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In an attempt to make this at least a bit interactive I've turned on the comments option. So, comment away if that's your style. I'm looking forward to this new element of blogging. Now I feel like I should talk about something controversial or thought provoking in order to receive comments. What if I just blog and blog and nobody ever comments and I just feel like one of those blogs that never gets any hits?!

Nah, I can see who comes here via my trusty hidden stats counter. I know who you are...mooaaahhhahahahaha.

In my continued challenge of learning the Swedish language and culture I've learned that Wednesday is called "lill lördag," which translates to little Saturday. Yeah, makes sense, sorta like a hump day thing but I think a lot more optimistic. I'm gonna run with it.

NP on the iPod: Pond - "Flawed" of their album Rock Collection. Holy shit I love me some Pond. I just remebered this 7". Does anyone have an MP3 of "Moth"? Would make me the happiest dude.

And since I don't have a website yet for all of my music-related news (anyone have the time to design one for me?) I'll spew it here. Everything is on the up and up in my little world. I'm looking at a U.S. tour in early and mid October and then dates in Sweden at the end of October and beyond. The kind kids at Svenska Musikklubben will be taking care of my Swedish bookings. Nice! Beyond that, the album artwork is coming along super cool thanks to mperfectdesignco. In September there is going to be an iTunes-only EP and then the full length in October released by Recordhead.

She gives me a dime if I find her glasses

So my recent mission has been filling up my iPod with pretty much any CD I own that I am at least sort of interested in. I figure with 20 gigs I can afford to put albums on there that I don't really listen to that often. And, because of this, I've gotten back into some stuff that I haven't heard in a really long time. My most recent rediscovery is P.E.E.'s 'Now! More Charm & More Tender'. Their formula of usually short, semi-complex and moody yet poppy songs worked so so nice. The boy/girl vocal trade offs were swell too. A band I was in opened for P.E.E. when they came through Champaign on tour and their set was so sweet I had to pick up the CD, glad I did.

Spent Saturday night at a friend's wedding party and found myself on the apartment building's rooftop in a super interesting conversation with a beekeeper. If you were at any of the MP Shows / Rory Lake's Battle of the Bands you may have seen the bee keeper selling his honey. Anyways, I'm sorry I don't remember his name (blame the keg of Stella) but he was obviously intelligent on the subject and was a super interesting guy. It's conversations like these (the kind that you least expect) that stick in my memory longest. It's good to actually learn something once in a while too. And remember, this summer, when a bee stings you, it's because you fucked up, not the bee.

If you'll glance over to the right you'll see my new random photo generator that's linked up to my flickr account. I recently signed onto flickr (taking a free account for a test drive) and, so far loving it. It's smartly organized, looks good and I don't have to use my own server space to host pics. Thanks to Brandon Chalk and Woodcreeper for the inspiration and code to make the generator actually work and look right!

If you breathe the city out of me

fancy forest - mp3

The above picture is from Uppsala, Sweden and was taken on the day that this song is about. What's it about? Oh, new ideas, taking my first breath of fresh air (ever), sitting on the hill where they buried the king, coming home and living dirty, stuff like that.

Glad Midsommar!

For those of you keeping score at home, I've posted over half of the album now. I will keep doing my Friday unveiling even after the album has been completely leaked out. I've got a killer remix (damaged circuits, yes), unreleased songs and demos that I'd like to share with you. In times like these I think it's silly to horde everything and hope it gets released at a later date. If you want it, you can have it. Come and get it.

But, yes, the album will be released. It will be available through Luna Music's mailorder sometime in September, with a street date and hoepfully tour in October. Stay with me kids, I'm going to need wingmen.

Branding

Every time I ride by the Morton Salt factory on Elston I look up over my shoulder at the huge salt girl that is painted on the building's slanted roof and say, "Hey baby." I do this every time. It's like an obsessive-compulsive thing. I think this is one of the best corporate logos ever and I suppose that's the reason why I actually buy this salt, and say hey to a roof, because I like how the packaging looks. I mean, salt is salt. Who cares if you buy some generic brand or this name brand stuff. But we all have our reasons, some better than others. I can easily admit, I'll spend the extra money if one brand simply looks "cooler" than the one sitting right next to it.

