hello.words

This one is pretty obvious. But still fun to see someone do an homage to Roxy Music’s iconic, and at one time controversial album cover. Plus, let’s keep it shallow here and acknowledge that any over with attractive women is sure to get at least some attention.

Here’s the cover to Love and Desperation, the new album from J. Mascis (obviously of Dinosaur Jr.) side project Sweet Apple:

And here’s the original from Roxy Music’s Country Life:

Reblogging Update: Antlers, Besnard Lakes, more

helloMike — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:46:55 +0000

Here is yet another post highlighting some links to a few things I’ve contributed to over at NPR Music:

– The Antlers: Tiny Desk Concert — Helped shoot and edited\produced the video for this beautiful set.

– Laura Veirs: Tiny Desk Concert – Edited\produced this video of a very preggers Laura Veirs. Great, warm show.

– Song of the Day: The Besnard Lakes: Filling The Room With Sound

– Sparklehorse Singer Mark Linkous Remembered — Helped put this page together and selected all the music.

– All Songs Considered blog: Dorks Gather For Listening Party – In which I am mentioned and briefly talk about the RPM Challenge.

– Culturetopia Won A Gracie Award! — This is a weekly arts and entertainment podcast I produce and it really is quite great. Check it out if you haven’t tuned in.

RPM Challenge 2010: Golden Days

helloMike — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 07:59:35 +0000

This past month of February, I have been working on new music as part of the RPM Challenge. As you might recall from past years, the RPM Challenge is a month-long endeavor to encourage musicians to create an entire album of original music, start to finish. That means write songs, record, mix, master and mail off a hard copy to the good folks who sponsor the event.

This is the third time I’ve taken part in four years. Here are my entries from 2007 and 2009 with Hello Come In. Incidentally, we also spent the entire year of 2007 making 12 original EPs which you can find here.

So now it’s March 1st 2010. This year I decided to mix it up and make music with people locally in Washington D.C. Working with me in collaboration is Robin Hilton and Meg Ruddick — both NPR Music coworkers. Robin I have worked with in the past on a few songs, Meg never before, so it’s pretty cool to try something new this year.

For this project we have named ourselves Golden Days and we’re proud to present our debut effort: It Was Over Before We Began.

Anyway, on to the music:

You can stream each track here, or download the entire album here.

Produced by Golden Days
Recorded, Mixed and Mastered by Robin Hilton and Mike Katzif
at Hello Come In Studios & Small Good Thing Productions,
in Washington DC; February 2010
Artwork and layout design by Mike Katzif
Drums on “It’s A Weakness by Aryn Crowley
All Songs by Golden Days; Copyright 2010
Special Thanks to Hello Come In, Small Good Thing,
Krusher, for her unwavering patience and support
and our nearly half dozen fans.

Reblogging: Recent Pieces on NPR

helloMike — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 13:16:35 +0000

It’s been awhile since I’ve done a round-up of recent works I’ve played a part in at NPR Music. So here we go with a hail of bullets:

– Exclusive First Listen: Gorillaz, Plastic Beach

– Abaji: Tiny Desk Concert: This is the first video I’ve actually shot for NPR. I also edited the video and produced the page taboot.

– Song of the Day: Yeasayer: Tightly Wound And Dance Friendly

– The Gun Show: A Winter Workout Mix. Here I just sort of helped direct the photographer a little for this photo shoot. Then found myself playing the part of surly trainer. Yes I get paid for this.

– David Rawlings and Gillian Welch: Tiny Desk Concert

– First Listen: Massive Attack, Heligoland

– Low Anthem: Tiny Desk Concert

– First Listen: Beach House, Teen Dream

– First Listen: Charlotte Gainsbourg, IRM

– Elvis Presley At 75: Songs We Love

– In Memoriam: Musicians We Lost, 2000-2009. I did a majority of the building, researching and producing of this multimedia interactive page which was part of our End of Decade coverage. Looks pretty great I think.

– Def Jam’s 25th Anniversary: Songs We Love. In which I discuss LL Cool J.

– In Memoriam: Musicians We Lost In 2009. I was one of the main producers and researchers for this amazing interactive feature we did as part of our End of Year coverage.

Ecuadorian Classical Guitarra Episode 2: ‘Maracatu’

helloAryn — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 20:48:59 +0000

Episode 2 : “Maracatu”

Download audio file (Maracatu.mp3)

Ecuadorian Classical Guitarrra Episode 1: ‘Don Eugenio’

helloAryn — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 20:42:07 +0000

So while I spent some time in Ecuador, I was able to take some classical guitar classes and this series I will be playing them for the internet public.

Episode 1 : “Don Eugenio”

Download audio file (Milonga.mp3)

Interactive: Musicians Remembered

helloMike — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 20:29:43 +0000

This year seemed to have an incredible amount of important figures pass away, more than most years it feels. And music was no different — including Michael Jackson, Jay Bennett, and shockingly Vic Chesnutt, who died on Christmas Day.

So as 2009 winds down, there’s still more to cover at NPR Music, including the fairly slick multimedia interactive of musicians who died in the last year. I played a big hand in putting this sucker together, from gathering songs and editing all the music clips to hunting down photos and general assembly.

Check it out here.

Best Cover Songs Of 2009

helloMike — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:15:32 +0000

Over at NPR Music, we’re wading through 2009’s best music: the best albums, songs and miscellanea from the past year. It’s admittedly obsessive and music geeky, but hey, that’s what it’s all about.

My main contribution to our coverage is a round-up of the year’s best cover songs, a genre that I can safely say is one of my favorites. This year seemed better than most with an outstanding number of great compilation and tribute albums featuring a wide array of cover songs. Take a look at the list — including my favorite ongoing project, Beck’s Record Club — and see Youtube videos of all my song choices here:

Judging By The Cover: The Best Cover Songs Of 2009

hello.words

Reblogging: NPR Linksplosion

Reblogging Update: LCD Soundsystem, Broken Social Scene, more.

Swipe File: Sweet Apple Covers Roxy Music Cover

Reblogging Update: Antlers, Besnard Lakes, more

RPM Challenge 2010: Golden Days

1. It Was Over Before We Began

2. Year Of Dreams

3. Mind Control

4. Pig

5. Come Tomorrow

6. It’s A Weakness

7. Captain Kid

8. Bone Fragments

9. Scene

Reblogging: Recent Pieces on NPR

Ecuadorian Classical Guitarra Episode 2: ‘Maracatu’

Ecuadorian Classical Guitarrra Episode 1: ‘Don Eugenio’

Interactive: Musicians Remembered

Best Cover Songs Of 2009