It's a long story...

Food Poisoning

A few weekends ago I experienced food poisoning for the first time. I can attest in no uncertain terms that it was the single most miserable vomiting experience that I have ever had, which is saying a lot as I have done more than my fair share of puking over the course of the last thirty-four years. My apartment was like a scene from the exorcist sans the crawling on the ceiling and that nasty thing with the crucifix.

It hit me around 5am Saturday morning. I was rattled awake with severe gut pains. It was a feeling like getting punched really hard in the stomach and losing your wind, only with a sickly twist. I writhed around in my bed, futilely attempting to fall back to sleep. Before long it became apparent that it was only a short matter of time before I would need to make haste to the bathroom. "Damn it! This was supposed to be the first Saturday in weeks that I wouldn't be hung over and puking half of the day," I thought to myself, as I hobbled to the toilet overcome with that oh so familiar feeling of nausea. I'll spare you the gory details, but suffice it to say that from that point on I conducted a very thorough fully body purge every couple of hours, involving all orifices and manner of fluid.

Around noon, the duration between blast cycles had grown long enough for me to conceivably plan a trip to Walgreens to get some hydration supplies. Mind you, even without constant stools and barf, this was still a daunting task. I was feverish, extremely weak, and generally nauseated. Nevertheless, I had to get some Gatorade, Pedalyte, and bottled water in order to have any chance of survival. I mustered all of the strength I had in me and began the arduous task of preparing for the journey.

I hobbled around my apartment as if I were a marionette being controlled by a really crappy puppeteer. My legs were weak and slack. Every simple action required ten times the normal effort and at least double the time. Just pulling on my socks seemed impossible and required multiple pauses so could sip water and wipe the sweat from my clammy brow. But time was still against me. Even though I was sustaining for the time being, I knew that sooner or later the wave of illness would come over me again, and I could not have that happen in Walgreens. Their facilities were not prepared for what I had to offer, and lets face it, who wants to be that vulnerable in a Walgreens.

Best new music

Nobody reads this

I thought I should check in and let you know that I am alright.

The past few months have been surreal to say the least. It's like being in a waking dream in which I have to constantly remind myself of who I am supposed to be and why I am here. While my actual dreams only further confuse reality with fragments of nostalgia, amnesia, and invented memories all seemingly more authentic than my daily routine.

One day I am a young musician working at a coffee shop, full of piss and vinegar, both pathetic and invincible. I find comfort in a kind stranger with a familiar face whose name I cannot place. She makes me feel at ease. We share a coffee, a long conversation, an afternoon awkwardly tender for two strangers. When she gets up to leave, it hits me with the weight of five years. I'm leveled by images of wondering through the shops in the French Quarter of a pre-Katrina New Orleans, laying in a hammock in a beautiful flower filled yard on a warm Spring afternoon, a wedding by a lake, playing catch with a handsome young boy who I thought would be my son. It's her, and I'm angry. I don't know why she's transforming before my eyes into someone I recognize.

I wake up to a strange, warm apartment sparsely decorated with remnants of my life before. I don't recognize this man putting on a suit. One day blurs into the next only punctuated by my misleading dreams.

Afternoon EP

I doubt that anyone looks at this anymore, due to my obvious abandon of this blog. Well. . . this is for all of the lonely people, thinking that Neil has left them by . . afternoon ep

Season's Greetings!

Here's a little Christmas ditty that the Danforths recorded back in 2006 for a local radio show featuring local bands doing Christmas songs. It's "Oh Holy Night" which Danforth and I had performed with an old college band called Wisconsin Dells at a Christmas show in Fargo many years ago.

Happy Holidays!

Mexico

Mexico by The Danforths


First Version of Mexico by The Danforths


On Friday, December 12 we will perform what we call the "soft release" of the "Amphibian" album by the Danforths. This will be like a run of twenty cds that we will hand-design each package, just because we are that into art projects. At the show, we will play a live rendition of the album.

All of this makes me reflect over the past few years and the slow process of creating this body of music. Looking back, it's interesting to see how songs and ideas change and develop. Here's one example of a song that has stayed the same, but also significantly changed over time. This is Mexico from Amphibian in 2 versions.

