tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68878692958296894082024-03-12T18:52:31.970-07:00Bell Monksbell monkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03137248213035619190noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6887869295829689408.post-44179121278079105102020-05-29T10:12:00.003-07:002020-05-29T10:12:53.472-07:00On the release of a new album<div class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
Releasing new music is always strangely emotional. Sometimes I’m nervous; often I’m excited. Other times I just feel relieved. As we get ready to share our 5th full-length album, <i>The Sun Will Find You</i>, I’m feeling nostalgic, thinking about the personal and situational changes in our lives since we started out.</div>
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I have fond but hazy memories of our first sessions as a band, which took place some 15 years ago. Eric and I didn’t have a plan, but we were lucky to have access to a fabulous concert hall, a studio full of percussion gear, and a pair of U87s. I recall reading through binders of old sketches and spending time exploring mic placements. It was a thrilling experience to be working on this kind of music together.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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One thing that hasn’t changed much is our glacial writing and recording pace, but I think we’re more accepting of our process at this point. That first album took almost 5 years to finish, as we pushed and stretched song structures into shapes quite different from the original ideas. I remember being frustrated by trying to figure out exactly what it was that we were making and how to turn it into an album, though I am proud of the way that <i>Lullabies</i>, our first album, turned out..</div>
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After that experience, we structured our next couple of projects to counter our natural inclination to endlessly tinker. In 2011 we wrote and recorded a 2-song EP each month, the highlights of which we compiled on our 2012 album, <i>Let The Waves Carry Us</i>. This process produced a lot of music but took an insane amount of effort. When we summoned the energy to reconvene in 2013 to began work on what would become <i>Big Bay</i> EP, we intentionally stripped down the sound, with simpler miking and fewer instruments, to try to contain ourselves. In both cases, though, I don’t think we really changed the way we work - we just put restrictions on our process that prevented us from doing what we would have otherwise.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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Ultimately, I love the building process involved in making a Bell Monks album. I cherish discovering and exploring ideas in the studio, and I bask in the sound of those extra layers we keep adding and adding. So, with <i>The Sun Will Find You</i>, we leaned into our slowness, adding additional textures and still more voices to everything. We also spent a lot of time just letting the songs sit, unfinished, adding and adjusting parts until the songs felt right.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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Circumstances demanded this in part, as Eric has lived in 4 different states in these past six years, on his way to finishing a masters and a PhD and starting a career as a music professor. I’ve had plenty of my own other projects too, as I’ve written and recorded a few film soundtracks. Along the way, we’ve tinkered and tinkered, and I think that slowness gave us time to really hear what each song needed.</div>
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I have no idea what our next project will look like, or how long it will take. We had originally planned to do some shows this summer to support the album, which is obviously not happening. Coronavirus is giving lots of people new tools and approaches to distant collaboration, so who knows.</div>
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For now, I hope this music finds you and helps you slow down and relax, wherever you are. </div>
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Many thanks to our collaborators, Ben Willis (contrabass), Sven Gonstead (slide guitar), and Heidi E Johnson. Heidi has worked with us almost since the beginning, and her voice has been a part of all our releases besides <i>Brocades & Palimpsests</i>, our lone album of instrumentals. Thank you!</div>
jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12687248489901147431noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6887869295829689408.post-51718498587511789582016-08-24T20:51:00.001-07:002016-08-24T20:53:38.495-07:00Bell Monks + Gregory Taylor - Brocades + PalimpsestsBell Monks + Gregory Taylor - Brocades + Palimpsests
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=915067368/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 100%;"><a href="http://clanglabel.bandcamp.com/album/brocades-palimpsests">Brocades + Palimpsests by clang</a></iframe>
We wrote a series of 14 short, quiet tunes for guitar and Rhodes in spring 2012 to perform at an art opening in Milwaukee. After recording the tracks later that year, we invited friends Ben Willis (contrabass) and Matt Sintchak (saxophone) to play on top of them. After adding a few more layers to flesh them out, we had a finished album, though it seemed incomplete. We invited Gregory Taylor to help out, and he did, brilliantly transforming each of the individual tunes using custom computer processing techniques on the various instrumental stems. From what had grown to more than 100 minutes of material, Lars Graugaard from clang helped to cull a selection for an album that reflects the spirit and tone of our original Bell Monks tracks, while slanting the sonic imprint more to Taylor's re-imagined versions. <br /><br />
NOTE: the album is for sale through clang on the label's <a href="http://https://clanglabel.bandcamp.com/album/brocades-palimpsests">bandcamp</a>.bell monkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03137248213035619190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6887869295829689408.post-16752445230463911152016-01-04T21:54:00.001-08:002016-01-04T21:54:12.429-08:00concert Jan 9The CD release and concert is January 9! (not January 8, as previously posted).bell monkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03137248213035619190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6887869295829689408.post-9161022768303065682015-12-31T14:10:00.001-08:002016-01-04T21:53:26.743-08:00Big BayWe are excited about the new year, which includes a new EP and a release concert January 9 in Madison, WI.
