I have always wondered what Terry Riley's ground-breaking minimalist score for In C would sound like played by a rock band. Then I got to thinking about other combinations.
Over the years, I have written a few reviews for products I've purchased
from Amazon.com. Mostly, they
have been music related: albums mainly, books, and DVDs. I realized I'd
written quite a few, and they seem to constitute their own body of work. I've
collected all my music-themed reviews together for posterity, because you just
never know when stuff on the internet will disappear.
March 1, 2022 : New short story "Thank You (or Not)"
I wrote this true story as an entry to a magazine writing contest. Perhaps a bit too downbeat, perhaps a bit open-ended for a magazine? Like a character in a Satre novel, nothing much happens except suffering.
A new album's worth of songs about my world during the coronavirus pandemic. Some of it is down-beat, but I also found some rays of light in the darkness.
With the world shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, I decided to use my forced free time in a creative way. I began to write a set of lyrics each day I was quarantined. This is the first set I picked out and set to music. Like many people, I was asked to work from home, bringing with it an array of positives and negatives, all perfect grist for a song. And a blues at that. Features a rare performance of me soloing on harmonica.
After finishing my last album, I made a return to playing most of the instruments myself and relying less on programs, samples, and other studio trickery. The result was Thinking and Making Instead of Wanting and Having. With the imminent demise of compact discs, I decided to release it on USB thumb drive. The capacity of thumb drives allowed me to consider adding more material. This seemed like a good time to take an overview of my first decade or so using my original digital studio software. The resultant "greatest hits" album, Ones and Zeros, was then packaged on USB with Thinking and Making.
March 25, 2019 : My Relationship with Art and Money
Ever since I began painting, people have been asking me to sell my work, and I have always refused. Most artists love to sell their work. What's going on here? Find out in my new essay.
September 24, 2018 : Music Pages Reformatted and Expanded
For years, I have had difficulty finding a web-based music player that would play on all web browsers. I recently discovered that there is a new and improved music application that is supposed to be the internet standard from now on. I have updated all my pages that have music players embedded. I have also taken time to write up some short summaries of my albums on the main album index page. This should give viewers a better sense of what they are wading through.
A new digital-only single based on songs by Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber(!). See the web page linked below for more information on this unusual project.
A new single out from me. Both songs stemmed from discussions with a friend of mine regarding melody and acoustic music. While "Compromised," the B-side, rocks out, it was written on and recorded around an acoustic guitar. My friend shows up in the bridge, by the way. The A-side, "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding," is a song I've wanted to cover since I first heard Elvis Costello and The Attractions tear through it without any irony back in the '70's. I had been wondering what spin to put on the song to make it mine. My friend's interest in acoustic music and melody suggested my approach. I set the song to strumming acoustic guitars and double-tracked the vocal (and kept the music minimal) to put the emphasis up front on the words and melody. While I'm not much of a singer, I feel like I nailed it pretty well on these two tracks. As to why I decided to release this now, well, we really need some peace, love and understanding; and as an artist, I do what I feel.
Under construction for two years, my new album is out now, available as a CD or an mp3
download from this website. The album was inspired by the purchase of new recording software, giving me
more arrows in my quiver. As usual, I veer all over the place stylistically, going from short rock songs
to long experimental pieces, including a classically-based composition and a couple of remixes. In the
old days of vinyl, this would have been a two-record set.
Back in 1993, my band The View entered ARTI Studios in Orlando, Florida, and cut four tracks in a professional recording studio. The tapes were never finished, mainly due to the fact that we had no way to play back a 1-inch 16-track reel-to-reel tape. Earlier this year, I found a studio that was able to transfer that tape to digital sound files. I used my recording studio to finish the recordings (adding tambourine, sound effects, etc.) and fix a few things (noise on a vocal track, my uninspired guitar on one song, etc.). The resulting tracks show the band in fine form and are presented in a new CD, also available as a free mp3 download.
Watching the news lately, I've been appalled by the wanton, indiscriminate murder of blacks
by local police forces around the country. I've been equally appalled by the lack of prosecution against
the offending officers. Hand-held personal video cameras have unearthed the seedy, racist underbelly of
law "enforcement." As a civilized society, we can not accept this kind of behavior. After seeing officers
strangle Eric Garner to death on the sidewalk, and get away with it, I had to respond. (In a less
lofty vein, it also provided a good project to try out my new recording studio!)
