We should get this board rolling again. Let's be honest, social media sucks. Especially facebook. Maybe it's nostalgia but I've missed the daily rantings on here and arguments about music.

So, what the hell have you all been up to?

LIFE:

A little bit about life lately around here. My wife and I moved to Portland, OR almost 3 years ago. We really love it out here. We both work from home so that's nice as well. A lot of hiking and getting into nature. My son Sebastian is now 11. Crazy. He's doing great. Spend quite a bit of time in dive bars with fellow boarders rparis and shiv. Surprised we are allowed in half of them. Life has been really chill so can't complain.

MUSIC:

Been listening to a lot of older stuff for the most part. A lot of Metal (Priest, Maiden, Ratt, Crue, Slayer, etc), discographies from Dead Can Dance, The Sisters of Mercy, New Order, Depeche Mode, The Church, Cocteau Twins, Oasis. Been deep diving into the Grunge scene and revisiting all of the great music from that era, and have recently been going in chronological order through the entire Creation Records catalog (minus a few bits).

LIFE:
After more than 15 years at the same company, I was let go in December. Looking for a new Copywriting job at almost 50 is not easy. This is a young person's gig. My older boy is at community college after giving university a go and having a rough go of it. Gonna try it again in the fall. My younger son is a high school senior and getting ready to make his decision on where he wants to go. Almost empty nesters. Oy vey.

MUSIC:
Been digging a lot more into the "World Music" thing. A lot of African stuff -- lots of Analog Africa comps and discovering just how much music there still is left to discover outside of the English speaking realm. Love me some Ebo Taylor, Joseph Kabasele, and Dur-Dur Band, for the classic artists. Mbongwana Star is a newer band that has completely spun my head around. And yes, I am still listening to Tom Ze and Shrimp Boat!

Dale, didn't you see Zagster getting fisted at the Oregon Theater?

LIFE:

About to hit 8 years on marriage #2. Things are pretty good, for the most part. Bought a new house almost 2 years ago. My kids are now 25 and 17, and my stepkids are now 22 and 20. 20-year-old stepdaughter just got a DUI about a month ago, so that's great. Put in my two-week notice last Friday at this crap job I've been at the past 2 years, and will be starting my new gig on 3/9. Only downside is the commute distance is doubling from 12 to 24 miles each way, but getting a 5% raise and more importantly escaping this dumpster fire of a company.

MUSIC:

My music tastes haven't really changed all that much, although I've become a pretty hardcore GBV guy over the last 5-10 years. Going to see Sloan this Sunday night - probably been like 15+ years since they've been to Texas, if they ever even have. Saw Dwight Yoakam a few weeks ago, which was awesome. And on the mainstream front, my wife loves Foo Fighters, so we're going to see them in OKC in April (closest they are coming to Dallas this tour).

Life: fuckin’ and drinkin’

Music: PPDD

LIFE: The existential question, right? But nuts and bolts, my wife and I moved to Juneau, Alaska from Maryland about 2.5 years ago. We just up and did it. Moving 4000 miles is an experience. I left my job (amicably) as an assistant pastor at a church in MD and we are "planting" a church in Juneau. Same denom. It's bar none the hardest thing we've done. We moved here without knowing anyone, only procuring a roof over our heads a month prior, and me with no job. Day job though is working in corporate terrestrial radio doing production. And web. And graphic design. And make coffee. And...yeah. When I was in college and MD and SM at our 950 watt basement station, I thought I wanted to work in radio. Well, I ended up in it after all.

