hipinion songwriters

Let's talk Aguachile Alley

Postby Milquetoaster Strudels » Mon Dec 17, 2018 2:53 pm

Grumby wrote:what songs do you guys like to cover or just play and sing for fun by yourself? i know a bunch of lemonheads songs by heart, a few big star tunes, neil young. mac demarco too.

My favs to do are:

Big Star - Thirteen
Neil Young - Harvest Moon
John Martyn - Bless the Weather
Bob Dylan (via John Martyn) - Don't Think Twice It's Alright
Nick Drake - Pink Moon
Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear the Reaper
All Along the Watchtower (Hendrix version)
Hallelujah (Buckley version)
Camper Van Beethoven - Take the Skinheads Bowling
Jeff Buckley - Corpus Christi Carol
The Mountain Goats - No Children
The Mountain Goats - Jaipur
Slowdive - Dagger
Ride - Vapour Trail
AC/DC - Rock n Roll Singer (via Mark Kozelek)
Lemonheads - Ride With Me
User avatar

Milquetoaster Strudels
 
Posts: 28869
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2009 8:14 pm
Location: Minneapolis

Postby AdamThomas » Mon Dec 17, 2018 4:22 pm

every time I come back here I secretly hope there are hundreds more posts in this thread.
User avatar

AdamThomas
 
Posts: 3254
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 1:31 pm
Location: u mad?ison

Postby AdamThomas » Mon Dec 17, 2018 4:28 pm

Sometimes I try to understand Neil Young's magnetism.
User avatar

AdamThomas
 
Posts: 3254
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 1:31 pm
Location: u mad?ison

Postby Milquetoaster Strudels » Mon Dec 17, 2018 4:38 pm

He could have just stopped after he hotboxed a hearse on the reg in the late 60s and he'd still be a damn legend.

The answer, though, is Harvest combined with being the godfather of grunge
User avatar

Milquetoaster Strudels
 
Posts: 28869
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2009 8:14 pm
Location: Minneapolis

Postby AdamThomas » Mon Dec 17, 2018 4:55 pm

well not his magnetism as a result of his impact...I just mean, when he sits with his acoustic and plays a song, he has an undeniable presence and power. I mean I'm sure it's a combination of his voice and playing style, but there's something more, no?
User avatar

AdamThomas
 
Posts: 3254
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 1:31 pm
Location: u mad?ison

Postby AdamThomas » Mon Dec 17, 2018 4:56 pm

also, I reserve the right to wear my heart on my sleeve in this thread.
User avatar

AdamThomas
 
Posts: 3254
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 1:31 pm
Location: u mad?ison

Postby Milquetoaster Strudels » Mon Dec 17, 2018 5:08 pm

I feel like he's got a sort of demeanor that shouts, "LISTEN UP" to anyone within 100 yards
User avatar

Milquetoaster Strudels
 
Posts: 28869
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2009 8:14 pm
Location: Minneapolis

Postby Grumby » Mon Dec 17, 2018 5:11 pm

Milquetoaster Strudels wrote:I feel like he's got a sort of demeanor that shouts, "LISTEN UP" to anyone within 100 yards


yeah. i don't know, neil young is just a great guy at expressing human feelings. the fact that despite his success, he still goes through these very tragic things (his house just burned down) adds to that i guess
User avatar

Grumby
 
Posts: 37155
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2013 2:40 pm

Postby AdamThomas » Mon Dec 17, 2018 5:20 pm

I think about this quality a lot...stage presence, screen presence

What songwriters have that crazy presence? Also indicate if you've seen them live!
User avatar

AdamThomas
 
Posts: 3254
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 1:31 pm
Location: u mad?ison

Postby AdamThomas » Mon Dec 17, 2018 5:24 pm

Live: Leo Kottke. Neil Young. Cass McCombs.
User avatar

AdamThomas
 
Posts: 3254
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 1:31 pm
Location: u mad?ison

Postby Milquetoaster Strudels » Mon Dec 17, 2018 5:43 pm

Kottke has a great live presence, he's also one of the most affable live banterers I've seen
User avatar

Milquetoaster Strudels
 
Posts: 28869
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2009 8:14 pm
Location: Minneapolis

