Loquacious Music

Sing along, everyone!

Behold:

Yes, Don from DUC Interiors came and installed the new Hunter-Douglas blinds in my living room today. I LOVE THEM.

Note the amazingness. Note the light diffusion. Note the clean lines. This is what happens when you pay $400 for a pair of blinds, folks.

I did not, however spend $400 on these curtains in the bedroom. I bought them at Tar-jay for, like, $60.  They block the light but GOOD.

And the artist formerly known as my bedroom closet (don’t worry, there’s a walk-in next to the bathroom) is already being overrun by officey-type things.

Oh, well. I have the blinds to keep me company!

Oh, lord. These are great: recut trailers of your favorite movies!

Mary Poppins as a horror film:

Office Space as a slasher movie:

The Usual Suspects as a romantic comedy:

Sometimes, we can use the Intertubes for good!

This has been the Year of the E-mail for ol’ Ben Gott.

First, I got a missive from Jason Falkner a few months back. You may remember it, especially if you were in my 8-3 English class at the time and I MADE YOU ALL SIT THERE WHILE I READ THE E-MAIL AND JUMPED UP AND DOWN LIKE A CRAZY MAN.

Me getting an e-mail from Jason Falkner, I wrote, was equivalent to you getting an e-mail from Paul McCartney.

And now, tonight, I’ve gotten an e-mail from my personal John Lennon. His name is David Rice, and he’s the best musician you’ve never heard.

Why don’t you buy his incredible debut album, Orange No. 8, from iTunes? What? How many iTunes gift certificates do you say you have? Well, then you can also buy his sophomore hit, Released, and his absolutely perfect junior year abroad, Greenelectric. (One of the things I love about Greenelectric, aside from “Thirsty Girl,” Father,” and “Maria in Stone,” is the fact that much of the record was recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios and that David Rhodes plays on it. Yes. DAVID FREAKIN’ RHODES. I wouldn’t joke about something like that. And if you don’t know who David Rhodes is, you need to CHECK YOURSELF BEFORE I WRECK YOU…RSELF.)

Ever since my brother gave me the Justice Records sampler back in the early ’90s, David has been one of my Top 10 musicians. It’s probably the combination of that 12-string guitar (unusually tuned) and a voice that sounds like it’s been through the dryer without a sheet of fabric softener. Even my discerning college roommate, Curtis, became a fan. (Of course, Curtis also likes Lorena McKennitt, but we’re all permitted a guilty pleasure.) If anyone inspired my non-hit single, “I Wonder,” it was David. His move from small label Justice Records to huge megalabel Columbia paralleled my own move from…well, that’s stretching it a little bit, but you get the picture. (The first time I heard John Mayer, I thought, “Oh! Hmmm! A gravelly-voiced singer/songwriter on Columbia Records! Deja vu, anyone?”)

If you only feel like downloading five David Rice songs, here they are: “Zak,” “Monument,” “All She Seems To,” “Maria In Stone,” and “Thirsty Girl.” Download each one and savor the goodness, or here they are as an iMix.

WE NOW INTERRUPT THIS POST TO BRING YOU A VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE: David (Mr. Rice?) just e-mailed me back…a picture of him and Tony Levin. Like, standing next to each other. But there’s another picture as well: David Rice playing with Tony Levin.

That’s right: I just got an e-mail from a guy who has played on the same stage as Tony Levin.

Holy crap.

Here’s the picture, which you can see if you visit David’s website. (He took it; he owns the copyright; I’ll take it down immediately if he asks.)

And download “Peter Sellers,” too.

David has also worked with Mandy Moore. Yes, this Mandy Moore (covering — channeling? — XTC in this clip):

“1! 2! 3! 4! 5!” At least she’s not doing coke and in prison!

* = You know, Strongbad with the e-mails?

I wanted to take a break from talking about music, The Film Crew, Levin’s fingers, and other related matters to “toot my own horn,” so to speak. This is a clipping from a piece in yesterday’s Bergen County (N.J.) Record that contains a discussion of my program!

The Topfer family of Franklin Lakes also have sent their children to private school in the summer, after Jacob, 14, and Sydney, 12, won admission to the competitive Young Writers Workshop at Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut.

Both children were at other enrichment programs when a reporter called last week — Jacob at basketball camp, Sydney at cheerleading camp — but their mother was available for an interview.

“I would call them [at Choate] and say, ‘Is your lemonade laced with something?’ ” joked Geri Topfer. “They were so excited, and they couldn’t talk because they had to go back to reading, back to writing. There’s a lot of freedom and mandatory study hall and hours of homework. Yet these kids had an absolute blast.”