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Our <em><strong>Big Bay</strong></em> EP shows the evolution of the band with our most natural-sounding and confident album yet. A collection of 7 tracks written and recorded in our dear friends Sven and Moose's garage in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the EP features our signature brand of melancholy sleepy rock, with a more immediate and heartfelt lyrical and vocal stye.<br />
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Pre-order the album and check out one of the tunes here:
<a href="https://bellmonks.bandcamp.com/album/big-bay" target="_blank">https://bellmonks.bandcamp.com/album/big-bay</a><br />
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To celebrate the release, we will be performing our first concert in Madison in a couple of years. The show will be at Audio for the Arts. Show at 8, doors at 7. $10 includes admission and a copy of the Big Bay CD. We're performing with the Brian Grimm/ Ben Willis duo, and ambient duo Nude Human. The show is also a CD release of BRAIN GRIMMER's <em><strong>I, Nefarious</strong></em><br />
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2130103862/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=2597879306/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 100%;"><a href="http://music.bellmonks.com/album/big-bay">Big Bay by bell monks</a></iframe>
bell monkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03137248213035619190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6887869295829689408.post-59541052649072494742015-12-16T21:03:00.000-08:002016-01-04T21:53:33.436-08:00Big Bay EP release show Jan 8We're delighted to be performing a CD release show on Jan 9. The gig will be at Madison's Audio for the Arts. Admission to the concert gets a free copy of the EP for $10.bell monkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03137248213035619190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6887869295829689408.post-74115872844308279082015-10-25T09:25:00.001-07:002015-10-25T09:28:00.926-07:00Big Bay sessionsWe're almost ready to release some new tunes. A couple summers ago, Eric and I were up in Big Bay in Northern Michigan, where we had about 10 days to write and record a bunch of new music. We're almost done with adding extra layers, and it will be out soon. In the meantime, here are some images from the sessions. Here is the wall of amps in the garage where we recorded:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUzGM1CD6P1_yCFy3qW-n47Wk69xoCTtFwZM0_H3VgwczpO8h4ISN9ihyphenhyphenH2IBNUFSHzyFNyby4pKf4vbGOrPWwKJFQy9hGJId9Wy7rBs2XyIFqP0tXLsrpu3FOxgLVLt_jMYNFSoEJLvFW/s1600/amp+wall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUzGM1CD6P1_yCFy3qW-n47Wk69xoCTtFwZM0_H3VgwczpO8h4ISN9ihyphenhyphenH2IBNUFSHzyFNyby4pKf4vbGOrPWwKJFQy9hGJId9Wy7rBs2XyIFqP0tXLsrpu3FOxgLVLt_jMYNFSoEJLvFW/s320/amp+wall.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here's a chicken coop right outside the garage. The rooster, Angus, almost made it into our recording a couple of times.<br />
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Marcia, co-owner of the property with her husband Sven, has a great design sensibility. This is one of the many reasons it's a ton of fun to spend time up there.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtlbhb1HXMdha3BYRzrGr688bLuHHgKJI7NMcM_F2OEfJG80iChNhROwnx3jgxRjC9cIuknF9JZmGSlminu60Ymmo3Q8JSg0NGL70s9k7LLcgPxgq2IcJGZKuvSKO8rNpIBPQT3MMbnl49/s1600/wood+stack+property.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtlbhb1HXMdha3BYRzrGr688bLuHHgKJI7NMcM_F2OEfJG80iChNhROwnx3jgxRjC9cIuknF9JZmGSlminu60Ymmo3Q8JSg0NGL70s9k7LLcgPxgq2IcJGZKuvSKO8rNpIBPQT3MMbnl49/s320/wood+stack+property.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Eric's setting up something - view across the top of my Wurly.<br />
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We began the sessions with a bunch of little ideas. I tend to write things down and forget about them, and most of them are garbage, but a few always make it through<br />
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We eventually recorded material for 8 tracks, plus some additional improvisations:</div>
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bell monkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03137248213035619190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6887869295829689408.post-19007003058515677002013-08-09T09:13:00.000-07:002013-08-09T09:13:06.183-07:00a better light - FREE downloadsbell monks vs. s.k.pierce - a better light is officially released! The first 200 people who claim copies can download it for free (donations accepted). The CD is also available for just $3. All proceeds for sales of the album will go to benefit the Fort Atkinson (WI) Arts Council: <br />
<iframe seamless="" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3190710588/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/notracklist=true/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 470px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://music.bellmonks.com/album/a-better-light">a better light by bell monks</a></iframe>bell monkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03137248213035619190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6887869295829689408.post-3926357509700085732013-07-30T20:16:00.000-07:002013-07-30T20:16:48.841-07:00'a better light' EP announced. All past albums just $1Our new EP, <b><i>bell monks vs. s.k.pierce - a better light</i></b>, is now available online for streaming and for CD pre-order. We are releasing 100 numbered CDs on August 8 through <a href="http://mamrecords.com/" target="_blank">Mine All Mine Records</a>.<br />
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<span style="color: #f1c232;">And for a limited time, ALL of our past material is selling for just $1.</span><br />
<b><span style="color: #f1c232;">ALL PROCEEDS FROM ALL SALES WILL BENEFIT FORT ATKINSON (WI) ARTS COUNCIL!</span></b><br />
