Sunday, September 15, 2013

Review of Past the Road

There is a review of Past the Road on The Modern Folk Music of America!  It calls the record "a heartfelt, urgently sung record of classic bedroom folk, in the tradition started by the likes of skip spence and nick drake and carried on by generations of four-trackers", which I thought was really nice.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Willis Earl Beal (The first rule of outsider art is don't talk about outsider art)



I saw this show last summer, at the Weeksville Heritage Center in Brookyln.  You can hear people laughing when Willis Earl Beal starts to sing.  His performance was both awkward and great.  He wore a cape, and at one point he brought out a whip.  The opening band was a really slick jazzy R&B outfit with a large band, but Beal mostly sang over a reel-to-teel tape deck.  He played guitar lap-style on one or two songs, in a way that suggested someone eating with the wrong end of a fork.

Elitism and Awkward Art

To not be elitist and make art: believe that everyone else who wants to should make art too.  Appreciate and enjoy awkward art projects.

To be elitist and make art: think that only some people can make art, and that making art makes you special.  Mock or deride awkward attempts at art.

Is it better to be proud or embarrassed of art?  Is it better to try to change how you feel about something or just to let it be?  What does it mean to be embarrassed of something and do it anyways?

Is believing in meritocracy a kind of elitism?  Do you need to be some kind of elitist to make great art?

I was reading Tao Lin today and thinking about this.  Resisted the urge to put "meritocry" and "great art" in quotes.  Maybe I will work on some posts about awkward art.

Robert Johnson


A friend once asked me a question that boiled down to: is it OK for rich white people to listen to Robert Johnson.  I think she had a specific picture in mind, a wealthy young stockbroker, maybe a little like the main character in American Psycho, but instead of Whitney Houston and Huey Lewis, he puts on “Hell Hound on My Trail”.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Past the Road

The new record is ready!  You can stream it on the right side of the page.  Here is the artwork, front and back:

Past the Road front
Past the Road front

Past the Road back
Past the Road back
Of course, there isn't really a back, since it is only online for now.

The record has 13 songs, all with singing and lyrics and acoustic guitar.  Some of the songs have electronics and other instruments too.  I think it is one of the best, and best-sounding records that I have made.  You can download the record for free or pay what you want from the Nick Szydlowski bandcamp page.