Played some tunes at the Grind tonight.
.. stripes > vegetables you've never heard of
.. raisins > rules to Stone Game
Also, jammed with George Faro this evening, which was fun and cool. His and my musical style seem to have potential to mix in interesting ways, and we intend to explore it further. He's also the first person I've met to genuinely like the Shaggs and Jandek upon hearing them both. Hooray!
There was an open mic premiere at Schenectady County Community College, and I went there with George Faro and Almost Awake. There were some really neat folks there, although not a great musician turnout. Troy kicked Schenectady's butt 3 to 2 if you count acts and 4 to 2 if you count musicians... not that it's a competition. ;<) Anyway, I liked it and would do it again, but I would have enjoyed seeing more local Schenectady musicians.
First I played:
.. 25% more monster
.. the slippery toad
.. wow
And later I played:
.. 5 songs of fish
I had an interesting experience playing an afternoon show at the Illium today. Kristina Cohen came by to see me, which was a great surprise and pleasure, but she was the only friend. At first, it was just people reading their newspapers and generally doing their best to ignore me. For a while, there was nobody but Kristina (which I preferred to the first crowd), and then some parents and children came in, and they seemed to actually enjoy it. One came up and talked to me afterward, and he was neat. I felt good about the last hour or so of my show.
I took only one break, after the first hour, which was short, and since I played through, I ran out of new songs I wanted to play. It worked out, though, because I just repeated songs from earlier for the new crowd.
I cut my finger and bled on my strings again. I think this has been happening because I'm using the wrong kind of pick for my style. Kristina says it contributes to the drama.
My set list is not accurate, especially toward the end, but it's close.
Act I
.. retro helplessness
.. raisins > the slippery toad
.. level 1
.. Alan the Duck > numbers make more numbers
.. eat lots of apples > Frank
.. docky docky
.. magazine chubbies
.. you've got your own life
.. crash tinkle tinkle > lapse into memory
.. clusterbomb
.. stripes > vegetables you've never heard of
.. coloring time with Andrew > 5 songs of fish
Acts II and III and beyond
.. Robots: the card game > 25% more monster
.. member of the Real
.. this ladybug
.. hello, will you be my Sheep?
.. receptors & peptides
.. love song 1
.. Juiceman
.. shirt thane
.. bodymind > buzzelling > sun flies
.. yellow things
.. wow > Nimland
.. Pablo
.. Alan the Duck
.. I am systems
.. acrobasebombball > nobody knows
.. e blue apparatus
.. Collarbone Pharoah
.. Maroon Dots > science
.. present tense
.. crescent moon
.. let me in your hole
.. Daisy Ran Train > a Parade, yes.
.. for play
.. supersane
.. raisins
.. love song 1
.. this ladybug
.. level 1
.. in my pocket
Jon Ouckama, a local singer/songwriter on guitar, formerly a member of the band Jigawattica, had a show at the Illium tonight. I joined him on a few songs, playing mandolin, and it was fun. He's a cool guy.
Almost Awake opened for Milo at the Grind tonight. Both acts were superb and highly recommended for all listeners everywhere!
The Grind is back! Tonight was great fun, with lots of musicians and a pretty decent crowd. Best of all, after the show, a funky dance party developed on 3rd street and lasted for quite a while! We agreed to do it again next Thursday. What fun!
Casey J. Chapman provided me with my set list:
.. hello, will you be my Sheep?
.. this ladybug
I played tonight at Moon and River Cafe in Schenectady. Although I think I played well, the attendance was pretty disappointing. Four of my friends came (and thank you four very much for making it!), and there were only about four or five other people there for a brief time during the evening. The others all seemed pretty indifferent to me. Due to lack of business, the store closed early, and I only had two acts. On well. It felt good to play, anyway.
Act I
.. raisins
.. number make more numbers > science
.. shirt thane
.. lapse into memory
.. this ladybug
.. level 1
.. rules to Stone Game > I am systems > vegetables you've never heard of
.. stripes
.. yellow things
Act II
.. rocket theme
.. hello, will you be my Sheep?
.. clusterbomb
.. e blue apparatus > retro helplessness > bodymind
.. supersane
.. a Parade, yes.
.. 5 songs of fish
.. Robots: the card game
.. Collarbone Pharoah
.. in my pocket
.. send me up > Nimland
.. Pablo
.. the slippery toad
.. crescent moon
I took a break from mandolin for a few days, then threw some new strings on there and went to the Illium open mic. It was fun, because I got to play a bunch of songs. I think it was my best performance of '5 songs of fish'. Also, it was the first that I'd played 'present tense' in a while, and I like to play that one.
.. Pablo
.. Superman has friends
.. 5 songs of fish [request]
.. vegetables you've never heard of [request]
.. in my pocket [request]
.. present tense
.. science
Also, at the end, I jammed with Casey and Maurizio, the latter for the first time. Although we had a bit of confusion there, it was fun and cool.
