See My Say

Greenbriar

2009-07-18T07:26:00.000-07:00

As a child
on the banks
of Greenbriar
Lake he dreamt
the hills on the
far shore were
the bones of
ancient sea
creatures.

This, a claw
that, it's lobster.
Skeletons covered
in the moss of
untold eons--
copperhead under
skunk fern under
tulip poplar.

His mooneyes saw
the world wild
and in danger
of being swallowed
by a mouth of fire,
this cool drop in
all that burning.

D. Hartley

Squares

2009-06-22T07:47:00.000-07:00

I love these little squares,
their dimensions arbitrary
but my conformity
to them decidedly not.
I curl up in their threads
cold and aimless, once.

I love these little squares,
cubic corpuscles
that seem as perfect
as a concept, even though
they are carbon based
like the rest of us.

I love those little squares,
nets woven with imaginary
wire with which anglers
can troll for whatever
they please, canned tuna,
Kraken or Scylla alike.

I love little squares,
boxes made for breaking, or
a blanket built for covering
the ocean entire, for without it
swimming seems unsafe,
at least to me.

D. Hartley

The War on Drugs

2009-04-30T13:34:00.000-07:00

angry trees
demonstrating around
the world
just how alive
you can be, cynical
shrimp, wise
shoppers congratulating
themselves,
thinking they haven't
bought into
this life business
yet, but since
they're already part
of the show
they're so addicted
to oxygen
they're unable to
remember
what they were
arguing about
before the tree's
ferocious sales
pitch.

by Thax Douglas

Thax is a legendary Chicagoan poet-laureate who writes on the spot band compositions to introduce bands. We had the pleasure of having our set at Schuba's (4-5-09) open with the preceding poem.

Muy Bueno

2009-03-20T17:37:00.000-07:00

A wonderful tour..

Thank you, Europe and your inhabitants, for being so diverse and history-drenched and tolerant and, well, European. Coming up as a musician in the trenches of the American club/bar scene, one gets accustomed to being treated with some combination of disdain, condescension and just plain disregard. It was refreshing to be met by human beings with smiling faces. Special thanks to Etjen (czar of tour management), TT (pilot of the Chillenium Falcon), Amandine (Awesomebassador to Spain), and Bas (for booking the thing).

Highlights:

Playing Vera in Gronigen, Holland, a fully loaded compound/venue that can be only described as "band heaven"--indoor parking, attached lodging for the band/crew, amazing sound and lights, ridiculously friendly and competent volunteer staff, good food, and best of all, walls absolutely covered in the evidence that every great band in the last 25 years has played there. Totally honored.

A two-fer in Amsterdam, first at the rightfully-venerated Paradiso, then a last-second live radio show on 3 voor 12, filling in for Neko Case. We have a recording of the latter, and it sounds pretty slamming--I'll post a track from that at some point, and we may put that on a live compilation along with some other stuff for our upcoming US tour.

The food. Everywhere. This the first tour I've ever been on where I came home with a belly on me. French baguettes! Belgian chocolate! Belgian waffles! Belgian Friiturs! Spanish tortilla! Other Spanish dishes that I loved but can't remember the names of! Pizza in Frankfurt at Leon's! The wine in France! Dutch cappuccinos and croissants! German bowls of pasta the size of Jake Gyllenhal's head! Dios Mio!

Hanging out with Women. The band, not the gender. Although, of course, hanging out with women, as in females, is totally wonderful. But here I am speaking of the funniest Canadian dudes I've ever met, who we had the privilege of playing and hanging with in Lille, France. I offered to join their band simply to hear their jokes about Bruce Willis and snow leopards. Offer is on the table. Oh yeah, they made a sick record, too.

Wind farms. Everywhere in Europe. Do it, America, and do it fast.

Berlin, and it's laissez faire vibe. I saw a numerous, large, unowned warehouses and buildings gutted from the war and now housing coop-art-galleries and venues and candle-lit pubs. Equal distribution of wealth means less crime means less big-brother feel means fun and relaxing to hang out there.

Spain, en general. Tienes que verlo para creerlo! We got pretty lucky with the weather, and the drives through the mountains and deserts and by the coasts had us in a perpetual good mood. I highly recommend rolling into Bilbao on a perfect 75 degree day with Tom Petty's Wild One, Forever cranking on your ipod, if you have the means.

The lowlights were sparse, but two stick out in my mind:

Getting attacked by three hooligans in Evreux, France whilst taking some photographs of a little river in the center of town. They basically just ran up to me and grabbed my camera, then I commenced cursing and wrestling them for it until Mike "the enforcer" Zanghi interjected. One of the drunken hooligans grabbed his drum sticks and Mike socked him in the face. At this point the three of us were looking at these three French morons, all middle-aged and visibly wasted, making taunting gestures that wouldn't intimidate a small child and demanding we just hand over our belongings to them. They were the nihilists from the Big Lebowski. "Give us your money!" ... "Uh.. No." ... "Well give us your bag!" ... "Uh.. No." .... Eventually we just left, shaken up but laughing. Don't mess with a drummer's sticks.

Getting absolutely hosed by Brussels Airlines. If you are traveling in Europe, DO NOT patronize this company. They charged us 590 euros to check our guitars (we've never had to pay a fee in excess of 100 euros before.. ever), and then lost my bass and Adam's keyboard, nearly ruining our first show in Madrid. 590 euros. That's a lot of dough. Almost twice the cost of a single ticket on their plane. The best part: the plane was %75 empty. Skyway Robbery.

BUT we made it to Spain, and had a blast every bit of the way. All in all, I'd say we did pretty ok.

Next: US tour dates! Check the myspace, there's lots.

Encore in Germany:

Reading: Cities of the Plain, Gravity's Rainbow, American Pastoral...

It's Wednesday, Must be Belgium

2009-02-17T06:34:00.000-08:00

Off to the Continent, folks, be back in mid-March. I'll of course have extensive photos and the wittiest of anecdotes.

