Wilburys Update

So the Wilburys are at it again in one form another, just not together...which is physically impossible anyway. Tom Petty's new record, Highway Companion, has been released to pretty good acclaim... at this point a 7.0 on Metacritic and a strong seller. The record was produced by Jeff Lynne but is more on par with the production sound of Harrison's Brainwashed and Jeff's own ELO release Zoom, rather than Petty's Full Moon Fever or the Wilburys' records. The record reviews seem to focus in on this being a true "road record" which may be true, but I feel like it's obvious, so why focus in on it. This is an example of reviewers and industry people that have to address Petty because he is a statesman, the last of the great classic rock artists, but yet they don't care enough about him to give him the time of day. So, his music is too new to be played on classic rock stations, and too old sounding to be played on top 40 stations. I'm proud that he keeps making what he wants, though.

Lynne's second group "The Electric Light Orchestra" is prepping a ton of releases, all reissue in nature. The first one released in small amounts on the Face the Music website is "Electric Light Orchestra: The Harvest Years," which is an anthology of the era that included Roy Wood and ELO's second release, titled "ELO II." Both records are included in their entirety, as well as complete quadraphonic version of the first record. Also included is an entire third disc of singles, as well as the hit "Showdown" which most people don't realize was released between ELO II and "On the Third Day" and requested to be put on that record by the label (is that right? I may be getting the story wrong).

Not only is that release slated, but September is to mark the release of three ELO reissues, including Face the Music and A New World Record, two of my favorite ELO releases. Of the pop-period of ELO, these are my favorite records, so I can't wait to get my paws on them. The quality of the CD versions of both the records were pitiful, especially when you have them to compare to Eldorado and Discovery and Time. Those CDs and the vinyl originals of the other releases have a warmth and sparkle that just wasn't there in the CD releases. This leaves only Out of the Blue from the golden period to get a massive overhaul...the double album. The motherload. I'm not surprised that that record has been left for last. Afterall, it is the record that holds "Mr. Blue Sky." Handle with care, indeed.

Lynne's first band, brilliant and extremely overlooked, The Idle Race, has yet to have their recordings released again after the short-lived 2 disc set. Supposedly, according to ftmusic.com, there is a 5 disc set being compiled by EMI to celebrate the complete works of the band. You know I'll be all over that immediately when the presale happens. Need some information about The Idle Race, like I did? Check out these sites. Strange Magic- The Idle Race Index and a Brumbeat entry on the group.

And of course, the first hints of the buzz around Bobby Z's latest record...set to be released on August 29th. Modern Times was recorded by Dylan's "band" which is his touring group. The group was featured prominently in Dylan's film Masked and Anonymous. The record cover is on the main page of bobdylan.com, but no word of it can be found on the site. There is, however, already a wikipedia page with a tiny bit of information about the record contained on it. Supposedly someone said that the record contains "at least three masterpieces" out of the 12, which totally cracks me up.

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Last day with the songwriting class. Feeling sad. I will miss the kids.

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Going out to Eaton Rapids now to drop off a few CDs for Kevin @ Elpop. He mixed the record and deserves them!

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Seeing Mandy today!!!!

Polish Dog Saved By Man. Not Covered in Green Peppers.

Reuters today reported a strange incident about a dog in Sosnowiec, Poland. A Saint Bernard was pushed out of a second story window where the surprised 110 pound dog fell directly onto an even more surprised man (weight unknown). Both escaped the incident with a few scratches, but according to the report the man was in a "psychological state of shock" over the incident. It is not known what state the dog was in, although he was placed in an animal abuse shelter and some off-the-record-statements believe his opinion of the incident to be that of "displeasure." Seriously though...can you imagine a dog the size of an adolescent falling on you? I mean you're having a bad day, walking down the street and bam, a big dog falls on you and then walks away. No "whoops." No "sorry." Just panting and drool.

Nasty day. Humidity so thick you could see it hanging in the air. It makes you breathe funny. Because it's basically like breathing in cheese spread...or onion dip. Finally started to rain around here about 9:15 or so. Lots of yelling and screaming outside my window as the rain fell. Not sure what exactly was going on out there. I remember the first time I saw rain and experienced a thunderstorm. Last week.

And now it's time for a llama photo. Because you didn't think of it first.