Postby brittle » Mon Dec 17, 2018 5:58 pm

i always liked bejar's on stage vibe— even when he's just the ghost that haunts the occasional new pornographers show.

i tried to emulate his look in 2005 or so, but i was too scandinavian, so i just looked like Doc from back to the future.
User avatar

brittle
 
Posts: 28746
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 2:59 pm

Postby Slay Da Pink Fleshy Beast » Tue Dec 18, 2018 3:27 am

AdamThomas wrote:I'm very much interested in finding an archtop. Those early Lloyd Loar Gibsons, Weymanns, Martins..aiiii


I've had a thing for awhile for century guitars such as a Gibson ES-125 or Guild T-50. Really love the look and simplicity of them.
User avatar

Slay Da Pink Fleshy Beast
 
Posts: 1186
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 10:55 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia

Postby Brevity » Tue Dec 18, 2018 3:35 am

AdamThomas wrote:well not his magnetism as a result of his impact...I just mean, when he sits with his acoustic and plays a song, he has an undeniable presence and power. I mean I'm sure it's a combination of his voice and playing style, but there's something more, no?


I have to do this for the first time ever in a couple weeks (just me singing my songs on acoustic guitar) and Neil has been the main man on my mood board. Just total control and power of expression and makes it seem so effortless. He's just amazing.
User avatar

Brevity
 
Posts: 1975
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 8:09 pm
Location: Chicago

Postby Slay Da Pink Fleshy Beast » Tue Dec 18, 2018 6:11 am

Neil Young writes and plays on a edge. And that's simply the best way I can put it. He's one of the few artists where I believe what he sings.
User avatar

Slay Da Pink Fleshy Beast
 
Posts: 1186
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 10:55 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia

Postby jewels » Tue Dec 18, 2018 6:50 am

Do your songs typically come in one impassioned burst or slowly one tiny piece at a time over months?

I think the best ones arrive close to finished in a burst, but then take a month or so fixing up around the edges. The ones that take forever are usually not that great, but were not a waste of time! I was still learning things through the process. And sometimes the ones that take forever end up being great! I've had songs that were around for a decade that finally sort themselves out. And sometimes the ones that arrive fully formed seem great that night, but then the next day I realize they are kinda of dumb and too simple.
gold and glass wrote:When you get to heaven, do you get to see a list of which gimmicks belonged to who?
User avatar

jewels
 
Posts: 29158
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 3:33 pm

Postby AdamThomas » Tue Dec 18, 2018 10:36 am

Slay Da Pink Fleshy Beast wrote:Neil Young writes and plays on a edge. And that's simply the best way I can put it. He's one of the few artists where I believe what he sings.


confidence, sincerity, itness!
User avatar

AdamThomas
 
Posts: 3254
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 1:31 pm
Location: u mad?ison

Postby AdamThomas » Tue Dec 18, 2018 10:38 am

jewels wrote:Do your songs typically come in one impassioned burst or slowly one tiny piece at a time over months?

I think the best ones arrive close to finished in a burst, but then take a month or so fixing up around the edges. The ones that take forever are usually not that great, but were not a waste of time! I was still learning things through the process. And sometimes the ones that take forever end up being great! I've had songs that were around for a decade that finally sort themselves out. And sometimes the ones that arrive fully formed seem great that night, but then the next day I realize they are kinda of dumb and too simple.



I try not to cut down "simple" because many of my favorites are simple. Anyway, worse than simple is forced difficulty or unnecessary chords, strums, instruments, melodies, etc...

Songs come many ways. Some of my favorites are in a burst and done within 30 minutes, lyrics too. Others take a while but they just have a different place in my heart. Usually its the lyrics that get me; if those come out in a burst, I'm usually happy with them, but if I write lyrics for the music and piecemeal it, it can be a difficult process.
User avatar

AdamThomas
 
Posts: 3254
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 1:31 pm
Location: u mad?ison

Postby brittle » Tue Dec 18, 2018 12:12 pm

fist off: i think this is more a singer songwriter kinda thread but....

any given song ususally takes me about a month to write, but it's always my favorite thing (above my health and my family). then i get to a point where it's 'done', and i literally don't care about it anymore (or hate it). but then a few weeks later a little riff or chord change births another song and it starts again.