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<iframe seamless="" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3190710588/size=medium/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 100%;"><a href="http://music.bellmonks.com/album/a-better-light">a better light by bell monks</a></iframe><br />
<b><i>a better light</i></b> CDs are only $3, including shipping, and include a free digital download. The first 200 downloads will be free, and only $1 thereafter - <i>though we encourage you to give more. </i>Lots of the monks have connections to Fort Atkinson, and we're happy to support their arts scene.<br />
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We will have CDs for sale at our upcoming shows on August 8 (Madison's <a href="http://www.high-noon.com/event/322293-lost-city-music-festival-2-madison/" target="_blank">Lost City Festival</a>) and August 9 (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/LakefrontPub" target="_blank">Lakefront Pub</a> in Whitewater, WI).<br />
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To celebrate our new album, ALL of our past material is available on bandcamp for just $1 downloads and $3 CDs until August 15. As with <i><b>a better light</b></i>, all proceeds from any sales in this time period will be donated to the Fort Atkinson Arts Council.bell monkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03137248213035619190noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6887869295829689408.post-9621009737519846972013-07-22T22:28:00.000-07:002013-07-22T22:28:06.027-07:00Lost City FestivalWe're happy to be playing at Madison's <a href="http://mamrecords.com/2013/07/09/announcing-lost-city-music-festival-2013-august-8th-11th/" target="_blank">Lost City Festival</a> again this year. We're on at the High Noon at 8 PM on Thursday, August 8, with Lovely Socialite + Nude Human, Fort Wilson Riot, and Softly, Dear to follow. There are more great sets throughout the rest of the weekend. I'm especially excited for the August 10 set at Bright Red Studios, which includes our friends the Weather Duo, who played on our 2012 album let the waves carry us, and remixers Gregory Taylor and Brian Grimm.<br />
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<br />bell monkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03137248213035619190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6887869295829689408.post-77614376850659003872013-06-27T23:24:00.000-07:002013-06-27T23:24:09.806-07:00an overdue postWe probably should have put these links up months ago:<br />
<a href="http://host.madison.com/entertainment/music/best-of-local-music-scene-went-to-extremes-this-year/article_0933eb4e-5895-59cd-9a85-262db8cd37f4.html" target="_blank">best of madison 2012</a><br />
that's our album 'let the waves carry us' making madison's best of 2012 list. <br />
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<a href="http://www.autresdirections.net/spip.php?article2326" target="_blank">autres directions review</a><br />
that's a nice review of the album on autres directions.<br />
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more new information coming soon.bell monkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03137248213035619190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6887869295829689408.post-57967709907049238722012-08-23T23:30:00.001-07:002012-08-23T23:32:53.805-07:00CD releaseWe're happy to announce that we have released our CD,<i> let the waves carry us</i>, which also includes a bonus disc of 12 remixes. It is available through <a href="http://mamrecords.com/" target="_blank">mine all mine records</a> or through our <a href="http://music.bellmonks.com/" target="_blank">bandcamp</a> site.<br />
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="100" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=126818314/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" style="display: block; height: 100px; position: relative; width: 400px;" width="400">&lt;a href="http://music.bellmonks.com/album/let-the-waves-carry-us"&gt;let the waves carry us by bell monks&lt;/a&gt;</iframe><br />
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We're thrilled with the way it turned out. Thanks to all the remixers and also to our friends, The Weather Duo and Trevor Saint, who contributed to the album. </div>
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The remix CD includes tracks by shawn kenneth pierce, olivier girouard, gregory taylor, contemplating cogitation, mark snyder, tando, henry vega, brian grimmer, matt hund, erik deluca, and randall luecke.<br />
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Purchase the CD or download the digital copy <a href="http://music.bellmonks.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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bell monkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03137248213035619190noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6887869295829689408.post-19553565146351097472012-06-12T20:01:00.005-07:002012-06-12T20:01:57.425-07:00double CD and kickstarter campaign<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></span><br />
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We're delighted to announce the forthcoming double-CD release, "let the waves carry us", which is being funded through a Kickstarter campaign:<br />
<a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/266611053/bell-monks-double-cd-project" target="_blank">http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/266611053/bell-monks-double-cd-project</a><br />
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The campaign features a ton of great rewards, ranging from just $5 for digital download of the release up to $100 for bell monks to cover any song of your choice!<br />
