rynnnn sez
Monthly Archive for February, 2010
Our sister band Tall Firs has got some new rockers up on their site. If you like, or dislike, humanity you might want to check it out.
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Hi there,
I’d like to join your group. I’m skinny, blonde, boy next doorish and uh, hung. I do actually play guitar, and I was a math major as an undergrad. I’m open to ideas, and I’m definitely curious about what you’ve got planned. Sounds like something I’d like to be a part of. Let me know if you think you could use me.
-M
This is perhaps explained by first reading about how this explosion began and the posts that precede it. Our Science Guy really needs to start pulling his weight around here. God, everything sounds so dirty all of a sudden. Please enjoy as [I] cannot imagine this lasting past tomorrow.
charting at college/community radio this week:
WDCE Richmond VA #6
KVCU Boulder CO #13
WRIR Richmond VA #24
WLJS Jacksonville AL #29
KEXP Seattle WA #46
Thanks.
Upset about Aaron’s absence from an upcoming Glass Rock show in Detroit, someone took drastic measures and posted an ad for a replacement. The fallout continues…
“Do you feel good about yourself? That was like finding gold for him. He was like, “Wow, they like Black Flag AND fucking?” You’re teasing people.” [Wait- don't 98% of people like Black Flag and fucking? -ed]
[My] significant other ^ has not been loving the outpouring of responses to SCIENCE AND GUITAR REPLACEMENT. Another band member’s signifcant other has reportedly been “traumatized.” With that in mind, let’s clear up a couple items.
Secondly, the redacted words from the response that mentions South Pacific were simply “Variations” and “Guitars,” once innocuous but now clearly all in the eye of the beholder. [The editor -ed] blacked these out for fear that the response’s author may do periodic searches for ___ on a theme for multiple ___ , then possibly set out to harm people. Our intern executed the search and Glass Rock Life came up as hit number three. The staff feared for their lives so [the editor -ed] sent everyone home, leaving the full title of the composition blacked out (and still not fully indicated) then traded shifts with a stuffed dummy made to resemble Henry Rollins to protect the Glass Rock Office all night. Let us clarify things one bit further and then perhaps we can all move on.
That didn’t help at all. “Why?” indeed remains the question. But take a quiet moment and look inside yourself to find the answer. Also, look forward to our Science Department seizing the question, “How do these responses relate to the Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins?” Have a great weekend! No, wait, it is Tuesday.
Also, worst accusation? [My] significant other suggested that [I] responded to the craigslist ad after putting in keywords ”black flag, sex”, forgetting that Glass Rock had posted it: “He sounds like you. He is you.” [I] deny this completely.
date Mon, Feb 22, 2010
subject hey guys…
mailed-bycraigslist.org
hide details (12 hours ago)
Wow, black flag and movies about criminals and sex all on one CL post? Awesome. Actually am a guitar player–though, throw a brick around here and you’ll hit one… Anyway, have experience w/ the group thing, pretty much down for whatever, and totally respectful of limits. Oh, and elevator action is cool too.
Me: single, white, d&d free, 29, tall, thin/muscular, a few tattoos, well-read/spoken.
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Yes I can. My influences are: Heraclitus, sceptics , Bertan Russell. In music the big three: Bach, Beethoven, Black Sabbath. Got a whole Gibson guitar. I play solo currently, but am interested in doing ensemble work, if you know what I mean. 
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Who’s Got the 10 and a half
As a native Angeleno who grew up going to Black Flag shows/riots almost every weekend, I cannot resist saying hello.
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Hello, lover of guitar music. I love playing the guitar. Sometimes I play solo but not often. Earlier in my life I would mostly play compositions for two guitars. These works for two guitars can be quite exciting. However, my taste now runs to ensemble works. I especially like works for two guitars and flute. Sometimes a performance of four or five guitars can also be a lot of fun. In fact I prefer the larger works. Especially a concerto for guitar and orchestra. That way we have many different instruments all playing together – under the direction of a talented conductor. Of the different periods of music, I prefer the works of the late 19th century which usually have a rousing climax. I have devoted a lot of thought to psychology. Especially to the area of Dom/sub relationships. I find this subject to be quite interesting – and even more so if one is willing to work hands-on. Another area that interests me is the mixture of male/female characteristics one finds in an individual. But however interesting one finds psychology to be, I think the best answer to the question of human relationships is to be found in art. Specifically the lyrics of a song in the musical “South Pacific.” The hero sings of a mesmerizing woman he has just met. He wonders why he is attracted to her, and then answers his question with the lyrics: Who can explain it, who can tell you why, who can give you answers? Wise men never try. With those lyrics in mind to guide me, I sometimes play “[BLACKOUT] on a Theme for Multiple [BLACKOUT].” Performances sometimes take place in my Manhattan apartment. While my apartment is not a concert hall, it is clean, spacious, very comfortable and able to seat quite a few performers.
