the evans center for sleep deprivation studies

bands in studios: Guitar vs. Gravity

2009-04-25T17:23:11-08:00

My pals in Guitar vs. Gravity are recording right now, and they're posting quality video documentary materials. Go to be watching. Can you spot the Blumlein configuration?

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bands in studios: KWC, Sonya Cotton, Farticus

2009-04-20T13:41:25-08:00

1. We, the Kowloon Walled City, are in the midst of recording our new thing. It'll be a full-length, and The Perpetual Motion Machine is going to release it. Exciting/exhausting. There's some session pics and rambling over at the KWC site.

2. Every time I watch a video on Chasing The Moon, I want to tell all of my friends to carve out an hour and watch every episode on the site. CTM is a video series of San Francisco bands/artists performing at Hyde Street Studio C. Beautiful photography, beautiful recordings, and great performances. I watched the Sonya Cotton episode last night, and it's gorgeous. Also, 421 as vocal mic!

3. I recorded 4 songs for Farticus a few months ago, and Aquarius just gave their CD a great review (between a serious beating about the band name, heh):

...holy shit, these four songs are intense and brutal, tons of low end, the guitars chugging and churning, occasionally getting all twisted and warped, evoking prime era Butthole Surfers, the drums pounding and chaotic, and the vocals, shit, a wild banshee screech, sounding like a Riot Grrl all grown up ready to kick your ass. Reminds us a bit of classic SF weirdo rockers, Tragic Mulatto, in fact, if you can imagine the Buttholes, Tragic Mulatto, but with Unsane guitars, that's what this is all about.

Nice. Word is they're going to do a 10" vinyl release with these songs pretty soon.

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snailface and compatriots

2009-03-19T21:58:38-08:00

Another year, another RPM Challenge. I love doing this stuff, everybody should make a record in a big hurry now and then.

This year it was SNAILFACE. Here's the back story, and here's where you go to download the record.

Also, Pace somehow found the time to do his own RPM record, as The Talls. It's a concept album. About beer. It is fucking great. Go, journey to Trappisttown.

Bradee and I are working on another Big Red Boots record too, but it'll be a few months. KWC is recording in a few weeks so we're hustling to get our act together for that.

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records i liked in 2008

2009-01-01T21:58:48-08:00

Another year of heaviness. I gotta snap out of that. Maybe.

Helms Alee - Night Terrors. A few years ago my favorite record was Autolux Future Perfect. This is like that. Burly, but hooky and pretty. Like Autolux it's all there: tones, production, songs. Really nice.
Young Widows - Old Wounds. Mathy noise rock. Cool production, great record.
2 Foot Yard - Borrowed Arms. Smart and musical, as expected.
Akimbo - Jersey Shores. I love a good side project. Which this record isn't, technically, but it feels like one given how it was made and how it came out. Total ass kickage.
Torche - Meanderthal. Yeah, this record is on pretty much every other top 10 list this year. I prefer the In Return EP, but this one's pretty great too. Heavy / hooky.
Baroness - Red Album. Yeah, 2007. But I listened to it like crazy this year. Riffs, followed by additional riffs, interspersed by jams.
KEN Mode - Mennonite. I just found out that this record exists. The band released it themselves with little fanfare. It's not as consistent as Reprisal (which blew my mind) but it still rules.
Made Out of Babies - The Ruiner. Spastic, heavy, weird, good.
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid. I love these guys. They're like a British Radiohead. No, wait. Anyway, they made another really nice record. And they produce themselves. Respect.
Leatherback - H is for Hospital. My friend Sean made this record in February. I admit that my take on it is colored by knowing Sean, but so what? Like I said a few months ago, "it's a mostly instrumental wide-eyed take on King Crimson and lo-fi pop, and I really love it". It's free, go get it.
Cursed - III: Architects Of Troubled Sleep. Distorted distortion. Yes.

