Rehearsal #1

hip hip hooray, we're officially making noise...getting ready for the CD release party at Harlot on March 25 with RTFM Records, Groovera and WomensRadio - as well as our show at Swig on April 1 with Below Zero Beats...happy hours are so nice, we prefer to throw them twice...

so...tonite we had our first real rehearsal of 2010 - woo hoo!  in the past, we've used Logic during our live shows...we're in the process of moving over to Ableton Live which gives us soooooo much more flexibility with each song - we can loop & effect sections, stretch out and generally amuse ourselves much more thoroughly within this new paradigm...

also terribly exciting is the fact that we have a new band member, Daniel Durrett, on Live & KP3 looping + fx.  Daniel is also a solo artist and i'm sure you've heard the RTFM gang tooting our horns about his gorgeous new release 'Hello, Inner Sunset'.  and of course, it wouldn't be a proper party without our trusty wunderkind Daniel Berkman...he's still hovering a few inches above the ground with his plethora of toys - well, actually, he's currently experimenting with pretending he is just a guitarist.  we're quite happy to have him play whatever he pleases, frankly.  anyhoo, D squared & myself had a fabulous time dipping our toes in the pond together for the first time tonite.  lovely chemistry and lots of snickering & giggles, and of course endless hugs from the wonderful fuzzmeistress Nala.

here are a couple video samples, straight from the living room on Cole and Haight...

just getting warmed up with a little improv:



(Daniel D was clever enough to record a live stereo mix...here's an mp3 just for you)

and a sneak peak at the curly tail-end of Auralei:



onward and upward, my friends...

rabbit rabbit

this image is by Android Jones - i'm utterly awed and inspired by his stunning and shamanic digital art...

happy february!  lots of excitement this last couple weeks...we won first place / top score at the latest Test Press listening event at Pyramind for Colfax's remix of Here and Now, off the new Auralei EP (which is still available at a discounted price through Feburary 1st at the bandcamp site - that's today!)...we were surprised and thrilled, to say the least.  the panel judges, Kat 010, jaswho and Spesh, were fabulous and gave really thoughtful and constructive feedback on everyone's tracks - and there was tons of really fantastic, well-produced music - not a bad track in the house.  there's something great going on lately in the San Francisco music scene...feels like kind of a magical time to be romping around these parts...

we're busybees getting ready to throw a little listening party / CD release event for the Auralei EP plus the new releases from Colfax and Daniel Durrett - Tape and Hello, Inner Sunset are my two current favorite albums and seem to have become the regular Sunday morning ritual at the RTFM Records homefront...usually there are also copious pancakes, eggs, coffee and much bouncing round the room involved...like this morning, for example...

so i'm curious and would love your thoughts - what kind of celebration should we have?  would a simple listening party/happy hour type event inspire you to put on your fancy knickers and come bump elbows and iPhones with a room full of giddy musicians?  or is a live performance what you really crave?  it might take us a little longer to put a full show on, as we're all making the hodge-podgy transitions from writing and producing new albums to realizing them in the live performance setting...or perhaps there's a middle way - a mostly-listening event with a few (maybe 2-4) songs from each of us...so there's lots of time to say hello as well as do a little toe-tapping, pad-scratching and knob-twiddling...what do you think?  would love to hear your comments below...

the Auralei EP release date is 14 Feb...we're just now getting the physical CDs ordered - how many little glitches can pop up between getting finished artwork ready and actually being able to place an order?  apparently nearly two weeks worth...but never fear, those little puppies will be in our hands in a flash...

on to other exciting news...Divasonic and i have just a couple aerial tissu classes left before the end of the series.  it's totally addictive though, so i'm sure we'll be back for more mindbending lessons in how to tie oneself up in knots and swing from the ceiling.  we're also working on a track together (loving it!!) which will be featured on the upcoming full-length album Body of Glass.  also had a great music exploration / dive down the rabbit hole day with Daniel Durrett this weekend...started writing a new ditty inspired by an old radio he's modified to make some pretty awesome sounds...started layering those with lots of vocals, some acoustic guitar and beats...came up with a sweet little music bed - we'll see what blossoms out of that one!

marcelle_hi will be playing artemis music today at 2pm and 9pm eastern time on her tweetcast - what a creative way she's come up with to share new music via twitter...speaking of which, i just became a dj on blip.fm - you can hear what's floating thru my ears there or by following me on twitter...

also, was tickled this week to reconnect with our friend Tracey Moberly at the Foundry in London, which was one of our favorite venues on UK tour in 2005 - we were also guests on their Late Late Breakfast Show - (if you weren't tuned in five years ago, you can relive the memories, including the unforgettable Wormlady here).  Tracey is working hard to save the Foundry, which is scheduled to be torn down and replaced by a giant gold hotel - the travesty!! - and also has been doing much work to support the arts and community in Port-au-Prince Haiti over the last several years.  she returned from her most recent trip just prior to the tragic earthquake, and has set up a Foundry Haiti Fund to support relief efforts...she and Kirsty Hawkshaw are also putting together a compilation CD to raise funds for Haiti...more info on that soon!

oh, and i recently joined the gang at Women's Radio Music Review, which is the music review section of Women's Radio - this is a wonderful bunch of folks doing great things for women in music, art, and all walks of life...

ok, pillow calling...

p.s. - join my fanpage on facebook for late-breaking updates and random thoughts....