NPR: First Listen Tori Amos - Night of Hunters

I haven't had a chance to listen to this yet, but I thought I'd post now and give opinions later. The new Tori Amos album Night of Hunters is now streaming on NPRs website. Go forth and listen!

NPR - First Listen: St. Vincent

NPR has really been doing a great job of making me happy by streaming the albums
of some of my favorite musicians before the release dates. Being a child who couldn't
resist shaking the presents before Christmas Day, this is something with makes me exceedingly happy.

You can have a listen to St. Vincent's Strange Mercy in its entirety over on NPR's
website.

Enjoy! The album is scheduled for a September 13th release date.

Fallout Friday - The Nuclear Edition

There are certain questions which keep finding their way into my thought patterns.
This is one that has circled around for a while.

Why is the U.S.A. seemingly in charge of policing nuclear weapons worldwide when it is the only country which has actually used nuclear weapons against other human beings?

As you ponder this question, I leave you with a very literal video for Ani DiFranco's "The Atom" made by a fan and posted to Youtube. Happy Friday! Enjoy.

Diversions - Hygiene with Amy Sedaris

Amy Sedaris has always been my hero.
Whenever I'm a little down
I know that she's there
to help put things into perspective.
She also teaches me things...
important things like hygiene.

A pair of (eat my) shorts on September's Out Radio

J.D. Doyle is the foremost historian of queer music.
His knowledge is unrivaled. Not only is he a staunch supporter
of Out artists and their works, but he is also just a really nice guy.

I had the pleasure of meeting J.D. back in 2006 when I had the honor of recording an intro to accompany my song Marlboro man for his program.

This month, you can hear two songs in my eat my shorts series being played on the september edition of Out Radio. There are many talented musicians, too many to name with whom I share this honor.

Head over to JD's site and check out the playlist where you can also
listen to the program.

moneyless Music - Robert Recommends - Royksopp/The Irrepressibles Free Download

The Irrepressibles have been on my musical radar for a while now thanks
to their introduction by the lovely Gilles-Mathieu Laberge, my friend up north in Montréal.

The Scandi (Norwegian Electronica) group Royksopp has put their own subtle but lovely twist on the track In This Shirt, which is now downloadable from their site.

Get it here for Free!

Also, if you haven't seen the music video from Pag directed by Roy Raz (non official) for the same song, I highly recommend you give it a looksy. Pure eye candy.

Eat My Shorts - Volume 4 - Bootylicious

Robert German - Eat My Shorts - Volume 4: Bootylicious by robertgermanmusic

Robert German - Eat My Shorts - Volume 3: The West Virginia Bath Salt Blues

Robert German - Eat My Shorts - Volume 3: The West Virginia Bath Salt Blues by robertgermanmusic

This 2 Shall Pass - Rehearsal 4.28.11

Yes, I'm wearing Pajama pants, a scarf and a took.
This is just a bit of footage from a laid back rehearsal
on 4.28.11. This 2 Shall Pass.



We will be posting video clips regularly from here on out.
Please subscribe to the official Youtube channel to be kept up to
date when things are posted.

The NarcissusSea (lyrics)

Metamorphisis of Narcissus by Salvador Dali (1937)

oh the man
he loved his reflection
it's rippled perfection
the ebb and flow of
oh god, I love me so much

oh the man
his body contorting
an image distorting
when the tide goes out
there'll be nothing left of him

In the Narcissus si sis us Sea
In the Narcisus si sis us Sea
The Narcissus si sis us
Narcisus si sis sis

The sailors all have mirrors on their sails
and the dolphins all have cameras on their tails
the lobster's selling lipstick to the walruses and whales
and the clams have many secrets they could sell

in the narcissus si sis us Sea
in the narcissus si sis us Sea
the narcissus si sis us Sea

Eat My Shorts - Volume 2: Nerdy Boy

Eat My Shorts - A New Series

People used to communicate through long flowery letters whilst musicians wrote elaborate pieces, movements, symphonies even ring cycles. Oh how times have changed.

micro blogging, tweeting, music released as single tracks connected to no album. OMG, LOL, WTF, TTYS, ROTFL! XOXO

Though I have a special love for a thought out well crafted album, where the songs flow together and work as one harmonious piece of art, I also have a special adoration for very short songs. I realized that I have many songs which are less than a minute, which I may never expand beyond that length.

So without further ado, I present a series which I will attempt to refresh once a week.

Eat my shorts, bite-size demos for the attention deficit disordered masses.

I hope you enjoy.



a note about volume 1. This was a silly improv that I just created on the fly to test out a new microphone. All tracks were 1 take with minimal editing. It is what it is. The image you see was taken using a diana f+ 120 film camera w/ 100 iso redscale film, extended exposure of atlantic avenue subway station while a train was pulling into the platform.

the end is nigh

I woke this morning to this song playing on repeat in my head.
This is obviously undeniable evidence that the end is nigh.



The ominous word snowpocalypse has been bandied about
lately as the latest mot du jour. Birds have been falling from the sky and Florida airports have closed to move their runways to accomodate the shifting magnetic north pole. Coincidence? I think not. Well, perhaps some sort
of cataclysm is on the horizon. God Help us All.

When the evil white flakes of death fall this evening to destroy our collective existence, don't
say I didn't warn you.

The Beginning. The End.

