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I have been writing a lot on my new blog with Ben Flash, The Big Opus

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 12:08:16 -0400

I have been writing a lot on my new blog with Ben Flash, The Big Opus

This is a rad project I got to make for school.

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:21:45 -0400

This is a rad project I got to make for school.

Photo

Tue, 26 May 2009 21:19:18 -0400

The Stolen Base Rule is Gonna Kill Me.

Sun, 03 May 2009 16:58:38 -0400

Hi,

I’m spending a lot of time these days reading for classes. And studying. Legitimately studying. How terribly boring for you.

I spent about 4 hours the other day cutting up some audio for a piece that is going to take absolutely forever to make, but not really forever. A long time.

I tried to see Mountains the other day, but they cancelled. One advantage to real mountains over the band Mountains: the geological mountains are more reliable. It’s not the band’s fault, though, I heard their stuff got stolen.

I have also been enjoying Dirty Projectors, Ke$ha, Veronica Mars, The Commitments, Japandroids, Kalpana, Rites of Spring, The Contours, Emeralds, and a song by Lou Reed. I’m not sure why, but I always figured I wouldn’t like Lou Reed’s solo work. But the man is one for one so far

Today’s Phillies/Mets game was cancelled, so I keep reading for classes. And Studying…

This is an apology

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 14:20:00 -0400

Hey, I totally changed my mission, sorry.

I have been posting over here:

theculturecounter.blogspot.com

But yeah, I have had to reaccess my creative output, and I’m afraid that recording two just-decent songs in a week when I got sick anyway didn’t fit in well with the plan.

The good news is that the new Kalpana album is done, done, done. Totally mastered and everything. We’ll have it in our hands soon and so will you.

Resolved

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 12:04:16 -0500

By the end of my break from school, I will have two new songs finished, posted shortly after. That’s the end of March!

Overheard on 2/21

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 20:21:56 -0500

New Phoenix is too totally right on!

(Loud music plays)

Young dancing woman: Your friend is great!

Young dancing man: Why of course he is; He’s MY FRIEND

2/12

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 19:41:49 -0500

I’m making music tonight on my computer. I’m producing a mini-entry for this year’s RPM challenge, and i’m starting…now!

Music Vs. Art

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 10:47:00 -0500

For the first time in about (yikes) ten years, I made a big messy drawing yesterday. This was for a class in school. I really liked making the drawing and I was very much into staring at it when it was done. A big chunk of it appears below. My instructor asked how the drawing process was different from the movement process (expressive body movements for relaxation, therapy, group cohesion, fun, etc.). I answered that in a movement session I would freely improvise for the entire time, actively going from moment to moment. But in the art process I only spent about 3 minutes drawing totally expressively. I spent the rest of our half hour scanning over the drawing for areas I thought were ugly and improving them. My instructor acknowledged the role of “problem solving” in visual art that cannot exist in movement and in most live music. Until the 1950s, this was true for recorded music as well.

Suddenly it hit me. This problem solving part is totally essential to my creative process, and the relative lack of problem solving is the reason why I am not as engaged in the live music experience as most of the other musicians I know. I can play drums with friends and it’s cool, but mostly because I like being around my friends. I don’t tend to get “lost” in any sort of “groove.” I will always go for a carefully crafted song with a beautiful melody and those just-perfect chords over a musical experience that lacks invention, even if the latter is perfectly executed. This is why I have leaned so heavily on the recording process all my life. I love the idea of going back and crafting those absolutely perfect life-affirming moments in music.

Like the coda of “God Only Knows.” Like the buildup and devastation in “Memorial.” Like the “Get ‘em out of those bodies!!” breakdown in “Pwnd.” Like the “I Think That She Knows” extension of “LoveStoned.” Like the main riff of “A Pillar of Salt.” Like the last one minute of “The Equestrian.” The choruses of “Say It Right,” “Dawn of the Dead,” “Blood (the song),” “Get Ready,” and “The Sweetest Girl.” The way the bass supports so perfectly in “Gobbledigook” and in all the best Notwist songs. The totally lonely guitars ringing out in the periphery of “House Jam.” The floating synth hovering over the chorus of “Breaking It Up,” and the derranged group chant supporting from below. Moments like this are why Liam and Me are solid gold and Vampire Weekend are solid garbage (VW completely lacks them…they don’t come close). Moments like this are why I put so much more time and effort into determining my favorite songs than my favorite albums or my favorite bands.

For a few minutes after I made this realization about problem solving, I wondered if I should have taken a track into art instead of music. But I think I made the right choice. I had a session making music with some kids the other day that turned into one of the most moving experiences of my life. I love interacting with the kids, and helping them draw things out of themselves to make music with. They have the potential to make massive creative leaps and discoveries, all in conjunction with their potential to become more healthy. I’m certain that for some of the kids I work with, the music we make together represents the best and most enjoyable musical experiences they have had; definitely the most empowering.

