Category: music videos

0 I Kissed a Girl (Katy Perry cover)

July 17, 2016
by Crommunist
· Media · Music · music videos

One of my favourite things to do with pop songs is to change them in such a way as to give the listener a fresh perspective on something they’ve heard a hundred times before. The original “I Kissed a Girl” is an insipid pop song about making out with a girl at a bar as a fun experiment. I don’t have anything particularly negative to say about the song, but I don’t exactly have too many positive things to say about it either. But if you take away the saccharine nature of the original, what you get is a song about indulging in something that’s perhaps a bit risque.

So I tried to capture some of the sultriness implicit in the song’s nature, to put a new spin on it:

It didn’t start intentionally, but by the time this song was performance ready I was trying to channel as much Prince as I could wrap my unworthy fingers around. That man knew how to infuse sex into rock music with a funk twist, which was precisely the combination of sounds I was trying to work in there.

I’m trying to get a bit more ambitious with the sounds and themes I’m working into my covers and originals. One of the pitfalls I fell into a lot with my early looping covers is the ‘dead air’ problem, where you’re spending a lot of time layering things while the audience waits for you to move the song forward. The challenge I’m setting for myself now is to structure my arrangements in such a way as to avoid spending too much time without giving the audience something new and interesting to pay attention to. I’m particularly happy with the way this one worked out, and will undoubtedly try to write more like it.

0 Pumped Up Kicks (Foster the People cover)

September 8, 2015
by Crommunist
· Covers · Media · Music · music videos

One thing that I like about covers is that you can take a song that people know, and do something very different with it. You can re-make the song to reveal a new emotional palette, allowing the listener to simultaneously experience something familiar and something novel. This tune, originally by Foster the People, is a perfect illustration:

The song is about violence in youth culture, and has a very upbeat and “pop” feel. Such a juxtaposition is actually quite interesting – it was the same thing that made the movie Natural Born Killers so affecting. Sadly, there appears to be a real tendency for people to skip over the lyrical content in favour of the fun nature of the song, resulting in people bopping along merrily while singing the words “all the other kids with the pumped up kicks better run, outrun my gun” – not exactly a happy sentiment.

I have been looking at ways of expanding my own musical arsenal. With that in mind, I tried to do a few things with this song. First, I put down the pick and tried to use the guitar as a sound board rather than a strummed instrument – the delay effect really helped with that. Second, I used my voice in a new way, trying to build intensity with breathiness rather than volume. Finally, I split the viola solo into two parts, giving the song a lot of time to breathe.

I’m very happy with the result. I hope you are too!

0 What is Love? – Haddaway Cover

April 28, 2015
by Crommunist
· Covers · Media · Music · music videos

I originally started playing a cover of the classic Night-At-The-Roxbury 90s dance anthem What Is Love? back in my acoustic days. It appealed to my sense of humour, especially since nobody really recognizes the song until the chorus kicks in. I pictured audiences exchanging puzzled looks for amused ones. However, the more I played the song, the more I realized that it’s only the campy electro-pop back beat that makes this song humorous. Underneath, it’s actually pretty soulful. So I stopped playing it.

Then, a couple of months ago, I thought of taking another look at it – to put a serious spin on the song to turn it from something funny into something beautiful. This was the result:

I think this is among my better covers. It’s definitely among my better recordings, as I slowly figure out how to make live recordings that are both watchable and listenable. Let me know what you think!

3 OneRepublic – Too Late to Apologize

February 5, 2015
by Crommunist
· Covers · Media · Music · music videos

When I was 15, my parents bought me a viola. I had been playing on a borrowed instrument before then (and violin before that), so this was a big deal for me. It wasn’t too many years after that that I began to study with a new teacher, who pushed my playing to a new level. He, and the conductor of my youth symphony, and pretty much anyone with ears told me many times that I had outgrown the instrument and needed something better. It was around that time that I made the decision not to pursue music professionally, and it didn’t seem worth the expense to shell out thousands of dollars for an instrument I would only play occasionally.

