Pedal passion

Recently I was very lucky to obtain three new pedals for my extremely low budget pedalboard, if you can even call it that. I initially started out with a used chorus pedal around 2007 because I liked Andy Summers' (of The Police) tone and wanted to play along with some songs. I eventually came to realize that while that was all good and fun, it wasn't really an effect that I utilize much and still don't to this day.

Eventually I settled for a cheap Boss ME-20 multi-effect pedal since I was pretty low on cash and didn't have any clue what craigslist was. The most influential factor though probably came from borrowing my friend's unused digitech multi pedal. It was a pain switching between effects cause it only changed through numbered presets. It did go to 99 though, but switching between 1 to 34 with only a few seconds between song transitions was a bit of a pain.

Anywho it appears that it has taken me the better of five years to finally obtain an addition in the form of a Boss DD-3 delay earlier this year. It was an essential purchase as it finally gave me some freedom in terms of delay shaping. So now finally I was able to make a major revision to the amount of pedals at my disposal!

Here is my newly acquired amount of pedals:



I've already used the RV-5 extensively for a little secret project. The RV-5 reverb is extremely versatile compared to the limited options on the ME-20 and I really enjoy the ethereal sounds from the modulate setting. The TU-2 is mainly going to be used for it's daisy chaining option but it's good to have such a standard pedal handy. The RAT by far is the pedal I will need to experiment with the most as it is a very versatile distortion that can really go into mega fuzz territory or be a nice noisy overdrive.

It also helped that I was able to snatch the pedals all for under $200 considering one of them costs that much new. The guy who sold me the RV-5 and TU-2 was a really cool guy and had his own in-home studio with a shit ton of great equipment (grand piano, tons of pedals, sweet guitars, keyboards upon keyboards, antique organs, etc). Apparently he also sold a microphone to the The Mars Volta's touring bassist, Silver Lake is a sweet area.



The only thing I am aching to get now is a Electro-Harmonix POG, which is a super awesome polyphonic octave pedal. I've been skimming craigslist for days looking for something but it's always tough to throw down more than $100 for something used, not including gas usage. Either way, this has been a great week for gear additions and it'll definitely help in coming up with new sounds.

Song of the Day: Xiu Xiu - The Pineapple Vs. the Watermelon

My first introduction to Xiu Xiu was through their second album and very scary(or sad. In reality I have no clue what emotion you can place on it. Listen to the opening track, "Sad Pony Guerrilla Girl" to understand what I mean) album "A Promise". After a few listens I fell in love with Jamie Stewart's songwriting and absolutely crazy range. He could go from a seeming whisper kind of singing into an intense scream. Unfortunately for about a year Xiu Xiu remained hidden in my large library of music until I eventually had the urge to listen to more of the project which lead me to find the absolutely amazing "The Air Force".

The whole album is filled with self-deprecating lyrics, crazy synth sounds and extremely catchy sad tones. Tthe entirety of The Air Force (to me anyways) has no bad song, but if I was to chose my favorite it has to be "The Pineapple Vs. the Watermelon."

Right when the song starts you get drawn in with this very smooth bass, soft guitar arpeggios and a constant bass drum kicks. When Jamie Stewart starts "whisper singing" you get this up close emotion that is unavoidable. The lyrics tell the tear jerking story of someone praying for the return of someone that has killed themselves and because of the minimal song structure you get hit with every single emotion.

Pretty sweet album cover right? Slowly truckin' along with The Pale King (you could check my progress on Goodreads), I should be done with it by the end of this week and hopefully be starting (when it actually arrives) the Marbles Swarm by Dennis Cooper (whom has a great blog that I have recently been posting on. He is such a very nice guy that will respond to your comments (no matter how asinine and poorly written they are)) or if that comes in too late White Teeth by Zadie Smith. She is widely known for being a funny and talented writer from Britain. For her extremely intellectual discussion about her book and literature in general with Michael Silverblatt (the world's greatest reader) from KCRW's Bookworm click here.

