the Sleep-ins - Songs About Girls & Outer Space

i mean that in a good way (the album is done, not the band). a bit of an incentive to finish as several tracks are now in rotation on wnyz in new york city. so the release date has moved up and we’re all talking about some live shows now. stefan is in london. josh is in sydney. mike is in indianapolis. that will be fun to work out. anyway, this one is coming out on ingot rock soon (this month? it’s completely my decision and i haven’t decided…). we’re going to time it to conicide with a promotional campaign on wnyz, and that isn’t quite ready yet. so hurry up and wait, here come the sleep-ins!

(of course you may listen to most of the tracks at the sleep-ins website)!

U.S. Agency for International Development
United States Department of Agriculture
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
National Institute of Standards and Technology
United States Department of Defense
United States Department of Energy
National Institutes of Health
United States Department of State
United States Department of Transportation
U.S. Geological Survey
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
National Center for Atmospheric Research
National Aeronautics & Space Administration
National Science Foundation
Smithsonian Institution
International Arctic Science Committee
Arctic Council
African Academy of Sciences
Australian Academy of Sciences
Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Sciences and the Arts
Academia Brasileira de Ciéncias
Cameroon Academy of Sciences
Royal Society of Canada
Caribbean Academy of Sciences
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Académie des Sciences, France
Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences
Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina of Germany
Indonesian Academy of Sciences
Royal Irish Academy
Accademia nazionale delle scienze of Italy
Indian National Science Academy
Science Council of Japan
Kenya National Academy of Sciences
Madagascar’s National Academy of Arts, Letters and Sciences
Academy of Sciences Malaysia
Academia Mexicana de Ciencias
Nigerian Academy of Sciences
Royal Society of New Zealand
Polish Academy of Sciences
Russian Academy of Sciences
l’Académie des Sciences et Techniques du Sénégal
Academy of Science of South Africa
Sudan Academy of Sciences
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Tanzania Academy of Sciences
Turkish Academy of Sciences
Uganda National Academy of Sciences
The Royal Society of the United Kingdom
National Academy of Sciences, United States
Zambia Academy of Sciences
Zimbabwe Academy of Science
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians
American Astronomical Society
American Chemical Society
American College of Preventive Medicine
American Geophysical Union
American Institute of Physics
American Medical Association
American Meteorological Society
American Physical Society
American Public Health Association
American Quaternary Association
American Institute of Biological Sciences
American Society of Agronomy
American Society for Microbiology
American Society of Plant Biologists
American Statistical Association
Association of Ecosystem Research Centers
Botanical Society of America
Crop Science Society of America
Ecological Society of America
Federation of American Scientists
Geological Society of America
National Association of Geoscience Teachers
Natural Science Collections Alliance
Organization of Biological Field Stations
Society of American Foresters
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
Society of Systematic Biologists
Soil Science Society of America
Australian Coral Reef Society
Australian Medical Association
Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society
Engineers Australia
Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies
Geological Society of Australia
British Antarctic Survey
Institute of Biology, UK
Royal Meteorological Society, UK
Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences
Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society
European Federation of Geologists
European Geosciences Union
European Physical Society
European Science Foundation
International Association for Great Lakes Research
International Union for Quaternary Research
International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
World Federation of Public Health Associations
World Health Organization
World Meteorological Organization

The following groups say the danger of human-caused climate change is a … FRAUD:

American Petroleum Institute
US Chamber of Commerce
National Association of Manufacturers
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Industrial Minerals Association
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
Great Northern Project Development
Rosebud Mining
Massey Energy
Alpha Natural Resources
Southeastern Legal Foundation
Georgia Agribusiness Council
Georgia Motor Trucking Association
Corn Refiners Association
National Association of Home Builders
National Oilseed Processors Association
National Petrochemical and Refiners Association
Western States Petroleum Association

So… where do you stand - with science or with the profiteers?

