Mark Westin: Mark's Ramblings

The eminent humorist Madeleine Begun Kane ( who was awarded a Robert Benchley Humor Prize by the also eminent Bob Newhart) has written a great review of Dark Humour. Check it out here. Nice to know there are fellow Dark Humourists out there.

Dark Humour is up on iTunes now along with some other digital distributors. If you must, go do it, but if you a) want to buy this album and b) actually care about the sound quality of your music, stay away from mp3s and buy the actual disc. That way, you can digitize it yourself. So even if you do put the mp3s on your iPod for convenience, you'll still have the disc to listen to in all its sonic glory when you want.

Dark Humour arrived from the pressing plant a few days back, and it's now available on CDBaby and will soon be on iTunes, Spotify and a whole host of other places.

This is a GREAT sounding record, sonically superior production by Todd Giudice. If you're even remotely considering buying it, I would strongly suggest you get the actual disc as opposed to mp3 download. I know mp3 can be convenient, but the disc has a much fuller tonal range that just sounds awesome when you crank it up.

Other than that, keep an eye out for shows, and various other appearances in the interests of selling a few of these babies...

To find out who played exactly what parts on Dark Humour, please go to the See Hear! page and click on the "lyrics and credits" link for the song of your choice. At the bottom, below the lyrics, is a listing of the players and as much detail as I can remember about who played the solos and who played the fills etc.

Some people like to geek out on this stuff.

The final mixes are about half done. The cover art is done. Here are the songs on Dark Humour in the order they'll appear:

Narcissistic as Me
The Naked Houseboy
When Beautiful People Break Up
Almost Got It Right
Wouldn't That Be Love
Open Mike (v2.0 - originally appeared on "dirty folk")
Singing in Bars (featured vocal by Derek A. Dempsey)
Not a Stalker Song
What the Cool Kids Do
Falling in Love on Facebook
Formula

This record would not be as good as it is if not for the amazing creative contributions of Todd Giudice (producer and various guitars and voices), Steve Giordano (co-writer of Naked Houseboy) and the following musicians:

Stephen Clair: electric guitar, What the cool kids do
Jen Clapp: voice, Narcissistic as me, Singing in bars
David Dasch: voice, When beautiful people break up
Derek A. Dempsey: featured voice, Singing in bars
Ken Fox: bass, Almost got it right, Narcissistic as me, Not a stalker song, Open mike
Rick Gedney: mandolin and voice, Singing in bars
Charlie Guido: bass, Formula
Cat Guthrie: voice, The naked houseboy, Not a stalker song, What the cool kids do
Al Hemberger: bass, Falling in love on Facebook
Stacy Labriola: voice, The naked houseboy
Kathleen Pemble:voice, Falling in love on Facebook, Formula, Wouldn’t that be love
Michele Rubin: voice, The naked houseboy
Ben Senterfit: horns, Narcissistic as me
Andrew Veltz: electric guitar, Formula, The naked houseboy
Jeannie Veltz: voice, The naked houseboy
Ken Veltz: drums and percussion, all tracks
Raquel Vidal: voice, Falling in love on Facebook, Formula, Open mike, Wouldn’t that be love

phew. Had my head down for awhile in many things, Dark Humour among them, and despite the best advice of social media gurus, the first thing that goes out the window in busy times is stuff like these ramblings. So, to catch up, we're in the final stages of mixing now. Several tunes are pretty much as done as they're gonna get, and the others need only minor tweaks to make them perfect, or at least as perfect as rocknroll gets.

I'm really excited about how good it all sounds and can't wait to get it done and out there. Here's what I'm thinking the track order is:
Narcissistic as me
Naked houseboy
When beautiful people break up
Almost got it right
Wouldn't that be love
Open mike (v2.0)
Singing in bars
Not a stalker song
What the cool kids do
Falling in love on facebook
Formula

Rob Penner did a great photo for the cover. You can see it on the Facebook page - linked on the spinachworld homepage.

Oh the agony. So close to done and yet still so many little things to do. Pretty much all the heavy lifting is over and what remains is a bunch of vocals (guests and mine), and a few esoteric instrumentations. That and mixing, mastering, surviving existential crisis etc. etc.

Business as usual in rockyrollyland.

Phew. All the basics are done for the entire record. Up next, electric guitars, harmony vocals, keyboards and ephemera - the 'prettying up' stuff.

Had a great session with Todd and Raquel Vidal singing harmonies on Open Mike (it was on "dirty folk" but will appear as a bonus track on Dark Humour in a full band jam version). Way too much fun was had. Looking forward to some other upcoming special guests in the coming weeks. Actually, really looking forward to just getting the thing done.

Recording new tracks for the Dark Humour record featuring Todd Giudice on guitar, Ken Veltz on drums and Ken Fox on bass. Click the link to hear s a rough mix of one called Narcissistic as Me.
http://www.facebook.com/markwestinmusic?sk=app_2405167945

After a couple weeks of too much everything, back to the grind. Rehearsing now for upcoming live shows and back in the studio next week to finish up basics. Coming soon, The Naked Houseboy choir!

Great progress on the new LP. Drums and basics are down for a number of tunes now. Ken Veltz played slammin' tracks throughout on kit as well as cajon, bongos, egg shaker etc etc. Gearing up for some special guest vocalists in the next couple weeks, as well as the Naked Houseboy Choir.

If you want to follow all the latest on the recording please "like" me on Facebook by clicking here

And we're off. I've recently started work on my next album, to be called "Dark Humour".
So far I've gotten basic tracks down for two songs and I'm extremely pleased with both the sound and the feel of 'em. Todd Giudice is behind the board and I've lined up many other special guests from the Hudson Valley and greater NYC area.

If you've seen me play in the last couple years you'll already be familiar with some of the songs going on this record, but of course there are quite a few surprises and new songs as well. Stay tuned, folks.

An old video from the rocknroll days of yore. MW playing at Tompkins Square Park on the LES with the Storm Dogs in the 80s.

The bible's last stand is now #87 out of 3,251 after just a week on the page. Thanks all for clicking on it - keep it up and we'll hit numero uno.

Go here to listen.

My song "The Bible's last stand", about the history of conflicts in the Middle East, has been selected for Neil Young's Living with War song page. It features songs from both well-known and less well-known artists that address the issue of, well, living with war. Go here and search for Mark Westin, then click on the title to listen:

The song appears on my "dirty folk" disc.

A little Halloween romance. Or a Dr. Ruth success story, depending.

Thoughts on celebrity romance and real life

A revised version of the track from "dirty folk" with a little help from Cat Guthrie and David Ray.

Live version from the Listening Room. Originally from my "dirty folk" disc.

The centerpiece of "High School Musical: 20 Year Reunion"

So there.

Unfortunately I got massively spammed so I've had to temporarily close my guest book while I delete all the extraneous crap. If you wanted to sign it, apologies, but if you join the mailing list instead I'll send you all kinds of wonderful non-spammy stuff.