This month has really gotten away from me. Not that most of them don’t (Time: what a concept), but as much spinning of the wheels as there’s been, there’s also been some forward motion. Let me tell you first about this month’s song….

Tinkle, Winkle, Pobble & Bip is a 30-second theme song exercise for a children’s TV show in much the same vein as The Teletubbies. Four strange little creatures with funny-sounding names getting into all kinds of psychedelic adventures – what could be better than that? Obviously it’s geared toward a younger audience, but if you’re feeling a little silly it might hit the spot.

Now for the latest news:

*CDs and downloads are once again available for purchase at my website, The Marble Tea Webthing (www.marbletea.com). I had to re-arrange some things due to server problems on the back-end, so individual songs aren’t available anymore but you can buy the ‘albums’ in packages at really low prices! And of course, there’s lots of free stuff there too.

*The film Megahertz, concerning the other-wordly adventures of the increasingly prophetic genius Nikola Tesla and a soul-searching female disc jockey, is nearing completion. Brought to you by Anam Cara Productions, I was thrilled to do the score for it as well as contribute a wee pop song or two. There’s also some music from the indisputably talented hands of our hero, Mr. Max Eider.

*New Mystics is a gathering place for artists of all stripes, and features lots of great work from poets, writers, filmmakers, musicians, painters, etc. Their theatre company recently branched out into film-making, and I’m honored to be providing music for a series of their short films. You can check out the development of this series on their film page.

*Finally, thanks to everyone who’s expressed their sadness over the closing of the Book Bin. It’s been quite a time, but Kate & I are looking forward to the future with anticipation (particularly one free from so many boxes of books creating their own corridors in the house!). We’ll continue to sell online through Amazon.com and Abebooks.com, and hopefully I’ll have our main site updated soon so come visit us!

That’s it for now as I have to go in for an unexpected shift at my other job shortly. Stay warm until next time…..

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Hey, before you check out the new free blog song, let me tell you about the new free Marble Tea single. I’m calling it the Back in Time / Demi Moore Single since the song titles themselves are rather long. On the A-Side we have The Girls Who Went Back in Time and on the B-Side Please Don’t Cut Your Hair Like Demi Moore. These songs originally appeared on the out-of-print Jersey Shoreline CD, but they’ve been freshly remixed and mastered for your aural delight right here in the laboratory. You can download the single (for free, in case you didn’t hear) right here.

In case this next bit of code doesn’t show up in your browser, you can listen to it in the player at the top of the page on that link I just gave you.

I hope you enjoy it.

Now, about this Good In Black song. I used to live with a triumphant feline named Sidney The Mega-Cat who was feared far & wide around the complex, but who also suffered extreme bouts of abstract melancholia. When we took walks together, he’d never hesitate to enter a neighboring apartment, nonchalantly gliding past the hissing resident cat with a smirk. He was big and brave and fearless, but on other days he’d only sit and stare, that giant mug stuck in silent contemplation of the stereo’s VU meters while I wrote songs about girls. This is one of those songs, another old recording that I’ve pulled from the vault and cleaned up a bit (but just a bit). This too I hope you’ll enjoy.

GOOD IN BLACK

Sidney sits and stares all day at the stereo

I joined him today I think I’ll stay

I like it

He never says too much

I wonder what he’s thinking

Does he need affection?

I know all about that affection thing

or lack of it, do you?

I know you do

You know I meant to tell you:

You look good in black

You look good in black

Sidney has a special way and a certain foe

I watched him today keep it at bay

Amazing

You never see those things coming

that’ll take you down

But you get a feeling

I know all about those creepy little

coming up kind of things, do you?

Uh huh oh yeah.

I was going to tell you:

You look good in black

From the front, the side and the back

While you’re dressing

I’m requesting

That you put on the black

Sidney sits and stares all day at the stereo

I joined him today I think I’ll stay

I like it

He never says too much

I wonder what he’s thinking

You look good in black

You look good in black

Zambiland, zambiland

Zambiland, zambiland

Interiors

Amp radio

Magic fortune teller

Rainbow

A Postscript:

Dylan Kight moved his once-a-week song blog to http://www.wildernessofthemind.com/. Check it out.

