Hello.
It’s been a minute since I’ve sat down to throw some thoughts on the proverbial wall to see what sticks. Things are rolling along pretty well. In the last couple weeks we went to a wedding, spent hours outside working in the yard and walking many miles(both solo and with Miss Celeste), and most importantly spinning lots of tunes on the Pioneer turntable. I’ve been falling for great new albums by Jeremiah Chiu, Josh Johnson, Andy Shauf; as well as still spinning on the regular Boards of Canada’s Inferno, Sunday morning jazz, and discovering(finally) Broadcast’s Tender Buttons.
One new thing since we last spoke, I started cardio rehab last week. Since I had a stent placed in the ol’ ticker the Cardiologist suggested doing cardio rehab to make sure my heart is functioning the way it should whilst sweating my butt off. I did my second session yesterday. It’s basically just 45 minutes of doing cardio work on an elliptical, a recumbent bike, and a treadmill as well as lifting light dumbbells. I have monitors on my person so Nico(the therapist) can watch my heart in action. He takes my BP before I start, then afterwards.
I like it, as it’s a set time twice a week where I exercise. I walk everyday, but I can “opt out” if I’m feeling lazy. Not with cardio rehab. I go to the hospital every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon and head to the little gym at Parkview in the basement and just sweat. I’m usually in there with two or three other older gents doing their thing. The physical therapist is nice and just lets me come in and do my thing with little fanfare. He said I’m approved for 36 sessions, but he didn’t think I’d go for more than 12. If I want to do all 36 he said I’m more than welcome to. I might. Why not? Like I said, it’s dedicated exercise time.
Not much else is going on. One exciting thing was that I got to interview one of my favorite modern musicians. Isaiah Mitchell of Earthless fame has a new album, his first as a solo artist, coming out at the end of November called BEYOND. It’s going to surprise the fans of the jam heavy Earthless as it’s a much more introspective, heady, complex release that is mostly heavy synth-based. I listened to the single and was floored. I thought why not reach out and just see if he’d be interested in answering a few questions as I was curious as hell as to how he ended up going down the old ambient/synth/electronic road.
So I reached out via his Bandcamp page(after pre-ordering the new record, natch) and to my surprise I heard back from the record label head(PFR Records in CA) and Isaiah and they were stoked to do the interview…which then made me even more stoked.
I sat down and shot over some thoughtful questions and Isaiah got right back to me with some truly deep and meaningful responses. The interview will drop November 23rd, the Monday after the album drops. So if you’re a fan of Earthless and the heady electronic work of the 70s German Berlin School sounds of Manuel Göttsching, Popol Vuh, Ash Ra Tempel, Tangerine Dream and the like then you will definitely want to give this one a read. We go deep.
That’s where we’re at right now. Fall is feeling fine, I’m feeling fine, the tunes are hitting just right, and my ticker is rocking and rolling in all the right ways. Family is well, doggos are well, and I’m in a pretty damn good headspace right now. Not much in the music making department, but that’s alright. When the muse arrives it’ll be time.
Until then, keep moving forward my friends. Backwards only takes you to where you’ve already been.
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