Source: Daily Kos and Skeptical Science.

Still in the studio, diligently working on the Sleep-Ins, because it truly never ends! The good news: Running Out Here is absolutely done and sounds better than it ever has. The bad news: sometimes improving one song makes another sound less-than-stellar, as a result. Realistically, there’s not much more that can be done, though, so here’s to hoping I really can get those tracks finished by summer. I’m going to say I can… there’s really only 2-3 left to do, and all that’s left are tiny details.

And yet they matter SO much.

Even moreso, the homeowners (waxon, the spoots, gas station sandwiches, the butter spot). More music I’ve been making. It’s a secret. Maybe you’ll get to hear it one day.

Also, a quick word about the apparent and imminent demise of another wonderful label, Karmic Hit. This is truly a shame, as there are few labels left in the world that so obviously relished the opportunity to bring good music to the rest of us. All the best to John Kilbey in his future endeavors; when I was in Australia he was the first to give me a chance at doing something worthwhile, which is something that I’ll always appreciate & never forget.

Until next time,

ENJOY.

how about some action?

those minor issues become major hang-ups when it’s your baby.

are the vocals too loud/not loud enough/in pitch/lacking proper inflection? is that guitar part interesting enough? why doesn’t the bass have the growl i want? are the drums too sibilant? why isn’t everything perfect?

those crazy sleep-ins

so on that, uh, note - a bit of the awesome happened this weekend. while i didn’t finish the album (that’d be the sleep-ins, songs about girls and outer space), the final track count looks to be 8 songs and here’s how it looks (listen to most of these at ingot rock):

1. silver state - is finished(?) although i might still have to dial back the ’shimmer’ on the drums.
2. chrome skull cap & matching codpiece - also finished(?), not sure about one vocal trick in there
3. angelina - is finished!
4. running out here - might be finished as of last night…
5. tonya, extraplanetary spaceship girl - thought i had the magic but another listen says otherwise; vocals just too rough.
6. astro-not - could be finished; this one got a cool treatment a la the warriors.
7. desert song - is done.
8. bug on my face - stef came up with what he calls a final mix, but man, those vocals…

not exactly a magnum opus, but a nice project nonetheless. there might be exactly zero people waiting for me to finish this, incidentally. ok, that’s not true. there must be at least 3 australians. and a couple of english gits. but no americans. maybe i should rename it ‘death panels’…

“As far as I am concerned, this is not civics education — it gives the appearance of creating a cult of personality,” said Oklahoma Republican state Sen. Steve Russell. “This is something you’d expect to see in North Korea or in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.”

it appears that the far right have officially decided to voluntarily segregate themselves from the rest of the country. this is an ideological manifestation that is causing a segment of our populace to distrust anyone who doesn’t look like them. it can be as benign as a steadfast, damn-the-facts, science-denying, government is bad, give or take a dash of “values voter” indignancy. or it can be a more threatening version: armed to the teeth, sometimes fundamentalist but definitely militarist, waiting for the day the government comes and tries to take their weapons; convinced that day is soon.

either way, these are “voters subject to non-rational persuasion.” and they have their own media to do the persuading. and the traditional media aren’t helping, either. this isn’t a problem that will fade away quickly or easily, and the signs that we have crossed a threshold are evident: people showing up to presidential events openly carrying weapons; fistfights and other outright violence regularly breaking out at congressional town hall meetings; a dauntingly steady stream of right wing domestic terrorism; and most importantly, the simultaneously indifferent and sensationalistic coverage of it all by almost every facet of the traditional media. read this ap article. notice the tone - just a regular news story about normal, concerned americans who think the president is trying to brainwash their children. with one speech. because now even listening once to someone with whom you don’t agree could cause permanent brain damage. think of the children! you see how america really is? this is just normal! it’s normal for a state senator to accuse the president of the kind of despotism “you’d expect to see in North Korea or in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq,” without the news outlet attempting to put that into perspective.

