an_absence_of_sway unhinged may be my most favorite, resonant to date 090210 ... raze this one still has a special place for me too. i don't know if it's the best thing i've done (i don't even know what that is), but it's one of the albums i feel closest to. it's a lot of different things. what happened to me while i was recording it, and how it didn't seem to have any impact on the music in the moment, while some of the anxiety was seeping into the grooves when i wasn't looking. that raw-nerved feeling. the songs, and the way they came out. the way the organic, folky/bluesy atmosphere of the_chicken_angel_woman_with_a_triangle gets stretched out and bent in new directions. the first appearance of that acoustic piano, somewhat out-of-tune a lot of the time, but adding an earthy weight to everything it touches. it feels like the truest winter album i've ever made. listening to it transports me back to that time. even the cover image, which was chosen more or less randomly, isn't something i can separate from the music anymore. i told a friend once i was never sure what the title meant; i just liked the way those words sounded. she told me it made her think of a branch that will not break, no matter what it's forced to endure. something vulnerable, but stronger than it first appears. something that only reveals its strength when seriously threatened. maybe that's what it's all about. 130112 ... PeeT a presence of confidence 130112 what's it to you? who go blather from