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Now playing: Music2Work2 - Richard
via FoxyTunes

Live From Abbey Road - Official Web Site

Live From Abbey Road - Official Web Site

If you have a moment, check this site out.  Live performances recorded at Abbey Road studios.  I am so jealous and would so love to play there and do this gig.  I used to own a flat on Abbey Road and went over that Zebra crossing every day - twice; selling the flat lives in the "dumbest things I have ever done" part of my memory.  Check out The Red Hot Chilli Pepper's version of Dani California - it's amazing - you only get to see a clip of the end of the track but John Frusciante is astonishing - and then you recognize that the whole band is astonishing - God I would love to see them live

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Clive - A Review

Listening to Clive, an Acoustic/Folk Rock/Pop band out of Wilmington Delaware, I am reminded of earlier years and the music you and your friends gathered to hear in coffee houses. The tunes are catchy; the lyrics tell stories and ponder the questions of life............

"Do you ever wonder whats been burried under your shoes
Do you ever wonder why troubles come in twos and threes and still
all of our days are filled with joy and laughter
Its just a taste of the sweet sweet hereafter... "

This is part of the lyrics of my favorite song from Clive's MySpace page, "Sweet Sweet Hereafter."

All four songs available to hear are really good. I like the melodies, the lyrics, and the instruments heard in the pieces. I also like the fact that it brings back fond memories of times long gone.

Twitter and the LoveDAQ

In time for Valentine's day, here's an explanation of what Twitter is, what it does for you, how you do it and what you might get from it.

Twitter is

A thing that takes you from one place to another, in this case, from the land of "where you currently are" - to the land of "I know Kung Fu!"

Twitter gives you:

The ability to learn from people you would never normally meet.

How do you twitter?

In order to Twitter - you have to buy into the concept of:

"You only get what you give"

Once you have that down - it's easy. When you're at your computer, or you have your cellphone on you - write what it is you are doing. It doesn't make any sense until you start, but if you truly believe that you get back what you give, you'll do fine. Don't worry about what you write, how you write it, what you write it with or where you write from - just write. If you continue doing it, you'll get better at it - just like learning how to read when you were a child or like learning how to walk, even if your legs are a bit wobbly! There are many tools that make it easier to do like:
Flock - it's a browser with Twitter built in - I'm blogging with Flock right now
Foxytunes - my favorite tool - one click and you're away - highly recommended for Music types.

What's in it for you?

Information in bite-size, easily digestible chunks. Not just the usual suspects either, but cool things like missrougue's original post. I wonder what the world would be like with a LoveDAQ - I don't know - it feels a bit wrong to me - but then I'm a hopeless romantic.

The Essentialness of Music

About 14 years ago, after my mother died from cancer, I needed the help of a grief counselor to get through the grief process and be able to move on with my life. This led to me spending the next four years doing volunteer work in the Grief Center at the local Hospice. I basically did whatever needed to be done – filing, copying, etc., but also ended up helping with weekend Grief Camp for individuals and families who had experienced a loss, and leading grief groups.

Last week I was asked by the grief counselor with whom I had done my own grief work – he is now head of the Counseling Dept at a local college – to speak to one of his classes. As part of this course, he wanted them to hear from people who had experienced loss, about their own particular struggle and path to healing. I was one of several people who told “my story” to these students.

Another part of this class focused on the benefit of music and grief. The students were asked to bring in a song or piece of music that they had found helpful in times of loss and grief – music that brought peace, comfort, hope, etc. I, of course, told them about Music2Work2. When I lost my beloved dog, Cassie, shortly before Christmas 2006, Andrew had composed a piece of music in memory of her. It made me feel cared about that he would give me such an awesome gift, and it helped me to remember the joy she had given me, the times of her playing and running about - - it replaced the painful final picture I was left with of her lifeless body lying in her bed, with happier memories of the wonderful 15 years she had been a loving and loyal companion.

Following the class, one of the students gave me a cd of piano music that he had recorded. The songs are a variety of classical pieces, movie themes, and instrumental versions of music made famous by pop artists. The title of the cd is “Music For Reflection & Healing” by Rickey D. Johnson. Mr. Johnson is a talented pianist and I very much appreciated his gift of the cd.

Not just for the fact that it confirms the basic belief upon which Music2Work2 is built - - that music is helpful - in almost all aspects of life, I am very glad that the benefits of music are being recognized more and more. Music has certainly been an important part of my life; different songs or pieces of music elicit memories of events or people in my life as far back as I can remember, and evoke a variety of feelings and emotions. For me, it is one of life’s essential elements.

Dumb Pipes

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/012808isp

How do you feel about Dumb pipes?

I personally like the idea of dumb pipes - I think it benefits us

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Bowser

Just posted Bowser onto the site - which sounds really rather odd when you think of it! Funny thing is that the music doesn't sound anything like him!!!

I often wonder what the title of songs mean to people: there are song titles that reflect what is going on in the track - like Stairway to Heaven or Free Falling - but for an instrumental - I guess you could look at Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells and say they were indicative, onamatapeic almost - but for a session with the title, "Bowser" - what does that say about the track?

You can check it out in its entirety on the front page of www.music2work2.com for a little while before we parcel it up and sell it! ;-)

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Stoked

My computer broke last Thursday....

- All my music goes through my computer.

- I spend over 30 hours a week looking at my computer screen - actually - that's a minimum, its probably double that

- this is how I make my living, so when the computer breaks - its a very, very big thing.


