2009 and 00's Best Of Picks

For no other reason than my own eventual nostalgia, here's my best of picks for 2009 and the 00 decade. What a ride it's been:

2009:


10. Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Agorapocalypse
Having been a long time fan of the band, I knew a long lapse in their releases would equal great success or total failure. Figuring it wasn't hard to write 45 second grind songs led by a drum machine, it'd be easy to repeat the same formula for this as the last 400 songs they had written and the whole release end up as an exercise in monotony. Nay. Trimmed down to 13 songs (most breaking 2 minutes), much more technical ability, a new singer, and one of the best cover illustrations I've just about ever seen - I'd say it was a breakthrough most were hoping for. Though, this probably only means there's even less chance they'll play live.

9. Cave In - Planets Of Old
Years on hiatus following commercial failure, they turn out this gem. Brodsky made an amazing go at a solo career that'll probably warrant him more success than Cave In ever brought, as such I was expecting a mellower, dare I say stoner-esque sound on this EP. Nay again. Channeling the same ghosts as they did on Until Your Heart Stops they re-found the volume knobs on their amps and tuned back down. Could be a front runner for one of the best releases of their catalogue.

8. Propagandhi - Supporting Caste
Propagandhi is one of those bands that I keep expecting to hit a high note and not be able to get back over that hump for several albums. Potempkin City Limits was an amazing leap forward for them that appeared to have alot of thought and practice put into it. I didn't think they'd be able to top the quality they were able to achieve on that one, but here's Supporting Caste. They added a second guitarist, wrote more thrash riffs, churned up the same idea(ologie)s and re-packaged them to make them still as valid and thorough, and even managed to write a song about Hockey and put a political spin on it. Nice one, my hosers.

7. Teenage Bottlerocket - They Came From The Shadows
I didn't dig the Skate Or Die single that prefaced the album, but they trumped it with the remaining songs, somehow making the similar hooks and harmonies sound better than they last made them sound. What it might lack in originality (save for "Fatso Goes Nutzoid") it makes up for in sheer song writing talent and pop sensibility. It still baffles me that these guys come out of Wyoming. I guess there's one reason that state doesn't completely blow.

6. Tombs - Winter Hours
What seemed like out of nowhere, this three piece drops a behemoth of an album (and on essentially the biggest heavy metal label in the world right now, no less). Combining all the best elements of doom, black metal and post-metal these guys simutaeously made me love them and hate them for doing exactly what I was trying to do with my own band.

5. Cobra Skulls - American Rubicon
A band who ingeniously combines elements of musical genres that usually destroy the credibility of a band, these guys mash in equal parts rockabilly, pop punk, and singer/songwriter-esque sensibilities. I was as turned off as most at first listen, but after a valient effort I couldn't find a song on the entire album I didn't like. Even the upbeat piano balad has me hitting repeat over and over.

4. Ringers - Hurry Up And Wait
I bought this without ever hearing it, or even hearing the band. The note on the front said they sounded like Rancid, so I bought it on a whim. Well, they don't really sound like Rancid. It's more like a combination of the Minneapolis pop punk sound and Boston street punk grit. The singer sounds like he's about to die of throat cancer, and yet still hits all the right notes. If it were longer, it would have been closer to the top of the list.

3. Rancid - Let The Dominoes Fall
Fuck the haters, Rancid has always been amazing. This is about the best line straddling of real punk and commercial success I've heard. Tim Armstrong must have gotten all his reggae-rap desires out during the Transplants, because the cheesiness of past songs seems to be gone. Or at least less noticeable. They haven't done an album this good since ...And Out Come The Wolves.

2. Hoots & Hellmouth - The Holy Open Secret
Here's my oddball. The first time I heard these guys is when I saw them open for William Elliott Whitmore this past year. Four guys, two acoustic guitars, a mandolin, a stand-up bass, and three part vocal harmonies abound. This is just boot stomping good fun. The musicianship on this is damn near baffling, and seeing it done live is even better.

1. Dear Landlord - Dream Homes
A fucking homerun. I shouldn't have really expected less combining guys from The Copyrights, Off With Their Heads, and The Gateway District. Everything about this record is spot on, and it lacks any and all pretentiousness to ruin it. Oh, and did I mention it's their first album?



