Carl Setzer

As a trombonist and tubaist, I'm thinking it would be a blast to pull some other musicians together for a project link this. Would you come?

My friend, Steve, AKA Scalar Theorem, just dropped some new tracks. Check his work out on Soundcloud ! I love the feel of his electronic music, a genre I've loved since the 1980s, when I discovered Jean-Michel Jarre .

Featuring a beat boxing blowfish...how can you go wrong? It's weird and trippy....just perfect, methinks! At least for the Chemical Brothers .

I love how they used video to really enhance the unique qualities of this music, and the underlying physics.

Saw this photo on KEXP's homepage today. This wall of cassettes! OH.MY.GAWD! Ah, the musical history therein. Memories of siting by the play button waiting for my favorite songs, of the awesome feeling once I got a double cassette recorder, so I could create mix tapes. And sharing my tapes with my friends, introducing them to the music I loved. Oh, and crafting mix tapes for those I loved. A custom blend of music as a gift. For someone who loves music, I couldn't think of a better gift. There were groups of my friends that would swap these tapes, with meticulously detailed liner notes. The purpose was to connect friends with music, musicians they hadn't heard before, but would certainly love. The best were getting tapes with great bands that got no air-time. Fulfilling the ultimate proto-hipster delight of knowing a band before they became famous. As for this photo: she is Jen Cloher , an Australian musician. I'm now streaming her self-titled album via Googl...

I've heard this song countless times. Today, Youtube popped this up in the recommended list and I happily listened. Seeing other versions in the sidebar from 1979, 1981, and 1992 made me wonder about how different each one sounded. I enjoyed witnessing the evolution of Robert Smith's personal style as well. Below is the 1979 version, which has a more traditional punk vibe (it says something that I can say "traditional" and "punk" without any sense of irony). This one is from 1981. Not a huge transition, but I notice a less punk style and something that becomes much more recognized as The Cure.   By 1992, we have a clearly distinctive style that is The Cure, and not confusable with anyone else.   Thanks for giving a few minutes of your journey through the vast wasteland that is the internet. Let me know what you think in the comments, and give me a share, if you're so led.

I value knowing what’s going on in the tech world. Yet, there is so much change, coming so fast, that sometimes I miss the obvious. I subscribed to YouTube Red some time ago. My focus: ad elimination. So much of my family’s video time is spent on YouTube, so it was a prudent investment. I didn’t realize that the subscription includes Google Music. I discovered this today, so used it as my music delivery mechanism. Music is such a core part of my being, that the way I access it has value. I like the interface. So far, the selection has been solid. Spotify, of late, has been quite a resource hog. Accessing via a web browser seems to use resources better, or at least more gently. Anyway, I’m exploring shifting over fully, and cancelling my Spotify account. I’ll be diving deeper into Google Music and share what I learn.

Ever since the Apple Music announcement, I've been eager to try it this new service. As I have a lot of Apple content, this looked like a solid win for me. And then there's the family plan. $15/mo all we can eat streaming? Perfect! Well, I need to update my MacBook to Yosemite for the family bit. That did not go according to plan. After sitting, stalled, at 50% complete for over 24 hours, I was worried. But a brief perusal of the internet, I was confident that a reboot would solve it. With a reasonable chance it would fry everything and I'd need to reinstall everything from the OS up. Fortunately, the reboot worked and I'm up and running. Now I just need to figure out why icloud is not accepting my password. Always something..

Earlier this week, I heard the classic Springsteen tune, "Glory Days". This song always makes me think. It just seems so very sad. People stuck in the past, viewing their youthful achievements as the hallmarks of their lives. I can't imagine a more miserable existence. This song has always driven me to keep growing, developing, to always make this year my best year ever. And look to an even better future. Never, ever, do I want to be sitting lamenting the "old days", when life was good. I choose to look forward, to keep doing new and challenging things. To grow! Choices are powerful. Come join me.  