Alaska is magnificent. The gorgeousness is all around you...and it can literally kill you any second of the day. Wolves wander our street, bears break into our trash (and apparently like jelly beans), porcupines fall from trees, and and at any moment you might be swallowed by a rambunctious Stellar's Sea Lion. Juneau is the capital city, so politics, baby. There's no road outta here, so you can only leave by boat and plane. You'd think we'd get stir crazy, but it's kinda nice being cut off. Music is abundant here. Tons of musicians. Mostly of the folk and bluegrass variety. Occasionally touring musicians will grace us with their presence. Darrell Scott was here Sunday and was incredible. Nora Jones came last year. People paid $90 to see her Yeah, we don't have access to most bands, but I got a freezer full of salmon and halibut, and my neighbors drop of Dungeness crabs...so life ain't bad. Oh and the beer. My good gracious...the beer. Oh, and Mariners' baseball sometimes comes on at 7am, and the Super Bowl was like at noon, so yeah.

MUSIC see my tops list for 2019. Otherwise, I'm all over the place between bluegrass/country/folk/singer-songwriters then over to experimental noise trash. Don't ask me to list noise bands, the kids today have ridiculously named projects that don't fit on tee shirts.

Shoutout to some local Juneau bands/musicians:
George Kuhar - He just put out a new record Friday...this is not it.https://open.spotify.com/album/3hTf4iMJmdnqDSkL9I0h9R
Spaceman Playboy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdlPVZT4-fE&list=PLRkeskWYYSceyNrzYdnrPkgwSEC-9QPG-&index=1
Annie B http://www.anniebalaska.com/sisters-of-white-chapel
Marian Call https://mariancall.com
Coyote Wall https://coyotewall.bandcamp.com/releases
Dan Kirkwood https://dankirkwood.bandcamp.com

Some Tlingit+Haida kids made a rap video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDv6vhMFmNM&feature=emb_title

And of course our incredible yearly FREE week-long FolkFest https://akfolkfest.org


I honestly think this is one of the best places if yr a musician or artist or writer. You're cloistered, the environment is breathtaking and the community is super supportive.

The internet was a mistake.

ἡσυχία

Where's Ayah? I was her wife a couple lifetimes ago...

I think it's been 8 years since I logged in, so to recap:

Life: Same province, same employer. As Dale said above, life is pretty chill.

Music: Lots and lots of projects, I never let that go. Highlights were The Fall, Phish, GBV, Motorhead, Fugazi Rush, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Brian Jonestown Massacre, the entire Wu universe. I did all the metal and punk sub-genres that I could find. The craziest was listening to everything Zappa on Apple Music. That took months and nearly broke my spirit. Lots of jazz in the last 6 months. Right now, I'm listening to Duke Ellington.

LIFE:
Still living in central/upstate NY and got divorced in the back half of 2018 after 15 years. Not looking back, only looking forward. Had a roller coast 2019 and kinda calming down this year and hanging out with a girl I met on Tinder because she quoted I Want To Conquer The World by Bad Religion in her profile.

My mom sold her house and moved in with me for 5 months while in between houses. She's in a new place now and really likes it. Sad to see the old house go (the one that I always considered "home" even though I hadn't lived there in 18 years).

Teaching 4th grade now. Really enjoying what I do, and also glad to be in an environment that truly appreciates what I do. (Not looking back at the two previous school districts that strung me along for years without hiring me... only looking forward!)

I'm doing a radio show (again), occasionally writing, and doing a lot of geocaching.

Bought a new car in Novemeber and it doesn't have a CD player and it's really weird.

MUSIC:
Still loving indie rock and punk, trying to keep up with the new waves. I've also made some mega mixes with tons of 80s music (4 volumes of 80s indie/underground/college radio stuff, and one of 80s punk and one of 80s hip-hop). Made a huge world music mix with 80 songs from 80 different countries. Also just finished a 101-song country and western mix featuring music only from the 1940s-1960s. Additionally have been trying to do the Spotify thing since I'm doing a free trial, and then using a Christmas gift card to get another three months premium. If you post music here or on the FB group chances are I check it out.

np: Built To Spill - There Is No Enemy LP

LIFE:
Left Austin for Brooklyn. Left Brooklyn for Chicago, the land of Obner ancestors. Hair fell out; grew a big ass beard*. Got 3 tattoos with a 4th on the books. Did a "Take This Job And Shove It" for the first time in my life. Rediscovered my love of the journalism business. Started my own thing.

