124 posts tagged with pop and indie.
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Back on my Back Again
Another slice of 1995 Big Star/Television influenced indie ephemera from my 4-track cassette box. I still really love this guitar riff and the herky jerky power pop stuff at the end of the chorus. A song about not wanting someone to feel bad for dumping you.
When I first heard Sloan, I thought 'man, they stole my sound' although really we both stole Velvet Crush's. [more inside]
Seventeen Below (Electric Version)
Someone suggested I re-record this with a heavier treatment. So I threw the kitchen sink at it. Guitars, guitars, more guitars, a cello section, some HEAVY guitars, harmonies and a bonus weather forecast. Don't let the quiet beginning fool you. [more inside]
Darker Shade of Blue (Electric version)
Amped up version of a song I posted a few days ago. Gnarly guitars, Hammond organ, sweet harmonies, in a Television / Big Star / Matthew Sweet frame of mind. [more inside]
Darker Shade of Blue
Another semi-autobiographical 1995 slice of cheerful melancholia. But a pretty guitar riff and one of my favorite choruses to sing, even if I never really could hit the last note. There's an electric version of this with more of a Big Star / Matthew Sweet feel, but darned if I can find it and anyway I like this one. [more inside]
Don't Fool Me
Full on vocal harmony twin electric 12-string assault, my attempt to collide the Monkees with the Byrds with a side of the Go-Betweens. [more inside]
Wrinkle in Time
A 1991 recording of one of my songs, recorded at Egg Studios in Seattle. I'm not quite sure what I think of this one, all these years later. It's a love song, of sorts.
[more inside]
The Garden of Forking Paths
This Borges-inspired track appears on the new Steve Goldberg and the Arch Enemies EP, Labyrinths, available now for streaming and download. The demo was posted here. [more inside]
Sobering Up (2009)
About three and a half years ago, I uploaded the eleventh song on Mefi Music. This autumn, I finally got my arse in a real studio, and did it properly. [more inside]
Death and the Maiden
Cover of the Verlaines. [more inside]
The Ballad of Cherry Hill
This is the lead-off track from the forthcoming EP, Labyrinths, by Steve Goldberg and the Arch Enemies, to be released 1/7/10. It's a wistful slice of indie-pop about insomnia, suburban isolation, and the boredom of hometowns. [more inside]
Locate the Pin
From the band that brought you "Bridges over the Thames" and "The world's most blown mind", The Old Whores Of San Pedro proudly present. Locate the pin, a song inspired by a fire extinguisher. [more inside]
Song for Summer
As I was noodling around with these chords, beautiful summer has arrived here in Seattle. I couldn’t help but look out the window of our little music room at the gorgeous weather, flowers, blue skies, and people having fun on the water and asking myself, what am I doing inside on such a lovely day? And the answer is, writing a song about how I love the summer months as long as I’m safely ensconced indoors and out of the sun. It’s not my fault that I’m borderline translucent and in danger of melting in summer sun like a chocolate bar on the backseat of a car in July. But keep in mind, those of us who prefer it inside, aren’t necessarily anti-summer. We love watching it from the safety of air-conditioned shade. [more inside]
The Fauna and The Flora Are Too Closely Allied
I've been meaning to upload this for ages - it's an old one from my band, Institut Polaire
My Chemical Brain
I don’t know crap about this topic but it hasn’t stopped me from having my interest piqued. Specifically, I’m talking about brain chemistry. Both the mechanics of it and the way we manipulate what those mechanics do these days are super interesting. Even more amazing to me is how people’s emotions (usually negative emotions) can be a simple result of a chemical imbalance in their brain. Wow. I realize the drugs we have today are both amazing relative to nothing and very blunt instruments relative to what we’ll have down the road. And while I haven’t tried any of them, I sometimes wonder what people did before they existed. Mostly suffered I suppose. :| [more inside]
Summer Jam
How shaved ice saved my life (or not) [more inside]
In A Room
Cover I did hastily yesterday afternoon of The House of Love's beautiful song "In A Room". [more inside]
The Garden of Forking Paths
Just another folk-rock song about Jorge Luis Borges. [more inside]
Shutterbug
Doo doo doo, doo doo doo, la la la, la la la la. The new hit single from Steve Goldberg and the Arch Enemies. A chamber-pop meditation on time, aging, and death. [more inside]
come here (aberdeen)
This started as a weird tune with pseudo-Indian wailing/cat meowing vocals, guitar feedback, and a one-note sitar solo. It still has those elements, but the track ended up being an almost radio-friendly, catchy (?) pop-rock thing. [more inside]
Brookline
(Note: NSFW-ish if f*** and a****** are a problem where you work.)
For the bulk of the years of growing up that I actually remember, what I would consider the “formative” years, I lived in Brookline, Massachusetts. (Not to be confused with the super irritating Brookline, New Hampshire that would show up in school closing announcements only to leave me extra disappointed.) During and after college I didn’t think much of my high school years at Brookline High School. And in fact, I ended up losing touch with every friend I made there. But thanks to the internets I have reconnected with many of them, some very recently. It’s been super positive, and it’s stirred up all these great memories of my time in Brookline. That’s what this song is about. These three incidents in particular: [more inside]
Take the Picture
I tend to take a lot of pictures. I found out early on in my photo-taking tenure that the more pictures I took, the more likely that some of them would come out nicely. Of course, I’m always the one behind the camera. As a parent, I also have wondered just how much of the time I spend with my kids they will remember (if any). My father recently asked me if I remembered how we used to watch Star Trek together. I honestly couldn’t remember. He was crushed. It occurred to me that many years down the road when my kids look at our family pictures they won’t see me in any of them because I was the one behind the camera. Something tells me that this detail will be lost on them as they repeat the cycle and tell me they don’t remember me being there. ;) [more inside]
Dear Editor
Awhile ago I spent way too much time reading a thread on the always excellent Marginal Revolution blog discussing possible tactics for dealing with sudden and unwelcome time-travel to 1000 A.D. Clearly the thread needed to be put to music. (OK, it was clear to me at least.) That was so much fun that I thought it might be fun to do it again. And Tyler over at Marginal Revolution was nice enough to participate for another round.
