These guys from Jersey certainly know how to hit some good ol’ rock n’ roll. Great sense of humor too.

Osekre, the protege of the late Kiki Gyan of “Osibisa” fame; one of the few African bands which dominated the global music scene in the 70′s. I find it hysterical that he calls himself “a Lucky Bastard” having watched Eddie Murphy’s Coming to America back-to-back for a week as his orientation to the U.S.

We had a great time at Rubber Tracks recording his new songs. Thanks Osekre!

The 78 Project is a documentary and recording journey inspired by Alan Lomax and his quest to capture music where it lived throughout the early 20th century. Their object is to bring the spirit of his work into the present by pairing breakthrough musicians with the songs and recording technology of the past.

(click on image to see the making of video)

The 78 Project’s most recent exploit are two artists I have done a lot of work with (and one happens to be my wife), Kara Suzanne and The Reverend John DeLore. Their performance was captured in one take using one mic and recorded straight to a lacquer disc using a 1930’s Presto direct-to-disc recorder. Kara and John chose to sing an American classic murder ballad that tells the sad story of Omie Wise. An early 19th century murder victim who was strangled by her beloved and drowned in a river.

To make the song a bit more up-to-date, Suzanne cleverly arranged the melody and wrote an outstanding harmony (the end kills me every time) while DeLore rewrote the lyrics to fit a murder trial from our lifetime….It’s hard for me to not give it away, so I’ll give you a clue. It’s got something to do with a leather glove and a white Bronco.

I’m back co-producing another album with the Reverend John DeLore. This time, the Rev is need of your help. In addition to recording the whole album live in the studio in three days, John’s cousin Keegan filmed the session, as well as a bunch of interviews & some artsy footage of the city.  It’s going to be a very cool trans-media album release, which is where most of the extra cost is building up.

Take a look at Kickstarter to get a taste of how the album looks and sounds.  

If you like what you see, become part of the project with a pledge.  You can pledge as little as $2 or as much as $2000…whatever’s good for you.  There’s a list of incentives on the page, and the more you donate the more you get back (i.e. hand-typed lyric sheets, limited edition posters, and you can even request a cover song for $150 pledge!).

The title of the album is Songs From Church Avenue and is a love story set in a city in late Autumn. It begins with the line, “The dress she wore was the color of envy.” The album’s intended release date is Late Autumn, 2011. This will be the third studio album from the Reverend DeLore that I’ve been involved with and I gotta say that this is by far his best work to date. Understated, mature and moody.

John’s cousin M. Keegan Uhl has won awards for his directing, editing and cinematography and his celebrated work includes commercials, music videos and shorts, one of which recently won Canon’s Beyond the Still contest featured on Vimeo and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

I recorded six songs in five hours with country artist Luba Dvorak for his new album.

Great band. Great group of guys…They also covered one of my favorite Little Feat songs, Willin’.

I just mixed an Electro/Dancehall track called Pussy Galore for artist/producer 77Klash. We didn’t really talk about it, but I’m guessing he would like to get it in the new Bond movie somehow.

Finished another productive day with Cleveland/Queens artist OHBO! NIYRE. 

I just finished working with the great Boston band Viva Viva. They were awarded the Golden Record by Converse at SxSW this year, which gave them the opportunity to record for two days at Converse’s new studio Rubber Tracks. Fortunately, I was matched with these guys to produce/engineer the session.

I didn’t really know what to expect when meeting the band, but I was super excited to have two days to make some music. It turns out these guys (and Fumika) really have their shit together, which made the process as smooth as shit from a duck’s ass. After the first five hours we had the basics for four songs already finished and at the end of day two they drove back to Boston with four completely recorded and mixed songs ready to hit the streets… Amazing!

Thanks again to Brad and Ben at Rubber Tracks for putting us together. I had a great time.

- Wizard

I want to know this guy.

It seems we share a common bond.

Love for music and building shit with our hands.

What is going on here?!

I’ve been working on a series of bumpers for VHX.tv, the latest creation by my brother Casey Pugh. The end of this video is an example of one of the bumpers I designed sound for.

I just received a copy of the new Rev. John DeLore album that I mixed!

From the show Treme. Here is the best line I think I’ve ever heard from a TV show.

Lifehacker points out an interesting article about today’s trends with customer support and satisfaction being quite similar to the Grateful Dead’s business model thirty years ago.

“According to Barnes, the decision [to let fans tape shows] was not entirely selfless: it reflected a shrewd assessment that tape sharing would widen their audience, a ban would be unenforceable, and anyone inclined to tape a show would probably spend money elsewhere, such as on merchandise or tickets. The Dead became one of the most profitable bands of all time.”

What happens when you mix a rocket scientist and an audiophile? You get Professor Edgar Choueiri, inventor of three-dimensional audio. Apparently all you need is two loudspeakers to hear true 3D sound. 

The urban legend of the Dark Side of the Moon and the Wizard of Oz in it’s entirety.

The fans ask and I deliver. 105,000 hits and counting.

I co-produced, recorded and mixed this short instrumental piece composed by the Reverend John DeLore for use in a 30 second Zippo commercial, directed by M. Keegan Uhl. The cinematography is awesome and the music works better than I could of imagined. Nice work Keegan. 

By the way, that’s me playing the bass reeds of the accordion with David Cieri on the other half of the accordion (yes, a two man accordion). The Rev. JD on guitar and Kara Suzanne singing those haunting oooh’s in the background.

My brother Casey and I were just in Helsinki, Finland on behalf of the Turku 2011 European Capital of Culture for winning first prize in their Participative Media category. Our first day there we were interviewed by the local paper, Helsingin Sanomat, announcing Star Wars Uncut as the prize winner to the public. Casey was also invited to give the keynote speech during the Alternative Party 2010. The ALT party was an interesting experience where coders, musicians, designers, hackers, and other digital enthusiasts get together to celebrate themselves. During the festival they give you glimpses of technology of the future and you can play with some vintage hardware. I had a good time playing classic arcades like Off Road and Golden Axe, but basically, it’s a geek fest that no one from the States could even begin to imagine.

I was going to attempt translating this article, but it’s way too much effort. Google translate is helpful, but not at this level. Especially since the article is just explaining what Star Wars Uncut is. If you don’t know already, then you should check out the New York Times article.

Also, a special thanks to Jarmo, Kristian and Lasse for showing us good time during our time in Helsinki.

UPDATE:

The web version of this article was just released. Here is my favorite line of google transcription, “I wanted to create a project that would combine the film-makers and enthusiasts got a massive Internet,” says Casey Pugh.

Philip Glass on Sesame Street

[found via Best Made Projects]

Kevin @ Blackler Mastering

The river (can’t remember the name) in Porvoo, Finland.

I chopped up an old clock from target and set it in an old Ampex 1/2” reel… Kinda cool. Maybe not. Fun to make though.