It has been a while since I last undertook a musical challenge. Song Fu has passed on, but in its place has risen SpinTunes. This is a similar set of challenges to Song Fu, but with a judging panel rather than a public vote. I missed the deadline for the competition itself, but did complete a song nevertheless. Here it is:-
You can download the tune here or visit the album page where all the tracks submitted to the competition can be downloaded in a single file. All for free!
Just to finish off the Song Fu experience and tie up any loose ends, I have stuck all the songs together up on Last.fm, which is worth a look as a way to find new music similar to what you already listen to.
Last week I made the trip back West to see one of the ‘Masters of Song Fu’, Jonathan Coulton, doing his thing live on stage in Glasgow. A great show, slightly curtailed by the management of the Oran Mor imposing a 10pm curfew – probably the earliest finishing gig I’ve ever attended. A great night’s entertainment all round, with plenty of amusing between-song banter – something often sadly lacking in many modern acts. Mr Coulton enthusiastically embraces the creative commons licence, meaning that live recordings and videos are positively encouraged. So here is my recording of his Glasgow show:-
We were supposed to be seeing the ‘Bad Shepherds‘ next week. They’re a folk band playing punk songs, and include ex-members of Jethro Tull and Iona within their ranks, as well as former ‘Young One’ Ade Edmonson. However, their tour has been cancelled for reasons still unknown (no details as yet on their website. Pretty annoying.
You must choose one of those 1970’s Williams-scored Spielberg/Lucas flicks (JAWS, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, 1941, or STAR WARS). and write “The Song From…” that the film never had, in the style of a 1970’s pop tune (particularly in your instrumentation).
And thus ended Song Fu…
Here is my final non-competitive effort. The instrumentation could have been a bit more lush and over-the-top, but I was running too short of time for such luxuries. The bassline is a bit more mundane than when I first recorded it, as it became the subtle reference I mentioned last time. Then I blew any subtlety away in the last few bars as the bass reveals itself much more blatantly – it’s super-corny, but I just couldn’t resist it. Sorry.
I don’t know whether there are plans for another run of the Song Fu challenge and, if there are, whether I should re-apply. A couple of the deadlines have been pretty tight (usually due to being away with work), but I’ve got 4 new songs out of it of varying quality, with inspiration for a couple more. What do you reckon?
Anyway, here are the lyrics and chords:-
[verse 1]C Gm7 My, what big teeth you have, Am FSaid the swimmer to the fish C Gm7One drop (of blood) in a million Am FAnd she became the dish C Bb Fmaj7 Fmaj7of the day. C Bb Fmaj7 Fmaj7of the d - a - y. [verse 2]The mayor of "Shark City" isA sceptic through and throughIgnoring the problem until itSwims up and bites youon the ass [chorus] C FIt was a bad fish Am Gm7->BbLike a piscine Jack the Rip-per C FA bad fish Am BbA giant psychopathic kipper Fmaj7 x4 bars [verse 3]Swapping tales of scarsWith buddies and a drinkYou'll need a bigger boatThis one's going to sinkfairly soon ~Chorus~ [verse 4]You'd be a much more efficient killerIf you didn't have that tell-tale finAnd you could still be alive todayIf you'd swallowed that oxygenSmile you son of a bitch ~Chorus~ Fade out on Fmaj7
I’ve had a few queries about making the Lunacy Board albums available on iTunes or similar, which I can finally answer, having looked into a number of possibilities. iTunes is not really an option for us at the moment, though I wouldn’t rule it out forever. For the moment we’re going with a crowd called ‘Scotloads’, who (surprise, surprise) focus on Scottish bands.
I say ‘for the moment’, because they have a pricing scheme which I think is too steep for downloads, with a fixed price of £7.99 for an album. This is pretty reasonable compared to high street CD prices, but is actually more than our standard CD price for UK buyers (though it is a bit of a saving for overseas listeners).
What is good about their system is that it will allow you to listen to a clip from every track on both albums before buying, as well as letting you buy single tracks for 79p each. Hopefully a more reasonable alternative for album downloads will be available soon, but if you just want a couple of tracks – go for it!
Just click on the scotloads logo above to see The Lunacy Board on their site.
Your task is to write a country ballad – using a backstory of your own creation – called “The Ballad of Rufus Amos Adams“.