I am officially a law school applicant, by the way.

Please email me with Top Chef updates.

I finished Underworld by Don Delillo recently--colossal. It's the only book I've ever read that can match Blood Meridian in ambition and complexity, albeit in a completely different way. It is a jungle to Cormac's desert, modern man reduced to static and private moments and a thousand threads. Now I'm delving into the Danielle Steel canon. Should be intense.

So this is the New Year

2009-01-11T09:10:00.000-08:00

Left brain, toasts, tofu scramble, watching and waiting hopefully, criminal CEOs, the mandates of a New Regime, MBox symphonies, Richard, reading lists, spiraling weather patterns, blurring european landscapes, snare drums, disappearing bumble bees, Tunnel of Love, fingerless gloves, Unbreakable, application deadlines, recessions and depressions, bourbon, shameful post-modernism, hot sauce, cat hair in the omelet, photo-fueled sojourns, roasted beets, plateauing scrabble scores, waxing and waning facial hair, the occasional grey, prescription sunglasses, at least three phantom yet earth-shattering maladies, storms, calms, Heaven Hill, Lynne, coffee shop, alone recordings, rapid eye images, reunions, strat solo's, students and teachers, corduroys, carpal tunnel, worn clothes, feet, mortality, Bobby, gigabytes, argyle and plaid, candle lit, posture, net worth, laughably unfuturistic Ford Taurus, subway tokens, reemployment, load-ins and sound-checks, SM57s, LA2As, peeling paint, drop-ceiling removal, weeds, Joe mugs, print, feelings of inadequacy, adequacy, green tea, draperies, the Sea, the Forest, the Trees, the Mountains, the Earth, the Sky.

"How deep is time? How far down into the life of matter do we have to go before we understand what time it is?" -- D. DeLillo

photo by Mark Schoneveld

Freedom is Where You Think It is

2008-12-17T11:05:00.000-08:00

It's cold outside. Hand-numbingly cold. Is it cold enough, though? I'll leave that to the climate scientists.

Non-facetiously, it's a brilliant time of year to drive all over the midwestern US, which is exactly what we (WoD) did. Snow seemed to follow us or precede us; the tree branches were incessantly and beautifully frosted.

In Chicago a desperate (I assume--it was 5 pm on a busy street in a reportedly safe part of town) individual smashed the window of our minivan and took our suitcases (thankfully the gear had made it into the club minutes earlier). I doubt they're going to be stoked about their haul, that is unless they are really into late 70's Paul McCartney T-shirts, mismatched socks or ancient electric shavers. I hope they can at least use my long underwear; lurking and thieving is mostly an outdoor activity I reckon.

Something is wrong with my camera, or camera battery, so I don't have any documentation of the tour. Such a shame, we cut through some beautiful country and played some cool rooms. Above is a photo I found on Flickr by Daniel Arnold.

We did a DayTrotter Session in Illinois, which was such a treat. I'll post the audio when it becomes available.

More tours to come, I'll post those dates when they're finalized.

I took the LSATs, but I don't have the scores yet. If they're respectable, I'll post those here too.

Shows are upcoming, including this Thursday (12/18) at Johnny Brenda's and the Silver Ages blowout on Saturday.

Home for the Holidays!!!

Second Annual

2008-11-22T11:30:00.001-08:00

Scenes from Shadow World from David S Kessler on Vimeo.

Great trailer for a great film about Fishtown/Kensington, music by yours truly w/ Gretchen Lohse

NOld Steady

2008-10-18T20:46:00.000-07:00

Hold Steady Tour: Mixed Bag.

Why? Well, they canceled the entire tour on the day of the first show due their guitarist getting pancreatitis. Obviously bad news because:
a) we feel bad for them, they are known as road warriors and wouldn't cancel such a massive tour unless it was very serious, and selfishly,
b) we had just landed in London when we found out this information and had made rather extensive financial/logistical sacrifices in order to do these shows, and
c) we were really looking forward to playing all of those amazing venues.

So, obviously, massive disappointment. But, we luckily have a supportive label/booking agent/etc. and were able to arrange a nice string of headlining/support shows in London and around the UK.

We played a sweet gig at the Borderline in London with the Dudes and Ladyhawk (righteous fellers and full-on rock bands), and a revered old-school psyche-head had this to say about it.

We also really got to know the infinitely-complex megalopolis London. There are some truly wonderful people whose hospitality saved our lives. Thank you.

The show in Valencia on October 25th is still happening, muy bien.

Hasta Luego..

Polaroid photo at the top by Emily Moore

Johnsul, Slith and Hooven, Attorneys at Law

2008-09-17T14:30:00.001-07:00

Cap It Again

2008-08-25T21:12:00.000-07:00

Overall the European tour was pretty disappointing. Sike. It was a completely righteous and memorable experience. The Lebanese festival was canceled due to "political instability" or something like that.

Word Association:

Amsterdam : bikes, elegant, antithesis of suburban sprawl
Belgium: friendly, rainy, beer, quaint
France: beautiful, ancient, enthusiastic, hospitality
London: expensive, rainy, overhwhelming, history, rock and roll
Wales: green, muddy, happy, lord of the rings, sweater
Dublin: football, rainy, beer
UK at large: tabloids, rainy, music-love, polite, wit, historic

It rained every day we were there, but it never dampened our spirits even slightly. I think we expected it, and everyone else seemed to as well. The appetites of continental Europeans are so appropriate to the human condition. It made me realize how outsized the American dream has become--we have been raised inside an unrealistic and unsustainable bubble. Elegance and moderation seem fundamental to the people I encountered--people speak more quietly and express more with fewer words, everything seems smaller and designed for utility as opposed to flash. Of course no generalization can fully encapsulate an unspeakably complex culture, but there is nothing quite like stepping out of the motherland and taking a gulp of objectivity. America, ditch the 'tude--there is plenty to learn from our bretheren across the pond (and elsewhere).