2000 - 2009 (in no particular order)

World Burns To Death - Totalitarian Sodomy (2006)
So many crust punk bands talk about educating the listener - but nobody can hold a torch to how these guys do it. In addition to one of the best crust records of all time, this thing comes with a goddamn novel to read. They flex their muscles in musicianship and world history at every turn.

Tragedy - Vengeance (2002)
Though forever in the shadow of His Hero Is Gone in my eyes, nobody does d-beat/crust better than Tragedy. They're becoming legends without a lick of self promotion besides simply playing shows. Though some of my favorite Tragedy songs come from their first record, I thought Vengeance felt much more cohesive and powerful. I can still remember exactly where I was the first time I listened to it.

The Copyrights - Make Sound (2007)
Even if pop punk hasn't progressed, The Copyrights are proof that you can make the same song sound great album after album. Make Sound, despite a few quarrels I have with its production, is an amazing blend of pop savviness and punk rock. The hooks never end and I think every song on this record has been stuck in my head for days at some point.

Converge - Jane Doe (2001)
One of the best hardcore records of all time. I don't call it a breakthrough album, because they did some amazing records before Jane Doe, but this is a peak they'll never pass. The music, production, lyrics, and artwork all flow together like fate itself constructed it. They showed the experimentation that other hardcore bands were afraid to dabble in at the time, and hit a homerun on every song in it's own way.

Unearthly Trance - Electrocution (2008)
This band just sounds like it comes from a dark place. But, not dark as in Satanism, but more so I picture this is what the inside of Aleister Crowley's head sounds like. They just have this occultish ambience about them that is so intriguing. Electrocution is an exercise in all things heavy. Combining doom, black metal, and crust punk, they show their chops in everything from melody to sheer power, and don't let on to a shred of pretention or cheesiness.

Cursed - One (2003)
Thank god that Left For Dead, The Swarm, and Countdown To Oblivion were in the 90's, otherwise Chris Colohan dominate half this list. When these guys broke out they ended up being nothing of what I expected and was incredibly thankful for it. Colohan trumped his past lyrical efforts, and this album features one of my favorite guitar tones of all time. It sounds like it's literally about to explode at any minute.

Marduk - World Funeral (2003)
I was so into black metal for the first part of the 00's I had to throw in my favorite black metal record of the decade. World Funeral is regarded as many to be one of Marduk's worst, but I love its versatility. They can either speed up or slow down and do both perfectly. Plus, they make a song out of the opening music to Clockwork Orange.

Entombed - Uprising (2000)
I'm one of about three people in the world who likes Entombed's death 'n roll style more than their traditional death metal stuff. Uprising is the pinnacle of that style in my opinion. It has a much grittier production than their other albums and it makes everything sound really organic, which compliments the riff storm all over this thing.

Death From Above 1979 - You're A Woman, I'm A Machine (2004)
Before the hipsters discovered them, they were the pride of Canada. One of the best bass tones I've ever heard.

Off With Their Heads - From The Bottom (2008)
I can't ever get enough of this album. Every song is a sing along, despite some downright depressing lyrics. After seeing them live, I think this captures the same energy they have on stage. I think 20 years from now it'll be regarded as a punk rock classic.

Big Trouble/Brainhammer

Haven't touched this in awhile. Here's a fair way to catch up:

Iron Lung

Awesome Iron Lung video.

"He's dead...so don't fucking laugh."

Bosnia Review

I just found this review of 'Nazarene Hallucinations' online. I thought it was a very descriptive way of reviewing us...

Jasper: If you have just become a dad like me, dirt has a rather negative connotation. The house should be clean, poopy diapers thrown away, the little critter should be scrubbed like a maniac at least three times every week, even the dog should be raised better, because god forbid if that hairy rodent dares to slobber our little princess with his slime bucket...All this considered 'Nazarene Hallucinations' by the American dirtbags Bosnia was a huge shock for our little household. Because if there ever was a goddamn filthy rancid bunch of dirt clods, it is this crusty sludge band.

Think High On Fire, FaceDownInShit, Tragedy, and Buzzov-en, and raise the filth-factor by twenty. On 'Nazarene Hallucinations' all subtelties of more progressive sounding bands like Kylesa and Mastodon are left far behind and replaced by gallloping drums, hammering basses, and buzz-saw guitars. At times Bosnia sounds like the even hairier brother of Tragedy, while if they step on the brakes immediately the green smoke clouds of stoner sludge hell take all fresh air away. Like the last act at a squatter party, after which the whole place is torn to the ground and levelled. Sometimes a fan of sludge metal just wants to fucking sit back and enjoy some pretentiousless mayhem like Bosnia. This band does not need to entertain intellectuals, or storm the heavens with some Pink Floyd or King Crimson influences. Fuck that shit, as long as your little homestead is turned into a big pile of swine shit after this record stopped in its own filth. Oh well, a bit of vileness is good to build up some resistance for those little pests, not?

