MOG - Josh Haden's Posts

Spain At The Echo Wed. 6-11-08

Josh Haden — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 17:23:02 GMT

Spain will be playing new songs and some oldies but goodies too this Wednesday, June 11 at the Echo in Los Angeles, California. We have an unlimited $5.00 guest list for the show so if you'd like to be included on it feel free to send me an email at jhaden@mac.com and let me know.

June 11, 2008 Spain 10pm Daniel Ahearn 9pm Correatown 11pm the Echo 1822 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90026 $7 ($5 unlimited guestlist, email jhaden@mac.com to be included) (213) 413-8200

It's So True

Josh Haden — Sun, 25 May 2008 17:48:32 GMT

Rykodisc.com is offering a free download of the Spain song 'It's So True' (from the 'Blue Moods Of Spain' cd) as part of Rykodisc's 25th anniversary celebration.

Registration is required, but you also get to download free songs from Andrew Bird, Morphine, Lori Carson, and Galaxie 500, plus free songs from five different Rykodisc artists every month. The Spain song is available starting today until the 24th of next month.

New Spain Song

Josh Haden — Sat, 24 May 2008 16:59:22 GMT

My band Spain has been recording new songs.

This one's called 'I'm Still Free', its our first new song in over eight years.

Its also available as a free download from the Spain myspace page.

Hangin' With The Gutter Twins

Josh Haden — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 01:21:53 GMT

Today I interviewed Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan for the German music magazine Spex. We talked about L.A., spirituality in music, the record business, and most of all about their upcoming cd release as the Gutter Twins.

The Gutter Twins cd called Saturnalia will be released Mar. 4 2008 in the U.S. Its a great cd and everyone should buy a copy when it comes out.

There was a photographer there and I asked her to take a picture of us on my iphone.

Spex Magazine Gutter Twins Official Site

Bryn Jones June 17, 1961 - January 14, 1999

Josh Haden — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 19:04:30 GMT

January 14 is always a sad day for me because it marks the passing of one of my favorite artists, Bryn Jones AKA Muslimgauze, who died on this day in 1999.

Muslimgauze is a huge inspiration to me, and I know his soul and his spirit watches over us all.

A previously unreleased Muslimgauze album entitled "Wish Of The Flayed" has been released as a free mp3 download from the website Arabbox v1.0.

Here is the title track from "Wish Of The Flayed".

Haden Family: Nashville Pt. 4

Josh Haden — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 15:01:19 GMT

Today was another great day in the studio. We convened at 10:00am, recording with Ricky Skaggs and the legendary country vocal group the Whites, which consists of Ricky's wife Sharon White, Sharon's sister Cheryl, and Sharon and Cheryl's father Buck.

I was completely blown away by their incredible vocal harmonies. Hopefully we'll get to see them perform Saturday night when we go to the Grand Ole Opry!

Here's a picture of Rachel and her boyfriend Atom Ellis with Buck White.

Also singing in the studio this morning with us was multiple-Grammy winner (and member of Alison Krauss and Union Station), the incredible Dan Tyminski. Dan is also well-known as the vocalist on the song "Man Of Constant Sorrow" which was featured in the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? He's also a really nice guy.

Here is, from left, fiddle-player Stuart Duncan, Dan Tyminski, Mark Fain, my dad Charlie Haden, my dad's wife Ruth Cameron, and Ricky Skaggs, conferring about a song in the control room. You can barely see my sister Tanya sitting behind Ruth on the couch.

I haven't talked about Mark Fain for awhile, but he is a guiding force on this project and we couldn't do it without him. I'm planning to write more about Mark in an upcoming post.

Here's a photo of bassist Steve Rodby, who is also helping us immensely in the studio. His wisdom and technical knowledge is indispensible to us.

At one point in the early afternoon a huge storm swept into town and we had to shut down the power in the studio, holding things up for a little while. I stepped outside and shot some video of the rainfall, there's a little thunder in there too if you listen carefully.

It's important to remember that, as in everything, there is always sunshine after the rain, and this storm was no different.

After the respite, we got back to work. Ricky Skaggs wanted to sing a song with my sisters and they did just that. It sounded incredible, and what an honor!

Rachel snapped a picture of me and my new hero Ricky Skaggs.

After a short conference about tomorrow's schedule, we stopped for the night and went back to the hotel. Tomorrow none other than...well...I'll let that be a surprise, but he'll be at the studio in the morning to sing a song with us, and I can't wait!

Tomorrow I'm also finally going to sing my songs, I better get some sleep!

http://www.skaggsfamilyrecords.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whites http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Ole_Opry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atom_Ellis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Tyminski http://www.myspace.com/fainbass http://www.steverodby.com/

Haden Family: Nashville Pt. 2

Josh Haden — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 08:17:34 GMT

First a little history.

The Haden Family were a country-gospel singing group that played in the 1930s-1950s all over the mid-west United States. They could be heard on gospel radio stations in Iowa, the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, revival meetings and county fairs in Missouri. They were friends with many other country artists of their day including the Carter Family.

My father, Charlie Haden, was born on Aug. 6, 1937, and soon afterwards joined the act as Yodeling Cowboy Charlie, travelling and singing with his family until the age of 15, when a battle with polio damaged his vocal chords so badly he had to stop singing.

I don't have any photos of the original Haden Family with me but I did find a low resolution image from the 1950s online, go to the Springfield History Museum website at http://www.springfieldhistorymuseum.org/archives/index.php?Q=KGBX to check it out.

Later on my dad switched to the double bass, moved to Los Angeles, joined the Ornette Coleman Quartet, and became a jazz legend, but that's a story for another time.

For the past several years my dad has been trying to get a project off the ground which includes his kids, his wife Ruth, and various close friends and musical confidantes playing the old time gospel and country songs his family performed when he was a child and the world was a much more simpler and innocent place.

