Streams of Music

It appears these days that music is being consumed at an exponential rate.  At any given moment, there can be hundreds of torrents being downloaded illegally, dozens of tracks being bought from iTunes or Amazon, and thousands of streams from Myspace, Last.Fm, Pandora, or any other streaming site.  How does an indie artist break out from the rest of the fray these days?  For many, it seems like all that’s needed is one big break.  If a song can get placed in a taste-making television show or commercial (think an Ipod commercial or Grey’s Anatomy), that band is on the road to success, or at least greater renown.  But these days, what does that success mean?  In a world of shrinking royalties and three hundred and sixty degree sales, it could mean a life on the road, performing songs to a small but growing fan base, or having a blog buzz built around your band’s first few songs.

Today I met up with a co-worker and discussed music publishing, which has taken most of my focus both in and out of work these past few months.  Additionally, I met with a co-worker who is working with me on a couple of new tracks.  It’s wonderous how much time goes into even just one recording, and how quickly it can stream by…

A river is always there, but the water is always a little different each time you pass through it.As always, i encourage everyone to really give a new song a good listen.

AIE: <2 by Steve Burns (7435 out of 7625)

So I am officially on the numbers and symbols of the Alphabetical Ipod experiment, and it’s a good feeling.  I just shifted to 1,2,3,4 by Feist, and I’m excited to close this chapter of my musical listening life.  Just yesterday I purchased a new vinyl record, and have updated my itunes to include a bunch of new songs.  I think it was fitting that as of 11:11 on 1/11/09, I listened to Less that Two by Steve Burns, remembered that I’d be finishing this silly experiment, that consumed the entirety of my recent iPod listening experience.  Did I learn anything from trying to listen to all of the 7526 songs on my iPod in alphabetical and numerical order?  Perhaps, that sometimes you can’t let yourself be overcome by rigidity.  You have to loosen up in order to have a little fun.

Music can be a lot of things to a lot of people, and I would consider myself a music geek.  However, I think that this project was liberating from the idea of shuffle at first, but then became something more, a constricting aspect of listening to music.  What happens if you no longer can experience an album from start to finish, in the order that the artist originally intended?

I am a firm believer that when you only listen on shuffle, skipping to the next song, the value of the music gets lost very quickly.  So what is the value of music then?  It’s whatever you would consider it to be.  How much would you be willing to spend for your favorite artist’s latest album?  Now how much more would it be worth to you if your favorite artist hadn’t released an album in five years?  What about ten years?  What about if your favorite artist hadn’t played a show in twenty years and was returning to play a show in your hometown.  Now what would you do if you had never discovered your favorite music artist.  That would be what happens if you never give a song a full listen.

I can say that I’ve wanted to get into many artists on my iPod, and want to try new albums from existing artists after having listened to my iPod in full (or almost in full).  For spending money, after rent, bills, food, and cat food, it will be music purchases, to fill up the iPod, and possibly branch out to listen to more varied artists in the future.  The world will always need music, and luckily, I find myself in a position to help provide at least a portion of that to the general public.

Still, overall, I am glad that this may be one of my last posts (or the last post) with regards to the Experiment.  I tried to tell a larger story, and I hope that the posts didn’t get old, or tedious.  I sometimes have a tendency for redundancy, especially with writing so hopefully you’ve liked it!

Current song: 2+2=5 by Radiohead (7441 out of 7625)

Preproduction

As some of you may know, I am a musician.  Therefore, I’ll let you in on the creative process, and how it slowly starts from song idea until it becomes a completed track on an album.

I am a conceptual songwriter.  I try to tell a story, however small, with each song.  An album could be an entire story, or it could be one part of a story.  My last album before this one which I’m currently planning is called As A Matter Of Fact.  The songs were written largely in Winter of 2004-2005, and rehearsed and recorded Summer of 2005.  After a break until Spring of 2006, I completed recording  in Fall 2006  and released the album in March 2007 to little fanfare.  The content of the songs varied, as some dealt with the breakup of a long term relationship, while other embraced single life, and were ultimately life affirming.  Since these songs weren’t recorded in one time frame, the album feels a bit disjointed, but I enjoy that mismash of feelings towards it.

