Nearly 2 years of work has come to end, with the release of Plenty.  This 21-track production was recorded in a ski lodge in the Poconos, overdubbed in Philadelphia, and mixed and mastered in Philadelphia.  I’ll have more thoughts on the process, after the publicity campaign is wrapped up.

I’m fairly certain this will be the last physical CD I’ll ever produce. Based on my informal survey of friends and family, while considering my personal habits, I’ve concluded digital distribution is the easiest way to get music to the audience. During the physical package production, while it was exciting to design and print a beautiful package, it was hard to ignore the feeling of obsolescence. The challenge is to create the same excitement for digital without the physical. Artist Alina Josan did a great job at giving this album illustrations to help make it come alive.

Photos, videos and other stories still to come. Shout Magic is now spread far and wide, but we still have intentions to create! The internet will become the headphone extension of our new expatriated lives in Amsterdam, DC, Philly and Portland.

I’m really excited about Bandcamp, a new music site I’ve come across. It has me rethinking a lot of strategy for the new Chief City Recordings site.

Here’s some recent electronic instrumental music I’ve created this year. This is mostly unfinished sketches. You can listen to the past 3 years of random electronic music, mostly for films, at the NOTV site.

This might be the amp-up jam of this Fall.

(experimenting with blip.fm’s audio player)

1 hour of setup sped up to 2 minutes. For upcoming piano tunes. http://www.atticaattica.org

UNFUN

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

This is one of my favorites from the new release!

From the forthcoming album, Plenty, on Chief City Recordings.

It’s been awhile since I posted about anything MUSIC related, mostly because there has been so much work in progress.  Besides throwing new tracks up in the music section of the site, I’ll be profiling new songs and such here and try to explain a little about the method behind the tracks.  Thanks to Ian and everydaybeats.net for the inspiration.  Definitely check out DJ Ian Head‘s mixtapes, if you’re smart you’ll throw those tracks on your holiday mix.

Shout Magic, my main project for the past 2 years, is getting ready to release our full length in January.  We’re now officially a national act, seeing as I live in Portland, Bogey lives in D.C., and the rest of the crew is in Philly.  We decided to keep our project going, push our new CD hard, and keep collaborating.  Unfortunately, there won’t be much live action for some time, so we put on a last-minute, “final show for a bit” at our pal Josh’s house.  Sadly, I didn’t get a recording of Shorty Boy-Boy of Saudi Arabia‘s living room set, which I sat in on air pump and household percussion.

Here are the clips from the show.  Shout Magic had exactly 1 rehearsal with only half the band in a hushed living-room practice the night before, and you’ll be able to hear us try to play a bunch of new songs for literally the first time since recording them 4 months earlier. We were some rusty ass dudes, to put it lightly.  We’re all about the transparency, especially the laughs that ensue when we all fuck up.  It was however, an especially cheerful night, one of celebration and community.

This actually turned out to be the final Philly show for Dina Elise (also from Chief City Recordings), who is now living in Long Beach, California.  Her recordings will be made available quite soon.  Until then, enjoy the live clips and stay warm.

Shout Magic – Live @ 4518 Walnut

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Dina Elise – Live @ 4518 Walnut

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Private Sea – Live @ 4518 Walnut

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.