Bob Dylan

http://www.ni9e.com/typo/typo_dylan.html

I have always loved typography.
This is a great example of why type is so powerful and interesting.

Cardionology!

Collectors Cardinology Vinyl

Cardinology, the Cardinal’s latest collection of all-new studio material.

This first run of Cardinology will be pressed on translucent red vinyl. Leah Hayes gives an incredible aesthetic to the packaging art as well as an included Lyrics/Comic Book. Her artwork will only be used in this first vinyl pressing. This release will also include a Bonus 7" and digital download code (download US only).

Street Date October 28th - Will Ship Early November

Now I have to get a record player....

I ordered the incredible red vinyl Cardionology (!!!)
I cant wait.

I want it now!


Luckily I didn't screw myself out of the limited run of Cardionology like I did on Ryan's Infinity Blues hardcover signed goodness.
*deep sigh*

Sometimes being a responsible adult has its faults.

Why was I in such a hurry to grow up again?

Back to Cardionology....
I cant wait to hear the wonderful sounds through a record player.
Its going to be magick.

Ryan's face is exactly what mine looks like while I am at home.
Eagerly awaiting its arrival.

My art. Out in the real world.

Out in the world starting 2009!

A darling hippo named Hilda

A kind giraffe named Ralph
A gorgeous elephant named EllieAn adorable lion named Linus

Awesomeness!!!

Still rockin the bronchitis

No bueno.
Yeah, so I think Im still sick.

I've had it for over a month now.
I will be going back to the doctor tomorrow.

An Open Apology to Cardinals, CardinalFam & Fans

Did anyone else see this on The Cardinal Cave?
Oh Ryan.... No apologies needed.
This is probably going to happen a lot. I
love Ryan Adams and all that he encompasses.
So I will be talking about him quite a bit.

Yeah, Im reposting what Ryan posted.

To All,

This is Ryan. It is quite early on Friday and I need to say a few things.

I would like to apologize to my friends in the Cardinals, who are like family to me, to our management and our Wise Elders who have taken great care of us and myself for so many years , to Steve at Nasty who is rational and protective and understanding and knows more about comics than anyone I know (which is a lot) to CardinalCrew who build the dream in real time for all of us, day in and out

and to you, Cardinal Fans,

I owe you an apology an explanation and wish to end the cycle of madness my sickness turned craziness created.

I am deeply sorry for how I reacted to my illness, and the defeat I felt on the last tour and the outrageous way I reacted and blame i placed unnecessarily on others.

I was wrong.

I could not be more filled with regret and humbled at my own inability to be mindful during my time of crisis.

The truth is, I know better and am not naturally inclined to this behavior. It is something I felt like was long past me, but I am obviously still learning how to deal and how to cope with my own misfortunes and the sometimes trying world of trying to please many and maintain my own sense of worth and dignity.

I made an awful mistake.

It is no fun to be away from home and to get sick, and even worse to be a singer and lose the very thing which holds me to the Cardinals as ONE part of a much larger, far more precious dream which has been the integration of myself and my abilities towards the band, and a greater musical and creative endeavor which is sharing my work and my heart and my soul and my mind and also my weakness with those I love and trust and also SO MANY OF YOU who carefully came along to explore this idea with us.

I am sorry I let you down. I let myself down too.

CARDINOLOGY and our band The CARDINALS has been the work of so many years traveling, a dream Brad and I had all the way back to before I even recorded my second ever solo album Gold, a mutual dream Neal Casal and I shared so so many years ago, in fact, before I made Heartbreaker, and the trust established between Chris and Brad which led him from the furthest recesses of space to join our noise machine and Jon Graboff who is, in my opinion, the authority on not only the advancement of Steel Guitar playing into future realms but also now an obvious fashion icon (loud autumn colors- Jon’s socks and sneakers- coincidence??? i think not)….. I apologize to you from the bottom of my heavy metal heart.

I do not deal with defeat well, nor sickness, and in my brief tenure as someone who had a rather upsetting and rough time of it for so long plugging back into the Matrix of Reality has not been as easy or as painless as I imagined. I make a lot of mistakes and my margin for error is widened by senseless pride when I know I am faced with things I so want to change but cannot.

It is obvious to me it is ME to has to learn to adapt. I see the constraints I put on myself and I also see how hard I work and how often I over-work to try and correct my past. It is the good work and it is also humbling in that I am lucky enough that I maintained any sense of purpose as I have let myself down so so many times since I began my journey musically. And I have let others down so often that I am constantly embarrassed of my actions.

I am struggling more often than not to forgive myself for behavior I adopted long ago to “quick fix” whatever is before me in order to just get to a next step where I might improve things, myself, or my relationships not only in the musical world but otherwise and it can be more than exhausting as I sometimes only see the negative- this is not healthy thinking and NOT setting a good example.

I must continue to fight against this notion of ego and pride and feeling attached more to the negative voices from the crowd and not the positive.

Sometimes that voice seems to me simply an echo of my own self-opinion and this will always be “MY” struggle and I must continue to learn from my mistakes and call myself out when I confuse that with my friends or the fans or our team, because I always know at heart we are working together now, and this was something I dreamed of, and something that has nurtured me back to spiritual and musical health as well as mental.

Having said all this, long-winded as I am known to be, I simply dislike letting anyone down ever, and this is inevitable as it is simply impossible to please everyone.

When I lost my voice at the end of the last tour, when I least expected to having felt like I was through the thick of the horrid flu that more or less knocked nearly each of us out on the band bus, I was terrified. I was not prepared for how to handle the situation. I struggled to continue but I also knew that the more I was attempting to overcome the situation by continuing to sing the more in jeopardy I was putting myself and the band as singing with a broken voice can cause irreparable damage to a singing voice- and we had already reluctantly cancelled two shows in the mid-west which we were dying to play.

