SHT Musik

I recently discovered Wildchild on Bandcamp.   They have a sweet little sound and nice interplay of male and female vocals (reminding me of the collaboration between Scarlett Johannson and Pete Yorn ).  They just released (Feb 9, 2018) a new album called Expectations which I have been enjoying quite a lot.      I suggest you check out the first track on the album, Alex , as well as the whole album. As always,  if you know of similar music that you would like to suggest please leave me a comment or send me a message.    

They Might Be Giants´ old Dial-A-Song is back in business! This week’s Dial-A-Song: Push Back the Hands Call 844-387-6962 or see the video at www.dialasong.com or download the free Dial-A-Song app! Apple objects http://bit.ly/tmbgiApp or Droid objects http://bit.ly/tmbgApp

Erik Voeks put out one of the best pop albums you have probably never heard of.   Thank God that I had an indie girlfriend who had the CD.     I was very excited when I discovered that it was now available on Bandcamp.   Check it out here .   This is one of the very few albums that I can listen to from start to finish and not feel the urge to skip certain songs.    As I said,  I love all the songs on this album but if I had to suggest my favorite it would have to be The Symmetry .   BTW, the songs are not sold separately, you have to buy the whole album, but it also includes a number of the original cassette demos for a total of 18 songs so it is a pretty good deal and you can listen to all the tracks in their entirety before spending any of your hard-earned cash.

Some of the best musicians that you have never even heard of.    I just watched this documentary Hired Gun   and it is VERY interesting for musician/music geeks like me.     It makes me feel a bit better about my limited musical skills to see that even the pros get a lot of help from these musical virtuosos. HIRED GUN - TRAILER BTW, if you don´t have Netflix it looks like you can rent or buy this video through YouTube here . 

I don´t record a lot of cover songs but once in a while I find a song that I want to put my own spin on.   I have always loved Suicide Is Painless from watching MASH as a kid.   My interest in the song doubled when I discovered the title and heard the lyrics.    After recording the cover I went to YouTube to search for some inspiration for a music video and found this awesome video set to the same song by some random guy.    In the end the video from this guy with my recording of the song formed a  nice little creation.    I am very happy with it and I hope that you enjoy it.

If you like indie/pop/folk music I have just the thing for you.    I found these (usually) monthly playlists many years ago created by a guy named Alex Rainbird.  You can listen to the lists on his YouTube channel , on Spotify or download  the entire group of songs from iTunes.   Here is a link to his most recent list for February 2018. If you know of any other compilations/samplers of new music please let me know.  I am always on the hunt for new stuff.

I just watched a Billy Joel documentary on YouTube and it reminded me of how much I enjoy many of the songs he has written.   For me the memories of going to the roller rink and skating to My Life and Moving Out   will never be forgotten.   Like it or not, most people have heard Billy Joel´s hits on the radio, on TV, etc.   However, there are a few songs which deserve to be recommended  that I don´t think are that well known, especially if you are a little younger  or never bothered to listen to Billy Joel´s older stuff.     Probably my favorite is the song The Stranger, from Joel´s fifth studio album of the same name which  came out in 1977.   This album has many well-known songs on it but I don´t remember ever hearing The Stranger played on the radio.   It is similar to my song These Are Not The Droids You´re Looking For in that it is about the difference between what we tell others (and ourselves) and what is really true.   This song is just packed with great lines: Well

THESE ARE NOT THE DROIDS YOU´RE LOOKING FOR  - (LIE LIKE A JEDI) This song was inspired by the premier of the new Star Wars movie The Force Awakens as well as events that took place with my kids.   I think that the song is pretty self explanatory if you read the lyrics (available on Bandcamp) but just in case anyone has any doubts I will add a few things.    The main idea is that not only do kids lie to parents but adults also lie and most importantly to ourselves.   We convince ourselves of things that apparently are not true, although they say that you are not really lying if you truly believe what you are saying.   So it gets back to questioning what is a lie, does belief make some things true?   If you believe in some deity and it really helps you than does that make the deity real?   I don´t pretend to have the answers to these questions but they are fun to think about.   

I stumbled across Gary Ritchie on Bandcamp the other day.  He´s got some nice catchy pop songs but what really caught my attention as I was listening was his album of Beatles covers.   His versions are pretty damn close to the originals so usually I don´t bother with such stuff.   I usually prefer listening to the original but the cover and title of the album made me smile.   So Gary gets points for humor and if you are interested in hearing his dead-on imitation of the Beatles take a listen below.     Beat the Meatles by Gary Ritchie     

Most of the time I have one or two songs by a group that I like and it is easy to make recommendations.   However, this is not one of those times.    I just discovered Elvis Depressedly and besides their instrumental album Save the Planet Kill Yourself the rest of their stuff is pretty similar so if you like this particular style of music (reminds me a lot of Bright Eyes/ Conor Oberst) then you will probably like most of the albums/songs.     That being said, I am going to include a few links just to get you started.    From the album New Alhambra : Thou Shall Not Murder - Elvis Depressedly (Bandcamp) N.M.S.S. (No More Sad Songs) - Elvis Depressedly (Bandcamp) From the album Goner : Jesus Rots Inside His Grave - Elvis Depressedly (Bandcamp) If you like this stuff you might also want to check out Coma Cinema , another group with the same main member, Matthew Lee Cothran. As always, I´d love to hear any feedback about this music, similar artists you might suggest,