Sunburst Carrier has just released their first EP. It’s called Sound Sensitive and it’s beautiful. Lilting, cascading guitar-esque instrumentals for melancholy illumination. Sidney would’ve loved it.

Kate recently turned me on to Just Fontaine, and their new Four Views EP is another must-have. Great sardonic Brit-pop that fits squarely into my collection.

And if you haven’t picked up the latest Max Eider disc…wtf are you waiting for?! I thought it was brilliant the first time I listened to it, but now I want to be buried right in the same coffin with it. Get your own, Spotty.

Who needs major labels?

RECENT ENJOYMENTS

Book: Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins

Music: Oracular Spectacular by MGMT

Film: Arrested Development – The Complete Series (Seasons 1, 2, 3)

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LATEST NEWS

These songs are now available as a Podcast on iTunes. Check it out here:



Also, you can download each past years’ tunes in separate tidy packages for ultimate Marble Tea convenience here.

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It just occurred to me that this is two months in a row where the songs dealt with wishing. Hhmmm, how ’bout that then? We could talk all night about wishing and dreaming (and hoping and praying, and anything else Burt and Dionne might warn you against), but there are other matters to address now so let’s save those explorations for another fireside, shall we?

First let me tell you quickly about this song. True, there’s a free acoustic version available as part of the Slave to the Tuna EP. This more electric rendition first appeared on the out-of-print 2001: A Case of the Tea CD, but I’m offering up here the cleaned up version that Jeff Booth so graciously set his knobs to. Considering the state of my timing and singing, I think he pulled it far out of the mire!

Second, I’m stent-free baby, so how ’bout we get a little snow on the Shore, eh?

I WISH IT WOULD SNOW

She said,
“I wish it would snow all winter long
Because I need something fun to tickle my little tongue.
Oh, flurries are fine: dusting my face and glitter my hair,
But they’re infrequent, just like my lovers,
And I’d rather just stay in bed….”

She said,
“I wish I could do whatever it is that you do.”
Well, this forced him to laugh and re-evaluate everything.
“No, don’t wear my shoes: I’m always tripping and stumbling about.
And even though they look like they fit
Well, they’re really far too big….”

I never understood selective generosity
And why does the shame of the past
Govern my thoughts like a fog?

She said,
“I’m waiting for you down by the dock,
And I’m tempted to throw myself in to see what Shelley saw.”
Are kind words enough for someone whose head may burst into flames?
And in her diary the words are all true
But it never seems the same:

I never understood selective generosity
And why does the shame of the past
Govern my thoughts like a fog?

RECENT ENJOYMENTS
Book: Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
Music: A-Z by Colin Newman
Film: The Science of Sleep

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THE NEW EP IS HERE:

You can listen to all the songs on your computer anytime you want and, in addition to it being available on CD, you can also buy it in MP3 format. Totally cool, but even cooler is that there’s a FREE downloadable EP of 5 more groovy tunes when you buy it. Do it now…you know you want to.

With all this love raining down, it seemed appropriate to post another song here this month. So what you have here is an older song about dropping a bomb of love that might hopefully open the eyes and hearts of…well, just everyone in general. Much better than those nasty ones that destroy lives, right? PEACE AT ANY COST…find me a political party with that platform and I’ll sign on.

[UPDATE 10/25: Kate has informed me that "Peace at any Cost" sounds a little harsh, as if to say "We'll bomb 'em into submission." Truly, that's not the intent of the phrase, nor the direction of my beliefs. I just liked using the word "cost" while offering a free song, and then segueing into the bit below about COSTCO. Understood? Thank you.]

Camera update: COSTCO really came through. As mentioned in the last entry, I returned my 2-year old defective camera to them (with receipt and I found the box) and they gave me store credit not only for the full price of it, but – since sales tax had increased here in NJ in the interim – even a few cents more! Sweet. I used the credit to purchase a brand new, much better camera than my old one.