Long story short-

I have some learning to do, some forgiveness to allow myself and to ask for, and I write this in hope that everyone who has cared for and followed our band knows that I fully was in the wrong,

but that i must continue forward and hope for frogiveness as that is the essence of our work.

In times like these, we all need as much hope as possible and one thing I do know how to do, is offer that-

because if the shared Cardinal dream is anything- it has been shared hope.

With respect to all

and my sincerest apologies,

Ryan Adams.

Friday Fact

I love unusual facts and or information.
I am going to start posting a Friday Fact from here on out.
I post them up at work.
Thought I would share what I find out.

I want you to live with me.

Look at you.
Wanting to perch on my nightstand table.
Wanting to be with me while I paint.
Why do you have to be so expensive?

Animal House

Ralphie will lay on anything.
Despite his hateful glare he is a good kitty.
He turned 3 last month.

This is the painting above Ralphie. I
doubt I will sell this Frida. I really like her.
Gives the bedroom a calming feeling.

Although Callie didn't care so much for Doja in a sweater, I thought she was rather adorable. And so this is how I spent my lunch yesterday.

dog in a sweater + teasing = a good time

Barack the vote!

My Obama shirt design.
With "08" for the "OB" in Obama.

A great button a co-worker gave me.

City Rain, City Streets

The morning started out fine.
I've tried to do a little Wii Fit every morning.
Not exactly sure what yoga move includes touching your face...
I reached my goal!
I dont think Sophie carried about reaching my goal.
I got ready for work and James got his Wii on.

If you look in the background you will see the box I keep trying to cram stuff in for the Oldhams... I think I have filled as much as the box will allow.
James gettin his punch on.

Check out Doe's face in the left corner.

Now my gloomy drive to work...

Cardionology

Born Into A Light

The first song seems to have a opening tribute or a throwback to David Bowie. I love the haunting echo of his voice at the end. Hues of his Alt Country vocals appear and disappear into beautiful streams of singing with backup vocals.

Go Easy

I heard a rendition of this when he played at Cains. It was just him on a bar stool and his journal open if front of him. One man, his acoustic guitar, his soul pouring out. So quiet and still. When he began to sing: "I love you still. And I always will. If only to say this to myself. I will always love you I will always love you so go easy on yourself." Rattled me inside. And I could literally feel the rawness of him opening up and exposing himself to everyone in there. It was dead silent in there. I got chills when he sang it. It was so beautiful, it was absolutely incredible. I wish the version of him by himself singing it was out there. It gives it whole new meanings and light. This version seems like a late night phone call to a lost lover.

Fix It

"But it feels like losing when someone you love throws you away."
This song although somewhat upbeat sounding makes me feel the same way when I hear Dear Chicago's heartbreaking line "I think the thing you said was true Im going to die alone and sad."

Magick

Very Rock n Roll feeling. I like what I believe to be Spacewolf and Neal's almost awkward backing vocals in the first minute. The zombie shout out is pretty awesome, I agree with you there. This feels like his older stuff to me. And Im not sure if it was the best transitional spot for it after Fix It. Fix it seems so soulful and full of longing for love or acceptance of yourself through someone else's love. Magick seems to be all fluff. But I love it.

Cobwebs

Gives me goosebumps. This album as a whole seems so much like a direct view into his deepest most inner thoughts. If you strip out the repeating chorus throughout all the songs it could read like a journal entry. I really like the way this one ends. The reverb of his voice is pristine.

Let Us Down Easy

It almost confuses me that he still seems to have country influences in his stuff and then he gets so angry when he is categorized as country. I wonder if its so ingrained into who he is as a singer/songwriter that he doesn't realize it.

Crossed Out Name

Oh my Lord. What a heart wrenching song. It really really strikes me at the core. Does he truly feel like this? Its so overwhelmingly sad despite the fast chord transitions and strumming. This album as I listen to it over and over (only 4 times so far, for this last listen through I put my headphones on so I could really hear it-work atmosphere doesn't lend itself so much to analyzing music) it seems like through his sobriety and coming to terms with who he is, is very sad. Lonely. He has so many people that rally around him and a huge fan base. How is there any hope for any of us if he feels so lonely being who he is?

Natural Ghost

I love his high pitched crooning. Gorgeous. He seems to feel so transparent and wanting validation. I love the slide guitar.

Sink Ships

Seems so disjointed. Not sure what to think about. But I love the reverb! The vocals are so strong on this album.

Evergreen

Very sweet serenade .... to himself? Very very lovely song. This seems like a song to himself. A song of inspiration and hope to keep trying.

Like Yesterday

Love the "Ooooos". A little torn on this one. The verdict is still out.

Stop

Reminds me of the haunting sound of Nite Birds when he sings "but we sink...into the ocean". A very somber ending to the album. But with redeeming shades for a new start running at the end.
"I know a past where the future is lost." I'm assuming that this is a glimpse into his addiction.
"I know a line that must be walked." Again I assume this is about sobriety.
"There is a darkness. and there is a light. And there is a choice for a balance for to be made every nite. A weakness must be found. If you want it to stop."

I think that this is a beautiful addition to his catalog. I really like it. But it feels so heavy with sadness. I am really impressed, but I am a huge fan. And I am usually left in awe of what he creates, this album is very raw...not in recording quality but in the fact that Ryan really laid it all out on the table. Like here is exactly how i feel deep inside.
Cardionology really streams like deep inner thoughts, fears and hopes.