Low - When I Go Deaf Live 17 May 2011 Glasgow Classic Grand

Low - Murderer

every once in a while you hear a song that changes you. it may be a major change, like the first time you hear your favorite band, or it may be something subtle, something that makes you feel something you can't name. this song does it for me. an incredible song about faith. low is a great band with a great story and you should check them out. there is an amazing dutch documentary called 'you may need a murderer'. i urge you to watch it.

Interview with The Throats

Last month, my brother Pete interviewed me for a paper on Folk Music. He makes me sound like a real artist. Better yet, he made me realize that I am an artist. - Mike


Interview with a Folk Musician
by Pete O'Shaughnessy


When I first looked at this assignment, I wasn’t sure what artist, style, or year I wanted to discuss. After some time thinking, I realized that I grew up with one of my favorite folk musicians, my brother Mike O’Shaughnessy. I have been playing music with both my brothers for many years, albeit I was probably more watching and listening than anything. But it dawned on me that this paper would be a great chance to not only interview my brother about his music, but to be able to get a little perspective on him and the songs I have grown up listening to. It’s certainly easy to look past what’s right in front of you and to write about someone famous or commercially successful, but realizing that most of my musical influence came from the basement in the house I grew up in on Long Island sometimes throws me for a loop.

I never really put a name to the music my brother played and plays because, to me, it wasn’t made for anyone else but us, it was the family style and we just enjoyed it, so I think this was a great opportunity for me, because I can see that my brother’s music didn’t just pop out of thin air, it emerged from years of listening to our parents’ music and grew, from a young man who picked up a guitar and inspired my whole family to write, and sing, and share ourselves musically. 

Before I jot down the interview, I think a little review of Mike’s music is called for. There are countless albums and songs that Mike has produced over the years, some of which I have been lucky enough to be a part of and some I just enjoy. I will review a sample of some of my favorites and discuss his style, sound, and lyrics. 

Whether it’s electric or acoustic Mike’s sound can have a soft, country type texture or a hard rock feel. He has been involved with many different artists and tried his hand at different styles in such bands as The Martyrs, The Throats, and Heirs to the McQueen Fortune, and has done some work with my other brother Jim in The Feebs. He is most closely associated with alternative folk/alternative country genre. Mike’s voice has a great high tone to it, peppering most songs with his harmonic falsetto to give the song depth and meaning. On the average the tempo of his music is slow and powerful, but every now and then the rock rolls and the beat is hard to keep up with.

As The Throats, Mike was a one man band, with a 4 track recorder, a guitar (acoustic or electric), bass, sometimes drums or a variation of percussion instruments. Lyrically, Mike is a fantastic writer, conjuring up images that seem real and relative to the listener. One of my favorite songs Mike has performed is “Death in the Family” which relates the story of a very dysfunctional home. For me it always spoke to the fact that we had lost our father at a young age because of the line “death in the family, what’ll I do now with the pain and the fear, who will hear”, although Mike did not write it with that in mind. Listening to the average song, I interpret the lyrics to fit my own life, but having listened to Mike’s music, it’s interesting to be able to ask what his inspiration was compared to how I interpret it. It’s usually different as I would imagine any other song would be, but don’t have the means to find out. 

The album “The Measurement” has a few songs that really stand out for me such as the single “The Measurement”, the eclectic sound of “Old Country Road”, a song intertwining lackadaisical thoughts with traffic, and “Country Dark” with its slow moving, country blues inspired rhythm and high pitched guitar solo. The album “Return of the Mountain Lion” shows Mike’s increasing creativity. We find more finger-picking of the guitar and more levels to the sounds in songs like “Our Man in Minneapolis”, “Dreamgirl”, and “The Palest Ink”. This album is one of his more recent endeavors and, as with most folk artists’ collections, the album itself tells a story of growth from beginning to end. An older album, called “Big History (1992-1994)” produced with minimal equipment, but a guitar and lyrics that tell the story of a man still finding out his place in the world. It is one of my favorite albums because of its hope and naiveté. This album has the most traditional folk sound, a man and his guitar talking about the everyday idiosyncrasies and daily chores we all must do. Mike has a great knack, throughout his albums, of being able to see society and experience a culture and then be able to express it artistically in writing and music.

