Proud to have co-written and produced 6 tracks off Abby Bernstein’s brand new sophomore album, Talk In Tongues, out today on iTunes. Also pleased with the contributions of my frequent partners in crime Adam Stoler and Will Hensley, who co-wrote and produced the remaining tracks.
To top things off, Abby’s video for our tune “Mary’s Son” now has over 300,000 hits on YouTube!
You can check out the record on iTunes at this link:
Kudos to others who contributed: Chris Camilleri, Adam Christgau, Jordan Perlson, Mark Santangelo, Dana Leong, Michael Barimo and Adam Handwerger.
After a “pre-release” party this past week at NYC’s The Living Room, Abby Bernstein just released the video for her new single Mary’s Son from her upcoming record Talk In Tongues, which I co-wrote and produced.
Thanks to Jon Chattman of the Huffington Post who did this great interview with Abby and myself for his A-Sides series.
Grace McLean & Them Apples’ very first record Make Me Breakfast is available now!
I’ve been working to produce this record with Grace for almost 2 years and the music’s come a long way. You can download it from the link above and hear what we’ve been cookin’ up. (Hint: it’s breakfast).
Catch us playing live tonight at Rockwood Music Hall, Stage 2 in New York @ 9pm!
Props and thank yous to everyone involved: (and here’s where I paste the credits):
Music & Lyrics by Grace McLean
Produced by Justin Goldner for Funky Butter Productions
Mixed by Chris Abell
Mastered by Larry Lachmann
Recorded at The Butter Lounge, additional recording by Anthony “Rocky” Gallo and Tom Gardiner at Virtue & Vice Studios, Chris Camilleri at Dubway Studios, Sam K. Shaw at The Buddy Project
Grace McLean – vocals, piano, ukulele (Cabbie Landlord), pump organ (Cabbie Landlord)
Liana Stampur, Kate Ferber – background vocals
Hiroyuki Matsuura – drums and percussion
Idrissa Kone – talking drum (Samuel)
Justin Goldner – bass, keyboards, guitars, drum programming, banjo
I’ve been hard at work producing Grace McLean‘s debut album Make Me Breakfast for well over a year now, and her first single “My Friend’s Roommate” is finally out of the oven.
We’ll be playing a digital release show on August 1 at Rockwood Music Hall, Stage 2 followed by a more formal release in the fall.
You can grab a free download of “My Friend’s Roommate” right here:
Big thanks to all of the talented people who worked on the album, including Hiroyuki Matsuura, Liana Stampur, Kate Ferber, Chris Abell, Larry Lachmann, Rocky Gallo, Sam K. Shaw, Tom Gardiner, Chris Camilleri, and Idrissa Kone.
Ryan Amador just posted a great video directed by David Baloche for “In A Little Room“, one of the tracks off his Symptoms of a Wide Eyed Being EP from Funky Butter Productions, released earlier this fall.
Funky Butter Productions’ newest release, Ryan Amador‘s Symptoms of a Wide Eyed Being is officially released today andavailable on iTunes.
Symptoms, produced by Justin Goldner and Shaina Taub, features 5 tunes showcasing Ryan’s range from driving rock choruses to indie-dance anthems.
You can grab the record on iTunes and can stream the lead-off track, “Apology” right here:
Also featured on the record: “Define Me“, an infectious ode to self expression; “Tidal Wave“, an epic tune with soulful vocals; “Rolling Over“, an R&B tune mixing Imogen Heap’s pointed electronica with St. Vincent’s orchestral touch; and “In A Little Room“, where the Smashing Pumpkins meet Taylor Swift (featuring Kate Ferber on vocals).
Big thanks to everyone who contributed to the record, including Jordan Perlson on drums, Dana Leong, for laying down a tapestry of cello parts on “Rolling Over”, Chris Zembower for mixing and mastering, and David Baloche, Amanda Shechtman, Shaina Taub and Kate Ferber for lending their vocal talents.
After a fantastic audience at her CD release party last night at Rockwood Music Hall, Shaina Taub’s What Otters Do is now officially available at her website, with free digital downloads, CD/lyrics booklets, sheet music, and the works.
This spring’s a busy time, with a number of cool projects on the various burners, to be served for your listening pleasure soon enough:
Grace McLean has been wowing audiences with her unique, quirky and catchy songwriting and performance, and it’s about bloody time she had a record… so we’ve been in the studio working on her EP! Grace started a fundraising campaign to make this a reality that has so far raised 95% of her $5000 goal, with only 12 days left. She also made a (hilarious) video outlining the challenges she faces as an artist, and there are some videos here from the tracking we’ve done so far.
Abby Bernstein released her first album last year, made with Adam Blackstone (known for his work with Jill Scott, Maroon 5, Usher and The Roots). Along with Chris Camilleri, I’m producing a track that Abby and I co-wrote called “Just Know”. In addition, next Wednesday, we’re heading to California to open for Barenaked Ladies at Humphrey’s in San Diego! There’s a funny story about the etymology of the name “San Diego”, by the way…
Shaina Taub and I co-produced an album by Ryan Amador that is now in its mixing phases. Ryan has a huge range– both vocally and stylistically– and his album (tentatively titled the Early Symptoms EP) jumps seamlessly from introspective piano-rock to throbbing pop and R&B.
Shaina and I are also putting the finishing touches now on her own debut record, which has been in the works on and off now for almost 2 years. Shaina’s album will feature the thick vocal arrangements that are her trademark, as well as the contributions of several horn and string players and arrangers. We’ve spent the last week laying down the final 2 tracks, including crowd favorites from her live shows, “Make A Mess” and “The Tale of Bear & Otter”. We’ll be playing some of her music at Rockwood Music Hall on May 31 and are looking forward to a mid- to late-summer release.
Sara Colb, formerly of Boston band The Jody Grind, has a huge voice with a bluesy grit to it, and we’ve been working on an album of her original material as well. In addition to her soulful singing, yesterday we had some excellent players come in to lay down fiddle, pedal and lap steel and percussion. Her songs lie somewhere between jangly radio rock and Alison Krauss and we’re very excited at how the record is turning out.
Some other things that have turned my head lately:
An article by Isabelle Peretz and Krysta L. Hyde, “What Is Specific to Music Processing?“. Studies of people with handicaps in their ability to perceive pitch distinction can tell us incredible things about how we as humans perceive and process music.
As previously promised, Morgan Karr just released this brand new animated video of a track I produced featuring Catherine Brookman, a cover of One Republic‘s Apologize directed by James Daniel.
