Chris Bocast: News

Have two of three epic tracks finished for my next solo album now; working on some material from MVS (finally); and have published the first podcast in the series. It's up on iTunes U - go to University of Wisconsin-Madison and you'll find "Water, Wisconsin, and the Mercury Cycle" under Environment and Life Sciences.

Nagging problems with my hands continue to hamper my productivity unfortunately...

I have been quietly working on a podcast album for iTunes for the last month or two and should have some episodes coming online soon. I'm excited as this gives me a chance to combine my interests in science with my skills in music and audio, while dabbling in what is perhaps the most exciting field in audio production right now. There seems to be a bit of a radio featurette renaissance going on, thanks to things like Public Radio Exchange (prx.org). I'll be adding links and everything as the podcasts debut so keep tuned!

Also done with school for spring so I'm looking forward to getting some long-delayed music projects finished - lots to do!

Full house and a flawless performance - great concert atmosphere. I may incorporate some elements into the next Chris CD - meanwhile some other folks are making noises about putting the piece out. We'll see!

Looking forward to working with the MVS material as soon as the semester ends!

Here's the link:

 

http://www.nelson.wisc.edu/community/programs/earth-day/2010/concert.html

 

Emily and I went into the hall today and did a great rehearsal - sounded swell!

Hope everyone nearby makes it for this one!

My BMI statement came in, and I was pleasantly surprised to see nearly 200,000 plays of my music in the third quarter of 2009. I have been rehearsing hard for the concert and then I just might buy a new electric guitar for 2010!

Rehearsing and finishing projects before I jump into any more commitments is the motto for 2010! Way too busy...

Been posting on the blog for day-to-day stuff. I have posted the remix I did for Matt Labarge (check out his latest October) and finally took the Christmas tunes down. Working on finishing the second Emerson audiobook collection and getting the sound collage/performance for Earth Day together. It will be at the Overture Center and I have enlisted a pianist, Emily Blessing, to help me perform it! Also licensed some piano music in Europe while Stratagem is getting played on Paul Headon's ambient show Sirius FM in Australia - sweet!

Made time to post a couple Christmas favorites - there's more on iTunes if you just can't get enough...

Um, working on frog sounds for my installation; have more recording work transmogrifying Beethoven and other classics for Vital Sounds as soon as I finish the University chores; a few holiday gigs; flew to S.F. to meet Kitaro for a possible tour - that's unlikely but I made friends with him and played his giant taiko drums; expecting tracks from Catalin soon for our next collaboration; expecting tracks from MVS soon for our next collaboration; need to write a stunning composition for the gala concert for the Earth Day celebration on April 20-21 (lots of famous speakers); and I need to get this contemplative album out as well - John's already going nuts on the artwork.

My hand still hurts constantly but I can play with few restraints thanks to the ministrations of Mary Hooper over the last year.

And I want a new acoustic guitar for Christmas.

Is that enough for now?

Lots of things happening that deserve more comment, but for now folks may want to vote in the Best of 2009 Echoes Poll for "Stratagem" - you can win an iPod Nano!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Rj5Dj1XPBykAic7ya5RT5g_3d_3d
I'll see if I can get a new Christmas song done soon!

Heading to San Francisco this weekend to meet with a major figure in visionary music... and have some fresh crab with John and Rachel!

Michael Bell and I delivered a fabulous 6-minute soundtrack trailer to a director who shall go unnamed; he snubbed it and went with his "version". I watched and cringed at the festival while the soundtrack he used emitted a loud and continuous buzz; after several minutes of torturous noise it eventually died, shortly before the picture crashed as well. A rare bit of karmic justice...

As I had to take a break to brush up my guitar-slinger chops, the sound installation has been pushed into December. This is only the first step in many though, so I am happy to be patient. I have also been accepted to do a sonic art/acoustic ecology presentation in Finland next summer.

More news soon!

Some very interesting things in the wind at the moment, but the big news is that, due to popular demand, I will be doing a second printing of "Through the Airlock" this winter. I must thank XM Sirius and Pandora for their continued support of my music and, of course, all the fans and listeners who have bought the album. Best to all!

