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Aaron Tap



Last Updated: 12/16/2009

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Status: Single
City: LOS ANGELES
State: California
Country: US
Signup Date: 11/9/2007

Blog Archive
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Thursday, October 22, 2009 

Current mood:  hungry
Better late than never, my video expose of the Iowa State Fair's Food-on- Stick-travaganza!
Currently listening:
State Fair (1945 And 1962 Films)
By Oscar Hammerstein II
Release date: 1999-11-02
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 

Category: Music
While I will get into details later, I have posted some visuals and an Oz-related song of the day over on aarontap.com.  Enjoy!





Saturday, July 18, 2009 

Category: Music
In Rainbows, 21 Months Later

Back in January, I posted a ridiculously verbose series of musings on the state of the music industry. The catalyst had been a conversation I had with Matt about Radiohead and the recent much-hyped internet-only name-your-own-price release of In Rainbows (read the first and relevant article here). In the story I admitted that I was primarily an old-school Radiohead fan and hadn’t really connected with any of their post-OK Computer output. I had taken the bait for In Rainbows and downloaded it without paying a cent, with the promise to myself that if I liked it, I would buy the physical CD upon release. Well, I merely liked it. I found In Rainbows made a better impression on me after a few listens than had Kid A and there were some musically interesting moments, but the problem was that after those few listens, I still didn’t feel any connection to the songs. It was like listening to it for the first time each time and kept being that way even after - as a sort of scientific experiment - I had listened to it repeatedly for days on end. Very unmemorable. Maybe there’s a place for music like that, but I like music to resonate within my body, ineffably, emotionally, rather than simply impress parts of my brain. Parlor tricks are easy. Gut wrenching is not...

Get the full story here.
Thursday, July 16, 2009 

Category: Music
Read this in full color on my site: Song of the Week: Kings of the Wild Frontier, by Adam and the Ants

OR...

I recall reading a review of one of the (admittedly too) many Adam Ant hits collections that was released in the 1990s in which the author asserted that the music came off sounding dated.  Every time I listen to the Ants I think of that line because, for me, the opposite is true.  What Adam Ant and, later, the brilliant Marco Pirroni were crafting on the first two Ants albums in particular (the bondage-death-God-obsessed Dirk Wears White Sox and the more polishedKings of the Wild Frontier) was something so utterly bizarre that it renders it timeless. For one thing, the recordings themselves stand out not only because of the distinctive dual-Burundi drums, but because the guitars are so brutal and layered in a way that just wasn’t being done in pop music.  There’s the intro with just bass and timpani followed by the rhythmic intro only to then hit you with double-tracked feedback drenched power chords and a compelling tremolo counter melody running under the vocal - all in the first verse!  And then the “chorus” (the song doesn’t quite have one and yet it was a hit single) features drums, vocals, and feedback.  Lyrically, Adam covered a lot of strange ground in his early period - this song, apparently, laments the fact that European (i.e. white) values dominated as a result of imperialism - before eventually petering out with a lame sexual persona that, ironically, ultimately emasculated his music.

But even after the one-two punch of these first albums, Adam & the Ants remained strong, producing the sometimes goofy but often excellent Prince Charming and then Friend or Foe (originally intended to be a and the Ants album, it became Adam’s first solo record and the last of his great releases).  Adam and the Ants, despite disparagement over their over-the-top image, remain one of the greatest examples of post-punk and the Kings of the Wild Frontier album is perfection: rocking, catchy, challenging, and mystifying.  Join the insect nation!Comments [0]Digg it!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009 

Current mood:  accomplished
Category: Music
Counting Crows, us, Green River Ordinance and… wait for it… a sandwich eating contest! At least there wasn’t a puppet show.


Currently listening:
Louder Than Bombs
By The Smiths
Release date: 2008-01-13
Thursday, February 12, 2009 

Category: Music
I'll be going on tour again with Matt Nathanson this spring! We're opening for Jack's Mannequin -- BUT the tour recently got cancelled and then re-booked. So, sit tight for new tour dates!
Sunday, November 09, 2008 

Category: Music
I've been making guitar noises for many years and - despite growing up in the shadow of Metal - I've always been about one thing: finding the right part to fit in the right spot. Yeah, I can bash out power chords with the best of them, but where I really shine is dropping the perfect part down in the middle of a chorus to lift the music up to the melodic level of the vocals (check out "In Light Of Your Less Complicated Life" in my player), or coming up with a strong melody to tie an instrumental middle eight into the rest of the song. Listen to "Gone" and "All We Are" from Matt Nathanson's 'Some Mad Hope' for some good examples.

I'm always interested in working with new artists, both in person and remotely. I've had some great experiences doing tracks long-distance, recording in my own Deedling Quail Recording studio and sending tracks back and forth.
Sunday, November 09, 2008 

Category: Music
Yeah, so I've produced (and co-produced) a bunch of indie records. Why should you care? Because indie records are great records, records that reflect a genuine artistic urge, and records where the artist is still the main focus of the production, not the producer. That means that, for one thing, I know what goes into making a great record, but also that I know that what the artist wants to achieve is paramount and I never let that slip out of my mind. Another role of the producer that people overlook is to keep an eye on costs. I have developed a great network of studios and people on both coasts who understand that not every band has a label bankroll to use up on excessive catering whims and I can help you make a top-end product with a reasonable budget.

Drop me a line and tell me about your upcoming recording project(s)!
Friday, May 02, 2008 

Category: Music

A couple CDs that I had the pleasure of playing on are out now. First up is my old friends the Weisstronauts. It was hard to leave this band when PK & I headed out to the West Coast, but they've been kind enough to keep me on as an auxiliary member. I played with them at their last Holiday Jubilee show in Decemeber, and recorded some guitar bits and pieces for their new CD at my own Deedling Quail studio. Check out some tracks from Instro-tainment and buy your copy here!

Also recorded remotely, some minimal guitars for a singer-songwriter out of Florida named John Frank. John's new EP, The Spaces In Between, will be out shortly and he's celebrating that fact with a show at the Social in Orlando on May 10th. Check out the tunes!

Finally, and thrillingly, Paula Kelley and I are finishing up the first installment of her serialized new album. The first EP is due out early this summer, and I couldn't be more excited about it! There's not a lot of guitar on the record, but what is there is among my favorite work, and Paula and I co-produced the tracks to great ends. Stay tuned for more information on that and subsequent releases.

The majority of touring with Matt Nathanson is over for the summer. I've posted the scattered festival dates on my shows page, as well as a new Layne date. The PKO will be playing some shows this summer, too, so it's gonna be busy and great!