two weeks notice

i'm going to be back in Minnesota in about 2 weeks. i'm going to be relieved to be done with classes for a little bit.

my days have been filled with Arranging, Practicing and listening to Songs for Silverman.

departmental went pretty well on wednesday. i'm feeling more confident about my upper division barrier. i'm feeling pretty good about improv 2, as well. the only thing that isn't coming up milhouse is the search for a house. i need a place to live.

nope, that won't do.

wednesday busy

aghhh! i'm playing in departmental in half an hour, then i have to write out a solo based on Bird's changes on "Confirmation," then i have to play all the solos from "Moose the Mooch" from memory.

one, one, and one

this website is one year, one month and one day old. wow.

Songs for Silverman

i got the album in the mail on friday. i've listened to it at least a dozen times. i'll probably end up writing a huge review/impression of it sometime, but here's my little rundown.

i had lower expectations for this album that i would really care to admit. ben folds was getting kind of stale for me. the whole EP thing was a little bothersome. this is his first full length offering of new material in a LONG time.

BF proceeded to KICK MY ASS WITH RIGHTEOUS MUSICIANSHIP with this album. i love it. it's an instant classic in my mind.

I love this album because it has the group feel of a Ben Folds Five album with more mature songwriting. that he's playing with a band again makes me extremely happy. he sort of Prince-d out and recording most/all of the instruments for his past few projects, but i love the group dynamic.

ben folds can be a beast on the piano, but he doesn't have to be. ben folds chips away what he doesn't need until he's got a magnificent pop song that will not escape my head.

here's my TLDR list of my impressions. most of them are musical. his lyrics are pretty good too, but the music always hits me first.

1. Bastard

this track's beginning reminds me of "Baby Britain" by Elliott Smith, being that they both start out with E-minor chords (well, baby britain starts with an Em7 chord, but whatever). it's in odd-meter and changing meter, but it doesn't always seem like it is done just for the sake of doing it. that = good. background vocals that are not ben folds dubbing all over his own tracks = good. vocals around 3:00 sound like Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring."

2. You to Thank

6/8 time signature, i like it. the chorus is simple words/melody with heavily arpeggiated chords behind them. it offsets the very blocky verses that have guitar strumming behind. outtro would be called "jazzy" by most, and it fairly is, but it's heavy with those 2-3 suspensions that ben folds love so much. there's a lot of that stuff on this album.

3. Jesusland

a song about Jesus traveling the country. the arpeggiated chords plus the plodding snaredrum evokes images of a train. this song is almost country-y, but not bad country-y. the chorus has Steely Dan harmonies.

4. Landed

suspension-y intro, sounds like "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" by Elton john for like .2 seconds. i like this song. it's simplistic but not overly so. i dont feel like writing that much about it.

5. Gracie

cute song for his daughter. simple, because it's a quasi-lullabye. not as depression and making-me-wanting-to-put-it-on-my-graduation-mix-CD-omgi'mgonnamissyouguyssomuchatcollege invoking as "Still Fighting It" was on Rockin' the Suburbs.

6. Trusted

lots of quarter notes. right hand has stationary octaves with changing bass chords a lot. it's good. one thing changes and one stays the same. fuzzy bass.

7. Give Judy My Notice

Different than the EP version. country-y with smoother background vocals. has some slide background. some of the chord functions have changed from the EP version. now with drums, it sounds more like the guy who wanted to leave Judy is leaving and travelling. there's lots of "going away" type imagery on this album.

8. Late

song for Elliott Smith. doesn't sound like an elliott smith song. this = good. they didn't really know each other, but BF loved smith's music. it's ok, but not really the standout song.

9. Sentimental Guy

quarter notes. surprise! if ben folds didn't have really catchy melodies and a good amount of dynamicism in his music, the quarter notes would become monotonous, but he changes it up enough to stay fresh. lots of suspensions in this song. and descending bass line. that's always good for me.

10. Time

currently my favorite song on the album. two-note first verse. left hand just does the root of the chord with right hand on color tones. very transparent. the chorus has the FLEETWOOD MAC chord progression of IV-V going back and forth. it's seriously in like every fleetwood mac song ever, but it's such a pop staple that it really can't be resisted. the "ahs" in the background sounds really ben folds five-ish and also kind of like some of the stuff he did on "Fear of Pop Vol. 1." after the 2nd verse, it doesnt go to the I chord, but has a really BFF-like driving bridge.

