Water at yr knees.

I was hoping I could squeeze in one more post before March but ah, well. Look what I did yesterday!

Sketching at the New York Public Library. Admittedly, it was my first time there (horrible New Yorker). Holy God, that place is so extravagantly beautiful. That gold cherub-encrusted cloud triptych on the ceiling of the Reading Room? Jeez.

That's it for now!

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Selections from the Diner House Family Bands

Download: Bandcamp
Tags: acoustic, lo-fi, punx, folk, indie, buncha stuff

Look! My band is on a comp! It's a collection of songs from the various musical projects by the members of Diner House. There's a lot of diversity on the album but there are some similar approaches in aesthetics and production that indicate that all these people live together. And y'know, that's pretty cool.
I feel a lot of warmth when I listen through the whole thing because even though I don't live there, I've spent enough nights on their couch to feel like I kinda do.

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.

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.

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.

Sketchbook menagerie

Ink-soaked thread pressings

Charcoal & watercolor

Ink-soaked thread pressings & pen

----------------------

How to Write a Song

Occasionally,
I’ll look in the mirror and
wonder how I would look in that red shirt.
So I take off what I was
already wearing,
put on that red shirt,
stand in front of the mirror
and find out what I look like
when I wear that red shirt.

But other times
I just take all my clothes off
and stand in front of the mirror
completely naked
and say to myself
Hey,
that’s what I look like.

----------------------




Dandelion Junk Queens - No Amps No Masters

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?862pj3t5jlcc8i8
Tags: punk, junk, folk, jug

"Dandelion Junk Queens is not a Jug Band, nor are we pirates, nor Gypsies/Roma. Dandelion Junk Queens is a Junk Band."

I know I'm a little behind with this one, but I just got my hands on No Amps No Masters this winter and I figure there may be some fans out there who may still be looking for it. So here's Dandelion Junk Queens' latest album (And last too, I think. Sad!)

This release ensures that gang vocals, animosity towards adults and hilarious percussion remain a constant in this band's discography.

"To you guys toasting to me!"

Well, I'm back from tour and after being in a bunch of inspiring places, meeting all kinds of incredible people, feeling all sorts of heavy feelings and besting an intense array of snow storms, I can certainly say it was a good, significant experience.
Now I have a weekend before school and I have to try my best to lessen this winter madness before I hit my tidal wave of assignments. With that said, here's some stuff!

Winter Parrots
Done with ink & watercolor around the Boston area

Done with ink! I had a crazy idea that I should draw people as I see them as opposed to what they look like to the world. Everyone can agree on how reality appears. Why should I recreate it?

An acrylic painting that filled in as an affordable Christmas gift.

More stuff soon!

--------------

Esquivel! - Actual

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?hgbgwqe77e4mvgi
Tags: lounge, easy listening, space-age pop

This is great music for working like mad on a project in a basement.
(I'd encourage you to listen to this on nice speakers or headphones. Something to take advantage of the experimental stereophonic goodness!)

"Esquivel is dead. But that's okay because he's the king of space-age pop and all kings need to die." - Mike Ditrio

Stumblin'.

A scratchboard illustration for The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. Here, we have Jekyll stumbling along a cobblestone street as he struggles against his deep descent into the maddening void of the psychotic Mr. Hyde! Gahhh!

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Man and the Bearded Ladies - Dr. Villagari's Bones

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?6mb29zkahzmbkkz
Tags: western folk, vaudeville, dark folk

You can run into some nice people on this here Internet. And those nice people can make some neat sounds every now and then. Between the accordion, saw, guitar, violin and all the other noises there's a... I dunno. I like it.
Hey, I'm tired. Not every sentence I type is going to be a winner.

"Know that you're worth 44 cents in my eyes."

Preface: The layout of this post is a little less than beautiful. Blogger's HTML shortcuts don't seem to be present.

Here's some little things.

At the heart of all human expression, there are still the raw veins of science and nature. As indicated by this juniper and accordion.

A drawing done with ink and the key that is profiled. You know me and my love of impractical ink drawings...

------------------------




The Bill Murray Experience - T'ain't No Sin

Download: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JM2H1Z42
Tags: Ragtime blues, early jazz

Sure, their name is kind of stupid but when you see them live, you'll overlook it. They're pretty staggeringly phenomenal. If you're ever in Brooklyn on a Wednesday night, go to Roots 'n' Ruckus at the Jalopy Theater. That seems to be their "place".

Fodder.

A Museum of Natural History study of America's favorite family, Cervidae! (Clockwise from top-left: white-tail doe, white-tail buck, mule buck, wapiti doe).

The Ramble in Central Park houses some really charming stumps.

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The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn - Forty Days and Forty Nights

Download: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=DAQPP641
Last.fm tags: early jazz, swing, blues

Speaking of Central Park, I saw these guys there last year around this time. Good Lord, do they make swell springtime music. There's a whole lot of awesome vocal harmonies and makeshift percussion in it. You guys love both of those things!

Barter punx.

This was a commission I did in a barter with someone through the Outpost Project. T'was swell. Hopefully, they'll do another one in the future.

As for what I made, your guess is as good as mine.

School starts in a matter of days. Aw, dick.

------------------------------



Slow Teeth - Demo

Download - http://www.archive.org/details/SlowTeethDemo2009
Not last.fm tags - anarcho folk, folk punk, gothic

Oh, mannn. So good. These guys are touring from Portland and we're playing with them this Saturday. If you're going to be in the Boston area, go to this show!

