Check out this great collaboration I did with Detroit artist PreciseHero.  I’ve been listening to his music quite a bit this year and was excited by the chance to work with him.  I hope you enjoy the result.

Download the track:
Rookie Atoms by PreciseHero + Timothy Monger

Cheers!
TM

Woodblock print by Japanese artist Ray Morimura.

After 14 years of service, my Hohner soprano melodica has gone sharp almost to the point of becoming unusable.  I may attempt to tune it, but the process requires some surgery and a degree of patience that may be beyond my capabilities.

In researching new melodicas this morning, I found a whole new world of opportunities.  I’m especially inspired by these guys and their beautiful Hammond instruments.  Maybe I’ll find a like-minded group of players to start my own melodica ensemble.  Who’s in?

Yes, it’s the author of We Are the Champions urging you to enjoy tonight’s Olympic Opening Ceremony in London.  I came up with this design while trying to throw together a button to give guests at our little Opening Ceremony viewing party tonight. 

Although Sir Paul will probably be performing tonight,  I feel like Freddie was Britain’s ambassador to the world. 

Cheers to my friends over in London.  Good luck to all.  Let the games begin!

When Ann Arbor breathes its post-Art Fair sigh of relief, I’ll be playing for the townies at Old Town Tavern.  Sunday, July 22. 8-10pm.  Free.

While reading Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs biography, I paused to look up some photos of the early Macintosh models. 

The first kid on my block to get one of these little off-white boxes was my friend Hal Howell.  I remember seeing it set up on a small desk in his family’s rec room and thinking how foreign it looked compared to the earlier Apple llC we had at home. 

I was used to the blinking green cursors of our Apple model and found the Mac’s white desktop screen and all-in-one packaging intriguing.  It would be about 25 years before I owned my first Mac, but it’s something that was in my consciousness from a young age.

Xylophone trash bin by British designer Dominic Wilcox.  As someone who loves to customize and modify many of my belongings, I can really appreciate this strange music making receptacle.  It’s kind of like a reverse Rube Goldberg machine where the basic function of lifting the trash bin lid causes the “fun” effect of triggering the marble’s descent.  This inspires me to take more time to build strange things for the sheer joy of it.

While there is always great music being made and released, not every year yields a windfall of quality albums.  The last year I recall being overly excited about new releases was 2008 and so far, the class of 2012 is looking nearly as solid.  So rather than wait until the end of the year for a wrap-up, I thought I’d share a few of the albums that have impressed me most in the first five months of this year.  These three selections glaringly show my Anglophile tendencies.  Only one of these bands is American, though you could make the argument that they sound British. 

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Django Django - Django Django
Released on 1/30/12

At this point in the still young year, London-based quartet Django Django are the unlikely forerunner for making my favorite album of the year.  Their percussive art pop with slide guitars, percolating synths and strong stacked vocals offers a nice mix of modern sounds and organic simplicity.  The songwriting is clever and subtle, but the arrangements give the songs some muscle too.  It’s the rare album that is both intelligent and exceedingly fun.  I’ve played this debut probably more than any other album I’ve heard in the last six months.

Band Website: www.djangodjango.co.uk

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South South Million - Wind Hand Caught In the Door
Released on 3/6/12 

This side project from Zoos of Berlin co-leaders Trevor Naud and Daniel I. Clark is an elegant pastiche of odd jazz and classical samples, gently fractured beats, shimmering guitar work and understated hushed vocals.  Zoos of Berlin are one of my favorite bands in Detroit and this new project seems like a logical extension of the things I like about Zoos’ music.  Some of the tracks roll by like ambient rambles laden with reverb, but many others are structured and lyrical songs formed over the odd samples.  Cool in both tone and premise, this is a great chilled out summer record.

Band Website: www.southsouthmillion.com

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The Futureheads - Rant
Released on 4/2/12

Known for their guitar-based angular new wave pop, U.K. group The Futureheads took a risk by making their fifth album entirely a capella.  Adapting several tracks from their previous releases as well as a choice set of covers, they took what could have easily been a mere novelty record and actually made a solid release with a lot more gravity than you would think.  Much of Rant’s charm is in its limitations.  The band has always been strong on intricate vocals, but when stripped of their instruments you hear their flaws as well.  Although many tracks are layered in vocal overdubs, the album has a very human and organic property to it which is appealing in this era of tiresome overly clean Glee type singing.  It sounds to me like four well-rehearsed lads working hard to meet a challenge and usually succeeding. There are some complex arrangements here that are worthy of respect no matter how they approached and executed their craft.  My total lack of Top 40 knowledge prevents me from recognizing what are apparently some well known modern songs (Kelis, Black Eyed Peas) and my enthusiasm for British folk music causes me to exalt in their traditional adaptations of “Sumer Is Icumen In”, “The Old Dun Cow” and “Hanging Johnny” as well as their excellent cover of Richard Thompson’s “Beeswing”.  Regardless of how it is received, I’m inspired to hear a band boldly trying to reinvent themselves.

Band Website: www.thefutureheads.co.uk

Another classic poster from the wildly talented Jenny Harley.  This is for my upcoming show at Woodruff’s in Ypsitlanti, MI on June 2nd.  I have a small blue manual Smith- Corona typewriter very similar to the one on the poster.  She did a great job tapping into the vintage noir mystery vibe with this design. 

In addition to my praise for Jenny’s work, let me also add that I’d like to invite you out to the show!  Joining me will be three excellent Michigan bands Skeleton Birds, The Walking Beat and The Redettes.

Cheers!
TM

I just read about the orchestral overdub session for “A Day in the Life” in Geoff Emerick’s excellent memoir Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the The Beatles.  They made all of the session players wear fake bald pates and clown noses while playing their instruments from the lowest to highest notes over the course of 24 bars. I was glad to see that this historic “party session” was actually documented on film.