it’s normal for people to hide behind a wall of ignorance and spew falsehoods for the press to blithely repeat to the public as if it’s fact. it appears that the voluntary segregators are an integral part of the grand traditional media created reality show that is america™. sure, there’ll be some yelling, maybe a little violence - it’s great for ratings. but this pot probably can’t take too much more stirring until it boils over, and that’s when things truly, and disturbingly, get real.

the problem with analog recording is it takes longer to mix because you actually have to wait until the tape forwards or rewinds, and it takes a lot longer to edit because that usually involves splicing the tape and/or having another tape machine. in reality, editing wasn’t even a viable option; you were much better off trying to get your takes as close to perfect as you could because there was no way you were taking a razor blade to your master.

well, after many years of 4-trackin’ i ended up with a bunch of tapes. and (wouldn’t you know it) it’s been a long while since i’ve actually owned a machine that will play them. so…hmm, what to do?

ah yes, that’s right, i borrowed heath’s machine. a long time ago. he asks me about it sometimes.

as it turns out, what i’m doing does serve his interests, because he’s on quite a few of the tapes. last night i began the process of recording all of those tapes onto my computer, track by track. there are over 30 tapes so as you can imagine it’s taking a while. between each recorded segment i have to recheck all the levels because pretty much everything was done at different times with different equipment. going through a single 45 minute tape can end up taking 2 hours or more. it’s a labor of love.

i started with tape 1 but realized i might have to prioritize things a bit and moved right into the raydons sessions, which i’ve been meaning to do for months. i actually discovered a few gems in there amongst the usual suspects (alternate version of so happy today, and a raucous version of a splinters song featuring fernando the mystery bass player). the best discoveries will end up on some sort of raydons release through ingot rock, i reckon. about a year ago i was holding out hope that the “new” raydons could overcome the logistics and finally get some tunes down, but i think regardless of that outcome, this stuff needs to get out there. i’m guessing it will, sometime this year.

which reminds me - heath called a few days ago and said he might be visiting. i wonder if he wants his 4-track back?

this is my underpants gnomes version of blog writing for today…

1. write cool title

2. ?

3. profit!

-

sure there’s stuff going on… i’m just not tellin’!

i took all those pictures in the southern-ish indiana area (in the areas of bloomington and french lick for the record) with an old argus camera. that’s genu-ine sepia tone (teh analog kind) - not none of that photoshop bs.

o ya, this is getting released via the ingot rock next week (or so… it involves logistical realities). on cd available through amazon and the ingot rock store. also download it now for the super cheap price it will be until it shows up on amazon…(!)

UPDATE: too late, it’s on amazon now!

several years ago i recorded an album with my friend bob peckyno, under the name bathsheva. finishing this record was an arduous task, and the subsequent musik bidness wrangling was enough to make us want to move to hungary and become obscure web designers for the beef industry. this was one of those life experiences that kinda had it all — glorious moments of premature self-congratulatory joy, utter frustration, discovery and personal growth, devastation, boredom and tedious action giving way to inconclusive and often maddening results.

which is why it is ultimately very gratifying to at last say IT IS DONE.

go ahead, click the linky… you can buy it at createspace, amazon and maybe target(?)

needless to say this is something of which we are both proud, and i have to give a lot of credit to bob for taking this one off the shelf, dusting it off and finally pushing it out into the world. i tend to give short shrift to my electronical orchestrations and creations, especially these days.

so, what’s it like? a bit trancy, soundscape, some hints of jazz and classical, and — dare i say it — new age. ok, maybe a lot of new age. it’s a bit of a departure from my normal stuff, but still a valuable contribution, especially in the realm of new age music (because it must be said that there is some awful new age music out there). bathsheva breaks the mold to a large extent.

could i do it again? possibly. i believe for now i’ll just content myself to the satisfaction of knowing mine field dream has finally seen the light of day.

more music on the way…