The Weblog of Daniel Tashian

Well Friday afternoon I was supposed to write with Liz Rose but she was sick so I got the day off.

Well it was a relaxing weekend, and we got some stuff done around the house. The garden required some pruning and L. and I got out there and whacked it back. Lots of afternoon thunderstorms and the occasional nap. To the Barron’s for dinner and to my parents for Roger’s Hoolie. Came up with a new band name: “The Royal Figs” but L. not sure about it: “It sounds kind of heavy.” she says. To dinner at City House. Well I really want to write everyday but I get bogged down. We listened to the whole Beach House record (teen dream) and I sat on the couch and played guitar along with it and it was really depressing how good it is. It zags when you think it’s going to zig. The sounds are all unique and the chord movements are original. I played along and it was nothing I would ever think of. So that kind of depressed me, I don’t know why, but there are times when I feel my music is too conservative- I don’t force myself to take big chances. The sounds are too predictable and whatnot. But I also feel appreciation for Beach House and their creativity and willingness to forge new ways ahead in songwriting and production. Leann came and delivered an organ from the 70′s from Joyce’s house and I made space for it in the studio. It has little buttons you can press for “Samba” or “Rhumba” and they sound very good. So that lifted my spirits.

Well I finally got some sleep last night. Been at a writing camp for Matthew Morrison, the Glee-guy. Wrote four songs in the last 2 days: “Shine On Me” “Bring On The Rain” “Forgive Me” and “How Beautiful You Are” or something like that. Anyway, “forgive me” is sort of like the Scissor Sisters. Lots of people were there, Jamie Kenny, Jeff Cohen, Natalie Hemby, Dave Barnes. He was funny. Angie Aparo. Well, the other thing is my favorite band right now is Air. They are just so good. With like 20 records and the chords are always interesting. I like Love2 a lot. They always seem to be getting sounds I haven’t heard so many times. What else? Well it’s too hot here to really do anything. Lat night we had Quesadillas and Lillie watched the Next Great Artist show on Bravo. I banged on a keyboard until my fingers hurt.

Well I tried to write a novel today. L and I were reading Anne Lamott’s Bird By Bird and she talks about how if you survive childhood you have enough material to write a lifetime of novels about. Which is a great theory. Here’s some starts:

“The ocean is a cold, grey and mysterious place. It’s also deep. It also contains sharks and octopuses.  Also, when there is a storm,  it can be a very rough place for a boat.  And that’s exactly the conditions that were plaguing

“I want to see the captain!” said a young sailor from Milwaukee named jim.”

Here is a rough plot outline:

Cars – monkeys – monkey and a car. Race car driving monkey.

Anyway. It suffices to say that I learned quite quickly that writing novels is not in my set of skills. I have some other pages but i’m too embarrassed to quote them.

Got out and fussed around in the garden for about an hour. The zucchini had to go because some kind of bug critters got into it. When I took it out, I found some amazing eggplants behind it that were just so happy to have those giant leaves be gone. I staked them and put some food on the tomatoes. There are already like 200 green tomatoes out there. I love the smell of tomato plants. Then made (from the garden) : eggplant sauteed then baked with mozzarella and tomato sauce. Then served over spag. with sliced cucumbers on the side. Also we had Sauteed green beans in garlic and sesame oil. Szechuan beans. They kind of sucked because I waited too long to pick them. Eggplants were fantastic. Then I went to Blockbuster and didn’t know what to get so I got Crazy Heart and A Serious Man and we watched Crazy which was real good but not as good as Shelter Island which we watched last night and we both thought it was fantastic.

Well I’ve been working in the studio this weekend with Didi Pop on a new Hawiian themed children’s record. We had a lot of fun and particularly the Hawiian alphabet song I thought turned out really great. Also some cool surf music. A new country session last week: 6 songs. Oh, also we’ve been watching Bonnaroo on the webcast. Wow. It looks/sounds really great. We watched the Kings of Leon and I was just so impressed. I thought they were fantastic. The songs were so weird and dark and they looked so cool. We also watched Jay Z and he was amazing. Then last night we watched Dave Matthews and Jeff Coffin was there on stage and man. Dave really puts on a show. But it was the best webcast i’ve ever seen. The film was clear and the music was synchronized correctly and everything. It was the wave of the future. I really want to start a jam band. I’m going to do it! Not the kind where you just play solos all night but….that would be fun too. We had cucumber soup from the garden and I made quesadillas. Avocados. Reading the Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.

