Latest album: Snow Westerns "Cold Comfort"

I have new music available. Working with Emily Hobson under the name Snow Westerns, we have released our debut album Cold Comfort.

It is now available on Spotify for streaming (with Apple Music and other major streaming services to follow) and Bandcamp for purchase.  

Emily and I started working on this project just a little over a year ago. A single songwriting session brought us several ideas (all of which developed into songs on this album) and an idea for a sound, image, and style: slowcore shoegaze cowboy music.

Over the last year, we wrote and recorded over a dozen original compositions which became our first album, and a handful of cover songs which will be released next month. 

I may write a bit about some of the individual songs and process in the future. For now, please enjoy our work. Thank you for listening!

 

 

This is the third collaboration I have done in the last few years, following 2022's Cure For Loneliness (with Christy Phoenix as Rêvenir) and 2019's End.Game. (with Brian Ward as Luscious-235).

Paper Life is now available!

Paper Life, my latest solo album, is now available on Bandcamp. $5, and it includes a PDF of liner notes and lyrics. The album will appear on the various streaming services over the next few days.

About Paper Life

In 2019, I reconnected with a musician I had worked with in my Los Angeles days. We talked about working together on something that spoke to the lives we had now, decades later, while musically referencing the 1990s.

Distorted guitars. Early samplers. Drum loops. The big electronica wave that didn't happen. Shoegaze. Artists like Curve, The Crystal Method, Filter, Garbage, Goldie, Hooverphonic, Massive Attack, Morcheeba, Nine Inch Nails, The Prodigy, Republica, Roni Size, Slowdive. And of course, the entire grunge class of the early 90s.

He was not able to collaborate, but I liked the ideas and it became a solo album. The pandemic happened, and that ended up informing the record as well.

I have described Paper Life to my friends, somewhat jokingly, as my "mid-life crisis depression record". That is both completely true and untrue, as all the best stories are. I also think its is simultaneously one of the catchiest and darkest solo records I have made. 

Paper Life is damaged, distressed, digital, and distorted — a mirror of life in 2020.

Credits

Recorded by Anu at Blue Moscow in California, 2019 - 2020
All songs written by Anu Kirk, © 2020 Erich Zahn Music (ASCAP)

Mastered by Michael Hateley for Lotus Mastering

Album art design by Iran Narges

Thank You

Robert Ptak for the inspiration, friendship, and Artificial Joy.

Matt Gramly for building the guitar I used for nearly all of this record.

Iran Narges. Liz Yelamos. Geoff Geis. Stan Fairbank. Thomas Muer. Rich Trott. Mark Erickson. Maryann Faricy. Clint Woods. Holland Campbell. Brian M. Ward. Christy Phoenix. Xopher Davidson. John Hong. Michael James. Chris Fudurich. Louis Figueroa. Steve Mason. Brian Ward. Jon Appleton. You helped make this record better.

Gold stars: Dr. SS Yom. Dr. Katherine Yung. Kristin Bond. Dr. Yue Ma. Laura Habich.

Thank you for listening.

That's What We Do: Winner, SF Independent Short Film Festival, 2020

Lauren Tabak (also known as "Elle Empty") and I wrote a song together earlier this year: "That's What We Do", another in a long series of collaborations.

Lauren is an extremely talented filmmaker and shot a great short film for the song. Her music video just won an award in the San Francisco Independent Short Film Festival. 

Congratulations, Lauren!

Check out the award-winning work below:

2018 In Review

2018 seemed to have a recurring theme: Running out of time.

The highlight of 2018 was a party I threw for my 49th birthday. A hundred of my friends converged in one spot for a few hours. I played them a few songs. They ate, drank, and made merry. I got to see friends from every major era of my life meeting, talking, laughing. I wished it would never end, but of course, eventually, it is always time to go. I was exhausted when it was over, and realized I hadn't eaten any food and had only had one drink. I just ran out of time. 

Perhaps most significantly, the scientific community raised the alarm about climate change in clear and certain terms. We are quite literally running out of time to stop destroying our one planet. We should all think about what we can do to change our own lifestyles and change others minds. If we cannot all move global culture in a new and sustainable direction, humanity will begin to suffer in a few decades and may not survive too many more. 

This was brought home quite clearly during the massive California wildfires: we need a healthy environment so we can live. For nearly two weeks, the blackened skies rained ash. The San Francisco Bay Area air was dangerously unhealthy. Stores ran out of masks and air purifiers. Headaches and health problems ensued. It seemed like it would never end. By the time the fires were finally controlled and the air began to clear, we had all seemed to get used to it somehow, even as we complained. 

People have some legitimate concerns about the economic effects of fighting climate change. But climate change itself makes us run out of money as well as time. The Camp fire alone is estimated to have caused $7-10 billion in losses, to say nothing of long-term health damage.

The ongoing metaphorical fire in American democracy and government showed little sign of containment, however. Trump is still in the White House, still compromised, and still smashing whatever he can. It is increasingly difficult to deny how harmful he and his policies are, or to ignore evidence that he is in some way motivated by foreign interests.

