hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii everybody!
-hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii doctor mike!

apparently my blogpost didn't get through to myspace last week! dang, DANG I SAY!!

it's about the death of guernica.

i mean, our last show was in november '08 in le grand mix with fujiya & miyagi and we kinda sorta stopped after that but we decided it'd be fun to play a last show before we die.

it will be at the ZENNESTRAAT 17 building, which is also the address. it's near / parallel with the Dansaert street in Brussels (look it up on googlemaps, yo!) and it's an amazing and almost never used location. our bestest friends Penguins Know Why will play as well and there's a fun dance party afterward! it's in the heart of Brussels and curfew for bands is at 23h aka 11pm so definitely on time for people who need to catch their last train! come on down! it's your last chance to immerse yourself in indie trance bliss!!!!!!!!!

oh, and it's a natural death. there are no bad vibes, our heads and hearts just disagree on where to go.

but
where will you go next?

well
nilo is going to travel the world again and then settle down and have ten kid as soon as possible to form his very own drum circle

stino is going to focus on his hip hop career

wixel will continue to play with wixel and a people you may know. there's also slaapwel records of course.

i will release a limited (300) introspective album on vinyl about my first twenty five (yes i am fucking twenty five!) on our earth. it's tentative title is The Family as a Failure and will feature tons of nostalgic pictures (you know those pictures from the 80's when you went to spain with yr family? yeah, those) and other stuff. it will consist of a song or two we even played live with guernica, then some songs i had written for guernica and then some new stuff.
i am also currently in an as of yet unnamed band with two lovely girls with lovely voices. more about that soon.
and wixel and i will be blacks.

thank you for listening and reading, we had fun. thanks again.

-michael
09/10/09

all the best

think shakespeare. i'm sure you get it.

INTRODUCTION

The fascinating aspect of the pornography controversy is the opposition of two core elements of the protestant legacy on which the United States of America were built. Often referred to as the Protestant work ethic or Puritan work ethic, the latter functions more appropriately in light of the subject. The idea of capitalism originating in said Puritan work ethic stems from German pioneering sociologist Max Weber when he first published his thesis in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism early in the twentieth century. Weber argues (...)





i think the best thing for me in terms of the existence of our band in the year MMVIII was that week back in late may/early june when we played with Mount Eerie/The Microphones in La Malterie in Lille, with Evangelicals in Ekko in Utrecht and Tapes'n Tapes and Land of Talk in the Recyclart here in Brussels.

that was an awesome week, wasn't it, Nilo?



i'm pretty sure this picture's from when we were on our way to Utrecht, or maybe Amsterdam. the latter was hilarious. i consequently but unknowingly called the beautiful and talented Natasha from Appie Kim Nathalie -who was kind enough to let me use her guitar for the remainder of the show thanks very much!!- despite shouts from her and hers to correct me throughout the show whenever i addressed her. i always seem to be a cock when i'm not and the other way around, i suppose. i broke every guitar i use (five) this year. some twice. word to the wise: fixing guitars costs money. a fair amount of money. that show in Amsterdam was in the Winston Club which is conveniently located in the midst of the Red Light (& Drugs) District so of course we took a little walk before the actual show. to get into the vibe, y'feel me? anyways, i should get that video snippet online where i'm filming the neighbourhood while faithfully singing I WISH I WAAAAAAAAAAS IN AMMMMSTERDAAAAAAAM and before i could finish my ad lib version I Wish I Was American a displeased prostitute came onto the street to hose me down with water. i don't remember for sure what she said "turn of the fakkin kamera" + hungarian/bulgarian but i definitely said sorry ma'am :( :( :( :( :(
during the show i had given my broken guitar away to horny canadian chixxx, i bought it back with flirting and a couple of jäger shots OW YEAH MOTHERFUCKER! it was fun when each one of them handle each one of my legs. i sat at the end of the stage and they came up to me. talking at first, then talking up close and eventually whispering in my ear, seated on my legs. their skirts were short and i can not be sure they wore undies. i just think it's too bad neither of them had their period, i would've never washed that jeans again. then later some british guy ("i came on a holiday to amsterdam and 20 years later i'm still here, blimey!") gave us quality hasj, but we're douchebags and only drink (OURSELVES TO DEATH! huzzah!) so we gave it away. people in amsterdam were overall very or even extremely friendly! they kept asking if i wanted something. their concern really touched me ;(

we've played lots of fun shows this year. the somewhat crazy ones or louders/messy ones were definitely the ones in Gent. wonderful crowd, every fucking time. i will present you with a link of an unedited video of our gig during the Gentse Feesten at the Kinky Star:
http://rapidshare.com/files/179230811/guernica_live_kinky_star_unedited.wmv
(if it goes down, tell me and i'll upload it again)

our french homie and label guy Michel came to our plat pays to pick up the ep cd's in the french version for evidently the french (re-)release and combined it with the show at the Kinky Star. he videotaped a good ten minutes of the show. especially the part where i fall over my own amp, the climax of Far From Sound, Wixel looking at me with worried&annoyed eyes and my Ian MacKaye moment are classic hilarious stuff.

