Branching Out

Just want to let you all know that, hopefully within a few days or so, you will be able to find my musical rantings on another page. I have been invited by the talented designers, and contributors, of 'Max Bumps' to join my fellow sixtyone brethren in blogging nothin' but music. I'm both delighted and flattered by the invitation; and hope that I'll be able to live up to the site's greatness.

And with that, I invite you all to visit MAX BUMPS to see what's new in regard to the artists and listeners involved with the greatest music site on the web.

Ta.

It Comes But Once Every Four Years...

Yes, it's 'Leap Day' and I think I'm posting just for the sake of letting others know that yes, I am indeed still among the living. I survived my work 'marathon' (albeit barely) and spent today cleaning my apartment and getting my life back into a semblance of order. I'm so behind on everything now that it's darn near scary - but at least I have clean socks. So, rather than freak out and try to accomplish everything in a day, I parked my kiester on my couch this afternoon and watched a few episodes of the phenomenon that I missed until now: The Tudors. I highly recommend it to any of you out there that might like to watch the corruption and smut of the 16th century.

And with that, I think I shall return to my divot on the couch and refuel for tomorrow...

'Rock Star' Phil

Hey all - sorry that missed posting last week - was a little nutty. And here's a warning: there probably won't be a post next week either. I'm about to embark on two straight weeks of work; and well, I don't see me having enough spare energy or brain power to put up something intelligent during that time. But, we shall see.

OK then, moving on to what I promised at the beginning of the month - a FAWM artist. Today, I present to you one of the most talented wordsmiths I have ever encountered: Phil Norman. I am proud to say that I have had direct communication with Phil and he is one of the most genuinely wonderful human beings I have ever come across. Not only is he amazingly talented, but he also has a warm heart, a firm grasp of what's really important in life, and a gift to present both of these facets of his personality to others through his music. And with that, I'm going to let his songs speak for themselves.

Now, to do this, I'm about to release to you my best-kept musical secret. But hell, the secret's out, so I might as well share the wealth. Below, you will find a link to Phil's solo work as well as a link to the music of his band Blue Moonshine. Both of these links will lead you to the promise land of music: the sixtyone. The sixtyone is the brainchild of two independent music loving software geniuses. It's a little bit radio, a little bit gaming, and totally addictive!! If you like what you see/hear on the site, you can sign up to join in the fun. The only thing I ask is that when you do, you please put LMMS in the 'referred by user' box.

Guidance: When you click on one of these first two links you will be taken to the 'footprint' of the artist on the sixtyone. All you have to do is click the little 'play' button if you want to hear one of the three tracks on the footprint. To view further titles, and listen to other songs, simply click on 'view more songs' below the three footprint tracks. ENJOY!!!

Phil's Solo Work

Recommended Tracks: Once More; Collision; Land Ho!; Sweet Dreams; Sinking Down; Told You So

Blue Moonshine

Recommended Tracks: Your Love Is On My Mind; Boat For Two; Tireless Devotion; Blackout Jack

Phil's Link on FAWM 2008

Recommended Tracks: Rely; When I Tell You To; Nothing Left; Aw hell, listen to it all!!

YESSSSSSS!

Super G-Men

They beat Dallas - in Dallas.

They beat Green Bay - in Green Bay.

They proved everyone wrong.

Now they've landed in Pheonix to play the Patriots for all the marbles.

Go Giants Go!!!

And even if they don't win (although I have a firm belief that they will; albeit in a squeaker), I'll still be smiling...

Ready, Set, FAWM!

Welcome to a very special Friday edition of 'NRT'. Today, Friday, February 1st, marks the first day of FAWM (February Album Writing Month) 2008. Bring on 29 days of music making joy!

For those of you unfamiliar with the joys of FAWM, here's the quick and dirty:Back in 2003, four music lovers in Madison Wisconsin got together with the idea to make the darkest, coldest and shortest month of the year something special - each of them write 14 songs in 28 days. Needless to say, they had more material for the weekly 'open mike night' at the campus pub than ever before and plenty of folks (myself included) were quite impressed that most of the work was completed in just a day or two.

Now, it's five years later and there are over 1300 FAWMers taking the challenge! So, in honor of all the greatness that is FAWM, this month's NRTs will feature FAWM artists and their music (whether it be FAWM created or not). Consider this week's Ear Candy link to be a preview of the great things to come.

And with that, let the onslaught of demo uploading begin!!

An Arsenal of Sound

Greetings and welcome to another edition of NRT (albeit a day late). This week, I thought I would change it up a bit and feature a female fronted group. Say Wa??? Yes, it's true... From time to time I actually do enjoy listening to the sound of someone from my own gender category. OK then, now that the shock of that is over, let's get down to business shall we? Put your hands together for:

Hot Bitch Arsenal

HBA is Christina - gifted with a smooth as silk made for jazz voice who does her own thing with her friend Kim - a man and his laptop (no, I'm not kidding). Now, I probably wouldn't have discovered their smooth, relaxing sound if it had not been for a funky, super-cool remix of their tune Double Down Quick done by the artist Nebulae. To hear this gem click here and then click on the Double Down Quick (Nebulae Mix) link (it's the last one on the list in the player found to the left of the page).

Then, enjoy the smooth sounds of this duo by treating yourself to a warm drink and...

All Along The Chilltower

From The Start

You Bet I Will

Sailing On Right By

For an extra goodie (a surprising, and fabulous cover), check out the Ear Candy link on the sidebar.