Trump's election also seems to be somewhat enabled by the continuing reliance on social media, which only became more toxic and useless in 2018. The best non-fiction books I read in 2018 addressed these topics head-on: "Likewar" by P.W. Singer and Emerson T. Brooking and "Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now" by Jaron Lanier. Both are highly recommended, and quite thought-provoking. 

I could come up with long list of dark and depressing news stories -- I suspect you have your own "Greatest Hits". 2018 was also a year in which I found myself turning away from the news more frequently, both because it was such a downer and because, whatever the format or provider, I found myself seeing too much of the machinations, business models, and agendas behind the scenes to not have cynicism seep into my interpretations of what was covered and how. The biggest "innovations" and influences in news for the last 20 years have been Fox News, the comments section of the internet, and social media. It is difficult for me to think of too many things more depressing.

For me, the year itself seemed to rush by. Most of my year was occupied with a serious illness, which dilated time in all directions. I am reluctant to focus too much on all this, as it is both tedious and terrifying, but when people ask "how was your year?" or "what did you get up to in 2018?", that part of it looms large.

I have been quite lucky so far, and I hope that luck holds out. Some of my dear friends have not been as fortunate, and they are in my thoughts daily. 

My own experience brought me back in contact with an old friend I had not seen in 35 years, which is a wonderful gift. It also served as a reminder that who we are and how we treat other people matters in ways that can be hard to predict, and that our actions echo into the future.

DBA - EP01

I managed to write a decent amount, averaging a post every two weeks here, some of which I thought were good. I hope to keep writing more in 2019.

I also finished a number of music projects that had been stewing for a while. 

The EP I worked on with DBA was completed and released. This modern rock album is one of the first collaborations I have done in a long time. It was refreshing to return to my roots as a synthesizer player and not have the burden of being the bandleader and primary creative force. 

"EP01" is available on Bandcamp and iTunes as well as popular music streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. 

Pantemonium! -
Sid Luscious and The Pants

After 12 years of work, the new Sid Luscious and The Pants record "Pantemonium!" is mastered and ready for release, as soon as the CD artwork is completed. 

"Pantemonium!" has been a long time coming. It features some great contributions from Pants past and present. Steve Mason adds cello, Rich Trott adds piano, and Mark Erickson adds lead guitar to "Finale", perhaps my favorite song on the record. Maryann Faricy gets to sing lead on "Someone Close". 

My high school friends Darow Han and John Hong made contributions to a tribute to our friend Max Friedenberg on "To The Max", and the record was mastered by another high school friend, Christopher Davidson. Their contributions added layers to an album whose themes focus on wrestling with the past and nostalgia.

The first track, "One Life", gained new resonance for me throughout 2018:

"It sucks getting old, or so I'm told...but baby, don't believe all you hear..."

I am glad to have it finished so I can move on to other things. I am also quite proud of it and hope you enjoy it. I am currently planning on releasing it on Valentine's Day, 2019. 

End.Game. - Luscious-235

This year also saw the completion of another collaboration, this one with Brian Ward. Our band Luscious-235 combines the 80s sensibilities of Sid Luscious with U-235's synthwave and electronica. Our debut album "End.Game." is available now. 

This record is one of the best things I have done. I started working on it at the end of 2017 and finished it this year. We commissioned John Karborn to create the front cover. My friend John Hong played some amazing saxophone on "Better Off Dead". 

Head on over to Bandcamp and pick it up. And for those of you with record players, we are also doing a limited edition vinyl run.

I face 2019 with cautious optimism. I am ready, even as I hear the clock counting down.

Reflection book available again

Due to an oversight on my part, the book (and PDF) designed to accompany "Reflection" was not available for purchase. This has been corrected, and it can now be ordered!

Reflection

By Anu

Decayed, Decayed = Done

I have finished my record for the RPM Challenge.

I am very proud to give you "Decayed, Decayed". That link will get you a ~60 MB zip file containing 192 kbps MP3s of the tracks comprising the record. It also includes a PDF file of the liner notes.

I am using Blurb.com to create hardback books of the liner notes (the PDF is their comp). Includes tons of photos, all lyrics, and the blog entries I wrote while creating this record.

If you're interested in one, let me know and I can tell you what it costs. You'll also get an audio CD of full-quality files mixed into a single gapless album.

This was a challenging and exciting project. I hope you enjoy it!

I have accepted the challenge

The RPM Challenge, that is. You can follow in great detail on my page there. I will also post notable milestones and stuff here, too.

Here's what I wrote for my first blog entry there:

Alright, let's do this.

Why?

Having spent so much time over the last few years returning to pop/rock songwriting and singing, shifting over to something new like "hip-hop" is both refreshing and a bit intimidating. Of course, it's going to be my version of hip-hop, but that's what makes it interesting for me, and presumably for the listeners.

