An epic lichen (or is it lichens?):

Man, I wanna go to SXSW. Seeing pictures of 6th Street at 2am with bands boozily set up all along the curb simultaneously fills me with hope and anxiety for some reason. I was just reading about Tobacco's show in Austin this past week, and I decided to download some. Glad I did. Heavy, perfectly overdriven bass lines keep the hallucinogenic arrangements buzzing along in a haze of static. I like that. I'm gonna look into Black Moth Super Rainbow next, of which the man behind Tobacco was a part.
But for now, here's some tracks off of 2008's lo-fi-ey, analogish "Fucked up Friends:"

"Hawker Boat" (kinda reminds me of Cornershop):

"Berries that Burn" (it's all sounds pretty similar...):

"Truck Sweat" (yea, monotonous, but maybe good driving muzik):

Sure digs those analog synths...
Hasta luego.

Happy Friday, Go Bad-gers

Today I'm gonna chill on a little Devin the Dude, nothin better to do. Badgers gotta take down Wofford or else the second half on my attachment to any sort of madness in March will disappear...Texas already blew it.

Here's Paris in Perú. Snake bone, crystal and all...

"Do What you Wanna Do" off of the album "The Dude":

Guns for sale in Madrid, and a soothing bassline with ambient swirls from Sigur Rós...

"Flugufrelsarinn" off of "Takk..." (2005):

I've neglected writing anything for a while, and will continue to do so. But after a long, infernal weekend I needed to relax and set my sights for a more productive near-future. Drinking kava, smoking mugwort, listening to ikaros with good company.

Here is a truly soulful ikaro--a shamanic song received by spirits and performed during rituals--recorded during an ayahuasca session at the Takiwasi rehab center in northern Peru. Relájese.

I've been jamming a lot of Leggo Beast lately. Here are two songs from his album Sines and Cymbals (2001). A respectable effort is put into the soundscaping on these tracks. If you have good headphones, listen to the background. The twists and tweaks make for some great ambient vibes.

Epic kick-in with the wah on this one, "Noodle Soup":

A little spacier with organs and a good drum track, "Petite":



Umphrey's and Steez tonight. Git r dun.

A little love from Texas...

The first piece of music with which I'd like to rape virgin ears is a little tune that came up while talking to my house mate Peter today. He was reading a Truman Capote short story in which somebody says "might could". That seems like such a strange expression to me, and it reminded me of an epically absurd line from the Texas Tornado's "If That's What You're Thinking":

"Let's just say that I've learned not to gamble, when I know that I might can't win."

If you're not one to listen to lyrics--and I know most of us zone out at times--you should really try to listen to these; they're more profound than they sound. I mean listen to that voice. It's Freddie Fender, "The Mexican Elvis", and to rock such a weighty pseudonym so hard is to ball. And you can hear the sad words of a baller here, someone who is begging not to be loved with such elegance that you know it's not the first time he has had to ditch some Mexican beauty.

Anyway, this one's dedicated to my brother Jack, who instantly recognized the genius of this song, and of the whole self-titled album for that matter.

"Ya no quiero que te amo"

I hear ya, Freddie. RIP brother.

A picture is worth (at least) a thousand words...and I'm lazy...

Kevin Scott on the Aegean.

I've decided to add a picture I took over the course of the last few elucidative years each blog-day (i.e. whenever I get around to posting) just to show a little more clearly--visually--what goes on in this lil' dome.

I went to Turkey last spring, about a year ago, and my buddy Kevin and I rented a petite, aqua Renault Modus to make our presence known in the less-trod corners of the country. This concrete mermaid statue, complete with trident and domesticated dolphin, pitched diagonally by the torments of an ancient and holy sea, and apparently the climactic site of the quiet seaside village of Ören, composed the perfect setting for yet another of our "album cover" style pictures. If you have a friend and a camera, these can be especially fun to make. More to come, and possibly even a dead-on "about the author" shot of a good friend in the near future...

Also, just to get some more of the preliminary "goals" (yea, right) of this invaluable blog out of the way...

I plan on putting up pictures like this just for the satisfaction of seeing something other than a sea of words on the page, but also as a way to give a shout out to those I hope may stumble upon this page every once in a while (yea Kevin!). But, alongside all the BS there will also be writing about music; mine, my friends', local, and just plain music. Videos, sound clips, alluring reviews (full of eccentric adjectives used to marginally describe the emotions certain sounds can provoke) should be a functioning and important part of this publication soon. Local music look out, I'm on your ass.

Call me Nick. Or Nuge. Or Nick-Paul. Or Tex. I guess it doesn't really matter what you call me, but maybe you should know a few things of less superficial importance than just my name(s): I enjoy music, listening and playing (I'm not sure which I enjoy more, or which provides me more solace), and I also enjoy other arts of all types. Even dried noodles on the wall. So....