Look for an interesting sound installation in Madison this month! More soon...

OK - I admit I was quite surprised to make Echoes' listener poll Top 200 list of the past 20 years, and to make it into the top 100 really made my month! This list reflects the work of the most consummate musicians and recording artists in the field and I'm proud that Stratagem is included among them. Here's the link:

http://www.echoes.org/200Albums.html
Had a good solo show out in Cross Plains; I'd been sick all week and it was a challenge at times, but the audience was both very supportive and interested.

Was able to spend a little time with John Loose out in San Francisco as well as Michael Ver Steegt. Should start on some new Bocast/Catalin material this winter too. No rest for the weary...

More interesting news -

In the music section I've posted an mp3 of the interview broadcast on Echoes September 29 - it touches on some of the influences that have informed my work and some of the bands I've played with. Let me know what you think in the guestbook.

Revised recording plans now point towards a significant solo release in spring centered on some extended meditative tracks, the first of a three-part series of works I'm envisioning, possibly based around field recordings.

Heading to San Francisco this week to meet with John Hundt to discuss a possible print run for some of the outstanding artwork he's made for my albums. Hope to see some old friends while I'm there!

A lot of news this month:

Michael Franti and Spearhead came through Madison Sept. 27 so I got a chance to hang with Michael Ver Steegt and the gang. Jammed with Dave Shul, MVS, and sundry during soundcheck. They have a single in the Top 40 "Say Hey (I Love You)" so they are working very hard. I'm tremendously pleased for them, even though it has pushed the recording project with Michael back a year...

...which might be fortuitous as an interesting soundtrack project has come up dealing with human/elephant interactions in Kenya. This might take a year!

Stratagem was No. 13 on the Echoes playlist for September which means it has stayed in the Top 20 for three months running (No. 1 in August!) on what may arguably be the best ambient radio program in syndication. A ten-minute interview was broadcast on Echoes on September 29 which I will post here later this month. Along with the 130 or so stations that carry Echoes, Stratagem was added to playlists for Montana Public radio (MTPR), Boston College's WZBC, and Renee Blanche's famous Night Tides program broadcasting from Kansas City. Please request Stratagem from your favorite local radio station!

A couple performances coming up this month - one at a banquet this week at University of Wisconsin's Great Hall for the Association for Environmental Studies and Science where I will be furthering my advocacy for acoustic ecology, as well as a show at the Crossroads later in the month. I will be revamping my live solo show over the next year, which leads to the last, but far from least, entry for this bulletin.

I am now an official endorser of Monte Allums specialty electronics! I have converted my Boss CS-3 to something amazing using his simple-to-install and totally kick-ass mods. If you want to separate yourself from the pack, but can't deny the durability and functionality of your old pedals, you owe it to yourself to check out Monte's mods! Go to www.monteallums.com and see for yourself.

Enough for now - I have to practice. See ya in San Francisco Oct. 14!

We topped the playlist chart at Echoes in August - thanks go out to John Diliberto and crew for the early endorsement of our first collaboration!

http://www.echoes.org/Top25-2009-08.html

OK - made it out to Colorado this month, actually jammed a little bit at the Braindance up in the high country. Had a great time eating Greek food and talking music with Jessica Steinhoff, a local journalist here in Madison. Here's the article that came of it:

http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=26642
Heading out for a brief tour of Wisconsin with the E&R people this weekend; they asked me to bring a guitar...

Have confirmed recording dates in San Francisco in October to lay groundwork for the next significant release, this one with Michael Ver Steegt.

More soon!

Busy month here!

Check your local NPR station to see if they carry Echoes on the weekend. This weekend's show features Stratagem! Some stations, like KRCC in Colorado Springs and KUT in Austin, feature Echoes on their HD broadcast, which goes out over cable TV. Check the review on Echoes and look for a station in your area:

https://app.e2ma.net/app/view:CampaignPublic/id:34511.6503229963/rid:28616994484c3b977c07e3914b0ea8da
And please, please, please request Stratagem at your local public radio or college station.

