some music for drunken fools such as i... aka come on a musical journey with me

Hello, friends. Fuck off, douches. And let's play some fucking music! I know I've been kind of a downer lately on here, so I'd like to rectify that by giving you the greatest gift of all, music. Maybe you know all these tunes, maybe you'll find something new, but either way let's go on this journey together. Literally, gonna just pull what I'm listening to in order as I write this. Here we go... (see Spotify playlist at bottom if you'd like to play along)

1. "TV Party" - Black Flag

I know, a drinking playlist and I opted for "TV Party" over "Six Pack," what the fuck? Well, honestly it's because I'm literally going to have a one-man TV Party later tonight. AS I MENTIONED RECENTLY, NewsRadio is online for the first time I've ever seen so I'm plowing through them all again in rapid succession. What a fucking joy to experience these for the, oh, I don't know, maybe 20th time but still. I'm loving every minute of it! But for now I have some pent up energy and need something to rock out to.

2. "Wish upon the Weather" - Altameda

This band is growing on me, hard. Just like my penis while watching Charlize Theron in "2 Days in the Valley." Someone recommended them like a year ago and I was tepid at best with my reaction. Like, look, we get it. Ryan Adams' "Gold" was a great album. But some of the lines in here "Maybe I lost the map, maybe I'm better off without it. Maybe everything I had, well, maybe I'm better off without that." Lord knows there's large parts of my life that I'd be better off without. Or would I? That's where music comes from, so I guess I'm better off with them. But they are why I drink too much and can't sleep some nights, so... But they allow me to continually write new music which brings me more joy than anything, so... Maybe... I don't know, but this is too deep for being only two bourbons in. Maybe I'm back to fuck you Altameda... Nah, this tune is too much fun. But these guys to remind me of another band that I can't quite think of...

3. "Woman in Rust" - Silver Torches

Just kidding, just remembered. These guys. It's a similar vibe I guess, I'm not sure why these two bands seem similar in my brain but they do. I think it's the way they make me feel. But this song is a perfect road trip song if you've got one coming up. Just smooth and pretty and gets you into another world for two and a half minutes.

4. "Tokyo Sunrise" - LP

Speaking of road trip songs. I once listened to this song for four hours straight on a trip coming back from Spokane, WA. It blew my mind and I couldn't get enough. The vocal is fucking insane. Just fucking insane. I had friends who claimed it had to be fake or "studio-ed" until they saw a live video and their minds blew. That voice coming from a tall, female, Bob Dylan-looking muthafucker? Unreal.

5. "The Professor & La Fille Danse - Live" - Damien Rice

While we're on the topic of great singers. All three times I've seen Damien are in my top 10 live shows of all-time. He's my favorite performer, outside of Bruce Springsteen, of course and whenever he is touring (rarely), I drop everything to go see him. I once rescheduled one of my own shows to go see him. He's that good.

6. "Brandy Alexander" - Feist

Since we're on the topic of great live performers, goddamn, what a talented woman. I can't help but play this song whenever I'm getting drunk. And being three or four bourbons in, it's time.

7. "I am a Scientist" - Guided by Voices

OK, it's officially time to get all existential and wonder how someone else wrote this song when it's so clearly about me. Robert Pollard and I may have more in common than I thought. When he says "I am a lost soul, I shoot myself with Rock N' Roll. The hole I dig is bottomless but nothing else can set me free..." Fuck.

8. "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue - Live" - Bob Dylan, duh

It's officially time to get transported back in time. Every time I hear this live version, I'm immediately back to being 16 and listening to this on repeat trying to figure out what the fuck is going on and how that harmonica part works so fucking well with this version of this song. I love everything about this song and this performance. It's everything I love about Bob in a nutshell. The 25 going on 60 voice, the elaborate, extended harmonica solos, the vague, poetic lyrics that really don't mean much apart from creating such a vivid world we get to live in for nearly six minutes, the bravado of the performance, especially considering he knew he was about to be booed soon during his electric set, but also the tenderness of the performance, which outshines anything that could be recorded in a studio. Mmm. It's such a delicious recipe. Thank you, Bob.

(dictated but not read)

Dear little buttercup, won't you stay a while? aka what?

Sports and shit...