She's got a long history and has changed her look quite a few times over the years. By the timeline it looks like she's grown up a little bit and shed some of the pudgy kid fat, huh? Right now she stands as classic as ever. And, remember these shirts? A classic band borrowing a classic logo. I like it. The Blackball Records website told me that Morton ordered a cease and desist, so they no longer are available.

As far as sweet-looking logos go, I'd say she's in good company with this lucky cat and this drunk bear. Yes, I've purchased these products simply for their classic look. Hamm's definitely still sports the same can that I saw in my grandfather's fridge when I was a kid. But, Eveready has moved on and updated its look, oh well. That pink bunny makes me sick. So I won't buy Energizer! I like Duracell though because of the commercials where the battery used to open up and close; no sign of battery acid anywhere, just rings of POWER, remember?

Adventure, Bless and Don't Be Sorry

So, last night, this show I played, we're going to chalk it up to the character-building variety. But, so far, out of the handful of solo shows I've recently done this was the only sparsely attended one. All in all things are great though. The album has been sent off to be mastered and the artwork is in the works. Now I just sit back and play the waiting game, and keep at it.

Oh so, if you wanna know, the special someone I've been talking about who's in town visiting me...her name is Nilla. She comes from Motala (via Uppsala) Sweden. She'll be in Chicago for the next 7 weeks doing an internship at Lincoln Park Zoo. Can you dig it?

We spent Friday afternoon with olives, bread, La Croix (lime, natch) and some spreadable cheese. Yeah wait, and strawbs. Our plans to venture south to Jackson Park were foiled when the winds picked up and the sky darkened. Next thing you know we're in Grant Park (no Japanese gardens in Grant Park) and the sun comes out and yeah yeah you know how it goes. We enjoyed the sun-bathed day and so did the gulls.

The rest of the weekend was pretty laid back. Luckily I didn't sit through the Cubs hardships in NYC. I get so depressed when they get swept, especially if I've dedicated that many hours to watching the games. But, bleed that Cubbie blue...these are just bumps in the road. We get swept. It's going to happen, a lot.

Back to this here grind kids. Happy Monday, happy summer, talk soon.

Tram into town, kicking around

flame out flyboy - mp3

I'll be performing at a Blackspot benefit this Sunday evening.

June 19 @ Blackspot Gallery (2315 W. Huron Ave.), Chicago, IL w/ Matthew Kerstein (Scotland Yard Gospel Choir), Rich Salamander, Joe Sepi - 8PM, All Ages, Donation

Everyone is getting really old

I wanted to call this post 'Get Born' but then I realized that that's the name of that Jet album; an album that I've shunned for a laundry list of reasons. I'll spare you that list. In the words of whoever updates the Blackspot myspace page, "Action speaks louder than hair." Exactly!

And on to some people that have quite nice hair (better than most): It's a week of birthdays over here in my little world. Last night I headed over to one of our usual drinking establishments to wish Mike and Dan a happy happy and got to see lots of the gang. Drank Carlsberg (Probably the best birthday beer in the world), because that's what I do when I'm happy and in good company. Whoever was DJing played The Exploding Hearts, nice! That's a band that woulda, coulda, shoulda but, thee most unfortunate stuff happened.

Wow that's depressing...let's get happy: Tomorrow is Nilla's birthday. She flew all the way from Sweden just to let me take her around the city on her special day! No, not quite, but it's really good timing. I think we'll check out Jackson Park and see where the day takes us. Oh yeah, work can just HOLD while I celebrate m'sweet's day. The forcast calls for me not getting up at 7:00 and fighting SUV driving doods (got flicked off yesterday, Michigan plates) as I ride through the loop.

