Category Archives: Music

Looks like I’m a “Very Us Artist”

The Very Us ArtistsParticipating in the 2008 RPM Challenge was great for a lot of reasons. I got fired up to produce what I think is my best solo album so far. I learned about some great online resources for musicians like Kunaki and INDISTR. I met some cool people along the way.

But perhaps the most exciting thing to come of it is that I’ve discovered the Very Us Artists, a loose collective of musicians and visual artists who collaborate to produce a brand new, “various artists” (get it?) album every few months around a shared concept. There’s some tremendous talent involved, and it’s a wonderfully welcoming environment. The upshot of all of this is that I have recorded a track to be included on the next Very Us Artists album, The Future Is Now. It’s a very cool concept (which, of course, I had to twist in my own way), and I am really looking forward to seeing and hearing what my co-conspirators have come up with. Stay tuned for more!

Unnatural Disasters expanded edition now available!

Unnatural Disasters [Remastered] front coverLast week I finished a “remastered” version of my new album, Unnatural Disasters. Sure, it’s barely a month old, but I’m still perfecting my “studio” (such as it is) techniques, and even though this new version wasn’t done in time to become my official RPM Challenge submission, I consider it the definitive version of the album. I’ve also thrown in my secondary RPM project, Technetium, as a bonus track. (Sure, this bonus track is longer than all 9 tracks on the actual album combined, but it all still fits nicely onto one CD. You do miss out on the great cover art, though.)

The new versions of all of the tracks are now available here and on VIRB. Better yet, get a copy for yourself! It’s available as a name-your-own-price MP3 download on INDISTR or for $7.99 on CD from Kunaki.

If it’s good enough for Radiohead, it’s good enough for me

Name Your Own PriceIn the wake of the RPM Challenge, I’ve stepped up the presence of my solo music online, most notably making all of my recent music available as a paid download on INDISTR.

Initially I had assigned prices to the albums, but INDISTR has recently added a new feature, “Name Your Own Price.” Well, that works for me. Even if you only pay $1 (the minimum) for my albums, I still make about as much off the sale as most signed musicians make when you buy their CDs for $19.99 at Sam Goody.

So, in short, Sam Goody can suck it. But that’s not really the point. The point is that I want you to download my music! You can listen to it for free here, and then head on over to INDISTR to download it for whatever price you feel is fair. If you want. Or you can suck it too.

Just kidding. Buy my music!

Far Out Sounds! (And Other Space Age Hyperbole)

The Apollo program is far out!I’m on a roll with the new music; after producing two new albums for the RPM Challenge, I’ve already started on another new project. Drenched in vintage ’60s and ’70s keyboard sounds (electric piano, organ, and the beloved Mellotron — no, I don’t really have a Mellotron, just this, which, come to think of it, is actually better, or at least more practical, than the original in almost every conceivable way), the album is going to be a tribute to the music of the Apollo years: 1961-1975. Heavy emphasis will be placed on 1969-1972, which also happen to be probably my favorite 4 years in music history. I’ve already got a couple of minutes of a first track (just backing tracks, with a scratch MIDI bass track, and a rough mix) laid down (which you can listen to below), and visual inspiration for the cover. Man, that old Apollo logo is sweet!

“Lunar Landing” version 0.1 • February 21, 2008 • 2:07
[audio:http://blog.room34.com/wp-content/uploads/underdog/lunar-landing.mp3]