—ditty craig 1
Here’s the scenario:
3 am. Fresh from a dirty sweaty bar. Craig James Hildebrand on the couch.
We had about 4 Old Fashions each, a couple a Maker’s-on-the-rocks a piece, Some margarita thingy from Venezuela, and a handful of beers throughout the day.
I love how the metronome (we forgot to record without it) just taunts us as the song goes on.
This goes out to Dana Carvey, where ever you are.
Reasons (read excuses) why there aren’t 28 ditties posted at this point:
-A couple of hangovers.
-A few days packed with unmissable social events.
-FebruANY! (any any any 5)
-The fact that when I work I am gone from before dawn until well after bedtime, and this entire project was based on the assumption that I wouldn’t work much this month.
New York is busy, James is busy.
This site is now a ditty dump for all time. Until I forget about it.
Stay tunes.
-james
—ditty 13
It has come to my attention that embarking on a project like this an what I do for a living do not agree with each other.
—ditty 12
This is wavy.
-j
ps no chorus. guess.
—ditty 11
Abstract improv. One mic, One try.
-James.
—ditty 10
With unexpectedly busy times comes unexpectedly few ditties.
Work up the yazoo plus a solid and terrific valentines weekend accounted for little time at home and litttle ditty time.
I wish I could make it up to you by posting multiple ditties, but alas, tumblr allows one a day.
Maybe I’ll crawl into march a bit with ditties, like public schools making up for snow days at the end of the year.
Here’s something I whipped up.
-James
—ditty 9
Burn one before you listen to this one.
-James
—ditty 8
Back on track.
Quick and dirty.
Have a good’n.
-James
So this last post has some issues. Missing an entire guitar track. Sounded fine when I posted it! Just sound like I’m a wierdo now. I’ll fix it when I’m not 200 miles away.
—
Every year my siblings give beautiful gifts for Christmas. Odd books, odd boozes, odd instruments even. A few years back my twin brother bought a casio keyboard, pulled out the guts and soldered them together in a way that was entirely wrong by the manufacturer’s standards. That was my 2007 present. All sounds in this old ditty except for the obvious guitar are the result.
-James
p.s. An easy day of work and a Deerhoof show are totally worth slacking on this project.
Ok. Logistically unable to record today. I’ll offer you this, an old song today. Tomorrow may be extremely tough too. I have another old one. So Thursday I’ll make a few new ones. I’ll build a backup, you know, in case I actually work. Also I may not be back until after midnight. I didn’t set any hard 24 hour clock rules, did I??? I’m just trying to bring you tunes. I can also say that I selfishly started this to give me something to do while I’m not working. That works right?? Great. Glad you understand.
-james
—ditty 7
Last night a man walking and verbally abusing his pitbull knocked into me while we were passing on a sidewalk choked with old dirty snow. He dropped a bag he was carrying. Crash went bottles. He turned livid and swore at his dog and thrashed about. I offered him some of the beer bottles we were bringing home from a superbowl situation. He refused, calling the broken bottle “irreplaceable”. I asked him the cost, and it turns out it was replaceable with $30. I handed him some cash. He calmed down.
About ten minutes later I stopped dead in my tracks remembering an article I read on a local blog. It was a “Beware of Scams” article
I was grifted last night, swindled and scammed out of money blocks from my house. It feels like I was mugged, only I didn’t know it until ten minutes later. I would have given him money in every play-out of the scenario in my head.
He took advantage of a good, honest gesture, that bummed me out. I couldn’t sleep last night because of it. Fuck the $30, I’m upset that somebody acted with the best intentions and was bested by one with the worst.
He was no Ryan O’Neal though.
Here’s a small tune that cheered me up.
-James
—ditty 6
Superball.
A little lyrical magic from the lovely Claire Skowronek on this one.
Words and vocals by her. Music by me.
Enjoy.
-james
—ditty 5
We’ve found the perfect hangover cure. It comes with Roja, Verde, or Mole sauce.
welcome to the party, moog.
-James
—ditty 4
Stretch your legs. They get stiff in the winter.
-james
ps thanks for listening, reposting, and commenting!
