Radio Friendly by Ed Shepp

In Radio Friendly California, we again find ourselves back in our childhood bed, father telling us a story. Only now, it's not The Christmas Story (Images..., 2003), but a tale of a young stripper with a dream, and a tiny leprechaun guarding our virgin ears. But even though it's not Christmas, it can still be December, a piece where a short film can say so much. New from ED&D announces a new calling plan sure to sweep the globe, while Porn Moments (pronounced 'pewern') recounts some highlights from that film genre that everyone loves without reservation. The last of the album's squarely spoken slices is Double Plural, a song which morphs into a public service announcement addressing one of the most prevalent problems presently plaguing people. Play it for someone you know today.... please!

Radio Friendly closes with two musical numbers, which may hint at Ed Shepp work to come. Checking In is a beep-blip-bloop zany electro instrumental with a dub-remix sensibility, a perfect soundtrack for a taxi ride to Bellevue. Back to the Crack Shack, however, more closely approximates a conventional pop tune. In this dark song, a man laments his sober life and decides, "just for tonight," to return to his former haunt, lovingly termed the "Crack Shack." Heavily distorted spoken verses, backup vocals from singing ladybugs and electro/noise elements fuse to create a distinctively Ed Shepp musical experience.

About Ed Shepp:

Ed Shepp is that quirky guy you knew in college who was always tinkering with his radio, mixing friends' voices and peculiar sounds into Madonna songs on his duct-taped together boombox, and spouting the most unusual comments at random times. If he sounds like an oddner, remember that he grew up in Florida, before moving to New York in 1999, where he eventually became the sound sculptor, blogger, Photoshop maven and megadork that he is today. His first CD, Bling, appeared in 2002; compiled from journal scrawlings, old emails and song ideas, it's a wild weert romp through the mind of an iconoclast. It's also the most poetic of his work, with blank verse pieces like Girl of Convexitude and Snacklebird. It displays an experimental bent, shown in the ever-unusual America the Britneyful, where he imagines a patriotic amalgamation of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Missy Elliott and Björk.

The follow-up to Bling, also 2002, was Superpowerpusssy, Ed Shepp's home-recorded splatsterpiece, which sported his globally adored Aguilleratry, a teenage girl's 16-minute soliloquy about her uncommon love for a certain pop star. Superpowerpusssy also included I'm Not Cool Enough to Listen to the White Stripes (Vote for Angelyne), Ed Shepp's dual avowal of his blatant unhipstertude and declaration of support for Angelyne for California governor (she lost by a narrow margin); and Haircut, a monologue by the inimitable Mark Baratelli. Superpowerpusssy is also the darkest and most experimental of Ed Shepp's work, with noise music and disturbing themes featured prominently.

2003's Images of Rapture from the Boggle Woggle continued the oddness, but in a lighter shade. Longer, narrative-based pieces begin to take the stage in this work, including New Year Bride, a spot inspired by the marketing-informed husband hunting of today, and The Christmas Story, Ed Shepp's modern classic retelling of the eternal tale. Also on Images were Conversation 2.0, a continuation of a cut from Bling (Conversation 1.0) in which pasting various phrases from innumerable web sites produces a glorious weirdness that must be heard to be believed; and another Ed Shepp classic, The P Is for Pussy, which merges spare electro beats with zany synths and a monologue from an unusually dedicated cheerleading instructor.

Radio Friendly is the most current installment, building on past elements, contributing new ones and hinting at what might be next for this peculiar artist.

While having recorded for some time, Ed Shepp has only recently been getting radio airplay. Since he sent out his first three CDs (all at once) in late 2003, he's gotten airplay on WFMU (and appeared on the Pseu Braun show), WXYC, WXDU and Belgium's Planète Indie. With an expanded mailing list for Radio Friendly, more people should soon have the opportunity to hear Ed Shepp's work.

Upcoming projects for Ed Shepp include his yearly audio holiday card, more musical endeavors and a series of short dialogue pieces tentatively called The Superspectacular Unbelievable Oddyssey of Gladys and Angela. Ed Shepp's interests include having coffee, going to the store and sitting around. You can find out more about Ed Shepp and download mp3s at http://www.soundclick.com/edshepp, read excerpts from his daily life at his blog, http://edshepp.blogspot.com, purchase his CDs at http://www.cdbaby.com and you can email him at edsheppsounds at gmail dot com.

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