Bosnia Comeback Show

Here's some video from the Bosnia comeback show last July. I only got the first three songs before my battery died.

Couch To 5K - Week 3

COUCH TO 5K - WEEK 3 - Hosted by Gary Busey and some guy from the first Resident Evil movie

Playlist:
1. The Aggrolites - Hot Stop
2. Alkaline Trio - The Poison
3. Born Against - Janelle
4. Dear Landlord - Lost Cause
5. Off With Their Heads - Until The Day...
6. The Methadones - Getting Older/Losing Touch
7. Riverboat Gamblers - The Gamblers Try Their Hand At International Diplomacy
8. NOFX - Jeff Wears Birkenstocks
9. Propagandhi - Fuck Machine
10. Gaslight Anthem - High Lonesome
11. The Hi-Fives - Love You Better
12. Flogging Molly - If I Ever Leave This World Alive

http://www.mediafire.com/?v3xwgnyyztg

Couch To 5K - Week 2

COUCH TO 5K - WEEK 2 - Hosted by Arnold Schwarzenegger and the earless cop from Reservoir Dogs

Playlist:
1. Black Flag - Nervous Breakdown
2. Calabrese - Death Of Me
3. Dag Nasty - I've Heard
4. Dead Kennedys - Straight A's
5. Discharge - Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing
6. Green Day - Burnout
7. NOFX - The Quitter
8. Hanson Brothers - The Hockey Song
9. Rancid - Warsaw
10. Ramones - Rockaway Beach
11. SNFU - Bobbit
12. The Offspring - Killboy Powerhead
13. Falling Sickness - Face The Clock
14. Face To Face - Disconnected
15. Fifteen - End Of The Summer

http://www.mediafire.com/?1tyjltwt2zi

Couch To 5K - Week 1

My better half and I have been doing this running program called The Couch To 5K. Essentially it's supposed to take you from being a couch potato to being able to run five kilometers non-stop in about 10 weeks. It rotates between jogging and walking to build your body up to running more consistently. To track this, I've been making weekly podcasts (which are essentially just half hour long mp3s).

It's all punk rock (or some very closely related variant), intended to keep the running upbeat and fun. I'm going to post the podcasts from each week for download, in case anyone is looking for cool motivation to get in better shape, or just wants a good punk mix to listen to. If you intend to run with it, each week is comprised of a 5 minute warm up, 20 minutes of alternating jogging and walking, and a 5 minute cool down.

On each podcast I included signals to start and stop running (which you'll recognize as a "GO!" or "STOP!"). Each week I use different markers who act as the host of the podcast. You'll notice the songs to run during have a faster tempo, and the walking songs have a slower tempo, intended to help you control your pace. The song lengths are chosen specifically to match the run/walk times for that week. If you miss the signal, you know to change to running or walking when the song changes (except for the 5 minute warm up and cool down). If you need more info on it, click here.

COUCH TO 5K - WEEK 1 - Hosted by dudes from Man Is The Bastard and Spazz

Playlist:
1. Lifetime - Young, Loud And Scotty
2. The Hextalls - Welcome To The Record
3. Dillinger Four - Doublewhiskeycokenoice
4. Bad Religion - The Positive Aspect Of Negative Thinking
5. The Copyrights - Sleepwalker
6. Dead Kennedys - A Child And His Lawnmower
7. Dear Landlord - Lake Ontario
8. Gob - Centipede
9. The Methadones - Six Degrees Of Seperation
10. Propagandhi - Nailing Descartes To The Wall...
11. The Queers - That Girl
12. Teenage Bottlerocket - Bottlerocket
13. Tongan Death Grip - Werewolf
14. Brutal Knights - U.B.B.C.
15. Chixdiggit! - The Toilet Seat's Coming Down
16. Cobra Skulls - Muniphobia
17. Descendents - Sick-O-Me
18. The Distillers - Bullet And The Bullseye
19. Dillinger Four - O.K.F.M.D.O.A.
20. Off With Their Heads - S.O.S.
21. Pinhead Gunpowder - Big Yellow Taxi

http://www.mediafire.com/?znjtkmjhwyy

Exercise

I just jogged at night during a thunderstorm. How exhilarating!

