I got the new eddplant ep!

On August 7th, 2010 My friend @mickeleh went to the UK for SitC. While there he was kind enough to pick me up a copy of eddplant’s ‘none of these songs are about you, but some of them might apply’ EP.

He passed it off to @adamthealien to give it to me a the Seattle gathering on the 14th of August in Washington state, though I actually got to see them both.

When Adam handed it me I scanned it, said thank you, and put it in my stuff. Freaking out in the middle of the foodcourt with strangers did not seem like a good idea.

When I finally left that night, I was tired already and had a three hour drive. I didn’t put any music on until I was well out of Seattle traffic. (It’s a three hour drive from there to my house).

When I did, I didn’t turn on the dome light, it’s actually a really good thing I didn’t seriously look at it at the gathering, because I would have totally embarrassed myself talking with excitement and over gesticulation about the first track.

I LOVE ‘You Are (Not)* The Voice Inside My Head’. Been waiting for ages for it to appear again.

This live version had to suffice (at 3:11)

It’s a more acoustic, slower tempoed, less electronic version than the first one on myspace, or the live version in the link above, and you can HEAR HIM. But still has the same main structure of the song, and the lyrics I still really connect with and THEN SURPRISE HARMONIES! blew me away, especially with Tom (I think, sorry if that's someone else) taking the high part. I really wish I had the original to compare it to, instead of just my memory and the one live one on you tube. I listened to it five times in a row!(and yep, I cried, goddamn musicians making me cry.)

The I remembered Oh! Yeah, there are other songs on here, I wonder what they are?

Oh...All I Am?...wait, no, it's pretty oh, 0H 'Less Than This' (which he's played live, but I think it was on blog TV or something - I could be wrong). Starts of with a "simple" single note instrument and just Ed's voice then the chorus kicks into a punkish riff (to me) , and while I like the extra beats and the overall sound, it feels very...um, parallel. I'm not sure if it's because the background lyrics are just an echo and don't change with the melody until the very last line or what. Though it's a departure from the way the music in the verses is it just doesn't go anywhere for me. The verses just don't seem to mesh with the chorus:/ The lyrics are (as is always the case with Ed's songs), pertinent and empathetic inducing. It may grow on me. Right now the note variances in the last line are my favorite part, I wish he'd done that with the chorus. It almost like Tom and Ed were going opposite directions on a road and crashed. I wish I could explain it better. Instead of getting a solution, it's still a mixture.
O.K., really bad science reference that no cares about. Moving on.

'You're Not There' acoustic guitar, flat**(my mother said "It sounds like several people all clapping, but not together") handclaps, a shaker, and Ed singing with himself. (Which I have long adored, they used to do that in more songs.)
I liked this! Easy beat to get into, the syth/organ break is nice, and the acapella! It has that "live" feel without the annoying crowd screams of a "live song".

Listening tonight in the car on the way back from play rehearsal I stopped a song, got out but sang the refrain "this is the last song that I'll write about you" not realsing until it came out of my mouth how much 'Singing About Hating You'and 'Your Not There" sound alike (but yet entirely different) for that particular choice of melody and chords together. It made me smile.

Next track -
Ed and a piano, Yes! I only have one other eddplant piano song. (It has guitar too, don't worry - though it sounds like an intentional afterthought.) It took me a minute to realize I'd heard this, but faster, and with different instruments. His voice is so strong on this, until the very end. The lyrics in this one are wistful and filled with regret, but he doesn't whine them. It matched the song more for me to be slower and gentler. I played it several times in a row as well. Though since I couldn't see the cover in the dark car I called it 'Get You That Far'. Which is what I had called it (before being corrected) in this live video : Eddplant at Bury St Edmunds 2010 - at about 7:15 This version is on a a syth, with a "videogame" sound. I liked it, but I like the EP version better. (My favourite part of that song is how much he gets into it though.)This time the solution was a success. (the science reference again? GAWD)

So yeah, a bit rough around the edges, but hey they were recording until the wee hours of the morning before the gig. It really could have sounded like "a guy recording in the bedroom with his friend" (when you date band members, you hear some ROUGH ASS demos - background noise, people talking, the TV, the dog next door, several takes, cracked notes,...)but it doesn't, which is nice.

The fact that Tom asked me if I was doing this has made me second guess a lot of what I wanted to say, but I WAS doing it anyway. In the few reviews I have done I try to be as open,objective, and honest as I can.

Both Ed and Alex have said they appreciate my opinions. The fact that Tom has asked for this, and for one on explorers five, and liked what I said/ how I explained about explorers 3 to someone gave me a nice little ego boost. I sent him my thoughts on explorers 4, back when it was new too, can't remember if I posted them anywhere though.

* I swear the 'Not' was not in the title before, but I've been wrong before, and it's on the cover.

**flat as in not echoing off the walls, or lost in the mix as sometimes happens. It's a good thing.

I'd blog about the gathering, but to be honest - there isn't a whole lot to say. Half the gathering went off to shop (at a gathering?). I need structure, I spent most of the day not knowing what to do with my hands or my feet, or what to say. Even Mickeleh left early. We'll just watch it in 2013 when Adam puts the footage up on his channel. It'll be more fun that way. No awkward pauses. Six hours compressed into a ten minute video.