Well, this project is happening now and I'm so happy to announce it is proceeding as planned!

Today was a lot of fun, Béla Fleck played on a few tunes, and my sisters continued singing their vocal harmonies.

Here's a photo of (from left to right) Stuart Duncan, Buddy Greene, my sister Petra, Bryan Sutton, and my father rehearsing a song.

Here's Ruth and my dad with mandolin player Sam Bush.

Later on Pat Metheny came by and played an incredible version of...well, I'll just let that be a surprise.

Pat will be recording with us tomorrow as well and I'll be sure to take lots of pictures.

My sisters sang a rendition of "Single Girl Married Girl" with the band and I snuck into the vocal booth to document some of it.

Tomorrow I'll hopefully be singing on a song so I'm looking forward to that. I'll let you know how it goes!

http://www.belafleck.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Duncan http://www.buddygreene.com http://www.bryansutton.com http://www.sambush.com http://www.patmetheny.com

Haden Family: Nashville Pt. 1

Josh Haden — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 08:05:59 GMT

I'm in Nashville right now recording the Haden Family cd and I'll be blogging about it every day.

Check out my blog at http://joshhaden.blogspot.com/ and see what I've been up to!

Don't forget to click on the google ads on the page if you have a few moments, you'll be supporting my musical endeavors...your help is much appreciated!

Josh

The Stargazer's Journey

Josh Haden — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 03:34:21 GMT

Lisa and I hiked up to the Griffith Observatory today. It was a great way to spend the first day of the new year.

Jonn Serrie is a 'space music' composer who's cds are featured in the Observatory Gift Shop. I think his music appears in the planetarium show as well.

Here's an excerpt from his song 'The Stargazer's Journey' from the cd of the same name. More excerpts from his songs can be found at The Universe Of Jonn Serrie.

Happy New Year!

Josh Haden — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 23:55:20 GMT

Happy New Year Everybody!

Have an enlightening and prosperous new year!

Words cannot describe the deep appreciation I have for the support I've received from you over the past twelve months.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you very, very much.

2008 will be a very active year for me musically and I'll be sure to keep you updated on all my latest developments.

To help bring in the new year, I've posted part two of Jacques Derrida's 2002 lecture 'On Religion' on my Diamond Sounds Podcast. It can found at Josh's Blog.

Please help support my blog by clicking on one of the google ads if you have the time. Thanks.

Once again, have a great New Year and keep in touch!

Josh

Hallelujah

Josh Haden — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 20:38:26 GMT

Here's a clip of my solo band performing the song 'Hallelujah' from my 'Devoted' cd, recorded live April 6, 2007, just uploaded to youtube.

Waialea Hawaiian Band

Josh Haden — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 18:11:04 GMT

As highlighted in my blog at blogger.com I recently got married to my long-time girlfriend Lisa and during our honeymoon in Waikiki we had the surprise pleasure of checking out the Waialea Hawaiian Band at the Marriott Moana Terrace. It featured Hawaiian music heavyweights George Kuo, Aaron Mahi, and Martin Pahinui, and they sounded amazing. During a break in their set I purchased one of their cds and here's a song from it for your enjoyment. Have a great new years!

Arthur McBride

Josh Haden — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 03:00:39 GMT

Paul Brady sings "Arthur McBride" on BBC TV Northern Ireland in 1977.

This is why I love music.

The 1976 album "Andy Irvine & Paul Brady" is amazing and well worth seeking out.

Unwrinkled Ear Appearance Archived

Josh Haden — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 00:54:20 GMT

A couple of nights ago I was a special guest on the Unwrinkled Ear radio show, and the episode has been archived for your downloading pleasure, for those of you who missed it or would like to hear it again!

I played some Dead Sea Scrolls songs, and talked with host Andrew Choate about the return of my band Spain. We listened to several national anthems, and also debated the neanderthals vs. humans argument.

The episode can be downloaded from http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=24960

Unwrinkled Ear Next Thursday

Josh Haden — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 23:44:10 GMT

Just letting everyone know I'll be a special guest on Andrew "Unwrinkled" Choate's internet radio show "The Unwrinkled Ear" next Thursday, October 4 at 9:00pm PST. I'll be singing and playing bass, spinning some tunes, and talking about my current music projects, including the return of Spain. I hope you can tune in!

Listen to The Unwrinkled Ear on killradio.org every Thursday night from 9:00pm - 10:30pm PST.

I Dig Pain

Josh Haden — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:09:56 GMT

This band is going to sweep the nation. Dig the bandages on that bass player's hands!

Diamond Sounds Podcast 6 Now Posted

Josh Haden — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 22:08:10 GMT

Diamond Sounds Podcast presents more random musical samplings from a static God.

Diamond Sounds Podcast 6

For more information on how I listen to iTunes refer to this post on my MOG page.

Close Shave

Josh Haden — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 16:34:54 GMT

John Kirby (born December 31, 1908 in Winchester, Virginia and died June 14, 1952 in Hollywood, California) was a jazz double-bassist who played the trombone as well as tuba. In 1993 he was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame. Unlike other then-popular "novelty" jazz groups (like Raymond Scott), Kirby is not particularly well remembered today; his small group light jazz style is a great example how swing can also be quite elegant. (from Wikipedia)

Diamond Sounds Podcast 4

Josh Haden — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 18:15:11 GMT

The latest episode of my Diamond Sounds podcast has now been posted.

Ten songs "randomly" selected from my religious playlist for your enjoyment/inspiration while driving, reading, writing, or doing the dishes.