The challenge is that I am trying hard to make something with artistic value - it's far too easy for me to just crap out something that sounds like music. I could bang out 10 1-minute songs (like The Residents' "Commercial Album") in an afternoon. I could do a 35-minute improvisation in, well, 35 minutes. But that's a cop-out. I want to make a real record.

I've been kicking around the idea of a record called "Decayed, Decayed" for a while. I've been making music for over 20 years - two decades. I'm also getting old. Entropy wins. Things fall apart. I thought it might be fun to write some "answers" to songs I've written during my life. Create something about disintegration - of my self, of the world, of life - we live in apocalyptic times. And tip my hat to rap and hip-hop, as well as some old favorites.

"Rock is dead." "Hip-Hop is the new rock." Does it then follow that Hip-Hop is dead?

I remember being completely blown away hearing "The Message" in grade school. I grew up breakdancing to Run-D.M.C., grooving to Herbie Hancock's "Rockit" (the scratching in it changed my life, seriously), and thrilling to the music technology used in so much early hip-hop. That stuff just seemed so much more inventive, exciting, and futuristic than boring old guitars and drums. Tracks like Afrika Bambaataa's "Looking for the Perfect Beat" and "Planet Rock" sat on mix tapes next to Thomas Dolby and Gary Numan.

I hacked together a mixer out of stereo components and Radio Shack cables and destroyed many records making my own "scratch dubs" and cassette edits. My brother and I "discovered" the Beastie Boys via the "She's On It" 12-inch single before "Licensed To Ill" dropped. Everyone else hated it - we loved it.

In college, I dug into Public Enemy around the same time I dug into the original MC - musique concrete as created by Pierre Henri and Pierre Schaeffer. I also started listening to alternative electronic groups like Nitzer Ebb and Suicide, who seemed to have something in common with hip-hop and Detroit techno. Minimal, stark tracks consisting of little more than a drum machine, bass synth, and somebody whispering, talking, or screaming.

A few months ago I started thinking about what sort of record I wanted to make after finishing my faux new wave epic with Sid Luscious and The Pants. All these thoughts went bouncing around in my head. I thought about some of the new hip-hop that I really like - DJ Shadow and the Mo' Wax gang, Missy Elliott, The Coup. I figured I'd give it a try.

Then the RPM Challenge came along. Hip-hop is the news - it should be made fast and disposed of fast.

Alright. Let's do this. Here we go.

Bad attitudes

Yesterday, Victim Nation played at a "music festival" out in Tracy, California at the famous Altamont. We almost cancelled due to the weather - better than 50% chance of rain, and the show was outdoor.

Still, the band decided to go do it. So we loaded up and out to Tracy we went. The skies were gray and threatened rain until we crossed the pass into Tracy, at which point it started to rain. We arrived a few minutes later to find out that when the venue said we were scheduled to go on at 5 pm, they meant 6:45 pm. And of course, there was nobody there, despite promised hundreds of attendees.

The band playing as we arrived busted out a harmonica solo during each one of their ZZ Top-meets-Foghat sound. A good lead-in for a punk band. We looked uncomfortably at the old, wet, moldering hay bales provided for seats and waited for the next band.

Now, so far, none of this was unusual. I've been playing music for 20 years, and this is pretty much the way these things go. I stood around wishing I was at home and tried not to be too catty about the ZZ Top band (who were actually pretty good sounding, if you like that sort of Homer Simpson/Kings Of Leon blues-rock).

The next band started setting up and I started wincing. They looked painfully hip, all skinny, tight jeans, funny haircuts. The singer was even wearing an "Aquaman" t-shirt. Looked like indie rock. From looking at them, these guys were going to suck. This day was pretty much shot.

The band got "onstage". The singer, in accented English, said they were called "Last Amanda" and they were from Sweden. I figured this was a joke.

Then they started playing. As the rain started coming down.

The guitar players were digging into their guitars as though there were thousands of people in front of them, instead of 5. The bass player leaned back and pointed his bass to the sky. The drummer pounded away. The frontman started to howl.

For a second, I thought these guys were too over-the-top, too cheesy, what with the rock moves and giving their all to no one.

Then I realized they were really, really good. Perhaps a bit derivative of U2, but their songs were big without being overblown, and catchy without being insipid.

I was ashamed of my bad attitude. These guys were making the best of a poor situation and playing the way real musicians - professionals - should.

Lesson learned. When it was our turn, I played as hard as I ever had. And I bought a CD. Thanks, Last Amanda. I owe you one.

Things to remember

Playing in a punk rock band is fun, but challenging. I have been the designated bass player in bands before, but most of the time it was music that was much slower. I just don't have the hand dexterity and strength to pick at those big, heavy strings as fast and precisely as I'd like. I am trying, though.

"Simple" does not mean "easy". And "easy" does not mean "simple".

Victim Nation will be playing at the Cherry Bar this Friday (April 22) at 9 pm. If you like your punk in classic SoCal style, come on by.