The album before that one, called The Distance Between, was completed quicker but had a better preproduction.  Those songs were written over the Summer of 2003, and recorded in one fell swoop over Winter of 2003-2004.  I spent the time to see what each track’s similar sound would be.  Then I compiled the tracks to be used, and threw in a new song or two over the course of the recording.  These songs were written while in a relationship, and the concept behind the record was one week in a long distance relationship. That was an album that came together after a lot of hard work.

Before that, I tried by trial and error on how to make an album, even though looking back, they are more like home demos, that you are embarrased about from their earnest simplicity.  I had a release in 2002 called Thinking Back, and a 2001 release called Jasper Makes Music.  They were both recorded on my 4 track tape recorded, mainly with acoustic guitar and a little bit of bass.  Also, my vocals hadn’t settled into my current singing style, and I could still hit all the high notes.  The lyrics for Jasper Makes music was about a conceptual album about a relationship, although I didn’t really know how relationships were like, since I was just out of high school, and entering college sans a steady girlfriend at the time.  Thinking Back was a hodgepodge of songs that didn’t make the concept album before, and dealt with being a kid in high school.  Still, the album deals with more real issues, at least to myself at the time, than Jasper Makes Music did (for the most part).

This album is going to be a return to my roots, in simple four track albums.  I want to make an album that’s not augmented or overshadowed, but instead complements the different sides of my songwriting.  Still I wanted to remain topical, at least to an extent.  The idea of this record is going to be smaller doses.  To that extent, I’m going to be putting together a couple of EPs, and we’ll see if it puts together a solid complete album.

How do you put together a concept album without any adornments?  What’s the concept?  I guess we’ll have to find out.  However, the first EP was recorded this past December (with the exception of one song), and is called D Sides (or Decides, that’s for you to figure out)…

D Sides / Decides Track Listing:

Amanda (Mostly Instrumental Version)

Brooklyn Heights

Cats On The Prowl

Don’t Worry (Baby)

Amanda is a song that I wrote about a ridiculous adventure that we had early on in our relationship.  She had just started as an intern at her new job at an art and design company, when she came home with a cut on her finger.  Only this could be more serious than a normal cut.  She had sliced it accidentally with an exacto knife, and if it didn’t stop bleeding by the time she took off the bandage, she needed to have her finger cauterized.  She did, and we spent the night in the ER, from a work maiming, and I wrote a silly song about how she might be clutzy, but I still love her.  She liked the song, until someone thought that people might be laughing at her expense (which wasn’t my intentions), and then the lyrical content was no longer approved.  Either way, for this EP, I wanted to give her the version she deserved, without any negative connotation.

Brooklyn Heights is a song about wanting something more in a living situation.  We had moved into a place that was a little too small for our living needs, and in haste, moved into a substandard living arrangement.  The new apartment we moved into had leaky bricks, leaky windows, radiators that couldn’t shut off, showers that ceased to provide hot water, and a maintenence man who installed a stove in a way that caused a prolonged gas leak in our apartment.  We broke our lease after the gas leak and about 8 months of figuring out what we were looking for in an apartment.  This song sums that up.

Cats On The Prowl is written from the perspective of a traveller, through the metaphor of a cat searching for the next warm spot to lay it’s head.  It picks up where Brooklyn Heights left off, but throws in the fact that we got a few cats.  I like the song a lot, and it’s starting to grow on me.

Don’t Worry Baby is the type of song that stays simple, and builds from a solid fountation.  It gives advice about how to stay calm in tough times, and says that there are always alternatives.  It helps someone to weigh their options, and then tries help build confidence in their decision making skills.  This description of the song is probably about 5 times as many words as was used on the original song, but needless to say, the rough version of this song was recorded in the bathroom of the apartment from hell.  Due to the poor quality of the recording, this may make it to the album as a secret song or a last track…  We’ll see / C.