Find it here: http://diamondsounds.podomatic.com/

Dead Sea Scrolls Myspace Page

Josh Haden — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 18:19:39 GMT

Two demos from my 'new' band for your downloading pleasure can be found on the Dead Sea Scrolls myspace page. Please leave any questions, comments, or suggestions.

Even A Caveman Figured It Out

Josh Haden — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 15:41:53 GMT

I know this isn't music related, but I thought everyone might like a sneak preview of the new TV ad campaign by lieco.com. Hilarious!

Public Image Ltd. On American Bandstand

Josh Haden — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 18:28:27 GMT

Public Image Ltd. on 1980 TV reality show American Bandstand.

Culled from PCL LinkDump.

See also my previous post regarding '80's TV reality show Dancin' On Air.

Earliest Known Recorded Music In Existence

Josh Haden — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 00:46:04 GMT

Check out The archive at Edison National Historic Site

On note with cylinder: "A chorus of 4000 voices recorded with phonograph over 100 yards away" Composed by: G.F. Handel Conducted by: August Manns Record format: Edison yellow paraffine cylinder Recorded by: Col. George Gouraud, foreign sales agent for Thomas Edison Location: the Crystal Palace, London, England Recording date: June 29, 1888. ENHS object catalog number: E-2440-20

Historical note: This is the earliest known recorded music in existence.

Kay Kyser & His Orchestra - The Kollege Of Musical Knowledge

Josh Haden — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 17:33:09 GMT

Latifa - Kerehtak (I Hate You)

Josh Haden — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 01:43:58 GMT

Your love is false, you have no conscience... Yes I loved you, I adored you and now I hate you! I hate you because you are just a mask and the wreckage of a play whose hero is agony!

You are a lie in the shape of an angel, for many years and nights my life was devoted to you... I am writing the story of your love with my tears while you are wiping it off with a stroke!

You successfully won the bet of your friends and my love story became a joke which you shared with your friends... Go and laugh with them until the morning and may God help me!

You entered my life by mistake, you are just a selfish person and that's why I hate you without compromise... Oh God, you are the compensation and the arbitrator!

Your love is false, you have no conscience... Yes I loved you, I adored you and now I hate you! I hate you because you are just a mask and the wreckage of a play whose hero is agony!

Translated by: RADIANT GUY with slight alterations by me.

Kazem El Saher - Ahbini Bila Uqadin (Love Me Without Complication)

Josh Haden — Thu, 31 May 2007 01:10:02 GMT

ahbini bila uqadin / love me without complication wa diai fi khtot yadi / get lost in the meanings of my writings ahbini / love me lisbuan layamin lsaatin / for a week, for days, for hours felesto ana allazi yahtamo bil abadi / is not me who cares about you forever taali taali... / come ... come... w ausqti mataran / fall as a rain ala atashi /on my thirst w sehrai / and my desert w thobi fi fami kalshami / dissolve in my mouth as a wax w anajni biajzai / and get my pieces together btuhri aw biakhtai / for my innocence or my mistakes w khatini /and cover me aya saqfan min alazhari / you as a roof of flowers ya khbati hinai / you as a Forest of Hina ana rajolon bila qadarin /I´m a man without destiny fakoni anti qadari /so you be my destiny w la tatasaali kaif / don't ask how w la tatalathami / and don't stumble from shyness w la tatasaqati khawfan /and don't fall from your fear koni albahra / be a sea w almina / and the port koni alarda w almafa be the land and the exile koni alsaho w alisar / be the wake and the storm koni allain w alanfa / be the softness and the violence ahbini muazibati / love me my torturer w thobi fi alhawa mithli / and dissolve in the love like me kama shiati / as you like ahbini baidan / love me away an biladi alqahri w alkabti / from the place of sorrow and oppression baidan an medinatina / away from our town allati shbiat bilmoti / that had enough from the death

Ray Noble/Al Bowlly

Josh Haden — Wed, 30 May 2007 16:46:05 GMT

Looking Backwards

Josh Haden — Tue, 15 May 2007 19:35:05 GMT

"I ought to apologize for inquiring," she said. "It is not a question that we ask one another nowadays; but I have read that in your day, even among the cultured class, there were some who did not care for music."

"You must remember, in excuse," I said, "that we had some rather absurd kinds of music."

"Yes," she said, "I know that; I am afraid I should not have fancied it all myself. Would you like to hear some of ours now, Mr. West?"

Looking Backwards by Edward Bellamy (1888) - Ch. 11

http://www.sacred-texts.com/utopia/lb/lb12.htm

Rose Of Tralee

Josh Haden — Thu, 03 May 2007 16:32:03 GMT

Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland by Lady Francesca Speranza Wilde (1887): Fairy Music

http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/ali/ali008.htm

Li Ki (Book Of Rites): Book XVII Yo Ki (Record Of Music)

Josh Haden — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 16:53:38 GMT

Li Ki (Book Of Rites): Book XVII Yo Ki

http://www.sacred-texts.com/cfu/liki2/liki217.htm

Muslimgauze - Live In Stockholm 1998

Josh Haden — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 07:16:24 GMT

Gail Laughton - Harps Of The Ancient Temples

Josh Haden — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 16:13:33 GMT

Travel back to a time when the world had the exact same problems we have now.

Soulsavers - Revival - The Video

Josh Haden — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 16:25:33 GMT

The Soulsavers video for 'Revival' from their new cd 'It's Not How Far You Fall, It's The Way You Land' is up on youtube...watch now, weep later.

