My family has a tradition of recording Christmas songs each year. Check out this year’s addition:
Check out more songs from the collection here: https://jakehaws.bandcamp.com/album/christmas-songs
Ep. 28: Song “I Get By” (Influenced by John Vanderslice)
This week’s song is called “I Get By.” I started writing it back in 2005 and it stayed half written until seven years later when I finished it for my the 50 songs in 50 weeks project. This one is influenced by John Vanderslice, particularly his fourth album “Cellar Door.” I tried to copy the same sort of beat and feel of his song, “White Plains.”
I began recording this song with the guitar riff. In my head, I had a beat figured out but since I didn’t have a drum set at the time, I had to use programming to create the beat. Then I added a bass guitar to give it a little groove.
After adding those parts and the vocals, I had the core of the song down but I felt like it needed some different textures to make it interesting. I added three different guitar parts played by an ebow. They mostly act as a drone staying on the same note and filling things in a little. While those guitar ebow drones sound something like a synthesizer, I went ahead and added another part that actually IS a synthesizer on top of the ebow part for additional texture.
Once we got to the solo section, I wanted to step up the chaos and noise a bit so I added a few buzzy synth parts, then a synth with a delay (which kind of sounds like something from a video game), plus a really crazy noise pad played on my iPad.
For the arpeggiated keyboard line I took some inspiration from the band, What Made Milwaukee Famous. Here’s their song, “idecide.”
I wanted that same sort of sound with their synth line and I especially liked the way it co-exists with the guitar part. So I came up with my own arpeggiated solo, which I played as two separate parts so I could have it bounce back and forth from the left to the right speaker.
To top it all off, I needed one more element. And that element was beat boxing. Yes, I actually beat boxed on this song! Hey, there’s first for everything, right.
I think this is one of my favorite songs I’ve ever recorded. I hope you like it.
Lyrics:
Lit the fuse and blow it up
It’s out of the ashes that we begin to pick things up
You broke your leg, I lost my job
It’s gonna take everything to get back how it was
I Get By
I Get By
When I get back to your place To your place
It doesn’t take anytime to find any empty space
Was it love that caused this pain?
And I don’t need anything to have my mind erased
I Get By
I Get By
I Get By
And it goes on and on and on and on and on
I was wrong and you were right
Time has a way of making the outcome turn out fine
With better luck we’ll find a way
To get at the heart of our problems and make them go away
But I Get By
I Get By
I Get By
And it goes on and on and on and on and on
The beat goes on and on and on and on and on
Download “I Get By” on Bandcamp
Ep. 25: Song “I Don’t Know” (Influenced by Bob Marley)
This one is yet another oldie from the high school days; one of my first. Although this is far from reggae, I’m going to go ahead and site Bob Marley’s “No Woman, No Cry” as inspiration.
I love the sound of the organ in that song so I tried to maintain a little of that feel. Also, the jembe (which is sort of like a congo drum) adds to the “island ambiance”. The lyrics are a little bit of a downer so hopefully the production elements help balance it out.
Lyrics:
Out walking on a lonely day
Ain’t never gonna go my way
Cause the moment has come and passed
And there’s nothing but delays
I don’t mind
I don’t mind
It’s gonna be lonely day
So tell me it’s okay
But I don’t know
It’s raining on a cloudy day
There’s water on the window pane
And I can’t see through this mess
Cause I’ve lost the clarity
But I don’t mind
I don’t mind
It’s never gonna be today
When is it gonna go my way?
I don’t know
Well maybe it’s all pretend
And maybe I don’t know where I am for you
And I can’t see what you need
I don’t know what you need
I don’t know what you need
It’s never gonna be today
When is it gonna go my way?
I don’t know
Well maybe it’s all pretend
And maybe I don’t know where I am for you
There’s no one left to blame for all of my mistakes
All of my mistakes
It’s gonna be lonely day
So tell me it’s okay
But I don’t know
Download “I Don’t Know” on Bandcamp
Ep. 19: Song “I’ll Sit Here and Wait” (Influenced by The Beatles)
This is one of my early songs written back in junior high school. The style didn’t really fit with my band at the time so it sat on the shelf for a while. When I started my 50 Songs in 50 Weeks project, it seemed a like a good opportunity to finally get it recorded. I was just starting to into the Beatles at the time so this was influenced by the song “It’s Only Love” from the album “Help.”
It was also influenced little bit from the Goo Goo Dolls. Take a Listen.
Lyrics:
The days pass and I’ve gone nowhere
I sit and let you talk to me
When will I get to know you
You said I guess we’ll see
The days keep getting longer
The sun keeps shinning in your eyes
Stay, stay with me tonight.
