the marble tea webthing

Never Trust A Seagull In Penguin Pajamas

I write in order to hear; never do I hear and then write what I hear. Inspiration is not a special occasion.
~ John Cage (from Silence)

I’ve been playing with my computer lately, specifically that thing called MIDI, and I was having fun writing out little parts for piano and then assigning them to other instruments – a bagpipe, for instance – just to see what it would sound like. Well, this got me thinking it might be fun to try to piece together a song by writing and recording the parts on one instrument and then assigning the part to another, and then try to piece something somewhat coherent out of it all.

That’s what we have this month. What sounds like a piano was actually a part written for drums and then assigned to a ukelele software instrument. Drum parts were created originally as piano or bass parts, etc. Weird sounds may have begun life as saxophones or accordions or even banjos.

It’s just an experiment, but it was fun.

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So my friend Steven Wilson of the mighty Plasticsoul informed me about this thing called February Album Writing Month (FAWM) which issues the challenge of writing and recording 14 songs in the 28 days of February. I love this kind of stuff, I assume, because I’m addicted to starting things I never finish.

Well this time I did finish (just barely), despite birthdays and weddings and travels to the other side of the country, and I’m happy to let you have the proceedings as one nice bundled up album of demolicious noise as a completely free download (you don’t even have to give me your email address)!

Download Demolicious Man [0211] (link takes you to my Bandcamp page)

Now, this is by no means an official album, but we can pretend it is if you like. While many of the songs were little more than sketches, a few turned out quite well considering the time constraints. I hope you’ll enjoy it….

If you’re interested, here’s the Marble Tea FAWM page.

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A Great Moving Wave of Bliss

…and sometimes the feeling prevails upon ‘em so hard, beloved, that they just have to mount up on the stage and get to giggin’ with the band. ~ Cub Koda (Kings of the Party)

It’s been a while since I gushed about Brian Eno here, so the time seems about right.

They say that most songwriters have about three songs in them that they re-write over and over again in various incarnations and attire. This is probably true in most cases, and certainly true in many. Whether or not it’s true for Mr. Eno I’ll reserve saying, but I would like to propose that he basically has three styles of songs: the generally ambient instrumental works, the self-described idiot-energy bursts of spastic euphoria, and the nearly canticle vocal works that feel to me like caravans to a distant and often intangible world. (more…)

One Snowflake for Your Thoughts

The blizzard that just hit New Jersey was a day late, but it wasn’t a dollar short, that’s for sure. As friends in the South rejoiced at snow on Christmas Day, we on the Shore had to wait until the day after to get ours…and it walloped us good!

I spent that shimmery Sunday in the backyard studio, watching the snow fall and recording a little soundtrack for it. As the day and evening progressed, so did the intensity of the storm, a blizzard now. Waking Monday morning to a day full of shoveling, I wasn’t able to get back into the studio until today, so high were the snow dunes across our patio. The town is still a wreck from the downpour, but the sky is clear and the sweater KC knitted for me is warm.

I hope you have the chance to listen to this song as you watch snow falling outside your window. If not, I hope you’ll close your eyes and imagine it that way, for that is its sole intent. Is it really true that no two snowflakes are alike?

Happy New Year to you, and may your days be merry and bright!

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Tryptophan

I’m not a scientist, Jim. I don’t even play one on TV. But I felt turkey was getting all the blame for Thanksgiving day sleepiness and wanted to set the record, somewhat at least, straight. This month’s song explains my understanding of how it works, even if it inadvertently conjures a bit of Adam Sandler.

Happy Thanksgiving! And much respect to all my vegan and vegetarians friends…

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