HAHAHA oh God, I was going through the labels and seen Harry Potter.
God help you Bridgette, God help you. 

Song of the Day: The Dismemberment Plan - Superpowers

The Dismemberment Plan have always been a band that had great amounts of empathy towards its subjects. Songs like 'Tonight We Mean It', 'The Things That Matter', and 'Gyroscope' presented their relatable subjects of isolation, loneliness, rejection, living as a young adult and general humanity with a sense of self-awareness that is modest and honest. It's that sense of songwriting that would grant them their immense cult status among their loyal fan base and set them apart from other peers.

Yet it's the cut 'Superpowers' from their 2001 album (their last so far) Change that exemplifies the band's empathy to new heavenly extremes and showcases their late-career songwriting complexity. With a dreamy synth and persistent drum beat that never relents but never overbears, the song is accompanied by The D-Plan's signature funky bass lines and melodic guitar lines. But the most revealing are Travis Morrison's quiet sweet vocals proclaiming various contrasting experiences that continue for the rest of the song:

"I have seized with the ice cold rage of a lover betrayed,half a million miles away.

I have cried so hard for hours and not known why, I never do."

But the most telling of these lyrics comes from the chorus resigning that "I guess you could call it superpowers/But no one is going to save the world with what I've got", revealing a self-awareness of the limitations of empathy, a proposed 'superpower' by many but that doesn't quite get anything accomplished beyond its acknowledgement.

Perhaps 'Superpowers' signals a maturity of self-awareness for The Dismemberment Plan that acknowledges a futile attempt of empathy for all humankind: one that clearly couldn't be handled by the narrator of the song, and with descriptions of 'an indigo light from silvery towers surrounded by rocks and stones as far as the eye can see', it wouldn't be far off to speculate that the only one who would is God himself. Luckily, we can only relate.

FYF Fest (My chance to brag about what I want to see)

I am going to FYF Fest this year, Starlon is going too, and so are a bunch of my friends. Here is what I want to see.

Day One


Day Two


I'm unsure whether I will catch Liars or Dinosaur Jr., I love Liars more but I saw them already this year. The possibility of a different set is tempting but I also wish to see Dinosaur Jr. for what might be my last chance. Oh the humanity.

Song of the Day: Bloc Party - Positive Tension

Since the critically acclaimed debut album "Silent Alarm", all of Bloc Party's later work has always been compared to it and with good reason; it is album an amazing. With the recent release of "Four", their fourth (hence the name) and latest album after their hiatus, and once again music reviewers bitch and moan about how they wish they had another “Silent Alarm”. Though Bloc Party has never really been on my radar, after a discussion with Bryan, he suggested I give “Silent Alarm” another listen because he said, “it is the kind of band that I would make”. As much as I would want to bitch and moan about how he is wrong, he is absolutely right.


The way Kele Okereke writes and sings his songs are just so similar to everything that I ever wanted or done in Old Soybu. His lyrics are rife with this existential questioning  that I always have in my lyrics and the song 'Positive Tension' is exemplary of this. Not only does he sing and write similar to me but the overall sound of the songs are exactly the kind of stuff I wanted to make. The instrumentation on this track (and the album) is a smart and forward thinking interpretation of post-punk revival (a genre based purely on nostalgia). This song features a really nasty sounding synth an ethereal guitar and a really dance-y drum beat.

I haven't listened to their other albums, but I am ready to hear the progression of this amazing band.

Oh, and since that this is going to be a revival of the blog I plan to write a lot about the recent fiction I have been reading and might drop a few posts about some influential writers that I really enjoy.
Right now I am towards the end of The Pale King by David Foster Wallace (my first and definitely not my last Wallace)  so look out for some of my thoughts on the famous unfinished tome.

Thanks for reading guys (the few of you that actually care).

- Starlon H