What I love most about blogs is the fact that I can do exactly what I just did...post this ridiculous photo of a wierd looking llama amongst sheep and there's not a damn thing you can do about it. I mean, if you own the rights to the photo, you can ask me to take it down. But besides that, you can skip to the next part, or you can tell all your friends to check out how ridiculous this blog is.

Whatever.

Scarlett Johansson + Woody Allen

This "Scoop" movie I've seen trailers for looks pretty awesome...second Woody Allen movie with Johansson in it...two in a row. Amanda and I started talking about it right when we first heard about the film. Woody Allen always has returning casts, at least he did during previous decades, so in some ways I am not too surprised to see returning a castmember. But one can't help but wonder about the connection...Diane Keaton, Mia Farrow, and now Scarlett? But I suppose if you use that logic Woody Allen's greatest muse would be...Woody Allen. And let's not forget about Wally Shawn who has been in a lot of Allen's movies. Well, yesterday Reuters found Allen's muses important enough to ponder. Read the article here.

This weekend Amanda and I watched Hannah and Her Sisters and really enjoyed it. I continue to be impressed with the subtle and not so subtle humor in Woody Allen films. I don't try to pretend that I have seen them all, although the ones I have seen I've enjoyed to varying degrees. Sleeper, Annie Hall and Matchpoint specifically are fantastic, although I don't want to devalue the other ones I've seen. Each one has it's own ambience. I really enjoy that about his pictures. I also enjoy his attention to voices. Amanda pointed out that the people he casts tend to have really distinct voices, and I had never considered it until I had watched carefully. It seems to be true. The pitch levels, the inflections, the quality of the voices are always pretty distinct.

Just for fun, here's another youtube of scenes cut up from Hannah and Her Sisters. These are all from the subplot of Woody's character's health issues and how he deals with existential issues and wanders from place to place. Funny and interesting. It's about 20 minutes long...




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Let's keep this blog unified. More videos.

Bob Dylan's Hurricane


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Who wants a body massage?



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Do the Strand!



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Electric Light Orchestra is the best.

friday 21

yesterday night a lot of rock to be had. not rock really, but i needed some kind of punchline to use that photo. really the music last night was more about non-rock music anyway. it was great stuff. had a great time musically speaking. entertained by all the acts! each band played their hearts out and the bob were burning couches and torching chairs inspiring me to put on the elton johns and mumble. it was a ton of fun.

summerswelter

First, let's talk a little bit about last night's show. It was at Club Bart in Ferndale. A nice little place with good food/drinks & a nice intimate atmosphere. The stage is behind the bar, which makes for a cool setup, although with our group and our setup, the stage was cramped and difficult to manuever. We had a lot of fun, though and the show reflected well the intimacy and close-ness we had with our audience and on stage...I definitely felt like we (the band) in it together last night. At one point, I may have drooled over onto Doc Slagle's shoulder as he played the keys. The sound was good out on the main floor, according to all involved, received some supportive thoughts and comments. On stage, I should have adjusted my monitor for the keyboard, but other than that it was great. We did have a mic go out during Slavery, but soon afterwards it was switched and we finished the song. Many friends, relatives and fans came out to support us as we begin promoting our CD, and it was much appreciated by all involved. I did have some significant power issues with my effects rig (i.e. power died and never came back), but I plugged direct into the amp and had an enjoyable show just using the amp itself. It was a head-check test though, let me tell you.

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The record is out and starting to be available at different places. Right now we've got these places set up and selling CDs.

Flat Black and Circular (in East Lansing)
Schuler's Books and Music (in Lansing)
CD Baby (International Online Retailer, available but complete listing not up yet)
Amazon.com, Borders.com (Available but complete listing not up yet)
Grammyhallrecords.com store

We are also working towards selling at these stores
Flipside Records (Detroit area)
Dearborn Music (Detroit area)
Wazoo Records (Ann Arbor)
Schuler's Books and Music (in Okemos)
Elderly Instruments (in Lansing)
Brick and Mortar Distribution to many Indie Music Stores
Other Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor Indie stores...
and at least two more national distributors.

And since we are a band that embraces technology, we have recently purchased a robot that makes fantastic shakes and also cooks your pasta in less than 5 minutes!