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This CD is the culmination of our year-long recording project, for which we recorded 2 songs a month throughout 2011 as a sort of challenge to ourselves both to produce a ton of music and also to try different recording ideas, equipment, and approaches to writing.<br />
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As the year ended, we contacted some friends to remix their favorites, and we were able to get some great musicians to work on them, among them Dutch-based composer and electronic musician <a href="http://www.henryvega.net/" target="_blank">Henry Vega</a>, Cycling 74's <a href="http://rtqe.net/" target="_blank">Gregory Taylor</a>, environmental sound artist <a href="http://www.erikdeluca.com/" target="_blank">Erik DeLuca</a>, and festival organizer and all around crazy character <a href="http://www.marklsnyder.com/" target="_blank">Mark Snyder</a>, among others. The results have been pretty great.<br />
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In the coming days, we'll be posting some sample remixes along with pictures and more info about the campaign. The campaign runs through June 24 at 6 PM (Central Time in US). The CD is only pressed if the campaign is successful, so we're hoping to have a great run!<br />
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thanks for your support<br />
- jeff</div>bell monkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03137248213035619190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6887869295829689408.post-80256045004179045442012-03-17T12:54:00.000-07:002012-03-17T12:55:27.870-07:00revisiting 4 - april 2011<br />
Our April package was the last one for which we had any semblance of a sketch before the year started. Eric had created the main guitar and verse vocal idea for "your eyes were filled with violence", which I fleshed out into the final form over an intense few days in the middle of April. The whole thing came together for me once I added the 'tron part to the end section - I was really vibing on <a href="http://www.italianprogrock.com/" target="_blank">Italian prog glory</a> while working on it.<br />
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Throughout the year, Eric and I always operated near the edge of what we could get done in an month, but these challenges were exacerbated in April by the length of the song. Long songs just take longer to put together. Same for songs with lots and lots of vocals or lots and lots of layers. Additional time and/or layers increased effort geometrically. This seems obvious, I suppose, but it was still amazing for us to experience it. It wasn't just time additional spent on the mix, though of course more layers mean more EQ, more cleaning and carving, more finding space in the mix, and more time spent on balance. It was also in figuring out the form, and sometimes just more time recording all of the parts. Especially with atypical structures, I felt like I had to listen to the whole song each time to see if the spacing worked, and the more my memory seemed to fuck with my perception of the whole thing. <br />
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In contrast, we created the April 15 track, "outer darkness", in one day and mixed it the next. One of our biggest inspirations has always been the band Sebadoh, especially their first album <b>Weed Forestin'</b>, which includes a bunch of short, lo-fi snippets of songs that always felt perfect in their simplicity. With "outer darkness", I feel we've finally created a song that showed that influence. The percussion sounds were created by scratching the carpet next to a close-mic, though we did use a U87 to record it. Interestingly, I just discovered that <b>Weed Forestin'</b> was just re-released on vinyl. Check out the recent <a href="http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16400-weed-forestin/" target="_blank">Pitchfork review</a> of this classic album, which includes the tune 'temporary dream':
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="100" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/track=3301365304/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" style="display: block; height: 100px; position: relative; width: 400px;" width="400">&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://sentridoh.bandcamp.com/track/temporary-dream"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;temporary dream by Sentridoh&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;</iframe>bell monkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03137248213035619190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6887869295829689408.post-45957949657093804552012-02-26T21:55:00.000-08:002012-03-13T22:36:41.038-07:00revisiting 3 - march 2011Our March 2011 tune, "hours are seconds", used Paul McCartney's 1971 song "Ram On" as a model. I had been listening to McCartney's album, <b>Ram</b>, and loved how simple that song was. Not surprisingly, the tune has this great singability, with a lovely giant melodic leap in the middle of the phrase on the word "soon", which ends up kind of high in his tessitura, and he holds it a long time to give more emphasis to the word. Then the line dies out with a repeat of the last words "right away." After a little instrumental turnabout, the whole phrase repeats a few more times. <br />
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Using "Ram On" as a reference point, I set about trying to create a monks tune. I don't think our song really sounds much like McCartney's, but if you listen to the melodic approach to the verse it's in there, with some similar chords and melodic contour, and even a little tag at the end of the verse that's reminiscent of "right away". At our behest, Heidi wrote the lyrics for "hours are seconds", replacing the lyrics in my demo. I like Heidi's lyrics, as she thinks about things very differently (and more poetically) than I do. But it was also eye-opening to experience the effect it had on the song, as some of the lyrical patterning that I had based on the emotional impact of the McCartney tune was changed to fit these new words that didn't bear any relation.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/o9M6gaFCcbw" width="420"></iframe><br />