Here is the News

2008-08-06T17:27:00.000-07:00

The War on Drugs is going to Holland, Belgium, the UK, France and and Lebanon. Tomorrow. I'll let you know how that goes.

Dream Documentation PART 1

2008-08-04T19:37:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to capture (or at least render concretely) ethereal and quickly-dissolving dream images, I've started an experiment: immediately upon waking from a dream, speak into a tape recorder. A word, a melody, a phrase, a sound, whatever comes out of my mouth--not every night, but most.

Sometimes these thoughts and images are fairly conscious-sounding ideas. Other times, when played back, they sound like the voice of another person--I don't remember the source whatsoever. This has been a very interesting process, I plan on using lots of these subconscious nuggets for some upcoming musical projects. *All rights reserved, these may become lyrics.* The following is a verbatim transcription of the past 2 months or so of dreams (note: the ellipses '...' indicate a stop in the tape):

" ... an ant is screaming at a buffalo stampede ... wow, can i try that? ... (sung) grenadine grenadine grenadine grenadine grenadine... ... rabbi putro says, hi frankie ... cinematographer for a film about a super-hero baby, taking photos of babies and butterflies and hipsters in this film ... i forgot my recording gear at the farm, T.G.I.Fridays, roller coaster, a crazy hair salon, yep ... i'm not a murderer. i'm not a murderer. ... licorice cigarette lighter. the licorice lighters are called 'honky', and are being distributed by Dave Wayne Daniels ... Melissa shows up at work with about a six foot tall Great Dane, which is very frightening ... burger with rose petals ... high up on a cliff with the Newman brothers, crying, discussing retirement, throwing beard spears down onto the plain below. little darts made of beard. ... rincon sheely and the jebidiah tomatillo facade ... fixing an old wound with a needle and thread while cleaning out my refrigerator of mash potatoes and liver, and the like ... hanging backstage with the Jonas brothers, and telling one of 'em to go F himself because he didn't like my t-shirt ... (sung) forget the mantra, forget the mantra, forget the mantra, forget the mantra, forget the mantra, forget the mantra ... scrubbing floors at Zach's with Adam Arcuragi and Pat, eating black beans and tofu, discussing summer growing projects and Mount Saint Helens ... beneath light poles the breakers go forth and testify ... laid out on the parapet was the disassemblage of the orphans and the accidental holograms ... it's a bit like announcing your departure from the department of blasphemers in front of the clockwise foundation ... basketball players harvested like plants, looking like dandelions, large human dandelions, harvested in a verdant jungle, filled with such dandelions, specifically Otis Thorpe ... succubus the hunchback ... tracking down beer for an NPR affiliate ... (sung) dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-another one down guy (repeated 3 times) ... micromentary, micromentary ... (atonal singing)... i don't know ... every step you take is forever ... driving down route 40 in Frederick, Chris Briggs screaming 'Marmany Duke!' at me from the Red Horse Inn ... we're no more allowed to feel our blood than the rotation of the earth .... a luggage mix up on the Youngtown express. someone took my bag. i had jon bon jovi written on it, on the return addres for it. inside there were books about Will Ferrell .... (sung) been in now, the vaycays comin... feel up now, the vaycays comin.... (repeated, hummed) ... nothing makes us simple ... a vending machine that dispenses pregnant cats ... water-lemon and cinnamon. water-lemon and cinnamon. ... the only way for the beautiful heroin to save the day and be the beautiful heroin was to turnover apartments with their good looks and charm, much to the chagrin of the bad guys ... just give me a call if you want to go where the nightmares are ... (sung) da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da .... (sung) la la la la la lieeeee plastic rainbows in the sky. ahhhhhhh IIIIIIIIIII plastic rainbows in the sky ... Mike Tyson's white and short. in the mourning he says 'I'm like Shaquille O'Neal because i'm going bald" ... struggles with condition always lead to self-augmentation ... "

***********************************************************

"The blackness he woke to on those nights was sightless and impenetrable. A blackness to hurt your ears with listening. Often he had to get up. No sound but the wind in the bare and blackened trees. He rose and stood tottering in that cold autistic dark with his arms outheld for balance while the vestibular calculations in his skull cranked out their reckonings. An old chronicle. To seek out the upright. No fall but preceded by a declination. He took great marching steps into the nothingness, counting them against his return. Eyes closed, arms oaring. Upright to what? Something nameless in the night, lode or matrix. To which he and the stars were common satellite. Like the great pendulum in its rotunda scribing through the long day movements of the universe of which you may say it knows nothing and yet know it must."

-- C. McCarthy

Cave Paintings

2008-08-03T09:16:00.000-07:00

"As we trailed the artists deeper and deeper, noting where they'd broken off stalagmites to mark their path, we found signs that seemed to say, 'We're sanctifying a finite space in an infinite universe.' ... The acoustics magnify every sound, and it takes the brain a few minutes to accept the totality of the darkness--your sight keeps grasping for a hold. Whatever the art means, you understand, at that moment, that its vessel is both a womb and a sepulchre."

--J. Thurman, First Impressions

Reflective

2008-07-31T17:05:00.000-07:00

by A.R. Ammons

I found a
weed
that had a

mirror in it
and that
mirror

looked in at
a mirror
in

me that
had a
weed in it

Clockwise Foundation

2008-07-26T13:24:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I visited home: Wanda is doing very well. The Chemo--i.e. deliberate poisoning--has sapped her strength and stolen her hair, but apparently the human spirit is not made up of fast-dividing cells. The kittens are thriving. Titus is alternately lazy and frantic, while Penny prefers mostly the latter, although her favorite spot to slow down is mom's lap. Anne was home to let Dad get caught up on work and she of course fell in love with the kittens. I sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow (not the Judy Garland version) and Here Comes the Sun at my old friend Chris Briggs' classy wedding. I also dug through the old Hartley Memorabilia Box and did some archiving, as you can see on Flickr.

