about the black friday sessions:

while most of the nation was out taking advantage of deep discounts offered by fine retailers of all stripes, David, Gordon, and I decided to lock ourselves in the studio until we came up with something worth, well, something. this is what we came up with. it was as fun to make as the mexican hot chocolate was delicious to drink. seriously though, it had like chili powder or something in it, it was amazing.

Black Friday

This is a new song that seems to combine my love of traditional sounding melody lines with experimental sounds and beats. It also taps into my love of choral harmonies, which, as a kid was my first and only outlet for performing music. Whether it was singing tenor alongside my father's bass in church hymn singing, or singing in school choirs, I've always been drawn to how harmonies bring a great melody to life.  

The subject matter of this song lyrically is simply about human freedom, which I consider to be the hallmark of what it means to be a person. I could go on and on about this, but for the sake of lightness, I won't. Suffice it to say that freedom is as complicated as it is beautiful, but also really paradoxical when put up against all of the ways in which we are not free.  

If you happen to recall your high school English class, you might recognize the line "we have promises to keep, and miles to go before we sleep" as being adapted from the famous Robert Frost poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening". I love how it works with the rest of the content--hopefully it's in the public domain and I won't get sued. It's a poem that I loved in high school, but one that has become much more meaningful to me in the past years. 

I hope you enjoy the song as much I as enjoyed recording it. 




Freedom

A new arrangement of an old, traditional Hebrew song that I've always loved. For one reason or another, I'm interested in exploring how traditional melody can be incorporated into electronic arrangements. This effort is yet another leap into the genre for me, as I continue to investigate new territory as a songwriter. If nothing else, it's fun as can be to make new sounds and have fun with ancient melodies.

Extra special thanks to my dear friend Kristin Deitrich for lending me her lungs on this...

This is not mastered, and probably not a final mix, but you can still download it if you like...for free, of course. 

Babylon

I wrote this song over a year ago, but just recently felt inspired to record it after playing it live earlier this week.
It's a song about people, and the messy process of figuring out what we really want in life. 


Recorded at The Music Box in Saint Joseph, MI

michaelkoch

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