280K again. weird.

you know, yesterday this page had 280,000 hits. today, it has 220,000 hits. it's a little confusing.

now, it's not like i really care, to be honest. the only value that number has to me is as a metric of marketing potential. youtube is not a martketplace - there's nothing for sale. it's a place to advertise things. the store is at bandcamp.

i advertise things here, and sell things there. i'd set up a store at google - they're actually not terrible on paying artists, compared to spotify and others - but they require a wallet account, which requires a credit card. their attempt to monopolize the process has locked me out. i can only shrug, because i think i owe visa something like $15,000 (truth is, i haven't looked at the bill in years...). i'm simply not about to call to ask what i owe them, and if they're willing to give me another card.

so, again, i don't really care.

except that it's nice to watch numbers get bigger. it passed 250K back in march. i was expecting it to get to 300K near the beginning of may. now, who knows - it might shrink back to 0....

the only thing i can think of is that maybe some videos were taken down, but then what's the point?

i've also noticed that they've stopped counting hits on the front page which is just like...

how am i supposed to know how many people visited the page - ie. how effective my youtube advertising has been in driving traffic?

i've got metrics at bandcamp, but it only tells half the story. it doesn't tell me how many people i'm able to get from youtube to bandcamp, which is the point.

i know they don't like the idea of having a "featured track". they want a "channel trailer" to "maximize subscribers". but, i don't get paid for subscribers. there's no self interest in telling people to subscribe. and nobody reads their feed, anyways. i lose subscribers when i upload new videos because they're irritated that i send them notifications. but if you're not interested in the music, why the fuck did you subscribe? am i supposed to care? to tread carefully, so that people that don't care don't unsubscribe? it's a dumb system, and they're leaving us with little choice but to break it. computers aren't tvs and surfers aren't viewers...

so, if they think it's going to modify behaviour.....they're not getting it. i'm not putting the stuff up to maximize hits. i'm cycling around links to the store. the basic traffic direction tactic isn't going to change. it's just that now, i don't know how much traffic i'm getting....

it would be easiest to just put it back the way it was. but, if that's not acceptable for whatever reason, it would be great to get a "channel visits" metric - that is, a metric that documents how many people visit the channel, even if it's just to watch the trailer. that number is far more useful to me than a subscriber count, or watching the hits on my videos increase.

updating the tease for untitled

i've updated the tease. again - i don't like to do this. but this is such a slow process...

this is actually only done up to about 6:25, but i included an extra minute for continuity...

http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/untitled-tease-version-two

thunderstorms tonight; seemed like i was being prevented from working. i was supposed to be productive this week. storm is done now, though, so i'm finally back to recording.

just a reminder that i'm working on completing this double ep:

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/untitled

further thoughts on the new gybe! record

that's not me out your window, guys. i'm somewhere back in the brush, sitting under a tree, enjoying a peach, and taking notes on the whole thing from a distance.

the basic premise of more gybe! is a good one. if it's from the heart. but it seems like they're going through the motions. it's maybe hard to blame them, given...everything. fuck, i'd do it. kids. they're expensive.

this is probably a transition disc, and it's probably not going to really make sense until the next one. even if the next one is no disc at all. as an end, it seems cynical. but they've been leaning towards that kind of canterbury improv sound for a while now. recognition tends to hurt bands like this, as they end up thinking every pattern they shit out is gorecki-level brilliant, if they don't just stop caring if it is or not. they'll get the awards. they'll sell out the concerts. it doesn't matter. then they'll go home, and...kids. they're fucking expensive.

these people all have other projects that are closer to their hearts, but this is necessary to allow those projects to happen. and they can't use a different label. they can't retire it out of hallowed respect. the point is that this is the one that markets fawn over. the one that allows everything to continue...

they know it. but, you know. kids.

this is observational, not judgmental. i'm patient. and i trust these boys and girls. so, i'll be quiet and wait for them to finish.

waking up out of an allergy-induced sinus headache haze into something approaching mental clarity really reinforces the magic that is consciousness. it's short. enjoy it.

ugh. this is really totally annoying.

i'm awake. i'm alert. and i'm actually eager. but headaches are the one thing i can't ignore when mixing. any other flu/allergy symptom is whatever. if i had a broken leg, it wouldn't matter. but the headache is irresolvable...it has to pass....

i'm getting something done tonight, at least - i'm taking another chunk out of my old political oriented facebook page. if you came here via youtube, you notice i rant. i used to have a facebook page full of articles and rants over them. but i'm trying to transfer everything off of facebook and on to my own blog. there's at least tens, probably hundreds, of thousands of post there to transfer off...it's going to take a long time to do this and has become my current sick project...