Band Progression

Here's some haps:

I quit Black Sleep Of Kali.

Cadillacula, after a half year hiatus is practicing again and revamping our sound.

I started a new band that I've been dying to start for about two years - Big Trouble. It's me and members of Brainhammer, Clinging To The Trees Of A Forest Fire, and regional air guitar champions. It's power pop/punk rock. And I'm singing.

And I'm not joking.

Post Bosnia Show Wrap-up

The first Bosnia show in over a year was amazing. It was great to have a fond welcome home after such a long absence.

Out of curiosity, I googled us and our CD and realized there are tons of distros carrying it, and you can even buy it on Amazon. Though we're still wallowing in the shady depths of obscurity, I've never actually experienced a band that was "accessible". At least Amazon accessible.

With Steve and Adam now heading back to their new homes and beginning our next period of what a regular band calls inactivity, I'm realizing we need to keep this train rolling however we can.

Another poster

This one is going to be screen printed and for sale at the show.

Sorry for the silence...

The Boz returns.

Hickey

Hickey was a punk band out of San Francisco and one of the best bands I've ever forgotten about. I only ever owned their split 7" with a band called Fuckface*, which was either lost, stolen or traded sometime in the mide-late 90's. Around that time, both Hickey and Fuckface toured all the way to Halifax - a feat very, very few bands ever did, especially back then when booking, promotion, and exposure for a punk band had to be done without the internet, and a band's survival rested solely on the band's ability to tour, produce records, and word of mouth to other like minded punks.

This is the first song off of that record which is, in my mind, their best and possibly one of the best melodic punk songs ever written.

CLICK HERE and then follow along below:

will we look back and laugh at our twisted path
or will we drive on mindlessly,
asleep at the wheel, too numb to feel
the weight of the gravity that’s holding us here?
wasting away, lookin’ for a new cause to die for
or a reason to live another day,
what would it take to make it worthwhile,
to make all ya’ll smile, and say: hey hey hey, everything will be okay

Also, read their Wikipedia article and scroll down to the part about Voodoo Glow Skulls.




*Here's a funny story about Fuckface: Probably around the time I was 15 or 16, my long time friend Ian Hart gave me a Fuckface t-shirt he never wore. Besides their name, it didn't have anything offensive on it. After moving out of my parents house when I was 17, I would leave the city every Sunday afternoon and go back to the country to my parents house to have a family dinner, do laundry and prove to my parents that I was still healthy (or as healthy as a vegan 17 year old could be anyway).

As I'm sure many loving mothers would do, my Mom would often do my laundry for me. Probably around the time I was 18 or so, I couldn't find my Fuckface shirt anywhere and chaulked it up to it being lost or stolen as I moved in and out of various punk houses. When I was 20, about 3 weeks before I moved to Denver, I had to move back in with my parents as my apartment lease was up and had to stay somewhere in the interim to get all my stuff sorted out to ship to the USA.

After I had UPS'd all of my worldly possessions (including most of my clothes) to my soon-to-be Denver address, one afternoon I agreed to help my Dad with some yard work. Not having any clothes I wanted to ruin, I went up to his room to borrow and old t-shirt to wear. There rolled up tight in the back of his t-shirt drawer was my Fuckface t-shirt. My blood boiled when I saw it and realized that even as a (albeit, young) adult, my parents still did what they could to discourage what they saw as improper. I grabbed the shirt and stuffed it in the bottom of my suitcase on the floor of their spare bedroom.

I've since lost the shirt again. Maybe I should check my Dad's t-shirt drawer next time I'm home.

Making punk happen

I just spent about two hours looking at the personal myspace pages of guys from punk bands I've idolized for years like some fucking fanboy.

Went to the Denver slot of the Napalm Death tour yesterday. Escaped the high door fee thanks to the charasmatic Ryan McKenney. Was able to spend a good chunk of time talking to him at the show. I ended up befriending him last year when Bosnia and Trap Them played together at the late Monkey Mania and I'm lucky enough to have kept in touch with him since. Another good example of punk idolization right there, though I suppose I've been able to lift myself from the ranks of "fanboy" to the esteemed "peer".