Fast forward to this past year, and I was once again confronted with the sonic limitations of my old viola when I entered the recording booth. The viola sounded muddy and strangled. It was a battle to coax a steady and pleasant tone out of the old fellow, and there was only so much that production trickery could fix. Ultimately, I needed a new instrument. I began salivating over a carbon fibre instrument made by a New England luthier team called Luis and Clark. Every time I went to Long & McQuade, I’d take a trip upstairs and ask them if I could play it.

Basically, I was Mike Myers in Wayne’s World:

Well I finally bit the bullet and bought the damn thing.

“Apologize” is one of the first tunes I worked into my solo set. It’s got a great hook, and perhaps best of all I can play a pretty decent-sounding version without even touching a guitar. You get to hear my viola as a bass, as a string quartet, and as a high floating descant – all at the same time. I don’t play it live much anymore since moving to the electric viola, but I still have a great affection for this song. Hope you enjoy the cover!

0 Frank Ocean – Thinkin’ Bout You

February 5, 2015
by Crommunist
· Covers · Media · Music · music videos

A few months ago, I started listening to streaming music using a service called “Songza”. It lets you listen to playlists curated by music afficionados, without having to do the hard work of seeking out new artists. I’m not what you would call a “fan” of R&B, but periodically I’d hear a song that would make me say “wow, that’s really great”. Almost without exception, when I’d check the artist of the song I was unexpectedly enjoying, it was Frank Ocean.

This is my take on one of my favourite songs of his:

0 Ordinary Man (Christy Moore cover)

October 15, 2014
by Crommunist
· Covers · Music · music videos

This cover was arranged and performed for Brian, who sponsored me on Patreon at the $6/song level. As the reward for that level of sponsorship, Brian could request any song he wanted, and he chose this anti-capitalist protest anthem from Irish folk singer Christy Moore.

If you want to contrast with the original, you can watch it here.

I recorded the live version of the song in my living room (obviously), and then added the rest of the instrumentation (percussion, bass, fiddle) later. I tried to go with a ‘stripped-down’ feel, to stick to the simplicity and earnestness of the original. Christy Moore has an inimitable style – his voice sounds like he’s sitting next to you at a pub or a party telling you the lyrics rather than singing them. I figured it would be insulting to try and mimic him, so I didn’t.

Lyrics:

I’m an ordinary man, nothin’ special nothin’ grand,
I’ve had to work for everything I own,
Well I never asked for a lot, I was happy with what I got,
Enough to keep my family and my home,
Now they say that times are hard & they’ve handed me my cards,
They say there’s not the work to go around,
When the whistle blows the gates will finally close,
Tonight they’re going to shut this factory down,
Then they’ll tear it down.

I never missed a day nor went on strike for better pay,
For 20 years I served them best I could,
With a handshake and a cheque it seems so easy to forget,
Loyalty through the bad times and the good,
The owner says he’s sad to see that things have got so bad,
But the Captains of industry won’t let him loose,
He still drives a car and smokes a cigar,
And still he takes his family on a cruise,
He’ll never lose.

Now it seems to me to be such a cruel irony,
He’s richer now ever he was before,
Now my cheque is all spent and I can’t afford the rent,
There’s one law for the rich, one for the poor,
Every day I’ve tried to salvage some of my pride,
To find some work so’s I might pay my way,
But everywhere I go, the answer is always no,
There’s no work for anyone here today,
No work today.

And so condemned I stand, just an ordinary man,
Like thousands beside me in the queue,
I watch my darlin’ wife tryin’ to make the best of life,
God knows what the kids are goin’ to do,
Now that we are faced with this human waste,
A generation cast aside,
For as long as I live, I never will forgive,
You’ve stripped me of my dignity & pride,
You’ve stripped me bare.