I almost feel bad for Vikings fans...  Almost.  I get it though.  I really do.  Team of Destiny type feel, incredible regular season run, miracle throw and catch in the Divisional round (though ours was more a result of amazing talent then random brain fart but whatever) and...  complete meltdown in the NFC Championship.  Yep, welcome to the Packers' fans world.  That was our experience last year and now you get to root for the Patriots just as I did last year, which isn't a bad place to be in considering Tom Brady is the cheat code for the NFL.  It's like Brady figured out (and has become) what was the DUMBEST/LAMEST CHEAT CODE EVER IN JOHN ELWAY'S QUARTERBACK ON NES.  Do the Eagles stand a chance?  Of course they do.  But, is it reasonable to expect that this game will eventually come down to Brady vs. that vaunted Eagles defense, just as it did in the Patriots' game against the Jaguars.  And, similarly, just as he did against the vaunted Seahawks' defense and the Falcons' defense in Super Bowls past (not to mention the 51 other 4th quarter comeback wins, including this past weekend), Tom will be ready to tear them a new asshole come crunchtime.  So, Vikings fans, rest assured that the Eagles will get theirs.  I'm sure the first half will be promising for Foles and the Eagles and it'll appear that they have a great chance at taking home their first Lombardi, but that is utterly meaningless when MR. TECMO SUPER BOWL HIMSELF COULDN'T COMPETE WITH TOM BRADY...

Now, I didn't get to watch either of the games this weekend since I was in Spokane, WA for a show (many thanks to the Spokane DoubleTree for upgrading me to the Presidential Suite...  There's nothing quite like a hotel room with multiple bathrooms and more chairs than you can fart in...) and was traveling back during the games.  I have to say I was surprised by the Vikings/Eagles outcome a little, but not much.  My lady did announce, quite authoritatively, that the Jaguars had improbably defeated the Patriots 20-10, to which I replied "Are you sure?  Is there no time left?" knowing that even 10 seconds is enough for Mr. Brady to score 2 touchdowns if he wanted to.  I spent the last five hours of the trip thinking "Blake Bortles is a Super Bowl quarterback...  Yay...  Trent Dilfer would be proud..."  Luckily, it wasn't so...

Life, Music and shit...

This week I got to see the first cut of my music video for "Lookin' at Luckey."  As you'll recall (because you read all of these blog posts/updates religiously, right?  RIGHT?!?!), we shot a music video a few weeks back.  If you don't remember or aren't all up on this bitch, READ THIS SHIT AND GET CAUGHT UP ASSHOLES!  Anyways, the cut was AMAZING!  The director was horribly ill (probably because he works way too fucking hard) and was out for a couple weeks, so this was my first glimpse.  I was BLOWN AWAY GEORGE, BLLLOOOOWWNN AWAY.  Kevin, the director, has such an incredible eye for this shit.  He's an unbelievable talent and I'm still grateful that we got to work with him.  I simply cannot wait to show you guys and gals this thing he's created (and I helped!  Bonus points for anyone who gets that commercial reference.  Sometimes I feel old.  HE LIKES IT, HEY MIKEY).  It could be the thing I'm most proud of being a part of in my career.  Luckily, very little acting was require of me.  Singing along and pretending to play my own fucking song is about the extent of my acting skills.  Oh, and looking fucking badass and sexy in my leather jacket, jeans and boots...  I'M JUST A LONELY LONER, ON A LONELY ROAD...

Since it was a sadder week, here are the top five songs from Bradley's week (since I know you're all dying to know.  Well, I guess you might be if you're actually reading this fucker.  And, if you're reading this, Hi Mom!):

1.  "I am a Scientist" - Guided By Voices

"I am an incurable and nothing else behaves like me."  Just. Fucking. Beautiful.  Also, bonus points for the first comment being "I like to drink and comment on this video."

2.  "Power" - Kanye West

I've been obsessed with trying to learn the lyrics as I played the fuck out of the version he released before the record when he was being weird and leaking his own songs but sometimes they were different versions for some fucking reason with different lyrics or were songs that weren't on the record and it was weird but that's a fucking run-on sentence if there ever was one.  But, he released the alternate version in the middle of my insanity, the middle of my crazy period filled with anything and everything terrible and I can't count the nights I survived because of it's majestic beauty.  Kanye is simply on a different level.  I 100% truly believe he truly is the greatest hip-hop artist ever.  He somehow usurped A Tribe Called Quest for me.  I mean, fuck, he is the man who once said "Have you ever had sex with a pharaoh? Put the pussy in a sarcophagus."  Classic.