Trap Them killed it by the by, and despite opening the show to a dwindled crowed it was the highlight of the night after meatheads packed the floor during ND and crowded me into a spot where I could barely see the stage. About half the way through ND's set I said fuck it and left. I had literally been waiting to see them since I was 14, and now that the day finally came, I couldn't even enjoy them due to constantly being on gaurd from the greasy cavemen parading around the floor. I remember thinking "this is no way to watch a band" as I stood cramped behind a speaker. Every time this happens I'm reminded why I love small DIY shows so much.

After leaving, I got about a block and got pulled over for not using my turn signal to change lanes. The cop was nice enough to let me off without a ticket for the signal, but since I didn't have my insurance card with me, got a ticket for that. So now I have to go to court to contest that I had insurance. I'm sure it'll be cleared, but it's a nuisance (that was my fault).

I have some serious, non-fatal bad luck when it comes to being behind the wheel. I've never been in a bodily harm inducing accident, but it seems like whenever I drive I'm like a giant beacon for cops. I suppose it's my fault for putting myself in the situations, but still. At least I have the common sense to never risk driving when I'm drunk.

Oh...and I might buy a house tomorrow.

The Gaslight Anthem

Here's a little record review:

The '59 Sound was one of the best records of 2008. It had one of the best combinations of punk and classic rock in modern music without it sounding contrived. But, that being said...

I had only had it downloaded until buying the LP just the other day. And let me preface this by saying that I'm the type that takes in an entire record. The music is about 70% of the experience, but I put a lot of weight into the lyrics and presentation. Maybe that's why I still buy vinyl - I have to take the whole thing in. The music, the paper the jacket is printed on, vinyl color, the vinyl weight, and especially the cover art.

This album contains 11 pictures of the band including the one on the cover. 11. I know they're going for the whole old school record cover thing, but they could have applied a little more creativity visually to what is a great record audibly. What's worse is the pictures are so contrived looking. Its an obvious situation where an underground band has "made it" and the label sent them out with a photographer to take candid shots of them, but they're not used to that, so it ends up being unnatural pictures of guys trying to look natural.

Plus...11 pictures? C'mon. Put in a pic of an old house, or your practice space, or something equally as unoriginal but still making it so you're not looking at the same awkward faces over and over.

The hand written lyric sheet is nice though.

But, the worst part of the record is my pet peeve. They printed the name on the spine upside down. The biggest faux pas in vinyl in my opinion. Did your accountant sister-in-law do the layout for free? This mistake should not be happening. Ever.

And then I found out in an interview that the singer/song writer is super Christian. I'm sorry, but that's a bummer. Fuckin'sue me.

Kill the bosses
Kill the priests
Kill the shepherds
Save the sheep

Gnaw Their Tongues

Furthering my obsession with one man black metal projects, I've recently discovered a band called Gnaw Their Tongues from The Netherlands. Coincidentally, they are on the same label which just released the Bosnia album.

Now I love obscure black metal, but this is truly something special. Adhering to almost no trends within BM, this is some of the most frightening music I've ever heard. Extremely slow and dissonant song structures, combined with what sounds like movie scores create a really disturbing combination. Somewhere between black metal and noise, this guy has created a beast that really has to be heard to fully understand.

Most of his music is available for free download on his blogspot, or at least free preview tracks from each of his extensive catalog.

http://www.myspace.com/gnawtheirtongues
http://gnawtheirtongues.blogspot.com

Truly inspiring. Just saying the name gives me the heebie jeebies.

Physical Media

Semi-recently, I bought a copy of the Pink Razors' record Leave Alive. I hadn't really heard them that much, but I knew they were a semi-popular pop punk band, so I took a chance. The record is pretty good - it reminds me of a more East Bay influenced version of The Ergs!. With the record was a code for a free download of the album, as most people are doing these days.

Along with that code was a thank you note for supporting physical media. I kind of wanted to write them and say "you're welcome, and thank you for acknowledging it". I guess it's really sinking in that the music industry is becoming something that doesn't exist in the physical world. Maybe I just have trouble letting go of my upbringing in music, but it seems ludicrous to put all this work into writing songs, spending money recording them, touring them, promoting them, and then simply have it released as mp3s (or equivalent). It feels really strange, and makes me miss the days of only finding out about bands from shows, merch tables, tape trading, and record bins. All of the effort has been taken out of music finding with the internet, and now you can barely get something to hold in your hands when you find someone you really like.

