Ummm... Where the fuck were you last week? Fuck you, I was busy too...

Sorry I missed last week. I was in Wisconsin hanging out with my amazing brother and his amazing girlfriend. They live up in Green Bay and we tore that shit up over the weekend. Shout out to Presidente for their habanero chicken, to Glass Nickel for their border to border pizza (insider tip: order beer not bourbon “neat”) and Player 2 in Appleton, WI for having the 4 player Pac-Man (my favorite multiplayer arcade game ever), Area 51, NBA Jam TE, Off-Road and other crazy awesome throwback arcade games. I think I lost at every game that day but you can at least watch me WIN SOME MARIO SPORTS GAMES HERE against the mighty MELON THE FELON on Twitch. I’m happy I could hold my own after all these years and not embarrass myself against my little brother. He’s so much smarter and more talented than me in every way except making music that it’s ridiculous. Well, it’s not really ridiculous, he’s just better. But, luckily, I’m still his older brother which gives me a small advantage when we compete. Someday that will go and I’ll just be older but I’ll take it as long as I can…

So, needless to say, I was having too much fun (and too much beer) to write all y’all last week. I would apologize but I already said “sorry” above and don’t actually give a shit.

I was going to write about the Green Bay Packers and how they saved their season tonight but, unfortunately, they fucking blew it. I know everyone will jump on the fire Mike McCarthy bandwagon which was already picking up steam, but I’d like to offer my two cents. And, since you’re reading this, you probably want my fucking two cents, so here it is: Mike McCarthy is a great football coach but has repeatedly, when the game or season is on the line, trusted his defense over Aaron Rodgers, which means either:

1. Mike McCarthy is fucking insane

2. Aaron Rodgers isn’t as good as we think he is

3. Both Aaron and Mike know that the team sucks and Aaron has no one to throw to regardless

I remember the same “I can’t believe they have only won one Super Bowl” argument with Favre, which, again, was because the teams outside of ‘96 and ‘97 were shit. The difference was that Brett never gave you the opportunity to punt away the game. He would throw the game-winning or game-losing pass himself which is why I always felt he was the superior QB. He rarely put it in the defense or coach’s hands. He was gonna take the win or loss himself. That’s a true leader in my book. I frankly think both Aaron and Brett are prisoners of their own design. They are too good to get coaches or teammates fired so they get saddled with mediocre to bad talent for years. But, in defense of Rodgers, McCarthy has trusted his defense over Rodgers repeatedly since their Super Bowl win. Just think of 2014 against the Seahawks, not going for 2 in 2015 against the Cardinals, and even this year against the Seahawks and Vikings. Maybe the $30M man is good at football… Who knows, he might win you a game or two if you let him… Or maybe he’s not as good as we think. Russell Wilson doesn’t have as good of an offensive line or better receivers but he seems to get it done. Andrew Luck is never out of it no matter how far he falls behind and though he has T.Y. Hilton who is better than any of our WR’s, he doesn’t have much else. Just sayin…

Anyways, to this weeks music… I didn’t keep track of the daily weird song that was stuck in my head but since I was driving about 3 hours a day, I had plenty of time to become re-obsessed with certain songs that I played on repeat for miles and miles and miles and miles. Below are the songs an Asperger’s boy loved while driving past the flat, frozen landscapes for hours on end.

 

“ANTABUS” - MAKTHAVERSKAN

 

I just fucking love the lo-fi, weird, emo-punk feel of this tune. It just tugs at my heart-strings in a strange “fuck you” kind of way. There’s a sad, chaotic energy that I can’t get enough of. It’s the perfect winter driving song to get you through those boring ass miles upon miles.

 

“SET YOURSELF ON FIRE” - STARS

 

This is without a doubt one of my favorite albums ever. This song popped up on my Spotify “Your Daily Car Mix” and immediately melted my heart. If I could only listen to 10 records for the rest of my life, “Set Yourself on Fire” would be one of them. The title track here is a great summation of what you’ll get on the rest of the record: nostalgia, sadness, hope, sex, awkwardness and beauty. This record could technically be impetus of me marrying my wife as it made me desperately want a female singing partner. I’ve had a few but none have compared until her.

