Eliminate physical clutter.  More importantly, eliminate spiritual clutter.

~D.H. Mondfleur

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“…his music is contagious.” - KCRW 89.9 FM, Todays Top Tune Feature

“…the mark of a great album.”  -American Songwriter Magazine- 4 Star Review

“This is pop music for the refined ear, or, rather, the ear that remembers what pop music was really always supposed to be.” -The Deli Magazine, Featured CD Of The Month

“…layered with complex instrumentation, thought-provoking lyrics and rich harmonies.” - Amplifier Magazine

“On the eponymous ode to Brazillian star “Jorge Ben,” Butch Norton (Eels/ Lucinda Williams drummer) so perfectly nails the groove that the beats seem to disappear.” – Drum Magazine

“…this is music that crawls inside your skin and stays there. It may well be the best sonic surprise of 2010.” – Sonic Boomers

MORE great reviews click here

iTunes featuring AM’s “Future Sons & Daughters” and  KCRW’s Top Tune of the Day is AM’s tune “It’s Been So Long”

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Originally uploaded by AM Sounds

Future Sons & Daughters is in record stores today, February 9th. If you don’t see it in its own bin— make a request at the counter. Then please also shoot me an email and let me know.

If you send in photo of you standing in front of your local record store holding Future Sons & Daughters, I’ll send you something in return. Email photos to am@visionworksmusic.com.

Touring with AIR in March. Will be doing meet and greets at every show. Let me know which show you will be attending.

CD of the Month at The Deli Magazine- Future Sons & Daughters

Singer/songwriter AM isn’t a stranger to having left his musical mark right under your nose; his last LP Troubled Times had every track licensed to all sorts of projects on television and film, an impressive feat not done since Moby’s mega-hit Play. With that kind of cred, AM has already proven a strong viability with most any audience, but without the necessary weight that comes in being a well-recognized mainstay. That’s about to change with his latest LP Future Sons & Daughters, a fully developed snapshot of AM in the context of, not just the single, but the lost art of the album. Produced by Charles Newman (The Magnetic Fields), this lush and multi-faceted pop work is a testament to AM’s love of retro radio, analog warmth and laser-precise melodies. Nods range from ’60s Detroit to ’70s Philly, but intends to be current with a modern palette in production.  Highlight track “Fortunate Family Tree” revives roots melody awash with steady organs, loose snares and hallucinatingly wavey lead guitar lines, all signs that this is a worthy trip to a past sound, sans the cringing generally associated with homage attempts. This is pop music for the refined ear, or, rather, the ear that remembers what pop music was really always supposed to be. -Hugo Gomez

http://la.thedelimagazine.com/

“There’s a genuine soulfulness to opener “A Complete Unknown” and “When the Dust Settles,” which drinks deeply from the well of vintage Southern soul.” – Jonathan Keefe

To poke a wood fire is more solid enjoyment than almost anything else in the world.

~Charles Dudley Warner

Mark Getten on bass and Butch Norton (The Eels/ Lucinda Williams) on drums recording the song “Leavenworth” from the album “Future Sons & Daughters.”

Liked this review.

http://www.crawdaddy.com/index.php/2010/02/04/am-future-songs-and-daughters/

AM
Future Sons & Daughters
Writer: J. Poet

There’s a Portuguese word that perfectly fits the music of AM: Saudade.

There’s no word in English that means exactly the same thing, but saudade is a feeling most romantic souls are aware of; an emotional state that can only be expressed by a long, unwieldy English definition. In English vernacular, you might say saudade is an aching desire to recapture a feeling that no longer exists, or probably never existed, a yearning for a better, happier, more content time—probably in the past, but possibly in a future everyone knows we may never attain. Bossa Nova, fado, and Cape Verdean mourna are all heavy with saudade, as is the music AM and his band on Future Sons & Daughters.