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Not that Paul McCartney needs the additional business, but you can pick up <b>Ram</b> here if you'd like to check out the whole album: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ram-Paul-Mccartney/dp/B000002UC7" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/Ram-Paul-Mccartney/dp/B000002UC7</a>bell monkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03137248213035619190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6887869295829689408.post-83548516087908877602012-02-03T09:04:00.000-08:002012-03-13T22:37:30.852-07:00revisiting 2 - february"east of the lake", our 02/11 february tune, ended up being one of our best 2011 songs to perform live - the others are probably "outer darkness" and "waiting for you to return". It's funny how some songs immediately come together with the band while others never work after loads of effort. We often have problems with live translations of these songs because they have so many layers, but sometimes they just work anyway, while others don't. I've given up trying to predict it.
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This was a fun video to shoot with Anna, traipsing around in the cold frozen marshes at the back of my university campus. Most of our videos don't include us in them (in fact only two of them do), but I think the addition of a person added a nice touch to this one. Of course, since we had to get up at an absurd hour to shoot it, I certainly hope it was worth the effort! that's me walking around at the end of the video: <a href="http://vimeo.com/21089006" target="_blank">http://vimeo.com/21089006</a>
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I had a pretty complete demo of "east of the lake" when we started the month, so we created "across gelid waters" in inverse process to how we'd created "adrift in white" in January, with Eric coming up with guitar parts that fit over top of my demo. Then we separated out those guitar parts and turned them into their own song. The "ahhs" that got added to this always made me think of the vocal parts in this Ulver tune "Eitttlane", from one of my favorite quirky albums of theirs "A Quick Fix of Melancholy". <br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/eSdFS4dtQQA" width="420"></iframe><br />
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You can read more about ulver here: <a href="http://www.jester-records.com/ulver/ulver.html" target="_blank"">http://www.jester-records.com/ulver/ulver.html</a>bell monkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03137248213035619190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6887869295829689408.post-26173625041140087312012-01-22T11:37:00.000-08:002012-03-13T22:38:11.026-07:00revisitingWe're taking a break after last year's monthly package project, though we'll have an announcement about a remix album soon.<br />
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In the meantime, we thought we would provide some context for some of the tunes from last year - what inspired us, what we thought was interesting, etc., through a series of posts with little stories from the year.<br />
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01/11 january:<br />
Although 'adrift in white' is not a typical bell monks song (if such exists), it was important to us as the first preview track of the year, as our approach to the song provided a template for how we could relate the tunes in the 2-track "packages" to one another. In this case, I created the primary sound for 'adrift in white' by improvising a mellotron part over the top of Eric's guitar demo for 'cold winds' and then removed the guitar. We then formed a new song around the synth that remained. Most of the packages throughout the year have some sort of similar relationship, though it's not always quite so direct. Here is a short sample of the mellotron improvisation over top of Eric's demo:<br />
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="100" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/track=3213972484/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" style="display: block; height: 100px; position: relative; width: 400px;" width="400"><p><p><p><p><p><p><p><p><p><p><p><p><p><a href="http://music.bellmonks.com/track/adrift-in-white-demo">adrift in white demo with guitar</a></p></p></p></p></p></p></p></p></p></p></p></p></p></iframe>
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'adrift in white' features mellotron as the primary keyboard sound. We'd never used mellotron before with the monks, but I don't think we went a month without using it for the rest of the year. Whenever it felt like the tune needed a little boost, I usually tried adding more tron - it became a joke of sorts between Eric and me throughout the rest of the year. Of course we don't own a real mellotron, which would be lovely but likely a giant pain the ass to keep together - these are all Reason samples ("digital" tape loops). Someday, perhaps.bell monkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03137248213035619190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6887869295829689408.post-42504785291826969512012-01-08T13:01:00.000-08:002012-03-13T22:38:43.259-07:00Get Well SongsOur tune "blue lights" is included on a new compilation put out by <a _blank"="" href="http://www.oleumfold.com/about/?%20target=">The Oleum Fold</a> label called "Get Well Songs". Proceeds will benefit <a href="http://www.childsplaycharity.org/" target="_blank">Child's Play charity</a>, which seeks to improve the lives of children in hospitals. Lots of great music on this compilation, from bands including Fourteen Twentysix, eskimeaux, and others. <br /><br />
Pick it up <a href="http://oleumfold.bandcamp.com/album/get-well-songs" target="_blank">here</a> for only $1 (or as much as you would like to donate!)
