controlmouse - Tumblr blog

controlmouse · 10 years

Photo

Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder 1981

#paul weller

22 notes · View notes

controlmouse · 10 years

Photo

168 notes · View notes

controlmouse · 11 years

Photo

73 notes · View notes

controlmouse · 11 years

Audio

What John Lydon did for rock and roll is simply immeasurable. Think back. Disco, funk, jazz fusion—WTF. Even the respectable stuff from that era—soul, glam, and math rock—tended towards a exclusionary, centralized "professionalism." Too much polish, too much product, too much about the show. After Mr. Lydon and the Pistols knocked it all down, it opened opportunities for musicians of all types. I wanted to examine it from the ashes of all he destroyed.

I'm not about to write off the whole decade; there's some really good stuff that came out of the 70s. The list is long. But for pop and rock royalty of the 70s, their time had come. They had to go. What replaced them, thanks to Mr. Lydon & Co, was what lit the fuse for me. I don't think I would have been interested in music at all if it weren't for Billy Bragg, The Smiths, Elvis Costello, Talking Heads. Bands like Gang of Four, Television, XTC, Hüsker Dü, The Cure, and of course, Joy Division.

What a world that was. I don't think that any "movement" since has lived up to what was going on in the post-punk era. To me, it was an explosion that burned brightly enough to inspire me for decades. Let's relive it here for a moment.

***

The iTunes & Spotify Farewell Tour / Control Mouse Music Last chance to download MP3s! This song will removed from iTunes on March 15, 2014: http://bit.ly/cmm-002. For more about why I am removing my music from iTunes and Spotify, please see Opting Out: An Indie Musician's Experience.

***

The Selectmen / Maybe Johnny Rotten Was Wrong From the 6-song EP: Introducing The Selectmen

Meet the band: http://selectmen.com/band Album credits: http://selectmen.com/credits “Like” on Facebook: http://facebook.com/selectmen Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/selectmen

#CMM #iTunes #Spotify #mm #SmartRock

0 notes

controlmouse · 11 years

Text

Come in, London! I'm on the radio again

Another tune of mine is ON THE RADIO in London! The D1Radio Hour, hosted by Dom Pates, runs live every Thursday night (as The Thursday Night Show), and then Dom posts a recording to Mixcloud.

Hit play to listen! Here's the link: http://bit.ly/D1-Radio-022014

I come in at about the 9min mark with a song called "System of Saints," right after Amy Winehouse.

This song has been busy this week:

I posted the original on 2/15: http://soundcloud.com/controlmouse/system-of-saints

@mylifeindub took to the controls and remixed it on 2/18. This is why I licensed the tune CC-BY-SA, so that others could work with it and create new things out of it.

Speaking of re-use, I used it as the intro/outro in a podcast on 2/20 called, "What is Content Strategy for Authors?"

And then Dom played it on his show the same night!

The Internet works!

#np #Mixcloud #soundcloud #music #newmusic #listen #dub

0 notes

controlmouse · 11 years

Audio

Dub-a-Day... at the controls!

This is why I licensed the tune CC-BY-SA, so that others could work with it and create new things out of it.

For another re-use of this song, see my podcast called, "What is Content Strategy for Authors?"

And it was played on a radio show tonight in London too!

Yeah Internet!

Stuck inside today drinking too much tea.

My friend Michael shared his latest track

so I raged all over it inna’ dub fashion…

here’s the far saner original on his Control Mouse Music site

hosted by Soundcloud:

https://soundcloud.com/controlmouse/system-of-saints

#dub #music #np #podcast #cc-by-sa #open content #creative commons

2 notes · View notes

controlmouse · 11 years

Audio

Sometimes writing comes easy, but usually it's a difficult process for me. I write a draft, edit it, put it away, come back to it, edit some more, rewrite it, and so on. It's a process that lives in the abstract, and I have dozens of pieces that I'm thinking about at any one time. It takes discipline to bring an idea to completion.

Like any artist, I crave the times when the flow takes over. You feel powerful, in control, and inexhaustible. The writing process can almost feel like it takes on a tangible form—almost as if there are real-world, physical manifestations of the abstract writing process.

That's what I was going for with this song. "Stringing words on a clothesline," because they are not ready yet, or "sweeping dust of punctuation," as if there's a need to clean up all the residue from the work of writing. There's a sound to writing, "a chain of eighth notes" that emanates from the keyboard (or a typewriter, if you want to be really romantic about it), or the rhythm of the written phrase read aloud—or both.

Writing is powerful. The best journalists understand that they are literally writing history, in real time. It's true of all writers, in a way. Take your craft seriously. Keep practicing, keep writing, keep improving. You are not just making progress, you are making history.

