DAVE SMALLEN

"Somehow life got scored/ With screeching horns and diminished chords/ If only it was something sweet/ A simple melody"

My good buddy Dave Smallen is pushing the envelope far away from what's left of the dusty antique that is the music industry. He recorded his second album with professional studio musicians on his own dime. Now he's releasing it month by month, song by song. Each song will be available for a price you set.

Though most will cost a minimum of one dollar, this months track - one of my favorites - is free. He's using a slick new service called Bandcamp that allows artists to set prices and keep their own profits. I had a pleasant time embedding his player on my page. You can get the song from there.

The songs are great and Dave's a real person that just wants to make music forever. I recommend you check him out, bookmark his site, and share his music. He often observes that "it's a great time to be alive." That's easy to agree with when good music can be experienced in new ways.

CELEBRITY CRUSH

Kaki King! I'm pretty confident our kids would both look and earn money like many of the Jonas Brothers. That song up there is "Gay Sons of Lesbian Mothers."

And for posterity, here's "Playing With Pink Noise":



She explains how to play it on NPR.

I WANT THIS

T-shirt sketch book. From Burak Kaynak via Fubiz.

DAILY 'YE

Animal table.

Kanye West clocked a full weekend of great posts on my favorite blog: his own. The best Kanye posts eschew beautiful women and sneakers-with-straps for incredible products, good design, or both in the case of the Animal Tables (via Dezeen Magazine). Not only are these things straight out of a Miyazaki movie, but the designer's name is Hella Jongerius. With a Pynchon-ian handle like that how could her own site be anything less than fantastic? Here's her idea of of a desk.

This is why I'll never buy into the "detriment of Kanye's ego" meme: his blog is a fantasy-onion of cool shit. It's not the glut of bling-y, "look-what-I-can-afford" backwash his media image might suggest. Instead, he appreciates a blog's ability to share layers of ideas. He creates a narrative. Take his fascination with juice box packaging via Fubiz (site motto: "Daily dose of inspiration"). Similarly, oggle the new Seiko watch designs (via Swipelife). These products revitalize already accessible goods; daily life becomes better for those who encounter these things.

That's all Kanye wants. He believes (and often proves) that we live in an incremental world, which, for all its flaws, is always becoming more thoughtful, more inclusive, and more astonishing.

THE DREAM

Yes.

In the next eight weeks I'll be moving, recording a full-length record, celebrating the best year of my life, going to Israel, and inaugurating a president I elected. I'm going to take these weeks to relaunch my blog (and launch a few other things). Indeed: it's time for real change.

I'll still be updating that sidebar with salient internet findings. That sidebar is, I feel, eclipsing the much of my other content as a valuable personal tome. I am what I do and what I know, and I want to represent myself fully. That's why just an MP3 blog wasn't enough; discussing music didn't present the whole of my experience. Writing personally (and musically) didn't do that either.

Documenting developments, discoveries, and moments that I wanted to remember (forever) stepped in the right direction, but I still imagine more occurring in this space. And so it shall.

Thanks for joining me this far. Enjoy The-Dream.

The-Dream (Feat. Rihanna) - "Livin' A Lie"