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Dear scientists,
I was trying decipher the exact meaning of your ad. I believe the term
“play guitar” means to perform sexually or masturbate in front of others.
If this is true, I would like to know more. Plus, I can actually play guitar!
I am open to discussing my psychological aspects of sex. I have some strong
fetishes that may be of interest: I need to be dominated, embarrassed and physically hurt.
I desire to serve and be used by powerful selfish people. To perform sexually for them or
with them. I worship power and can be slapped by women or men.
About me:
I am 37, white, bi, 185pds, 6′ – nice looking face, 7″ shaved. I am married so I need discretion.
Trace of Thought Is Found in ‘Vegetative’ Patient By Benedict Carey Published: February 3, 2010
He emerged from the car accident alive but alone, there and not there: a young man whose eyes opened yet whose brain seemed shut down. For five years he lay mute and immobile beneath a diagnosis — “vegetative state” — that all but ruled out the possibility of thought, much less recovery . . . (here for more)
This February 3rd New York Times article of course prompted an urget comminique to Dr. Aaron at our science desk about the nature of consciousness. Whereas most of our band is either in their own extreme dream world (Lady Gaga) or experimenting with pickling and/or expanding the brain (Rollins, Rynn, Dave), our in-house Dr. comtemplates these issues constantly while weaving his life through each one of our respective shams. Who better then to ask, What is Consciousness?
Aaron: Cosmology and Consciousness- those are the big ones, right? What the hell is out there, and what the hell is in here, and how do they relate? Not my department, unfortunately. Cosmology is a fascinating but ultimately perhaps futile endeavor to understand the basic nature of the universe…there is simply no guarantee that our brains, evolved to understand objects about our size in periods of time about our lifetimes are capable of understanding the basic structure of the physical universe. Consciousness we are always improving our understanding of, but it’s important not to get too essentialist about it. Obviously there is a difference between a pea and a human but there is no ‘line’ which divides ‘conscious’ life forms from ‘unconscious’ life forms. Would you put such a line between pea and cockroach or between cockroach and human? Of course it’s not even correct to think of life as a linear progression of quality, but anyway there is no point in trying to determine where the ‘line of consciousness’ would go.
Thanks Aaron. We really appreciate it.
new york craigslist > brooklyn > personals > casual encounters
please flag with care:
Can You Play That Guitar and Think Scientifically? – mw4m
Date: 2010-02-22, 9:57AM EST
Hi, we are looking for a man, woman, or other who can really play that guitar. And will not shirk away from difficult questions about psychology, philosophy, and science if you know what we mean.:) We are actually a group of men and one woman; our “guitar player” must be willing to do ensemble work, experience preferred. Can’t wait to meet you!
INFLUENCES: black flag, sex, elevator action, movies about criminals
FULL AD for reply
Rich Little says: Just kidding Aaron! It was a great answer for which [we] are extremely grateful and that had [us] thinking all morning about perhaps the neccesarily limited confines of our consciousness. Your answer, though indicating general agitation at not just being able to live your life free of the “big ones,” is considerate and leans toward the pragmatic, the pragmatic often banal but in this case providing delicious food for thought. That very agitation at contemplation too speaks volume 4s that the very recognition of consciousness and thrust to push our understanding of it is hardwired into [us] and may currently and/or ultimately help [our] grand project of survival! Am [I] right? Am [I] wrong? I am Rich Little!
-OTHER NEWS-
[I]‘ve been wanting to put this in here forever.
Also, look forward to Ryan Sawyer’s upcoming Bronx is Burning book review and Kathy Leisen’s exciting response to inquires about her Upper Peninsula Death Cult titled Where is the Conscious Conscience? Ha ha! Also a huge apology to Leanardo Da Vinci for cutting off the Mona Lisa’s forehead. Oops! [My] bad Leonardo. Fuck!
Fuck!
Way to fuck up Dave
Back in business round here. First off, we have an exciting new Science and Psychology feature with the wholly unaccredited Aaron Mullan, sound engineer for Sonic Youth, bass player in a band yet to be named, and Man of a Thousand Ambiguous Facial Expressions. That’s Aaron over there <, psyching out Dave Mies of Glass Rock into dissonance when he had in fact been nailin’ it with the taste of a grieving Eric Clapton.