3.  "Skyway" - The Replacements

Speaking of Spokane, WA, "It's got bums when it's cold like any other place..."  Just a beautiful song by a man who truly understands us humans.  Not many do, unfortunately.  Or, fortunately, for them.  I think I'm talking specifically about me and not most of humanity.  Maybe it's an Asperger's thing.  I only know me and what makes me "me."  Who knows...

4.  "Sally Goodin'" - A View of Earth from the Moon

Yes, that's me singing this ridiculously old folk song with Jon Fickes and playing one half of the dual harmonica solo.  Yes, there was a time in our lives when we thought a dual harmonica solo was a good idea...  New York City is a hell of a drug...

5.  "You Can Call Me Al" - Paul Simon

Yes, while in Spokane I spent my last couple hours (ridiculously drunk, by the way, as expected) at a piano bar yearning for this song.  The guys didn't have a system that made sense to me so I didn't request this song as I normally would.  They never play it anyways at piano bars...  I need a new piano bar song...  But, this always takes me back to a time when Chevy Chase was one of the funniest people on the planet.  I miss it.  I love "Three Amigos" like it's nobody's business.  I mean, Jesus fuck, THIS HAPPENED.  I still watch my fucking old DVD copy of that movie constantly.  It isn't even in widescreen or fullscreen, it's only fills up part of my TV and is in the old-style cardboard DVD case.  It isn't as old as my "Goodfellas" DVD which I have to flip over in the middle of the movie, but it's probably the second or third DVD I bought.

I could listen to "Al" all day, every day and never tire of it.  NERD ALERT:  this was my favorite song to play in Pep Band.  Turns out when you tear your achilles and you can't play football and basketball (and baseball, but there's no baseball pep band) but you love music and still want to be around sports (and the cheerleaders) you might play in the pep band and learn songs like this.  Goddamn, run-on sentence much after five Woodford's?

No time to proofread this shit, so it is as such.  Read at your own risk, or don't, but if you're reading this than you've fucking read the whole thing anyways...  So, I win...  Til next time...

Upcoming show in Lebanon, OR on 11/18... aka the Bears still suck

Lord, thank you.  At least the Bears still suck...

GREEN BAY PACKERS WEEKLY RECAP:

We did it!  We really did it!  We won a game without our lord and saviour, Aaron Rodgers!  The defense stepped up huge and, naturally, won't get the credit it deserves since it seems Packers fans only love offense, though our last two Super Bowl wins have come on the backs of our defenses both times.  Yes, the offenses played well in them, and in XXXI, obviously, our special teams was off the fucking charts, but it was mostly our D that got us there.  Our special teams Sunday was, well, they were there too.  It's so tough to be on our third long snapper this season, which has to be some kind of record.  Of course, the injury bug, well, it's not exactly a bug anymore, it's probably best to call it the "Injury Shadow Monster" as it has been slowly taking over our players one by one FUCKING WILL BYERS STYLE, continues to ravage us, this week taking our top two running backs including our outstanding rookie Aaron Jones and Ty Montgomery after he made a great run.  Do not make a great play as a Green Bay Packer running back.  It seems to doom you the last couple years, suspiciously starting around the same time "Stranger Things" has been on the air...  Hmmm...

But, man, did Brett Hundley MAKE SOME FUCKING THROWS.  And, a flat out amazing catch on the other end of that throw by Davante Adams.  Although, it was very irritating that everyone seemed amazed by the fact he made that catch one-handed, but no one commented on the fact that the DB grabbed his other arm so he fucking had to catch it one-handed.  Anyhow, I'm so glad Ted Thompson (and me, as I totally called it and told everyone who would listen) doesn't listen to the fans and didn't even think of giving up on this kid a couple years back when he was struggling with foot and ankle injuries (which, his game is based on his ridiculously quick feet and great foot work/balance).  He's a borderline superstar and probably our most reliable WR, though I think Cobb could be more involved but that's just me.  And, Davante somehow has the cure for concussions in his blood.  I need some of that.  I've had two in the past year due to getting rear-ended while stopped at a red light.  Just sitting at red lights, FUCKING BOTH TIMES.  So aggravating.  Mine lasted over a month each, the second was almost two months.  Davante has a horrific hit to the head and is back to catch the game winner a week and a half later.  Magic.  I realize now that mine are worse because those were concussions #5 and #6 (that I know of) and, more importantly, my brain doesn't completely fit properly into my head making me more susceptible to it knocking into my skull and concussing me.  It's a long story but let's just say I had skull removal and skull reattachment surgery.