Honorable mentions:

Black Elk - Always A Six, Never A Nine
Clouds - We Are Above You
Kaki King - Dreaming of Revenge
Portishead - Third
Black Ships - Omens
Wetnurse - Invisible City
Meshuggah - ObZen

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big red boots

2008-12-26T13:13:07-08:00

Remember the "RPM Challenge" in February, where you were supposed to make a record in a month? Bradee and I just finished ours. Hah.

When we blew the original deadline, we just put the project away. But it's been driving me nuts that we didn't finish it. So we wrapped it up last week (it really was almost done).

If I had to describe the result, I'd say "half-ass pop songs". Bradee and I wrote most of it, and friends chipped in on a lot of songs.

Download it here.

And no recording project is complete without photos.

Ah, relief.

(image: [zoom])

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rekkids and the releasing thereof

2008-09-06T20:55:06-08:00

When we recorded the first few Kowloon Walled City songs late last year, that recording was supposed to be a demo of sorts, to book shows and tide us over until we finished a full-length. But over the next few months, we realized: why record these songs again? They came out great. And why wait to release something until we have 10 songs written and recorded?

Instead, we decided to release an EP, and then another when we finish another batch of songs, and so on. We would put out vinyl, and give mp3's away for free. This makes great sense: we get to release music more often; we get our music into as many hands as possible; and people can support the band by buying vinyl, which will be in a beautiful package. More releases means more work, but the work is part of the hobby, really. I like making stuff. (We also decided to do some merch, which is also more work, but fun.)

That decision was at the end of June. In the month that followed: I mixed the remaining two songs from that session; we found a designer and he created a fantastic package design; I researched vinyl pressing companies (we chose Pirate's Press here in SF); we had two good friends master the album (Ben did the vinyl, Greg did the CD/mp3); we designed a new website; Jason wrote a bio and Ian hunted down press and blogs to contact about reviews; I updated my homegrown store software to handle t-shirts and "zoom" images. And we were in business! DIY FOR THE WIN.

After all that, we'll release Turk Street, a 5-song EP, this month. It'll be available on 10" translucent red vinyl, CD (a limited run in a handmade package), and yes, for free on the interweb.

Over at the store, we're taking preorders on the vinyl and CD. The official release date is Sept 30, but we'll ship out vinyl as soon as it arrives -- which is supposed to be this week. Go buy something and tell me if the store is working!

(image: there it is. [zoom])

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new bike to new job

2008-05-12T22:30:28-08:00

Job news: After three great years, I left Laszlo in January to find a new thing. I love those guys and have nothing but good things to say about them; I just needed a change of scenery. Still, go Laszlo! There's a pre-release of the long-awaited calendar app over at gowebtop.com and it's definitely worth seeing.

I spent a couple of months consulting on the nifty Songbird project, then I took a full-time position at Adobe(!). Yep -- the first Big Company in my 15+ year career. I'm a dev/UI lead on the Flex Builder team (yes! editor geeking), and I'm stoked. I'm surrounded by people who have shipped tons of great software, and I'm already learning a lot while swimming around in the deep end. If you're into this kind of thing, I started blogging about some of the wheedly editor features we're working on for Flex Builder 4. Man, WordPress is a joy. More on that soon.

And now that I'm working in the city, I can finally bike commute, which KICKS ASS. I picked up a sweet 80's Miyata road bike and I am loving my ride to and from work. I get to work every morning and my brain is buzzing from the ride.

I'll close with this note I sent some friends a few weeks ago:

More or less the usual morning. Had oatmeal with the family, got everyone dressed and packed up for school. Kissed the kids goodbye, got on my bike and headed downtown for work. Typical San Francisco summer morning -- chilly, with a stiff wind blowing. Bombed down Mission Street, past the smell of Salvadorean bakeries, through traffic. Down 26th street, past the day laborers standing outside in the cold hoping to get work that day. Harrison, 14th, Division, work.

Before I left this morning, I told my wife "These are the days. We'll never be more alive than we are right now, and we'll never have a better day than this."

(image: unflattering photo of bike at job. [zoom])

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