I got my chance to ask questions of Mike as we sat around my mother’s kitchen table on May 13th. It was a new experience for both of us, me as a journalist of sorts and my brother as the subject, a bona-fide folk music legend from the gritty streets of Long Island, NY. It was a great learning experience on my part and I found a new side of my brother, his music and the genre all at the same time. Here are most of the questions I asked Mike and his responses were at times funny but very informative. You can find Mike’s music on www.sleepingbrothers.com as free downloads. He is also available on iTunes and several other internet music stations.


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When and where were you born?


Queens, New York, 1969


How long have you been playing music?


I started playing music in the 4th grade when I decided to take up the saxophone following a school assembly. At the time, I thought a saxophone was a trombone, which was the instrument I initially wanted to learn. Oh, well! Five years in a grade school band led to a rock band in high school. My brother Jim and I would go up to block to our neighbor. His father was a music teacher so their basement was full of instruments -- bass guitar, synthesizer, drum set, amplifiers. Our friend played drums, and Jim and I messed around with the other instruments. In 1987, Jim and I started playing with two other friends which gelled into our first official band. On and off for the last 25 years, under different names, with slightly different lineups, we’ve been playing and recording music, mostly in bedrooms and basements. We’ve ended up integrating music into our daily lives.


When did you discover folk music?


As a kid, we always had music playing in the house. Early on, lots of John Denver, Peter Paul & Mary, Clancy Brothers, The Brothers Four… lots of the folk revival music of the 60s. I was too young to grasp what I was hearing. When I started discovering music on my own, I got into Bob Dylan (doesn’t every one?), which led me to Woody Guthrie, then back up to modern folk singers like Billy Bragg, and back earlier to Phil Ochs.


What are some of your greatest influences?


Early on: Billy Bragg, Tom Waits, Dylan, The Beatles, John Denver. As my education grew, I tried tackling jazz; got into Tim Hardin, Karen Dalton, and Will Oldham. Then there’s plenty of rock and roll: Guided by Voices, Dinosaur Jr., The Pogues, Nikki Sudden, and Laura Nyro.


Where do you see the future of folk music going? Is it still relevant?


By its nature, folk music will always be relevant. In some ways, all music is folk music – music of the people. Even electronic music can be heard as folk music, especially these days with so much communication with the musicians – it’s hard to hear a song these days without learning so much about the musician, and I think that informs the music.


What are some of your album titles, favorite songs?


Some of my solo albums are “The Independent Hand”, “Navigator” and “Return of the Mountain Lion.” With Heirs to the McQueen Fortune, I recorded “The Low Low Moon.” And I’ve been featured on a few albums by The Feebs, like “I’m Afraid of Life.”


Have you played with other musicians?


Over the years, I’ve performed and recorded with almost a dozen other musicians in The Martyrs, Pizazz, Jack’s Basement, Witner Twins and many more obscure, nearly semi-fictional bands.


Is your family musical?


Yes, both my brothers are musicians. Currently, the three of us are in a band, The Pink Lights. I play bass, Jim’s on guitar, and Pete handles the drums.


How does folk music make you feel, as it relates to subject, genre, or style?


When I first got strongly into folk music in the 80s, there was a 60s revival going on, specifically surrounding the 20th anniversary of the Summer of Love. PBS was showing lots of Civil Rights documentaries. So Bob Dylan scratched me right where I itched. Through civil rights history, I was lead to his songs and vice versa. Musically, I can listen to that traditional American folk guitar sound all day. I was drawn to playing and writing folk-ish music because of its deceptive simplicity – almost anyone can be at least mediocre strumming away at folk chords. Conversely, at their finest, folk musicians can evoke the unspeakable nuances of human existence as deeply as any jazz or blues musician.


Do you think folk music has had cultural or social impact on our society? Does it still?


Folk music has certainly had a great impact on society in the past. The potential for its influence is possible today, and in developing countries, or countries struggling for/with democracy, I think you’ll find a lot of folk music informing the masses. America’s tastes have evolved (not always for the best) over the years, and I believe folk’s impact has lessened, maybe because folk music used to be a way to get the news about the world around you. In some ways, the internet has taken its place as a way to keep in touch with current events. That’s not to say folk music is dead in America. Traditional folk music and its close cousin, “alternative country” still have strong followings. And if folk music can be regarded as “music with a message”, you can still see the spirit of it in artists like Lady Gaga, whose music celebrates the civil rights of gays & lesbians.


Can you suggest any artists or albums that would be on your must have list for someone just getting into folk music?


