Seems that many of my favorite vinyl LPs started disappearing around the same time Becca picked up an Audio-Technica turntable and a pair of KRK speakers.  Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, John Coltrane’s My Favorite Things, Wayne Shorter’s Speak No Evil and Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On magically made their way from my studio to her living room.  Not that I’m complaining.  My daughter (business partner/co-writer/boss) is listening to some of the best music ever recorded while thoroughly enjoying boot-camp—err, her first year as an Annenberg Doctoral Fellow.

Sshh.  I hid a mint copy of the much rawer sounding “Detroit Mix” of What’s Going On right next to an original pressing of The Stones’ Sticky Fingers (no pun intended).  Fortunately Jeremy Bible’s Experimedia online store has been there to turn me on to the wonderful Rodelius Plays Piano, Field Rotation’s Regenzeit 10″ and Acoustic Tales 12″ LPs (which I listen to pretty much every day), Luup’s Meadow Rituals and Kaboom Karavan’s Barra Barra.  Throw in Eric Dolphy At The Five Spot, a prized limited edition 140 gram (virgin vinyl!) pressing of Coltrane’s A Love Supreme and Gil Scott-Heron‘s brilliant I’m New Here and, as you can see, there is plenty of great vinyl to discover, even after one’s adult child raids one’s personal stash of classics.  (One of these day’s I’ll post the video that Navesync’s Joe Trammel made, in December 1989, of Pad performing Scott-Heron’s Winter In America at the old Indigo Blues in Manhattan’s theatre district.  Our sticky-fingered, vinyl-loving protege was only four months old back then.)

California-based HazelEye Media was in New York on Feb 17, 2012 and scored tickets to catch the great Aretha Franklin at Radio City Music Hall.  Her Majesty took all contenders to school and reminded Becca and Gene Bryan why she remains the undisputed Queen of Soul.  The audience, which included music industry legend Clive Davis, Sony executive L.A. Reid and the Rev. Jesse Jackson among others, was collectively moved by her emotional tribute to goddaughter Whitney Houston who died less than a week earlier.

One of Lady Aretha’s background singers was the incredible Tawatha Agee whose voice propelled Mtume’s million-selling single Juicy Fruit back in the early 80s.  A decade later, in 1994, Juicy Fruit was sampled by Biggie Smalls, and released as Juicy, considered by many to be one of the greatest rap singles ever recorded.

Afterwards we went to a late night set at Small’s Jazz Club in the West Village and left in the wee hours feeling totally homesick for our hometown.  We love living in California but, that weekend, were in an Empire State of Mind.  What to do after a night of fantastic music? 

3AM breakfast at a jam packed village diner.   Indeed.

Feb, 2012 — San Francisco-based Valence Records has just released a hydrid CD/SACD of Glass from improvising violinist Emily Palen, recorded live at Grace Cathedral by audiophile producer Cookie Marenco.  Super Audio CD (SACD) is a high-resolution digital format created by Sony/Philips (this hybrid disc also plays on traditional CD players).  HazelEye Media’s Gene Bryan Johnson is credited as Director of Artist Development for Valence whose roster includes composer/conductor Butch Morris and The Valence Project.

Jan, 2012 — Psst: We hear that a globetrotting duo of very cool Japanese/Swiss recording artists has agreed to make their new recordings, and much of their catalog, available through Experimedia. (We’re talking vinyl, CD & cassette people!) Details to come…

HazelEye and The Pad’s eponymous Japanese release is scheduled to drop March 21, 2012 via HazelEye Media/Murmur Records with distribution by the red hot Nature Bliss /Art Union team (which also handles Japanese distribution for artists such as Xela, Hauschka, Bon Iver, Anthony and The Johnsons, Sufjian Stevens and Okkervil River, among many others). 

Tokyo-based abstract artist Yuki Izumi is creating anime for HATP’s “I’ll Never Forget.”

Becca and Gene Bryan especially thank Murmur Record’s Yuki Aida for his great skill in representing HazelEye Media in Japan.  We are honored that he and his wife, the fabulous photographer/designer Emi Aida, have offered us such wonderful friendship and support.

“Becca and Gene Bryan have a sound that picks up where ‘Eureka’ era Jim O’Rourke left off.  Their music totally cuts a moment of trifling daily life like a cinema, and lets us feel douceur de vivre.” – Yuki Aida (murmur records)

2011: Ok. Ok. Ok.  We are limiting our best of picks to one artist or album each.  This will force us into an admittedly difficult choice but the people have spoken and we will fess up.  Becca and Gene Bryan listen to hundreds of recordings a year with rarely a day passing when we are not excited by some piece of music, be it new, old or both.  Contrary to the hysteria promulgated by the mass media/major label industrial complex, we are thrilled to announce that, as we speak, there are oodles (and oodles) of great art being recorded for your listening pleasure.  You can quote us on that. 

Our favorites for 2011:

Becca (HazelEye): James Blake | James Blake

Gene Bryan (The Pad): Pan Tone | Hauschka and Hildur Guonadottir

We are happy to announce that Japan’s up and coming Murmur Records has entered into an agreement with Experimedia for sales and distribution in the United States and worldwide.  Select Murmur Records’ titles will now be available for sale at Experimedia.net which, since 2000, has built a well-deserved international reputation as THE label and online record distributor for connoisseurs of cutting edge music, sound and visual art.  Check out this Stereophile Magazine profile of Experimedia and its founder Jeremy Bible who we feel has the best ears in the business.  We aspire to hear humanity in the music and soul in the sound.  Jeremy, a fellow traveler indeed, does too.  Becca and Gene Bryan send our warmest congratulations to Murmur honcho Yuki Aida and Jeremy.  Here’s to an incredible 2012.

