Halloween on the Radio

MBD is playing a spooktacular show tonight at the Narrow Arts Center in Fall River, MA.  And, Martha’s Vineyard Radio will be broadcasting the show live (http://www.mvyradio.com/) as well as archiving the performance for future streaming :).  Enjoy responsibly!  (And, don’t eat all your candy tonight!)

Fall River, MA: How many days …

Fall River, MA: How many days is Tim Fite’s Halloween record available for free download? (email answer to word@mybrightestdiamond.com)

Halloweeeen Party Tonight!

Best costume prizes tonight so dress up!!!! Candy, spider webs, and masks to be expected!  Also there’s the free ticket quiz for tonights show!

Portland, ME: What musical ins…

Portland, ME: What musical instrument did Benjamin Franklin invent? (email the answer to word@mybrightestdiamond.com for tix to 2nites show)

Free ticket quiz starts here t…

Free ticket quiz starts here tomorrow Oct. 30th! In other news, Sunday I ran in2 the zombie parade @ Union Square. A zombie took my picture.

Tour (free ticket quiz), New Video, Shark Remixes Vol. 1 & Rooftop Performance with string quartet

The MBD Recession Blues tour presents: FREE TICKET QUIZ!!! My Brightest Diamond will be giving away 2 free tickets (plus an extra spot for you to bring a friend!) to 2 brilliant winners every show day for the rest of the US tour!!!! How does it work? Every show day at noon (in the time zone of the city where we will be playing that night), Shara will make a Twitter (on the main page of the MBD website in the bottom left hand corner) with the city name and the quiz question. The first two people to respond with the correct answer to word@mybrightestdiamond.com will win a ticket (plus an extra ticket for a friend) for the show that night! Woo hoo! The quiz game starts tomorrow October 30th!  See tour dates HERE!

Presenting the new animated video for Inside a Boy by Rafa Toro!!!!!

Shark Remixes Vol. 1 has been released!  Drawing inspiration from My Brightest Diamond’s many references to the heavens, remixer Alfred Brown developed a narrative to guide the composition process of his remixes.  The stunning result is a cinematic and textural avant-classical deconstruction of the My Brightest Diamond’s A Thousand Shark’s Teeth. Instead of a straight ahead approach to remixing a single song, Alfred combined parts from different songs, juxtaposing new elements to give the preexisting material new meaning.  For more details go HERE!

Rooftop concerts have a long and celebrated history in rock and roll, and so it’s no surprise that the recently launched Pitchfork.tv brought the rooftop concert to the living room laptop with their Don’t Look Down series of video. For the show’s newest installment, Don’t Look Down convinces My Brightest Diamond, in string quartet formation, to haul their instruments and equipment all the way up to a brickly rooftop in New York City. Once there, they play four perfect rooftop selections: “Golden Star,” “Apples,” “From the Top of the World” (from the recently released EP), and “Black & Costaud.” Part one is here, and part two is right here.

Shark Remixes Vol. 1- Alfred Brown

Release Date: October 28th, 2008
Itunes release: HERE
(a physical release of all three EPs will be released in 2009)

My Brightest Diamond’s debut Bring Me the Workhorse (2006) was given the remix treatment in the form of a remix compilation entitled Tear It Down (2007).  This collection is evidence to the strength of her compositions and voice, as remixed by such artists as Murcof, Alias, Lusine, Golden Chains among others.  While Asthmatic Kitty and My Brightest Diamond had no regrets about the Tear It Down project, when the time came to talk remixes for A Thousand Shark’s Teeth, they both realized a need for a more cohesive and conceptual project. They brought on three remixers (Alfred Brown, DM Stith, and Son Lux) and commisioned them to each create a separate EP of remixed material. The first of these EPs is by Alfred Brown.

Alfred Brown loves little sounds. He is easily sidetracked for ten or fifteen minutes tapping on a desktop, listening to the tonal qualities.  Raised in the small town Hoosick Falls, NY surrounded by farms, Alfred Brown started playing saxophone in 5th grade and played in the school band up until 11th grade.  From playing the national anthem with the community band in the town’s park gazeebo, to channeling his early teen angst via the guitar mostly punk music and lisa loeb, Alfred Brown finally decided to pursue music and composition.  He began to find resonance with composers such as Anton Webern, Edgar Varez, John Cage, and Pierre Boulez.  These composers and his study of composition changed the way he heard music. Music became organized sound.  It was around this time that Brown began recording unperformable recordings, which started as importing any soundclip that happened to be on the computer and deconstructing it through computer editing software into an unrecognizable form.

“To me this piece is about dichotomies; about the relationship between what is outside of us and what is inside of us; about the deep calling to the deep…It is about fear and wonder.” - Alfred Brown

Drawing inspiration from My Brightest Diamond’s many references to the heavens, Alfred Brown developed a narrative to guide the composition process of his remixes.  The stunning result is a cinematic and textural avant-classical deconstruction of the My Brightest Diamond’s A Thousand Shark’s Teeth. Instead of a straight ahead approach to remixing a single song, Alfred combined parts from different songs, juxtaposing new elements to give the preexisting material new meaning.  The guiding narrative is about an astronaut stranded outside of his ship while working in Low Earth Orbit.  As he descends toward earth he is completely cut off from all communication with Earth and finds himself totally alone.  During this time of complete isolation he thinks about his loved ones back on Earth, about his life, about God, and about dying.  The remixes narrate, through words and music, these contemplations being sent out across the universe; and the echoes that come back.

I.

1. Overture

2. A Thousand Stars Against a Dark Sky

3. In Vacuum

4. black!Black!BLACK!

II.

5. Of Fear and Wonder (I Found a Universe)

6. I’m Never Letting Go (Stars at Elbow and Foot)

7. The Lonliest Man In History (Looking Down from the Top of the World)

8. You Are Now Untouchable (Esto Perpetue)