Last month I started documenting my dreams in the most effective way I could come up with, by immediately speaking into a tape recorder as soon as I emerge from REM-sleep. I may parlay these bizarre word jumbles into an album's worth of lyrics, or perhaps just post them here. Either way I'm looking forward to listening to the tapes sequentially.

Soon the War on Drugs will be heading overseas for some touring: the UK, Holland, Belguim, France and Lebanon (specifically, Beirut--not a joke). Obviously I'll take lots of pictures and probably have a story or two to share when we get back.

The Evening Redness in the West

2008-07-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

"They were about in the morning before daybreak and they caught up and saddled their mounts as soon as it was light enough to see. The jagged mountains were pure blue in the dawn and everywhere birds twittered and the sun when it rose caught the moon in the west so that they lay opposed to each other across the earth, the sun whitehot and the moon a pale replica, as if they were the ends of a common bore beyond whose terminals burned worlds past all reckoning." -- C. McCarthy

Fauxtown; ELOverboard

2008-07-05T12:43:00.001-07:00

BC and I sojourned to the north (upstate New York, specifically, near Saugerties/Woodstock) in search of sounds. We found some. We did the basic tracks for the forthcoming EP/Album at the Cobbs' analog studio of chill repute--think roomy drums and groovy piano/bass grooves--and then piled on vocals, guitars and humor at good buddy Zach's Sunnyview estate. Some vibe names: Faux-town, ELO-town, Get up and Go-town, etc. We rented gear (fancy stuff, including a Neumann U-87) and spent all day recording, and all night playing shuffle board and creating bon-fires. Zach and his lovely wife Brandi are the sweetest of hosts, and treated us to delicious meals and the best cookies I've ever had. We'll finish the EP (maybe it will spawn a full length? not sure..) here in Philly, Mike Kennedy is mixing.

In addition to our August Europe trip, the War on Drugs will be hitting Spain in late October as well. Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, muy bueno.

October 4th: LSATs. Preparation has begun. OK, not really, but I signed up for a prep-course, so now I'm committed. Calling all brain cells..

For those of you who don't know, my mom has breast cancer and is undergoing intensive chemo-therapy. She hasn't even showed a hint of negativity or self pity, if anything the struggle has seemed to galvanize her already sturdy spirit. That's why I'm an unabashed momma's boy--she's my hero.

A Terrorist Fist Jab?

2008-06-11T20:12:00.001-07:00

-Stephanie won Top Chef. But her dessert was sub par, at best, and Lisa's dishes seemed overall stronger. However, Lisa was one of the least likable Top Chef contestants in the history of the show (as evidenced by her 4% favorability rating) which leads me to a dilemma: either Bravo's savvy producers edited the show in such a way to exaggerate the strength of her dishes, or the judges violated a long standing rule and allowed previous challenges to creep into their deliberations. Let's hope it was the former--between this and the NBA referee scandal I'm beginning to really doubt the democratic intentions of our entertainment corporations.

-Go Celtics. Talk about a laundry list of likable players: Garnett, Pierce, Allen, Powe, House, Posey, etc. And what about Kobe Bryant? Sure, he's as talented as they come, but he patently fails to embody what is entertaining about basketball and team sports in general. Play tennis or something, jerk--you aren't Michael Jordan and you NEVER EVER EVER EVER will be. Interesting corroboration from another superstar.

-The Fall: a very disappointing movie. Wall-to-wall visual extravaganzas and fascinating technique do not a masterpiece make. It's a full length car commercial with a story that feels like a freshman lit-student free associating after one too many bong hits. I prefer Uncle Buck. Vastly.

-Titus and Penelope have their reproductive organs rendered useless on Monday.

-I'm taking the LSATs October 4th, after the War on Drugs get back from our European tour. Really? Yes. Then What? Depends how well I do.. those logic games are squarely in my wheelhouse, however. What about music? Well, what about it? Will you still play? Of course. Tour? In the immediate future, yes. Indefinitely, probably a lot less. Record? Absolutely. Forever. Be a corporate attorney? Never. Use my powers for good? Always.

Shampoo is Better

2008-06-01T07:55:00.000-07:00

Ruminations:

-Billy Madison is the defining film of my generation. Here's why: it is the only film that both perfectly encapsulates the joys, pitfalls and ennui of the vastly over-privileged children of the 80s and 90s and belongs solely to Generation Y. The other closest contender is probably The Big Lebowski; it's certainly a better film, and it, too, paints a lovingly absurd portrait of the isolated, leisurely United States of Americana. But my dad loves Walter, my mom loves the Dude and your little sister has probably said "shut the fuck up, Donny". In other words, this movie is transcendent and has fully, inexorably entered the 21st century pop lexicon. It doesn't belong to us anymore (it did, once)--it belongs to everyone.

Billy Madison, on the other hand, will always be ours (even if no milk will ever be our milk). That film, with its endless string of non-sequitors, infuriated critics, baffled my parents and is, I suspect, just plain boring to the youngsters of today. And though I doubt Adam Sandler and his overgrown adolescent cohorts had any idea, it is fit for a time capsule. Over a decade after it's release, it's message is clear: being rich and American is fun and almost entirely without responsibility. Any threats on the horizon are vague and can be conquered with a healthy dose of absurdity and luck. Billy is our protagonist and we are asked to root for him not because he is virtuous or possesses anything other than charm, simply because he is preordained as the good guy. Nothing is more American than that. He lives in a wealthy, protected bubble and spends his days wallowing in privilege and exploring the nuance of baby talk and pornography. Billy Madison is the hood ornament at the apex of the Industrial Revolution, a mascot for a country that traded substance for fast-food chains and sacrificed erudition at the alter of money.