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="100" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=470481362/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" style="display: block; height: 100px; position: relative; width: 400px;" width="400"><p><p><p><p><p><a href="http://oleumfold.bandcamp.com/album/get-well-songs">Get Well Songs by The Oleum Fold</a></p></p></p></p></p></iframe>
<br />bell monkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03137248213035619190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6887869295829689408.post-2086921453114897952011-12-31T15:09:00.000-08:002011-12-31T15:15:56.085-08:00December packageOur final package of the year ended up being our most sentimental. The lyrical content was partially inspired by the birth of Jeff's daughter at the beginning of December, though it was an emotional month for different reasons for most of the monks. <br />
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Thanks again for listening. We'll post again soon with plans for 2012.<br />
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="100" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=3674016459/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" style="display: block; height: 100px; position: relative; width: 400px;" width="400"><p><a href="http://music.bellmonks.com/album/12-11-december">12/11 december by bell monks</a></p></iframe>
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This music and earlier releases are available for download at <a href="http://music.bellmonks.com/" target="_blank">http://music.bellmonks.com</a>.</div>
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<br />bell monkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03137248213035619190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6887869295829689408.post-74235839870607032242011-12-15T15:12:00.001-08:002011-12-15T15:12:48.568-08:00moon waltzFolks, it's the last mid-month track of the year. Our 23rd release of 2011, with number 24 coming in two weeks. We hope you enjoy it:<br />
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="100" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/track=2561716072/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" style="display: block; height: 100px; position: relative; width: 400px;" width="400">&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://music.bellmonks.com/track/moon-waltz"&amp;amp;gt;moon waltz by bell monks&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;</iframe>bell monkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03137248213035619190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6887869295829689408.post-4505305666119451602011-12-01T18:00:00.000-08:002011-12-01T18:18:27.282-08:00movemberMovember has come to a close, though there's still time left to contribute to our Movember campaign:
<a href="https://www.movember.com/us/donate/your-details/team_id/342790">https://www.movember.com</a><br><br>
Thanks again for supporting us and helping to change the face of men's health. Here are the final moustaches. Please let us know what you think!<br><br>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcneAk3U0wkmxrzgl6FjlD8E9QkskSMudh8ioDJnyiNcmcd-4uy2XVS4P59yo2n3mpox2kiMEy_tmkJhRNpPsFmTsiBDwH5666NCPlXrjsezNgV6cfCeBnoMbybCRGle8qIu-Tc7_fK4AF/s1600/eric-stache.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcneAk3U0wkmxrzgl6FjlD8E9QkskSMudh8ioDJnyiNcmcd-4uy2XVS4P59yo2n3mpox2kiMEy_tmkJhRNpPsFmTsiBDwH5666NCPlXrjsezNgV6cfCeBnoMbybCRGle8qIu-Tc7_fK4AF/s400/eric-stache.jpg" /></a></div>
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Eric went for a slightly curvy moustache, and achieved a pretty thick and consistent look.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcOTLrYqIpAs0CcrGk3FevAT8d5OnihgwueEG1xUMYUBbctDU8qLz_KYGVorE4xlarXQLcTzdTA5l2PhhEfu_1VJAM5dOE_guBaHRjp7pGQK_EcbC4IJzJjeUQv_RtgI8TjIPI1yfxU35_/s1600/moustache-end.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left; margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="270" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcOTLrYqIpAs0CcrGk3FevAT8d5OnihgwueEG1xUMYUBbctDU8qLz_KYGVorE4xlarXQLcTzdTA5l2PhhEfu_1VJAM5dOE_guBaHRjp7pGQK_EcbC4IJzJjeUQv_RtgI8TjIPI1yfxU35_/s400/moustache-end.jpg" /></a></div>
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Jeff's moustache didn't get quite as thick over the month, though his wide face makes it stretch a ways without having to turn down much at the corners. Of course, Jeff's is also in color.bell monkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03137248213035619190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6887869295829689408.post-3755982615338382972011-11-30T12:50:00.001-08:002011-11-30T13:19:01.346-08:00November packageThis month featured sounds borrowed from Gregory Taylor's exquisite <a href="http://www.palaceoflights.com/new_music.html" target="_blank">dua_belas</a> album, through Parade of Lights. We used a loop created from sounds in his track <i>yakobus_anak_alfeus</i> as the starting point for our work on both of our tunes this month, later also incorporating sounds from <i>filipus_yang_melit</i> into <i>bridge across decay</i>. <br><br>
