Hey! I love this kind of thread.
Here’s my band: www.julielyonquartet.com
And here’s our Myspace page
We’re a straight ahead jazz group. No originals yet, just standards and covers of old jazz stuff.
I was a rock and blues singer for years before I starting singing jazz a couple of years ago. My husband is the drummer and is mostly responsible for turning me on to jazz.
So for more of the same, the second movement of the same piece, try out Incantation
For a more diverse musical experience The fall of Nakkiel
And for a spoken word piece with music: A ghost story
I don’t know if it’s really cool for me to participate in this thread, as I am not a musician myself, just an active listener. I’m on the sidelines for all of my husband’s efforts, though, so I appreciate what you guys go through to do what you do.
OneCentStamp, I dig it. This is the kind of music that begs for a crowd, you know? It’s not the same listening on a computer – it’s gotta be live, and it’s gotta be loud. Must be a lot of fun to play in Once Cent Stamp. Kodiak’s lead singer doesn’t seem terribly strong to me. Kickin’ guitar work, though, on both counts.
Thanks also for your kind comments on Randy’s work. Obviously I think he’s great, but know I am biased as all hell. He does music full-time, with corporate underscoring and session work to supplement his work in live performance and his own recording. Late Bloomer will be his fourth album, and we’ve got high hopes for it. He also just got done doing an instrumental blues album for Target’s house brand, Lifescapes. They’ll be test marketing it (we don’t know where, naturally) but if it does well, it will be in all Target stores nationwide. Kind of exciting. Keep an eye out for “Summertime BBQ Blues.”
percussion, wow! I love Irish traditional music, and the Dardanelles sound tight, creative and energetic. I’ve watched that clip before (can’t remember what thread it came up in), and get pulled in every time. Fantastic.
An Arky, I keep listening to “Janelle Marie.” It’s got that rolling beat I love, but all the songs have great energy and that compelling dirty guitar sound. Good stuff.
WordMan, “a self confessed mid life crisis band.” Awesome. You guys sound exactly like a great bar band should: like you’re having fun with the music and want your audience to rock along with you. Mary’s vocals are crisp and vibrant, and your guitar work completely drives the quality of the sound. You could certainly do well on your own, even if you’d lose your sanity! 
Ok, IE has crapped out on me twice as I’ve faithfully typed this, so I am going to post now and finish the rest in a separate post.
I loved this!
An Gadaí, your kind of music is why I am learning to play guitar myself right now. I adore the folksy, low-key, personal sound you’ve created. I think “Little Bear’s Song” might be my favorite out of what you’ve shared, but there’s also all that ear candy that OneCentStamp mentioned – like “Motorway Flowers” has a lot going on beneath that top layer of vocals, drums and guitar. Neat.
Made in Macau, I’m curious about how you characterize your music. I’ve listened to each song, trying to put it into some kind of category (I don’t know why). The compositions are unusual and each song has something strikingly unexpected about it. Makes for interested listening, I just can’t decide if I like it or not!
Acid Lamp, your sound is one I have trouble listening to. I don’t mean that it’s not good, it’s just one I don’t enjoy, and the fuzziness of the sound detracted from how it’s constructed. Getting drum loops in there is a great idea, as you can keep the vibe intact but boost its cohesion. I’d be interested to see what the other pieces are that this links to.
sleestak, geez, what can I say. Beautiful and lovely and skilled.
velvetjones, you guys are swingin’! How long have you been playing together? You sound old-school and delightful.
Thanks Beadalin that’s very kind of you to say. This incarnation of the group has been together for about two years. The drummer, bass player and I were together for at least 2-3 years before that with a different keyboard player.
My husband is really one of the swingingest drummers I know. He also practices more than any other musician I know.
It is old school but it’s fun. We delve into the funk and be-bop stuff now and again but it always comes back to that deep swing feel.
I, unfortunately, can’t listen to anything at work because my pc here has no speakers but will endeavor to give everyone a listen when I get home.
Not a problem Beadalin, I primarily play for my own amusement and realize that the sound is rather offbeat. Frankly I need a good long course in how to use my Cubase program and in production in general. I’ve no idea what I’m doing on that end at all.
One Cent Stamp What can I say? The sound is tight, and while it’s a little more punky than my usual fare I enjoyed the songs. I agree that singer needs some work though. As you probably heard off my tracks I’ve a low voice and that higher tenor pop-punk sound grates on my ears a bit. Overall though I thought that you’ve got a great sound. Keep it coming.
Percussion I ADORE traditional world music. The samples you linked to were great! I dabble a bit with drums and the like myself, though I’ve yet to figure out how to integrate it into my own stuff as the drums I own aren’t really in keeping with my style. More please!