To begin with, we asked Aaron to provide some dream interpretation for an unnamed member of Glass Rock who is so interesting that [he] tells people about [his] dreams. Let’s check it out. To stay within APA guidelines, we are reprinting the entire analytic process. Glass Rock believes in transparency when concerns independent non stop post balls psychoanalytical jumbalayah. Peace and love.
Glass Rock: So, did I have too much to dream last night! I was in a bed with Eddie Murphy and William F. Buckley Jr.? What does this mean? (We were just talking).
Aaron: I need more info to analyze this.
GR: I was in the middle.
A: Your lack of details is making me think this is not a real dream.
GR: Man I wish I could remember more. It really happened. [My significant other] can verify that I groggily stated it.
A: Hmmn, can you free associate about each of them?
GR: WFBJ–conservative, thought of as eloquent but rather, long winded, deceased
EM–funny, probably gay [-a-& b-], nice leather suits
A: Oh this is easy. Dreams are the subconscious’ (is that how you make that word possessive?) presentations of wish-fulfillment fantasies. In this case your subconscious is expressing your desire to be accepted by and have some amount of familiarity/intimacy with men across a wide spectrum. If it’s the leather-suit era Eddie Murphy I would say he represents a young man at the peak of his potency. All males want to be associated with the virile and lauded, with the hopes that the harem attracted by these males may contain some spare available females. Eddie Murphy being ‘probably gay’ speaks to the unquantifiable (incalculable?) nature of his sexual power (and the increased likelihood of bonus females). Buckley represents a man of your grandfather’s generation. You may disagree with Buckley on some things, but he is widely respected and you still look for his approval. So your subconscious is expressing your desire for respect within the established social power structure plus your simultaneous and contradictory desire to upend the current mating hierarchy (which is really what the social power structure is).
Aaron and the townspeople check out a disturbance.
GR: Can I send you all my dreams? Eeriely, your analysis seems spot-on as far as conscious, related/similar (internal) struggles which i am aware of . . . I think I’m about to have a nervous breakdown, my head really hurts, the cognitive dissonance between “Eddie Murphy” and “William F Buckley Jr” is hard to take.
A: This seems like the absolute most normal and basic aspect of being a male human. I wouldn’t worry about it.
GR: Thanks Aaron.
Thanks also to our friends who came to check us out in Brooklyn last night. We are grateful for the warm campfire vibe and hope you felt it as well. As we work over North America -a&b- we visit Detroit on 4/17 minus Freud and the more shallow members of the group look forward to seeing you. Have a nice weekend getting wasted again.
Hiatus is hard for working people. But it’s really gonna happen starting now. Playing live at Union Pool, Brooklyn NY, Thursday 9 pm sharp. Please complete your own funk countdown and pre-show preparations. Here’s some help for one NICE EFFING FUNKY. Dream analysis with Aaron Mullan of Tall Firs coming soon. Don’t give up.
We had to wait till the midnight hour but Glass Rock guitarist Dave Mies delivered a Valentine’s Day treat into the collective inbox of webmanity at 11:59 pm to bless this otherwise worthless Valentine’s Day indeed. As requested, Slowhand followed around a character in Guns N Roses romantic 1992 November Rain video, an apt V.D. song for the romantics who will always believe in love, and a no-brainer to assign Dave, one of the foremost cultural critics of Ancient American musical documents. It’s recommend that you please watch the video after completing the article. Dave?
***
November Rain and the short film that accompany it, take nine minutes and twelve seconds to conclude. The loose plot line centers around a stringy hared hillbilly’s marriage to a super hot if not a little vampish girl who dies of no apparent cause. Their short life together is plagued by brief, intense bursts of rain and gale force winds which fuck up not only their wedding reception (causing a deranged asshead to take a headlong dive into what looks like a very pricey cake [6:57 -ed]), but also the unlucky girl’s funeral.
The most gripping character in the saga however, is not the young couple it centers around, but instead their strange and ever present life coach/ spiritual adviser or shaman if you will. He is a leather clad warrior with a strange headdress not unlike a
veil of thick wool woven into tangled ropes which mask his face. This medicine man/ mystic is at the couples side always. In good times, he is cherubic and jolly, perpetually imbibing vapors from his ceremonial spliff (the only evidence of life from behind the twisted mask of fibers shrouding his mysterious face). In times of strife, he fiercely petitions the gods on behalf of the lovers, through a sexually charged ritual of riffage. Back bent, legs spread, he wields his thick phallus whilst grinding his pelvis toward the heavens. It is as if he were fucking the whole of the cosmos, a virile display of his capable and potentially earth rending magic. When his efforts fail to save the girl, he goes into a trance like state. His ritual gyrations seem redoubled and now more menacing than ever. It seems that he has actually passed on to the spirit plane where he is now wreaking havoc on the flesh of the immortals, lancing their soft receptacles with every stroke of his ax, tearing down their dominion over not only the doomed couple, but all of us, with his magical, meaty, pulsating tool. In an otherwise lackluster story of simple people and bad weather, this character is a stand out. His unwavering faith in love and intense carnality save what might otherwise be a pretty unmemorable day.
