Media | Crommunist

0 Ordinary Man (Christy Moore cover)

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.

1 Unmade

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At the beginning of the month, my girlfriend Jessica moved into my apartment. This is the culmination of many months of her partially living at my apartment. A lot of this arrangement is purely pragmatic – since she was spending 3-4 nights a week at my place anyway, it made enough sense for her to just fill in that gap. Also, we’ve put in enough time and effort and gone through enough bumps and bruises that a lot of the anxieties I had about sharing space with her have been addressed. There were fewer and fewer reasons not to try living together, and a lot of reasons why we both felt it would be a great idea (to her credit, she arrived at that conclusion months before I did). Plus a lot of her stuff is nicer than mine.

Jessica works nights, meaning that about half of the week she sleeps during the day. Over the past few months, there were a number of instances where she would sleep at my place during the day (I live in a really quiet neighbourhood – for a while she lived across the street from a train yard) and then have to take off for work or errands. On days when I thought it was likely she’d be there, I tried to get into the habit of making the bed (which is a habit I picked up from her – I hardly ever do it when it’s just me). Sometimes, not often, but sometimes, I’d come home from work to find the bed unmade because she’d been sleeping in it – a circumstance that always made me smile. I liked that she felt comfortable and at home at my place. … Continue Reading

0 Violondon Grammar (July update)

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 It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over (live)

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One thing I’ve been doing this summer is getting out on the streets of Vancouver and busking. Here’s a picture of me doing that:

A photo of me with my busking rig

The guy who took that photo is a kind passerby named Fred, who also just happened to have a piece of recording equipment on his person. Because he enjoyed what I was doing, and because he’s a kind and generous person, he recorded me performing one of my new favourite tunes. Check it out:

Because of a few new demands on my time and some fun developments, I’m going to be playing fewer solo shows over the next little while, but I do hope to keep busking as long as the weather allows. Catch me at Kits Beach or in Olympic Village playing this and other covers and originals. If you see me, come say hi!

0 Liquid Sunshine

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Most things in life can be changed with effort – whether that’s the concerted effort of a passionate group of people, or the determined effort of an individual. But there remain some things that are beyond the scope of our powers to change. Assuming that we have the wisdom to discern the difference, there’s only one logical approach to things we truly cannot change, and that’s to try and find the positive within them.

This song is about that:

0 June Music Update (Heard It Through The Grapevine)

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)

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 Remember How to Smile

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I re-recorded a version of “Remember How to Smile” (early demo and explanation available here) with MIDI drums and better string mixing.

Lyrics: … Continue Reading

0 April music update (f. Jamiroquai)

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.

1 ‘Cherryblossom’ on Youtube

April 3, 2014
by Crommunist
· Media · Music · music videos · Originals

I thought it would be fun to create a music ‘video’ for my song ‘Cherryblossom’. The pictures were all taken by me at various points during the year. Vancouver is crazy beautiful, and I hope that you can see, through the images, why I was so inspired to write this song.