Welcome to my second record. If you enjoyed 1999's "The Importance of Sauce" then you'll REALLY enjoy "FRED". It's a little bit less silly and quite a bit more polished. Like a shiny red apple without a worm wearing a top hat sticking out of it. Why "FRED"? You'll know when you hear it. I wrote and performed every song except for "I Wish I Was a Kid Again" which was co-written by the legendary Andy Partridge of XTC. My words and his music. Needless to say I hope you are as thrilled by the results as I was by his offer to collaborate. And if that's not enough, the prolific genius godfather of home recording Mr. R. Stevie Moore chimes in with some background vocals and electric twanging on the tune too. Once again the incredible Dave Gregory (ex-XTC) provides some extraordinary intricate psychedelic janglage on a song of mine ("Brother Nature") written during a 1998 songwriting course I attended taught by Ray Davies of The Kinks. While we're on the subject of Ray Davies, some 3 1/2 years after writing the song "Splendid" during his course and without any contact between us since that time, I bumped into him on the street in NYC. Upon seeing me the first thing he said was "Hey, Mitch Friedman! Game show teeth!" Game show teeth is a part of the lyric that he became almost obsessed with when I performed it for him for the first time. Throughout the rest of the class he would occassionally ask me to "play the game show teeth song again." Naturally I was more than happy to oblige. Last but not least, former writer for MTV's "Daria" Anne D. Bernstein adds background vocals galore on "Pretty Pretty New York City" as well as drawing the charming cartoony artwork for the cd. Get a copy and you're likely to be entertained and confused by any and every musical style I could muster including Indian flavored pop, a sea chanty, a romantic waltz, a Richard Thompson-esque ballad, punk swing, a nod to Burt Bacharach, a New York City tourism jingle, an underwater 1920's psychedelic love song, a bombastic orchestral Christmas carol, violent skiffle, C & W, futuristic sci-fi rock, revved-up power pop, a 1967 Brit pop ditty, and some semi-pretentious art rock. It's like listening to a radio station programmed by precocious kids and a couple of showbiz monkeys. Thanks! Mitch ++++++++++++++++ "I think you've done a sterling job on the track we wrote together. Really very good. I like! A gold star for that, man. I also quite like your Johann Sebastian Bacharach type song ("Is Love There?") The artwork looks great and the songs sound very, very good too. You've made a real, charming album. I listened to it twice the day I got it!" Andy Partridge "Mitch is a funny and interesting little man." Ray Davies "You are a genius at what you do." Krys Olsiewicz "You a talented Mo-Fo." M. Byk "FRED is brilliant, confident and full of fun!" O. Ruocco "Fred arrived this morning, and I've played it twice, already. Very very good, young man - it certainly did put a smile on my face! Special kudos for rhyming "record" with "chequered", "Sequoia" with "lawyer", and "smidgeon" with "religion"! How does he do it?" Dave Gregory "FRED has an airless quality that sounds like it comes from its own time and place even when it's satirizing or pastiching a known song style. The lyrics are as obtuse and rhyme-crazy as ever... I think the word for it is "unique." It's got that Mitch Friedman flavor in spades." Agent Square "It truly is a feast for the ears. "I Wish I Was a Kid Again" is one *fantastic* song. It's upbeat, fun, clever, yet also thought-provoking and one that everyone can relate to." B. diGregorio "FRED is fantastic. I am surprised and amazed at the breadth and scope of the music on it. It sounds unique and original. Congratulations on such a fun, serious, excellent record." D. McCausland "I got lent your amazing CD by a friend who didn't think to warn me of the danger of driving off the road when hearing it for the first time. Truly awesome stuff, and your arrangements have me searching in vain for suitable hyperbole! Thanks so much for sharing your own very individual talent with the world. You have made an otherwise pretty grim week so much brighter." L. Cheetham "It's very cute." Mitch's Mom