First of all, GO FRANKLIN LAKES! Second of all, GO YOUNG WRITER’S WORKSHOP! I’m so damn proud of that program. When I started teaching it, in the summer of 2002, there were 28 students enrolled in two classes. This year, there were 82 students enrolled in six classes. We’ve added two teachers and three teaching interns since that first summer. We’re the fastest-growing program in Choate’s summer school. And they write about us in the Bergen County Record! Yeah, that’s like the New York Times of the Franklin Lakes/Glen Rock/HoHoKus area. (They call them “townships,” you know. Because they’re better than the rest of us.)

Those of you who know me well know that I rarely pat myself on the back. But there you go. I’m doing it. (See, Daniel? I can!)

Thanks to everyone—students, faculty, and T.I.s—for making this such a great summer.

Here they are, listening attentively during our final presentations.

Love those Scots!

See my cover version here:

So I’m watching some Peter Gabriel concert (”Growing Up Tour”) on one of my ninety-five gazillion HD channels. The concert’s fine — his drummer is nothing to write home about, and the girl singing backing vox is no Kate Bush (or even Paula Cole) — but LEVIN’S USING THE FUNK FINGERS! I want a pair of funk fingers as much as I want a Chapman stick, which is VERY VERY VERY MUCH MORE THAN YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE. I do not, however, want Tony Levin’s moustache.

Here are the funk fingers:

He may just be the greatest bass player in the history of bass players. Watch his baldness groove through “Secret World” in ‘94:

Thanks to a post on Slashdot, I’ve discovered that the MST3K boys are back in town as The Film Crew.

What? You say you don’t know about MST3K? Well, find out by clicking below (or by clicking that link). This is the car chase in Mitchell:

“HOT…MERGING…ACTION!” I use that phrase all the time.

“These guys couldn’t shake a trolley! This makes Driving Miss Daisy look like Bullet!”

God, I loved that show.   More!

They were great with short films, too:

I’ve decided to start posting my demos online as I record them. So there.

This is the newest of the new demos:

“See the Light (Demo 2)” (3.4 MB, MP3)
(The title is an homage to Bob Mould, of course.)

I wrote and recorded it just now—like, “a half an hour ago” now. Like every other demo, it was recorded originally with nonsense lyrics (except for the first two lines, which came to me on the way back from Dunkin’ Donuts and which prompted the whole thing). I do this because I want the lyrics and the music to fit together properly; it’s easier for me to do this if the music and the melody come before the words. (An interesting note: if you listen to the original version, which is linked above, you can hear me remembering the melody during the outro. Usually, if I don’t get something recorded — at least in draft form — quickly, I lose the melody. That’s just the way it is sometimes. You can also hear me drop the pick on the table!)

Then, I opened up a new Garageband file, typed the original lyrics as they were sung, went back and made words out of the syllables, and then tried to clean everything up a little by re-recording and adding some harmony vocals. Obviously, I’m going to continue to tweak—the song will probably go through at least four drafts and there will be a “full band version” at the end—but at least you get to witness the entire creative process. (If you listen closely, you’ll probably hear the train whistle and all the kids out in the common room getting ready to go home.) I’m going to try to get a final version ready for the upcoming album.

This demo was recorded with GarageBand, part of Apple’s iLife suite, using the internal microphone of my MacBook. There was no metronome, no digital fixing, and no trickery of any sort (although I did add a bit of reverb).

Everyone knows the way I feel inside
And everyone knows that cryin’ ain’t right
Everyone tells me that they’ve walked this mile
But baby they don’t know how I feel inside

You and I
We know the things we’ve got surround us
I can’t see the light

Somebody talked to me the other day
Telling me what I can and can’t say
Giving advice I had to turn away
Isn’t it nice to think it’s okay?

You and I
We’ve made our bed, we’re gonna lie
And I can’t see the light

Everyone knows the way I feel inside
(You and I)
And everyone knows that cryin’ ain’t right
(We know the things we’ve got surround us)

Of course, feedback to ben AT loquaciousmusic DOT com would be delightful. (Damn you, spambots!)

UPDATE: A finished version of this song will appear on my forthcoming album Bloom.

Yeah, it’s my birthday today.

In celebration, here’s a video for The Sugarcubes’ “Birthday”:

And here’s Morrissey, beginning with “Unhappy Birthday” and segueing into “The Queen is Dead”:

Oh, has the world changed, or have I changed?
Oh, has the world changed, or have I changed?
Some nine-year-old tough who peddles drugs
I swear, I never even knew what drugs WERE…