First an anecdotal history. Why are albums the way they are? Well, it’s pretty simple, the media always defined it. The LP was introduced in 1948 and due to mastering issues are usually limited to 45 minutes (The format can actually hold more music, but fidelity suffers.). Since most pop and rock songs average at 3-5 minutes, that pretty much means you are limited to 10-12 tracks an album. There are of course exceptions (double disk albums etc.) but for the most part the 10-12 track rule holds true. When Philips developed the CD, they were operating in this paradigm, so the red book standard somewhat mimicked this rule.

Now you may have also assumed that pressing and distributing vinyl and later CD’s isn’t cheap, so it’s in the artist’s and label’s best interest to utilize as much of the medium as possible, therefore, if you are an artist, you don’t release any music until you have enough to fill an album.

There we have it, a primer history of the album. However, as you also may have noticed, fewer and fewer people are actually buying media instead of downloading it. All of the limitations of media and distribution are now gone, so why wait for 10 tracks before releasing your music?

Now some claim the album was done long before digital downloading took over the world, and I somewhat agree–bad albums killed the album. People simply got sick of paying for ten songs when in reality there were maybe two songs worth a listen. Also, singles were often hard to find, and not much cheaper, so people just grudgingly bought the album. Napster changed all that. No longer did people have to blow money on an album for a song, they could just download it. iTunes and similar services just legalized that practice.

I don’t necessarily consider the single centric music world a good thing. The 45-60 minute music experience still is worthwhile, but why does it have to be in the same release? Writing an album is time consuming and that time can destroy any momentum from previous releases, especially for artists that don’t have the machine or super tour supporting their releases. Also, there’s no real reason to wait anymore because indie artists aren’t having to cough up a bunch of money to press vinyl or CD’s, therefore, here comes the staggered release.

Think of it like a miniseries. Instead of releasing a full album at once, release bunches of songs that will make up the full album once the releases are finished. Other times it may be like releasing a short story EP.

Following this paradigm, I am working with some talented people on an album that will be released in two parts. There is currently no name for the project but it is a poppy dance album. None of the deep themes in the previous SDO albums. So far there are about two songs in the can. This should be fun. The goal is to have the first release in April. I will let you know.

Regarding Apparent Horizons, I am starting pre-production on a music video for False Prophet. This is going to be a full fledged exercise in creativity due to the spectacular budget and crew. All that to say, I have a film degree, perhaps it’s time again to use it.

This is the first of the remix projects posted to this page.  There are many more to come, and they will be more current.  I promise.  Maybe.  I do love the 80’s after all.

On a macro level, 2009 was a terrible year.  We had the worst recession in a generation, unemployment in California is still above 10%, those still employed live with the Sword of Damocles over their heads, the US is still at war in two theaters and I could go on and on.  All of these things can negatively affect a life and it is naive to believe that simple attitude can make up for the uncertainty when dealing with the lowest level of Maslow’s needs not being met or at risk.  Not everyone has an art or a muse to fall back on, for some people, providing for their family is their muse, take that away, and you have a depressed human being without a purpose.

All that to say, it is times like this when I am so thankful that I do find fulfillment with my God given abilities to create music and I am very thankful that I have friends, family and the resources to enjoy life with those people.  If anything, this economy is forcing people who have the courage to continue to enjoy life without the gratuitous crap to continue to enjoy life without the gratuitous crap.  Because of this, on the micro level, I think this was a very good year.  People need to learn to find the joy in the pain, it’s an attitude thing.  Looking back, some of my fondest and funniest memories were in situations that at the time were quite unpleasant.  If it wasn’t for this economy and a lack of cashflow, I probably would not have been able to, nor would I have chosen to ride my motorcycle up the west coast to Canada staying with friends along the way.  From a practical standpoint, it was the cheapest way to get to see people, but it turned out to be probably the best vacation I have ever had.  If you don’t believe me, read this.