We can’t walk away from this today
I don’t know where I’ll go tomorrow
Til I know I’m go and ready
I’ll sit here and wait
I’ll sit here and wait
I should have seen it coming
I thought that everything was alright
Stay, stay with me tonight.
We can’t walk away from this today
I don’t know where I’ll go tomorrow
Til I know I’m go and ready
I’ll sit here and wait
I’ll sit here and wait
Top 25 Albums of 2015
- Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit
- Tame Impala – Currents
- Father John Misty – I Love You Honey Bear
- Lord Huron – Strange Trails
- Low – Ones and Sixes
- The Dodos – Individ
- Blur – The Magic Whip
- Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color
- Deerhunter – Fading Frontier
- Leon Bridges – Coming Home
- Death Cab For Cutie – Kintsugi
- Beach House – Depression Cherry/Thank Your Lucky Stars
- Kacey Musgraves – Pageant Material
- Purity Ring – Another Eternity
- Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell
- Natalia Lafourcade – Hasta la Raiz
- Oceanear – Oceanear
- Julien Baker – Sprained Ankle
- Majical Cloudz – Are You Alone?
- Jose Gonzalez – Vestiges & Claws
- Sleater-Kinney – No Cities to Love
- Jamie XX – In Colour
- El Vy – Return To The Moon
- Chvches – Every Open Eye
- Watkins Family Hour – Watkins Family Hour
Honorable Mentions
- Hear We Go Magic – Be Small
- Wilco – Star Wars
- Jason Isbell – Something More Than Free
- Ryan Adams – 1989
- My Morning Jacket – The Waterfall
- Palehound – Dry Food
- Great Lake Swimmers – A Forest of Arms
- The Arcs – Yours, Dreamily,
- Glen Hansard – Didn’t He Ramble
- Other Lives – Rituals
- The Tallest Man on Earth – Dark Bird Is Home
- Kurt Vile – B’lieve I’m Goin’ Down…
- Telekinesis – Ad Infinitum
- Nick Diamonds – City of Quartz
Check out last year’s list: Top 25 Albums of 2014
Top 50 Songs of 2015
Here’s my favorite songs for the year. I had a hard time narrowing it down so I left it at 55 songs.
- Courtney Barnett – “Pedestrian at Best”
- Oceanear – “The Finite”
- Blur – “Ghost Ship”
- Watkins Family Hour – “Steal Your Heart Away”
- Tame Impala – “Yes I’m Changing”
- Death Cab for Cutie – “Black Sun”
- Lord Huron – “Love Like Ghosts”
- EL VY – “Return to the Moon”
- Low – “No Comprende”
- Father John Misty – “Chateau Lobby #4”
- Desaparecidos – “City on the Hill”
- Alabama Shakes – “Sound & Color”
- The Dodos – “Competition”
- Hop Along – “The Knock”
- Kacey Musgraves – “Biscuits”
- Country Barnett – “Elevator Operator”
- Snoop Dogg – “California Roll”
- Jason Isbell – “If It Takes a Lifetime”
- The Dodos – “Goodbyes and Ending”
- Leon Bridges – “Better Man”
- Deerhunter – “Living My Life”
- Wilco – “Magnetized”
- Drake – “Hotline Bling”
- Alabama Shakes – “Give Me All Your Love”
- Low – “Gentle”
- Ryan Adams – “Bad Blood”
- Majical Cloudz – “Disappeared”
- Blur – “Terracotta Heart”
- CHVRCHES – “Keep You On My Side”
- Country Barnett – “Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go to the Party”
- The Lone Bellow – “Take My Love”
- The Arcs – “Outta My Mind”
- Deerhunter – “Snakeskin”
- Father John Misty – “True Affection”
- Palehound – “Molly”
- Glen Hansard – “Winning Streak”
- Death Cab for Cutie – “No Room In Frame”
- Jamie xx – “Loud Places”
- Coldplay – “Adventure of A Lifetime”
- Tame Impala – “‘Cause I’m A Man”
- Jose Gonzalez – “Every Age”
- Sleater-Kinney – “Hey Darling”
- Oceanear – “Woke Underwater”
- Beach House – “Majorette”
- Kacey Musgraves – “Late To The Party”
- Telekinesis – “In a Future World”
- Animal Collective – “FloriDada”
- Lieutenant – “Prepared Remarks”
- Great Lake Swimmers – “The Great Bear”
- Florence + The Machine – “Ship to Wreck”
- Lurd Huron – “Dead Man’s Hand”
- Here We Go Magic – “Stella”
- Kurt Vile – “That’s Life, tho (almost hate to say)”
- Leon Bridges – “Coming Home”
- Jose Gonzalez – “Open Book”
Family Christmas Songs in 2015
Every year my family has a tradition of recording Christmas songs. This year, my daughter lost her two front teeth so we felt the song selection was appropriate. We also included a recording from her violin recital.