we played the Kinky Star four times this year. it is one of the crappiest venues soundwise, but great, great fun each time. i think i liked the one where all the people (being 20 human beings tops) came up on stage and is one hell of a noisy show best.

i don't know if Schurftbal at Evil Fons' from Penguins Know Why place was 2008 or 2007, hm i checked it's december 2007 so technically i can't write anything about but fuck that, i'll keep it short, suffice to say that house shows are fucking amazing and i hope maybe we can play a house show when we release our split 7".

Wixel and i in sunshine, lollipop and rainbow times. at one of the gigs at the Frontline:



bowing, being in awe of, being humbled in the presence of his hero.

what else was good?
obviously the release of our ep by Vlas Vegas here in Belgium and then re-released as mentioned before in France by Greed. in our homeland reviews were fairly positive to very positive overall (there was a hilarious negative "critique" in a heavy metal magazine) and in France they're going a bit overboard. i mean, keep'm coming cos it makes us feel good, sure, but it wasn't THAT great. they placed us amongst or above TV On The Radio or Mogwai. we're proud of Who Are Your Songs For? but we hear the flaws, we know it's flawed. if, however, those people really dig or even love it that can only make me happy. also unexpected was studio brussel's appreciation. pretty cool and funny to be tipped next to santogold, alan braxe, hot chip et al. to be played right after jay z on national radio is what makes me laugh. out loud. in a good way.

what was bad? some of our stuff got stolen, but dirty dave told me "shit is rough, mike" so it's all good. oh, and i kind of lost it several times because of wixel and stino's work schedules, but i felt sorry for stino when he had to, for example, drive straight home after the paris show so he could go to work the day after just to leave immediately after work to our show in metz where he stumbled on stage to find himself in the intro of the first song. poor schmuck.



awesome bass player spotted at awesome paris parking space. fo sho.

anyway, i'm through writing. there's more but i already died because my myspace session expired and i had to rewrite everything = the suck!

this photo makes sense.



bye!

dirty dave can't believe we've all gone and gave up on guernica and focused on our true calling:


BUTTWASHING!!!!!!!!!!!!





doing the good thing. it adds meaning to life, a sense of purpose.


i no longer care for ears, i only care for ass.

hello good folks!

as a reader of this blog here >< there is a ginormous chance you are at least fairly gifted and probably of a kind nature. which is awesome and i hope is working out for you. i wish all good things to all nice people in the years to come.

ON TO THE LISTS, SIR!
(feel more than free to add your own top whatever!)


nilo
1) motorpsycho: little lucid moments
2) peter broderick: home
3) tv on the radio: dear science
4) bon iver: for emma, forever ago
5) Sigur Rós – Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust

wixel
1. jj records
2. mount eerie - dawn (cd+vinyl+boek)
3. deerhunter - microcastle
4. r. kelly - play 12th quarter
5. chad vangaalen - soft airplane

stino
1. tv on the radio - dear science
2. jay reatard - matador singles 08
3. no age - nouns
4. the cool kids - the bake sale
5. the bug - london zoo

the michael
1 vampire weekend - vampire weekend
2 deerhunter - microcastle (+ weird era cont)
3 lykke li - youth novels
4 pretty much everything pictureplane made this year
5 blog culture

and i would like grant a special mention to omnipresent diplo, flying lotus, arthur russell, ariel pink, the muslims (now known as the soft pack), crystal castles, aeroplane, q-tip, hot chip, these new puritans, hercules & love affair, the dodos, no kids, no age, grace jones, stereolab and soy un caballo! they're also from brussels and they play just wonderful soft music. wixel knew them before (the whole matamore connection), but we as a band met thomas and aurélie at a festival in france where we were both invited to play. very nice people, too. lend them your ears!