MUSIC:
I'm fine with having shitty taste, but I dread turning into an old fart with shitty music tastes from his 20s. But I also don't have the attention span of listening to everything that comes out. Trying out jazz. I write to Coltrane. I read somewhere that's where Rakim developed his style, but I'm not rapping. Because I'm white. When I read books I listen to J. Dilla Donuts on repeat. Somehow I never listened to it in reverse order until recently. I love the Neil Young Archives app. Exploring old R&B/Soul, especially working from samples back to original material. Big KRIT. New Jack Swing every October. Teddy Pendergrass. Anything Dischord. Ex Hex back to Helium. The first 7 Black Sabbath albums. Janet Jackson.

*Flying Rabbit still has me beat by quite a bit.

lol 15,200 posts

Good to see some familiar screen names.

LIFE: I'm still in Utah, seeing 20-30 sick and well kids a day, 5 days a week. It's a bit of a grind this time of year and we're bracing for COVID-19. Both daughters (now 24 and 20) are out of the house. The eldest is a 1st year law student in So Cal and the younger is a sophomore at a small liberal arts college in Minnesota. Both have launched well and that is a blessing. I do have my mother-in-law living in my basement--not a blessing.

MUSIC: my top 20 from '19 and '18 are still posted on the first page (my '18 list is in Flying Rabbit's '18 thread).

Life:
Still married to my Swedish Finn and living in Cincinnati. This city has really improved since we moved back here from Chicago. It is nothing like it was during my childhood with so much to do. Oldest is a sophomore in high school and has his driving temps. All 3 kids are killing me with all of the sports activities they do...our family calendar is insane. Soccer and lacrosse are starting to fire up hard this month. Daughter is a social butterfly...always hanging out with her huge pool of friends. Youngest is fun and most athletic. All 3 kids are addicted to their phones. Work is going well...still architecting at the same place...going on 15+ years now. (minus a brief hiatus where I tried a different firm and came back here with my tail between my legs, but they welcomed me back). Work has been really busy and we have had a bunch of people leave and retire in the last 2 years, so my status has improved and people have really taken notice of everything I do around here. Yeah! I've got season tickets to FC Cincinnati, so if you swing thru and want to go to a game, let me know.

Music:
I've been on a black kick recently: Black Keys (and the Arcs, Dan Auerbach), Black Angels, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Blackwater Fever...also Beck. I've also been enjoying Metric, War on Drugs, the new Meat Puppets...and more. Been on Spotify for a little while and it's completely changed how I listen to music at work. I make huge playlists and just hit shuffle. I've followed a bunch of you guys as friends and often throw the music you are listening to into my que to change things up a bit. I don't have the same energy to seek out new music and digest new albums, so I have been listening to the back catalogs or new music from bands that I've liked over the years.

Loved the new Meat Puppets album. Also really enjoyed Colors but really disliked the last Beck album. Also if you like Metric, check out the new Slotface album.

Life/Music: is good! I'm 39, my kid is 3, we skied on Sunday! been married for 7, back in Toronto from Montreal for 10. I like living here, my family's all here, and the country is easily accessible. Still working at a record label, and because of that running on my own label on-the-side, called Boiled Records. I am on the ride of my life with the Sessa record we put out (beautiful Brazilian pop); and the incomparable FET.NAT album of last year. I'm buying more records than ever, and still figuring out how to use streaming to my advantage. Oddly enough, I find most of my new music through the Instagram scroll. I too think obner ought to be revived. Like Todd, I am with greater frequency looking outside of western music for fresh sonics, textures, emotion.

