Dunno how it's been where you are, but in Austin, it's just one big wave of heat. And no rain since... Can't remember.
It does something to ya, all that heat. Dries up your pores, makes you thirsty. Gives you a new appreciation for rain - You ever have a time when you hated rain?
Isaac and Horace have not been unmoved. More like obsessed. The only thing taking more of their brain's cycles during this phase is Mother, who is never far from their thoughts, though she's been dead and buried for 17 years now.
So with the new obsession comes a new birth - "Turning Into Ash" is the name of the next release. Our first pass art, generated by the producer just so he could have a simplistic image to embed in the MP3s, was this:
Not all that inspiring. After some digging around, consulting, and asking the Internet, the producer came up, well, dry. He turned to Horace for ideas, who remembered that tale of fiery woe from long ago - Pompeii. From there, the producer produced this as the new CD's art:
If this image doesn't convey it, we'll just say it straight out: This is the brothers' darkest, most dramatic work ever.
They say the music industry is changing. We don't know for sure - Change is one of the few constants the brothers experience - custody battles or privacy hearings or medical examinations or legal wranglings, change, or threat thereof, is their only constant.
But the producer noticed a big shift in the digital music landscape. Local band Quiet Company is now in cahoots with GrooveShark and Rocket Science - Their next release will be promoted via a new showcase project that will circumvent the big labels. It's a bold move by new movers and shakers in the new world music order - Read about it here.
The upshot was that the producer took a look at GrooveShark. Got addicted. Moved the brothers' music up, and now you can find "A Work In Progress" on yonder Grooveshark.
Cool. And not just because it's got "shark" in the title.
We finished "A Work In Progress", shipped it out. Sat back, sighed. Scratched our beards.
The brothers, bored, got up and wandered back into the studio. The producer consulted that great holder of all knowledge, Google, for what to do next. And it responded - Music Video!
The producer, glad to have something to do, picked up the ball and ran with it. Metaphorically. He found Animeeple, fired up After Effects, generated a few backgrounds with Combustion, ran Anime Studio. Put it all together, producing this video for the hit "Hop Skip Jump":
We've beaten the lawyers at their own game, overcome sleep deprivation, and leapt court-appointed hurdles, and are now able to report Yes, "A Work in Progress" is done.
Whew. The brothers have made the deadline, it seems, and with a few days to spare. It'll be here this Friday, 3/25/11. We love Bandcamp, so look there (which, BTW, allows hidden tracks, hint hint). iTunes too. And we know for a fact it can be had via Amazon:
And so there's been some significant progress on the next LP, titled "A Work in Progress". So much so that the producer got in touch with a visual designer to generate an image for the CD cover.
The visual designer turned out to be no less than Noël Kristi Wells, the actress, comedienne, and creator of the Zooey Deschanel Show. (Turns out she's a film editor and brilliant photographer as well. We're pretty sure she also has a great plan for World Peace, but were afraid to ask.)
Noël turned in several comps, here's two that we really liked -
The brothers absolutely loved this one, but the producer said No, it's a bit too dark for the cuts in this release. This caused consternation, and Horace asked for a copy to simply hang in their cell. (The jury is still out on this; the producer is waiting to hear back about the institute's policy on wall decorations.)
This one is closer, and the producer said YES. But Noël nixed it, knowing there was something better.
We ended up with this one, which the brothers were very happy with:
And when we say "very happy", we mean that they agreed it was amazingly appropriate, and that there was no violence or obscene gestures between them.
With that done, the producer, flush with success, named March 25, 2011 as the Official Release Date for "A Work In Progress". Will post the success, or failure, of making that date...
The brothers have been soaking in the locals, musically-speaking; contributing to the world of music fandom in a vague sort of way. Which means they've simply become big fans of some of the talent in the Austin TX area, making suggestions to the producer about what to include in the Austin Independent Music blog and podcast.
As a musical entity, there's progress on that front as well: 12 new tracks have been earmarked for the next, as yet-to-be-named CD, who's release date is also TBD, though we're thinking March-April. These tracks are in various states of construction; some are almost ready to graduate, others are still mere infants in the DAW. But all have a sharper, sometimes dirtier, edge than the tracks on the Flattened Frog release. We are liking it.
Speaking of new - Brand Gamblin has managed to finish another novel: The Hidden Institute. This means another podcast, and hopefully more podcast-aimed music from the brothers. Should that music ever get produced, look for more "1884"-ish soundtracks on our Bandcamp pages.
Sure, coupling the adjective "new" with the noun "Christmas music" sounds oxymoronic. But Hey, it happens, and we can thank the uber-productive cats of Watch Out For Rockets for it. "It" being, in this case, the "13 Days of Christmas" release.
Yep, keeping in (or perhaps, skewering) the spirit of the season, we've been treated to a new song every day, with the madness starting on the 12th, and the last entry landing on the 25th, Christmas day.
And just to be clear: These ain't just new renditions of yer granny's favorites. Oh no, these are new classics in and of themselves. The personal favorite? Day 2, Hey Mr. Snowman. Well, that one and Day 9, Eggnog and Incense.
OK, sure, Christmas and New Years have come and gone. But good music never goes out of season. [Feel free to quote us on that.]