Really, this is probably the best use of problem solving that I can think of. Of course I will continue with the Glass Animal music (especially over the summer when I finally have a little time to spit out a lot of the ideas I have been coming up with), the Kalpana music (we have a shit hot record almost done…FEELS SO GOOD WHEN THE RECORD COMES OUT) and when Ben has 10 free seconds, we’ll do another record of his stellar new songs. And I’m thinking of doing some art as well.

A Map of My Mind

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 00:02:38 -0500

A Map of My Mind

What I mean to say is,

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 16:18:11 -0500

If you can put aside the fear drilled into your heart by our worst elected officials and our most horrible television and radio personalities, only then can you continue purposefully into the future. Otherwise, you are likely just to land there by accident, totally disoriented but for your paranoid anxiety. Which is a terrible punishment, not a righteous victory.

In Cambodia

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:17:24 -0500

…when they bring out a wedding cake, they sing “Happy Birthday” because that’s what white people do on television when there is a cake. After singing, they shoot the guests with silly string.

And people drive cars with the word “LEXXUS” written on the doors in huge letters.

Best of 2008

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 15:07:00 -0500

2008 was one of my longest years in memory. I stuffed so much into those 12 months that by the end I couldn’t believe that the things that happened in January weren’t actually from three of four years ago. Let’s see…I made a 180 degree career change that made my boss’s jaw drop. I was the best man in my friend Kennedy’s wedding and the floor sweeper in my sister-in-law Amanda’s wedding. I went to SXSW and fell hard for Austin TX, while restarting my love for live and recorded music. I moved to Philadelphia with my lovely wife who locked in her status as my best friend 4 life about a million times over. I played lots of music with kids and new friends, and studied harder than I ever have in my life. I finished a new record with Kalpana…I think. I started and killed a band that played exactly one show. I got to jam with an excellent freestyle rapper. I had the best breakfast of my life at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Our country finally put the right man into office after eight years of ridiculous disaster. It was a year of fresh starts. More than anything, I realized that you can have it all, but you cannot have it all at once.

School starts again tomorrow, and I probably won’t have time to update or clarify my music lists any further. So a few notes while I still have a few minutes. The Mae Shi is my favorite album, live show, and musical discovery of 2008. It’s as though they gave me permission to have fun, be excited and toss out the detached cool that gets packaged in with lots of less-secure bands. Six of my top ten records were from bands I hadn’t heard before “08. More than half feature female vocalists, if you count M83. I’m very grateful to emusic.com for helping me keep up with new music. It’s a site I recommend to anyone remotely interested in indie rock.

Top ten albums of the year!
1. The Mae Shi - HLLLYH
2. Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna
3. Wolf Parade - From Mount Zoomer
4. M83 - Saturdays = Youth
5. No Age - Nouns
6. Breeders - Mountain Battles
7. Lykke Li - Youth Novels
8. Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual
9. Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke
10. The Fashion - The Fashion

More!
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
CSS - Donkey
Trail of Dead - Festival Thyme EP
Four Tet - Ringer EP
Centro-Matic - Dual Hawks
Love is All - A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night
Deerhunter - Microcastle

To the disappointment of cute indie girls and drunken jocks everywhere (but to the probable delight of one Drew Metzar), I decided over the holidays that the only MGMT song I ever liked, “Kids,” actually really really sucks. You’ll notice a lot of mainstream and synth pop on my list, including some tracks by the band Does It Offend You, Yeah? — They didn’t make the album list because half of their record is astonishingly bad…but the other half is really good! Don’t bother telling me that I accidentally said that a song from Miley Cyrus’ disgusting older brother (Metro Station) was better than any single track by No Age, the Breeders, Deerhunter, the Hold Steady, the Mountain Goats and so many more. This list is ordered based on the objective truth, and there’s nothing I can do about it. Science takes time (which is why the list is a little late).

