Monday, September 19, 2011

Modest Mouse, Dubstep, The Craft of Writing, Being "Real" and Other Stuff Part 1.

Two posts in one night, because I can and I can't sleep. So...time to write like a mad-man.

So Modest Mouse was a band I actually hated for a really long time. Mostly because I hated Issac Brock's voice. I really hated his voice, it kinda grated on my nerves. I was used to really good vocalists and my mom is a great singer, so Issac Brock's voice was...jarring to say the least and straight up obnoxious at the most. But then something happened. I actually started to listen to them for long periods of time. First I listened all the way through We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. I listened the shit out of that CD. Then I listened to Good News for People who Love Bad News. And then I realized that I had accepted his voice as an essential part of the music. Then I started listening to the lyrics. That kinda cemented them as a favored band. Then I had a really intense personal experience with the song Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset. I laughed and cried, because it was about me. I used to be suicidal and deeply existentially depressed. Doesn't help that I'm manic depressive(aka bi-polar but I think manic depression is a better term, that's just me though), and didn't have medication. So yeah, I really had a Dark Night of the Soul. And then along came a song that kinda encapsulated who I was at the time. I had really tied myself into a noose. I did blame my town and my friends, when really it was my outlook and my own brain chemistry that was the cause. Then I heard the Explosions In the Sky-esque solo. And I realized that they were one of my favorite bands. I don't like all their songs, not yet anyway, but the ones I really like are really fucking good and only Modest Mouse could write those songs. I mean, songs like Cowboy Dan, Dramamine, Breakthrough, March Into the Sea, Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset, 3rd Planet, Spitting Venom, Novocaine Stain, Black Cadillacs, The World at Large, Parting of the Sensory, and tons more could only come from them and they are the only ones who can deliver the emotional intensity that is needed for the songs to work. And fuck if I don't have a whole lot of run on sentences. But fuck it. So yeah, I really had to warm up to Modest Mouse. But after that, I really got into them. They might even be on my Top 10 Bands. Or at least they are fighting for a spot. Them and twenty other groups. But they are special.

Now time to shift drastically to another subject. Because right now I'm not feeling Modest Mouse. Might go back later. Or maybe time to step away from the keyboard. Shit, 2 AM. Yeah, time for sleep. More later.

A Long Time Away, And a Format Change.

So, I've been absent for quite a long time. And I have to say, it's a bit strange to be back. But I'm not here to remark on how I feel strange about my homecoming. I kinda started this blog to be kinda professional and be about actual writing and essays and stuff, and it still will, but now I kinda have to revamp what this site is. It's still gonna be about professional essays, critique and all that jazz, but I feel like I need to kinda change things up a bit. I'm thinking of adding in personal stuff too, kinda like a public diary. But it's not gonna be like...all drama and angst now, just a bit more personal. If that turns some people off, whatever, I get it. Emotional disclosure is messy and not fun to read, but I feel almost compelled to do just that. Because if not here, then where? Real life? That's no fun, especially when I can get all artsy fartsy with how I express my feelings in blog format. I think this will be an interesting new development. Besides, this helps me grow as a writer. So yeah, that's what's new about the blog now. Hope this works.