Summer’s almost over. Time for a new album.

It’s called Vendaface and you can listen to and download it for free right now. It will be released physically this November on very limited edition vinyl LP. More details on that in a few weeks.

Until the vinyl release, the free digital download is all that is available. No iTunes or Amazon at the moment. If you enjoy the sounds and would like to donate an amount of your choosing via PayPal, that would be very kind and I’m sure the cosmos will look favorably upon you.

I hope you enjoy the album. Send it to everyone you care for.

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After releasing three albums last year, I’ve been trying to take 2010 a little easier. This mostly involves playing a lot of video games and regular trips to Busch Gardens. But I do have a number of creative projects going on behind the scenes that should bear fruit later this year and into 2011.

First and foremost right now, I’m working on a documentary film project that I promise you will absolutely love once it’s done. It brings together a great number of things I hold dear to my heart: found footage, large VHS camcorders, vintage EPCOT Center, and legally warning an audience not to try what they’re about to see. I’ll have more to say about it and to show later in the summer.

Marc and I are in the early stages of a new lo-fi is sci-fi record. Writing songs, throwing ideas around, etc. Don’t hold your breath or anything, but there is a new lo-fi is sci-fi website up and you can keep in touch with us on Facebook as well.

As far as my solo stuff goes, I’m still working on soundtrack music for Brent Chesanek’s latest films (Brethren Arise, touring film festivals now, and the upcoming A Film About Legends). That music will be released when Legends is complete, so possibly sometime later in the year. And I have the songs ready to go for a new vocal record, but it’s up in the air right now whether those will become lo-fi is sci-fi songs or not. So, we’ll see.

So, in the meantime, if you’d like to play some Rock Band or Red Dead Redemption or something with me online, feel free to say hi on Xbox Live. My gamertag is Mayor Feedback.

Hope you’re well. Have a nice summer!

After I released I Am a Man Who Will Fight for Your Honor, I started toying with the idea of playing my instrumental music live. The biggest problem was not the actual performance of the music as much as it was making it interesting to watch; me quietly noodling with synths and knobs may not make for the most riveting experience for an audience. So I began work on a video presentation to go along with the music.

I immediately decided to experiment with footage that I’d loved for a long time: some six reels of amateur 16mm film shot by P. Medicus (first name unknown) at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City. Much of it is relatively unremarkable, but some of the images he captured feel completely otherworldly. It doesn’t look or feel like 1939, it feels like another planet in the distant future.

I began work on this project one year ago this month, and what started as a multimedia presentation for a live show ended up becoming a bit of an obsession of mine. It is now, in my mind, a science fiction film about the last days of a crumbling civilization, with I Am a Man Who Will Fight for Your Honor as its soundtrack. A long form music video, a short feature, whatever you’d like to classify it as. It means what you want and it gives what you take away from it. I’m releasing it online for all who’d like to watch it, and, in a limited quantity, on DVD.

Here is the trailer:

In the Store now are three new items available for pre-order: Preludes and The Dark Glow of the Mountains on CD for the first time and Tretet on DVD. You can pre-order all three together for only $14.99 (over half off). All will be released on April 27.

Watch Tretet now right here online. Please note that, despite being shot over 80 years ago, the film is intended for adult audiences and is not safe for work.

If you’ve been following me here or on Twitter or Facebook for the past year, you’ve probably heard me talk about Brethren Arise, a film by Brent Chesanek that I composed the music for (and co-edited and co-produced, as Brent is so eager to make sure I mention). It won the Audience Awards for Best Experimental Film at the Zero Film Festival in New York and Los Angeles, and now it’s off to Singapore.

Brethren Arise screens at the 23rd Annual Singapore International Film Festival on April 18, 2010. If you’re on that side of the world, definitely try to make it out. (Also, go see The Headless Woman there on April 23.) You can keep up with news about Brethren Arise at its Facebook page and at Brent Chesanek’s official website.

If, like me, you’re in Orlando this weekend, then you should definitely come down to Stardust and see Marc with a C perform live tomorrow night, April 3. I’ll be playing drums and I can safely promise a very fun time all around. Here’s the event listing on Facebook. Hope to see you there!

Preludes and The Dark Glow of the Mountains are coming to CD this month. I’ll have details and pre-order links up very soon. Stay tuned.

On February 18, 2010, my grandfather, Kenneth Zabriskie, passed away. I hadn’t seen him in years, despite only living one state away. He and his wife had come down to Orlando to visit me and my son and to visit the Mormon temple here. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the chance to do any of that before his heart finally failed him at the age of 82.

His heart failed him because the man just didn’t quit. He was relentless. Always working, always thinking, always on the move. He lied about his age to join the Navy during World War II. He was on one of the first ships into Nagasaki after the bomb dropped. He and my grandmother were married 52 years, during which time he was a successful salesman, actor, athlete, coach, model, and all-around family man. He was deeply religious, extremely active in his Church and faith, including serving as president of a mission in the West Indies. In the emergency room, hopelessly weak and beyond exhausted, he refused to let anyone help him from the stretcher to the bed.

I was his only descendant within a few thousand miles during his last days and I was the first to see him after he passed. I knew he was finally at peace, but the body he left behind was completely spent after a lifetime of movement. On his chest were the only belongings he had with him at the hospital: his glasses, a pen, and a half-finished crossword puzzle. And that was him to me. That’s how I’d always remembered him. Even when resting, thinking and working.

The day he died, I began working on a song to memorialize him. I wanted to capture his spirit in music, if I could. I couldn’t, and I can’t, truly, but I tried my best. I can’t even say he’d enjoy it if he heard it, but it doesn’t matter. It was my way of dealing with the emotions of that week and my memories of my life with him.