I uploaded what I considered to be the 23 best recordings from last Saturday's Illium show, and linked to them from Nimland. See the concerts page to find the files from that show listed separately, if you're interested in hearing them.
After spending quite a chunk of the day finishing it up, I am finally ready to present Nodal Nim's Rocket Ship, an internet-based audio show, a.k.a. podcast. It takes place on a living, evolving, cylindrical world currently orbitting the sun (although it can travel anywhere it wants to), and it features guests and myself singing, telling stories, reciting poetry, and improvising music together. I hope you'll consider giving it a listen, and I hope it's an enjoyable listen. It's about a half hour long, and in mp3 format.
Hi all!
I played at the Illium tonight, for a modest audience. It was fun. I cut my index finger and bled on the strings. My audience colored with crayons. I recorded it, and I may put some of the recordings online soon. Here are my three sets:
Act I:
.. buzzelling
.. crescent moon
.. 25% more monster > javelin head > rodeo clock
.. this ladybug
.. bodymind
.. in my pocket
.. sun flies > nobody knows
.. Frank
.. crabnors > retro helplessness
.. princessdom
.. let me in your hole
.. numbers make more numbers > I am systems
.. for play
.. Superman has friends
.. Alan the Duck
.. wow
.. 5 songs of fish [request]
Act II:
.. level 1
.. paperclip
.. yellow things
.. receptors & peptides
.. science > magazine chubbies
.. Juiceman
.. eat lots of apples > deposit 1 tangelo
.. a Parade, yes.
.. lapse into memory
.. raisins
.. hello, will you be my Sheep?
.. will we go out together?
.. Collarbone Pharoah
.. docky docky
Act III:
.. coloring time with Andrew > Maroon Dots > 25% more monster [request]
.. shirt thane
.. e blue apparatus > stripes
.. acrobasebombball
.. supersane > Nimland
.. rockin' out > send me up
.. Pablo
.. the slippery toad
.. love song 1
.. Dave
.. vegetables you've never heard of
The Grind hasn't been as exciting lately, with a bunch of regulars gone for the schoolyear, but it had its moments tonight. I felt good about how I played. I also got to play with John, a very good djembe player, for the first time. It was fun!
.. docky docky
.. Maroon Dots [with John on djembe]
I also sold one CD and traded another. I have a new CD by an experimental local musician to check out tonight. :<)
I went to the Flavour Cafe open mic, which is on 4th Street in downtown Troy. It was a neat place, and I felt good about the performance. Good vibes there.
.. stripes
.. level 1
.. this ladybug [requested by Nick]
.. vegetables you've never heard of [requested by Rob]
We played unplugged at the Illium. I'm not entirely sure if this set is right, but here it is:
.. raisins
.. vegetables you've never heard of
.. hello, will you be my Sheep?
I've been neglecting to update with set lists this week, so I'm doing them all now. Daisy Baker's was my worst performance in recent weeks, with a very apathetic and audience. Oh well.
.. this ladybug
.. javelin head > 25% more monster
.. science
.. let me in your hole
I made some rather significant updates to the songs page!
First, I moved my audio from Soundclick.com to Ourmedia.org.
Then, I integrated links to all my mp3s from the songs page on my website, using color-coding for "batch" (early), "demo," and "live" recordings.
Next, I created a separate page just for recorded medleys and put links on the songs page to the various medleys. So, for example, when you click on the "M" next to 25% more monster, you'll go directly to a medley that includes the song 25% more monster on the medleys page.
Then, I converted all the files from my February 17, 2005 show (featured on Nodal Nim at Hurley's) to mp3s, put them online, and linked to them.
Next, I created another page that reassembles concerts, using links just like the ones on the songs and medleys pages.
Finally, I linked them altogether, added an updated link to the main page, and put it all online.
So see for yourself! It's quite a lot of interactive fun.
-Nim
p.s. You will probably notice that there are no lyrics anymore. I plan to put lyrics back up in a different form, eventually. For now, there is just lots of audio.
I played to a small and disinterested crowd left over from the art gallery opening that went up before open mic. It was somewhat frustrating and pointless, but at least I got to practice some old songs.
.. you've got your own life
.. eat lots of apples > crescent moon
I'm very much looking forward to my upcoming real gigs.
I returned a few days ago from an enjoyable trip to the West Coast (Seattle area), and played my first open mic in a little while tonight at the Illium. I thought it was ok, except that my mandolin's tone was way off. I think next time I will EQ myself at the mixer, if I need to. It was very trebly and clangy. Anyway, here is the set:
.. numbers make more numbers > level 1
.. the slippery toad
.. 5 songs of fish
