Inappropriate for the holidays.

A week or so ago, I did some holiday collaborations with James DeAngelis. Check out how textural and sad they came out.

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Skeletonbreath - Eagle's Nest, Devil's Cave

Download: Mediafire

Tags: progressive, experimental, math thrash, instrumental

Skeletonbreath is a violinist, electric bassist and drummer. They violently barrel through so many different genres and influences (from classical to surf to metal to Klezmer to omgwhat) but with a bizarre grace that makes it so engaging. If you're looking for alarmingly talented musicians playing manic, brutal as hell compositions that will blow your mind through the back of your skull, do yourself a favor and download this.

You may recognize the playing style of Bob Pycior, who is also the violinist of the gothic country/indie folk group, O'Death.

This album was the soundtrack for the collaborations posted above. I feel like it makes sense.

OCCUPY!

Phase 1: Start Occupation

Phase 2: Continue Occupation

Created in acknowledgement of Occupy Wall Street's third Monthiversary. This scene is riddled with characters and friends from past creations and relationships of the last several months. Maybe you'll recognize some!
Though there are things I'd do differently in hindsight, this piece holds a buttload of personal significance and it's crammed with a lot of sentimentality and nostalgia. It felt really good to make it and I couldn't be happier that I did.

Way more to come.

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Couch Forts - Boln

Download: Mediafire
Tags: folk, indie pop, bluegrass

Since we're revisiting the past few months, here's something I listened to a whole bunch back in September. It's really gorgeous folky pop stuff. I've never heard such rich and decorative instrumentals come out of music like this and the lyrics are tender and inspiring. Some lovely things can happen when you put guitar, banjo and fiddle together.

...But we already knew that, right?
(Forgive the absence of album art. Anyone care to help me out with that?)

The New York post.

Haw haw. Get it?

Done with ink and coffee. I'd like to do more on-sight comic documentation, or whatever this would be considered.

Oh, and I finished this flier. Didn't it come out cool-looking?!

There'll be a bunch more stuff soon. I've got a spiel to give about a Wood Spider tour/new release too. So many things!

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Various Artists - Retro Christmas

Download: (Compiled by) Ultraswank
Tags: lounge, space age pop, christmas

I'm confident there's some people out there who like Christmas music when it's done with some creativity so this is for them. It's a compilation of loosely holiday-themed tracks from the experimental sound recording scene of the 50s, 60s and 70s. It's way swanky and at the very least, makes nice background music when you're drinking a carton of egg nog amongst your extended family.

If you're into some real good holiday swing, check out this post from last year, too.

How'm I Doin'?

Look, guys! I went to Chelsea Market. I drank expensive hot chocolate and did some observation drawings.

Then I traveled back in time to the Upper West Side circa January 1882. I drew the Dakota through Central Park.

It's said that its name is derived from the fact that the building stood tall over a part of Manhattan which, at the time, was as distant and isolated as "the Dakotas" out West.
This was done with charcoal, pastel and dry-brush gesso.

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Mountain Man - Made the Harbor

Download: Mediafire
Tags: chamber folk, indie, a cappella

Oh, my God. Why is this so hauntingly beautiful? Mountain Man is usually comprised of three female vocals over minimal instrumentation and it's that tender simplicity that leaves me swooning over this album. I first listened to this in the backseat during a Boston snowstorm and now that it's getting cold again, Made the Harbor has found me.
If it's any more incentive, it's also Vermont as all hell.

The festive post!

Hey, it's my favorite time of year. Things are dying in an excited burst of color.
Here's a couple of things I've made this week:

This Wednesday, Wood Spider is playing with some really great touring acts at SUNY Purchase college. If you can manage to make it there, it'll be way worth it. I swear! (We're playing as a five piece that night!)

A comp for a poster design. These are my first awkward steps into the world of printmaking.

Happy Halloween!

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Happy Jawbone Family Band - Hotel Double Tragedy

Download: Mediafire

Tags: indie pop, garage, lo-fi, noise

"The Hotel Double Tragedy is constantly burning. You will be too with these new hits from the family! Simply listen to the album at a decent volume and watch your life fall apart. We were thinking of releasing this album under the pretense that it was found under the bed of a dead priest who was the grandfather of a couple of members of the Vaselines, but we thought better of it. You deserve the TRUTH! You deserve magic in POP ATTITUDE! You deserve ONE ANCIENT JANGLE! In ten seconds FLAT! You deserve HOTEL DOUBLE TRAGEDY!"

Quote jacked from the Happy Jawbone website. I'm not sure what an ancient jangle is, but I love the sound of it.

Super happy dry-brush fun time.

I'm trying new things.

What can be seen of Hoboken across the Hudson River.