***

The iTunes & Spotify Farewell Tour / Control Mouse Music Last chance to download MP3s! This song will removed from iTunes on March 15, 2014: http://bit.ly/cmm-001. For more about why I am removing my music from iTunes and Spotify, please see Opting Out: An Indie Musician's Experience.

***

Michael Boezi / Black & White From the 5-song EP: So Cold

Album credits: http://controlmousemusic.com/daisy “Like” on Facebook: http://facebook.com/controlmouse Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/controlmouse Blog: http://controlmouse.tumblr.com

#CMM #iTunes #Spotify #MM #SmartRock

0 notes

controlmouse · 11 years

Photo

Writing about my writing. I do that all the time!

387K notes · View notes

controlmouse · 11 years

Audio

Fear is a natural emotion. In fact, it is one of only six human emotions. Fear can be a really healthy thing, especially when it motivates you to push the boundaries and get out of your comfort zone. But what about when your own fear is used against you? When it is amplified with the intent to spur a defensive action?

This kind of manipulation is a staple of modern advertising. They "fill you with fear" in order to "sell you freedom from something." It's so embedded in our culture that it's hard to avoid. I like that this song is aware of—and resents—the manipulation, but kind of gives in anyway.

***

The iTunes & Spotify Farewell Tour / Control Mouse Music Last chance to download MP3s! This song will removed from iTunes on March 15, 2014: http://bit.ly/cmm-002. For more about why I am removing my music from iTunes and Spotify, please see Opting Out: An Indie Musician's Experience.

***

The Selectmen / Scare Me From the 6-song EP: Introducing The Selectmen

Meet the band: http://selectmen.com/band Album credits: http://selectmen.com/credits “Like” on Facebook: http://facebook.com/selectmen Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/selectmen

#CMM #iTunes #Spotify #MM #SmartRock

0 notes

controlmouse · 11 years

Photo

#bob dylan #george harrison

4K notes · View notes

controlmouse · 11 years

Audio

Let's blame mass production on Johannes Gutenberg. Why not? The concept seems to have its origins there. For all the good that came of it—efficiency and propagation, it led to consumerism and information overload. Now it's happening again, on a scale that it sure to dwarf the impact of Gutenberg's invention. The Internet is changing everything. We're hip deep in something even more revolutionary than the Gutenberg press. How cool is that? Against the backdrop of history, this will look like it all happened in a flash. I really wanted the song to reflect that, to make a big change at that very moment in history. The one we are living, right now. The Shift to Digital happens at 2:09. This change is permanent: "It was all for one, now it's one for all—once and for all!" What used to be, now what is. The lyrics declare that it is a positive change, but the key change is from major to minor. And Andrew is more than happy to supply the chaos that comes with it, in the form of a feedbacky, burn the boats, New World guitar solo.

***

The iTunes & Spotify Farewell Tour / Control Mouse Music Last chance to download MP3s! This song will removed from iTunes on March 15, 2014: http://bit.ly/cmm-002. For more about why I am removing my music from iTunes and Spotify, please see Opting Out: An Indie Musician's Experience.

***

The Selectmen / Stupid Gutenberg From the 6-song EP: Introducing The Selectmen

Meet the band: http://selectmen.com/band Album credits: http://selectmen.com/credits “Like” on Facebook: http://facebook.com/selectmen Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/selectmen

#CMM #iTunes #Spotify #MM #SmartRock

0 notes

controlmouse · 11 years

Link

Post-Punker Mixtape: The Post-Punk Scene in 1977

Compilation of post-punk/new wave songs that were released in 1977. I used the date of the singles as my reference, so they can appear on albums after that year. The intention is to make one playlist for every year after 77, when post-punk...

#mixtape

146 notes · View notes

controlmouse · 11 years

Audio

We tend to idealize the things we don't have. Sometimes, we want something so much that we're bound to be disappointed once we get it.

A dream that stays a dream remains in an ideal state, untarnished. A dream realized, however, will always be different—and probably lesser—than the idealized version. Either way, it's kind of disappointing, isn't it?

Like many of my songs, I was applying the concept to a performance. If you ever listen back to a recording of a speech you've given, or any other performance, it's never what you thought it to be while it was happening. There have been times where I thought I was really awful, but objectively it was fine. The opposite is true too, where I thought I was really good, but the tape proved me wrong.

A good thing to remember about performance is the audience wants the performer to succeed. It's too uncomfortable when the performer fails, particularly in a live performance.

Incidentally, I love the Tom Verlaine-style solo at the end by Scott.

***

The iTunes & Spotify Farewell Tour / Control Mouse Music Last chance to download MP3s! This song will removed from iTunes on March 15, 2014: http://bit.ly/cmm-001. For more about why I am removing my music from iTunes and Spotify, please see Opting Out: An Indie Musician's Experience.