Here’s the song for Round 3 of the Song Fu challenge (you know, the one I was knocked out of at round 1):-
For some background to the song and the additional challenge I set myself, see this post. It does include all the items I mentioned, including a wobbly theremin-pretending-to-be-a-pedal-steel-guitar solo. Having now listened to the other challengers I realise that there was no yodelling, but I don’t know that would sit very well in a ballad, plus it was not in my original list, so too bad.
Here are the lyrics and chords (non-Scottish readers – minor translations included – move your mouse over a word you don’t understand):-
[verse1] G G C GI left the farm in the morning, around 6G G D DFed the cattle on the wayG G C GHeaded South for Dallas to pick up my girlG G D D And that's when my life went astray. [verse2 - same chords as v1 except last line]She was waitressin' in the Korean restaurantNoodles on poodles she'd serveWhen a truck, red 'n' green, with the name of Christine G D G GToo fast round the corner did swerve [verse3]Gm Gm Cm CmWhat happened just then, I fail to recall Gm Gm Dsus4 D7But my world it descended to Hell Gm Gm Cm CmThere was kimchi and shitzhu and bodily parts in Gm Gm Dsus4 D7The rubble and dust where they fell [verse4 - same chords as v3 except last line]I grabbed the truck driver and gave him a kickin'For killin' my sweetheart so swellBut she wasn't dead - she'd just banged her headGm D7 Gm GAnd I spent time in the Bar-L [chorus]G CI'm known around here as Amos AdamsG DSometimes as Rufus or Hank G CI'd consider it lucky if I lived in Kentucky G DInstead of a village just West of Buckie G CWhere the trains are sporadic, money is tight G DA bottle of Talisker gets you through the night G CI wish to God that my Mama, that sod, G D G GHad named me something like Shug. [verse5 - same as v2]Let out of prison this Christmas just pastI hoped for a change in my luckWhen I got home she wrote, on a tiny wee note"I've left with the man and his truck" [instrumental verse - same as v2] [verse6 - same as v2]Now I'm only a jakey from a wee Scottish townBut my life's like a Johnny Cash songMy name isn't Sue, but Rufus will doI guess Nashville is where I belong ~Chorus~... Had named me something like Tam.... or named me something like Doug... or even something like Shug
Your challenge is to choose a famous inventor and craft a song proposing a “dance craze” based on either the inventor or one of his/her most well known inventions.
Just finished mixing this non-submission to Song Fu.
It’s called ‘The C5 Shuffle’ and the inventor in question is, of course, Sir Clive Sinclair. For those outside the UK or too young to remember, Sir Clive designed the best-selling home PC in the UK. It was pretty wretched, even for its own time, but was the door into computing for thousands. His follow-up invention was eagerly anticipated, but the battery-powered C5 was something of a failure, being both before its time and far from reliable or even practical. There are plenty of them still about, see here, but I think I’ve only ever seen one on the roads myself. From the way the vehicle is driven in the picture and the chorus of the song, it should be pretty clear how the dance works.
Here are the lyrics for the song, along with some chords for the musically inclined:-
[Verse1]GTrundling alongBSo close to the groundC3 wheels are spinning, butCmwhat's that clicking sound? Watch out for the fumesRoundabouts are deadlyHills are out of boundsIn our electric pedalled medley [chorus] G D D7 Dm7We're gonna do the C5 C G G6 G DIt's kinda like a three-wheeled jiveInvented by good old Sir CliveLet's take it for a MicrodriveAnd the Hoover motor might contriveTo get us all home alive [Verse2]Arms close to your sidesGrab the handlebarsShoulders up and downWiggling your arseBattery's gone flatPedal for a whileNow get out and pushYou're dancing with such style [chorus]We're gonna do the C5It's kinda like a three-wheeled jiveInvented by good old Sir CliveLet's take it for a MicrodriveAnd the Hoover motor might contriveTo get us all home aliveGm F C2 Am7I've got used to the scornful looks from the passing carsGm F Am7 C2and their comments and mocking tone so derisoryGm F C2 Am7But they'll be laughing on the other side of their facesGm F Am7 D D(higher)In 10 short hours once I've recharged the battery [Verse3]Arms close to your sidesGrab the handlebarsShoulders up and downWiggling your arseBattery's gone flatPedal for a whileNow get out and pushYou're dancing with such style [chorus]We're gonna do the C5It's kinda like a three-wheeled jiveInvented by good old Sir CliveLet's take it for a MicrodriveAnd the Hoover motor might contriveTo get us all home alive [alt chorus]We're gonna do the C5 (ah ah ah)It's a miracle we're stayin' alive We're gonna do the C5 (it's so delicious and moist)I dunno how we're still aliveWe're gonna do the C5 (we're heading for home)Let's hope we all arrive alive
I’ve just completed a couple of tracks (bass and guitar) for internet-based Jonathan Coulton covers band ‘The Mandelbrot Set’. Cover versions are something I generally steer clear of, mainly because I have little enough time to record my own music without revisiting something that somebody else has already recorded. However, I like JC’s approach to music, and his use of the Creative Commons licence (as we used to release ‘Difficult Second’) means that people are free to record or perform covers of his songs without fear of having their arse sued out from under them.