AM has touted his love of Brazilian music, and there is, in fact, an instrumental track on Future Sons & Daughters named Jorge Ben, after the Tropicalia guitarist, singer, and composer. But like all of the music on the album, “Jorge Ben” is anything but straightforward. There’s no samba, or bossa, or even Brazilian reggae there. It’s a Memphis soul groove halfway between soul and funk, accented by Jesse Nason’s sci-fi organ and AM’s guitar teasing out sounds that bounce between spaghetti Western twang and rhythmic R&B chord clusters. Tropicalia was inspired in part by American soul music, but that’s about the only connection between the title and the propulsive rhythm that AM and his band lay down. This oblique approach is evident on the album’s 10 songs as well. The tunes all inhabit a vague emotional space that’s suggested rather than spelled out. Take “It’s Been So Long”, a duet with the feathery voiced Angela Correa, for example. AM sings, “Who’s right, who’s wrong / It doesn’t matter, ” with a resigned tone that lets you know it matters very much, even as he struggles with his confused emotions. The reverb on his vocals adds a dark Serge Gainsbourg-ish feel to the track.

The melancholy of “Darker Days” suggests a hybrid of Philly soul and Motown, with AM’s falsetto adding a touch of blue-eyed soul to the chorus, while “When the Dust Settles” floats through a haze of late ’60s psychedelia. The song starts quietly, with voice and organ creating a delicious tension, and then the chorus kicks in with clanging electric guitar. After the bridge, the guitar grows to fill an immense sonic space and AM’s vocals float off with the keys providing spacey, Theremin-like textures. AM’s phrasing here has its own inimitable pace. He breaks up his melodic lines in unexpected places, adding unexpected touches of tension and release to the music. The lyrics are poetic but vague, hinting at loss, longing, and a belief in a better tomorrow that will probably never come.

Other winners include “The Other Side”, a breezy confection that combines ukulele, spaghetti Western guitar, ’60s girl group handclaps, and rippling piano arpeggios to paint the picture of an uncertain love affair; “Leavenworth”, a simple, folky ballad, which may or may not be about being in an emotional prison, highlighted by glockenspiel, chiming electric piano, and a big thrumming bass guitar; and “A Complete Unknown”, a spunky rocker that has hints of funk and Latin music in its rhythm, without ever settling into either groove.

AM has obviously immersed himself in the sounds of the ’60s and ’70s, but he doesn’t write songs that are obvious knock offs or slavish echoes of pop hits past. His mellow tenor, and the ingenious arrangements of his band may suggest the past, but it’s the past of a soul drunk on saudade. These tunes are pure pop for now people, to plagiarize a phrase.

Playlists always interest me. Special thanks to Fairfield’s KRUU 100.1fm Andy Bargerstock on Fringe Toast. Gotta get you my new record Future Sons & Daughters. Gotta get to Iowa. This station is solar powered.

My first effort at scoring a movie will be seen on February 1, 2010. I co-scored the movie Man Maid with composer Tom Hiel and it is going to be released on Warner Bros.  Let me know what you think of it.

Note from the director Chris Lusvardi:

On February 1st, “Man Maid” will be available for viewing via Warner Brothers Video on Demand and Pay per View.  We’re not exactly sure how it’s going to work in various markets, but if you have Time Warner Cable, Direct TV, Comcast, or any other provider, it should be available.  We appreciate your support and don’t be shy about spreading the word.  Also, if it’s not listed in your area, it would be great if you called your provider and said “I want my “Man Maid”… or whatever variation on that sentiment that makes you comfortable.  Thanks you so much and enjoy the movie!

Team Man Maid.
www.manmaidmovie.com

Future Sons & Daughters is currently available as a pre-sale. Official street date for my new album is out February 9th, 2010. Please make requests at your local record stores (the ones that are surviving).  If you would like to help hang posters in your city to help promote the new album and upcoming tour dates with AIR, please email info@visionworksmusic.com.

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.

~Hans Hofmann