0 Violondon Grammar (July update)

July 23, 2014
by Crommunist
· Covers · Media · Music · music videos

It’s been a while since my last one, but I’ve recorded another all-viola cover. This one is of London Grammar’s cover of Kavinsky’s “Nightcall”.

Check out the original
And here’s the London Grammar version

The inspiration for doing this tune came from Stavros, an old friend of mine who pledged to sponsor me at my Patreon page at the $12 level. The reward for such a pledge is that I will arrange and record an all-viola cover of a tune of the sponsor’s choosing. This dark and brooding tune was a perfect fit for the viola’s sound. Check it out:

I tried something a bit innovative with this one: I dual-tracked the lead viola part rather than sending it only through the 1/4″ pickup. In English, this means I used a microphone and a patch cable (instead of just the latter) so the track would have some more sonorousness. I am actually really happy with how it turned out. As is the rule for these things, all the parts (including percussion) were played on the viola. For the ‘cello’ pizzicato lines, I used my Line6 effects processor to drop the pitch by an octave.

Want your own all-viola cover? Head over to my Patreon page and pledge. I usually release a new song every couple of months, so your investment will be something like $4-$6 a month. There are also lower levels of pledge with different rewards.

0 June Music Update (Heard It Through The Grapevine)

June 24, 2014
by Crommunist
· Covers · Media · Music · music videos

Lots of stuff going on this month. What this video doesn’t mention is that I’m also playing with a couple of local bands, with a couple of other offers on the table. Things are picking up!

0 Sideways (Citizen Cope cover)

May 6, 2014
by Crommunist
· Covers · Media · Music · music videos

I decided to roll the dice and buy an electric viola off the internet. You can get reliably good ones from trusted retailers, but you pay for that assurance. I poked around and found one that resembles my electric guitar Shannon, and was cheap enough that I was willing to take the risk of it being terrible. That’s how I wound up owning my new viola, Michael.

Michael is named for my best friend in high school. The guy is a great musician, and one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. He and I used to collaborate doing prog/rock/classical duets with viola and bass or piano. Working with him is where I burnished a lot of my improvisational chops, so it just made sense to give a funky and experimental instrument his name.

Here’s me, in the company of Shannon and Michael (see the resemblance?) doing a cover of Citizen Cope’s “Sideways”

As I mention in the video’s intro, you can now sponsor me directly on Patreon.com. The way it works is pretty simple: you pledge a few bucks (the minimum pledge is $1). When I write/record/release a song (this happens once every couple of months, on average), your account gets charged, and the money goes into a fund for me to book some professional studio time. You directly support me producing some professional-quality music – no middle man, no hassle.

But that’s not all! Depending on the amount you pledge, you will also receive a reward for being a sponsor. The $1 pledge, for example, gets your name listed in the liner notes of the EP you helped fund. The $5 pledge gets you that, plus a digital copy of the EP, plus a hand-written lyrics sheet. If you pledge $10 for each song I release, you’ll get a physical copy of my next album, plus digital copies of anything I ever release in the future.

So you, for a pretty small investment (starting at between $5-10 a year), can help me get my songs out of my apartment and into the world. Plus you get bonus gifts. Plus you don’t have to pay anything until and unless I write the songs you’re helping to fund! Everybody wins!

Anyway, as always, if you like the video please share it with your friends and help spread the word.

0 April music update (f. Jamiroquai)

April 9, 2014
by Crommunist
· Covers · Media · Music · music videos

I thought I’d update people on what’s happening with me music-wise.

I just released a new song a few weeks ago
I bought a brand new 5-string electric viola, which has proven to be a steeper learning curve than I thought
I’ve been working with Sonya-Jean Bruneau, a very talented local musician
I’m going to start busking this weekend

And I throw down on one of my favourite Jamiroquai tunes, Virtual Insanity.

Don’t be shy about subscribing to my YouTube channel. I expect to release a new acoustic cover every month.

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