Soulsavers and a Fire

Josh Haden — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 08:11:28 GMT

Today, well, I guess its yesterday by now, a fire in the hills above my house sent thick smoke billowing perpendicularly along my street. The smoke blotted out the sun and colored the air around me a very deceptively peaceful red hue. I had just received the Soulsavers' new cd 'It's Not How Far You Fall, It's The Way You Land' in the mail, popped the cd into my car's cd player, rolled down the windows, and drove through the smoke listening to the opening song 'Revival', the smoke stretched for miles in either direction, I watched the water-dropping helicopters hovering above me, the people on the sidewalks staring at the smoke slack-jawed and bewildered, with the smoke turning white and tapering off in the distance giving way to pure blue skies, my eyes stinging, I turned the volume up, listening to the song 'Revival' reminded me of my connection to the planet and the rhythm of life in a way I can forget about too often, and made me feel like I was floating in a perternatural lapse in time, that is, eternity!

This is a truly amazing cd and deserves to be in everybody's collection as soon as possible. That is, every single human person needs to hear this cd with the Soulsavers music and the singing of Mark Lanegan.

Now I have the cd (thank you Rich) and therefore post an mp3 of the song 'Revival' with music by Soulsavers and words and singing by Mark Lanegan here for your listening and living pleasure. My eyes are still stinging.

Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)

Josh Haden — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 15:06:56 GMT

Did anyone besides me not know that Gene Autry co-wrote the holiday classic 'Here Comes Santa Claus'? If you like, you can watch him talk about the creation of the song in an interview with the Statler Bros. here.

Gene Autry - 'Here Comes Santa Claus', a 16-song compilation available from Varese Vintage and checked out from my local library.

Most libraries have great cd collections representing music from all over the world, available for perusal (for free) to anybody who has a library card.

For more information on how I listen to my iTunes, please see my previous post.

Al Ghazzali - Concerning Music & Dancing As Aids To The Religious Life

Josh Haden — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 21:01:54 GMT

Al Ghazzali - Concerning Music & Dancing As Aids To The Religious Life

http://www.sacred-texts.com/isl/tah/tah09.htm

Soulsavers - Revival

Josh Haden — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 17:41:47 GMT

Do yourselves a big favor and go to the Soulsavers myspace page to listen to the song 'Revival' from the forthcoming Soulsavers cd 'Its Not How Far You Fall Its The Way You Land' with Mark Lanegan on vocals. You will thank me later.

http://www.myspace.com/soulsavers

Neil Hamburger On Fox News!

Josh Haden — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 02:27:01 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y7B7vLFNUE

Pre-Order Your Copy Of 'Devoted' Today!

Josh Haden — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 02:32:09 GMT

Shameless Self-Promotion Alert! -- MP3 Included!

Just wanted to let everyone know we're now accepting pre-orders for my debut solo cd 'Devoted' which will be released February 13, 2007 on Diamond Soul Recordings. The record was produced by Dan the Automator and features performances by former Spain guitarist/present Jack Johnson bassist Merlo Podlewski, keyboardist John Medeski and turntablist Kid Koala. The cost is only $10.00/cd, and everyone who pre-orders will receive a free gift! Postage and handling rates can be found below. The cd will be sent to you promptly the week of February 13. For more information visit http://www.joshhaden.com. Thanks!

Josh Haden's 11-song full-length cd to be released by Diamond Soul Recordings on February 13, 2007. PRE-ORDER YOURS TODAY! $10.00

U.S. residents add $2.00 postage & handling, Canada add $2.50, Europe add $4.00, Australia add $5.00. For other territories please contact jhaden@mac.com for current rates.

Payment Options:

Log onto paypal.com, click on 'send money', and enter jhaden@mac.com as the email address recipient.

Send a check or money order made payable to 'Josh Haden' to:

Josh Haden P.O. Box 291361 L.A. CA 90029 USA

Listen To My Podcast!

Josh Haden — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 07:47:32 GMT

It took me all day but I finally finished making the first of my weekly podcasts. You can listen/subscribe to it now by going to my podomatic podcast page. The RSS feed is http://diamondsounds.podomatic.com/rss2.xml.

My podcast series is entitled 'Diamond Sounds' and this first episode looks at the legacy of Bryn Jones, otherwise known as Muslimgauze.

Thanks and I hope you like it!

My Library Visit: Rap & R&B, Snoop Dogg & Solomon Burke

Josh Haden — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 20:25:03 GMT

Its funny how a visit to a library will remind me to listen to a record I meant to listen to two years ago but never did.

Usually my library visits are pretty uneventful, but this time around when I walked into the mezzanine upon arrival there were library cops everywhere staring everyone down. A little later I went to the literature section to peruse the new releases and overheard a conversation between a librarian and a cop about all the commotion, apparently a library patron refused to get off a library computer after his alotted time on it was up, and he made quite a 'to-do' about it! Threatening people and everything! Scary!

Another time I went to the library on one of my regular visits and I noticed lots of limos parked in front, and then saw the parking lot entrance I usually go into was blocked off. I was directed to an alternate (and less convenient to me) entrance on the other side of the building and when I finally got inside the building there were more people there than I've ever seen before, walking around and talking too loud. After I got my cds and was walking back outside through the mezzanine there I saw, surrounded by a small crowd of people and several cops, none other than Snoop Dogg! A living musical legend not ten feet away from me! I continued on outside and had just opened the door to the parking lot stairwell when I heard some voices and looked behind me and there was Snoop, accompanied by a few people and what looked like a bodyguard, walking quickly towards me. I stepped out of the way so they could pass me (they were moving pretty fast) and watched them descend the stairs into the mysterious florescent-lit underground pathway that carries the stars to destiny.

Anyways, back to the original purpose of this post. First of all, I've streamlined my choosing of music at the library. Instead of just wandering around the different sections looking for cds that catch my eye, I've decided to start choosing from a different section everytime I visit. My last visit was from the rap section. I didn't find anything particularly religious or spiritual there, except for MC Solaar's 'Prose Combat' which I actually owned about 10 years ago but has since disappeared from my collection. The next section over was R&B (my library has a three-cd limit for checking out cds), and two particular cds presented themselves to me, Sammy Davis, Jr.'s disc 3 from the box set 'Yes I Can!' which I'm working on completing, and Solomon Burke's 2005 'Make Do With What You Got'.

