it's been 30 days and all i got is this lousy beard

alas, the elasticity of the "month".... if you're counting from date to date, December Tenth to January Tenth, January Tenth is the thirty-second day. still we tend to think of the month as 30 days. sometimes. it's been a long damn time any way you slice it.

but we're nearing a nice turning point. soon it will be one month until i visit... and the day before i arrive is One Month Until You Return. so the dominoes are gonna start falling very soon. very nice, i like.

more NC music... we've covered Betty Davis and Nina Simone and John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk, so who does that leave? i'm no Avett Advocate, nor Ryan Adams Acolyte. i considered posting a Weedeater video but i've never actually seen them. that would kinda be a lie. you don't care for death metal so that 86s most of what the Raleigh area's good for... and my favorite 9th Wonder beat is an Erykah Badu song. would that count?

so here's a little taste of home for ya. even though i don't think any of these guys are actually from, as in born and/or raised in, North Carolina, they're making their music here. that ought to count for something. for a minute i thought Kevin might be too old to be in this video, but then i saw him in there, playing the piano.... blink and you'll miss him though.

so here we go super coool american rock and roll blue jeans music. hello, please!




and now, just because i can, my own little touch to it:

Let the Time Roll By - Onward, Soldiers redux (final cut) by Donovan Quixote

just found a page that lists all kindsa actors and musicians from NC... perhaps this category isn't as flimsy as i'd thought... stay tuned!!!

call me later!

LRV, b

the Twenty-Ninth Day

Thelonious Sphere Monk, born Oct. 10, 1917, Rocky Mount, NC



'nuff said...

LRV, b

28 Days Later

there should be a zombie theme today, but you wanted North Carolina music and i'm happy to oblige. i promise we'll pick up the pace tomorrow. these last couple posts have been rather long, somber, and now... heartbreaking. when Chris and i went on our little "journey" a few weeks ago, Nina Simone came to mind. i saw a plant that reminded me of the sculpture of her that you and i saw in Philly. so i went to my phone to YouTube my favorite song, and i found this. the version i've known and loved is emotionally heavy, but this one here is absolutely devastating. LOVE the guitar accompaniment; spare and thoughtful. i come back to this a lot, this video. probably watched it a dozen times already, and have waited for the right moment to share it here, with you. there's not much for NC Zombie music, (other than mine!), so why not begin your homesick run with one of the greatest talents ever to emerge from our fair state..... Tryon represent!

LRV, b



p.s.: is yours still reddish or is it fading? i can't tell from Skype. :(

the Twenty-Seventh Day

okay, one more Francophile jam before we move on to NC's finest... of course, Miles spent a lot of time in France and, through his early career, was treated a hell of a lot better there than he was here. there, he was an artist, on par with Picasso. here, he was considered a thug, a lowlife. there, police would probably buy him a glass or bottle of wine. here, they shot him. But Miles thrived on adversity. he wasn't one of those cats who would expatriate to Europe just so he could escape the trappings of segregated clubs and audiences who began leaning more toward mop-topped Brits. (Abbey Lincoln still maintains that the Beatles killed jazz.) not that expatriating is a cowardly thing, but Miles would never back down from a fight. and his biggest battles, critically and socially, were at home.

however, when he was in France, schmoozing with the Art Elite, he did cut one fantastic album; a soundtrack for a film called "Ascenceur Pour L'Echafaud". i'm sure you'll recognize this, as it's been in every iPod we've owned at one point or another, and is never far from my mind on gray, rainy days.

also, sorry Fleet Foxes, this song features the singular greatest moments of big-room reverb EVER. Fleet Foxes come close, i love their cavernous mountain sound, but this is altogether more elegant, more lonely, and most affecting. soak it in, baby. i could listen to this song on repeat for hours.

hope you're happy tonight, and enjoying your well-deserved Big Meal.


LRV, b

the Twenty-Sixth Day

finished a good portion of the grant proposal this afternoon. looks nice. and the song i've been writing took a nice turn today. wellness all around, or at least better-ness. will keep this short, writing running on fumes.

LRV, b

The Twenty-Fifth Day

been writing grant stuff all day. brain hurts. i've written a lot but unfortunately i haven't gotten very far. the resume is done. that was easy. the Artist Statement is tough. it ought to be as concise as possible, fully distilling what separates my philosophies and compositional approaches apart from anyone else's... but without sounding self-aggrandizing. i'm trying to keep "i" "me" and "my" out of it. not easy. in trying to sound non-personal, it may come off as pretentious and clinical. i also have to write Innovative Use of Technology, (i use bugs as percussion, and cats as backdrops!), Impact of Grant on Composer, (if you give me money i will be happy!), and a couple other things. no small potatoes. am trying to apply the wealth of Writing Experience i received at Cape Fear Community College to guide me. maybe i should just write it like i write to you.

so you see, what had happened was, i had gotten this laptop, right? and i put some software on it, hooked my keyboard up to it, and now i make music outta any damn thing i can imagine. a subterranean Chinese sex dungeon where a slave is liberated by a swarm of bees playing cellos, dropped in a red light district (presumably to raise some money), and then taken by the bee cellists to a field of goats where Buddhist nuns chant hymns in the nude? i can make that! i HAVE made that! i'm not some weird pervert! it was a concept album about cats, communism, feminism, and cubism! there was isms all over the freakin' place! and i've played this piece in front of children and their teachers! they loved it! GIVE ME MONEY!!!

yeah. that'll work. exclamation points aplenty. !!

hey guess what...



means

LRV, b

24

that title goes out to Reba....

just bought my plane ticket!!! hope i read my bank info correctly, otherwise i'll be in some SERIOUS financial doodoo over the next few days. i will arrive at LAX 10:28am on Friday, February 11! (i leave from LAX at 6am on the 17th. sad.) so you better be READY! i wanna eat some Roscoe's and i want to see a cool show. i have no other requests, other than maybe an artsy fartsy museum. Amoeba records? only if i have enough spending cash. otherwise, it will just be a tease going in there.

YAAAAAAY!!!!!

unfortunately, YouTube won't let me embed the video for this song, but it's the last song on Serge Gainsbourg's "Histoire de Melody Nelson," aka: the sexiest album of all time. it's the end of the story, when the dirty old man puts the girl on the plane... SUCH an awesome song from an album that means the world to me. apparently, there's "videos" for every song on the album (made in 1971, mind you!) Serge is his usual badass self and Jane Birkin is gorgeous. follow the link. DON'T MISS IT!!!

LRV, b

Serge Gainsbourg: "Cargo Culte"