Life in a Blender at Barbes this Friday

Life in a Blender will be playing this Friday, July 18, at 8 pm, at Barbes. We are currently roughing up our polished act so as to appear more spontanous and raggedy. Come at 7 for the amazing Chris Rael.

Get yer tickets now!

We're going to have a horn section! And Rebecca is back! This should be a great show. Do come. (Illustration by Lukas Lerner)

There's No Sound In Flutes!

As many of you devoted followers of this blog know, my son, Lukas, plays the drums. He's recently taken a few days off from his nearly constant musical diet of the Descendents to immerse himself in Buddy Rich's playing. It was mostly for a school report, but he got pretty into it, and we watched a DVD about the guy that had about a zillion drum solos in it. And in the era of YouTube and such, the legendary bus tapes are easier than ever to come by, in case Lukas needed any lessons in swearing and craziness. But even I, avowed jazz doubter and drum solo hater, had to admit that besides the obvious technical wizardry, there's a pretty amazing musicality at work in those solos.

So (also as part of this school thing), Lukas recorded a short sample of himself doing some Buddy Rich-style playing. Enjoy. It's no "Pusscat" or "Wienerschnitzel," but what is?

Metropolis and Phoenicia in the same sentence?

Yes, this Friday, April 25, 7 pm, the "Last Friday Picture Show" continues...

METROPOLIS, Fritz Lang's silent classic, at the Shandaken Theatrical Society in Phoenicia. With live music accompaniment by Jesse Chandler.

Life In A Blender at the Baggott Inn and at Whitney Biennial

Life In A Blender has 2 splendid shows coming up in Manhattan:

Friday, March 28, we'll be playing at the Baggott Inn, at 8 pm.

Friday, April 4, we'll be performing at the Whitney Biennial. Really. 7 pm. Crazy. It's part of a piece called Neighborhood Public Radio and can be heard throughout the museum and maybe somewhere else, I have no idea.

Ooh... Scary

Yet another sonic chapter in the family music saga: Lukas and Mark present a surfy confection called "Ooh... Scary."

Ever the flip-flopper in this regard, I've once again turned on comments in order to receive a flood of compliments. At the slightest hint of constructive criticism, however, they will be turned off.

Papacast

My daughter Edith and three of her friends have begun a weekly (okay, sometimes every 2 weeks) podcast called, inexplicably, Papacast. It's a fascinating glimpse into the mindset of, well, my daughter Edith and three of her friends. Topics include the presidential election, how hot is/was Heath Ledger, books, music, movies, and funny noises.

You can find the first two episodes here.

or you can subscribe here, if you know what "subscribe" means in the context of a podcast. I didn't until a day or two ago.