The next EP to plan, is going to be call See Sides or C Sides.  I’m sure you can see where this is going….

The Back Catalog

These past few days, I’ve been moving apartments. I’ve come to realize that I have a lot of music in various formats. Specifically, five shoeboxes of cassette tapes, four boxes of CD cases, three CD books, two crates of vinyl, and an iPod of mp3s. On the sixth day of moving, my true love gave to me….

But there has to be some explanation for why my living room is currently home to a vast array of music media.  I suppose that’s what the Back Catalog is for.  Some people are sports fans.  Some are video game nerds.  Some are comic book dweebs.  I am a music geek, and I’m admitting it.  Now buy my album, or at least give props if it’s due.

Originally created on November 30th, 2007 with the beginning of the Back Catalog Blog.

Top 10 Albums of 2007, on the first day of 2009.

It’s been about a year since listing my finalists for top 10 albums of 2007, and 2008 was spent largely listening to my back catalog of music.

So without further delay, here’s the top 10 of 2007, and a few honorable mentions, in alphabetical order to avoid any angry commentators (although feel free):

Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha – Andrew gets more guitar driven on this one, but his signature violin looping doesn’t seem out of place or pushed to the backburner. His sonic experiments complement his lyrical doom quite nicely, if I do say so myself. At times I debate late at night whether it is in fact my favorite Andrew Bird record, or whether his previous The Importance of Eggs is, but then I say to myself, go to sleep so Andrew can whistle another song tomorrow! Key tracks: Dark Matter, Fiery Crash

Arcade Fire – Neon Bible – The album that’s been hyped across 2007, the Arcade Fire are improving with their latest work. Now that they’ve hit the ground running, I think they’ve decided to take off. Is it worth the hype? If you’re into driving seven piece Canadian indie rock, then yes. Key Tracks: Hit The Ground Running, Neon Bible

Elliott Smith – New Moon – This is a double reissue of rarities from Elliott’s early solo years. It’s interesting as a bookend in his previous posthumous album (From A Basement On A Hill), in that he has a lot of more positive work than other work off of his early albums, that he might have kept off of, due to the volume, and image he might have been trying to portray. For any Elliott Smith fan, this is a much, as we see a different side of Elliott than what he might have portrayed to the public. Key tracks: Angel In The Snow, Miss Misery (early version)

Feist – The Reminder - This album was the summer of 2007 for anyone not living under an Umbrella. It stayed around to become the fall of 2007, followed by the winter of 2007, and now it’s still going strong well into 2008. Fiest has broken out of her social scene into the mainstream, with a classic sound that everyone can get behind. And unlike most things that are top 40, it ripens with age and exposure, even if your mom likes Feist from her Apple commercial. Key Tracks: 1234, My Moon My Man

The New Pornographers – Challengers – The Canadian super group album of the year in my opinion (although the Arcade Fire fans very well will disagree.) Neko Case trumps Feist in this category, but Feist trumps Neko on the female solo category. It’s been a big year of Canucks, and the New Pornographers know how to make an indie rock kid smile a tiny hipster smile, and nod their head ever so slightly. And that’s a very difficult thing to do, mind you… Key tracks: Challengers
Radiohead – In Rainbows – The free album of the year to many, and the most clever thing Radiohead has done (from a marketing standpoint). However, as a record, we find Radiohead traveling to more focused, mellow (on the whole), without losing their signature sounds. Key tracks: 15 Step

Rilo Kiley – Under The Blacklight – This is the album that keeps on giving. At first this one sounded too dance pop for me, but the more I listened, the more I understood, that it was an edgier Rilo finally feeling comfortable with the darker side of it’s child star past. Like Radiohead’s latest, it stays true to their sound and fanbase, while stepping out in new directions. Although it’s their first major production (relatively speaking), it does show where they came form, and where they may head to, which is quite adventurous. Key tracks:Under the Blacklight

