Sometimes you come across a song that expresses your feelings better than you could yourself.

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So Nadine Hutton has been at it again. Challenging me to do Bohemian Rhapsody. Tsek!

I just can't say no to her, and besides it's a daunting challenge. So many vocal parts and so little time (I hate spending more than a week on a cover, start to finish). In this case it was threatening to take longer so I had to cut it short and render and publish so there are some rough bits, but...

When all is said and done it was fun and I guess that's all that counts.

So here goes - Bohemian Rhapsody with little old me trying to sing 11 different vocal parts. Yikes!

BohemianRhapsody.mp3 Listen on Posterous

While I've got your attention: I've started posting high-quality renders of my original songs on my Airborne Music paysite. It's a deviation from the traditional way of payment in that you do not pay for the album but rather suppot the artist at a cost of $1 per month. That's right, access to all my music for less than the price of a beer every month.

I'd appreciate it if you would considering joining this site and supporting me.

As an aside - Airborne is a South African site so let's try and get their idea going and spread the word.

There's a video explaining how it works here AirborneMusic.com.

Always

88

PS - Here's how Nadine described the song when I shared the first rough take with her: "I can almost see this as a opera of insanity - the monologue of a madman running through an empty house whispering at times, shouting, frenzied, resigned. The chorus is absolutely brilliant. A carnival of the voices in his head."

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I only ever liked playing live at the Abelarde Sanction. In some respects it was a more wretched hive of scum and villainy than Mos Eisly and the bands certainly added to that impression, but it was a home fo people who wanted to listen in a country where audiences mostly see live music as an intrusion into their night out.

In between sets several DJ's, most notably Martin Barbee, Manik and Darklord Smegbreath used to entertain us with songs from their vast collections. There were always new and challenging tunes and I miss that exposure.

My fading memory says it was the Darklord who brought in this wonderful tune. It was always a dancefloor filler, in a place where dancing was not always appropriate. Even today I can't sit still when I hear it. For a little while I even had it as my ringtone but I was always leaving the phone unanswered just so I could hear the entire song.

It is good. It is perfect. And it always makes me happy.

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I believe in music.

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It seems like an appropriate cover to release on such an auspicious date.

DancingQueen.mp3 Listen on Posterous

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Listen. Loud... and I mean really LOUD.

Listen through the whole song, don't skip ahead. and wait for it. At 2:45 Merry Clayton starts probably the most spine chilling vocal break outside of opera. She sings the lines, "Rape, Murder, it's just a shot away" with such relentless intensity that, well just listen to that voice break at 2:59 and thereafter. If you have a heart it will break.

It's a song for terrible times. 

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The last few months have been crazy. At times it seemed as if there was no way out of the stress but, here we are, it's Christmas. Not everyone's cup of tea but for me it is the most wonderful time of the year.

Most people are in a better mood. There's more kindness and forgiveness, more smiles.

Last year I flatly refused to do a Christmas cover and I regretted it, especially after I heard what Frequency Theater had done with their version of O Holy Night. Try to find it, it's worth it...

It took a while to come up with something I felt should be done. I got a lot of helpful suggestions from Twitter and Facebook friends (huge thanks to the inimitable @a_hadeda, the indomitable @brodiegal and the unwavering @Life_Writ_Large), but in the end I settled on a Chris de Burgh classic. Detractors will detract, but it is a lovely song.

Spaceman_devoted.mp3 Listen on Posterous

Note 2: The punk version is epically noisy, and will remain in the archives. :-)

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Sometimes you need someone else to remind you about a great song.

Last week Nadine posted this photo of a "UFO" titled "There's a starman waiting in the sky, he'd like to come and meet us but he thinks he'd blow our minds". So obviously I had to record a cover.

Blame it on the rain. 

Starman.mp3 Listen on Posterous

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Never a frown. Never. 

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She left me and I fell apart. 

06_Come_to_this.mp3 Listen on Posterous

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Philip West had this great riff and he wasn't going to do anything with it. (what do you mean you don't know Philip, where've you been?) so I used it for the verses. I don't feel the lyrics are my best but I love the melody and that's enough for me.

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Germaine asked for this one.

It's been a tough one and I don;t think I'll ever do it justice. Cash's version is so good that to follow it is silly.

I love the last line.

Hurt.mp3 Listen on Posterous

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I'd like to introduce you to NBT WebRadio. This is an independent web radio station, run by an old and dear friend, Martin Smit. Martin's music knowledge is exceptional and his taste in music impeccable. Over the years he has been gathering the best of the independent and unsigned world, giving a voice to those who are on the brink of success and those who simply don't give a damn about commercial success.

Give it a try, I guarantee your horizons will be widened and you will find something new, beautiful and moving to listen to.

NBT Music Radio

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I spent all of 1990 as a guest of the "Defence Force". If they were listed on tripadvisor I'd give them a bad review but they're long gone. It was not the best time of my life but I got to play a lot of guitar. This was thanks to Craig Gillings and I'm not exaggerating when I say he saved my life.