Some pretty things in(on?) Highline Park in Chelsea.

The Great Plains exhibit in the American Museum of Natural History.

There's so many other things to show.

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Dr. Caterwaul's Cadre of Clairvoyant Claptraps - Live at Lyric Hall 3/6/11

Download: Bandcamp
Tags: folk, world music, improvisation

This was the soundtrack of me getting settled into my new place last month. Dr. Caterwaul's is full of really cool people who I seem to be getting more and more involved with. They're some of the most talented musicians I know and if beautifully performed folk compositions with accordion, fiddle, banjo, cello and percussion isn't enough to make you listen to it, maybe an awesome rendition of Tom Waits' Dirt in the Ground will.

Shameless Plug: If it's of interest, here's a recording of Caterwaul's Adam Matlock and Brian Slattery on accordion and fiddle (respectively) playing on a song with my band, Wood Spider.

Beet Summer.

So this blurry summer of poor time management and ice cream binging has come to a close. Whether or not my time was utilized properly is arguable, but these past couple of months should be valued just as much as any other period of our lives, right?

I saw what I believed to be a rough-legged hawk while biking on Assateague Island in Maryland. Here are a few of the watercolors I made in its honor.

Though, I was mostly working on commission-type things this summer, I found the time to do a good amount of collaborating with new and old friends. It's really comforting to have a means of making visual art more of a social experience seeing as it's often associated with introversion and solitude. The more people I worked with, the more I learned how influenced I am by the contributions of whoever I'm working with. Our images would weave together with the varied fluidity of a spoken conversation. Here's a couple I have on hand.

A delirious effort between Shari Ross with a big fat marker and myself with the leftover tomato-beet juice from dinner.

Busy drawings made during busy conversation with Alex Krales.

Conceived during Hurricane Irene.

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Abandon Ship! - Abandon Ship!

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?zq3bihsybaeynz5
Tags: folk punk

So the recordings aren't the greatest and there isn't even cover art, but I listened to this album a bunch this summer. I'd recommend it to anyone who digs the whole jug-punk type scene going on around the West Coast. I feel pretty comfortable saying that this is some (charmingly) sloppy medium between Blackbird Raum and Mallory. Listen to it while you can still wear shorts and ride your bike!

All green and hazy.

Oh, hello. Long time no see. Sorry I've let the place get a little dusty. It's been quite a struggle trying to find a balance between staying on top of the commissions I've got on my plate and indulging in the seductive swells of summer. With that said, my time on the computer has been minimal. But there's benefits to be found in that, right?

Anywho, here's a few favorites from the sketchbook over the past handful of weeks. I'll hopefully be back with something a bit more substantial.

One of a few little paintings I did during a particularly delirious all-nighter during finals week.

Bein' a mopey little illustrator.

A big celebrity.

An embellished European Rhinoceros Beetle.

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Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship? - No Blood No Blooms

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?ouoo50q5gv8du9p
Tags: punk brass, gospel, new orleans jazz

So here's something I've been blasting lately. A much more polished, nicely produced release in comparison to their self-titled. Gritty punk vocals exchanged for pretty and engaging instrumentation. Was it favorable? You be the judge!

Oh, the humidity.

Creepytown from Alex Krokus on Vimeo.

This was my final project for a 2D Computer Animation class I took this past semester. It's based on a doodle I posted a while back. Mike Ditrio did all of the sound, so props to him for adding a lot of mood and beauty that I sure as hell couldn't provide otherwise.

Things are hot and stressful but I think I'm learning what direction I'd like to be going with the things I'm making. Animated stories were essentially my third parent growing up and I feel as if it's only right to give back to what turned me into what I am today. Also, I feel that it's a field where I can tend to my love of illustration, storytelling and music all at once. No interest should be left behind, right?

Kids on Holiday.

Life of Fog

And when the fog rolls in, you question everything.
There's no answers in these shades of gray
but some people want the security
of knowing what's surrounding them.
And when the fog rolls in, you question everything.
Who's your king? Is he your friend?
Is there freedom to be found in the fog
when you don't know where to stumble to?
When the fog rolls in, you question everything.
Are those distant shapes your home?
Now there's nowhere we have to be
but with nowhere to be, where should we go?
Anywhere you walk is just a blur.
It's up to you to give it form.
Everything was simpler back then.
Now when I question anything, the fog rolls in.


"But I thought you said ambiguity was a bad thing."
"It isn't if you're not a wuss!"

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Juana Molina - Un Dia

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?ofzrg46dqfl0udm
Website: http://juanamolina.com/
Tags: dream pop, folk, electronic, experimental

IMMERSE YOURSELF IN ARGENTINIAN AMBIENT DREAM POP. I know next to nothing about Juana Molina. Thunderbolt Jackson gave me this just yesterday and I spent my whole morning listening to it while struggling to mount a heavy, wooden frame with push pins.