Thanks, Dave!
Warriors, as Kathy arrives in New York via the recommisioned Concorde, Glass Rock Life may shut down until Thursday night as we do things that a band who plays music does like play music. That means we have to leave you with a burner and we have a serious one here with this Bad Brains style interview of Awesome Michael, the bass Gandalf From Your Imagination Not The Movie, of Michigan homegrown destroyers Awesome Color.
Above photo lifted from Eric Martin Photo is of the man himself, progenitor of Weirding Module, Senseless Empire Records, and American Tapes Bootlegs. Michael is one of Earth’s most serene indviduals and not only cooks mean homemade vegan food and is an SST recording artist circa 1982 but is also a major gluestick between Soft Location and Tall Firs. One major secret about Michael: he is a great guitar player but traded it for bass.
Glass Rock: What are you doing in South America right now? Have you heard the 60s group Almendra?
Michael: Almendra is kind of the key to why I´m here in South America. I met a friend of a friend in Barcelona, an Argentinian named Juan ¨Camisa¨ when Awesome Color played the Primavera Sound Festival two years ago. When he said he was originally from Argentina, I asked him if he liked Almendra. I guess he was pretty amazed I knew about them and that started our bond of friendship.
He came to the States last March and we toured the northeast for about 10 days, with our respective experimental projects, Trigal (Juan) and Weirding Module (me.) During tour, he talked about organizing a tour for us in South America. A little less than a year later, here I am, for a month and a half, playing shows in Argentina and Chile.
Is there a code to cracking how to hear certain music? For example, I found that at a certain point, and I can remember it well, John Coltrane cracked open a bit for me as if I could hear how he heard the band when he soloed (unfortunately this didn’t last for more than twenty minutes). Death metal also seems to have a certain way of being cracked, at least in my experience, transitioning from unintelligeble sound into codified music. Discuss.
There probably is a code but I haven´t been able to eat any San Pedro while down here to be able to relay this information to you yet. I have the feeling that there is some kind of code. I think the Greeks knew about this. However, there is also a pervading sense that great music has personality and something from the musician´s soul, as well as something from the Godhead/cosmos in it.
It´s also interesting that at certain times in one´s life, different music or bands for example seem to speak to us. The bands I thought were amazing in Junior High are not the same bands that really set me off these days.
If you agree in music being cracked open so to speak, how does one crack open contemporary dancehall reggae? What the hell are we supposed to listen for?
I get such a sense of passion from the delivery of dancehall and reggae music in general. Not that it´s a contest but lyrically, I think most dancehall DJs run circles around hip hop MCs in the lyrics department. There´s a faster delivery but also more substance, creativity and even humor that I get from dancehall that I find lacking in most of the hip hop I hear. Especially when listening to the so called conscious artists, like Sizzla, Capleton, Anthony B, et. al, there is just this blazing urgency and passion that comes through… like direct access to a higher power.
As far as the music goes, dancehall has been and continues to be very experimental in nature which I also gravitate to. Even though the song structure and rhythms can be formulaic at times, there are also some crazy productions and even elements of noise and experimental music that enter the songs.
What dancehall recordings, or other genre of recordings, would scaffold an entry into dancehall for us?
As a suggestion, maybe try to listen to the Sizzla track, ¨Ripe Leaf¨ which blazes lyrically throughout the whole song and has a really compelling rhythm base, as a reference to what I´m trying to say hear about the passion of dancehall music. It´s not too digital or techno sounding either, which I think sometimes can be a turnoff to some people, especially those coming from a more roots appreciation of reggae.
Maybe work your way into the modern stuff through exploration of early and later 80s dancehall. The rub a dub DJ stuff from the early 80s is amazing, stuff like Nicodemus, Ranking Toyan, Early B, et. al.
One last quick question-What did Mike Watt say to Michael Troutman when Michael Troutman mentioned Mike Watt, Cliff Burton, and the bass?
He told me that the bass is a family thing. We´re all family. [That is so hot -Matt]
–
Awesome Color have a new record out on EP! in April. Thanks to Michael for taking the time from the road to answer questions about Dancehall Reggae and Mike Watt. Check out Michael holding it down below for the family like a monster.