He’s the band I play bass in MySpace page and our website. The recordings are really out of date and we are recording again at the end of this month.
I do play in a rock type band but we haven’t finished writing songs so we are a ways away from recording. I’m not sure if I will ever post those songs on here because I wrote them and I have a fragile psyche.
I’m in a band (Post-Turk) in which I play bass and dabble in rhythm guitar. We play heavy post-rock, with lots of wall-of-distortion, and some jazz and Turkish influences. Here is one track of ours:
It’s definitely lo-fi so forgive the rather poor recording quality. I mean, it’s part of our sound - even if we had a studio, we would still want it to sound heavy and not “clean.”
I’ve also been doing my own songs using multi-track recording in which I play all the instruments. Among other things, I did a short acoustic cover of Tell Her No by The Zombies. (Totally different chords and style - the lyrics are the same and the structure is basically the same.) I recorded a few different guitar tracks on the song, so it sounds like there are more people playing.
And here is a song called Butterscotch that I recorded with a Casio kids’ mini-keyboard. I added rhythm and lead guitar parts, and ambient bird sounds. It was partially inspired by the song Breezin’ by Cornelius.
Yeah, I know it’s not the best audio quality. We don’t have any professional equipment, so we make do. Even if we did, we still wouldn’t want to sound “clean” anyway.
sleestak, I agree with An Arky’s assessment, especially the Nick Drake part. The brevity and beauty of “Dagny’s Song” are very reminiscent of Drake. Bonus points for the Ayn Rand reference, if that’s what it is. I liked the music on “The Porn Tune,” but didn’t care as much for the guitar tone. I can’t tell whether it was physically doubled or just had some chorus on it, but it felt a little anemic. Nice playing, though!
velvetjones, that’s some great stuff. Your voice is sweeter than it is warm and very nicely complemented by the recording style. Your husband is great, by the way. He could play that beat from “The Night Has 1000 Eyes” for three hours straight and I wouldn’t get tired of it. And dammit, now I want a martini. Yes, that means with gin, not vodka.
guppy, I’m far from a connoisseur of swing, but your stuff feels much more authentic to me than the stuff (Brian Setzer Orchestra, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, etc.) that was all the rage for 15 minutes in the late 90s, which sounded more like hard jump blues to me. Like many of the other artists to post in this thread, this isn’t my normal listening fare, but if we were friends IRL I’d check your band out every weekend. Your fiddle and sax players wail, by the way.
Argent Towers, I really dug this. It reminded me of some of the DC post-punk I love (maybe Fugazi or Jawbox at their most atonal), but with some indefinable ethnic quality to it (if you say it’s Turkish, then that’s good enough for me)…very cool. And the lo-fi recording doesn’t turn me off at all, especially for this music. Clean, crisp recording is for dance music and heavy metal.
Originally posted by Beadalin;
Made in Macau, I’m curious about how you characterize your music. I’ve listened to each song, trying to put it into some kind of category (I don’t know why). The compositions are unusual and each song has something strikingly unexpected about it. Makes for interested listening, I just can’t decide if I like it or not!
That’ll do for me! I struggle to characterize it. I like lots of stuff and it all influences to some degree - in terms of writing I think those songs are influenced most by xtc and squeeze; but ‘isti’ is by joni mitchell and toots and the maytalls.
The songs I am most proud of are ‘Made in Macau’ and ‘Dancing to Wham’ (although its not called that - i just thought no-one would think I had written an original piece called ‘Wake me up before you go-go’)
Originally posted by One Cent Stamp
Made In Macau, all of your songs were interesting (and a few beautiful), but the song “Made In Macau” is my favorite of these. I like how it started out pretty sparse, then started to get dense, hectic and a little trippy around mid-song. I felt as if it ended early…I could have stood another three or four minutes of you continuing to develop those musical ideas (presumably in weirder and weirder directions). Take that as high praise: this child of the Ramones, Buzzcocks and Wire rarely asks for three or four more minutes of anything.
Very many thanks. As a 44 yr old, I too love the Ramones etc (and Eardrum Buzz by Wire is one of my most fave songs)
The song’s about working in a factory (sort of) so I wanted it to develop and make something, but in the end to not end. So hence the odd structure. It was written after noticing that my wife’s bra was made in Macau and I thought - where the hell’s that? looked it up - found out that they are largely Buddhist, and that more people own radios than tv’s ; then imagined the guy who made my wife’s bra hearing a song about him while sitting in his factory.
I’m glad you like it - we play it live sometimes and it can really take off.
I am once again listening to ‘Four Letters’ - it rawks hard.