I saw Solomon Burke promoting this cd around the time it came out on one of the late-night TV talk shows and I was impressed with his sincere religious views and words of wisdom. Starting out as a preacher, Burke has been a superstar of the blues, soul, and country genres for decades, although he's never abandoned his religious roots. The songs on this cd range from electric guitar-powered rock 'n blues to scorching soul ballads with female backing vocals and beautiful guitar solos, all with poignant, meaningful, and spiritual messages. My favorite track is 'Wealth Won't Save Your Soul'. Amen.

Next visit: New Age music!

Most libraries have great cd collections representing music from all over the world, available for perusal (for free) to anybody who has a library card.

For more information on how I listen to my iTunes, please see my previous post.

My Library Visit

Josh Haden — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 19:53:25 GMT

Thought it would be good to pick up some Christ-centered pop music on my latest visit to my local public library (yesterday).

1. Jars Of Clay 'Redemption Songs' I'd heard a lot of great things about this band but only heard a couple of their songs over the years. The librarian at the front desk told me this was an amazing record, and that's good enough for me! The songs on this album are great acoustic guitar-based sacred jams with enough catchy hooks and melodies believers and non-believers alike would enjoy them and learn from their prescient messages. As a profession of faith the songs are unparalled. They even collaborate with Blind Boys Of Alabama on a track!

2. BarlowGirl 'Another Journal Entry' I have to admit I didn't think I'd like this cd very much, but damn these girls can sing! (Sorry for swearing!) The music varies from pretty piano based tunes to electric guitar 'emo' rock-outs, never veering too much from the pop genre. Praise the Lord!

3. Rebecca St. James 'Wait For Me: The Best From Rebecca St. James' I've never heard of this artist before, but she has a 'best of' compilation, plus her name sounds like she doubles as a porn star, so it must be good! Musically the collection steers through My Bloody Valentine territory (!), to techno-rave-freak-outs, to straight-ahead hard rock (with flutes!) to syrupy reverb-laced ballads. She sure can belt it out for Jesus!

BTW, most libraries have great cd collections representing music from all over the world, available for perusal (for free) to anybody who has a library card.

For more information on how I listen to my iTunes, please see my previous post.

My iTunes-Listening Manifesto Repost

Josh Haden — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 17:06:54 GMT

It's the eve of Christ's birth and I thought I'd repost my 'iTunes-Listening Manifesto', the comments originally made on it can be found here.

First of all, I'd like to say I'm inspired to write this by mogger dbboucher (http://mog.com/dbboucher) who has given me a lot of great ideas about how to listen to music on my iTunes. The system I use is very effective for my purposes and I thought I'd share it with anybody who visits my MOG page and wonders what the hell all that crazy music I listen to is, and why music by certain artists will never be in my iTunes.

As a preamble I need to say that I believe in God, that is, I believe in an omniscient, omnipotent, eternal force or entity that created everything seen and unseen, has no beginning or end, and cannot be adequately described by language. Since to me God on the condition of being God already knows everything we will do in the future, I don't believe we have free will. So, for example, I believe that we have no choice in the music we listen to; we only listen to music that God wants us to hear.

When I first got iTunes around four years ago I faced an immediate dilemma. Like most people I had way too much music and not enough computer memory to fit it all in. So I had to pick and choose which artists and songs I could add. I decided as a start I would only add music that had some kind of religious or spiritual significance for me that could inspire me throughout the day. So then I started thinking, why do I have any music at all in my collection that doesn't inspire me? Why waste my time with music that doesn't help to bring me to a deeper understanding of life? So I gathered up all the crap music in my collection, brought it all to my local good independent record store and traded it for music from around the world that brings religious or spiritual meaning to people's lives. So now on my iTunes I have everything from Aleister Crowley to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, music of Akom practitioners to Japanese Shinto music, Gregorian Chant to Australian Aboriginal music, Reggae to Christian Psychedelic, Praise music to Persian classical music, stripper music to spoken word by self-help gurus, and the list goes on.

What I do is before I add a new song to my iTunes, I input what genre it is (this is sometimes difficult to decide), and then in the 'grouping' section I type 'religious'. The song automatically is added to a smart playlist I created called (you guessed it) 'religious' that only contains songs that have 'religious' listed in the 'grouping' section. Then, and most importantly, when I listen to my 'religious' smart playlist I have the 'shuffle' function turned on. This allows God, or the 'random' algorithim that in my opinion is the result of God's will, to choose what songs I listen to at any given time. (Its true that I rarely listen to a song by clicking on it, or listen to an album all the way through. I'll add an album to iTunes and sometimes it will be months before I can even hear one song from it.)

This means of course a lot of music that may be perfectly fine will never make it onto my iTunes. Its just that I simply refuse to listen to any music that was created with the sole intention of placating the masses or making money. It's not that I think there's anything wrong with placating the masses or making money, I just think music should be made to enlighten people and to bring people to a more evolved state of being, not turn them into sheep or limit their abilities to discover that there's more to the world than that which we can see or touch.

Anyways, for what its worth, that's how I use my iTunes, and I'm sticking to it. Any thoughts, comments, or suggestions?

The Muslimgauze - Batman Begins Connection

Josh Haden — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 17:41:21 GMT

Last week while doing a google search of 'Muslimgauze' I found a page on the imdb website that states Muslimgauze has a 'non-original music' credit for the film 'Batman Begins'.