I'm sorta bummed that Nervous Acid is closing up shop. It was one of my daily reads and, like some of my friends hair, better than most.

Cold Pink

"This song's about going to bed alone. It's called 'Cold Pink.'" - Kevin Kujawa (Mannequin Men)
Mannequin Men, 6.11.05 at The Mutiny, Chicago, Il.


NP on the iPod: 'Slow Motion (live)' - Pulsars

And, I think the Pulsars were one of the coolest bands ever to come out of Chicago. And I miss them. And no, I'm not going to ever stop talking about them, or Number One Cup. These weren't your typical Chicago bands by any means. They didn't fit into any scene except the little worlds they created for themselves. And that's what it was. Ok, now that that's out of my system...

This weekend was a good mix of not giving a fuck about anything and then really really caring about each and every detail. Example: Saturday night I headed out to the Mutiny (holy crap, this place is evil and I like it) to see Mannequin Men. Men rocked. And when you're drinking bad beer out of a plastic pitcher (this is standard at the Mutiny) and seeing your good pals open up with fucking 'Private School' you tend to just let go and not give a shit about what happens to you, ever. On the other hand, Sunday was an all-out clean up, shape up or ship out sort of day. Jeff and I seriously spent the whole day cleaning the apartment. Of course we had to take a few breaks to digest pizza and watch the Cubs get leveled. But we were productive.

See, you can't have a messy apartment when you have a very special guest blowing into town. That's right, a very special someone will be in Chicago for the next 7 weeks...my girl! Holy happy day. Sometimes Monday's aren't so bad. My life works in spurts like this. I'll have 2 to 3 months without seeing her. It's all about being productive at home and making progress (finished sequencing my album last night) and preparing for her arrival. Once she's here, things usually end up making sense again. Not to say that these past few months haven't made sense but I've felt pretty lost and easily distracted. The 'Lost Weekend' concept needs to stop. And it's Monday, so it has.

Next to the nudes in the park

I love the dogs in East Berlin. They are well behaved and appear to have an agenda all their own. It's not uncommon to see one walking down the sidewalk without an owner but with a look on his face that he has somewhere to be and please don't walk too slow as to make him late. Where do they live? I don't know, but they've got it all figured out. And they're happy. I think they live with the hippies and the babies.

Taking cues from everything around us, we got brave. We ventured west.

you've your spy map out - mp3

On the ninth day there was sound

I totally played hooky from work yesterday. And it was wonderful. Actually, if you look at it from an outsider's perspective it was simply a kid in front of a computer for twelve hours recording, mixing and sequencing (sweating, drinking Cherry Coke for hydration, not too pretty). Dudes, the album is done. Beyond the fact that a few songs are louder than others (mastering fixes that) it sounds really cool. Of course I must fix those louder songs on my own so I can listen to the thing without freaking out every other song. It's hilarious though, I've put so much time into this thing that now since it's done I just want to get it out of my hands and not really listen to it all for a month or so. I'm sick of these damned songs! You're not (hopefully) and tomorrow is Friday. You know what happens then.

Besides the usual Friday unveiling I'm also playing a show. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve for this one, all for the sake of experimentation. If it goes over like one of those ACME anvils and it sucks then you can at least say you were there "that one time when Mike really sucked." Or, it might be good...tricks up my sleeve.

Oh, the show! I've posted this before...sorry...really quick...Friday, June 10th @ Bottom Lounge in Chicago, Il, 18+, 9PM...Mike Downey opening for (what a sweet lineup) Rogue Wave, The Helio Sequence, The Honorary Title. And, as I've been known to say...Be there, or be somewhere else.

So I'm pretty sure I'm going to jump into the iPod realm. Took me long enough. I guess I was waiting for a good reason. Now I have one. Traveling overseas with a suitcase full of CDs sounds like a pretty bad idea. Traveling overseas with a little white rectangle in my pocket sounds like a good idea. Guess I'll go for the 20 gig model. Not to be confused with the 1.21 jigawatt model.