My computer had been put together for me by Richard, my brother - 5 years ago. He knows about this stuff and we built the best machine I could afford at the time ($1500:) big server case, loads of fans, fast motherboard, P4, gig of ram - it was fast and it worked, it was the best machine I have ever owned! Thank you Richard.

Its taken 5 days, but I have a new machine, new dual screen set up, new workspace, new capacities - and again; everything works!!!

Looking forward to posting new music - there is new track that Bowser owns - light piano and strings that should be up in the next week or so. I'm off to play.....

A Review of the Music of Maria DeMaio

One of the things I really like about working with Music2Work2 is that I get to listen to so many different artists and so many types of music.

A MySpace friend of Music2Work2 whose music I enjoy listening to is Maria DeMaio. Maria & the fellas (as the group is apparently referred to) consist of Maria on vocals/piano and as songwriter, Reid Angwin on guitaz/bass, Mike Giordano on bass/guitaz and Mike Stavitz on drums. Their music is classified as Pop/Folk/Indie.

They have an interesting sound. The six sample songs on their MySpace page combine lovely melodies, lyrics that are personal and often intense, sung in Maria's pretty, clear voice. Her voice and the emotion with which she sings remind me a lot of Sarah McLachlan.

I enjoyed all six songs, especially " Her Side." It is clear why Maria & the fellas have formed a growing fan base in the Boston area and beyond. Their newly released first album is available now.

Anne Lovett - A Review

Anne Lovett began playing the piano at age 3 and a couple of years after that began composing her own music. She went on in later years to study at the Paris Conservatoire and the Royal Academy of Music in London. At the Academy, she studied classical piano, jazz, improvised music and composition. Most recently she fills concert halls for her performances and is working on an album.

Anne Lovett is one of Music2Work2's MySpace friends who shares a belief that music has power. Anne believes music can entertain, transcend cultural boundaries, inspire and enlighten. Her music is classified as Classical/Alternative/Experimental.

There are five sample songs on her MySpace page. They are all lovely solo piano pieces, played with passion and skill. I enjoyed all the songs. I especially like "Perpetuum Mobile 1," and "Ludivine," a piece she wrote for the part of the Planetarium Ludiver in Normandy dedicated to children and space exploration. I recommend these as well as the other songs by Anne Lovett.

Guitar Music At It's Best

Do you enjoy guitar music? If so, you will probably want to check out the music of one of Music2Work2's MySpace friends, Nello Angelucci[61]. He has a long history of studying under some of the music greats- first classical guitar, then jazz, and also Flamenco Guitar. He now lives in Japan; his music is classified as Acoustic/Flamenco/Jazz.

The six sample songs on Angelucci's MySpace page are a nice variety of different kinds of guitar music. His skill and versatility are evident in these selections.

All of the songs are lovely and provide a relaxing and calming mood. My favorite of the pieces is "Kio no kumori." It is a beautiful song, with an upbeat tempo.

I really enjoyed Nello Angelucci's music and recommend experiencing it yourself.

What a job!

This week has been devoted to working on getting ready for some of the changes we are about to make to the Music2Work2 website. I have been making two and a half minute and five minute clips of all the sessions in the Music2Work2 catalogue. What a fantastic job, huh? It means listening to each piece of music over and over (while deciding where to make the cuts)- - - can it get much better than this? Boy, do we have some great music!

I have always been aware of how beautiful the music really is. But, listening to hours of it, one after the other, I can safely say that it is really outstanding. It is beautiful music that can be listened to anytime, anywhere. Since I don't compose or perform the music, I can brag on it where my partner may be reluctant to give himself and his music such praise. But, we have a great catalogue of absolutely gorgeous music, so watch the website for the changes and new ways of accessing it.

Just Testing...

This is a test post from Music2Work2 to see how Feedburner handles email subscriptions and email delivery.  I'll stick in a little link to the Kelli site - just for good measure!

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One for the Team - A Review

One for the Team is a MySpace friend of Music2Work2 from Minneapolis, MN. Their music is classified as Indie/Rock/Powerpop. The band members are Ian Anderson - vocals, synth and guitar, Grace Fiddler - vocals, synth, John Kruegar - bass, Elliott Manthey - drums, Bill Caperton - guitar.

The music of One for the Team is upbeat, fun music. There are six sample songs to hear on their MySpace page. My favorite of the samples is "I Promised I'd Grow Up." The vocals are pleasant and the tunes are catchy. The harmony heard in some of the songs is very good.

One for the Team has found their own sound and it delivers a pleasant listening experience. If you like Rock music, check them out!

Ain't No Sunshine...

Bill Wither's early insight into a Man's heart sneaks up on you with it's honesty and brilliance - you might even say: "It Rocks!" We're covering this over at Kelli.com, it sounds amazing - but in the meantime - check out this great video of him introducing it on The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1972.

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Dashboard Confessional Rocks my Birthday

I'm listening to Thick as Thieves by Dashboard Confessional.  I love their song Currents - the guitars sound like a cross between Coldplay and AC/DC - I love the register of the vocal and the keys are wonderfully put in - it's hopelessly romantic and passionate - I love the lyric - it says to me that even at the end of things - there's hope for the future - and shit - I'm an optimist - so you know I'm probably gonna dig it.

We're developing a number of covers for the Kelli set - we worked yesterday on Bobby McGee and Ain't no Sunshine - I'm super excited about them both - Bobby McGee in particular.  We took the verse and made it minor and it works - actually - it sent shivers up our spines - Kelli and I did a couple of takes on the 31st - one slow and piano driven - one faster guitar driven - I dig them both.  We're going into the studio tonight to work them up and if things well - we'll have video of them by Thursday!

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