My new album, Not a Through Street is out. The "band," Human Resources, is actually
myself and bassist Paul Romero ("Hines-Romero" becoming "HR" becoming "Human Resouces"). With me on drums and Paul
on bass, we were auditioning guitarists with the hope of putting a full time band together. I recorded these
improvised sessions on my digital multi-track recorder. Then I edited the recordings, keeping the most
interesting parts, trimming out mistakes or boring sections, until a song-like structure began to appear.
I wrote lyrics and overdubbed vocals along with any other instruments that seemed to be needed. Paul would
eventually leave to do his own thing, but these recordings remain, like "footprints in stone," a testimonial
to a band that almost was. Also, it rocks hard, in my humble opinion.
I spent two years creating editorial cartoons for my high school newspaper. This was the
project that really honed my cartooning style. I also spent a year as editor, and the cartoons often contain
my related editorial. If you get the chance, read up on the "swami."
My new album, Concrete Music is out. The album features six tracks in which I apply
the sounds of rock and roll (lots of electric guitar) to concepts from contemporary classical music and jazz.
Lots of studio experimentation guaranteed to put hair on your chest.
New recording by my band, Lost On Our Way. Right
after releasing our album Assembly Line, we cut loose our
lead guitarist for a variety of reasons. This meant John had to switch from acoustic rhythm to electric lead guitar to keep the "umph" in the
music. Simultaneously, we brought William Bay on as our full time bassist. So, our latest recording no longer sounded like us.
With a show coming up, I decided to go through our practice sessions and pulled together a quick album to showcase our current sound.
A couple of good jams, a new number (planned for a possible acoustic show), and a few new versions of older songs, and the result
is No Victory.
I purchased a set of drum microphones recently, allowing me to record drums in stereo.
I needed to test them out, and the results can be found on my new single. I do a cover of "California Sun"
and replace the drum machine on "Eyeball Skeleton" with a live drum kit.
New recording by my band, Lost On Our Way. Our
first album length release, with me producing, playing drums, bass, and a few other things. Recorded "live" in the studio
(complete with song introductions), and a minimum of post-production beyond overdubbing the bass (we found a permanent bassist
just after the recording sessions) and a few instrumental accents. Features a batch of songs by singer/guitarist John Murphy,
the band's resident writer.
December 30, 2011 : New Lost On Our Way recordings
Here are links to two new recordings by my band. The first is a promotional single
released last year before our first show. That single was remixed a bit and included on the 4-song EP which we
released recently. And stay tuned: we have already completed recording our first album, and that should
be released as soon as the cover art is ready. Check out my
Current Projects page to hear a couple of early rough mixes.
My current band changes names again as we find that the cliche that all good band names
are taken is true. Formerly The Silence, formerly The Epic Silence, and now, so
aptly, Lost On Our Way. We swear we can find no indications that this name has been used any place
on the planet Earth until now. Really.
My first vacation in California took me to nearby Joshua Tree National Park. After an
unusually wet spring, the desert showed a lot of color in the plant life.
A look at my work from the outside, here's a page collecting the various music reviews
that have shown up through the years. From the ecstatic to the condeming, it's all here!
While working on my latest album, Eastern Sunset, I put out this collaboration with
Radiohead(!). The band made their single Nude available in multi-track format so that their fans could
have the fun of creating their own custom remixes. You don't get a chance to collaborate with the likes of
Radiohead everyday, so I took advantage and created three different versions of their song and reinterpreted
one of my previous tracks.
My new album, Eastern Sunset is out. The theme revolves around my recent relocation from
Georgia to California. This triggered a look into the many ways we move through life, both physically and mentally.
What have I been up to, besides not updating my web site too often? Find out as I update my
autobiography with concluding remarks on life in Atlanta as well as my first moves in California.
In anticipation of updating my autobiography soon, I've updated my fast facts section which
shows you some basic facts about me along with some of my favorite hobbies and interests.
One of my first sight seeing trips after moving to San Diego was to the Anza-Borrego Desert
State Park. I was lucky enough to visit during the Spring growth spurt.