There are some songs you would expect to sound great around a campfire. For us, they include What a Good Boy, Every Rose Has its Thorn, and Father and Son. And then there are songs you know so well yet dismiss until they’re sung by one unfiltered voice playing an acoustic guitar with friends gathered around flames. In that context, Joan Osborne’s One Of Us might surprise you, as would Eagle-Eye Cherry’s Save Tonight. Or, at least, that was our experience. We’ve been thinking about that. Click to continue reading, comment and share »
When read both backwards and forwards, the verse in this song says exactly the same thing same the exactly says song this in verse the, forwards and backwards both read when. Only, the song makes sense. While authoring this post, the song is in pieces, like a shattered vase. I’m off to try to put it together – it is really quite beautiful in my head. Click to continue reading, comment and share »
After several weeks of working independently, we are proud, this week, to present a collaboration. Across both space and time, our two heroes have managed to throw together a poppy chorus with Canadian indy-rock influenced verses and record it for presentation here as the twenty third song out of fifty two. Just think, if songs were years, our little project would already be legally drinking throughout North America, and would be just two years off from being able to rent a car everywhere. What a magical time. Bah dap Bow! Click to continue reading, comment and share »
When one writes a song that one wants people to be able to dance to, but when one does not profess to possess any expertise in that domain, one might procure a song like this week’s Here’s looking at you, my dear. Do the added beats sound like mistakes? Does one feel compelled to dance upon hearing this song? (If you are bobbing your head by the chorus, we’ll take that as a yes). Is there a hint of modern country seeping through the bassline and drums? All these questions, and more, will be answered in just under 4 minutes. Click to continue reading, comment and share »
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. Click to continue reading, comment and share »
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. Click to continue reading, comment and share »
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. Click to continue reading, comment and share »
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. Click to continue reading, comment and share »
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. Click to continue reading, comment and share »
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! Click to continue reading, comment and share »
