The Live Hilary Duff concert I mixed TWO YEARS AGO has finally been released. Go figure. It’s an audio only release for now, but the full concert is there, all 20 songs. Hopefully Hollywood Records will release the full HD video that was also shot that evening. It looks great and smells good too! You can see some of the video on Hilary’s You Tube channel.

You can purchase the digital audio version at iTunes here.

What will be for the coming year? Peace on Earth! Joy to the World? Promise of Economic Stimulus?

More songs from The Annamites! That you can count on!

Let’s pray for the Arts, my friends…

This weekend at 6PM PST on the DrumChannel.com, I will be recording and mixing live, Chad Smith’s Bombastic Meatbats, with special guest Kenny Aronoff.  This interview/live performance show will be incredible and informative.  This should be great fun.  Chad (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Chickenfoot) and Kenny (John Mellencamp, Melissa Etheridge, Bob Seger, etc.) should entertain with some great stories for all!  It’s also a chance for you to check out Chad’s band The Bombastic Meatbats.  Grab your favorite beverage and open the Holiday season with Big Loud Rock Drums!  Don’t miss it you dead beat!

Get more info here:  DrumChannel.com, Bombastic Meatbats

Let’s face it, December is traditionally a weak month and this year I am doing f-all.  I will mix your song for cheaper than you think!  No, not for free, but most likely within your budget.  Contact me for more info at: info@intonato.com

Happy Holidays!

It’s been a casual month.  I’ve been mostly writing songs and recording as one half of “The Annamites” with Adam Sedie.  We will begin to release this material soon, through our website and iTunes.

I’ve been listening to Natalia LaFourcade’s latest record, ” Hu Hu Hu.”  I’ve always liked everything she touches, as I have her previous albums, but this is fantastic.  Incredible melodies and rythmic textures which hit you like that fall sun you’ve waited for all morning to warm your cold, damp feet.  My spanish may suck, but this record does not.  I don’t know what she’s singing about half of the time, but it doesn’t matter, I believe her.  Her voice just slays me.  Listen to “Tiempo al viento.”  Wonderful.  Now I can forget about all that is not right in this world… at least for one hour.  Thank you, Natalia.  And if you want to sing on one of “The Annamites” songs, I have this great idea…

A new look to “The Annamites” website includes a Flash Player we have loaded up with some snippets, cues and full-length songs.  A regular cornicopia of aural goodness for your listening pleasure.  Check out the love here:   www.theannamites.com

Is this guy really that stupid or is he a brilliant publicity whore?  How convenient is it that he creates all of this cockless drama just before his appearance on Jay Leno’s new waste of time?  A soft interview in which Jay plays the “dead mom” card.  Please.  It all smells like dog shit.  Selfish Assbag.  Excuses?  Maybe he was all worked up over fellow Douche Joe Wilson calling Obama a “liar?”  He wanted to get back at “The Man.”  Or maybe he was distraught over Serena Williams’ recent outburst at the U.S. Open?  Maybe his latest supply of M•A•C Cosmetics didn’t get delivered in time for the VMA’s?  No matter what the excuse… Kanye West:  Douche-o-matic.

We’ve been working on new songs to be released under “The Annamites” name.  Original songs, music cues and remixes are all underway.  Stay tuned for more fresh new music cooked to order here at intonato!

My friend, Adam Sedie, has a new Blog set up which focuses strictly on the NBA.  “Protect The Paint” is an unbiased view of the National Basketball Association from folks who are not afraid of shaking things up.  If you are a fan of the NBA, you owe it to yourself to check out this Blog:

Protect The Paint

Tell ‘em Ted-o-Fensive sent ya’!

I could blabber and blubber on and on like everyone else, but I just don’t think it’s necessary.  Everyone knows the significance of MJ’s influence on the music business.  Where have you been, in a cave?

For me, Michael Jackson was The Jackson 5, and then, when I was older, “Thriller.”

Growing up in the 60’s and 70’s in Buffalo, New York, music was one of my true escapes.  The Jackson 5 were among a handful of “song factories” as I like to refer to them, that I bought into as a kid.  45’s were king, and I coveted them like gold nuggets.  I’d save my money and have my mom or dad get me to a retail outlet where I could score the latest.  Back home, up in the bedroom, drop that needle on that record and wham!  I was on the beach in L.A. or walking down what I imagined the streets of NYC were like.  I was only 6 or so, but I was a bad-ass 6 year old in my mind.  Michael WAS the Jackson 5, and everyone my age wanted to be like him.  A jump rope became a microphone and off you went.

By the early 80’s, I was listening mostly to Rock, Blues, New Wave and Punk.  I was writing my own songs and thought I was moving forward.  Not much room for Pop or R&B (Reticent & Boring), but when “Thriller” dropped, EVERYONE listened.  I can remember being fully involved with The Jam, The Clash, The Police, etc. when I first heard “Billie Jean.” The way the kick and snare pounded like sex, mercilessly, with Michael’s almost sinister vocal delivery, my ears cocked to attention.  The production was so clean and open but full of energy.  ”And Eddie Van Halen has a solo on another song,”  someone said.  I was apologetic at my local record store, but the cat who was familiar with me said, “Don’t worry, everyone’s buying this record, and besides, the chicks DIG this shit.”  And to me, that is the essence of Michael Jackson’s popularity:  punks bought his record, new wave hipsters bought his record, some rockers and jazzers bought his record, moms and dads bought it.  You don’t know it, but your dog was rocking to that shit.  Pretty much all inclusive.  Who else had those bragging rights?  Let’s start counting because I don’t think it will take long.  1. Frank Sinatra, 2. Elvis Presley, 3. The Beatles, 4.  hmm.  Slim Whitman?  You know what the fuck I’m talking about.  THAT was Michael Jackson.

I never paid much attention to the other shit which plagued his life after that.  He just seemed like a lonely person who never had the chance to be a kid.  I never expected another “Thriller.”  But he did make a couple pretty good records after “Thriller.” Was he a genius?  I don’t know.  I think we throw that moniker around too easily in the music business. Why don’t we save that for the bad-ass who figures out how to cure cancer.  And besides, I’m not sure there’s true genius in addiction.