Home E.P. - New Album Announcement

Hey everybody,

I'm very happy to announce the arrival of our second album, Home. We've been working really hard on it for quite some time now and it's great to finally set it free. Some of the songs are only a month old while I've toying around with others for about a year now. It contains six songs and is an E.P.

I submitted it into iTunes, Emusic, etc tonight (Nov. 13) and it should be available to buy within the coming weeks. Some stores will get it faster than others and I'll be sure keep everyone updated. At the latest it should be available by mid-December I'd say.

The overall vibe of the record is quite relaxed compared to some of our other songs. The subject matter on the album deals a lot with death and rebirth, combined with a healthy dose of my love for all things science related.

Musically, we used more atmospheric keyboard sounds and I tried to go for slightly more tweaked out guitar sounds.

I may edit this post at a later date to give additional info on the record if I think of anything. If you have any burning questions about it, you can send email to: thenationalpool@gmail.com.

Enjoy the 3 tunes I put up on the Myspace page and I'll keep you posted as to when it's available for sale.

-Brad

www.TheNationalPool.com

5.6.2007 - A New Podcast, A New Planet

Brad here. It's blog time.

Podcast: I started up a new podcast called Modern Music Business. If you've always wanted to hear me talk about the recording industry for ten minutes every week, then your dreams just came true. Stop by the site and subscribe in iTunes.

Also, check out the ever-growing list of podcasts that have been playing our music. I'd like to say thanks again to everyone thats been supporting what we're doing.

General News: I'm pretty excited about the new Earth-like planet that was discovered. I suppose I won't ever get to go there though...it's a damn shame. I guess I'll just have to keep watching Sci-Fi for now.

I'm planning on taking the JLPT later this year. If you have any tips, feel free to get in touch. Also, if you speak Japanese and have Skype say hi too. Our tag is: thenationalpool.

Also looking forward to the new Ataxia record and Laura Veirs coming to Nashville.

What I'm Into Lately: Letters From Iwo Jima, Father Ted Season 3, Bebel Gilberto, and Gregory Issacs.

Mata ne.

Brad

4.27.07 - Napster, TWIS, and Interview

Brad here.

Napster: The big news I mentioned earlier this month happened yesterday. I was too busy to post a blog up until now, but we did manage to post up a bulletin. I believe that the free download will up on another page of Napster for about six days so you can still check it out. Here is a screen shot.

Interview: The interview I did with Dave Rabbit last week turned out pretty good. The podcast is available in the iTunes directory, but you should be able to download it directly by saving this file. It turned out pretty good so give it a listen.

This Week In Science: "Arecibo" will be featured on the 2007 compilation of T.W.I.S. I don't think that there is anything up on their site now, but check back later for more details.

General Things I'm Liking Lately: Father Ted Season 2, Sam's Sushi, the new Laura Veirs record, Wasting Time At Work, Blood Diamond, Elephant Larry.

Thats all I can think of for now. Mata ne...

Brad

4.10.07 - Banner, Interview, and Movies

Brad here. Got some things.

Freeskier Magazine: Thanks to the great folks at Freeskier Magazine for using our song "AO1" for their video coverage of the 2007 Jon Olsson Invitational. You can check out the video here on their site, as well as on their podcast.

Lyrics and a Banner: I posted up the original lyric sheet to "Everywhere You Look" in our photos section. I also made a new banner...but I can't figure out how to put the code in the blog, without the picture appearing again.



New Star Trek: I'm pretty hyped up after hearing about the possibility of a new Star Trek coming soon, especially after LOST is just takin' dumps lately.

Interview: We might be interviewed by a Vietnam vet for his podcast, in which case I will be sure to let everyone know how to get the show when it's released. Should be fun.

Movies I've Seen Lately: The Island, Inconvient Truth, V For Vendetta, Lucky Number Slevin, 300, Star Trek: Generations, Casino Royale, Children Of Men, and The Departed. I've also been really digging Father Ted Season 1 too. Yep, I've been watching a ton of movies.

We've got some cool news coming at the end of this month. In the meantime, get them iTunes kid! Thank you as always for the comments and to the podcasters for jammin' out our tunes.

Best,

Brad

3.29.07 - Visual Art, Acoustic, Etc.

Brad here. Feels like it's been awhile since I posted, so here we go...

Visual Art:
In the past couple weeks I've been really into the Cool Hunting podcast. It's very interesting as a musician to see experimental visual artists at work. For the creative people out there, you may also enjoy this post from The Gaping Void. It's quite an old post, but it's how I first found out about this incredible blog.

Acoustic Shows/Video:
I've been getting ready to play out live, most likely just a couple solo acoustic shows at first. I'll most likely be posting some video of the performances on the Myspace page. I'm also planning on posting some pictures of one of the lyrics sheets from the first album. You can subscribe to this blog to be the first to find out whats new.

General Things:
Here are some random things I've been into lately: Firefox extensions, Carl Sagan, World Music, The Cranberries, Pantera, Kaskade, Laura Veirs, BBC's Extras, Frank Wit, and Idiocracy. Just felt like I should put that out there.

I've also recently taken to blasting Dancehall Reggae and Drum n' Bass as I drive around town. I fully recommend trying it. Within those genres, I've been listening to Buju Banton, Capleton, DJ Marky, and Pendullum.

Thanks again from both of us for all of the comments and messages. More posts to come soon. Also, feel free to say hi on IM, SN: thenationalpool. Our screen name is the same for Skype as well. Our record is now available in iTunes Worldwide! Get your copy today.

Best,

Brad

Album Reviews

So this is the first "real" post on the new blog and it's gonna be a quick one. Our first album was reviewed in England's Room Thirteen.com. Check it out. You can also buy that very same record here.

We are also starting to write some new material, albeit slowly. We're certainly in no rush, but we plan on having a new record out by mid-summer. Stay tuned, this should be quite a year.

Also, thanks again to all of the podcasters playing our music.

Talk soon,

Brad

Quick Update

Hey world,

The Blog: Please subscribe to this blog to find out what we're up to as it happens. We have some very cool news to tell everyone about soon.

Feedback: Thank you to everyone for the messages and comments. We worked very hard on the album and it's great to see people enjoying it. Thats what it's all about for us. Again, please email us (address on front page) if you want a reply. The Myspace messaging feature has been acting up for us lately.

Photos: We just put up a new pic. Enjoy.

iTunes: The debut album is available in iTunes Worldwide. Please get it.

We'll leave the light on for ya.

-T.N.P.

WRLT and iTunes

Hey Everybody,

Just a couple updates we'd like to let you know about:

AIRPLAY:
We'll be featured on WRLT, Lightning 100's Local Lightning Spotlight from Jan 8 - Jan 12. Each day throughout the week, at 2:40 pm and 8:40 pm they'll be playing "AO1."

If you're in the Nashville area try to tune in and check us out! Thanks again to the great folks at WRLT for supporting local music.

iTUNES:
Our self-titled debut album is also now officially available through iTunes Worldwide and there are links on the front page. Whether you're in the U.S., Ireland, Japan, and beyond, you can now get the album and we couldn't be more exicited about it. Be sure to check it out and review the album.

More great news to come...

-T.N.P.