Matthew Trisler » Work

Nine Songs on BandCamp

Matthew — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:16:10 +0000

I’ll be the first to admit it – I suck at teaser posts.

I was going to post the previous announcement, then the album cover the next day, and all that.

My problem is a simple one: I get so freaking excited about this thing, I can’t hold back.

What you’ll be listening to is the product of the last nine years. I’ve written a ton, and recorded a large handful of it. I used to think that this stuff was unusably flawed. The songs that I still like are the ones with mistakes in my face.

The same is true of music I listen to. The perfectly produced and performed stuff, like the Postal Service, always fades out over time in favor of things like Pavement’s Slanted and Enchanted or Guided By Voices’ Bee Thousand, that revel in error and the musicianship of actual humans.

In short, this record is a document testifying to the fact that I write what I’m interested in hearing. I hope you’ll be interested in it, too.

Nine Songs will be released tomorrow, but the whole thing’s up and ready for streaming at BandCamp right now. Tomorrow, you can download or buy.

Check it out; tell me what you think:

New Project, New busy work.

Matthew — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 20:57:38 +0000

A few nights ago, while doing other things, I started collecting an iTunes playlist of everything I’ve recorded. I sorted through duplicates, covers, and the stupid stuff, and realized that I have over 30 songs from the last several years that, while they need work, are worth that work.

I’m going to start working on these songs. Once a week, I’ll post the existing version, with some notes about what I need to do with it. At the end of the week, I’ll be posting the new version.

Why one song a week? I’m a busy boy. I’m looking for a new day job while trying to get my startup, The List of Bands up and running (once that happens, I’ll be getting the running site up off the ground).

It starts Monday. Song to be determined.

In the meantime, if you want to suggest a name for this project, I’m totally open to it. Fire away.

On Decluttering

Matthew — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 03:47:08 +0000

Last night, as I was getting ready to pack my bag for work today, I got fed up with my clutter. All the empty envelopes and scraps of paper, some of which have stayed with me since before I graduated college last May, they had to go.

The problem was that I was looking for a pen, but couldn’t find one. So I dumped my whole bag out and got rid of the trash.

Which is when I realized how much stuff I carry with me every day.

I carry this crap EVERY DAY

All of which I honestly feel is necessary, even if I don’t use it every day:

Nice Panasonic headphones
Ancient, big, heavy iBook
iBook charger
work-branded thumb drive
Lego-shaped thumb drive
Four books
Two iPods
iPhone
No fewer than six Molskine notebooks (each of which, I swear, serves a different purpose)

It’s no wonder my back is sore most days.

The fact of the matter is that I need to further declutter. Hard decisions need to be made about what stays home.

Because I never did find that pen.