The Shins – Wincing The Night Away – This album may very well be the best of the year, but because it came out in the earliest part of 2007, it kind of got forgotten about on most people’s best of lists. It is the Shins’ most developed record to date, with an intricate, edgier sound, that they jangle the night away. The idea that this may be a concept album about two high school lesbians in love makes it all the more intriguing (although that may only be a rumor planted by that sly James Mercer). Key Tracks: Phantom Limb, Girl Sailor

Spoon – Gagagaga – I’ll admit it, I went Ga Ga over this record. Spoon continued where they left off from the Stranger Than Fiction/Gimme Fiction collaboration, and take it up a grittier notch. From the static fuzz cutting through their quarter note pianos, Brett Daniels and co have created one of their most accessible records yet. Austin’s finest has just gotten finer. Key Tracks: Don’t Make Me A Target, You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb

Wilco – Sky Blue Sky – Wilco takes a step back and to the left with their follow up to A Ghost Is Born. Rather than continue with the athmosephic distortion of a Sonic Youth filled landscape, this record at first seems like a mellow retreat from their previous trailblazing. Yet further listens show a textured polyrhythmic solo style incorporated by their new lead guitarist, formerly of the jazz group The Weather Report. When Jeff Tweedy gets happy, he gets mellow, and contentment sounds wonderful right about now. Key Tracks: Impossible Germany, Sky Blue Sky

Honorable Mentions:

Matt Jasper – As A Matter Of Fact – As I came out with a record this past year, it is only fitting to add a little plug here. Still, this record adds more texture to a maturing sound, including additional instrumentation such as the strings found throughout the record. Rather than take my word for it, feel free to give it a listen. Key Tracks: The Camera Obscures, Drifting Further Away

Winterpills – The Light Divides – This New England band seems content to carve folk filled sounds of New England winters. The atmospheres on this records emphasised by dual male and female unison lines give a texture that is just as crucial to their sound as their guitar tone. Winter has never left you so stirred. Key Tracks: Lay Your Heartbreak, Broken Arm (and it’s reprise)

Fountains of Wayne – Traffic and Weather - Fountains of Wayne have had quite the career progression, but this follow up to their widely successful Welcome Interstate Managers seems a little too influenced by the Stacy’s Mom phemon of 80’s influenced Cars-pop. This quirky foursome are at their best when they are seemlessly transitioning between genres like a well thought out mix tape, and this album is a little too 80’s to be a classic FoW record. Key Tracks: Yolanda Hayes

Voxtrot – Voxtrot – Voxtrot’s debut full length delivers on the promise that their 2006 EPs suggested. The band has a building sound, that emphasizing strong vocals of a similar ilk to Harvey Danger, and an orchestral pop rock sensibility. If this list shows anything, is that I’m a sucker for orchestral pop rock sensibility. Key Tracks: Steven, Kid Gloves

Joseph Arthur – Lets Just Be – To be honest, I have just discovered this album this morning, making it ineligible to be in the top ten of the year, although it was released in 2007. Joseph Arthur founded his label, Lonely Astronaut Records, and has been consistently producing quality albums at a yearly rate. His near manic production does not dilute his works, and as I give a first listen to this record, I find that his style continues to progress. Key track: Chicago

AIE – 6258 out of 7625 – Switch Opens by Soundgarden (off of Down on The Upside)

Note:  This is a continuation of a Draft last edited on December 15th, 2008.

I’ll be honest here about the Alphabetical Ipod Experiment.  I “cheated” a couple of weeks ago on the experiment, and ended up listening to a couple of albums while doing overtime at work a few Saturdays ago.  When I told a few co-workers about the experiment a while back, they thought about it, and realized that it is quite limiting. If anyone actually stuck with one shuffle until the end of the shuffle, (with the exception of getting a smaller sized Ipod shuffle) then they would be listening to the songs on their iPod for days, weeks or even months on end.  A diet of only what you already have is by definition limiting.

