Sunscreen

My latest project:

It fastens to the side of an old industrial building on one end and rests on column supports on the other. Will enclose a walk-out deck of an industrial loft in the Cass Corridor, Detroit. The deck is a large, open span for all the units right now that will eventually get partitions between the units for privacy. All the horizontal members are made from recycled oak pulled from the Garfield St building. The cylindrical part of the columns are gonna be old Victorian posts set within squared-off lumber. It's a work-in-progress. Will post pics of the construction

Song for06.15.09

From the Portland Cello Project: "Tallymarks".

Tallymarks.mp3

Definitely on the feminine side- but a great, full acoustic sound with gentle percussion backing. Read into them a bit, and sounds like an interesting proj, but hard to say what the consistency of their work is. Some really nice arranging on this one, though.

It's been June lately

So, if it seems like Brodsky Beat hasn't written much in a while, that's because he hasn't. It's been June lately (a fact he often forgets) and the weather has been superb. That means I've taken the moped all over town- out to Eastern Market, to Belle Isle, to the cafe, around downtown, to the gym, through neighborhoods. Everywhere. It's the greatest way to get around. Except at night. See whenever you drive the late-60's model green Peugeot you immediately get offers from people who want to buy it. Ranging from 300 bucks to 6 grand (i quote, "You could sell that thing for 6 grand, easily") when I paid 350 for it- the offers are constant. The only downside to that (besides me wondering just how strong that kryptonite lock really is when you really want something bad) is that at night, when the streets can be dark as hell coming from one side of town to the other, you get scary dudes rolling up next to you asking about the moped. The other night I came back from dinner at my friend's place at about 11. These dudes rolled by with some heavy hip hop shaking the plastic panels on their minivan and when I got to the light, the driver hollered over and asked how much I paid for it. I said 300 bucks - why I dropped just 50 off the price I'm not sure- but I sure as hell didn't want El Greeno to appear very expensive. There were like four dudes in the van and they could have easily beaten the crap out of me and thrown the bike in the van and rolled off. Luckily they didn't. And now I know what the night-time price of the moped will be. Nothing, because I CAN'T HEAR YOU WITH THESE EARPLUGS IN.

But besides the moped riding, I've been getting psyched about Softball Sundays. It's with the old-school Detroit softball crew (mostly musicians- Jack White used to play, but evidently he SUCKED, and not as a player, b/c that doesn't matter in this league, but as a guy bringing a good time to a Sunday afternoon- which is all that really matters in this league). They've been playing off and on for 14 years. And this latest incarnation of players is the first one to strike things back up in the past couple years. Last week it was widely agreed that we had the best Sunday Softball ever. I've only known two Sunday Softballs myself, but I had a sense that we were getting up to some pretty high leves of good-time-having.

So what else besides riding around town on El Greeno and playing softball have I been up to? Well, actually a bit of work here and there. Things are looking promising for this unemployed architect - even have some paid projects on the plate! - but don't be fooled, I'm on par to still enjoy this summer to the fullest. My summers have been escalating in recent years, reaching levels I never thought possible after childhood. Mostly last year's was due to weekly boatrides on Lake St Claire. Wine, full-sun, beers, babes, diving contests, beer, wine, babes. Full-sun. A few years prior, before I started grad school at U of M, there was the summer on the Houseboat in Portland. Diving off the front porch, fishing out the bathroom window, waking up and reeling in a fish hooked overnight, canoeing to the grocery store for more beer. That's kid's stuff for grownups. You can't beat it. So this summer, I'm not dropping the ball on the Q.O.L. Index. It's moped and softball and boating to the fullest.

Song for 06.10.09

Hello and good evening and all that. As you can see, the song of the day has already run straight off it's track. That didn't take long. Probably the shortest daily effort ever. Well, I guess I got a reason for that (besides pure laziness)- and that is that I think 3 songs a week would be better than one everyday. Going off the model set up by the turntable lab's thrice-a-week newsletters. They're the best part of my inbox.

So yes, 3x/week. And yes, Laziness. But there's a bonus involved in this new program- a 3-part genre system. Mondays I'll post whatever helps get through a Monday (R&B if I need a boost, something international if I remained somewhat sober over the weekend and have an open mind, etc.), Wednesdays will be Indie Wendy's, and Fridays will be Old School Fridays (I know, not original at all- but if it ain't broke don't fix it. Just get it together for the weekend).


So here's the first Indie Wendy track.

Cannibal Resource by the Dirty Projectors. Released yesterday on Domino Records.

Song for 06.08.09

The morning rains cleared and brought everyone out this afternoon. Including all the ladies. And here's the jam for that. By Lee Fields.

"Ladies" by Lee Fields. Put out last week by Truth & Soul Records.

Song of the Day

The latest addition to Brodsky Beat. I will try and make it a newer song, but since a lot of what I listen to is not new, I'm probably gonna break down after three days and focus on only old songs for the next seven years. But we'll see.

Also, I will try and make it somehow relevant (to the day's events or to Detroit, to the season or to the day of the week), but if you know me at all, you know this is not a promise that's gonna last. In fact, you'll probably think I've set out to find one completely irrelevant song each day. But hopefully at least I'll give you something to hum.

And one more thing: they say there are people who listen to the words and there are people who listen to the music. I'm from the second group. Hardcore.

So, on with it.