(Album link taken from their MySpace.)

Hyperlinks!

The holidays and whatnot.

Fact: Santa Claus is, in actuality, a thirteen-foot tall barn owl. Who knew?

Happy holidays and all that jazz. I hope all of your debilitating hunger for material things was left somewhat satiated.

----------------------------

Corner Tour - The Come On Over

Megaupload - http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7LIUO7IS
last.fm tags - folk, blues, americana, jazz

Hey! I didn't know I had this on my computer! It's a Christmas miracle!
It's good music to do a lot of nothing to. I mean look at how god damned brown that album art is.

"Would you kiss me if my lips were numb and bloody?"

Tree of Torsos (14" x 17")

A more finished version of that sketch I did a couple of months back. T'was done with pencil and washes of ink and ground-up charcoal.

----------------------------------





Julian Koster - The Singing Saw at Christmastime

Megaupload - http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VMBEDIKD
Not last.fm tags - Christmas as hell

Look, guys. I'm in the spirit. An album that everyone should keep in their library purely for the sake of novelty.

Fin.

Well, I'm trying to make my living space look somewhat decent before I leave for the holiday and with no food in my fridge to distract me while I wait for my clothes to come out of the dryer, I suppose I can update the web log.

I illustrated an Aesop's Fable this past month. The Fox and the Grapes, to be specific:

In short, a fox sees a bunch of grapes hanging from a "lofty branch" (For whatever reason). He leaps for them with all of his might but all of his endeavors come up short. He then begrudgingly

shrugs off his desire and walks off, convincing himself that they were probably sour anyway.

The moral? Some people despise and belittle the things they cannot have.

Wise words.

-------------------------



Janet Klein & Her Parlor Boys - Ready for You

Megaupload - http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TD29XYZL
Last.fm tags - jazz, swing, vintage, neo-swing, cabaret

Listen to this album if you would like more proof that:
A. I'd be happier in another decade
B. I'm practically a woman

I like it, though! You should, too!

Edit:

F: I listened to that album you last put up.
A: Yeah? And what'd you think?
F: You're pretty gay.

Crowded Hands.

The Songhua River Mammoth: The largest "elephant" in natural history. Fossils have been excavated that suggest that specimens could reach heights of eighteen feet (Larger than a two story building. Christ!).
This was done with an ink dropper on a stained canvas that measures 3' x 2 1/2'. Oh, and a touch of white acrylic.

An apple for scale!

I got around to documenting some of the work I've done for finals, so I will put them up here in coming days. ...You don't look very pumped. Get pumped.


(I'm updating my blog in the computer lab while there are several people waiting for stations to open up. Hardy har har. I'm a bastard.)

----------------------------------


The Mercy Seat - The Mercy Seat

Megaupload - http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PPGV8CML
last.fm tags - gospel-punk

Back in the late 80s, the Violent Femmes broke up for a few years, giving frontman/God nut Gordon Gano the opportunity to find some other God nuts to be God nuts with. And he did. And what they did together was make a "gospel-punk" album that is most certainly worth listening to.
For everyone out there who likes hyphenated punk as much as I do.

Mailbox love.

Some stuff:

Cougar skull done with ink-soaked thread pressings.

An exercise of motion. Pretend it's 6' x 6'...That's an easy way for this to be appear impressive.

----------------------------------

Beat Circus - Boy From Black Mountain

Download: Removed by artists' request
last.fm tags - dark cabaret, circus, gothic americana, freak folk

Beat Circus' third album that came out back in October. Ugh, so good.



Also, this past weekend, I've been listening to a lot of Tom Waits' new live album, Glitter and Doom (Came out this past week). I'd normally host it here, but I'm far too in love with that man to illegally post any of his music and run the risk of him finding out and hating me. Also, Anti- Records is probably legitimate enough to yell at me for doing so.
Besides, I'm sure that you'd only have to spend a handful of minutes on Google Blog Search to find it. I mean, come on...it's Tom Waits, for crying out loud. Now go download/buy it and listen to the awesome rendition of Shoot the Moon. Awesome omelet-making music, I tell ya.

"You can't eat some place that is also on fire."

Where all music fits...

So I guess I'll put some more work up. Jeez, I'm really producing a lot. I'm just too lazy to scan it. Or take photos. Maybe sometime soon.

The Deer God

Madison Square Park Tree Study
(I think I'm going to fill that sketchbook up with a lot more tree studies)

Ugh, the image upload is taking too long. Rest assured that I got a lot of crap to put up.

--------------------------

In other news, I've never been so happy with where I am in life. I could go into detail, but eh. Not now. Just rest assured that I love where I live and I love the people that I spend my days with.

Here's a few shots of us gettin' settled.

Nothin' compares to eating 3AM grilled cheeses with good company on the floor while complimenting each other's work to the pluck of a banjo in the corner.

Mighty Django

--------------------------


The Peculiar Pretzelmen - Uncanny Eyes
mediafire: http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=7d175fdd975ab46fe5c3dee5769931ecd710445db61128bdc95965eaa7bc68bc
last.fm: cabaret, dark cabaret, alternative, new cabaret, avant-garde

Don't know how much those Last.fm tags help, but it's really good. Trust me. If you don't download it, you're lousy.