However, the wonderful thing about music nowadays, is that there is always additional options for listening to music besides the now traditional Itunes + Ipod = Music equation.  I have long used Pandora from time to time for new music recommendations based off of similar artists, and have recently began a Last.FM account, after knowing about that service for quite some time.  There are many other streaming sites out there, including Rhapsody for one, but realistically, most people only have a couple of places they look for music.  For many, Itunes is where they look for purchasing online music.  For even more people of my generation, the “black market” of file sharing sites is where they look for the latest albums that are just coming out.

However, the wonderful thing about these new possibilities for music, means that there are now more ways than ever to discover music.  In a few years, we may be able to access music from a cloud in the sky, or a server that holds all the titles wee may want, like a large library where you simply pay to be a member.  It seems crazy, but it’s closer in reality to happening than some may think.  That’s the concept behind file sharing websites.  But how would you be a working musician from a small slice of this pie in the sky idea?  That’s where we need to think outside the box and truly get creative.  In the meantime, feel free to check out my stuff on Last.FM, my latest music discovery platform:

http://www.last.fm/music/Matt+Jasper

Draft completed on January 1st, 2008 – Welcome – Denali (off of The Instinct) (7033 out of 7625)

AIE: 6191 out of 7625: Sunndial Song – Apples In Stereo

Note: I am finishing parts of previous AIE drafts as the project nears completion.  Otherwise, I’d be stuck with lots of half finished drafts…This draft was originally started on November 26th 2008 at 5PM.

In theory, Apples In Stereo should be my favorite band right about now.  I’ve always been a big Beatles fan, ever since I’ve discovered my parents’ vinyl Sgt. Peppers album and figured out how to work the record player myself (vague recollection makes this memory seem at approximately the age of ten), and I’ve recently been exploring the Elephant 6 collective a bit further (starting with Neutral Milk Hotel and expanding from there).  Oddly enough, I’ve known of Apples In Stereo for a while, and had some random samplings of theirs throughout the years, but never really gotten that into them.  I only have one album currently, New Magnetic Wonder, and haven’t given it a good listen more than once.  Each time an Apples In Stereo track comes on in my Alphabetical Ipod Experiment, I want to hear more.  Still, due to the nature of the experiment, I haven’t been able to listen to more than a song of theirs at a time.

I’m starting to wind down the experiment (of listening to all of the songs on my IPod in a alphabetical order by song title).  So far, I’ve been through two pairs of headphones, over 6000 songs, a move, a cat surgery, a recession, an election, many hours of overtime, open mikes, and subway rides throughout New York.  I still have a lot to be thankful for, and I forget that many positive things are starting to happen in my life.  Thanksgiving is a time to remember that there is more in our lives than the usual day to day aspects, and sometimes the things to be thanksful for are the fact that, there are still so many more songs to go, and there will always be new songs to look for if we want to.

Still I haven’t as of yet gotten into Apples In Stereo, and I may not until well into the new year.  But there is a time and a place for every new band, and soon the Apples In Stereo will make it’s debut as a fun band to listen to.  In the mean time, I’ll be waiting for that day, while I listen to one of my classic new standbys, Nada Surf.  The thing about Nada Surf, is that they write about being on the outside looking in, and about how life on the road can be an isolating one.  As a musician, there is much I can relate to with that, even in their positive mindset which often pulls through from their outsider status.