11. Prison Food

3-3-2 division of two 4/4 bars, but doesn't sound like "Clocks" by Coldplay, which = good. extremely transparent. lots of major 7th chords. major chord are happy, but the major 7th adds an element of bittersweet to it. the bassline climbs and descends scales just like in "Smoke" off of Whatever and Ever Amen. crosby stills nash and young-like vocals during the bridge. after that, there's an aggressive lead in back to the main theme.

received

Ben Folds' Songs for Silverman came in the mail today.

expect a review later

april the twentieth

FOMFG

today is Joe Mauer's berfday!

cold stone

elizabeth and i went to cold stone creamery. it was my first time there since the BFC (oh! blast from the past!!) and her first time ever. we got the largest size cake batter with reeses peanut butter cups and sprinkles (AKA jimmies in some places).

best ice cream ever! well, maybe not the best, but very good ice cream.

site visitors and hits have dropped a lot since march, probably because most of what i write is "blah blah i did this today."

i'm thinking of hosting another "Draw yourself as a Monster" competition, like the one i had last year. give me some thoughts on that. can anyone top ben's Disco T (an 8/8 creature with flying)?

this will not be a taxing day GET IT?!1

elizabeth woke me up and brought me a Cookie Cone. awww! i'm gonna eat it right after i'm done with this.

so the 5 o'clock has been recording some tunes this week. we've been using high end microphones and monitors and been in a state of the art $100,000 recording studio PSYCH! WE HAVE BEEN USING DAT TAPES LIKE FROM THE 80s.

it's been interesting trying to play perfectly for each take. more often than not, the band played better our first try, rather than trying to fix things later. the one exception was yesterday when our second take of "Extra Credit" went a lot better than the first.

dear trombones in my lab band,

point your bells at the microphone. it sounds like you are a bajillion miles away playing from inside a cardboard box.

love, john

i'm nearly finished with my first big band arrangement of "The Natives are Restless Tonight" by Horace Silver. i hope it sounds like i think it will.

okay, i'm a big old music nerd.

P.S. i lied when i said i was gonna eat the cookie cone after i finished this. i already ate it.

direct quote

as i try to pull the recently napping elizabeth from her bed, she grabs onto the bed frame and yells,

"Rodney King!!!

facebook lollerz

i was browsing through the people who went to EHS who are on facebook.

dear 80% of the girls from EHS,

dear 80% of the guys from EHS,

you are ridiculous.

good weekend

i worked and played well this weekend. i got adequate amounts of practicing, arranging, and leisure time.

i watched the Twins trounce the whitebitch sox.

for some reason, the school wants to error out whenever i try to add or swap a class. hurrah!

new most beautiful song ever

"So Many Stars" by Sergio Mendes

in a good place

opposite the spectrum from the inevitable lows, is the good feeling i am experiencing right now. musically, i feel like i'm doing well. my arranging is coming along OK. i have some good ideas that i will work on this summer as far as arranging and composing.

i'm doing better than i expected in improv 2, due in full to my elevated dedication to practicing this semester. a B is completely acceptable in that class, but an A may be within my grasp.

lab band has been fun, and my reading keeps improving. hopefully i'll be in the 4 o'Clock or above next semester. a few people in trumpet section positions are graduating this semester, which is good for me in that regard.

i'm going to do jazz combo next semester, and am super psyched about that.

i'm listening to "Second Sight" off of Lab '92, which is easily in my top 5 favorite one o'clock charts to play/hear. hm. maybe i'll list those. in no particular order:

• F.M. - though, lately i've been hearing it a LOT. we played it in the 5, the 6 played it. probably a couple other people did too. let's cool it off for a while, huh?
• Second Sight - it's totally the antithesis as well as the thesis of the One o'Clock lab band spirit. it's really hard to play well. moreso than most other charts. partly due to the very exposed doubles at the beginning. it's really obvious when a saxophonist hasn't practiced his flute/clarinet/bass clarinet in a while, and also if a trumpet player hasn't quite come to a friendly agreement with his flugelhorn.
• A Lift of the Foot - I played this in the 5 this semester. It's so ridiculously fun to play. there's so much interesting stuff going on, especially in the 3rd and 4th trumpet parts.
• Got a Match - i haven't played this one, mostly because it seems/is very difficult. it's such a high energy piece. my leg is always bouncing after hearing it.
• Overture to the Royal Mongolian Suma Foosball Festival - i've actually only heard this performed once by the One o'Clock, and that was my first time seeing them at the syndicate my freshman year, so it was before i had begun to get into the North Texas vibe. i really want to hear it done again, now that i've listened to it so many times on CD.

ok so this post went somewhere i didn't expect when i started.

anyway. i'm feeling good and i'm excited for next fall. i almost just want it to be fall so i can audition for lab band and play some more, though it will be VERY VERY nice to get home.

man or machine?

Justin Morneau.

appendicitis

pneumonia

GETTING HIT IN THE HEAD WITH A BASEBALL.

"I've had a few concussions before. I've been kicked in the back of the head with a hockey skate once."

$75 mistake

i forgot to move my car to the appropriate lot on sunday night, so monday morning i had a ticket and a boot on my car.

:-(

i paid 75 bucks for the removal and the ticket.

this is my first and hopefully last parking ticket EVAR.

family visit

my parents, sister and grandfather came to see me play at the Syndicate this past wednesday. it was really great to see all of them. they were only here for a little while, but we had a great dinner and they got to see me play in a large jazz ensemble for the first time since high school. and also many times better than when i was in high school.

being home in may is going to be great. there are a few good concerts (Rilo Kiley, Keane, the Mars Volta), as well as Twins Games to go to. other than that, i'll mostly be working and playing trumpet.

HAPPY AVRIL FOOLS DAY

LOLOLOLOLOL