<iframe width="400" height="100" style="position: relative; display: block; width: 400px; height: 100px;" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=3366392230/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0"><a href="http://music.bellmonks.com/album/11-11-november">11/11 november by bell monks</a></iframe><br>
This music and earlier releases are available for download at <a href="http://music.bellmonks.com/" target="_blank">http://music.bellmonks.com</a>.<br><br>
Today is also the last day of <a href="https://www.movember.com/us/donate/your-details/team_id/342790" target="_blank">Movember</a>. A separate blog with pictures of our final moustaches will be posted tomorrow. But remember that all purchases made through this month will count towards our Movember campaign. bell monkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03137248213035619190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6887869295829689408.post-76563710654260226342011-11-15T15:03:00.001-08:002011-11-15T15:05:05.120-08:00penumbra for juneHello.<br />
Our November 15th track, penumbra for june, is now available for streaming.<br />
Please enjoy:<br />
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<iframe width="400" height="100" style="position: relative; display: block; width: 400px; height: 100px;" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/track=3241739155/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0"><a href="http://music.bellmonks.com/track/penumbra-for-june">penumbra for june by bell monks</a></iframe>bell monkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03137248213035619190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6887869295829689408.post-55303784999687845662011-11-13T22:11:00.001-08:002011-11-13T22:18:30.604-08:00show November 18Show this Friday, November 18, at the Whitewater Cultural Arts Center, being sponsored by the Whitewater Arts Alliance: <a href="http://www.whitewaterarts.org/" target="_blank">http://www.whitewaterarts.org/</a>. We're playing with our friends, the <a href="http://www.weatherduo.com/" target="_blank">weather duo</a>. Show starts at 7:30 (it will probably start on time or almost on time).<div>
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We'll be displaying our Movember moustaches in process! Don't forget that all purchases of our music this month will go towards our Movember campaign, which fights for men's health causes. Check out our bandcamp page to contribute: <a href="http://music.bellmonks.com/" target="_blank">http://music.bellmonks.com/</a>.</div>
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preview track will be up soon! </div>bell monkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03137248213035619190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6887869295829689408.post-30269606533776274732011-11-01T19:37:00.000-07:002011-11-01T19:42:18.813-07:00MovemberHello, everyone.<br />
Recently, a group that we like and respect, <a href="http://www.armsandsleepers.com/" target="_blank">Arms and Sleepers</a>, started selling their <a href="http://www.armsandsleepers.bigcartel.com/product/full-discography-download" target="_blank">entire discography</a> for only $10 as a way to raise funds for worldwide hunger and the ongoing widespread famine in East Africa. Not only is that a sweet deal (it's 110 tracks), but it's also an easy way for anyone to make a contribution.<br />
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This has inspired us to do something similar. Because of the timing of our decision and the limited resources at our disposal, we thought it would be a good idea to jump on the <a href="http://us.movember.com/" target="_blank">Movember</a> campaign and start a bell monks team.<br />
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Many of you are probably familiar with the tradition of "no-shave-November". Jeff and I are already pretty lax about our shaving habits, so growing a beard for a month is not at all unusual for either of us. Movember takes it one step further by specifically focusing on the growing of a mustache throughout the month of November as a way to bring attention towards issues of male health, specifically those of prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men.<br />
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What we're going to do, besides just growing awesome mustaches (which we are both very capable of) is this:<br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">100% of the money that goes towards any purchase on our bandcamp page <a href="http://music.bellmonks.com/">music.bellmonks.com</a> during the month of November will be donated to the Movember campaign by the bell monks team.</span></b><br />
