adam svec’s enemy swimmer

Most of the population of the United States doesn’t live in Minnesota because the winters are extreme.  In solidarity with the rest of the world, I agree… the winters are extreme.  However, this is the time of year that makes me want to move.  I can’t take the inland heat that squeezes the life out of the plain states… I am just not man enough.

In the last week, Tor, Chris, Karen, Ben, and I have tracked accordion, guitar, and vocals for the new record.  When Tor gets back from Holland we will finish up the percussion and Travis’ bass parts.  I wouldn’t lie to you, and I am telling the truth when I say the tracking so far sounds amazing.  Chris’ guitar parts and Karen’s vocals have been haunting me in my sleep.  I am so excited to finish the tracking so that I can hear the finished product.  I can’t wait for Tor to lay down some inspired, focused, and tasteful rhythm.

My heart goes out to the family and friends of Jeff Hanson.  I was sorry to hear of his passing, and I am sorry that I will not hear anymore new work by such a wonderful artist.

This weekend Tor and I will start tracking for a new record.  There are 22 songs to choose from, but I think we’ll try to limit the listings to ten songs.  Tor Johnson, Chris Salter, Travis Welk, and Ben Rengstorf will all be contributing performances to the record.  I’m going to try and talk Karen S into singing some harmonies.  I’ll be using an Epiphone Emperor through a Bad Cat Mini Cat II (hand-wired 5-watt Class A amp)  to lay down the basic guitar tracks.  I’ve really fallen in love with the tone of the Mini Cat over the last few weeks as I’ve been writing some new songs and playing a couple shows.  At least two of the tracks will be piano/wurlitzer driven.  I’m excited to see how the microphones and the room work together to make the piano do it’s dirtiest.  I’ve been majorly impressed with three records lately: 1) Bonnie Prince Billy “Beware”, 2) Grizzly Bear “Veckatimest”,  3) “Dark Was The Night” Compilation.  I’m excited for the new Bowerbirds record to be released (http://deadoceans.com/home.php).  That’s all for now.  Have a good week.

So, I peruse craigslist for musical gear fairly often.  By no means do I need more stuff, but I’m addicted to good deals.  I probably have a diagnosable ’sale bug,’ but we’ll leave that for another blog post.  I would like to know why people feel the need to be such badasses on craigslist.  I know that there are some scammers that a person might encounter, but most of the dealings I’ve had with craigslisters have been fairly pleasant… weird… but pleasant.  That’s why I don’t really understand the need to use terms like “$1000 firm, don’t even think about offering me a trade” or “cash only, no low ball offers” or “local pick up only, absolutely will not ship.”  I understand that these parameters make for fewer questions later, but why are the parameters always coupled with some sort of subtle insult?  If you’ve already set the price at $1000 and someone emails an offer of $400… just don’t email them back… that’s it.  If somebody makes an offer of $950, are you seriously going to go balistic on them?  That’s a pretty good deal for you.  It’s not like someone is going to respond to your $1000 guitar with an offer of $4000.  “Hey man, I know your guitar is posted at $1000, but I was wondering if I could pay you $4000 instead?…”  Of course the offer is going to be lower than you’ve posted… that’s the deal!  That’s what craigslist is about.  Bartering, bargaining, trading… people shop on craigslist because they want a deal, not because they want to mortgage their house for a used Telecaster.  So, in conclusion, just put the basic information on the craigslist post.  If we want to be e-scolded for a low-ball offer, we’ll email you… see you on the list.

Some rules that my friend Ben and I created:

1)  If you are in a sour mood, most types of whiskey will not improve that mood.  They taste good… they convince you that they’re a good idea… they’ll put their hands on your shoulder and commiserate… but most of the time, their friends are waiting around the corner with a baseball bat and a sack of oranges (no bruises).

2)  If you have done something in your life, you will have always done that thing.  You may not be doing it now, but that doesn’t keep it from being a part of your history.  For example, I worked at Capella University for four years.  It’s not something I particularly enjoyed for any length of time.  I met some great people (the K’s), but I’m not proud of the work I accomplished there and I wish never to return.  Even though I’m not still currently working there, I will always “have worked” there… that experience cannot be scrubbed away.  I know the concept of “the past” seems like common knowledge to most people, but after a couple drinks and an episode of the BBC Office on Sunday night, it seemed like a revelation.