also, if i want to record vocals, it takes me a day or two to come up with a vocal melody and then an hour or so to actually write the lyrics.

tbh, i think i'm better at writing lyrics than i am at writing music (or painting, or riding bikes) but since i can't sing, it always seems like an afterthought.
User avatar

brittle
 
Posts: 28746
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 2:59 pm

Postby brittle » Tue Dec 18, 2018 12:25 pm

anyways, here's my music makin' room:

Image
User avatar

brittle
 
Posts: 28746
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 2:59 pm

Postby Milquetoaster Strudels » Tue Dec 18, 2018 12:33 pm

Do you use the helmet to hotbox when you're hashing out ideas?
User avatar

Milquetoaster Strudels
 
Posts: 28869
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2009 8:14 pm
Location: Minneapolis

Postby brittle » Tue Dec 18, 2018 12:36 pm

basically, yah :?
User avatar

brittle
 
Posts: 28746
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 2:59 pm

Postby brittle » Tue Dec 18, 2018 12:38 pm

also, took that video card box out of storage for a fellow boarder, but i don't think they want it afterall so i guess i should put it away
User avatar

brittle
 
Posts: 28746
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 2:59 pm

Postby brittle » Tue Dec 18, 2018 12:38 pm

and that pbr is being drank rn
User avatar

brittle
 
Posts: 28746
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 2:59 pm

Postby AdamThomas » Tue Dec 18, 2018 5:53 pm

what's the guitar on the far right? and the 12?
User avatar

AdamThomas
 
Posts: 3254
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 1:31 pm
Location: u mad?ison

Postby brittle » Tue Dec 18, 2018 5:58 pm

my dad made the one on the far right. it's based on a martin OM-18

and the 12 string is terrible. it's a cheapo Horner that's impossible to tune and even harder to play. but it's nice to have for recording.
User avatar

brittle
 
Posts: 28746
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 2:59 pm

Postby KPH » Tue Dec 18, 2018 6:51 pm

I really wanted a 12 string when I first started playing cuz I think REM or the Cure used one during an mtv unplugged and while I'm still irked that my parents didn't let me go to shows in 11th grade at least they didn't buy me that dumb guitar
User avatar

KPH
 
Posts: 5991
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 3:10 pm
Location: Toronto

Postby KPH » Tue Dec 18, 2018 7:00 pm

jewels wrote:Do your songs typically come in one impassioned burst or slowly one tiny piece at a time over months?

I think the best ones arrive close to finished in a burst, but then take a month or so fixing up around the edges. The ones that take forever are usually not that great, but were not a waste of time! I was still learning things through the process. And sometimes the ones that take forever end up being great! I've had songs that were around for a decade that finally sort themselves out. And sometimes the ones that arrive fully formed seem great that night, but then the next day I realize they are kinda of dumb and too simple.


Always in a burst and I can never predict when or why. Ostensibly I work on things every day so that I'm better prepared for when inspiration strikes, but a lot of the time I'm just slightly better at solving the puzzles from one day to the next. I leave a lot of stuff in a draft state to use as material for collaborations or to one day come back to when I have better ideas.
User avatar

KPH
 
Posts: 5991
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 3:10 pm
Location: Toronto

Postby Milquetoaster Strudels » Tue Dec 18, 2018 7:33 pm

I fucking love 12-strings and I've been meaning to get one forever
User avatar

Milquetoaster Strudels
 
Posts: 28869
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2009 8:14 pm
Location: Minneapolis

Postby AdamThomas » Tue Dec 18, 2018 8:16 pm

brittle wrote:my dad made the one on the far right. it's based on a martin OM-18

and the 12 string is terrible. it's a cheapo Horner that's impossible to tune and even harder to play. but it's nice to have for recording.



damn, a guitar built by your pa. looks like a beauty.
User avatar

AdamThomas
 
Posts: 3254
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 1:31 pm
Location: u mad?ison

PreviousNext

Return to Aguachile Alley

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Clive, dan, Giuseppe Castiglione, Google [Bot], Grumby, hbb, head gardener, jalapeño ranch, Littlelulusfanclub, mcwop23, Parson Floogle, wong and 232 guests