Dylan’s early albums; The Band’s “Music from Big Pink”; Folkway’s Anthology of American Folk Music, the collection that sort of sparked the folk revival in the 60s; Phil Och’s best-of “The War is Over”; The Clancy Brothers’ “The Rising of the Moon”; Richard & Mimi Farina’s “Celebrations for a Grey Day.” Start with any one of these and then follow the path it takes you.


Any riders when you perform?


Biscuits and gravy. Plush bath robes. Mr. Pibb chilled.


Any comments or thoughts you would like here about your experience with folk music!!


As a writer, I’m always drawn to the lyrics of a song. There’s an inherent mystery to the way words fall together and crack open a truth. In folk, I see this happen often. You think you’re listening to a story, but in the poetry of a phrase, a bit of magic jumps out at you, and maybe only you. In folk, and in blues, compact philosophies swim and flourish, like colonies of life in a raindrop. So I always listen closely to the lyrics. That said, the melody of a folk tune can be so stirring, the singers could be babbling words and it wouldn’t matter a bit. So take it all in. Music’s something anyone can introduce to you, but only you can discover it.


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What was great about conducting this interview was that I got some insight into what makes a great writer/musician. You never know where your influences are going to come from, so it’s worthwhile to listen to a man who has played and listened to music his entire life. The most rewarding part of my interview, besides it being my brother, was the fact that I could separate my familial feelings and focus on the craft, the raw emotion and courage it takes to simply write a song with personal ties and perform it.

Whether or not a song will ever make it on the radio doesn’t matter to the musician, it’s about being expressive and saying what you need to say. Folk music, to me, is the perfect vehicle to spread your words, your thoughts, and have an audience that is ready to listen to it. Folk audiences want that personal expression and viewpoints, there is a part of us all, folk fans, that want that personal connection to the artist, whether it be about politics, love, or social issues that can drive us to understand ourselves, or just be able to let go, knowing we are not alone. The delivery is key, as always, but folk music doesn’t need to be fancy or loud, it just needs that feel that is almost indescribable. It’s as though a good folk song, one that resonates with its audience can make you feel like you’re a part a something bigger than yourself. The 1960’s are a great example of that. As we know there was a lot going on in the 1960’s and most of what was being protested had their own songs. The war protests had their anthems, as well as the civil rights movements. Although the demographic was different the style of folk music was the same, whether it be the blues, country, or rock, the message was there. It is a way to spread information, not seen as much today on such a scale, but to those of us who still listen and feel folk music will go on.

Charles Bradley "The World (Is Going Up In Flames)" Live!

what a song! it does my heart good to see real soul music coming back. great album. buy it.

The Sonics - Strychnine

'i like the taste, of straight strychnine'.

fucking bad-asses.

Krautrock - Faust

the future of rock is in the past.
i like my rock like i like my hot dogs: with a little kraut!

all modern music is retro. there is nothing new happening. there are still bands playing watered down blues riffs, verse-chorus-verse, metronomic boring bull shit. i am an old man. some kid should be making a noise that i can't wrap my head around. i want to hear music without a reference point. music from another planet. the germans got there. sun ra got there. glenn branca got there. but that was 30-40 years ago! what the fuck is happening now! who's breaking ground? and i don't mean some english twat making a synth squeal and belch on top of some stuttering drum machine. we should be beyond rhythm, beyond harmony, beyond tempo. sound should transcend space and time! you should hear it in an instant! it should never evoke a memory, but a feeling. a feeling of a place you are headed to, not a place where you've been.
a feeling of perpetual motion, an uneasy stasis. a hovering, anticipatory feeling. a feeling of hurtling, headlong towards a beautiful pink light that will reveal all of existence in flash, and leave you alone, yet connected, at peace, but yearning for more.
follow the sound, kids.

led zeppelin earls court tangerine

this may be the best i've ever heard zep live. i really love how page is out of tune during the intro.

Pernice Brothers - Monkey Suit

I like the "Brothers" bands. I'm in a "Brothers" band -- The Sleeping Brothers.

I was almost certain I bought the Pernice Brothers' album "Overcome by Happiness" in Wilmington when I was living down in Calabash, NC. But I see it was released in '98 (I'd moved back to NY in Fall of '97). I swear I can remember buying it at CD Alley... Guess not. No reason to belabor the point. Must've got it at Music Arcade on Old Country Road (pretty sure it was after Titus Oaks' had closed). The guy who worked the counter at Music Arcade was a huge Guided by Voices fan, if that's the store I'm thinking of. Our friend Tom made a disparaging remark to him about Bob Mould, I recall.