Ellie's Birthday Song 2008 - by Jake

As you may know, I have been in the habit of writing songs for my wife on her birthday. Last year I enlisted the help of Jake, my 9-year-old stepson, who played drums and sang on couple of birthday tracks for his Mom. So again this year I worked with Jake. We only had a few hours, but he came up with this song in which he drums and sings.

P.S. Don't forget Art Party, Nov. 22 from 7 - 10pm at Java Jacks.

ART PARTY Coming Soon!

Hello Everyone! Just a friendly reminder that Art Party is only a few weeks away! If you are interested in displaying your art, please contact me by emailing neilfasen@yahoo.com. Thanks! Hope to see you all there 11-22 from 7-9pm at Java Jacks.

ART PARTY: 11-22 @ Java Jacks

Hey - we're having an Art Party! This is a chance for people to get together, check out art, hear some music, and drink some wine and beer. It's a party! It takes place in this cool lounge area under Java Jacks from 7-10pm on Saturday, November 22. There is no admission cost or any bullshit like that. (Though we will kindly accept donations to cover costs.)

Anyone can submit work of any kind. If you are interested in showing something, simply email art.party.08@gmail.com buy November 8 and let us know. We will have a wide range of work including photography, painting, drawing, prints, and even some weird random shit. Some selected works will be displayed in the main coffee shop gallery for an extended period of time as well.

Music will be provided by Ambition Recliner and some other, as yet un-named act.

We hope you will join us. It's always a good time.

Silver Sails demo

Again, I have been delinquent with my postings, failing to maintain my goal of Monday updates. I'm trying to be a better person. I've been working on my manners, trying to be more punctual, and really focusing on my short comings. As a result, I have come up with a series of person goals that I hope in some way benefit not only me, but also the content of this otherwise undependable blog. At this time I am not at liberty to divulge the details of my objectives, but suffice it to say that you the blogee will no doubt benefit from the results of these efforts. Without making any sweeping claims of grandeur, I can at the very least assure you that what is to come will be better, more consistent, and more surprising.

Oh who am I kidding? Occasionally I will post music here for some reason. I don't think I can even promise when or what or even why. Sorry.

Anyway, Czahr recorded this song on Monday. It's a first draft that he recorded along on a small digital 4 track recorder. I dig it and hopefully you will too.

The Green Bay Incident

This week I'll break with tradition. Typically I post something that comes from "home" in one way or another. Be it something from myself or my friends or even a live recording from a local bar, everything posted on this blog up until this point has had some connection directly to my life or more generally to where I live. Indirectly, this song relates to where I live, in so far as it was inspired by recent events that have impacted my home state of Minnesota. This song by Lord Sassafrass is called "Green Bay Incident." I don't know if you watch football, but if you do, this will all make sense.

ellipsis - Ambition Recliner

Since we have a show coming up next Thursday at the Turf Club, I thought I should share some early demo versions of our tunes. This is "ellipsis."

Monday Song - Pacaderm March by Sugoi!

Pacaderm March by Sugoi!


This week's song is Pacaderm March by Sugoi! This is a room recording from a practice we had back in March of 2007. Though we have a number of random practice recordings of this song, we never had the chance to record it in a studio environment. I always enjoyed this one and wished that we had a version to share with people.

Brian had the initial idea for Pacaderm March. We developed the song and started playing it sometime in late 2006. This song was part of a group of new tunes, all of which were much more angular and abrasive that the previous stuff Sugoi! had been doing.

Though the audio quality of this is not perfect, I am glad that I was able to find a version of this tune so I could remember it.

First Monday Song

Adam Marx



Well, it is late in the day, but this technically counts as Monday. As promised, here is the first of my Monday songs. In the future I hope to do this Sunday night, but I had a barbecue and wasn't able to get back to the computer. I have a lot of excuses that I am sure you would love to hear.

At any rate, my first Monday song is by my friend Adam Marx. I posted a few of his tunes back in April or March or something. I hope you dig it.