In case you missed the announcement , Amazon has launched Prime Music . As you can guess, Amazon is the latest tech animal to enter the online music fray. I downloaded the iPhone app last night and have been streaming music at my desk at work today. For now, the music selection is pretty small for the streaming service. As a heavy Spotify user, Amazon is not going to displace my current habits. Prime looks to be supplementing/feeding their mp3 download service. That's not where I am, at this point. Key phrase: at this point. I fully expect that Amazon is "in it to win". They're fierce competitors, and I expect that they'll push this service further. Probably, there will come a point that Spotify's $9/mo service will seem redundant to my Prime membership fee. Then it will be tough. I'm not keen on giving too much control over my life to one vendor. However, I value my cash. Yeah; tough. Or, perhaps, Spotify will be bought by one of the big players and th...

I first stumbled upon the Piano Guys with the video below. I find their work well done and fun. They clearly enjoy performing. And, lo, I see that they're in town this week (Thursday the 6th) at the Paramont . However, the sticker shock along with the fact I'm already heading to Spam-a-lot this weekend will force this off my plate. However, if you're looking for something to do Thursday night, give them a whirl. I highly recommend them. And enjoy the song below.

Just stumbled upon this piece. I really like the Swedish House Mafia's piece, and this cover of it simply brings chills. I'll be exploring Shweta Subram's work next.

I'm having a bit of fun today coming up with a playlist of "Halloween" tunes. The caveat: tunes you won't find on your standard set list (i.e.: no Monster Mash or Thriller...nothing against them, but I grow weary of the over-played). So, here's what I've crafted on Spotify for your listening pleasure. Let me know if there's anything I should consider adding.

Yesterday, my family spent our day celebrating Fatherhood with KEXP . The Eighth Annual Father's Day Kid's Dance Party was heck-of-a-lotta fun. Big plus ones to EMP  for hosting, Pagliacci Pizza for providing dough for pizza tossing, and to the Vicious Puppies Crew for bringing their b-boy chops to the event. VPC was the main draw for us. I love watching talented artists of all disciplines using their passions. My son struggled the rest of the day to control his dance steps (a bit of a problem in the restaurant for lunch...), so inspiration was partaken. Soon there will be photos uploaded to the KEXP Flickr Stream . Until then, I have a few shots up on my Flickr page . Here's the most popular VPC video on YouTube. Enjoy!

Just discovered this music sharing site, ThisIsMyJam.com . I love discovering new music, and part a key part of that is seeing what my friends are listening to. This seems like a great synergy of those two elements. I'll have more to say soon. However, if you're currently using the site, or want to go sign up yourself, connect with me. I'd love to see what Your Jams are. http://www.thisismyjam.com/questionsall

I've been streaming via Spotify pretty exclusively for some time. Haven't ponied up for the premium plan yet, but look to do so. I really love having the whole world of recorded music at the tip of my ear. Another piece I love: the ability to share music. Here's one of my favorite tunes, by one of my favorite artists, Peter Gabriel . Enjoy!

Not your typical flash-mob in style or structure, but glorious nonetheless.

Icelandic Reggae? Where else are you going to find such delights but KEXP . Seattle community radio is a thing of beauty.

Not the most original, but I haven't seen anyone else put this up. Happy Friday!

With nearly 42% of 2011 completed, I can clearly say that is shaping up into a rough year. Well, at least career-wise. Rough spots, though, are when you get the deepest insights and, for me at least, tend to be the most life changing. Part of what's telling is the lack of angst I feel right now. The past few years have taught me the value of work and career. Most specifically, that's it's not the inner core of my being. There are things far more important. What's really amazing me is how much better I feel about myself right now. My last two roles, though rather successful on the surface, left me feeling quite empty, and struggling with lingering feelings of anxiety and exhaustion. Those feelings are blessedly absent now. Oddly, life seems to reinforce the notion of Murphy's Law. Thus, both of our cars have needed work, medical bills came steaming in, and that sort of fun. Not economic implosion, but certainly annoying. The absence of call-backs right now is a bit d...