 

“GRACE CATHEDRAL PARK” - RED HOUSE PAINTERS

 

Another song off the Spotify “Your Daily Car Mix.” When I lived in San Francisco (in the Tenderloin when it was still a fucking disaster and a horrible, drug-infested neighborhood), I often walked up the hill to Grace Cathedral to sit in awe of its beauty, either inside or out. More often in as the Masonic lodge built of fucking marble and granite across the street freaked me the fuck out. Watching the tourists come in and take pictures and be awed by its immensity and grandeur was a fun way to spend an afternoon, especially given the fact that I had to kick crack heads out of the way to get into my apartment and endure the 3am fire alarms which were only to see if anyone would leave their doors unlocked so they could be robbed. Good times… Grace Cathedral was a respite from all that. It was amazing in the truest sense of the word and gave me a place to be. It’s rare that I felt the touch of God but this place most definitely allowed me that.

 

“THE GREAT SALT LAKE” - BAND OF HORSES

 

Nice reference to “the next Omaha.” Saddle Creek records was such a big influence on me growing up. Bright Eyes, Rilo Kiley, The Faint, etc. But, I saw Band of Horses open for Iron & Wine and was a fan ever since. I remember this song (in addition to “Funeral,” obviously) from that first show I saw them at in 2005 before they even had an album to sell. There was a magic about them. They loved the same bands I loved (i.e. the Strokes and Iron & Wine) and had a wonderful feel that the Fleet Foxes later stole. There’s a strange comfort that becomes me when I hear this album.

 

“BLUEBERRY BOAT” - THE FIERY FURNACES

 

OK, I’m weird. I know this. But, I fucking love this album. Just feel lucky I didn’t recommend all the “Green Typewriters” from “Dusk at Cubist Castle.”

That’s all folks… Dictated but not read.

This week in Bradley Wik's fucking weird ass head... aka... what songs I've woken up to

Many thanks to all who came (physically and sexually) to the video release party last Friday Night. I had an amazing time and I’m sure you did too. I could listen to SARA MORRIS and BRIANNE KATHLEEN sing for days on end as they are so talented, and I want to thank them for performing. It was truly a magical night.

But, what I haven’t done in a while is not complain about my life, my depression, my Asperger’s, my Meniere’s disease, the Green Bay Packers or any number of other things, and simply share some music that I have been loving recently. I wanted to make this a bit different than I have in the past and I will be sharing the songs that were stuck in my head throughout the past week.

To clarify, every morning (more or less) I wake up with a very different and very random song stuck in my head. It could be due to a dream, but rarely one I remember. So, to me, they are the weirdest fucking songs and I have almost no clue where they come from. Probably from their penises and vaginas but that’s just a guess based on my life experience. I’ve been tracking these for, oh, I don’t know, only a week as I thought it might be entertaining to someone besides me. These songs seemingly come out of nowhere and may be the most random collection of tunes assembled on a Spotify playlist, which I’ll post below. For the blog, I’ll post the YouTube links as I know not everyone has Spotify, at least I think they don’t, who knows. I’m not sure what the kids do these day so fuck it…

Monday - “There’s Your Trouble” - Dixie Chicks

1998? Where the fuck did this come from? Maybe it was the impending election and some random thoughts back to when they were temporarily hated for going against George W., who in retrospect wasn’t actually that bad… Sadly, I miss W. Between the silliness and Will Ferrell’s impression, those were simpler and better times. Still, it’s funny to watch videos from a time that HD didn’t exist…

Tuesday - “Cars” - Gary Numan

Maybe I drunkenly forgot that I watched THIS ON FAMILY GUY but maybe I was just having an Asperger’s moment and loving Gary Numan (has acknowledged his own Asperger’s). Or, maybe since I had to drive a few hours on Tuesday the song invaded my psyche. Who knows. However it came, it was welcome and kicked off a Gary Numan-centric afternoon listening session which was well enjoyed by me.

Wednesday - “Mellowship Slinky in B Major” - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Told you this list would be all over the place. I don’t control my subconscious and what’s stuck in my head when I wake up, as illustrated by this song which I haven’t listened to or heard in years. And I mean years… Still it fucking rocks.

Thursday - “Can’t Help Falling in Love” - Elvis

My grandma famously (at least in our family) caught a scarf from none other than Elvis when she was both younger and still alive (God rest her amazing soul). She caught it simultaneously with her friend and for the next fifty years they alternated keeping it safe and secure. My grandma passed before her friend and her friend passed the scarf to her one last time before burying her with it. It was an incredibly gracious and emotional gesture at the funeral as my grandma loved nothing more than Elvis. She was a saint and my hero. I’ve met and shook hands with Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan but it never would have, or could have, matched her meeting Elvis. Incredible things happen to incredible people. My grandma is the only person I’ve met who writes better letters than me. This blog doesn’t express my letter writing ability, though someday it might. But, she was a genius and I owe a lot to her. I still own her guitar. It was a Gibson lap steel from 1938. My grandmother was an incredible woman, as many grandmothers from that time were.