Sidenote:  how far we have fallen.  At the beginning of each season, I have my brother buy the nflsundayticket.tv package ($100 for a student, $300 for a regular ass adult like me) for me.  Normally, the Packers only have a handful of games not on national television.  Starting a couple weeks ago, when, oh, I don't remember, but something happened and our great and fearless leader, a one, Mr. Aaron Rodgers somehow got hurt (I can't remember who did that to him.  Oh, wait, of course I fucking remember who did this one to him, Mr., nope, not fucking "Mr.," I'll call you Tony Barr.  I even had a good cheer to myself earlier this season when Shea McClellin went on IR...  I know, it's horrible to cheer injuries but that one was even more egregious than Tony Barr's hit.  Fuck 'em both...), we all knew our national television games were over.  I'm so glad my brother can hook me up with a cheap Sunday Ticket package, otherwise I'd be back to spending $50-70 per game at one of the local Packers bars, probably Corbett's Fish House, and hoping they cleaned the grill enough after cooking the shrimp so I don't get sick again.  I don't hold it against them.  How could they know I have a shellfish allergy?  Plus, their perch is so fucking tasty...  Mmmm, perch...  Wait, what was I talking about?

THIS WEEK IN MUSIC:

This week, on Saturday November 18th at 8pm, I will be playing my first show in over a year at Conversion Brewing in Lebanon, OR.  It's not a big show and I will be playing it as a duo, not a full band, with Brianne Kathleen assisting me on vocals but I couldn't be more excited.  After all the drama (fights, screaming matches, near lawsuits, sexism, pure insanity and, unfortunately I'm not kidding, deaths) and delays and delays and delays and, yep, you guessed it, more delays, I'm so excited to play again.  I'll definitely be touring soon, but I haven't decided where and when quite yet.  Honestly, a lot of that went out the window when I lost the last 2 months (and wasn't sure how much longer so I couldn't schedule anything) before the album release due to, yep, you guessed it, a concussion.  I'm so glad to have put that behind me but man did it fuck shit up for me.

For once, it's been a good week for me, mentally and emotionally.  The discovery of Kava has certainly helped.  But, aside from that things just seem like they're going to be OK.  Not good, but OK and that's better than it's been in a while so I'll take it.  Unfortunately, over the weekend I suffered a minor setback that threw me into a tailspin but it was nothing a trip to Music Millennium couldn't fix.  I found a vinyl copy of an album that has helped me through some (mostly self-inflicted) emotionally dire times:  "Bee Thousand" by Guided by Voices.  For those unaware of this band, I WROTE ABOUT THEM A LONG TIME AGO while going through, or possibly right after a breakup (I can't remember).  For those who didn't read my 3-4 times-a-year blog (bradleywik.blogspot.com) back then, I'll get you up to speed.

Guided by Voices is an acquired taste.  I was talking with my brother recently and compared them to drinking Campari, on the rocks, the only way to drink that shit.  Zissou fans get it.  To give you another idea of their strange, beautiful, amazing, heart-string (as if there were such a thing) tugging music, the best song on "Bee Thousand" is called "TRACTOR RAPE CHAIN."  It's a lament surrounding a diminishing relationship that has dissolved because of mistrust.  A place we've all been.  Well, hopefully, some of you haven't because IT FUCKING SUCKS.  But, Mr. Robert Pollard nails the hurt and paranoia and the (mostly) self-inflicted mental and emotional chaos that can ensue.  My other favorite song on the album is, for reasons unknown, but I continually wake with this song kicking in my head, "THE GOLDHEART MOUNTAINTOP QUEEN DIRECTORY."  Yep, it's that kind of band.  They have a song called "KICKER OF ELVES."  Seriously.  So, I'll pass along the same advice I gave to my brother upon his introduction to this band:  sit and listen to the album as a whole and listen to it at least twice.  Don't put it on while you're at work or jogging or doing laundry or whatever, just sit and listen to it (an odd concept these days, I know.  I might be the only one I know who dedicates hours and hours per week to just listen to music.  It's fucking art people, and you shouldn't devalue it.  Sorry, don't want to get to far up onto my soapbox).  I wasn't sure what I was getting into myself all those years ago, but I remember being slightly confused until subsequent listens, in which, I fell in love.  So, fire up the Spotify, Google, Apple Music, iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody (god, it's easy to listen to music for nothing or almost nothing these days...  Sorry, getting back down, again...) and look up "Bee Thousand" by Guided by Voices.  You won't be disappointed; unless you take my advice in extremely high regard, have a listen and really don't like them, in which case, you might be.  But, I can't help that, so fuck it.