“There She Goes” by the La’s -

Well we did some grocery shopping in the afternoon ($92) and I made pasta and capresi salad. But something really embarassing happened:  Jay gave me a bottle of port from 1947 and then, within 10 minutes, at Leann’s garden herb society tour, I gave it away. This cute lady from Bellevue WA was eying it so eagerly, and I said: “Anyone here from Bellevue WA?” and she waved her hand in the air and said “I am!” and I said: “This is for you!” and I gave her the port. Then immediately I knew that I had just done one of those things I do in crowds sometimes where I do something irrational. She was so excited but in the afterglow I felt stupid for having given it away and had to go and get some expensive cheese to give to Jay to assuage my guilt. He was, of course, fine. We watched a lot of “Pirate Radio” and it’s got some very good lines in it. Also a great performance by Kenneth Branaugh : He’s gets so delightfully indignant! So I got potatoes and leeks and tomorrow I will make vichycoisse and we will be so highbrow drinking cold potato soup and watching the French Open. Actually, we’ve been keeping a lot of movies and TV shows going in the background. I write songs while they play in the other room. It’s comforting to me, and I think i’ve become afraid of too much quiet. I would probably lose my mind on one of those “Silence Retreats” – There have been nice afternoon/evening thunderstorms these last few days and the bird feeders have run out every other day. Lots of nestlings around.
Piece in the New Yorker about “The Party” with Peter Sellers: says the long, comic scenes with no dialog approach Chaplin. I like things like that.

Grr. Oil spill. Putting “dispersants” in the water. Yuck. Assholes. You don’t have to have a biology PHD to know that putting arsenic in the ocean is stupid.

Well Kylie Sackley came over to write and she’s an Aussie. She was having some immigration issues and man i’m glad I don’t have those. She was very cool to write with and we got about 2/3rds of a song done. She’s going to come finish it with me in a week or so. I made nachos for lunch but she just wanted a rice cake with peanut butter on it: “Nachos actually sound a bit heavy to me.” – She did have some lemon squash, though. Then Lillie and I watched some of “Wall Street” and it’s superbly well edited and shot. Micheal Douglas is such a seasoned pro by then. He knows how to make the consonants punchy and harsh. “aMeriCan PeoPle!” Thought about going to Louisville to see Josh again but we weren’t feeling very ambitious when the time came. Lillie went to her grandma’s and came back with curtains.

Well we worked at home a good part of the day. Then to the Belcourt for the Josh Rouse concert. He was very good. The band was great and the sound in the Belcourt was very good, if slightly on the quiet side, but maybe i’m deaf. The crowd was enthusiastic and very cool. Afterwards we all went to Jackson’s and I had a Cuban sandwich and a Jameson. Then I smoked a cigarette and all night long I was cursing myself. Josh was tired from touring but very affable and we had a nice time.

Well it was hot and we woke up late. I made toast and coffee and we walked around the block. New song in my head : “Street Magic” – Went to the office and worked with Karen Rochelle. I saw Shawn Camp and Trent Summar and Pat McGlaghlin and who else? Patrick Clifford – and I egged him on and he told a story about hanging out with John Lennon and Harry Nilsson. John banging on the piano drunk and yelling: “I’m not a real songwriter, THIS MAN is a real songwriter!” and gesturing to a prone Nilsson. Patrick then picked up Nilsson’s wrist to check his pulse and said “With all due respect I believe this man is dead!” and of course he wasn’t but the story did make me smile. It seemed to have a Monty Python-esque thing to it. But what crazy guys. What could they have accomplished if they weren’t such raging alcoholics? Anyway, finished up with Karen then sent some packages out (CDs $8) and returned a movie to Blockbuster and got some iceberg and ranch dressing from the B.R. – Had soup and iceberg, then some caramel cake and i’m getting fat again- I have to go on a diet or walk more. I absolutely refuse to do sit ups. I hate them.