Completed Draft on New Years Day 2009 – Weightless by Nada Surf 7030 out of 7625

AIE: We’re Going To Be Friends – The White Stripes 7016 / We’re In This Together – Nine Inch Nails 7017 out of 7625

Sometimes I feel like I could be so much better if I had a little bit more follow through. I put together large projects just for the sake of doing something to prove to myself that I can do it, and then I collapse towards the end of the project, in a wave of self implosion. I’m the very first marathon runner, passing out at the finish line after telling the troops of the impending victory. I’m no good for myself, and I’ve taken myself way too seriously with this Ipod challenge. When I meet new people, and they hear that I’ve been listening to songs in alphabetical order, some ask how their iPod can do that, and others ask how you can do that. These are two very different types of questions. One asks how a machine can play someone in a certain order. The other asks how a human can commit to a very strenuous project without a quick and easy way out. It’s difficult, even if it’s a simple task, one which most people can take for granted. It means that when you just want to listen to one voice, you are stuck with whatever chance you get for the next song. You’re stuck to a theme more than a singular voice. An ever shifting theme, that can be lost at a machine’s slightest malfunction. But in order to complete the task, you need to find the way to get back to your original goal.

I realize that I often can go astray if I lose sight of what I was striving for. However, we are used to the idea that the long term is always better than the short term. Have long lasting goals, and don’t lose sight of them. Still, it is human to give in to normal urges every now and again. Indulge. Have a vice. For too long, I let myself have an affront of perfection and never let my guard down. I knew what I wanted and I knew how to get there, and I’d be damned if I told you otherwise on how to go about doing it. My problem is I strive for perfection, and don’t allow myself to become human and fail as often as I’d like. I can become an introvert, a Pod Person, and just let myself listen to songs on headphones, while regular conversation can become strenuous and tedious. I could go on for hours about the difficulties I have had, the challenges you might want to hear about, but nobody wants to hear about the tough times. People turn to an entertainer to entertain, and for many, it’s an escape. Some can turn to this to be educated, when you stretch too far outside yourself. But why would you want to put artificial limits on something that gives instant gratification. Sometimes the short term is good too. Play one random song. Play one full length album. Repeat. Shuffle. Skip.

These are terms we have become familiar with in this day and age. I have fasted from new music outside of a small number of albums which I have purchased from a limited budget over the past six months. I am on my way to finishing up, and will get there by the time my New Year’s Break is over. I could realistically finish this challenge in a few days, and it is rather liberating. Oddly enough, sometimes you need a journey of miniature proportions to feel liberated. In a year or two I’ll think of this as just another project, another thing I did for a summer through a winter.

Weary Memory – Iron and Wine 7022

Weather – Red Electric 7023

This song was the first I ever recorded in a studio outside my own, with my first college band. It’s awesomely great and very earnest in a just getting over grunge sort of way. It’s also strange to try to separate yourself from your past on your iPod mixed in with other people’s songs.

How I changed target demographics this election…

I’m reflecting on the past week of our nation’s political process, and my part in this blur of a campaign process.  This past Tuesday, I awoke at 6:30 in the morning, stumbled a couple of blocks to my local elementary school, and faced a confusion of long lines, understaffed poll workers, and two elderly District operators.

But my story really starts earlier than that.  The weeks before the election (roughly from October 27th until November 1st), I had (somewhat mistakenly) believed that my right to vote had been unfairly and irrevokably disenfrachised.  As some of you may or may not know, this past August I moved from one part of New York State to another.  Within a week of my move (on August 8th, 2008 or 8/8/08), I re-registered to vote at a music festival in the younger sibling state of New Jersey (on a New York form, thank you very much!) and had expected everything to go accordingly to plan.  Little did I know that the Board of Elections rarely follows a strict plan when it comes to voter rolls.

When I recieved an email from Rock The Vote around October 25th, they indicated that due to large new voter registration, approximately 30,000 to 40,000 new voters had not been added to the New York State’s voter rolls.  Then they offered a link to allow their mailing list to check their voter rolls status through the BoE.  I followed the link to the Board of Election’s website, search for my name by my contact info, and determined that I was not on my district’s voter’s rolls.  This was a problem.  I searched for my old address, and it turned out that I was added there, but as an inactive voter.  I suppose that meant that I had registered somewhere else (my district), but it turns out I wasn’t listed through the Board of Election’s website.

