James McOmber
| Gender | Male |
|---|---|
| Industry | Communications or Media |
| Occupation | Office chair warmer |
| Location | Palo Alto, CA, Italy |
| Introduction | I write funky-folky-fake-jazz for the guitar, piano/keys, ukulele, trumpet, bass, melodica, drums/percussion, banjo, cello, musical saw, dulcimer, alto saxophone, and occasionally a concertina, pennywhistle, lap harp, harmonica, windchimes, or whatever else I can get my hands on. I record my songs in my basement studio. |
| Interests | Hot jazz & Tin Pan Alley, French film music, "art rock" (as it has been called), the avant-garde, indie films, experimental jazz, music that is colorful. |
| Favorite movies | Down By Law, the Shawshank Redemption, La Vita è Bella, Daffy Duck's Quackbusters, Basquiat, Waking Life, Better Off Dead, Fishing With John |
| Favorite music | Tom Waits, Kathleen Brennan, Andrew Bird, Tin Hat Trio, Mr. Bungle, David Bazan, Rufus Wainwright, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Idiot Flesh, Low, Robert Johnson, Ben Folds/5, Jolie Holland, Fantômas, Iron & Wine, the Brobecks, Astor Piazzolla, Björk, John Zorn, Katharine Whalen, Radiohead, Pedro the Lion, Morphine, Randy Newman, Carla Kihlstedt, Skatalites, Cake, Kongar-ol Ondar, Primus, Aquabats, the Clash, the Fugees, Operation Ivy, Debussy, Harry Partch, Feist, Cliff Edwards, Yngwie Malmsteen, Carl Stalling, Living Colour, Ella Fitzgerald, Chris Murray, Broken Social Scene, Sublime, Yann Tiersen, Fishbone, Ben Harper, Postal Service, Hepcat, Alicia Keys, Naked City, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, the Distillers, Imani Coppola, Rancid, Aaron Copland, Weezer, Mirah, Dillinger Escape Plan, funk-metal, Reinhardt & Grappelli, Nat "King" Cole, Secret Chiefs 3, Paul Pena, Beatles, Cole Porter, hot jazz, Poundcake, Victor Wooten, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Louis, Ron Sexsmith, Bing, Headphones, Stravinsky, 311, Einstürzende Neubauten, Emilee Floor, Blue Meanies, Johnny Society, Faun Fables, Bad Brains, Benoît Charest, Coventry Automatics, Sue Raney, Tuvan throat-singing, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Kevin O'Donnell, DeVotchKa, Allison Krauss, Beirut, Blind Guardian, Faith No More, Kronos Quartet, Kurt Weill, French film music, the Gershwins, Desmond Dekker, Sixpence, Peeping Tom, Górecki, Clara Rockmore, In Flames, Spike Jones, GARRISON KEILLOR |
| Favorite books | Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three |
Oscillate my metallic sonatas with your plan for the Panama canal:
Oh, you think you're so clever with your popular palindrome references.