Heyheyhey, I’m working on my new album! IN EARNEST. Sir Mayhaw Hoons is producing, I’m recording everything, and we’re both playing (most) everything. We just started, so it probably won’t be done until sometime this summer, but GET READY.

I also just finished up recording and mixing TeenSpot’s EP. It’s great mid-fi guitar pop. I love it more than peace.

More news sooooon!

Well it’s Christmas, and because of FREAK SNOW, my plans have been postponed for another day. But that won’t stop me from drinking a pot of coffee and writing my TOP SIX SONGS OF 2012 list. The Portland Mercury already published my top five albums of 2012, but I couldn’t stop there. So here are those six songs, in no particular order:

Tegan & Sara – “Closer.” This is the first single from T&S’s yet-to-be-released album, Heartthrob. It’s a full-on top-40 style pop song, which is a new thing for them. But it totally works! It’s super slick, but tastefully so. It’s a great canvas for such a simple, straightforward pop song like this. I can’t freaking wait for the rest of the album.

The Magnetic Fields – “Andrew In Drag.” This song is exactly why Stephin Merritt is one of the best songwriters out there. I also cannot resist his deadpan bass croon.

Japandroids – “The House That Heaven Built.” It seems like this song is on every hipster year-end list, but it’s actually for good reason! It’s so freaking full of life, it makes The Clash sound like Iron and Wine. It has one of the best lines I’ve heard in a long time too (“Tell them all they’ll love in my shadow!”).

Beach House – “The Hours.” This is such a great sad-sack pop song. It’s probably the best-written melody of the year. And I loves me some cavernous reverb.

The Avett Brothers – “Live and Die.” I don’t even like these guys that much, but this song is pretty amazing. It’s basically a lost Beatles song. Paul McCartney is wishing he wrote this one. Bonus points for being in the key of B.

The Helio Sequence – “One More Time.” I first saw these guys open for King Black Acid in Eugene 12 years ago. I’m so glad they’re still doing their thing, and writing super solid songs. This is a great croony pop song. Again, with cavernous reverb, which usually never hurts!

Here are some videos from the Wurlitzer portion of my DOOMSDAY/BIRFDAY SHOW last Friday at Langano Lounge. They’re not perfect, as it’s the first time I’ve done a solo keyboard set, and on top of that, I played three songs I’ve never ever played live before. AND it was super dark in there, so the videos don’t look so great. BUT with that mealy-mouthed, convoluted caveat out of the way, it was super fun and I want to do more solo keyboard stuff live. YEAH BITCHES:

No Way:

Mammal (They Might Be Giants cover):

Hey You:

My Minimum:

The Man With The Golden Touch:

It’s been a busy second half of 2012, though you may not knowing from reading (or not reading) this here “official website.” I suck at updating this thing. I’m a Twitter addict, yetI can’t keep a normal blog updated regularly–I’m hopeless! (Didn’t I write a song about this?)

ANYWAY. I’ve started working on a new album! Well, just writing and demoing so far. AND Mayhaw Hoons will be producing the record at some point next year! I’ll still be engineering and mixing the thing, but it’ll still be a big change to have an active collaborator in the process. I’ve been posting all the demos to Soundcloud so you can keep up to date with the album-birthing process. Here they are all in a handy playlist:

I’m also playing a DOOMSDAY SHOW next week on the 21st at the Langano Lounge on Hawthorne. It’s a birfday party/show for my good friend and Wurly benefactor Nate Birkholz, but you are invited! Of course, I say this assuming that the entire internet won’t accept my invitation. It’s a tiny little bar, so please at least SOME of you, don’t come. I know, it’s hard.

Another post to come soon hopefully, before the end of the year!

As always, I quitefreaking love it when my songs are used in TV/film/any media whatsoever. I recently found out that an instrumental version of my song “All You Need Is Love” from my 2010 album Public Domain Rainbow was used on the new Discovery Channel show “Weed Wars.” Peep it:

If you ever want to license one of my songs, you can do so through Pump Audio. My catalog is available here!

GUISE! My new album Variations In The Pattern is OUT! You can stream it at Bandcamp or Soundcloud. The album is $9.99 to download, but you can get “Return” and “Before I Knew” for free!

First post of 2012! I’m so on top of things! BUT while my blog collects dust every now and then, my Twitter is updated all the time, so you can always get the latest news there.

Lots of cool stuff going on right now. Most excitingly, I’m working on a new album! It will be titled Variations In The Pattern and you can expect it out this summer. There’s real drums, real Wurlitzer piano (thanks to Nate!) and NO joke songs, if you can imagine that. I’m really excited about it, and I truly (madly, deeply) think this will be my best album yet. And I don’t always think that about every album I make. This one will be Pugless, but there will certainly be some more work from me and my Pugs in the future, don’t worry!

Speaking of the Pugs, “Freeze Tag” from our Banana Stand show in 2010 is featured on the new live compilation from the ‘Stand, out in June! Here is a video of that performance. Read more about the live comp and its release party here.

I have been doing lots of videos (covers, recording stuff, etc.). Go to my YouTube channel to watch those little nuggets of fool’s gold.

Spookies work is chugging along as well. We have two vinyl EP releases in the works, one being a split EP with The Minders. It will be amazing-awesome.

More news and music soon!

Okay, so I totally should have posted about these things by now. Big whoop. So since a picture says 100 words, I’ll just post the music and let you decide for your cats.

November’s and December’s digital 7″ singles:

And also! I’m in a band with Mayhaw Hoons, Colin Anderson and Mickey Rivers called Spookies. We played our first show last weekend and it amazed. Here is our current three-song demo:

And my Top 5 Albums of 2011 list was published in the Portland Mercury! I do these lists for fun every year anyway so it’s rad to finally have it published in some substantial form.

More Spookies and more digital 7″s coming in 2012! It’s going to be a rad year, despite (or in spite of?) the Mayan calendar.