i've been feeling a bit better the last hour or so. we got some rain here today that coincided with the worst of it and seems to have stopped. but it's likely to carry on straight through until saturday.

i'm not wasting tomorrow. if i wake up with my head fucked, i'll go get some antihistamines..

but, for tonight, the quiet hum of electronics is preferable.

thoughts on the new tame impala single

hrmmn.

wonder when there's a new pond disc out...

i'm not sick, it's allergies, and i'm just about useless.

i can handle sniffles, it's this brutal sinus headache that's just totally disabling...

i could get some antihistamines. they've helped in the past. but i don't really know what i'm allergic to so i don't like fucking with it. i'd rather figure out the cause and find some answer than fuck with my immune system like that.

they weren't a problem last year. i'll give it another day or two.

...but i'm pretty sure my immune system works, anyways. yikes.....calm down guys, it's just some dust and pollen and shit...no need to go full retard on me like this...

so, i played around with a few mixes and concluded that there's not enough to make this worthwhile for inri001-inri023. i was thinking that i had a lot of fragments that would mix well, but the reality is that the result is not compelling. it feels like a cheap gimmick. almost none of it is really coherent enough to stand up outside of the context of the work it originally existed in.

however, there's a number of pieces from inri024-inri045 that i'd like to take out. and i may take out a few earlier ones, too. these are alternate mixes, mostly...

so, i'm not getting anything up on this, but i got the idea narrowed down and it's clearer to me where i need to place it in the discography.

i'm working on that ambient works tonight. i'm just a little sick. i know, eh? i'm not sure it will get done tonight, but expect a string of subscriber-only uploads that you can't click through...

nothing will *stay* subscriber-only in the long run. as i complete each section of the discography, it will become available for general sale. but, subscribers will get access to it as soon as it's uploaded, which may be months before it's released for general listening.

i may end up changing this around quite a bit, depending on how the disability works out. if i get long term, i'll probably move everything to subscriber only, make the price cheaper and then use youtube for samples. this will put a block on streaming - act as a paywall, basically. but i think we're collectively learning that streaming is a shitty business model.

this week will be productive.

listen: i can't/won't rush or force. pointless. i have no schedules. i want no schedules. but that was quite the extended holiday and i'm itching to get back...

i felt more like the swans were fluttering around outside, agitating to raise me out of the bar and bring me home to get back to work

i decided at the last minute to catch atom egoyan favourite raised by swans tonight, and all i could think about was how i should be at home working/recording. that's good, for me. it's probably the last show for at least a few weeks.

i wasn't walking in as a fan or anything, it just seemed like something relaxing to sit back and enjoy a beer with...

stylistically, it's very much the current wave of "indie rock", which isn't really a style i have much interest in. but, the record indicated a larger atmospheric influence, both in the joy division sense and the mbv sense. the live presentation seemed to want to minimize this in favour of something more rhythmic, and while that's probably the right marketing decision in a broad sense, it wasn't really what i was looking for.

that's not to say it was bare bones new wave, but i didn't get that wash of effects i went for...

the record is actually pretty good, though, if you prefer your indie rock a little closer to the source: with more exotic melodies, with less predictable pop and with deeper focus on atmospheres.

https://raisedbyswans6.bandcamp.com/album/xnadalur

on the personal story side of it, something i've noticed repeatedly walking home over the last few weeks is that people think i'm a streetwalker. this is odd to me, as i haven't seen any actual streetwalkers in the neighbourhood. i've given out a few smokes to girls walking home that seemed like they were working, but not on the corner sort of thing...

i'm not really sure how to approach this sort of thing. i'm not dressed provocatively. tonight, i was wearing a raincoat and a pair of jeans. the only clue that i'm even female-identifying is my elbow length hair. meaning these johns are driving through the wrong neighbourhood, and getting desperate. what's worrying is that it signifies pretty strong desperation. the only other thing i can think of is that they might be confusing me for somebody.

it wasn't really an issue at all last year. hopefully, they clue in soon that there's nobody around here and go drive in some other neighbourhood.

but, i mean, like...

you gotta wonder what kind of warped experience leads some guys to think girl walking home at night = prostitute. as though it's occam's razor or something.

http://dghjdfsghkrdghdgja.appspot.com/categories/shows/2015/04/03.html

i’m certainly anticipating a dispute in the band’s fan base

i caught la dispute last night in a castle...

