Earth-quaking Review

I surfed a building today when the ground decided to shimmy and shake to the sweet tunes of a 5.4 quake. It was kind of fun up here on the 12th floor.

As surprising as that was, I was more surprised to learn about a new review of not if but when that just came out. I sort of don't remember sending a CD out to this site, but now I'm not surprised I did cause the review is (in my opinion) spot on in both credit and criticism. It's about as fair and balanced as Fox News (hardy har har).

No, it's a really well-written and intelligent review.

The Superstarcastic Review

Tombs Distorted

What?! Another new demo?! No. This is not new; I think I first posted it months ago. But I've been on such a kick recently that I went back, completely remixed it, and totally screwed with the canned drum sounds. I think this is a much more badass version.

Plus I think I really, truly, finally 'get' compression. I've always understood its general nature but now I'm starting to close it down big time. Much excitement ensues.

I'm thinking there needs to be a new EP in the near future...

tombs distorted demo

By the way, if you've been enjoying these demos (or any LOP albums) please become a 'fan' on Facebook - I'll probably use that like a mailing list to send out the rare update (like when the EP comes out).

Australia

Blah blah another song blah blah blah.

This is not even a demo really, it's just a single live take.

It will be featured on the upcoming "Lost on Purpose: Live from the Parthenon" CD, due out in 2015.

australia (demo)

Outside LA

Another new demo. And yes, I'm finally getting some use out of my violin. I still suck at it though, never enough time to practice.

I kinda like how this one turned out.

outside la (demo)

No More

***Updated***

I got off work early and had some time to work on the demo. The version below is now the final demo version.

Here is another demo.

I really didn't think I was going to post this, because even for a demo it's way too rough. It needs some work.

Then I said, "screw it".

I recorded this yesterday in about 20 minutes. The middle eight is stupid cause I keep repeating the same line, then the ending has nothing, just guitar. That will all be fixed.

But I won't have time to do anything new until late next week at the earliest.

So deal with it.

no more

Movies and Music

I never, ever, ever watch movies, but I just watched 5 in three days. That's more than I've seen in the past year. All were pretty good:

Glengarry GlenRoss
Roger Dodger
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Two-Lane Blacktop

Glengarry GlenRoss is just plain solid. It's a classic for good reason.

Roger Dodger is surprisingly dark considering the subject matter. At first I was opposed to the cinematography, but it grows on you as the story progresses.

I had somewhat low expectations for No Country, as my filmmaking buddies all thought it was 3/4 of an incredible movie. I thought it exceeded my expectations.

The same filmmaking buddies think There Will Be Blood is nearly perfect, so I had super high expectations for it, which it just about met. Frankly, I can't think of anything the movie did wrong, but I wouldn't say it resonated with me as much as I had hoped.

I've also been listening to tons of new music (for me at least):

Coldplay - Viva la Vida
Weezer - Red Album
Sigur Ros - whatever the new album is called
Explosions in the Sky - Those Who Know the Truth Shall Die... (not new)
Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant
Tokyo Police Club - Elephant Shell

I haven't listened to all of them enough to proscribe judgment. I will say that I've had the Explosions record for a long time, and I listened to it a bunch at first, then forgot about it for a couple years. Now I am waaaaay into it - it's unbelievable. Yasmin the Light is a perfect song. Just Perfect.

Working on some new demos, but heading out of town this weekend. Plus I'm sick, making vocals dicey.

How to Close

That's right people, this new demo is called How to Close.

ABC - Always Be Closing

If you're listening on headphones you're going to miss the killer low end... I got a little crazy with a floor tom.

How to Close

It's been really hot

Seriously, it's been hot as hell. My bedroom is like a furnace, making any recording activities a recipe for disaster. Luckily some wind has blown the heat away today, and I have some new songs I want to demo.

Ha!

As promised, here's a new demo. If only I had more free time...

love is not enough (demo)

Man this site needs to be updated. It's looking very 2004...

If you go to the LOP facebook site you should now be able to stream about half the new album. I might put the rest up in a couple weeks.

(image from Rick Steves' website)

...

I actually need to spend some time at home if I'm going to get any recording done. I have been busy every single night since I wrote the last post.

Tonight is my first free night. Should have something tomorrow.