My 61 Favorite Songs of the Year!
1. Sigur Ros - “Gobbledigook”
2. Gang Gang Dance - “House Jam”
3. Mae Shi - “Pwnd”
4. Alphabeat - “Fascination”
5. Lykke Li - “Breaking It Up”
6. Does It Offend You, Yeah? - “Dawn of the Dead”
7. Rihanna - “Disturbia”
8. Wolf Parade - “Call It A Ritual”
9. …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - “Festival Thyme”
10. Kanye West - “Flashing Lights”
11. Lil Wayne (feat T-Pain) - “Got Money”
12. Weezer - “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)”
13. M83 - “Kim and Jesse”
14. Wolf Parade - “Language City”
15. Metro Station - “Shake It”
16. Wyclef Jean (feat Akon and Lil Wayne) - “The Sweetest Girl”
17. Mae Shi - “See You Again”
18. Estelle - “American Boy”
19. Marnie Stern - “Ruler”
20. Brendan Canning - “Hit the Wall”
21. No Age - “Things I Did When I Was Dead”
22. Mount Eerie - “Voice in Headphones”
23. Breeders - “We’re Gonna Rise”
24. Wolf Parade - “California Dreamer”
25. Foxglove Hunt: “The Life Highrise”
26. Mae Shi - “The Melody”
27. Jacaszek - “Rytm To Niesmiertelnosc”
28. Ponytail - “Celebrate the Body Electric (It Came From an Angel)”
29. CSS - “Move”
30. Hot Chip - “One Pure Thought”
31. Dan Friel - “Ghost Town Pt 1”
32. Hold Steady - “Constructive Summer”
33. Ladyhawke - “Manipulating Woman”
34. Passion Pit - “Sleepyhead”
35. No Age - “Miner”
36. Mae Shi - “HLLLYH”
37. Ponytail - “G Shock”
38. Islands - “The Arm”
39. Deerhunter - “Never Stops”
40. Mae Shi - “Run To Your Grave”
41. The Game (feat. Lil Wayne) - “My Life”
42. Ladyhawke - “My Delerium”
43. Frightened Rabbit - “Head Rolls Off”
44. dj/Rupture - “Baby Kites and Nokea”
45. The Fashion - “Solo Impala (Take the Money and Run)”
46. Tricky - “Bacative”
47. Mountain Goats - “Lovecraft in Brooklyn”
48. The Streets - “Everything is Borrowed”
49. Murder By Death - “Fuego”
50. The Fashion - “Dead Boys”
51. Deerhunter - “Nothing Ever Happened”
52. Fuck Buttons - “Sweet Love For Planet Earth”
53. Does It Offend You, Yeah? - “With a Heavy Heart (I Regret to Inform You)”
54. Rivers Cuomo - “Can’t Stop Partying”
55. Lil Wayne (feat. Jay-Z) - “Mr. Carter”
56, Port O’Brien - “I Woke Up Today”
57. Parts and Labor - “Nowhere Nigh”
58. Fucked Up - “Son the Father”
59. Jennifer Hudson - “Spotlight”
60. Breeders - “Bang On”
61. Ponytail - “Die Allman Bruder”

Finally, some new favorites from before 2008!
Land of Talk - “Speak to Me Bones”
Fleetwood Mac: “Gypsy”
Test Icicles: “Circle Square Triangle”
St. Vincent - “Now Now”
Akron Family - “I’ll Be on the Water”
Land of Talk - “All My Friends”

Maury + Mae Shi = Happy 2009!

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 13:38:01 -0500

Maury + Mae Shi = Happy 2009!

When I Was In...

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 23:26:34 -0500

NYC, I spent 6 months at a company that shared office space with a well-known hip hop label, and the employees of both companies all had their own labels and music projects on the side. Every so often, someone would walk around from desk to desk, silently leaving a copy of their new sticker or flier or mix on each person’s desk, and then sit back down. Without exception, someone would say in 15-30 seconds, “hey man, what’s this?” and then the person would have their chance to tell everyone about their new stuff without having to bring it up themselves. That was a really nice system, and it was a really nice and supportive place to work.

I’ve been writing some new songs. I’m trying to settle on a style for the new stuff. Like, brokedown dance music or something.

School's done for fall!

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:22:25 -0500

So I was looking at reviews and videos of the Mae Shi this morning, and my computer froze up, and began playing, alternately, the audio track from a car commercial (offering higher fuel efficiency, no less), “Mr Brightside” by the Killers, and “Escapade” by Janet Jackson. This seemed like an appropriate way for my computer to react to the Mae Shi.

Okay

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:23:38 -0500

I think it is really seriously fucked up that somebody was trampled to death by Wal-Mart shoppers looking to save, I don’t know, maybe a maximum of $200 each.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/business/29walmart.html?partner=VERIZON&ei=5115

An eariler version of the report stated that officers trying to give CPR were prevented from doing so by the Wal Mart shoppers.

Think for a second about how lousy and trivial a Wal Mart shopping experience is, and it seems that much more terrible.

“It was crazy,” said a worker in the electronics department who was in the store during the stampede. “The deals weren’t even that good.” -NYT

Happy Chinese Democracy Week!

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:12:43 -0500

My review of the new G n’ R tracks on the web: Good, but the hi-hats are at least .5 dB too hot at the end of the second verse of “Shackler’s Revenge.” Who dropped the ball on that one, huh Axl??? All in all, the tracks probably could have used 4-5 more months of tweaks.

Also, I wish the multiple guitar soloists would continue playing during all the parts where Axl is singing, to lessen the risk of understimulating the listener at any moment. Oh wait, they ARE playing during all those parts — Nice!

Kalpana show this Saturday in Brooklyn! Also, go to...

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:20:00 -0500

Kalpana show this Saturday in Brooklyn!

Also, go to myspace.com/kalpana to hear an almost-done, unmastered mix from the new record!

Slime geyser comes to Philly’s Love Park.

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:06:24 -0400

Slime geyser comes to Philly’s Love Park.