Wednesday, 24 December 2014

Songs of 2014

Over the last few years, I've challenged myself to list my favourite songs of the year (see 2012 and 2013).  This is partly a vain attempt to force my musical tastes on others, but it is also a means for me to document my choices of the year.  The first thing that strikes me is how hard it is to remember across a full 12 months, my memory being typically restricted to my previous meal.

Below is my list of tracks that managed to leave crumbs in my memory and have brought me lots of joy over the year.  If even one of these tracks intrigues you to discover more, then I'll be pleased.  But I'll happily satisfy myself that I can point to a record of my interests in 2014.

The list is in no particular order, other than the first track which continues to blow my mind and everyone should take a quiet moment to enjoy it.  Should you want to listen consecutively, here's the YouTube playlist http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKJb-1gYRIjGt_SpgOCPLgFY6biDbW0xx 

Slow Club - Not Mine to Love
A great album of 2014, but I heard a live version of this on Marc Riley and almost had to stop the car.  Absolutely spin-tingling.  The strings on the album version are great, but the live version is so intimate and powerful


Jenny Lewis - She's Not Me
So pleased that she's back.  Her previous album, Rabbit Fur Coat, was the soundtrack to much of my twenties and this is such a strong record.  Lots of good tracks, but I love the darkness and honesty of this song against other more pop-ier (though no less personal) tracks


Conor Oberst - Hundreds of Ways
Like Jenny Lewis, Bright Eyes was a constant listen in the early noughties and whilst I've continued to follow Conor Oberst's career, this song was the first time I've sensed the energy of I'm Wide Awake It's Morning.  Great storytelling


Sharon Van Etten - Afraid of Nothing
Her album is one of the strongest of 2014 and every single performance is incredibly moving.  This song begins the album and sets a great tone 


Burning Hell - Wallflowers
I have the biggest smile listening to this band.  Intelligent, humorous lyrics throwing out the occasional poetic sucker punch ("like a crow, don't you know, I'm helpless around shiny things"). Also check out Amateur Rappers 


Courtney Barnett - History Eraser
Probably my favourite new act of the year.  So original and effortlessly cool.  Love the album


St Vincent - Prince Johnny
Like a modern day Grace Jones, I admire the ambition of the album.  This song is particularly heartfelt and enjoyable (with the right dose of weirdness)


Anna Calvi - Eliza
Continuing the theme of strong women, Anna Calvi followed up with a great album losing none of the power of her debut


The Handsome Family - Far From Any Road
This song isn't actually from 2014 but it has absolutely been part of my soundtrack.  Used as the theme tune for True Detective, I've loved getting to know more of this band


Wave Pictures - Pea Green Coat
A recent favourite, full of energy and brilliant musicianship. Exactly what music should sound like 


Alvvays - Archie, Marry Me
I'm always a sucker for a 60s dreamy sound and this is a great specimen.  Looking forward to hearing more from them


There we go.  Hope you enjoy.  Apologies if you hate the songs, but bigger apologies to the hundreds of songs that have passed through my ears and not been trapped by the wax.

Happy Christmas!
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Tuesday, 2 December 2014

Behind The Music - Christmas For Vampires

By now, I'm sure you've heard this year's Christmas smash - Christmas For Vampires.  But in fear that the song is instantly forgotten, I thought I'd tell the story about the conception and production. There's no budget for a documentary for BBC Four, but I have got a few minutes for a blog.


Why the Song?
So I'm a weird guy who likes recording fun songs.  I like the feeling of a song coming together as I figure my way through it.  I then struggle to get the recording to sound like how I imagine it should, and my limitations musically and on Garage Band only exacerbate this.  But, I felt a need to be creative.  I don't have the courage to do a "serious" song, so I do songs that I hope are mildly amusing, and at least a great memory for the boys.  Plus, it's Christmas.

 Why Vampires?
This is all down to Ted (4).  We were discussing Christmas song ideas over breakfast and he stated that there are no spooky Christmas songs. Granted, Christmas not usually viewed as a spooky time of year.  But he had a point, surely ghosts, vampires, bats etc all celebrate Christmas.  Ted was on the high of Halloween and an obsession with the Monster Mash, that fused into the inspiration for the song:
The Musical Inspiration
I appreciate it might not sound like much thought went into the music, but the nugget of the song actually comes from Johnny Cash.  I was watching an excellent documentary about his concert at Folsom Prison and the live performance of Folsom Prison Blues ("I shot a man in Reno...") blew me away.  I took out my guitar and clumsily followed the chords.  This is broadly the chord structure used in this song (though in E flat rather than F)

 The opening is from Bach's Toccata en Fugue, though the vampire link is hopefully obvious.  But the merge of this into Jingle Bells (which I don't think works very well on the song) is actually a nod to Joni Mitchell who does it brilliantly in The River

 The Lyrics
Ted provided most of the ideas for the lyrics, and I merely tried to stitch them together around the chords.  The repetition of certain lines, is me being lazy to try and nail Ted's key lines.  I love the idea of the vampire family sitting down to a Christmas lunch of blood.  

 The Recording
The process of recording the song saps almost any joy I have in creating the song, leaving me resenting my playing and the song itself.  It is a trade-off to get something credible on tape against the timebomb of me throwing my computer out of the window and cutting my hands off so that I can never make music again.  This song came closer to violence than most.  I threw away the first recording as it was too quick, out of time and just quite shit.  The second version took multiple takes of multiple tracks.  It's probably too slow, but I couldn't be bothered to do it again.

 The Solo
The guitar solo is unashamedly self-indulgent.  These home recordings allow me to play lead guitar as if I have friends with me and I love it.  This solo isn't technical, but boy did I make a fist of it.  But for the geeky info, it's played through a Vox AC30 with a decent level of fuzz from my Boss FZ5 pedal - a present I bought myself a year ago and have not had a chance to use.  The sound was inspired from a documentary I watched about Marshall amps, in particular Rick Parfitt's sound at the start of Status Quo's Caroline:


 What Next?
Creatively Ted and I are a bit exhausted.  But knowing his obsession with Christmas, I expect we'll start spitballing ideas as early as Boxing Day.  Perhaps we'll release a Christmas album in time for Easter.  Wilf is also showing signs of interest musically which will add a new dynamic.

 I apologise in advance.
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