My albums are now available on the ground in Madison at Strictly Discs on Monroe Street and B-Side Records on State Street. Support your local!

A special thanks to everyone for all their encouragement,

Chris

Here's a quickie from Echoes online

http://www.xpn.org/podcasts/echoes/echoes20090729.mp3
Stratagem is #7 in Echoes Top 25 for July!

http://www.echoes.org/Top25-2009-07.html

Fantastic news this month! Stratagem has been selected by Echoes to be their CD of the Month in August. Echoes is a highly respected and widely distributed radio show, and a personal favorite of mine as well, so this is tremendously exciting and satisfying. I did an interesting interview with John Diliberto about the recording of the album as well as some of my musical history. One thing that came up was one of my first ambient releases with Temporary Temple, "Strandlooper". In the spirit of things, I have re-edited and re-mastered the original track and will keep it posted through August.

I've been working on several music licensing deals with Stratagem and Airlock as well, so I have been quite busy! I'm hoping to finish the Vital Sounds project this week - it turned into two giant 30-minute epics (more on this later)!

More soon!

A lot of news this month! The lead story is I will be entering a Ph.D. program at the Nelson Institute at the University of Wisconsin in the fall studying environmental music and acoustic ecology. Initially, I have been looking at some of the work of Barry Blesser who has advanced the idea of "aural architecture" into interdisciplinary studies. Blesser was one of the inventors of the Lexicon reverb (where would ambient music be without digital reverbs?) as well as a scholar at MIT. This endeavor should lead to a published book eventually, some cool performances, and me finally being able to read some of those interesting books I've been collecting.

I've also secured a deal for myself and Catalin with a music production library out in Hollywood, so you may be hearing snippets of Stratagem and Airlock on the History Channel in a few months. I've been busy making two-minute edits of all our music.

Finally I've been contacted by the program director of a major ambient radio show who loves Stratagem and wants to schedule an interview. More on this soon!

Going into rotation this month from Stratagem will be "Coerenta Excentrica" and "Nocturne". For fun I will add a free download of the Tokyo Vogue classic "July" as it is indeed... July.

Tracks 3 and 4 from "Stratagem" go into rotation on the Flash player in June. Finished the VItal Sounds CD (we'll see how they like it!) and did a re-mix for pianist Matt Labarge as well.

The next solo album "To Shining Mountains Gone" is awaiting artwork and should be out soon. Also hope to begin working on some brand-new stuff with MJC.

Saw The Killers in Milwaukee, great show!

Also in the music section there are two short clips that feature Larisa giving correct Romanian pronunciations of the song titles from Stratagem that are in that language.

lots of stuff happening right now...

Stratagem's out - first official sale went to a female fan in France and first official airplay was noted on Pirate Cat Radio in San Francisco. I'm very pleased with the work and it is going around to all the tastemakers and radio programs that matter - we'll see what the world thinks!

Stratagem had only just arrived when I was wined and dined by Vital Sounds, who have commissioned me for a new album. They do sonic therapy and wanted some music with natural sounds they had licensed. The beta version I've worked up is quite fun, a 30 minute epic!

Did a live show for the first time in Madison out in Cross Plains. My left hand is still not quite right, but it's well enough to play out again at least. I've been reviewing Bach and the Baroque, in conjunction with a music history class I'll be teaching this summer, so I've been immersed in the classical spectrum as well.

There are some developments for fall already taking place, I'll have more in a bit...

Anyway, each month this year I will stream a couple songs from Stratagem on the site as well as having the occasional download, so folks can check out the music for themselves. You can pick up the cd at Amazon, CDBaby, and iTunes if it strikes your fancy.

Have a good summer!

cb

Distribution is being established as we speak. If you just can't wait, contact me directly to mail-order the CD. It looks and sounds awesome!

Due to serious disruptions, I have been unable to post music recently. I will try to make amends for that this spring. This month I have added an old fave that's slightly lo-fi, but has a distinct atmosphere: "Moonglow". I don't believe I've put it up before - that's Michael VS on synth...