So, you see, the puppy was like industry in that they were both lost in the woods and nobody--especially the little boy ("society")--knew where to find them. Except that the puppy was a dog, and the industry... that, my friends, was a revolution.

And while comedy has historically been a respite from the horrors and realities of existence (some evolutionary biologists hypothesize that we developed our humorous tendencies to deal with the added burdens of an over-developed frontal lobe), Billy's world of the impossibly fortuitous 90's is pretty damn comfortable. With nothing to seek shelter from or be consoled about, the human comedic brain apparently turns to pickle races and binge drinking. Hilarious, hilarious absurdity. Oh Billy, Billy boy... when will you find whatever it is you're looking for?

Updates:

-The inaugural War on Drugs tour was an adventure (and a success, by my count). Here are some lessons learned over the two weeks or so we spent on the road:

A Volvo station wagon with 240,000 miles on it is not a good vehicle to tour in.
It is illegal to drive a Volvo station wagon in Cleveland, OH without a muffler.
If the Celtics can win on the road, so can the War on Drugs.
A 404 Sampler is capable of destroying a high end monitor system.
It's not a good idea to tell a band that drove all the way to Detroit for a show that they will receive "no hospitality, no drink tickets and no special treatment whatsoever".
Hawkwind is some trippy, trippy space rock.
When the catalytic converter finally falls off of a Volvo with 240,000 miles on it, the resultant fumes can cause severe dizziness, carbon monoxide poisoning, and possibly even death.
NEVER eat an old tuna sandwich from a poorly lit truck stop in Akron. Unless you like food poisoning.
Chicagoans are a friendly, hospitable bunch. So are Detroitians, Clevelanders, Bean-towners, and New Yorkers. Thanks to everyone who put us up.

As a Young Man

2008-05-05T09:26:00.000-07:00

"In a few moments he was barefoot, his stockings folded in his pockets and his canvas shoes dangling by their knotted laces over his shoulders: and, picking a pointed salteaten stick out of the jetsam among the rocks, he clambered down the slope of the breakwater.

There was a long rivulet in the strand: and, as he waded slowly up its course, he wondered at the endless drift of seaweed. Emerald and black and russet and olive, it moved beneath the current, swaying and turning. The water of the rivulet was dark with endless drift and mirrored the highdrifting clouds. The clouds were drifting above him silently and silently the seatangle was drifting below him; and the grey warm air was still: and a new wild life was singing in his veins.

Where was his boyhood now? Where was the soul that had hung back from her destiny, to brood alone upon the shame of her wounds and in her house of squalor and subterfuge to queen it in faded cerements and in wreaths that withered at the touch? Or where was he?"

J. Joyce

Kittens! Music! Pollen!

2008-05-02T14:36:00.000-07:00

First of all, I finally bit the bullet and adopted two beautiful, 5 week old kittens. I spontaneously named the male Titus and the female Penelope. Penny's eye was badly infected when I got her, and had to be immediately removed. She is ridiculously energetic, though, and shows absolutely no ill effects whatsoever. Sadly, she'll never drive a car, but I will save a fortune on contact lenses. Titus has eyes that are set at nearly a 45-degree angle, and is the much more relaxed of the two. He likes to eat until he falls asleep with his face in the food and then sleepily fend off Penny's manic attacks with his hind legs. They're great.

Again with the music. The War on Drugs is getting some deserved press and praise, I think we're going to be in some magazines this month and next, I'll let you know. We have some tours coming up to! Like, Europe and stuff! Woohoo..

Here's a really great video that our new friends Hope and Ben made of Adam Arcuragi and his band in New York last February. It's charming and creative.

"Beware the terrible simplifiers." - J. Burkholder

Information is received in inverse proportion to its predictability.

2008-04-16T12:15:00.000-07:00

The Silver Ages had a massive amount of fun last night w/ Rogue Wave. For their encore, they came out into the crowd, had the entire audience sit on the floor, and played their last 5 songs acoustically with us backing them up. Unfortunately the show got moved downstairs from the chapel, but it didn't change the overwhelmingly great vibes. Such nice guys, I'm looking forward to singing with them again the next time they come through.

Here is a link to the Secretly Canadian webpage where you can get the War on Drugs' Barrell of Batteries EP.

This Saturday Adam Arcuragi and co. will be at Piano's in NYC. The band is continually growing, so come check out the show so there are more people in the audience than on stage.

Dann Pudish and his girlfriend, Aubrey, are moving into my spare bedroom in a few days. To prepare, Dann has been completely renovating it. They don't call him Dann the man for nothing. You can see his craftsmanship on my Flickr.

Spring is here. Yay for outdoor activities. I want to go camping and forget something really important like matches or a flashlight.

Pennsylvania primaries are going down next week. Kinda a big deal, according to the news-media. Barack's advertisements are uber-inspiring, and given my present level of political disillusionment, that's enough for me.

Updations

2008-04-11T08:47:00.001-07:00

BC Camplight tonight with the Capitol Years and the Swimmers. This is such a great bill, with tons of friends and gear sharing. I am getting bronchitis or something, so come out and see me do my Larry Bird impersonation and play through the pain. Whiskey is an antioxidant, right?

The War on Drugs have a bunch of stuff on the horizon, starting with a "secret" show Sunday night at the Khyber. We're trying new things, live.

Adam Arcuragi and his wily band is going back up to New York City next weekend for a private party in Brooklyn and a show at Piano's across the bridge. Mr. Rob "Mandolele" Bennett is now part of the gang, which is good for everybody. You ain't heard treble like this in decades.

The Silver Ages is moving forward with its plan to record some stuff for a 7" to be released in the summer or fall. On Tuesday we're backing up Rogue Wave at the First Unitarian Church (upstairs!). Those guys write some catchy numbers, I tell ya'.