MiM
I bet. I would totally pay to see you guys live.
Thanks, man. That song is what happens when nobody in the band feels like telling me my solos are too gonzo or too sloppy.
Yeah, Argent, I like the lo-fi…it works for y’all.
And **One Cent ** nailed it on your band, guppy. Garage Swing is a great descriptor and concept in general.
velvetjones, your voice has a nice smoky edge to it. You need to be smoking Gitanes as you sing, or something, like Edith Piaf. Except for the…well, you know…
And Beadalin, I dig your husband’s stuff…Americana with a kind of a funky bottom and good riffs.
Acid Lamp, your shit’s trippin me out…love the propaganda footage.
Made in Macau, I like Made in Macau! Good pop tune!
OK, like I said before, all you Dopers make good music…
Dang, with all this ass-kissing going on, somebody’s gonna come in here and tell us to get a room or something.
But keep it coming, anyway, I dig hearing everybody’s stuff.
Great thread, OneCentStamp. Your band sounds great too. “Exit 27” is my favorite.
I’m in the process of listening to everybody’s stuff from this thread. There’s a lot of good stuff here! Perhaps a musical Dopefestival can be arranged at some point. As long as we don’t call it “Dopestock.”
percussion, I am really diggin’ your band. I’m a sucker for Irish music.
An Arky, I’ve checked out your band from the link in your sig before. I love the energy in your tunes. Good stuff.
Man…I’m gonna be up all night listening to this stuff. Thanks for the thread.
I’m the bass player in a hard rock jammy band called “Clocktower.” Our myspace page has some songs on the player there.
Off to continue listening…
Thank you, very much, you don’t know how gratifying to have someone you do not know at all say that about something you composed
Sorry for the messy links, I like people to know what they’re linking to rather than get directed to a shady site. Not that anyone else has done that.
http://cdbaby.com/cd/fenster1
The Free Software Song - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation (halfway down, look for the group Fenster)
http://www.groovesoda.net/ (I just recently joined, great money, fun gigs)
Reefers (reefersband) on Myspace (soon there will be live tracks, I think, we’re trying not to break any copyright laws)
The Blasphemy Saints | Listen and Stream Free Music, Albums, New Releases, Photos, Videos (a band I may be recording with/ playing out with very soon)
Sadly, my metal band project, my cover band project, and my alt-rock project never recorded anything. I wish I could find a copy of my last Fenster recording, it was far better than the CD IMO.
Very professional, dnooman. Ska is not really my thing, although I listened to a lot of Reel Big Fish and No Doubt way back when. But you guys do a damn good job of it.
Here’s another song of mine - recorded by myself and our drummer. We have sort of a side project going, with a totally different kind of music than what Post-Turk plays - more along the lines of My Morning Jacket or Califone. Anyway, we just recorded this one yesterday. I’m playing bass, he’s playing guitar. I also play the brief distorted guitar line at the beginning.
Listen for the surprise ending!
For some pre-history:
Our jazzy, minor, evil-sounding cover of Pop Goes The Weasel, drunkenly recorded in the summer of 2005 by our band’s earliest iteration. That’s me playing the sax solo, by the way.
Oh yeah, and from that same session, a truly bizarre track called “Seven Nation Alphabet” which first begins as an…adaptation…of Seven Nation Army and then segues into a rendition of Bodies by The Sex Pistols. This one comes on loud, so be prepared.
Wow, that was a crazy summer.
Keep em comin’ 'dopers! I’m extremely pleased with the talent that has been shown in this thread. While I’ve given everyone a listen unfortunetly I’m at work and can’t post with too many specific comments at this time as I’m afraid my terrible memory has gotten the names mixed up.
Lesse here…
Sleestak nice licks man! I’m envious of anyone who can lead like that. The porn tune was great.
Velvet Jones smokey doesn’t begin to describe it, smoldering is more like it. More please.
Everyone else, sorry I can’t comment now, I promise to re-listen at home if I can purloin a wireless signal at the new house.
Cheers!
I wish I could listen to more of these but I am still on dialup. I’ll get broadband one of these weeks, I swear.
Anyway, heres mine. Most of the faults are part of the intended sound (except for the off-key singing.) (For those wondering, it’s sort of a classic alterna-synth rock.)
The “7 nation alphabet” track seemed to lose all sound after 10 seconds, but it started off interestingly.
“Bounce” is far more than what I achieved with my keyboard, although I wasn’t going for as layered a sound. (And I too have used ambient bird sounds in one or two songs, even in the first song I ever recorded…it was an extremely fast, extremely sloppy garage band song but I thought I’d throw in some random birdsongs in the beginning and end for the surreal effect.)