The song is called “The Life and Death of a Certain K. Zabriskie, Patriarch,” and you’re welcome to listen to or download for free it below. It may not be what you’re expecting, and yes, it is over 15 minutes long and pretty different from anything I’ve composed before, but it’s deeply personal to me and I hope you get at least some sense of the man’s utterly remarkable life hidden between the notes. Rest, finally, in peace.

The Life and Death of a Certain K. Zabriskie, Patriarch

But really, only a few things have changed. What was the news page is now really just the main homepage of the site, and it’s much more of a blog than just news. I plan on treating it as such, so expect more frequent updates on who knows what, not just news about me me me. I’ve also added new music players to the site, making for a much nicer listening experience.

And I’ve reinstated the little-heard 2007 lo-fi is sci-fi album I made with Marc Sirdoreus to the site and to the full discography zip file. I’ve hidden it away for some time now, mostly out of embarrassment over my vocal performance, but it’s something I’ve made, I love every song, and I’m much more at peace with it now, so I figured it’s worth sharing. If you’ve never heard it, it’s about as far away from my instrumental records as can be, but if you’re in the mood for some loud, sloppy power pop, you might enjoy it. Give it a shot.

If you find anything broken or awkward on the site, please let me know. I’d appreciate it.

Last night, I experimented with live webcasting for the first time. I set up a webcam while I did some recording and it turned out to be a lot of fun. Strange, since there are people watching and talking to you while you’re working, basically, but I really enjoyed it. Thank you to everyone who heeded the call on Twitter and Facebook and came over to say hello. I do plan on doing it again in the near future while I’m finishing up this new record, or maybe just getting on and playing some songs. If you’re interested in joining in, here is my channel on UStream, and keep an eye on Twitter and Facebook.

The physical CD release of Preludes is coming very soon, March or April at the latest. The artwork is done and it’s almost ready to go to press. And The Dark Glow of the Mountains CD is also in the works for late spring/early summer. Thanks for being patient on those. I’m doing my best to make them worth it.

That’s about it for the moment. Recording continues, I have a couple of film projects that I’m knee deep in, and I’m getting way, way too good at Rock Band. Still waiting for Synthesizer Hero, though. Imagine the possibilities.

Say hello anytime. Hope all is well. Much love.

If you’re in New York City this weekend, Brent Chesanek’s film Brethren Arise is screening in Brooklyn on Saturday, December 12. It won the Audience Choice Award for Best Experimental Film at the Zero Film Festival in Los Angeles last week, and now, New York, it’s your turn to love it. Details about the screening are here on Facebook. (I’ll be releasing the music I composed for the film sometime next year.)

The link, for whatever reason, has been missing from the site for a while, but I do still post personal photography on the website here, specifically at chriszabriskie.com/photography. I update it whenever I get a roll of film developed (which should be more often now that I replaced my failing Canon AE-1 body this week).

That’s about it for the moment. 2010 promises at least a couple of new albums (maybe I’ll sing on one of them?), new videos and films, live performances, and a few surprises. Stay tuned.

“Merry Happy” to everyone.

Apologies in advance, but updates may come a little fewer and further between for a while. I’m knee deep in work on a feature-length documentary film I’m directing, editing, and scoring, so if news is intermittent over the next few months, you’ll know why. If you want more bite-sized updates, follow me on Twitter. I post a few times a week or so, normally, so I won’t crowd your home page or anything.

Despite the busyness, At some point in the first half of next year, I will be releasing a new album of soundscapes that I created for a pair of films for Brent Chesanek. The first of those films, Brethren Arise (yes, named for and featuring the song from The Dark Glow of the Mountains) is having its premiere in L.A. this week at the Zero Film Festival. Hopefully it should make its way to a fest near you at some point (and eventually online). I’ll keep you updated.

I finally got around to updating the mobile version of this website to include Preludes, so you can now listen to all of my albums, in full, on your iPhone or Android device (or basically any smartphone that can browse the web over 3G or wi-fi and streams mp3s natively). Just point that nifty gadget of yours at m.chriszabriskie.com and enjoy.

My close friend and musical brother Marc with a C has started hosting his own very late night radio show on WPRK here in Orlando, and it’s called “The Real Congregation.” Three hours in the middle of the night to play/say anything he wants, and it’s pretty great. It’s on Tuesday mornings at 3 a.m. EST. That’s 7 a.m. GMT, so that’s perfect for all you UK’ers who are just waking up. I recommend tuning in online at wprkdj.org. I might just stop into the studio now and again, so be sure to listen and request lots of Yes.

A quick apology: I’ve been quite ill this past week and simultaneously swamped with CD orders, so I’m very sorry if your order is getting to you a day or two late. Remember, I’m a one man operation here, so your patience is greatly appreciated! I’m getting caught up now, and orders should be going out normally. If you ever have any questions or concerns about an order you’ve placed with me, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly.

And, on a happier note, the wonderous private torrent tracker What.cd celebrated its second birthday this week. The site and its community are so amazingly supportive of independent music of all kinds from around the world; it’s hard to imagine life without them. What.cd has been doing all sorts of things for its members in celebration, not the least of which was the recommending of I Am a Man Who Will Fight for Your Honor to everyone who visited the site and allowing them to download it free of any ratio hit. I’m super honored and I hope everyone who’s hearing the record for the first time enjoys it and shares it with their friends.

That’s basically it for now. Much more in store for the months ahead. Let me know if you need anything. Stay warm. Much love.