Dream diary, this has become

Woke up from a strange dream...

I was getting ready to go to a talk Hank Green was having at our City Hall, part of the way there I realised it was in Moses Lake, not here, so I turned around and went the other way to walk to the right place (you can't walk to Moses from here in ten minutes, it's half hour drive.)

I get there and I'm late , the security guard eyes me strangely and lets me in, as I get to the door of the auditorium, I can tell I'm late because Hank has just returned to the microphone after thanking Tom Milsom for talking. I was annoyed I missed Tom, but told myself I'd come to see Hank, and he was performing later anyway.

As I walk to a seat (the auditorium was quite empty :() Tom, several other people are staring at me, I look down and realize why. I have only BRIGHT neon fuschia boxer-briefs on. I turn red and sit down and try to cover my legs with two jackets I brought (which just "appeared", in the dream it was a hot sunny day.)

Eddplant is there, as well as three others off you tube (supposedly) in the dream I knew who they were, but they weren't in the right human form.
Then the dream skips to later, walking around the outside of the building in the evening(through a throng of people, it's also changed to a large city) with a friend named Ben (I have no friends named Ben IRL) who says "We'll find it, Tom knows where it is." at that point Tom materializes out of the crowd, and says "It's this way." we start to follow him and Ben claps me on the shoulder. I politely but firmly ask him to remove his hand, and Tom says "but he's just being friendly!" to which I replied (in a scathing tone) "I've known Ben longer than YOU Tom."

Then everyone disappears, and I'm at the backdoor of the concert hall, trying to ask which stage Tom will be on, no one seems to know. (I know which number it is, but the map has them labeled with names).

I finally figure it out and spy Becks, and we both run in to see him (we are late).
When we get in there are two stages, we can see Tom playing , but can't hear him, I start to go further towards the stage and then I can hear him - and I turn around to tell Becks, and she is looking like I disappeared, and I try to grab her hand to pull her towards me and it goes through hers, (like you see in all ghost movies) but Becks can't. Then the stage stops completely, Tom frozen mid-meow.

The entire room shifts (like ripples in water) and the other stage lights up and Tom comes out on that one alone, with one spotlight and sits on a stool, and Becks gets excited, I walk towards her and she says "Where'd you go! He's here!" and points excitedly.
The "second" Tom pulls out a blue ukulele and begins with Bureau De Change, yet it seems we are the only two in the theatre.

This Tom also stops right before he goes to tell us why it sounds funny to our uncultured ear. I hear a voices coming from far away getting closer and then the theatre starts filling with people, not coming in, but appearing already in their seats, in conversation. Becks is gone.

The first Tom disappears, and the stage has the road crew on it, setting up microphones and a drum set.

A vortex at the other side of the theater catches my attention (by the door we came in) it lights up and then disappears. When I turn back the second Tom is also gone. And Becks is calling me over to my seat.

I read too much Steven King, and watch too much sci-fi, and listen to too much Tom Milsom. *sigh*

(can there be too much of these things? ;P)

I never use this thing anymore...

But since It did let me back in , I figured I'd write out a bit of an update.

Work starts a The Gorge tomorrow, It'll be nice to be working again, I actually got put in "Roadside Stand" this year, same pay for MUCH less stress.

As some of you know awhile back I made a fytommilsom tumblr and a Fy Tom Milsom You Tube

Recently Tom told everyone on twitter to follow it, and while updating it and the you tube a bit ago I realized that the amount of eddplant on the internet now warranted his own page. SO I did that too. You Tube and Tumblr


Oh yeah, and my tumblr - Occasionally blog on it, but it's mostly pictures and videos. Blake's Mind

I also have been reaquanitng myself with Peter Tork's Music (of the Monkees), and created a tumblr page for him as well, the you tube is on it's way...

So I guess you could say I've been busy, but not doing anything creative or forwarding myself in life.

So yeah, maybe this is an advertisement.

I haven't made a video (of me, I made one for the fyeddplant you tube) in months, just haven't felt like it.

So many things lost...

So, my computer dies a few weeks ago, wouldn't even boot. Played with it for a couple of weeks, deleting, attempting a defrag, moving files to another drive. It still was acting up. Finally we decided to do a restore that was supposed to keep the data. Yeah right. It didn't.I have none of my bookmarks, none of my pictures, lost most of my writing (I think we moved one file to the other drive) half my music. It's so damn frustrating. To start over, with my memory the way it is, it just makes it harder.

Supposedly this thing is only 50% full, and it still acts like it can barely move sometimes, I think it might actually die soon. So do I put everything in, just to have it disappear again?

I'm just really glad there are things like this. This stuff I didn't lose. Though; remembering how to get into this blog was interesting, I though I had changed it to CallMeBlake, but I guess it was one that didn't let me.

OH, and I was going to change my live journal name, or try. Turns out that costs $15 I don't have.

I need a job, so badly.