Anyway, sometime, somewhere in '98, I picked up Overcome by Happiness, either because I'd read something about them or there was a sticker on the CD saying how it was the guys from Scud Mountain Boys.

Maybe I was back visiting Carolina in '98 when I bought it... God, it's such a great album. I still listen to it fairly regularly. Joe Pernice, now an author as well, is phenomenally talented, but his music still comes off like the guy next door who records in his basement and plays a few local gigs on Thursday nights.

I chose "Monkey Suit" because it's about work; my job, I'm certain.

Listen:
Someone's rattling on my monkey cage all day
While I peck away the ant hill numbers
Peck away my best years

And:
Don't want to live inside it
Don't want to waste it dreaming
Don't let me disappear
Inside this monkey suit that I'm wearing

Thank Christ! for this kind of music, for these words. Music is everything religion strives to but cannot be (I guess that's why there's so much music at mass).

Blog on TV on the Radio

It's never too late to get into any kind of music. Though I wish I'd appreciated TV on the Radio before learning of the death of Gerard Smith. "Two shocks", as my brother said. First, that he died, as we knew him back on Long Island (both from St. Pius and Foodtown), and second, that he was in TV on the Radio. It's strange what slips past even these two music snobs.

Anyway, enjoying their music now. You should too...

Jon Spencer Theremin demonstration

attention everybody: i would like a theremin for my birthday.

The Fall Garden

the mighty fall. greatest band ever.

"Big Escape" by: Pearly Gates Music

ah, the home recordist.
he is alone, and you don't know what he's doing in there.
quiet, quiet for hours....
then.....
a SOUND!
and...
the same sound...
slightly altered, but, to your ears, the same.
and again.
over..and over...and over...

he is searching for something. something he can't find in his friends. or his family. or in you.
his eyes are closed...his headphones squeezing tight on his cauliflower ears. he alone here's the difference in the squeals rattling his amp.
over...and over....

it's there, in his room, where he prays. where nobody sees him. praying. praying to a god only he can hear.
a god that screams and squeals at the top of his lungs.
a god that whispers only to him.
only in his ears.

You Say Nyro and I Say Nyro

I'd always pronounced it "Nigh-ro." I guess I'd never heard her name said, only read it. I listened to her music for years before I learned it's "Near-o." Like hero.

I can still recall the first moment I became aware of Laura Nyro. I was sitting in my car in a parking lot on the SUNY Farmingdale campus, waiting for my brother Jim to get out of a night class. I had a public radio station on (about the only way to hear anything interesting on Long Island at the time). "Up on the Roof" was playing. I was enraptured, as I often am with certain songs. "That's Laura Nyro singing..."

Hmm, well, I guess I would've had to hear her name pronounced. Chances are, the DJ said it wrong, as well. I'm not the only ignoramus. Nyro's given name is Nigro, with a long "i", so you'd think her new name would've kept the same long vowel. I used to know a Michael Nigro back in school. No relation, as far as I know.

Anyway, now I know how to say her name so I don't sound like a putz bringing her up at a barbecue.

I freaking love Laura Nyro. I probably listen to her music more than anyone else. Years ago I wrote a quick post about one of her album covers.

Now I've written another one. This one. Listen: this will either change your life or... nah, it'll change your life.

The Beast in Me - Nick Lowe

imagine writing a song so good that your father-in-law wants to record it. then imagine your father-in-law is johnny cash. then you might understand what it's like to be nick lowe. elvis costello called him 'englands' greatest songwriter'. it's hard to argue against that after hearing this.

Elvis Costello A Slow Drag With Josephine Jools Holland Later Live Oct 2010

this song just makes me smile. i guess any song with a whistle solo will do that. the thrill i get from listening to costello now is less visceral, but no less thrilling. listen to the phrasing on 'the hesitation....waltz'. and he uses the word 'armistice'! he is way to smart for the masses. and that's why he's still going strong.

Almost Got Away With It

No, Mike, this is not a New Order song. It's Electronic, a band I've always been aware of yet never knew I was familiar with. And to think I love this song! Bernard Sumner (of New Order -- well, there you go!) and Johnny Marr formed Electronic in 1989 (initially conceived as an anonymous venture). Alas, their debut single, Getting Away With It (featuring co-writer Neil Tennant on backing vocals) became a major hit, peaking at #12 on the UK Singles Chart. Anonymity thus denied.