My advice this week is to live free or die hard...  Just kidding, that movie sucked.

If God was lonely and sad... He would borrow my record collection...

             I am one of those types of people with an extremely addictive personality, especially pertaining to music, a form of art that is quickly absorbed into our subconscious, as opposed to, say, books and paintings which take longer to ingest(and are unavailable to me on construction-lengthened drive to work).  My newest obsession, as all music is cyclical in nature and thusly in my brain as well and as soon as it becomes a fully evolved part of my being will be stored with the thousands of other records taking up valuable brain space which used to be home to various and more intellectual topics(which sort of implies that music is not an intellectual pursuit, but for those of us use it to seek a higher understanding of human nature and by that I mean understanding why I’m so fucked up, it most certainly is)such as a working knowledge of calculus(which is useless to me now, anyhow)which has lasted the past two months insofar, aided specifically, I am sure, by my recent bout with a sort of lonely depression is:  Guided By Voices.  For clarity, I must specify that this all started with my re-watching of the entire series of the IT Crowd in preparation for me to fully enjoy the reunion-based final episode.  It reminded me that a long while ago, when I was much busier and not as lonely and depressed, I had heard about forty seconds or whatever, of the song “Game of Pricks”which I had shazam-ed(for those of you from the past, or the far distant future, shazam is a phone app that can listen to music and tell you the name of it)about five times in a row but never went back to listen to it, given that life at the time was much more interesting than searching out new music.  I have learned, the hard way, that you really need to enjoy those happy moments in life as much as possible, since they are always swinging back towards the other end of the pendulum. But before I move on and slather praise upon a band which has already been bukkaked(is that the past participle?  Its not really a word I use in normal life, or ever, until that point, which I felt was the perfect time to unleash it, and I might have fucked it up.) with praise, I must say that the IT reunion/final episode was brilliant.  Everything you could want from a show that’s been off the air for three years.  Everyone did an amazing job at getting back into character after so long, and the chemistry between them was very good.  That is all to say, the opposite of the putrid re-imagining(as its clearly not even close to the same show) of Arrested Development.  I understand they had scheduling obstacles and such, but season 4 FUCKING SUCKED and I don’t care how many people try to tell me otherwise, I watched it with my own eyes and ears and it just wasn’t funny(outside of the one gag which did really get me:  Gob and Michael trying to find a bottle opener for all the Mike’s Hard Lemonade and smash cut to them just twisting off the cap; gotta make those kiddie drinks easy to open.  It was the only bit they didn’t beat into you or over-explain, read:  dumb down for the idiots who loved this shitty new season because they missed the boat the first time, so they wanted to be the first to proclaim their love of it before it was uncool to do so).  But I could go off on a rant on that for days, which I have, segueing into my all-encompassing rant about how hipsters are ruining everything with their love of mediocrity and hatred of anything great, since they suck at everything, and therefore, the reason the movement has gotten so big is that it requires no real talent or skill or personality to be part of it, just an aversion to things that are real and brilliant, and so on and so forth.  Maybe one day I’ll write a book about it but for now I’ll just save it for when I’m drunk at a bar and Fun. or M*mf*rd *nd S*ns or the Lumineers or the Head and the Heart or whatever the new flavor of the month is, comes on the radio and all I can do is rant to keep the noise out of my brain and from slowly eating away at my sanity and my will to live in a world where Fun. exists…

