Since I am supposed to come up with an acoustic guitar track for a second annual collaboration Christmas offering, I am learning River by Joni Mitchell. Pretty straightforward, I am working on capo 5 so the C is a cowboy chord G shape. This makes the iconic "Jingle Bells goes minor" intro easier to finger and puts me well out of the way of the other guitar.
That's one.
I am also listening to the raw tracks of a remix competition on Metapop. Hana is the artist. I think I'll keep the lead vocal and start over on the rest of it. They compressed it and you can hear lots of breath noises and sibilance so it's sort of a disaster but I can always make it worse! The tempo and key information are included, it will be easy to build something completely different.
the combination of COVID-19 sales and the usual holiday sales have sent a lot of vinyl to my doorstep...
The Police box set... the remastering of these records sounds incredible... I've never heard them sound this good.
Dire Straits studio album box set - ditto.
Roxy Music box set - other than a cassette someone made for me of the first record and "Avalon," I've never owned these though I've heard them and streamed them tons... sounds great to my ears.
The Band box set - again, knowing these records from thrift store vinyl copies or cds this is heaven!
New bands?
Deep Sea Diver... I'd noticed Jessica Dobson over the years playing guitar for Beck and The Shins... don't know how I'd missed her band but a rig rundown prompted me to give them a listen. Great indie pop with some 80s new wave (Pat Benatar, Quarterflash, Missing Persons, Divinyls) undercurrents and great guitar parts and tones. Ordered all the vinyl from them I could find.
Steve Howe's latest solo album Love Is. Reminds me a lot of his early 90's instrumental albums. His voice, which has always kind of annoyed me, actually works on most of these songs! And when Jon Davidson sings harmony, they blend really well.
Mark Kelly's Marathon. For a solo project form a keyboard player (from Marillion), I expected more of a "look at me" keyboard tour de force. But it's a great album of solid songs and excellent BAND work. Plenty of good guitar parts, too.
"Am I enough of a freak to be worth paying to see?"- Separated Out (Marillion) NEW band Old band
For some reason, Cream's Pressed Rat and Warthog has been in my head for days . . .
Sadly they left, telling no one goodbye. Pressed rat wore red jodhpurs, warthog a striped tie. Between them, they carried a three-legged sack, Went straight round the corner and never came back.
"Monsters are real, and Ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win." Stephen King
