The Love Idea

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In 2006 an artist living in Brooklyn spends his life savings to create a concept album, an emo-musical called The Love Idea. When it’s finally released 17 years later it’s such a masterpiece that it goes viral, he finds a new girlfriend and the music inspires a generation. All because he used his birthday wishes to ask for World Peace and True Love.

Update: I believe true love is real. World Peace isn’t possible but World Peacefuller is. Ask for that instead.

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Dance Floor Symphonies

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Youtube links:

(1) Dance Floor Symphonies (1)
(2) Dance Floor Symphonies (House)
(3) Dance Floor Symphonies (3)

Friendship
Mango Sticky Rice > Egg, Chicken > You Live a Charmed Life, Ed Marszewski

Confessions
Planet > Ragga Surf > Ragga Surf 2 > Goodbye Seniors > Color is a Crayon >
Down in Wicker Park > One Million Kisses > Carnivore (Pittsburgh Mix) >
Carnivore (Electro Mix)

Zen
Paris 25 > Paris 25 (Club Mix) > Lovers for Life > Alone (unreleased) >
Lovers for Life (unreleased) > Go Clear > Cosmic Stream > Brooke’s Song

Space
You Live a Charmed Life, Ed Marszewski > Goodbye Seniors > Carnivore (Electro) >
Carnivore (Pittsburgh Mix) > Paris 25 (Club Mix) > Lovers for Life

Dancing
Tom’s Flight to India > Rings > Moons > The White Christmas >
Cosmic Stream > Go Clear > Egg, Chicken

Memory
Planet > Mighty Casey Pt. 4 > Mighty Pool Boy > Mighty Pool Boy (Bass Mix) Pt. 1

The Spider
Final Answer > Bumblebee > Salt Pillar Boogie > God > Rings > In Orbit >
Everything’s Gonna Be Alright > Chuckie Gets Lucky > Scene Machine

Never
Shaman’s Walk > Bo Knows > Winter Grasses > Skeletal Inquiry >
Creature Dances > The White Christmas > Shaman’s Walk

The Scene
Space Jazz Pt. 1 > Station Squared > Space Jazz Pt. 2 > Tom’s Flight to India >
Mighty Casey Pt. 5 > Mighty Pool Boy > Mighty Pool Boy (Bass Mix) Pt. 2 > Ragga Surf End

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The Quiet Storm

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In June 2002 I was living on the South Side Slopes in Pittsburgh. Charles Pistella helped book us a show at The Quiet Storm, a new coffee shop on Penn Avenue in Pittsburgh. I was editing down sound loops and performances using free software to my Tascam 4-Track and mixing those back live, projecting video samples with Arkaos software. I’d submitted samples of my folk songs to the Around the Coyote Arts Festival the year before and in September of 2001 took a train to Chicago to play my first live gig singing and to do performance in the hallway of the Flat Iron Building with my Tascam. On Friday I got invited to a loft party in Wicker Park – someone who saw me playing. He organized music for O’Hare and was interested in booking me for some music there. Oh this is big, I thought – just like Brian Eno. I saw Aaron Wagner that weekend, he was at that loft party too and we spent a fair amount of time together. I took the train home Monday night and when I entered the station in the morning the first Twin Tower was hit on TV and then the second. Suffice it to say – the gigs at the airport stopped when Tom lost his funding. Last year I went through my minidisc recordings and digitized everything that could be released, but I didn’t find what I made for The Quiet Storm. Then last Tuesday my dad took the dog for a day and when I was in my basement cleaning I opened up the case for my cassettes, and there it was. The 4-track master. I would describe this music as proto-songs. Some of these loops and ideas made it into other recordings, like Down in Wicker Park and Final Answer. These are asynchronous sound loops with polyrhythms bonding and unbonding as I mix. But more specifically, it’s as dark and foreboding, and soulful, as a poor, depressed artist can be after 9/11. It was even better than I remembered it.

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Vocal Singles

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Is Pool Boy

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This is a remix project for people who like to stay inside listening to Youtube music. Contemplate, as I have – the subtle and not so subtle changes about how I’ve taken Mighty Casey all the way through to Mighty Pool Boy (Bass Mix) Pt. 2 and ask yourself why? Why do this? It’s an exercise in computer music, state of the world 2022. It’s improvisation. The original Mighty Casey beat I mixed down on Virtual DJ sometime in 2011. That I created in Logic – the bass drum and hi-hat part, then added Tuvan throat singers and a slide guitar. This gave me the foundation to improvise bass and guitar for Call Me Casey. That session is what I’ve used to create the Is Pool Boy album. The most exciting thing ever is for me to mix all of these songs together with some rolls and special effects along with a fresh video mix…all from my personal collection. You will really enjoy it. I’m going to be nerding out on this a bit with another long format video on the changes I made during the remix process. For example -Mighty Pool Boy (Bass Mix) Pt. 2. What is more bassier? A 4th bass line, that’s what. So if you’re not satisfied with my work – you don’t like bass music as much as you say. For critics of the composition I will tell you both the bass line and the guitar part were improvised – one take! OK I did pick loops and remix in Ableton Live but that is improvised as well! In that way – I can say, this is jazz. Plus the piano stuff in general. But it’s the state of music, really that I’m communicating about here, not through this text but through the music itself. But, you should know – it’s computer-based other than the electric bass and electric guitar. I used a Peavey 5-string and a Behringer tube pre-amp for that and the guitar. The guitar is a Mexican Strat with surf pickups and a Germanium Fuzz with Supro tremolo. Otherwise this is all work in Logic and Abelton Live. Thank you for listening. Listen straight through from start to finish. I’m curious if it’s actually endurable or enjoyable this way. We’ll see! Ideally you nerds will be saying things to me like – in your set at Red Rocks – I liked that you mixed Mighty Casey Pt. 4 in with Mighty Pool Boy (Grampa Mix). I’ll say – you people have too much time on your hands. Then one of you will say – my favorite is Mighty Casey (Bass Mix) Pt. 1. For those of you just tuning in – it’s the one with the teapot solo. Yes, my other music has weird sounds in it too. This is garage music. I’ll say – do you mean you love me? And you’ll say yes. But that’s a long way down the road! Whatever. This is for bassheads and haterz and contemplating in college dorms and dancing to – really, dance to it. And yes – the artwork IS cheesy on purpose. I added clouds and a second lens flare to a sky that was cloudless and already had a lens flare. That’s so stupid. I really want to tell you about it. Fusion – jazz fusion with house music.

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Creature Dances

Part 1: Youtube | Apple | Spotify
Part 2: Youtube | Apple | Spotify

I was jamming with Lub Dub in Pullman and Porter Fitch brought up all the stuff around the Santa mythology so I ran with that. Originally I was just droning on C and Bb and doing all the stuff you hear on 4 Track Attack. But after a while I started looking into chords using those two notes and wrote a chord progression you can kind of hear working on Creature Dances. It’s a lot tighter on Winter Grasses and The White Christmas which is a metaphor and a drink they made at Red Star in Moscow. I was channeling Miles and Bird and Herbie on the solo parts that make up those head jams – Creature Dances and The White Christmas. Not being able to resist myself I then did the mixes you hear on 4 Track Attack which is exactly was that is – mixes off a Tascam and a cassette. Whelp, that’s music.

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Here Lies Pool Boy, Vol 1

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Here Lies Pool Boy, Vol 2

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I think this one is my favorite.

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Here Lies Pool Boy, Vol 3

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Here Lies Pool Boy, Vol 4

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