I don't have one of those little Daily Quotation calendars on my desk, but sometimes when I'm feeling hard up for writing ideas, I'll go to one of those awful ad-swamped quotation websites and try to find some strength (or just crib an idea) from the words of wiser men. Danny Seim, whom you know as Menomena's singer-percussionist, did the same thing when looking for inspiration for
his new one-track album Forgive Yourself, which you can grab right here for free. Each song—or movement, maybe—is inspired by a quote from somebody that has influenced Seim.
A song called "Bill Walton" starts things off.
The album, Seim's 11th as Lackthereof, is pretty damn brilliant. Like much of his work in both of his major musical projects, it is strewn with emotion—though where the primary emotions were once fear and guilt, it's easier to make out the hope and empathy in this project—and sounds fucking amazing. And sometimes it's a little silly...which is maybe what you'd expect from an album with this cover (it's a painting Seim did of The Room's Tommy Wisseau, held up by Menomena bandmate Justin Harris).
Seim tells us more about the project:
in the first week of this new-ish year, i took the "Twenty Song Challenge" with a few friends of mine (Matt Dabrowiak, Nick Jaina, Dave Depper). it's a game where you individually write, perform, record, and mix twenty songs in one day, from 8am-8pm. then at 8:30, you meet your friends for takeout and a listening session to all of your songs, and to all of the songs the other folks did that day. yes, these are the types of things that probably make outsiders roll their eyes and think of Fred Armisen. but it was a great experience.
it's the second time i've attempted it in life. the first time i only made it to 13 songs before collapsing in a heap. this time, i wanted to make one long piece with twenty different parts; finding lyrical inspiration in cheesy self-help websites, using as many instruments as i had in my little house, and sprinkling in a few shredded samples from a Nick Jaina album (Nick was sort of the one who persuaded me to take The Challenge that day, so i thought i'd give him a little aural shout-out). anyway, i decided to call the result my 11th Lackthereof record and give it away as a free download.
the result is obviously such a seat-of-the-pants thing that i'd just be happy knowing that it's available for people to hear, and to hopefully inspire others to take the Challenge themselves. it's a great exercise for overcoming fear or writer's block or overthinking things. there are really no rules or anything. it's just a good (though occasionally life-threateningly stressful) time!
As usual, Seim is a little too humble for his own good. The fact that he did this thing in 12 hours is fucking incredible, and the fact that he's giving it away for free is just plain generous. You best grab it over at menomena dot com(ena).