Now, at this point, I followed the link to find the local Board of Election’s phone number.  However, I wasn’t sure of their hours, and couldn’t really take the time during the week to call (as I spend my day job taking calls throughout the day, and enjoy a lunch hour without “the important phone call” taking up my off the phone lunch time), so I decided to do the next best thing.

I emailed the voting organization with whom I had re-registered with originally.  I had a response from the organization representative within a day, and then verified my information with them, to have them look into the matter for me. By the time I had a night to check my email again, it was Halloween, and it turned out that the Board of Elections had read my birthdate wrong.  Apparently the year which I had put on my voter registration card seemed more like a date from the 1960’s, instead of the 1980’s.  In essence, I was still on the voter rolls, at the correct address, in the correct district, with the correct spelling of my name, but simply 20 years older.  I was informed that as long as I showed proof of address and a photo ID, there shouldn’t be a problem at the polls.

Still I realize that I have been dis-en-youth-enfranchaized (instead of youth-en-ized…).  I am no longer a part of my target demographic for this election, just another way which the youth voter impact my have been mis-represented, even if it was only one vote.  The idea is, if “mistakes” or inperfections in the system can happen on just one vote, what does this say about the possibility of the system being an accurate representation of the entire country at this time (or what this means for potential tampering of incorrect votes in swing states).  Either way, that was my experience voting for the first time as a part of the mid-40 year old demo…

AIE: 4848 out of 7625 – Pastachio Medley by the Smashing Pumpkins (off of Mellon Collie Disc 3 bootleg)

Although I have been continuing my Alphabetical Ipod Experiment of listening to all of the songs on my Ipod in alphabetical song order, I haven’t had the time or energy to post recently about the experience.  But I figured now would be the best time as of any to get back on track with it.  And the plan today is to do the unthinkable.  I will write and post this one blog all within the timeframe of one song playing.

To be fair, technically, it is many songs cut and pasted into one.  Back in the late nineties, I found what may very well be an authorized bootleg of the Smashing Pumpkins’ “Disk Three” of MelonCollie and the Infinite Sadness.  The disc had incorrect spelling of the first two disc’s titles, and was largely forgettable, with the one exception of this track.  It’s 24 minutes of splices of outtakes of the Mellon Collie Sessions.  At one point in this track, it has Billy Corgan laughing about doing the Rubberman, and bending notes wildly.  It also has very heavy riffage juxtaposed with one another.  There’s harmonic solos, a few mellow cuts stuck in between, and it seems like pieces of outtakes or practicing for the guitar tones that would come to define 1996’s double album masterpiece.

Still, this track is the ultimate example of Billy Corgan’s bloated grunge rock esthetic.  One could also add that 24 minutes of random riffage of stuff that was mostly left out of the eventual double disc release does not really constitute merit for the listener’s exposure.  This one track is essentially the Smashing Pumpkin’s Beatles Anthology of Mellon Collie distilled into one momentous riffing track, ending up in a repetitive riff jam about half way through.  Should it ever have been listened to?

There was a time and a place for many Smashing Pumpkins fans once where it should have, and for some, it still may hold merit, but this is the exact type of track which most people would hear once, and then skip every time it came up on shuffle. I know that I have probably listened to the entire track about three times of the full way through in my life since obtaining this track roughly ten years ago, because I’ve since moved on past my mid to late nineties focus on Stone Temple Pilots and Smashing Pumpkins, largely once I had discovered Elliott Smith and other mellower nuaced artists a few years before the turn of the millenium.

But many will hold a place in their hearts for a medley of B sides, and a conglomerate for riffs and castaways, so in the end, I’ll still try to make it all the way through, as I am just about past the 24 minute mark.  The drums have kicked in on the ten minute outro riff to the medley, and I’m calling it a blog.

Currently song: 4848 Pastachio Medley by the Pumpkins