The Benjy Section

Three Birthday Songs

2009-06-11T12:38:00.021-04:00

I've written three birthday songs in my life.

The first was a gift to my friend Raul Smith. I worked with Raul at the Michigan Theatre in Ann Arbor, MI. When I heard there was going to be a surprise party for Raul's birthday, I decided to write and record a song that we could play on the cassette machine (it was 1992) as soon as he walked in. Unfortunately, Raul's girlfriend at the time had devised a cruel and unusual plan to ensure that he would be surprised, staying with him all day and pretending to break up with him. By the time they arrived back at his place, where we were all waiting to shout "Surprise!" Raul was thoroughly depressed. He was more confused that surprised when we all leapt out from our hiding places, "Raul's Birthday Day" blasting from the speakers.

The second was for Kaitlyn Hazel Mayotte's third birthday. Kaitlyn is the daughter of Matt Mayotte, my best friend and fellow drummer from back in the day. I went to the Mayotte's place in Glastonbury, CT, in September 1997 and played this song for Kaitlyn, who proceeded to run back and forth excitedly the whole time. I think she was astonoished to hear the phrase "Kaitlyn's Birthday" coming from the stereo, as if it were some kind of miracle.

I wrote and recorded the third a couple of weeks ago for my friend Patrick Penta. Andrew Bielski told me he was organizing a big bash in NYC for Patrick's 40th birthday, and I couldn't attend. I decided to send a song as a kind of stand-in, and Andrew agreed to surprise Patrick with it at the party. When Andrew played it for him, Patrick apparently became disoriented, thinking at first it was some wild coincidence that a song called "Patrick's Birthday" was blaring over the speakers.

Fun at Leslie and Stan's

2009-06-07T00:23:00.005-04:00

(A slew of "high-speed-burst" photos stuck together with some audio recorded on my Zoom H2.)

Thank you Leslie and Stan for a fantastic fete! A shining shindig! A rousing reunion!

We love you, Michael!

Luigi Russolo's "Art of Noises"

2009-06-05T11:57:00.007-04:00

Luigi Russolo was a painter and composer in the Futurist movement of the early 20^th century. He thought that music was getting boring because it had used the same general categories of instruments for centuries. In 1913 he wrote, "We Futurists have deeply loved and enjoyed the harmonies of the great masters. For many years Beethoven and Wagner shook our nerves and hearts. Now we are satiated and we find far more enjoyment in the combination of the noises of trams, backfiring motors, carriages and bawling crowds than in rehearsing, for example, the 'Eroica' or the 'Pastoral.'"

The modern world, he said, was full of all kinds of interesting noises, so he made instruments that sounded like machines, engines, sirens, rain gutters, dishes and pottery smashing, and croaking frogs. Russolo hired musicians to play his noise instruments and in 1914 he held his first concert in

Italy

. Traditional composers who came to hear this new kind of music got so angry that fistfights broke out in the front rows of the theatre. According to one newspaper account, the Futurists were avid boxers, and so they easily defeated the naysayers.

Listen to one of Luigi Russolo's compositions, "Risveglio di un Citta":

The Sounds of Lunch

2009-06-04T07:39:00.006-04:00

I'll start by sharing a short story of mine called "The Sounds of Lunch." In February 2007 the Public Radio Exchange featured this story on its awesome podcast and in March 2009 it was published in the online journal Storyscape!

Listen to The Sounds of Lunch: