Archive for category Music
Flood of new music!
I’d like to offer you three new songs: “Sleep,” “Impression, Part II“, and “Happier With You.” These make up more of the “Sleep” release. Sleep, from April 2010, is a song I put together as a bit of a scherzo – “hmm, let’s see what I can do with these chord shapes” – and I [...]
New Rush songs!
Rush has two new singles available through iTunes and Amazon: Caravan and BU2B. They’re really good – they’ve gotten a little more comfortable with the producer they worked with for their previous album, and they’re actually a little more adventurous now. I have a feeling that Nick Raskulinecz – the producer – was pushing them [...]
American Idol: top 3 show, my thoughts
Last night I watched the American Idol top three show from Tuesday. I won’t spoil the results for you, but I don’t think that there was ever any question, really, of what would happen in the results show. And I’m disgusted. I don’t understand the show this year, honestly. I get that the show picks [...]
Two new songs: Impression and Aurora!
New music at last! What’s even better, these pieces are way, way better than the others in the current release cycle, to the point where they’re likely to make the other pieces just go away. The first is “Aurora,” an instrumental. It was interesting to record; this is actually the third version recorded. The first [...]
Crystal Bowersox doing “People Get Ready” tonight?
I just read a rumor that Crystal Bowersox might be doing “People Get Ready” tonight. Oh goodness me oh my howling wolf at the tomatoes in the field… I HOPE SO. If so, this has the potential to be the performance that blows the lid off of every other American Idol performance, including Crystal’s own [...]
American Idol, Elvis week
So, yeah, I watch American Idol. Get over it. Someone needs to, if I won’t. Anyway, so Elvis week. Two eliminations; I think one is clear, the other one comes down to one of two people. Crystal was marvelous tonight as usual. Rock solid, on the groove. I wish she’d move around a little more [...]
Music: Dream
New music online! Dream is a new piece, the first one I’ve really felt good about since I finished the “Time and Distance” CD. The new collection’s title: “Sleep.” (Go figure.) This one’s interesting to me – it actually started with six or seven rhythm guitar tracks, all sort of syncopated together for a “wave” [...]
American Idol annoys me.
American Idol is horribly annoying. The producers are angling for a two-person finale, when realistically only one person has been in the lead since day one, and nobody’s come close to touching her yet.
This Ain’t Jazz
“This Ain’t Jazz” is a piece I put together partly because I really wanted to play, like, real drums. See, here’s the thing: I started on drums, back in 1980 or so, in the Wildwood Middle School Guitar Group, which basically played a set of hits, based on the skills of the students at the [...]
Recording a Djembe
A friend from work rather graciously allowed me to borrow a djembe, and I’m having trouble figuring out how to record it. A djembe is incredibly flexible; it can do high notes like a conga, and it can boom like a tympani. The technique you use to play it is very powerful; you use your [...]