contact: thepad [at] hazeleyemedia [dot] com

HazelEye and The Pad’s “I’ll Never Forget (Peanut Butter and Jamz)” is featured this week, October 23, 2011, on the Mad Decent blog SoundCloud Roundup.  Mad Decent, a joint venture with Downtown Music, is spearheaded by Thomas Wesley Pentz, aka Diplo, the Grammy-nominated producer of M.I.A’s “Paper Planes”, and half of the collaborative music project Major Lazer.  HazelEye’s uber-cool vocal and The Pad’s jazz-influenced guitar float like an island of chill amongst the big beat-driven party vibe of Mad Descent’s usual fare.  (Pssst: subtitle is a what up to Stones Throw’s Peanut Butter Wolf)

HazelEye and The Pad’s “Take It Away” was featured on Belgium’s Radio Centraal, October 8, 2011.  Program host and popular music historian Gerald Van Waess also posted a review of HATP’s pre-release demo onto his psychedelicfolk.com website.

contact: hello AT HazelEyeMedia DOT com

Renown composer, musician and visual artist Yoshio Machida has recently completed mastering the forthcoming eponymous HazelEye and The Pad album for an early 2012 Japanese release on HazelEye Media/Murmur Records.  Machida, a pioneering sound artist who is legendary in the worlds of avant-garde, experimental and improvised music, is also founder of the Tokyo-based Amorfon label.  Becca and Gene Bryan are honored that such a master would lend his ears and talent to their project.  Special thanks to Murmur Record’s honcho Yuki Aida for the introduction.  Mad props to Yuki-san, ya’ll!

October, 2011 — Japan’s Murmur Records has licensed HazelEye and The Pad for March 2012 release in Japan.  HazelEye and The Pad (HATP) is an art pop/indie folk album from USC Annenberg Graduate Fellow Becca Lee Johnson and producer/journalist Gene Bryan Johnson.  Japanese distribution will be via Art Union Group/Nature Bliss.  In a reciprocal arrangement HATP’s HazelEye Media will represent Murmur Records for marketing and artist development in the United States.

“Murmur owner Yuki Aida was the first record company executive in the entire world to recognize that HazelEye and The Pad is a work of what we like to call ‘audio-cinema’,” says HATP’s Gene Bryan Johnson.  “It was produced and intended to be experienced, at least initially, as one extended 53 minute work of art.  Perhaps because he also creates sound art that can develop over 20 or 30 minutes, Yuki understands the beauty of taking time to experience the world that an artist can create with sound and atmosphere.  We immediately knew that Murmur Records was the ideal company for us to be associated with.”

contact: hello AT hazeleyemedia DOT com

May 9, 2011 — HazelEye Media principals Becca “HazelEye” Johnson and Gene Bryan Johnson contributed to The Valence Project, the inaugural release from San Francisco-based Valence Records. Becca, a doctoral student and USC Annenberg Graduate Fellow, worked as engineering assistant while GBJ,  in his role as Director of Artist Development, participated in post-production and strategic marketing development.

The Valence Project includes contributions from drummer/percussionist Brain (Guns & Roses, Tom Waits, Bootsy Collins) and bassist Kai Eckhardt (John McLaughlin, Garaj Mahal).   Valence Records’ roster includes, among others, world renown composer/conductor/trumpeter Butch Morris.

contact: hello AT hazeleyemedia DOT com

Becca Johnson featured on KXSC Radio/Los Angeles

KXSC Radio featured HazelEye Media principal Becca Johnson on Weds May 4th, 2011. Becca appeared on DJ Michael Hopkins’ Good Vibrationz program where she spoke about songwriting, production and her new alternative pop band The 20-20s. Hopkins played two of Becca’s song dubplates, “Above The Sound,” which she wrote and produced as a school assignment and “Into The Sun,” a collaboration with dance music producer Mark Renker. She completed undergraduate studies with honors in May, 2011, having earned a B.A. (cum laude) in Communication (Entertainment and Society) with a double minor in Music Recording and Advertising.

Becca Johnson awarded research fellowship

The 2011 USC Annenberg Graduate Fellowship will support her work as musician, photographer and doctoral student conducting research into the future of digital media, communication and the Internet. Becca, whose work was previously honored with a 2004 Scholastic Art Award for digital photography and exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, will enter USC’s PhD program in the summer of 2011. She blogs for the Popular Music Project of The Norman Lear Center and at 20 to 20,000 Hz: An Auditory Experience.

“Into The Sun” by Sun

“A Dream From Yesterday pt 1″ by HazelEye and The Pad

“I Am What I Am” by HazelEye and The Pad

“Hanging Upside Down on a Train” by HazelEye and The Pad

Limited copies of Hanging Upside Down were released in 2009 through Germany’s experimental q-tone label

“Fearless” (Demo)

Fresh indie music since…

 When she is not making music, HazelEye is taking photographs.

Songs written by HazelEye, HazelEye and The Pad or HazelEye and Mark Renker

© HazelEye Media (ASCAP) / All Rights Reserved

High School Cell Phone Camera and Photoshop

HazelEye has been a serious taker of pictures since she was five years old.  She has photographed the people, places and things of New York City… Southampton, Paris, London, Rome, San Francisco, Kauai, Maine, Michigan, Jamaica, Los Angeles, Australia, San Francisco, Miami, Las Vegas, Boston, Chicago and The Bahamas. 

HazelEye’s picture “Underage?” was honored with a 2004 Scholastic Art Award and shown at the Brooklyn Museum of Art.

In 2011 she was awarded a USC Annenberg Graduate Fellowship to support her work as musician, photographer and doctoral student conducting research into the future of digital media and communications.

Images and photographs © HazelEye Media / All Rights Reserved