Hi. Feels sort of weird posting so much in here. Here are some things we've been working on and some music that has been inspiring me in the process. We've got Updates from Medicated Robots, Soft Copy, Thoughtless, Civil Unrest, Cholera, Brain Cave, Wrong Mind, and more.
(click each name for music if applicable)
- Soft Copy just submitted a single for the compilation coming out soon with several local artists and bands entitled "Cicada's Song." We are also finishing up mixing our EP for Spring time! Keep your eyes on our Instagram page for shows and release updates.
- Thoughtless recorded two new songs. Thoughtless is a band where all songs are written and recorded first take and compiled into a massive folder. It was just me on all instruments and Joe Reed singing, but we've brought Bolles in as another multi-instrumentalist to continue piling on the nonsense. It's super unofficial, but some songs sound like Sonic Youth, some sound like Spazz, and it all smells like Sheetz.
- Medicated Robots has a show booked for Spring! That's right. My long time "secret" and barely functioning solo project has gained some traction and a live band! With almost 15 songs under our belt and growing, we have quite the surprise visually and sonically for you. I have a solo EP coming out in the next month or so, and the band has completely different and new material we're putting out in Spring as well. Very, very fucking excited for all of that.
- Scoliosis Jones has a show at Yorktown Lanes Saturday, February 9th at 9pm! We've got a few new tunes for you and there will be many high fives. Watch me play really fast and sweat a lot.
- I've been working with Burger on his first solo release entitled Wrong Mind. There are some really exciting details behind this, but you'll have to wait until it's finished. Right now, we've got about 90% of the recording done and then we'll tackle the mixing.
- Brain Cave was scheduled to start their second EP with me last Sunday, but all the snow in the world fell onto Cleveland, crippling any posibitliy of productivity. It was a bummer, but we'll be back in there in a few weeks to knock it out.
- Friends and studio mates Cholera are finishing their latest release. They've been rehearsing the shit out of the new tunes at my studio once a week. It's sounding super tight and I know it's going to make some waves.
- Also friends and studio mates Civil Unrest are wrapping up their debut release. The music is extremely fast paced and pissed off. Looking forward to that one!
New music to me:
Alessandro Cortini - Avanti (2017)
I don't know how this one slipped past me. This was the first album cover of Alessandro's solo albums that had an actual image on. The title is in Italian, which translates to "Forward" in English. One might assume this is referring to his recent marriage, but I pick up some type of extremely strong family dedication/reflection in both the tones and the song titles. Most of the tracks have people speaking Italian over what sounds like dinner with a family. The conversations do not seem too dramatic to an outsider, but I feel like they could be knowing the story behind them. Yet another great example of an album full of music that closes your eyes for you, picks up your body, and takes it to another place entirely.
The video for "Vincere" (translates to "to overcome/win") is an absolutely gorgeous look back on a young Alessandro. I quite honestly did not see the video until I went to do this blog and my eyes are wet from seeing this footage with a song that sounded to me like it was laced with childhood memories. Books are always better than the films, and knowing what an artist thought CAN be interesting but ultimately I enjoy that you're essentially given a list of ingredients and it's up to you to bake up your own meal/planet to go to. As cheesy and it will be, when you follow an artist's music for so long they feel like they're a part of your life, and after seeing all of this childhood footage, it makes it feel like we're friends.
Old favorites I've been real into:
The Books- Lemon of the Pink
A perfect clash of music, samples, and sounds done in a very soothing, dream-like way. I guess this would be a blend between new music I found and an old favorite. My friend told me I'd like these guys, and typical me it took me months to actually sit down and listen to. I had no idea what it was going to sound like, and it was a fantastic surprise. I use a lot of sampling in my own music, but nothing like this. I was playing it at the studio and some friends were pretty annoyed by it, so it certainly isn't something everyone will enjoy.
Yo La Tengo - The Sounds of the Sounds of Science
This one has been listed several times by now in this blog. It's been a great morning record for me. I've been trying to get up a little earlier and actually drinking coffee. For anyone who hasn't heard it, each track is a short soundtrack to individual underwater videos. The drums are programmed so well on this. Without it having a cheesy, too digital type feel, the record comes across as a great sonic exploration into the unknown world of the ocean.
- Novak