K and I started watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer on Netflix over the summer. I must admit that I used to kind of laugh in my head at people who watched this show. It seemed rather silly to me, but alas, we got sucked in and not only have we derived guilty pleasure from watching it, but we managed to watch every episode but the final three, which we marathoned last night. I had been working for 9 hours straight on a track called Sally (demo here) for the third album The Ocean & The Easel. My brain, eyes and soul were fried, so distraction was very welcome.

Saturday marked the beginning of the recording process for this album and was consumed by 12 hours of vocal takes. Don't get too excited yet as this is a double album which I am recording in self-imposed hermitage, so the likelihood of an impending (soonish) release is not high. I dove head first into music and pretty much stayed there for the duration. By the end of the day I felt completely frustrated and wanted to just delete every audio file, which is the typical feeling I get when starting anything, but I hope to get into my groove soon enough.

I balanced the 12 hours of work with 12 hours of sleep Saturday night. I jumped right into gear on Sally as soon as my feet hit the floor Sunday morning (noon). well, I kind of stepped on a piece of glass and bled all over the place, but after I cleaned my wound and stopped the bleeding, I was hard at work.
Sunday was a new day and brought with it a more optimistic approach. I worked on editing for 9 hours. I know I accomplished much, but I am impatient and always wish things would go more quickly and most of what I had to do was tedious work. K cooked me a lovely dinner and we vegetated for our Buffy marathon and then curled up in bed. However, I felt unsettled and could not sleep. I stayed up until 3 in the morning editing and pondering.

Tonight I trudge forward.

Unplug -The Music Video

Today is the official US/World release of Unplug aka the Australian Music video.
It is the creation of the very talented Simon Trevorrow.

I hope you enjoy it.

I express my love with Pork

Last night I went and bought a 10 pound ham and took over the kitchen with a fit of frenzy. I prepared the ham in the tradition of my people, which involves pineapple slices and brown sugar.

Unsatisfied that ham alone is the full embodiment of comfort, I peeled, boiled and mashed potatoes with generous additions of butter, cream, salt and pepper.

I got some of those big foil roasting pans and prepared everything to take upstairs to Isaiah's grandmother. She was not home, which ulimately was a good thing as it gave the ham time to cool from third-degree-burn-straight-out-of-the-oven temperature to warm and ready to eat.

I heard the sound of people walking around which meant that someone was home.
When I got to the door, the next door neighbor saw me and just opened the door.

I walked into an apartment full of older women in flowered dresses all scuttling about. Isaiah's grandmother was not there, but one of the ladies helped me carry everything to the kitchen and then I departed. I hope that the ham goes to good use. I know it's hard to think of food when grieving, but I just hope that my love expressed through pork will warm their souls a bit.

Celebrating a Life/Losing Isaiah

Yesterday was K's birthday. We celebrated in grand style with a dinner of seafood namely our luxurious crustacean friend, mister Lobster. We then gathered with the lovely KL, DD and LMO for drinks. I feel very blessed to have K in my life and am
thankful that he was born and is alive and well. I could not have asked for
a better soul mate. I am truly blessed.

We were making our way back home, opening the apartment door when we ran into our friend Emma who lives one floor directly above us. She was on her way to the hospital. Her grandson Isaiah had been hit by a car and she informed us that he was unconscious. I could see the pain and distress in her eyes. I could sense the shock and I had a hard time taking in what she was saying. I tried to continue the acknowledgement/celebration of K's birthday, but I couldn't stop thinking about Isaiah.

We went about our evening trying not to think about Isaiah and finally went to bed.

This morning we woke to the sound of someone ringing our doorbell. K got up to answer it as I was still bleery-eyed and not yet ready to greet the morning. As soon as he opened the door, I could hear her cries "He's gone. He's gone" Everything else was muffled unintelligible echos swelling in the hallway. Konstantine returned to bed asking if I had heard and if I knew what she had said. I said I didn't think I wanted to know. He confirmed that I had heard correctly. He's gone.

Isaiah was 13 years old. He was a musician, a writer, a very special little man who
always addressed me by name and looked me in the eyes. He had kind eyes and a soul that glowed beyond his skin. There was something wise about him, an old soul. Isaiah had trouble walking due to being born with spina bifida. I'm not sure if this in part led to the tragic accident. I don't know all the details. I just know that he is gone and that his family now grieves. I find myself filled with overwhelming sadness to know that he died so young. He had many songs and stories to write that will go unwritten.

It is a tragedy like this that makes one really appreciate life and the loved ones we have. Every day could be our last and every moment is so important.

Isaiah, I am so sorry that you did not get to do everything you planned to do in this life. I hope that you are at peace. You will be missed.

I now find myself trying to decide what best food to cook for his family.
I know it's not exclusively a southern thing, but most of my upbringing being in the south, there is some automatic caserole instinct that kicks in and takes over. It is my knee jerk reaction to tragedy that I must turn the oven on. I must cook.

The Bottle(Lyrics)

To all the ones we left behind
who pray for us at supper time
and hang their clothes out on the line
and watch the time as it slips away

I hope you read these words I wrote,
a sentimental scrolled up note.
I threw the bottle
watched it float
then I watched it til it disappeared.

Beside the water stands a man
he holds a bottle in his hand
he pops the cork
wipes off the sand
he reads the words
but doesn't understand.

A tiny ship that doesn't float
its sails made from a crumpled note
and balsa wood and superglue
in a bottle that has sailed the blue.

It sits there on the mantle top
the logs shift and the fire pops
the ocean breeze, the ticking clock
a final breath
a heartbeat stops

Free Download of the Week- Fishnet Sailor