I'm a fool to resist it though, as this is basically a zeitgiest. I'll admit I download a ton of music (and don't pay for any of it) but I still avidly support buying physical media. I've given up on CDs, but still can't resist vinyl.

For those who haven't seen it, check out NOFX's new album Coaster (or the vinyl version, Frisbee). It's largely a statement on the music industry, and the titles are direct references to two useless objects, much like physical media has become.

In fact, here's a video of them talking about it:

NOFX on their new album "Coaster"


Also, the same night I got that Pink Razors record, I did something I haven't done in awhile. Now and then, I'll buy a record by a band I've never heard (or heard of) based solely on the cover art. If something strikes me as really cool looking, or creative, or mysterious, I'll give it a shot on that alone. My first success with this was at Rotate This! in Toronto during the Spring of 2000. I bought a record by a band called Suicide Nation because of this cover. They ended up being one of my favorite bands of the early days of hardcore/metal fusion in the 90's. That record stands out from the rest of that era because it is actually still valid (it's not some melodic Christian shit). It's dark and blackened, and the guys in the band were crust punks who were apparently literally homeless for awhile (thus giving no contact address on their split with Yaphet Kotto).

But I digress.....I bought a record by a band called Black Dove called No Future, No Fate because of the cover. It's hard to see, but all the print on the cover is in foil stamping. It looked so ominous, I couldn't resist. It turned out to be dark, dirty crust punk, with bits of power electronics interspersed. I chaulk it up to another success.

Photoshop

HHIG again

Fifteen Counts Of Arson was released 13 years ago (!) And it is just as valid now as it was then.

I can say with as much conviction as I could when I was 14 that His Hero Is Gone were, are and always will be my favorite band.

BSoK / Pirates

Had a good Black Sleep practice tonight, invigorating me on the band once again. We wrote a song in one shot and began brainstorming for a short tour this Summer. The frustrations of getting the CD released are finally behind me as I finally came up with a design that everyone would agree on. Though CDs are basically useless now, the band will have copies available within a few weeks with the hopes of someone soon after being interested enough to release it on wax.

Is anyone else amazed that there's still pirates...on boats?

The Marked Men

I can't stop listening to these albums by The Marked Men (and neither should you):

Fix My Brain
Ghosts

4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile

Spent the afternoon helping Taylor finish a room in his basement by installing the electrical stuff.

Ended up falling asleep during the first 20 minutes of 4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile (Four Months, Three Weeks And Two Days). Woke up wide awake around 11:30 and restarted the movie. It ended up being really good. The whole thing had a really dry creep to it.

Format Change

In an effort to avoid large lulls of inactivity, I'm going to start making (semi) daily entries shorter in length in a more un-filtered, stream of consciousness type manner, rather than sinking large amounts of time into long winded ramblings. Though those may still appear, this will be more of a point form execution of thoughts, opinions, experiences and observations delivered according my current mood. The result, I believe will be a more accurate account of my time and place at that moment that I can later look back on.

So here goes...

I struggled to get up at 4:00 pm this afternoon after a draining night shift at Cherry Creek Mall (where the company I work for is replacing the sound system).

Arrived at school to take a test I was unprepared for, but due to the close proximity of summer break, didn't fucking care.

Though I cheated and looked at a neighbors test on a few questions, I managed to pull off a perfect score. If our grades actually mattered at all as to whether we passed, I'd be proud of my score or ashamed of my cheating, depending on the circumstance.
To kill time while waiting for when we're allowed to leave class, I did as I usually do - followed the bread crumbs of wikipedia articles reading on subjects and moving on according the links within each one. I tried to ignore the constant chuckles of the cro-magnon men who happen to be my classmates while they watched porn on a PSP six feet away.

I found myseld intensely reading GG Allin's biography and manifesto. This put me in a mood where I continued on to read about famous murderers, specifically Chapman and Berkowitz, which poured over into where I arrived back at work for the night and ignored my duties to read Wikipedia on my phone. Furthering my mood to intrude on eclectic personalities, I started listening to obscure black metal.

After that I wished I had a home recording setup so I could capture my own musical abilities in a strange diary fashion and hope it intrigued someone enough to want to analyze me and what I had to say.

Lucid Media

I'm a contributor to Lucid Media now. Since you know I have extremely distinguished musical tastes, it's no surprise that you're rushing over there to download everything I tell you to.

