I really like the drumming in Siamese Twins (the video is bad quality so listen to it for real instead)
2. I also really dig Douglas McCarthy's vocal style in Nitzer Ebb, how he just kind of shouts things. For instance, "lies, lies, lies, lies, guns, guns, guns, guns...." You know what I'm talking bout.
3. The synth line in Lose Him by I Start Counting is really catchy, in a good way.

-Kat

http://www.slolum.com/band/thirdsong.mp3

These are separate.

http://www.slolum.com/band/thirdsongsecondkeyboardpart.mp3

And so are these.

http://www.slolum.com/band/thirdsongvocalsandthirdpart.mp3

some stuff:

i love the layers of samples/weird sounds in this song. i havent listened to severed heads in soooo long and for some reason it was in my head today?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4mZ2D33v4o&feature=related

a band i just discovered today, 'Warpaint':
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPv3eou3Ltg

i love the guitar progression in this..the walk-down bass line and the repetitive higher notes. and the lyrics are beautiful too...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3_YrOULNY0

and...does anyone remember this song? hehehe. was watching all these 90's videos last night..this is a really cool song though. love it!
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x29niw_poe-angry-johnny_music

-julia

random words i found written on an old receipt in a jacket pocket:

there was a time
i counted birds on wires
symbolism in coffee cups
watched clouds stick and gather
and thought of us
and finding needles in haystacks

you were the one
you were the one
i told myself on bad days

i was lightened and safe

some more lyrical inspirations:

"The lighthouse dog lifted his brow
The crippled trees bent low to growl
And swans, they wrestled with lifetime's grasp
In hopefullness they nestled the past
Teachers and travellers made their mark
They dined and feasted on whale and shark
And so the ocean lost its depths
And boredom rained as the ocean wept..."
- Bat for lashes "jubilee"


"It's four in the morning, the end of december
I'm writing you now just to see if you're better
New york is cold, but I like where I'm living
There's music on clinton street all through the evening.

I hear that you're building your little house deep in the desert
You're living for nothing now, I hope you're keeping some kind of record.

Yes, and jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear
Did you ever go clear?

Ah, the last time we saw you you looked so much older
Your famous blue raincoat was torn at the shoulder
You'd been to the station to meet every train
And you came home without lili marlene

And you treated my woman to a flake of your life
And when she came back she was nobody's wife.

Well I see you there with the rose in your teeth
One more thin gypsy thief
Well I see jane's awake --

She sends her regards.

And what can I tell you my brother, my killer
What can I possibly say?
I guess that I miss you, I guess I forgive you
I'm glad you stood in my way.

If you ever come by here, for jane or for me
Your enemy is sleeping, and his woman is free.

Yes, and thanks, for the trouble you took from her eyes
I thought it was there for good so I never tried.

And jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear ..."
- Leonard Cohen "famous blue raincoat"

Random Lyrics From Other Songs

Through the years there have been numerous songs with lyrics that caught my ear more than tune. I might as well just throw them out there to you guys. These are obviously only excerpts -just the parts that are poignant, I guess.

"Here comes Johnny Yen again with the liquor and drugs and the flesh machine
He's gonna do another striptease. ....
Well I am just a modern guy. Of course I've had it in the ear before"
- Lust for Life, Iggy Pop

"... put on your gloves and black pumps. Let's pretend the fog has lifted.
Now you see me, now you don't. Now you say you love me. Pretty soon you won't.
If we get our full three score and ten we won't pass this way again.
So kiss me with your mouth open.
Turn the tires toward the street.
And stay sweet. "
- Dilaudad, The Mountain Goats

"There are lots of broken fingers in the dark parts of my room ..."
- Please Don't Touch, Polly Scattergood

"I've come to understand that kiss was quite impossible and if I'll ever find a way I'll halt the turn of time... "
- Hooked, Seabound

"I go through this before you wake up so I can feel happier to be safe up here with you"
- Hyperballad, Bjork

"Pitiful joy
She looked away
Into a hollow sky
Came face to face"
- Joy, PJ Harvey (I actually like the whole Is This Desire? album... probably because it has my name all over it but PJ Harvey is an incredible lyricist)

-Kat

Keyboard parts and video-nos

I got a couple of simple keyboard loops up on sound cloud:

Noisy, dark keyboard riff (1/2)

Simple Keyboard Line (2/2)

And as for just general mind-wanderings I've got a few things to share:

*** I'm really into this "cold wave" thing right now. I think the best contemporary band that is doing it is Cold Cave (albeit, slightly poppier than some of the others but that's why it's so catchy and delicious) I recommend checking out Youth And Lust.

*** Also, the Squeeze pulled off incredible pop tunes by keeping it simple and having super weird lyrics. Check it.

*** Aaaaand, Fischerspooner remixing Kylie Minogue. I mostly get a huge kick out of this video but the song is super driving as well. Just watch Casey Spooner though, he does practically nothing in the entire video besides saying "uh huh" at the end. Hilarious. The song is great too.

- Kat

So I've been researching nominative vs. genitive Latin.

dominus (nominative)
domini (genitive)

The correct translation of "In the year of our Lord" is "anno domini" (another thing to note, the Romans didn't use capitals or lowercase, or more correctly, everything was written in what we consider capitals. They didn't use spaces between words, either).

"Dominus" is how a slave would address the male head of the household. "Domina" is how a slave would address the female head of the household.

So "domnia" would be the nominative form. As far as I can tell "dominae" is the genitive.

So the correct Latin (I think) for "In the year of our Mistress/Lady" would be "anno dominae".

I'm not sure how that is pronounced as compared to "domina".

-Chris

sometimes simple is really really really good

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP2vw189q4U

on an unrelated note, this is a cats brain:

"domina tricks"

its like a pun. as in "dominatrix" eh?? EH??! haha.

also, i cant get the words"anubis kiss" out of my head. dont ask me where that came from but i kind of like it.

-julia

http://www.slolum.com/secondsong.mp3

lets make music like this

What I've been listening to, not necessarily saying we should sound like this, but:

creepy Russian numbers station:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgF9ZlI_R-8

Tegan and Sara with Tiesto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0LO6v43YCo

Sun Flight by Silicon Teens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WQE1CsJAfY

homeless guy sings "Creep" by Radiohead. I like it better than the original.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXlzci1rKNM

Some producer named Trentmoller. Video adds a lot to it, the first living thing in space, the stray dog the Russians launched who died shortly after.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-8gOIpcrUc

-Chris

chris like's the bass here and i think it's pretty swell too so i'm taking the liberty of posting it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yaEwcmrR4Q

i also really love this song so much it makes me a little squishy inside:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQsJXvC3RGM

and this one. um, i don't know much about her, maybe shes kind of lame normally but this song is kind of creepy and awesome and weird
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyI1IH4LTsw

tasty

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8kG4_9B3FM