Elsewhere.

In The Orchard

Torn & stained paper, gesso and acrylic thrown together in a found frame.

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Wisdom Tooth - Baby Neptune

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?npe8bvcjrehr91h
Website: http://babyneptunewisdomtooth.bandcamp.com/
Tags: pop, folk, garage, showtunes

I met John Andrews once. We talked about hay rides and working in haunted houses. A year ago he released this album and unfortunately all of the cassettes are now sold out. But it means that you can totally download it free of guilt now!
There's something beautifully childlike about this album. Y'know, there's just a youthful curiosity to be found amongst all of the showy weirdo-pop. But don't just accept my really awkward piles of adjectives as an accurate description. Listen to it for yourself!

"What's the point if there is no point?"

The current art piece featured in Madison Square Park is real cool. It's this giant, elongated stark white head that's probably about three or four stories tall. It has such a weird, ominous presence and it really makes you stop and question if it's actually existing in the space that it's standing in. If you find yourself at the bottom of Midtown, go check it out! It's way neat.

Inspired by a shelf of knickknacks in a friend's house.

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What We Need to Hear on the Subway

There really isn’t much point in

overthinking how you feel about something

because at the end of the day,

the thoughts that made the most sense to you

were probably the first ones you had.

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The Slick Skillet Serenaders - My Four Reasons

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?xctbdd0g3788nll
Website: http://www.reverbnation.com/theslickskilletserenaders
Tags: ragtime, blues, jazz

If you're into the Inkwell Rhythm Makers, Sour Mash Hug Bang, Crow Quill Nite Owls or any of the other really cool ragtime revival bands the Northwest keeps churning out, this is for you.

Speaking of the Crow Quill Nite Owls, who can hook me up? Anybody?

I think I can.

Yo, CT kids! Get out to New London next weekend to see some cool folky things!


Also, here are some school assignments, completely free of context! Oh, joy!

White charcoal, white ink

Charcoal, ink, gesso


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HYENA - Outside, The Great Drought

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?x2h20rvdu3r2pa3
Website: Bandcamp
Tags: indie rock, experimental, folk, no wave

So many truckloads of work were put into this album and it definitely shows. I'm getting better acquainted with the guys involved with HYENA and they make such cool, beautiful music. All I really want is for it to be heard by more people who would love it. The last three tracks are downright perfect. Please at least give it a listen on their Bandcamp!

We're meeting people; nice people like you.

So I've seen a lot of things in the past few years that have been really important to me and they've all certainly influenced whatever it is I am now. I feel if I'm trying to be one of these artist-types, I should be able to communicate the significance of an experience, right? I'm so envious of people who can make something that just grabs me by the hand and shows me the world that its creator has seen. And there's always that perfect balance of ambiguity that lets you just plug yourself in.
So here's some sketchbook-extractions that try to accomplish that.

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Sxip Shirey - Sonic New York

Download: Removed by request
Tags: experimental, world, hip hop

Speaking of plugging yourself into a world, Sxip Shirey does it really well. New York City is clearly a place he feels really strongly about and he does a really good job romanticizing the day-to-day drudgery of a New Yorker, whether it be wasting away time in the park or falling asleep on the subway.
And sure, his lyrics are a little... blatant but there's some really creative instrumentals on this album. The man makes beat-box harmonica sound so right.

Edit: Album download has been removed per request. You can listen to the whole thing through Sxip's Bandcamp!

Paintin' the rock.

Odetta

Shel Silverstein

So as thick as the stigma for the caricaturist in the art world may be, I can't get around how much I like making cartoons. Especially, if they involve noodley limbs. Good God, I love noodley limbs.

Everything is great with me. I'm making lots of things and loving my friends.

(100 posts! Confetti!)

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Odetta - My Eyes Have Seen

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?txsln8exyf63tfa
Tags: blues, gospel, folk

Shel Silverstein - The Great Conch Train Robbery

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?lhm54xsp4phm8wg
Tags: country, folk, blues
(This is in m4a. Sorry!)

I figured I should share the inspiration for these two paintings. My Eyes Have Seen is powerful as hell and has a lot of intense, rushing tracks. Try and listen to Ox Driver Song and not imagine her riding a chariot and barreling through all of the trees in a forest. Oh, and the reigns are flapping wildly in the wind because she's wailing on guitar.
The Great Conch Train Robbery is an album of a lot of goofy country songs. It's kind of like if Randy Newman got really heartbroken and sang about it passively through lyrics about quaalude addictions.
I love it, but if you're looking for something a little more straight-folk, I hosted his earlier album Inside Folk Songs, a while back.