Friday - “Working for the Weekend” - Loverboy

If you want to hear the song you can skip the first 2:23 as it’s some real jerkoff, egotistical band bullshit. Sidenote: every Saturday while I shit I sing to myself “Everybody’s pooping on the weekend…” Try not to think of that next weekend when you’re pooping and playing on your phone. “Everybody’s pooping on the weekend.”

Saturday - “Rock with You” - Michael Jackson

MJ is my favorite artist ever although this is a pretty random song for me. I’m typically a “Bad” guy as that was the album I grew up with. My mom probably has photos and maybe video of me reenacting MJ’s dance moves from “Bad.” I would say it’s probably unflattering as how could anyone replicate what MJ could do, but then again, what can’t I do? I’m awesome as fuck. Also, MJ is always Michael Jackson to me and not Michael Jordan. He’s great but not MJ great.

Sunday - “My Slow Descent into Alcoholism” - The New Pornographers

Before it even started, I almost ruined my relationship with my wife over the New Pornographers. I was in a terrible place (which I still partially reside) and trying my best to ruin everything. I was supposed to go and meet this beautiful girl at a New Pornographers show. I heard she wasn’t gonna go with me because she liked someone else so I found out where she was going and got super fucked up and met her there while flirting shamelessly and making out with another girl. I eventually ended up puking in the bathroom, passing out in the back of a Subaru and showing up two hours late to work the next day, but somehow my future wife didn’t hate me. I still haven’t defeated my alcholistic roots but I’m much closer than I was back then. I’m still pissed that I missed out on a fight and a free hot dog afterwards. Long story…

Monday - “New York City Cops” - The Strokes

A song cut from the final album, but fucking hell was it was great. I had the early bootleg version which had “New York City Cops” on it so this was drilled into my head by the 1,000 consecutive listens only to be fucking confused by the “official” release. Words, they don’t make sense. But, I love this shit. My band used to rehearse at the same space in NYC as the Strokes did back in the day, aka 1999-2001. Wow, shitty comparison… But, I did get drunk and fuck as many girls or close to it… So, I have that going for me, which is nice.

Music Video Notes and shit...

So, the Packers shat the bed once again. Just like last week, they had the chance to dethrone one of the best teams in the league and decided to fuck themselves over. I don't want to rant and rave about it (I've done that for at least 4 or 5 hours over the past 24 hours) but it's so goddamn frustrating to give games like this away. It's also weird that our defense is playing better than our offense, which has Aaron Fucking Rodgers. Color me confused as fuck. That's a phrase, right? Anyways, some good/music news...

Many thanks to Adobe and Teardrops (click HERE to read):

And to Americana Daily (click HERE to read):

For supporting the release of our newest music video for “Let’s Go Out Tonight.” Here’s a few thoughts I had about the making of the video:

“Turns out it’s not easy to make a zombie-themed music video.  From finding the right DP and makeup artist to bring our zombie rom-com to life, to finding the perfect “Thriller” looking house, the director and I digging a real grave in someone’s backyard (Oregon dirt is mostly clay with lots of rocks in it…), the 2+ hours of having alcohol-based makeup, since it was still raining in July (God bless Oregon), slathered on my face, neck and hands plus the 1+ hour of washing my skin with alcohol to get it back off, practicing “Thriller” dance moves in my apartment and injuring my hand so badly that I now have a scar for the rest of my life (long story), to all the overnight shoots, it wasn’t your typical music video.  I was buried underground for 20 minutes while we waited for the lighting, effects and weather to all play together for the perfect shot, and I loved it; which was good since that was only the first of many takes…

But, God bless Kevin Pietila, the director, since he had the vision and the passion to keep the cast and crew focused and performing at our best, not an easy task at 4 or 5am when everyone is starting to feel the lack of sleep and we’re trying to beat the light for one last shot. And God bless the crew, keeping the generators, lights, effects, makeup and playback going while moving everything in and out of tents due to the intermittent rain.  And the Holocene in Portland was great and patient as we shot for much longer than anticipated there.

And damn, did I look awesome in that “Thriller” jacket or what…”