Then Tyler announced the topic - “Are Books Overwritten?” Ruh ro.
[more inside]
Days Like This
It seemed time for an uncomplicated pop song (not that any of my songs are super complex in the first place). But in this nice little package you get everything you’re looking for in a standard radio-friendly pop song (does anyone listen to the radio anymore?)... [more inside]
SkyMall (Jonathan Coulton cover)
A few months ago I decided I wanted to try and do a cover. Based on the result, it was clearly a bad idea. I probably should have been discouraged but instead, after months of therapy, I decided to try again. The victim this time was one of my favorite artists - Jonathan Coulton and his excellent song SkyMall. [more inside]
Victor's a Dictionary
Written back at the turn of the millennium (oh the good old days) this song is about our old friend Victor. He’s an ethnic Chinese, Australian born doctor who abandoned medicine (and Sydney) to embrace the “structured” world of computer programming and the United States. Once you understand the laws that govern Victor’s existence you can compile him quite reliably. [more inside]
Private Island
Wrote this a few years ago. An introspective song about a place to be introspective. [more inside]
Terry (The Probably Drunk and Definitely Angry Stewardess)
Song about an unreasonably angry stewardess. Everyone's written one of these. [more inside]
Rule 34
If you don’t know what “Rule 34″ is, just pull out your trusty Urban Dictionary and look it up. Go ahead, I’ll wait. [more inside]
Let's Sneak Off
Polygamy (or more accurately - group marriage) gone awry. [more inside]
Hey, Little Sprout!
A song written for my oldest nephew (he's the giggling in the beginning and the talking at the end). His nickname is the monk, not little sprout. [more inside]
Betty (Sugar Fix)
This song is about a love rectangle. The singer is in love with Betty, she’s in love with a boy who treats her like crap. He is in love with Betty’s rich best friend who treats both him and Betty like crap. Everyone’s pretty much miserable except possibly for the best friend who’s oblivious to people’s feelings. [more inside]
1000 A.D. (Sugar Fix)
Inspired by the Marginal Revolution thread giving advice on what to do if you find yourself suddenly transported back to Europe 1000 years ago with nothing but the clothes on your back. [more inside]
Slip or Fade
Acoustic number in the works, just looking for some advice & feedback about this song (see description) [more inside]
Things I Used to Know (demo)
"Our minds are permeable to forgetfulness; I myself am distorting and losing, through the tragic erosion of the years, the features of Beatriz."
-- Jorge Luis Borges [more inside]
Secret Book (Vocal Mix - Redux)
Due to popular demand, here's yet another mix of "Secret Book" with vocals, as originally posted here and here. [more inside]
Secret Book (Vocal Mix)
This is a new version of Secret Book, of which I originally posted an instrumental version here. On the new mix, my wife Lori sings beautifully, and I wail a bit at the end. [more inside]
Brandywell
Engine
This is a cover of Engine by Neutral Milk Hotel. The original was the B-side of Holland, 1945. I made this recording in honor of the tenth anniversary of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. [more inside]
gone
I think this is one of the catchier songs I've come up with in a while, though I never seem to be a good judge of that. At any rate, it's a short and simple track about intense love gone missing... or something like that. [more inside]
King of Flesh and Bone
The first mostly completed track in a larger project my wife Lori and I are working on under
the name Tangemeenie, called "The Gilded Age." It's obliquely about the romantic (and so often
foolhardy) impulse to knock down giants just to watch them fall. Lyrics inside. [more inside]
Christmas Time for Girls and Boys
This is the first thing I've recorded in awhile. It's a song about Christmas that I wrote for Surfjam Stevens. I recorded it in my bedroom with a little help from my friends. [more inside]
Some Shady Leaves
Tender love song with an intriguing, unusual structure
Angel Waltz
In the grand tradition of rock and roll waltzes, I bring you Angel Waltz.
snake
A quirky but perhaps oddly serious song inspired by that old Snake video game, written and recorded for the mefi music challenge.
February Third (album version)
A Metafilter exclusive! This is the studio version of my contribution to the meficomp. It's the second track from my new album, which is available now.
The Road (album version)
The opening track from my upcoming LP. Handclaps, ooh bop bops, fiddles, and flutes.
you've been awake
Lyrically naughty, musically atmospheric. Features guitars, vocals, brushed drums, African thumb harp, clothes hangers, and a shy half of a fake symphony orchestra.
Summer's Ending (album version)
This is the closing track of my debut LP, Steve Goldberg and the Arch Enemies, to be released 4/20/07.
the vase
My wife accidentally broke a vase. This song resulted. It was recorded in a couple of days inbetween other projects. I used no clicktrack, metronome or drum beat, so the timing is nice and loose (in a good way, I hope). It's short, so listen twice!
Ain't So Lonely
Okay, so that's not me singing or playing the guitar. But it's the first song I ever wrote. My good friend Sarah Kenvyn then did a bit of a rewrite, wrote some music, and recorded it. Thanks, Sarah!