Joshua Van Tassel

I still am lacking my special little cable, so no Maritime sounds……yet………What I do have is this very interesting profile podcast of friend and flute player extrordinaire Rob Piilonen. It’s a really well made podcast discussing Rob’s music and improvised music in general; great questions and well spoken answers on behalf of Rob. Check it out here Shows start tonight, I’m excited. All the theaters we’re playing on this tour are beautiful and old, I’ll try my unsteady hand at some good panoramic type photography. See you tomorrow, hopefully in glorious audio format.

So I’ve been recording lots of wonderful maritime sounds, and I can’t share them with you because I left one stupid cable in one stupid bag that I don’t have with me. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll get myself together. Things in the east are good, seeing lots of good friends and making some great music with David Myles. Our tour starts on March 22nd at the Astor Theater in Liverpool, so if you know anyone who loves the south shore and wants to go for a road trip, that’s a good place to start. Sounds to follow………

Ahh modern technology. I’m waiting at pearson airport for a flight to Halifax and I would really love a tea, but the line ups for any place that sells it are huge. I had an interesting exchange with a security guard this morning trying to explain what my kaoss pad was and why I had it. It didn’t go so well.This is what it looks like here right now.

I’d show you what it sounds like, but I left my cable in my checked bag, and to be honest it’s not that interesting. Here’s what it looked like at 6:30 this morning..

sounds like this…….

….and haven’t been updating every day like I promised.  I’m sorry, I’ll try harder I swear.Don’t leave me girl. I hereby promise you 3 fresh updates today. Here’s #1.

This when this website takes a little turn into self promotion land. NOW magazine kindly printed a little article about stop.die.resuscitate this week. There’s an old picture, and I’m the guy with the pitchfork. It’s a long story. Anyway, check it out if you feel inclined.
Also, I just bought a camera so I’m going to make a big effort to try and photo document all the sounds that I record. If only there was a device that was a recorder, mp3 player, camera, AND a phone. .. ..I’d call it the megaphone.

Bailing hay was my first job. You can tell by my technique.

I finally got my first passport today, and it was pretty much the easiest thing I’ve ever done. there’s tons of horror stories about 2 and 3 hour wait times, only to be told you didn’t have the proper documentation and you’d have to come back, etc.

I showed up just after 9am this morning armed with a coffee, a book, and my H4, ready to entertain myself by stealing conversations and doing other things of the acoustically voyeuristic nature. There was about 50 people already seated and looking fairly unhappy. Much to my surpirse, I literally didn’t have time to sit down before my number was called. I figured it was a mistake but went up anyway, and the saint of a lady behind the counter patiently explained that because I had went online and filled out the form there, they just scan it in, I sign it, pay 87 bucks and can legally go record conversations in whatever languages I want all over the world. The price of freedom is $87 and an internet connection, amazing.

On a totally unrelated note, here’s some rhythmic sounds that my bag was making as I walked last night. Strange things happen when I take my headphones out of my hears and actually listen.

I also had a chance to be reunited with a good friend and sound genius diego this weekend to work on what’s going to be a really great record from a great songwriter named Edouard Ratiarson. Here’s a terrible attempt at trying to do a panoramic shot when you don’t really know how to operate a camera that well.

playing drums with natural light isn’t something we’re accustomed to….

“why do have to get all into music and then stop and talk about whether you’re recording or not? I always figured record everything. The only time they should mention it is when it’s not on. But it’s not a perfect world. A lotta people mis the opportunity to record something great waiting for it to start.”

you tell ‘em Neil. No one listens to me anyways.

The passing of Canadian blues icon Jeff Healy makes me sad.

That’s right, the album that changed/scared the life out of basically everyone in the 80′ s is 25 years old today. I recently got a copy of it, and had forgotten why it’s still so highly regarded. I’ve never listened to a record with so much attention to every minute detail; every single sound happens how and when you would want it to. It makes you want to dance, it makes you want to buy expensive headphones and sit down with it, it kind of does it all. Here’s a little extra from the bonus edition with Vincent Price and Michael doing the “rap” from the title track….

even when he looks really cool, he’s still scary.

Thanks to Robin for passing this one to me……sound geeks everywhere, it almost reads like audio porn. I love it.

When you take a picture with an S.L.R., there is a distinctive sound, somewhere between a clatter and a thump; I worship my beat-up Nikon FE, but there is no denying that every snap reminds me of a cow kicking over a milk pail. With a Leica, all you hear is the shutter, which is the quietest on the market. The result — and this may be the most seductive reason for the Leica cult — is that a photograph sounds like a kiss. -Anthony Lane