Radiohead at the Hollywood Bowl

I had the privilege of being given an excellent ticket to Radiohead on Sunday night at the Hollywood Bowl from my friends Beth and Allen. It's...what is today? Wednesday?...and I'm still pretty high from the experience.

This is a band I have loved deeply since The Bends (I later went back for Pablo Honey). I have vivid sense memories of listening to OK Computer for the first time in the deep woods near East Haddam, Connecticut where I was doing regional theatre at the time. Fireflies flitting in front of me in the dark, I remember hearing the first strains of Airbag and feeling sure I had teleported to somewhere otherworldly.

That feeling remains after seeing the Sunday show. The only other time we've seen them live was at Radio City Music Hall during OK Computer. David still claims that as one of the best concerts he has ever seen. Sunday night was a reminder that they still have that power. I feel these guys are our modern day Beethovens and Mozarts. It's the new classical music. Epic, complex, and performed with mastery.

For a minute there I lost myself.

The Making of Somniloquy - Episode 2

Choosing the Cover, Track Order, and Editing

We've spent the last couple of nights on the phone with our photographer, Lauren, choosing which shots will go on the packaging for the album. It was difficult as there were many, many lovely shots to choose from. After a fair amount of discussion, we settled on certain shots, not always the expected ones. We had certain ideas about how the cover especially was going to look, but Lauren came in with some nice ideas of her own and what we ended up choosing is a really nice marriage of the two. I think it's going to be a unique and interesting cover that will raise a few eyebrows. You will see it here soon, I promise!

In the meantime, I have been editing the next episodes of The Making of Somniloquy. We hope you liked the first one. Thank you for taking the time to view it. I'm getting the hang of Adobe Premiere now, but I'm also thinking of jumping over to Final Cut. I get the feeling that once you understand one, you understand the other. It's funny that we can know music editing software so well and be so bloody ignorant about adding the video element. It is so much fun, though, and I am chomping at the bit each day to get back to the computer and mess around with these clips. It is making me dream about video ideas for these new songs. I have grand schemes that I need to learn how to turn into affordable and practical reality.

I woke up on Sunday with the distinct feeling we'd gotten the track order wrong for the album. The first and last songs need to be flipped, I think. I'm going to consult with some sages but in the end I think I need to trust my gut on this one.

The Making of Somniloquy - Episode 1

So here it is, friends, the first in a series (not sure how many yet) of videos talking about the creation of the new album. Shawn Jackson is the interviewer. He is a very dear friend and fan of ours and did an excellent job looking at our body of work as a whole and asking the right questions. You will notice that David is silent during this first one. He does end up speaking later, I promise.

Please note that if you go to the YouTube page directly, you can see the video in much higher quality.

Music Recommendation: KaiserCartel

Last night we had the pleasure of seeing the band KaiserCartel perform here in LA at the Hotel Cafe. David used to play with Ben when the band was still The Benjamin Cartel, back when we lived in New York. They even did a little touring together. We always love getting to see them play when they're in town. They've become such a lovely, sweet, lilting duo and their songs "Okay" and "The Flood" are especially memorable. They have a new album out called March Forth which I'm listening to as I type this and it's really beautiful.

It's not always easy being a couple who are also a musical duo but these two have magically melded their worlds and music in a way that really works, and I applaud them. Check out their music!