Top 50 Songs of 2014
- Big Scary – “Twin Rivers”
- Wye Oak – “Before”
- Chris Staples – “Black Tornado”
- Phantogram – “Fall In Love”
- tUnE-yArDs – “Water Fountain”
- The War On Drugs – “Red Eyes”
- Damon Albarn – “Lonely Press Play”
- Future Islands – “Seasons (Waiting On You)”
- Sego – “20 Years Tall”
- Beck – “Blue Moon”
- Spoon – “Do You”
- Tweedy – “Summer Noon”
- Owen Pallett – “The Sky Behind the Flag”
- Delta Spirit – “From Now On”
- Kishi Bashi – “Philosophize In It! Chemicalize With It!”
- Damien Jurado – “Metallic Cloud”
- Phantogram – “Black Out Days”
- Mac Demarco – “Blue Boy”
- Wye Oak – “Shriek”
- Damon Albarn – “Everyday Robots”
- Chris Staples – “Walking With A Stranger”
- Real Estate – “Had To Hear”
- Spoon – “Inside Out”
- Conor Oberst – “Hundres of Ways”
- Wye Oak – “Sick Talk”
- Chris Staples – “Where We Used To Be”
- Big Scary – “Final Thoughts, With Tom and Jo”
- Phantogram – “Bad Dreams”
- Tennis – “Never Work For Free”
- Vacationer – “Paradise Waiting”
- Damon Albarn – “Hostiles”
- Beck – “Heart Is A Drum”
- Wye Oak – “Glory”
- Chris Staples – “Overpaid”
- The War On Drugs – “Burning”
- Spoon – “Rainy Taxi”
- Damien Jurado – “Silver Timothy”
- Future Islands – “Fall From Grace”
- Kishi Bashi – “The Ballad of Mr. Steak”
- Trampled By Turtles – “Wild Animals”
- Big Scary – “Invest”
- Cold War Kids – “Hot Coals”
- Tweedy – “I’ll Sing It”
- Wye Oak – “The Tower”
- Young the Giant – “Teachers”
- Sego – “Wicket Youth”
- Real Estate – “The Bend”
- Mac Demarco – “Salad Days”
- Damien Jurado – “Silver Katherine”
- Delta Spirit – “Take Shelter”
Listen to the Spotify Playlist: Top 50 Songs of 2014
Top 25 Albums of 2014
Here are my favorite albums of 2014:
- Chris Staples – American Soft
- Wye Oak – Shriek
- Phantogram – Voices
- Big Scary – Not Art
- Damon Albarn – Everyday Robots
- Beck – Morning Phase
- The War on Drugs – Lost In The Dream
- Spoon – They Want My Soul
- Tennis – Ritual in Repeat
- Real Estate – Atlas
- Kishi Bashi – Lighght
- Mac Demarco – Salad Days
- Damien Jurado – Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son
- Tune-Yards – Nikki Nack
- Future Islands – Singles
- Delta Spirit – Into the Wide
- Cold War Kids – Hold My Home
- Trampled By Turtles – Wild Animals
- Damien Rice – My Favourite Faded Fantasy
- Young the Giant – Mind Over Matter
- Tweedy – Sukierae
- Sego – Kitsune: Wicket Youth
- Vacationer – Relief
- Owen Pallett – In Conflict
- Conor Oberst – Upside Down Mountain
Honorable Mentions
- Pixies – Indie Cindy
- Lana Del Ray – Ultraviolence
- Andrew Bird – Things Are Really Great Here, Sort Of…
- Elbow – The Take Off And Landing Of Everything
- Various Artists – Beck Song Reader
- Dum Dum Girls – Too True
- Lykke Li – I Never Learn
- Nels Cline Singers – Marcoscope
Provo Music Scene Connections
Yesterday, one of my friends from the Provo music scene started this form on Google where you can submit your band, the members in your band and who you’ve recorded and it will plot out all the different connections. Quite a few people have added to it in the last 24 hours (including myself). Running Muse Recording Studio, I got to record several bands so it’s neat to see my connections and how they branch out into other Provo bands, past and present.
To get the full effect, visit: http://provomusic.herokuapp.com/