SEASONZZZZZZ GREETINGZZZZZZ FROM YR FAVE ALTBRO BAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

we have occupied our minds













we are not dead, we're only sleeping

vandaag vertel ik u over... feest!

ja, beste vrienden, jaja, want feest is... belangrijk! het wordt al millennia gedaan. mensen verzamelen op een afgesproken plek om zichzelf vervolgens moed in te drinken, spuiten, slikken en snuiven zodat ze later op de avond - of zelfs in het ochtendgloren, kameraden! - op elkander kunnen kruipen.

ook GIJ kunt op zulkse manier moed bij elkander garen! ook GIJ kunt op een ander kruipen na het demonstreren van uw motorische handicap ook wel gekend als witte mensen die dansen! maar den zwarte en halfzwarte vriend is ook welgekomen, potjandorie! we leven toch niet meer in den twintigste eeuw, zekerst?!

voorwaar, ik vertel u over feest, maar ook EEN feest! in de mythische stad van het handwerpen, voorwaar! daags voor de rustdag, op de zesde van de twaalfde. vanaf tien uur in den donker laten ze uw dolgedraaide hormonen binnen. har har, ik herinner me nog dat ze zegden op den humaniora "hé michiel, hebt ge de die binnengedraaid ofwa?" en ik schaterde het uit, want natuurlijk, beste vrienden! natuurlijk! ik was een kakelende kip op zoek naar een kalende kut! dat klinkt vies en smerig, maar dat is het niet, hoor, beste vrienden, nee nee. het is zoals ik zei heel natuurlijk.

hé maar zeg, ik moet de puree gaan prepareren om mee te geven met de belhamels van vandaag de dag! want dat is wat de jeugd nu zegt en doet! "puree op uw smoel" en ik vind dat oké!











't is deze zaterdag Oscillations en we hebben uitgenodigd: Zeigeist (not unlike the knife, swedish electropop with awesome live show) en Kitsuné dj Nightmoves en dj tomtomtom en ook nog dj's sixsixsixties en ... THE MICHAEL ! (ni gelogen, hij komt!) in centrum antwerpen. in de kavka. da's op de Oudaan 14. het zijn discopunk / house-y / electro / 80's parels (al dan niet edits - toestanden.
vanaf 22h en MAAR 7 euro!!!! cheap booze & big fun. ik organiseer dat mede en ik wil uw ass daar zien, lekkere/mooie/coole/toffe/slimme/grave myspace vriend en vriendin. ook vijanden welkom! het is een tijd van verbroedering en verloedering! laat het gerust aan uw vriendjes weten.

de goedendag!!!

yoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyo GUYS & DOLLS

our mainest man WIXEL has made a new album called SOMEWHERE BETWEEN THE SUN AND THE MOON. space! he has a cool little sub-site devoted to his new record HERE. check it out, y'all. it's very soothing, deep, spacial, beautiful and moving. yip, those are the words springing to mind.



in other news, our gig with fujiya & miyagi in le grand mix was totally boner. it was basically an EPIC FAIL day, arriving ludicrously late due to car crap and other failures, forgetting pedals and drumsticks, and whatnot, but the show itself was absolutely great and very fun to play. i like the idea of the french, seemingly anyways, coming to shows early. instead of playing for a handful of gents accidentally arriving early and applauding out of sheer sympathy, we had ourselves a nice, big crowd with an obvious interest in music. and the venue was just wonderful. both the people running it and the culinary and auditive provisions.

i'm trying the last Beach House album again. apart from opener Wedding Bells, "single" Gila and Heart of Chambers (that's where i'm at right now! like whoa!) it's a relative letdown. relative because their first record was in all sincerity plain astonishing and this album sounds just a little less amazing. ooh but that "BUT YR WISH IS MYYY COMMAAAAAAAND" line in Wedding Bells is totally boner material!!!!!!!

so next week the Dodos will be in town again, as will the Department of Eagles (featuring grizzly bear's daniel rossen)! that certainly was unexpected when i spotted it on their myspace a few hours ago. even moreso because it's in l'archiduc, a renowned and small jazz café on the dansaert street in the heart of brussels. next friday the 5th, don't miss it.




there was a hair FUBAR situation starring stino.
stino looks like a neo-nazi now laaaaaawl aka LOL!!!
i hope i can come up with a wwwwiiiisssseeeeccccrrrraaaacccckkkk about his new look after every song tomorrow at rehearsal.


be well and go out, silly monkeys.