the masonic temple, in detroit. i'd never been in a structure like this. foundation stones jutting out awkwardly from the ground, warped from a century (centuries?) of weather erosion. elevators from the 30s, when it was cutting-edge technology, that you don't really want to get in; stairways with cracks that you don't really want to walk up. just a slight slant, six floors up - not quite dilapidated, but enough to make you a little claustrophobic and not really keen on rattling the bass. secret entrances everywhere, no doubt leading to scenes from indiana jones films. shit, was that a secret handshake.....?

as clearly impressive and important as this structure may have been decades or centuries ago, it's just as clearly abandoned, now.  if only one could just eliminate the landlords....

the show itself was a bit of an experiment they're doing, in terms of turning their volume down a little. whether the fans are into it or not, i think the band is, and i'd expect it to "stick". i'm going to miss the 'proper show' tonight due to it being sold out, and it's not like i haven't see them play their older material before, but this might be the last chance you get to catch it; this may be the end of la dispute as you know them, and they seem to feel fine about it.

in all honesty, i don't think these kids have really ever identified much as punks, or were ever really interpreted that way. they were really always beatniks trying to exist in a hardcore world, without being forced to adhere to folk music stereotypes. so, this isn't really surprising. and the reality, for me? the reality is i grew up on rem. i grew up on sonic youth. i love these bands. i fucking *miss* these bands. i'm not going to be the person that's going to give them shit for this, as they're not walking outside of my sphere of interest. if anything, they're walking directly into it's center.

but, the thing is these are big boots, if you will. you start conjuring up rem and sonic youth, and you're walking into a world of expectations hitherto unknown to the average mortal rock band. this is the gen x pantheon. and, i'm not sure this band has the chops to get there.

the show was intriguing, if anything because it demonstrated their liabilities. some of the material transferred over well, but the overall impression was that the shift is a work in progress. songs would move forward with little real development and end without any sort of warning. void of the nihilistic context of the distortion cutting out, it left little effect. it's perhaps more literally beatnik, in the sense of raw poetry over haphazard accompaniment. but a castle is not a coffee shop.

if this is something they want to do, i don't want to discourage them. i'm in favour of ambition. and they seem to have lost their guitarist, so it might actually be the most rational path forward to change their sound. but it requires deeper incubation. maybe a bit more maturity. and perhaps a creative spark. hope they get there, eventually.

here is the audio from the night:

http://dghjdfsghkrdghdgja.appspot.com/categories/shows/2015/04/02.html

i didn't get home (from screaming females) until what was nearly sunday afternoon, and slept until early monday morning. i decided to do another compost haul monday to see if i could get anything at the target liquidation sale [nothing...], then spent tuesday and most of today doing beginning of the month things [groceries, cleaning, bills]. tomorrow is la dispute at the masonic temple, which i've never been in before. but it's walking distance back to the tunnel, and i don't expect to drink anything except coffee. it's some kind of acoustic set, that will probably focus more on their beatnik-style stuff.

i'm not going to get much done today in terms of recording, but i should be able to get a little writing done and then sit down over the weekend and get a full plan set out for the next part. i think i've mostly got it worked out in my brain, so i think it should actually be relatively quick to get it down. i'm hoping for mid-april...

this track was supposed to be a quick remix, back in december. lol. i am still on the cusp of a good three-four hours of quickly uploaded material, it just doesn't make any sense to jump ahead, given that i don't currently have any direct pressure.

so, i need to request patience. but i know. i'm straining my own...

these shows are actually necessary for me to relax a little. i tend to get a little cabin crazy, and it's actually NOT useful for composing...

i just saw the animal i've been seeing traces of around here for the last few months, but i neither had my glasses nor a camera. it looked like a large black felid, which is confusing me in how i ought to react.

see, there aren't supposed to be large, black felids anywhere around here. it's established that there are cougars in the region, but melanistic cougars aren't supposed to exist; rather, a large, black felid would probably be a jaguar, and this is nowhere near it's historical range. the thing is, though, that people keep seeing them, all over the eastern side of the continent.

it was standing in a back alley, beside a garbage can, about 20 m away and just looking at me. my eyesight is not terrible, but it's not good enough to tell the difference between a large cat, a large dog and a coywolf at 20 m. i just backed away slowly, ensuring i didn't turn my back, like one is supposed to in such an encounter.

given the combination of evidence i have (including it's interest in the garbage can) it seems far more likely that it's a coywolf. if so, i'm not really worried. they sound scary, and everything, but they don't see us a prey source. in fact, they help in the pest control (rats, birds, and especially canada geese) that the city won't carry out anymore.

