7-31-09 If It's Real, It's Worth Keeping

I wish I knew what this song was about. I like mysteries, though - especially when they're ephemeral thoughts from my own brain. It's like looking in the mirror and seeing someone else for a split second.

7-30-09 The Burnout And The Stoner

I was playing a gig with the Toucans on this day. It was at a municipal park somewhere on the east side. There was a sound guy and another setup/crew guy who were our main contacts for the show. Both were complete hindrances to us. And they clearly hated each other, which made the gig even more fun. Oh, yeah, and it was 90 degrees out. link.

7-29-09 Save Your Pennies

A sunny little innocent uke tune with some good advice. get it!

7-28-09 By The Light Of The Fan

A nice little melodic fragment on the ukulele. Plus, I like the title. I might have tried to develop it further if it hadn't been so blasted hot this time last year. link.

7-27-09 Too Damn Hot

Another heat wave song. Extra funky. In a white-boy sort of way. Listen up!

7-26-09 Moon

If you haven't seen the movie "Moon" starring Sam Rockwell, then do yourself a favor and rent it, Netflix it, stream it, whatever the kids are doing these days. If you don't want spoilers, listen to this song after you see the movie.

7-25-09 The Frozen Sky

This song was wishful thinking, as the sky and earth were baking hot in Seattle this time last year.

7-24-09 The Wild Is Wild For A Reason

We just finished watching a Discovery Channel Series called "Out Of The Wild", where 9 regular city folk try to find their way out of the wilds of Alaska in winter. So this song feels timely.

link.

7-23-09 Purring Furiously

Stevie decides that the song is done. Link.

7-22-09 Time To Go To Bed

A late-night, last minute song. Link.

7-21-09 Oh Wild And Free

Despite the inferior recording (I think the laptop was in my lap, so as I played, the laptop moved around and the microphone made lots of noise), I really like this song. It's hard for me to make a song that isn't just a little bit ironic, but I did it with this one.

Link.

7-20-09 The Clock Is Ticking

Two bits of different songs jammed together in a hot mess. Say hi to your mom.

Link.

7-19-09 You Have A Good Heart

This one came out of a need to put some positive vibes out there for a specific person who needed them.

7-18-09 What's That You Said?

A simple uke tune with some nice changes. Link.

7-17-09 Faster Than Trains

I really like the character in this song. Unreliable narrators are very liberating to write for once you figure out how they're unreliable. I think I'd been listening to a lot of Mountain Goats at the time. Link.

7-16-09 A Helluva Time

Yeesh.

link.

7-15-09 Today's Notable Events

The day as it happened. Link.

7-14-09 Diesel

Considering BP and all, this one's kind of timely.



Last year, "Awesome" performed at an event hosted by uber-talented art geniuses Sutton Beres Culler. It was meant to be a "West" workshop. It ended up being kind of a mess, but a fun one. The event was at a decommissioned gas station in Georgetown. The SBC boys have plans to turn it into a greenspace/artspace. It's an amazing project.



Right now, it's still the shell of a building. Their conversion plans have been stopped because it was discovered from underground testing that there is diesel sludge under the building. They may have uncovered a Superfund site! EPA testing commences this summer, and we'll see if it gets turned into a useful greenspace or not.

So this song was written to commemorate the event. I really like the weird harmonies.

7-13-09 All-One

If you're curious about the crazy genius whose name is on this soap, Emmanuel Bronner, you must see this movie. It's a great movie.

The song has very little to do with Bronner, other than his "All One! Or None!" credo. In retrospect, I may have stolen some of the chord changes from David Crosby. He'll be wanting those back at some point, I'll wager.

7-12-09 Caroline and June

A song for my best friend's kids. Stevie makes an appearance. Link.

7-11-09 Lake Serene

A really intense hike up past Bridal Veil Falls in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest gets you to this stunningly gorgeous and pristine glacier-fed lake called Lake Serene. This song was a document of our day. Link.

7-10-09 Ice Cream

Who doesn't love ice cream? Sarah and I just got some on the way home tonight. And although it's the right time of year for it, I can remember frigid and bleak January nights in Madison, trudging to the convenience store for Ben and Jerry's. Good times.

link.

7-9-09 Brunching With The Devil

This one's pretty funny. I imagine that having brunch with the devil involves an endless supply of silver dollar pancakes from IHOP. With razor blades in them. Zeeba zobba zoo.

Link.

7-8-09 Kids

Disclaimer: I actually think kids are great. I'm going to have one of my own soon. But when you work at a preschool, sometimes you just feel this way. Link.

7-7-09 Clumsy and Stupid

Boy, this is a fun one. Not. Link.

7-6-09 The Chocolate Salon

Watch out. It's coming to get you.

link

7-5-09 It Was A Long Day

You can hear the exhaustion in my voice on this one. Link.

7-4-09 Awkward Moments

Some angsty mandolin pop. Complete with indie-rock-style shaky vocals. Not sure what the specific awkward moment was to warrant this song, but it clearly wasn't awkward enough for me to remember. Link.

7-3-09 Sleeping On An Air Mattress

This time last year, there was the mother of all heat waves in Seattle. The basement was a good 10 degrees cooler, so we slept on the floor on a luxurious queen air mattress. I remember going to Fred Meyer at 10:45pm to buy one of the last electric air pumps they had so we wouldn't pass out trying to inflate it. I also remember being paranoid that the cats would cozy up to us and pop it with their razor-sharp claws.

Sneezing solo by Sarah.

Link.

7-2-09 150 Flea

That's 150 flea, not fleas.

Another installment of wonderfully twisted lyrical genius courtesy of Mr. Paul Gude. It feels a bit like a sea shanty to me. As if sung by Drinky Crow from "Maakies".

link.

7-1-09 Rock Band

Written after playing the game Rock Band for the very first time, in which I felt completely uncoordinated. Link.