3)  When you are planning for the future, be sure to take stock of the things you enjoy doing now, every day.  Make time for the things you enjoy.  Don’t “have time,” “make time.”  Time does not grow on trees.  Time does not just show up on your door step and offer pieces of itself to you.  For example, if a kid plays video games all day, he really doesn’t “have” time for anything… his day is full.  If he wants to eat a hamburger, he has to “make” time for that hamburger.  He has to specifically block out a 15 second period where he can pry his sticky fingers away from the keyboard, run to the kitchen, inhale some food, and return to the keyboard.  Unfortunately, even in that situation, the time has to made, manipulated, and scheduled.

4)  Watching videos of cyst-popping is awesome (Ben’s opinion diverges with mine on this topic).

Adam Svec – ‘747′ from troy zimmerman on Vimeo

Couple things:

1) Watch out for an interview to be posted within the next couple weeks on: http://foodforthebeloved.wordpress.com/

2) I just got word tonight that I’ll tentatively be playing the Stone Arch Festival of the Arts on June 20th at 1:15 on the Star Tribune stage.  See details here: http://www.stonearchfestival.com/

**So it’s April again, and you know what that means.  Jesus dies… again.  And then he raises from the dead three days later… again.  Jesus seriously needs to find a new trick.  He’s been pulling this passion play sh*t for a couple years now, and I’m not buying it anymore.

I had a single malt irish whiskey called Wild Geese last night at “Merlin’s Rest” over on East Lake Street.  I tell you what… you should have some.  It is worth the money.  A couple years ago, my favorite east-lake bar went under, and I was pretty sad to see it go.  Luckily, Molly Quinn’s has been re-imagined and re-invented in a delightful little place called Merlin’s Rest.  It’s as Irish as you like and as English as you hate.

If April showers don’t destroy us, summer sweat is just around the bend.  Cheers to my friends and my family.  They make this suffocating climate worthwhile.

http://vimeo.com/3838642

I met my friend Troy Zimmerman through my roommate Shawn a while back.  Since then, we have watched a couple of martial arts movies together, drank some beers, and gone to a handful of shows.  Oh.. by the way… he also made two badass videos on my behalf with a string bean budget; one video for The Glad Version’s “Deadwood” and one for “747.”  He just posted the 747 video (long for “vid”) on his vimeo page http://vimeo.com/3838642.  Hope you enjoy it.  Now he’s off to Ireland, so you better hurry up and get your fill of Mr. Zimmerman before he goes.  Thanks Troy!

I found this photo collage put together by the lovely Jenn Barnett.  It’s a stream of images from our CMJ trip in 2008:  http://howwastheshow.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html

Today, I realized that kids graduating high school this spring were born the same year that Nirvana Nevermind was released (1991).  I turned 29 last Sunday, and I was trying to think of albums that were released in 1980 that I could shout out by name.  I couldn’t think of any.  Mozart? Brahms? Did they put out new records that year?

I haven’t paid much attention to the outside world this week.  My self-induced internal world has been a weight-lifting affair, and I’ve had little energy for current events.  “Compressions and Rarefactions” are terms most commonly used to refer to the positive and negative displacement of particles in uniform circular or pendular motion.  I can’t help but think my days (our days… the world) correlate to the path of a sine wave.  We have good, and we have bad.  Hopefully, the phasing works out to equilibrium… Although, it would be nice if the good could outweigh the bad.  Unfortunately, I don’t think it works that way.  Here’s a cheers to the bad, only to the extent that it is inevitably followed by a pendular maximal displacement of good.

It’s February again, and that means I’ll be getting older.  I think 58 will be a good year, but I really shouldn’t speak of it before it’s gone… it’s bad luck.  I found this mention on a blog:

http://soundaslanguage.com/2009/01/29/quick-hits-adam-svec/

I’ve recently been annoyed (as Andy Meyer mentioned in his facebook function) by the overuse of the word “random.”  It doesn’t really mean anything, and I wish people would hang it up.  Also, I’m fed up with facebook participants stating things like “You know man, I am not usually the type of person to do these things (25-random-things about myself), but I guess I’ll give it a go.”… Dude… everybody that ever completes a 25-random-things survey always says “I don’t usually do this stuff, but….” so basically, that makes you EXACTLY the type of person that “does this stuff.”  Just accept that you are a normal/typical person, and we’ll forgive you.  All of us normal boring people love facebook… it’s okay… you can too.  However, If you keep demanding to be singled out as and individual, all I’ve got for you is a frown and a headshake.

So this is the first year I’ve really been bothered by the winter in MN.  I typically really enjoy the refuge from the heat.  Now I’m second guessing my allegiance to this landscape of relentless prairie wind.  Here is a really nice review of Enemy Swimmer:

http://lunchofchampions.com/2009/01/adam-svec-enemy-swimmer/

“You’re the best around, nothings every gonna get you down” – karate kid song lyrics (don’t know appropriate citation).