Virtual Single #1

We made this tune in Stroudsburg, PA while I was taking care of my parents' new dog. After a fair amount of lugging and tugging we got the reel-to-reel set up on an ottoman in the living room. Dan had a great set of samples saved up from working the overnight shifts at work. By the time we got to the bottom of the wine bottle this song was feeling good. You can hear the sound of Capulina wandering around and sniffing the microphone stand.

The Neighborhood Choir - When My Heart Does Beat No More

Back in the Saddle!

Many sorries about the long gap between posts. The Woodstove office is back in business with a brand new macbook and a fire in our pants Ladder 15 down the street wouldn't dare try and put out.

So soon.

Ode to Peng-Li

A few years ago Dan and I lived with two other fellers, Dan Papa and Steve Teare, in a big house right on the corner of 30th & Poplar. We had the dirty expanse that is Fairmount Park at the end of our block where we would play many games of 40 oz. induced basketball, plain sit in the grass, or ride bikes. We were playing in a band called "Bamshire" at the time, and there we recorded an album which I'll put up for sentimental reasons sometime in the near future.




Parker and our other good friend Phil Dahl (graphic artist and zen master) lived about a block away on Cambridge St. This house was the site of many Soul Caliber 3 tournaments and hosted the very first rehearsals of what would become the live-act that is the Neighborhood Choir.

Right around the corner from Parker's was the venerable Lee's Kitchen Chinese Restaurant. Forgoing the invisible language barrier and the quite visible bullet proof glass, we became relatively close with the owners and their little daughter Peng-Li. She had just started kindergarten and would show us her class drawings and squeak out an occasional little word of English. Below is a song for her.



Also included is a track called "She's Got a Friend". This was recorded at Bill Moriarty & Dr. Dog's studio about a year ago, with the 24-track board manned by Marc Snyder. He also did some background vocals.

Bringing in the rear is "Whale Song (Sky Beach)", the number one summertime hit of 2088.

The Neighborhood Choir - Ode to Peng-Li
The Neighborhood Choir - She's Got a Friend
The Neighborhood Choir - Whale Song (Sky Beach)

Terry Gross, Will You Marry Me?

After a thoroughly hectic work week, we've all finally found the chance to load up some more tapes and keep the music flowing. Lots to catch up on.

First, an audio/visual presentation by our dear friend Rachel Playe; photographer and Jewish princess. She came over on a chilly November night and took some photos of the loft while Dan provided his thoughts on the neighborhood. Featuring our cat Miss Chaps. Check it out.......here.

The first song posted is a strange recording I made in Portland one night when everyone else had gone to see Battles and Ponytail play at the Doug Fir Lounge. I was not "of age" at the time, so left to my own devices I sat in the basement and made a rather disgustingly overdriven romp of two chords. I matched it up with some silly lyrics and "Animals" was born. Please forgive me for the sound quality.

The second track is entitled "Darker Blues" and was recorded here a few months ago. If anything it is a tribute to the Department of Eagles album "In Ear Park", which is incredible in both song-craft and recording quality. Every sound is perfect. Much like the new Walkmen album. Anyways..

The third and final track was recorded the day I borrowed my darling sister Kate's electric piano. I recorded this song with the dream of having it played as the introduction of a Fresh Air with Terry Gross/ NPR feature. She has the most seductive voice in the world. So full of wisdom.

The Neighborhood Choir - Animals
The Neighborhood Choir - Darker Blues
The Neighborhood Choir - I Felt Your Seas

Mariachi Mad-distro and La Musica de La Telvision

Hey Kids,
The cold seems to be coming soon, at least I think it is. WHAT! 60 degrees tomorrow. Well anyways, the downstairs area is becoming too cold/inconsistent for electronic devices. So we are setting up the studio upstairs for the winter season. This also means that we can be warm and record music at the same time. Hooray... We have a new mixdown from the 8 track called "mariachi mad-disto." And, an old four track recording I made which was the beginning of an idea for a concept album which would incorporate television noises, channel surfing sounds, political news waves, etc... This song is the only surviving recording of that particular idea. The track is called, umm... "Television" More new mixdowns and tunes on the way!

Good luck on finals, everyone!

The Neighborhood Choir-Mariachi-Mad-disto
Moonshine Community-Television

Purify Yourself In the Waters of Lake Minnetonka

What?

The Neighborhood Choir - I Would Die 4 U (Prince cover)

Violeta Parra

Dan stumbled across an album by a Chilean folk singer named Violeta Parra. She was the sister of noted modern "anti-poet" Nicanor Parra, and established some of the first community art and political activism centers in Chile during the 1960s. In 1967 she committed suicide, depressed about the break-up of her relationship with Swiss flautist Gilbert Favre.



Nevertheless her albums are hauntingly simple, and I can't stop listening to them for a second.

Here is a link to the original post with her complete discography available for download. Special thanks to Pancho over at Experimental Etc.

New Johns

Here's a song i found one night listening through some old reels. The original track was only one channel; a live recording Parker made of Henry, Dan and I jamming. It was 11 minutes long and I selected a small section, then overdubbed a variety of other elements. The tape machine always compresses things in a strange way, and for some reason I believe it helped the song.

The Neighborhood Choir - To Those from Which They Came

Backlog #1

"Brownfields are abandoned or under-used industrial and commercial facilities available for re-use. Expansion or redevelopment of such a facility may be complicated by real or perceived environmental contaminations.^[1] In United States city planning, brownfield land (or simply a brownfield) is land previously used for industrial purposes or certain commercial uses. The land may be contaminated by low concentrations of hazardous waste or pollution, and has the potential to be reused once it is cleaned up."

New virtual 7" later this week with two brand new songs with respective videos, featuring dancing indoor broom-hockey players, Peter Pan, a train conductor, and Frida Kahlo.

The Neighborhood Choir - Untitled

The Neighborhood Choir - General Sherman Befriend the Pine Martens

Expansion to the West

Last summer we decided to take a cross-country road trip to Portland, OR. We camped (sometimes illegally) in Nat'l Parks every night and spent the days going as far as we could. I have too many stories to even begin and most of it seems like a dream (although i certainly remember the 21 hour drive from Joliet, IL all the way to the Rockies). We got pulled over in the middle-of-nowhere Utah (in the midst of deviant behavior) and were saved from arrest by a violent hail storm. We saw bison, bears, and buffalo, ran over skunks, and had to stop in the middle of the road more than once because the donkeys were in control).

Rocky Mountain National Park

From stories we heard, Portland seemed like a utopian society, a bristling mass of musicians and artists all living in perfect harmony. Although we encountered few musicians and even fewer bristling masses of them, the city was indeed beautiful. We ran out of money upon arrival and took jobs on house painting crews. Parker and Dan worked with the venerable Michael Huss of Chrysalis Co. (ex-Pat Benatar marketing director or something) while Paul and I worked with Boss John of Dreamweaver Co. (he was an ex-Marine explosives expert and devout Dokken fan). Work was work, and in the evening we would retire to the back porch and listen to "Imagination Theater" on the ol' FM radio.

Portland, OR

We set up our instruments in the basement of our house (thanks Brinn and Nastaja) and worked on new songs. In early July we aquired our beloved Tascam 388 which remains the sole unit we record with now. "Elderly Maple" was the first song recorded. Marc Snyder flew out for two weeks to do some engineering and to be our friend. I turned 21 and slightly remember not wearing a shirt inside The Blue Monk. In the end, the purpose of our voyage was the voyage itself. Some more pictures and songs:










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The Neighborhood Choir - Expansion to the West
The Neighborhood Choir- Blessed Are Thee
The Neigborhood Choir- From East to West and Back Again