Paying the Price for our Golden Lives

2008-04-01T16:00:00.000-07:00

"Life was charmed but without politics or religion. It was the life of children of the children of the pioneers--life after God--a life of earthly salvation on the edge of heaven. Perhaps this is the finest thing to which we may aspire, the life of peace, the blurring between dream life and real life--and yet I find myself speaking these words with a sense of doubt. I think there was a trade-off somewhere along the line. I think the price we paid for our golden life was an inability to fully believe in love; instead we gained an irony that scorched everything it touched. And I wonder if this irony is the price we paid for the loss of God." --Douglas Coupland, Life After God

Seasonal Stuff

2008-03-30T16:26:00.000-07:00

I'm ready for spring. Not this intermittent, neon-orange, proto-apocalyptic spring that winter has continually flirted with, but actual spring. Sunlight, vitamin d, Mr. Blue Sky, the swampy schuykill smell; yes please I'll have those.

Next week I will be heading up to my friend Zach's wonderful ranch to record an album with Brian and Mike from BC Camplight. Zach and his wife Brandy have been kind enough to give us the run of the place, so do want to record the drums in the silo, the barn, or the pool house? I can't think of a better way to blast out the winter cobwebs than a nor'easterly sojourn with a couple mind-bogglingly talented musicians to capture Brian's unique songs.

Before I go, I'll be playing a show on April Fools day with Adam Arcuragi at Silk City (see the flyer below). We also have some New York City dates in mid-April that will be announced shortly.

The Silver Ages have been rehearsing a bit lately, we have had some tantalizing developments lately--nothing is nailed down yet, so I'm a bit hesitant to let the cat out of the bag (check back). At the very least we will be backing up Rogue Wave at the First Unitarian Church on April 15th and cutting some tracks for a limited edition 7" shortly thereafter.

The War on Drugs record has been pressed, it looks great. You can get a free download of the Barrel of Batteries EP in various locations (google it, lazy bones!), it looks like a June release date with touring sure to follow.

Things to look forward to: Frisbee golf, bike rides, dissolving depression, river pots, bonfires, beach trips...

No City for Old Men

2008-03-27T19:46:00.000-07:00

My high school friend Zach Sowers died yesterday from a beating he sustained on June 1st 2007. He has been in a vegetative coma since that night when he was brutally and senselessly assaulted outside his home in Baltimore. My other high school friend Justin Bright has an emotional and exhaustive blog about the attack here. Zach was such an unassuming and good natured guy, it's just hard to fathom that he was murdered. So, so sad.

Yesterday a 35 year old starbucks manager was beaten to death at an el stop in Center City Philadelphia at 3 in the afternoon.

What kind of society produces an individual capable of these unspeakable attacks?

Posting Bills

2008-03-26T16:28:00.000-07:00

It Insists Upon Itself

2008-03-09T10:47:00.000-07:00

The Wire ends, Top Chef begins. The Circle of Life.

Still working on the cat acquisition. Anybody have a spare tabby lying around?

Musically, I'm soldiering on.. albums have been made, and will continue to be made this summer.

If you want to buy the Adam Arcuragi EP that I recorded on my laptop, go to www.adamarcuragi.com. If you'd like to stream it to have a listen, do so:

Books: Caeser and Christ, by Will Durant; The Star of the Unborn, by Franz Werfel; Life After God, by Douglas Coupland; and The Nine Billion Names of God, by Arthur C. Clarke.

Movies: Morvern Callar, Be Kind Rewind, Michael Clayton, The Roman Empire in the First Century.

Lots of photos on my flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/davidjohnhartley

Cat Fancy

2008-02-10T14:38:00.000-08:00

So I'm ready to take the plunge and get a cat. But I need to name it. Here are some names that I've considered: Chad, Tracy, Richard, Tickets, Nervous Pervis, Rex Chapman, Helmikuu, Barley, Mammal, Seadog, Clyde, Caligula, Frank, K-2, Archibald, Cashew, Deep Impact, Arvydas, Missy, Crystal Magic, Pure Purry League, and Emerson Lake and Purrmer. I'm not seriously considering those last two, but all the others have a shot. Any suggestions?

The Adam Arcuragi EP is done, it's called Soldiers for Feet. I'm so proud of the way it turned out, we assembled quite a team of musicians to play Adam's brave and wonderful songs. It will be available on 12" vinyl next week in time for our mini-tour with the Glorytellers--Philly/NYC/Boston details are on Adam's myspace page.

Recording of a new BC Camplight EP to commence ASAP--chance of Big Pinkesque sabbatical right about 40%. BC works at UCH with me now, so there has been serious mix-sharing going on during company hours. Think Stevie Wonder meets The Traveling Wilbury's meets 'Head Over Heels' by Tears for Fears meets early Bill Withers.

Gianmarco Cilli has a show at Johnny Brenda's w/ the Bowerbirds on 2/26. He has quietly assembled the sickest band in Philadelphia and wrote a record full of great songs, it's a privelage to even play shaker with these guys.

The War on Drugs record is scheduled for June release. Adam Granduciel (also a UCH employee, fyi) is a true artist and his masterpiece Wagonwheel Blues will turn heads. We played at a sold out Mercury Lounge (NYC) two weekends ago w/ the Felice Brothers, it was really fun. Adam broke a microphone and the whole thing devolved into a late 80s/early 90s NBA trivia extravaganza.

Other than that, its keep on keepin' on. Movies, mittens and music to beat the winter blues.

Lotta Ins, Lotta Outs, Lotta What Have Yous

2007-12-27T12:50:00.000-08:00

Post-Thanksgiving primer:

1) The Silver Ages show at the Church was a flat-out happiness factory, and the BC Camplight show later that night at Johnny Brenda's was more successful than I hoped--especially the horn-section-accompanied "Night They Drove Old Dixie Down".

