Beautiful music.
Although the posts on the blog are generally all about me and my projects, I thought I should mention the CD I just bought.

It's called In the Heart of the Moon by Ali Farka Toure and Toumani Diabate. It's fantastic. Straight up improvisational Malian music recorded in a mobile studio in the middle of Bamako by the Niger river.

The liner notes are amazing as well. Ali Farka Toure has this to say:

"If you know something and don't want to share it, then you are selfish. You came after someone, and someone else will come after you. You can't learn the entire sea by heart. No. That is why god created waves in the river and in the sea. Some leave, and some come."  ¶ 6:19 PM 2 Comments

  I had the nicest dream.
Thanks to a little encouragement (and a lot of help) from my friend Jonathon I recently started learning how to use After Effects - the software that I'm now realizing is used to make every car commercial that you see on TV. I picked it up fairly quickly, probably because of the similarities with audio software. I think I'm only barely scratching the surface, but it's a useful skill to have, and I thoroughly enjoy it, even though waiting for video to render is the most mind numbing activity ever.

In any event I used After Effects to compile a lot of footage that I took at the Farm one day over the summer, and I lengthened and remixed an old song of mine to create a music video! I'm fairly happy with it. I think it's a good initial foray into the world of video.

Click here to watch or download. It's a 20 mb quicktime file, so be patient! Make sure your volume is turned up or else it gets kinda boring.  ¶ 3:39 AM 3 Comments

  Tony the night guard
As I mentioned in the previous post, I've been working on a short sound documentary. I originally wanted to use it as part of my Handface documentary, but now I'm not so sure. In any event it was a very good exercise for me, and I hope you enjoy it. Click here to listen or download.

As usual, it will be much more enjoyable if you are able to listen on real speakers or headphones...laptop speakers are not so great.

Please let me know what you think! This was definitely an experiment so I would like to hear some opinions.  ¶ 5:44 PM 8 Comments

  Wintertime It's been a little while since my last post, so today I've got all sorts of stuff for you!

It's finally wintertime here in southwestern PA. Pittsburghers spent yesterday getting ready for the first big snowstorm of the year - getting all the shovels and salt and Christmas decorations ready.

I went to the Strip District to stock up on provisions. For those of you who don't know, the Strip is the place to get good quality food in Pittsburgh. There are five or six blocks of locally owned supermarkets selling food from all over the world. My favorite place is Penn Mac.

They have the best cheese and bread in Pittsburgh...in fact - and I say this with complete authority - they have the best goat cheese outside of France.

In any event, it started snowing last night around 8, and it is still snowing a bit now.

I don't think I'll be driving anywhere for a few days. It's kind of relaxing to know that I can't go too far. I'm glad I bought two pounds of bacon in the Strip.

I have been doing some work despite all of these adventures. I've more or less finished a little sound documentary that I will post in a few minutes, I've been writing lots of sketches for a future album, and I'm doing all sorts of secretive Christmas-present projects. As usual, check back soon for updates.  ¶ 5:28 PM 1 Comments