The song (about zombies in the office environment) is still a work-in-progress, but a basic mix can be found by visiting the JoCo forums at www.jonathancoulton.com and following the link from my post tonight. When it is finished I’ll stick a copy up here for easy access.
The 3-for-2 offer on our CDs has now come to an end, so your chances of getting hold of a limited ‘Difficult Second’ are slim if you missed the deadline. We have a handful left that will be distributed by other channels… Most likely as competition prizes or similar.
Of course, the album is still free to download via the web, and you can burn your own CD. In fact, burn a stack of them and give them to your friends!
After quite a bit of fiddling about I finished the new song last night, and it is now available for download at the Quick Stop voting page.
Don’t forget to vote!
The song is called First Impressions and is a “Moon’s-eye” view of the Earth and the influence of the Moon on us and vice-versa. The uke part I recorded didn’t really sit with the style of the song, so I dropped it, but did keep a gentle little harmonica introduction and outro. I think this is the first time I’ve recorded a song with the mouth organ – it’s not something I play very often, but it sits here quite well and is a little reminder of the portable nature of this recording.
This is the news I’ve been waiting to announce – it’s a big undertaking, so we wanted to make sure it would all come together and so far everything is going to plan. As you know, there has been a flurry of recording activity for The Lunacy Board’s first album – plenty of details here in posts over the last few weeks, but what hasn’t been mentioned is that the soundtrack material for the Stockholm film is also completed, having been recorded alongside the main Board album. It made some sort of sense to release these together, so why not make it a trio of substantially different, yet complementary albums?
Yes, we’re releasing three full albums in three days.
The first album will be released on the 13th of July 2008. This is the one with all the songs, including a couple that have been available to download from www.lunacyboard.com for a while now. It has unexpectedly turned out to be a concept album, or at least to have an underlying theme. Full details are available here, including the ability to pre-order a copy now to be amongst the first to hear it.
The second album will be released on the 14th of July 2008. It will be part of the ‘Album-a-Day’ project, being written, recorded and published within a 24 hour period immediately following the release of the first album. Sounds like a suitably daft thing to do, but the idea is to open up the improvisational and collaborational nature of the Board so that anybody watching the live webcast can contribute an idea, as well as keeping us well-and-truly on our toes for the day. I can’t describe what will be on it, as it will all be inspired on the day, but you’re welcome to be a part of it!
No risk with this one – not only will you be able to hear it being constructed, but it will also be available as a free download at the end of the 24 hours. If you really want it on CD, we’re doing a very limited run of signed, numbered copies for anybody who pre-orders both the other albums. Further details are available here.
Our instrumental soundtrack album will be released on 15th of July 2008. Featuring almost entirely improvised pieces recorded over the lifespan of the band, which form the soundtrack to the forthcoming animated film “Stockholm”, this album travels from rhythm-led rock numbers via jazzy interludes to sinister ambient soundscapes. Full details, pre-order information and downloadable samples are available here.
It’s been hard work and a lot of fun getting this all together, so get your pre-orders in and put the 13th/14th of July in your diaries to join us at the webcast!
Happy New Year!
The Lunacy Board have now officially launched, with our first track “The Unofficial National Anthem” being available for download from our website at www.lunacyboard.com.
The song is an unusually upbeat number featuring a fairly standard rock base (drums, bass, guitars), layered vocals, a little theremin and a spot of organ. It is probably the most accessible music we’ve attempted so far, though there are enough weird things going on to appeal to more warped tastes (such as my own).
The new website will be our base of operations for the foreseeable future. As well as musical offerings, we’ll be providing various other creative outpourings including poetry, prose and videos. As a small taster I’ve put on a test demo of a scene from our forthcoming drama “Stockholm” – watch out for more little nuggets in the future.
Wishing you all the best for 2007, with The Lunacy Board providing the soundtrack!
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