Debut Solo Release: Kaleidoscope EP - Available for Free Download

My debut solo release, "Kaleidoscope EP" is now available for free download at http://mikesimonelli.bandcamp.com/

The inspiration for an album of short songs was sparked in June of 2011 when I was introduced to hint fiction, a literary genre in which are stories told in 25 words or less.  My initial goal was to write songs that were under 25 words and under a minute.  The songs on this EP are not as short as I initially hoped since I abandoned this criteria, but they are as brief and direct as I could make them.  The album contains 12 songs, ranging from about 30 seconds to two and half minutes, and in total the EP is 18 minutes in length.  

By June of 2012 I kicked into full gear with working on the EP, and this collection of songs quickly began coming together.  In a way this album kind of reflects a personal and musical process which I began without having a clear direction in mind.  It is more or less composed of scattered orchestrated thoughts that are strung together and not in focus for very long, but they kind of evolve as the album progresses. 

I had a lot of fun exploring with sound and exploring with writing more pop oriented (or at least vocal) music on this EP and I'm very excited to be able to share it with you.

Here's a stream of the full EP here too if you want to just listen to it instead of downloading it (or before you download it to see if it's something you dig).

Track listing:
1. Kaleidoscope 
2. I'd Like to Write a Story About Love 
3. A Wish Made in a Dream
4. Time Travel is Dangerous 
5. Man in the Planet 
6. Christmas Crawl
7. All is Swell 
8. So It Goes
9. Searching for the Source 
10. Skeptic 
11. Under the Canopy 
12. Fixing a Clock

I have 200 free downloads available on bandcamp (where you can also stream individual tracks), and I'm not counting on running out...but maybe download it now if you're planning on downloading it just in case I have to charge for it later?  I'll also have physical copies of the EP in the near future to sell at shows I'll be playing in the near future.

Enjoy!

Mike

Dirty Projectors - Paradise Rock Club

I saw the Dirty Projectors last night and am still getting my mind around how ridiculously tight they are.  Dave Longstreth makes every other band in the world of indie rock look like they just aren't trying hard enough.  Also got to hear some of his compositions that were commissioned for Bang On a Can at the Bang on a Can Marathon in Manhattan earlier this Summer and it was some really cool stuff.  As much as I know Dave hates this comparison, I feel like he's like the Frank Zappa of our generation in regards to really bridging the gap between the modern classical and pop-music world...minus the fact that Dave also writes some pretty emotionally moving songs as well as music to geek out to.  Really looking forward to hearing what musical direction he'll be taking in the future.

If you haven't heard it yet, I'd definitely recommend checking out the Dirty Projectors new album "Swing Lo Magellan".  It's easily their popiest album yet - but they make it work for them.  Here's the title track from it (ignore the music video - it's just something some dude posted, but this song is beautiful).

Holiday Mountain Farewell and CD Release Show

Contrary to what I previously posted about not playing any more shows with Holiday Mountain this summer, I will be playing with them for their last Boston show this Thursday, August 16th at the Institute of Contemporary Art.  The show is free and goes from 6:00-8:30 PM and I'll be joining them for their second set (which will start around 7:00).  In addition to it being the last Boston show, it will be the official release show of Holiday Mountain's debut album "Become Who You Are" (which you can hear here) and we will have physical copies there available for purchase.  So if you're free, come on down to the docks of the ICA to check it out.  Should be a good time.  More info on the facebook event page.