11.18.16

Up 6:45. Weight 213.2.

Went to gym at 9; elliptical. Came back, searched fruitlessly for a hard copy of chart I'd made for "I Don't Care" (which I'm playing for Bree in a couple of weeks), gave up and found the Sibelius file. Saved it as a .pdf to print at copy shop b/c our printer gave out a few weeks ago; additionally, I couldn't edit it at all b/c the auto-renewal on my monthly license didn't go through for some reason. Tried to rectify that, but as far as I can tell the right debit card is on file, and their support is poor. Completely frustrating, didn't have time to solve the problem. [Included as example of the many hassles and inefficiencies in getting even the smallest thing done.] Listened to a bit of this band Snail Mail https://snailmailbaltimore.bandcamp.com/ at Drew G.'s recommendation - strong vocal and melody on "thinning" puts me in mind of very early Velocity Girl, I'm aged and decrepit enough to have doubts that they'll take the style further w/o losing the spirit (cf. Vivian Girls/Dum Dum Girls/Frankie Rose axis).

Left for Oracle after lunch, finished the last few pieces in the G. Reader on the way (latter-day assessments, the most interesting being Leonard Bernstein's). Worked from 1:30-6:15. Completely thrown off at one point by reading an article about Steve Bannon. He's fucking Moloch. Nonetheless, 574 words on three Berlin songs (inc. "What'll I Do.") That closes out this early-20s subsection. Will tackle Gerswhin tomorrow - the general background/observations I want to make about his relation to "jazz" being trickier than reconstructing the actual song analyses. 

Left for Bushwick about 6:45, to hear Drew G.'s "psych" guitar-duo Elkhorn at Alphaville. Read Susie Timmons on train. No music - phone is dead again. Got there early enough to get a burger, do daybook, read a few p. of Hartman, Verse. Chatted w/ Drew and two Swedes he'd brought a long - a non-fiction writing student at Columbia, and a painter. Met the people who put out their cassette. Elkhorn played about 9 - generally pretty together, Drew uses a ton of effects and his partner Jesse's Guild 12-strings (both in open tuning) sound fantastic. Fahey + modal soling, essentially. One riff was in 5/4. Stayed around to talk for a while, said hello to Jesse and his dad (smoking pot together outside), but didn't hear the other bands. (Headliner: "Weird Owl," which is the name I'd make up for a Brooklyn psych-rock band in a bad indie movie.) Would have considered a cab, but didn't see one, read Hartman on the way home - sort of trudging through this chapter on trad. poetic stanzas to get to the free verse and (unusually for a book on prosody) "song" chapters. Lights out 1 am.