I rented the 'Batman Begins' dvd but there was no Muslimgauze credit to be found, either in the dvd packaging or in the closing credits of the film. Yesterday I borrowed the 'Batman Begins' soundtrack from my local library, and again there was no Muslimgauze credit.

A few of the songs on the 'Batman Begins' soundtrack do sound like a Muslimgauze sample could have been used, especially the songs 'Tadarida' and 'Nycteris'.

I'm a member of Islamaphonia2, the Muslimgauze discussion group in yahoogroups, and I did a search on this issue there. Some of the members of the group conjectured the Muslimgauze 'Batman Begins' credit listed in the imdb database may have stemmed from an April Fools press release distributed in 2005 by the record label Soleilmoon regarding fellow record label Staalplaat (Soleilmoon and Staalplaat are the two primary record labels that release Muslimgauze cds). The press release read:

Madonna Discovers Muslimguaze BERLIN, Germany (AP) Through a strange course of events Madonna has discovered the music of Muslimgauze. Staalplaat of Germany has signed a deal with Madonna's record label Maverick Records (a subsidiary of Warner Brothers Records) to re-release all past limited editions including mailorder only releases. All past limited editions will be available for sale through Madonna's website www.madonna.com later today. Carl Craig will remix most of the back catalog to be featured in the new Batman movie entitled Batman Begins. Madonna has secured rights to the biography of Bryn Jones and a feature length film by husband Guy Ritchie is now in the works.

It does seem the imdb listing could have come about from this practical joke. However, I could find no definitive answer in the discussion group about this.

I was wondering if any of you out in the mog-o-sphere might have some inside information to share about it.

I was also hoping this post might introduce a few people to the profound musical and political legacy left by Bryn Jones, also known as Muslimgauze.

For those of you who haven't heard the music of Muslimgauze yet, please visit this Muslimgauze myspace tribute page, or, this one.

The definitive Muslimgauze website
Click to join islamaphonia2

Hamza El Din

Josh Haden — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 17:48:37 GMT

Most people don't care about music that's older than they are.

I seek out music that's older than me because I feel that the closer I get to the origin of time the closer I get to the origin of knowledge or at least a sembance of originary purity, if such a thing is possible.

I won't support and I try not to listen to contemporary music unless the artist in question is striving for some kind of transcendence (from materialism, etc), or is making an effort towards religious or spiritual epiphany.

I am sometimes forced to listen to it however when, for example, I'm stuck at Nordstrom's with my girlfriend.

Or at my local Goodwill, which has a subscription to the Muzak service. Every once and awhile an exception occurs, such as the other day when at Goodwill I heard Cassie's 'Me & U' which was a minor revelation to me. The first reason being it was a pop song with no bass, which is how music was performed pre-b.c.e. times.

Anyways, according to the liner notes in Hamza El Din's 'Eclipse', "In Pharaonic temples there are hieroglyphic representations of people playing the tar."

Today most of Nubia is located in the Sudan and in Southern Egypt. In ancient times (circa 2300 B.C.E.) it was an independent country with its own language, laws, culture, etc.

Nubian language today is much like the language spoken by ancient Egyptians.

Hamza El Din is a contemporary musician originating from Nubia. He is a musician much like the musicians in the Killers, or, in My Chemical Romance, only he plays the oud instead of the guitar and he sings about esoteric knowledge instead of material satisfaction. In addition, at least as far as I know none of his songs have been made into ringtones.

Hamza El Din attempts to bring the ancient and the contemporary Nubia together by, amongst other things, playing the oud which was never played in ancient Nubia, and setting his music to classical Arabic poetry.

Hamza El Din is like the Jimi Hendrix of the oud. A clip of him playing the oud can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe51cXxK4Oc

I highly recommend this record to anybody who cares about our future.

BTW, I checked this cd out of my local library. Most libraries have great cd collections representing music from all over the world, available for perusal to anybody who has a library card.

For more information on how I listen to my iTunes, please see my previous post

Why I Like This Song

Josh Haden — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 20:03:22 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdGq_djmrHM

I like this song because

1. There's no bass.

2. The vocal melodies seem to float in midair.

3. The retro 80's synth sounds add a starkness that I can't easily explain. Is it nostalgia, but in a good way? I'm not sure. They seem to fit the song where the same kinds of synth sounds in other contemporary songs seem contrived and pretentious to me.

4. The writing to me is incredibly interesting and sophisticated, simple and complex at the same time.

This song is definitely going in my religious iTunes playlist.

For more information on how I listen to my iTunes please see my previous post.

Tenacious D

Josh Haden — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 16:52:46 GMT

I saw the new Tenacious D movie 'Pick Of Destiny' last night and it was hilarious! Everybody go see it when it comes out Nov. 22...and be sure to see them on tour as well this month, with Neil Hamburger opening the shows!

New Wave Theatre

Josh Haden — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 16:30:05 GMT

In 1981, when I was 13 years old and just discovering punk rock, I used to watch this TV show every Saturday night at midnight on channel 18 here in L.A. There was nothing like it back then, and there will never be anything else like it ever. Here are two clips, one featuring proto-Goth band 45 Grave (with Germs' Don Bolles on drums) and a short segment of host Peter Ivers giving one of his spiels with which he would begin and end each episode. RIP

Rhino Video released two volumes of the Best Of New Wave Theatre which are out-of-print but still pretty easy to find at good video stores.

Dancin' USA

Josh Haden — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 18:38:03 GMT

For thill...USA Network circa 1986.

Dancin' On Air!

Josh Haden — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 17:21:39 GMT

Clips from '80s seminal dance party show from Philadelphia, Dancin' On Air, paired with music from seminal '80s punk bands Naked Raygun, Husker Du, and one other band I don't recognize. I especially like the transition from the intense slow-dance song (Peacemaker, what a genius choice for a slow-dance song) into the faster dance-your-cares-away song (New Day Rising).