Part II - Name that Band Song

Just for the heck of it, here is the next four minutes of that crazy song. This probably won't help you figure it out, but it helps flesh out where the song is going. Any guesses? (Czahr you can't guess any more, because I told you who it is.)

Name that band

This is something that I probably shouldn't even post, but I feel that my readership is limited enough that I can share this without feeling like I have revealed some sacred promise to the world. It is, after all, not the complete song, but rather a snippet of a much longer piece. As such, it is perhaps misleading to represent merely this segment to the outside world, since it is only about one fifth of the length of the complete version. Nevertheless, I wanted to post something unique, and I feel that this fits the bill.

Oh yeah, and I've got a new thing to keep me in line - Monday's song. Every Monday (probably Sunday night) I will post a song. It might be a random recording made at the practice space. It might be an old practice recording I found to be interesting for some reason. It might be complete crap. It's my new theory to keep me posting regularly and using this as I had originally intended, to share music with friends. So if you are bored enough to check this, check it on Mondays.

Sugoi! Practice Recording 3-12-08

I've been doing a lot of various recording sessions at the old practice space these days. The other night I went down there with the Bolschavic to get down some trumpet lines for a song he is working on, and we came across some old Sugoi! practice recordings. Among them was this tune. It was song idea of Brian's that we worked on a few times but never really finished. I rather enjoy this short rough version.

I've Been Away So Long

Since the last post consisted of nothing but groveling and apologizing, I will not repeat myself. We both know that I am a bad blogger and do not attend to this site very consistently. Slap my hand. Ow! We cool? Okay, now that we have that out of the way lets catch up.

I recently went to Pitchfork Music Fest in Chicago with Tom Kemmer, Chris Hennen, and a dude named Connor who I had not met before but turned out to be a really cool chap. All in all good times were had, great music (along with some mediocre music) was heard, and old working stiff Neil had a four-day-weekend. Oh, and did I mention that it was a road-trip? Oh yeah. It's six and a half hours minimum from Minneapolis to Chicago. That may not startle many of you, but you have to remember that I am an old, broken down man. Though there was a time when I could drive in a small van for 24 hours in one shot and be no worse for wear, things have changed for me. I have come to enjoy the basic comforts of life. And with that, my old back can't handle that kind of confinement. Luckily, this was the worst part of the trip.

In Chicago we stayed with Jim Zespy, an old friend of ours from Fargo. I have a number of both endearing and incriminating stories about Jim that I will not share with you now. Suffice it to say that this man is a character in the most positive sense of the word. Jim works for a prominent indie record label in some kind of managerial capacity (the exact nature of which I am not exactly certain) and actually lives in a large apartment above the Chicago office/warehouse. It is the perfect spot for visiting musicians due to it's size and capacity for people. There are 5 bedrooms, a large kitchen, living room, bathroom, and a "chillin' room" filled with the most extensive record collection I have every seen (including record stores.) One of my favorite activities on the trip was having Jim play dj and spin us a variety of obscure and unique albums at the end of the night. Thanks Jim!

The show itself wasn't all that bad either. Highlights included seeing performances by classic music icons like Public Enemy, Sebadoh, and the o.g. Dinosaur Jr. Of the newer crew, I thoroughly enjoyed Fleet Foxes and the Do Dos. There were also a few surprises like King Khan and the Shrines, who I've never heard of before, but almost literally kicked ass. Les Savy Fav "killed it" too. They are a band whose name was familiar, though their music was not. Tom referred to them as "this generation's Jesus Lizard." I agree with him to a point. They are definitely the archetype of that classic recipe consisting of a solid band mixed with a crazy extrovert front man somewhere between G.G. Allen and Preston Olson. Needless to say, they really blew me away. I missed a lot of bands that I had wanted to see, like Hawk and a Handsaw and the Dirty Projectors to name just a few. You can't do it all.

Tom took a number of pictures, some of which I would like to post at some point. I'll keep you posted.

At any rate, I am back now and plan to be more dedicated to this blog. As a token of my appreciation to you the reader I have a crusty, blown-out demo.

More coming soon . . .
Neil