Here are my recent releases:
SESSA - http://smarturl.it/sessagrandeza
FET.NAT - http://smarturl.it/FETNATlemal
FLANAFI - http://smarturl.it/flanafi

Here are the 2020 albums I've caught on to so far:
Música Esporádica - Música Esporádica
Jeff Parker - Suite for Max Brown
Aoife Nessa Frances - Land of No Junction
Pedro Magina - Olímpia
Tara Clerkin Trio - Tara Clerkin Trio
Rebecca Foon - Waxing Moon
Asa Tone - Temporary Music
Six Organs of Admittance - Companion Rises

LIFE:

4 months ago I tore strips off a manager for being a complete cretin, was summoned to a disciplinary and told them to all fuck off and stormed out, kicking the security barrier down for good measure. Perhaps my greatest work place explosion since I was fired at a large bank for organising an unofficial wildcat strike back in 2003. Since then I've been wondering what to do with my life and not coming up with many ideas. I'm basically living off the grid now as my savings slowly dwindle away. My old cat died (Jess - nice) and now I have an new one (Millie - complete asshole). Despite inexorably oozing towards homeless and destitution I actually have a fantastic girl who is much thinner and younger than I am, hates kids, loves animals, couldn't give a fuck about politics and is arguably even more mental than I am. Her two dogs, herself and I is my little family unit, all I need and honestly the world can go to hell for all I care. It's me, her and the dogs. We're 3 years down the line so I'm hopeful it'll last.

MUSIC:

Don't really listen to new music much now. I'm approaching 50 and hate young people which seems like a hindrance to actually liking any youth culture product. Let's face it young people fucking suck these days. They don't do drugs, they don't drink, they study at school, they knuckle down, they plan careers and they suck the life out of everything with their bullshit. Recently I saw a bunch of young lads (18-19) out on the town and they were dressed in suits and waist coats and leather shoes. I almost vomited on the pavement. The stink of aspiration is everywhere. What happened to bad hair, smelly jeans, sneakers with a big toe poking out, army surplus jackets and dilated pupils? I'm old, my time is gone but I'm happy to be an fist shaking old dinosaur. My dad died 2 years ago. I'm the oldest living member of the [insert surname here] family. I'm absolutely comfortable with being middle aged and leaving all the hipster shit behind. Who the fuck wants to be connected in anyway to THIS culture anyway? Trying to keep up is risible, it's a denial of who and where you are in time. Having said that who's to say Konstantiranks won't one day re-emerge Cthulu-like from the dark frightening depths and cast it's giant squid eye on the current day scene. One wagers a score in excess of 5.58 would be a table topping rank instead of barrel scrapping dreck. So yeah, in terms of music about once every two weeks I stick some vinyl on, stuff from the old days. Black Flag, Mudhoney, Minor Threat. I could do a Konstantiranks Vinyl edition, if only because rating things against other things is not the done thing these days...

You know, I love the idea that this place could be completely gutted by Facebook, then limp along on life support until we all get sick of FB, and be here for us to come back to. This was, in all the important ways, better. Now if Haq could just update the code…

LIFE: Still married (15 years), kid is 10. After almost 9 years in MA working happily in biotech, we got serious about moving to the PNW and did it 3.5 years ago (small town an hour from Portland). It was a pretty big pain in the ass, and it was also completely worth it. I miss my people in Boston badly – nobody can take their places. But it’s very easy to make friends here, there’s too much to do, and like Rabbit in Alaska we are surrounded by “holy fuck” grade scenery and wildlife that finds us delicious… cougars regularly seen in my neighborhood, black bear living under the floor of a friend’s shop building (now with 3 cubs!). More importantly, it’s slower, quieter, and friendlier here, and we needed that, I think. The first year here was nightmarish. Rented from THE notorious local predatory landlord (3x trips to court with that fuckwad), and worked for a functioning alcoholic boss who tried to get me Squirrgled. Her peers realized what was up and rescued me, and the ensuing 2.5 years have been bliss… I work next to 2 world class breweries (as in “frisbee toss” distances), so lots of meetings happen there. Tons of lunchtime bike rides. All 3 of us have been racing cyclocross the past 2 years, and loving the comradery. Starting to play music again (guitar and pedal steel), semi-professional photography still happening a lot. Still reading to my daughter for half an hour every night, and terrified of the day that stops.

