Are you prog-adjacent (or at least prog-curious)?

Carmina Formosa #9

Happy April, dear subscribers! This month, as promised, [ai] have another sneak preview to share with you! Behold our new video for the prog rock-influenced track “Residence,” which you can watch now before its official world premier! Listen to drummer Cody Byassee do his best Neil Peart impression while guitarist C.J. Hsu channels Robert Fripp and Andy Summers!

The multicultural/multilingual video is intended to be a tribute to our increasingly international audience. Do you vibe with this “international feel,” or do you think [ai] should be condemned for “cultural appropriation”? How many total languages can you identify in the video? Is your native language represented? What’s your opinion of Mark Will’s vocal harmonies in the last chorus? Let us know in the comments below!

O-A-C!

See that little musical note next to our name on YouTube? (It doesn’t always appear on tablets and phones, for some reason, but you can clearly see it on your desktop computer.) That is an indication that “TV [ai]” now has OAC (Official Artist Channel) status! Thanks for helping us achieve this important milestone! Our next goal: 5K subscribers! If you haven’t already subscribed to us on YouTube, why not do so now?

Meet the Band – Part Two

Last month, in Carmina Formosa #8, you met our Dear Leader, Mark Will, a.k.a. Brother Number One. This month we introduce you to a member of the [ai] collective who appeared on our first two albums: guitar virtuoso Oren Avni. His contributions to the arrangements on Carmina Formosa and Carmina Formosa Deluxe were invaluable, and his brilliant solos became integral parts of the songs. He truly was the David Gilmour to Mark Will’s Roger Waters. Although Oren has left Taiwan and is no longer an active member of the band, he is a crucial part of our history and will never be forgotten. [ai] salute you, Brother Number Two, wherever you are!

photo: “Oren Unplugged”

Remix news

We are taking a break from working on the remix album this month, as Mark Will needs to finish editing his new book, Earnest Games. But Tewei Chou has already started producing demos of his keyboard arrangements for the last three tracks on the forthcoming Still No Cure for the Princess Disease. Here’s what you can expect to hear eventually:

7. “You’re So Lame” – rock organ and sawtooth (cf. Elvis Costello’s “Pump It Up”)

8. “I Don’t Belong To You” – honky tonk piano (obviously)

9. “Dirty Old Man” – Aggressive Tendencies, Trance Synth, Energy Sweeper, Massive X01 Hyper Five (a sinister-sounding combination, no?)

Imagine the aural delights that await you! Stay tuned for more updates! (And in the meantime keep streaming No Cure for the Princess Disease on Spotify or download it from Amazon!)

No cure for the Russophobia?

Yes, Putin is a gangster and a thug and a generally unsavory character, but don’t expect us to cheerlead the banning of Dostoyevsky (or Tolstoy or Pushkin or Chekhov or Mayakovsky) or celebrate the boycotting of Tchaikovsky (or Stravinsky or Rachmaninoff or Mussorgsky or . . . Sting).

[ai] think it is safe to assume that ordinary Russians—like ordinary Ukrainians and ordinary Americans and “everyday people” everywhere—still “love their children too,” so let us all do everything in our power to de-escalate the crisis in Ukraine and forestall the apocalyptic deployment of “Oppenheimer’s deadly toy.” There are no simple solutions, but Word Beyond War’s suggestion still seems to us the best:

If you have a better idea, [ai] would love to hear it.

New sounds + visions

[ai] recently discovered the LA-based dream pop group Cannons and cannot stop watching their video for “Hurricane.” Check out that funky E minor groove punctuated with the crazy D6 chord, then prepare to be mesmerized by vocalist Michelle Joy, who appears on the scene like the Second Coming of Venus . . . with a nosebleed.

And if you haven’t yet watched the new video for “Wild Child” by The Black Keys, please do so immediately. You’ll laugh your ass off—if you don’t shake it off first.

Paid subscriptions coming soon!

[ai] hope you are enjoying the free content of this monthly newsletter. Soon—maybe as early as next month?—we will start offering a paid option as well. For a nominal monthly fee, we will provide paid subscribers with behind-the-scenes information, sneak previews, first listens, merch deals, interviews, trivia games, exclusive artwork, and more! Hope you will consider signing up!

And finally . . .

Our new lyric video for “Rondo Polynésien” is scheduled to premiere in May. Until then, remember: [ai] 愛 you all!