One last thing. Props to Matt Malloy for being the first person to ever remix one of my songs. And, it was Matt's first remix, and a successful one at that. We're both really happy with the outcome and the possibilities of future collaborations. It's sort of like two virgins making really wonderful love under the ol' oak. Or maybe it's like a friend remixing a friend's song. xoxo.

Itemized

+ "I always look out for bikes," said the Hyundai driver to me as I picked up my bike and assessed the situation. Bike: in tact, body: fine/little sore. I responded with, "I know, you always look out for bikes." This only fuels my One Less Car attitude. It's me vs. them. But I'd like to coexist, if possible.

+ I was wearing my "Keep on bikin'" t-shirt when this happened. Exactly.

+ That Sith movie was better than expected. I loved it actually. Any criticism that I've heard went right out the window. The way the clones turn on the Jedis is probably one of the saddest movie moments I can remember. Tear.

+ Modern Temper drummer and all around swell kid Matt Malloy has been working on a remix of my song 'Oh Randomness.' I'm really looking forward to hearing his take on the song. And, I had a great conversation with Chris from Grizzly Bear about the aesthetic of remixes in general and how different people go about the process. Expect some files soon Chris.

+ It is not cheap to ship a computer and/or bike (or anything "big") overseas. I knew this already though. It's now confirmed. Laptop?

+ Cubs on the West Coast kicking the shit out of Los Angeles and San Diego: Priceless.

+ Baseball players, in general, have really moved away from a classic look. Now it's all long pants and goatees. Me and the OG Mountain Man have had many discussions on this. We recommend players move back to stirrups and mustaches. Thank you.

+ np: 'Cruel Summer'

My heart needed a beat, not a drum fill

Photo taken during the (Judas Priest) Parking Lot Marathon. Ah, the good old days of satellite television in a compromising land known as Joliet. This song takes place during that time, there. And this is what happens when the authorities get involved.

judge on the horn - mp3

Not to change the subject or anything but...

Now, I have not seen the new Star Wars Sith-thing but I am still, just like you, a fan of the phenomena as a whole. No, I will never dress up like a storm trooper or a biker scout (they were the coolest) but if I had to wear any sort of Star Wars merchandising it would be this.

You dig baseball? Oh cool, me too. Well the All-Star balloting is well under way. If you didn't already know, the fans pick the players for the game and the winning league gets home field advantage in World Series. Does any of this sound odd to you? It's a sham! What do we, the fans, know? Well, we know lots but most will vote for their favorite players regardless of how they are doing this season or if they've been injured for a majority of the games. What a horrible idea. I think coaches, players and baseball intellects (Peter Fucking Gammons) should pick the roster. But really, for a shared opinion on the balloting, hit up fellow Cub fan and comrade Flying Arrows. Makes sense to me.

Stop back tomorrow, I'll be letting another song loose. Tomorrow's song was deemed "pretty sweet" by a few dudes at my recent show. So, you've got that to look forward to.

Hey! June salutes you

Summer is so here. I have been really enjoying my morning rides to work. I always start off with a sweatshirt (but it makes me sweat, go figure) and end up at 1900 S. Michigan Ave. with just a t-shirt. It's so hard to walk into work though. I really want to just tool around for another hour, but, work always awaits (when I have a job). I've got my eye on a sweet ride over there on the eBay. Another day of bidding though so we'll have to see if her price skyrockets and screws it up.

In other news, I've got another show lined up in Chicago. Just an early warning, but I hope some of you can make it out. This is going to be a good one:

Friday, June 10th at Bottom Lounge - Rogue Wave, The Helio Sequence, The Honorary Title, Mike Downey - 18+

Cubs are playing all 9:00 games this week, which rules. My plan is to get home at about 6:00ish, rock n' roll hoochie coo (record quiet songs on my computer), eat (avocado on the cheeseburger) and then join the OG Mountain Man for some late-night Cubs v. West Coast. But that's just what I'm doing. I'm moderately interested in your evening plans as well. So, let's hear 'em then.