Does anyone recognize the band/song that plays second? It almost sounds like the Avengers.

Today Was Library Day!

Josh Haden — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 06:44:26 GMT

Earlier today I actually had time to go to my local downtown branch of the L.A. Public Library and borrow cool cds from their cd/dvd department. Not only is the library a beautiful building and atmosphere in which to learn, but it has a vast selection of all kinds of music from all over the world.

Today I borrowed:

Regis Philbin, "When You're Smiling" - Sure, you know him as a cheesy early morning talk show host. But did you know back in the day Regis Philbin was on the fringes of the Vegas 'Rat Pack', co-hosting a TV show with Rat Packer Joey Bishop and singing lots of space-age lounge songs? Regis' 2004 effort 'When You're Smiling' is a classic brew of pop- and jazz vocal stylings, sung in Regis' inimitable way.

Voices Of The Civil Rights Movement: Black American Freedom Songs 1960-1966 - Many people here might not know it, but slavery in America was legal up until around 1865, not that long ago. Some people say slavery in the U.S. still exists. "All men are created equal." Hmmm. We take freedom for granted. This week President Bush rescinded our constitutional rights to Habeus Corpus. What constitutional right do you think will be the next to go? The 13th? We will soon see. For anybody who actually cares about the future of our country and of the world, these songs of freedom from one of the most important periods of civil rights struggle in our country will be sure to inspire and inform.

Syriana: Music From The Motion Picture - 'Syriana' is easily my favorite movie in recent years. Its like the celluoid equivalent of a Muslimgauze song. Alexandre Desplat's musical score is equally beautiful and haunting.

For anybody living in or visiting L.A., if you need some inspiriation or respite for your soul, don't forget to visit the L.A. Public Library. You'll be surrounded by knowledge and visions of transcendence!

My MOG Post Got Dugg!

Josh Haden — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 18:44:05 GMT

My previous MOG-Post regarding my use of iTunes for religious purposes got dugg on Digg! Cool!

I'm Back In Business!

Josh Haden — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 22:03:26 GMT

I'm celebrating by playing four in a row by Ne'arei Poster and Luke Chi

I'm On A MOG-Hiatus!

Josh Haden — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 05:17:20 GMT

While my computer drinks a mai tai MOG-O-MATIC won't be able to update my 'last songs played' widget, or any other of my widgets for that matter. Unfortunately in result the only person who will be able to see what journey in song God has for me will be me. I know many of you will be saddened by this prospect, all I can say is, don't worry, there is light at the end of the tunnel, the capable MOG-Technicians are working diligently to solve this problem and my MOG-Widgets will be updating once again shortly.

I just wanted to let everybody know how much fun I'm having here, I've made some great MOG-friends in the MOG-O-SPHERE and I look forward to the continued learning, living, and loving I experience here every day!

And to all my ladies and women out there, especially those particular ones, you know who you are, don't be too dismayed, God has given us all our own time with which to feel and heal. I will be posting new blogs while this MOG-soul-work is being completed. Just remember, to paraphrase my teacher, guru the handsomest Chest Rockwell, 'Beauty is in the eye...of the tiger.'

And for those of you who would like my famous incredibly authentic Mai Tai recipe, here it is (I actually stole it from Trader Vic's):

2 ounces 17-year-old J. Wray Nephew Jamaican rum 1/2 ounce French Garnier Orgeat 1/2 ounce Holland DeKuyper Orange Curacao 1/4 ounce Rock Candy Syrup juice from one fresh lime

Hand shake and garnish with half of the lime shell inside the drink and float a sprig of fresh mint at the edge of the glass.

You'll love it.

And for my sober friends, try a glass of Trader Joe's Organic Lemonade-Iced Tea. Its so refreshing.

For Ladies Only 2

Josh Haden — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 19:14:13 GMT

Ladies, thank you so much for your numerous and diverse responses to my previous post. This is truly bringing me to a greater understanding of the opposite sex (not that any man could understand the opposite sex more than I!). Please keep the responses coming!

One response I received begs the question, which is the subject of this post.

Ladies, what is the song that immediately comes to mind when you need your space and you just cannot stand to have your man around you for even one more second?

When my girlfriend is sick of me and needs her 'alone time' she puts Coldplay's 'Yellow' on the stereo and I'm outta there!

For Ladies Only

Josh Haden — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 08:03:18 GMT

God knows I've landed more ladies than I care to admit. Each one is so special to me, in her own way. When I think of the one nearest and dearest to me, when she's away from me and I'm missing her so badly, the song that instantly comes to mind is Steve Perry's 'Oh Sherrie'.

Ladies, I need to know: when your eternal beloved is away from you, what is the one song you think of to bring him closer to your heart?

Where Were You When You First Heard Neil Hamburger?

Josh Haden — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 03:59:50 GMT

I was just listening to my iTunes 'religious' smart playlist set to shuffle (see my previous post) when 'Nebraska' from Neil Hamburger came on. I was instantly taken back to the first time I ever heard Neil Hamburger. My old band was on tour in June 2001. As anybody who's ever gone on a road trip in a car or van knows there's that special time when everybody is silent, just staring into space, zoning out and involved in his or her own thoughts. That's exactly how it was. I was driving and everybody else in the van was just zoning out, thinking about whatever. My guitarist was sitting in the passenger seat; he very quietly, and, now that I think about it, with a slight sardonic smile on his face, inserted Neil Hamburger's '50 States 50 Laughs' into the cd player. He just sat back and waited for the reaction. After about five minutes I could tell everybody was beginning to break out of their silent reveries, I heard some shifting in seats and a couple of snickers. After a few more minutes it was full on laughter, people falling on the floor, demanding to know who it was we were listening to.