Quoth Marr: "We were naive when we started, we honestly didn’t anticipate the attention we’d get. It was only when the media picked up that it was me, Bernard and Neil Tennant that it began to snowball.”

Anyway, great song. Listen. Then move onto some New Order, Smiths and Pet Shop Boys.



A clearer version of the video (of which embedding has been enabled) can be found here: Getting Away With It.

We're All Cliches

I watch a performance of X-Ray Spex's "Oh Bondage! Up Yours!" and think, is cool dead?

I mean, I know it isn't, but it's not as easy to find anymore. Well, maybe it was tough to find back in the 70s as well. It's not like Poly Styrene was EVER in the American Top 40. Or 100. In the UK, "The Day The World Turned Day-Glo" reached No. 23 in April 1978, "Identity"  captured No. 24 in July 1978 and "Germ Free Adolescents" grabbed No. 18 in November 1978. Number 18 in America on Nov. 4? How about "Talking in Your Sleep" by Crystal Gayle? Not even "..Brown Eyes Blue"! Jeez.

I certainly wasn't aware of X-Ray Spex in their heyday. 1978? I was still listening to Donny & Marie and the "Grease" soundtrack on my tape recorder. Fact is, I never heard of them until a few years ago. Probably after reading Greil Marcus' "In the Fascist Bedroom." I'm terrifically hip after the fact.

What matters now and always is the music. Farewell, Poly! Thanks for the sounds!

X-Ray Spex - Oh Bondage! Up Yours!

R.I.P. Poly Styrene

the meaning of life- patti smith

[from More Reflections on The Meaning of Life, edited by David Friend and the Editors of Life Magazine, Little Brown and Company, 1992.]

'My first sense of life was that of motion, of being lifted, and the beating of my mother's heart. Then, as consciousness pressed, I turned in the radiance of my father's mind. When I closed my eyes I could feel the world spin. When I reached out I could feel the breath of care. Bound, within my blood, was their love, their burning and their discordant prayers.

Yet time makes ravens of us all and swiftly, it seemed, I fled from their grasp. The sea was a glass. The sky an immeasurable path.

Guided by the knowledge of them I journeyed fettered, free. And as all before me, I have questioned, grateful for the privilege of being able to ask: What is my task? Why do we exist? All answers produce the pain of recognition, emptiness and joy.

To prey upon stillness, to suffer dawn
To bow before God, to administer grace
To unveil space, to be spirited away
To lift a child
into the reigning air
where the voice of heaven
chirps like a bird'

Copyright © Patti Smith 1992

The Letter on ET

what the fuck!?!?!?! alix chilton on 'entertainment tonight'? mike was right. tv ain't what it used to be. seems back then something cool could slip through the cracks. i wonder if anyone watching this new anything else about chilton, and his unique genius. he is missed. he was one of the few older rockers who aged with dignity. when i saw him in 2000, he was the epitome of coolness and class. the image of him in his suit and big guitar is burned in my memory. i miss him like a friend.

To Be in England in the Summertime with My Love

What are 15-year-olds watching on MTV? Crap, no doubt. Boring, probably. Inventive, cutting-edge? Doubtful.

Well, back in '84, I was watching this, Art of Noise's "Close (to the Edit)".

I want my MTV (from the early '80s)! And I'd rather be back on January 2, 1984 taping WLIR's "Screamer of the Week" than chancing arthritis trying to stumble on ONE DECENT SONG on the radio today!

So, here -- watch this and feel better.

Middle Brother - Wilderness

god damn, i wish i had written this song.

Grinderman - No Pussy Blues (Live On Later)

savage.

Motörhead - Motörhead

i think Merritt Wever said it best in the latest episode of 'nurse jackie': 'I AM SPEED, MOTHERFUCKER'!!!!!!!

she makes me want to go to the hospital

No Scrubs

Posted by JShort

friends in low places

Posted by JShort

Set Adrift On Memory Bliss - PM Dawn (HQ Audio)

posted by j.short

Before the Doom: Lotta Love

Neil Young wrote it, even recorded it, and though he brands his songs like a rancher, I never saw his mark on Nicolette Larson's version. Even now, the knowledge absorbed, I can only think of Larson. Not because hers is the more popular version, but Larson's is the better voice for this poem. It's that symbiotic relationship between the lyrics and the singing that elevate this song into that lofty ether of music that could dispel the evil and ennui that has drawn the apocalypse towards humanity for ages.