I also finished an album and started showing the courage it takes to succeed.  I am also making great headway on another project that I am excited about.  This is because I lost the comfort of security.  This comfort often leads to apathy, or a willingness to not rock the boat.  Success is scary, but not as scary as absolute failure, and this year took away the security to just avoid failure by floating along while creating the noise like you’re actually doing something.

So what’s ahead?  Well, I will be letting you know in the next few days.  Goal setting is big deal to me, and I don’t take it lightly.  Those who are close to me are aware of year end documents that I call post mortems.  I will be working on it, and I may post some of the less intimate details of one.  Regardless, here is to 2010, may we execute on lessons we learned from a very difficult 2009.

Really, this entire blog is a digression.  I am both at peace with turning 30 and annoyed, frankly I am a bit stoked about it as I think big things are going to happen this decade, but the fact that I am at the age where if I was an NFL running back I would be considered a relic is fairly depressing.  More on hitting the age later…

As you can probably tell from the fact that there is an unfinished page dedicated to them on this site, I am a fairly big Seattle Seahawks fan.  As such, I have entered a contest.  Wish me luck.

Here’s the video: The Displaced Seahawks Fan Vid

Making an album is a very deliberate act.  It requires hours upon hours in the studio and while there is creativity, once there is an idea, that idea needs to be executed on with vigor.  It’s been 3 years since ‘Third Stage Ignition’, so at the outset it was decided to comb through the hundreds of ideas accumulated during that time and find a theme.  Finding the themes turned out to be very simple.  The themes were:

1. Reconciliation of my life and faith with how I know the world to be, not with how I was taught the world is by well meaning sheltered ignorant Christians.
2. I need to let go of the guilt.
3. Find beauty in my life as I struggle to maintain my goals with a rediscovery of faith while experiencing life the way the creator intended.

That seems to be quite a bit for a single album, but as it turns out, it’s not.  This album is about reconciliation and moving on.  For once you have moved on, you can experience life.

Track 5, ‘Finding Life’ nicely sums it up, if I may quote my own lyrics, here goes:

Find my life again

Find my fire within

And I’m running down a path that is bombarding me with sin

But it is so beautiful, my life is full, and so is my soul

I hope you enjoy the album.  It will be out soon.

I know that I have been MIA for the past few months, and I have obviously not delivered on the new album.  But I just wanted anyone who cared to know what is going on.

Right now I am working on a new interim project with a friend of mine of just pure unadulterated dance music.  We are working on some tracks and will hopefully have a 5 song EP out before summer.  This isn’t an SDO thing because SDO is kind of a more experimental thing for me, ie, little chance of commercial success .  The music I am writing for this project is good, but I can’t really claim I am blazing a trail or anything.  However, I must admit, making dance music can be fun.

Also, I have begun to do some vocal work with Christopher Franke.  For some of you who do not know, Christopher Franke was a creative force in Tangerine Dream during their big run in the 70s and 80s, he is truly an electronic music pioneer, and it has been an honor to work with him.  If anything, it’s stretched me, I never really knew I could have a career in singing industrial.

Well, there you have it.  I still have tracks in the can for SDO, and am considering releasing them, as an EP, but I will probably just wait until I have the time to the full album.

If you care, thanks, if not I just stole a little of your life, and you will never get it back…MWOOOOOOOAHAHAHAHA

-JC

I am glad I switched to ProTools before Logic was fully Steve’d. Some may say they like Logic 8, but that just indicates that they’re probably simple and were too dull to be Logic users in the first place. I had been using Emagic software since the Notator days, was angered when Apple bought them and dropped PC support for Logic 6, feared they would GarageBand the app, and it’s happened. I am sure all the stuff I used to use is still there, but it looks like a hybrid of Final Cut and GarageBand, and they busied the crap out of the GUI, and to top it all off, they didn’t fix the reason why I switched—it still sounds like muffled crap when compared to ProTools. Rant over, it’s just sad seeing Apple homogenize something that was so unique and wonderful.