More Old Pics

Found another online storage place that I had lots of old pictures stored in:


Krista and I in a photobooth, I can't remember where. Probably around 2006.


During the snowstorm of 2003, me, Krista, our roommate and his girlfriend build an 8 foot dick out of snow in the middle of the street while the roads were inaccessable.


"The Abortion Picture" that made waves in my first semester at photo school, 2002.


The first flash sheet I drew while tattooing full time.


Me and Krista's first pet - Tupac the hamster. RIP, 2002 - 2002.


Our second hamster, Hammie. He lived longer. Probably from 2002 - 2004. Both of his eyes literally exploded before he died, and the vet couldn't tell us why.


Our futon mattress floor bed we utilized for a year. Also, our old cat Selma.


My suspension, September 2003.


Right after my suspension (much less gory than you'd expect, no?)


I was skinny and British once.


Playing live with Jennifer. I had Leatherface painted on my bass drum but nobody could tell what it was.


Jennifer again, same show.


Every year Krista and I go pumpkin picking right before Halloween. This was a picture I took of her the first year we went.


While I was working on as a piercer, I did some big thing on the other piercer. He ended up bleeding alot.


The day Krista brought Salem home. Here he is trying to eat a hamster.


Photo I took of The Blood Brothers, 2002.


Our Halloween costumes, 2002.


Halloween, 2002 again. I actually wish I could pull this off day to day.


Another Jennifer picture. Colorado Springs, 2003.


My first time going into the high country, 2002.


My first real tattoo I did, on myself - 2003 or 2004. Currently awaiting cover up.


Playing dress up for The Monsters Of Mock show, 2002.


My friend Austin's dog, Maggie. I shot this with a toy camera, 2003.


Something I painted in 2002. It now belongs to Gerry.


My first cell phone, 2002. The thing was huge.


Photo I took of Coheed And Cambria, before they were huge.


The first car I ever bought, 2005.


Eventually, this is how I stretched my ears. 2002.


Another photo of The Blood Brothers, 2002.


A cool photo I took for school, 2004.


My Doyle impression. Colorado Springs, 2003.


90% of all band photos are bullshit. This one is no exception. Jennifer, 2003.


My first tattoo machine. Badass.

Old Pics

I was just going through our photobucket account and found a bunch of old pics I thought I'd share.


My college graduation.


My portfolio showing at graduation.


Krista and I on Valentines Day 2005.


Chris Watts and I on Valentines Day 2005. Nice mohawk, eh?


Krista and I in Times Square.


Krista and I at Becky and Matt's wedding, New Haven, CT, 2005. Krista got wasted and found a cop hat.


Chris and I playing guns. Now I'm wondering if I should bring the mohawk back.


Apparently me sleeping, waiting for a knuckle bump.


The first amp I bought when I started focusing on playing guitar again. It didn't sound very good, but it does make me want to get a Marshall again. That cab was way oversized too. Check out Sammy sleeping next to it for size reference.


Krista and her Dad on the train on the way to a Broncos game. Check out his O face.


A guitar setup I had for Bosnia at one point.


Sam and Franks going swimming in our yard on Dahlia Street, 2005. I miss having a yard with grass on it.


Krista and I on the waterfront of the Halifax Harbour, 2006.


Krista doin' stuff on Lake Dillon, CO, 2006.


Bosnia live, right around Halloween 2006.


Me drumming for Jennifer, Colorado Springs, 2003. I remember I set up my drums sideways for some reason at that show.


My parents, Krista and I around my birthday, 2007.


Krista and I in a photo booth in Madison, WI, 2001.


Me being vegan at Krista's parents house, 2001.


Krista and I in a photo booth in Halifax, 2001. Look at our turtlenecks. We had just got off the plane from Paris, and were on way to discuss 17th century German existentialist literature while enjoying croissants and a fine glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.


Krista penetrating my ear canal with some sort of vibratory device. Halifax, 2001.


One of the best pictures ever of Krista. Our wedding day, Ray-ray Mysterio.


Gettin' hitched.


Another guitar setup I had at one point.


Amps.


Another guitar setup for Bosnia. The last one I used for the band.


Krista and I, probably around 2003.


Me when I was actually doing photography, Colorado Springs 2003.


The best shirt design I have ever done.


Me playing with an old band, 1998.


Me in Minneapolis airport, 2005.


Me, Krista, Kelly and Chris giving a surfs up at my graduation dinner, 2005.