Art Sucks

Art really sucks.

Okay that was a lie.
Not all art sucks. Music is art. Film is art. The list continues indefinitely and infinitely. But art, from my perspective, does suck.

I am talking about the kinds of art you see in museums. The kind of art that is hung up on white walls by silver nails. To me, it's all just pretentious. You don't even have to be a good "artist" to make art; you just have to string a giant load of cohesive jargon together and hope for the best. And then you get by. Most of the time, with success.

But maybe it's just me.

I understand why the people who do like that kind of art, well, like that kind of art. They appreciate it. I appreciate what I do for my own separate reasons. Everyone has theirs. I wish, though, that art did communicate with me in a way that I could comprehend. It must be something special.

-Peter

Skin & Wires

The past couple days have been a productive few for my music and I.

When I attended the songwriting workshop with Brien from Australia I've been thinking about what he said: "To write good songs, you have to make time for it and do it everyday." (of course I am paraphrasing a bit...but I digress). I have taken that to heart and I'm writing more now than I ever have in the past.

I've also been recording more demos recently (I have had a 1:1 ration of recordings to days for the last 3 days). Overall, I'm feeling much more comfortably musically than I have been in a long while.

I'm thinking of making a short 4-song "EP", if you will, and self-releasing it as a made-up band comprised of anonymous musicians.

Skin And Wires

-Peter

Cheap Self-promotion!

Today I had as little homework as I will ever have ever again for the rest of my life.

Therefore I recorded another drum cover video for my YouTube channel (I will put the link for such at the bottom of this post). "Have A Cigar" by the legendary rock band Pink Floyd was a more than appropriate choice for today's cover, I think. I have always like Mr. Floyd and company, but I recently began listening to them a lot more often around a year or so ago. I played drums on "Have A Cigar" for a Pink Floyd cover show about four months ago and I have loved playing the song ever since.

John, Ellen, Lisa, Austin, and I are also looking to perform the song for the upcoming (and pending) STAClive...

I sure do enjoy music.

THE LINK TO MY FREAKING CHANNEL :D --> http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNoLoops?feature=mhee

-Peter

Smells Like Teen B.O.

I don't understand why so many people criticize their respective peers so often. Actually, I do understand, I just refuse to accept the fact that it is true.

This is especially evident when an occurrence of high interest (the recent shooting in Connecticut, for example) is publicized and therefore easily accessible to most of the general public.

NOW FOR THE POINT!

I cannot fathom all the legitimate bullshit that is floating around our heads each and every day. Who told you that it's not okay to express your opinion on something? You should've really paid attention in American history class, my friend, because I am almost certain that the first 40 percent of that course is composed of how we died for that right.

ALSO, who made you a god? How come everyone else's opinion is foolish besides your own? Show me your ruling scepter, Zeus. No one is righteous enough to put someone down and make them feel like crap, not even you.

-Peter

A "Monumental" Critic

Boy, isn't procrastinating just the greatest? I literally spent my entire day doing homework, with most of said homework being annotating Nathaniel Hawthorne's godforsaken The Scarlet Letter. When I finally completed that task, I moved on to beginning, and henceforth completing my photo series for STAC.

My concept for the entire series was, well, simply put, the image of my head "critiquing" some of the world's tallest and most recognizable structures. You're probably telling me "Peter, you bumbling idiot, that idea is completely out of left field and it will never suffice as a meaningful work of art.".

To you I say "Correct, young grasshopper!"

I do realize that this may be an odd idea, but I wanted something as entertaining and attention-grabbing as possible. Call me when you don't see someone stop and give five moments of their time to look at one of my pictures (that's about as conceded as I'll ever intentionally get).

Here's a sneak peak:

-Peter

Alley, Pacifistic Woman

Isn't it weird how much the word "pacifistic" looks like the word "pacific"? I think it's pretty sweet.

Anyway, this blog post is all about the Rolling Stones song Street Fighting Man. It's a good song.

I've always enjoyed listening to this song, but recently, and most probably because of STAClive, I have been listening to it a lot more and really thinking about it more in-depth than ever before. 

The first thing that has always struck me about the song is its pure rebellious attitude. Think about it; for a song made in 1968, this is as punk as it gets. When I listen to this song I'm not sure if I want to get up and yell out my window, run down the street naked, or punch a hole in my wall.

This song gets me excited.

What's interesting, other than the inspiration for the song (which, contrary to most people's ideas, is about the riots in France at that time rather than the Vietnam War), is its recording technique and writing process.

Guitarist Keith Richards and lead vocalist Mick Jagger would usually record some riffs or melodies they thought sounded cool while on tour. When they returned from their journeys, that melody would sometimes turn into a tune. Street Fighting Man happened to escalate into one of the most famous rock songs of all time.

Richards played a riff on his acoustic guitar and recorded it using one of his cassettes (you know, those little rectangles that our ancestors used to use to listen to music)while he was on tour. Using a simple open-E tuning to accent barred chords on the upstrokes during the verse, the iconic and startling acoustic guitar part was born. From there, Jagger improvised half-heard lyrics that fit perfectly into the revolutionary attitude of the song.

Something I found really interesting about the entire process is that the drums that were first recorded on the demo cassette were played on a 1930s toy jazz kit that was "incredibly louder than the guitar, yet sounded nice", as described by Richards. The track was recorded on a tape in the studio that had no limiter. 

The result was a perfectly sounding, distorted wonderful mess that crackles in your eardrums during the verse and chorus only to be surpassed by a smooth piano riff in the outdo to end the day. WooOOooOOwOOoooooOOoOoOoo!

-Peter

Meaningful Nonsense

The coldest my coffee can possibly become at this moment is 63°F.


-Peter