I made a fake Slint song... people thought it was real

A couple of months ago, when I drove back to Schenectady from Nashville, I wrote some music. If you look at my previous entry called, "How to track a full album of drums in two days," this was composed/recorded shortly before that blog post.

I recorded the drums for this fake Slint song (titled "Vellum") originally for a song that was supposed to be like a slow-burning, Lynyrd Skynyrd-esque Southern Folk-Rock tune. I was too lazy to write a real melody so I just played some random chords over the top instead. Then I added a bass line and thought, "This is basically a Slint song."

Once it was Slint-ified, my idea for the track was like one of those concept albums that are based around a fictional story. My conceptualized lyrics for this music were going to tell the story of "The Patient." Stay with me... A man works at a local research lab every day, and checks in on a patient who has been in a coma. At the crescendo of the music, he visits work to find the patient has awoken, and in fact, he is the patient himself.

I think I wrote some lyrics but then I tried some spoken word like Slint does, and it sounded bad so I just gave up, because who cares? Instead I figured I'd post the instrumental to see how many views it would get as a fake (though seemingly real) unreleased Slint track. People immediately thought it was real. Here are some of the reactionary comments the video garnered over on YouTube:

"holy fucking shit!"
"Where did you get this?"

"New Slint!? i mean they are around lol it could be, Maybe not tho i only hear 1 guitar and 1 bass, a drummer and a repetitive part with no build, nothing else"
--"theres 2 guitars for sure if u listen closely"
-- "Hmmmm, yea i hear it!"

"this song sounds like this year"
"Not slint. I know them like the voice of my mother. Listening to them for ages.But cool, good work. And maybe change the title with your name man."

"Is this real?"

Nope, it's not real. Instead of milking any illusion I just posted a comment saying I made it, and that it's fake. But hey, if I can convince someone it's real, maybe it is. - Mike 

Cinnamon Toast Crunch: Churros cereal review

I bought this box of cereal yesterday. I'm 24-hours in, and it's sitting on my kitchen table, beckoning me. "Eat me, Mike!" it's softly calling me.

You might be wondering, "Why did you buy this, and why do you want to eat Churros for breakfast?" The reason is simple. I don't know. I just saw them at the store and figured, hey those look like a fun time.

 For breakfast this morning I had a plain bagel and some donuts already (I think I've had 3, because I honestly can't control myself), so the cereal may have to wait until later today, or tomorrow, but I'm excited. I'll leave it at that until I pop this bad boy open. Let's go!!

When it comes to churros, my personal history with the item isn't exactly incredible. I can't remember a single place I've had a churro at, although I'm sure I've had one, at least once. They're the type of item you buy at places I somewhat loathe, including theme parks and perhaps the mall. I'm not totally opposed to shopping malls, but I haven't been to one (by choice) in probably a decade.

As it pertains to fondness, I'd probably favor a different variety of fried dough, perhaps funnel cake. Yet, a churro-specific memory escapes me, until now at least. At around 11:30 am I dove in.

My inital reaction was, "This tastes like Cap'n'Crunch," but halfway through my inaugural bowl of "Churros" I moved past this cheap comparison. They stand on their own, from their predecessor and namesake Cinnamon Toast Crunch or CTC as I like to refer to them, mostly due to the fact they are puffed with a substantial amount of air at some point during their creation process.

I wouldn't say this cereal is delicious or even memorable. The individual pieces themselves are larger than I expected, and this wasn't a let down. These aren't on the level of "French Toast Crunch" or whatever that version of this cereal line is. These are merely a novelty, and not worthy of devotion, but rather acknowledgement. I salute you Churros, until next time. - Mike