Our record will be available for download through Itunes, Napster, Arvato, AudioLunchbox, Bitmunk, BuyMusic, Digital Kiosk, Emusic, GreatIndieMusic, HearMusic, Inprodicon, MusicNet, PlayIndies, Rhapsody, Ruckus, Sonic Garden, Tradebit, TreeTunes...and more

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A few weeks ago I picked up a used copy of John Cale's "Fear" and I am totally in love with it. It gives me yet another extension of the need for more stuff that sounds akin to the first two Roxy Music records that I dig. Like Eno's "Here Come the Warm Jets," this record by Cale features three roxy music guys, including Eno being credited as playing Eno. All Music Guide has a descriptive explanation of the record.

Imagine a box sitting on a table. Let's say the box is made of plywood and is basically built with the same material that a crate is made out of...in fact let's just call it a wooden crate. But it's not just a crate, like this, but has a top and can be closed up like a box. Just try to imagine it. In fact, since you may or may not be having trouble imagining it, here's a photo of one...exactly NOT what I'm thinking of. Don't you love when someone says "imagine this..." and then they get annoyed when you don't imagine what they wanted you to? Think more like THIS for the crate-box.

Anyway, so the crate. Now filled in the crate is your musical content expectations for whatever "thing" that the crate holds. Things like drum patterns, drum sounds, vocal style, guitar tone, complexity and communication expectations, etc. These expectations are the oranges. This box holds the expectations (or fruit) of musical stylings based on whoemever listens to those styles.

Now imagine outside of this crate is everything else that is music. Other fruits (apples, oranges, nectarines, etc. The pressure is such that fruit line the walls of the box, and if a hole appeared in the box, the other fruit (which represents expectations about other musical genres) would tumble in and mix.

Well, now imagine someone has a box like this (i.e. John Cale) and takes a sledgehammer to the side of the box, spilling out some of the oranges and allowing some of the other fruits to tumble in. Now, the expectations from different musical styles are mixed into the nearly-homogeneous orange box. It's basically still a box of oranges, except for that cherry, and those five nectarines...and that big ass chunk of apple.

So, what do you call that box then? Is it still a box of Oranges...the answer would be no because, afterall, there are roughly 10% of dissenting fruit in the box.

This is what those Roxy Music records are. This is what "Fear" is...this is what those early Eno records are. A container of rock expectations knocked on its own ass, mixing the expectations from outside the genre inward, and losing what many would consider "required" expectations for it to be a rock record. So what is it? Fruit Cocktail? Shouldn't the label reflect the true proportions of the combination? Should it be chamber-synth-funk-reggae-paranoid-art-rock?

Or is the important thing here the broken box that is designed to allow organisms to pass freely from one reality to another? Is the item that should be labeled not the consideration of the fruit but the container itself?

This is why I love these records.

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Watch out for the Llama! No, sorry. Watch out for the Kangaroo. I guess there's a runaway circus Kangaroo in Ireland according to Breitbart. No comment as to why the Kangaroo specifically was in the Circus, although rumor has it that the Kangaroo was a stand-in for the Turtle-Woman later in the night.

Records. Moving. Etc.

Tomorrow (Wednesday), I move back to East Lansing to complete my masters degree in music education; a summer course in conducting. This will be followed by the completion of my music education post-bachelors state teacher certification program via a semester of student teaching at Everett High School in Lansing.

In the summer, I have been involved with the mixing/completion of three records...one still needing a final mix.
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"Mike Vasas and the Beasts of Burden"
Mike Vasas and the Beasts of Burden

Available for full album streamable enjoyment on this site (check out the quicktime stream here), the record is also finally available for presale purchase at the Grammy Hall Records shop in preparation for the official release of the reocrd, July 18th. This is followed by a flurry of shows...or at least by our standards.

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"You Would Be So Much Happier If You Stopped Lying To Yourself"
Mike Vasas

My previously-mentioned electro-acoustic record. A lot of odd stuff on there, but stuff I think has place. Available for purchase via Itunes and elsewhere along with the Grammy Hall Records shop in November.

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"Early Minor Quintet"
Early Minor Quintet

The record still needs to be "mixed" outside of the box on an analog console by Vince Perri, but the record is already sequenced and edited by myself. I'd say this record should more than likely be available for purchase in December or November. This may be an internet-only release.

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Once I'm back up at school, I shall return to intense blogging of the days of yore.

In the meantime, please listen to the BOB record, and pre-purchase the record if you are interested!

Happy Independence Day to all those in Gary, Indiana, to Star Jones and Barbara Walters, and to Lil Kim.