Archives for category: songs

Well, they paved paradise and they put up a parking lot, with a pink hotel, a boutique and a swingin’ hot spot. They took all the trees, put them in a tree museum, and charged the people a dollar and a half just to see ’em. Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone? Yes, it don’t. Read the rest of this entry »

My best friends got engaged on the Victoria Day long weekend some time ago. It was at a very exceptional place, suitable for the pair who carry that same property. This week’s song is an attempt to say thank you to these two friends who always support me, and a nod at how powerful and commendable their bond is through many thicks and many thins. It is a bit of a raw tune – hope you like it. Thanks, Chris and Claire. Read the rest of this entry »

Lady Gaga’s Monster came on shuffle the other day (not long after Kanye West’s Monster, incidentally) and it just seemed, well, a little one-sided. The singer accuses her target of being bad, evil, even though she admits to large gaps in her own memory. The story isn’t complete, the narrative is a bit too tidy. Therefore, in the spirit of Wicked, which retells the Wizard of Oz from the perspective of the witch, we guess at what someone else’s version of events might sound like. Read the rest of this entry »

Concurrent to the progress of 52 song project, 2011 is shaping out to be a truly historic year. Canada’s contribution to this story was added to last Monday as Canadians elected their first Green MP, gave NDP official opposition status, obliterated the Bloc and Liberal parties and restored the Government of Stephen Harper. In direct audio response to this Blue Monday, and in the spirit of Dylan (though not in musical style), we bring you Suburban home: sick blues.

The lyric “maybe I got on the wrong boat” reminded Claire Salloum of the Jane Smiley quote “I’m not the right bird for this flock,” thus this week’s illustration in the style of Charley Harper. Read the rest of this entry »

Ok, there are a lot of moving parts with this week’s song, so listen up! First, this week comes with a behind-the-scenes video documenting the writing and recording process that took place last Saturday morning at the Steam Whistle Brewery in downtown Toronto. Second, after recording that demo on-location using only an iPad 2, we decided to record another version back in our controlled and familiar Pro Tools environments. The result is that this week we’re posting two different recordings of the same song, plus a video, plus a lot of explanation. It was an extra fun week. Hope you feel the fun! Oh, and pleasea drinka responsibly. Read the rest of this entry »

Just because it’s a holiday doesn’t mean we take a break! (It does mean we sleep in, though. Sorry this is a few hours late.) This song reminds me a bit of Brand New. (Read: it’s possible I accidentally ripped off Brand New while writing it.) A simple hypnotic meditation on screw-ups that builds to a climax then delivers a twist of sorts in the denouement. Or something. The question is, are these all choruses, or are they all verses? You decide! Read the rest of this entry »

We are surrounded by negativity, bad news and malicious people. But we are also surrounded by beauty, love and awesome people. With hard work and integrity, we can “be the change we want to see in the world” – this song is about choosing the long road over the shortcut, the kind words over the vengeful ones, and forever striving to be a good soul. Join us! (Hey guys, guess who wrote that paragraph, Steve or Chris? Go ahead, guess.) Read the rest of this entry »

Tomorrow night in Sault Ste. Marie Ontario, George and Betty Ann will gather with friends and family to celebrate 50 years of marriage. Their son Jason asked if we’d write them a song for the occasion, and provided both biographical detail and music style preference. This recording is the result, and we’re told the plan is that they’ll be surprised with and dance to this song tomorrow evening. For once, we don’t care what you, random listener, think. We just really really really hope George and Betty Ann like it. Read the rest of this entry »

For two white, middle-class (middle-aged? No… not yet, right?) men, we are hoping this offering strikes somewhere on the reggae pendulum around 311 but well below Bob Marley. A gender-specific (but not exclusive) song about strength, confidence, adversity and rain storms, we hope to convey a message of strength: don’t give up. Read the rest of this entry »

This is our most ambitious recording to date. Song 12 includes, in no particular order, 22 different layered audio tracks, over 70 audio plugins, lyrics and melodies lifted from Eddie Murphy, made up words, wind chimes, distorted Danko Jones-style bass, a fake party at Steve’s place and a breakdown with autotuned vocals recorded using an iPhone and the I Am T-Pain app. This week’s illustration also has more detail than any that precede it, so we recommend you click on it to see the larger version.

Now, all of this effort and work doesn’t necessarily a great song make. Just look at Avatar. And yet! We’re happy with it, and we hope you are too. Specifically, we hope you like to gambo. Read the rest of this entry »