So I sang some chick songs the other day in honor of the Birmingham Festival Theatre’s “Great Wrong Way” production.  My friend Natalie – from the earlier painting swap – got together with me on Saturday and we downed a bottle of wine and completed the other half of this ultra-visionary project.  Here she is, singing some dude songs.  Still one microphone and one track.  Mostly recorded in my hallway.

Again, it don’t gotta be particularly good to have had a blast doing it.  This is way more fun than playing Rock Band by yourself.  But I think we did a pretty decent job for a quick recording.  (Click each to play, or right-click to download)

You Shook Me – AC/DC

Creep – Radiohead

There She Goes – The La’s

Still “live”.  Still only available temporarily and then I’ll probably take them down.  So castles made of sand, fall in the sea, eventually.  Go outlay some capital on these bands.  Big mean record companies, please don’t sue Natalie.

Teen Getaway

There’s an earlier blog entry where I listed Birmingham musicians that I was planning to check into.  I’ve looked at two groups of them here and here.  This is the third grouping – and the last one – until I find some other Birmingham bands to check out.

I’ve got five basic classes for music:

• 5 – Play it again, over and over.
• 4 – Worth following, and finding further music.
• 3 – Very listenable, wouldn’t hit the skip button.
• 2 – Might skip it.
• 1 – Unlistenable.

The Great Book of John

One guy’s opinion is just one guy’s opinion, but I’ve listed them in order.  I’ve also listed the primary songs I recommend you check out, along with a gist of total plays on their Myspace pages.

• Teen Getaway – (10000+ plays)  Could do without the “Balls” song, but’s the rest of it’s gotta be over a 4 somewhere.  Some is great.  Find “3 Car Garage”, “Cure”, and “Tied Down” on Myspace.
• The Great Book of John – (54000+ plays)  Swings around either side of about a 4.  Listen to “Political Song” and “Wiseblood” on Myspace.  Also listen to “All the Windows in Your Home are Busted Out” in the Tapestry archives.  More of their Tapestry music here.
• The Triceratops – (19000+ plays)  Slightly under a 4, but it’s got an asterisk, because I’m guessing about the future quality of studio versions of these songs; it’s almost all live right now.  Listen to “Graves (live)” and “Red Bone” on Myspace.
• The Green Seed – (3000+ plays)  The bulk of the work averages out to about 3 3/4, but “Cinematic” on Myspace might be the first song in this quest that blew me away.  Also listen to “Hip Hop Reality Show”.
• Slow Masters – (3000+ plays)  Another band I’d want to hear more from and consistently somewhere around a 3 3/4.  Listen to “Crosshairs” and “Chinese Horror Film” on Myspace.  More music on Tapestry.

Let me know about other Birmingham artists – encourage, encourage, encourage!

Dexateens

I wrote an earlier blog entry where I listed a smorgasbord-enheeben of Birmingham musicians that I was planning to check into.  I’ve looked at the first grouping of them in another entry.  This is the second grouping.

I’ve got five basic classifications for music:

• 5 – Play it again, over and over.
• 4 – Worth following, and finding further music.
• 3 – Very listenable, wouldn’t hit the skip button.
• 2 – Might skip it.
• 1 – Unlistenable.

AA Bondy

It’s only one guy’s opinion, but I’ve listed these bands in order.  I’ve also listed the primary songs I recommend you check out, along with a gist of total plays on their Myspace pages.

• Dexateens – (162000+ plays)  Everything rates right around a 4.  Listen to “Down Low”, “Neil Armstrong”, and “Naked Ground” on Myspace.
• AA Bondy – (433000+ plays)  Generally slightly under a 4.  Listen to “when the devil’s loose” on Myspace.
• Photonicas – (29000+ plays)  Just greater than 3.5 or so overall , but often creeps up into the early 4’s.  Listen to “Let it Go” and “Comfortable” on Myspace.  More songs on Tapestry – try “Losing It”.
• The Bridges – (647000+ plays)  Balanced right in that area just north of highly listenable and just south of something I’d be curious to hear more of.  Which is  right around a 3 1/2, I guess.  Already slick, pretty, and radio friendly.  Listen to “Pieces” and “All the Words” on Myspace.  More songs also available on Tapestry.

More recommmendations to come.  Still, if you know of any other Birmingham artist I should hear, let me know.