Music Alive

It has been a couple weeks of great musical entertainment for me. Wilco at Central Park Summerstage, Jon Brion at Le Poisson Rouge, and Deadmau5 at Roseland; all of them wonderfully different and uniquely fun. Wilco rocks as hard as any band with a rare restraint that pulls you forward as a listener. Jon Brion is the best musician I have ever seen, playing solo and recording drum, piano, glockenspiel, guitar and bass loops, building his songs with sweet harmony and jaw-dropping skill into some absolutely beautiful sonic collages. Deadmau5 is one of the biggest DJs in the world now…

Backtowork

The last two weeks have been a gentle ease-in to a precisely scheduled life as classes at various workplaces are starting on a rolling timetable. I expect my teaching capacities to be fully engaged and operational within the next week and look forward to a "rigorous" fall semester... But in the meantime I've had some free time which is almost completely monopolized by creative music production. Since spending a month without my studio, I have had a stream of rhythms and melodies pouring into my laptop and have condensed them into few songs which I offer here. Supergood music is…

India: Soundtrack

I brought my laptop to India. I debated it for months, and decided to lug it for a few reasons: the most practical was as a storage device for all my videos. I had two 4 GB cards that were obviously insufficient video time, so I needed to fill and dump them. While unnecessary, the ability to record music and blog is a treasured joy and the weight and space sacrifice in my tiny backpack seemed inconsequential. Travel tends to throw some tricks at you and after 6 days, the power adapter was fried by a generator on our houseboat…

Land 11

Since before I knew her and before her parents knew, Alaina has been hosting parties in Warwick, NY. Six years ago, we were married on that property and The Land Party is one of my biggest annual highlights. It is a chance to relax and party with friends and family in a beautiful setting with woods and a pond. We camp, cook out and play music deep into the night. It provides a sense of freedom that I rarely have in my life and I take full advantage. This year's party was a three-day extravaganza over July 4 weekend and…

Vimeo App

I am extremely excited to be a part of the Vimeo app for iPhone! It is an editing and posting station ON YOUR PHONE! It has many features that integrate it into the already great Vimeo community for more possibilities and uses. In addition to video-editing capabilities, it features a small library of music to enhance your creations and includes a Supergood track. I am honored to be involved with this wonderful technological evolution and hope to push it forward in the future. The most important aspect of the personal computer revolution is that better and more efficient tools for…

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Their music sounds like nothing else; eminating soundwaves create an aural sea of vibrations for mental flotation... It is grand and glacial, creeping along while building and releasing intensity in epic breaths that last night's venue could not have suited any better. St. John's Church on 60th and Columbus is one of those truly impressive spectacles you would go visit on a trip to Europe, but seeing as I never go to church in my own country except for the occasional wedding, I would not typically find myself in such a space; quite a shame for its extraordinary beauty. Luckily,…

SoundCloud

Last week I made some music. I was going to upload it here, but then I realized that SoundCloud is a much better host than whatever random Wordpress widget I have installed. Check it out and Follow me! Supergood on SoundCloud I am liking SoundCloud quite a bit. It seems like a community of musicians interested in creating and sharing music with instant and free worldwide distribution. It is the future of music. While I heralded Napster as the best thing to happen to music and support free music, it has become obvious that many artists disagree with me. They…

Radiohead. Again.

King of Limbs is a masterpiece. We could say that about almost all of their records, but this one is special. It feels futuristic, like we will have to wait 20 years to truly appreciate its impact. The rhythms and textures range from jagged and explosive to silky and drifting, while the song structures are fresh and unique. The album has an ethereal mood and it evolves throughout, making this one of the most listenable Radiohead records as a whole. It feels alien, but not alienating... This band has consistently challenged our perceptions of a modern day rock band and…

Happy Hannukah!

Last night was a super treat due mainly to the Jewish Festival of Light. Yo La Tengo performed the final night of their annual eight-night stretch at Maxwell's in Hoboken and featured a surprise opening appearance from The National. One of my favorite bands, I saw them play this summer in Prospect Park but this was different; we were standing right in front of them and the atmosphere was less party and more listen. They did what they do so well, building intensity and depth with pulsing rhythms and big harmonies in their songs. It is gorgeous and inspiring music.…