The Unblinking Eye

Behold, a new video from Bay Area production team Ill Mondo featuring the lyrics and vocals of none other than yours truly. The song is called “The Unblinking Eye” and is NOT a cover of the Roger Taylor tune of which I was unaware until I searched YouTube for my song, which is much better.  That is my totally objective opinion.  The song is one of two featuring The Ken (that’s my new nickname, pass it on!) on Ill Mondo’s new album De Novo which was released yesterday and is available for free on the Circle Into Square website.  The other song is called Hayatta and features even creepier lyrics.  There are lots of other singers on there as well – check it out!

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The Pieces video has been released!

Many thanks to Emiel and the Kickstarter donors for making this happen!  I’d also like the thank Eric from Magnet Magazine for featuring it in the Videos at 11 section of the site.  Enjoy!

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Edible Norris: He Likes To Do It

Fans and spambots alike, I am proud to share with you today the first Edible Norris video, ever:

embedded by Embedded Video

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Triple Threat: ASCAP Expo, Site Redesign & Documentary Trailer

Happy black friday, everybody!  My head is slowly clearing after the whirlwind of networking that was the ASCAP New York Sessions, at which I reconnected with ’09 expo attendee and fellow pianist Steve Schultz and met various and sundry songwriters and producers from the NYC area including Joe Hanley from local production house theVAULT.  The most interesting session award went to Stargate and Sandy Vee, who deconstructed popular tunes such as Katy Perry’s “Firework” and Britney’s “Selfish” – which was apparently supposed to be called “Man-Bitch.”  Stupid censors.  Also, at lunch, I got compared to Paul Rudd for the third time in recent memory.  This is honestly getting annoying.

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Across The Great Western Plains

Do you know what I expect when I see a sign that reads “Automated Dinosaurs Ahead?”  Dinosaurs.  That are automated.  Shame on you, Stewarts Petrified Wood, for letting us down with your lies.  They did have petrified wood, though, along with an ostrich farm and a whole host of dinosaur statues featuring unlucky female mannequins.  So maybe they were only half-lying.  Such are the potential pitfalls of traveling along Route 66.  Things that are not a bait-and-switch include Crater National Park, which is breath-taking and features an exhibit featuring the sweet MIDI tunes of Nashville composer Frank Cicalese, and our current residence, the Motel Safari, which beats the hell out of the Circus Circus Manor in Las Vegas.  Note to potential customers: do not bring up how much the town of Tucumcari reminds you of Radiator Springs from Cars.  Apparently they find the comparison unfavorable.

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Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

Lo!  We are moving to New York.  By “we” I mean I and my girlfriend, Penelope.  How are we doing it?  By that most prototypically American of methods: the cross-country road trip.  Sadly my faithful vehicle of the last 10 years, a 1993 Audi A6 Quattro Wagon known locally as the Golden Chariot, was deemed to be of inadequate constitution for the journey.  Luckily she found a new home with fellow road-warrior and friend Jen Blakeslee who will, no doubt, give it the love I could never provide.

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Frontalot Fall 2010 Tour Diary Days 17-19: Cleveland & Ann Arbor BLOW OUR MINDS

My skin is WAY pastier“OH MY GOD THAT’S PAUL RUDD!” exclaimed the drunken man in the backwards-facing baseball cap as his SUV barreled by the stage door of the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland.  He was yelling at me.  “I LOVE YOU MAN!”  This would have startled and puzzled me had the exact same thing not happened to me only a month prior at a party.  Apparently a certain demographic (25-34, male, inebriated) is convinced that I bear a striking resemblance to the 40-Year-Old Virgin actor.  No amount of photographic evidence to the contrary seems to sway these boozed-up young adults from their convictions, however clear it becomes that he and I share nothing in common but being white men with brown hair.

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Frontalot Fall 2010 Tour Diary: Day 16, Pittsburgh

Peeing is a right, not a priviledgeI would like to begin today’s entry with the sad story of Tycho Brahe: astronomer, Danish nobleman, and victim of the rare but fatal bladderus overfillus syndrome.  Both a heavy drinker and a man of impeccable etiquette, Tycho found himself in a deadlock of ethics and urges while at a banquet in Prague.  The attendees were of such high social status that Tycho deemed it declasse to leave the table prior to the end of the engagement.  There was also an effectively endless supply of wine and spirits, which he could not help but consume at a rapid pace.  Unwilling to relieve himself yet unable to stop drinking, the poor man swelled up until he burst like a water balloon after the Earl of Sandwich prodded him with a fork.  The moral of the story?  Carpe mentula.  When absolutely necessary.

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Frontalot 2010 Fall Tour Diary: Days 6-15 – Providence & Boston

Club Hell gothifies everyoneBleary-eyed and bluster-tongued, we hurtle along the deep suburban veins of inland New Jersey, our minds consumed with one word: Shartlesville.  Home of the giant farmers, the tiny trains and the larger-than-life ambitions of Laurence Gieringer, the now-deceased proprietor of Roadside America.  On our last tour, you may remember, we showed up just a little too late to experience the magic.  Not-a-today, sir! We are determined to rectify that error, and won’t let trendy diversions such as “getting a good night’s sleep” or “being aware enough to safely operate a motor vehicle” get in our red-blooded American way.

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Frontalot Fall Tour Diary Days 2-5: Northampton & Hamden

Which MC is that?WARNING: This post contains moody, spooky and downright weird photos.  I’ve been on something of an artsy photo kick lately, due largely to the awesome capabilities of my new-ish EVO 4G paired with the vintage effects of Camera360.  I post about it, you get to see it.  The upshot is that the contents of the photographs may not coordinate with my prose.  Unrelated: I went to I Write Like and was informed that my word choice and cadence are similar to techno-blogger Cory Doctorow.  Perhaps it is the frequency of commas and exclamatory asides?  The jury is out on whether or not this is a good thing.

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