but i can't shake the fact that it *looked* like a cat. and if it is a cat, it's an obligate carnivore - unlike the coywolves. canids can eat fruit and whatever else is left out. cats need fresh meat, and if that's a cat, it's a big one.

again: the reality is that i have no convincing evidence. the idea of a jaguar hanging out in downtown windsor is patently absurd; if i were on the other side of the phone, i would laugh at anybody calling that in. but i remain concerned about the possible consequences (children being eaten) of ignoring this.

i need to make sure i have my phone on me when i go out...

i mean, if i was confident it was just passing through, then whatever. but it seems to be making a home here.

something i've been thinking about is whether this might be a good "safe place" for a species like this, specifically to raise cubs. big cats like this can move a good distance, and it's really not that far out to areas where there's large amounts of deer. an abandoned house in the city is probably a safer place to leave the cubs.

i know - they'd be detected by now. but they're pretty sneaky, actually.

the screaming females show was a bit of a long night, in ferndale

so, ferndale shows are officially overnights.

it wasn't as much of a tour as the last one and i don't really have a write up. somebody gave me a free ticket when i got there, which cleared up extra money for beer, and i ended up getting a little drunk, which caused me some grief at the overnight donut shop in terms of staying awake. now that the sun is up relatively early, and the temperature is hopefully on the warmer side of things, i actually sort of like the idea of reading overnight. i got through about half of neuromancer, which the prof skipped when i took a course in science fiction back in the day. detroit kind of feels like the sprawl to me. it's just that that means staying awake.

the set was short but solid. i think that's...they self-identify as a punk band. but they have a lot of material, and they're not going to bore anybody by stretching the set out.

the fun part of the night was fun, but it was draining, overall, and i'm glad to finally be able to get some real sleep.

here's a full set from a little later on the same tour:

http://dghjdfsghkrdghdgja.appspot.com/categories/shows/2015/03/28.html

banging upstairs literally damaged light fixtures

hi.

i don't know what you're doing up there this morning, but i'm pretty sure i heard some wood snap and the light fixture in the other bedroom was literally knocked out of it's frame as the result of the banging. it sounds like a lot of heavy things have been dropped on to old wood that shouldn't have heavy things dropped on it.

i think i should be able to rescrew the fixture in. but the fixtures belong to you, and i'm supposed to inform you of issues involving them.

but i mean...this is pretty extreme. and the snap was loud; it seems like the joists in the room were damaged, so i'd advise coming down to see the damage - and maybe being a little more careful with these old, rotting floors. between the water damage and the crumbling plaster and everything else, the floors are really taking a lot of stress.

(pause)

i was able to fix the fixture, and there's nothing to see except some chunks of plaster - although it seems like there's a lot of loose chunks of something in the ceiling. like, when you adjust the fixture, you can feel it rolling around in large, loose chunks of something broken.

so, on second thought, i'm not sure there's anything to see.

but it really sounded awful. it wasn't the creak of an old floor. it was more like a stick snapping in a fire.

i mean, these are old floors. if you abuse them enough, they'll give way.

untitled (tease)

this is the first five minutes of the final mix, which remains in progress. i wouldn't normally do this, but it's been a long time between uploads with this track and i expect the slow progress to continue for a few more weeks...

http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/untitled-tease

still mixing...

it's that 45 second build. there's just a lot of stuff. i'm coming up on a completion, soon, though....of that section.

i'm starting to realize, though, that i'm not going to be able to cram as much guitars into this as i want. i mean, it's taking forever to get the space just for this. there's a few more fills i'm certain of. i don't want to force anything.

so, i may end up backtracking and deleting the last mix as temporary. it's just going to depend on whether i can actually squeeze some parts in.

if i do that, the orchestral concerto won't be happening, either. which means i'll be working something into an overdub mix.

i've wavered back and forth on this repeatedly. i keep saying that i like the idea and want to make it work. but i keep saying that there's not really space and i don't want to force it.

i'm toying with the idea of stripping it down a little, but then i'm dealing with a different thing entirely.

this would be a lot easier if i were a metal guitarist and didn't give a fuck, but i need to maintain the compositional integrity.

i'm just really not excited about plowing over the last three months of work with a fuzz pedal.

it's gotta actually fit....and there's just a lot to dance around....

i wanted to hit two shows this weekend, but it's becoming clear that it's going to be too fucking cold. i don't need august in march, but it'd be nice to get the overnights above -10 if i'm going to be heading into uncharted territory. if i end up staying in, which is seemingly likely, i think i could plausibly get something done for monday. i hope it warms up soon...