A few album covers that I really enjoy...
Genesis, A Trick of the Tail (1976)
Arve Henrisken - Strjon
Ralph Towner - Diary
Richard Beirach - Eon
Lenny White - Big City
Sparks - Propaganda
Checking In
This weekend has been great so far. I have confirmed that the rather unique release of DJ Responsibility's Formalism will occur this April. I'll be scouting locations for an installation tomorrow and starting to write some press releases. The album is seven tracks long and features a few local musicians: tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE, Nathan Hall, Kerrith Livengood, Ben Harris, and Brandon Masterman. Those last four + me also make up Vocal Assembly, who has a modified version of a piece called "Hard Music" on the album. I'll be posting more info on this project along with artwork and such soon. It will be a pretty unique release - not sure of any kind of official release show - but at the moment, you need to be in Pittsburgh to hear it, specifically, the Oakland branch of the Carnegie Library.
Other projects on the horizon include a 7" with my good friend Will Dyar. We're remaking one of my favorite tunes from 2005, "In Hell" and adding a new b-side, "Gentle In". Possibly a bit more too.
And Daryl Fleming and I are halfway through the mix of a new record where Daryl duets with violinist and vocalist Megan Williams. That should be out sometime this year. There are some really great pieces on there, including the darkest, most forked version of "America, the Beautiful" that I've ever heard.
To cap off this post, here are 25 randomized tunes from the ol' iTunes:
1. Yeasayer - Grizelda
2. DBLD - Fourteen
3. Fred Van Hove - Boven Alle Verdenking Verheven (Alfons)
4. Death Cab for Cutie - No Sunlight
5. Led Zeppelin - I Can't Quit You Baby
6. Matthew Shipp - Pulse Form
7. Conlon Nancarrow - Study No. 34
8. Blood, Sweat, and Tears - My Old Lady
9. Madvillian - Rhinestone Cowboy
10. Charles Mingus - Los Mariachis (The Street Musicians)
11. Paul Giger - Tropus
12. Vocal Assembly - Individual Burdens
13. Rufus Wainwright - Want
14. Moovers - Someone to Fulfill My Needs
15. Susan Ibarra Trio - A Glimpse
16. Blood, Sweat, and Tears - Fire and Rain
17. DJ Responsibility - As In Form
18. MF Doom - More Rhymin'
19. Josh Berman - Db
20. Genesis - The Cinema Show
21. Can - Bring Me Coffee or Tea
22. Zs - Mimesis
23. St. Vincent - The Strangers
24. The Frame Quartet - M.E.S. (for Merce Cunningham)
25. My Morning Jacket - Anytime
A Look Back at Vale and Year
This track compiles a bunch of Vale and Year tracks. I picked some rare tracks, some of my favorites, and some in studio things never heard before. I've been thinking a lot about Vale and Year lately. Starting in 2003, Greg Cislon and I released five full-length records, at least 3 EPs, some compilation tracks, a book, and a limited edition wooden box for the HOLY MUSIC AND ART double album. We ended the band with a double record and another record in the can and three false starts at a triple record (our 8th). Definitely a lot a fun. Played some great shows with Wilco, Okkervil River, Tatsuya Nakatani, On Fillmore, Ted Leo, The Evens, and a bunch more.
List:
1. Track 5 (from I Can Remember At Her)
2. You're A Good Man (from Famous Fights)
3. Buffalo Soldiers (from a tape comp)
4. Track 10 (from I Can Remember At Her)
5. Studio Sounds from our first album, Vale and Year Create A Perfect History
6. Last Song we ever recorded (from the aborted Oxygen (lp8))
Also, I decided to do some google searches to search out some oddities (and also try to find the song titles that I could not remember for the three tracks above - I used to know every sequence by heart!). Anyway, I don't really remember this video. Probably because it advertises something that existed two years after V&y ended. But the trailer uses "There's Very Little Trace" from Holy Music and Art.
