Small Show! (SF Public Access Television)

I'll be playing my first show for San Francisco public access television on Thursday, August 7th! Stay tuned for more details as they roll in!

New MySpace URL

I've just switched the Stegosaurus Rex MySpace URL to http://www.myspace.com/stegrex
Check out my music! There might be a small show coming up in a few weeks. More details later! :)

Desolate Pool

I love 80s music. I was born in 1985, but the radio station that my dad listened to played a lot of 80s music. Depeche Mode, Berlin, Joy Division, The Cars were just some of the very awesome bands that I heard growing up.

I've decided recently to examine some of the methods used in the 80s to make CD audio. Those engineers were precision surgeons, making sure everything fit in well, taking advantage of the CD format's excellent dynamic range.

As a musician who grew up in the 80s and admires 80s mixing and mastering, I had to make some of that kind of music on my own (New Wave, New Romantic, Synthpop, etc).

I began cranking the creative brain for ideas, adding generous amounts of reverb to snares, dubbing vocals, and chaining together delay units.

80s music is beautiful. It is also oftentimes depressing, when the artist wants to make it so.

This next release (single? EP?) that is scheduled for release in October is focused on that New Wave sound, incorporating guitars, fat reverb on drums, sad synths, and utterly depressing lyrics.

I've got 4 tracks done so far with track number 4, Desolate Pool now in the lineup; I'm still aiming for 2 more. Prepare for retro goodness, to be released soon!

Back To Work!

My computer is back up and running, thanks to my friend Thanh!

I've decided to schedule "Undeniable" to be released as a digital single, which will be released on fall 2008. Check out my MySpace to listen to the track!

Post Number 13, Unlucky Days

My computer died last weekend, and so I can't work on any new music. It sucks, because I've been on a roll with No Eyed Bird, writing tons and tons of material.

4 computer deaths have happened in the past 6 years:
Summer 2003: eMachines Windows ME desktop system
Spring 2004: Toshiba Windows XP laptop system
Spring/Summer 2007: Self-built Windows XP desktop system
Summer 2008: Compaq Windows Vista desktop system

In each of these cases, it was a hardware problem (not software like virus) that took place. Right now, my friend Thanh is working on the compy. Hope it turns out OK so I can get back to work audio engineering work!

At the moment, I'm taking the extra free time I have to build even more content on No Eyed Bird. Check out the ezine at http://www.noeyedbird.com/

Here is a 3-part editorial in which I wrote about electro-house:
Electro-House (Part 1) UEFA Euro 2008: Consolation Prize To The Germans
Electro-House (Part 2) History
Electro-House (Part 3) Two New Artists

Alrighty, have a nice Fourth of July, and lets hope my computer gets fixed!

I Am Now A Music Blog Writer

I have been working a 9-5 job ever since the end of May. Making money is nice, but it's not easy, considering how repetitive it can be. A 40+ workweek can drain the life out of the most energetic spazz-tastic caffeineheads.

For the first two weeks, work dragged on pretty long throughout the day. It got boring really quickly.

However, this weekend, I became a writer for the music blog No Eyed Bird.

I pretty much got flung into working on reviews with little lead-in. I set up my profile for the site, my new reviewer's email (max(at)noeyedbird.com), and then hit the ground running. My first review on the blog is of Luthea Salom - Sunbeams Surrounded By Winter. Click to check it out!

I'm also trying to contribute to Dusted Magazine. I emailed them and hopefully by the end of the week I'll get something back, so I can start writing for them, too.

--Max

Saratoga, And Yet Another Review Of The Dino Soars

Now that it's summer, I've been languishing in the heat, staying indoors to avoid the scorching sun.

Now that I call Saratoga, CA my home, it's been different dealing with the dry heat as opposed to the breezy mildness of Berkeley. Not bad, just different.

It's been about two months since The Dino Soars was released, and since then, I've been taking care of my own personal business, not having time to worry about the music stuff.

Today was a little different.

The sun set red, with all the wildfires happening in the area. The sky was muddied with the haziness of dark beige smoke.

The picture in the sky almost made it seem as if the world was ending. Sitting in a car, whisking by the scenery, it made me feel peaceful and yet paradoxically, restless. Distracted by the moment of beauty, by the ugly, overbearing tan of the sky framing that bright red jewel of a sun, I was able to slough off that burden of routine and make me think once more of the music.

How was my album doing?

A quick search revealed the following:

"On The Dino Soars, Stegosaurus Rex presents an interesting collection of homemade electronica. Unlike most bedroom computer-made albums, The Dino Soars jumps across styles, touching on hip-hop and house beats, downbeat trip-hop, electro-pop, and even a bit of experimental, droney electronica. (more >>)

Where the album really shines is with the more beat-oriented tracks. Opening song "East Bay Kickback" starts the album off strong with a great sample and a solid drum beat, making it the kind of song you would hear in your head while drinking a beer outside on a warm Oakland evening. Another standout track is "Six Sixteen." A great sample and solid hip-hop beat drive this track as it steadily moves through the opening string loop to a chopped-up vocal chorus and back again to the string loop as it is filtered out.

The album also features some great uptempo tracks. On tracks like "Polar" and "Fleeting Disco Do," Stegosaurus creates great disco-style house. Catchy samples that he cuts and rearranges as the song progresses, solid bass lines, and some good 'ol techno beats make these tracks dancefloor-worthy.

Where this album doesn't work as well is in the less beat-oriented and vocal tracks. These tracks especially lack in production value. The sounds are thin and dull compared to the earlier mentioned songs and have a hard time fitting in with the rest of the album sonically. A little more cohesiveness throughout the album and a step up in production level could put Stegosaurus Rex on the same level as a lot of the stuff on Ninja Tune Records." (-Glenn Jackson, NASCENT)

Of course, I had to open up a cool beer afterwards to refresh myself, in an instance of life-imitating-art-imitating-life. East Bay Kickback indeed.

Yet another Friday the 13th conquered.