I recently heard a great physics lecture that suggested “a good explanation is one that can’t be varied.”  For example, if I say Zeus made the world, I can change an almost infinite amount of details about it and it has the same explanatory power.  I can say he wears a hat or a beard, or he made the world in one day or one year, and it has the same explanatory power.  Good explanations, on the other hand, for example, the Big Bang Theory, have variables in which the smallest fractions of change are argued over for decades, as the smallest discrepancies in numbers changes the explanatory power.  When Kepler found the orbit of Mars to be elliptical rather than circular, it was a matter of mere millimeters of difference in (Earth’s) observation.

Anyway, I think the same concept works for art.  I hear so much music and see so much “art” on the internet now that at first glance it all seems relevant.  In fact, it seems hyper-relevant.  It’s polished and perfect, or ironically-grungy and virtually raw, or pseudo-honest.  But why do I still listen to David Bazan or Tom Petty over (insert trending internet band here)?  I think I’ve found the answer.  Good art, like good science, is not arbitrary.  Rimsky-Korsakov poured over single lines of melody for his whole life.  Hemingway distilled prose to it’s molecular level in a meaningful way.  When I see eye-candy or hear ear-candy I often find that I’m reveling at the state of aesthetic technology over the meaning or beauty of the work.  It’s easy to confuse the two.  But a simple test you can perform; how often do you go back to it?  Could you change a color here and there, a reverb effect, a drum part or bassline, without changing the power of the piece?

Here’s a nice cover of Baby from Stan.  Here’s a great interview with Ted from Craig’s Brother, my favorite band of all time.  Ted talks about our recent collaboration, which I hope I can share really soon.  Here’s a cute video for Dance Karate, and the original demo version of Dance Karate, too!

Send me a text at (801) 683-9826 (8016 TEXT CM) and I’ll answer any questions you have next week!  They can have to do with music, science, daily life, or how to get girls.  I don’t guarantee good/accurate/not dumb answers.  Alternately, you can send me a Tweet or come to my house.

Tuesday Tapes.  New song sketches, ideas, “classic” songs every Tuesday.

Fool.  From Demos Of Nod.  Been on my mind lately.  May perform with new group.

Was going to post a comic Sunday but it will have to wait as my laptop was stolen!  Crap!!!!

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Such A Long Time Ago by ChrisMerritt

One minute I find myself with my small little brother

The next minute we find ourselves without hope in a universe full of bother and not an answer and no help from another

Still babies, but detached from a mother

And in my mind I go to the last safe place that I know / But it was such a long time ago / such a long time ago

I want to tell you, how I want to tell you / I see a world of change accelerating and strange

The things that we were promised by our fathers have given way to reason and a network of brains

All this information has won the fight with rock and roll / Too much intimidation / I lost my will and I’m losing my soul

But before I bite my lip and press on through the cold rain / In my mind I go to the last safe place that I know

But it was such a long time ago / it was such a long time ago / It was such a long time ago / it was such a long time ago

But it was such a long time ago / it was such a long time ago / It was such a long time ago / it was such a long time ago

Reminds me of Idlewild sometimes.  The popular favorite on Virginia Is For Hoverers (Part II).  Speaking of which, buy it here if you haven’t already.

Friday is set aside for stuff from YOU!  I haven’t quite figured out what that means, but I’ll post things about….mail.  Sound boring?  Well, maybe it is, jerk.  MAYBE IT IS.  I don’t know.  Fanmail, funny voicemails, nice letters, etc.  I have some ideas.

Today we have something nice sent in from Jake Thro (bassist extraordinaire).  Ironically the first From You Friday is all crap from me due to my giant ego.  I oft leave Jake Thro (bassist extraordinaire) asinine voicemails.  He’s had some saved and he emailed ‘em to me.  I don’t know why he’s still my friend.

So tell me – what kind of message-leaver are you when you call your close friends?  Quick and to-the-point?  Rambling?  Over-serious and anxious?  Silly?  Are you intimidated by that awkwardly-timed BEEP that signifies your turn to speak?  Do you sing to any of your friends?  I leave strange messages.  I view the answering message as a blank canvas.  And then I throw crap all over it.

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Firstly, if you received a Deluxe Virginia Is For Hoverers package of goodies and didn’t get posters, or only got posters, hold tight, you should have everything soon.  In some of the early mailings we were sending two packages out separately.  If you haven’t received an order or have an issue with your Deluxe Hover, please email me at contact@chrismerrittmusic.com!

I hope everyone enjoys their VAIFH discs, posters, Tues Tapes,  and bonus material – there’s some good stuff in there.  And also some bad stuff.  Like this from the commentary:

My ambitions:

-Tuesday Tapes

-Wednesday Rantings

-Friday Funmail

-Sunday Comix

Just you watch, Naysayer.

Here’s some new tapez:

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Pep-Pep by ChrisMerritt http://www.chrismerrittmusic.com/blog/Jib/08%20Pep-Pep.mp3

Pep-Pep

Doo doo doo doot

Do you see me? / Do you see me or am I just waiting? / Do you think I’m gonna lose it? / Do you?

Well, I tell you what / And I know you want another one / But I’m gonna take it light / And I’ll tell you like another one / And I’ll tell you like another one / And I want to be the wit

There’s trouble when I try to remember / There’s trouble anytime I try to remember / In Spring I can’t remember December / There’s trouble anytime I try and remember

Read the rest of this entry »

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Preparing the Virginia Is For Hoverers Deluxe Edition for mailing next week! How exciting! Get yours here ———>

Folks who ordered Virginia Is For Hoverers Deluxe Edition will get: a physical and digital copy of Virginia Is For Hoverers (Part I) and Virginia Is For Hoverers (Part II),  a digital download of the Sugar Single and the Big Girl Single, bonus and unreleased tracks, including every Tuesday Tape ever recorded, an entertaining bonus-features commentary CD, an 18″ X 18″ poster of Part I and Part II covers, and a signed drawing!!  Holy crap!!

The digital stuff is available to download immediately on purchase, too, so you don’t have to wait. Don’t have yours yet? Buy today so you get yours in the mail as soon as possible!!! —–>

Pep-Pep tomorrow!

The CDs have finally arrived!  The deluxe editions of Virginia Is For Hoverers (Part II) will go out early next week!  The CD looks and sounds great, as well as the posters, commentary, and bonus tracks.  Thanks for your patience and support!  Buy a deluxe edition here.

In other news, I’ve been learning a lot about quantum theory and the Everett interpretation, which postulates that we may not in fact live in a universe, but a multiverse, which has an infinite number of alternate universes.

So here’s my question:  if we’re living in a multiverse, with every possible scenario being played out somewhere in the multiverse, could you buy a lottery ticket, and then hire a hit man to kill you if you don’t win the lottery, thus ensuring that the only “you” that still exists in the multiverse is a multi-millionare?

I suspect it wouldn’t work.  Here’s an example why – if there’s an infinite amount of universes, there would be at least one universe where the hit man was run over by a truck on his way to come and murder you.  There would also be at least one universe where you won, collected your check, and then it spontaneously turned into a live squid.