2) The other double whammy, the very next weekend at Johnny Brenda's, also went swimmingly. I'm very grateful to Gianmarco and his band for letting me ride shotgun and contribute in a small way; the Adam Arcuragi set was unhinged and beautiful. It was a sing-and-pick-a-thon that approached hootenanny status.

3) Mike Kennedy's Christmas party/Pollyanna was a laugh riot. I had and relinquished both a ukulele and a large flashing robot. I got a paper clip holder. And a hangover.

4) The Wire is possibly the greatest achievement of American pop culture. People agree.

5) I got new glasses. A redneck told me I look like "Weezer". Confusing.

6) Recording for Adam Arcuragi's upcoming 12" EP has begun. He has been brave enough to let me helm the operation, which means an insane amount of harmonies and, oddly, no bass.

7) Recording/mixing/overdubbing/looping of the forthcoming War on Drugs full length continues.

8) Planning has begun for a January/February BC Camplight EP, as well as another UK tour. Bells on.

9) Mice have continued their ruthless and inexorable insurgence in my residence. Undeterred by the slow, sticky deaths of their comrades, these rebels routinely leave feces on my counter tops and in my frying pan. This aggression will not stand. Napalm options are being explored.

Christmas Round-up:

A quiet, wonderful holiday. Age has mellowed my parents oh so nicely--all traces my frivolous teenage quarrels with them have melted into a saucy stew of equal parts scrabble, cornucopia-esque feasts and Lebowski quote-a-thons. I saw some high school friends, lit the Christmas Eve Luminaria and hiked with Patrick, my great friend and world traveling Cosmopolite. Anne and Jeff were missed. Vibrating cell phones and emails were not. I really hope that everyone got to be with their loved ones, or at least have a moment to truly appreciate what we have in this insanely upside-down world of consumerist values and perverted 21st century pseudo-scientific religious morality.

Yourewelcomesgiving

2007-11-25T07:44:00.000-08:00

Damn near familial bliss broke out in the round-on-the-ends-high-in-the-middle state this Thanksgiving. I ate a cubic yard of turkey and sizable portions of pumpkin, cherry, cape-cod and pecan pies. Classic movies (The Conversation), soothing songs (Townes Van Zandt, Andrew Bird, The Creek Drank the Cradle) and lots of gaming to fill the hours. The nuclear unit and I even did a good old fashioned Zoo trip to make sure we had all the bases covered. Let's do this all again in a month or so, what do you say? My only regret was that the whole Hartley-Bergen clan couldn't be together (Washington and Nebraska, our thoughts were with you).

Upcoming stuff: The Silver Ages and BC Camplight are prepping for their December 8th shows, at The FU Church and Johnny Brenda's, respectively. The next weekend (December 14th) Adam Arcuragi will be headlining JB's with the immensely-likable Gianmarco Cilli (of the National Eye, Windsor for the Derby, and the Silver Ages) opening. I've sat in on trumpet with his wonderful band of brothers previously, so there is once again a Double-Dragon possibility.

As always, pictures of all sorts of stuff on my Flickr.

What's the Happenstance?

2007-11-19T09:44:00.000-08:00

After a whopper case of the trans-atlantic flu, I made my way up to good-friend-Zach's Sunnyview farm this past weekend for music and reverie. Its a bit of a historic spot (John Lennon held his rehearsals there for Rock and Roll) and nestled amongst flat-out beautiful hills. Lots of barns, silos, cows, horses and other curiosities throughout.

Tonight (Nov. 19th): Adam Arcuragi and I will be playing the World Cafe Live (downstairs), opening for Mike Doughty. The show is sold out, but sneak in. AA and company are turning serious gears regarding a vinyl release, string sections, and alternative recording techniques. Seriously.

Ongoing: The crafting of the War on Drugs label debut--photos on my Flickr of AG's knob-twiddling genius.

Upcoming: A very special evening with the Silver Ages, Philadelphia's favorite (and only) Foodie-Indie Rock Glee Club on December 8th in the magical Chapel at the First Unitarian Church. Very small, very intimate, overflowing holiday vibes.

Double-Dragon Alert: On that very same night, BC Camplight will be headlining the venerable Johnny Brenda's in Fishtown. Come hear Brian's real-deal songs, with a Superman-appearance chance at about 38 percent.

The Temple of Convenience

2007-11-10T19:00:00.000-08:00

Positive vibes, great shows and ample catch-phrase coining in the UK. I especially loved the general topography, the green hills, hamlets, and the endless succession of Gandalf-worthy cottages. It's an ancient, foggy, exceedingly polite culture with a contradictorily high tolerance for flat-out crass media. The tabloids are insane, even by US standards; full nudity and news-less rants fill every page ("Heather (Mucca) Mills is a back-stabbing, money-grubbing, gold-digging trollop", i.e.) of gossip. On a major network TV station, 30 Rock was immediately followed by an shockingly explicit "how-to" anal sex instructional segment.

I'm fully on board with tea-time and tea culture, but the jury is still out on the traditional English breakfast. Believe me, bacon, sausage, eggs, hash-browns, baked beans, stewed tomatoes and lard-fried bread (that can be wrung like a sponge for grease) are tasty, but somewhat of a gut bomb.

World's sweetest pub (sorry, JB's): the Temple of Convenience in Manchester. It's an old public toilet right down a flight of steps right in the middle of the street--hilariously small, social and with a super precise jukebox.

The Brits also seem much more aware of the imminent, looming worldwide environmental disaster and more willing to take action than us Yanks. Its easy to see why, though, the cities are dense and the air quality is low. There are a variety of emissions-related initiatives in the works and just a higher general consciousness about environmental consequences. That said, it is still a very consumer-driven economy with a disturbing focus on pre-packaged foods. I also read an article claiming that the import of food-stuffs in the UK is so carbon-consuming that walking or riding your bike is ultimately worse for the environment than driving, because the burned calories would force you to eat more food. Not sure if that's true, but it certainly shines a light on the cost of shipping and the consumption of imported goods.