Where were you when you first heard Neil Hamburger?

Never heard Neil Hamburger?

Two Musical Visions Of King Tut's Egypt: Ali Jihad Racy and David Mauk

Josh Haden — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 20:14:23 GMT

For any of you lucky enough to attend the recent touring exhibition 'Tutankhamun And The Golden Age Of The Pharaohs' (now in Chicago, then on to Philadelphia and London), if you elected to fork over the five bucks for the guided audio tour then you were enchanted and entranced by David Mauk's haunting musical accompaniment. The music stuck with me for months afterwards and even now turns up in my dreams.

First a little background. Tutankhamun ("Living Image Of Amun"), was Pharoah of Egypt during Egypt's 18th Dynasty (Tut ruled from 1333 BC – 1324 BC). As son of the Pharoah Akhenaten (although some scholars dispute this), King Tut was already a controversial figure. Akhenaten in his lifetime was both praised and reviled for taking it upon himself to basically change the entire religious structure of Ancient Egypt, establishing a new religion devoted to one God, Aten, the Sun. This is one of the earliest examples of the establishment of a monotheistic religion in recorded history. After Akhenaten's death under suspicious circumstances, Tutankhamun took over the reigns from his father and proceeded to reverse all of the changes his father had made, changing his given name from Tutankhaten ("Living Image Of The Aten") back to the more conventional name we know him as, and closing the temples devoted to the Sun God that his father had created. Tutankhamun then died himself under equally suspicious circumstances.

In 1977 the exhibition tour 'Treasures Of Tutankhamen' came to my town. I was only nine years old at the time, and my mom took me to see it. I don't remember much of it but last year browsing the used bins at my local record store I came across a cd entitled 'Ancient Egypt: A Tribute Composed And Performed By Ali Jihad Racy' and, as a person who is very interested in both the roots of music and religion, I immediately picked it up. As the cd liner notes state, the music was composed in 1978 for the King Tut exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum. Racy, a well-known composer and performer of Middle Eastern music who is Professor of Ethnomusicology at UCLA, elected to use only traditional Near Eastern instruments in his recording, instruments like the nay, the salamiyyay, the buzuq, the 'ud, lute, tar, sajat, mijwiz, and the mizmar. The result is an incredibly authentic-sounding recreation of what music must have sounded like in Ancient Egypt. From titles like 'The Lamentations Of Isis', 'Funeral Procession', and 'Hymn For The Sunrise', there are beautiful lute solos, plaintive dirges, and triumphant, impassioned pleas for eternal life. The vocals in 'Funeral Procession' were particularly haunting and beautiful.

In 2005, Egypt's Supreme Council Of Antiquities authorized a brand new travelling exhibition of Tutankhamun's treasures. When I heard the exhibition was coming to my town I was thrilled because the objects shown in the exhibition so rarely make it out of Egypt. Needless to say I was not disappointed. There were amazing ancient Egyptian artifacts of all kinds, from faience shabtis to golden ankhs to balustrades to sacred statues to the actual diadem King Tut wore on his head in life and in death. I was taken back to a time when people were much closer to the mystery and the meaning behind God. The incredibly serene and authentic ancient Egyptian atmosphere of the exhibition rooms were heightened by the music created by David Mauk which played in the background of the self-guided tour. David Mauk, an accomplished composer and musician who performs six nights a week at the Paris hotel in Las Vegas, elected to use all electronic instruments in his interpretation of Ancient Egyptian music. The result is a breathtaking work of art that makes up in ambience and feeling where it lacks in authenticity (as the liner notes to the cd state, "ancient Egyptians had no written musical notation", so we can only guess what their music actually sounded like.) I think David Mauk wanted to let himself be inspired by the awe-inspiring mystery of ancient Egyptian religion and that totally comes across in his music. From the hypnotic opening bars of 'Echoes On The Nile' to the haunting electronic ambient pads from 'Seth' that were heard so often on the guided tour, to the beautiful lute-like textures of 'Nefertari' to the almost apocalyptic piano refrain of 'Epilogue', I truly felt the presence of King Tut and the deep religiosity that surrounded him.

I highly recommend both of these discs to anybody who has an interest in ancient music or the ancient roots of our civilization, or to anybody who just wants to listen to beautiful, ambient music from another time, and from another future! Any thoughts, comments, or suggestions?

For the record, the information on these titles are:

Ali Jihad Racy, "Ancient Egypt: A Tribute Composed And Performed By Ali Jihad Racy", Lyrichord Discs Inc., LYRCD 7347

"Ambient Sounds Of Ancient Egypt: The Official Music Created For 'Tutankhamun And The Golden Age Of The Pharaohs'", all songs wrtiten by David Mauk, Arts And Exhibitions International, AEG Exhibitions

My iTunes-Listening Manifesto

Josh Haden — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 18:01:17 GMT

Anyways, for what its worth, that's how I use my iTunes, and I'm sticking to it. Any thoughts, comments, or suggestions?

Articles In September 2006 Issue of Wired Magazine

Josh Haden — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 03:14:04 GMT

Did anybody read the series of articles in September's issue of Wired? I was talking about this earlier today with my trusted mogger Michael Goldberg. The articles basically are about the new found power and control musical artists are now able to have over their own recordings. Now more than ever artists are able to successfuly release their own music on their own labels and not have to answer to anybody but their fans. I've been signed to both indie and major record labels and in both instances the results are the same: broken promises, unreturned phone calls, and a lack of understanding of what my music is about. As an artist who is releasing my new record on my own label, I was so happy to read these articles, I was inspired and my spirits were lifted. I recommend this issue of Wired to anybody who cares about the state of music today, especially to all the musicians out there who are questioning whether or not they can do it themselves and be successful.