***

Michael Boezi / Disappointed From the 5-song EP: So Cold

Album credits: http://controlmousemusic.com/daisy “Like” on Facebook: http://facebook.com/controlmouse Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/controlmouse Blog: http://controlmouse.tumblr.com

#CMM #iTunes #Spotify #MM #SmartRock

1 note · View note

controlmouse · 11 years

Audio

This song was originally titled "Experts Say," but I wanted something more provocative. Why wait until the end of the song for the punch line?

This was an interesting concept to me—not that experts lie on purpose (though sometimes they do, I'm sure). It was that a true expert often knows way too much to properly communicate information to a layperson. Hence the lyric, "from deft to deafening." A lie signifies intent though. What if the lack of the ability to dumb it down translates to intent? That's what I was going for here.

There's more to it it, though. The phrase "experts say" is often used as a lazy stand-in for the truth, a baseless shortcut. Who are these experts? Are you citing a real study? If it's not the expert who's lying, then maybe it's the person using the phrase in this way.

The source matters if we are to trust information. The narrator winks and offers another lie, "we're not quick enough to get the difference."

***

The iTunes & Spotify Farewell Tour / Control Mouse Music Last chance to download MP3s! This song will removed from iTunes on March 15, 2014: http://bit.ly/cmm-002. For more about why I am removing my music from iTunes and Spotify, please see Opting Out: An Indie Musician's Experience.

***

The Selectmen / Experts Lie From the 6-song EP: Introducing The Selectmen

Meet the band: http://selectmen.com/band Album credits: http://selectmen.com/credits “Like” on Facebook: http://facebook.com/selectmen Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/selectmen

#CMM #iTunes #Spotify #MM #SmartRock

0 notes

controlmouse · 11 years

Audio

This song has been a staple of my live shows for years. It's about the restrictions of language, a common theme in my songs.

I always liked the self-referential aspect, as in, "Why do they always have to play this song every time I feel this way." It's as if the performer doesn't have control over the song itself, which is kind of true, to a certain extent. Sometimes the pop song format forces you into articulating things in a way that can seem unnatural. It can be used as a device, too. Of course, the audience has to play along and suspend disbelief in order for it to work, as is often the case.

***

The iTunes & Spotify Farewell Tour / Control Mouse Music Last chance to download MP3s! This song will removed from iTunes on March 15, 2014: http://bit.ly/cmm-001. For more about why I am removing my music from iTunes and Spotify, please see Opting Out: An Indie Musician's Experience.

***

Michael Boezi / So Cold From the 5-song EP: So Cold

Album credits: http://controlmousemusic.com/daisy “Like” on Facebook: http://facebook.com/controlmouse Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/controlmouse Blog: http://controlmouse.tumblr.com

#CMM #iTunes #Spotify #MM

0 notes

controlmouse · 11 years

Text

Two of my songs on the D1Radio Hour tonight!

Really excited—two of my songs are on The D1Radio Hour tonight. The first track is at 11:40, called Make Yourself Scarce, and the second is at 35:00 called Downshift Dub, which I made with a ukulele. There's not enough uke dub out there, right? I'll tell you one thing, it's really hard to follow the great Keith Hudson, though.

Link: http://bit.ly/D1-Radio-010914

The D1Radio Hour | Live on TheThursdayNightShow.com | 14-01-09 by D1 Radio on Mixcloud

#CMM #mixcloud #newmusic #internetradio

0 notes

controlmouse · 11 years

Audio

I wrote this song to be a set opener, and I've used it that way a number of times in solo performances. The first verse is how largely how it sounds when I perform it solo, and then the band kicks in. I thought made a good transition for me—from solo performer to part of a band. The Selectmen definitely changed the character of this song, for the better.

I like the way it addresses the audience directly, as a way to "feel out" how the interaction will work. It's a part of every performance, because every crowd is different. The interplay between performer and audience is critically important to the show, so I was playing with the idea of starting an honest dialog right from the first bar.

***

The iTunes & Spotify Farewell Tour / Control Mouse Music Last chance to download MP3s! This song will removed from iTunes on March 15, 2014: http://bit.ly/cmm-002. For more about why I am removing my music from iTunes and Spotify, please see Opting Out: An Indie Musician's Experience.

***

The Selectmen / Shiver From the 6-song EP: Introducing The Selectmen

Meet the band: http://selectmen.com/band Album credits: http://selectmen.com/credits “Like” on Facebook: http://facebook.com/selectmen Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/selectmen

#CMM #Selectmen #iTunes #Spotify #MM

0 notes