Lots of pictures of random curiosities and the band on my flickr. I'll be heading to Columbus for Thanksgiving--lots of projects and such developing in the meantime.

Riding the Taker's Thunderbolt

2007-10-28T09:19:00.000-07:00

I'm leaving for the UK tuesday; my first show with BC Camplight will be on Halloween Night in New Castle. I am dressing up as Superman. Post-ubermensch, we will be hitting about 8 cities in 12 days, and then cruising back over the puddle on November 10th. A short little jaunt, with longer ones planned for later this winter.

Last night The Silver Ages made its triumphant New York City debut with the Swedish pop star Jens Lekman. Amazingly, the packed crowd (1200+) listened attentively and appreciatively to our set of obscure 60s pop. 1760s pop, specifically. Jens and his band of Swedish beauties were kind, generous and put on one of the most commanding and unassuming performances I've seen in years. The New York Times agrees. For the encore he brought us onstage to back him up on 'Paris, Paris', a bouncy number mostly in French. Super fun. See it. Again. From a different angle. Heresay. The Philly show was great as well. Here is video of that.

Still more self-congratulation: I played a 503-point Scrabble game last week, including a 203 point play. I wouldn't normally toot my own horn so blatantly, but come on, that is a truly planet-aligning move ('belaying', on two triple word scores, with the 'y' on the double letter, plus the 50 point bonus) giving me the best game of my young career. Is it possible to have a scrabble career? What's the tournament circuit like? Are there back-alley scrabble gangs? Imagine 'Hud' only with more dictionaries and a complete lack of hyphenated words.

Late breaking: I'm sitting in with Gianmarco Cilli's wonderful band tonight (10/28) at the Khyber on trumpet and percussion. Mitch Fiction and the Buried Beds are also performing, there will be buckets of love in the room.

Inspiration for all us guilty liberals can be found here. How Orwellian can we possibly get? A new benchmark.

Pennssissippi Valley

2007-10-13T12:41:00.000-07:00

I just returned from beautiful Narvon, Pa where I photographed the Wanner family farm for a Sundance Channel documentary called "Big Ideas for a Small Planet". The farm has been passed down from one John-Arthur to the next Arthur-John for 9 generations and has been a successful experiment in sustainable agriculture all along the way. The 600-odd head of dairy cows unknowingly produce enough poo to power a large turbine generator fueled by the resultant methane fumes collected under large white tarps. Who knew what poo could do?

Mrs. Wanner didn't like my city-slicker looks too much at first and kept me on a short leash--when I asked if it was ok to wander the grounds to take some shots, she replied that "no, sir it is not ok". The Wanner's are visionaries and idealists who are understandably wary of outsiders and the increasing amount of media attention their farm has garnered.

Of course, once I showed an interest in their agricultural practices and dropped some rural colloquialisms Mrs. Wanner started to warm to me. After an hour or so she was showing me old family photos and invited me to come stay in one of the guest rooms next summer when they open their bed and breakfast, once again proving that anyone over the age of sixty is utterly susceptible to simple, innocent inquiry. Anyways, I got a lot of sweet shots, many of which will be on my Flickr soon.

Tangentially: Montesano Brother's Catering and Italian Market, food not to be trifled with;
Philadelphia POPPED! Festival, which is white-hot right now; The Plaid Pony, my round-the-corner vintage emporium; and The Tragedy/Hope of Zach Sowers, a high school classmate of mine, one of the all-time sweetest guys and a victim of an utterly senseless act of violence.

Upcoming:

Burned Hands Teach Best

2007-10-06T22:42:00.000-07:00

My trip to Maine was a fabulous, revitalizing experience. My days were built thusly: eggs, coffee, fire, recorded music, photographs, books, films.

You can see photos of this trip @ flickr.com/photos/davidjohnhartley/.
I will update this website from now on as regularly as possible with photos of my journeys, both at home and abroad.

Music: I stopped playing with Pepper's Ghost a few months ago. We are still the closest of friends and future-collaborators on a number of planned of endeavors. My energy is now focused on the upcoming, newly-signed-to-Secretly-Canadian War on Drugs record commencing next week (www.myspace.com/thewarondrugs), a short UK tour with BC Camplight (www.myspace.com/bccamplightmusic) from October 30th to November 10th, a live EP with Adam Arcuragi (www.myspace.com/adamarcuragi) and some high-profile Jens Lekman dates with the indie-rock all star Glee Club The Silver Ages (www.myspace.com/thesilverages) @ The FU Church in Philadelphia and Webster Hall in NYC. Lots on the plate, lots of strands to keep in the ol' duder's head, lots of ins and outs.

Maine Street

2007-09-19T19:48:00.001-07:00

Peaks Island, Maine is like a chunk of Smallville-cum-Norman Rockwell heaven; self-service honey stands and bike shops, picket fences, unlocked doors and tattoed-on smiles are par for the course. I've been here three days, walked all of the island's three and a half mile circumference four times and taken almost a thousand pictures. It's incredibly quiet. The wind's been calm so the nearest to hubbub status it gets is the far off echo of the ferry horn ever few hours.

I've done my best to blend in with the "locals" (tourist-season holdovers??), but perhaps the three layers of flannel is taking the when-in-rome thing a bit far. I searched high and low but finally this afternoon I found an axe and a pile of wood that I suppose could be cut into smaller pieces to increase the surface area for faster burning. Elizabeth has been a saint, as has her pooch Ganzey. I wish I could say the same for Ganzey's sister, Esther, a terrible dog who bit me in the back of the head a few hours ago and has been coughing and sneezing up my hair ever since. I am considering poisoning her. Musically I am inspired but not anxious, contemplative but comfortable--I like to think I'm making my Led Zeppelin 'III', although I never made a 'I' or a 'II'. I could weave some serious Tolkien references into my lyrics though.