Innocents

Biography

ok, i’ve been making albums for 22 years, and in almost every album i’ve made i’ve included an essay. So, ‘innocents’ is a new album, and thus: an essay. some of my past essays have been about, in no specific order: fundamentalism, veganism, me, the album i'd just made, and etc. and now instead of an essay i’d like to just write out a list (as some of you might know: i like lists. maybe because i’m lazy. or maybe because they’re concise. or both, probably). so, a list: 01. thank you for taki...

ok, i’ve been making albums for 22 years, and in almost every album i’ve made i’ve included an essay. So, ‘innocents’ is a new album, and thus: an essay. some of my past essays have been about, in no specific order: fundamentalism, veganism, me, the album i'd just made, and etc. and now instead of an essay i’d like to just write out a list (as some of you might know: i like lists. maybe because i’m lazy. or maybe because they’re concise. or both, probably). so, a list: 01. thank you for taking the time to listen to my new album. i hope you like it. 02. and thanks to the people who helped me make it, as it’s a very collaborative effort. really. 03. uh oh, this list is devolving into an old timey ‘thank you’ list. 04. there’s nothing wrong with an old timey ‘thank you’ list, but i’d rather make a list that goes further afield than ‘thank yous’. 05. again, nothing wrong with ‘thank you’s. especially when they’re heart felt. like the ‘thank you’s above. really. 06. some of the things i’d like to include in my list seem kind of cliche’d, especially as i’m writing them in southern california and i currently live in I.a. 07. like: life is short and difficult: don’t waste your time making a short and difficult life even shorter and more difficult. more on this later (see ‘27’). 08. see, i told you, i’m happily a southern california cliche. mea culpa. 09. i guess there are worse cliche’s than the ‘well intentioned vaguely new age southern california’ cliche. or so i believe. i’m guessing some angry people in cold places might disagree. 10. did i mention i have a new album and that i’m glad you’ve taken the time to listen to it? oh, i guess i did. 11. re: ‘10’, i’m nothing without tautologies. 12. here are a few good vocab words: tautology, eschatology, hagiography, practicable, mendacious, ontological. see, my years at community college have paid off. 13. this list is random. i could make an effort towards order and structure, but i’m generally ok with things being random. oh, speaking of which: ‘entropy’ and ‘entropic’ are good vocab words, too. 14. i hope i don’t sound too pedantic. ‘pedantic’ is a good vocab word. that last sentence is self-reflexive. 15. some people grew up playing sports and having friends. i grew up reading. thus: pedantry. 16. back to the cliche’s: here’s some punk rock spiritual advice: figure out what works for you. not for society. not for an authoritarian god. not for vaguely held ideas of propriety. but for you. you have your life, don’t waste it trying to conform to some nebulous idea of what you should be doing or how you should be thinking and comporting yourself. it’s your life, figure out what works for you. 17. the danger in lists, or any sort of personal writing, is that you(or, i)run the risk of giving too much away, of exposing too much. most cool musicians and actors and etc seem to have figured out how to be elusive and obscure and cool. i clearly stayed home the day they were giving ‘how to be elusive and obscure’ lessons at public-figure school. i’ll be honest, elusive and obscure and cool seem kind of disingenuous and boring to me. and it almost takes more effort to maintain a facade or persona of elusivity and obscurity rather than just being yourself as best you know how. or so i believe. again, maybe i’d feel differently if i were good at being elusive and cool. 18. tautology #384: thanks for listening to my new album. 19. industrial animal production(factory farming)-decimates communities, harms workers, tortures animals, contributes to climate change, causes deforestation, poisons water supplies, and yields animal products that cause heart disease, cancer, obesity, and diabetes. maybe it’s time for us to collectively re-think our support of factory farming? maybe in the interest of being healthier and happier and living on a cleaner planet we should re-think eating so much meat and dairy? 20. without tax payer subsidies a pound of beef would cost, roughly, 10 times more than it currently does. so our tax dollars go to subsidize an industry that destroys the environment, communities, animals, and the people who eat animal products. that’s not so bright on the part of us and our elected representatives, huh. 21. i’m now pretty sure my list has managed to offend a majority of the people who’ve read it. eh, better to speak your mind and offend a few people than keep your opinions to yourself and offend no one. right? 22. when a successful musician or public figure complains about the hardships of being a public figure you are well within your rights to ignore them. 23. my worst job ever was washing dishes at a big restaurant in a mall in connecticut. if i still had that job i’d expect you to listen to me when i complained. 24, ‘23’ is an interesting number, says me, the conspiracy theorist. to that end: why is there a sponge bob blimp hovering over my house? is it some new black-ops device? 25. in 2015 i will have been making records under my own name for 25 years. maybe i’ll have a self-involved birthday party for my first release, which was ‘mobility/go’, released in 1990. 26. this list has gotten pretty long. is anyone still reading? if so: the money is buried behind the sleeping palm trees in pirates cove. but be warned, it’s guarded by angry lizards. 27. going back to ‘8’. what i mean is: lots of things make our short and hard lives even shorter and harder. like: eating unhealthy food, smoking, arguing, sitting too much, self criticism, criticism of others, entitlement, bitterness, cynicism, isolation, regret. so why not make an effort to not indulge in those things? easier said than done, but isn’t it worth the effort? i mean, how many people towards the end of their lives have wished they’d smoked more and eaten crappier food and spent more time being isolated and bitter? very few, i’m guessing. 28. some things that, personally, make my life better: dogs, music, swimming, eating well, getting enough sleep, reading good books, listening to led zeppelin, listening to debussy, listening to donna summer, listening to bad brains, drinking white tea, hanging out with people i really like, watching little kids dance at weddings, looking at bacteria and paramecium under a microscope, reading about science, disco dancing, trying to be helpful, watching 30 rock, and etc etc. what’s on your list? maybe write it down and keep it on hand, just as a reminder. you can always add more to it, too. 29. i’m thinking that we’re approaching the end of the list. 30. is this a good place to stop? 31. no, i have to keep going. it’s become a compulsion. 32. ok, i’m going to force myself to stop writing the list. i’m sure i’ve left some things out. but anyway, it’s a pretty long list. 33. thank you for reading my long and random and potentially irritating list. 34. tautology #5,612: thank you for listening to my new album. 35. tautology #11,231: thanks to wayne and damien and ladan and inyang and skylar and mark and inyang and spike and matty and jonathan and everyone else who helped me make this record. 36. finally: why ‘innocents’? hm, a long answer. not necessarily an interesting answer, but kind of a long answer. so i’ll wait and tell you if we ever get the chance to meet up and talk. thanks, -moby Read more on Last.fm. 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