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We've always offered our album "lullabies" and each of our monthly packages on a pay-what-you-like basis. This will continue to be the case during this donation period. Meaning, if you want to donate $5, you can perhaps pay $5 for April's package and then download all the rest for free. Or pay $1 each for May-September. You get the idea,<br />
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If you've already downloaded all of our music and just want to make a direct donation to Movember on behalf of bell monks, you can do so <a href="https://www.movember.com/us/donate/your-details/team_id/342790" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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We will, of course, provide occasional pictures so that you can follow the progress of our facial hair. Personally, I'll probably be going with the Trucker, which is an official mustache style of the Movember campaign. I was hoping to go with the Frank Zappa, which I've grown once or twice with considerable success, but it wasn't on the list.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://top-people.starmedia.com/tmp/swotti/cacheZNJHBMSGEMFWCGE=UGVVCGXLLVBLB3BSZQ==/imgFrank%20Zappa2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="195" src="http://top-people.starmedia.com/tmp/swotti/cacheZNJHBMSGEMFWCGE=UGVVCGXLLVBLB3BSZQ==/imgFrank%20Zappa2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
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I don't know what Jeff will end up with, but I would guess something like the Undercover Brother.<br />
You can see the styles I'm talking about <a href="http://us.movember.com/uploads/files/PDFs/2011/StyleGuide.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
We'll post more updates about donations and building the team as we learn more, but for now, I just wanted to make sure that we got the initial information online today in order to kick off the campaign on time.<br />
Thanks for your time, and we hope you consider making a donation.<br />
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-Eric<br />
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To make it official, here are our clean-shaven faces as of today:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9orXB3yRoccM3PTY7umPCsJMc2dheBzg6pzgSfxl4S7eM8lvjcsdFEQmTtEMlZXsWGIomOSKbFmV4jDIzS0Op7YNQtrlDqkzZ-l5nJ-_onAhtXLEDIfYFyJ4k2wUlGnff6ZKNjt820ttR/s1600/IMG_0113.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9orXB3yRoccM3PTY7umPCsJMc2dheBzg6pzgSfxl4S7eM8lvjcsdFEQmTtEMlZXsWGIomOSKbFmV4jDIzS0Op7YNQtrlDqkzZ-l5nJ-_onAhtXLEDIfYFyJ4k2wUlGnff6ZKNjt820ttR/s320/IMG_0113.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBwHcmIIkYM7h9WSATRJe-Vxhzl4nn3w7EvXbROyTYQER18cevea85GltmL5yRf78rsIqCvYGU93C3fzBsdoyXqp0KYgHnk62JM5MiXW-8WHYcuuqps-klEXf5I8cGrp77_lCAwJSYdIeY/s1600/IMG_0134.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBwHcmIIkYM7h9WSATRJe-Vxhzl4nn3w7EvXbROyTYQER18cevea85GltmL5yRf78rsIqCvYGU93C3fzBsdoyXqp0KYgHnk62JM5MiXW-8WHYcuuqps-klEXf5I8cGrp77_lCAwJSYdIeY/s320/IMG_0134.jpg" width="320" /></a>bell monkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03137248213035619190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6887869295829689408.post-18599183022233969532011-10-31T08:32:00.000-07:002011-10-31T08:33:58.534-07:00October packageHello, everyone.<br />
October's package is now available:<br />
<br />
<iframe width="400" height="100" style="position: relative; display: block; width: 400px; height: 100px;" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=2879291734/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0"><a href="http://music.bellmonks.com/album/10-11-october">10/11 october by bell monks</a></iframe><br />
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Jeff and I have been in Virginia for the last several days at the <a href="http://eajj.org/" target="_blank">Electroacoustic Barn Dance</a>, which was hosted by our good friend Mark Snyder at the University of Mary Washington. Coincidentally, we were here with our video person Anna and our friends Ben and Pat from <a href="http://weatherduo.com/" target="_blank">The Weather Duo</a>. All of us were presenting various works at the festival, none related to bell monks. <br />
Posting our monthly packages while out of town can be quite challenging, but we made it. This is not the first time we've had to make do with the slow upload speeds and crazy schedules of being on the road while our deadline looms.<br />
We're very much looking forward to getting the last two packages up, taking a little time to rest, and then evaluating possibilities for future projects.<br />
Thanks for listening.bell monkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03137248213035619190noreply@blogger.com0