Oh yeah, I was talking about Guided by Voices.  The reason this band works so fucking perfectly for my current situation(remember, lonely and depressed) is that they have the exact right balance of everything I need right now:  they are sad and funny and they have great melodies and hooks and they rock and then they take it down and get all sad and sexy with you(theres the perfect name of a hipster song “Sad and Sexy with You”).  Its everything you need,  and all in one band.  You can put on “Bee Thousand” or “Alien Lanes” or “Vampire on Titus” or rock out with“Isolation Drills”and they nail it, without being too annoyingly sad or too annoying happy; both of which you need but in controlled doses(please see your doctor for more information).  When Pollard sings “I am a lost soul, I shoot myself with Rock N’ Roll.  The hole I dig is bottomless but nothing else can set me free” it fucking kills me, every time.   This is a perfect example of music being a higher pursuit.  Its my own cheap therapy, as I follow another along their journey and, in turn, learn how to verbalize things about myself that I never could which makes me feel less alone in the world, and thusly less strange and fucked up.  I love it.  One of my favourite parts, which you only get to enjoy once, which just might be half the charm, is looking at the tracklist on the backs of the CD’s and imagining what I have in store for my ears.  Immediately upon purchasing “Bee Thousand”(my favorite GBV album, by the way) one song in particular piqued my interest and sent my mind a-reeling:  “Tractor Rape Chain.”  I couldn’t get past what a ridiculous combination of words that was; and I couldn’t even begin to imagine what song would fit that ridiculous title.   And, of course, it is now one of my favourite songs on the album.  Why?  It’s an absurdly insightful song about that moment in a relationship when trust becomes an issue.  There are two distinctly different instances in relationships, that I’ve found anyways, where a lack of trust can kill you.  The first being that moment in which you have to decide whether or not to commit to the relationship.  Its always a pivotal moment, when you’re past the point of just having fun whilst seeing this person occasionally, and you’re in the position of trying to determine just how much of yourself you want to give to this other person, just how many of the walls will come down,  and just exactly what it is that they mean to you or possibly could given the chance.  Its such an interesting moment in life and love, and it’s fascinated me to the point where I actually wrote a song specifically about just that called “Darkness and a Light.”  The protagonist laments this topic, knowing full well that all relationships will eventually fall into two opposite categories, with no real space in the middle, which are:  They are either doomed to fail, “the Darkness,” or can succeed and bring you endless joy and happiness, “The Light,” with most falling into the former, all while going up to the apartment and eventually bedding the lady he can’t stop thinking about.  But enough about me and my brilliance in songwriting…

The second instance in which trust becomes an issue, is further along in the relationship after you have decided to give the old love train another go, when something happens, some event of some kind, that puts that little inkling of doubt into your mind.  In the best case scenario, one would simply talk to the other about it and put the item to rest.  In the worst case scenario, it would eat and eat and eat away at you until it becomes more than reality and makes one hate the other with a deep seeded passion; with most scenarios falling somewhere in the middle, with a fight and hurt feelings, but no intense loathing.  This one is a little harder to explain simply, given the magnitude of variables(what actually happened, previous issues in both said relationship and past relationships of both involved, specific fears of the individuals involved,  etc. etc.) which is why I have touched upon this subject many times in many different songs, but only casually or sparingly, offering no real advice, merely mentioning its existence and the toll it takes on the people involved.  My new, as yet to be recorded, album is peppered with references to this kind of stuff.  And I’m going on record to be the first person to call the album “Brilliant” and “Full of great songs, expounding upon the human condition, all while making us dance and feel just generally better about the world around us” and “Simply put, Bradley Wik is a Genius.”  Shit, there I go again talking about myself, damn narcissistic singers…

Oh yeah, I was talking about Guided by Voices and the majestic wonder of a song that is “Tractor Rape Chain.”  All of that sort of depressing stuff about trust and relationships and the like(which believe me, I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, spending hours and hours and hours trying to it figure out) that I just said, was summed up beautifully by Robert Pollard in three minutes and five seconds…  Three minutes and five seconds!  Fuck!  What an incredible song!  And that’s just one of the many songs, just as amazing, and just as perfect for a guy like me who needs a little guidance right now, wherever I can get it from.  Thank you, Robert Pollard.  And that is why I am currently obsessed with and can’t stop listening to Guided by Voices…