This song is one that we would jam for hours. The bassline is hypnotic and once you're in a groove the other guitarist can noodle over it for hours. It was the soundtrack to more sunsets than you can fit into an 88Kilos banner. The thing is I have never heard the original. I know it was by Traffic and I'm sure it was great but I somehow never heard it. So this is the "National Service" version. Stripped to bare essentials and missing some words, I'm sure.

LowSpark.mp3 Listen on Posterous

You can also check out and download all my original songs at http://www.88kos.com or http://www.facebook.com/88KilosOfSunshine 

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I have been listening to this recording for the last 5 days. Not the whole album, just this song/medley. And I could listen to it again right now.

In 5 minutes of sublime beauty we get a combination of Conor Oberst and Neil Young's songwriting skills and the rigorous simplicity and effortless grace of Dave Rawlings and Gillian Welch, both vocally and instrumentally. 

The song is on the Dave Rawlings Machine album "A Friend of a Friend" which you should obviously buy immediately, and while you're at it get Gillian Welch's new one "The Harrow and The Harvest"

Rawlings' voice is so well suited to Oberst's words and his immaculate lead... words fail me. The segue into Cortez is perfect and constantly suggested by the lead guitar so it comes almost as a relief.

If I ever have an unpleasant earworm I have this to replace it.

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I know everybody's done a version of this song, but I really don't see why not. It's a great song, possibly the greatest song ever, certainly Gus Silber thinks so and who am I to argue.

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I dropped her off early in the evening. On the way back to Hatfield the melody and the opening line came to me and I recorded it on my phone. I played it to Joanne and she suggested the key. It was just a great day, I bunked work, we bought food and we talked over a long lunch. Nothing more, nothing less.

In all honesty, neither of the recorded versions (see below) are anywhere near as good as this song sounded in the Abelarde Sanction, with the Fender Deluxe Reverb on super-sparkly and the Epiphone Sheraton on heavy-thud. Those were the days.

This song is featured on the second Sharkbrother album, Life Full of Wednesadays. You can purchase the album here.http://rhythmmusicstore.com/music/231/Sharkbrother/Life-Full-Of-Wednesdays

If you are interested in the first Sharkbrother album, Taj Mahala, which was SA Rock Digest Album of the Year 2000 you can purchase the album here http://rhythmmusicstore.com/music/214/Sharkbrother/Taj-Mahala

My current solo project, 88 Kilos of Sunshine is available as a free download at http://www.88kos.com or at http://www.reverbnation.com/88kilosofsunshine or, if you're that way inclined, you can "like" the 88Kilos facebook page and download all the songs for free at http://www.facebook.com/88kilosofsunshine

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This one requires a confession. When "Aha!deda" asked me to cover this song I had never heard it before. I thought it was an instrumental, but I checked and, sure enough, there are lyrics!!!.

And what a song. It's worth checking out the story behind the song, but in short, the lyrics were written by a 14 year old. 

It's a great song to sing and it just ended up meaning a lot to me. I hope you enjoy my version, if you don;t well, I'm precious about this one, so go easy on the criticism.

Suicide.mp3 Listen on Posterous

PS - to all the aspiring sound engineers out there: I am aware of every pop and scratch and I'm not going to do anything about it. Not because I don't care but because these covers are just the equivalent of ideas on the back of a cigarette packet. If you want the fully fledged stuff head on over to my site or to my facebook page.

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Hell's vengeance boils in my heart. You'd have to go a long way to find a better opening line to a song.

It's a pity that opera holds itself so aloof. It's entertainment, it's mostly thin on storyline and the acting is ham, at best, so it might as well be pop. In it's day it was pop music, deliberately silly so that it would appeal to the masses. It also has incredible darkness and some of the epics would do well in a graphic novel.

As for this song, it remains one of my favourite arie, even if the overall opera has little appeal for me.

My favourite version is the studio version, sung by Christina Deutekom. There are moments when her voice transcends and becomes one with the violins and at extreme volume listening becomes voodoo. Trust me on this and try it.

Here are the lyrics along with a handy translation, if you want to sing along. :)

PS - yes, it was a bad day, so the song, aside from being a favourite, is also apt. See, I feel better already.

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This song was always our "closer" for live performances. At Splashy Fen in 2001 Steve played drums and bass at the same time to drive the song forward (we didn't play with a drummer at the time). The crescendo to that performance was a wonderful moment on stage, one of those "Now I can die happy" moments.

It's also easy to misunderstand the message in the song. It's not about America, it's about the rest of us, hypocritically slamming "the West" as we slavishly devote ourselves to the American cultural deluge.

So it's really about whining instead of getting up and doing it yourself without waiting for permission, without finding excuses.

Sharkbrother never recorded the song although the Taj Mahala album contained an instrumental interpretation.

If you like this song my other original songs are featured on my facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/88kilosofsunshine 

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