Moneyless Music: White Xmas/Xmas Bells

Free Download!

Last year, I recorded two songs in my home studio for the lovely Wanda Wisdom's Christmas Special.

The tracks were written, recorded and mixed over the course of only a couple days.
If i remember correctly, her instructions were to give her something that was somewhere
between Burl Ives and John Waters. I'd like to think I succeeded.
These short ditties are downright filthy, so parental advisory kiddies.

Xmas Bells/White Xmas by robertgermanmusic

2012 - A Musical Odyssey a.k.a. my last year in the USA

...Coming Soon.

A Rant from the Past

Occasionally I stumble upon an article that reminds me of something I posted years ago. So, today I present two articles.


The Cellphone is the New Cigarette - The Rant 2006

&

Technology is the New Smoking - TechCrunch 2011

sort of but not quite a new year's resolution

So, I don't really do new year's resolutions, but this year I am going to try to commit to a few things. This may be a bit ambitious, so don't flog me if I fail on some account.

1. Release of Sunrise at the Speakeasy in 2012 (finally)

2. Finish studio recordings of the following unreleased songs:

The Ocean & The Easel Part 1 :The Ocean

-Wash Away
-Sally
-Banana Leaves
-The Seaman's Wharf
-Fishes & Birds
-Chicken of the Sea (taste like chicken)
-Mister Octopus (yes, that is the title)
-Portuguese Man of War
-The Bottle
-The Siren
-The Ocean & The Easel

The Ocean & The Easel Part 2: The Easel
-Digitized
-Western Front
-Daddy
-Cherry Falls
-600 Miles
-Pretty Decent Guy
-After the Apocalypse
-God in The Telephone Book
-Single File
-Down So Low
-Big from Down Here/Sirens of Brooklyn (ballad version)
-The Famine & The Flood
-Act Like a Girl

3. Move to Canada.

There you have it.

Lotsa Love

R

Things I didn't say It's probably for the best The gimpy edition

I was weighed down carrying two bags this morning and was diverted into a small pathway due to a construction area. I passed a woman and she turned around and started screaming at me.

"What's the matter with you? You can't walk in a straight line?"

5 years ago I had an accident and consequently I walk with a slight limp. It's not something I often talk about. It doesn't so much make me feel deformed or less able, however it is more promounced with I carry bags or heavy awkward things.
In this situation I chose to keep walking as though I didn't hear the woman.

A tiny voice in my head however screemed "I was in an accident and walk with a fucking limp. What's your excuse for being a nasty cunt?"

please pardon the foul language of the little voice in my head most especially its use of the "c" word. I mean no disrespect to women by its usage here. I know how distasteful it is and thus, it's probably for the best that the little voice remained in my head, though now it's had its say on my blog as well.

Sigh.

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.