Sunday 27 January 2008

Prodded

DJ Kirkby has given me a prod to stop clicking on the link in my previous post and write something new. Thanks dj, will do.

I must admit I think I've managed to extricate myself from a potentially chronic phase of addiction to jozin z bazin, and haven't watched it for several days now. The secret of my success in achieving that is, in part, by watching something slightly different in tone, namely some footage of Swans playing live in concert in the mid/late 80s.

I was, briefly, in a band with someone in the late 80s whose previous beat combo had supported Swans on one of their European tours. This 6' 4" Scandinavian man was himself quite an uncompromising figure: he played guitar through a whole series of compression and distortion pedals, using a wire brush instead of a plectrum. Nonetheless as he recounted memories of the tour, he told me how the best way to cope with the sheer volume and intensity of Swans in concert was to stand outside the venue and on the other side of the road.

I've used my evenings this week fairly constructively as well, which is another reason for my relative quietness. I'm aiming to get out of the habit of doing little during my non-working hours: it's often the case that merely not being at work is enough in itself. However I always feel better if I've used some of my time to work on music or drawing or some other form of creative/constructive activity (and yes I do include blogging in that). So I've had a good few hours tinkering around with music, listening back to old ideas, working into them, and starting a couple of new ones. No pressure on myself either: the phrase "it might be shit, but it's MY shit" is proving to be a helpful one.

My search for a change of career continues, but not at the expense of the things I'm trying to include back in my life again, because I've realised how important they are to me.

Oh go on then, just one more look at jozin z bazin...

18 comments:

Reading the Signs said...

Trousers, I just clicked on the J z B link to have another look and it didn't show. This is definitely a Sign.

I think your new mantra is good - it reminds me of the seventies expression - gonna get my shit together. And stuff.

But Why? said...

Trousers, can it be true? Are you, in fact, Back With Us?

Merkin said...

Trousers, I will have a present for you, this weekend, which will get you out of your compulsion, major style.
Wait.
Hhehehehehehehhehehehehehehehehehehe
Trust me, no-one else does.

Anonymous said...

Ray? That you?

zola a social thing said...

Paved with the best intentions maybe. But...... Trousers you are still on the doubles.
You need to get into those triples.

Anonymous said...

JzB is no longer available on GoogleTube (bastards). I have it safely on my hard disk, though, and will upload it in a day or two.

All those who are jonesin' for the Jozin' will have to be patient, I'm afraid.

Anonymous said...

In Sid (dentally), t, if you're looking for something to add some discipline to your music-making, then I can recommend the Chain Tape Collective. Join whichever projects you feel like joining, and then you have 5 or 6 weeks to create your 5 or 6-minute track abiding by the rules of whatever the particular project happens to be.

I'm on two at the moment, one (Acoustic II) where you're not allowed synths, electric guitars or anything electronic, and a second which is loosely based on "Tales of Astrological Oceans", which is going to be a series of 6-minutes excerpts from 20-minute tracks covering the Zodiac, plus a frog, I believe.

Anonymous said...

J z B is working again and there ain't nobody going to take it down now.

Queen Vixen said...

Well its nice to see you back blogging and being creative. I am assuming the cold turkey was not too bad. Must hear some of your music soon, I am intrigued

trousers said...

Hi signs. Oddly enough I haven't had any problems with jozin, at least in terms of the link working. But szwag appears to confirm said problems and indeed to have sorted them out. Thanks szwag.
As regards the mantra, it's a good one to take the pressure off and to do something regardless.

ut wh (note further shortening, this is only temporary) - indeed I am. Not that I was ever away, as such. Just over at szwag's site :)

merk, should I be worried. I think I should be told..

past, hello and welcome, but no I'm not ray. Who's ray? Which reminds me of the track by Hella, namely "Who Ray." Enough already!

zola, I'm already nostalgic for your darts references. Please do a post about darts on your blog, go on.

szwag (part 2), that does sound good - the tape collective thingy - however for me things are in reverse order. As in, the more I get my arse in gear to do music regularly, the more I'm likely to follow up something like that, not the other way round. Dunno why, it's just how it is at the moment. But thanks for another useful link, you are a veritable mine of coal. Erm, that's not quite right, but I like it.

qv, thank you very much. On the other hand, be careful what you wish for :)

Unknown said...

Trousers, you should be scared, very sacred - if I get this right. hehe.
On the other hand, I may have bitten off more than I can chew.
Time will tell.
Very sacred, I am. Fingers shivering as we speak.

Unknown said...

Well, that is a start.
I fecking hate Gogle.

Unknown said...

Google.

Anonymous said...

erm...what can I say?

DJ Kirkby said...

'the best way to cope with the sheer volume and intensity of Swans in concert was to stand outside the venue and on the other side of the road' love it, very funny, don't think I would have enjoyed listening to the Swans somehow... Glad to read that you are creating music again!

Anonymous said...

I always fancied seeing Swans in concert before they became neo-folkies and lost their whole raison d'etre. I still have loving preserved copies of 'Filth', 'Cop' and 'Time is Money' in my vinyl collection.

zola a social thing said...

Trousers should never have gone to the dry cleaners.
A Darts match would have been better.

Anonymous said...

Hi dj, glad that you dropped by given that you (sort of) caused me to write this post in the first place. Funny, yes, but true - I never saw Swans play but the consensus from people who did seems to be that their ears were ringing for a good few days afterwards. I met the singer once and told him about my tinnitus, he said, "Sue me then!" but it was after I saw Sonic Youth that my tinnitus started.

szwag, me too, I never did see them. I have "Filth" on vinyl, but at the time was more aware of people like their guitarist (Westberg?) playing for Wiseblood and so on.

zola, I'm still waiting for you to write a post on your blog about darts. COME ON!!!