Runnin & Gunnin: 2012

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Levek – “Flume”

I originally posted Levek's cover of Bon Iver's “Flume” on 13 April 2010. This is a minor re-edit of that upload. Because there was no multitrack recorder at River of Life—not that we had the budget for it—the only recording capabilities were straight to CD-R and straight to audiocassette; as such, I cannot re-mix the track, I can only re-cut it, which is what I have done. There was an awkward stutter at the very beginning of the track: some audience noise, and possibly an inhale on David's part, or maybe a premature strum. At the end of the recording the loop station just cuts off and really detracts from the vocals at the end, in my opinion, so I cut off about ten seconds and faded out the new last twenty.

Flume2.mp3 Listen on Posterous

On an unrelated note, Levek's first album, called Look a Little Closer, comes out 25 September 2012 on Lefse Records! Pre-order your copy now. Do it. You know you want to.

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Monday, June 4, 2012

Billy Collins's “Tension”

Never use the word suddenly just to create tension.
—Writing Fiction

Suddenly, you were planting some yellow petunias
outside in the garden,
and suddenly I was in the study
looking up the word oligarchy for the thirty-seventh time.

When suddenly, without warning,
you planted the last petunia in the flat,
and I suddenly closed the dictionary
now that I was reminded of that vile form of governance.

A moment later, we found ourselves
standing suddenly in the kitchen
where you suddenly opened a can of cat food
and I just as suddenly watched you doing that.

I observed a window of leafy activity
and beyond that, a bird perched on the edge
of the stone birdbath
when you suddenly announced you were leaving

to pick up a few things at the market
and I stunned you by impulsively
pointing out that we were getting low on butter
and another case of wine would not be a bad idea.

Who could tell what the next moment would hold?
another drip from the faucet?
another little spasm of the second hand?
Would the painting of a bowl of pears continue

to hang on the wall from that nail?
Would the heavy anthologies remain on their shelves?
Would the stove hold its position?
Suddenly, it was anyone's guess.

The sun rose ever higher in the sky.
The state capitals remained motionless on the wall map
when suddenly I found myself lying on a couch
where I closed my eyes and without any warning

began to picture the Andes, of all places,
and a path that led over the mountains to another country
with strange customs and eye-catching hats,
each one suddenly fringed with colorful little tassels.

Collins, Billy. Ballistics. New York: Random House, 2008. eBook.