MUSIC: Still listen to KEXP constantly, grabbing little bits from wherever I hear about them and adding them to a massive Spotify playlist. Had a fun project a month back, going through these huge compilations of country / western music by year. Started on the next chunk, got stalled, need to start again. I was analyzing occurrences of certain things, graphing it, to see trends. Shit like direct mentions of booze, drugs, infidelity, God, honky tonks, when pedal steel overtook lap steel, that shit.

really glad to hear you and the fam are doing well, kyle - you deserve it, buddy!

finally got high enough to post

i’m good
werkin part time
still trying to draw a perfect circle

daughter child is (choke!) 30, a social worker
yung sun is 27, cutting edge cancer research
neither of them is as fucked up as i expected

livin and dyin by spotify (yes, i pay for it)
always looking for interesting music via podcasts, etc
thought there might be a post or two on some good music and then saw the genesis posts
you guys got old

harry, you made me laugh

That Sessa record is fantastic! I've streamed it a couple of times, but it's on my wishlist to purchase. Now that I know it's your label, it's #1 with a bullet!
And, have you heard the new Kiko Dinucci record? It's not gentle pop like the Sessa, but some killer acoustic guitar playing, with an experimental tack. Should check it out. I think you'll dig!

Todd, I am into that Kiko Dinucci record for sure. I picked it up based on the artwork and have returned to it a few times, really dig it. Kiko and Sessa are friends actually. Glad you are feeling the Sessa record – I'm confident it's going to get me through a lot of the days to come. Much love!

If you dig Kiko, you should check out his other projects: Meta Meta and Passo Torto. They're also fantastic.
And... is Sessa going to tour North America at all? I might want to check him out if he comes through Chicago.

Hi obner

LIFE:
Got married to my girlfriend of 4 years on 3/14/15. Did more traveling with her in the span of 8 years than I thought I’d ever do in my entire life (Russia, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Latvia, Estonia, England, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Puerto Rico, Barbados, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, St. Croix, Antigua, Seattle, New York, Las Vegas, Nashville, various places in Arizona and New Mexico). Separated in May 2020, which certainly wasn’t a prerequisite to buying a new house 3 months before and putting down money for a November trip to South Africa/Zambia/Zimbabwe 5 weeks before. Divorced on 8/1/20. We decided we were still friends enough to where we could still do the trip, which we did. Went fine for the most part except for a bitter falling out with some friends in Durban and missing one of our 8 or so flights. Not much has happened since then, except my record store visiting has gone up significantly since and I’m trying to catch up on an 8 year backlog of movies/TV shows that I’ve missed. Oh, and I grew a beard. Probably shaving it soon because I feel like I touch my face more because of it, which might not be the best idea right now?

MUSIC:
Some favorite records released in the past 10 years are The Silver Seas - Chateau Revenge, Wild Nothing - Nocturne, Caitlin Rose - The Stand-In, Diane Birch - Speak a Little Louder, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Push the Sky Away, Janelle Monáe - The Electric Lady, Lydia Loveless - Somewhere Else, Real Estate - Atlas, The Sonics - This is the Sonics, Squeeze - Cradle to the Grave, Elbow - Little Fictions, Natalie Prass - The Future and the Past. Not a lot of concerts. Most recent I’ve been to are Squeeze w/ X, and The Ocean Blue. Buying more vinyl lately but not going crazy with it. My ex’s sister gave us (sorta) her entire collection of 400 or so vinyl records (she really liked her rock, punk, and new wave), which is kind of what started that. Prior to that, I owned maybe 10 or so.

Holy crap, it's great to see all y'all!

I'm trying to get the most out of my second daughter's (1.5 year old) nap to see how low my bank account is, but I'll try to write an update tonight after getting the kids to bed.

Oatmill.