a piece of Balinese beeswax

I have a tough decision between two potential fabric -Avocado Sun album covers.

The picture above? oh hum its actually a piece of Balinese beeswax soaked fabric, an old surfboard keychain from Boracay, and a Siquijor expanding-in-water friendship bracelet made from reeds.

The question I posed on fb and got a couple answers to was which is better as the next album cover art, the Insta or the abstract?

The answer tied evenly, with Jonathan notching a particularly eloquent vote for abstraction: "I like the black and white because it is ambiguous and reminds me of the dark periods in history." 

So I'm leaning toward the beeswax.

I have been releasing approximately one new track and video each couple weeks up on Youtube. The fabric - Summon These Days albums are getting modest but steady listens. It's like a rustle of kindling.

Since All Fall Down in May, each video has represented a new concept for the next album Avocado Sun, which should be completed in December. The latest is A Beautiful Case of the Blues, which was recently stitched together true gonzo fabric style from about nine sessions (over the past two years). 

'Below, some notes to Strawberry Jams guitarist and engineer Ian Joseph, whom I'm trying to get involved in shaping the album concept.

"A Beautiful Case of the Blues (ABCOB) contains the two versions of Let's Make it Lovelight (LMILL), with some new stuff and excerpts from Like a Ghost in the middle. This is one I want to add Kaloy's bass, etc. throughout. It will be tricky to master because it spans probably 8 sessions, so a lot of tracks in various recording environments.

"The first LMILL on ABCOB is with Kaloy and was originally part of the Hit the Pain Game arrangement. Basically, he creates a completely original blues progression from the fabric of the original LMILL, first time tracking through. Nils was a bit annoyed at not having a concrete beat to play to, hence my guide singing that morphed into something unexpectedly original. I think at its core we invented a new funk-blues ballad. We just could almost just add Shariff's percussion to that and it would be finished... totally spare.

"the next section is a short Nimrod acoustic interlude, followed by Can You Save My Soul. This is Nils hashing a rock thing out with Kaloy somehow...  the context was recording parts to Slowly Learning, but of course it's its own thing. Whoops there goes gravity.... I feel if you could make your guitar sound like a DJ or early reggae scratch  over the top it might be cool.

"Then comes some sinking underwater snippets of Like a Ghost, followed by the original LMILL... a pieced together song featuring Jing's accompanying vocals and violin from By the Seaside (Back Beach 36:00), Novel's keys from Something Ain't Right, and Conrado's sax from I forget. This one needs Kaloy's bass and Sharif's drums I think, plus a little of your acoustic picking...  and maybe Kaloy on uke
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"Ok so that was longer than I expected... just let me know when you read it. Once you digest this I'll move onto the next prospective Avocado Toast tracks... Furtive Karma, I'm Not Citified, Hey Ringo, and All Fall Down.

A friendly reminder, I have my first art piece to feature an avocado sun (Avocado Sun) up for sale through damonarvid.com. Original art is my Patreon substitute for the moment, till all the "three-layer festivals" come to fruition. $450 may seem steep, but considering art as an investment these days, I'd say it has a decent chance of buying you a tempeh burger over the nxst decade. And Daddy needs a looper.