This is the song for the battlefield and the churches. Her voice is a combination of the Wild West and New York City. I think when you hear "Lotta Love" you fall in love with Larson as deeply as you do with the song. Any civilization that breeds such a creature must devise a way to thwart its own demise. So, let's feedback the sound of our species! "Lotta Love" could give warlords pause, and cast doubt on the deadly designs of dictators.

If music doesn't save us, nothing will.

catholic boy: jim carroll

i'm reading jim carrolls'  'the petting zoo'. seems i'm on a bit of a new york kick.
if you're not familiar with carroll, or are only familiar with 'basketball diaries', you should check out the mans' poetry. he writes with surreal beauty and sadness, but never loses his cynical optimism. it makes me feel good to read him.
'the petting zoo' is also a deeply catholic book.
it's funny, if i'm ever asked what religion i am, i always say 'catholic'. even tho' i haven't practiced in years. i also usually add, 'i was an altar boy'!
that shit clings to you.
carroll died on 9/11/09.
that seems so right.

A Close Strangeness: Mars Classroom

Back Cover of "New Theory..."

MARS CLASSROOM - THE NEW THEORY OF EVERYTHING

In the basement with the windows open. Breeze in, Pollard out. Awaiting accolades from the neighborhood. Hey, I've unfrozen your time! Gather at the curbs and open your own windows! The Teacher is back in the classroom!

"The New Theory of Everything", the 28th(?) Pollard-related release of 2011, exudes a close strangeness. Like an android of your best friend. Like a grape in the dark.

17 years of Robert Pollard finds me in his Mars Classroom, advancing but never graduating. Failing gym to stay behind. Missing the bus for a ride home.

Pollard introduced a new theory of rock and roll. Here I am growing older, but there's no oldies station for me or my gang. Christ, I stood on line for 20 minutes on Record Store Day only to find the vinyl of "Sing For Your Meat" was sold-out It's not so much I grow with the music, but rather that I grow and my receptors pick up new signals from the music.

Pollard turns concrete (not just "the" concrete) into ice cream; anthems into epiphanies. Pulls dream into poems, yanking them down like heavy drapes. There's paneling and pool tables behind his lyrics -- I don't know how else to describe it. "Cassavetes to your Mia Farrow" means something to me. And it means something else. Then something else.

I never hear anything elitist in Pollard's music. Maybe knowing a songwriter's background informs the impression. But it's music for the common man. Surreal folk music? I don't know. I just know that it's the greatest music I've ever heard.

I dreamed I drove a bookmobile selling only Pollard's music. He collaged the entire truck! Driving down the shady streets, the rooftop speaker played...but, ah! I woke up. What would it have been? What could it have been?

Waleik & Beerman twist the reins of the chariot around their wrists and turn the race into a fury. Pollard's the horses. The origin of the chariot is unfathomable, but only responds to the pull of these three men.

There's math in there somewhere; physics, I suppose; and the daredevil dive of any artist who shares the city with the phoenix.

i always think of birds.

people are barbaric. i saw a man spit next to a baby carriage yesterday. i saw a woman alternate between sticking french fries and a menthol cig into her filthy, twisted maw. i heard them slur, smelled their stink, and had to acknowledge their rightful place as heirs to this wretched land.
barbarians.
but not quite.
there is no savagery in their actions. no passion. no real hate. just an uncomprehending, cancerous, nothingness in all their actions.
i can respect a barbarian with blood on his axe.
i cannot respect the slothful children he brings his bloody mounds of meat to.

there is savagery and grace to lou reed's 'metal machine music'. there is grace because i put it there. it may be a joke lou has played on us, on me. to make me seem like a pretentious fool. and that is savage.

it's just noise. but i always think of birds.

he claims in the liner notes that no one has ever listened to it in his entirety.
i have.
but i have also spent time in the hospital.
as has lou, receiving electo-shock treatment.
in that context, this album is probably the most personal album he, or perhaps anyone, has ever recorded. 4 sides of unrelenting feedback, squeals, screeches, and static.
and birds.
i can swear i hear birds.

so beautiful. this outpouring of hate, and anger, and sadness, and despair. and i sit and listen. and absorb it. and send it back. and it creates a loop. a horrible whistling, an animal whine, a bestial wail.
the birds.
i always think of birds.