-midnight mike
xoxo



*update* You Came to Me and Astronaut are also kind of fantastic. hm, pretty smashing record after all. chip chip churrah for good music!

hey man
hey

you have your life, we have ours. i will return to this matter.

i like the fact that they seem to like us quite a bit in france. french press wrote nice things. and i like nice things, yes i'm quite fond of those. here is an example from the latest reviewing. beware though, it is in french, you might get sick ;(

"(...) un EP qui d'emblée place nos Belges parmi les espoirs de cette année 2008 et pour les années à venir. Imparable et irréprochable sur tous les plans, une découverte à faire impérativement et toute affaire cessante." - muzzart

and we were in a parisian magazine, much like the "zone's" here in belgium. you know... the zone02 or 09 or 03 and so on. this particular magazine has a just absolutely brilliant name. LYLO. it stands for Les Yeux, Les Oreilles. i like that. that is likeable. they called us knights, as a sort of protectors of belgium and indie rock. which is nice.

i now return to matter. that's a phunnee.

i hate or maybe detest or maybe loathe but probably despise bands that tell the world they are working on new songs. isn't that kind of the everpresent and constant idea of being a band? or trying to be creative altogether?
what i'm about to say differs subtly. but subtlety makes life as we know it worth living. we're indeed always working on new things, but more importantly, we already have new material. if we tie the loose ends, i'd say we have about 40 to 45 minutes of music. much like the eternally paternally esteemed ep WHO R UR SONGZ 4, it are mainly guitar-oriented, melodic creations. and i think they are quite good, ofcourse.

how?
however

some of these creations were made in the first months of 2008 and one even in 2006!!!! THAT'S LIKE A GAZILLION BLOG YEARS AGO! if we were to record them now, it would be ready in winter 2009 and then we'd have to see who wants to release it and THEN you have to take into account the ALWAYS ultradelay on the actual release. it wouldn't be unrealistic to think that it would see release in the fall of 2009. and we're not animal collective, so we don't play sets (and get away with it, at least sometims they do) containing 90% unreleased, unheard material. you are smart so you see what i'm getting at.

on top of that, i feel like moving forward. just uncertain into which direction to head forward altogether. we have a few fresh angles and the coming weeks and months we'll see what happens or not happens with those. that's why i'm relatively low key on the blogging and other fronts. because i want to come out kicking & screaming and singing & swinging and drinking & celebrating when we've found or rather stumbled upon the new direction.

so i guess i'm saying we're trying to work on new songs.

ah well.
self-loathing has always proven to be of the greatest inspiration.






i
wholeheartedly
heart
u

as rebuttal to my weblog post concerning the sun in all its fear-inducing glory i wanted to post the video clip to glass cand-eh's nite nurses. which turned out to become quite the little mystery, for you see... it has disappeared off the internet. i challenge anyone to find that particular funny, sunny video clip. you will receive but my gratitude so yes, you receive nothing of modern day value.

BUT HEY THERE ARE LOTS OF OTHER GOOD STUFFZ TO TELL YOU ABOUT OF WHICH I WILL WRITE IN CAPS LOCK JUST TO STRESS MY ENTHUSIASM! WOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTT!!!

TOMORROW WE WILL BE RECORDING WITH JIMMY TURBO FOR A 7"! OUR FIRST! YAYYYYY!!!! WE WILL RECORD THE HIT SINGLE SONIC YOUTH AND A SECOND SONG WE HAVE YET TO DECIDE TONIGHT-AH AT REHEARSAL.

NEXT WEEK OUR EP WILL BE OFFICIALLY RE-RELEASED IN FRANCE. WOOT! WE WILL PLAY ONLY TWO SHOWS (PARIS AND METZ) FOR THE TIME BEING DUE TO WORK OBLIGATIONS BUT WE WILL MOS DEF GO BACK. PROBABLY WINTER 2009, APRIL.

RECENTLY A BAT FLEW INTO OUR SMALL REHEARSAL ROOM AND I PROTECTED MY HEAD AND HAIR (THEY LOVE HUMAIN HAIR! I SWEAR!) WHILE DUCKING LIKE A LITTLE GIRL. I TRIED TO HIT IT WITH MY GUITAR BUT INSTEAD DROPPED IT ON THE FLOOR. THE OTHERS LAUGHED AND I DUCKED BUT I WAS THE HERO TO GO FOR THE DOOR AND CLOSE IT WHEN IT WENT OUT. IN CONCLUSION I AM THE BESTEST BEST WITH LITTLE GIRL BEHAVIOURISTIC INTERMEZZOS.

I WILL LEAVE YOU WITH A QUOTATION FROM HIPSTER RUN OFF, THE MOSTEST ALT SITE IN THE PLANETZ.

'ARE THE SIMPSONS ALT? ARE THEY RETRO OR JUST INTERMEDIATE RETRO OR ARE THEY THRIFTCORE?'

I WOULD SAY TOTALLY PRE-POST-RETROCORE.


XXXXXXXXXOOOOOOOO
THE MICHAEL