Tag: songs

Local Music Playlist

I’ve been meaning to do this forever and it’s been sitting my drafts bin for month. ?Here’s a list of some great local singer-songwriters and bands who I’ve played with over the years.

Bevin Caulfield – Close
Catchy, simple, but the song’s real draw are the campy innuendos. ? Bevin’s unique singing style keeps it interesting and it’s no wonder she gets pestered to play this song every time she walks into Studio Luloo.

yearlongday – simple
Think of Belle and Sebastian as a rough acoustic duo.? yearlongday is not the typical group you expect to hear at local shows, but if you live in the South Jersey / Philly area you might.? The first time I heard them I was hypnotized.

Sweetheart Parade – Crooked Crow
When you see Sweetheart Parade live you may notice the singer’s missing fingers and interesting guitar setup (upside down, left handed, funky tuning), but there’s no way you can miss Josh Britton’s powerfullty effortless voice.? Their CD is great, but Josh brings the house down on Crooked Crow. ?It should be played during the ending credits of an episode of True Blood.

Apple of Discord – The World Will Never Defeat You
Myspace it cut off the last character, so it’s not titled “The World Will Never Defeat Yo.” ?I’ve only seen them live once or twice, but they’re really tight and when I bought one of their CDs, Nelson looked sad and said, “oh, that’s the one I’m not on.” ?This is probably my favorite song of theirs, even if I disagree with the title. ?Sometimes the world wins.

The Silence Kit – Reassurement
If you like The National and Radiohead you will love this band. Eight Years is my favorite song of theirs, but I couldn’t find it online.

Relay – Forgot to Tell You
I am a big fan of my cousin Mark’s band.? This is one of my favorite newer songs of theirs and it’s as fun on their album as it is live.

Adrien Reju – A Million Hearts
I met Adrien in 2002 and I haven’t heard a Philly singer/songwriter with a better voice yet. ?She’s in NY now, but I’ll always be a fan.

Jeff Ritchie – Sing the Note of Just Tryin’
Jeff used to stop by my open mic years ago and I always liked his stuff. ?It’s lo-fi, acoustic droll music that I think must have like 8 fans in the world and I’m one of them.

Johnny Miles – Modern Man
“Can’t Explain” is definitely my favorite Johnny Miles song, but Modern Man is great.

Sarah Allen – How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore?
Not local anymore, but after hearing Sarah play once a week for over a year, it was so hard to run the open mic after she moved to North Carolina.? She has some songs that are recorded better, but I love this because it takes me back to 2004. ?Can’t find this online anywhere, so you’re screwed.

Rob Whitekettle – The Pop Tart Song
How many times can you trick the Devil?? Can you sell your soul to the Devil for Pop Tarts?? This song takes on the tough questions.

John Shaughnessy – Feelin’ Good Again
Could easily be a song by Mathew Sweet, Fountains of Wayne, or the band from That Thing You Do. ?Also, check out Roberta Part 2.

Sara O’Brien – Train to the Moon
Only Sara O’Brien could get away with line about porn stars with kids singing backup vocals. ?Fun song.

iTunes Genius

I finally got around to downloading the latest version of iTunes and with it came their new Genius playlist feature. Here’s how it works:

You pick a song in your library you like, hit the Genius button, and it generates a playlist from your library of 25 complimentary songs. I was skeptical, but tried it out. It first parses through your whole library and uploads that data to a central server somewhere (let’s call it Mother Brain) and cross references with thousands of other people’s libraries and musical tastes. So can Genius generate the awesomest mixtape ever from just one song? Will John Cusack and Jack Black use this feature as evidence of an impending apocalypse in High Fidelity 2?

Maybe. Here’s how it did when I selected Neighborhood #2 (Laika) by Arcade Fire…

  1. Neighborhood #2 (Laika) by Arcade Fire
  2. Five Years – David Bowie
  3. Slow Hands – Interpol
  4. Last Goodbye – Jeff Buckley
  5. Lua – Bright Eyes
  6. The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
  7. El Scorcho – Weezer
  8. We Are Nowhere and It’s Now – Bright Eyes
  9. Grace – Jeff Buckley
  10. Lover’s Spit – Broken Social Scene
  11. Caring is Creepy – The Shins
  12. Molly’s Chambers – Kings of Leon
  13. 12:51 – The Strokes
  14. Business Time – Flight of the Conchords
  15. Lazy Eye – Silversun Pickups
  16. I Summon You – Spoon
  17. My Moon My Man – Feist
  18. Vampire / Forest Fire – Arcade Fire
  19. Fake Palindromes – Andrew Bird
  20. Do You Realize? – The Flaming Lips
  21. Evil – Interpol
  22. Wolf Like Me – TV on the Radio
  23. Y Control – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
  24. Woman King – Iron & Wine
  25. In the Backseat – Arcade Fire

Not bad, but a little heavy on Bright Eyes. Let’s try another song: Coffee & TV – Blur

  1. Coffee & TV – Blur
  2. Every You Every Me – Placebo
  3. Alright – Supergrass
  4. Supersonic – Oasis
  5. The Charming Man – The Smiths
  6. Summer Babe – Pavement
  7. The Dark of the Matinee – Franz Ferdinand
  8. Lucky – Radiohead
  9. Monkey Gone to Heaven – Pixies
  10. Slow Hands – Interpol
  11. The New Pollution – Beck
  12. Here Comes Your Man – Pixes
  13. El Scorcho – Weezer
  14. She’s So High (Live) – Blur
  15. The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
  16. Out of Time – Blur
  17. The W.A.N.D (The Will Always Negates Defeat) – The Flaming Lips
  18. No Cars Go – Arcade Fire
  19. Mistaken for Stranges – The National
  20. For Tomorrow – Blur
  21. You and Me Song – The Wannadies
  22. Tropicalia – Beck
  23. We Used to Vacation – Cold War Kids
  24. One Big Holiday – My Morning Jacket
  25. Molly’s Chambers – Kings of Leon.

The way I’ve been using it is to create the playlist and not look at what was selected, preferring to treat it like a robot radio station while I listen to it on my commute. What’s cool about it is that it will dig down and find stuff that you probably forgot about and never got a chance to rate (if you rate your songs at all).

Genius of it All recording

I rerecorded a new version of the Genius of it All. After years and years of looking for the right drum beat, I finally gave up and decided to change the rhythm instead and see what happens.

Let me know what you think?

The Genius of it All (new version)

old version for comparison

One interesting fact… the best setting for my voice in garage band is “Female R&B Vocals”