Mar 18 2015
Radio show recap: Bird is the Worm on Kevin Coultas’s “Mingle”
So, I was on the radio last night.
Let me start by thanking Kevin Coultas and the ARTxFM station for having me on as a guest on his show Mingle. It was a hell of a lot of fun. It was also exhausting, in its way. My respect for radio DJs has risen dramatically from this experience. Getting a taste of what they do every day was enlightening.
I wasn’t prepared for how exhausting the show would be. I mean, I barely said very much, but the hyper-awareness of every word I was saying into the mic, easy to handle at first, but it eventually eroded my focus to the point where, in the last half hour of my appearance, a musician’s name would barely have left my lips and I’d already have forgotten who I was talking about or I’d be describing an album and suddenly forget what the damn thing sounded like or, y’know, most words and rules of grammar.
The trick is slowly measuring every word that comes out of your mouth while attempting to maintain a conversational tone… not so simple. On top of that, I have a habit of dropping F-bombs in even the most casual conversations (sorry, day job people!), so, obviously, I was taking care to avoid that, since it’s not like they sell the FM radio licenses at the corner store right next to the prepaid phone cards. I wanted to be sure there was a Mingle radio station still there after I left.
Speaking of which, it appears I’ll be making some return appearances on Kevin’s show. I don’t know if it’ll be a monthly thing or what, but I’m enthusiastic about making a return visit.
I mispronounce some musician names. There’s one instance where I failed to even take a shot at saying them, which I feel bad about, but then I hope I make up for it by playing an additional song from their album to close the show out. There are various other errors I made, I think, I dunno, I haven’t listened to the replay yet, but I’m sure they’re out there.
On the very first track played, we didn’t realize that the CD deck was set to repeat, so Rudresh Mahanthappa’s “Bird Calls #2” calls out twice before transitioning into the addictive “Chillin’.” Whereas most grown-ups use digital files these days, I dragged in a huge stack of CDs. My thanks to Kevin for being a good sport in dealing with my my various tech liabilities (don’t get me started about the phone).
Here’s an embed of the recording of the show…
Mingle 03/17/15 with special guest Dave Sumner by Mingle on Mixcloud
And here’s the show playlist. Following each line is a link where you can read more on this site about that album or, in some instances where the album hasn’t yet been released, more about the artist for a different album:
- Bird Calls #2 & Chillin’ by Rudresh Mahanthappa (LINK)
- MJH – Jeremy Udden & Nicolas Moreaux (LINK)
- Bardo – Markus Pesonen Hendectet (LINK)
- Kurt – Emil de Waal, Gustaf Ljunggren, Soren Kaergaard & Elith “Nulle” Nykaer (LINK)
- First Light – Eddie Henderson (LINK)
- Ritual of Take – Fresh Cut Orchestra (LINK)
- Where Are You From? – Tomoko Omura (LINK)
- Fabrication – Kenosha Kid (LINK)
- Sojourner – Josh Nelson (LINK)
- Reading – Ben Goldberg (LINK)
- Terrarosa – Anna Webber (LINK & LINK)
- Everything You Need – Jeremy Siskind Trio (LINK)
- Yokar Inceden Inceden – Goran Kajfes Subtropic Arkestra (LINK)
- Hoksang – Christian Wallumrod (LINK)
- All Tomorrow’s Parties – Chris Lightcap’s Bigmouth (LINK)
- Goodbye Pork Pie Hat – Emil de Waal, Gustaf Ljunggren, Soren Kaergaard & Elith “Nulle” Nykaer (LINK)
Hopefully this won’t be the last radio playlist I post on this site. It was too fun not to do again, plus it gives some additional time in the spotlight to so much good music.
Speaking of which, as it turns out, Kevin has been featuring a lot of the music that you read about on my site. Check out his show archive on the Mixcloud site (LINK) to hear more of the music you read about here as well as other great music that you probably should be listening to. And if you’re an artist, label or rep who is interested in getting your music featured on Kevin’s weekly show, you should think about contacting him through his show’s Facebook page or via his Twitter account. He’s a nice guy, so don’t be afraid to shoot him a message and say hi.
Enjoy the show!
Cheers.
Mar 19 2015
Chris Schlarb: Free music, new albums and an upcoming tour
The music of Chris Schlarb is an instance where my unapologetic subjectivity may be eclipsing my aspirations for objectivity… but mostly I think they simply meet at a coincidental, shared zenith. I mention this by way of a preamble only because Schlarb’s music is one of those rare times that I unabashedly enter fanboy mode and rave about the music I’m hearing. But that’s how it shakes out.
His albums Twilight & Ghost Stories and the two Psychic Temple recordings hit me the way music is supposed to make contact. The music is wired in a way that corresponds to my own wiring, and why it’s difficult for me to compose a normal post on this site without, well, doing what you’ve just spent the last minute reading. It’s the kind of thing that keeps us returning to favorite albums and has us perpetually searching for the next great album that replicates that connection.
But make no mistake about it… Schlarb is a brilliant musician. And while there always is a natural born element involved, his talent has been forged by experience and sweat equity. That balance of nature and nurture in an artist’s creativity is why the honesty rings as genuine and the inspirations resonate more strongly than the measure of their ultimate success.
Good grief, okay, this is what I’m talking about. The title of this post says something about free music, new albums and tours, and instead I’m giving you a very blog-y post about the nature of creativity and then recounting it in the current paragraph.
Let’s begin…
I’ve just received word that Psychic Temple III is in the can and now it’s just looking for labels and distributors. No date yet… but it’s coming. In addition, Schlarb has made a little niche for himself developing soundtracks for video games. This summer, the video game Dropsy will be his newest project, and he says that it might as well be another Psychic Temple album. His previous video game music is available for listening & purchase on his Bandcamp page (LINK).
Speaking of which, until March 23rd, Schlarb’s second installment of the Psychic Temple series is FREE on his Bandcamp page. In truth, I’m almost hesitant to even mention it being free, because I want you all to buy it. The more income Schlarb makes off his existing recordings, the better he’s able to continue making new music. That said, he requested that I mention something, so here I am. Definitely go download the album, with both his and my blessing. If it floats your boat, there’s nothing saying you can’t return later after the free period has lapsed and basically purchase it again, but this time at its normal price. Or, instead, you could buy the first Psychic Temple recording (LINK) and/or buy the next one.
I want listeners to find music that makes them happy and appreciative of being alive to hear it. And I want musicians to be able to make a living at their profession so that the results of their creativity can continue unabated. Everyone wins that way.
A Summer tour is in the works, though nothing definitive yet. I mention this only so you can be on the lookout for updates on his site’s Tour page (LINK) or just join his mailing list.
Here’s where you go to download Psychic Temple II… (LINK)
You were listening to a track from the album (embedded above), and now here’s another track from the album… a cover of a Beach Boys tune…
As I get updates on the new albums and a tour, I’ll pass the news on to you.
For more on the music of Chris Schlarb on this site:
Somewhere in those articles there has to be some words about the original Psychic Temple album. I’m shocked to learn that it doesn’t have its own stand-alone recommendation.
Anyways, have fun exploring his music.
Cheers.
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By davesumner • Announcement - Music, Free Music • 0