Early days, actual song much longer w/ hat energy intact, fuck yes.
Due to the Funk Countdown to Showtime, we’ve mixmastered things up here at Glass Rock Life a bit. To answer many questions, Thursday Jam with Breakfast was indeed the Pointer Sisters’ song; and yes, Dave is working on delivering November Rain discourse [yes, discourse] to your Valentine’s Day mailbox. Strangely though Dave has suggested this song as the 6 Days Until Showtime Funk Countown Jam.
Here is the originally intended clip
We all feel sympathy for Dave’s glasses, and collectively hold them while their owner works through denial. Friday Photo of the Day remains
reminding YOU to have a great weekend getting romanced and wasted.
including PREFIX MAG’s album of the day, we like that.
Also due to overwhelming demand, we’re publishing the original photograph from Brighton with laserbeam included.
Thanks Prefix, thanks Laserbeam.
Whoah. Brighton UK Beach Memories turned Glass Rock teary-eyed this morning.
Laser Beam Between Kathy and Dave Removed
And we continue our 7 Days Until Showtime Funk Countdown 
Glass Rock Life DJ says: “This hot funk will melt the snow and wake the dead.” See you soon you bad mutherfucker.
Indie radio continues to support Glass Rock. The top 30 from WTJU in Charlottsvile, VA came across [my] desk this morning -CALL LETTERS FROM THE CITY OF AMERICA ARE ALWAYS COOL - thanks for playing our record.
A review from back in December also washed up and an unnamed band member gave some thought to disparities in the group when [he] read -This album grows soft and tall and is rather magical at times.
Glass Rock Life is right in the middle, mediating calmly. Please enjoy the 8 Days to Showtime Countdown Funk Jam beneath us.
–
See you at Union Pool snitched details below ( You dropped ”Satanarchistic?” Really dude, what kinda deal did they offer you?)
Dudes/Dudettes- Hey it turns out ‘ol Kathy’s gonna be in NYC next week recruiting for her Upper Peninsula Death Cult, so we thought we’d get the band back together and bust some jammage at Union Pool before she heads back out to MI and gets caught up in the ritualized Satanarchistic violence of the equinox celebrations. Don’t worry though, shit is gonna get totally hectic here too! Expect the usual: liquified zombies, slot machines, free venison steaks, blah blah.
Look at that time- 9pm. That’s a great Thursday night set time, don’t you agree? Anyone who gets too caught up in the GnR set and has to go home and start fucking right away has plenty of hours until daylight. And for the Party Patrol, you have Man Benu (Bentley Rules!) and Hallelujah still to rock out to before you go home and fuck. Right on!
Found this on Craigslist LA. If there’s any aspiring grantwriters out there who want to practice their craft, contact us as we’ll need to raise some funds for this:
Ensturzende Neubauten Covers Band Wanted (Brentwood)
Date: 2010-02-05, 8:45AM PST
Reply to: gigs-qcscr-1587216337@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
Ensturzende Neubauten Covers Band needed to perform at my daughter’s 4th birthday party. We already have a Faust one and an Amon Duul one. You will need to recreate and do a note for note rendition of the Expo 86 performance from Vancouver. There will be no animals or pets present so that will be one less thing to worry about. Your performance will be at 11.15am sharp at Brentwood Elementary. We have rented a 5000 watt PA system. Faust have eaten up all our entertainment budget so just being at Lulu’s party should suffice. Party bags and cake will be presented to you upon leaving by the party girl herself. no jelly bellies and most of all no time wasters.
Insane WeatherMan footage came across [my] desk this morning -SNOW- and between that and the new Ozzy book [I] started reading in the bookstore last night, [my] thoughts now remotely controlling the ‘intenet’ turned to Black Sabbath. Much to [my] delight, someone posted a whole buncha [fucking awesome] California Jam hitherto unseen.
Rock historians will explain why Sabbath works or not. Pasty Mother Jones readers will note those dudes in football [new] jerseys who will start beating the living daylights out of Orange County punk rockers in a few years. Some will ask, -What’s this have to do with a soft rock band who loves Wings [the band], kindness, and Motown, called Glass Rock , or a seemingly troubled weatherman inhabiting a character? The simple answer to any questions, comments, and concerns is, “Black Sabbath are awesome and playing in front of palm trees.”
(P.S. If you feel down today, drink orange juice and flip through that OZZY book to read sentences like ”Those Satanists became a real pain in the arse.” Seriously.)
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We appreciate the indepent radio that continues to support our album
